Written by: Kevin Berge (All Images Courtesy of: WWE.com)
Imagine a world where WWE treated every event like WrestleMania. We could get big stories and feuds that are driven by engaged writers, dominating weekly TV with forward momentum. SummerSlam is the rare time where we almost get that feeling with WWE pulling out more than usual at least.
The shows are not always great, but at least right now it feels like everything matters. Okay, not everything. We've still got Raw desperately trying to fill 3 hours with The Authors of Pain struggling to overcome Titus Worldwide and Mojo Rawley and Bobby Roode taking a month to finally fight.
However, there's still much better stories like Ronda Rousey going after Alexa Bliss at every turn and... Well, there's basically everything on SmackDown.
The shows are not always great, but at least right now it feels like everything matters. Okay, not everything. We've still got Raw desperately trying to fill 3 hours with The Authors of Pain struggling to overcome Titus Worldwide and Mojo Rawley and Bobby Roode taking a month to finally fight.
However, there's still much better stories like Ronda Rousey going after Alexa Bliss at every turn and... Well, there's basically everything on SmackDown.
This is the moment where everyone admits Brock Lesnar's title reign is the worst, and we're all supposed to not believe it somehow.
Monday Night Raw July 30, 2018
Paul Heyman Could Be Headed for a New Client
Overview: Brock Lesnar arrived this week on Raw but refused to come out to the ring, just wanting his paycheck. General Manager Kurt Angle threatened to fire Paul Heyman if he could not produce Lesnar with The Beast coming out only to F5 Angle and assault Heyman before walking out his Universal Championship alone.
Analysis: I'm ready for the Universal Championship to return to WWE. This has been a long storyline that could have been so much better than it was if Lesnar showed just a little more often. I don't mind an aloof champion, but he became an absentee champion. It was embarrassing.
Luckily, it looks like we're reaching the end. Roman Reigns or Braun Strowman can walk away with the title, and Lesnar can move on. I am curious though what Heyman will do. He was clearly being separated here from Lesnar to potentially move on. I'm rooting for him to ally with Ronda Rousey.
Ronda Rousey Could Help Make Alicia Fox Relevant for the First Time in Years
Overview: With Mickie James injured, Alexa Bliss chose to have Alicia Fox represent her against Natalya this week with Rousey returning in her friend's corner. Bliss distracted Natalya to allow Fox to win with a big boot. Afterward, Rousey tried to attack Bliss but was taken out by Fox, setting up a match between them next week.
Analysis: I have always had a tough time deciding how good Fox is. She's certainly entertaining, but is she actually good? Her in-ring style is often sloppy, but that Northern Lights Suplex is second to none.
Still, I would much rather a talent be relevant than just standing around, and it's great to see the veteran getting a chance. Rousey bumped for her this week, and I expect their match will be fun even if it should be one-sided. I'm rooting for Fox to end up joining Bliss' stable for good, maybe replacing Mickie James who should be a face anyway.
The Revival May Finally Not Need to Go Back to NXT
Overview: The B-Team's interview was interrupted by Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy only for The Revival to get involved. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder ended up fighting The Deleters of Worlds and defeating them by hitting the Shatter Machine on Wyatt.
Analysis: It was looking rough there for a while. After multiple injuries, The Revival who basically remade the tag team division in NXT through their old school psychology were losing on Main Event to Heath Slater and Rhyno. It was the end times with many hoping they'd just go back to developmental.
However, that odd mini-feud with Reigns and Lashley changed everything. It made them relevant. It got them a tangible win that they can brag about with most forgetting the details surrounding the story. Raw's tag team division needs The Top Guys, and I really hope this is their moment.
Conclusion
Raw is such a slog right now that it is hard to even process. Even the best story going into Extreme Rules, Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler, has slowed to a crawl for SummerSlam as it feels like the company is just filling time with a rivalry that has already run its course.
Rousey vs. Bliss is a fun story that has been built up well, but I don't think it's enough alone for anyone to actually waste their time watching the whole show each week. Even that story does not match up to the top 3 rivalries on SmackDown.
Overview: Brock Lesnar arrived this week on Raw but refused to come out to the ring, just wanting his paycheck. General Manager Kurt Angle threatened to fire Paul Heyman if he could not produce Lesnar with The Beast coming out only to F5 Angle and assault Heyman before walking out his Universal Championship alone.
Analysis: I'm ready for the Universal Championship to return to WWE. This has been a long storyline that could have been so much better than it was if Lesnar showed just a little more often. I don't mind an aloof champion, but he became an absentee champion. It was embarrassing.
