WWE SummerSlam is in the books and what a week it’s been! We’ve seen title changes, returns, reunions, and breakups. So how did WWE do this week? Let’s check it out!

WWE RAW

WWE Universal Championship: If Roman Reigns has learned anything from his years toiling to get back to the title picture it’s this: Always have backup, especially if the Money in the Bank briefcase is in play, and he put that lesson to good use on Monday. Reigns kicked off the night vowing to have matches for the title with anyone who wanted a shot, but the first person Reigns wanted to face was Finn Balor, who had never received his rematch after being forced to vacate the title after his shoulder injury in 2016. Balor accepted on a handshake.

Corbin tried to stop the match from being made, citing that Balor no-showed SummerSlam and sent the Demon instead, which drew much scorn and laughter from everyone. Balor and Reigns had an amazing match, taking each other to the limit, but as Reigns was preparing to finish Balor off, Strowman came out to prepare for his cash in.

Here’s where things get…interesting, Strowman tried to cash in, but Reigns had some back up: Ambrose and Rollins came out, in their Shield gear, and took out the Monster Among Men. What this means for everyone on RAW is going to be very interesting next week because the Hounds have been unleashed and they hold two of the three men’s titles on RAW.

Later in the week, a still seething Strowman called Reigns out on Twitter, challenging him to face him in the middle of the ring on Monday, if he was really a man. Reigns pointed out that Strowman tried to cash in on him after he’d wrestled a 30 minute match and implied that Strowman could only beat him by catching him by surprise and referred to the Monster Among Men as a ‘Meat Shack’, which is slang for a woman’s privates.

As for Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman was in the building, demanding a rematch for his client, specifically at Hell in a Cell. Kurt Angle refused due to finally having a fighting champion and said that Hell would freeze over before Brock gets his rematch.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Seth didn’t have a match on Monday, but he saw plenty of action seconding Dean Ambrose in his first match since December and backing up Roman Reigns against Braun Strowman. Seth protected Dean from attack by Drew McIntyre, suffering a two on one attack by McIntyre and Ziggler, but managed to take out McIntyre, giving Dean the opening to put Ziggler away. Later on in the evening, he and Ambrose donned their old Shield gear to help Roman Reigns fend off an attempted cash-in by Braun Strowman.

RAW Women’s Champion: The Women of RAW were in attendance at the crowning of new Women’s Champion, Ronda Rousey. Stephanie was there and in a move reminiscent of her father with Stone Cold Steve Austin twenty years ago, unwisely provoked the new champion by criticizing first the other women of the division, who were apparently invited by Rousey to celebrate and trying to pretend that things were cool between her and Rousey, who smelled a trap right from the start. Stephanie would pay for her unwise decision by being put in the same armbar that took out Alexa Bliss the night before. They were broken up by the rest of the division, including the Bella Twins.

RAW Tag Team Championship: Bo Dallas was in action against Scott Dawson. The Revival were, understandably, NOT happy after getting robbed, in their minds, of the Tag Team titles. Dawson handily defeated Dallas.

Curtis Axel, in a bid to avenge his friend, challenged Dash Wilder to match immediately afterwards. Unfortunately, vengeance will have to wait for the B-Team as Wilder handily beat Axel. A furious Bo Dallas cut a promo, reminding them that the B-Team were still the champions. This feud isn’t over by a long shot, though both teams might want to look over their shoulders for Authors of Pain and the Shield.

Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler: For the first time since December 18, 2017, Dean Ambrose saw in ring action. He was going against the Showoff, who was not happy about losing his coveted Intercontinental Championship to Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. Ambrose was accompanied by Seth Rollins while Ziggler was backed up by McIntyre.

While Ambrose showed a little ring rust, he also showed a new, hard-nosed attitude, and several new moves that highlight the fact that he’s put on some serious muscle during his time off, including a counter into Dirty Deeds that was so clean you could eat off of it. Ziggler didn’t make things easy, but Ambrose would shut the Showoff up with his patented Dirty Deeds for the three count. Welcome back, Dean!

Bobby Lashley vs Constable Corbin: Corbin’s rotten SummerSlam adventure continued as he got his butt kicked by Bobby Lashley. Thankfully for Corbin’s pride, the match wasn’t the embarrassing squash he’d suffered at the hands of the Demon, but Lashley made sure that the Constable of RAW ended his SummerSlam weekend 0-2.

