SummerSlam 2023

The show starts off with a runthrough of Summerslam history early on and then new stuff with Kid Rock saying some stuff and setting up Logan Paul vs. Ricochet as the opener. Logan Paul is now THE MAVERICK and Cole says that YOU CANNOT FOOL THE WWE UNIVERSE. We get some flips and a posedown. They talk about the Rumble moment getting two million views and it going viral. Paul hits some body shots and I like him being presented as a physical threat due to the boxing background. 

Logan does Braun's powerslam for 2. Hogan Paul legdrop with an HBK pin gets 2. Ricochet does the Rock's spinebuster and stomps before eating a backdrop. INSIDE-OUT BUCKEYE LARIAT DONE PERFECTLY and he grabs a Prime and puts the rest on Ricochet before a crossbody/standing moonsault combo for 2. HURRI-NECKBREAKER BY RICOCHET! Ricochet lands a lot of shoulder and chest kicks to add some physicality to what he does. 

Paul hits a tornado DDT for 2. Recoil hits-ish and Ricochet goes up top for a shooting stars that hits knees and a cradle for 2. Ricochet hits the velveteen DVD into a lionsault for 2. A goon gives him knucks after the 630 misses. POWER OF THE PUNCH should be Power of the Paul. 

Brock vs. Cody is up and Brock is tan and looks to be 350. Jesus! German by Brock, Disaster kick! A second hits and a third is met with a club. Cody dives onto him but goes for a single leg and eats a gutwrench. Overhead belly to belly and then some back elbows by Cody to the gut are met with clubs. Snap suplex and a big German hit. Another giant German and Cody rolls out. Brock tells him to save himself before suplexing him more and sending him back out.

Brock sends him out with a lariat. F5 on the floor after Brock rips his shorts. Cody runs in at 9 and Brock is pissed. Another German and an F5 through the announce table and Brock just chucks him on it - no moving shit around. MOAR SUPLEXES! Cody posts the shoulder and he lands a stair shot on them! 

Disaster kick AND THE CODY CUTTER! DOUBLE JUMP CODY CUTTER GETS 2! Cody tosses the shoulder into the exposed buckle and gets a Kimura before he gets Rampage-bombed down. A TRIO OF CROSS RHODES END IT and tatter Brock's shorts beyond belief. Brock takes his gloves off and puts them down and then shakes his hand and hugs him - this feels like a finale for Brock and hey, it's 2 years after he planned to retire so cool. 

Becky WWE career retrospective sets up the Trish match...not tonight. Summerslam battle royal. LA Knight gets a full intro, then AJ kinda gets one amid a big video package for battle royals and then MVP brings out OMOS. Crews is tossed out and JD is tossed on him. The Brutes do the beats on Omos. Gable belly to belly suplexes Vinci to the floor and Exploders Rowe. Ciampa takes out the Raiders. Widow's Bell takes out Nakaura. Bronson takes out Ciampa. A billion people take out Omos. Pele takes out Kross on the apron. Knight does the Benoit-Show Rumble finish on Reed...not as the finish. Kross grabs AJ's foot and the Brogue takes him out and now it's Knight-Sheamus. The YEAH Movement. Well this is better than trying to give EVERYONE BUT DANIEL BRYAN the Yes chant. THE SHELTON JUMP-UP BELLY TO BELLY HITS TONIGHT! Knight wins it. Thank God LA Knight already shot that Slim Jim ad or that would've been awkward. 

Shayna talks about being the first person other than Ronda's mother and Travis to hold her baby - her goddaughter. They're out in this stupid facepaint for this supposed MMA match and it's not even sparring-level stuff. The Suzuki UWFI rules match was so much better than this. Cro Cop kick sends Ronda out for a powder...as you would of course do in MMA. Near-KO leads to of course, a kneebar? Is Edmund training Shayna here? HOW CAN ANY COMPANY DO FAKE MMA THIS BADLY!? This is like Friends Does UFC in the '90s or some shit. Fuck. Regalplex by Shayna and the clutch is on, Ronda turns it into an armbar, Shayna turns that into the ankle lock, Ronda turns it into the RNC and then the clutch ends it via technical submission. That was fucking awful - but they can save it in video packages.

Drew vs. Gunther is up and Drew eats a big throw into the steps and then gets chopped and Germaned. Giant splash gets 2 for Gunther. BACK AND FORTH CHOPS AND DREW WINS IT BRIEFLY and the claymore hits! 2.9! Chops up top and Drew gets knocked balls-first onto the rope before eating another splash, a burning lariat, and the powerbomb for the win. Good-to-great-ish - not next-level or even on-par with the Mania 3-way. 

