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The Biggest Party of the Summer, SummerSlam, is just a few days away, and WWE has booked some huge matches for this year’s show.
One of the biggest matches at the event will see WWE Champion Drew McIntyre defend his title against The Viper, Randy Orton. Orton has put Edge and several other legends on the shelf on the way to this opportunity.
The Viper will look to go all the way and become the WWE Champion once again and end McIntyre’s first reign as WWE Champion.
However, The Scottish Psychopath will do everything in his power to retain his title at SummerSlam, and also look to avenge the veterans who've been put on the shelf by Orton.
Orton has made a few friends and enemies along the way to this match, and we could see some involvement that may influence the outcome of this match.
In this article, we will look at the five ways in which the WWE Championship match between Orton and McIntyre at SummerSlam could come to an end.
#5 Drew McIntyre Claymore Kick's Randy Orton to retain his title at WWE SummerSlam
At WrestleMania 36, Drew McIntyre overcame all odds to conquer ‘The Beast’ Brock Lesnar and win his first WWE Championship. It took a long time for "The Chosen One", but the wait was worth it as WWE managed to tell his story pretty well.
Since then, McIntyre has run through challengers such as Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and The Big Show. However, Randy Orton seems to be the biggest Superstar who has crossed his path and will look to take his title away at WWE SummerSlam.
While the threat of losing his title at the event is high, WWE could choose to give McIntyre a big victory at the event to show that he is a resilient fighting Champion, which will help him elevate his value.
We could see McIntyre deliver a Claymore Kick out of nowhere to The Viper, and pin him clean to retain his title and remain undefeated in singles competition since WrestleMania. Even though Orton has been built strong, McIntyre is the future of the company and they could protect him at the event.
With WWE Payback set to be held just a week after SummerSlam, WWE could allow McIntyre to retain at SummerSlam and give Orton a reason to challenge him again at the following event.
#4 RETRIBUTION runs havoc at WWE SummerSlam
While WWE RAW and SmackDown have been building towards WWE SummerSlam, a group of hooligans have been appearing during each show and vandalizing WWE’s equipment and attacking Superstars and officials in the ring and backstage.
The group has been revealed as RETRIBUTION, but the identities and the number of people involved in the faction are still unknown.
At WWE SummerSlam, the faction could make its biggest mark to date by attacking Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre during their match, causing the match to end in a no-contest. Tom Colohue of Sportskeeda noted the same during his chat before the beginning of RAW this week:
“Don't be surprised if this whole thing is held up or potentially interrupted by Retribution in the main event of SummerSlam in order to get a draw rematch at Payback. I don't know why they've got a PPV the week after but they're having it as an overflow PPV and they will need big draw rematches. A week is not long enough to build a new feud. They will need a lot of rematches.”
WWE has planned the WWE Payback pay-per-view just a week after SummerSlam, and they will need some big matches to make the event successful. A rematch between Orton and McIntyre for the WWE Championship after a no-contest could help elevate the value of the event.
#3 Ric Flair returns to help Randy Orton win the WWE Championship at SummerSlam
A few weeks before WWE SummerSlam, Randy Orton turned on his mentor Ric Flair and attacked him on RAW, after calling him a liability that was weighing him down.
While fans expected Orton to turn on Flair at some point, many expected him to do so after his match at SummerSlam and not before it. However, The Viper couldn’t conceal his true colors for too long and attacked the legend to make a statement.
During a live preview before this week’s WWE RAW, Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue addressed the Orton-Flair segment and spoke about how WWE had planned to write Flair off television before they returned to the live TV.
However, Colohue noted that the planned finish for the match at SummerSlam might have involved The Nature Boy:
“Randy Orton might not have visibly punted Ric Flair but neither did Braun Strowman visibly throw Alexa Bliss to the ground. It doesn't change the fact that WWE wanted Flair written off before the return to live TV. He could still return to cost either Orton or McIntyre at SummerSlam using as controlled an environment as possible. Now that was the original intention, to have Ric Flair somehow involved but the original plan was of course in an attack against McIntyre.”
Keeping in mind what Colohue said, there is a possiblity that WWE could reveal that Orton’s attack on Flair to be a plan by the two men, and we could see Flair come out to distract McIntyre and help Orton win the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.
This would continue to add fuel to the heat surrounding Orton and Flair, and the duo could reuntie on RAW after the pandemic is over.
#2 Randy Orton RKOs Dew McIntyre to become a 14-time World Champion at WWE SummerSlam
Randy Orton is a 13-time World Champion, and his mentor Ric Flair wants to see him break his 16 World Championships record before The Viper hangs up his boots. He could come close to doing so at WWE SummerSlam.
This may not sound like a tall task for someone like Orton who has already won several titles in WWE and does not take long periods off dealing with injuries.
At SummerSlam, Orton will get his first WWE Championship shot since September last year where he lost to Kofi Kingston.
We’ve seen Orton take out everyone in his path to achieve success in WWE. Orton and McIntyre could have a great match at SummerSlam where the two trade blows before Orton finds an opportunity to deliver an RKO to pin McIntyre clean and become the new WWE Champion.
Orton is closing in on becoming the most decorated WWE Superstar of all time, and a big victory at WWE SummerSlam could give him a chance of breaking Flair's incredible record.
#1 Randy Orton’s victim(s) appear to take his opportunity away at WWE SummerSlam
On the final episode of WWE RAW before SummerSlam, Shawn Michaels made an appearance to talk about Randy Orton’s heinous actions which took out Ric Flair a week earlier.
The Heartbreak Kid warned The Viper by stating that something is going to happen, and Orton could be at the receiving end of a Sweet Chin Music or a Claymore Kick.
"Randy Orton, I don't know it's going to happen, but I can assure it is going to happen... At SummerSlam, you WILL see it coming."
What is Michaels alluding to?
Orton has attacked and taken out Christian, The Big Show, Kevin Owens and Flair, and took out Michaels at the end of last week’s show.
We could perhaps see one or multiple men, who’ve come in Orton’s line of fire recently, appear and distract or attack Orton to help Drew McIntyre deliver the Claymore Kick and pick up the victory.
This would allow McIntyre to retain his title while not hurting The Viper's gimmick, who has been on a red-hot run, and he could come after The Scottish Psychopath once again at WWE Payback.
