Over the Limit live blog

1:00am
Evening/morning all. Over the Limit then. Should be fun. Hasn't be a great build up, but it's a reasonable card.

For anyone wondering about the LiveChats we've being doing on The Sun's website, we're probably going to be doing them on the PPVs that are free on Sky Sports and the Big Ones (i.e. Wrestlemania, Royal Rumble, Summerslam).

01.04am
Intro video done - usual classy effort - and we're off. Cole in excited mode, intro's King and Striker, and hands over to the Spanish boys. Hey, Hugo looks increasingly like Jabba The Hut. I fear he will imprison a Diva and make her wear a bikini at some stage.

Kofi v Drew up first.......

01.11am
Reasonable match thus far, but a bit wrestling-by-numbers. Kofi hot start, Drew turns around, slows it down, Kofi making comeback. Mind you, they pulled off a spot rarely done well. Drew off the corner and Kofi getting his feet up, but it actually looked realistic.

Commentators annoying me already. They don't actually call a match do they? They spout generalisations and dull facts about each wrestler then go 'ooh' when a move it hit.

01.14am
Well then, we have a new IC Champ. Kofi wins a decent opener. I love his SOS finisher, which he hit after missing Trouble in Paradise then avoiding the FutureShock DDT.

Surprised that we got a clean win......wait, Drew has the mic.......

01.16am
Drew calls for Teddy Long, gets Matt Hardy. Would have liked to have seen an actual fight there rather than Hardy simply hitting one move then leaving. If he is so angry about his previous beatdown would he simply hit a Twist of Fate and leave it at that?

01.19am
Punk backstage with a "mirror mirror" promo talking about beating Mysterio tonight. Slightly odd to see Luke Gallows lightly hug him at the end.

KR Kwik-Truth is next, to face Little Ted.

01.21am
Happy to post your comments on the show - email robthegreen@hotmail.com or Tweet me @RobMcNichol

01.22am
Hey, Virgil got another gig! How permanent is he going to be? I like how they have ignored completely the fact that Virgil turned on DiBiase Snr NINETEEN YEARS AGO.

01.23am
I wish they'd add a little bit to this. For example talk about how much these two dislike each other, but also talk up a competitive rivalry about standing in the company. Suggest that by winning this match they get closer to a US title match or something.

01.28am
Hey, they did it again. Another counter spot which looked real. DiBiase off the top with a double axe-handle and Truth with a shot to the stomach, but it looked great. Not the usual "I'll just jump while you hit me with something"

01.32am
Just a very, very odd ending to that match. Either they tried a bunch of innovative stuff that we missed, they botched a couple of thing that made it look bizarre, or Ted got injured and they had to improvise. Or perhaps a combination of the three.

01.39am
Rey v Punk now. Truth won the last match, by the way - I should have said. There just were very few near falls etc, he just a hit a couple of moves and won.

Striker suggests that Punk losing his hair might be "Herculean" and he'll lose his strength. Isn't that Samson?

Two babyfaces over so far - three in a row? Nice call by Lawler stating that Punk's message (i.e. no drugs) is ok, it's the way he does it why people dislike him. I think they should stress that way more often.

01.46am
Really cool spot with Punk throwing Rey under the ropes and into a barber's chair at ringside, but we have to wait forever to carry on with Punk having been cut on his hairline. Great work by Punk to straightaway add some pace into proceedings as soon as we restart.

The hold for the blood was really long. Why isn't the trainer to sort this kind of thing at ringside?

01.49am
Punk is bleeding again it seems, but no second stoppage. Ref has a glove on.

Don't kid yourself Charles (Robinson) - Cowboy Bob has a cast on his arm, didn't stop him catching a dose.

01.52am
Some nice back and forth action. Not a classic - its quite slow paced, seems these two are suffering from being restricted with they can do being in the first hour again - but what they are doing is very, very crisp, and the crowd (especially those with higher voices) are right behind Rey and his near falls.

01.55am
Counter follows counter follows counter. Rey (fittingly) gets Punk in a mini-crucifix to roll him and win. Really, really nice closing two minutes filled with drama, beautiful wrestling and near falls.

02.03am
The SES, including the masked guy, hit the ring to attack Rey. They are on top but Kane of all people evens the odds. I guess they'll try to save him next.

SES had brought handcuffs to the ring, and when Rey got the better of Punk he cuffed Punk to the ropes. Ooh, was that a deliberate "Christ on the cross" metaphor. Could upset some people (for the record, it doesn't bother me.)

Rey shaves Punk (badly) and we get the usual heel being terrified when he sees his (badly) shaved head in the mirror.

Do you know what the biggest irony off all this is? The blood helped. Punk was bleeding still when Rey was shaving him. Not copiously, but enough to make it noticable, and it actually helped. It wasn't gratuitous, but it made it feel like a proper fight.

02.07am
Backstage to Big Show with Jericho, jaw-jacking each other, then a very uneasy cut to King's face. There is something just a little off about tonight.

Hart Dynasty (with Nattie but not Bret) are out to face Mizicho next. Interestingly Miz and Jericho with separate entrances. No amalgamated theme like JeriShow or ShoMiz.

02.11am
I was concentrating on typing so missed it slightly, but I'm fairly certain Cole just had a little go at Bret Hart, basically saying he should disappear. Striker said "Welcome aboard."

How interesting that Cole should pick on Bret, who is feuding with Miz. Just like he has been picking on Danielson, who also has a problem with Miz. Might be nothing, but you never know. One to watch.....

02.14am
Some interesting mid-match points - one is that Jericho got quite a big Y2J chant. Might WWE have to turn him at some point (perhaps a babyface run when he has to promote the book?).

Another was a lovely counter by Kidd from a back body drop and landing on his feet.

Lastly, Striker with a hell of a line. But not in a good way. David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd, according to Matt Striker, have been teaming together since they were TEN YEARS OLD.

Remember, don't try this at home kids!!

02.21am
Harts retain in a more than serviceable match. Another match where the finish (and false finishes) were really nicely paced to create excitement and more importantly intrigue, since it was hardly clear who would go over.

Four matches, four babyface wins by the way. I'm fairly sure I've got every single prediction wrong too. Hmm.....

02.29am
I meant to say previously, The Hart Dynasty just weren't quite over to the level they might be. I don't think the crowd have quite bought them as the sudden tag champions simply because of their association with Bret.

02.44am
Ok, this is turning into an odd show. The blood stoppage of CM Punk and a possible injury to DiBiase may have hurt those earlier matches.

Now, After an Orton v Edge match that never really got going, Orton blocked a Spear by Edge and went into his normally pounding the mat routine. He then basically stopped, having surely injured his arm.

They dragged for a couple of minutes, eventually drawing a double count out with Edge missing a spear and running into the guardrail.

There was no way that finish was booked. If it was is incompetence beyond belief. I think we'll find very soon that Randy Orton tore a bicep or something very similar.

02.56am
Swagger and Show ongoing. I'm still thinking about Orton, and some of the strange incidents tonight. It reminds me of New Years Revolution in 2005 when Eugene and Lita both injured their knees in matches.

02.57am
There are a couple of reasons why I don't like Big Show's finisher, the KO punch. One is that it is technically illegal, so shouldn't be allowed. Tonight, the reason it annoyed me was that Show had hit Swagger and waited for him to get up. When he did, Show grabbed him round the throat for a a chokeslam. Why didn't he just punch him?

03.00am
Match ends when Swagger gets fed up and hits Show with a title belt. I have no real problem with that ending in isolation, but in context - i.e. straight after a double KO finish - it felt wrong and definitely pissed the crowd off. I'm not necessarily blaming them, because booking is booking, but it just added to a sense of unease about the evening.

Post match, Swagger nailed Show with a couple of chairshots (to the back) which Show withstood. The Big guy then beat the hell out of Swagger.

03.04am
This is interesting. In the next update I will reprint two Tweets that I have just seen. See if you can guess who wrote them. WARNING - some adult language here.

03.05am
TWEET NUMBER ONE: "I have one thing to say. Kharma is a MOTHERFUCKER."

TWEET NUMBER TWO: "And it couldn't have happened... To a NICER GUY."

03.06am
Any guesses? It was Ken Anderson (formerly Kennedy). Reading between the lines thats a shot at Randy Orton. It has been alleged that Orton was someone who backstage complained that Ken was dangerous to work with.

He spelled Karma wrong, by the way, not me.

03.11am
Maryse v Eve (not bad, not great, BTW) is a secondary story here. Ken getting some grief on Twitter. Just tweeted "I've been watching no such thing" presumably in response to people asking if he is watching Over the Limit.

Eve wins. Not bad at all.

03.12am
Would just like to point out a very annoying couple of minutes of commentary at the start of that match.

Striker said that the Diva's title had never changed hands in Detroit. The Divas title is about two years old and has changed hands what? Three times?

Cole said that at Fatal Fourway the champion has a 25% chance of retaining. Well, that's not really fair because that doesn't take into account talent. If the four competitors were Cena, Undertaker, Triple H and me, would I have an equal chance to the others? Of course not. I would love to see a stat of every Fatal Fourway title match in WWE history and see how many times the champ has retained. I'd bet it was over 50%.

Lastly, Cole said about WWE being watched all over the world......globally. Just an annoying turn of phrase, so I'm being picky.

03.40am
I'll update what us happening in a minute. Frankly, it's ludicrous.

03.43am
I don't know what to think. WWE just did the best ending of a PPV in a long time, coming after twenty minutes of more bizarre behaviour.

Let's start from the start. The Cena v Batista match wound it's way through an understandable route of added bells and whistles to augment the matches they've already had.

Cena forced Batista to faint through pain in the STFU, but rather than the ref stop the match, Cena poured water to wake him up. Batista made the comeback, they went to the outside and this ended with Dave powerslamming Cena through the announce table. Cena was busted, but not as bad as Punk from earlier.

