'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
'The Biggest Party of the Summer', WWE SummerSlam, will be emanating from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario tonight. With just a few hours left for the event, fans have a lot of questions in their mind.
Crazy how the last time SummerSlam emanated from Canada, it was all the way back in 2004. WWE did a great job in building up most of the matches on the road to the event.
The match-card looks stacked with some major bouts like Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship, Becky Lynch vs. Natalya for the RAW Women's Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, and Bayley vs. Ember Moon for the SmackDown Women's Championship match.
WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus will also be returning to the ring to face Charlotte Flair. In addition, Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon will finally get their hands on each other. However, fans are surprised about how WWE has left some of the top wrestlers in the company off of the match-card this year.
In this article, let's take a look at nine active wrestlers who won't be a part of SummerSlam this year.
#9 Alexa Bliss
Alexa Bliss is one of the top female wrestlers in WWE right now. The Goddess had been headlining a lot of WWE pay-per-view events over the past couple of years. However, her success came to a halt when she lost her RAW Women's Championship match to Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam last year.
Recently, Bliss made an alliance with Nikki Cross. She usually wrestles less these days, as compared to the past couple of years. She's more into her special segment called the "Moment Of Bliss" these days.
Bliss added another Championship to her accomplishments this week on RAW, by winning the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with Nikki Cross in a fatal-four way match. The match was originally scheduled to take place at SummerSlam this Sunday, but Vince McMahon decided to have it earlier.
Bliss had been in a Women's title match for the past two SummerSlam events. This year, she's not even on the match-card.
#8 Samoa Joe
There's no doubt that Samoa Joe is one of the best wrestlers in WWE right now. Joe is a workhorse, giving fans his best whenever he steps inside the ring. Recently, Joe concluded his feud with WWE Champion Kofi Kingston at SmackVille with a loss.
Over the past couple of weeks, the Samoan Submission Machine had been in a hot rivalry with Roman Reigns. The two had been trying to the other up every time they saw them. Two weeks ago on RAW, their "Samoan Summit" turned into a massive brawl, which led to RAW ending in chaos. This week, Joe went after Reigns but ended up astonished when Rowan tried to run over Reigns with a car.
By the look of things, a Joe vs. Reigns match was looking imminent for SummerSlam, but according to current reports, there is no plan for Joe to face Reigns at the event.
Joe not being part of the SummerSlam card this year is a big demotion for him because he was fighting AJ Styles for the WWE Championship last year. We won't be able to see Joe join the 'Biggest Party of the Summer' unless WWE changes their plans at the last moment.
#7 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan has been on a roll since turning heel and then winning the WWE Championship from AJ Styles. 2019 has been a great year for Bryan so far. Although he lost the WWE Championship to Kofi Kingston at WrestleMania 35 in April, he won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Rowan soon after that.
Bryan and Rowan, also known as The Planet's Tag Team, had a pretty decent run as the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. However, they lost it to The New Day in a triple-threat match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
After his loss, Bryan said that he would make a career-altering announcement, which people thought would lead to something big at SummerSlam, but he ended up not doing it. Over the past couple of weeks, Roman Reigns was being targeted by a mysterious personality, who tried to end Reigns' career.
This week on SmackDown, we found out that it was Rowan. According to the rumors, Bryan was scheduled to face Reigns at SummerSlam, however, the match is unlikely for the event, as WWE plans to drag the storyline until next week.
Bryan not being on the SummerSlam match-card is a huge surprise for the WWE Universe. Just a few months ago, the man was the WWE Champion on SmackDown, and now, he's not even on the match card at the second biggest WWE event of the year.
#6 The New Day (Xavier Woods And Big E)
WWE has announced a huge number of matches for SummerSlam. What's surprising is that they've completed ignored the SmackDown tag-team division on the road to SummerSlam.
Xavier Woods and Big E won their sixth SmackDown Tag Team Championships in a triple-threat match against The Planet's Tag Team and Heavy Machinery at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view. Since then, we haven't seen anything related to SmackDown's Tag Team titles on the show.
Woods and Big E were rumored to have a feud with Elias and Drew McIntyre on the road to SummerSlam, but Vince McMahon scrapped their match on SmackDown last week. There has been no build-up in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship picture. Not a single team has gone after the titles since The New Day won it.
This week on SmackDown Live, Woods and Big E faced Planet's Tag Team in the main event. The match ended in a disqualification finish with Bryan and Rowan giving a vicious beat-down to The New Day in the end. This can be an angle which may lead to the two teams facing each other in an impromptu match at SummerSlam. However, it looks unlikely as Bryan and Rowan's next apparent feud already started at RAW's show, which is against Reigns.
SummerSlam is still a few hours away, so we can expect WWE to announce a random SmackDown Tag Team Championship sometime today, but the way the Tag Team Championship scene has been ignored on SmackDown, was pretty disappointing.
