Las Vegas. The Allegiant Stadium. A Saturday night event slot. And a Cardi B tune as its theme song. This year’s SummerSlam sure has a lot going for it.
Now that live crowds have returned to wrestling, WWE is looking to do it real big for their annual August PPV spectacular. All of the factors mentioned above are sure to guarantee that SummerSlam 2021 will be a show to remember. The big names will be definitely in attendance – Bobby Lashley, Goldberg, Roman Reigns, John Cena, and a host of other WWE Superstars will be hop into the ring to make history in Vegas. Will new champions be crowned? Or will the current title holders retain their prizes? And can we expect to see some mind-blowing returns?
Before we make our way to the biggest party of the summer, let’s break down all the announced matches for SummerSlam 2021 and predict who will come out on top for each one.
Nikki A.S.H. (c) vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair (Triple Threat Match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship)
WWE
Predictions & Winner: At this year’s Money in the Bank, I had a gut feeling that Becky Lynch would make her grand return at the end of Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair and challenge the winner of that bout. To my surprise, Flair ended up prevailing in the end with no sight of “The Man.” Cut to the next episode of Raw where Nikki A.S.H. cashed in her MITB contract and ended Flair’s Raw Women’s Championship reign just one day after winning it. Now while I have no love for Nikki Cross’ new superhero gimmick, I’m still happy for the girl now that she’s champion for the first time in her WWE career. Now her biggest test to date is going to take place at her SummerSlam debut – she’ll have to defend her newly won prize against the last two titleholders at the very same time.
This one could go either way, honestly. I could see Flair or Ripley managing to get the title back and bringing a quick end to Nikki’s first title reign. WWE certainly has it in them to end a title reign on its first defense with a gimmick that doesn’t really have a long shelf life to it. But I could also see the superheroine pulling out the victory and prolonging her fiery babyface run since she’s a fresh face at the top of the title picture. I’m going to go with my latter prediction – Nikki’s reign will continue here. Plus I think she’ll get the ultimate rub by pinning Flair clean. Afterward, I can totally see Lynch FINALLY coming back to stake her claim for the championship she never even lost. I can already hear the massive pop from that Las Vegas crowd! Nikki’s title push is something that I can see going for a bit longer before she’s forced to face “The Man” at the next PPV.
Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. John Cena (WWE Universal Championship)
WWE
Predictions & Winner: The biggest party of the summer deserves the biggest match. And that’s what we’re getting here in a much-anticipated rematch from No Mercy 2017. John Cena is back in the swing of things to take on a man unlike the one he fought a few years back – this version of Roman Reigns is far more cunning, visceral, and sinister in his new role as the “Tribal Chief.” I’m super excited to watch this one unfold now that Reigns has gotten more comfortable in his role as one of the top guys in the company and because Cena never disappoints these days. My gut is telling me this big-time title matchup is definitely taking the main event slot.
I don’t foresee any outside shenanigans involving The Usos during this matchup – Reigns will go it alone with nothing but his manager Paul Heyman by his side. This match will be as fair and square as possible. Cena certainly has it in him to topple Reigns and set off another title reign in his storied career. Coming back from such a long hiatus would lead one to believe that he’s due for another championship victory here. But I feel like Reigns’ title reign needs a new and fresh opponent to bring it to a close. Cena’s obviously being placed here to give Reigns the rub of being able to defeat WWE’s former poster boy twice. I say all that to say this – Reigns is walking away here with head and arm held high as he retains the Universal Championship once again. This bout has MOTY material written all over it, so here’s hoping it meets the high bar many have set for it. I can’t wait to see Reigns destroy another crowd favorite on PPV!
