Full 2025 SummerSlam Predictions Including John Cena, Cody Rhodes And A Possible Double Turn

There was a bit of grumbling from some fans when WWE announced SummerSlam was moving to two nights this year. To be honest, I was a little skeptical, as well, but looking at the card, I’m ready to lace my boots up and get in the ring. Twelve matches have already been announced, and given Triple H’s normal booking style, it’s a safe bet that at least five of them would not have made the card if it was taking place entirely on one night. That’s a win, especially because of how deep the roster is right now.

It has never been harder to make a WWE PLE than it is at this very moment. Between the modern preference for only including five to seven matches per night and arguably the most superstars over with the crowd since the Attitude Era, you really need to earn your way onto one of these big shows. That’s why for WrestleMania and now SummerSlam, it’s nice to have that second night to reward more deserving talent.

Between the two nights, more than forty superstars are going to be in action, and it’s likely we’ll get surprise appearances and/ or segments from a few more. The main event is, of course, the long-awaited WrestleMania 41 rematch between John Cena and Cody Rhodes for The WWE Championship, but beyond that, there’s also going to be an additional eight titles up for grabs, plus a tag match featuring Roman Reigns and a wild celebrity tag featuring Jelly Roll, Logan Paul, Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre.

Before I get into what I think is going to happen, here’s a look at my track record on predictions. I’ve been prognosticating ahead of every PLE since WrestleMania 38, and while my record is not exactly Hulk Hogan-like (RIP), it’s still enough to keep my contract getting picked up.

Tiffany Stratton (Champion) Vs Jade Cargill For The WWE Women’s Championship

There is perhaps no female superstar on the entire roster that fans are more divided on than Jade Cargill. She looks like a star. She executes specific moves in the ring like she’s a star. She has the aura and the charisma you want in a champion. She has the potential to be the face of the division, but it’s been more than a year and a half since her debut at the 2024 Royal Rumble and this is the first time she’s felt like a legitimate threat to win a singles championship.

That’s probably because there are times in the ring in which she seems to get a little lost, especially on the transitions between moves. There are times in which she seems a little reckless with her opponents. There are times in which it seems like WWE is protecting her with the way they put together her matches. There are times in which she hasn't been featured nearly as often as you'd think.

With all due respect to Tiffany Stratton, who has a long and bright future ahead of her, the outcome here is about Jade Cargill. She won Queen Of The Ring. She’s been beating everyone she’s been put in the ring with for months, usually in pretty dominating fashion. If WWE is going to pull the trigger on her, now feels like the moment. It feels like it’s time to rip off the band-aid and see if she can grow into the superstar we all know is there.

Predicted Winner: Jade Cargill

Randy Orton And Jelly Roll Vs Drew McIntyre And Logan Paul

More serious wrestling fans have had some complaints about this getting a spot on the SummerSlam card, but I’m supportive of mixing in celebrities, as long as they take it seriously. WrestleMania 1 was main evented by Mr. T, and we’ve seen some banger matches with non-wrestlers in recent years including Bad Bunny and Johnny Knoxville. By all accounts, Jelly Roll is putting in the work, and I loved seeing the recent segment the four stars did on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

I think we’re going to get a really fun match here. Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul should have a great time playing it up with the crowd during moments they have the momentum, and I think Jelly Roll is going to surprise fans with a really unexpected move he’s probably been training on in the performance center. Throw in a hot crowd, and this could overachieve big time.

That being said, we all know Jelly Roll and Randy Orton are going to win here. WWE typically rewards celebrities with a victory in these sorts of matches, and there’s no reason to think this one will be any different, especially because Logan Paul can eat a pin without really affecting the trajectory or popularity of his character.

Predicted Winner: Randy Orton & Jelly Roll

Gunther (Champion) VS CM Punk For The World Heavyweight Championship

I’m finding this to be one of the harder matches to pick on the entire card. On the one hand, it’s time for CM Punk to win a singles championship. He’s too over with the crowd and has done too much good work since his return not to be carrying around gold in the near future. He needs to be rewarded with a signature victory, especially after a terrific promo on Monday where he talked about how much he needs this.

