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The build to Extreme Rules hasn't inspired a lot of confidence. It feels like the most filler of all filler WWE shows this year. Even Backlash felt more important going in. As far as setting the table for SummerSlam, WWE has done an extremely poor job.
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No less than half the card feels meaningless, story-wise. Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt are taking on a team of comedy jobbers. Rusev has zero chance of dethroning AJ Styles, though the match itself should be a good one. Baron Corbin and Finn Balor are having a match only to fill time. Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins should be the highlight of the night, but it's unlikely anything major develops as a result of their match. The most important developments have already taken place. Jeff Hardy and Shinsuke Nakamura should both do the US title some good.
Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens is likely to be added to the card, but that feud has been just as meaningless.
What of the rest? If WWE wants to truly make SummerSlam live up to its name as the biggest party of the summer - the company must make the following decisions at this otherwise meaningless pay-per-view event.
#1 Roman Reigns must not main event
With Brock Lesnar's re-entry into the world of MMA, the mess of a Universal Championship picture just got even messier. The confusion makes it hard for fans to invest, and this match lacks clarity even more now. Will WWE push Brock Lesnar past SummerSlam even more, for the sake of some cross-promotional dream?
Roman Reigns has a horrible pay-per-view CV this year. Bobby Lashley isn't much better off. The example of Backlash still looms over this match. The right decision was made at Money in the Bank to keep Reigns in the middle of the show, and the company needs to repeat that decision, lest fans get even more hostile to this match than they're likely to be.
#2 Asuka must defeat Carmella
After three months, the results are in. Carmella's championship reign has been every bit the disaster we all knew it would be for a year.
In Carmella, SmackDown has a, quite frankly, talentless women's champion. Her matches have been abysmal. The company knows this, which is why they don't let her wrestle on television. Her segments are heatless. James Ellsworth was brought back in an attempt to save her reign, but as the last episode of SmackDown proved, it hasn't worked. She remains heatless.
The entire division is being dragged down because of Carmella. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why SmackDown reached one of its lowest ratings in history last week. It's time to end her reign. Sending her into what's supposedly the company's second-biggest event of the year as champion would be preposterous and laughable.
For the sake of SummerSlam, the SmackDown women's division, the blue brand itself, and not to mention her own career, Asuka must defeat Carmella at Extreme Rules.
The fact that James Ellsworth has indy dates still booked past Extreme Rules gives reason for some hope, but I'm not holding my breath. Just because something must happen doesn't mean the company will make it so, to its own detriment time and time again.
#3 The Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax feud must end
Like many other attempts at storytelling from WWE in 2018, this feud stinks. It's time to end it once and for all at Extreme Rules. That means Alexa Bliss not only retaining her championship but doing so decisively and sending Nia Jax back to the lower card where she belongs.
There have been hints at Ronda Rousey's presence and interference in the match. Whatever happens with Rousey, one scenario must be avoided - Nia Jax's continued involvement in this program.
The SummerSlam match should be Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss. Nia Jax adds nothing to that picture and will only detract from it. No triple threat match should be set up as a result of this. The story is best told as Ronda Rousey finally getting her hands on Alexa Bliss.
With the no DQ stipulation in place, Alexa Bliss can end this thing quickly and move on to Ronda Rousey. That's what should happen.
#4 The Bludgeon Brothers retain their titles
As fun as Team Hell No's reunion has been, and as forgettable as the Bludgeon Brothers have been as champions, the champions must nevertheless retain their titles.
With Kane's political aspirations and his election fast approaching, no one expects him to stick around for long. Furthermore, Daniel Bryan has a bigger feud on the horizon, and it doesn't involve someone with a beard.
The Miz won't be in the building next Sunday, but he should be Daniel Bryan's SummerSlam opponent. Sending Bryan into Brooklyn in a tag team feud doesn't exactly live up to the "biggest party of the summer" moniker.
Unless they're planning to save Miz vs. Bryan for WrestleMania, that is. But even if they do want to do that match, having the first encounter between the pair at SummerSlam to set the feud off wouldn't be a bad idea. It would be better than a tag team feud, at any rate.
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