All great stories start with once upon a time. The fairytales, the legends, every one of them has their unique once upon a time. And this one is no different. Once upon a time, SummerSlam was the event to see. It was the premier event of the Summer and some years it was even more anticipated than Wrestlemania. Like all good stories SummerSlam didn’t always deliver in the ring, but it did leave us memories that will last a lifetime.
SummerSlam 1992 will always stand as a trailblazer of what could be achieved if a chance was just taken. Thousands of people have said that WWE should stage another pay per view on our shores and the new Olympic Stadium which cost £1 Billion to build would be the perfect venue to hold it. It holds eighty thousand people just in the purpose built stands, if WWE put the ring in the middle they could fit another twenty or even thirty thousand temporary seats on what is currently the running track and field. If they decided to hold Wrestlemania in London, at the Olympic stadium, then they would easily sell out what could be a hundred thousand seat plus arena. People would turn up just to say they’d been part of the first Wrestlemania in England. The problem though, lies with the time delay between U.K and American and the fact that Vince doesn’t want the results getting out before everyone has seen it (the pay per view couldn’t go out live to the U.S.A if it was staged in the U.K), so plans seem like they’ll never reach the green light, let alone get out of the starting blocks.
Just as all good stories have their own once upon a time, they also have a fall from grace. And recently, SummerSlam is no longer the hotly anticipated event of the summer, it’s merely a filler event in the WWE’s pay per view calendar. Something for WWE to earn a little extra cash from. It doesn’t have to be like this of course, because once upon a time, it wasn’t all about money. Still, that’s then, this is now.
With what’s on offer for WWE in 2012, the biggest wrestling company in wrestling history has the chance to show us that they don’t just care about the money. This is the time for WWE to show us that they can still create those memories that will endure for decades to come. For the sake of the rest of 2012, WWE need to load the cannon again and fire on all cylinders.
WWE Championship Match
Triple Threat Match
C.M Punk (Champion) vs John Cena vs Big Show
I was wrong. Yes, I know I don’t say it very often and you might not hear me say it again for a very long time. But, my faithful minions, your Wrestling God was wrong. You see after John Cena cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on the thousandth episode of Raw and beat C.M Punk by disqualification (the title only changes hands via pinfall and submission) after Big Show interfered, I thought that would be the end of Cena’s main event, WWE Championship challenge at least until Survivor Series.
C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan were doing so well and so much business for WWE with their sterling matches, filled with submission holds and counters, that I thought it was going to be a shoo-in that the two would do battle again, maybe one last time in a submission match. I’m sure you’ll agree that C.M Punk vs Daniel Bryan in a submission match for the WWE Championship would have been a much better main event for a pay per view the calibre of SummerSlam than this triple threat match. The triple threat on offer here folks is nothing more than a ‘B’ level pay per view main event. With that said, WWE have made up their mind that pay per views cannot cope without Cena in the main event, even though Punk and Bryan got much better reactions for their matches than any Cena match in 2012.
The problem I have with this match is that as much as I try, I can’t see John Cena not walking away with the WWE Championship on his second time of trying. He failed to walk out of Raw’s thousandth episode with the gold around his waist, will WWE really portray him as the loser twice in a row? They didn’t at Extreme Rules when Cena should have lost to Brock Lesnar four weeks after losing to the Rock at Wrestlemania 28, they didn’t at No Way Out when Cena defeated Big Show after losing to John Laurinaitis at Over the Limit. Will WWE book John Cena to walk out of SummerSlam 2012 without a win or the gold? Maybe Cena’s DQ victory over Punk was the sign that WWE have given him a moral victory over the champion, so he doesn’t need to triumph at SummerSlam.
Hopefully, WWE have seen sense and called time on the John Cena vs Big Show feud. It’s been going too long now, especially since the two only did battle in 2009, in a series of soul destroying matches which would have turned off any new, prospective wrestling fan watching them. The funny thing is, WWE are willing to push the feud as a massive deal, yet Big Show hasn’t actually beaten John Cena on pay per view yet. Cena beat Big Show at No Way Out inside the steel cage, John Cena triumphed over Big Show, Jericho, the Miz and Kane at Money in the Bank. Even in their 2009 feud John Cena won both matches on pay per view. WWE just can’t pull the trigger on a Big Show victory over Cena on pay per view. If they really can’t do this, then the feud has to end here at SummerSlam. Another match between the two would be disastrous.
Looking at the options coming out of SummerSlam, it’s difficult to render options as for what John Cena does next. A feud with Punk has done, we don’t want to see that. The Big Show feud doesn’t have anymore legs in it. Brock Lesnar is out of the question thanks to his limited date contract. Which just leaves the undercard wrestlers. And that’s where we hit the problem. John Cena, despite what his loyal Cenation thinks, cannot wrestle. Which means WWE need to put him with a seasoned pro who can carry Cena in the ring and in a decent storyline. Add to that a wrestler who won’t be tarnished by union with Cena. JC has a knack of brining down everyone who steps in the ring with him. A better wrestler would have been able to give more to the Rock at Wrestlemania 28 which would have prevented ‘The Great One’ from blowing up so early in the match. The fact that Cena gave the Rock nothing and the Rock had to do so much is one of the biggest contributing factors to why the Rock blew up after ten minutes. Another example of how inept the man is at getting anyone over came at SummerSlam 2010 when Team WWE took on Team Nexus. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s so bad that it needs mentioning again. After Cena had taken a DDT to the outside of the ring, concrete people, the moron leapt up like nothing had happened and nothing was wrong and ran through the final two Nexus members in a minute and a half to win the match. All the dick had to do was lay there and not move. Nexus would have gotten over big time. But no, Cena has to spoil it again. If you combine that with his annoying and cheesy grin throughout most of his matches, his inability to take anything seriously, his lousy punches, his rotten ring attire and the now infamous ‘Cena Dead Sell Mode’ (where he lays on the floor like a corpse and doesn’t sell any move) plus his ‘Superman comeback’ (where he sprints back to life no matter how big or damaging the move executed on him is meant to be) and Cena really is a sight to behold. And I believe I have just given you and WWE enough reasons why he should be kept away from hot talent like Ziggler and Bryan.
Cena has killed many a career in his time and to put him with someone like Dolph Ziggler or Daniel Bryan would be the end of their momentous rise in WWE, that I am sure of. With recent news of Tensai posting an offensive remark on the internet and his punishment imminent, maybe WWE will feed him to Cena. It could be beneficial to Cena but it won’t be to Tensai. As part of his punishment WWE will forbid Tensai to build and serious attack or win any match against the one man career killer.
If WWE gave Tensai to Cena, then that would be the end of Matt Bloom in WWE. How is anyone going to see Tensai as a monster after Cena is finished with him? Maybe, and it’s a small maybe, if WWE booked Tensai to destroy Cena on Raw and Smackdown in the run up to Survivor Series and then at either Night of Champions (September) or Hell in a Cell (October) have Tensai vs Cena end in a no contest after Tensai destroys Cena and the walking merchandise stand cannot continue, maybe then we could buy into the Tensai wrecking machine image and Cena might just come off as the underdog who cannot defeat Tensai, paving way for a heroic victory at Survivor Series. What are the chances though? A WWE punishment usually means burial, which means that WWE won’t push Tensai as a monster, but as a weak and feeble no name who will try his chance at WWE’s biggest target just to fail spectacularly.
