WWE SUMMERSLAM KICKOFF SHOW RESULTS (7/30/2022)
It's that time of year again!
Along with the increasingly hot and humid weather in most parts of North America and other areas of the globe, the world of pro wrestling and sports entertainment also heats up with the 35th annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view, which gets underway now with the start of the Kickoff Show.
The pre-show stream is now live as the camera slowly zooms in on the Kickoff Show panel, which features Kayla Braxton and the rest of the crew, which she immediately introduces.
The gang are seated just outside Nissan Stadium, the site of tonight's WWE SummerSlam 2022 pay-per-view. Braxton introduces fellow panelists, Jerry "The King" Lawler, Booker T, Kevin Patrick and DJ Peter Rosenberg.
We hear the small crowd standing around in the background making some noise now as Lawler brings up the increasing heat issues throughout many parts of the globe here in the second half of 2022.
Now that the opening statements and introductions are in the rear-view mirror, the gang begins running down some of the scheduled action on tap for the WWE Universe at tonight's SummerSlam 2022 pay-per-view. As they mention some of the matches on the lineup for the special event, we see the official match graphics flash across the screen.
Braxton sends things over to Matt Camp of WWE's The Bump, who is standing by in the WWE SummerSlam Fan Zone. He asks some of the younger fans in arms-reach who and what they are most excited to see here at tonight's big event.
Now we shoot back to the pre-show panel, who begin to talk about the Raw Women's Champion showdown scheduled for tonight between Becky Lynch and current title=holder Bianca Belair.
On that note, the panelists send things over to the first of many elaborate pre-match video packages to tell the stories leading up to a given bout on the card this evening. Once the package wraps up, we return to the pre-show panel where the crew gives their respective thoughts on the Belair-Lynch title showdown.
From there, Braxton shifts gears and begins talking about the Pat McAfee vs. Happy Corbin bout scheduled for the show tonight and then we are sent to our second in-depth video package looking at the journey these two have been on leading into their grudge match here this evening in Nashville, TN.
We return to the panel after the package wraps up and then the gang gives their thoughts on the McAfee-Corbin bout before sending us to a Kevin Owens video package and after that, an in-depth look at the events leading up to the Logan Paul vs. The Miz showdown here at WWE SummerSlam 2022.
The panelists check back in and we get a special guest in the form of Greg Miller, the host of the new WWE original series, WWE: This Is Awesome. He banters back-and-forth with the rest of the panelists and then the gang sounds off on the Paul-Miz grudge match.
After they wrap up their discussion, we shift gears and start to get an in-depth look at the events that led up to tonight's SmackDown Women's Championship showdown between Liv Morgan and former title-holder "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey.
This continues for the last ten or so minutes of the SummerSlam Kickoff Show and then the pre-show wraps up with predictions on some of the featured matches on tonight's card.
The panelists then wrap things up and send us off the air, as it is now time to switch gears and get ready for the start of the main pay-per-view card of the 35th annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
WWE SUMMERSLAM RESULTS (7/30/2022)
Raw Women's Championship action kicks things off inside the squared circle this evening, as it's time to get "The Biggest Party of the Summer" underway.
Raw Women's Championship
Bianca Belair (C) vs. Becky Lynch
With that said, we hear the familiar sounds of Becky Lynch's theme song as "Big Time Becks" emerges from the back and begins making her way down to the ring for our first match of the main card here at SummerSlam.
She settles inside the ring, as does her opponent, the reigning and defending Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair. "The EST of WWE" and "Big Time Becks" both look ready to get this party started. The referee calls for the bell and we're officially off-and-running.
Raw Women's Championship action kicks things off inside the squared circle this evening, as it's time to get "The Biggest Party of the Summer" underway.
With that said, we hear the familiar sounds of Becky Lynch's theme song as "Big Time Becks" emerges from the back and begins making her way down to the ring for our first match of the main card here at SummerSlam.
She settles inside the ring, as does her opponent, the reigning and defending Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair. "The EST of WWE" and "Big Time Becks" both look ready to get this party started. The referee calls for the bell and we're officially off-and-running.
We see some solid back-and-forth action from Belair and Lynch in the early goings. Within the first couple of minutes of the bout, we see it spill out to the floor where Lynch drives Belair shoulder-first into the steel ring barricade. She follows that up with a big leg drop before bringing the action back into the ring where she now enjoys a comfortable offensive lead.
"The Man" quickly hits an excellent Exploder Suplex once the bout returns inside the ring. She continues to capitalize on her growing offensive lead over the title-holder here in the first of many title matches scheduled for tonight's show.
