It seems nearly impossible to comprehend, but suddenly, the 2017 iteration of SummerSlam is only three weeks away. Monday night’s episode of Raw seemed to put a few more pieces in place (despite not leading to any more confirmed matches), and Tuesday’s Smackdown Live will likely make another few matches clear, including supposedly determining the Blue Brand’s main event.
Please join us as we run down the card thus far, speculate on what seems likely to be added over the next week, and please beware of possible spoilers as we round up the rumors about what matches could happen.
The Confirmed Matches
WWE Championship Fatal 4-Way: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe. This figures to be the big main event of the entire four-hour show (which may potentially become a five- or six-hour show, if WWE Network bloat is any indication). It seems poised to be a means to have Lesnar drop the title without being pinned or submitted (again), although Heyman saying Lesnar would leave WWE if Lesnar lost the title has piqued our curiosity. This will be a tough match to predict all the way down to the wire.
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Bayley. The attempted redemption of Bayley, despite Sasha Banks and Nia Jax seemingly making more sense as a challenger for Bliss on paper. If Bayley manages to put on a classic match with Bliss, she will henceforth and forevermore be known as the undisputed queen of Brooklyn.
Smackdown Women’s Championship Match: Naomi (c) vs. Natalya. Yes, Natalya. Presumably, there are other plans for Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, and of course Ms. Money in the Bank Carmella is always lurking on the periphery.
The Likely Matches
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Sheamus and Cesaro (c) vs. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. Ambrose and Rollins were mercifully moved away from their feuds with The Miz and Bray Wyatt, respectively, to give us a quasi-Shield reunion and make us wonder if they can coexist™. Fun fact: if Ambrose and Rollins capture the tag team titles at SummerSlam, Dean Ambrose will become the first member of the Shield to complete the WWE Grand Slam. Dean Ambrose!
Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day (c) vs. The Usos. There’s a very small chance this could become a multi-team match, but there is some serious bad blood between the Usos and the New Day, and it’s unlikely that will change in the next couple weeks, unless Breezango and the team that beat them up (Harper and Rowan?) force the issue and get back in the mix. I’m not holding my breath, though.
Intercontinental Championship Match: The Miz (c) vs. Jason Jordan. Miz TV on Monday night set this up. The Miz is accusing Kurt Angle of nepotism, and he’ll be proven right when Angle’s son Jordan gets a title shot at SummerSlam. The (story) angle hasn’t done Jordan many favors so far, so he and Miz will have to put on one of the best shows of the weekend to make Jordan worthy of the (literal) Angle name.
Cruiserweight Championship Match: Neville (c) vs. Akira Tozawa or Ariya Daivari. This match will supposedly be set on Tuesday night’s 205 Live, as Tozawa and Daivari will fight for the right to face Neville at SummerSlam. Tozawa has been “horribly injured” for nearly a month now, but WWE almost never does heel vs. heel matches, especially at big shows. Tozawa seems like a likely candidate to get the Austin Aries treatment of losing to Neville several pay-per-views in a row.
Hardy Boyz vs. The Revival. This has been pushed as one of the biggest feuds on the show for weeks, and all we’re really hoping for is that a Shatter Machine from the Revival shatters — or should we say breaks? — Matt Hardy.
Finn Bálor vs. Bray Wyatt. Another absolute lock to be on the SummerSlam card (unless we get it three weeks in a row on Raw instead for whatever reason). Bálor is wise to the Wyatt mind games, and the return of the Demon King for the first time since last year’s SummerSlam is poised to be the entrance of the weekend.
The Rumors
WWE Championship Match. In any other year, we would just say that John Cena is going to beat Shinsuke Nakamura on Tuesday and go on to challenge Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam (where he will probably win his 17th and record-setting world title). But this is far from an ordinary year, and supposedly leaked art has showed Cena, Nakamura, and Mahal in the same graphic. So perhaps there will be a non-finish in the No. 1 contender match on Tuesday (or perhaps Mr. Money in the Bank Baron Corbin will cause a non-finish), and the Championship match will be a good old Triple Threat. For real, though, it’s probably going to be Cena vs. Mahal.
United States Championship Match. This all comes down to whether Nakamura winds up in the world title match. Although everyone involved and every fan is clamoring for the first Styles-Nakamura WWE match to happen at WrestleMania, if Nakamura doesn’t get that world title shot, you can probably pencil those two in for SummerSlam and the U.S. title. If Nakamura DOES wind up in the world title match, however, Styles will need an opponent. Chad Gable, maybe? We would say the Styles-Kevin Owens feud will continue all the way through SummerSlam, but the rumors say something different. Namely …
Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon. The rumor mill says Owens’ repeated accusations of favoritism against him will run him afoul of Smackdown Live’s commissioner, or whatever it is Shane McMahon is. This will culminate in a match between the two at SummerSlam, say the rumor people down at the rumor factory. I mean, sure, why not? This is as good a showcase for Owens as any. Just … please stay safe, Shane.
Becky Lynch vs. Cris Cyborg. Yeah. They keep teasing a cross-promotional UFC/WWE match at SummerSlam, but the truth is, it’s probably not happening. Or at least, it seems very, very unlikely. Sorry, everyone.
By the way, this is a potential 13 matches here. Go ahead and set your entire SummerSlam Sunday aside for this one. You were probably planning on doing that anyway.