The only other option now of course is for WWE to create a storyline where Big Show or even C.M Punk injures Cena at SummerSlam, taking him out of the game until Wrestlemania. This wouldn’t just give WWE a breath of fresh air, it would also necessitate pushing someone different into the main event spot and also give Cena time to concentrate on his divorce and maybe go back to wrestling school and learn properly.
Big Show is a whole different ball game. In his induction speech at the WWE Hall of Fame 2012 Arn Anderson said about Big Show; “Big Show is one of the most talented wrestlers in the business”. Supposedly Arn Anderson was having a laugh with us all, or had said that ridiculous statement as a bet. Everyone knows how rotten Big Show is in 2012.
Much has been said about his lack of anything in the ring. He can’t wrestle, his weight is once again spiralling out of control and no one wants him there. So why then do WWE keep pushing him into matches where 1) he has no chance of winning and 2) the fans just don’t want to see the lumbering dinosaur? The answer is simple really. WWE has given so much time to the Big Show push that to scrap it now and take Show out of the main event spot would be seen as weakness. WWE knows that the spot the Big Show currently occupies could have and would have been better utilised by a younger, hungrier wrestler who really needed the push. WWE could have found something new to do with Cena and given the Cena spot to Punk and the Big Show spot to a younger guy who WWE are counting on to keep the business rolling in the future.
Weighing up everything, the possibilities, the outcomes of this match, what it would mean for the next four months I fail to see how a Big Show victory could be seen as a step forward. His short and dull reign as Intercontinental Champion went down like the cast of ‘the Only Way is Essex’ at a depression clinic. If WWE still, in August 2012, see Big Show as a serious contender to the WWE Championship, then we have bigger problems that first thought.
It’s stale, that’s the problem. Big Show has had every chance to do something memorable in the last thirteen years. WWE have given him numerous pushes and all of them have come to a shuddering halt because Big Show lacks, well, everything. From here, I suggest WWE either send him away to lose weight and bring him back in an out of ring capacity, fire him or use him to prop up the ring on Raw. Big Show in 2012 has nothing to offer WWE and is now just burning television time and selfishly hogging a part of the spotlight that should be reserved for the stars of tomorrow.
Which leads me onto the final competitor in this SummerSlam triple threat match. The reigning WWE Champion, C.M Punk. Punk has done really well as WWE Champion this year, his matches with Jericho at Wrestlemania and Extreme Rules weren’t a total failure and his epic feud of the year against Daniel Bryan must have gone some way to convincing Vince McMahon that independent circuit wrestlers can match and in some cases exceed what WWE trained wrestler can do. It’s baffling to me why Punk isn’t once again taking on Bryan, maybe because it would have called for a WWE Championship change and WWE don’t want that just yet. At least not against Bryan.
Oh yes, people. I have received word that WWE are in the interim of planning a WWE Championship change. And it may happen at SummerSlam. You see, WWE in their lack of wisdom believe that the WWE Universe want a Rock vs Cena re-match at Royal Rumble, for the WWE Championship. We don’t. Cena has neither the skills or ability and the Rock has been gone from the ring that he needs a truly exceptional wrestler in the opposing corner to make magic with. WWE plan, at least at the moment, let’s hope it changes, to switch the gold from Punk to Cena and then build a feud between the Rock and Cena at Royal Rumble. A match which WWE have already stated that the Rock would win and then go on to face Punk at Wrestlemania 29.
Now, that’s all and well in theory. Just a few pointers WWE that you might like to take into consideration. The first is that the Rock has such a hectic schedule with his filming that I seriously doubt he can afford to give up nearly three and a half months of his acting career to stay in WWE from January until April. A WWE Championship win at Royal Rumble would necessitate Rock to do that, as the rules clearly state that the WWE Championship must be defended at least once every thirty days otherwise the current WWE Champion will be stripped of the belt. Looking at the Rock at Wrestlemania 29, although I love the guy to bits, I don’t know if the Rock has it in him anymore to defend the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber and Wrestlemania. Yes, he’s lost a lot of muscle as we saw at Raw’s thousandth episode which will help his cardiovascular state, but the Rock has become one of those wrestlers who has more impact when used sparingly. The second factor is John Cena himself. I’m done bashing him for now, but ask yourself this. Has John Cena really got enough appeal in 2012 to carry the WWE Championship to Royal Rumble or even Wrestlemania? I don’t think he has. The children still cheer him and the women fall at his feet, but the hardcore wrestling fans, you know the ones that actually buy the pay per views for the wrestling and the whole card, not just for Cena could be turned away by his presence as WWE Champion yet again. His feud with Big Show must have opened WWE’s eyes to how limited he actually is? The third and final fact is that C.M Punk has been WWE Champion since November 20th 2011. Now, that’s already impressive in that WWE usually loses interest in a wrestler after three weeks, let alone nine months on top. Punk has built himself as a main event player and now he’s heel wouldn’t a C.M Punk heel champion be much better to watch, as he smirks and brags his way through the year to a match with the Rock in January?
If the C.M Punk vs The Rock feud is to succeed, then this is quite obviously what WWE need to do: factor in the WWE Championship reign of Punk and keep the gold around his waist. The tried and tested technique has worked wonders for Triple H in the past that it wouldn’t fail to do so again. If Punk came out every so often, put down the crowd and kept reminding us that he’s the ‘Best in the World’ and how long he’s been champion – thus putting the importance on the WWE Championship – it would get right up people’s noses, especially if he employed that smug and arrogant grin. Then, heading into January Punk beats everyone in his way, convincingly, not like a heel would. When WWE do bring the Rock back in – who would be looking for vengeance for the GTS he received at Raw 1,000 – then the bragging of Punk of he’s better that the Rock would sell the Royal Rumble to more people than usual. At Royal Rumble Punk would beat the Rock in what would be considered a shock upset, by the time January rolls around Punk’s title reign will be 14 months long. Meanwhile, the Rock enters the Royal Rumble Match and wins, ensuring his place in the main event of Wrestlemania 29. February and March, WWE would need to employ clever tactics to make sure Punk’s heel quality never went away, this may even mean delivering the GTS to A.J or even one of the Rock’s elderly relatives. WWE could employ Rikishi to play the part of victim to give the Rock more momentum going into Wrestlemania 29. Plus it would be good to see Rikishi back in the ring. As Punk gets closer to Wrestlemania 29, he begins to lose his cool, not winning matches so confidently, scraping by. Then as Wrestlemania rolls around you have a red hot main event in C.M Punk vs The Rock which everyone will gladly pay to see, despite how thin or unappealing the undercard may be. The Rock would defeat Punk at Wrestlemania 29 for the WWE Championship (which is going to happen anyway, WWE wouldn’t make a promise like that to the Rock and the WWE Universe if they weren’t going to follow through. This is the Rock their dealing with not some jobber from FCW). The victory would be huge, not only beating the so called ‘Best in the World’ after all this time but also ending a WWE Championship reign that would be epic. What WWE do after, if the Rock doesn’t want to retire I don’t know just yet. But it’s in the execution of the build up to Mania 29, where WWE could really make a megastar out of Punk, like they did Stone Cold. Especially if, after his victory at Royal Rumble, WWE allowed Punk to cut one final unscripted speech on the Rock, about how he really felt about (Punk holds a lot of hostility towards the Rock in real life for taking the spotlight at Wrestlemania 28. Despite the fact he’s perfectly ok for Undertaker, Triple H and Stone Cold to do it when they decide to make an appearance).
