WWE SUMMER SLAM

WWE SummerSlam 2016 results: Brock Lesnar
gets savage, Finn Balor wins title
15h ago • 8 min read
Brock Lesnar finishes off SummerSlam in brutal
fashion
1:02
WWE's second biggest pay-per-view each year,
SummerSlam on Sunday was a mix of brilliance
and confusion.
It had its share of highlights, like John Cena vs. AJ
Styles and Finn Balor winning the new universal
title, but it also suffered from some head-
scracthers. From the way in which the matches
were presented to the final two bouts of the
evening not having legitimate finishes, much was
left to be desired from what is typically one of the
most exciting and interesting shows in WWE's
rotation.
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On top of it all, the four-hour event, which also had
a two-hour kickoff show, seemed to drag after
getting off to a really hot start. The Brooklyn, New
York, crowd was all-in at the start but fizzled out
and began entertaining itself, such as booing the
(admittedly ugly) new universal title during one of
the best matches of the evening.
Below are our full results from WWE SummerSlam
along with a bevy of highlights, instant reactions in
our live blog and the match card as it stood prior
to the start of the evening.
Results
Kickoff Show
Sheamus def. Cesaro via pinfall
Sami Zayn & Neville def. The Dudley Boyz via pifall
American Alpha, The Usos & The Hype Bros def.
Breezango, Ascension & Vaudevillains via pinfall
Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens def. Enzo Amore &
Big Cass via pinfall: Enzo & Cass got a massive
pop to open the show. The hometown products
quoted Notorious B.I.G. and Frank Sinatra, while
Enzo was dressed in Yankees pinstripes with
pictures of Biggie on his ring gear. JeriKO
dominated most of the match, and just when it was
looking like Cass would turn the tide following a
hot tag, he was taken out by the ring barrier
leaving Enzo by himself inside the ring. Owens and
Jericho teamed up for a Pop-Up Codebreaker
(using the momentum from Owens' finisher into
Jericho's finisher) for the pinfall.
bruh pic.twitter.com/XcEtBeM1uD
— WrestlinGifs (@WrestlinGifs) August 21,
2016
Women's Championship -- Charlotte def. Sasha
Banks (c) via pinfall: A spot-fest for sure,
especially early when it appeared as if Banks was
seriously hurt when she fell on her back and neck.
Multiple hurricanranas by Banks impressed early,
as did a top-rope Boston Crab. Banks also
converted a top-rope Razor's Edge by Charlotte
into another hurricanrana and looked ready to
retain her title by locking in the Bank Statement
not once but twice. The second time, however,
Charlotte was able to roll Banks over and keep her
shoulders down for the three count with Charlotte
walking out of SummerSlam the new women's
champion.
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WWE SummerSlam
✔ @SummerSlam
WHAT A COUNTER by @SashaBanksWWE ! Is
this the opening she needed? #
SummerSlam
5:12 AM - 22 Aug 2016
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Intercontinental Championship -- The Miz (c) def.
Apollo Crews via pinfall: A short match
considering its predecessors this evening. Crews
got in a ton of offense including a modified Angle
Slam and his signature standing backflip, but Miz
-- via distraction from Maryse -- was able to
throw Crews into the ring post and hit the Skull-
Crushing Finale for the pinfall to retain his strap.
AJ Styles def. John Cena via pinfall: Back-and-
forth crowd chants took up the early portion of the
match. Things kicked into gear when Styles
countered an Attitude Adjustment into a Pele kick
and then followed with the Styles Clash for the two
count. Cena bounced back with the AA for a two
count of his own. The men then traded old-school
moves with Styles converting a torture rack into a
slam and Cena using the momentum from a
slingshot to put together a powerslam-slash-
Diamond Cutter. Styles missed a springboard 450
off the top rope. Cena hit a flipping pin
combination. Styles answered with a German
suplex converted into a facebuster. Cena and
Styles then reversed each other's moves, going
from STF to crossface to AA to calf crusher to STF.
Even a tornado DDT and top-rope leg drop by
Cena did not put an end to the match.
After the two took a breath, Styles hit a
Frankensteiner from the corner and followed with
his Phenomenal Forearm finisher but only got a
two. Cena then hit his AA from the middle rope
but, again, a two count. The finish finally came as
Styles converted an AA into a Styles Clash and
followed it with another Phenomenal Forearm for
the 1-2-3.
pic.twitter.com/HybK7ReTKG
— WrestlinGifs (@WrestlinGifs) August 22,
2016
Tag Team Championship -- Gallows & Anderson
def. The New Day (c) via disqualification: Jon
Stewart introduced New Day with Big E sidelined
with his "injury." New Day was poised to lose the
titles when Stewart ran into the ring to distract
Gallows & Anderson, forcing The Club members to
focus their attention on him. Just as Stewart was
about to be run man region-first into the ring post,
Big E ran out from the back to attack, forcing the
DQ finish and ensuring New Day's title reign
extends into its 365th day.
