So, last week, I predicted 10 possible scenarios to occur for the Winner Take All match between Seth Rollins & John Cena and made the prediction that John Cena would win the WWE Title for the 16th time in his career. Monday Night did nothing to sway my prediction to be completely honest as I still believe that Cena’s walking out with the title in Brooklyn and Seth Rollins will probably go forward with his babyface turn……I would love to be proven wrong though! Today, I shall be discussing the main event of Summerslam: Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker. Now obviously, there has been a lot of debate to this match even happening (I myself believe that they shouldn’t have even brought back Taker to fight Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania and just bring him back to fight Lesnar here……..the surprise would have been all the more shocking) but regardless of all that, it’s going to be a spectacle and the match has, in essence, bigger hype compared to their Wrestlemania 30 match…….although the booking has been largely the same with Taker dominating Lesnar for weeks. For this match, I have fewer scenarios to dish out so to make up for that, I’m going to go ahead and give my Summerslam predictions for the rest of the match afterwards to round things out. Ok…….let’s get started!
Here’s what we know:
- Taker has a 0-3-1 record against Brock Lesnar on PPV heading into this match…….easily his worst record against any active wrestler on the roster.
- Brock Lesnar ended the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania Undefeated Streak at WM 30.
- Due to reports, Taker will be sticking around for a little while and will be working some dates…..he has some lined up for October at least.
- Brock Lesnar took out Kane, the Undertaker’s brother, the week before Battleground.
- There have been rumors of Sting making an appearance at this show and some of have predicted it will be here.
- Taker has dropped Lesnar with low blows and Tombstones twice in the buildup to this
- No stipulations added…….straight up match
- Both guys need to win and neither can afford to lose
Scenario #1: Brock Lesnar wins
This coincides with the fact that Taker has gotten the upper hand over Brock Lesnar in the entire buildup to this match. At Battleground, Taker laid Brock out with a low blow, a Chokeslam and a Tombstone after sneaking up on Brock. On this past RAW, same thing occurred and Brock was left lying. I will say this: I do expect the low blow/Tombstone combo to be an awesome near fall in the match! Plus, no stipulations mean we are getting just a regular old match between them…….something I don’t think is wise for them to do. I do believe that Brock will tone down the suplexes in this match and add in more strikes or something of that nature…….after Taker suffered injuries at the hands of Brock’s suplexes back at Wrestlemania 30, he won’t be privy to take them this time around. Brock winning is essential for a few reasons: A) it appears he’s on good terms with the company as we saw when he praised the WWE over UFC in that interview he did, B) Brock’s own undefeated Streak is on the line this time around and C) no point in Brock losing this match. Yes, Brock has been undefeated since he ended the Undertaker’s WM Streak so that has been one of the factors heading into this one……almost like some built up symmetry of now Taker being the hunter while Brock is the hunted but I could argue that is almost how every single Taker/Brock buildup to their matches have gone and as we see, Taker’s record is horrible against Brock so that’s on Brock’s side. The final factor in the reason why Brock needs the win: WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT OF ENDING TAKER’S STREAK IF HE JUST COMES BACK AND BEATS BROCK?????!!! I know a lot of wrestling fans are thinking with their hearts on this one and not with their heads since a lot of people really want Taker to win……..but that would honestly do more harm than good. Ok, Taker gains revenge in getting his win back…….cool…….but now that victory over Taker at WM 30 doesn’t matter anymore. If Taker wins straight up, Brock ending the Streak has been retconned and the WWE has a vast history of retconning stuff like that to try and appease the talent and the fans. Even though Brock doesn’t really NEED to defeat the Undertaker again clean, he essentially cannot lose and I would much rather prefer Brock winning to Taker.
