5 Things you missed at WWE SummerSlam 2019: 2 top stars miss PPV, Wyatt uses new finishing move

SummerSlam 2019 is officially over and it turned out to be quite a solid PPV. Despite a few rough phases this year where the quality had visibly dipped, the actual product as a whole has been really good. Think about it - how many bad PPVs were there this year?

Royal Rumble was fantastic, WrestleMania was too long but worked where it counted and SummerSlam delivered despite a relatively weaker card as compared to previous years.

The card started off relatively slow and matches that were expected to deliver like AJ Styles vs Ricochet didn't, while matches that were overlooked like Trish Stratus vs Charlotte Flair turned out to be show stealers.

If you exclude WWE Super ShowDown, then WWE has had a really nice string of PPVs and with the direction they're going, it looks to promise as we head towards Clash of Champions 2019. Here are a few things you may have missed from the PPV.

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#5 Rowan's assault on Buddy Murphy

Buddy Murphy was punished for his sins

Buddy Murphy has been an integral part of the Roman Reigns mystery attacker storyline so far and this past Tuesday, The Big Dog beat the information out of him as Murphy revelaed Rowan to be the mystery attacker.

Daniel Bryan has vehemently denied the accusation and during Murphy's match against Apollo Crews, Rowan interjected and caused a DQ by attacking the former Cruiserweight Champion.

He brutalized and slammed him against the ringpost, telling him to keep his name out of his mouth.

While some of you may have seen this, a large part of the audience missed this because it was on the pre-show. It was a rather important part of the storyline, which makes us wonder why they'd have it on the Kickoff show at SummerSlam.

See WWE Summer Slam Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE Summer Slam Results page

#4 Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan's absence

Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan's absence was surprisingly not felt

It's still surprising to us that WWE decided to completely leave two major stars in Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan out of the second biggest PPV of the year. They seemed to have mistimed the pace of the storyline and two former multi-time World Champions were absent.

While Rowan and Murphy got to further the storyline slightly, the general expectation and assumption was that Reigns and Bryan would have an angle on the show. It made sense, especially since the show usually goes for four hours.

This year, it ran at a surprising 3.5 hours or so and fans seem to have completely forgotten that Reigns nor Bryan were absent from the card. That also means that WWE did a great job at the pacing of the show. However, it's still crazy that they were absent.

#3 Charlotte Flair hardly got ANY offence in

The Queen was pushed to her limits

Trish Stratus and Charlotte Flair probably had the most underrated match of the night. Before their bout, the show hadn't gotten off to a very great pace but Toronto being behind the WWE legend meant that their match was instantly given a boost.

However, Flair sold incredibly well for Stratus and the psychology and the storytelling of their match seems to have gone over people's heads.

If you noticed the match, you'll have seen that Charlotte Flair got a very minimal amount of offence in. She was selling throughout the match with one or two good moments.

It was a great story told of how the current top woman struggled to hang with the greatest Women's Champion in WWE history.

Ultimately, Flair exploited the opportunity she had and picked up the victory, but Stratus looked like her very best in what may be the final bout of her legendary career.

#2 Bray Wyatt's in-ring genius

The Fiend is a very special character

Ask yourself this - What was it that prevented Bray Wyatt's previous incarnation from succeeding? He had all the tools. Wyatt had the mystique, the crowd in the palm of his hands and when he was protected between 2016-17, fans absolutely loved the idea of him as a World Champion.

Ultiamtely, the fall of that character lied in the fact that he never won the big matches after talking so much. Losing to bigger Superstars prevented his growth and he eventually fell into a mundane trap.

This year-long break was perhaps the best decision WWE made with regards to Bray Wyatt and his new "Fiend" character has already surpassed the hype surrounding it.

From the new entrance music to his new appearance to new arsenal and mannerisms, this is a completely different Bray Wyatt than The Eater Of Worlds. Even the finish where Bray Wyatt used his new finisher The Mandible Claw (taken from Mick Foley) was played out brilliantly.

It's clear that WWE has something very special in The Fiend and what we witnessed was Bray Wyatt's in-ring genius when he was given a moment to shine.

It was a huge test for Wyatt and many Superstars would have failed on the spot. But the reaction he received only proves how he took the ball and ran with it.

His subtle mannerisms and moveset showcased his in-ring genius and when it's all said and done, Wyatt will go down as one of the great minds of the business - something that superstars like Edge are considered a part of.

#1 Seth Rollins accomplishes what Roman Reigns couldn't

Seth Rollins with a well-earned title win

Seth Rollins looked like an absolute star in the main event of WWE SummerSlam 2019. They always say that Brock Lesnar can have a good match when he wants to and it was further proven at the biggest party of the summer when he had a classic with Seth Rollins.

The Beastslayer lived up to the moniker when he defeated Brock Lesnar clean in the main event. By doing so, he became the first person to pin Lesnar clean since Goldberg at Survivor Series 2016.

Beating him clean is something that even Roman Reigns couldn't do despite having multiple attempts against The Beast Incarnate. Credit must be given to the three-time Universal Champion who really made Rollins look good in his victory. The last few great matches that Lesnar has had - he ended up winning himself.

But to put Rollins over clean is an absolute statement. It's a statement that we're truly in the Heyman Era and Tom Colohue of Sportskeeda was right in saying that Heyman doesn't want Lesnar as the Universal Champion.

It's also a statement that he is serious about working with full-timers and this is how WWE has needed to book babyfaces and current Superstars.