Road to Blandness - Wrestlemania 31 Predictions & Raw Thoughts

So here we are, finally Wrestlemania is here and it's time to get excited...? I would, but I have a hard time doing just that. When it comes to the event, for the first time in a long time, I really don't know who will win in any of the matches and that's not a good thing. But wait, you'd ask, Joe... Isn't this what you've been bitching and moaning and whining and crying and ranting about for the past 5 years or so in different outlets? For wrestling to not be so predictable? And you'd be right, I have been talking a lot about that, but it's not that simple as you think.

You could have Vincent Kennedy McMahon come out to the ring, take his pants off and dip his penis in cow urine for an hour while humming the "Four Seasons". Would you expect that? No, no you wouldn't expect that to happen. I'm sure there would be some people that would find that entertaining, but most of us would not. Just because something is unexpected and unpredictable, does not mean it's good and doesn't really mean that anything of quality can come from it.
Wrestling is a very specific form of art, it needs the heroes, it needs antagonists, it needs to have people that the crowd can get behind and cheer, there is a need for favorites. And that is the problem right there, the story build ups for the line up sucked balls. You need to give people a clear hero of the story and a clear villain, a probable winner and a most likely loser, that is how wrestling works since the very beginning. People need that to care about what is going on, if they don't have a favorite to win, they won't get invested in the story and won't care about the match. And I am not talking about a clear jobber fighting a monster-beast. You achieve that through logic and intelligent storytelling. You need to think what impact certain things will have on the progression of your characters and at the end of the day, you need to make people care one way or the other. That is where the builds failed badly this year. None of the match-ups produced what I am talking about here, what's worse, none were even build to make someone look strong.

Everyone is so anal about Roman Reigns being booked to look strong, but seriously look what did they do to him. While he won the Rumble, but the ring was cleared mostly by Kane and Big Show and in the end even the Rock was helping him. He lost matches on RAW, he got beat up a couple times and while there were a few times when he got the upper hand, there was never really a moment when he was booked to "look strong", cause "just" winning matches doesn't do that. Brock Lesnar on the other hand has been booked way too strong, maybe rightfully so, but when you write a character to be basically indestructible, you create a problem, a huge problem for the future. Who is going to beat the monster-beast that chewed through everyone along it's path? Starting to get it? In wrestling there are only two types of characters that could do it and it would be done the right way. Someone equal or the ultimate underdog, problem is Roman Reigns is neither. He isn't even that big of a guy honestly and yet, he is still booked as the powerhouse, here's a hint, he's not. There was a few way to book Roman the right way and WWE went the way of doing it wrong. I'm not a hater, Roman could be great in the position he currently is, but not as the character he currently portraits. That being said, with the news of Lesnar staying with WWE, anything could happen in this match, with this match and after this match.

The match internet fans seem to be most excited for is the ladder match for the Intercontinental championship. Why? Because it has in it the biggest amount of internet darlings in wrestling world today. But the build for this one was just plain stupid. I am not going to go into details about that after Fast Lane there is no room in this for Dean Ambrose, who lost the first match for the title, therefore doesn't even deserve a rematch for it - that already is up in my review from that event. Like I already wrote before, the story here was utterly garbage and just pointless. For weeks we had Wade Barrett lose matches with current participants and for weeks we had the Intercontinental title being stolen and being passed out like in a game of hot potato. That was dumb. Apparently, because everyone wasted Barrett ass, they gained the status of number one contenders to the title. After that the belt itself was just a marker for the crowd, "oh, he holds the title, he is in the match". Why it was dumb? Because it didn't change anything. At the end of the day you could give the belt to a million people in a row and still the champion will be Wade Barrett. It's not like a few years ago with the Hardcore Championship, where there was a 24/7 rule, and the champion was constantly defending the title. No, here only the hands holding the strap changed, which ultimately still belonged to Barrett. Quality-wise, this match most likely will be the match of the night, simply because there will be enough people to provide a good amount of fast paced action, but it feels rushed and sloppily slapped together.

Something a lot of fans was waiting for, including myself, was the debut of Sting. He was one of my top five in the '90s and his "Crow" character to this day is my favorite gimmick of all time. I can only speak for myself, I was excited to finally see Sting in WWE. And then reality started to kick me in the testicles, crushing one dream after another, giving back the regular mush that is known as the "WWE treatment". Everyone wanted to see Undertaker face Sting, even if they wouldn't be fighting each other, even if it would only mean that they will stand in the ring, one time, first time for the last time. We will not get that, instead the egomaniac himself, Big Nose Triple H had to make it once again, all about himself. For weeks we had Triple H come out and talk how he destroyed WCW, how Sting was afraid to come to WWE due to HHH being there. He made it all about himself and about WCW vs. WWE. That was the worst way to push this story. Instead of focusing on what Sting did since appearing at Survivor Series, they made it about the past, 14 years back to the past. And now, we are to believe and get excited about a match that doesn't have any bearing on the present whatsoever. The could make it a power struggle, they could make it as Sting vs. Authority and even push it through till Summerslam, they could make Sting the General Manager of RAW, they could make Sting a guardian for a young star that fights against Authority, they could have done so many things differently and so much better with Sting... But no, the aging, egocentrical asshole that only got to where he is, because he fucked the boss's daughter gets the spotlight once again, from fear of getting irrelevant, again. This match is only about what Triple H did to WCW and Sting is - as he said - taking HHH down. Bull. Shit.

