Wednesday Notes: SummerSlam, Card for that show, ECW, Edge's Injury
Well, the WWE has gone into shift mode following the news that the Jackass crew is out for SummerSlam, and in the long run, not having to push a couple of non-wrestlers and then having them go over on one of the better heels in the company in Umaga may not be such a bad thing. SummerSlam the last two years was a big event because they pushed Hulk Hogan at us. The first year he was in the main event against Shawn Michaels, and then last year in a lackluster match against Randy Orton in a match that likley now the company wishes they would have never let happen. Just imagine if Orton would have went over on Hogan, then the "Legend Killer" character would be stronger now than ever. Not that a loss to Hogan was the worst thing in the world, but some sort of win would have pushed Orton to the to peven faster.
Now though, we know that instead of a sideshow, which is what we would have gotten with the JA guys, we are going to get a solid card with what should be a very hot, sold out crowd in New Jersey. The card went on sale in late December, and sold out pretty much right away, meaning that the NJ crowd should really be in the PPV as a whole. Plus there will be the comeback of HHH that they can hang their hats on, and I am sure that Rey Mystero will have his first big PPV match after coming back from injury on the card as well.
So here is where we stand right now for the card:
Randy Orton vs John Cena for the WWE Title
Khali vs Batista for the Heavyweight Title (rumored)
Triple H vs King Booker
Bobby Lashley vs Carlito
John Morrison vs ??? for the ECW Title
Also expect to see Rey Mystero in a match as well
That's six matches, and I would think that the fact they did a decent 9 matches on the Great American Bash Sunday without much of a problem, that they would have at least eight matches. I would think a womens title match would be in there somewhere, and a tag match of some sort. Speaking of which, does the WWE have tag titles anymore? It's as if they have been totally forgotten about. I know we saw Cade and Murdoch in the match with Umaga vs Cena and Candice on Monday night, but it sort of felt like - "hey, where have the tag champs been?"
ECW on Tuesday night was okay, as they did Morrison vs some guy named Joe Roni, Stevie Richards vs. Kevin Thorn which was pretty cool that they finally saw that Richards can wrestle and they gave him a win. Miz vs. Nunzio, which was stupid as they had to have the slut patrol involved, Big Daddy V in an impressive 2 on 1 beatdown, and the main event of Morrison and Elijah Burke vs Tommy Dreamer and C.M. Punk. In a very strong main event, Punk got the pin on Burke, meaning that I think with the lack of true challengers in the brand, we'll see Punk vs Morrison (again) at SummerSlam, or some sort of 3 or 4 way for the belt.
On a final note for the day, Edge's injuries were worse than feared. He has a full tear of the tendon attaching the pectoral muscle to the bone. He had surgery in Birmingham under Dr. James Andrews over the weekend. While at first they said it was a partial tear, instead it looks like he'll be out about 5 months. A tough break for a guy that was having a solid run as the Heavyweight Champion.
