Predictions for John Cena’s Opponent at the 2009 Royal Rumble

After the December 22nd edition of Monday Night Raw, the pool of possible opponents to challenge for John Cena’s World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble dwindled down to four. Shawn Michaels Super Kicked Kane in the face and got the pin. Then JBL was about to be 619’ed before his newest “employee” Shawn Michaels pulled him out of the ring and slapped him in the face to get JBL the win by having his opponent Rey Mysterio disqualified for interference. Then the douche bag, Randy Orton advanced by default because apparently his punt on Batista on the last Raw was too much for him to handle. After that, Chris Jericho advanced by way of a mid-air Code Breaker on CM Punk.

Now the four winners will meet next week on Monday Night Raw in a Fatal Four Way match where the winner will face John Cena at the Rumble. Of the possible four, you have to eliminate first and foremost, Shawn Michaels. He has been relegated to the role of puppet to JBL, and will be forced by his new master to do everything in his power to help JBL win. The next man out is Chris Jericho. He has already had the opportunity to beat Cena in the last two Pay-Per Views, Armageddon and Survivor Series. The WWE Universe does not want to be subjected to the obvious outcome of a Jericho loss again.

Finally, we have two men left. JBL and Randy Orton. This is so tough to call. First of all, the Randy Orton and Cena feud was never able to come to fruition as Cena suffered his first of two pure injuries prior to last year’s No Mercy, where he was set to face Orton in a Last Man Standing Match. However, Orton wouldn’t be a bad pick to win the Rumble for that same reason so that he could face Cena at WrestleMania (Truth be told, I think Batista will win it).

JBL on the other hand is a good option because we know he’s not going to win the Rumble, and he would obviously lose to Cena if they fought because there is no way the bookers would let Cena put JBL over. At least not yet. Furthermore, the Royal Rumble is the king of all WWE Pay-Per Views where the title-holders retain their belts.

So for me, I am going to say that the big-talking New Yorker from Texas will be coming out victorious on next week’s edition of Monday Night Raw. Then after that it will be some showman trash talking mic skills being spewed from JBL’s mouth on John Cena for almost an entire month as the Royal Rumble won’t take place until January 25th, where he will eventually, and undoubtedly, lose.

WWE Seems to Only Sell its Title Matches

What’s up with the WWE these days? I remember a time when almost every match and storyline was worth watching or following respectively. This was a time where Pay-Per Views didn’t have to lean on having nearly every match be a title match, and start mixing brands. Nowadays you have the RAW title holder, Smackdown title holder, ECW title holder, and whatever Womens/Divas champion all defending their belts on the same night at almost every Pay-Per View.

There are good aspects of this and bad. The bad is that it has to suggest that separate Pay-Per Views for each brand (RAW, Smackdown, ECW) were not enough to draw TV purchases. But the good is that those matches sucked besides the title matches were starting to be all that anyone really cared about. I mean, when you had one Pay-Per view that was just Smackdown feuds, the only stuff that really mattered was a U.S. Title match, the main event for the World Heavyweight Championship (now on RAW), and perhaps one pretty good grudge match like Undertaker and Great Khali. Other than that, every other match would be a bunch of filler for the most part. Stuff that the kids will enjoy.

However, now with the Supercards having mostly title matches or actually intriguing grudge matches, the Pay-Per Views really have become more purchase-worthy. But don’t put some new marketing changes past the WWE anytime soon. For any of those who have been watching lately, I’m sure you’ve noticed the blatant exposure that Monday Night Raw has been trying to create for their Intercontinental Title with their 8-man tournament for the title against William Regal.

All in all, any real wrestling fan will not let this stop them from at least keeping up with the goings-on of their beloved program. The WWE may seem to be in a rut (especially when Vince McMahon has to give away millions of his own money to fans) but in truth, nobody gets more down and dirty than Pro Wrestling at its finest, and for those of you who already watch, you know what I’m talking about!

Monday Night Guarantee

This week we have the Panthers and the Bucs,  Coming back from vacation I feel like I have a renewed dedication to my picks.     The Bucs gave the Panthers the smackdown last time but this time it will be different.   Look for Steve Smith to come up big this week against the Bucs as the panthers try to win the division.

 

Point Spread (28-17) Panthers

Monday Night Guarantee

Monday Night Guarantee

 

So it hasn’t been a good year for me this year on my Monday Night picks but it still looks like my Superbowl choices have a chance (check out my pre-season prediction in the football section.)  This week is another tough one but… “I got this.”  Green Bay takes on New Orleans or “Norlens if ya from the bayou”.  These are two teams that can put up some points, so I am going to have to go with the team that is more complete and that is Green Bay.  Both teams will put points on the board, but while Green Bay’s defense is not playing that well it is still better than the Saints and that is going to be the difference.  Look for Green Bay’s defense to come up big late in second half and then again late in the fourth. 

Point spread Green Bay wins in a shootout (38-33)

Monday Night Guarantee

This week we have the Arizona Cardinals against the San Francisco 49ers a conference clash that really no one is excited about, the 49ers are one of the worst teams in the league and the Cardinals have no fans.   However look for the Cardinals to create some fans on during Prime time this week.  The 49ers are going to get owned this week mainly because the offensive is going to put the defense in bad situations like they have been doing all year. 

 

Point spread 35-14 Cardinals win

Hines Ward Bounty Hunted.

So it seems that the Ravens had a bounty out on Hines Ward in the Monday night game in week 4. However I can’t help to think that they are not the only team with a bounty on this guy.   Hines Ward is one of the most hated players in the league as far as opposing defenses are concerned.   He plays and hits like a defender when he is on offense like no other player in the league. On top of that he is a wide out.  So naturally teams want to take him out of the picture.  The NFL is looking into the comments of Terrell Suggs but why?  Bounties are fine in football as long as when you are in the game you are playing within the rules and not making illegal plays or hits when trying to take a person out the game.  Plus who can take Hines out of a game anyway I don’t think it is possible.  For goodness sake the man broke a linebackers jaw last week with a clean hit, sorry Keith, (can you say beast? ). What does it say when a WR is being bounty hunted? I’ll tell you it says he is one tough SOB.   So what if Hines is considered a dirty player the fact of the matter is on any given Sunday he is going to be a D-Backs worst Nightmare.