Hand it Down
Oba Femi, like 50 Cent in the early 2000s, is the future. It’s not just me saying it. In fact, I didn’t say it; Brock Lesnar did. And he did so after Oba defeated him in the middle of the ring in the least effective match of their trilogy.
This match didn’t need a cell. The cell served as something to bolster Oba’s win because beating Brock in any type of confined structure, be it cage, cell, or phone booth, gives him` credit as truly
being Brock’s superior. I get all that but I wish it came into play more during the match.
There was nothing that happened inside Hell in a Cell that couldn’t happen in a No DQ match or a Street Fight. The cell is supposed to confine the wrestlers while also functioning as a weapon. When guys this big are using steel steps and power moves as their weapons, the cell is unnecessary.
All that aside, this was lesser than their previous encounters because it didn’t have the shock of the first match nor the struggle of the second. It also suffered, at least for me, from the Hell in a Cell expectations. The match never hit the requisite level of violence for this type of affair. Oba withstood multiple stair shots and multiple F5s, proving his invincibility.
He even withstood a Tombstone to the exposed wood beneath the ring mat. That was the end for Brock as he realized Oba can’t be beaten. And he won’t be beaten (shoutout to Rocky III). Oba then finished the big man, and the saga, with a Fall From Grace near the exposed wood but not on it. It was as Oba did this to make the point that while Brock needed to go to the extra mile to try to defeat him, he didn’t need any help to actually defeat Brock.
That moment, along with Brock doing this gave me something to write about:
This is a good way to salvage Oba’s King of the Ring win into something meaningful. It was silly to forfeit a title shot no matter how y0u slice it. But Brock crowning Oba the next big thing in professional sports entertainment wrestling tees up a title shot. It has to right? The man survived a Tombstone on wood and multiple F5s. For that alone, he has to get a title shot because it says anything else is small potatoes (shoutout to Spider-Man: Brand New Day).
This sets up Oba as not just the next champion, but the franchise player. But who does he dethrone? Is it CM Punk or Roman Reigns? For it to truly have heft, and connect to Brock’s story, there’s only one answer.
I don’t know how close we are to “the ninth inning” but it seems like it’s fast approaching.
B-Sides
- Color me shocked. There was no way on this or any of the other 51 earths that The Bloodline lose to a makeshift team. Right? That’s probably right nine out of ten times, but this was the tenth time. Not only did Solo Sikoa, LA Knight, & Royce Keys defeat The Usos & Jacob Fatu, but LA Knight got the pin on Jey for the W. This wasn’t an overly long match but it focused on high impact moves and a build towards Jacob vs. Royce. That’s something WWE can and should go back to in the near future, especially with Royce getting the better of his homeboy this time out. As an aside, a very fun moment came when Solo ran it back on Jey. The crowd popped for it and the music played, which shows how over he is and maybe it’s time to stop running things back. At this point, it’s a parody, right?
- Oblivion into a Codebreaker into another Oblivion. Those final moments of IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan capped a fantastic opening match. These two set the bar for the night, one that few others managed to come near, much less reach. IYO neutralized Judgment Day early on, which made most of this match a fair one-on-one bout. While I didn’t love the collar and elbow tie up to start what should feel like serious fight based on their previous interactions, the rest of the match didn’t suffer. IYO’s knee injury during the match protects her a bit but that’s taking nothing away from the champ. Liv survived her first title match in what feels like a year, which hopefully bodes well the rest of her run. To this point, Liv’s championship domination lacked oomph or meaning. Defeating IYO at SummerSlam is a big deal, so hopefully WWE uses this moment to give her some real momentum as she preps for the next challenger.
- There was never any doubt about GUNTHER defeating Nick Aldis. The question was how hard would Nick make The Ring General work. Not only did Nick make GUNTHER go much longer than he anticipated, but they told a story of a man discovering he can still compete on a high level. SmackDown’s GM didn’t embarrass himself at all; he looked good, moved well, and barely stuttered in the ring. As the match went on, he got more comfortable and confident, which was a part of the storytelling. The better he got, the harder GUNTHER went at him. Which is why the ending bugged me. Nick tapped to GUNTHER’s second Sleeper, which felt wrong. After all that fighting and really giving the crowd hope, a tap out is deflating. Let the man pass out or get knocked out. But submitting after finding the Fountain of Youth? No. GUNTHER doesn’t look any less dominant if Nick doesn’t tap. And if that was an issue going into this thing, maybe booking GUNTHER in a match against a GM wasn’t the best way to show said dominance. Alas, the GM won for losing, and maybe he’s got a few more matches in him.
- Fatal Influence defeated The Bellas & Paige. After the match, Jacy Jayne said these women are no longer needed. The Bellas apparently agreed with part of that sentiment because post match, they turned on Paige. Nikki Bella did most of the work as Brie nursed an injured shoulder. I hope that was just part of her selling and not a real injury, because she was out of the match for quite a while holding that shoulder. Who joins Paige in her fight against Nikki & Brie? WWE is trying and will continue trying to sell the idea that these three were inseparable , which is retconning to say the least. But in that framing, is there anyone else on the roster Paige sees as sisterly? Or even like a second cousin? I don’t think she can just go it alone unless Brie is actually hurt.
- I loved CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes. Before the ref bump, before the Randy Orton sighting setting up a rematch between him and Cody, this match cooked for me. It started very methodical as one figures with two children of 1980s wrestling, but then sped up as both men became more desperate for the W. Cody worked Punk’s knee, which paid dividends during a Figure Four and when Punk hit his first GTS. Yes, even with Punk’s Moonsault that wasn’t, I was still hooked. Once it went to the outside and the announce table got involved, it simply ratcheted up the tension. Even more so when Punk’s knee came into play again after he set up Cody on the table for an Elbow Drop but missed only to land feet first on top of the table. Work or not, that looked painful because no leg should hit the top of anything like that from that height.
- But let’s get to the ref bump and the RKO heard round Minny. Well, that was kinda it. Randy Orton snuck in, RKO’d Cody while Punk was out of the ring post Cross Rhodes, winked, then bounced like a thief in the night. Punk never saw it but rolled into the ring and hit Cody with a GTS for the W. The more I think about it, this type of ending was always the move. I didn’t see Cody losing clean nor did I see him winning. He needed something to do post Punk and a path to Randy is easy to pave. The rematch story writes itself while Punk waits for his next challenger.
SummerSlam Night One was solid. That’s not a bad thing at all. Most of the matches were solid, the ending was momentous, and it set the stage for a possibly wilder night two. We got a big return, a passing of the torch, and a heel turn. That’s certainly newsy. As per usual with these big WWE events, we got a lot of tie-ins that either extended entrances or took up space between matches. That’s expected at this point but luckily it didn’t hurt the flow of the overall show.
Grade: B
What say you, Cagesiders?
