MR. TITO: 10 Things I Think for WWE SummerSlam 2024 Weekend

Folks, it’s freakin’ WWE SUMMERSLAM weekend! I thought about making a LIVE appearance at the Cleveland venue, as it’s several hours away from me… But then I thought, like Danny Glover from those Lethal Weapon films, “I’m getting too old for this sh**”. Parking is a bit tricky around Cleveland Stadium and I kinda don’t want to do long highway driving really late into the night. However, how many times will a SummerSlam or Wrestlemania event get this close?

But I love me some SummerSlam… After Sting vs. Flair from NWA/WCW Clash of the Champions 1 inspired me to become a full-blown wrestling fan, I soon rented a copy of WWE SummerSlam 1988. That show BLEW MY MIND! On that very show was the first time I ever witnessed the Ultimate Warrior, ever, and to see him beat up an Elvis Presley looking guy named Honky Tonk Man and become Intercontinental Champion was one of the wildest things I ever saw.

Then, just seeing all of those awesome wrestlers and characters that made the Hulkamania era so fun like British Bulldogs, Rick Rude, Demolition, Hart Foundation, Big Bossman, Jake Roberts, and many others. Then, that main event… First time I’ve ever seen Miss Elizabeth and Macho Man Randy Savage, as I’ve seen stuff in pop culture with Hulk Hogan and Andre “the Giant”. Those red panties… Ohhhhhhh yeah, that was an easy moment, along with Madonna, Vanna White, and Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issues where my younger self easily declared “yeah, I like women”.

I could seriously argue that SummerSlam is as good or sometimes better than Wrestlemania. Look at some of the amazing matches and overall events. Bret Hart’s BEST moments and matches were from that show, period. Mr. Perfect, British Bulldog, Owen Hart in the cage, and Undertaker matches were all there. SummerSlam 1998 only made the WWE bigger with Rock vs. Triple H and Undertaker vs. Austin. Give me SummerSlam 2002 and 2013 all freakin’ day long. Workrate for both shows were ridiculous.

Usually, SummerSlam acted as a “Wrestlemania Part Deux” or it would act as a clearing house to resolve any storylines that formulated during the late Spring and Summer. Then, after SummerSlam, that kicks off the build up towards Royal Rumble to build up who may actually win that and so on. Sometimes, WWE in the late Spring and throughout the Summer is a bit sluggish as the WWE knows much of its fanbase are on vacation and the younger audience is no longer on a school schedule. However, SummerSlam seems to clear the decks for WWE RAW and Smackdown to ramp up their shows a tad and begin to figure out who will be the top competitors for next year’s Wrestlemania build-up.

I already provided my SummerSlam 2024 predictions in last week’s Ask Tito column, but in case you missed it, I went:

– Gunther defeats Damien Priest cleanly
– Bayley defeats Nia Jax due to Tiffany Stratton MITB creating distraction for Nia
– Liv Morgan defeats Rhea Ripley, with Dominik turning on Rhea
– Logan Paul retains against LA Knight
– Bron Breakker defeats Sami Zayn
– Drew McIntyre defeats CM Punk
– Cody Rhodes defeats Solo when Roman Reigns returns

Looks like a fun card with more storyline drama being more of a headline, for me, than match quality.

In the past, I was a big fan of Sports Illustrated’s Peter King and I enjoyed using his “10 Things I Think” format for columns during the 2000s. Funny thing is that other columnists stole this format and took it as their own, which caused me to abandon it… But what the hell, I’ll bring it back to prove more in-depth thoughts about SummerSlam weekend. Sound like a plan?

10 Things I Think About SummerSlam Weekend

#1 – Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley may be “match of the night”. I was NEVER a huge fan of Liv Morgan before, as I considered her an internet darling and I was more of an Alexa Bliss kind of guy. I felt that Liv was the K-Mart version of the Bliss, in fact… BUT, that said, Alexa’s character never pushed sexuality with her character as Liv has for the past few months. And Liv is NAILING IT! She’s giving off that aura now with this angle and I’ll be honest, it makes her feel more attractive and appealing with the personality that has finally come out her shell. This match has such a great storyline backing that I’m very curious to see its outcome and how it is pulled off. I figure Dominik will turn on Rhea and join Liv, but the question is HOW will that happen? Call me crazy, but if Dominik took the Women’s Title and whacked Rhea in the face with it to help Liv win, that entire Cleveland stadium would seriously riot!