Can someone tell me why is WWE ruining everything good they have and making it as mediocre as possible? I already ranted about the Rusev-Cena situation, so I won't go into that too deeply again. This could've been a very good build to most likely a decent match. There was a chance for Rusev to finally move on to bigger, better things with the feud involving John Cena. It didn't start as some guy coming to the rescue of USA and we actually saw the human side of Cena as well, with his age and credo being questioned as he was put in a situation where his being even on Wrestlemania wasn't certain. There was actual potential. And then someone decided to pull the plug and to run the back up "USA vs. Russia" usual menu. The resolve for the uncertainty was solved in two weeks and the focus switched entirely to the great, american hero fighting against the big, bad russian. There is just nothing more I could add. They had an unpolished gem that needed some work and instead they decided to play around with turds.

Going down the card, you could maybe notice that I almost always skipped over Bray Wyatt segments. No it's not because I didn't notice them. It's because there wasn't exactly too much to say about them. Bray Wyatt, with the absence of the Undertaker, had to carry the whole feud for weeks and he did a good job doing so. Problem is, we didn't see the Undertaker even once the whole time. Which means that however he looks like and in whatever shape he currently is, we are going to have to make out our minds about it when we see it. I didn't exactly see anything wrong on Bray's part, just when his opponent was nowhere to be seen, he couldn't exactly build upon him, react to him, so the promos were kind of the same, the Bray Wyatt-ish mumbo-jumbo as always. If this is the last match for the Undertaker, which is entirely possible, I really don't have any feelings about it, one way or the other.

Randy vs. Seth, another one with the potential for a slow build and great payoff, again, wasted for the immediate gratification and polarization. Randy Orton should have slowly shown signs that he doesn't want to be in Authority, get angry at people messing him up and eventually explode at everyone. But not after a week or in one episode, but gradually. And what was the point of the beat down all around the arena? That is something you save to blow off a feud, that is what you do when you want a heel to get over at the start of an angle or a face to end one. Both Randy and Seth are good in-ring performers and we could get a very nice match. The problem is that there is no point really. They won't top the beat down Seth got and they won't erase the fact Orton already made Rollins his bitch. Plus with Seth being the poster boy of Authority, we all know this is not going to be a clean match, which for me personally, sucks on a whole different level.

So them tag teams, ain't a whole lot of them, aren't there? Yeah... I don't want to dwell on either tag team match nor the Diva match, because it makes me sad. The tag match will be a 4 tag team match for the championship and that is almost all the active tag teams in WWE, currently. With the Divas championship match it's going to be the another variation of Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee/Paige, AGAIN. I really enjoy tag team wrestling and women wrestling, it can be done so truly great, just... not in WWE. The tag match while entertaining won't really matter, cause every team involved will get a shot sooner than later - due to the limited amount of possible contenders and the Diva match regardless of the result will still mean we will get a Nikki Bella vs. AJ/Paige for the title later. It's so hard to really care, it honestly makes me sad to think about it.

And lastly the battle Royal with everyone we couldn't fit in the main card or the ladder match, because on Wrestlemania everyone gets a paycheck. I have bad memories after the Battle Royal last year, when we had Cesaro win it, get over, and then crash and burn. I certainly don't want that to repeat.


Like I wrote above, I really don't have a clear "in my mind this guy is winning/losing" candidates. For every question "who?" and "why?" I could give an answer opposite to the one given here and still believe in what I'd say.

Predictions: 

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
Winner: Roman Reigns
Why? Because WWE needs to create new main eventers for the long haul and they have to start somewhere. Plus Rollins cashing in on Roman - regardless if it's going to work or not - is a better choice than doing that on Lesnar. And let's face it, Roman needs this more than Brock.

United States Championship: Rusev vs. John Cena
Winner: John Cena
Why? Everyone has to lose someday and Rusev is not an exception. If he doesn't lose this, there is no one else to face at his level. He needs to lose this belt to move up to the main event. And what better place to do it if not at Wrestlemania? If Rusev won't lose this, he will be stuck in mid card, that he already grown out of for a long time. Plus this gives both men something to do on the next PPV with a rematch for Rusev.

Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan vs. R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Stardust vs. Luke Harper
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Why? He is the most popular guy here and with the way WWE antagonized it's fans due to Bryan's booking, they have to give them something back. Plus Daniel has a DVD coming out, so why not use that as a marketing tool.