Luckily, it looks like we're reaching the end. Roman Reigns or Braun Strowman can walk away with the title, and Lesnar can move on. I am curious though what Heyman will do. He was clearly being separated here from Lesnar to potentially move on. I'm rooting for him to ally with Ronda Rousey.
Ronda Rousey Could Help Make Alicia Fox Relevant for the First Time in Years
Overview: With Mickie James injured, Alexa Bliss chose to have Alicia Fox represent her against Natalya this week with Rousey returning in her friend's corner. Bliss distracted Natalya to allow Fox to win with a big boot. Afterward, Rousey tried to attack Bliss but was taken out by Fox, setting up a match between them next week.
Analysis: I have always had a tough time deciding how good Fox is. She's certainly entertaining, but is she actually good? Her in-ring style is often sloppy, but that Northern Lights Suplex is second to none.
Still, I would much rather a talent be relevant than just standing around, and it's great to see the veteran getting a chance. Rousey bumped for her this week, and I expect their match will be fun even if it should be one-sided. I'm rooting for Fox to end up joining Bliss' stable for good, maybe replacing Mickie James who should be a face anyway.
The Revival May Finally Not Need to Go Back to NXT
Overview: The B-Team's interview was interrupted by Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy only for The Revival to get involved. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder ended up fighting The Deleters of Worlds and defeating them by hitting the Shatter Machine on Wyatt.
Analysis: It was looking rough there for a while. After multiple injuries, The Revival who basically remade the tag team division in NXT through their old school psychology were losing on Main Event to Heath Slater and Rhyno. It was the end times with many hoping they'd just go back to developmental.
However, that odd mini-feud with Reigns and Lashley changed everything. It made them relevant. It got them a tangible win that they can brag about with most forgetting the details surrounding the story. Raw's tag team division needs The Top Guys, and I really hope this is their moment.
Conclusion
Raw is such a slog right now that it is hard to even process. Even the best story going into Extreme Rules, Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler, has slowed to a crawl for SummerSlam as it feels like the company is just filling time with a rivalry that has already run its course.
Rousey vs. Bliss is a fun story that has been built up well, but I don't think it's enough alone for anyone to actually waste their time watching the whole show each week. Even that story does not match up to the top 3 rivalries on SmackDown.
I hope you enjoyed your time in the sun, Carmella. Charlotte's back, and we got to build her up as No. 1 again for her match against Ronda Rousey.
SmackDown Live July 31, 2018
Stop Screwing with Becky Lynch
Overview: Becky Lynch opened the show, talking about how much this title opportunity means to her with Carmella interrupting to seemingly heap praise on her opponent. A distraction from James Ellsworth's music allowed her to attack Lynch with Charlotte Flair returning to make the save.
General Manager Paige decided to punish the champion for her attack on Lynch by booking Carmella vs. Charlotte where, if Flair won, she would be added to the SummerSlam match. The Queen won by tap out after The Princess of Staten Island got overconfident.
Analysis: It was all so perfectly built up to this point. The opening promo was absolute fire from both women. This felt like a true turnaround match for Carmella brewing that would surprise many. Then Charlotte returned, and the status quo was restored.
I really hope WWE throws a curveball here. Lynch pins Charlotte to win the title then gets her singles match against Carmella before facing her best friend at Evolution. There's a great story, but I know it's not coming. The Queen will win, and Lynch will fall back into the sidekick role.
Please Give Us The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Bar
Overview: In a competitive clash of top tag teams, Sheamus and Cesaro showed their cohesiveness has not faltered with time off. Cesaro took out Jimmy Uso with a European uppercut while Sheamus countered a diving splash with double knees to take the roll up.
They advance to a match next week against The New Day to crown the new No. 1 contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
Analysis: The New Day and The Usos are incredible performers. They have shown that time and again, but it is too much to just have them dominate SmackDown for another year. They have already been vanquished by the champions, and it would be weird to gave New Day be competitive now against the frightening heels.
Meanwhile, there's no history between Sheamus & Cesaro and Harper & Rowan. This is uncharted territory. It is rare such a blockbuster showstealer is left for this long untouched, but these are teams from different eras built on different brands, mostly as heels. I don't care that they're still both heels. Fans will find someone to cheer.
SmackDown Has All the Best Mic Workers
Overview: Carmella and Lynch opened the show with fantastic opening promos followed by Samoa Joe berating AJ Styles about his inability to balance his family life. Later, The Miz and Daniel Bryan went off on one another about why they hate each other with Miz still refusing to fight.
Analysis: Raw's top male stars right now are Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar followed by Bobby Lashley. The women at least have Alexa Bliss, but Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax are the top babyfaces. That roster can barely pull out a solid promo right now while SmackDown is overflowing with male and female talkers at the top of their game.