Triple H vs Undertaker: The build for the Super Showdown in Australia started tonight, recapping the storied feud between Triple H and Undertaker. Triple H said that he’d actually refused due to their final match at WrestleMania XXVIII. However, he’d changed his mind and he and Taker will face each other in Australia.

Boss-Hug Connection and Ember Moon vs Riott Squad: Sasha, Bayley and Ember Moon faced the Riott Squad in a six woman tag match. Despite Boss-Hug/Shenom’s best efforts, the Riott Squad’s unity was too much to overcome. Ruby Riott would seal her team’s victory with a Riott Kick to Sasha Banks.

Elias vs Curt Hawkins: Trying to regroup from his guitar malfunction from the night before, Elias tried to serenade Brooklyn, only to be interrupted by Curt Hawkins, for some ungodly reason. Hawkins, who has a pretty interesting defeated record, wants to fight. Elias brutally buries Hawkins, who seems to walk away but turns around and fights. Elias handily defeated Hawkins, but this might not be over.

Titus Worldwide vs Authors of Pain: Titus Worldwide took on the Authors of Pain again and we got a hint of some romance brewing between Dana Brooke and Apollo Crews, to Titus’ dismay. Titus Worldwide would fall to AOP, but not without a fight.

Angle vs Corbin: Angle seemed to have tired of Corbin’s big head and put him in a match against Bobby Lashley. Corbin was not happy about what happened and vowed to complain to Stephanie McMahon, who was in the building. Unfortunately, her encounter with Ronda Rousey put Stephanie in a foul mood and she suspended Angle, making Corbin the acting GM of RAW.

WWE Smackdown

WWE Championship: AJ Styles had an interview with Renee Young and addressed the controversial end of his match with Samoa Joe. Styles expressed no remorse for his action because Samoa Joe crossed a line that a real man wouldn’t cross. He then vowed that the next time Joe mentions his name, he’s going to rip his heart out. He was then attacked by Samoa Joe, who locked in the Coquina Clutch. On Friday, it was announced that Styles and Samoa Joe would have another match at Hell in a Cell, but no word on if this will be a Hell in a Cell match.

WWE United States Championship: Nakamura cut a promo saying that now that he’s vanquished Jeff Hardy, it is the United States of Nakamerica, whatever that means.

SmackDown Women’s Championship: It would be safe to say that the long-time friendship between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair is, at best, fractured. After Becky was pinned by her best friend in Sunday’s Triple Threat match and lost the Women’s Championship match she’d worked so hard to earn, the Lass Kicker finally snapped and turned on her best friend, leaving Charlotte in a heap behind the announce desk.

Becky was all business when she took to the ring to explain her actions. She expressed no remorse, saying that Charlotte deserved the beating she got. She also called out the WWE Universe for their lack of support, and that Charlotte has held her back for the last time. Charlotte came out and there was no talking, just fighting and this wasn’t a catfight, this was a full on brawl.  Even the entire Women’s Division couldn’t keep them apart, though it didn’t look like they tried all that hard.

As for former Women’s Champion, Carmella, she invoked her rematch clause and will face Charlotte next week. For some reason Truth still thinks pinning Carmella will get him a US Title shot, despite Paige telling him otherwise.

Throughout the week, the narrative of Becky’s turn has evolved interviews and on social media. She conducted an interview with Gorilla Position, where she stated that while she appreciated that the fans supported her, their support hadn’t gotten her very far, and blaming WWE for overlooking her because she wasn’t blonde and giving her opportunities to lesser talents. She also attacked Charlotte for stealing her moment when Charlotte had been handed seven title reigns without having to earn them.

This was further clarified in a few tweets where Becky called out Charlotte for referring to the SmackDown as ‘This’ and stating that she’d been fighting for ‘this’ when Charlotte was playing volleyball and getting a tan. Another tweet pointed out that Charlotte had turned on Becky in the past, but the difference was that while Charlotte attacked Becky from behind, Becky had looked Charlotte in the eye.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The Bludgeon Brothers faced the New Day in a No DQ match. Big E could not be cleared to wrestle due to his ribs, so it was Kofi and Xavier taking on the Bludgeon Brothers. As expected from a No DQ match, this one was brutal. RUMOR is that Erick Rowan was dealing with a bicep injury, but you could hardly tell during the match. Woods and Kingston were at a definite size and strength disadvantage, especially without Big E, but they hung in there, finally ending the Bludgeon Brothers’ reign of terror and becoming 3x tag champs.

