WWE SummerSlam 2019 will served as the 32nd annual edition of the company’s second biggest PPV of the year. Here’s a full preview of the card, along with predictions for will win each match.
Tonight, WWE hails from Toronto, Ontario, Canada live from the Scotiabank Arena to air its latest rendition of its much beloved and anticipated SummerSlam Pay-Per-View. Their self-professed Biggest Party of the Summer is only next to WrestleMania as their second most anticipated and well reviewed PPV of the year, which is some high praise that tonight’s event has to live up to for the 32nd year in a row.
It might not be hard for WWE to do just that tonight. With a stacked supercard of 10 matches highlighting their most talented Superstars from the promotion’s past, present and future, SummerSlam has a shot at actually rivaling – and dare I say, exceed – WrestleMania 35 as the best wrestling show of the year (or at least the biggest wrestling spectacle of the year).
Tonight’s card offers dream matches, rematches and the culmination of blood feuds that have been built up over the past month or so; longer in some cases. In fact, some matches either have been a decade in the making or have years worth of history that precede what we’ve seen on WWE television.
There was a lot to keep up with during the build to the big show and it would be easy to lose track of any (or all) major storylines and feuds from the road to SummerSlam. In case you need a preview, I run down the whole card from top to bottom and explain how the competitors got to where they are today. And while I’m at it, I’ll offer my predictions for the night as well.
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Natalya – Raw Women’s Championship
After spending the better part of three months being chased by Lacey Evans and defending her Raw Women’s Championship against the Southern Belle, Becky Lynch finally gets some new competition in Canada’s own, Natalya. The former SmackDown Women’s Champion became number one contender after defeating Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Naomi in a Fatal Four Way Elimination Match, but this feud is actually much more personal than it’s implied to be on the surface.
Becky and Nattie have been good friends since their days on the indies prior to WWE, meeting 14 years ago when they wrestled together in Japan. However, Becky admitted to viewing Natalya as a traitor not only for befriending Becky’s rival, Ronda Rousey, but training the MMA specialist heading into their main event at WrestleMania. Now, as personal animosity boils over, The Man defends what she calls “the scalp of the Baddest Woman on the Planet” against Natalya in a Submission Match.
With both being submission specialists, it’s hard to imagine either tapping out and it’s even harder to imagine The Man tapping out as she is being pushed as the face of the whole company. My gut feeling is telling me that an upset might occur. We counted Nattie out three years ago at SummerSlam, and she pulled an upset vs. Naomi. Don’t be surprised if we see another upset tonight; perhaps with help from another pal of Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler.
However, common sense is telling me that Lynch retains.
Prediction: Becky Lynch
Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor
After several months of eerie Firefly Fun House segments, Bray Wyatt finally returned and unleashed his Fiend persona the night after Extreme Rules, with Finn Balor as his target. While Balor is not totally sure why The Fiend has targeted him (neither do we), he challenged him to a match regardless and the two will be renewing their rivalry inside of the ring at some point tonight.
Back in 2017, as some may recall, these two first started feuding. Balor defeating Wyatt in two straight PPV events; first as The Demon at SummerSlam, then as “The Man” at No Mercy. However, this new Fiend character illustrates Bray Wyatt as a whole new, different beast altogether. Not only in his appearances, but in his attacks as watching him suffocate both Mick Foley and Kurt Angle under flickering lights made for a terrifying sight.
Tonight, Wyatt brings the terror to SummerSlam and all signs are pointing to him racking up a win. Not only because it makes sense for someone to win after debuting a new character, but because we learned that Balor will be taking some time off after SummerSlam for personal reasons. A loss could be a smart way to write the Balor character off of television for a bit.
Prediction: Bray Wyatt
Charlotte Flair vs. Trish Stratus
After losing to Ember Moon in quick succession on the Jul. 23 episode of SmackDown Live, Charlotte Flair was furious that she was left off of the SummerSlam card. Honestly, in kayfabe terms, after losing a match in about 40-odd seconds, it’s hard to argue why she deserved a match on the card, but I digress. She made an open challenge to anyone who could give her a reason to call herself “the greatest female Superstar of all time.”
Fast forward to a week later where Trish Stratus returned as a guest on King’s Court with Jerry Lawler, which ironically was interrupted by The Queen. She verbally chastised Trish for being a mom – because, why? – and this led to Trish deciding to have one more match against Charlotte Flair. The 7-time Women’s Champion and Hall of Famer vs. the 9-time Women’s Champion and first ever WrestleMania main eventer.