THE NUMBER SEVEN REPRESENTS THE SEVEN YEAR OBSESSION THAT HAPPENED SEVEN YEARS AGO AT SUMMERSLAM. SEVEN YEARS AGO. Thanks Cole. Seth has the dumbest outfit in history on and unearths it to reveal his '16 vest and goofy pants. Lots of boring arm work on the mat. More boredom. Cole is now openly saying that they're waking the fans back up and Balor hits a barricade bomb! Slingblade, buckle bomb and the high fly flow get 2 for Seth. Finn avoids the stomp, gets a roll-through double stomp and a shotgun dropkick before the double stomp is met with a superplex but the falcon arrow is turned into a cradle for 2. Balor got all Wolverine-sliced up on his back somehow. 

Seth pedigree gets 2. Priest comes down and clocks Seth before BALOR HITS A PEDIGREE FOR 2.5! Dom and Rhea are out and Balor is pissed and the distraction results in a schoolboy into a stomp for 2.9. STOMP TO DOM ON THE FLOOR, but BALOR GETS A SLINGBLADE, SHOTGUN DROPKICK AND THE DOUBLE STOMP FOR 2.9! Priest distracts and Seth stomps Balor on the case to retain. Okay, this had some great nearfalls. Mike's Hard Lemonade ad from the Alpha Academy. 

Charlotte vs. Asuka vs. Bianca is up. Asuka kicks some ass early on. Goofy gymnFastic stuff in the corner with Charlotte. Figure four attempt to Bianca is met with an Asuka codebreaker. Moonsault off the top to the floor once again leads to an overshoot by Charlotte and a little brawl with Asuka. Doctor Bomb by Bianca to Flair before an Asuka lock and a stack gets 2. Thank God she had two targets - she hit the moonsault! Bianca backdropped to the floor and she "hits her knee" on the steps and is taken out. Superplex to Charlotte. Figure 8 but Bianca hits a desperation 450 for 2. Figure 8 to Bianca, but Asuka mists Charlotte and Bianca cradles Asuka to win it. Okay then. Iyo cashes in and wins it!

Main Event Jey shined in the Thunderdome and now he's in a sold-out Ford Field main eventing for in-canon WWE's greatest single prize in its history. Jey vs. Roman FINALLY BEGINS AT 11:35PM EST. Roman is the real 11:35PM EST of WWE. Hey hits one dive and another is met with a kendo stick. Jey kendo sticks him a bit. Somersault flip dive to Roman on the floor. Superkick and the splash gets 2.9. Walking powerbomb to chairs from Roman gets 2. Jey Samoan drops him through a table from the apron. Jey gets a giant leather strap and pummels him with it. Solo jumps his brother during a walk and brawl. I hope all those wraps are for show and Solo's knees aren't already that bad that he needs 20 layers of padding. 

They set up the spike/spear and Jey pulls Solo into the spear. Spear to Roman gets 2! Jey beats up Solo with a chair a ton to take him out. Solo and Roman argue and it leaves Roman open for a spear through the barricade! Jey splashes Solo through the announce table like Solo did to Jimmy. GIANT SPEAR TO ROMAN! Splash hits but JIMMY PULLS HIM OFF in a hoodie and stares. Superkick sets up a Roman table spear for the win and the end of the match at 12:10AM EST.

AEW Dynamite 200 - 9-2-23 - Shida vs. Storm

It's a good top-to-bottom lineup without a big mega-match on it - but Shida vs. Storm is for the women's title and I'd close out the show with a Shida win and then have Toni win it back at ALL IN. Takeshita and Jericho vs. Garcia and Sammy are up first. Jericho and Sammy chop each other after a shoulder tackle. Garcia does the air hump and knocks Jericho down before thrusting in Callis' direction in fear. Takeshita hits a big flying line. Liontamer by Takeshita on Sammy, but he gets kicked into Jericho for a tag. 

Jericho goes for the Walls and Sammy cradles him for 2 before a double-down off a clothesline. Garcia hits a rocket kick for 2 before Takeshita saves with an axehandle. SHOOTING STAR BODYBLOCK TO THE FLOOR ON TAKESHITA! Dragonslayer on Jericho but Callis bonks Garcia with the bat! Jericho's pisses, but he takes the win! Daddy Magic confronts Jericho for a MANDATORY MEETING NEXT WEEK! 

