There has been some talk on different sites about WWE rebranding ECW after WrestleMania this year. Let’s face it; the ECW brand has been the red headed step-child of WWE since it was restarted in 2006 & hasn’t really shined as a legitimate brand. Yes, stars have been spawned from it (CM Punk, John Morrison, & Sheamus come to mind). But beyond that, who or what has the ECW brand really helped?

Some people have asked me what I would do differently regarding ECW. If given a time machine & a WWE writing job, the answer would be a lot. But since I have neither of those things, let’s talk about it here. We begin with Rebooking the ECW One Night Stand 2006 PPV & events which transpired after. There are two key changes to the PPV card I would make:

World Heavyweight Championship Match – Sabu vs. Rey Mysterio (C)

Instead of ending this match in a no contest, I would have put Sabu over Mysterio, thus making Sabu the World Heavyweight Champion on the SmackDown! brand.

WWE Title Match & Ending of PPV – RVD vs. John Cena (C)

I would have put RVD over John Cena without the interference from Edge. The PPV could have then ended with RVD & Sabu both laying claim to be the ECW Champion.

Now, there are 2 ways to go from there.

The first would be to have WWE Champion RVD vs. World Champion Sabu in the first episode of ECW TV to determine an undisputed ECW Champion. That match as the main event would have ensured a strong rating for the debut of ECW on Sci-Fi.

But why settle for a high TV rating when you can milk the angle for a month & get a high PPV buy rate? Let’s pretend RVD & Sabu didn’t get busted for possession & WWE went this route. For a month, you’d have RVD & Sabu laying claim to the vacant ECW Championship. Naturally, both men could get in their rematches with their respective One Night Stand 2006 opponents as well as new challengers to their belts; both would retain their championships leading up to Vengeance & both men would be featured on all 3 brands of WWE programming.

At Vengeance, your main event becomes WWE Champion RVD vs. World Heavyweight Champion Sabu for the ECW Championship (you could also do title for title & for the ECW Championship, but that seems like overkill & takes away from the ECW Title) in an ECW style match. The winner becomes the first ECW Champion under the WWE umbrella & the brand can then be built around them. After the PPV, both men can drop the Raw & SmackDown! Titles and remain on the ECW show.

What does following this path accomplish? This does a few things; attracts more of the old ECW fanbase, legitimizes ECW stars in the minds of WWE fans, & makes the vacant ECW Championship seem like a championship worth fighting for.

As for the winner of the match, I would have had RVD win the ECW Championship at Vengeance against Sabu & have a long run with the belt up until WrestleMania the following year.

If you enjoyed this piece, let me know. I would like to follow it up with a “passing the torch” article. Until next time, stay extreme.

Bloodsport : ECW’s Most Violent Matches.

Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW book.

Terry Funk: More Than Just Hardcore book.

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

-We are live from my brother Josh’s house in rural New Jersey, where the snow is plenty, and the salty snacks are….uhh…equally plenty? It’s the 23rd annual World Wrestling Entertainment Royal Rumble, and, as we all know, this is an event that is IMPOSSIBLE to screw up. Unless Vince wins it.

-Tonight, I’m joined by my brother Josh (well, duh), and our long time friends Dave and Rob, all of whom are wrestling fans. Well, actually, Josh only cares for the major events these days, Dave’s mostly given up due to the crappy booking, and Rob’s been out of the loop since Billy and Chuck’s wedding (he never got over Crash Holly’s death, but that’s because he just found out about it last week. From me. Talk about out of the loop….)

-Jack Korpela’s 30 minute hard sell precedes the big event. Insert “Bud Bundy” joke here.

-The promo video features the bigger stars on the roster proclaiming themselves to be “The One”. Like Neo? Well, Ted Dibiase’s proven to have his acting range….

-Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Matt Striker are our hosts for the evening. Well, if it keeps Josh Mathews off camera, then I’m all for it. His only good quality is his speaking voice, which sounds like that of Eric Gargiulo before puberty. I kid, Eric’s all man, and is the greatest indie commentator of all time (I love you, Eric, please don’t get rid of me). My brother takes this time to say “This better be worth $45″, which is a not so subtle reminder for Dave and I to reach for our wallets. Gracious host you are, Josh.

