The WWE presents its annual biggest PPV of the summer this weekend – SummerSlam. The show takes place Sunday 8pm est from the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. While this is usually a show with a lot of build and high profile matches, this years offering seems a bit lacking, despite the fact they have thrown some major superstars together in trying to draw a big buyrate. With that, here is the breakdown for the show.
Edge vs Undertaker (Hell in a Cell) – This will likley be the main event, and for what it’s worth – it should be. It will be the first time we’ve seen Taker since he “retired” a few months back after a loss to Edge at One Night Stand. Now he’s back thanks to Vickie Guerrero, and this should be a blood bath. Both these men work well together, and they are wise to put this on as the main. Both these guys are at the top of their game, and this one should be a very solid main event despite not much on the line.
World Heavyweight Champion C.M. Punk vs JBL – We’ve seen this one before, as Punk took on JBL the night he won the strap, so they must feel they can keep it fresh. Keeping JBL in the title picture is a bit of a head scratcher, but they must feel that he still has value and can give Punk a solid match. No way I can see JBL winning the belt here, as Punk walks out with a successful defense of the World Heavyweight Title.
WWE Champion Triple H vs The Great Khali – Let’s hope they keep this one short. With not much else going on in the title scene, they threw this together in hopes of making it legit, but not many are buying Khali as a serious contender for the belt, and for good reason. The company gave HHH some time off to be with wife Steph McMahon for the birth of their second child, and because of that, we have to deal with this, which should be a short 7-8 minute squash with HHH winning clean.
ECW Champion Mark Henry vs Matt Hardy – Hardy dropped the US Title at last month’s PPV offering to set up this feud that we knew was coming when Hardy was moved and Henry got the belt. The ECW brand has been a bit better with the infusion of young talent, and while Henry does not deserve to carry the torch of this title, look for a win here to simply continue this feud till Hardy finally does win his first major heavyweight title.
Batista vs John Cena – They are pushing this as the “first time ever” for these two, and many felt we wouldn’t see this till Mania. I predict we still might, as I can easily see a no-decision here, allowing them to keep this fresh as the build for Mania 25 starts in full in the next two-three months. From here I see a slow build for Batista going back to heel to build towards a big grudge match with a title involved with Cena at Mania.
MVP vs Jeff Hardy – These two just had a match at a PPV a few months back, but this time they are actually going though with a program, so I wouldnt’ doubt if they drag this out a little. On the other hand, this could be a “one and done” and then they could move Hardy into the title picture with Triple H after he takes care of Khali. Down the road Hardy will have a title shot, and I think it’s going to be sooner than later, meaning he wins clean here.
Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella vs Kofi Kingston and Mickie James (IC and Women’s Belt on the line) – Kind of a silly way to have two belts decided, but for whatever reason they decided to have these four in a match and put not one but two belts up. I can likely see one of the belts changing hands, and the way it should go down is Marella, finally admitting his crush on Phoenix, helps her win the womens belt and forgo’s the IC belt. That’s the most logical way of it playing out anyway.
Labels: 2008 summerslam, batista, c.m. punk, edge, jbl, the great khali, triple h, undertaker
