No Way Out 2009 Discussion

[Mighty NorCal]

Well, there is a slight glimmer of hope for a Shelton Benjamin-MVP US title match. One can only hope. we may finally get a little bit of mid card title action, as MVP and Benjamin had TWO interactions tonight, and Shelton cut a promo on MVP as well. It would seem they are continuing to build an angle with the Colons and M&M, which I am hoping to all high hopes that we can have a unifacation. It seems as if NWO is too close for something that big to just be randomly announced though. maybe maybe. they DO need to fill the rest of the card.

I also want you all to heed my warning. The RAW EC is going to outpreform the SD! EC. The RAW guys have a better array of big bump guys, and the guys in the RAW EC have nothing to loose, and everything to gain. All the guys in the SD one will be figuring into HUGE matches come Mania, do you really think they are going to risk one of them getting seriously injured?? Im not saying they are gonna pussy book it, I just very strongly feel that the RAW chamber has a FAR higher ceiling for how crazy it could get.

 

[klunderbunker]

WHAT???

How can you possibly think Raw is goign to beat SD? Think about it. SD's match has so much more star power than Raw. On Raw you have Cena and Jericho. Rey is midcard anymore, Kane and Knox are there to hold places and Kofi is there to see how he fits in. Really, what's Jericho and Knox going to do in this thing?

Let's take a look at Smackdown now. We start with HHH, the most decorated guy in WWE history. he's instant credibility so we'll say he and Cena cancel each other out. Jeff Hardy, possibly the most over guy there is right now, and Taker are the other two faces. Do you really want to compare those two to Kofi and Rey? Then it's Kozlov, a fighting machine, and the Big Show, an animal, locked in a cage. That makes perfect sense for them and makes them seem right at home as the monsters. Kane is a Show wannabe and Knox hasn't proven he can do anything but one move.

Come on Norcal. You're smarter than that.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

What are Jericho and Knox going to do??? Jericho, for one, os going to get destroyed, and bleed, most likely. Knox, is going to be doing some cold, calculating beat downs. Star Power schmar power. I say the SD! chamber is filled with a bunch of plodding behemoths, rather than low weight huge bump Takers. The mix of guys in the varying matches just gives RAW every last oppurtunity to to outpreform them, on an entertainment level.

 

[klunderbunker]

Why would you want to calculate beatdowns in a place that's supposed to be hell on earth? Show and Kozlov are people that you're supposed to run from. IN the cage, there's nowhere to run. Knox and Kane will stumble around and it won't make sense for the fast guys to nail them with everything they've got. Rey is too small to even make it look believable. Hardy's style is perfect against big men. He sells like no one else and it'll benefit him greatly.

Now onto the biggest reason why SD is better: the ending isn't predictable. On Raw, Cena is winning, end of argument. On SD, HHH couuld steal it for a reign, as could Hardy. Kozlov and Show won't get it, but Taker in a gimmick match is something you can rarely bet against. So you have 4 to 1. How can you say Raw is better?

 

[TheOneBigWill]

What are Jericho and Knox going to do??? Jericho, for one, os going to get destroyed, and bleed, most likely. Knox, is going to be doing some cold, calculating beat downs. Star Power schmar power. I say the SD! chamber is filled with a bunch of plodding behemoths, rather than low weight huge bump Takers. The mix of guys in the varying matches just gives RAW every last oppurtunity to to outpreform them, on an entertainment level.

While Raw's Elimination Chamber is setting them up to give them a chance to out-do their Smackdown competition, by way of shocking and amazing. The fact is the Raw line-up has been set so low to the ground, only a colossal breakdown would cause it to be even less disappointing.

Smackdown's chamber is apparently; Edge, Triple H., Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, Big Show & Vladimir Kozlov. The only odd man out is Kozlov, and he's undefeated going in.. which means he'll have to take a pinfall loss, or win the match. (assumably)

Meanwhile, Big Show is going to be hell to attempt getting out, as he's big and powerful. (see Extreme Elimination) H.H.H. is an uncrowned king in the Chamber, while Taker won this event last year. Edge is the unknown in this match, and Hardy will remain the ultimate bump taker I'd assume.

