WWE SummerSlam 2015: Power Ranking Bouts Most Likely to Steal the Show

While Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker is WWE SummerSlam's main event, it's a safe bet it won't be Match of the Night. 

It's been unusual for the main event of a WWE pay-per-view in 2015 to steal the show. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer (h/t Internet Wrestling Database), only three times has the main events been rated the best match in a respective pay-per-view.

That's not surprising. A number of factors help elevate matches lower on the card compared to headline acts. 

Attempting to live up to the build is difficult for many matches. Last month's Battleground pay-per-view, for example, never lived up to the build. Lesnar's return to glory facing the man who stole his title at WrestleMania 31, Seth Rollins, was a better story told in promos by Rollins and Paul Heyman than it was in the ring.

Another factor to consider is the desire of new blood to prove themselves. Kevin Owens' first main roster pay-per-view appearances resulted in three of the top six WWE matches of the year. While it helped to have John Cena directing traffic in the ring, there's no doubt Owens brought the best out of the United States champion each time. 

Finally, never discount a match's place on the card as a deciding factor. Many of the top-rated duels in 2015 have directly followed the poorest-rated matches. Roman Reigns and Big Show pulled off their four-star Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules after fans were forced to sit through a pair of two-star snoozers. 

Reigns and Big Show delivered something special, in part, because fans clamored for anything that wasn't what they just watched. 

The following matches have a chance to upstage Lesnar and Undertaker. We'll have to wait and see which of the aforementioned factors play a role in making someone other than the featured act the Match of the Night. 

6. Stephen Amell and Neville vs. Stardust and King Barrett

Traditionally, matches that feature celebrities do little to move the needle. However, not only is Stephen Amell not your normal celebrity stand-in, but he's wrestling with three of the roster's hungriest and most exciting performers. 

Amell isn't David Arquette, Jay Leno or Jeremy Piven. He's an action star on a physical TV series. He should be fine taking bumps and looking the part in the ring. WWE won't ask too much of him, but it also wouldn't put him in there without believing he could handle himself. 

His jump over the top rope on Raw last Monday night showed he's agile enough to bounce off the ropes without hurting himself.

Most importantly, Neville, Barrett and Stardust will likely carry the load in this match, and that's not a bad thing. Anything that can put these three wrestlers back in the spotlight for a while is welcome. All three of these guys can put on spectacular matches, and each should relish the opportunity on such a grand stage. 

How can it steal the show? If Amell proves he can do more than not look foolish when he does get in the ring, this could easily steal the spotlight from other matches on the card. Everyone else would likely have to put in average performances for such a result, but stranger things have happened. 

Chance of stealing the show: 5 percent

5. Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev

The last match booked for SummerSlam has a lot of great things going for it. 

First, Rusev and Ziggler are two of the top in-ring performers on the roster. Rusev's combination of size, strength and agility might be unmatched in WWE.

Aside from the squash matches he's been placed in (such as this past Monday night against Mark Henry), Rusev has shined when competing against the roster's elite, including a memorable Triple Threat match with Cesaro and Kevin Owens. 

Rusev is a perfect foil for Ziggler, who's long been one of the best all-around performers on the roster. No one takes a bump quite like Ziggler, and that ability to sell a beating against a brute like Rusev will pay dividends in this match.

The worry here is that WWE will take too much time to focus on the valets outside the ring—Lana and Summer Rae—instead of the special performers inside of it. 

Even if it doesn't steal the show, this might be the best story of the night, since both men have committed to their rivalry.  

Chance of stealing the show: 10 percent

4. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper vs. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose

It's quite interesting how the feud between The Shield and The Wyatt Family has come full circle.

Their animosity goes back to the beginning of 2014, when the Wyatts cost The Shield a slot in that year's Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Back then, it was Roman Reigns and Co. who sought revenge.

More than a year later, it's Bray Wyatt who feels he was unjustly cut out from the Money in the Bank Ladder Match thanks to Reigns. And here we are now, three months removed from that moment, and it's back to where it all began. 

The stories and chemistry between the wrestlers are what could help this match steal the show. As the main protagonists to this story, either Wyatt or Reigns will get the win but likely not over the other. It certainly won't be a technical masterpiece. Then again, Reigns' four-star-rated Last Man Standing Match against Big Show at Extreme Rules wasn't Dean Malenko vs. Eddie Guerrero, either. 

