WWE SummerSlam 2018: Complete Card, Analysis, Predictions

WWE SummerSlam 2018 — The Biggest Party Of The Summer® — airs this Sunday, August 19, live on WWE Network and pay-per-view. WWE’s second biggest show of the year features 13 matches (whew), including Brock Lesnar defending the Universal Championship, Ronda Rousey challenging for the Raw Women’s Championship, the long-awaited face-punching between Daniel Bryan and The Miz, and so much more.

As always, we’ll be here (and in the arena) all weekend with news, updates, results, live threads and more, so make sure you’re tuned in to our WWE SummerSlam 2018 tag page through Monday. Here’s how the massive card breaks down.

WWE SummerSlam 2018 Card:

1. Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
2. WWE Championship Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe
3. Raw Women’s Championship Match: Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
4. Triple Threat Match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship: Carmella (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair
5. Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs. The New Day
6. Intercontinental Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Seth Rollins
7. United States Championship Match: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
8. Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens: if Owens wins, he becomes Mr. Money in the Bank
9. Cruiserweight Championship Match: Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Drew Gulak
10. Actual Main Event: Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
11. Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The B-Team (c) vs. The Revival
12. Finn Bálor vs. Constable Corbin
13. Kickoff Match: Rusev and Lana vs. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas and Zelina Vega

As always, we’ve got your complete rundown of the card and analysis below, featuring predictions for every match. Make sure to drop a comment and let us know who you think’s winning, and be here on Sunday for our open discussion thread and live results.

Here’s what we think will happen at Jeremy Piven Presents SummerFest 2018.

Kickoff Match: Rusev and Lana vs. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas and Zelina Vega

What Should Happen: This match between a bunch of fan favorites and four of the most beautiful people on the roster shouldn’t be stuck on the pre-show, with commercials for the pay-per-view that’s about to air giving it a false “commercial break” in the middle. How the hell do you put Rusev and five-star Andrade Cien Almas on the kickoff but give Baron Corbin a lengthy singles match on the main card?

What Will Happen: The smart move here (besides giving the match more prestige and a ton of time) would be to give Almas and Vega a win via lightly nefarious means — opportunistic ones, at least — to set up a much better, more important Rusev vs. Almas singles match in the future. You can even give us Lana vs. Vega as a pretty solid kickoff match at Evolution, if you’d like to keep it going.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I think Lana’s performance will make or break this in terms of match quality, so I’m tentatively excited for this tag. I think Almas and Vega get the win because they need it as much more recent main roster additions.

Raj Prashad – Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega take the win here. It should be because Aiden English finally turns on Rusev and becomes a part of Almas’ crew.

Bill DiFilippo – Rusev and Lana win, at which point Aiden English comes out and performs his version of “Stars” from Les Mis. It’ll bring a tear to your eye.

Robby Kalland – Almas/Vega win because Aiden English will do a dumb thing again.

Elle Collins – This is a team that I still have hope WWE is going to give a push to, versus a team that I still wish would get a push, but I’ve just about given up on. That sounds convoluted, but the point I’m getting to is that Almas and Vega seem like obvious winners here.

Finn Bálor vs. Constable Corbin

What Should Happen: Poor, poor Finn Bálor. Instead of getting his rematch for the Universal Championship he never lost, he’s wrestling Express for Men Baron Corbin in a match they a billion percent could’ve and should’ve done on Monday’s Raw. If you’re into the feud, I’d imagine your universally accepted “what should happen” is that Finn should win, strong, Baron Corbin should either be a general manager character or get some gear, and we should take a lengthy break from Tall Guy Thinks Little Guy Sucks Because He’s Little. Big Cass kinda put that one in the ground for the season before you guys even started.

What Will Happen: I sure as hell hope Finn wins, because after seeing him job to Kane on Raw and lose as much as he wins, he’s Raw’s number one refocusing project. As has been said before, it’s a shame that his character has gone from “schizophrenic gang leader who is possessed by a demon” to “smiling guy.” Bring the Club out here again and have them beat Corbin to death. Give Finn his Jericho jacket back or something, just spice it up so it’s not something most of the audience would fast-forward through on a show they didn’t have to pay extra to watch.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I’m guessing Balor wins because Corbin is an authority heel with a pumped up ego and doesn’t need to, and also because I feel like the Demon is coming back. It was mentioned in some promotional thing, and they’ve cooled on Balor Club Is For Everyone. Hopefully we see Balor give the Constable the smoke, in both the beating someone up sense and the Demon entrance smoke machine sense. I think it would do a lot for the dude.

