This is a big moment for me in my Universe Mode, not only because I now have JOHN CENA (for now…), but my first ‘big 4’ Pay Per View means a chance to do some seriously big things, and a chance for a bit of a refresh after the main show itself too.
After I repeated what WWE did irl in my previous PPV, John Cena confronted Roman Reigns to set up my own SummerSlam main event. But what else would be on my card, and how would I make use of the 16-time World Champion in my very own ‘Summer of Cena’. Well… lets find out shall we…
Raw – August, Week 1
John Cena cuts an in-ring promo … it is interrupted by… Elias…
John Cena defeated Elias
Rhea Ripley in-ring promo, Io Shirai interrupts
United States Championship (open challenge): Damian Priest defeated Sheamus (C) – by DISQUALIFICATION.
Priest then challenges Sheamus to a re-match at SummerSlam
Asuka defeated Dana Brooke
Alexa Bliss appeases on the titantron. Before she can began, Asuka gets very angry in Japanese, and (in English) promises to “end this!”
Mickie James and Nikki A.S.H are interviewed backstage
The IIconics (C) defeated Mickie James & Nikki A.S.H to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Keith Lee backstage interview
Liv Morgan locks eyes with and talks to Rhea Ripley backstage. Reckoning can be seen in the background looking on at Morgan.
Bobby Lashley (with MVP) defeated King Nakamura
Karrion Kross & Scarlett video promo
Walter defeated Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Mustafa Ali, AJ Styles and Pete Dunne in a 6-way to become the new number 1 contender for the WWE Championship
SmackDown – August, Week 1
The IIconics in-ring promo, Tegan Nox & Shotzi interrupt
Tegan Nox & Shotzi defeated Shayna Baszler & Sonya Deville (The IIconics at ringside)
Paul Heyman backstage interview
Finn Balor defeated Murphy
Sasha Banks-Bianca Belair-Charlotte Flair-Bayley in-ring segment
Drew McIntyre backstage interview
The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeated Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis) – Big E returns and stops Alpha Academy cheating
Kevin Owens backstage interview
Ricochet (with Cesaro) defeated Kevin Owens (with Sami Zayn)
Seth Rollins backstage interview
Naomi (with Tamina) defeated Mandy Rose
Drew McIntyre defeated Seth Rollins – DQ after Edge came out to attack Drew, Jeff Hardy makes the save
Liv Morgan goes eye to eye with Sasha Banks backstage
John Cena – Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) in-ring promo segment
Raw – August, Week 2
AJ Styles (with Omos) – Riddle in-ring segment
Riddle defeated AJ Styles (with Omos) – Randy Orton helps Riddle win
Alexa Bliss – Io Shirai backstage segment
Sheamus in-ring promo
United States Championship (open challenge): Sheamus (C) defeated Mansoor to retain – Sheamus destroys Mansoor after, Priest comes in to run him off
Karrion Kross and Scarlett video package
Liv Morgan defeated Mickie James (with Nikki A.S.H)
Liv Morgan backstage interview… lights go out, Retribution surround Liv, Reckoning attacks her
Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel defeated Tyler Bate & Trent Seven (with Pete Dunne)
The IIconics backstage promo on Nox&Shotzi, … they go eye to eye with Asuka and Rhea Ripley
The Hurt Business backstage promo
Bobby Lashley (with MVP) defeated Braun Strowman
Io Shirai and Alexa Bliss defeated Asuka and Rhea Ripley
Keith Lee – Walter contract signing segment
SmackDown – August, Week 2
Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) and The Usos in-ring segment, John Cena interrupts
Cesaro defeated Apollo Crews
Bianca Belair backstage interview
Murphy defeated X-Pac – Murphy ‘batters’ X-Pac afterwards
Tegan Nox (with Shotzi) defeated Peyton Royce (with Billie Kay)
Big E backstage promo, John Cena walks by and ‘bigs up’ Big E
Seth Rollins & Edge backstage, Jeff Hardy & Drew McIntyre backstage elsewhere
Seth Rollins & Edge defeated Jeff Hardy & Drew McIntyre
Charlotte Flair backstage interview
Charlotte Flair (with Bayley) defeated Bianca Belair (with Sasha Banks)
Karrion Kross & Scarlett video package
John Cena defeated Jey Uso
Raw – August, Week 3
Rhea Ripley in-ring promo, Maryse interrupts
Rhea Ripley defeated Maryse
