Detailed Results
The 29th annual SummerSlam kicks off with two New England natives as Enzo & Big Cass would open the show as the new era tag team would face two veterans in Jeri-KO, Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens. During the match, Enzo & Big Cass would look for the Bada Boom Shakalaka, but Kevin Owens would crotch Enzo Amore on the top rope before Owens takes Big Cass out on the outside with the Cannonball into the barricade. Meanwhile, in the ring, Enzo would hit the DDG on Chris Jericho, but Owens would break up the pinfall. This would lead to Owens lifting Enzo up into the Codebreaker from Jericho as Jericho pins Enzo to pick up the win for Jeri-KO.
After an emotional victory on RAW last month where she made the most of her one-on-one Women’s Championship match against Charlotte by winning the Women’s Title, Sasha Banks would walk into SummerSlam for the first time as champion as “The Boss” would defend the Women’s Championship against former champion Charlotte with Charlotte’s protégé Dana Brooke banned from ringside. Early on in the match, Charlotte would look to injure the champion as the challenger drops Sasha Banks on her back and this would become the story of the match as Charlotte continues to work over the back of “The Boss”. At one point in the match, Charlotte would look for the Razor’s Edge off of the top rope, but Sasha would counter as the champion hits a fantastic Frankensteiner.
Shortly after this, Charlotte would look for a superplex to the outside, but Sasha would counter again, this time knocking the challenger to the outside before diving with the double knees to the face of Charlotte. Back in the ring, Charlotte would survive the Bank Statement before scoring with Natural Selection to the champion, but Sasha would kick out! Sasha would then lock in the Bank Statement again, but this time, Charlotte was able to counter into a pinning predicament, keeping Sasha’s shoulders down for the three-count as Charlotte shockingly regains the Women’s Title less than a month after losing it!
In the first SmackDown Live match of the night, the Intercontinental Championship would be on the line at “The Biggest Event of the Summer” as The Miz, with his wife Maryse in his corner, would defend the prestigious championship against the sensational Apollo Crews. In the end, it was a distraction from Maryse and a Skull Crushing Finale from The Miz that would allow The Miz to pin Apollo Crews to successfully retain the Intercontinental Championship.
After their first one-on-one match at WWE Money-in-the-Bank ended with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson getting involved to assist AJ Styles in getting the win, the rematch would take place at SummerSlam as “The Face That Runs The Place” John Cena would go one-on-one with “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles. During the match, John Cena would look for the Attitude Adjustment, but AJ Styles would counter by landing on his feet before hitting the Styles Clash on Cena, but Cena kicks out! Cena then fires back with the Attitude Adjustment to Styles, but “The Phenomenal One” kicks out! Later on in the match, both men would trade submissions before Styles would score with the Phenomenal Forearm, but Cena would kick out!
Cena then looks for the Attitude Adjustment off of the second rope and manages to hit the huge move, but Styles somehow manages to kick out of Cena’s best move! This would leave Cena in a state of shock before Cena looks for the Attitude Adjustment again, but AJ counters, hitting the Styles Clash on Cena. Not convinced the Styles Clash was enough to keep Cena down, “The Phenomenal One” follows it up with the Phenomenal Forearm, pinning Cena to pick up a hard-fought victory in an incredible rematch! After the match, a defeated John Cena would take off his “Never Give Up” armband, leaving it in the ring before making the long walk to the back.
With former Daily Show host Jon Stewart serving as an honorary member of The New Day in place of the injured Big E, the WWE Tag Team Titles would be on the line at SummerSlam as The New Day’s Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston would defend the titles against the team that took Big E out of action a few weeks ago, Gallows & Anderson. During the match, Gallows & Anderson would hit the Magic Killer on Kofi Kingston, but this is when Jon Stewart would enter the ring, distracting Gallows & Anderson. However, the comedian was about to pay the price as Gallows & Anderson were about to split Stewart on the ring post, but that is when Big E would make his grand return, rushing down to ringside, taking out both Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson on the outside, ending the match by disqualification. After the match, the WWE Tag Team Champions would celebrate by dancing with Jon Stewart as The New Day leaves this year’s SummerSlam the same way they left SummerSlam last year, as the WWE Tag Team Champions.
Then it was time to decide who will be the top guy on SmackDown Live as the WWE World Championship would be up for grabs at “The Biggest Event of the Summer” as Dean Ambrose would defend WWE’s top prize against “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler. During the match, Dolph Ziggler would fail to put Dean Ambrose away with the Zig Zag and would end up trying for a big move off of the top rope, but Ambrose would block the move before hitting Dolph with Dirty Deeds, pinning Ziggler to successfully retain the WWE World Championship.
The women of SmackDown Live would then be in 6-Woman Tag action at SummerSlam as “The Irish Lass Kicker” Becky Lynch would join forces with Naomi and Carmella to face the team of Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and, with Eva Marie on “vacation”, their replacement partner would be none other than the returning Nikki Bella! During the match, the action would break down with all six women in the ring, but it would all come down to Nikki Bella and Carmella as Nikki levels Carmella with a stiff forearm, following it up with a TKO, pinning Carmella to pick up the win for her team as Nikki makes a triumphant return to WWE after undergoing neck surgery back in January.
With RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and RAW General Manager Mick Foley at ringside with the new championship belt, it was time for history to be made at SummerSlam as the first ever WWE Universal Champion would be decided as “The Demon King” Finn Balor would go one-on-one with Seth Rollins in a match that can only end by pinfall or submission with the winner walking out as the first WWE Universal Champion in history. During a back-and-forth match, Finn Balor would deliver a dropkick to Seth Rollins on the outside that would send Rollins into the barricade. Rollins then avoids the Coup de Grace before scoring with the Pedigree, but Balor kicks out! Finn then hits the dropkick on Rollins, sending Rollins face-first into the corner. Balor then follows this up with another dropkick that sends Rollins into the corner before “The Demon King” finally hits the Coup de Grace as Finn pins Rollins to make history by becoming the first ever WWE Universal Champion, becoming the first Superstar in history to win a World Title in his SummerSlam debut! The new WWE Universal Champion then greets the fans at ringside before Finn Balor walks to the back as the new top guy on RAW.
The United States Championship would also be on the line at SummerSlam as Rusev, with his wife Lana in his corner, would defend the United States Championship against Roman Reigns. Before the match could even get underway, emotions would boil over as Rusev attacks Roman Reigns, bringing Roman to the outside and twice sending Reigns into the steel steps. The United States Champion then picks up the steel steps, driving them into the arm that he injured on RAW! Roman would manage to fight back, sending Rusev over the barricade before blasting the champion with the Superman Punch. Reigns then delivers right hands to Rusev before referees come out to try and break up the fight.
However, their attempts would fail as Reigns brings Rusev back to the ringside area, delivering a steel chair shot to the mid-section and the back of the champion. As referees continue to try and keep Roman back, Reigns was relentless in his assault, continuing to hammer and headbutt Rusev before finally backing off. As a defiant Roman Reigns walks to the back, referees and medical personnel tend to Rusev as the United States Champion appears to be suffering from injured ribs as the announcement is made that Rusev will be unable to compete. However, as Rusev is helped by referees, Roman Reigns emerges again, this time charging at Rusev and blasting the United States Champion with the Spear! Roman then exits again as Rusev is left broken on the floor as a concerned Lana looks on.
Then it was time for the explosive SummerSlam main event as a pay-per-view match fifteen years in the making would take place as “The Viper” Randy Orton would take on perhaps the most dangerous opponent in his career when he steps into the ring against “The Beast” Brock Lesnar, with his advocate Paul Heyman in his corner. Early on in the match, Randy Orton would go for the RKO, but Brock Lesnar would throw Orton off before Lesnar begins to take control of the match, snapping off five suplexes in the early going. “The Beast” would continue to dominate the match, delivering a sixth suplex to Orton before the fight makes his way to the outside where Brock picks “The Viper” up, slamming Orton on the SmackDown Live announce table with a crunch. Lesnar then takes Orton from the crowd over the barricade, slamming Orton on the announce table a second time and, this time, the table is shattered to pieces with the body of “The Viper”! Lesnar then brings Orton back into the ring, delivering a seventh suplex before bringing Orton back to the outside. “The Beast” then exposes the RAW announce table, bringing Orton on top of the table, but “The Viper” would pop up with an RKO out of nowhere to Brock Lesnar, planting Brock face-first onto the unforgiving table!
Brock then manages to make his way onto the ring apron where Orton grabs Lesnar and spikes “The Beast” with his signature suspended DDT, following it up with another RKO, but Lesnar kicks out! “The Viper” then sizes Brock up for the punt, but Lesnar catches Orton, leveling Orton with the F-5, but “The Viper” kicks out! Brock then removes his gloves before using his bare fists and elbows to bludgeon Randy Orton, leaving “The Viper” in a bloody heap in the ring as blood pours from the head of Randy Orton all over the ring mat. This prompts a halt in the action as the referee gets Brock to back off so the ringside doctor can come into the ring and tend to Orton, doing his best to try and stop the bleeding. However, the savage “Beast” would not allow the doctor to do his job as Brock shoves the doctor aside before Lesnar continues to hammer away at the bloodied “Viper”. With Brock Lesnar clearly out of control, the referee decides to call the match off as he does his best to keep “The Beast” away from Randy Orton as a second doctor makes his way to the ring to check on Orton. Brock would then shove the referee aside before continuing to tee off on Orton, unrelenting in his annihilation of “The Viper”.
As Brock lords over Orton, the announcement is made that Brock Lesnar is the winner of the match by TKO. More referees then come out to assist in tending to Randy Orton, but even after his decisive victory, “The Beast” was still not finished as Lesnar would continue to hammer away at Orton to the point that even Paul Heyman tries to keep Lesnar from hurting Orton any further. SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon then makes his way to the ring to check on one of his top Superstars, but Shane finds himself face-to-face with “The Beast” as Brock Lesnar refuses to let the Commissioner by to check on Randy Orton. Shane would not back down from Lesnar and the SmackDown Commissioner would pay for it as “The Beast” would put his hands on Shane, leveling Shane with an F-5 in the middle of the ring! This shocking act causes even Paul Heyman to scream at Brock, asking Lesnar “what did you do!?” before Brock finally exits the ring with his advocate in tow as “The Beast” walks out with a big smile on his face, showing no remorse for his annihilation of Randy Orton and his unnecessary attack on Shane McMahon as the crowd is left stunned by the animalistic brutality they had just witnessed.
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