WWE SummerSlam 2011: What We Learned from Last Night's Raw

SummerSlam, WWE’s biggest show of the summer, is right around the corner. Last night was the go-home episode of Monday Night Raw. I turned on the television expecting to see major hype for the show and to possibly see some matches added. What did we get? Practically nothing.

The show opened with Triple H heading to the ring. Once there, he named himself the special guest referee for CM Punk vs. John Cena. That’s it.

Last night, we got some good matches. So match wise, Raw was much better than it was last week. The hype level for SummerSlam is lower than anything I can remember. The only other hype we got for the show was Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly when Beth took out Eve, but was then herself taken out by Kelly.

As of this writing, there are only four matches announced for the show this Sunday. I was expecting to see Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio and/or John Morrison vs. R-Truth added to the card. Instead, Kofi and Del Rio didn’t even interact and Morrison and Truth had their match last night.

SummerSlam is not feeling like a big event to me. It’s feeling like one of the smaller pay-per-views that just happens to have a big match. WWE is dropping the ball big time with SummerSlam.

You can’t rely on one match to sell your show. You need a solid under card to garner more interest. Right now the only under card match is SmackDown’s Sheamus vs. Mark Henry.

Knowing WWE, they’ll add one or two SmackDown matches on Friday, two days before the show. Then at SummerSlam, we’ll get a “surprise” match much like we did at Capitol Punishment when Evan Bourne defeated Jack Swagger.

So what did we learn about SummerSlam from last night’s Raw? That WWE only cares about the WWE Championship match and that Triple H’s ego can’t step aside and let someone else have the spotlight.

During the contract signing, Punk and Cena traded insults which included The Rock making a special appearance. Before Raw came to a close, Punk kicked Johnny Ace in the head and Cena hit Triple H from behind while trying to get to Punk.

From the way things are looking, we’ll get the rumored CM Punk vs. Triple H match at WrestleMania 28. The only question is, will it be set up now? Does Triple H screw Punk out of the title or does he give him the Pedigree after winning? The possibilities are endless as to what could happen, but Punk/HHH at WrestleMania is looking more and more likely.

But WrestleMania is months away. SummerSlam is days away and has no hype behind it right now other then the WWE Title match. WWE’s only goal seems to be setting up WrestleMania. I think that’s good, but not when it’s at the expense of another show. At the end of the day, my interest in SummerSlam has just taken a dive.