WWE Summerslam 2018 Review

WWE Summerslam 2018 took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday 19th August. There are 13(!!) matches on the card, so let's get to it.

There are 3 matches on the Kick Off Show and the first match is the team of Rusev and Lana taking on Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega. A distraction by Vega helps give Almas the advantage over Rusev. Lana eventually gets tagged in. When Lana attacks Almas when he tries to distract the referee, Vega rolls her up and, with leverage on the ropes, gets the win. The match was pretty decent.
Winners: Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega (1 for 1)

Next is Drew Gulak  challenging Cedric Alexander for the Cruiserweight Championship. Gulak tries to apply the Gu-Lock but Alexander gets out of it and hits a dropkick. Gulak hits a knee to the back of the neck to get the advantage. Gulak continues to focus on the neck but Alexander hits a flatliner, giving him a chance to make a comeback. After a lot of roll up attempts, Alexander manages to roll up Gulak to get the win. This match was pretty good but this is only our 2nd match but they have both ended in a roll up. That's slightly worrying.
Winner: Cedric Alexander (1 for 2)

The last match on the Kick Off Show is for the RAW Tag Team Championship as The Revival challenge The B Team. Dash Wilder hits a dragon screw on Bo Dallas then The Revival hits a Shatter Machine on Curtis Axel to get the advantage. Dallas hits a hangman's neckbreaker on Wilder, giving him the chance to tag in Axel. The end comes when Dawson puts Axel in a small package while Wilder is fighting Dallas at the ropes. Wilder bounces Dallas' neck off the ropes who stumbles into Dawson an Axel. This then puts Dawson's back on the mat and The B Team win...? What the fuck was that?! This match was getting good then The B Team win by stupidity?! Plus this is the 3rd match in a row that ended in a roll up. Out of 3 matches!! Oh dear God, the Kick Off Show has really pissed me off and I'm now worried about how many more matches that are going to end in a roll up. On a side note, this is the first time I've heard The B Team's theme tune and it's fucking shite.
Winners: The B Team (1 for 3)

The 1st match on the show is for the Intercontinental Championship as Seth Rollins challenges Dolph Ziggler. After a fast paced, back and forth start to the match, Ziggler attacks the knee then hits a neckbreaker. Rollins catches Ziggler doing a crossbody and suplexes them both out of the ring; and this gives Rollins the chance to start a comeback. Ziggler comes close after reversing a frog splash into a small package. In the end, Dean Ambrose stops Drew McIntyre from interfering with a Dirty Deeds and Rollins hits a superkick followed by a Curb Stomp to get the win. This was a really good match and a lot of fun to watch.
Winner: Seth Rollins (1 for 4)

Next is The New Day challenging The Bludgeon Brothers for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. Harper and Rowan get the advantage almost immediately, beating down on Xavier Woods. Woods eventually tags in Big E, who hits overhead belly-to-belly suplexes on The Bludgeons. Harper and Rowan hit The Crucifix Bomb but it only gets 2. When it looks like The New Day are going to win it, Rowan starts attacking them with his hammer to get himself disqualified. This match was a lot of fun but the ending ruined it for me.
Winners: The New Day (2 for 5)

We now get Braun Strowman taking on Kevin Owens. If Owens wins, he'll win the Money in the Bank briefcase. Strowman completely fuck up Owens, who does manage to hit a superkick. However, Strowman chokeslams him onto the ramp, then hits a Running Powerslam when he rolls him back into the ring to get the win. Okay, once again,  what the fuck was that?! This was a squash match in WWE's second biggest event of the year and the loser is a former Universal Champion! I don't see the point of this match at all.
Winner: Braun Strowman (2 for 6)

We now get our 1st Women's Championship match as Carmella defends her Smackdown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Carmella tries to pit Becky and Charlotte against each other but it doesn't really work. There's a lot of back and forth between the three before Becky breaks up Charlotte putting the Figure 8 on Carmella. Carmella breaks up a couple of pins to save the match before Becky puts her in the Dis-Arm-Her. Charlotte breaks it up by hitting Natural Selection on Becky then pins her to get the win. Afterwards, Becky helps Charlotte celebrate by beating the fuck out of her. The match seemed a little slow at times but it was pretty good. As for Becky's heel turn, the crowd cheered for it because Becky is 100% justified in her actions. Becky worked hard for weeks to get a opportunity. Charlotte returns from injury and basically get added to the match then goes on to win. I can see why Becky went apeshit at Charlotte. They now need to make Becky the worst person on the planet in order to get the crowd to boo her. Maybe, she can get some tips from Tommaso "Fuckface" Ciampa.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (2 for 7)

