It’s the first post draft Pay Per View event and for the first time in I don’t know how long, Smackdown has more matches on the card than Raw and ECW combined. On paper the card looks strong with five matches on the card that could each be match of the night. Let’s hope they don’t disappoint and as you’re getting ready for Judgment Day, here’s what the Pulse team thinks is going to happen on Sunday night.
WWE Championship:
Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista
Brad Curran: Orton’s not losing the belt this early, so the finish is the only thing in doubt. Does Orton go over strong or do we get Legacy run ins or even a DQ? Hopefully the match will be good; they’ve had some solid ones over the years, as recently as December at Armageddon. I imagine the feud will drag on until the Hs comes back from his punting, so hopefully the matches will be solid.
Winner: Randy Orton
Mark Allen: With all the built-in history between these two guys how can they produce such a boring feud? Last week’s RAW was one of the most boring in a long while. I’m also fairly certain this feud won’t be done after this match, and that Triple H will probably return here and perhaps cost Batista the match.
Winner – Randy Orton
Raffi Shamir: Batista is the guy who always gets title matches but doesn’t win them. This week will be no different. I hope that with the draft settling in, we’ll get to see some longer title reigns in order to reestablish the prestige of the titles. With Orton only winning the title last month, he should keep it. No doubt he’ll have some help from Priceless. Speaking of them, I’d love to see them beat the Colons for the tag titles, so that Legacy will actually have some credibility as a stable. Priceless are portrayed as cowardly and weak and hopefully some gold will change that. It will be like Evolution holding all the titles, except less good.
Winner: Randy Orton
Matthew Michaels: Randy needs to hold onto the belt for a while, at least until HHH comes back or another babyface is elevated on Raw. Batista winning doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, I guess if he gets outside help from Sim Snuka or something. Uh.
Winner – Orton
Andrew Wheeler: As I’m sure all of the other writes have point out by now, Judgment Day looks like a pretty weak card. Unlike some of the other writers, I think this is a great thing to see. For the first time in a while, the WWE is making a companywide push for younger talent. The top of the WWE is suddenly bereft of The Undertaker, Triple H and Shawn Michaels. On top of that, there are three world title matches on this PPV and none of them feature John Cena. Even WWE television has shown signs of change, with MVP, John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin and CM Punk being given something of a direction. With that said, our main event still sucks. Randy Orton and Batista is the ultimate placeholder match, but it does make sense for the WWE to pull the trigger on it now. Randy and Dave were the so-called future of Evolution, but since leaving the group they’ve taken two divergent paths. Batista dominated Friday Night Smackdown for a little over three years, with multiple World Heavyweight Title runs. Randy, on the other hand, hovered right around the main event world but was bogged down by injuries and personal issues. Now? Randy Orton is the top heel in the company and the center of the lamely titled WWE Universe. Batista, on the other hand, has become the odd man out on RAW, with his appearance in this main event match feeling forced and unearned. How sad is it that the guy who pretty much carried Smackdown for years can’t even seem like a credible contender on a minor PPV? This storyline is essentially a continuation of Hunter and the McMahons versus Randy, with Dave playing de facto McMahon-ite. The nice thing about having Batista fight Orton here is that this is how the company can get the most value out of the Animal. Hunter’s off television and thanks to RAW a few weeks ago, Shane’s gone as well. The storyline itself has more pathos than has been conveyed; the evil upstart and his band of disrespectful henchmen have taken out the figurehead of the company, his daughter, his son and his son-in-law. Now, the only man between the evil power-mad champion and total control is a lone wolf fighting to stop his onetime ally. Hmm…sounds exciting. What have we gotten? A lot of nonsensical Batista promos where he waffles back and forth between smarmy face winking at the crowd and unstoppable berserker who seems to destroy his opponents almost as fast as he does the crowd’s enthusiasm. I begged for years for Batista to be turned heel, but the company never followed through. With Batista the last top babyface on RAW aside from John Cena (who thankfully has been kept pretty far away from Legacy), it is a no-brainer that he finally get a title shot. Will he win? Of course not. If Batista, after about a three week build-up, wins the belt, then this was all for nothing. Sure, Legacy has been made to look weak against Batista and Shane, but as long as they get the last laugh the WWE spin machine can make them look unstoppable again. So what’s the endgame? Why, The Game of course. Batista’s probably going to get the upper hand on Orton when Legacy somehow interferes. This will draw out the returning Hunter, who will probably arrive with his sledgehammer. He’ll take out Ted and Cody and then Randy, which will draw the DQ. This allows Hunter to retake center stage for his feud with Orton AND give Dave a gripe about not getting pinned. Where do we go from here? Triple threat which will eventually peel off into Hunter/Batista so that Randy is freed up to feud with Cena in time for Summerslam. It’s so easy yet so dull. Oh well, such is RAW. (Not to mention the fact that if Vince gets itchy, he can slingshot Batista back to Friday nights to be the top babyface…ugh)
Winner: Randy Orton will STILL be your WWE Champion
World Heavyweight Championship:
Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
Brad Curran: If we hadn’t had so many world title changes lately, I could see Hardy (to swerve the smart marks) or Punk (it’s his home town) winning the belt here. But we have, and Edge could use a decent sized reign for once, so I see him retaining.
