SummerSlam 2020 Review

Sunday, August 23rd, 2020
Amway Center
Orlando, Florida

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SmackDown Women's Championship Match

Asuka vs. Bayley

Asuka starts off hot with a dropkick and eventually knocks her off the apron. Outside the ring, Asuka hits a leaping DDT in a really nice looking spot. Bayley makes a comeback by hitting jumping off the second turnbuckle and hitting a neckbreaker over the middle rope. Bayley tries to wear down Asuka with a headlock. Bayley catches an Asuka kick and hits the Bayley-to-belly, but Asuka kicks out. Asuka hits her with a kick to the head and both women are down. Asuka gets her second win and hits a Hip Apptack in the corner and then a knee to the face. She hits another Hip Attack, this time with Bayley on her knees. Asuka goes for a Hip Attack on the apron, but Bayley catches her and throws her knees first on the apron. Bayley puts Asuka in a submission that I'm not familiar with, similar to a reverse Figure Four. Asuka gets out and hits a running knee for a 2 count. Bayley puts her in a knee bar and Asuka is screaming in pain, but is able to get to the ropes. Bayly hits a variation of the sunset flip bomb, tossing Asuka in to the turnbuckle. Bayley goes for a top rope elbow drop, but Asuka catches her and puts her into a submission hold, but Sasha Banks uses distraction to help her get out of it. Sasha again distracts her and Bayley almost steals the victory with a roll up. Sasha again distracts her and Bayley this time gets the victory. Sasha runs in and starts attacking Asuka. The storytelling here was simple, but effective and the action was solid. Good opener.

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

Dominik is back with his parents and tells Rey that he wants to handle this fight on his own. Rey gives him his word that he won't get involved. 

Kevin Owens is here to join as a guest announcer. 

Raw Tag Team Championship Match

Angel Garza & Andrade vs. The Street Profits

Andrade gets a couple of stiff shots to start things off, but Ford hits a hurricanrana off the top rope and they send Andrade out of the ring. Ford goes for a somersault dive over the top rope, but Andrade and Garza catch him and slam him to the mat. Andrade sets Ford on the apron and Garza hits a running dropkick, knocking him to the floor. Garza and Andrade continue to both be some of the most entertaining performers in WWE right now, which means they will certainly lose this match. Andrade puts Ford in an arm bar, while draping himself over the top rope. Andrade sets Ford up on the second rope and Garza hits a running knee. Garza hits a running kick this time with Ford in the tree of woe and then Andrade hits a top rope stomp on him. Dawkins has yet to be tagged into the match. Ford finally makes the tag and Dawkins steamrolls Andrade with some elbows. Andrade hits a huge back elbow, but Dawkins is able to hit a spear. I'm sorry, but that elbow looked vicious and there is no reason Dawkins should have immediately hit the spear. Ford gets tagged in and hits his beautiful crossbody, but Garza rolls through and almost gets the victory. Zelina is up on the apron, distracting the ref. Garza hits a superkick, but Ford's momentum knocks Zelina off the apron. Andrade is checking in on him. Dawkins hits the Cash Out and Ford hits the splash for the victory. I like the Street Profits quite a bit, but I think Garza and Andrade are top tier performers. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Bayley and Sasha Banks are here for an interview with Kayla Braxton. Sasha says that if Bayley can beat Asuka, then she knows that she can beat Asuka too. Bayley brings out the broom and says that tonight will be a clean sweep. 

No Disqualification Loser Leaves WWE Match

Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose

As I have seen all over Twitter, Mandy is rocking the Sharon Stone look tonight. They immediately head outside and Mandy hits a suplex on the apron. Mandy throws Sonya into the barricade and then hits a leaping clothesline off the announcer table. Mandy pulls out a table from under the ring. Sonya is able to hit her with a chair to the midsection and slams her face first into the announcer table. Back in the ring, Deville hits a running knee. They really need to mandate that only a select number of superstars use moves like the superkick and knee strikes. It's getting out of control. Sonya puts Mandy in a Dragon Sleeper. Mandy starts to fight back with some slaps and hits a running knee on Deville. Mandy starts chucking chairs at Sonya, but Sonya hits a bicycle kick on her. Mandy hits a trio of running knees back in the ring and hits a variation of a piledriver, but slams her face first. She hits another running knee and gets the victory. The match was entertaining, but I was hoping for something a little bit more special. I think it would have benefited from a live crowd. Otis comes out after the match to celebrate with his love. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Street Fight

