Most Predictable Matches Ever?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Let's not count local jobber squash matches as well. The one that springs into mind was a more recent one of Cena vs. Laurinaitis. It was sad how obvious the ending was, because the commentators were trying to sell it as some huge swerve when everyone could see what was going to happen from a mile away.

Honourable Mentions:

• Cena vs. Jericho at SummerSlam 2005
• Cena/Rock vs Awsome Truth at the Survivor Series
• Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 23. No way in hell Donald Trump was having his hair shaved off.
• Lesnar vs. Holly at the Royal Rumble
• Undertaker vs Mark Henry at Unforgiven 2007, There is no way Undertaker will lose his comeback match
• Cena vs. <Insert Name Here> in an "I Quit" match

Can you guys name some?

 

[The Hillside]

Cena vs The Miz- I Quit Match/Over The Limit 2011, Cena saying I Quit in a match against The Miz or probably anyone? LOL hard to imagine.

Cena vs Sheamus- Tables Match/ Even though Cena lost, LOL! Who'd have even given a tought to Sheamus winning, big suprise here.

The Underaker vs. Kane- Wrestlemania 2004- Taker's mega return as the phenom.

The Rock vs Steve Austin- Wrestlemania 2003, no way was Rock losing to Austin thrice in a row at Mania.

Brock Lesnar vs Bob Holly WWE Championship- Royal Rumble 2004, we are going into Wrestlemania with Guerrero, Angle, Lesnar and Goldberg as contenders for the WWE Title, how does Holly beat Lesnar here to win the gold?

 

[HBKistheHOF]

EASILY, Rock & Cena vs. The Awesome Truth.

I know it has become some big joke about the Miz's fault for buy rates & he probably didn't have any control over the situation, but Creative & ESPECIALLY the team of the Awesome Truth (led by the Miz) really let the ball drop on this match.

NO ONE took Truth & Miz as ANY sort of credible team. It was pretty hard for them to make much out of the beating they were given by HALF of the team they were supposed to face, I believe two weeks prior to Survivor Series. But they were just awful opponenets. Their fault for not being better heels, Creatives fault for booking midcarders against their superman & their big "hollywood star", either way it wasn't ANYWHERE near believeable & was WAY TOO PREDICTABLE!

Not to mention it was Rocky's first actual match back in roughly 7-8 years & he was teamed with the company's biggest star who he was hyping a match with, neither one was going to lose that match.

 

[gazzatticus]

pretty much every single WWE/World title match at the royal rumble since about as long as I can remember there always either set ups to mania or a way to give guy whos getting a chance soon a break (eg Jeff hardy vs randy orton, Mr kennedy vs batista, Dolph Vs edge)

 

[klunderbunker]

I wouldn't call Rock/Cena vs. Awesome Truth a gimme. Seeing Rock leave Cena laying or vice versa and Miz or Truth stealing a pin wouldn't have surprised me in the least.

As for the actual answer, Austin vs. Shawn at Mania 14 is a big one. At the end of the day, Austin was a runaway freight train at this point and there was no one to stop him. Michaels literally was wrestling with a broken back and didn't wrestle for the WWF again for four and a half years. They threw Tyson in there to try to make it possible that Austin could lose but at the end of the day, it was pretty clear a year earlier that Austin would be getting the title there and there was nothing on the planet that was stopping him.

 

[The Brain]

Are you asking about predictable outcomes or predicatable swerves? I would say most outcomes are predictable, and I don't think that's really a bad thing. Just for the hell of it I'll mention a couple that were even more predictable than usual.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter, WM7: Hmmmm, the most popular wrestler of all time challenging for the title while defending the US against a hated turncoat champion during a time of war. I wonder who would win.

Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels, WM14. Austin was the hottest thing we had seen in years. It was obvious he would get the title off anyone but throw in the fact that HBK was about to leave due to injury and I'd say this result was about as predictable as it gets.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

There have been some really obvious ones over the years:

- Savage vs Dibiase: mania 4- well, the E/F gave away the winner of the tournament the previous month in their mag...

- Hogan vs Slaughter: mania 7- with the build being about the war, Hogan had to win

- Taker vs the field since Mania 14- no one will end the streak. They haven't done a bad job of making it seem possible, but bet the bank against it...

