TheOneBigWill's predictions for the Great American Bash:
W.W.E. Championship: Triple H. (c.) v. Edge: After Smackdown it's almost guaranteed Edge won't be winning the W.W.E. Championship at the Bash, much less anytime soon at all. My bet is that Edge attempts to cheat any way he can, but Vickie starts making Edge's life a living hell, and ends up helping Triple H., either by changing the rules as the match goes along, or by simply stopping Edge from cheating all together.
Another possibility is the Undertaker returns as Edge is about to pick up the victory, which distracts Edge and Triple H. ends up winning the match. Any way you wanna cut it, Triple H. retains. The only question I'm asking myself is why does this match seemingly view Triple H. as being unable to defeat Edge, without Vickie's help? I doubt it'll be a regular single's match, it's too fresh off the disaster that was Edge & Vickie's wedding.
World Heavyweight Championship: C.M. Punk (c.) v. Batista: How good is C.M. Punk? This match is going to prove that I would come to gather. I doubt Punk drops the Championship, the question is more surrounding whether or not they allow Punk to pick up a clean finish over Batista before Kane interrupts and lays both of them out.
In the end, my guess is C.M. Punk wins by DQ after Kane comes out when Batista seems to have the match won, only for Kane to shove Batista out of the way, attack Punk giving him the victory and then proceeds to lay Batista out after the match is already given to Punk. Either that or a no contest. But the fact is, if Punk is to be seen as a credible Champion, he MUST win this match, by pinfall, over the Animal.
E.C.W. Championship: Mark Henry w/ Tony Atlas (c.) v. Tommy Dreamer w/ Colin Delaney: How a squash match made the Pay Per View is beyond me, but this is doubtfully going to be anything more than an impressive (if you wanna call it that) show of power by Mark Henry, with Dreamer barely hanging in there to make this under 5 minutes.
Mark Henry retains is my prediction, and if Dreamer wins, then I'll be shocked more than ever. Even by DQ standards, I just don't see them jobbing Henry in any way, shape, or form.. especially to Tommy Dreamer. Anyone who feels this is going to be anything other than a squash is wishful thinking and living in the old E.C.W.
New York City Parking Lot Brawl: J.B.L. v. John Cena: If John Cena wins this match, I give up all hope that the W.W.E. creative team knows what the hell they're doing. We've seen two previous Pay Per View matches that J.B.L. was easily rumored to win, only to see Cena over come the odds and defeat J.B.L. both times.
This is the best way for Cena to lose, without hurting him. However, if J.B.L. loses this match, that'll mark his 3 straight Pay Per View loss to John Cena in their series, and he'll have lost any ability to be a Main Event threat of any kind. (not that he was such a great threat before) In the end, J.B.L. should win would be my guess. I think the perfect way to do it, is by allowing Ted DiBiase Jr. & Cody Rhodes assist J.B.L., then have Cryme Tyme attack them after it's over.
Grudge Match: Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels: I could see this match going back and forth with either man winning, and the point still being proven. In the end, Jericho needs to win but my prediction is a No Contest.
Nothing has been said, made or otherwise done to make this match an anything goes contest. H.B.K. and Jericho have been tearing each other apart for weeks on Raw now, and there is no reason they should suddenly accept the rules of a match to wrestle. This by all rights shouldn't even be a wrestling contest, it should be a straight up fight.
Jericho needs a victory over H.B.K. on Pay Per View, to make him stay above water (so to speak) in this feud. H.B.K. defeated Jericho at Judgment Day, when technically I think Jericho should've really won that match. If H.B.K. wins again, then this feud is over and dead before it ever truly kicks into another level.
However I will say this much. Shawn Michaels could pick up the victory, only for Cade to lay him out and Jericho & Cade then proceed to beatdown Shawn after the bell. That would work, but at the same time still hurt Jericho. It'd only help Cade. That is until Cade jobbed to H.B.K. too.
Tag Team Championships: Fatal Four Way: The Miz & John Morrison (c.) v. Hawkins & Ryder v. The Family Finlay v. Jesse & Festus: I just got done saying it. This is the best way to get the Tag Team Championships off Morrison & The Miz, without actually hurting them.