WWE Tag Team Championships: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. Los Matadores vs. The New Day vs. The Usos
Winners: Kidd & Cesaro
Why? Because it doesn't matter. There are 4-6 tag teams in main roster WWE, depending on how you look at it. And every one of them is going to get their shot, eventually.

Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Why? Because it's most likely the last match for the Undertaker and in wrestling it's a common thing for the retiring wrestler to lose his last match thus putting over the guy beating him. And honestly, that isn't the match people will remember Undertaker for.

Sting vs. Triple H
Winner: Sting
Why? Because WWE wants to have Sting in their Hall of Fame, and they can't since Sting never worked for them. Plus Sting in the past was very protective of his character, so I doubt he would come to WWE only to lose.

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
Winner: Randy Orton
Why? Because Rollins will get DQ'ed. Not much else to say here really. This story was empty, they didn't have time to set it up and they wasted the time they had.

Bella Twins vs. Aj Lee & Paige
Winners: Aj Lee & Paige
Why? Because like with tag teams, it doesn't matter. We have literally a few active women performers in WWE so no matter who wins this, it doesn't change a thing.

Battle Royal for the "André the Giant Memorial" Trophy
Winner: Damien Sandow
Why? Because give credit where credit is due, he's put up with a huge load of crap in the last year. He should win this, because he deserves to win this.

Fast Lane 2015 - Predictions (and a few things around it)

Damn it does feel like I haven't written anything in a long time and looking at the date of my last post it certainly does look like it. I blame this and at the same time time thank for this to real life. To those of you that don't know, there has been a few things developing in my life I do enjoy and well, that's not an issue for now.

But as with the break came a few things I haven't said a word about, it does feel like there is a need to address them and maybe give a bit of an explanation as to why. While I do know that I am a part of the so called IWC, I don't like to consider myself as one of them and for a good reason. Most of them seem to be just whiny, bratty, self absorbed, instant gratification type of people that don't have any idea of how the wrestling world actually works and would kill any company given the opportunity of actually running one. That doesn't, of course, take away their constant attempts at undermining everything that isn't exactly the way they want. I am not like that. I used to be like that a while ago, but I evolved and learned to appreciate the good, understand the confusing and hate the bad decisions that often are being made.

With that said, you can probably guess I want to say a word or two about the position Roman Reigns has found himself in. He became the company favorite, which is a terrible spot to be, at least with the current fan base. Do I like the decision to put him in the main event spot? Yes, yes I do. But I do not agree with the method this was achieved. Roman Reigns has great potential and properly managed can be a huge asset in the future, especially with the older generation slowly running out of steam. I do not, however, agree with those saying his push was triggered too early, as well. The push he is currently getting is exactly at the point where it should be, the real problem is with the way people in charge see it happening and the backlash for the results of Royal Rumble show it perfectly.

Coming out of the Royal Rumble Roman could have gained a lot with smarter booking, but with the way everything played out he got out of it harmed, but that was not his fault. If the rest of the match was written better, the result might still stir a lot of minds, but the backlash would subside much faster. By eliminating fan favorites (especially Bryan, Wyatt, Ambrose, Ziggler) like pieces of trash, WWE shot Reigns in the knee themselves. If the whole match the fan favorites had good showings and the final two came down to Bryan and Roman and after a solid performance (which I do believe RR is capable of) from both and some Authority interference, Reigns still won, the fans, while still possibly angry, wouldn't care as much. It would give the reason for putting Brian into the match at Fast Lane as well. Right now we are at a situation where a completely innocent in this Reigns has to pay for management incompetence by having to fight a clear fan favorite. Worse thing is he is supposedly bound to win this match, which will not win anyone over to his camp.

And Daniel Bryan? Why did he even get the shot at the shot at the title? He was eliminated halfway through, he wasn't the most impressive guy in the Rumble (that title goes to Bray Wyatt), there is absolutely no reason to have him in the match except for one thing. WWE is a very reactionary company. They know they fucked up and they are trying to cover up their fuck up by giving Daniel a match at Fast Lane. And as it usually goes in wrestling, everything is a chain of interlinked events. By giving someone a spot you have to deal with consequences. In the upcoming battle Roman is clearly going to be the bad guy, which at least for now, would be better to be embraced by the WWE, cause there is no way they could turn it around. If they will try to make Reigns the good guy by all means, it will end bad even worse, cause they could hurt both of them. Bryan is very over as a face and trying to downplay it will hurt him more then it will help Roman in the long run. But hey, what do I know, right?

And before I get down to predictions, I will throw out a few questions out there, just because... What is the point of Seth Rollins? What did WWE expect by bringing up Ascension from NXT without having actual opponents for them? What was the point of Ziggler's win at SurSer in the light of current events? Why are they killing two tag teams when they badly need at least five more?