But on the flip side, you have Raw's chamber. Kane is nothing more than a name that's still meant to be 'top tier' yet he hasn't won anything meaningful in quite some time. (You can't really count the E.C.W. title, either, as it was held by Chavo at the time)

Mike Knox being in a Pay per view, Main Event, Heavyweight Championship match is the biggest joke I've seen/heard since the Dudleys getting duel title shots in a Fatal Four Way.

Mysterio inside the Elimination Chamber is about as stupid as Hornswoggle against Khali. Sure, he could be a bump taker, but with as banged up as he's been, do you actually expect him to hit a lot of high risk stuff off the Chamber?

Kingston is a nice addition, and one I'd agree with if it weren't for the lack of overall talent surrounding him. Honestly, I'd rather see C.M. Punk in the match, since at least Punk has some type of slight proven ability in Heavyweight title situations..

Jericho should be the last guy against Cena, but I wouldn't doubt that he'd go out early, leaving Knox to be the guy, or Kane. Which is a shame, considering Jericho should be the main guy to carry everyone else in this match.

Finally, anyone who doesn't believe Cena won't walk in and out the Champion is just not thinking clearly.

So, in closing, I can't see how you can think the Raw Chamber could remotely touch the Smackdown one.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Im not sure what ahhh, level we are even talking about on here anymore. I dont know how I can get this across any easier. Lets see


SD! = Star power, and a slightly less predictable finish

RAW = Huge bumpers, high entertainment value, WAY predictable finish.

So, therin, the RAW chamber has a MUCH better ability to be MORE ENTERTAINING than the SD! one.The SD! one is full of plodders, guys who can be brutal, but dont bump exceptionally (sans Hardy) and arent quick movers. Sure, Edge and Hardy will probably go hard, as will Triple H. Everyone in the RAW chamber has far more to gain by going absolutely crazy than the SD! guys do. and you KNOW, in the backstage, the two shows will likely have friendly competition on who can put on the better chamber. RAW Just so happens to be equipped with the personel to do it. RAW's chamber will OUTPREFORM SD!'s chamber.

 

[klunderbunker]

What's the most important part of a match? The finish. Think back to WM 12's Ironman match. Who cares what happened in the majority of the match. People care about the ending. Same with Hogan and Andre in what might be the most famous match of all time. No one cares what happens in the beginning of a match at least for the most part. Who cares about the bumps in this match? If people know where the match ends up, why should they care? On Smackdown, given Edge's history of short title reigns, this could be the end of his 7th reign with the title, making the match MUCH more interesting to watch.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I have to agree with NorCal on this one. Raw's elimination chamber will be more entertaining to me despite how we all know Cena is going to retain and his opponents aren't even close to as big of names as the ones in the Smackdown EC.

Part of the reason I'm more interested in Raw is because we don't know who is going to eliminate who. Think about the Smackdown one. HHH is obviously going to pin Kozlov for his own ego, so there's no point in Kozlov being in that match. Undertaker and Big Show cancel each other out, and either Big Show eliminates Undertaker and is eliminated by HHH or the more likely option that Taker eliminates Show and then Taker is eliminated by Kozlov. Jeff could very well be the last person before he's screwed by Matt. Smackdown's elimination chamber is equally as predictable since we all know HHH/Edge is gonna be at WrestleMania (UGH that fucking pisses me off). Sure, we know that Cena isn't going to lose to any of the Raw guys, but the same goes for Edge not losing to anybody. Kozlov, Big Show, and Taker have the same chance of winning as Kane, Knox, and Kingston. So all you have to do is wonder about who Edge will pin last: either Hardy clean or from Matt interference, or HHH by interference (we know he won't be pinned clean; he never, ever is...). Not exactly thrilling an unpredictable when you really truly examine it, is it?

Smackdown's chamber is filled with the entire main event scene from that roster, essentially, and while the names are clearly of better caliber than the ones on Raw, that also brings back the point NorCal mentions above: none of them are gonna risk getting injured. If Raw does something crazy and they lose Mike Knox, does it matter? Not nearly as much as Smackdown losing the Undertaker.

