The first ever two-night Summer Slam event is about three weeks away, and it goes without saying that TKO’s efforts to double attendance and the live gate tasks the WWE creative team with building a card that has enough depth to be stretched over both days. If the WWE product has the sizzle for that, especially with how the product cooled off more recently compared to a few years ago, is debatable. In some ways, TKO has a safety net so to speak for the pay-per-view this year because they can play the Brock Lesnar card in his hometown on Minneapolis, with the notion that his rumored actual retirement will take place at the show.
Still, is management throwing too much at the wall to see what sticks and diluting the presentation in the process, similar to what they did for Wrestlemania earlier this year?
Speaking of Wrestlemania, it was the Raw after the biggest event of the year that the fans last saw CM Punk on their television screen, prompting silly and misguided speculation that he was at odds with the organization. The other theory was that creative didn’t have anything for him, which is almost equally as silly, considering that someone in CM Punk’s position with the type of contract that he has isn’t going to be a healthy scratch from the line-up unless there’s a bigger plan put in place.
Ultimately, that’s what happened this past week on Raw, and the three months away from the company was a way to allow for a natural “reset” for his character. Keep in mind, Punk dropped the World Heavyweight championship to Roman Reigns so he was going to have to start a new chapter somewhere, and it made more sense to create anticipation for that next chapter rather than shoehorning him into a temporary storyline to keep him busy until Summer Slam.
As we know, when Cody was taken out of the title match on Raw with the attack from Gunther, opening the door for Punk to return in his hometown of Chicago, ensuring a memorable reaction to maximize the moment, and defeated Sami Zayn to claim the belt. Prior to this, when we saw Punk on that edition of Raw after WM 42, he did a promo segment with Cody Rhodes so it’s possible that the seeds were planted a few months ago for a championship match between the two at Summer Slam. Remember, Cody is still the number one contender despite the title switch so it looks like the pieces of the puzzle were put in place for Cody/Punk next month.
Some have criticized the decision to book Sami to lose the championship less than two weeks after he won it, but a macro view of the WWE landscape provides insight into why it was probably the right move. Keep in mind, Sami was a lukewarm heel during his feud with Trick Williams around WM since a portion of the crowd was still behind him, and his involvement in the WWE title match at Night of Champions was rather random. Don’t get me wrong, from a real-life perspective, Sami winning the belt is genuniely wholesome since he’s the guy that can make the best of anything he’s given to work with and defied critics in the process of becoming a bonafide WWE star over the past decade. He’s a top-notch worker, and as silly as it might sound, there’s a reason that he was the guy that was chosen to work with Johnny Knoxville several years ago. Sami is adaptable and versatile, which is why he’s such a valuable asset to the company. If a performer can do anything that the office needs him to do, the championships are almost secondary because there will always be a role for them. Yes, it was wholesome for Sami to win the championship and he deserves the recognition, but he doesn’t need the belt to be a commodity on the show. Ultimately, the victory in Saudi Arabia was a moment for the live crowd, and more importantly, the Saudi government that pays an estimated $40 million for each of these shows. With the Saudi events the most profitable on the WWE calendar, not to mention that astronomical amount of cash they are going to pay for WM next year, it made sense to give that audience the moment of a Muslim wrestler claiming the title. That’s not to say that’s the only reason that Zayn had the belt, but rather to point out that if the switch was going to be made, that setting maximized the moment and the business logistics of the Saudi deal.
Now, Sami isn’t a lukewarm heel and has a firm purpose to embrace a villain persona. There can be depth to the storyline because Sami will actually have a valid point, he wasn’t prepared for CM Punk to be a surprise opponent. In truth, while I’m not usually thrilled when a title bounces around in a short span, in this scenario, it helped rejuvenate some of the WWE product. CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes is a fresh match up that is a legitimate money-drawing main event for the pay-per-view. The fans just saw Punk/Roman, and despite the bout being two years ago, I still don’t think there’s a demand to see another Cody/Reigns title match. Furthermore, CM Punk will be 48 this year so if management is going to book a title feud with Rhodes, now is probably the time to do it. On the flip side, Sami is 41 so the reality is that if the office is going to make the most of this chapter of CM Punk’s career, they have a limited amount of time to do it. As mentioned, Sami is such a stellar worker that he could be plugged back into the title picture at any point in the future.
Obviously, it remains to be seen exactly the direction that the storyline goes, as far as who is booked for the title match at Summer Slam, with the possibility of Gunther and Zayn added, but the biggest takeaway from the title switch might be the overall effect it has on the product. Sure, Gunther is another superb worker and can be used in the main event spot, but the fact that there are a few options for who the writing team could put into the title picture allows for a spontaneity that hasn’t been around WWE programming since at least Wrestlemania, if not before that. The random Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll involvement was an example of how a spontaneous approach devolved into throwing anything at the wall just to try to garner some type of buzz to remedy sluggish ticket sales. The episode of Raw in Chicago had a storyline that unfolded over the course of the broadcast and gave the viewers a reason to stay tuned into the show. That’s a stark contrast to the continued Bloodline angle that is more or less on autopilot as a repeat from the same narrative used years ago with the names shuffled around. The Sami/Punk title match was great, but more importantly, the result was an organic presentation, which is something the product has lacked in recent months.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