Next is Samoa Joe  challenging AJ Styles  for the WWE Championship. The match starts at a slow pace before it quickens and Joe kicks Styles' leg out from under him. Styles makes a comeback but Joe comes close to winning after hitting a knee from the top rope. Later on, Styles hits a Styles Clash but Joe kicks out. After Joe goes on the mic to mock Styles' wife, who was standing in the crowd nearby, Styles snaps and fucks Joe up. He then attacks Joe with a steel chair, getting himself disqualified. Afterwards, Styles leaves with his wife and daughter. This match was really good. I'm slightly pissed that it ended in a disqualification. However, this made more sense than the disqualification at the New Day/Bludgeons match.
Winner: Samoa Joe (3 for 8)

After an Elias musical segment that didn't involve any music, we get a match that I think the whole wrestling world was looking forward to: Daniel Bryan taking on Hollywood Miz. Miz hits a cheap shot early on to get the advantage. After a lot of back and forth, Miz bounces Bryan's head off the turnbuckle then hits the Skull Crushing Finale but Bryan kicks out. Later on, Bryan puts on the Yes Lock but Miz gets to the ropes. The match goes to the outside and Bryan kicks Miz into the barrier, where his wife Maryse is sitting. She gives Miz with a foreign object and he hits Bryan with it when Bryan tries a suicide dive. Miz then pins him to get the win. This was an amazing match and definitely the match of the night.
Winner: Hollywood Miz (4 for 9)

Next is Constable Baron Corbin taking on Finn Balor,  who decided to surprise Corbin by turning up in Demon Mode. Corbin is not happy about this and when the bell rings, Balor destroys him. Balor goes on to hit the Coup de Grace to get the win in less than 2 minutes...? Right, this is our 2nd squash match and I would have been ok with it if we didn't have the Strowman/Owens squash earlier.
Winner: Finn Balor (4 for 10)

We now get Jeff Hardy challenging Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship. During the match, they mock each other, and Nakamura hits knees to the back of the head to get the momentum. Hardy gets back into it and hits a Twist of Fate followed by a Swanton Bomb but Nakakmura kicks out. Hardy does another Swanton Bomb but misses and hits the apron. Nakamura then goes on to hit the Kinsasha to get the win. Afterwards, Randy Orton runs (sorry, strolls) in and then turns around and goes to the back...? Ok...anyway, this match was pretty good. It's just the Orton thing made no sense.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (5 for 11)

The penultimate match is Ronda Rousey challenging Alexa Bliss for the RAW Women's Championship. Bliss plays mind games as she avoids locking up with Rousey. Bliss eventually puts Rousey in a chinlock but she powers out of it and hits a spinning Samoan drop. She goes to destroy Bliss and gets her to submit to an armbar to get the win. Afterwards, Rousey celebrates with Natalya and The Bella Twins for some reason. This match was a bit weird with Rousey asking Bliss if she's ready to get hit with a move. I knew that Rousey would destroy Bliss but I'm now worried that she would destroy everyone on the roster and end up like Chyna when she won the Women's Championship. A quick side note about The Bellas, there were on 3 times on this show. Firstly, in an interview to promote their show and say that they started the Women's Evolution (Bull. Shit); then we saw Brie with Daniel Bryan (which made sense); finishing with them celebrating with Rousey. I do feel sorry for the other women wrestlers who don't have as much of a presence outside of wrestling as much as The Bellas do. It would be nice to feature them a but more.
Winner: Ronda Rousey (6 for 12)

The main event is Roman Reigns having yet another opportunity to challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Before the match starts, Braun Strowman comes down and announces that he'll cash in on the winner of the match. When the bell rings, Reigns hits 3 Superman punches and 3 Spears but Lesnar manages to apply the Kimura. Reigns tries another Spear but misses and hits Strowman, who was watching on the outside. Lesnar then hits a F5 on Strowman then attacks him with his own briefcase and a steel chair. When Lesanr goes back into the ring, Reigns hits a Spear and gets the win. The match was short, which was fine, and pretty good.
Winner: Roman Reigns (7 for 13)

Honestly, Summerslam was a fucking weird show. The Kick Off matches weren't great but the show did have some really good matches. However, we also had a musical segment that had no music, a run in that didn't happen, 3 squash matches and 2 DQ finishes. Hopefully, Hell in a Cell won't be as weird.