Choke's WWE Raw rant & Smackdown Preview 3/17/2014 - 3/28/2014
Posted by: choke Mar 27, 2014 | 1608 views | 0 comments
2 Weeks for the price of 1!
Rant (for the last weeks of Raw and Smackdown)
Well after I praised them two weeks ago for putting on what I felt was exhilirating television, with bombshell after bombshell and peeling back layer after layer of the Wrestlemania card, I feel the last couple weeks have suffered a bit. Perhaps they blew their load too early? I mean I like the announcement of HHH being also available to wrestle for the World Title if he beats Bryan, as unlikely as that is, but other than that what did they really give us the last few weeks? A 30 Diva title match? Los Matadores inexplicably added to a tag title match? The re-return of the New Age Outlaws. UGH. I think (hope) some of this gets changed. I'm still scratching my head over that Matadores thing. They really need to swap in the Brotherhood instead and let Ferndango be in the battle royal. Smackdown last week was especially bad. You literally could have had that show on 2 weeks before Elimination Chamber and no one would be able to tell the difference besides John Cena talking about how scared he was wouldnt make as much sense. Alright let's see what we have in store for us tomorrow night
Smackdown Preview
As always this preview is from www.prowrestling.net and contains no spoilers as I myself have not read them yet. Just predictions. If some of these matches aren't listed correctly, blame them!
1. Rollins and Ambrose vs Jinder and Drew: Well obviously the Shield will take this, and somehow it leads to:
2. Rollins and Ambrose vs Rybaxel: Now the optimist in me hopes that a Shield win here will somehow change the matches for Mania and eliminate the ridiculous 6 man tag match with Kane and the Outlaws. Or how about remove the Outlaws entirely and have the Shield take over for Rybaxel in the 4 way Tag title match, and just do Reigns vs Kane. I guess it's pretty clear they're probably just going along with the Shield breakup, and Ambrose and/or Rollins will turn on Reigns, maybe at Mania, and be with the Corporation. I don't mind that, but the setup could have been a lot better. So anyway, I'll say NAO interfere and Shield win via DQ.
3. Damien Sandow vs Sin Cara: Sandow took possibly his worst loss ever against Sin Cara on Monday night. and Lord McMahon only knows why. Well I'm guessing he thankfully gets his rematch here, though I don't really know where this all falls in the grand scheme of things? I mean they're both in the 30 man rumble, but so are Brodus Clay and Zack Ryder and they're not just throwing those two onto Raw and Smac... wait, I dont want to give the WWE any ideas. Sandow wins.
4. Goldust vs Fandango What did the Brotherhood collectively do to deserve a "feud" with Fandango? One in which BOTH OF THEM have beaten him in the last 2 weeks. Why are we going to see a rematch of this? I swear sometimes you'd think the WWE only has 15 wrestlers on their roster. Um, I'll actually say Fandango wins to try to create more of a "feud" here, and since all 3 of them are in the Battle Royal, I guess this is just another way of trying to generate interest for that? Good job WWE!
5. Batista vs Sheamus: Well at least this one's interesting. Sure it'll probably be awful as a whole, but I'm curious how it plays out. Batista should win clean, with maybe Del Rio attacking Sheamus after (I would have predicted Christian but he suffered a concussion which left him out of the Main Event IC title match he was scheduled for on the same night as Smackdown
6. AJ Lee & Tamina vs the Bellas: They'll try to accomplish a few things here. 1) The Bellas should win to give the impression that AJ's title is in jeopardy come Mania, and 2) show some cracks in the Tamina vs AJ relationship. WATCH OUT FOR THAT VEST!!!
7. Jack Swagger vs Jimmy Uso: Since the Real Americans have a tag title shot for Mania, they should start building the case for the Usos to lose the belts, and that starts by having them lose singles matches on the road to Mania. Classic wrestling writing guys. Classic Swags takes it
8. Mark Henry vs the Miz: More Battle Royal "buildup" We get it WWE, there are a lot of "top" superstars in the rumble, and lots of them have beef with each other. I'm sorry but are there more than say, 20 people including Miz and Maryse's extended family who care? Henry should take it to build his case as being one of the top contenders to win the match
9. Big Show vs Bray Wyatt: I really like this match. Not that I think the Big Show will put on a wrestling clinic, but they've been selling him pretty hard lately, and obviously Wyatt can't just take a loss a week and a half from Mania. Schmozz is incredibly likely, with maybe the Wyatt clan Harper and Rowan interfering and being thrown into the Rumble mix as a result, or John Cena coming out to "battle his scaredy-cat feelings" I'll say Harper and Rowan give Show a DQ win, but Bray looks strong in "defeat"
Overall: 9 matches, but a LOT of filler. There could be some decent wrestling with the talent that's involved though, and I'll always take more wrestling over talking, so 3 jameson shots out of 5.
Rising
1. HHH: Mainly because he's clearly the underdog at Mania and most don't think he has a shot (I'm one of them). I do think he has some potential for some decent points coming up, because the WWE is going to feel the need to sell it like he DOES have a chance, and that could mean him laying out Bryan, Batista, AND Orton by the time Mania rolls around. And would you really be THAT surprised if Good ole trips gives himself the belt for Mania, only to maybe lose it the next night on Raw?
2. Bellas/Naomi: All 3 have been getting more and more action each week, and if anyone's going to beat AJ (lol) they'd have to be the most likely.
3. Los Matadores: I mentioned them last time as a sidenote, but damn, they've actually been picking up a lot of wins lately, and now all the sudden they're thrust into the tag title picture? Clearly they dont have much of a chance to win it, but leading to Mania they should be around a lot
Also: New Age Outlaws just won't go away and Rybaxel are back in the title hunt,
Falling
1. Christian: Had to be pulled from the IC match due to a concussion. Christian is one of those guys who just can't seem to stay healthy. It's a shame because IMO he's one of the top talents in the WWE, but no telling what this will mean for his mid-card push he was getting
2. Harper/Rowan Before the season started I really thought these guys would be tag champs by now, or at least going for them at Mania. At this point they'll just be in Bray's corner. I suspect they might get added to the Rumble, but at this rate they seem like dead weight heading into Mania. I definitely will be dropping them for some talent that will actually be WRESTLING that night if they don't get something added soon.
3. Undertaker/Brock Lesnar: I made the mistake of drafting Taker right after Elimination Chamber, and the hope was that he might get some vicious attack points on Heyman, put some people through a few tables, maybe even get some terrible singles matches or 6 man tags leading up to Mania. Obviously I didnt think he'd get a LOT of matches, but I thought it could be enough to justify holding him. Then, at Mania, I figured it'd be guaranteed points in the form of a big stip match like a Casket match. Instead it's a standard singles match and he hasn't done shit since that first night. Brock hasn't fared much better. There could still be some potential for good bonus points, but part of me thinks it might be better down the stretch to trade for someone who might get a match or two in BEFORE Mania. I dont know guys, I suck at this game. haha