5 matches WWE should have booked for Summerslam but didn't

With Summerslam just around the corner, we now have a pretty decent idea of what the card will look like. With most of the main title matches now announced, and some decent looking mid-card bouts on the horizon, this could well shape up to be a fantastic Summerslam show.

That doesn't stop us asking 'what if?'. Perhaps there are other ways the WWE could have gone with the biggest party of the summer this year.

Here is a look at five matches that the company could have gone with but chose not to:

#1 Jason Jordan Vs. Chad Gable

2017 hasn't been the greatest year for tag team wrestling. Despite the return of the Hardy Boyz, there have been far too many tag-team break ups. Enzo and Cass really should have been given a run with the belts before they went their separate ways, and American Alpha deserved much more than an unceremonious rupture due to an illegitimate son storyline over on RAW.

Fans initially believed that Chad Gable was going to be Kurt Angle's illegitimate son due to his similarities with the WWE Hall Of Famer

Whatever the future holds for Jason Jordan, fans must be feeling a little short changed that they never got to see these two go at it in the ring. They had very complementary styles that worked wonders down on NXT, and this could easily have been converted into a one on one match.

WWE has a tendency to do things too quickly at times. Jordan finds himself heading into Summerslam to take on The Miz for the IC title and Gable has already faced Kevin Owens, Rusev and AJ Styles over on Smackdown. The two men are both under 30, so there is still plenty of time to build them up. A nice way to do this would have been to have them compete against each other at the biggest party of the summer.

There wouldn't have been any need for a heel turn, just two guys with some history going head to head for basic bragging rights. They could have billed it as Jordan's going away party and given NXT fans a little bit of closure. It would have been a nice win for Jordan too, making his inevitable singles push on RAW all the more believable.

Sadly it isn't to be, but a lot of fans will be hoping this happens at some point in the future.

#2 Charlotte vs. Naomi - For the Smackdown Women's Championship

It was quite the shock decision at Battleground to have Natalya emerge at the new number one contender for Naomi's Smackdown Women's Championship. Considering Lana and Tamina appeared to be on the cusp of a decent storyline at the time, plus the fact that Charlotte and Becky Lynch are much more popular that Natalya, literally anyone else would have been a better shout.

When Charlotte was drafted to Smackdown after the Superstar Shake-up, she appeared to be heading straight for the title. Her rivalry with Naomi was decent enough and helped bring the best out of the former Funkadactyl. It all ended abruptly, however, as the Welcoming Committee faction got involved which led to the situation we have now.

Most fans assumed that Charlotte and Naomi would resume their feud sooner or later, and considering Summerslam is just around the corner, surely this was the best time to do it.

Fans are clearly into Charlotte and believe her as a champion. Naomi has done an excellent job so far, but she may need to drop the belt at some point and if that happens against Natalya, would it even make the main card? There's a real danger that if the company do figure out a match for Charlotte later this month, it will have a better chance of making the main card than the title match itself.

Charlotte and Naomi would have been the much better option here. Even if Naomi retained, the match would still feel special because it was done against the most impressive athlete on the women's roster. Natalya has served the WWE well for the past 10 years or so, but it's really time for her to take a step back and let the newer talent take centre stage.

#3 The Miz vs. Finn Balor - For the Intercontinental Championship

It can only be seen as a good thing that Jason Jordan has been given an unlikely push. The guy has talent coming out of his ears but he was always going to be in danger of being overshadowed by his former team mate Chad Gable.

The illegitimate son storyline with Kurt Angle hasn't really gotten off the ground yet, and we would hope the company were actually going somewhere with it. But putting Jordan in the IC title picture out of nowhere doesn't feel like the right fit at the moment.

Another person in an unsure position going into Summerslam is Finn Balor. "The Demon King" is tipped by many to be Universal Champion at some point in the near future. He has a huge following behind him, and considering how many video packages and documentaries the WWE have put out about him, it's clear one of the McMahons sees great things in his future.

Right now, the worst person a WWE Superstar can be paired with to climb the ladder is Bray Wyatt. Fans are really starting to grow tired of endless Wyatt feuds that go nowhere and do nothing for anybody involved. So far he has had a mini rivalry with Roman Reigns, a slightly longer one with Seth Rollins and is now doing to exact same with Finn Balor.

Bray should be given some time off to allow for the creative team to work out what they're doing with him before he sucks even more promising talent down into irrelevance.

If now isn't the time for Finn to hold the Universal Championship, why not the Intercontinental title instead? With AJ Styles holding the US belt over on Smackdown Live, the mid card titles are growing in prestige at the moment. Miz has been an excellent IC champion so far this year, but there needs to be convincing Superstars around him to help make the belt feel as special as it is.

Summerslam has a long history of well-worked IC title matches and Miz vs. Balor could have been the latest instalment.

#4 Baron Corbin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - For the Money in the Bank Briefcase

There's nothing worse than a feud that doesn't end decisively. Baron Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura weren't exactly setting the world alight with their rivalry, but fans deserved more than a flaky DQ finish to conclude it all. Perhaps the WWE would have been better to make the rivalry last until Summerslam.

While it's great to see the Japanese icon wrestle for the WWE Championship, too much about this match with Jinder Mahal comes across as short-sighted. Does the WWE have a plan for Shinsuke after Summerslam if he does emerge victorious? Their handling of him so far hasn't filled us with a lot of promise.

There's no denying that Shinsuke has the ability to drag a decent match out of Jinder Mahal but this doesn't feel like the best way to introduce him to the title scene.

Perhaps John Cena would have been a better option after all. He is a proven entity in WWE and will bring interest back to the WWE Championship which hasn't had the best time of it in recent months. Shinsuke's time will come, provided the WWE doesn't mess him up too much, but for now maybe he should still be climbing the ladder - so to speak.

A match with Baron Corbin to end the feud would have been more fitting. And if Vince was concerned that not enough of Nakamura's fans would be invested in this, Corbin could have been made to put his briefcase on the line. If the plan is to still go with Corbin as champion at some point, why not make him do it the hard way?

Have Shinsuke win the briefcase, giving him a signature Summerslam moment, and watch The Lone Wolf scratch and claw his way to the top again.

#5 Brock Lesnar Vs Braun Strowman - For the Universal Championship

Fans are understandably excited for the main event of Summerslam 2017. Brock Lesnar will be defending his Universal title against Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman. While this does have all the potential to be a great Summerslam match, multi-man bouts on big four PPVs are always a bit of a risk.

There have been exceptions over the years, but generally, a main event at a signature show should really be a one on one affair - two of the company's best going at it for the biggest prize. Instead, this could well turn out to be an underwhelming match which nobody remembers.

Out of all the singles matches you can do with these four, Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman is probably the most exciting right now. While Brock and Joe have been doing some good work together recently, we have already seen them go at it once already.

We've also seen Reigns and Lesnar, and if rumours are to be believed, this will probably be taking place at Wrestlemania next year anyway. Braun vs. Lesnar, however, would feel pretty fresh and would have many people talking.

It would all depend on whether the company is ready to put the belt on Strowman. He has far exceeded expectations and has endeared himself to the WWE Universe. He fits into that monster heel persona perfectly, even though he's now effectively a babyface. Imagine what a story you could have told with Strowman having him become the champion for the first time against Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.

There's always a danger that fans will turn off Braun when he is no longer feuding with Roman Reigns, and this is a risk the company shouldn't take. Now that he has the support of the crowd behind him, why not make Braun the man? If it doesn't turn out the way Vince wanted, then at least they know where they are with him. Leaving it too long could really result in the company missing out.

Edited by Nishant Jayaram