They fought into the crowd, Batista took a tumble from over a barrier which I assume was padded beneath or some people caught him.

They eventually made the stage, and it started to get stupid. Batista beat Cena down, and put him against the side of the Tron. I should mention that there was a car. (Don't ask me what kind, but it was a flash, Fast and The Furious kind of motor) Batista got in the car, started it.........hang on.......

WHY WERE THERE FUCKING KEYS IN IT? THAT MAKES NO SENSE. ZERO SENSE WHATSOEVER. WHY WOULD THEY LEAVE KEYS IN THE THING?

Anyway he reversed it, and after a pause lasting forever it appeared that he missed Cena. They didn't show the right camera angle, which was daft because they know that we could have seen it from a previous shot. Just made the director look daft.

Cena battled up, hit an Attitude Adjustment on the car bonnet. Then lifted Batista on his shoulders in the roof of the car, causing Batista to quit through fear. Cena through him off anyway, and Batista went through the stage. If you are going to go, I guess......

Cena celebrated for a while, and after the announcers had said goodnight and the little graphic that always closes the show came up, Sheamus snuck up behind Cena and hit the kick. Awesome way to finish the show, but I'm annoyed that it won't be Cena v Sheamus at the next PPV, because they have to crowbar in two others.

03.55am
Oddest PPV I've seen in ages. Very odd indeed.

Raw Thoughts - May 10

It's been a while since I did this..........

- How long has Kofi been on the opening video (you know the "yes sir we promised you a great main event" one)

- Of all the people I didn't expect to interrupt Randy Orton, Meat Loaf may have been the furthest from my mind.

- Was Meat auditioning for the Hunchback of Notre Dame?

- I'm getting flashbacks to Honky Tonk Man and Kane at Royal Rumble 2001?

- A new permanent GM? Wow. That's hotshotting. They could have built that up a little.

- Mind you, Vickie might have been a bit of a let down. She does admittedly have a lot of heat, but I think her act is played out now, and so is the heel GM

- Would a board of directors in a multi-million dollar organisation really pick someone like Vickie Guerrero to run their main show? No they wouldn't. It made sense when it was Slaughter or HBK or Foley or even William Regal.

- Two one one? Ugh. I hate handicap matches, but especially when Orton and Edge are due to meet one on one. If Edge can't beat Orton easily with help, why would he have a chance when on his own?

- So if Jericho beats DH Smith he and Miz get a title shot? Why? Why would a) a singles match contribute towards tag rankings and b) why would Mizicho be anywhere near the top of those rankings when they have never teamed before?

- This is something I've continually blasted TNA for, and praised WWE for their good logic. If they start being slapdash with their thinking we're in trouble.

- Normally I might complain that Jericho v Smith was short, but I really do think Smith is limited in there. Miz v Kidd might be fun, though.

- My understanding is that next week's Raw is commercial free. Why the hell are they not all over this and promoting it before and after every ad break? Didn't it do like a 4.5 rating last time?

- Flavor Flav is talking and I have literally no idea what he is talking about. Utter nonsense.

- Carlito and Primo with Ted DiBiase jnr? I can live with that. If they are going down the Fortunate Sons route with a stable that includes a tag team I quite like that idea.

- I really liked the little Eve video, it was a good way of helping her get over, but I didn't like the Maryse segment in the ring with a martial arts instructor at all. Why? Because she threw him three or four times, and he just got back up and didn't sell! She'll do that in the ring her opponent will sell it like it hurts. If he is ok, then whats the point?

- I'm cool with the Cena/Batista/Sheamus/Henry slot. I'm guessing we get a tag match between the teams, and then Sheamus to beat Henry to put him over even more.

- Edge talking to Vickie was the best acting I've seen from Vickie, she was very good, and I do like Edge's logic. He is doing something most heels don't do and that is explain his actions as a babyface. Last week he talked about why he turned on the fans, and this week explained to Vickie that he said bad things about her to draw her some sympathy. Flimsy, but its an explanation, and for that I applaud them.

- Oh no, I've just realised something. They are not saying that if MIz loses to Kidd he has to wrestle a member of the Hart DYNASTY. They are saying a member of the Hart FAMILY. Miz v Bret?

- I swear I wrote that before Miz said it.

- Didn't care for the short match, but I understand why they did it.

- As a nice little aside, remember when Miz was "The Calgary Kid" for one night? I wonder if they'll bring that up?

- There will be plenty of people who were down on the 'comedy' segment, but Regal could sit and read the telephone directory and he'd crease me up. His rapping was hilarious I thought.

- I'm genuinely sad that Batista may be departing soon. I think his heel persona is terrific right now. I loved the sullen look on his face sitting on a chair before attacking Henry with it.

- Slightly all over the place closing segment. Just felt disjointed, and I'm not keen on Orton getting the best of Edge again. Makes Edge look weak that with a partner and a GM on his side, Orton still stands tall.

- I'm happy that Vickie isn't going to be permanent GM. She was entertaining for one night, but I feel her act would grate if on Raw every week.

The WWE Draft

This week saw a draft episode of Raw, and although these have a history of being actually quite dull despite the surrounding hype, this was a pretty good show.

Mind you, I had to block out a great deal of nonsense through my well-developed, patented McNichol Wrestling Filter, which is available from the same company that make my McNichol Eliminator. McNicholShopzone.com – (don’t try the URK, it isn’t real)

An irony with the fact that Michelle and her Simply Flawless moniker would end the first Draft match, as this concept and match was completely flawed.

I can’t believe they are persisting with the Raw v Smackdown, whomever wins gets a draft pick routine. It makes no sense. Why would you want to win and bring more competition to your spot? That is even more apparent with the Divas, because the division is so much smaller.

Then, to add to the feeling of this, Maryse refused to tag Eve at the first opportunity. Storyline-wise this is because they dislike one another, but it immediately made you think that she doesn’t want to win the match because of the draft, rendering the rest of the show pointless.

The first draftee was Kelly Kelly, and that’s a reasonably sensible move. It just mixes things up a little, and Kelly Kelly is a likable enough figure to go to Smackdown for LayCool to oppose.

After CM Punk beat Evan Bourne in one of those matches which just about gets you warmed up then ends, Smackdown gained Big Show, who got drafted to Smackdown. To be honest, I thought he was on Smackdown.

(Hang on, you did try that URL, didn’t you? You fool. I did tell you not to.)

I guess it’s my peculiar paranoia over certain usage of words, but at this point I’d like to declare my annoyance at the word ‘decimate’ or a variant of it used three times in the first hour. Technically, decimated means to kill one person in ten, and although modern usage just has the word to mean ‘almost destroy’, I still don’t like the overuse of it.

Back to wrestling.......and John Cena declares that the only person who can name a number one contender is the champion? Really? Really? (/Miz) Since when, and why, does the champ have that authority? He could just pick Hornswoggle and be done with it.

Is it just me, or when the five Smackdown superstars were walking backstage, did it look like McIntrye was holding Rey Mysterio’s hand?

R-Truth, Morrison and Edge were all superstars moving to Raw which were foreseen, but they mostly make sense, so no complaints. Morrison might be the man who comes out worse, because after shining on Smackdown, there is a chance he could be in Evan Bourne country, maybe not losing as much as Bourne, but wrestling three-minute undercard matches and not the lengthy ones in a nice spot as he was on the blue brand.

Kofi Kingston was next to switch, moving to Smackdown after Chris Jericho beat Christian in a really tidy TV match. Kingston’s switch is, to me, the most logical of all. I’ve been talking about Kofi going to SD for months, because I really feel it will reignite him, and he has a better chance of being taken seriously as a wrestler. Great move.

After another very good match – Swagger v Morrison – SD got themselves another pick after The World Champ got his hand raised, and Christian headed to Smackdown. I’m not crazy about that, I have to say, mainly for the fact that Edge just went to Raw. They seem hell bent on making sure there is absolutely no association between Edge and Christian and I have no idea why.

As the draft wore on, the commentators kept updating the viewers on the moves that wrestlers had made. Good call. They also talked up the individuals who were moving. Again, nicely done. Sensible behaviour.

However, they suggested that both brands had done well. How exactly is that possible? If one brand has picked up some great superstars, it means the other has lost some. So why would other brand be happy? They would either both feel things are fine, average, mediocre, ok.....or one is doing better than the other.

Nice little backstage segment with Ted DiBiase, Carlito and R-Truth, with a hint that perhaps DiBiase was trying to recruit Carlito as part of a ‘fortunate sons’ stable as has been heavily rumoured. I liked the interaction with Truth, and thought DiBiase showed a lot of character and is developing nicely as a heel.

Dolph Ziggler v Hornswoggle? Really? (Ok, I have to stop doing that.) You know what, it wouldn’t have bothered me if Dolph had lost because he was jaw-jacking with fans or acting cocky outside, but it was the fact that Hornswoggle was allowed to throw a helmet at his opponent and not be disqualified that bothered me. I should learn to lighten up, really.....

A reasonable triple threat closed the show, with Batista inserting himself into the already booked match between Randy Orton and Sheamus for the number one contendership. It wasn’t a stunning wrestling match, but it was exciting to watch by virtue of the fact that it was very hard to pick a winner.

In the end, Edge interfered and speared Randy Orton, allowed Batista to drape an arm and get the win. I assume that’s the Edge heel turn that desperately had to happen, and it was a surprise to see Batista get the win and the number one contendership. Career on the line, anyone?

Better than usual draft, if you can get past some head-scratching logic throughout.

Royal Rumble Preview

Tonight it's the Royal Rumble. I'll stop a little short of saying the Rumble is my Favourite Pay Per View (though I have said that before) because Wrestlemania has such an aura these days. However, it is without a doubt the best concept event ever created, and a highlight of the year.

Say what you like about WWE, but they have done a marvellous job of getting to the turn of the year and making us all believe in "the Road to Wrestlemania". We're all thinking ahead to the big March PPV, and the build to that heightens the importance of this and No Way Out or Elimination Chamber or whatever we are calling it now.

