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While 2019's version of SummerSlam didn't stand out for any bad reasons, it also had only a few truly memorable moments. The highlight of the show, and maybe the summer so far, was hands down The Fiend. His entrance, presentation, aura and match itself truly stole the show in Toronto.
The match for the Universal Title was better than the one at 'Mania with Seth Rollins pulling out anything he could in order to dethrone Brock Lesnar once again. While it wasn't a five-star match, Becky Lynch's win over Natalya was her best title defense yet.
However, there were four months or so for WWE to truly build to making an exciting card for SummerSlam. Timing and injuries did hurt the direction to a degree, but Creative controls all the booking decisions and title feuds. Had some things been done differently, then people would be talking about the show from top to bottom instead of a wrestler's persona getting all the post-show love.
While Wyatt more than deserved the post-show hype for his character's presentation, WWE would probably have liked most of the talk to be about the actual matches. But they decided how things would play out between now and April, so we got what we got. It's easy to look back in hindsight at things but these five booking strategies would have helped SummerSlam 2019 stand out much more than it did.
#5 Book Drew McIntyre and Elias as more than just henchman
Evil McMahons do need their henchmen to do most of their dirty work, but both Elias and Drew McIntyre were among the top stars on RAW. Instead of challenging for titles or winning them, they were mainly relegated to doing most of Shane's dirty work while also losing.
Both McIntyre and Elias lost to Roman Reigns while Shane beat him. He did have help from the Scottish Psychopath, but when a non-wrestler can beat the top guy in the company, what does that say about those before McMahon who couldn't beat him?
For instance, McIntyre could have challenged Seth Rollins at either Extreme Rules or Stomping Grounds instead of Baron Corbin. He could have even been built up to face Rollins for the title at SummerSlam. Instead, he took out Shane's garbage and wasn't even on the card. Elias did his usual performance that gets interrupted and looked foolish again in putting Edge over.
#4 Have a better plan for Women's Tag titles
Introducing the Women's Tag Team titles was one of the responses from the WWE to its declining ratings at the end of 2018. Things needed to change fast and WWE had its deepest roster ever. The women in WWE are among the most talented that they've ever been, but they only had two titles to gun for.
Since NXT acted as a third brand as well as developmental, it allowed bonds to form and natural teams to be created. Sasha Banks and Bayley fought with and against each other to form their bond. The IIconics have been friends that have wrestled together for most of their careers.
It made sense to introduce a secondary title for the women to chase, so the Women's Tag titles were created. While Bayley and Banks became the first Champions, they only had one defense before dropping them at WrestleMania 35. Previously, they had gone to NXT to declare that the belts would be defended on all of WWE's brands.
After the IIconics won the titles at 'Mania, they only appeared in backstage segments or WWE Network exclusives. They did defend the titles albeit against "local talent". They lost the titles on the go-home RAW before SummerSlam.
The new Champs have already had more air time than Billie Kay and Peyton Royce did. Whatever the reason was, the titles weren't represented equally since their inception, and doing so would have provided a smoother ride for the female tag teams vying for the titles.
#3 Use different title challengers instead of just Lacey Evans and Baron Corbin
When it was determined that AJ Styles would be the first challenger to the newly crowned Universal Champion Seth Rollins, I met it with mixed feelings. It's a great idea to pit Styles and Rollins against each other because they are two of the best in the game, but it was way too early to be happening.
The match needed to be saved for a bigger PPV like SummerSlam as Styles was new to RAW after the Superstar ShakeUp.
After Styles, Baron Corbin received shots at the title at Super ShowDown, Stomping Grounds and Extreme Rules. He's a good heel, but he doesn't seem to get booed because he's great at his job. Were there no other stars who could have had a shot at one of the PPVs instead of Corbin?
While Rollins was battling the Lone Wolf, his real-life relationship with Becky Lynch was intertwined into RAW storytelling. Like Rollins, Lynch faced the same challenger at three consecutive events with women's matches.
Evans lost to Lynch at MITB, Stomping Grounds and Extreme Rules. Instead of shuffling Alexa Bliss off to SmackDown to challenge Bayley, she should have been used on her actual brand. It would have made things more even and given Evans time to grow into being a member of the main roster.
Some wrestlers needed to be brought along slower than others and Evans was still learning on the job. Had Evans either been saved for 'Slam or had only one or two shots, it would have at least provided some different matchups for both Stomping Grounds and Extreme Rules. She would have been more ready and having her work her way up would have been better than tossing her in against the hottest star in the company over the last year.
#2 Have someone else win the Men's Money in the Bank contract
Prior to Money in the Bank, a report came out that WWE really wanted to, and needed to nail the winner of the Men's MITB match. They felt that they hadn't created any new stars to build around since both Baron Corbin and Braun Strowman won but were unsuccessful in their cash-ins. While that was partially incorrect due to questionable booking, they missed a huge opportunity to give someone like Andrade or Ali a huge push going forward.
Instead, the mercurial Brock Lesnar showed up last minute to haul down the briefcase and crush the dreams of many. While it provided a shock moment and some fans may have liked it, it continued the same narrative of Rollins and Lesnar fighting for the Universal Championship.
Variety is needed in both wrestling styles and matches. If there isn't any, the repetitiveness can be unappealing. I'm sure giving the Beast the briefcase was partially a way to appease him, but by doing so, the present and future were sacrificed for the sporadic past.
#1 Have consequences for Shane McMahon had he lost to Kevin Owens at the show
With the way that Shane McMahon was running around both RAW and SmackDown when his match with Kevin Owens at SummerSlam was announced, there needed to be consequences for both men in the match.
Owens initially challenged McMahon and said he'd quit if he lost. WWE had a couple of weeks after that proclamation in order to make the match have stakes for both men. While I understand it goes with the whole "he's a McMahon so it's just him abusing his power more", things needed to change drastically.
The pipe bomb Owens dropped was a reflection of most fans who would have rather seen Buddy Murphy, Asuka, Kairi Sane and Ali in matches instead of McMahon segment after McMahon segment. Once again, I understand that it's their company, but since there were only stakes for Owens, it made the match uneven.
Even on the go-home SmackDown, they addressed that fact but simply played it off that he's a McMahon so he can do whatever he wanted. With the way he's been running wild, there needed to be a harsh resolution with Owens' win. Instead, he is back on SmackDown and fining Owens.
