What a weekend at the Barclays center and what a weekend for professional wrestling. I believe this has been the best “Brooklyn Weekend” yet for WWE. The crowds were great, the matches were fantastic and honestly both shows delivered. While you didn’t have any “five star” matches (I’m not sure how that works you have to go checkout someone else’s review’s for that), I was thoroughly entertained all weekend. I had a group of people at my house during Summerslam and while we typically go off on rants and conversations for the most part our eyes watched the product and we were entertained. Let me start with NXT and give my thoughts there:
NXT Brooklyn: The crowd was electric and every single match delivered. What NXT does right and what most people like about NXT is the storylines are simple but present, the match quality is great and the surprises always deliver. For instance we had heard and read for a while that Adam Cole would be joining NXT and we also knew that Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish would be reforming the reDRAgons and guess what it all came together at the end of the night.
My first thought on the show was how ripped Johnny Gargano looked. That guys is in tremendous shape right now and is so damn likable. During the show I tweeted out who would you rather have Gargano or Gable and the results were split down the middle. Also this is the first time that Almas popped off the screen to me as someone who could move up and make some noise. I think his character is destined for mid card WWE but that’s ok I could definitely see him with the IC title. The Tag Title match was really fun and solidified to me that I think we will be seeing Authors of Pain called up this week. They proved they could have a great match without DIY or the Revival and Alexander Wolfe may have stolen the show.
Aleister Black oh Aleister Black… I do find it interesting that they showed Neville on-screen before his match and also how many questions Neville was asked about Black during the preshow. I thought both Itami and Black delivered and while not the match of the night nor runner-up I think it was good. Black is destined to be the NXT Champion and how many people would sign up for Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black at NXT New Orleans? Asuka is still champion and although I picked against her it was the right call. It looks like Moon will get the call up which is fine as she won’t be expected to be propelled to the title picture as Asuke would. HHH and Vince are waiting and that’s ok because when she does appear on Raw or Smackdown you know she will have arrived. To me the unpredictability and the story that these two women told made this match of the night.
The main event of the evening saw Bobby Roode in full Ric Flair gear (loved the red robe) take on Drew McIntyre whose shirt I thought was fantastic. Another person I think gets called up is Roode possibly after finishing his feud with Strong and then getting the call up. You could see him as early as Monday or Tuesday or as late as Survivor Series (maybe a part of Team Owens?). The match was the most WWE style match we’ve seen in NXT so far and it was after the match that had everyone talking. Adam Cole and the reDragons took out McIntyre during his celebration and stood tall as Takeover went off the air. You know where they are going and I think Cole takes the title pretty quickly as McIntyre is someone I think could be a surprise for the Royal Rumble. NXT has retooled and possibly delivered the best Takeover: Brooklyn to date.
Summerslam: I predicted that this Summerslam Preshow could be the best preshow ever and I’ll stand behind that today. The Usos and New Day took it personal that they were on the preshow and made it impossible to follow that match immediately. They have great chemistry and I’m glad we will get at least one more match from them. Miz gets the pin on Jordan and it makes sense it’s on the Preshow so Jordan doesn’t look as bad and Miz gets a pin on a bigger stage than Raw. Later Angle looks a bit disappointed in Jordan and I think we could be headed for a Jordan heel turn. Neville and Tozawa in our live chat drew some ire towards booking. Exactly what I predicted happened they want Neville to be the face of the division but wanted Tozawa to get a payoff. I think this was a good match and also the right call. The preshow was great although empty at times but certainly was worth the watch.
The first hour of Summerslam kicked off with John Cena. Let me repeat that, the FIRST HOUR OF SUMMERSLAM KICKED OFF WITH JOHN CENA. I didn’t predict this correctly as I didn’t buy in immediately to the Corbin has backstage heat thing. However it appears to be the case. Rumor is Cena moves to Raw tonight and now Corbin is kind of left looking like a loser. Let’s hope he bounces back because I believe Corbin can be a big time player for WWE. Next was a feel good moment for Natalya fans. I got a lot of people that were kind enough to read my article tell me that there is no way Natalya would walk out champion. They wanted to give her a feel good moment much like with Naomi earlier in the year this was the right call and I think Natalya could deliver some good matches with that title.