Lynn says that he won't get cleared against Jack Perry due to all the plates in his neck - and he called a buddy to face JUNGLE! Trent vs. Mox vs. Penta starts off hot with a Trent dive and then...eventually Penta hits a dive and he was clearly late because Trent was looking for him. Slingblade on the floor. Trent eats a can shot and then Penta runs in for a lid shot to Mox before eating a cutter. Barb wire 2x4 to Trent! PILEDRIVER ON THE BOARD! I don't want to insult Mox, but WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TAKING SUPERPLEXES TO THE FLOOR IN A MATCH WITH TRENT BARETTA!?

AVALANCHE DESTROYER THROUGH A TABLE TO TRENT FROM PENTA! Mox tackles Penta through a corner table. This feels like a weekly Abyss geek show match - but it's actually somewhat special in 2023 as opposed to one of 52 of them every year on TV. PILEDRIVER TO PENTA ON THE TACKS! Penta's shirt is off and he lands on tacks. X-PLEX ON THE TACKS! Trent hits a dudebuster on the tacks for 2 before Penta can shots him! Trent hits a big knee sending Mox to the floor and stealing the win - huge win for him and something that plays into the OC rivalry.

Best Friends and BCC brawl! Chuck says that this didn't accomplish a goddamn thing - so let's go to back to Daily's Place and have a parking lot brawl on Rampage! Renee is backstage with RVD and we get a DUDE promo. RVD wants Perry on Dynamite next week. RVD says he'll beat him and retire that title like he did the European and Hardcore titles. MJF comes out and talks about being in an arcade and having quarters thrown at him and being told to "pick them up, Jew boy" and that kind of shit jading him - but now he realizes it isn't a way to live. He says it's hard to be open and now he's opened himself up and he feels better and he isn't the five foot nothing Jew boy and he's not scared anymore.

MJF and Cole talk about their flaws and then MJF plugs the shirt. MJF says that he promised him a title shot after the tag title match - but he doesn't deserve A match. Not just any match. You deserve THE match. AT ALL IN! It's official and signed for the show - no swerve yet either. Roddy Strong throws a bitch fit and the Kingdom consoles him. 

Elite vs. Jarrett/Lethal Singh is up. Karen's ability to make herself look gigantic with the knockouts was impressive - but not as impressive as doing something similar with Satnam Singh JARRETT AND OMEGA START IT OFF! Matt wants Singh and gets him and then he immediately wants out and they just leave!  JJ CREW DOES THE ELITE POSE! Sonjay wants the OWA on Singh, but Dutt runs interference! GEEK WARFARE BETWEEN SONJAY AND CUTLER! HARDYS BEAT UP SONJAY AND YAMCHA HIM! Hardys and Hangman help them out and the OWA gets the win on Lethal.

Some sinister promo work from the Mogul Embassy with them saying that they're the ghosts of the past. They jump Nick at the Buddy Wayne Academy and smash a framed photo of he and his father over his head - bloodying him up, but leaving the photo in the part of the ring he was at when he found out his father died. He goes for his phone to call Darby, but they demand that he unlock his phone "or else" - great dark movie stuff there and he unlocks it and they threaten them. TREMENDOUS work here.

Vikingo and Komander face Aussie Open, who need momentum on AEW TV. I love the AAA crew having matching gear here. Komander dives off Vikingo's back in a DVD position to hit a destroyer on Fletcher! DOUBLE MOONSAULTS TO THE FLOOR! DOUBLE 450 HITS FOR 2.5 BEFORE FLETCHER BREAKS IT UP! Ropewalk SSP misses for Komander, and Davis' calf kick hits! COAREALIS ENDS IT! Real World Title recap. 

Shida's out to her new killer theme to face Toni, who looks so badass in the main event. Shida corner suplexes her for 2. Toni's hip attack is turned into a German! Standing enzuiguri leads to a corner high knee for Shida and a 10 count corner punch! Missile dropkick gets for Shida. Ruby distraction sets up a tornado DDT, hip attack, and snap DDT for 2.5. RVD vs. Hook in an FTW Rules match is up - so they'll have plunder. Saraya slides the stick in and Shida uses it on Ruby and her before Storm uses the paint and the Storm zero for a 2.9! Shida reverses another attempt into a sunset reversal and wins it! SHE WINS THE MAIN EVENT AND GETS TO HOLD THE GOLD IN FRONT OF A CROWD. Love it!