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Rollins wearing Rey's outfit from Halloween Havoc is a great touch. I haven't been watching the current WWE product, but I have seen the clips of the build of this match and it has me intrigued. I know it's not cool to love Rollins now, but he is really one of the best in the business as a heel. Dominik immediately shows that he is legit with some of his lucha libre style moves. I know he has been training for awhile, so I am nowhere near as surprised as I was last night by McAfee's performance. Rollins bullies Dominik and hits a body slam. Buddy Murphy hands Rollins a kendo stick, but Dominik hits a dropkick and grabs the kendo stick. He chases him around the ring, but Rollins is able to knock it out of his hands on the way back in. As he continues to beat on Dominik, he taunts Rey to get involved. Buddy now slides Seth a chair. He tries to hit a Stomp while leaping off a chair, but Dominik avoids it and hits a drop toe hold, sending Rollins into the chair. Rollins goes for a buckle bomb, but Dominik counters for a hurricanrana. Dominik hits a DDT for a nearfall. Dominik now grabs the kendo stick and starts wailing away. Dominik tries to head up to the top rope, but Rollins hits him with a right forearm. Dominik shoves him off, but Rollins comes running up and hits a superplex and then rolls through to the Falcon Arrow for a 2 count. Rollins now has the kendo stick and is all over Dominik with it. Rollins sets up a table in the corner of the ring. Rollins sets Dominik backwards on the top rope and face first towards Rey. Rollins wastes time and Dominik pulls him back through the table. Dominik hits a Frog Splash and almost gets the victory. Rollins is able to get a chair away from Dominik and hits a superkick and then hits a powerbomb. Rollins pulls down the top of Dominik and starts attacking again with the kendo stick. Buddy Murphy now hands Rollins a pair of handcuffs and Rey is trying his best to not get involved. Angie is now out and Rey tries to stop her. Dominik rolls up Rollins and gets a nearfall. Murphy gets involved and tries to re-create the eye incident. Rey finally hits his breaking point and attacks Murphy. Rollins is quickly there and they double team Rey. Rollins then tosses Dominik into the barricade and go back to beating on Rey. They handcuff Rey to the ropes and grab a handful of kendo sticks. Before they use them, Rollins turns his attention to Angie while Rey pleads for him to attack him. Dominik makes the save and tosses Buddy over the guardrail and then tosses Rollins into the steps. He hits a reverse 619 on Rollins and then hits one in the ring. Dominik goes for another Frog Splash, but this time Rollins gets his knees up. Rollins dangles Dominik in Rey's face, but Rey can't reach him. He hits the Stomp and gets the victory. This was a storyline heavy match and they delivered. Dominik looked fantastic and absolutely did a great job in his first big time match. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

Raw Women's Championship Match

Sasha Banks vs. Asuka

They start off on the mat with some aggressive fighting. Sasha goes for a headscissors outside of the ring, but Asuka counters it into a knee bar. Back in the ring they go, but it doesn't last long. Sasha hits an awesome sort of sunset flip powerbomb to the floor. That sounded like it hurt. Sasha tries a couple of pin attempts, but Asuka is able to kick out. Sasha hits a running kick to the face of Asuka in the corner. Asuka gets Sasha up in on her shoulders and slams her face first and then grabs the ankle lock on her immediately after. Asuka hits a nice DDT from the second rope and Sasha is now out of the ring. Asuka gets her back into the ring and she hits a missile dropkick. Sasha hits double knees to the face. Sasha misses with a Frog Splash, which is the third match to have a Frog Splash in it. Asuka is able to get the Asuka Lock, but Banks uses the turnbuckle and rolls into a pin attempt and then the Bank Statement. Banks uses the ropes to get towards the center of the ring, but Asuka turns it again into the Asuka Lock. Asuka then hits a kick to the midsection of the Banks. Both Sasha and Bayley avoid a Hip Attack, but Asuka again gets the Asuka Lock on her again. Banks taps out and Asuka is once again the Raw Women's Champion. I think I liked this match slightly more than the opener. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Championship Match

