SummerSlam 2008

The build is here.


SummerSlam 2008 – Indianapolis


(I will almost certainly forget, but next year in the run up to Summer Slam 2009, I want a spot where an announcer yells "There's not gonna be a SummerFest, it's gonna happen right now!"
(Dark – Yakuza d. Cody
Kendrick d. Noble)


Joey/JR/Striker is your announce team. Josh does the backstage stand ups.

The show opens with a Hardys taped package, the full kit and/or kaboodle, from their being children on the trampolines, to OMEGA, to the “let them play” chants by the WWF fans when they were ring boys, to the collision matches, to Matt’s feud with RVD, to Matt and Edge main eventing XXIII to Jeff’s emergence as the Blood Dragon.

It’s SummerSlam 2008. The Hardys. Matt and Jeff, both trying to win their first ever singles titles a decade after they started with the company.

After the package – we go to the ring, where Howard Finkel, who has been the ring announcer for every PPV in WWF history, introduces Defiance.

Orton and Dean come to the ring – it’s the first time we’ve seen Orton since Regal hit him with his car in the parking lot and the first time we’ve seen Malenko since Regal ran the Juggernaut (such a good gimmick!) out of the company.

Orton and Malenko re-establish Defiance – they aren’t scared of Steve Regal – Randy Orton will crush his skull with the Golden Goal (what I think I’m calling Orton’s kick to the head) just like he did Finlay and Haas. They aren’t running from Regal – they are Defiance.

Then Regal enters – with the angry look – he stomps his way to the ring and Defiance scatters – all bug eyed and whatnot on the ramp as Regal yells at them from the ring. The announce pumps up that Randy Orton will return to action at the Number One Contender’s Battle Royal – held on the season premiere of Fight Night on MyNetwork TV. And don’t forget – for the first time ever, later on tonight – in this ring will be the draw for entrants 1 and 2 in that Battle Royal!

1. Parejas Increibles: CM Punk (w/Maria)/Matt Hardy d. MVP/Jeff Hardy
Jeff is in the Blood Dragon gimmick even during the match, something that has been happening more frequently over the summer (it’s full body with mask, like Jushin Liger, it started in 2007). We do Punk/Jeff stuff – as it was during their feud that Jeff started becoming the Blood Dragon – there’s MVP/Matt stuff, as they’ve had really no relationship at all in the Counterfactual so that’s fresh. A little Punk/MVP – but eventually we get to the money – Hardy v. Hardy.

Matt is a little playful – rare for Matt Hardy, who does a Pillman type Loose Cannon gimmick. He isn’t taking a confrontation with his brother seriously – he certainly isn’t going to fight him because Punk and Porter have dropped off the apron.
But then Jeff takes a go at him – quickly getting in some fast armdrags – hitting a highspot – Jeff rips off the Blood Dragon mask to yell “come on! Come on!” – Jeff all fired up as he goes nose to nose with his befuddled brother – the announce equally befuddled – no one paying attention as Punk slaps Matt’s back – making himself the legal man – and quickly hitting the Go to Sleep on Jeff for the fall. Jeff fails again.

2. Ka$h Kingston (w/Killings) d. Santino (w/Miz)
-Kingston and Killings are Young Money, members of Floyd Mayweather’s posse doing a L’il Wayne gimmick. Santino is doing Andy Kauffman, meek and mild (like Latka) outside the ring, but cocky/arrogant once the bell rings. Miz is a douche. This is short, largely to establish the characters and for Kingston to get in his spots. Young Money goes over strong.

3. Mark Henry (w/Yakuza) d. Frank Neely
-Here come the BIG (Bradshaw Investment Group, the wrestling stable to BIG to fail) matches. One of my main goals is not to have you good people fast forward through them. ‘Cause man I would. Jesus.
Okay – recall how we got here, Bradshaw’s stable is Henry/Yang/Khali. Bradshaw’s shtick is doing the DiBiase gimmick of having fans do degrading things for money – but instead of giving them money – he takes money from them (it’s a corporate bailout). Neely (you remember Bam Neely) was a fan, but he stood up for himself!

Squash. Fast as it can be. Then Yakuza hits Yangtime (let’s call it…Section 8, which is real wonkish detail from the bailout) – and Henry goes to set up a table.

That’s gonna bring out Cody. Rhodes is doing the Colin Delaney gimmick – he hopped into this when Dusty (who was running Fight Night) stepped in to defend the fans from the BIG onslaught – BIG ended Dusty – and then BIG whipped up on Cody.

But he’s plucky – kept coming back – and the announce puts him over here since it’s 2 on 1 – he gets in some shots – but then Henry subdues him – and Great Khali comes down the ramp.

They put Neely on a table. And Khali chokeslams Cody right through him.

And then PAUL comes to the ring.

4. 5 Minute Match: PAUL~ draw Khali
-PAUL (That’s the Show) has been gone a couple of years since Lashley busted up Dead Men Walking (Taker/Kane/PAUL) but he’s returning in this angle after Undertaker saved Cody (and then got punked out). PAUL hasn’t been seen yet (so, see, don’t fast forward – you got a table bump and now the Show is back).

Yakuza meets PAUL on the ramp first – and the Show chokeslams him.

Then Henry meets him – but PAUL swats him away as if he wasn’t 400 pounds.

But Khali stands impassively in the ring.

It’s a 5 minute time limit – they do what you think – they punch and kick slowly – they do the knuckle lock spot – they try to hit the chokeslam.

Time runs out – and they fight to the back as Bradshaw pulls up with his limo. Bradshaw’s got a body mic – he puts over the stip for his match – that even though, after that ECW program – Bradshaw has become a garbage wrestler – this match has no foreign objects allowed – he wants to prove, needs to prove, that he is the better man.

5. No Foreign Objects: Undertaker d. Bradshaw (DQ)
-Well, you see the finish coming. Once Bradshaw realizes he can’t win the match, he finds (maybe in his suit or under the ring or from the limo) a fluorescent tube (Bradshaw’s weapon on choice) and he bashes the dead man over the head. Blood and broken things. Bradshaw loses…but see how he really wins? That dastardly BIG! Will they ever get their comeuppance?

That provides a nice break before the upper card – and that break comes in the form of a surprise return by WWF GM Ricky Steamboat.

Steamboat has been gone since the night after Mania – despite much goading from his longtime nemesis Punk. Steamboat’s been scouting talent and he says he’s been to New Japan Pro Wrestling where he has found a young junior named Yoshi Tatsu (note, I’d rather call him Yamamoto, I’m always in a weird place with the names and my general rule is if I’ve used a name I stick with it – like Matt Sydal, but it’s just as easy to call Yamamoto by his WWF name. Now, if it’s someone who has existed in a real way in the Counterfactual universe – if Samoa Joe comes to WWF – then he’s Samoa Joe no matter what they call him. I have used TJ Wilson already – but I’m gonna change it to Tyson Kidd when those guys pop back in the story at top of ’09. Spoiler Alert!).

Steamboat says Tatsu will be debuting this Tuesday night on GDI.

He says he’s also in negotiations with another big international star – someone who has won major titles all around the world – but hasn’t finalized that deal yet.

He has a bit of a twinkle in his eye when he says it.

Now to the matter at hand.

In the ring with Steamboat is a giant glass ball with envelopes – like the NBA Draft lottery.

Steamboat puts over the Battle Royale – says its one of our great traditions – every other year there is a battle royal to determine the number one contender (note for those of you who are new – I would call it the Royal Rumble and call the Royal Rumble PPV Justice Sunday if this were actually happening. I make concessions to the real world and the sanity of whatever readers I may have. Hello Readers! I’m Jim! Would you like a complimentary beverage?)

