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Why Summerslam might be the last WWE PPV I ever watch...
By: Derek X | Posted: 08/12/12


summerslam 2012


I stopped blogging a couple of months ago right after Wrestlemania. It was mostly because I was stretching myself too thin, what with work taking a lot of my time and other personal problems coming to a head. I felt like I wasn't giving my best efforts in my blogs anymore and the remarks and comments I received seemed to echo those sentiments. I was told I was being too negative on multiple occasions. My critiques of WWE programming was too harsh. They were right.

I wasn't just being negative in my blogs, it was my entire life. I felt an obligation to write the KJRs even though I really didn't want to. So naturally, I was never in a good mood and it showed. I was taught as a child, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That's why I stopped blogging after Wrestlemania XVIII.

Initially, I intended to end my 20 year foray into professional wrestling at the end of this year. I had a lot of stress in my life and WWE was only adding to it. I was fed up with the current state of pro-wrestling and I didn't like the direction it was heading in. Wrestlemania XVIII was the coup de grace - the death blow.

The reason why I was going to wait until the end of this year is because I have commitments to TWF that I would never abandon. Namely, the PPV League. I figured I would continue to host the PPV League until the end of this year and then announce my retirement and let someone else take it over. I would remain with TWF because I have a lot of good friends here, who I wouldn't want to abandon. I just wouldn't be active in the wrestling portions of the forum anymore.

That was the plan I initially conceived after Wrestlemania. But plans, are they are ought to do, changed. After a couple of months away, I felt refreshed and decided that I would stick around after all. I would continue my role with TWF, I would continue hosting the PPV League and I would even try to start blogging again. I believe I made a reference to that in the RAW1000 Special Edition KJR.

I meant it... at the time. But plans, once again, changed. And they changed pretty much during that episode of RAW.

As soon as CM Punk turned heel, I knew it was only a matter of time before they took that WWE Championship off of him and put it back on John Cena. I didn't want to say anything in the KJR for fear of being called 'negative' again, but I said it to myself. Well lo and behold, now the dirt sheets and rumor mills are saying that WWE intends on putting the WWE Championship on John Cena so that he can face The Rock at Royal Rumble. Son of a bitch. Now, I'm smart enough to know that rumors are called rumors for a reason, but I'm also smart enough to know there is always a bit of truth in every rumor. No one can convince me that this discussion hasn't happened. I know that the conversation is being tossed around to make Cena the WWE Champion at Summerslam. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will happen, but the possibility is enough that I'm worried.

And this isn't even an anti-Cena rant, as much as it is a pro-Punk rant. CM Punk has worked his skinny fat ass off as WWE Champion. He's put on some great performances against Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Daniel Bryan and others. He's redefined what a prototypical WWE babyface should be. Hell, he's redefined what a prototypical WWE Champion should be. And despite the cries of low PPV buyrates and dwindling television ratings - none of which is dependent on who is champion at the time - CM Punk's title reign has been a huge success. There is no logical or practical reason to have him lose the WWE Championship right now. The only reason they could possibly have to do it is simply because they want John Cena as champion.

This past Friday night on Smackdown, the proposed World Championship match between Alberto Del Rio and reigning champion Sheamus was taken off the card in favor of them having a match that very night in retaliation of Sheamus 'borrowing' Del Rio's car on RAW. I guess. Anyhow, even though the match didn't take place, WWE issued a statement - via new Smackdown GM Booker T - that the World Championship match at Summerslam would remain off the cards for now. Of course there will be a World Championship match at Summerslam, but it probably won't be a singles match between Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus.

No, the dirt sheets and rumor mills are at it again and this time they are reporting that this angle took place so that WWE can place Randy Orton into the Championship mixture. Yes, the same Randy Orton who just returned from his second suspension for violating the WWE Wellness Policy. If this happens, I will not be happy. There are far more deserving wrestlers to be put into a World Title match than Randy Orton.

First of all, I see no reason to add anyone to this feud as Del Rio's actions from this past week's Smackdown finally ratcheted this rivalry up a notch. Before it was suffering from being overshadowed by the other main event matches on the Summerslam card. It was nothing more than an obligatory World Title match. Now, there are stakes at play, an actual rivalry. Now that being said, I'm not that big a fan of Sheamus as World Champion. I am a fan of Sheamus, just not babyface Sheamus as World Champion. This probably stems from the way he won that title... the 18-second victory at, yes, Wrestlemania. I don't dislike Sheamus because of this. As I said in my Wrestlemania XXVIII KJR, Sheamus is as much a victim of that match as Daniel Bryan was. I just cannot take this championship reign seriously if that's how it began. That said, I still wouldn't have Sheamus drop the title at Summerslam because I don't think Del Rio is that good of a champion.

Speaking of Daniel Bryan, I don't think anyone's stock has risen as much as his has since that terrible, no-good, very bad day at Wrestlemania XXVIII. His popularity has soared, his character has hit highs that I didn't think he was capable of and he has just reinvented himself again within the same character and hasn't missed a beat. In fact, I think his 'No' gimmick will work even better than the 'Yes' gimmick did. And yet at Summerslam, they have him facing Kane. Summerslam is the second-biggest PPV in terms of buyrates and advertising in WWE. They already screwed him that the biggest PPV and now they seem primed to do it again. Why not allow Daniel Bryan to face someone who can complement him in the ring instead of someone who limits him? I have no problem with Kane, but he's not known for his technical prowess. Also, I can't see Daniel Bryan winning the match, which only makes me think of whatever the fuck rivalry this is with Charlie Sheen. I can't even talk about that. It's so ridiculous.

And the match that will probably go down as the real main-event of Summerslam is Triple H vs Brock Lesnar. Is anyone else excited for this match aside from Triple H and Vince McMahon? I know Brock Lesnar isn't because it shows. He's just there for a payday. He's not nearly as intense as he was in his rivalry with John Cena - and I think he was just doing that to save face since it was his first public event since his embarrassing loss in UFC. To Triple H's credit, he's thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this rivalry to make it work. He's brought back Paul Heyman, a man I know he and Vince detests. He's included his family in the rivalry, allowing Heyman to verbally berate his own children and even bringing his hot wife into the fray. Last Monday night, he even brought his longtime friend HBK Shawn Michaels into the rivalry. And unsurprisingly, that move actually worked to an extent. But I think that had more to do with HBK being a beloved figure in WWE than anyone actually caring about this match. Unless HBK is going to be a part of the match, which I hope to the wrestling gods he is not, that momentum won't continue to Summerslam. I doubt it even continues to next Monday night on RAW.

Most of this is just conjecture and posturing because I seriously have no idea how Summerslam will play out. For all I know, the questions I have about the PPV will be answered and the problems will be fixed during next week's slate of WWE programming - before Summerslam even begins. It's very possible that I jumping the gun and being negative once again. I admit that. But it's also possible that 20 years of WWE exposure has given me insight to the way the minds in the creative room work and I am anticipating the inevitable. It could go either way.

But one thing is certain. If both John Cena and Randy Orton leave Summerslam as the respective WWE and World Heavyweight Champions, I'm done with professional wrestling.
- Derek X
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