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 Championship to be Defended at Survivor Series November 23rd

Well, it finally happened. Triple H will officially be defending his title against the upstart “Moscow Mauler” Vladimir Koslov on Sunday November 23^rd at Survivor Series. I for one am very happy with this decision by whoever it is that books the matches on Smackdown. I wasn’t going to be pleased with some triple threat, guaranteed victory for Triple H involving Koslov and Jeff Hardy.

 

I think this should be a great match. I expect some well thought out and tediously calculated choreography to be displayed in the ring between Triple H and Koslov. Everyone knows what Triple H can do; spine busters galore, pedigrees, and he can slug it out too. And although I’m not a big fan of the Koslov finishing move (the head butt) I must say that the more I watch him, the more versatile his repertoire of moves becomes. He can mat wrestle, place wrestlers in submission holds, pull of some impressive counters, and of course some tough and devastating tosses.

 

The only thing that has hurt Koslov thus far is his undefeated streak. I would not be the only one to agree that the guys who come out on a tear from their inception into Pro Wrestling tend to fall off hard when they suffer their first loss. There is a big difference between losing to a veteran jobber your first time and a perennial Super Card Main Event player like Triple H.

 

Look what happened to Umaga after he suffered his first two losses to John Cena, both of which were title matches. Where did he go after that? He has since become nothing more than an “Oohs” and “Ahhs” drawer from the crowd (perhaps his “goo-goo, gaga” big baby ranting hasn’t helped him much either). Plus, the only time he gets a title match is when it involve at least two other participants, and mainly in Chamber matches and other stipulations of that nature.

 

The one thing I will give Koslov is that his character doesn’t seem to be too stale. I mean, don’t get me wrong, his accent and premature English speaking skills could use some work. But the “on a mission” MO of his character and the fact that when he enters the ring, although he has proven cocky at times, still keeps an honest look on his face like he knows anything is possible and that he could potentially lose a match when he gets in the ring, especially when pitted against the non-jobbers, Undertaker and more “formidable” opponents like the Great Khali, intrigues me about him.

 

Triple H should pick up the victory, but it does very slightly appear like Koslov may have a chance. Either way, Triple H will do what he does, and we should get to see more of what Boris… eh hem, Vladimir Koslov can do.

Team Michaels vs. Team JBL is Pure… Feudery?

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.

 

Chris Jericho set to Defend World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena at Survivor Series

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pure Comedy on Recent Installments of Friday Night Smackdown

Smackdown has been getting busy the past few weeks building the feuds of Shelton Benjamin and R-Truth, tag team Champs and brothers, Carlito and Primo Colon versus Miz and John Morrison, and even the Big Show and Undertaker. However, one of the funniest growing feuds is that of superstars Vladimir Koslov and Triple H.

The WWE has been known to play off the realities of their superstars in the past to create drama-filled action; Hardy and Edge over the love of Lita, and Ric Flair and Mick Foley in the whole “Glorified Stuntman” argument just to name a few. And now in the present, in the feud between Triple H and Koslov, it is the origin of Koslov and his ESL level of speech that have The Game rolling on Smackdown.

The week before last night’s taping, Koslov was at it again arguing how he deserves a title shot and this in that. However, you really have to pay attention closely as his English is not very good. Apparently Triple H had to as well when he replied “Koslov, I didn’t understand a word you just said.” This Friday, Triple H stood in the ring before Koslov and called him “Boris.”

Koslov’s reply was sputtered, coming in clear in a few of his sentences, and garbled in others. What resulted had to be one of the slyest jab comeback remarks in recent Smackdown history…

 

Be sure to tune into Smackdown next Friday night at 8:00pm Eastern on My TV Network where Koslov will face off against the Undertaker. And as per General Manger Vickie Guerrero, if Koslov wins, he will get a shot at Triple H’s WWE Championship which will most likely be at this coming Survivor Series on Pay-Per view.