Heel Heat - Episode One

Now a long time ago myself and Travis decided that we would write something about one of our shared mutual passions, wrestling. This idea came up in September and we even wrote something up for his blog. But Travis being Travis, never posted it or anything. Several weeks later I decided to get my own blog and we decided that one of our New Year's Resolutions was going to be to actually write our Wrestling Column together. So here you are, the innagural edition of Heel Heat. Be prepared to have your mind officially blown....

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Tenacious Trav (TT): It's that time of year again when we use our crystal ball(s) and look into the future. In this installment of Heel Heat we'll not only predict the outcome of WWE's New Year's Revoltion PPV being held tonight, but also predict who will have a break-out year in 2007.

Gorgeous Glen (GG): I think that 2007 will be all about one man in particular, CM Punk. Sure I may be incredibly biased as I have long been a HUGE fan of the Straight Edge one. But I think that this guy is coming at the right place at the right time. He has a huge fan base, a unique look, stellar wrestling skills and he still has not really tapped into his promo skills. But best of all, he is on a really thin roster. ECW is really weak, and if the rumours of RVD and Sabu being on their way out are true, then there will be a huge hole for someone to fill. I see no reason why CM Punk can not be that man.

TT: CM Punk would've been my pick as well, for the reasons you've mentioned, though I wouldn’t have talked about a man filling a hole, that’s just gross.

It seems the WWE brass are overlooking his crazy overness, though. I really hope you're right and they don't job him out to guys like Test and Hardcore Holly in the months to come.

My pick for a breakout is Randy Orton. I know, I know, he's already a main-event heel, but this is going to be his year. He's been showing a tonne of charisma lately in his pairing with Edge and he's never been more hated by the fans. His in-ring work is the best on the brand and he seems to finally have cleaned up his backstage antics. He even has his fiancé’s name tattooed on himself showing perhaps he's a little more grounded now.

So there you have it, big years to come for CM Punk and Randy Orton.

GG: You have got to give your Orton love don't you? Well speaking of Orton, he has a huge match tonight as he teams with Edge to take on D-X for the World Tag Team Titles. I have been torn on this one, but I think that this match will have some sort of non-finish (DQ or Double Count Out or something like that), just to make it last a little bit longer where D-X will win the blow-off.

TT: I'm inclined to agree. Rated RKO beat the living hell out of D-X just before Christmas and so have the edge (pun intended) going into this one. The finish will have to be cheap to necessitate furthering the feud.

Also on the card tonight is one of my favourite types of matches: a steel cage classic! Challenger Johnny Nitro will take on Champion Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship. I'm looking for Nitro take the title in this one. And that's just not my heel bias coming out.

GG: I almost forgot about this match, probably because there has been almost no interaction between these two for weeks. But I think that I am going to agree with you on this one. I think that Nitro will get the win thanks to a run in from Joey Mercury. Nitro with the IC Title just feels right at the moment.

Speaking of titles, we also have a Women's Title Match on the go between Mickie James and Victoria. This has been a women's match that I have been looking forward to since Mickie débuted at the end of 2005 and not just because I LOVE both of these women. I think that Victoria will check the Title off of her list and have another good run with the Title.

TT: Who even knew or cared that Mickie had the strap to begin with? Women's wrestling has taken a huge hit with the departures of both Lita and Trish this past year. I think this one will be better than most people expect, but still nothing ground-breaking. This division needs some new blood or should be scrapped all together. Remember when Bull Nakano came into WWF and challenged Alundra Blaze? Now that was a women's feud. I predict Mickie will drop the belt to Victoria as well, and that no one will care.

Another match that won't be very exciting is my personal hero - Ric Flair versus the young Kenny Dykstra. Kenny, who is named after a baseball player apparently, will no doubt win this one, beginning a big push. Flair should see less in-ring work in 2007 and be used more in interview segments or as a manager before one last huge tile run. It could happen!

GG: Well I hate to agree with you again Trav, but this card seems really predictable. I'm going to go with Kenny getting another win over Flair. So this guy gets to beat Flair and marry Mickie James, and he's only 20. I feel a little depressed right now. I hope that you are right about Flair. I would love to see Flair vs. Cena headline Wrestlemania. That would be so awesome.

We go from my favourite of all-time to one of my current favourites: Carlito. He goes one on one with Chris Masters for the second time on PPV in 9 months. If there is any justice in the world then Carlito will come out with a big win. Hell, have him break the Masterlock tonight. That would put him over huge!!!

TT: Someone other than that squirt of a soldier in Iraq needs to. Once again we agree as Carlito will emerge victorious tonight. Vince has a thing for the meathead, though, so if there's one match where we could be off, this is the one. Carlito is wasting away on RAW, perhaps they'll do a draft and he can brush the cobwebs off on Smackdown!

This brings us to the main event where the undefeated Umaga goes one on one with WWE Champion John Cena, fresh off a loss to K-Fed this past Monday. My predication is Cena will leave with his title but that he won't pin the ugly Samoan. They'll keep Umaga's streak alive in some fashion and this storyline will continue until someone from the DX/Rated RKO feud challenges the man from Massachusetts.

GG: I was going to make the same prediction but I think that I will have to change things up. Umaga will leave New Year's Revolution with the Title. That's right, he will get a win over Cena only to hold the belt until the Rumble. I think that it would do wonders for Umaga, and probably help Cena out as well.

TT: That's bold.

GG: Yeah I'm a bold kind of guy!!!

TT: Well there you have it, humanoids, predictions for tonight's big PPV as well as the year to come. This is the first of what will be a weekly feature on both of our blogs, so check back again next Sunday when hopefully Glen and I will disagree horribly about something and one of us leaves with hurt feelings.

GG: Either hurt feelings or a few less litres of blood, eh Trav?

TT: Which reminds me... in a future post we'll be discussing our epic feud, complete with graphic photos of our last epic encounter. Viewer discretion will be advised.