WWE SummerSlam 2024 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

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    SummerSlam.

    SummerSlam.WWE

    Welcome to Bleacher Report’s live coverage of WWE SummerSlam 2024 in Cleveland.

    Here’s a look at the card for Saturday’s premium live event:

    • Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk
    • Logan Paul vs. LA Knight (United States Championship)
    • Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker (Intercontinental Championship)
    • Damian Priest vs. Gunther (World Heavyweight Championship)
    • Bayley vs. Nia Jax (WWE Women’s Championship)
    • Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s World Championship)
    • Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa (Undisputed WWE Championship)

    Let’s take a look at what happened at The Biggest Party of the Summer.

Jelly Roll Opens the Show

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    SummerSlam opened up with Jelly Roll singing “God Bless America.”

Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s World Championship)

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    After a second song from Jelly Roll, Rhea Ripley made her way out to challenge Liv Morgan for the women’s world title. Dominik Mysterio accompanied Mami as usual.

    Morgan rolled out of the ring to play some mind games, but The Eradicator gave chase. The champion smiled as Ripley looked frustrated at not being able to catch her. She finally faked Morgan out and got her hands on her.

    Dom cheered as Mami hit a series of clotheslines followed by a suplex. Ripley sold an injured shoulder as if it was dislocated so she could pop it back in eventually.

    Morgan began focusing on the injury. Dom sacrificed himself to save Ripley from a suicide dive, but seeing him hurt upset her more. She popped her shoulder back in and went after the champ.

    With the exception of the dislocated shoulder being a bit cheesy, most of this bout was entertaining. We saw a lot of storytelling, so they were taking their time and making each move count instead of trying to go 100 mph.

    Dom stopped Ripley from using a chair and reminded her she couldn’t win that way. Morgan used the distraction to hit Oblivion for a close two-count. Dom distracted the ref, and Morgan ended up hitting a second Oblivion on the chair to get the win.

    Dom smiled knowing his evil plan had worked.

    A lot of this was overbooked and overdramatic, but it was done in such a way that it was easy to have fun with it.

    Ripley looked like she wanted to kill Dom after he kissed Morgan, so Raw should be very interesting on Monday.

    Result: Morgan defeated Ripley

    Grade: B

    Notable Moments and Observations

    • Ripley and Dom were followed from backstage by a camera for her entrance. Little production changes like that have made some aspects of WWE feel fresh again. 
    • The referee was wearing a small camera setup on his earpiece so we could see shots from his viewpoint. 
    • Anyone who has seen a real dislocated shoulder knows Ripley’s was fine. 
    • WWE had several ads on the ring mat. Some of the changes by TKO are not so great. 
    • Pat McAfee went on a not-so-PG tirade about Dom. 

Bron Breakker vs. Sami Zayn (Intercontinental Championship)

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    Bron Breakker made his entrance first to challenge Sami Zayn for the intercontinental title for the second PLE in a row. The champ received a warm welcome from the crowd in Cleveland.

    Zayn avoided a charging Breakker to send him into the ring post immediately. A minute later, the challenger avoided a Helluva Kick and began to take control.

    This was a back-and-forth fight that saw both competitors pull out most of the tricks in their arsenals. They each survived some of each other’s biggest moves, but two Spears in a row won Breakker the title.

    This wasn’t a long match, but it didn’t need to be. Zayn still looked like a strong champion, but the story told is that Breakker learned from his previous loss and had Zayn’s number.

    This may have fallen short of their first match, but it made the new champion look like a badass.

    Result: Breakker defeated Zayn

    Grade: B

    Notable Moments and Observations

    • There was a tense moment with The Judgment Day backstage discussing Dom’s betrayal. 
    • Breakker really went for it when he hit the post. 
    • The Frankensteiner looked awesome. 

Logan Paul vs. LA Knight (United States Championship)

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    Rapper MGK accompanied Logan Paul to the ring for his United States Championship match against LA Knight.

    The challenger arrived in the truck he stole from Paul on Friday’s SmackDown.

    They started fighting before the bell and ended up at ringside. Paul spat some Prime drink in Knight’s face, so The Megastar responded by hitting him with a bottle and then a TKO on the announce table.

    The match finally got started with Knight in control. The social media star eventually turned things around with a decent gutwrench suplex.

    As usual, Paul used a set of brass knuckles, but it wasn’t enough. The champion slingshotted himself right into a BFD to give Knight the pin and the win.

    Result: Knight defeated Paul

    Grade: B+

    Notable Moments and Observations

    • Knight broke a window on the truck before heading to the ring. 
    • The TKO on the table looked brutal. 
    • The crowd chanted some things about Paul we can’t repeat in polite company. 
    • Knight’s jumping elbow drop was great. 
    • The springboard moonsault from Paul was incredibly impressive.
    • The superplex almost ended badly, but both men pulled it off.

Bayley vs. Nia Jax (WWE Women’s Championship)

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    The WWE Women’s Championship match was up next. Both women came out alone, but we knew Tiffany Stratton was in the building somewhere.

    Bayley managed to take control right away against Nia Jax, but the powerhouse immediately turned the tables with a Samoan drop.

    This bout had a steady pace, but they slowed down when it was time to sell big spots. They included some callbacks to their previous matches from the past decade, too.

    After The Queen of the Ring caught Bayley during a suicide dive and hit a Samoan drop, it felt like an eventual win was a foregone conclusion until The Role Model somehow hit a powerbomb.

    Stratton ran down with her MITB briefcase but was knocked off the apron by Bayley. Jax used the opportunity to hit two powerbombs and two Annihilators for the pin and the win.

