WWE Summerslam in Nashville Preview

Nashville is a city that has become very accustomed to having attention put upon it. Week in and week out, thousands of tourists flock to Middle Tennessee and especially downtown Nashville to take in the sights and sounds of what the Music City has to offer. This coming weekend is a little different. Usually, on any given weekend night, lower Broadway is packed full of bachelorette parties that have come from the world over to let loose. It is easy to find them in a crowd as they are quick to let out their tribe’s siren song, the well-recognized “woo.” Woo Girls have come to own the phrase in Nashville and other bachelorette destinations, but will be facing some stiff competition to see who its rightful owner is this weekend in Tennessee as the world of professional wrestling turns it eyes to the city.

World Wrestling Entertainment is bringing its biggest party of the summer to our fair city this weekend. Summerslam will take place this Saturday at Nissan Stadium and now under the creative control of former-wrestler-turned-executive, Hunter Hearst Helmsley (HHH), could very well turn out to be the most talked about wrestling event of the year. The card for the annual event might not match those from years past, but it is shaping up to be a sneaky good show. According to the WWE webpage for Summerslam, the show currently has nine big matches including five title defenses.

The first ever father and son tag team to capture tag titles in WWE history, The Mysterios are set to take on Finn Balor and Damian Priest of the Judgement Day. The show’s other tag match is for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship and will see the champions The Usos defend against the Street Profits. Coming off some controversial outcomes over the last few weeks due to some questionable officiating, WWE brass has decided that a special guest referee was needed to help keep order in the ring. There is no need to look far for someone up to the challenge when that person is right here in Nashville and just so happens to be a WWE Hall of Famer as well. Hendersonville’s own “Double J” Jeff Jarrett will be wearing the zebra stripes for the tag title match.

The match with the most mainstream media attention on it is The Miz vs Logan Paul. “The Most Must See WWE Superstar” turned his back on his one time tag team partner at Wrestlemania, and that eventually led to Paul signing a contract with WWE in order to get his hands on The Miz. Paul blew everyone’s expectations out of the water at Wrestlemania and could end up stealing the show at Summerslam this weekend.

Another non-conventional match on the card features two former NFL players. Baron “Happy” Corbin, who had a cup of coffee with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals before transitioning into a career in wrestling, is set to take on his former Colts roommate, 2-time Pro Bowler Pat McAfee. McAfee spent eight seasons with Indy before retiring in 2017 and then joining Barstool Sports as a contributor. McAfee’s success has been eating at Corbin for over a decade now and he will try to let out all of his aggression out on his former roommate inside Nissan Stadium, where McAfee has a record of 7-1.

The Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will have the entire stadium cheering for her when she defends against Becky Lynch. Belair, a Knoxville native and University of Tennessee graduate will have homefield advantage and will need all of that support to thwart off the extremely dangerous Lynch. The Smackdown Women’s Championship will be defended as well and is a bit of a head scratcher. Current champion Liv Morgan is fresh off her Money in the Bank cash-in on former champion Ronda Rousey and the ”Baddest Woman on the Planet” is ready to put gold back around her waist. Putting the belt on Morgan just to have Rousey take right back seems counterproductive, but what else is new in the WWE?

Current men’s Money in the Bank briefcase holder Theory is hoping to leave Summerslam a double champion. First, he will set his sights on regaining the United States Championship he lost at Money in the Bank to Bobby Lashley. Now that Vince McMahon is out of the picture, it will be interesting to see the creative approach used with Theory, as he and Vince were pretty inseparable on WWE television. Win or lose, Theory has stated that he will cash in on whoever prevails in the main event.

What I believe to be the best match on the card sees Seth “Freakin” Rollins and Riddle. It’s crazy that around this time five years ago, I watched Riddle wrestle multiple times over the weekend in Chattanooga as he went on to win the Scenic City Invitational and now, I will watch him take on one of the best all-around competitors in recent WWE history. It is easy to believe that these two will ‘burn it down.’

Many believed earlier this year that the main event for Summerslam would find Roman Reigns defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against the recently returned Cody Rhodes. An unfortunate freak accident left Rhodes with a torn pectoral muscle and sidelined for the time being. With the main event in question, it seemed Vince turned to his ‘break in case of an emergency’ glass box and inserted Brock Lesnar into the championship match. Most on the internet seem to be un-thrilled with this matchup but I for one have become a huge fan of “Cowboy” Brock and am excited to see these two behemoths lock up one more time.

Summerslam will be the first major production for the company since the corporate shakeup that saw Vince McMahon retire and his daughter Stephanie take over control of the WWE and the first under the creative vision of HHH. Twists and surprises are sure to be expected at the “Summer’s Biggest Party of the Year.”

If you need more of a WWE fix, then make sure you venture out to the Wildhorse Saloon and visit the Summerslam Superstore. The store is open Thursday from 11am-9pm, Friday from 9am to midnight and Saturday from 10am to midnight. Fans of WWE Hall of Famer, The Undertaker, can see him in his one man show entitled Undertaker: 1 dead Man Show this Friday at the Wildhorse Saloon. Tickets for that show and Summerslam are available at tickermaster.com.

Steven McCash is the Lead Music Writer and Utility Man for SoBros Network. Steven is the host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast, and the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music in addition to the occasional live show review. He also pitches in as a Nashville lifestyle writer and football analyst (hence the ‘Utility Man’ title). Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75

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