Winner: Edge
Mark Allen: With Jeff’s contract rumors I don’t expect that Jeff will walk out as Champion. Edge has had nine reigns and I don’t one of them last over three months, so I’d like to see Edge have a long-ish reign. I’d like to use this forum to herald how awesome the SmackDown main event scene is with Edge, Hardy, Jericho, Mysterio, Punk, Umaga and Kane, among others that could be inserted in and out for fresh matches. SmackDown is truly the most entertaining show of the brands right now.
Winner – Edge
What I said about longer title reigns applies here even more. The Smackdown championship, regardless of how it’s called, has changed too many hands in the last six months and needs nothing more than stability. Plus, Edge needs one title reign that lasts more than a month and now’s the chance to give it to him. The match will be good, I have no doubt in that and Jeff Hardy will look like a champ, but in the end Edge must win this one, especially after Hardy highlighted Edge’s win-loss pattern.
Winner: Edge
Matthew Michaels: I’d much rather see the current champs hold onto their belts for a while. Edge losing to Hardy only makes sense if Jeff has a long title reign in him, and with rumors of his contract ending soon, I just don’t see it.
Winner – Edge
Andrew Wheeler: Edge is the ultimate company man. Edge is even more a company man than John Cena and Triple H. How can I say such a ludicrous statement? Because over the past several years it’s been true. Edge has done everything asked of him by management for over a decade, and his reward has been handsome. Edge was the recipient of so many botched face pushes that they tend to blend together. Whether he was rallying his Edge-heads of teaming with Hogan, the fans seemed to respond to face Edge with a resounding “mehâ€. As a heel, Edge has been deadly. He’s been deadly good also. When his indiscretion with Lita was leaked, he turned a negative into a major positive and was willing to let the WWE turn it into a storyline. When they brought Matt Hardy back, Edge didn’t object to Creative turning THAT into more storyline gold. Edge added credibility to the Money in the Bank gimmick and has won the strap nine times. Unlike Hunter, where we would all assume that the constant title wins was an effort to overtake Flair, Edge has become world champion so many times because he consistently shows he can carry the ball. When Edge is your heel champion, your show has a solid center to gravitate around. Edge brought out the best in The Undertaker, John Cena and even Batista. Even better? Edge can get any lame storyline over. He turned the “married to the GM†ickiness into the hottest heel power couple since the days of Stephanie and Hunter. Who else could have taken what felt like exploitation of Eddie’s widow and turned her into a heel with nuclear heat? Why am I putting Edge over so much? Its not because I’m some delusional Edge mark (though I am fond of his in-ring and promo work), but because I want to point out the contrast between Edge and Jeff Hardy. Unlike Edge, Jeff Hardy has blown his opportunities at the top because of personality issues, not injuries. Jeff Hardy is great in the ring when he wants to be, but he’s hardly reliable. Take this out of the arena of sports entertainment and simply think about it as entertainment; if you were writing a weekly television show, would you cast your lead as the actor who shows up for work every day or the actor who flakes time and time again. The WWE can always capitalize on Jeff Hardy because fans love him. He’s a guy that got over on his own devices. Put Jeff Hardy anywhere on the card and he’ll get a pop. Jeff Hardy is also the guy we’re always waiting on for the other shoe to drop. The company and the fans always try to believe in him, and he always seems to let everybody down. I don’t buy for a minute this whole nobility thing in asking for more and more time off. Yes, the road is rigorous, but it’s the job they picked. Look at TNA. That company is moments away from going belly up, partially due to the fact that their top guys won’t work house shows. Who the hell is going to pay the full ticket price to go see the midcard guys aside from Internet marks? The “fans†go to a WWE event to see the top guys, and every superstar in the locker room knows the risks when they sign their contracts. Now I’ve said before I question the validity of the contract concerns, but say for a minute they are true. The WWE is absolutely doing the right thing by booking him in this match. Squeeze the last dollar you can out of the Hardy fans, job him out to the champion and let him be on his way. With Jeff, the WWE is in the best position possible. If Hardy really wants out, then I say book him in a loser leaves town match with Matt Hardy and let Matt finally rid the company of his brother. Matt Hardy would instantly become a main event heel if he eliminates his brother from the WWE. But before that can happen, Edge has to dispose of the “charismatic enigma†or whatever the hell Jeff’s called these days. There was a flicker of hope a few months ago when Jeff was working with Hunter that maybe he got his head on straight, but it looks like that blip was an anomaly. Ah well, Edge could use the credibility in another win over an established talent. Best of luck in your future endeavors, Jeff Hardy.