On the other hand, however, that signature victory feels like it should be for The WWE Championship. With all due respect to Gunther and The World Heavyweight Championship, that’s clearly the secondary prize, and given Punk’s long history at the company, it would feel a lot more poetic if his big moment was with a championship he has so much good and bad history with.

It would also be nice to see Gunther get a big win on a big stage like this. He lost in big spots at the last two WrestleManias, and even though he got his victory back against Jey Uso, he’s still dealing with fans chanting “you tapped out.” My favorite Gunther is the one that dominates, and it would do a lot for his character if we got to watch him go over CM Punk clean here.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

Raquel Rodriguez And Roxanne Perez (Champions) Vs Alexa Bliss And Charlotte Flair For The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

Before I get into fawning over Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, let me say a few words about Raquel and Roxanne. They’ve done a fantastic job of keeping this title relevant since Liv Morgan got injured. They’ve been contributing good weekly backstage segments and putting on banger matches (shoutout Sheamus) whenever their number has been called. Raquel is really starting to maximize her potential in the ring and has quietly been a part of several of the best women’s tag team matches in company history. Roxanne has found her place on the main roster and thrived within Judgment Day, and under normal circumstances, I’d advocate for them to hold onto the titles.

But there is something here with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss that has main event potential, and the long-term upside is too high not to prioritize it. Like many fans, I wasn’t really sure where Flair could go after her poorly received program with Tiffany Stratton. She was getting the worst crowd responses of her entire career, and with so many talented women at the top of the card, I started wondering for the first time whether she’d ever be able to make it back on top.

Alexa Bliss has brought something new out of her though. The two have fantastic chemistry, and it has humanized Flair in a way we’ve never really seen from her. It’s made her really likeable, and fans gave her, arguably, the best reception of her entire career at Evolution. It’s been great for Bliss too, as she’s always had fantastic crowd support but hasn’t really been treated like a potential main eventer in a long time.

You could fantasy book a Charlotte and Alexa run a million different ways. Maybe they stay together for a year. Maybe they stay together for a few months. Maybe they remain friends over the long-term. Maybe they turn into bitter enemies. We all have our own opinions on how that should play out, but it’s pretty obvious the next step in their story needs to be winning these tag team championships and having a big moment together in the ring. That will make whatever comes later way more impactful.

Predicted Winner: Charlotte Flair And Alexa Bliss

Roman Reigns And Jey Uso Vs Bron Breakker And Bronson Reed

The safer move here is to put Roman Reigns and Jey Uso over. They’re the two biggest merch sellers in the entire company, and they get significantly bigger crowd reactions than Breakker and Reed. They’re the bigger stars, and both of them could benefit from a big win on a stage like this. I’d have to imagine that’s probably what WWE is going to do, especially after Breakker and Reed dominated them on this week’s Monday Night Raw, which is often a bad sign for winning at a PLE.

Let me just make the case for Breakker and Reed here real quick though. WWE clearly sees a huge future for both. They were put into a faction with Seth Rollins after ‘Mania, and even after he got hurt, they have been pushed just as hard alongside manager Paul Heyman. We’re meant to see them as the future of the company, and there would be no better way to signal that future is here than by letting them beat Roman Reigns on a big stage at SummerSlam.

Given Reigns has slowed down considerably over the past few years on appearances and he’s going to be filming the new Street Fighter movie, it’s unlikely WWE is going to push him back into the title picture in the near future. Jey Uso’s future is also a bit in doubt, as he had that remarkable singles run but doesn’t seem likely to be elevated back to that level in the near future. So, why can’t they lose again?

I’m going to predict Roman Reigns and Jey Uso are going to go over here because they’re Roman Reigns and Jey Uso, but I think the smarter long-term decision here would be to give Breakker and Reed a moment.

Predicted Winner: Roman Reigns And Jey Uso

Sami Zayn Vs Karrion Kross

No match more obviously benefited from SummerSlam being two nights than this one, but I am here for it. Kross has been getting over with fans in a big way, and it’s nice to see him rewarded with a singles match on a prestige card like this. But you still have to ask yourself, why is this here? Is it because we're about to get a huge moment of character development for Zayn?

