WWE SummerSlam is just around the corner; the second biggest show of the year for the biggest wrestling company in the world.
WWE SummerSlam 2019 is going to be a very long show by all accounts, filled with some of the biggest matches you can see in the industry, but is it the best show that they could put on?
The show has come together late. Flair vs Stratus, Ziggler vs Goldberg and Reigns vs Bryan are late to a loaded party. The Women’s Tag Team Titles seem destined to be missing once again. Some heavily rumored matches simply haven’t come to pass.
Would they make SummerSlam better? Who is missing from the card that would make the show better?
Some big names have been added to the SummerSlam card. Stratus and Goldberg are some, though how about John Cena? How about Sasha Banks or even The Undertaker? Where’s Ronda Rousey when you need her? Imagine if you could have anybody in the company. Any stipulation. All you have to do is get as many people over as possible, put on the best matches you can and entertain the crowd.
I’ve taken the SummerSlam card, slashed it down to only ten matches and swapped and changed combatants, challengers and potentially championships to rebook an even better SummerSlam than what’s currently on offer. Some matches didn’t make it. Bayley vs Ember Moon, unfortunately, drops off the card completely and I’ve even had to use the Wild Card Rule for one match, but you’ll have to let me know how I’ve done.
Strap yourselves in for a ride full of bumps, submission matches and a whole lot of suplexes. It’s time for the biggest party of the summer.
Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks – Raw Women’s Championship Submission Match
For my first addition, I give you Sasha Banks.
Before we get into it, I have no issue with Lynch vs Hart. With Banks, Jax and Rousey unavailable, Natalya is the best possible option. She puts on good matches with Lynch, she has a strong submission finisher that suits this match style and she has the greatest name value of anyone left. That said, Lynch vs Banks is a match that is long overdue in WWE proper.
A feud from their NXT days showed what these two could do together but one advantage they both have is that they are both fluent in a number of submission moves. Add to that that they are both very smooth and capable counter attacking wrestlers and this is the right way to open the second biggest show of the year.
This is normally the point at which I go into detail on how I would prefer to set up the feud, build it up and follow up with what comes next. Unfortunately, this is where Banks’ absence is plays into the subject. We don’t need a big feud. We don’t need a huge moment. We don’t need Banks or Lynch to sucker punch anyone.
Banks walks in. The crowd goes wild. Banks announces her intention to challenge for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship. Becky says yes.
And just like that, the fight is on.
It is a crying shame that WWE cannot book this right now. One thing we can be sure of though is that, should Sasha Banks return, this match will not be far away.
Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan – Falls Count Anywhere
One thing we are getting come SummerSlam is a concerted lack of rematches. That is a very good thing. It also means that what we see is typically something we either have never seen before or haven’t seen in a very long time. Reigns vs Bryan falls into the latter category.
See what I did there? Falls? Eh? Falls?
Alright, well just imagine it’s funny.
Bryan was, of course, the mastermind behind the collapse of a forklift’s payload which fell, after being carefully covered in cameras, all around Roman Reigns. Reigns, being the hunky badass that he is, would of course shrug the whole thing off. Metal can’t hurt Roman. This is well established.
While the match hasn’t been officially set up for SummerSlam, I’m happy to jump the gun here. Additionally, with a falls count anywhere stipulation. This will allow Erick Rowan to get involved, particularly with forklifts or shark cages or maybe a rum ham. Stranger things have happened, right?
It’s almost rare to see Roman involved in a feud with someone on SmackDown after his prolonged feuds with Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon. Yes, I also think Shane McMahon is on SmackDown but do we honestly know for sure? Bryan has done a lot to elevate the tag division on his brand and now is definitely the time for him to return to the main event.
Who wins? Well that depends on Kingston vs Orton, doesn’t it? If Kingston is still fighting Orton …
Bray Wyatt vs Finn Balor
Bray Wyatt is a hero to children. This is a well known fact. I still remember when I was four years old, coming downstairs and being introduced by my father to the FireFly Fun House. That age old, timeless children’s classic. Last year, I would introduce the first of my seventeen children. Their lives and mine would change in that moment. Bray Wyatt has changed the world.
As you can probably tell, I’m very glad that the man behind The Fiend is back.
Finn Balor has been on a bad run recently. Rumors are that he’ll be taking some time off to refresh and I for one could not be happier about it. The man needs some time off to relax and reinvent himself. What better way to see yourself out than to put over Wyatt’s big return on the way. I wouldn’t change this one for the world.
What next for Bray Wyatt? The whole world in his hands. Also, how about that Aleister Black, huh?
Charlotte Flair vs Trish Stratus
If Trish is back, there are a lot of possible options. In fact, practically everyone on the current roster could have a great match with Trish. Dana Brooke? Could definitely have a great match with Trish. Zelina Vega? Absolutely. Kairi Sane? Kindly just hook it up to my veins.
I also briefly considered swapping Flair out for Alexa Bliss in this lineup so that she could live what she has openly stated as a dream match of hers for a long time.
Ultimately, I decided that I actually wouldn’t change anything. Charlotte Flair is the perfect heel; guilty of the ultimate crime of competing against Becky Lynch. She has the talk, she has the swagger and she most certainly has the skill. Charlotte even has a massive physical advantage that will really hype up Stratus’ underdog position.
This match will be quite a throwback. As much as I think Bayley and Trish could put on a good match, being Canadian alone will not be enough to ensure the right amount of heel heat goes to Stratus’ opponent.
It’s been a weak build, for sure. Perhaps it’s one that simply started too late. We’re unquestionably going to hear a lot of support once the match gets going though.
Xavier Woods vs Buddy Murphy
I have a simple question to ask you.
If someone said to you that you could watch a 20-minute one-on-one match between Xavier Woods and Buddy Murphy, what would you say?
That’s what I thought.
Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon – Owens leaves if he loses
Now, before we go into it, give me a chance to explain. Yes, Shane McMahon still makes the card for my rebook of WWE SummerSlam. There’s a reason for it though. He’s there to get beaten up.
Shane owes a lot of favors. He’s won a lot of matches and looked a lot more dominant than he should have done in those situations. One thing he hasn’t had a lot of is long, sustained, unanswered beatings. Let’s see more of those, shall we?
Kevin Owens has been the ideal spoiler recently. He keeps talking. He keeps popping up and hitting stunners on the right people. Everything’s going right. In fact, this renewed face turn has done him the world of good. Last time out, Owens would take on Dolph Ziggler in what can only be described as a squash. The stage is basically set already.
So let me lay out a concept.
Shane McMahon does his dance. He throws a few punches. He gets Stunnered.
Elias attempts to interfere. He gets Stunnered. Elias then gets Pop-Up Powerbombed through a table.
Shane recovers enough to try and crawl away. He gets to the corner and Owens beats him down. He beats him down for a while. He Stunners him again. He pins him.
Owens goes outside, Stunners Elias again, then comes back into the ring and Stunners Shane again.
Surely that’s worth having on the card, right?
Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton
To be clear from the off, there is nothing wrong with this match. There is also nothing wrong with the build for this match. Kingston and Orton have a very intense history, both in kayfabe terms and in genuine reality. The two men have grown a deep respect for each other but they’re calling on a lot of old drama to make things interesting.
Orton is probably the most well developed heel on SmackDown. Kofi is unquestionably on the run of his life and about to face his greatest challenge. Orton’s slower and more methodical pace will contrast sharply with the fast and high flying style of the WWE Champion. This one has SummerSlam written all over it.
Both men could be worthy winners and open up a lot of future options for them and for the championship. Kingston could slot back into The New Day effortlessly, leaving the viper to line up against Kevin Owens or Roman Reigns.
If beaten, Orton could walk into Hell In A Cell and feud with anyone. After how intense and uncomfortable his feud with Jeff Hardy was, I really can’t wait to see what he does next.
I might even have this one go to a false finish purely so that we can get those two into a cell. That would be quite the spectacle.
Drew McIntyre vs The Undertaker
Yeah, I’m doing it.
This match should have been on the WWE SummerSlam card. This match should have been on any card. This is a match that should definitely happen.
Don’t get me wrong, McIntyre got the rub of the green last month when he shared a ring with Reigns, The Undertaker and McMahon. That masterful piece of camera work in which McIntyre appeared behind a distracted Undertaker will live long in my memory. It hasn’t been followed up at all though. McIntyre has instead been working with Cedric Alexander in segments that are likely best described as inconclusive.
And on that note, where is The Undertaker? Why did he come back for Extreme Rules only to vanish into the night once again? Surely you could have followed up on Extreme Rules by putting these two in a ring and just letting them go at it.
Really, why isn’t this match happening?
They’re saving it for Saudi Arabia, aren’t they? Aww.
McIntyre’s booking has been extremely stop start. He goes on tremendously destructive runs followed by abrupt and underwhelming losses. This is similar to Braun Strowman whenever he would run into the brick wall that is Brock Lesnar. Even without any real chance of victory, McIntyre needs a large, marquee match to really display his unique brand of dominance.
However, if we can dream for a moment, I think The Undertaker wouldn’t mind taking a loss or two …
AJ Styles/Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson vs Ricochet/The Usos
Imagine a world in which AJ Styles is the palette cleanser between the marquee match and the main event. Yet, here we are.
Styles and Ricochet are in the middle of of a long term feud that’s delivered some very high quality matches. Unfortunately, there’s also been a lot of them. One-on-one again, I think, might just be one too many.
Just as importantly, The Club need some love too and this might be the best way to do it.
All six men lined up for this match have tremendous ability and the mixture of physicality and athleticism is through the roof. Ten minutes with these six will get you wherever you want to go and then some. As a side note, you could easily add in a winner take all stipulation.
Because we definitely haven’t seen enough of those lately.
Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins
That’s right, I haven’t changed the main event.
I would imagine a lot of people have closed their tab, their browser and even their hearts on me now but that doesn’t change the fact that Lesnar vs Rollins is the biggest draw championship match that they can have right now.
The result comes down to a simple fact. Surely we can not see Brock Lesnar walk off into the sunset with the WWE’s supposed top title for a third year in a row. I mean, that’s probably what we’re going to see because Brockie is top dog but surely we can’t see it.
Get Braun Strowman out here to stop this.
Get Roman Reigns out here to stop this.
Get Matt Riddle out here to stop this.
Just, whatever happens, make sure that Seth Rollins leaves with the title.
Okay? Thanks. Bye.