WWE SUMMERSLAM 2013 - THE BIGGEST PARTY OF THE SUMMER

The second biggest Pay-Per View event of the year is upon us. WWE SummerSlam has given us uncountable memories and matches over the past twenty six years, including the most successful SummerSlam in wrestling history being held at Wembley Stadium in London, England on August 29th 1992. Whilst SummerSlam hasn’t lived up to the hype in recent years, 2013’s offering looks to be the most promising in many years.

From the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, California on August 18th, this is SummerSlam 2013.

WWE Championship Match

Special Guest Referee: Triple H

(c) John Cena vs Daniel Bryan

I know I’m going out on a limb by saying this, but this match at SummerSlam and indeed the way WWE have gone about it, could be the beginning of the John Cena heel turn. I know, look out your window and expect to see flying pigs, but hey, Vince McMahon has been known to surprise us before and when you look at how momentous the Hulk Hogan heel turn was at WCW’s Bash at the Beach 1996 and what it did for business, then could there be a better time to turn Cena than SummerSlam or even WrestleMania in the slow build and against a better loved character than Daniel Bryan?

This is my train of thought. Since WrestleMania 29, WWE have been clever slowly turning John Cena without us even knowing. By hyping John Cena vs The Rock at WrestleMania 28, WWE installed in our minds how important defeating The Rock was to John Cena, thus, when he lost it was bound to be a major blow to the character. Though WWE didn’t do a great job of showing this, having Cena immediately plunged into a feud with Brock Lesnar, after that fight had subsided the company did return to the story of Cena’s crushing loss to The Rock at WrestleMania 28. However, the right to go about this would have been to have Cena lose a hefty majority of his pay-per view and television matches in 2012, which he didn’t do.

John Cena lost a dire match to John Laurinaitis at Over the Limit 2012 thanks to interference from the Big Show who turned heel on Cena on the night, but in the immediate future after that, John Cena was once again on top and even though he preached that losing to The Rock had sent him on a downward spiral, there was no sign of this in his matches. John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules 2012, Big Show at Now Way Out 2012, won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match to claim the contract to challenge C.M Punk for the WWE Championship at a time of his choosing and whilst he failed to win the triple threat match at SummerSlam 2012 which also featured Big Show and C.M Punk, he came out of that match without a mark on his image.

On television John Cena was portrayed as the company’s main man, rarely losing to those he was pitted against. The foundations, looking back on it were there to begin to slow burning heel turn. His promos about losing to The Rock and how important it was to him began to sound like a spoiled child who had lost his favourite toy. When The Rock returned to WWE in 2013, Cena’s constant ramblings about how Rock hasn’t been here and turned his back on the company to favour Hollywood, everything Cena would have done within the blink of an eye had he had a chance to do so, were pure heel. As were his looks and actions in the pair’s rematch at WrestleMania 29.

Let’s rewind. 2012 could have been such an important year for John Cena and a supposed heel turn. Had John Cena lost to Brock Lesnar, Big Show and the Money in the Bank Ladder Match in dramatic style then the downward slide which Cena preached that he’d suffered after his loss to The Rock would have been more believable. Hell, if John Cena had have put his opponents over in style then it would have looked like the loss had effected his mental state and he couldn’t even buy a win. WWE didn’t do that. Instead, they seemed to want us to believe that John Cena actually blamed his divorce on The Rock. Madness! The latter half of 2012 did see John Cena fall in at least ever pay-per view match he fought and it began on Raw’s 1,000th episode when he cashed in his Money in the Bank Contract to face Punk. John Cena failed to walk away with the gold around his waist, a result which repeated itself at Night of Champions 2012. Cena was injured for Hell in a Cell but it didn’t stop him from making a mockery of Dolph Ziggler on the pre-show and he fell in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series with Punk and Ryback and again in a Ladder Match at TLC against Dolph Ziggler.

Had the few months following WrestleMania 28 echoed those in the final months of 2012 then Cena would have looked like a desperate man, just trying to redeem himself. Sadly, he failed to put Ziggler over convincingly in December which made the whole story look like Cena was just going through the motions. It was a huge missed opportunity. The year of losses would have set Cena up perfectly for redemption at Royal Rumble in January of this year, which he won. Had Cena gone into the event, which offers a guaranteed main event spot at WrestleMania against the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion, with everything on the line. A true, win or bust moment for his career then his victory may have been something special. From there, WWE could have began redeeming hi, fully, leading to his victory over The Rock at WrestleMania 29 for the WWE Championship.

For once, John Cena would have looked like the one who overcame adversity. He would have been applauded and even given credit by those who hate him for what he’s done to the business. That was the fix. And WWE missed it again. Now though, there is one more alley to take Cena down if the heel turn is ever going to come and it’s right here at SummerSlam. After WrestleMania 29, WWE should have had John Cena march to the ring, before he was demolished by Ryback, and gloated to the world that he defeated The Rock and that The Rock wasn’t so great anymore. His arrogance and self satisfied smirk which he puts on at every available opportunity would have made sure fans hated him for it and had Cena been give the correct speech then it could have been huge.

After Ryback ran through Cena and the pair waged their mind numbingly dull Last Man Standing Match at Extreme Rules, WWE should have had Cena come out and berate the company for giving him challengers like Ryback. Then the company could have pitted him against the bumbling Mark Henry at Money in the Bank, with Cena firmly convinced that a conspiracy was taking place within the company to dethrone him as champion. The crowd would have gradually read between the lines of Cena’s moaning and come around to the fact that John Cena, the man who would previously battle an entire army on his own – and no sell everything they threw at him – was getting tired of facing bigger and badder men than him and wanted an easier challenger. A trait which is more commonly associated with heels.

And then comes John Cena’s time to choose his next challenger for SummerSlam. Had the above been implemented by WWE and Cena won each match with a little more heel action than the last, then WWE could have yielded to Cena’s demands and gotten the fans on his back even more. Giving Cena the opportunity to choose his own challenger, then the chance for a major heel turn is there. Sick of facing bigger men than himself, Cena could have made a joke of Daniel Bryan and stated that he fancied an easy night and that’s why he chose Bryan. The fan would have booed Cena out of the arena and the feud would have generated more heat had Bryan come to the ring and sent Cena running with a flurry of kicks and submission holds. To see Cena act in this manner, with the cocksure promo and fleeing from his opponent for the first time in nearly 11 years would have been a huge refresher.

And then comes SummerSlam night, and the ultimate ironic twist in the tale. After choosing Daniel Bryan believing he’s going to get an easier ride than with Mark Henry and Ryback, Daniel Bryan literally takes John Cena to school in the ring. Embarrasses him and wins by tap out. The heel turn would be almost complete if Cena tapped out; the man who preaches ‘Never Back Down and Never Quit’ would have gone back on his words and turned on his fans to save himself. The ultimate twist I mentioned would be that John Cena loses to a man he handpicked because he didn’t see him as a threat after defeating two men who were built to be one. After that, it’s simple. If WWE believe they need an angle such as the NWO to help Cena turn then WWE could form a new NWO group with wrestlers who need the exposure and who could claim that they have a leader and he will be revealed at Survivor Series. Then, at the November extravaganza, WWE could pit John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton and Sheamus against the three or four members of the NWO. John Cena is eliminated before the end of the match, leaving Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton – Sheamus would have been eliminated first.

A four on two situations would breed heat for whoever the NWO members unveil the leader to be. With Randy Orton’s heel turn on the horizon, presumably fans could be led to believe that WWE have wimped out of turning Cena which would put the spotlight on Randy Orton. Just as everyone expected Randy Orton to turn on Bryan, Orton would be eliminated and the NWO would beat down on Bryan until John Cena came to make the dramatic save. Only in the fashion of Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin at Invasion 2001, Cena would turn on Bryan and nail him with an Attitude Adjustment through the announce table, don the shirt and what we have on our hands is possibly the biggest and greatest heel turn in wrestling history. It would boost the Survivor Series buy rates two fold as fans tuned in to see who had betrayed them. It’s a flawless plan.

If WWE have no plans to reinvent the NWO, then the simpler plan would be to have John Cena come out the night after SummerSlam – if he loses the WWE Championship on the night – and berate the fans for not backing him. I don’t write WWE’s promos but imagine the speech would go something like this:

“I know what you all think. I know what the whole world thinks of John Cena after last night. You think I tapped out, you think I quit because I couldn’t take anymore. Because finally, I’ve met my match! You’re wrong. Last night, as Daniel Bryan had me locked tight I realised something. John Cena didn’t lose the WWE Championship; each and every one of you lost me the WWE Championship. With your jeers and your ‘I hate Cena’ signs and t-shirts! It was you who tapped out for the final time last night, only you didn’t tap out on the WWE Championship. You tapped out on me!

