8 things that need to happen at SummerSlam 2018

We are currently preparing for the next one amongst the WWE's 'Big Four' pay-per-view of the year in SummerSlam 2018. Stacked with a total 13 matches, this will be the first pay-per-view since WrestleMania 34 where all 9 Championship titles will be fought for. In case you don’t already know, here is what is scheduled so far for the ‘Biggest Party of the Summer’:

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship match).

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Championship match).

Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte (SmackDown Women’s Championship match).

Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey (Raw Women’s Championship match.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins (Intercontintental Championship match).

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy (United States Championship match).

Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day (Smackdown Tag Team Championship match).

Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens (Money in the Bank Contract)

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak (Cruiserweight Championship match) (Pre-Show)

Rusev and Lana vs. Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas and Zelina Vega (Pre-Show)

B-Team vs. The Revival (Raw Tag Team Championship match) (Pre-Show)

With so much excitement going on for SummerSlam 2018, this suggests that this pay-per-view has enough build up moving forward to the next big pay-per-view, Survivor Series. However, in order for this pay-per-view to be able to move the WWE Universe in the right direction, there are a number of things that absolutely needs to happen.

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#8 *NEW* Champs

A New Day win will bring out the celebrations.

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan have been a wrecking ball since their return in late 2017. From The Usos to Team Hell No, the Bludgeon Brothers have steamrolled the entire SmackDown Tag Team division. Despite this much momentum, the Bludgeon Brothers’ appearances have become somewhat of an afterthought, wrestling with teams not even on the roster in the last two episodes of SmackDown.

The New Day, on the other hand, can do anything from attempting a pancake eating contest to commentating on a wrestling match and are still able to trend worldwide. The SmackDown Tag Team division is stacked with talent at the moment, so it makes sense for someone very popular with the WWE Universe to be on top of the division, which the Bludgeon Brothers unfortunately are not. Expect the gold to go back around The New Days waists.

#7 Monster in the Bank

He may not need to climb a ladder but will be victorious again.

Braun Strowman has been simply unstoppable this year winning the Raw Tag Team Championship with a 10 year old child, winning the Greatest Ever Royal Rumble and becoming the latest Money in the Bank winner. With these accolades behind him, it is no surprise that Kevin Owens suggested a stipulation that stacks the odds against the Monster in the Bank.

Considering Kevin Owens has a variety of options to get the victory, it seems like Kevin Owens will be destined to walk away as your new Mr. Money in the Bank holder, right? In fact, if history tells us anything, the odds are actually in Braun Strowman’s favour. In the five times the Money in the Bank contract has been defended, four of those matches ended in Mr. Money in the Bank being victorious.

Moreover, if Strowman is going to continue to be the dominant monster we’ve all witnessed, then a major championship title should be around his waist soon and losing that contract would be a massive step back.

#6 Mentor knows the best

This will be one of the most personal matches on the card.

When The Miz was mentoring Daniel Bryan in the first season of NXT back in 2010, it was clear that their personalities, their wrestling styles, and everything else in between were going to clash. Whilst Daniel Bryan proudly admits that his first ever victory in the WWE was against The Miz, their feud was largely forgotten about. That was until the infamous episode of Talking Smack, in which Daniel Bryan calls The Miz a coward was broadcasted.

While this feud has been on the backburner until now, aside from a few interactions between The Miz and SmackDown’s general manager, this is one of the most interesting feuds going into this pay-per-view. In reality, a victory for Daniel Bryan over The Miz would instantly end the feud before it really started. However, a sneaky Miz victory could get us at least one more match to finally settle the score, and let’s not forget that Hell in a Cell is coming up shortly after SummerSlam.

#5 Rousey’s Revenge

Rousey won't need a briefcase to give Bliss a beatdown at SummerSlam.

Ronda Rousey is the most exciting prospect in the WWE womens’ division this year. Flipping over fully-grown men on their back on the most recent episode of Raw is just a taster of Rousey’s raw power and ability as an athlete.

Even though her opponent, Alexa Bliss, is a five time Women’s Champion, this ‘overhyped rookie’ is most definitely walking out with the gold at SummerSlam. Rousey’s victory could also act as a catalyst for the ongoing power struggle between Kurt Angle and Baron Corbin/Stephanie McMahon, which could lead to a climax at Survivor Series.

#4 SmackDown is still the house that AJ Styles built

We should see a similar sight at SummerSlam.

AJ Styles has been the longest WWE Champion since 2011 and in this time, his feuds have included a wide array of talent such as Jinder Mahal, a combination of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura, but Styles has successfully fought them all off.

Although Samoa Joe is a whole different breed of wrestler, these two aren’t strangers to one another, having previously feuded in other wrestling companies. While Joe has quickly made this match very personal, AJ Styles will keep his cool (unlike against some of his other opponents) and even though you can expect Joe to dominate the majority of this match, Styles will be able to just scrape out a victory. However, unlike his feud with Rusev, we can probably expect this feud to last for a few months, if not longer.

#3 Gold over Friendship

Expect Becky Lynch to implode on the night.

In the 16 months that Charlotte has joined the blue brand, she has both ended Asuka’s two and a half year undefeated streak and become the longest reigning Smackdown Women’s Champion. As for Becky Lynch, her career has gone in the opposite direction, as she’s failed to become the #1 contender for the title despite being the first ever SmackDown Champion, and has lost in her last eight pay-per-view appearences.

In the words of Corey Graves - “What has she done lately?”. If you consider that Charlotte has now been added into the title match that Becky Lynch hasn’t had a look-in since WrestleMania 33, you can expect Becky Lynch to turn on Charlotte if she doesn’t walk away as champion.

#2 Reigns finally claims his yard

Same match, different outcome.

Roman Reigns’s quest to defeat Brock Lesnar for the big belt stemmed back at WrestleMania 31, when Seth Rollins cashed his Money in the Bank contract to sneak the belt away from both wrestlers. Whilst he’s captured the WWE Championship three times since then, Reigns hasn’t held a major title since June 2016 at Money in the Bank.

Since then, Reigns has tried to focus on the Universal Championship, where he has faced and lost to Brock Lesnar three times including a controversial loss at the Greatest Royal Rumble. All of this should lead to Reigns finally getting a victory and becoming ‘the guy’ that is able to stop ‘the Beast Incarnate’ as it simply doesn’t make any sense for Reigns to have one last crack at Lesnar to fail again.

#1 Heyman joins Strowman

Heyman may be a lot closer to Strowman by the end of SummerSlam.

While the July 30th and August 6th episodes of Raw seemed to confirm that Heyman and Lesnar were truly though, a shock twist on this week’s episode blindsided the WWE Universe (as well as literally blinding Reigns). That being said, it is still evident that Lesnar is itching to get back into the octagon and the reality of being able to balance both professions is unlikely.

However, if this is Lesnar’s last match in the WWE for the foreseeable future, then it has been highlighted in the last few weeks of Raw that Heyman still has a contract with the company with potentially no-one to represent.

Heyman’s history of clients he’s represented in the WWE includes the Big Show, CM Punk and Brock Lesnar twice. What does this tell you about Heyman? Curtis Axel aside, he likes his clients to be as destructive as possible and in the past two years, no-one has been as destructive as Braun Strowman. If you also take into consideration that Strowman has his guaranteed contract potentially taken away earlier in the same night, Strowman’s alignment with Heyman could be a SummerSlam ending that none of us will forget any time soon.

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