We’re now less than a week away from SummerSlam 2025, and the card is really starting to come together. There are twelve matches already locked in with the potential for more to be added. I can’t wait, especially after this past Friday Night SmackDown when head booker Triple H and WWE took a big step toward fixing a huge WrestleMania 41 mistake fans are still mad about.
No, I’m not talking about WrestleMania 41’s biggest mistake. The main event very infamously didn’t include The Rock but did include Travis Scott in what turned out to be one of the most poorly received segments in WWE history. The main event rematch between Cody Rhodes and John Cena may try to do some retroactive damage control there, but ultimately, we won’t know until the match actually happens. Instead, I’m talking about the match that wasn’t on the card.
For the last year or so, the SmackDown tag team division has been fantastic. More than a half dozen teams have put significant work into building real storylines and putting on compelling matches. Fans just assumed at least two of the teams would be rewarded with a well-deserved spot on the WrestleMania 41 card, but instead, the Street Profits vs Motor City Machine Guns vs DIY was bizarrely relegated to the SmackDown after ‘Mania. Social media complained loudly and aggressively at the time, but it didn’t change anything, as everyone involved in the division was cut from The Showcase Of The Immortals.
The decision seemed like a confusing mistake at the time, and it looked even worse after the three teams put on an all-time fantastic Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at the SmackDown after ‘Mania. Many fans called it one of the best tag team matches they’d ever seen, and there was near universal agreement that it would have been one of the best matches at ‘Mania 41 had it made the card. Thankfully, it seems WWE is ready to make up for its mistake.
At the end of SmackDown, commissioner Nick Aldis announced that this year’s SummerSlam will feature a TLC match that includes tag team champions The Wyatt Sicks defending against DIY, The Street Profits, Motor City Machine Guns, Fraxium and Andrade and Rey Fénix. SummerSlam might not be WrestleMania, but it’s universally considered either the second or third most important PLE of the year, depending on how a person feels about the Royal Rumble. Making the card is always a huge achievement, and if the teams are able to pull off anything like the previous TLC match at ‘Mania, it’ll go down as a first page career highlight for everyone involved.
I’m a big believer in rewarding the people doing good work on television with matches at PLEs. The tag team division on SmackDown deserved a WrestleMania match for all they did to rehab the division. They didn’t get one, but it warms my heart to see WWE trying to make up for it with a big showcase at SummerSlam. Fingers crossed they can use it to continue the momentum and show a huge audience how great tag team wrestling can be.
