ECW Title: CM Punk v. Paul London
WWF Title: Booker T v. Rey Mysterio
Worldwide Titles: Randy Orton v. Brian Kendrick
Perejas Increibles: Punk/London v. Orton/Kendrick
In Part 3, the tag title was set up without revealing who the challengers are - as the LWO had its summerlong feud with Heat turn into a new feud with a team we didn't name.
That team is S&S - The Superstar and the Sidekick - Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch.
Cade and Murdoch are in the NWA, on Friday Night Fight Night - and throughout 2007, as that show begins to deveop its identity, they are the core tag act. The dynamic between the two is not dissimilar to the Will Farrell/John C Reilly shtick they did in Talledega Nights - in fact, I'm going to steal a catchphrase from the movie "That Just Happened" and make it the name of Murdoch's finisher (flip piledriver - Petey Williams's Canadian Destroyer).
Cade's the Superstar - he's got the big, fancy robe and the crazy physique and the bronzer and the platinum hair. He carries himself like he's Ric Flair in 1989. Murdoch's the Sidekick, trucker hat, farmer's tan, and his clothes are covered in advertising patches, like a stock car racer. Their promos always include some type of product placement or ad catchphrase, with the idea being that they're getting paid. Cade's not really doing comedy, not really trying to pull off the Ferrell character, he's just being pro wrestling heel - but Murdoch's telling jokes. Unlike the Punk/Colt dynamic that is established this summer, Cade doesn't get irritated with Murdoch, Murdoch's doing his job, selling the product, moving merchandise, keeping them on task.
As mentioned in Part 3 - over the summer - they unexpectedly appear on RAW to take out the LWO during a couple of high profile moments, as the LWO/Heat program comes to an end - to set up the tag title match at Summer Slam.
Unified Tag Titles: LWO v. S&S
That look at Fight Night takes us to the NWA Title - Fit Finlay is, of course, the champ, having retired Flair at XXIII. Fit, with Dean Malenko as his manager, is the face of Fight Night - tough, stiff, humorless, rugged -- Fit's a guy who will kick your ass legit, he's the champ and the locker room enforcer. And he and Dean make it clear after Mania that for Summer Slam, they want to defend the belt against an up and comer - they know they aren't here forever - they bleed NWA, Dean was NWA Champ back before the WWF buyout (clips, so many clips to show) and they set a tone that they want to create a culture on Fight Night where it is clear the man who holds the NWA belt is the real world's champion - the best wrestler on the planet.
So, they look to inculcate that whenever they can - working on the young guys, looking for a new generation who will be the face of Fight Night in the future --
But the guy who keeps blowing them off - who is always more interested in how he looks and photo shoots and his girl Melina - is Johnny Nitro.
I teased this a little in an earlier storyline that was background in 2006 - when Arn took over Haas and Benjamin after XXII, calling them Strong Style, toughening them up - they ran through the WWF tag ranks, clearing out the deadweight - the last team standing was MNM, with Nitro being the one who proved he was tough enough to stay in the company when guys like Bradshaw and Mercury left from the beatings.
But now we reset Nitro a little - he's concerned about his hair and his abs and his girl - he blows Fit off, isn't interested in the Fight Night culture - he's all showbiz -- and that enrages Fit and Dean, who decide its their duty to teach him a lesson.
Nitro stays a step ahead of them, through various chickenshit heel chicanery, all summer -- Nitro and Melina laughing, taunting - saying after Summer Slam it will be the Nitro Wrestling Alliance - that Fit can wrestle in the senior's division - that their vision of the NWA is glitz and glamor and beautiful people. Fit wants everyone to be as personality-free as he and Malenko are - Nitro is the one saving the business - saving the NWA - and looking pretty doing it.
That's the matchup - with Fit vowing not just to beat Nitro - but to beat some respect into him - that the NWA isn't about style, it's about substance, and the Summer Slam clash will be over which vision of the NWA will prevail.
NWA Title: Fit Finlay v. Johnny Nitro
6 matches down - 2 left.
Back to the WWF - recall, on the Road to XXIII, we met Eddie Little (Umaga) - Little is our Kimbo Slice, he was launched in viral internet videos of his streetfighting in late '06, building as much of a following as we can generate - although he was barely controllable, he entered as Steamboat's man against Dusty's man, Monte Brown, in the winner gets a contract match at XXIII -- Little went over, signed the contract - showed contempt for the entire process.
Little's a cross between Kimbo Slice and the Necro Butcher - I see him wrestling in a wifebeater, jeans and no shoes - unleashing rage on his opponents - Little is nicknamed "The Juggernaut" by Taz - and will now be The Juggernaut Eddie Little, and probably, eventually, just The Juggernaut.
Taz is an interesting comparison, actually - part of his gimmick was he was supposed to be a legit badass, legit miserable, mean, a guy who would fuck you up if you crossed him -- I'd like stories leaked to the sheets about how Little is out of control - he's scary, dangerous, legit fucked up - how he gets into locker room fights, how he beat the hell out of the Brooklyn Brawler. That kinda thing.
The storyline is he v. Steamboat; sometimes, Little no shows RAW. Or he gets DQ'd by beating up a referee - or Howard Finkel. Steamboat threatens to fire him, Little doesn't care - I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH!! - becomes his catchprase.
Steamboat decides to make him wrestle twice at Summer Slam - that he's going to earn his money on PPV. And he's going to wrestle against Cena and Kennedy. Cena and Kennedy have been a bottom card babyface tag act; Cena's a former tag champ, with Orton - but as Orton's gone on to win the IC, Cena's been struggling.
Steamboat brings them into the office, tells them that this is a very competitive time in the WWF, there's a whole universe of talented young wrestlers - and for whatever reason, the two of them aren't getting it done.
So he says there's an ultimatum. If they can't beat Little at Summer Slam, he's going to look hard at trading them away. He doesn't know if there's room for them on Monday nights anymore.
And that's the program - Cena and Kennedy are fighting for their jobs, taking on Little in two separate singles matches at Summer Slam - Steamboat hoping to light a fire under the young wrestlers - and maybe teach Little a lesson.
Coming in August from East Rutherford is Summer Slam 2007:
1. ECW CHAMPIONSHIP: CM PUNK (w/Maria) v. PAUL LONDON
2. WWF CHAMPIONSHIP: BOOKER T. v. REY MYSTERIO
3. NWA CHAMPIONSHIP: FIT FINLAY (w/Malenko) v. JOHNNY NITRO (w/Melina)
4. WORLDWIDE TITLES: RANDY ORTON V. BRIAN KENDRICK
5. UNIFIED TAG TITLES: LWO:CHAVO GUERRERO/CARLITO COLON (w/Crazy) v. S&S THE SUPERSTAR LANCE CADE/THE SIDEKICK TREVOR MURDOCH
6. THE JUGGERNAUT EDDIE LITTLE v. JOHN CENA
7. THE JUGGERNAUT EDDIE LITTLE v. KEN KENNEDY
8. PAREJAS INCREIBLES: PUNK/LONDON V. ORTON/KENDRICK
Call your cable company! We keep building.
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