BRM Reviews SummerSlam 2022 (disappointing)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews SummerSlam 2022 (disappointing)

Post by Big Red Machine » Jul 31st, '22, 15:06

WWE SummerSlam 2022 (7/30/2022)- Nashville, TN


We’re in a stadium. They showed a camera shot from somewhere in the crowd far away that confirmed my suspicions that you can’t see sh*t from there. If it’s a choice between that and staying home and watching on my big-screen TV and not having to pay millions of dollars for food and wait in a long line for the bathroom, I’m staying home.

Is the entrance aisle still an aisle if there is a bend in it, or does it become a corral?

WWE RAW WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Bianca Belair(c) vs. Becky Lynch- 8/10
They told a good story about both women learning how to counter the other’s stuff. Becky also worked the arm a bit. Bianca won cleanly to retain her title. Becky offered Bianca a handshake, and then hugged her, turning babyface and bringing everything full circle.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- didn’t like it
Bayley is back. She’s still a heel. Dakota Kai is back. She’s sill a heel, too. Graves said he didn’t even know Dakota was under contract. I can’t keep track anymore. Also, Io Shirai showed up. They got in the ring to confront Bianca. Becky Lynch got back into the ring to stand side-by-side with Bianca. Is anyone else getting Quack/Claudio BDK vibes?
Okay. Becky didn’t betray Bianca. That was good. What wasn’t good was the three fresh heels backing down from two babyfaces who just wrestled a grueling match.
Obviously the idea here is to send a message to fans that things are new and that mistakes will be corrected, bringing up an NXT Star who Vince would never push because of her limited English, and bringing back someone who was cut, and teaming them up with a big returning star, but having them back down killed this for me. They have the babyfaces outnumbered and out-stamina-ed (or whatever the word would be). Why are they backing down?

LOGAN PAUL vs. THE MIZ (w/Tommaso Ciampa & Maryse)- 6.75/10
They worked hard, and this was definitely on the high end of what I expected, but it still had that kind of limiting “WWE-style” feel that some matches (particularly involving Miz) tend to have. They found a spot for AJ Styles to get involved, removing Ciampa from ringside after he got ejected and wouldn’t leave.

MAXIMUM MALE MODELS PLUG PURE LIFE WATER- This sort of thing is much more tolerable to me than just running a commercial, but it’s still annoying to get what is essentially a commercial when I am paying for my Peacock to be ad-free.

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: Bobby Lashley(c) vs. Austin Theory- 5.5/10
Theory attacked Lashley with his Money in the Bank briefcase before the match. Lashley won anyway, which makes Theory look worse than if he had just lost clean. They kept this pretty simple (presumably to help Theory save energy for later).

NO DISQUALIFICATIONS MATCH: The Mysterios vs. the Judgement Day (w/Rhea Ripley)- 5.75/10
I have only been watching the PLEs and not the TV, so I haven’t seen Dominik in months. Can someone fill me in on what’s up with his hair? Did he lose a bet or something where he now has to have this atrocious haircut?
I normally despise the “WE WANT TABLES!” chant, but in this case it didn’t bother me because the wrestlers seemed to be completely unaware that this was a no DQs match. They eventually used a chair once, but that was it until Rhea interfered right in front of the referee to set up the finish.
Said finish saw the heels have Dominik beat, but instead of going for a pin, Balor wanted to use a chair on Dom. At that point the lights went out, and Edge made his big supposedly-surprising return from a big, fancy, special effects apparatus that someone in the company clearly set up at ringside and someone else in production controlled. If you want a return to be a surprise to other wrestlers, you can’t have all of this goofy crap that makes it clear that they are in cahoots with management.

PAT MCAFEE vs. BARON CORBIN- 6/10
McAfee hired a choir of large men to insult Corbin in song as his entrance. I long to have the expendable cash to do the same to my enemies.
This was a fun brawl, with a nice feeling of rawness to it. They managed to find just about the only scenario where I’m fine with a babyface cheating for the win, as not only was it payback for last night’s similar kick in the groin, but it also lets the babyface announcer beat the heel wrestler. Yes, McAfee is something of an exception in terms of physical credibility for announcers, but he is still a part-time wrestler and Corbin is full-time, so protecting Corbin is a good idea.

DREW MCINTYRE PROMO- frustrating
So they did the big #1 contendership match on free TV the day before the PPV, and on the PPV they had the winner come out to cut a promo hyping up the next PPV? Shouldn’t you do the big match on PPV where people have to pay for it, then have the winner start to promote the next PPV on free TV, where more people will see it?
Drew’s promo itself was a lot of the pandering babyface stuff that I think a lot of us hoped he wouldn’t be made to do anymore. Also, making fun of the main event probably isn’t the best idea. Neither is calling your sword a “magic sword” and using it as a pyro cue to shoot off pointless fireworks.

