Turnbuckle BEATdown: A Quick and Dirty Guide to WWE SummerSlam 2024

WWE’s second biggest show of the year is here and it’s time for all the fallout from Wrestlemania to finally reach its wonderful boiling point. WWE SummerSlam 2024 comes to you from Cleveland, Ohio and the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Saturday, August 3, 7e/4p. The show is available on Peacock+ in the United States and on the still running WWE Network in most other territories. Given it is in his home city, WWE star The Miz will be the acting host of the show.

The “Biggest Party of the Summer” has been the backdrop to some of the biggest moments in WWE history, and this show is shaping up to contain at least a couple more to add to the annals. Perhaps most notably or incredibly symbolically, this event will mark two years since Triple H gained complete creative control of the company and the first SummerSlam to potentially not have the influence of anyone named McMahon hanging over it, as Vince was still somewhat involved last year.

But what’s going on at this supposedly giant party? Well, that’s why I’m here to do the thing that I keep on lovin’ doin’ – filling you in on the big wrestling storylines because wrestling won’t stop and do it for you. And this one’s got some doozies. Time for The Beat’s quick and dirty guide to SummerSlam 2024!

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The Best in the World CM Punk vs. The Scottish Warrior Drew McIntyre

{w/Special Guest Referee: Seth “Freakin’” Rollins}

What has hands down been the feud of the year for WWE (and possibly all of wrestling) will finally see all the participants involved be in the same ring with the guarantee of coming to blows.

CM Punk made his Hell-freezing return to WWE following the conclusion of Survivor Series 2023 in his hometown of Chicago. It had been just a couple months shy of Punk having been out of the company for a full decade after being one of the biggest (and loudest) opponents of the company during that time span. This also followed a tumultuous to say the least return to mainstream wrestling in AEW not long before. The shock of Punk showing up caused then-World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins to go on a tirade at ringside. Drew McIntyre also had an incredibly displeased, if more subtle expression.

This was all to seemingly set up CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins for assumedly Night 1 of Wrestlemania 40, which would give Punk his triumphant return and the one thing he held most dear: main eventing Wrestlemania. Unfortunately, at the 2024 Royal Rumble, ten years to the day of Punk’s infamous walking out of the company, he was injured mid-match by a move from McIntyre. Punk got a measure of revenge by eliminating D-Mac, but his hopes of main eventing Wrestlemania were dashed once again as he was out with a torn tricep.

To fully cement his bastard status, McIntyre would state on the RAW afterwards that “I prayed for this.” From there, McIntyre and Punk would trade barbs both around the ring and on social media, displaying a master class on how to tell a story and build heat for a feud without touching each other. McIntyre himself had a twinge of destiny to fulfill of his own, as he had not won a world title in WWE with fans being present – both his WWE Championship wins came during 2020 in empty arenas. This led to McIntyre having all the motivation he needed to win a title shot against Rollins at Elimination Chamber: Perth.

Seth Rollins meanwhile was having to deal with the immediate ire of being around CM Punk again, but then had to suddenly shift his attention to a much more vengeful McIntyre. In addition to that, he personally offered his services to one Cody Rhodes in helping him take down Roman Reigns and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at Wrestlemania, feeling that he was the man responsible for the monster that Roman Reigns had become. Not that McIntyre was singularly focused, as he still had his somewhat obsessive vendetta with Punk going on. This came to a head at Night 2 of Wrestlemania 40, where Rollins went in on one leg due to he and Rhodes losing their headlining match the night before. It took four Claymores, but Rollins would be pinned and McIntyre would finally get a world title he could celebrate with fans.

…but he didn’t want to celebrate. He wanted to gloat. The special guest commentator for that match was none other than CM Punk himself, which caused Drew to try and taunt Punk to his face with his new belt on the announce table. Punk then tripped McIntyre and bludgeoned him with his metal arm brace, which allowed Damian Priest to cash in his Money in the Bank Briefcase and become World Heavyweight Champion. McIntyre had been champion for all of five minutes. This ramped up the vamping between the two men even more after Punk cost McIntyre a #1 contendership the next night on RAW.

Things truly reached Kendrick/Drake levels of hatin’, however, when McIntyre finally got his title shot in his home country of Scotland for Clash at the Castle. Mid-match, the referee was knocked out and a new one came to ringside…but refused to count to three. McIntyre looked up to see that it was Punk, who had crossed a pond and then some just to screw him out of the title again. Following the event, an absolutely enraged McIntyre pretended to quit the company, only to show up on Smackdown in Chicago later that week to beat Punk bloody and take a cherished fan-made bracelet that Punk always wore bearing the names of his wife (AJ Lee) and beloved dog (Larry, who also has his own lore in the CM Punk Cinematic Universe).

