On Saturday, August 3rd, WWE presented one of its biggest shows of the year, SummerSlam. The show hailed live from Cleveland, OH, and saw six championships up for grabs, including a fun main event that saw Cody Rhodes put his Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against the “new Tribal Chief” Solo Sikoa.
However, the fun was only beginning there. We also saw a bunch of new championships crowned, rivalries come to a head, and a blockbuster return. So, what were the top three moments of the night on this incredibly stacked show?
Honorable Mention: Drew McIntyre defeats CM Punk in Punk’s first match back
One of the biggest matches that took place on SummerSlam saw Drew McIntyre finally go one-on-one with CM Punk with Seth Rollins as the special guest referee. This match was a lot of fun and the added element of Seth Rollins as the referee made it that much better. This rivalry won’t be over anytime soon, so I’m expecting CM Punk to win the next meeting between the two leading to a grudge match. During the match, CM Punk hit the GTS on Rollins, which allowed for Drew McIntyre to capitalize and pick up the win. There will be more to come, but this was just a great first match back for Punk, and seeing them go one-on-one is enough to get it to an honorable mention on this list.
Top 3 Moments of WWE SummerSlam 2024
3) LA Knight wins the United States Championship
One of the big matches last night saw Logan Paul put his United States Championship on the line against the “Megastar,” LA Knight. This match certainly lived up to the hype. Whether you love or hate him, Logan Paul always delivers in the ring, and Saturday night was no exception.
Paul and Knight left it all out there. Paul continued to impress with his natural ability in the ring, and in the air. With his famous friends in attendance (such as Machine Gun Kelly), Logan Paul looked to continue his reign in his home state of Ohio. However, Knight had other ideas as Knight would finally get the job done and win his first taste of WWE gold on the main roster.
Now, it cannot be understated how good Logan Paul is in the ring. His reign as United States Champion was a memorable one. However, this was absolutely the right choice for WWE. Knight has been incredibly over for a long time now and it’s about time he gets his due. Knight is just the man to continue to help build up the prestige of the United States Championship.
2) GUNTHER wins the World Heavyweight Championship as Judgement Day officially implodes
Kicking off the night, we saw Rhea Ripley hope to get her WWE Women’s World Championship back from Liv Morgan. Morgan, who has been trying to take everything away from Ripley, has been on quite the “revenge tour” as of late. Morgan would go on to successfully defend her championship against Ripley. But the bigger story here came when Dominik Mysterio officially turned on his “Mami.”
Fast forwards towards the end of the night, Damian Priest put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against GUNTHER. GUNTHER earned this shot by winning the “King of the Ring” tournament. This match lived up to the hype and then some. It was easily the best match of the night, and both GUNTHER and Priest deserve their flowers.
At the end of the match, Finn Balor made his presence felt. At first, it looked like he was going to help Priest, but he ends up saving the match for GUNTHER and officially turns on his now former Judgement Day partner, allowing GUNTHER to win the World Heavyweight Championship in the process.
It shouldn’t be understated that GUNTHER absolutely deserved this championship win. The wonders he did for the Intercontinental Championship saved that title. GUNTHER is going to be a prominent force in WWE for a long time. Now, the “Ring General” sits alone officially atop the “Monday Night Raw” mountain top.
However, another big story here comes with The Judgement Day. What was once one of WWE’s top factions, seemingly has had a major change. With Rhea and Priest seemingly on the outside of Judgement Day, where does Judgement Day go from here? Does SummerSlam 2024 truly mark the end of The Judgement Day?
1) The “OTC” returns
The main event of the show saw Cody Rhodes put his Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against Solo Sikoa. Sikoa has been more dangerous than ever and with the new version of the Bloodline by his side, he seemingly looked absolutely unstoppable. Well, minus Tonga Loa… That guy is rough.
Sikoa and Rhodes tore it up for quite some time. Despite the “Bloodline Rules” gimmick match, it stood one-on-one for a good portion of it. However, shades of WrestleMania 40’s “Avengers: Endgame” type of main event, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa came out towards the end of the match and tried to help Sikoa. This drew out Randy Orton and Kevin Owens who made the save.
Jacob Fatu made his presence felt, taking Cody out with a huge splash through the announce table. Fingers crossed Fatu’s injury he suffered here isn’t too bad, as he was seen walking with a boot after the show. Arguably the biggest moment of the night came when Roman Reigns entrance hit and the stadium erupted.
Reigns came out to a MASSIVE pop and immediately struck Sikoa with a superman punch, and followed that up with a spear. Reigns showed a small sign of respect to Cody before leaving, allowing Cody to pick up the win to retain his championship. With Roman Reigns back, and a new Bloodline formed, it looks like we’re heading to a Bloodline civil war inside of WarGames.
SummerSlam was a great show. Bron Breakker and Nia Jax each winning some gold too was awesome to see. Breakker and Jax have each been on fantastic runs, and they both deserve their respective titles. Spoiler alert: Bron Breakker is the future of the WWE. He will be a problem for years to come. Overall, this was a fantastic show which really changed the landscape of the WWE in more ways then one.
What do you think? What were your favorite moments of the show? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else on Twitter @PWMania and/or @Scott44Mitchell.
Until next week,
Scott Mitchell