It just does not seem fair. While WWE has been wasting Miz for a while at the top of his game, it still is remarkable that he actually has competition on the mic on SmackDown as the No. 2 heel while Raw barely even as 1 top heel, let alone a consistently compelling talker in the role (Kevin Owens has become too one note to be considered).
Conclusion
I didn't know WWE had a show this good in the works. Quietly, this was a near-perfect two hours of wrestling entertainment. I may be annoyed at some decisions along the way, but the intensity was at an all-time high. It feels like SmackDown has truly found its stride.
From the opening impressive promos from both Carmella and Lynch to the aggressive beatdown by Randy Orton, the only real issue this show had was its in-ring quality. It wasn't a terrible night of wrestling. We still had The Usos vs. The Bar, but this show did include a Lana match.
Overview: Becky Lynch opened the show, talking about how much this title opportunity means to her with Carmella interrupting to seemingly heap praise on her opponent. A distraction from James Ellsworth's music allowed her to attack Lynch with Charlotte Flair returning to make the save.
General Manager Paige decided to punish the champion for her attack on Lynch by booking Carmella vs. Charlotte where, if Flair won, she would be added to the SummerSlam match. The Queen won by tap out after The Princess of Staten Island got overconfident.
Analysis: It was all so perfectly built up to this point. The opening promo was absolute fire from both women. This felt like a true turnaround match for Carmella brewing that would surprise many. Then Charlotte returned, and the status quo was restored.
I really hope WWE throws a curveball here. Lynch pins Charlotte to win the title then gets her singles match against Carmella before facing her best friend at Evolution. There's a great story, but I know it's not coming. The Queen will win, and Lynch will fall back into the sidekick role.
Please Give Us The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Bar
Overview: In a competitive clash of top tag teams, Sheamus and Cesaro showed their cohesiveness has not faltered with time off. Cesaro took out Jimmy Uso with a European uppercut while Sheamus countered a diving splash with double knees to take the roll up.
They advance to a match next week against The New Day to crown the new No. 1 contenders to the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
Analysis: The New Day and The Usos are incredible performers. They have shown that time and again, but it is too much to just have them dominate SmackDown for another year. They have already been vanquished by the champions, and it would be weird to gave New Day be competitive now against the frightening heels.
Meanwhile, there's no history between Sheamus & Cesaro and Harper & Rowan. This is uncharted territory. It is rare such a blockbuster showstealer is left for this long untouched, but these are teams from different eras built on different brands, mostly as heels. I don't care that they're still both heels. Fans will find someone to cheer.
SmackDown Has All the Best Mic Workers
Overview: Carmella and Lynch opened the show with fantastic opening promos followed by Samoa Joe berating AJ Styles about his inability to balance his family life. Later, The Miz and Daniel Bryan went off on one another about why they hate each other with Miz still refusing to fight.
Analysis: Raw's top male stars right now are Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar followed by Bobby Lashley. The women at least have Alexa Bliss, but Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax are the top babyfaces. That roster can barely pull out a solid promo right now while SmackDown is overflowing with male and female talkers at the top of their game.
It just does not seem fair. While WWE has been wasting Miz for a while at the top of his game, it still is remarkable that he actually has competition on the mic on SmackDown as the No. 2 heel while Raw barely even as 1 top heel, let alone a consistently compelling talker in the role (Kevin Owens has become too one note to be considered).
Conclusion
I didn't know WWE had a show this good in the works. Quietly, this was a near-perfect two hours of wrestling entertainment. I may be annoyed at some decisions along the way, but the intensity was at an all-time high. It feels like SmackDown has truly found its stride.
From the opening impressive promos from both Carmella and Lynch to the aggressive beatdown by Randy Orton, the only real issue this show had was its in-ring quality. It wasn't a terrible night of wrestling. We still had The Usos vs. The Bar, but this show did include a Lana match.
Can't wait until Candice LaRae debuts, beats up Johnny Gargano's wife, and takes her place on this roster.
205 Live July 31, 2018
Drake Maverick is the Best General Manager
Overview: Drake Maverick held a contract signing for Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak at SummerSlam. Later, after Alexander defeated The Brian Kendrick with the Lumbar Check, Jack Gallagher and Kendrick attacked Alexander, but Maverick forced Gulak to back off with the threat of losing his title match.
Analysis: 205 Live had a slow week, one of the weaker episodes in recent memory, but it did show off just how important a good authority figure is for a brand. Rather than generically ordering people to fight, Maverick has forced talent to earn their shots and play by the rules.