-Lawler calls the Rumble “his favorite pay per view of the year”. What’d Wrestlemania and its explosive budget ever do to you?

-Up first, Christian defends his ECW Championship against Ezekiel “Bad News Brown meets Dr. Bannister” Jackson. One Mississippi, two Mississ—oh sorry, ECW Title match. These usually don’t get more than 20 seconds on PPV. Oh wait, looks like WWE’s feeling generous tonight!

-Past three minutes, shockingly, and dare I say Ezekiel’s looking fairly solid. Christian’s reining him in superbly, as a veteran should. Though my friends and I can’t get past Ezekiel’s wrinkled head. If those rolls sagged anymore, he’d have the King Kong Bundy Memorial Neck-Roll going.

-Between Christian’s clap-happiness and Ezekiel’s super stiff clotheslines, I feel like I’m watching an extended “feature bout” on All American Wrestling. Feel free to wikipediate that one, kids.

-Christian lands the Killswitch and retains the gold. I thought they might drop it to Zeke, so that Christian would have no strings for a brand jump. I loudly wonder if Christian will enter the Rumble and win it, just so he challenge for a different title and abandon ECW post haste.

-Do you like comedy? Do ya? Then you should check out the segment between Cryme Tyme, Teddy Long, Tiffany, and Great Khali, where no such comedy occurred. Ever think the day would come where The Miz would be the voice of reason? Someone should do a column on that….

-Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes have a manly heart to heart while a pink shirt is visible on a hanger behind them. If that wasn’t intentional subtlety, then I’ll just pretend that it is.

-Thank you, Skillet, for the PPV theme. The viewing group goes around the room suggesting better names for the band, such as “Wok”, “Strainer”, “Frying Pan”, and “Anything”.

-Ooooh, bonus match between MVP and The Miz for the US Title. Works for me. I’m digging the mic work between the two, so I’m happy to see them. Especially if it subtracts from Michelle McCool later on.

-Wow, the crowd’s really into this one. Scarily enough, they’re behind Miz about 85%. See what happens when a good talker reaches the audience. Just please, Stu Hart in the Heavens, don’t turn Miz face. Remember Randy Orton in 2004, Vince. Remember Orton.

-Miz wins a short-but-sweet one, clean as a sheet. Kinda dumb to end it like that, given that MVP’s whole mantra is standing up to the stuck-up snob, and needs to be able to fight from underneath. Afterward, MVP lays out Miz to a chorus of boos. C’mon, WWE, Atlanta likes for their losers to lose graciously. WCW curled up, accepted defeat, and died easily, you know. It’s how the city rolls.

-William Shatner’s hosting Raw! Rob and I reminisce about his singing endeavors. I think I would actually cheer Triple H if he came out to Mr. Tambourine Man.

-Here we go, Sheamus and Randy Orton for the WWE Title. Michael Cole tells us that Sheamus is a star, and, well, is Cole ever wrong? Sheamus already has Rob’s support, due to Rob’s personal mantra: if he’s Irish, he’s my hero. The only Irishman Rob doesn’t like is Bobby Sands, mostly because he let food go to waste.

-Orton wins the crowd’s hearts, mostly because he’s not Sheamus. Sheamus busts out the 1978 offense with a Polish hammer. Do Warsaw and Dublin have a grudge of any kind? I want to make a good ethnic joke, but I want to make sure that the circumstances are perfect. Oh well, the mood’s passed.

-While the pace slows down, now’s a good time to mention that Lawler’s actually calling the match. Matt Striker’s like a miracle worker. He gets people to do their jobs and do them efficiently. If he worked on the production staff for Waterworld, I believe that the movie would have turned a profit four times over. Really.

-Oops, Cody Rhodes just got Orton disqualified. Lame. The Legacy troubles continue as Orton punks out both Cody and Ted Dibiase before getting laid out by Sheamus. So, in the pecking order, the ruler is the red headed Irish guy. I never would have guessed that the brain trust of WWE would be named “McMahon” with THAT kind of logic.

-We have nothing left to say, except for Dave noting that Orton made it the whole match with nary a chinlock. Must be a personal record. Also, I decided that Sheamus looks like a cross between Conan “Coco” O’Brien and The Warlord. My new name for him: The Coke Lord.

(See? Now even YOU would cheer for him with THAT name)

-Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James is up next. I have no patience to watch the promo video, so I go to piss and Rob goes to smoke, leaving Josh and Dave to deal with the horror. I emerge from the bathroom five minutes later (also checking my facebook mobile in the interim), only to find Josh and Dave with bewildered looks on their face. I don’t know if that’s the reaction that WWE wanted with the “Piggy James” angle, but there you go.

-Michelle McCool cuts an in ring promo. Dave laments that he wishes he’d taken up smoking like Rob.

-Mickie wins in 20 seconds. So glad that we got a blowaway pay-off for THAT epic feud. Rob lumbers back to find that the match is over. The real winner: big tobacco.

-Now THIS should be interesting: Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Title, in their first ever singles match. We’ll all intrigued, because there’s no real angle here (barring Batista’s hatred of both). I guess it’ll be just a straight up, one on one match, one with no chicanery, where the best man wins. Wait, isn’t that what each match is supposed to be in theory? Why did it sound so ironic?

-Undertaker’s unitard is on loan from the Steve Borden Collection. The guyliner is Undertaker’s show of solidarity for Adam Lambert, who is at the Grammys and couldn’t be at the Rumble in person. After all, Adam Lambert = kid friendly.

-Typical Mysterio ingenuity, with Taker’s pacing. It’s an unusual combination, but it just works. These two men just don’t have bad matches anymore. Having a good match is more about experience and instinct, as opposed to complicated hard-landing maneuvers. Hate to break it to certain people. *COUGH*SMARKS*COUGH*.

-For instance, Undertaker tries his usual moves and Rey has a brand new counter for them. Same in reverse, as Taker has some neato reversals to Rey’s offerings. Tell me that’s not appealing from a fan’s standpoint. Two guys who have been overexposed can have a fun match with just some minor tweaks. I feel like I’m explaining how a light switch works.

-Blood! Oh, wow, someone better clean Taker off, or Linda will lose her Senate bid! Or something.

-Undertaker wins it with the Last Ride. Great exhibition, fun match, not enough superlatives in the world. No wonder WWE doesn’t turn over the roster with regularity anymore: they don’t want to lose the guys that have these great instincts. Yeah, Triple H is a political wank, but when does he have bad matches anymore? There’s something to be said about timing and experience inside the ring.

-Interesting segment, as Shawn Michaels is watching backstage on a monitor, only to be approached by Kane, who has some words with him, and then leaves the dressing room. My question: was Kane just hanging out in Shawn’s locker room and Shawn didn’t notice him? You have no idea the psychological effect this had on us.

-Royal Rumble time! Always good fun. I’m giddy. Can you tell?

-#1 is Dolph Ziggler, #2 is Evan Bourne. Well, looks like no one’s going coast to coast THIS year. After some standard opening exchanges, CM Punk (along V for Serena) is #3, quickly dumping both, just so he can pontificate to the masses on the wonders of Straight-Edginess and the perils of showering. Well, he’s got me half-interested.

-#4 is JTG, and he’s in and out. More preaching from Punk. Until Great Khali comes in at #5 and Punk offers some life lessons. Maybe he’ll teach him some new moves. Khali doesn’t like the idea of learning and attacks, but Beth Phoenix(?) is #6. She manages to dump Khali via a kiss. Quite frankly, I’m not sure who I feel more sorry for.

-After Punk gives Beth a stiff GTS and tosses her, Zack Ryder is #7. Punk doesn’t even waste his breath. Love ya, Punk. Ryder’s sent home to Snooki. Triple H is #8. Yeah, I think the sermon is over.