At Money in the Bank 2024, things got even more intense when McIntyre won the titular briefcase and cashed-in the middle of Priest vs. Rollins later that night. However, Punk was there and ready to cost McIntyre once again. Unfortunately, Rollins would also lose as a result of collateral damage and could no longer challenge for the World Heavyweight title while Priest was champ. This refocused Rollins’s ire on Punk, which had faded since February.

Punk is finally medically cleared and McIntyre has wanted a piece for months. Meanwhile, Rollins is here as something representing the law as special referee, bringing full-circle the initial feud idea and Punk’s false ref garb. Rollins has stated he won’t do anything he doesn’t feel like, meaning Punk and McIntyre will almost certainly be free to deal whatever carnage they wish on each other with no holds barred for as long as Seth deems necessary. He’s also certainly going to get his licks in as well.

Due to that stipulation with the severely biased official, I think it’d be irresponsible in kayfabe to not have this match go on last, since there’s no guarantee it will end in the timespan allotted for the PLE itself. This feud and these men deserve to main event such a massive show for the massive and masterful effort they’ve all put in. It almost doesn’t matter who wins, I just fully expect to see all three of these guys inside a Hell in a Cell before the end of the year because one match is not going to settle this.

Women’s World Championship

Liv Morgan (c) vs. Rhea Ripley

The only other match on this card that I think deserves a chance at main eventing is this telenovela climax. 

Last summer, Rhea Ripley injured Liv Morgan’s shoulder with a savage chair attack that put her on the shelf for months. She made her triumphant return in the Women’s Royal Rumble match this year. She then made a decree to go on a “revenge tour,” where she would take everything Rhea held dear. Following Wrestlemania, Liv jumped the utterly dominant Women’s World Champion backstage that resulted in Rhea legitimately tearing her shoulder and being forced to vacate the title after being the inaugural champ for an entire year.

Liv managed to win the title from Becky Lynch not long afterwards with some unintentional and unexpected help from Rhea’s main squeeze and fellow Judgment Day member, “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio. When Liv made her case to take “everything” from Rhea, she did indeed mean everything, as she’d been flirting with Dom for weeks. The slowly unraveling Liv then developed a sort of obsession with Dom, believing he had helped her out of the goodness of his heart and mutual attraction. In addition to seducing the Mysterio heir, she got in the good graces of the other Judgment Day members by helping them win back the tag team championships.

This led to weeks of Liv slowly using her feminine wiles to work her way even further into the group, especially with leader Ripley still out of the picture. Despite repeated pleading from de facto leader Damian Priest, Domink never really seemed eager to stop Liv’s advances and seemed like he was about to give in to them once she helped him finally defeat his father, Rey Mysterio…only for Rhea to return. She then made the challenge the next week for SummerSlam and then the week after, Dominik publicly told Liv to get out of his life, breaking her heart and making her go full catatonic vengeance wench.

On paper, Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan is Rhea’s for the taking all day. Not only for the size and strength advantage, but Rhea is undoubtedly the most over woman in all of wrestling right now. However, with the context of this story, this is Liv’s for the taking and Dom will be coming with her. 

The Judgment Day turning on Rhea (and to a greater extent Damian Priest, but we’ll get to that later) has been brewing for months now, especially considering both of them are getting face reactions. Liv winning with Dominik’s help only helps all of them – Liv fully embraces her femme fatale heeldom, Rhea becomes even more over with crowd sympathy, and somehow boo magnet Dom Mysterio will draw even more (Latino) heat. 

Also as many other people have noted and joked, this isn’t the first time Dominik Mysterio has been the focus of two warring parties at SummerSlam. Nearly two decades ago at SummerSlam 2005, Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero faced off in another telenovela climax: the infamous ladder match for the custody of then 8 year-old Dominik. This match is, as absurd as it sounds, the spiritual sequel to that very contest. Geez, Dominik’s got hella daddy issues, doesn’t he? Is that why he wants a Mami so bad? 

Bloodline Rules Match for the WWE Undisputed Championship

The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes (c) vs. The Tribal Chief? Solo Sikoa

At Wrestlemania 40, Cody Rhodes finally vanquished Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, ending Reigns’s four year run at the top and earning the Rhodes dynasty the one championship their father Dusty could never bring home. With Roman MIA, enforcer Solo Sikoa would take it upon himself to take the reins as it were, excommunicating his own brother Jimmy Uso from the group following his loss from their other brother Jey Uso at Wrestlemania. 

Following that, Solo would slowly begin recruiting new members of the Anoa’i family to the Bloodline. First came Tama Tonga, then Tonga Loa (cousins and adopted brothers to each other and sons to Haku) who helped the Bloodline defeat Kevin Owens and Randy Orton at Backlash in France. After this, Jacob Fatu was brought in, the son of Umaga. With this new unpredictable Bloodline remade in his image, Solo sought to be named the new Tribal Chief, but the group Wiseman WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman refused to acknowledge him at that rank. He was the next to be excommunicated from the group, leaving this young and hungry new Bloodline with no rational mind behind them.

Owens and Orton recruited the WWE Champion to their cause for six-man tag action at Money in the Bank 2024, but Solo would wind up pinning Rhodes thanks to the numbers game. Soon after, Solo challenged Cody for the WWE Championship, swearing to bring it back to the Bloodline. In the weeks that followed, not only was Cody repeatedly laid out by the group, but all other potential allies in Orton and Owens were decimated and taken out of action as well. This essentially makes this SummerSlam match 4-on-1, as the entire Bloodline is at Solo’s beck and call. And after the most recent Smackdown added the Bloodline Rules stipulation to this match, that means basically anything goes.

Right, so this match will probably main event for one glorious reason: the return of Roman Reigns as Cody’s last piece of help and bring opposition to the hostile takeover of his stable. However, this brings forth a booking dilemma – it would be a shock if this match is anything but the main event, but it doesn’t quite deserve it on its own merit, at least to me. Putting this match on last telegraphs what I’m sure is designed to be a shocking return for Roman, but since many people think it’s happening anyway…is anything lost? 

I’d love to see this contest start the night to be honest, as Roman’s return would send shockwaves throughout the rest of the show. It also wouldn’t be a surprise to see Cody’s buddy Jey Uso interfere on his behalf as well, seeing as he’s left off the card. For all those reasons above, Cody isn’t losing here. Not sure if he’ll have to summon Seth Rollins, John Cena, and The Undertaker to get it done again though.

World Heavyweight Championship

El Campeon Damian Priest (c) vs. The Ring General GUNTHER 

The backstory of this contest is actually one of the most straightforward “champion vs. challenger” matches on the card, the other being its counterpart women’s match. In May, Gunther won the King of the Ring tournament and was granted a world title match at SummerSlam. Gunther had just come off of being the longest reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion in history at 666 days and only one pinfall loss since coming to the main roster.

Damian Priest, meanwhile, has had some trouble being overshadowed during his own title reign – and he’s kind of had enough of it. Following outside interference at both Clash at the Castle and Money in the Bank, Priest’s noble demon vow to keep the title with his own two hands kept getting broken through no fault of his own. 

Once Priest was cemented as the man going to face Gunther at SummerSlam, the Austrian brute would criticize Priest’s tumultuous road to the championship as that of someone lesser and undeserving of that gold. This would continue painting Priest in the face-ish light he’d been shaded in since making his noble vow, in addition to playing a part in the promotion of his own WWE documentary special coming out the weekend of this show.

This is honestly the most unpredictable match on the card. When the match was announced, it seemed like Priest was a lame duck champion ready to hand things over to Gunther, who seems destined to hold world title gold in the company. However, because of the build and using Priest’s real life road into it, I could see it still swinging his way. Plus, as iffy as Priest’s wins have been overall, pinning someone as dominant as Gunther would skyrocket his credibility as a champion and main event player.

However, Damian has a big cloud circling overhead in the form of his stable the Judgment Day. Priest’s order to not have the group interfere in his matches seemed to peeve Finn Balor, who has been slowly showing hints of resentment against Priest. Double this with Priest being the tightest with Rhea Ripley who is almost certainly going to be turned on by her group, and you have an incredibly unpredictable situation here. 

Considering the Bloodline Rules match will be full of interference and Liv/Rhea will also likely have elements of it, the use of interference should be used sparingly through the rest of the card. Even so, a case could be made for Finn to interfere and finally cost Damian the belt and question his role in the group. Or you could play it straight and not have the group turn on Priest, which would give you weeks of programming of a conflicted Priest having responsibilities to both his group and his homegirl Rhea (if she’s usurped that is). 