Winner: Edge
ECW Championship:
Christian (c) vs. Jack Swagger
Brad Curran: Christian as champion makes more sense, given that he has more challengers to work with, even if they’re people like Mark Henry and Kozlov (I can always hope he holds the belt long enough to have a PPV match with Kidd or even Bulldog Jr., though). I don’t think the Dreamer storyline needs Swagger as champion and that’s the only match up that I can see materializing if they give him the belt back. Unless they elevate Evan Bourne, but then again, they could just as easily have them feud over a title shot or the last tube of hair gel and we’d still get some potentially awesome big man/little man matches.
Winner: Christian
Mark Allen: Christian and Swagger have shown that they can put on awesome matches so I have high hopes for this one as well. I expect Christian to win this one as he’s got Vladimir Kozlov looming on the horizon to challenge him. Plus someone has to retire Tommy Dreamer at One Night Stand; I figured it would be Swagger, but I guess it may be the Instant Classic.
Winner – Christian
Raffi Shamir: These two put on a great match last month and will probably repeat their performance this week. I stand by what I wrote last month, that they should have held Christian’s victory for JD. Now that he has the title, he must keep it.
Winner: Christian
Matthew Michaels: If they are going to put the belt on Dreamer eventually, it makes more sense for a heel to hold it. That said, I can’t see them jobbing Swagger to someone on the way down in his career like Dreamer. In fact, if Tommy does win, I’m calling a triple-threat/fatal-fourway scenario where the champ isn’t pinned. ANYway, let’s keep the belt on Christian until that time comes, shall we?
Winner – Christian
Andrew Wheeler: I like Christian. I like Swagger. I like Christian as the ECW Champion. I like Jack Swaggah as the ECW Champion. The question here is where does the WWE get the most mileage from? On the one hand, Christian has only been champion for three weeks. Captain Charisma hasn’t seemed as charismatic as he used to before his run through the minefields of TNA, but I think he might finally be getting his footing (assuming the company drops the lame watered down poor man’s Rock nonsense they’ve had him pull regarding Swagger’s lisp). Christian didn’t beat Swagger clean, so he has a chip on his shoulder, and a win over the All-American American could silence the critics. On the other hand, Jack Swagger is the future of the WWE (despite the rumors of people’s displeasure, which I really don’t buy for a minute…especially after his Draft night match with Cena), and having him regain his belt is one step further in his ascension to the top of the card. The next big question is who are the potential future challengers? Well, Tommy Dreamer seems like the next guy in line, though there is a case to be made for Mark Henry. Also, with the formation of the New Hart Foundation, having a face champion gives the heels someone to aim for. Then again, Evan Bourne and Finlay are always great placeholder challengers for Swagger. In the end, I think there’s still some juice left in the Christian/Swagger feud, so I think Christian will get the win again (especially considering the other two world title matches are going to be heel victories), but I doubt it’ll be clean.
Winner: Christian
John Cena vs. Big Show
Brad Curran: If Cena needs time off for his next movie, having Big Show punch him in to oblivion would do the trick well. That could happen whether he wins or not, I guess. I’m going to pick Show here, becuase I get the feeling Miz will interfere and continue to set up a feud between he and Cena for down the road.
Winner: Big Show
Mark Allen: Really not interested in this match at all. Either Cena becomes SuperCena and dethrones the “500 lbs., stinky, wart-infested giant” or Big Show goes over strong to build the fued onto One Night Stand.
