Countdown to SummerSlam 2020

Apollo Crews has always had the talent. He just needed that chance to prove himself in the ring and on the mike on the main roster. It would be tragic if they cut his reign short. He last few appearances on Raw confronting MVP have been some of the best segments. I have a feeling though the bookers are gonna go with MVP. Winner: MVP.

Apollo Crews – 200. MVP +150. Winner: Apollo Crews

Look for this one to be over-booked, despite the rule that the Hurt Business is banned from ringside. Perhaps Cedric Alexander finally joins MVP’s team? Either way, Crews wins, but then spins off into a feud with MVPs’ new client. Winner: Apollo Crews

I suppose this is just a little bit of unfinished business between Crews & MVP after not having their match at The Horror Show. Perhaps Lashley VS. Crews is now being primed for Survivor Series?  How about this: Crews wins and retains, but is either talked or coerced into an immediate follow-up match with Lashley and loses the belt. Winner: Apollo Crews (for now…)

MVP is going to lose, but Lashley will attack Apollo Crews after the match to set up for their match sometime in the future. Winner: Apollo Crews

This whole angle is ridiculous. They could have had a decent feud without all of the nonsense and shenanigans as all four of these men are talented all on their own. It is time for Andrade and Angel Garza to sport some gold. Winners: Andrade and Angel Garza

Street Profits +125. Andrade and Garza -165. Winners: Andrade and Garza.

If the past few months have taught us one thing, it’s how one-note the Street Profits are. Other than their promos, they really don’t have a lot. Meanwhile, Zelina Vega needs to be used even more prominently – she’s really shone. Look for her to manage the new champions. Winners: Andrade & Garza

Maybe the champs retain – The Street Profits have faced down Vikings and ninjas this year alone! Their fun-loving sensibilities won’t help them here, though, as the no-nonsense challengers will get their hands on the gold. Winners: Garza & Andrade

The Street Profits will walk away still champs, mostly because it would be unfair if they lost after one of their members was poisoned. Winner: Street Profits

It is time for Drew McIntyre’s flat championship reign to end. Like him or not but Randy Orton has been on fire in 2020. Methinks Retribution will have something to do with this match or perhaps another major bout causing a rematch to be held at Payback the following week. Don’t be surprised if someone already on the roster is part of the group. Winner: Randy Orton

Drew McIntyre +130. Randy Orton -170. Winner: Drew McIntyre

My detest of Randy Orton is well-documented. But, to be fair, I’ve been not bored with him in the past few weeks leading up to this match. He won’t win the title here, but the feud continues. Winner: Drew McIntyre

I still say “no” to Randy Orton. McIntyre’s reign has been solid, if unspectacular, and he’s still a better champ than Orton would be. A victory here for McIntyre is a big stamp of approval much the same as Kofi Kingston’s eventual win over Orton last year, when most everyone expected that Orton would be the end of the road for him. Winner: Drew McIntyre

Randy Orton cannot win this because Drew cannot be classified as a legend yet. Orton isn’t the “Not Quite a Legend Yet But Also Not a Rookie” Killer. Also, because this is how they’re giving Drew’s title reign legitimacy, with a win over a huge star, but that’s less important. Winner: Drew McIntyre

It is doubtful that young Dominik will chalk up a loss in his first match but prepare for some sort of shenanigans. Rollins is a company man so he is likely to do the job. It won’t be clean though. Could Rollins be the leader of Retribution? Hmmm. Winner: Dominik Mysterio

So far Seth Rollins has won every round of this feud and if Dominik Mysterio loses at SummerSlam it will leave viewers questioning what was the point of this program. Traditional booking would have Mysterio finally win, but I have a sinking feeling that Rey Mysterio will cost his son the victory somehow.

I know I’m in the minority, but I’ve liked the whole Rollins-Misterio Family feud. The “eyeball” thing was dumb, sure, but the beating they gave Dominik with the Singapore cane was spectacular. Mysterio wins, with help from Papa Rey. Winner: Dominik Mysterio

To paraphrase Vizzini from The Princess Bride, Rollins really shouldn’t suffer a clean loss to a first-time PPV performer, so I can clearly not choose him to lose. However, Mysterio needs to keep moving forward and not be shunted in his debut, so I can clearly not choose him to lose, either. Enter Rey Mysterio, whose vengeful antics will cost his son a win via disqualification when it looked like he was on his way to victory. Winner: Seth Rollins

Mysterio will put up a good fight, but in the end, experience will triumph, and the Monday Night Messiah will take the victory. Winner: Seth Rollins

Another WWE championship reign that needs to end. Brawn Strowman has been an utter bore. His tenure has exposed his cruddy promo and acting skills too. The Fiend is more interesting and his matches would be perfect for this strange time in WWE. Winner: The Fiend

 “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt should take back his Universal Championship that he never should have lost to Goldberg (which is still one of the worst booking decisions by WWE in the last year).  Strowman’s Universal Title reign has been lacklustre at best and just hasn’t been compelling.  However, the big question surrounding this match is not who wins, but whether Alexa Bliss will be revealed as Sister Abigail.