However, the new champs can’t rest on their laurels. On Sunday, General Manager Paige announced that there will be a triple threat #1 Contender’s match to decide who New Day will face at Hell in a Cell: The Bar vs Good Brothers vs TBA.

Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy: Randy Orton might be a dangerous man, but a pissed off Jeff Hardy is even more dangerous. The Charismatic Enigma confronted Randy Orton on Tuesday after weeks of insults and torment and it got bowling shoe ugly. Hardy got himself DQ’d by a blatant low blow and then beat Orton from pillar to post, before vanquishing Orton with a Swanton Bomb through a table.

Comment: Given the accusations against Orton, it seems like this was done to wrap up the Hardy storyline and take Orton off of TV until WWE’s investigation was over.

Miz and Daniel Bryan: Flush from his victory over Daniel Bryan, Miz and Maryse were back, cutting a promo where Miz bragged about his victory and mocked Bryan, announcing that he was retiring from ever facing Daniel Bryan again.

Well, much like Michael Jordan’s first retirement, this didn’t last long, Bryan came out and was ready to fight. Bryan mocked Miz and called him a ‘lie’ and that he would expose Miz for what he was: A wannabe Hollywood star cosplaying as a wrestler. Maryse interrupted, telling Bryan to go home and retire again and call himself ‘Daniel Bella’.

The Mizanins learned the hard way to never piss off the Bellas as Brie made her return to competition, CLOCKING Miz and driving him and Maryse out of the ring. It was then that Daniel Bryan made the announcement he’d come out to make: After talking with Paige, it was decided that not only would he and Miz face each other again at Hell in a Cell, it was going to be a Mixed Tag Match, the Bryans vs the Mizanins.

Miz and Maryse pleaded their case to Paige, though criticizing her successful tenureship as GM was probably not the best way to do it. She informed them that the match would stay in and that it would be ‘AWESOME’.

Naomi vs Peyton Royce: After being off of TV for several weeks, Naomi faced IIconics’ Peyton Royce. IIconics came out and insulted the Queen of Glow, who certainly had her hands full with Billie Kaye at ringside. Unfortunately, Naomi couldn’t overcome the numbers game when a distraction by Billie Kaye gave Peyton the opening to slam Naomi into the ringpost and get the pin.

Rusev/Lana vs Almas/Vega: In a rematch from SummerSlam, Rusev and Lana faced Almas and Vega in a mixed tag team match and the less said about it, the better.  Rusev was saved from a sneak attack from Almas by Aiden English and got the submission victory.

WWE 205 Live

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: To call Drew Gulak a sore loser would be unfair…to sore losers. The Philly Fury was LIVID at losing to Cedric at SummerSlam, declaring Alexander a fraud champion who got lucky and demanded a rematch. GM Maverick denied Gulak’s demand on the grounds that there were a lot of other competitors on 205 who should be given that opportunity. Opportunities were earned on 205, Gulak earned his and lost the match, which meant it was time for someone else to have a chance.

Much like a spoiled child who didn’t get his way, Gulak refused to accept that he wouldn’t get the rematch he thought he was owed. He, Kendrick, and Gallagher attacked Akira Tozawa, declaring that there wouldn’t be any peace on 205 unless he got his rematch and mocking Cedric Alexander, calling him ‘afraid.’

Alexander came out to confront Gulak and pointed out that Gulak was hiding behind Things 1 and 2 (Kendrick and Gallagher) and that if Drew gets them to leave, Alexander will gladly come down and shut Gulak up, which just makes Gulak angrier, probably because he knows that he can’t beat Alexander without help. He mocked Alexander as a ‘choir boy’ and said the Age of Alexander sucked.

While all this was going on, Maverick and the refs were trying to stop the oncoming fight, but Alexander had had enough of Gulak’s insults and charged the ring, but Gulak took off, which Alexander pointed out to Maverick. Time will tell what the fallout of this will be, but it seems that Gulak isn’t going to stop until he gets another shot at Alexander.

Noam Dar vs TJP: After losing almost a year of his career and splitting two matches, Noam Dar finally got one over on TJP in an incredible match that seemed to go everywhere and took both men to the limit, but Dar would prevail, pinning TJP with a Rolla Nova and getting the tiebreaker.

Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado with Kalisto) vs Buddy Murphy and Tony Nese: The Lucha House Party faced the Party Crashers an amazing match that has to be seen to be believed, though there were a few botches. Lucha House Party would pick up the win, but it’s doubtful that the Party Crashers are going to accept their defeat.

