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SummerSlam 2020 is now in the books and credit to WWE, the company continues to try and go the extra mile with its programming during the empty arena era. SummerSlam had a lot of good things about it. Even the matches least expected to go well ended were decent-to-good. Where they didn't, there was often some other surprise waiting.
Who got the most and least out of SummerSlam? Who is set up to lead or get crushed by the charge as WWE begins drifting into its fall season? Let's take a look.
SummerSlam Losers: Apollo Crews and MVP
Unfortunately, the show-opener was one of the lowlights of the night. Perhaps that was to be expected, because the feud between these two hasn't been that hot. One realizes why WWE hadn't considered a big push for Apollo Crews since he made his way to the main roster, or even that much in NXT for that matter. He's athletically gifted, but not that interesting as a character.
His ongoing United States Championship reign probably won't be that exciting from here, either. Meanwhile, MVP's loss set him and his Hurt Business faction back. They're going to take some time to rebuild steam as well.
SummerSlam Winner: Asuka
Asuka failed against Bayley, but succeeded in winning the RAW Women's Championship back from Sasha Banks, restoring the natural order of things to the Red brand. The division is hers again, with Asuka set to lead the charge as WWE enters the last third of the year.
Some kind of collision with Shayna Baszler will surely be waiting her now. How it will turn out is anyone's guess, but with many NXT fans watching, there will be some excitement over that confrontation. We'll just have to see how WWE wants to build it out.
SummerSlam Loser: Sasha Banks
Once again, Sasha Banks failed to defend her singles title, dropping the RAW Women's Championship to Asuka at SummerSlam. There are certainly storyline reasons for this particular instance — it was not random. Nevertheless, Sasha Banks is in a vulnerable spot. WWE is going to have to pull the trigger, at last, on a feud with Bayley if she wants to maintain her heat.
The problem is that this back-end of the year is usually WWE's least important despite SummerSlam generally marking the end of the "season" of WWE programming. September, October, and December aren't known for their big events, while Survivor Series (the smallest of the "Big Four" pay-per-view shows) centers on interbrand warfare.
WWE may opt to save a turn for WrestleMania season starting in January, but that would be too long to wait to take advantage of what happened last night, with Sasha Banks again being cast aside for a while with the stain of never successfully defending a title. We'll just have to see where the company goes from here, but Sasha Banks is in a perilous position until we find out the answer.
SummerSlam Losers: Andrade and Angel Garza
The Street Profits successfully defended their RAW Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam. Angel Garza and Andrade are thus shunted back to the role of random players to fill gaps on TV. That's particularly been the case with Andrade's career since he was called up to the main roster in the spring of 2018. He gets featured on television, but never really goes anywhere. Last night was no exception to this. We could likely see the same thing happen in the aftermath of this loss.
One of them might turn on the other, but that would just leave the already-stretched RAW tag team division short. While they could remain in the title picture in the short-term, it's hard to see what the long-term planning is for the duo.
Winner: Mandy Rose
Mandy Rose exceeded expectations at SummerSlam when she defeated Sonya Deville in their Loser Leaves WWE match. After that performance and result, Mandy would seem to be the most natural challenger to Bayley, provided the WWE wants to keep Sasha Banks away from the SmackDown Women's Championship picture for a while. Either way, this was a career-defining night for Mandy.
We'll just have to see if it takes her to that next level that she's yet to reach since she joined the main roster in late 2017.
SummerSlam Winner: Dominik Mysterio
He lost the fight but won the night, as the old saying goes. Seth Rollins turned Dominik Mysterio into a star in the making at SummerSlam last night. Some fans will undoubtedly gripe about nepotism and maybe they wouldn't be entirely wrong, but we can at least say that Dominik made the most of the incredible chance and trust WWE gave him
It will be interesting to see what's next for the younger Mysterio.
SummerSlam Winner: Roman Reigns
The match between Braun Strowman and The Fiend was unremarkable. In hindsight, even the Fiend's victory for the Universal Championship was unremarkable.
The big story of this match was Roman Reigns, who returned in a completely unexpected fashion and battered The Fiend. He showed a hardness and edge that we aren't used to seeing from him.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, it would seem. More eyes are going to be on Roman Reigns than on the new champion as SmackDown enters the last third of the year. It was a shock to the system the Blue brand needed.
