Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[shadowgrin]

Alberto Del Rio needs to be world champion again.

[shadowgrin]

Kevin Owens‏ @FightOwensFight

You haven't lived until you've dropped your son off at school to the tune of a bunch of 10 year olds screaming John Cena's theme song at you

[[Q]]

Xtreme Rules predictions?
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles (Extreme Rules Match)
Styles loses, Balor Club turns on him with the debut of Finn Balor
WWE Women's Champion Charlotte vs. Natalya (Submission Match; Ric Flair banned from ringside)
Charlotte wins clean (possibly with Sharpshooter instead of Figure 8)
Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn (Fatal 4-Way Match)
Wishful thinking, but they finally reward Cesaro for all of his hard work
Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho (Asylum Match)
Ambrose. it's "his" match. Jericho is probably leaving soon anyways.
The Usos vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows (Tag Team Tornado Match)
The (Balor) Club goes over here.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains
New Day rocks
United States Champion Kalisto vs. Rusev
Kalisto
Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin (No Disqualification Match)
Corbin wins after annihilating Ziggler with a weapon

[JaoSming]

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles (Extreme Rules Match)
Styles loses, clean, no shenanigans
WWE Women's Champion Charlotte vs. Natalya (Submission Match; Ric Flair banned from ringside)
Charlotte wins clean
Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn (Fatal 4-Way Match)
Miz Retains, KO "injures" Zayn and starts up with Cesaro for contendership
Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho (Asylum Match)
Jeritroll, by technicality
The Usos vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows (Tag Team Tornado Match)
Gun Club
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains
Vaudevillains, just for shock value
United States Champion Kalisto vs. Rusev
Rusev to setup junk with Cena again
Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin (No Disqualification Match)
Corbin wins after annihilating Ziggler with EOD on concrete

[[Q]]

Oh, good one. Maybe Corbin hits EOD onto a chair in the ring
And I forgot Cena's coming back. Wonder where he'll fit in the picture. US title with Rusev is a good guess

[Andrew]

Cody Rhodes has been released. He did request his release, so he probably saw the writing on the wall, or perhaps feels he needs to take a break. I hope he returns one day, and they do a bit more with him.

And my predictions...

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles (Extreme Rules Match)

Reigns wins, and continues to get pushed as a face despite the crowd reactions.

WWE Women's Champion Charlotte vs. Natalya (Submission Match; Ric Flair banned from ringside)

As much as I'd like to see Natalya get a run with the newly renamed Women's Championship, I think Charlotte wins here. I think she also needs a clean win to solidify her reign. Pairing her up with her father hasn't really done her any favours as far as breaking out as her own character, or looking strong after winning the belt.

Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn (Fatal 4-Way Match)

I'd like to see Zayn go over, and I'm really tempted to pick him, but I'll say The Miz retains.

Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho (Asylum Match)

Ambrose has to go over, and I believe he will. Jericho's previous wins were meant to establish that he's still a credible opponent, so he's doing the honours for Ambrose here. Ambrose still should've gone over Lesnar, though.

The Usos vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows (Tag Team Tornado Match)

The Usos have to be the ones doing the job here. They've looked too strong in the feud as it is. Anderson and Gallows for the win.

WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains

I don't see The New Day losing their the titles just yet. Picking them to go over, as they should.

United States Champion Kalisto vs. Rusev

At first I was thinking Kalisto, but Jon brings up a good point about Cena's return. I think I'll go with Rusev, too.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin (No Disqualification Match)

Corbin, because he's receiving a push, and the rug always gets pulled out from under Ziggler.

[JaoSming]

Major Spoilers
Click n drag foo, super spoiler (maybe) Rollins might return tonight. I see him siding with Roman rather than fighting him, just another way to try and make Roman more likeable or whatever bullshit. Still, Rollins vs AJ would be amazing.

[Andrew]

That would be awesome.

[JaoSming]

So are so breaking that trophy tonight......well, something got destroyed

[[Q]]

Major Spoilers
Click n drag foo, super spoiler (maybe) Rollins might return tonight. I see him siding with Roman rather than fighting him, just another way to try and make Roman more likeable or whatever bullshit. Still, Rollins vs AJ would be amazing.

Good call, I figured someone would show up at the end of the match. I had the wrong person. I'd imagine they'll build the balor club for another month (assuming Finn loses to Samoa Joe and gets called up)

Now they have a bonafide face to go up against reigns

[Andrew]

Which is funny, because he was the top heel when he got injured. They can keep running with Reigns saying he's not a good guy or a bad guy but THE guy, but just officially make him a heel, because that's a good line for a "doesn't give a shit" heel and you can't keep fighting the crowd reactions.

[bigh0rt]

Those were the loudest boos and anti-Roman chants they've let be broadcast on television, that I can recall, and there was a definitive, loud "Thank You Rollins" chant at the very end. The Jersey crowd doesn't pull punches. Just push him as a heel. If you insist on having him Main Event, just do it right at least. Those Roman Sucks and You Still Suck chants were coming through clear as day.

The Intercontinental Title match was A+ entertaining, which is no shock, with Owens and Cesaro. I really wish they'd tweak Cesaro's character more to make it easier to push him. He's just lacking something. Still, easy to love the performances he puts on. Owens is, has been, and continues to be a superstar. I can't get enough of him, whether it's in the ring, on the mic, whatever.

So help me God if after tonight's interference and the reaction it garnered, the WWE tries to push Rollins as a heel to continue to try and get Reigns over as a face. It's over. Accept it.

Rusev is another guy who's just missing something. In the "Ask Rusev" pre-event segment, I'd like to see him talk like that more often to make his character more palatable, and add some more depth somehow, anyhow. He's talented, but generally pretty lame.