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

Orton plays mind games to start things off by repeatedly getting out of the ring. McIntyre finally chases after him and there's no way that you can tell me that McIntyre would fall for that, but he does. Orton goes for a RKO, but McIntyre is able to roll out of the ring. McIntyre regroups, but after they both miss their finishers, Orton throws McIntyre into the ring post shoulder first. Orton tosses McIntyre on his back onto the announcer table. Orton then hits a suplex off the table. Orton then goes back into the ring and goes with his methodical offense that I keep hearing is just so great. McIntyre is able to hook on the Figure Four. Orton tries to roll through, but McIntyre is able to roll all the way back. Orton pulls the ref by the shirt to distract him so that he could hit a thumb to the eye to break the hold. So, hold up there. Orton thought a thumb to the eye would get him disqualified, but not pulling a referee by the shirt? They start slugging it out and McIntyre hits a series of clotheslines. McIntyre then hits a couple of overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. McIntyre hits a top rope clothesline and then sets him up on the top rope. Orton crotches him and has McIntyre in the tree of woe. McIntyre rolls up and throws Orton off the top for a 2 count. McIntyre hits the Future Shock, but it's still not enough. McIntyre misses off the top rope and Orton hits a snap powerslam. McIntyre hits the Glasgow Kiss and then both men go over the top rope and are down. Orton kicks McIntyre on the way back into the ring and hits his draped DDT. Orton goes for the punt, but McIntyre avoids it and hits a powerbomb. Orton ducks the Claymore Kick and then McIntyre blocks the RKO, turns it into a backslide and gets the victory. There's a finish you don't see too often in this millennium. I had high hopes for this one and I don't think it delivered. Orton's work for me is just so dull at certain times and it's just too predictable.

Match Rating: ***

Keith Lee is coming to Raw. That is pretty much the only explanation for the booking at TakeOver.

Falls Count Anywhere Match For The Universal Championship Match

The Fiend vs. Braun Strowman

If you were to make a list of rematches that I never wanted to see, this one would be at the top of the list. The Fiend attacks Braun right away and then hits him with a tool box to the midsection. Braun then does WWE's favorite spot by knocking Wyatt through the barricade. The Fiend stands right back up because he's magical, but Strowman chokeslams him onto the table and it doesn't break. Strowman hits Wyatt with the steps to the head and he is forced to sell it. Strowman hits a powerslam, but Wyatt kicks out. They are now up on the stage and into the backstage area. Wyatt hits Sister Abigail, but Strowman kicks out. Back out onto the stage and Wyatt slams Strowman into the LED screens. He puts in the Mandible Claw, but Strowman grabs Wyatt by the throat and throws him into the ring to break the hold. This match already feels like 45 minutes long. Strowman hits a running powerslam and Wyatt kicks out. Strowman walks out and grabs a box cutter from the tool box. Strowman uses it to cut up the ring and remove the thin piece of padding, exposing the wood boards. By the time he is done, Wyatt is up and hits Sister Abigail on it twice and wins the Universal Championship. This was a terrible main event to an otherwise good show. Just as Wyatt is starting to celebrate, in comes Roman Reigns with a Spear and saves us all from having to watch more of The Fiend. He then goes outside and hits a Spear on Strowman. He starts attacking Strowman with multiple chair shots. He goes back in the ring and hits another Spear on Wyatt. This is the character that Reigns was meant to play, let's hope that they keep it up. Reigns holds the title up as the show goes off the air. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Outside of a terrible main event, this was a good show. As far as SummerSlam shows go, this was probably in the middle, which is a compliment in the quarantine era of the company. Dominik and Rollins put on a really nice match and Asuka delivered in both of her matches. I would have liked to have seen the tag team match get some of the minutes they dedicated to the Orton match, but it is what it is. Good show, good ending, bad main event.

Overall Rating: 71%