The trouble is with me going into this show is that I start fantasy booking the next three months, and getting way ahead of myself. I've chosen a winner of the Rumble partially based on a storyline I'd like to see, but also as a sort of hedging of bets.

That I'll come to in due course. Let's get a couple of undercard matches out of the way.

ECW Title - Christian v Ezekiel Jackson

I'll be honest, I'm not expecting a classic.

On the one hand here, I'm seeing this as a good opportunity to take the belt away from Christian, since Big Zeke is a credible guy to have beat Christian, possibly with a little assistance from William Regal. I think Christian is destined for bigger things than ECW, is a lock to go to Smackdown in the next draft, and probably ought to be in the Money in the Bank match at Mania.

On the other hand, if you take the belt off of him, the ECW title picture loses instant credibility. People who don't watch ECW will likely have forgotten who Ezekiel Jackson is (He's the big scary black dude who used to be bodyguard for Kendrick, by the way) and with ECW ratings tanking, he might not be the man to have at the helm.

How about a screwy finish to this match? I can see an old fashioned double pin or something leading to the belt being vacated. That's an out for Christian to lose the belt without having to lose a match, and the "new ECW" crowning a new ECW champion. Who that'll be I have no idea.

Prediction: Christian loses the belt, if I'm sitting on the fence. Whether that is clean to Zeke, via interference from Regal or a disputed ending, Christian's run with the belt is up.

Michelle McCool v Mickie James

Every critic, his dog, his nan, his next door neighbour, his next door neighbour's nan, his next door neighbours nan's milkman, and the bloke who the milkman met in the pub the other night all think Michelle is going over because Mickie is in the doghouse. Everybody seems to think this whole angle is shockingly demeaning.

Is it not just a wrestling angle? Is it not just an old fashioned 'heels are bullies' storyline? And is it not finally an angle for the girls to get hold of rather than just shitty number contender matches leading to three minutes every two weeks before the champion beats Alicia Fox or someone in a shockingly crappy match?

Many of you will know that I am a strong critic of Michelle McCool, and I still think she is overrated in the ring. But I'll give her this; she has been very effective as the bitchy girl in school that no-one likes, and they always have a toady little friend sucking up to them too, don't they?

I've enjoyed this storyline a lot, because it's shown strong heel qualities, build up sympathy for a Babyface, and also included other girls. Layla as the sidekick, Maria last week sticking up for Mickie, and a conflicted Beth eventually siding with the heels.

The thing is, though, good storylines need good payoffs. I'm holding out for one here. Mickie MUST win this match. Wrestling, at the end of the day, ought to play out in favour of the babyface at the end. Especially in areas of the show which isn't selling tickets. No-one is buying this show tonight to see what happens to the Women's title, but every match that is on the show, both in episodes and on a PPV, must play it's part as a cog in the wheel. There is an opportunity for a really big babyface moment tonight, for an over female babyface (you don't hear anyone say that very often) to beat a heel who deserves her comeuppance.

Prediction: Mickie James. Please.

Right, back to the point in hand, which is realistically who is going to win the Rumble, and I'll address this here because the winner affects the two title matches.

Royal Rumble Match

*You can go back a couple of posts to see a more detailed (some would argue too detailed) analysis of Royal Rumble contenders.

Basically, I believe there are three contenders, with possible arguments for three others, but weak ones. The three favourites have to be Cena, Michaels and Triple H. The other three are Batista, Punk and DiBiase.

I'll start with the weak ones. Batista is a contender so that he can a) face Mysterio if Rey beats Taker. That would fit with HBK costing Taker the title, either now or at the next PPV, allowing Rey to get the strap. That, though, wouldn't help Rey in particular, and Rey and Batista have enough of an issue that if they want that match at Mania, they can do it anyway. The second way for Batista is that Cena could win the Raw title in the Elimination Chamber, and Batista chooses to face him. I think both matches can be achieved without Batista winning the Rumble, though.

Second weak argument is CM Punk. The man is on a roll right now, and winning a Rumble would give his whiny, self-righteous character more to brag about. It would also fit his character, having won two Money in the Bank matches, to have a title shot through drawing a late number and capitalising on a personal issue between other. Like McCool, Punk now has an effective, heatseeking character who people might just pay to see get beat. The drawback, though, is that he hasn't been given the credibility to hang with the elite tier of WWE (Who I'd say would be Cena, Orton, HBK, Hunter, Taker and probably Edge) and he doesn't have an obvious opponent, although you could again argue the idea of Shawn costing Taker so that Rey has the belt, then go Rey v Punk.

Final weak shout is Ted DiBiase. Although you could argue a case for Cody Rhodes, it's generally assumed that Ted is the longer term prospect as a major player. Personally I don't believe he has the skills to be a top babyface, but then neither did Orton, and he's done ok since he went back to his heelish ways a few years back. DiBiase is only a contender if Orton wins, as DiBiase v Taker, Rey or Sheamus makes no sense. While on one hand it would be very cool for an outsider to win the Rumble, as a prediction it is deeply flawed, because WWE like to have a marquee winner, generally. It probably isn't Ted's time.

The big three all have a good argument for. Shawn Michaels' is rather obvious. He may need to win so that he can wrestle Taker at Mania. And it could well happen. Although it may seem too telegraphed, WWE aren't known for subtlety or nuance, and it certainly would be a popular choice. It'd be fun TV, too, watching Shawn trying to protect Taker's title before Mania. It may be too obvious, but then it might be a double bluff.

John Cena should never be discounted when thought about in conjunction with a big match. His particular route to Mania, should he win the Rumble, could take many forms. Maybe he could swerve us all, including HBK, and go after the Undertaker. They could follow through with this, do Cena v Taker and use it to facilitate the DX break up. What if we came down to the last three, Shawn and Hunter fight, and Cena dumps them both. Cena heads for the Deadman and DX explode at Mania, a la the Mega Powers. I'd absolutely love this outcome, and I think it's what I would book, but it does leave too many other questions, especially re: Sheamus and the WWE title.

Another route could also be Cena choosing Taker, but Shawn costing Taker the Chamber match, and Batista winning, giving us Cena v Batista for the title, Shawn v Taker as a grudge affair and still leaving room for Trips v Sheamus and Orton v Ted. This could lead to a few weeks of teasing various combinations, and also a tense stand off between Shawn and Cena, which could give a really nice Raw main event at some point. Finally, they could simply go Cena v Sheamus for the easy title match. The problem with that is, assuming Shawn v Taker, that you are left with Hunter being a spare wheel, unless he wrestles Batista.

All these combinations are giving me a headache......

Finally, we come to my pick, Triple H. He's my pick because I feel he is due a big win as a single again, and like Cena they can go many ways with him. You could have Hunter declare he wants Taker. I'd love that, as it would really piss off the HBK character and lead, you'd feel, to the inevitable DX break-up, especially if Shawn forces a title change, taking not only the belt from Taker but the Taker match from HHH. Hunter could then have the option to switch to Sheamus or go with the winner of the SD title, which may well be Batista.

Or, they can go the other way, and have Hunter tease going after Taker, but choosing Sheamus, and having the Triple H character say that he is doing it so Shawn can still chase Taker.

Ultimately I'm choosing Hunter over Cena and because I think there is more they can do with Hunter in that position. But it's very open. If any one of them wins there is a multitude of ways they can go in storylines.

You could complain that it's bad that only three out of thirty guys can really win, but I'd argue that some years it's only two, and others only one. At least we have three strong choices.

So then, the title matches.........

Sheamus v Randy Orton

It doesn't really make any sense for Orton to win this. I know it seems obvious to say that Cody/Ted, or just Ted, costs Orton the match, but sometimes obvious = sensible. It keeps the belt on Sheamus, and Sheamus v Hunter or Cena is more sensible than either of those babyfaces against Orton, which we've seen before.

If Ted costs Orton, Randy can go into a chamber to try and get back in the picture, while Ted v Cody can be booked down the card, if Ted makes the break on his own.

Prediction: Sheamus. Because it just makes sense.

Undertaker v Rey Mysterio

There is an issue with the positioning of this match, because if Rey is to win, then it ruins the Rumble for Michaels. If you are booking Rey to go over, then this match has to go on after the Rumble. I don't want that to happen, and I suggest WWE don't either. But if the Rumble isn't on last, expect Rey to win.

I don't think he will though. I think Taker has to win, although I think the match itself will be built around Rey having a million near falls but not quite getting there. Taker winning makes all three of my main picks, Cena, Hunter and Shawn, much more viable options.

Who Will Win the Royal Rumble?

Raw this week – a very solid affair, I might add – was heavily focussed on the build to the Royal Rumble, which has always been my favourite Pay Per View.

We have started to find out some of the competitors, and it appears that the line-up is quite strong for the big over-the-top match this year. My big hope is that whoever wins the Rumble that they do not move their title shot to the next PPV, the one before Mania. It really lessens the impact of the Rumble. It is not supposed to be merely earning a title shot, but being in THE MAIN EVENT AT WRESTLEMANIA. It ought to remain sacred.

It’s high time to look at the contenders for this year’s Rumble. I know not all of the competitors have been announced, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that all of the names discussed will be entered in the 30-man over-the-top bout.

We’re putting aside the names Christian, Zeke Jackson, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, since they are booked for title matches at this point.

I shall discuss, in no particular order, who I believe are the only people, barring a shocking return/debut, that can win the Rumble, and then go onto those who are in the Rumble and ought to have a storyline development in the match. Then I’ll give a prediction of a winner and tell you who I would book as the winner.

Shawn Michaels

It seems right to start with HBK, since his was the name that started the Rumble talk on Raw. Having asked Taker for a match at Mania and been denied, Shawn declared his intention for the Rumble.

He has history in the match. He was the winner in 1995, entering as number one and winning overall. (If you are checking stats, it was only 60 second intervals that year) He won the following year, having turned into arguably the number one babyface in the company and returning from injury. Then, in 2007, he was the runner up to , of all people, the Undertaker, but still went on to wrestle John Cena for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania.

