SummerSlam is the biggest wrestling show of the summer, and this year it’s a debatably better show on paper than Wrestlemania! The matches definitely have better potential overall. Let’s have a look at the (admittedly cluttered) lineup:
Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman
James Delow of the Gorilla Position podcast confirmed in an interview with Randy Orton today (8/19) that this match will headline SummerSlam. There’s virtually no way this isn’t at least a good match. Lesnar has his style of match down to a science, and I don’t see them deviating from that formula too much here. Will Orton’s body hold up to a german suplex-intensive match? Will the pay off for Lesnar breaking the Undertaker’s Mania streak really be Randy Orton getting that first big win (not counting Undertaker’s return ‘win’ because of the screwjob nature of it)? Is there more to this match than we think there is?
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor to crown the first WWE Universal Champion
We all know this is all but certain to be great. The winner is less obvious. One one hand, you might want to truly reinforce that this is a new era in WWE by putting the title on Finn Bálor. On the other hand, Seth Rollins is the more established main event-level star, and you may want to go with the dynamic of Rollins escaping with the title as challengers chase him for the title. Both sides having compelling reasons to walk away with the title, plus we’ll have the reveal of the title belt itself. Will it look like a belt from the past? Will it have a dopey space motif? We’ll find out Sunday!
Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship
What this match lacks in marquee star power on paper, it makes up for in a strong build. Ziggler in particular has been knocking it out of the park on interviews, culminating in an excellent promo on SmackDown Live this past Tuesday. The quality of the match is probably less certain than in the Universal title match, but it would be hard to argue that Ambrose and Ziggler won’t be highly motivated on Sunday.
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
As with Rollins and Bálor, there’s no reason to believe this will be anything less than great. Cena, love him or hate him has been one of the better big match wrestlers in WWE for years now, and Styles is among the best in the world overall. We’d like to think this one will be free of distractions and interference, but with Anderson & Gallows on the show, it’s not a certainty. This very well may steal the show, to use a worn-out phrase.
Sasha Banks (c) vs. Charlotte
Sadly, the build for this has been a mixed bag especially once Sasha won the title in a great match on Raw. Sasha being put in another match against a badly-cast Dana Brooke, being forced to share the spotlight in a top-of-the-show segment to build an unrelated tag team match. I want to live in a world where these two just cut promos on each other, brawl, do sit down interviews and have snazzy video packages done for their match, like you might see for a major men’s title match. This should feel like the culmination of this (thankfully no-longer referred to as) Divas Revolution, but it doesn’t. And that’s a shame. Thankfully, the match itself should be awesome.
Rusev (c) w/ Lana vs. Roman Reigns for the Unites States Championship
These two had a really fun, hard hitting match on Raw this past Monday, so seeing it again doesn’t sound like the worst idea. However, it does lead one to wonder what they have left in the tank to keep this match interesting less than a week later. The outside-the-ring implications here are interesting too. You don’t necessarily want Reigns to be your US Champion right now, unless they’ve actually given up on him as a main event wrestler for the short term. It’s possible that the long match they had on Raw, which Reigns won, was meant to give Reigns a win over Rusev so that it’s not just a situation where Reigns loses to Rusev and it’s one-and-done. This way, if Rusev retains on Sunday, it’s to leave them at one apiece if they decide to go back to this match later on, presuming Reigns is destined to move back up the card once Brock goes back home.
WWE Tag Team Title: The New Day (c) vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
This feud’s been all about Big E’s balls. Big E won’t be in the match itself, but he may still make an appearance at ringside. But now, the important questions. Will Big E’s balls interfere in the match as vengeance? Will he wear a metal mask over his junk like Brutus Beefcake after the parasailing accident? Anyway, we know these two teams can have a good match, but I have a feeling this will probably offer light comedy to break up more serious matches instead. Hopefully it’ll be fun!
Enzo & Cass vs. Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
This could be a lot of fun, because Enzo & Cass have shown they can hold their in of a great tag team match, Jericho won’t have to carry the load for a whole match, and Kevin Owens is always on top of his game. No reason this couldn’t be a great way to start the main show, or perhaps even hold up it’s end of a spot later in the show.
The Miz (c) w/Maryse vs. Apollo Crews for the Intercontinental Championship
Sadly there hasn’t been a lot to sink our teeth into since Apollo won the contendership match, aside from brief interviews and a random video or two. Still, Apollo is really good and Miz is better than given credit for, so this should be better than most are expecting.
Carmella, Becky Lynch & Naomi vs. Natalya & Alexa Bliss
Handicap matches are garbage. Always have been, always will be. And this one gives the unfair advantage to the babyfaces, so that’s a double-whammy. The women involved deserve better than this, especially on what will be, all-told, a six hour show. It’s lazy and WWE can do better.
_____________________________________________________________________________
The kickoff show, in brief:
Sheamus vs Cesaro:
Should be on the main show.
Sami Zayn & Neville vs. The Dudley Boyz:
Should be pretty good.
American Alpha, The Hype Bros & The Usos vs. Breezango, The Ascension & The Vaudevillains:
Why is this happening?
It’s a ludicrously packed show, and we look forward to chatting with you as it all goes down on Twitter: @kwinnwrestles
Written by Daniel Jackson
