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WWE Title Match: John Cena (c) vs. Triple H
How awesome was Cena's return at the Rumble anyway? Nobody saw that coming at all!! It reminds me why I am a fan of this pseudo-sport after all. I love to be surprised like that!!! Now, after Cena returned, and won the Rumble I was looking for a slow and steady blood feud between Orton and Cena to resolve the injury angle from a few months ago. But, colour me shocked when we find out that Cena is using his title shot a month early and they are going to make an Elimination Chamber match to determine the #1 Contender. I wouldn't be the slightest bit shocked to see Triple H win the Chamber match and Cena walk away with the gold. Apparently the plan for last year was to do a rematch of their Wrestlemania XXII Main Event, but H's injury ruined that one. While it appeared that Cena's injury would make this into a pipe dream, but I guess sometimes in life you get a second chance.
World Title Match: Edge (c) vs. The Undertaker
I think that this one has been penciled in since May or so, when Edge jumped ship and won the title from The Deadman. I would be shocked if Taker didn't win the Smackdown Elimination Chamber match, thus sending this feud into the closing chapters that it deserves.
Inter-promotional Match: Orton vs. Batista
This is honestly a match that I am penciling in because I don't have much else planned for either of them. Both of these guys could be easily very pissed off about not being in their respective Title Matches, and have some sort of "Evolution Explosion" match, as they have been referencing that former faction a fair amount in the past few months.
Career Threatening Match: Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
Apparently the WWE had plans of doing Flair-Kennedy at Mania, but they have since changed their mind and want to go with HBK being the one to retire Flair. I'm not sure if it is for the best or not, but it could be a cool story to see if Shawn would try his hardest against Flair, and Flair constantly trying to get Shawn's best out of him.
ECW Title Match: Chavo Guerrero (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
See Edge helped Chavo win the title from CM Punk, so it seems obvious that Chavo would help Edge retain his title against Mysterio at No Way Out. Of course, Punk's issues with Chavo shouldn't be down played, and perhaps we can even have Mysterio try to get revenge on Chavo, but end up costing Punk the title, setting up some hatred between those two. Either way, this match would be bad-ass good.
United States Title Match: MVP (c) vs. Matt Hardy
This feud oddly benefited from Hardy's appendix bursting. He can now return at some opportune moment (i.e. to cost MVP his shot in the Elimination Chamber) and set up the closing of this feud with a brutal (and no doubt excellent) one on one match.
Women's Title Match: Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Candice Michelle
Another feud that oddly benefited from an injury. Candice's spill back in the fall in her match against Beth looked scary, and Candice is lucky that she only hurt her shoulder and not her neck. Candice should be ready to return soon, setting up this big rematch.
Bull Rope Match: Chris Jericho vs. JBL
There is still a ton of mileage left in this feud. These two are probably going to eliminate one another from the Elimination Chamber Match, setting up some more ultra-violence between the two. A Bull Rope Match seems like a logical conclusion since they seem to have this tendency to hang one another...
Six Man Tag: Finlay, Hornswoggle and Mick Foley vs. Vince McMahon, Mark Henry and Big Daddy V
You know that some sort of a show down between Finlay and Vince McMahon is brewing, so this seems like a logical one to have happen. I was thinking about a Finlay & Horny vs. Vince & Shane Match, but that leaves Mick out. Foley has already aligned himself with Hornswoggle, and he always likes to stick it to Vince. This would be a fun bathroom break match.
Giant Showdown: The Great Khali vs. The Big Show
When I read that The Big Show was resigned, I just knew that someone, somewhere in the WWE Office wants to do this match. Hopefully they keep it short.
Money in the Bank Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Ken Kennedy vs. Umaga vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz vs. Kane vs. Chuck Palumbo vs. Jamie Noble
Yup, the annual tradition of throwing a bunch of mid-carders with nothing else to do in a match. The first two Money in the Bank Matches featured 6 wrestlers, but then last year they added two more to "Super Size" the match. While I think that I preferred the 6 man format, I am alright with the match either way. If the WWE decides to trim two wrestlers, look for it to be Chuck and Jamie. However, I think that these two have worked hard enough and gotten their feud over enough to deserve a spot on the card here. I listed the participants in order that they would be likely to win the match. I really hope that Hardy pulls this one out and ended up getting his title opportunity later on in the year.
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Ummm...wow....11 matches, that's a lot! But two years ago they had 12 matches, and last year they could have easily added at least another 2 if they had cut down on the video-recap and general filler that really dragged the show down. Continue to check back in a few weeks as I start to countdown even more to the Super Bowl of Wrestling...until then, try to enjoy the Super Bowl of Football.
Until next time,
G
2 comments:
...and I forgot all about Shelton Benjamin!!! I guess you could take Jamie Noble out of the MiTB match, and put Shelton in instead...or you could give Khali the night off, book Show vs. Umaga, and then put Shelton into the Money match. Or maybe they are going to screw him over like they did at the Rumble.
...or the Patriots will lose.
But hey, that is almost what you predicted. ;)
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