#MondayMotivation: 7 Things To Look Forward To This Week In Wrestling (July 17)

3. SummerSlam Takes Shape

Wwe Battleground
WWE.com

Monday Night Raw's main event has been set, with Samoa Joe taking on Roman Reigns to determine exactly who goes to SummerSlam to take on Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.

It's the latest encounter to keep Monday Night Raw's super-charged main event picture fuelled, but last week's episode knowingly left alone the whereabouts of one key participant in the chaos.

Braun Strowman is unquestionably the biggest babyface of the four, with heel Samoa Joe, tweener Brock Lesnar and the ubiquitously untethered Roman Reigns all vying for the title from their platform of near-misses and lucky escapes.

As Great Balls of Fire's Ambulance Match victor and the man more responsible for Monday Night Raw's watchability than just about any other performer in the last 12 months, it seems unconscionable that Strowman won't be involved in the summer's biggest encounter.

'The Monster Among Men' is the missing piece of Raw's main event puzzle, and a traditionally fuzzy ending to the Joe/Reigns clash would be unusually welcome in order to permit him to bullishly march back into the Universal title picture. Furthermore, it provides the SummerSlam main event with at least three weekly regulars, combating the typical issue of Brock Lesnar's contractually-mandated inconsistency.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett