Rasslin’ Roundtable – WWE Extreme Rules 2009

June brings us two WWE Pay Per View events. Extreme Rules is the first one and it features no less than five rematches from Judgment Day. Of the three other matches, one is a triple threat that includes two guys that fought one on one last month and the other is going to be a crappy “comedy” bit. Perhaps Cryme Tyme should introduce the word “originality” on a future edition of Word Up, maybe then WWE creative will learn what this word means. The best and the brightest gathered here to participate in the roundtable, and here’s what the Pulse team thinks is going to happen on Sunday night.

WWE Championship – Steel Cage Match:
Randy Orton (c) vs. Batista

Mark Allen: This past week’s RAW actually made me remotely interested in this match as what should have been a ready-made blood feud has been pretty listless the past few weeks. This past week’s show with the destruction of Ric Flair and the show-closing cage showdown was the best of this feud so far. I just don’t expect Orton to drop the belt here as he’s got Cena and Triple H and MVP all waiting in the wings to challenge him.
Winner – Orton

Matthew Michaels: Dave SHOULD win, but I still think Orton will pull this one out. I’m probably incredibly wrong.
Winner – Randy

Andrew Wheeler: Well, if I wanted to be a lazy, half-assed writer, I would just copy and paste what I wrote last month and move on. And why the hell not? If the WWE is intent on simply re-doing a lackluster card with meaningless stipulations, why can’t I just re-do my Roundtable and insert the word “extreme” a lot? Why won’t I? Because that’s not how we do it at PulseWrestling. So, for the good of the site and the good of our readers, I’ll try to give you something fresh (unlike Creative). First up is this match, which is the most frustrating match on the card. We all know that Batista is the transition challenger, and that’s fine. It really is. Dave is a main event-ish guy, so letting him headline a show or two goes a long way towards keeping up his marquee value. On the other hand, Randy Orton as world champion has been made to look weaker and more cowardly against an arguably lesser main event superstar. If Orton looked weak against Hunter or Cena or even Michaels, the fans would accept that. But Batista? Batista is nowhere near the level he was once at, so rather than elevating Dave, the WWE is weakening Randy (something that absolutely cannot afford to do). The other major flaw in this feud is that it’s essentially been Randy Orton versus Ric Flair, with special guest-star Batista. Dave’s interactions with Flair haven’t exactly added anything to the feud, and Orton getting his ass pretty much handed to him on RAW before Priceless interfered further weakened the top heel in the WWE. I just don’t get the booking logic here. With Hunter on the shelf for a few months to sell the kick to the head and with Michaels trying to use the power of Christ to heal his body, that left the WWE with Cena and Batista. John’s made it clear that he’s the next #1 Contender, which means Batista’s window for being “the man” was only two months. In those two months, Dave hasn’t really been helped at all by any of the interactions with either Flair or Legacy. My biggest fear is that the WWE, in an effort to “shake things up”, would actually be dumb enough to put the gold on Batista. It would be shocking and shockingly stupid, but unless the company finally turns Dave heel, this would be his only shot at holding the gold. The company seemed to like Batista/Cena last year, and since Dave was the one put over, it would be John’s turn to get the win. Further, having Orton lose without getting pinned would give him justification for a rematch. It could happen…but it is highly unlikely. The ultimate move here would be if Flair were to turn on Batista and cost him the match. The logic here is that Flair tried to show that he still had it, but he’s realized that Randy Orton is the “best thing going today”. Flair needs to be the mouthpiece of someone if he’s gonna stay in the company, because nobody really wants to see him wrestle anymore and tarnish the great retirement he had. It’s rare that someone leaves the business with that much positive energy, and even if he laced the boots up one more time it would tarnish the “retirement”. But will Flair turn? Nah. Flair might be good here to help neutralize Legacy but maybe a gaffe on his part costs Batista the title. Why not sow the seeds for the heel turn? Batista got screwed last month via DQ and he’ll get screwed this month somehow because I doubt the WWE would let Randy have a clean victory. Then, when all the other faces come roaring back, Dave can step up and be a heel…essentially occupying the space Big Show has. Looks like the Draft might have booked the WWE into a corner, because assuming Batista loses here and Cena steps up next month, what does that leave Dave? He can’t fight Flair, we know that. What about Big Show? How dull is THAT gonna be? In the end, Orton’s gonna win, he’s gonna leave with the gold and he’s gonna move on to a summer feud with John Cena until Hunter comes back at Summerslam.
Winner: Randy Orton

