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.

Raw Thoughts - July 27

· Blimey, that Shaq is a big lad isn’t he?
· Shaq shows more charisma and ability to cut a promo in his first sentence than ZZ Top did all last week.
· Would Shaq O’Neal really book a “beat the Clock challenge?” Really? It’s one thing having guest hosts and pretending they are booking, but it’s quite another booking the same old concepts and attributing them to NBA stars.
· Loved the face off with Big Show. Made sense to do it, and Jericho was priceless refusing to fight Shaq when he hadn’t been challenged.
· Good opening seg. Don’t like the beat the clock idea, but Shaq was very at home on the mic, did some decent babyface schtick.
· Part of me wonders if Henry might win this. The way things have gone lately, it would make sense to have him face Orton at Summerslam while Trips and Cena sort themselves out. I’m not saying I want to see that, but that’s the corner they’ve booked themselves into.
· Massive flaw in the Beat the Clock format. Shouldn’t you put 10 men in the game, rather than five. You are simply telling everybody that Henry, Triple H, Cena, MVP and Swagger will win. You could book the same matches, but just say whomever wins get to post the time.
· Love the Ludvig Borga sign. There should be more obscure 90s wrestler signs.
· That was as good a Mark Henry match as I’ve seen in a long time.
· I’ll give them this about the beat the clock concept. We might be getting a fair amount of wrestling. That went nearly seven minutes, which despite not being an Iron Man match was longer than most Raw matches. We could end up with significantly more wrestling than usual this week.
· Better than average women’s match, probably because they gave Mickie, Gail and Beth plenty of time in the ring. Subtle annoyance from Mickie that Gail tagged herself in. Seems Gail v Mickie for Summerslam?
· I spoke too soon. Perhaps it’s not to be all predictable as to who wins. MVP draws with the returning Chris Masters, whose modified music made me think it was Goldust at first.
· Poor old Kendrick. He could be used as a talented jobber getting ten minute matches out of people, but nope, simply a comedy act getting beaten in seconds.
· I loved the attack on Triple H. Not because it might have put the kibosh on his chances, but it was unexpected and a bit different. I might have actually gone a little further and had DiBiase run away and not talk to Trips, with the camera only getting a sleeting glimpse, so you weren’t sure if it was him or not.
· Really enjoyed that Triple H v Cody Rhodes match. Not catch-as-catch-can classic but it was full of psychology. They injured the leg, and Cody continued to use LOGIC and follow it through. Triple H was chasing the win and clock, and the heels got the job done. That is really, really solid booking. Not writing, BOOKING.
· “How did you get some many ‘z’s?” is one of the greatest lines I’ve heard in ages. Santino was BACK this week.
· Actually popped a little bit when Bourne won. Not that I dislike Swagger, but because that was a legit shock, legit surprise and a really nice feelgood moment. I take back everything I said about the ‘stupid’ system of Beat the Clock, as it is actually proving rather effective thus far. This is a high quality Raw.
· Great Miz promo before the match, having a go at the crowd but linking to the match itself. He just has a great manner that makes you want to see him get his backside handed to him. Vince even got a little shot in Obama, which I’m sure he was delighted about.
· Actually, what I am I saying, of course it doesn’t absolve the Beat the Clock system. Why doesn’t Evan Bourne now have the fastest time? What kind of loopy system gives the opportunity for a man to beat Miz or Carltio to get a title shot, but beating Swagger doesn’t do anything for Bourne.
· I can’t believe I was actually hoping for a comprehensive Mark Henry win, but it would have preferable, at least so that someone different got a run at Orton. It would have done so much good. Someone fresh(ish) at the top, a new babyface promoted, and Orton could have beaten him clean and looked strong again, rather than Triple H and Cena’s bitch, which is all he has become.
· A just there main event, really, with the excuse of putting Shaq into that face-to-face situation with Show, with the hope for WWE that it’ll be on Sportscenter. Bit different from the face off with Mayweather, eh Paul?
· Plot holes abound and a frustrating booking trick for Summerslam, but otherwise an enjoyable Raw. Shaq was a very good guest host.

So who will Jericho's mystery partner be....?

Ah, the old Mystery Partner. Usually such a great concept, and so often punctuated by a crappy pay off.

Now, we have a mystery partner angle involving Christopher Keith Irvine, better known as Chris Jericho. Formerly the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla. Formerly Y2J. Currently calling himself simply “The best in world at what he does.”

And he may be right.

Jericho has been nothing short of awesome for the last 16 months or so, with quality encounters with Shawn Michaels and Rey Mysterio punctuating this period. His emergence as half of a Smackdown “Dream Team” which netted the Unified Tag Titles, along with Edge, seemed to signal a fun coalition and a logical use of Edge and Jericho on all shows.

Now, though, Edge is kaput. He is broken. On the shelf.

Hence the quick rewrite this week. Jericho emerges with a document stipulating he can choose his partner, who will become his co-champion. It remains to be seen whether his cohort will be named next week on TV or at the PPV itself.

In the meantime, I offer you three options for who it could be. The first is, I think the most likely. The second less likely, a little less logical, but a bit more fun, in my opinion. The last, though, is unlikely, won’t happen, and is a flight of fancy. But it’s my favourite, and would be a terrific idea.

1) Jack Swagger

Jack Swagger has two major negatives about him. One is his stupid nickname, “The All-American American.” It’s nonsense, get rid of it. The second downer is his ricockulous (thanks CJ) pantomime as he heads to the ring. I don’t mind the press ups, but the cross between an epileptic fit and King Kong is ludicrous. Lose it.

That aside, the guy is clearly a keeper. He has the WWE physique and look which is a bonus, of course, but more importantly he can wrestle, has character, is a good heel, is young, and has already had a number of very decent matches.

His move to Raw is very obviously an indication that he is moving up in the world, and a clean win over MVP further evidence of his upward mobility. My instinct was that blowing off of a potentially feud with MVP was ludicrous, but thinking about it, it was probably done to allow Swagger a free run at being Jericho’s upstanding partner. Who better than Jericho than Swagger to learn from and who better than Young Jack to be given a boost from this position?

It’s the most likely scenario.

2) The Miz
This is less likely, but not impossible.

Let’s look at the evidence. Miz has been in a brief little angle with John Cena, which although it didn’t go fabulously, most definitely gained respect in certain quarters. He, like Jericho, is a genuinely over heel thanks to the almost lost art of being a complete prick (and I mean that in the nicest of ways).

Miz is an experienced Tag Team wrestler, after his successful stint with John Morrison (my Mizorrison nickname never took off, did it? Everyone went with “JoMizzy” instead. Rubbish) and would be good from a logic perspective, since Jericho would likely pick someone like Miz, as a bit of a trailblazer and a successful Tag Team guy.

Other factors would be Miz’s little Twitter battle with Jericho. This is clearly something that they are doing for a joke between the boys, but it would indicate that they are good friends, I would think. Jericho is a man who is known to have respect backstage and gets a lot of input into his own angles. I can envisage the powers that be going to Chris, asking his advice, and his request to work with Miz.

They would be a stunningly over heel team. They would be really hated, and if WWE actually had any (and I mean, ANY) tag teams then a babyface one would have a perfect opportunity to get the fans behind them, since folks really don’t like Miz and Jericho (Mizco?).

When you think about this combination, some of the promo and segments ought to be absolute dynamite. I’d like to see Miz emerge as the partner.

Unless...........

3) I’ll tell you in a minute.......

So then, Chris Jericho needs a partner. He needs someone he’d like to work with, someone who is a skilled worker, someone who needs a direction, could do with a change of scenary, and can work as a cocky heel if necessary.

Can you see who I mean? Can you see what I’m getting at?

‘You’ll see if you just close your eyeeeeeeees. If you just close your eyes’

Now open them again (which, I suppose, you have if you are reading this again) and think about Christian finally, FINALLY being given a chance to shine again on a proper scale, and not the bloody ECW.

The problems here are plentiful, and I understand how unlikely this is. But wouldn’t it be fun?

