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WWE presented SummerSlam on August 11, 2019. The show headlined by the Universal Championship match between Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar went live from Toronto, Canada.
Despite an impressive card, the show was often topsy turvy. However, the superstars delivered when it mattered most.
Canada's own Trish Stratus made a solid return in the ring, Natalya and Kevin Owens shone at top spots on the card, Seth Rollins battled the Beast with a lot of heart, and the Fiend made sure his debut will go down as the most surreal in WWE history. Bray Wyatt's new character is mesmerizing.
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In this article, we look at the top 4 things WWE got correct and 3 things that were misses at SummerSlam 2019.
Correct #4 Rollins slays the Beast again
Seth Rollins had guaranteed on Raw that he'd beat Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, and when it mattered, he backed up his words.
When Seth Rollins entered SummerSlam, there would have been few people in the WWE Universe who'd have thought Rollins would pin Lesnar clean. But Rollins did that, pinning Lesnar without using low-blows or any unfair means. He didn't need Paul Heyman to turn against his client.
The match was electric, keeping the crowd alive for the entire duration of the contest. This battle must have made Vince McMahon happy. Brock Lesnar genuinely put over Rollins clean.
The one notable miss in this story is the crowd's reaction to Rollins. It'd not be surprising if we see the crowd completely turning against Rollins soon.
Miss #3 Goldberg vs. Ziggler
Goldberg squashed Dolph Ziggler. We expected it, and we got it. All it takes is a spear and the Jackhammer for Goldberg to walk out victorious after all. But it didn't feel right. Dolph Ziggler's superkicks should have mattered more. It'd have been better had this match gone longer.
If we look at the positives, Goldberg had a solid outing after his disastrous showing in Saudi Arabia. If this was meant to be a memorable goodbye, Goldberg and WWE were successful in their purpose. Also, Dolph Ziggler's character work was fantastic. His character could still mean so much more.
Yet, with everything said and done, this has to be a miss.
Correct #3 The passing of the torch
Finally, the modern-day Queen fought the queen of yesteryears at SummerSlam. It had long been a dream match in its own right, so the match had a chance to be a classic.
When the two women met inside the ring, they didn't disappoint. They exceeded expectations. The hometown heroine, Trish Stratus, fueled by the home support, wrestled arguably one of the best matches of her career. More than a decade later after her retirement, she showed that she still has it. It was Stratusfying.
On the other hand, Charlotte has another feather in her proverbial cap. She carried Stratus in a match that kept ascending in quality, and as the story reached its climax, we had seen a classic.
It was the right call for Charlotte to walk out victorious, submitting Stratus to the Figure-Eight. While Stratus would have always entered and left the match a winner, Charlotte gained some recently lost momentum.
Miss #2 Orton and Kingston fight to a double count-out
Randy Orton and Kofi Kingston were in the middle of a compelling fight when the referee counted-out both men. It was perplexing, absurd, and anti-climatic. We didn't expect a match on the top quarter of the WWE SummerSlam card to not have a decisive finish.
Though Kingston's meltdown and his after-match beatdown of Orton added an intriguing layer to the story, it felt like a classic stopped moments before becoming immortalized in history. The crowd showed their displeasure to the ending in an emphatic manner.
While it's a miss for today, this rivalry has now hit an intensely personal note. The rivalry has the potential to be one of the best of the year, and the Apex Predator has a realistic chance to topple Kingston for another run with the WWE Championship.
WWE could have brought out this chapter differently.
Correct #2 Becky Lynch vs. Natalya
Becky Lynch and Natalya fought an intense submission match, living up to expectations. The duo delivered on the big stage, telling a great story. Both women raised their stock, even though it was Lynch who made Natalya submit to her Disarmer.
The crowd was split in their support of the two ladies. The support was more for the hometown heroine at the start, but Lynch won the crowd over. She did it masterfully. The crowd popped as Natalya submitted to the Disarmer.
This match had cool spots. Natalya's Sharpshooter on the top rope was a nice spot. She showed how underrated she is as a performer. However, Lynch beating her former friend was the right call. The overall segment was a hit.
It will be interesting to see where Natalya goes from here. It'd be even more interesting to see what WWE has in store for Lynch now that SummerSlam 2019 is in the history books.
Miss #1 Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan miss SummerSlam
WWE hosted SummerSlam, one of its biggest annual shows, without two of its biggest stars. We expected to see an interaction between Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. We thought things would heat up. It didn't. Instead, we got Buddy Murphy against Apollo Crews on the kickoff show, and Erik Rowan attacking The Best Kept Secret in WWE, Murphy.
Rowan's attack on Murphy makes perfect sense after the latter's confession to Reigns about Rowan being The Big Dog's attacker. WWE did also show a video package describing the story. However, it was disappointing that WWE didn't do anything more with their story on Sunday's show.
Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan are bonafide stars, future Hall of Famers. So, it's shocking that WWE didn't find anything for them on the card. Considering WWE tries so hard in bringing star power to its special events, leaving Reigns and Bryan out is bizarre.
If you don't have two megastars on the biggest party of the summer, it'd always be a miss.
Hit #1 Fiend's debut
The Fiend made his debut. The demented, devilish side of Bray Wyatt entered SummerSlam and left everyone in awe. It was spectacular. It just took Wyatt walking towards the ring to his insane theme for people to start chanting excitedly.
Wyatt's new entrance is simply magnificent. Finn Balor, his opponent, as the Demon has himself made demonically amazing entrances, but we haven't seen anything so surreal besides the Undertaker's slow walk towards the squared circle.
The match was a part of the whole presentation. Balor sold for Wyatt. Wyatt's Mandible Claw ended things with a surprise when Balor looked to mount a comeback. Wyatt disappeared to "it was awesome" chants.
This turned out like Wyatt and WWE would have dreamed. The crowd was in awe of everything Wyatt did. I still can't believe that Wyatt's new lantern looks like the decapacitated head of his former character.
To sum up, the Fiend has the potential to be a huge draw.
