Shopping at the Should/Will – SummerSlam 2019
Like most Northerners who have a second home in Florida, WWE is heading to Canada for the summer. This Sunday is SummerSlam, live from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
Drew Gulak (c) vs. Oney Lorcan – WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Who should win?
Drew Gulak
I love Oney Lorcan and his all-caps Twitter account and his insanely long index finger. But Gulak has an opportunity to be a Neville-like unstoppable force on 205 Live. These guys are both amazing and once again the Cruiserweights will provide the likely match of the night while the crowd is still filing in.
Who will win?
Drew Gulak
I think Lorcan will still come out of this looking like a super bad-ass, but Gulak will keep the title until they fully build up a babyface to dethrone him. May I suggest Humberto Carillo?
AJ Styles (c) vs. Ricochet – WWE United States Championship
Who should win?
Ricochet
Styles does not need a championship to be over. Ricochet’s original run with the US title wasn’t very long and I’d like to see him get it back so he can feud with the mid-card heels on Raw. Wouldn’t you love to see him bump like crazy for Drew McIntyre before nailing him with the 630 splash?
Who will win?
AJ Styles
Ricochet doesn’t necessarily need the title either and the story that WWE seems to be telling is that The OC is going to dominate and keep all of the Raw gold until Survivor Series when they will face off against The New Day, who will still have all of the Smackdown belts.
Bayley (c) vs. Ember Moon – WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Who should win?
Bayley
After declaring that she was past all of the hugging, the newer, tougher Bayley decided to give Ember Moon a title opportunity based on respect. Huh?
Ember is talented and unique and has one of the best finishers in professional wrestling, but this isn’t quite her time. In fact, Bayley should hold onto the belt until Sasha Banks is ready to come back and take it from her.
Who will win?
Ember Moon
Honestly, flip a coin. I don’t think WWE really has any foresight with this storyline, so I’ll give Ember the duke since I don’t believe any other titles will change hands at SummerSlam (barring a 24/7 Championship angle popping up at some point).
Finn Bálor vs. Bray Wyatt
Who should win?
Bray Wyatt
After all of the excellent episodes of Firefly Fun House and the slow build to The Fiend’s in-ring debut, it would be a shame to throw it all away to a non-Demon Finn Balor.
Who will win?
Bray Wyatt
Spoiler alert: It’s been pretty well established online that Balor has requested some time off from the company to recharge. The only way Wyatt loses this match is if the Fiend mask somehow cuts off his oxygen and he passes out.
Trish Stratus vs. Charlotte Flair
Who should win?
Charlotte Flair
Charlotte has proven to be a transcendent talent who could walk away from the business right now and still go down as one of the greatest to step in a ring, no gender-modifier necessary. While Trish is still the biggest name to come out of women’s wrestling during the Attitude Era, that’s like being the best player in college football compared to the NFL-level talent we see these days. Why would you let Charlotte lose to Stratus and damage her image just for a cheap nostalgia pop?
Who will win?
Trish Stratus
Because this is World Wrestling Entertainment and that’s how they roll. The Toronto native just announced that this will be her last match, so don’t be surprised to see Trish with her hand raised on Sunday night.
Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon – If Owens loses, he will quit WWE
Who should win?
Kevin Owens
KO has been running around and handing out Stunners like Austin in his prime. He’s also been representing the WWE Universe, speaking out against the glut of Shane McMahon screen time on Raw and Smackdown.
Who will win?
Shane McMahon
This is your friendly reminder that WWE hates the WWE Universe. Also, with the additional stipulation regarding Owens quitting the WWE, he’ll get to pull more Austin-esque stuff if he loses. Expect KO to get “arrested” at some point on WWE TV in the next month.
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Natalya – Submission match for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship
Who should win?
Becky Lynch
The Man continues to get one of the biggest reactions in WWE and the sudden angle with Canadian-born Natalya to set up a match at a pay-per-view event in Toronto screams short-term booking.
Who will win?
Becky Lynch
I think the only way that Nattie wins this is if Vince decides to pull a “Toronto Screwjob”. It would be an interesting twist that could add a new wrinkle to Becky’s story, but she just got the cover of WWE 2K20 (alongside Roman Reigns), so I don’t see Lynch losing the belt until after the game is released.
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton – WWE Championship
Who should win?
Kofi Kingston
This is the match that will either solidify Kofi’s championship run or put him in the pile of recent failed experiments (see Jinder Mahal and Bray Wyatt). His title defenses so far have been against Kevin Owens (who was gifted the WWE Universal Championship by HHH and later lost it to a freshly un-retired Goldberg), Dolph Ziggler (who was briefly World Heavyweight Champion after a Money in the Bank cash-in), and Samoa Joe. A clean victory over first-ballot Hall of Famer Randy Orton, who is fourth behind Ric Flair, John Cena, and Triple H for most world championships recognized by WWE, would show that Kingston belongs in the upper echelon of modern WWE champions.
Who will win?
Kofi Kingston
Randy doesn’t need this. Kofi gets the win here, finally going over Orton nearly ten years after their first high-profile feud.
Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler
Who should win?
Dolph Ziggler
To be honest, the answer here probably should be Goldberg, since Ziggler hasn’t done anything with any importance in years. Dolph still has a career, though, and didn’t almost kill The Undertaker in the past three months.
Who will win?
Goldberg
Is this even a question? The entrances will be longer than the match and I expect this to be the cushion between the two men’s heavyweight championship matches.
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins – WWE Universal Championship
Who should win?
Brock Lesnar
When I started laying this column out last week, I originally had Seth in this spot, taking into account the severe backstage beatdown he received to solidify his babyface underdog spot. Then he had to go and open his mouth on Monday.
Rollins limped his way down to the ring, steel chair in tow, to prove that he wasn’t scared of The Beast. After another Brock beatdown, Rollins lay in the ring, microphone in hand, and delivered the whiniest soliloquy since Hamlet, followed by the least emphatic threat ever delivered in a wrestling ring.
Who will win?
Brock Lesnar
As much as I can’t stand Lesnar as champ, I think he’s the better option right now. The Seth/Becky storyline did absolutely nothing for anybody (including Baron Corbin and Lacey Evans, who have both magically vanished off of WWE TV) and I think it’s time for them to move on to a new babyface challenger. Maybe try Braun Strowman again?
What are your predictions for SummerSlam? Let me know in the comment section below!
