WWE Championship
Steel Cage Match
Champ Triple H vs. Randy Orton
Ben Morse: Well, we know Orton is set to take some time off, so the result here seems like a foregone conclusion–but what about the match quality? These two certainly know each other, I remember Orton’s cage match with Flair back in ’04 quite fondly, and HHH probably has a bit of a chip on his shoulder as far as being champ again after so long, so I’m gonna say it could be better than expected.
Winner – Triple H
Matthew Michaels: No way they take the belt off of HHH this soon. And it’s not like they won’t gladly do HHH/Cena again.
Winner – Hunter
Raffi Shamir: Forgone conclusion. There’s no way Triple H is losing the title just one month after winning it. It’s funny, because back in Evolution days I was sure Orton is somewhat of a protégé of Triple H and Ric Flair, but ever since he broke off Triple H is burying him left and right. This will be no different.
Winner and still champion – Triple H
Paul Marshall: Trips and Randy have two things in common. They have held the title before and both their wives are pregnant. Randy got time off because he’s burned out, which is wise for the WWE. Trips will be getting some time off, but chances are he gets special treatment, but who knows?
Winner – The King of Kings
World Heavyweight Championship
Undertaker vs. Edge
Ben Morse: I’m actually having trouble picking a winner here. I figured on a long UT reign, but the rumblings of recent weeks have made me wonder. If Edge doesn’t win here, what the heck does he do? I do think Edge needs the belt more and he could go on to feuds with Big Show and Rey down the line. With ‘Taker, not many challengers leap out. I could see Umaga making the rumored brand jump here to cost ‘Taker the belt, putting them in a summer feud and then UT can begin another repetitive title chase come next winter–wash, rinse, repeat.
Winner – Edge
Matthew Michaels: This one baffles me. I would have left it on Taker long-term, but if they wanted to do that, why strip him of the belt? Edge wins, and this one continues into the summer.
Winner – Edge
Raffi Shamir: Another no-brainer. For years Undertaker was in line for a long, significant title reign. The two weeks without the title don’t change that – he’s getting it back on Sunday. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d raise the same allegations against Taker that came up in the past against Triple H – the whole storyline about stripping him of the title was just a ploy to artificially inflate his title count. Then again, I am one, so I believe in that theory.
Winner and new champion – Undertaker
Paul Marshall: Vince believes that Edge/Taker is no longer a money match. Edge as champion would bring in new challenges. WHO? Matt Hardy, Finlay, and Batista? Two of the three haven’t been done to death, and none make sense right now. Logic says to put the title on Undertaker because your fresh challengers include Big Show, MVP, Chuck Palumbo, & Mark Henry. Then again, Vince isn’t going to please the idiots at the CW Network. He’s gonna see how low SmackDown’s ratings get before they go to My Network TV in the fall.
Winner – Edge
Non-Title Match
Intercontinental Champ Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels
Ben Morse: Y2J certainly needs the win more than Michaels here. Interesting to think that five years after their great Wrestlemania XIX match, it would be *Jericho* whose ring rust might drag the quality down. But Michaels has been on a wicked tear lately with good matches and Jericho has been turning the corner back to the competitor he used to be since his series with Jeff Hardy back before ‘Mania. Since Batista isn’t on the card here, I think he enters the fray, and not to HBK’s benefit.
Winner – Chris Jericho
Matthew Michaels: Does Batista get involved here? He’s not in a match, so that’s my guess… especially with HBK admitting he faked the injury.
Winner – Chris Jericho
Raffi Shamir: After loving HBK’s feud with Batista and the original HBK-Y2J feud, I hate this one. It started off rather pointless but ended just terribly, with HBK making Jericho like a complete fool this week on Raw. Unless Jericho wins this week, or HBK makes a full fledged heel turn, I don’t see anything good coming out of this. I’ll just go with my heart here, even though I know I’m getting this one wrong.
