WWE SummerSlam 2024 Predictions: Wrestling Inc. Picks The Winners

Aside from WrestleMania, there's only one premium live event that commands the top tier of WWE prestige and pageantry: SummerSlam, which takes place this year in Cleveland, Ohio, and the stadium the Browns call home. While WWE PLEs have maxed out at five matches per card of late, this one has pushed that to seven, with all six main roster singles titles on the line and a months-in-the-making grudge match featuring three of the promotion's most prominent names. In other words, it's by far the biggest party of the summer.

Here at Wrestlinc Inc., a seven-match card couldn't possibly come at a better time, just because we can't go 3-2 again. That's been our collective record for the last two big weekend shows (WWE Money in the Bank and "WWE NXT" Heatwave) and it's by far our worst two-event run so far in 2024, pushing our overall record for the year to 77-13-4, barely clinging to 84%. That's not the worst, but we had gotten accustomed to a certain standard, and these results are unacceptable! As such, we have a lot riding on SummerSlam — and it's not the most predictable card in the world. But we're confident we know how it's all going to go down.

With that, let's get to the picks!

In a match that seems to have everyone talking for a variety of reasons, both good and bad, a solid 69% of our punditry panel sees Drew McIntyre attaining some measure of comeuppance after being screwed over by CM Punk time and time again since Punk's triceps injury at McIntyre's hands at the Royal Rumble in January. The inclusion of Seth "Freakin'" Rollins as special guest referee is the most likely factor to have influenced our sway toward McIntyre, as surely this was done not only to give Rollins something to do at a SummerSlam in which he had no other involvement. These three will be feuding for quite some time, in all different incarnations, whether you like it or not.

The build to this match, without Rollins, is all about Punk getting one over on McIntyre at WrestleMania, at Clash at the Castle, at Money in the Bank, and making him look stupid over and over again in between. McIntyre's theft of Punk's cute little friendship-type bracelet thingy, adorned with "AJ" and "Larry" in tribute to his wife and his dog, has heightened the animosity. Adding Rollins to the mix actually simplifies things from a story perspective and can now be summarized as, "I hate you." "I hate you too." "I hate him more." "I, as referee, am going to somehow screw you both, all whilst wearing a truly bizarre outfit."

Ultimately, it's likely to play out with Rollins slow-counting both combatants probably more than once, Referee Rollins' willful ignorance of the rulebook in general (as foretold by his utterance of "I might count to three. I might count to 10. I might count to 100!"), physicality toward said special guest referee from both McIntyre and Punk, and everyone continuing to hate everyone after the fact as we cruise toward the Punk/Rollins WrestleMania match that we were supposed to get last time around. That most likely means a McIntyre win here, Punk getting one back later (perhaps at Bad Blood?), McIntyre vs. Rollins (again) somewhere along the line, a three-way, and a partridge in a pear tree before it's all said and done.

Written by Jon Jordan

LA Knight has been a perennial challenger in WWE, coming close to such titles as the Universal Championship in his meteoric rise through WWE's rankings. The former Million Dollar Champion has yet to win gold on the main roster, but the Wrestling Inc. staff thinks his luck will turn around at SummerSlam.

A hefty 75% of the staff believes it is Knight's time to shine. Logan Paul has been the United States Champion since November and his reign has not inspired much confidence. Mainly defending the title on the main shows, the longer Paul's reign goes, the clearer it is that the YouTuber-turned-WWE Superstar is losing steam. There appears to be a ceiling for a multi-hypenate like Paul, who has one foot in wrestling and one foot in ... well ... everything else. For a title like the United States title, it is time for the midcard stars of "SmackDown" to finally have a proper champion who sticks around to defend it.

Knight has already won the praises of fans and even the management at Slim Jim, who appear to be very happy with their current spiced beef spokesperson, it's time for WWE to see what fans and Slim Jim have already come to know, Knight is ready for WWE gold.

Written by Ross Berman

Bron Breakker will be getting his second bite of the cherry during WWE SummerSlam 2023 as he faces Sami Zayn in a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship.

The pair clashed for the title at Money in the Bank in July, with Zayn retaining his title after 13 minutes, proving to be the first competitor able to keep Breakker down for the count since his "WWE Raw" call-up. However, the poll put to our Wrestling Inc. team ahead of this weekend's rematch reflects a belief that Breakker finally claims the gold, with a unanimous 100% vote backing him to dethrone Zayn in Cleveland. SummerSlam's title challenge has make-or-break energy for the former NXT Champion, having run roughshod over the Intercontinental title picture in recent weeks a second consecutive defeat to Zayn feels out of the question, and if that were to be the happenstance, leaves questions over where he could go but next. That line of thinking coincides with his position as the blue-chip prospect on the brand too; it's hard to invest in the next big thing when they miss both opportunities to go big.

