Looking Ahead – 29th August 2006
Hello again, and welcome to another edition of Looking Ahead, the column with more ice cream than a porn star in a freezer.
Have A Gander…
Will Cooling talks about Football. PROPER Football… not “American Football” or “Soccer”. Speaking of which, I agree with Paul Sturrock. Come on the Owls!
Same with Daniels talks.. Well.. I don’t know. Baseball perhaps?
Toby B reviews LaRocca – The Truth.
Josh Clinton recaps Big Brother. Man, I sure do hate Reality TV shows. Just as soon as the UK’s version of Big Brother ended, a new series of the X-Factor or whatever it’s called has started. Joy.
Fitzgerald reviews WWE Survivor Series 1995, for some reason.
Vin gabbers on about wrestling matches on Raw. Woah.. Can’t believe I just typed that. Oh, and to answer your question, it’s just a guess, but maybe it’s because square boxes are more easier and thus cheaper to produce.
RAW
Next PPV – Unforgiven; 17/09/06
The Announced Card
TLC Match for the WWE Championship
Edge vs. John Cena
Unforgiven is shaping up to be an awesome looking card. With this TLC match, and the Hell in a Cell match, it really gives it a “Big Time” feel in my eyes. I did start to wonder why they didn’t do these two matches at SummerSlam, but then I realised that it’s just good business sense. Why blow your load on a PPV that will draw big numbers anyway, when you can put the gimmick matches onto a lesser PPV and try to bump up the buys?
Looks like I learned something from University after all. Anyway… the match. Yeah. Should be good. I’ve a feeling Cena will win, due to the “If he loses he goes to SmackDown” clause, but then again, with SmackDown moving to some sort of new TV Network, they could possibly use Cena to spike some interest. Hey, there’s an idea. Why not ship Cena over to SmackDown until the Rumble, and then the feud can pick up again and become an inter-promotional match at WrestleMania. Cena can win the belt, and then he can use that as an excuse to get back on Raw.
Damn I’m good.
Hell in a Cell
De-Generation X vs. The McMahons & Big Show
Look, I know that by having Big Show on the PPV it gives some more exposure to ECW, but it still annoys me that they use him as well as Finlay, Regal and Kennedy to beat down DX. Unless this leads to a Finlay vs. HHH, Regal vs. HBK matches at WrestleMania, then what’s the point? Why not just use some Raw guys to get the job done?
Bah.
Still, it looks like it’ll be a brutal match. I just hope that it doesn’t a) become the main event for the PPV, and b) doesn’t out-gore the TLC match. Here’s hoping.
Speculation…
Carlito vs. Randy Orton
Yep, this is a dead-cert to be announced at some point in the next couple of weeks. I don’t like the fact that they had to advance this feud with a Carlito run in during the Hardy vs. Orton match for the Number One Contender spot for the IC title, but not because of the run in.
Why the hell was Randy Orton competing in a match to try and win the IC title? He’s so bigger than the IC title. He just had a feud with Hulk Hogan for Layfield’s sake! So yeah, that bugs me a little.
Grumble…
Umaga vs. Kane
Yawwwwn. If this is the end of Kane, then he’s going out in a real crap way. At least one last run with The Undertaker is a must before he finally takes his rumoured retirement.
Trish Stratus vs. Lita vs. Mickie James – Women’s Championship
Trish’s last appearance, and in her home town no less. So, she’ll either run in and help Mickie James to win the title, or she’ll be involved in the match. Personally, I can see her in the match, but not winning. That’ll be Mickie. Lita cheated to win on Raw last night, so Mickie has revenge to get, and Trish wants revenge on Lita for breaking the news that she was retiring. So, the obvious thing is to throw them all in a match and for Trish to cost Lita the title.
Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy – Intercontinental Championship
There’s what? 3 or 4 weeks left until Unforgiven. Might as well hold off the Hardy vs. Nitro match until the PPV, and just give them a couple of weeks to build up some heat. Hell, they could even use the Foley incident and have Hardy stick up for him, because they’re real-life friends or whatever.
The Highlanders vs. The Spirit Squad – Tag Team Championship
I don’t hate the Highlanders as much as everybody else seems to, but the fact that they’re what looks like the top contenders to the Tag titles is pretty wank. But, there’s no other face tag teams, aside from Eugene & Duggan, that can challenge for the tag straps. I say get The Worlds Greatest Tag Team back together. Or just pull the trigger on The Spirit Squad split. Johnny & Kenny (the two guys with the most upside) against Nicky & Mikey.
SMACKDOWN
Next PPV – No Mercy; 08/10/06
The Announced Card
N/A
Speculation…
King Booker vs. Batista – World Championship
I didn’t like that Batista pinned Booker last week on SmackDown, but I suppose it gives him an edge over Booker, as well as some motivation for King Booker to extract revenge. Hopefully it won’t be as dire of a match as the last one though.
Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero
And so the feud continues, unfortunately. I change my mind from one week to the next on this topic, but lately this has just really started to bug me. The Vikki heel turn only confirms reports that they’re in this for the long haul, and will probably continue the feud until WrestleMania. From a business standpoint, it’s a smart move. But personally, I’m growing tired of the use of Eddie’s name, Wife and general Guerrero references.
Finlay vs. William Regal vs. Lashley – United States Championship
They might as well have another Triple Threat match, as to be honest they’re one of the main things I love about SmackDown. Finlay is awesome, so is Regal and Lashley is STILL improving by leaps and bounds. They could use this as a last match in the Final/Regal vs. Lashley feud, and move all three guys onto somebody else. I’d stick Lashley with Kennedy, Finlay against a returning Chris Benoit, and Regal against The Boogeyman.
Gregory Helms vs. Matt Hardy – WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Whey! Finally, Gregory Helms is getting some TV time again. About damn time too. Not so sure on his choice of opponent, as I don’t think Hardy’s Cruiser Weight, but they might as well do something as neither man has anything going on right now.
The Pitbulls vs. London & Kendrick vs. Stevens & James – WWE Tag Team Championship
Can the WWE make it THREE great consecutive Smackdown Tag Title Matches in a row? I sure hope so. The welcome return of The Pitbulls is great news, because I loved the mini-feud they had with Kendrick & London a few months ago. Now with the addition of The New Guys, it’ll be interesting to see if they can hang with both established teams and also to see just how good those guys really are.
The Last Bit…
So we come to the end of another Looking Ahead. Thanks for checking it out, and I hope you enjoyed it and found it interesting.
For the third week in a row, I’m plugging a DVD. This week, it’s McMahon. I’ve just finished watching it prior to typing this up, and I can safely say it’s a pretty damn good watch. Well worth fifteen quid or whatever you guys pay in the states.
That’s it for me, I’m off to make some dinner.
Stay hungry…
Danny Wallace.
