Countdown to SummerSlam has Arrived
The true countdown to SummerSlam is now on, as tonight we'll have the final RAW before the big event, and then tomorrow night the last SmackDown and ECW shows before the sold-out event this weekend in New Jersey. I did enjoy most of what I saw over the weekend in terms of SmackDown and Saturday Night's Main Event, and actually got a kick out of the SNME show, which I thought was the best they've had since they brought the show back. It also had that star power appeal with boxer Evander Holyfield coming in for that match with Matt Hardy, which turned out to be somewhat of a joke, but in the end you knew that Evander would be the good guy and get the better of MVP.
There has been plenty of talk about two huge subjects as we head into SummerSlam, the first of which is will they reveal who the "child" is of Vince McMahon? I don't think they will do it on Sunday, as this is a perfect chance for them to keep the drama going and try and score a big rating on RAW with announcing who the "child" will be sometime in the month of September when things are a bit slow. Ask me who it is - I still think the plan is, and will be Mr.Kennedy. Seems like the perfect fit, and yes, now that it's been bantered about for ever, the announcement of Kennedy would be a bit of a letdown, but if they play it off like it's someone else, I don't think that person would get the push that Kennedy would.
From what I am hearing and seeing, the word early is that Kennedy would get a big enough push to land him in a program with Triple H after they make the announcement of him being Vince's kid. I don't know if I like that idea, only because I would assume with HHH being champion again down the road (ugh), they are going to have to basically bury Kennedy in this feud. Of course they could, and likely would go back and forth for a number of months, and I guess if you did do it right, you could have each of them come out of the program with enough gusto to make it work, but knowing how they do business with HHH, they will protect him at all costs, which is not always a good thing.
The other big question about SummerSlam is what will the outcome be with John Cena vs Randy Orton for the WWE title? As always when you have this type of build, most are saying that Orton is going to come out on top, and some big wrestling sources are saying that is the plan. I think they personally should do the swerve, and have Cena go over and continue the feud with another match maybe as soon as the September PPV. Why force the belt off of Cena so fast, when you know that he and Orton will have a large number of rematches? Keep this program going, and then use one of the next two PPV's to move the belt, that way you can also advance programs for the next round of challengers for Orton.
SummerSlam's buyrate is going to be of major interest. Looking at the card, this year seems down for sure over the last two, and with a main event of Cena-Orton, which has been the house show main event since before WrestleMania (saw this match in Canton, OH at a house show months ago), the match could be kind of stale for those that have already seen it. As for the rest of the card, HHH will get a big pop, but he and Booker is for sure a filler, and Chavo vs Rey Mysterio has been seen by just about anyone who has ever clicked on a WWE TV show. They will have to put out there another 3-4 matches this week as well, as right now we only have five matches on the card, which basically includes the three major title matches, and the two returns for HHH and Mysterio.
