WWE SummerSlam card plans in flux amid ongoing rumors

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Will Sami Zayn make it to SummerSlam as WWE champion? Let’s see if the originally planned card for the event sheds any light on the matter in today’s rumors! Top rumor of the day: WWE’s original plan for the SummerSlam card The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter lists the key matches on WWE’s original card for this year’s SummerSlam PLE. This was said to be WWE’s plan prior to Rhea Ripley’s injury on the European tour. The top men’s matches were listed as Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk for the WWE championship, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for the world heavyweight championship, and Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar inside Hell in a Cell. On the women’s side, the plan was to book Charlotte Flair vs. Jade Cargill, WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley against either Jacy Jayne or Alexa Bliss, and Liv Morgan vs. IYO Sky for the women’s world championship. This implies that Ripley’s injury did not change plans for the ending of the Queen of the Ring tournament. Some of the other originally planned SummerSlam matches included GUNTHER vs. Royce Keys, Fatal Influence vs. Paige and Brie Bella for the WWE women’s tag team championship, and United States Champion Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes. Most of these matches still seem to be planned for SummerSlam, with the glaring exception of GUNTHER, who is now headed to a match against Nick Aldis. The women’s tag team title match has been announced for Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 18. And of course, there is a lot of uncertainty about Ripley’s status for SummerSlam due to her injury. It’s worth noting that current WWE Champion Sami Zayn was not listed for a key SummerSlam match on this original card, and there is still a clear path to booking Rhodes vs. Punk for the WWE title at SummerSlam based on what happens next week (July 6) on Raw in Chicago. If Rhodes does indeed win back the championship to end Zayn’s reign in less than 10 days, it probably means that WWE only put the belt on Sami in Saudi Arabia to give him a “you deserve it” moment. The rest of the rumors! False Finish claims that “The current Bloodline story is expected to extend past WrestleMania 43” in Saudi Arabia. On a potentially related note, F4WOnline’s Dave Meltzer notes that Zilla Fatu is “expected to start soon” in WWE. It sounds like he will begin working in NXT before joining The Bloodline angle. The Observer said WWE’s plan for Oba Femi was always “to win King of the Ring but turn down his title shot at Reigns for a match with Lesnar.” The goal is to “create Reigns vs. Femi as the biggest match possible,” which could mean saving it for WrestleMania. Meltzer was told that ESPN “are definitely not silent partners” in their relationship with WWE, and “are always coming up with ideas.” PW Insider confirmed that El Hijo del Vikingo suffered a knee injury this week. WWE sources say they are “awaiting MRI results to learn the severity of the issue.” Insider also mentioned that Road Dogg was not at TNA’s TV tapings this week, after he was backstage at Slammiversary pay-per-view. TNA and Road are apparently “still working out a deal” for him to join the creative team. For whatever it’s worth, Wrestling Observer Radio’s Bryan Alvarez indicates that Hangman Page will return to AEW soon. Discuss these rumors and others in the comments below, and share your takes on any topic in The Feed!