10 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE SummerSlam 2019

2. US Title Match Stuck In 2nd Gear

Let’s play booker for a second: You have two of the best in-ring talents in the world facing each other at one of the biggest PPVs of the year in a secondary title match. Both are capable high-fliers and technical grapplers. What do you do?

If you answered, “Book a knee injury so the match is 80% on the ground so the match plays out largely to silence,” then you could work for WWE.

AJ Styles and Ricochet had what should have been a show-stealing barn-burner of a United States Championship match, but instead, it was AJ targeting Ricochet’s knee for two-thirds of the match, limiting the challenger to only a handful of spectacular moves.

It’s really, really disappointing, because it looked like it was going to be a dazzling match, with Ricochet literally walking across Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows to deliver a hurricanrana to Styles outside the ring. But shortly after, Ricochet’s knee was injured, and the match was mostly fought on the mat.

It wasn’t a bad match per se, but it definitely fell short of what you’d expect from these two electrifying wrestlers.