SummerSlam 2019 Review

Sunday, August 11th, 2019
Scotiabank Arena
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Submission Match For The Raw Women's Championship
Becky Lynch vs. Natalya

I had a feeling this one would kick things off. Well, I guess if you count the fourth match as kicking things off. They both slap one another to start things off, while Michael Cole tells us that it was SummerSlam last year that started everything for The Man. Now they are claiming that this match has been the talk of Toronto. I highly doubt that. Becky gets Natalya in a triangle hold and Nattie eventually gets Lynch up, but Lynch goes to work on her legs. Natalya does a Cesaro swing into the barricade outside of the ring and then after getting her back into the ring, hits a suplex where Lynch's legs hit the ropes. Natalya puts Becky in a Sharpshooter while sitting on the top rope in a creative spot. Becky reverses Natalya and throws her arm first into the table. We have a dueling chant of "Let's go Becky" and "Becky sucks". I believe that's the first time for that one? Natalya hits a really nice superplex and both women are down. The crowd is doing their part in this match, let's hope they are able to keep it up for another 8 hours. Becky blocks a dropkick and puts Natalya into the Sharpshooter. Natalya is eventually able to roll through and bounce Becky's head off the second turnbuckle. They get a "This is awesome" chant. While this has been really solid so far, I feel like that is setting the bar far too low for the worst chant in wrestling. Natalya gets Becky in the Sharpshooter and Lynch crawls under the ropes, which doesn't technically break the hold, but Natalya has to break it to try and get a better grip. She goes for it again, but Becky puts her in the Disarm Her and after putting up a good fight, she taps. Lynch retains in a solid opener that had the crowd invested.

Match Rating: ***1/4 (out of 5)

Trish Stratus is backstage for an interview. Trish tells Charlotte that if she thinks she's the queen, then she's the queen of queens. Pretty mellow interview there from Trish.

The Goldberg match is next, so I am turning on the watch along show that WWE runs on YouTube because Matt Riddle is on it and this should be fun. He mentioned that he bumped into him backstage about how they need to have a talk. Pretty funny stuff.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Goldberg

This is still one of the most random matches return match that I can remember maybe other than Mick Foley vs. Carlito. I bet you didn't remember that one even happened on a pay-per-view. This Riddle stuff is pretty hilarious. Ziggler hits him with a superkick right out of nowhere and gets a 2 count. He hits another one and Goldberg kicks out again. Goldberg then drills him with a spear. Goldberg hits the Jackhammer and that's all.  After the match, Ziggler while on the ground insults Goldberg and calls him out. Goldberg heads back to the ring and hits him with another spear. Ziggler has the mic again and insults Goldberg again and says that he is the best thing going. Goldberg's music hits again and here he comes. Goldberg knocks the mic away and picks up the limp Ziggler, pats him on the back and pretends to walk away. He runs off the ropes and hits him with another spear. I'm still not sure what the point of that was, but the crowd enjoyed it, so I guess it was worth it in that regard, but I say it should have ended after the first spear.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Kofi is back with New Day and they bring in "Drake" Maverick. Hilarity ensues.

United States Championship Match
Ricochet vs AJ Styles

No one knows why they didn't do the Club schtick when they had the chance to a couple of years ago. At least they recognized the missed opportunity. Ricochet is wearing a full bodysuit, superhero style. Ricochet walks on the shoulders of Gallows and Anderson and then leaps to do a hurricanrana on Styles. Ricochet is not human. They are back in the ring and Styles takes out Ricochet's leg. Ricochet tries to fight back, but Styles takes out his leg again. Ricochet fights back and is selling the leg well. He hits a nice one legged springboard elbow drop. Styles gets hit with a neckbreaker and a standing moonsault, but is able to kick out. Styles is a really good babyface, but I love him as a heel too. Styles hits a baseball slide dropkick through the ropes. Ricochet is trying to fight through the injury, but Styles rolls through into a Calf Crusher. Ricochet escapes and goes into the Anaconda Vice. Haven't seen that one in awhile. Northern Lights suplex by Ricochet and he holds on and hits another suplex for a 2 count. Ricochet uses all his strength to drag Styles to the corner, Anderson and Gallows interfere, so Ricochet hits a moonsault. He goes up top, but Styles crotches him, but Ricochet fights him and Anderson off .AJ catches his top rope masterpiece and hits him with the Styles Clash for the victory. That was an awesome finish. Not the barn burner I was hoping for, but that was still an entertaining and smartly worked match. After the match Gallows and Anderson hit Ricochet with the Magic Killer.