I gave you ungrateful people everything I had and maybe it wasn’t the best at times but I tried every night of my professional life to make you happy and this is how you repay me! I fought giants for you. I held babies for you, hell; I even agreed to lose to a Hollywood star because it made you happy. Only it didn’t. Because the more John Cena gave to you, the more you threw back in my face. All those times I shook the hands of your young, all the times I smiled through the boos thinking I could win you people around was wasted. You were never going to cheer for me. I see that now.

I am sick and tired of busting my balls for all of your ungrateful idiots and no matter how many times people begged Vince to make ‘the change’ he never would because all Vince McMahon sees is dollar signs instead of what’s best for this company. You can cheer Vince McMahon all you like but in the end, the money is more important than the fans. It used to be the other way around for me. But no more. Starting from now, John Cena comes first and you won’t be able to ‘see me’ anymore, because that John Cena is gone. You killed him! All of you! Instead, a new John Cena has taken his place.

(At this point, John Cena takes off his merchandise selling shirt and holds it up in front of everyone)

This shirt, just like everyone out there wearing it, used to be a symbol of hope and dreams! Children took this shirt and its message seriously.

(John Cena looks at the shirt. A little regret in his face. A whole load of sadness)

Time’s passed, that’s what they were.

(John Cena rips the shirt up. Throws his hat down in the torn pile. Staring down at it. Looking at the crowd. A new attitude)

You didn’t want that John Cena, so you can all go to hell. Now, I’m the John Cena I always wanted to be. The John Cena you called for years ago, the John Cena that Vince McMahon feared to turn me into. No more holding babies. No more charity work which you people don’t appreciate and no more clowning around. Prepare yourselves, because everything you know is about to change. And when it does, I want you to remember...

(John Cena looks out into the crowd. Eyes narrow. Hate written across his face)

...you did this!”

(John Cena throws the microphone to the floor. Exits the ring)

By now, you good people all know that I’m a writer. Even though I haven’t had anything commissioned yet because people are scared that new writers will do better than the established known writers, who are peddling out the same shit time after time, the above is the first thing that would come to my mind if I was turning John Cena heel. It’s simple, it’s direct and more than that, it asserts that John Cena has seen the flaws and McMahon’s mistake and is going to do something about it. I truly believe that people would cheer John Cena if he was to do the above. Let’s be honest, with the reception he’s getting now, it’s time WWE put us before their bank account. What have they possibly got to lose?

Daniel Bryan is ready. We all know that. Daniel has been ready for this for a very, very long time. His World Heavyweight Championship reign in 2011 / 2012 was hugely enjoyed and applauded by most and his performances in the ring have been nothing but brilliant for as long as one can remember. Hell, the guy even carried Ryback to an enjoyable match on Smackdown and Raw not so long ago. Its guys like Daniel Bryan that WWE need on top of their mountain. Guys who can take those who have no hope and make them into contenders. It’s something that John Cena has failed to do and now WWE must hand the reigns to a guy who could make a plastic bag a main event star.

The above statement is true. I believe that Daniel Bryan could make a plastic bag a main event star. Like Triple H before him, Bryan holds that something special that not only makes people stand up and take notice but can help cover any flaw of any man. But a plastic bag isn’t John Cena. Can Daniel Bryan really compensate for John Cena’s flaws? The man who has ruined many career and will ruin many more because the higher power are too scared to say anything to him in case their biggest star decides to either go elsewhere or shut down completely. The answer is yes. Depending on how this match is booked and what Cena and Bryan come up with on the night, Daniel Bryan can hide most, if not all of John Cena’s flaws.

There’s nothing Bryan can do about Cena’s selling. He just has to hope that Cena is in one of those moods where he decides to do Bryan a favour and sell. But Daniel Bryan can make those hip tosses and other diabolical moves look good by just taking a convincing bumps. There are ways and means around John Cena’s inadequacy. Randy Orton, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Brock Lesnar found them in the past and Daniel Bryan can find them at SummerSlam. He’s an experience professional who has been around the world and fought, I’m assuming, wrestler worse than John Cena. As hard as that is to imagine. The man who is surely in line to be the next WWE Champion could be heralded as the man who forced John Cena to give back to the business he took from.

When I talk about giving back, I’m not talking about the countless hours of charity work which Cena gives up his private life for. That’s all very commendable. Shaking hands and holding babies isn’t giving back to the company, not when it comes to inside the ring. John Cena has taken a huge amount from this business and his opponents and only on a very rare occasion has he given even a small percentage back. If John Cena was to enter an unforgettable performance here and lose the WWE Championship to Daniel Bryan, not only would he have given back physically but he would have also helped set the scene for the coming months. If John Cena loses to Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam, there will be no shame attached to it. Cena won’t be harmed by the loos because at this point in his career there is absolutely nothing which could harm John Cena’s image in this business.

Quite frankly, it’s amazing that WWE have waited this long to push Bryan back to where he belongs on the card. With John Cena, Ryback and C.M Punk making up the main event scene on Raw since August 2012, with brief appearances from The Rock in between. In that time, WWE hasn’t the effort to push anyone else into that spot. Team Hell No fell out favour with the fans in January 2013, the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ chants that Bryan elicited as part of the team would have happened had he been a singles star. WWE cannot use Team Hell No as an excuse for keeping Bryan back, because quite frankly the act became boring not very long after it began. I can also understand the company wanting to protect The Rock vs John Cena II at WrestleMania 29, but had Daniel Bryan been in the World Heavyweight Championship Match on the card along with Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler then the show would have drawn an even bigger buy rate.

After SummerSlam, Daniel Bryan will be inserted either into a feud with Randy Orton or The McMahon Family. Randy Orton’s Money in the Bank victory screams that he’ll cash in the briefcase at SummerSlam if Daniel Bryan wins the WWE Championship to initiate a real and proper feud between the pair. Should this happen then you can consider Randy Orton’s heel turn well underway. In a storyline reminiscent to that of C.M Punk and Jeff Hardy, where Punk cashed in on Jeff Hardy moments after Hardy won the gold and then gradually turned heel on him in a series of Championship defences, Orton would also turn on Bryan in the same way.

If WWE have no plans for a Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan feud after SummerSlam, then Daniel Bryan, hopefully with the WWE Championship around his waist, will be inserted into the ongoing McMahon Family feud which is about ignite as we reach Survivor Series. Segments with Daniel Bryan, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon certainly point to this as the most likely course of action. Daniel Bryan vs Triple H certainly seems to be a perfect situation with the skills both possess and if the McMahon Family were to split with Vince siding with Bryan and Stephanie and Triple H siding with each other, maybe Vince is trying to turn Bryan into the next Rock. After all, the story will inevitably end when Vince screws Bryan out of the gold in order for Triple H to win it once again. This is what happened at WrestleMania 16, for those with very good memories.

Whatever the plan, Daniel Bryan will no doubt be tweeting world wide when SummerSlam 2013 is over. Regardless of whether he walks away with the WWE Championship, Daniel Bryan could be known as the man who made John Cena look halfway decent and even the man who humbled the leader of the ‘Cenation’, when the world was watching.

Winners Prediction: Daniel Bryan

World Heavyweight Championship Match

(c) Alberto Del Rio vs Christian

At last, Alberto Del Rio has found his place in the wrestling business. WWE have gone around the houses in finding Del Rio’s niche and after debuting him as a hell, turning him face and then back to the dark side, Alberto Del Rio looks the part he was born to play. People will ask why Del Rio has suddenly come into his own in this new heel role after he didn’t catch the attention or imagination during his 2010 - 2012 heel run. The answer is simple. The company backing him were the problem. Granted, for two years Alberto Del Rio did lack a certain charisma in the ring even if his matches were more than satisfactory, but underneath it all there was something missing. The fire which lit him in Mexico before arriving in America had gone out and WWE didn’t know how to reignite it.

Because WWE were so concentrated on the likes of John Cena in 2010 and milking every cent they could from his merchandise, Alberto Del Rio slipped under their radar. Even after his 2011 Royal Rumble victory and subsequent World Heavyweight Championship feud with Edge going into WrestleMania 27, Alberto Del Rio didn’t seem to register on WWE’s screen. Maybe the company believed that if he didn’t have the passion to rekindle that fire on his own then nothing they were going to do with him would kick start it. If that was the reason then WWE needed a kick up the arse for thinking that way, but they can’t blame us for believing that fact as they did hardly anything to prove us wrong with Alberto Del Rio in 2011.