Zayn has also had a lengthy title reign since ending GUNTHER's record-setting run at WrestleMania, dispatching of the likes of Bronson Reed and Chad Gable before Breakker entered his orbit. Since then, Breakker has run through both Sheamus and Ilja Dragunov to settle himself as the one-and-only worthy challenger to the title. So it could further the void between the champion and his pool of challengers should he once again overcome Breakker. All in all, the feeling is this weekend is the optimal time for new shoulders to bear the weight as champion.

Written by Max Everett

We here at Wrestling Inc. are completely split on who will walk out of Cleveland as the WWE Women's Champion, and for good reason as there are a multitude of different reasons as to why both Bayley and Nia Jax could potentially leave victorious.

Bayley got her big moment back at WrestleMania 40 defeating IYO SKY, and has since gotten the better of the likes of Naomi, Piper Niven, and Tiffany Stratton. However, it's fair to say that her run as the WWE Women's Champion hasn't exactly lit the world on fire. That's through no fault of Bayley of course, but considering that she has held the title for nearly four months at the time of writing and doesn't really have much to show for it has got some of us thinking that she needs a little more time as champion to truly have a great reign.

On the other hand, Nia Jax has been one of the most improved performers in all of wrestling over the past year, and her Queen of the Ring tournament win in May felt thoroughly deserved. She has been heavily featured on "WWE SmackDown" since the win and many people think that in order to solidify both Jax as a credible threat, and the Queen of the Ring tournament as a viable way for WWE stars to get to the top, she should be the one to leave WWE SummerSlam as the WWE Women's Champion.

Add in the unpredictability of Jax's good friend Tiffany Stratton and her Money in the Bank briefcase, and you have a recipe for one of the most unpredictable matches WWE has booked all year, to the point that we have no idea which way it will go.

Written by Sam Palmer

World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest has been a champion hounded by challengers. His feud with Drew McIntyre was seemingly more about CM Punk, and as we head into SummerSlam, it appears that Priest's match against GUNTHER is the first time the World Heavyweight Champion won't be looking over his shoulder to make sure he doesn't have to deal with McIntyre, Punk, or former champion Seth Rollins. Unfortunately, Priest is heading into the summer's biggest event as the underdog, as three quarters of the Wrestling Inc. staff think that it will be GUNTHER's time to shine.

GUNTHER has felt like a made man since his days as WALTER on "WWE NXT UK." The longest-reigning WWE NXT UK Champion and the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion, GUNTHER has the resume of a future world champion. Meanwhile, The Judgment Day is a faction currently pulled in multiple directions, and the champion might not have the numbers advantage that he's had in previous instances — assuming Finn Balor and JD McDonagh aren't about to turn on him entirely. GUNTHER feels like one of Paul Levesque's hand-picked projects; unless something goes horribly wrong for "The Ring General," 75% of the staff are certain that it is GUNTHER's moment.

Written by Ross Berman

With 88% of the vote, the Wrestling Inc. staff thinks it's very likely that Liv Morgan will retain her Women's World Championship against Rhea Ripley at "The Biggest Part of the Summer".

Morgan and Ripley have been playing mind games with each other for months now, and it seems unlikely that there wouldn't be one final twist in the storyline. With The Judgment Day inevitably set to be breaking up sometime in the near future with the rising tensions in the group as the weeks go on, most of us are guessing that Dominik Mysterio will trn against Ripley and help Morgan retain the Women's World Championship, using that as the catalyst for The Judgment Day's split.

Dominik was very quick to distance himself from Morgan and tell her that he never had any interest in Ripley, acting as though he never enjoyed any of the moments he had shared with Morgan prior to Ripley's return to television. Morgan had previously been shown on WWE social media to be smiling after retreating when Ripley returned despite initially acting scared, and has made it clear that she has a grand plan for the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour. It would be nonsensical to not have Dominik help Morgan retain her title, and there would be no reason not to do it.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

It's been just under four months since Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, and WWE SummerSlam will see "The American Nightmare" defend the title against another member of The Bloodline for the first time — Solo Sikoa. 88% of the Wrestling Inc. team thinks that Rhodes will walk out of the event still holding the title.

The current era of WWE is built around long-term booking, and tonight is not the right time nor is Sikoa the right opponent to dethrone Rhodes. The champion has too much left to accomplish, and too much unfinished business, to drop the title at SummerSlam. Before departing in April, The Rock made it clear to Rhodes that they will get in the ring together again, and a singles match between the two feels inevitable. If any member of the Anoa'i family is poised to take the title from Rhodes, it's him.

While Sikoa has been presented as a big deal since Reigns and The Rock stepped back over the last few months, the younger brother of Jimmy and Jey Uso has yet to fully prove himself as a threat. Hopefully, tonight's match will help further establish Sikoa's credibility, but the majority of our staff believes Rhodes will be able to overcome whatever the latest version of The Bloodline has to throw at him. Though he'll be outnumbered, expect Rhodes to retain barring some seriously unforeseen interference.

Written by Nick Miller