10 Shocks WWE Could Pull At SummerSlam 2018

Another rolled-up newspaper thwacked against the Big Dog's nose.

Roman Lesnar
WWE

WrestleMania 34 was so shocking it's a wonder Fred Ottman didn't fall through the curtain, which would have proved a welcome distraction from a nine minute Nia Jax match.

Charlotte Flair ended Asuka's streak so decisively that the Empress lost her tomorrows. She tapped cleanly to the Figure Eight, despite having suffered little in the way of damage to her knee throughout the match. Strangely, Charlotte could barely apply the move, having endured a stiff kick onslaught to her shoulder in a finish that rendered Asuka weak. The 13 minute duration didn't help. Nor did the subsequent programme with Carmella, in which the sight of James Ellsworth terrified her more than any of her challengers in NXT.

Stephanie McMahon entered a better performance on the night than AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura (!), who could not live up to their literal Dream Match billing. Their match failed to exhilarate, though it did yield a shocking heel turn. Braun Strowman selected a young child as his partner before killing off The Bar and the RAW tag team division alike in four minutes. John Cena had just three minutes to do something of note with the Undertaker, and still managed a massive botch. That wasn't altogether shocking, actually.

In New Orleans, WWE smashed the reset button with their eyes closed.

Will the thread of sense be torn once more?

10. Samoa Joe Wins The WWE Championship

Roman Lesnar
WWE.com

The Shock:

After a middling WWE Championship reign pitched as something more grandiose than that, AJ Styles wrestles at too frantic a pace with too much emotion - just as Samoa Joe intended - and succumbs to the Coquina Clutch. Joe picks up a very rare clean heel win in a moment that his superb work warrants, while, at the same time, AJ's reign finally means something in defeat. From Kami to Shinsuke Nakamura to Rusev, it's all ranged from silly to stalling to filler, albeit very good filler (albeit not Phenomenal filler).

The Likelihood: 75%

With Hell In A Cell next up on the pay-per-view calendar, prolonging the feud, a WWE staple trope, seems inevitable. Since Samoa Joe is already a heel, a clean AJ win is the worst possible means of getting there, but it's not entirely beyond Creative to simply have Joe attack him on the following SmackDown.

So not very likely, then.

But this would make Joe the legit monster he has done impeccably well to project himself as. Moreover, the shock is something synonymous with big shows in 2018, and a clean Joe win would add to the canon of SummerSlam's growing latter-day reputation as more comedown than party.

Since AJ's reign is fading, don't bet against it.

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!