Powell’s WWE SummerSlam Hit List: Thoughts on Brock Lesnar endorsing Oba Femi, Randy Orton’s involvement in the CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes match for the WWE Championship, Nick Aldis’s in-ring return

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE SummerSlam Hits

Gunther vs. Nick Aldis: This was a blast. I missed it live thanks to my lousy hearing, but it was great that Aldis entered to an Oasis song. He looked great physically and came through with a strong performance, especially considering it had been nearly three years since his last match. Gunther was a terrific opponent and their in-ring styles meshed perfectly. The outcome was predictable, but that didn’t stop the live crowd from suspending their disbelief while rallying behind Aldis. They also came to life with a standing ovation (at least the fans who were visible on the main floor) for Aldis after Gunther exited. The post-match moment with Aldis, his wife, Mickie James, and their son Donovan was the perfect way to cap this off. I wish it had ended there. The post-show segment with Aldis turning in his resignation papers to Paul Levesque started promising. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for Levesque to accept Aldis resigning from the Smackdown General Manager position, only to present him with a new contract as a full-time wrestler. It actually felt like a letdown when Levesque reinstated Aldis as the general manager. On the bright side, Aldis performed so well, and the crowd was so receptive that it’s hard to imagine the company not using him as a special attraction in future matches.

CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship: This was the most ambitious match on the show, clocking in at just over 30 minutes. Punk’s homage to the Minnesota North Stars via his gear was great for longtime NHL fans like me, whereas Cody’s Street Fighter movie entrance with the spike-haired American Nightmare helmet was corny. The match was not without its flaws. Punk’s moonsault was way off (hopefully Cody didn’t get hurt when he tried to move into Punk’s path, as it looked like Punk’s knee landed on his head). The finish with Randy Orton dropping Cody with an RKO unbeknownst to Punk was surely disappointing to anyone expecting a clean finish. As much as it would be nice if fans could count on clean finishes at major events such as SummerSlam, longtime WWE fans surely knew it wasn’t going to happen, especially when the match was slotted as the semi-main event. My initial thought was that Orton’s interference would lead to Triple Threat matches with him and Cody challenging Punk. While that’s possible, it also wouldn’t surprise me if Orton pulls Cody away from the title chase for now while Gunther, Sami Zayn, and Finn Balor keep Punk busy until the eventual rematch.

Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi in a Hell in a Cell match: This is exactly what it should have been, with Lesnar passing the torch to Oba. When most fans think of Lesnar, they think of him dominating opponents while taking them on a stroll through Suplex City. But Lesnar always does good business when it’s time to put over other wrestlers. He’s taken high-profile losses to Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns (perhaps too many times), Drew McIntyre, and Goldberg in recent years. He saved the best for last by going above and beyond to help position Oba Femi as the next mega star. Brock calling himself the past and then labeling Oba the future was perfect. Did that line set up Lesnar’s actual retirement? Or perhaps Brock calling himself the past will trigger Paul Heyman’s character to say “out with the old and in with the new,” which could set up Lesnar’s next feud. As much as I enjoyed the way Brock put over Oba, this won’t be remembered as a good Hell in a Cell match. Rather, it was a good match that just happened to be held inside the HIAC structure. It seemed like they wanted to play up Lesnar’s dominance inside the structure and have Oba end his HIAC unbeaten streak. They could have done more with the structure to appease fans who were hoping for a classic HIAC match. On a side note, I enjoyed Oba’s appearance on the post-show. He’s not a humble babyface. Rather, he isn’t afraid to sing his own praises and say that he’s the next face of the company. This non-traditional approach wouldn’t work for most babyfaces, but the blunt confidence is working for him.

Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky for the Women’s World Championship: They opened the show with a good back-and-forth match. The interference from Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez felt unnecessary, aside from getting them on the show, but at least they didn’t play any part in the actual finish. The emotion Sky showed after losing the match was terrific, as it made the outcome and the championship feel important. Here’s hoping Morgan defends the title more often going forward. It’s ridiculous that this was her first televised title defense since WrestleMania (she had two title defenses on European tour live events). With the benefit of hindsight, Sky winning the Queen of the Ring tournament was a waste. She’s a big enough name that they could have just given her a title match and used Queen of the Ring to elevate someone.

WWE SummerSlam Misses

“Fatal Influence” Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid vs. Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, and Paige in a six-woman tag: A rough match. Obviously, Brie gets a pass, as she showed a lot of heart by working through the shoulder injury she suffered early in the match. I’d give the overall match a pass if the injury caused the majority of the issues, but there were plenty of other problems. Even the final moments before the finish looked a bit clunky. The Bellas turning heel afterward was fine, though it looks like Nikki will be flying solo for a bit due to Brie’s injury. I feel for the Bellas. This was Nikki’s first match back from an ankle injury, and now it looks like Brie will miss some time. This was just the third tag team match they’ve worked together since Brie returned at the Royal Rumble. They said they signed two-year deals and are in the midst of their final run, so hopefully Brie will heal quickly, and they can have a satisfying end to their in-ring careers.

LA Knight, Solo Sikoa, and Royce Keys vs. Jacob Fatu, Jimmy Uso, and Jey Uso in a six-man tag team match: A soft Hit from a match quality standpoint, but it landed as a minor Miss due to the confusing nature of most of these characters. It seems like Fatu and the Usos are heels, but Fatu was the second most popular guy in the match, and the Usos still act like babyfaces. The Keys character is a little bland, and the creative team could make Knight’s job so much easier if they booked his opponents as traditional heels, though at least he and Keys are consistent babyfaces. Solo is showing a fun side of his personality now that he’s working against The Bloodline, but the fans seem a bit reluctant to embrace him as a babyface. It doesn’t help that he never had a true babyface turn. His crew walked out on him and felt justified in doing so. Solo’s character didn’t see the light; he just ran out of options as a heel. Finally, we didn’t need another long-term Kane and Daniel Bryan saga built around two wrestlers hugging it out, but holding off a bit longer on the Knight and Solo hug would have made it feel more meaningful.

Join me for our WWE SummerSlam Sunday live review at 5CT/6ET.

(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time since 1997. He hosts the weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at [email protected] and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)