WWE SummerSlam 2016: 10 Things You Might Have Missed

4. Sasha Banks' Nasty Fall

Seth Rollins
WWE.com

Charlotte and Sasha Banks produced a divisive match for the WWE Women’s Championship last night. While most fans agree on the match’s quality, Charlotte’s victory has raised more than a few eyebrows, and the match was marked with a genuinely dangerous undercurrent that had most worrying for the participants’ health.

Sasha’s top rope Hurricanrana and flying double-knee spot were particularly difficult to watch, but neither could match Charlotte’s near-fatal botch earlier in the match. Charlotte had Banks set-up for what looked like an attempted top rope backbreaker, but it went catastrophically wrong: Charlotte slipped from the turnbuckle, and dropped the champion clean on her head.

It was a terrible fall, and whether she was selling or not, Banks clearly lost a step after taking it. Her work grew increasingly sloppier, and while this messiness added to the match’s chaotic “real fight” feel, it was hard not to watch everything they did through your fingers from that point forward.

WWE worked the botch into a story and immediately uploaded the clip to their social media accounts, but it clearly wasn’t in either woman’s intentions. This sloppiness almost ended in disaster, and with Sasha pulled from a month’s worth of Live Events while SummerSlam was still on the air, it looks to have take a toll.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.