To get ahead of and counteract the rundown of the superstars missing from the Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live rosters for Super Show-Down 2018 after those episodes, let’s talk about the lucky few who will be booked to not only perform, but likely steal the show in some fashion.
This could be in a scripted or non-kayfabe sense when factoring in everything from pure wins and losses to how much emphasis someone is given, to their momentum carrying over after the event, match performance quality and pretty much everything that could get people to talk about these particular men and women more than anybody else.
When looking at the card currently scheduled for the pay-per-view, this is my shortlist for the superstars who will stand out at Super Show-Down 2018.
Shared Glory: DX and The Brothers of Destruction
Let’s be honest here. These four are sharing the spotlight, even if Undertaker and Triple H take the majority of it by actually being the two to compete.
This will be a match that revolves around the idea that Shawn Michaels can potentially get involved and Kane evening the odds.
Will the match be great? It could be, but it doesn’t have to be, as it’s relying on nostalgia more than anything else and your brain will fill in some of the blanks and make up for it.
Any time you get someone as important as Undertaker on the card, as well as someone like Triple H, they take up a spot on this list for sure. Then, the addition of HBK and The Devil’s Favorite Demon just makes the whole situation feel like an ice cream sundae with lots of toppings, so it’s no surprise this has been promoted as the biggest deal of the night and will be the thing people talk about the most after its over.
The Shield
After everything that’s gone down, I have no faith whatsoever that Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler will win this match against The Shield, even though it’s perhaps the only encounter they can have where they can win and it won’t disrupt anything, like the Universal Championship.
I feel like this trio was paired together 100% entirely because Vince thought they would feel important enough to really put over The Shield over the course of the post-SummerSlam stretch into Survivor Series, and that’s all that will happen: this will be about The Shield and they’ll win. The end.
Even if The Shield loses, the story is going to be “The Shield lost” and not “Strowman and company won” and the phrasing does matter in terms of how WWE looks at the situation. This is a match to feature Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins more than it is anything else.
Buddy Murphy
Not only do I think Buddy Murphy will get a giant pop for just being from Melbourne, I also think he’s going to have one of the best matches of the night (if not the very best) AND that he’ll win the Cruiserweight Championship.
By and large, this could be the biggest night of Murphy’s life and easily the best of his career.
There’s a chance he’ll be one of the biggest focal points leaving this event even if he loses, which is saying a lot, but I think he’s going to wow audiences and accomplish a ton by just being here and putting on a great show, as evidenced by his recent work.
Adding a title to that mix just sweetens the deal even more.
The IIconics
On a similar wavelength to the Buddy Murphy situation, Peyton Royce and Billie Kay will get massive responses from the audience solely because they’re from Australia.
I don’t think they’ll necessarily win their match against Asuka and Naomi, but they should, because nothing is on the line, it doesn’t matter at all, and it’ll be weird if the two babyfaces are booed massively at the end of their win. Just go ahead and give the people what they want.
Plus, The IIconics haven’t done jack shit since coming up to the main roster. It’s almost like WWE doesn’t really want to utilize them all that much or they have no faith in them, which is a shame, as they’re talented enough to be deserving of much more in my mind.
Here’s hoping they walk away from this event feeling like they’re on cloud nine.
Daniel Bryan or The Miz
The more I think about it, the less I think Samoa Joe is going to win the WWE Championship, which should theoretically put The Miz in the position to challenge AJ Styles at Crown Jewel or maybe Survivor Series or TLC. After all, he is the heel, so it would make sense.
However, part of me thinks Daniel Bryan is going to get such a positive reception and as a one-off for Crown Jewel, WWE may actually want to go with Styles against Bryan, and the whole reason this is the third match between Miz and Bryan and Miz won both of the previous encounters was to set up Bryan getting the victory here as payback.
It’s a bit of a tough call, and obviously, if Joe wins, he takes this spot away and it doesn’t matter as much that Bryan will win the title shot in comparison to someone winning the title, but I think more highly of Bryan and Miz coming out of this with buzz than Styles or Joe at this point.
Those are my picks, but who do you think will end up being the primary focal points? Drop your predictions in the comments below!
