Announcing what could have been a show-stealing match between John Morrison and Dolph Ziggler, only to take it off the card, making this John Morrison’s fifth straight PPV without a match. Adding a match with no proper build between Kofi Kingston and The Miz just 24 hours before the opening bell. Putting on a Singapore Cane match between Khali and Kane. None of these decisions were enough to stop the Pulse team from getting together for another roundtable, this time for a submission-themed PPV. So sit back and enjoy our picks for WWE Breaking Point.
World Heavyweight Championship – Submission Match:
CM Punk (c) vs. The Undertaker
Mark Allen: It’s hard to pick a blow off show anymore with every PPV having a special stipulation anymore. That being said this feud sure won’t be a one and done. Regardless of a winner here, I’m sure these two will meet again in Hell in a Cell.
Winner – Punk
Roy Reynolds: CM Punk hasn’t had a lot of luck with long title reigns throughout his stint with the WWE thus far and honestly, I think it would be a dumb decision for him to drop the strap this early after beating Jeff Hardy. Punk forcing Undertaker to tap to the Anaconda Vise could do wonders for his career and I can only assume that they will go in that direction on Sunday.
Winner: CM Punk
Brian Eison: I am very pleased to see CM Punk having the opportunity to feud with the Undertaker and I hope it lasts for a few months. The only issue that I have is with the timing concerning the 2 gimmick ppv feuds the WWE has back to back. Taker is not going to tap to Punk or anyone else and a 1 month feud with no backstory does not deserve the Hell in the Cell treatment. I am growing tired of the rapidfire title changes and hope they give Punk an “out†to keep the belt here.
Winner: Taker wins the match but Punk keeps the title by DQ, count out or some other bit of shenanigans.
Tess Nolde: I want to see Punk hand Undertaker “his soul” in this one. I think I’m probably just suffering from the over-excitement that Undertaker is back, but I kind of cannot see how Punk could possibly pull this off. Admittedly Punk has pulled off a few upset wins since his main event status began. But I really am just going to stick with my theory about Undertaker, who wouldn’t come back with his last match being a match of the year contender that he won, to lose by submission to Punk here and now. If this were a regular one fall, maybe it’d be different, but given that its a submission match I honestly just cannot see Undertaker tapping out. But as per usual, WWE throw in a last minute thing to make people wonder. Punk causing Hardy to tap out with the “anaconda vice” on SmackDown was a nice way to make the move look strong. But I’m sticking with my guns on this one.
Winner: Undertaker.
Raffi Shamir: The Smackdown championship has changed hands in the last year almost as much as Punk’s current girlfriend has gone through WWE wrestlers. Usually when I predicted that the champion would keep his title, I ended up wrong. But that’s not going to stop me from predicting this again. Taker doesn’t have to tap in this match. They can go the Bret/Austin route and have him pass out from blood loss or pain and that way he will still keep his “never submitted” credibility. And with Teddy Long promising something big for Sunday and next Thursday, it could be a heel turn and some heel allies for Punk so Taker will have another opportunity not to lose clean. Either way, I see Punk keeping his title here.
Winner: Punk
Michael O’Mahony: I have a feeling that the big announcements on Raw and Smackdown next week will be Batista and Undertaker swapping shows. The Raw main event scene desperately needs to be refreshed, and The Undertaker is the perfect guy to do it. Meanwhile, nobody else on Smackdown is ready for that next step (except Rey, and I don’t think they’ll be rewarding him for the events of this past month), and slotting Batista into a program with Punk gets him away from the interminable Orton storyline. That means Punk goes over here, I think. The only sticking point is how they pull it off without damaging ‘Taker. There’s no way we’re going to see a clean submission here, so I expect some kind of clusterfuck.
Of course, I’m sticking my neck way out with all this, so I am prepared to be completely and utterly wrong.
Winner: CM Punk.