    Result: Jax defeated Bayley

    Grade: B-

    Notable Moments and Observations

    • Bayley looked like she was channeling her Hugger persona with her ring attire. 
    • Jax bounced high after missing a leg drop. 
    • It took the crowd a while to get into this one. 

CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre

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    Seth Rollins came out in his usual high-fashion getup to serve as the referee for CM Punk and Drew McIntyre’s match.

    McIntyre stared daggers at Punk as he made his entrance. Rollins gave both men some instructions before calling for the bell. The crowd going wild as they started trading hands gave this a big-fight feel.

    They weren’t trying to have a technical contest; they were trying to hurt each other. They threw and swung each other into anything that looked like it would cause pain.

    McIntyre brought a chair into the ring, but Rollins prevented him from using it. Punk rebounded and began building momentum.

    When Punk saw Rollins had picked up his bracelet that McIntyre dropped, he got angry. They traded some harsh words and The Best in the World ended up hitting him with a GTS.

    WWE @WWE

    SETH TOOK THE BRACELET!!! 😲😲😲#SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/fL0Nh2kXUj

    McIntyre hit Punk with a low blow while Rollins was down and pinned him with a Claymore once The Visionary recovered. The Scot posed with the bracelet before leaving as a happy man.

    This was another match that was more about the story than the individual moves. Nobody will call this a clinic, but it was a highly enjoyable tale they told in the ring.

    Result: McIntyre defeated Punk

    Grade: B+

    Notable Moments and Observations

    • McIntyre was basically wearing Batman gauntlets to the ring. 
    • The way Rollins was lying on the top turnbuckle as they fought at ringside was hilarious. 
    • The slaps Punk and McIntyre hit looked stiff. 
    • Keeping another man’s friendship bracelet in your trunks is just wrong. 

Damian Priest vs. Gunther (World Heavyweight Championship)

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    Damian Priest had a brief segment backstage with Finn Bálor before we saw Gunther make his entrance.

    The Ring General charged the champion and ran right into a forearm. The Archer of Infamy kept the upper hand until his opponent suplexed him onto the apron.

    Priest used his kickboxing skills to dish out more damage than Gunther has taken in some time, but the Austrian held his own.

    Bálor tried to cheer on his Judgment Day teammate. Seeing Gunther kick him in the face helped Priest rally and hit his finisher, but Bálor put The Ring General’s leg on the rope. Priest had no idea until seeing a replay on a monitor.

    Gunther applied a sleeper and Bálor watched as Priest fought back. He was too distracted by the Irishman and passed out to give The King of the Ring victor the win.

    This ended up being one of the best matches of the night and made both competitors look worthy of the world title. Gunther celebrated with the title as Bálor glared at his fallen former friend.

    Result: Gunther defeated Priest

    Grade: A-

    Notable Moments and Observations

    • Gunther already had some marks on his chest before they got started. 
    • This was the hardest-hitting match in terms of the strikes. They were not holding back much if at all. 
    • Both men were bleeding from the chest. They were battered and bruised by the end.  

Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa (Undisputed WWE Championship)

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    Solo Sikoa came out alone for his Bloodline Rules match against Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

    Rhodes’ loyal dog, Pharoah, accompanied him from his bus. Arn Anderson gave him a pep talk before he made his way out with a special skull mask that resembled his tattoo.

    They started with a relatively simple exchange, especially for a match with fewer rules than usual. It wasn’t until Rhodes hit a suicide dive that business started to pick up.

    They tried to sell each move individually, but it led to a slower pace than expected for a long time. Everything they did looked good, even if it felt like they should be doing more.

    Once The Bloodline interfered, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens showed up to even the odds. They chased away Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa, but that left Jacob Fatu to save Sikoa from taking a third Cross Rhodes in a row.

    The American Nightmare kicked out after being put through the announce table. Out of nowhere, Roman Reigns’ music hit to generate a massive pop inside the stadium. He walked to the ring calmly and took out Sikoa with a Superman Punch and a Spear.

    Rhodes and Reigns traded a look before the champ hit Cross Rhodes for the win.

    This was exactly what everyone expected it to be, but sometimes that’s because the obvious call is the right one.

    Result: Rhodes defeated Sikoa

    Grade: B+

    Notable Moments and Observations

    • We need to protect R-Truth at all costs.
    • Jelly Roll’s chokeslam looked better than some full-time wrestlers’ version. 
    • Sikoa’s trash-talking was more audible than usual. 
    • The mask Rhodes had was just big enough on his head to look hilarious. 
    • Sikoa speared Rhodes when he was holding the steel steps, and they popped out of his hands and bounced off the ropes enough to almost land on them. 

The Final Word

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    This year’s SummerSlam featured four title changes, two betrayals and a huge return.

    Both midcard men’s belts found new homes with Knight and Breakker, while Jax won the WWE women’s title and Gunther became the new world heavyweight champion.

    While all of this sounds like a lot, and it is, this pay-per-view was also highly predictable. Just about everything you expected to happen happened, and everyone you expected to show up made an appearance.

    Priest and Gunther had the best performance out of the seven matches, but nobody who competed on Saturday can be accused of giving a bad display.

    Reigns’ return is going to be the most newsworthy thing to come out of this show, but with all of the different storyline developments we saw, Raw and SmackDown are going to be very interesting this week.

    The Bloodline and The Judgment Day are both in turmoil, so we can expect a lot of angry people looking for revenge this week.

    Grade: B

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