As of writing this it is: Tuesday, February 17 2015, 15:24 GMT+1. I have watched RAW and the predictions will be based and in order of the Wikipedia article about the PPV which currently holds five matches, no doubt it is not the final card. Not sure where and how the Sting/HHH confrontation will play out and Wyatt has to appear somewhere as well.

John Cena vs. Rusev - For the United Stated Championship

Prediction: John Cena via DQ

Side Notes: I like this for some reason. I know I was very critical of Rusev matches, but this time, this one has something in it I like. Maybe it is the fact it is not about Russia vs. USA, as I hated that Rocky 4 constant crap. Maybe it is the fact that this time it is not just a throw away contender, it is a true main eventer and a future hall of famer fighting against Rusev. Maybe it is the fact that finally the US title is getting a contender that isn't from the middle of the food chain, and that raises the stakes for this match. I don't know, maybe it is a little of everything. Whatever the reason is I am very ok with the way this is being built, that it is more about Cena being a washed up has-been rather then just another "stupid american". When it comes to the result, I am not certain of my prediction, as I see two options. Either - like I stated above - Cena will win by a DQ (or a count out or whatever will be needed so the match won't have a definite ending) so they can build their feud for Wrestlemania or he will just win. I am opting towards prolonging their story to Wrestlemania, which will give Rusev a credible opponent for a big match and it will have Cena involved in something as well. Whatever the result here might be I do believe Cena will win the feud. He is on a losing streak and it is time to build him back a little bit while there is still time before Summer Slam, plus everyone has to eventually lose and Rusev is not an exception to that.

Nikki Bella (with Brie) vs. Paige - For the Divas Championship

Prediction: Paige via DQ

Side Notes: My interest here is almost non existent. The feuds between women in WWE are barely worth any interest. They are never given the proper time, they are never treated seriously and if they happen to be anything above piss break, it's a great success. I see no competitor for Wrestlemania for the Divas title, unless they bring up someone from NXT, so I guess that would be something to do. Paige should win, but I don't see her getting the title, which will make her a valid contender for the title at the next PPV event.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan - For the shot at Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania

Prediction: Reigns via Pin

Side Notes: The problems with this match has been created by the dumb decisions of WWE Creative and they have no one else to blame for this, except themselves. I am not going to go into great details as I did rumble about it above. Reigns will win this, one way or another, as there really isn't anything for him to do after unless he wins it. Imagine Roman doesn't win it, what's next for him? Rollins? No reason. Cena? Already involved with Rusev. Bryan? Why, he just lost to him. Lesnar? Nope. Ambrose? Nah. Wyatt? That's a negative. The only future for Roman in current WWE is if he wins the match and does go to Wrestlemania to face Brock. And that's regardless if you like it or not.

Bad New Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose - For the Intercontinental Championship

Prediction: Ambrose via Pin

Side Notes: I do not have too much to say about it, I just hope someone in WWE thinks for a second about it and realizes that making Ambrose lose ANOTHER match would be another nail into his coffin.

The Usos (with Naomi) vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (with Natalya) - For the Tag Team Championships

Predictions: The Usos via Pin

Side Notes: This is weird seeing a tag team match have an actual build up, but that doesn't make it a good build up. We have a battle of the couples and third wheels. Kidd and his wife vs. Jimmy and his wife... Oh and there is also Jay and Cesaro somewhere in there. I am glancing over them cause I know WWE, they will glance over them as well. The whole emphasis will be put on Natalya, Naomi, Jimmy and Tyson. It could be a fun match to see, regardless of everything, as Cesaro, Kidd and Usos can deliver a nice, high energy matches.

Well... And that is it, for now. I checked again and there still isn't anything added to official card, but I am sure this is not the final round up. Seth Rollins has to have a match. Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan need matches. Kane and Big Show don't have anything to do. Bray Wyatt needs to be there is he is meant to start his program with the Undertaker for Mania. Luke Harper has been snubbed out so far. The Ascension needs another chance to not impress once more. And of course the Sting/HHH confrontation has to fit into this somewhere. There will definitely going to be something more, but for now, that's it. See you next time.

Survivor Series 2014 Predictions

What you are about to read was started on Friday, 21st day of November 2014 at 23:06 GMT+1. The card I am using is the one attached to the Survivor Series article on Wikipedia. If any changes will happen after said time, I will not re-write anything.

 

And here we are, another big event is happening, this time we will get Survivor Series and a traditional, elimination tag team match. While there was a lot of problems with booking, seemed very confused and not really well organised, there might be a couple sparks of interest. But as the saying goes, let's dig straight into Survivor Series, the Predictions... Oh, the matches will be in the order of the Wiki article I am using for reference, so it's not best to last or anything like that.

 

Preshow Match: Fandango vs. To be announced

Personal perspective: Each time I think about the fact Fandango won with Chris Jericho I cringe and die a little inside. Change his gimmick already. Supposedly Bad New Barrett might be returning here, so maybe it will be worth seeing, at least for that. This is obviously a match without any real weight or meaning. And with the opponent not yet announced it is almost a guarantee, it will be a debut or a return. Whatever the case it might be, there is almost no chance for Fandango to win. At least in my opinion. 