In her original retirement match to sign out of WWE in 2006, Trish won that match at Unforgiven. It’s hard to imagine her winning this one and not bowing out one last time with a loss. It’s understandable why she lost her original farewell match, since she was still young, therefore there was a chance she could have returned to the ring, which she has multiple times now. But with Trish being 42-years old now with close to 20 years worth of time spent in the business, it’s safe to say she’s done tonight and will pass the torch to her successor to dub her the new best women’s wrestler in WWE history.
Prediction: Charlotte Flair
Dolph Ziggler vs. Goldberg
At the top of last month, Dolph Ziggler restarted his long time feud with The Miz, but thanks to an assist from Shawn Michaels, The Zig Man went on a newfound tirade against legendary wrestlers. It all started after Ziggler superkicked The Heartbreak Kid after HBK called him a “Shawn Michaels wannabe” during a Miz TV segment. Then, the former World Heavyweight Champion had the gall to actual mimic Michaels’ entrance.
In the coming weeks, Ziggler cut promos chastising legends like HBK who, in his eyes, keep wrestling past their prime and in one of these promos, he just casually name dropped Goldberg’s name. Big mistake.
The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler was booked for SummerSlam, but during the contract signing, The Miz revealed that the contracted Ziggy neglected to read before signing was not to face The Miz at SummerSlam, but to face a pissed off Goldberg.
It’s no secret that a big reason why Goldberg is getting one more match (again) is to wash the taste out of his match from his Super Showdown match vs. Undertaker, which is currently being called the worst match of the year. This one doesn’t need to be some classic slobberknocker. Just a classic Goldberg squash match that serves no other purpose except remind us why we fell in love with Goldberg during his prime. Expect that tonight.
Prediction: Goldberg
Bayley (c) vs. Ember Moon – SmackDown Women’s Championship
After being bullied and tormented by Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville for several months on end, Ember Moon defeated them with SmackDown Women’s Champ Bayley as her partner. The champion was so impressed that she handpicked Moon to be her challenger for SummerSlam. This match will mark the first one-on-one title opportunity that Moon has had on a main roster PPV and, surprisingly, this marks Bayley’s first SummerSlam match period.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility to see Moon pull off an upset, but it’s hard to imagine when the build for this has been such an odd one. Moon got a big win over Charlotte, but it was in a much criticized 40-second match. Moon hit an Eclipse on Bayley after the match to “send a statement.” The next week, Bayley returned the favor by slamming Moon with a Bayley to Belly after the challenger ate the pinfall loss in a tag team match vs. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.
Then, last SmackDown Live, she faced Natalya in a match that went to a count out after Nattie wrenched Moon with a Sharpshooter on the outside. Clearly, Moon hasn’t looked too hot in this build and for that reason, it’s clearly not her time to shine. She’ll have an impressive in-ring outing, for sure, but don’t expect a win given how she’s been booked.
Prediction: Bayley
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton – WWE Championship
10 years ago, a young Kofi Kingston was on the verge of breaking through to the main event scene for the first time in his career. The zenith of his newfound push was reached during a feud with Randy Orton, which saw the Ghana native destroy The Viper’s car and send him crashing through an announcer’s table, both to a raucous ovation. However, that push just suddenly came to a screeching halt.
At the time, it was heavily rumored that Orton stopped Kofi’s push after preaching to The Powers That Be that the young man wasn’t ready for the spotlight after a blown spot made him look “STUPID.” And onscreen now, 10 years later, Orton has admitted those rumors to be true. The blending of reality with fiction has made a fascinating build for Kingston’s latest WWE Championship match.
Outside of these storyline intricacies, the feud was rekindled some weeks back when Orton pinned Kofi during a Six Man Tag Team Match, to which the WWE Champion challenged Orton to a title match at SummerSlam the following week. I not only expect Kofi to get his win back at SummerSlam, but I feel like he needs to win it. For a match 10 years in the making, to really solidify the man as a WWE Champion, Kofi’s character needs that – as he puts it – “vindication” for what happened during that time.
It’s a moral victory if he ever needed one.
Prediction: Kofi Kingston
AJ Styles (c) vs. Ricochet – United States Championship
The first time AJ Styles vs. Ricochet happened on WWE soil – and surprisingly, only the second time ever in their careers, including indie work – was at the very end of June when Styles defeated the then-United States Champion in a non-title match. The following week, thanks to some goading by Styles’ pals, The OC, the two tangled once more.
Styles briefly won the title during that match, but because Ricochet’s foot was under the rope, the decision was reversed, match continued, and it led to Ricochet winning and retaining. Which, in itself, led to Styles turning heel out of frustration and teaming with The OC to beat down the champion. The Phenomenal One then beat him for his title at Extreme Rules.
Although there are no more automatic rematch clauses in WWE, Ricochet earned another opportunity after winning a Gauntlet Match on Raw. The feud continues tonight.
This one really could go either way, but I have a feeling WWE are going to take the opportunity to build a new star in Ricochet by having him beat the former WWE Champion at their second biggest PPV. Plus, looking at my predictions, there are no title changes tonight and PPVs always usually have at least one title change. It’s rare when a PPV offers no title change at all, but I think this is where we get a change if we get one at all tonight.
Prediction: Ricochet
Kevin Owens’ career vs. Shane McMahon
For months now, since post-Mania, fans have been legitimately sick and tired of seeing Shane McMahon not only on television, but getting decisive victories over guys like The Miz and Roman Reigns. More importantly, fans have hated seeing the son of the WWE Chairman regularly get practically 40-minutes of screen time every week across both main roster shows when so much of the roster goes underutilized. And this isn’t hate in a “good heel heat” kind of way. It’s more like “go away and never come back” type heat.
Kevin Owens became, for lack of a better term, the voice of the voiceless when he spoke on behalf of fans in cutting a scathing promo chastisng Shane for giving himself screen time over underseen talents like Liv Morgan, Buddy Murphy, Apollo Crews, Kairi Sane, Asuka, Authors of Pain, etc. The promo then led to several weeks where KO found himself hitting Shane with a Stunner and getting kicked out of the building.
That, in itself, led to the former Universal Champion cutting a promo on social media from inside his car where he challenged Shane to a match at SummerSlam. To entice Shane into the match, KO said he’d quit WWE if he lost. Shane isn’t putting anything on the line himself. With KO having everything to lose and nothing to gain, that should tell you two things:
One: KO will win.
Two: WWE plans to keep using Shane in storylines going forward whether we like it or not.
Prediction: Kevin Owens
Drew Gulak (c) vs. Oney Lorcan – Cruiserweight Championship
As far as storylines centered around the WWE Cruiserweight Championship, it’s been a little quiet on the western front since Drew Gulak had his first successful title defense at Extreme Rules against Tony Nese. Since then, he’s mostly just been showcased on the WWE Network in skirmishes vs. guys like Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. Most of the storylines on 205 Live this month have been centered around the feud between Drake Maverick and Mike Kanellis, which recently wrapped up with an Unsanctioned Street Fight.
Heading into SummerSlam, the story for Drew Gulak vs. Oney Lorcan is that there is no story. Oney simply won a number one contender’s Six Pack Challenge, pinning Tony Nese (which is ironic given Nese’s whole thing about his abs). Oney has been quietly being built as the new rising top babyface of the purple brand ever since he defeated the prior face of the brand, Cedric Alexander, before the latter jumped ship to Raw.
It might be easy to assume that, all things considered, this could be Oney’s coronation night as a champion. But at the same time, it’s still quite early into Gulak’s reign; a reign which so many fans have waited to see for the past two or three years. I feel like for that reason, Gulak’s in for a long reign, which means we will not see it come to an end just two months deep into it.
Prediction: Gulak
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins – Universal Championship
Ever since Seth Rollins first cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the main event of WrestleMania 31 (and even before that during a Triple Threat at the Royal Rumble), he’s crossed paths with The Beast on numerous occasions. Yet, when it comes to one-on-one matches, they only share one win a piece.
Rollins first defeated Brock Lesnar earlier this year at WrestleMania 35, winning the Universal Championship in the process. Then, some months later, in some sweet revenge of his own for that aforementioned Mania 31 event, Lesnar cashed in his own Money in the Bank briefcase on Seth Rollins after his Extreme Rules main event to reclaim his Universal Title. Now, at SummerSlam, we are going to see a tie-breaker between these gentlemen.
The build has seen the champion decimate the challenger every step of the way. At one point, Lesnar pummeled Rollins so badly that the latter was spitting up blood. The Beastslayer walks into this one very much as an underdog and has vowed to slay The Beast once more, but I don’t see it happening. And, frankly, it shouldn’t.
Rollins has looked like a geek in this build. Just look at his sympathetic post-beatdown promo he cut last Raw after getting destroyed by The Beast again. Rather than cheers or the standing ovation that WWE expected him to get, he got some boos and the dreaded “What?” chants. Why? Because he looked like a geek out there. Didn’t help either that he limped on one leg into a brawl with a 300+ pound gorilla like an idiot.
Rollins could use a much needed change in character to reboost him. Whether that means him turning heel or taking on a new gimmick, I don’t know. What I do know is that to get to that change, he has to lose against Lesnar.
Prediction: Brock Lesnar