WWE SummerSlam 2018: Star Ratings For All 13 Matches

6. AJ Styles Vs. Samoa Joe - WWE Title Match

Samoa Joe AJ Styles II
WWE.com

This was by some distance Samoa Joe's best night in WWE. The man was the manifestation of an awesome heel in Brooklyn.

He looked unflappably cool when he so casually sauntered underneath AJ's fighter pilot aerial game. He looked capable of shattering dreams in a heartbeat when he followed that up with the snappiest snap suplex ever delivered in a WWE ring. He looked unspeakably vicious when he kicked AJ's head in and sent him tumbling to the floor. It's a wonder the Phenomenal One's head didn't end up in the cheap seats.

Slower than we've come to expect from their days in TNA, this was nonetheless more physical and intense than it was boring and methodical. The storytelling was very strong, too, culminating in (and excusing) another rare win of a disqualification finish. Joe hadn't succeeded in his strategy to provoke Styles into a mistake. Styles, entering a controlled performance, held an answer to every über-punishing Joe query. Joe, with one eye on the war, forfeited the battle in a genuine Holy Sh*t moment by telling "Wendy Styles" that he was her "daddy now". This provoked Styles into a very believable conniption fit.

We didn't leave the match behind wondering what might've been. We left anticipating Hell In A Cell.

That's how long-term storytelling is done.

Star Rating: ****1/2

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!