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WWE’s latest live event special, known as Super Show-Down, emanates this Saturday from the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. Whereas the card is loaded with some pretty high profile bouts for a glorified house show, there are a few less relevant matches as well, which still promise to shape both the brands moving forward.
Stars like Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor and many more have been in a holding pattern since Summerslam about two months back, and hopefully, fans get to finally see what they’ll be doing next, once these international tours are over. If we’re lucky, we’ll get to see most of these developments at the Super Show-Down event itself.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the matches announced for the show so far and predict the likely winners of each contest.
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Secondary Matches
Ronda Rousey & The Bella Twins vs. The Riott Squad
Is there anyone excited for this match at all? This match will most likely be the biggest botch fest of the night courtesy of Brie and the uncertainty surrounding Morgan’s health. All in all, Rousey’s appearance is getting wasted in a big overseas event and no, even a Nikki Bella heel turn to set up her match with Rousey at Evolution cannot save this.
Winners: Rousey and the Bellas
New Day (c) vs. The Bar - Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match
Is it just me or is The New Day’s shtick getting stale every passing week? While the past couple of challengers to the tag titles have always earned a shot at the champions, The Bar is the new challenger because......reasons. I still hope The Bar wins here and we get an Usos vs The Bar program, but just because it hasn’t been long since Kofi and party won the titles, they’re more likely to retain.
Winners: The New Day
The IIconics vs. Asuka & Naomi
There are a couple of things we need to consider here. Firstly, this will be IIconics homecoming so they should logically win, however, WWE has not really been kind to hometown heroes of late. The second point to be considered is poor Asuka, who might I add was in plans to main event Wrestlemania 35 not long back. Toss a coin on this one. Just for the sake of prediction, I’ll go for the babyfaces because (spoiler) WWE won’t go for two hometown victories on the same event.
Winners: Asuka & Naomi
Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Buddy Murphy - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Another homecoming match, this time a championship match for Buddy Murphy, who should absolutely win the title here. Him not winning may just rub the fans in attendance the wrong way and besides, Alexander’s championship run, which started at Wrestlemania 34, has not been that great.
Winner: Buddy Murphy
John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Elias
Barring the ovation that Owens and Elias received from the Seattle fans last Monday on RAW, this was one of the most random matches in the history of random matches. Thanks in large part to the great chemistry shown by the heels, the segment with Seattle fans and Lashley’s new pairing with Lio Rush, this match is infinitely more interesting than it had any right to be. Still, if you’re expecting a curveball this Saturday, you’re in for a disappointment. This will be as basic a Cena win as it can get.
Winners: John Cena & Bobby Lashley
The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan - Winner gets a shot at the WWE Championship.
When Bryan was finally cleared to take part in active competition by the WWE doctors, there were several dream matches that fans could get excited for. Prospective matches with Nakamura, Styles, Joe and more were all mouth-watering propositions but the one match everyone put at the top of their list for Bryan to be a part of, was with The Miz. Given these guys’ years of history together and the real-life tensions between them, Miz vs. Daniel Bryan was at one point slated for a WWE title clash at Wrestlemania.
Rather they got a chance to shine in a feature match at Summerslam, and two months removed, we’re not as excited to see them going head to head now. The creative butchering of this program started as soon as The Miz displayed crying babies on the titantron. It will be good for each man to separate from the other right after this match, whoever wins.
On that note, predicting this one is pretty hard because it is co-dependent to the Styles vs Joe match later on.
Still, it’s even harder to place your bet against Bryan who has now come up short twice in this rivalry. On the other hand, Smackdown is currently in a babyface deficit, so if WWE goes for Styles retaining and Bryan winning, then several top-tier heels will be left without any babyface foes to target (see Orton who’s targeting Dillinger of all people right now).
Winner: The Miz
AJ Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe - No DQ Match for the WWE Championship
Styles and Joe and following the same footsteps as Styles and Nakamura followed earlier this year, in that their matches had some sort of screwy finishes to prolong the rivalry. It’s safe to say that if WWE wanted to make Joe the champion, they would have done it already.
There’s also a lot going on with Styles’ current reign as the champion. Firstly, he’s the cover star of the WWE 2K19 game so it’s logical to keep him the focal point of the broadcast during the marketing season. Secondly, the company is obviously going for a lengthy run here most probably to beat CM Punk’s record 434 days as the WWE champion.
If reports are to be believed, WWE is trying to prolong this rivalry even further. This can either be done a Joe win this Saturday or yet another screwy finish. Still, if Styles retains here and Miz wins his match, we can easily transition into The Miz vs. Styles and Joe vs. Bryan.
Winner: AJ Styles
The Shield vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre
It’s not hard to see that this match may quite easily top every other match on this card, due to the talented men involved. It will be a spot fest and a sight to behold in the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The story going into this match has been quite intriguing of late, with Ambrose playing a 3-dimensional character, and may just turn on his brothers come Saturday.
Another story being told here is Ziggler being the weak link in his team. The Shield will come out on top at Super Show-Down and what started as a Shield implosion may very well turn into a tag champions’ implosion.
Winner: The Shield
Becky Lynch (c) vs Charlotte - Smackdown Women’s Championship
If Triple H and The Undertaker were not on the card, the match that deserved to be the main event of the show, was this one. The raw emotion that is invested in this match from the fans and both the performers is not matchable by any other bout on this card. Lynch in particular, has been the best thing going for the entire WWE product since Summerslam now and should be the absolute favourite to win this match, no questions asked.
However, the more important question is, how do WWE transition into yet another Lynch vs Charlotte match match for Evolution if Lynch wins again. They could go with a Charlotte win just to prolong the feud but they have to avoid the hot potato business with the title. We don’t want Lynch to cheat to win as well here. It’s kind of a trap they’re in creatively, but one thing is for sure, Lynch’s support will not weaken even if she cheats to win.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Triple H w/ Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker w/ Kane
While Triple H and The Undertaker are two of the most decorated WWE Superstars to ever lace boot in the squared circle, their Super Showdown match was met with lukewarm response upon its initial announcement. Since then WWE has done a commendable job in making it feel like a main event and adding extra layers to the already storied rivalry. Big names like Shawn Michaels and Kane have been added to the mix as well.
Predictions work on booking plans but when two legends collide for nothing more than just bragging rights, the win doesn't really matter all that much. Still, while it should be easy to pick The Undertaker in any match he takes part in, Triple H is winning this one. He will, on paper, have a victory against The Deadman, who beat Hunter in back to back Wrestlemanias. Expect some sort of interference from The Heart Break Kid and the Big Red Machine, which ultimately results in The Game taking the "W" here. This will also most likely start the build towards the inevitable tag match between DX and The Brothers of Destruction at WWE Crown Jewel at Saudi Arabia.
Winner: Triple H
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