WWE SummerSlam 2017: Assessing The Potential Quality Of All 12 Matches
The Longest Party of the Summer.
WWE pay-per-views are rarely as good as they look on paper.
Consider Money In The Bank. Unlike Battleground, big things were expected of it. The heavily-hyped first-ever Women's Money In The Bank ladder match was far from WWE's first ever booking mistake on the night. They had the good sense to retcon the finish - but that they had the poor judgement to book a man to win it in the first place doesn't do much to generate optimism. The count out finish in the Usos Vs. New Day match was irritating TV filler material, not that that matters in the Network era. Jinder Mahal Vs. Randy Orton exposed the WWE Champion in that it was five minutes too long. Just because WWE has the luxury of exceeding three hours now doesn't mean that they should. There's enough content elsewhere. The main event recovered from the tone deaf, defiantly antagonistic start, but the real story wasn't Shinsuke Namakura's own recovery but WWE's continued insistence on coercing fans to lift their wallets out of pockets in anger.
It wasn't alone in its lukewarm critical reception. Great Balls Of Fire didn't entirely live up to its potential; Battleground had little and still bombed.
SummerSlam, being a Big Four pay-per-view, should buck the trend. It looks very good on paper - but then, most pay-per-views do...
12. Finn Bàlor Vs. Bray Wyatt
The Demon's reintroduction should imbue this match with the spectacle befitting the second biggest night of the pay-per-view calendar.
Looking at it cynically, dressing Bàlor in his black and red garb is probably the reason WWE have booked it. That doesn't necessarily mean Finn Bàlor Vs. Bray Wyatt will suffer from a lack of storytelling substance - but if WrestleMania 33 is any indication, you can't help but worry that something athletic and exciting isn't of any real concern. There are "moments" to create at stake. Supernatural add-ons aren't out of the realm of possibility, though you'd hope the disaster that was the House Of Horrors is enough for WWE to resist the temptation. Then again, they booked that after they thought projecting images of maggots onto a ring canvas was a good idea. RAW's bloodbath (only, in peak WWE fashion, they couldn't call it blood, and it looked like JR's BBQ sauce) has triggered concerns. Their premature match was only decent, too.
Both men desperately need a blow-away match to prove that they are worthy of the hype. Both are also capable of such a match, rich in psychological mind games and hard-hitting drama (Bàlor is, anyway). Whether we actually see it, and not an exercise in superficiality, is another matter.