Raffi Shamir: Just like Andy, I’m thinking of the future and July’s Night of Champions. Since all the matches will be title matches and they can’t leave John Cena off a PPV card, he’d have to challenge for the WWE championship. Since I don’t think that WWE will be stupid enough to blow Cena-Batista 2 on a non major PPV with zero build (Especially after the way screwed up Cena-Batista 1 last year), this means Orton will keep the title through Extreme Rules and The Bash. And like I wrote last month, Batista is always in title matches but doesn’t win titles.
Winner: Randy Orton

Brad Curran: Orton’s going to retain the title. Being a cage match, they could either have him escape the cage by the skin of his teeth or do the Hogan/Orndorff finish where they both land at the same time. This does have me wondering is Dave will get his annual title reign this year.
Winner: Randy Orton

World Heavyweight Championship – Ladder Match:
Edge (c) vs. Jeff Hardy

Mark Allen: The video package for this match on RAW actually got me excited for this match as well. The two current kings of the ladder match should know a thing or two about putting together a show-stealing car crash. I honestly think the outcome of this match is a coin flip as SmackDown is so wide open with challengers (which is a great thing) that either man is rife with semi-credible future opponents. But I gotta go with Edge retaining. He deserves a fairly-long reign and it’s still unsure if Jeff has re-signed with the company yet.
Winner – Edge

Matthew Michaels: I have the US, IC and ECW straps changing hands at this PPV. Will a “major” title? Depends on future match-ups I think. So, if Jeff Hardy wins, what heels can he feud with aside from Edge? Maybe Umaga, who seems to bring out the best in Hardy. Or Jericho? Meanwhile, if Edge wins, we can continue to look forward to an eventual Punk/Edge MITB cashing-in. I think Randy’s retaining, so I’ll go with Hardy here.
Winner – Hardy

Andrew Wheeler: Again, I said all I needed to say last month about these two and the trajectories of their careers. Good riddance to Jeff Hardy, because he’s too much of a liability. The fear I have here is the same fear I have for the cage match, “What if the WWE wants to shake things up?” What would be more shocking than Jeff Hardy winning the gold without renewing his contract? He, Vince might want to shake things up, but he isn’t suicidal. The match itself should be good because these two can deliver a hell of a ladder match. Edge consistently seems to deliver in all kinds of settings against all kinds of competitors. But once this match is over, where does Edge move on to? He seems to have that odd feud with Chris Jericho…the one that concerns me because the WWE might want to turn Edge face. Even scarier? If the WWE tarnishes Smackdown by moving Batista back to Fridays and puts him in the main event picture. Smackdown is now dominated by talented superstars who can go in the ring. Punk, Benjamin, Mysterio, Jericho, Morrison and Edge make one hell of a new Smackdown Six…but an addition of a guy like Batista would really poison the well. The only plus to Edge becoming face is that Jericho would be the undisputed top heel on the show. This won’t happen because he’s still in his feud with Mysterio, and I don’t think that’s done by a longshot. Since next month’s PPV is probably going to be headlined by Orton/Cena, Smackdown can afford to experiment with its main event and maybe give Punk or Morrison a shot at the champion. As for Jeff? If he doesn’t resign his contract, I think Matt Hardy will interfere in the match and cost Jeff the gold, setting up a “loser leaves town” match. If Jeff does resign at the 11th hour then maybe we will see a new champion. But I doubt it. My advice to you is to sit back and watch two guys go out there and try to steal the show, because you know that they can. They had a good match last month, but since this might be Jeff’s last ladder match for a while, I think he’ll pull out all the stops. Even if Edge wins clean, we saw at Wrestlemania that you can beat Jeff in a ladder match and it doesn’t hurt Jeff’s popularity. These two are gonna kill each other in that ring and make a go for the MOTY mantle currently resting securely on Taker/HBK.
Winner: Edge

