WWE SummerSlam 2011 Preview: 15 Burning Questions Fans Want Answered

"The Biggest Party of the Summer" is almost upon us.

In just six days, WWE SummerSlam will take place in front of what is sure to be a hot crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The pay-per-view has some big shoes to fill. Coming off one of the best PPV's of all time, Money in the Bank, it’s going to take something special for SummerSlam to stand out from the pack.

The table is set, however, for exactly that to happen.

With the first-ever WWE champion vs. WWE champion match between John Cena and CM Punk, and what should be another classic bout between Randy Orton and Christian, SummerSlam could be a top-notch pay-per-view.

Then again, that all depends on how the creative team books the show.

Will they do it right? Well, that depends on the answers to these 15 burning questions.

15. Can a Beth Phoenix Victory Reinvigorate the Divas Division?

When Beth Phoenix won the No. 1 Contender’s Battle Royal on last Monday’s Raw, it was the first time since Kharma was around that I was even remotely excited about the Divas division.

Then, on Friday’s Smackdown, I got hit with a double whammy when Natalya turned heel, too.

The two most talented Divas currently in the WWE—bye bye, Gail Kim—are now the focus of the Divas division, which is exactly the way it should be.

I think their double heel turn is ultimately setting up a huge feud between the two down the road, but for now, I’ll settle for Beth’s move to the dark side giving a spark to women’s wrestling.

After all, it can’t really get any worse at this point.

14. Will Both Mid-Card Titles Be Defended?

Alex Riley and Dolph Ziggler seemed to start a (very rushed) feud last week, while Ezekiel Jackson and Cody Rhodes have been entangled in a rivalry over on Smackdown.

Logical sense would say we’ll see Riley versus Ziggler for the United States Championship, and Jackson versus Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam.

But it’s a very rare occasion when both mid-card titles are defended at a WWE pay-per-view.

Therefore, I’m not sure we’ll see both of these matches take place at the show, and it’s likely Riley/Ziggler will get scrapped since Raw will already have the vast majority of the matches on the card.

13. Which Matches Will Be Added to the Card?

As of this writing, only four bouts—CM Punk versus John Cena, Randy Orton versus Christian, Mark Henry versus Sheamus and Beth Phoenix versus Kelly Kelly—have been announced for SummerSlam, so I’d fully expect to see another four matches or so added to the card.

Here are the possibilities for the late additions to the show:

• The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio
• Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston
• John Morrison vs. R-Truth
• Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan
• Intercontinental Championship: Ezekiel Jackson vs. Cody Rhodes
• United States Championship: Dolph Ziggler vs. Alex Riley

That would bring the total number of matches to 10, though, and SummerSlam generally has only seven or eight matches.

Of the ones I mentioned, I think Ziggler/Riley and Jackson/Rhodes are most likely to get scrapped, and there’s a possibility Miz/Mysterio and Morrison/Truth are combined into a tag team match.

12. Is Daniel Bryan Going to Be Booked Like a Top Star?

Winning Smackdown’s Money in the Bank match appears to be the best thing that could have ever happened to Daniel Bryan.

Not only has he finally gotten some new music, but he’s also being booked like a force to be reckoned with on the blue brand.

It obviously makes sense to build up your MITB winner, and Bryan is being treated as if he were a legitimate threat to the world champion.

Will that continue at SummerSlam? I think it does when Bryan faces Wade Barrett and makes him tap out with the LaBell Lock.

11. Can Sheamus Be the One to Stop Mark Henry?

Since being drafted to Smackdown earlier this year, Mark Henry has destroyed everyone in his path.

Heck, he’s even put The Big Show and Kane on the sidelines.

But the new face, Sheamus, has stepped up to try to take out Henry and thus prevent him from injuring all the behemoths of the WWE.

Now, all we want to know is whether or not the Celtic Warrior can actually do it.

10. Will Kane or The Big Show Return to Settle Their Scores with Henry?

Speaking of Kane and The Big Show, they haven’t been off of WWE TV all that long and aren’t scheduled to be back on for a while.

But SummerSlam presents a good opportunity for Kane, Big Show or both to return to take out Henry.

Perhaps Henry defeats Sheamus, then either the Big Red Monster or the World’s Largest Athlete runs down to the ring and hits his finisher on the World’s Strongest Man.

Or, maybe Sheamus defeats Henry, and all three faces hit their finishers on Henry after the match.

Either way, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Kane or The Big Show make a triumphant return at SummerSlam.

9. What’s the Deal with the Anonymous "Raw" General Manager?

Alright, enough with the anonymous Raw general manager already.

Since Triple H took over as COO of the WWE, there’s been absolutely no mention of the Raw GM or its obnoxious physical form (aka the laptop).

That just doesn’t cut it.

There have been far too many WWE storylines that faded away without any explanation whatsoever, and I don’t want that to happen again.

How about letting us know where the anonymous Raw GM went? And how about doing it at SummerSlam?

8. Will the Christian/Orton Feud Continue After SummerSlam?

SummerSlam will be the fourth straight pay-per-view—and fifth time overall—where Randy Orton and Christian have battled for the world heavyweight championship.

I’m really not complaining, because the three previous matches were all great. I just want to know if this feud’s going to continue all the way through Night of Champions in September.

If Christian retains on Sunday, then the answer is probably no.

But if Christian loses the belt to Orton, then the answer is probably yes.

7. Is There Any Chance Daniel Bryan Cashes in Early?

Shortly after winning Smackdown’s Money in the Bank match, Daniel Bryan vowed on an episode of Smackdown that he would wait until Wrestlemania 28 to cash in his briefcase.

I’m still highly skeptical that will actually happen, and I even think there’s a very slight chance—like .001 percent—that Bryan cashes in at SummerSlam.

Here’s my scenario: Christian beats Randy Orton to retain the world heavyweight title. Bryan cashes in, defeats Christian and Christian goes insane for once again "being screwed" out of a lengthy title run.

It will accomplish a few things—getting the belt on the best wrestler in the company, making Christian’s heel character even more interesting and setting up another great world title feud between Christian and Bryan.

6. Will We See a Shocking Return?

Take your pick: Batista, Chris Jericho or even The Undertaker?

I’ll be honest and say I think all three are long shots to return at SummerSlam, but you never really know when it comes to the WWE.

After all, there are recent reports that The Undertaker will be wrestling/returning at Vengeance in October, and having him come back at SummerSlam would be a good way to set up his actual in-ring return.

Plus, Jericho recently started some Twitter beef with CM Punk and also has a score to settle with Randy Orton, who "injured" him the last time he was seen on WWE TV.

Therefore, it wouldn’t be completely out of the question to see one of these guys surprise us with an appearance at SummerSlam.

5. Will SummerSlam Be as Good as Money in the Bank?

Money in the Bank had everything you look for from a spectacular pay-per-view: great matches, phenomenal storytelling and a hot crowd.

It was, in many people’s opinions, one of the best PPVs in WWE history. Indeed, it was.

As a result, I kind of feel bad for SummerSlam. Like MITB, it has some potentially great matches, some very good storylines and yet another hot crowd.

But I’m not sure this show will deliver quite like Money in the Bank did.

Then again, if the rest of the matches that are added to the card—bouts like Miz/Mysterio, Kingston/Del Rio, etc.—are as good as they can be, there’s a chance SummerSlam might do the impossible and actually be better than last month’s stellar show.

4. What Role Will Triple H Play in the WWE Championship Match?

Triple H is being built up as the ultimate baby face boss, the anti-Vince McMahon if you will.

But we’ve also seen some subtle heel tendencies from Triple H, and it’s quite clear there will be some sort of mega-confrontation/match between he and CM Punk somewhere down the road.

There are reports Triple H was scheduled to lay out Punk a couple weeks back on Raw, which leads me to believe he could do the same exact thing at SummerSlam and possibly cost Punk the WWE Championship in the process.

There are a number of other ways Triple H can get involved in Punk’s bout against John Cena, such as working as the special guest referee.

When it’s all said and done, though, I think the end result is always the same—some sort of showdown between Punk and Triple H.

3. Will Alberto Del Rio Cash in his Money in the Bank Briefcase?

Poor Alberto Del Rio.

He has reportedly been scheduled to win a world title on at least four occasions so far, but plans changed each time and prevented it from actually happening.

I’m sure he can’t wait any longer to get that first world title at this point, and if that’s true, then he’ll cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase Sunday.

Given that the WWE Championship matches feature a face (John Cena) and a face/tweener (CM Punk), the result of that match doesn’t really matter match.

I think Del Rio will cash in after the bout no matter who the champion is.

2. Will John Cena, CM Punk or Alberto Del Rio Leave the PPV as WWE Champion?

Ah, the question that is on everyone’s mind.

Both John Cena and CM Punk are currently the WWE champion, but after their match at SummerSlam, there will only be one undisputed WWE champ.

It just might not be Cena or Punk.

I certainly think Punk wouldn’t have re-signed with the WWE just to drop his title back to Cena a month after winning it; thus, it’ll be Punk who walks away from their match with the strap.

But he probably won’t walk too far if Del Rio cashes in and decides to spoil his party.

1. Which Wrestlers are Next in Line for the WWE’s Two World Titles?

The final results of the two world title matches at SummerSlam will provide us with the answers to plenty of questions, because what happens in the Cena/Punk and Orton/Christian bouts will give us a pretty good idea of what’s going to go down in the Raw and Smackdown main event scenes over the next several months.

If Christian wins, his feud with Orton is likely over, and Captain Charisma can move on to a feud with someone like Sheamus.

If Orton wins, there’s a chance his feud with Christian continues for a while, or he beats Christian in a rematch on Smackdown and moves on to a feud with a guy like Mark Henry.

On the Raw side, the possibilities really are endless.

If Punk wins, Del Rio can cash in. If Cena wins, Del Rio can cash in.

They can then move on to a one-on-one feud between Punk and Del Rio or Cena and Del Rio, or they can do a three-way feud over the strap.

No one really knows what’s going to happen, and that’s precisely what will make this pay-per-view worth watching.