WWE don’t appear to be that high on Christian, perhaps as a knock on him for disappearing to TNA before returning, but it ought to be remember that Jeff Hardy did this too, and long at the push he has had over the last couple of years.

Yes, Christian has a match scheduled for Night of Champs, but don’t forget Jericho had wrestled already when he emerged with Edge to grab the belts in the first place. That shouldn’t be a stumbling block.

The logic holds through here (mostly). Jericho wants someone he can trust, and since he knows Christian and has a history with him, can claim that he trusts him. Admittedly, Christian turned on Jericho and went off with Trish, who Jericho had a thing for. Incidentally, this was probably the last ‘boy meets girl’ storyline that has been done successfully.

Christian and Jericho have always had an onscreen chemistry, and are friends in real life. It would work nicely.

And here’s the clincher. Christian as the new partner. Christian, replacing EDGE, as a partner. Play up the idea that Christian is the superior one of the old E&C duo. Then, if you can keep a certain focus on Christian and Jericho as a duo for long enough – not necessarily as a tag team, but at least as allies – when Edge is ready to return, you have a plethora of options.

Edge can come back to conquer Jericho and Christian, with his own partner. Christian and can turn on Jericho and reform his partnership with Edge. Jericho could turn on Christian and once again align with the Rated R Superstar. Any man could be heel, any man could be face, in any combination.

I am aware that my last big idea was about Christian and Edge, but I’d like to point out that I was half right. While the world was all about Christian being Jeff’s attacked, and Vince apparently all anxious about a leak, I said Matt to be the culprit all along. Admittedly I then fantasy booked Edge and Matt to be in league, with Christian returning to assist Jeff, but you can’t have everything.

It should be Christian. It’ll be cool if it’s Miz. It’ll likely be Swagger. And that would be fine too, but I prefer one of the other options.

If you have your own idea, I’d love to hear it. Comment beneath or send to robthegreen (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Raw Thoughts - July 13

· That wasn’t over the top and exaggerated at the top of the show. That really was an incredible ovation for The Game.
· Is that Seth Green or is that Rey Mysterio without the mask?
· Guest Host booking himself in the main event. Cool, so at least Seth is following the example of bookers throughout history.
· Poor Primo. A during the break ring entrance already, and with a new song too.
· I have little interest in the Carlito Primo thing, despite it’s good start last week. Mainly because the brother v brother thing has been done too much now, not to mention the tag partner turn angle.
· This is a painful Raw so far. “One million dollars” Austin Powers reference? Hmm, topical.
· MVP v Swagger? Match thrown away. That could have been a several week build after a terrific opening gambit last week in the VIP Lounge. On the positive side, it looks like MVP is a little more over as a babyface.
· Swagger has to lose that mime coming down the aisle. The press-up is ok, but the hitting the chest thing is ludicrous.
· Tidy match for what we saw – the break came too early and I’d sooner it didn’t come during the match at all – and I think it’s fine Swagger getting the win. I’d really like to see him with Kofi for the US Title.
· Interesting promo from Jericho. Slightly weak excuse that he had a clause written in about Edge getting injured, but I’ll let it go. It was a tough one to write themselves out of.
· I like the idea of the slow burn of the partner. Let’s speculate and then tune in to find out. My initial guess would be Swagger, since we are looking for a man who Jericho would consider an honest man and so forth.
· I actually have a fantastic idea for a partner for Jericho – and I’ll tell you on a separate blog.
· Also liked the burial of Edge by Jericho. Suggests Edge may return, whenever that may be, as a babyface.
· Poor Chavo. So this is another Guerrero getting embarrassed is it? Hardly seems right to me.
· There wasn’t any exaggeration about that Big Show spear to Evan Bourne. That did look awesome and devastating.
· Aside from the wrestling for a second. I don’t know what Robot Chicken is. Nor do I want to. That is all.
· From a ‘don’t do this at home’ perspective, Green ought to get pummelled within an inch of his life.
· I think Orton does that DDT off the middle rope too often. That ought to be a dangerous finisher, not just some move that goes in the middle of a match.
· I tell you what, that was a really, really fun main event. I think the show overall has been quite dull and at times cringeworthy. However, they obviously limited the activity of Seth Green, but managed to include him well. The breaking up of the cover after an RKO was genius, because it got the move over, didn’t pin Triple H and got the celeb involved. The cheer after Cena broke up Orton attempted punt was deafening. I don’t even mind the DQ finish because it was secondary. The brawl taking over was the story, and then a near sledgehammer shot to Cena, which both Trips and Cena sold the motion of well, was a nice coup de gras.

Raw Thoughts - July 6

· Ah, it’s good to see the Million Dollar Man again. Its presumably his choice, but you wonder why he didn’t stick on for longer. Wrestling misses managers like him.
· They need to do the slow burn with DiBiase jnr – they need to be careful pushing his babyface side TOO much.
· Interesting booking for tag titles at next PPV. Heel v Heel, Legacy v Edge/Jericho. Of course, that won’t happen, because of Edge’s injury, but strange they’d book that kind of contest
· Bah – this is why I don’t like taped Raws. This bloody piped in cheers for people. IF THEY ARE NOT OVER, YOU ARE PUSHING THEM WRONG, OR WE DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM. DON’T PRETEND THEY ARE BEING CHEERED.
· Now that is what you call a sudden and vicious heel turn. Loved it. Believable anger from Carlito and I like Primo trying cover up rather than fight his brother. I’d expect this break-up to take a while longer yet.
· I love that Ted Snr plays up disliking Dusty. Nice little callback to the polka dots too.
· That match (Orton v DiBiase jnr) was the match John Cena and The Miz should have had. Maybe not with so many babyface-like spots for Miz, but certainly the extra nearfalls and moments when there was a prospect of the underdog getting the W.
· Nice little segment – the VIP Lounge. Those talk show segs are supposed to help people’s characters get over. That was one of the better babyface reactions for MVP in a while, and it was a chance to allow a new audience to see Jack Swagger, especially after his odd debut last week.
· Enjoyed that Bourne v Kofi match, but two problems with it. One was that Kofi doesn’t really need to be getting beat. Two was that it was too short. The amount of reruns, recaps and other needless bits that take ages, you could let them have three more minutes and have some fun with the match.
· I think Big Show is getting ‘X-Pac heat’ now. To me, crowds are booing him because he is boring not because he is an effective heel. He has always been slow, but he used to be menacing. Now, he is a slower version of the same giant we saw ten years ago.
· Is there no Miz at all this week? Nor Santino?
· I tell you what, say what you like about Hunter and Cena (and I have done) but they had a reasonable match there, and you’ll do well to find too many other wrestler sin the company who could have a match on Raw and get the crowd cheering and booing mere punches.
· That ending would be understandable and perfectly sensible booking.......if it didn’t happen EVERY BLOODY WEEK. I am so sick of them protecting guys in ridiculous ways. Just book the triple threat. Don’t come up with daft ways of doing it with crappy finishes. Just book the triple threat. I tell you what, have Batista book Hunter v Orton for the PPV. Then have Million Dollar Man get pissed off by Hunter, so he puts Cena in there too. Next week’s guest host could then get Hunter and Cena to pick each other’s opponent, or better yet get Randy to pick their opponents and if either man loses their match they lose their place in the match against Orton. If both lose, Orton gets the night off.
· The trouble is, if you keep booking matches like Hunter v Cena, and just spoil the ending (don’t forget this is frequently happening at PPVs too) then people will just get fed up.
· “Hey man, did you hear about the main event on Raw this week? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Are you going to tune in?”“Nah, don’t think I’ll bother. Those matches always end in DQs and shit. I’ll read the reports on TheSun.co.uk/wrestling instead.” (cheap pop)

