Coming on the heels of both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, the best sportsbooks have released the odds on three main matches from this year’s SummerSlam: WWE Universal title match, Raw Women’s title match, and WSmackdown Women’s title match.
Let’s look at the odds and possibilities for each.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion
Ember Moon is challenging Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Title. If we go by the odds, Bayley is a moderate favorite to retain the belt. Ember Moon is coming in as a +150 underdog. And though it’s underdog odds, they are not long by any means. Bayley is a -200 favorite or 1 to 2. So, although Bayley is favored, the odds are not entirely lop-sided.
People have been talking about this match happening for some time now. And it’s about time that they have been paired against one another in a No. 1 contenders match. They have a running list of ring appearances together in tag-team situations, but never head-to-head, one-on-one.
The main reason that I think Bayley will win is the fact that Ember Moon’s previous events have been met with very little fanfare. Mostly, Ember Moon has been reduced to the secondary-sidekick role. Even her appearance at WrestleMania was less than bombastic.
Bayley, on the other hand, has more star power. And we should see her retain the Women’s Title in SummerSlam to build up some momentum for the future. But, hey, you never know. The odds are short for a reason.
WWE RAW Women’s Champion
Becky Lynch is the -250 favorite over Natalya, +170. Again, these are not overly long odds, but the reigning woman is still expected by odds-makers to retain the title. Some expected Becky Lynch to be facing Rowdy Rhonda, but it isn’t the case. Natalya gets her shot at the RAW Women’s Title. Especially after the beat down Rousey put on Lynch before WrestleMania, and then the way that Rowdy lost her title with Lynch and Flair momentarily teaming up to take Rhonda down.
But, Natalya won the Fatal 4-Way and is the new No. 1 contender by tapping out Alexa. This will actually be a great match to watch. Nattie has a smooth style and both are powerful, skilled wrestlers. I wouldn’t be surprised to a change of hands with the title come out of this match.
WWE Universal Champion
Seth Rollins Battle Royal to regain his spot as the No. 1 contender, but if he wants to be Universal Champion he has to go through the Beast, Broc Lesnar, on August 11th. This is becoming an epic rivalry. Lesnar made history as the first wrestler to cash in –Money in the Bank– on the person who had previously cashed in on him. Now they are going head-to-head for the Universal Title.
Will Lesnar lose his title on the follow-up Pay-Per-View event? It doesn’t seem likely, and that is a big part of why Broc Lesnar is listed a the -200 favorite in Toronto. That said, Broc has sucked up a lot of time over the last couple of years as the Champ, so it wouldn’t come as too much of a shocker to see him dethroned by Rollins.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Yes, each Champ is listed as the favorite to win … but we can’t expect that to hold. At least one of the current champions is going down on August 11th.