Shawn and the Rumble fit like hand and glove – so much so that they could do anything they want with him. They could have him enter late as they often do with big names, and build to his entrance. They could put him at an early number and play off his resilience and longevity again.

He is the most likely contender at this moment, potentially, when you consider the build up to a potential match with Taker.

But is it too obvious? It does seem to be a slightly telegraphed, and doesn’t suggest great storytelling if he says on TV “I’ll win the Royal Rumble then” and just goes and does it. Seems a little easy. Not that the people would care. HBK is probably the most beloved babyface in the WWE.......and maybe the world. People want HBK/Taker II, and if he wins the Rumble, they’ll get it, provided Taker retains the gold.

Triple H

Also entered is Shawn’s DX running buddy Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who was trying to tell Shawn something throughout Raw, then did so by throwing HBK over the top rope in an act designed to suggest that Hunter is the stronger member of DX. It was also a measure which perpetuated the suggestion that DX may split.

They (WWE) are in a fantastic position with Triple H, Taker and Shawn, in that they could have a match involving any combination of the three. I would hope they wouldn’t do a three-way, but Shawn v Taker we’ve talked about. Hunter v Shawn is possible, with Trips possibly costing Michaels the Rumble, continued dissention and a break-up leading to a Mania blow-off.

But don’t rule out Hunter v Taker. WWE have a trick up their sleeve in that they could achieve two birds with one stone – they could build up an intriguing match in HHH v Taker (which they never pulled the plug on despite the pair being on Smackdown together for a long time) whilst strengthening the storyline of breaking up DX. The ace in WWE’s pack is Hunter being able to say “Shawn isn’t the only one to have lost to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania” because HHH lost to Taker at WM17. (Like last year’s Mania, also in Houston, funnily enough)

That would make for great TV, seeing HHH chasing Taker, and not knowing if Shawn wanted Hunter to win or not. They could prolong that for ages, and if they didn’t want to break DX up, they don’t have to for a long time, if ever.

To that end, I think Trips a strong contender for winning this. Add to the HBK/Taker scenario the fact that Sheamus currently holds the WWE belt, and is said to be very close with Paul Levesque. Trips could go to Mania to face Sheamus and as a friend, put him over to make Sheamus look good (like Hunter has done for Cena and Batista in the past) or to be the big babyface win that Mania tends to have.

Hunter has a big Mania albatross round his neck after last year’s majorly disappointing match with Orton, so may well be keen to at least partially erase that memory.

Chris Jericho

You have to factor Jericho into proceedings because he has just been so damn awesome for the past two years that a Wrestlemania main event would be just what he deserves. His character would be so suited to a sneaky late entry and capitalisation on other events, and I could see him lording it over HBK and Hunter that he has won the right to wrestle at Wrestlemania and therefore can choose which brands champion he will wrestle – thus allowing him to appear on Raw again.

Ultimately he would need to choose The Undertaker and produce his first meaningful feud with the Deadman. The decision would really be whether Jericho could be taken seriously to win the title and end the streak, and whether this pairing, accepting that you’d be maybe looking at Cena/Sheamus for the other title, HBK/Shawn and maybe Randy v Ted or Cody as the rest of the line up is strong enough to sell the PPV. I fear it wouldn’t be, even though I’d love to see Jericho given the opportunity. He does deserve it.

John Cena

Any match that John Cena is in, you have to consider him a favourite for. When you weigh up the star power in the Rumble, his star shines as bright as any, and when you break down the Road the Wrestlemania, he will have to figure prominently somewhere.

Cena’s stock in terms of winning the Rumble is high through three major reasons. The first two lie in the fact that he is a feasible opponent for either Sheamus or Undertaker if they keep their title until Mania. A Sheamus rematch is surely owing to him after the way he lost the title and then failed to regain it in controversial style. I have thought for a long time that Cena v Undertaker is perhaps the last of the dream matches and as high as Cena is regarded now, he could be elevated even higher by having a great match with Taker and ending the streak.

It could also be the catalyst for a Cena heel turn. “I beat the Undertaker” might be met with boos, and eventually he could snap and say “I gave you everything and you still cheered The Undertaker.” When they want to do it, Cena will be a massive heel.

The third pointer might be the lack of an obvious opponent for John Cena at Wrestlemania. He is too big for the Money in the Bank match, so won’t be thrown into that mix. Last year he was sort of strong-armed into the Big Show/Edge mix to get him into a title match. If it is easy enough to fit Triple H, Michaels and Orton into matches then Cena might be allowed to win the Rumble and set up a title feud.

The other options are, for him not winning the Rumble, that someone would win the Rumble and pick Taker, leaving Cena to win the Raw Elimination Chamber or that he is ousted from the Rumble by someone with whom he could feud until Mania, the identity of whom has not been, erm, identified...........

Batista

......until now? It’s not definite, and doesn’t quite carry the same aura as it might have done at one point, but Cena v Batista is a strong possibility, especially considering the position we’ve talked about for Cena.

However, I think it is less likely than Batista carrying on the Mysterio programme all the way through to Wrestlemania. Strikes me that a logical progression is to have Batista cost Mysterio the match against Taker, then for Mysterio to distract Big Dave, causing him to be removed from the Rumble. The two would then both be likely to meet in a Smackdown Elimination chamber, with their final match being at Wrestlemania.

Batista might win the Rumble, and his name and marquee value means he has to spoken about with the names in with a chance of winning. However, it is hard to state a case for him above most of the other contenders.

CM Punk

Punk is, once again, on a roll right now. His almost Cult-leader-like character has really drawn some heat on Smackdown, and it would be fantastic to watch him use that shtick to try to bring down the Undertaker.

Sadly, I don’t see it. In many fans’ eyes Punk v Taker will be a letdown after building up and teasing a HBK rematch, and when you could throw HHH or Cena at Taker, Punk might not be seen as the right choice. Add this to the fact that Punk has wrestled Taker within the last year and been portrayed as a lesser entity, it just isn’t that likely. I’d love to see it, but I fear the powers that be would not concur.

Big Show

The Big Man is obviously set to be an imposing presence in the match, but realistically he shouldn’t be a Rumble winner to go on to a major main event at Mania. I know he was in a Triple Threat for the World Title last year, but the Rumble winner’s programme is generally bigger, and I don’t think Show has the adequate profile.

Maybe Shaq will be back before Mania, and Show can have the ‘wrestling the sports star’ slot again.

Kofi Kingston

I don’t think Kingston is in the position to yet win a Royal Rumble, but he definitely ought to be someone who enters the match early (maybe even at one or two) and lasts a very long time, with the announcers talking up his tremendous feat.

I still like the idea of Kofi winning Money in the Bank.

Miz/MVP

The best thing about Raw two weeks ago, these two suddenly have quite a hot feud which it will be interesting to see how it develops. I would think that surely one will eliminate another in the Rumble. Miz getting rid of MVP adds more heat on him, but on the flipside of that MVP throwing Miz out would make for a big pop if done correctly.

Legacy

I think that there is a strong chance that Sheamus will beat Randy Orton and it will be due to the interference of Legacy in some fashion. I can see a Cody distraction while Ted runs around the back, but misses hitting Sheamus and hits Orton instead, possibly leading to Randy v Ted at Mania.

Both Cody and Ted are in the Rumble, and have at times threatened that they will step up and go solo, so there is a chance that these two will fight, or at least have a moment where they let each other down.

John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre

The three above names, all Smackdown guys, have had a good 2009, and 2010 could well be a time for them to step up and look even stronger. Morrison is definitely an outside chance for a surprise title run at some stage, and the other two have done enough with IC title efforts to suggest they are upper midcarders with bright futures. I’d like to see all of these guys have a reasonable showing.

So, Rob, who is going to win?

I’m glad you asked.

I think the winner, really, will come from a select group of three – John Cena, Triple H and Shawn Michaels. I don’t anticipate Undertaker or Sheamus losing the title before Wrestlemania.

It makes more sense for a babyface to win that a heel. A heel winning sets up either heel v heel against Sheamus, which I don’t see them doing after doing it at the Rumble with Orton. I don’t think any of the top heels in the Rumble (Punk, Batista and Chris Jericho) make any sense in a match with the Undertaker.

It leaves just the trio mentioned above. I’m going to plump for Triple H. I think that it is time for him to get serious and go after a title again, and him winning the Rumble not only signals that but can set wheels in motion for a DX break-up, and perhaps a possible match at Summerslam, which ironically was where HBK and HHH had a brutal Streetfight to mark Shawn’s first match back after his extended layoff.

Who would you book to win?

I think I’d have to say Cena. I’m a big fan of storylines overlapping, and I think if you give the Rumble to Cena, you can have him stall as to which champion he chooses to face. You then have a touch of Cena v Sheamus and Cena v Undertaker, as well as tension between Cena and Michaels, as HBK tries to convince Cena to wrestle Sheamus so that HBK can continue to chase Undertaker. Triple H then comes into play, as someone who’d like a title shot against Sheamus. So then whomever Cena chooses, it would benefit one member of DX but not the other.

The beauty of booking Cena to win the Rumble is that you can take your time in deciding where you are going to take the story.

There are so many possibilities – maybe you have your own theory. I’d love to hear it.

Survivor Series Live Notes

01.03am
Here we go, then, Survivor Series 2009, and it's from DC. I didn't realise that. I wonder if there will be any kind of mixed reaction for Batista.

01.04am
Robo-Roberts reads out the rules for the Survivor Series matches, but says that the "remaining teammates on the team will be sole survivors." Erm, no. If there is more than one remaining guy, that isn't a 'sole survivor' is it? I fear this is an unwinnable 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania argument again.

