With SummerSlam on Saturday, Gambling picks are out even before SmackDown! Anyone losing any money this year?

The biggest event of the summer is coming this Saturday night! That’s right, WWE is holding a PPV event on Saturday instead of Sunday. If I wasn’t working Saturday night I’d be more excited about it. On the bright side, I’ll be making money.

You can make some money too if you make the right picks! As usual, odds are provided by BetOnline, will fluctuate between the moment I write this, the moment it gets posted, and the moment the show starts. And, as always, they’re for entertainment purposes only.

Alexa Bliss (-470) vs. Eva Marie (+295)

Tough night for @DoudropWWE on #WWERaw……@AlexaBliss_WWE@natalieevamarie pic.twitter.com/tiyuVNDn6Q

— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2021

The crowds want to love Alexa & hate Eva, so this really should be a feud that at least gets a ton of heat even if the in-ring isn’t up to snuff. Unfortunately, all this goofy stuff involving Alexa’s character kills any interest I could possibly have in it. I know there are some people out there really into it for whatever reason, but they’re not writing this article.

I’d assume the woman with supernatural powers wins this one. Eva Marie has some powers, but I wouldn’t classify them as supernatural. Most likely scenario involves Doudrop coming in to take the fall. No reason to throw money at this.

Drew McIntyre (-600) vs. Jinder Mahal (+350)

.@DMcIntyreWWE conducted a survey, and the results don't look great for @JinderMahal at #SummerSlam! pic.twitter.com/nIdyJDrRJE

— WWE (@WWE) August 19, 2021

This match is all about a sword. Jinder tried to destroy Drew’s sword, named after Drew’s mother. Turns out it was a replica. Now, thanks to beatting Veer & Shanky in a handicap match, Drew can bring his sword to this match while Jinder’s friends aren’t allowed to be at ringside. The Modern Day Maharaja certainly has the deck stacked against him here.

I’d really like to come up with a reason Jinder will win here. I got nothing. Another match to stay away from.

Edge (-300) vs. Seth Rollins (+200)

7 years in the making. Edge. Rollins. Finally. #SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/4sejc7a6rV

— Adam (Edge) Copeland (@EdgeRatedR) August 17, 2021

Yep, some history here! You might remember back when Edge was crippled and would never wrestle again. So was Christian, so they hosted a talk show where Seth Rollins & Big Show attacked them. Should have seen it coming, the only thing talk show hosts ever do in WWE is get attacked by their guests. Seth threatened to stomp Edge and break his neck so John Cena would be compelled to re-instate The Authority as the bosses of WWE. No, I don’t know how John Cena had a say over such matters. What I do know is that Edge hasn’t forgotten about this, and is out for revenge. It’s widely expected he’ll win, since he’s Edge.

I’m leaning Seth Rollins, though. Rollins is in the prime of his career, and could use a big win over a name like Edge to keep from slipping into fancy-suited irrelevance. Rollins somehow cheating Edge out of a win would turn him from “Edge Lite” to “Edge Select”.

United States Championship Match
Sheamus (+165) vs. Damian Priest (-240)

..pointing at YOU @ArcherOfInfamy nothin’ but a bleedin’ thief!! i’ll show ya how to brogue at #SummerSlam pic.twitter.com/8OgpEVOCup

— Sheamus (@WWESheamus) August 17, 2021

I can never keep track of whether it’s “Damian” or “Damien”, and the online bookies can’t either. I do know that WWE brass seems to like him, and giving him big victories at PPV events seems to make sense. Sheamus is a well-established star who will stay at the same level no matter what, Priest winning would raise his profile. So there’s a good reason Damian Priest is the favorite here, and while one can never rule out extending this chase another month, Las Vegas seems like the right place to make the title change.

Raw Tag Team Championship Match
AJ Styles & Omos (+155) vs. Randy Orton & Riddle (-220)

"Kid, you've earned my respect."

It really happened!🛴🐍 #RKBro #WWERaw @RandyOrton @SuperKingofBros pic.twitter.com/CuPTfWJUEW

— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2021

Orton & Riddle’s Odd Couple partnership has gotten a lot of time on Raw, and the crowd seems into it. Randy seems to have finally accepted Riddle as an acceptablee tag team partner, and the two will go after the tag team titles at SummerSlam. Their defeating AJ & Omos would pump the crowd up & make everybody excited.

So why are AJ Styles & Omos the smart pick here? Because you can’t trust Randy Orton! It’s only a matter of time before he takes this Riddle kid out, the only question is if they’ll win the tag team titles before he does it. Saying “no” is the more lucrative option.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
The Usos (-450) vs. The Mysterios (+275)

Which family will take home the gold at #SummerSlam: The Mysterios OR The Usos? @reymysterio @DomMysterio35 @WWEUsos #SmackDown #TagTeamTitles #SummerSlamSunday pic.twitter.com/FalAqca4sk

— WWE India (@WWEIndia) August 19, 2021

Like most of the Usos’ title matches on PPV events, this should be a pretty darn good match. We’ve seen it a few times now, these guys have had plenty of practice with each other. Obviously you’re not going to make much money off of an Usos win, but a Mysterios win could do pretty well. Luckily, there’s plenty of evidence from the past that picking Rey Mysterio to win at a PPV is a good idea. Rey & Dominik coming out on top in front of a stadium crowd would be good stuff, and a cherry on top of Rey’s historic career.

