WWE SummerSlam 2018: Analysing and grading each match

The 2018 WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view took place in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday.

Thirteen matches were on the stacked card, including Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship), AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Championship), Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins (Intercontinental Championship) and Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.

Both women’s divisions were also represented, with Ronda Rousey challenging Alexa Bliss (Raw Women’s Championship) and Carmella competing in a Triple Threat match against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair (SmackDown Women’s Championship).

Elsewhere on the card, Shinsuke Nakamura faced Jeff Hardy (United States Championship), Kevin Owens challenged Braun Strowman (Money In The Bank briefcase), The Bludgeon Brothers took on The New Day (SmackDown Tag Team Championships), and Finn Balor went one-on-one with Baron Corbin.

Three matches were on the event’s kickoff show: Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak (Cruiserweight Championship), The B-Team vs. The Revival (Raw Tag Team Championships), and Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega vs. Rusev & Lana.

In this article, let’s break down every match and take a look at what was good and bad about this year’s SummerSlam.

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#1 Kickoff show: Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega def. Rusev & Lana

Aiden English stayed away from ringside for the match

Match: The early stages of this match were contested by Andrade “Cien” Almas and Rusev, then Lana finally got her hands on Zelina Vega when Rusev tagged her in. After a distraction on the apron from Almas, Lana slapped “El Idolo” in the face before being rolled up for the 1-2-3, with some help from the middle rope, by Vega.

Verdict: The big surprise here was that the unreliable Aiden English actually obeyed Rusev’s pre-match orders and stayed away from ringside. The match itself was fairly entertaining for a kickoff show encounter, with the Brooklyn crowd interested and getting involved in chants from start to finish. Overall, a positive way to start the event.

Grade: C

#2 Kickoff show: Cedric Alexander def. Drew Gulak (Cruiserweight Championship)

Match: Drew Gulak was dominant for most of this match, inflicting lots of damage to Cedric Alexander’s neck and left arm. The match turned around when Cedric elbowed Drew in the face after a battle on the apron, leading to an incredible Spanish Fly from the champ. Then, after several near-falls in succession, Cedric got the 1-2-3 with a roll-up.

Verdict: This match has split fans on social media, with some saying the final sequence looked botched (Cedric essentially pulled Drew on top of him for one of the near-falls) and others praising its creativity. While the finish did look clumsy, the story of the match was very good. A win for Gulak would have been nice, but his time will come!

Grade: B-

#3 Kickoff show: The B-Team def. The Revival (Raw Tag Team Championships)

Match: The story of the match revolved around Bo Dallas’ right leg, which The Revival injured early on before taking Curtis Axel out with a Shatter Machine. When Axel was finally tagged in, he was pinned for a 4-count by Scott Dawson but the referee’s back was turned. Dash Wilder then inadvertently pushed Bo into the pinfall, which Axel reversed to pin Dawson for the 1-2-3.

Verdict: Really?! Sometimes WWE match finishes are amazing and sometimes they’re so absurd that all you can do is laugh. This belongs in the latter category. The Revival, in many fans’ eyes, are legitimately one of the best tag teams on the planet, but they were made to look more like 2013-era 3MB here. Not cool, WWE, not cool.

Grade: D-

#4 Seth Rollins def. Dolph Ziggler (Intercontinental Championship)

Match: After a back-and-forth 18 minutes, SummerSlam got its first “This is awesome!” chant when Seth Rollins landed an incredible top-rope inverted suplex on Dolph Ziggler before turning it into a modified sidewalk slam. It then looked like Dolph would win after a Drew McIntyre distraction, only for Dean Ambrose to hit the Scot with a Dirty Deeds, which led to Seth getting the victory with a Superkick followed by a Curb Stomp.

Verdict: This might be an unpopular opinion, but it felt like this match took way too long to get going. However, once it did, it was exceptional. The sequences towards the end made it feel like either guy could walk out as IC champ, while Ambrose and McIntyre were used well at ringside throughout the match.

Grade: A-

#5 The New Day def. The Bludgeon Brothers via disqualification (SmackDown Tag Team Championships)

The Enter caption — The Bludgeon Brothers were close to losing their titles

Match: The New Day (Xavier Woods & Big E) gave The Bludgeon Brothers their toughest test yet and looked like favourites to win when Xavier landed a high-flying elbow to Harper on the outside. However, the match came to an early end when Rowan caused a disqualification after using a mallet on his opponents.

Verdict: Fans will have complaints about the disqualification, but this was a really good match with a creative finish which furthers the storyline. The Bludgeon Brothers looked beatable for the first time in 10 months, while New Day showed a serious side to their characters that we don’t see very often.

Grade: B-

#6 Braun Strowman def. Kevin Owens (Money In The Bank contract)

Match: Braun Strowman started the match by running through Kevin Owens multiple times at ringside before chokeslamming him on the stage. Once they got back into the ring, Braun hit his running powerslam finisher and pinned KO, ending the match in less than two minutes.

Verdict: If there’s a non-storyline reason why this match was so short (e.g. a legitimate injury to Owens), then the manner of Braun’s victory is understandable. If not, it’s disappointing to see KO lose like this. The former Universal champ deserves to be involved in Match of the Night candidates at PPVs, not squash matches.