Paul Marshall: I’m torn on this one. CM Punk just won the title a few weeks ago and I really don’t care to see the title switching as often as it has been. The WWE Creative backed themselves in a huge corner here. The Undertaker hasn’t tapped out before (and I’m not counting the Angle/Taker match where Taker tapped out at the same time Angle got the pinfall). CM Punk has a lot to lose here and even more to gain. The Undertaker will clearly win the title, but most likely not at Breaking Point. So how do they keep the Undertaker from tapping out? The PPV will be in Montreal, but Undertaker is no Bret Hart…neither is CM Punk, so there won’t be a screwjob. Is it possible for a double submission – like CM Punk having the Anaconda Vice locked on while being in the Hell’s Gate? If we get a double tapout, that’ll force a draw. It’s either that or we get a DQ or countout. At any rate, Punk will retain and we’ll get these two at Hell in a Cell. I’ll go the DQ/Countout route since it’s less complicated.
Winner: The Undertaker via DQ or countout (CM Punk keeps the title)
Matthew Michaels: Punk really should win this, although I can’t see him being the first to cause Taker to lose via submission (he tapped once while pinning Kurt Angle in a no contest). I’m not sure how DQs and countouts work in a submissions-only match, but something tells me there WILL be shenanigans.
Winner: CM Punk
WWE Championship – “I Quit” Match:
Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena
Mark Allen: Are completely out of Orton-Cena-HHH combinations yet? Cena hasn’t held his own spinner belt in a long time, but I like to see Orton finally have a lengthy-for-this-time period reign. Here’s a thought, put Legacy against Cena and DX in a six man Hell in a Cell next month. Then let the fans pick Orton’s opponent for Bragging Point by picking between Cena, Michaels or HHH. Then maybe we can bleed this feud completely dry by the end of the year and everyone can move on.
Winner – Orton
Roy Reynolds: I expected Cena to dethrone Orton at SummerSlam and surprisingly, he did not. It is awfully tough for me to go with John Cena again, but I am going to have to. Simply for the reason that I cannot picture Cena saying “I quit” to Randy. Cena gets the victory via a unique application of the STFU.
Winner: John Cena
Brian Eison: I really don’t like “I Quit†matches. They sound like a good idea for a big match in a major feud but they aren’t. To get a clean finish you have to make a major star actually say that they quit and make them look weak in the process. Usually there are shenanigans involved in these kinds of matches to prevent that but then what is the point of doing it in the first place? Either way I don’t see either man involved saying that they quit on the house mic, something else will happen instead, possibly Cena pulling a Stone Cold from WM13.
Winner: Randy Orton
Tess Nolde: According to WWE, John Cena will never quit. And Randy Orton also will never quit. Interesting stuff there. So will we ever find a winner? I have a feeling this will be a long match and it’s really making me wonder how Orton might pull this off without Legacy interfering. I have a feeling Cena might just take this one out, because they really have built Orton as not being able to win without interference for a while now. It would be nice to see Orton win, but the WWE’s poster boy has been without a belt for a long time now. So unfortunately for me, I have a bad feeling that Cena is going to take this one out. (and I may vote this way, but I’ll be keeping up hope that I’m wrong until this one is officially over).
Winner: John Cena.
Raffi Shamir: It’s been a long time since Cena held the title and honestly, I can’t see this feud ending until he actually beats Orton in a title match. The problem is that no matter who wins, I can’t see any new feuds that can take place wither with Cena or Orton as champion. Sigh.
Winner: Cena
Michael O’Mahony: Let’s not waste space on this. At some point, Cena needs to go over Orton.
Winner: John Cena
Paul Marshall: While I’m slightly excited for this match…it quickly wears off as these two faced off a few too many times. It’s good that Trips & Shawn are busy with Orton’s lackeys, but Cena/Orton is as fresh as stale bread. However, since I rarely catch SmackDown and have to watch RAW…I have to try to find good things with this and this is the best I can do. Regardless of the result, we might get the same match at Hell in a Cell…unless they do a six man HIAC for the WWE Title. I can see this match closing the show if they want to send the fans home on a good note and Cena makes Orton say I Quit.