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 - June 1

· Always like a cold opening of Raw. Logical Orton promo, makes sense to have Cage match as a build up, and I particularly liked the interaction between Cody and Randy, where Randy truly did seem like a mentor and Cody eager to impress his boss.
· Good intensity from Ric’s promo, but overdid the ‘Punk’ thing. Especially when they have a wrestler on the roster (admittedly on another brand) that goes by that epithet.
· Why would Rhodes try to escape within a few seconds? Isn’t the idea that he is a sacrifice to hurt Batista a bit?
· Hardly a technical classic, but I thought that Big Dave looked really good in that short match. That’s the best way to promote the guy as a big threat to a champion.
· Matt and Regal being helped out by management after toadying around them is quite a nice idea, as is being given a title shot, as is using it for antagonising each other. But surely not within two weeks. It’s a nice theory, but it’s just too rushed.
· See, that’s why the US Title is not taken seriously. It’s more than 30 minutes into the show and they’ve only just reminded us that MVP v Kofi for that title is on the show. I, for one, had forgotten, and I’m actually looking forward to it. Start the show, say “Randy Orton from Legacy is in the ring, we’ll see what he has to say, on a night where the US title is on the line and John Cena doesn’t know who his partner is....” then you have a couple of hooks right from the start.
· I think any title match should be positioned as a main event. You have more variety on the show, make each belt feel more important and therefore a bigger draw. Also, and this is very important, it gives plenty more individuals the chance to shine.
· Hey, Spongebob is pretty over.
· King calls it unorthodox, I call it one of the oddest matches ever. I don’t know who I am supposed to cheer for, or sympthise with, or what. Cena hates Show, Miz hates Cena, Show hates Miz, Chavo tries to get all to like him, everybody hates Chavo, Joanie Loves Chachie, Everybody loves Raymond, Everybody hates Chris, Everybody wants to rule the world, Nobody does it better, everybody needs somebody to love.
· Sweetheart to miss
· Sugar to kiss
· Almost a good backstage MVP/Kofi segment, but just felt too forced.
· Nice match for the US Title. Wasn’t really expecting Kofi to win, which made it nice. That match is definitely the highlight of the show thus far.
· “That’s what Cody said” from DiBiase to Orton, as Randy talks confidently of standing tall. Great line, and there is a definite sense of Ted being protected, not just from a physical perspective, but he is the one who talks more sense, and seems to have backbone, whereas Cody does pander to Randy a bit.
· A video of a hog pen, and the commentators explaining that matches of this ilk have taken place in the past. No footage of Triple H being made to look like an idiot, though. Funny that.
· I’ll admit that Santino throwing the contents of that bucket in a circle and hitting the caerma was funny, but that whole segment generally was, well, excrement. Someone, somewhere, thought that was a good idea. Think about that.
· If Flair wanted a man-to-man fight, then couldn’t he have stood eye-to-eye rather than using a sneak attack?
· Remember how many people said how badly Rey Mysterio was booked as a champion, and that he may have been the weakest looking champ ever? Well, might Orton be the most flip-flopping champ ever in terms of booking? There have been times where he looks imperious, kicking people in the head, standing tall and being mean, but every now and again he gets beaten down by someone who didn’t ought to best him. Vince, Shane, an injured Triple H, and now a retired Ric Flair. The one man who has yet to look strong against Orton, really, is Batista. The one I’ll give the segment is that it had heat. And the punt followed by the face-off across the cage was pretty cool.
· How long did Batista take to emerge to help his ‘friend’, by the way
· And how stupid were the babyfaces tonight? Why didn’t Batista try to climb the cage straight away? Didn’t Santino realise he was getting set up? Cole and Lawler saw Vickie plotting with Hardy and Regal. Why didn’t Marella? Why didn’t Cena just try a different submission hold? Maybe an anklelock?
· Meh sort of Raw. Some good bits, but not a great episode to help sell me a PPV. Actually, I think the one bit which made me think "I'm looking forward to Sunday" was the advert for Edge v Jeff Hardy. Says a lot, really.

Raw Thoughts - May 18

· Judgment day was good, Cole, but it was “at times miraculous”? What?
· So Mickie pins the champ one-on-one, then in a tag match, but isn’t number one contender? Seems a bit harsh.
· Hopefully they’ll take the battle royal outcome to conclusion at Extreme Rules. Fancy seeing Kelly Kelly in a hardcore match?
· Nice to see Santino given a plausible match but still not make Chavo look too stupid. Hopefully they can build this for him
· I like that – Josh inferring to Matt Hardy that Matt did Vickie a favour and helped Edge. Wahey! Logic!
· Excellent – Goldust and Hornswoggle as a duo – hopefully mostly on ECW.
· That’s taken Miz back a couple of weeks. He was doing great as a cutting edge antagonist, but a lame rap does not help his cause in the slightest.
· Big Show and Cena in a submission match is another nice logical progression from Cena struggling to procure the STF at Judgment Day.
· Matt needs a change of music. His “Ohh Ye-eah” start still draws a cheer.
· If I’m going to pick Cole up on every little thing, only fair I do it to JR. Matt’s injury is a metacarpal, not a metatarsal, as Ross said. The first is the hand, the latter the foot.
· Two things I’ll give credit for in that Vickie/Santina segment. The first was that Santino had two little patches picked up from shaving. That’s beyond subtle – good work. The other is that Regal came out unannounced and we don’t know why. I like when unexpected and unknown things happen. They should happen regularly and make you tune in week to week to find out the reason.
· Aren’t WWE having some problems with a venue because of a Basketball fixture clash? Presumably Vince is unhappy, hence the multiple negative references to Denver Nuggets on the show.
· That was a very good main event for lots of reasons
· Firstly, I liked the chaos of it. I hate how much the current Raw product looks like it’s so clinical, but this was an old-fashioned (well, Attitude Era) main event where stuff was happening all over the place. Cena and Show up the ramp, confusion about the legal man, then a Flair run in. I like how the camera didn’t pick it straight up, then Cody fell into the frame. I thought Cena had returned. The commentators also didn’t pick up on it straight away. While that’s silly because they can see the ramp, it was effective.
· The match itself was plenty good enough. Standard heel domination (but then they should, they have one more man) and babyface in peril stuff, done well to keep an otherwise quiet crowd lively.
· Next, the Flair involvement, throughout the show, worked nicely to create a minor conflict between him and Batista and then resolve it. Also, his involvement in the finish means there is a nice plug for his involvement next week.
· I also like the way that essentially Cena abandoned Batista. Dave can argue Cena let him down and Flair had to bail him out. Cena can respond that he helped him out earlier on when Batista and Flair were getting their ass kicked. Both men would be right. Doing this would be perfect because there could be a slow build for when they wrestle again – the first time was simply too rushed.
· Overall, below average show until the end. Really good main event and top ending.