Not that I’m saying Rey’s anywhere near retirement, he’s only 46. That’s very young in pro wrestling these days, anywhere you look!

Raw Women’s Championship Match
Nikki A.S.H. (-125) vs. Charlotte Flair (+150) vs. Rhea Ripley (+250)

.@MsCharlotteWWE is 4-0 at #SummerSlam, but can she extend her streak this Saturday? pic.twitter.com/jCTCTryz2l

— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2021

Recently I re-watched SummerSlam 1995 for a podcast with Blake Lovell. One of the more interesting matches on the card for me pitted Bodydonna Skip (w/Bodydonna Sunny) against the legendary Barry Horowitz. Horowitz had spent much of his time in the WWF losing on syndicated television to established stars. When he finally broke through with a win over an over-confident Skip, it was a big moment. Horowitz picked up a few more wins to the delight of the crowd, including at SummerSlam in another match with Skip. It worked because Horowitz was a compelling underdog that the fans had seen go through tough times. Also, it’s not like they had Horowitz jump up into title matches. His first win wasn’t for the Intercontinental Championship. His place on the card was believable given his status as a wrestler that lost more often than he won.

While re-living this issue from my childhood, I noticed that the way WWF built Horowitz is the same way they build a lot of their babyfaces now. WWE portrays many of their likeable characters as folks that are lucky to get wins on a regular basis and are often full of self-doubt, intended to make the fans sympathize with them. Nikki Cross was a character with self-worth issues, then she decided she wanted to be a superhero. She isn’t one yet, but she’s almost one, hence the A.S.H. addition to her name. She keeps losing matches in ways intended to make us feel sympathy for her and hope she becomes a superhero.

Which would be fine, if she wasn’t already the Raw Women’s Champion. So for the past few weeks building this match we’ve seen Nikki and her challengers face off in different permutations. Nikki beat Charlotte Flair for the championship on Raw, then lost to her the next week in a non-title match, then beat her in a non-title match. Then Nikki beat Rhea Ripley one week, lost to her the next week, then tagged with Rhea to lose to Charlotte & Nia Jax on the same night they had a singles match. This doesn’t serve to make Nikki a sympathetic underdog as much as it serves to make one wonder what the heck is going on and if there’s more than three women in the division.

I think Nikki A.S.H. ends up going over here in an attempt to get that shocked crowd pop. It probably won’t happen since we’ve see her win the championship and beat these two already.

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match
Bianca Belair (-220) vs. Sasha Banks (+155)

Yummy pic.twitter.com/4MTWpxTe3w

— Mercedes Varnado (@SashaBanksWWE) August 14, 2021

Meanwhile, over on SmackDown you’ve got two stars facing off for their championship. You know, something that makes sense and isn’t confusing. It’s not a match we’ve seen several times in the past month, in fact, unless you went to a recent house show you haven’t seen this match since WrestleMania. It’s something the fans need to see.

The fact that it’s this close tells you how highly people think of Banks. People tell me that Bianca’s win is a foregone conclusion, but I’m not so sure of that. It’s not like there are a ton of other compelling challengers for Bianca at the moment, and making this thing a trilogy with the blowoff at another major event would seem to make sense. I’ll roll the dice and take Sasha Banks.

WWE Championship Match
Bobby Lashley (-600) vs. Goldberg (+350)

"YOU'RE the reason why I came out of retirement."@Goldberg #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/RU4CbbumcB

— WWE (@WWE) August 17, 2021

Poor kid. He’s going to be the reason his father gets smashed into a million pieces. Who wants that on their conscience?

Universal Championship Match
Roman Reigns (-500) vs. John Cena (+300)

1️⃣7️⃣❓#SummerSlam #UniversalTitle #TeamCena #TeamRoman @JohnCena @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/7mKvkkfzTS

— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2021

It’s been nice to see the Head of the Table going back & forth with somebody that seemed like they had a chance in hell of taking the Universal Championship off of him. For months we’ve seen random geeks get title matches on these shows, and now we’re getting the return of JOHN CENA. You gotta like that. I have to admit one thing though…up until this week, I saw this as much of a foregone conclusion for Roman as the previous months have been.

Until WWE helpfully reminded me that John Cena is sitting on sixteen world championship reigns. Then I remembered that the other guy officially recognized with sixteen world championship reigns recently left the company, and will probably be on TNT pretty soon. It would be very WWE to have John Cena break that tie to try and put one over on the Naitch. Which I doubt it would, Flair claims to be a twenty-four time world champion or somewhere in that neighborhood.

I think we have to thank the Naitch for helping create some doubt in our minds here. Roman Reigns is still going over.

But wait, there’s one more!

Will Big E Cash In The MITB Contract?
Yes (+175) vs. No (-250)

Come on now. Dude doesn’t even have possession of the briefcase! There are better odds that Baron Corbin will have pawned that thing by Friday. Which, frankly, I’d be in favor of because the briefcase gimmick has been run into the ground. Corbin should get some money for it and get his family out of his wife’s parents’ basement.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy SummerSlam!