‘Imperium’ backstage interview
Karrion Kross & Scarlett video package
Damian Priest defeated Bobby Lashley (with MVP) – Sheamus came out mid-match and tried to distract Priest, but inadvertently distracted Lashley and ended up costing him the match
Liv Morgan backstage interview
Omos (with AJ Styles) defeated Randy Orton (with Riddle)
Alexa Bliss video segment
Samoa Joe & Liv Morgan defeated Mustafa Ali & Reckoning
The IIconics backstage promo
Keith Lee backstage promo
Toni Storm defeated Nikki A.S.H (with Mickie James) – Mickie James is very unsupportive after Nikki A.S.H’s loss
The Miz & John Morrison are in the parking lot… Maryse leaves in a car… Miz says ‘we gotta do something, something’s gotta change’… Morrison then says ‘I GOT IT!’…
Imperium (Walter, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel) & Alexander Wolfe defeated Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven), Pete Dunne & Keith Lee
SmackDown – August, Week 3
Sasha Banks in-ring promo, Bayley interrupts
Edge defeated Drew McIntyre in a Backstage Brawl
Shotzi (with Tegan Nox) defeated Billie Kay (with Peyton Royce)
Seth Rollins backstage interview, Jeff Hardy interrupts
Murphy, Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens defeated Ricochet, Cesaro & Finn Balor
Karrion Kross & Scarlett video package
Naomi (with Tamina) defeated Natalya
The New Day go and knock on The Bloodline’s locker room door, The Usos and Paul Heyman step out to confront them
Breezango defeated Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo
Alpha Academy backstage interview, Roode & Ziggler interrupt, Street Profits come out to confront them, and later The Mysterios come into the segment also
Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair defeated Charlotte Flair & Bayley
John Cena in-ring promo, Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) interrupt
Raw – August, Week 4
Walter (with Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) defeated Pete Dunne (with Tyler Bate & Trent Seven)
Mickie James turns heel backstage, attacking Nikki A.S.H… Toni Storm makes the save
Randy Orton & Riddle defeated Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander
Imperium attack ‘BSS’ backstage
Io Shirai defeated Dana Brooke – Rhea Ripley on commentary, Io Shirai cuts an aggressive promo on Rhea after the match, leads to a huge brawl with officials having to break it up.
Karrion Kross & Scarlett video package
‘Retribution’ promo segment
Sheamus defeated Damian Priest in a backstage brawl
Alexa Bliss ‘invites Asuka into her playground’
Backstage segment where AJ Styles (with Omos) and Bobby Lashley (with MVP) get into an argument… MVP tries to hold Lashley back but he’s too focused on Styles…
Liv Morgan defeated Reckoning
Keith Lee defeated Alexander Wolfe – Walter DESTROYS Keith Lee after
SmackDown – August, Week 4
John Cena in-ring promo, Paul Heyman (stood on the rampway) interrupts him, Apollo Crews than jumps Cena from behind, Big E comes out to run Apollo off…
Tegan Nox (with Shotzi) defeated Natalya (with Billie Kay & Peyton Royce)
John Cena and The New Day backstage, Edge walks by, goes eye to eye with Big E, then we have a promo with Edge – John Cena/Big E
Murphy defeated Ricochet – Murphy cuts a promo after on Jeff Hardy and the Intercontinental title
Jeff Hardy backstage interview
Jeff Hardy defeated Happy Corbin – Seth Rollins on commentary
Bianca Belair backstage interview
Alpha Academy backstage, Roode & Ziggler interrupt
Bianca Belair v Sasha Banks – Charlotte Flair and Bayley interfere
Karrion Kross & Scarlett video package
The Mysterios defeated Roode & Ziggler – Alpha Academy come to ringside, and subtly distract Roode and Ziggler so they lose
John Cena and The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeated Roman Reigns, The Usos & Apollo Crews
SummerSlam – August, Sunday Week 4 (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Before I get in to saying what happened. This is he first show I’ve done so far where I played every match (without skipping any), and I had a BLAST! I really really enjoyed this show and it played out very much how I wanted it too… So, here is my Universe Mode’s SUMMERSLAM PPV!