WWE UNIFIED TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH WITH JEFF JARRETT AS SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: The Usos(c) vs. Street Profits- 7.25/10
They got the Titans cheerleaders to do a little dance before the Street Profits entrance. We all know that the cheerleaders are getting paid, so when they have no relation to the gimmick, this just feels weird.
The Hardys and Christian both got mentioned (along with Edge and the Dudleys) when putting over the first TLC match. Jesse Ventura also got put over. Was he on Vince’s no-no list?
There was some good action in here, but it was disappointing, both in terms of comparing it to their previous stuff and in terms of the finish, which was the Street Profits winning clean. I’m normally in favor of heels getting some clean wins (especially if you’re going to be saying that they are in the conversation for the greatest of all time), but this felt like it should have been the Street Profits’ crowning moment, and it wasn’t. And sometimes that can be fine, but not for WWE right now.
WWE at the moment is in a place where they are trying to repair their relationship with their fanbase on a lot of different axes, and giving us a good babyface pay-off will help with this, while having beloved babyfaces once again fail in a moment where it feels like a big victory will elevate them (which was definitely the case here) will feel like the company is just giving us more of the same.
But even if we ignore the idea of repairing the relationship with the fans and the potential message being sent that the Street Profits cannot be a top-level team, who is left for the Usos to beat? No one! Yes, there is a pay-off with RK-Bro at some point, but if Randy Orton is coming back in the next month, it wasn’t worth putting it off. We’ve seen RK-Bro win the tag titles already. Their issue with the Usos is one of revenge, so they don’t even need the tag titles (and taking the tag titles off of the Usos before they lose to RK-Bro means you don’t have to put the belts on Riddle and then either have him lose them or put them on ice while he chases Roman (and also possibly do a job to Roman as a tag champ).

MATT RIDDLE HOPS THE BARRICADE AND CALLS OUT SETH ROLLINS- fine
Riddle isn’t medically cleared to compete. Rollins wasn’t to right him. Road agents and referees try to stop him, but Riddle charges him and they brawl. Seth wins the brawl and Curb Stomps Riddle, aggravating his injury. This was a fine segment, but it really belonged on TV, not on a PPV.

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Liv Morgan(c) vs. Ronda Rousey- 4.5/10
They had a decent little match (excellent for the time it got), but eventually Ronda took over and pretty much ripped Liv’s arm off. Liv insisted that she could still go, but she got caught in an armbar… but she managed to maneuver Ronda’s shoulders down to the mat, and Ronda got pinned while still having the hold locked on. That’s not great, but as far as ways for Liv to believably beat Ronda goes, it works.
POST-MATCH SEGMENT- terrible
Then they went and f*cked things up. You see, it turns out that Liv had tapped before the three, but the referee was looking at Ronda’s shoulders, so he didn’t see it.
Ronda, as you might expect, got very upset, and attacked Liv. This was supposed to be a heel turn for Ronda, but Ronda isn’t the one who has become a heel here. Liv is. She knows she tapped before the three, and she didn’t say anything.
Ronda attacked the referee afterwards as well (which is the second time they’ve done that with her in her limited time in WWE).

MAYOR KANE ANNOUNCES THE ATTENDANCE- snore. It’s probably a work, anyway. I’m just amused by the idea that, in kayfabe, people elected Kane as their mayor.

LAST MAN STANDING MATCH FOR THE UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE: Roman Reigns(c) (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Brock Lesnar- 7.75/10
Brock entering second seems like something Roman’s character would not allow to happen. Brock walked over to a big tractor and drove that down to the ring. I have no idea why. It was an obnoxious waste of time. He jumped off the tractor onto Roman, jumping the bell on him like a heel.
Brock controlled things until Heyman caused a distraction. Brock took control back eventually and put Roman in the tractor’s lifter, then dumped him into the ring instead of onto the much harder floor. Brock would later up-end the ring with the tractor, which really didn’t help him at all, and certainly helped him a lot less than just spending that time stomping on the fallen Roman’s head would have.
Austin Theory came out to cash in Money in the Bank but got beaten up before the referee could ring the bell or whatever. Roman eventually won, with a bunch of help from Heyman and the Usos to bury Brock under stuff, because G-d forbid Roman just beat Brock cleanly. Michael Cole claimed that Brock was in mortal danger. He also claimed that this was “the greatest Last Man Standing match ever,” and that “this rivalry was a decade in the making,” neither of which is close to true.
Yes, there were some hard bumps here and they did cool stuff and there was some drama, but I’m at the point where I’m basically numb to just random carnage in my wrestling matches, and upping the ante on the carnage with goofy crap like using a tractor to upend the ring doesn’t help. I need there to be a story beyond “we hit each other with things.”


This was a disappointing show from WWE. There was some great wrestling, but it might well have been the weakest PLE of the past few months. Funny how that works when Drew, AJ, Owens, Zayn, Sheamus, Riddle, Rollins, WALTER, Kofi, Rhea Ripley, or Ricochet get to wrestle, but you devote a bunch of time to Corbin and Miz facing part-timers in what are essentially celebrity matches. And I didn’t even think those matches were bad! But they came at the cost of matches that could have made the biggest show of the summer feel bigger.
Then there was the booking, which, in a lot of cases, was baffling, frustrating, or both. If you- like me- came here expecting to see some sort of sign of a new era, you were left sorely wanting. We got the same frustrating finishes, segments that felt like they belonged on TV, and feelings of general incompetence that have marred the past few years of WWE PPVs. Not a good start for Hunter, Steph, and Nick.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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KILLdozer
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Re: BRM Reviews SummerSlam 2022 (disappointing)

Post by KILLdozer » Aug 1st, '22, 10:19

Come to think of it...this is exactly the level Miz belongs on...not even lower card title status and the other guy was still better than him.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

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Big Red Machine
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Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 15:12

Re: BRM Reviews SummerSlam 2022 (disappointing)

Post by Big Red Machine » Aug 1st, '22, 12:26

KILLdozer wrote: Aug 1st, '22, 10:19 Come to think of it...this is exactly the level Miz belongs on...not even lower card title status
I mostly agree with this, although I think that his talking is good enough and his wrestling is just good enough where every few years you can give him a secondary title reign where the heat is that he always has to cheat/get lucky to retain his title and we know he's not worthy.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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