So I have some thoughts on SummerSlam including some predictions and a few other things I think relevant to this Sundays show. While there is potential for the show to be very good, there is a lot lacking from this card, including a few key names, which is part of the reason I am likely not to order this weekends show. Never the less I am interested to see how it plays out, so here a few thoughts on what might happen.
Names Left Off:Â before starting with matches, I wanna touch on a few of the names left off of the show and I am not talking about Triple H and The Undertaker. I am talking about Evan Bourne, Christian and Jack Swagger. It really disappoints me that these three men are not involved in the show as of yet. Bourne was in the midst of his best push yet and is nowhere on the card, Swagger was on the verge of winning the World Heavyweight Championship just a month ago and I think every fan like myself realizes the type of main event potential Christian has, so it’s disappointing that talented performers like these are left off one of the biggest cards of the year.
On to the matches, I am actually using wrestling-edge.com as the source for my card seeing as I couldn’t find a full listing on WWE s official SummerSlam site just days before the event, really bad marketing.
WWE Divas Title Match, Alicia Fox vs. Melina:  I actually had high hopes for this feud, considering that it is in the women’s division but they pretty much ruined it with their match thrown together on Raw last week. Melina can give the division some credibility and excitement, put that with the dominant run they have Alicia Fox on and you had the making for a decent feud if it was played out right. Strike that, put them in a match immediately without any build and follow it up with an undeserved title bout in a rematch just 6 days later. Well played creative, well played.
Big Show vs. Straight Edge Society: I am not really sure how I feel about this, mainly indifferent, seeing as I don’t watch Smackdown all that often and really this feud does nothing for me. Nice to have Punk and Big Show on the card for star power but nothing about this match screams excitement to me. Maybe the SES starts to breakup but very unlikely.
WWE Intercontinental Championship, Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler:Â Â Okay now this one bothers me. Not the fact that Kofi lost the title, which it does but the fact that Ziggler won it and they are having a rematch 2 days later. Not to mention the fact Ziggler won it not 5 seconds after kicking out of Kofi Kingstons finisher, just really takes away from that moves effectiveness. Have mixed feelings about Dolph Ziggler but the idea of Kofi losing the title two days ago and having a rematch now make it unlikely he has any chance of winning it back and that makes this match fairly pointless in my opinion. Logic tells you Ziggler retains but if WWE really wants to throw a curve, they’ ll give the title right back to Kofi and keep things interesting. Second best scenario, this means Kofi is on to more of a main event push. Anything but him jobbing to Dirk Diggler.
WHC Kane vs. Rey Mysterio: okay onto the interesting matches, okay maybe not quite but there is some intrigue in this match. Everyone and their brother (get it) thinks the Undertaker is going to return during this match and he probably should. But it’s been so widely talked about and probably less hidden than Chris Jerichos return but at this point it would almost make sense to hold off Taker’s return until Smackdown. I mean the people who are ordering SummerSlam are ordering anyway, so why not build the suspense and throw a curve, albeit an unpopular one and wait a few days on the phenoms comeback. Chances are he’ ll be back at SummerSlam anyway so rest easy.
WWE Championship, Sheamus vs. Randy Orton: this is another match that has me scratching my head, yes there is a scar after years of watching WWE, but this one seems to me like it was thrown together because Triple H hasn’t comeback as soon as expected. Why else would WWE throw together a potentially great feud in just a three week period. (Im looking for something other than because we’re creative and we make potentially disastrous decisions on a weekly basis) Sheamus has a lot of heat and great momentum and Orton is arguably the biggest star in the business right now, but this doesn’t quite have that epic match feel, it seems like it’s just missing the build. (potential show stealer)
Nexus vs. Team WWE: okay here is where things really get interesting. This has the potential to be one of the worst matches in recent history, one of the most exciting, or just somewhere in between. (I know im very opinionated) There are a lot of factors here including when this match will take place, in all likelihood it shouldn’t close the show but it’s a possibility. I’ve talked about who might be the potential replacement after Edge and Jericho came back, so I won’t say anything other than what Rob commented on my last article and that is, it would be awesome if it was Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan). Just extremely well thought out, perfectly timed exciting, this is the reason I watch wrestling type of awesome. Not sure how likely that is but the other issue here is will there be a new member of Nexus.
If it wasn’t for all their talk of a greater purpose, which seems to have died down lately, I personally would have no issue with them constructed as is for the time being. Since there was so much buildup to a bigger plan, Sunday has got to be the day we see a leader take over this group and the smart money says it is Bret Hart. There are so many reasons it would work, his whole beat down angle by Nexus was skeptical, there is the timing of his return, him not being in shape to be a factor in the match, it all seems to point to him turning on team WWE. It would make sense storyline wise for him to want to screw Vince and WWE. It could make a really interesting storyline and theres a good chance this match comes down to Bret, Cena and a few Nexus members but regardless of who it is, it has to be someone, otherwise WWE is really taking a big risk here moving on with the group as it is.
So in conclusion, I am not overly optimistic about the shows outlook but I am often wrong in these cases, so you can probably expect a good show. In the tradition of predictions, I ll go with Melina, Big show, Kane, Kofi (taking a risk) Orton and Nexus. Haven’t really thought a lot about it but almost every one of these matches could go either way so 0 for 6 isn’t out of the question. That is the other thing, it’s hard to see a main PPV having only six matches, good chance one gets added last minute, which is another bad move but maybe we’ ll get lucky and it will be a worth while match that had no build. Either way, because of what does, or in some cases doesn’t happen, it is going to be an interesting show.