Raj Prashad – Finn Balor gets the win, and hopefully a more important rivalry.

Bill DiFilippo – Give Finn a win and a feud with something on the line other than the embarrassment of losing to someone named “Constable Corbin.”

Robby Kalland – Finn stomps all over the Constable for a win.

Elle Collins – Finn could use a win, and getting a management position (which he’s great at, by the way) pretty much frees Corbin from ever needing to win. So Finn it is.

Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The B-Team (c) vs. The Revival

What Should Happen: TOP. GUYS.

What Will Happen: Look, I love the B-Team. If you read this site, you know I love the B-Team. The loss of their entrance theme gave me a personal crisis for like two weeks. They’re adorable and I love where their characters have gone, but I think it’s already run its course. Keep them in the division and keep them having fun, but transfer those championship belts to a real tag team who can have real, really good tag team matches on the reg. Smackdown has been leaving Raw in the dust in terms of tag team wrestling, and no show with The Revival on it should be lagging behind. Give the belts to the Top Guys, reshuffle the division so it’s about American Alpha and the Authors of Pain and whichever other NXT tag teams you want to bring up or move over, and let’s get some good matches in more than one division on the three-hour weekly show.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I can’t tell what they’re doing with this tag division, so I’ll just say the B Team wins a good match, and then feuds with the Authors of Pain?

Robby Kalland – Brandon desperately wants The Revival to win, which means it’ll be the B-Team retaining.

(Note: this one got added late, and a lot of people had already turned in their predictions. Sorry! Go Top Guys!)

Actual Main Event: Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz

What Should Happen: This is the match I want to see the most on the card, and for the weekend. Probably the match I’ve wanted to see the most for the past three years, which is crazy, because we’ve already technically seen it a lot. It matters now, though, more than ever, and it’d be perfectly rational to watch the promo videos from Smackdown and think, “it doesn’t matter who wins, just give it 20 minutes.”

To me, the best plan would be to do something like NXT did with Asuka and Ember Moon. Asuka was the overconfident, unbeatable champion, and Ember Moon had her number. Asuka wrestled the entire match fairly, then, as she was about to get hit with Ember’s biggest move, she tossed the referee into the ropes to knock her down. Then she took advantage, winning the match “fairly,” but not fairly at all. Not even a little.

A lot of this is built around The Miz believing he’s grown superior to Daniel Bryan in every way, including wrestling, so having him go toe-to-toe with Bryan in a wrestling match would be brilliant. He’s not going to win that though, obviously, so maybe right before he’s about to get hit with a Knee-Plus, he yanks the ref in front of him. Skull-crushing Finale, one-two-three. Miz wins, claims forever that he won fair and square, and we wait another eight months for a rematch at WrestleMania. I want the full fuckin’ monty with this one.

What Will Happen: It doesn’t matter who wins, just give it 20 minutes. Bonus points if Alex Riley or Damien Sandow show up.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I don’t know what going to happen with this besides probably a really good match! The outcome might depend on contract negotiation stuff. Maybe Bryan loses if this is chapter one of their rivalry. Maybe then the Miz wins the WWE Championship later in the year, and they rematch at WrestleMania. Maybe the Miz will resort to chicanery; maybe not. There are a lot of solid options for this match and this rivalry, and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Raj Prashad – The match we’ve been waiting literal years for is finally upon us, and Miz should absolutely walk away with the win here. These two should fight all summer and build to the WrestleMania main event. There’s no reason to stop at SummerSlam.

Bill DiFilippo – I have zero idea what to expect in the Actual Main Event. Can they both win? Not a double countout or anything like that, just let them both win. I don’t care how it happens. They’re both perfect in every way.

Robby Kalland – Daniel Bryan wins. My only plea is to give this match a healthy chunk of time for these two to do their thing. It’s the best feud going in WWE and I really don’t want them to be like “alright, here’s 8 minutes to settle this.”

Elle Collins – There’s no way this feud ends with just one match, so I think it makes sense for the Miz to win this first one, probably with shenanigans of some kind.

