With (not so) Extreme Rules out of the way, preparations begin in earnest for Summerslam.
Not only does the main roster have their 2nd biggest show of the year, but NXT takes over the night before as well. Throw in the return of the Mae Young Classic and fans of WWE should have an exciting August. Let’s see what we have to look forward to so far!
Summerslam Plans
In spite of many rumors suggesting he may not appear, Brock Lesnar will indeed defend the Universal Title at Summerslam. Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley both won triple threat matches on Raw this week and will face off next Monday for the right to challenge Lesnar at the 2nd biggest PPV of the WWE year.
Ronda Rousey has spent the past month or so unleashing her anger at the current champ in ways that led to her being suspended by Raw GM Kurt Angle. Although his hands were forced in making those decisions, their longstanding friendship means that the Raw authority figure is still giving his Wrestlemania tag partner a shot at the title when she returns from suspension. Rousey will face Alexa Bliss at Summerslam for the Raw Womens title.
It appears that Becky Lynch will be the next woman to challenge Carmella for the Smackdown Womens Title. The two will be facing each other in a non-title match on Smackdown next week, and if Lynch wins she gets her title shot at Summerslam.
Card thus far:
Universal Title- Brock Lesnar© vs either Lashley or Reigns
Raw Womens Title- Alexa Bliss© vs Ronda Rousey
Smackdown Womens Title- Carmella© vs Becky Lynch (if she wins a non-title match next week)
NXT News
NXT will be bringing back the WarGames gimmick as a part of the November Takeover event. This will take place in Los Angeles the night before Survivor Series. Prior to that, however, we have Takeover Brooklyn the night before Summerslam. All television leading up to that show has been taped and spoilers are available elsewhere, but I’ll only be reporting on booking plans as they air. This week Kairi Sane won a triple threat match against Nikki Cross and Candace Larae to earn number one contender status. It seems fitting that we’ll get a rematch between the two finalists from the first MYC the same month the 2nd women’s tournament happens.
Takeover card thus far:
NXT Womens Title- Shayna Baszler© vs Kairi Sane
Injury Report
The highly anticipated reunion on Team Hell No wound up not really delivering the match we all expected at Extreme Rules. The reason WWE went with the injury angle that kept Kane from participating in most of the match is that he is legitimately injured. He had been seen already wearing the walking boot as early as the Thursday before the PPV. WWE ran the angle they did to cover up for this injury. Kane is not expected to be seen back in the ring for a while. Even if he weren’t injured, he’s in the midst of his political campaign and is currently favored to win his mayoral race.
Mae Young Classic 2
A number of names have been confirmed for next month’s MYC over the past week. They include Io Shirai whose signing was made official during the WWE’s recent trip to Japan. Shirai is currently considered a favorite to win the tournament. Joining her is American Ninja Warrior star Kacey Catanzaro. Mighty Kacey has been training at the PC for less than a year, but has been impressing live audiences with her athleticism. The MYC will be her television debut as a wrestler, but she comes with a solid fan base from her years on ANW.
Nicole Matthews is an experienced indy wrestler who was an alternate for last year’s competition and will finally get her shot this year. Jinny participated in the recent UK specials and is believed to be signed as part of the NXT UK brand. Unfortunately an injury required her match to be reshot without her for the Albert Hall shows last month, so this will serve as her introduction to WWE Network viewers.
Deonna Purazzo has done a fair bit of enhancement work on NXT TV in the past but only just recently signed on full time with the company. Reina Gonzalez is a 2nd generation wrestler who appeared in the 1st MYC and has been training at the PC since. Tegan Nox and Jessica Elaban have been regulars at NXT live shows recently and will make their television debuts with the MYC. We’re up to 10 confirmed entrants at this point with more to be announced in the weeks leading up to the August tapings.
MVP MIZ
Although technically not a wrestling achievement, it’s worth noting that The Miz performed so well as part of the winning American League team during the All Star weekend’s celebrity softball game that he was awarded MVP of the game. He went 2 for 2 at the plate and pitch a scoreless inning for his team. All Star weekend is in Miz’s hometown of Cleveland next year, so there’s a good chance he’ll return to defend his MVP status.
