Staggering four title changes took place at WWE’s Summerslam 2024 Premium Live Event that took place earlier today in the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. Roman Reigns returned to WWE TV for the first time since WrestleMania 40 as well. Also, CM Punk wrestled his first PLE singles match in the company in over 10 years.
Summerslam is WWE’s second-biggest PLE of the year after WrestleMania. So naturally, several major storylines were brewing coming into the show. So rather than five matches, which is the norm for PLEs in the Triple H era, the Biggest Party of the Summer had seven matches.
Four Title Changes Happened At Summerslam 2024
The opening match saw Liv Morgan defend her Women’s World Championship against Rhea Ripley and finish her ‘Liv Morgan Revenge Tour.
Dominik Mysterio, who had shown his fealty to Ripley a couple of weeks ago, cosy ‘Mami’ the match as he slid a chair into the ring, on which Liv hit Oblivion of Rhea. Dominik and Morgan shared a kiss after the match, confirming the former’s turn against Rhea Ripley.
The second match was for the Intercontinental Championship as Sami Zayn defended his title against Bron Breakker. After successfully defending against Breakker at Money in the Bank, Zayn’s reign, which had begun at ‘Mania 40, finally came to an end as former NXT Champion Bron hit two spears and won the short match to win his first title on the main roster.
In the third match of the night, Logan Paul defended the United States Championship against LA Knight. The two started brawling before the match. After a couple of minutes, the bout actually started. The high-octane contest saw the two hit massive moves. While Logan hit a springboard moonsault to the outside of the ring, Knight jumped to the top rope, catching Paul and hitting a nasty superplex.
In the end, popular music artist Machine Gun Kelly, who had been at Paul’s side during the entrance, handed the social-media celebrity brass knuckles, which he connected. But soon after, LA Knight hit his BFT finisher and won his first official title in WWE.
Check Out: Roman Reigns Returns At WWE Summerslam
The fourth match saw Queen of the Ring Nia Jax challenge Bayley or her WWE Women’s Championship. In the ending stages of what was a solid match till that point, Ms. Money in the Bank Tiffany Straton ran down the ramp to cash in her briefcase, but the attempt was thwarted by the champ. Nia took advantage of the situation and hit two powerbombs and two Avalanche Drops to win her second world title in WWE.
The fifth match was the only non-title contest on the show, but one that has been brewing for about seven months as CM Punk took on Drew McIntyre with Seth Rollins as the special guest referee. This was Punk’s first singles PLE match in the company in over 10 years.
After a heated match between two men who have cost each other a lot in the last few months, the finish came when Seth saw Punk’s family bracelet that Drw had stolen a few weeks back and decided to put it on. Seeing this, the Second City Saint got furious and hit Rolling with a GTS. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Scottish Psychopath hit a low blow and then a Claymore Kick to win the match.
The penultimate match of the night was for the World Heavyweight Championship as champion Damian Priest took on King of the Ring Gunther. In what was arguably the match of the night, the two men chopped, slapped, and kicked each other for what looked like real.
In the end, Finn Balor, who has been showing signs of dissent for weeks, turned off Priest and became the second member of Judgment Day on the night to turn on their stable member. Gunther then put the champ in a sleeper hold who passed out, making the Ring General the world champion for the first time in WWE.
Roman Reigns Returns At WWE Summerslam
We now arrive at the last match of the night, Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in a Bloodline Rules match. After the two wrestled a regular match for 15 minutes, Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa of the new Bloodline interfered. To make the numbers even for the champ, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton ran out and took care of the two.
After that, Jacob Fatu came out and laid out Cody Rhodes, putting him through the announcer’s table and possibly injuring himself in the process.
But as Solo found himself agaisnt a passed-out Rhodes in the ring, Roman Reigns walked out, making his first WWE appearance since losing the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to Cody after a 1316-day title reign.
As Sikoa had been calling out and aggrevating Reigns for weeks, the Head of the Table ran down to the ring and hit Solo Sikoa with a Superman Punch and a Spear. Cody then hit Solo with three Cross Rhoades to win the match and retain his title to end the show.
Summerslam 2024 was not only one of the most story-rich WWE shows of the year but also the one with the best lead-in. The show also had top-notch match quality, making it a modern classic.
Check Out: Roman Reigns Returns At WWE Summerslam
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