DaveyBoy's Wrestling Menu #115 - Batista Feedback + 2005 WWE Predictions
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 at 2:24 AM EST






THE WRESTLING MENU #115

Welcome one and all to the 115th edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

It sure has been a busy sports week. Despite living in Australia, I have followed the NFL for quite some time now. Haven't these playoffs been great so far? I have had the pleasure of watching 6 of the 8 games. Of those, 2 went to overtime & 1 should have. Meanwhile, in the real SuperBowl, which has just been played, the champion Patriots put in an awesome performance. Of course, now that I've said this, put your money on the Steelers this week.

The NBA is also getting toward the most important time of the season. Too bad that the conferences are so lopsided right now. While my British readers would probably know that I'm also a huge EPL follower. I'm leading my fantasy league right now, but that is balanced off by the fact that Chelsea have all but won the competition. While my Saints are struggling to fend off relegation.

This isn't even mentioning that my hometown of Melbourne is currently holding the first grand slam tennis tournament of the year right now. Watch, so you guys can see how hot it is down here right now! Anyway, I better not crap on too much this week. I realized after I posted my column last Wednesday, how long it was. So I'm going for something shorter this week. Not a great start!

On with the show.....


APPETIZERS

Batista Feedback

Wow!!! That's all I can say with regards to the quantity & quality of emails that I have received over the past week. When I write a column topic that I know many people are going to disagree with, I do expect many emails in reply. But the amount I received was phenomenal. Not only the amount received, but the detail & length of the emails received was quite unbelievable. Thanks go to my readers for the great response. If you have yet to read my controversial column concerning my opinion that Batista is not ready to main event WrestleMania 21, you may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2005/articles/1105521185.php

Now if you had told me of the exact number of emails I was going to receive before I actually received them, then I probably would have shut down my email account & gone on vacation. I don't think I was quite in the mood for so many disagreements. But thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of response.

More people than I thought actually agreed with me, while those that flat out disagreed with me (and don't get me wrong, there still were quite a few), put their case forward in a clear & detailed manner. I would have to say that the quality of feedback I received this week may be the best ever. I'll take that as a compliment, as a few people concluded by stating something like "I completely disagree with you, but that was close to the best column I've ever read". That's very flattering indeed.

So let's briefly look at what people generally said. Those that completely agreed with me either liked my plan for a Triple H vs Orton gimmick match, or wanted to go a completely different way with the WM21 main event such as Triple H vs The Rock in a battle of the movie-stars. Those that disagreed with me, continued to push their case that the WWE would be foolish in going with anything but a Triple H vs Batista main event, while repeating that Orton had been shoved down our throats as a face & must disappear from the title scene following the Royal Rumble.

But I would say that more than half of the respondents predominantly agreed with me regarding Batista not been ready to main-event WrestleMania 21, yet saw no option but to go ahead with it. The general consensus was that because Orton was pushed way too soon, and Batista started having difficulties with Triple H way too soon, the WWE have backed themselves into a corner they cannot get out of.

Many people thought if Orton had yet to win the World HeavyWeight Title, and was kept away from Triple H until about now, he would have been able to sufficiently main event in LA. The same can be said for Batista, whose better timeline would have been to start to have problems with Triple H at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, then cause his leader to lose the title at WrestleMania 21. But now that everything has been thrown into fast-forward, the WWE have a runaway train on their hands & must place Batista in either a singles or triple threat main event match at the big dance.

Now that the Royal Rumble match between Orton & Triple H has been made, I'm going to have to hesitantly agree with that last comment. But that doesn't change the fact that Batista is still not ready for it.


MAIN

2004 Predictions In Retrospect

Not only do I enjoy looking back at my rookie rankings from year to year, but I also like taking a look back at my yearly predictions. It sort of makes me feel accountable for what I write in my columns. I have no problem with admitting that my opinions are sometimes wrong & alternately I never mind telling people "I told you so". So in the lead up to my predictions for 2005, I thought I'd take a look back at the predictions I made for the past year of 2004. Remember that I wrote these in the first week of January 2004 (in edition #72). If you would like to take a look at that column in full, you may do so by clicking on the following link: http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/2004/articles/1073516313.php

- The brand extension will continue throughout the year: Bing bing. I was fairly confident on this one, while others weren't.

- Interpromotional matches will take place sometime during the year : Apart from 2 matches at WrestleMania 20, this did not happen.

- A few wrestlers will move from Raw to SmackDown & vice-versa. I only think it will be a handful though, and not a mass exodus: This one came true due to the clever Draft Lottery that the WWE had. Let's hope that it's back this year.

- We will not see the return of an undisputed champion: Another one that I was confident on.

- We will continue to see Vince, Shane & Stephanie McMahon hog up time: Gladly, I was very wrong with this one. Shane & Steph disappeared, while Vince made appearances at the correct times.

- Chris Jericho will still not become a genuine main-eventer: As good as a year that he had, I don't think Jericho progressed up the pecking order at all.

- Rob Van Dam will continue on with the WWE by signing a new contract. However, another small main-event push will result in pretty much nothing: At the time, it was heavily rumored that RVD would leave when his contract ran out during 2004. I was correct in saying he would stay, but I saw no real main-event push.

- Bill Goldberg will also continue on with the WWE by signing another 1 year contract: This was against the odds at the time & it was a risk I lost out on.

- The Undertaker will be using his original gimmick when he returns for WrestleMania 20: Fairly predictable & it came true.

- Stone Cold Steve Austin will announce his return to wrestling: This did not happen, and may never happen depending on the extent of his injuries.

- Hulk Hogan will not make an appearance with the WWE at all during the year. He will however fulfill his dates with NWA-TNA eventually: At the time, Hogan was heavily rumored for a WrestleMania 20 appearance. I was correct that he did not appear in the WWE, but incorrect regarding NWA-TNA (unless you count backstage appearances).

- Sting will still not sign with the WWE: Bing bing. I don't think he ever will.

- 'Macho Man' Randy Savage will return to the WWE in some capacity: Surprisingly, he didn't. But he did appear in NWA-TNA for a short time, so I wasn't too far off the mark.

- The Women's division will continue to improve at a steady rate, but still be ignored by most fans: Well, this should have been the case. Then the WWE went & fired literally half of the division.

- The cruiserweights will continue to be booked as they have been in the past, thus restricting their talent: Bing bing. I thought that following the No Way Out match between Rey & Chavo, and then again following the No Mercy bout between Kidman & London, we were going to have a resurgence. But alas, it was not to be & we end the year with Funaki as our cruiserweight champ.

- Brock Lesnar will continue to dominate the main event spot on SmackDown. Others to hold the WWE Championship will be Eddie Guerrero, John Cena & a heel Kurt Angle: Who's Brock Lesnar? Well, he would have dominated SmackDown had he not tried his luck with the NFL. I correctly predicted Eddie to win the title, but missed out with Kurt & Cena due to some bloke named Layfield.

- Chris Benoit will still not be given a WWE Championship title reign: Well, well, well. Wasn't I way wrong here? And what a title reign it was.

- Haas & Benjamin will remain a tag-team for most of 2004 & cement their reputation as one of the best WWE tag-teams in recent years. Toward the end of the year, the inevitable split will occur & they will have a feud which will establish one or both of them as excellent midcard singles wrestlers: The draft lottery put paid to this great team. They have pretty much cemented midcard spots though. Well, Benjamin has & Haas should be about to.

- On Raw, Triple H will still be the dominant main-eventer. Others to hold the World HeavyWeight Title will be Bill Goldberg & Shawn Michaels: Triple H being dominant was an easy call. But the Benoit, and then Orton, title reigns threw me for a loop here.

- Rene Dupree will get a huge singles push & win the InterContinental Title later in the year: This didn't happen, and I'm glad in a way. I feel that Dupree is improving & shoving him down our throats is the worst thing the WWE can do at his young age.

- Jeff Hardy will not return to the WWE in 2004: I was correct here, because I stated WWE. But he did make quite a prolonged return to wrestling with NWA-TNA.

- Television ratings will hold pretty steady all the way throughout the year, while pay-per-view buyrates will increase due to interpromotional matches & a huge WrestleMania 20: From memory, the tv ratings have held relatively steady, but ppv buyrates have dropped significantly. How was I to know we would have 2 ppv's annoying us during some months?

