The road to WWE SummerSlam 2019 has begun now that Extreme Rules has come to a close, so let’s take an early look at how the match card could unfold.
WWE SummerSlam 2019 is shaping up to be a crazy Pay Per View, and that’s not just because Brock Lesnar shocked wrestling fans by cashing in on Seth Rollins to close Extreme Rules.
Kofi Kingston, Bayley, Becky Lynch, The New Day, The IIconics, The Revival, Shinsuke Nakamura, and AJ Styles are all heading into the Pay Per View as champions, meaning there should be no shortage of potential dream matches.
This year, SummerSlam will take place on Aug. 11 in Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena, so there should be a special vibe in the air. The Toronto crowd is known for its uniqueness, and let’s just say that they can be ahead of the curve.
Predicting the SummerSlam card immediately after Extreme Rules is inherently risky, so take this as more of a fun exercise in prognostication than anything else. Because while Nakamura and Lesnar’s title claims were surprising on their own, there’s a chance more craziness could transpire in between now and Aug. 11.
Until then, here’s a look at the predicted match card for SummerSlam.
Aleister Black vs. Bray Wyatt
This match has to happen, right? I mean, it’s just too perfect, and the time away from the screen will make WWE fans anticipate Bray Wyatt’s return that much more.
It makes perfect sense for Wyatt to make his return at WWE SummerSlam 2019, and there isn’t a better opponent for him than Aleister Black.
As expected, Black dazzled in his first main roster Pay Per View singles match at Extreme Rules, and he picked up a key win over Cesaro in that electric matchup.
Black can carry this momentum into a singles match at SummerSlam, and a bout with Wyatt could be a Match of the Night contender, just as his match against Cesaro at Extreme Rules was.
The big draw with this feud is the inevitable promo battles, as well as the backstage confrontations. Wyatt and Black are a match made in heaven (or hell!). Not only is Wyatt reinvigorated as the host of “Firefly Fun House”, but Black has been one of WWE’s fastest-rising stars.
These two are hot right now, and they could be white-hot during a program against each other.
Wyatt is known for his work on the mic, but fans shouldn’t underrate Black’s promo ability; he began to excel as a talker by the time his NXT Championship reign ended.
The Club (c) vs. The Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team Championships
Although The Revival remain the Raw Tag Team Champions after defeating The Usos at Extreme Rules, I have a feeling The Club will join The New Day as top-level factions holding all the gold, eventually setting up an insane faction war that culminates in an all-time classic at Survivor Series.
Along the way, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson would be reignited as an elite tag team, putting on great matches with tag teams across both Raw and SmackDown Live.
One tag team to keep a close eye on is the Street Profits, even if they are currently the NXT Tag Team Champions, and shouldn’t lose those titles any time soon.
Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins are future stars in WWE, with Ford having already made quite the name for himself in NXT. The duo have appeared backstage on episodes of Raw and on Extreme Rules, giving WWE fans some light-hearted comedy with their excellent exchange with Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss.
But The Street Profits are NOT a comedy act. No, they are an excellent tag team, and they should get a chance to show the world how good they are with a high-powered Raw Tag Team Championships match at WWE SummerSlam 2019. And The Club could be ideal opponents for Ford and Dawkins to test their in-ring chops against.
The New Day (c) vs. The Planet’s Champions for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships
Until The New Day engage in their faction war with The Club, they could have a memorable straight-up tag team rivalry against The Planet’s Champions.
Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan have made it their mission statement to prove that tag team wrestling isn’t a joke, singling out The New Day as among the teams who make a mockery of tag team wrestling.
Of course, the cynical Bryan mistakes The Power of Positivity for a lack of seriousness. The New Day have done as much for modern-day tag team wrestling as any tag team on the planet, and they will fully earn Bryan and Rowan’s respect by beating them cleanly at WWE SummerSlam 2019, which is a show that is made for Big E and Xavier Woods to shine at.
Woods and E have been on another level in the ring over the past year, and Woods should be on the shortlist of the best tag team wrestlers in the world. His selling at Extreme Rules was fabulous, and he and Bryan are a perfect match inside the ring.
The New Day winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championships off of The Planet’s Champions at Extreme Rules was brilliant booking, but now it’s time for them to retain the titles at The Biggest Party of the Summer.
The IIconics (c) vs. Kairi Sane and Asuka vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville vs. Ember Moon and Carmella for the Women’s Tag Team Championships
Peyton Royce and Billie Kay have held the Women’s Tag Team Championships since WrestleMania 35 when they upset The Boss’N’Hug Connection, but they’ve had the new tag team of Kairi Sane and Asuka breathing down their necks pretty much ever since.
Sane and Asuka have won a future opportunity at the tag titles, but it’s unclear when they’ll actually square off with The IIconics inside the squared circle.
I have a feeling “The Kabuki Warriors” won’t capture the titles before SummerSlam, and WWE seems privy to booking matches with multiple tag teams.
Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose are too good to be left off the SummerSlam card and should be one of the best tag teams in the world right now, and the pairing of Ember Moon and Carmella is intriguing.
There’s also plenty of beef between Mella/Moon and Deville/Rose, so that would be a good secondary rivalry for this match with Sane/Asuka vs. Royce/Kay serving as the primary rivalry.
Honestly, a multi-tag match favors the heel champions, so The IIconics would be favorites in this match, as much as most fans would like to see them lose. But for as much hate as they get for WWE’s failure to value women’s tag team wrestling, they are both incredibly talented superstars and have some of the best comedic timing in wrestling.
That said, Kairi and Asuka really should be the tag champions at some point soon, simply because they are far too good not to be holding titles if they are going to be a tag team for his long.
Rey Mysterio vs. Samoa Joe
This would be the third Pay Per View match between Rey Mysterio and Samoa Joe, who squashed Rey in front of his own son at WrestleMania 35. Since then, Mysterio avenged the defeat with some interest, defeating the sinister Samoan Submission Machine at Money in the Bank one month after also defeating Joe on Raw.
Mysterio is back in WWE after making his return to Raw on the go-home episode before Extreme Rules, as he missed some time with an injury. (The May Money in the Bank match against Joe was Mysterio’s last match.)
In his return, Mysterio lost to Bobby Lashley, who was building up momentum for his Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules against Braun Strowman. As expected, Lashley did not prevail against Strowman, who appears headed for a major push of his own before SummerSlam.
Though Mysterio is 2-1 over Joe, it wouldn’t be out of reason for him to pick up another win over Joe at SummerSlam, seeing as how it’s hard to erase the pain of an embarrassing WrestleMania squash lost until getting that win back at an equally big venue.
The issue here is that Joe can afford a loss even less, especially since he fell in yet another title match at Extreme Rules. Per Fightful.com’s Sean Ross Sapp, Joe is now 0-8 in WWE Championship and Universal Championship matches on television/PPV.
Still, expect a couple of SummerSlam matches to be thrown-together, and this might be one of those where WWE has to come up with a creative way of presenting the right story.
With the way Extreme Rules was booked, I honestly wouldn’t put it past them to do just that; they’ve been getting it right on PPV this year.
Plus, if Joe does lose, maybe that sets him up for his biggest rage yet and a future date with Universal Champion…Braun Strowman? (Remember how awesome it was when WWE teased a feud between them after WrestleMania 35?)
Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Cross
To be honest with you, I’d prefer if Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross remained friends for the long haul up until WrestleMania 36, because long-term stories are the best. But WWE may want to pull the trigger on a feud between them for WWE SummerSlam 2019, and, if done right, I wouldn’t have any complaints.
Cross and Bliss are now in a precarious position, because they lost a 2-on-1 handicap match to Bayley at Extreme Rules. If they would have won, they would have been co-champions.
Instead, Bayley pinned Cross after a top rope elbow, and while Bliss seemed to take the loss OK by consoling Cross post-match, can we really trust The Goddess to lose with grace?
Before the match, Bliss made a nice gesture to Cross, gifting her a new shirt available on the WWE Shop. To Bliss, the fact that Cross was pinned in the losing effort is a sign of her friend not holding up her end of the bargain.
It’s been wonderful to see Bliss and Cross develop a close friendship on WWE TV, and I don’t want that to end. We’ve seen a new side of Bliss, even if there seem to be cracks in the foundation that may have grown to an irreparable degree after Extreme Rules.
Regardless of what the future holds, a future match between Cross and Bliss would be a show-stealer, especially with how much Bliss continues to improve in the ring.
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura shocked WWE fans when he defeated Finn Balor on the Extreme Rules pre-show, taking WWE’s Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career.
The match itself was good and a highlight of a strong kick-off show, making up for the fact that WWE announced it as a late addition. Some fans didn’t take kindly to the IC Title being on the pre-show, but, well, what else could have been cut on the main show? Nothing.
We’ve seen Finn Balor enter as The Demon at consecutive SummerSlams, as the Pay Per View has been kind to one of WWE’s biggest stars. Balor became the first Universal Champion at SummerSlam 2016, defeated Bray Wyatt with ease in 2017, and absolutely squashed the loathsome Baron Corbin in 2018.
At WWE SummerSlam 2019, Finn Balor could win back the Intercontinental Champion as “The Demon” in a hard-fought match with Shinsuke Nakamura, who could join AJ Styles and Seth Rollins as among the select few stars to take The Demon to its limit.
