Eugene & ???? vs. Rob Conway & Tyson Tomko
(fans choose a legend from Jimmy Snuka, Jim Duggan or Kamala to team with Eugene)
PK: Conway and Tomko need to pick up the win big time if they plan on the continued push of Conway…they also need to do something new with Eugene.
Fan’s Choice – Superfly
Winners – Tomko & Conway
Matthew Michaels: Conway’s the one getting pushed here, and as much as I’ve liked the few moments he and Dinsmore have been in the ring together, I have to give this one to the Con-Man.
Fan Choice – Snuka
Winner – Conway and Tomko
Vinny Truncellito: Duggan appeared to be in pretty good shape at Homecoming, but Snuka’s gonna be the winner of the vote. I feel Conway needs the win here to perpetuate his new RKO-lite gimmick. Plus, Tomko was just added, and you know how Vince loves the big men.
Fan’s Choice – Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka
Winner – The ConMan and The Problem Solver
Kevin G. Bufton: It’s always good to see the legends in action, in my humble opinion. I’m a big fan of the eighties and early-nineties WWF product, so I love seeing stuff like this, no matter what the in-ring action is like. As Road Warrior Animal has proven, a nostalgia pop can take you a long way in this business. With that in mind, I’d like to see Duggan back in the ring. After all, Kamala has made a couple of appearances in the last year or so and Snuka regularly does ‘superstar’ experiences but it’s been a while since we’ve seen Big Jim tread the canvas. As for a win…Conway’s got to go over.
Fan’s Choice – “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
Winner – Rob Conway
Danny Wallace: I’d love to see the Hacksaw get the vote, just so I might have one more opportunity to see the Hacksaw with his 2×4. Ahhh… memories. No way Conway’s gonna loose though.
Fan’s Choice – Jim Duggan
Winner – Rob Conway
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Maria vs. Mickie vs. Ashley vs. Victoria vs. Candice – Woman’s Title Battle Royal
(fans choose if they will wear lingerie, leather & lace, or cheerleader outfits)
PK: Mickie & Trish will be the story here, and the Battle Royal style match will make things a bit interesting.
Fan’s Choice – Lingerie
Winner – Trish
Matthew Michaels: Candice is about to get the monster push for her Playboy shoot, but since it hasn’t happened yet and doesn’t seem to be on the near horizon, I’d say she’ll look strong here, but not get the belt. I think Trish keeps it, and the match is more for T&A and some angle advancement.
Fan Choice – Cheerleaders
Winner – Trish
Vinny Truncellito: If Mickie James gets the win here, it can help kick off the inevitable storyline featuring tension between Trish and her idolater. The fan should select leather and lace because it’s different from the norm.
Fan’s Choice – Leather & Lace
Winner – Mickie James
Jed Shaffer: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Fan Choice – Like it matters. 4 pin-up models and 3 wrestlers equal a lousy match. Probably end up with lingerie.
Winner – They’ll stick with the Stratus Quo (Get it? Ha!)
Mark Neeley: Do the fans evern care? Sure, the outfits, but the woman’s title?
Fan’s Choice – lingerie, what else?
Winner – Trish
Kevin G. Bufton: Oh yeah – just like last year, we get the Women’s Division involved in the now-traditional ‘wet-dream’ match. I don’t care and my reasons are three-fold…1) Batle Royals are shit; 2) there are only three women in the match who could reasonably be described as workers and 3) you can find photos of Candice, Ashley and Torrie on the Inernet wearing f*ck-all, as well as Trish in a soaking wet vest, so who cares about this sub softcore shite either from a pro-wrestling perspective or a sensual perspective. As for a winner – it’s got to be either Trish or Victoria.
Fan’s Choice – I’d have to go for Cheerleaders.
Winner – Victoria
Danny Wallace: I’ve got this weird feeling that Mickie James will pull out a win here. If Trish & her are the last two “wrestlers” in the ring, she’ll turn heel and throw rish over the ropes. Maybe.
Fan’s Choice – Lingerie
Winner – Mickie James
Edge & Chris Masters vs. ????
