WWE SummerSlam 2017: Matches & Predictions

Before the Fall season kicks off, there’s one more major Summer WWE PPV to get through. And the event I’m alluding to is wrestling’s self-proclaimed “Biggest Party of the Summer,” SummerSlam.

In 2016, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center played host to that mega event. That trend’s going to continue for the 2017 edition of this joint operation between both the Raw and SmackDown Live’s brands. Feuds that have been raging on since the warmer months of the year began will probably see their conclusion at SummerSlam. At the top of the card is the blockbuster Fatal 4-Way WWE Universal Championship match. Current title holder Brock Lesnar will go to war with this three biggest rivals – Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman. This match and the other planned matchups on for this year’s Summerslam are so big, the event’s getting an extra hour to feature them all.

This card’s pretty damn big. So let’s head straight into the madness that is SummerSlam 2017 and predict who’s going to walk away as the victors.

---

The Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) and Jason Jordan vs. The Miz and The Miztourage (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas) (with Maryse) (6-Man Tag Team Match)

Predictions & Winners: This one’s a bit tough to predict. On one hand, you have The Hardy Boyz and Jason Jordan. Matt and Jeff have cooled off a lot lately and Jason Jordan is damn near ice cold. They could use a big win just so they don’t get any closer to irrelevancy levels. Then there’s the stable of The Miz, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas. Miz is the current IC Champion and he needs to stay a bit stronger these days (watching him get suplexed to death by Lesnar a few weeks back did him no favors). In order to add more legitimacy to Miz and his crew, they could use the win too. I’m putting too much thought into this, honestly. The good guys are going to get the win since these Kickoff Show time killers always seem to favor the babyfaces.

---

Neville vs. Akira Tozawa (c) (with Titus O’Neil) (WWE Cruiserweight Championship)

Update: thanks to Titus helping his client Tozawa get his title match early, the Japanese cruiserweight ended up besting Neville and becoming the new champion! It looks like Neville will be getting his rematch at SummerSlam in the position of challenger now. I’m sticking to my guns here – Tozawa’s walking in and walking out as the WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Predictions & Winner: The Titus Brand may have hit a snag back at Great Balls of Fire, but now it’s back in the winning seat with Akira Tozawa in tow. Tozawa fought his way back into becoming the #1 Contender for Raw’s Cruiserweight Championship. This signals a rematch between Neville and the Japanese stalwart that I for one can’t wait to see. Neville’s been seemingly unstoppable ever since he became the champ, but I think time is running out for the “King of the Cruiserweights.” Tozawa will be the one to finally dethrone him thanks to some outside assistance from his overly excited agent. Tozawa will celebrate with his newly won championship not knowing that he got it through some unseen assistance from Titus. The way this match ends will give Neville all the reason in the world to ask for a championship rematch sooner rather than later. Bet on it!

---

Big Cass vs. Big Show (Enzo Amore Will be Suspended Above the Ring in a Shark Cage)

Predictions & Winner: After that atrocious main event display both these giants put on recently, I’m sure me and a lot of you fans out there could care less about this rematch. The breakup of Big Cass and Enzo has resulted in Enzo giving speeches, Cass big booting him every chance he gets and Big Show sticking his nose into their affairs. Expect some form of that occurring here – Enzo will give his patented “How you doin?” shtick on the mic, Show will nod in approval in the background, Cass will arrive with his horrible theme music in tow and somehow he’ll take down the threat of Mr. Paul Wight. Enzo’s presence in the shark cage will be an element in this match that will result in him verbally chastising Cass during the bout, but to little or no avail…

---

Naomi (c) vs. Natalya (WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)

Predictions & Winner: Naomi’s title run has been…non-eventful, to say the least. Her matches against Charlotte were decent enough, but her later bouts vs. Lana were pretty much glorified squash matches. I feel like Natalya’s a solid member of the roster who can always be called upon to provide a match worth watching. But it’s hard to deny how stale she’s become compared to her more interesting contemporaries. Sure, she became the #1 Contender at Battleground. But it didn’t really get me excited or more interested in SD Live’s Women’s Division.

This match will be far from horrendous. It should be much better than expected since both of these ladies know how to turn up a bit more on the big PPV stage. My gut’s telling me Naomi’s going to retain after a hard fought match that will leave her gasping for air and grabbing the ropes for support. This will signal the lioness who’s currently holding onto the Women’s MITB briefcase, Carmella. The cash-in and sudden title change will go down here. Naomi’s retaining, then Carmella’s taking the title home just a few minutes after. Watch!

