(Originally Posted Aug 2018)
Well it’s August, which means it’s time for Discount Wrestlemania! Ah, I err…I mean Summerslam!
I know this isn’t the first time a year’s Wrestlemania and Summerslam have had the same match in the main event, but you can’t help feel a bit dragged down by the fact this is the third time we’re seeing the same main event this year.
That aside, I’m hopeful that this will be fairly enjoyable. There’s a lot of potential for some really good matches and fun moments on this card; but then again I’ve said that about most shows this year and I’ve been wrong, so who knows?
So let’s get right to it, here are my predictions for Summerslam 2018!
Rusev & Lana vs Andrade Almas & Zelina Vega
(Kickoff Show)
Remember last month when Rusev was fighting for the WWE Championship? Good times…
Although I think most of us saw it coming, it’s shame Rusev’s shot straight down from the main event to the pre-show; but then again he seems to be staying positive about it on Twitter so what do I know?
As for this match I’m finding it surprisingly hard to call, my gut says it’s obviously Almas & Vega, but the two of them have been beating Rusev & Lana in singles matches on Smackdown for weeks, so I don’t see how anything would be gained from them winning again. Then again, you also have to consider that Aiden English might get involved again and cost Rusev & Lana the match again.
Ultimately, I’m going to go with my gut and say Andrade Almas & Zelina Vega pick up the win here, mostly because I don’t think it’d be a good idea for Almas to take a loss this soon. I just really hope WWE do something major with him soon before he follows in Bobby Roode’s footsteps of being virtually non-existent.
The B-Team(c) vs The Revival
(Raw Tag Team Championships, Kickoff Show)
While I have enjoyed The B-Team as tag champions, the joke seems to be less and less funnier as the week goes by.
The triple threat on Raw was good fun and I liked how they were able to sneak away with the win, but I can feel myself starting to get a bit bored with them. Not to mention I absolutely love The Revival, in fact I really think the match should just be The Revival wrestling circles around The B-Team for 5 minutes before an easy pin.
Regardless of what the match is like, I’m pretty confident The Revival are coming away with the titles here, and will hopefully move onto some killer matches with AOP or whoever debuts after Summerslam.
Cedric Alexander(c) vs Drew Gulak
(Cruiserweight Championship, Kickoff Show)
What is this title? Who are these people?
Jokes aside, it’s quite upsetting that this is the first time the Cruiserweight Championship has been on a PPV since Wrestlemania, and of course it’s on the pre show, since they haven’t had a match on the main show since… ..Royal Rumble 2017? Seriously?! Wow…
Sadly, I also haven’t had much time to watch 205 Live recently, so I don’t know a lot about this feud, but I do know Drew Gulak has had some really great moments over the past year, and seeing him with the title is something I would very much like.
So, this is a pretty uninformed prediction, but I’m going to go with Drew Gulak, since I just feel like it’s his time.
The Bludgeon Brothers(c) vs The New Day
(Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
This is weird, because this is a match we haven’t actually seen much at all, but I feel like I’ve already seen it about twenty times already.
I was quite surprised when The New Day won this opportunity, especially considering The Bar had just returned from the phantom zone, or wherever it was they disappeared to for a few months. I’m sure this will be a good match, The New Day are one of the best tag teams in the company right now and The Bludgeon Brothers have shown they can put on killer performances with the right opponents.
However, none of that changes the fact that I don’t see how The New Day win here (unless of course The Undisputed Era are gonna show up on Tuesday). I doubt that’s going to happen though, so I’m picking The Bludgeon Brothers to retain here.
Finn Balor vs “Constable” Baron Corbin
Oh who cares?
Finn Balor is the single most stagnant character in the whole of WWE right now, none of his feuds ever feel like they have any importance or weight to them; because most of the time they don’t. I really just want him to get involved in something meaningful for once, but no, we’ve gotta sit here and watch him fight Baron Corbin again for the hundredth time this year.
As for a winner? Honestly flip a coin, it won’t matter come Monday anyway, but Finn Balor I guess.
Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs Jeff Hardy
(United States Championship)
Why isn’t Orton involved in this? Jeff already had his guaranteed rematch on Smackdown, so you can’t say that’s why and while I know Orton hasn’t so much as looked at Nakamura the entire time, he’s tried to kill Jeff on several occasions and usually enough to slot him into the title scene.
Instead we’ve got another one on one between Nakamura & Hardy, and I do hope we get a proper match out of them this time as I don’t feel like they’ve been able to do what they’re able to as yet. As for the finish, I imagine the Viper is going to rear his head again, and maybe take a shot at Nakamura as well as Hardy this time to really get things going in this feud.
Regardless of the specifics Shinsuke Nakamura is going to be leaving Summerslam with that US title still over his shoulder.
Daniel Bryan vs The Miz
I think this may be the match I’m most excited for.
I’ve no idea what the current rumor is as to whether or not Daniel Bryan has resigned, and I don’t really want to know, since I feel it might spoil this match for me. It’s been said so much, but it really is true that these two characters are the perfect opposites of each other, and on Smackdown this Tuesday WWE did a fantastic job with the video packages that looked all the brilliant interactions that Miz & Bryan have had over the years.
If it turns out Bryan isn’t resigning and this is the last hurrah of his WWE career, then you couldn’t have a more perfect ending; if it turns out he’s sticking around, then what a perfect way to move onto the next phase of his career than wrapping up the feud that’s been running since his WWE debut.
However, when looking back on all this, all the build up over the past month, and all the recaps, the feud only has one possible outcome. The Miz HAS to win.
The problem with The Miz is that over the past few years, is that people (myself included) have come to respect The Miz and enjoy his work, this means he just doesn’t get heat like he used to, people like him too much. Beating Daniel Bryan in the match that could very easily be the climax of his entire career would remind people exactly why they hated The Miz, it would bring back that pure heat that The Miz used to get pre brand split; not to mention it would give him all the momentum in the world to go for a world title later in the year.
After looking everything over, I honestly don’t see any other outcome to this match other than The Miz standing victorious.
Carmella(c) vs Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair
(Smackdown Women’s Championship)
It’s matches like this that really make me wish Paige could still wrestle.
This entire feud really just feels like a build up for Becky to win the title, she’s been so close for months now but things just keep stopping her. I loved the way they started this all out though, quite simply, Becky got an opportunity because she’d been winning matches week after week since Wrestlemania, including a pretty high-profile win over Charlotte.
That’s where things fall down a bit for me, Charlotte loses her title to Carmella, loses the rematch in fairly clean fashion, tries and fails at Money in the Bank, disappears for a month, then shows up and gets a shot at Carmella because….why exactly?
While it might not be great from a storyline perspective, it should make for a great match. Carmella seems to be getting better by the day and Charlotte and Becky’s skills speak for themselves, throwing all three of them in a ring will hopefully make for a chaotic match that’s really fun to watch.
Like I said at the start, there’s no doubt in my mind Becky Lynch takes the title here, hopefully to hold it for quite a while.
Braun Strowman vs Kevin Owens
(The Money in the Bank Briefcase is on the line)
WWE, please don’t fuck everything up.
The moment Strowman won the Money in the Bank briefcase I could feel that this was an empire built on sand. Not because of Strowman, he’s as amazing as always, because I just don’t trust WWE not to fuck up these potentially brilliant plans they’ve laid out for the next 6 months of programming.
I haven’t been the biggest fan of this whole Strowman vs Owens thing, but it does at least stop both men from fading into the background while everything is going on around them. WWE have seemingly been all in on Strowman for a good couple of years now, but they’ve been known to suddenly give up on people before, and if Strowman loses the briefcase on Sunday, I really feel like it’ll be the start of a slow and painful decline into irrelevance.
However, with all my fear mongering and negativity, I’m going to do something perhaps a little stupid, and put my faith in WWE to do the right thing and say Braun Strowman is holding onto that briefcase.
