SummerSlam, WWE.com
WWE is pulling out all the stops for SummerSlam this year.
With both Raw and Smackdown putting forth their best matches on a PPV so far this year. SummerSlam has the potential to be the best PPV WWE puts on this year. Even though it’s looking like it will be a six hour, or more, show, with the matches scheduled it looks to not have a boring moment.
Even though there are a few matches that leave you scratching your head. Like the Big Cass vs. Big Show match, and the match between Rusev and Randy Orton, it looks like WWE just threw those guys on the card so they would have something to do.
However, on the flip side of that, there are matches like Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship. Which could easily be the best of Jinder’s title run. As well as Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles for the United States Championship with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee. And, of course, the main event of Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar in a Fatal Four Way for the Universal Championship which will steal the show no matter what happens.
Fatal Four-Way Match for the Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns
The Fatal Four Way will easily beat the match Goldberg and Lesnar put on at WrestleMania 33. Even though that match was epic in its own way, this match has the potential to knock that one out of the water.
There’s something about the mystery of this match that draws you in even more. Fatal Four Way matches are always inherently more exciting than most other matches. At any point in time, the match could be over, and we could have a new champion.
This match fits that description to a tee. Anyone of these guys could easily walk out of SummerSlam as the Universal Champion.
Brock Lesnar
Lesnar walks in with the gold and has said through Paul Heyman, that if he loses at SummerSlam, then he leaves WWE. Usually, this would make everyone believe that Lesnar was going to win, just because Vince and Company don’t want Lesnar to leave.
This time around, however, Lesnar has made it public he’s not going to resign with the company after WrestleMania next year. Lesnar has said he wants to return to MMA, and give that another try.
So, with those rumors circulating the internet, it’s easy to believe that Brock could easily drop the belt at SummerSlam and leave early to prepare for his MMA return.
I have to believe though that Lesnar will still be forced to appear at WrestleMania next year.
Braun Strowman
Strowman is easily the fan favorite to win this match. Going into the match the WWE Universe seems to think Strowman will walk out as Universal Champion. And while I don’t think that is a horrible idea, I don’t believe Strowman is ready to hold the gold just yet.
No doubt Strowman has been booked as a dominant monster and tough guy in the ring. Looking unbeatable, and made to be the most dangerous man on the Raw roster. The good thing about a Fatal Four Way is anyone can be pinned for the belt to change hands.
Because of this Strowman can lose, and not be pinned. He can go through the match looking unbeatable until the end when he gets cheated out of the victory by one of the other competitors. (More on this later.)
Strowman can walk away looking strong, not losing any momentum, and have a story line coming out of it.
Right now Strowman needs to chase for a little while longer. But eventually, around Royal Rumble, Strowman needs to take the belt off of whoever is champ at the time.
Samoa Joe
When Samoa Joe won the right to face Brock Lesnar at Great Balls of Fire the WWE Universe held its breath, excitedly. Joe made an impact from the moment he made his main roster debut. Legitimately injuring Seth Rollins the night after Royal Rumble.
So, when Joe was afforded his chance to take on Lesnar, everyone knew it was going to be good. But no one expected it to be as great as it was.
Joe and Lesnar kicked it into another gear. Both looked like they wanted to hurt each other when they faced off at any point in time. The build to their match was one of the best WWE has had in a while. Everyone was on the edge of their seat every time these two were on screen.
Both men brought an unbridled aggression to the rivalry, and it didn’t go unnoticed by the WWE Universe. For the first time in a while, it wasn’t obvious that Lesnar was just going to squash his opponent and walk out victorious.
After his stellar performance in the rivalry mentioned above with Lesnar. (Which was supposed to be a one off match for Joe I might add.) Fans have a new found respect for Samoa Joe. They realize how great the man is. They knew of him before. But they know him now.
Roman Reigns
The Big Dog. The heel who still acts like a face. The face who constantly does heelish things. What the hell are you Roman Reigns?
Week by week it’s becoming more and more evident that The Shield are reuniting. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins seem to be getting closer week by week. With the two coming to save each other every week, it only points towards a Shield reunion.
While Reigns has remained distant from his former Shield mates, everyone knows it won’t be a real Shield reunion if Reigns isn’t involved. So, when does WWE get Reigns involved?
SummerSlam!
Just imagine seeing the three of them standing in the middle of the ring, Ambrose and Rollins as Raw Tag Team Champions, and Roman as Universal Champion, as SummerSlam fades to black, doing the fist bump pose. You know you’ve missed it, and you know you can’t wait to see it again.
Credit: WWE.com
WWE Championship Match
Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura shocked the world on the August 1st edition of Smackdown when he beat John Cena to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship.
The John Cena story almost writes itself. We’ve seen WWE do it so many times before, that them doing it again seemed to be the way they were going to go. I almost have to wonder how much the creative team had to do to convince Vince that they should give Shinsuke a shot. Whatever it took I’m glad they did it.
Since this happened, it virtually guarantees Mahal’s title run is coming to an end. After trying to use Mahal to get into the Indian market, WWE appears to have realized that the experiment has failed, and are moving on.
So it looks like we are going to get a Shinsuke Nakamura title run. For all of about five minutes.
