Yo. You’re reading News and Analysis yet again! I didn’t update earlier this week as I thought I’d push the update this week and make it a Special Bad Blood edition as we have a special week going on here at TBL. I hope you all are enjoying that! I will add a paragraph at the end with some quick SmackDown! thoughts.
WWE will be creating history of sorts this Sunday, but to me the situation we have right now is weird. First off, yes, it will be the first-ever brand PPV in RAW’s Bad Blood, yet nobody has ever said a thing about that on WWE TV. The show has been reffered to as “Austin and Bischoff present… Bad Blood.” So I just thought I’d start off N & A this week by posing this question — Is it just me or Vince has once again left the door open just in case things don’t work out? He can always go back to having the two brands appear on PPV, and of course he can go as far as re-uniting the two brands. Not that it will happen (the possibility here is VERY low), but remember, it’s always nice to leave the door open for that. I won’t be surprised if next month for Vengeance we have “Stephanie McMahon and Sable present… Vengeance!”
Anyway… WWE spent a good amount of time hyping up the event on their RAW show, and to be honest, I feel like they have done a great job with it. They have tried, not successfully for all the matches on the card, but have at least tried to make the feuds seem somewhat important, or at have the story behind them. The match that will steal the night in my opinion is Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels, and the two bouts I’m looking most forward to are indeed that battle of the legends, alongside Goldberg vs. Jericho, which should be also another amazing match. With that said, here’s the predictions of yours truly, as we go through the card:
Chris Nowinski and Rodney Mack vs. The Dudley Boyz
– Another one of those matches WWE loves to put together in the last minute. I don’t mind this one though. All the participants need and deserve a spot on the card, well at least three of them do. I would look for Mack’s winning streak to continue and I guess the Dudleyz will just play the victims here. Another option they can do is have the Dudleyz win by pinning Nowinski. I don’t see a long-time feud happening here, but you never know. I’m just going to take a guess
My Prediction: Rodney Mack and Chris Nowinski
Test vs. Scott Steiner — Winner gets Stacy’s services
– Well, it’s about damn time that match happened! They’ve been building up a feud between those two for quite a while. Steiner seems to have completely lost his heat. When he entered the company, he was put into the main-event spot, and when he left that spot, fans seemed to have turned on him. They started cheering him again recently, but now I’ve noticed that the response has quiet down again. I believe that WWE will simply keep on trying and keep him face for now. The way to do it? Have Stacy join him as his valet. It might work in my opinion, we shall see. In the process, they need to make Test the meany and bully that he is, so Steiner gets over even more. So yeah, Test gets nothing out of that one it seems. I won’t be surprised if in two or three months or something, Stacy turns on Steiner and rejoins her boyfriend. It’s just that they’re both in the doghouse right now.
My Prediction: Steiner
Eric Bischoff vs. Steve Austin — Redneck Triathlon
– I hope it’s entertaining. The natural instinct would lead you to believe that Steve Austin will be winning that one. The PPV is in Texas as well. I think WWE will make a jackass out of Bischoff yet again, but if you think about it, it’ll be more interesting if this little “contest” goes the other way around.
My Prediction: Eric Bischoff
La Resistance vs. RVD and Kane — Tag Team Championships
– Steve Austin giving Kane the Stunner was the spark behind that storyline, as it was lacking that “it” factor to get the fans drawn in. I guess what happens now is that the focus quickly shifts from whether or not the tag team belts will go “French” to “does Kane still have it in him?” I’d say he does, but it’s been a very long time in which WWE has wasted both Kane and RVD as singles wrestlers. With the PPV Split happening, there’s more opportunities for both, but they’ll need to separate before that. Whether it’ll be peacefully like Booker T and Goldust did, or someone will snap remains to be seen. I’m not sure which way this one will go, but I have the feeling we’ll have new tag team champions. If I was asked what I’d like to see from Kane’s character, the answer would be the same kick-ass warrior/monster he was when he debuted, yet changed up a bit. I guess what I’m saying is that they need to give Kane another complete change and see how it works.
My Prediction: La Resistance
Christian vs. Booker T — IC Championship
– Many believe that due to the PPV being held in Houston, TX — Booker T’s home town — the five-time WCW Champion will be winning the belt for sure. I can’t tend to be so sure about this, but I do feel that Booker needs the win. Christian has been completely embarrassed after being given the belt, as he’s had nothing but losses. I guess with this being such a big event and WWE wanting to leave the fans happy, I’d say that Book will win, but again, I’m not as sure as some other people out there are.
My Prediction: Booker T
Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho
– That’s one of the two matches I’m really looking forward to. Just hearing those two names going one-on-one should be enough of a reason for the Internet-long-time fan to get excited. WWE did a great job in using these two’s past and bringing that vibe to the storyline. I also like how they’ve portrayed Goldberg. It’s always some sort of a gimmick when Jericho gets the better out of him (i.e. pepper spray). Yet at the same time you don’t really want your top guy going through stuff like that. I can’t help it but say that I love this storyline and that they’ve done a really good job setting the match up where I’m concerned. Jericho needs the win badly, but Goldberg needs it even more.
