DaveyBoy’s Wrestling Menu – Draft Thoughts + Night Of Champions Predictions
Submitted by DaveyBoy on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 12:30 AM EST




THE WRESTLING MENU #273

Welcome one and all to the 273rd edition of The Wrestling Menu, the column that is sure to satisfy your taste buds when it comes to discussing all things wrestling.

If it’s not one thing it’s another of late. As they say, when it rains, it pours. On top of the fact that work has been driving me crazy recently, I have now come down with some sort of a bug that has left me feeling as weak as a 50 pound child. Seriously, I didn’t leave the house on the weekend I was that bad. I am starting to get better now, but I still have a bit of a fever and I’m definitely in no shape to run a marathon at present. Then again, I’ve never been in shape to run a marathon, it was just a figure of speech.

I almost held off on posting this column as I was waiting for WWE to pull a Supplemental Draft out of their backside. However, my personal WWE sources report there is currently a coin being thrown from a corporate jet 40,000 feet above sea level. When Vince McMahon puts on his glasses & finds the coin, if it comes up tails there will be one and if it comes up heads there won’t be a supplemental draft. So whatever happens will happen. And hey, there’s always next week when I can comment on the moves of Charlie Haas, Super Crazy, Paul London & Brian Kendrick. By the way, thanks to those readers last week who reminded me that these 4 individuals existed!

Ok, I better get on with it as I feel like crap and even the joints in my fingers are sore. I keep missing the bl00dy correct keys on the keyboard. Thank goodness for spell-check.

On with the show…..


DRAFT THOUGHTS

APPETIZERS - ECW Drafts:

MATT HARDY: Firstly, kudos should go to my colleague here on LOP Skittlez for nailing this move right on the head. He was fairly certain of it in my feedback thread of the LOP Forums. The bugger may indeed be on a prediction roll! Anyway, I am not totally surprised with this switch of brands for Matt. In fact, I may have predicted it myself had he not currently been the United States Champion. When you think about it, Matt basically took over the role of Chris Benoit on SmackDown as the face who consistently put on good quality long matches about halfway through the show. WWE sent Benoit to ECW and both can be compared to Kurt Angle to a lesser extent even before that. Let’s just hope that Matt remains in WWE for a lot longer than those 2 after their moves to ECW.

The obvious interest factor here is whether or not the United States Title now becomes the spotlight on the ECW Brand (with current ECW Champion Kane being drafted off to Raw). To be honest, I am not so certain it is too much of an issue the way the ECW Title has been booked over the past 6-9 months. Obviously, it’s a little silly to have something called the ECW Title elsewhere, but when it comes to the U.S Title then it is fine on the ECW brand I think. As for Matt, this may not be as bad a move for him as it looks. It could be a sign of the company putting faith in him to basically be the #1 man (or at least face) of a brand. So it could be a test for things to come hopefully.


ENTRÉE - Raw Drafts:

REY MYSTERIO: Haha, my reverse psychology worked. The move I had given up on predicting year after year has finally eventuated. But is the timing correct…??? I’m actually not so certain since SmackDown finally seems to have got the better moves out of the draft. I will still mark this as a positive move though since I do believe that there are many people in different areas of the world who only get to view one or other of WWE’s shows. If their show is Raw, then they would have been deprived of seeing this fantastic talent over the years (except for on pay-per-view).

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Rey Mysterio purely on the basis of entertainment value. But he also has the ability to successfully wrestle against pretty much any opponent. So no matter how the rosters end up now, 6 months into the future or at WrestleMania 25, Mysterio will be fine as long as he is able to remain fit & healthy. I wish the little big man well and hope the change of scenery provides some freshness for him.

CM PUNK: Punk was the most popular wrestler mentioned via feedback throughout the week. Many readers suggested that I accidentally forgot to list him in my predictions column last Wednesday. That is not the case as I intentionally left him off. Why? Because I feel this is a wasted draft move. He is currently holding the Money In The Bank contract. He could easily have switched brands later in the year when he cashed it in. Since he was an ECW roster member and that brand is about to hit the road with Raw, he could easily have appeared on the occasional Raw episode setting something up and then as soon as he cashed it in (whether successfully or unsuccessfully) he could have then become a Raw roster member then.