(fans pick two of the following: Rey Mysterio, JBL, Matt Hardy, Christian, or Hardcore Holly)
PK: I think the fans will pick the 2 top faces from SD, being Mysterio & Hardy. Either way, Masters and Edge will pick up the duke.
Fan’s Choice – Mysterio & Hardy
Winners – Edge & Masters
Matthew Michaels: Don’t underestimate the IWC.
Fan Choice – Hardy and Christian
Winner – Smackdown (RAW will win at SurSer)
Vinny Truncellito: The fans will remember who was attacked by the RAW invaders, and who the SmackDown invaders messed with the following week. Therefore, they pick JBL and Mysterio. However, it’s a RAW PPV, so Edge and Masters get the duke.
Fan’s Choice – JBL and Rey Mysterio
Winners – Edge and Masters
Jed Shaffer: Oy, this has clusterf*ck written all over it. I don’t think even Benoit could get a good match out of Masters … and that’s not a choice. Just another build-up for SurSer, when they do a full-scale interpromotional match, making Taboo Tuesday, officially, one big, 3-hour build-up show. Isn’t that what Raw and Smackdown are for? As for the participants … the fans will go with the most obvious favorites … Matt, so we can get another Matt/Edge match, and another face. And Holly doesn’t matter, so …
Fan’s Choice – Matt Hardy Version 7.07.10 beta (repair patches available Tuesday) and Dominick’s real-fake dad.
Winners – The CrapDown team.
Mark Neeley: Well hell, I guess we can go ahead and eliminate JBL and Bobby Holly off the list. Fans will obviously vote Rey & Hardy, but the match will get overkilled with oodles of interference.
Fan’s Choices- Mysterio & Hardy
Winners – No Contest, DQ
Kevin G. Bufton: The war between Raw and SmackDown! is heating up, people! Oh, except that only two of the participants (Edge and Rey) could reasonably be considered main eventers. Ho-hum. I expect SmackDown! to win, just to give them some momentum before Survivor Series. Besides, Edge is still number one contender by default, thanks to his magic briefcase and Masters seems to be able to do no wrong in the eyes of the office, so a single tag team loss won’t hurt either of them. Creative seem to want us to pick JBL-Rey, but I’d sooner see Christian-Rey or Hardy-Rey, myself.
Fan’s Choice – Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio
Winners – Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio
Danny Wallace: This could go either way, however whoever wins, I’m assuming a post-match beatdown will happen, as even if Hardy & Christian do get chosen, that leaves JBL, Mysterio & Holly backstage. Hmm.. that’s 5 Smackdown wrestlers. Wonder if 3 more Raw wrestlers will run out to help even the odds… leading to the much talked about 5 vs. 5 Survivor Series match?
Fan’s Choice – Matt Hardy & Christian
Winner – Matt Hardy & Christian
Ric Flair (c) vs. HHH – Intercontinental Title
(fans choose “One Fall to a Finish,” submission match or steel cage match)
PK: Since it appears that the IC Title is on the line, I think Flair will find a way to out duel HHH…most likely in a cage.
Fan’s Choice – Steel Cage Match
Winner – Flair
Matthew Michaels: HHH doesn’t need the IC title, and this one will DEFINITELY be a cage match with all of Flair’s pleading for it, so it’s almost impossible to end without the title being part of the decision. I think Flair wins/retains here, then loses the belt with HHH interference between tomorrow and SurSer, as the feud continues.
Fan Choice – Cage
Winner – Flair
Vinny Truncellito: Hey, when The Man begs you to put him in a cage, you put him in a cage! I figure the Cerebral Assassin will get his ass kicked but sneak out with the victory in order to keep Flair chasing him. We might have a long way to go with this feud, so we can’t see the hero victorious just yet. Plus, the angry, hungry Flair makes for a great promo…
Fan’s Choice – Steel Cage Match
Winner – Hunter Hearst McMahon
Jed Shaffer: The match the world was begging for … not to happen! H’s will work his ass off, because it’s Flair, but when it comes right down to it, this is a time-killer until Man Of Many H’s can return to his post atop Raw. That should be Royal Rumble.
