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THE FLY ON THE WALL LOOKS AT SUMMERSLAM

The Fly on the Wall

Hello, and welcome to a new edition of the all new and improved “The Fly on the Wall”. I am Matthew Flynn and I have written several columns before, some of which have been posted in forums or on different websites, but after a lengthy absence, I have decided to start writing columns regularly. And when better to start than with the biggest party of the summer!?

At first glance, this column may seem like the typical PPV prediction column – but it isn't. I have brief thoughts on who will win each match, but the majority of the column center's around who will REALLY win, as a result of every match. This doesn't necessarily mean the wrestler who takes the pinfall or submission in the match, but rather the man, or women, who will truly benefit most from the match, and where said match will lead their career, whether they win or lose.

The column is split up into three parts which are oh-so (not-) cleverly named as a part of the development of a project – which in this case is SummerSlam 2007.

Analysis & Design

This part of the column takes a look at how the event has been built up and, in particular, what each of the three WWE brands has done to develop their card for the show.

This year's SummerSlam has been a difficult one to build up, and so is rather difficult to judge. Many plans have changed, either due to injuries or other factors, but, the show has had to go on.

Raw

Raw may have suffered the most in the build up to SummerSlam, for several reasons. Firstly there was the Jackass fiasco. Much of the promotion for the event was to be focused on the Jackass guys and Umaga. When this went out the pan, they had to come up with different angles, and a new match for Umaga as well. Tying in with this is Carlito, who has been thrown against Umaga. He was clearly being geared up for a match against Lashley, but due to his injury, the big match had to be canceled, and Umaga quickly got moved into the Intercontinental title match that just seemed to come out of nowhere really, along with the face turn of Umaga.

One other thing that has really hindered Raw in the five week build-up is the return of Mr. McMahon and his new paternity storyline. Whilst it has probably been great for Raw as a whole, it really has detracted from the SummerSlam build (from a matches point of view) and obviously took time away from other superstars on the shows leading up to the event.

The Cena vs Orton feud has been hit and miss. Orton has been booked very strongly for a few months and nothing has changed recently, whereas Cena has just sort of floated his way to this point. He hasn't really done anything, and as a result, their match isn't so much about a feud as it is about whether Cena can simply survive Orton's path of destruction.

The women's division has been well highlighted on Raw recently, but the match itself didn't really get any build up, but at least it has a decent prize on the line, and keeps the division in the spotlight.

Triple H against King Booker has been a strange one. It has been very well built up, but almost entirely without one of the competitors. The lead to this match has followed the usual steps very well and it almost seems like a perfect feud, but with Lawler being replaced in the blow-off match.

ECW

What can you say about ECW? You could point out that they have fared terribly at SummerSlam and only produced one match. Or you could look at that match and say that it has been built up really well. Punk and Morrison's last couple of matches seemed to be made without real reason and with them hardly ever crossing paths at all. This time, Punk has had to work for his match and Morrison has really shone on the mic and also in the ring with Punk on tv (though not so much against Boogeyman!). The 15 minutes of fame stuff is great when not overused and it suited Morrison well and gave them both a good chance to build up to this match. Now they just need to grab the crowd, or they could both end up getting pushed back down the card.

Smackdown

Smackdown has had it hard this year. You could blame it on injuries reducing the roster, which has left them in this mess, but they really haven't had a whole lot of choice. We've ended up with Kali against Batista which has actually been booked decently, but no one really wants to see it, which is a real problem with any feud. It has been typically booked for a Batista program and if it was any other opponent, we may be interested, but it i just so hard to look forward to anything that involved Kali as the World champion.

The saving grace for the show could have been MVP vs Matt Hardy, but outside circumstances stopped this guaranteed classic from even starting, and we have been given a quick replacement match in Finlay vs Kane. Whilst it will probably be a decent match, it hasn't had any length of build up to really shine. However, they have done well in the time they have had. It started out of nowhere, with the coffee incident, which is always fun, and since then we have had the run-ins and attacks that has added some fuel to the fire. Whether this feud continues will probably depend on the state of MVP, but it could well be worth a second match, with some more time to build it up.

Much like Raw, one of Smackdown's big matches has been built up by one man. Rey's return is big news for Smackdown, but Chavo has had to do most of the build up due to Rey's absence. The difference between this feud and the one over on Raw is that Booker has been working a program with Lawler which has lead into one with Triple H. Whereas over on Smackdown, Chavo has just been relying on something that happened months ago to basically resume a feud with Rey. This hasn't really captured the imagination of the fans at all, though luckily, when it is Rey Mysterio that is returning, they haven't really needed to do much else anyway.

Implementation

This section covers the event itself and quickly runs through how I think it will turn out. I wont go into too much detail as the meat and bones of the column is the next section, which follows on from the event itself, rather than focusing on these results.

Umaga vs Carlito vs Mr. Kennedy

The real question over this match is whether it truly is just a filler bout that has been thrown together due to Umaga losing his Jackass match, Carlito losing his Lashley match, and there being nothing better to do for Kennedy at the moment. Or will it actually continue after SummerSlam and produce a feud.

We can discount Kennedy straight away as he will move past the Intercontinental title. So the real questions is who will win out of Carlito and Umaga. If Carlito were to take the belt, it might help Umaga's new face push, but Carlito was never really being pushed, he was just being geared up to get squashed by Lashley.

Winner - Umaga.

Kane vs Finlay

This match poses the same question really. Is it just a quick replacement for MVP vs Matt Hardy, or is it an actual feud. Here's hoping that it is going to produce a decent feud, which is almost certain to get a jump start from Finlay cheating to beat Kane in the first match, with Kane taking the bigger win in the return match next month.

Winner - Finlay.

Diva Battle Royal

You could really just put all the diva's names in a hat and draw out a winner here. Or you could go for Melina or Mickie James and give Candice someone she knows she can wrestle. You could add some real interest and give the win to Victoria, which would create an interesting inter-brand feud – but Victoria is busy over on Smackdown with Torrie at the minute. That really only leaves Beth, and the battle royal is the easy way to give someone new the title show.

Winner – Beth Phoenix.

CM Punk vs John Morrison

A feud that lasts for 3 months, or more, and has the same winner from every match generally spells disaster for the superstar on the losing end. Punk may have looked good in the build up to this match, and Morrison may look great as the ECW champion, but it is all going to reflect very badly on CM Punk if he doesn't walk away with the gold here. That doesn't necessarily mean that he is a cert to win, but I just don't see that Vince would want to bury him. Theres always the chance that the feud could carry on to Unforgiven, or even that someone will cost Punk the match and present him with a new feud, but there is only really room for one big feud at a time in ECW at the minute.

Winner - CM Punk.

Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero

The returning Rey Mysterio has practically already got this match in the bag. Chavo could cheat to win, but the more likely scenario is him trying to repeat his injury of Rey and ending up disqualified. Either way, the returnee picks up the victory here.

Winner – Rey Mysterio.

Triple H vs King Booker T

There is no way that Hunter is losing on his big return. There is much more chance of Rey losing. Triple H has to look strong here or his hype and return would be pointless, and he would lose any momentum he has built up. Plus, its Triple H!

Winner – Triple H.

Batista vs The Great Kali

Whilst it would have made more sense, and been much more pleasing on the eye, if Batista had simply won the World title on Smackdown and we had never had to suffer this monster with the belt, we now have this match, whether we want it or not. Luckily, it seems that Batista is taking the belt back. Kali against The Undertaker has been done to death, and Kali against Edge would be as bad as this match. Plus, Kali has more opponents underneath the main event. Batista is going to be the man to drop the title to Edge when he returns.

Winner – Batista.

John Cena vs Randy Orton

This one seems a no-brainer. If Orton doesn't win this one, I will be shocked, which isn't something I would normally say, as you never bet against John Cena these days. From a general feud stand point, I would normally back Cena and have Orton win the title at Unforgiven, or even have Orton win here and have them exchange victories over the coming months, much like Cena and Edge did a while back. However, Orton needs to win this one. He needs to keep his momentum up or this whole build up for him has been pointless. Even if he were to lose here and take the belt at Unforgiven, it wouldn't have the same effect as steamrolling Cena at the first time of asking.

Winner – Randy Orton.

 

Evaluation

This sections takes a look at what the real results of the event will be. Not the actual winners and losers of the match, as discussed above, but who will benefit the most, and go on to bigger and better things.

Umaga vs Carlito vs Mr. Kennedy

This is an interesting one as it has been thrown together as a result of the injury to Lashley, and it isn't too clear what the future plans are for everyone yet.

Most people are banking on Kennedy being Vince's spawn, and if this is the case, he will no doubt be moving up to some high-level feud involving Vince. They probably wont involve the IC title, or either of his two opponents here either. Though they could be HHH, Lashley, or both – very high on the card.

