WWE SummerSlam 2017: Best and Worst Moments

Worst: What is This, Halftime Heat*?

The most glaring negative aspect of SummerSlam 2017 was the majority of the kickoff show. Not the amount of matches, or even the length of the kick off itself, but the crowd. Well, the lack of a crowd, I guess is more accurate.

Apparently, the show start time printed on tickets was 5 p.m. – when the kick off show started – but the doors didn’t open until, uh, 5:05ish. That seems like a problem.

Ok, so let’s not play Fashion Police and try and figure out exactly what happened. Let’s instead focus on what it meant. You have an opening match – which in kayfabe was made literally to get the Hardy Boyz on SummerSlam – that takes place in front of nobody. That’s followed by a Cruiserweight Championship (re)match with not too many more people present. Then we got a concert from Elias.

Wait, what?

Yes, WWE structured the kickoff show so that a couple of Hall of Famers had to wrestle in front of an empty arena, leaving plenty of room in the middle for a musical performance that furthered precisely zero storylines. No interference from even R-Truth, nothing. Even the SmackDown Tag Team Title match was in front of a less than a full building – and that match was really good!

Let’s not forget the like ten minutes at the end of the kickoff show devoted to a KFC commercial and Shawn “Colonel Sanders” Michaels. Gotta pay the sponsors, right?

Even if the empty arena was caused by the venue and not WWE, someone should have had the foresight to shuffle things around to get some people in the building. It may have been chaotic, but The Hardys deserve better at this stage in their career.

(*- Halftime Heat was really good, though)