12-man tag added to SummerSlam kickoff show

After Sami Zayn and Neville vs. The Dudley Boyz was added to the SummerSlam kickoff show on Friday afternoon, another match was later set featuring SmackDown’s tag division.

American Alpha, The Hype Bros, and The Usos will team to take on Breezango, The Ascension, and The Vaudevillains.

The match is a repeat of their encounter from last Tuesday’s SmackDown go-home show, which saw American Alpha pick up the win for the babyface team. Recent weeks have featured multi-team brawls with each vying for division supremacy, but SmackDown still remains without a tag team championship.

The match is the 13th announced for SummerSlam and the second specifically announced for the kickoff show.

The updated card for SummerSlam is:

  • Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton
  • Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Universal Championship
  • WWE Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler in a championship match
  • John Cena vs. AJ Styles
  • WWE Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte in a championship match
  • United States Champion Rusev vs. Roman Reigns in a championship match
  • Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Apollo Crews in a championship match
  • WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) vs. The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) in a championship match
  • Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens
  • Cesaro vs. Sheamus in the first match of a best-of-seven series
  • Becky Lynch, Naomi, & Carmella vs. Natalya & Alexa Bliss
  • Sami Zayn & Neville vs. The Dudley Boyz on the SummerSlam kickoff show
  • American Alpha, The Hype Bros, & The Usos vs. Breezango, The Ascension, & The Vaudevillains

SummerSlam to feature expanded two-hour kickoff show

Joining an already loaded week of content, WWE announced even more programming for SummerSlam week on Monday afternoon.

Most notably, SummerSlam will now be a six-hour affair as an expanded two-hour kickoff show will air before WWE’s biggest show of the summer.

The week will also see additional WWE Network content, with a new episode of WWE 24 looking at the evolution of women’s wrestling in the company set to air on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. ET. The show seems to be built around footage from the WrestleMania 32 weekend that featured Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch for the new Women’s Championship.

In addition to that, a new episode of Legends with JBL featuring Sting as the guest will air on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.

Only eclipsed by WrestleMania, the week will be WWE’s second biggest of the year. And it will be anchored by SummerSlam on Sunday and NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II on Saturday.