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WWE News: Terry Crews Opens ‘SummerSlam,’ Braun Strowman Squashes Kevin Owens, And Seth Rollins Gets Bloody

By Carter Lee
Published on: 13:11 PST, Aug 19, 2018

SummerSlam is airing live on pay-per-view and the WWE Network. For the fourth year in a row, WWE SummerSlam is coming to us from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. As the Inquisitr reported, the Cruiserweight and the Raw Tag Team championships were successfully defended during the SummerSlam preshow. During the impressive opening sequence, Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews was featured in a video welcoming the WWE universe to SummerSlam.

The WWE wasted no time in getting the action started on the main card, as Dolph Ziggler defended the Intercontinental title against his rival, Seth Rollins. As expected, Drew McIntyre was in the champion’s corner, and a returning Dean Ambrose was in the corner of his Shield brother. “The Kingslayer” got the shine in the beginning of the match, and “The Lunatic Fringe” got in the face of McIntyre. Ziggler powdered out of the ring, and Drew got between Ziggler and “The Kingslayer.” Dean Ambrose was having none of that, as he shoved Ziggler toward Rollins.

The two would largely put on a seesaw match, and somewhere along the way, Seth Rollins’ face was bloodied. This looked like it happened when “The Kingslayer’s” head hit the turnbuckle, splitting the challenger open the hard way. After Seth was medically examined, the match continued.

WWE.com recalls the finish of the match.

“That unbelievable sequence had Rollins closing in on the victory, but The Scottish Psychopath chucked Ambrose into the steel steps on the outside, which distracted Rollins. Ziggler used the opening to connect with the Zig Zag, but The Architect miraculously kicked out, which brought McIntyre to the apron, but The Lunatic Fringe stopped The Scottish Psychopath and dropped him with Dirty Deeds. With the fight now even, Rollins countered Ziggler’s superkick with one of his own and then put Ziggler’s lights out with a Stomp for the victory and his second Intercontinental Championship.”

Rollins and Ziggler certainly got the Barclays’ crowd fired up, and Braun Strowman took their excitement to the next level. Kevin Owens challenged “The Monster in the Bank” for Braun’s championship contract. Several rumors have been circulating on how this match would go down, and how it would affect the Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns WWE Championship contest. Some pundits felt that Owens would win the contract to later cash it in during the Lesnar bout, and others felt that Strowman would make quick work of Kevin, and it was the latter that would occur.

As soon as the bell rang, Strowman charged and pummeled Owens in the corner. Kevin quickly fled to the outside floor, but Strowman swiftly followed him and plowed through Owens with two huge shoulder tackles. Kevin did manage to get a couple of kicks in, but his offense abruptly ended when Braun Strowman power-slammed Owens for the three-count.

Kevin Owens was once one of the most over superstars in the WWE, but many analysts feel that his character has been tarnished in his program with Strowman, and this squash match would support that viewpoint. However, there is no shame in losing to “The Monster in the Bank,” and the WWE could have sound reasoning on why this contest unfolded in the manner that it did. If Strowman ends up cashing in the WWE Universal Championship contract later in the evening at SummerSlam, having Braun healthy for that cash-in makes sense, as he would be fresh and ready to take on Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.

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