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In less than two weeks, WWE will present their second-biggest pay-per-view of the year, SummerSlam. The hope is that the event takes place outdoors, away from the Performance Center. Nothing has been announced, but it would be a welcome change from the past few months of WWE programming.
With a potentially unique setting, SummerSlam looks to be one of the most entertaining WWE shows of the year. It would do well to match up to last year's edition of the 'Biggest Party of the Summer'. Taking place a year ago to the day, SummerSlam 2019 was consistent, satisfying, and provided an excellent quality of wrestling.
Some of the most notable moments included Seth Rollins pinning Brock Lesnar clean in the main event, Kevin Owens getting one over Shane McMahon, and Kofi Kingston fighting Randy Orton to a double count-out. We also saw a dream match between Charlotte Flair and Trish Stratus, as well as The Fiend's in-ring debut against Finn Balor.
However, there were a couple of happenings from SummerSlam 2019 that may have skipped the memory, some of the more understated moments surrounding the show that fans have probably forgotten about. Here are five things you may not remember about SummerSlam 2019.
#5 Goldberg was in the second match at SummerSlam 2019
Following a catastrophic main event match against The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia, Goldberg wanted the opportunity to make amends and prove that he could still do it in the ring. He got that chance at SummerSlam, a month after The Undertaker had a successful outing at Extreme Rules.
Rather surprisingly, Goldberg's match against Dolph Ziggler was second on the SummerSlam card. It was a quick sprint, which saw the WWE Hall of Famer maul 'The Showoff' with a devastating Spear. Ziggler sold it perfectly, making Goldberg look like a million bucks at SummerSlam.
After a heelish post-match promo from Ziggler, Goldberg came back for more. He hit a couple more Spears, each of them looking more and more vicious. This match at SummerSlam 2019 would have been the perfect way for Goldberg's WWE career to end, a dominant squash, instead of the Universal Title reign he had in the lead-up to WrestleMania 36.
#4 Becky Lynch and Bayley had surprising challengers at SummerSlam 2019
The marquee women's match at SummerSlam 2019 was between Charlotte Flair and Trish Stratus, a dream match that truly delivered. So with The Queen booked up and Sasha Banks set to return on the RAW after SummerSlam, WWE had to field two understated challengers for Becky Lynch and Bayley heading into the 'Biggest Party of the Summer'.
The RAW Women's Champion faced a stern test in the form of a Submission Match against Canada's own Natalya. While nobody expected the title to change hands, Lynch and Natalya contested in a stellar bout, opening SummerSlam with a bang. This was one of the best matches of The Man's year-long reign on top of the red brand.
Meanwhile, Bayley was still a babyface a year ago when she challenged Ember Moon to a SmackDown Women's Title match at SummerSlam. It was refreshing to see Moon in the title picture on a big stage. Unfortunately, the two never really clicked and the match suffered a great deal as a result.
Bayley's character has been on the up since that match, as she turned heel shortly after the event. She will defend her SmackDown Women's Championship at this year's SummerSlam, in a match that will likely be better than her effort against Ember Moon a year ago.
#3 Seth Rollins entered SummerSlam 2019 to boos and left a hero
SummerSlam 2019 was headlined by Seth Rollins and his impressive Universal Title victory over Brock Lesnar. It was a courageous performance from the 'Architect', vastly different from his role as the villain opposite the debuting Dominik Mysterio at this year's show. However, you wouldn't think he was the babyface at the start of the match.
As a result of some questionable booking and his recent Twitter activity, Rollins was mercilessly booed by the Toronto crowd as he made his way to the ring. The fans wanted to see Lesnar destroy him and end their feud victorious. But as the action got red-hot over the course of the match, the tide turned.
Rollins' gutsy performance garnered more and more cheers from the SummerSlam crowd. And by the end of the match, he had the entire arena on their feet for him as he finally earned a clean victory over The Beast. The fact that he got an incredibly hostile set of fans to cheer for him within 15 minutes is a testament to Seth Rollins' tremendous in-ring abilities.
This was a fantastic moment, an emotional one for the 'Beastslayer'. He had turned the public's perception of him around at SummerSlam, just like that. Unfortunately, WWE did Rollins dirty by placing him in a feud with the much more popular Bray Wyatt a month later.
#2 Edge hit his first Spear in over 8 years on the SummerSlam 2019 Kickoff Show
Edge is now back as a wrestler, returning as a surprise in this year's Royal Rumble Match. His run so far has been pretty great, proving just how brilliant a storyteller he is. Edge has cut some excellent promos while bringing the best out of Randy Orton as well. He might not be a part of SummerSlam, but the rivalry between the two is not done yet.
The Rated-R Superstar's impending return from his triceps tear will surely garner as much excitement as his first physical in-ring involvement in over eight years did. Coming out as a surprise to his hometown crowd of Toronto, Edge interrupted Elias on the Kickoff Show of last year's SummerSlam.
With the electric crowd cheering him relentlessly, Edge hit WWE's Resident Guitarist with a Spear, his first since April 2011. This sparked the wild rumblings of his in-ring return, that came to fruition less than six months later. This was a wonderful moment and arguably should have been on the main SummerSlam card.
Either way, it was a lovely surprise worthy of the second biggest WWE pay-per-view of the year. Major props must also go to Elias, who was not aware that he would be getting Speared until that very moment.
#1 One of the biggest angles at the time was not even on the SummerSlam 2019 card
SummerSlam 2019 had nine matches on the card, with a number of notable omissions. The biggest of them were Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan, who were part of possibly the biggest angle in WWE at the time. The Big Dog had been targetted backstage by a mystery attacker, who threw a scaffolding on him and nearly attacked Reigns with his car.
With the likely culprits being Bryan and Erick Rowan, it looked like we would get a major segment regarding this at SummerSlam. However, the only mention this angle got was when Rowan attacked Buddy Murphy on the Kickoff Show, for "falsely" accusing him on SmackDown.
There even seemed to be a possible Reigns vs. Bryan match lined up for SummerSlam, but it wasn't to be. The story continued on TV, but it eventually petered out after Rowan was revealed as the attacker. WWE turned Bryan face and paired him with Reigns, as the two defeated Rowan and the returning Luke Harper at Hell in a Cell.
For a storyline that had so much potential at the beginning, the 'Whodunnit' angle surrounding Roman Reigns ended up being a massive disappointment. SummerSlam would have been perfect for some form of development for this storyline.
SummerSlam 2019 was a great show, but the lack of Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan was evident. Even Murphy's matches against the two of them after SummerSlam would have made the show even better.
