Choke's Fantasy Preview: Smackdown 1/18/13: Eve leaves
Posted by: choke Jan 18, 2013 | 1509 views | 0 comments
Preparation for the trade window opening after Smackdown this evening.
So we got a decent episode of RAW for the 20th Anniversary, but was anyone else expecting a whole lot more? The biggest fantasy news out of the whole deal was Kaitlyn winning the Divas belt and Eve quitting. Looks like they're setting up Miz vs Cesaro and Orton vs Barrett, which is quite a change for at least the US title going from lower-mid carders to Miz. Barrett got that unexpected clean win over Orton which I thought was a near impossibility. Orton seems to have no problem jobbing to guys seemingly beneath him on the ladder (see: his loss to Kane at Mania)
Not much to really say for rising falling from either Raw, Main Event, or the Smackdown match list (I didn't read the spoilers)
Rising:
1. Kaitlyn: been predicting this to happen for a while and am glad they finally got it over with. She seems over with the crowd so I see her holding it for quite a while. I just picked her up last week in one of my leagues so it might be worth checking if everyone in yours is on their game
2. Tamina/Aksana - Well Kaitlyn has a match ( non title) on Smackdown against Aksana, but personally I dont think that will be the long running feud. I look to Tamina to get the first run against her. Leading up to that they'll need to give her some victories against other divas leading up to it. We should know more tonight or maybe Monday
3. Usos - Bit of a longshot, but with their win over PTP on Main Event, I think they might just be the next top tag team outside of Hell No and Rhodes Scholars. My prediction is Rhodes Scholars wins at the Rumble, and outside of the rematch with Hell No, I think the Usos might get the next shot.
Falling:
1. Eve: Obviously drop her if you got her. And prior to the surprise announcement she was leaving the WWE, she should have been held in every league in the game.
2. R-Truth: Milk Carton Alert #1 (by the way, almost every time I do one of these the guy comes back the next show). I know he had that laceration, but wasnt that over a month ago?
3. Orton: I know, I know, it's Orton, so he's still worth keeping. I'm including here because I thought he had a legitimate shot to win the Rumble this year (even if he was still #5 or #6 on the list), but now with this feud with Barrett and the Shield seemingly all developing, I just don't see him getting thrust to that position anytime soon. So yeah, he'll still get his wins, I just dont think they'll be for the WWE or World Championship as I was expecting him to be in play for.