Lynch remains in the offensive driver's seat for the next couple of minutes until she goes for a high spot that backfires, as she leaps off the top-rope looking to connect with a flying cross-body, only for Belair to move out of the way. As a result, Lynch crashes and burns.
It isn't much longer later when we see "The EST of WWE" show why she is the top dog in the Raw women's division, as she starts to put togrether a nice run of offense that includes a brutal KOD on the floor and culminates with her ultimately hitting an Avalanche Spanish Fly before hitting another KOD for the pin fall victory. With the win, Belair retains her Raw Women's Championship.
Once the match wraps up, we see the trio of Bayley, Io Shirai and Dakota Kai make their way down to the ring. The three look to ambush Belair with a sneak-attack from behind, however "The EST of WWE" gets some help from an unexpected source as Becky Lynch ends up coming to her aid and preventing her from a post-match beat down.
Winner and STILL Raw Women's Champion: Bianca Belair
The action continues here at WWE SummerSlam as we now get ready for our second PPV match of the evening, as we head back down to the ring after the video package airs telling the story of events leading up to tonight's grudge match showdown between former WrestleMania tag-team partners turned bitter-rivals.
Logan Paul goes one-on-one against The Miz -- NEXT!
Logan Paul vs. The Miz
We shoot back live inside Nissan Stadum and the two each make their respective ring entrances. With both guys settled into the squared circle, the bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one.
The Miz has Tommaso Ciampa and Maryse in his corner, and the two play a factor almost from the word "go" in this one.
Eventually we see AJ Styles even up the numbers game for Logan Paul, taking out Ciampa after he gets involved one time too-many.
Now with things back to being a fair one-on-one fight, we see Logan Paul start to go on an athletic showcase, displaying all that he has learned as he prepared for his first time stepping into the ring since his WWE debut back at WrestleMania 38.
We see Paul knock Miz out to the floor, where he lays him on top of the commentary table at ringside.
Logan rolls back into the ring and climbs up to the top-rope. He pauses just for a moment to soak things in and then he launches himself from the top-rope in the ring out to Miz, connecting with a picture-perfect frog splash that puts "The Most Must-See WWE Superstar" through the table.
Soon thereafter, Logan brings Miz back into the ring, only for Maryse to now hop up on the apron as she becomes the latest to play the distraction game with Paul.
As Logan is distracted with her, as well as the referee, we see Miz get a foreign object. He wraps a chain around his hand and heads over to where Logan is standing near the ropes.
Instead of things going as Miz planned, Logan avoids the big cheap shot and ends up countering by hitting The Miz with his own Skull Crushing Finale finisher. He goes for the follow-up pin attempt and gets the three-count victory.
Two matches on the two biggest stages WWE has to offer thus far in the short WWE career of Logan Paul -- and both were off-the-charts impressive for a newcomer to the industry.
Winner: Logan Paul
After a quick commercial break, we head back live inside Nissan Stadium where it's time for our third match of WWE SummerSlam 2022 -- which will once again feature a title at stake;.
WWE United States Championship
Bobby Lashley (C) vs. Theory
Now we hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme song of the 2022 Mr. Money in the Bank -- Theory. He settles inside the ring and climbs to the top-rope in the corner, where he takes one of his trademark pre-match selfies.
Theory hangs back and now waits on the entrance of his opponent, the man who took the WWE United States Championship from him -- the reigning and defending champion coming into this, our second of many title matches scheduled for tonight's show -- "The All Mighty" Bobby Lashley.
Lashley's theme hits and he emerges to a nice pop to the jam-packed venue here in Nashville, TN. He heads to the squared circle and settles inside of it as his entrance tune fades down. The referee calls for the bell and this match is now officially off-and-running.
We see Theory ambush Lashley with a cheap shot with his Money In The Bank briefcase to get this WWE U.S. title showdown off with a bang. Theory follows that up with some more offensive as the fans let him hear it -- getting on his case with loud boos.
Theory enjoys a minute or so in the offensive driver's seat before the bigger, stronger and more experienced Lashley starts to overwhelm him with punishing offense, starting with a big clothesline that nearly turns him inside-out.
Lashley adds onto his growing offensive momentum with some additional moves and spots until once again we see Theory try some cheap heel tactics, as he looks to take the first opportunity he has seen to get out of this one.
Theory exits the ring and attempts to get himself counted out. Unfortunately for him, "The All Mighty" hasn't had his fill just yet -- so he heads out after him. He catches up with the selfie king and rams him into the steel ringside barricade over-and-over again.