Who are our early candidates to win Money in the Bank? I'd love to see Owens get it.

[Andrew]

It's not like they've never tried to force anything before, but they used to be better at riding crowd reactions rather than fighting against them, and playing with the audience's emotions in a good way. These days, it seems they have The Plan, and they'll be damned if they deviate from The Plan in any way...even if it's clear that a better course of action is in front of them.

I reckon Owens goes over in Money in the Bank. I think they've kind of messed up with MITB, though. Too many winners have won the title the same way, and too many winners have successfully cashed in, stripping away intrigue/unpredictability and making it seem like an unsuccessful cash in is a burial instead of just being an unexpected result to keep us guessing.

[[Q]]

I think they really messed up Lana's strong female character as she was in full command of Rusev until the whole Dolph storyline. I was a great dynamic, the classic monster heel that's controllable only by their manager. It's definitely salvageable as I see a Rusev/Lana vs Cena/Nikki match in the future.

I agree with the MITB as not enough people have failed. but at the same time, it's a really big deal, they probably see it as a waste of time in the build-up if someone fails.

Not really sure what they're doing with Dana Brooke, but could be an audible with Emma's injury. I could see them finishing the feud with Becky and possibly bringing Sasha back for a Summerslam/Survivor Series title win.

[bigh0rt]

I have to imagine that Gallows/Anderson end up with Balor when he comes up, as I don't see AJ/Balor and the other two all working well together in the WWE right now, even if it has worked in the past. Gallows/Anderson seem like good, muscle heels, so if Balor comes up as a heel (which doesn't make sense to me, but I don't know at this point if half the WWE Superstars are faces or heels), Balor Club could work that way. I don't know where that leaves AJ, who I think must stay face, but who the hell knows.

Maybe Bray Wyatt will work a segment this month so he can get squashed at MITB next month. Go WWE.

[Andrew]

That is the risk with MITB and the Rumble for that matter, but if it's handled properly, I think there's merit in having the winners fall short in their title shots. Unpredictable isn't always good - as Vince Russo has demonstrated time and time again - but it's become a bit too predictable at the same time. If nothing else, I'd like to see more MITB winners cash in the briefcase in advance, for a proper match.

Also, as much as I hate to admit it... Camp WWE has kind of grown on me. I know, I know. It's really stupid, but it's turning into a guilty pleasure. I think it's the fact they got Vince to voice himself.

[[Q]]

Also, as much as I hate to admit it... Camp WWE has kind of grown on me. I know, I know. It's really stupid, but it's turning into a guilty pleasure. I think it's the fact they got Vince to voice himself.

Not really sold on it based on the commercials they've bee airing for it. I finally got to see that cancelled cartoon Cheap Pops and that was actually really funny

I have to imagine that Gallows/Anderson end up with Balor when he comes up, as I don't see AJ/Balor and the other two all working well together in the WWE right now, even if it has worked in the past. Gallows/Anderson seem like good, muscle heels, so if Balor comes up as a heel (which doesn't make sense to me, but I don't know at this point if half the WWE Superstars are faces or heels), Balor Club could work that way. I don't know where that leaves AJ, who I think must stay face, but who the hell knows.

I could see the Balor Club becoming like a new nWo (yeah they even do the WolfPac hand gesture) going around and messing with people and beating them up, starting with AJ Styles. I tihnk it's too early to turn Styles as he's still getting established so best thing would be for the Club to turn on him and keep him a face.

[Andrew]

I couldn't really recommend it or anything; I can barely justify my own enjoyment of it.

[[Q]]

Looks like they are sticking with heel Rollins, which makes sense because that's who he was when he left, but they continue to ignore what the fans want. Never thought I'd be so happy to see Rollins back.

[Andrew]

What they need is a strong face to make it a three way dance for the title. Personally, I'd keep Styles in the picture.

[bigh0rt]

What they need is a strong face to make it a three way dance for the title. Personally, I'd keep Styles in the picture.

This may be where they slot Cena in, potentially. A Three-Way Dance featuring two guys who can't be pinned.

[JaoSming]

So, Live Smackdown and brand split incoming in less than 2 months.

[Andrew]

I'm just not a fan of the brand split, especially if it means two world titles. People talk about how that creates more stars, but does it really? I just think it waters down the world title, and artificially inflates the amount of championship reigns borderline main eventers end up with. Unifying the world titles was one of the best moves they've made in the last few years, in my opinion.

What they need is a strong face to make it a three way dance for the title. Personally, I'd keep Styles in the picture.

This may be where they slot Cena in, potentially. A Three-Way Dance featuring two guys who can't be pinned.

Might need to bring in a fourth guy to protect Rollins and take the pinfall, then. That'll probably be Sheamus, just because.

[[Q]]

Interesting that they'd position 2 guys at the top with mixed reactions when there's supposed to be a clear face and heel.

Honestly, when Cena & Kevin Owens and co. were fighting for the US & IC titles back when Rollins was champ, there were some really strong stories being told. I would've argued they were fighting for the real titles when Rollins was being a bunch of nobodies to keep him on top.

They seem dedicated to keep AJ at the top, so I'm interested where his story goes from here to keep him strong.

[bigh0rt]

This has gotta be a move to help alleviate the workload of the superstars, given that just about every big name they have has been shelved within the last year at some point.

The biggest problem for me is the 3 hour RAW. Just about nothing can keep me entertained for three straight hours, and I can't think of a single time RAW has really utilized the whole time block to be entertaining. And now they're going to try to do so with half the talent. That's worrisome.

I missed the entire brand split last time they did so, so I have no idea how it was, but having SmackDown be a Live show on Tuesdays should make it better than taped on Thursdays.