Umaga is lucky here. He would have probably been on the losing end of a Jackass match at SummerSlam. He has been spared that embarrassment, and his new face push brings a different edge to his character, one which could do a lot for him, or could ruin him, due to his labeling as an unbeatable monster – which doesn't always work out too well for a babyface (don't say Goldberg).

Carlito has been de-pushed of late, with rumors being that it was because of his poor attitude backstage. Either way, he recently got a win over Cena and he has, at least, been moved back up to IC title level. He may or may not win that title, but in all likelihood he will be made to look quite strong over the coming months, as he will probably still be used to feed to Lashley upon his return (depending on whereabout Kennedy is).

Real Winner - Carlito.

Umaga is steadily pushed pretty much constantly, though this face run is unpredictable. Kennedy's future is almost sealed, and this match will do nothing to alter that, even if he looks absolutely terrible in the ring with these two. The real winner here is Carlito. He has been deep down on the roster of later (as deep as Heat!) and has been given an opportunity to take back his place on the roster exactly as he left it. We all know how talented and charismatic he is, so he should have no problem taking the ball here and running with it as far as he can.

Kane vs Finlay

The overall winner of this contest wont really have too much effect, though it seems likely that Finlay, as the heel, will walk away with the win, to perhaps prolong this feud. It seems that this feud has been thrown together as a result of MVP being unable to compete, and that could be a real blessing for these two – especially if it presents them an opportunity for a prolonged feud.

Neither wrestler has been doing much on Smackdown of late. Finlay basically disappeared once Hornswoggle got his own push, and has only really been brought back to tv to start up this feud with Kane. Kane on the other hand was still on tv, but used sparingly, and he wasn't being pushed anywhere in particular. He was pretty much being used as a make-weight in the Batista-Kali feud.

Real Winner - Tie.

There is no real winner here, whatever the result, unless there are real plans to push one of them heavily. The major factor for both men is that they are back on regular tv and on PPV as well.

Diva Battle Royal

These sorts of matches are always going to be difficult to discuss as they are almost always pointless matches that serve only as eye candy (Whoo! Eye Candy!). There are a lot of women involved in this one and no one is particularly going to gain anything from being in the match, besides a pay cheque for being on the pay-per-view.

There are only two possible real winners coming out of this one. The winner of match is going to get a title shot, which is obviously going to get them a decent feud and at least another PPV match. And Candice, who will more than likely retain her title, but has a very good chance of feuding with someone new.

Personally, I see Beth Phoenix winning this one, and that would be great news for Candice who can get some more singles action with another new competitor, whether she retains her title in the end, or not.

Real Winner - Candice.

Obviously there is an argument for Beth Phoenix (if she actually wins) as she will get some real exposure, but Beth is a great talent and it will only do wonders for Candice's development if the two get a good feud, and a good number of matches, going.

Of course – you could always argue that the fans are the real winners with this match, or even that the women's division is the true winner, due to its exposure on the PPV, but I'll stick with Candice.

CM Punk vs John Morrison

After a long feud like theirs, it seems so likely that a title change will occur. However, this shouldn't really effect either man too much.

For Morrison, it gives him a chance to work back toward the gold and to work with a few of the other wrestlers, though it could also mean that he ends up in a program with The Boogeyman.

Punk will probably walk away with the title, but that really doesn't mean to much for him from a wrestling or storyline point of view. It wont produce any better opponents as he will only end up against Big Daddy V, or one of the guys he has already had a long feud with, such as Morrison or Burke.

Real Winner - CM Punk.

Neither man will gain too much out of this match, especially if it fails to impress the fans again. What it comes down to is the title. It may mean the least of all the World titles, if not all the titles, but it is still a title, and it is the only one ECW has. If Punk does walk away with the gold, it will at least show that there is some level of interest in him, and it will tell him that the management does believe in him – like most of us already do.

Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero

Rey will almost certainly win this match as, much like with Triple H, it is his return match. It will be an entertaining contest, but Rey will heroically come out on top. This feud may continue for a while, but eventually Rey, much like Triple H, will be moving up the card. His most next, most likely, stop would be a feud against The Great Kali. You can see the gleam in Vince's eye already as he envisions the ratings as we can bask in the real David V's Goliath feud of this year. It will be impossible for him to resist and Rey will be stuck against the great lump that is Kali.

Chavo could go either way. With a bad showing against Rey, he could be thrust back into the cluster that is the Cruiserweight division, or, seeing as that doesn't really exist anymore, he would basically have a few matches with Hornswoggle and Jamie Noble.