WWE did the correct thing turning Punk heel at Raw’s thousandth episode. His natural arrogance had lead Punk down a one way street which had stuck him at a dead end. As a face, Punk was trying to walk through a brick wall only to find that he wasn’t made of steel. As a heel, he can smash down the wall and continue to his next destination. They’ve proven they can make the right decisions when necessary, so why then, can’t they do it all the time?
Do I believe John Cena will walk out SummerSlam WWE Champion? This time around, no, I don’t. I’m going out on a limb here and saying that WWE will scrap those plans. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and trusting them to do the right thing. I firmly believe C.M Punk is the only choice to exit SummerSlam with the most coveted prize in sports entertainment history. The overriding factor that makes me believe that Punk will retain, are his comments about the new WWE Championship, which in Punks own words, he helped design and could be brought into WWE either at SummerSlam or Night of Champions. Would WWE allow Punk to have a hand in designing a WWE Championship Belt if it had no intention of allowing him to carry it? Not a chance!
At SummerSlam on August 19th, the heel aura that Punk gives off will dissipate even if it’s just for one night only. No one will want either Cena or Big Show to walk out as Champion so they’ll be firmly behind Punk all the way. It won’t last of course. C.M Punk’s heel turn on the Rock at Raw’s thousandth episode will see to that.
A lot of people would say that after all these years, WWE has nothing to prove. I beg to differ. Everyone make dumb choices, some more than others, but WWE really have gone into gold medal position. So yes, WWE have a lot still to prove to us if they want us to keep shelling out big money on their product and merchandise. Prove us wrong, Vince. You bet your entire life on Wrestlemania 1, why can’t you do it again for the sake of the future?
Winners Prediction: C.M Punk
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus (Champion) vs Alberto Del Rio
‘I’m the truth and I’ll make you believe’ goes a line in the entrance music of ‘The Great White’. Certainly WWE have gotten behind Sheamus, thanks to the support from Triple H backstage and tried to make the WWE Universe believe in the Irish World Heavyweight Champion. The only floor in the plan is that we don’t, still, after eight months of build and heavy pushing.
When he won the Royal Rumble match back in January Sheamus received a lukewarm reaction at best. Certainly not the one WWE wanted for its future World Champion. When you compare the reaction Sheamus got for winning the Royal Rumble to that of his predecessors, such as Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, then it must have been disappointing for both WWE and Sheamus. The reaction right across the board for ‘The Celtic Warrior’ has been decidedly shaky. He was largely booed at Wrestlemania 28 and Extreme Rules when he stepped into the ring against the tremendously popular Daniel Bryan. He certainly wasn’t the favourite in his fatal four way World Heavyweight Championship defence at Over the Limit. Despite WWE’s efforts to convince us otherwise, the WWE Universe were solidly behind Dolph Ziggler at No Way Out and at Money in the Bank it surprised me how many cheers Del Rio received over Sheamus. The point I’m trying to make is that WWE must be hearing what we are. They must be hearing the disproval of Sheamus as World Heavyweight Champion, even the backing of Triple H can’t justify why Sheamus still has gold around his waste.
This is all easily remedied though. If WWE can put behind them the urge and desperate want to create a new face headline star and turn Sheamus heel, then they could easily keep the World Heavyweight Champion around his waist. Sheamus is much more effective as a heel. He can get away with much more. WWE are forcing Sheamus on us as a face and when you force something this big it hardly ever goes as you want it to. Just look at Stone Cold Steve Austin. Gradually, he became a hero in WWE because he never smiled, he never took any bullshit and he always fought back. The turning point was the speech, which wasn’t written for him, at King of the Ring 1996 and then the ultimate turn at Wrestlemania 13 when he flat out refused to submit to Bret Hart was both heart rendering and emotional. That’s the way to get a wrestler over with the fans, not force him down our throats like you’ve done with Cena. We want someone we can believe in, someone we can get behind, someone who will fight every match looking to exact vengeance on his opponent and someone who will never tap out.
Just looking at Sheamus I get the feeling that if Del Rio were to trap him in the arm bar or Cena were to apply the weakest move in wrestling history, the STF, then Sheamus would tap out, because he has before. The fans can’t believe in a hero that would give up so easily and neither does WWE have the right to expect them to.
WWE only has one real wrestler who is anywhere close to pulling off the Austin aura and that’s Randy Orton. WWE made Orton a star by booking him as a heel against a face Cena. In 2009 Orton was a character who would punt you in the head before asking your name. And the fans loved that, especially against someone so loathed as Cena. When the feud was over Orton was seen differently. Fans knew he could defeat Cena and others like Triple H and could get behind him, despite seeing him tap out to the STF. It didn’t matter that Orton would tap out to Cena because he would always come back twice as strong. You don’t get that feeling with Sheamus. WWE did it with Orton and it’s happening with Ziggler as well.
If WWE want to make Sheamus a shining star, then it has to allow it to happen naturally. It’s not WWE who decides if a wrestler falls into the ‘Heel’ or ‘Face’ category, it’s the fans. They cheer heels and boos faces, they tell Vince what they want even though he never listens. The key to Sheamus’ success is on the other side of the tracks. Take him down the same path that the Rock went down in the late 90’s, turn him from face to heel, give him his own stable of wrestlers who are both ruthless and talented and allow him to flourish as a heel there. Then after a few years turn them on Sheamus and allow the fans to have sympathy for the man who could be credited for making a few careers. During this time you must give Sheamus some attitude and some really well scripted promos and when he’s turned on by his faction, the men he could brag about making, you have a successful babyface on your hands. Granted, attitude comes from the wrestler and not from the WWE Creative, so it would involve some effort from ‘The Great White’. Some men are born with attitude and charisma, like The Rock, Stone Cold and Triple H. Others can perform it really well, such as the Undertaker and Bret Hart. Sheamus would fall into the latter category, but that doesn’t mean to say he couldn’t do it with panache.
The final piece of advice I can give the first ever Irish World Heavyweight Champion is stop grinning. It’s not the look of a serious World Champion or face. We need to see some steely grit between Sheamus’ teeth in his quest to retain his World Heavyweight Championship. Some of that seriousness that did Sheamus’ mentor Triple H the world of good in 2000. Sheamus should and WWE should have learnt from the Rock in 1996 about how far a cheesy grin gets you.