Presumed Kickoff Match: Cruiserweight Championship Match: Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Drew Gulak

What Should Happen: Cedric Alexander’s been a great champion and is a phenomenal talent, but arguably nobody’s done better work in the cruiserweight division since its inception than Drew Gulak. He’s proven he can work, he can be serious, he can do comedy, he can change his look and his body, the works. He’s your guy. He’s the perfect choice for the next champion, and you can let 205 Live’s cabal of scrappy babyfaces chase him for a few months.

What Will Happen: I do think it’s Drew’s time. It’s gotta be. This should be really good, though, and I wish we could switch out hour two of the main show with this first hour of Kickoff matches.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – This match should be really good whoever wins, but I think Gulak goes over. I like the idea of 205 Live, after having a pure babyface champion for a while, having the funny on the mic but scary in the ring, controlling-of-others, technically skilled Drew Gulak at the top. Him being the champ could change the dynamic of that show in a really interesting way.

Raj Prashad – Drew Gulak has been great on 205 Live, but calling Cedric Alexander to keep the belt.

Bill DiFilippo – Title matches on the pre-show are lame as hell, and changing a title holder on the pre-show is even more lame as hell, so Cedric wins.

Robby Kalland – Let’s get weird and go with Gulak. He’s been so close so often, I think he finally gets it done, even if his title reign is brief.

Elle Collins – These are my two favorite cruiserweights, and I’m really excited just to watch this match happen. I think Gulak probably wins, although I won’t be surprised if Cedric pulls it out.

Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens: if Owens wins, he becomes Mr. Money in the Bank

What Should Happen: See “what will happen.”

What Will Happen: As I predicted on our podcast rundown of the show, I think Kevin Owens worms his way into the Money in the Bank briefcase, and that the show goes off the air with him holding the Universal Championship over his head. It feels like an inevitability to me. Why would you book a match for the briefcase with this super specific stipulation that any kind of loss for Strowman, count-out or DQ or anything, gives Owens the Money in the Bank if you aren’t going to give Owens the Money in the Bank? Braun Strowman “overcoming the odds” against a guy half his size he’s been beating the shit out of and covering in port-a-potty goo for months doesn’t do anything for anybody. I love me some Braun, and I’d rather Braun had just cashed in on Lesnar himself and given Roman Reigns the bird, but I think this is what’s going down.

Or, you know, Lesnar retains and nobody cashes in and the show goes off the air with us on Twitter like

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – Strowman goes over and then cashes in during Lesnar vs. Reigns, right? Right??? He has to, right???

Raj Prashad – Kevin Owens gets his rightful Money in the Bank run, and I’m predicting it’s all because of Nicholas.

Bill DiFilippo – Putting Money in the Bank on the line leads me to believe that Owens wins in some really weird way, becomes Mr. Money in the Bank, then does mischievous Kevin Owens stuff. Braun Strowman being Braun Strowman leads me to believe he wins. Ergo, Braun wins.

Robby Kalland – Owens has been playing a chickenshit heel running from Braun this whole time, which kinda makes him the perfect person to have the briefcase, right? Owens will win via outsmarting Strowman after some Braun feats of strength.

Elle Collins – If KO wins, it’s because they can’t figure out how to book a babyface giant cashing in, which would make you wonder why they gave him the briefcase in the first place. More and more though, I’ve begun to think that KO winning is exactly what is going to happen. Probably by disqualification, since they made a point of including that stipulation.

United States Championship Match: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Jeff Hardy

What Should Happen: Anything that doesn’t result in Nakamura getting powdered down the card again and replaced with a bunch of Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton matches.

What Will Happen: It seems like a foregone conclusion that The Viper’s going to get his very concerning hands involved in this one, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Paige show up and turn it into an impromptu triple threat match. It seems weird that they’d bring Orton back in grandiose fashion and then not have him figuratively stand around with his dick in his hand. Figuratively. The pessimistic side of me feels like Hardy’s getting the championship back just to lose it to Randy O at Hell in a Cell, and that’s kind of a bummer. Somebody step in and save Smackdown’s Japanese wrestling legends, okay? Asuka didn’t even make it onto the pre-show.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – Nakamura retains, possibly due to the match ending in a DQ because of shenanigans by Randy Orton.

Raj Prashad – Shinsuke Nakamura has been at his best as the sly, conniving heel. He’ll beat Jeff Hardy yet again, probably after some help from Randy Orton.