For my opener I opened with the same match the main card of the irl SummerSlam 2021 show opened with…
Loved this match. Played out how I wanted with the finish too with Orton pinning Styles. And now RKBro is born, which given how the team has played out in reality was just something I couldn’t resist booking in my Universe Mode.
Next up was another big match… NOT for the IC title by the way. Thought about it but… well (SPOILER ALERT) I didn’t want Jeff to drop the title… but also…
As much as I value Jeff, and he will get his run eventually trust me I have plans… I have other things in mind for Seth coming up, so he needed the big win here more…
Match 3 was one I actually made a late change on (result wise), after a new update brought about a different form of someone in the game… that I think will be a lot for useful for me and my ongoing Universe Mode plans…
Two huge names, and a solid match I thought. I’ve big plans for Asuka, and plans for Bliss too, so either result wouldn’t of been too disastrous for either… but I felt it best to go with Asuka getting the win here… Ideally, but not possible in the game, I’d of had Bliss pass out as opposed to tapping.
Match 4 was a BIG one… and Usually I have to work very hard to get the result I want in mutli-person matches… This one though had a finish that couldn’t of been more perfect for the story I wanted to tell…
So… let me tell you about this finish…
Charlotte hits Natural Selection to Bayley, as Bianca and Sasha brawl on the other side of the ring… Charlotte begins her pin on Bayley so the ref counts, only for Bianca to then try and pin Sasha… But as the ref was already counting Charlotte’s pin he finished that before even taking into account the fact Bianca had Sasha beat. So somewhat of a genuine, but kind of cool ‘screwy’ finish. I’m sure this adds fuel to a possible future Charlotte-Bianca title match, but we shall see… For now The Queen reigns once again over SmackDown!
My next match was another that took place at the real event as well…
I LOVE me some Damian Priest, so…
I do have plans long term for Sheamus (as you’ll see in my next blog), as for Priest he’s just gonna go on a roll now I think and make the US title seem as big as possible… cause he’s cool as fuck isn’t he lets be honest?! The little screwy finish here with Sheamus grabbing the rope wasn’t ideal, but it adds to me booking a very angry (even more so than normal) Sheamus going forward. And Priest can just go on and be the fighting babyface and beat people up. Can’t wait!
This next match was one I was genuinely looking forward to playing. Their previous one was so good I decided to run it back here…
And there we have it… Ripley retains! I liked how it worked that Io was just about to get Rhea off the ladder as she grabbed the title down… Helps protect Shirai a little even in defeat. This story isn’t over though, and we will have new players entering the equation… lets see who can be THE woMAN of the moment…
Match 7 on this absolutely STACKED show… another BIG banger…
Yep, Drew going over. Edge (with that briefcase of his in mind) will be FINE… and Drew is gonna use this win to go on to a BIG time feud…
Speaking of BIG… What about this for a WWE title match?!…
Had to be big Keith to retain. As much as the idea of Walter ruling WWE intrigues me, I got a feeling Mr Lee is gonna have another contender very very soon…
In my penultimate match, I wanted to give the women’s tag titles a prominent spot, so the semi-main of a big 4 PPV isn’t bad right?
As much as I love Billie & Peyton as a team, I just felt it was the right time to end their reign, and it was the right challengers to be the new champions. Tegan and Shotzi are great babyfaces on their own, but as a team I just think they’re great. I’m still a little gutted WWE let Nox go, what could’ve been 🙁 …
And finally, time for the main event.
Again it’s the same as WWE booked for the real SummerSlam main event, and I did that because it’s quite simple THE match to make. The star of now vs the star of the previous era.
Their actual match was pretty good, and I thought my 2k22 match was decent as well…
Sorry Cena, no number 17 this time. Roman’s Reign is far from over…
And then… I just have to do it… I’m ending my SummerSlam exactly how WWE ended the real one…
My next blog is going to feature a LOT of changes to my rosters. Post big 4 PPV is a time I always like to do a bit of a refresh. And this time, I have a BEAST to book!
Josh.