Welcome once again to the Rasslin’ Roundtable! I am your host, Rhett Davis, and today I integrate People Power (you know you love it) into the vote by taking the majority of the Pulse Poll and counting it as the People’s vote. Anyways without further delay…
Pre-Show Match
Brodus Clay and Tensai vs. The Rhodes Scholars
Chris Sanders: So I’m assuming the only reason this match is happening is so WWE’s new toy can have a credible heel team to squash? This is ridiculous but I’m glad nobody has to pay to see it.
Winner: TenClay
Steven Gepp: Poor Rhodes Scholars. I think they had great potential, and now they’re the tag team jobbers to the stars. And not even stars, but the tag team known we should just call Overweight, Untalented and Tattooed.
Winner: OUT
Justin C: The WWE just doesn’t know what to do with Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Maybe being together is good. They were being jobbed out the two weeks they were singles competitors, so maybe it is best they are back together as a team. Tensai and Clay, however, look like they are the new “IT” team in the WWE. You know they like their comedy tag teams. I expect Clay and Tensai to win here. They are on their way up in the Tag Team ranks.
Winners: Tensai & Brodus Clay
Rhett Davis: Ah Two Tons of Fun take on Jobbers Inc. This definitely seems like an equal match. The announcers keep talking of The Rhodes Scholars as if they are about to shoot off in singles competition, but seriously what was the last match either man won? So why should they defeat the undefeated force of Two Tons of Fun? Doesn’t make sense.
Winners: Two Tons of Fun (Brodus Clay and Tensai)
People Power: With a total of 81% of the votes, Tensai and Clay win The People’s Vote.
The Tally: Tensai and Brodus Clay – 5
Diva’s Championship
Kaitlyn (c) vs. Tamina Snuka
Chris Sanders: Is there even a story here?
Winner: Kaitlyn(‘s boobs)
Steven Gepp: Please. Really? They still bother to have this title? You’ve got Sara Del Ray training these people! Use her ON SCREEN! Morons.
Winner: 14 year old boys with one sweat sock
Justin C: You know the WWE cares about their Divas Division so much. Did they even promote this on RAW? Kaitlyn retains, moves on to a possible feud against A.J. going into Wrestlemania.
Winner: Kaitlyn
Jonah Kue: To be honest, this is the first Divas match in a while I may be paying attention to. Both Kaitlyn and Tamina have shown potential. And they’re not your typical barbies. Should be interesting, at least.
Winner (and NEW Divas Champ): Tamina
Rhett Davis: Well… this most certainly is a Diva’s match. Can we get Natalya somewhere in the mix please? I’d appreciate that greatly. Or better yet get Kharma back. I like Kaitlyn, but I don’t think she was anywhere close to being the champion over the Diva’s division. And Tamina? She’s been shuttled down the division so far it’s hard to take her seriously. Anyways, I see Kaitlyn going over in a poor match.
Winner (and STILL Diva’s Champion): Kaitlyn
People Power: With a total of 71% of the votes, Kaitlyn wins The People’s Vote.
The Tally: Kaitlyn – 4
Tamina – 1
14 Year Old Boys – 1
United States Championship
Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. The Miz
Chris Sanders: My gut wants to say that this will be the big moment Miz finally gets one over Cesaro to help solidify Miz’s face turn. However, all of Miz’s recent screw-ups have cost him what little momentum he had. Let this match be the end of it so we can all see something different.
Winner: Antonio Cesaro
Steven Gepp: Really? Really? Oooh, isn’t this Miz face turn going splendidly? But he won’t make it as a WWE face until he starts to do two thinks – smile like a moron and no-sell everything. Cesaro, though, I think is great. Let’s see if he can carry Mike Mizarin to something resembling a watchable match.
Winner: Cesaro (please)
Justin C: Cesaro has everything you would like to see a future main eventer in the WWE have. He has a good look, is excellent in the ring, and can do a decent job on the mic. Watching Cesaro swing Miz back and forth into the barricade on RAW was a great thing to watch. Miz, on the other hand, is slipping farther and farther down the totem pole. Cesaro should only lose the US Title to someone who could use the rub from winning it, or when he is ready to go into the main event picture. Neither of those two things are happening soon. Cesaro retains here.
