Credit: WWE.com As the second-biggest pay-per-view of the year for WWE next to WrestleMania, SummerSlam 2018 on Sunday promises to be a show worth watching based how it has been hyped up and what's on tap. Not every advertised match has been built up amazingly well, but the right execution could make it an event for the ages. It also helps that there are several marquee matchups that are exciting on paper, including AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe and Alexa Bliss vs. Ronda Rousey. Even the Universal Championship main event between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns, a bout that has been done to death, could end up featuring a twist or two. That said, it is imperative WWE pulls off the proper finish for each scheduled SummerSlam contest to ensure the best pay-per-view possible. It has been a few years since the company last delivered a critically acclaimed SummerSlam, but if booked correctly, it could turn WWE programming around heading into the fall. Ronda Rousey vs. Alexa Bliss Video Play Button Videos you might like Credit: WWE.com Rousey has had her sights set on becoming a champion in WWE since first setting foot in the company at the beginning of the year. Although it was too soon for her to walk away with the title at Money in the Bank, SummerSlam might be the perfect stage for her to finally capture gold. Standing in her way, however, is Bliss, who has had a stranglehold on the strap for the better part of the past 18 months. While she has earned everything she has achieved, it is high time WWE moved on to a fresh face such as Rousey to carry the division. Thus, it's more a matter of how than if Rousey will win the Raw Women's Championship at SummerSlam. Having Bliss beat Rousey would be foolish considering it wouldn't be realistic to have the champion survive against her, not to mention that it isn't necessary for the feud to be dragged out longer. Having Natalya turn on Rousey and cost her the championship was a possibility, but doing that following the recent death of her father, Jim Neidhart, would be idiotic. Rather, Rousey successfully snapping the arm of Bliss and celebrating her title win with Natalya afterward is the way to go. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz Credit: WWE.com SmackDown Live will be offering a slew of exciting matches at SummerSlam, with Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz chief among them. The bout has been billed as being more than eight years in the making, so the history (as well as chemistry) these two have is off the charts. In addition to their rivalry being so entertaining, there is a sense of uncertainty regarding the finish. It has yet to be confirmed whether Bryan will be re-signing with WWE once his contract expires shortly after SummerSlam, so it's possible officials don't want him to win in case he decides to depart the company. Even if one is to assume that Bryan will stick around in WWE, there is nothing for him to gain by beating Miz at SummerSlam. Their feud should last several months, so there is no reason to rush to the payoff by having Bryan defeat his archrival in their first major singles encounter. The Bryan vs. Miz program should run all the way through WrestleMania, where Bryan could knock off The Awesome One for the WWE Championship. In the meantime, Miz can begin building momentum with a win against Bryan in Brooklyn, New York. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns Credit: WWE.com The never-ending Lesnar-Reigns rivalry will hopefully come to a conclusion Sunday, when they meet once again for the Universal Championship. Reigns has yet to beat The Beast Incarnate in singles competition, and that must change at the upcoming event. It was apparent from the get-go that WWE had its mind made up that Reigns should be the one to dethrone Lesnar as universal champ, but it was widely assumed the trigger would have been pulled on the title change at WrestleMania 34. Lesnar retained that night but now needs to drop the strap. Lesnar and Reigns have proved that they can work well together, so their match at SummerSlam should be nothing short of a highly physical war. Reigns should decisively defeat Lesnar and put their rivalry to rest because it's the logical story to tell. The arena's reaction when Reigns dethrones Lesnar is bound to be negative, but having Braun Strowman cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase would end the evening on a high note. There's no telling whether Paul Heyman will play any sort of a role in any of this, but that gives fans an incentive to tune in and find out what WWE has in store for Reigns vs. Lesnar, as well as every other contest on the card. Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.<doc-sep>WWE's second biggest pay-per-view event of the year, SummerSlam, is set to kick off tonight, August 19, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn featuring a card with more than 13 matches that is expected to run for over five hours. Needless to say, there are a lot of highly anticipated matches in store, but no match has more mainstream crossover than Ronda Rousey's SummerSlam debut. Sure, you could argue Brock Lesnar's match against Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship will have equal mainstream appeal, though it's Rousey's chance to claim her first WWE Raw Women's championship that takes precedence. Having only been in the WWE for seven months, Rousey has already proven that she's on the fast track to the top of the women's division and tonight could mark a monumental moment in what figures to be a lengthy run with the WWE. Ahead of her title match tonight against Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss, we take a look back at Rousey's timeline with the WWE from her Royal Rumble debut up until now. Royal Rumble 2018, January, 28 The UFC Hall of Famer made her debut at the Royal Rumble on January 28, following the first ever women's Royal Rumble. Befor the Rumble winner, Asuka, could make her decision for which title she wanted to challenge for at Wrestlemania 34, she was interrupted by "The Baddest Woman on the Planet," officially confirming she had signed full-time with WWE. Wrestlemania 34, April 8 Rousey's first feud as an official member of the WWE roster didn't come until months after her debut at the Royal Rumble, when she squared off against none other than Stephanie McMahon and her husband, Triple H. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle teamed with Rousey at Wrestlemania 34 for a mixed tag-team match against the authority. Of course, the former UFC champ and the Olympic gold medalist walked out of New Orleans on top. Raw Women's Champion Nia Jax Challenges Rousey, May 14 Having secured a victory in her first WWE match at Wrestlemania, Rousey shifted her focus towards a singles run - and she didn't have to wait long before earning a title shot. During a joint E! News interview at the NBCUniversal Upfronts in May, then-Raw Women's champion Nia Jax challenged Rousey to a match at June's "Money In The Bank" pay-per-view. Naturally, Rousey obliged, setting the stage for yet another high-profile bout at one of WWE's biggest PPV events. Money In The Bank, June 17 Things didn't go quite as planned for Rousey when she locked horns with "The Irresistible Force," Nia Jax, at the Money In The Bank PPV. While she looked solid in the ring, both on the offensive and when taking bumps, her attempt at winning gold came up short when an opportunistic Alexa Bliss cashed in her "Money In The Bank" briefcase that she won earlier in the night. The briefcase contains a contract that guarantees the winner a match for a world championship at any time within the next year. Bliss merely waited hours before pouncing on the opportunity. As Rousey applied her patented armbar on Jax, Bliss unexpectedly appeared in the ring and used her briefcase to neutralize the UFC Hall of Famer. Once Rousey was out of the way, she officially cashed in her contract and regained the WWE Raw Women's championship. Monday Night Raw after Money In The Bank, June 18 One night after the timely cash-in, Rousey proved why she's "The Baddest Woman on the Planet" by brutalizing Bliss with the Money in the Bank briefcase and powerbombing her through a table. Rousey even took out some of her frustration on Raw General Manager Kurt Angle, which resulted in a 30-day suspension. Extreme Rules, July 2 Despite her 30-day suspension, Rousey was front and center in the crowd at the Extreme Rules PPV in July, as Nia Jax got her rematch against Alexa Bliss, who won the Raw Women's championship at Money In The Bank just weeks earlier. During the title match, Rousey hopped over the barricade and attacked Bliss' partner in crime, Mickie James, before going after the champion. However, Bliss slipped through Rousey's grasp once again, and escaped with her title in-hand. Monday Night Raw, July 16 Just days before she was officially eligible to return from suspension, Rousey unexpectedly appeared at the July 16th episode of Raw to attack Bliss and her sidekick, Mickie James. Although Rousey got closer to snapping Bliss' arm this time, she still was unable to inflict any damage on her hated foe. As a result, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle added another week to her suspension. However, he added a stipulation that she'd be granted a title shot against Bliss at SummerSlam if she obliged. Monday Night Raw, July 30 Upon Rousey's return from suspension on July 30, she accompanied her pal Natalya to the ring for a match against Alicia Fox, who utlimately came out on top thanks to some help from Alexa Bliss. After the match, Rousey hit Fox with her signature move and once again gave chase to Bliss - but Fox recovered in time to make the save. The heels retreated with their hands raised as Rousey fumed in the ring. Rousey's First Match on Monday Night Raw, August 6 As a result of the events that unfolded the week before, Ronda Rousey was given a match against Alicia Fox, which marked her first ever match on Monday Night Raw. Despite several distractions from Bliss, Rousey put a beatdown on Fox and ultimately got her to tap out to the arm bar. A feeble attempt to blindside Rousey after the match didn't turn out as planned for the Raw Women's champ. SummerSlam 2018, August 19 After months of cat-and-mouse, Rousey will finally get a chance to step in the ring with Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam tonight. The event, taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, will air on the WWE Network and is scheduled to get underway at 7pm ET. Will Rousey ragdoll Bliss en route to her first ever Raw Women's championship? Or will the reigning champ find a way to escape with her title yet again?<doc-sep>When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Bliss is set to defend the RAW Women’s Championship at SummerSlam tonight against Ronda Rousey but WWE confirmed that regardless of the result she will battle Stratus in two months. That means that if The Goddess successfully defends her title she may then put it on the line against one of the greatest legends in WWE history. WWE announced: “As if WWE Evolution, the groundbreaking all-women’s pay-per-view, wasn’t already historic enough, Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss will face seven-time Women’s Champion Trish Stratus in what is sure to be a match for the ages.” Bliss then took to Twitter and seemed very confident ahead of the dream match as she tweeted: “Rookies, Hall of Famers, I’ll defeat them all. Any time. Any where. #WWEEvolution.”<doc-sep>
The match Ronda Rousey challenges Alexa Bliss for the Raw wome695n’s championship at tonight’s (Sun. Aug. 19, 2018) WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV) from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The story There are two ways of looking at this, or maybe they are one in the same: Bliss screwed Rousey over, therefore she deserves whatever she gets Rousey is a big star, therefore she can do whatever she wants This started at Money in the Bank, where Ronda was just about to win the Raw women’s championship from Nia Jax when Alexa showed up and took her out with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Then she used the contract within that briefcase to cash-in on Jax and win back the title she lost at WrestleMania 34. Rousey responded to this with great anger and furious vengeance. She was so eager to get at Bliss, she beat up the General Manager of Monday Night Raw, Kurt Angle, and multiple referees before putting Alexa through a table. This got her suspended for a month. She showed up at Extreme Rules anyway, where Bliss was defending her title against Jax in a rematch, and got involved at the earliest opportunity. The very next night on Raw, she once again violated that suspension. Angle tacked on a week for her repeated violations, a punishment Constable Baron Corbin rightfully felt wasn’t harsh enough. But when he went to consult with Commissioner Stephanie McMahon he found he couldn’t do so because Angle had, get this, stolen his cell phone! While he was off looking for it, Angle took the opportunity to give Rousey a title shot at SummerSlam. So there you have it. If you’re a star, do whatever you want, because you’ll get away with it, but it helps if your foe is widely disliked. What to expect It’s hard to believe WWE would give Rousey two title shots and have her fail to win the championship either time. This always seemed to be building to Ronda beating Bliss to become the new face of the women’s division. But this is WWE we’re talking about, and you never know. It’s why we watch, right? To find out.