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Summerslam is finally upon us!
That's right! One of the big four pay per views of the year is only a short time away, and WWE is already working hard on creating a night that fans can remember. In fact, with the matches that WWE already has announced for the event and the extra matches they are teasing, it could turn out to be one of the best pay-per-views of the year.
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Of course, that might be too much expectation on a company that had lacklustre results at Money in The Bank and Extreme Rules, but WWE seems to be going in the right direction this time. Not only that, WWE seems to also be planning for the future of the company, which is also very exciting to a lot of fans.
With that being said and the build to Summerslam continuing on, here are five things WWE must do at Summerslam and five things they must avoid doing at the pay-per-view. In the end, whether they heed this advice or not is totally up to them, but after two back to back failures at Extreme Rules and Money in The Bank, WWE can't risk that outcome a third time.
#10 Balor needs to lose
Believe it or not, a loss for Balor is the best thing for him right now. The WWE Universe knows that Summerslam is supposed to be a big-time event for Balor, especially since that's where he won his first main roster championship and WWE knows that a loss for Balor at the biggest party of the summer is going to upset fans.
In fact, its the same thing WWE did with Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 28. Have Balor lose quickly in a dirty finish type scenario and send fans into a rage. Not only will fans be upset that Balor was screwed over so quickly on such a grand stage, they will also be upset at who he lost to.
In the end, this will be the building blocks to creating the underdog persona WWE needs from Balor right now, and will also catapult him into the title picture later on in the process. It's a win-win scenario for WWE, helping Balor spin his wheels while he waits for an opportunity at The Universal Title and builds up his momentum in the process.
#9 Must not: Put the IC title back on Seth Rollins
There is absolutely no reason to put The Intercontinental title back on Seth Rollins and hopefully, WWE will remember that heading into Summerslam. Of course, there is also no reason for Ziggler to have the title right now either, but Rollins shouldn't be anywhere near that mid-card title picture right now.
With that being said, it seems like this match will bring about more problems for Rollins than it will help him move his way back up the card. In fact, how is WWE going to move him away from the title picture and give him momentum in the process if he loses to Ziggler at one of the big four pay-per-views of the year?
Maybe WWE could have Drew Mcytire interfere to muddy up the finish a bit, but WWE can't keep going back to the well with this idea. They had already put these two in an Iron Man Match against each other and two other contests before that, which means The WWE Universe is probably very tired of this trend continuing.
#8 Must: Put The Authors of Pain in the title picture
Let's be honest here.
The Authors of Pain have been treading water ever since they came up to the main roster and it's time to change that! Furthermore, its time to renew faith in The Tag team division by showing The WWE Universe what these two former NXT superstars can do when they are allowed to run on all cylinders.
Another reason that The Authors of Pain need to be inserted into the title picture at Summerslam, is due to the fact that The Deleters of worlds versus The B Team is starting to get tiring to watch. With that being said and Summerslam a time of blockbuster matches, they should really put The Authors of Pain into the title picture to shake things up.
#7 Must not: Bring back Ellsworth
Smackdown Live General Manager, Paige, fired James Ellsworth for disrespecting her authority multiple times and while one would hope that would be the end of The chinless one, it seems more and more likely that it won't be. In fact, Carmella's match with Becky Lynch for The Smackdown Live Women's title seems pretty much guaranteed to have an interference from Ellsworth.
Maybe WWE will be able to resist the temptation to make The Women's title look more like a joke than it already does, and eventually set up a match between Becky Lynch and James Ellsworth, but it doesn't seem like WWE has that type of control. Furthermore, it seems like WWE is far more interested in pissing fans off then preserving the prestige of the title.
#6 Must: insert Stephanie McMahon into Raw Women's title match
Speaking of women's title matches, WWE needs to work on inserting Stephanie McMahon into the title match between Ronda Rousey and Alexa Bliss. Not only will doing so make fans get behind Rousey early in the match, but it also allows for Bliss not to get the upper hand on Rousey in a straight up wrestling match.
Another reason that McMahon should be inserted into the title match in some capacity, is that it would be a great followup to their match at WrestleMania 34 with Kurt Angle and Triple H. It also gives WWE a chance to set up Stephanie McMahon versus Ronda Rousey for the title at Evolution or Hell in a cell which would be the perfect place for a match like that!
In the end, WWE would make the match a lot more interesting by putting McMahon in there and would really solidify that feeling of The Authority taking over WWE again. Maybe that didn't work in years past, especially after WWE did it with Daniel Bryan, but it seems like the time has done to re-implement it in some capacity.
#5 Must not: Take the title off of Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE finally did what they should have done a long time ago. They actually put momentum behind Shinsuke Nakamura by having him win The United States Title from Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules and followed it up with a successful title defence two nights later on Smackdown Live as well.
