7 Quick Fixes To Save WWE SummerSlam 2018

A small summer party

Hulk Hogan Braun Strowman Bayley Sasha Banks
WWE

The post-Extreme Rules Monday Night Raw was a dispiriting return to mundanity when the company needed it least.

It wasn't a show without talking points, but the company have reached a show-don't-tell point if they expect to generate excitement for one of their biggest events of the year. Since WrestleMania, the organisation has fundamentally failed its feature performers. Battles over titles have been contested with an undercurrent of comedy, former main-eventers have have been figuratively and literally left swimming in sh*t, whilst 'dream' matches dissolved to dust under the weight of a bloated schedule and terminal creative malaise.

Extreme Rules was in many ways the payoff to the slump. Ordinary to a fault when it was actually any good, the pay-per-view failed to inspire an audience with fingers burnt to stumps by the booking of the past few months. The likes of Asuka and Kevin Owens were destroyed so emphatically that it was too tough for fans to invest as required in Carmella and Braun Strowman respectively. Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns had a match that perhaps over-performed on expectations that were somewhere in Pittsburgh's sewer system before the bell. The response didn't justify both getting straight back in the Brock Lesnar hunt, but that's now the story set to anchor August.

Bayley and Sasha Banks couldn't make it on to the card, but their segment was the biggest talking point emerging from an important-yet-indifferent Raw. Are they fighters, or lovers? Brooklyn beckons...

7. You're A Brooklyn Baby, You Know How To Love

Hulk Hogan Braun Strowman Bayley Sasha Banks
WWE

Bayley and Sasha Banks' stop-start rivalry took a curious turn this week when 'The Boss' confessed her love to 'The Hugger' with such vigour that it was impossible not to catch the inference.

Never ones to shy away from on-the-nose scripting, WWE shot directly for the heart - Bayley's, to be specific. Whilst it's important not to criticise the attempt on the company's part to promote homosexuality (and, really, any form of diversity) as part of a wider move to catch the company up with modern societal attitudes, it's disconcerting that this version of the organisation would attempt to tackle it.

This is a wrestling company that cannot coherently book wrestling storylines. Babyfaces are heels, heels are babyfaces and careers career off cliffs thanks to slapdash writing servicing the whims of one ageing white billionaire at the expense of all others.

It's subsequently why Sasha manipulatively snapping once and for all after her 'revelation' would be the safest track to tread. The company have failed so profoundly with just about everything they've tried with the former NXT pair, but a powerful swerve turn just a few weeks away from their return to the place they cemented their legacy (and transformed North American women's wrestling for good) would make worthy use of a weary twist.

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