Steamboat says just a couple of weeks from now (September in our time) Fight Night will move to its new home on MyNetwork TV (I still watch Smackdown on the CW, I watch it on Saturdays). And 30 men will compete to become the number one contender and challenge either CM Punk (boo) or Matt Hardy (yay) for the WWF Heavyweight Championship!

Steamboat says – and here’s who will be entrant 1!

He spins the ball round and round (I could get a fan to do this in future years – a contest type thing) and draws the first name….

Johnny Nitro!

Nitro comes to the ring – he was NWA Champ – he and Benjamin killed each other in the TLC main at 24 that Punk won – then Nitro and Benjamin started a Best of 7 series after they healed – Benjamin won the first match – but Nitro attacked his knee (injured in the TLC) postmatch.

Their attempt at a second match never even got into the ring – as Nitro assaulted Benjamin’s knee again, that match was ruled never to have happened.

And now – here comes Johnny Nitro – entrant number one in the Battle Royal.

Who do you suppose is number two?

Well it’s Santino Marella.

Santino is petrified, of course, as he meekly comes slowly onto the ramp – ‘cause Nitro is number one and that means Santino will be stuck in the ring with him.

Santino quivers – and then emerging onto the ramp is Shelton Benjamin.

Benjamin (now he has to talk, which is not ideal) says he doesn’t care what number he draws – he’s number two – because he won’t wait any longer than he has to kick Johnny Nitro’s ass – and then he’s going to go on and win that battle royal – and become a 2 time WWF Champion at Survivor Series.

Santino hugs Benjamin, squeezes him tight in relief “thank you veddy much.”

Steamboat stays at ringside after the segment, sitting with the timekeeper to watch the remainder of the card.

6. WWF Tag Team Championship: WMD (w/Arn) d. Edge/HHH-M

Before the match there is another video tribute to Michaels and his 10 title wins – ending with a blast of white light and the phrase “he is risen.”

Edge wears the number 10 Hart Foundation hockey jersey – which is a terrible desecration of all things good and decent.

Announce talks about Jericho – putting over the “no one knows where he is” angle – and Striker selling the Clique joke over the summer that he’s gained a hundred pounds and grown out a beard and living in a survivalist camp in New Mexico preaching about the evils of Hispanization and the perils of the dwindling white race. Youtube Jericho+skinhead rant and see what happens.

Cena pins HHH clean – WMD gets their crazy pumped up no sell thing on. Edge looks frustrated.

7. IC Championship: Montel Porter d.The Blood Dragon Jeff Hardy
MVP won the IC at Survivor Series ’07, this win means that he’ll go into Survivor Series ’08 as champ for a full year. The last IC Champ to hold the belt for a year was Cactus Jack in ’96-’97 – so the historic nature of this title run is part of the story here, and should frame how you see MVP.

But for tonight – largely the story is about Jeff, near the end of ’07, with Jeff’s drug issues obviously well known, he began to wrestle as the Blood Dragon (he wears the mask during this match too – taking it off at some point just as did he in the opening tag). Punk, presumably just talking out of his ass in a way to manipulate the situation – said that Jeff’s Blood Dragon persona was really a way to distance himself from Matt, from being a Hardy – Matt was the successful Hardy – winning the main event at 23 – while Jeff was the screw up who Matt had to protect from getting fired.

That theme has expanded since – resurfacing hard in this stretch given the linkage between the two main event matches.

Tonight’s really a chance for Jeff – a chance to win his first singles belt – and what happens is he gets pinned in the opening tag.

And then loses clean as a sheet to MVP. Right in the middle of the ring.

Porter tweets “MVP has just become the greatest IC Champ of all time”

Jeff is despondent. House burned down. Dog died. And he’s lost another chance at a singles title. With his brother about to work the main event.

Steamboat, at ringside, recall – stands to try to console Jeff as he exits the ring – but Jeff blows by him – not in an angry fashion – but almost as if he is unaware of his surroundings.

