Looking Ahead – 18th July 2006
Welcome folks, and join me once again as I attempt to break down the latest Raw, Smackdown and ECW PPV cards, rumours and other crap like that. It’s a red-hot summers’ day over here in Britain, so bare with me if I ramble on… I don’t do hot.
Have A Gander…
Bambi talks about the lack of competition within Raw. The only thing I disagree with is the “Highlanders are just the Bushwackers but the 2006 version” comment. Yeah, they’re a comedy team but still, they’ve just challenged the Spirit Squad for the tag titles, which means we’ll see them get a push of some sorts and will probably win them with help from DX. Which leads them onto a feud with Cade & Murdoch or Hass & Viscera. The tag division is on life support, but it’s starting to improve ever-so-slightly.
Gloomchen and her Summertime Blues, Clues and News.
Dan Hevia robs Eric S’ column and merges it with his Crucifix to create The Crucifix, Opinions, Etc..
Scott Keith’s new column Reality Bytes is great. Go check it out.
Murtz with his Live Canadian Idol Recap.
Vin’s Alternate Reality is about the pretty crappy SNME we saw on Saturday.
The usual IP Raw coverage – The Rabble, The Raw Events andTommy P’s Raw Coverage.
The Acute Angle is back and is more interesting and refreshing than ever. This fortnight’s article discusses the Elimination Chamber.
Phew. That’ll do.
SMACKDOWN
Next PPV – Great American Bash; 23/7/06
The Announced Card
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Rey Mysterio vs. King Booker
Open Challenge
Batista vs. ?
Punjabi Prison Match
The Undertaker vs. The Great Khali
United States Championship Triple Threat Match
Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay vs. William Regal
WWE Tag Team Title Match
Paul London & Brian Kendrick vs. The Pit Bulls
I’m no longer going to say who I think will win or what I think may happen if there’s a PPV following the Column. It leaves you in suspense, plus it gives you all the more reason to check out the Roundtable for that particular PPV.
Like it? Love it? Shoot me an email.
Speculation…
Super Crazy vs. Psicosis
Are they even doing this feud anymore or what? If they are, tonight’s SD taping is the last chance to make something of it if they want to get them a spot on the card. If not, then I’m assuming it will be brushed under the rug and one of them will be sent packing to ECW.
Matt Hardy vs. Ken Kennedy
Last week, old Matty ended Ken Kennedy’s winning streak. Will any revenge be taken? Only one way to find out, and that’s to check back here tonight/tomorrow to check out the SmackDown spoilers.
Cruiserweight Title Match
Gregory Helms vs. ?
Just thrown on for good measure, and because I love Helms.
RAW & SmackDown! (& Probably ECW)
Next PPV – SummerSlam; 20/08/06
The Announced Card
Randy Orton vs. Hulk Hogan
Hokey Smokey… so we’ve go the first match announced for this years SummerSlam, which is all good as it gives them and us plenty of time to build the match up, make Orton even more creepy and flaunt Brooke Hogan some more. Yum!
I can’t see Orton winning. Not yet anyway. I think they’ll use his loss to Hogan as a reason for a rematch at WrestleMania 23 if the Hogan-Austin match falls through again, which it more than likely will.
Speculation…
Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero
I can’t see Mysterio holding onto the World belt past the GAB, so this would be a good time for the rumoured Chavo feud to kick in. The only question is when will the turn happen? Or, more importantly, HOW will the turn happen? I’m not too keen on the “Chavo has affair with Mysterio’s wifey” angle. How about a “Chavo kicks crap out of Mysterio for losing World Title” angle, or something not involving partners/family/other crap.
Batista vs. King Booker
If King Booker wins the title match this Sunday at the GAB, then we’ll see this match up no questions asked.
The Undertaker vs. The Great Khali
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn. Will the Undertaker get his win back? Will The Great Khali destroy Taker once again? Does anybody know what a Punjabi Prison match is? Does anybody care?
Bobby Lashley vs. Finlay
Now that Finlay’s got the US title, he should have a nice long run with it. Up until SummerSlam anyway, which is considered long by WWE standards. A blow-off to the Lashley – Finlay feud with Lashley once again getting the US title will pump him further up the card and also get him some attention back again. By that time, he will have hopefully improved to the point where he doesn’t need Finlay to carry him and can go work with another brawler to keep improving his game.
DX vs. The McMahons
Enjoy it while it lasts, because if WWE Creative are smart enough, they’ll realise that the DX gimmick has an expiration date the day after SummerSlam. As I mentioned last week, I give this a month or so until it becomes boring, predictable and tiresome.
John Cena vs. Edge vs. Umaga for the WWE Championship
Yes folks, you saw right. Umaga’s name is up there. With the rumours about a main event push circling the net last month, and his win over Cena semi-proving that, I’d say it looks as though Umaga will be competing for the WWE title pretty soon. Layfield help us all.
Johnny Nitro & Melina vs. Carlito & Trish
Still sticking with this match, just because.
Big Show vs. Sabu – ECW World Title Match
Ok, so apparently Dreamer is suspended (or on holiday, you choose), so I don’t think we’ll see Dreamer, who was last week’s pick to be Big Show’s opponent, on the card. This week, I’m going with Sabu, as he’ll have gained back his trust with Vince by then plus the fact that he’s an ECW alumni who the fans might take as a serious threat to Show’s title.
No way is Sabu walking… well.. limping rather, out of SummerSlam the ECW Champ though. That spot is for RVD when he eventually returns.
RAW
Next PPV – Unforgiven; 17/9/06
The Announced Card
N/A
Speculation…
Meh… wait until next week for your Raw fix. I’m all sunburnt out.
The Last Bit…
I got email last week! How awesome! Saved me getting bored on the long, lonely night shift at work. One of them was from a dude called Patrick, who said:
“I should probably start by saying that I only really got into Wrestling around this time last year. Having said that, I think the way they are handling the DX angle is quite good. I’ve read up about the original DX situation and I feel that the way they send Shawn off or have him wear a blindfold allows them to maintain a sense of silliness without overstepping the line and offending Shawn’s beliefs.
I have enjoyed each segment they’ve done especially when Triple H and HBK were dressed up as Vince and Shane respectively but I do feel that if it goes on any longer than SummerSlam, it will be getting a little tired. I doubt that the crowds would boo but rather they’d get a Gunner Scott no reaction cheer.
If the Undertaker does kill off Khali like last year’s GAB, this could possibly be an amusing (in a boring way) tradition for the Undertaker. He maintains his winning streak at WM and kills off a gimmick or character at the GAB to follow up. I wouldn’t mind. Personally I’d like Mark Henry off my television for the simple fact that there’s no legitimate reason that anybody should be that damn wet ALL the time.
Love the column
Patrick”
Well Patrick, your prayers have been answered as Mark Henry is injured and will more-than-likely miss the GAB and be out for roughly 6 months. I love the idea for Taker to start a “killing off” streak at the GAB too. You share the same thoughts that I do regarding the DX angle as well, in that it should pretty much end at SummerSlam or just after. Any longer and it’ll get stale.
Thanks for writing in!
The second email I’d like to share with you guys is this one from Eric:
“14 hour shifts? Yikes! I thought I would shoot you an email about your column (which i enjoyed by the way)
Concerning King Booker and a Title win: “it’s a nice reward for all the consistent hard work he’s put in over his WWE career.”
Thank you…I was thinking the same thing earlier this week. Booker T has been around for ever. He was one of the first WCW guys to come over (he was the champ after all) after the buy-out. He’s been in the E for 5 years and he’s done everything they’ve asked of him. From Silly gimmicks with Goldust to Midgets making fun of him, he’s a company man and it’s long over-due (Even if he transitions to Dave).
“putting off the eventual Melina vs. Trish blow off match, possibly at Survivor Series, which is a perfect time for Trish to exit gracefully in a “Loser Leaves Raw” match. Damn I’m good.”
AWESOME!!!!
Another thing i’ve been thinking about lately, Trish is stale. She’s been around for over 6 years and they’ve done everything with her (except the playboy shoot she’ll never do). How many Divas last that long? Sable, Sunny, even Liz didn’t have a run this long. There were plenty of nights where she was the best worker on Raw. She came from magazine cover girl to bad-ass in the ring. We all know this, and she needs to step aside. Not only that, but it gives Melina huge heat as the #1 diva on Raw…that retired Trish by the way.
I don’t know if Orton will beat Hogan. I think there is way too much money in Hogan/Austin at WM and if Orton goes over, they squash that. The only way Orton wins is if they drag this feud out so they can hot-shot Hogan to Austin. It’s the only dream feud (other than Hart/Angle and Rock/Michaels) that they still have left that will draw anything.
Your thoughts on Cena/Edge are dead-on and I hope they do it. Edge is becoming the new Mick Foley, everytime he has the belt hes a transition champ…and I hate it.
Dreamer should beat show…badly. Something so bad that they send him back to Smackdown and off ECW. Dreamer can then drop the belt back to RVD.
Great column…
ERIC”
Thanks for emailing! I think your comments about Trish needing to step aside are spot on, but not so sure about sending Big Show back to SmackDown. Show can and is being pushed like he should have been when he first came into the WWE. As a ruthless monster. ECW is the perfect place for him to have that push, and yes, it will only last for so long but for now, he’s one of the best things about the new ECW, like it or not.
Touching on the Orton-Hogan situation, I think that Hogan will beat Orton at SummerSlam, and they’ll use that as an excuse to do another Hogan vs. Orton match at WrestleMania 23 if Austin doesn’t agree to the match.
Right then… time to send this off and go jump in the paddling pool I bought from ASDA for £15. Bargin!
Stay cold…
Danny Wallace.
