He’s spent the last 2-3 years getting into boxing and MMA, having some supposedly legit bouts along the way.
Because Vince craves mainstream media attention and has spent the last 40 years wishing he was Lorne Michaels.
He already wrestled at a WWE event, setting up this match on Saturday against the Miz.
And any thing can be a thing in the WWE. Just have the thing attack a popular wrestler in the ring, or have a hated wrestler attack the thing. They’ve used 10 year old kid as a thing, a 90 year old woman as a thing, an amputee as a thing, snakes and parrots as things. Just get the thing in the ring and WWE takes care of the rest.
You forgot the prosthetic hand, though I don’t know if that thing ever made it to the ring. It was probably used as a foreign object at some point.
International object, if you please.
It puzzles me that Logan Paul is being pushed as a babyface. Nobody likes him. Nobody. He walked down the ring for his WrestleMania match with the world’s most expensive Pokemon card worn on a necklace. Conspicuous consumption is a heel trait.
Apparently marketing has found the WWE universe likes Logan Paul returning. I don’t think he has to be a traditional face, he’s just the guy people want to see kick in Miz’s face. After that they don’t care. Look at Ronda Rousey, she was a big loser and quitter in MMA but the fans love her in WWE.
Do fans like Rousey? I think she got a big “I’m here” pop the first time, then quickly fell off, and a big-but-not-quite-as-big “I’ve returned” pop that fell off a little slower (booked slightly better) but still fell off.
Logan Paul is a heel. It’s not going to work trying to make him a face. They could book him against Donald Trump Jr. and people would cheer Jr. (or in my case, hope the pyro malfunctions burning the ring and the two of them to a crisp.)
I don’t see the basis for your statement. Maybe the general public won’t accept him but the WWE universe does it their own way and I think he’s doing fine with them. I don’t know what kind of plan they have but I’m sure if they let Miz do the thing he knows how to do Paul will come out of this fight looking like a face.
Dwight Howard came to WWE Tryouts in Nashville pre-SummerSlam and cut a promo in-character. And it actually wasn’t half-bad.
Future WWE Superstar? He is 36 years old, but DDP proved that age is just a number if you’re talented enough and willing to put in the work.
We can only hope… not
Well, the main event of Summerslam was certainly something. Brock drove to the ring in a tractor, which, near the end of the match, he used to lift the ring up and tip Roman over and out onto the concrete. Theory tried to cash in but was KOed by both men, and it eventually took the Bloodline burying Brock alive under a pile of broken chairs and tables to keep him down for a ten-count. Hunter’s definitely taking things in a different direction now that he’s got the book.
That entire card was awesome.
You can definitely also tell that Hunter isn’t screaming in commentary’s ears like Vince did, and he’s letting them say things like “fans” instead of “WWE Universe”, mention people like Christian and the Hardys who are currently working for the competition, and even let Cole get away with a partially-bleeped “goddamn”.
The lack of random cutaways to fan reactions in the middle of the match, which Kevin Dunn has perpetually loved, was noticeable, but whoever’s running the production truck in his absence is a little sloppy, as they cut to black just too late to hide Kid Rock flipping the bird at the camera.
Debating with my brother if Cory messed up Io Shirai’s name, then Byron just repeated, thinking Cory got it right; or someone didn’t update the graphic and she is now supposed to be Io Sky. I hope it’s the former, but maybe they are going to force a name change on her for trademark purposes. That doesn’t go away simply because Vince is gone.
Looks like it’s official.
The finish of Liv/Ronda was the only part of the show that really left me scratching my head. Ronda had Liv in an armbar, but her shoulders were on the mat. The ref started counting a pin, and Liv tapped out at the 2-count, but the ref missed the tapout, counted three, and gave Liv the win. Following this, Ronda armbarred Liv and made her tap out again, then armbarred the ref before being dragged away by security. Ronda ostensibly came into this match as the heel, but she gets screwed out of the win in the way that usually happens to faces, which would imply a face turn, but then she has a heel freakout while the crowd is cheering her on and Corey (the heel commentator) and Maggle (the face commentator) are both on her side, pointing out that the instant replay shows that Ronda ought to be the winner.
My guess is that it’s going to lead to an I Quit match at Clash at the Castle, but it was definitely an odd way to set it up.
My SummerSlam impressions from having watched it live and gotten a night’s sleep:
Bianca Belair vs Becky Lynch for the RAW Women’s Title wasn’t quite as good as their show-stealing match on Night 1 of WrestleMania, but their match at SummerSlam wasn’t as interminable, either. It was four minutes shorter, and still very good. Belair retains with an emphatic KOD, and afterwards, Becky asks for a handshake. Belair looks suspicious, but accepts, and this time there’s no shenanigans, and she and Lynch even hug. Lynch clinches her face turn after the match when she backs Bianca up against the new faction featuring the returns of Bayley, Dakota Sky, and Io Shirai (who came down announced as such and with that name in her TitanTron, but will be called IYO SKY from now on).
