After a long while of not having the WWE Network- for various reasons- we got it back when WWE held their live event special in Tokyo. At the time, the Network was offering a free month but for whatever reason I wanted to keep it for the next month to see Battleground as well, mostly because of the return of Brock Lesnar and the Cena/Owens match. This keeping of the subscription- and paying for the Network at that- has carried over still as we approach Summerslam and though I didn't have the time nor desire to really write about Battleground I have now put together some thoughts and predictions of sorts going into the biggest event of the summer (as per WWE).
[1] Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
It's always strange to me when someone comes out with a manager and then loses that manager. I definitely don't feel like Lana and Rusev were together long enough to justify splitting them up but who knows, maybe this has all been an elaborate hoax by the two. Maybe Dolph Ziggler is about to get the Montreal Screwjob treatment and Lana is going to turn on him leaving both he and Summer Rae in the dust. At first I thought this was going to be a double-cross but then they dragged the feud out as Ziggler went on to do a movie and now it just seems like an afterthought more than the big match feel it should have. I believe Lana and Rusev should be together though- at least for quite some more time anyway- and this would gain them some mega-heel heat (Which someone needs right now) and so why not have Lana rejoin Rusev and have it be their plan all along to take out Dolph Ziggler for whatever reason. Is him being a stupid American a good enough reason for you? Works for me. Whatever keeps Rusev from going the way of Marc Mero (And, yes, that makes Lana the next Sable as well).
Winner: Rusev as he reunites with Lana
[2] Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
The idea of having Randy Orton and Sheamus fighting each other is kind of funny to me because not only have they fought before but they both seem to be stuck in the same spot. Their matches all feel the same, they're both somewhat boring and bland guys (Blandy Borton indeed) and they both tend to go back and forth between being a heel and a face to the point where there should be a blog dedicated entirely to which side they're playing this week for those who can't quite keep up. So this time around Randy Orton is the face and Sheamus is the heel, though Sheamus also holds the Money In The Bank briefcase which may or may not come into play here. There is only one way out of this and it involves the main event. Whoever wins here is not of importance because Sheamus can still cash in that briefcase even if he loses this match or takes a count out/DQ loss as well.
Winner: It doesn't even matter
[3] Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens
In some ways, having Summerslam as a four hour event gives time for matches like this to not only be on the card but to have enough time to tell a certain story and quite frankly steal the show. Cesaro is perhaps the most underrated superstar in all of WWE and Kevin Owens is slowly making his way up the roster to the point where these two are going to go and show you that the future is now. If this match doesn't somehow steal the show I'd be very surprised as it has all of the talent in it to do so and, well, if you need to see what happens with these two superstars going forward just keep reading on. At this point though, either of these guys could use a win but they could also both rebound from a loss. Kevin Owens most recently lost to John Cena after their series of three matches and he also lost the NXT Title to Finn Balor. In my other post, I don't have Kevin Owens as winning the NXT Title back in the ladder match against Balor so I'm going to say that Kevin Owens probably needs the win the most here.
Winner: Kevin Owens
[4] King Barrett and Stardust vs. Stephen Amell and Neville
This should be an easy enough match to predict. Someone from the mainstream comes in and isn't a wrestler but is involved in a match? Yeah, they're going to get the win you know. With King Barrett distracted somehow- probably knocked out of the match- Neville will hit the Red Arrow on Stardust then jump outside the ring onto Barrett while Stephen Amell gets the pin and win for his team. I know Amell has been lobbying to be on WWE TV even back when they had guest hosts and I'm a fan of the show "Arrow" (Amell will also play Casey Jones in the new TMNT movie while Sheamus plays Rock Steady), so this should be an all around good match with that good feeling afterwards. King Barrett is stuck in the neutral zone anyway it'd seem but Stardust can rebound from this and challenge Ryback for the IC Title, hopefully without getting injured if he wins it.
Winners: Stephen Amell and Neville
[5] Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose
At one point in time, various websites were reporting that Sting was going to get involved in this match to the extent that he'd be teaming with the former members of The Shield against the Wyatt Family. I guess that means though that the Wyatt Family never could come up with a third member. Perhaps if Rowan is better then they can save that idea for Survivor Series, if they even still do Survivor Series. So what will happen in this match that is down two members on each side? Remember when the Wyatt/Shield feud was the hottest thing in WWE? This match should be crazy and could go all out because of the names involved. I'm only hoping that Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns can get the win and Bray Wyatt can find a new target, if only for a few months.
Winners: Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns
[6] Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker
Another possibility for Sting at Summerslam is to interfere in this match setting up a Sting/Undertaker match at Wrestlemania. I'm not sure how WWE would make it so that Sting being involved in this match made him seem like not a heel though and the idea of Sting being a heel doesn't really appeal to me. Though with his two low blows and the home state crowd behind Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker does feel like the heel going into this match which is strange since it was the opposite when they fought at Wrestlemania and, well, The Undertaker is avenging his Streak which might seem like sour grapes on the surface but he's doing so only because Brock Lesnar (through the mouthpiece of Paul Heyman) won't shut up about ending The Streak. That does make it a little bit easier for me to handle as a viewer where I don't see The Undertaker as a complete heel but he is still maybe 75% - 80% in heel mode right now. So how does this match go? Neither man is truly a full time wrestler at this point so either can do with a win or loss. If you think of this as the rematch and assume The Undertaker can still go then there might be a third in the series- the rubber match if you will- but that's only if you forget about the times these two have fought before the most recent. Back in the day, The Undertaker was the gatekeeper to the extent that when you won the WWE Championship he was going to be one of your first feuds. Just because I don't think either man might stick around after this match I'm going to give the win to The Undertaker just because I also feel like he needs it. He needs some measure of revenge. And if it does eventually build to a sort of rubber match then so be it, but I just hope it is a casket match and then Lesnar puts Undertaker in that casket for good. The man is far too old to be wrestling still and I saw it at Battleground. He's not a threat anymore-- you're just worried he doesn't break his hip.