But don’t get me wrong, I am not against the move as such. In fact, I am for it. Hell, I predicted it last year from memory. Punk has his detractors, but he is coming along rather nicely at this stage of his WWE career. If anything, being a big fish in a small pond over on ECW was feeding his ego. Being a part of a larger roster such as Raw should theoretically help him in that area, while it also should mean his wrestling will advance as there are simply more opponents to take on from week to week. That’s not even mentioning the larger audience that he will be exposed to now!

MICHAEL COLE: Hmmm, interesting move here, but if WWE is placing greater importance on the SmackDown show due to its imminent debut on a new network, then I suppose it makes sense to some extent as JR has always been seen as the company’s #1 announcer. I actually don’t mind Cole as an announcer and think he can fit right in with Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler. If there is going to be an issue, it’s whether King can adjust successfully!

BATISTA: One of my correct predictions from last week, the more I thought about this over the past few days, the more it made sense. Even with the newcomers arriving on SmackDown, Batista seemed to be a little stale over there. But over on Raw, he can not only continue his storyline with Chris Jericho & Shawn Michaels, but the long-awaited feud with Randy Orton will certainly come. Throw in Lance Cade & JBL and this became a no-brainer really. I don’t think there is much more to say that I didn’t last week.

KANE: I definitely didn’t see this one coming and I can only hope that WWE has a plan here and they haven’t done this on the spur of the moment for shock value. Firstly, if an ECW Title exists, it surely has to exist on the ECW brand. Could this be the beginning of the end for the title…??? I doubt it unless there are plans to end the ECW weekly show full stop, which I don’t think there are. Furthermore, Kane has pretty much done the full circle of brands too quickly (quicker than The Great Khali even). He is right back to where he started and from memory that wasn’t a good place for him.

Does this move open up new opportunities of a push for Kane…??? I doubt it very much. He seems to be the WWE’s pinch hitter and while he has always been a very loyal employee, I can see him getting sick & tired of it pretty soon. The ECW Title situation could be initially very interesting if it is booked correctly, but after that I can see Kane returning to his usual midcard role of making the main-event heels look good when they have nothing better to do.


MAIN - SmackDown Drafts:

JEFF HARDY: This is another move I predicted correctly last week. In fact, the only factor which made me think twice was the fact that the Hardy brothers may actually want to be kept apart so as to continue the momentum of their singles careers. With Matt moving to ECW, there’s that problem out of the way. In retrospect, I suppose I should have seen the Matt move coming.

The only concern here is that Triple H has moved across with Jeff. That worries me a little as it may mean that Hardy could still struggle to get that World Title reign which appeared to be in his near-future. This is still a good move from WWE if they are looking to place greater emphasis on SmackDown with the upcoming network switch since Jeff is clearly one of their most over faces.

UMAGA: Hooray… It happened. This was such an obvious call that I’m unsure it merits much discussion here. See my Draft Predictions column from last Wednesday if you want to read further reasons for this switch.

JIM ROSS: If you can believe his blog, good ol’ JR considered retiring after this shock move. That is interesting if it is true. My guess is that Ross is not one of those people that like change. Fair enough, but WWE is not the employer of choice if that is so. In truth, from an on-air standpoint, JR will be just fine on SmackDown. In fact, he could thrive on the challenge of (a) attempting to help make SmackDown the equal of Raw, and (b) assisting Mick Foley become an improved color commentator. In fact, the more I think of the pairing of JR & Mick, the more I like it.

MR.KENNEDY: Without thinking it through in any great detail, I am against this move. Most fans probably don’t like it because Kennedy has only been on Raw for a year. To be honest, that doesn’t bother me a great deal. What concerns me is that Kennedy is now a face… And he has moved over to SmackDown with arguably 2 of the WWE’s 3 biggest faces in Jeff Hardy & Triple H. That can’t do much good for Kennedy’s aspirations to main-event!