#5 Braun Strowman
'The Monster Among Men' Braun Strowman is no doubt one of the most over wrestlers in WWE right now. Strowman has been pushed by the company from time to time, but they have not consistent in using him.
At the Extreme Rules pay-per-view last month, Strowman defeated Bobby Lashley in a very physical Last Man Standing match. However, WWE did not capitalize on the opportunity and halted Strowman's momentum by putting him in random matches and segments on RAW every week. The Monster Among Men was not even featured on RAW this week.
Last year, The Monster Among Men defeated Kevin Owens in a singles match at SummerSlam, while putting his Money In The Bank briefcase on the line. Later that night, he also tried to cash in his contract during the Universal Championship match between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, but his attempt failed due to The Beast Incarnate's interruption.
WWE could not plan anything for The Monster Among Men this year and used him rarely on the road to SummerSlam. While he was one of the highlights of the night at SummerSlam last year, this year, he won't even be on the show.
#4 The OC (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson)
Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson of The OC won their second RAW Tag Team Championships by defeating The Revival and The Usos in a triple-threat match last week on RAW. Many fans thought that the storyline between The Revival and The OC would continue, but nothing like that happened. Instead, The Revival directly jumped to WWE Main Event's tapings, while Gallows and Anderson worked with AJ Styles.
Just like the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, the RAW Tag Team Titles will also not be a part of the 'Biggest Party of the Summer'. Gallows and Anderson won't be defending their titles unless WWE changes their plans at the last moment.
One angle which looks likely at this point is WWE giving The Revival their rematch at the pre-show of SummerSlam. Judging by the past couple of SummerSlam events, we will most probably get to see a Tag Team Championships match on the pre-show of SummerSlam, and we might just get to see The Good Brothers in it.
WWE has developed the RAW Tag Team Championship scene on the road to SummerSlam in a pretty odd way. Vince McMahon might just leave Gallows and Anderson off of the match-card like he left The New Day.
#3 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura won the Intercontinental Championship by defeating Finn Balór at the kick-off show of the Extreme Rules pay-per-view last month. Nakamura has been shown in a feud with Ali since becoming the Intercontinental Champion.
A couple of weeks ago at WWE SmackVille in Nashville, The Artist defeated Ali in a classic bout. Ali settled the scores on the following episode of SmackDown by beating The Artist by a roll-up. However, we did not see any progression in the storyline since Ali's win. He was put in an impromptu match against Dolph Ziggler on this week's SmackDown, while the Intercontinental Champion was seen in a backstage interview for a few seconds. Nakamura said that he already defeated Ali, and would like to move on.
Like some of the other titles, Vince McMahon did not capitalize on Ali's win and left the Intercontinental Title picture mid-way.
However, knowing Vince and his last-minute changes, we can expect an Intercontinental Championship match at SummerSlam. He surprised fans with an Intercontinental title match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, and he can surely do it at the 'Biggest Party of the Summer'. But for now, the Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura is not confirmed to be at SummerSlam.
#2 Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns not being on the SummerSlam match-card is a huge surprise for the WWE Universe. The Big Dog has been one of the top guys in WWE for several years now, but he still hasn't made it to the SummerSlam card.
Roman Reigns was put in random feuds with the likes of Samoa Joe and Drew McIntyre on the road to SummerSlam, which is why he did not get a match at the event. A proper feud between him and Planet's Tag Team apparently started this week on SmackDown Live, but it doesn't look like they will have anything major to do at SummerSlam.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Reigns is scheduled to face Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam. However, nothing is confirmed by WWE as of yet. Having a match at SummerSlam would be a waste of this feud because it did not get any proper build-up.
WWE was pretty late in starting the feud if they have any plans to have a match between Reigns and Bryan this Sunday. The best thing they can do now is to set up a confrontation between Reigns and Bryan at SummerSlam tonight.
#1 Drew McIntyre
Just like Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre was also put in random matches on the road to SummerSlam, taking away from him the opportunity to be a part of the 'Biggest Party of the Summer'.
One night on RAW, McIntyre was seen beating down Roman Reigns, while the following night, he was working as Shane McMahon's bodyguard against Kevin Owens. He still has a directionless feud going on with Cedric Alexander. Cedric beat him in a match at RAW, which WWE dragged the whole month.
McIntyre and Alexander tried to face off at this week's RAW, but McIntyre could not wait to get inside the ring, and attacked Alexander outside, leading to a mini-brawl between the two. As of now, The Scottish Psychopath is not a part of SummerSlam.
Drew McIntyre was one of the highlights of the night at SummerSlam last year. Even though he worked the event as Dolph Ziggler's bodyguard, he was seen as a huge threat. The WWE Universe had their sights set on him
However, we may get to see Alexander vs. McIntyre at SummerSlam if Vince changes his mind. McIntyre was rumored to face The Undertaker at the 'Biggest Party of the Summer', but it looks like WWE lost direction for him all of a sudden.