The announce notes the fragile mental state of Jeff Hardy – what will this mean, how will this impact him. What a devastating night.

8. WWF Championship: CM Punk (w/Maria) d. Matt Hardy
-Bad night to be a Hardy.

This match is a longtime in the making. Punk and GDI wiped out Matt/Edge in the Cell after the WM23 main ended, knocking Matt out for a year. Matt’s never had a singles belt either, and this is his first ever shot, after ten years, at the WWF title.

Punk had feuded and gone over Jeff – Punk had attempted to split Matt from Jeff psychologically – saying that Matt’s selfishness, only concerned with what he deserved, what he had been deprived of – by the Clique – by Bischoff – by Edge – by the WWF – had caused him not to notice his brother was crying out for help.

The manipulative Punk (which has been his character since literally his very first second in the WWF) prying the Hardys apart.

This was Matt’s chance.

And he can’t take advantage.

We’ve got to sports entertainment the finish. And I’m sorry about that, but sometimes it’s gotta be done.

So, Steamboat’s at ringside, as mentioned – and the announce notes that Steamboat never takes his eyes from Punk during the entire match – the dislike between these two men has been part of the story for years now – predating even WWF – they ran into each other at both TNA and then ROH – and that history is acknowledged here – the announce noting as they cut to Steamboat’s eyes that perhaps the WWF GM, and the first ever main event winner at WM – has never hated any man more than he hates CM Punk.

Back to the finish.

Ref bump. Caused after a Maria distraction.

I was distracted by Maria once.

Best weekend of my life.

Anyway – Maria distraction causes ref bump – ref bump causes a run in by Brian Kendrick (Kendrick is a Punk lackey, a member of GDI, Matt spent the summer killing all of those guys, all the guys who helped Punk wipe him out after WM 23). Kendrick hits Sliced Bread Number 2 on Matt.

Punk goes for the cover – but of course there’s no ref.

Simultaneously – Steamboat is in Kendrick’s face – ordering him away from the ring – it looks like there might be a physical confrontation – and that allows the announce to remind us that under Steamboat’s own rules – that type of confrontation would cost Steamboat his job –

Kendrick backs down, cause that’s who he is.

But there’s still no ref – and Punk now yells at Steamboat – “get in here and count my fall.”

And so Steamboat takes off his jacket and he becomes the referee.

Matt kicks out of that fall – but it’s not long after that there’s a Pepsi Plunge – and then there’s a Go To Sleep –

And Ricky Steamboat, you can see him seethe as he has to do it but he does – Ricky Steamboat has to count to 3.

CM Punk’s run continues – it was Survivor Series ’06 when he won his first WWF title and then immediately spat on it and threw it to the mat.

And now Ricky Steamboat is forced to raise his hand in victory – Punk saying “raise my hand” – Punk and Maria gloating in the face of Ricky Steamboat as the night of Hardy triumph is completely destroyed.

And that’s Summer Slam 2008.

I’ll be back in September with the Road to Survivor Series 2008, kicking off with the big Number One Contender’s Battle Royal. Who will win? Who will face CM Punk in the Main Event at Survivor Series??

The road begins.

Road to SummerSlam 2008 - 4

RIP.

SummerSlam 2008 is coming in August from Indianapolis; parts 1-3 of the build can be easily found by clicking the label.

7 of the 8 matches are ready to roll:

WWF Title: CM Punk (w/Maria) v. Matt Hardy
-Punk's now a 2 time Champ, he won the Undisputed Title from Flair back at Survivor Series '06, then threw down the WWF and NWA title belts, resulting in the seismic shuffle that has only now returned to normlacy. Matt returned at the close of XXIV to wipe out Punk after a year on the shelf; Punk and GDI beat down Matt, Edge, Jeff in the postmatch of the main event a year before at 23. Punk's tried to move a wedge between Matt and Jeff since the end of '07 framing Matt as selfishly neglecting the needs of his brother to serve his own desire for glory.

IC Title: Montel Porter v. Blood Dragon Jeff Hardy
-MVP (who you can follow on twitter, sometimes, he'll tweet during a match) took the IC from Orton at Survivor Series, kept in the blow off against his former partner Burke at the Rumble, then beat Kendrick/Noble in the 3 way at 24. There's no real angle between he and Jeff, for Porter it's about getting the modern day prima donna athlete character over - for Jeff it's about the Matt/Punk (Matt/Jeff) program - Jeff's been wearing a full Jushin Liger-like costume since Survivor Series in his program with Punk that established a thread that Jeff was looking to shed his identity as a Hardy, that Matt's success and Jeff's personal demons had caused this masked character to emerge. Matt says this is ridiculous and he and Jeff are primed to win their first ever singles titles on the same night. It's the biggest night in the 10+ year WWF career of the Hardy Boys.

WWF Tag Titles: WMD: Cena/Leviathan (with Arn) v. Clique: Edge/HHH-M
-Leviathan is Batista. Cena/Leviathan, doing a Road Warriors like no selling gimmick, went over Michaels/Helmsley (with an assist from guest ref Flair) at 24. It's Cena's second run, he and Orton were young boy tag champs; it's Leviathan's second; he and his mentor Flair were tag champs. Hunter and Shawn took the straps from Cade/Murdoch at Survivor Series, kept over the returning Edge/Jericho when Edge swerved Chris, but then dropped to WMD at 24. Shawn's gone, saying that the WWF fans don't appreciate his 10 title wins and aren't worthy of his talents until they do, there are extensive clip packs of those 10 title wins (2 World, 4 IC, 4 tags) shown on tv. Hunter and Edge dislike each other, but they are both Clique, and in a blood/water pairing they get the shot here. Hunter carries the issue with WMD, Edge spends more time cutting comedy promos on Jericho, who has vanished after losing to Edge at 24. Edge wears the Hart Foundation hockey jersey. Edge uses the sharpshooter.

No Foreign Objects: Undertaker (w/Cody) v. Bradshaw (w/Yakuza)
-Undertaker is babyface symbol of old guard WWF, having won the Legends Match at Mania 7 times; over the summer he came to the rescue of young Rhodes, who took on Bradshaw's stable BIG (Bradshaw Investment Group - Bradshaw calls a fan into the ring, and in a reverse Million Dollar Man bit, has the fan perform a demeaning stunt and then asks the fan to give him bailout money, the stable is Yakuza {Yang}, Mark Henry, and now the Great Khali) after they left Dusty for dead. Bradshaw says he's dreamed of the chance to take down the dead man. Bradshaw's become a garbage wrestler after his feud with the old ECW guys (all gone now, only Taz is still with the company, and he's the head trainer at WWFUniversity, the developmental school in Tampa) utilizing the glass light tubes - but he says this match will be just man on man, like the Taker likes it - because it's important to show he doesn't need to resort to the gimmicks.

PAUL~ v. KHALI
-PAUL is the Show; he's been gone since the end of Dead Men Walking in mid '06; Bradshaw just introduced Khali as the biggest wrestler alive (and used him to destroy Cactus Jack) and the Taker is countering with Paul's return. This match has a five minute time limit.

Mark Henry v. Frank Neely
-Henry's Bradshaw's bodyguard; he's the most famous bodyguard in WWF history having been the longtime bodyguard of the Nation of Domination as Big Markie during their two tag title reigns (Rock/DLo). Frank Neely (Bam) was a "fan" who refused to go along with Bradshaw's bailout request. Yes, I recognize I'm working way too hard for a match that I would fast forward. Several matches that I'd fast forward.

Parejas Increibles: Punk/Matt v. MVP/Jeff
-This is a SummerSlam tradition, the mixed partner opening tag. It's the first time Matt and Jeff have ever opposed each other in a match since they were ring boys who would grab time if a show was ever running short to do spots and hope to impress the office into letting them wrestle more.