---

Randy Orton vs. Rusev

Predictions & Winner: Rusev’s FINALLY an active member of the SD Live roster…and he walked right into a cliched match against a very patriotic John Cena. Don’t get me wrong – that match ended up being a lot better than I figured it would be. But still, Rusev deserves better than “evil foreign heel who’s…EVIL!” I miss the short tenure of “Handsome” Rusev, but he’s back to being a very peeved off heel. So he asked for some worthy competition to go against at SummerSlam and the master of the RKO answered his call. So now it’s official – Rusev’s going to take on another major pillar of the SD Live roster. I’m going all in on a Rusev victory here. He just ate a big pinfall loss from Cena and it would just be too much of a kick to the nads for him to take an L from Orton. Rusev will and HAS to get the win here to salvage what little is left of his badassery.

---

John Cena vs. Baron Corbin

Update: HUH? Corbin cashed in and lost…TO A SIMPLE ASS SCHOOL BOY? Man…anyways, I can’t see Corbin taking another embarrassing L so shortly after what happened on SD Live. I say Corbin still walks away with the win.

Predictions & Winner: This was…expected. Before last week’s #1 Contendership match between Cena and Nakamura, this SD Live SummerSlam bout seemed like something that wasn’t going to happen. Everyone and their mother predicted Cena taking on Mahal for the WWE Championship and Nakamura taking on someone new entirely instead of his Battleground opponent. But, here we are with the big sour loner holding the MITB briefcase vs. Mr. WWE himself. The circumstances surrounding this match are a bit similar to the ones concerning Orton vs. Rusev.

But here’s the thing – Corbin’s a talent that’s remained strong ever since he claimed the briefcase unlike Rusev, who came back just to play a tired role that he should be above by now. Rusev needs the win against Orton, while Corbin DESERVES the win against Cena. Get what I’m saying? So yeah, Corbin’s going over here in order to maintain his high standing on the Blue Brand. Cena’s been in a real giving mood lately, which is why I think he’s gifting Corbin with one of the biggest wins of his young career.

---

Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks (WWE Raw Women’s Championship)

Predictions & Winner: Bayley’s been forced to take a sabbatical due to her shoulder injury (DAMN YOU, NIA!). So it’s been decided that her best buddy Miss Banks has become the new number one contender for the Raw Women’s Championship after defeating Miss Jax. So here’s how this match will unfold – Bliss and Banks will tear into each other. Bliss will pull out all the illegal stops in order to hold onto her title, but they’ll all fail her in the long run. Sasha Banks will wrestle the Raw Women’s Championship away from Miss Bliss, which will then lead into the returning Bayley requesting a title shot at a later date. Banks will FINALLY turn heel on Bayley by savagely attacking her, denying her title shot and becoming the evil version of her “Boss” moniker. This Summerslam match is just the first part in a story that will lead to Banks embracing her dark side and getting into a main roster war with a rejuvenated Bayley.

Cesaro and Sheamus (c) vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)

Predictions & Winners: So we got our lil’ Shield reunion with Ambrose and Rollins minus Reigns. I have to hand it to the creatives behind this whole ordeal since they’ve stuck to the timeless art of the “slow burn.” Ambrose got screwed over hard by his former running buddy and he was far from trusting of the man who used to be the focal point of The Authority. Rollins knows he did his former stable mate wrong, which is why it took weeks for both men to finally agree to team up once again. Their opponents are the individuals who’ve been revived via a strong tag team championship run – Cesaro and Sheamus. For some reason, I sense a swerve coming our way from this match. Ambrose has been a face for a while now, but it’s about time for him to change up his style and re-embrace his maniacal “Jon Moxley” lifestyle. Rollins’ babyface run has been lacking and one of the reasons for that is him not having a good heel to work with. Ambrose will now become his most hated rival, which will evoke memories of the hateful feelings Ambrose harbored against a heel Rollins. Near the close of this bout, Rollins will look like he’ll have the match won…until Ambrose flips him around and plants him with a Dirty Deeds. Ambrose will shock the world (not me) and walk off while Rollins eats the decisive pin that’ll keep Cesaro and Sheamus as champions. Ambrose has every reason in the world to turn on Rollins, which will make this blood feud a lot more nuanced and interesting.

---

“The Demon” Finn Bálor vs. Bray Wyatt

Update: so Bray soundly defeated Balor on the last episode of Raw before SummerSlam. Balor went ahead and promised that he’ll be bringing back his more demonic alter ego. There’s no way he’ll drop another loss to Bray, especially now that I know Balor’s gonna go on a body art rampage.

Predictions & Winner: “The Eater of Worlds” has set his sights on “The Demon.” This would have been a more exciting prospect had both men hadn’t gotten so cold lately. Bray’s lost a lot of his luster ever since being moved to Raw and Balor’s had a hard time regaining the hot streak and fan adoration he garnered before his shoulder injury. Both men have reached into their bag of dark promos in order to properly psyche each other out. I can see Bray getting extra creepy once he finally locks up with Bálor. And watching Bálor unveil his demonic face/body paint for this supernatural encounter is a safe bet. I think Balor’s going to go 2-0 at SummerSlam with a win over the guy who’s double entendre promos have no effect on anyone whatsoever anymore.