Who will win: Whoever it might be behind the TBA

 

Team Cena: John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Eric Rowan and Ryback vs. Team Authority: Seth Rollins, Kane, Rusev, Luke Harper, Mark Henry - If Authority wins everyone on Team Cena is fired, except for Cena, if they lose, they are no longer in power.

Personal Perspective: This is obviously the biggest match of the night and rightfully so. There is the biggest starpower in this one and there seems to be the most at stake, at least in storyline, cause outside of that, there is a solid debate about it. While I do understand the reason of putting John Cena as the team captain, I do not agree with this decision. Even looking from the obvious point of view, the heel team. We have the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry, that had a beef with the Big Show in recent weeks. The pair seems reasonable in storyline, good start. Then we have Rusev, who won the United States title from Sheamus. Another very good pairing, there is a motivation, a reason for Sheamus to be on team Cena... Nah, let's take Sheamus out. We have Luke Harper who got "freed" by Bray Wyatt and captured the Intercontinental title from Dolph Ziggler. While it does give Ziggler a reason to be on the team, that doesn't really give a whole lot of reason to the last two pairs. 

We have Eric Rowan, who literally joined Cena, because reasons. There was no segment pointing into that direction, no interaction between anyone from either teams with him, he just came out and BOOM! He's with Cena. The problem he isn't a surprised appearance by anyone, the problem here comes from the fact that a surprise appearance has to come out from something to make sense. Last time Rowan and Cena had any interaction was a couple months ago on RAW the night after Cena got decimated by Lesnar and they did not act like great friends. There is absolutely no reason for Rowan to become Cena's ally. Rowan would be a far better counterpart to Harper, but since WWE decided to pair Harper with Ziggler, there is a piece missing here from the puzzle. There is a very good chance that Rowan will turn on the face team and if that does happen, there is a chance Randy Orton will make the save for the face team. Why Orton? Because he has a reason to want Authority out of business and this would be the best moment to come back. Plus if Orton makes team Authority lose, it could restart the feud with Seth Rollins and that would give both something to do. 

Another guy there is little reason, outside of "because fuck you, that's why", to join team good guys, is Ryback. While there was a couple interactions between the Big Guy and Cena, there wasn't anything that could make Ryback decide to join. Storyline-wise Authority was telling the truth. They can give him more main event, more title matches, more spotlight, more money. Ryback's current gimmick seems self absorbed and that's good, it suits him, but it doesn't explain why he would want to play for anyone other then him. He even says it himself, Ryback plays only for team Ryback. Adding him might be reasonable to a certain degree, but it seems desperate. 

And then there are the captains of the teams, John Cena and Seth Rollins. First of all this pair doesn't work, it just don't. The only counterpart for Rollins right now is currently busy in a different match. The only thing that connected those two is that after the match with Ambrose, Rollins said he is going after Cena. Ambrose should have been the captain of the team and couple start the program with Rusev, who would be replaced in the heel team by Cesaro.

As I wrote before, there is a very good shot on interference by Randy Orton, so you technically shouldn't set anything in stone, but WWE basically gave the spoiler for this match with the stipulation they added. If Cena loses his team is fired, yeah, right. WWE is not going to fire five workers, it just won't happen, and would they have to fire? That is just not happening. Ryback barely returned and is rebuilding himself after the break, a loss now could waste weeks of work. There is no way they will do this. Plus the whole Authority gimmick is used up. I am taking into account there is a chance of Authority winning and then Vince is reversing the decision or the possibility of a draw and the match ending in a no contest. But I am fed with Steph and HHH every week saying the same things. Authority has to go.

Who will win: The good guys team (but not very clean)

 

AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella - For the Divas Championship

I really hate myself for saying this, but I want Nikki to win. AJ is just not anything people try to make her to be. She is NOT that good in the ring, she is NOT that good on the microphone and she certainly is NOT looking as good as people like to think she does. The only thing she had going for her was the fact she is the wife of CM Punk and in the eyes of some wrestling fans that is enough to actually mean something. And no, it doesn't mean anything, at least for this wrestling fan. AJ Lee doesn't grow as a performer, she doesn't do anything new, this title run is seriously lackluster. And while I will not back out from saying that the Bella Twins suck on the mic, cause they do, I will give some props to Nikki. Looking objectively and comparing her to the rest of current diva roster, Nikki is standing out, not just because she has fake tits. She actually looks in the ring like she trained to achieve something. I did not like this storyline, I think there was too much emphasis put on the sisters relation then the title, which should be the focal point of any title storyline. Still it might be watchable at least. When it comes to who will win, it all depends. There is that rumor going around that Total Divas will not get titles, because the show is taped so far in advance it wouldn't make sense continuity wise and then we have Brie... It is almost certain at this point that Brie will do something in this match, intentionally or not, to influence the outcome.