Winner: John Cena (New WWE Champion)
Matthew Michaels: Cena kinda has to win, doesn’t he? If not, who the heck faces Randy next? HHH or Michaels? Yawn. MVP? In a tag feud. DiBiase? Hmm…
Winner: John Cena
Submissions Count Anywhere Match:
D-Generation X vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
Mark Allen: Legacy can win this one because neither HHH or Shawn has to actually take a pin.
Winner – Legacy
Roy Reynolds: Who the hell knows anymore? DX has been unstoppable in the past, but Rhodes and DiBiase seem to be having their number as of late. A win here for Legacy would be huge for their young and rising careers. Not only that, but it would also perfectly set up another match between these two at the next pay-per-view. Million Dollar Dream leads to victory, I say. Let’s hope so, anyways.
Winner: Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
Brian Eison: HHH and HBK rarely lose by submission and when they do it is to another big star in a big moment. None of those qualifications are met in this match. For me the only real debate for this match is if one or both of the members of DX will breakout the sharpshooter to fuck with the Montreal crowd. And I think they will.
Winner: DX (probably both members) win via sharpshooter
Tess Nolde: Well, submissions count anywhere mean that it should at least be a good laugh if nothing else. Backstage bashings are usually amusing. But honestly, it would probably destroy a lot of peoples day if DX actually submitted here. And upset kids too. Because they’re basically heroes aren’t they? And a hero in the eyes of kids would never submit to a “bad guy” (oh the joys of PG). So its pretty obvious who will win this one in my eyes. Though they could easily mix this one up and mess with peoples minds I suppose, but I doubt it. And it could be interesting to see what happens to whoever in Legacy does submit. That could cause issues and fights. But that’s just something I’d like to eventually see, Rhodes vs. Dibiase. I apologize for the tangent, but heck, me wishing isn’t going to hurt anyone!
Winner: D-Generation X
Raffi Shamir: I’ll give DX credit for actually making Legacy look good in their match last month. Legacy finally looked like a real threat on PPV, even though they lost. Sadly, I think that this scenario will repeat itself this month, and DX will win a hard fought battle. And while I agree with my esteemed colleagues that the sharpshooter will fuck with the Montreal crowd mind, and even bigger FU from Vince to Canada would be one DX member using the sharpshooter while the other one uses the crippler crossface at the same time. Now that would cause riots.
Winners: DX
Michael O’Mahony: This is going to be a depressing lesson in backstage politics.
Winners: DX
Paul Marshall: Can we go two-for-two on good tag matches or will Trips & Shawn completely neuter Legacy. Does this feud have enough fuel to go to the next PPV? I can see Legacy win here if Orton gets involved…but that’d require the WWE to put the WWE Title on the line in a six man tag at Hell in a Cell. Ooops…spoke too soon.
Winners: Legacy
Matthew Michaels: DX will probably win, but because I really want Legacy too, I’ll be silly here…
Winners: Rhodes & DiBiase
ECW Championship:
Christian (c) vs. William Regal (with Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov)
Mark Allen: Regal should win here to build to a rubber match at Hell in a Cell.
Winner – Regal (new Champion)
Roy Reynolds: Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson have proven to be huge difference makers at Regal’s side on recent episodes of ECW. With that being said, I really can’t see Christian successfully going against all of the odds stacked against him. Following some interference by the Ruthless Roundtable, Regal steals the win and the belt with a Knee Trembler to the skull.
Winner: William Regal
Brian Eison: Regal is an excellent choice for a submission based match but I don’t think this one will be a submission match. It is only a matter of time before the numbers game catches up with Christian and this is as good a time as any for Regal and his crew to take the belt.