Winner: The Undertaker
[7] Paige, Charlotte and Becky Lynch vs. Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks vs. The Bella Twins and Alicia Fox (Elimination Match)
My problem with this elimination style match is that it is not for the Divas Championship. Don't you think that whoever wins this match should be Divas Champion? Granted, it's not "last diva standing" because a team of two or even three could dominate and win it and if the lone survivor is, for instance, Sasha Banks it's not like she has defeated every other diva in the match because she didn't eliminate Naomi or Tamina (Though if they were eliminated and she eliminated who eliminated them then by proxy she kind of did), but still, this should be for the Divas Championship. Plain and simple. That being said, since it is not as of the time I am typing this, I do expect this to lead to someone eliminating whichever of the Bella Twins is the Divas Champion and setting up a match between the two for the title. So let's look at this first by who is the weakest link on each of the three teams. Becky Lynch, Tamina (sorry) and Alicia Fox probably fill those roles. I'm not pulling for either of the Bellas, so there goes that team. Sasha Banks can have an excuse to lose since she will likely be losing the night before as well. (Though if Sasha Banks does retain her title the night before she might just win this whole thing), Naomi still needs a better character because right now she's just the former Funkadactyl who is married to an Uso. That leaves Charlotte and Paige and, hey, why not, let's have them be the winners of this thing. No lone survivor necessary.
Winners: Paige, Charlotte and Becky Lynch
[8] Prime Time Players (Champions) vs. The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores *Fatal Fourway for WWE Tag Team Titles*
There was a time not that long ago where it felt like some new life was being filled into the tag team division in WWE. And then it just sort of... stopped. The Ascension fizzled out, Curtis Axel and Damien Sandow's short lived team broke up and now this is kind of what we're left with here in this match. I still stand firm in my belief that Adam Rose and Fandango should form a serious heel tag team ala New Age Outlaws (after being stuck with lousy gimmicks) but Damien Sandow and Curtis Axel could also remain a tag team just, you know, one that doesn't imitate former WWE superstars. Whatever WWE has planned for their tag team division needs to start happening because the lack of teams is seriously getting boring. No one sees The Ascension as a threat (good job with that, WWE), Goldust and Stardust are no longer together and, yeah, WWE just needs some solid tag teams again. Luckily, as I have predicted for the main event, that could come in the form of a new stable so let's have this match be a sort of changing of the guard as the Prime Time Players retain and then go on to lose the title soon enough down the line. There isn't really a good reason for any of these other teams to win and PTP won the titles recently enough so if WWE doesn't go through with my other plan then I assume PTP will just keep the titles warm until the Usos return.
Winners: Prime Time Players
[9] Ryback (Champion) vs. The Miz vs. Big Show *Triple Threat for WWE Intercontinental Title*
If you trace the list of IC Champions back before Ryback you'll notice a lot of them have had to surrender the title due to injury. Ryback didn't have to give up the gold but he did take some time off with a staph infection and so it seems whoever holds this belt will be cursed with it. Saying someone would win this match is like putting an injury on them and, well, Big Show still feels somewhat like a heel to me, I highly dislike The Miz and I'm not even too fond of Ryback at this point. The easiest thing to do is to have him keep the title. Big Show choke slams Miz down to the mat, Ryback does one of his finishers and drops the Big Show onto Miz and pins both men to retain. Moving forward, Ryback gets some better competition in the likes of Stardust.
Winner: Ryback
[10] WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs. WWE United States Champion John Cena *Winner Takes All*
I'm not sure how some of the pieces will fall into place, but this match will take an interesting turn as John Cena is attacked by a number of heels. Seth Rollins will, likely, lose this match as he already has a submission loss to John Cena and, well, "Cena wins" isn't just a catchphrase. It seems like a foregone conclusion at this point that John Cena is going to win and hold both titles and, yes, I said *both* titles. Remember John Cena still has that United States Championship that Rusev probably wants back. It's been a while since a faction such as the Nexus has run wild through WWE so why not build a new one here and let that be the hot angle going into Survivor Series (They still do Survivor Series, right??) After John Cena defeats Seth Rollins because remember- CENA WINS- he is attacked by a group of foreigners including Rusev, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and Kevin Owens. Sheamus cashes in the MITB briefcase and becomes the new WWE Champion while all of John Cena's enemies watch on. This will lead to an eventual John Cena/Dolph Ziggler/Cesaro/Neville vs. Sheamus/Rusev/Wade Barrett/Kevin Owens match at what should be Survivor Series (elimination style) and WWE will politely ask that you ignore the fact that both Cesaro and Neville are technically foreigners as well. (Like WWE has not gone against logic before) Having Cena, Ziggler, Cesaro and Neville is some sort of joining of super powers while the bad guys need some direction and having them band together for the rest of the summer (and, what, two months?) to wreak havoc seems like as good an idea as any since WWE seems to be stalling with their main roster and this would breathe some life into an otherwise dying brand that doesn't focus on Seth Rollins, Brock Lesnar or The Undertaker. Plus with the titles joined perhaps there can be some sort of U.S. Title battle royal or tournament (sigh) to help shape the undercard wrestlers.
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