As summer begins to wind down, WWE's ready to turn up the heat with its annual SummerSlam event, airing this Sunday on the WWE Network.
It'll be a jam-packed card -- that will most likely run over four hours, like last year's show -- with some promising bouts, ranging from grudge matches like John Cena vs. AJ Styles to battles for new championships, like Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor. We've perused the entire card, sifted trough the offerings, and come up with the 5 matches we're most excited for (sorry, Lesnar vs. Orton, you're among those we're somewhat wary of - though we'd be happy for a surprise!).
Check out our list below and be sure to return to IGN on Sunday for our SummerSlam live-blog.
What a difference a year makes. Just last summer, Sasha Banks had the best match of the year when she faced Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. Then the next night, at SummerSlam, she and Charlotte wrestled as part of a rather unceremonious triple team "Divas Revolution" match that pretty much represented the exact opposite of how these ladies, or any women, should be used in pro wrestling.
Now we're getting a one-on-one match up with Sasha heading in as Women's Champ. Gone is the label "Diva" and with the new Women's Division comes amazing marquee matches like this one as Sasha and Charlotte most certainly look to steal the show right out from under the men.
No, we're not sold (like, at all) on the name Universal Championship, but if WWE's stubbornly set on sticking with it then they could do a lot worse than having Seth Rollins and Finn Balor fighting to become the inaugural title holder. These two are exceptional and, despite not having a storied history or a back catalogue of matches against one another, we're confident they'll put on a spectacular match. Will Rollins continue to be "The Man" or will Balor get pushed right to the top and win a world (or outer space, as it were) title at his first major WWE PPV?
Though the actual piecing together of this match was a little clunky, since neither side was really feuding with the other (and Owens and Jericho weren't even a viable team), we still think Enzo and Cass vs. JeriKO has the potential to be the most fun bout on the entire show. Just so long as everyone's allowed ample mic time prior to the bell ringing, because here both the comical babyfaces and the comical heels are going to be massively over with the Brooklyn crowd. It's a match that either side can win and not hurt the other team while a good time's had by all.
Given the other matches on the card, we're not expecting this one to get as much time as it might need, but we're still super-psyched that, with this PPV match, these two feuding hard-hitting powerhouses are entering a "Best of Seven" series. So no, nothing will get resolved here, naturally, but the idea of these guys brutally uppercutting each other for weeks to come is pretty awesome.
So how does this feud end? With the typical "Cena Wins LOL" finish or with Styles getting to go over the "Face That Runs the Place" again? Perhaps even cleanly this time? Styles won the first battle, but then Cena scored a "W" after a middle turnbuckle AA at the three-on-three match at Battleground. So they're even. But in the case of a tie, Cena usually (okay, always) pulls out the final victory. We have no doubt that the match itself will exceed expectations, but more interesting here is whether or not "New Era" WWE decides double-down on Styles, or keep Cena (who has more and more extracurricular projects these days) afloat as their top commodity.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA). Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at http://ift.tt/2aJ67FB.
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