WWE Summerslam 2019: Early match card predictions
By Kyle Brown
Raw & SmackDown Women’s Titles
Becky Lynch ends her feud with Lacey Evans at Stomping Grounds and sets her sights on Charlotte Flair. Becky still wants revenge for Flair costing her the SmackDown Women’s Title at Money in the Bank.
At Extreme Rules, Flair and Lynch could battle for the Raw strap, but the finish is interrupted by a returning Ronda Rousey. The distraction by Rousey allows Flair to pin Lynch and win the Raw Women’s Championship.
Lynch will have to return to SmackDown Live angry about the circumstances that have surrounded her while becoming “Becky No Belts.” She issues a challenge to Bayley for a title match that night. Bayley accepts and Lynch triumphs. The celebration is short-lived as Rousey delivers a post-match beating to Lynch. Rousey’s angle, obviously, stems from her controversially losing the title at WrestleMania and she wants her rematch and revenge.
This sets up Rousey vs. Lynch for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam, potentially in a No Disqualification match to add a little more spice and brutality to their rematch.
Lynch needs the injection of Rousey because it’s beginning to feel like Lynch’s momentum has stalled a bit since WrestleMania. At that time, she was the hottest thing going in professional wrestling. She still has a solid backing, but it feels like she is lacking that counterpart that pushes her the way Stone Cold Steve Austin pushed The Rock or how Shawn Michaels pushed Bret Hart.
Back on Raw, Charlotte has rid herself of Lynch and is in need of a challenger.
Out of all of the potential candidates, Nikki Cross is an interesting name to consider. With the new, lighter character she has been using, Cross has been flying a tad under-the-radar and is deserving of a push.
I think she needs to be given an opportunity to showcase herself and needs to be given a chance to prove she can hang with the established names in the division. Also, the rotation of Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, and Lacey Evans needs to be broken by a newcomer to the title scene. Cross is that newcomer.
Cross emerges as the number one contender after battling with Bliss and Evans in the build-up to August’s show.
Raw Women’s Championship match: Charlotte Flair vs. Nikki Cross
SmackDown Women’s Championship match: Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey