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| Dan Wahlers previews the Great American Bash |
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Great American Bash Preview and Predictions This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it I want to thank the Raw writers for taking my advice from last week, and eliminating the childish, amateurish humor from the show this week. John Cena’s serious backstage promo this week was spot on, and exactly the type of thing I want to hear from him. Raw was overall a much better show this week. I think they realized they missed the mark big time last week, and that they needed to get back on track. Last week’s poor show was costly in terms of viewers, however, as the ratings dropped from a 3.5 last week to a 3.2 this week, on the heals of "Poopy-Gate." After a solid show for an hour and 55 minutes this week, you have to wonder how many people they turned off with JBL’s attempted vehicular homicide on John Cena at the end of the show. That is the type of ridiculous, insulting stuff that will turn people off in droves, because it’s just so silly and unrealistic. This was beyond lame and totally unnecessary. I guess WWE still hasn’t learned that these overproduced stunts don’t work with people. And this was bad on a number of levels. How come when someone wants to murder another person, there is conveniently never any security, police, or WWE officials around? But if there is a brawl between two guys, the Keystone Cops come running down to the ring in force. No one was around outside the arena in Raleigh on Monday, though. Not a soul. No security patrolling outside the building, no WWE workers maybe loading some equipment into the back of a truck, since the show was almost over, no wrestlers walking through the parking lot to get their cars. No WWE officials saw what was happening on the monitors in the back, as Cena wandered around the parking lot forever before being smashed in the head with a tire iron by JBL, and then propped up on the side of another car as JBL came barreling across the parking lot in his car. Yeah, I know, suspended disbelief, right? I’m all for that, but like I wrote last week and have written many times, I don’t like to have my intelligence insulted, either. JBL driving a car into John Cena is insulting. Cena escaped at the last second, and was only grazed by the car, according to the narrative on WWE.com after the show. The whole thing was just plain dumb, and almost ruined what was otherwise a good show. For some people, it did ruin the show. If there is one small positive about the show closing angle on Raw, at least it was designed to build heat for the PPV on Sunday. That’s where we shift focus right now. The Great American Bash is this Sunday from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island, NY. This is the fifth GAB since WWE resurrected the name in 2004. It’s a show that has roots dating back to 1985, an NWA show from Charlotte, NC that was headlined by Ric Flair defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Nikita Koloff with David Crockett as special guest referee and Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard in a Steel Cage Match for the World Television Title. You never know what you’re going to get from a Nassau Coliseum crowd. They can either be really dead, or really wild. I’m hoping for the latter, because a good crowd can often times be the difference in a show. The show sold out well in advance, as it usually does in the New York market. So let’s get down to the card, and my predictions on each match. Right now six matches are announced, I would expect another one, possibly two to be added. WWE Championship Match: ©Triple H vs. Edge * contains spoilers for this week’s Smackdown * It’s kind of surprising to me that they’re doing this match so soon after Triple H making the jump to Smackdown. This is one of those marquee type matches that should be built up for months, and could certainly headline a major PPV, if not Wrestlemania. So it’s a curious decision to go with it this soon, and with so little build. Even if The Undertaker is returning to face Edge for Summerslam, as has been rumored for months, this is a feud they could have went to further down the line. But this is what we have, and things definitely took a turn with a big angle at the Smackdown tapings on Tuesday night for this Friday’s show, with the revelation from Triple H that Edge has been involved with Vickie Guerrero’s assistant. Yup, that old gag. I personally think it’s way too soon to break up the Edge/Vickie Guerrero tandem. They are both so good at their roles, and have been getting such nuclear heat on Smackdown, that they could have realistically kept this going for a lot longer. This plot twist seemingly turns Vickie Guerrero face, and I could see her bringing The Undertaker back as revenge on Edge, which would take care of the issue of how they explain Taker coming back after he was forced to retire after losing to Edge at One Night Stand. That seems to be the direction they’re headed in. Things are subject to change, however, depending on what mood Vince McMahon is in on a given day, and whether his coffee was hot enough when he got out of bed in the morning. Prediction: Looking at this match, I expect it will be the main event, which will give Jim Ross the opportunity to call the show closing match. That’s the way it should be. The Cole/Lawler announce team on Raw has been underwhelming thus far, to say the least. HHH and Edge haven’t worked together much over the years, which makes this a fresh match, and it’s very rare when you can say that about any HHH match these days. You have two great workers, so I would say it has the potential to be very good. In fact, I would be surprised if it wasn’t. Both guys have consistently delivered in big PPV matches this year. I don’t see Triple H losing the title right now. Edge doesn’t need the belt to feud with Undertaker. Triple H can then move on to Jeff Hardy, MVP, Mr. Kennedy, or whoever is next in line on Smackdown. They can always revisit the HHH/Edge feud at a later date, and I’m sure they will. I’m going with Triple H to win and retain his title, likely with some sort of assistance from the jilted lover Vickie Guerrero. World Heavyweight Championship Match: ©CM Punk vs. Batista CM Punk holding the World Heavyweight Championship on a WWE PPV still seems kind of surreal to me. Punk has done a nice job so far, even if the way he’s been portrayed has been less than stellar. I sincerely hope he doesn’t get blamed for the ratings slipping. He had a match with Kane that he won on one of those fluky countouts, where one guy barely beats the referee’s count back into the ring. I can understand them not wanting Kane to job, since they’re in the midst of pushing him again. But that finish did no favors for Punk, either. He was dominated by Kane during the match, then beat down by Kane after the match. He was saved by Batista, his