Grade: D

#7 Charlotte Flair def. Becky Lynch and Carmella (SmackDown Women’s Championship)

Charlotte Flair has now won seven titles on the main roster

Match: Carmella succeeded in turning Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair against each other, leading to a competitive match which looked like it could have been won by any of the three women. In the end, Charlotte broke up Becky’s Dis-arm-her on Carmella and struck her best friend with Natural Selection to get the win. That wasn’t the end of the drama, though, as a post-match hug between Becky and Charlotte resulted in Becky attacking the new champ.

Verdict: While this wasn’t quite the show-stealing Match of the Night contender that many people thought it could be, Becky’s shocking attack on Charlotte after the match more than made up for it. All the talk now will be about Becky vs. Charlotte, but credit to Carmella for the best performance of her career so far.

Grade: A-

#8 Samoa Joe def. AJ Styles via disqualification (WWE Championship)

the — AJ Styles didn't hold back against Samoa Joe

Match: Samoa Joe pulled out all the stops in an attempt to defeat AJ Styles, kicking out of an incredible Styles Clash before sending a message to his opponent’s wife and daughter (watching on from ringside) that he can be their “new daddy”. The WWE champ then lost control and got himself disqualified when he launched Joe through the barricade and struck him multiple times with a chair.

Verdict: Despite the disqualification finish, this was arguably the best one-on-one WWE title match since Styles vs. John Cena at the 2017 Royal Rumble. Joe was especially impressive, both on the mic and in the ring. The only negative came at the end when Styles’ daughter seemed legitimately scared when her bloodied father attempted to reassure her that everything was okay.

Grade: A

#9 The Miz def. Daniel Bryan

The Miz reu — The Miz required assistance from Maryse

Match: The Miz withstood plenty of offence from Daniel Bryan, ranging from “Yes!” kicks to various different submissions, to defeat his long-term rival in controversial circumstances. After being handed an object at ringside from Maryse, Miz punched Bryan in the head from the outside of the ring before rushing through the ropes to quickly cover him for the 1-2-3.

Verdict: It always felt leading up to SummerSlam that this would be the first of many matches between The Miz and Bryan, so the shenanigans involving Maryse perfectly sets up the next encounter. This was D-Bry’s best PPV match since his return – now can we have them battle it out inside Hell In A Cell?

Grade: B+

#10 “Demon” Finn Balor def. Baron Corbin

BaEnter caption — Baron Corbin went one-on-one with the "Demon"

Match: Just as the WWE Universe was awaiting the arrival of Finn Balor for one of the least anticipated matches of the night, the heartbeat of the Irishman’s music hit and he appeared in full “Demon” attire. Baron Corbin barely got any offence in and was convincingly defeated in just 95 seconds after a Coup de Grace.

Verdict: Well, this was interesting! Corbin’s reaction to seeing the “Demon” for the first time was priceless, but it does seem a little odd that WWE decided to bring back Balor’s alter-ego for such a low-profile match. Let’s hope the “Demon” is unleashed on more PPVs moving forward!

Grade: C+

#11 Shinsuke Nakamura def. Jeff Hardy (United States Championship)

Match: Jeff Hardy dodged a low-blow from Shinsuke Nakamura before connecting with a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb, but Nakamura held onto the rope from the resulting pinfall. Following a second Twist of Fate and failed Swanton Bomb onto the apron, Nakamura struck Jeff with a Kinshasa to retain his title. Randy Orton appeared post-match and teased another attack on Jeff, only to change his mind and walk to the back.

Verdict: This match went as expected. The United States Championship has changed hands far too many times over the last year, so let's hope Nakamura can have a meaningful reign as champ. Orton, the star of this storyline over the last few weeks, looks set to be in the title picture next.

Grade: C

#12 Ronda Rousey def. Alexa Bliss (Raw Women’s Championship)

Match: Alexa Bliss tried to escape in the early stages, so Ronda Rousey enticed her back into the ring by sitting cross-legged in the middle of the canvas with her back to her opponent. When Bliss tried to capitalise, Ronda rag-dolled her around the ring before making her tap to an armbar. Following the match, Ronda was joined by Natalya and the Bella Twins in the ring to celebrate.

Verdict: This was one of the least competitive title matches you’re likely to witness. After seeing the way Alicia Fox threw Ronda around so easily on Raw a couple of weeks ago, it would have been nice for Bliss to at least get some decent offence in. That being said, now feels like the right time for “The Baddest Woman On The Planet” to hold the title. All the best to her challengers!

Grade: B+

#13 Roman Reigns def. Brock Lesnar (Universal Championship)

Match start: Braun Strowman appeared at the start, announcing that he would stand at ringside and cash-in his MITB contract after the match. As soon as the main event began, Roman Reigns connected with four Superman punches and three spears, only for Brock Lesnar to catch him in a guillotine.

Match finish: Reigns was on the receiving end of multiple suplexes from Lesnar, who then hit Strowman with an F5 and several chair shots before throwing the MITB briefcase up the entrance ramp. Once he returned to the ring, “The Beast” was struck with a spear by Reigns, who pinned him for the 1-2-3.

Verdict: Full credit to WWE for the booking of this match. The majority of the Brooklyn crowd didn’t want to see Reigns vs. Lesnar but the presence of Strowman stopped fans from hijacking the match. This wasn’t too long, the MITB tease was great, and the finish was unexpected. Overall, a very enjoyable main event. Roll on Raw with a full-time champ!

Grade: A

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Edited by Shiven Sachdeva