WWE SummerSlam 2019 review: Highlights, takeaways and projections

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AJ Styles (c) vs. Ricochet

If you’re expecting the breakdown of Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler at this point, it’s not coming. It was what everyone expected it to be and I found it extremely pointless. Sorry, folks — I’m just not a Goldberg guy. DZ getting the superkicks in was a surprise and he did sell those spears extremely well (as we knew he would), but this is him being wasted on yet another big show. Moving on.

Up next was the United States Championship Match with AJ Styles and Ricochet. Naturally, The O.C. was at ringside and Luke Gallows was out there looking like The Warlord. Yes, I’m aware that’s what he did in Japan but all I could think about was The Powers of Pain. For the younger readers out there, just Google it.

As I’m sure most people were, this was an easy match of the night candidate going into SummerSlam, and while it was still good, this match was exactly what the night as a whole represented. I don’t think these two could ever have a bad match together, but it never reached that next level. The story they were telling was just fine with Ricochet, who had a Nightwing faux-leather thing happening with his gear, selling a knee injury and not getting in a ton of offense as he was focused too much on the outside interference that really never came. He did slap on CM Punk’s Anaconda Vice finisher though, which I thought might bring a chant that never came, either.

The finish was top-notch, though. Ricochet went for the Phoenix Splash but twisted right into an amazing counter as AJ hit the Styles Clash for the 1-2-3. Wow, that was … wait for it … phenomenal. The O.C. attacked The One and Only afterwards as well, to remind us that they’re a heel faction.

What’s next: I think that’s it for Styles vs. Ricochet. It was a very fun program that provided some entertaining matches, even if this last one left a little on the table. Hopefully, Ricochet doesn’t just get thrown back down the card into meaningless storylines as Styles moves on to a new challenger.