Up next is what many felt to be the low point in the show. I think this was over booked and would have been better without Enzo’s involvement. Imagine Big Cass beating Big Show clean after destroying Enzo the month before. I do think Big Cass looks better after this match but I think it was wasted while trying to keep Enzo relevant and on TV. Next up we had Randy Orton vs. Rusev or something like that, obviously this feud will likely continue and Rusev will get a win on Orton but Orton hits an RKO out of nowhere and it’s over. Obviously WWE doesn’t know what to do with Rusev right now. Sasha Banks finally captures a title on a network special. All of her other title reigns started on Raw before this and they should let her carry this title for a while. Bliss and Banks showed up and were very physical. Brooklyn was given another feel good moment here and this feud should continue.
The Demon’s return here and I liked the incorporation of “whole world in his hands” song at the beginning of Balor’s entrance. Wyatt’s offense is allowed to be expanded because of Balor’s size. This was a given Balor gets his win back and now we will likely have one more match. The question is where does both guys go from here? AmbRollins defeated Sheamus and Cesaro in a REALLY good match. During this match multiple times people that were with me wondered if Rollins or Ambrose would drop off the apron and refuse the hot tag. It never happened but that feeling of uncertainty made this match even better. Not that hard to understand put four of the best workers in the world in a match with titles involved and you get a great match. Kudos!
AJ Styles and Kevin Owens finally delivered the match we were waiting for. Although the match was built around Shane and how he would call the match it ADDED to it and didn’t take away from it. Shane was great (and looks jacked) Owens and Styles had great sequences and this was really good match. Outside of the battle of the “Bigs” what was bad? Jinder Mahal continues to deliver in big time matches. There I said it. Nakamura came out to a tremendous ovation and I’m glad they didn’t put this match in the middle of the card. The layout of this network special was flawless. Even though the finish of this match was a bit flat the in ring stuff wasn’t bad and I don’t think either man looks bad after this match.
The crowd and everyone in my house was on the edge of their seat for the main event. This is how you book a four-hour show and keep the crowd ready for the end of the show. Braun’s music hit and the crowd went to their feet. All four men got fantastic reactions and boy was this match everything it should have been. They used every part of the ring and surrounding in this match. Braun Strowman throwing chairs may be my new favorite thing. Ultimately all four men looked great, Roman took the clean pin after having a good showing. (We are still going to hate the guy though right?) I hope we get our Strowman and Lesnar match at No Mercy and we have Joe moved elsewhere, maybe to Cena. With Reigns I wonder what will happen, he just took a clean pin maybe you have a guy like Miz chastise him over the next few weeks. They could bring the Shield back together to help offset the Miztourage. No doubt this was the match of the night however both tag matches were phenomenal.
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For the weekend I went 13/17 as far as predictions go. I said it last night after the event and I’ll say it again, I’m not ready to rank it all time but it has a high rewatchability. This Summerslam will actually be better going back and watching it rather than the first time. As far as predictions leaving these show, I think Asuka stays for a while. I think Moon comes up and I think she should go to Raw. Nia Jax could use an opponent and a feud before going for the title. I’m not sure Roode comes up over the next two nights I think they hold off and have him finish his feud with Strong. Authors of Pain I would put on Smackdown and have them as the duo that destroyed Breezango. Again giving them a feud before ultimately going after New Day for the titles.Also lookout for Itami to possibly come up as he’s done a lot in NXT and I don’t see many others for him to feud with going forward. I’m excited for the next two nights as WWE always knows how to deliver on these shows. Lookout for my Monday Night RawView tonight and thanks everyone who entered my contests and continue to read my content. We have some cool stuff in the works and things will only be getting better. Until next time be awesome.