We’re two days from the second-biggest show in WWE’s calendar — and the first SummerSlam of the Netflix era. With nine titles on the line (that’s one more than WrestleMania, if you’re counting), this should be about as big of a weekend as they come for the world’s biggest wrestling promotion.
Will Cody Rhodes get the belt back from John Cena? Can Jelly Roll wrestle? All will become clear this weekend. In the meantime, here are five of the big questions I’ll be keeping in mind as all eyes turn to New Jersey.
1. Is this the end of dark Cena?
Given John Cena only has 17 appearances left (this weekend included) before he hangs up his boots in December, the smart money has been on this whole heel turn coming to an end sooner rather than later. After all, surely the Cena retirement tour has to end with the legend going out as a hero, while the teary-eyed fans cheer him to the rafters?
If those assumptions are correct, then this weekend is the obvious jumping off point for dark Cena, given that Night 2 of the two-show weekend finishes with a rematch against Cody Rhodes. Putting the belt back on Rhodes would go some way toward rewriting the travesty of that WrestleMania 41 finale and restoring the natural order in WWE. Though it would still leave the question of how you turn Cena back into a good guy without giving us all narrative whiplash.
On the other hand, maybe the audience won’t care either way how the heel turn ends? At this point, I imagine some would be pleased just to see this whole episode brought to a close, provided it means getting back the Cena we were all so excited to see when this retirement tour was first announced.
2. Is Seth Rollins playing possum?
It’s now almost three weeks since Seth Rollins limped out of the arena at Saturday Night’s Main Event, seemingly nursing a nasty knee injury. For a few hours, that seemed to be the end of it — with the only question being what it meant for WWE’s creative plans, given that “The Visionary” holds the men's MITB briefcase.
Then came the whispers from certain quarters (including highly respected wrestling reporters) that there might be more than meets the eye to this storyline, and that the alleged knee injury is actually a ploy for storyline purposes, with the aim of pulling off a shock twist at SummerSlam.
Are the rumors true? At this point, it’s anyone’s guess. We’ve all seen the Instagram footage of Rollins hobbling around on crutches in his civilian life — but isn’t that exactly the sort of thing WWE would orchestrate if they were planning a rug pull? This is the company that (at least according to them) fake-fired R-Truth after all…
All I’ll say for sure now is that if it is a work, then we should expect a suitably explosive twist come this weekend to justify the deception. In storyline terms, you could certainly see Rollins using the briefcase to thwart his old nemesis CM Punk. But what if it’s actually Cody Rhodes that he has his eye on?
3. Will the two-night format work?
This year marks the first time SummerSlam will adopt the two-night model WWE have used for WrestleMania since 2020. The move is almost certainly part of TKO's new strategy to draw as much cash as possible from host cities, who are increasingly paying seven-figure sums to host the larger WWE PLEs and takeover weekends.
Given WWE's preference for short match cards buffered with lots of sponsorship content, putting together a two-night show for SummerSlam is hardly a problem. If this weekend goes well, expect to see whispers of a two-night Royal Rumble before long, and perhaps even Money in the Bank in New Orleans next year.
4. Does Bianca Belair show up?
In the weeks after WrestleMania 41, the Jade Cargill vs. Naomi vs. Bianca Belair storyline seemed like the most likely candidate for the big SummerSlam story on the women’s side. All three have great chemistry together, and there's clearly plenty of mileage left when it comes to their three-way feud.
Naomi using her briefcase to become Women’s World Champion — rather than cashing in during Cargill’s match, as most of us expected — may have added a twist to the tale, but I'd be surprised if the plan is to send these three their separate ways given the quality of what they've produced so far.
Assuming that’s still the case, Bianca Belair remains the missing piece of the puzzle. Does she show up this weekend during Cargill’s match, or perhaps to stare down a victorious Naomi? Either choice would send a massive clue as to what WWE regards as its next big money match in the women’s division.
5. Will it top AEW All In: Texas?
Making any informed comparison between WWE and AEW is always a fraught exercise, full of caveats and clarifications. That said, if there was ever a good time to compare back-to-back events, this is probably it, given that both companies are running back-to-back marquee shows in U.S. stadiums (i.e. with crowds over 25,000) for the first time ever.
Given the differences between their business models, finding a comparable metric will be difficult. Despite that, I'd wager that most wrestling fans will have a good sense of which promotion had the best summer when all is said and done on Sunday night.
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