Summer Slam (2007)
SummerSlam (2007) was the twentieth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by THQ's Stuntman Ignition. It took place on August 26, 2007 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and featured talent from each of WWE's three brands: Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. Tickets for SummerSlam went on sale December 30 and sold out in forty minutes.
The card, or lineup of matches, featured a total of nine contests: six standard one-on-one matches, one Triple Threat match, one impromptu beer drinking contest, and one battle royal involving twelve female wrestlers. Each of the standard one-on-one matches could have been won by one of four ways (pinfall, submission, countout, or disqualification). Likewise, each one-on-one match could have ended in either a draw, where both men are declared the winner, or a no contest, where neither man is declared the winner. Four of WWE's nine championships were contested; none were lost as all four were retained. A championship could have been won only via pinfall or submission, but could have been retained via pinfall, submission, countout, disqualification, a draw or no contest.
The main feud, a staged rivalry between wrestlers, heading into the event from the Raw brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton. On the July 23 episode of Raw, Jonathan Coachman announced Orton as the number one contender to the WWE Championship. Over the proceeding weeks, Orton provoked Cena by interfering and attacking him during his matches. From SmackDown, the predominant feud was between The Great Khali and Batista. After Khali defeated Batista and Kane in a Triple Threat match, a match between three wrestlers contested under standard rules, Theodore Long booked Khali to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista at SummerSlam. The primary feud from ECW was between John Morrison and CM Punk. By defeating Morrison in a 15 Minutes of Fame match, Punk became the number one contender to the ECW Championship at SummerSlam.
Several of the existing feuds carried on after the event. Notably, CM Punk continued to face John Morrison, defeating him for the ECW Championship the following month on ECW on Sci Fi. The day after SummerSlam, Orton, as part of the scripted events, interfered in a match between Cena and King Booker and intensified the feud by attacking Cena's father. Khali and Batista faced each other at Unforgiven, the following pay-per-view, as part of a Triple Threat match; Batista was victorious in this match and won the World Heavyweight Championship.
Read more about Summer Slam (2007): Background, Event, Aftermath, Results
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