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Tonight, WWE presents Vengeance, where we will get the culmination of the big roster walking out on HHH as COO angle that was the focus of Raw in the three weeks leading up to tonight's show. Oh wait, that has nothing to do with tonight's PPV. That is why doing "big" angles like that for the sake of drawing a rating are bad for business because in the end, they do nothing to help your PPV buyrate, and most likely hurt it because it takes away focus from what is actually on the PPV. I think most would agree that the Del Rio/Cena match tonight has been one of the most overlooked, booked as an afterthought main events in quite a long time. Back to the ratings thing, yeah, after the walkout, the show did a 3.2 rating, but the rating bombed throughout the show because fans hated the booking, specifically regarding the firing of Jim Ross. So what does WWE do? They bring Jim Ross back the next week and put him in the main event (in Mexico). Fans don't want Jim Ross in the ring. They want him on the mic. So instead we will be forced to put up with Cole, Lawler, and Booker tonight, with Cole being as annoying as he has ever been. Basically what I'm trying to say is Raw is going to continue to do a 3.0 rating regardless of what they do on TV because nothing ever changes, and tonight's Vengeance PPV is going to do an awful buy rate. There are eight matches on tonight's show, but aside from the three main events, I had no idea about this card. So with all that said... let's get into it!
Beth Phoenix (c) vs Eve Torres - Divas Championship Match
Did I miss something? Did Eve ever win a #1 Contenders match? I don't believe so. They're just throwing this match out there because they can't do Beth vs Kelly again. Eve is a completely boring character to me. WWE tried to push her as the #1 Diva a while back, but she never got over. So now she's just Kelly's sidekick. Beth should win clean here, and I pray they move on to something other than Beth vs Kelly Kelly or Eve.
Prediction: Beth Phoenix - Retains Divas Title
Air Boom (c) vs Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler - WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Remember when Swagger and Ziggler hated each other and were battling to be Vickie's only client? Well that's just out the window and now they're working together as best friends trying to get the tag titles. This match should open the show because it will be fast paced and the fans will be into it. Fans seem to really like Air Boom despite their stupid name. They're an entertaining team and should stick together since WWE has shown they're not willing to really push either as a single. I think Air Boom gets the win, and once again they will bring back the dissention between Ziggler and Swagger eventually leading a feud between the two.
Prediction: Air Boom - Retain WWE Tag Team Titles
Zack Ryder vs Dolph Ziggler (c) - United States Championship Match
This is another match I had no idea was happening. Plus, I can't remember the last time a guy has been announced before the show to be booked for double duty (outside of the Royal Rumble). I think it would be a lot of fun if Ryder got the win and title because it would give him a bigger role on television each week, but I just don't see WWE giving this guy a chance. IF Ryder gets the win, I would say it only happens because his new buddy Mason Ryan interferes helping Ryder get the fluke win, but like I said, I just don't see it happening. Ziggler goes over clean here to keep the title, and Ryder doesn't get another PPV title match for a long, long time.
It will be interesting to see what Ryder can actually do here since he'll be getting more than the normal 3 minute match and working with a very good worker in Ziggler.
Prediction: Dolph Ziggler - Retains United States Title
Sheamus vs Christian
I don't have much to say about this one since I don't normally watch Smackdown. I know Sheamus is the second biggest babyface on Smackdown after Orton, and since they aren't going right back to Henry vs Orton, I would expect Henry vs Sheamus up next because they would be crazy to do Henry vs Show for more than one PPV. This will be a good match since both guys are good. Sheamus is always over, and Christian has done a good job as a heel after his initial crappy turn. WWE has no problem beating Christian, so Sheamus should go over clean.
Prediction: Sheamus
Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes
This match is not for Rhodes' Intercontinental Title, you know, because that is below the great Randy Orton. I'm actually rooting for Randy Orton in this match and I'll explain why. First, I'm realistic enough to know that Rhodes isn't beating Orton clean. But really, I'm hoping Orton beats Rhodes clean with the RKO, lays him out, and bags him which will end the bag and stupid villain voice gimmick for Rhodes. A few weeks back on Raw when Rhodes bagged Randy Orton, they really put it over as the biggest accomplishment of Rhodes' career (which is ridiculous). Anyway, they made such a big deal about it, that I expect Orton to get his revenge tonight. It should be a good match.
