10 WWE SummerSlam 2017 Impulse Reactions

The Land Before Time.

Braun Strowman Brock Lesnar
www.wwe.com

SummerSlam 2017 is in the books, and on the basis of the run-time, it'll probably require library to house the various tomes. With 13 matches including one that even beat the crowd into the building, the whole event gobbled up over six hours on the WWE Network, and even more from audience members that gamely attempted to following along with the television product in the preceding weeks.

The event is approaching WrestleMania-levels following WWE's concerted efforts to put the 'Big' back into their 'Big Four' since electing to put a bullet through the pay-per-view model that funded them so healthily for nearly 30 years back in 2014.

Upscaling 'The Biggest Party Of The Summer' as well as the Royal Rumble and Survivor Series shows, cities are taken over (literally with the Saturday NXT sister production) and cards are loaded with every major storyline (and numerous minor ones) in order re-draw a line of significance between these events and the twice-monthly brand specific supercards.

What didn't marry up was the company's decision to give away so much of the card's intrigue on the respective go-home editions of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live! Neville's Cruiserweight Title loss to Akira Tozawa, Finn Bálor's defeat by Bray Wyatt and Baron Corbin's failed Money In The Bank cash-in chipped away at the freshness of the card before it had even begun. And yet, all three were forced through the motions yet again.

Time is still money in WWE, but perhaps not in the way that phrase was originally intended.

10. Emptiness

Braun Strowman Brock Lesnar
Twitter/@bryanalvarez

Starting as they meant to go on, WWE managed to pour disdain on the crowd before many had even taken their seats. Three of Monday Night Raw's biggest stars (and three shambling midcarder sidekicks) took their respective bows before over half the audience had even managed to get in the building.

Early post-show hubbub has suggested that doors didn't actually open until (Kickoff) showtime, forcing many to rush to the stands in an effort to see The Hardy Boyz and The Miz in action alongside Jason Jordan and The Miztourage respectively.

Regardless of what actually forced the confusion, it was an unusually embarrassing production flub for WWE, and necessitated most of the match being shot from a tight low angle in a noble effort to mask the largely vacant Barclays Center. Things nearly fell apart at the very end, when, celebrating victory, Miz went to jaw-jack with a ringsider (literally one ringsider) before the 'monkeys in the truck' aggressively switched to a face-saving replay instead.

Incidentally though, it was the least negative reaction Jason Jordan has received since the revelation of Kurt Angle as his biological father, so the organisation were able to gleam one positive from an otherwise rotten affair.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett