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WWE Summerslam 2019 PPV Match Card Predictions: Kofi Kingston Stupefies Randy Orton
One of WWE's biggest events of the year is right around the corner. On Sunday, August 11 Summerslam is coming to the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario. It's going to be a huge evening featuring some epic battles between WWE superstars. But who will win each match at this PPV? Well, that's what we're going to figure out.
Summerslam kicks off this Sunday at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET / 12 AM BST (August 12), with a Kickoff Show starting two hours prior. As of this writing, there are ten matches on the card, two of which may take place on the preshow. Check out the complete match card below.
Summerslam Match Card:
- Drew Gulak (c) vs. Oney Lorcan (Cruiserweight Championship)
- Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler
- Trish Stratus vs. Charlotte Flair
- AJ Styles (c) vs. Ricochet (United States Championship)
- Finn Bálor vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
- Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon
- Bayley (c) vs. Ember Moon (Smackdown Women's Championship)
- Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton (WWE Championship)
- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Natalya (Submission Match for the Raw Women's Championship)
- Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins (Universal Championship)
Like every place that covers wrestling on the internet, the fine folks of GameSpot has some strong opinions about the winners and losers from the upcoming event. Both Mat Elfring and Kevin Wong have looked at every match on the card and decided who they think will win each match. Check out our predictions below.
Make sure to come back to GameSpot on Sunday, August 11 for live coverage of the show.
Drew Gulak (c) vs. Oney Lorcan
(Cruiserweight Championship)
Mat: Here comes Mat "Broken Record" Elfring. I do not watch 205 Live, but this will undoubtedly be a great match. Since I don't know what's going on, and I stopped following Drew Gulak when he stopped promising Powerpoint presentations, I have nothing to say about this. Gulak wins because I say so.
Kevin: Gulak has held the cruiserweight title for less than 50 days; two out of last three Cruiserweight reigns have lasted over 180 days. This least celebrated title in WWE also has the most stability, and Gulak isn't going to end his first reign so quickly. Expect a hard-fought Gulak win during the pre-show.
Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler
Mat: Oh boy. How do I put my thoughts and feelings into a match that I could not care less about? I'm fine with Goldberg stepping back in for a match, and I'm fine him taking on Ziggler because Dolph is a workhorse. However, that battle with the Undertaker at the Saudi Arabia show was pretty awful, even though WWE called it "epic." I'm a bit soured by all of this. Look, this isn't going to be a bad match, but it's just not exciting me. The outcome all depends on whether or not Goldberg sticks around after Summerslam, and I think he will. So that being said, Goldberg gets the win.
Kevin: Goldberg will get the win, and he's going to get it in less than a minute, if that. It's going to be two Spears, followed by a Jackhammer, followed by a pin, and Dolph Ziggler, ever the suffering professional, will sell it like a champ. This match is intended to wash the bad taste out of our mouths after the Saudi Arabia trainwreck versus the Undertaker, and remind us what Goldberg is. And he's a one trick pony. But to be fair, when he pulls it off, it's a mighty good trick.
Trish Stratus vs. Charlotte Flair
Mat: On the flip side of returning legends at Summerslam is Trish Stratus and Charlotte Flair, and I could not be more excited. Stratus cemented her career as the best of her generation--sorry Lita--and Flair is one of the few in the current generation in the talks as the best as well. Unlike Goldberg/Ziggler, this match feels more like a one-and-done stop for Stratus, in order to pump Charlotte back into the title picture. That being said, Charlotte will win, most likely through nefarious means.
Kevin: This should feel more important than it is, but the narrative build has been stilted and seemingly out of the blue. It feels like the build to one of the Saudi Arabia marquee matches; on paper, it's a dream fight, but there's no strong emotional component. Charlotte will get the submission win in Trish's hometown (Vince McMahon loves having wrestlers lose in their hometown), and the Queen continue to lay low until Wrestlemania season to give the other women in the division a chance to shine.
AJ Styles (c) vs. Ricochet
(United States Championship)
Mat: Could this be the match of the night? Probably. It's a very classic "good vs. bad" story with two of the company's most exciting and top performers. Ricochet wows the crowd with his in-ring ability and his classic babyface mic skills, while AJ Styles roams around with his stable, looking for ways to get an edge on his competition. I truly want this feud to continue, and the best way for that to happen is for AJ Styles to win by cheating, with Ricochet demanding an eventual rematch with a stipulation that keeps the Good Brothers away from the ring.
Kevin: What a difference a signed contract makes! Just like that, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are relevant again, teamed together with AJ Styles for the first time since the WWE Draft split them apart in 2016. AJ Styles is winning this match against Ricochet; it's difficult to imagine a scenario in which he won't. If Ricochet wins with two opposing cheaters skulking by ringside, then Styles looks foolish, and the feud is over. If WWE has Ricochet lose and chase the title, that's an underdog narrative the fans can get behind.