Akira Tozawa vs Colin Delaney: Akira Tozawa’s bid to bounce back from his second loss to Lio Rush never happened because of the appearance of Drew Gulak and his cronies.

WWE NXT

NXT Championship: We had a highlight reel of the Ciampa/Gargano war at TakeOver, but nothing from either competitor.

NXT North American Championship/Tag Team Championship: We got a highlight reel of the battle betweet Mustache Mountain and Strong/O’Reilly of the Undisputed Era, as well as the war between Adam Cole and Ricochet.

In a post match interview, Ricochet talked about how proud he is that after all his hard work, he’s finally the North American Champion. Before he can go further, he’s confronted by Strong and O’Reilly, who don’t appreciate what he’s saying about Adam Cole. Ricochet is saved from a possible two on one beatdown by United Kingdom Champion, Pete Dunne, who was just coming into the building.

Ricochet thanked Dunne, who replied that he wasn’t there to help him, he just doesn’t like Undisputed Era. He also seemed to have an eye on Ricochet’s gold, prompting William Regal to book a Champions vs Champions match: Ricochet and Dunne vs Undisputed Era.

NXT Women’s Championship: It would be safe to say that Shayna Baszler is NOT happy about coming up short to Kairi Sane at TakeOver. The Queen of Spades made it clear that, as far as she’s concerned, Sane didn’t win because she was better, Baszler lost because Sane got lucky.

Bianca Belair vs Deonna Purrazzo: The ‘Est’ of NXT, Bianca Belair, made her triumphant return on Wednesday and faced off against the Virtuosa, Deonna Purrazzo, who will be competing in the Mae Young Classic this year. This was a really great match up with both ladies showing each other up, including Purrazzo doing a headstand to get out of a leg scissors. Belair would get the win, but it wasn’t without a heck of a fight.

EC3 and Velveteen Dream: We were shown a highlight reel of their TakeOver Match. Cathy Kelly interviewed Dream shortly after his match and he said that we would have to tune in on Wednesday at 8pm to find out what was next for him.

EC3, and his busted eye, had an interview with Mike Rome. 3 said that his issues with Dream were a clash of personalities because they both want the same things and that at TakeOver, Dream was the better man. However, since 3 has made a lot of outrageous claims since his return to NXT, his mindset is victory at all cost. His issues with Dream aren’t over until he wins.

Mike Rome asks him about the video of the aftermath of the attack on Black and what he saw. 3 said that it was dark in the parking lot and all he saw was chaos. 3 accuses Lars Sullivan since Sullivan had motive and was there right after the attack. Not that he’s ACCUSING Sullivan or anything.

UK Championship Match: Pete Dunne vs Zack Gibson: The Bruiserweight Champion faced Liverpool’s Number One in a brutal and grueling match that was a great advertisement for NXT UK, which WILL be on the WWE Network. The British style of wrestling is much more hard-hitting than what we see in America, but that contrast makes for very interesting matches. Dunne picked up the win after hitting The Bitter End.

Alistair Black Mystery: The mystery of who took out former NXT Champion Alesteir Black continued to unfold this week. They finally got the security footage cleaned up and there are some surprises, namely that Nikki Cross seems to have witnessed the whole thing from a rooftop.

Overall Comments: Whew! What a week! From an unbelievable TakeOver and SummerSlam on Sunday, to the reunion of the Shield, Brie Bella’s return to competition, the fracturing of Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch’s friendship. SmackDown has new Tag Team Champs, Finn Balor FINALLY got his rematch, Dean Ambrose impressed in his first televised match in eight months, Ronda Rousey’s feud with Stephanie McMahon continues, and that was all a couple of days after SummerSlam.

Hell In a Cell Predictions: As usual with WWE, we’re going right into the build for the next PPV and since this is going to be a joint PPV, who gets a Hell in a Cell match is going to be chosen pretty carefully.

I think the Cell matches we’re going to get are:

• Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship
• AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe for the WWE Championship
• Charlotte Flair vs Becky Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

I would also say that either Ambrose/Rollins vs Ziggler/McIntyre or Rousey vs whomever COULD take place in a Cell match, but these three really have the best stories to justify going into the Cell.

Final Thoughts: The week after a huge PPV tends to dictate what direction WWE will be heading into for the next few months. Fall tends to be a slower time in wrestling, so WWE did a really great job of building storylines that will likely keep us interested for the next few months until we get to Survivor Series.