WWE SummerSlam review: A brother’s betrayal

The Usos are no more, at least for now.

The shocking end of Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam saw Jimmy Uso cost his brother, Jey, his match against Roman Reigns. After the masked man that was Jimmy broke up a pinfall, revealed himself and, after a very lengthy staredown, superkicked his own twin brother. Reigns ultimately won a plodding match that ended what was mostly a good show with a whimper.

Why exactly Jimmy turned on Jey we’ll find out over due time. Or maybe not as WWE storylines are weird like that sometimes. Perhaps it’s a short term feud leading to the two brothers ultimately reuniting to take on Reigns whenever he returns. It’s a weird twist to the ongoing Bloodline storyline that I didn’t really see coming. It was natural to assume that Reigns’ schedule for the rest of the fall would likely involve feuding with Jimmy and eventually Solo Sikoa. But now everything seems up in the air with the turn.

The match itself was not great. A lot of it was either Reigns and Jey staring at each other (creating DRAMA) or Reigns getting heat forever on Jey, neither of which was all that interesting in a show that had already reached the four-hour mark. Of course, Sikoa got involved and it did pick up a little from there, but ultimately the match was a disappointment in the long-running Bloodline feud which had mostly delivered up to this point.

Here’s my thoughts on the rest of the card:

• Cody Rhodes defeated Brock Lesnar in what ended up being an excellent, dramatic match which I thought was the best match on the show in terms of storytelling and execution. The only drawback is that I thought the Lesnar beatdown was maybe a little too long, but it was effective in setting up Rhodes’ eventual comeback and win. The kimura spot toward the end was excellent — callback to their Saudi Arabia match. The question now is what will Rhodes do in the fall before the eventual return to feuding with Reigns. Judgment Day?
• Logan Paul defeated Ricochet in the opening match. It was good and both came off as athletic, but for all the build, I kind of expected more. There were some cool moves, but I didn’t think anything was “going viral” as the advertising for this match had said. Paul won and probably needed to as he’s lost his last few matches and needs a few wins at this point.
• There’s not much to say about the battle royal as it was every WWE battle royal you’ve ever seen. LA Knight finally got his big win, last eliminating Sheamus. Knight is a story to watch in the coming weeks as it’s clear he’s getting over despite his push. It may be time to push him like he’s a star and this may have been the start of that.
• Oh boy, the MMA fight between Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler. This didn’t work at all. They tried to work an MMA style match, but some of what they did didn’t make sense and the crowd completely turned on it with people visibly leaving the stands as Rousey and Baszler grappled. There was also a weird spot where Baszler got “injured” and they took a minute to send medical in to check on her which does not happen in an MMA fight. Then, Rousey destroyed the doctors which definitely does not happen in an MMA fight. This was a style WWE fans weren’t used to and were turned off by it as a result, and the confusing rules didn’t help much either. The match perfectly encapsulated Rousey’s second run in the WWE where there were a bunch of ideas, but none of them were executed well.
• Gunther’s run as Intercontinental Champion continued as he downed Drew McIntyre. If you’ve seen these two wrestle, you know exactly what happened here. This was very good while it lasted, but by the end, I was thinking this would have been an excellent match if it had gone on for another few minutes. Still, with what they were given, this was a hard-hitting bout that delivered what you’d expect.
• Finn Balor did not become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but had a match with Seth Rollins that was significantly better than their match at Money in the Bank and was the best match on the show in terms of in-ring action. This was a hot back and forth affair with some excellent near falls, including one at the end that I thought for sure was the finish when the Judgment Day interfered, distracting Rollins and allowing Balor to hit the sling blade and the Coup de Gras. But it was Damian Priest’s briefcase that cost Balor with Priest putting it on the apron as he distracted the referee, allowing Rollins to stomp Balor onto the briefcase for the win. I thought that they should hold off on a split between Priest and Balor as the act is pretty hot right now, but they seem to be moving forward with it.
• The WWE Women’s Championship match also ended up being a very good match. I thought the finish was clever with Bianca Belair rolling up Asuka as she was in Charlotte Flair’s Figure Eight to score the surprise win. But that won’t be what people remember as IYO SKY immediately ran down to the ring. With Bayley’s help clearing the field, SKY cashed in, hit the moonsault, and won the title. I feel like the eventual WrestleMania match will be Belair vs. Flair, so there’s plenty of twists and turns left with this title until it’s time to go in that direction.

SummerSlam had its ups and downs, but overall I thought it was good with the Rhodes/Brock match probably being the highlight and Balor/Rollins not too far behind. With most of the spring and summer storylines now wrapped, it’s time to start building for the fall. We saw some glimpses, as it seems like a lock that Jimmy and Jey Uso will meet at Payback next month. We’ll likely be seeing more clues as soon as this week’s Raw and SmackDown.