Winner: William Regal
Tess Nolde: Given what we saw at SummerSlam, I think this one will be interesting. Regal has big Zeke & Kozlov in his corner and I would say that’s giving Regal a bit of a winning edge as long as this match lasts longer than 6 seconds. And if by some chance we’re viewing another PPV with this brought in as a pointless non-match I’ll be a tad annoyed. I actually want to see this one last, because i think Christian will give Regal a bit of a run for his money here. I hope it all goes down without Regal’s lackeys getting involved, but I highly doubt it. I’m feeling they’ll go with the ref being distracted, and Jackson or Kozlov going in for the kill. I hate to admit it, but I think that Christians run might just be over. (unfortunately).
Winner: William Regal (with his “helpers” Ezekiel Jackson & Vladimir Kozlov).
Raffi Shamir: I hated last month’s “match”. I can only hope that it won’t be repeated this month. With next month’s “Hell in a Cell” PPV, the logical choice would be to have Regal’s henchmen interfere here and give him the win, leading to a cell match next month, hopefully “Extreme Rules in a Cell” match, where they wouldn’t be able to interfere.
Winner: Regal
Michael O’Mahony: Now they’ve put a little time into this, I think we’re going to see a title switch. I enjoy Regal on ECW, and it’s a nice little stable they’ve got going that’s benefiting all three guys. Regal goes over, interference abounds.
Winner: William Regal
Paul Marshall: if this lasts less than a minute, I’ll riot.
Winner: William Regal (New ECW Champion)
Matthew Michaels: Time for a switch… maybe Christian can even move to SD to challenge Punk next.
Winner: Regal
Unified Tag Team Championship:
Chris Jericho & Big Show (c) vs. Mark Henry & Montel Vontavious Porter
Mark Allen: I’m still waiting for a DX-JeriShow Tag Title feud. This is just filler before that.
Winners – Jericho & Show
Roy Reynolds: As soon as the tag team of MVP and Mark Henry were announced to be the next challengers of JeriShow, I knew that they would rack up yet another title defense. Despite the fact that Porter and Henry are extremely over with the crowd right now, I don’t think they would make great tag team champions in the long run. I’m assuming that WWE isn’t dumb enough to realize that, as well.
Winner: Chris Jericho & Big Show
Brian Eison: If they weren’t going to allow Cryme Tyme to beat the champs why would they let a tag-team with one match together? I am still hoping for a DX/Jericho & Show feud and both MVP and Henry won their match-ups on Raw so…
Winner: Jericho & Show
Tess Nolde: Umm, do the WWE not have actual official tag teams anymore or something? Because last time I checked, Mark Henry & MVP were singles wrestlers. I don’t have a major issue with this, but I would rather have seen JeriShow up against either the Hart Dynasty or Cryme Tyme. Who are actual tag teams. But given that this is what they’re providing us with. 4 single wrestlers fighting for the Tag Team belts, I suppose I’ll get over my frustration eventually. The buildup has been nice for this, and they’re basically going in on equal standings. I like that neither team has been pushed out obviously miles in front of the other. But given the effort they’ve put into JeriShow, at this stage I’m saying they’ll keep the belts.
Winner: Chris Jericho & Big Show.
Raffi Shamir: JeriShow are not losing the titles to a makeshift team like Henry/MVP. Besides, they won’t lose the titles until they feud with DX. I’d keep the DX feud for Survivor Series and next month have JeriShow fight Kozlov/Jackson, despite it being a heel vs. heel match.
Winners: Jericho & Big Show
Michael O’Mahony: I wholeheartedly approve of firing MVP. And Mark Henry, for that matter. There’s no justice in this world if Jericho and Show don’t go over clean as a whistle here.
Winners: Jericho & Show
Paul Marshall: This should be a decent match, but Jericho/Show is a hot ticket right now and WWE would be stupid to change that. MVP/Henry are good. But…I’m going to call an audible. Neither team will win. Why? We’re in Canada and I can see the Hart Dynasty getting tossed into the match and winning the tag titles. It’d be fresh, interesting, and would instantly make for good television for the next few weeks. They want a match in Canada and this would be the best idea the writers can use.
Winners: The Hart Dynasty
Matthew Michaels: NOT time for a switch. Sorry!
