Tonight marks the first time in its violent, storied history that the ECW World Title will be defended at SummerSlam. The self-proclaimed "messiah" of ECW, Paul Heyman, explained that the biggest party of the summer will take a hard turn for the extreme.

"It's been a long time coming for both ECW and SummerSlam," Heyman said. "As the father of ECW, I am very proud of the fact that my baby, my child, ECW, will benefit a show of this magnitude to such a degree. I think SummerSlam as an event has been tremendously upgraded by the ECW Championship Match," he added.

ECW is the top-rated program on cable television on Tuesday nights, and in just a few short hours, its two top Extremists will collide in an Extreme Rules Match -- one of the most highly anticipated battles in ECW's legacy.

"Big Show is the most dominant champion in ECW history," proclaimed Heyman. "For the ECW Champion, this is another day at the office because every night, Big Show puts it all on the line for the ECW World Title. The question remains," Heyman said, "what will Sabu do to win the title from the Big Show?"

According to Heyman, the last time Sabu was in an ECW World Title match was 10 years ago this month in his infamous Barbed Wire Match against Terry Funk; Sabu won, but at a heavy price. One way or another, tonight's match could be SummerSlam's most barbaric encounter.

"I'm very confident in making the declarative statement that the ECW World Title Match will hold up against any other offering on this show," said ECW's Messiah. "[SummerSlam viewers] can expect a level of extreme quality unmatched by anything that RAW or SmackDown can possibly offer."

With the ECW World Title at stake, will either man survive the Extreme Rules Match tonight?  Catch SummerSlam tonight at 8/7 CT, live and only on pay-per-view.