-Hunter’s in a good mood, and lets Punk live until #9 (Drew McIntyre) before sending him flying. What’s up with Hunter’s gut? Sympathy weight? Is Stephanie pregnant again? Maybe Hunter should have let Punk save him from the pitfalls of Ring Dings.

-Here comes Mid Card Mania! Ted Dibiase (#10), Kane (#11), John Morrison (#12), and Cody Rhodes (#13). If Hunter were Britney, then we know who the back-up dancers are

-MVP is #14, but Miz punks him out to keep the feud alive. Carlito is #15, Miz himself is #16. And hereeee comes MVP to take Miz and himself out. See, the US Title is more important than Wrestlemania to MVP. Barry Windham would be so proud.

-After Matt Hardy goes in and out at #17 (running away from conflict?), Shawn Michaels intercedes at #18 and helps Hunter clean house of, well, everyone. Until….

-John Cena is #20. Something’s gotta give! Or sell.

-And it’s….Triple H who gets dumped out by Shawn! WOAH. Our friend Dave claps at this development. Dave is a lifelong Bret Hart fan who went through homicidal rage after Montreal, and has made it clear that Shawn Michaels is welcome to die at anytime. So how much does Dave hate HHH? He clapped for Shawn. Highlight of the night for me.

-After some quick eliminations (Shelton Benjamin at #21, Yoshi Tatsu at #22), we come roaring down the homestretch with Big Show at #23. He brought his working boots too, working a fun sequence with Shawn and Cena that teases eliminations for all. But, you know, they’re not HALF the worker that Austin Aries is.

-Mark Henry in at #23, Chris Masters in at #24. Hold me back.

-R-Truth is #25 and he dumps Henry and Show together! If you had $10 in the “I’ll bet R-Truth dumps two 400+ pounders at the same time” pool, then you’re going to Hell for lying.

-Jack Swagger comes running in at #26, giving a visual to Denis Leary’s “handicapped people make handicapped faces” lyric. I apologize for the tastelessness of that statement. Nobody, no matter how retarded, looks as goofy as Swagger.

-I should note that Masters was eliminated a while ago. I just now noticed. Whoops.

-Kofi Kingston is #27, and Chris “Black Eyed Peas” Jericho is #28. Hard to really pick a winner here. Truth is not long for the world however. See, THAT you would’ve bet on.

-”You think you know me…”

-Yup, Edge is #29 and Jericho’s about to take the worst beating of his life since….well, last week. Sure enough, 320 pound Adam Copeland is a house of fire! Just don’t hit him in the legs, guys, we may need him. There goes Jericho, for the record. Guess that would be his “punishment”

-Batista rounds out the field at #30, after Kofi and Swagger both go. Tremendous final four, as you’re still clueless as to who has this one won. Compare it to 1998, when the field was Austin, a still-midcard Rock, Dude Love, and Faarooq. Well, that’s one up over the Attitude Era. Still down by 47,000 points overall, though.

-Shawn bites the bullet first, and then he flips out over having to job. For those wondering what life was like backstage in 1995, here you go. Though it’s missing the part where Shawn has to step over the passed out carcass of Louie Spicolli to complain about doing a job.

-Batista goes next, leading us to think that Cena’s going to dump the lethargic Edge and get his vengeance on Coke Lord at Wrestlemania, but fate throws us a curveball. Edge tosses Cena to win and the place comes unglued. I’m in a room where I’m the least jaded fan (that’s saying something) and we all marked hard for the finish. Then we all fell back into our chairs because, well, we’re in our twenties and thirties. We can only mark twice a night before our bodies give out.

And so it was a fun night. Good wrestling, good twists, exactly what a PPV should be. So maybe I’ll stop being cynical for a little while and let the kid in me take over.

Maybe we’ll hire Matt Striker to rein us in on our jobs as “fans”.

When he isn’t watching WWE, TNA, or his beloved Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies, Justin Henry can be found writing. It is his passion as well as his goal in life to become a well-regarded (as well as well-paid) columnist or author. Subscribe to The Cynical Examination, his wrestling blog, at http://www.facebook.com.

Order the WWE – Edge: A Decade of Decadence DVD.