Fan’s Choice – Fans will automatically assume making it a submission match will mean Flair has the advantage. Lemmings.
Winner – WOOOOO! *coughcough* Damn old age … WOOOOO!
Mark Neeley: Steel cage without a doubt, not like Trips would even have the nerve to enter a submission match. Trips wins.
Fan’s Choice – Steel Cage Match
Winner – Triple H
Kevin G. Bufton: Go on Flair, you mad old bastard, you! Bust that steroid f*cker open! Some people seem to think that a submission match would be for the best, but I agree with the Nature Boy and want this to be a cage match. Flair has been on a bleeding streak of late and has never looked better or more insane for it. Besides – the restrictions of a cage will help to hide whatever limitations Ric or Trips might have in the ring, be it due to age or ring rust. As for a winner – Flair’s got to go over, so we can have a rematch.
Fan’s Choice – Cage Match
Winner – Ric Flair
Danny Wallace: A Steel Cage match leaves the option for Flair to escape through the doors or over the top. This way, it gives a notch to Flair in the feud, and it can continue until The Royal Rumble, where they can have the ‘rubber’ match. (HHH to get the win at Survivor Series).
Fan’s Choice – Steel Cage
Winner – Ric Flair
Batista vs. Jonathan Coachman (w/ Goldust & Vader)
(fans choose street fight, arm wrestling or verbal debate)
PK: Talk about a wtf moment. I guess we can expect to see Mark Henry’s return…and a role that best suits him I guess. Goldust and Vader should make for some interesting stuff, however I don’t see either of them sticking around much longer…I guess maybe Goldust. In the end however, I think this will be WWE’s big ‘FUCK YOU’ to Stone Cold, and have Batista go over him…since JR’s job is no longer on the line.
Fan’s Choice – Street Fight
Winner – Batista
Matthew Michaels: Uh… I can’t in good conscience predict Coach winning with Mark Henry’s help, even if Henry ends up on Smackdown, back with his buddy Theodore Long. I … just … can’t.
Fan Choice – Street Fight
Winner – Batista
Vinny Truncellito: Last minute update to the planned Austin/Coach match. Can’t imagine the World Champion jobbing to the Coach.
Fan’s Choice – Nothing to choose now, is there?
Winner – Big Dave
Mike Foley vs. Carlito
(fans choose which face of Foley to see: Dude Love, Cactus Jack or Mankind)
PK: This is a big time match that is getting very little loving. I voted for Dude Love, since it’s been a while since we’ve seen him, plus I hate the Mankind with the dress shirt. Either way, CCC will find a sneaky way to win.
Fan’s Choice – Dude Love
Winner – Carlito
Matthew Michaels: This one will be cool, and my money’s on Jack kicking Carlito’s ASS around the ring, only to lose by dubious means, even if I’m voting for Mankind.
Fan Choice – Cactus
Winner – Carlito
Vinny Truncellito: If I had to guess, I’d say Cactus Jack is Mick’s most beloved persona (but I’d vote for the Dude, just to hear that music again!) Mick’s not on the roster for personal gain at this point, except of course where shilling books is concerned. He’s there to elevate young guys, and that’s what he’ll do for Carlito.
Fan’s Choice – Cactus Jack
Winner – Carlito
Jed Shaffer: And speaking of old, beat-up, useless has-beens, we come to Mick Foley. Look, I like Foley … got his DVD, got his autobiographies, met him last year at the Sabu show. Nice guy. And I appreciate him coming back and trying to put over new people. But we have people who are ACTIVE who should be doing that … Triple H, Undertaker, Kane, Big Show, Shawn Michaels … if the new guys only get heel heat by beating up retired old men, yet continue to lose to active wrestlers, how credible of contenders will they ever shape up to be? And this “grudge” Mick is supposed to have with Carlito … it’s all of, what, a week or two old? As bizarrely as the Foley/Orton angle was booked, at least it had time to build … this is slapped-together bullshit, and it won’t do Mr. Dazzling Array Of Chinlocks any good in the long run when he jobs to Shawn or Flair on Raw every other week.
