Well, the first night of the first-ever two night edition of WWE Summerslam gets an extra brass ring from me because it ended before 10pm EST. Kidding, but facts are facts and the overall show landed nicely because it wasn’t a five hour marathon.
This particular show will be remembered for the stellar main event world championship match between Gunther and CM Punk. They told a wonderful story inside of a match that balanced brutality and psychology.
Oh, and fans will remember the little Money in the Bank cash-in bit by Seth Rollins to become world champion at the end of the night. I still don’t understand why Rollins faking an injury helped him, but that’s a story and discussion for another day.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
Roman Reigns and Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed w/ Paul Heyman
An exciting opening match. I could have done without the yeet entrance restart, but that aside, the match worked. The Roman Reigns dive was a highlight and he was a key part of the story when everything was said and done. Reigns sacrificed himself for Jey multiple times and the narrative was that he’s turned a corner and tried to take bullets for his cousin. Breakker looked strong in the match and got a Spear on Reigns, but couldn’t get the pin because of Jey. That’s a storyline thread WWE will pull in the coming months.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
The Judgment Day vs. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss - WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
A good match, but very similar to the opening contest. The match would have been better served with something like Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross before it. Charlotte played the Reigns role. Bliss hit her with a punch and she had to be the bigger woman and was. Running with Flair and Bliss given the momentum they have right now was the only call to make. Smart booking.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross
A fine match, but one that didn’t get the time to kick into higher gears. The story was Zayn relenting and not taking the bait on Kross and Scarlett trying to get him to cheat. Zayn won clean and continues his run to the world title. Still, it seems like Zayn is on that journey and that WWE is pushing it.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill - WWE Women’s Championship
This worked for what it was. The match didn’t feel like a crowning moment for Cargill at any point, so it was good that it wasn’t one. The match felt overly scripted, but they were able to hit all the spots they built into the match. A big win for Stratton and I don’t hate the idea of treating her as a dominant champion for a long while.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO
Randy Orton and Jelly Roll vs. Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul
We don’t need to see Jelly Roll do another match. That’s the reality. Now, that said, what he did during this was fine for the most part. The crazy bump he took through the table was a nice “pay your dues” moment, but the entire thing felt like exactly what it was — a celebrity playing wrestler at wrestling camp. Paul getting the win was a surprising turn of events, but the right call given that this was clearly a one shot thing for Jelly Roll.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - O 1/4
Gunther vs. CM Punk - WWE World Heavyweight Champion
A tremendous match and the match of the night by a wide margin. CM Punk took brutal punishment in the form of chops, strikes, and kicks during this. In doing so, was able to tell the right story with Gunther. This had a steady, but smart pace. The crowd was fully on Punk’s side the entire way thanks to Gunther clicking and getting heat as a heel. Action, physicality, and psychology all lined up immensely well. As for the Seth Rollins cash-in, well, that worked too. Rollins is going to have to explain why the injury ruse was the right thing to do, but a well-written promo on Raw can take care of that. Rollins becoming world champion the way he did adds more fuel to an already intense feud between him and Punk.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/2
What did you think of WWE Summerslam 2025 Night One? Let us know in the comments!
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