#2 – I hate when wrestling fans declare that a wrestler “needs a win”, but Drew McIntyre “needs the win”. While Drew McIntyre is having a great year, he’s having it because he’s against CM Punk. What I fear is that once Punk disposes of him, he’ll revert back to 2021-2023 Drew McIntyre which is a reliable hand but still unsure of himself as a character. CM Punk is polarizing and thus attacking the half that likes him is easy bait to get heat. The real question is what Drew does after the CM Punk feud. In my opinion, I’d milk this feud into the ground which is why I’d definitely have Drew win at SummerSlam. For one, test how humble CM Punk is as, ya know, he got fired from another promotion less than a year ago while quitting and then badmouthing the WWE during 2014. But two, Drew needs the win here to solidify his new character and keep that momentum going. If he loses at SummerSlam, it’s over… He needs to keep working with Punk to further gain confidence in his new character.

#3 – Good luck in Cleveland, WWE fans in attendance for SummerSlam. Sorry, but Cleveland Stadium is pinned against Lake Erie and ahead of it are plenty of streets and parts of the city. Parking and then getting out of there is a mess without any events happening in that stadium (such as going to the Science Center or Rock N Roll Hall of Fame) let alone for an event or game in that stadium. Then, once you’ve escaped a parking lot or garage, good luck getting out of Cleveland itself. It’s just another one of those cities, and Pittsburgh is very similar, that ran out of room to grow or build roads. Between that and possibility of rain, I’ll be enjoying SummerSlam from the comforts of my home instead.

#4 – I don’t think Logan Paul will be punished about his Olympic boxing comments. He made a comment about Imane Khelif from Algeria boxing in the women’s competition as it being “sickening” and a “travesty”. Like many others, Logan Paul assumed Imane was a transgender female (or biological male) fighting against biological females. Imane, at birth, was registered as a female likely due to the obvious appearance of female body parts. There may be a chance that she has both parts and there was speculation that her DNA test has XY chromosomes, but that hasn’t been fully verified. This is a different case than say transgender swimmer Lia Thomas who competed as a NCAA swimmer as both a male and then the next year as a female. Paul realized his mistake, deleted the original posts, and then posted an apology.

I don’t know… I think the apology is enough and WWE likes Logan’s company, Prime, giving the WWE more of its money. Even if LA Knight wins, it’s more of a push for Knight than it is a demotion of Logan Paul. WWE and primarily Triple H loves Logan Paul and will continue to feature him prominently on WWE programming.

#5 – It’s too early to give Solo Sikoa the WWE Title. According to Cagematch, Solo is 9-28-1 for his matches during 2024… Sure, a portion of that was on houseshows, but still, that he doesn’t have that many trademark wins other than his win over John Cena at Saudi Arabia last year and doesn’t a streak of wins either. Now, Solo could steal the title with the help of his Bloodline and that could work in a storyline fashion, but he’d still be a very weak champion. Maybe it is too early to push Solo towards the title, but I figure that once Roman Reigns returns, Roman will wrestle Solo for much of the Fall months to build him up much as he’s repeatedly done for Jey Uso as an opponent.

#6 – Disagree with Eric Bischoff on saying “massive mistake if Roman Reigns returns at SummerSlam”. I understand where Eric is coming from, as milking Roman’s return could allow it to get bigger and bigger. But Roman’s return for revenge needs to be sooner give how the NEW Bloodline attacked Paul Heyman. If my best friend and advocate was brutally assaulted, I’d be on the next plane to murder the guys who did it! The further that Roman waits to return, the more ridiculous he looks as a friend of Paul’s.