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With two songs that I absolutely fell in love with at least a month ago if not before, “Hero” by Skillet and “Martyr No More” by Fozzy, I’ve been jamming to out even more now on my iPod due to the fact they are the official theme songs for this year’s Royal Rumble! YES! Same with WWE’s Hell in a Cell ppv, I am surprised that they’re having Skillet because they are a Christian Rock band and Fozzy, I’m not surprised, because they had “Enemy” from the “All That Remains” album as their ppv theme song for No Way Out back in 2005, with the lead singer being the one and only Chris Jericho! Another YES!

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Babyface Champion versus Babyface Challenger

With the description I’m giving this match up, if I was a betting man (or mang, if you hang at my place every Monday night for WWE Raw), I would put my money on a babyface to walk out of the Rumble as World Heavyweight Champion. To put all jokes aside here, it is World Heavyweight Champion the Undertaker taking on his challenger Rey Mysterio.

A match that I find very interesting, this match, because of WWE Creative is putting two babyfaces against one another. Why that’s interesting and strikes me a little odd because I feel like the WWE could move this main event to another pay-per-view, and in past Rumble history, normally the World title main events at the Rumbles are usually put champion against challengers who normally don’t or wouldn’t get a chance for the title.

But in the end, I think this match would and could be one of the best title matches on the card on Sunday because these two men are some of the best that’s in the company today. Who can I see walk out as champion? It is hard for me to see Undertaker losing to Mysterio, and it would be hard for me to see Mysterio winning the title where it seems like it will be Taker/Michaels at WrestleMania.

Prediction: Rey Mysterio, new World Heavyweight Champion [I will explain more later].

WWE Championship Match: Heel Champion versus Heel Challenger

Along with the World Heavyweight Championship match, if I was a betting man, I would place money on the heel to walk out of the Rumble as WWE Champion. It’s odd that the WWE Creative is having heel WWE Champion Sheamus defending his title against heel challenger Randy Orton.

This match strikes me as odd. I don’t know what to make of this match. Who can I see win this match? I really don’t know. I can tell you who I want to win, and in ways I don’t like going with who I want to win because normally who I want to win normally loses.

But this match should, hopefully, be a decent match. Like said, hopefully.

Prediction: Sheamus, still the WWE Champion.

WWE Royal Rumble match

Trying to pick a stray out of 30 and picking the right one is extremely hard, and as of Saturday, January 23th, there are only 24 men named. So I am gonna go with a couple of names of guys who are listed as who I can see win and a couple of numbers that I can see possibly win.

Prediction 1: Shawn Michaels. The “Heartbreak Kid” wants a match with the Undertaker. If the Undertaker retains the World title at the Rumble, I can see HBK winning the Rumble and facing the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Prediction 2: Chris Jericho. I would love to see at WrestleMania XXVI, for the World Heavyweight Championship, being Rey Mysterio defending the title against challenger Chris Jericho. But would this happen? I don’t think so. Would I like to see this happen? Yes. Why can’t I see this happening? Triple H. Enough said.

Prediction 3: Kane. A guy who has the record for most eliminations in a single Rumble back in 2001 Rumble. Who else, in the main event scene, deserves a title match at WrestleMania than Kane? I think if Kane is going to do it, this will be the year of the Big Red Machine.

Numbers Predictions: 3, 5, 17, 23, and 27. Why these numbers? Ric Flair won his first WWE title as number three in the 1992 Royal Rumble, Steve Austin won the 1997 Rumble as number 5, 17, I don’t know, 23, Lex Lugar was one of two men to win the 1994 Rumble, and 27’s the most won Rumble number. So as of numbers, I am going with that the Rumble winner to come out as one of those numbers.

To conclude, this is the Rumble predictions that I’m putting out. Let’s see how well I’m gonna do. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, disliking the current weather outside, goodbye.

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

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WWE Bragging Rights will be remembered for two things. The World Wrestling Entertainment event will be remembered for an overrated Iron Man WWE title match between John Cena and Randy Orton and the turn of Batista. In the end, it will be John Cena who will be bragging about his WWE championship win over Randy Orton. Cena regained the title and will remain on WWE RAW.