This week, it was made clear that the GM had control of a potential rematch between Akira Tozawa and Lio Rush
Overview: Drake Maverick held a contract signing for Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak at SummerSlam. Later, after Alexander defeated The Brian Kendrick with the Lumbar Check, Jack Gallagher and Kendrick attacked Alexander, but Maverick forced Gulak to back off with the threat of losing his title match.
Analysis: 205 Live had a slow week, one of the weaker episodes in recent memory, but it did show off just how important a good authority figure is for a brand. Rather than generically ordering people to fight, Maverick has forced talent to earn their shots and play by the rules.
This week, it was made clear that the GM had control of a potential rematch between Akira Tozawa and Lio Rush
NXT August 1, 2018
NXT TakeOver Brooklyn IV Looks Awesome as Always
Overview: Moustache Mountain officially invoked their rematch clause, booking a tag title match with Undisputed Era. EC3 was called out during his match with Kona Reeves by The Veleveteen Dream. Johnny Gargano broke up Tommaso Ciampa's celebration by attacking him only to get laid out by Aleister Black.
Analysis: NXT TakeOver has always been excellent. It's almost impossible how excellent the show is every time out. Therefore, the card doesn't have to be brilliant to promise a great night. That said, this is a great card forming. Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane was already set and should be the champ's best title defense to date.
While I still think Black vs. Ciampa should have been the TakeOver main event, the triple threat likely coming up could easily be *****. The tag title match has been ****+ 2 times now, and the third time should be just as good. EC3 vs. Dream will likely be the weakest on the card, but it will tell a fantastic story as all Dream matches do.
Overview: Moustache Mountain officially invoked their rematch clause, booking a tag title match with Undisputed Era. EC3 was called out during his match with Kona Reeves by The Veleveteen Dream. Johnny Gargano broke up Tommaso Ciampa's celebration by attacking him only to get laid out by Aleister Black.
Analysis: NXT TakeOver has always been excellent. It's almost impossible how excellent the show is every time out. Therefore, the card doesn't have to be brilliant to promise a great night. That said, this is a great card forming. Shayna Baszler vs. Kairi Sane was already set and should be the champ's best title defense to date.
While I still think Black vs. Ciampa should have been the TakeOver main event, the triple threat likely coming up could easily be *****. The tag title match has been ****+ 2 times now, and the third time should be just as good. EC3 vs. Dream will likely be the weakest on the card, but it will tell a fantastic story as all Dream matches do.
Match of the Week
Shayna Baszler vs. Candice LaRae - NXT August 1, 2018 (Rating: 8.25/10)
This is the match that I have wanted for the NXT Women's Championship for a while now, and the two clearly have chemistry. The first time these two fought, Baszler had not found her stride, but here her storytelling focus really worked with Candice LaRae perfectly playing the resilient babyface.
Baszler dissected the elbow of LaRae forcing her to scratch and claw her back with one arm. While she fought valiantly and even escaped the Kirifuda Clutch once, LaRae still could not overcome the punishment and succumbed to the submission.
It was a match that could have been brilliant with more time. The two only went 8 minutes, but I was invested in every second. One day soon, they should get their TakeOver moment. LaRae deserves more than she's getting.
Honorable Mention: The Usos vs. Sheamus and Cesaro - SmackDown Live July 31, 2018 (Rating: 8.25/10)
These two teams had one of my favorite matches of 2017, and they had a quality clash again that made it look like neither had lost a step since. However, the commercial breaks were especially troubling for this contest, destroying the high tempo of these two tag teams.
Still, it was hard not to enjoy these teams going at it. Cesaro and Sheamus have some of the smoothest offense in the game, and they have so many interesting counters to The Usos' classic high-flying.
This is the match that I have wanted for the NXT Women's Championship for a while now, and the two clearly have chemistry. The first time these two fought, Baszler had not found her stride, but here her storytelling focus really worked with Candice LaRae perfectly playing the resilient babyface.
Baszler dissected the elbow of LaRae forcing her to scratch and claw her back with one arm. While she fought valiantly and even escaped the Kirifuda Clutch once, LaRae still could not overcome the punishment and succumbed to the submission.
It was a match that could have been brilliant with more time. The two only went 8 minutes, but I was invested in every second. One day soon, they should get their TakeOver moment. LaRae deserves more than she's getting.
Honorable Mention: The Usos vs. Sheamus and Cesaro - SmackDown Live July 31, 2018 (Rating: 8.25/10)
These two teams had one of my favorite matches of 2017, and they had a quality clash again that made it look like neither had lost a step since. However, the commercial breaks were especially troubling for this contest, destroying the high tempo of these two tag teams.
Still, it was hard not to enjoy these teams going at it. Cesaro and Sheamus have some of the smoothest offense in the game, and they have so many interesting counters to The Usos' classic high-flying.