When Del Rio came to World Wrestling Entertainment from Mexico, where he was performing under a mask, most successfully Dos Caras Jr, he looked liked a World Heavyweight Champion. The chiselled physique and the heelish grin set off what was the complete package. Del Rio didn’t need the help of Florida Championship Wrestling to flourish in America, he was everything Vince McMahon should have been looking for in a main event star and more. If this has been 1993, Alberto Del Rio would have been a bigger star than he is now, no doubt. Anyone who was everyone, including those who know nothing about our business were tipping him for the top, yet that never really happened. Not properly anyway.

Was Del Rio given the headline spot at WrestleMania 27 as he’d been promised after winning the 2011 Royal Rumble? No. He and Edge were thrown onto the first match of the card and John Cena vs The Miz were given the main event spot. Whilst this was done to hype The Rock vs John Cena feud, Edge vs Alberto Del Rio was a far superior outing to that of the WWE Championship encounter at the top of the show. Still, WWE refused to push Del Rio into that main event spot after Edge retired and at Extreme Rules 2011, Alberto Del Rio lost in a thrilling match to his SummerSlam 2013 opponent, Christian, for the World Heavyweight Championship. WWE wanted a good feeling after Edge’s tragic exit, I get that. But to put Del Rio down so readily showed us that they still didn’t know the right way to promote the false millionaire.

After falling to Christian at Extreme Rules, Alberto Del Rio wasn’t given another big pay-per view role until Money in the Bank 2011 when he captured the briefcase entitling him to a shot at the WWE Championship. At SummerSlam 2011 in August of that year, after C.M Punk had pinned John Cena to retain the real WWE Championship and been attacked by Kevin Nash, Alberto Del Rio cashed in the Money in the Bank and captured the gold in what looked like the beginning of something great for the Mexican. It wasn’t. Alberto Del Rio lost the WWE Championship to John Cena less than one month later at Night of Champions 2011 and then a month after that at Hell in a Cell 2011, Alberto Del Rio pinned C.M Punk in a triple threat Hell in a Cell match also involving John Cena.

The push was WWE’s famous start / stop booking in full effect. Would John Cena have been harmed by a loss to Del Rio at that point in his career? No. However, Alberto Del Rio would have been advanced in a greater way had he gone over John Cena at Night of Champions 2011 and then also triumphed at Hell in a Cell 2011. That he didn’t, sent a clear message to the fans that Alberto Del Rio was a mere caretaker champion, a fact sealed in certainty at Survivor Series 2011 when he once again dropped the gold to C.M Punk, to begin Punk’s epic year and bit WWE Championship reign. There was no way we could buy into Del Rio as a bad ass heel who would do anything he could to walk out of the night victorious. WWE had buried him so much that it was almost impossible. A chain of events which WWE would repeat throughout 2012 where Del Rio would not have a single one on one pay-per view victory.

WWE’s answer was a heel turn and whilst it was hastily done without any real warning, you got the feeling that rather than planning the whole turn out week by week, WWE shoved it into our faces and then just prayed for the best. After a mauling at the hands of the bookers, suddenly we were meant to believe that Alberto Del Rio was a World Heavyweight Champion contender and more than that, Championship material. It was a risk by WWE to put the blue brands gold on someone who was still climbing out of the grave WWE had put him in, but the company did it and for the most part it worked. His feud with the Big Show was decent in parts and his rivalry with Jack Swagger which was built around immigration in America yielded its memorable moments in the ring as well, even if it wasn’t exploited to its full potential. Then came a problem for WWE. The same problem that faced them at the end of 2012.

Alberto Del Rio was stale. More so, it was worrying that he had become this dull so soon after his face turn. This was all down to Alberto Del Rio. Ever since his face turn he had refused to change his ring style and continued to fight as a heel. Del Rio’s mannerisms were that of a despicable son of a bitch and he didn’t even bother to cut that heelish smirk. To the on looking public, Alberto Del Rio was a heel who was being promoted as a face. In truth, some people are born to play the villain and some aren’t. Alberto Del Rio was and it was decided that he was to revert back to his character which got him this far.

It wasn’t a bad mistake by WWE. As a face there was nothing else for Del Rio to do or heels for him to challenge. As a heel, there is much more scope for WWE to do something meaningful with Del Rio this time around. And the man himself has begun with a promising start. During Dolph Ziggler’s hardships of a concussion and break up with A.J, Alberto Del Rio was awarded the World Heavyweight Championship at Payback, to the detriment of Ziggler, and so far he hasn’t looked back. Could Alberto be more involved? Of course he could and it’s something he should look into in the coming weeks. Simply relying on WWE’s creative team to do the job for him isn’t going to work this time around.

With Christian as his opponent, Alberto Del Rio has the chance to make history at SummerSlam. Not with a result because defeating or losing to Christian won’t be huge. But the match, if the pair can replicate the magic that Christian and Randy Orton produced in 2011 then maybe Alberto’s World Heavyweight Championship reign can be extended until Survivor Series and we’ll have the main event star we need right now and the one we should have had in 2011. Whether they like to admit it or not, WWE need Alberto Del Rio as their main event foil more than Alberto Del Rio needs the main event spotlight.

Christian has finally found his way back into the main event picture after months and months either lower down the card or on the injury list. It was a blow for Christian, who could have easily made his way up the card had he been fit, but now isn’t the time look back on what could have been. Instead we look to what could be if Christian stays fit and healthy. And let me tell you, if ‘Captain Charisma’ can stay off the injury list then WWE will be all the better for it going into the rest of the year.

I’ve heard people talk about what Christian being in the World Heavyweight Championship match at such a huge event, means for WWE. And some have been right; some have been way off the mark but whatever you may think this means for wrestling, you cannot miss the main point. Christian in this spot on the card once again after his brilliant 2011 matches with Randy Orton means change in the WWE. Either Vince McMahon has had a change of heart or Triple H is beginning to assert his authority backstage and it’s having some impressive results. Whoever decided to break that glass ceiling above Christian’s head and allow him back into the spot in which he belongs.

Christian could be good for WWE as they move into different territory. He’s not got balls of muscle sprouting from every limb. Christian doesn’t have a great six pack and his chest is covered in hair. In short, Christian is us. He could be any one of us. And that is the point. Alberto Del Rio, John Cena, Big Show and most of the rest of the roster couldn’t be. But Christian could be. He’s the dreamer who came good and if WWE don’t play on that more than they have been then they will miss out on a huge piece of Christian’s charm.

What happens after SummerSlam? I don’t believe WWE will keep Christian in the main event picture for long. He may still be there until WWE’s new pay-per view event, Battleground, but he certainly won’t, sadly, be there come Survivor Series. The logical answer would be to drop him back down into the Intercontinental Championship picture and allow him to make some guys there. If WWE want to keep him up the card, which they really should, then there are options. With WWE’s new influx of talent in the likes of The Wyatt Family and Curtis Axel, WWE should be able to find a decent foil for Christian in the coming months. Hell, to prolong his challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship, WWE could add another wrestler to the mix and have triple threat matches on the next two pay-per view events, but add stipulations to them to keep them interesting.

Whatever WWE decide to do with Christian then they certainly can’t take away what should be a thrilling match at SummerSlam. It’s on shows like this that wrestlers such as Christian really need to put in a performance of a lifetime and whilst I don’t believe he will walk out with gold around his waist, if Christian can make us remember his match above everything else on the card then maybe the glass ceiling that once sat over his head won’t come back and Christian will be a free man to help elevate WWE and its talent, with his unmatchable skills.

Winners Prediction: Alberto Del Rio

Brock Lesnar vs C.M Punk

Was this always written, or a desperation move by WWE to sell more buy rates for its summer spectacular? The truth is, no one will ever know but looking at how well WWE have set this up over the span of nearly a year, the one can surmise that this is how it was always meant to pan out. We’ve complained over the last year or so about WWE not putting any thought into a long term product and about not building feuds and turns slowly so they benefit from the most when they’re executed. This though, seems to be the one exception in WWE’s grand scheme of things.

Nothing else on the SummerSlam card even has the ring of a long term, thought out plan, in fact in comparison to this match, everything else which will transpire at SummerSlam looks like it has been thrown onto just to make up the numbers. And whilst this may not be the main event of SummerSlam 2013, it is certainly the match WWE are relying on to sell the majority of their buy rates on the night. And why shouldn’t it be? When this much work has gone into a story then WWE should put it pride of place on the second biggest event behind WrestleMania.