This feels like the start of a longer feud, which is why I don't have a better feeling about it achieving Match of the Night status. 

Chance of stealing the show: 15 percent

3. Team Bella vs. Team B.A.D. vs. Team PCB

WWE Divas matches have traditionally been among the worst-rated matches at every pay-per-view in 2015. Even the Triple Threat match featuring two of the recent WWE NXT call-ups at last month's Battleground event only garnered 2.75 stars from Dave Meltzer (h/t Internet Wrestling Database).

So why the love for this match? A couple of reasons. 

First, the Battleground match was a last-minute addition thanks to the cancellation of the Intercontinental Championship match. The match suffered from stiff work, mainly because the women hadn't been in the ring together all that often. 

Now, with more than a month of live matches on the main roster under their belts, Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks are ready to make some noise. They've already done so on TV, but this is SummerSlam in New York City. It's their official coming-out party. 

Second, the format (Triple Threat tag team match) allows a number of combinations in the ring at one time. Imagine Banks and Charlotte teaming up on Brie Bella. Maybe Banks and Lynch work over Alicia Fox. Nikki Bella and Naomi could gang up on Paige and make her pay for beginning this whole revolution. 

As long as WWE isn't stingy with the time, there's a lot this group of women could do to make this match interesting. And no matter what they do, it's going to set up the next (or NXT) challenger to Nikki Bella's WWE Divas Championship.

Chance of stealing the show: 17.5 percent

2. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena

The argument for this match is simple. In any other pay-per-view, the WWE heavyweight champion versus the United States champion in a Winner Take All match would be the main event, hands down. 

Instead, the WWE Universe is being treated to this match as a side dish to the Brock Lesnar-Undertaker feast. 

John Cena and/or Seth Rollins (and in one instance, both) have been involved in the four top-rated WWE pay-per-view matches in 2015. There is star power here, and both men are in a position to claim the mantle of 2015 Wrestler of the Year with a clean win in this match. 

And if you weren't all that interested in seeing this match prior to Monday's episode of Raw, Cena did a Heyman-esque job of selling everyone on why they should tune into the WWE Network on Sunday. 

This match truly has it all: bad blood between the competitors, multiple titles on the line and long-term legacies for both wrestlers. This match should steal the show. 

Which is what worries me.

Remember the introduction, when we discussed living up to the hype? Following Cena's sales job on Monday, this match has gone from under-the-radar show-stealer to main event 1B following Lesnar-Taker's main event 1A.

There's the potential for a letdown here, especially if WWE decides to get cute with the finish to prolong this feud for additional network and pay-per-view buys in the coming months. 

Chance of stealing the show: 22.5 percent

1. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro

When you check off the boxes of a potential show-stealing match, a few things stand out.

Do the wrestlers have natural chemistry in the ring? Is there a good story to tell between the combatants? Has the pair been evenly matched through their build? Finally, are both men equal in the ring?

In the case of Owens vs. Cesaro, it's check, check, check and check. For weeks these two have been telling a fascinating story of success in WWE.

Cesaro has climbed the ladder slowly, paid his dues and even toiled in obscurity in the eyes of WWE Creative. He took a long road through the tag team division to get back into the title scene, first against John Cena and then Seth Rollins. He's a crowd favorite whose star hasn't just risen—it's been resurrected. 

Meanwhile, Owens blasted his way into WWE with the ferocity of a tornado. He expects to not only be given the opportunities to wrestle for championships but to win. He sulks and walks out of matches when they're not going his way. He is highly visible for being the former NXT champion and the man who beat Cena in his first match. 

Both men, however, are dealing with their professional demons. Cesaro is the wrestler who can't connect with fans or reach for the brass ring, according to WWE CEO Vince McMahon. Not only does Owens not have the look of a McMahon-made Superstar, but he was just recently the latest in a long line of potential next big things (re: Rusev, Bray Wyatt) to get steamrolled by the Cena Express after moderate success. 

The more you look at Cesaro and Owens and the story they're telling, the more these men resemble two sides of the same coin. They're yin and yang. There might not be a better matchup of wrestlers on the roster, which will not only make for great theater but for exciting action in the ring.

This match has all of the ingredients to steal the show at SummerSlam. 

Chance of stealing the show: 30 percent