Winners: JeriShow
Singapore Cane Match:
The Great Khali vs. Kane
Mark Allen: Wow…do not care…
Winner – Khali
Roy Reynolds: How the hell do these matches keep making it on pay-per-view? Does anyone actually even care for this feud, whatsoever? Did Kane win at SummerSlam? I don’t even remember. I’ll go with Kane, just because I like him better.
Winner: Kane
Brian Eison: I hate this feud on Smackdown and I hate it on PPV. I would not like it on a boat, I would not like it with a goat. I do not like this Khali vs Kane, I do not like it Vince McMahon.
Winner: Khali
Tess Nolde: Well, it’s the toilet break match I suppose. I can’t really expect much from it. And given that they bumped the Intercontinental match off the card and left this one there, that says a lot. I mean, where is the buildup to make us care about this. I’m sick of Kane/Khali, and I remember that Ranjin Singh brought a cane into a SmackDown match, and that they’ve been beating each other up in boring SmackDown “matches”. So what on earth are they going to do differently in this PPV match anyway, Khali cant wrestle. So I suppose it’ll be monster hits monster with a cane, and repeat, repeat, repeat for as long as this lasts. (hopefully not long). Okay, based on Kane winning the last useless PPV match I’m going the other way this time, Khali will win. Just to switch things up.
Winner: The Great Khali.
Raffi Shamir: I’ve been trying hard to think of something to write about this match, other than “This is on PPV yet they left John Morrison off the card again?!?!?” and couldn’t.
Winner: Khali
Michael O’Mahony: Jesus. What a crappy PPV. I’m ordering a show this weekend, but it’s going to be DGUSA. Fuck this insulting bullshit.
Winner: Kane
Paul Marshall: Do I have to watch this match?
Winner: The Great Khali
Matthew Michaels: I really don’t care about this match at all. Kane has more up-side.
Winner: Kane
US Championship:
Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz
Raffi Shamir: To repeat what I wrote on the previous match, this is on PPV and Morrison not? I don’t get WWE. But at least they can transition to title to Miz here and make Mizorisson will hold the two secondary titles. Will it be too much to wish for at least some interaction between Miz and Morrison backstage during the PPV?
Winner: The Miz
Roy Reynolds: When WWE usually adds title matches like these to their pay-per-view cards at the last second, the champion usually ends up retaining. As much as I would like to see the Miz beat Kingston for the strap, I have to believe that the belt will change hands at a more appropriate time in the future to come.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Michael O’Mahony: So we cut Morrison and Mr. Ziggles and put this on instead? Okay, it makes a twisted kind of sense. Morrison is clearly going to be a huge success as champion, and if Dolph got beat cleanly again it would really stall his push. Sure, most of us would rather see the match that got removed rather than the one that got added, but at least there’s logic at work. Besides that, both The Miz and Kofi fall into the category of performers I sort of like. I’d like to see The Miz grab the belt here. Kofi isn’t taking it anywhere right now, and you can guarantee Miz would use it to elevate himself and cut about a million obnoxious promos. Plus there’s a pleasing symmetry to having Miz and Morrison as secondary champions on their respective shows.
Winner: The Miz
Paul Marshall: I can understand why Morrison/Ziggler was axed from the card…because they might put on a good match that’d be better than the submission matches and WWE doesn’t want to spotlight a non-submission match on a submission PPV. Kingston/Miz should be good, but not a show-stealer. Kofi had defied the odds before, but maybe it’s time for the Miz to get a well-deserved payoff.
Winner: The Miz
Matthew Michaels: Definitely time for a title switch here… Let’s put a rocket to The Miz and see if he can elevate himself back to matches with Cena & co.
Winner: Mike Mizanin
If you’ve noticed, not one of us even tried to use the term “Breaking Point” in some sort of clever pun, and just for that I think we all deserve extra credit. Pulse Wrestling will of course have live up to the minute coverage of all the action on Sunday night, so join us for WWE Breaking Point.
