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WWE presents SummerSlam (the Wrestlemania of Summer) on Sunday night on The WWE Network. We will have full coverage of the four hour broadcast here on the site. Here is our take on what will happen.
Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar
Dave: From a logic standpoint, having a guy that is a part timer and almost my age come in and beat the man that has been your monster for the last 18 months makes no sense at all. I don’t care that it is the Undertaker. If they book the old guy to come in and beat the in-his-prime monster it makes the entire roster look weak and they just can’t do it. Lesnar SHOULD go over here, and it shouldn’t be all that close. But they have booked Taker as the heel so that should keep him in the match, with him using heel tactics. He should not, under any circumstances, win however. Again, the old guy who has worked three times in the last 18 months should not be the guy who has been your champion, dominated your company, and didn’t even get pinned to lose his Title. It can’t happen.
Mike: It's somewhat amazing to see how excited people are for this because the Wrestlemania bout, beyond the shocking Taker loss, was not a classic by any stretch of the imagination. It goes to show you how much people just love seeing Undertaker and still see him as THE legend. The right thing to do here is for Undertaker to get the win to set up a future rematch. That's what I would do, but unless WWE is looking at Lesnar vs. Taker 3 at Mania, Lesnar should win clean. Unless they have terrible luck and Taker gets hurt again, this should be much better than Mania.
Richard: If this match was turned into a No DQ match, I would love to see Taker's offense be kicks to the groin and tombstones, but we won?t get that. Lesnar will throw Taker around like a rag doll for most of the match and then we will probably get something to allow Taker to cheat and get the win over Lesnar. Maybe it will be outside interference or maybe it will be Taker?s ability to control the lighting in the building.
WWE World Champion Seth Rollins vs. WWE United States Champion John Cena: Title vs. Title Match
Dave: So here is the 64,000 dollar question: Do they kill Rollins by feeding him to Super Cena? Honestly, there is no reason to put the WWE Title back on John Cena. He doesn’t need it and putting it back on him will definitely alienate a portion of the fan base (in addition to the group that was in the four million people that used to watch Raw but no longer does). Having Rollins cheat to win keeps his character in the “heel that can’t do anything on his own pattern†that doesn’t elevate him at all. Given the accident from earlier this month, they have the perfect finish right in front of them. Have them go a hard fought thirty minutes, completely even, and then Rollins finally starts being booked like a real heel when he attacks the healing broken nose, away from the ref’s view, and gets the pin in the manner that a bad ass heel would. WWE is coming off a great NXT Takeover event and a lot of those same fans will be there tonight. WWE knows exactly what to expect out of them so if they go down the Cena as champ route, they will deserve the reaction that they know it will get from that crowd.
Mike: I've said this a few times and what I'd really love to see here is for these two to just have an epic match and do a 60 minute draw. On a 4 hour show with ten matches, I don't see WWE doing that but it would be awesome. Rollins has been on fire as a performer and Cena is in the midst of one of his best years in the ring as well. The broken nose, as unfortunate and as ugly as it was, adds a nice new dimension to Cena wanting to kick Rollins' ass. This should start off really fast with all sorts of brawling because of that. The finish is going to be hard to pick. I don't see Cena walking out with all the titles, but I don't see Rollins with the U.S. belt either. My prediction is Cena pins Rollins but doesn't get the title. Why? If you watch Raw SUPER-closely, you'll notice Seth never actually signed the contract. That could be the storyline out. We'll see.
Richard: I wonder if there will be any "If Cena wins . . . We Riot" signs in the crowd. If Rollins does retain and win the US Title as well, will he keep the title or will we see a situation where Sheamus tries to cash in and if he is successful, Rollins goes to being just the US Champion? This match will get a lot of time, but I hope they don?t go an hour. While I think they could go an hour, I don't want people to say "They did the hour because Lethal and Strong went an hour" because I am sure some people are thinking the title vs. title deal is also borrowing from the recent Lethal vs. Briscoe match. The other thing that I am afraid of is that we have seen Rollins do things on his own over the last few weeks and it seems like people might have forgotten about J&J or Kane. (I hope I haven't jinxed things) If Cena does win, I wonder what that does for network subscriptions since some might see it as the same old s*** and they might give up on any chance for a change on top.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Ryback vs. The Big Show vs. The Miz
Dave: There is not much buzz for this one so it’s time to just pull the plug and be done with it. Ryback should destroy Miz early and take him out of the match, then do some big strength spots on Show, retain the Title and move on to a program that the fans actually care about.
