SummerSlam did not live up to expectations
Heading into SummerSlam last week, I talked about how the show was loaded on paper.
Obviously the event did not live up to my expectations, and here are some of my thoughts on the event.
First off, the main event between Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton.
I received countless emails, texts, and calls about the finish of the match. The WWE wanted to finish the show with something that looked as real as possible to get fans talking.
For those who did not see it, Lesnar legitimately knocked out Orton with vicious elbows that left Orton very bloody. The plan was indeed for Lesnar to bust open Orton, however the cut was deeper than planned.
One emailer mentioned to me that Lesnar should be fired. Orton was in on things from the start, so why would Lesnar get fired?
Yes, Lesnar is Vince McMahon蘑菇视频 cash cow and obviously plays by a different set of rules than the rest of the wrestlers, and yes, McMahon protects his investment, but no one involved is upset about it so fans shouldn鈥檛 be either.
How legit did the attack appear?
A reputable online source reported earlier this week that Chris Jericho, who was not aware that what was happening was a part of the show, went after Lesnar backstage after the match and they had to be separated.
While I could not confirm that, the source is right 95 percent of the time and I trust his contacts.
The fallout from the angle will continue, and after the match, Lesnar F-5鈥檈d Shane McMahon.
Tuesday night on Smackdown, Shane said that it wasn鈥檛 over, so there will obviously be more to this. Even Orton said on Smackdown that he would see Lesnar again.
The WWE has booked Lesnar perfectly as a bully and a monster, and whenever he finally does lose to someone clean, it is going to go over huge.
Another topic coming out of SummerSlam was the injuries to Finn Balor and Sasha Banks.
Balor won the Universal title against Seth Rollins, but tore his labrum when he took a running powerbomb into the barricade from Rollins. This is the same move that ended Sting蘑菇视频 career last year. Balor is expected to be out of action four to six months.
Banks has been suffering from a back issue for a while now and needed time off to recover.
Her first Women蘑菇视频 title reign lasted less than a month, so maybe in hindsight the WWE should not have had her win the title in Pittsburgh on Raw. It would have meant much more with a proper build over several months.
The match of the night in my eyes was AJ Styles and John Cena, and I am really looking forward to the rest of the best-of-seven series between Sheamus and Cesaro.
Also, the opening match between Enzo and Cass and Jericho and Kevin Owens set the pace for the night.
New Universal champion tomorrow
On Raw tomorrow night, Rollins, Roman Reigns, Big Cass and Kevin Owens will battle in a fatal-four-way to crown the second-ever Universal champion.
Rollins and Reigns are the easy choices, and Big Cass is not ready for a singles title, although he will definitely be WWE champion one day.
That leaves Owens as a possible sleeper pick, although the hunch s Rollins walks out with it.
WWE teasing Bryan return?
This past Tuesday on the new WWE Network show titled Talking Smack that airs after Smackdown, the Miz delivered the best promo of his career when he went off on Daniel Bryan. As Miz talked, Bryan stormed off of the set and it has led fans to question whether this was legit or not.
There have been some rumblings in the last few weeks that Bryan could return to the ring and that wrestlers calling him out would be a way to give the storyline steam, but only time will tell.
Head Bangers back to WWE
Younger wrestling fans probably just read this headline and said, 鈥渨ho?鈥� Fans who remember the Head Bangers probably read it and said, 鈥渨hy?鈥�
The Head Bangers, Mosh and Thrasher, were a tag team in the WWE in 1997 and 1998 and had a brief run with the WWE tag titles.
The team will appear Tuesday on Smackdown in the tag title tournament.
1990s Mt. Rushmore returns next week
Due to the length of this week蘑菇视频 column, we will pick back up with our Mt. Rushmore series next week when we look at the 1990s.