WWE SummerSlam 2019 Kickoff Matches Announced
WWE SummerSlam is set to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern on the WWE Network at the Scotiabank Arena in [...]
WWE SummerSlam is set to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern on the WWE Network at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario Canada. But before the show can get officially underway, WWE will host a two-hour live kickoff show on its YouTube channel and social media networks, giving fans one last shot to sign up for the network before the show begins.
And with a longer kickoff show comes more matches, as WWE announced that three bouts will take place before SummerSlam officially starts. Those matches include Cruiserweight Champion Drew Gulak vs. Oney Lorcan, WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics and Buddy Murphy vs. Apollo Crews.
JUST ANNOUNCED for #SummerSlam Kickoff:
🇨🇦 @DrewGulak vs. @_StarDESTROYER - @WWE #CruiserweightTitle
— WWE (@WWE) August 11, 2019
🇨🇦 @AlexaBliss_WWE & @NikkiCrossWWE vs. @PeytonRoyceWWE & @BillieKayWWE - WWE Women's #TagTeamTitles
🇨🇦 @WWEApollo vs. @WWE_Murphy
https://t.co/yEtepJ8DBr
This announcement comes with a few surprises. Bliss and Cross are fresh off winning the women's tag titles on Monday and weren't expected to compete, while many thought Murphy would once again get involved in the Roman Reigns/Daniel Bryan/Rowan mystery attacks storyline after Reigns brutally interrogated him at the end of SmackDown Live. Now that he's in a match with Crews, that seems unlikely.
Gulak vs. Lorcan was announced ahead of time and many assumed it would make the kickoff show given the status of the title. However with the announcement SummerSlam now only has nine matches on the official card, which could play into the reports that WWE was considering making the pay-per-view run a bit shorter after the complaints of WrestleMania 35 running past midnight. For comparison, WrestleMania had 12 main-card matches in April while Extreme Rules, the last big pay-per-view, had 11.
It's also worth noting that Reigns' status for tonight's show remains unknown. He does not have an official match booked for the show as of mid-Sunday afternoon, and reports popped up earlier in the week that a match between he and Daniel Bryan might be postponed to not rush the storyline..