Winner – Big Show
Raffi Shamir: This feud is so boring. There, I’ve said – I don’t like a John Cena feud, that’s new for me. I’d love to see Cena vs. The Miz with long promos, where Cena actually answers The Miz and a good match. Let’s hope that Cena wins this one so Miz will be able to really challenge him next.
Winner: John Cena
Matthew Michaels: Big Show should win.
Winner – Big Show
Andrew Wheeler: For some reason, there was a fan in the crowd waving a 7,000 watt spotlight sign on RAW. I don’t know why, but it cracked me up, especially because Michael Cole (who has gotten exponentially worse every week on RAW) constantly brought it up. This feud is an interesting old school feud where it isn’t about a belt (even though Show cost Cena the title) but rather is just two main eventers going at it. Cena isn’t 100%, so this is a perfect opportunity for The Big Show to get a win. It gives Show credibility, which is something he needs on RAW. The only problem with this is the fact that he cannot elevate himself above Legacy. On top of that, he can’t even challenge for the WWE Title, while Cena can. John Cena is the one out for revenge for losing his title, so maybe he overcomes those great vague internal injuries and somehow beats The Big Show. Where the hell do these guys go from here? I’d love to see The Miz get an actual match against Cena, while The Big Show could possibly wind up feuding with the high rising MVP. A Show win makes sense here, but I don’t see how Cena could be this low on the card and lose his revenge match.
Winner: John Cena
Intercontinental Championship:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Chris Jericho
Brad Curran: Seems too early to take the belt of Mysterio, and Jericho needs something to bitch about to keep the feud going. Either way, I hope this one goes on a while (and that Mysterio can stay healthy).
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Mark Allen: With this, Hardy-Edge, Morrison-Benjamin and the ECW Title match there is a lot of chances for show stealing, but I expect these two veterans to put on a great show. Jericho has nothing to benefit from winning the Intercontinental Title at this point but I do like that the I-C belt is being used so prestigiously in the upper mid-card. I harkens back to the days of the old US Title where the belt was defended by top guys who weren’t currently in the World Title program.
Winner – Mysterio
Raffi Shamir: This feud takes me back more than 10 years, to WCW’s cruiserweight division. Who would have believed back then that these two would be WWE main eventers in 10 years? Well, I saw it on Jericho but in the nineties I never could imagine Mysterio in this position. As for this match, it can go either way. Will they go with no title changes in four title matches? I can see that happen, and if they want to keep this feud going, Rey should keep the title here. Then in a month or two Jericho will take the title and move on to feud for real with John Morrison.
Winner: Mysterio
Matthew Michaels: Jericho doesn’t need the IC strap; although him winning it would make him completely insufferable. I’d rather see him in a higher-level feud, and let Benjamin/Morrison/etc. feud with Rey.
Winner – Rey
Andrew Wheeler: Finally, the feud I’ve been begging for happens. I think Mysterio/Jericho and Punk/Jericho are going to be great feuds for Smackdown. Hell, Smackdown as a whole is wildly entertaining, with the best pure roster in any company right now. We all know Jericho is in the driver’s seat with this feud, and he’s stated he wants it to be a long one, so he can’t win the IC Title here. Even if the conclusion of the match is foregone, doesn’t mean we can’t get a show stealing bout. I hate Mysterio and think he’s a shell of his former self, but I think Chris has enough to draw out an entertaining match from the glorified midget. How does Jericho lose this thing? I think he’ll have Mysterio beat, go for the mask and get rolled up. Sure, he’ll lose, but not at the hands of the 619. This gives him ammo to demand a rematch, and thus the intrigue continues. My hope is that the WWE doesn’t do anything stupid and turn Edge face, because he’s too good of a heel. Let Jericho build his heat against Rey, and when someone unseats Edge, let Chris pounce.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
CM Punk vs. Umaga
Brad Curran: Hey, look at all these Smackdown matches! Both guys could use a win. Umaga to establish himself as a monster again, Punk to look strong while he waits to cash in his briefcase. Being in Punk’s hometown doesn’t mean a lot, as they haven’t had a problem jobbing people in their home town for years, going back to Booker always losing in Houston at least. Punk could win with a fluke pin and Umaga could still get his heat back by beating him down post match. So, I could see either guy winning a variety of ways. I’ll pick Punk to get the crowd warmed up.
Winner: CM Punk
Mark Allen: So this is in Punk’s hometown, which if you ask guys like Booker T and Jim Ross doesn’t spell good news, but I really see this match going either way. Umaga needs to look good in his first pay per view match in a year and Punk needs to build momentum and get over his loss to Kane last month (where the hell has he been anyways?) Either way, whoever wins this one expect a rematch at One Night Stand.