- America's Most Wanted (James Storm & Chris Harris) will sign with the WWE & lead the resurgence of the tag-team division on Raw: 'No' to the first bit & therefore a big 'No' to the second bit.

NWA-TNA will survive at pretty much the same success & quality. They will institute quarterly (3 each year) special pay-per-views which will be interesting & good to watch, but will not be sufficiently successful to make any inroads as competition to the WWE: From what I've heard, I think the first part of my prediction has been correct. The second part was a near miss with monthly events, rather than quarterly.


DESSERT - 2005 Predictions

Well, my 2004 predictions were more misses than hits. Professional wrestling is definitely a difficult thing to correctly predict. Let's see how I go with 2005:

- Just quickly repeating some of the same predictions from last year; There still won't be an undisputed champion, the brand split will continue, the cruiserweights will be treated the same & Sting won't appear in the WWE during 2005.

- We will unfortunately continue to see the WWE overkill fans with more than 1 pay-per-view in certain months.

- NWA-TNA will continue to survive through 2005. The quality of their product will be consistent, while word of mouth will see a little more success, but still not enough to challenge the WWE.

- To prove that NWA-TNA are not competition, Vince McMahon will not sign any of their talent, unless the wrestler was a WWE product to begin with (EG: Jeff Hardy).

- The draft lottery will once more take place & will help rejuvenate an ailing SmackDown with the likes of Chris Jericho and/or Shawn Michaels.

- Brock Lesnar will return to the SmackDown brand & gain instant heel heat. He will challenge for, but not win, the WWE Championship.

- JBL will lose his WWE Championship to John Cena. The only other man to hold that title in 2005 will be Kurt Angle.

- Neither Eddie Guerrero, nor Booker T, will see WWE Championship opportunities on pay-per-view.

- Rene Dupree will win the U.S title by the end of the year.

- Rey Mysterio will also win the U.S title by the end of 2005.

- The Undertaker will be far from retired & still be at, or around, the main-event level come the end of the year.

- PPV buyrates will continue to drop. While tv ratings will actually increase a little.

- WWE DVD sales will continue to increase.

- The practically scheduled ECW ppv will NOT occur.

- The WWE will continue to debut rookies from OVW on the main roster. Furthermore, most will once again debut as heels.

- Shelton Benjamin will hold onto the InterContinental title until after WrestleMania 21, if not through the entire first half of the year.

- The WWE will continue with the Muhammad Hassan character & he will attain genuine midcard status come the end of the year.

- Trish Stratus will continue to dominate the Women's division. But sometime during the year, a debuting female wrestler will come in & win the title within 2 months of debut.

- Chris Benoit will not see a World Title opportunity on pay-per-view.

- Evolution will last throughout 2005 in some way, shape or form.

- Those to hold the World Title after Triple H will be Randy Orton, Edge & (finally) Batista.

And finally, the most shocking prediction of them all, which just goes to prove how naive I can be sometimes:

- Presuming that Triple H still has his World HeavyWeight Title going into WrestleMania 21, whenever he does lose it, he will NOT win it again for the remainder of 2005.


Ok, that's it for edition #115 of 'The Wrestling Menu'. I hope you enjoyed the easier read this week. I'm sure there is something that stands out to you in one of my 22 predictions for 2005, so (as per usual) please don't hesitate to send me your thoughts. Or maybe you have a different prediction or 2 yourself. In fact, I should be able to leave some column space open for any predictions from readers that catch my eye. Make them as serious as possible, but don't be afraid to make me laugh. You know that I will reply to all feedback. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com

What's on the agenda for next week's 'Wrestling Menu'...??? Well, apart from the very best of my readers' 2005 predictions, I will have my predictions for the Royal Rumble. Yes, another pay-per-view is upon us. At least the entire card is already pretty much set, so that's a positive. I'll also take a look back at undoubtedly the best ppv of the last 3 years. Look out for that column same Wednesday time & same LOP channel next week. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.












WOW! ECW Diva Tiffany Looks STUNNING!!!

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