With 2018 SummerSlam coming up this Sunday night, the go-home show of Monday Night Raw has given us an indication of what talent is booked for the pay-per-view and who are not currently scheduled. As always, there is a chance any kind of alterations can be made to the lineup, as the card is always subject to change, but at the moment, the men and women in this breakdown are not being promoted as taking part in this event.
In some cases, this may be justified, but in others, it might seem ridiculous. That is up to you to decide as we take a look at which superstars from the red brand are sitting this show out.
From the Raw Men’s Singles Division
— Big Show: Big Show has been dealing with injuries for quite some time, with no time table released for when he’ll return.
— Bobby Lashley: I was really hoping to see something better happening for both Lashley and Elias, but this feud has been so stupid, and putting it on the card isn’t going to help anything. In fact, it could hurt SummerSlam, more than add value to it. Instead, it seems they’ve gone with the “Elias has a musical performance and Lashley will interrupt it for the fourth time in a row” idea, which will at least be shorter, even though it’ll be just as lame as before.
— Bobby Roode / Mojo Rawley: It’s such a shame to see Bobby Roode failing so miserably on Monday Night Raw, to the point where he’s being used as a means to put over Mojo Rawley. These two aren’t having a feud worthy of being on the kickoff, even.
— Chad Gable: Gable has only been making appearances on Main Event in matches that might as well not even be happening, as they have no impact on anything whatsoever. It’s a shame, as he’s going to waste and could be a much more valuable resource, but WWE just doesn’t seem to want to push him.
— Curt Hawkins: The losing streak continues, and that means there’s no reason to come close to booking Hawkins to take part in this card, or any others in the near future.
— Goldust: Goldust has been utilized in more of an ambassador role in the past few months, if anything, rather than an in-ring performer. His status as an active roster member is basically in flux.
— Jason Jordan: Jason Jordan is still out from his neck injury and the surgery he had as treatment from earlier this year. Supposedly, the injury is worse than originally thought, so he may not be back for a long while, if ever.
— Jinder Mahal: This meditation guru gimmick Jinder Mahal is doing right now isn’t leading to anything of note. He’s been used as a stepping stone in the feud between Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens, which shows how little his WWE Championship reign really meant in the long run.
— Mike Kanellis: If memory serves correct, the only time we’ve seen Mike Kanellis any time soon was when he was in the mess of superstars to stop Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley from fighting.
— No Way Jose: No Way Jose is a jobber. He wasn’t brought onto the main roster to succeed, and even though he could be better than that, we have to face the facts that he’s likely not going to wrestle on any pay-per-views outside of matches like the Royal Rumble and Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
— Sami Zayn: Sami Zayn just recently underwent his second rotator cuff surgery. We’re not seeing him for a long, long time.
— Zack Ryder: For the most part, Ryder has spent his time on Raw after the Superstar Shake-up wrestling on Main Event, house shows, or not doing anything at all. On the cycle of being pushed and not being involved in anything, Ryder’s on the low end right now.
From the Raw Women’s Division
— Alicia Fox: Fox just recently returned from injury and was fed to Ronda Rousey. That’s about the best she can hope for, based on the majority of how her career has gone. At some point, she’ll pick up more steam, but it isn’t right now, as this division revolves around Ronda and Bliss at the moment.
— Bayley and Sasha Banks / The Riott Squad: These women have been feuding with each other recently, having lots and lots of matches together. It’s a pretty inconsequential program and doesn’t have a ton of heat behind it, so it makes sense for them to be off the card, as there are bigger fish to fry.
— Dana Brooke: Brooke’s best chances to make an appearance on a card nowadays is to be alongside Titus Worldwide, and since they have no match, she’s not in the mix at all.
— Ember Moon: We haven’t really seen Ember Moon much on the road to SummerSlam. She’s most likely a victim of just not being a priority at the moment and not having enough time for other people to be featured on television as filler. Her match on Raw this week will help keep the audience from forgetting about her.
— Mickie James / Natalya: Technically speaking, Mickie James and Natalya don’t have a match on the card or anything that is confirmed for. However, since they’re the best friends of Alexa Bliss and Ronda Rousey, there’s a solid chance they both pop up and are ringside for that match. That is, of course, unless Natalya takes time off to deal with her father’s unfortunate passing.
— Nia Jax: Since losing the Raw Women’s Championship to Alexa Bliss and failing to regain it at Extreme Rules, Jax has been pushed aside. There’s no storyline for her that would be bigger than the other matches going on here, so she’s better off not being jobbed out on television or something along those lines.
From the Raw Tag Team Division
— The Ascension: Konnor and Viktor have been jobbers since pretty much the inception of their main roster run. They only make it onto cards if they’re two more names in battle royals and such.
— The Authors of Pain / Titus Worldwide: These two tag teams are still in as basic of a feud as possible, where they just pretty much keep fighting each other week to week. It’s a waste of both, to a certain extent, and since there’s nothing interesting going on with it, the crowd isn’t invested enough to make WWE think any time should be dedicated to showcasing it on this card.
— Breezango: With Fandango injured, Tyler Breeze has been filling in random singles matches and predominantly jobbing out. The Fashion Police are on hold for a while.
— Heath Slater and Rhyno: Heath Slater and Rhyno haven’t been relevant since they were given a joke run with the SmackDown tag titles, which was two years ago.
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
