C.M. Punk vs. Ryback, Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship: I don't really know how they're going to pull this off. Is there a way to have Punk win but keep Ryback strong? It'll be difficult with the Cell concept. I'm going to say Punk wins.
Sheamus vs. The Big Show, World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sheamus.
Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, Intercontinental Championship Match: Kingston wins, but it wouldn't shock me if they made a switch again and Miz won.
Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars, Tag Team Championship Match: Team Hell No retains as WWE continues to try to drive this storyline into the ground.
Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio: Orton wins.
EDIT, Just added via Smackdown:
Eve Torres vs. Kaitlyn vs. Layla, Triple-Threat Match for the Divas Championship: Eve wins to retain. As unrefined as she is in the ring, a Kaitlyn title run might slightly intrigue me and would at least pay off the Eve attacker angle.
(edited by geemoney on 26.10.12 2132) @gregmparks - live Tweeting of Raw and Impact, wrestling thoughts and other slices of life.
C.M. Punk vs. Ryback, Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship: Man, this was supposed to be the big "Lesnar interferes, Punk wins, tag match at Survivor Series" finish, but Ryback just screwed that entire plan up, didn't he? Ohhh, what the hell! I'll go with that anyway! Lesnar interferes, Punk wins, we get Cena/Ryback vs. Brock/Punk at Survivor Series while Triple H's triumphant return gets pushed back to Wrestlemania.
Sheamus vs. The Big Show, World Heavyweight Championship Match: Show wins, Dolph cashes in to give Show a second 45-second title reign.
Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, Intercontinental Championship Match: It would make zero sense to give Kofi a two-week title and give it back to Miz, especially after Miz got jobbed out twice in the last two weeks. Kofi retains.
Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars, Tag Team Championship Match: Time to strike while the iron is hot with the Rhodes Scholars. They win via shenanigans to set up a fun 8-man elimination at Survivor Series.
Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio: Del Rio's baffling push continues when he beats Orton.
With only five matches, I'm guessing we're going to get about 20 minutes for the Cena/AJ/Vickie/Dolph angle. Fasten your seat belts, we're in for some CRAP!
I would hate to see it happen, but if Chris Jericho thinks, it's the right thing to (see below), who am I to disagree?
So, Ryback wins and takes the belt home.
Sheamus wins. Ziggler comes out, but in the end doesn't cash in.
Team Hell No wins. (Is Team Rhodes Scholars the worst name for a tag team ever?)
Orton beats Del Rio.
Miz wins his title back.
Jericho's comments from lordsofpain.net:
Why he thinks Ryback should win on Sunday: "I don’t know anything and I don’t work for the WWE. I haven’t talked to Vince in about a month. But I personally think and this is something that obviously Busted Open Radio has very hardcore wrestling fans who are listening as we all are. The number one thing people bitch about is that there is nothing new and it’s the same old same old with John Cena. This is the chance to create a new guy. This is the chance to make a new star instantly, and I know tradition says you must build a star. There is no tradition in a case like this. The comparisons are to Goldberg. Most of the fans in this day and age have no idea who Goldberg is and don’t care. We do, but in the year 2012 Goldberg was over ten years ago. How did Goldberg get over? …. By beating everybody. There was no loss for Goldberg. As soon as he did lose, that’s when things started going downhill for him. Ryback is not a normal guy. This is not a guy that we see that builds his way to the top and fans get behind him slowly but surely. You want to pick a new guy? Have him beat CM Punk this week. Who gives a sh** about Punk’s title reign? It means nothing. Here is a chance to take a guy who people are getting behind. If he beats Punk at Hell in A Cell and after three hundred and thirty seven days or whatever and Punk is finally beaten, people are going to start to take notice of this guy. Those who don’t watch Raw are going to tune in to see what’s going on. Ryback beats everybody. Ryback faces Rock at Royal Rumble. What happens if a couple of weeks before that something goes on with Ryback and Undertaker got involved in the Rock match? What if Rock wins the title and goes on to face Cena we expected and what if its Ryback vs Undertaker at Wrestlemania? What if Ryback beats Undertaker at Wrestlemania? You have a new star for the next ten years to headline pay-per views and main events."
Has CM Punk gone as far as he can go as a character?: "He has gone as far as he can go. The Rock is the Rock. He comes from a different era. Undertaker, Steve Austin, that comes from a different era. Nobody will ever be a bigger star than those guys, because people in their heads...It’s like the old Batman TV show when we were kids. We thought it was the greatest show ever. You watch it back now and it sucks. But it has a certain place in your head that it will never be replaced. The band KISS in 1978 if you’re old enough to remember was thought of as the greatest band ever, even if they weren’t. Rock is a guy unto his own. Punk is as big of a star as he can be as a heel in WWE. Beating Ryback doesn’t make him a bigger star. It doesn’t."
Can the injury to John Cena be a blessing in disguise?: "It is a blessing in disguise. The biggest breaks I ever got in this business was when someone got hurt, or when someone went to make a movie. I won the undisputed championship because Triple H was hurt and Rock was leaving. Cena got hurt. What do we do? One thing about Vince McMahon is his motto is to take a negative and turn it into a positive. Vince knows how rare it is for someone to get over so quickly. Vince knows Ryback is not a money making star right now. But if he goes into Hell In A Cell and he destroys Punk and beats him, a hundred percent those fans are going to go bananas for Ryback. You have created a new star. Punk can come back the next night and bitch and complain and do what a heel does. Heels aren’t built to win. Heels are built to lose. That’s what heels do. The fact that Punk has held the title for three hundred and thirty seven days, it might mean something to you guys. I can tell you Punk doesn’t care. Punk wants to make money and if that means Punk and Ryback becomes the hottest feud and suddenly something happens where it goes to Ryback and Rock, that’s a match where suddenly you made a new guy. I would love to see Punk and Rock and I’m sure Punk would be disappointed if it didn’t work out. But this is business. If you have a chance to build someone that can put a company on his back, then you do it. The stop and start pushes that the WWE has been doing and infamous for the last ten years has got to stop and this is the perfect time for it."
Does he think the WWE will pull the trigger and have Ryback become champion?: "I do because of the reasons I’ve talked about. I’m not saying I know anything. I could be completely wrong. Maybe there would be a scenario where they can protect Ryback and still have Punk as champ. But for me what I like as a wrestling fan, when I was a kid, what I like as wrestling fan now even after doing it for 22 years is the element of surprise. I hate the same old same old. I worked in WCW for three years when guys were passed over. As hard as it is to believe at this point, Eddie Guerrero was the top heel in the company at certain points, but they never let him beat anybody. Billy Kidman was super popular. Probably one of the top two or three babyfaces in the company at certain points, but they never pushed him over the edge. There are guys for whatever reason, get over, even when they are not supposed to get over. If you take advantage of that and push it over the cliff, people will get behind it especially a guy like Ryback because we haven’t seen anyone like that in a long time. We haven’t seen a powerhouse come in and annihilate people. The last time might have been Batista but Ryback is more Neanderthal, more animalistic, more a beast. Batista is very well spoken. Ryback does remind me of Goldberg and like I said it’s not a copy of Goldberg. It’s like saying Jericho is a copy of Shawn Michaels. There are elements and lots of similarities but it’s a different guy and nobody has seen a guy like this in a long, long time. So I think if they do pull the trigger that it will work huge and it will create a superstar instantly. Someone that will be a money drawer, someone that people will tune in who are not watching now to see."
Originally posted by Chris Jericho, the Best in the World at What He Does= As hard as it is to believe at this point, Eddie Guerrero was the top heel in the company at certain points, but they never let him beat anybody.
Replace "Eddie Guerrero" with "Daniel Bryan".
@CMPunk
“@ZackRyder: @CMPunk She played me bro” I got your back.
C.M. Punk vs. Ryback, Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship If they don't wanna use a Brock appearance here, there's no reason why they can't elevate a heel while they elevate face Ryback. So Paul reveals his newest friend: Wade Barrett. He doesn't have to beat up Ryback, just distract him. Punk wins. Punk and Wade have history.
Sheamus vs. The Big Show, World Heavyweight Championship Match Sheamus wins. Show is now only a placeholder opponent between angles. Ziggler cashed in the contract and wins. I am getting bored with Ziggler, and I was a very early proponent of him. They have to do something with him.
Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, Intercontinental Championship Match Kofi.
Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars, Tag Team Championship Match Rhodes Scholars. The tournament is wasted if the challengers lose.
Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio Del Rio, but holy cow neither guy can really afford to loose here. They are both treading the doldrums.