If anyone believes that Alberto Del Rio stands any chance of walking away as World Heavyweight Champion on August 19th then I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re pissing up the wrong tree. WWE don’t see Del Rio as anything more than cannon fodder. Someone to wheel out for Sheamus to defeat and prolong his World Heavyweight Championship reign.
Alberto Del Rio is a conundrum. When he wrestled in Mexico under a mask he was dynamic and often unpredictable in the ring. Yet when he came to WWE to assume the Alberto Del Rio moniker, he seemed to fall quickly into the WWE machine and become just another face. Del Rio lost all of that sparkle he once had in his native land became another prototype of the ‘WWE way to wrestle’.
It makes me wonder if WWE even care about bettering their product anymore. If they did then answer me this. Why would WWE, the biggest wrestling company in the world, bring great wrestlers in from foreign climes such as Sin Cara and Alberto Del Rio, even wrestlers from their own country who were huge stars on the independent circuit for their different styles of wrestling such as Daniel Bryan and C.M Punk and then stick them in the WWE development programme for years because they’re labelled as ‘they don’t know how to wrestle the WWE way’? Surely if WWE had any sense they’d allow these huge stars to immediately debut on Raw or Smackdown and wrestler the way and style they’ve been wrestling over the world and wherever they plied their trade before stepping through WWE’s doors. Don’t WWE realize that they’re going to attract more viewers if they have wrestlers who can wrestle several different styles and offer those viewers more variety, than if they just churn out wrestler after wrester, clone after clone, who all wrestle the same way – which is the WWE way?
Back on track and Alberto Del Rio doesn’t seem to care. And I’m not just talking about the character he portrays inside the ring. The man himself seems bereft of both inspiration and a care in the world. It’s like he’s happy to just be playing the fool for WWE. Any wrestler with anything about them would have gone to Vince and WWE creative by now and put their foot down, stating that they have the talent to elevate the World Heavyweight Championship and the main events that it’s contested in. Yet Del Rio just sits back and looks at the lights for anyone he’s told to. Why would you come from a company in your home country, where you’re a mega star, related to Mexican wrestling royalty, being the nephew of Mil Mascaras, to a company where all you’re going to be used for is to get over other wrestlers around you and look an idiot?
If WWE were clever or even if this had been 1999, Del Rio would have been pushed as a mega heel. His rich boy, millionaire, born with a silver spoon in his mouth character would have been hated with a vengeance in 1998 or 1999 and would have comfortably slotted into the Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon feud, as a millionaire fighter who McMahon could have hired to take out Austin with his superb wrestling skills. Yet in 2012, Alberto Del Rio is met with nothing but apathy by an audience who has seen it all before. They guy has the talent, the moves and with a little more effort on his part he also has the heat seeking personality to be a great heel for WWE over the next few years. But WWE refuse to use him to his full potential.
After watching Del Rio induct Mil Mascaras into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2012 recently, on the Wrestlemania 28 DVD, it’s obvious to anyone who talks to him that his passion is still in Mexico. His real personality is still under a mask, flying about the ring like a true Luchador. WWE must be able to see this, so then, my proposal of scrapping the Alberto Del Rio character and putting him under mask holds even more weight. Yes, WWE would have start again with Del Rio because no one would know who he was. But if it’s going to benefit the future of your product then it’s time worth spending. I’ll speak more of booking options for a masked Del Rio in my SummerSlam 2012 review, for the time being though, as he is, Alberto Del Rio poses no threat to the World Heavyweight Champion and has absolutely nothing else to offer the WWE Universe.
The only possible way that Del Rio would be standing with the World Heavyweight Championship when the final bell rings on August 19th is if WWE are planning on having Dolph Ziggler cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, which at the moment is a serious option and they don’t want Ziggler to pin Sheamus because they don’t want ‘The Great White’ to look weak. If that’s the case then WWE may as well give up on the Ziggler push now. Because if he’s not going to pin Sheamus, for the gold he’s been after for such a long time then it defeats the object of everything WWE have done with Ziggler so far.
Sheamus will undoubtedly defeat the expendable Del Rio at SummerSlam 2012, but WWE seriously need to add another string to Sheamus’ bow. At SummerSlam 2012, ‘The Great White’ needs to surface and show the world that he belongs in the Championship picture, before the harpoons begin to take aim.
Winners Prediction: Sheamus
Chris Jericho vs Dolph Ziggler
How many more chances are WWE going to get at pushing Dolph Ziggler? They came on leaps and bounds at Money in the Bank when he took the briefcase. It was after his momentous victory that things began to fall apart, WWE style.
In any other era of any other company, including WWE or what was WWF. After Ziggler had claimed his right to fight for the gold, WWE would have pushed him hard. He’d have been seen as strong against top liners and the man he was eventually going to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship. He’d have been winning matches left, right and centre. Yet in 2012, after winning the briefcase that guaranteed him a contract for the World Championship WWE have buried the man that is going to carry this company into a new age. On Raw and Smackdown, Dolph Ziggler has been buried more than he has pushed, he’s looked like a fool in more angles than he has the intelligent one. That’s not the way to get people over Vince and you know it.
Something annoyed me when I read it. Something which made me want to grab to small dick moron who wrote it and tarmac him into the bypass! And if you’re reading this and it’s you who wrote it, then you’re an idiot. It was in the current issue of Power Slam on the letters page, the letter I speak of is about Dolph Ziggler and details how the guy who wrote the letter thinks that Dolph Ziggler shouldn’t be where he is in WWE because he has no charisma or talent. Are you taking the piss? I’m banking my money on the guy who wrote it being a John Cena fan. The kind of guy who can’t tell great wrestling from mediocre entertainment! The kind of guy who thinks John Cena is the best wrestler in WWE history and that Brodus Clay is the next big thing. For your information, Dolph Ziggler has more charisma and talent in his little finger than you probably do in your whole life. It really annoys me when someone who thinks they know the business speaks out and proves themselves to be an attention seeker who has nothing meaningful to say. If you don’t know enough about the subject you’re talking about, then sit the hell down and shut the hell up until you do.
Now I have that out of my system, let’s crack on shall we, we all have other things to be doing. I fully agree that because of his treatment at the hands of WWE, Dolph Ziggler isn’t ready to be World Heavyweight Champion yet. Yes, the fans cheer for him despite the losses and burials. And it’s great to see them get behind someone in 2012 who they actually care about. But I know those people, me included, would rather wait to see Ziggler cash in his briefcase until he’s in a position to really capitalise on it. We don’t want to see another Jack Swagger Championship reign. When Dolph finally does lift the World Heavyweight Championship, we want it to be majestic. Not look like a fluke.
This is what WWE needs to do with Ziggler and needs to do it fast. Dolph needs to be built up again, if it takes six months then it takes six months. They need to book him some wins over higher talent than him. This means that at SummerSlam, Dolph Ziggler must, and I reiterate the word must, defeat Chris Jericho and he must do it cleanly. A DQ or a heel finish won’t suffice. Dolph Ziggler needs to pin Chris Jericho in the ring after a solid wrestling match. After that, Dolph needs to kick Vicki Guerrero to the curb and branch out. I’ve said it before, she’s got him as far she can, now he needs to branch out and do it alone. He has the talent, he has the skill and he has the support. A victory against a great wrestler like Jericho would do Ziggler the power of good, if WWE keep him on that track.
