Weeks ago, I really wasn't hyped for SummerSlam and as the weeks went by, I honestly never gave it much thought. However, this week on Raw when they ran down the card, I realized how loaded it is. There's legitamitely a little bit of everything there and with the 4 hour timeslot, this could be an all time great PPV. I truly believe it. I'm not putting faith in it due to WWE's track record, but on paper, it looks awesome.
Aside from the sporatic Raw review, I haven't published a whole lot of thoughts on the upcoming show which is something I plan to do here along with my predictions. I'm actually looking forward to discussing things so let's get right into it.
1) Prime Time Players (c) vs. The New Day vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores - WWE Tag Team Title Match
I pray that this opens the show. These four teams have lit up the tag team divsion in the past two months, never failing to deliver in action on Raw & Smackdown. When you look at this on face value if you haven't watched in a while, you probably think this looks somewhat dull. I mean, after all, Los Matadores have never been popular. PTP broke up, jobbed indivdually, and are now back together. Then you have Lucha Dragons who are exciting, but yet to break through that bubble and The New Day is three guys who didn't do anything extremely relevant or memorable before banding together. With all that being said, the tag division easily could have fallen with The Usos being out of competition due to Jimmy's injury. Instead, these four teams stepped up and were given time by management to develop into quite possibly the best runs of their careers. New Day has been killing it all year since becoming a full fledged heel team, PTP's charisma and almost regular commentary appearances have earned them their place since becoming champions, the Lucha Dragons wow the crowd, and Los Matadores have been able to show their skills for once with El Torito adding a little fun to things by screwing with Xavier Woods. The innovation that all these teams have shown over the past two months in their various contests really makes me excited for this. I hope it gets around 10-12 minutes and is essentially an opening sprint. I don't want it 100mph the whole time because that would be just a spotfest. I do want to see a number of spots though and I think we will. This is what perfect openers are made of, in my opinion. The first 15 minutes of a show are crucial and having these four teams giving their best effort and go all out would undoubtedly get the crowd fired up and hooked on the rest of the show.
As far as who comes out on top, it's a tricky question. A month ago at Battleground, I said that I thought New Day would regain the belts at SummerSlam, but since then, it's began to look like a complete toss up. This is a good thing so I'm not complaining. It does make it hard for me to pick a definitive winner, though. I'm thinking we may see a pretty big surprise here, to be honest. I see new champions being crowned however I don't see New Day getting the belts nor do I see PTP being pinned to lose them. What do I ensuate by saying this? Lucha Dragons pin Los Matadores to win the titles. This leaves the door open for two class feuds that we haven't seen before. And when The Usos return, THREE! Dragons/New Day will be great as will Dragons/PTP. By the time, The Usos return, the Lucha Dragons will be hot and solidified and thats when you put them in a PPV slot to deliver a high flying crazy match for the tag belts, BUT you also have New Day involved. Give them a victory over the Dragons in a non-title or something then throw them in. It's Dragons/Usos/New Day, Usos are about to get the victory and regain the titles in their big return match then have New Day steal the win from them and we've got an awesome feud set in play. New Day has grown A LOT since The Usos have been gone and I would love to see what they could produce together at this point in time.
Who I think will win - Lucha Dragons
2) Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro
I say keep the show rolling with another match that's destined to deliver. Two hot young stars, one the lovable underrated powerhouse and the other, the sly, cheating douche. Owens & Cesaro have experience working together prior to WWE and having come down the same path to get to this point, I see nothing less than a show stealing performance from these two. Big Kev just came off two losses to John Cena so it could be said that he needs the win more although Cesaro hasn't gotten a win over someone big in a while either. This, once again, makes a hard match to predict.
If this article continues going at this pace as far as predictions go, my brain is gonna explode. I think this one boils down to the face/heel dynamic. Cesaro is a fan favorite. For him to maintain and grow on that, he can't look weak. Owens is already looked at and hated so a loss wouldn't hurt him as much even though I do think he needs a victory at the next PPV to re-solidify him. I think you know where this is going. I'm picking Cesaro to win here and continue storming towards the top of the card. For Owens, I figure you may as well put him in a storyline with someone like Orton about how Kevin's slide down the card after beating Cena in his debut match. Well, that depends on the outcome of the ladder match at Takeover the night before this, so we'll see.
Who I think will win - Cesaro
3) Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, & Alicia Fox vs. Sasha Banks, Naomi & Tamina vs. Paige, Charlotte, & Becky Lynch
Give the girls the last quarter of the first hour and the first quarter of the second. I'll admit that I think the Divas Revolution has been slightly underwhelming as far as the in-ring goes. They've produced a few solid matches, nothing great, and a few meh ones. More time only means something if you make it mean something. I think this match is the perfect time to really leave an impression on people. With that in mind, I think this will also be looked at as a turning point in the Divas Revolution. It's a point of sink or swim and flourish. If this goes as good as I am hoping it will, the Divas Revolution will kick into high gear and be a true success. If this flounders like I fear it could, it will be the start of them falling back down the card.