Bill DiFilippo – [flips quarter] [it comes up heads] Nakamura wins.

Robby Kalland – Nakamura wins here and you have to figure Orton gets involved somehow to once again humiliate Hardy.

Elle Collins – Shinsuke has been great as US Champ, and by all accounts Jeff Hardy is having some health problems, so I don’t think this belt is changing hands at SummerSlam.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Seth Rollins

What Should Happen: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns gets folded into the Intercontinental Championship match, and we get a six-man tag with all the belts on the line. Hashtag WCW, hashtag somebody find Dolph Ziggler’s crimper.

What Will Happen: Now that Dean Ambrose is back and looking like jacked modern Triple H, the question becomes, “how does he get involved?” If I hadn’t already predicted a Teddy Longing in the United States Championship match, I’d predict one here. I think it’s pretty obvious that Ambrose is going to turn on Rollins at some point — things can only be so happy in Shield land, I guess — but I don’t think it’s here. It might be Monday night, if Rollins wins and Ambrose wants to “make an impact” and gain an “opportunity,” but I hope it’s not such a quick transition. Let’s let Ambrose’s apparently WONDERFULLY improved character look and vibe breathe a little. I’ll say Ambrose cuts off McIntyre and Rollins wins, and we get some dope McIntyre/Ambrose matches out of it. Please?

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I think we see the return of Intercontinental Rollins here! The returned and real jacked, baby, Dean Ambrose will help Seth deal with McIntyre interference (McIntyrference?)… and possibly challenge for the IC title.

Raj Prashad – Dean Ambrose returned on Monday and he looks like a totally transformed, more bad ass version of himself. Taking Dolph here assuming Ambrose goes totally nuts and turns on Rollins.

Bill DiFilippo – In the prediction everyone else has: Seth wins and then jacked and buzz cutted Dean Ambrose just unleashes god’s unholy wrath on him.

Robby Kalland – Dean Ambrose is back to even the odds(TM) with Ziggler and McIntyre, which would lead most of us to believe Rollins will win here. I think Seth does win, but afterwards, Ambrose (with his new look that screams heel) turns on him in the ring to set up a very fun feud going forward. Or they’ll just be Fist Bros 4 Life and Rollins wins and everything is great.

Elle Collins – I don’t know why you have this match again unless it’s to put the belt back on Seth Rollins, so I’m guessing they do that. Plus, along the way you can build to Dean vs. Dolph and Dean vs. Drew.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: The Bludgeon Brothers (c) vs. The New Day

What Should Happen: TAKE ? THE ? TAG ? TEAM ? TITLES ? OFF ? THE ? BLUDGIES ?

What Will Happen: For real, enough with the Bludgeon Brothers. They look bad, their characters are ill-defined at best, they look like Burgundy Kane and his friend Burgundier Kane, and they carry about toy hammers they aren’t even pretending are supposed to be heavy. None of their matches have been good, none of them last more than a few minutes, and they don’t have the charisma to be the Road Warriors. They’re The Ascension, and it sucks. Especially for Luke Harper, who deserves so, so much better than this.

New Day has been a godsend when it comes to improving tag team wrestling on Smackdown, so I’m prepared to happily change my mind if we get a dope 12-minute back-and-forth tag out of this where everyone’s allowed to shine. I don’t see it happening, though. Luke Harper for U.S. Champ, and Erick Rowan for Guy Who Stands Behind Bray Wyatt During Whatever Bray Wyatt’s Doing Next.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – Please, please let the New Day win this! I don’t think there’s a way to make the Mallet Men’s tag championship reign more interesting, so let’s put the titles back on people who can have great matches without being hindered by their current gimmick.

Raj Prashad – It’ll be a pancake celebration for the New Day when they hoist the title belts yet again. Bludgeon Brothers doesn’t really fit the schtick on Smackdown and seems better suited for the slowed pace of Monday Night Raw.

Bill DiFilippo – New Day is New Day, but I want to see how much more The Bludgeon Brothers can do as champs, so they retain here.

Robby Kalland – I want New Day to win this so bad, which means it’ll be the Bludgies in 47 seconds.

Elle Collins – My deep love for Luke Harper aside, the Bludgeon Brothers have yet to amount to much despite how long they’ve had the belts. I think it might be time to let the New Day have one more run as champs before they focus on their solo careers.

