The Great American Bash (2008) - Background

Background

The main feud heading into The Great American Bash on the SmackDown brand was between Triple H and Edge, with the two feuding over the WWE Championship. On the July 4 edition of SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced that Triple H would defend the WWE Championship at The Great American Bash against Edge. On that same edition, Edge took his frustrations out on Vickie due to the fact that he lost the World title (that he had won at One Night Stand in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match) to CM Punk several days earlier Raw and told her the wedding was off. The following week, however, after Guerrero saved Edge from a con-chair-to by The Big Show, Edge re-proposed, and the wedding was back on. On the July 18 edition of SmackDown, Edge and Vickie Guerrero held their kayfabe wedding reception. At the end of the reception as Guerrero and Edge were in the ring, Triple H appeared to reveal Edge's secret love affair with Edge and Guerrero's wedding planner, Alicia Fox.

The primary feud going into The Great American Bash on the Raw brand was between CM Punk and Batista, with the two feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the June 23 edition of Raw, CM Punk and Batista was drafted to Raw from their respective brands on the same edition where WWE Champion, Triple H was drafted to SmackDown from Raw. At Night of Champions, it was determined that either Batista or John Cena would bring a World Championship to the Raw brand. During that event, Batista was unsuccessful at winning the World title from Edge while John Cena failed to defeat Triple H for the WWE title in a WrestleMania 22 rematch. On the following night on Raw, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank contract that he won at WrestleMania XXIV and defeated Edge to capture the title, after Batista delivered a beating to Edge. Later on that night, Punk defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) to retain the World Championship with the help from John Cena and Cryme Tyme. On the July 7 edition of Raw, CM Punk successfully defended his World title over Snitsky. Later that night, Batista became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship after defeating JBL, John Cena, and Kane in a Fatal Four-Way match. On the July 14 edition of Raw, Punk defeated Kane by countout in a non-title match. After the match, Kane attempted to attack Punk, but Batista ran to the ring to stop Kane. Batista took a steel chair and hit Kane in the forehead, as Kane rolled out of the ring. Punk offered Batista a handshake, but Batista declined and instead delivered a spinebuster to Punk.

The predominant feud on the ECW brand was between Mark Henry and Tommy Dreamer. On the July 1 edition of ECW, Henry faced Colin Delaney in a match where if Delaney had won, Dreamer would receive a title shot against Henry. Henry won the match, and Dreamer was not granted a title match. The following week on ECW Henry faced Dreamer in a non-title match. The match ended in a no-contest after Henry escaped the ring to try and attack Delaney, who was at ringside with Dreamer. Tony Atlas was the special guest ring announcer for this match, and stepped in to save Delaney from Henry's attack. Instead, Atlas turned heel, and allowed Henry to attack Delaney. Henry then returned to the ring to attack Dreamer, as the match was ruled a no-contest.

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