01.07am
Miz leads out his team, with Swagger, Ziggler, Galloway and O'Shaunnessy for company. Sheamus might well be an interesting element to this match. Might he simply attack someone and walk out, or get DQ-ed for excessive punishment? Odds on it's Evan Bourne who is his scapegoat, and a squash will follow on Raw.

01.10am
By contrast, Morrison brings up the rear for his team, with Bourne, Finlay, Hardy and Benjamin preceding him. Finlay can't seem to make his mind up whether he wants his original music or his "diddley-dee" Hornswoggle music.

01.12am
Hate to be picky, but Cole reckons that because this match features many future superstars that we are "looking into a mirror". OK. That means I'm a future star, because I have a mirror next to my desk, and when I look into it I see my handsome mug looking back. I think he means crystal ball.

01.14am
Air Bourne to Ziggler gets rid of him, but McIntrye follows with his cradle double arm DDT to make it 4-4. Good to see finishers being used to eliminate, and not the usual soft moves which would normally only just warrant a two count.

01.16am
Sheamus eliminates Finlay with a bicycle kick after a staredown. South defeats North there. 4-3 to the heels.

01.24am
Swagger is gone after Starship Pain, and we have a new ref in the ring. Seems Scott Armstrong has got injured. They didn't make enough of it to be storyline, so I'm guessing it was legit. I hope the guy is alright, but goodness knows we can cope without him.

01.25am
3-2 in the heels' favour after Miz rids the ring of Shelton after an SCF and an assist from Sheamus. Incidentally, they have shown Armstrong getting a knee to the back of he head from Sheamus.

01.28am
The highly-thought of (by me, at least) Drew McIntyre hits his DDT on Matt Hardy and it's 3-1, with only Morrison remaining. King says John has a 1 in 3 chance.

Actually, he doesn't, because statistically, using equal probabilities, he has a 1 in 2 chance of winning the next fall. Then, should he win that it is a 1 in 2 of the next, and the next. Accumulative, it's 1 in 8. Clearly Matt Striker wasn't a Maths teacher, or he's have picked King up there.

01.31am
Remember AJ said that Morrison steals moves? He just hit a Pele. Offense was short-lived, though, since Sheamus then laid him out. Game over, and the heels win with three men - Miz, Sheamus and McIntrye - remaining. "Sole" survivors, apparently.

01.36am
Cool little segment with Christian acknowledging he was 'different' from his team mates. The elephant in the room was the fact he was the only white guy, but he said it was because he was the only ECW guy or the only Canadian. He then said Canadians could rap, and went on to (try and) prove it.

"Team Kofi Kingston, looking for a fight.
Four of us are black, and one of us is white.
WASSUP?"

Awkward moment, then they all joshed with each other. Some will sniff at this, and say its racist or a lame attempt at humour, or maybe that the white-run WWE are trying to pretend they are cool. I tend to think that we ought to accept that this is a kids show now, and that this is actually a reasonable message to kids - that the good guys all get on despite any superfluous differences.

01.42am
Rey in the ring, and it's grudge match time next. Fair enough little storyline this, but I'm so fed up of Rey wrestling big guys. He has spent the last two years wrestling Kane, Mike Knox, JBL, now Batista...... save for a great feud with Jericho, Rey has had to work very hard with limited bigger guys. His match with Morrison before his suspension showed he can still go and create awesome matches - I wish he was allowed to do it more.

01.50am
Matt Striker is a superb, vaguely heel, colour guy. He is a majr asset to tonight's broadcast team, which is Cole, Lawler and Matt himself. Here is a gem.

Striker defending Batista's actions prompted Cole to remark "I'm glad I'm not your friend." Striker shot back with - "You are." Brilliant.

01.51am
Batista wins after hitting a methodical combo of spear, spinebuster and three Batistabombs. Ref had to stop it rather than a pinfall occuring.

Post match, big Dave gets a chair and spinebust Rey on said implement. The irony of all this was that the cheers for Batista, in his hometown, remember, actually grew as time went on.

02.01am
Orton, along with his team - Cody, Ted, Regal and Punk - are out first, with Cole making a nice deal of Orton having a good record of being a survivor at this event. I like that, it's what proper sports commentators would do.

02.07am
All the faces - MVP., Henry, KR-Truth Krush Kwik, Christian and Kofi - are out, and Punk does a brilliant job of going after Truth, still mad at him after ruining his fun on Smackdown.

02.09am
Heels gang up, and Henry is gone without even tagging anyone else into the match.

02.11am
Very Kwikly, Killing the Truth is gone, thanks to Punk. 5-3 now, and the heels look great so far. I'd expect Cody and Regal to go soon though, possibly to an incoming Kofi.

02.13am
Nope, it's the second Marine who departs, falling to Christian's sunset flip. Meanwhile, Cole uses the nonsense phrase "controlled frenzy" and gets called out by Striker, who says "What does that mean?" Cole can't explain. Striker is AWESOME tonight.

MVP does for Regal, and nearly rolls Cody up, too. This match, despite the added star power, has not been as good as the first SSeries match thus far - and the first one was no better than ok.

02.18am
Painful looking CrossRhodes to MVP, and it's 3-2, with Kofi and Christian battling Cody, Punk and Orton.

02.19am
Equilibrium restored, as Christian pins Cody. Could go either way this.

02.21am
Killswitch looks to have Randy beaten, but Punk makes the save before and RKO gets shot of the Legend Killer. Kofi is left, but Orton tags out to avoid the confrontation. Former tag partners Punk and Kofi to face off.....

02.29am
The Kingston bandwagon rolls on. A reversal of a roll-up for three on Punk leads to Orton coming in, and getting met with a Trouble in Paradise. Kofi beats both men quickly, and wins the match for his team.

The cheer was major, the announcers went crazy. They are doing GOOD job with Kingston. Next step is a solid PPV effort with Orton. I wouldn't say he'll win the Rumble, but he ought to have a big run in it. Kingston for the Money in the Bank, I'd say.

02.38am
Three main men in the ring for the World title match. Smart money has to be on Taker's retention after Jericho accidently (or otherwise) costs Show the match.

Should go back and mention that the Survivor Match we just had did pick up from the point where I said it was inferior to the one before. From the point where it was Christian and Kofi v Orton and Punk it was very sound indeed.

02.55am
I don't really know what to make of that. It was very watchable, and reasonable executed, but it was like most Triple Threats you'll see. Quite slow, methodical, and unable to really shock or grip me.

Undertaker wins after a succession of finishing moves didn't do the job, and reversed a chokeslam by Big Show into a Hells Gate. I would fully expect the Raw triple threat to top that.

03.03am
Here comes the girls, now. Kelly eliminates Layla quickly. Pathetically, the talentless Michelle McCool quickly gets rid of Gail Kim. I think the success of Michelle McCool is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing in WWE right now.

03.06am
An unco-ordinated section between Eve and Jillian ends with the former hitting a top-rope sunset flip, before Beth demolishes Eve then Double Kelly. Surprisingly, though, Beth is pinned via a Mickie crucifix. Beth decks Mickie before leaving.

03.09am
Mickie removes Alicia with an untidy Thesz press from the top, before Striker undoes his night's good work in one fell swoop by suggesting that McCool could be in the Hall of Fame one day. Urgh.

03.13am
Melina puts this one away with her (much) modified Canadian Destroyer. Mickie and Melina survive - and I suspect the Verizon Center just sold more beer and popcorn, with people nipping out for the last time before the main event.

03.17am
DX Music hits. I'm surprised. I would have said this match merited seperate entrances for Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and not the DX music and hoopla. No video package building up the storyline for this one.

Because there hasn't been one.

03.23am
I was just in the process of typing that Cena has this one wrapped up because Michael Cole just led the commentary trio in declaring that either Trips or Shawn HAD to win.......when HBK turned and kicked Hunter in the face. Great moment.

Shawn and Hunter now battling away, but the real story is when HBK gets back in.

03.25am
Correction to the above, I obviously got my HBKs and my Hunters the wrong way around.

03.29am
O-ho! Hunter is back up, saves Shawn from Cena who was about to plunge HBK through the announce table, then a heavy duty spinebuster sends Michaels and the table sprawling.

It's interesting, no doubt, but it's taking away from the match a little because they are doing the old trick of having one of the three lie down for a while as the other two duke it out.

03.45am
Cena gets the win after a tense one. Lots of finishers and pauses as we approached the finish, before Michaels Superkicked Hunter, only to walk into an Attitude adjustment. Cena dropped HBK onto HHH, and the champ pinned The Game.

The intrigue in the match superceded the action here, and I would say that the booking of Shawn to kick Hunter in the face at the start of the match was an inspired decision. It's hardly an original or clever point to make when I say that the build to this was weak, but as soon at that first bar of chin music played you had to tune in.

So will they continue the DX break up? Possibly, and if they do it remains to be seen if it is a gradual or quick thing. I'd do a jump ahead to Mania and suggest that Michaels v Helmsley would be a great match at Mania, along with Cena v Taker and Edge v Jericho. I'd suggest you get to DiBiase v Orton by then, too, and you are in good shape for the PPV when March in Phoenix rolls around. Won't be long, you know.

Bragging Rights live notes

00.04am
Ok, I’ll be generous, you get some comments, but they’ll be snappy, hopefully pithy ones. Not massive reviews – you’ll have to go to www.thesun.co.uk/wrestling tomorrow for that.

00.06am
Oh, terrific, they’ve told us it’s best two out of three in the Raw v Smackdown matches. That means it will be 1-1 after two, with the tag being the rubber match.

00.07am
I'll go for Miz to win this. Makes more sense for Miz to win this with shenanigans, and then the SD girls to tie the series, before the tag is the decider.

00.13am
I bet the boys are happy to be watching the show on a monitor, at an angle, in character.

00.14am
I really like the ring, by the way, with the mixture of blue and red ropes.

00.19am
Hmm, pretty not surprised at the winner, but a little about the method. I'm not unhappy though. Miz needed a win more, and Morrison is flashy enough to get back over some more.

