WWE RAW Preview: Punk vs. Big Show, SummerSlam Match Canceled, HBK Back Again

Monday Night RAW is being broadcast live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, less than a week before SummerSlam. CM Punk vs. The Big Show will start the night, Alberto Del Rio fights to get his SummerSlam match back, Daniel Bryan deals with Kane, DJ Pauly D tweets, and Shawn Michaels backs Triple H in his feud with Lesnar.

The WWE Champion will be at the beginning of the show, facing off against the World's Largest Athlete in a non-title match. With the two men meeting at SummerSlam, along with John Cena in a triple-threat match, WWE.com is saying that Big Show is a threat to Punk's title.

It's been almost decade since Big Show got his enormous hands on the WWE Championship in November 2002. The Giant might be having the biggest push he's seen since then, but it's unlikely that someone other than Punk or Cena will win this Sunday.

After The Rock announced that he would be wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment's biggest prize in January at the Royal Rumble, it became clear that he will be facing Cena or Punk. The Rock vs. Big Show is old news, but Cena vs. Rock would be a WrestleMania rematch between two iconic figures, and CM Punk vs. Rock would work with the feud started at RAW 1000.

In regard to the World Heavyweight Title, which isn't set to be contended at SummerSlam currently, Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio will most likely fight for Sheamus's belt at SummerSlam. Despite SmackDown General Manager Booker T canceling the match, it's obvious that WWE wouldn't abandon a grudge like the one they've built between the champion and contender.

Kane and Daniel Bryan are advertised to have a conflict tonight on the WWE website. The two have a match at SummerSlam, which Charlie Sheen is expected to be a part of after Sheen called out Bryan while the "Anger Management" star was live tweeting RAW 1000 as the Social Media Ambassador.

RAW this week will feature WWE's second Social Media Ambassador, DJ Pauly D. WWE.com writes "Who knows how the 'Jersey Shore' breakout will be involved in the show?" If it's anything like Sheen's involvement with RAW 1000, he'll tweet a few times and have a couple of pixelated, on-screen video chats.

For the second week in a row, Shawn Michaels will be returning to RAW to help push his real life and in-ring friend Triple H's feud with Brock Lesnar. After the MMA fighter said he would "see" HBK before SummerSlam on last Monday's RAW, audiences are almost guaranteed to see some action between the two men tonight.

The struggling WWE tag team division suffered a loss with the manager for The Prime Time Players, AW, being fired after his controversial Kobe Bryant remarks two weeks ago. With their manager's WWE contract terminated, Titus O'Neil and Darren Young have lost a big part of their gimmick.

During Young and O'Neil's matches, AW would stand at ringside shouting commentary and advice into a microphone, which is when he made the inappropriate comment. Without anyone to pester the audience into booing the team, the Players will have to find something else that makes them detestable as heels.

Chris Jericho and Dolph Ziggler have a match set for SummerSlam, which could enter play tonight. The Fozzy frontman has been getting on Ziggler's nerves over the past few shows and he'll probably do it again tonight, hopefully with more physicality than the last few times.

The Intercontinental Champion The Miz has been on a big losing streak over the past few shows, losing to Kane last week on RAW and Rey Mysterio on Friday's SmackDown. He should do well in his next few matches if WWE doesn't want to hurt the IC Title's credibility.

Newcomer Damien Sandow has been pushing his way into the spotlight over the past few weeks, interrupting DX at RAW 1000 and attacking Brodus Clay on several occasions. With three hours to fill, WWE will likely keep Sandow coming out.