Scenario #2: Undertaker wins
This, of course, coincides with the fact that the WWE brought Undertaker back to work some dates and they for damn sure did not bring Taker back to just lose to Brock Lesnar clean. Taker, technically, can’t lose twice to Brock Lesnar in back to back big matches because it might hurt his legacy (I doubt it……it just shows that Taker is no match for Brock Lesnar) and plus, as per the rationale in the WWE, the big stars always have to get their win back. The biggest factor is that Taker will be working some extra dates heading forward (barring injury) and this could potentially be his last run in the WWE (or it should be…….he’s becoming the Brett Favre of the WWE)…….getting that giant monkey known as Brock Lesnar off his back would probably allow him to finally say it’s time to retire (sort of like There Will Be Blood when Daniel Day Lewis says “I’m Finished” after vanquishing his foe). We don’t know what Taker’s plans are heading forward and we don’t know what he will be doing for Wrestlemania but if the WWE wants to keep plans alive with Taker, a Taker victory might help that out. If Taker was only back for this one match, I’m going Brock Lesnar all the way but because Taker is working some dates after this, that honestly splits some things up and like I said, the WWE isn’t just going to bring Taker back to lose to Brock Lesnar again.
Scenario #3: Brock Lesnar wins due to interference
Now we get into a few scenarios where neither man wins clean. I don’t know specifically who could interfere on Brock’s behalf at this point but I guess we could toss around some names for potential Taker feuds. Kane is a possibility if the WWE wants to do Taker vs Kane one last time before both retire…….but that makes no freakin’ sense because it was Brock that took Kane out so I do not expect Kane to just randomly turn on his brother like that. Paul Heyman could maybe run some interference and cost Taker the match but if somebody is going to screw Taker out of the match, I don’t think it’ll be Heyman. The biggest possibility and one I’ve seen thrown around for days is……STING!!! Yes, people have been saying that for Taker to lose, somebody of the caliber of Sting would cost him the match and we might finally get that Wrestlemania match that fans have always wanted (not me, mind you, but whatever). A lot of people believe that Taker/Sting at Wrestlemania makes no sense without the Streak but I think otherwise……I think Taker/Sting is a match that is big enough to not need the Streak one bit and it makes it more unpredictable as to who would win……whereas if Taker had the Streak, it would be a foregone conclusion that Sting would lose (you see, everybody loves the Streak and believe that it should have never been broken…….but what happens is that Taker keeps wrestling these predictable matches where we know he’s going to win, robbing the match of all its drama…..but what do I know). Plus, Sting would be a great final opponent for Taker to face at Wrestlemania…….the match we never got to see that we finally are getting to see.
Scenario #4: Undertaker wins via Kane interference or dirty ways
This is the one I most believe will occur when it comes to Taker getting a win. As we remember, Lesnar took out Kane before Battleground and many believed that Taker came back to get revenge for Kane (I didn’t but the thought was there) but I do believe that Kane will come back to get revenge on Brock Lesnar for this one. Plus, as we’ve been seeing in recent weeks, Taker has been taking the cheap way in taking out Brock by turning off the lights and jumping him with low blows. Imagine that during the match, Brock’s getting the upper hand, the lights turn off……Kane appears with Taker and they give Lesnar a double Chokeslam and that’s how Taker would get the win in this scenario or something to that effect. That would pretty much confirm a few things: A) Taker CANNOT defeat Brock Lesnar in a straight up fight, which is kind of odd if Taker continues to remain a babyface (which I think he will), B) Taker is going to be working dates……maybe a reunion of the Brothers of Destruction, C) Taker gets his win back, D) Kane gets his revenge and E) Brock still looks strong and badass because it took the Brothers of Destruction double teaming him to take him out instead of Brock losing clean to a 50 year old guy. This is a scenario where everybody wins, nobody looks bad at all and it shows some wrinkles in Taker. Now with this, the question becomes will Taker turn heel? Will he and Kane attacking Brock mean a heel turn? I doubt it…….it is not AT ALL out of the realm of possibility for the WWE to book Taker and Kane to double team Lesnar and still hype it up as a babyface thing for them to do……have you SEEN the way the babyfaces have acted in the WWE in the past? Most of them are assholes! Is it fair? Not really but that is how the WWE would spin it. But I could see Taker selling his soul to get revenge on Brock by pretty much joining the dark side and giving in to beat Brock……that’s what he’s been doing so far.