PLUS, who has more to prove? Kingston and Knox have an opportunity here to try to perform well enough that the WWE considers them actual main event talent. Logically, they're going to be trying harder in this match than any other match in their careers. Can you say the same for any of the Smackdown participants? Kozlov is the only one who has anything to gain from it, but he's in a position where he's DEFINITELY not going to win the title and he simultaneously has to lose his undefeated streak, which was the absolute only thing that was giving him the slightest bit of confidence as he clearly isn't connecting with the crowd they way they want him to and all plans of having him become a dominant WWE champion are definitely on the shelf if not eradicated completely. He's not going to win the title at No Way Out and main event WrestleMania. No chance in hell. So what confidence does he have going into the match? He has absolutely nothing to gain and absolutely everything to lose, while Knox and Kofi have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

THEN there's the issue of familiarity. How many times have we seen Taker/Show, HHH/Show, HHH/Edge, Taker/Edge, HHH/Kozlov? Compare that to how many times we've seen Cena/Kingston, Jericho/Kingston, Cena/Knox, Jericho/Kane, etc. Not nearly as much. I'd rather watch Cena against Knox for something different than to sit through the exact same layout of a HHH/Show match.

Both are predictable, but Raw has more flexibility when it comes to its entertainment.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

The thing is though.. will anyone care? I mean, obviously a couple people are hyped about Raw's Chamber because dispite being predictable, you all believe it'll be entertaining. But what if it's not? Then it's lame, and predictable.

While I can't expect Big Show, or Kozlov to win the Smackdown Chamber, and I don't expect Hardy to either.. the shear thought of Taker, Edge and Triple H. having a 3-way showdown is excitement to the max.

I'm sorry, I get the entertainment levels Raw's chamber could have, but I just can't get overly excited about any Main Event with Mike Knox being remotely pushed as a serious contender for any Heavyweight title.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

The star power doesn't always equal more fun though. HHH is one of the 5 biggest names in the company, but I can't sit through 9/10 of his matches without being bored out of my mind. Undertaker and Big Show have had enough matches together within the past few months where nothing has changed, so I'll be watching the same couple of spots again and again. Kozlov I find to be a horrifying bore no matter who he's up against so far, so I'm not excited in the slightest bit to watch him against any of the 5.

Edge/Taker/Hardy are three of my favorite guys and I enjoy watching them a lot, but when you throw in the other 3, it makes it laborious. Its like when they had Finlay in Smackdown's chamber last year. I fall asleep watching Finlay do his butt-slam and his short clotheslines in repetitive sequences. Any time he was the focus last year, it sucked the energy right out of the room for me.

Knox isn't a main event guy, and he surely is no Shawn Michaels when it comes to carrying a match, but I haven't seen him wrestle for more than 2 minutes at a time against jobbers and such for the most part. Now, if they just have Knox go up against Mysterio the entire time, I'll be bored as well, cause I've seen the whole "Mysterio kicks a big guy in the legs a bunch of times" act more than I've wanted to.

I just can't see Smackdown being anything more than equally or more predictable, taking less chances, showing us the same few moves we've seen (ie, Big Show ducks his head down and HHH picks him up and makes him headbutt his knee.....******ed move......HHH gets a spinebuster out of nowhere and does his pose....Taker puts his hand on someone's neck but doesn't do anything cause they kick him instead...etc), and on top of that, nothing fun will happen in it when it comes to being able to cheer someone who gets eliminated. Being a big fan of Hardy and Undertaker and having to watch them lose + having to watch HHH dominate and look strong and never look weak + having to watch boring Kozlov + having to watch Kozlov lose for no reason + Big Show being a guaranteed elimination and being able to call it a mile a way as Taker eliminating him is not the slightest surprise = leaving an incredibly sour taste in my mouth. At least with Raw's chamber, you don't know who is going to eliminate who, outside of that its guaranteed Cena will pin the last guy.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

thats another fine part of this, from NoFate.

HOW MANY FUUUUUCKING TIIIMES have we seen these guys in the SD! chamber go with each other...I shall count, but be advised these are just rough estimates...

Edge Vs Taker in some manner- 374,029,384,368

Trips-Hardy in some manner - 298,872,843,894

Big Show Vs Taker in some manner - 283,985,298,398 (I had to watch it LIIIVE AGAIN!! and it wasnt even on TV!!!)

so on, and so forth. fucking a. We havent really seen a mix of a lot of the guys in the RAW EC, at least not nearly to the extent the SD! guys have been at it. Cena hasnt had much interaction with most of the guys in there, save for Jeritron, and even THEM two only wrestled three times within the last few months. The whole entire chamber is a pretty fresh mix, with guys who havent fought each other nearly as much, and certainley not in this enviornment. Some of the guys in the RAW chamber have NOT EVER made contact, period, or have been very sparingly. Much fresher face offs in that one.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

It's fine if you're tired of the same thing, but you do realize that thus is the whole base for feuds. To repeat match-ups, over and over again. Even to the point of driving them into the ground.

