Looking Ahead – 5th September 2006
Hi there people, welcome to another Looking Ahead.
It’s been a pretty good start to the week for me, but also a sombre one as I wrote my last ever You Complete Bar Steward! for the Culture Section. Yes, some changes are going on behind the scenes here at InsidePulse, all for the better naturally. And as hinted about in other columns, V3 is nearly upon us, and in my opinion is the best version of the site yet. So sit tight and wait. It’ll be worth it.
RAW
Next PPV – Unforgiven; 17/09/06
The Announced Card
TLC Match for the WWE Championship
Edge vs. John Cena
Maaaan… I wrote about 5 HE-UGE paragraphs on this, then MS Word decided to have a fit and closed down, losing all my writing. Bastard Microsoft. Fuck it, I can’t be arsed to type it all out again, so you’ll just get it next week in the RoundTable (where I’ll win again and stay top of the IP RoundTable charts.. BAW HA HA!).
Hell in a Cell
De-Generation X vs. The McMahons & Big Show
Fucking Big Show. Why he’s in there I’ll never know. Should be a good match though, as DX seem to be on a ruthless streak right now and look pretty fired up. Plus it’s Hell in a Cell, which might work to Big Show’s advantage now he’s all EXTWEME and stuff.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy
I saw the DQ finish on Raw last night a mile off. It’s just basic booking 101. Prolong the title match by having a no-result so the fans are clamouring for a proper winner. It looks good on paper, but in reality it’s been used too many times recently to be effective. Still, if the Raw match is anything to go by then it looks like we’ll get a great match from Hardy and Nitro. If there wasn’t a TLC match on the card, I’d want them to have a Ladder match, but I’ll let it slide for now.
World Tag Team Championship Match
The Spirit Squad vs. The Highlanders
TOOT-TOOT!
That’s me tooting my own horn. Yeah, I suppose anybody could have predicted the tag match, but I did so I’m giving myself some props.
Also, I agree with Eric S. New Tag Champs in a couple of weeks. That’ll be the start of the Spirit Squad split, which has actually just come at the right time as they don’t have anything to do anymore. So yeah.. Go for it.
Carlito vs. Randy Orton
I wish Carlito would shut the f*ck up about not being used properly. Good to see his old running buddy Chris Masters got BEAT by Super Crazy. Gutted. Anyway, should be a.. well.. Slightly good match. Both men have a chance to shine and put on a wrestling clinic, but I doubt that they’ll do that to be honest. Carlito is busting out some great moves, but this rivalry is just getting warmed up.
WWE Women’s Championship Match
Lita vs. Trish
Should be a good match. I’d have Trish win, have the big celebratory goodbye, then surrender the Women’s title and have it up for grabs the next night on Raw. Could be a good place for a new person to debut and win (ala Gail Kim) or maybe spark off a Lita vs. Mickie James rivalry.
Or maybe hold an “Open Invitational Women’s Battle Royal”, and use that as a reason to get one of the SmackDown girls over to Raw to win the title. Hell, they could have Jillian Hell win it, then use it to take the belt over to SmackDown. Or… Melina could enter, win it, and we have another “Golden Couple” thing going on.
What do you think? Should Trish win or lose on her way out? Email me and let me know.
Kane vs. Umaga
The piss break match. Kane’s decent and so is Umaga, but man this bores the shit out of me.
SMACKDOWN
Next PPV – No Mercy; 08/10/06
The Announced Card
N/A
Speculation…
King Booker vs. Batista – World Championship
This is being written before the SmackDown tapings, so I don’t know who the Champ will be going into No Mercy, but I suspect it will be King Booker. I’ll assume that the Kings Court will help booker retain by outside interference. If that’s the case, then this will possibly be made into a Cage match, to keep run-ins down and also bump up PPV buy rates.
Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero
Doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon, so might as well get used to it. Should be a good match given 20 minutes, and Rey needs to win otherwise he’ll look a right loser.
Finlay vs. Kennedy – United States Championship
There seems to be some chemistry between Finlay and Kennedy that I just can’t describe. The interview thing on SmackDown last week was good, and if they go this route then they can backtrack and make use of the “barbwire steel cage” match references, thus giving them a short feud with a big match pay off.
Gregory Helms vs. Matt Hardy – WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Hardy needs to do the angle he had on Smack Down a few years back, and lose some weight so he can be a “Cruiser”. Then the title match can go ahead, and Helms can add another notch on his title run. Oh, and I’m glad he’s got rid of that manky bandana.
The Pitbulls vs. London & Kendrick vs. Stevens & James – WWE Tag Team Championship
The Pitbulls don’t look like they’ve lost a beat, so my moneys on them defeating the current Tag Champs London & Kendrick. With the news that Gymini are ready to go again (they’re shit from what I’ve seen, but I’ll give them another chance) it looks like we’ve got a decent Tag division forming on SmackDown. Sounds good to me.
The Last Bit…
No DVD plugs this week, but I’ve recently listened to Audioslave, Kasabian and Papa Roach’s new albums and all are worth a download. I must stress though that if you like it, BUY the album. It’s only fair.
Papa Roach’s album is a bit disappointing to be honest. Not really feeling it. Audioslave’s is sound though, as is Kasabians.
Also I’ve just bought my tickets for the 1PW Anniversary show in October here in the UK. It looks set to be an awesome card, and I’ll run through it next week seeing as how I’ve only got SmackDown to go through. The Raw stuff will be in the Roundtable.
Stay hungry…
Danny Wallace.
