PicoBlog

Summerslam was ticking along to be another great 2023 PLE for WWE for the first couple of hours of the show before it ran into some booking issues and poor performances. Gunther Vs Drew probably takes the honour of best match on the show, but I find there’s very little to talk about it so I’m going to review the latest outing from pro wrestling protégé Logan Paul.

For the most part Logan delivered again mixing an array of high spots with natural charisma. At Wrestlemania I was annoyed that Logan was paired with Seth Rollins because they’re both unsufferable personalities and therefore Logan’s heel work wouldn’t be as enjoyable. Against Ricochet, we were back to the kind of classic face/heel dynamic that Logan first impressed in when he trolled the Mysterios with Eddie Guerrero spots in his debut match. During his entrance he was disrespectful to Ricochet’s fiancée (ring announcer Samantha Irvin) and within the first seconds of the match he’s mocking Ricochet’s bald head. Hats off to Logan for the moves he can pull off, but I’m always more interested in his work between the moves, his confidence and his star presence. In 2023 80% of wrestlers can do a Spanish fly or Canadian destroyer, but how many can elicit a chorus of boos from just a look or smile? One of Logan’s biggest moves at the moment is a simple punch, and I love how commentary back it up every time with the titanium screw line.

I do wonder if Logan is beginning to tip over the edge of having ‘too many ideas’ in his matches though and coming off a bit like WWE’s version of MJF. On paper this match was always going to be about high spots and what Logan could pull out of the locker to hang with one of the world’s best flyers, and we got some of that in the form of Ricochet’s aerial flexing, an avalanche neckbreaker by Ricochet and a breathtaking moonsault into tilt-a-whirl DDT by Logan. But in this match we also got Hulk Hogan and Rock tribute spots, a Rick Rude tribute spot, beating up the babyface in front of his fiancée spots, and then it ended with interference and brass knuckle use. Perhaps it would be better to distil Logan’s matches by picking just a few key ideas and leaving all the others in the back pocket for the next match. Logan seems to be a highly ambitious person who is clearly enjoying his wrestling training, but I think sometimes he’s a little too eager in wanting to include the latest move he’s learned before nailing the execution of it.

I love that WWE didn’t get cold feet about whether Ricochet was or wasn’t a big enough opponent for Logan Paul on a big 4 PLE and carried on the story that’s been brewing ever since these two collided like mid-air bumper cars at the Royal Rumble. I know Ricochet’s had some midcard title wins here and there across his 4 years on the main roster but this feels like his biggest match to date with the company. This was a rare opportunity for a proper feud with mic time against, lets face it, one of the biggest stars on the roster. Too often Ricochet comes off as aloof and ‘happy to be here’ on TV and we don’t to see him with fire in his belly enough. I think it was an opportunity he took with both hands and even in defeat has come out of the program better than when he entered it.

Ricochet was excellent in this match. I’m not going to use the word carried, but he really took care of Logan in this match in making every spot come off as good as it can. I know Logan’s had a lot of traction off that tilt-a-whirl DDT, but that move also takes a lot of strength and balance from Ricochet to help pull off. This isn’t a criticism at all of Ricochet, but because his work looked so polished and perfect, it did shine a light on Logan’s technique and bumping not being quite on the money by comparison. For example the Spanish fly and buckshot lariat spots were a bit clunky. It was very clear in this match which wrestler was veteran and which was the rookie. That might sound harsh given Logan’s only had 7 matches in his career, but he set the bar high early and in my mind has already graduated from being considered a celebrity wrestler.

I didn’t give Ricochet a chance of winning this match going into the weekend, but his performance had me second guessing who was going over and was this the start of a push for Ricochet. He had the crowd rallying behind him big time and as he dragged Logan’s body into the position for the 630 splash (LOVED Logan reaching out for his ankle to show some last-gasp resilience), it felt like there was going to be an upset on the cards. The brass knuckles finish does protect him in a way that usually WWE wouldn’t bother doing with your average midcarder, so perhaps there is hope there that Ricochet will continue to get more opportunities and big matches. After seeing 42 year old Finn Balor in world title matches on back to back shows, it really would be a welcome switch to see guys in their prime years going for the top prizes in the company.

As for Logan, with the win in the books he could potentially set himself up for a world title match with Seth Rollins whenever he wants to return to TV. Personally I’d like to see him continue being booked against the talented and popular babyfaces on the roster to bring out the best in his heel performances. I’d love to see him enter with a feud with Cody Rhodes which sounds like an ace way for Cody to kill some time until he can face Roman again.

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