Who's Hot and Who's Not Heading into Raw on Aug. 12

Scurrying for position before the last Raw before SummerSlam, some of WWE's Superstars are trending upward while some look to be sinking in the rankings.

A viper, a captain and a pair of SummerSlam foes have been winning and entertaining in recent weeks. They will all certainly be central figures on Monday and when August 18 rolls around.

Other Superstars have been losing momentum that was, up until recently, rising in temperature. Injury has taken one powerhouse out of the equation for the moment, while WWE's booking has another faltering.

From that clotheslining bully to a man preparing for "one more match," here are the Superstars who are either heating up or cooling down heading into WWE's big summer event.

Hot: Randy Orton

Winning the WWE title Money in the Bank briefcase has acted like a jetpack to his momentum.

Last week, he lost out on a chance two weeks ago to face Albert Del Rio at SummerSlam when he lost a Triple Threat match. This week, Orton tasted revenge on one of his opponents in that match when he defeated Rob Van Dam on Friday's WWE SmackDown.

Orton ended their exciting bout with a vicious RKO that looked to rattle Van Dam's whole body on the way down.

In addition to that win, Orton has inserted himself into the Daniel Bryan and John Cena storyline. Last week's Raw had the announcers talking just as much about the possibility of Orton cashing in on the winner of that match as they discussed who will win at SummerSlam.

Even without a matchup at the big event, Orton is staying relevant.

Not: The Usos

Seemingly just millimeters away from winning the tag titles in recent weeks, The Usos appear to be sliding downward.

On Monday, The Usos lost to the Real Americans, and two days later the brothers lost a six-man tag match on WWE Main Event to The Shield. Two losses in a week isn't great, but it also seems as if WWE is edging away from their feud with The Shield.

No tag title match is announced at SummerSlam and if The Usos' sizzling performance at Money in the Bank wasn't enough to get them another shot at the belts, what is?

Monday's Raw will be a telling night for the team. If The Shield are busy battling other folks, it may spell the end of this feud over the championships and have The Usos heading back to the Prime Time Players' level.

Hot: Christian

His winning ways may end on Monday's Raw or maybe not until SummerSlam, but Christian is busy stacking up victories right now

Last week, that trend continued. Christian beat Heath Slater on Monday night and followed that up with a far bigger accomplishment in pinning the world champ. Christian can boast about having two non-title wins against Alberto Del Rio.

Christian and Del Rio's match was a thrilling main event and a preview of how good their SummerSlam match can be as well.

Will Del Rio get some measured revenge on TV this week or will he dole out his viciousness when these two collide for the championship?

Not: Ryback

Two pay-per-views ago, Ryback nearly knocked off John Cena to win the WWE Championship.

Heading into SummerSlam, Ryback has no scheduled match, no current feud and looked mighty cowardly last Monday. After a short exchange with Mark Henry in the ring, Ryback backed out of his match and purposely got counted out.

It appears that when his opponent is not an unsuspecting arena worker, Ryback is a lot less game to fight. It will be a curious situation going forward as it to what direction WWE has in mind for him.

Is bullying weaker guys his new gimmick, or is he just headed out of the spotlight?

Hot: CM Punk and Brock Lesnar

CM Punk and Paul Heyman did well to propel this feud with Brock Lesnar not around, but having the beast present has amped up the excitement for this upcoming SummerSlam clash.

Punk and Lesnar's brawl was one of the highlights of last Monday's Raw as was Lesnar's surprising line, "Paul, say something stupid." The anger between the two foes is popping on the screen.

With this Monday being so close to SummerSlam and Heyman facing Punk in the ring, there’s an excellent chance that Lesnar and Punk will tangle once again. The two have a chance to further promote a match that looks to be mighty intriguing as is.

Not: Sheamus

Sheamus won't be a part of SummerSlam. He won't be a part of the first-ever Battleground either.

As reported by WWE.com, "Sheamus has suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder."

After undergoing surgery, Sheamus is expected to miss at least four months of action. That means that there will be a substantial number of Raws where the Celtic Warrior won't get a chance to brawl for the crowd.

It should be a welcome period of time off for the hard-working Superstar and perhaps a chance to repackage him, but he heads into Monday forced to sit on the sidelines for quite some time.