WWE Summerslam 2019: Early match card predictions
By Kyle Brown
Randy Orton vs. Velveteen Dream – Intercontinental Championship
Currently, Finn Balor holds the title on SmackDown Live. I think he has to drop the belt before he enters the Universal title program with Seth Rollins. It would be smart to have this title change happening at the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view after Orton’s afformentioned social media challenge. Orton is currently riding the momentum of defeating Triple H in Saudi Arabia, so this would fit well for him to claim a title.
Where does that leave Orton? I’ll tell you where it should leave him … in a Dream.
Velveteen Dream has been looking for a main roster call-up for quite some time and this is the perfect opportunity to make bring him in. Orton is the type of veteran superstar that could show instant chemistry with Dream and tell a terrific story while bringing the new blood up-to-speed on the main roster.
Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet vs. Cesaro vs. The Miz vs. Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley – United States Championship Ladder Match
With Samoa Joe being named U.S. Champion after Rey Mysterio was injured, Joe was left with no opponent set-up for a run through the summer shows. If his injuries are healed, I think Mysterio returns to face Joe to regain his championship. My guess is that his injuries will keep him out a bit longer, so that puts Joe in a six-man ladder match with Ricochet, Cesaro, The Miz, Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley.
All six men have crossed paths already and this makes sense for all of them. I believe the seeds were planted on Raw with the six-man tag match.
At Extreme Rules, we could see Ricochet vs. Cesaro, Strowman vs. Lashley and The Miz vs. Joe, then all men will meet for the title in August.