Fan’s Choice – They’ll want Carlito to suffer. If they REALLY did, they’d pick Dude Love for the music. But they want physical punishment … so, Cactus.
Winner – Razor Ramon Lite
Mark Neeley: Nice little squash. I don’t see it being much of a match at all, just a fin little match.
Fan’s Choice – Mankind
Winner – Mankind
Kevin G. Bufton: Mick Foley on PPV – dat’s cool! Obviously, Carlito is going over, because Foley is the ultimate job guy – wanna get somebody over? Call Mrs. Foley’s baby boy! I’m hoping that Stone Cold wins and that JR comes in straight away in order to commentate for this match. As for persona – I want to see the Dude back in action, if only to see Dude Love vs. Carlito Caribbean Cool. Dude’s pre-match promo and Carlito’s facial expressions would make this a good ‘un.
Fan’s Choice – Dude Love
Winner – Carlito
Danny Wallace: Taboo Tuesday’s not the sort of PPV where Foley’s gonna think “f*ck it, I’m gonna go all out and be the crazy bastard who takes all the hard bumps”. So that’s both Cactus Jack & Mankind out of the window, leaving the Dude to fight and loose to Carlito.
Fan’s Choice – Dude Love ( I think this will be rigged)
Winner – Carlito
Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch (c) vs. ???? – World Tag Team Titles
(two of the following, based on who gets the WWE Title shot: Big Show, Kane, HBK)
PK: No doubt who I think it going into the 3-way for the title, so Big Show and Kane debut as a powerful tag team, and they mop the mat with the cowboys. However, they will get in each other’s way, and Cade and Murdoch will sneak out a win.
Fan’s Choice – Kane & Big Show
Winners – Murdoch & Cade
Matthew Michaels: HBK’s winning the fan choice, so this will be the two giants vs. the Tag Champs. And the Champs will retain, especially since Kane’s apparently hurt and Show’s supposedly going part-time Undertaker-like duty soon.
Fan Choice – Show & Kane
Winner – Cade & Murdoch
Vinny Truncellito: The fans will choose HBK for the bling-belt match, so this becomes the Colossal Connection, v2.0 versus the champs. A chance to make Cade and Murdoch seem like legitimate tough guys. They’ll also have to display heart, resourcefulness, and a little cheating to get by such and awesome threat.
Fan Choice’s – HBK (for title match, leaving Big Show and Kane with the tag title shot)
Winners – Cade and Murdoch
Jed Shaffer: And the “oy”-worthy content continues. Nice of them to build up a new team, and have no one for them to face. Can the Tag Titles and put all these slugs in the midcard, so we have more IC contenders then Shelton, Carlito and Conway.
Fan Choice’s – The Big Red Retard and The Big Slow
Winners – The West Texas Workrate Killers
Mark Neeley: The overdone hillbilly gimmick was okay at first, but seriously, i’m not even sure if i’ve SEEN these guys since they won the belts. I would say it was time for a change, but I don’t see Big Show and Kane as suiting tag champs.
Fan’s Choices – Big Show & Kane
Winners – Murdoch & Cade
Kevin G. Bufton: Since HBK is a shoe-in for the title shot, this means we have Kane and Big Show teaming up against the New Age Rednecks. With that said, I see a quick pasting for Murdoch and Cade, who will only keep the titles on a count-out or a DQ. Of course, with the current lack of creativity on the part of the booking team, we’ll see a repeat of last year’s event – AGAIN – with Kane and Big Show defeating the champions and destroying the tag division.
Fan’s Choice – Kane and Big Show
Winners – Kane and Big Show
Danny Wallace: It’s too soon for Cade and Murdoch to loose the straps, and having the win over Big Show & Kane will really boost their rankings, after that loss to Val Venis & Viscera.
