This is the "face" that could make this Pay-Per-View.

This year’s One Night Stand, which has been preposterously renamed to “Extreme Rules,” seems to feature a bunch of matches with extra stipulations under the cover of an “Extreme” labeling (although nothing was worse than renaming John Cena’s “FU” to the “Attitude Adjustment”).

The matches include WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Batista in a steel cage, Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho in a no holds barred match, World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs. Jeff Hardy in a ladder match, Miss Wrestlemania Santina Marella vs. Vickie Guererro in a hog pen match, John Cena vs. Big Show in a submission match, CM Punk vs. Umaga in a Samoan strap match, and ECW Champion Christian vs. Jack Swagger, vs. Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat hardcore rules match.

Of all these matches, only no holds barred and the hardcore triple threat are truly extreme. I think in honor of Tommy Dreamer the latter ought to be the main event of the night. I doubt it will be though. I also am not too happy with the send-off for Dreamer being a triple threat. Let the guy go toe-to-toe with one man for his final bout. If you want to create real drama, have it be against another good guy… Christian (like Ric Flair’s final match against Shawn Michaels).

If you want to get old ECW fans interested (because I doubt they’ll truly ever be won over), don’t cop out of going over the edge with a bunch of rare matchup stipulations being held under an old ECW card. Oh well.

Going for 17-0 with nothing tangible to be gained never sounded so sweet.

On April 25th at this year’s Wrestlemania, HBK will look to break a new record… not his own though. Michaels will be stepping into the squared ring to face off against the Undertaker and his 16-0 record at Wrestlemania. This bout looks to be one of the highlights at this year’s event, and it should be a great match.

You know how the WWE likes to make matches go a long time whenever they’re being billed as top flight. This is definitely being treated as such so expect numerous near pin falls, some great counters, and kick outs after finishing moves. I can’t even imagine how wild it will be if Shawn Michaels was actually able to kick out of a Tombstone at one point.

As far as predictions go, the safest pick seems to be the Undertaker. It would be a big deal if his record is finally thwarted, however, it would be a bit sudden if Shawn Michaels were to be the one to do that. It is not as if these two men have been feuding for a long time now, so it is hard to understand why Michaels would just walk into Wrestlemania and hand Undertaker his first loss there. I just can’t see that happening.

So, once again, expect a great match, but in the end, it just doesn’t seem fitting for the Undertaker to lose this way.

On April 5th one thing is for sure at Wrestlemania. Undertaker will be fighting to stay undefeated. As many people already know, the Undertaker, aka the Phenom, is undefeated at Wrestlemanias with a perfect record of 16-0. On the next edition of Monday Night Raw, JBL and Shawn Michaels will be facing off for the chance to end that streak.

All I can say is the Undertaker is most likely going to stay undefeated. But please God do not let him stay so against JBL. He has absolutely no chance to pull something like this off. And I mean that in real life or by story line.

First of all, even Shawn Michaels is a stretch to just abruptly beat this record, and then JBL… c’mon. He will go down so hard with a choke slam, a tombstone, and whatever else the Undertaker can do.

Now, if his opponent does happen to be Shawn Michaels, who it should be, there is still some doubt for the Undertaker. As long as it’s Michaels and ‘Taker, the match should be intriguing even though it’s almost certain that either of the two would lose to Undertaker. We’ll see.

John Cena... The Champ is truly here.

It’s time for some rivalry renewal this year at the Royal Rumble. These two have fought already in 2008, but not for any titles like they did when Cena won his first ever WWE Championship. They had their New York Parkling Lot Brawl match, and a few other scuffles in the summer of 2008. Now the tides have turned and JBL’s got a lot more than swagger in his corner. He has his newest “employee” in Shawn Michaels.

Having Michaels playing puppet for JBL certainly heightens the intrigue of this match. If it had just been JBL by himself going up against John Cena, the obvious outcome would be Cena holding his title. Now with Shawn Michaels in the fray, things could definitely be interesting.

One would certainly have to think that a late Sweet Chin Music by HBK toward the end of the match could end up costing Cena his title, especially after what transpired during the contract signing on Monday Night Raw this week.

John Cena was trying to explain to Michaels that he still saw the good in him. Michaels didn’t even flinch, showing no hint that maybe he’ll change his ways at the Rumble, and then followed that attitude up with a tough punch to Cena’s face. This then resulted in a super clothesline, or “Clothesline From Hell” as JBL likes to call it, from the Texas, excuse me, New York redneck.

