We have so much to catch up on! I SPECIFICALLY chose last weekend to take a vacation because I figured nothing would happen between Thursday and Monday the week before SummerSlam. Boy, was I wrong. Dynamite put on one of their best shows in weeks, and Vince McMahon decided to retire on a day I had no internet access. My brother in law had a friend send him the tweet! So, because of that and because of some exciting other developments involving my writing, we’re casually doing Saturday morning writing.
I’m back from Tennessee, my wife is hiking a segment of the Colorado Trail for the weekend, and I’ve been busy writing and dealing with some house stuff since I got back. But let’s get caught up before we dive into some SummerSlam predictions!
Some Stuff To Talk About From The Last Week!
The last couple Dynamites have been, well, dynamite! Moxley versus Rush was great, and if we could go back and make that Rush’s debut I think those of us unfamiliar with his work would have been better set up for what he’s capable of. Mox made it all of two minutes before he started bleeding, and it was just a brutal contest between a classic tough heel and a good guy brawler.
Ricky Starks OWNED the middle of that show with his win over Danhausen, a great Danhausen impression and a good promo, a well done loss to HOOK, a passionate promo after that loss, and the full face turn by way of Hobbs smashing Starks in the back of the neck. Dante Martin and Sammy Guevara had a fun match, and bringing in Dante’s real life girlfriend Skye Blue allowed Anna Jay to be a bad guy after the match. The main was a lot of fun as well, and I was genuinely shocked that Garcia got the win over Danielson, although I’m honestly done with the Jericho Appreciation Society and Blackpool Combat Club rivalry. And the Thunder Rosa match was a little rough but I still liked it. I just wish AEW could do something to make us care more about these stars from other promotions. I’m sure we could put together a two minute highlight package to showcase their personality, character, and moveset from elsewhere!
Mister McMahon retired! Triple H took on seventy new jobs! We were all asked to chant for a guy who was basically forced out of his company! And it was all a little awkward and overwhelming for us all. Vince has been facing a number of allegations following the New York Times article about his 14 million dollars in hush money to a number of women who used to work with him in WWE. Now that the board of WWE is doing their own investigation, it was only a matter of time before he got ousted. He was able to make it look like it was on his own terms for more casual fans, though.
So Vince is out, Steph and Nick Khan are co-running the business side of things, and Triple H has been put in charge of both talent and creative on both NXT and WWE, I believe. That’s a lot to put on one guy’s plate! I, for one, would be happy to run NXT for Trips while he’s trying to change things on the big shows. If you have an in, let me know!
I don’t think we’ll see any big changes for a while, as SummerSlam was all but booked before Vince announced his retirement last Friday. I imagine any current storylines will run their course, and we’ll probably see some little things become more normal as the weeks go on. There was a noticeable lack of “here’s a highlight from something that happened two minutes ago” packages on Raw this week, so that’s a ray of hope. I’d think we’ll see some other changes, maybe even some new or returning personnel now that Hunter is in charge. The production might be changed too, and while I don’t wish anyone unemployment, I do hope they can go in a different direction than Kevin Dunn and the shaky cam/ zoomy cam garbage that I literally have to turn away from.
That Ring of Honor show last week was amazing! And there have been some major repercussions from it! Apparently Jonathan Gresham is livid at the way he’s been treated by Tony Khan and AEW, and has asked for his release from Ring of Honor. He’s also mad at his ranking in a magazine’s top 100 wrestlers, so maybe he’s just grumpy overall. I would have liked him as a heel, feuding with Claudio and maybe even trading the belt back and forth again. But I think Gresham is intent on burning all the bridges.
The FTR versus Briscoes match was a highlight of the year, bar none. It’s also the only match I’ve actually watched from this show, I’ll have to check the others out sometime this weekend. Maybe once the home theater is done …
We’ve got SummerSlam AND the Ric Flair’s Last Match show tonight! I don’t think anybody involved in Flair’s match needs to be the one to put Flair down, but I imagine it will be Lethal if Flair decides to go out on his back. The card actually looks pretty good, if it’s not too expensive I might be convinced to order it since SummerSlam is free with Peacock anyway…*checks price* $35? I mean…maybe.
The build to Flair’s match has been amazing, and the card features matches from a bunch of different promotions. I don’t know that I want to watch Flair do much of anything physical these days, but the undercard looks good. Sadly, I won’t be home to watch live so I’ll have to hunt down some highlights.
What a week! Lastly, before we get into our SummerSlam predictions…I’ve been working on my trial run with an actual wrestling website that will pay me to write features! It’s very exciting, and I’m pretty nervous since I just submitted my first draft on Friday. I’ll let you know how it goes, but it’s going pretty well so far!
On that positive note, let’s roll into our …
SummerSlam Predictions!!!
