Summerslam Predictions

First of all - copious apologies - we've been doing our best, with more or less success in the last little bit - to maintain the commitment I made to blog every couple of days, and at least largely we've been blogging 2-3 times a week, but it has been two weeks since I 'promised, I really do' that we would do an ITVR podcast the next day, or posted anything at all, really, and I can only explain that with copious amounts of travelling, and my baby boy's second birthday this weekend. However, Summerslam is upon us this evening and while we won't have the time to podcast BEFORE that, we wanted to make our predictions now and we will do an immediate post-show podcast that will probably be up sometime between midnight at 12:30am after our show tonight. With no further ado, however ... my predictions.

Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar
I think the outcome of this match weighs heavily on whether or not Shawn Michaels will be involved, and how. He is no longer scheduled to be in Triple H's corner for this match following his 'broken arm' at the hands of Brock Lesnar on Monday; however, will he still make his presence felt? And if so, will he be supporting his longtime friend, or helping orchestrate his downfall due to having been left vulnerable last week and feeling resentful about that? I'm predicting a Triple H win here just because of how dominant Lesnar has been the last couple of weeks, and given Vince's tendency to book with his ego (which has been hurt by Lesnar) and not his promotional sense. But Lesnar SHOULD win because his loss to Cena a few months back weakened him, and if he's going to be involved in any significant storylines going forward, it would be damaging to have lost his first two feuds back - that simply makes him look beatable, and wins over him less significant.


World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus vs. Alberto del Rio
This is a tough one to predict. On the one hand they've really been behind Sheamus. On the other hand, they've been playing around onscreen with del Rio even getting this match at all, and Sheamus has been World Champ since Wrestlemania - a not-insignificant amount of time in this day and age. For the sake of making a pick I'm going to say del Rio, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised at either outcome, or if del Rio's reign was a short one if I'm right.

WWE Champion CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show
I think I'm actually going to pick Cena here, although this is another one where I'm not 110% sure of my own choice. I'm reasonably sure it won't be Big Show, and while a CM Punk retention wouldn't surprise me, he's also been champ for awhile and Cena - as funny as it sounds - could really use a boost to his luck and his win record. If I'm wrong and Punk wins, look for this to be his full-blown heel turn, and a win to come about via mischief of some sort or another.

Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler
I would like to see Ziggler win here, in the sense that Chris Jericho's contract is over within the next 48 hours, and he has made pretty clear Fozzy comes ahead of his WWE commitments at this stage in his life and career. More than that, Jericho is ultimately bullet proof in terms of his reputation, while Ziggler is still building himself up and could frankly use a high-profile win like this one going forward. I'll predict Ziggler but again - in a theme of the evening, wihch isn't necessarily a bad thing - don't go betting any large sums of money on this prediction.
Daniel Bryan vs. Kane
Daniel Bryan is one of the best stars of the WWE today, while Kane's job is mainly to look scary and give punk kids a run for their money. While this could go either way depending on AJ Lee - Bryan's ex-fiancee and Raw General Manager - I'm going to say Bryan comes out on top nonetheless.
Intercontinental Champion the Miz vs. Rey Mysterio
While this match occurs right in Mysterio's backyard, the Miz has been on something of a roll since his return and I think that's something that should be kept up. Both have returned recently, and both could use a win; one of them is going to need to settle for simply a 'good or great match'. Given WWE's proclivity as well to disappoint hometown audiences, while this is yet another one that I wouldn't bet the farm on, I'm going to go with the Miz.

WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R Truth vs. The Prime Time Players
I think I'm going to go with the Prime Time Players winning here; they have been strong as a tag team, in no small part due to their now-former manager Abraham Washington (AW). Without him by their side, I'm not sure how long their reign will last, or how significant they will be thereafter, but booking wise this would make sense. Having said that, as I've said about almost all the other matches - don't be entirely surprised to see the champions booked to retain simply out of spite for the drama of the last few weeks.

US Champion Santino Marella vs. Antonio Cesaro (Youtube Preview Match)
This match unfortunately won't make the pay-per-view but should make at least a somewhat entertaining pre-show match. I'm not familiar enough with Cesaro to see a particularly bright (or not) future for him, on the one hand, but I also know Marella's held the title for a long time ... but is a popular and favourite comodity in the WWE Universe. I'm going to go with a Marella retention, but perhaps narrowly enough Cesaro earns a rematch, or via interference leading to his next feud, where Marella's days are more numbered.

All in all while I've made predictions on the above, all of these matches as I've said could conceivably go either way - which makes for a strong PPV when it's that unpredictable. I'm not anticipating a high percentage of correct predictions tonight, although I couldn't tell you which ones will be wrong lol. I DO think there will be a bonus match or two booked as there are only 6-7 matches booked for the actual PPV; perhaps a Ryback squash or a Brodus Clay/Damien Sandow faceoff. And we will discuss all of the above on-air after the PPV tonight so be sure and check back in then. Enjoy the show and be well!