For Brock Lesnar and C.M Punk, this journey began way back in September 2012, when C.M Punk was still WWE Champion and Brock Lesnar had just defeated Triple H in a cracking brawl at SummerSlam 2012. Going into Night of Champions, C.M Punk and John Cena needed something extra to add to their feud. On pay-per view Punk had already defeated John Cena in singles matches at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam 2011 and on the 1,000 Episode of Raw in July 2012 their match went to a non finish. There was no yearning from the audience to see another re-run of Cena vs Punk and WWE knew this. Why didn’t they change it? Because WWE didn’t have anyone else to fill the spots! A victim of their own small mindedness.

Paul Heyman was the answer WWE came up with and a valuable cog in the Punk vs Cena machine. With Heyman by his side, C.M Punk could indulge in the heel role without worrying about having to cover every basis. With Heyman in his corner, WWE allowed Punk to flourish whilst when a screwy finish was called for, Heyman was the man to provide such an ending. The downside of the relationship between the pair was that Punk, towards the end of his reign as WWE Champion began to look like a fluke champion. A man who could no longer hold his own against WWE’s supposed elite and who instead relied on his dastardly manager to either put the final touches to his victory or concoct a master plan in order for him to retain the gold.

However, now we’re in 2013 and ready to witness Lesnar and Punk do battle, the upside was that WWE had already, unknowing to most of us, laid the foundations for a C.M Punk vs Brock Lesnar feud almost one year later. The Paul Heyman character at the time and indeed today, is a merciless son of a bitch who would sell his own grandmother for a shot at success. It’s a role that Heyman portrays like no other in the wrestling business and one that I hope he continues to portray for a while longer. The seeds of this feud can even be traced back to 2002, certainly on Paul Heyman’s front, when he double crossed Brock Lesnar at the brilliant Survivor Series 2002 and cost him the WWE Championship against Brock Lesnar in a surprisingly good match.

It was always there. The potential for Heyman to turn on one of clients, no matter how popular he may be. We knew it; WWE knew that we knew it and that, along with the hope that we had also forgotten it, was what WWE played on to make this feud possible. The final touches of WWE’s plan to build a feud between the two ‘Paul Heyman guys’ were at Royal Rumble when C.M Punk dropped the WWE Championship to The Rock. As a ‘Heyman guy’ it was expected, in the storyline at least, that you were to be successful in everything that you did. Losing the gold to The Rock was the beginning of the end of Paul Heyman and C.M Punk, a split which would come full circle at WrestleMania 29, even if it not in the public eye.

Looking at this from a storyline standpoint, Paul Heyman was banking on Punk to redeem himself and almost prove to him that he was worthy of representation. WrestleMania 29 was the night in which C.M Punk had to prove himself after two losses to The Rock on pay-per view. From a real world standpoint, WWE had laid such perfect foundations that even when C.M Punk left WWE the night after WrestleMania 29 – to rehab some injuries he’d acquired during his mammoth WWE Championship reign in 2012 – he and Paul Heyman were still supposed best friends. It was a valiant effort by WWE to try and throw us off of the scent of what was to come, even though in reality, when you looked down the card, there was only one way for C.M Punk to go.

After the Brock Lesnar attack on Punk, the night after WWE’s Payback pay-per view, his first appearance in WWE since the victory over Triple H in their superb cage match at Extreme Rules, it was clear whose side Paul Heyman was going to fall down on and who he was going to turn his back on before SummerSlam. Like I said, it was always written and when C.M Punk made his entrance at Money in the Bank for the All Stars Ladder Match, there was only way he was going to leave the event. Minus a briefcase and a manager. Once again, WWE, even though it was clear what was going to happen, had been very clever in trying to wallpaper over the cracks. Punk vs Lesnar was going to happen, regardless that it hadn’t been announced yet and the final icing on the cake was where Paul Heyman’s allegiance lied.

Before Money in the Bank, Heyman had cut a killer promo on Raw in which he declared that he would never represent another wrestler against C.M Punk and that included Brock Lesnar. For those not in the know this was the signpost. WWE labelling the outcome of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and where Paul Heyman would lay his hat at SummerSlam. Heyman delivered the promo with such confidence and conceit that he may as well have had ‘I’m going to screw you’ written across his forehead. We knew it was coming and it’s hard to believe, even in a storyline that Punk didn’t see it coming either. But then that’s the magic of wrestling. Even though a leopard never changes its spots, the WWE Superstars still fall into the same old traps time and time again. This may sound like complaining to you good people, but it’s not. Because everything was done with such perfection.

Looking at Brock Lesnar and the way WWE have handled him over the last year, the company have to be commended. After his loss to John Cena at Extreme Rules 2012 in a brilliantly bloody match which every Cena hater no doubt loved as it featured Cena getting his face pounded for twenty minutes – though he sold none of it of course – Lesnar disappeared from the company, not to be seen again until he supposedly broke Triple H’s arm on Raw before No Way Out. Their match at SummerSlam 2012 was guaranteed since Lesnar will never work with Cena again after his Extreme Rules antics which we’ve discussed several times since the event. Lesnar was present for the build up and the match but then again disappeared from WWE television until March / April 2013 almost six months after he’d last been seen.

His absence was down to his limited date contract which he’d signed with WWE to great expense to the company and great benefit to Lesnar. But looking back now, less of Lesnar has had more impact on the company and storylines than it would have had Lesnar stuck around week in, week out. Leaving after SummerSlam 2012 made Lesnar look like the bully who made his victim suffer and then ran for the hills so his victim couldn’t fight back. It did wonders to hype their return match at WrestleMania 29 which Lesnar had to be practically forced into, again, making him look like the bully who realised he may have pushed his luck.

At WrestleMania 29, Triple H defeated Brock Lesnar in a good match which wasn’t received well by the fans. It was what happened next which was most intriguing. Being used to Lesnar disappearing for months on end, fans were somewhat surprised when Brock Lesnar vs Triple H in a Steel Cage was announced for Extreme Rules in May in 2012. Why hadn’t Lesnar ran for the hills to lick his wounds? The reason backstage was that WWE had no other huge match to plug on the show. John Cena vs Ryback certainly wasn’t going to do business after Ryback’s burial, so WWE decided to use up one of the dates in Lesnar’s contract and book him for Extreme Rules.

One the outside it may look like an excuse to fill an event. But look a little closer and you’ll see a master strategy by Vince McMahon; that the boss himself may not even have noticed. Had Brock Lesnar ran for the hills after WrestleMania 29 then he would have looked like a coward who people couldn’t buy into any longer, even though having Triple H prevail would have been the right result for the sake of balance and restoring order in the company. Having him stay around proved to be much more beneficial. Lesnar gave off the image of the scorned bully who had lost pride on the biggest stage of the year and of a man who wanted to restore what he’d lost. What we got was a sizzling cage match at Extreme Rules which will rival The Undertaker vs C.M Punk at WrestleMania 29 for match of the year. Brock Lesnar didn’t just win the match, he was utterly flawless throughout.

After his victory at Extreme Rules 2013, Brock Lesnar left again. He didn’t though leave as the coward who ran after a loss. He once again left as the bully who had done with his current victim and would soon be looking for his next. After being gone for two months, Brock Lesnar returned to WWE and chose his next victim in C.M Punk. At first it looked it jealousy. The bully whose adopted father, Paul Heyman, had chosen another child as his favourite and wanted to lash out the object of his fathers affections. Though Paul Heyman isn’t Brock Lesnar’s father. Just to point that out. Did WWE want us to believe Brock Lesnar was that insecure or were we meant to believe that Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar had set this up from the beginning. Grooming Punk as Lesnar’s next victim.

That, I doubt will ever be explained. That’s okay, because there are some things that we don’t need to know. The circumstances behind the feud we can make up for ourselves. That’s what makes wrestling great. You can put any scenario to any feud and until it’s proved to be wrong from the mouths of the wrestlers themselves, our theory could be as right as the next persons.

Where do Brock Lesnar and C.M Punk go after SummerSlam? Brock Lesnar once again will leave WWE in order to preserve enough dates on his contract for WrestleMania 30 and its build up. Whilst he may appear at Survivor Series and Royal Rumble, I seriously doubt that we’ll see him on Raw again before February / March 2014. With other plans in the works for Brock Lesnar for WrestleMania 30 than C.M Punk, it appears their SummerSlam 2013 match will be a one off for now. There has been a lot of talk about Brock Lesnar vs The Rock at WrestleMania 30, which would be The Rock’s final wrestling match.

