SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
PHOTOS BY WWE FAN RUTH
This past weekend, plenty of fans came through the tri-state area to enjoy some WWE action.
First, the Prudential Center hosted “Smackdown.” Those in attendance saw Giulia successfully defend her Women’s U.S. Title against NY native Zelina Vega. Also, Los Garza got the better of Psycho Clown and the popular Mr. Iguana. Another NY native, Damian Priest, defeated Aleister Black.
Saturday marked the start of the big spectacle for the weekend: Summerslam at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. This year was the first time that the “Premium Live Event” was held over two days.
The event kicked off with Romain Reigns and Jey Uso defeating Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker in a tag team match. Also, the Women’s Tag Team Championship was claimed by Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair after they beat Rozanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez. Tiffany Stratton defended her WWE Women’s Championship over Jade Cargill.
One special feature saw Jelly Roll and Randy Orton lose a tough one to Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre. Finally, the main event saw CM Punk defeat Gunther to win the World Heavyweight Championship, only to lose it five minutes later after Seth Rollins cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase.
On Sunday, there were even more matches, with Naomi retaining her Women’s World Title over Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky, Becky Lynch keeping her Women’s Intercontinental Title over Lyra Valkyria, and the Wyatt Sicks winning a brutal TLC match to keep the WWE Tag Team titles. Also, Solo Sikoa defeating Jacob Fatu in a Steel Cage match to keep the U.S. championship.
The main event saw Cody Rhodes beat John Cena for the WWE championship. As Cena enjoyed the ring for his final match at the event, Brock Lesnar returned and laid him out to close the show.
A total of 113,722 attended the two-night Summerslam this year at MetLife Stadium.
