SummerSlam looks solid on paper
SummerSlam emanates from the Barclays Center tonight in Brooklyn, and it will be interesting to see if the show delivers in-ring compared to how solid it looks on paper.
Both Raw and Smackdown Live have had at least a month to build up to WWE蘑菇视频 summer version of 鈥淲restleMania鈥� and we are mere hours away from seeing what happens.
In the main event, Brock Lesnar will defend the Universal title in a four-way against Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns.
Paul Heyman has stated that he and Lesnar will leave WWE if he loses the title, but both are scheduled for Raw on Monday.
Jinder Mahal will defend the WWE title against Shinsuke Nakamura, and I fully expect Nakamura to have a unique entrance.
Other title matches on the PPV include AJ Styles defending the U.S. title against Kevin Owens with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee, Alexa Bliss defends the Raw Women蘑菇视频 title against Sasha Banks, Naomi defends the Smackdown Women蘑菇视频 title against Natalya, and Cesaro and Sheamus defend the Raw tag titles against Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
Other matches on the official card for SummerSlam, which starts at 7 p.m., include John Cena taking on Baron Corbin, Finn Balor takes on Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton takes on Ruseve, and Big Cass takes on Big Show with Enzo Amore suspended above the ring in a shark cage.
Title matches on the Kickoff Show include The New Day defending the Smackdown tag titles against The Uso蘑菇视频 and Akira Tozawa defends the Cruiserweight title against Neville.
Also on the Kickoff Show is a six-man match pitting the Hwrdy蘑菇视频 and Jason Jordan taking on The Miz and his Mizterouge of Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas.
NXT does it again
Saturday night, NXT Takeover: Brooklyn delivered, and it set a tough act for SummerSlam to follow.
Did you watch Takeover?
If so, share your thoughts and I will publish some next week.
Ric Flair health update
For those unaware, Ric Flair is recovering from surgery that took place Monday as he was said to have failing organs.
He was admitted to the hospital last weekend with severe abdominal pain and tests showed the organ issues.
Had Flair not had the surgery Monday, he would have died and even though he is not out of the woods, he is resting at the hospital.
Flair has been put on dialysis to restore function to his kidney and he will have more surgeries.
His kids made their way to the hospital to be there with him, and Flair is still facing the biggest opponent of his life.
Taker spotted in NYC
The Undertaker flew into New York City Friday, and the buzz is now around whether he will appear at SummerSlam.
Will the Dead Man appear on the show, or is he just coincidentally in town for a check-up after having surgery right after WrestleMania?
Taker had surgery in NYC and maybe he scheduled his appointment to coincide with the show so he could swing by and say hi to friends.
IC champ back to WWE
As reported several times in this column over the last year or so, Shelton Benjamin is headed back to WWE.
He finally signed his contract and will be debuting shortly.
ROH star headed to WWE
Adam Cole, one of the top wrestlers in the world, has signed with WWE.
Cole was in Brooklyn for the show last night.
Hot week leading to SummerSlam
Both Raw and Smackdown Live stepped up their action this week heading into SummerSlam.
Raw was loaded with big angles and Corbin failed to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase against Mahal after the conclusion of the WWE title match between Mahal and Cena.
Corbin was pinned after Cena distracted him, so look for that to tie into tonight蘑菇视频 match.
With the loss, Corbin became only the fourth out of 18 Bank briefcases winners to not cash in and win a heavyweight title.
On this date鈥�
We are a day early, but on Aug. 21, 1979, Dusty Rhodes won his first world title when he defeated Harley Race to win the NWA crown.
Rhodes would lose it back to Race five days later, but Rhodes was well on his way to becoming one of the top good guys of all-time.
This week蘑菇视频 question: Will Charlotte be at SummerSlam? Timmy, Farmington.
Charlotte has been given the week off to be with her dad after his surgery on Monday.
Word has not been given if she will be at Smackdown Live on Tuesday.
Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III.