Smackdown's chamber match, to me, is exciting because of it's star-power. So what if each individual has matched up in some manner.. so has the Raw chamber entrants.

(Knox/Mysterio, Kane/Mysterio, Jericho/Mysterio, Jericho/Cena, Cena/Kane) Kingston is the only true mystery, to which I'm excited to see him in action.

People wanna complain about SD's entrants because they're older names, or they've constantly been in the Main Event. That's it, that's all. But the thing is, they're IN the Main Event for a reason. Because they continue to electrify. They continue to put on good matches with one another, enough to make people still apparently buy the shows to continue watching them.

There is a reason Knox isn't in Main Events all the time. He's got nothing that stands out, with exception of a beard. Knox ruins the entire thing for me. I get building Kingston. I even get Kane's lame ass being involved, and Jericho being the top heel, as Orton is consumed elsewhere, as are JBL & HBK.. but Knox being added is just because they have no apparent alternative.. which is truly depressing, if Punk isn't added to an extra match-up, and completely left off the card.

The bottomline is.. SD's chamber IS going to be the better of the two, because they have proven names. Whereas you're risking and chancing on Raw's guy's to come through.. mainly because it's a shear hope and a chance. But going back to the beginning, why is it such? Because SD's chamber is the building block for the entire ppv.

People are, and will most likely be buying this product for SD's chamber, or the chamber as a whole. NOT to see Mike Knox, or Kane, in meaningless Heavyweight title spots.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

I don't think anybody can argue against Smackdown being a better draw. That's obvious. But that doesn't necessarily mean it will be entertaining in the slightest bit.

For instance, we haven't really seen Cena against Mysterio one on one in a feud, right? Both are popular guys, so people would be interested in seeing it. Does that mean it'll be executed well? Not necessarily. It could be an absolute bomb.

The Smackdown stars (outside of Kozlov) are definitely still in the main event for a reason, I'm not arguing that either. Nor am I agreeing with those people that say Undertaker, HBK, HHH, and Big Show should constantly be putting over the younger guys and "they're too old" and all that. What I am saying though, is that the Smackdown Elimination Chamber this time around offers absolutely nothing that we haven't seen in the past few months.

We've seen Undertaker and Big Show a bunch of times in various gimmick matches, and this is a type of gimmick match that is even more limited than a Last Man Standing and such because they have a limited amount of space. Big Show is limited in what he can do as it is, so we can only see the same things coming out of this that we've seen before.

HHH and Big Show have had a Last Man Standing match and other singles matches. Same case here.

HHH and Edge we're going to be getting at WrestleMania, and although I'll be bored out of my mind watching it then most likely, they're still not going to want to give away too much of it here. So while we haven't really seen the two in a singles match since Great American Bash (in which their match was nothing outside of generic anyway), we can't see much of it at No Way Out either.

Jeff and Edge I'd like to see again...but this isn't a singles match, and most likely the only time we'll see just the two of them together will be when Jeff is about to be screwed over by Matt. Nothing special there.

Kozlov is boring no matter what. I'd rather there not even be a 6th person in comparison to having him in there. So there's nothing exciting about that to me. Knox and Kozlov are equals in my opinion, except Knox is more entertaining to watch. The only difference between their "main event status" is that the WWE wanted to push Kozlov by having him do virtually nothing for the past 6 months while Knox is just getting around to his push now.

If you argue that main event status automatically equals a guaranteed more entertaining match, then you're basically saying that Big Show vs Khali is by default a better match than anything Evan Bourne vs Cody Rhodes could put on, simply because Show and Khali are bigger names. Know what I mean?