Probable: US Champion Antonio Cesaro vs. Justin Gabriel Champ retains.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
I really disagree with Jericho on Ryback. WWE has hotshotted a world title onto a new guy a lot in the past few years and it hasn't really created any new main eventers (Swagger, Del Rio immediately come to mind). Even Sheamus, who looking back on it, I don't think winning the WWE title so fast would have made a difference in his elevation to where he's at now. Ryback winning here will have the same effect. If he's really that good, he'll get there when the time is right.
That said, I think WWE might be looking to shake things up and CM Punk's reign has enough stability to where they can get away with a title change. I really think it works better when the title stays only on top guys (ie going from Punk to Rock to Cena) without a Ryback interruption in the mix that really doesn't do anything for him.
PREDICTION: Ryback.
Sheamus-Show: Sheamus wins, Ziggler tries to cash in, but it doesn't work out.
Kofi-Miz: The Miz. I'd like to see Kofi get a longer run here, but I have a feeling he's playing Jannetty to Miz's Michaels and is just warming up the IC belt. I think Kofi just won the belt to give The Main Event show some credibility and that WWE really wants the belt on The Miz.
Hell No-Rhodes Scholars: Rhodes Scholars. Feud ensues between the two teams (which is great for a long-ignored division)
Orton-Del Rio: Orton's the better investment, but I think he can afford to lose a bit more than Del Rio. Still, Orton's done a lot of high profile jobs this year to where I don't think he needs to do another one: Orton.
Originally posted by SKLOKAZOIDI really disagree with Jericho on Ryback. WWE has hotshotted a world title onto a new guy a lot in the past few years and it hasn't really created any new main eventers (Swagger, Del Rio immediately come to mind). Even Sheamus, who looking back on it, I don't think winning the WWE title so fast would have made a difference in his elevation to where he's at now. Ryback winning here will have the same effect. If he's really that good, he'll get there when the time is right.
Well, what Jericho is talking about goes beyond The Ryback just winning the title from Punk on Sunday. He's talking about consistent booking for The Ryback where, as champion, he never loses and beats everyone in his way. He's conjecturing an unbeatable babyface monster champion who overwhelms every heel in his way and doesn't get pinned. And that has worked before, you know. From 1984-1988 and his name was Hulk Hogan. That guy did pretty well for himself, as I recall.
Not saying The Ryback is Hogan or anything like him at all, just citing that precedent.
Personally, I don't care what happens either way. The Ryback wins, he loses, whatever, I have no preference. What I do find sort of weird is that I realized I preferred The Ryback back when he was Skip Sheffield, the Tank of the Nexus. Feed Me More Big Hungry The Ryback doesn't do anything for me. That has at least 50% to do with my general distaste for airbrushed singlets.
(edited by John Orquiola on 24.10.12 1014) @CMPunk “@ZackRyder: @CMPunk She played me bro” I got your back.
Originally posted by John OrquiolaPersonally, I don't care what happens either way. The Ryback wins, he loses, whatever, I have no preference. What I do find sort of weird is that I realized I preferred The Ryback back when he was Skip Sheffield, the Tank of the Nexus. Feed Me More Big Hungry The Ryback doesn't do anything for me. That has at least 50% to do with my general distaste for airbrushed singlets.
It's awkward for him to have said so little in this angle or at all, but it imparts ambiguity. He can be a heel with one punch to the correct jaw, and there's literally no previous act/comment that punch would contradict. I hope, when he does get on the mic, he talks like Mike Knox: calm, quiet, almost poetic in his dispassionate stoicism.
Man, I miss Mike Knox.
"To be the man, you gotta beat demands." -- The Lovely Mrs. Tracker
Originally posted by John OrquiolaPersonally, I don't care what happens either way. The Ryback wins, he loses, whatever, I have no preference. What I do find sort of weird is that I realized I preferred The Ryback back when he was Skip Sheffield, the Tank of the Nexus. Feed Me More Big Hungry The Ryback doesn't do anything for me. That has at least 50% to do with my general distaste for airbrushed singlets.
It's awkward for him to have said so little in this angle or at all, but it imparts ambiguity. He can be a heel with one punch to the correct jaw, and there's literally no previous act/comment that punch would contradict. I hope, when he does get on the mic, he talks like Mike Knox: calm, quiet, almost poetic in his dispassionate stoicism.
Man, I miss Mike Knox.
