WWE World Championship
AJ Styles (c) vs. Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena
Spain: I’ll admit, I’m not as sure about this one as I am about some of the other matches on this card. I like Styles as Champ, although I feel like we’ve not seen enough of him. I think if Cena wins his sixteenth Championship, then it won’t be in a Triple Threat, and I doubt that’s how he’ll get revenge on Styles either. As for Ambrose, I think there could be a danger of him being lost in the shuffle here, although I really hope that’s not the way it goes. My money’s on Styles to get the cheap win.
Winner (and still WWE World Champion): AJ Styles
Jake Ziegler – They’ve spent so much time (and done a great job) building up Styles I’d be shocked to see them divert from that path so soon.
Winner: AJ Styles
Sam P – Expecting big things here, but The Phenomenal One is the man of the moment.
Winner: AJ Styles
Michael – I think Cena and Ambrose embark on a mini-feud (as the WWE tries to recapture Hogan vs. Piper from days gone past) while Styles moves on to a new challenger.
Winner: AJ Styles
Widro – This is an interesting matchup but it’s not time to take the title off of Styles yet.
Winner: Styles
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Spain: Becky Lynch has long deserved this Championship run. Alexa Bliss, as good as she may one day be, is not the woman to end it, and certainly not so soon after it’s begun. I’m imagining a surprisingly tough showing from Bliss, with maybe some really close calls, but an uncontroversial win for Becky.
Winner (and still WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion): Becky Lynch
Jake Ziegler – Bliss does great character work but she’s not quite ready to carry the division as Champion yet.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Sam P – It’s too early for Bliss, but it’s awesome she’s getting some spotlight. I want an Alexa Bliss, just to keep in my pocket for always.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Michael – I don’t think they take the title off Becky Lynch already. The best hope for this match is that Lynch can make Bliss look like a competitive challenger.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Widro – If this match happens, it will be Lynch.
Winner: Lynch
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) vs. The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso)
Spain: I’ve loved that we’ve seen the rise of Heath Slater, and that I’ve been able to truly and unironically support him in winning the belts. I just think the Usos have been built up to be really bad news, despite American Alpha being able to make them their bitches on a regular basis. The Slater dream dies on Sunday.
Winners (and new WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions): The Usos
Jake Ziegler – The Heath Slater story is a fun one, but it’s time to move the titles over to the Usos so that they can really kick off the feud with American Alpha.
Winners: The Usos (new champions)
Sam P – Beauty And The Man Beast. I mean Jesus, who thought that’s would be a thing we’d ever say? The new fire ignited under the Usos has been welcome, except for the fact they keep losing in under a minute to American Alpha. They’ll likely lose again to the feel good story of the summer.
Winner: Heath Slater and Rhyno
Michael – The question is whether the WWE has faith that an Usos/American Alpha feud can stand on its own or if it needs the belts to spice it up. I am guessing it will be the second now that Slater is employed, why keep the title on him? Personally, I think Slater and Rhyno should continue as champs for a while, but I’m not in the writer’s room.
Winner: The Usos
Widro – I don’t think we’ll see a title change just yet, maybe AA returns to cost Usos the titles.
Winner: Rhyno & Heath Slater
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The Miz (c) (with Maryse) vs. Dolph Ziggler
If Ziggler loses, he must retire.
Spain: I’ll admit that this is probably coming from a pretty bad place, but I want Ziggler to lose. I mean…don’t you? Wouldn’t that be the greatest end to a career ever? But yes: I acknowledge that this has probably gone on for long enough; Ziggler’s probably going to win the belt and do literally nothing with it.
Winner (and the new WWE Intercontinental Champion): Dolph Ziggler
Jake Ziegler – Rumors abound that Ziggler is moving into a producer’s role, and that would be fine. I mean if he wins here he gets to become Intercontinental Champion for the FIFTH time. So it’s not like the difference between a fourth and a fifth reign with that particular belt will mean much to his career. It’s time for him to go.
Sam P – This obviously depends on whether Dolph Ziggler is actually leaving the company. It would seem odd for him to do so after a genuinely compelling rivalry with The Miz, but interest is high in a match that could well steal the show. No idea what’ll happen, and that’s how it should be.
