WWE SummerSlam 2010 Primer: Gang Warfare in Los Angeles

WWE SummerSlam comes to us live from Los Angeles at the Staples Center for the second year in a row. 

The Staples Center is expected to play host to one of the WWE's most time honored pay-per-views for the foreseeable future, and it is a very fitting destination for this year's event where a gang mentality will be prominent. 

The main event of this year's SummerSlam will feature Team Cena (John Cena, Chris Jericho, R-Truth, John Morrison, Bret Hart, Edge, and Daniel Bryan The Miz a wrestler to be named later), vs. The Nexus (Wade Barrett and friends). 

The last time SummerSlam featured a tag team match of any sort in the main event was during the infamous SummerSlam of 1991. 

This was the same SummerSlam where, according to Vince McMahon, the Ultimate Warrior held McMahon up for money and threatened not to go on if he wasn't paid. 

The dispute lead to the first death departure of the popular superstar who captivated the imagination of the WWE fan during the early nineties.

Oddly enough, this match took place in yet another city notorious for its gang affiliation, New York (although what isn't New York notorious for these days?). 

Like the previous Money in the Bank pay-per-view, this year's card has been downsized due to the amount of talent being used in the main event, so we should expect a better flowing show with longer matches. 

Although the WWE will be in Hollywood, and coupled with the reduced amount of matches, the WWE could be tempted to embark on endless filler skits with poor acting that only Vince McMahon finds humorous. 

But let's hope not.  Onto the predictions.

The way this card has shaped up, a few themes look to be prevalent and/or imminent come Sunday.

Heel Turns.  With Kane the obvious suspect for the Undertaker's latest temporary demise, already pegged as a suspect in making his brother a vegetable, expect the payoff of this summer-long angle to arrive on Sunday. 

After months of speculation, the finger was finally pointed at Kane as the man who put the Undertaker out of action and, while this is a very anticlimactic payoff for most, it makes the most sense. 

With the Undertaker out of the picture, Kane was able to rise to the top of the Smackdown roster and capture the World title both in kayfabe and shoot.  Why wouldn't he have been the guy? 

Expect an Undertaker appearance to confirm what Rey had suspected.  Kane did it.  Dust off the casket.  

The Nexus/Cena match up should also contain a heel turn, as I see one of the members of the team (possibly the mystery guy) defecting and costing team WWE the match.

If you like dirt sheets, you've probably already read somewhere that the creative team is trying to come up with a Benedict Arnold on Team WWE that would make the most sense if he were to turn on the team. 

I think it'll be Edge and Jericho.  They had such a good thing going until they flip flopped and joined up with the Fed again. 

Cena doing the job

John Cena has not gone over at SummerSlam since 2007, and that trend should continue with the Nexus primed to be officially put on the map at SummerSlam. 

A Team WWE win would hurt both Nexus and the RAW ratings too much to even consider, and this group is far from peaking naturally.  

Expect Cena to suffer the final pinfall loss to Wade Barrett, keeping his SummerSlam losing streak alive. 

Sheesh, Cena's a worse performer during the Summer than Will Ferrell (although I heard The Other Guys was hilarious).  

Lack of title changes.

I expect no title changes on this card.  Not one.  Now I will pick one title change as no title changes would essentially mean that all the heels would go over, which never happens, but let it be known that I'm not comfortable picking any title to change hands at SummerSlam.  More to come in the match predictions.

Surprise returns

Expect the returns of The Undertaker and Triple H whose names have been kept in the storylines for months following injuries.

In the never say never category, there's an outside chance (like one in a million) that we could possibly see Bryan Danielson as the seventh member of Team WWE. 

But don't hold your breath, Danielson is booked through Sept. 25 with commitments to independent promotions and he still has just under a month left on his 30-day non-compete clause.

Match Predictions

Diva's Championship:  Alicia Fox (c) over Melina. 

Many are already writing their "Melina is the new Diva's Champion!" articles.  Save the electricity, as I think Melina's clean win over Alicia Fox on RAW this past week was a veiled hint at the fact that Melina will get her comeuppance and suffer an upset loss to the current champion.

World Championship: Kane (c) over Rey Mysterio. 

Kane goes over Mysterio in your typical David vs. Goliath match that may go longer than anyone would like.  Followed by a Kane victory, the lights go out and we are treated to the return of the Undertaker who beats Kane up without saying a word.

WWE Championship:  Sheamus (c) over Randy Orton. 

Orton doesn't need the title and Sheamus seems to be set up for quite the lengthy (for this generation) run.  Orton got the better of Sheamus in their showdown this past Monday, which tells me that Sheamus will seek vengeance and be victorious.

The "nobody can interfere" stip is just buyrate bait designed to trick consumers into thinking they'll see a WWE title change.  They won't.  

And, by the way, you have officially been put on Triple H alert.

Big Show over the Straight Edge Society. 

This may signal the beginning of the end of the SES, and what an era it was.  Although, another way of looking at it that it looks as if heels will be victorious in the majority of the contests, and at least a couple babyfaces need wins in order to keep the crowd energy healthy.

Intercontinental Championship: Kofi Kingston over Dolph Ziggler (c).

Every WWE pay-per-view seems to have a title change, and this one could be the token.  Although the WWE did Kofi Kingston no favors with his clean loss to Kane on the go-home show. 

Team Nexus over Team Cena. 

This match is (hopefully) the easiest to pick as Nexus simply has to win. As a hot stable making its wrestling debut on pay-per-view, anything other than Wade Barrett pinning John Cena when the smoke clears would shock me.

Besides, we've seen this storyline play out before, BROTHER!

Order of elimination (Team Nexus): Darren Young, Michael Tarver (who is supremely underrated), Heath Slater, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Justin Gabriel. 

Order of elimination (Team WWE):  R-Truth, John Morrison, Edge, Chris Jericho, Mystery opponent, Bret Hart, John Cena.

Big Nasty is the editor of The Big Nasty Athletic Dept. Log on to twitter at twitter.com/bignasty247 and follow him until he presses charges!