We are half-way between WrestleMania and WWE SummerSlam 2018, so let’s take a look at what matches could feature at the WWE’s biggest party of the Summer.
With Money in the Bank finally on the horizon, fans will soon begin shifting their focus to the WWE’s second biggest event of the year, and the biggest party of the Summer- WWE SummerSlam 2018.
After what tends to be a bit of a lull between April and June (that’s an understatement this year) the WWE will start building their big storylines in the coming weeks for the event, and speculation will grow as to what exactly is going to go down at the show.
The outcomes of matches at Money in the Bank will likely provide plenty of indication about what kind of storylines and matches we can expect to see at the biggest party of the Summer, and while it is already beginning to become clear for several superstars, there are still plenty of big names that have no sense of direction at the moment. It is also unsure as to who will even be at the event. John Cena has not been seen on WWE television since The Greatest Royal Rumble, and it could be possible that he misses this year’s show. Likewise, the status of The Undertaker in the WWE is still unknown.
The WWE has not made for good viewing post WrestleMania, with Raw especially becoming increasingly difficult to watch. Getting SummerSlam correct is paramount for the company this year, so let’s take a look at what potential matches we could see in Brooklyn this August.
Photo Source: WWE.com
Cedric Alexander (c) Vs Mustafa Ali- Cruiserweight Championship
While I’m not sure I can take another 20 minutes of the commentators ramming ‘The heart and the soul’ down my throat, the rise of Mustafa Ali has been one of the best stories on 205 Live this year, and it would be nice to provide his arc with a big pay-off.
The two men put on an excellent battle at WrestleMania, and could probably go one better if they were given a longer amount of time at SummerSlam.
Alexander is an excellent Cruiserweight champion, and he is one of the brand’s most consistent performers, but Ali seems destined to get hold of the belt at some point in 2018.
Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
The Authors of Pain Vs The Deleters of Worlds (C)- Raw Tag Team Championship
WWE seems to have lost interest in the Raw tag team division as of late. The champions have barely been on TV over the last few weeks, and The Authors of Pain, who are one of the most promising tag teams in the WWE today, have not been seen on TV for over a month.
This one is arguably more in hope than expectation, but the company would be crazy to allow The Authors of Pain to end up in a similar situation to that of The Revival or The Ascension, who were both teams fans had high hopes for when they first made their debuts on the main roster.
The WWE needs to book The Authors of Pain to look dominant, and they should begin rolling their way to the tag team division en-route to a tag team title shot at SummerSlam very soon. Hardy and Wyatt are fine as a novelty act, but they’re not exactly helping the tag team division flourish right now.
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Sanity Vs The Bludgeon Brothers (c)- SmackDown Tag Team Titles
Over the last few weeks, The Bludgeon Brothers have been cutting a series of eerie promos on SmackDown. Since defeating The Usos at The Greatest Royal Rumble, the SmackDown tag team champions have not had anybody who feels as though they can compete with them. Sure, The Club are set to fight them at Money in the Bank, but that bout has been brought about apropos of nothing, and The Club defeating them would be an incredibly strange piece of booking.
Step forward, Sanity. The former NXT tag team champions have yet to make their SmackDown debut after joining the brand during the Superstar Shakeup, but they seem like they could be the perfect opponents for the former Wyatt Family members.
A victory for Sanity here would also make a lot of sense. The Bludgeon Brothers have steam-rolled their way through the rest of the SmackDown tag team division, so it would make little sense for a team to just rise up the card and stop them out of nowhere. Sanity and The Bludgeons could then continue their feud for a few months, allowing other teams to gain back some momentum before entering the title picture once again.
Source: WWE.com
Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas Vs Jeff Hardy (c) Vs Randy Orton Vs Rusev- US Title
Frankly, I’m not really sure what is going on in Smackdown’s US title division at the moment, with the belt seemingly having taken a back seat in recent weeks because of Money in the Bank qualifiers.
That being said, it seems unlikely that they won’t have something up their sleeves in the coming weeks, even if that is a multi-man match-up. A big 4 event is not fully complete if it doesn’t have a mid-card title being contested by a collection of random mid-carders, and this will be SummerSlam’s.
Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas seems destined for a run with the United States in the very near future, he is currently locked in a feud with Sin Cara, but I can’t see that developing any further than a possible pre-show match at Money in the Bank.
As for Randy Orton and Rusev, the former is still considered as one of the biggest stars in the WWE, while the latter is one of the most over superstars in the company right now, so it seems unlikely that they would want to leave either one of them off the card.