I do have faith in the majority of the women in this match though. There's way too much talent in this match for it to fail, in my opinion. The only doubt I have is due to the unique stipulation of this match. It's a good draw, but it's a type of match no one here, to my knowledge, has worked before which could potentially spawn some issues. That's for them to worry about, though, not me. I'm just a fan, after all. None the less, I'm thinking we will see it come down to Team Paige against Team Bella with Becky Lynch getting the pin on the Divas Champion Nikki Bella. Becky is the only one of the NXT trio that hasn't earned a big victory yet and I think this would be the perfect time. Since Charlotte and Sasha both have a pinfall victory over Nikki, Becky following suit would up a four way match for Night of Champions for the Divas Title which is something that I think everyone would want to see.
Who I think will win - Paige, Charlotte & Becky Lynch
4) Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
It's odd to think of this being in a cool down spot on the card, but I'm sort of placing it in one. Despite my total disinterest in seeing these two face each other, I have to admit that the string of multi-man's they've been involved in during the past month has helped clean off some of the stench that once wreaked anything that saw them in the same ring with another. So, my card placement could be off, but hey, it is what it is. I think this could surprise some people if both men work hard like they have been recently. I'd keep it to around 10 minutes and be more of a brawl/sprint than an intricately laid out contest. I think WWE knows that fans aren't highly interested in this so keeping it short and sweet would be the option I'd go for. As far as who wins, I think Orton will get the victory because I feel like Sheamus will be involved in some things later in the evening. And even if he's not, just like I said at Battleground, the briefcase keeps Sheamus looking strong, even in defeat. Plus, there's no shame in losing to someone like Randy Orton.
Who I think will win - Randy Orton
5) Stardust & Bad News Barrett vs. Neville & Stephen Amell
This is a match/angle that I actually think will be a lot of fun. Stephen did a phenomenal job on Raw. Much better than most celebrity guests so I'm pretty stoked to see this go down. There's not really much to say because this pretty much writes itself. Neville & Stephen Amell get the win.
Who I think will win - Neville & Stephen Amell
6) Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
This is a match that I'm really looking forward to. It's got a ton of fire considering Dolph made his red hot return this past Monday on Raw so I expect a barn burner. Rusev has been better than ever this summer and you know that Dolph has been longing to get back in the ring so I have no doubt that he'll be hitting on all cylinders. I don't think you could've picked two better workers for this story right now. Sure, it started off corny as hell and still is in a few ways, but as a whole I'd say its been pretty great.
Picking in a winner here is hard. I initially thought we'd see a no-finish here to lead to another match, but I don't think that's an option at this point. The crowd is pumped for this considering it's Dolph's return match and something that's been building for a month. You can't let it be a disappointment. I'd expect a great contest just a tad over the 15 minute mark with Rusev coming out on top thanks to some sort of shenanigans from Summer. The stuff between Summer & Lana has been entertaining and you know WWE wants to continue this story so give fans a finish, but also give a reason for this angle to continue. Plus, I've predicted only faces to win thus far. A bad guy has to get his due at some point in the night, right? Rusev is that guy. This could very well be a sleeper on the card though. Two awesome workers in this one.
Who I think will win - Rusev
7) Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
Go from hot to hotter. This is essentially a rematch from 2014's Match of the Year minus Erick Rowan and Seth Rollins. It took me a moment or two to realzie that for whatever reason, but when I did I thought to myself "that's why all their interactions over the past few weeks have been so good!" The Shield/Wyatt Family chemistry is clearly never ending. It just feels special and right when they are in the ring together. It just clicks perfectly and this match will be no different as we've come to see as this new chapter of the rivalry unfolded in the past month. I feel like this will be a low end MOTY candidate at the least, if not one of the best WWE PPV matches of the year period. You can't put these four into the same ring against each other and it not be awesome and feel like a complete, real fight.
The outcome to this match became clear to me as I watched Ambrose pin Harper clean to the mat with Dirty Deeds on Smackdown this Friday. With that and the fact that Reigns beat Harper on Raw, I see Harper & Wyatt getting their payback with a big victory over the former Shield mates. Who takes the pin and the direction Ambrose & Reigns go from here is what's difficult to predict. There's so many different ways that things could go. You could have Ambrose turn on Reigns due to the loss. You could end this feud right here. You could have a final blow off with Reigns finally defeating Wyatt at Night of Champions. The options are vast so it'll be interesting to see what happens. One thing is for sure though as far as I'm concered, Wyatt & Harper come out victorious.
