15 WWE SummerSlam 2018 Impulse Reactions

4. Can't Hardy Wait

Shinsuke Nakamura Jeff Hardy
WWE

At his age and experience level, Jeff Hardy should simply not be taking the bumps he does.

At the risk of sounding unduly harsh, his United States Championship match with Shinsuke Nakamura wasn't destined to steal the show at SummerSlam, not least when it was selected to be the one to calm down crowds between the return of Finn Bálor's Demon and the latest appearance of the glorious Ronda Rousey.

In a sense, his missed Swanton Bomb on the apron at least made a memory from something otherwise unmemorable. But there are times to accept that something can not be revived, and times to pick spots. Jeff, despite his experience, ignored the logical choice on both counts.

The man is a medical marvel against many markers for his age, but his star power will only diminish if he loses meaningless feuds in ways which look risky to the point of stupidity.

On a slightly less (more?) serious note though - Nakamura's black velour trousers looked incredible. They red ones may have triggered his heel turn at WrestleMania, but these sly becauties practically encouraged and celebrated it.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. 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 music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.