The main feud, a staged rivalry between wrestlers, heading into the event from the Raw brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton.

On the July 23 episode of Raw, Jonathan Coachman announced Orton as the number one contender to the WWE Championship.

This event marks the in-ring returns of Rey Mysterio and Triple H, who had been out due to injury since October 2006 and January 2007 respectively.

Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer",[8] 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".

[10][11] The 2007 event was the 20th SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 26, 2007, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

[5][2][4] WWE had originally planned a storyline between the cast of the Jackass television series and Umaga, with the conclusion in a match at SummerSlam.

[12] It was scheduled to begin at the previous pay-per-view event, The Great American Bash, but was canceled after the Jackass cast dropped out due to the negative media attention surrounding the Chris Benoit double murder and suicide.

[13] The main staged rivalry heading into SummerSlam on the Raw brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton over the WWE Championship.

Shortly thereafter, Executive Assistant Jonathan Coachman announced Orton as the new number-one contender to the WWE Championship.

On the July 6 episode of SmackDown!, Khali issued an open challenge for a match at The Great American Bash, which was accepted by Batista later that night.

[21] On the July 20 episode of SmackDown!, Edge was forced to vacate the World Heavyweight Championship due to the severity of his injury.

I've broken my neck, dislocated my shoulder twice, torn my other pec, my elbows are mush, I have two protruding discs in my lower back.

General Manager Theodore Long then announced that there would be a 20-man Battle Royal later that night to determine a new World Heavyweight Champion.

[27] The next week, on the August 3 episode of SmackDown!, Long announced that Khali would defend his title against Batista at SummerSlam.

Then the following week when Lawler was not on RAW due to the injuries suffered, Booker would force Jim Ross (with the help of Queen Charmell) to kiss his feet.

[40] Before the event went live on pay-per-view, World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a dark match.

Kane controlled the opening minutes of the match, performing a variety of moves including a scoop slam and a big boot.

Kennedy attempted to form an alliance with Carlito in the beginning, but Umaga quickly turned the match in his favor.

[4] Shortly after the match ended, WWE United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) came to the ring and challenged Matt Hardy to a beer drinking contest.

As the contest was set to start, Austin delivered a Stone Cold Stunner to MVP and left the ring.

Punk gained early control when he was able to perform a scoop slam as well as a springboard dropkick; however, Morrison was able to counter a shoulder block attempt into a neckbreaker on the ring apron.

Triple H regained control after countering King Booker and performing a variety of moves, which included a corner clothesline and a spinebuster.

King Booker put the match back in his favor after reversing a clothesline attempt into a Book End, which was followed by a sidewalk slam.

After King Booker missed a diving somersault leg drop, Triple H was able to recover and perform a Pedigree.

Khali controlled most of the match and performed a variety of moves, which included a brain chop, a big boot, and multiple clotheslines.

Cena kicked out of the pin attempt and performed an FU for the pinfall victory, thus retaining the WWE Championship.

[56] On the August 31 episode of SmackDown!, Rey Mysterio, Finlay, Kane, and Batista participated in a four-man Championship Competition tournament.

[60][57] The feud between Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) continued when they were forced to team up against Deuce 'n Domino on the August 31 episode of SmackDown!.

[61] The following month at Unforgiven, MVP and Hardy defeated Deuce 'n Domino to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship.

[71] The following month, at Survivor Series, Punk defeated Morrison and The Miz in a Triple Threat match to retain the ECW Championship.