WWE rolled out it’s second biggest show of the year in grand fashion and like only they can, but seemed to forget more than once that they were putting on a professional wrestling show full of professional wrestling matches.
The 2024 edition of WWE Summerslam marked the return of Roman Reigns and key developments in various other anchor programs like Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan, The Judgement Day, CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre, and Punk vs. Seth Rollins. WWE hit the right notes in progressing all of the stories and utilized delicate booking to get where they wanted to go. However, many of the matches on the show walked the same beats and took the same journeys in order to accomplish the overall storyline goals.
I’m as story driven as it comes when it comes to pro wrestling. Nobody knows that better than you guys. That said, on major shows like this one, the matches have to payoff, matter, and be worthy of the stories behind them. The in-ring has to catch-up to where the storytelling is at right now with WWE and when it does, the major shows like this will land more efficiently.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it. Period.
Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley - WWE Women’s World Championship
I really enjoyed most of this. MOST of it. The opening sequence of Morgan dodging Ripley felt like Jay White dodging Okada in 2018. It played well within the story as Morgan had been running from Rhea for weeks. Ripley was outstanding. Selling for Morgan is a challenge because of her size, but the focus on her injured arm helped to that end. Ripley’s facial expressions made it work and her slamming her shoulder into the announce table in order to jam it back into place was memorable. The finish is where I had my issues and it highlighted a problem that’s been brewing with Ripley since she returned. Dominik helping Liv Morgan should have been something Ripley saw coming. Gullible Rhea Ripley isn’t a character fans want to get behind and that’s where this story went by the time the match was over. Yes, Dom and Rhea are split now, but Rhea being the betrayed ex-lover of Dom just doesn’t hit the right character notes. In addition, Dom helped Rhea two other times in the match, why the pivot at the end? Swerve for the sake of swerve and that usually isn’t good.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker - WWE Intercontinental Championship
Too short to be anything noteworthy or memorable. At times it felt like WWE was looking to put over Breakker huge with a squash, but it never fully crossed into that zone. The match would have been better if it had because this just never got out of first gear. For whatever reason, these two don’t seem to have chemistry together.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO
Logan Paul vs. LA Knight - WWE United States Championship
Another solid outing for Logan Paul. As usual, he hit his spots and marks when he needed to and put Knight over strong-ish. LOL. Paul’s foot being under the ropes during the pin will certainly trigger a rematch. Paul hit a beautiful springboard moonsault and even with that kind of athleticism on display in front of his hometown fans, the audience still sided with Knight. Knight needed this win and he got it. He’s not going to be a world title guy, but can own this part of the card if he wants.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Bayley vs. Nia Jax - WWE Women’s Championship
The worst match of the night. The crowd seemed tired and didn’t really wake up until Tiffany Stratton ran out to the ring to tease a Money in the Bank cash-in. Bayley was a cold champion, so moving the title off of her makes sense as a way to jolt life into the division on Smackdown. The problem is, Jax isn’t the person to sustain whatever momentum they gain from this in the short term.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/4
CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre - Seth Rollins as special guest referee
The start of this match was perfect. The drama of the entrances built to a crescendo, Rollins called for the bell, and then Drew and Punk immediately brawled. Exactly how that needed to go and the audience reacted in a big way. For the most part, the match worked with the crowd behind Punk as Drew demolished him all around the ring. It was clunky at times, but nothing that took anything big away from what they were trying to do. The question is, should CM Punk care as much as he does about a bracelet. He’d argue it’s not about the bracelet, but about what the bracelet stands for. I get it, but Punk, win the match! The angle with Rollins that resulted in Punk hitting Seth with a GTS got a pop and furthered that feud, but didn’t really make sense given how much Punk supposedly wanted to beat Drew. Don’t get me wrong, they accomplished a lot here. Punk and Drew still have beef because of the low blow, Seth and Punk obviously have a reason to fight now, and Drew got a big win that he needed. All fine and dandy, but the match logic took a backseat to getting those things setup.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Damian Priest vs. Gunther - WWE World Heavyweight Championship
The match of the night. These guys put on a hard-hitting brawl that was so rough it opened up a flesh wound on Gunther’s chest. The visual of him bleeding was tremendous and worked to further the intensity they were building. Priest looked fantastic during his his fire up spot and came across as a real babyface in that moment. As for the finish, well, it was nearly identical to Punk vs. Drew. Finn Balor turned on Priest, which distracted Priest and inevitably cost him the match. Again, storyline progression, but not all that logical for a babyface to get that distracted two times in a major championship match. Gunther as champion should be an absolute blast.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa - Undisputed WWE Championship
This went exactly as expected. Rhodes and Solo wrestled a bit and then interference and madness ensued. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Jacob Fatu, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens all got involved until Roman Reigns made his return and helped Rhodes fend off Sikoa. Reigns was really good. He said nothing, but gave a nod to Rhodes that said “I helped here, but I’m coming for you.” He’s got a tremendous presence, which is going to either elevate Solo Sikoa or overshadow him when they square off. Why change Roman’s music for the return!?!? This truly was flabbergasting. Having his usual music play would have helped bring on a bigger pop than what he got. It was big, but not knowing the song right away hurt the chances of something epic. Cody did a nice job out there, but was a third wheel by the end. Some of the near falls were hard to believe after all the damage he took, but because the audience was so behind him, it played totally fine.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
What did you think of Summerslam? Let us know in the comments!
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that Breakker match had trouble getting going in a smooth way. As you said, Bron’s a hard one to get the chemistry right. It’s all about who is producing those matches and pairing him with a complimentary star.