- HBK VS Hart- Mania 12: the build, again, made the outcome very predictable

- HBK VS SCSA- Mania 14?: HBK was hurting, Stone Cold was ready to throw the E on his back

 

[LegendKiller716]

After Taker hit 15-0 at Mania, I'd say any of his matches after that have been predictable. Nobody believes he's actually gonna loose.

Edge vs Cena for the WWE title in a TLC match in Toronto. The deck was too stacked it was impossible that Cena would loose.

Ryback vs whoever on this weeks Raw and Smackdown. Guarantee he wins lol.

 

[relentless1]

most of hogans matches were super predictable, hogan has steady offense, gets beat up to the brink of a loss, hulks up, finger in the face, three punches, whip to the ropes for the big boot, then leg drop, 1-2-3 done like dinner

 

[Ethelion]

Can you guys name some of the most predictable matches ever?

The most predictable match for me was WrestleMania XXVI: World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho vs. Edge. Anyone whose paid close attention to their feud SHOULD notice that Edge keeps Spearing Jericho week-after-week. History has served WWE Fans well, at least for me, that when a superstar heads into a match with ALL of the momentum during a feud, it's safe to conclude that the other superstar will end up going over the former to even things out. And that's exactly what happened - Jericho ended up defeating Edge at WrestleMania.

Recent examples include:

- Elimination Chamber 2012: John Cena vs. Kane
- Extreme Rules 2012: WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
- Extreme Rules 2012: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
- Summerslam 2012: Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler

What all of these matches had in common was that the superstars that headed into their respective matches with most, if not all of the momentum during their respective feuds ended up putting over their nemeses at their respective PPVs.

 

[vikesfan]

Any John Cena match. Get beat up for 15 minutes,make goofy faces while 'selling,",make comeback while no selling all the offense against him earlier,AA and pin.

 

[Wolf Pac]

After Taker hit 15-0 at Mania, I'd say any of his matches after that have been predictable. Nobody believes he's actually gonna loose.

The ironic thing is the day he loses at Mania (if they ever do decide to end the streak), it will go down as the most unpredictable match of all time.

Anyway, Royal Rumble 98. All the build up & hype was solely on Austin. They built no one else up as potential candidates to win the match, plus everyone knew it was Austin's time at the top.

Royal Rumble 99, for pretty much the same reasons as 98. Only thing unpredictable about it was just who was gonna win between Austin & Vince. This RR always gets a lot of hate for being predictable, but the Attitude Era fan in me absolutely loved it and did not care whether it was predictable or not. As some people have said in this thread, predictable outcomes aren't always bad.

I'd say Royal Rumble 2002 was also predictable because HHH's return was just so huge at the time, and Chris Jericho was the Undisputed Champion. What better way to come back than to climb back up to the top while getting revenge on the man who was responsible for injuring you last year.

Goldberg vs. Hogan on Nitro. This was make or break for Goldberg. Goldberg was too over with the fans, and WCW wasn't gonna let all that hard work they put into his streak go to waste.

 

[fenfool]

HBK-Flair...after teasing the "next loss and you retire" for months, we all knew this was it.

Most of Taker's recent WM matchups.

Bret Hart-McMahon...maybe not the inclusion of the entire Hart family, but there was no way Bret was going to be losing that one.

Just bear in mind, predictability isn't always a bad thing.

 

[Jaffa]

For me it would have to be Jeff Hardy vs CM Punk both at Summerslam 2009 and the steel cage match at the following smackdown where Jeff Hardy lost and has to leave. For me it was even more obvious than Jericho vs Cena even though the circumstances were identical.

 

[exitingarm]

The Capital Punishment PPV from last year was pretty predictable with the John Cena vs R-Truth match.. I mean, come on, R-Truth beating Cena for the strap? Need I say more?

Michaels/Flair Retirement Match: It was built up in a way that it was basically a given that Ric would be "retiring." Same for the second Michaels/Taker Wrestlemania match, we all knew Shawn was leaving.

Speaking of "retiring" or "leaving," the recent match between Jericho and Ziggler. If you keep up with the "insider" world of wrestling then you probably were aware Jericho was soon to be leaving for a tour with Fozzy, as soon as AJ muttered those words I knew this was his story out.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Streak matches have been predictable for a long while now. after a while, they just started feeding him midcarders and the streak grew. you knew he would never lose to the likes of A-Train and once they got past those and started to really push the streak, you knew he wouldn't lose period no matter who it was.

most predictable has to be anyone vs Vince at Mania. you know Vince will lose. Bret, Hogan, Trump.

 

[MTL722]

Recent examples include:

- Elimination Chamber 2012: John Cena vs. Kane
- Extreme Rules 2012: WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho
- Extreme Rules 2012: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
- Summerslam 2012: Chris Jericho vs. Dolph Ziggler

Im not sure any of these were 100% in my mind, certainly not the most predictable matches ever.

I'd have to say Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24. The whole story with Flair was great, but in a career threatening match and Flair asking for the match so he could be retired by Shawn, the match was a foregone conclusion as soon as it was made

Oh, and Goldbergs entire streak leading up to him winning the belt. I think after a certain point everybody got the hint that he wasn't losing until he drops the championship

 

[HBsam31]

Cena vs R Truth at Capitol Punishment is a recent one that comes to mind.
Hogan/Slaughter from Mania 7 is a really predictable one.
HBK/Hart Mania 12. The build up favored HBK so much that you knew he was going to pull it off.
There are many more. Predictability kind of goes hand and hand with wrestling, and it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

[The Average Guy]

Ill name a few that pop up in my head (no specific order):

1)Jericho vs Ziggler a couple weeks ago on Raw.

2)Flair-HBK Mania

3)Cena-R Truth for title at I believe over the limit a couple years ago (correct me if Im wrong)

4)Bret-Vince at Mania

5)Cena and Rock vs Awesome Truth

Those are just the real recent ones that pop in to mind instantly

 

[Desyar]

RAW - Jericho vs Ziggler (Briefcase/Jericho's contract match)

This is the most obvious choice. Did anyone actually expect Jericho to win? Every fan who follows Jericho on Twitter know that he's bound to leave soon after Summerslam. And WWE even promotes the use of Twitter on top of that. Logic??

It's just sad how they can't think of something new to send off their superstars.

 

[wooooo]

The Rock winning the 2000 Royal Rumble was pretty predictable, it was either going to be him or Big Show.


Also the winner takes all match at Survivor Series 2001, who really thought the Alliance was going to win?

 

[Airehk]

Whenever there is someone challenging a champion at the next PPV and they have a match against someone that "oughta slow 'em down" on the way.

Either the Challenger at the PPV will win, or it will end in a no contest via the Champ interfering.

 

[Wald]

Royal Rumble matches where a top line guy comes back from a serious injury with a 'miracle'

Has worked for Triple H, HBK, Edge and Cena, will probably be used again.

Also, and I don't know if this aired in the States or if it was just Sky Sports screwing things up but Survivor Series 1997 was ruined for those of us who weren't following dirt sheets (a lot at that time as the internet was just taking off and we didn't have those dial in numbers) when an advert for the next WWF PPV was aired before the Bret vs HBK match, the PPV in question was named D-Generation X. My jaw nearly hit the floor when I saw it as I had no idea Bret was leaving the company.

Granted we still got the screwjob to make us forget about it, but it was one of those giant screw-ups that companies do sometimes

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Right now, Undertaker's WM matches are always predictable. I am almost certain that he will retire with the streak unbroken, and you know he is going to win each year at The Big One. However, that isn't always a bad thing. His recent 'Mania efforts against Shawn Michaels, Edge, Triple H and Batista have all been great matches, and even though you knew The 'Taker was going to win, they were that well done that you ended up doubting what you knew as the match progressed, which shows how good Undertaker is.

Bret Hart v Vince was another very obvious match, did anyone really think Hart would lose after returning to the WWE after about 15 years of bitter feuding with Vince? Bret was going over in that match 100%.

Heath Slater v all of the legends- the whole point of that angle was to see Slater lose to legends each week. So every time another ex-stars music hit you knew The One Man Rock Band was going to be staring at the lights.

 

[Dangers93]

Randy Orton winning the 2009 Royal Rumble, with all the focus on him and the storlyline showing he was about to be fired this was the only logical choice as well as no one else had even been promoted as a competitor.