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WWE will present two nights of SummerSlam from Minneapolis, MN this Saturday and Sunday. Here are our takes on what we think will happen.
Night 1:
WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes.
Dave: This match was forced on us in an effort to move tickets for a show that had major problems moving tickets. I wish the build to it had been longer because these two are studs and their match should have had major build but….reactionary booking has become a HHH trope. I also don’t like that HHH keeps forcing Cody into the Title picture. He would benefit from some time away from the belt and organically getting the fans to root for him to get another run. As Jerry Lawler used to say, “How can we miss you if you never go away?” For that reason, I have Punk retain. Maybe Randy Orton returns and creates a diversion. Whatever the case, Punk should go over here.
Mike: Punk wins. Then, he turns heel.
Richard: You can argue that either man could win this match. I don't think they would have given Punk the title earlier this month for him to lose it so quickly. They have teased a turn for one of these men and I hope they don't do it 'because they have to'. Punk wins with methods that some (the announcers) would consider questionable.
Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi: Hell In A Cell
Dave: This is the match that has had the greatest build and the one I am looking forward to the most. I expect violence and Oba coming out on top. That is the only finish that makes sense. If this is Brock’s last match, it would be a great moment if he paid respect to Femi the way that he did to Cody after their match.
Mike: Anything beyond Oba winning hurts Oba in this scenario.
Richard: Does this feel like a 'Hell in a Cell match'? Other than two big men who had two matches already, is the feud at the end? Do you remember when Oba was the biggest star on Raw. Then after Wrestlmenia, he was attacked by 'retired' Brock and lost to him in Italy. Oba wins King of the Ring and then refuses the title match (why be in the tournament in the first place) to face Brock again. Oba HAS to win this match and it should be relatively quick, but it won't. On the preview audio, I explain what Oba should do if they have Brock go over in this match.
WWE Women's Champion Liv Morgan vs. IYO SKY.
Dave: Judgment Day has been in a funk since Finn Balor left. Dom is in a comedy feud. JD never seems to win any important match. Roxanne seems like an afterthought, which is a damn same. Yes, Raquel just won the IC Title but this group has been sliding lately. If that weren’t the case, I would put Iyo over here but since they need to keep a top belt, I see Liv winning, probably after some chicanery.
Mike: Liv all the way.
Richard: Like most matches on this show, the story of the match will not be one of the participants but someone affiliated with one of the wrestlers. This should be a good match and like we have seen with every Judgment Day Women's match, the other two will get involved. When it appears that Liv is about to lose, she will expect Roxanne to come out to interfere and help her win the match, but she isn't there. Iyo gets the win. On Monday, we see Roxanne confronted by Liv and the fireworks will go off.
Gunther vs. Nick Aldis
Dave: The build for this has been good. They found a way to get Gunther out of the Title picture for this show, which was good booking to keep him strong. I expect Nick to do some good things but there is no world that Gunther should lose here. None.
Mike: If Aldis is going to wrestle full-ime going forward, he should win. If this is currently a one and done, he should fight the good fight before losing.
Richard: I look forward to seeing how Aldis does in this match, but other than a few hope spots, this should be a Gunther MDK situation. Unfortunately, WWE has turned Gunther into everyone else where they hit a few moves and stand over their opponent instead of going for the kill because we need the match to go 15 minutes.
Fatal Influence vs. The Bellas and Paige
Dave: Like a lot of call ups from NXT under the recent HHH reign, Fatal Influence was on fire when they came up. Then? They started to lose. Yes, they have the Tag Titles but it still feels like they are being booked as inferior to the legends. I would hope that they have a convincing victory here to elevate them but given how HHH has booked young talent (like Bron Breakker or Stephanie Vaquer) I have my doubts. The irony here is if he had booked younger talents more strongly, he may not have had to panic book matches like Rhodes-Punk and Reigns-Rollins.
Mike: Fatal Influence needs to win.
Richard: There is only one thing that should happen in this match. Fatal Influence wins the match and looks convincing in their victory over three WWE legends. I hope all three members of the group showcase their talents instead of having them focus on only one of the three.
The Usos and Jacob Fatu vs. Royce Keys, LA Knight and Solo Sikoa.
Dave: The story will be can the babyface team (I guess they are babyfaces, so much of this show has ambiguous characters) coexist. My guess is that they have a malfunction at the junction and The Bloodline comes out victorious.
