CM Punk: Will Straight Edge Superstar Save WWE SummerSlam?

CM Punk is, as he said in his promo before Money In the Bank, the hottest property in wrestling today. He has become one of the biggest stars in WWE thanks to his work over the last month, and his influence backstage has increased dramatically since winning the WWE championship from John Cena.

That's why Punk's promo tonight on Raw is the most important one that he has done since, well since his last promo on July 11.

The angle that the company did last week, with Punk standing face to face with Cena and holding up dueling championships, left a lot of people having serious doubts about the potential for this angle and feel that WWE lost a lot of money by bringing him back so soon after he "left."

Punk spent most of June and July telling the world that he was leaving. His contract was expiring at midnight on July 18 and he had absolutely no intention of resigning with this company that, as he said, he was tired of. He wanted to get away from everything, including the bullying and tyranny of Vince McMahon, and he wanted to do it wearing the WWE championship.

That's what made Money In the Bank feel so special and different from anything that WWE has done in the last 10 years, if not ever. The fact that an outsider, a Paul Heyman guy like Punk, was going to challenge the natural order of things had buzz for that show at a level not seen at any event aside from WrestleMania in years.

Then, came the actual show and everything worked perfectly. The Chicago crowd played perfectly with the story that was told leading into the show. Punk and Cena had a great match and Punk walked away as WWE champion.

This scenario left everything wide open and there were so many places that WWE could go. It continued the next night on Raw when Triple H told Vince McMahon that the board of directors filed an injunction against him, removing him from his post as Chairman.

But then last week everything fell apart because Punk came out at the end of the show and all the momentum that WWE built up last month practically vanished.

We all know why Punk was brought back so soon - SummerSlam is one of the three biggest shows of the year and WWE wants to do a better than normal buyrate for the show - but in coming back after one week off television, there will be a lot of explaining to do.

If Punk was really so disenfranchised with the company, why would he re-sign so quickly?

There will have to be a better explanation than just saying that Vince McMahon isn't there anymore because Punk called Triple H a "doofus" in that shoot promo on June 27. Contrary to what some people might have you believe, doofus is not a term of endearment.

The buyrate and general interest in SummerSlam rests on Punk's shoulders, which have to be getting a little tired right now having singlehandedly carried the company for the last six weeks.

The good news is that Punk has been so great at creating buzz and interest in shows lately that you have to give him the benefit of the doubt in this case.

Plus, since his power backstage has increased and he has the ear of McMahon and the people in power, he will be able to say things the way that he wants to and not how the writers script things out for him.

While WWE would have been better off in the long term if Punk had stayed off television for at least two months, the fact is that there is nothing else heading into SummerSlam to get people excited.

Alberto Del Rio and John Cena was the original main event for the show, at least as recently as three weeks ago, but no one would care about that feud, especially right after everything that just went down with Punk, Cena and McMahon.

The Randy Orton and Christian feud was dead in May, but because no one else on SmackDown is capable of drawing money or working a good match, this feud must continue.

The Rey Mysterio angle, with him as champion against Cena, would have been interesting and fun for the crowd in Los Angeles, and these two would have had a really, really good match because Mysterio is such a good worker, but a large audience wouldn't have bought it.

Punk's return is the only thing that can sell SummerSlam to an audience the size of what WWE is hoping to get for this show. But because last week's episode of Raw burned through months of stories in just two hours, there is a lot of work to be done to get people interested in the show.

Triple H is expected to make some kind of statement regarding the title situation on the Raw tonight, but make no mistake about it, everything comes down to Punk and what he has to say.

All that Punk ever wanted was a microphone because he who has the mic, has the power. He has said that a microphone in his hands is a pipe bomb waiting to go off. Well tonight he better set off one big explosion because SummerSlam desperately needs it.