Raw Thoughts - April 13

· Long, long opening seg to recap last week. Interesting to note that they edited Vince saying “Dave Batista” down to Batista. Wait, is that interesting?
· Is that a fair system? Inter-promotional matches where the winning brand gets a draft pick? Strikes me that I wouldn’t want more competition on my brand, so I’d deliberately lose.
· Did they really talk about announcers being eligible to move? Didn’t they notice that Todd Grisham is now sat with JR in the Smackdown booth? Sort of kyboshes that doesn’t it?
· Doesn’t make Batista very tough, does it, if Shane and Vince can come back after a punt in about a month, where it takes Big Dave four.
· Very dull, formulaic opening (“No, I hate Randy more than you, you stinkyhead”), although as I type I’ve just heard “excuse me” – this could be fun.
· I like the idea of Vickie on Raw, but it’s a risk. She certainly hasn’t been as convincing over the last two weeks, which suggests that being live, i.e. not being cleaned up in post production, is not so easy for her.
· MVP to Raw. Keep an eye on either Rey moving with his IC belt or the two having a little unification bout at some point.
· Did you see JR’s face when Kendrick emerged to represent Raw? Didn’t look too thrilled, did he?
· Sorry to all those that frequently tell me that Big Show is the best big man ever to lace the boots, but as much as he seems a nice guy, I am just not entertained by him. Not too thrilled with him appearing on Raw.
· I like Cena pointing out to Swagger that his name is ridiculous. I was waiting for Kennedy though, during that bit where they were extending the names of things.
· Firstly, that was a pointless “six diva tag match” if they are just going to have two girls “wrestle” the whole thing.
· Second, Melina to Smackdown is very interesting. I’d expect to see Maryse to Raw now, but I’m hoping that they’ll both female champs together and have unification battle there. I truly believe that where belts are concerned, less is more.
· Aaaagh! Where to start with my annoyance? Maybe with the fact that Swagger v Cena was excruciatingly boring, right up until the point where Swagger started a comeback? Or how about mentioning the fact that that as the comeback started we went to break? Or perhaps I’ll mention that the exact second the break came Swagger was about to knock Cena off the ropes.
· So are we going to get a big Swagger push now? The way he was doing average moves at a slow pace and the commentators were going crazy for him suggests only that.
· I guess we knew one Hardy was moving after their stretcher match on SD, but I expected it to be Jeff.
· The stupidity of the whole brand split and draft came home there. Triple H drafted to Raw. I really thought he was on Raw, until I thought about it harder. How many weeks has been on Raw, consecutively? 6, 7?
· Haha, that’s hilarious. Punk is drafted to SD along with his briefcase, but both all world champs are now on other brands. Brilliant.
· See, Edge is gutted about having Kane on his brand. It makes no sense at all for him to work hard to get people to challenge him.
· Wow, this show lost my attention after less than the allotted two hours, it was a huge mistake to go three.
· Koslov’s move to ECW makes total sense. That’s basically a relegation, thanks to his disappointing Smackdown run.
· Maryse to Raw I called earlier. If they move Melina, makes sense to switch the other title I guess.
· Bit harsh from Grisham? “If Dreamer is a legend then so is the Brooklyn Brawler.” Mi-ow, Todd.
· Mysterio to SD was perhaps the biggest lock. Good potential for IC battles with a heel Punk, Shelton or Kendrick.
· I like Jericho to Smackdown too, mainly because I’ve said for a while that I’d love to see a nice build, maybe to Summerslam, of Jericho and Undertaker. Would have preferred it on Raw, but beggars can’t be choosers.
· I can’t decide if I liked the main event or not. I at least like the fact that they tried to do something different, and watching the match was made more interesting by not knowing the outcome. However, the concept, just a week after Batista’s heroic return, seemed a bit premature. Shane should step aside as a non wrestler, while Trips only wrestled Orton (smashed him with a sledgehammer and pinned him, no less) eight days earlier. Just led Dave fight him.
· Triple H v Orton next week at the O2. I’ll be there. Is it a good main event or not? We’ll see........

WWE Unforgiven Preview

Hey guys – time for my usual pre-PPV guesswork and moaning, and as ever I apologise for the later-than-I-intended delivery.

So then, what do you reckon? Is it going to be any good?

Frankly, on one hand it doesn’t deserve to succeed, since it’s been one of the most lazily booked build ups to a Pay Per View that I can remember.

“Welcome to the booking meeting, everyone. So we want the belt off Mark on ECW, to keep it with Paul....”

“Who, boss?”

“Paul. You know, Hunter. Triple H.”

“Oh right. He doesn’t let us call him Paul, you see. We have to call him Sir. Or Champ. And we then have to bow down to the King.”

“Right, well he’s my Son-in-Law, do as he says. Anyway Paul is champion of Smackdown and he’s staying that way. And we don’t know about Punk, so let’s put him with a bunch of people that could win, and we’ll decide on the day what happens.”

“Ok, so who shall we put in the ECW match?”

“Who cares, it’s ECW.”

“I know (sarcastic) let’s put The Miz in”

(all laugh)

“Yeah, Miz whatever. Who else is on ECW?”

“Shit, I don’t know, I don’t watch it. Erm, Matt Hardy, Chavo, Finlay.......”

“They’ll do.”

“Bourne, Ortiz, Morrison.....”

“Nah, the first three’s fine. Right, Smackdown. Don’t make it that challenging, so stick Kendrick in, he’s done ok to be fair. Err, Shelton is due a once a year mini-push. He’ll go back to stunt work by the time the Rumble comes around.”

“MVP, boss?”

“Sure, but most importantly get Hardy in there. Paul hasn’t dashed his hopes since the chamber, so it’s time he was put in his place again. Humiliate him on Smackdown a bit too, we can’t have two people the fans actually like doing well. We’ll punish them for hating John Cena. The basta.....”

“Err, boss, that’s all we need. What about the Raw one?”

“Batista, Kane.....do we have any more vaguely over big guys? Sid?”

“Yeah, Sid! Pick Sid! Sid! Sid!”

“Settle down Johnny, I don’t think we’ve actually signed him yet. So that’s Cena, Batista, Kane....”

“No boss, Cena’s hurt.”

“Book him to win anyway.”

“Err, we can’t, he really is hurt.”

“Oh, damn. Shove Rey in instead.”

“He’s also injured, and we’ve said that Kane has killed him.”

“No-one will know. So that’s Batista, Kane, Rey. We need one more.”

“Kofi?”

“No, he can’t even beat Santino. How about we dress Charlie up as Cena again?”

“Charlie says he’d rather kill himself.”

“I know, JBL! Bradshaw can do it.”

“Err, Sir, JBL is too old, immobile, not over and has no credibility. He can talk, but that’s it.”

“It’s either him or we put Adamle in the ring.”

“Ok, JBL it is.”

“Ok, I declare this meeting over.......”

“Wait, what about other matches.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll only promote the scrambles. Just stick Cody and Ted against the two black guys.”

“Sir, they’re called Cryme Tyme.”

“I know, dammit. I named them. I have an affinity with black people.”

“Sir, you don’t really......”

“Shut up, honky. Anyway, book those for the titles, and have Michelle face Maryse.”

“Sir, we’ve got so many great Divas now. Mickie, Beth, Jillian, Katie Lea. Candice is back and has improved. Even Kelly is starting to look plausible. Natalya is great and Victoria has credibility. Gail’s coming back, there are girls in developmental. Maria is.........actually, forget Maria. But why Michelle and Maryse?”

“Taker said so.”

“Fair enough. How about Shawn and Jericho?”

“We can’t book stuff that well. Let them sort themselves out, it’ll still be awesome. Well done guys, you just booked the Unforgiven Pay Per View.”

“Well boss, you made all the decisions, really.”

“Sure I did, but if it sucks I blame you guys. If it rules then I’m a genius. This meeting is over.”

There you go, you didn’t think you’d get a sneaky peak into the WWE booking meetings today did you?


Cryme Tyme v Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes (Tag Titles)
Should we call the champs Simply Priceless? I’m not sure. The biggest question is whether call them Tag Team champions after tonight.

I don’t see why they ought to lose the straps, since Cryme Tyme are inexplicably over even without the belts.

It depends on who is taking the other belts, really. I would think the scramble will see at least two babyface winners, and I don’t see Maryse defeating Michelle, so I’ll take Ted and Cody to retain in probably the show’s opener.

Michelle McCool w/surname v Maryse w/o surname (Oullet, by the way)
Oh, who cares?

I hate it when they suddenly get an idea that they’ll build around someone for a while, especially in the women’s division. It happened with Trish by accident, because they brought her in because she was hot, and it turned out she had personality and learned how to wrestle.

Since then, they periodically decide to do it with other divas, Candice being the obvious one, and now Michelle is getting the push as a ‘legitimate athlete’. It’s a poor choice for several reasons, because Michelle has a few decent points, but no hugely saleable ones.

She is attractive, but not the most attractive. She is athletic, but not a great wrestler. There are many better wrestling divas. She is not particularly charismatic and can’t really act.

She is (allegedly) banging The Undertaker. Go figure.

To be fair, the match she had with Natalya for the vacant title was very good, but I suspect that Natalya schooled her through it.

This will be terrible, and Michelle will win.

Next. Make it a good one


Shawn Michaels v Chris Jericho (Unsanctioned)
Now you’re talking.

This has been just so fantastic, it doesn’t really need saying. So what I’ll do is be incredibly picky and find three things wrong with the feud.