Who will win: AJ Lee

 

Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt

Have I ever said I don't like Bray? Well, I don't like Bray. Or rather I don't like the booking of his character. While with the Wyatt Family, he didn't really achieve anything. Losing pretty much everything he went after. He won that feud with Bryan, but the goal was to have him in the family, he left a week later, so I am not counting this as a win. Other then that, there was that Jericho story, but Jericho will put anyone over, so it's not that big of a deal to win with him. Right now, it seems like Bray will get another bigger push and for better or worse, Dean Ambrose is in the way.

And speaking of Ambrose, why is he getting a downgrade? Cause he is. Dean went from the hottest feud in WWE against Rollins, to something of truly midcardian proportions. Now don't get me wrong, I am not dissing Wyatt, but when you main event a pay per view and at the next one you fight someone, who's track record isn't exactly all that great, the meaning of the match is lost somewhere in translation. I am kind of afraid that what I was talking about is happening. Dean didn't impress at the Cell so they will feed him to Bray Wyatt. Two internet darlings, WWE can't do wrong here. I do hope Dean will win this, since his level is much higher now and staying in the midcard for too long will hurt him, but I am a realist. And if you didn't get it from the part earlier, he should be the captain of the face team.

Who will win: Bray Wyatt

 

The Dust Brothers vs. The Usos vs. Los Matadores vs. The Miz and Damien Sandow - For the Tag Team Championships

This quite possibly will be the most enjoyable match to watch out of the whole card. Looking at who is involved, this should be fun to watch. Hopefully his will be action packed, fast paced, hot tags, lots of everything. I am quite confident WWE will want to cash in on the popularity of Damien Sandow and they will give the title to the Miz and Sandow. If they will not win this, then the champions are keeping the belts. We just finished a story with the Usos and Los Matadores are a joke.  

Who will win: The Miz and Damien Sandow

 

Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi and Natalya vs. Paige, Cameron, Layla and Summer Rae

Let's not give this match much thought, let's just put together some divas and call it a traditional Survivor Series match, but for women. Oh shut up. This is lazy, pure and simple. Matches like this require the least amount of work from the creative team. Knowing WWE this will last around 5-10 minutes and will end with the good team winning. 

Who will win: Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi and Natalya

Hell in a Cell 2014 Predictions

What you are about to read has been started on Friday, 24 of October 2014, at 18:42 GMT+1

 

So we got to this point again, another PPV event is coming and man... Was this period dry as a bone in terms of creativity in WWE. The off-season is in full force, as it happens every year, but this year, the "off" part is very, very serious. In the past weeks the weekly TV was basically the same, same people having same matches, often with the same results. And of course no sight of the World Heavyweight Championship anywhere. But let's get this started...

The order of the matches will be according to what I feel is important and according to what I feel will be most fun to watch. 

 

Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose (Hell in a Cell)

This is definitely the most built-up story and a match between the two should be fine, but there is a lot more at stake here then most people think. For Dean Ambrose this is a "to be or not to be" situation. His reactions from the crowds are dying down and we are approaching the road to Wrestlemania, where we will see the return of Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, maybe Daniel Brian and who knows who else. Seth Rollins has that briefcase, he can be inserted everywhere at any given point of time, he is quite safe. Dean on the other hand is not, if he won't break through now, if he won't sell himself to the people and engrave himself in peoples minds... he will be going down and fast. It is really "now or never", and for Ambrose, I really hope he brings his "A" game. When it comes to the technical stuff, I have no doubts about this match in my head, it has a great potential. We are not talking about rookies here, Seth Rollins before coming to WWE was among the best in the world and Ambrose was entertaining as well. The only thing that could lower the quality of the match is if WWE decides to put breaks on them, but I guess we shall see. This story from the start was about revenge, Ambrose wants revenge on Rollins and it has to end somewhere, will it be now? Maybe it should. Rollins does not need this win, not right now. 

My prediction: Dean Ambrose

Personal feeling: There is a good chance Rollins will take this due to outside interference.

 

Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro (2 out of 3 falls for Intercontinental Championship)

Talk about a match with no build up and what a shame it is. This is my candidate for the match of the night, technical-wise. Whatever match Cesaro touches, he turns golden and there isn't anyone in WWE who sells better then Ziggler. This should be a fun match, full of action and very entertaining, at least it should be... There is no story backing this, so there isn't anything to talk about really. I really want both of those guys to move up the ladder, but sadly I doubt Dolph will be going anywhere. Cesaro deserves the title, but a higher grade then the IC championship and I think he will be hurt in the long run, if he wins this. On the other hand, we are closing to the Road to Wrestlemania and if he won't start meaning something now, he might not get a chance to do that for the next few months. This one is hard to call, since both options have their positives and negatives. If Dolph wins he stays in place, if he loses, he's not going up.