My Prediction: Goldberg
Triple H vs. Kevin Nash — Hell In A Cell for World Heavyweight Championship with Mick Foley as Special Guest Referee
– We’ve been all been harsh over the past few weeks when it came down to that feud. Whether it was Nash’s horrible interviews, or his inability to run, etc. I think these two are going to have a good match, because I’m sure that Hunter is going to bump, bleed, and sell like crazy for once. It’s his buddy he’s fighting! Nash has been getting the better out of The Game for quite some time now, and if he wins it’ll be a very strong win that should jump start at least a month-long title reign. However, I feel that H has that match secured at the same time. We also can’t forget Foley’s involvement. I’ll go back to my original theory for this bout — with the PPV split, WWE needs more surprises on their free TV programs (RAW and SmackDown!). Therefore, it’ll make a lot of sense to have Kevin Nash win the belt at the PPV and then lose the belt in a month on RAW (Since there won’t be a RAW PPV next month) to H, so Hunter can start a SummerSlam program with Goldberg. That will bring some element of surprise back to the shows, and WWE really needs that right now. We’ll see how the match goes, and as far as a prediction goes, I’m just going to have fun and take this to the extreme. I’m just throwing this out there, please don’t take it too seriously — Say Triple H wins. Next night on RAW, Steve Austin won’t be present (he’ll be at a party for SpikeTV promotional reasons), so word has it that Foley will take over Austin’s role. Foley makes a rematch for the title (with Mick as ref again? Maybe even Goldberg as ref?), and Nash ends up beating Triple H on RAW for the belt. He then loses it back to The Game in a month and things go on as planned. It’s an extreme idea, no doubt, and it will also kind of take the heat off the HIAC, but I think it’s worth it. There’s other things to highlight Bad Blood. Well, again, that’s just an idea I thought I’d throw out there. Don’t think of it as a rumor or a possibility. 🙂
My Prediction: Triple H
Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair
– I put this match here because in my eyes that’s the main event. The RAW theme did an amazing job in turning Ric Flair from a manager into a wrestler all in one night. They have my praises for that. He should have faced Triple H for the belt at the PPV, it would have been a very good storyline, but he couldn’t, which I have no problem with. Enter Shawn Michaels. Wow, we now have two legends. The work on the mic by both has left nothing but pleasant hype for their match. I’m looking forward to it the most, and I feel that it’ll be the match of the night; I have the feeling that the work-rate during that one will be pretty darn good too. As far as predicting goes, this one is really hard to call.
My Prediction: Shawn Michaels via DQ
Well, there you go. Those are my humble predictions. Keep in mind that predictions aren’t my strongest attribute, but hey. I just wanted to say a couple of lines about SmackDown! this week before I left you…
Yes, the ending was amazing, indeed. I miss the good old times when WWE used to do that sort of stuff more often. They’ve toned it down and you can’t blame them for it, but now and then they need to do things like that. They just have to let their fans wondering and gasping and make the “marks” feel like fans again. Big props to Big Show and Lesnar for what they did. Even if you don’t like their work, I feel that it’ll be wrong to talk about it. You can always blame Show for his lame wrestling, slowness, etc., but when a 500-lbs man agrees to do something like that, he deserves credit, and as far as I’m concerned, he gets it… Bringing back the U.S. Title is a very good move by WWE. It would be better if they called it the “TV Title” but I won’t get picky over a name. With Vengeance comping up, it should be interesting to see what they do with the belt. SmackDown! needed something for guys like Benoit and Rhyno, and that’s the right way to go… I totally loved the Team Angle spot. Wow, these guys just never stop amazing, huh? Their work on the mic impressed me… Mysterio vs. Hardy was once again nothing short of great… It was goofy but I laughed at the edition of Piper’s Pit… Great to see Billy Gunn back!… Finally, SmackDown! scored a 3.7 rating, which is up a whole 0.6 from last week’s 3.1. That’s VERY good news for the company, and with an ending like that and such a strong show behind them, I hope the rating continues to increase next week.
Well, things should go back to normal next week, so I’ll see you then! Before I go, make sure to check out our Bad Blood coverage:
# History of the June PPV
# Bad Blood – A Bad Idea?
# Jody’s got… “Bad Blood!”
# Whiskey for My Men, Beer for My Horses
# Gunning for Trouble
# Bad Blood/King of the Ring Trivia
# Bad Blood PPV Card
# A Second Look at Split PPVs
# Pre-Bad Blood RAW Review
# RAW Report — last show before Bad Blood
Thanks for reading. See ya.
Eddie