After SummerSlam, with Jericho due to depart to tour with his band, WWE need to pitch Ziggler straight into a feud with Randy Orton. I don’t care how they do it, if they have to initiate it at SummerSlam with a comment in an interview or a sneak attack by Ziggler on Orton, which would state his intent on being the best by beating the best, then that’s what they have to do. People have said that they want to see less of Orton, Cena, Show, people like that and more of the young guns in WWE. This could be the beginning. There are very few wrestler in WWE who can both hold a great match together and get their opponent over at the same time. Chris Jericho is one, Randy Orton is the other. There are a few more but we’ll come to them at a later date. Dolph Ziggler vs Randy Orton, in which Ziggler wins the feud would be huge for Ziggler. Randy Orton did wonders getting Christian over in 2011, their feud was feud of the year. If he likes Orton can see it as paying WWE and the fans back for him dumb suspension. Dolph Ziggler could be Randy Orton’s greatest success.
Only after Ziggler has beaten Jericho and Orton, or someone as good as ‘The Viper’ in a thrilling feud with memorable and exciting matches will he be ready to carry the World Heavyweight Championship. Only after Ziggler lays waste to Orton and Jericho can we begin to believe that the man earmarked as the next Mr. Perfect, can take on all comers and at some point down the line that means Cena. When Ziggler gets to that stumbling block he needs the experience of fighting Orton and Jericho, he needs the experience and the knowledge from both Orton and Jericho of how to get someone else over, how to make them look good whilst protecting your own image, to hold together a match with Cena. And to also stop Cena burning away Ziggler’s star for good, like he’s done with so many other careers.
Chris Jericho has the chance to give back to WWE now. Not for anything he’s done wrong, Chris Jericho has been a great servant to WWE and wrestling in general. He has the chance to give back what he’s taken from the business. Namely, his legacy! Chris Jericho fought and was blessed with the breaks he needed in wrestling to succeed. Now Jericho can help the next generation do the same thing, by giving them the springboard of his knowledge and the bragging rights of saying ‘I beat Chris Jericho’. It’s a badge anyone can wear with honour going into the future. Jericho might not be WWE Championship material anymore, but he is still very, very good at what he does.
There are worse things for Chris Jericho to be known for in the twilight of his career, than elevating and making stars. In fact I think when his time does come to be called into the hallowed halls of the WWE Hall of Fame, that we, the people, would thank and appreciate him more giving us the stars of tomorrow rather than just running over them in a desperate attempt to regain some of the spotlight which he used to bask under. Like him or not, Chris Jericho is very good at making those around him look like stars. He did it with Evan Bourne, he even did it with the Big Show and Big Show was his tag team partner.
It all comes down to association. If you’re associated with Jericho in any way then you are bound to come off better than you are with anyone else. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a fast track to the main event, but it will push you up into the high mid card spot which is where anyone who aspires to be main evening needs to be before taking the step. If WWE, at SummerSlam 2012, were to book a match which Ziggler goes over clean in, then injures Jericho and takes credit for putting Jericho out of action while he tours with his band, then that weight which would be put around Ziggler’s neck would carry him well into his bid to be the next star.
Both Ziggler and Jericho have the chance to produce something special at the twenty fifth anniversary of SummerSlam. Everything has to come together perfectly, the match, the layout, the outcome. If WWE can do it properly then it make the job going into the rest of the year that much easier.
Winners Prediction: Dolph Ziggler
Kane vs Daniel Bryan
Can someone please tell me why Kane gets yet another high profile match on a high profile pay per view? I know his the best friend of Undertaker but come on, as the late, great Owen hart used to say. “Enough is enough, it’s time for a change!” You see it’s all very well and good flogging a dead horse when it’s not affecting anyone, but when you put a full stop on a classic feud which would have lit SummerSlam up, just to feed the man who was having the time of his career, to that dead horse, then it becomes serious.
I fail to see how this match can do anything for Daniel Bryan. To me it looks like it has been set up solely to make Kane look good. If that’s the task that Daniel Bryan gets set then WWE deserve a slap in the face with a wet fish.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said that Kane has nothing left to give WWE. He was stiff in 1997 and he’s like wood in 2012. If that time span hasn’t done any favours for the man once known as Issac Yankem then I really don’t know what will. Presumably the winner of this match will be in contention for the World or WWE Championship later down the line, so I ask you, the people of the WWE Universe, do you really want to see Kane compete for the World Heavyweight Championship yet again? He scraped through the triple threat match at Over the Limit 2012 because of C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan who carried him. There’s no place for Kane in WWE in 2012.
If WWE are hoping that this match will put Kane back on the map then I’m afraid they’re going to be very disappointed. I won’t deny that Kane has made a small effort on his return from WWE, losing the considerable weight he’d put on prior to his departure, but he has yet to set the world alight. It’s August already, how many more chances are WWE going to give him before they realise he’s rotten. If the company are serious about putting the future first then it’s about time the annual clearouts came around. The first two names on that list should be Kane and Big Show. If anyone else gets dumped and these two don’t, WWE needs to take a long hard look at its policy.
So where does Kane go from here? Apart from out the door of course! He’s not talented enough to hold interest in a main event so that’s out the question. Kane isn’t going to be WWE Champion again, so it would be pointless putting him with the champion, that would only serve to hold up those coming through below him. The last possibility is to put Kane with a tag team partner like Jack Swagger, if they insist on pushing the big red machine, and placing them in the tag team division. If WWE think Kane is seen as a monster then they must believe that anyone from the tag team division who got a victory over Kane would be elevated. Kane’s time in the singles division is well and truly over, but a stint in the doubles could do him and his opponents a lot of good indeed.
Daniel Bryan has to be gutted. One minute he’s the star of the show, contesting the best matches with a great champion. The next, he’s being used as cannon fodder on one of the biggest shows of the year. I can’t see how this can end well for the ‘Yes’ man. A victory over Kane would do nothing for his career. A loss against Kane would damage him for some time to come.
Listening to the WWE Universe’s reaction to Bryan, WWE must know that Bryan is better than this match. Surely putting Kane in the triple threat against Cena and Show and putting Bryan in a feud ending match against Punk would have been a better draw for him and business. On the biggest show of the Summer and one of the most prestigious events in WWE history, does this sound like a winner to you?
I have a horrible feeling that in an effort to make Kane important again, Daniel Bryan would gladly be sacrificed. If this was to happen then I hope WWE knows what type of damage Bryan’s character would sustain. The only reason Randy Orton came out of the Kane feud unscathed, was because is so big in the fans eyes that a defeat didn’t hurt him. As for Bryan, he’s still rising in the WWE ranks, a loss to someone as lowly ranked as Kane, in the fans eyes, would put him right back to where he was in mid 2011. Wrestling superstars like Sin Cara on the undercard and being relegated to the pre-show so he doesn’t tread on anyone’s toes.
