wrestling / Columns

411’s Roundtable Preview: WWE Summerslam 2016

August 21, 2016 | Posted by Sean Garmer
Image Credit: WWE

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The Staff

Paul Leazar, Wrestling 2 the MAX Podcast

Kevin Pantoja, Wrestling Zone Reviewer

Michael Weyer, Shining a Spotlight

Mitch Nickelson, Wrestling Zone Article Writer

Rob Stewart, Wrestling Zone Article Writer

Marc Morrison, Games Zone 8-Ball, Video Games 2 the MAX Podcast Co-Host

Sean Garmer, Wrestling 2 the MAX Podcast, WWE Roundtable Organizer, Games Top 5 Organizer, Video Games 2 the MAX Podcast,

* Please note: These preshow matches were added by WWE after our deadline. So the match between Dudley Boyz vs. Sami Zayn and Neville and the 12 Man Tag Match will not be covered in this preview. *

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Cesaro vs. Sheamus
Pre-Show Kickoff Singles Match: Match 1 in Best of 7 Series

Paul Leazar: So you can’t go wrong with this pairing. These guys bring it every single time they hook up in the ring, and when it comes to best of seven series, I like the babyface getting the initial win, letting the heel build up the big lead, and have the babyface come roaring back to win the whole damn thing, so I’m taking Cesaro here to pick up the first win.

Winner: Cesaro

Kevin Pantoja: I actually recently said that I wanted the best of seven series to return. However, I didn’t want it like this. Don’t get me wrong, Sheamus and Cesaro should have some really good matches throughout. I just didn’t like that they’ve already had two in recent weeks that weren’t part of it. Also, I want there to be some sort of reward for winning. Now, it’s just them facing each other for the sake of it. Have the winner earn a United States or even Universal Title shot.

Winner: Sheamus

Michael Weyer: Would have liked a bit better build but still looks good. Classic set-up for best of seven is the heel winning the first three before the face ties it back up and I can easily see WWE going for that here. Should be a good and hard hitting match to boost Cesaro up more as Sheamus gets the first win and should spark things up a bit in the coming weeks.

Winner: Sheamus

Mitch Nickelson: I like both of these guys well enough, especially when it comes to seeing them both in the ring against each other. The Best of 7 series is a fantastic idea for them and gives them so much more reason to wrestle every week if they’re going to get booked against each other over and over anyways. I see Cesaro ultimately winning it all, so Sheamus should get first win on the big stage so he gets something out of this, too.

Winner: Sheamus

Rob Stewart: There have yet to be any stakes attached to this yet, have there? It’s just a best of seven to be a best of seven? I’m thinking there is a US Title shot at stake in this, but I genuinely can’t recall if I heard that announced or it’s just something I speculated on until I believed it. This was rather hastily put together, but still… I haven’t seen a quality Best Of Seven series in a while, so it’s a welcome sight. If I had to predict (and for your amusement, I’m about to be wrong seven times here instead of just the usual one!), I’d say this series goes: Sheamus, Cesaro, Cesaro, Cesaro, Sheamus, Sheamus, Cesaro. So based on that…

Winner: Sheamus

Marc Morrison: I’d like to see Cesaro win here, but the WWE seems to never be too big on the guy, likely due to his smaller stature, and how over he is with fans, despite WWE disliking him. Sheamus will likely win here and continue spinning his wheels until he pulls a Wade Barrett and leaves to go make some more movies.

Winner: Sheamus

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Becky Lynch, Naomi & Carmella vs. Alexa Bliss & Natalya
3 on 2 Handicap Match

Paul Leazar: Eva’s suspension sorta puts a wrench in the works, but I really hope the WWE just adds to the list of excuses for why Eva can’t wrestle the match she’s scheduled for. I think you got a lot to work with here still though, and Naomi’s entrance is so cool, so that should get the fans rocking and rolling early. I’m going with the babyfaces here to get the win, but I think it’s dealers choice at this point.

Winners: Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Carmella

Kevin Pantoja: It will be interesting to see what they do with this match now that Eva Marie is suspended. I’d actually really like it if Nikki Bella returned and took her spot. I grew to kind of like her before her injury. Anyway, the Smackdown women’s division is pretty interesting after a rough fist week or so. As much as I love Carmella and Becky Lynch, I also really like Alexa Bliss. If we get a Nikki return, which I kind of expect, I say the heels win.

Winner: Alexa Bliss’ team

Michael Weyer: The classic “shove as many Divas as possible” bout to just kill some time. Assuming Eva is out of course, not sure who takes her place and Becky deserves a bit better but should be enjoyable for however little time they get.

Winners: Carmella, Becky and Naomi

Mitch Nickelson: The SmackDown ladies are facing off here in the traditional good versus bad battle lines in somewhat mish-mash of a tag match. I’ve been getting a chuckle out of the antics of Eva’s constant excuses for why she can’t wrestle, so my hope here is that she keeps annoying her partners by refusing to tag in. Then, after one of the opponents gets laid out and ready to lose, she confidently tags herself in to the chagrin of her teammates to score the winning pinfall… okay, that all was what I wrote BEFORE Eva got suspended. I don’t know what they’re doing now, but I’ll give it to the heels anyway.

