SummerSlam feels notable this year for who is not on the card as much as who is.
Absent are Becky Lynch, Rhea Ripley, Trish Stratus, United States champion Austin Theory, Edge, Liv Morgan, undisputed tag champs Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and women’s tag team champions Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green, just to name a few.
Even without them, the card for Ford Field in Detroit on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, Peacock) gives WWE the chance for major creative pivot points — should they take them.
Roman Reigns’ status as Undisputed WWE Universal champion, his more than 1,000-day reigns and his status as Tribal Chief is on the line against cousin Jey Uso.
Gunther’s 400-plus day reign as Intercontinental champ faces a huge challenger in Drew McIntyre and Charlotte Flair could become a 15-time world champ.
Add to that the fact that both Money in the Bank contracts are in play and you have a night where plenty of major creative strokes could take place.
The Post’s Joseph Staszewski does his best to predict what will go down at SummerSlam.
If WWE is serious about a push for L.A. Knight, there only can be one winner here.
This is a perfect vehicle to continue to position Knight as a babyface, give him a notable win on major pay-per-view that you can open the show and juice up the crowd with and immediately give something to place him in a premium spot heading into the rest of the year.
This feels like the start and not the end of this program and Paul really does need a win. The YouTube star has lost his past four matches — if you count the Royal Rumble — including singles losses to Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
Ricochet will get his moment down the road because it feels like this is the best fan reaction he’s gotten in a long time in WWE, but Paul sneaks out with a win here.
WWE only gets one shot at this with Baszler, especially if the report that Rousey is on her way out of the company soon is true.
The MMA Rules stipulation is unneeded but you have to now win by pass-out, knockout or tapout.
This is really about Baszler being a better pro wrestler than the UFC Hall of Famer in Rousey
There likely isn’t time for an immediate trilogy and any goodwill around Baszler and the shine of beating the three-time world champion makes her viable for another main event-level story and potentially a shot at Ripley, the women’s world champion, at some point.
Maybe Rousey gets her revenge years from now, but this is about elevating Baszler — who has had just two singles title matches.
McIntyre is by far the biggest and most legitimate threat to Gunther’s title reign yet, but take into account two things.
One, WWE is actively trying and succeeding at rewriting its championship record book and Gunther is less than 40 days away from breaking the Honky Tonk Man’s 453-day mark.
Two, this week on Raw WWE already laid the seeds for a potential Chad Gable-Gunther feud and the match they turned in should have more than whet fan’s appetite.
While McIntyre beating Gunther for the belt is believable, it doesn’t do anything to further elevate him.
Yes, Rollins has only held the title for three months, but WWE has invested heavily in The Judgment Day and the stories around it.
The best way to turn up the heat on is for Balor to finally end his seven-year quest to avenge Rollins accidentally injuring him at SummerSlam in 2016 and forcing him to immediately end his reign as the first Universal champion.
That story ends with his win. Balor having the World Heavyweight championship provides a new story with Money in the Bank holder Damian Priest eyeing the title that is now held by a member of his own faction — and one who already thinks he’s out to get him.
Maybe Priest, who would be the only one without gold, successfully cashes in Saturday.
There is a lot to consider here as WWE is likely trying to get to Bianca Belair vs. Charlotte Flair at some point and there is always the matter of Iyo Sky holding in the Money in the Bank briefcase.
WWE can make a few things happen here.
Sky misses a cash-in attempt because Bayley is distracted or attacked by Shotzi, who now going after Bayley with a razor to shave her head like hers.
All of that costs Belair a chance to win and Charlotte instead swoops in for the victory — moving her one title win away from her dad’s 16 world championships.
It only drives the EST’s frustration higher and starts to get us to a long-awaited match between Asuka and Sky.
WWE can’t deny Rhodes a signature victory on a big stage again, can they?
It’s hard to see it happening. Rhodes really needs to pass this hard-times trial and put a win over Mr. SummerSlam Lesnar on his resume as WWE builds him back toward a potential Roman Reigns rematch.
Rhodes has said he is going to embarrass Lesnar. Maybe this is quick, but that’s hard to imagine.
The American Nightmare said in a conversation with The Post that a win over Lesnar would allow him to immediately start pushing for another world title shot.
This one remains so hard to call because having Jey defeat Reigns here makes plenty of creative sense. The Bloodline story eventually needs to come to an end and that means someone beating Reigns for the title of Tribal Chief.
Jey doing so would bring this full circle. But going that route ignores a few things.
There are subtle hits of Solo Sikoa wanting to be Tribal Chief.
There is the long-term Cody Rhodes arc of him needing to finish his story by erasing the sting of his loss to Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
There is the question of does WWE have enough faith in Jey to have him be the one to not only end Reigns’ historic title run but pin him twice in a matter of months.
Jimmy Uso will return to help his brother but it won’t be enough as Sikoa or maybe even new Bloodline members deny Jey the win.
It could force them to team up with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a new story arc because they have no other allies left.