Kickoff Show
Cruiserweight Championship: Drew Gulak (c) beat Oney Lorcan by pinfall
A fun match that was more of a brawl mixed some old school mat tactics, Gulak nearly got the submission after slapping a Gu-Lock on Lorcan, but Lorcan got a foot on the rope.
Lorcan nearly scored a pin after reversing another Gu-Lock, but Gulak kicked out.
Gulak eventually hit with a Cyclone Crash for the pin.
Apollo Crews beat Buddy Murphy by disqualification
Murphy nearly ended it early with a knee, but Crews kicked out.
A better match than generally expected between mid-card superstars ended when Rowen level Murphy with a pair of big boots and a powerbomb into the ring post. Rowen yelled at him, “Keep my name out of your mouth!” while Daniel Bryan watched on the monitor backstage.
Elias’ Gets an Edge
In typical Elias fashion, he sang a song deriding Toronto. Out of all of his insults, the one about not seeing a Stanley Cup (hockey championship) probably stung the worst. He had a couple of good zingers for the home crowd.
Of course, as has also become the norm, he was interrupted when Edge came out to a raucous crowd as they welcome back one of their own. Edge then hit Elias with a spear and that ended that.
Edge then saluted the fans before heading backstage, his work for the night done.
Women’s Tag Team Championship: Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross (c) beat The Iiconics by pinfall
A fun match where Bliss and Cross dusted off their mini Toy Story personas nearly saw them lose before Cross broke up a pin by Billie Kay on Bliss, Peyton Royce suffered another emotional breakdown after Bliss kicked out, and thanks to Cross pulling Kay off the apron, Bliss hit a Twisted Bliss for the pin.
SummerSlam 2019
Submission Match – Raw Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) beat Natalya by submission
An early attempt at the Dis-Arm-Her led to a powerbomb from Natalya, but she didn’t break the hold. Eventually it did break as they exchanged counters with Lynch attempting a handful of submissions.
Lynch hurt her left knee and Natalya went to work on it.
Natalya slapped on a sharpshooter on the ropes after Lynch his the ring post, but Lynch managed to pull herself to the floor to break it. Lynch then threw Natalya into the announcer’s table and steel steps to work on Natalya’s arm.
After exchanging each other’s submission holds led to mutual escapes, Natalya eventually tapped out to Lynch’s Dis-Arm-Her.
Honestly, Natalya should’ve won this. Not only was it in Canada, but it the anniversary of her father’s (Jim Neidhart) passing and Lynch could’ve lost by passing out, similar to Steve Austin against Bret Hart, and it would’ve added to her character and she could’ve won it back in a week or two.
Bill Goldberg beat Dolph Ziggler by pinfall
Amidst a near constant chant of “Goldberg!” Ziggler hit with a couple of superkicks, but Goldberg kicked out, then countered a third with a spear and jackhammer for the win in less than a couple of minutes.
Big surprise, right? As if to prove himself, Goldberg held Ziggler up for a full turn before hitting the jackhammer.
After the match, Ziggler grabbed the mic, and while on the mat, claimed Goldberg didn’t have the guts to fight him man to man. The result?
Wait for it… another spear.
Next. Please.
And Ziggler demanded the mic again. “Goldberg, anybody can get lucky twice. I knew you didn’t have the balls to face me man to man… until you were the laughing stock in this business.” During his rant, Goldberg came out again.
After picking Ziggler up, Goldberg hit him with a third spear.
Well, the fans wanted it, so is it really jumping the shark?
24/7 Championship Search
After accusing the New Day of lying to him about R-Truth being there (but he kept the unicorn horn), Drake Maverick questioned the international commentating teams where Carmella and R-Truth were hiding in disguise as Shania Twain and Wayne Jetski between the Russian and Japanese announce teams, but slipped out before Maverick noticed them. Give him time.
United States Championship: AJ Styles (c) beat Ricochet by pinfall
Not only did Ricochet sport a new superhero type of body suit, but he took the fight to Styles right off the bat, even using Gallows and Anderson’s shoulders as stepping stones to reach Styles outside the ring.
Styles’ approach was to focus on taking out one of Ricochet’s legs to eliminate his high flying attacks and slow him down to mixed results as Ricochet used some inventive methods to launch his attacks.
Ricochet countered a calf crusher into a anaconda lock (triangle choke type of hold), showing his broadening skill set.
After fighting off Gallows and Anderson, Ricochet flipped off the top rope and into a Styles’ Clash for the pin. After the match, Gallows and Anderson his Ricochet with a Magic Killer.
Nature Boy Sighting
Ric Flair joined the Street Profits for a brief “Whoo!” fest, leading one to wonder if Flair wouldmake another appearance in the pay-per-view. Possibly to help his daughter?
Smackdown Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) beat Ember Moon by pinfall
A fun match that showcased both superstar’s talents, Moon’s athleticism was a perfect contrast to Bayley’s more grounded style.
Bayley hit with a Bayley-to-Belly suplex from the top rope for the pin.
If Owens Loses He Quits Stipulation Match: Kevin Owens beat Shane McMahon by pinfall
Before the match started, Shane brought out a special enforcer/referee Elias. Big shock.
After the match was delayed with Shane and Elias games, Owens hit Shane with a superkick and two sentons, but Elias pulled the referee out of the ring. After taking out both Elias and the referee with a senton, Owens eliminated Elias with a chair beatdown, then his Shane with a low blow and stunner for the win.
Looks like Shane hasn’t gotten rid of his Owens thorn yet.
Charlotte Flair beat Trish Stratus by submission
This was a better than expected match as we got to see Stratus pull out some moves she hasn’t used in years, and while dominating most of the match, Flair did a great job of selling her heelness mocking Stratus while taking and dishing out punishment.
Exchanging pinfalls and reversals dominated the final third of the match before Stratus nearly made Flair tap out to a figure four leg lock.
Flair managed to kick out after a Stratusfaction, and the two exchanged blows on their knees before Flair kicked out of a Chic Kick.
Flair then countered another Chic Kick with a big boot and slapped a figure four on Stratus. Stratus tapped out.
The fans serenaded Stratus with a chant of “Thank you, Trish!” and she showed her appreciation to the fans, making this one of the best legends matches in a while.
WWE Heavyweight Championship: Kofi Kingston (c) Randy Orton ended with a double countout
One of the most anticipated matches of the event started with both superstars feeling each other out.
Orton controlled the first half of the match, but Kingston gained the advantage by countering a superplex with a DDT.
Orton countered a Trouble in Paradise with a reverse neckbreaker for a near pin.
Kingston countered an RKO with a backslide pin attempt, but Orton kicked out and hit with an RKO when Kingston came off the ropes, but Kingston rolled out of the ring in front of his family.
Orton then tried to embarrass Kingston in front of them and set Kingston off and he beat Orton with a kendu stick repeatedly after they were both counted out. Kingston then hit with a Trouble in Paradise.
The outcome was decided as soon as they showed his family before the match. There was no way he was going to lose the title in front of them and miss a chance for future story fodder.
The Fiend beat Finn Balor by pinfall
First off, the Fiend’s entrance is freaking awesome with the mannequin head lantern and everything! The fans agreed with chants of “Holy sh–!”
The Fiend dominated the match — throwing Balor around like a rag doll — despite Balor fighting back. The Fiend countered a coup-de-grace with a mandible claw for the pin.
The lights then went out and the Fiend was gone from the ring when they came back on.
Honestly, this would’ve been a cooler match if it’d been the Demon vs the Fiend, but that’s probably to come when he comes back from his two months off.
Universal Championship: Seth Rollins beat Brock Lesnar (c) by pinfall
Earlier backstage, Rollins was getting ready when Bret Hart approached him and wished him good luck and said he’d be watching him.
After getting tossed around, Rollins hit with a surprise Stomp, but Lesnar kicked out. Lesnar then countered another Stomp attempt with an F-5, but Lesnar needed to catch his wind.
After hitting Lesnar’s head off the ring post a couple of times outside the ring, Rollins gained some offensive momentum, but Lesnar countered with another German suplex.
Rollins hit Lesnar with two suicide dives outside the ring, but Lesnar caught him on the third and slammed him into the ring post.
After a splash from the top rope and another Stomp, Lensar kicked out once again.
Lesnar countered a third stomp into an F-5. Rollins countered the F-5 into a superkick and a third stomp for the pin.
Final Thoughts
Despite feeling more like an episode of Raw or Smackdown than a pay-per-view, most things went according to expectation with Goldberg winning and Rollins completing his hero’s journey ala Hulk Hogan. The highlight was seeing Trish Stratus pass the torch to Charlotte Flair in what was one of the best matches of the night.