Logan Paul versus The Miz
My guess: Paul, a face?, gets the win
I don’t like this guy and all I know about him has reinforced that. So, with that out of the way, he’s been booked as a good guy despite the fans booing the hell outta him, but Miz is always a better heel than face. Paul is gonna go over, because I’m sure he wouldn’t have it any other way, but I hope they don’t keep him around much longer. Personal bias, your mileage may vary, etc.
Liv Morgan © versus Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Championship
My guess: We can’t take the belt off Liv this soon!
Liv only just won the belt, by way of the annual “Cash the Women’s MitB case in as soon as possible” booking maneuver. I like the idea of Ronda turning heel here, but not at the cost of Liv’s title run. They did a great job making her the lovable, desperate hero and she deserves a good, long run before she drops the belt. Ronda is a superstar, and she doesn’t need a title to get over. Maybe even have her go against a face Becky soon? Or a returning, face turned Bayley? WHO’S TO SAY?
Bobby Lashley © versus Theory for the United States Championship
My guess: Bob murders Theory, we all rejoice
Theory currently has rivalries with Dolph Ziggler, Bobby Lashley, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and (probably) eighty percent of the locker room. I don’t think he needs a title to get beat up every week, and it would be nice for Raw to have a singles title that gets defended at all on the show. Since Roman isn’t losing anytime soon, the US championship will have to be that title.
Pat McAfee versus Happy Corbin
My guess: Pat is beloved, and Corbin gains nothing by winning here.
Our second celebrity match (kinda) of the night, and another where the celeb is probably gonna win. McAfee has had some great promo work and gotten beaten up a few times leading into this, so maybe we’re onto something with him in the ring, but he doesn’t need to lose yet. If he’s thinking about becoming an actual performer, then sure. But him winning a one-off is a feel good moment for everyone, especially over a great heel like Corbs.
The Mysterios versus The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damian Priest)
My guess: The long awaited Dominic turn, Judgment Day wins, AND Edge returns to save Rey from a beatdown
I know, I’m booking A LOT into what’s probably not that big a match. But when Edge did the “I’m coming to – “ thing on the mirror, SummerSlam makes more sense than, like, “I’m coming to a random SmackDown in August!” So I want my much teased and hoped for Evil Dom, wanting a real father ever since Eddie showed he was more willing to fight for Dom than Rey was. I also want a Rey and Edge reunion, and a short rivalry with these teams. The good guys will need to recruit somebody to take on Rhea Ripley, but I’m sure Triple H can find a candidate.
The Usos © versus the Street Profits for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships
My guess: The Usos, but Jarrett somehow costs the Profits and the breakup is on
Speaking of long teased breakups, I think it’s a fine night for Dawkins and Ford to pull the trigger on their dissolution. I would LOVE if they could just go their separate ways, but I know WWE and a tag breakup requires a Micheals and a Jannetty, as they say. Ford is a superstar in the making and it’s been obvious for a long time, but without Vince in charge maybe the old way doesn’t have to be the only way? That being said, I don’t think WWE will change any of the decisions that went into this card, so I think the Usos retain in yet another good match between these teams. Give ‘em time, let ‘em steal the show, do the breakup angle. It’s fine.
Bianca Belair © versus Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship
My guess: Bianca wins in a BANGER
But if they aren’t gonna steal the show, I have a feeling this one will. Bianca is another young talent who could be great if she’s booked well, and that means getting another win over Becky Lynch to retain her championship. Really, Belair should hold that title until Wrestlemania, at the least. Becky is great and I’m sure she has several more championship runs in her future. Just not starting tonight.
Roman Reigns © versus Brock Lesnar for the Undisputed WWE Championship
My guess: Roman wins, maybe Theory loses his briefcase
So Seth Rollins and Riddle were supposed to be on this card, but they were removed due to “injury” so their match could be built for the Clash at the Castle show. So Seth is available, which leads to a number of possibilities. Does he get a match against a mystery opponent? Or is he crammed into the main event picture? I’m thinking the latter, as they wouldn’t want to put Seth into a different program just yet, what with the Riddle thing looming. Still, if Theory tries to cash in during this match, I could see Seth getting jealous and flying out from the side of the entrance ramp to clobber Theory before he gets to the ring.
Roman will retain, because Brock is just here to fill some time between shows as Orton continues to heal up. I know this in my heart, but I’ll still go full mark for Brock when his music hits because I have been writing about that man A LOT this past week.
And that’s it! All caught up. As always, I’ll let you know when I post next via the Tweets @elosopequeno and the Book of Faces. I’m thinking about making a separate Twitter handle just for the writing stuff, and if I do you’ll be the first to know. Have a great weekend, enjoy all the wrestling, and I’ll talk to you soon!
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