WWE SummerSlam: Minnesota (2026) Discussion

[d-d-d-dAz]

It's really hard for me to judge fairly, with my long standing loathing of Seth Rollins but, Christ, if there wasn't a massive gulf in star power between those two entrances.

Seth had the Shield music, immediately reminding us of the last time he was interesting, before waltzing out in the cheapest, tackiest looking clown costume i've ever seen. Nothing has ever looked less worthy of headlining stadium shows.

Then, out came Roman to do the part of his act which is undeniably impressive. Like his matches or not, the entrance is really where he excels. Swans out (no over the top fanfare, no gimmicks), his growth since The Shield plain to see, looks the absolute bollocks and raises the toy title he's made look good just by holding it. Incredible aura.

For me, all downhill from there. But yeah, Seth Rollins can really fuck off. Not one part of his act belongs on that platform.

Edited August 3 by d-d-d-dAz

[TheScarlettChad]

It's crazy that for around six years, Roman was the one with the least character development. Came out wearing The Shield vest, theme. And now he's eclipsed Seth. Still boring though. 

[air_raid]

8 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Like his matches or not, the entrance is really where he excels. Swans out (no over the top fanfare, no gimmicks), his growth since The Shield plain to see, looks the absolute bollocks and raises the toy title he's made look good just by holding it. Incredible aura.

Completely misinterpreted this for a second and thought it was about actual swans. Was getting ready to ask, as I’ve not been watching, if they’ve added swan graphics to his entrance, or if “swans out” is his version of “let the pigeons loose.” Which I guess would be, I don’t know, waving his nads at the camera or something.

[DavidB6937]

2 hours ago, air_raid said:

Completely misinterpreted this for a second and thought it was about actual swans. Was getting ready to ask, as I’ve not been watching, if they’ve added swan graphics to his entrance, or if “swans out” is his version of “let the pigeons loose.” Which I guess would be, I don’t know, waving his nads at the camera or something.

Someone has definitely done that in a video game somewhere.

[BomberPat]

18 hours ago, Supremo said:

Weirdest part about the Baron Corbin match was Michael Cole listing what I’ve since discovered is Corbin’s shoot success in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

He was banging on about how Corbin is a, “legit bad ass,” who’s won all these grappling tournaments during his absence from WWE.

This is one for the old pet hates thread for me. If someone's ring style and credibility is reinforced by success in other combat sports, of course you bring it up, but the moment you start talking about how someone is a "legit badass" or more "dangerous" because they're successful in that sport, you may as well just say "because this one's fake and gay". Within the context of the show, and of your commentary, professional wrestling is a legitimate combat sport.

[Chico Torres]

Especially when their current near 50 year old world champion was a complete embarrassing failure at real fighting and had to come back to do fake fighting.

[Supremo]

Punk would’ve been UFC Heavyweight Champion if they’d have let him unleash that Moonsault.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I love that he's said it was meant as a tribute to Terry Funk.

There was a tim when people pretending Punk wasn't a carny like other wrestlers. Biggest carny of the lot.

[Carbomb]

On 8/4/2026 at 11:00 AM, BomberPat said:

This is one for the old pet hates thread for me. If someone's ring style and credibility is reinforced by success in other combat sports, of course you bring it up, but the moment you start talking about how someone is a "legit badass" or more "dangerous" because they're successful in that sport, you may as well just say "because this one's fake and gay". Within the context of the show, and of your commentary, professional wrestling is a legitimate combat sport.

Exactly. That's why I was saying in the Bret Hart fantasy booking thread that, had he had a feud with Ken Shamrock, I would have preferred to see it booked as Bret being a master of a more established, "traditional" style of fighting, up against a state-of-the-art hybrid-style fighter, rather than a "legit bad-ass" against a wrestler.

 

EDIT: Actually, @BomberPat, a real-life example does come to mind, now that I think of it, depending on how willing you are to present wrestling as a sport. There is a bit of a divide between sports fighters and "legit" bad-asses - a case in point is the fighter Jorge Masvidal, who is generally stated by his peers to be legitimately tough and a dangerous fighter in the street, but is a sort-of upper-midcarder in MMA terms, never champion level. One of the UFC's greatest welterweight champions, Kamaru Usman, beat him comprehensively, but he even said openly in an interview that, outside the cage, he wouldn't fancy his chances against Masvidal at all. (Think it might have been @Egg Shen who posted this.)

Also, there are a fair few martial arts Youtubers, like Sensei Seth, Kevin Lee, and Jesse Enkamp, who've done several videos on the gap between training in martial arts and learning how to engage in violence in the street. So there is scope to say that in commentary, albeit possibly a bit on the esoteric side.

Edited August 5 by Carbomb
Francois Omam-Biyik

[BarryOVega]

On 8/4/2026 at 1:29 PM, d-d-d-dAz said:

I love that he's said it was meant as a tribute to Terry Funk.

There was a tim when people pretending Punk wasn't a carny like other wrestlers. Biggest carny of the lot.

It reminded me of Bam Bam's moonsault more than anyone else's, well a shite version of Bam Bam's

[Supremo]

Fair play to Punk. If it was a tribute to a shit Moonsault that completely misses, he did pay homage perfectly.

Next time a wrestler snaps their leg they should say it was actually a tribute to Sid.