Now for prediction time. I look for a bunch of momentum changes to occur in this match as usual. Cena may even take a Super Kick from HBK, but it’ll be while JBL is on the mat, giving Cena just enough time to regain his strength and kick out. After that, with a little more fighting, I see Michaels going for another Super Kick, Cena getting out of the way somehow, and then Cena capitalizing on this good fortune by picking up the pinfall.

It’s a great storyline, but I still think it’s too early for Cena to lose his belt this early in his title reign.

On January 25th, the 2009 Royal Rumble will be taking place on Pay-Per View. This is a really hard Rumble to call. Last year’s was too, but as soon as Cena showed up as the 30th and final entrant into the match, it was murder she wrote, and everyone knew Cena was going to win. But this year is not the same case.

There aren’t any side stories or feuds that suggest who may win. Orton and Cena never finished their feud, but I just don’t think that would be Wrestlemania worthy. The Undertaker has wrestled the past two Manias in main events, and I think they have to let the torch pass down on that one. Big Show is once again becoming the “Oohs” and “Ahhs” drawing jobber that he was before he left, JBL is fighting Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship, and his employee, Shawn Michaels is not allowed to participate in the Rumble.

This leaves a few surprises for me. Chris Jericho was recently fired. Maybe he comes into the Rumble as a surprise contestant and pushes the last man over after he has already used up all of his energy? Triple H definitely comes to mind, but I still do not think he has had enough build up to win this year’s Rumble. Even Vladimir Koslov could be a trendy pick, but he hasn’t worked hard enough to pull that kind of thing off.

But, I’m going to go with my boy Jeff Hardy to come in and do the unthinkable. I know he got hurt, but I have a feeling it’s all part of the plan. As long as you can defend your title within 30 days, you’re straight. So he can participate in a Rumble and still be well below that mark.

John Cena's time is now, but it's not his time to lose at the Royal Rumble. But let's see who he might face anyway!

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.

JBL may be big money, but Team Michales vs. Team JBL sure ain't!

Well, the WWE has finally set up its first traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match with just under two weeks before the Pay-Per View, pitting Team Michaels against Team JBL. The fact that the participants on each team have been feuding with their opponents is still not enough to make this an intriguing matchup.

Here is the lowdown. Shawn Michaels has a mini-feud with JBL that stems from Cyber Sunday when Michaels was the guest referee and did not give the three count in Chris Jericho’s favor who promised JBL a title match if he beat Batista, and Monday Night Raw in London when JBL took Michaels down with a chair in his Last Man Standing Match with Chris Jericho. Cryme Tyme has been feuding with The Miz and John Morrison over bragging rights for “Word Up” and “The Dirt Sheet,” Kane has been feuding with Rey Mysterio over the whole “unmasking” deal, and MVP would like to have it in for The Great Khali after he interrupted his “MVP Lounge” on Friday Night Smackdown. To this I say… who cares.

The last few Survivor Series Pay-Per Views have been all about the title matches. When is the next time the WWE will put a more meaningful traditional Survivor match like team Stone Cold against Team Bischoff, or team WCW against team WWE (WWF back in the heyday)?

Hopefully the other traditional matchup(s) the WWE creates will have some kind of meaning to it. Until that happens, Survivor Series is going to be all about John Cena versus Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship, and whoever Triple H defends his title against, and that is just a shame for long time pro wrestling fans.

The Animal can be guilty of acting like one at times. He could easily fall prey to a Jericho & Cade trap.

Furthermore, Chris Jericho just won his title, and this isn’t CM Punk, so I think it’s still too early for him to lose it. But, everyone knows that Jericho doesn’t have the power to pin Batista straight up or win convincingly. So what will the WWE do?

With all that being said, I can’t wait to see what Vince McMahon, Shane, Stephanie, or Mike Adamle have planned for this. I am going to predict the following. Anyone should know that Chris Jericho will retain his title. But how?

I predict that on one of the Monday Night RAW shows before the Pay-Per View that Stone Cold will get into it with Batista, prompting Austin to screw Batista over in the match.

Or…

Some kind of a crazy disqualification involving either of the three during the match. Maybe one of them bumps into Steve Austin and he gives them a Stunner? Perhaps Lance Cade gets involved? We’ll see.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, a long-time fan favorite should be a shoe-in as the Guest Referre this Cyber Sunday.

Chris Jericho is too devious to lose his title on the first match agains Batista.