Fan’s Choice – Big Show & Kane
Winner – Cade & Murdoch
John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. ???? – WWE Title
(fans vote for either HBK, Kane or Big Show to be in the match)
PK: HBK easily gets in the title match, but will fall short yet again, as Angle will finally get the win, and the title.
Winner – Angle
Matthew Michaels: This may very well end up being the best match of Cena’s career. Time to step things up, Champ.
Fan Choice – HBK
Winner – John Cena
Vinny Truncellito: It’s time to bring back the non tricked-out belt, and allow Kurt to bring back some prestige to the championship. The three-way match allows a title change without hurting current pet-project Cena. Also, he’s more compelling as the hungry contender than the reigning champion
Fan Choice – HBK
Winner – Kurt Angle
Jed Shaffer: This is a time-filler match until we get Angle/Cena one-on-one at SurSer. So, the script writes itself: Cena pins the third guy, Angle says he’s still deserving of a shot, QED. The third guy? Like it f*cking matters. But odds are, Shawn.
Fan’s Choice – HBMiddle Aged-Man
Winner – Stone Cold Tapioca Ice
Mark Neeley: I don’t see anyone winning the fan poll besides HBK, so lets go ahead and assume it’s Angle v. Cena v. Michaels in the triple threat, I am going to go out on a limb here and f*ck with the marsk and give the win to Angle. The Cena era can’t last forever, and I think it’s outstayed its RAW welcome. Time for a heel to go back and charge. Possible SmackDown interference.
Fan’s Choice – Shawn Michaels
Winner – Olympic Hero Kurt Angle
Kevin G. Bufton: Does anyone seriously believe that we are NOT going to see HBK in this match? That will make this match of the night, all by itself. Now – I’m not a fan of John Cena but that’s got nothing to do with the fact that this is the perfect opportunity to take the belt off Cena without him losing his heat. After all, there’s no shame in being beaten by two of the best wrestlers in the history of the business. After that, I’d like to see HBK have another shot at the title, so we can have a fourth HBK-Angle singles confrontation at Survivor Series.
Fan’s Choice – Shawn Michaels
Winner – Shawn Michaels
Champion John Cena vs. Kurt Angle vs. ????
(fans vote for either HBK, Kane or Big Show to be in the match)
Danny Wallace: HBK’s got the most going for him, plus he’s pretty much always over with the fans, so he get’s the nod. Cena’s still gonna win though.
Fan’s Choice – HBK
Winner – John Cena
Wildcard #1:
What will the Heat match be and who will win?
PK: Helms against anyone…and Helms will win to show off his new character.
Matthew Michaels: Not sure if there’ll even be one, but my guess is Shelton vs. White again, with Benjamin getting the win to kick off the show on a high note. Oh, Shelton, how far have you fallen?
Vinny Truncellito: Gregory Helms vs. Tajiri, and the former Hurricane gets the victory.
Jed Shaffer: More important, who cares? Probably Shelton and someone vs. Chavito and his caddy. Or Chavito and the caddy vs. Val & Vis. Either way, a big steaming pile of I Don’t Care.
Mark Neeley: Heat match will involve Conway or Eugene or something.
Winner – Eugene
Kevin G. Bufton: If it’s one of the ones from the list, then I guess it’d be the Legend Killer match. Or perhaps a triple threat between the three SmackDown! superstars who don’t get on the show (JBL wins). Otherwise, my money’s on Shelton-Chavo, with Chavo going over.
Wildcard #2:
Will Matt and Lita or Ashley have any backstage interaction?
PK: No, I don’t see them doing anything together. With both Ashley and Lita on Raw, and Matt now on SD, this would not make any sense.
Matthew Michaels: Maybe a little tease, but the bigger story is how do they address Christian’s likely final live performance with the company, or the JR/Austin situation? Should be interesting yet bizarre…
Vinny Truncellito: I think there will be something of this nature, but I didn’t predict Matt would be voted into the inter-promotional match, so it will have to be an exchange between the “ladies”.
Jed Shaffer: More soap-opera BS that I don’t care about.
Mark Neeley: Maybe with Lita, but not Ashley.
Kevin G. Bufton: I neither know, nor care…