Hopefully, Bryan will win this match and we can forget that WWE thought it best to put one of its most popular and best superstars in a match that amounts to no more than a card filler. WWE needs to use this as a springboard to hurtle Bryan back into the WWE Championship picture. Should WWE have Punk gatecrash a pre-match interview with Bryan and then, in retaliation, have Bryan attack Punk after the triple threat match, which will go on last as Cena is involved, then it would do the WWE Championship and Daniel Bryan the power of good, to be standing over a fallen champion as SummerSlam went off of the air. It would be a statement of intent by WWE, that they’re going forward with the Daniel Bryan push and that the young guys are very much the focus of what is yet to come.
Winners Prediction: Daniel Bryan
Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs Triple H
Let’s be totally honest now, we expected this to happen the moment Brock Lesnar trapped Triple H in that arm bar the night after Extreme Rules 2012. I doubt there’s anyone who will watch SummerSlam that didn’t expect the two to do battle here. Still, for once I can say that WWE are giving us a match, on a pay per view event, that we haven’t seen before. And for that reason and that reason alone, this match will be worth every minute of our time.
At Wrestlemania 28, the last time Triple H stepped into a wrestling match, Shawn Michaels aid in the pre match interview; “This is the end of an era. Either the streak ends or the game ends.” Now, Triple H lost at Wrestlemania 28, from what Shawn Michaels said about the end of an era then shouldn’t Triple H have been gone from WWE? Shouldn’t, like Shawn Michaels said, the game have ended? If so then why did WWE once again go back on its word and book Triple H vs Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2012?
It amazes me that Triple H and Brock Lesnar didn’t clash at the height of Lesnar’s popularity in 2002 – 2004 which also fell right in the middle of Triple H’s epic eleven month World Heavyweight Championship reign. That though was different time all together. Triple H was a much more selfish wrestler who only had his own interests and legacy at heart and Brock Lesnar was young, up and coming rookie who needed protecting in the ring to make him look like a real superstar. If WWE had booked this match in 2002 or 2003, undoubtedly Triple H would have come out on top whilst running through Lesnar to protect his own image. It’s best then that WWE waited ten years for when Lesnar looked like a proper monster and Triple H’s wrestling career was winding down.
We’re told that Triple H’s main priority is no longer wrestling, but making sure the stars of tomorrow come through as real contenders. That was almost a year ago we were promised that Paul Levesque – the man who is second in command to Vince McMahon and who, thanks to his marriage to the boss’ daughter, will take over WWE once Vince either retires or passes on – would invest millions of WWE’s enormous bank balance into territorial wrestling schools across America so WWE could source the very best young talent around and bring them to the grander stage. Personally I think it would be a wiser idea, instead of WWE opening wrestling schools around the country for them to open them in the big cities in America. A WWE wrestling school in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Stamford Connecticut where WWE headquarters are more than enough. It would then give those who are stuck in a rut in their lives, who live elsewhere in America the chance, at WWE’s expense to get out of their humdrum existence and move to a bigger city with better aspirations for their future. The New York School would take thousands who are currently stuck in the ghetto’s of New York and who find themselves saddled in gangs and give them a different focus to better themselves. The Los Angeles school would enrol those who have acting and sporting hopes and give them a platform, if they’re good enough to parade their talents and maybe get themselves either a wrestling contract or introduce them into the world of acting in which there are half a million unemployed actors just looking for a break in L.A. Washington, the capital of America would offer WWE some actual athletes to pick and chose from when they like and would be a base for those who can’t afford to travel down the coast to L.A, where the cost of living is high. And Stamford would allow WWE officials to check up on the training facility close by and keep a close eye on some of the star potentials. Surely that would be a better business strategy than WWE opening up say twenty schools across the country and having to keep an eye on all of them at once. Someone is bound to get left out and that someone could be the next Steve Austin. More on that in a later blog.
Instead of any new talent coming through, WWE rely now on Brock Lesnar, in just his second match back since April and Triple H to sell the pay per view for them. Let’s be honest, it’s going to be the only match on the card that anyone is bothered about. The WWE Championship triple threat we’ve seen before. Sheamus vs Del Rio, we’ve seen before. And it’s more than likely that either in the run up to SummerSlam or in the years that have already passed we’ll have seen a majority of the under card matches as well.
With the news coming through that Lesnar now wants to rejoin his UFC and MMA friends back in the octagon, one would expect WWE to book Lesnar as a wrecking machine at SummerSlam. Obviously Triple H has to have some momentum and the selling of Lesnar’s moves won’t be a problem as Triple H is infinitely more professional that Cena will ever be. I expect WWE to book the ending that should have happened between Cena and Lesnar. And would be Triple H being carried out of the ring after a real pasting by the former ‘Next Big Thing’. If Lesnar is to rejoin UFC in 2013 once his contract with WWE runs out, then he’ll insist that he’s put over as the most dangerous man we’ve seen this year. With a feud brewing with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29, WWE can’t make Lesnar look weak.
Hopefully, if WWE are on the ball at SummerSlam, they’ll have Paul Heyman at ringside with Lesnar. It’ll be good to see Heyman at ringside once more, I think you’ll all agree that it’s been too long since he’s had an active role in the business. Serving as Lesnar’s public relations officer is limiting the genius to what he can really do. If let off the tight leash that he is currently being restrained on, Heyman could be a huge factor in this match one way or another. And with the relationship between Heyman and WWE still on the rocky side of things, this may be the last we ever see of Paul Heyman in WWE, although if the guy doesn’t get a Hall of Fame place in the future, then it will be a travesty.
Earlier I referred to Lesnar needing to be protected in the ring in 2002, to make sure he became the star he eventually did. This relied on wrestlers who knew what they were doing with inexperienced wrestlers. Can you imagine how much Lesnar’s career would have been damaged if he’d have made his debut in 2012 and been put against Cena? Or Cena had been what he is now back in 2002? Brock Lesnar came of age way back at SummerSlam 2002 when he defeated the Rock in a stunning match for the WWE Undisputed Championship. The Rock and Lesnar made Brock look a million dollars. For that, Lesnar owes the Rock at least half of the credit.
The only problem I see is the ending. WWE need to come up with something that protects both men but leaves us fulfilled. That’s where the problem lies. After Lesnar’s attack on Triple H, a Triple H win would be the right outcome so Triple H gained a measure of revenge. But could Brock Lesnar’s image stand two defeats to two big names? Would he look half the monster he’s meant to be if he lost to both Cena and Triple H? And at SummerSlam as well? A Lesnar win is necessary for him to begin his build for his match with the Undertaker at Mania 29. You can see the problem. If Lesnar loses his image is going to take a small hit. If Triple H loses they’ll be no measure of revenge and no closing chapter in the feud. A double disqualification or double count out is out of the question as it would diminish both men and the build up to the match. No one wants to see a match in 2012, let alone a match of this quality end in a double DQ or count out. There has to be a winner. It’ll be interesting to see how WWE chose to go about this.