Smackdown's elimination chamber has 5 guys that have the POTENTIAL to put on 100x better of a match than Raw's....but there are too many factors that take all that potential away, such as risk of injuries, limited move sets (especially for Show, HHH, and Taker), having seen 90% of it already within the past few months, and having the participant eliminations be even more predictable than the ones on Raw as we know that it won't be totally random with Jeff Hardy eliminating Big Show, Taker eliminating HHH, Kozlov eliminating Jeff Hardy, and Edge eliminating Kozlov lol.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Sweet ass. No RAW filler was thrown on the card tonight, so we maybe just MAYBE might get a US title match of MVP Vs Shelton. Sadly though, CM PUnk and Regal seemed to have the dfinitive match in their Program on RAW, so I dont think I could a spot for Punk on the show, which sucks. Hopefully we can get one more match, and that can be the US title. It may seem a tad rushed, yes, but the US title NEEDS to be back on MVP, quickly. Not sure if we will even GET another match on the show, but im hoping so.

 

[klunderbunker]

I can't imagine that we just get 5 matches. That's the same as there were at the Rumble meaning that the ECs would have to go about 30 minutes apiece. Come to think of it that likely will be the case. Sadly enough, it does indeed look like Punk will be left off the card. *Le sigh* so much for the IC title being promoted up higher. They couldn't have put Punk and Regal on NWO? Fits in an extra 10-12 minute match and gets the title on PPV. It was a pretty good match tonight so why not?

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Agreed. there shouldve been some sort of unclean finish, with Layla interefereing, and Regal winning, then Steph reversing the decision, and have a one on one final match for the belt, with Layla barred from ring side. something stupid like that. Wouldve made the title seem more important than just not being on the show at all.

To be honest, I can see this really just staying with five matches. ECs take a long time, and are usually fucking crazy. I dont see them both taking 30, but easily 20 a peice, with likely 25 for the SD one. Of course you can likely count on a stupid ass Diva segment for V day, so thatll take up some time.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yeah i hadn't thought about the divas. Has to be a costume contest or something in there. Or there's always the possiblility of a Khali kiss cam thing. That's the problem with the EC matches. They take up so much time and so many guys that there's not a lot of room for the mid card to get on the show. We get no tag champions, women's champions or mid card champions. Couldn't Punk and Shelton have been put into the chambers and have Kozlov and Rey not been in there instead? At least the champions look like real contenders.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Punk Vs Shelton interbrand special match wouldve been badass. You couldve had an interbrand mid card title match, and another interbrand Tag champion match, just to flesh out the card for us a little more. Instead we will likely get a Diva segment that goes on about 10 minutes too long, a Khali kiss cam, 8 recaps, (you know they are at LEAST doing one for HBK-JBL, and RKO - Shane, and possibly even the ECW title...) a HornSwaggle segment, a OH SO HILARIOUS Boogeyman appearance, and then the card they have now.

 

[Khalifa]

I am really excited for this PPV. Just like I was last year, even tho it was really predictable. This year the chambers are really easy to know who is going to win. I don't see Cena loosing it yet and Edge wouldn't have another 1 month title reign. Just seeing what happens in the chamber is good enough for me. For example for SD; who will be eliminated first, how far does Koslov and Hardy make it, What impact does Matt Hardy have in this match?

Raw is alright I guess. I was surprised Mike knox getting in. Kofi sort of just needs that confidence boost and this will help him. As for the ECW title. It should be a good match. NWO could very well be the B ppv of the year.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yeah which will mean nothing at all on all of them. They were teasing Miz/Morrison vs. the Colons. Why couldn't we get that match? Or Punk/Shelton like you said? The brands mean nothing at all for the most part anymore so why not? It could set up a potential title unification so why not? Both titles would be helped by it. I guess it's trying to get the sports entertainment fans involved.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Punk Vs Shelton interbrand special match wouldve been badass. You couldve had an interbrand mid card title match, and another interbrand Tag champion match, just to flesh out the card for us a little more.

Yeah I think we'll be seeing that at Mania, Shelton vs. Punk vs. Swagger. It'd make sence really. Swagger isn't big enough to be involved in a singles match, Shelton is always in the MITB match and Punk is possibly too big for the Money In The Bank match now. It's not like anybody would expect him to win anyway.

But they should still have him defend the belt at No Way Out. Open Challenge and all that. It's sad how he and Rey got on the card for a title shot, but the actual belt hasn't been on PPV since a comedy match between Santino & Honky Tonk Man.