00.21am
Has Finlay ever won a match in WWE without the Shillelagh?

00.22am
I am most amused by the fact that R-Truth sounded more like Dusty than Cody did.

00.23am
"That's the truth.......and the truth hurts" is a better catchphrase that "truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth, which is a mouthful and, well, stolen.

00.25am
Speaking of stolen, Michelle now appear to have nicked AJ's hooded robe as well as his finishing move.

00.26am
About three weeks ago Beth was complaining about being traded to SD, now she is fighting for their pride?

00.33am
Kelly did a great Ricky Morton - right down to the haircut.

00.34am
Springboard suplex into a rolling small package? NICE! Great work Beth and Melina!

00.35am
Smallest of points, shouldn't Harry Smith and TJ Wilson (fuck their screen names) have been front and centre in the SD locker room rather than Jericho, Kane and Hardy there?

00.38am
I enjoyed that backstage pep talk/DX comedy bit. But then I like DX more than most.

00.39am
Maylene and the Sons of Disaster? Never heard of them. You couldn't do better than "Sons of Disaster"? Here's a tip Maylene, if you want a great bandname, don't picked one that sounds like it could go after "Harry Potter and...."

00.41am
A four way match seems perfectly placed to take the belt off of Taker, relieve his burden of being top dog in the yard while injured, and get the belt back on Punk without Taker having his shoulders counted down. I forecast something happening to shift Taker's focus.

00.56am
"These guys are literally throwing bombs." Erm, no they are not, King. They are figuratively throwing bombs.

1.00am
Hmmm, seems odd to me to have Taker win a fourway. I guess they just had nothing to do for Rey and Batista and wanted to put them out there in a PPV match. Also, there was probably motivation for a tease of a falling out between Batista and Rey.

I hope Rey is ok. He was (Literally?) launched by Batista onto Punk, and looked to land back and neck first. Hopefully it was flat enough, and not at a poor angle.

01.02am
As I speak, Rey is on his feet, speaking to Josh. He looks ok.

01.04am
I think that would have been better if Batista had clotheslined Mysterio out of his boots out of nowhere, rather than telegraph it. Now we know why these two are in the match.

01.05am
That was pretty well done. I think Batista's heel turn is long overdue, frankly. He'll shine now.

01.09am
When they were doing that 'Team Raw!' 'Team Smackdown' thing with fans, I'd have loved one little weedy bloke to jump in the middle and, in a high pitched voice, shout 'Team ECW'.

01.15am
Have they once mentioned the video game while hyping this as Smackdown v Raw?

01.32am
I rather liked that ending. It's a bit of a copout, and celebration was a little over the top, but I like Show turning on people that he has had his differences with, and it leads into a presumed DX v Jericho and Show feud.

That then leaves something else to ponder. If this really is the end of Orton v Cena, forget who will win - who will the winner face next? Who else is there to step up?

02.03am
2-2 and nearly twenty minutes in. This has been tremendous thus far. Surpassing my expectations already.

02.07am
Legacy interfere to earn Orton a fall. Kofi arrives with a chair to chase them off, and gets a massive cheer. Huge moment for Kofi.

02.46am
I would change one thing. I'd have had Orton pass out and the ref award a fall to Cena. It simply wasn't logical for Orton to hold out for nearly a minute and then give up with six seconds to spare.

That said, it was a marvellous match. If Match of the Year voting ended here, Undertaker and HBK would still win, but this will be on the shortlist.

Orton was amazing in this match. Utterly brilliant.

Raw Thoughts - September 14

· Really solid opening segment between Batista and Randy Orton. I never really bought the retirement, but I suspect many did. I may be wrong, but I think Batista actually hurt his right arm, not his left one. As I recall they did the attack on Raw on Batista’s left arm, but his was really hurt the other side. So the fact that he had the brace on his left suggested to me it wasn’t needed.
· Was it just me or did Trish seem a bit lost? Maybe I’m being harsh. Interesting note about Barker “nearly making Jericho cry” – a little back reference to Wrestlemania 20?
· OK tag match. I liked seeing Swagger get a pinfall to boost him a little. There was no reaction for Primo at all.
· Mickie James on Alicia Fox: “Every dog has her day”. King quickly asserted that she wasn’t referring to Ms Fox as a dog. She said no. Good job too. The Korean Ms Kim would eat her alive. Ahem.
· Mickie v the Wedding Planner coming soon then.......
· I thought Mickie was great as guest commentator by the way. I like people doing that. I think they should have someone on guest commentary more often, especially newer blood trying help get their character over.
· Nice little seg with Trish being faced in her office by Beth and Jericho. Nice interplay between Jericho and Stratus, although interestingly no namedrop for Captain Charisma, who was instrumental in the ‘break-up’. Nice to see a little nod to history though.
· I hope Trish chooses Santino as her partner! Or at least they have a seg where he is campaigning to be her partner.
· I was really disappointed that HBK v Ted didn’t have a finish, but I guess I understand why.
· Oh wow, Hornswoggle wins again (note sarcasm). Chavo asks “What do I got to do?” Firstly, learn English, Pedro, because it’s “What do I have to do?” but secondly I got the feeling he was addressing that to more than just the little midget fella he’s been wrestling for the last seventeen years or thereabouts.
· I get whole thing of Trish having a win in her hometown, but it strikes me it would have been a big thing for Beth to beat her and use it to have an achievement to boast of, rather than Trish getting a fun, but ultimately fruitless, win.
· Ordinary Batista v Orton match. Actually an ordinary Raw overall. Nothing to write home about, although the initial Batista head fake was quite neat. If someone came up to you tomorrow and asked you what the story was from Raw, what would you say? Batista to Smackdown, and they announced a couple of matches we knew were happening anyway for HiaC.

Raw Thoughts - June 29

· Did Vince just say 15 person trade between the brands? And that’s it? No speculation, no explanation?
· And we are keeping the guest host thing? Hmm, ok.
· Here is the thing, though, if Trump instituted these things and Vince doesn’t like them, why can’t he just overturn them?
· Not sure I like the idea of ‘guest hosts’ having GM powers. Why would Batista book a tournament? What investment would he have in that? Why would Vince hand over power like that? It’s a terrible idea.
· Nice match, that, between MVP and Triple H. I thought MVP did a good job of hanging with the Game and looked like a potent force when on top. Understandably Triple H won, but it made sense and was a better match than I expected.
· The usual quality from Jericho, using his promo to immediately address the fact that he said he wouldn’t be back on Raw. No-one does continuity better than Chris Jericho.
· Haha, King said “Edge and Christian” by mistake.
· Speaking of Captain Charisma, you’d like to think he’d be a great fit for the small trade, and I’d take him out of ECW and place him in the IC title picture on Smackdown.
· Crowd, really REALLY into the Colons chasing the belts.
· I don’t like them throwing Cena v Miz out again. It just sends the message to those who pay their PPV money that they are idiots, because you’ll soon see the same show for free.
· Great call by King, comparing Miz to an early John Cena, being brash and talking smack to others.
· I would have liked to have seen a couple of attempts at a Miz nearfall to try to tease the audience, but generally that was a far better match than the evening previously. They gave Miz time to attack, to get some offence in and to not show the weakness which has held him back. Cena, for his part, sold well, and it seemed to me like this went a little longer than at The Bash?
· So it’s Triple H v Cena next week – but didn’t King say earlier that Triple H had to wrestle again that night? Either they changed it on the fly or (more likely) the lines of communication from writer to commentator was not clear.
· Why, again, would Batista book a tournament where the pay off is next week, outside his jurisdiction?
· A kind of ‘just there’ divas match, with the logical conclusion of Mickie winning. At least there is a reasonable angle between Maryse and Mickie, and Mickie has gained plenty of momentum of late.
· Not really sure what the purpose of the double count-out between Kofi and Show was. Looking forward to the gauntlet match. I love “who is it” angles.
· Evan Bourne on Raw? Cool. I’d have preferred him on Smackdown, but at least he is off ECW.
· Swagger to Raw. That’s really interesting. They are really high on this kid, so I’d expect him to come in to a good spot. Maybe with MVP? Or maybe taking on Kofi for the US Title.
· I love that. Swagger gets counted out, serious heat drawn there. A little tease of an alliance with Orton. I like it when strange things happen like that. Remember when Mike Knox, when asked why he attacked Rey Mysterio, simply said “I don’t know”. The guy that doesn’t know or doesn’t say why he does things is a far more scary dude than one who screams “I hate you”
· Haha, now Henry did it as well, but then came back in? Is that a Henry babyface turn?
· I like that booking. I’m not a Henry fan, and I don’t want to see him pushed to the moon, but it doesn’t hurt Orton to get beat. Flair used to lose all the time when he was champion in his prime, and it simply built up his challenger. I thought Henry played his role very well, and has successfully turned and got over within the space of five minutes. It doesn’t hurt Orton because he was already hurt and had had a match.

Raw Thoughts - pretty quick this week!