I can’t foresee any problems coming out of this match performance wise. Brock Lesnar had never looked better in his Extreme Rules match with Cena in April and ring rust obviously isn’t something that effects Triple H. His match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 28, after so long out of the ring proves that. Triple H will sell for Lesnar, Lesnar will look a powerhouse. The crowd will be firmly behind ‘The Game’, the WWE universe takes exception to someone coming back to WWE after success elsewhere and re-taking the main event spot. I don’t know why, I’d have thought the WWE fans would have been proud and pleased that their heroes have found a life after wrestling and done something truly momentous with their time out of the ring.
The hostility towards people like Brock Lesnar and the Rock only goes to show how shallow the fans of this business can be. They’re perfectly happy to cheer someone like Lesnar or the Rock when they’re breaking their backs in the ring, but as soon as they go and become successful in another business such as UFC and Hollywood, they don’t like it. I’m pretty sure it’s jealousy. That they couldn’t do what Brock Lesnar and the Rock have done. Though if you think about it, if anything, it reflects better on the wrestling business. That these men have made a success of their life after plying their trade in the ring. Why boo them? They’re doing just as much for the business even if they’re not in it anymore. Because they’re the success stories of wrestling. And in a time when too many wrestlers die of drug overdoses or suicide, people like Brock Lesnar and the Rock should be applauded for making something else of their lives and not becoming another WWE statistic. So don’t boo them, just because you couldn’t do what they’ve both done. They’ve moved on and I couldn’t be prouder of both of them. In the end what Lesnar and the Rock are showing people that wrestling isn’t just men beating the hell out of each other. It’s not just drugs and steroids, early deaths and tragedies which is how the outside world looks upon our sacred art. They’re showing the world, the doubters and naysayers that there is life beyond wrestling. That it doesn’t always end in tragedy. That there is life beyond the ring. When the Rock steps onto the screen and Lesnar steps out into the Octagon people can look at them and say ‘they were professional wrestlers. Look at them. Inspirations for future generations.’ The Rock and Brock Lesnar are the sort of people we need representing wrestling in other outlets that aren’t wrestling. To show just what the business can do for the right people. So don’t be jealous of them and boo them because they’ve done something you can’t or for doing something that they’ve always dreamt of doing. What would you do if you had the choice? Earn a pittance beating up your body for the latter years of your life, living with constant pain and injuries that make living uncomfortable, or would you go and seek your chances elsewhere, knowing that you’ve given a great legacy to this sport?
You see both Lesnar and the Rock, and in the same category Stone Cold Steve Austin have done something that most people don’t or even can’t. They’ve done something that Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Mick Foley all couldn’t. They’ve moved on. We shouldn’t be booing these men or feeling hostility towards them for that. Lesnar, Rock and Austin have given us some great matches, memories and moments that we will remember forever. If you boo them for going and finding a life and then coming back so they can have the perfect ending that they rightfully deserve then you’re not a proper wrestling fan. Because a really wrestling fan would be proud of them and all the others who have found a life after wrestling. A proper wrestling fan would be thrilled to see them return for one final run before they leave with the correct ending that they have worked for and deserve.
Applaud them for being ambassadors of this great sport and for showing the world there is a different side to wrestling, and also a life after the ring. The word ladies and gentlemen, is respect.
Winners Prediction: Brock Lesnar
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
The Miz (Champion) vs Rey Mysterio
It was clear from the moment that Rey Mysterio stepped foot back in WWE that the bigwigs were going to push him back to the top. Though quite why Randy Orton gets buried on his return to WWE and Mysterio doesn’t (they both got suspended for the same offence) and Orton doesn’t even get featured in a prominent match is baffling to me. I’d hate to think it’s because the masked Mexican is the second highest seller of WWE merchandise. Which it is.
At SummerSlam Rey Mysterio has a great record. In 2002 he fought Kurt Angle in a spectacular pay per view debut. In 2009 he made Dolph Ziggler look a million dollars before defeating the future World Heavyweight Champion. In 2005 Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero contested a classic ladder match which won’t soon be forgotten. Rey Mysterio has a knack, just like Chris Jericho or elevating talent that he works with. Win or lose, Rey’s opponent always comes out looking better than when they went in.
The Miz needed this match in order to get him back on track. Since his return to WWE at Money in the Bank 2012, Miz’s career has looked upwards for a change instead of staring down the business end of the barrel. There haven’t been quite so many defeats and he even managed to get one over on Christian and enhance his image by carrying around the WW Intercontinental Championship. Now though WWE need to forget pushing Mysterio once again and concentrate on the Miz.
If this is to be the beginning of the rise of the Miz, then WWE need to put to bed any ideas they may have of having him drop the gold to Mysterio again and make Miz look like a star. It’s not hard to do. They seemed at ease making him look like a jobber each week on Raw and at every pay per view, so making him look like someone who could be in contention for future WWE Championship shots should be a doddle. Of course, that said, when has WWE ever made it easy for itself? If that were the case I’d be sitting here telling you about how great the Miz has looked in the past year and that dropping the gold at SummerSlam will result in an instant push into the main event for the one that is truly ‘Awesome’. We all know, that won’t happen anytime soon.
Thanks to WWE’s lack of foresight, rebuilding the Miz is going to take some time. Memories of Miz being squashed by the talentless Brodus Clay and Alex Riley are going to take a while to forget and banish to the annuls of WWE. It can be done though. If WWE were to book the Miz to go over Mysterio clean at SummerSlam then the bragging rights would extend the feud into Survivor Series at least. The Miz wouldn’t have to lose the Intercontinental Championship during this time if he was allowed and shown to employ clever tactics to retain the belt without actually cheating. Allowing him to take a leaf out of Eddie Guerrero’s book could set him well with the viewing public. Everyone remembers how Eddie Guerrero used to throw the championship belt to his opponent behind the referee’s back and then lie down and feign unconsciousness in order to retain by disqualification. A few tactics like this might hear boos from some of the younger crowds, but with the fans that actually matter, the Miz would be applauded and we may begin to see a different reaction to the former reality T.V star.
A few changes in appearance, grow back the beard, cut the cocky grin, take a more serious stance about everything and Miz could begin to be turned into the next Stone Cold. It’s a long road to that point but one that might be worth sending the Miz down and doing so soon.
Rey Mysterio has to play his part to perfection though. If he decides to get an ego about the whole thing then the Miz’s career could take another hit. If Mysterio is seen at any time by WWE bookers as the best option to be Intercontinental Champion then we can kiss goodbye to the Miz’s chances of getting over again for another two years.
Some great booking, great wrestling, a star turn by both Mysterio and the Miz and we could be looking at the rebirth of Awesomeness and go along way to rebuilding the Intercontinental Championship. Now that is worth shouting about.
Winners Prediction: The Miz
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Kofi Kingston and R-Truth (Champions) vs The Prime Time Players
This is the match that should have happened at Money in the Bank 2012. After Prime Time Players won their first number one contenders match for the WWE Tag Team Championships, WWE should have used their heads and booked Young and O’Neil to fight the champions on pay per view instead of television. It just served to diminish the value of the Tag Team Championships, stating that WWE didn’t think them important enough to defend on pay per view.