AEW Collision 7-29-22 - FTR vs. MJF and Adam Cole for Tag Team Gold

 

This isn't the most loaded show, but it's got a hell of a main event that should shape up either ALL IN or ALL OUT fairly well. Better Than You BAYBAY hypes up the DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE and oh yeah, Andrade vs. Buddy is a ladder match. Boy those ladder bumps better be worth it. Buddy is ungodly huge and Andrade has picked now to not wear the Black Mask cosplay and instead dressed like Mini-Diesel if he was in the United Empire. Moonsault OFF THE LADDER by Andrade before they just chuck ladders at each other. 

Apron warfare teases a big fall before they just hit on the ladder with an Andrade suicide spear on the ladder bridge! Okay, it looks like that was turned into a DDT by Buddy! Andrade hits the goofy Judas Effect and sends him on the ladder bridge on the other side. SUNSET BOMB ON THE LADDER BRIDGE! Julia looks on shocked and the heels handcuff him before a chair kick lets him get the key...well that did a lot of good. Andrade locks Buddy up and Julia GETS BOLT CUTTERS! She leaves them with Buddy, who frees himself while she's up with Andrade. She slaps him a few times and gets shoved off into Buddy through a corner table. Andrade wins and it's TOTHEBACK! Miro brawls with Aaron Solow before Darby's out.

Darby's out to face MINORU SUZUKI IN AN UNHYPED MATCH!? Why is Suzuki coming out and flying across the globe for matches to not at least be advertised? Darby shotgun dropkicks him and dives quickly. Darby slaps him and gets a YOU FUCKED UP chant before eating an overhand Wahoo chop. Chop combo from Darby before a Code Red gets 2. Springboard coffin drop hits, the full-on leads to an RNC, but he Bret counters him and wins it!

Christian calls him out and says he has too much going on. Toni says that Shida was the pandemic champ and like that, we're all glad it's over and they're going to beat the piss out of each other. Joe's busting out black and orange and it isn't even Legally Not Halloween Havoc yet! Why not just have a show called Fright Fest? Joe vs. Gravity is up and Joe just demolishes him quickly and dances while doing so. Muscle buster ends it and wow was that a weird one since Gravity could get a shot via the tourney.

Tony Schiavone brings out CM Punk, who has a new shirt and his red bag. I would laugh if he pulls the WWE Title replica from his fridge out of the bag here. It won't happen - but it would be hilarious. Punk brings up Wembley Stadium and he wants to go there and the bag involves Wembley. Starks beat him in a singles and beat Darby in a tag. He says he's the responsible adult and he pulls out the belt and says that no one has pinned him or submitted him for this title. It's still covered in his blood from All Out. He spraypaints a black X on the main plate and it means HE'S STRAIGHT EDGE AND HE'S BETTER THAN YOU!

Starks comes out and tells them to forget they saw him, so Nigel does just that and feigns shock. Starks does a long intro and Punk looks at his wrist and they bicker and Starks wants a shot. Punk says he doesn't blame the ref - which is logic right out of Mid-South and Punk wants a special ref. Punk says he doesn't blame the ref - which is logic right out of Mid-South with Bill Watts saying that if he blamed the ref for his losses, he might as well credit him with his wins. Punk says he'll give him a shot next week. RICKY STEAMBOAT WILL BE THE REF IN JIM CROCKETT TERRITORY! Ian went overboard talking about Steamboat was always so straight-laced, so he seems pegged for a turn with Punk.

Juice and the Gunns are out to face Vikingo, Andretti, and Darius Martin. Vikingo hits a superkick during a break. Vikingo climbs on his partners' hands for a standing swanton to the floor...as ya do. 3:10 to Yuma ends it for the Gunns! Fun, short match. I love them celebrating with a cutout of Jay White! Keira Hogan's out in super-colorful gear that makes her stand out a lot more to face Mercedes Martinez. Mercedes is a great bitter heel bully. Nice sliding dropkick by Hogan in the corner gets 2. Running...shuffling forearm to the neck sets up the dragon sleeper Romero special for the win. Stat runs down for the save. She leaves the belt laying to attend to Hogan and Martinez takes her out with it. THE HAPPIEST HUMAN ON EARTH WILLOW saves! 