1) Shawn said to Chris, “You don’t know the meaning of the word ‘Unforgiven’” Well he wouldn’t Shawn, it is a word. Fool.

2) If they had a contract signing, how is it unsanctioned?

3) Shawn’s acting has been a little over the tops at times.

To be fair, I had to reach for that third one. This has been tremendous, with even the big eye injury and all the spilled blood not being over the top. Apart from the odd (and I do mean rare) piece of ham from HBK, it’s been special. I just prey they don’t try to go too daft with this one, if it is to be the blow off.

This time last week I would have suggested Michaels to win, since it makes sense for the babyface to get the big win to make the thing worthwhile. However, if Shawn is injured reasonably badly, then they might give the W to Jericho, and for the former Y2J to step up and face the winner of the Scramble.

To be fair, I don’t care. I’m just going to sit back, enjoy it and prey they either end one of the best angles I’ve ever seen effectively, or if they have enough about them to spin it out a little longer.

I just hope they don’t try to make it last too long and soften the effects. Part of the beauty of a great angle is not only letting it build, but knowing when to switch it off. Please, please get it right, folks.


ECW Scramble – Mark Henry (c), Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero, Finlay, The......Miz
This is the one fairly certain title switch I would think. I expect this to be the first Scramble, sent out there to get everyone to concentrate on the rules when you aren’t worried who wins.

Mark Henry, in an interview with my colleague Simon Rothstein at The Sun, said something about going 20 minutes, so either he is starting the match and let slip or he doesn’t know the rules.

Or I don’t know the rules.

Anyway, I’d think he will drop the belt, although I’d say there will be a late pin for whomever the champ will be.

Looking at the contenders, you’d say Miz is unlikely, and it wouldn’t really do anything for Chavo. I’d expect a babyface victory, so either Matt or Finlay fit the bill.

Both are quite over, but Finlay doesn’t need the belt, because the kids go nuts for little Hornswoggle, so I’d say that Matt gives the people the first scramble babyface win.

Smackdown Scramble – Triple H (c), Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Jeff Hardy, The Brian Kendrick
Can’t see Trips losing this one. I expect this to be the best scramble in terms of in-ring action, but probably the most predictable in terms of winner. I would although think Triple H will be the last introduced and dominate, with a late flurry from Jeff Hardy making it look like “The Charismatic Engima” will win.

I still haven’t seen anyone mention that that nickname is a TNA one yet.

Raw Scramble – CM Punk (c), Batista, JBL, Rey Mysterio, Kane
Kane and Rey and set for a programme after this, and I don’t see JBL being given a title run again, so it comes down to Punk and Batista.

You’d think that having hyped the Scrambles to be so treacherous for champions that more than one would change, but it may well be the old-fashioned build up of how difficult it will be for the champ only for them to overcome the odds. Punk’s MO of late has been to scrape a win, so I’d expect him to barely hold the title for most of the 20 minutes but to get a late fall.

Other thoughts
I think there could be a controversial fall in there somewhere. Perhaps two at the same time or one right on the bell, leading to either a title change tonight reversed on TV, a dusty finish title bait and switch or maybe a title being vacated for a forthcoming match.

Undertaker is supposed to be on the show. I think he will get attacked by either Edge or Randy Orton. Or both.

Playing Wrestling Nostradamus

Sitting here of a Sunday night having just watched Smackdown, I thought I’d have a little look at the WWE landscape and offer some thoughts and predictions.

I cannot believe that The Great Khali has been promoted into another main event slot. Obviously the recent publicity tour over in India by the Punjabi superstar has done good business and India appears to be a thriving WWE market. I expect that Vince and co. like the fact that the Indian press seemed to report that the people over there think that Wrestling is real. I would highly doubt that Indian WRESTLING fans think that it is real, but if the media do then WWE will try to capitalise.

If India is loving the WWE right now, why not put Khali into a position to challenge for the title? Makes sense.

However, for the rest of us, it’ll be torture. As much as I respect the Game, and as good as Paul Levesque has been for many years, Triple H matches are no longer something I eagerly anticipate. Not saying they are not satisfactory, but they don’t get you excited the way that matches involving the likes of Edge, Jericho, Michaels and Jeff Hardy do.

Triple H will surely win, and I guess it’s just something for him to do while Edge has to deal with the Undertaker. Look at it this way – Edge has been THE story of Smackdown for the past couple of months, and of the Undertaker transcends titles, so HiaC will be top billing - at least from Smackdown’s point of view. (Although, saying that, they aren’t exactly piling all their stock on Punk, so I’d think that Edge v Taker would headline the whole show)

I guess we should be relieved, because this could be an opportunity for them to put Jeff Hardy or Mr Kennedy into a top spot only to have them lose to Triple H. At least Khali getting squashed isn’t much of a loss. Hardy or Kennedy getting the shot and losing would enable the opportunity for their doubters to argue to their fans that they had a chance and blew it – that the match wasn’t important and the reaction very little.

By the way, how many times did JR and Mick call Jeff Hardy “the Charismatic Enigma” on Smackdown? Surely they haven’t ditched the Rainbow Haired Warrior epithet and nicked a TNA one.

Elsewhere amongst the bigger names on Smackdown, we are looking like heading towards Umaga v Big Show and Jeff Hardy v MVP, although whether we will see all the matches at Summerslam is unknown.

Over on Raw, it’s Punk v JBL at Summerslam, which will have precisely no-one excited. I’ve talked on the Sun website about how Punk having the belt isn’t necessarily the best thing for the Straightedge Superstar. I think Punk will beat JBL, as there as even less point in Bradshaw having the title, but I’m doubtful it will be clean.

Other matches are unclear, as Chris Jericho has laid up Shawn Michaels once again in the storyline almost unanimously considered to be the best of the year – by miles. We may see another match between these guys, but I think more likely is that they’ll let HBK sell the eye injury a bit more, and then have a blow-off down the line. Also, backing up that theory, a blow-off match is already taking place at Summerslam, between Edge and Taker. It would be wrong for Jericho and Shawn to go under the radar in that fashion.

Then there is Cena, Batista and Kane. If they do the slow burn then Cena v Batista is a possible Wrestlemania encounter. (more on that in a minute) For now, I’m not sure where they are going to go. Kane’s insanity has lost a bit of momentum, but he is still in the mix. The biggest problem with Raw right now is that although having JBL, Punk, Batista, Cena and Kane featured prominently and in each other’s business keeps them strong and promotes the belt, because that’s what they are all aiming for, you cannot get excited about many matches between them. The only match two matches I’d like to see out of that group would be Cena v Batista (but only with the right build up) and Punk v Cena.

I mentioned Mania just then – I’d suggest three contests that you could get hold of and build Wrestlemania around.

John Cena v Batista
Triple H v Undertaker
Shawn Michaels v Rey Mysterio

What do you think?

Cena and Batista are modern day Sports Entertainers, with the package of the look and character being more important that the wrestler, but while I’m not a fan of Batista and don’t go crazy over Cena (although I respect the hell of out the guy for his work rate and what he has achieved) even I’d be interested in them building this one and manipulating the fans. I’d have the belt involved, too, because without it I don’t think you’d generate the right kind of dislike between the two men.

Over on SD, I think there is enough of a roster to sustain Triple H repelling contenders and Taker having some fun as well, without them needing to meet. Edge could step up and meet The Game again somewhere down the line. It wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. I make it eight Pay Per View events before Wrestlemania. A combination of matches with Khali, Jeff Hardy, MVP, Kennedy Big Show, Umaga and Edge again would sustain Triple H and Undertaker before Mania. With perhaps the odd hint dropped between Taker and Game that their paths will cross at some point.

I can envisage Undertaker and Big Show locking horns a couple of times, certainly, and Triple H having another little episode with Jeff Hardy could help Jeff out.

Mysterio v Michaels is a match I can’t recall seeing, and one which would whet the appetite like Angle and HBK did a few years back. I think Michaels is the best in the business right now, which is amazing considering he has just turned 43 and basically retired in 1998.

