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The 2018 WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view takes place in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday.
Thirteen matches have been confirmed for the event, including Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship), AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Championship), Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins (Intercontinental Championship) and Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz.
Both women’s divisions will also be represented on the show, with Ronda Rousey challenging Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women’s Championship and Carmella putting her SmackDown Women’s Championship on the line in a Triple Threat match against Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.
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Elsewhere on the card, Jeff Hardy will attempt to regain the United States Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura, Kevin Owens will challenge Braun Strowman for his Money In The Bank briefcase, The New Day will face The Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, and Finn Balor will take on Baron Corbin.
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On the event’s kickoff show, there will be three matches: Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak (Cruiserweight Championship), The B-Team vs. The Revival (Raw Tag Team Championships), and Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega vs. Rusev & Lana.
In this article, let’s predict the outcome of every match that will take place at this year’s “Biggest Party of the Summer”.
#13 Kickoff show: The B-Team vs. The Revival (Raw Tag Team Championships)
After Akira Tozawa’s pre-SummerSlam win over Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship last year, it looked like we could see another title change on the SummerSlam go-home episode of Raw this week when The B-Team put their Raw Tag Team Championships on the line against The Revival and The Deleters of Worlds.
However, Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel were able to retain after Bray Wyatt was caught with a Shatter Machine from The Revival, and it has since been announced that Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder will get another shot at the titles on Sunday.
This is tough to predict, mostly because The Revival seem to fall short every time it matters most on the main roster, but let’s assume that will finally change at SummerSlam.
Prediction: The Revival
#12 Kickoff show: Rusev & Lana vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega
Much of the build-up to this match has centred around Aiden English, whose obliviously idiotic attempts to help Rusev and Lana in matches in recent weeks have backfired spectacularly.
The former Vaudevillian will surely try to get involved again in this Sunday’s kickoff show match, resulting in another triumph for Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega, and leading to the official Rusev Day split that fans have been anticipating for a long time.
Prediction: Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega
#11 Kickoff show: Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak (Cruiserweight Championship)
Cedric Alexander has been on an unprecedented winning streak of 27 matches over the last eight months. The last man to defeat him? Drew Gulak – his challenger for the Cruiserweight Championship on Sunday.
Gulak has been on an impressive run of his own recently, winning his last six singles matches on 205 Live, but it would still be a surprise to see him walk out of Brooklyn as champion.
Prediction: Cedric Alexander
#10 Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor
The next chapter of Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor will be written at SummerSlam, with both men having shared a clean victory over the other ahead of this Sunday's third (and probably final) encounter.
So, will the Raw Constable abuse his power and receive help from one of his recent allies to get the win? Or will “The Extraordinary Man Who Does Extra Ordinary Things” finally silence WWE's most obnoxious authority figure?
While a Corbin victory can’t be ruled out, it looks like Balor will get the win in this one.
Prediction: Finn Balor
#9 The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day (SmackDown Tag Team Championships)
Regular readers of our weekly last-minute prediction series will know that we doubted from the very start if The New Day would face The Bludgeon Brothers at SummerSlam, simply because they have already been dismantled by Harper & Rowan on so many occasions in 2018.
Well, not only did the four-time Tag Team champions earn the right to face the current champs this Sunday, but recent booking suggests that they are serious contenders to end the destructive duo’s four-month title reign.
This is a lot tougher to call than the WrestleMania Triple Threat between these two teams and The Usos. There’s a strong argument to back New Day, but it still feels a little too early for The Bludgeon Brothers to lose their titles.
Prediction: The Bludgeon Brothers
#8 Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jeff Hardy (United States Championship)
The only way Jeff Hardy stands a chance of walking out of SummerSlam as United States champion is if Matt Hardy makes a surprise switch to SmackDown Live and helps him out against Shinsuke Nakamura, countering the threat of Randy Orton in the process.
As intriguing as that would be, is it likely to happen? Probably not, so let’s play it safe and predict that Nakamura will retain his title.
Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura
#7 Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair (SmackDown Women’s Championship)
The friendly rivalry that has developed between Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair over the last few weeks seems to be hinting at one thing: Carmella will capitalise on the breakdown of their friendship at SummerSlam to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
“The Princess of Staten Island” has made a habit of sneaking victories by any means necessary during her title reign, and the Triple Threat rules for this match will definitely help rather than hinder her.
It would be classic Carmella to get involved at just the right time to win with a roll-up after Becky hits Charlotte with a move, or vice versa, allowing the champ to retain.
Prediction: Carmella
#6 Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens (Money In The Bank contract)
After defeating Braun Strowman in a steel cage match at Extreme Rules, Kevin Owens will get another shot at “The Monster Among Men” this Sunday. On this occasion, however, Braun’s coveted Money In The Bank briefcase will be on the line.
The MITB stipulation certainly adds some extra intrigue to the match, but can anybody really see KO walking out of Brooklyn with the contract?
WWE has been known to spring big surprises at SummerSlam in recent years, but it would be a huge setback for Braun if he were to lose his guaranteed opportunity at the Universal Championship.
Prediction: Braun Strowman
#5 Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
No matter what the outcome at SummerSlam, this eight-years-in-the-making rivalry surely won’t be over after Sunday. In all likelihood, it will continue beyond this PPV, into Hell In A Cell, and possibly even another event after that.
As we mentioned in our possible SummerSlam shocks article earlier this week, it seems more likely that The Miz will win the first meeting in this series of matches, giving him something to gloat about in the next few weeks ahead of a high-stakes rematch at Hell In A Cell.
Prediction: The Miz
#4 Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins (Intercontinental Championship)
The Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins rivalry heated up on this week’s Raw when Dean Ambrose returned to even up the numbers ahead of the Intercontinental Championship match at SummerSlam.
While Drew McIntyre will be in Ziggler’s corner, Ambrose’s return means he will have Rollins’ back at ringside for the first time in nine months on Sunday… but for how long?
There has been speculation that “The Lunatic Fringe” could turn heel soon, possibly as early as SummerSlam. Either way, let’s predict that Rollins will reclaim the IC title from Dolph in Brooklyn.
Prediction: Seth Rollins
#3 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Championship)
Samoa Joe has all the attributes and believability to defeat AJ Styles and hold the WWE Championship, but it would be a major surprise to see lengthy WWE and Universal title reigns both end on the same night (more on that shortly).
With that in mind, let’s predict that “The Destroyer” will be the one to end Styles’ 283-days-and-counting reign as WWE champion – but not yet.
Hell In A Cell is on the horizon after SummerSlam, and Joe challenging Styles inside the cell for the WWE Championship would make for the perfect main event.
Prediction: AJ Styles
#2 Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey (Raw Women’s Championship)
Ronda Rousey looked set to defeat Nia Jax for the Raw Women’s Championship at the Money In The Bank PPV in June, only for Alexa Bliss to interfere by cashing in her MITB contract to win the title from Nia.
Since then, the two women have been involved in multiple confrontations on Raw, with Alexa repeatedly dismissing her upcoming opponent as an “overhyped rookie”.
It seemed a little too early for Ronda to win the title in just her second WWE match at MITB, but now feels like the right time for “The Baddest Woman On The Planet” to end Alexa’s latest reign and head into the first-ever women’s PPV, Evolution, as champion.
Prediction: Ronda Rousey
#1 Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns (Universal Championship)
On all three previous occasions that Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns have met in singles matches, the majority of fans expected “The Big Dog” to walk away as the winner and with a championship over his shoulder – but he never has.
So, in the third meeting in four months between these two men, will “The Beast” prevail again and continue his 16-month reign with the Universal Championship? Or will Roman finally conquer the man he has never defeated one-on-one? And will there be a Money In The Bank cash-in?
With Lesnar seemingly UFC-bound, let’s predict that Reigns will defeat him once and for all at SummerSlam to become the Universal champion for the first time in his career – and then Braun Strowman will cash-in to spoil the party!
Prediction: Roman Reigns (followed by a Braun Strowman cash-in)