Lashley now brings his opponent back into the ring where he looks to finish him off. He catches him with a big spear and follows that up with The Hurt Lock submission finisher. Theory eventually taps out and Lashley picks up a relatively quick win to successfully defend his WWE U.S. Championship.
Winner and STILL WWE U.S. Champion: Bobby Lashley
After another quick ad time-out, we return to the 35th annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view with a camera shot of the massive crowd live inside Nissan Stadium in Nashville, TN.
The Judgment Day vs. The Mysterios
The familiar sounds of the theme song for The Judgment Day fills the massive venue and then we see Damian Priest and Finn Balor make their way out and head to the ring.
They settle inside the squared circle and their music dies down. Now the theme for their opponents plays and out comes the father-and-son duo of Rey and Dominik Mysterio.
The WWE Universe in attendance gives the masked Mexican pro wrestling legend a great ovation coming out, as #MonthOfMysterio continues with the ongoing month-long celebration of the 20-year anniversary of Rey Mysterio in WWE.
All four men involved in this scheduled tag-team bout are now inside the ring ropes, so the referee calls for the bell to get this one off-and-running.
We see Rey Rey faring well with his trademark fast-paced, high-flying offense in the early goings, and then he tags in his son, Dominik Mysterio, who hits the ring with a ton of energy, picknig up where his legendary father left off.
This doesn't last for long, however, as Balor and Priest end up shifting the offensive momentum in their favor.
The Judgment Day now takes over control of the action and they start to utilize the classic tag-team strategy of keeping their weakened opposition cut-off on their half of the ring, prevewnting him from making the much-needed tag to the fresher Rey Mysterio, all-the-while utilizing frequent tags themselves to keep a fresh man on the weakened Dom at all times.
This same routine plays out for several minutes until finally Dominik makes it to his neck of the woods inside the squared circle. He then makes the sorely needed tag to his poppa and in comes the masked legend to a huge pop from the WWE fans in Nashville.
Rey comes into the ring like a bat out of hell and he completely shifts the offensive momentum into his team's favor. He sets Balor up for his 6-1-9 finishing sequence, however he is unable to pull the trigger on the fan-friendly spot, as Rhea Ripley reaches under the bottom rope and trips him up just as he was about to charge into the direction of Balor.
We see Priest start to beat down Rey now as Balor recovers and Ripley cheers the two on from ringside. Before they can finish this one off, the lights inside Nissan Stadium go out.
When they come back on, we see "The Rated-R Superstar" Edge emerge with his hair cut short. He is raised from the floor and he begins heading down to the ring to an enormous pop from the fans in Nashville.
Edge hits the ring and connects with a pair of spears on his former Judgment Day buddies. This sets Rey up for his 6-1-9 and then the subsequent pin fall -- where he gets the three count and picks up the victory for he and his son.
Winners: The Mysterios
After a quick commercial break, we return inside the venue where we now hear the familiar voice of longtime veteran WWE commentator Michael Cole. He points out that it's now time for "The A-Team" on commentary to take over.
Pat McAfee vs. Happy Corbin
The video package airs to tell the story leading into our next match of the evening -- which features the battle between former roommates during their respective runs as part of the Indianapolis Colts franchise in the NFL turned fellow WWE performers.
With that said, we see the events that transpired that led to this featured showdown between Pat McAfee and Happy Corbin here at the 35th annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
The video package wraps up and now we settle inside the stadium in Nashville where it's time for the respective ring entrances of the two participants involved in our next match of the evening.
Alright, the match has just wrapped up and it saw Pat McAfee get his hand raised after another impressive in-ring performance by the WWE Friday Night SmackDown on FOX commentator, podcast host and former NFL star. Full match write-up coming in just a moment -- hang tight.
Winner: Pat McAfee
We see some video packages after taking another quick commercial time-out, and then we see the elaborate pre-match video package for our next bout of the evening here at WWE SummerSlam 2022.
Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Championships
The Usos (C) vs. The Street Profits
With that said, we hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme music of WWE Hall of Fame legend Jeff Jarrett. "Double J" emerges in his hometown of Nashville, TN. and heads down to the ring where he will serve as the special guest referee for our next championship bout here at the 35th annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view.
Jarrett settles in the ring and his music dies down. Now the theme hits for the challengers heading into this undisputed championship contest, as The Street Profits head to the ring accompanied by a bunch of the Tennessee Titans cheerleaders for the hometown NFL franchise.