WWE United States Championship

Logan Paul (c) vs. LA Knight

Considering Logan Paul posted some effin’ gross transphobic stuff in the last 48 hours, I don’t really feel like explaining his whole deal. All I’ll say is the dumbass influencer has been United States Champion since last November and can be described as unfortunately blessed when it comes to being a pro wrestler. Guy knows how to be hated. I wonder why.

LA Knight, on the other hand, has been one of the best stories in WWE since last year. Knight went on a meteoric rise sometime last year that saw him become one of them most over guys in the company, consistently getting some of the loudest pops of the night every time he showed up. This granted him chances at the WWE Championship, but he came up short every time. There had been hints that Knight was craving a shot at the US title, but after he pinned Paul to qualify for the MITB Ladder match this year, he had a genuine case to go for the belt. He also invaded Paul’s home at one point, lounging in his pool just because, marking Knight’s second home invasion this year (AJ Styles received the other house call).

All this to say, this is finally LA Knight’s moment. Last year when questioned why they didn’t have Knight win the MITB Briefcase, Triple H stated they had much bigger things in the cards for him. This is the culmination of those “bigger things,” as Knight getting his first piece of singles gold on the main roster off of someone as high profile as Logan Paul is probably better than him in the long run than any program with the briefcase would. This match might not be pretty, but that will play second fiddle to the “moment” of Knight winning his crown. Oh and hey, it might have the added effect of getting Paul to piss off for a minute. Oopsie.

WWE Women’s Championship

Bayley (c) vs. The Irresistible Force Nia Jax

Here we have the most “vanilla” match on the card, if you will. Bayley is the champion and Nia Jax won the Queen of the Ring tournament to earn herself a championship match at SummerSlam. That’s basically all the set-up you need, but to add some fuel to the fire, there have been hints of previous programs and matches with these two being added to the mix.

Namely, Jax’s reputation for being an unsafe worker has been sort of integrated with her character in recent years and specific incidents cropping up in certain programs. Not long ago, Jax went to task with Becky Lynch over the stiff punch Jax threw back in 2018 that broke Lynch’s nose (and subsequently helped create “The Man” persona that skyrocketed Lynch into superstardom). For this feud, a similar incident was brought up between Bayley and Jax that also wound up injuring Bayley.

Don’t be surprised if homages to those previous incidents are alluded to in their match, but other than that, the biggest story thread this one will have is probably a David vs. Goliath feel. Nia’s been booked pretty unstoppable since her full-time return, so fully expect this to be Bayley’s most monumental challenge to date.

Also, just to add more flavor to things – don’t forget Nia Jax is also a member of the Anoa’i wrestling dynasty that can be pulled into that plot at any point.

WWE Intercontinental Championship 

Sami Zayn (c) vs. Bron Breakker

What was a pretty elemental build at the last PLE has become a tad more complex. The story of their Money in the Bank encounter was that not only did Sami Zayn have veteran prowess on his side over Bron Breakker’s brute strength, but that the young meathead couldn’t count for Zayn’s greatest weapon – the crowd. Zayn dug into that ultra underdog energy that he has thrived on his whole career and put things into a gear Breakker couldn’t match and used it to retain his title.

That’d be a very easy shonen anime character beat to use to develop Breakker a bit. Here’s the problem: Bron Breakker doesn’t care. He only has one answer to everything and that’s if it didn’t break, just hit it harder next time. And boy does he intend to. After beating the nearly unbreakable Ilja Dragonov to a bloody pulp to earn his rematch, it is clear that if Breakker can’t counter Sami’s heart, he’ll just rip it out his chest.

There might be a call-back or two to some spots from their previous meetings, but honestly, I kind of think this one has the potential to be an extended squash. Considering you have two matches that might total over 35+ minutes apiece with all their bells-and-whistles, you have to find somewhere to cut back time and this could be that place. 

Breakker can put it into an additional gear of brutality that Sami might not be able to answer, especially if something happens like Sami gets hurt in a crucial area early and Breakker just keeps tearing at it. I fully expect Breakker to walk out with the title here, I’m just not entirely sure on what kind of performance Zayn will have. Either way, Sami dropping the title will free him up for other things…like helping out his buddies Jay and Cody (and possibly a returning Roman) take on the neo-Bloodline in time for, say, WarGames.