13 Match Quality Predictions For WWE SummerSlam 2018

10. Daniel Bryan Vs. The Miz

Daniel Bryan Miz Summerslam Stars
WWE.com

It's Daniel Bryan vs. The f*cking Miz: a total gift of contrasting characters on so many wish lists that it doesn't really matter how quickly WWE opened the packaging. With an absurdly fascinating in-built narrative, it's an awesome prospective clash in every sense of the word.

But it also does matter.

The Miz isn't the final boss. WWE has carelessly skipped through the second act of the story, as we all knew they were going to all along, and as a result, this major match - the match we thought impossible in January of this year - doesn't feel like an event. WWE, at the worst of times, always knew how to sell a match. They can't even sell the match these days.

While suddenly and woefully built towards on television - dynamite vignettes excepted - Bryan and The Miz have at least prepared themselves on the house show circuit, having (hopefully) perfected the match across Europe, the far east and the United States. We should be in store for a match pulsating in content, heated in atmosphere, and high in emotion. With no hyperbole, we should have been in store, in an alternate universe, for WWE's first unequivocally legendary classic in years.

Instead, a mere four star thriller will seem like a missed opportunity.

Predicted Star Rating: ****

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!