WWE SummerSlam 2017 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

What we learned, what we took away and what lies ahead for the superstars of Monday Night RAW and SmackDown Live following the 30th annual edition of WWE SummerSlam.

WWE held the 30th edition of SummerSlam, which has become the second biggest event on the calendar, on Sunday night, and it was an interesting night to say the least.

Billed as the “biggest party of the summer,” there were a few instances where it actually felt like that, but there were also far too many moments where it didn’t. Including the kickoff show, there were eight, yes, eight title matches on the card last night, with two of them coming before the main card even got going. However, before those two title matches, six competitors had to wrestle in what was essentially an empty arena as The Miz and The Miztourage took on Jason Jordan (glad to see that whole Kurt Angle’s son program is working out) and The Hardy Boyz in a six-man tag match that essentially did nothing for anyone involved. It’s not that the match was horrible by any means, but it had to be a little embarrassing for those guys. The Miz and company picked up the win by the way.

The second match of the kickoff show saw Neville regain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship with a win over Akira Tozawa in what could be described as a decent match that could have replaced a number of bouts on the main card. In that same vein, the final match of the preview show between The New Day and The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was phenomenal. It was clear that these guys had a little chip on their shoulder about not being on the main show and they left it all in the ring … and some outside the ring as well. Honestly, that match was better than just about every match on the main card, and I’ll argue that all day long. The Usos took back the titles, so we’ll get at least one more match out of these teams with the rematch clause and all.

Now let’s take a look at the 10 matches from the main show, starting with the curtain-jerker between John Cena and Baron Corbin.