Triple Threat Match for the Smackdown Women’s Championship: Carmella (c) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair

What Should Happen: Charlotte or Becky become Smackdown Women’s Champion, so one of the women’s champions on one of the main roster shows can be counted on to have good wrestling matches. Nothing against Bliss and Carmella, really, but they’re cut from the same character cloth … conniving, manipulative characters who work very hard to avoid confrontation and competition and maintain their status via wacky cheating, crazy stipulations, magical dress-up run-ins, or whatever. That makes crowds see them as “bad at wrestling,” whether they are or not. We don’t need two concurrent Honky Tonk Women Champions, especially headed into Evolution, which is supposed to shine a spotlight on how good WWE’s women’s wrestling has become.

What Will Happen: Carmella’s retaining. Charlotte and Becky have more issues with each other than they seem to have with Carmella, and Smackdown’s made such a point of how they are supposed to be good and Carmella isn’t, that Carmella’s definitely beating them. I’m predicting a good old “someone hits their finisher, Carmella dumps them out of the ring and steals the pin” moment. I think if we’re keeping one of our Honky Tonks, the one that isn’t wrestling Ronda Rousey is the one that remains.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – I think this must be the end of Carmella’s reign, and I’d love to see Lynch as the Smackdown Women’s Champion. However… my brain says Charlotte. My brain also says this match should be pretty good.

Raj Prashad – Carmella’s run with the title reminds me a lot of JBL’s Smackdown run. She keeps winning despite plenty of doubters. She’s really risen to the occasion and I’m picking her to emerge victorious again.

Bill DiFilippo – I swear to god if Becky Lynch doesn’t finally get a title run I’ll, uh, probably just be kind of upset but not much more than that.

Robby Kalland – Becky Lynch is my pick here. WWE doesn’t always go the “you deserve it” route, but here I think they’ll put the belt on one of their most steady workhorses in the division and set up some very fun Lynch-Flair battles going forward.

Elle Collins – Becky needs this win. We all know it, and from the storytelling they’ve been doing lately it seems like WWE knows it too. A lot of people have been guessing that Charlotte will win and Becky will turn heel, but I think it’s going to be the opposite. Becky gets the win and Charlotte’s sense of entitlement causes her to turn on her best friend. That plays better to both their strengths, plus they’re probably going to want Charlotte as a heel going into next year and her inevitable WrestleMania match with Ronda Rousey.

Raw Women’s Championship Match: Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Ronda Rousey

What Should Happen: Six-seconds armbar magic. WWE putting the Raw Women’s Championship on Ronda Rousey’s one of those things you could predict in your sleep, and while it might be smart to save it for Hell in a Cell (where they’ll need a marquee match for casual fans after a possible loss of Brock Lesnar) or Evolution (where the focus is completely on WWE’s women Superstars), you might as well just pull the trigger and send her to Today or whatever with the belt on her shoulder. Outside of maybe Ember Moon or a motivated Nia Jax, I can’t think of anyone on Raw right now who should even be getting believable offense on Rousey, much less beating her at fights. All your Charlottes and Beckys and Asukas are on the other show, and your Shayna Baszlers and Kairi Sanes are still in NXT.

What Will Happen: Ronda loses via roll-up. Because [vague gesturing].

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – Unless they’re going to rematch, I think they’re putting the belt on Rousey because, you know, strike while the iron’s hot.

Raj Prashad – There’s no way WWE puts Rousey in a title match and she doesn’t win. I think I wrote the same sentence back at MITB, but the qualifier was that Alexa Bliss (or someone else) could cash in. Rousey should be propelled to the top of the card with a win here.

Bill DiFilippo – Ronda wins and starts a title reign that culminates in a match with Charlotte Flair that main events WrestleMania.

Robby Kalland – Rousey wins here, it’s just a matter of how quickly.

Elle Collins – I’m one of those who feels like Ronda’s push has been awfully fast for how long she’s been in the company, but now that we’re here, let’s just put the belt on her. It’s not like Alexa hasn’t had plenty of time as Champion. This is what I think should happen, and it’s also my guess for what will happen.