Match Rating: ***1/2

The Street Profits are backstage and give us a recap of what has happened so far. Dawkins is talking about Nikki Cross and in walks Ric Flair to a big pop and we get a whole lot of woo'ing.

SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Ember Moon vs. Bayley

This is another random matchup, but one I think that has a lot of potential. Moon takes control early on. Bayley avoids a springboard crossbody and then hits a big knee strike for a 2 count. Bayley hangs Moon on the top rope and then hits a suplex for another 2 count. The pacing of this match is telling me it might go 10+ minutes. Bayley catches Moon's spear through the rope and uses the middle rope as a weapon. Bayley hangs Moon in the tree of woe and hits a nice elbow drop. Moon  looks a little timid so far here. Bayley puts her in a reverse Boston Crab. Moon hits a superkick and then goes for a suicide dive, but Bayley blocks it. Bayley goes up top, but Moon hits a top rope hurricanrana. Moon hits a cool variation of the Codebreaker for a 2 count. The crowd is just not buying Moon as a contender here. Moon blocks a hurricanrana and turns it into a powerbomb. Moon goes up top, but Bayley scales the ropes and hits a super Bayley-to-Belly for the victory. Not bad, but ultimately a little disappointing. It seemed like they had some moments where they weren't on the same page in terms of how they wanted that match to go.

Match Rating: **1/2

If Kevin Owens Loses, He Must Quit
Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens

No surprise here, but KO is over big time here in Toronto. I'm in the minority that thinks Shane has done a good job as a heel this year. However, I also don't watch Raw and SmackDown, so I'm not getting the entire picture. Shane announces that Elias is going to be the special enforcer for the match. Shane baits Owens into chasing him and Elias trips him. Owens almost gets counted out as a result. Owens knocks down Shane with a big right and then hits a cannonball. Elias provides another distraction and Shane tosses Owens into the barricade. Shane goes for a Sharpshooter, but Owens kicks out and hits the pop up powerbomb. Elias distracts the ref, so we get no pinfall attempt. There's a chair in the ring and Shane tries to get him to hit him by taunting him and then a slap to the face. Superkick to Shane and then Owens hits a senton and then a frog splash off the top rope, but Elias rips the ref off the mat. Owens hits a cannonball on Elias, who also takes out actual ref. Owens then takes out some aggression on Elias with a steel chair. Owens is about to use the chair on Shane, but he sees the ref coming into the ring and stops. When the ref is getting rid of the chair, he hits a low blow and a Stunner for the victory. In terms of match quality, there was way too much of the Elias stuff going on to make this thing cohesive. However, the crowd was hot and Owens came out of this looking great. Can't complain about that.

Match Rating: **

Charlotte Flair vs. Trish Stratus

This one should be interesting. Charlotte really has become the name in WWE women's wrestling and Trish is obviously going to want to go out with a bang here. They give Trish the showcase here at the beginning so that she can get the "You still got it" chant. They're on the outside and Charlotte trips her up on the ring steps, causing Trish to hit her face on the steps. Trish looks to be in phenomenal shape for a 42 year old who is not active, but that's not surprising given her background. Charlotte going for the reeeeeeal sloooooww heel heat here. Trish finally shows some fight, but it doesn't last long. I was hoping for a real compact like 8-10 minute match here, but they obviously had different goals here. Trish is back on offense and attacks Charlotte with a flurry of chops. Big boot by Charlotte and then Trish goes for the headscissors off the top rope, but it's blocked. Charlotte goes for the super powerbomb, but Trish counters with a great hurricanrana and gets a 2 count. Charlotte hits a huge boot to the face, but Trish kicks out again. Trish does a nice roll through and puts Charlotte in the Figure Four and into the Figure Eight. Stratusfaction and it's not enough. Shame on me, they have won the crowd over here. Chick Kick by Trish and again it's not enough. Charlotte hits a kick and puts her in the Figure Eight for the victory. That was pretty solid once it got going. Trish gets the standing ovation after the match, which is well deserved. She survived a lot of bad storylines in her career. A lot.

