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It is true what they say in wrestling: A great main event can make a show seem a whole lot better.
Summerslam looked like quite a disaster in the first hour or so. It had illogical bookings, burying of younger talents and a whole lot of meaningless title changes. But the show and the crowd woke up to an impressive ending to the show. And the Fatal 4-Way was one of the best main events in a long time.
With all of this in my thoughts, I present my list of the top five most surprising moments of WWE Summerslam 2017:
#5 Rusev is squashed
I am beginning to wonder what Rusev did wrong? How do you take one of your most over heels at WrestleMania 31 and slowly destroy his fantastic character in just two years? Are they mad that he killed their silly romantic storyline because he decided to marry the woman he loves?
So imagine my surprise when the show needed a strong match after a terrible start to see this talented wrestler defeated by Randy Orton with one RKO. He is a heel who still gets a reaction and you feed him to Orton who can afford to take a loss at this point in his career.
The reason for the squash most likely might have been some payback for Orton for having to job to Jinder Mahal but did it have to come at Rusev’s expense in such a ridiculous manner? It was a surprising and disappointing moment for sure.
#4 So many title changes
One of the things I loved about NXT Takeover on Saturday night was how important Asuka’s streak was in the show.
The title was made a big deal because of how long it was actually held. So imagine the surprise when the main roster played a massive game of hot potato at Summerslam. They made a lot of titles seem meaningless.
We had five title change hands at Summerslam. Both Tag Titles, both Women’s Championships and the Cruiserweight Championship; a lot of them made little sense. Natalya has had no real character development in years and the crowd reaction to her title win shows that fact clearly. The build to the Raw Women’s Championship was so brief it devalued Sasha’s win with the crowd as well.
The problem with other belts is the limited length of the reign. Besides giving us a series of great matches, what was the point of a one-month title reign for The New Day?
Even worse, why did Neville’s impressive reign end on Raw this week? What was the point of Tozawa getting a six-day title reign? It was surprising to see so many title changes that made so little sense at Summerslam.
#3 Tag matches steal the show
Summerslam was a long night. A show running nearly five and a half hours is a sure way to wear out the crowd. It would take a lot to get them back into the show and the tag matches was the thing that did it.
I was shocked when the New Day versus The Usos was placed on the Kickoff show. It was by leaps and bounds the best match of the Battleground pay-per-view. Why would you take this potential show stealer and put it before a lot of people were watching?
The decision seemed really dumb as the match got the crowd excited and had an incredible pace throughout. Especially with the weak first hour of the main card, it was a big surprise for sure to bench the tag match.
After a big lull in the crowd, the Raw tag match got them back into it. One of the best moments of the night was a beach ball. It was proof the crowd was out of the show then, and Cesaro went into the crowd and ripped up the beach ball.
It got the crowd back into the show instantly. And I am glad it did, the tag wrestling was a pleasant surprise throughout a very long night.
#2 Jinder retains in the most predictable way possible
Have you ever the movie “Groundhog Day”? It is one of my favourites where a local weatherman repeats the same day over and over again. The WWE has its own version. Instead of a weatherman, we get Jinder Mahal.
I can’t say I am completely sold on Jinder as champion but I can live with a heel champion. It makes the chase all the better for the person who is eventually going to beat him. However, I was surprised and disappointed to see Jinder win in the exact same way every single time.
The Singh Brothers distract the face and Jinder hits his weak looking finisher for the win. Can’t we think of any other way for Jinder to win his match. The predicability is boring and surprising that the WWE would do it on such a big stage over and over again.
#1 Braun steals the show but not the Universal Title
The main event was amazing. I was not expecting such a brutal and fast-paced title match. All four deserve credit for their fantastic work. It took an average show and made it really good. Braun Strowman deserves the most credit.
The reason this is first on the list is it was so unexpected just a few months ago. Braun seemed like another big guy with nothing to stand out. Then he started squashing everyone in sight and performing massive feats of strength.
He took it up another level on Sunday. He slammed Brock through two tables and lifted one table onto Brock. The crowd loved it and so did I. Strowman is the most popular guy on the roster and needs the belt as soon as possible.
But it didn’t happen on Sunday. After taking an insane beating, Brock pinned Roman clean. I certainly didn’t expect Brock to retain that easily or at all. However, who doesn’t want to see Strowman versus Lesnar at this point?
