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

Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt

What we learned: We learned here that you don’t put on a match that everyone’s been waiting to see six days before you’re supposed to. Oh … and Finn Balor is stronger with the paint on. Oh … and Bray Wyatt is back to losing the big matches again.

Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor was a matchup that so many people in the WWE Universe were excited about when the SummerSlam bout was announced, and what did creative do? They had them wrestle each other on Monday Night RAW the week before. What? Why? The whole thing just didn’t make sense to me and it really took away from the match on Sunday.

This was another case of the match not being terrible but not being great either. Both entrances were solid, especially Balor’s use of the “he’s got the whole world in his hands” theme that Bray likes to use. I thought that was a nice touch. I really didn’t need the announce team saying over and over again that Finn Balor takes things to another level as The Demon King (it really got excessive), but he looked pretty solid on the night.

Balor was all over the place early on and the somersault dive was nice, but not quite as nice as the suplex from Wyatt to Balor on the floor. It almost looked like he was trying Orton’s draped DDT onto the floor for a second, so when the full suplex came, I did get jacked up for that. Wyatt got some more decent offense in, as did Balor, but the finish seemed really abrupt to me. Bray went for the crab walk but Finn jumped up and hit the Slingblade and the dropkick and the Coup de Grace and that was that. These two literally got 10 more seconds to work than The Big Show and Big Cass. That’s a problem.

What’s next: With each man owning a clean victory, this program certainly isn’t over. No Mercy is is next up for the red brand, and the rubber match should take place there. Hopefully, we’ll get another House of Horrors Match. Sorry, that joke wasn’t funny at all. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone ever.