· I guess it’s one of pitfalls of reading the wrestling news sites that I basically knew that the opening segment would feature a beatdown on Batista.
· That said, it was well done, and the visual of Batista’s arm snapping back looked effective.
· Good work as usual from Michael Cole (note saracasm) calling the chair shot to the spine before quickly switching to saying “arm”. Idiot.
· Aside, that is, from the usual question marks – why did no referees or officials rush the ring to stop the beating. These segment always used to look more effective when the heels were evading a bunch of refs and agents.
· And is Batista so friendless that no-one – NO-ONE – would come and help him? Didn’t Cena come and help the guy a couple of weeks ago. Just the smallest thing, him arriving late and hearing what happened, would make the world of difference. He’d be a more sympathetic babyface, establish him as Batista’s friend and ally and make WWE look less stupid for not acknowledging anything.
· “The last thing you need is a Jamaican as United States champion” Don’t worry Willy, he’s Ghanaian.
· Kofi will never get over winning three minute matches. This is why no-name jobbers used to be used. It gave the talent a chance to shine and hurt no-one. This simply harms Regal that little bit more, and gives Kofi nothing.
· Right now, the Divas are just there. They (and this is not their fault, for the most part) offer nothing to the TV show. There is absolutely no originality to a storyline, simply “Mickie wants the title, Maryse doesn’t like her.” That isn’t an angle, it’s nothing.
· I really like the Miz/Maryse chemistry.
· Santino walking down the aisle and giving the “oh shucks” arm wave to a fan is funnier than anything SantinA has done for weeks. The guy is walking comedy.
· Oh, but he’s tagging with Festus and Goldust. This really isn’t the wrestling show is it?
· Thinking back, Vickie’s backing of Orton is plain odd. They haven’t completely got on, and since Vince, or Shane, or Steph, is her boss, wouldn’t she want to be fair so as not to piss them off?
· Miz has “Miz 6 Cena 0” on his sleeves, Nice touch. Why did Cena take so long to emerge? Just felt really odd. I felt sure we’d cut backstage to see that Cena had been taken out.
· That went from severely boring to very intriguing. I was lamenting Big Show STILL not letting it drop that Cena is better than him, when his attack was cut short by Miz smashing him with a chair. It lacked clarity and didn’t make too much sense, but I’ll always give them a week to explain it. I like the idea that it was a segment that was interesting to watch and offers something to look forward to.
· I don’t care who she is, but all this Pig talk, she-beast and “looks like Edge’s mother” (she’s five years older) is downright insulting. It’s too far, character or no character.
· That was a muddled segment, with Edge officially admitting he used Vickie and ditching her. His actions were horrible, demeaning and spiteful. But he got cheered, since she is so hated.
· That was a killer John Cena promo. Put his Show feud in perspective and his words for The Miz were nicely pitched. He admitted a small amount of respect but then basically that he hates him. It felt a big deal. Great stuff from Cena. That kind of promo makes it even more annoying when he does his “throw up in the mouth, poopies and peepees” promos.
· Disappointing tag match with Legacy and Colons. Wouldn’t make me want to pay to see a title match, for example.
· Fair enough ending to the show. Had to bring Trips back at this point. Not overjoyed at prospect of seeing Triple H and Orton one on one AGAIN, mind you. Loved hearing the crowd chant “Pedigree” – never heard that before.
· So did Batista miss the count then?
· Good reasons to keep watching. Smackdown has the Punk/Edge/Jeff fallout as well as Jericho/Mysterio awesomeness. Next week’s Raw is a three-hour special (although they often suck) with resolutions of Title and GM situations

Extreme Rules live blog

01.02am
Pyro follows the usual quality promo to hype the night. Following this is a Fatal Fourway, apparantly.

01.05am
Kofi out first, followed by Regal. Sounded like a decent cheer for Matt next. Might be just his music, though. Big pop for MVP. New Orleans loves Montel.

01.09am
Uh-oh. Not long into the match and a major collision between MVP and Kofi. If it was deliberate, it looked like shit.

01.10am
Oh my, a tower of doom spot now goes awry. They have gone at a strong pace througout. Need to slow it down a little.

01.14am
Kofi retains, so its one to me for predictions, but the match just seemed off the pace. The finisher didn't hit right, and the whole match just felt like four guys were trying to hard to get stuff in. Poor opener I'm afraid.

01.16am
So Show is confident because Cena can't apply the STF? Are everybody idiots because no-one seems to realise that Cena is allowed to do more than just the STF.

01.23am
Nice little intro from Jericho from the merch stand to the ring, but can't help but think that was a TV promo not a PPV one. I like Grisham talking up Rey for being "Nice"

First couple of minutes start outside the ring with a bit of a brawl. Exactly what I asked for. Well done.

01.33am
Great stuff so far, but just a little question - why are the fans supposed to hate Jericho for removing the mask. Wouldn't they be curious as to what Rey looks like?

01.40am
Gotta love that. Crisp action throughout, terrific series of counters, and a very creative finish.

My big problem with it, though, is that the unmasking means nothing because no cameras bothered to follow the guy trying to hide his face, but instead looked at the guy doing very little in the ring.

That doesn't detract from the match too much, though. It was a typically great effort from these two. Normally I'd hate to see a third go on PPV between the same guys, but if they have a further PPV contest I won't complain.

01.45am
Why must we watch that long recap? Surely if someone has purchased this show then they know all about what happened on Raw. And if they don't, well they bought it anyway. Don't waste precious time that could have been given to the opening contest.

01.59am
No complaints from me there. I felt it was telegraphed that Punk would win when they started going on about how stacked in Umaga's favour it was, though.

Decent enough match, though, considering the limitations of that kind of match. I don't really care for strap matches, much like with Last Man Standing contests (and often cage matches - we'll see later) they are limiting rather than exciting. Glad Punk won, he needs that boost. Umaga is terrific to watch I think, but to me he really needs a manager or at least an ally who can talk to help him out. I miss Arrrrmando......alejandro......estrrrrrrrrrrada.

02.03am
Backstage to Gregory Helms (terrible interviewer, by the way) who interviews \Christian, who cuts a heel promo. Lame acting from the interupting Dreamer, and then corny dialogue as Swagger enters. The segment is saved, though, as Dreamer and Christian just walk away from Swagger. That was pretty funny.

02.17am
Well, that I wasn't expecting. Dreamer wins and pins Swagger to do so. Terrific, meaningful call by Striker on the bell. Some sections of the crowd felt that. Others didn't. Felt like that match should have taken place in Phillie. Would have been nice to see some ECW originals cheering him on. I'm aware that Rhyno, the Dudleys and so on can't appear, but I would have liked to have seen some ECW alumni on hand to celebrate with Tommy.

02.20am
Oh great. Hog Pen match. Time to get a snack. It's a bit late for a bacon sandwich I guess.

Seems that rules for this match are different to the original Hog Pen match. I recall Henry Godwinn backdropping Hunter Hearst Helmsley (yes, him) into the pen for the win. They didn't wrestle in it, you won by getting your opponent in there.

02.29am
I am not going to analyse that. It was pathetic.

02.30am
Perhaps that was designed to be so terrible that it would make Cena v Show seem awesome by comparison.

02.32am
I'd just like to say, for the benefit of my friend RD Reynolds, we may have a Gooker nominee.

02.37am
Video hyping Batista and Orton. Holy shit, that went on forever. Nice logical meeting of Vickie and Edge. Trouble is, that was virtually a babyface promo for Edge.

02.54am
Batista has the title, thats three out of four title changes tonight so far, and it came suddenly. No Legacy assistance for Randy, and very few close finishes, before a powerbomb ended it.

I'm still looking at a gradual build to, at Summerslam perhaps, Orton v Batista v Triple H, with Flair as the referee.

03.02am
Actual, proper insight from King as we are about to start the submission match. He talks about how every time he went into a match thinking he might lose, he lost. That's what the colour guy should do, add insight from his career.

Big Cena chat early on. Sounds like The Big Easy likes Cena.

03.24am
Pretty much what we were expecting, wasn't it? Typical slow Cena match, with a vaguely logical story about Cena applying his hold.

I'm sick of two things tonight. One is that the usual reference to "skull" rather than "head" has gone into overdrive and is sounding completely ridiculous. I mean staggeringly annoying. Saying something too often lessens its impact, not that saying skull is that impactful anyway.

The other petty annoyance is the predictions by the commentators being completely wrong. Wrong to the point that their insistance that Big Show or Umaga, for example, are guaranteed to win shattered any doubt about who the winner would be. They even did it with Orton and Batista.

03.53am
Exciting, breathtaking, exhilarating and terrifying in equal measures, Edge and Jeff Hardy, one the whole, deliver in the main event. Jeff wins after a very creative finish trapping Edge inside a ladder and ......wait. As I type, here is Puink.

03.56am
Hmm.....interesting stuff. Firstly, credit for the Jeff kick out and inside cradle near fall. Suddenly it seemed that Punk's cash-in might backfire.

My biggest doubt would be that the moment of Jeff winning was big, and the crowd loved it. They did not go crazy for Punk, because he is a lesser babyface than Jeff.

Punk heel turn possible? Remember Edge will deserve a rematch, so perhaps we'll see a triple threat soon.

Back to the Ladder match, I thought it was very good. Not amazing, not five stars, but it didn't disappoint. What you absolutely cannot fault is the commitment level which Edge and Jeff Hardy asipire to. I would suggest they will be seriously banged up after that one.

Overall an ok show. I don't think anyone will hate the fact that they missed it, but Jericho v Rey and Edge v Jeff were both quality matches, and the Punk cash in was a shocking moment.

I look forward to Smackdown far more than Raw this week.

Extreme Rules Preview

It may well be an easy pun to say that this Pay Per View ranges “from one extreme to another” (in fact I think I did last week on The Sun’s site) but the dichotomy of a PPV which has a Jeff Hardy v Edge ladder match and a Hog Pen match between a non-wrestler and a guy in drag is certainly different.

This is the time of PPV that could go either way. I can see there being at least three matches which have the potential to be very good indeed. However, the build to it has been average, and it is difficult to have much investment in several of the feuds.


Santina Morella v Vickie Guerrero (Hog Pen Match)
It’s difficult to believe that Vickie had nuclear heat only a couple of months ago, and was almost the most hated in heel in company. Now, she is relegated to a comedy feud, and I use the word comedy very loosely.

Santino, in turn, has been comically neutered by turning face. As a heel who gets shown up, he is hilarious, but snorting like a pig isn’t as funny as many of his other, quite subtle at times, mannerisms. Since his alter ego Santina appeared on the scene, it’s been dire, although I will admit that I laughed a few weeks back when he/she joshed with JR.

I don’t care who wins the match, I just hope that they can do it quickly, make seven children laugh and then get off, and never come back to this feud.

Prediction: Apathy, and maybe Vickie with some help, will win the day. There is more scope in the idea of Vickie being Miss Wrestlemania and using this as a tool for being more annoying.