I’m not as crazy about Rey Mysterio as a lot of people are, but I think the anticipation of these two locking up would be mouth-watering, and the match would likely steal the show.

Finally, the GM situation on Raw. And another Mania match I can foresee.

Apparently Shane McMahon will be on Raw this week, and I’d like to lay a marker right now that this is step two of the Mr McMahon angle.

I’m saying that Shane will address the rising chaos on Raw. Citing the example that for months before Mr McMahon’s accident things were ok, needing to install an experienced hand and not having time himself, he will re-appoint William Regal as General Manager of Raw.

Regal will go back to his character pre-Suspension, although perhaps not to the extent of the frequent lights-out jobs. Order will be restored of a fashion, and things will pan out very slowly but leading to...........

Regal being revealed as the man behind the attack on Mr McMahon. Regal would know the setup of Raw, he would know the stagehands etc, so he would be able to engineer the attack (I know WWE doesn’t always worry about legitimate set-ups, but at least I can offer background). The motive would be that Mr McMahon sorted out the firing, and that Regal wanted his job back and showing it was chaos without him proved he was needed.

Vince tries to fire Regal, but Regal produces a contract he signed when Shane re-hired him which says he is guaranteed a contract for a certain amount of time. In the end, they go head-to-head at Mania for control of Monday Night Raw.

Vince McMahon v William Regal at Wrestlemania 25. You heard it, on July 27th 2008, here first.

Judgment Day........well, Judgements

01.00am
Welcome to your Judgment Day, folks. That’s my Judgment that the word Judgment should have an extra “e” in it, and that this PPV looks shit.

01.02
We’re about to go live for the show, and for a fun fact, I just put the correct channel on my TV (it’s on Sky Box Office here in England) and the film showing on the channel next door is “The Heartbreak Kid”. That means nothing, of course, but I thought I’d bring it to you. You can tell how excited I am about this show, can’t you.

By the way, I watched TNA’s last PPV today, and quite liked it. I’ll try to review them in future, but we don’t get them live over here.

01.06
Oh joy, JBL v Cena to kick off. To be fair to Cena, his crowd reaction was immense it seemed, and mostly positive too.

01.09
Three minutes in, we have a wrench of Cena’s arm, by JBL, on the ropes. Another PPV of relentless working a body part?

01.13
I think Cena may be hurt. However, I though HBK was hurt last time, so you probably shouldn’t listen to me. They definitely botched a spot, though, as Cena tried to lift JBL in powerbomb-esque fashion, and failed. They’ll make it out to be a symptom of Cena’s arm hurting, but they didn’t mean it.

Meanwhile, the match is terrible, and an injury wouldn’t worsen what is already snooze-worthy .Cena jerking the curtain is so bizarre.

01.16
Actually, I shouldn’t be so down on them missing spots. AJ Styles is a genius whose work might just be my favourite of anyone’s right now, and he made two howlers at Sacrifice. Everyoone Mokes mastikes II suppooose.

01.18
JBL needs to pick the match. He needs to convince me, and everyone else, that he is worthy of watching, and to do this he.............steals the signature move of Chris Masters. Wow, go John, go John.

*Picks up phone

“Hello? Yes, I’d like to order 17,000 boxes of Mamajuana please..........”

Yes, I am being sarcastic.

01.22
Cena wins after...........16 minutes? Did I time that right? They gave it 16 minutes? OK, to be fair, the pace got the fans into it, and they popped a couple of times for Cena nearly making a comeback, and then for the quick finish. However, it may have heat for the opening match.

01.26
The ECW show is so important that the recap of the feud shows features from WWE.com with really, REALLY, lame impersonations of Kane and Punk by Miz and Morrison. E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub! Extreme..........ly boring.

01.32
We’re ready for the match, and to be fair, it probably won’t be that bad. I wonder if Punk is being deliberately lost in a tag match to make the fact that he could cash in his briefcase later less likely?

Sorry to keep going back to TNA, but when Borash did the announcement of the title match between Jo, Kaz and Steiner, it felt appropriate. Tony Chimel (or whoever it was – I was looking down typing while he spoke) announcing the WWE Tag Team Championships, which no-one gives a damn about, takes away the shine from doing the announcements that way in the big ones.

01.33
Kane pulls out an old submission hold he used as Isaac Yankem which resembles pulling teeth. Not to be confused with watching a JBL match – which is preferable to pulling teeth.

(Cheap plug – check out a future issue of Fighting Spirit magazine, which will feature an article about Glen Jacobs by yours truly. But I don’t need to plug, because you always by that magazine........don’t you? If you don’t, you should)


01.40
Morrison pins Punk to retain the titles in a ok bout which never grabbed me in a meaningful way. No disagreement between Kane and Punk, no shenanigans for the champs to retain. While I enjoyed the match itself, to an extent, matches like these opening two kill me on PPVs. What’s the point? There is very little build-up, there is no real reason for fans to care. It doesn’t warrant PPV inclusion. The next one, however, does.

01.45
Right, don’t overbook this for goodness sakes. Jericho and Michaels are both great in the ring, and have built this up well. I don’t mind a shoddy finish, because this is clearly going to carry on, and there is a PPV in a few weeks. I’m guessing we may see Batista here, making it lead to a Triple Threat next time.

I’m just keen that they let this one roll, and don’t go stupid with an injury spot leading to more “is he hurt?” nonsense. Just have a match, it’ll probably be good if you give it 15 or so, let each man get a near-fall, and if you don’t want to make it a clean finish, let Batista come in a demolish Michaels. When Jericho shows dissent at the interference, Big Dave bashes him too.

As a quick, late prediction, if it goes clean Michaels will win, because otherwise, why not put the IC title on the line?

02.05
Lots of points to make – firstly that my signal wasn’t perfect during this match, which is really annoying because it was perfect during the opening two contests.

Next, I really love Michaels ‘inverted figure-4’ move, but using it early, having Y2J escape reasonably easy and Jericho not really sell the leg didn’t help.

Next, the biggest thing that has ruined this otherwise excellent programme is that they cannot get the knee problem right. From the match with Batista, to his limping on Raw, Michaels has sold the left knee. At the start of this match, Jericho tried (in vain) to attack Shawn’s left knee. However, from the very first replay the night after the Backlash Pay Per View, JR and King have called the injury as being to HBK’s RIGHT knee. It is very, very poor inconsistency.

The crowd were not into this. I quite the like the intrigue of their characters of late, but although the people bought into a couple of holds and false finishes (notably the Lion tamer), they didn’t have an overwhelming favourite. I sensed plenty of Y2J support, but not to huge degrees.

I loved the idea of Jericho feigning injury to avoid a superkick, but if he knew what he was doing when he hit the codebreaker, why didn’t he follow up. HBK should have rolled to the outside if he was not going to be counted down.

I cannot stand seeing the crossface again and again. It is so unnecessary. Jericho sold it amazingly though.

That’s all me being picky – great match. Perfect emotions from each man, great technique in terms of execution of moves, and some very innovative spots to help the storytelling. I really liked the post-match stuff too. Furthered characters just that little bit more.

I’d prefer to put Jericho over here, because beating Shawn would help him greatly and wouldn’t really hurt Shawn, because of HBK’s lofty position and the fact that the match was a belter and evenly matched.

Loved it. Really loved it. Think how good it could have been with a couple of small flaws ironed out.


02.08
Quick interview with Todd with Mickie (bad hair day for the lass James, by the way) briefly mentioning her going out with Cena, but interruption comes from JBL.

JBL intimates Grisham, and sells himself really well as a bully, as a bad-ass, and as a legitimately mean guy. It would be believable if he ever won a match. He defends his match against Cena by saying that he beat Cena down for 20 minutes. Firstly, it was 16, with a lot of stalling, and second, JBL’s entire title reign was based on him squeezing out technical victories when he looked beaten. Great intensity, weak logic.

02.13
The ladies are on their way out for a triple threat between Beth, Mickie and Melina for the Women’s title, and I apologise for wrongly stating this was a singles match in my (admittedly late) predictions piece.

Recap is shown of Melina and Beth fighting backstage last week on Raw. I love the fact that, when so annoyed by someone that she felt the need to throw a......forearm. Because legal blows are necessary in a backstage brawl.

02.21
Hey, what do you know? It was short, but for what it was, it was very good indeed. Some fast-pacing, some neat spots and a great performance by Melina, who wrestled possibly the best match I’ve seen her have.

Bit of a weak finish, and the WWE has a long way to go in signing some legitimately talented females stars and build them characters, but as matches to rival the knockouts, this was better than the convoluted ‘makeover’ match at Sacrifice.

02.22
Batista confronts Shawn in the locker room, telling him that he’ll hurt him soon. Fair enough, but HBK should not be placed in close-up shots. Man, he is balding alarmingly.

02.25
Recap of the Edge/Taker recent programme on Smackdown – including Vickie being unable to deliver a decent promo or correctly say the word ‘larynx’.

02.54
Hmm.

As you may know, I am not a big Undertaker fan. Most of this match was typical Taker ‘blah’, but I’ll give them credit for a decent section as the end approached, with some credible near-fall action and with it actually making Edge look strong.

The finish itself I’ll let go as it is obviously a storyline point, and there was no point to them putting it back on Taker after stripping him of it, and always unlikely that Edge would win it clean. My God the segment with Vickie doing her speech was dreadful. Whether she took too long to build the tension and heat, or merely got the jitters and forgot her lines. There was a great deal of dragging of feet in the aftermath of this, considering the ladies’ match looked promising but was cut very short.

02.58
MVP is out bemoaning him being left off the card and his challenge for someone to come out and meet him is met by............Matt Hardy. What a surprise. But wait, it’s his brother that will challenge MVP.

I’m torn about stuff like this. I suppose if a match is good then I welcome it, but I hate having a Pay Per View match with no build up to it.

TNA throw a lot of stuff against a wall and hope it sticks, but when you think about MVP, Hardy (x2) Kennedy, Umaga, Finlay, Shelton, Chavo, Burke and Kennedy all standing out as good wrestlers with reasonable standing not booked on the card, as well as big names like Big Show and Batista and other talents like Carlito, Kingston and Wang Yang that can go, but are under-utilised.

I understand that spot fests like Money in the Bank are better if used sparingly, and that the “Terrordome” could have been much better, but having Miz and Morrison defend in a tepid 10 minuter and not using any of the aforementioned stars seems lopsided. Surely something could have been worked in for a bunch of these guys.

03.12
Hmm, once again.

A decent contest, with the booking key to be to push Jeff Hardy upon his return, and to have his “Whisper in the Wind” corkscrew moonsault to look like a credible finisher.

I’m annoyed that it took MVP to have to job again to push Jeff a bit, but I’d say that losing to Jeff won’t hurt him too much, as if and when he gets a big push, it will largely start from scratch (MVP, I’m talking about)

I do feel, though, that certain people never, ever lose cleanly when doing so could promote others in a major way. I’ll give Triple H a lot of credit for, at certain times, putting over Cena, Batista Jeff Hardy at vital times.

Michaels and Undertaker, though, could stand to drop a match or two. Yes, HBK lost to Cena and Taker to Batista, but both men got victories back at some point. Don’t forget, HBK and Taker are huge stars. It really wouldn’t kill them to put someone over from time to time.

I’m not necessarily blaming them I don’t know who books what, with whose influence and with which plan in mind. I just know that Jericho, Punk, Kennedy and MVP lose far too often, stopping their upward mobility, while Michaels and the Deadman always go over even though others would often benefit, even short term.

03.20
Orton is in the ring to some new music, which is typically generic and doesn’t really apply to him at all – what I can make out of it. It seems to be along the lines of “I hear voices” which he doesn’t. If he did, he could have blamed ‘the voices’ for him trashing hotel rooms, defecating in bags, breaching wellness policies............allegedly.

03.25
Announcements done, and we are underway. By the way, my satellite signal is struggling badly, so I may not be able to absorb the full nature of this match.

I really didn’t get a full view of this match so I cannot really comment on the nature of it, really. I have no idea if many of you had similar problems.

All I’ll comment on is the outcome, which was reasonably predictable. I’m not complaining. I liked that it was clean, and things have to move on. Although people will moan about Triple H’s standing in the company, he is a solid hand and is very, very over. Orton has had a great run in the last 12 months or so, and it is time to freshen it.

Triple H v John Cena seems to be the likely progression of the title picture for the summer, while hopefully the likes of Jeff Hardy and Ken Kennedy (behaviour permitting) can be placed as developing stars, getting to the status that Jeff did at the Royal Rumble, and maybe even giving them a run. None of them are ready for that right now, though, so a Triple H title run is not the worst thing in the world.

Oh, and my TV picture quality returned in time to see Triple H celebrating. Why didn’t it screw up with the first two matches? Oh well.

A half-decent PPV. I won’t cry if I never see it again, but a pleasant memory will be there with Jericho and Michaels putting on another terrific match, and some nice bits of progression with the Women’s division and several logical match finishes.

God knows how you build to another PPV in two weeks, though.

Backlash preview

I’m running a little low on time today, and I apologise for the lack of updates on the blog, but I promise you that things will change this week. This is the Backlash predictions blog, but coming up within seconds (literally) of the end of the PPV you’ll have my ‘as live’ thoughts.

Also, at the start of the coming week I’ll be posting my diary from attending the UK tour for WWE and some thoughts on the difference between Raw and Smackdown that I noticed from attending the two shows in London.

Onto Backlash, and a Pay Per View which is one of the hardest to market in the whole year because everything builds up to Wrestlemania, so this show either becomes a breeding ground for new programmes, a continuation of Mania ones, and, most often, an amalgam of both.

Looking at the match list it would be easy to say that the show isn’t necessarily destined for big things, but WWE have produced three good to excellent Pay Per Views so far in 2008, so it isn’t beyond comprehension that this one could come off well.

Match by match, let’s take a look at the card.........

12 Divas Tag Match – Mickie, Maria, Ashley, Kelly Kelly, Cherry and Michelle v Beth, Victoria, Layla, Natalya, Jillian and Melina.

I’d expect this to have it’s normal slot right in between the two title matches, and the penultimate spot on the card.

I’ve read reports that Beth may be ready to have a feud with Michelle McCool, which sounds distinctly strange to me, especially since a) they are on different brands; b) Beth is no longer champion and c) well, Michelle isn’t very good.

I know it’s the typical comparison point, but when you see the TNA Knockout’s division doing such good business and putting on decent matches , you’d say that WWE’s equivalent is way behind. I fail to see why they couldn’t have given Mickie a few weeks more of chasing Beth and to have beaten her for the title here.

This won’t be much other than a great chance for the likes of Ashley and Kelly Kelly to show that they truly are abysmal in the ring, and it will likely be left to Mickie to get beaten down for a few minutes by the heels, who bar Layla can all work.

I would suspect that the winning victorious team will likely be there to further the storyline, and so for that reason, I’ll take Beth beating McCool, and believe the rumours.

Prediction: Beth Phoenix’s team to win.
I would Book: Does it matter? I’d perhaps give Natalya the match to establish her a little more.
And another thing.....Isn’t the heel team so much hotter than the babyfaces (as much as a love Mickie and Maria)


Big Show v Great Khali

Hmm. Ain’t gonna be a classic, folks, and I would suggest they’ll have half a brain and let it go short. I don’t see them having Show come back for a (losing) match with Mayweather at Mania and then to go down to Khali. Big Show isn’t my favourite wrestler, but his work rate is a million times better than the big Ox he has to face, so I have to say Show here.

Prediction: Big Show to win a short, painless one.
I would book: The same, pretty much.
And another thing.....Umaga isn’t booked on this PPV – a post match attack on Big Show could be on the cards for a Show v Umaga.


ECW Title: Chavo Guerrero v Kane

The shortest match at Wrestlemania took place between these two, showing us all just how highly regarded the ECW brand really is.

This programme has continued subsequently, but I truly believe the only reason it has done is to simply lend a different perspective to Undertaker v Edge. It is hard to see anyone on ECW really, genuinely, having a go at the title except for Elijah Burke and Shelton Benjamin, unless they push the boat out and give Kofi Kingston a shot, so unless they the Jamaican gets a quick opportunity at a belt, it’s likely to be a heel.

And since I think Burke or Benjamin will step up for title attempts, I have to go with Kane here.

Prediction: The Big Red Machine to retain.
I would Book: Hmmm. I would have had to have started earlier, but I’d have looked at a babyface Shelton to face Chavo. ECW isn’t drawing, so make it the home for Cruiserweights and so forth.
And another thing..........If CM Punk cashes in his briefcase on ECW, I will cry.


United States Title: MVP v Matt Hardy

This isn’t done. I think that these guys have had such a storied feud that a straightforward match should not end the programme. I see a potential match of the night candidate in this one, but I wouldn’t foresee a clean finish.

I’m going to suggest that MVP will retain his belt, possibly by virtue of getting himself disqualified, but more likely getting a 3-count by virtue of having feet on ropes or something similar. My theory is that another match, with a stipulation, finishes off the feud at Judgement Day.

Prediction: MVP to win in a very heel-like way.
I would book: The same outcome, but I’d have Matt pick up a visual fall during the match, and go on to book a best two-out-of-three falls match for the next PPV.
And another thing.........Jeff Hardy is due back from suspension on May 10, just over a week before Judgment Day – could he get involved in a feud-ender between these two?


World Heavyweight Title (Smackdown) Undertaker v Edge

I’m really switched off to this feud, to be honest. I love Edge, and I respect what Taker has achieved, but I was very underwhelmed by their Wrestlemania match, and see very little value in a rematch if Edge is not going to win the title.

Which, of course, he won’t. The shout was that Undertaker was to be given a long-term title reign last summer, but of course he got injured, so this has been switched to 2008. My opinion is that Taker is big enough that he doesn’t really need the title, and that Edge is seriously under-booked as a genuine wrestler.

The beauty of Triple H being a strong heel champion, especially going back to 2000 or so, was that he was good in ring (just like Edge), he was a total prick on the microphone (just like Edge – and that’s a compliment by the way) and he was booked as a seriously good wrestler who you legitimately believed could win titles alone (.........)

I don’t think that anyone can believe that Edge can legitimately beat the Undertaker, and I don’t see why, just because he is a heel, Edge can’t be pushed to the same degree. I understand that the heels are supposed to be hated, and quick heat can be received by virtue of having lackeys helping you and a crooked authority figure on your side. However, I don’t see why he can’t look good at the same time.

That’s a tangent. For tonight, I’d suggest that we’ll likely see similar events as at Mania. I’d expect to see Hawkins and Ryder, I’d expect to see Vickie, but I’d expect to see Undertaker prevail.

Prediction: Yawn, Taker wins in his standard type of match.
I would book: Edge to win, to win in an absolute “knock-down drag-out” (as Bret would say)and to win with a move like a small package or something, so that Taker just got caught out by “the ultimate opportunist”.
And another thing...........I don’t see many challengers for the title stepping up after this one. (hmm, Maybe Big Show) As a bit of a wildcard, what if Chavo helped out Edge, but Kane assists his brother? You could even throw in a tag title switch, and then do one of those matches where whoever pins who gets their belt, like when Yokozuna and Owen hart took on HBK and Nash way back in the day.


Shawn Michaels v Batista. Special guest referee – Chris Jericho.

I’ve left this one late because I think it’s been built up better than anything else on the card. Plenty of people I speak to don’t like the addition of Jericho as a special ref, but I love a tease of heel turns and so forth, so seeing all three men act like they could turn heel intrigues me.

I don’t see Jericho being a ref for no reason, so he has to get involved. I would seriously doubt that Batista will be thrust into the Smackdown title scene again after having two consecutive matches with Taker in recent weeks, so I’d suggest that this one could drag on past this PPV. I’d suggest that there is even a possibility that a triple threat for Y2J’s Intercontinental title could be on the horizon.

This goes one of two ways. Jericho tries to screw one and screws the other, which means both men are gunning for a (probably heel) Chris Jericho. The other way is that Jericho (maybe in conjunction with the other) screws one man, beginning a Jericho v “screwed guy” feud.

Following up the second theory is that it would require a double heel turn from Jericho and one other, which would likely be Batista. This is less likely, because although it could be revealed that this is the reason that Jericho is involved and that Batista enlisted him to help take out Shawn, it isn’t likely and also Y2J has been beaten down by both men.

Prediction: Y2J gets knocked down accidentally by Michaels, and when he attempts retaliation, he lays out Batista. He then is forced to count Big Dave out. This means that both Batista and HBK have a reason for hating Y2J. This idea isn’t watertight, but it’s the best I can do.
I would book: a way of getting Jericho to turn on Shawn. These two should be able to put on some great bouts, and I’d welcome a back story of how HBK beat Jericho at Mania.
And another thing........It will be interesting to see, if they continue the programme between all three men, if Ric Flair’s name will be continually used, or whether they try to move away from this.


Fatal Fourway Elimination Match for the WWE title: Randy Orton v Triple H v John Cena v John “Bradshaw” Layfield

I have two theories once again, but the problem here is the opposite of the match above.

For HBK/Batista, both theories I have both have deep flaws. For this match both ideas seem really plausible to me. I can’t decide which one is most likely.

See what you think – firstly, I’ll say to you that Randy Orton is a heel champion. He would be very likely to pick up the win in a multiple man match on a fluke, or at least a piece of capitalisation, just like he did at Wrestlemania. But one key aspect lends itself to a title change. The Fatal Fourway stip has now been changed to an Elimination format. This means that the element of surprise and capitalisation has been taken away for Orton, and that you have a bigger likelihood of a legitimate, babyface title change.

This could mean that either Cena or Triple H is left with Orton to claim the strap off of him, or even that they team up briefly to oust the other two and then it’s down to them.

BUT............

Orton could retain. If the belt was going to change from Orton to Cena, or from Orton to Triple H, then they could just do it in a singles match. They want Orton to keep the belt and have a long title reign, and Triple H and Cena are hurt less by losing multiple matches, and the credibility of the belt is kept high by virtue of their being clean finishes and not DQs and run-ins, which there would be if Orton retained in a singles bout.

And Orton can win this match without hurting the two babyfaces. Let’s see JBL beaten first, and let’s have Orton hide out most of the time that Triple H and Cena beat the hell out of each other. When one finally drops the other, with both men almost flat out, Orton hits an RKO out of nowhere. Still champ.

I have noticed that the RKO has been increasingly built as a devastating finisher, so I’d say there is a fair chance that could be used when one man is distracted.

It has to be one of those two theories, and both seem to have solid cases. I’m going to plump for Orton retaining, for the sheer fact that I like the build to that ending more, and that I can’t see Orton dropping the strap in a match which isn’t one-one-one.

Prediction: Orton to retain
I would book: Probably Triple H to take it. I think he is at the height of his popularity, and I can see a heel turn not far away. Therefore, give the fans what they want with The Game now, before the chance is lost.
And another thing...........William Regal is not booked to be doing anything, and he just won the King of the Ring and he is GM, he could yet impose himself somewhere........you don’t think......?

Some other things about Backlash to consider:

• Mike Adamle is making his PPV announcing debut – I hope RD and Blade at Wrestlecrap are recording the show.
• Mick Foley is rumoured to be replacing Coach. Should be interesting. Coach to go back to Raw as GM with Regal becoming a full-time wrestler?
• No Santino and Carlito? I thought the tag titles would be defended by Rhodes and Holly on this show against Morella and......erm, Caribbean Cool. Hopefully we will still see (or rather hear) Santino in some capacity.
• No Hornswoggle? Too much to ask?

Enjoy the show, guys!