Raffi Shamir: Finally a Smackdown championship went through a PPV without changing hands and it needs to happen again this month. I’m still not in Jeff Hardy’s fan club, but there’s no denying that he shines in ladder matches. Edge, on his side, hasn’t put on a bad match in who knows how long and the chemistry he has with Hardy practically guarantees a MOTYC. Still, Edge said it best – Hardy makes the highlight reel in those matches while Edge actually wins them. I don’t care if Hardy stays or leaves after the match, he doesn’t win here.
Winner: Edge

Brad Curran: Edge seems like a lock to retain. The real intrigue is whether they can live up to expectations of topping themselves (or even the recent Jericho/Michaels ladder match).
Winner: Edge

ECW Championship – Triple Threat Hardcore Rules Match:
Christian (c) vs. Jack Swagger vs. Tommy Dreamer

Mark Allen: Both Christian and Swagger are riding high right now, but after their two free TV matches and two pay per view matches I feel as if this part of their feud has run its course. One thing is certain, Tommy is taking the fall here. I would expect Christian to win as he has The Harts (who oddly none of them are actually named Hart), Vlad Kozlov and perhaps Big Zeke waiting in the wings to challenge him.
Winner – Christian

Matthew Michaels: Just give it to Dreamer already.
Winner – Tommy

Andrew Wheeler: I’ve been enjoying ECW television for quite a while (unlike a lot of folks who have been haters since day one) and have found it to be a great old school program. There’ s a small roster of talented guys who deliver great matches every week. Even better? They can pull off simple storylines with effective payoffs. Don’t believe me? Swagger loses to Christian via nefarious circumstances, challenges him to a rematch and loses again to nefarious circumstances. Then there’s Finlay/Kidd. Finlay beats Kidd. They have a rematch. Kidd cheats to win. They have another rematch and it leads to Kidd bringing in David Hart Smith. Everything follows logical progression, which is fantastic. The best storyline has been the long simmering Tommy Dreamer “win or you’re gone” stipulation. Dreamer’s match with Christian at MSG was one of the best in terms of compelling plotline I’ve seen all year. When Swagger interfered, you could actually hear the crowd’s genuine frustration. THAT is how you get heat on someone. As for this match, I am going to throw all sorts of logic out the window and just say that on a personal level that I hope Dreamer wins the gold here. He’s a hard working WWE employee who has done everything asked of him since he started in the company in 2001. As a loyal worker, he’s put over everyone he got in the ring with, happily jobbing to everyone from Kevin Thorne to Mordecai. Now, for the first time since the original ECW, Tommy Dreamer is a legitimate world title contender. Being a triple threat match, he can win the gold without killing his opponent’s heat. In the end, this is a great way for Christian to drop the gold without getting pinned by Swagger. Tommy wins here, gets a feel-good moment, and then loses to Swagger in a few weeks. Everyone wins. The best upside is that Dreamer could become the new ECW General Manager, a role that the fans could really get behind (not that the fans would mind getting behind Tiffany).
Winner: Tommy Dreamer (who cares if it costs me the Roundtable Championship this month)

Raffi Shamir: My views on the original ECW are well known by now, it sucked. But I wouldn’t mind seeing a nice touchy feely moment here with Dreamer winning the title and keeping it for two weeks until Swagger takes it away from him at The Bash. That way Christian would be able to say that Swagger was never able to beat him for the ECW title and set up another rematch between the two of them.
Winner: Tommy Dreamer

Brad Curran: I don’t know where they’re going with this, really. Swagger could get some heat for retiring Tommy; Tommy winning would be a nice moment. That said, Christian has been good in this role, and I can see him going on to feud with the Hart Dynasty after this, so I’ll pick him.
Winner: Christian

Intercontinental Championship – No Holds Barred Match:
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Chris Jericho

Mark Allen: It’s been said that Jericho is booking this feud with Mysterio together, like he did with Michaels. So regardless of what happens here I don’t expect it to be the blowoff. I’m thinking a SummerSlam ending in the works.
Winner – Rey Mysterio

Matthew Michaels: One would think this would continue, with an eventual mask vs. hair match down the road, or something like that. Plus, I liked R-Truth’s interaction with Jericho a lot on Friday, and am kinda hoping Y2J gets the IC belt, so we can see him feud with Killings with some gold on the line.
Winner – Jericho

