WWE SummerSlam 2014 Preview
Los Angeles, CA
August 17, 2014
By: Josh Boutwell of Wrestleview.com
The hottest night of the summer in the WWE Universe, “SummerSam,” will surely heat up as WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena defends his title against “the one in 21” Brock Lesnar. The man that broke “the streak” at WrestleMania finally gets his shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and he has vowed to rip Cena “limb from limb” at “SummerSlam.” Also, the feuds between Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton, AJ Lee and Paige heat up while Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins finally meet one-on-one.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The Miz (c) vs. “The Show Off” Dolph Ziggler
Since returning from Hollywood The Miz’s usually massive ego has been inflated even more especially after he won the Intercontinental Championship last month at the “Battleground” PPV in a big Battle Royal. The man he last eliminated to win the title was none other than Dolph Ziggler, but Ziggler gained a measure of revenge in pinning Miz at a recent RAW. Miz has answered by costing Ziggler matches and now the two look to settle their differences with the Intercontinental Championship on the line.
J-Bout’s Prediction: Miz retains his title in an underhanded manner.
WWE Divas Championship
AJ Lee (c) vs. Paige
AJ Lee’s return to the WWE has led to what is now a heated rivalry with her and former Divas Champion Paige and has also saw a change in attitude from the Brit. Following the surprisingly brutally bad match between Paige and AJ Lee at “Battleground” Paige has become much more aggressive and has ended her “friendly competition” with AJ instead turning it into a heated, personal rivalry. Paige has laid waste to AJ with vicious assaults including a moment when Paige threw AJ Lee off of the Smackdown stage. Paige’s erratic behavior continues to grow each day and now may be officially replacing AJ Lee as WWE’s resident “crazy chick.”
J-Bout’s Prediction: The “crazy chick” gets retribution on AJ and regains her Divas Championship in what is hopefully a much better outing from the two than they had at “Battleground.”
Flag Match
“The Real American” Jack Swagger w/Zeb Colter vs. Rusev w/Lana
The battle of nations between former World Champion Jack Swagger and the monster Rusev will now move to a Flag Match. Last month at “Battleground” Swagger took Rusev to the limit but eventually lost via countout. Swagger has continued his war with Rusev and even gained a DQ win recently over the “Bulgarian Brute.” Now Swagger and Rusev must defend the honor of their respected countries flags at “Summerslam.”
J-Bout’s Prediction: Rusev ends this rivalry once and for all despite a valiant effort from Swagger.
“Y2J” Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt
Chris Jericho likely thought he had shut Bray Wyatt up and ended their feud last month at “Battlegrounds” by defeating Wyatt one-on-one, but the following night on RAW The Wyatt Family brutally attacked Chris Jericho backstage. Wyatt has declared that losing that minor battle at “Battlegrounds” meant nothing to him because he will win the “war” in the end. The Wyatt Family have continued to attack Jericho, but the former Undisputed Champion may have evened up the odds when he defeated Luke Harper and Erick Rowan separately in one-on-one matches. Because of those wins Harper and Rowan are banned from ringside during Jericho-Wyatt II. Jericho looks to finally shut Wyatt’s mouth while the sadistic Wyatt will look to once again put Jericho in the shelf.
J-Bout’s Prediction: Wyatt evens this feud up with a win over the former World Champ.
Lumberjack Match
Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins
WWE pulled the old “bait and switch” on fans last month at “Battleground” with the announced Ambrose-Rollins match never taking place, and instead we saw the two men have several brutal brawls during the PPV. This heated rivalry between former partners will only get hotter at “SummerSlam”, and Rollins will have nowhere to run from the psychotic Ambrose as this match will be a Lumberjack Match assuring that the match remains inside the ring. “Mr. Money In The Bank” Seth Rollins must finally meet his former Shield partner Dean Ambrose one-on-one and it is sure to be an explosive encounter.
J-Bout’s Prediction: Rollins wins with the help of The Authority.
Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon
The rivalry between Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella has shockingly been a headlining feud over the last few months, and the tension between the two ladies will boil over into a singles match at “SummerSlam.” It all started when Brie Bella blamed Stephanie McMahon for her husband Daniel Bryan’s injury and slapped the “princess.” Stephanie was going to fire Brie for this action but she quit instead, but last month while Brie was attending RAW as a fan Stephanie walked out and slapped Brie back leading to Stephanie’s arrest. Not only did Brie demand her job back to drop the charges on Stephanie but she also demanded a one-on-one match against the heir to the McMahon throne. Stephanie agreed and has shown that she isn’t going to just let Brie run all over her in the match, even hitting the Pedigree on Brie recently. Triple-H is sure to make his presence felt in this match but will Daniel Bryan allow his wife to go into this match alone as well?
J-Bout’s Prediction: Daniel Bryan makes his return and helps his wife overcome The Authority.
Roman Reigns vs. “Legend Killer” Randy Orton
Ever since the breakup of The Shield Roman Reigns has set his sights on Randy Orton and The Authority blaming them for the groups breakup. He also has set his sights on the World Championship and has made it very clear that he will not stop until he gets that title. Standing in his way is former World Champion Randy Orton who too wants another shot at the belt. This will be Reigns’ most high profile singles match in his WWE career and we will see if the potential superstar has what it takes to bring his game to the next level against “The Viper.”
J-Bout’s Prediction: Reigns earns his first PPV singles win.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena (c) vs. “The Beast” Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman
Since “breaking the streak” at “WrestleMania,” ending Undertaker’s incredible undefeated streak, Lesnar has let it be known the next step in his WWE takeover is the WWE World Championship. The Authority wants the belt off of Cena so much so that they have made a deal with the devil in giving Lesnar a shot at the title. Cena and Lesnar are no strangers to each other having feuded as far back as 2003. In fact Cena named his Attitude Adjustment finishing move initially the “FU” as an insult to Lesnar and his “F5” finisher. Cena was also Lesnar’s first opponent upon his return to the WWE in 2012 defeating Lesnar at “Extreme Rules.” Lesnar and Cena are actually 1-1 against each other on PPV with Lesnar defeating Cena at “Backlash 2003” and Cena winning at “Extreme Rules 2012.” Now 10 years after their first meeting they headline the biggest show of the summer in what is sure to be a physical and brutal match between the two future Hall of Famers. Can “The Beast” once again regain WWE gold or will Cena prove that he is “the best?”
J-Bout’s Prediction: Lesnar puts an end to Cena’s title reign and The Era of Brock begins again.
“SummerSlam” takes place tonight live on PPV and the WWE Network at 8:00 PM Eastern (7:00 PM Central). Wrestleview.com will be providing live play-by-play coverage as always courtesy of Adam Martin.
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