Tonight one of the biggest WWE pay-per-views of the year will take place from the Barclays Center when SummerSlam airs live on the WWE Network. There are some interesting matches on the card this year, but apparently a few matches that were originally planned for the event were cut from the show.
Sportskeeda is reporting that original plans called for John Cena to face AJ Styles, and Charlotte Flair to face Naomi at SummerSlam.
According to the report, WWE decided to nix the John Cena vs. AJ Styles match because they wanted to extend the rivalry between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon. Officials felt the best way to do this was to throw AJ Styles in the mix, and the current plan is to build toward a match between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens at Hell in a Cell.
Naomi vs. Charlotte was nixed because WWE officials want to extend Naomi’s SmackDown Women’s Championship for marketing purposes, as the company plans to sell replicas of Naomi’s custom light up title belt.
The decision to have Natalya face Naomi at SummerSlam was reportedly decided 48 hours before Battleground.
You can check out the current card for SummerSlam below.
Fatal 4 Way Match For The Universal Title (If Brock Lesnar loses he leaves WWE)
Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe
WWE Title Match
Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Natalya vs. Naomi
US Title Match – Shane McMahon Special Guest Referee
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens
Raw Tag Team Title Match
Sheamus and Cesaro vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins
Raw Women’s Title Match
Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks
Enzo Amore To Be Suspended Above The Ring In A Shark Cage
Big Show vs. Big Cass
John Cena vs. Baron Corbin
Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt
Randy Orton vs. Rusev
WWE SummerSlam Kickoff Show
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
Neville vs. Akira Tozawa
SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship Match
The Usos vs. The New Day
The Hardys and Jason Jordan vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas
