8 Match Star Ratings For WWE SummerSlam 2020
2. Drew McIntyre Vs. Randy Orton - WWE Heavyweight Title Match
What's perversely amusing and or infuriating is that Randy Orton tends to lecture fans through the media as to the sanctity of his style. It means so much more than the faster spot-based style because it "tells a story"; it means more because he does less.
And then, at SummerSlam, his WWE Title match ends via backslide and is sold, through Orton's shocked face, as a fluke. McIntyre, were he a midcarder they don't care about, would have "stolen one". This was likely meaningless pretext to an immediate rematch.
Orton's condescending art is in fact a grift.
It was nonetheless very good, if you're able to strip all of that away, even if it wasn't drastically removed from the same Randy Orton match we've seen on a loop for almost two decades. A motivated and in-form Randy Orton is still a familiar and slow Randy Orton.
The action was built towards very well, and when it arrived, it was germane to the story: Orton played the wily strategist and vicious prick well in a layout that didn't undermine McIntyre. Drew's application of the Figure Four was a neat dual touch; he at once avenged Ric Flair and weakened Orton's Punt. The most charged moments, and they were timed impeccably, arrived when McIntyre had a savvy and brutal counter to Orton's explosions.
Ultimately, this match earned what is used pejoratively as a gentle mock: it was a damn good piece of business worked by two top pros. Hardly fashionable nor hugely dramatic, but at the top end of whatever amounts to the WWE style these days.
Star Rating: ★★★¾