WWE SummerSlam Night time 2 topped a brand new Undisputed WWE Champion in Cody Rhodes, set the stage for one more surprising showdown between John Cena and Brock Lesnar, and put a bow on the promotions two-night summer season extravaganza from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Listed below are our largest takeaways from New Jersey as we unpack how WWE strikes ahead from SummerSlam.
For the whole lot that WrestleMania 41’s major occasion was not, SummerSlam’s was. From John Cenas monotone entrance to his precise match towards Cody Rhodes, their April showdown in Las Vegas left a lot to be desired.
After Cena promised a return to his roots at this previous Friday’s “SmackDown,” he performed the hits followers anticipated for his closing run. For the primary time for the reason that Elimination Chamber, Cenas titantron performed, he made his acquainted run to the ring and he put collectively his finest match in years. Cena was impressed and confirmed he can nonetheless go as he and Rhodes brawled across the ring, by the gang, into the Codyvator, and again into the ring. Drama lingered all through the night time with hypothesis round who might play a job within the end to this Undisputed WWE Championship rematch.
In the long run, although, it was simply Rhodes and Cena, with the challenger saluting the champion, connecting on a Cross Rhodes to take the title again and putting a sure uncertainty across the closing 4 months of Cenas profession as they shared an emotional second collectively however solely briefly.
Whereas it wouldnt have been a complete shock for The Rock, and even Travis Scott, to make their approach to the ring afterward, Brock Lesnars return wasnt on anyones bingo playing cards heading into Sunday night time. If nothing else, the choice supplied quick readability on Cenas future.
Lesnar has been absent from WWE tv since August 2023, when he misplaced to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam. Exterior of the ring, Lesnars absence adopted him being named in a federal lawsuit towards former firm chairman Vince McMahon, which alleges sexual misconduct in 2021 by McMahon. Lesnar shouldn’t be named as a defendant within the go well with, however was named in allegations that concerned former WWE worker Janel Grant, who filed the go well with in January 2024.
Simply as Cena gave the impression to be pivoting from what was a disappointing stretch within the closing 12 months of his profession, a really completely different black cloud now lingers over his subsequent problem.
In a vacuum, this one was unbelievable, particularly as an opener. Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky and Naomi placed on an distinctive match that pushed the tempo and continued to push WWE Ladies’s World Champion Naomi as a savvy veteran. The end, with Naomi benefiting from an Avalanche Riptide on Sky to roll up Ripley and sneak away because the champion, was the logical conclusion for the way this story continues transferring. Nearly as good as this one was, its troublesome to not evaluate this towards the WrestleMania 41 triple-threat match between Ripley, Sky, and Bianca Belair, and it didnt fairly attain that stage.
What does stand out is how a lot chemistry Ripley and Sky have, and their potential to seamlessly flex between triple-threat and singles matches. Sky has maybe been the wrestler of the 12 months in WWE all through 2025, and Ripley is nicely on her approach to being the best womens wrestler in WWE historical past, if shes not already there but. Naomi retains transferring alongside because the champion forward of an already scheduled Aug. 31 showdown with Stephanie Vaquer on the Conflict in Paris occasion in a match that would see one other swing of momentum on the high of the “WWE Uncooked” womens division. The Womens World Championship image proper now could be insane, with no scarcity of expertise or challengers.
After lacking out on WrestleMania 41 earlier this 12 months, DIY, the Motor Metropolis Machine Weapons and the Road Income put collectively a “Friday Night time Smackdown” TLC match that felt very very like they had been sending a message they belonged on the cardboard.
WWE didnt miss on its second likelihood to get the WWE Tag Workforce Championships on one in every of its largest exhibits of the 12 months, leading to a completely unhinged six-pack TLC match. In a showcase of the promotions most stacked tag-team division in years, everybody had their moments.
Candice LeRaes fall from the ladder contained in the ring, sideways by a ladder on the surface, seemed brutal. Coordinating desk spots round all 4 corners of the ring was good. Nathan Frazier recreating the Edge spear on Tommaso Ciampa hanging from the ladder, however lacking was good.
The end felt a bit flat, as the whole lot signaled new champions being topped within the frenetic run to the tip of the match. Run-in after run-in gave the Wyatt Sicks the win and felt too harking back to the previous few years of the Bloodlines run.
Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch have placed on a few of the finest matches in arguably the most effective rivalry in WWE this 12 months. Positioned on the cardboard after the six-pack TLC match, Valkyria and Lynch had been in a troublesome place earlier than the bell rang. However to open the door for his or her match to even have a component of chaos, with no disqualifications, felt like poor structuring of the cardboard. The TLC match was going to have big spots and the cardboard wanted time to breathe earlier than getting again right into a weapons-heavy match.
Lynch and Valkyria by no means felt prefer it wanted a “No DQs” stipulation and my choice would’ve been for the standard one-on-one match. However the duo did the most effective they might with what they got. Valkyria wrestling a bit of the match together with her fingers tied collectively was unbelievable, and including Bayley to the end was at all times going to make sense.
Bayley turning down Lynchs supply to hitch her, solely to unintentionally hit Valkyria and price her an opportunity to compete for the Womens Intercontinental Championship whereas Lynch is champion makes the trail ahead right here intriguing. A Bayley victory over Lynch at some within the close to future might make Sunday’s trilogy stipulation pointless. Nicely must see how this one performs out and the place Valkyria goes after a stellar rivalry with Lynch.
There was a second when Solo Sikoa appeared like one of many baddest dudes in WWE. He was the muscle for Roman Reigns, the explanation guys like Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre werent capable of overcome the Bloodline, and appeared well-positioned to take an enormous leap ahead as his household continued to make their presence felt. Whereas his relationship with Reigns devolved as not too long ago as final 12 months, he was nonetheless wrestling Rhodes and Reigns in a tag-team major occasion of a PLE, and subsequently difficult Reigns on the “Monday Night time Uncooked” Netflix debut in Tribal Fight.
Theres no query that Jacob Fatu is a future world champion and is being groomed as such. However the reliance Sikoa has on the MFT, and to see how far hes fallen from a professional challenger for the world title is troublesome to see. He retained the USA Championship in a method that made him really feel like Shawn Michaels needing the assistance of Diesel to cling to his title in different phrases, not a critical menace to WWEs fastest-rising star. Hopefully that positioning adjustments as their rivalry evolves.
– Montez Ford continues to function like a significant star, with charisma, the look and the in-ring potential that ought to imply extra runway as a singles wrestler. Theres nothing flawed with him persevering with to see success as a member of the Road Income, however I might like to see extra alternatives for a man whos oozing depth.
– Dominik Mysterio and AJ Types delivered as a breather in the course of a card stacked with end-to-end vitality. There have been unbelievable callbacks to Eddie Guerrero, from Types paying homage together with his entrance and equipment, the duo buying and selling faux chair photographs, and Mysterio ending Types night time with a boot to the top. Mysterio stays a vibrant spot wherever hes positioned and has flexed throughout the roster in a method his father made a profession. The long run stays vibrant for Mysterio.
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