Either way, you have a heel team and a face team that are capable of taking the loss without it effecting them. Hornswoggle could be easily defeated by Hawkins and Ryder, while Hawkins and Ryder could be easily defeated by Jesse and Festus. That leaves Miz & Morrison without having to take the loss.
I think Jesse & Festus would, or rather should win this match and carry on the Tag Team division. They're the only other real team, that isn't pathetic. Hawkins and Ryder haven't been built as anything. Sure, they were running along side the Main Event Champion at one time, but what did they do for themselves? Nothing. Meanwhile, if I see the midget pick up the victory and win a tag title, it'll single handedly kill the division just like he did the cruiserweight division.
On the flip side of this, if Miz & Morrison retain, in my opinion that'll help them become one of the better Tag Teams of all time. This is by far their hardest challenge. The only thing that would've made this match even worse for them, would've been the Hardy's replacing Finlay & Hornswoggle. I'm personally hoping for a T.L.C. match of sorts at Summerslam, if Miz & Morrison retain.
Diva's Championship: Michelle McCool v. Natalya: To crown a new secondary Women's Champion for Smackdown. This match could and likely will go back and forth. I think Natalya would make the better first Champion, but lately I'm starting to wonder who the opponents could be for each. Victoria would make a great first opponent for McCool, while Cherry and Maria would be suitable but nothing good for Natalya.
That's making me believe McCool will end up winning this match, and I'm not a fan of liking that. Whoever wins will make history, and I feel that should go to Natalya winning. However since Natalya should become everything great in the Women's division for year's to come, I think McCool could just hang onto history by becoming the first Diva's Champion. McCool likely won't amount to anything else, so it makes more sense to give her the first spot.. unfortunately.
Rumored:
United States Championship: Matt Hardy (c.) v. Shelton Benjamin: Outside of Shelton Benjamin picking up a non-title victory over Hardy a couple weeks back, there has been absolutely no push for this.
Everyone was hoping it'd happen when Benjamin went over off the draft. If this match does indeed happen, it'll give everyone what they wanted. Yet at the same time, there is no good reason why Shelton Benjamin deserves this Championship. Matt Hardy retains is my prediction.
It makes no sense to give Benjamin this title, when they've built Hardy for well over a year and thus far he's only feuded with Chavo Guerrero. Hardy needs a couple more feuds with the likes of Carlito, The Miz & John Morrison. So Benjamin gets to be a victim.
Overall Thoughts: I've been going on about how T.N.A. does nothing but throws shit at the wall to fill their B-Show p.p.v.'s.. well, this is a B-Show p.p.v. for the W.W.E. and nothing important other than to get them to Summerslam. The question is, will Summerslam mean anything? For the previous couple of years, I haven't really seen great matches happening at Summerslam.
At any rate, I don't think this p.p.v. will be anything special. Triple H. v. Edge is a Mania sized match-up, yet it isn't being built, pushed or even thought of as such when it assumably headlines the Bash.
Punk has yet to Main Event since becoming Heavyweight Champion, short of his match against J.B.L. the same night he won. I doubt seriously Punk will come to mean anything as Champion, and I'm already more interested in seeing Kane appear than caring whether Punk will break Batista's nose.
Jericho & H.B.K. would be such a better contest had they of made it a Street Fight. I'll never say I'm tired of seeing these two wrestle in single's matches, but I will say I'm upset if they start ending in no-contest finishes because this is a heated feud that will surely bring outside interference and weapons into the mix.
I love how this is the first (real) Pay Per View since the draft, and we don't see Jeff Hardy, M.V.P., Mr. Kennedy, Umaga or the Big Show. Smackdown got the best draft deal, and they still end up shafted on the p.p.v. card. Seriously, do I really care about Tommy Dreamer & Mark Henry? No. I'd rather see M.V.P. v. Mr. Kennedy. Do I give any care about crowning a new Diva, Champion? No. I'd rather see the Jeff Hardy v. Matt Hardy match-up on Pay Per View.
In the end, I won't hold my breath on this Pay Per View shocking and amazing me, but it should be impactful none the less. It has several matches that likely won't end with a positive winner or loser, but instead a thrown out result. None the less, it should be filled with chaos.
