The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: SummerSlam Weekend

Bad: Squash Match City

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One squash match is understandable. Two is pushing it. But three? That is about as ridiculous as it gets. I can jive with Braun Strowman beating the hell out of Kevin Owens in under two minutes for the briefcase. He's done nothing but crush KO for months, and even though I was hoping for some fluke roll-up victory, I can understand why they went with the finish that they did.

Then there's the return of the Demon.

I don't think any of us saw it coming, which can be a good thing. At first, I found it stupefying that Finn Balor would pull out the Demon just for a match against Baron Corbin. But after reflecting on the mauling that he gave the constable, it meant a strong showing for Finn and a definitive end to a lacklustre feud. It made Finn look strong, so I will excuse it.

What I will not excuse, however, is what Ronda Rousey did to Alexa Bliss. I get that Rousey is a legitimate bad-ass and could beat Alexa to a bloody pulp in real life. Here's the problem: WWE is supposed to be theatre. When we tune in to Raw, Smackdown and NXT every week, there's a little thing called 'suspension of disbelief' that still allows us to get into matches that should otherwise be one-sided. WWE could have let Alexa be the amazing heel she is and make the path to the RAW Women's Championship a struggle for Ronda Rousey. Instead, we got to see Alexa Bliss pretty much get her arm torn out of the socket for five minutes. The chance for a fantastic story was squandered for nothing. That, my friends, is simply unforgivable.