Winner – CM Punk
Raffi Shamir: Is the move to Smackdown the thing that will save CM Punk? I’ve never cared about him more than in the last three weeks, with the two Edge matches and this week’s tag match. He looked good in the ring and also had a good promo three weeks ago. There’s nothing I’d love more than to admit that Punk is not overrated and if he continues like that, it will happen. I just wish WWE would start being consistent about his push and make it a real one, not like they did last year. Even though this is Umaga’s first match after coming back, Punk needs to win this one.
Winner: CM Punk
Matthew Michaels: Umaga should win here. Plus I have a nasty feeling we’re gonna see Punk beat Edge to close out the show IN HIS HOME TOWN.
Winner – Umaga
Andrew Wheeler: This one confuses me. I get that the WWE wants to make Punk visible on PPV, but why make him Umaga’s target? With Umaga returning, Umaga needs to look like a monster. The problem here? The WWE jobbed out Punk to Kane last month in order to make KANE look like a monster. CM Punk can’t job two PPVs in a row and look like a credible main event threat, but you can’t job out Umaga on his big return match. How in the hell do they book themselves out of this predicament? My guess is they don’t. Either Umaga will straight-up pin Punk or CM will get a fluke roll-up. The other option they have here is for Kane to somehow interject himself in the match and cost Umaga the victory, replicating the Wolverine/Sabretooth storyline (in that only Sabretooth gets to kill Wolverine). I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but I know the WWE won’t let Punk lose, so…
Winner: CM Punk
John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin:
Mark Allen: I said earlier that SD has an awesome main event scene but their mid-card is pretty awesome too. With these two, the rejuvination of Charlie Haas, and two honest-to-goodness mid-card feuds in Knox-Truth and Khali-Ziggler it looks as if SmackDown is the place for everyone on the roster to find some direction. I mean they even have two women’s feuds going on. As for this match, it could be something great to help both guys if Benjamin is “on.” It’s a great feud to hopefully help elevate both guys, and maybe making this feud over the Intercontinental Title would help as well. The only thing I worry about is that Morrison is already losing his cool edginess that made him popular in the first place and is falling into a kissing babies babyface. As for a winner, I think Morrison will win, but I’d love to see this feud continue into the summer.
Winner – Morrison
Raffi Shamir: The matches that Smackdown is presenting on this Pay Per View remind of the good old days of 2002 and the Smackdown Six. All four matches should range between very good and excellent and this one, probably the opening match of the night, can easily steal the show. These two have put on a great little feud and we all know that they can bring it in the ring, with or without props. Morrison has been one of my favorite wrestlers for a long time now and Shelton is on a rebuilding stage of his character. Morrison had the upper hand this week and none of them have an immediate feud waiting, so perhaps Shlton will win here and they will have some sort of gimmick match on Extreme Rules next month. What I wouldn’t mind seeing down the line is these two in a ladder match for a championship. Either way, potentially match of the night.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Brad Curran: This being added kind of makes me want to buy the show now. Hopefully it’s not a total throwaway opener and they get a little time. I’m going to go with Benjamin here despite Morrison getting a bigger push, because I expect Haas to interfere and Shelton could use a win if they’re going to keep feuding for a while. Although Morrison could slide in to Hardy’s spot pretty easily, especially with the placeholder nature of the shows between now and Summerslam, and would thus need the win here. That said, I’m picking Benjamin and hope for a longer feud anyway.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Andrew Wheeler: A purist’s dream match and perhaps the only reason to turn John face, the Morrison/Benjamin match has no excuses as to why it doesn’t steal the show. Sure, Rey and Jericho will be good, but this match is between two of the best at-or near-their peaks. The winner of the match is almost inconsequential, though for the purposes of elevation it’ll be Morrison. The goal here is for Shelton to show he’s a big time player and for Morrison to show he can carry the top face mantle. Morrison and Punk are both competing on this show in an effort to show Creative that THEY are the more deserving candidate for #1 Contender. Punk’s got his hands full trying to get a great match out of Umaga, but I’m sure Morrison can elevate Benjamin like Shawn Michaels used to. In the end, Benjamin could use the win, but I think Morrison needs to keep his momentum going.
Winner: John Morrison
Those are the Pulse picks. Join us here on Pulse Wrestling on Sunday night for complete up to the minute live coverage of WWE Judgment Day.
