Friday, March 29, 2024
EditorialHow Can WWE Make SummerSlam 2021 the Biggest Party of the Summer?

How Can WWE Make SummerSlam 2021 the Biggest Party of the Summer?

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After writing up some early card predictions for AEW All Out 2021, it dawned on me to think ahead about what WWE might have in store for SummerSlam 2021 in comparison.

While Hell in a Cell is coming up and WWE would never admit to this because of how bad it would sound, it’s clear this is not the prioritized event. Rather, it’s another show that’s going to happen before the real show that matters: Money in the Bank.

That’s the one that will have fans in attendance, so it’s a bigger deal. But the real real show that WWE is going to put even more stock into is SummerSlam.

My guess is Hell in a Cell will wrap up some loose threads, Money in the Bank will be sold primarily on the 2 titular gimmick matches and “isn’t it great the WWE Universe is back?” more than anything else, and SummerSlam is where the real effort will be focused.

So how can WWE make sure it isn’t a flop? In what ways can it truly become the so-called Biggest Party of the Summer?

Legitimate Marquee Matches with 3 Names in Particular

Most of the Superstars are incredibly talented, but few at the moment have true drawing power. As great as someone like Mustafa Ali is, I doubt putting him in a headlining match is going to boost the viewership drastically based on how little stock WWE has invested in him.

For SummerSlam to feel big, it’s going to need WrestleMania-level attractions. You can’t just do the fourth match between two Superstars, call it an “epic feud” and expect people to be excited. There has to be something fresh and/or unique about the card to garner some attention.

I think a lot of this event’s success depends on three particular names: Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Becky Lynch.

In particular, I’ll go so far as to say we have three matches that absolutely must happen.

Brock Lesnar has to fight Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship. The match has been far too long in the making to be another one of those things that just doesn’t happen (like The Four Horsewomen vs Four Horsewomen, Sting vs Undertaker, etc)

The Beast Incarnate will present the biggest challenge to The All Mighty’s title reign and I think Lashley needs to win and retain. However, even if Lesnar wins, it’ll still make the audience pop.

John Cena should be back in action ready to fight Roman Reigns. There’s no bigger match for Cena to have other than against The Tribal Chief, nor is there anyone on the roster who can meet Roman’s level to seem like a big enough opponent.

In that scenario, Reigns needs to win, obviously. This should probably be the main event, too.

When it comes to Becky Lynch, you’re going to want The Man back. She’ll have been out for around a year and a half and should be rarin’ to go. Of course, I can’t speak that into a guarantee, but I’d imagine she’s likely been training and could be itching to get back in the ring.

I don’t want to see Charlotte Flair beat Rhea Ripley for the title at Hell in a Cell or any time soon, but if either of them are champion, Lynch is the next contender. She’s the biggest draw you could get other than Ronda Rousey, and I doubt that’s happening any time soon.

Those three matches already make it seem like a big deal of an event, but it’s not just a matter of having the top look good and calling it a day.

The Supplemental Card Must Also Matter

All too often, WWE looks at a show and says something is “good enough” because it has one selling point. Whenever that happens, guess what everyone thinks about it: “Wow, that’s a 3-match card and the rest is pretty pointless.”

WWE needs to be more open, because even if they’re unintentional about their transparency, we can still see right through a lot of the b.s. It’s not as though 11th hour matches announced on the go-home shows and on The Bump prior to the event ever feel like they’re legitimately awe-inspiring. They just come off like last-minute “break glass in case of emergency” backup plans that nobody would get properly invested in.

The whole card has to look like it was set up to be a big event. Not just the top 3 matches.

  • Do Sasha Banks in her rematch against Bianca Belair.
  • RKBro should either be tag team champions or Matt Riddle vs. Randy Orton should definitely be on the card.
  • If Daniel Bryan is still around, and if this New Japan Pro Wrestling deal is able to be worked out, wouldn’t it be great to get him against someone like Kazuchika Okada? People would go nuts!
  • Book the best possible midcard and tag team title matches. Utilize your big names. Make sure The Usos are in the tag title hunt for SmackDown. Don’t have Humberto Carrillo fighting for the United States Championship if you’re sitting on Braun Strowman. Let’s see Cesaro fight for the Intercontinental Championship.
  • Incorporate a “throw everyone in there” match of some sort. Do a battle royal or something. But actually make it have stakes instead of just awarding a trophy we’ll never see again.

Do Not Set Yourself Up for Failure

One of the most embarrassing elements of WrestleMania was the Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton match. After months of me saying “this feud isn’t going to pan out well and it’s going to be a waste of time”, I was right, unfortunately. WWE didn’t bother to do anything worth justifying months of stalling and it tarnished that entire show by how pointless it all was.