Match Rating: **3/4

Bret Hart wishes Seth Rollins a good match backstage. Kind of a surprise after his AEW involvement.

WWE Championship Match
Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston

Awesome video package for this one. I am not a big Randy Orton fan, but when he's dialed in he's very good. He seems to be invested in this one. Randy tries to give Kofi a pancake, but Kofi isn't having it. It's fun to see Kofi work with a chip on his shoulder here. Kofi goes up top and Orton shoves him off to the floor. After some more high risk offense from Kofi, Orton dumps Kofi on the announcers table to regain control. We haven't really had a sustained segment for either guy yet. Kofi now is in control and hits the Boom Drop. I looked away for a second and now Randy is on offense and mocking the New Day clap. Kofi dumps Orton outside and hits him with his free fall leap. Kofi then hits a frog splash to a standing. Next thing you know, Orton hits his DDT from the second rope. Gorilla Monsoon is somewhere watching telling everyone that this is a seesaw battle. Kofi counters the RKO with a backslide for a 2 count. Kofi hits a kick to the face and runs up top. He leaps off the top rope and gets hit with the RKO. Kofi is able to roll outside and Orton is now working right in front of Kofi's family. Kofi snaps and the bell rings? This finish sucks and the crowd agrees. Kofi goes nuts on Orton and eventually hits Trouble In Paradise, but the crowd still isn't happy. The official decision is a double countout. That was really disappointing. Hopefully we'll get the match we wanted to see at the next show.

Match Rating: **

Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt

Yeah, I'm probably in the minority, but I hate this Bray Wyatt character. To me this is nothing that I want to see. Wyatt goes after Finn right away. This has all the feelings of a squash here. Wyatt hits Rock Bottom and goes for Sister Abigail. Finn fights back and hits slingblade and a stomp. Balor goes off the top, but Wyatt catches him with the Mandible Claw for the victory. Yeah, this is terrible. Get this off my TV.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Universal Championship Match
Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar

I'm curious to see where they go with the booking here. Lesnar goes right after the injured ribs. Say what you will about Brock, but his matches feel different than the rest of the card. Lesnar lands off of one of Brock's Germans and hits the Stomp but only gets a 2 count. Lesnar gets hit with a running knee off the apron. Rollins lands off another German and hits two kicks, but Lesnar hits a F5, but Brock is unable to cover. It didn't take much for these guys to win the crowd over. Lesnar picks up Rollins by the bandage over his ribs and tosses him around. Okay, that was awesome. Brock hits a German suplex on the outside. I like this Brock. Brock hits another German inside the ring. Rollins is able to slam Lesnar into the ring post twice and tosses Brock back in the ring. Seth hits a springboard knee and goes to the top rope and misses and Lesnar hits a German with a release halfway across the ring. Lesnar wears him down, but Seth is able to avoid a shoulder to the gut and Lesnar hits the ring post. Rollins kicks Lesnar off the apron and then hits the suicide dive twice, but on the third attempt Lesnar caught him and drove Lesnar through the ring post. Rollins is able to get a kick to the face and goes up to the top of the ring post and hits a frog splash on Brock through the announcer table. Both men get to the ring and Rollins hits a frog splash in the ring. Rollins hits the Stomp, but it's not enough. These guys are really bringing it tonight. Seth goes for a superkick, but Lesnar gets him up for the F5. Rollins escapes and hits the superkick and then the Stomp again and we have a new champion! That match may have just re-made Rollins there. That was a really entertaining, hard hitting and fast paced match that most people don't think Brock is capable of having anymore. Really good stuff.

Match Rating: ****1/4

Well, this wasn't the home run they were probably hoping for, but it was a stand up double. The booking made sense for the most part, which is rare in today's environment. So right there, that is a victory for WWE fans. We were treated to an awesome main event, some nostalgia and a couple of good matches. There was some "meh" stuff thrown in there, but the show not running 5 hours was also a huge plus. This isn't a must watch outside of the main event, but chances are you'll enjoy a few things along the way.

Overall Rating: 71%