If nothing else, heel Shinsuke Nakamura as United States Champion is one of the best decisions WWE has made regarding The King of Strongstyle and should continue with him as the champion moving forward. In fact, putting the title on Randy Orton seems to accomplish nothing and putting it back on Hardy seems like a bad idea too.
Think about it! What does giving Randy Orton The United States title to move the company forward? Also, what does it do to Shinsuke Nakamura, who just had arguably the biggest victory of his main roster career? Why in the world would someone want to mess that up by taking the title off of him a month later?
Then there's Jeff Hardy. While he has served as a decent United States champion, it is rumored that he is injured and taking time off after Summerslam, which means he isn't even an option to win anyway. With that being said, keeping the title on Nakamura is a great way to continue his momentum and continue the momentum of The United States title as well.
#4 Must: Keep the match between Bliss and Rousey short
Let's be completely honest here.
Alexa Bliss could not realistically last more than five minutes in the ring with an absolute beast like Ronda Rousey. Furthermore, it would be to both superstars' detriment if WWE tried to portray the match in that manner. Not only is that evident by how weak it would make Rousey look, but also by giving Bliss a win that changes the fate of The Women's division.
It's no secret that if Alexa Bliss got a win over Rousey in the history books it would make her the most powerful female superstar since The WWE draft. It also creates a situation where WWE has no one left to take her down as champion and must then rely on storylines that they came up with out of nowhere and that make no sense.
In the end, maybe WWE will be able to circumvent some of that by adding Stephanie McMahon into the mix, but if they don't they need to make it as short of a match as possible. WWE could even have Bliss lose on a distraction in order to build to rematches, which would be a great way to preserve Bliss's star power and finally give Rousey the win.
#3 Must not: Have Aj Styles win again
Whether The WWE Universe wants to admit it or not, the cold hard facts are, that it's time for AJ Styles to lose The WWE title. There is no better opponent for him on Smackdown Live than Samoa Joe and it will truly help to establish Joe as the dangerous powerhouse that can run Smackdown Live.
Not only that, taking AJ Styles out of the title picture also allows for him to rest and eventually come back to help build up the mid-card. Just think of the matches that AJ Styles can take part in after he finally drops the title. Of course he might have to be written off television for a while first so he can take time off, but when he comes back there are a lot of dream matches there.
In the end, hopefully, WWE will make the right decision and give Samoa Joe a run with The WWE title for a while. It creates an interesting dynamic at the top of the division and could also lead to the elevation of a young underdog to finally be the one to topple Samoa Joe's title reign.
#2 Must: Have Braun Strowman lose The Briefcase
Braun Strowman needs to lose the Money in The Bank briefcase to Kevin Owens at Summerslam. Not only would it allow for Kevin Owens to cash in on Roman Reigns, which will divide fans further, it also builds up sympathy for Strowman.
In all honesty, Strowman doesn't need the briefcase. He doesn't even need the victory over Kevin Owens. He has proved time and time again that he will steal the show when given a chance and isn't going to lose crowd support by losing a match. In fact, it could be a powerful way to put The Authority and Strowman at odds to set up a title match for later.
In the end, WWE needs to divide the fan base to the point where they can make a Roman Reigns title reign successful. With that in mind, the only way to really do that in a powerful way is to have Owens win and then cash in on Reigns after his match with Lesnar. Strowman gets screwed, Reigns gets his bell rung and Owens escapes with the title!
The perfect plan!
#1 Must not: Have Roman Reigns lose
It's time for WWE to rip the band-aid off and see what happens by having Roman Reigns win The Universal Title at Summerslam. In fact, until WWE actually does it, they aren't going to know what kind of backlash they are up against with Reigns as champion, which will only result in another failed attempt at becoming 'The Guy'.
If nothing else, WWE needs to get out in front of this Roman Reigns backlash and use it to their own advantage. WWE has already been doing that by making Reigns out to be more and more of a tweener over the past couple of weeks and could easily mould that into something The WWE Universe wants to see if they work at it.
WWE has been trying and testing this storyline between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns ever since WrestleMania 34, with previous encounters happening even before that time! On that note, WWE needs to make a decision. Either make sure Reigns loses definitively, and move to the back of the line, or have him win without any doubt and become the top guy
In the end, if it doesn't work, then just go back to the drawing board and try again. That's where WWE and Vince McMahon are going to go anyway if it fails, so why not let them show The WWE Universe what has changed. Furthermore, why don't they show the fans that Reigns deserves to be the top guy?
With that all being said, if WWE had a definitive moment, a moment that seemed organic and allowed for Reigns to truly prove that he was the best the company had to offer, things might change for him. Maybe they could do it by implementing the heel turn of the century or maybe WWE finally finds a way to get him over as a face, but at least let them try something!