And that is all the scenarios I have for this match to be honest…….unless somebody can think of something else. But for me, these are the only 4 scenarios that matter so let’s rank them!
4. Scenario #2 (Undertaker wins clean): The least likeliest to occur for multiple reasons. I understand wanting to give Taker his win back but what good does a clean win over Brock Lesnar do for Taker at this point? He’s THE UNDERTAKER……he does not need to beat Brock clean at this point. Plus, it honestly makes Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr. look like a complete fucking moron if Taker does win clean. Why? Because it was Vince’s call to end the Streak so that he could launch Brock Lesnar as the next imposing monster in the WWE and by having Taker defeat Brock Lesnar clean in the rematch negates all of that, it makes Brock’s WM win mean nothing, it makes Brock’s entire year and a half mean nothing and it makes Vince look like a fucking moron who doesn’t know what he’s doing. Looking at it from Vince’s perspective, you cannot have Brock Lesnar job clean to Undertaker after all the time, the effort and the money you put into him. Vince has thrown a lot of money out the window in the past…….I do not think he’s going to throw his money away on Brock Lesnar knowing that Brock could get pissy and leave any time he wants. I do not see just a regular ol’ Chokeslam/Tombstone combo (no low blow) putting Lesnar away because the man has been built as unstoppable for months and Taker’s not going to have anything to challenge him with come Summerslam. Plus, Taker has been getting the upper hand over Brock for weeks and laying him…….I just don’t see Taker beating Brock Lesnar 100% clean in the main event of Summerslam after Brock Lesnar had been tearing it up as the new monster in town…….it makes absolutely zero sense.
3. Scenario #1 (Brock Lesnar wins clean): While I don’t believe Brock Lesnar is losing clean at all…….he’s not winning clean either. The same thing could be said about Taker: the WWE didn’t bring Taker back for just one month to give us a little ratings boost…..he’s back for at least a few months, he is officially lined up for some dates……probably a retirement tour of some kind (but not really called a retirement tour). And I know the WWE just did not bring Undertaker back to job clean to Brock Lesnar for the third time in his career (No Mercy 2002 and WM 30). In reality, it would make perfect sense for Brock to destroy Taker in a matter of minutes since Taker poses no real physical threat to Lesnar at his advanced age, I foresee Taker pulling out every sneaky little tactic to get the upper hand over Brock……fighting dirty basically. So this isn’t going to be Lesnar destroying Taker in less than 10 minutes and pinning him clean nor, if Brock wins, will the pinfall be as clean as it was at Wrestlemania 30……I smell something fishy for this match.
2. Scenario #3 (Brock wins via interference-maybe Sting): I don’t see either guy winning or losing clean……let’s get that out of the way right now. There is too much riding on both guys for this match to end in a clean finish and the WWE needs both guys looking strong as possible heading into Wrestlemania 32 for Dallas. So……with no stipulation added to the match whatsoever, expect a ref bump of some kind possibly. In this scenario, somebody helps Brock take out the Undertaker (which makes no sense because it should be the other way around but whatever) and I think the top candidate is Sting in a way of not attacking Taker but distracting Taker. Maybe he does the finish that everybody hates where Sting just walks out, points the bat at Taker and it allows Brock to pick up the win in that way. If somebody is going to interfere in this match to screw Taker, it MUST lead to something in the future……it can’t be Paul Heyman costing Taker the match or something. It has to lead to something and I believe Sting’s interference is the best possible scenario because I don’t see who else could really interfere on Brock’s behalf to cost Taker the match outside of Sting……which is why this scenario is not #1.