WWE Championship Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe

What Should Happen: JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE JOE

What Will Happen: It’s time to give the title to Samoa Joe. He’s been an A+ player since he came up to the main roster, and while AJ Styles is still a fantastic wrestler, I feel like he’s lost a lot of prestige and momentum doing bad main event feuds with crummy match endings. Let’s get back to AJ Styles being in a match being a bulletproof reason why it’ll be great, let’s give Joe to the top crown in the company, and for bonus fun, let Roman Reigns win and get cashed in on by Kevin Owens or Braun Strowman so Joe can start the next Smackdown bragging about how he’s WWE’s only current Samoan World Champion.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – WWE CHAMPION SAMOA JOE, PLEASE. I’m very ready for Joe vs. Styles, part one million/part one in WWE. This might be match of the night if Miz vs. Bryan isn’t.

Raj Prashad – If ever there was a time for Joe to take over the main title, it would be on Smackdown with the group of talent on that brand. He’s the perfect monster heel and sets up an eventual showdown with Daniel Bryan.

Bill DiFilippo – AJ Styles rules and I love him dearly. Samoa Joe rules more and I love him more. Joe wins. Also: Please sign Christopher Daniels in the next like 48 hours and have them re-create their TNA Unbreakable 2005 match so I can turn into a sobbing mess on the floor in my living room.

Robby Kalland – I’m all in on WWE Champion Samoa Joe. It’s time to have a fresh champ and I think they’ll want to run this back with a rematch at the next PPV.

Elle Collins – This match is going to rule. I really want Joe to win that title eventually, but I’m picking AJ to retain here, especially because I’m expecting plenty of other title changes on this card.

Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns

What Should Happen: Brock Lesnar retains. I know, I know, it’s the worst possible outcome, but oh man do I want to see how mad people would get. How mad I would get. Even worse: Lesnar retains, Braun Strowman or Kevin Owens try to cash in Money in the Bank on him, and he retains there, too. MADNESS. COMPLETE INSANITY.

What Will Happen: Brother, I don’t know how to type “Roman Reigns finally wins the Universal Championship and we move on from the past several years of this one match” again. Honestly, as per the Money in the Bank briefcase match entry above, I think the closest thing to a believable decision that moves us forward is Kevin Owens worming his way into the briefcase on a technicality, waiting for Brock Lesnar to kill Roman Reigns, Reigns finally toppling Brock via pinfall in the middle of the ring with 1 HP left on his health meter and blood all over his face, and Owens worming his way into an instant title win. You get Kevin Owens as your champion, Reigns gets an actual feud with someone for a reason that isn’t “I want to fight the guy who’s never here for the 10th time,” you validate Reigns’ boasts about how he can beat Lesnar, and hey, the belt’s on the show again.

I’m also totally okay with Braun Strowman cashing in on either of them. Or both of them.

Staff Picks

Emily Pratt – This has to involve Strowman cashing in, right? And then we get the Strowman/Roman rivalry for actual belt stakes this time that we deserve? It seems obvious, but who knows what we’ll actually get! I guess as long as they take the belt off Brock I’ll go home (er, eventually turn off my laptop) relatively happy, but a Strowman cash in seems like the only way to effecitvely use the inevitable live audience tantrum.

Raj Prashad – I picked Reigns to win at ‘Mania, then at the Greatest Royal Rumble, so you’d think I’d be smart and pick Lesnar here. You’d be correct. WWE seems perfectly happy with Lesnar being a lightening rod for both Vince McMahon’s organization, as well as UFC.

Bill DiFilippo – It’s time for Roman to finally win and put this to bed forever, right? Please? Give me a Roman win and Brock leaving to do UFC for a while, at which point Daniel Cormier beats him and sends him back to WWE. [Circle of Life plays on a bunch of kazoos in the background]

Robby Kalland – Reigns has to win this time. Right? Right?!?! Also, Owens will cash in on him immediately.

Elle Collins – This again? Really? I’m fine with Roman winning. I’m fine with Braun (or KO) cashing in. I just want Brock to go away at this point. I’m not trying to be negative, that’s just the truth. Putting my optimism hat on, I’m picking Braun via cash-in for this match (even if that contradicts my pick for Braun’s own match).

That’s it for our exhaustive rundown of SummerSlam. What do you think will happen? Are we getting a cash-in? Does Dean Ambrose turn? Drop a comment below to let us know what you think’s going down, and make sure you’re here on Sunday to see if you’re right.