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The 2020 WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view will take place from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida on August 23.
Eight matches have been announced for the show, including Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton (WWE Championship) and Braun Strowman vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (WWE Universal Championship).
In the women’s division, Asuka will have two chances to walk away with a title, as she faces Sasha Banks for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship and Bayley for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Elsewhere, The Street Profits are set to defend their WWE RAW Tag Team titles against Andrade and Angel Garza, and Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin will be banned from ringside when MVP takes on Apollo Crews for the WWE United States Championship.
SummerSlam will also feature Dominik Mysterio's WWE in-ring debut against Seth Rollins in a Street Fight, while Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville are due to settle their heated rivalry in a No Disqualification, Loser Leaves WWE match.
In this article, let’s take a look at eight last-minute predictions for this year’s SummerSlam.
#8 Bayley vs. Asuka (WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship); #7 Sasha Banks vs. Asuka (WWE RAW Women’s Championship)
WWE has been planting the seeds for a Bayley vs. Sasha Banks feud for over three years, but it really does seem that The Golden Role Models are now finally set to go their separate ways.
We now know that Bayley vs. Asuka will take place first at SummerSlam, with Banks vs. Asuka happening later in the night.
For various reasons, outlined in the bullet points below, here is why Asuka could leave SummerSlam with Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship but not Banks’ RAW Women’s Championship:
- Bayley vs. Asuka: With Banks staying away from ringside, Asuka defeats Bayley fair and square in the opening match at SummerSlam to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
- Banks vs. Asuka: Having received no help from Banks, Bayley marches down to the ring and attacks her tag team partner. It looks as though Bayley has betrayed her friend but she is actually helping her by causing a disqualification, meaning Banks retains.
- Banks, who played a supporting role for so long during Bayley’s SmackDown Women’s Championship reign, leaves SummerSlam as the only Golden Role Model with a singles title.
- The storyline comes full circle, with a jealous Bayley now playing a supporting role to Banks on RAW.
This scenario would protect all three Superstars and allow them to have new storylines after SummerSlam, with Banks and Bayley feuding over the RAW Women’s Championship and Asuka officially moving to SmackDown to receive a new challenger (Naomi, perhaps?) before the next WWE Draft.
Prediction: Asuka def. Bayley (New Champion); Asuka def. Sasha Banks via DQ (Banks retains)
#6 Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio (WWE Street Fight)
Seth Rollins is one of the most successful Superstars that WWE has seen over the last eight years, while Dominik Mysterio has never competed in an official match and nobody really knows how accomplished he is as an in-ring performer.
This WWE RAW storyline has exceeded expectations over the last few months, with Rollins excelling in his role as The Monday Night Messiah alongside his disciple, Murphy.
The Street Fight stipulation opens up the possibility of Rollins’ enemies – Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black and Samoa Joe – getting involved, but a victory over a four-time WWE World Champion would be too much, too soon for the debuting Dominik.
Prediction: Seth Rollins def. Dominik Mysterio
#5 The Street Profits vs. Andrade & Angel Garza (WWE RAW Tag Team titles)
Although this storyline has revolved around Zelina Vega’s poisoning of The Street Profits’ Montez Ford, WWE has a ready-made RAW Tag Team Championship rivalry between Andrade & Angel Garza and The Viking Raiders set up for after SummerSlam.
Demi Burnett, a TV personality from American reality dating show The Bachelor, has been torn between Garza and The Viking Raiders’ Ivar in recent weeks.
At first, it looked as though Burnett was only going to make a one-off appearance on RAW, but she has now been on the show three weeks in a row and she will presumably continue appearing until she has decided which WWE Superstar she prefers.
With that in mind, let’s predict that Andrade & Garza will win the RAW Tag Team titles at SummerSlam, setting up a future title rivalry with The Viking Raiders.
Prediction: Andrade & Angel Garza def. The Street Profits (New Champions)
#4 Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville (No DQ, Loser Leaves WWE)
We found out on the final episode of WWE SmackDown before SummerSlam that Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville will no longer be a Hair vs. Hair match. Instead, the long-term rivals will battle it out in a No Disqualification, Loser Leaves WWE match.
This SummerSlam encounter was always likely to bring a definitive end to the storyline, regardless of the stipulation, with Rose almost certainly emerging as the winner of the rivalry.
Due to the real-life circumstances surrounding Rose and Deville over the last week, it would be in poor taste to speculate what happens next for either of these two Superstars in WWE beyond SummerSlam.
For now, let’s just assume that Rose will pick up the win on Sunday.
Prediction: Mandy Rose def. Sonya Deville
#3 Apollo Crews vs. MVP (WWE United States Championship)
With respect to MVP, Bobby Lashley is the biggest star in The Hurt Business and it looks somewhat odd whenever he watches on from the side to assist the group’s mouthpiece in his battles with Apollo Crews.
There is no need for MVP to have another WWE United States Championship reign, so the obvious prediction here is that the two people who are banned from ringside – Lashley and Shelton Benjamin – will make an appearance, prompting Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali and Ricochet to get involved.
That would then allow Crews to defeat a distracted MVP, setting up a Crews vs. Lashley feud after SummerSlam.
Prediction: Apollo Crews def. MVP
#2 Braun Strowman vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (WWE Universal Championship)
Ever since this WWE SmackDown storyline began shortly after WrestleMania 36, the outcome of Braun Strowman’s pay-per-view matches have been very predictable.
That is usually a bad thing in WWE, particularly for a World Champion, but the intriguing weekly storyline developments have made up for the obvious outcomes at Money in the Bank (Strowman def. “Fun House” Bray Wyatt), Backlash (Strowman def. The Miz & John Morrison) and Extreme Rules (“Eater of Worlds” Bray Wyatt def. Strowman).
Once again, this SummerSlam match seems very predictable, with all signs pointing towards another WWE Universal Championship reign for “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
Alexa Bliss, whose feelings seem split between Strowman and “The Fiend”, will no doubt have a part to play in Sunday’s match.
However, even if she decides to help Strowman, any kind of interference from the five-time WWE Women’s Champion is unlikely to prevent “The Fiend” from getting the win over his long-term rival.
Prediction: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt def. Braun Strowman (New Champion)
#1 Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton (WWE Championship)
WWE’s World Championship holders have had a very difficult job over the last four months to convince fans that they truly are the guy on their respective brands.
On SmackDown, are we really supposed to believe that Braun Strowman is the top male Superstar on the show when the majority of us know that Roman Reigns was supposed to win the Universal Championship from Goldberg instead of him?
Similarly, over on RAW, nobody can argue with the fact that Drew McIntyre is a worthy WWE Champion after his Royal Rumble win and WrestleMania 36 triumph over Brock Lesnar, but is he really the guy on Monday nights if he has not defeated Randy Orton yet?
Orton has undoubtedly been WWE’s top performer during the COVID-19 era, especially on the microphone, and he already carries himself like a World Champion.
The question here is whether WWE’s decision-makers would be prepared to take the WWE Championship off McIntyre when he has not yet had a chance to defend it in front of fans.
Realistically, though, we have no idea when arenas can sell out again, so WWE will have to make the tough call to crown a new WWE Champion at some point.
When you also take into account that McIntyre’s story is all about overcoming setbacks and clawing his way back to the top of the mountain, it might not be such a bad thing if he loses the WWE Championship.
Maybe, once fans are allowed back, the Scot will have another chance to reclaim WWE’s top title in a sold-out arena.
Prediction: Randy Orton wins (New Champion)
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
