Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Triple Threat from Smark Out Moment, where three of us get together to discuss three questions based on one big topic going down in the week of professional wrestling.

This week, Jordan Chaffiotte, Callum Wiggins and Robert DeFelice will be giving their opinions on The fallout of WWE SummerSlam 2017 and NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 3.

It was a very long weekend in the WWE Universe, and the SOM crew is here to break down the happenings of the two biggest events, SummerSlam and TakeOver. With live-in-attendance experience and analyzation from Jordan Chaffiotte.


CHAFFIOTTE: I thought the Raw Tag Team Championship match left nothing to be desired. There are a lot of opinions out there about whether WWE should be trying to get the Shield back together and I know, I know it's largely fan service. But dammit, they had me. The wrestling was obviously top notch, Cesaro is an absolute joy in person, Dean and Seth haven't missed a step, and Sheamus is always technically sound. Plus, I found the story to be really well done, with SheSaro having to find ways to isolate Dean or Seth because they were simply too strong together.

Oh, and the beach ball thing may have been the greatest moment I've ever seen in person.

Ultimately, the right team won and the finish was incredible if a bit of a car crash. I usually do not care for overly choreographed finishes, they take me out of it and make it hard to suspend my disbelief. This one had an air of sloppiness that may have just been because it was actually sloppy, or it might be because they designed it to look like everyone was making split second decisions. I'm going with the second. The boys are back and I am SO excited.

WIGGINS: It might be the predictable answer, but I don't think anything held a candle to the main event match. While I won't go as far to say it's the greatest Fatal Four-Way match of all-time, it had mine and the crowd's full undivided attention, which was some feat in the sixth hour of a show. It established Braun Strowman as the unstoppable monster he should feel like, which contributed to an excellent match and set the wheels in motion for his clash with Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at No Mercy. Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe were great as per usual.

Outside of this, the only other match which I thought could be considered a "show-stealer" actually was not even on the main show itself. The New Day and The Usos pulled another amazing match out of their bag of tricks, pulling out innovative offense and tons of false finishes in a closely-fought battle that rivaled their classic at Battleground. I am more than happy to see this feud finalized inside Hell in a Cell.

DeFELICE: I came to that show for two matches and both delivered, thank God! The insane talent in the Tag Team title match for the red brand and the sheer chaos in the Universal title match really saved the show for me. I won't repeat too much of what's already been repeated but I will say did you expect anything else? Such a bizarre low-grade show on Sunday. I hope Survivor Series and all co-branded shows deliver from here on out.


DeFELICE: It was a tough toss up between the Tag Team title match and the Women's title match. Don't get me wrong the main event was very good in my eyes but those two matches really packed punch for me. However, I'm going to have to give it to the Women's title match. If I would've put money on it, I would've bet everything on Ember, and boy did she put on a hell of a fight! Everything about the match was good. Good intensity, good athleticism and our gym at least surprising finish that had me audibly say "wow. She will never lose." If it's to the point that by the end of that match, I questioned if Ronda Rousey was coming out to challenge her. Seriously, there's nobody left.

Of course, we find out later that Asuka actually injured her collarbone and will be out for approximately 6 to 8 weeks. I think that this is the perfect time to strip her of the NXT Women's Championship and let her move up to the main roster undefeated. However, time will tell.

WIGGINS: Asuka vs. Ember Moon was exceptionally good - one of my all-time favorite women's matches in NXT or WWE, and the Tag Team Championship match exceeded all my expectations. But as a pure wrestling spectacle, Johnny Gargano vs Andrade Cien Almas was the peak for me. It was odd as the match had the weakest build of any match at TakeOver: Brooklyn III, but the sheer quality of their work between the ropes meant it didn't matter.

Recent NXT TakeOvers have been notable for starting off hot and building from there, and it almost feels like a game of 'try to follow that'. It's clearly working, as this was a phenomenal contest, the guts and likability of Gargano a great foil to the arrogance and renewed viciousness of Almas. The introduction of Zelina Vega has breathed new life into Almas, and this was undoubtedly his best match since joining NXT - Gargano has already amassed quite the collection himself. The surprise win for Almas was effective, especially with the use of the DIY shirt to distract Gargano, and I hope it builds to a mixed tag match at the next TakeOver featuring a certain Candice LeRae.

CHAFFIOTTE: By far my favorite match of the entire weekend was Ember Moon vs. Asuka. In fact, it's my favorite match that I've ever seen in person and I do not expect anything to knock it off of that pedestal for some time. The crowd was reluctant at first, even I was even though I love both of these ladies and as you may have noticed, really like women's wrestling. The thing is Ember has cooled so much since her first meeting with Asuka, it felt like the build to this just wasn't good enough.

But Ember and Asuka changed our minds. They got the entire crowd on our feet through sheer good wrestling. Ember has never, ever looked better. The reason this worked so well when Banks vs. Bliss didn't quite make it happen was that both women were giving it all they had. There were so many near falls and I think that there was a fair portion of the crowd that thought Ember might pull it off. Or at least, we wanted her to do it so badly that we convinced ourselves of it. It was really disappointing to not see her walk away as champ, but the standing ovation and the fact that they played her out to her music makes me confident she will be just fine.


DeFELICE: So I'm going to try to paint my thoughts in broad strokes year because the one thing over all that really got me was the time and the pacing of the show. First of all, you tell people that it's a two-hour kickoff and they go into it looking to skip it because it's labeled as such and you miss two championship changes a match featuring the Intercontinental champion and arguably the greatest tag team of all time and the hottest act coming out of WrestleMania. The terrible shark cage gimmick gets close to 15 minutes but Randy Orton and Rusev only get about 45 seconds. With the exception of the two matches that I mentioned in the first question, this whole show really played out like a bad day of high school. It was never ending except for the parts that you were looking forward to that seemed to fly by all too fast. I have to say the four days at Brooklyn really did wear me out and not in a good way except for very few bright spots.

CHAFFIOTTE: Shark Cage.

That hurts to say. I LOVE shark cages. They are my favorite of all the silly wrestling things. I was so excited to hear that I was going to get to see a shark cage match. Boy, was I wrong about that one? It was just so mind numbingly dumb. Not dumb like Daryl dumb, not even dumb like Kurt Angle is Jason Jordan's dad dumb. There was nothing fun or enjoyable about this. It killed the crowd and made it really hard for the matches following it because everyone took a twitter break. I didn't even see Enzo take a big boot to the face after sliding himself out of the cage because I was so checked out by that point. To be honest, I don't even care, I didn't even go back and watch it. That had no place on any WWE pay-per-view, nonetheless the second largest show of the year.

WIGGINS: The Shark Cage Match is hard to beat in terms of sheer unpleasantness - it was a plodding, boring match that had no place on SummerSlam, in WWE, or even a run down indie promotion. It was that bad. But, I expected it to be that bad, so I wasn't really disappointed by it. For that, I can only look at Randy Orton vs Rusev.

While I was realistic enough to realize Rusev wasn't going to win, I was expecting a competitive match that would surprise a few people in terms of quality. However, from the moment Rusev attacked before the bell, everyone seemed to know what was about to happen, and we were all powerless to stop it. One charge into the turnbuckle and an RKO later, and I was about ready to give up on SummerSlam as a whole. Fortunately, it was predominantly up from there.

Rusev is one of my favorite performers in WWE today - he's solid in the ring, is extremely charismatic and creative when given the opportunity, and has survived some of the worst booking in recent memory. This 'match' with Orton was just another wasted chance to establish him in the upper midcard, and possibly even the main event. If the rumors of him leaving the company soon prove to be true, I wouldn't blame him in the slightest.