WWE SummerSlam 2017 Results Predictions
No really: he's just flying to New York on a pleasure visit.
Before we get started, there's a particular pachydermal presence in the room which needs quickly addressing: The Undertaker.
We've all read the rumours: everyone's favourite retired 'Reaper' was pictured on a board a plane to NYC. But so what? New York's a big place - can't the man travel there for reasons beyond wrestling? Perhaps he's a Broadway fan, dropping into town to catch a show? His life isn't married to the squared-circle, you know.
OK, so maybe he WILL attend SummerSlam, but surely only in a backstage capacity. The 'Phenom' has hung up his trench-coat now, and there's no real place to shoe-horn the 52-year old onto the card. If the company were really desperate, Brian Lee is always an option; he's done this before.
It could be that Big Mark was asked to take a flight to the Big Apple just to generate this sort of speculation, which seems rather impractical, not to mention grasping. Let's just say it's bogus and leave it at that.
More importantly, what will actually happen at SummerSlam? The Undertaker might not be involved, but at least one career could end the night dead and buried. There's a clear downside to every title changing hands, but the promotion enjoys swapping trouser-suspenders ever so much, making them harder to predict than ever. And could this be Brock Lesnar's last ever WWE match?
How do things augur in August? Let's see how the wax has melted in the summer sun...
13. Akira Announces: I Am Tozawa!
Akira smashed Neville's metaphorical capsule this past week on Raw, finally ending the Geordie's lengthy run with the purple strap. And somewhat surprisingly, it must be said.
From this move, it's quite clear: the man that gravity forgot is about to erase the lilac-liveried brand from his own memory. With a Superstar Shake-Up rumoured for post-SummerSlam, now is clearly the time for Neville to progress beyond a division he has clearly outgrown (and not just by weighing over 205lbs).
Tozawa's title victory has added fresh impetus to Sunday's affair, a match pretty much everybody had pegged as a Neville win before the shock switch. With the 'King of the Cruisers' seemingly heading for pastures new (and probably, blue), it's obvious that the new champ will retain here.