15 WWE SummerSlam 2018 Impulse Reactions

The BIG Show

Ronda Rousey Alexa Bliss
WWE

SummerSlam 2018 was the latest 'Big Four' show to go heavy on the big at the expense of show, but it thankfully didn't do half the damage WrestleMania did on the prestige of the quarterly mega event. This year's August supershow was a hulking great 13-match, six hour card - substantially less appealing on paper than the inaugural 10-match effort that had a (then) great Hulk in its main event and swallowed up half the tim 30 years earlier.

Such is the way of WWE in the Network era. It's perhaps both the most valid and futile complaint of the modern product - the need for content due to the superservice model results in virtually every original narrative trope being cast aside for shortcuts and laboured extensions. The very tricks tardy students use to delay (or rush) the inevitable are now deployed with virtually every storyline. The magic of the first meeting diffused by the certainty of a rematch. The glory of a payoff diluted by the likelihood of the hard reset and instant reshuffle. Wrestling hasn't been wrestling for a long time, but most of it isn't even Sports Entertainment anymore. Whatever that even was.

But that's dwelling on the distant past, not the recent. The recent one was filled with a series of uniquely booked outcomes and diverse matches. A six hours not spent watching the clock tick by or wondering why the first half was so much better than the second. This was something - somehow - new.

15. Mixed Doubles

Ronda Rousey Alexa Bliss
WWE

Little to say about the opening contest on this year's pre-show, other than to note WWE at least afforded the quartet more dignity than the six that had to go out in front of an Impact Zone's-worth of people the prior year.

Back then, The Miz and The Miztourage had to do battle with Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz in front of roughly the same amount of fans that were still there for the end of the Roman Reigns/Samoa Joe match earlier this year.

Not the case in 2018. Lana and Zelina Vega had their foibles thankfully masked by their partners, but the match failed to penetrate excitatory synapse in a manner the pairs had done with a force in NXT.

It's easily forgotten that 'The Bulgarian Brute' and 'Ravishing Russian' were part of the developmental system, particularly as they didn't engage in TakeOver encounters as captivating as the ones contested by Almas and Vega.

Zelina over Lana with her feet on the rope was the right result in the right manner. The placement on the card was dead, dead wrong. All four deserved better.

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