IC25 Handicaps King of the Ring

[gd]

Well KOTR has me actually interested in watching Raw for the first time in a while. That's something special I suppose. As for the competitors, I'll run them down, being as I don't have anything else to do at the moment.

We'll start with the worst odds and that's Kofi. Has he actually done anything of note over the past year? Not really, other than put on solid midcard matches on Smackdown that not many people watch. He's just here to get a good match out of whoever the hell he faces.

McIntrye, he doesn't really have a shot either. I'm not a huge fan of him. His entrance music is pretty sick though. Apparently he faces Zeke first round. Sucks for him. Like I've said before, his hair is far too silly for him to be a World Champ. He should shave it off.

I don't see Morrison winning it, mostly beacuse if he hasn't done it by now, he's not doing it, or something like that. Yeah, he's pretty good in the ring at times, but for the most part he's too shit. This is too big of an accomplishment for him.

Sure Bryan is the US Champ, but that doesn't mean his still can't win this, right? Actually, it probably does, but that doesn't mean I can't want him to. He's consistently been one of the best performers over the last few months, throw him a bone.

I seem to have Cody Rhodes pretty high here. Sure, there's really nothing suggesting he'll win here, but I quite like him. Solid worker, great skin, awesome music. That's the forumla for a good pro wrestler. It'd be somewhat of a surprise if he won, I suppose, but I think it'd work out well.

Sheamus should have a good a shot as anyone, since he's still quite over and is a former champ. I'd actually be a fan of that. Could put him back in the spotlight after he's sort of been stuck in place as of late.

I'd be a fan of Big Zeke winning, which definitely could happen. He's been getting a big push of late apparently, this'd be a good thing for him, no? Who cares if he's mostly shit in the ring, he's fucking huge.

I bet Del Rio will end up the winner though. Slightly disappointing being that he's so shit (HIS RING ANNOUNCER SPEAKS ANOTHER LANGUAGE! HE'S A GREAT HEEL!!), but I guess I can deal with it.

 

[Big Sexy]

I have no clue why Drew McIntyre is getting so much love and seen as a potential favorite. The guy hasn't done shit as a singles star since Vinny Mac left his storyline. He and Cody Rhodes are kind of in the same boat and are a recently broken up team. The only difference is that unlike Cody, Drew can't get a decent crowd reaction to save his life. He just doesn't draw much heat. If anybody is a dark horse I'd say it's Cody.

My pick is Big Zeke because everyone else is either not doing much in terms of a push right now or is already involved in a feud. I see a Sheamus/Morrison no contest, and I see Del Rio losing because of interference by Mysterio.

Odds:

Big Zeke: 4-1
Del Rio: 6-1
Cody Rhodes: 10-1
Morrison: 12-1
Sheamus: 14-1
Kofi: 20-1
McIntyre: 30-1
Daniel Bryan: 35-1

 

[IrishCanadian25]

So my odds were fairly spot on. S(h)eamus won, beating JoMo in the finals. Kofi, Bryan, and Rhodes all lost in round 1. Morrisson had a nice showing, narrowly losing to a guy who'd gotten a 2nd round bye.

This was eerily similar to the 1993 KOTR where Bret Hart defeated a fresh Bam Bam Bigelow who had benefitted from Lex Luger and Tatanka's time limit draw. Seems every KOTR has either a double DQ/Count-out/Draw, or a DQ of one guy that softens up the winner.

I wanted to tag a "winners and losers" section to the odds as I look back at last night's Raw:

Winners

S(h)eamus- Obviously. A former 2-time WWE Champion wins two matches pretty clean and looks strong in the process. This gives even more fire to a potential Triple H return and ensuing feud between the two kings. Also, oddly similar to Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler in 1993.

Zeke Jackson- Looked strong in this debut, even in a short draw with Drew. Tried to get back in the ring on time, was stopped by McIntyre. For a relative rookie, this was a nice way to show up and still look strong without taking out anyone else.

Rey Mysterio- Got a measure of revenge on Alberto del Rio without costing his friend John Morrison a DQ loss. Keeps his feud with del Rio alive while still giving him a chance to heal up.

The RAW Announce Team- Lawler was given a neat birthday present in a WWE Title match, he and Michael Cole had a facinating exchange, and CM Punk is brilliant on commentary. I haven't been this entertained by a commentary team since the heyday of Lawler/Ross or Monsoon/Heenan.

The Miz- Solidified his role as the quintessential heel champion. Doubts were cast into the legitimacy of his title win, and his heel promo was terrific. The wife and I both laughed derisively at his comments to the crowd about "if someone tells you you can't accomplish your dreams, listen to them." Loved it. He also got a measure of payback on JBL, a known bully.

Ted DiBiase Jr.- He finally showed a mean streak, even if it was just telling his arm candy to shut up. He looked absolutely furious that he's on a losing streak and didn't even make the final 8, while his former tag partner did. Hope he shows up with the mean streak still in tact.

The Losers

Smackdown- Equal show my ass. The finals of the King of the Ring featured two Raw guys. Guys like me with active social lives miss more than half of the Smackdown shows each year, so seeing SD talents on Raw may be some of a handful of chances I get to see them. Rhodes and Kofi were dominated, McIntyre fell to a cheap double count-out, and their best chance at the crown in del Rio lost his focus. Teddy Long and Josh Koscheck should grab drinks and lament how much they suck at leading a team.

Drew McIntyre - He got the worse end of the double count out with Zeke because he's established and should be better than this. He's at a point similar to that of DiBiase, where he HAS to show us something.

The Nexus- Looked awful last night for the first time maybe ever. Wade Barrett should forget Cena and focus on his next opponent to climb back into the title pictur,e but instead is preoccupied. Otunga remains all talk and no action. The window bump with Gabriel looked SICK on TV!

Mark Henry- It's one thing to team with Yoshi Tatsu, it's another to not even have your entrance televised. That's jobber treatment. Henry's last stand is on its last leg.

 

[MisterRob]

The Losers

Smackdown- Equal show my ass. The finals of the King of the Ring featured two Raw guys. Guys like me with active social lives miss more than half of the Smackdown shows each year, so seeing SD talents on Raw may be some of a handful of chances I get to see them. Rhodes and Kofi were dominated, McIntyre fell to a cheap double count-out, and their best chance at the crown in del Rio lost his focus. Teddy Long and Josh Koscheck should grab drinks and lament how much they suck at leading a team.

How in the world was Rhodes and Kingston dominated? What show were you watching? If anything Rhodes dominated most of his match until the finish happened. Kingston clearly didn't get dominated, he hit his finisher on Sheamus and could've won just as easily as Sheamus did, if Sheamus hadn't rolled out and under the ropes. Clearly you're exaggerating greatly, because no one on Smackdown had a bad showing on RAW lastnight.