 

[PG era is the best]

I can't imagine that we just get 5 matches. That's the same as there were at the Rumble meaning that the ECs would have to go about 30 minutes apiece. Come to think of it that likely will be the case. Sadly enough, it does indeed look like Punk will be left off the card. *Le sigh* so much for the IC title being promoted up higher. They couldn't have put Punk and Regal on NWO? Fits in an extra 10-12 minute match and gets the title on PPV. It was a pretty good match tonight so why not?

Dude their going to have a IC title match at WM25 I much rather they fight their then on this horrible PPV.

As far as the chamber matches go they both suck in my eyes the only good chamber match has been the first one the kill this gimmick just like they did the Hell in a Cell when it first came to be

 

[cmdave]

SWAGGER vs FINLAY!
would love finlay to win BUT methinks that swagger will retain and then possibly set up a match with dreamer at WM25!

JBL vs HBK!
i really cnt see HBK losing, the idea of JBL owning HBK is rubbish! i personally dnt like JBL, i dnt like the gimmick and i never can take him seriously enough as a main eventer! HBKs gona win and end the storyline with JBL! then start something with the undertaker at WM25! (when HBK bumped into the deadman at royal rumble, i think a lil seed was planted!) let me know what u think on that one!

RANDY ORTON vs SHANE O'MAC!
quite simply i think orton will wipe the floor with shane, going into mania orton needs a big performance and that will back him up going into the main event! still not sure what title he will go for tho, we had orton cena last year, possibly orton edge? let me know what u think!

WHC ELIMINATION CHAMBER!
i would put my house and my parents on john cena retaining at no way out, i mean really its obvious methinks! ur not gona take the title of the biggest drawing superstar before the biggest drawing ppv are you? no shocks in this one, just cena plain and simple!

WWE TITLE ELIMINATION CHAMBER!
this one is difficult! their are so many different things that could happen! first off at some point uve gota think matt will screw jeff again! one thing that stands out is that koslov is going into the match undefeated, after the huge push and hype he's had thus far..........its worth pondering! undertaker and triple h wont win, something tells me their moments are being saved for WM25! i think edge will sneak it somehow or other and go to mania as champ! as for big show, possibly a joint elimanation from the other superstars in the match!

AND FINALLY................
i know everyone keeps talking bout it. christian, if he's really coming back then no way out would probly the last chance he would have to return..............who knows! bring on sunday!

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

FINAL NO WAY OUT PREDICTIONS

Five matches? That's it? Hm. Seems a bit odd we're not getting a women's match, but I'm not really complaining...although I would've liked to have seen Morrison/Miz or Punk get on the card somewhere...or even Shelton vs MVP. Oh well.


ECW Championship: Jack Swagger vs. Finlay
--Only two things can happen here and two things only. Either Swagger pins Finlay clean and starts up a feud with Christian, or there's some sort of weird ending where Swagger retains but Finlay stays involved and we get some sort of three-way feud between these two guys and Christian just to get Finlay on the WrestleMania card without being in the Money in the Bank match. Either way, I don't see Finlay winning the title here or anytime soon. As far as the match itself goes, I'm not a fan of either guy and I didn't enjoy their previous match, so I highly doubt I'll be busting a nut over this one.

All or Nothing: HBK vs. JBL
--HBK wins. Not much else to talk about here. This is the climax of their story.

No Holds Barred: Randy Orton vs. Shane McMahon
--Should be fun, but not particularly enthralling. Orton obviously has to win here and destroy Shane in order to make a good impression to start his WrestleMania program.

WWE Championship: Edge vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Undertaker vs. HHH vs. Big Show vs. Vladimir Kozlov
--I really could care less. As I've said before, its so ridiculous that Kozlov is going to have to lose to most likely HHH for absolutely no reason other than to stroke Paul's ego. Undertaker will eliminate Big Show probably and get eliminated by Kozlov, who gets eliminated by HHH, and we're down to three guys. Somehow Edge squeaks out with the win looking totally incapable of being champion while Hardy gets screwed by Matt and/or HHH just looks like he dominated everyone and lost only by cheating. The idea of having HHH main event WrestleMania, beat Edge, and close out the show winning another championship that we have to watch him defend for many more months (because we know HHH isn't going to allow himself to be one of the "short reign" champions like everyone else has had recently. He's the exception to all rules. :rolls eyes: ) just puts such a sour taste in my mouth that I can't enjoy this at all and I won't be able to enjoy most of WrestleMania either, nor will I be enjoying any parts of Smackdown that deal with him joking with Vickie and getting the upperhand on Edge and whatnot.