The Rock has talked about never wrestling again after his injury at WrestleMania 29 put the filming of the new Hercules movie back a substantial amount of weeks. I don’t think The Rock is serious about this. He knows that he’s better than losing to John Cena in his final ever match and that’s not how we’d want to remember him. The Rock should wrestle Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30. Brock Lesnar is one of the only men who The Rock has put over who has never returned the favour. Brock Lesnar knows he owes a lot of his success to The Rock and if you want to why then go back and look at the way The Rock put Brock Lesnar over at SummerSlam 2002. The Rock’s performance was so good that night that Brock Lesnar’s WWE Undisputed Championship reign in 2002 was a guaranteed success. With The Rock, who was leaving WWE after SummerSlam 2002 to film his next movie, Lesnar may not have been the box office smash he turned out to be.

If The Rock is serious about never stepping into the ring again then there is another, high profile path for WWE to take Brock Lesnar down. Recently, WWE and more importantly, Triple H has entered in negotiations with Batista on a possible return to the ring for ‘The Animal’. Batista’s acting and MMA career hasn’t flourished and even though Batista will play ‘Drax the Destroyer’ in the upcoming Marvel movie ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, its not enough to sustain the lifestyle Batista became accustomed to when he was a WWE Superstar. Looking for the type of contract that The Rock was on and that Brock Lesnar and Rob Van Dam are on, that being a part time, limited date contract.

WWE have to give Batista what he wants. He may have only been gone three years, but in that three years the main event scene has depleted so much that only John Cena springs to mind when talking about headline stars. Not even Randy Orton strikes as a main event players in 2013. If WWE give Batista the contract he’s after then the company have a ready made feud for Brock Lesnar. A feud which was touted in 2004 when Lesnar left the company but never came about. Now, with the aura that both men would exude in a match, it would surely smash the box office. Just don’t bank on it being a thrilling match.

C.M Punk is rather stuck after SummerSlam. John Cena and Daniel Bryan will surely continue their feud into the winter and Randy Orton is busy with his recent surge into the WWE Championship picture after his Money in the Bank victory. There is Rob Van Dam and a feud between the pair would do business, especially if Paul Heyman could convince Van Dam to join him. WWE could then continue the Punk vs Heyman storyline but with different players. I just don’t see where else C.M Punk could fit in and now more than ever its clear that WWE brought C.M Punk back early just to have this match at SummerSlam.

The build up to Brock Lesnar vs C.M Punk has been superb and once again Paul Heyman has been the jewel in the crown. Let’s just hope that now, when it comes down to this one moment in time, both men can put on the show of the summer. Both men have the skill. The lights are about to go up and the cameras are ready to roll. C.M Punk and Brock Lesnar must make us remember them for this, in years to come.

Winners Prediction: Brock Lesnar

Damien Sandow vs Cody Rhodes

At last, WWE have finally decided to do something meaningful with Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Too long now have both of them been shoved without any thought onto the pre-show of pay-per view events and used as mere cannon fodder for wrestlers like Sheamus and Randy Orton, although they still have been used as enhancement talent for wrestlers as the mentioned ones, as Randy Orton defeated Damien Sandow on the August 9th Smackdown. Had this decision been reversed then Sandow would have prospered much more from it.

Like Brock Lesnar vs C.M Punk, can we believe that this was always WWE’s plan from the moment they formed Team Rhodes Scholars, or like most things in WWE is this a spur of the moment decision to capitalise on Damien Sandow’s Money in the Bank victory, which in itself came out of the blue. To tell the truth, I can’t inform you any further. I simply don’t know anymore. There were talks at the beginning of the year that Triple H and WWE’s backstage staff were high on Damien Sandow as a wrestler and character and in all truth, he does have a lot in common with Triple H. They both began their WWE careers as posh, supposed rich heels who had nothing but distain for the fans. They could both wrestle when their pushes came and they were both buried mercilessly to enhance lesser talent than themselves at the beginning of their WWE tenures.

That however was in January. Eight months ago and until July, nothing came of the idea to make Damien Sandow a main part of their future plans. At Royal Rumble, Team Rhodes Scholars lost an uneventful WWE Tag Team Championship Match to Team Hell No. When Elimination Chamber rolled around, instead of inserting the pair into one of the Chamber matches which would have raised their profile and done their image no end of good, WWE booked Rhodes and Sandow to lose to Brodus Clay and Tensai, the team which would come to be known as the embarrassing ‘Tons of Funk’.

Promised a WrestleMania 29 match, Rhodes and Sandow must have gotten their hopes up for a high profile spot which would have showcased their abilities to the world. Okay, when it was announced they would team with The Bella Twins to Face Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls it wasn’t ever going to be the greatest match in the world but at least it was a step up from the pre-show. On WrestleMania night however, WWE decided they didn’t have time to put the eight person intergender match on the show and relegated it to the post WrestleMania, Monday Night Raw. The only thing this course of action did was tell the audience that Rhodes and Sandow weren’t important enough to book on the main WrestleMania show. Quite how the company though we’d want to buy into them after that, I’ll never know.

Team Rhodes Scholars suffered a separation after WrestleMania 29, which was best for everyone. The tag team had been holding both men back when it was designed to allow them to flourish. Cody Rhodes was yet again booked on the Extreme Rules 2013 pre-show against The Miz, in which he lost a good match and Damien Sandow was nowhere to be seen. At Payback in June, the pair did a role reversal and Damien Sandow jobbed to Sheamus on the pre-show. Then it all changed. Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes were suddenly elevated into the main event position when it was announced that they would be two of the participants in the Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

No one expected either man to win and indeed your Wrestling God predicted that fellow Englishman, Wade Barrett would triumph after his WWE Intercontinental Championship loss to Curtis Axel in the very fine Triple Threat match at Payback. If Wade Barrett wasn’t going to take the briefcase then surely it would be Jack Swagger. Yet on the night, WWE proved to everyone that they still possess the ability to shock every now and again. What occurred on the night was one the surprises of recent years and a major victory for the mid-card talent. Damien Sandow taking the Money in the Bank briefcase, which entitles him to a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship Match in the future, proved that WWE were willing to push more mid-card talent in the absence of major headline players.

The question that came out of Money in the Bank was one of uncertainty. It should have been jubilation that WWE decided to take Damien Sandow to the next level, especially after he’d proved himself in the ring time and time again. However, thanks to WWE’s very poor handling of Sandow in the past, the question hung over the company of whether or not Damien Sandow could take the next step up and cope with such a momentous push. And then WWE were clever. Instead of making him take the step alone and risking him not connecting with the fans, the company decided to play out the Team Rhodes Scholars split in unison with the push. It was a clever move.

Cody Rhodes, after being the man who lost the briefcase had gained some momentum by being the man who Sandow foiled on his way to a Championship shot. Instead of being the sacrificial lamb, Cody Rhodes was Damien Sandow’s ace in the hole. By putting the pair together, WWE have sealed over any cracks in both storyline and character. The company knew that after his burial, the fans would be reluctant to back Sandow in case the company did a ‘U’ turn with him or because they believed he could carry a main event role. By having the destruction of Team Rhodes Scholars play out as a sideline to Sandow’s rise distracts the audience from Sandow’s burial and when he inevitably wins the feud, which he will, memories of pre-show losses will be a distant memory. What we should be left with is an overriding impression that Damien Sandow is the right man for the job. Of course for this happen, WWE have got to star booking him to win on Raw and Smackdown more often.

It’s a great credit to Rhodes and Sandow that people still care about them after their tribulations. If this was any other tag team then I can’t imagine people being too interested in a SummerSlam match between the pair. Can you imagine if Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne had split up a few years ago when they were together, or even Primo and Epico? It would b a commercial disaster. Hench, because of Sandow and Rhodes’ unique quality in the ring, the fans are willing to look past how the pair have been used and instead concentrate on what they are capable of inside the squared circle.

I’ve been pondering on the question of father and son in wrestling recently, and certainly for the next edition of ‘The Unforgettable’ which will feature solely on ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase. More importantly, if the son can or ever has eclipsed the father! Looking back on wrestling’s second or even third generation superstars, it’s been vary rare for the son to become better than the father and indeed it has only happened on a very few occasions. Randy Orton is much better than his father Bob Orton Jr and The Rock eclipsed his father Rocky Johnson. Apart from that and a few other examples, the second generation has been a disappointment.

Now the spotlight falls on Cody Rhodes. The son of ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes, can Cody outdo his father’s legacy? At the moment I’d say no, but he can’t do any worse than his brother Dustin has. Don’t get me wrong, when he wanted to be Dustin Rhodes was a superb wrestler. But he never hit the heights of his father and when WWE repackaged him as Goldust, then it was never going to happen. Goldust holds many great childhood memories for your Wrestling God but he was never as good as Dusty and looking around the current WWE roster, I don’t see how Cody can either. It’s important that Cody Rhodes carves out his own legacy in WWE, but he must also strive to top his father.

