WWE Super Showdown 2019 Preview & Predictions

WWE Super ShowDown on Friday, June 7th (2pm ET/11am PT) is the third event in WWE's controversial partnership with Prince Mohammad Bin Salman as part of the Saudi General Sports Authority and Saudi Vision 2030. They entered into a 10 year agreement in 2018 with WWE running 2 events per year at the King Abdullah Sports City which has a capacity of over 62,000. The event is being advertised "as big as WrestleMania" because WWE puts close to that level of production value into this event. It is estimated that WWE earned somewhere between $70-80 million combined for their two events in Saudi Arabia last year. To put that in perspective: WrestleMania 35 earned WWE only $16.9 million. There is a lot of money in this event and so WWE will put in effort to put on a show that will please Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.

Every time the event is mentioned, the WWE Universe boos. Likely because of the Prince's involvement in the murder of Jamal Kashoggi and the subsequent cover-up. In an era where the WWE Universe is supposed to be the authority, one particular Universe member's money speaks a lot louder than us collectively.

Including the 50-man Battle Royal, there are nine scheduled matches on the main show and one tag team match in the Kickoff Show. The entire women's roster, Sami Zayn (Syrian), & Aleister Black (religious tattoos & symbols) have been withheld from the event at the request of government of Saudi Arabia for political and religious reasons. Kevin Owens, John Cena, and Daniel Bryan are not participating in the event for personal reasons. The Universal Championship, WWE Championship, and the Intercontinental Championship are all on the line in singles matches with the main event being the dream match of The Undertaker vs. Goldberg.

Below is a preview of each match on the card including what to watch for and predictions of how things may play out based upon recent booking. In the comments below, share your thoughts on the show and other dream matches you'd like to see.

Goldberg vs. The Undertaker

A dream match twenty years in the making: The Undertaker will face Goldberg in a singles match on a WWE PPV event. Although both men are well past their prime, The Undertaker is 54 years old while Goldberg is 53 years old, this is still a dream match. Goldberg has only one loss in all of his WWE matches and it was a pinfall loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 33. Goldberg hasn't had a match longer than 14 minutes in the WWE and this one will be mercifully short as well. Lesnar was able to defeat Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 after taking 2 spears, another spear through the barricade, and a jackhammer. Lesnar employed an offense of 10 German suplexes and it took only one F5 to defeat Goldberg. If The Undertaker targets Goldberg's head, he could give Goldberg his second loss.
After defeating John Cena & Rusev in 2018, Undertaker lost his match with Triple H at Super Show-down in Australia. The Undertaker has had some high-profile losses in the past 5 years but has won significantly more than he has lost. That being said, Undertaker is vulnerable and considerably less mobile and powerful than he used to be. The Undertaker is going to need some magic to defeat Goldberg, and he certainly has that. The Undertaker will find a way to defeat Goldberg.

WINNER
The Undertaker via pinfall

Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
WWE Championship

Since winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35 the fans chant "you deserve it" at Kofi Kingston. This is in reference to his 11 years of hard work as a mid-card WWE Superstar and the hard work that he put into being a consistently entertaining performer regardless of feuds or position on the card. This chant could easily be applied to Dolph Ziggler as well, who has worked for WWE for 15 years. Ziggler, like Kofi, took every assignment he was given and made the best of it regardless of his position on the card. Ziggler's bitterness comes from a bit of truth making this match that was thrown together because Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens aren't going to Saudi Arabia significantly more compelling than it would've been with just about any other opponent. Kofi and Dolph have had 30 singles matches on television together in WWE. Kofi has defeated Dolph 17 of those times and one of their matches was a no-contest but Dolph has won each of their last 8 matches out of the 30 before taking his sabbatical after the 2019 Royal Rumble.
Kofi has successfully retained his championship in defenses against Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, & Kevin Owens. Kofi is having the best matches of his career and doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon. Dolph and Kofi work wonderfully together and will have a show-stealing match. It's unclear whether Ziggler will be back full-time to feud with Kofi or if this is just temporary but Kofi is clearly still on the rise and he'll pick up the win here.

WINNER
Kofi Kingston via pinfall

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Baron Corbin
Universal Championship

Baron Corbin has been a thorn in the side of Universal Champion, Seth Rollins, since he was made interim RAW GM. Rollins is in the best shape of his life and has been putting on great matches with everyone he has faced in the past two years. Corbin will be able to display his amazing combination of agility, speed, and power in this match that will open the eyes of Corbin detractors. Rollins and Corbin have faced each other twice in singles competition on RAW in 2018 with Rollins winning both matches.
Brock Lesnar keeps threatening Rollins that he'll cash in his Money In The Bank contract and this past Monday on RAW Lesnar was heard saying "Friday. Friday." to Rollins. The only way Rollins loses to Corbin is if Lesnar interferes. Lesnar may actually cash in his contract at Super Showdown and defeat a weakened Rollins but Baron Corbin is taking a loss here.