John Cena won his fifth WWE championship, and seventh overall WWE world title by defeating Randy Orton after 11 falls of action in the Anything Goes Iron Man Match. Cena and Orton were tied at five falls a piece going into the final seconds of the match. Cena caught Randy Orton after Orton missed a punt with an STFU and tapped him out for the eleventh and final fall.

The match was probably better than you would expect depending upon on your expectations. For me, it was exactly what I thought it would be. It was 60 minutes of a lot of stalling and a great finale. As predicted, the announcers put the match over like it was Flair-Steamboat at the end of the show. It is one thing going 60-minutes, but it is another thing having a great Iron Man Match. It was good, but it was hardly a classic. I would think that the same match condensed in 30 minutes probably would have been the greatest match that either guy has ever had.

It will be interesting to see where the fallout goes tonight on WWE RAW. I can’t think of anyone that has been set up to challenge John Cena. Other than Randy Orton, you really don’t have another top or up-and-coming heel to challenge a babyface champion. The loss to Triple H immediately sets up a title match, yet I can’t see them going there this soon. Another Randy Orton match would be dreadful but quite honestly, I don’t know where else they go.

Randy Orton’s future is also a big question mark to me. He has feuded to death with both of the top babyfaces on WWE RAW. They could go back to another Orton-Shawn Michaels feud, but it looks like DX as a unit is sticking around for a little while. The Legacy breakup is coming but likely not until we get closer to WrestleMania. Orton is being advertised on house shows against Triple H, so maybe they go that way for another month?

The big news of the night was the heel turn of Dave Batista. The Undertaker pinned Batista after a tombstone piledriver to beat Batista, Rey Mysterio, and CM Punk in a Fatal Four Way. At one point in the match, Batista had Undertaker covered and Rey Mysterio broke up the pin. Batista was upset, yet the idea of the match is that the guy who scores the pin wins the title (this is not an elimination match). Batista screamed something about being “friends” to Rey after the incident. Things got really interesting between these two following the match.

Following the match, Josh Matthews interviewed Rey Mysterio. Batista then said he was tired of his best friend stabbing him in the back and nailed Rey with a vicious clothesline. Batista continued beating on Mysterio. I really liked this a lot, and it finally gives WWE fans something new. I really liked the turn and I think at this point Batista is a better heel. The WWE is overcrowded right now of the same babyfaces and heels on top, so a heel Batista really gives SmackDown a much needed change. Unfortunately for CM Punk fans, Punk will now take a backseat to being the top heel on the brand.

This obviously sets up another series of matches between the Undertaker and Batista. Back in 2007, Batista and Undertaker had arguably the greatest short series of matches of the last five years. For some reason or another, the two just had tremendous chemistry and continued to steal the show until injuries brought the series to an early end. Physically, these guys have suffered a lot in the two years since those matches. I don’t know if they have today what they had then, but I am really excited to see what these two have in the tank. Back in 2007 these guys had a personal mission to steal every show they wrestled on. I hope they can do it again in 2009.

Full results of WWE Bragging Rights…

The Miz defeated John Morrison[
SmackDown Divas (Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya) defeated Raw Divas (Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim)
The Undertaker defeated CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, and Batista in a Fatal Four-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Team SmackDown (Chris Jericho, Kane, R-Truth, Matt Hardy, Finlay, The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith) defeated Team Raw (D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry) in a 14-man Tag team match
John Cena defeated Randy Orton in an Anything Goes Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship

Order WWE: Batista - I Walk Alone on DVD by clicking here.

Order the book Rey Mysterio: Behind the Mask by clicking here.

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I’m back again for another WWE pay-per-view predictions and preview article. I hope you guys were able to listen live to Eric Gargiulo’s radio show Pro Wrestling Radio to hear me call in and talk about the show. Nothertheless, I’ll run down the card here as well and discuss my thoughts. My predictions are the same as what I gave live on the show, but you guys should still download the show and listen to it! Eric has a great guest this past week in Jason Powell!