If this was Mid-South, Bill Watts would have got a sentence in about MJF passing word that he'll talk about CM Punk next week - tonight's focus is on the tag titles. FTR gets booed and MJF gets a BASH HIS NUTS chant going. MJF goes for a hot tag and gets grabbed and gets a DOUBLE DDT before tagging in. This is the simplest 1986 Memphis tag formula match ever and it's fantastic! Pump Kick and the ushigoroshi gets 2! Dax dives into a superkick for 2.5. Wheeler wants a tombstone, but Cole superkicks him and MJF gets a victory roll for 2! 

DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE prevented by Dax and Dash hits a big discus lariat. Panama Sunrise avoided for the Powerplex. Slingshot ligerbomb by Dax on MJF gets 2! Cole puts Dax in a shattered dreams position and MJF kicks him but only gets 2 when Cash saves. Back and forth and MJF LOSES TO AN O'CONNOR ROLL BY DAX! Dax pins the world champ - which should make for a good TV match.

Max grabs the belt. Cole, not an idiot, WATCHES THE TRON TO SEE MJF tease an attack. MJF hugs him! 

AEW Collision 7-22-23 - Acclaimed Vie for Trios Titles

The show starts off with Billy and the Acclaimed doing their SNME-style promo before the BBG says that the Gunns have new shirts. Starks says it's time to celebrate and starts things off with his belt. Starks gets a minute-long pyro display to set up the heel act being so full of himself. He says using the ropes doesn't matter - he wins how he can like always and Punk asks him if he can live with the win. Starks says his Louis' as empty as the bag Punk's had. Punk asks him if he wants a shot at what's in the bag because HE'S THE REAL WORLD'S CHAMPION!

Christian comes out and says that is taking too long and he wants to get out of Jersey as quickly as possible because they're all a bunch of sweathogs. Darby talks shit and says that Christian doesn't even wrestle anymore and Christian mocks Punk for holding a belt without being the champ! Punk and Darby face Cage and Starks. Andrade is escorted out by security...and Rhett Titus, who is just security now. White and Juice face Andretti and Darius Martin. Jay dominates before the heels eat some dropkicks and armdrags. Martin gets 2 off a froggy crossbody. Left Hand of God from Juice, the half and half, the pendulum DDT and Blade Runner end it. 

Willow vs. Athena gets a recap from the ROH PPV before MIRO IS OUT TO DESTROY SOMEONE! ONLY NOT SINCE IT'S NICK COMORATO AND HE JUMPS MIRO! Comorato destroys him for a long time, but misses a corner charge and the Machka kick/Game Over combo end it. THIS RULED! House of Black are out and they have Andrade's mask. Buddy busts up the rap and BRODY KING AND DADDY ASS GET TO CLUBBERIN! Babyface in peril before DADDY ASS RUNS DOWN DUDES! The End hits and HOB WINS!? Wow didn't see that happening. He takes the boots off. Shocking result - but DAMN WAS BILLY GUNN THE STAR HERE. Wow. Sad he didn't win a title and that's saying something since I've watched him for 30 years and he got himself over huge again.

FTR promo about him knowing how fake MJF is due to the Pinnacle and when he was a kid, he had to get a job and the punk kids who mocked him remind me a lot of MJF. Then he rambled on for seemingly 757 years before things just ended. WOW that was something. Skye Blue's out to face Taya, who dominates her before the break. The deathlock curb stomp ends it and she calls out Britt for Dynamite. AR Fox highlight reel from the Zero Hour of DBD ahead of his International Title match on Dynamite. 

Punk and Christian go at it with Punk in his red and black gear and Christian's here in his turtleneck gear. HEADLOCK TAKEOVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR by Christian on Punk! Punk hits a plancha before eating a Starks punch off the top to the ribs. DARBY SUICIDE DIVES ONTO DARBY AND LUCHASAURUS SWATS HIM DOWN! 

DARBY SENT CHRISTIAN TO THE FLOOR AND MADE HIM TAKE A BUMP! THAT EVIL LITTLE FUCKER! Corner bulldog/clothesline combo! PEPSI TWIST HITS FOR 2! Punk gets the elbow for 2 before Starks comes in for back and forth forearms. Darby's in and eats a mid-air spear to...the balls before the Roshambo gets 2! Superplex by Starks leads to a super deathdrop. Punk GTSes Cage on the floor and Starks wins with a Bret-Davey rollup AND THE ROPES win it! And they got like a frame of the finish. This was a great 18 match spread over a good 30 minute match - HHH would be proud.