Sami has arguably been the biggest straight-up babyface (other than Cody Rhodes) in the company for the past few years. He was the sympathetic hero to root for during the Bloodline storyline, and he got rewarded with career-defining moments at consecutive WrestleManias with his wins over The Usos and Gunther. Exactly where he goes from here is a big question, however.

The crowd still likes Zayn, but he’s not as hot as he once was. He’s been vowing for a long time that he’ll become World Champion some day. I’m sure fans would get behind that quest if WWE would push him hard enough, but with so many household names at the top of the card, it’s unclear if WWE has any plans on actually doing that. Kross has been telling Zayn for months that to get to the next level, he needs to essentially become a bad guy. There’s a chance we finally get that here. It would be a big risk for Zayn, but it could be a really unique way to reinvent his character by watching him cheat to win here, something he’d ordinarily never do.

Predicted Winner: Sami Zayn

Naomi (Champion) Vs Rhea Ripley Vs Iyo Sky For The Women’s World Championship

There’s really no bad outcome here. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky are both mega-over babyfaces that the crowd would love to see win the belt back, and Naomi is doing the best work of her entire career as the heel champion. You could tell a compelling story with any of these three winning the belt.

The case for Rhea is pretty simple. She’s the most popular woman in the history of the business, and while she’s had long runs as champion, she’s also done a lot of losing more recently. She’s been able to stomach those losses as they’ve involved outside interference or someone else eating the pin, but at some point, if you want fans to see you as dominant, you need to be dominant. Putting the belt on the most over performer is never a bad idea.

The case for Iyo is pretty clear too. The crowd loves her, and every single match she puts on is fantastic, no matter who her opponent is. She wasn’t really given enough storylines or weekly time the last time she had the belt, and it would be nice to put the strap back on her and lean in harder this time around.

Either of those possibilities works for me, but I’m still going to go with Naomi. I don’t think she’s going to be champion for six more months, but I do think she’s been too good to take the belt off her this quickly. She deserves at least a few more months with the title, and that starts with winning here. I don’t think it’ll be clean. It’ll probably involved some shady and underhanded tactics, but I think she’s probably going to walk out as champion.

Predicted Winner: Naomi

Becky Lynch (Champion) Vs Lyra Valkyria For The Women’s Intercontinental Championship

I think the big question is whether we see Bayley here. She gave a very somber interview on Raw where she talked about missing WrestleMania and now missing SummerSlam. I think we’re about to get a heel turn, and given how involved she has been in this entire program, it would make a lot of sense for it to happen here.

Now, how exactly a heel turn would work is complicated. She’s had matches with Becky and Lyra, though she clearly has more animosity toward Becky. Unfortunately, attacking Becky, given she’s a heel herself, wouldn’t exactly draw any heat from the crowd; so, my guess is she would just attack both of them, which would lead to a sequence of events that would see Lyra losing and Becky retaining.

Even if she doesn’t show up, I still think Becky is probably going to win here. The Intercontinental Championship picture has almost solely focused on these three women for months, and it’s time to get some fresh blood in there. If Lyra wins, we’re just going to get stuck in the same loop. So, look for her to lose and then possibly move to SmackDown with some new challengers being moved to Raw as future Becky opponents if there’s a draft.

Predicted Winner: Becky Lynch

Solo Sikoa (Champion) Vs Jacob Fatu For The United States Championship

Jacob Fatu is a star. WWE has started making speciality merchandise for Fatu that’s custom to different cities, and there have been a lot of reports that Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the other writers plan on really pushing him. That almost certainly starts with winning this match. I was shocked to see him lose the belt to Solo the first time, but I would be even more shocked to see him lose to the wannabe Tribal Chief twice. That doesn’t make any sense for his character.

Now, how WWE chooses to handle the match is an open question. Even though the match is in a steel cage, it’s likely Solo Sikoa is going to play the numbers game. Fatu obviously has my guy Big Jim Uso in his corner, but it feels like he’s going to need more firepower than that. Maybe that’ll come in the form of a returning Tama Tonga who could side with Fatu or maybe that’ll come via a new debuting character or maybe Fatu will just straight up win despite a numbers disadvantage, which would make him look as powerful as possible. We’ll see.