Winner: Natalya, Alexa Bliss, & Not Eva Maria

Rob Stewart: Well… this is clearly not happening now. At least not in this format. Maybe they’ll drop Eva Marie and Naomi and just do a tag match. Maybe they’ll replace Eva Marie and keep it a 6-woman affair. Maybe they’ll scrap the whole thing and give Sami Zayn a god damn match at SummerSlam. Kind of hard to say at this point. It’s also possible Eva Marie wasn’t going to compete anyway because of her current gimmick. So on that last assumption (that this essentially goes down as a 3-on-2)….

Winner: Carmella, Becky Lynch, and Naomi

Marc Morrison: Had the original match gone on, I could have seen Lynch’s team winning. Now though, it’s interesting. At present, it’s a 2 on 3 match, but I could see Bliss and Natalya possibly bringing someone else in to make it a fair fight. My dream would either be Bayley or Kana, as either of them would be great. So, I’ll hope for that.

Winner: Natalya and Alexa Bliss

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Enzo & Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
Tag Team Match

Paul Leazar: This is a nice and simple match that works well. Enzo and Big Cass are gonna get the huge hometown pop, they get to be featured in a match with two guys who have a lot of name value in Jericho & Owens, and if Y2KO loses, big deal, they’ll probably just end up feuding with each other afterwards, while Enzo and Cass get a nice shiny win out of the deal, and you could have be the next team up in the Tag Team Title ranks once The New Day and Gallows & Anderson finish up down the line.

Winners: Enzo and Big Cass

Kevin Pantoja: There is a lot of potential in this being the most fun match of the night. There is just something so captivating about Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, while the JeriKO duo is all kinds of awesome. The promos involving both teams have been great and I hope for similar stuff from the match itself. It’s tough to pick a winner here. I believe Enzo and Cass are in line for a Tag Title run soon but I’m gonna say JeriKO wins here and we get a rematch at Clash of the Champions, where Enzo and Cass win.

Winner: Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens

Michael Weyer: Frankly, I’m looking forward more to the pre-match promos. However, this should be a great showcase for Enzo and Cass to show off and prove they deserve more as a team while Jericho and Owens are an odd pairing that works well in the ring together. Expect some good moves and clashes before the faces get the win to boost them up and show how Jericho is still great at putting guys over.

Winners: Enzo and Cass

Mitch Nickelson: I would have no problem being wrong about picking against Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens because they have so much chemistry together. However, I will pick against them simply because Enzo & Cass are the permanent duo here. There better be a backstage segment with Jericho & Owens as well as a lengthy in-ring promo for Enzo & Colin prior to this match. This is one of the finest ensembles of promo guys ever assembled in one tag team match so please them all talk.

Winner: Enzo Amore & Big Cass

Rob Stewart: What an odd, odd pairing. But, yeah… okay… “Jeri-KO”. Groan. This actually has been a solid bit of fun; the kind of undercard feud that gives guys something to do while the title scene is bottle-necked, and it also manages to somehow feel organic and convincing. All four of these guys have been doing bang-up work lately, and I’m sure that’s why this angle feels so natural. I can’t picture Owens and Jericho really making it as partners–hell, they’ve had backstage run-ins prior to this feud ever being a thing–so I doubt they come out of here with the win. But who knows… historically, WWE has loved just throwing two guys together and giving them a tag team journey. Maybe Jeri-KO is what it takes to eventually end New Day’s run. But… I’m not seeing it just yet.

Winner: Enzo & Cass

Marc Morrison: I’d actually like to see Enzo and Big Cass win here, not because they are the better team or anything, but just to get Kevin Owens the hell away from Jericho. Owens should be battling Ambrose or Rollins for their belts and not wasting his time in the Tag Team division where he outclasses almost everyone, save for The New Day.

Winner: Enzo Amore & Big Cass

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(Champion) The Miz w/ Maryse vs. Apollo Crews
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

Paul Leazar: Lord, has the WWE not cared about this feud at all. I really enjoy Apollo as a wrestler, but he has absolutely zero character, and instead of taking the opportunity to really let him build during this chase for The Miz’s IC Title, they’ve had them play second fiddle to everything else on Smackdown, which is such a shame. The Miz is firing on all cylinders right now, and Apollo could really, really use somebody strong to play off of while he builds up who exactly he’s going to be going forward. That being said, I think Apollo wins the match, but Miz retains via DQ due to some Maryse interference.

Winner: Apollo Crews via DQ, STILL WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION, The Miz

Kevin Pantoja: While I firmly believe he needs more character development, I really like Apollo Crews. Captain BALD HEAD is just a joy and his in-ring work is strong. This is easily the biggest opportunity of his young career. Not only for the Intercontinental Title but on the second biggest show of the year. All that being said, I say the Miz retains. For one, he continues to excel in every role the company gives him (except for his horrible babyface run). For another, the build to this has lacked. I could see Apollo doing very well and giving Miz all sorts of trouble before Miz finds a way to retain. I expect Crews to be champion soon, but not at SummerSlam.