Andrew Wheeler: The storyline continues at Extreme Rules as Jericho is now obsessed with unmasking Mysterio and winning the gold. As I said last month, Jericho will succeed in unmasking Mysterio, but in the end not win the IC Title. Great feuds should extend to at least three shows, so why not say that Jericho takes the mask off here, gets rolled up and then NEXT month wins the title. Either way, it’ll be an entertaining match that will deliver some great moments. Now that I think about it, though, I don’t see the value in Jericho winning the gold to begin with. He’s already pretty much set up to be Punk’s first challenger when Punk wins the World Title, so why saddle him with the #2 title on Smackdown? If anyone’s taking the gold off of Rey, it’s gotta be Dolph (or Shelton). Having Benjamin and Morrison feud over the Intercontinental Title sounds good to me. Sadly, I have to pick Mysterio to go over here.
Winner: Rey Mysterio

Raffi Shamir: For the second year in a row Chris Jericho is writing the best post-Wrestlemania feud and starring in it. The problem is that this feud is so good and intense that it simply begs for a blowoff at a major PPV, my preference is a Summerslam Hell in a Cell. But there are two more PPV events between now and then and I think that five straight matches between these two might be a bit too much. So what I would is use the no hold barred stipulation and have Jericho hurt Rey so bad that he’d have to sit out at least until July. Jericho can even take Rey’s mask off here, an act that will give Rey another reason to sit out for a few weeks. But whatever they do, I believe Jericho has to win here and he will.
Winner: Chris Jericho

Brad Curran: Jericho could use a win here to back up his “I’m the face of Smackdown” claim. I can see him pinning Rey but failing to demask him, furthering the feud.
Winner: Chris Jericho

United States Championship – Fatal Four Way Match:
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. MVP vs. William Regal vs. Matt Hardy

Mark Allen: Other than Miz and a small resurgence of Brian Kendrick, these four have been the only highlight of RAW. With Kofi just winning on Monday I don’t expect him to lose on Sunday and I think he’ll have to deal with Regal and Hardy for the next few weeks.
Winner – Kofi

Matthew Michaels: Either MVP is keeping it or they’re transferring the title to a babyface (so MVP doesn’t have to be pinned). Right? OR they’re giving the Brit the US title since that would be funny. Yep, I’m going with that.
Winner – Regal

Andrew Wheeler: A solid four-way match for the United States Title with a well built storyline and four talented superstars works for me. I was surprised when Kofi Kingston pinned MVP on RAW, but it goes a long way to elevate Kingston. Solidifying Kingston shouldn’t be too hard, since all he needs to do is win this match. Porter should be freeing himself up to make a run at Legacy, so I don’t see him regaining the belt so quickly. Matt Hardy should be tied up in his feud with Jeff Hardy, so he doesn’t need the gold. Regal as the US Champion (and maybe renaming it the European Title) would be awesome, but not yet. Kofi’s gonna get the RVD run with the secondary title, defending it in meaningless opening contests. For now, though, Kofi walks into the match against the odds and walks out with the title.
Winner: Kofi Kingston

Raffi Shamir: Kofi just won the title this week so he’ll keep it. He can hold it for a long time and defend it against Regal, Hardy, The Miz and Brian Kendrik.
Winner: Kofi Kingston

Brad Curran: Putting the title on Kofi on Monday was a weird move. It seems like he’s a transitional champ, but since this is a four way, they didn’t move the title to him to get it on anyone else in the match, but I still can’t see him keeping the belt, so I’m going to pick Matt Hardy. Kofi or MVP could chase him around for a while. Oh, and how is this an Extreme Rules match?
Winner: Matt Hardy

Submission Match:
John Cena vs. Big Show

Mark Allen: Could be the sleeper of the night, and I mean the snoozefest. I’m hoping Cena wins so this feud ends and he can actually feud with Miz.
Winner – Cena

Matthew Michaels: They won’t keep this going until WWE’s submissions-only PPV Breaking Point in September(?) will they?! I think no, and Cena wins using some sort of international object to choke Show out (since it IS extreme rules and all).
Winner – Cena

Andrew Wheeler: It’ll be boring, it’ll be slow, it’ll be useless, but at least it’ll be over. Cena doesn’t tap ever, but with Michael Cole mentioning that a knockout counts as a submission (for some reason), it adds intrigue. Big Show introduced the terrible Camel Clutch to his repertoire, so he’ll go for it a few times. The story here is that Cena can’t lock in the STFU, so you know in the end he’ll try for it…fail…try again…Show taps. I would be happy to see The Miz interfere in some capacity, because for the first time in a while, he’s been entertaining on his own. Cena’s on his way to feud with Orton, which means Show could be saddled with Batista…or maybe MVP?
Winner: John Cena

Raffi Shamir: The STFU here is going to be like the 619 last month. Jericho guaranteed that Rey wouldn’t hit, and eventually Rey pulled it off. Last month Cena tried to apply the STFU several times and failed, so he has to get it in this match. It won’t be a good match, but I can hope it will be a short one.
Winner: Cena

Brad Curran: I’m expecting this to be Cena formula, especially since he’s called next on the World Title. Also, he’s established his crappy looking hold much longer than Big Show has his.
Winner: John Cena

Samoan Strap Match:
CM Punk vs. Umaga

Mark Allen: Good God, Umaga can talk? Umaga works best with little underdogs and Punk has really developed that underdog schtick while in WWE. This could potentially be the match of the night if it weren’t for the Strap stipulation. Then again if they memorize Sting and Vader’s strap match from back in the day they might still be. Once again I’m at a loss at who wins. If Umaga wins then maybe Jeff will win the World Title. If Punk wins then maybe Edge retains. That’s the good thing actually about the current SmackDown roster.
Winner – CM Punk

Matthew Michaels: Well, Punk got a pretty decisive win on Friday, so I’ll guess Umaga takes this one.
Winner – Umaga

Andrew Wheeler: Well, Umaga cost Punk the title several times. He beat him on PPV last month. Punk beat Umaga clean on Smackdown. This match doesn’t require Punk to pin Umaga to win. Duh…Punk over. I like that Umaga talks now, because it adds a lot of value to him as a main event heel. As for where they go now, I have no clue. It feels like Punk should cash in the briefcase at the end of the ladder match, which would “shake up” the show. On the other hand, where the hell does Umaga go from here? Does he now move on to John Morrison or go back to the role as Kane 2.0? Either way, you’ve jobbed out Punk two PPVs in a row and you can’t do it a third time.
Winner: CM Punk

Raffi Shamir: Will WWE please stop jobbing Punk on PPV? It doesn’t matter that he wins on free TV if he keeps losing the money matches. That’s not the way to build new top stars and if WWE doesn’t want Punk to be a top level guy, then they shouldn’t have wasted the MITB briefcase on him. Let him win here so he’ll be able to get some positive momentum going.
Winner: CM Punk

Brad Curran: I’m not sure which wrestling law applies here; will Umaga lose, because no one ever wins their signature match? Will Punk lose because he won on the go home show? Will Punk win because J.R. says he has no chance? Just like last 3 weeks ago, both guys could use the win (although, come to think of it, what are they building Umaga up for? Undertaker?). I’ll go with Punk again, just because I can see him doing the “touch 3 corners when Umaga’s dragging him around, then fights for the fourth” routine.
Winner: CM Punk

Miss WrestleMania – Hog Pen Match:
Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella

Mark Allen: And I wonder why wrestling fans are turned off by WWE…
Winner – Santina

Matthew Michaels: Boy do I not care! I think Santina needs to get outed here, so let’s go with that.
Winner – Vickie

Andrew Wheeler: Let it be short and…short. Maybe this is how they kill off Santina. This storyline isn’t funny anymore and really adds nothing to the PPV or the company. At a time when Santino could almost be a credible face, he can’t be doing this crap (no pun intended). My hope is that no one slips on the mud when they’re walking to the ring, because if Orton tears a quad tripping on the pen, someone’s getting fired. And I hope it’s whoever booked this crap.
Winner: Santina

Raffi Shamir: Vickie wins and Santina goes away for ever, hopefully.
Winner: Vickie Guerrero.

Brad Curran: I’m still having a hard time believing Santino’s become a baby face, although pretty much anyone would be cheered over Vickie (and apparently Beth Phoenix). Vickie should get some comeuppence here, with Big Show probably squashing Santino like a bug on Raw the next night.
Winner: Santina

Now that you know what we think will happen, join is on Sunday night for full live coverage of WWE Extreme Rules, right here on Pulse Wrestling.