Cena and Rhodes, 8 other title matches anchor two-day showcase

SummerSlam 2025 moves to a two-night schedule for the first time with a total of 12 matches on the cards. The majority of WWE’s championships will be contested this weekend and there’s a distinct possibility some belts will change hands. There are some titles that are safer than others, especially with both Money in the Bank contracts either cashed in or seemingly on ice in the case of Seth Rollins.

Two lean nights of wrestling isn’t the worst thing given the length of AEW’s recent All In show. Last year’s SummerSlam showcase ran seven matches with a combined match length of around 106-110 minutes. This year features one less match per night, so the individual shows shouldn’t feel too daunting for two days of wrestling.

Night one features Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s championship, Gunther vs. CM Punk for the world title, Judgment Day vs. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte for the women’s tag straps,  and showcase matches featuring Sami Zayn, Karrion Kross, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso and Bron Breakker. Night one also features a special attraction involving Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul and Jelly Roll.

SummerSlam night two appears stronger on paper anchored by a six-pack TLC match for the WWE tag titles, AJ Styles vs. Dom Mysterio for the IC title, Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in cage for the U.S. title, Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria for the women’s IC title, Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky for the women’s world championship, and Cena vs. Rhodes in the main event for the WWE championship.

SummerSlam Night 1

Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross: This match is a solid undercard matchup with a decent mid-range build. I’m a little unsure what direction makes the most sense here, but it would seem that unless the intention is to sharpen Zayn’s mental edge and side him permanently with Kross and Scarlett that Zayn winning is the most logical choice. However, I think you also relegate Zayn to more of the same if you go that route. While it’s the most likely, it’s also pretty uninspired. Zayn is most likely coming out on top here, but I’d be looking for Kross to win just to inject some life into Zayn’s current run in the mid-card. The ex-factor here is the rumour that Kross and Scarlett’s contracts are coming up, which lends more to Zayn winning than not. Prediction: Zayn

Roman Reigns and Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed: What inning are we in again? I’ve stopped paying attention. Is the game over? Is this the second half of a double header? In any case, the dovetailing of the Bloodline story into two branches between what Reigns and Sikoa’s factions are doing separately is still reasonably watchable, even if this match is hampered a bit with the exclusion of Rollins due to his injury. I think the result is pretty obvious. There’s no reason why Reigns and Uso shouldn’t go over here. I don’t think Breakker and Reed winning does anything extensively positive for them, so I would expect Reigns and Uso to come out on top to continue their story with Rollins’ faction while he is out. However, that logic can also be used to argue the other result. With Rollins out I think you could have Uso eat a pin to lengthen the feud, but realistically I feel like Reigns and Uso makes the most sense. Prediction: Roman Reigns and Jey Uso

Judgment Day vs. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte – WWE Womens’ Tag Team Championship: Dissension has been brewing within the Judgment Day for quite a while now and while I think it’s not a crazy thought that Rodrigues and Perez retain, now is a good moment to further that rockiness. The timetable for Liv Morgan’s return from injury is much closer than not. Should they lose they could very well regain the titles before too long, only to drop them again closer to Morgan’s actual return. I just think now is a good moment to sew more seeds of discontent and the timing is right with Alexa Bliss and Charlotte being a new team. If Bliss and Charlotte win I wouldn’t expect the reign to last too long, but I still think the two elements create a storytelling opportunity. Prediction: Charlotte and Alexa Bliss

Randy Orton and Jelly Roll vs. Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul: This is a pure special attraction match if there ever was one, and of all the matches on the card I’d expect the least from this. Orton and McIntyre will be carrying this to watchability as the veterans of the ring while Paul will hit his spots and otherwise be the natural heat magnet that he is. Jelly Roll has been training for this so I believe he will have his moment. Overall I can’t see this match lasting particularly long, with Orton and Jelly Roll going over. Prediction: Randy Orton and Jelly Roll

