WWE SummerSlam 2017: Best and Worst Moments

Best: Title Changes For Everyone! (Almost)

Coming into the night, with eight titles being defended, I figured maybe one or two would change hands. Sure, SummerSlam is a big show, but even WrestleMania doesn’t go crazy and swap all the titles.

Cut to three straight title matches resulting in new champions, and I was changing my tune a little bit. I’m all for chaotic results and things that you can’t predict, so anytime something I’m not expecting happens I’m thrilled.

The second show on the kick off was Akira Tozawa making his first title defense of the Cruiserweight Championship. His opponent? Neville, cashing in his guaranteed rematch as the previous champion. I thought, “Well, Tozawa literally just won the title on Monday, there’s no way they flip it back to Neville so quick!” And I was wrong.

The final match on the kick off was the SmackDown Tag Team Title match. The New Day defended against the men they beat for the titles at Battleground, The Usos. Again, I thought, “Well, there’s no way two titles are changing hands on the kick off show, so I guess New Day will retain!” And I was wrong.

The second match of SummerSlam proper was the SmackDown Women’s Championship match. By now, I’m not trying to guess any outcomes of title matches. So when Natalya defeated Naomi to win the title, I just thought of it as a great moment for Nattie, and waited for a Carmella cash-in that never came. Then Sasha beat Alexa for the Raw Women’s Title later, and it was pure pandemonium for the incumbent champs.

Four rapid fire title changes right off the bat set the tone for the rest of the night. There was no predicting what was going to happen, which greatly increased my enjoyment of (most of) the show.