SummerSlam, the biggest night during the summer in the WWE is set to take place August 23rd from the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York.
There’s plenty to look forward to in this classic pay-per-view so let’s get started previewing some confirmed matches and predicting perhaps some last-minute ones added to the card.
WWE Tag Team Championship: Primetime Players (c) vs. New Day
It looks more and more likely that we’ll see another WWE Tag Team Championship match between the Primetime Players and the New Day. The New Day has been great for the tag team division and just a few months ago, it looked as if the WWE had a legit tag team division. However, the Usos are recovering from an injury and Cesaro hit the singles circuit due to an injury to Tyson Kidd.
This match between Primetime Players and the New Day will be a total let down as the only good thing coming out of it is Xavier Woods showing more of his charisma at ringside.
With this match happening again, I expect the New Day to win back the Tag Team titles and they should be able to move on to face a new tag team such as the Lucha Dragons next month.
The Bellas & Alicia Fox vs. Naomi, Sasha Banks & Tamina Snuka vs. Paige, Becky Lynch & Charlotte
A good tag team match will be between the Divas as their revolution for women’s professional wrestling has begun. It’s been nothing but a success for the WWE having Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Charlotte on the main roster.
Paige vs. the Bellas was getting stale and now we see every single diva being used except for Natalya.
For SummerSlam, I expect a three team elimination match between The Bellas & Alicia Fox vs. Naomi, Sasha Banks & Tamina Snuka vs. Paige, Becky Lynch & Charlotte. It’ll be tough to say who gets the win as we’ve seen Sasha Banks get a nice victory as well as Charlotte during their in-ring debuts on the main roster. However, I’m expecting the Bellas & Alicia Fox to win so we can move forward to more singles competition for Nikki Bella to defend the Divas championship at Night of Champions.
Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro
The match of the night will be in the middle of the card and it will feature Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens.
These two are great in-ring competitors as Cesaro is freakishly strong and Owens is freakishly good at everything he does. He’s without question, their best product and these two can easily have one of the best matches of the year but that’s as long as the creative team gives them at least 20 minutes in the ring at SummerSlam.
I expect the King of Swing to give Owens one hell of a fight but in the end of it, Owens will pop-up power bomb his way to victory.
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Ryback (c) vs. The Big Show vs. The Miz
To be honest, I don’t care much about the WWE Intercontinental Championship match. If it happens, cool, if it doesn’t, cool. The Miz is great, Ryback is good and the Big Show is awful. He needs to retire and move to having a backstage role of some kind.
Ryback deserves the championship and should win this match if it happens. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing Ryback lose the title after his next title defense at Night of Champions, especially if it’s against the Miz or someone like Kevin Owens.
Overall, this match should have some big bumps with Ryback finishing things up with a shell shock on the Miz.
Dolph Ziggler w/Lana vs. Rusev w/Summer Rae
Despite being away from WWE television because of a movie, Dolph Ziggler should return in time to face Rusev and carry their feud for at least another month. Lana is by herself right now and in two weeks or so, we’ll have a returning Ziggler who should have plenty of fuel to add to the fire.
Rusev is great in the ring and needs someone like Paul Heyman to carry him as his promo skills are poor. However, Summer Rae is far from Heyman and isn’t even close to Lana. I think this will be a quick “on-screen” relationship between those two and we can only hope that Rusev continues to get better as I enjoy what he brings to the table as in-ring competitor.
Dolph Ziggler doesn’t need Lana but it’s a bonus for him to have her by his side and should get a nice main event push after his feud with Rusev.
SummerSlam will be a physical encounter that will lead to Rusev winning and forcing a rematch for the future or a mixed-tag team match.
Randy Orton vs. King Barrett
Next up is Randy Orton vs. King Barrett and that’s simply because we can’t have Randy Orton not on this card. Plus Sheamus vs. Orton would be boring to watch again and it’s time to get some new competition for both Barrett and Orton right?
This could very well be one of the better matches on the card if it were to happen, as both of these men are great in the ring. If I had to choose a winner, I would expect it to be Randy Orton so he can further advance himself into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing Barrett get a main event push either.
Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose
As I told a friend at WWE Battleground, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper will reunite to team up and face Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose at SummerSlam. So far, I look pretty accurate with my prediction and I’m just hoping that Erick Rowan and Sting don’t ruin my outlook.
The current rumor from numerous wrestling media outlets is that Sting will return at SummerSlam to team up with Reigns and Ambrose.
In my opinion, that makes absolutely no sense.
What sounds better is to have Rowan return at SummerSlam to interrupt the match and help Wyatt and Harper gain a victory to then be shocked when the lights go out and Sting emerges at the stage with a bat in hand helping take down the Wyatt family.
I’m standing by my prediction of Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose in what should be a very physical tag team match. Reigns will do his best Ultimate Warrior impression as Ambrose will carry his team with actual wrestling moves like his finishing maneuver; Dirty Deeds.
As for Wyatt and Harper, they reunite and will carry the rest of the match with their great chemistry and unreal athletic ability for being considered “big men”.
Before we get to the winners of the match, Erick Rowan will return and help his family gain a victory over Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt. Before the Wyatt family can have a proper family reunion and celebration, the lights will go out, a crow will sound and Sting’s presence will be felt as he comes to the rescue for the two former members of the Shield.
Expect a 6-man tag team match at Night of Champions next month.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins (c) vs. John Cena
So what’s going to be the build-up for the main event? I think after last week on Monday Night Raw, it looks to be obvious that we’ll see champion vs. champion as World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins will take on WWE United States Champion John Cena.
Ultimately this is a match that I like if neither superstar held championship gold.
Rollins is a great WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Rollins though needs to establish himself better as a legitimate champions which should happen now against John Cena, who is chasing Ric Flair’s record 16 world heavyweight titles.
In the words of Kevin Owens, John Cena’s time is way up and I find it hard to believe that he beats Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. It should be a terrific match and there should be no implications of the United States Championship being on the line. So in September, we should see the return of the United States Championship Open Challenge for Monday Night Raw.
What should we expect for this match at SummerSlam?
I’d say we’ll see the finishing moves for both Cena and Rollins, a lot of counters, high-spots to the outside of the ring and John Cena doing what he does in every match — leg drop off the top rope and the five knuckle shuffle.
I don’t have our Money in the Bank winner Sheamus on the card and this could very well be where he makes his presence known if John Cena is close to winning the match. Also, I don’t think Sheamus holds onto his briefcase as long as Seth Rollins did last year so expect him to cash in the briefcase, sooner of later.
Without the alternate finish I predict that Rollins walks out of Brooklyn still our WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
Perhaps the most anticipated match of the night is The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar which was the first match announced for the SummerSlam card.
Getting to it, The Undertaker has definitely lost a step in the ring but he’s still one of the greatest of all-time when it comes to talking on the microphone and building his matches.
What should we expect for their match at SummerSlam? A slow confrontation between two of WWE’s biggest stars that will ultimately be a brawl rather than an actual wrestling match.
When it’s all said and done, expect the Undertaker to be the one with his hand raised and expect the next couples weeks of Monday Night Raw to be wild between these two.