Winner: Antonio Cesaro
Rhett Davis: Antonio Cesaro is one of the best things going in the WWE and I love that they have let him hold on to the United States title for so long. One of the most irritating things that mid-card heels do is claim they will add prestige to their title(Cody, Wade, McIntyre, etc.), but Antonio Cesaro actually has done that. That being said, I’m scared that Miz is going to get the win this Sunday. Hopefully, Antonio just destroys The Miz Sunday and we won’t have to worry about Miz at WrestleMania. But… Miz is the face and it’s time for the face to get his revenge.
Winner(and NEW United States Champion): The Miz
The Tally: Antonio Cesaro – 3
The Miz – 1
6-Man Tag Team Match
The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) vs. The Super Friends (John Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback)
Chris Sanders: 3 fresh mid-carders versus the 3 guys in the company that WWE has the biggest crush on, one of which is estimated to have a rematch of the biggest cash cow the company has had in a long time. Yeah, Shield totally has a chance.
Winner: Super Friends
Steven Gepp: The over-pushed versus the NKOTB. Unlike most people in the IWC, I’m not looking forward to see the most interesting thing on WWE TV right now being squashed by smiling doofus, smiling ginger and Goldberg-reject.
Winner: The over-pushed
Justin C: This match could really go either way. When you think like the WWE, you would want John Cena to look strong headed into his WWE Title Match at Wrestlemania. Problem is that he is already booked so strong that a loss wouldn’t kill him. But the WWE probably thinks it would. They think the same thing when it comes to Ryback. He was hot shot up the card so quickly that he was in a position where he had to take some losses. Sheamus has also fallen down a bit as well. Then there’s The Shield. Something may need to change for them too. You can only book them to do attacks for so long. I liked their promo on RAW and I hope they start to wrestle more down the line. I also hope they have a big match headed into Wrestlemania. A loss would hurt The Shield more than it would hurt the faces in this match. The Shield wins.
Winners: The Shield
Jonah Kue: Yeah, no.
Winners: Cena, Irish Cena, and RyCena
Rhett Davis: As obvious as it seems that the Super Friends are going to win, it could just as easily go the other way around. In my opinion, The Shield should win just because of chemistry and they need it more, but the Super Friends consist of John Cena who very rarely loses the big match, Sheamus who needs a win after months of losing, and Ryback who also is in a bit of a slump. Therefore, in order to make the faces more credible heading into Mania, the Super Friends will win and I don’t think it will hurt The Shield as much as everyone acts like it will.
Winners: The Super Friends
People Power: With a total of 61% of the votes, The Super Friends receive The People’s Vote.
The Tally: The Super Friends – 5
The Shield – 1
#1 Contenders Elimination Chamber Match
Randy Orton vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Chris Jericho vs. Jack Swagger
Chris Sanders: On this week’s RAGER, I broke down what the Wrestlemania storyline would be for each of the 6 participants if they won. The WHC match is pretty much a toss-up at WM these days so I’m gonna go with the one that’s most compelling to me.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Steven Gepp: Mark Henry is back and on that sort of killer heel bastard killer run that made him bearable before his last injury. Randy Orton is back, and nothing’s changed except he’s just a year staler. Daniel Bryan and Chris Jericho have decided lately to have brilliant TV matches. Kane is doing the best he’s done in years in the ring, when with a motivated opponent, or tagging with Bryan. Jack Swagger’s return has been made suddenly interesting with the addition of Zeb. So who’s going to win? Considering the WWE’s complete lack of imagination and their desire to have no interesting wrestling on our screens, that leaves only one winner, the most boring and dull and uninteresting choice out of the bunch.
