Getting a grip: Looking back at WWE 'SummerSlam' and NXT 'TakeOver' | WWE

Each week, Sporting News runs down the biggest stories in the world of professional wrestling.

NXT steals the weekend from WWE ‘SummerSlam’

It was a jam-packed, four straight days of WWE action at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn highlighted by WWE “SummerSlam," the company's second-biggest event of the year. But once again, it was NXT that stole the headlines as the best show.

“NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III” continued the streak of fantastic shows by the company’s third brand with great matches from top to bottom — with surprises sprinkled in, to the fans’ delight.

MORE: Watch John Cena be susprised by fans in emotional video

Even before the show began, the wrestling faithful were buzzing and chanting for former three-time Ring of Honor champion Adam Cole and hoping he'd make his debut that night. They weren’t disappointed, as Cole, along with former ROH stars Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, attacked Drew McIntyre just moments after he dethroned Bobby Roode as NXT Champion.

All three will be major players within the promotion as was evidenced by this week’s NXT TV tapings at Full Sail University in Orlando. The trio is incredibility talented and adds yet another exciting element to the hot brand.

Also on the show, Asuka won an emotional match against Ember Moon to retain the NXT Women’s Championship, although it did come at a price as she suffered a broken collarbone during the match. Andrade “Cien” Almas and Johnny Gargano kicked the show off with an amazing back-and-forth match, with Almas scoring the victory. Plus, saNIty unseated Authors of Pain at the NXT Tag Team Champions, only to be jumped afterward by Fish and O’Reilly.

Time after time, “NXT TakeOver” events have delivered the better show over big WWE weekends, and the main roster continues to be put on notice by these hungry stars.

“SummerSlam” got off to a slow start but picked up throughout the night, including a fantastic tag-team match, with former Shield mates Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose defeating Sheamus and Cesaro for the “Raw” Tag Team Titles. The show was capped off by a wild main event between Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns. “The Beast” was able to retain his Universal Championship but only after Strowman destroyed him early in the match, proving that he is a real threat to Lesnar’s championship.

We won’t have to wait long for that match, as WWE has already announced that Strowman will challenge Lesnar for the title at September’s “No Mercy” event airing on the WWE Network.

Daniel Bryan ready to return to the ring

It was 19 months ago when Daniel Bryan made a tearful announcement that he was retiring from the ring due to concussion-related issues. Now, he is ready for a comeback.

Bryan was the guest on last week’s episode of Edge and Christian’s “E & C’s Pod of Awesomeness” where he stated that he was healthy and wants to once again wrestle.

The former WWE Champion explained that he has suffered ten documented concussions and four concussion-related seizures over his career with a lesion forming in his brain. However, the lesion was a huge misunderstanding by doctors.

Bryan is now regularly undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment, which has greatly helped improve his cognitive functions. He hopes to come back and wrestle between 50 and 100 matches per year.

There’s no denying his passion for the wrestling business, and he is determined to return to the ring. His WWE contract expires in early fall 2018. Will the company allow him to wrestle again or will he leave for another promotion such as New Japan Pro Wrestling or Ring of Honor, where he would provide a huge boost to their business? It’s all a waiting game at this point.

Asuka vacates NXT championship

Just days after retaining the NXT Women’s Championship at “TakeOver," Asuka is leaving the brand where she has dominated the past two years.

Asuka along with GM William Regal announced during the NXT tapings that she is relinquishing her championship and has begun negotiations with both “Raw” GM Kurt Angle and “SmackDown” GM Daniel Bryan to join one of the brands.

There was no mention of her collarbone injury, which will sideline her for six to eight weeks. Instead, the focus was that she is looking for new opportunities on the WWE main roster.

Asuka had already accomplished everything possible in NXT, and she has been more than ready for a callup. The Japanese star was an instant hit in NXT with her hard-hitting style and brought a sense of toughness to the division.

Her record 520-day championship reign may never be surpassed, and Regal was correct when he said that she is not only the most dominant women’s champion in NXT history but also one of the most dominant champions in WWE history.

It will be interesting to see how she is used on the next level where things can change rather quickly. As for what brand she’ll be on, my guess would be on “Raw” to keep her apart from Charlotte until the two can meet in a huge matchup in 2018.

John Cena moves to ‘Raw’

It’s been months since WWE announced that Cena was a free agent and could move from the blue brand to “Raw” whenever he chose. He did just that Monday.

Cena remains the company’s biggest star and it makes business sense to put him on “Raw,” which will soon face stiff competition from the NFL and “Monday Night Football."

He now has some fresh opponents in Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe while also teasing a big match at some point with Roman Reigns.

So long super fight

Even if Jon “Bones” Jones can convince USADA officials that he unknowingly digested a tainted supplement, a super fight against Brock Lesnar will likely never happen.

The UFC light heavyweight champion tested positive for the steroid turinabol during a July 28 in-competition test on the day before his UFC 214 victory against Daniel Cormier.

Rumors had been flying even before the fight that Lesnar was interested in returning to the octagon against Jones who took it to another level by calling out Lesnar after his win.

The fight would not have happened until next summer at the earliest with Lesnar under WWE contract until the day after WrestleMania 33 when he can choose not to let the final year of his deal rollover. He also must finish serving a year-long suspension for using a banned substance. Now, with Jones facing at least a two-year suspension, the fight is basically dead.

A Lesnar-Jones bout could have been the biggest in UFC history. Even the thought of Lesnar returning to MMA gave him huge bargaining power when it came to upcoming negotiations with WWE. That’s gone now as there is no one else he could fight that would provide a huge payday like Jones would have.

News and notes

— It only took Bobby Roode two days after losing the NXT Championship before making a surprise debut on “SmackDown Live” this past Tuesday. Roode and his popular “Glorious Domination” music received huge cheers from the fans at Barclays Center and likely led to him acting more like a babyface that his heel persona in NXT. Roode is a talented performer that will do well under either circumstance but he knows how to get people to despise him regardless of his theme. Rather than having him win a random match with Aiden English, he would have served him better to debut by answering the open challenge by AJ Styles for the United States Championship.

— Best wishes on a speedy recovery to Big Cass who suffered a torn ACL during his street fight with Enzo Amore this past Monday on “Raw." The big man took a tumble over the top rope and landed awkwardly causing the injury. He’s expected to be out of action for six to nine months.

— Dolph Ziggler had been absent from “SmackDown” since July 4 until he popped backstage on the show this past week. He proceeded to complain about his return and mockingly stated that he now knows what it takes to be a star. There was some scuttlebutt that the “Show-Off” would be repackaged but he recently shot that down. As for his time off, he says he asked for it to work on other projects. He’ll be back in the ring next week but don’t count on anything changing when it comes to his positioning as WWE has always seen him as a good piece to the puzzle but just short of a sustained main-event level push.

Brian Fritz can be reached at btrfritz@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianFritz and listen to his Between The Ropes podcast on Blog Talk Radio.

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