Mike: Boy, this one is DOA, eh? Injuries and a really lackluster storyline over the last month sort of killed this before it could take place. In the ring, I don't see much here beyond Miz being pin-balled and forth between the two larger brutes. Ryback should win here.
Richard: The only way I see Miz winning this match is if Ryback and Show do what they did on Smackdown and knock each other out for Miz to sneak in and weasel his way into the title. I don't see them holding off this match so Ryback could recover only to lose it when he is healthy in his first title defense. Just like Orton and Sheamus, I see this as a transition match that the crowd will be indifferent to until Ryback tries to give Show Shellshock.
WWE Tag Team Champions Prime Time Players vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. Lucha Dragons
Dave: I don’t see Los Matadores or The Lucha Dragons winning. The PTP is fine in the champ role but I still think that they took the belts off of New Day way too soon. This program works best with the PTP getting screwed here by Xavier Woods and chasing New Day for their belts.
Mike: I expect this will get placement as filler after a major match. To me, they have all the tools to have a fun bout and we'll probably see a big dive sequence, but I don't know whether this will get a lot of time. WWE really likes having the Players as champions since they present themselves so well at public events and work hard, but to me, it should be New Day's division with everyone else chasing them. I hope that's what happens here.
Richard: I want the New Day to win because the celebration post match could be some of the most surreal stuff we will see on WWE programming (and they need to do the Dee Gordon Tribute dunk or the Washington Nationals chocolate syrup deal). I wish this would be made an elimination match since we have the extra hour. I feel bad for the Lucha Dragons because they deserve to win the titles at some point. I have suggested on audio on the site that in matches like this, the champions should be able to pin any opponent to retain, but in order for a challenger to win the titles they need to pin the champions. Make the New Day two time WWE Tag Team Champions because NEW DAY ROCKS!
Team Bella (Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, and Alicia Fox) vs. Team PCB (Paige, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte) vs. Team B.A.D. (Tamina Snuka, Sasha Banks, and Naomi) in an Elimination Tag Match
Dave: After the awesome, awesome match between Sasha and Bayley last night, WWE needs to keep the Divas Revolution going tonight. That means keeping the ladies that aren’t as good to a minimum and letting those that can go really go. So far on TV, they haven’t rally turned them loose. Tonight is the night to do that and get it going. As I have said on audio for weeks now, it’s also time to get the woman focused on the Divas Title. Sasha pinned Nikki on Raw. I want to see Charlotte or Becky do it tonight, and then have it turn into Title matches. If the ladies are all going for the Title, then things will start heating up.
Mike: I expect a LOT of time here. I know Alicia Fox has been under the weather this week and missed some of the promotional appearances planned for her because of it, so I expect she won't get a lot of ring time. If we are lucky, Tamina is kept out beyond big power spots as well. The story of the last few weeks has been for the NXT women to get big wins and show they are in the hunt. I expect that to continue. With Nikki chasing that 300 day title reign, the best thing would be for her to again lose, cleanly, to set up someone chasing her at Night of Champions. Sasha would be my pick to get that win and to chase her.
Richard: Since this is THE DIVAS REVOLUTION, this match should get some time and the Triple Threat match at Battleground got a lot of time. Since Sasha got Nikki to tap out on Monday night, I would expect to see PCB get the win in this match and let Becky or Charlotte get the pin on Nikki to build intrigue in a title match (and maybe give us another Triple Threat Match at Night of Champions). Tamina will get pinned to eliminate B.A.D. from the match.
Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro
Dave: This match should be awesome (provided that Owens is OK after last night’s match, which was pretty stiff). These guys are both studs and could steal the show if given the opportunity. Cesaro has the momentum going right now and it’s really important that WWE doesn’t blow it again, as they did in the past. They should book this as super competitive, with Cesaro winning and the announcers selling that Owens is probably feeling the effects of his Takeover match with Finn Balor. That way, you keep both guys strong.
Mike: Show-stealer! Unless WWE really handicaps them with NO time, these two will be in a no-lose situation. They work snug with each other and have great chemistry. I really think that no matter who wins, if they are able to have a great match with a lot of near falls, they'll both look stronger on the way out and Brooklyn wioll absolutely show respect because they want to see hard work. If it's me with the pencil, Cesaro goes over because he needs it a little more. Owens won't lose any steam because all he'll need to do is cut a good promo on Raw and it's back to the races.
Richard: This might be the match that I am looking forward to the most on this pay per view. Cesaro has been great in the ring over the last few months and Owens is giving good performances in the ring and on the mic. While it would have been nice to see Owens win the United States title, he doesn't really need a title at this time to be over with the crowd. With this being a four hour show, I hope this match gets close to 20 minutes, but I am sure it will depend on how Owens is after his ladder match on Saturday night. I think Owens wins this one, but if they gave this a time limit and it was a draw, I would not complain.
Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns
Dave: First off, DON’T TURN DEAN! It makes no sense and yo-yoing characters makes fans care less about them, not more. It is hard to believe that these are four of the six guys that got a “This is awesome†chant before they even locked up in their first match, but it is. Roman can’t lose. Dean shouldn’t lose. That leaves Bray and Luke. My hunch is that Harper, being the fourth guy out of four, does the job in a really hard hitting, crazy match.
Mike: From a storyline standpoint, I find myself oddly uninterested in this but I know the work will be great. I know there's been speculation of a Dean turn but I really don't see the upside to it at this point. This should be a good brawl and my guess is Harper takes the pinfall loss so Reigns can have his "final showdown" with Bray down the line. I expect we'll see lots of carnage here.
Richard: The Shield and Wyatt feud returns on pay per view and I have liked that they have given Luke the singles matches against Reigns and Ambrose leading into this match. With Ambrose getting the pin on Harper on Smackdown, I wonder if that means anything about the result of this match. Whatever happens in this match, NO TURNS. I also hope this is made a Falls Count Anywhere or a match where there are no countouts because I think the more this is a brawl, the better it will be. It makes no sense for the Wyatts to win, but I can see Bray pinning Ambrose.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
Dave: I expect the typical Ziggler match, he gets beaten down most of the way and keeps fighting back. As for the finish, I could see him getting the pin “out of nowhere†and then getting beaten down afterward. I also expect to see Lana and Summer Rae get involved.
Mike: This should be very good. Ziggler's return of Raw was really special and I expect he's going to tear things up. Rusev has been having a good run of late and Ziggler can play the underdog babyface fighting off the monster here and it should be great. Lana and Summer have been nothing short of awesome in this storyline and I expect we'll see a catfight. In the end, I suspect Summer helps Rusev get the win to set up a mixed tag down the line.
Richard: A lot people thought this would be a mixed tag match with Lana and Dolph facing Summer and Rusev. I expect to see something happen where the women get involved for the CATFIGHT moment (which goes so well with the Divas Revolution concept) and maybe have that cause a distraction for Rusev to allow Ziggler to get the win. Then Rusev gets pissed off that he has become Karl Anderson with his obsession over Maria and that he demands that the cold fish be forced to wrestle Summer and then it is turned into the mixed tag match (or do the women's match first and have that break down to force the mixed tag match). Rusev is still not over Lana and I think that will be the thing that causes his eventual split with Summer.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Dave: Hey, here’s an idea. If they are going to continue using the long-in-the-tooth Money In The Bank briefcase, the guy holding it should get some wins every now and then. They opened the show in St. Louis and Orton got the win. Sheamus loses all the time. It’s time for him to use that case on someone, illegally, and get himself a win. Otherwise, when he cashes in, no one will care.
Mike: On paper, Sheamus should get the win. He lost to Orton clean on Raw (and why that happens BEFORE a PPV I have no idea, but whatever), so it should be Sheamus doing something terrible and underhanded (maybe using the briefcase) to get the win and remind everyone he's in the hunt for the WWE title. We've seen this match so many times before but the work should be solid.
Richard: This is a match that we have seen many many many many many many times. This should be a decent enough match, but I would not be surprised if this ended up being early on the show or a buffer for one of the more important matches on the show. Since Orton pinned Sheamus already on television, you would expect Sheamus to win. However, Sheamus has the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Stephen Amell and Neville vs. Stardust and King Barrett
Dave: I think Amell will show some good stuff. You don’t do this if you are him if you don’t plan to shock some people. You also don’t do the match to lose. The Arrows hit their marks and the babyfaced win.
Mike: When I interviewed Barrett on Thursday, we joked about how this wasn't going to be a "Jay Leno Match" and I believe him. Amell does a lot of really great, physical stunts on Arrow but this is a completely different world and they only have one shot to make it right. That said, I believe he'll be at least, passable. He's a huge fan and has great respect for what WWE does. I love Barrett and Stardust as a team and suspect WWE may be onto something here but in the end, celebrities win their matches and this will be no different. Glad to see they are trying to give Neville the rub with it.
Richard: I wonder how much they are going to let Amell do in this match. From what he did on that episode of Raw, he won't embarrass himself physically, but will he be able to translate that into wrestling moves? Stardust has been very eccentric with his promos and Barrett has been a good partner for Stardust so far. I think Neville hits the Red Arrow on Stardust and then he tags in Amell to get the pinfall.
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