Even though he’s going to lose, I will give a quick shoutout to Solo though. He’s really found himself in this more comedic character, I’m excited to see what he does moving forward.

Predicted Winner: Jacob Fatu

Dominik Mysterio (Champion) Vs AJ Styles For The Intercontinental Championship

Rumors swirled recently that AJ Styles quietly signed a one year extension on his contract. I think WWE is going to want to give him some big moments before he retires, if this is, in fact, his last run, but I’m skeptical they’re going to have him beat Dominik Mysterio here. The current IC Champion got a prime Stone Cold pop during his recent appearance at AAA in Mexico, and his Honky Tonk Man style bit as the cowardly champion is currently working really well. It feels too early to bail on it.

I expect these two to put on a hell of a match. Styles is one of the best in-ring workers in the history of the business, and Mysterio has worked hard to improve to the point where he’s pretty good. With a hot crowd and the potential for some outside interference, I think this could be one of the most popular matches of the weekend.

It’s also the sort of thing where we could see a sketchy finish. Triple H doesn’t really like DQ finishes that negate a title change, but there’s a lot more meat on the bone of this feud that they may want to carry forward. I think Dominik is going to remain champion, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw these two again at an upcoming PLE.

Predicted Winner: Dominik Mysterio

The Wyatt Sicks (Champions) Vs DIY Vs The Street Profits Vs Fraxiom Vs The Motor City Machine Guns Vs Andrade And Rey Fénix For The WWE Tag Team Championship

Fans were furious when the SmackDown tag team division was left off the WrestleMania 41 card, and those complaints only got louder after DIY, The Street Profits and Motor City Machine Guns dropped an all-time classic TLC match in the days after the event. I still can’t believe they got passed over, but this SummerSlam placement is at least some consolation.

I have no idea if this will be able to live up to the last TLC match, but expect all six of these tag teams to put on a hell of an effort to try. For many, it will be the biggest match in the biggest spot of their entire careers, or at least close to it. They will go all out to prove they belong and go all out to prove how good the SmackDown tag division is. Expect some WTF high spots and a bunch of coordinated, high athleticism moves.

I have no idea who is going to win the match. You could make a legit case for every team participating. Part of me thinks the right answer is to default to the current champions, The Wyatt Sicks, but I’m having a hard time betting against Andrade and Rey Fénix. They clearly have the most momentum, and the crowd has really gotten into every one of their matches. It wouldn’t be surprised to see them rewarded in a big spot here.

Predicted Winner: Andrade And Rey Fénix

John Cena (Champion) Vs Cody Rhodes For The WWE Championship

John Cena, despite his promises, is not going to retire with The WWE Championship. He’s not gonna take the belt and go home because it doesn’t make any sense to end a championship lineage going back to the early 1960s. That means he’s going to lose at some point, but exactly when that’s going to be is an open question.

Cena will be around in some fashion for the rest of the year, which means WWE needs to decide whether to take the belt off him now and give him time for a final run as a babyface or to let him keep rolling as the heel champion. I would have definitely said they’d keep the belt on him a little longer before announcing the Cody rematch, but now I’m not so sure. In fact, I think there’s a chance WWE might be about to execute something far grander.

A double turn in wrestling is when one character goes into a match as the face or hero and another character goes into the match as a heel or villain, but afterwards, they emerge playing the opposite roles. The most famous example is Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13, which was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

I think there’s a chance we get the same thing here. For months, we’ve been getting the occasional hints that Cena is being worn down by his role as the villain, that maybe he doesn’t want to be cheating to win in every match. At the same time, there have been hints that Cody Rhodes is more willing to get his hands dirty, that he’s maybe not as clean cut of a good guy as we thought. What if Cody cheated to win, Cena realized the error of his ways, and they each emerged from the match in a very different place?

I don’t know if the double turn is going to happen, but I do think Cody is going to win the championship. Yes, it feels early, but since I think Rhodes is going to be the one to dethrone Cena and I don’t see them wrestling again in a bigger spot, I have to think this is going to be the moment. I also think these two are going to have a great match, as they're going to be particularly motivated after the reception to their WrestleMania 41 match was less than ideal.

Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes