Smark Out Moment

The WWE SummerSlam 2017 pay-per-view will take place on August 20, 2017 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Follow along here for spoilers and information on the event's card, lineup of matches and news regarding the pay-per-view.

Here are my predictions for the 2017 WWE SummerSlam PPV. Check back for SummerSlam 2017 results and review coverage here.

WWE SummerSlam 2017 Spoilers

Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman

With this being a Fatal 4-Way, I'm worried that means Brock Lesnar will retain through some kind fo bullshit and we'll still end up getting the Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar feud at WrestleMania, which I absolutely do not want to see, in any way, whatsoever. I'd much rather see Roman Reigns against John Cena and I think that's the smarter option by far as I can't imagine people will really give a shit and give WWE the response they're expecting. Reigns WILL NOT be cheered against Lesnar and that main event isn't going to be something that creates as much interest as Cena/Reigns.

Ugh. Don't fuck this up, WWE. One of those three challengers has to win the Universal Championship so we don't have Lesnar skipping out for the rest of the year.

PREDICTION: I want anybody to win the title except for Lesnar to retain, so Lesnar will probably win. Damn it.


SmackDown Women's Championship Match: Naomi (c) vs. Natalya

I don't expect Carmella to cash in her title shot before this, or even after this match, necessarily. It looked to me like they were going with Tamina as the next challenger for Naomi's title, which would have been fine by my book. Natalya, on the other hand, I have zero interest in seeing. This match means nothing to me. Sorry, fans of Natalya and Naomi. They're both talented but I could not care less.

PREDICTION: Naomi retains.


Raw Women's Championship Match: Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks

Sure. I mean, I would have cared more if they hadn't have faced off already and this was their first match, and if it wasn't just a backup option with them wanting Bayley instead, but I like Bliss and Banks and they could put on a good performance. Oddly enough, I really kind of wanted Nia Jax to be involved in this, despite not liking Jax all too much. Maybe that will happen at No Mercy.

PREDICTION: Alexa Bliss retains.


United States Championship Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee

Hm....I didn't see this one coming, but I'll bite. They needed something to make this more interesting after Owens and Styles have had so many matches against each other already. I'm hoping this doesn't end with a title change unless there's a legitimate plan for what to do with the roster, rather than this randomized "switch things up and then figure it out" dynamic they've been doing with SmackDown as of late—particularly with this belt. We'll see where this goes, but at the very least, Owens and Styles are two of my favorites and I'll enjoy the match itself.

PREDICTION: AJ Styles retains the title.


Randy Orton vs. Rusev

So this is a thing, I guess. Yay? Sad face. This is certainly not good enough to have made the card in my mind. I have quite literally zero interest in this feud and it makes me sad that this match is eating up space on the lineup while Sami Zayn, Tye Dillinger and others aren't scheduled for an appearance at all. I'd have rather had Randy Orton take a month or so off and Rusev face Chad Gable.

PREDICTION: Randy Orton wins.


WWE Championship Match: Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Did not expect this at all, and with Baron Corbin cashing in his briefcase and losing, this has me nervous that WWE has no idea what they want to do with SmackDown. I really feel like this should be the United States title match and the Owens/Styles bout should be for the WWE Championship. Now, I might be a minority here, but I haven't liked Jinder Mahal as champion because I feel like he's lacking charisma and not pulling his weight, but I also don't want Nakamura to take the title as it feels too soon, he can't cut a promo, and I don't think he could pull the weight of the top dog either. Granted, I didn't think Corbin was ready for that responsibility EITHER, so that's what makes me nervous about all of this. I really thought the best course of action was to put the belt on John Cena.

This could go either way and I wouldn't be surprised. They seem to be throwing around random things and changing plans up on a whim. For all I know, Darren Young is going to interfere and start a feud with one of these guys, or Goldust is going to switch over to SmackDown and somehow win the title.

PREDICTION: Mahal retains.

Note: Swap the belt to Tozawa instead of Neville. The match is still the same minus who is the champion going into it.

Cruiserweight Championship Match: Akira Tozawa (c) vs. Neville

I maintain that this should have been a Triple Threat match including Ariya Daivari. Too many rematches for a SummerSlam card have already been placed on here and WWE even went the extra step forward by having them do this match on the go-home show of Raw so it would be ANOTHER time that we've seen them face off. Sure, the tables have turned with Tozawa as champion, but I'm one of the few people that actually gives a shit about the division and watches 205 Live and even I have no extra interest in this anymore, so I doubt that's going to be a game changer that will get people invested.

PREDICTION: Tozawa retains.


SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day (c) vs. The Usos

Ugh, SummerSlam is filled with way too many generic rematches. This should have at least had a stipulation attached to it. I'm a big fan of both teams, but c'mon, WWE. Think of something better after we've seen them face off so many times.

PREDICTION: The New Day retain unless something crazy happens.


Big Cass vs. Big Show (with Enzo Amore suspended in a shark cage)

The whole suspension in a cage angle is very strange to me, and I didn't see that coming.

PREDICTION: Big Cass wins.


Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor

To be perfectly honest, I'm over both of these guys in a lot of ways. Bray Wyatt has never been the most interesting person to me and Finn Balor is overrated in my opinion. The entrances will be cool. After that, meh. They might even underutilize the Demon Balor idea and leave it as a disappointment compared to expectations.

PREDICTION: Bray Wyatt wins.


Baron Corbin vs. John Cena

Tell me how a one-off match that spawned out of nothing is better than a Jinder Mahal title match with Cena winning the title and Corbin then cashing in, leading to a Hell in a Cell match. I don't have much interest in this right now and it feels like they're trying to coast on the bare minimum as far as a storyline goes. This could have been so much better, and no, it doesn't help that Cena caused Corbin to lose his cash-in. That was a last minute mercy attempt to add heat to the feud. It's a one-shot fix in their mind. Now, oooooh, it's soooo personal. Please. This was a mistake in more ways than one, not just for these two, but for many other people on the roster. Until they convince me that everything will work out in the end, I'm going to maintain that opinion. We're not going to know until we start building toward WrestleMania.

PREDICTION: Corbin wins unless Cena goes to Raw. If Cena leaves SmackDown, he wins.


Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Sheamus and Cesaro (c) vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins

Well, with Sheamus expected to take time off to film a movie in August, I was really thinking The Hardy Boyz would win the titles back and move on to a feud against The Revival. I also thought Gallows and Anderson might turn babyface. Instead, we randomly got a Shield reunion (minus Reigns) with them going for the tag titles. Sure, why not? I'm about 50/50 on whether I'd like to see them win the titles or come up short, but I don't think that they will...yet I'm about as confident about that prediction as I am confident that I could beat Braun Strowman in an arm wrestling contest.

PREDICTION: Cesaro and Sheamus retain.


Six-Man Tag Team Match: The Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel vs. Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz

Totally called this one happening when they didn't announce a title match. It's on the kickoff and nothing is on the line, so it doesn't matter. Jason Jordan and The Hardy Boyz should win so Jordan can request a title opportunity either on Raw or at No Mercy.

PREDICTION: The Miztourage loses.