Choke's Raw Rant and Smackdown Preview 5/13/2013 - 5/17/2013
Posted by: choke May 17, 2013 | 1841 views | 0 comments
I cover WWE happenings this week, stretching from Raw on Monday to a preview of tonight's Smackdown (no match result spoilers)
First off welcome to a new season of Dropthebelt fantasy wrestling! I was amped up to start tracking my squad's points watching RAW on Monday, then I got about 12 points total throughout the 3 hours and only have one wrestler involved in a match on Friday. Picking up right where I left off last season. Excellent.
Raw was a little disappointing for a go-home show to a PPV. I'm personally over Fandango already (not so much him, but the way the WWE has tried to over-sell him. If they had just let it happen organically, it would have been so much better). Dolph being off any show while still World Champ is also a big blow, and I didn't understand the need to have the Shield take their first lost (albeit via DQ) to a guy not even involved in their feud currently (okay so they SORTA are involved with the Ryback/Cena thing, but it's flimsy). Then PTP get their first win in months on what feels like their first show in months. Not that they don't deserve it, but seemed completely random. Oh yeah Sin Cara is back and beat Wade Barrett on Main Event. Now will he disappear for 4 months? Probably. The moral of all this? The WWE is unpredictable when you're not dealing with the Undertaker's streak, any match with Sheamus, or any match with a US or IC Belt holder against a top tier guy.
Smackdown matches/segments (no spoilers)
1. MizTV featuring Orton and Big Show. Prediction: A couch gets knocked over or a TV gets smashed
2. Rollins/Reigns vs the Usos (see Rising #3): Prediction: Easy Shield victory, Hell No run-in after?
3. PTP vs Tons of Funk. Prediction: Tons of Funk go over, PTP probably disappear for a month and a half
4. Jericho vs Cesaro. Prediction: CESARO WINS. no just kidding. Cesaro loses his 5135th in a row (counting house shows)
5. Miz vs Sandow. Prediction: Rhodes does something, probably still not getting Sandow a win, but he'll do something.
6. Kaitlyn vs Aksana. Prediction: AJ does something. Kaitlyn wins because really? Aksana? REALLY?
7. Orton/Sheamus/Del Rio vs Henry/Show/Swagger. Prediction: All the marks in the audience simultaneously explode
Rising:
1. The Shield - Did you see me rank the Shield as 4-6 on the top guys to draft in my Summerslam Preview? Not a lot of people probably agreed with that, but this Sunday they have a chance to prove they belonged there. Seems as popular opinion has them winning all three belts. I personally don't think that will happen, but would be shocked if they didnt leave with at least one of the two (yes, okay, three) they're going for. With the other belts having a much less likely chance of changing hands so soon, I think that will be validation enough for my high ranking
2. Orton/Sheamus - I usually don't try to place these high level superstars on my rising list because they're obvious. Since it's the first article of the season I decided to include them if I felt they deserved it. I'm including Sheamus and Orton because I feel that one of these two will ultimately end up carrying on a feud against Ziggler for the World Title, and possibly win it from him in August. I know that's far away and so much can happen to change it, but in particular I feel that Orton has been without gold for so long, and even though I have no interest in seeing him with it, it's hard for me to imagine it continuing for too much longer
3. Sin Cara/PTP/Usos - All risky pickups, but Sin Cara and PTP picked up unexpected wins over the course of the week and possibly set the stage for some ongoing feuds against Barrett and Tons of Funk for the time being. The Usos are a bit more of a reach, but they inexpicably have been mixing it up with the Shield and part of me thinks they might actually end up with the first feud/title shot after the Hell No rematch if the shield take the tag belts this Sunday. I can't believe I just actually typed that. Don't draft the Usos, please.
Falling
1. Wade Barrett/Cesaro - Hurts putting these two here (especially Cesaro), but clearly all of the heel mid-carders were involved in some sort of unfortunate incident with Vince McMahon sometime during the course of last season to cause them to lose every match they are in and the belts as well. Wait Wade Barrett is IC Champion? Right now? Holy crap I had to go check that. This can't be right. Someone update WWE.com. Okay so keep Wade I guess.
2. Del Rio/Swagger - Still worth holding onto naturally, but I feel they'll both get somewhat lost in the shuffle once they lose their "rematch" with Ziggler. We'll probably get some Del Rio/Mark Henry matches, then some Swagger/Kofi or something. I don't know, I just have a hard time finding a place for them 3 months down the line. I guess the same could have been said about Sheamus several months ago and he's continued to dominate. It's highly possible I have no idea what I'm talking about
3. Fandango - He'll be solid for the next month or so, but I don't know, crowds don't seem to be as into the music thing as they were before (probably a result of the WWE ramming it down our throats harder than Lexington Steele on a barely legal teen), and at a recent ROH show some of the crowd started doing the chant and the other half chanted for them to shut the fuck up. Not sure what that means or why I'm telling you that, but week by week I join the "shut the fuck up" crowd more and more, and once the chant dies, I don't think the gimmick or wrestling will keep anyone interested. So basically, your new WWE Champion: FANDANGO!
Also: Daniel Bryan/Kane/Kofi if they lose the belts on Sunday, though I still really like Hell No's point potential even if they do lose the tags. Kofi not so much