Gunther vs. CM Punk – World Heavyweight Championship: Who knows what the original plans might have been had Seth Rollins not injured his knee, but taking this match at face value Gunther is most likely retaining his championship. CM Punk works as a great counter and catalyst to someone like Gunther who doesn’t just proclaim himself the best in the world, he does so based on his status and record as a perennial champion at all levels of development. This is still a clash of egos, and I’ve argued that when it comes to wrestling characterizations Gunther is one of the more interesting builds because while he appears as an unbeatable force of nature most of the time, his ego gets in the way and he becomes sloppy. When that occurs, he wilts. Conversely with Punk, he is not as skilled as Gunther, but so much of his success is egocentric and based on believing in his own value that all he needs is an opening from Gunther and he will strike like a shark in bloody water. I don’t think this will be a boring match. Expect Gunther to come out early and control the match before slipping up and allowing Punk to gain momentum en route to successive near falls. I just can’t see Gunther losing the title here. This might be the most interesting match of night one based on what I think we could see from these two from an in-ring and storytelling perspective. Nonetheless, Gunther retains as he should. This title might be in Punk’s immediate future, but the time isn’t now. Prediction: Gunther (…but for the sake of argument, I’m throwing out the dumb idea that Rollins hobbles down, hits someone with a crutch, cashes in and becomes a literally hobbled champion for several months. Stupid idea, but hilarious all the same.)

Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill – WWE Women’s Championship: This was not the option I expected initially for Cargill given her recent past with Naomi. I’m not convinced Naomi doesn’t get involved in this match should Cargill appear on the cusp of winning her first singles championship in WWE, but generally I don’t think now is the time to make that coronation and to concurrently do that at the expense of Stratton. It definitely is one of those 50-50 calls in terms of trying to guess what they could do here, but I’m just not convinced now is the right time for Cargill to make that leap. Conversely, I’m not sure what else you do with Stratton at this point given the length of her reign; I’m not sure how much longer she truly has as champion on this run. This might be closer than you’d think, and while I can also make a valid argument for Cargill winning based on the work she has put in, the length of Stratton’s reign and them looking for a return on their investment, I think Stratton comes away with the win despite a strong showing from Cargill that is thwarted by Naomi. Prediction: Tiffany Stratton

SummerSlam Night Two

Six-Pack TLC Match for WWE Tag Team titles: This features the Wyatt Sicks defending their championships against Andrade and Rey Fenix, #DIY, Fraxiom, the Motor City Machine Guns and the Street Profits. Up front I feel like this match is designed to get the titles off the Wyatts without having to have them eat a pinfall. I may be wrong, but there are too many good teams in this match not to crown one of them as the brand’s new tag team champions. Beyond the champions the field includes a number of good athletes, but it’s one dominated by high fliers and lucha libre standouts. And if they aren’t in that category, then they’re no strangers to brutal matches a la Gargano and Ciampa in NXT. I’d personally like to see Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley regain the championships, but I feel like it would be smart to capitalize on the AAA association and crown Andrade and Fenix as champions to capitalize on that market and build it out. That is kind of the point of the acquisition. They probably wouldn’t otherwise be my top choice. MCMG or the Street Profits do the most for the division at this point from a champion perspective. I think MCMG regain, but I’m not going to be surprised if Andrade and Fenix go home with the championships. Prediction: Motor City Machine Guns, with a solid possibility of Andrade and Fenix.

Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles – Intercontinental championship: It’s been quite some time since Styles held singles gold, and I’m not sure the drought ends here. With Mysterio set to contest the AAA Mega Championship mid-August at Triplemania, and with it reportedly being strongly considered for Dom to claim the championship, given the run he’s on and how central he is to programming I think it serves him, his future and the prestige of the AAA world title to have it featured with someone who shares the heritage, is a prominent champion in WWE and is frequently on television. As a longtime Styles fan I’d love to see him get back into champion level status, but Mysterio winning just makes too much sense. In-ring this will be one of the better pure matches we’re going to get this weekend. Between Mysterio’s evolving skills and Styles’ pedigree I’d expect a great match from these with honest potential to steal the night. If he does lose, hopefully Styles gets back into world title contention in the near future; he deserves one last run. Prediction: Dominik Mysterio

Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu – Steel Cage for US championship: Standard Bloodline brawl in-bound. There will be violence, and there will be interference regardless of this being a cage match. With the two branches of the story being separated currently it’s tough to guess what the plan is for these two long term. Fatu being at odds with the Solo, JC and GoD can only go for so long, so I would assume he will regain the U.S. title at some point. I’d have to lean more toward a Sikoa retention. Right now there’s been no indication Fatu will get help, and I don’t know that they’re ready to go all in on Fatu as a midcard monster on the rise to the degree he would be taking out Sikoa and his entire crew. It just seems far fetched right now, and as we head into War Games season it’s far more likely we see some combination of the OG Bloodline, Sikoa’s crew, Breakker, Reed and Fatu feuding into Survivor Series. I think Sikoa holds the title a little longer unless they’re ready to really push Fatu as the upper midcard and eventual main event monster he can be. Prediction: Solo Sikoa retains, with a strong preference for Jacob Fatu to regain

Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria – Women’s IC championship: Over the last few years Lynch’s title runs tend to have an arc. Lynch picks up titles, has a short reign, with the purpose being to put over other talent. For example, her most recent world title run saw her pick up the world title following Rhea Ripley’s injury last year, only to drop the championship to Liv Morgan 33 days later. Another example goes back to her NXT run where she beat Tiffany Stratton only to drop the NXT title 42 days to Lyra Valkyria. The two have history and I feel like the entire feud has been angling to this moment where I’d expect Lynch to once again put over Valkyria to conclude her 50+ day reign. I think there are possible ways to extend this feud, for example using Bayley to turn on Valkyria and side with Lynch, but I don’t think that makes much sense. Realistically the logic is just flawed. This could go on, but I think Lyra regains her championship from “The Man,” although I think they feud a little longer with Lynch again losing to Valkyria to conclude what is turning into the challenger’s first real noteworthy main roster feud. Prediction: Lyra Valkyria 

Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky – Women’s World Championship: Firstly I’d expect these ladies to deliver in spades, but I also think Naomi retains. It’s too early to pull the plug on her run, and I think she’s done too great of a job redefining herself on her return run with WWE to end her reign so quickly. I think this version of her has some potential without the hokeyness of her Glow character. This edge has done her good. I feel like this triple threat is a statement match for Naomi against credible competition who are past champions at the height of their popularity on WWE television. That notwithstanding this should be a showcase of Naomi against the most recent titleholders, and she should show out against them and move on to her next challenger. Prediction: Naomi

John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes – WWE Championship: Who knows. This will be one of those “I’ll type until I figure it out situations.” In my mind Cena holds the title until the last possible moment this year. I think we need to see him actually threaten to leave with the championship, with the history of the entire company slung over his shoulder. That’s a hook on its own for the year, and I don’t think Rhodes reclaiming the championship right now is the best choice on paper. When I think of all the scenarios we can see play out, I don’t see Rhodes ending the threat now. I imagine he comes in with the white hat to regain it at midnight, New Year’s Eve, last possible second. I think that threat is captivating. Obviously Cena probably won’t actually work until Dec. 31, but you know what I mean. The point is his career is over at the stroke of midnight as we head into 2026. And if we’re 100% leaning into that heel persona, it doesn’t make sense to pull the plug on that threat right now and suddenly have him chase again; when he loses that should be it. The captivation is in the threat. I’ve also seen some people online talking about now being the time Rhodes sells himself out to Rock, pulling a double turn of sorts’ Suddenly Cody has regained his title, sides with Rock after seeing the error of his ways, and now Cena is left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of his own decisions. There might be some value there, but I think the timing is still off, and you can probably do this exact scenario in three to four months if you actually wanted to. I still believe there’s some value in heel Cena, and I don’t think now is the time. That being said, the other piece of this we need to consider is who is left for Cena to match up with? We’ve seen some reports about Gunther, and I think win or lose Rhodes stays in Cena’s orbit until Dec. 31. Pitting Cena and Reigns together doesn’t feel imminent, although that could change and would tie back to the Rock ‘n Scott connection. There just aren’t that many really good options left, which leads me to think Cena’s contenders are really going to be paced out between this weekend and December. We could maybe see AJ Styles, but that’s in the same vein as his matches with Punk and Orton — they’re all more so goodbyes than really solid story-driven points of interest. OK, I think I’ve talked myself out of Rhodes winning. I just don’t think it makes sense right now, but since WWE Creative is playing high level chess with Cena’s run, who knows. I just think there are too many options short and long term on the table that make sense, that allow you to still revisit Cody in a few months, that Rhodes winning now is not likely. Prediction: John Cena retains

Agree or disagree? Agree to disagree? Let me know what you think, because we still have a couple of days to talk about everything that could go down at SummerSlam 2025.