Winner – Y2J
Paul Marshall: Look out Shawn, there’s an animal coming for you.
Winner – Chris Jericho
John Cena vs. JBL
Ben Morse: These two had that great match back in 2005, but both these guys are banged up. The promos leading up, particularly from JBL, have been great, but this match could resemble a bowling shoe. I think JBL wins to set him up for a summer feud with HHH.
Winner – JBL
Matthew Michaels: Oh c’mon now.
Winner – Cena
Raffi Shamir: JBL did an admirable job carrying this feud all by himself while Cena was away making a movie. Still, it won’t help him at the end.
Winner – John Cena
Paul Marshall: I call shenanigans and this feud gets settled proper at One Night Stand.
Winner – No Contest
WWE Tag Team Championship
Champs John Morrison & The Miz vs. ECW Champ Kane & CM Punk
Ben Morse: I think this could be a sleeper pick for Match of the Night as all four of these guys have been tearing it up across the board on ECW. Kane vs Punk doesn’t make much sense to me as a feud, which seems to be what either a clean loss or a win (and eventual breakup) for the two of them would mean. I’m gonna figure on a screwy finish that leads to the champs retaining (with an outside shot of a DQ win for Kane & Punk).
Winners – John Morrison & The Miz
Matthew Michaels: As I said in my recent “ECW Thoughts,” it would be a mistake to put the belts on Kane and Punk. Maybe this one’s not a clean win, but Miz & Morrison will get the win here (or lose via DQ) and hopefully move on to a feud with someone else.
Winner – Miz & Morrison
Raffi Shamir: I love love love Miz and Morrison. Especially Morrison. For me he’s the best wrestler on the ECW roster and he’s the total package and if it were up to me he’d win the MITB instead of overrated. Miz is no slouch either and the synergy that is the combination of these two is amazing. I see no reason to job them out to Kane and overrated, but then again, dumber things have happened. Still, I’ll go with my heart.
Winners and still champions – John Morrison & The Miz
Paul Marshall: Did you hear this rumor about CM Punk turning heel? Oh how I love people making some kind of predictions. CM Punk sells merchandise and has fans, how many would buy his heel gimmick? Perhaps Pulse Glazer needs to explain how CM Punk would work as a heel. Miz and Morrison winning seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Winners – Miz & Morrison
Women’s Championship
Triple Threat Match
Champ Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix vs. Melina Perez
Ben Morse: Mickie is gonna get a bit longer with the belt (particularly if she’s starting some extracurriculars with Cena), so the real interest in this match is seeing where they take this Melina turn.
Winner – Mickie James
Matthew Michaels: I donno, I think Mickie’s keeping it and feuding with the two ladies into the summer.
Winner – James
Raffi Shamir: My favorite wrestler in this match is Melina. However, she’s secondary here to the Glamazon and Mickey James and she’s only in the match in order to give it a fresh feel. I’d love to see her win here and perhaps go through a face turn, but I don’t see that happening.
Winner and still champion – Mickie James
Paul Marshall: They needed to keep Beth Phoenix looking strong, so it looks like Melina takes the pin and turns face.
Winner – Mickie James
Mark Henry vs. The Big Show
Ben Morse: Remember when both of these guys were shipped down to OVW because they sucked but had those huge long-term contracts? I’m not hating, I’ve actually been really won over by Big Show of late, but just sayin’…
Winner – The Big Show
Matthew Michaels: If Taker wins the title, I can see Henry getting a renewed push, but I’ll be consistent here and on a lark, let’s say next month is Show vs. Edge, shall we?
Winner – Big Show
Raffi Shamir: Not much to say about this. One of the guys here is relatively good and the other is the highest paid Jobber to the Stars.
Winner – Big Show
Paul Marshall: Train Wreck.
Winner – Big Show
Check back later this afternoon as more staff picks may be added up to the start of the show. I’ll have LIVE coverage of Judgment Day later tonight. Have a good Sunday!
