5 Questions Raised Following SummerSlam 2017
Are things Really Over for Baron Corbin and Rusev?
If you follow me over on twitter or any other form of social media and you mot certainly saw me going on a few rants last night during the SummerSlam pay per view and you one hundred and ten percent would have seen my disliking of the closing moments of last weeks episode of Smackdown LIVE. I have sat here a million and one times and told the world just how big of a Baron Corbin fan I am and so when he walked of the money in the bank pay per view as the twenty seventeen Mr Money in the bank I was over the moon! Every post and tweet I was putting out there expressed me joy and delight that he was finally heading in the right direction and his push was being taken to the next level. Making for a great money in the bank holder Corbin had the fans and the champion one edge and his character meant he really wasn't afraid of cashing in on anyone at anytime. This was made even more clear when during last weeks episode of Smackdown LIVE Corbin shocked the world when he decided to cash in his money in the bank briefcase on Jinder Mahal following his one on one match up against John Cena. A week or two before it had been announced that Cena and Corbin would go toe to toe at SummerSlam and with the rivalry heating up Cena didn't hold back and it was because of the sixteen time champion that Corbin became the third man in history to have a failed cash in. Again, I don't need to get into just how angry the whole thing made and while I know there are certain reasons why this was booked I still absolutely hated it and heading into SummerSlam I was super worried about Corbin. Last nights show was clearly very very important for Corbin following what had happened on Smackdown LIVE just a few days before. He needed to walk into this match, have a brilliant performance, turn heads and eventually walk out of Brooklyn with a win over Cena. The fact of the matter is, with Cena set to move on to new feud with a RAW guy soon or at least make an appearance for the opposite brand he didn't need the win while Corbin on the other hand despreatley needed momentum. The match itself was decent. It was solid opening match that got fans talking. I enjoyed the wrestling and Corbin did have a good strong performance, I've commented on the fact that he has shown massive improvements in the ring over the past twelve months and this really did show that. However, the end result honestly had me fuming. I won't lie, I did see it coming but I wanted to believe the WWE would be smart enough to make sure they put Corbin over and gave him that much needed momentum but of course I was proven wrong. I will never understand who thought Baron losing to Cena clean after one AA at SummerSlam was the right move but it does raise the questions; is the WWE done with Corbin and is his push completely gone? From day one it's been clear that the company have been high on Corbin but more recently he's antics online have led to a change in his booking and while I understand I would much rather the WWE remember what they have in Corbin, see he has so much potential to be a big name and give him the push he really deserves rather than send him down jobbers lane.We also have to raise a similar point with Rusev. We have all over and over again took to twitter, our blogs or other forms of social media and expressed the fact we believe Rusev is a leading name in the future of the WWE. He is continuously proving himself and has been highlighted by so many as one heck of an all round performer. He's the type of superstar who really does have it all. A good unique look, a strong character, solid mic skills that have allowed him to take part in brilliant promos and segments over the years and in ring skills are just on another level. He has worked with so many talents on the roster and always managed to make himself look like a top star whether it be on the mic or in the ring, last night however he wasn't even given the chance to do so. Set to face Randy Orton this was actually match which despite having a weak build up had the potential to be a solid bout but of course the WWE had to go and fuck things up again. The Corbin thing had me pissed but what they did to Rusev had me reaching a whole new level of anger. Attacking Orton before the bell had rang Rusev was looking to make a big impact early one however, the moment the bell did ring Orton hit an RKO and that was it... end of the match. It was honestly a piss take. I get it, Orton needs to bounce back and get some momentum following three loses to Jinder Mahal but borderline burying a talent like Rusev to do so... no, I'm totally not okay. I'd like to believe Rusev isn't in the same boat as Corbin and last night is something we can all forget. I want to see him bounce back perfectly, pick up strong victories, take part in great matches and get the push he deserves more than anyone.
Did the right man Walk out of SummerSlam as WWE Universal Champion?
The two thousand and seventeen SummerSlam main event saw Brock Lesnar defend his title in a fatal four way against the biggest names on the RAW roster, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns and man of the moment, Braun Strowman. We all were expecting great things from this match but what we got just reached levels I never could have predicted. The night overall was strong and we had a number of amazing matches but this main event was just on another level. While this wasn't a pure wrestling match it was a damn fight, a brawl, full of spots that had you jumping up from your seat and close calls that had you totally on edge. If you read my SummerSlam prediction posts you would have seen me talk about just how unpredictable this match was and that feeling didn't fade. There were no hints during the night as to who could walk out as champion and everyone had a different name down as their favourite. There were so many moments during this match were I believed that it was coming to an end and a certain superstar was about to walk out as champion, in fact every single one of these guys had at least one moment during this match that had fans believing it was the end. Strowman in particular was a huge standout and I will be talking about this in more detail later in the week. His performance on the night was bloody brilliant and he proved himself to a whole new level leaving so many moments where I believed he was about to walk out as the new champion. However, both Reigns and Joe had those exact same moments. There were times were Joe looked to be tapping out each superstar including the champion and those close calls really did have me and so many other fans believing the underdog was about to come up on top. As for Reigns he too had a brilliant performance. And with the WWE universe wanting to believe the Shield would be making a huge full reunion following Rollins and Ambrose's title win earlier in the day we all wanted to believe it could be happening. In the end however it was Brock Lesnar who walked out of SummerSlam the Universal champion successful defending his title in one of the most physical matches I have ever seen. Was it the right decision? Yeah. I will admit that he wasn't my favourite pick and I would have preferred any of the other competitors to walk out as champion but it was the right move. I have my favourites and I wanted to see Strowman as champion but following what we saw last night I believe he really does deserve to go one on one with Lesnar in the near future. Brock is going to be sticking around for a little longer and because of that he needed to retain last night. It was an epic match and Lesnar had a great showing. Plus, Roman taking the pin was easily the best decision of the night!Did Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt Save their feud?
