WWE appears to be back to trying to fit as many Superstars onto its big cards as possible as last week, with just eight days to go, it announced a battle royal for this weekend’s SummerSlam. The thing is, it didn’t announce any of the participants. With just five days and two shows to go until WWE’s biggest event of the summer, the first participants have now been revealed. Six of them, to be exact, and yes, one of them is LA Knight.
Six Superstars Added To The Battle Royal
Knight and Sheamus are the only Superstars from SmackDown to have been added to the match so far, although I imagine that will have changed by the time we get to SummerSlam with one more edition of the blue brand still to go. The other four spots occupied right now all go to Raw stars who either declared entry or were announced as participants during Monday night’s show.
Yes, much like the Royal Rumble, some Superstars can just decide they’re in the SummerSlam battle royal while others seemingly have to earn their way in. Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomasso Ciampa fall into the former category, announcing on Raw that they’ll be in the match and then proceeding to compete in singles action on Monday night. Nakamura bested Ciampa, but only because he grabbed a handful of tights when pinning him.
Gable Wants Gunther
Chad Gable and Otis didn’t announce their respective entries into the match, but it was confirmed that both members of Alpha Academy will be a part of the battle royal. What exactly the winning Superstar will get for being the last man standing in the match on Saturday hasn’t been revealed, but what Gable endured on Raw, and then what he said after the show on Raw Talk, suggests the winner may well get a shot at the Intercontinental Title.
Gable lost to Gunther on Monday night, but he did what was asked of him in the match. All Gable had to do was survive against The Ring General in a beat-the-clock challenge and he managed that. On Raw Talk, Gable said he’s coming after the Intercontinental Champion following SummerSlam. Gunther might not be champion by then, though. Despite becoming the third longest reigning IC Champion ever last weekend, Drew McIntyre could bring that reign to a grinding halt at SummerSlam.