Could this be the beginning of Cody’s ascension to the top? Maybe! After losing to Damien Sandow at SummerSlam it seems almost inevitable that Rhodes will either captain his own team this year at Survivor Series or even be involved in the rumoured War Games match at WWE Battleground in October, a match his father had a hand in creating – or solely if you believe Dusty – and a match which ‘The American Dream’ made famous inside the ring. WWE have to push Cody Rhodes now and whilst trying to do it simultaneously to Damien Sandow is a good idea in the short term, the company cannot forget that one man has to lose and for Cody Rhodes to get over again, as he did as WWE Intercontinental Champion he needs to win some major matches against major talent.

Where do Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow go after SummerSlam? There’s a possibility that Sandow will cash in at SummerSlam, which means WWE could then book the feud between the two for the World Heavyweight Championship. It’s a possibility, but how likely is it that a feud with the gold on the line is going to be a commercial success at this point in either mans career? WWE are best ending this feud as soon as possible as it will eventually hinder either Rhodes or Sandow. The pair need to be put into separate feuds with bigger stars. Stars who can help make them in time for another run at the top.

Damien Sandow needs to be refrained from cashing in until sometimes in 2014, until he is seen as a man who can carry the gold confidently. Maybe if WWE can get that done before WrestleMania 30, then what better way to begin again, thirty years after your biggest event premiered than a new World Heavyweight Champion to spearhead half of the company? Surely Damien Sandow cashing on 2014’s biggest event would be a memorable ending and beginning. Cody Rhodes has to be a headline star before summer 2014. If it doesn’t happen by then, it never will.

Right now, we have hope on the horizon. And in a company which hasn’t given much hope to its younger stars in the past, it’s something important to hold onto as we go forward.

Winners Prediction: Damien Sandow

Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs Big E. Langston and A.J Lee

What a disappointment the last few months have been for Dolph Ziggler and all those people who celebrated so enthusiastically when he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase, on the April 8th Monday Night Raw, to dethrone Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Four months later and after a severe concussion, Dolph Ziggler’s career has once again stalled to the point where it’s going to take another six months before he’s ready at another crack amongst the main event stars. Once again, WWE promised us much and delivered so little. It’s beginning to become the story of Vince McMahon’s life.

When Dolph Ziggler put in a career performance at Payback in his loss to Alberto Del Rio, it was a sign that he had matured inside the ring and was ready to take on the burden of ‘company man’. Not since Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 2003 had I seen someone put up such a fight in the face of certain defeat. It was the night the wrestling world pointed at Dolph Ziggler when looking for their next star and said ‘It’s him’. It was a performance worthy of remembrance. Yet still, WWE do not have the faith in Dolph Ziggler to carry the company forward.

There was a lingering question over the Championship change at Payback. Did WWE really take the gold off of Dolph Ziggler because they didn’t think he would draw, even after the reaction he received on June’s pay-per view? Did the company swap the gold from Ziggler to Del Rio to get Del Rio over as a heel? Or was the real reason that the company had nothing to do with Langston and needed an opponent for him this summer? You see, it’s hard to believe that WWE couldn’t have postponed Dolph Ziggler’s face turn and Del Rio’s heel turn to allow Ziggler to defend against Christian on SummerSlam night. The role reversal which happened at Payback wasn’t a necessity. The audience were behind Ziggler whether he was face or heel.

To learn that WWE made the Championship change, which made Ziggler a mere caretaker Champion, to facilitate a feud between Ziggler, Langston and A.J is a huge comedown for everyone who waited so long for Dolph Ziggler to stand atop the company’s mountain. What can Dolph Ziggler possibly do for Big E? As talented as he is, Dolph Ziggler can’t make Langston look good because Big E doesn’t have what it takes to thrive in this business. He’s too big, he’s too stiff and he’s too low down the card to reasonably justify Dolph Ziggler’s demotion to the mid-card. Whilst it’s a great thing that WWE has at last shed Lee and Langston, the company have yet again saddled him a valet in Kaitlyn.

It defeats the object of trying to get Ziggler over on his own and whilst the relationship is heading for heartbreak when Kaitlyn eventually turns on her mystery admirer. Kaitlyn is a great wrestler and she and A.J competed in the best Divas match in many years at Payback and their Money in the Bank encounter wasn’t half bad either, but what Dolph Ziggler really needs now is time alone to refine the face character and finally show the world that he can stand on his own two feet without someone in his corner fighting his battles for him. Since Nick Nemeth debuted in WWE, he hasn’t had the chance to do that. He’s always had someone there to aid him in his plight.

If Dolph Ziggler really is to take the next step in WWE and be seen as a major threat to the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship, then he needs a major feud, some really big victories on pay-per view and weekly television and the backing of the higher power in Titan Towers. Without all of these then Ziggler is doomed to repeat history until decided that there’s nothing left for him in the business and he’s rubber stamped with the oh so famous words ‘Future Endeavoured’.

Kaitlyn was hampered for months by the mysterious stalker storyline which was used to initiate a feud with A.J, over the WWE Divas Championship. The storyline was okay and yielded some really good matches, but it wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before. Remember Trish Stratus and Mickie James? WWE used the angle, which was always going to turn out to be Dolph Ziggler as the man who fancied Kaitlyn, to first put Langston in the frame, allowing A.J to attack Kaitlyn and then when Ziggler turned face and dumped A.J, the mystery was solved.

Kaitlyn can thrive from this association with Dolph Ziggler, even if the opposite isn’t true for the former World Heavyweight Champion. With the Divas Division at a crossroads, WWE could really use this association to ignite the female roster again. Instead of having the Divas Championship involved in some boring storyline involving women who can’t wrestle as it has been for the past couple of years, WWE can now use the Divas Championship to greater effect. Undoubtedly, it would have been given a greater edge had Ziggler still been World Heavyweight Champion and A.J had been teamed with Del Rio in a winner takes all match, but there’s still scope for better things for the women’s.

When Kaitlyn and A.J finally break away from their respective men, its a given that the WWE Divas Championship will be in a better position to make more wrestlers than it has in the past and be less reliant on the name making the gold. That’s what WWE has been after all along. The Divas Division needs its premier Championship to make its stars and not its stars, whom for the most part aren’t capable of stringing two moves together, to make the gold.

Can Kaitlyn continue her form in the ring after her feud with A.J ends? The question is going to rely on WWE’s handling of the females underneath both her and A.J. If Vince doesn’t specifically imply that he wants the women ready for a major feud in the ring then we’re going to get a re-run of what came before Kaitlyn and A.J locked up. WWE now must get their females ready for what comes next. A searing feud with another ring worthy opponent is what Kaitlyn and WWE need when she finally regains the Divas Championship from A.J. Otherwise all of this has been for nothing.

The WWE Divas Champion, A.J, shocked the world at Payback. Not by defeating Kaitlyn for the Divas Championship but with the performance she put in. The last time A.J had a match which mattered was in 2012 before the whole storyline with C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan kicked in. After that she wasn’t needed in the ring, just at ringside. I believe that we’d all forgotten how good A.J was in the ring. Either that or she didn’t show it before, I forget. One fact remains though, WWE have a gem on their hands with A.J and I just hope that after her feud with Kaitlyn has ended, they don’t limit her to manager again. They could really do with her constant services in the ring.

It’s inevitable that A.J and Big E. Langston’s relationship will end in disaster when her psychologically disturbed character has enough of the losing member of their union and dumps him for someone better. It has to happen. The pair cannot coexist beyond 2013 because Langston is never going to be WWE or World Heavyweight Champion and I doubt he’ll even hold one of the mid-card Championships. A.J is so much better than that and maybe the spilt will be forced when WWE realises what a useless lump Langston is in the ring and cuts him from their roster. Something they should have done a long time ago.

Maybe A.J is the catalyst for WWE doing something positive with their Divas Division for once. Her performances in the ring have been top notch all the way and if she’s going to stay as a wrestler then she’s going to need better opponents than the likes of The Bella Twins and Layla. Kaitlyn and A.J can’t feud forever it’s just not possible, so what can WWE do to prepare themselves? Simple! Hire more able female stars. I’m sure for the right price Beth Phoenix would return to the company and lend her superior skills to the top of the Diva Division. On top of that, WWE should seek out the services of Mickie James and Karma once again when their contracts expire with TNA. The Divas Division, spearheaded by A.J and Kaitlyn could be the next big thing in WWE; it wouldn’t be before time either.

There really isn’t much I can add to Big E. Langston. I’ve already said that he doesn’t have the skill or talent to compete at this level in WWE and the former NXT Champion has all but bombed on the main roster. I cringe every time I watch him and still, months after his debut WWE haven’t covered up his legs which are still distracting from his dire in ring product. It might be just me but has anyone else noticed how his legs look like they don’t belong to his body?