World Heavyweight Championship -- Dean
Ambrose (c) def. Dolph Ziggler via pinfall: The
crowd was absolutely dead for this one, exhausted
from Cena-Styles and awaiting the two main events
(yes, the heavyweight title was not a main event at
SummerSlam). Ziggler got some action in with a
superkick and Zig-Zag, but Ambrose kicked out of
both. Eventually, Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds on
Ziggler to retain his title. Ziggler very much looked
like he's one-and-done in the main event picture
considering the way that match ended, which is a
shame. He gained nothing from it.
Nikki Bella, Natalya & Alexa Bliss def. Carmella,
Becky Lynch & Naomi via pinfall: Bella, returning
seven months after neck surgery, was the surprise
entrant in the match following the suspension of
Eva Marie. Lynch got some good work in, at one
point clearing the entire ring, but she was
ultimately a non-factor in the finish. Bella got
Carmella alone, delivered a forearm and then put
her in a new version of the Rack Attack -- saying
"I'm back" before delivering it -- for the finish.
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GOING TO WORK is what @BeckyLynchWWE
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Universal Championship -- Finn Balor def. Seth
Rollins via pinfall: Balor's entrance was once again
a spectacle, while Rollins debuted some new neon
green attire. Momentum shifted back and forth in
the early going with both men getting in some of
their signature maneuvers. Balor missed three
straight Coup de Grace attempts, the third of which
Rollins turned into a Pedigree but only got a two
count. Rollins missed a move from the top rope,
allowing Balor to dropkick him into the corner.
Rollins hit a superplex, but Balor reversed another
Pedigree into a stomp, dropkicked Rollins into the
turnbuckles again and finally hit the Coup de Grace
to become the first WWE universal champion.
United States Championship -- Rusev (c) vs.
Roman Reigns: The match never started. Rusev
attacked Reigns outside the ring before the match
began, throwing him into the stairs. Reigns turned
the tables on Rusev and dominated him from there
on, including hitting him with a steel chair multiple
times. The referees sent Reigns to the back while
the ring announcer declared there would be no
match. At that point, Reigns returned, ran down the
ramp and speared Rusev.
Brock Lesnar def. Randy Orton via TKO: As he
usually does, Lensar had the advantage early. He
threw Orton into the announce table twice and took
it to him outside the ring. Lesnar was setting Orton
up again on top of an announce table when Orton
hit an RKO outta nowhere. Once Lesnar was back
in the ring, Orton and Lesnar traded an RKO and
F5 ... but each resulted in a two count. Lesnar
then jumped on Orton and began "ground and
pounding" him MMA-style. A cut opened on
Orton's head and began gushing blood, so much
that a pool developed in the ring. Lesnar went
back to beat on Orton twice while two doctors
surrounded him, but the referee eventually called
for the bell and announced a decision for Lesnar
by TKO.
It is definitely tough to tell whether this is a work
or not, though Lesnar returning to hit him over and
over again makes it appear as of its planned -- or
at least not considered a big deal. Shane McMahon
entered the ring to stop Lesnar and took an F5 for
his troubles as Lesnar walked off and the crowd
booed a confusing finish to SummerSlam.
View image on Twitter
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WWE SummerSlam
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Your winner by TKO in this #SummerSlam
main event is @BrockLesnar ! @
HeymanHustle
8:31 AM - 22 Aug 2016
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Overall: WWE has struggled to deliver at its biggest
pay-per-views of the year. I gave WrestleMania 32
a 'C' because the company tried too hard booking-
wise. The grade I'm giving SummerSlam is
because creative didn't try hard enough. There
were two matches without finishes and others that
neither advanced storylines nor performers. Plus,
did you see that belt?! (Joke-serious on that one.)
The brand split went really well for WWE over its
first two weeks but things have really suffered as
of late. Perhaps the rushed booking of
SummerSlam played a role in that and the writing
teams can develop feuds and matches better going
forward. But that doesn't change the quality of
Sunday's show. Even though I was thrilled with the
results of the Cena-Styles and Balor-Rollins
matches, it was not a good show overall