You guys know me, Finn Balor and Bray Wyatt are two of my favourite wrestlers of this generation. Two especially unique characters, fantastic mic works and phenomenal in ring performers the two NXT graduates are leading faces in the future of the WWE. Throughout their WWE careers both men have been apart of some of the best matches of the past five years against a number of different opponents but it's only recently that the pair have finally found themselves going one on one against one another. Their feud however, has been pretty disappointing to say the least. For quite some time now I have sat here and commented on this feud and I haven't really had many positive things to say which totally sucks and something I didn't really see coming. A feud between the two of them is something that I have wanted to see for a while now because lets be honest it has the potential to be something real special for all the reasons we have just mentioned. Their characters work so well together and the WWE had every opportunity to create one killer match and storyline. Saying that I did enjoy what we saw from them during the go home show last week. At SummerSlam however the pair did a great job. The match could have been better, a lot better but it was a step in the right direction. I loved Balor's entrance and the mind games he played there and seeing him go back to his demon role was just perfect for this match and feud. There were things I would have changed, I would have liked to seen a stronger match and of course Bray get the win but the booking felt right last night and I would be okay with seeing this feud go on a little longer.Did a Kick of Show match Steal the Show?
If you're someone that doesn't usually tune into kick off shows and you didn't change that last night I seriously advise you to go over to YouTube and give the twenty seventeen SummerSlam kick off show a watch. While the first two matches of the night were okay the third match to take place on the show was hands down one of the best tag team matches I have seen this year. With the New Day defending their Smackdown LIVE tag team titles against the Usos this was a match I was not going to be missing out on. We have seen what these two teams can do in the past and every single time they have shared a ring magic has happened. Fantastic chemistry, compliment each others styles perfectly and have time and time again been apart of some truly epic tag team matches. Last night they put on what was probably their best match against one another so far. I already had high expectations of this match and these guys did not disappoint in the slightest. They were able to have fans totally hooked from the moment the bell rang and as the action progressed things only got better and stronger. Xavier Woods in particular was just amazing. I tweeted this out yesterday during the match but Woods really has been proving himself massively recently. Getting more time to compete and being added to more title matches Woods has had the chance to standout and show the WWE universe what he really is capable of and I can most certainly say that I have been totally impressed. He was one of the best all round performers last night and I really do hope he is able to continue working at this level. We are so used to seeing Kofi and Big E take center stage but I have been a huge fan of seeing Woods have that spot. The Usos too really did have a brilliant showing. You guys know I've never been a big fan of these two but I have to say my opinions have been changing a lot recently. I'm a much much bigger fan of their heel work and what we have seen from them over the past few months has had me changing how I feel about them completely. This really was tag team wrestling at its best and while it did its job on the kick off show these two teams deserved to have a showing on the main show and knowing that Big Cass VS Big Show was put on the main show and this wasn't only angers me. Throughout the night I compared every match to this and honestly not many lived up to it despite the high standard of the whole night. It was easily one of the best of the night and deserved to be featured on the main show for sure.Whats next for Shinsuke Nakamura ?
I admitted in my SummerSlam prediction posts that I really did have mixed opinions on the WWE Championship match between Jinder Mahal and Shinsuke Nakamura. Here we had two very different superstars, both at an interesting stage of their careers and characters that still need development here and there. Heading into the match I didn't really know what to expect, on the one hand I wanted to root for Shinsuke for all the obvious reasons. I've been a huge fan of him and his work for years and I would love nothing more for him to make history and becoming the WWE champion however, I'm also a big Jinder fan and I love that he is WWE champion and I can totally see so much more room for his run to develop into something stronger and for him to make an even bigger impact. It just
So that is it for today's blog post. I do still have so much I want to touch on and so I have decided that this week I will be dedicating my time to all thing SummerSlam. The majority of my content this week will be focused all around SummerSlam including a list of my top five matches and top five performers of the night. I will as always be live tweeting throughout RAW and Smackdown LIVE this week and a highlights post for those shows will be uploaded also. For now you can let me know what you thought of SummerSlam twenty seventeen by leaving a comment bellow or by dropping me a tweet over at @TezangiVictoria.
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