Winner: The Miz

B>Michael Weyer: WWE is trying but Apollo is just not working. He’s bland, no real character, so-so in the ring and it’s obvious fans would prefer Ryder here instead. Which, by typical WWE logic, means he wins the belt here for a “pop” that will be muted and yet another beefy guy given a push beyond him because of looks to hold the IC title. Sad but that’s how this company works way too often.

Winner and NEW IC Champion: Apollo Crews

Mitch Nickelson: I know Apollo is great in-ring but I haven’t yet felt any strong reason to root for the guy so far. If anything, he should be in a Best of 7 series with Cesaro right now. The SmackDown presentation of Crews has been a little better than anything he’s been given on the main roster up to this point, but it still doesn’t feel like enough. Even so, The Miz hasn’t been doing a ton with his title for a while so it seems like a good time to drop the belt and give someone else a go at it. If they just let Crews be a fighting champion, he should have a good run.

Winner: Apollo Crews

Rob Stewart: Wow, this feels… unimportant. What an odd, tacked-on feud just to get the Intercontinental title on this show. This almost feels like a can’t-win scenario to me: If Miz drops the belt to Crews in this nothing angle, then it will feel like all the work of his good reign will have been pointless; if Crews loses, that’s just halting what little forward momentum he has accomplished. I’m beyond disinterested in this match; I’m actually kind of dreading it. The best possible outcome is some kind of Dusty Finish that keeps the belt on Miz, but lets Apollo look good. That way they can refocus these two into a more proper storyline where Crews potentially winning the belt will feel more impactful. Here it would just seem… out of nowhere.

Winner: Apollo Crews, by DQ (Miz retains)

Marc Morrison: I think The Miz is likely to win it here, but I’d rather see Apollo Crews win here. It’s still hard for me to buy The Miz as a champion, when a few years ago he was headlining PPV’s. Giving the belt to Crews would let a new guy hopefully breathe some life into it, which is what it needs.

Winner: Apollo Crews

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(Champion) Rusev w/ Lana vs. Roman Reigns
WWE United States Championship Match

Paul Leazar: Maybe I’m in the wrong frame of mind for this one, but I really hope that the WWE is going to doing something different then what they gave away for free on the go home Monday Night Raw for this one. Rusev and Roman wrestled a 25 minute non title match, and I don’t know what else you can bring to the table in that short of time to make this one feel different. At any rate, I really hope Rusev wins this one to 1) Sorta rub Roman’s nose in it a little after getting that 30 day suspension, and 2) to keep Rusev hot, who I think given the right booking, can be a really strong champion that carries the US Title for a while longer before dropping it to somebody who really needs the push, and not Roman, who has already a ride at the top of the mountain.

Winner and STILL WWE US Champion: Rusev

Kevin Pantoja: Over the past year, Rusev has become one of the most entertaining people on the entire roster. Roman Reigns had some highlights in 2015, but 2016 has been a down year outside of one or two matches. The WWE had potential here because Reigns and Rusev could have a good old fashioned, hard hitting battle. Instead, the rivalry has seen Reigns make bad jokes while Rusev defends his wife’s honor. Yet we’re supposed to boo him and cheer Roman. Also, giving away the match on Raw this past Monday, with a totally clean finish, was stupid. After taking losses to Rollins, Balor and Ambrose, I think Reigns’ punishments are over and he gets a run with the title here, even though I don’t want that.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Michael Weyer: So begins the great “redeem Roman experiment” as WWE still wants the fans to accept him even after a bad main event run and his suspension. The match can surprise you as they did a good one on RAW and the clash unique but it’s really an obvious set-up: Roman wins over the evil Russian with this new belt and maybe some time on the lower rungs can help him win fans over. Expect a stiff battle but maybe surprisingly good.

Winner and NEW US Champion: Roman Reigns

Mitch Nickelson: Even though picking against Roman Reigns on a Pay-Per-View is probably pretty silly – even with the recent wellness policy suspension and slight bump down the card – I’m going to pick against The Big Dog. Rusev and the US Championship were just made for each other. He needs to keep that belt for a long time, at least until Mr. America finally returns to avenge his countrymen.

Winner: Rusev

Rob Stewart: Roman Reigns officially seems to be in Reclamation Project territory with this move down to the upper midcard to chase a secondary belt. I’ve been working on a theory, though, that Reigns is not only the best heel in WWE, but that WWE has planned it that way dating back to sometime between WrestleMania 31 and Survivor Series. In the era of The Cool Heel and the smart fans who want to cheer guys who do their job well, WWE has booked Reigns as a bulletproof heel, in so much as he is one the fans WON’T start cheering for. All it took was to book him as a truly shitty babyface and run him over everyone else. Just as I was starting to realize that Reigns as world champ was the perfect blend of strong babyface who crushes evil (for the kids) and awful heel champ you’ll pay to see lose the belt (for the adults), though, WWE removed him from the world title picture. So… I was probably just giving them too much credit. Anyway, this match. Reigns just went over Rusev clean on Raw, so if you believe in 50/50 Booking, that means Ru-Ru retains his US Title here. Even if you don’t believe in that, a straight-up repeat affair seems improbable. As I’m looking over the rest of my picks here, I’m noticing two trends: picking babyfaces to win and picking current champs to retain. I gotta buck one of those here…

Winner: Rusev

Marc Morrison: This is an odd one because it’s two guys who you aren’t sure if they are supposed to be heels or babyfaces in the match. I guess I would go with Rusev here because giving the belt to Reigns after just coming back from a suspension would be like rewarding him for screwing up. Also, they continually try to make people care about Reigns, and no one does, nor will they likely ever will.

Winner: Rusev

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(Champions) New Day vs. Gallows and Anderson
WWE Tag Team Championship Match

Paul Leazar: Let’s face it folks, this entire feud is based around Big E’s testicles. Somewhere amongst the wreckage is the black box that has promo saying that Gallows and Anderson targeted Big E so they’d have the easiest match possible to capture those Tag Titles, but whatcha gonna do. At any rate, I think Gallows and Anderson really need the win here, whether the WWE has done them any favors booking wise in the past isn’t really relevant at this point. If you want them to matter from this point forward, they gotta win the straps, and continue the feud with The New Day.

Winners and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions: Gallows and Anderson

Kevin Pantoja: The time is up for the New Day. Their first title reign should have never ended, but their second one has gone on long enough. I’m not saying that I don’t want them to continue to have success or that I think they’re stale, I just think that Gallows and Anderson should win it here. They’re the hot new team, New Day has held the gold for a year and if my predictions of Enzo and Cass winning the titles soon is to come true, taking them from the heel Anderson and Gallows makes more sense. Hopefully, this will be the breakout match the former Bullet Club members need in their WWE run. Plus, without Big E, there will be reasoning for the New Day to ask for a rematch.

Winner: Gallows and Anderson

Michael Weyer: It’s time. I love the New Day as much as anyone but past time they dropped the belts and Gallows and Anderson are the most likely. The Day can still continue with a new energy as they challenge and still the best part of any RAW but their reign is coming to an end. Still, it should be a good match and WWE smart to keep New Day together for a bit yet time to give someone else a shot with the belts.

Winners and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions: Gallows and Anderson

Mitch Nickelson: I’m about 50% wanting to see New Day hold the belts until they surpass Demolition’s real tag record. The other 50% of me wants to see something new. New Day are still entertaining and having to compete with Big E on the shelf which will likely add some interesting plot developments, but they can still tell booty jokes without their championships. The “wanting something new” half of me wins out on this pick.

Winner: Gallows & Anderson

Rob Stewart: The potty humor of this feud has been a divisive subject (some have found it sophomoric and base; others thought it was innocent fun), but when it gets to brass tacks… this match has Wow potential. I actually haven’t minded the medical joking from The Club–I didn’t find it to be too tedious or unwelcome, and it was based around a vicious attack, not a silly incident–and it’s a nice bit of role reversal to see others poking fun at New Day’s expense. New Day has certainly been changing up their formula and staying fresh between the Wyatts feud and this. Anderson and Gallows certainly have the momentum with Big E being out and New Day being down from coming out on the losing end of the Wyatts feud (which… I still don’t get why they lost there, but they don’t let me book these things. I digress), so I think I see New Day pulling an underdog win here to retain. Most likely Big E makes a return mid-match for a save. This feud is just warming up either way.

Winner: New Day

Marc Morrison: The New Day wins here, as The New Day should win everything. They are just that good.

Winner: The New Day

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John Cena vs. AJ Styles
Singles Match

Paul Leazar: Holy match potential Batman! Most of these main events could surprise everybody and become match of the year contenders by the end of the night, and this one is no exception. AJ has been fire since arriving in the WWE, and has consistently delivered on every PPV he’s been on this year. John works best when he’s the second best wrestler in the ring, and suddenly, magic happens. It’s a big stage, these guys are ready to go out there and give you everything they got, the build is all there, these guys are desperate to prove they are better than the other, but this is the end of the line for John. It’s his time to move aside, and he’s been waiting all of this time for some guy from TNA to take his place. Welcome to the main event AJ, there’s a big gold belt in your future bud!

Winner: AJ Styles

Kevin Pantoja: This is how John Cena programs go lately. He loses the first match (which he did to AJ, Rusev, Owens and Rollins in the past year) before not only beating them back but beating them back several times over. I don’t think AJ gets buried here but this loss is going to hurt. He’s already just 2-4 on PPVs, not counting the Royal Rumble, and considering their recent promos, I just get the feeling that this loss will hurt. it would be great if AJ got the win here and could truly throw it in Cena’s face. Instead, the WWE won’t allow that to happen and Cena will make AJ eat his words after another great match. Another note of recent Cena feuds is that the best match usually happens first and things get progressively worse (Rusev, Owens and Rollins again).