---

The New Day (Big E and/or Xavier Woods and/or Kofi Kingston) (c) vs. The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) (WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)

Predictions & Winners: After the amazing contest this group of talent put on at Battleground, count me all the way in for this rematch. The Usos have been out for blood ever since the SmackDown Live tag straps were taken from them. They have no time for all the happy go-lucky shenanigans and celebratory title celebrations of their rivals. As for the new tag team champions, The New Day is riding high and ready to beat back the threat of The Usos once again. Their title reign seems to be something that will go just as long as the reign they enjoyed while on Raw. Which lets me know that The New Day are going to become the victors after another high octane bout at the Barclays. This feud won’t come to a close, though. There just aren’t a whole lot of teams that can present an actual threat to The New Day at this point…

---

AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens (WWE United States Championship Match with Shane McMahon as the Special Guest Referee)

Predictions & Winner: The United States Championship is enjoying a nice lil’ hot streak right now. The two men responsible for turning that title into the top prize on the Blue Brand are AJ Styles and Kevin Owens. Styles claimed the championship during a MSG House Show, Owens got it right back at Battleground then Styles reclaimed it on the following episode of SD Live. All that madness has led up to Owens losing a rematch that was mired in controversy.

So now Styles vs. Owens is going down again and this time, Shane O’ Mac is the one who’ll be donning the referee duds. I was hoping this match would have been turned into a Ladder Match to lessen the chances of this match ending via a screwy finish, but oh well. As a matter of fact, that’s what I’m expecting here. Somehow someway, Styles will end up retaining the US Championship over Owens. Owens will have all the reason in the world to be even more pissed at Shane when he makes the 3-count after something Owens deems unfair happens to him.

---

Jinder Mahal (c) (with Sunil Singh and Samir Singh) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Championship)

Predictions & Winner: I. Am. Shocked! As someone who’s been doing this wrestling prediction thing for a couple years now, my gut told me that WWE was going to go all patriotic again. I wanted no parts of Mahal vs. Cena, but that seemed like the most expected move to make for SD Live’s marquee match. Then the most shocking result of all took place – Shinsuke Nakamura faced John Cena for the very first time and ended up beating him! Whoa…I couldn’t have predicted that going down.

So there you have it, folks – Jinder Mahal’s next title challenger is Shinsuke Nakamura. India vs. Japan. “The Modern Day Maharaja” vs. “The Artist.” Mahal’s beaten back Orton on three separate occasions and he now has the added muscle of The Great Khali backing him up. So the odds are definitely stacked against Nakamura. I think Nakamura might actually pull a good to great match out of Jinder, which will end up being one of the biggest shockers of the evening. Nakamura will be on the verge of defeating Jinder several times throughout this bout and have the crowd biting on every near fall. But I still foresee Mahal being the man leaving with the WWE Championship around his waist. Mahal’s mini-army will help him keep his hold on the title for just a little bit longer.

---

Brock Lesnar (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman (Fatal 4-Way Match for the WWE Universal Championship)

Predictions & Winner: I’M SO HYPED FOR THIS! While Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar wasn’t as incredible as it turned out to be, I’m still excited at the prospect of seeing them meeting each other in the ring again. But this time, two more beasts will join them in the Lion’s Den – Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. What makes this match all the more interesting is the threat from Lesnar’s advocate. Heyman’s made it clear that if Lesnar loses his grip around the Universal Championship, they’ll both walk away from WWE. This announcement falls right around the time where rumors of Lesnar returning to the UFC are running rampant (Jon Jones called him out, plus there were rumors of Lesnar going back into USADA testing). So I’m sure whoever’s reading this right now thinks there’s a slight chance that this match may provide an out for Lesnar so he can head back to the world of MMA.

The three men that present the greatest threat to Lesnar will all be in the ring at the same time. It’s pretty plausible that Strowman will be the main one targeted by the other three competitors since he’s damn near unstoppable. Joe and Reigns will be sent to Suplex City repeatedly by Lesnar at various points, but I’m guessing both those men will do their best to weaken the champ. When Strowman awakes from his beatdown, he’ll tear into all three challengers with reckless abandon. This is the type of main event that’s a car crash in the best way possible. Here’s the thing – Lesnar’s held the title since April. He’s had a good run and it seems like Lesnar’s weird schedule is beginning to annoy a lot of fans. If Lesnar’s really ready to leave, then now’s the perfect time to do so and drop the title to another juggernaut. There’s three other killers in this match who deserve the title, but Samoa Joe will be the one to do it. It makes the most sense for him to finally lay claim to the championship since he’s been on Lesnar’s heels the most. “The Samoan Submission Machine” will get the ultimate rub when he finally chokes out Lesnar and become’s Raw biggest dog in the yard (sorry, Roman!).