SummerSlam 2018

**SummerSlam (2018)** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the UWF. It took place on August 27th, 2018. The event took place at Seattle Center Arena in Seattle, Washington. It was the first, and to date only, UWF SummerSlam event, although there is planned to be a sequel in 2019.

Six matches were contested on the main card. In the main event, Chris Jericho pinned Vinny Marseglia to retain his UWF Championship in a match interrupted by an unsuccessful Jimmy Jacobs Money in the Bank cash-in. On the undercard, Rick Rude won a Championship Scramble also featuring The Miz, The Brian Kendrick, Matt Hardy, and CM Punk to win his first Intercontinental Championship, and Drew Gulak won a Fatal 4-Way also featuring Tyler Bate, Low Ki, and Sammy Guevara. Also, Triple H defeated Daniel Bryan 2-1 in a 30-minute Iron Man Hell in a Cell match, Seth Rollins defeated Jacobs in a Three Stages of Hell match, and Velveteen Dream won a Battle Royal to become the inaugural European Champion.

## Storylines

At King of the Ring, Television Champion Vinny Marseglia pinned Larry Sweeney to win the 2018 King of the Ring tournament. On the same night, Chris Jericho pinned Cesaro to win the UWF Championship for the first time, setting up a title match with Marseglia at SummerSlam. On the July 26th episode of *Revolution*, Marseglia crashed Jericho's championship celebration, damaging the latter's championship with his axe. The next week, Marseglia once again appeared, this time out from under the ring after Jericho's match with Larry Sweeney. On the August 8th episode of *Revolution*, Jericho attacked Marseglia during his Television Championship defense against Tyler Bate, causing Marseglia's reign to end at a then-record 156 days. Despite losing his title, Marseglia kicked out of a Codebreaker from Jericho during the attack. On the go-home episode of *Revolution*, Marseglia watched Jericho's match against Matt Hardy, and sent Jericho fleeing through the crowd after his victory.

During the King of the Ring tournament, Matt Hardy pinned Intercontinental Champion The Miz to advance in the bracket. On the July 26th episode of *Revolution*, an Intercontinental Championship match between Miz and The Brian Kendrick was interrupted by Hardy, who appeared on the titantron to declare himself the worthy number one contender instead of Kendrick. This distraction caused Kendrick to lose the match and Miz to retain his championship. The next week, The Miz hosted Miz TV, which was interrupted by Hardy, Kendrick, and Rick Rude and CM Punk, who had been racking up wins in tag team competition. All four declared their worthiness of a title shot at SummerSlam, which prompted Ethan Carter III to place them all in an Intercontinental Championship Scramble match. On the August 8th episode of *Revolution*, The Miz's Hired Gunns defeated Hardy and Kendrick in a tag team match after Hardy hit Kendrick with a Twist of Fate. On the go-home episode of *Revolution*, Rude pinned Miz, who was distracted by Kendrick on commentary long enough to open himself up for a Rude Awakening.

On the May 2nd episode of *Revolution*, Daniel Bryan pinned Triple H, albeit with his feet on the ropes for leverage. At Backlash, Triple H pinned Bryan, also with his feet on the ropes for leverage. At King of the Ring, Marty Scurll pinned Bryan in a Triple Threat Street Fight also involving Triple H, with Scurll's feet on the ropes for leverage. On the July 26th episode of *Revolution*, Bryan abandoned his manager William Regal and joined forces with Scurll and Villain Enterprises. The next week, Triple H challenged Bryan to a Hell in a Cell match, where no "third man" could affect the result. However, Bryan wouldn't sign for a Hell in a Cell match, instead demanding their final match be a 30-minute Iron Man match. On the August 8th episode of *Revolution*, Drake Maverick, who oversaw the contract signing for Triple H and Bryan's match, suggested the stipulations be combined for a 30-minute Iron Man Hell in a Cell match, on which both competitors signed off. Later that night, Villain Enterprises defeated the team of Triple H and Zack Ryder in the main event of the broadcast.

On the August 1st episode of *Revolution*, Seth Rollins was attacked by an unidentified individual after he cut a promo. Later that night, cryptic messages warning Rollins aired on the Revolution broadcast. teasing "Project 717". The next week, the attacker was revealed to be Jimmy Jacobs, who challenged Rollins to a Three Stages of Hell match; the first stage would be a singles match, the second stage would be a Street Fight, and the third stage would be a Hangman's Horror match. After Jacobs's reveal, Rollins attacked him, accepting the challenge.