Winner: John Cena

Michael Weyer: Potential match of the night here. We know these guys are fantastic and should gel together for an epic clash. Expect plenty of high spots and AJ really pulling out all the stops while Cena reminds the fans he really can wrestle given the chance. Give it to Cena this time around but still should be a great battle to remind you how amazing both these guys are.

Winner: John Cena

Mitch Nickelson: Here’s one of the bouts that could be something truly special. Styles versus Cena has all of the potential in the world to be a match of the year contender and I’m crossing my fingers that it delivers. AJ could use this win to step back into the title picture on the blue show but let’s face it, he’s going against John Cena here on the second biggest show of the year. His odds aren’t great. Even so, I’m betting against those odds and hoping that AJ pulls out the win somehow.

Winner: AJ Styles

Rob Stewart: So which is LESS likely: John Cena bucking his trend of winning all subsequent rematches after a PPV loss? Or AJ Styles starting his WWE career 2-5 on live specials (discounting his not winning the Rumble because that isn’t really fair)? I will say, running the risk of commenters seeking out my address to come throw rocks at me, that if my prediction for the Dean/Dolph match is true then AJ doesn’t need to win here. He won’t be moving right into a title program anyway, so he may as well drop this match and the two can have a third live special singles match next month. Hopefully he can win that one and subsequently move into the world title picture, though. It will be nice to see these two have a match that [presumably] doesn’t have a run-in from Gallows and Anderson (though they will be on the card, so I guess it’s not an guarantee).

Winner: John Cena

Marc Morrison: Styles is on a mission and Cena is just kind of…there. I’m sure these two guys will put on a solid match, but it’s a slight tossup who wins. I think WWE would like Cena to win, but me, and a lot of other people I assume, want Styles to take it. So, I’ll go with my gut here.

Winner: AJ Styles

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(Champion) Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte
WWE Women’s Championship Match

Paul Leazar: Welp, these girls have a tall task ahead of them as they try to top their outing on RAW a couple of weeks ago where Sasha won the championship, but if any two girls could do it, it’s these two right here. The feud has been so-so, but all the heat is there in Brooklyn to really make this one feel special, and to continue to keep the hype going on the Women’s Revolution that WWE likes to go on and on about. I see no reason to move the championship back to Charlotte at this point, so Sasha retains to a huge standing ovation.

Winner and STILL WWE Women’s Champion: Sasha Banks

Kevin Pantoja: Originally, I thought this is where Sasha would win the title. Well actually, I thought WrestleMania was the time but the WWE blew that and gave us more months of Charlotte’s dreadfulness. Sasha ended up winning the title on the excellent first post-draft Raw and it was wonderfully done. This should be another good to great match between the girls. Part of me could see Charlotte regain the title because, WWE. The other part though feels like it is finally Sasha’s time and she needs to have a good title reign. She should win and defend the gold against both Raw and Smackdown girls, especially since Raw is just Nia Jax and Dana Brooke outside of these two.

Winner: Sasha Banks

Michael Weyer: Tempting to say Charlotte gets the belt back but Sasha has been great as the champion and hard to see it ending so soon. Expect another fantastic battle between them to try and steal the show and maybe some interference from Brooke after all but Sasha takes advantage to get a win and set up a rematch to remind you how great this division has become.

Winner and STILL Women’s Champion: Sasha Banks

Mitch Nickelson: For a short while in 2016, if felt like this women’s wrestling movement on WWE’s main roster petered out. Thankfully, the momentum has picked back up again and I want to give most of the credit to Sasha here. The division feels so much more important when she’s around and that’s not to discredit Charlotte. Ms. Flair has always been great in the ring and has really progressed as a heel character. This contest has the potential to be one of the best matches on the card, so good luck to them. Sasha should retain because there’s no reason to take that title off of her so soon.

Winner: Sasha Banks

Rob Stewart: Well this is the easiest call of the night, right? There’s no way Charlotte walks out of SummerSlam as the champion again. Right? Well, nothing is 100%, but this road seems obvious: Sasha wins, puts Charlotte in her rear view mirror, and moves onto a program with Nia Jax (though that program may still include Charlotte; it’s possible Charlotte kicks Dana Brooke to the curb after the loss and gets Nia as her new enforcer and sends her after Sasha). Banks, like Bayley on Takeover, has history in Brooklyn, so you know she’s coming out to bring the house down again this year. Also, after losing a title last year there, the story should be of her focus on keeping that from becoming a habit. Charlotte had an admittedly high quality run as Divas/Womens champ (especially after dropping her father), and WWE was smart to parlay that run into having Sasha look like a powerful champion for defeating her. Long reign the Boss!

Winner: Sasha Banks

Marc Morrison: I guess I would like to see Sasha retain here, just because it sets up more possibilities down the road. Charlotte is a good enough wrestler, but I think Sasha is just an overall better champion between the two. As long as they don’t bring Ric Flair back, this match should be solid.

