Projecting The WWE SummerSlam 2023 Match Card and Full Predictions

WWE is on the road to SummerSlam on Aug. 5 in Detroit and with its product as hot as ever before, there is an understandable interest in what the card for that event may look like.

We're just over two weeks away from The Biggest Party of the Summer but, despite some thoroughly entertaining and engaging storylines, WWE has yet to officially announce a single match for the show.

In preparation for one of the company's most prestigious premium live events, these are the contests that the WWE Universe should expect to see inside the massive Ford Field and a few predictions to go along with them.

Projected SummerSlam Match Card

WWE has yet to officially announce a single match for the SummerSlam card but based on recent booking trends, this is what you can expect from the lineup:

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns (c) (Prediction: Reigns retains)
• World Heavyweight Championship Match: Seth Rollins (c) vs. Finn Bálor (Prediction: Rollins retains)
• WWE Women's Championship Match: Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka (c) (Prediction: Flair wins the title)
  
• Intercontinental Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther (c) (Prediction: Gunther retains)
• United States Championship Match: LA Knight vs. Austin Theory (c) (Prediction: Knight wins the title)
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar (Prediction: Rhodes)
• Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus (Prediction: Lynch)
  
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul (Prediction: Paul)

The Judgment Day Implodes

The road to SummerSlam has been filled with potholes for The Judgment Day.

Dissension permeated the group, threatening to place Finn Bálor and Damian Priest at odds after the latter accidentally cost his teammate the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank.

While Bálor and Priest may appeared to have settled their differences on the July 10 episode of Raw following a big trios victory over Seth Rollins and the Undisputed WWE Tag Team champions Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, there is still a level of distrust between the two that even Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio cannot wash away.

Expect Bálor to earn another title opportunity against Rollins in Detroit, only for Priest to again factor into the outcome. This time, there will be no reconciliation. The Judgment Day as we knew it will implode, with Priest, Ripley and Mysterio ultimately excommunicating Bálor.

Enter JD McDonagh and a whole new program for all involved from there.

Speaking of factions that have dominated the last year of television, only to be nearing their demises...

Iyo Sky Unsuccessfully Cashes In

The same dissension that has plagued The Judgment Day has threatened the very existence of Damage CTRL, though it has been caused not by accident or misunderstanding but, rather, the envy of its leader.

Bayley has taken exception to Iyo Sky's recent success dating back to the Raw Women's Championship Match against Bianca Belair that The Goddess of the Sky received instead of her. Since then, arguments and miscommunication have cost both women key victories.

Then, Sky won Money in the Bank at the expense of Bayley, handcuffing her teammate to Becky Lynch and leaving her to watch as she retrieved the coveted briefcase containing a guaranteed women's title opportunity at any time over the next year.

Since then, the two have failed to work together to effectively cash in, costing Sky a chance to win the WWE Women's Championship, a title that has eluded her thus far in her main roster career.

Still, Damage CTRL has been a consistent presence in the chaos surrounding the SmackDown women's division and will be so at SummerSlam. That show is likely to see Asuka defend her title against Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair in a Triple Threat match, but Sky and Bayley are poised to be in or around the action, hoping to pounce.

When they do, Sky will unsuccessfully cash in, becoming the first woman to lose her championship opportunity.

That will intensify the growing frustration between the two and ultimately lead to the dismantling of Damage CTRL, though that will likely come in the weeks following the summertime spectacular, presumably in time for Dakota Kai's return to television.

Roman Reigns Narrowly Remains Head of the Table

The Bloodline storyline has been nothing short of cinema.

In a perfect world, Jey Uso's Luke Skywalker would take down Roman Reigns' Darth Vader, put an end to the stranglehold Paul Heyman's Emperor Palpatine has on The Tribal Chief and stand tall as the Undisputed WWE Universal champion to close out the Biggest Party of the Summer.

It would be Return of the Jedi-like in Ford Field on Aug. 5 and the entire wrestling world would rejoice like Ewoks at a celebration.

Unfortunately, there is still more story to tell.

We still have to get to Solo Sikoa striking back against Reigns, the last domino to fall in The Bloodline before The Head of the Table is left alone on an isolated, abandoned Island of Relevancy in time for Cody Rhodes to finally finish his own story and win the title at WrestleMania 40.

As much as Jey has been the heart and soul of this story, and has absolutely earned the right to be the guy to take the title off the cousin who confused the well-being of his family with his own personal gain, it doesn't feel like the conclusion this entire narrative epic is building to.

The match in Detroit will be extraordinary, the fans will be as behind Uso as they have been for any Superstar in any match in the last decade, but it will ultimately end as all of Reigns' title defenses have since he first began his monumental run: with The Tribal Chief just barely standing tall.