Balor could be one of the main beneficiaries from a Paul Heyman-booked Raw and an Eric Bischoff-booked SmackDown Live, even if a reunion with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as a part of the powerful “Club” faction isn’t in order. And one step in the direction towards Balor reassuming a position of prominence would be a major SummerSlam victory over Nakamura.
Because let’s face it, nobody cares about beating Corbin or 2017, post-WWE Title reign Wyatt.
Drew McIntyre vs. The Undertaker
The Undertaker’s days in WWE are numbered, and Michael Cole even took some time after the tag match at Extreme Rules to openly speculate about Taker’s future.
That said, The Dead Man looked the best he’s ever looked over the last handful of years in that Extreme Rules match, moving around the ring well, taking some crazy bumps, and executing his power moves with far more grace than he did at either WrestleMania 33 or the latest doomed Saudi Arabia show.
There are a number of intriguing opponents for The Undertaker at WWE SummerSlam 2019, but Drew McIntyre looks like the best possible candidate on paper. McIntyre wasn’t pinned in the tag match at Extreme Rules, and he would have had the match won at one point.
The Scottish Psychopath set up for a Claymore Kick behind Taker while the veteran performer was doing his classic taunt, but just before he could hit the finisher, Roman Reigns saved his partner by intercepting his WrestleMania 34 opponent with a “Spear”.
And the look on McIntyre’s face after Shane McMahon was pinned by The Undertaker for the loss? Pure rage.
McIntyre could get a massive rub by defeating The Undertaker at SummerSlam, and he could match long-time nemesis Roman Reigns’s claim to defeating (or even retiring) The Dead Man. But just by stepping in the ring with Taker, McIntyre will get a boost, and it’s a boost he needs as a future Universal Champion who has lost some momentum during this inane program with the junior Mr. McMahon.
Shane McMahon vs. Roman Reigns
Yes, ugh. Whether we like it or not, we are getting a Shane McMahon match at SummerSlam. And look, there’s nothing wrong with getting a Shane match, since he’s had some solid bouts during his career, even in recent years. His WrestleMania 35 match with The Miz was a lot of fun, and his WrestleMania 33 match against AJ Styles was brilliant.
But THIS Shane McMahon? He can get lost.
That said, if there are two people on this planet who can make me not hate a Shane McMahon match at SummerSlam this year, they are Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns.
Owens has been on a different plane of greatness as a babyface these past couple of weeks, with his wonderful, biting promos on Shane speaking on behalf of the entire WWE fan base.
I’d love to see Owens vs. Shane at SummerSlam, but the problem is it’s kind of a retread of what we’ve seen in the past. I mean, personally, I’d like the twist, but I don’t think WWE would go for it since WrestleMania 34 and SummerSlam 2017 involved some sort of Shane/KO storyline.
So the next-best option – and the most likely option – is for Roman Reigns to bury Shane McMahon. And no, Rusev, he won’t bury him softly. He’ll destroy him; it’ll be for the better of humanity. OK, it’ll be the better for my own sanity, because I am at my wits end watching Shane.
By the way, did Greg Hamilton get a raise yet?
AJ Styles (c) vs. Seth Rollins for the United States Championship
Remember when AJ Styles and Kevin Owens had a United States Championship match at SummerSlam 2017 after trying to revive WWE’s most neglected mid-card title that summer? Well, Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles should be ten times better than that feud.
Styles won the United States Championship off of Ricochet at Extreme Rules after another thrilling encounter between the two superstars, with a hat tip going to teammates Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson for key assists.
Meanwhile, Rollins dropped the Universal Title in the dying moments of Extreme Rules. Although he picked up the winning pin on Baron Corbin after absolutely destroying him for hitting Becky Lynch with The End of Days, he fell victim to Brock Lesnar’s cash-in in Philadelphia.
Styles and Rollins had a stellar match at Money in the Bank earlier this year, but WWE never quite pulled the trigger on a long-term feud for the Universal Championship between these two dream opponents.
But heel Styles vs. babyface Rollins in a feud that elevates the US Title? Now that could be something special, even if this feud would be more than worthy of, say, main eventing a major show for a world title.
Predicting a winner would be difficult, in theory, but I think Styles takes this one with the numbers advantage. Additionally, I expect The Club to hold the gold until at least November for that tantalizing matchup against the even more powerful New Day.
Bayley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch had a SmackDown Women’s Championship match at Money in the Bank, continuing their legendary rivalry. But when the night closed, it was Bayley who emerged with the title in her hands, having cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase that same night.
Thus far, Bayley’s title reign has been incredible. She’s exorcised her Alexa Bliss demons – and then some – defeating The Goddess and Nikki Cross in a handicap match at Extreme Rules that further establishes Bayley as one of the biggest stars in the company.