I probably should have written a topic detailing Kennedy’s face turn a month or so back, but haven’t got around to it. Basically, WWE royally f**ked it up. I had always encouraged the company to leave him heel for as long as practically possible. Because when he did turn face, it should have been the catapult to the main-event scene for him. What the turn ended up leading into was a midcard feud with William Regal. WTF!? Anyway, to put a semi-positive spin on it, I suppose by moving to SmackDown, Kennedy is no worse off than he has been on Raw over the past few months.

TRIPLE H: Well, well, well… H has finally decided to move to SmackDown. The first thing this tells me is that WWE are genuine in making SmackDown a success on their upcoming new network. That’s a positive thing as far as I am concerned. And on face value, so is Triple H moving to SmackDown. He has been on Raw for some time now and has basically been a fixture there. Just seeing him on Friday nights will at the very least be perceived to be something fresh.

Of course, the huge question to come out of this move though is what the heck are both World Champions now doing on SmackDown? Well, unless WWE throw us one of their world-famous swerves, then it would simply appear that one of Triple H or Edge will be losing their title at the Night of Champions pay-per-view. So in reality, this isn’t so much of an issue as it is a nice little 1 week discussion starter.


DESSERT

Night Of Champions Predictions

I think it is fair to state that the above draft moves have made these predictions more difficult and important than usual. I will be honest, due to being rushed in posting this column, I haven’t put a great deal of thought into the following predictions and what future repercussions they may have. Oh well, let’s see how they go anyway.

MATT HARDY vs CHAVO GUERRERO for the United States Title: I usually anticipate Matt’s ppv matches for some reason, but I am exactly the opposite for Chavo’s so this match-up had a neutral feeling for yours truly. That is, until Matt was shipped off to ECW this past Monday and it would be hinted that the U.S Title could now become the brand’s major championship. Now, there is at least some interest to see if the title remains on Tuesday nights or heads back to SmackDown with Chavo. While these 2 could put on a decent wrestling match, I do not foresee it here since the match duration will be short in order to fit 9 matches on this card. As for the result, it definitely could go either way, but personal bias demands me to say… Winner: Matt Hardy

MICKIE JAMES vs KATIE-LEA BURCHILL for the Women’s Title: It will be interesting to see Katie-Lea go at it in a singles match on ppv for the first time. Reports suggest she can definitely wrestle, but I will hold back comment for the time being. Personally, I believe her build-up has been a little too rushed, but hopefully she will take this opportunity which has been presented to her. It would very much surprise me if she emerged victorious though. Winner: Mickie James

KANE vs THE BIG SHOW for the ECW Title: Well, at least 1 of my questions regarding The Big Show has now been answered. His participation in the battle royal this past Monday told us all which brand he is a part of. Now for the other question of whether he is a face or heel. It will be interesting to see which type of character he plays here against Kane. And it will be interesting to see what the crowd reaction to both men is also. I hope it is not silence. Like the opener, this was pretty much a nothing match-up which has had interest added to it due to people wanting to know where the title will reside. With neither of the participants on the ECW roster though, is that as relevant here? Who knows? Personally, I feel bad that Kane has been shuffled around more times than a deck of cards, so reward the man by keeping a title around his waist for a little longer. Winner: Kane

JOHN MORRISON & THE MIZ vs FINLAY & HORNSWOGGLE for the WWE Tag-Team Championships: If Hornswoggle wins here, is he technically a double champion…??? He is still the cruiserweight champion sort of! This match will be kept fairly short and for that reason it will be entertaining, but it isn’t a match-up that anyone should be greatly anticipating. Finlay & L’il Ba$tard aren’t the greatest outsiders ever in a title match, but I’d be a little disappointed if they emerged victorious here. Winners: Morrison & The Miz

CHRIS JERICHO vs ??? for the InterContinental Title: With more ppv matches to book than usual and draft movements to finalize, you didn’t think every match-up on this card could be booked & promoted, did you? Shawn Michaels would have been the most obvious opponent here since the 2 are feuding, but something seems up with him at present, so he may not take his place here. If he doesn’t, the most obvious opponent to fill this gap is Raw’s recent recruit CM Punk. He could easily fit into the spot and put together a darn good bout with Y2J. Of course, with Jericho’s latest heel turn, he needs the momentum of remaining IC Champion for the time being. Winner: Chris Jericho

NATALYA vs MICHELLE McCOOL for the SmackDown Divas Title: I don’t believe the participants of this match have actually been announced, but I’m predicting that these 2 will be involved somehow, if not in a singles match. I’ve been very impressed with Nattie Neidhart as she has acclimatized to a WWE ring very quickly and is clearly working on her character as well. While I am not a huge fan of Michelle, she has remained rather patient for a title opportunity and I can see her being rewarded here, even if her title reign will not last long. Winner: Michelle McCool

CODY RHODES & HARDCORE HOLLY vs TED DIBIASE JR & A MYSTERY PARTNER for the World Tag-Team Titles: I hope I am not setting myself up for disappointment, but I am fully expecting Cody Rhodes to turn on Bob Holly here. And when it happens, I’ll be cheering it on like my football team has just kicked the winning goal. Some fans believe Cody will turn immediately (maybe even before the bell leaving Spark Plugg alone), but I think it will be drawn out with D.H Smith being Dibiase’s initial partner. The trio will then form a triad of tag champs as we have seen in different wrestling promotions over the years previously. Winners: Dibiase & Partner

EDGE vs BATISTA for the World HeavyWeight Title: In what was already a pretty good feud & match-up, a little more interest has been added following Batista’s switch to Raw. What brand the World HeavyWeight Title resides on is likely to be determined by the outcome of this bout and the unpredictability factor of it will be high since this will most probably take place before the Trips vs Cena bout. The fact that this will likely be kept at around 15 minutes in duration should actually assist this match and I am actually expecting a rather high rating. As for the result, it could go either way, but my gut tells me that Edge will retain. Why? Read on….. Winner: Edge

TRIPLE H vs JOHN CENA for the WWE Championship: If Edge retains, does that automatically mean that Cena wins here? Not necessarily, but most likely. Here is my reasoning: Both men (or WWE) have played up on the fact that Cena has had the wood on H in the past. The 2 are now on different brands and will most probably not face each other for some time. I believe that time will be at a WrestleMania (25 or 26). The best storyline going into such a huge match would be for Cena to gloat he has consistently beaten him in the past and will do so again. Of course, he won’t & H will get his revenge on the grandest stage of them all. That should be sufficient motivation to have him drop his title here. This is actually a tough bout for these 2 to pull off as the winner of the previous match could give away the result here. So these guys will have to be at the top of their games. Let’s hope they can be. Winner: John Cena

Ok, so there is the newly named ‘Night of Champions’ pay-per-view as it currently stands. At the very least, the show will be interesting, that’s for certain. There could be titles zipping around here, there and everywhere. But the 2 negative things to look out for are (1) Will matches be rushed & short-changed time-wise due to there being 9 bouts on the card, and (2) Will the matches be poorly booked as WWE’s minds have been elsewhere of late for the draft moves & latest Vince storyline…??? I hate to use that word again, but even the answers to those 2 questions will be “Interesting”. Enjoy the show if you are going to order it.


Phew… That was a tough one to get through for multiple reasons. Apologies if it came off as a little rushed, but the reason for that is because it was. I am certain some will want to vent on some of the draft moves. Like last week, if I may ask a little favor and that’s not to send me your thoughts on every move. Due to time constraints with yours truly, I would much prefer if you were to only email me 1 or 2 moves which you feel strongest on. Otherwise, there is simply no way I will be able to get through all emails within the next week. My e-mail address is DaveyBoy123@bigpond.com, but if you are an LOP Forums member, it would be much appreciated if you could leave feedback on my thread at http://www.lopforums.com/showthread.php?t=159

Ooh, we have an update on the coin toss. Vince can’t make out what it is, but his secretary tells him that it is tails so there will indeed be a supplemental draft. So next Wednesday in 'The Wrestling Menu', I will hopefully be back with my review for the ‘Night of Champions’ pay-per-view and my thoughts on those wrestlers unfortunate enough to be considered “supplemental”. My column will be posted at the same Wednesday time on the same LOP channel next week. Until then, this is DaveyBoy signing off & asking you to remember that dinner is best served in 3 courses.


And remember that DaveyBoy's Album Reviews can be viewed at: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/user_reviews.php?memberid=268913


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