SummerSlam and Payback (2020) - Back to Back Sundays

The WWE held its 33rd annual SummerSlam (2020) on August 23, 2020 at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

It was quickly followed up a week later by Payback (2020) on August 30th, 2020 from the same venue. Don’t ask me why they had two events back to back. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me but I have to say as I sat there watching Payback the other night I was pleasantly surprised to be watching the second PPV in two weeks. Thats said, even after two better than average shows, I’m ready for a break.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a screeching halt back in March, WWE has been doing most of its shows from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with no fans in attendance. The first PPV where this was the case was the two night WrestleMania as chronicled on the podcast (WrestleMania 36 Night 1 Review and WrestleMania 36 Night 2 Review).

It was recently announced that all future shows would be held at the Amway Center, complete with a new feature… ThunderDome. This is basically a bunch of pyro and LED screens around the ring where fans would typically be giving the illusion of a packed house. Candidly I thought it sounded like a stupid idea but it adds quite a bit of ‘realism’ to watching the product – I’m a fan.

With that… let’s get into it. First up… SummerSlam.

SummerSlam (2020)

Apollo Crews Defeated MVP to Retain the WWE United States Championship
Bayley Defeated Asuka to Retain the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
The Street Profits Defeated Andrade and Angel Garza To Win the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship
Mandy Rose Defeated Sonya Deville – No Disqualification Loser Leaves WWE
Seth Rollins Defeated Dominik Mysterio – Street Fight
Asuka Defeated Sasha Banks To Win the WWE Raw Women’s Championship
Drew McIntyre Defeated Randy Orton To Retain the WWE Championship
“The Fiend” Bray Wyatt Defeated Braun Strowman To Win the WWE Universal Championship – Falls Count Anywhere

SummerSlam Thoughts

If you’ve read my stuff in the past you’ll quickly see this isn’t as in depth as I typically get partially because I’m reviewing two shows at once and partially because I looked at my DRAFTS folder and realized I had about two dozen PPV recap posts started by never finished. I think this is due to the fact that writing up one of those really LONG recaps just takes too long. I don’t do a ton of blogging these days and I want to get in do a quick hitter and be out.

This was a solid SummerSlam effort. There’s certainly some stuff here that I don’t really care about (Crews vs. MVP and anything having to do with the Street Profits) but there’s some REALLY compelling stuff too. I haven’t been watching much weekly programming so I really enjoy the recaps they give us on the PPVs. The idea that Asuka had not one but TWO championship matches in a night intrigued me. Candidly I thought she was going to win both of them. I was glad to see they didn’t go that route with what I’d consider to be a ‘predictable’ outcome. I was oddly interested in Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville and couldn’t care less about Rollins vs. Mysterio (ESPECIALLY when it is Dominik).

The last couple of matches were REALLY strong. I thought for sure that Orton would take the title from McIntyre and that Strowman would retain. I was thrilled I was wrong on both counts. A backslide outta nowhere to beat Orton seemed a little weird but in retrospect it’s a nice way for that match to end. I wasn’t really a fan of the Universal Title match until the end… I don’t care how many people hate him, I’m a Roman Reigns fan. Period. To see him back and maybe even being heelish? That’s just plain tremendous. And then we got to Payback.

Buy SummerSlam (2020)

Payback (2020)

The Riott Squad Defeated The IIconics
Bobby Lashley Defeated Apollo Crews To Win the WWE United States Championship
Big E Defeated Sheamus
Matt Riddle Defeated King Corbin
Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax Defeated Bayley and Sasha Banks To Win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Keith Lee Defeated Randy Orton
Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio Defeated Seth Rollins and Murphy
Roman Reigns Defeated “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman To Win the the WWE Universal Championship – No Holds Barred

Payback Thoughts

Not as much here to like as SummerSlam had but still a fun show with a couple of really high points for me. I do have to say that this just sort of felt like a RAW or Smackdown with so few title matches, but I guess that makes sense when you have back to back PPVs. I loved the win from Baszler and Jax, especially the finish.

For YEARS the WWE Universe has been waiting for a fully heel Roman Reigns and damn is it fun to see it finally play out. As I said previously, I’m a fan so to see him, even as a bad guy, come back and be thrust into the main event is awesome. Seeing him win back the strap that he never lost? Icing on the cake.

Buy Payback (2020)

Upcoming WWE PPV Schedule

I think it’s fair to say with everything going on in the world today that these are tentative… but here’s the upcoming schedule for the rest of the year.