After Friday’s closing segment, they have to continue with The Fiend looking like an unstoppable monster in order to maintain his mystique. The story here is Braun’s darkness has led him down a bad path. Something will wake up his conscience in this one, and the distraction will leave him vulnerable for the Fiend to take advantage. But then after the match, Braun takes him out, and Otis cashes in for the win.. Winner: The Fiend / New Champion: Otis

Look – this whole Fiend experience isn’t for everyone, and I totally understand that. I, for one, am all for it (and even still stand by my praise for last year’s Hell in a Cell match). The weak link here, unfortunately, is Strowman. I can’t take him seriously when I’m supposed to, I don’t find him funny when I’m supposed to, and I don’t find him at all impressive. I don’t really think that The Fiend needs to be tied up in a world title picture, to be honest, but it’s better than Strowman. Winner: The Fiend

This is a tricky one, because The Fiend losing would really put a dent in his legitimacy, but if he wins, then when he loses it, there will be disappointment no matter who it is. I see some sort of mythical shenanigans taking place and ending the match with no winner, but with Strowman really messed up. Not sure what it will be, but it’s the best way to keep The Fiend’s legitimacy while not giving him a title. No contest

You gotta hand it to Asuka. Her stock has gone way, way up in 2020. It would probably make a whole lot of sense to move Asuka to Smackdown. Winner: Asuka

Conversely the more interesting booking choice is for Asuka to defeat Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Title which will lead to Bayley eventually feuding with Banks over the Raw Women’s Championship.  Will WWE setup such a scenario?  We will just have to wait and see.

Same comment as with Sasha vs. Asuka. Winner: Asuka

I think it’s fair to say that Asuka is walking away with a belt. With Bayley losing the Beat the Clock Challenge on SmackDown, it seems to set up an over-confident Banks losing later on in the night. Winner: Bayley

Bayley lost to Naomi Friday, a wrestler who’s booked as lesser than Asuka, after she already had a match. Logically, Asuka should have no problem winning. Winner: Asuka

I would expect Mandy to get her revenge on Deville for her attack on Smackdown and word is Deville will be taking some much needed time off after all that has happened to her recently. Out of all this, it would be cool if both got the push they should have gotten some time ago. Winner: Mandy Rose.

Prior to the recent real life home invasion of Sonya Deville I would have predicted Mandy Rose getting the victory at SummerSlam.  Now I honestly don’t know.  With real life intruding on this storyline I’m not sure many fans will want to see either woman have their head shaved. Perhaps this might lead to something rare in WWE:  two competitors making peace at the end of the match.

It appears that real life events will take Sonya out of the equation for a while, so smart money is on Mandy. She wins, and sticks around so that she can be part of the comedy routine that is Otis as new champion, Winner: Mandy Rose

I’m hoping this is on the pre-show. I like Deville a lot, but Rose has an awful long road ahead of her to prove that she’s worthy of the TV time she’s been given. Now, considering the real-life issues that both Deville and Rose have been embroiled in, is it possible that any planned storytelling will be abruptly dropped? Add to that the last-minute change to a “Loser Leaves WWE” match, and I wonder if we’re leading to a match that either doesn’t happen or is revealed to be a ruse between Rose and Deville with ulterior motives in mind. Either way, I say No Contest.

The switch in match stipulation might be an easy way to give Sonya Deville the break she might want after what happened to her this week. They’ll just do that thing that they do where someone comes back after a while after losing a “Leave WWE” match when she feels ready to return. Winner: Mandy Rose

Having Sasha Banks lose the Raw Women’s Title would be a mistake as she has deserved a lengthy title run on the main roster for a long time.  As a result I’m hoping Banks is able to hold onto her title to setup some interesting feuds on Raw going forward.

The question here is which one of Bayley or Sasha will screw over her “best friend” and give Asuka the title. I think it will be both of them, and after tonight, it’ll be Asuka Two-Belts. Winner: Asuka

Having explained why I think Banks is the one to lose, I actually don’t care for her regaining the belt so quickly from Banks. If this is a straight up, I’ll stick with my pick. If there are any additional shenanigans, I expect they’ll use Payback to wrap up any loose threads, and maybe Asuka wins a belt there. Winner: Asuka

Sasha Banks is going to beat Asuka due to Asuka being tired from her first match. This will create some conflict to further the dissent between the women’s tag champs. Winner: Sasha Banks