Choke's WWE Raw Rant and Smackdown Preview 6/16/2014 - 6/20/2014
Posted by: choke Jun 18, 2014 | 1461 views | 2 comments
RAW Rant
This week's RAW didn't really excite me much. I really don't ever need to see Cena vs Kane ever again, and most of the results seemed obvious from the get go. Add in the awful throwup gag and you have 2.5 of the 3 hours that I wish I had back. Regardless, I do think MITB is shaping up to be an interesting show with now two MITB matches, the tag belts, and whatever else they decide to add to it (Paige vs Naomi? more Stardust shenanigans?) So yeah, it's only exciting for the MITB matches.
Smackdown No Spoiler Preview
As always I pulled this from www.prowrestling.net and don't provide any spoilers. These are my guesses.
1. Seth Rollins vs Kofi Kingston - Kofi hasn't won since 2009, so this is an easy win for Rollins. There's a chance it'll all break down with Ambrose interference or something, but even in that case Rollins still gets the win. Always bet on (the guy wearing) black.
2. Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler (non title) I like what they're doing with Barrett lately, having him involved in doing the Authority's bidding. It makes sense, as all heels that aren't tweeners should be sucking up to HHH in the hopes of career advancement. Dolph seems to be bubbling under like they're going to try to give him some sort of push, though he hasn't won at all this season. I could see him picking up a surprise win and somehow ending up in the 2nd MITB match (along with Barrett) and setting up a future shot at the Bed n Breakfast's belt, but I'll stick with the more realistic and say Bath n Body gets the win.
3. Adam Rose vs Titus O'Neill: I'm definitely down to be a lemon if it means I never have to see Adam Rose again. This gimmick is a hoe-train wreck and he hasn't done anything in the ring that has impressed me yet. Clearly Rose will take a win here because the WWE is all about burying their black talent lately.
4. Kane vs Dean Ambrose: Well at least this match makes sense. The Authority trying to punish Ambrose put him in a match against the Demon Kane who seemingly hasn't won a match ever since he became non-human months ago. Tides will turn, Ambrose will look like he's about to win, and then Rollins or any other Authority member will interfere which I guess is still technically an Ambrose win.
5. Big E vs Jack Swagger: These guys met last week on Smackdown and I honestly have no recollection what happened. Is Big E still feuding with Rusev? This Smackdown looks terrible. I'll say E takes the win and Rusev comes out afterwards because they have nothing better for him to do than beat up on yet another black man.
6. Bo Dallas vs Fandango: Dumb match. Two heels against each other? Or are they trying to turn Fandango face? That doesnt make sense either. Obviously Dallas can't take a loss yet, so Bo should win, or maybe some Summer Rae/Layla stuff will prevent the match from even going off? Confirmed, awful Smackdown
7. Cena, Sheamus, Reigns vs Cesaro, Orton, Wyatt and Del Rio: Potential for some interesting moments with all these guys involved in one match, but seems likely there will just be some super schmozz to end it. If not, it really could go either way since they have another full week to prepare. Faces could go over this week and then the heels next week leading into MITB. I'll flip a coin and say the faces take it when the heels don't work well as a team.
Overall Show: This show looks terrible. I'm tempted to go a full 5 shots of jameson out of 5, but at least there are 7 matches happening (even though there's not a clear winner in the bunch). It's close though. 4 shots of jameson out of 5.
Rising:
1. Cody Rhodes/Goldust: Ugh, I was so, so close to drafting Cody a few weeks back but decided not to. With the new Stardust gimmick 2 things can happen: 1) either they win their next several matches and actually re-establish themselves for the time being as a legitimate threat, which is actually what they should do since the tag team division's faces are seriously made up of only the Usos and Matadores right now, or they can have it turn into a disaster quickly and have Cody turn on Goldie. Either way Cody should do some major points damage in the weeks to come, and Goldust should do well in that first scenario particularly.
2. Naomi: God this Divas division. I swear one of these years I'll get it all figured out. So Naomi just beat Paige non-title which makes it likely she'll get a Divas title shot soon. They also teased a Cameron heel turn, so watch for that as well. Weird thing is before her injury to her eye, Naomi seemed primed for a title run. With Paige not exactly clicking with the crowds, is it possible the WWE is going to go back to that plan? Even if not, I like her points potential in the next week or two at least.
3. Kane: Naturally the week after I have him on falling, he's picking up match after match. While he won't win many of them, just having a guy on the show week in and week out is good for your 5th-7th wrestler slots, and Kane is always liable to get some bonus points for attacks/foreign objects/tables as well
Falling:
1. Alicia Fox: Well they seem to have dropped her like a rock. It was a good run Alicia.
2. Big Show: Somewhere sipping margaritas with his buddy Rey Mysterio remembering the good ole days.
3. El Torito: The WWE had been having Torito week in and week out beat up on 3MB. Now that they're broken up, Torito (along with the Matadores and Hornswoggle haven't been on TV). He still might be worth holding in one of your final slots of your roster since the WWE can never seem to get away from the midgets entirely, but there's only so far they can go with the same guys getting beaten by a 3 foot tall bull (though I like to picture Mr McMahon thinking there is no end to that money making machine)