Finally - Ka$h Kingston v. Santino Marella

This is a comedy program pretty much. Kingston and Ron Killings are Young Money; they were in Floyd Mayweather's posse and he got them signed. Killings was a former X Champ in TNA (trivia - he took from Punk!). They've got a L'il Wayne vibe; not exactly a parody of hip hop but not exactly on the square either (did you see T-Pain's Big Ass Chain at the BET Awards - that's exactly the vibe for these guys) their pants are low, they're covered in tattoos, their theme has lots of autotune. They're on a boat motherfucker don't you ever forget. Santino is tagging with the Miz. Here's who the Miz is - he's Spencer Pratt. That dude can find him some heel heat. The Miz is a douche; he's young and empty; he needs a girl for the act...Tiffany. Young Money's making it rain and the Miz is going to the Roxy or the Viper Room or whatever velvet rope trendy club is in the town they're in that night. Miz calls everyone "brah." Santino is Andy Kauffman. He does the Latka act when cutting promos - meek and foreign, "thank you very much" but when the bell rings (like Festus or Delirious) he turns into the ubercocky "I'm From Hollywood" Kauffman wrestling character. A lot of taunting and hip swiveling.

And that's your card.

As for the other stuff...

Your new RAW announce team is Joey Styles and Matt Striker
Your GDI announcer remains Josh Matthews, now doing the show solo.
Your new Fight Night announce team is Jim Ross and Matt Striker.

As mentioned in the run up to 24, there's an internet reality show, WWFU, which follows the exploits of the developmental group in Tampa. The leads are Jake and Kelly Hager (Jack Swagger and Kelly Kelly) a brother and sister. Jake is an All-american wrestler from Oklahoma, and he's the teacher's pet, the lead dog - the lead pupil - he does every drill perfectly, always studies his tapes, his hand is always first up - he does his sit ups and goes to church on Sunday. It's not an act, he's not a clown - he's genuine, honest, all around square. Most of the other boys dislike him for obvious reasons, and taunt him with the nickname Jack Swagger. Hager's largely quiet (it's the lisp) and just devoted to getting better and learning his craft. The antagonist is Ted DiBiase, Jr. - he's called a natural, and he takes it for granted - he goes out late, gets into fights, sleeps around, doesn't take anything too seriously, but manages to pick everything up without trying. Also there are the Hart kids, Harry Smith, Natty Neidhart, Tyson Kidd - they were last seen in the summer of '07 getting punked out by the Clique. Now they're in WWFU and eventually will have a "too big for this" attitude - "that's now how we learned it in the Dungeon" will be heard a couple times, but we're not there yet. It's all presided over by Taz. He's grumpy.

Finally, the two ongoing programs which don't get aired at SummerSlam.

Benjamin and Nitro walked into 24 with singles belts, but they lost the TLC to Punk - most of the build for 24 was about them, Punk came in late - and most of the match was the two of the in opposition. They have a history, Strong Style (Benjamin/Haas) ended MNM, running Matthews from the company and then torturing Nitro, who proved he wasn't just a pretty boy by taking that beating. They are positoned as similar athletes, taking the WWF to the next level athletically - and which one will grab the top spot?

In Steamboat's only appearance, the night after 24 where he makes Matt the number one contender, he also announced the first ever Best of 7 series, to start whenever Benjamin and Nitro get clearance. Much of the summer will be background stuff - Benjamin is very different than in the real world, he has sweat equity with the WWF fans, like real world Hardys. Benjamin came up through Camp Angle, he's an all time great tag champion with Haas and Angle - we saw him as Angle's protege in Team Angle as SMoney - he retired Kurt from the WWF at Mania - he won the company for the WWF by getting Fit to tap in the War Games match, he beat Rey for the WWF Title at the Rumble. Over the summer in taped pieces we go to his hometown in Orangeburg, South Carolina to see him in the hometown here babyface role - we go to the University of Minnesota to get over his amateur bona fides - Benjamin is white meat babyface, all hero - rock solid. And Nitro's a cocky heel - we see him in the tanning bed, we see him getting oiled up by strippers, we see him effortlessly hitting high spots and posing.

