SummerSlam (2010)

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SummerSlam (2010)
Promotional poster featuring various WWE Superstars
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Date	August 15, 2010
City	Los Angeles, California
Venue	Staples Center
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Money in the Bank Next → Night of Champions (2010)
SummerSlam chronology
← Previous SummerSlam (2009) Next → SummerSlam (2011)

SummerSlam (2010) is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), that will take place on August 15, 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the second consecutive year.^[2][3] It will be the 23rd annual SummerSlam event. Currently, there are three official matches announced for the event.^[4]

SummerSlam will feature professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that will be played out on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers will portray villains or heroes as they follow a series of events that build tension, and culminate into a wrestling match or series of matches.^[5]

The main rivalry heading into SummerSlam from the Raw brand is between the champion Sheamus and Randy Orton over the WWE Championship. At Fatal 4-Way in June, Sheamus defeated the then-champion John Cena, Edge and Orton in a Fatal Four-Way match to win the WWE title after an interference from The Nexus. In July, at Money in the Bank, Sheamus successfully defended the WWE Championship against Cena in a Steel Cage match, due to an interference from The Nexus again. Then, on the July 19 episode of Raw, Orton defeated Edge and Chris Jericho in a Triple Threat match to earn the right to face Sheamus for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

Another major rivalry from Raw features The Nexus, a stable consisting of former WWE NXT "rookies" of season one and led by the season's winner Wade Barrett, against "Team WWE", led by John Cena. The Nexus made their debut as a collective unit on the June 7 edition of Raw, attacking Cena, CM Punk, and members of the ringside crew, on the pretext of demanding guaranteed WWE contracts for all of them. Next week on Raw, after the then-general manager and WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart refused, and (kayfabe) fired Barrett, The Nexus attacked the former later that night, incapacitating him, and forcing WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to appoint a new, "anonymous" general manager for Raw, who ultimately signed all members of The Nexus to the show. But even after their demands were met with, The Nexus still frequently attacked various WWE Superstars, crew, and legends to display their "dominance", focusing mainly on targeting Cena, and cost him the WWE Championship twice. On the July 19 episode of Raw, Cena confronted The Nexus, who offered him a place in their stable, which he refused and instead revealed that he had assembled a team, christened as "Team WWE" (and consisting of Cena himself, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, The Great Khali, and Bret Hart), to face The Nexus in a seven on seven tag team match at SummerSlam. On the July 26 edition of Raw, the "anonymous" general manager changed the match to an elimination format, instead of one fall to the finish. Following some dissension from members on Cena's team, Edge and Jericho had left the match following losses to Barrett and Cena respectively.

The main rivalry heading into SummerSlam from the SmackDown brand is between the champion Kane and Rey Mysterio over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 28 episode of SmackDown, Kane's (kayfabe) brother, The Undertaker returned to the WWE and defeated Mysterio to qualify for the Fatal Four-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the WWE Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view in June. But during the match, The Undertaker suffered a legitimate injury, forcing him out of the Fatal 4-Way event and hence, his absence was written out by having him found in a "vegetative state" by Kane over the Memorial Day weekend. This "incident" led Kane accusing and attacking several WWE Superstars for incapacitating his brother. Meanwhile, on the June 4 episode of SmackDown, Mysterio won a Battle Royal to replace The Undertaker, and went on to defeat the defending champion Jack Swagger, The Big Show and CM Punk at WWE Fatal 4-Way to win the World Heavyweight Championship. At the WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view, after Mysterio defeated Swagger retain the title, Kane, who had won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match earlier that night, chased Swagger out of the arena for attacking Mysterio, and then returned to the ring, cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract and quickly defeated Mysterio to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 23 edition of SmackDown, Mysterio defeated Swagger in a 2 out of 3 falls match to earn the right to face Kane for the World title at SummerSlam. On the July 30 episode of SmackDown, Kane revealed that The Undertaker had disclosed that his attacker was Rey Mysterio. For this, Kane threatened to make Mysterio "cease to exist." ^[6]

Much like the previous year's SummerSlam, WWE is promoting the event with its SummerSlam Axxess fan convention. The convention will be held at Nokia Plaza in L.A. Live from August 14 to August 15.^[7] According to video game publisher THQ, further details of the latest installment of their WWE SmackDown series, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, will also be revealed at the event.^[8]

• Official SummerSlam website
• Official SummerSlam minisite