Don’t set yourself up for building expectations that you know you can’t deliver on. For that matter, stay away from The Fiend and Alexa Bliss and all that stuff entirely, since that seems to be a running theme with these characters, where it’s all sizzle and no steak.

Don’t have DQ endings on this show. It’ll just piss off the audience. You can’t approach SummerSlam being the best event and simultaneously try to position it as something that exists purely to set up the next show.

Likewise, don’t cannibalize the card by doing matches ahead of time that should happen on the pay-per-view itself. It boggles my mind how the Fatal 4-Way for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was on the SmackDown before WrestleMania, rather than the card itself. Who the hell thought it was a better idea for Dominik and Rey Mysterio to win the titles a month later in front of nobody, just so they could have two matches for the women’s tag titles, wherein the contenders lost anyway and then won the titles several weeks down the line all the same, too?

Think. That would have been a much better scenario if you combined the women’s tag title matches into just one and had Natalya and Tamina win the belts on Night 1, then had The Mysterios win the titles on Night 2, or vice versa.

WWE can’t put all its eggs in one basket, but it used to at least treat the biggest special events as anchors for the year where they mattered far more than anything else. Lately, they’ve been feeling like just the same as the other B-level shows but with more marketing hype around the logo and brand name.

The Cardi B Effect

We know Cardi B is going to show up in some capacity. She’ll do the song, have a musical performance most likely, possibly host and may even wrestle.

I’m not a fan, personally. However, just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean I can’t see the value in it and how it appeals to other people. I can definitively say bringing Cardi B in to the mix is going to help boost SummerSlam’s notoriety by a considerable margin.

It will create more buzz, generate a bigger media coverage presence and possibly draw in some outsiders and casuals. Granted, it’s not the saving grace of the event, but it’s something that adds some extra flair.

A big celebrity like Cardi B makes it seem like it IS a party that people would want to attend. Let’s face it, people are fickle and the more popular something is, the more they instinctively like it (or at least, are more likely to want to like it and give it a shot). If something isn’t viewed as popular by other people, people tend to think there must be a reason why and won’t give it a chance.

Of course, there can be overkill. WWE can’t bring in dozens of celebrities and take up the whole show because people will be annoyed they are watching a variety hour concert program rather than a professional wrestling event. But much like Bad Bunny brought some eyes to WrestleMania, Cardi B can do the same for SummerSlam.

If she has to step in the ring, it needs to be a tag team match of some kind. Clearly, she can’t be trusted to hold a match on her own or anything of that sort. I have no idea what the best pairings could be, but I’d imagine we’re not getting anything involving Lacey Evans anymore, that’s for sure.

The Venue

As it stands, no location has been announced. This could be crucial in the number of people in attendance and the overall atmosphere of the night.

Sometimes, the vibe of the arena can be a great pro or con. If the acoustics are bad, it can seem like a dud show. But if you get something like Daily’s Place for Double or Nothing, that small venue felt huge and it looked like a total blast.

I’d love to see WWE do something outside. Maybe a stadium with an open roof that can retract if need be. Hell, I’d love to see them take a Bash at the Beach kind of approach and actually do it on the beach if they wanted to go with something totally out there and different.

The more fans, the better. Safety is the utmost concern, but assuming that’s okay, WWE should be aiming for the largest venue possible to pack. Shoot high and force yourself to accomplish the goal, rather than getting a smaller venue and filling it up to capacity with less effort.

Which brings us to the overall biggest point…

Actual Active Effort

WWE can’t rely on SummerSlam being named SummerSlam, having people in attendance, having Cardi B show up and a few other big names returning.

This has to be an event that feels like Creative actually cared and wanted to make every minute of it as great as it could be. It can’t be another glorified episode of Raw where you can tell about 20 minutes of thought went into it, people copied and pasted what was easy and then went to catering to hang out.

You know what happens if a party seems like it sucks? People leave early. The same could happen to SummerSlam. Fans could mentally check out early on and spend the rest of the night badmouthing it, booing, cheering for other things to keep themselves entertained and even shutting off the feed on Peacock.

WWE has gotten too comfortable coasting and it is reflected in its overall ratings and how little the fans seem to be interested in the product. There is no catch-all answer that will solve the problems and give WWE the boost it needs so they can continue to sit back and do nothing. The work needs to be put into it to try and make this a great show, or it’ll be obvious it isn’t.

Here’s hoping SummerSlam comes off more like that party you hear about in years to follow, rather than the one people regret attending.

How do you think WWE should go about setting up SummerSlam 2021? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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