WINNER
Seth Rollins via pinfall

"The Demon" Finn Balor (c) vs. Andrade
Intercontinental Championship

This match is what the Intercontinental Championship is all about: two great in-ring workers with different wrestling styles clashing in a showcase of athleticism and storytelling at its finest. These two have faced each other in singles competition only twice on the main roster with Andrade getting the win in their first match on RAW while Balor picked up the victory in their second meeting the next week on SmackDown. These two are a fantastic athletic matchup and would likely trade victories on an even playing field, but Andrade has never faced "The Demon". When Finn Balor becomes "The Demon" he is virtually unstoppable. The Demon's only loss came to Samoa Joe at NXT: The End. The Demon will remain undefeated on the main roster after this match but Andrade isn't going away any time soon.

WINNER
Finn Balor via pinfall

Triple H vs. Randy Orton
As you can see in the video above, Triple H & Randy Orton have a 16 year relationship cycling between friendship and rivalry. They have clashed in singles competition on PPV 9 times with Triple H being victorious in 7 of those 9 matches. Triple H clearly has Randy Orton's number when they meet on PPV. Orton got the better of Triple H this past week on RAW in their verbal joust when he told the COO to "retrieve your balls from Stephanie's purse". This verbal beatdown of Triple H is all the motivation The Game needs to dominate Orton once again. There will be some wrestling in this match, but the match will be at least 50% brawling and that will favor the more powerful Triple H. Orton is a first ballot WWE Hall of Famer and a great champion, but when it comes to facing Triple H on a big show: the Viper is snakebit.
WINNER
Triple H via pinfall

Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley
Since losing his mouthpiece, manager, and guide Lio Rush, Bobby Lashley has been lost. Lashley hasn't had a win on television since April. Braun has been a bit lost in the shuffle as well since winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but that hasn't had any effect on his wins and losses. Strowman will make short work of Lashley here. One has to wonder what's next for Bobby Lashley? Lashley came back to the WWE looking like a force picking up decisive victories on PPV over Sami Zayn & Roman Reigns before falling out of the main event picture. He's had two Intercontinental Title wins but both reigns were short. Here's hoping Lashley can find some direction on the road to SummerSlam.

WINNER
Braun Strowman via pinfall

Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon

Shane McMahon returns to where he became "The Best In The World" to take on WWE's biggest star: Roman Reigns. Reigns has been dominant since his return but has been distracted from the WWE title picture with these personal feuds. Reigns already announced on RAW that he'll be facing Drew McIntyre in two weeks at the next PPV "Stomping Grounds". Reigns is incredibly distracted and will likely fall into a trap at Super Showdown. Reigns doesn't have anyone to focus his attention on what matters, making him incredibly vulnerable here. Expect shenanigans, cheating, and just about any tactic that McMahon can employ to be victorious here. Unless Roman gets some help, Drew McIntyre will cost him this match against Shane McMahon.

WINNER
Shane McMahon via pinfall

Lars Sullivan vs. Lucha House Party

Lucha House Party just had a heck of a match with The Revival on Main Event last week that is definitely worth watching. They are some of the greatest performers in the company and could put on a fantastic match with Sullivan. Hopefully they get to have a bit of offense before Sullivan dominates, but that's likely just hope. This feud is a little off since Lars entered the main roster by injuring Jeff Hardy and ruining the Hardy Boyz tag team championship run on SmackDown. It's likely that creative chose to go with LHP as Lars' first feud because they can bump a lot more for Sullivan than Matt Hardy can. LHP will take some serious bumps in this match, hopefully with no injuries, as Sullivan's first match on a main roster PPV will be a squash.

WINNER
Lars Sullivan via pinfall

50-Man Battle Royal

With Sami Zayn and Aleister Black being held out of the event at the request of the Saudi government, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, and John Cena abstaining for personal reasons. This Battle Royal is thin on starpower but that leaves room for surprises. Last year at Greatest Royal Rumble we got the great surprise of Chris Jericho, Dan Matha, Hornswoggle, Babatunde, and Roderick Strong. Who will surprise us this year? Matt Riddle's name has been floated as a participant but has not yet been confirmed. Superstars from NXT, NXT UK, and some legends may even show up in this Battle Royal. Elias, Jinder Mahal,Titus O'Neil, and Drake Maverick have been featured prominently on TV over the past few weeks as they chase R-Truth and his new 24/7 title. I'd expect them to have some sort of bit in this match as well. Without knowing most of the participants this prediction will be a bit of a shot in the dark. That being said, AJ Styles is on the poster while not being advertised for a match.

WINNER
AJ Styles

The Usos vs. The Revival

This match was announced in a Tweet at 2:15pm on Wednesday, but this is another dream match and they should get a decent amount of time on this Kickoff show. The Usos have been one of the most consistently fantastic tag teams of the last decade. Their feuds with The Wyatt Family, The Bar, and The New Day have elevated tag team wrestling in WWE. The Revival established their reputation as one of the best tag teams in wrestling with jaw-dropping performances at NXT TakeOvers against American Alpha, DIY, and Enzo & Cass. These two teams have had one match on RAW that was just a sample of what they can do together. The Revival won that first meeting on RAW but The Usos are a juggernaut in WWE that cannot be stopped. This very well could be the best bout on the card and it's not even on the main show.

WINNER
The Usos via pinfall