My prediction: Cesaro

Personal feeling: Cesaro winning should give both of them something to do for the next month and that guarantees at least a couple quality matches.

 

John Cena vs. Randy Orton (Hell in a Cell for no. 1 contendership)

I really don't mind either of those guys. As I wrote yesterday, John Cena deserves a title shot, but so does Randy Orton. With the recent growth of popularity for the Viper, we can expect a change in the character for Randy and soon. With the situation between him and Seth Rollins, there will be almost definitely an angle between them, which could mean that the story for Ambrose will getting a closure. If that will be the case, then Orton cannot win with Cena, since that would change the perspective towards Brock Lesnar and waste a natural progression. Plus after Dean, Seth will need an opponent to not bring too much attention to the fact he has no one to cash the briefcase on.

My prediction: John Cena

Personal feeling: There is a chance Orton will take this, and I am not crossing it out completely, but it would be a waste, a real waste.

 

The Dust Brothers vs. The Usos (for the Tag Team Championships)

This storyline was almost completely told in matches and maybe it is for the better. The matches between these four guys are entertaining, fast paced and fun to watch. But we have seen this over and over and over. With tag teams in WWE is that there is so few of them, that it really doesn't matter who holds the belts, sooner then later everyone gets to hold them. It's sad that, most likely, a very entertaining match, doesn't hold any meaning with it. I think it is time to give someone else a chance to work with Dusts.

My prediction: The Dust Brothers

Personal feeling: I don't think this match will end clean and in the commotion The Usos might have a small shot, but that will only prolong the series of, entertaining, but completely the same, completely meaningless matches.

 

Sheamus vs. The Miz (for United States Championship)

The only good thing that can come out from this match is that Damien Sandow will do something silly. Sheamus is good when he feels like it, but this is not a match he will feel like to try for. Miz sucks, not because he is a heel, he just sucks. His character doesn't work, his ring work is not worth speaking about. The only bright thing about Miz is Damien and sadly, this might mean he will take this. Sheamus should move back to main event, we need a change after literally weeks of stagnation.

My prediction: The Miz

Personal feeling: This will be a terrible decision, but if it will be like this, maybe Sandow will get something from that.

 

AJ Lee vs. Paige (for Divas Championship)

What I am about to say, I already said on more then one occasion, but I just need to say it again. There is nothing in this storyline worth watching. The stupid, but kind of refreshing lesbian angle, was promising, so they scrapped it. Right now there is nothing interesting left, just another Diva match. The internet darlings, Aj and Paige, fail to deliver what everyone is promising constantly. Their matches are mediocre at best and lack any direction. Addition of Alicia Fox guarantees some shady ending.

My prediction: Paige

Personal feeling: There is really no other competition, other divas are involved in "Total Divas" and no one is even around the title anymore. 

 

Big Show vs. Rusev

I hate, hate, hate this angle. It's so stupid on so many levels in this day and age. Rusev is mediocre at best and Lana stopped being interesting a week after she appeared with the Russian-Bulgarian. Big Show should not take this. The only thing Rusev has is the fact he was not pinned or submitted, if Big Show takes that away from him, he is done. There is nothing for Rusev to do after that, cause WWE stupidly burned all the bridges, closed every storyline completely, didn't create any interactions for Rusev with other people... He has nothing. If he loses now, he might as well ask for a release from contract.

My prediction: Rusev

Personal feeling: Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid... Dumb!!!

 

Brie Bella vs. Nikki Bella (loser has to be the winners personal assistant or quit WWE)

Does it even matter who wins this? Brie won in this storyline 2 weeks ago on RAW, Nikki got pinned. There is literally no substance for this angle left. Nothing, just emptiness and wooden acting. The stipulation is stupid, the story is stupid, the pay off was idiotically put on RAW in a tag team match and now WWE just tries to save anything. But there is nothing to save! It's done, they are done, we are done and I am done, done, done.

My prediction: Don't care, just end this.

Personal feeling: Gaaaaah!!!!1111oneoneone

Night of Champions 2014 Predictions

At the time of writing this it's Tuesday 16 of September 2014 22:00

So Night of Champions is getting closer, why not play a bit of prediction game, everyone does it, why not me. I will be only using the officially announced and available matches from the Wiki page of the event and in order presented there.

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship - This one is hard, not because the outcome could be so unpredictable, but because it is so very predictable. All logic would point at Lesnar, but there is a problem with him, he is part time, doesn't do house shows and is on TV only from time to time. There is a lot of rumors surrounding this match and depending on if you believe in rumors or not, certain things could happen. First of all, if Lesnar wins, then he will hang onto the title until Royal Rumble in January, but that would mean that there would be no top champion at any house shows for the next three months and only sometimes on TV. Would WWE really risk such a move? Plus we need to remember how much money Lesnar takes for basically a legends schedule, would WWE really give him that kind of cash just to have him there? And there is the question about Rollins, who could always cash in. But getting to the point. Personally I heard only four actually believable rumors about this match:

• A) WWE secured Lesnar for more dates, so they will keep the title on him.
• B) Lesnar wins, but Rollins cashes in and gets the belt.
• C) Cena wins to keep the champion active.
• D) Cena wins, but Rollins cashes in.