What can Langston possibly do in WWE? The answer is not much. He’s been far too ingrained in the bodyguard role that Mr. Hughes played twenty years ago and he’s by far a too inferior opponent to be opposing Dolph Ziggler at this stage in his career. Maybe, and it’s a stretch, that Langston could find a place in the United States Championship division. With Dean Ambrose as the WWE United States Champion, perhaps WWE are trying to build Langston up to a platform on which he can reasonably challenge Ambrose and maybe even replace him. But what that undo all the good work The Shield have done up to this point? Most probably!

As far as I can see, in August 2013, Big E. Langston is taking a spot that someone with more talent needs to get themselves over. All this is doing is simply keeping future stars back in the hope that we’ll at least grow to Langston in his role. We won’t and it’s a pointless endeavour. The best things WWE can do now is either keep Langston as a mute bodyguard or can him completely and mark him down as a failed experiment.

At SummerSlam, WWE’s second biggest pay-per view of the year, Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn have to go over Langston and A.J to keep face and Ziggler’s image untarnished. More than that, Dolph Ziggler has to pin Langston or face looking like a fly by night chancer who can defeat opponents when they are injured or down but not when he has to do the work himself to win the match. It should be a bigger time for Ziggler, but right now, protecting his image has to be WWE’s main priority.

Winners Prediction: Dolph Ziggler and Kaitlyn

Inferno Match

Kane vs Bray Wyatt

Let’s get one things clear. When this match was announced and Kane appeared on the titan tron screen to tell Bray Wyatt that he would face him in a ‘Ring of Fire’ at SummerSlam, what Kane actually meant was an Inferno Match. But that’s to WWE’s PG-rated product and the rules that go along with that, the company for the most part are prohibited from mention the word ‘inferno’. Though they will have no choice but to mention it at SummerSlam, the company believe that the word alone conjures up horrific images of burning houses and charred corpses. Something the company want to keep away from their child friendly product. If you ever wondered why wrestlers never threaten each other with hard, verbal threats anymore, then this is your answer.

At SummerSlam, WWE are going to have to refer to the match in which Kane and Bray Wyatt will be surrounded with a ring of fire as an Inferno Match, because quite simply a ‘Ring of Fire Match’ sounds completely awful.

The Wyatt Family have made a huge impact in WWE since their arrival in the company and along with The Shield have been the stand out talent from those promoted from the development leagues. Their introduction into the company with the series of eerie video packages which made them look like something out of The Hills Have Eyes and their attack on Kane, who was always going to be their first target has set the supposed Family apart from the rest. At first glance, one did worry that the Wyatt’s were going to be a reimagining of The Godwins, for those old enough to remember Henry and Phineas. We can all be thankful that WWE have taken a darker edge to their characters in recent years.

I’m sure you recognize the Wyatt Family members and for those that can’t quite pin point where they’ve seen them before, allow your Wrestling God to elaborate. Whilst they’ve been down in WWE development for a very long time, all three men have been on the independent circuit and even WWE for quite some time. Bray, the man who will step into the ring against Kane at SummerSlam is none other than Windham Rotunda. The son of WWE legend Mike ‘I.R.S’ Rotunda, the grandson of Blackjack Mulligan and the nephew of former WWE and WCW star, Barry Windham. Bray Wyatt was also the wrestler who, as part of C.M Punk’s Nexus in 2010 portrayed the character of Husky Harris. At only 26 years of age and after one failed run in the company, one has to think that this is Rotunda’s final chance in WWE.

As for the other two members of The Wyatt Family, Luke Harper, real name Jon Huber, is best known for his stints in Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate USA as Brodie Lee. Eric Rowan is a newcomer to the professional wrestling scene and whilst he has competed for many independent promotions he is a new face in the wrestling world. Both he and Harper defeated Adrian Neville and Bo Dallas for the NXT Tag Team Championships on May 2nd 2013. On June 20th 2013, two weeks before The Wyatt Family made their main roster debut, Harper and Rowan dropped the Tag Team Championships to Adrian Neville and Cory Graves.

The main worry with The Wyatt Family was that their huge hype would fail to live up to expectations when they arrived in WWE. Sadly, that worry was realised when WWE chose Kane as the first target for the inbred clan. Kane’s presence of Kane in a wrestler’s life so soon into their run is never a good thing. The Wyatt Family simply don’t have the kind of image that can withstand a Kane match yet and I can only fear for what may happen if Bray loses to Kane at SummerSlam. WWE should have seen this coming and since no established wrestler such as Randy Orton or C.M Punk can make Kane look good, the signs for The Wyatt Family look less than encouraging.

After SummerSlam, WWE need extract the trio from this banal war with Kane and put them elsewhere. Maybe, they could challenge The Shield, a trio capable of helping The Wyatt’s get over, despite their limited time in the promotion. A six man war could generate great interest for WWE and help elevate The Wyatt Family to the next level, especially if WWE were to book the six man matches for The Shield’s United States and Tag Team Championships. Whatever happens after the biggest event of the summer, WWE cannot keep The Wyatt Family in Kane’s shadow any longer. That’s if they don’t want them to end up where so many new and promising wrestlers currently reside. On the list of ‘wasted opportunities’.

Kane, oh Kane, oh Kane. Where did it all go wrong? That’s if you can ever point out where it was right. The man born Glen Jacobs wasn’t always this dull in the ring and in fact under the mask of Kane he has had some stand out moments. Not enough to explain why he’s still employed in the business nearly sixteen years after his debut in October 1997, but they’re there if you look deep enough. We all know why Kane is still employed by WWE and that because he’s the best friend of The Undertaker. A man who really should have been present at SummerSlam.

The Undertaker has been gone since April. The last time we saw him compete in the ring was on WWE’s Raw and Smackdown shows recorded in the UK. Since then, he’s been absent, rehabbing old wounds. However, WWE really should have used their brains on this one and for one night only brought back The Brothers of Destruction to take on The Wyatt Family in a 3 on 2 handicap match, in which The Wyatt’s would have won and The Undertaker could have put them over in convincing fashion. More so than Kane could ever hope to do.

With Kane, WWE are having to find something for the ‘Big Red Machine’ to do. After his Team Hell No break up with Daniel Bryan, WWE have literally nothing else to do with Kane. It’s not the first time either. In 2009, the company were so dry of ideas for Kane they sent him home for three months to both lose some weight and give the creative team time to come up with something. The results weren’t impressive. When Kane returned he was fatter than ever and the big plans WWE had come up with for him was a singled feud against the dreadful The Great Khali.

The simple fact is that in today’s current wrestling climate, if you don’t have anything for a wrestler to do then he’s expendable. WWE don’t need Kane and we certainly don’t need to see him anymore. Kane will never be WWE Champion again and much like Big E. Langston, he’s now hogging the spotlight from someone who needs the exposure. Kane time in wrestling is done and what’s worse is that he and WWE know it. The only thing stopping both parties from acting upon it is that they’re both in denial. If Kane had any self respect or care for the business that has given him so much then he would voluntarily walk away from the ring.

Glen Jacobs has done everything he possibly can in wrestling. He’s been WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, ECW Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WCW Tag Team Champion and WWE Hardcore Champion to name but a few. He’s going to be remembered as one of the best big men this industry has ever seen – an accolade which isn’t truly deserved but will be bestowed upon him anyway – and will be furnished with an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame at some point in the next ten years. Surely, it’s better for Kane to stand down now rather than carry on until we just turn out backs on him? Kane’s legacy has to burn out; he cannot allow it to merely fade away.

SummerSlam has to be the making of The Wyatt Family; if Kane prevails in this renamed Inferno Match then I don’t see any hope for the trio who started out their tenure so competently. To steal someone else’s star when yours has shone so bright would be purely selfish of Kane. But then again, when has selfishness or other people’s careers ever bothered wrestlers like Kane, who readily steal the spots needed by those with more talent?

Winners Prediction: Bray Wyatt

Natalya vs Brie Bella

It’s hard to believe that this match has been based around ‘Total Divas’, WWE’s latest attempt to break into the reality television market. For those that haven’t seen it yet, then it follows around the WWE Divas in their every day lives and to WWE’s credit, they haven’t edited out any of the real life situations to protect kayfabe as Natalya and Tyson Kidd’s marriage and the relationships between The Bella Twins and John Cena and Daniel Bryan – who the delicious Divas are dating, have been explored.