They return for match 1 of the series, say right now, for the main event of RAW right now, end of June/top July. They go 20 minutes+ and Benjamin goes over clean. Postmatch, Nitro attacks Benjamin's knee ( which would have been the chief injury suffered at 24, keeping Benjamin on the shelf until tonight). That knocks Benjamin out another month - match 2 then happens top of August, with Match 3 set for SummerSlam - but match 2 never happens - Nitro takes out Benjamin's leg on the ramp before they can get to the ring. He wants a countout win - but the referee waves it off - saying the match never actually started - Nitro sneers - but he has effectively taken away Benjamin's legs it seems in their battle over who the top athlete in the WWF is. This means their SummerSlam match is off.

Also not wrestling at SummerSlam - Defiance.

Randy Orton joined The Juggernaut (Umaga) and a heel turning Dean Malenko to take out Fit Finlay at 24. They are Defiance, utterly without respect for authority. Orton had been rubbing up against Dusty; Juggeranut against Steamboat - they join together as Defiance under the tuteledge of the dastardly Malenko.

Dean and Fit had been teamed for years - first in the WWF office, then they came out of retirement for one last lap around the teack, Fit became IC champ and then NWA champ. But in the Fit/Nitro feud there developed a split, a slow burning difference of opinion evident in multiple ways - Dean didn't come to the ring with Fit for his 24 match against The Juggernaut, saying Fit shouldn't take the match, that he was in over his head against a monster.

They destroyed Fit at 24 - Orton debuted that punt, kicking Fit's skull as Dean held him in the clover leaf.

Over the summer, Dean (who now demands to be called Professor Malenko) says he tried to warn Fit, tried for months - but Fit wouldn't listen - but Randy Orton listened - and whereas Finlay had reached his pinnacle - Orton is just getting started. Orton gets some credibility from working with Malenko (a former NWA champ) and the Juggernaut gets a mouthpiece.

It was Regal who held the broken skull of his longtime frenemy Finlay at 24 - and when Defiance crushes Charlie Haas's skull (Haas was a Regal protegee in Team Angle) that causes Regal to snap. A crazed, frenzied Regal attacks Defiance in the parking garage during one show, hitting Orton with his car - and then smashing into the side of the car carrying Dean and the Juggernaut. That puts Orton on the shelf - but sets up a TV with Regal and the Juggernaut, no holds barred. After a good brawl (that would be on Fight Night - now that NWA is gone, the difference between Monday and Friday is Friday's largely No DQ or otherwise positioned as "fights" or "brawls" whereas RAW is largely puroresu (Tuesday is an indie feel, tiny venues, cheap production) Regal gets the Juggernaut to submit to the Regal Stretch, breaking his arm in the process.

It's a shocking result - the Juggernaut was unbeaten and had stormed through the WWF (goddamn WWF, I liked Umaga okay but don't really care that he's gone - but the Juggernaut! With the cigars and the catchphrase! Why you gotta do me like this?) but Regal unleashed the full range of his fury - and he ends the summer having tapped the Juggernaut (who then vanishes into the night) and run over Orton with his car.

Regal sees no satisfaction - he cuts angry, vengeful promo on Malenko, saying he will either see Dean in the ring or the parking lot, but he will get his revenge!

And that gets us there.  Wait!

One more reason to buy. 

The Number One Contender's Battle Royal will return this year (in September, on the debut episode of the new Friday Night Fight Night on MyNetwork TV) for the first time ever the draw for spots #1 and #2 will take place LIVE - at SummerSlam!  Find out who will be 1 and 2!  Find out only on PPV!

SummerSlam 2008is on its way. Sometime in August. Check this space. Call your cable company!