Those are probable scenarios, but each one presents a problem, a problem named Brock Lesnar.
In scenario "A" WWE basically is left without a champion at house shows, cause like I wrote before, he doesn't do house shows and is barely on TV. That could of course mean that midcard could get some attention, which would be good, but I don't know if that is such a great idea. WWE would need to find someone to feud with Lesnar and at this moment, besides Cena, only Reigns is big enough name for the match to even matter. And we all know WWE wants to save Reigns for later, but maybe if they won't have a choice.
Option "B" means that Rollins would need a face turn, cause winning the title from Lesnar will either turn Brock face or Seth - WWE doesn't do heel vs heel matches.and someone would need to be the bad guy in the rematch.
Variant "C" means that we could and most likely would need to see another Cena-Lesnar match, cause the champion has a rematch option. While I don't really see anything wrong with that, as long as it will be actually a good one, there might be a problem of what to do next. If Cena would win, Brock would get a rematch next month and if he would win the title back, Cena would get a rematch as well. But if Cena wins now and defends in a rematch in a month, Lesnar is out from the title picture and WWE doesn't really have anything to do with him at that point.
Situation "D" is my least favorite option, cause at that point we have an almost guaranteed three way or maybe even four way. Lesnar lost, so he gets a rematch, Cena lost, so he gets a rematch as well.  I would really dislike that kind of solution, cause that would really hurt Rollins.
Winner in my opinion: Brock Lesnar (but Cena would be a better choice)

2. Sheamus vs Cesaro for the United States Championship - Well, what can you say about Cesaro? He's a great talent, has great potential... and got completely screwed by WWE and their booking. After winning the Andre the Giant over the top Battle Royale, he got all the momentum behind him, he was exciting, enjoyable, the crowd loved "the swing"... So WWE naturally decided to turn him heel and ruin everything by putting him with Paul Heyman, who got the job to promote the shit about Brock. Cesaro became less and less relevant and eventually Heyman even stopped coming out with him at all to the ring. Now Cesaro is just another guy. I have no doubt it should be a nice match, but I really don't have big hopes for title to change hands.
Winner in my opinion: Sheamus

3. Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship - WWE is trying to make Miz happen over, and over, and over, and constantly fails to do so. Give up people, Miz is not happening. On the other hand we have Dolph who did happen, but WWE is too stupid to see that. I am also afraid that this could be the Kofi Kingston situation, where winning the title is not actually a good thing. Still, Dolph deserves the title much more then Miz, but seeing how WWE just can't admit defeat, they might try changing that again.
Winer in my opinion: The Miz (but I do hope it doesn't happen)

4. Paige vs Aj Lee vs Nikki Bella for the Divas Championship - Or as I like to call it "Overhyped, Overrated and Overexposed". There is no reason to put Nikki Bella in this match, absolutely no reason, but she is on Total Divas, so she has to be in the match. Nikki will not win, she was inserted into the bout without any real explanation and is there only so Total Divas can be relevant. I really don't have any strong feeling about this match and really don't care much who will win. Aj has a rematch, if she doesn't win it, she's out from the title picture and looking at the current diva roster... Let's hope Aj wins.
Winner in my opinion: Aj Lee

5. Mark Henry vs Rusev - I tried to get invested into this whole story, I really tried, but I just can't help myself and don't give a shit. This is a horrible storyline, horribly executed, it would be dated 20 years ago, not to mention now. I see no reason for Henry to win, so by default my vote goes to the Russian-Bulgarian.
Winner in my opinion: Rusev

6. The Usos vs Dust Brothers for the World Tag Team Championships - What can be said about this match? We seen it on more then one occasion, we know it will be fun to watch, but do we really care about the winner? I know, I know, someone has to win. The Usos are the better team here, but Dust Brothers only recently had a heel turn, they could use a victory to keep themselves relevant.
Winner in my opinion: Goldust and Stardust

7. Chris Jericho vs Randy Orton - This has potential to be great. We have Chris Jericho, who after this match goes away for a while, so that basically means we know who wins, but no matter. Orton is not the greatest in ring performer, but he can do fun things when he wants to and with Jericho and the fact this match is just "for fun" we could see a very decent spectacle.
Winner in my opinion: Randy Orton

8. Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins - i don't have much to say about this. The winner will be determined depending on how much does WWE actually believe in Roman. He needs as many wins against credible opponents as he can get, if they want him to be the next best thing. He needs to build his credibility as a wrestler, even though he is very limited.
Winner in my opinion: Roman Reigns