But I think the WWE needs Roman Reigns back. Sorry, but taking 4 months off is excessive. And I’m the one being 100% OK with Roman not wrestling that often. Sure, save it for the Pay Per Views… Going radio silent for 4 months after being the dominant champion for the past 3-4 years, come on. Unless WWE still has concerns about his health, he’s under contract and everyone can draw more money when he’s around.

In my mind, if Cody vs. Solo is the main event, Roman is returning. The fact that the match became “Bloodline Rules” tells me that Roman is returning to save Cody from a massive beatdown by Solo, the Haku brothers, and Jacob Fatu.

#7 – I would be OK if Tiffany Stratton cashed in the MITB briefcase and won. I know it’s early for her, but Tiffany Stratton is exceptional and is ready for prime time. Obviously, she’s beautiful and looks the part, but others in the WWE do as well. The in-ring talent is there for Tiffany and she’s very unique with her moveset. The charisma is off the charts, as is her personality. I know that I have a history of ripping wrestling promotions for pushing someone too fast, but Tiffany is exceptional and has learned this business quickly like a Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar. If it happens, I’ll be OK with it because she can back up that heat with the total package of a wrestler that she somehow is at this early stage of her career.

#8 – If Bron Breakker draws with the IC Title, he’ll be there for Wrestlemania against Gunther. I predict Gunther becomes WHC and Bron wins IC Title. If Bron does well as champion, I could seriously see Bron vs. Gunther at Wrestlemania 41 and the WWE not needing Brock Lesnar to return.

#9 – Where is Jey Uso? Seems odd that he was left off of SummerSlam as a healthy scratch. Maybe get your dad to be quiet about his opinions on WWE storylines involving his son? Rikishi may have put Jey in the doghouse temporarily, but maybe WWE is holding off on Jey so that when Roman Reigns returns and he needs old friends, both Jey and Jimmy are ready.

#10 – Other things that I think during SummerSlam 2024 weekend:

– Always seems like there is some kind of drama going on around Britt Baker in AEW. Something is off there or the backstage environment is just toxic and not a good place for her.

– I hope Matt and Jeff Hardy sign WWE deals and work as a veteran tag team on the new NXT show in the CW Network.

– Funny that Michael Cole is now saying that Vince McMahon said “inappropriate” things to him now, but didn’t raise his voice when Vince McMahon was actually saying it. Goes to show you how much power the wealth have in the workforce, as they hate to be challenged by anyone beneath them.

– WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump’s bad RNC speech and selecting J.D. Vance appears to eliminated a potential for a landslide. Now, momentum is on Kamala Harris’s side especially if she lands a quality Vice President (Josh Shapiro or Andy Beshear, I suspect). Dems still get primetime spots for their convention, too. The wildcard may be the economy, as years of inflation erosion and now higher interest rates may have finally taken their toll. Softer jobs report for July with job openings declining and jobless claims rising. However, bringing up Hannibal Lecter often and JD Vance’s weird quotes may overshadow economic concerns, particularly with younger voters and women.

– I watched the Lou Pearlman (guy who created Backstreet Boys and N’Sync) documentary on Netflix and I began laughing when I saw Hulk Hogan at different events of Lou’s. It appears that Hulk Hogan poured money into Lou’s enterprise to make his daughter, Brooke Hogan, to become a pop star. Oops, ya missed on that one, Hulkster. Lou was later convicted of running a Ponzi scheme. The company that you keep often defines who you really are. Hogan was close with Vince McMahon and Donald Trump, while being financially associated with Lou Pearlman for his daughter’s career and Peter Thiel to fund his Gawker lawsuit. Just odd…

– The “Exclusive Window” for AEW to negotiate a new deal with Warner Bros. Discover has ended and still without a deal. What this means is that AEW is free to negotiate with anyone, but as I’ve said before, there really isn’t anyone. Comcast/NBC/Universal has WWE, Netflix has WWE, CW has WWE, FOX didn’t want Smackdown so why would they want AEW?, Paramount+ is in the process of being bought, Disney has way too much debt, Amazon is all-in with the NBA and NFL, and Apple TV is scaling back. Good luck, Tony!

Enjoy SummerSlam weekend!

CLICK HERE for the Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