In reality, ‘Total Divas’ is WWE testing the water to see what will and won’t fly with its audience and it’s all a precursor for the launch of the WWE Network in 2014, which will undoubtedly bomb for a while. WWE want to see if reality shows interest a wrestling audience and if it flies well then the company will look into more mediums for the upcoming Network when it hits our screens. One such show which has been bandied around has been a Big Brother type programme putting WWE Legends into a house and then have the audience vote them out. Yeah I know.

There is a part of me that almost wants ‘Total Divas’ to fail, just so WWE don’t produce anymore ridiculous shows featuring WWE Superstars. Not that ‘Total Divas’ is ridiculous, but there’s only such much reality we’re willing to buy into. Hands up who wants to see inside John Cena’s life or wants to see Dusty Rhodes and Sgt. Slaughter walking around a WWE funded house in their underwear in the name of entertainment! Anyone? Nope, me neither. But those are type of show’s we’re likely to get if WWE has their way.

Anyway, back onto the subject at hand. This match has been booked only to get the show over and not in the interest of building the Divas Division around Kaitlyn and A.J. If that was WWE’s intention then they wouldn’t have chosen Brie Bella to oppose Natalya at SummerSlam, because quite frankly, in the ring, The Bella’s suck. The audience aren’t stupid, which is one thing that WWE would like to believe we are. We can see this has been booked just to hype the reality show and therefore I would expect, on the night, the match to receive a frosty reception. Although that won’t stop WWE instructing its commentators to hype the show for all its worth, instead of actually commentating on the match.

For Natalya, this is a huge comedown. The daughter of WWE Legend, Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart has much more talent than a weekly reality show. She should be at the forefront of the female division with Kaitlyn and A.J, not being used as a vessel in which to sell a show which none of us will really care about in three months time. In fact, WWE have pulled Natalya down to such a level over the last couple of months that her in ring output has been few and far between with Natalya serving as a backstage interviewer, as she did at Payback, instead of lacing up her boots.

It’s a shame that WWE have done this to Natalya. If you asked her then she’d say that wrestling was her life and certainly that seemed to be a statement which ran through the entire Hart Family through the years. The only reason I could possibly think of for the decline in Natalya’s in ring product is because she’s pregnant. Which she isn’t! The female Hart could be such an asset to the WWE Divas Division if she was allowed to go out every week and have a ten minute match with someone who could lock horns ably. But she doesn’t and WWE have a severe lack of women who can do so. Instead of using Natalya to her full potential WWE have saddled her in recent months with backstage work and house show appearances, along with the horrendous flatulence gimmick and The Great Khali love story. Can you imagine WWE using Bret Hart in this fashion?

The only reason, as far as I can see, that Brie Bella is in this match, is because she’s dating WWE Champion elect, Daniel Bryan. With huge plans for Bryan in the coming months, WWE want to keep both him and John Cena – who is dating Brie’s sister Nikki – happy. If Daniel Bryan or John Cena wanted their women to have a bigger role on WWE television and the company refused, then there’s a chance it could have an adverse effect on SummerSlam’s main event. It’s the same old story of who you know and now what you know. Vince McMahon doesn’t want to upset Bryan and Cena.

Brie Bella isn’t talented, she has no place in the wrestling business other than to stand there and flash her assets every now and again. Neither of The Bella Twins are going to do anything to help the Divas Division in WWE and therefore, whether it pisses Daniel Bryan and John Cena off or not, should be once again axed from WWE’s roster. When it was announced they were returning to the ring before WrestleMania 29, a shudder of dread shot through the wrestling business. If WWE are just going to keep people employed because they’re involved with other stars then where does it end?

If John Cena or Daniel Bryan demanded that Brie or Nikki Bella were made Divas Champion or they wouldn’t cooperate, would WWE bow down to the demands even if it wasn’t best for business? Of course they would. We’ve already seen it in WWE with The Undertaker and Kane. You don’t seriously believe that WWE would have chosen Kane as their World Heavyweight Champion in 2010 if The Undertaker hadn’t have suggested that their feud would be better with the World Championship on the line, do you? WWE and the wrestling business in itself has suffered enough through the years because of golden handshakes and nepotism. We don’t need anymore of it.

Natalya vs Brie Belle at SummerSlam has ‘filler’ written all over it. Judging by their previous match on Raw, I don’t expect anything sensational and it’s just another excuse for WWE to get some decent tits on television whilst holding a genuinely talented wrestler in Natalya back. I fully expect Brie Bella to go over Natty on the night and of Neidhart does win then it will a surprise, after all, it’s about keeping the right people happy.

Winners Prediction: Brie Bella

Pre-Show Match

WWE United States Championship Match

(c) Dean Ambrose vs Rob Van Dam

So soon? Really? WWE have a funny way of thinking this, a match for a lowly Championship on the pre-show of the second biggest pay-per view of the year, is the way that either Rob Van Dam or Dean Ambrose should be used. After so much hype and build up and then bringing him back at Money in the Bank to compete in the All Stars match, WWE could do so much with Rob Van Dam. The main event scene needs an injection of life and for crying out loud, Van Dam is that answer. If WWE have just brought him back to make up the numbers then they need a hefty boot up the arse.

The real reason as to why Rob Van Dam has been brought back is to supplement for Chris Jericho, who is now winging his way around the world, promoting his band and selling those millions of CD’s that none of us own. If Chris Jericho was staying in WWE for the long term, then WWE would not have hired RVD. In fact this is the kind of match you can imagine Chris Jericho being involved in. However, this isn’t Chris Jericho. Even at forty plus, Rob Van Dam still hasn’t had his day in WWE and unlike Chris Jericho, there is still a place for him at the top of the tree, even if its just challenging and not actually winning the company’s gold.

Can you imagine how big a Rob Van Dam vs Randy Orton match would have been for SummerSlam this year? Along with Bryan vs Cena and Lesnar vs Punk, Van Dam vs Randy Orton in a athletic back and forth encounter would have sold more numbers than a RVD pre-show battle would have. Still only a month into his return, the hype for RVD is still there. He’s been relevant on Smackdown and Raw since Money in the Bank, and since he and Orton were the losing participants in the triple threat match to decide the number one contender to Alberto Del Rio’s World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, it made sense that the pair should face off on the show. It’s not like it would be an awful match.

By putting Rob Van Dam on the pre-show, it sends out the message that WWE simply hired Rob Van Dam to be a filler for Chris Jericho. Though one gets the feeling that Van Dam could have made a better job of Fandango than Y2J did.

This is the second pay-per view in a row which a member of The Shield has been relegated to the pre-show. At Money in the Bank it was Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns who defended the WWE Tag Team Championships against The Uso’s and now it’s the turn of the WWE United States Champion, Dean Ambrose, who has been more than impressive since capturing the gold from the out of favour Kofi Kingston at Extreme Rules 2013. The only dip in Ambrose’s performance was at Payback when he and Kane put on a borefest.

Whilst The Shield have been defeated on Raw and Smackdown and Dean Ambrose was defeated in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at Money in the Bank in July, the faction are yet to lose as a trio on pay-per view. But as WWE aren’t concentrated on that side of the trio anymore, singles competition is as good as its going to get for Ambrose. His match here against Rob Van Dam would have been better on the main body of the show and WWE should have bumped the Natalya vs Brie Bella match down to pre-show status, but as explained above they won’t.

It’s wrong that a Championship, a piece of gold that signifies that the person holding it is the best in that division, should be defended on the pre-show of a pay-per view. WWE could use this spot on every pay-per view to enhance talent who don’t get enough exposure on Raw and Smackdown. Antonio Cesaro and Kofi Kingston are just two of the names who could use this spot effectively to help rebuild their careers, instead of using someone like Dean Ambrose who is going to be harmed by the association.

Then again, we’ve said this all before and WWE have done nothing about it. It’s childish that they keep booking the same people in the same spots every couple of months when the spot could be used for so much more than just something to get people to log on to WWE.Com before the pay-per view begins.

Winners Prediction: Dean Ambrose

Whilst the card looks thin without the inclusion of Randy Orton – at least at time of writing – and Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose once again relegated to Pre-Show and mid- card duties, there is hope for this year’s SummerSlam. By the end of the night we should have a new WWE Champion in either Daniel Bryan or Randy Orton if he cashes in the Money in the Bank briefcase, and with rumours that John Cena is going to take some time off after the summers biggest event, then the show will end on a high even if everything else is dire.

Not that it should be. Alberto Del Rio vs Christian had so much potential and of course we will bare witness to the culmination of Brock Lesnar vs C.M Punk which has no reason to be anything but a stunning piece of storytelling. There is no reason for the lapse in concentration when it comes to the likes of Orton, Ziggler, The Shield or even Rob Van Dam but with at least three matches out of the lot holding promise we can look forward to what should be a gripping summer spectacular.

Onwards and upwards...