Finn Bálor vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
Mat: If you follow any site reporting on the backstage rumors and whatnot from WWE, then you probably heard Finn Bálor is going to take a vacation after Summerslam. Regardless of whether or not that's true, this match all needs to be about Bray Wyatt's character and putting him over. Everyone who's watched WWE programming the past few years knows that Wyatt has a knack for being buried and losing PPV matches--aside from that Elimination Chamber win two years back. Wyatt needs to win here if "The Fiend" character is going to have any traction.
Kevin: I mean, Bray Wyatt had better win, right? Otherwise, all this high-concept hype--the Firefly Funhouse segments, the bizarre tweets, the 30-second appearances of that freaky "Fiend" in the ring--have all been for naught. The rumor is that Bálor's "Demon" alter-ego will not be making an appearance at SummerSlam, which makes a lopsided loss here that much more plausible.
Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon
Mat: I love Kevin Owens, and it's great to see him back on television. Then, there is Shane McMahon who is constantly on television, and I am sick of. My hope is that Owens stuns Shane a whole bunch of times to the point where McMahon goes away from television for a while. Let's just keep elevating Owens. Anyway, Owens will win.
Kevin: After Paul Heyman took over the creative reins of Raw, Shane McMahon has (rightfully) been de-emphasized from week to week. This match against Kevin Owens will continue Shane's downward trend. At this point, Owens is a mouthpiece by proxy for Heyman's own frustrations with WWE; Owens would have been a perfect fit for ECW back in the day. The Advocate will want to follow through with the narrative he's built, and that means giving Kevin Owens the win and a continuance of the big push he's received thus far.
Bayley (c) vs. Ember Moon
(Smackdown Women's Championship)
Mat: I'm a huge supporter of Ember Moon, and not just because she plays Dungeons & Dragons. She brings a level of charisma to her character and in-ring ability we don't typically see in WWE superstars. Regardless of my feelings towards her abilities, she's up against Bayley, a strong competitor who continues to evolve her character. At this time, though, Moon doesn't feel ready for a title run, as she needs to have her character rebuilt a bit, so that being said, Bayley will win, but it will be an awesome match.
Kevin: There was a time when the result of this match would have been a foregone conclusion; of course Ember Moon, the woman who came closest to beating the NXT version of Asuka, would crush Bayley. But Bayley has toughened up in the past couple of months, and Ember has been off TV more than on it. She also got pinned by Alexa Bliss two weeks ago. Moon, the performer, is utterly deserving of a title run. But currently, her character is too diminished to manage that. Bayley will win on Sunday after a competitive outing.
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Randy Orton
(WWE Championship)
Mat: There is no way Kofi Kingston's title run comes to an end here, especially not against Randy Orton--a great in-ring performer whose character is exceptionally boring to me. Right now, Kingston is the total package, and that's what the champion needs to be. I have a feeling that WWE will do anything in its power to make the audience feel like Orton is going to come out on top; however, Kingston will retain.
Kevin: It only seems fair that after Randy Orton's "stupid" tantrum, which reportedly led to the end of Kofi Kingston's 's 2009 push, that Kingston gets the win here. It would bring his redemptive title run full circle; he'll have defeated the wrestler who precipitated his drop to the midcard in the first place. Kingston's run with the WWE Championship is nearly up; there's little elsewhere, narratively speaking, for the character to go. But one more signature win, which has genuine, personal meaning, could continue the feel-good story for another month.
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Natalya
(Submission Match for the Raw Women's Championship)
Mat: You've read these predictions from me for the past two or three years now. You know the drill. Becky Lynch will win. Even if I take an objective look at this match, Natalya may have the experience in the ring, but she doesn't have what it takes to overcome "The Man."
Kevin: This seems, on paper, like a match that Natalya is destined to win. Her signature submission is the Hart family's Sharpshooter, after all. But would WWE really have Becky Lynch drop the title to Natalya? It's doubtful. Unless we get a surprise appearance from Ronda Rousey (which could happen; Natalya trained Rousey for her first match at Wrestlemania 34), Becky Lynch is picking up the victory. She has to promote WWE 2K20 as the game's first female cover star. And her press appearances will look much better with gold around her waist.
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Seth Rollins
(Universal Championship)
Mat: WWE certainly loves trolling its fanbase with part-time champion Brock Lesnar--who has actually been around quite a bit more during his latest run. It's gotten to the point where most fans don't see him losing ever. It's just a never-ending desert highway with Lesnar carrying the Universal Championship in one hand and a bindle in the other. However, it feels right for Rollins to win here, but he's going to get the win through some trickery or cheating, and this feud will carry on forever.
Kevin: It's safe to never bet against The Beast. Brock Lesnar will win because he's Brock Lesnar, and because this is Summerslam, where he's pulled off many of his greatest triumphs. He squashed Cena here in 2014. He concussed Orton here in 2016. He became the youngest WWE champion in history when he beat The Rock here in 2002. He will continue that dominance in 2019. Rollins could get lucky again with the low blow, but it's unlikely that the same opponent will fall for the same trick twice.
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