With a good showing against Rey, this could be exactly what Chavo's career needs, as he might finally get a look in with Vince. With the likes of MVP and Matt Hardy edging ever closer to the main event level, it leaves a huge, gaping hole where the talented US title chasers were. Chavo could fill that gap and finally go somewhere in his WWE career.

Real Winner - Chavo Guerrero.

Rey will move further up the card, but he will, as always, get lumbered with the bigger opponents. If it isn't Kali, it will be Mark Henry. Chavo on the other hand has the opportunity to quietly take a step up the ladder and show off what he can do.

Triple H vs King Booker T

We all know how this one is going to go. HHH picks up the win, and really, there shouldn't be any complaints, as he is the returning “mega-star”.

After the match though, it looks like HHH is moving on to feud with Vince and Mr. Kennedy, if the rumors about this illegitimate child are true. This could be great for Kennedy, and it could be a really good feud for Hunter as well. Its a new opponent, and it will obviously be a high profile feud as it is basically centered around the MacDaddy.

Booker on the other hand will probably get shoved down the card and end up taking Kennedy's place in the Intercontinental ranks. He will get some new feuds with the likes of Umaga and with Carlito, and he will then probably sit between IC and World title level fighting opponents like Cena and Lashley, when they are not challenging for the title.

Real Winner – King Booker T.

HHH moves on to a high profile feud, but he would have done that whether he was wrestling Booker or not. The good thing for Booker here is too get the HHH feud out of the way early. I am not a HHH hater, but his opponents have often suffered in programs against The Game. The advantage for Booker is to get it out of the way early, and with the rumors of a new 3 year contract being discussed, he has a good, long time to build back up to the top.

Batista vs The Great Kali

Batista is taking the title in this match which says straight away that whether this feud continues or not, Batista is staying on in the main event, with the World title, and Kali will hover around between the main event and the midcard.

That all sounds pretty pointless for Kali, but it could actually be very good for him and prolong his pro wrestling career. He is a totally useless wrestler at the moment, and his match with Batista could well be a train wreck. If he were to lose the title and move down the card a little bit, he wouldn't be quite as exposed, and he would get some matches in with some much more talented wrestlers. No offense to the likes of Batista and, um, Mark Henry, but the midcard of Smackdown (MVP, Hardy, Finlay etc) is much more athletically talented that the main event level. This could actually improve the big guy, and give him a chance to last.

Batista on the other hand gets the big run with the belt again. He may plough through Kali and and maybe someone else like Mark Henry, but then the smart money says that he runs into Edge or The Undertaker. Edge V's Taker is your WrestleMania main event next year, I guarantee it. And that means that Batista is dropping the belt to one of them when they get back, and if he ends up feuding with one of them, he is going to be made to look weak, so that the new champion comes out strong.

Real Winner – The Great Kali.

This one is easy. Batista might get the immediate benefit, but at least Kali will get the better opportunity of the two, and if he has anything about him, he can really develop from it.

John Cena vs Randy Orton

If Cena were to win this one, Randy Orton would lose all of his momentum and his current push would go completely to waste. Cena would also gain nothing from it as he would just continue this boring invincible streak that has turned almost every fan away from him.

However, if Orton were to win, which seems the most likely result, things turn out a little differently.

Orton may just go on to be squashed by HHH, but it seems more and more likely that Orton is now looking at a long, healthy reign as the WWE champion - which will do wonders for his character, if not for his real self. It will eventually come down to him and HHH, and the H is almost guaranteed to come out of that one on top, but it would seem that Orton is looking at a reign lasting to WrestleMania 24, and a probable main event match up.

But its not all Randy Orton out of this one. Cena gains a lot from this loss. He finally gets a chance to rejuvenate his character - and his career. He will get a fresh start and can have some new feuds, without the big title around his waist for once. He wont have to be a super hero anymore. He will be able to win, and lose matches. And he will be able to earn some fans back - even if he ends up being a heel. At least he will be getting the kind of head that a wrestler wants, not the old X-Pac treatment.

Real Winner - Tie.

It's too tight to call with these two. Cena gets the chance to re-create his career, but Orton goes on to new heights. Cena may just take the edge though, as who knows what will happen to Orton when HHH is finished with him, or if he will even be able to recover, if HHH buries him completely.

I hope the different take on the typical predictions column worked. Hopefully I'll be writing again soon, and I will be back in a months time to give my views on Unforgiven, where that event will lead to, and whether or not I hit anything at all with my thoughts in this column.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Any comments or queries, feel free to contact me at batista666@hotmail.com (I use this e-mail just for my writing and check it regularly).

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