The challengers of Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins are in the ring and ready for what WWE fans are expecting to be another classic in the series of matches they have had against The Usos. With that said, their theme music fades down and they await the ring walks of the reigning and defending champs.
With that said, the lights go down again and when they come back up, the title-holders emerge and Jimmy and Jey Uso make their way to the ring as Michael Cole points out that they have passed another milestone mark as they have held the tag-team titles for 317 days during this current run with the gold.
The Usos settle into the squared circle now as well and folks, it's time for another title match, one of two undisputed championship contests scheduled for "The Biggest Party of the Summer" here tonight in Nashville, TN. Both teams are settled in the ring and it's time to get this one underway.
We hear the bell sound to officially get this one off-and-running. After some early back-and-forth action from both teams, we see things pick up. Each team spends some time in the offensive driver's seat and then we finally work our way to the finishing sequence in this one.
Jey nearly super-kicks special guest referee Jarrett. Dawkins hits "The Cash Out" and then tags in Ford. Ford connects with The Frog Splash for a close two count. Ford yells at Jarrett and then tags Dawkins back in. We then see Jimmy pull Jey out of the ring. The Usos then connect with a Double super-kick.
After this, we see The Usos launch Ford over the ringside barricade. Jimmy and Jey then hit a pair of double super-kicks to Dawkins in the ring.
Jey tags in Jimmy, who then plants him with the 1D for the pin fall victory. With the win, The Usos remain Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions and add to their already milestone reign with the belts in another excellent contest against the very game Dawkins and Ford.
Winners and STILL Undisputed WWE Tag-Team Champions: The Usos
It's time for the co-main event here at the 35th annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view and yet another title showdown here at "The Biggest Party of the Summer."
Raw Women's Championship
Liv Morgan (C) vs. Ronda Rousey
With that said, the in-depth pre-match video package airs to tell the story of the events that led to this rematch from the recent WWE Money In The Bank 2022 pay-per-view, where Liv Morgan cashed in after winning the Women's Money In The Bank ladder match to earn a shot at either the Raw or SmackDown Women's title at a time and place of her choosing.
As everyone saw -- ended up being later that same evening, as she defeated Ronda Rousey after cashing in following "Rowdy" Ronda's title defense against Natalya -- where she would go on to defeat her and capture her first-ever title in WWE.
The video package wraps up and then we return live inside Nissan Stadium where the Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" blasts throughout the massive Nashville-based venue as the women's MMA pioneer and former Raw Women's Champion heads to the ring looking determined to win back what was once rightfully hers.
She settles inside the squared circle and her music eventually fades down. Now the theme for the reigning, defending Raw Women's Champion plays and out comes Liv Morgan ready to prove that getting her hand raised against Rousey at MITB was not a fluke.
Both ladies are in the ring, the music is done playing and it's time for these two to duke it out to decide the top dog in the women's division on the WWE red brand. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with what is positioned as our co-main event of the evening.
We see some solid action in the early goings of this one, with Rousey dominating for the most part. Liv ends up fighting from underneath into competitive form and she starts to fire up, looking to finish this one in the early goings.
Unfortunately, things do get finished up quickly, but it isn't exactly beneficial to either Rousey or Morgan. Why? Because the referee "blew" the call, as we see Rousey go for one armbar attempt after another. She ends up locking in a tight one after applying a flying arm bar to the champ.
She lands on her back and cranks away at the arm of the title-holder hoping to get the tap. Instead, the ref counts it as a pin, ala Kurt Angle and Daniel Puder's shoot from yester-year, and Morgan is announced the winner. We see during the replays that Morgan appeared to actually tap out, and that Rousey should rightfully be crowned the champion.
That's now how this one ends though.
The match has just wrapped up, and the referee "blew" the finish. As a result, Rousey gets robbed of winning back her title. Instead, Morgan manages to retain it. The commentators show replay after replay as this one wraps up on that note.
Winner and STILL Raw Women's Champion: Liv Morgan
After another commercial break, we return inside Nissan Stadium as it's time for our main event of the evening.
Undisputed WWE Championship
Roman Reigns (C) vs. Brock Lesnar
The camera shoots back live inside the big stadium in Nashville where we now hear the familiar sounds of Roman Reigns' theme playing.
"The Tribal Chief" emerges with Paul Heyman holding up one of his two title belts high in the air, walking behind the top dog in the WWE men's division.
We also see The Usos, fresh off of their Undisputed WWE Tag-Team title defense against The Street Profits, walking by his side as well.