CM Punk v Umaga – Strap match
I didn’t really see the logic of having these two wrestle on Smackdown ahead of their PPV match. Punk picked up a win with Umaga going for the strap, so instinct might suggest that the Samoan goes over in this one, and that Punk was winning so as not to look too bad, as his opponent was winning again Sunday.

Look for the typical strap match move, where the stronger heel pulls the babyface around but the wily good guy will touch the turnbuckle after his enemy. That is assuming this is the rule.

To me, there is an easy set up for promoting (in terms of card position) Umaga using CM Punk, and this is by virtue of the Money in the Bank factor. Umaga beats Punk, but Punk cashes in and wins the title. Theoretically you have two heels pissed off at Punk – the former champ (in this case Edge) and the guy who bested him (Umaga). Throw in a title switch to Jeff before Punk’s interference and you have a third guy annoyed, because he’s lost a belt and Edge’s gripe would be that he is entitled to a rematch.

I’m not saying that they will go with the Punk run-in tonight, but just explaining that if they did, they are well covered for ways to prolong the story should they choose that route right now. The main problem would have been that Umaga wouldn’t be able to vocalise his point in the traditional way, with his character being a non-Anglophone. But he talks now, apparently, so this might not be an issue.

Prediction – I think Umaga wins, and depending on happenings elsewhere, could be set for bigger things at the top of the card, or maybe an IC run with Rey?


Fatal Fourway for the US Title – Kofi Kingston (c) v William Regal v MVP v Matt Hardy
A reasonable use of these four mid-card wrestlers, all of whom are more than decent hands. I don’t know whether this will be an elimination contest, but I would assume not.

My initial reaction is that it is pointless to have Kofi Kingston win the title on Raw only to drop it again so quickly, so he’d be my pick to win. Since these theories aren’t always watertight, I’d best have a couple of back up explanations.

One would be that MVP winning the title back wouldn’t hurt Kofi too much, especially if MVP pins either Hardy or Regal. You then have the stage set for MVP saying he’s the greatest US Champion, but Kofi reacting by saying “Well you didn’t beat me.” Cue PPV match.

The other way of looking at it might be a Regal and Hardy coalition, fitting their storyline of being aligned under the guise of lackeys for Vickie G. Although why Matt would be an underling to a wife of Edge’s I’m not quite sure.

With these two being sort-of-buddies, they could pair up to effect and dominate in this way. I’d say this is likely to happen for a time, but then an argument will start up over who will win, leading to their self destruction.

Prediction – the aforementioned Regal/Hardy argument to come after they have disposed of MVP, but Kofi to take advantage and score a win.


Intercontinental Title – Chris Jericho v Rey Mysterio. No Holds Barred

These two had a cracking match at the last WWE PPV offering Judgment Day, so I’d be very hopeful of another stunning effort. Jericho is perhaps the best in the business and having fresh matches with the same guys, and these two have such a back catalogue of matches from the WCW days to call upon that most WWE fans won’t have seen.

To me, the big issue in this one is on the aspect of whether they use the No Holds Barred stip. This basically means no disqualification, and therefore I would like to see typically illegal moves and weapons to be introduced early on. They had a couple of brawls on Smackdown in recent weeks suggesting they hate each other and are desperate to fight. Therefore, you would not start a wrestling match, even one with a title on the line, with a stand off and a lock up. It wouldn’t make sense.

Their last contest was a great wrestling match, this ought to be a bit more of a brawl, but they are still more than capable of putting some entertaining stuff in that.

On a card which features Edge and Jeff on ladders, this will go some to be match of the night, but they’ll likely have a crack at it.

As for the winner – It’s a really tough call. The fact that Rey won last time and that Jericho is a major heel suggests that the former Y2J would be a likely victor, but I don’t see how it helps him winning the IC strap AGAIN. He can also likely build his heat for a world title position again with his vocal skills and character development.

I’d suggest that he and Umaga could swap feuds after this. An Umaga challenge for Rey’s IC Title makes sense to me, while Jericho battling (and beating) Punk could set him up for a rise in the ranks, and could take the position I spoke about earlier, as a vanquisher of Punk and a perfect choice to be complainer-in-chief who thinks he deserves better.

Prediction – I think the IC Title fits better on Rey. Him winning is more logical to me, as Jericho can build his heat up if he needs to.

On More Thing.....I’d also like to point out that if they do go with a Jericho win, and they go with an Umaga v Rey programme, that Umaga attacking Rey during the match, remembering it’s no DQ, could give Jericho a win and a ready made angle for Mysterio and the burly Samoan.


ECW Title – Jack Swagger v Christian v Tommy Dreamer
This match feels like it’s just there, with no real anticipation build. I like the idea of giving Dreamer a send-off on a decent platform, and while not Wrestlemania, it is at least not an ECW show with one man and a dog watching.

He surely can’t win. It makes no sense to have him go over, and would simply harm the burgeoning Swagger and the ongoing push of Christian. I would expect, though, to see plenty of near-falls for Dreamer, giving the impression that he might just pull it off.

I think I’d like to see Swagger win on one level, since it could be an appropriate time for him to regain, and gloat at retiring Dreamer. It also wouldn’t hurt Christian too much losing a title in a three-way. However, longer term, Swagger being champion means a less obvious opponents for the title, and although he and Christian have worked well, we don’t need another of their matches on PPV.

Christian retaining sets up matches with DH Smith, Tyson Kidd, Mark Henry and a babyface outing with Evan Bourne could be set up. If Swagger wins, only really Christian and Bourne fit the bill, with it being rather pointless to elevate Finlay at this point.

Prediction – I think when you look at the most likely eventualities, Christian retaining makes the most sense, but I say that will little conviction. Hopefully there will be a nice little post match send off for Dreamer, with Christian acknowledging and Swagger demeaning the ECW original. Oh, and don’t expect a classic wrestling match – expect Dreamer, and to a lesser extent Christian, to take a pummelling with weapons.


Big Show v John Cena – Ploddingly slow submission match
I don’t anticipate a classic here by any stretch. I don’t think these two have particular chemistry, and neither do they possess an innate ability to change their matches. They often follow quite a similar formula, and I’d expect it to go as follows.

Cena with a flurry, tries the STF, fails. Show takes over. Keeps beating on Cena, Cena won’t give up. Every now and then Cena fights up and tries a submission hold, mostly the STF, keeps failing. More Show pressure, more superman Cena refusing to tap, maybe even powering out of a camel clutch. Eventually John will lock in either a modified STF or a brand new move, and win. It’s what he does.

Prediction – Erm, John Cena. And see above.


Randy Orton v Batista – WWE title match, in a cage.
I just can’t get excited for this at all. To me all the action at this PPV is from the featured Smackdown matches, while Raw’s offerings just don’t match up.

I don’t find Dave Batista all that much of a draw, and while I do like Orton, he has been stifled so much of late that he just seems to be a sitting duck until Triple H comes back and murders him.

I don’t think that a cage provides that many outlets for putting together a creative match, so these two have their work cut out.

You have to look at title matches and to pick a winner you must look at who is waiting in the wings to take on the champion, whomever it may be. I’d suggest that a Batista win just leads to Orton v Batista again, and I don’t know either man would go apart from that.

Triple H is the elephant in the ring, and when he returns things can go a couple of ways. He could be the returning virtuous babyface and win out, or there could be a falling out between him and Batista.

How about this one.....remember there has been another man involved in the Orton/Batista build-up. So what if Hunter returns, doesn’t see eye to eye with Batista, both men hate Orton, who reciprocates their dislike. So a triple threat is booked for the WWE Title.........

And Ric Flair is the special referee.

Sounds good, huh? The three active Evolution wrestlers battling with their former senior member as the man in the middle.

Following that up, it would actually make little difference about who is champion, as both Randy and Dave would be involved, plus Hunter. I’d actually like it if Batista was champ at this point, and it would lead to more antagonism between him and the Game. If Triple H returns and wants the belt, and Orton is champ, he’d logically just get the shot, because Batista failed to get the job done. But if Batista is champ, then Trips and Randy would be both be angling for a shot, hence a triple threat.

Prediction – I’m going to go with Batista. I’m going to have faith in my own fantasy booking. That’s probably misplaced confidence.


Edge v Jeff Hardy – Ladder match for the WWE Championship
This is the mouthwaterer for me. I want to see this match badly. I think it has the potential to be awesome. Great advertising in the build up with the promise that it’s the first ever singles ladder contest for these guys, considering they are so adept in the field.

Edge’s mannerisms, match pacing and storytelling ability make him a great champion, while Jeff’s high flying style should make this match very memorable indeed.

The question mark, I feel, is not over the quality, but over the winner. The rumours of Jeff Hardy’s departure should not be completely believed, but they have gone on for too long for them to be without substance. WWE can look at it two ways – throw great things at Jeff is one option. A title run and a massive push may convince him to commit and stay. If he leaves, you can look at it that you milked him before he upped sticks.

However, the last time he disappeared he then resurfaced in TNA. WWE would be wary of pushing him to the moon only to find him jumping to the competition, helping their cause.

So then, do you hold him back, and make sure you do not put him in any high-profile situations after this and ensure that he can’t ruin anything for you?

Well, we don’t know the contract situation, and neither should we, so it’s best we just sit back and take it in.

I have, in fairness, been quite short sighted in my appraisal of Smackdown’s ongoing feuds. I’ve put Rey with Umaga and Jericho with Punk, which doesn’t leave much room for manoeuvre on Edge and Jeff Hardy’s part. They can’t really go around again, since the Ladder match ought to be a blow off.

I really can’t call this, so what I’ll do is go for what I want to see deep down, and that’s Jeff win the title in his specialty match.

Prediction – Jeff Hardy. But moreover, I call a near-classic.

There’s my selections – enjoy the show! Don’t forget you can visit here again during the PPV and I will do my usual live blog.