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Choke's WWE Raw Rant and Smackdown Preview 7/14/2014 - 7/18/2014

Posted by: choke Jul 16, 2014 | 1670 views | 2 comments

RAW Rant

Still hyped for Battleground but RAW left me sort of limp.   I'm really bored of the old 3 vs 3 or 3 vs 2 or 2 vs 2 matches that seem to end RAW every week with the top 2-3 babyfaces vs the top 2-3 heels at the time.   So completely predictable and nothing new ever seems to happen out of them.   I'm glad they added Rollins vs Ambrose for the PPV officially as I was worried they'd try to save that for Summerslam.   Of course it'll probably happen AGAIN at Summerslam, but it strengthens an already nicely built card.  I really like how they've built up the IC battle royal, and there are several contenders who could win it (namely Cesaro, Sheamus, the Miz) with some old darkhorses like Kofi, Bertie, and Dolph and new darkhorses like Bo and Rose.  I love not 100% knowing who will win and though I have my thoughts which I will share on my Battleground preview coming later this week, I'm definitely not crazily confident.   Also the Divas division has been coming along nicely lately, with some ambiguity on Paige's heel/face status, and Cameron doing a nice job as a heel IMO, though maybe I'm just happy she's earning me some decent points.   If you missed my story from a few days ago, I've added Sting and several NXT wrestlers to the roster in case we get some surprise appearances from them.  I totally have it built up in my mind that they're going to go with some sort of NXT Invasion angle soon.   The tag division definitely needs The Ascension, and Charlotte would fit nicely with the current WWE Divas.   Add in Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville and Tyler Breeze to the mix and you have a hell of an influx of new talent.   Here's hoping their first order of business is to beat the hell out of Adam Rose and send him packing.

Smackdown Preview

1.  Kofi Kingston vs Alberto Del Rio:   The WWE has been doing a good job of showcasing many of the IC Title Battle Royal contenders.    Kofi got an early win against Cesaro, and Del Rio just picked one up against RVD.   I think they're trying to take turns giving them all shine, and since Del Rio picked up the last one, I think Kofi takes this.   Definitely can go either way though.

2.  Alicia Fox vs Eva Marie with Nikki Bella as Guest Ref, Is Eva Marie heel?  Not really sure how they've been trying to portray her, but I'm guessing this is just a way the Authority is continuing to punish Nikki, and Eva and Alicia will just start beating her down resulting in a No contest   It's weird that this is happening on Smackdown as there are two Divas matches for Battleground and none of these three are involved in either.   So maybe we somehow get some Cameron/Naomi interference that results out of all this?   

3.  Chris Jericho vs Luke Harper: Jericho should get the win here if it doesn't just all break down (break down the walls!) Since the Usos don't have a role to play in this episode of Smackdown as of yet, I'm guessing Bray, Harper and Rowan start beating down Chris, and the Usos make the save.   Kill two birds with one stone.   Plug two PPV matches with one Smackdown match.

4.  Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler vs The Miz and Fandango:  Two substories to the IC Battle Royal.   Ziggler and Fandango are feuding and so are Sheamus and Miz.  Could really go either way but I think the focal point will be on Sheamus and Miz, and since Sheamus got the last pin on Main Event I'll say they flip flop again and leave us with Miz winning.  Then again Fandango hasnt won in what seems like 8 months, so maybe they'll throw him a bone.    Either way I think the heels take it.

5.  AJ Lee and Paige vs Summer Rae and Layla:   So Summer and Layla are best friends now?   Bizarre.   Clearly the big picture here is the Divas belt and in particular Paige's act towards AJ since she's lost the belt.  I think that continues, with AJ and Paige winning and Paige not showing her hand just as of yet.

6.  Kane vs Dean Ambrose:  Well they've got to set up the Fatal 4 Way as well as Dean vs Seth in one shot, so at some point a shitload of guys will be out there.   Guessing Rollins is the first to strike against Dean, giving Ambrose the DQ win and then naturally Cena, Reigns and Orton all end up out there beating each other up.   The final scene will involve Reigns spearing Cena setting him up as the main threat to win the belts.   If they don't do it that way, they clearly have no idea how this works.

OVERALL:    Only 6 matches, and nothing to really get excited about besides AJ and Paige being on the same team together.  Harper vs Jericho should be okay I guess     I'll stick with the 3 shots of jameson for this one because no Adam Rose!

RISING

 1.  The Miz:   I've never been a huge fan of having the Miz on my team, but with his new gimmick it looks like he's developing quite a feud with Sheamus, which I think will extend beyond Battleground and for a longshot, might result in his obtaining the US Title.   Even if not, he should get some wins out of it on RAW/Smackdown during the feud, even if he loses the big ones at the PPVs.

2.  Brock Lesnar:  Plan C I presume?

3.  Divas:   Week in and week out, I know, I'm always talking about Divas.   Guys:  NAOMI, ALICIA FOX, CAMERON, SUMMER RAE AND LAYLA ALL HAVE MORE POINTS THAN BRAY WYATT this season.  Also more than Goldust, Swagger, Ryback, RVD, etc etc.   Hell Eva Marie and Emma, who I would NOT recommend picking up, have more points than Sandow and I bet lots of you are still holding onto hope with him.    Cameron is owned in 12% of leagues and Sandow 50%.   Its like talking to a brick wall, I know.  

FALLING

1.  Great Khali:  I was wrong.  I admit it.

2.  The Usos:  I put them on the falling last last PPV because I thought they'd drop the titles, and I'll do the same this PPV, because I think they'll drop the titles.   Hoping for the same reverse curse as I have them both on my league

3.  Adam Rose:  Considering just always having him 3rd on my Falling list from this point forward.    I'd rather watch Khali vs Eva Marie for 2 hours than any of his matches.

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