Now, this is purely speculation on my part, but it just seems to be the way WWE is heading. (In case you missed it, I’ll put the video below this paragraph.) But after Smackdown went off the air, the same night Nakamura beat Cena, Corbin hit the ring to attack Shinsuke. Cena would make the save, and the next week on Smackdown Daniel Bryan made it official that the two would face off at SummerSlam.
But, it looks like Shinsuke will win the belt at SummerSlam, only for Corbin to cash in, and take the title away from him. Which is unfortunate, if it does happen, but that appears to be the way things are headed for Shinsuke and SummerSlam.
Credit: WWE.com
WWE United States Championship Match
AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens (with Shane McMahon as referee)
AJ Styles will take on Kevin Owens again for the United States Championship at SummerSlam. After the controversial finish to their last match on Smackdown, Owens demanded that Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon find a competent referee. Daniel got the idea to add Shane to the match as the ref, and Shane made it final. Giving us AJ vs. Owens with Shane as the Special Guest Referee.
Shane being added to this match makes it obvious that Shane will somehow cost Owens the title, and that will lead to a match between the two in the future. Which I’m sure won’t be terrible, and I’m sure the two will make the feud interesting.
Shane getting involved with another wrestler on his roster makes Smackdown look bad. When you have guys like Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, and Dolph Ziggler who haven’t been on Smackdown in weeks. Why not give the feud to them?
Giving Shane this spot is like telling those guys they aren’t good enough. When Dolph has been a champion on multiple occasions, and before WrestleMania 33 earlier this year, Luke Harper was in the running to face Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship at the event.
Hopefully, this match far outshines the others they’ve had. In their previous encounters, it has felt like the two have been holding something back. Like they want to kick the match into a higher gear, but they aren’t allowed to for whatever reason. If they’ve been waiting for the right moment to let it all go, then SummerSlam is the place to do so.
Just be ready for the fallout to be disappointing.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (c) vs. Jason Jordan
Even though it hasn’t been announced yet after the Miz TV segment on Raw, it looks like the Miz vs. Ambrose feud is finally over, and Jason Jordan will be next up to try and take the Intercontinental Championship off of Miz.
This will be Jordan’s first singles title opportunity since moving to the Raw brand. And WWE looks poised to give Jordan a mid-card push probably involving the IC Title.
While we haven’t seen much from Jordan as a singles competitor, he looks to have a lot of potential inside the squared circle. This feud with Miz will be the perfect introduction to the WWE Universe for Jordan. Miz has an innate ability to make those he goes up against look great. He showed that just a few weeks back when he took on Heath Slater.
No doubt Miz will outshine Jordan on the mic. But if Jordan can walk away from this feud having learned a little about how to cut a good promo, he’ll have won more than his first singles title. Miz helped Baron Corbin work on his promos back stage at Smackdown all the time. And since his help, Corbin has improved exponentially on the mic.
It may be too soon to see Jordan win the title at SummerSlam. The Miztourage should interfere and cost Jordan his opportunity. Leading to another match down the line, where Jordan should take the belt off of Miz.
Credit: WWE.com
Baron Corbin vs. John Cena
A couple of weeks ago, after Smackdown went off the air, Baron Corbin attacked Shinsuke Nakamura after he beat John Cena to become the number one contender for Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship. Cena would return to the ring to make the save, and put Corbin through an announce table.
So, it looks like Corbin and Cena will be involved in a feud that will culminate at SummerSlam. With Cena leaving after SummerSlam to film the new Transformers movie, we likely won’t be seeing much of him after the event. And it looks like even when he does return. Which will probably be before the Royal Rumble, he’ll be a part of the Raw brand to face Roman Reigns.
So, this will likely be a one-off feud, which means Corbin should go over. If Corbin does win at SummerSlam, then him cashing in on that night makes the most sense.
Fresh off a win over John Cena, and continuing his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, who is likely to win the WWE Championship later that night. Corbin could walk out as the big guy on Smackdown.
Credit: WWE.com
Final Thoughts
At SummerSlam, we could potentially see all but four championships change hands. AJ Styles, The New Day, Neville, and Alexa Bliss are probably the only current champions who will walk out with gold around their waist.
If all of WWE’s other championships really do change hands at SummerSlam then, both Raw and Smackdown will feel like entirely different shows going forward. Something that if WWE wants to continue their uptrend in weekly views, they will have to do.
A new face at the top of the card is always a welcome thing. Even though fans have since soured on the idea, when Jinder won the WWE Championship back in May, fans were happy to see someone new at the top. Everyone was a little confused by the decision to put Jinder there. But they were happy none-the-less.
Completely changing the championship scene in one night, makes everyone curious to see where WWE is going to go next. Therefore, making everyone tune into both Raw and Smackdown to what will change. If the same guy continues to stay champ all the time it gets old after a little while, especially when that person isn’t entertaining to watch week in and week out.
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SummerSlam has the potential to completely change the landscape of WWE going forward. Let’s hope WWE take the opportunity and run with it. Plus, if rumors are true Vince is planning another superstar shake-up post SummerSlam. In which we could see wrestlers go from the main roster to NXT, and people come from NXT to the main roster.
So, we the fans, could see a totally different WWE after SummerSlam, and if that doesn’t get you excited you need to check your pulse.