Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan VS Rhea Ripley
After Jelly Roll sang a song and Triple H made an appearance, WWE Summerslam 2024 kicked off with Liv Morgan putting her Women’s World Championship on the line against Rhea Ripley. The match started off with Liv just running away from Rhea before Ripley finally got her hands on Morgan and took control of proceedings. The story of this match was Rhea had dislocated her shoulder, yet she’s still more powerful than the Champion. However, emotions also played a big factor here as The Eradicator was going to use a steel chair before Dominik (rightly) grabbed it off her, allowing Morgan to hit ObLIVion for a 2 count. And then, in a genuinely surprising turn of events, “Dirty” Dom distracted the referee which allowed Liv to plant Rhea with a second ObLIVion onto the steel chair to score the win and retain her Women’s World Championship! Things then got even more crazy as Dominik kissed Liv before the two walked off together! I’ll be honest, I didn’t think the wrestling was particually noteworthy here, but the storytelling and aftermath was great!
Grade: B
Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn VS Bron Breakker
It was then time for a rematch from Money in the Bank as Bron Breakker looked to dethrone Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship. This was actually quite a short match, by far the shortest on the show, and whilst that’s not a bad thing, it meant that the match didn’t feel like anything really happened. Bron was dominant, and he scored the win following two Spears! Again, I don’t have much to say about this match, but congrats to Bron Breakker on becoming IC Champ less than 3 years after debuting on NXT 2.0!
Grade: C+
United States Championship: Logan Paul VS LA Knight
After destroying the Prime Car, LA Knight marched his way down to the ring to take on Logan Paul for the United States Championship. A lot happened here before the match even got underway, with Logan and LA brawling around ringside before both men took a nasty bump on the announce table. When the match finally got underway, we saw some of the best wrestling of the night with both competitors putting on a good showcase of what they can do in the ring. The Maverick did an amazing springboard moonsault to the outside whilst The Megastar hit a crazy superplex! Towards the end of the match, Machine Gun Kelly and some of LP’s stooges jumped the barricade to make their impact, but even with a pair of brass knuckles in his hand, Paul just couldn’t get a full shot in as LA Knight hit the BFT to score the 1,2,3 and become the brand-new United States Champion! YEAH!
Grade: B-
WWE Women’s Championship: Bayley VS Nia Jax
The WWE Women’s Championship was the next Title on the line as Bayley took on the Queen of the Ring, Nia Jax. This was a very one sided affair, with Nia Jax dominating Bayley in both an impressive and worrying display. This was another match where I didn’t feel like there was a lot to talk about, but I will mention how Tiffany Stratton faked a cash-in to try and distract The Role Model. This worked and allowed Nia to drop Bayley with a Powerbomb before Jax hit 2 Annihilators to score the victory and become the brand-new WWE Women’s Champion! Whilst I can talk about how Bayley’s Title run has been pretty poor (through no fault of her own), I’m very pleased for Nia Jax as she’s done a great job since she returned last September, and she deserves to be a Champion again!
Grade: C+
CM Punk VS Drew McIntyre
With Seth “Freakin” Rollins as the Special Guest Referee, it was time for the match that everyone’s been waiting for as CM Punk and Drew McIntyre finally collided in a one-on-one match! This feud has been absolutely superb, the best thing WWE has done all year, but did the wrestling live up to that? Honestly, no, no it didn’t. It’s frustrating and disappointing because they deserved to have a great match, but what they did have was a great bit of storytelling. See, Seth Rollins was messing with both men throughout the match as he played by his own rules. However, towards the end, CM Punk took his bracelet off of Drew’s hand only to realise a few minutes later that Seth had put it on. Rollins then berated Punk, saying WWE is “his company” and that Punk isn’t wanted around here before CM dropped The Visionary with a GTS. However, all of this allowed McIntyre to Claymore The Best in the World before Rollins counted to three meaning Drew McIntyre beat CM Punk! Now that is great storytelling!
Grade: B
World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest VS Gunther
After a couple of backstage segments in The Judgment Day Clubhouse, Damian Priest was now ready to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against the man who called him “Street Trash”, Gunther! This was by far the best match of the night, and I honestly had a great time with it. Both men were being super physical and they made sure to hurt each other with some vicious strikes and chops. Damian actually managed to make Gunther bleed which only added to the story as The Ring General took control whilst Priest wouldn’t quit. In fact, El Campeon actually got back to his feet and hit a second South of Heaven only for Finn Balor to put Gunther’s foot on the ropes! Priest then saw this on the replay cameras (which is actually genius) and this distraction allowed Gunther to lock in a sleeper hold for what was surely going to be the end of the contest. However, Damian Priest got back onto his feet and grabbed hold of Finn Balor, but this just allowed Gunther to hit another Powerbomb before The King General locked in another sleeper hold and made Priest pass out to become the brand-new World Heavyweight Champion! Firstly, Damian Priest has done a superb job as World Heavyweight Champion, and his Babyface run (alongside Rhea Ripley) against “The New” Judgment Day is going to be great! Secondly, Gunther is absolutely incredible, and he could be Champion for 2 years plus!
Grade: A-
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes VS Solo Sikoa
And in the Main Event of WWE Summerslam 2024, Cody Rhodes put his Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules Match! If I’m being totally honest, I thought this match was really boring, like nothing happened. It was a very slow contest where you already sort of new what was going to happen, but it didn’t exactly have the drama attached to it like Bloodline matches in the past. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa showed up and beat up Cody for a bit only for Kevin Owens and Randy Orton to run down and make the save, but even that didn’t feel that important. Jacob Fatu was someone who made a big difference as he destroyed The American Nightmare, including delivering an Uso Splash onto Rhodes through the announce table! Both Rhodes and Sikoa were then out in the ring before Roman Reigns made his long and anticipated return to drop Solo with both a Superman Punch and a Spear before Cody hit a Cross Rhodes to score the win and retain his Undisputed WWE Championship. So, whilst the match wasn’t that exciting at all, Roman Reigns came back, and he raises anything by at least 5 levels!
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