It’s the biggest party of the summer and it’s coming to you live and in color from the home of the
Cleveland Browns. It’s the 37th edition of WWE’s Summerslam and already has a stacked card.
There are a variety of matches and so-called “extracurriculars” that you can wager on for this
premium live event but we’ll preview a few key components that may catch your eye.
Drew McIntyre (-325) vs CM Punk (+215)
with Seth Rollins as the special guest referee
This almost has the feel of an old-school blood feud between the Second City Saint and the
Scottish Warrior. This has been building since CM Punk’s return at last November’s Survivor
Series, after which both Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins held nothing back in showing their
disdain for the Voice of the Voiceless.
Following an injury during the 2024 Royal Rumble match, CM Punk hasn’t been medically
cleared to compete until just now heading into Summerslam. But, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t
been involved. McIntyre mocked Punk following his injury and said he prayed for it to happen
but clearly for Drew, those actions had consequences.
Punk would go on to cost the Scotsman the World Heavyweight title mere minutes after winning
it at this year’s Wrestlemania as a post-match confrontation between the two allowed the 2023
Money in the Bank winner Damian Priest to cash in for the victory. Punk would go on to cost
McIntyre opportunities to hold the World Heavyweight championship more than once though as
he interfered in his post-mania number one contender’s match, a title match at Clash at Clash at
the Castle and during his Money in the Bank cash-in less than an hour after Drew won the
briefcase.
So yea, this is going to be messy and we haven’t even talked about the wild-card, that being the
ref Seth “Freakin” Rollins.
Does he play it straight down the middle? Maybe but he’ll definitely be involved physically and it
could spurn a heel turn should he side with McIntyre by hitting his trademark curbstomp on
Punk. By the way, Punk hasn’t wrestled since the Rumble and outside of that, he had two live
event matches to end 2023 since joining the company.
Women’s World Championship
Liv Morgan(C) (-600) vs Rhea Ripley (+350)
This is another long-term feud with multiple layers going into it which has been excellent for the
fans.
July 2023, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were Women’s Tag Team champions for just 16
days before Rhea Ripley attacked them prior to an unsuccessful tag title defense on Raw. The
following week Ripley would take Morgan’s arm out with a chair prior to a match which wound
up also taking Morgan out for six months. She would return at the Rumble but it was the Raw
after mania where these two picked things back up.
Morgan attacked Ripley backstage with a chair, injuring Rhea and putting her on the shelf for 3
months. In the meantime, Liv would win the Women’s World title from Becky Lynch in Saudi
Arabia thanks in part to the interference of Dominik Mysterio. With Ripley now back in the
picture, she’s looking to take back what she never lost.
That being said, we could see this one go multiple matches and into Bad Blood even. There is
also a more than likely chance that Dirty Dom gets involved one way or another, meaning we
could see the first cracks in the Judgement Day come at Summerslam.
World Heavyweight Championship
Gunther (-500) vs Damian Priest(C) (+300)
Speaking of the Judgement Day, Damian Priest’s run as the World Heavyweight champ has
been a success but it’s time for a change. Gunther won this year’s King of the Ring tournament
which also came with a World Heavyweight championship opportunity at Summerslam. The
Ring General is an incredible talent and has the ability to be an incredible champion as well.
That’s already a proven fact with his 666 day reign as Intercontinental champion and 870 day
reign as NXT UK champ.
Will it be a long reign for him as World Heavyweight champion? Maybe not but if it is, it could
build to a crescendo that is similar to what we felt when Sami Zayn dethroned Gunther at this
year’s Wrestlemania. Not only does the company have confidence in the Austrian to hold a main
title but the fans believe it and he’s a believable heel that can draw money with basically anyone
he’s put in a program with.
Will Roman Reigns Appear in Ring
Yes (-300) No (+200)
We haven’t seen Roman Reigns on WWE TV since his loss to Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania
40. Since then, Solo Sikoa has taken it upon himself to claim the name as the “New Tribal Chief”
and forming a new bloodline with Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Jacob Fatu. While Solo does
have an Undisputed WWE championship match against Rhodes at Summerslam, there’s no
chance he takes home the gold.
Sikoa has been running his mouth and forcing his will on Smackdown since Wrestlemania 40.
That includes putting Reigns’ wiseman Paul Heyman through the announce desk after Heyman
refused to acknowledge Sikoa as his Tribal Chief.
The fans have been chanting for Roman for a few months now and with Summerslam being
considered WWE’s second biggest show after Wrestlemania, what a better place to have
Reigns make his return.