WWE Summerslam 2025: Night 1

WWE's Summerslam event has almost always been the second biggest night in wrestling, and now, for the first time, it became a two-night spectacle, much like WrestleMania. This first night's card was a real mixed bag for me, but had a very exciting main event, which I thought could be match of the whole event, not just night one. I was hoping that the earlier matches would over-deliver, but only time would tell.

The show was hosted by Cardi-B, which I was a little skeptical of, if I'm honest. In fairness, she served a glamourous look fir the occasion, and entered the ring with all the charisma in the world. She didn't quite get her crowd work right, but she was very energetic, and felt as excited as she claimed to be. I didn't mind her. Once that was out of the way, we got down to the action, with Jey Uso and Roman Reigns teaming up to face Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. The opening of the match was a little goofy for my tastes, but once it settled down I felt like I could focus a bit more on it. Bronson and Bron looked really good in this match - I think they work very well as a team. They both have different strengths, and know how to highlight them in a match. Roman looked as excellent as ever since the so-called "Covid Era", and Jey was a ball of energy, fueled by a very pro-Jey crowd. The ending was a little surprising, but I liked it - the result had been fairly fifty-fifty in my mind before it started, so I didn't mind who won.

Following this was the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match, pitting the defending champions; Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez, against the surprisingly entertaining team of Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair. I have really enjoyed the work of both of these teams as of late, so I couldn't wait to see what would unfold between the two. I really enjoyed this match - it had a lot of really decent tag team action, particularly from the reigning champions. Charlotte Flair seems to have a new lease on life with this new team, it's been nice to see. The crowd really didn't give this tag match the love I think it deserved, but they did at least give the finish a good reaction. I enjoyed it, for what its worth, and I was pretty happy with the winners.

Next up was a match that I was personally very excited for; Karrion Kross versus Sami Zayn. It was so good to see and hear the groundswell of support around Kross, who has been working so hard for an opportunity like this. The match had a good pace to it, typified by a solid amount of back-and-forth between the two fierce rivals. This was a good match, until it came time to the end, which was slightly disappointing for me. With that said, it made sense for the story, and wasn't the worst finish I've seen. I would have liked the match to have gone the other way, but hopefully that won't be the last we see from the loser of this one.

The fourth match of the evening, marking the start of the second half of the show, was the WWE Women's Championship match, which saw champion Tiffany Stratton defending against the Queen Of The Ring winner Jade Cargill. I was a little less excited about this match than some of the others - I think it's slightly too soon for Cargill. Credit where credit is due, these two went pretty hard pretty quickly, and showcased some cool new moves, particularly the challenger. This was a short but exciting match, which I enjoyed despite its brevity. Cargill is gonna be very good one day, and Tiffany is an incredible talent. I'm glad this one went the way they it did - it protected both women, and protected the pair of them in the process.

It was now time for my least anticipated match of the whole Summerslam weekend; the celebrity tag team match between the team of Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre, and the team of Jelly Roll and Randy Orton. I'll be honest, this did not start out in a way that persuaded me it would be a good match. However, a combination of a hot crowd, the effort of Jelly Roll, the annoying athleticism of Logan Paul, and the consumate professionalism of both Orton and McIntyre was enough to turn this into a surprisingly fun match. There was decent story surrounding Paul and Roll, and there were some cool spots here and there. The result was absolutely the only sensible choice, but I'm happy to admit that I liked this more than I thought I would.

It was finally time for the night one main event; the World Heavyweight Championship match between the defending champion GUNTHER, and the 'Best In The World' CM Punk. This was by far the match I was most excited for from this first night of action, and I felt like it would comfortably be the best match of the evening. GUNTHER brought the slaps out early, as expected, and made it a very physical match, as is his style. Punk, for his money, made those slaps look great, and provided a brilliant underdog. The Champion has been so good at being a bully, a dominator, a monster, for his opponents to try and fail to overcome. It's been so impressive. This match was grueling, impactful, and utterly enthralling match, with the challenger trying desperately to take the title from the seemingly unbeatable champion. The finish was a brilliant conclusion to a brilliant story of a match. And what followed the main event made it even better. It was an epic and shocking conclusion to the first night of Summerslam.

Overall, this was a show that will be remembered and defined by its main event, more than anything else. The undercard was okay, certainly not exceptional, but the main event was incredible. I had fun with the other matches, but most of them will be forgotten about, for the most part, whereas GUNTHER and Punk's titanic struggle over the World Heavyweight Championship, as well as the dramatic fallout from its culmination, will be in my mind for a long time. I hope Sunday night's show will be stronger across the board, but one thing is for sure, the main event will have a lot to live up to.