Winner: Sasha Banks

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(Champion) Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler
WWE Championship Match

Paul Leazar: Now here is a championship match with the right everything going on. Absolutely stellar build has let Dolph really shine, and show that he deserves this opportunity to be chasing for the top title over on Smackdown. This feud hasn’t even really been about Dean at all, as he’s almost this smug champion full of contempt, who just doesn’t believe that Dolph has what it takes, only for Dolph to surprise him or prove him (and many more) wrong every step of the way. This could be something really special, this could be that moment where Dolph Ziggler finally breaks through, and becomes on the top guys for Smackdown, but there is zero reason to take the belt off of Dean at this point. Dean is basically keeping this championship warm for AJ when he comes knocking, so Dean to retain, but Dolph is going to give you 10,000% this entire match, and it’ll be wonderful.

Winner and STILL WWE World Champion: Dean Ambrose

Kevin Pantoja: File this under matches I never thought would happen at SummerSlam in 2016. Dolph Ziggler might as well be Mr. 2013. His 2015 was atrocious following WrestleMania. Just lackluster effort after lackluster effort and it continued into 2016. However, kudos to the Smackdown crew for actually making me care about this. I don’t think Dolph should be ANYWHERE near the WWE Championship at this point though hopefully this feud can reignite him. Dean needs to retain and solidify his reign. Make sure he’s THE man for Smackdown until dropping the title to AJ Styles down the line.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Michael Weyer: Give kudos to WWE for managing to make Ziggler a believable threat after years of cutting him down. His promo was terrific, he really seems ready for a main event push and the clash with Ambrose should be fantastic. Just don’t see a title change but it should be the best challenger Ambrose has gotten so far and Ziggler can hopefully do a great job to convince WWE to give him a shot down the road and great to see him getting his due at long last.

Winner and STILL WWE World Champion: Dean Ambrose

Mitch Nickelson: Let me start by saying that Dean has been fine as a WWE Champion. His time in the spotlight has been far shorter than his two other Shield counterparts but truth be told, I’d be fine with his run coming to an end for now. Maybe it’s just that my desire for Dolph’s current run to not be a momentary blip on the 2016 timeline that outweighs what I feel for Ambrose, but I do want Ziggler to pull it off. Dean was given a chance to actually beat Rollins and Reigns during his time which boosted his credibility so it’s not like he couldn’t return to the title scene down line.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler

Rob Stewart: Go back 6 or 7 months and tell anyone who will listen that at WWE’s second most hyped show of its calendar year that Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler would be fighting over the WWE World Heavyweight Title in a one-on-one match… I can’t imagine the looks you’d get. I have to give Dolph credit… even after a year-plus of being irrelevant, once he’s put in a major program, he makes me interested again. When the guy isn’t stuck in neutral, he really knows how to shift the gears. His run towards SummerSlam has been both fun and intense, and he and Ambrose are working a much better program than I would have dared to dream. They’ve done a good job teasing Wyatt involvement to leave all avenues open, so this match could be clean to a finish or it could be marred with shenanigans (I can visualize the next Smackdown live special main event being a three-way between these two and Bray), and it would make sense either way. Even with the successful rebuilding of Ziggler, there’s almost no chance he walks out with the belt here, though his victory would be a shocking decision if WWE just wants to get us all on board with the idea that the New Era opens all possibilities. But my crystal ball shows a Wyatt-induced crap ending with Dean retaining either by DQ or somehow benefiting from interference…

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Marc Morrison: Wow, Dolph Ziggler is still employed by the WWE? Who knew? Even if the rumors are true that Dean Ambrose has some heat on him for the podcast comments he made, Dolph Ziggler is such a joke contender at this point, that Ambrose could beat him with a hand tied behind his back.

Winner: Dean Ambrose:

 photo Rollins vs. Balor.jpg
”The Demon King” Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins
Singles Match for the WWE Universal Championship

Paul Leazar: Hoo boy, this one should be a barn burner. I haven’t been a huge fan of the build, but the fact that Finn finds himself in position of being the top dog already over on RAW is pretty huge. I’m also fairly certain this is the first time these two guys are going one on one in their careers, so there could be some kinks here and there, but overall, this should be awesome. Not to mention, they’re both fighting to see who will be the first guy to hoist that Universal Championship up high, so I’m sure they’ll bring something extra too. It would be really, really neat if they took this moment to establish Finn as something major on RAW, but I just think the WWE is going to go that way. Seth Rollins is a proven commodity, and absolutely deserves the W here, so I’m going to hedge my bets here and say Seth walks out with the title, but this one really could go either way