Of course, Almas should be victorious here, whether that is a defending champion or as a contender. Having him pick up a victory over three of SmackDown’s biggest mid-carders, on one of the WWE’s biggest shows of the year, would really cement his place as a future star within the company.
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Charlotte Vs Asuka (c) – Smackdown Women’s Championship
Charlotte Vs Asuka was one of the best matches at WrestleMania this year, and the two women are destined to meet again now that they are sharing the same brand.
The WWE has not exactly booked either woman to look great in the post-Mania fallout, but they are both big enough talents to overcome any damage done to them by creative, and that process should start at Money in the Bank.
Asuka’s match against Carmella has to end with Asuka picking up the victory, and whether or not the company decides to give Charlotte the briefcase doesn’t really matter, she is relevant enough to just be given the number 1 contenders spot.
Of course, Asuka should pick up the victory here, to level the playing field and after this, Charlotte can head over to Raw and start building towards her rumoured WrestleMania bout with Ronda Rousey. This would also open the door for a rubber match between the two women later down the line.
If the WWE decides to repeat last year’s SmackDown Vs Raw theme at Survivor Series, then this could also set up a potential clash between Ronda Rousey Vs Asuka at the event, a match which, given its star power, could easily headline the whole show, and operate as a tester for the rumoured Rousey Vs Charlotte main event at WrestleMania 35.
Source: WWE.Com
AJ Styles Vs Samoa Joe
AJ Styles and Samoa Joe have a lot of history. The battles that took place between the two on what was then TNA wrestling are some of the finest the promotion put on, and despite being a lot older now, the two men are still more than capable of stealing any show they are put on.
AJ is currently the WWE champion, but it seems likely he will finally drop the belt to Shinsuke Nakamura at Money in the Bank. If that is the case, and presuming he loses his rematch the following month, then a match with Samoa Joe should be the top of his list of priorities.
Joe has been one of the most consistent performers in the WWE over the last year, but despite being in some great matches, he has yet to be involved in a real match of the year candidate.
Having Styles come into the night on the back of two straight losses to Shinsuke Nakamura would likely mean he would need a win here but the WWE could protect both men’s credibility if they were to steal the show. Joe needs a run with the title at some point in the near future, though, and a big victory over AJ could be his final hurdle before heading into a feud for the belt in the final quarter of the year.
Photo by WWE’s Twitter
Ronda Rousey Vs Natalya (c)- Raw Women’s Championship
Ronda Rousey is set to face Nia Jax at Money in the Bank for the Raw Women’s championship, and screwy finishes aside, it would make little sense for her to lose that match.
The company has been playing with the idea of Rousey Vs Natalya since Rousey returned to Raw victorious after WrestleMania, and the match makes sense for a lot of reasons. Not only do the two have a history together, which will provide the WWE to chance to riff on the classic ‘master Vs apprentice’ dynamic but Natalya is one of the most experienced female performers in the WWE right now, and she is likely to get the best out of Rousey in a one-on-one match.
Natalya is scheduled to compete in the Money in the Bank match in a few weeks, which I think could suggest that Natalya will cash in on Rousey straight after her title victory. Rousey would still be protected by this, and Natalya could justify her actions by claiming that she claimed Rousey, just for her to come in and steal her spot.
This would be Rousey’s first real singles program in the WWE, and provide her with the opportunity to show the WWE universe exactly what she is capable of. Needless to say, she should walk away from this one with the victory.
Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
Bobby Lashley Vs Elias (c)- Intercontinental Championship
Bobby Lashley’s return to the WWE has not been as grand as many predicted. After being lumbered in a random tag team match on his return to PPV, the former US champion’s stock dropped even further when he took part in the year’s worst segment this month with Sami Zayn.
For reasons that will become apparent later in the article, I have a feeling the Intercontinental Title won’t be around Seth Rollins’ waste come SummerSlam, and with Elias currently feuding with him on Raw, it seems logical that he would be the one to take it from him.
Once Lashley has disposed of Sami Zayn at Money in the Bank, he will be in need of a new feud, and Elias would make a lot of sense.
WWE has no doubt invested money in Lashley’s return, and while he has not exactly hit the ground running, a solid run with a mid-card title might be a nice way of getting some momentum back for him, and he can begin to build towards a main event push once again. Right now, he really doesn’t feel like a threat to the Universal Title, so this would, at the very least, be a step towards remedying that.
