SummerSlam (2008)
The 2008 SummerSlam was the 21st annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brand divisions. The event took place on August 17, 2008, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the first PPV of the PG Era, although nobody noticed it at the time because there were still two Ruthless Aggression rivalries still going on, one of which ended at this event. The transition into the PG Era was more noticeable on the next episode of Monday Night Raw. It was also the first SummerSlam PPV broadcast in high definition. Seven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. The event featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The first, featuring wrestlers from the SmackDown brand, saw The Undertaker defeat Edge in a Hell in a Cell match, a match that saw both men fight in a ring surrounded by a roofed steel cell. The other main event featured wrestlers from the Raw brand, in which Batista defeated John Cena in a standard wrestling match. Three featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a standard match from SmackDown, WWE Champion Triple H defeated challenger The Great Khali to retain his title. Another was a standard match involving wrestlers the Raw brand, where World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defeated challenger John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) to retain his title. The ECW brand's sole contribution to the card saw Matt Hardy defeat ECW Champion Mark Henry by disqualification, as a result of WWE regulations, Hardy did not win the title as they can only be won via pinfall or submission. Production Background SummerSlam is an annual pay-per-view (PPV) produced every August by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". It has since become considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. The 2008 event was the 21st SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 17, 2008, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. It was the first SummerSlam PPV broadcast in high definition. Storylines The buildup to the matches and the scenarios that took place before, during, and after the event were planned by WWE's creative staff. The event featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands: storyline expansions of the promotion where employees are assigned to wrestling brands under the WWE banner. The main rivalry on the SmackDown brand was between Edge and The Undertaker. During 2008, the two had previously fought in four pay-per-view events over the World Heavyweight Championship. The two would finally face each other in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at One Night Stand for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship. An additional stipulation was added to the match, in