I could see the possibility of this on Sunday -- Cena interfering in the match somehow, and pissing Ryback off for daring to think he couldn't handle it himself. Might be a way to keep the belt on Punk without weakening Ryback.
Originally posted by SKLOKAZOIDI really disagree with Jericho on Ryback. WWE has hotshotted a world title onto a new guy a lot in the past few years and it hasn't really created any new main eventers (Swagger, Del Rio immediately come to mind).
a) Ryback is a face who would be winning the title in a straight, one-on-one match against the long-term hated heel champion. That's a lot different star-making scenario than ADR or Swagger using a briefcase cash-in out of nowhere.
Originally posted by SKLOKAZOIDRyback winning here will have the same effect. If he's really that good, he'll get there when the time is right.
b) That's the problem with WWE over the last several years --- they always seem to be waiting "when the time is right" to really push guys, and inevitably something crops up (injury, wellness violation, one bad match, one bad promo, Randy Orton calling them stupid, etc.) to get the company to completely lose faith and send the guy back to midcard hell.
"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." --- Bart Giamatti, on baseball
Originally posted by John OrquiolaPersonally, I don't care what happens either way. The Ryback wins, he loses, whatever, I have no preference. What I do find sort of weird is that I realized I preferred The Ryback back when he was Skip Sheffield, the Tank of the Nexus. Feed Me More Big Hungry The Ryback doesn't do anything for me. That has at least 50% to do with my general distaste for airbrushed singlets.
It's awkward for him to have said so little in this angle or at all, but it imparts ambiguity. He can be a heel with one punch to the correct jaw, and there's literally no previous act/comment that punch would contradict. I hope, when he does get on the mic, he talks like Mike Knox: calm, quiet, almost poetic in his dispassionate stoicism.
Man, I miss Mike Knox.
I could see the possibility of this on Sunday -- Cena interfering in the match somehow, and pissing Ryback off for daring to think he couldn't handle it himself. Might be a way to keep the belt on Punk without weakening Ryback.
(edited by Hokienautic on 24.10.12 1357)
Huh, that's kind of exactly the perfect way out of this match, isn't it? Cena sticks his nose in like he often does, he's responsible for Punk getting to continue his assault on Cena's "modern record", Ryback doesn't lose any face...and the genuine question of just how would a crowd respond to Ryback facing off with Cena is almost too interesting to pass up.
Originally posted by SKLOKAZOIDI really disagree with Jericho on Ryback. WWE has hotshotted a world title onto a new guy a lot in the past few years and it hasn't really created any new main eventers (Swagger, Del Rio immediately come to mind). Even Sheamus, who looking back on it, I don't think winning the WWE title so fast would have made a difference in his elevation to where he's at now. Ryback winning here will have the same effect. If he's really that good, he'll get there when the time is right.
T (edited by SKLOKAZOID on 24.10.12 0929)
They have hotshotted the titles on new guys, but they have made those guys look like jokes before winning the title and even bigger jokers as champions. Look at Swagger he jobbed to everyone before cashing in and winning the title and then he when he was champion he won oh maybe one match as champion, and lost a ton of non title matches, and ate a ton of pins in tag matches as well. That poor bastard is one of the weakest world champions in wrestling history through its no fault of his own. Look at Punk's title reign in '08 where he was booked as a total chump. Ryback on the other hand has been booked as a monster destroyed everyone in his path and expect for this week the Goldberg chants have died down, so why not go for it? I mean he's not exactly the guy on the roster I'd pick to elevate like they have, but here we are with the ratings in the crapper and interest in Wrestling is down so strike when the iron is still hot and then play it by ear.
C.M. Punk vs. Ryback, Hell in a Cell match for the WWE Championship: Punk
Sheamus vs. The Big Show, World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sheamus
Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz, Intercontinental Championship Match: Miz
Team Hell No vs. Team Rhodes Scholars, Tag Team Championship Match: Rhodes Scholars. There is a lot more stories from Hell No blaming each other for losing the belts than just beating RS.
If Ryback loses this is the perfect place to do it without killing his credibility. I see Jericho's point, but the problem is that Ryback never really mowed down enough people that matter. Although, watching him do it with the belt would be something new.
I am totally behind Ryback winning if and only if they are totally behind him mowing everybody on the roster down. They can't have him hold the title and squeak out wins with their 50/50 booking.
On the other hand I like that Punk has this long title reign, but he is not doing anything. It's not totally his fault, but it isn't doing a lot for me either.
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