…the Smackdown Divas versus the Raw Divas…

This match consists of Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, and Natalya representing the blue team to take on the Diva’s Champion Melina, Kelly Kelly (Kelly, another great Santino reference!), and Gail Kim, the latter three divas representing the red team.

Honestly a match that I feel like is a filler match; I really can’t see this match lasting longer than ten minutes, if that. But that’s also my honest opinion. But I am happy to see Beth Phoenix on a pay-per-view once again and I am happy to see her on my television every Friday night!

Prediction: Team Smackdown. Reasoning: Better women wrestlers.

…Intercontinental Champion versus United States Champion…

A match that will showcase the future of the business in Smackdown’s Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion John Morrison taking on Raw’s United States Champion the Miz. One thing that I love about this feud is that the WWE brought in Marty Jannetty in this past Monday Night on Raw to face the Miz and do a job for him. Why do I love that? I have no clue how bringing in Marty Jannetty and having him lose to the Miz makes any sense for the feud. Makes no sense, but that’s the WWE’s philosophy, and that’s to through logic out the window and through things at the wall and see what happens

But former tag champions now singles champions on different shows, I do believe this match has the potential to outshine the two World title matches.

Prediction: John Morrison. Reasoning: he’s the baby face.

…Fatal Four Way for the World Heavyweight Championship…

A match that doesn’t make any sense and doesn’t have any logic behind it. Well, two out of the four members don’t follow the logic that once was used in the business that we love, called professional wrestling. The Undertaker is defending his World Heavyweight Championship against the former champ, CM Punk, and fellow former World Heavyweight Champions Rey Mysterio and Dave Batista. It drives me irate. What does? Mysterio and Batista lost at the last pay-per-view, Hell in a Cell! How do they go from losing to the Unified Tag Team Champions (JeriShow) and go to the next pay-per-view and challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship? It doesn’t make sense and I hate it! That’s one thing what’s wrong with the current business as we know it!

But trying to go back to talk about the intent of this article, I cannot see the Undertaker holding onto the championship after Bragging Rights. Why? Undertaker is coming to an end with his career and he doesn’t need the World Heavyweight Championship and the title doesn’t need him. The Undertaker can go and feud with Batista while CM Punk and Rey Mysterio battle it out for the title. Or even a feud that I would love to see is CM Punk and Batista going against each other for the title and Undertaker and Mysterio feud. But, anyways…

Prediction: Rey Mysterio, new World Heavyweight Champion. Reasoning: trying to use the WWE logic.

…60-Minute No Disqualification Iron Man match for the WWE Championsip…

A feud that I wish actually ends is the feud of John Cena and Randy Orton. This is the third pay-per-view that I am doing a preview for and again for the third time we are seeing this match, and I am getting sick and tired of writing about it, and I am way past tired of watching it. This feud is having me start not caring to order the pay-per-views and having me start not caring to watch Raw every Monday night. The wrestling fans that have been around for a while are also getting tired of this feud. And to top it off, we have to see these guys for about 70 minutes, their video package playing, and their entrances, them doing battle for 60 minutes, and seeing the winner bake in his glory. And I hope that’s it.

But trying to use the WWE logic for another match, if John Cena loses, he has to leave Raw. He won’t go to ECW every Tuesday night, I can guarantee such. In words of Mr. McMahon, “I guaren-damn-tee it!” And let’s see if he would go to Smackdown? Really? I highly doubt it! So with using the WWE logic, we just figured out who’ll win the match.

Prediction: John Cena, new WWE Champion. Reasoning: using the WWE logic, one more time.

…14-Man Team Smackdown versus Team Raw Bragging Rights Match…

Team consisting of DX, the Big Show, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, and Kofi Kingston, representing the red team every Monday night, and the other team, consisting Chris Jericho, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Cryme Tyme, Eric Escobar, and Drew McIntyre¸ represents the blue team every Friday night.

