Monday, August 15 – 1:07 P.M. (CT)

The conclusion of the WWE SummerSlam show provided us with a whodunnit storyline. WWE is playing up the question of who is responsible for bringing Kevin Nash to SummerSlam. I ran a poll earlier today that included a list of candidates. Admittedly, I think some of the candidates I listed are more intriguing and/or more realistic than others. Here's a quick look at those candidates along with their potential storyline reasons for bringing in Nash.

Triple H: An obvious candidate due to his longtime friendship with Nash and his role as the COO of the company. The idea would be that Punk really got under Hunter's skin, so he brought in his old Wolfpac running buddy as an insurance policy in case Punk captured the title. That said, Hunter's character could have screwed Punk during the match and the only way Hunter bringing Nash in makes sense is if he's trying to play it straight as COO for some reason.

Stephanie McMahon: Hunter's wife returns at the pay-per-view only to have Nash show up later in the night. Coincidence? The idea could be that Steph was trying to help Hunter restore what she sees as order by having Nash take care of the Punk problem. However, Steph is also Daddy's Little Girl, so who's to say that she isn't trying to undermine her own husband while attempting to put her father back in power?

Vince McMahon: The WWE website didn't mention him when they ran through some of the potential candidates. Vince brought in the NWO years ago to inject cancer into his own company in an attempt to destroy it. I'm not sure why the board of directors didn't step in and remove Vince from power at that point, but I digress. Is Vince out for revenge of Punk? Is he trying to create chaos to have Hunter declared unfit like he was?

John Laurinaitis: There has to be some reason why they keep subjecting us to his horrible promos, right? The character seems to be drunk with whatever power he has. He was also looking for an apology from Punk earlier in the show. Thus, perhaps Johnny Ace made this move to get revenge. Maybe he did it in an effort to help Vince get his job back. Heck, maybe he did it thinking that it would put him in Hunter's good graces.

Alberto Del Rio: Nash's attack on Punk set up Del Rio for the moment when he successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract. Thus, an obvious storyline would be that Del Rio simply hired Nash to do this for him. However, the WWE website story seems to be pushing readers away from that idea, as they said Nash doesn't need the cash. Granted, that goes against what we've learned about Nash's persona over the years as we've been told repeatedly that he's all about the Benjamins, but the fact that WWE is pushing us away from Del Rio seems to suggest that they have something else in mind.

Wade Barrett: They could make Barrett relevant again by revealing that he (and perhaps other former Nexus members) brought in Nash to get revenge on Punk for taking over Nexus and, from his point of view, running it into the ground. Keep in mind that Punk essentially took the faction away from Barrett. Sure, he's on the Smackdown side, but it's not like WWE hasn't ignored the brand split rules many times before.

Chris Jericho: Jericho's character claims that he's the best in the world at what he does. Punk has a t-shirt that claims he's the best in the world. Jericho turned some heads by telling Punk to stop ripping him off on Twitter, which I assume played into the "Best in the World" line. Jericho returning with Nash as his bodyguard or cohort would give Punk a couple of hot heels to work with and would keep him away from both Del Rio and John Cena for the time being.

John Cena: This one seems like a reach because I don't think WWE is going to turn Cena heel anytime soon. I'm not buying it, but I included his name simply because he has a current feud with Punk and thus I think he has to be listed as a possibility.

The Rock: An Attitude Era wrestler brings in another wrestler who was at his peak during the same time frame to do his dirty work? Punk has taken most of his shots at The Rock in mainstream interviews. They haven't played up major issues between the two on television, so I see this one as another long shot.

Anonymous General Manager: Did you notice that the anonymous general manager's podium was set up next to the announcers' table last night? While no one is acknowledging that the anonymous character still exists, there has to be a reason they are still setting up the podium. Of course, the anonymous general manager could potentially be someone listed above (Stephanie?). It could also turn out to be someone such as Mick Foley or someone we're not thinking of. Shane McMahon would be a big surprise, but he seems to have moved on to other things in life. Either way, it's possible that the general manager is secretly active and manipulating the WWE Championship situation via Nash's attack.

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