Wrestling Viewing Guide: Aug. 19 - 25, 2018

There’s a ton of wrestling content nowadays and unless you’re a hardcore pro-graps fan, you have to decide what to watch when and what to consider leaving out. That’s where we come in to help.

Every week, we are going to run down the big in-ring happenings for the easily accessible US wrestling. This won’t cover your indie needs, but ReverendClaire always has you covered in her weekly Sermon on the Mat for that.

Bear in mind, matches could be added after this posts that would definitely change how worth a show is to watch.

Sunday

SummerSlam (WWE Network)

This is what is considered the second biggest WWE pay-per-view (PPV) of the year. Here’s the card.

• Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (c) for the Universal championship
• AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe for the WWE championship
• Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s championship
• Carmella (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte for the SmackDown Women’s championship
• Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Seth Rollins for the Intercontinental championship
• Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Jeff Hardy for the United States championship
• The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs. the New Day for the SmackDown tag team championships
• The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan
• Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman for the MITB briefcase (which will change hands on DQ or countout)
• Finn Balor vs. Constible Corbin
• The B-Team (c) vs. the Revival for the Raw tag team championships (Kickoff)
• Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Drew Gulak for the cruiserweight championship (Kickoff)
• Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelinga Vega vs. Rusev & Lana (Kickoff)

Verdict: Look how long this damn show is.

Listen, this looks like a really good show. You take half of these matches and put it on a card I’d be very excited for it. If you took the other half of these matches and put it on a card, I’d be very excited for it. But I find it very difficult to get excited for all of it because it’s just so long.

The length of these shows works hard against it. It’s almost impossible to stay engaged and excited for this long no matter how good the match in front of you may be. That puts impossible pressure on the performers to try to keep the crowd engaged.

I’m going to watch SummerSlam. I’m probably going to enjoy different parts. But I’ll definitely feel exhausted when it’s done.

Monday

Raw (USA Network)

Here’s the fallout from SummerSlam. Who is champ? Who has the briefcase? Does anyone have the briefcase? Is Ronda champion?

Plus, sometimes they’ll call up a person or two from NXT, though with the rosters as stacked as they are, who knows if they will.

Verdict: It’ll be dependent on SummerSlam (and how burned out you are after this last weekend of wresting), but it’s a fallout show to keep an eye on.

Tuesday

SmackDown Live (USA Network)

What applies to Raw applies here.

Verdict: I’m looking forward to the SmackDown SummerSlam matches more than the Raw ones, but at the same time, I’m more curious of the landscape of Raw afterwards since those matches felt like they could really shake things up. I don’t expect any big shifts in the world of SmackDown Live. It’s still a good show though.

205 Live (WWE Network)

Fallout show again when it comes to the title. Are we in the era of a Better 205 Live?

Verdict: Tune in if you want to see what’s next for the cruiserweight championship.

Wednesday

NXT (WWE Network)

As per usual, post-TakeOver shows are shows taped prior to TakeOver, so it’s not anything must-watch. (Matches could still be really good though.)

Verdict: This is the only truly skippable episode of NXT. Good spot to take a breather but you’ll likely see some fun matches if you watch.

Lucha Underground

Wrestling meets telenovela continues.

Verdict: This is a generally fun show. It’s not really a show to pick and choose episodes though. Given the way they tell their stories, this show is more “Watch it all or don’t” than other wrestling programs.

Thursday

Impact Wrestling (Pop TV)

The main event of this week is a Mexican Death Match between Sami Callihan and Pentagon Jr.

Verdict: Their hardcore match at Slammiversary was a hit so this one should be good.

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If I could only watch one thing this week, it’d be:

SummerSlam

While I find it tough to get excited for such a long show, there’s plenty noteworthy that makes this worth watching.

There’s the curiosity alone of how they’re going to deal with a hostile crowd for Roman vs. Brock (and if the MITB case factors in). Then there’s the possibility of seeing Ronda win her first title. I’m very excited for Miz vs. Bryan and the SmackDown women’s title match.

It should have some good moments and will be noteworthy even if it’s not the best.

Let us know what you’d choose below.

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There’s a ton of other wrestling out there and we can’t cover it all on here. So if there’s something you’re particularly excited for this week, let your fellow wrestling fans know in the comments.

See ya next week!