Greetings jabronis,
Whilst yours truly is giddy with glee to see Christian involved in one of the main event matches at Summerslam, I think it’s fair to say that it’s come somewhat out the blue. If anyone can tell me that they accurately predicted 5 weeks ago that it would be Christian facing Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Title on August 18th, then I would call that person a liar. A dirty, rotten liar.
It seemed fairly transparent to me that, with Dolph Ziggler once again plucked from the title picture, Rob Van Dam would be the obvious choice of opponent for Del Rio at Summerslam. He’s red-hot with audiences right now after a 6 year absence from WWE TV, and it would have been an intriguing clash of styles between two guys who had never faced one another before. I guess there’s always the chance that this could be transformed into a triple threat affair with RVD joing the party – but the PPV is now just over a week away so WWE would certainly be leaving things late.
Instead, for whatever reason, WWE has chosen to go with Christian… and I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what that “reason” might be. Understand, dear readers, that I’m not complaining – far from it in fact. Regular visitors to Bingo’s Breakdown will be well aware that Christian is my favourite guy on the entire roster. I know Christian is perceived as somewhat of a fanboy favourite for the IWC, and thus it’s kinda fashionable to knock him these days – but I seriously believe that anyone who questions his merits as one of the top performers in the entire company probably suffers from brain diarrhea. The guy NEVER has a bad match, he’s gold on the mic (though admittedly more natural as a heel) and he has one of the most decorated pro-wrestling legacies of all time. He da man, yo.
But I’ll fully acknowledge that Christian seemed to have found his haven in the midcard. This is someone who was scheduled to feud with Dean Ambrose for the US Title over the summer; This is a guy who we all perceived as having the least chance of winning the all-star MITB bout last month; This is the guy who lost clean to Kane and Daniel Bryan in the build up to the MITB PPV to be put firmly in his place; This is a superstar who has languished in the midcard (or been absent with injury) since his lacklustre heavyweight title reigns in the summer of 2011. So I think it’s a question loaded with validity – just why has Christian been pushed to the top of the pack for Summerslam?!
Another thing to consider is this: It’s freaking Summerslam! This isn’t a throwaway PPV like Hell in a Cell or Extreme Rules – this is what WWE calls its second biggest event of the year! So it’s a damn big deal.
So, after racking my fragile brain, I have four theories as to why Christian has found himself in the lofty position of number 1 contender to the World Heavyweight Title….
- Christian will once again have a veeeery short reign
There’s a strong posiibility that WWE wants to rush the World Title on to Damien Sandow to freshen things up. Folk are clamouring to suggest that Randy Orton could cash in his briefcase at Summerslam on Bryan or Cena, but I think it’s just as likely we could see Sandow cash in on Christian should be win the title on Sunday.
Sandow is a whiny, heel braggart – so it would make much more sense for him to snatch the title from crowd favourite Christian rather than a fellow heel.
- Christian is just being tossed some scraps
Sheamus is injured, Mark Henry headlined last month’s PPV, Orton is sticking his nose in the Bryan/Cena feud and Punk and Ziggler are busy with Big E and Brock respectively. Did WWE give the spot to Christian simply because there was nobody else to face ADR? Sure, there’s the aforementioned RVD, but perhaps WWE is simply rewarding Christian for years of service rather than give it to the guy who has just jumped ship from TNA.
But although Christian gets the opportunity to headline Summerslam (and get the hefty pay-out that comes with it) he’s ultimately just something for ADR to beat and prolong his reign.
- WWE has realised that Christian is the mutt’s nuts!
Admittedly this is the least likely of the scenarios… But wouldn’t it be awesome if Vince and the WWE booking team magically reconsidered their opinion of Christian and perceived him as a bonafide main eventer and give him a lengthy title reign starting here. I’d applaud that, being the biased bi-atch that I am.
- There’s a bigger story to tell
Maybe WWE is sowing the seeds for something bigger and there’s a potential story here I’m missing? You’d have to consider Ricardo Rodriguez getting involved to potentially help out either guy. Or is there a story to evolve here with the veteran Christian unable to cement himself as one of the big boys like his best pal Edge – or indeed like any of the other veterans still left from the Attitude Era such as HHH, Kane, The Big Show, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho and Mark Henry – superstars who, unlike Christian, all regularly find themselves in main events.
Just to make this feud even more perplexing, WWE chose to give it away (FOR FREE!) on this week’s episode of Smackdown. Booking like this truly baffles me and I’m sure it does you too, yes? You’re less than 2 weeks from Summerslam and you put one of your main event title bouts on Smackdown??? Whhhhhhy? You don’t build up a title feud by having the two opponents continuously face each other in the build up to their PPV confrontation!
Booking logic dictates that Christian, having now defeated Del Rio twice in succession, will lose at Summerslam. But I think logic was thrown out of the window with an almighty smash a long time ago as far as the booking here is concerned. So who knows?
In conclusion, I rather frustratingly have no idea what story WWE is trying to tell with Christian here. Is he filler? Is he our next champion? Is there something more sinister afoot? Or is there an obvious circumstance I’m missing?
Please share you own thoughts below, jabronis… and enlighten me if you think the outcome of this one is obvious because, the truth is, I’m well and truly stumped.
Over and out.