Winner and NEW WWE Universal Champion: Seth Rollins

Kevin Pantoja: First off, the Universal Title name is pretty dumb. With that out of the way, I can focus on the match itself. This is one of the toughest title matches to predict in a very long time. On the one hand, Seth Rollins makes for a great first champion. He’s established, has credibility, is great in the ring, good on the mic and would make sense as a top heel running with the gold. However, Finn Balor is showing up as the “Demon”. That changes things. Not because I believe he’s some different entity in the paint but because I think it would be a mistake for the WWE to have the Demon lose his first main roster match. Either Finn wins the title super fast and gets another one over on Seth or Seth kills the Demon gimmick in one shot. I say the WWE goes with the latter. Should be a great match though.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Michael Weyer: Will they do it? Will WWE actually let Balor get a big belt this soon? It seems that way as he’s coming as “The Demon” and hard to see losing under a new persona but then again, Rollins is far more established and getting the title makes more sense. So tempting to say Balor, push this new belt with a new guy but I’ll hedge my bets and say Rollins gets it instead, just makes more sense that way but still should be an utterly fantastic bout.

Winner and NEW WWE Universal Champion: Seth Rollins

Mitch Nickelson: These two are both fantastic wrestlers, so given plenty of time this’ll be an awesome contest. Sure, I didn’t need to see the Demon entrance on Raw less than a week before the actual match but that’s really a minor complaint. They’ll still tear the house down when the bell rings. I guess Balor might lose and this might all just a proving ground for him in a top spot but I’d rather WWE just pull the trigger and let him be the inaugural Universal Champion.

Winner: Finn Balor

Rob Stewart: So the first ever match involving the WWE Universal Title comes down to my two favorite solo acts in the company. There’s almost nothing better than a good ol’ “I’ll be happy no matter who wins, so I’m just going to enjoy the match” match. That said, I’m really hoping WWE gives Balor a go of it to see how he responds to being The Guy. We’ve already seen that Rollins works as the Top Dog, so let’s New Era it up in here and take the new wheels out for a spin. Admittedly, I’ve already gotten entirely tired of WWE’s incessant need to brand EVERYTHING (“The Demon King” this! and “The Demon King” that!; he worked just fine in NXT with just occasionally having his alter ego referred to as “The Demon” and not basically splattering those words across the screen every chance they had), but WWE has to have faith in Finn, right? He’s only been on the main roster a month and has already cleanly pinned Roman Reigns and is in the top title match at the second biggest show of the year. I think it would be a terrible choice to have Finn lose his first match as his alter ego on the main roster at this point. So yeah, whereas I dig both these fellas, I guess I do have a definitive choice of who to root for. And I think WWE is on the same page…

Winner: “The Demon King” (sorry), Finn Balor

Marc Morrison: It would be cool to see Balor win but I don’t see it quite happening yet. I think these two dudes will continue to feud up until Wrestlemania, and that is where the belt switches hands. Unlike with the Lesnar joke, I actually think this will be the match of the night, as both guys are at the top of their game.

Winner: Seth Rollins:

 photo Brock vs. Orton.jpg
Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman vs. Randy Orton
Singles Match

Paul Leazar: This is a fun what if match. These two guys were THE guys that WWE were hanging their hats on to carry them through the next phase of business, up until Brock bailed on the WWE in 2004. Randy, however, go to be that guy. If things had just been a little different though (and John Cena hadn’t had blown up as big as he did), these two guys could have had the forever feud that Cena and Orton, and I wonder how that would have gone. Forget the could haves though, Brock is an absolute beast, Randy Orton’s shoulder is getting hurt by taking out the trash, and if Randy Orton wins here, I’ll question everything I’ve ever known about life. No way should Randy win, but they’re gonna let you think he can for 20 minutes before we see Bray make an appearance at some point, only for that to see him get tossed across the ring by a german that leads to the F5.

Winner: BROCK LESNAR~!!!!

Kevin Pantoja: The WWE is hyping this match like it is something incredible. Randy Orton has indeed been enjoyable since his return, but I’m sure once he’s done feuding with new guys (Brock, Bray, AJ) we’ll get unmotivated, lackluster Orton again. Brock walked away from his drug issue with no consequences, so I could see why a lot of people think he may eat a pin here. I don’t see it. I think it would be a waste of everything done with Brock to have him get pinned by Orton, who is already established. Plus, they gave a tease for Orton/Wyatt on Smackdown and that feud can happen after Orton loses anyway. Brock should lose soon, but not to Orton.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Michael Weyer: Surprising how little these two have clashed over the years given they were part of the same OVW class. They have a great drive and good set-up for this and it’s interesting to see them going at it so hard. Expect plenty of tension over the fight and I’ll be shocked we don’t see an “F5 turned into RKO” spot. Hard to pick a winner but I’ll lean to Brock as WWE still wants to push him as a big attraction and this should be a dream battle in many ways to work out well.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Mitch Nickelson: This is another tough one to call. Orton is pretty fresh back and that seems like reason enough to say he’ll start this run off with a big win. Also, Lesnar went completely unscathed from what should’ve been a Wellness Policy violation. Maybe a loss to Randy could serve as his slap on the wrist. I’d like to see Orton move into other big feuds after this and Brock will likely disappear again soon so I’ll stick with Orton as the victor thanks to a couple of RKOs.