Dean Ambrose Vs Roman Reigns
Most fans, myself included, are taking it as a given that when Dean Ambrose does finally return to the ring, the WWE will finally pull the trigger on a heel turn for The Lunatic Fringe.
Dean’s career was boosted a little bit by The Shield reunion at the end of 2017, but his injury cut that short, and he had zero momentum as a singles star before that.
Returning stars always get a momentum boost, and the WWE needs to capitalise on that quickly and have him turn heel against his former Shield brethren straight away.
There were rumours last year that the original Shield reunion between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins was going to lead to a match between the two at WrestleMania, and while there is every chance the WWE will still go for that match at SummerSlam, my fictional SummerSlam has other plans in store for Seth Rollins.
Following back to back defeats at the hands of Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns no longer feels like a legitimate threat to his Universal Title, and while the company may decide to give us Lesnar Vs Reigns IV at SummerSlam, an upper mid-card, potentially show-stealing match with Dean Ambrose would make a lot more sense.
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Kurt Angle Vs Triple H
Early reports at the end of 2017 suggested that these two WWE veterans would be meeting one on one at WrestleMania 34. The two men had kickstarted their feud at Survivor Series 2017, when Triple H turned on Angle in the traditional Survivor Series Raw Vs SmackDown match.
The match never came to be though, with the WWE opting to go for Triple H and Stephanie McMahon Vs Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey. Surprisingly, this match was one of the best on the card in New Orleans and the WWE seemingly drew a line under the feud after the event.
Despite that, it wouldn’t be a massive surprise if the WWE didn’t resurrect the feud between the two former WWE champions just to have another marquee match at the event.
The seeds for this were planted a long time ago, and it wouldn’t take much for the WWE to set up the bout. The recent edition of Baron Corbin as the ‘constable’ of Raw could easily lead back to Triple H and Kurt Angle coming to blows, and while Corbin Vs Angle would be a nice rub for Corbin, Triple H Vs Angle is definitely where the money is.
Angle is still yet to have a singles match since returning to the WWE, and it would be interesting to see how well he can perform. Either way, I feel like this match is definitely going to happen at some point, and SummerSlam would make the most sense.
Photo Source: WWE.com via Twitter
Daniel Bryan Vs Shinsuke Nakamura (c) – WWE Championship
Looking at the WWE title situation on SmackDown, this match seems like the most obvious choice to headline SummerSlam with at the moment.
Daniel Bryan announced on this week’s SmackDown that he wants to get back into the WWE title picture, and with AJ and Shinsuke set to clash one more time at Money in the Bank, it seems reasonable to think that maybe, just maybe, it is Shinsuke’s time to run with the gold.
The only issue with booking this match is that they place themselves in a tricky situation. Having Bryan lose the match would kill all of his momentum, while having Shinsuke drop the belt so soon after winning it would make his first title run feel pointless.
Regardless, I have a feeling that whether it is against AJ Styles or Shinsuke Nakamura, or perhaps even both, Daniel Bryan is going to win the title at SummerSlam and lose it to The Miz, who is my pick to take home the Money in the Bank briefcase next month, straight after winning it.
Sure, this would be a rehashing of Daniel Bryan’s run to WrestleMania 30, but there is big money to be made from Daniel Bryan Vs The Miz, so kickstarting the road to their match at SummerSlam would be a nice idea.
Photo Source: WWE.com
Seth Rollins Vs Brock Lesnar (c) – Universal Championship
Look, is this one likely to happen? Probably not. Is it the match everybody would rather see Brock Lesnar in though? 100%. Seth Rollins is arguably the hottest superstar on Monday nights right now, and if the WWE build this right over the coming months, then he could finally cement his place as the brand’s top babyface and topple Brock Lesnar in the process.
The two men have a lot of unfinished business in the ring, and Rollins has been fairly vocal about Lesnar’s role in the WWE in recent weeks. The WWE could even go down the route of booking a champion vs champion match at the event, though, they did only use that angle three years ago when Seth Rollins took on John Cena.
Rollins has been the best main-roster performer so far this year, and he deserves something for his efforts. Sure, Roman Reigns or Braun Strowman are likely to be placed in this position ahead of him, but if the WWE have just a modicum of sense left, then they will, at the very least, consider this as an option.
Next: Money in the Bank 2018 Match Card Predictions
A victory for Rollins would also finally allow the likes of Finn Balor to rise back up the card and compete for the company’s top prize, something that they have not been able to do during Lesnar’s ridiculously dominant reign.