This Sunday, both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live host SummerSlam, the second biggest Pay-Per-View of the year behind WrestleMania. The huge six-hour long event has tons of matches, from Shinsuke Nakamura competing for the WWE Championship to what could be Brock Lesnar’s last WWE match ever. With a lot to break down, let’s take a look at the matches and who is predicted to win.
Since there are 12 (!) matches for this huge show, the usual Pay-Per-View breakdown will be broken up into two parts. The first part (the one you’re reading right now) will focus on all of the non-title matches, as well as the two championship matches that will be on the Kickoff Show (Cruiserweight and SmackDown Tag Team Championships). The second part will focus on the Women’s Titles, the Raw Tag Team Championships, the WWE Championship, and the Universal Championship matches.
Randy Orton vs. Rusev
The build to this match has been pretty simple, but it gives each Superstar something to do on a big show. Rusev said he was better than everybody and issued an open challenge, so Randy Orton accepted. They both traded sneak attacks over the past two weeks, and now they will have a sanctioned match.
Prediction:
After losing three consecutive WWE Championship matches to Jinder Mahal, it seems like Orton is guaranteed a Pay-Per-View victory here. Rusev should get the win, but he probably won’t. Winner: Randy Orton
Big Show vs. Big Cass – Enzo Amore Suspended Above the Ring in a Shark Cage
What started off as a great angle quickly became a huge flop. After years of teaming up with Enzo Amore, Big Cass turned on him because they weren’t finding any success. This led to several singles matches that took the feud nowhere, then Amore teamed up with the Big Show. Now Big Show, who has a broken hand, will take on Cass with Enzo Amore watching from above the ring in a shark cage, just because.
Prediction:
Big Show has a broken hand. Winner: Big Cass
John Cena vs. Baron Corbin
This week’s episode of SmackDown Live really turned up the drama for this match. It didn’t really seem important when John Cena called Baron Corbin a “dumpster fire,” but this week, that all changed. When Corbin cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, he was distracted by Cena and blames the former 16-time World Champion for his loss. Now Corbin is out for revenge against “big match John,” who has a surprisingly bad win/loss record at SummerSlam.
Prediction:
Cena just gave a big rub to Shinsuke Nakamura a couple weeks ago, and with rumors of the franchise of WWE going away or to Raw, this could be a great opportunity to elevate Corbin. It probably won’t happen, but it is a good long-term move and I’m going with the longshot. Winner: Baron Corbin
Demon Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt
After successfully defeating Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt chose Finn Balor as his next target. He would attempt to explain why, but it just sounded like a lot of cryptic gibberish like he normally spews in his promos. Balor wasn’t scared of Wyatt and was up to the challenge, but things got weird this week on Raw. Wyatt poured a bucket of “acidic liquid” (fake blood) on Balor, and WWE very obviously announced that this will be the return of “Demon” Finn Balor. This announcement ruined a nice surprise, but it will still be nice to see.
Prediction:
Since Wyatt “won” his feud against Seth Rollins and Balor went even with Elias Samson, this is the time to turn things around for the first-ever Universal Champion. With the return of the Demon, Balor can show why he was chosen to win the main event of last year’s SummerSlam in the first place. Winner: Finn Balor
Akira Tozawa (c) vs. Neville – WWE Cruiserweight Championship
At Great Balls of Fire, Akira Tozawa challenged Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship and came the closest anyone has to capturing the title, but he ended up coming up short when the King of the Cruiserweights retained with underhanded tactics. In the following month and a half after the loss, Tozawa would fight through a shoulder injury (caused by Neville) to reclaim the #1 Contender’s spot by defeating the recently impressive Ariya Daivari.
Things seemed set and ready for SummerSlam until a surprise announcement this week on Raw. Instead of defending the Cruiserweight Championship at SummerSlam, Neville was going to put his title on the line on Raw instead, as a bit of a “SummerSlam come early” gift to the WWE Universe. In a surprise to everyone, a healthy Tozawa stood his own and got a clean victory over Neville, ending a reign that started at the Royal Rumble in January of this year. Now, Neville gets his rematch on the Kickoff Show.
Prediction:
It would be very weird to put the Cruiserweight Championship on Akira Tozawa (and have him announced as part of the roster for WWE 2K18) just to have him lose the belt a few days later. Neville has cemented his status as one of the best WWE has to offer, so he can still keep that status without a title around his waist. Tozawa should retain and feud with somebody new. Winner, and STILL Cruiserweight Champion: Akira Tozawa
Big E & Xavier Woods (w/Kofi Kingston) (c) vs. The Usos – SmackDown Tag Team Championships
In the second of two championship Kickoff Show matches, The New Day will defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against the Usos. At Backlash, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods captured the titles from The Usos to make the New Day the first team to ever have held the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships. While the first month of their feud was very personal, this month saw their feud take a bit of a back seat to other developing stories.
Prediction:
Just like Akira Tozawa, it would be weird to see WWE give The New Day the Tag Titles just for them to give them back to the Usos. While these two teams always have great matches with each other, it is time for them to move on to other opponents. Winners, and STILL SmackDown W…W…E… World… Tag… Team… Champions: The New Day