Logan Paul vs. The Miz. I really want to hate Logan Paul, but it’s hard to do with someone this talented and naturally gifted. Against a veteran talent like The Miz, Paul really got a chance to shine. Biggest highlight for me was a Paul frog splash through Miz through the announce desk. I want to see Paul compete on the weekly shows, however, instead of just on special occasions like WrestleMania and SummerSlam. He could have a bright future ahead of him. Paul wins after hitting Miz with a Skull-Crushing Finale.
Bobby Lashley vs. Theory, United States Title. First surprising result of the night. Theory beat the living daylights out of Lashley with the briefcase before the belt, and then wanted to fight. Lashley was given the chance to opt out but decided not to take it, and then beat Theory anyway in less than 5 minutes. I thought for sure they’d have Theory go over here to make it look like his prophecy of winning the U.S. and Universal Titles on the same night was going to take place, but NOPE!
The Mysterios vs. Finn Balor and Damien Priest of Judgment Day in a no-DQ tag-team match, but not held under Texas Tornado rules. No Dominik turn here. Edge returns to spear both Balor and Priest and help the Mysterios to victory. They didn’t make a whole lot of use out of the no-DQ stipulation during the match, except for the brief use of a chair, and Edge getting away with attacking the bad guys in plain view of the ref.
Pat McAfee vs. Happy Corbin was a pretty ugly and unmemorable match, but they did the right thing in having McAfee go over after being tormented and humiliated by his former Colts teammate during the feud. McAfee does not come out to “Seven Nation Army” as he did at WrestleMania. There was a referee bump on Charles Robinson towards the end of the match, and one of the announcers immediately said, “Time for Corbin to cheat”, just as I was saying, “Here comes the screw job”, but no, it’s MCAFEE who cheats, punting Corbin in the balls and getting a rope-assisted sunset flip for the win.
The Usos vs. The Street Profits for the Undisputed Tag Team Championship. Jarrett calls the match right down the middle, and there is no expected El Kabong during the contest. After a Montez Ford frog splash, it looked like the Street Profits were about to end the Usos’ historic reign, but Ford hurt himself on the move and took too long to make the cover. Before long, the Usos won. The reign continues.
Riddle came out, called out Seth Rollins, and the two fought, even though the officials were trying to stop them, leading to Riddle getting Curb Stomped by Rollins in the middle of the ring.
Ronda Rousey dominated Liv Morgan in commanding fashion in their SmackDown Women’s Title match, and it looked like she wasn’t going to stop putting arm bars on her until Morgan tapped or snapped. The third time, Rousey had an arm bar on her but her shoulders were on the mat. Morgan tapped between the counts of 2 and 3, but Rousey was counted down for 3. Morgan retained, and Rousey went apeshit, putting another arm bar on Morgan, followed by an arm bar on the referee.
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar in what should be their final match ever was a chaotic, brutal match involving everything but the kitchen sink. Lesnar dominated the first few minutes of the match, not allowing Roman to get any offense in whatsoever, but Reigns recovered and did unto Brock what Brock had done to him. Eventually, Lesnar, who had driven a tractor down to ringside and done a Thesz press off of it to start the match, put Reigns in the tractor and tossed him down to the ring. And then a bit later, he used the machine to savagely upend the ring in what absolutely has to be seen to be believed-- so I saved a couple of pictures for you.
Which must really suck for the people who bought certain ringside seats and now can’t see shit.
Anyway, at one point both men were down, and Theory came to cash in and turn it into a triple-threat match, but he got drilled by one of the competitors, Lesnar, I think, before he could make the cash-in official. The Usos got involved, as everyone knew they would, and after several failed attempts to keep Lesnar down, but he kept getting back up at the count of 9, The Bloodline went into full Fuck You Mode and buried Lesnar underneath a pile of whatever they could find lying around the ring. Reigns retains and ends the feud in a match we’ll never forget.
At one point during the show, Drew McIntyre cut a promo reminding us that he’s next in line for a world title shot, and that will happen at Clash at the Castle in 5 weeks in Cardiff, Wales.
Five-star SummerSlam, and the best WWE show of the year so far.
Remember, Theory still has the briefcase.
I wouldn’t rate this show on the level of Wrestlemania 30 or All Out 2021, but it was definitely the best damn PPV WWE’s put on in awhile, and hopefully a sign of things to come under the new regime.
I thought it would’ve fit a narrative where Lesnar and Reigns are both injured and exhausted near the end of their match, and then Theory challenges the bloodied guy who’s limping away from a man who just passed out: emphasizing that, hey, Theory couldn’t beat the United States champion in a fair fight — and, if that flurry of pre-match attacks earlier tonight demonstrated anything, it’s that he can’t even beat the US champ in an unfair fight — but he could pick up the biggest title in the world, and gloat about it ever after, so long as someone else does eleven-twelfths of the work first.