Mike: This has made so little sense that I hald expect LA Knight to turn heel and join the Bloodline. Bloodline should win.
Richard: I think we will see a situation where what happened in this match will set up the main event on Sunday, but not in a way you think (see my thoughts on that match). Fatu doesn't trust Jimmy and Jey so it would make sense to have them lose so Fatu can be more pissed at them. Keys needs to have a strong performance in this match or he can go into the 'vortex of they are still here.' Keys pins Jey.
Night 2:
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins.
Dave: So much has been made of Reigns needing to beat Rollins that he HAS to beat Rollins. That simple. Since Roman has been booked for a lot of upcoming dates, do the wise thing and keep the Title on the company’s top star.
Mike: Roman should win. The end.
Richard: Did you know that Roman has been given everything while Seth had to fight for everything to get where he is? We only heard it three times in the build to this match . . . this time. I think the six men involved in the six man tag match will get involved in this match because it is a Roman match. This will happen after the ref bump. The turning point of the match will be when Solo comes into the ring and he grabs Roman and then . . . hits Seth with a Samoan Spike and he joins the Bloodline.
Ladder Match to crown Interim WWE Women's Champion: Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Chelsea Green vs. Lash Legend
Dave: I hate interim champions. It’s crap booking to me. But since it’s happening I would go with Chelsea. People love her and if she wins, it will get a huge pop.
Mike: The interim thing is lame. They should put the belt on Jade and go right to Jade vs. Flair.
Richard: This makes no sense to have an interim title. If someone was injured in the past, they were stripped of the title. Is Tiffany in this match because she is from Minnesota (don't we already have the Chad Gable story?) because she should have lost to Jacy. Nia loses two matches to qualify? I would love to see Green win the match just to shock the system. I think it comes down to Jade or Charlotte. Do we see some sort of shenanigans to set up the finish? I can see Alexa get involved and maybe even cost Charlotte the title, but I do think Charlotte wins the title to set up Charlotte/Rhea at some point.
Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn: Number One Contender Match.
Dave: I think this has to be the place where Sami finally snaps. The question is, whether to do it after a loss or to garner a win. I would go with the latter.
Mike: It should be Sami going over, but Balor losing might make more sense if they want him to go completely bonkers.
Richard: I like that Finn is getting a chance to showcase how good he is on Smackdown and I think he needs to win this match. Not only does it set up Punk vs Balor, it makes Sami go more insane.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs. Chad Gable.
Dave: Welcome to another match where we aren’t sure who to root for. God, I hate this kind of booking when it’s done so regularly. I don’t see any way to justify any other finish than Gable winning at home to finish his redemption tour.
Mike: The timing would be right for a title change here.
Richard: This should be the best match of the Sunday card. I like that they are giving Chad a title match in his home state, but I want this to be more than 'we got a good reaction since he lost his mask' title change. I was thinking they would keep the title on Penta so he could defend it against Rey at TripleMania, but they don't need a title if they do that match. I wouldn't mind seeing Penta retaining but if Chad loses, then you get the 'look at WWE screwing over people in their home area' complaints.
WWE United States Champion Trick Williams vs. Baron Corbin.
Dave: If they take the Title off of Trick Willie right now they have lost their damn minds.
Mike: Way too soon to have Williams losing. It wouldn't make Corbin. It would hurt Trick.
Richard: I don't like that they have ignored Hayes and Saints (has anyone seen him?) for this feud. Corbin provides a different style of match that will help Trick going forward. Trick should retain.
Danhausen vs. Dominik Mysterio - Human Money on a Pole.
Dave: I hate that Dom has been dropped to the level. It really sucks. After the god awful segment on Raw with Joe Hendry, there is no way in hell that Dom should lose here. I hope he gets the win and gets far, far away from comedy hour. He deserves better.
Mike: It has to be Danhausen winning.
Richard: Remember when Dom was a rising star and then he beat John Cena and has turned into his current character on the main roster (see Sikoa, Solo). While he is being booked strong in AAA, this isn't AAA. This match will be a lot of stuff that we saw between JD and Danhausen in MSG. I was afraid WWE was going to go overboard with Danhausen stuff on TV and it might be time to pull back. Danhausen probably wins, but are there any winners in this match?
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