1. Scenario #4 (Taker wins via Kane interference/dirty ways): The question becomes this again: is this Taker turning heel? I think the WWE would spin it in a way that would allow Taker to do all of these dirty things to Brock, have Kane interfere to help and STILL portray him as the babyface and the crowd would STILL cheer for him because he’s the Undertaker…….it would only work for him and nobody else. It sucks because it would be kind of awesome to see Taker’s final run be that of a heel but the WWE’s not doing that because they have no balls. So, I believe Kane comes out, costs Brock the match, the BOD lay Brock out and Taker gets the win with the fans probably being a little confused. This is the scenario where everybody wins and you can set some groundwork up for the future. Kane needs to get some revenge of some kind on Brock for injuring him and what better way to do it than to help his brother defeat the Beast? The fans would probably cheer Kane’s interference (well……we are going to be in Brooklyn for this one so maybe not) so the WWE would probably run with this. This allows Taker to win and Brock to lose but neither man looks strong in victory in defeat. Taker is to the point where he has to use dirty tactics and his baby brother to defeat Brock Lesnar because he can’t do it on his own anymore and Brock gets taken down by two 300+ pound men (who are both 50 but whatever) so that still gives Paul Heyman the chance to continue to hype Brock up as a monster because Taker needed help, dirty tactics and parlor tricks to defeat Lesnar……which you could spin towards a Taker heel turn or not (it’s literally RIGHT THERE for the taking). Plus, this could set up a potential third match between the two, maybe at Survivor Series (where they could still possibly set up a Sting match) or at Mania to blow the feud off for good. To me, this is the scenario where the WWE has the most to gain from everything involved, you could spin it in a few different ways to not piss many people off, Lesnar still looks like a monster, Taker looks like the wily veteran that he’s supposed to be instead of the grumpy old man beating up the youngsters and Kane gets his revenge…….I think this is a scenario that the WWE will probably end up running with.
So let’s look at my Summerslam predictions as a whole:
-The Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman
- Winner: The Undertaker
-Winner Takes All Match for the WWE & US Title: Seth Rollins (WWE champion) vs John Cena (US Champion)
- Winner and NEW WWE champion: John Cena
Here is the rest of the show after these two:
Randy Orton vs Sheamus: Um……..who really wanted to see this match AGAIN??? Honestly, I don’t honestly know what Orton gains at this point by beating Sheamus again. In fact, is Randy Orton probably the most irrelevant wrestler on the entire roster? It’s so weird but nothing he does gets me emotionally involved anymore……he’s just there, I guess. Sheamus definitely needs a win at this point on PPV but because the WWE just loves to book their MITB winners like little bitches…….Winner: Randy Orton
Kevin Owens vs Cesaro: Obviously, it’s the potential sleeper match of the night. However, the one problem I have with that match is that there’s nothing really on the line…….which I hope they rectify if they meet again (maybe a #1 contender’s match or something). I do like the idea of these two battling though and surprisingly enough, it’s probably a more important match on the card than Sheamus/Orton because we’ve seen Sheamus/Orton a thousand fucking times already. This is the case where BOTH guys desperately need a win so I hope that this remains an actual feud where it makes sense for them to go back and forth on wins and losses. If this was actually the start of a long feud or something, I would go DQ or an Owens victory through dirty tactics. But because the WWE just does not give a shit at all…….Winner: Cesaro via pinfall
Dolph Ziggler w/Lana vs Rusev w/Summer Rae: A feud that the WWE has been trying, kicking and screaming, to make important finally comes to fruition on PPV. In all honesty, this whole feud has been a giant fucking mess outside of Rusev, who has been awesome. I love Dolph…….but he made a big mistake in resigning with this company. I think this feud is far from over and I believe they will set up a mixed tag coming up and plus……I’ve picked all babyfaces so far so let’s change things up…….Winner: Rusev
Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper: The heavy rumor is that Dean’s turning heel on Roman Reigns……..which is odd. Does that mean Dean joins the Wyatt Family? Does that mean Reigns turns his attention from Wyatt to Dean or does he continue to fight Wyatt since it’s another chapter in the Wyatt/Reigns feud? Who knows at this point?!! I think the match will be pretty good since all four guys are talented workers and I will say that something is going down for this one because this feud is not over yet so I do not expect the Shield to walk out victorious in this match……..either by heel turn or not…….Winners: Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper
Triple Threat Match for the IC Title: Ryback © vs The Miz vs Big Show: You know…….if you’re TRYING to get a new champion over…….why in the holy fuck are you sticking him with these two fucking black holes? There are no ifs, ands, buts or nuts about it……..Ryback BETTER win because he needs to seriously move away from these two jackasses desperately……his title reign is dying a slow death each week he continues to interact with these two…….Winner: Ryback
Tag Team match: Neville & Stephen Amell vs King Barrett & Stardust: If Green Arrow keeps showing that same kind of passion and fire for the WWE while the rest of the talent does not, I’d hire that fucking guy on the spot! A lot of people loved Amell jumping into the ring to attack Stardust because it was such a cool moment and you can see that Amell’s having a blast out there. Maybe it becomes contagious and we get a good match here. Plus, Neville gets a nice little rub by teaming with him (although……poor Neville looks so short standing next to Amell) but as for the two heels……have you ever seen a more jobberific tag team than Stardust and King Barrett? I mean……let’s be honest…….do you think these two jokers have ANY chance in winning this one? And Cody Rhodes and his girlfriend can come out all they want to say that Cody didn’t want to use his father’s name and legacy to get to the top in WWE and the alternative (staying as Stardust) is better for Cody…….well, the alternative is looking at the lights with your shoulders down on the mat and a non-trained wrestler is the one who is pinning you. Cody’s doing nothing but pissing away his main event potential with this gimmick and if he wants to keep doing that…….I’m not going to stop him…..he can continue to be a mid-card joke and a never was. As for Barrett, I hope a loss finally kills the King gimmick and we can go back to the Bad News character so he can salvage his career in some way…..Winners: Neville & Stephen Amell
Triple Threat 9 Woman Tag Team match: Team PCB vs Team B.A.D. vs Team Bella: I think that whoever decided on the names of these teams need to be fired big time. Team PaigeCharlotteBecky? Best At Dominating? I understand that the WWE has the writing abilities of children and once you take away their ability to be edgy, you pretty get dumbass fucking team names like this. I mean……how can I take this Revolution seriously if the WWE doesn’t even want to make time to figure out some good names for these fucking teams…….but I digress. On the one way, we have been getting longer matches with these women, we have been getting better matches with these women, Nikki all of a sudden has new challengers to face and things have gotten interesting. However, is this Revolution a success one month in? Obviously, no. Stephanie is still pushed as the one who started the Revolution, which I hate, there are no storylines, no promos by these ladies…..it’s just matches. Now……could the WWE just be working the kinks out, testing out these ladies for a month before they throw them into some real meaty feuds?? Perhaps……but if we don’t get some improvement by Survivor Series, I will seriously believe they are trying to sabotage this freakin’ thing. As for the winning team, I don’t think Team PCB is going to win this one because I believe they’ve been dominating a lot lately. The Bellas don’t necessarily need the win because Nikki’s the champ but they have been made to look like fools in recent weeks so I could see them escaping this match as the winners. Team B.A.D. appear to be the wild-card of the bunch and they could sneak in and win……at the end of the day, Nikki’s days are numbered as champion, especially due to recent information about her back. So I believe someone from the other teams pins a member of Team Bella (maybe even Nikki herself) to earn a title shot for the next PPV…….and I’m choosing the dark horse in this equation…….Winners: Team B.A.D.
So, I hope everyone enjoys the show. I might not be able to watch it due to a new job I have which makes me work early mornings but I will be able to watch it when I come home from work the next day. And quite honestly, with my predictions of the main event matches…….I WANT to be wrong in picking Cena and Taker…..I truly, truly do. So I hope everyone enjoys their weekend and enjoy Summerslam!!
