#LAWTAKE - WWE SUMMERSLAM 2024 8/3/24
WWE delivers yet again another slobberknocker of a PLE. One of the major big four shows of the year, SummerSlam, took place from Cleveland and easily felt like a WrestleMania with the way the presentation came across. Dive into my Law Take right now, right now for a full breakdown.
Rhea Rhipley and Liv Morgan had the honors of opening the show this evening, with a cloud of a Dominic heel turn looming over this entire match.
Rhea’s shoulder possibly came out of its socket, only for her to knock it back into place. Work or not, the spot most definitely added suspense.
Rhea lost this match strictly off the back of her trying to use a chair on Liv only for Dom to snatch it from her. One of many “you screwed yourself” movements done tonight.
Liv, who is the only other person to score a pinfall over Liv in almost two years, scores yet another one. Why wasn’t this the focal point of the feud as opposed to control of Dominic?
Dominic tongues down Liv afterward much to the surprise of nobody and there goes one member of Judgment Day, or perhaps the group splits? Decisions to be made for this coming Raw.
Bron Breakker smoked Sami Zayn with ease, less than ten minutes to be exact. This rematch came about from Sami outsmarting Bron’s every attempt at an attack following Sami beating him relatively clean at MITB, only for none of that to matter when Bron Speared Sami out of his boots then didn’t hit the Jackhammer afterward for the W.
Bron as the new IC Champion has a lot of potential. I see an extensive reign for the Steiner Junior if we’re being real.
The US Title match was up next and despite Logan Paul catching heat on Twitter for his comments about them/they’s, his in-ring performance didn’t merit any less of “oooh’s” and “ahhhh’s” from the crowd.
I never understood why a babyface hits a heel with a sit-out move on the announce table, as it looks like both, if not the babyface more so, takes the brunt of the move.
This match might have been LA’s best match to date, much to the surprise of nobody in the IWC. Logan Paul can wrestle a turnbuckle and make the turnbuckle look like a million bucks at this point in his WWE tenure.
Like Bron, LA has a plethora of opponents he can run into this season as champion. Hopefully he has an extensive reign as well.
Logan’s next move? Most likely a hiatus to let things cool down, then maybe a rematch down the line with LA Knight at Survivor Series or Bad Blood.
LA Knight with a title in WWE is so overdue but looks so right now that’s happened.
Queen Nia thwarted Bayley after all. I really thought that tag team pinfall she scored over Bayley on Smackdown would mean a Bayley retention. Not at all. The Queen of the Ring win now officially means something.
Bayley attempting another Gullotine on Nia ala their NXT match only for Nia to knock Bayley off of her pivot was really poetic.
Two Banzai Drops/AnNIAhilaters later and Nia Jax reigns supreme as the top dog of the Women’s brand on Smackdown.
Tiffany Stratton running in to try and inject herself into this match was rather pointless for me, pop or not, just to celebrate with Nia after Nia wins. I really think these teases of “MITB cash-ins” are getting overdone.
As for Bayley? A tag team with Naomi and a feud in the Women’s Tag Division seems inevitable while the deck gets shuffled around and we see Jade and Bianca attempt to knock Nia off next.
The call-backs to SummerSlam 1997 with HBK/Bret/Undertaker was pretty dope to see via the Seth/Drew/Punk match.
The crowd chanting “We want tables” three minutes into this match was bizarre, as we got none.
This match was pretty okay. In fact, if my predictions were a whole parlay, I was one leg short of a flawless victory, as Punk would be the one looking at the ceiling with a Drew pinfall and a slow Seth 3-count.
The premise of this match turned into who’s in control of the bracelet. A fucking bracelet was the premise of this match! Bracelet On A Pole/Ladder Match is clearly the next step before we get to a Hell In A Cell between these two.
I see Drew going on to fight the winner of GUNTHER/Damian at Berlin with Seth and Punk finally having their one-on-one match. Now that shit, I am looking forward to.
For the second time this night, a wrestler screwed himself out of winning pretty easily. CM Punk, you in fact screwed yourself. Michael Cole said it best.
Damian Priest and GUNTHER was easily my MOTN. They beat the hell out of each other and the pinfalls and submissions were so near. A true HAUSFEST.
Finn Balor turned heel finally as a callback to Damian costing Finn his World Title match at last year SummerSlam. Excellent storytelling if you ask me. The implosion of Judgment Day is now full circle.
I see it being a Six Person Tag at Berlin to prolong all one-on-one feuds.. Rhea/Damian/Jey Uso vs Finn/JD OR Dom/Liv. Things are heating up for these names and I expect a wild ride for the Fall’s plans.
GUNTHER is the rightful owner of the World Title and may his reign last the next year. I can’t see anyone other than Bron Breakker beating him, respectfully. Kaiser returns on RAW this Monday and Giovanni is still eating dirt. I wish Imperium was really still around to make this title win feel all the more important.
I really rather see GUNTHER/Drew at Berlin as opposed to GUNTHER/Ilja D. Now just isn’t the time for homie. He isn’t established yet, nor does he win, so running the trilogy match in Europe just for an inevitable GUNTHER W isn’t the best call.
I for one never want to see Cody Rhodes fight Solo Sikoa in a PLE main event ever again. In fact, I hope this is the last time Solo has a main event title match for a while.
WHAT IS A BLOODLINE RULES MATCH EVEN MEAN??? Why isn’t there any decorative tables, chairs, anything to make us feel like this is more than a glorified No DQ match?
The crowd all knew the ending was never in question, it was just how we got to Cody hitting that final Cross Rhodes for the 1-2-3. Time for the run-ins! Now it’s really Bloodline Rules!
Jacob Fatu looks like such a beast, it’s tough to imagine he won’t be the one to fight Cody one-on-one at a PLE sooner than later.
Corey Graves running away from the announce table after seeing Fatu prepare to destroy another announce table was actually hysterical. He’s really seen it, weekly.
Fatu “injured” himself after that splash on the table to Cody and I hope it was in fact a work. We don’t need that behemoth down for a long period of time.
I still can’t believe this card was so stacked that all Randy Orton and Kevin Owens could do were make cameo appearances to save Cody. Something tells me we see these three mix it up for the WWE Title, in some variation of Orton playing the heel. I just can’t see Owens still being stuck fighting the Bloodline for another four months with no end-goal or title opportunity in sight.
Or, we get the prolonged Orton/Cody feud and just see Team R-KO fight the Bloodline for the Tag Titles over the next few months. But then I fear this leaves us with… GULP… another Cody and Solo match.
Roman Reigns, The Original Tribal Chief, is backkkkk! At least until the next PLE. You know how this guys schedule goes. But either way, it was very, very nice to see. This new babyface theme song will take some time to get used to.
I really thought we would get The Rock also showing up to swerve us, but Roman by himself was more than enough. Vince McMahon is sick that he can’t be around to watch his favorite pet-project finally be this beloved by the WWE universe.
As if we doubted Roman would knock Solo out of his mind, Cody picks up the win as both men engage is an iconic staredown. Roman’s back, he put Solo in his place to begin Bloodline Warfare, but also subtly reminds Cody that I am coming back for what I lost at WrestleMania. Absolutely beautiful ending to this dreary match, yet overall fun show.
I was one leg short of a clean sweep for predicting every match on this card right. Damn me and my believe in CM Punk needing a victory over Drew. Either way, this PLE was fun. Bash In Berlin should be another banger of an overseas PLE with an electric crowd. Excited for that one on 8/31. Appreciate the read, as always, and if you have feedback or commentary drop some notes in the comment section or find me on Twitter!