LAST night WWE staged SummerSlam, its second biggest pay-per-view spectacular of the year.
With several title changes and a killer main event, there’s still plenty left to fight for. Here are 11 questions we have after watching “the biggest party of the summer”.
What’s next for Baron Corbin?
Corbin losing his Money in the Bank cash-in last week was a fun moment. But word is WWE officials are unhappy with him – which is the real reason he dropped the briefcase.
And there’s no better indication that how a wrestler’s position than how he fares against John Cena, who’s still measuring stick in WWE.
If the company is serious about pushing an up-and-coming talent, they’ll get a clean win over Cena – as Owens, Styles, and Nakamura did.
Last night Corbin dominated the early going (to mostly no reaction) in their serviceable opener, but Cena easily pinned him with an AA.
It’s not looking good for Bazza. He’s gone from future world champion to mid-card loser in under a week.
How long before WWE drops Kurt Angle’s illegitimate son story?
Kurt Angle’s scandalous secret – revealed to be that Jason Jordan was in fact his son – was the biggest story in WWE two months ago.
But Jordan didn’t even make it to the main SummerSlam card. Instead teaming with the Hardy Boyz in a losing effort against the Miztourage on the kickoff show.
WWE is obviously souring on this storyline already – hardly surprising, given the fan response to the less-than-charismatic Jordan.
The real question is whether WWE will drop it altogether – or have Jordan turn on his long lost old man while the story’s still salvagable.
Will Natalya finally get the title run she deserves?
It’s been over six years since Natalya held a championship in WWE. In that time, she must have notched up some kind of record for most unsuccessful title challenges.
But at SummerSlam she beat Naomi with the Sharpshooter and looked brilliantly heelish as the new SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Is it finally Natalya’s time to lead the women’s division? Or is she just being set for Carmella to cash in Money in the Bank this Tuesday on SmackDown?
Is Rusev the most wasted talent of all time?
Poor Rusev. He could have an incredible monster heel – but instead WWE repeatedly sacrificed him to John Cena and Roman Reigns.
And last night could have been his lowest point yet, losing a squash match to Randy Orton – a superstars ten years past his best.
Rusev attacked Orton before the match to gain the advantage, but still lost to the RKO after just a few seconds.
Here’s another question: what has Rusev done to deserve this treatment?
Will Enzo Amore ever get his revenge on Big Cass?
Big Cass battled Big Show is a deathly dull match (the crowd chanted “boring” at one point) with Enzo locked in a cage above the ring.
Rumour is that the gimmick was booked to punish Enzo, who has a ton of heat backstage.
Whatever the reason, Enzo’s presence did absolutely zero for the match – or his career, quite frankly.
When Enzo eventually escaped – after greasing himself in baby oil to squeeze through the bars – he was immediately laid out with a big boot.
Cass then nailed Show with two big boots and an Empire Elbow for the win.
It’s looks like Enzo will never get his retribution. In fact, this match likely signals which direction the former pals are respectively going – Cass is going up, Enzo is going down.
Does Sasha’s win mean we’ll finally get Boss v Bayley?
Sasha Banks defeated Alexa Bliss to become a four-time Raw Women’s Champion.
The match never got out of second gear (or at least failed to reach the heights of their blistering bout at Great Balls of Fire) but Banks’ win could be significant.
There’s been speculation for months that Sasha would turn heel on best friend Bayley – and this could be WWE’s chance to pull the trigger.
Bayley’s out with a shoulder injury but it’s common knowledge that WWE wants to re-build her as a babyface.
Facing her against a heel Sasha Bank – who was the best heel in the business when she was in NXT – could be exactly what Bayley needs.
Is Bálor finally getting his push?
This time last year Finn Bálor became the first ever Universal Champion – but was forced to vacate the title the following night.
Since returning from injury it’s been slow going for Bálor, with mediocre feuds against Elias Samson and… erm, no one.
But last he brought back the Demon King persona and beat Bray Wyatt in a decent match (it’s rarely better than just decent when Wyatt’s involved).
Is it now time for Bálor to step back up to the main event and reclaim the Universal Championship?
Is Beach Ball Mania really dead?
Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose – The Shield V.02 – defeated Sheamus and Cesaro to in an exciting matchup to become Raw Tag Team Champions.
But the big story was Ceasaro storming into the crowd to tear apart a beach ball that fans were tossing about and distracting from the match.
Fair play to the “Swiss Cyborg” – hopefully he’s ended that annoying fan tradition once and for all.
Are Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon about to start a feud?
With Shane acting as special referee in the AJ Styles v Kevin Owens bout, there was sure to be controversy.
Both men argued with Shane – and it looked ready to come to blows between the superstars and ref on several occasions.
The big moment came when Shane counted Styles’ shoulders down for three – but only spotted afterwards that Styles’ foot was on the rope.
Owens celebrated as if he’d won, then started a shoving match with Shane when he realised what had happened.
Styles then clobbered KO with a forearm and Styles Clash to retain his US Championship.
Owens and Shane O’Mac could now be on a collision course. Expect a showdown between the pair on this Tuesday’s SmackDown.
Will Nakamura get another shot at the WWE Championship?
Three years ago nobody thought they’d see Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE, never mind become the WWE Champion.
It was still a surprise though when he lost to Jinder Mahal in just 11 minutes – pinned with a Kahllas after interference from the Singh brothers.
Presumably Nakamura will get a rematch at the next SmackDown PPV. But as we saw with Baron Corbin, it doesn’t take much for WWE to change its mind on a main event push.
Is the so-called “artist” Nakamura really destined to become the face of WWE’s most prestigious title?
Is Brock Lesnar really going to UFC?
After a night of mostly average action, the place exploded for the fatal four-way main event for the Universal Championship.
It kicked off with huge spot after huge spot – to thunderous response from the Barclays Center crowd.
Barricades were crashed through, office chairs thrown around, Samoans went flying through the air, and Braun Strowman literally upturned a table and dropped it on Brock Lesnar.
Lesnar was carted off on a stretcher but made a surprise return to the match and pinned Roman Reigns to retain the title.
It’s unlikely that WWE would book Brock to win if he really was going back to UFC.
Any talk of Brock returning to the octagon may have been just a ruse to drive up his value to WWE.
Whatever the real story is, The Beast is destined to continue his reign over WWE for the time being.
But he’ll have to fend off the real star of the fatal four-way – Braun Strowman.
You can now pre-order SummerSlam 2017 on DVD & Blu-ray at WWEDVD.co.uk
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