Prediction: Randy Orton
CM Punk & HHH vs The Miz & R-Truth
I consider this match the real main event, not because it has been built up that well, but more because Del Rio/Cena has been built well at all, and Henry/Show isn't going to be a good match. So anyway, this match is taking place because HHH fired Miz and Truth, but after their firing, they came back attacking Cena, Del Rio, and Punk which lead to the roster walk out. After HHH was relieved of his duties as COO (although they still referred to him as COO on this Monday's Raw, so who really knows), John Laurinaitis brought back Miz and Truth. And since CM Punk is a complete sellout and company man at this point, HHH is his new best friend (along with John Cena), so they're working together to fight the evil Miz and Truth. This one can go one of two ways. Either Punk turns on HHH, but I don't see that happening. So most likely, they'll have a seemingly back and forth match where in the end, both Miz and Truth are hit with a GTS and Pedigree, letting the faces get the clean win. I'm so tired of HHH hogging the spotlight. I wish he would have meant it when he said he was done wrestling, but when you consider HHH has learned from Vince, you knew HHH was never really going to leave TV.
Predictin: CM Punk and HHH
Mark Henry (c) vs The Big Show - World Heavyweight Championship Match
This is easily the best built match for this show, but unfortunately it will probably be the worst match of the show other than the divas. At first when I heard Big Show was coming back to challenge Henry, I rolled my eyes because I knew it was going to be a bad match and normally hate Show's corny comedy gimmick. However, he's done a great job of turning this into a serious revenge storyline, even laying out Henry with the Knockout Punch. We'll see how they book this one tonight. Both men are good working the crowd, but the match itself could be ugly. Keep it around 10 minutes and have Henry go over clean with the World's Strongest Slam.
Prediction: Mark Henry - Retains World Heavyweight Title
John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio (c) - WWE Championship Last Man Standing Match
Remember at WrestleMania when Alberto Del Rio had all the momentum in the world and seemed like he was on the verge of becoming the next true Superstar in WWE? Well he lost that match and has been in a downward spiral (no pun intended since he lost to Edge) ever since. Yes, he is now a TWO TIME WWE Champion, but he's the least over he's been since his debut last year. He won the title cashing in Money in the Bank, then lost it like a geek a few weeks later to John Cena. Then he won the title back in a match where he didn't even beat John Cena (pinned CM Punk in Hell in a Cell triple threat match). The next night on Raw, he wasn't even acknowledged as champion. We first saw him backstage with the other midcard geeks talking with David Otunga. He wasn't featured in Mexico either despite being over like crazy. I won't say WWE has necessarily given up on him, because they change their mind every other minute, but it's just another case of WWE blowing a real opportunity to create a new star.
As for this match, I really, really, really want to say Del Rio is going to lay Cena out, dropping him for the 10 count, and walking out of Vengeance as retaining the WWE Title. But I've been burned by WWE and John Cena just too many times. Reports are that Survivor Series is supposed to be Del Rio vs Punk for the title, but still, I've been burned by WWE and John Cena too many times. Knowing WWE, I just cannot imagine them having their superhero John Cena not being able to answer a 10 count, regardless of what is thrown at him. We saw him basically tortured in an I Quit match with The Miz, and he refused to quit and then made Miz quit like it was nothing. So I expect the same thing here. Del Rio will hit Cena with chairs, pipes, the stage, hell, he might even run over him with his car, but Cena will answer the 10 count ever time. Then Cena will hit ONE Attitude Adjustment on the pavement, and Del Rio will be out. I just know how WWE does things. The show will go off the air with Cena winning his 12th (or whatever it is) WWE Title, and most of us sitting there cursing that we'll never watch WWE again.
Prediction: John Cena - New WWE Champion
An 8 card show means some of the undercard will need to be kept short. Not the best looking card on paper, and with the announcing situation, it may not be the best card.
If you haven't already, make sure you complete your Vengeance PPV Prediction Contest now!!!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RZV3WV8