They end up heading to the back while Heyman continues to accompany the champ to the ring for the highly-anticipated championship main event here at the 35th annual WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view in Nashville, TN.
Reigns is now settled inside the ring and after Heyman hands him a microphone, his music dies down. "The Head of the Table" begins speaking by addressing the fans in Nashville.
"Nashville. SummerSlam. Acknowledge me!" The crowd boos as Reigns surveys each side of the massive stadium. He circles and paces around as he awaits the ring entrance of his scheduled opponent here tonight.
With that said, the familiar sounds of Brock Lesnar's theme song plays and the crowd goes wild as the former WWE Champion makes his way out looking ready for his rematch from WrestleMania 38 against Reigns.
Lesnar stops half-way towards the ring and walks off to the side where there is an enormous tractor. He puts on his trademark flanel with the cut-off sleeves and then a cowboy hat before getting behind the wheel of the giant tractor.
"The Beast Incarnate" then proceeds to ride the custom massive tractor all the way down to the ring where he parks it at ringside, where we see a giant scoop in the front of the tractor laying just over the top-rope. He climbs up to the top of the tractor and as the ring announcer begins the formal pre-match ring introductions for this championship contest, Lesnar reaches in and pulls a microphone out of the scoop and tells him to shut up.
Lesnar addresses the crowd a bit before ultimately getting the WWE SummerSlam 2022 main event off with a bang as he leaps off the scoop and splashes onto Reigns. The bell sounds and we are now officially off-and-running with this Last Man Standing match to determine the Undisputed WWE Champion.
The action quickly spills out to the floor where Lesnar beats Reigns all over the ringside area and throughout the crowd. The match eventually finds its' way back inside the ring where Reigns starts to fight back into competitive form. He blasts Lesnar with a Superman punch. He calls for another one but regardless, Lesnar doesn't stay down for the ten count so this match continues.
We see Lesnar and Reigns fight back out to the floor again. This time we see Lesnar look to leap up to the top of the ringside barricade in a single bounce, however he ends up slipping and falling down to the floor. The commentators mention how "The Beast Incarnate" isn't going to be happy about that one.
Again we see Lesnar use the tractor as a weapon to inflict further damage on "The Tribal Chief," getting closer and closer to keeping the Undisputed WWE Champion down for the necessary count of ten to win this WrestleMania rematch and regain the top prize in all of WWE.
The two trade a couple more leads in the offensive driver's seat, although not necessarily the seat of the actual vehicle at ringside. They each pull out every move they have in their arsenal in an attempt to keep the other one down for the count of ten, but time after time both men continue to make it back to their feet.
Now we see Lesnar get back into the tractor once again. This time, he drives it closer to the ring and lowers the scoop. He then raises it after he sets it under the ring. This causes the entire ring to be lifted way up in the air on one side. Reigns ends up rolling out to the floor as a result of the squared circle being raised so high on the opposing side he is laid out on.
It still wasn't enough to keep "The Head of the Table" down for a ten-count from the match official.
We see Mr. Money In The Bank 2022 run out with his briefcase in-hand. He sprints down to the ringside area sure that this one is over. He tries to hand the MITB briefcase over to the referee, only to get shoved down and laid out.
Now we see Jimmy and Jey Uso run down from the back. They get involved, but not for long, as Lesnar ends up beating them down and leaving them laying. Paul Heyman walks over and tries telling Lesnar that he was his meal ticket for years and he's ready to re-join him.
Brock isn't hearing it, though. Instead, he hoists Heyman up and plants him down with a vengeance -- putting him through a table in the process.
Now we see Reigns finally recover and make it back to his feet. He heads back over and starts duking it out with the challenger some more on the floor at ringside.
Eventually we see Reigns grab his Undisputed WWE Championship title belt. He builds up a full head of steam and charges in Lesnar's direction.
He blasts Lesnar in the dome with it and lays him out. Lesnar somehow makes it back to his feet before the count of ten. He is stumbling a lot, though. Reigns does the same thing again and still, while a bit more wobbly this time, Lesnar is able to get back to a vertical position.
Finally, we hear Reigns yell at Lesnar, "stay down and after this -- you're not welcome back!" He runs over and decks Lesnar with the title belt a third time.
This time he ensures victory by stacking a bunch of heavy crap on him. The referee begins his count and this time, he makes it to the count of ten. Roman Reigns once again emerges victorious against Brock Lesnar. "The Tribal Chief" is still your Undisputed WWE Champion.
Winner and STILL Undisputed WWE Champion: Roman Reigns