So it’s at SummerSlam 2012, that the Prime Time Players will look to step into the shoes of Legion of Doom and so many other great tag teams. I doubt they will, because the duo of Young (who for some reason looks like John Cena’s twin brother) and O’Neil don’t have the aura or skills to be labelled as champions. I’m sorry, after everything I said about the young guns coming through I can’t help feel that WWE have picked the wring duo. I’d have much preferred to have seen Kingston and Truth defend the titles against Primo and Epico. Because Primo and Epico have much more talent and in my opinion are the most underrated tag team in history.
If WWE booked Primo and Epico in a feud with Kingston and Truth then it could be a role reversal for the tag team division. Instead of playing second fiddle to Brodus Clay and the un funniest comedian of all time, Santino Marella, the Tag Team Division could begin to once again gain momentum. Kingston, Truth, Primo and Epico all have the skills to put on a great show and a great feud. R-Truth not so much, I’m just not getting it from him. WWE should have kept Zack Ryder as Kingston’s partner, Ryder has much more to offer than Truth, but still he can wrestler.
If WWE are serious about rebuilding the tag team division then it needs to look no further than its talent already plying their trade there. The Usos are phenomenal if allowed to actually come across as anything more than cannon fodder. Primo and Epico have all the skills to go all the way to the top. Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel are a great tandem that can get in the ring with anyone and the Prime Time Players, whilst not championship material could be passed off as the power houses of the division. If you add to that the wrestler who aren’t doing anything on Smackdown, Raw, NXT and Superstars then WWE could have a colossal tag team division once again.
At SummerSlam I’d like to see Primo and Epico attack Kingston and truth after their match to initiate a feud as we roll into Night of Champions. Don’t book the Primo and Epico vs Kingston and Truth match yet, hold off and have a four corners match for the WWE Tag Team Championships at Night of Champions, where all four of the mentioned tag teams would compete and be given ample time to put their cases across in the ring. Then after Kingston and Truth retain at Night of Champions, really put some effort into building the Primo and Epico vs Kingston and Truth Tag Team Championship match for Survivor Series, on which WWE could also book some lesser known talent to team with the headliners. Then at Survivor Series, Primo and Epico should dethrone Kingston and Truth.
By the time Survivor Series comes around, if booked correctly, the WWE Tag Team Division could be partially restored and a title change would freshen things up. Kingston and Truth have kind of stuck in the mud as Tag Team Champions. There’s no where else for them to go. I think they’d be much better utilised as challengers than they are as champions.
Winners Prediction: Kofi Kingston and R-Truth
Pre-Show Match
WWE United States Championship Match
Santino Marella vs Antonio Cesaro
This is the very best chance we all have of seeing the back of the dismal Santino Marella United States Championship reign. It has done nothing for Santino, nothing for WWE and even less for the U.S Championship. I’m usually against booking title matches on a pre-show event, but this time around I’m willing to make an exception. I don’t think I can physically watch Santino on another pay per view without putting my foot through the screen.
In Antonio Cesaro WWE has a star of the future. The former Ring of Honor man really does have the skills to make it in WWE and he has the added advantage of C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan both coming from Ring of Honor to prove to Vince that the independent circuit wrestlers really can go toe to toe with the WWE wrestlers. The best results all around would be for WWE to have Cesaro take the United States Championship.
Many have written the belt off as un-saveable, but I beg to differ. In Santino’s hands, then yes, the United States Championship is doomed. But in the hands of a guy who can wrestle, then the U.S Championship may receive a reprieve. Antonio Cesaro should have taken Santino Marella’s place in the World Heavyweight Championship Contract Money in the Bank Ladder Match at Money in the Bank 2012. It would have set him up for this shot at the United States Championship and gotten him over in the fans mind as a future threat. That didn’t happen, but now WWE have the chance to rectify the mistake by switching the gold to Cesaro.
If WWE want to save the Championship, then surely this is the most logical plan available to them in the short term: Antonio Cesaro demolishes Santino at SummerSlam, literally tears through him and takes the United States Championship. On Raw the night after, Antonio Cesaro comes out and cuts a blistering promo on how he came from the lower leagues to be U.S Champion, criticising the WWE, Vince for not believing that anyone from an independent company could ever break the proverbial glass ceiling, something along the lines of:
“My name is Antonio Cesaro! I am the WWE United States Champion! You all forgot I existed until SummerSlam. Everyone in this arena, everyone watching at home and especially everyone in the back! Tonight is the night I state my intent to be the greatest United States Champion in WWE history and show those who thought it impossible to come from below, that closed minds never prosper in a world full of opportunity. I came from nothing, I had nothing, but I will be someone!”
From there, Cesaro then issues an open challenge to anyone in the back. Out comes either Randy Orton or another WWE headline star or upper mid card star. Cesaro defeats whoever answers the challenge, thus making himself look like a threat if the opponent is of a high enough calibre to be able to label himself like that. Cesaro is entered into a feud with someone who matters and defeats them at Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell. Between these pay per views, Cesaro keeps reminding us of how important the United States Championship is to him, thus getting it across to those who don’t give a damn about the title that it has some value. Cesaro retains through the rest of the year and into 2013. Keeping the Championship on Cesaro who elevate its value in WWE and get people to actually want to see it defended. If the United States Championship is defended in feuds with Christian and Cody Rhodes and even Randy Orton, then by association alone, the strap will be worth something again. Antonio Cesaro enters Wrestlemania 29 as United States Champion and is given an upper mid card spot to defend the championship against a real threat. To strive to keep the gold around his waist on the grandest stage of them all would hammer home how important the belt has become since SummerSlam.
It’s an easy fix. It’s not a quick fix, but if WWE stick with it and really push Cesaro and the United States Championship, then it will be one that will pay off in the end.
There’s always the chance that WWE will book Santino to retain and if that is the case, then I’d be reaching for the dustbin right now. Because the belt will have no significance and no chance under a man that puts a sock puppet on his hand and proclaims its a cobra.
Winners Prediction: Santino Marella
And that’s SummerSlam 2012: granted, it’s not the strongest or one of the most classic SummerSlam cards we’ve ever been treated to but it does hold a lot of potential, mostly on the undercard. I expect WWE to throw in a Divas Championship Match, a Ryback appearance and we’ve of course got the Charlie Sheen experience to come, if rumours are to be believed, in an angle with Chris Jericho. Yet I doubt anything WWE decide to add on, on the night will detract from the fact that SummerSlam 2012 could be the rise of the future.
Looking down the SummerSlam card, I once again see a wealth of opportunity for WWE to push their young hard. With the Olympics passed and a tag line ‘Inspire a Generation’ I think it’s something WWE should try to do. The headliners, the stars of yesterday have a chance to be credited with passing the baton to the new generation by putting them over and getting them up the ladder a few more rungs. I think it’s time WWE took some of the initiative and some of the spirit of the Olympic Games and show the kids out there that want to be wrestlers, the future WWE Superstars that you can come from nothing and be someone. After all, that was the story that built the WWE Empire.
Onwards and Upwards...
