WWE dropped two massive matches from the SummerSlam 2023 card? Exploring potential reason for exclusion
WWE locked the match card for SummerSlam with eight spectacular bouts on the show. However, two big matches that were about to come to fruition at the Biggest Party of The Summer have seemingly been excluded. WWE snubbed the plans of the Women's World Championship match between Rhea Ripley & Raquel Rodriguez, as well as the highly-anticipated bout between Trish Stratus & Becky Lynch.
One of the potential reasons behind WWE excluding these two matches from the card is that the company wants to push these big matches for the upcoming Payback premium live event. It is because Roman Reigns won't be a part of the September 2nd event in Pittsburg, and thus WWE is looking to fill the card with prominent matches.
Moreover, the SummerSlam 2023 match card is already jam-packed, and additional matches won't fit into it. Under Triple H's regime, the company's PLE's have generally had shorter cards, as The Game believes in giving each match a considerable amount of time. Once again, the WWE CCO seems to be following this theory heading into SummerSlam.
Therefore, this could be one of the potential reasons why WWE dropped the two matches. The company has been savoring these two bouts and will likely present them at the next PLE. It will be interesting to see how the storylines of both shape up in the meantime.
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Exploring another major reason behind WWE scrapping the matches from SummerSlam
WWE Payback is returning after three years, and the company is looking to build the two matches for this spectacular event centered around its theme. The rivalry between Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez has been getting more intense each week, as the former took everything from Rodriguez.
Rhea Ripley has cost Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez their Tag Team titles and also injured both superstars, sending Morgan away from television. Therefore, Rodriguez will seek payback from the Eradicator for everything she has done. Thus, it makes Payback the hallowed ground for this match, and it fits aptly with the namesake.
On the other hand, Trish Stratus has been hovering over Becky Lynch for quite some time now, disrespecting The Man for months. This is a rivalry that has become personal, and Lynch will look for vengeance on Stratus. With Payback being the next PLE after SummerSlam, it looks to be the ideal place for Becky to finish the story once and for all.
Thus, the potential reason behind WWE scrapping both matches from SummerSlam is that the company is building both feuds thematically around Payback. Its name personifies the storylines of the two matches, and there couldn't be a better place to see the culmination of those feuds.