Who I think will win - Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
8) Ryback vs. The Miz vs. The Big Show - Intercontinental Championship Match
You already know a cool down match will be needed after what will be a chaotic tag and this should be it. Most people have trashed this entire feud, if you can call it that, but I've seen the positive in how Ryback has carried it on his back despite being out with an injury a few weeks ago. Big Show hasn't been bad in it either, it's just that it's so uninteresting and pointless that it comes across boring. Like I said though, Ryback has kept it bearable for me by winning over crowds every time this angle is on TV. This past Monday is a perfect example where he came out to a mixed reaction only for the segment to end with the crowd chanting "Feed Me More" after he told off Big Show. The Big Guy is great and that leads to my prediction - Ryback wins this. Hopefully he moves onto something better after this. For the sake of his career as well as the IC Title picture.
Who I think will win - Ryback
9) Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
Yes, I have this as the co-main event because I REALLY don't want this going on after Cena/Rollins. A match between, supposedly, the two most important athletes in the company due to the titles they hold. Don't demean the titles, please. Especially since this is the perfect opportunity to regain a lot of prestige to the WWE Championship. None the less, I do think this will actually be a good contest. It won't be high flying and I doubt it'll be extremely fast paced, but I expect a lot of awesome storytelling. The build has been great for what it was. The brawl ruled and Heyman & company have helped make this feel important. Although, I was confused by the booking on the go-home Raw this past week with Taker resorting to a low blow to floor Brock.
The low blow makes me wonder who wins this because if Taker has to do that in a beatdown, wouldn't he technically have to use it to win a match? And wouldn't that make him look weak in victory? Maybe that's what WWE is going for, after all. A cheap win to keep Brock looking strong, possibly? I don't know. It's a tough situation which is why I didn't like the idea of this match to begin with. Brock is too hot for a loss and to be brought back into a story that got me a ton of heat in the first place, yet here we are. And sadly, I don't see Brock taking the win here, there'd be no point in him going 2-0 over Taker. So, Undertaker gets his win back in this match for whatever reason. Should be pretty fun though because I expect the crowd to be hot and the backstory is nice. It's just the situation and timing that frustrate me with this entire match/story.
Who I think will win - The Undertaker
10) Seth Rollins vs. John Cena
This is it. The match that will be a classic for the ages. I feel like this is going to be truly amazing and it's the main reason I want to tune in. Seth Rollins' title reign has been lackluster thus far to say the least. He's produced some good matches, but as far as how he & the title have looked, it's not the same pretty picture. They've made him look weak in EVERY situation which can get old fairly quick. For that reason, I was very excited for this match being made because it feels like the perfect time to right all the wrongs in Rollins' title reign and solidify him. Then they made this a match for both titles and I cringed. I either wanted this to be just for the WWE Title since Cena already defended the US against Rollins or just a champion vs champion match with no title on the line. Instead, we've got a winner takes all contest on our hands on and I don't like the idea of it from a booking perspective although it won't take away from the match one bit. In fact, it will probably add to it. I just don't want either of these guys walking away with both belts. Or anyone for that matter, but it looks like that's what we're in for.
With that in mind, my original idea of Rollins solidifying himself and retaining the WWE Title over Cena is obsolete. There's no way Rollins retains the WWE Title AND wins the US Title. And I don't think there's any way that Cena walks out with both. What does that mean? I think it means shenanigans unfortunately. I just hope it's done in a way that it doesn't take away from the match at all. I'll just bottom line it, I think Sheamus will walk out with both of the titles when all is said and done. I so badly want Rollins to pin Cena to make himself seem legit, but I truthfully don't see it at this point. To counter that point, as I said before, I don't see Cena pinning Rollins clean either. So, I think we may see a situation similar to WrestleMania here where Sheamus runs down and cashes in mid-match. How early or how late? I have no clue, I just think Sheamus is going to cash in during or after this contest and win the title. I'm leaning towards during because I don't think Cena or Rollins will pin each other. I see Sheamus pinning Rollins to take both titles. To look at the bright side of this, it will set up some fresh match ups and hopefully keep the US Title Open Challenge going since Sheamus' forte is that he loves fighting. This isn't what I WANT, it's just a prediction based off the way things look right now. I don't think it's a disastrous move though. It'll definitely be a change of pace and I think that might be the deciding factor. Only time will tell.
Who I think will - Sheamus cashes in and wins both titles
Thanks for reading and be sure to tweet me your thoughts & predictions @ThePWTruth on Twitter!
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