Immediate SummerSlam Thoughts

First off... let's give huge props to WWE on how they've created the ThunderDome. Yes, we saw the official debut on SmackDown, but it's worth repeating what an awesome job they've done reinventing the home viewing experience after months of bringing the awful.

Asuka vs. Bayley was such a SOLID choice for an opener; a phenomenal story backing it and the arguably the two best female competitors on the roster today - really fast-paced and enjoyable. Even though Bayley retained here, it sets up an excellent storyline for later in the ring, and I'm legitimately excited to see where they go with this.

The addition of Kevin Owens on commentary for The Street Profits vs. Angel Garza and Andrade immediately boosted the match a notch. The match was hardly an all-time classic... but it was decent for what it was, and a decent tag team contest.

Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville felt like a grudge match, but not really a "Loser Leaves WWE" style grudge match -- they haven't built up the "best friends" aspect enough for that, plus everyone knows they're still friends off-screen. Having said all that... there was a level of intensity to this that made it at least SummerSlam-worthy. Am I the only one who completely forgot that Otis was in a relationship with Mandy?

Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins was an emotional roller coaster, which is exactly what it needed to be. Rey Mysterio continues to be the best in the business at displaying emotions in the ring (or rather, from ringside) and even the tease of Old Lady Mysterio getting involved was fun. Absolutely no issue with Rollins going over here, as they've begun to build a solid up and comer in Dominik, and no reason he had to win that match tonight.

Asuka vs. Sasha Banks was perhaps a step removed from the previous Asuka match, but it was still quite good. The sunset flip powerbomb to the floor was pretty sick, and the competing "Asuka lock/Bank statement" sequence was well done. As I mentioned earlier, I was excited to see where this one went... and the story absolutely didn't disappoint.

Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton was.... painfully slow. Like, they did a very good job of making Orton the biggest threat to McIntyre's title to date, but the pace just slowed things down a lot. I'd say they were having trouble keeping the audience, but... what audience? A very disappointing ending for such a lengthy, big match. True, I never saw it coming. But also.... why?

Braun Strowman vs. The Fiend started off with a ton of intensity; I'll give it that. Having said that... the intensity didn't quite live up to the end result. If we just look at this as a set-up to bring Roman Reigns back? Fine; I'm down with that. But it sure didn't feel like a SummerSlam main event.

Overall.... interesting event. Hardly my favorite SummerSlam ever, but it beats the hell out of this year's WrestleMania.