9 Ups And 9 Downs From WWE SummerSlam 2018

6. Nakamura, Hardy Don’t Click

shinsuke nakamura jeff hardy
WWE.com

On paper, a match between Jeff Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura should have show-stealing potential.

But in execution, their PPV matches have been huge disappointments. The first was a six-second affair courtesy of a low blow, but this one just never got out of second gear. It felt like they were moving in slow motion, with Nakamura sleepwalking through it and Hardy going through the motions.

Worse yet, the ending consisted of Hardy whiffing on a Swanton Bomb on the apron, allowing Shinsuke to hit a Kinshasa for the win. It was a foolish move that killed off the former United States Champion, and he lost clean.

And then Randy Orton wandered out, walked to the ring… and then walked back up the ramp. Just a pointless moment that added nothing other than to remind us that Orton was there.

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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 fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.