On Sunday, August 14th, World Wrestling Entertainment presents SummerSlam live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. “The Biggest Party of the Summer” is one of the four “major” pay per views on WWE’s Schedule (along with The Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania and Survivor Series) and this years edition is getting a lot of buzz, mainly because of the recent angle involving CM Punk and John Cena.
As we have chronicled on this site before, CM Punk has established himself as the hottest commodity in wrestling. Thanks to his recent “worked shoot” interview style, where he says things that look like they are “off script”, and his tremendous talent in the ring, Punk has made casual fans take notice. The question is, will WWE let this angle play out or will the WWE-ize it?
Here is a rundown of the matches, starting with the main event.
Cena vs Punk at the Money In the Bank pay per view last month was probably the most talked about wrestling match since the Attitude Era and it didn’t disappoint. The great part was that in this internet day and age, it is very difficult to make things unpredictable in wrestling from smart fans. Nobody really knew if CM Punk was leaving after his contract was up, and if he won how would the angle play out?
Punk won the title and promptly walked out. Since that day, CM Punk made the rounds with his WWE Championship, The WWE Board of Directors “replaced” Vince McMahon with his real life son in law, Triple H who announced a tournament for the vacant title that Rey Mysterio won and held for roughly an hour, when John Cena beat him. Then Punk returns and we have two guys with the same belt. They have some interviews where they make references to behind the scenes stuff and Triple H decides to insert himself as special guest referee for the match.
The question is, now what?
WWE Style would be to have Triple H cost Punk the title, putting the championship around the waist of the good old standby and setting off a feud between The Establishment and the Anti-establishment that would eventually bury Punk and kill his momentum.
Another scenario would be to have Triple H cost Cena the title and align himself with Punk, who reveals that all his anti-establishment ranting was because he wanted to be a member of the establishment (and have his own ice cream bar). This would lead to Cena fighting as the underdog against the new evil regime.
So how will it go down? I can see the second scenario going down, but my hope is that they go with a third, more controversial option.
It is time for John Cena to go heel.
He is already booked for Wrestlemania next year against the most popular wrestling figure in the world, so why not get the ball rolling on a heel Cena? While he has been made into a jorts wearing, wristband/hat matching former rapper with a spinning belt, Cena could be made into a legitimate bad ass. Lets face it, a good portion of the fans already hate him, so the transition should be pretty easy. The question is, how do you do it?
Near the end of the match, Cena and Triple H will get into it with Triple H getting the upper hand on an exhausted Cena. As he has him set up for the Pedigree, another good guy will charge the ring to help out Super Cena. Ideally it would be Rey Mysterio who runs to the ring to save his friend (the same friend who took the title from him only an hour after he won it) and goes to 6-1-9 him only to have Cena catch him with an attitude adjustment. Cena then screams something about not needing any help over a crumbled up Mysterio only to be caught by the Go To Sleep from Punk and a quick count by Triple H.
Punk and Triple H escape before Cena gets back on his feet. Left in the ring with Mysterio, Cena goes over to his former friend and helps him up. Gives him the whole “heat of the moment” spiel and offers him his hand. When Mysterio shakes, Cena pulls him in for another attitude adjustment then puts him in the STFU. Officials and other wrestlers hit the ring and Cena drops a few more before escaping. The show ends with Cena on the ramp removing his wristbands and storming off as Mysterio is left in the ring.
Now a quick rundown on the rest of the card.
Christian vs Randy Orton, No Holds Barred for the World Heavyweight Championship
Christian won the title vacated by his best friend Edge in a match at the May 1st Pay Per View Extreme Rules, only to lose it to Randy Orton 5 days later. This obviously had the internet up in arms, after all the build up of Christian finally winning the title, they pull the rug out from under him before he gains any legitimacy as a a top level guy. Although controversial, it did lead to a Christian heel turn as the obsessed challenger. It eventually paid off at Money In the Bank when they wrestled in a match where the title could change hands on a disqualification. Christian spit in Orton’s face which prompted Orton to punt Christian in the crotch, causing the DQ.
So Christian wins a vacant title only to get screwed and then wins the title again in a cheap fashion. If he has any hope of being a legitimate champ in the eyes of the fans, he needs a clean win here. I see the WWE doing just that, Christian needs the title and Orton needs to move on. While I expect a clean win, it should come out of nowhere, like reversing the RKO.
Sheamus vs Mark Henry
Mark Henry has been established as a monster in recent months while Sheamus has wallowed on the mid card since his early success at the top of the card. This feud has been based on the simple premise that the two guys were looking for a fight and found each other. The winner of this match should be next in line for the title, which is why I see Sheamus pulling it out. Mark Henry has been with the company for a long time, but they have undermined him so many times that very few fans would take him seriously at the top of the card.
Part of me thinks this match was booked because the writers wanted to pair the whitest guy in the locker room with the blackest guy in the locker room just to mess with the people still watching in standard definition.
Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix for the WWE Divas Title
Phoenix was a monster for a while, then became a comedy act with Santino only to fall by the way side as a Diva with no real feud. After she won a 20 Diva Battle Royal to earn this title shot, Kelly Kelly bounced into the ring to celebrate with her only to get the crap kicked out of her. Phoenix took the mic and said she was tired of all the pretty bimbos and stormed off.
Good to see the Glamazon back to her old ways, especially with Kharma out of the picture. Expect this to be a quick match, thankfully.
The other match was just announced a few hours ago and isnt even on the WWE.com SummerSlam subsite, so they dont get a graphic.
Money in the Bank Winner Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett
Had the Nexus angle been played correctly, this match might mean something but Bryan was fired and the WWE botched the Nexus angle completely. Bryan is vanilla, but the dude can wrestle. This should be a good match, and I see Bryan winning.
Also, dont forget, Cee Lo Green provided the theme song for the event, Bright Lights Bigger City, and he will be performing.
http://youtu.be/z6onBi5uNUc