Winner: Randy Orton
Justin C: You could honestly make a case for four of these guys winning this match. Daniel Bryan and Kane are the only two guys I don’t see winning. They are bound to either lose the Tag Titles at Wrestlemania or have a one-on-one match at Mania. With the new “Tea Party” angle that Jack Swagger seems to be going with, you could see Alberto del Rio facing him at Mania. But does a Del Rio/Swagger World Title Match really appeal to the masses for a Mania match? The same could be said for Mark Henry. He’s been a monster since his return, but I don’t know if Del Rio goes from one big monster heel to another. Randy Orton is always a candidate to be in a main event match, but with his personal problems I don’t know if the WWE trusts him again. That leaves Chris Jericho, who has been getting some great crowd responses since his return. Jericho would also be willing to put over whoever is in the World Title Match with him, especially if he is leaving right away. Jericho is my pick to win here.
Winner: Chris Jericho
Jonah Kue: Three DUDS, one dwindling Viper, and two of the best wrestlers we’ve seen in the past couple of decades. This match has the job to set up feuds going in ‘Mania. So, look for Bryan to pin Kane at some point to set that match up. I’m pretty sure the new angle they have with White Power Swagger is setting him up against del Rio. I’m a bit apathetic with what they do with Henry and Orton at this point. But if they’re looking to do any bit of fan service, Bryan and Jericho will be the last two combatants. And the winner will be…
Winner: Chris Jericho
Rhett Davis: As everyone else said, you could make an argument for just about any of them besides Kane and Daniel Bryan (as much as I’d love to see it) due to them either breaking up or fighting each other at the Grandaddy of them All. Mark is on a killer push that really Del Rio would do well going over him at Mania. Swagger just got his racist gimmick going so that blends well with Del Rio’s character much like the JBL/Eddie feud went. Jericho could win if Dolph cashes in later. And of course there’s Randy Orton who could always be inserted into the title picture. This is the most unpredictable part of the night and will most likely be the way we start speculation on what matches we will see at WrestleMania. Hmm… Jericho and Orton seem to be the favorites so I’ll go with Mark Henry so Del Rio can have another giant to overcome.
Winner: Mark Henry
People Power: With a total of 32% of the vote, Chris Jericho receives The People’s Vote.
The Tally: Chris Jericho – 4
Randy Orton – 1
Mark Henry – 1
World Heavyweight Championship
Alberto del Rio (c) vs. Big Show
Chris Sanders: The winner of this match is quite insignificant (you’ll see when I announce the winner) and ever since Big Show attacked Ricardo, all we’ve seen is Del Rio getting back at Big show (sometimes with the writers getting a tad racist). I think a face Del Rio is something WWE is still fascinated by and will continue to poke a stick at.
Winner: Del Rio (Ziggler cashes in and sets up either Ziggler vs Jericho and WM or a 3-Way with Del rio)
Steven Gepp: I’ve enjoyed most of their matches, but don’t really need to see another one. Placeholder match, just so there can be a cash-in.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
Cash-in and NEW champion: Dolph Ziggler
Justin C: This feud has only been going on for about a month, but it seems like it has been going on for over half a year. I actually think Del Rio has regressed as this feud is coming to an end. The feud is also going backwards. You can’t have two Last Man Standing Matches then a regular match to blow off the feud. I hated Del Rio’s pandering babyface promo two weeks ago. I also didn’t like him winning via duct tape at the Rumble. But the Big Show doesn’t need the World Title back. Del Rio wins.
Winner: Albert del Rio- HOWEVER…
I think this is the time to have Ziggler cash in his Money in the Bank Contract. It’s either now, or after Jericho wins the World Title at Mania. But a Jericho/Ziggler program is more appealing heading into Mania than a Jericho/Del Rio program, although I do think that would be entertaining too. Ziggler cashes in after a post-match KO Punch from Big Show
NEW World Champion: Dolph Ziggler
Jonah Kue: This match is pretty much irrelevant. And that’s no knock against either of these two. I’ve enjoyed the feud between these two (minus the unnecessary pandering to the crowd by face del Rio), and the matches, though Show-inclusive, have had innovative endings. But more than likely, Ziggler will be cashing in against the winner of this match. With that being said, it would cement Ziggler a bit more as a heel if he cashed in against a face.