Dolph Ziggler(c) vs Seth Rollins
(Intercotinental Championship)
So, last month at Extreme Rules, I got just a teensy bit furious at the Iron Man match between these two men, and while it wasn’t their fault for the most part, there is still that bad taste in my mouth.
That said, the main question on everyone’s minds is of course, when is Dean going to turn on Seth? I think during the match might be a bit too soon, and also doesn’t make sense from Ambrose’s perspective. If these guys are going to have a feud, it feels like it should be over the Intercontinental championship, so personally I think if Dean is going to turn on Seth on Sunday, it’ll be after the match instead of during.
Hopefully the crowd will be in on this match this time around, the antics between Drew & Dean on the outside should help things along, and of course we all know that Dolph & Seth can put on some brilliant in ring action when they want to, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will be great, and I think Seth Rollins will walk away with the title.
Alexa Bliss(c) vs Ronda Rousey
(Raw Women’s Championship)
Alexa may actually be killed on Sunday.
I don’t think there’s any doubt anymore as to how good Ronda is in the ring, she’s proved more than enough now that she’s amazing, and Alexa Bliss is the perfect opponent for her. The build to this match has been great, and apart from Ronda being scared of a bat she’s looked incredibly strong.
This match could very well be match of the night, but I don’t think the winner is in any doubt, WWE have been dying to put the title on Rousey ever since they signed her, and Alexa only really won the title so they didn’t have to turn Nia heel; Ronda Rousey wins this one.
AJ Styles(c) vs Samoa Joe
(WWE Championship)
I find it a little weird that a feud between the best wrestler in the world and the most destructive force on the planet has boiled down to whether AJ is a good father or not, but that’s wrestling for you.
Honestly I don’t think the story matters here, because these two could tear the house down in any and every arena on the planet. I just hope they learnt their lesson from the Styles/Nakamura feud and don’t drag it down with WWE’s trademark bullshit.
I’m finding the winner a little hard to call though, my gut says it should be Joe, but that’s the same thing I said about Nakamura, and look where that got me. Not to mention there was that graphic for Hell In A Cell next month that showed AJ as still WWE Champion, and you’ve got the video game release in October, where AJ is the cover star.
Ultimately, I think Joe is picking up that title eventually, but not on Sunday, so I’m picking AJ Styles to retain for now.
Brock Lesnar(c) vs Roman Reigns
(Universal Championship)
Please let this be the end.
There was a part of me that was still looking forward to seeing this match again at the start of the month. However after reviewing the entire saga, and having a dream about watching it a couple of nights ago, which means I’ve got to watch it AGAIN on Sunday, I really hope this is the end of this.
Over the past year, the WWE have managed to take any part of me that still liked or cared about Lesnar and smashed it to bits, I just now want him gone; which I suppose is what they wanted me to feel through this story, so well done I guess. However the thing is, I’m not cheering for Roman Reigns because I believe in the character or what he says, but just because he’s the lesser of two evils. Is that what WWE want? For people to cheer Reigns by default? Because I promise you that they can’t get away with that for long.
Of course there is the chaos factor hanging above this whole thing, which is of course the Money in the Bank briefcase; when Strowman won the briefcase a couple of months back, I was convinced Summerslam was going to end with Strowman as Universal Champion, but now I’m not so sure. Not just because he might lose the briefcase to Kevin Owens, but also because I think they might wait until Wrestlemania to pull the trigger on Reigns vs Strowman again.
Whether Strowman/Owens cashes in or not, we still need that visual of Roman Reigns pinning Brock Lesnar to finally put all this to rest and move on, so that’s what I’m going with.
So there you go! My predictions for Summerslam 2018. There’s a lot of interesting things that could happen on this show, so we just have to sit back and hope that at least some of them come to pass. Unfortunately I’m going to be on holiday as of tomorrow, so it’s unlikely I’ll have the time to write my usual review, so I instead recommend you check out podcast co-host Jacob’s blog The Turnbuckle Corner, as he will likely be writing a review of his own next week.
Until then make sure to share this article on social media, follow me on Twitter @10ryawoo, and let me know what you think of my predictions in the comments! I’ll see you next time.
The Strong Style Smark 