9 Ups And 7 Downs From WWE SummerSlam 2021

5. Making A Champion

Sheamus Damien Priest
WWE.com

This writer called the United States Championship match a potential sleeper for match of the night, and it delivered exactly what it needed at SummerSlam.

Damian Priest overcame Sheamus’ onslaught to topple the Celtic Warrior and capture his first title in WWE. The match itself was aided by an unfortunate misstep, when Priest did a step-up dive to the floor and splatted back-first on the floor. That apparent injury became the story of the match, as Sheamus targeted it over and over.

Sheamus delivered some serious, hard-hitting offense (as expected), which led to near-falls that sucked the fans in and had them rallying behind Damian. The climax came when Priest ripped Sheamus’ mask off and pounded him, leading to a comeback topped off with the Reckoning, bringing him the victory.

It was a perfect little bit of storytelling, and the fans’ reaction made it mean even more. Great job all around.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.