Notable Superstars Missing from the Card
Note: This is not a full list of everyone on the roster who is not scheduled for the show. It excludes jobbers, injured talent, people who wouldn’t have normally been expected to appear on the show for some fashion, those who are unable to perform due to travel restrictions and so on. It also should be noted that much of the information regarding COVID-19 pandemic regulations and precautions is not public knowledge, so there’s no telling if anyone on this list or elsewhere is not going to be on the card due to those factors.
Raw Underground = Technically speaking, it’s “Raw” Underground, so I guess its okay if it isn’t on a pay-per-view. However, if you wanted to help spread the word about it and get more people invested, it would have made sense to have this make an appearance at SummerSlam. Some casuals may be watching because its a Big 4 event and they may not tune into Raw.
Retribution = By their very nature, WWE can’t advertise that they’ll be showing up in any official capacity. That makes sense. However, I’d be incredibly shocked if we didn’t get Retribution showing up at some point, in some fashion. They pretty much have to do something. I’m expecting them to interfere in the main event, for instance.
Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin = These two are banned from accompanying MVP ringside. That makes sense.
Kevin Owens = WWE just hasn’t had any direction for Owens since his feud with Seth Rollins ended. It’s a shame, considering he’s one of their overall best. Hopefully, he bounces back with something post-SummerSlam.
Cedric Alexander, Mustafa Ali and Ricochet = There’s a good chance we see these three show up in some fashion during the United States Championship situation, maybe as a brawl backstage or whatever. If not, then that’s okay, as they’re not the true focal points.
Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott / The IIconics = If it were me, I’d have booked this match as a No. 1 contender’s match to determine who fights The Golden Role Models at Payback. I guess they want to do something like that on the go-home Raw, instead.
Mickie James / Lana and Natalya = WWE showed how little they care about these women with how their segment was booked on Raw. That was absolutely terrible to have Mickie return without any entrance and wrestle in the background while Rollins and Samoa Joe argued. The fact that it ended with a count-out was the cherry on top of horrible booking. Who did Mickie piss off? Ridiculous.
Nia Jax / Shayna Baszler = These two are clearly in a feud now. I’m not all that into it, but it’s happening. Since this just came out of nowhere, I guess its better to do their match at Payback, rather than rushing it to SummerSlam.
Big E / Sheamus = These two have been bouncing around all over the place. Big E had some matches with Miz and Morrison. Sheamus had some stuff with Corbin and Shorty G. But they landed to a feud with each other and had their match on SmackDown before this event, rather than here.
Heavy Machinery / John Morrison and The Miz = These two teams are the outsiders in the Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville feud. It wouldn’t have meant all that much for them to have a match here, so I’m okay with them not being part of the card. Of course, I’m not fond of the Money in the Bank briefcase going to waste on Otis, though. If WWE has had no plans for him for all this time, they never should have given him the briefcase to begin with.
Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura / Lucha House Party = These two teams had their title match on SmackDown. If it were me, I’d have booked this for the pre-show or saved it for Payback, rather than randomly added it to SmackDown the Friday before SummerSlam.
Drew Gulak = Daniel Bryan has been out of action seemingly due to COVID and Brie having their second child, but what about Gulak? Not important enough? I guess so, but it’s a shame that’s the case. I would have enjoyed seeing him be part of the opposition against King Corbin and Shorty G. Gable against Gulak could be great on SmackDown, at least.
King Corbin and Shorty G / Matt Riddle = Seriously? Still no match between these guys? WWE really loves to drag things out. If it doesn’t happen at Payback, they’re insane.
Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross = I feel like its a guarantee we see Bliss show up in the Wyatt vs Strowman match. As far as Cross goes, that’s more up in the air, but its definitely a possibility.
Lacey Evans / Naomi = #NaomiDeservesBetter isn’t really being placated with this Evans feud. I’m fine with them not being on the card.
AJ Styles / Jeff Hardy = These two had their title match on SmackDown. My guess is they decided a title change should happen during the debut of the Thunderdome idea and this was the option on the table.
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