But before I go more, I will do a Smackdown spoiler. Yes, I am cruel, but it’s worth it. On Raw, we had a match where if the Raw team lost, they got replaced, right? Same thing happened on the Smackdown tapings on Tuesday. Well, Mr. Ziggles, Cryme Tyme, Eric Escobar, and Drew McIntyre, lost. The new Smackdown team comes to the surface on Friday… Team captains Chris Jericho and Kane, Matt Hardy, Hart Dynasty, R-Truth, and Finlay.

This changes my view a lot, it really does. Originally, I expected this to be a disaster, because it’s one fall to the finish, it being 14-man tag, and Triple H wouldn’t want to lose to Jericho (another topic for a possible another article). But with the new Smackdown team, it’s hard for me to pick a winner! But still, this bothers me because I don’t know why they couldn’t wait until the next pay-per-view at Survivor Series and have several elimination tag matches then between all three brands! But anyways, on with my prediction for the match.

Prediction: Team Smackdown. Reasoning: Smackdown team has new hope with their new team, and the reason why they changed it so close to the ppv? It’s the WWE using the WWE logic. Don’t question, it will make your head hurt!

…Conclusion…and a Poem…

To end this, I can see this pay-per-view being different, on seeing Orton and Cena going an hour, Undertaker’s first World Title defense, and seeing a 14 man tag match. I hope WWE quits with the stupid gimmick pay-per-views, they aren’t really winning much over with them, in my honest opinion. But, again, anyways…

Here’s my poem:

…She was late…
…I was irate…
…So I left…

This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, on a wet, cold, rainy morning, drinking my Mountain Dew, philosophizing and writing poetry, goodbye!

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

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For this  WWE week in review article was hard for me to come up with. Reasoning is, I don’t really think much has happened this week. Fredrick the Entertaiment, I mean, Credric the Entertainer was the Raw General Manager this past Monday Night, I didn’t find that news worthy other than this sentence of this week’s week in review.

I don’t watch ECW; I haven’t since Paul Heyman was fired, and since Bobby Lashley defeated the Big Show for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship several months after ECW was started. To me, the biggest news worthy story to come out this week was…

At Hell in a Cell, the Undisputed WWE World Tag Team Championship is up on the line when champions the JeriShow takes on the former WWE Tag Team Champions, Batista and Rey Mysterio.

One thing I want to get off my chest before I get more into why I am excited for that match at Hell in a Cell, it pissed me off that they gave away their ppv match on Smackdown this week! They had CM Punk and Undertaker face each other! Yes, it ended by a count-out, but really? I find this absolutely stupid! I do. I give Vince McMahon, the storyline writers, and Smackdown a “bad job” on booking this match “nine days” before their pay-per-view match. Don’t give away their main event match from Smackdown until the actual pay-per-views, if they want high pay-per-view rates. Come on now!

Back to the Undisputed Tag Title match at the next pay-per-view. Why am I excited for this match? Like said, both Mysterio and Batista are former WWE Tag Team Champions. All four men held some kind of World Championships in their careers. Together, they’ve held sixteen World Championships. If these four men faces Ric Flair in his prime, they would be even for the number of times they’ve held the World Title.

Anyways, these four men have been main eventers for the past decade, at least. They all held a World title during their career up to this pay-per-view, Hell in the Cell. I believe with the Big Show and Chris Jericho defending the Undisputed Tag titles against Mysterio and Batista, this helps build the tag team titles and the tag division back up to where it should be. With the success of the Undisputed Tag Team titles, why not unify the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships? Reasoning behind such an idea is, to help bring up the Tag Team title division, and to help make the United States and Intercontinental titles mean something.

But enough on that rant of unifying the WWE and World Heavyweight titles, back to the main topic of this article for the week. Chris Jericho and Big Show, the team I deem the “JeriShow,” I am happy that so far it seems like the WWE is doing great on making these two men seem like they’re a great tag team. If they make this match at Hell in a Cell a believable match and even extend this feud several months and let Mysterio and Jericho do their majic that they were working with in their feud for the Intercontinental Championship earlier this summer, this feud for the Undisputed Tag titles can and will help everyone and the tag division.

This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, sitting at work, looking at my orange Powerade, in a content, but great, mood, goodbye!

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

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