World Heavyweight Championship: John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Mike Knox vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio
--Despite how its so obvious Cena will win, and how I don't like watching Mysterio perform (especially against Knox and Kane due to the whole "I kick your legs and then pin you" crap), this should be a fun match. Jericho is a consistent performer, Kofi is fun and could step up his game, etc. I just hope they throw some curveballs here and don't allow Mysterio to pin or dominate Knox or Kane. If Mysterio eliminates anybody, I hope its Kofi or Jericho. They need to stop making the big guys look like garbage when they're facing Mysterio. Sure, he's over with the crowd, but you're destroying any "monster" cred these guys are having by making them lose consistently to the smallest guy on the roster outside of the midget leprechaun. I'd expect Jericho to be the last one Cena eliminates, but I say, have some fun with it. We all know he'll retain, so why not give that final spot to Knox or Kofi and give us something different just for the hell of it?


Overall I'm expecting this ppv to be incredibly mediocre and absolutely nothing worth paying for....at best.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I said this a few times last year, but this is the first time i'm saying it this year:

I'm really glad i'm not paying for this PPV.

I guess there's still time for a bonus match to be added, but i won't hold my breath. There'll blatantly be a stupid Diva segment, which will probably involve Boogeyman or Santino (or both) instead.

But anyway, here's aG3Nt's predictions (i don't think i've ever been as certain of what the results of a PPV will be in my life):


Swagger v Finlay

I can't see Swagger losing this to be honest. I'd book it so that Hornswoggle will intefere on Finlay's behalf, and Finlay will get the pinfall, but the decision will get reversed by the referee after a replay or another ref comes out and tells him, and he will award the match to Swagger. However, I predict that instead Swagger will just smack Hornswoggle a few times and beat Finlay in an ok match. Christian will probably appear with one of those 'i'm coming for your title' looks on his face afterward.

JBL v HBK

Let me get this straight. HBK wins, he gets paid. JBL wins he owns HBK's trademarks and likeness. Does that mean he'd just get all HBK's extra money from merch, or that HBK still has to do JBL's dirty work and mope all the time? Because if it means that JBL is still HBKs boss, then i could see JBL going over HBK, and then FORCING him to wrestle Taker at WM. If that's not how it works, then HBK will defintely win in a match that you'd expect to see on Raw, not a PPV.

Shane McMahon v Randy Orton

If Shane McMahon wins this match, it will completely kill Orton's momentum and make his whole push thus far pointless. How are we supposed to believe that 39 yr old Shane McMahon who's last match was HIAC 2006, is going to beat 30 yr old Randy Orton who has 2 guys backing him up, and isn't above the idea of just letting Cody and Ted beat Shane shitless and then crucifying the guy for Vince and Steph to watch. I could even see Steph getting RKO'd tomorrow night, i really could.

Shane will do a a couple of nice spots, but will end up broken, beaten and scarred.

There's not a shadow of doubt that Orton's got this one in the bag.

RAW EC

(Sigh) Cena will win. What they should do, is have Kane and Knox work together to eliminate everyone, and then Knox eliminate Kane and then Knox goes out some 3 seconds later, or Jericho eliminates one of them, then he gets eliminated by the other, and then Cena gets the last elimination. I think it should start with Jericho and Rey, Kane should come in, then Kofi, then Cena and then Knox, and Kane and Knox should destroy Rey and Kofi, and then end as i said before.

This one should be one first, because it's the one with the most predictable ending.

SD EC

Man, i hate that this is how Koslov's streak is going to end. Unless we have the swerve of the century and he wins the title (only to lose it immediately on the next SD! of course to either HHH or Edge), i pray to GOD that HHH is NOT the guy to pin him. Make Taker do it, or maybe even Edge, but none of the other guys.

I don't honestly see how Matt Hardy is going to interfere unless he comes up through the ring, or runs in as the door is open to let someone out, while Jeff and Edge are the last two guys left, which i honestly think is who it'll come down to.

I think we should have Vlad and Edge start, followed by HHH, followed by Show, then Jeff and then Taker, with Show going out first, then Koslov (if he's going to def lose), then probably Taker from a spear out of the blue, then HHH and finally Edge beats Jeff.

The ONLY impact this show will have on WM will be revealing who Christain faces for the ECW title.