After Television Champion Vinny Marseglia won the King of the Ring tournament, Ethan Carter III - determined to have the title defended at SummerSlam - forced Marseglia defend the championship against Sammy Guevara, Low Ki, and Tyler Bate in consecutive weeks. On the August 1st episode of *Revolution*, EC3 announced a Fatal 4-Way at SummerSlam between Guevara, Low Ki, Bate, and Drew Gulak, either for the Television Championship should Marseglia lose the title or for a future title shot should Marseglia retain against all three opponents. After defeating Guevara and Low Ki back-to-back, Marseglia dropped the title to Bate on the August 8th episode of *Revolution,* making the SummerSlam Fatal 4-Way a title match for Bate's newly won belt.

On the August 1st episode of *Revolution*, Ethan Carter III announced a battle royal for all others not on the card, with the winner receiving a "special opportunity".

## Event

#### **Preliminary matches**

The show kicked off with The Miz and Maryse appearing on a talk show to promote their series "Miz & Mrs". Then, Chris Jericho was officially removed from his band "Fozzy".

The first match of the night saw Drew Gulak force Tyler Bate to tap out to the Gu-Lock in a Fatal 4-Way to win the Television Championship for the first time. This marked the end of Bate's reign at 19 days, then the second-shortest reign in UWF history.

Backstage, Chris Jericho engaged in a Skype call with his wife Jessica Lockhart. Then, Seth Rollins was attacked by opponent Jimmy Jacobs before their match.

The second match saw Seth Rollins defeat Jimmy Jacobs in a Three Stages of Hell match. Rollins was disqualified in the first stage (normal match) after a low blow to Jacobs, but won the second (Street Fight) and third (Hangman's Horror match) stages.

Backstage, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon discussed the former's upcoming match. Elsewhere, Velveteen Dream cut a promo on the SummerSlam battle royal.

The third match saw Triple H defeat Daniel Bryan 2-1 in a 30-minute Iron Man Hell in a Cell match in what would be Bryan's final match to date as he would be out of action indefinitely with various injuries. The match, despite being billed at 30 minutes, only lasted less than ten, as the two collapsed the entire cell and rendered themselves unfit to compete any longer.

Backstage, Marty Scurll and Drake Maverick met up for the first time since Scurll attacked Maverick in early 2018. Then The Brian Kendrick cut a promo on the Intercontinental Championship Scramble.

The fourth match saw Velveteen Dream win a battle royal, last eliminating Marty Scurll and Larry Sweeney. Drake Maverick rewarded Dream by declaring him the inaugural European Champion on the new *Resistance* brand.

Backstage, UWF Champion Chris Jericho and Intercontinental Champion The Miz met for the first time in what would eventually develop into a best friendship. Then, Vinny Marseglia cut a promo on his championship main event.

The fifth match saw Rick Rude win a Championship Scramble also involving The Miz, The Brian Kendrick, Matt Hardy, and CM Punk to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time. Rude scored the final pinfall over Kendrick, but Miz was one second away from regaining the championship with a pinfall over Punk.

Backstage, Charly Caruso interviewed Drake Maverick regarding his *Resistance* brand. Elsewhere, Renee Young interviewed Chris Jericho regarding his impending title defense. Finally, a vignette aired teasing the arrival of Kenny Omega to the UWF.

#### **Main event**

The main event of SummerSlam saw Chris Jericho pin Vinny Marseglia following a Codebreaker to retain the UWF Championship. During the match, Jimmy Jacobs cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, but was unsuccessful in winning the title as he was stabbed in the stomach with Marseglia's axe. Jacobs has not been seen on UWF programming since.

## Results

 4

[1] Stage 1: Normal match, won by Jacobs via DQ

Stage 2: Street Fight. won by Rollins via pinfall

Stage 3: Hangman's Horror, won by Rollins via KO

[2] Order of elimination from first eliminated: Drew McIntyre, Billy Gunn, Scott Steiner, Austin Aries, Jimmy Uso, Marty Scurll and Larry Sweeney

**Intercontinental Championship Scramble Interim Champions**

[3] This match was originally a singles match between Jericho and Marseglia. However, Jacobs cashed in his Money in the Bank contract while the match was in progress, making it a triple threat.