Winner: The Miz
Michael – The retirement angle is literally the ONLY reason anyone thinks Ziggler could win. Which is what I am betting the WWE is hoping everyone thinks. No one likes yanking the carpet out from under people like the WWE. Plus, honestly, maybe killing Ziggler’s career is the best way to repackage him over on Raw?
Winner: The Miz
Widro – I think Ziggler wins here.
Winner: Ziggler
Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt
Spain: I know that this has been going on for only two months, but it genuinely feels like this is something which has been in a constant state of happening since, approximately, the beginning of the universe. I feel like the last month or so has been geared towards Randy getting into Wyatt’s headspace, so an Orton victory feels likely.
Winner: Randy Orton
Jake Ziegler – Bray Wyatt only wins when he’s facing Dean Ambrose, and it seems like Orton is next in line for AJ Styles.
Winner: Randy Orton
Sam P – It already feels to me that this feud has gone on for about 9 months thanks to the amount of segments it’s been given. The match at Backlash didn’t happen, but it’s the same issue. No-one really wins here. A Wyatt loss would strip him of his monster status yet again, and an Orton loss gives one of the few bonafide stars in the company a second consecutive PPV defeat since returning. So, blurgh. Of course, Luke Harper has just made a return to live events…
Winner: Randy Orton
Michael – Oh how I hope it is Bray Wyatt winning here. They are rapidly killing his character and he needs to find some direction soon. If that means destroying Randy Orton to those means, so much the better. But this is the WWE and I don’t trust them.
Winner: Randy Orton
Widro – Wyatt has absolutely no momentum. After jobbing to Lesnar, Orton needs the win.
Winner: Orton
Nikki Bella vs. Carmella
Spain: Seeing as how Carmella has been on all the offence so far, it seems fair and pretty sensible to allow Nikki to get a win. I see this going on for another month or more: no harm in letting Nikki win the first round.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Jake Ziegler – Carmella is pretty bad, but Becky needs heel challengers, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see her pull off a win here.
Winner: Carmella
Sam P – Carmella doesn’t have her own TV show, so…
Winner: Nikki Bella
Michael – Carmella is new to the main roster and they want to push her. But Nikki Bella needs to promote her dumb show on E! You know who wins that.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Widro – I think there will be an upset here.
Winner: Carmella
Curt Hawkins vs. TBD
Spain: I hate Curt Hawkins. I hate him so much that between communicating with my dead relatives to tell them how much I loved and appreciated them with an adult’s emotional range and vocabulary, and injecting Curt Hawkins with super-ebola mixed with a serum which would make him painfully sterile, I would already be swabbing Hawkins’ arm with my own urine. I hope he dies in an embarrassing incident involving an underage sea lion. Curt Hawkins is the only person in the world who could possibly be a worse president than Donald Trump. My greatest wish is that his own family hate him as much as I do.
Winner: Nobody.
Jake Ziegler – TBD has been on a pretty good run, but Curt Hawkins is, well, Curt Hawkins.
Winner: Curt Hawkins
Sam P – There are only two possible options in my mind for this match. 1) Samoa Joe runs out and obliterates Hawkins. 2) James Ellsworth. If they don’t put out a jobber, it’ll probably be an Apollo Crews victory over the hubristic Chuck Norris wannabe.
Winner: TBD
Michael – I don’t hate Hawkins as much as some people. In fact, I think he is pretty decent, especially in tag team situations. But this new gimmick is just death.
Winner: Not positive we’ll get an actual match, but Curt Hawkins
Widro – I think someone will debut to defeat Curt
Winner: TBD
Jack Swagger vs. Baron Corbin
Spain: I’m hardly Baron Corbin’s biggest fan, but I agree with JBL: that call on SmackDown was utter bullshit. As a consequence, I think we can be sure that Corbin’s going to have to get a win to remind us how “dangerous” he is, the fucker.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Jake Ziegler – Swagger won the first match, so Corbin wins the rematch. That’s how this game is played.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Sam P – The saddest thing about this programme is that Apollo Crews has been replaced by Jack Swagger. That’s the opposite of the New Era MO.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Michael – Remember the Baron Corbin/Dolph Ziggler feud from earlier this year? Copy and paste. The only exception is that people actually care LESS for Swagger than they did for Ziggler.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Widro – Yikes
Winner: Corbin