Winner: Randy Orton

Rob Stewart: I can’t even believe I’m excited for this. After years of hearing how Brock vs Randy was a “Dream Match”, my response was tepid at best. I’ve never cared for Randy, and Brock is just a spectacle in my eyes. The idea had me little more than lukewarm. But then the program started, and I’ll be damned if both guys aren’t moving the needle for me. First things first… I’m over the moon that Orton is a babyface here because Gloomy Heel Orton has long been an act that I’ve detested. That has helped a great deal. And the cross-brand invasions have been well-handled, even allowing Daniel Bryan and Mick Foley to get some swipes at each other (I know some people are turned off to WWE resorting to brand invasions pretty much immediately following the draft, but come on… the very next live special after it was a cross-branded show. I don’t anticipate there being much movement between Raw and Smackdown in the months following SummerSlam). So, okay, you got me, WWE: after years of thinking “Lesnar/Orton? No thanks”, you’ve gotten my full attention for this showdown. I mean… the winner is obvious, but I think the match will be damn good.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Marc Morrison: I’m sure this will be the most technically impressive and proficient match of the night, once Lesnar gives Orton about 23 German Suplexes. Even with the stigma of the doping violation hanging over Lesnar’s head, he is still going to easily crush Orton, because that’s what he does.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Overall Thoughts & PPV Interest Level (from 1 being the worst to 5 being the best)

Paul Leazar: My interest level for this PPV is a 3: With the brand split in effect, you get a lot of different types of build. You have a fair few matches on here with no to terrible build, you have some matches that are just there, and then you have your main events, some of which have been build way better than others, with Ambrose/Ziggler topping the ladder with the best build on the card. I’m excited for some matches, others I have an interest in, and others I could less about. All of these mixed emotions leads me to being middle of the road about this one, but I’m sure it’ll be a fun show. So many matches on here can really deliver some great wrestling. I just wish I cared more about the card as a whole.

Kevin Pantoja: My interest level for this PPV is a 4: The entire card actually looks very good. There’s only maybe one match that I don’t care for. They’ve even managed to make me interested in Dolph Ziggler again. The only reason this isn’t a five is because, as much as I love wrestling, six hours for one show is a lot and WrestleMania 32 showed that it can be a serious drag at times.

Michael Weyer: My interest level for this PPV is: 5. This is a stacked show with the title bouts, Cena/Styles and more. The six-women match may be rough but the rest looks fantastic, one of the best shows of the year and should get the new brand split era off to a great start.

Mitch Nickelson: My interest level for this PPV is a 3: Why does it have to be SO LONG? Of course I’m going to watch the pre-show. Of course I’m going to watch NXT the day before. I’ll even probably watch some ROH and Evolve this weekend as well, not to mention Raw on Monday and the wrestling every other day of the week that this is sandwiched in the middle of. The length of the show is the one big thing that’s keeping me from being to optimistic about everything. But on the bright side, there are a handful of matches here that could end up being phenomenal. As long as three or four of them deliver like they should, this show will be remembered fondly even if it is going to be a marathon viewing experience.

Rob Stewart: My interest level for this PPV is a 5: Not gonna lie… I’m excited for this show. WWE has done a good job in recent years of really making SummerSlam feel like ‘Mania 2.0, AND the card here is pretty damn impressive. Balor vs Rollins has me more hyped than any main event in recent WWE history, so that alone is a deal-maker. I think there are several potential show-stealers on the undercard (Cena/Styles, Banks/Charlotte, New Day/Club), and all three “main event” matches seem bound to deliver. So I’m signed, sealed, and delivered on this one. Can’t wait for Sunday!

Marc Morrison: My interest level for this PPV is a 3: The Rollins/Balor match will be incredible, and Lesnar/Orton will be campy fun but a lot of the pairings on the card seem strange. I don’t think anyone wants to see Dolph Ziggler in a main event match, yet that’s where he is. The Cena/Styles match might also be good, but Cena is starting to show his age a bit, while Styles is not.

Sean Garmer: My interest level for this PPV is a 5: It’s freaking Summerslam and a lot of the matches look good to great on paper. I just don’t see how this isn’t an awesome show.

Well, that is all for this Roundtable everyone. Don’t forget to leave us your thoughts and predictions below in the comments and we will see you again in September for the Smackdown Only WWE Backlash.

Remember to join 411 for our LIVE PPV coverage, starting at 5:00pm ET Sunday night.

If you’d like to listen to Sean Garmer, Paul Leazar and Gary Vaughan do a WWE Summerslam 2016 Preview, they also preview NXT Takeover Brooklyn 2, the Super J Cup Finals show, talk about the recent suspensions brought down by WWE and much more. You can click the Sound Cloud play button or listen to the show in I-Tunes, Stitcher, Youtube, or wherever else you listen to podcasts. Just search Wrestling 2 the MAX and you should find it pretty easily.

article topics :

Summerslam, WWE, Sean Garmer