WWE fans have every reason to believe that she will enter SmackDown on FOX as one of the faces of the brand.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Flair fans are suffering from withdrawals, as one of the greatest champions in WWE history has taken some well-deserved time off after WrestleMania 35. Before the show, she was one of WWE’s MVPs and had some huge matches at major PPVs, so it made sense for WWE to give her some time away from the screen.
She needs to be back in time for SummerSlam, though, because it just wouldn’t feel like a party without Charlotte. And while Charlotte is usually a favorite in big matches, this will be a huge win for Bayley.
She’ll have beaten both Bliss and Charlotte – two old foes during her Raw Women’s Championship reign – in the same summer en route to entering the fall as the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
This match should be show-stealer and another special moment in an all-time great title reign for The Huggable One.
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Ali for the WWE Championship
Kofi Kingston has been one of the greatest WWE Champions in history, and I am not exaggerating. Go and look at his promo work with Samoa Joe, his rivalry with Kevin Owens, or that incredible WrestleMania 35 performance in which he captured the title.
Kingston literally has everything we look for in a babyface champion, and hopefully every fan recognizes the special reign he’s having.
At WWE SummerSlam 2019, I think we’ll see Kingston and Ali bring their story full circle in the best match of the night.
Ideally, this would be the main event of SummerSlam, but since Brock Lesnar is the Universal Champion, it’s quite obvious we don’t live in an ideal world. Not even the fictionalized universe of WWE is ideal, sadly.
Anyway, Ali’s injury opened up an opportunity for Kofi Kingston to compete in the WWE Championship match at the Elimination Chamber, and to say Kingston seized his opportunity would be a total understatement.
Kingston flourished in a way that blew away our expectations, but we honestly shouldn’t have been so surprised, given how much fans love him and how brilliant he’s always been throughout his career.
There’s no resentment between Ali and Kofi, nor should there be. There’s no heel here. There’s just a story between two elite wrestlers who want the WWE Championship and are fighting for a lot more than themselves.
At the risk of getting too excited, I think this match could be one of the greatest in the history of SummerSlam.
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks for the Raw Women’s Championship
Seth Rollins may have lost his title at Extreme Rules, but at least he didn’t lose Becky Lynch’s. The Man will, barring anything catastrophic, enter WWE SummerSlam 2019 as the Raw Women’s Championship.
She is one of the biggest stars in WWE, so the promotion have to find the perfect opponent for her at The Biggest Party of The Summer.
Naomi stands out the most among active women’s wrestlers on Raw who can take on Becky in a big-ticket title match at SummerSlam, but the best possible opponent is currently also taking some time off after WrestleMania.
It’s unclear if there’s even a timetable for Sasha Banks’s return, especially since there are so many conflicting reports regarding her reasons for taking time off. But if Banks returns for SummerSlam, she could be a great opponent for either Bayley or Becky.
The more that I think about it, the more I’d like Bayley and Banks to be separated for a bit. By nature of their work in NXT and their Women’s Tag Team Title victory, their careers will always be closely intertwined. But let’s let Bayley have an epic title reign to herself and instead revisit the Becky vs. Sasha rivalry from the past in NXT and in 2016 on the main roster.
Becky and Sasha are arguably two of the biggest stars in wrestling worldwide, and this match should honestly have a fair shot at main eventing the Pay Per View over Brock Lesnar vs. Whoever.
Technically, this isn’t a dream match since they’ve faced off before and had an instant classic years ago in NXT. But honestly? It feels like a freaking dream match.
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship
Well here we are. Brock Lesnar is WWE’s Universal Champion again, making this his third reign with the title. He’s easily the most successful Universal Champion of all-time in kayfabe, even as he’s probably the least successful Universal Champion of all-time in the eyes of the fans. (I say “arguably”, because let’s face it, he’s a lot better than Goldberg.)
Lesnar’s most likely SummerSlam opponent seems to be Braun Strowman, who was also one of the biggest winners in Philadelphia at Extreme Rules.
Strowman defeated Bobby Lashley in a Last Man Standing match that was a beautiful train wreck of a match between two monsters, both of whom tore up the Raw set weeks prior to their Extreme Rules tilt.
Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue reported that new Raw head booker Paul Heyman, who just happens to be Brock Lesnar’s advocate, is a huge fan of Strowman, so The Monster Among Men is in line for a “monster” push.
Could that push include a Universal Championship win at SummerSlam a year after he helped Roman Reigns finally conquer Lesnar? That remains to be seen, but it isn’t out of the question.
Strowman feels like a huge deal again, and he’s at his best when he’s simply screaming and destroying stuff. Braun is one of wrestling’s simplest pleasures.
A Universal Title win over Lesnar so early in the latter’s reign seems far too presumptuous to even contemplate, especially since Lesnar is basically a shoe-in to be champion when SmackDown moves to FOX. Like Reigns, Strowman will probably have to suffer repeated losses before eventually conquering Mt. Lesnar.