Before I get into anything, I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed both events. I thought as a whole, Brooklyn II was better than the first one but nothing on the show topped Sasha/Bayley from last year. SummerSlam delivered, especially the matches I knew were going to be good, like Sasha/Charlotte, Balor/Rollins and of course, Styles/Cena. The placement of them all was off but overall, the show was still good. Ambrose/Ziggler was NOT a SummerSlam worthy encounter. For whatever reason, Ambrose just didn't have that magical chemistry like many other people have with Ziggler and it made for a pointless title defense and it made it even worse that it was AFTER Styles/Cena, which was the peak of the show. The Crews/Miz match should have been on the pre show and the main event was way too short. Let's talk the most newsworthy moments from the week.
5. Lesnar/Orton ending
Regardless of how you felt about the ending of SummerSlam, you had an opinion. You felt a certain way and that's all WWE wanted. BrockLesnarVS Randy Orton, the match they said was 15 years in the making and was announced as the main event of SummerSlam a month in advance, ended 10 minutes after it started when Brock went crazy and started hitting Orton with hard and stiff elbows, similar to ones you would see in a street fight. The elbows opened Orton's head up and he started leaking blood. The refs and doctors came out to check on him and there was a lot of confusion in the air. Was this suppose to happen or not? It had the whole reality era feeling. The ref called the match off and Lesnar won by technical knock out. This was done probably for a rematch between the two sometime down the line. I felt like it was a cheap ending to one of the biggest PPVs of the year. I liked the story to it but had the match went a little longer, it would have worked better. When any WWE ends with more questions than answers, it's a good thing because you're more likely to tune into the programming and that's all WWE wants. It left a lot of things unresolved and it worked but to only have it happen after 10 minutes, in the main event of arguably the 2nd biggest WWE event of the year, that's a little confusing. Regardless, it left people talking about and as we all know, good or bad publicity is best for business.
4. King of NXT
Since Shinsuke Nakamura made his fantastic debut at NXT Takeover Dallas, he's been the hottest act in WWE. His charismatic entrance, his amazingly catchy theme song and his hard hitting style all made him a top talent for the brand. Not to mention in every big match he was put into, he flourished. His match of the year contender with Sami Zayn, his first ever clash with Austin Aries and his dream match with Finn Balor all made Nakamura look stronger than ever. If any man can manage to beat those three talents in a three month span, then they are truly deserving of a NXT Title shot. Hell, even a WWE Title shot. The fans got their wish as Nakamura was booked to challenge Samoa Joe for the title at NXT Takeover Brooklyn II. It was a match that didn't disappoint and was one of the most hard hitting WWE matches in history. It was so hard hitting that Nakamura actually dislocated Joe's jaw with one of his knees. Even after that Joe, wouldn't give in and it took one more Kinshasa from him to put Samoa Joe away and claim the NXT Title. Nakamura made a bit of history on Saturday as he not only became the first man to have held both the IWGP Heavyweight and NXT Titles, he also became the first Japanese born superstar to become a World Champion in WWE history. Yes, the NXT Title is a WORLD Title. Didn't it get defended in Tokyo and London last year? WORLD TITLE! Anyway, the hottest guy on the brand should be the face of it right? Samoa Joe has done enough in NXT and needs to go to the main roster where he belongs. Nakamura just gave him his exit ticket. If Joe does come up, Nakamura would have given Zayn, Balor and Joe their last matches in NXT before they went to the main roster. That has to be a record right? Congrats to Shinsuke! And how about that entrance?!?
3. Women's Division
This has been a heartbreaking and uplifting weekend for all the women in WWE, NXT included. It started with Ember Moon, formerly known as Athena, making her anticipated television debut at Takeover Brooklyn. With her unique look and amazing finisher, she'll be one to watch in the future of NXT. The event also featured the much anticipated rematch between Bayley and Asuka, which everyone expected to be the final farewell for Bayley. It was a great match but Bayley couldn't do it. Asuka battled with hard kicks and was able to keep Bayley down for the 3 count. Bayley hugged her fellow Four Horsewomen who were at ringside as the crowd chanted thank you to her. It was a fitting farewell for the heart and soul of the NXT women's division. One has to believe that Ember Moon will be the next big challenger for Asuka and her title reign. I think Asuka will run through what little women are left in NXT, like Liv Morgan, Peyton Royce and others before Ember Moon is the only one remaining and then she'll take her place atop the throne.
At SummerSlam, Charlotte and Sasha Banks put on one of the best matches of the weekend with their high risk match. In the shocker of the weekend, Charlotte was able to reverse the Banks Statement long enough for the three count and victory, which gave her the Women's Championship AGAIN. Charlotte has won the main women's title three times since her debut on the main roster just a year ago. Sasha loss so early drew a lot of confusion from online fans and add the fact WWE took her off live events for the next 30 days. 30 days? The Internet, myself included, feared a suspension may be drawing near for Ms. Banks but reports came out saying she was given time to heal some nagging injuries. Sad but needed seeing how Sasha took back to back dangerous suicide dives on Raw. Over on the Smackdown side, with Eva Marie suspended, Natalya and Alexa Bliss were short a partner against Becky Lynch, Naomi and Carmella. Nikki Bella made her surprise return and got the victory for her team. I like Nikki Bella and she gives the division a bit of legitimacy on Smackdown as one of the only women to have held a title.
Raw saw one of the best moments of the year as Bayley made her long awaited WWE main roster debut and was instantly thrust into a program with Charlotte. Bayley was greeted with the You Deserve It chant instantly. Dang right she does! With Sasha out, Bayley is a reasonable replacement. By only beef is that they might meet too early now. I really wanted Bayley/Sasha at Wrestlemania 33 in Orlando because, you know, it makes sense. With them both on the same show, it's very likely they will wrestle before the big show. It's just a personal preference but I'm just glad Bayley finally made it! On Smackdown, they introduced the Smackdown Women's Championship and it will be crowned at Backlash in the first ever women's Six Pack Challenge. Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Naomi and Carmella will all fight for the opportunity. Let's be real; Becky Lynch TOTALLY deserves the win, like, it's not even close. I think Nikki will get the nod though here. As you see, the women's division is important on EVERY brand in WWE. Smackdown has the most intriguing one due to all the power players but it will definitely be interesting to see how WWE plays Charlotte/Bayley and Moon/Asuka in the future.
2. AJ Styles make history
SummerSlam belonged to The Phenomenal One but in reality, this whole summer has belonged to him. Styles welcomed John Cena back to WWE on Memorial Day and certainly made it memorable as he turned heel against him. He would follow this up with a win over Cena in their dream match encounter at Money in the Bank. Cena would the pinfall victory over Styles in a 6 man tag at Battleground though, evening the series at 1 win apiece. Styles made the bold challenge against Cena for SummerSlam, one on one one more time. No Club, no help, just the dream match these two deserve. John Cena and AJ Styles did not disappoint in their second match and dare I say, it was even better than their first encounter. Styles said in an interview on IGN that it was an all or nothing type match. Styles certainly put his all in as he was able to get the CLEAN victory over John Cena. CLEAN. No holding of the ropes, no wacky antics, just a finisher and a 1-2-3. With that win, AJ Styles WON a feud against John Cena. Usually when you feud with Cena, you lose and you go to the bottom. Styles broke the Cena curse and gave Cena a very very rare clean loss in what was the best match of the entire weekend.
Styles was then granted a WWE Title match against Dean Ambrose at Backlash but to make sure it was one on one, he had to battle Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler put on a hell of an effort but Styles is riding a huge wave of momentum right now and beat Ziggler, keeping his title match one on one. Styles is in the same position he was in earlier this year. He fought a veteran at a big PPV and then was put in the title picture by earning it. This time, Styles has way too much momentum to lose. At Wrestlemania, Styles took the surprising loss against Jericho only to rebound and become #1 contender. Reigns was too powerful at that point and Styles took two consecutive but amazing losses. This time, he's beaten John Cena TWICE and the former #1 contender Dolph Ziggler. Styles basically has to win at Backlash. How the hell do you win a feud against John Cena and then NOT win the title? It's not possible. Styles will win the WWE Title on September 11th, 2016, just mark your calendars!
1. Universal Title madness
Heading into SummerSlam, we were guaranteed a new World Champion for Raw would be crowned as the first ever Universal Champion would be crowned between Finn Balor and Seth Rollins. A former NXT Champion would make history at the big event. Though the name and the look of the title garnered a ton of negative feedback, Balor and Rollins still gave it everything they had in their dream match. Balor would not be denied in his first every PPV match as he was able to defeat Seth Rollins and become the first ever WWE Universal Champion. All was right with WWE.....for like 12 hours.
Reports starting to come out that Balor got injured during his match and I instantly knew what spot. There was an awesome powerbomp spot where Rollins tosses Balor into the barricade. Balor dislocated his shoulder and put it back into place to finish the match. Reports came pouring in that the injury was worse than everyone hoped and that Balor would need to get surgery and relinquish the Universal Title one day after winning it. Balor did just that and it was said he would be out for 4-6 months. Foley and Stephanie had matches take place to determine who would compete for the title for next week's Raw in a Fatal Four Way. The lucky four are Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Big Cass. It's anyone's match. The likely winner is Seth Rollins. Reigns would be it but he has unresolved business with Rusev. I'm picking Kevin Owens since he's my favorite. It was said that the plans going forward was to have Balor face Owens at Clash of Champions and then have Balor/Owens/Jericho at Hell in a Cell. Wow....we missed out. I'm wondering if they'll just forget about Reigns/Rusev and just replace Balor with Reigns. Or maybe even turn Owens and Rollins and have them feud. That's the money feud for Raw. Owens deserves the title; he's the best heel in WWE right now so it only makes sense. Maybe...but the all the confusion surrounding the title was the best thing about this weekend.
And that's the weekend! Will WWE be able to top themselves next year?
Sorry, how did I NOT mention this? This was actually the best moment, The teasing, oh the teasing...
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