Winner (and STILL World Champ): Alberto del Rio, followed by a Money in the Bank cash-in, then
Winner (and NEW World Champ): Dolph Ziggler
Rhett Davis: I have enjoyed this feud and I think it was done well to establish del Rio as a cunning face very similar to Eddie Guerrero although not as interesting I might add. As almost everyone on here has added that Dolph will cash in here, but I think WWE might throw yet another swerve. Instead let ADR win this, Henry the EC match and have yet another mountain to climb only for Dolph to cash in at Mania. That way we get del Rio/Ziggler for after Mania.
Winner (and STILL World Heavyweight Champion): Alberto del Rio
People Power: With a total of 93% of the vote, Alberto del Rio receives The People’s Vote
The Tally: Alberto del Rio – 6
WWE Championship Match
The Rock (c) vs. CM Punk
Chris Sanders: Clearly WWE has something up their sleeve, or they’re trying to swerve us all. Still, I wish that they would simply lower the Chamber and lock both guys in, I know that’s big time wishful thinking. I’m really wanting a straight match after Rumble but I can almost guarantee that won’t happen. In the end, we all know where this is leading and after tonight, we can all stop kidding ourselves.
Winner: The Rock
Steven Gepp: I liked their Rumble match, but thought they were holding back a bit. Maybe this was due to Punk’s injury and Rock’s ring-rust. I fully expect this one to be better. I think they’re going out to steal the show, so I expect a damn fine match, even if the result is in no doubt. No doubt? Hmm… Despite what I just said, I think maybe, just maybe, the WWE won’t do Rock/Cena 2, but do Punk/Cena 916. Why? Because of Brockerference, leading to Rock/Brock 4 (I think).
Winner: CM Punk
Justin C: The three week build this match has had didn’t help it. It doesn’t help that The Rock wasn’t on RAW one week, and did a terrible job of building up the match this past Monday on RAW. The outcome of this match will pretty much determine where C.M. Punk is heading going into Wrestlemania. A clean loss probably means The Undertaker or lower. A fishy loss may mean he’s added into the WWE Title Match. Part of me thinks that The Undertaker isn’t wrestling at Mania this year. So with that said, even though it goes against his character, I think John Cena wins here and helps The Rock retain the WWE Title. Cena can say how he needs to beat The Rock and get the memory of last year’s loss out of his mind. Then, this also gives Punk a claim to get another shot at the WWE Title at Wrestlemania. I don’t think the DQ/Countout stip will play into anything. Remember, Paul Heyman said he would do anything to get the stip added. That anything? Having HHH fight Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania.
Winner: The Rock
Jonah Kue: This match is more of a forgone conclusion than anything else on the card. I like how they threw in the “Rock loses the title via DQ or count out” stipulation in an attempt to throw some ambiguity to the outcome. The second Cena won the Rumble, it’s been obvious that Rock/Cena II is the card for ‘Mania.
That being said, this is a chance for Rock and Punk to put on the show they were expected to at the Rumble, but fell short of doing so (blame it on Rock’s ring rust or what have you). I believe this has the potential to be an unbelievable match. There were hints of great chemistry and ring psychology between these two, and I have a feeling they’ll display it to the fullest in this match, in spite of the predictable ending.
Winner (and STILL WWE Champ): The Rock
Rhett Davis: As much as I would like to see Punk come away with it, it’s just not very likely. About 5% likely. I see Rock going over in a better match than the Rumble and this time he’ll win via the Rock Bottom. Not much else to say about this match.
Winner (and STILL WWE Champion): The Rock
People Power: With a total of 85% of the vote, The Rock receives The People’s Vote.
The Tally: The Rock – 5
CM Punk – 1
Also available to vote on The Pulse Poll was whether Dolph would cash in and whether Undertaker would appear.
With a total of 53% of the vote, the People voted that Dolph would cash in.
With a total of 76% of the vote, the People voted that The Undertaker would NOT return at Elimination Chamber.
That’s all for this PPV’s Rasslin’ Roundtable! Be sure to check next month for Lockdown and WrestleMania! Be sure to comment in the section below on what you think will happen at the PPV!
