Charlotte Flair vs. Trish Stratus
The second WWE Hall of Famer returning to the ring at SummerSlam was Trish Stratus, who got to have her one final match in front of her hometown crowd against Charlotte Flair. Yes, there’s the matter of another legend taking up a spot on the card that could’ve gone to someone on the current roster, but I was actually okay with this one. You want Charlotte on the card and she didn’t have much else going on. Bring in one of the best of her generation in Trish, let Charlotte run her down and we get a match that we thought we’d never see. Let’s do it.
It’s always a concern when someone has been away for so long that there would be ring rust and there certainly was that early on with Stratus, but that only lasted a few minutes. You could tell that Charlotte was calling the match and after those early stumbles, Trish settled in and looked very good. She took all the punishment that Flair was dishing out and was selling extremely well. That butt bump to the floor looked really painful.
This turned out to be a lot of fun. The crowd was really into it and the two had a good match. Trish always had the thing with the chops and that obviously plays right into a match with Flair and the crowd was loving that. So many “WOO” pops. And Stratus slapping on Charlotte’s Figure Four — and then into the Figure Eight — was a beautiful touch. Trish hit all of her old moves and adding that part in was beautiful. But in the end, as we knew would happen, Charlotte got the win with a Figure Eight of her own and Trish had no choice but to tap. Great work by both women.
With this being the battle of two generations, I was really concerned about there being a handshake moment at the end of things but I’m pleased it never happened. It doesn’t fit Charlotte’s character; she got her win and left the ring with that smug look on her face while Trish was able to get her last sendoff moment. The audience gave her the reaction she richly deserved and that was that.
What’s next: We all know that was a one-off and Charlotte will move on. Remember when I was talking earlier about that next challenger for Bayley? I really think that it’s going to be Flair. Bayley’s run as champ has been adequate enough, but with that move to FOX coming, I think they’re going to put the belt on Charlotte for a 10th time at Night of Champions, which would make her the champion going into the new SmackDown Live this fall.