WWE: Are We Going to See Laurinaitis vs. McMahon at Summerslam?

This past Monday night on Raw, Big Show—in the midst of a flurry of activity—knocked WWE owner Vince McMahon out cold with a big right hand.

It seems that every few years, Vince McMahon gets taken out by someone or something, leading to the setup of something that is supposed to be huge but, very often, is a bit of a letdown.

2007 saw the infamous limousine explosion storyline, which we no doubt remember got scratched as a result of the tragic Benoit murder-suicide. This storyline was quickly redone as the “paternity suit” storyline, which almost led to a super-push for Mr. Kennedy (who screwed it up with a wellness suspension) but wound up being the storyline that over-exploited Hornswoggle (who remains a featured character to this day).

Mr. McMahon has also been crushed by the set during the million-dollar giveaway storyline (never really led to anything); he was punted by Randy Orton (which functioned more to finally, officially, out Triple H as McMahon’s son-in-law); he was very slowly beaten down by Bret Hart at WrestleMania 26 (which functioned more to give Bret closure on Montreal); and he was taken out by The Nexus (which didn’t do anything additional for The Nexus that hadn’t already been done).

Now with the recent KO by the hand of Big Show, it seems like WWE might be setting that long talked-about “big summer feud” in motion: a feud between McMahon and Laurinaitis for control of the company, culminating in a match between either Vince and Big Johnny themselves at Summerslam, or a match by proxy (shades of Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy?).

If this is the direction they’re going in, I don’t know how to feel about it.  Hopefully, if this is the plan, then the other major characters in WWE right now—Punk, Cena, Lesnar, Triple H, etc.—will play a role in the proceedings to keep it from being yet another McMahon vs. Someone Who Wants Him Out feud (and let’s not talk about the rumors about Stephanie McMahon possibly returning to TV…more McMahon family feuding!).

Let me say this: I like Vince McMahon. The man is/was a brilliant promoter and a visionary. He drove his biggest competition (WCW) out of business partly by taking a shocking real-life event and turning into a scorching-hot angle (Montreal and the McMahon-Austin feud, respectively). He is one of the biggest, if not the biggest figure in the history of American professional wrestling.

But come on—this would not be a big summer feud that would reignite ratings. Vince vs. the world has been done, and let’s face it—it’s never been done well.

Remember the Invasion?  I know we’ve all tried to block it out. Remember when Vince “sold” Raw to Donald Trump? The only thing we got from that was the guest host concept (dear God!). When has a Vince/Invasion feud ever gone well? The closest WWE has ever gotten to a successful storyline in this regard was when DX tried to invade Nitro.  Everything else has been a colossal bust.

Let’s hope that, if a McMahon-Laurinaitis feud is what is on the horizon, Creative quickly goes back and rethinks it. 

Because this will not equal the Summer of Punk.

Thoughts?