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What's the story?
It's SummerSlam week and the backstage updates regarding the card are coming in thick and fast.
Dave Meltzer gave the fans a lowdown of the card on the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio. He said the SummerSlam card is a 'fluid' one and can have matches taken away or added at any given moment. Drew McIntyre is still featured on the card doing the rounds backstage and a match between him and Cedric Alexander is expected to be announced unless Vince McMahon changes his mind again. The addition could be surprising as we've already seen the match play out on TV before.
Meltzer also revealed a few matches that have been nixed for the show while also shedding light on the statuses of Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan for the biggest PPV of the summer.
In case you didn't know...
The SummerSlam card currently consists of ten confirmed matches and the main event is expected to be the Universal Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins.
Goldberg and Trish Stratus will be returning to in-action to add some nostalgic flavour to the event against Dolph Ziggler and Charlotte Flair respectively. Kevin Owens will put his WWE career on the line against Shane McMahon while Finn Balor will take on Bray Wyatt in a demonic clash.
Kofi Kingston will put the WWE Championship on the line against Randy Orton while AJ Styles will defend his US title against Ricochet. Becky Lynch will be involved in a submission match against Natalya for the Raw Women's title while Bayley will put the SmackDown Women's title up for grabs against Ember Moom. Last but not least, Drew Gulak will defend the Cruiserweight title against Oney Lorcan, a match that is destined for the kickoff show.
The heart of the matter
On the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that the current plan is to have 11 matches on the SummerSlam card. That could change as WWE is set to have a meeting tonight regarding the event. It's a fluid card, as per Meltzer, that could see the addition of McIntyre vs. Cedric Alexander. He stated that Shinsuke Nakamura vs.Ali and a few other matches are off the card.
Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan are also not expected to wrestle at the show.
Here's what Meltzer reported:
I think that right now, I heard 11 matches but I think that they were having a meeting and it might be tonight. I was told by several people in the last couple of days that the card is completely fluid. No one's giving me a card because right now there are 11 matches, but there could be matches taken away, there could be matches added.
Meltzer clarified that there would be no changes made to the already announced bouts.
No, no, no, no, no! Those matches (the 10 confirmed ones) they can't. I don't expect, out of the ten, they will take any away but Drew McIntyre and Cedric Alexander, as far as I know, is still on the card but not announced, but who knows. I think Nakamura/Ali is a no. Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan is a no. I mean they are pretty adamant about that right now.
Meltzer added that the Women's tag team was put on Raw to give the women more time and to avoid getting the match lost on the PPV card.In addition to the matches mentioned above, WWE may have also cancelled Aleister Black vs. Sami Zayn and you can read more about the reason behind the move here.
It should be noted that according to WrestleVotes, WWE is considering on at least adding Roman Reigns vs. Buddy Murphy.
What's next?
With Vince McMahon changing his mind on an hourly basis, we still can't confirm a final SummerSlam card as of this writing. Expect a few more surprises to take place until the final hour.
Note: If you use the transcripts from this news piece, make sure to credit Sportskeeda at the end of your article, with a link to this piece.
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