opponent at the PPV, and then left laying by him at the end of the segment. I understand the idea they’re going for. Punk is the underdog that has the odds stacked against him, and no one thinks he has a chance to win. They telegraphed that big time with the poll they ran on Raw, with Jerry Lawler making a point to say that he voted for Punk as the current World Champion that was in the most jeopardy of losing his title. That old game used to work in creating new stars years ago. It doesn’t work so much these days. Look at the face push of Santino Marella last year for proof. People already have questions about Punk’s credibility, and when they show him to be inferior to guys like Batista and Kane, the fans aren’t going to rally around that, they’re going to turn on Punk. And they reportedly have been on some recent house shows, and the crowd was mixed at best on Raw. In order to get Punk to that level, they need to have him get clean wins over some top guys, and it could start with Batista on Sunday. Batista is in a place right now where he will be over win or lose, he doesn’t need the win. He’s already at that level. Punk needs the win, and he needs a convincing win. Not one of those matches where Batista beats him around the building like a rented mule, and then Punk gets a cheap roll up out of nowhere for the pin. The "slip on the banana peel finish" they call it. That would do nothing at all for Punk, and would just serve to reinforce this notion that Punk is a fluke champion, and that he doesn’t deserve to hold the belt. He needs to beat Batista clean and convincingly. Vince McMahon could have saw the Raw ratings on Tuesday, and decided to pull the plug on the CM Punk as World Champion experiment. No one would be the least bit surprised if that happened. But I’d like to hope that didn’t happen, and that Vince has a little more patience than it would seem at times. Everything that happened on Raw with Punk would seem to indicate him keeping the title, because it’s usual WWE "Booking 101." Punk gets beat down on Raw, he goes over at the PPV. But if they decided things aren’t working out, and Punk isn’t what they want, then they could have Batista win, in which case that would be a total and complete burial job on Punk. Much like he was inexplicably buried in a one minute dark match after Raw was over on Monday. I know some people say that dark matches don’t matter, and they don’t on the surface. But they are usually a sign of the company’s plans and attitudes about certain wrestlers. When is the last time a World Champion was squashed in less than one minute in a dark match? You’ll have to tell me, because I sure as hell don’t remember that ever happening. Prediction: Style-wise, these two don’t mesh very well. Punk performs better when he’s in the ring with guys that are closer to his size, like Chris Jericho. I would love, love, love to see a Punk/Jericho feud for the World Title. But reports from house shows on Punk/Batista matches have been surprisingly good. So hopefully they can bring that to the paying customers on Sunday. The booking would go with Punk retaining the title, and that’s what I’m going with. If they’re serious about him getting over on that top level, then he needs a clean win here in the worst way. You either go all the way with someone, or you don’t. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho This is the real main event for a lot of people. The mic work from both of these guys has been fantastic lately. If Chris Jericho was in a funk after his return last November, he’s damn sure out of it now, because he’s been on fire recently. The guy just plays a much better, much more convincing heel. It seems to come natural to him. This has been a brilliantly written storyline. You have Chris Jericho harping about how Shawn Michaels lies and cheats all the time, and the people still love him. Whereas he tried to do the right thing, and the people booed him. The great thing is there has been truth in everything Jericho has said, which is the mark of a great heel. And then you have Michaels basically acknowledging that he did all of that and more, but he’s at a place of inner peace and satisfaction in his life that Jericho will never ever get to. It’s a very subtle story, and one that not everyone will get. But not every storyline needs to be some convoluted tale with twists and turns everywhere you look. Sometimes simple is better, and that’s been the case here. There has certainly been religious undertones in some of the language that’s been used, but it’s not something they’ve forced in your face, or beat you over the head with. If you don’t care for that part of it then you can boil it down to two great wrestlers having what should be a great wrestling match. Whatever works for you. Prediction: Michaels got the win in their last singles match at Judgment Day, so logic would say that Jericho will go over here. HBK’s eye injury will most certainly play a big part in the match, and it’s something they can use as the reason he loses. Lance Cade will be patrolling the ringside area. I love the idea of using the fact that Michaels trained him in the storyline. I’d love to see another Michaels trainee, Paul London, used in the storyline as well. They seemed to plant the seeds for something in that direction on Raw, with Jericho playing the David Koresh role, and telling London to choose his path in life. They could also have London side with his Michaels, and they could build some nice tag team matches, and maybe a Cade/London side feud out of it. I’m getting way ahead of myself, because lately the writers haven’t seemed bothered to use London as anything more than a jobber, and that’s a terrible waste. As sick as this sounds, I think London is still being punished for being seen on camera smiling during the famous "Vince blows himself up" skit last year. If that’s the case, then I say to Vince and the writers, grow the fuck up! If they want to use London more, and keep this storyline going, the story practically writes itself. As for this match, I will go with Jericho to pick up the win. I’m looking forward to this match a lot. New York City Parking Lot Brawl: John Cena vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield This is the third time these guys have met on PPV in the last two months, which explains why they shot what they thought would be a big angle at the end of Raw. They knew they needed to pump some new life into the feud to keep it going. As it is, they’ve stretched the feud way more than it should have been stretched. But I suppose someone trying to murder you with a car could be a good reason to want to hurt that person. I’m sure they’ll have all the usual gimmicks and weapons available. I just hope they can keep it from getting too cheesy and unbelievable, and I hope they can keep it safe to where no one is legitimately hurt when the match is over. Prediction: Easy choice, Cena wins after the rage of a thousand pitbulls is too much for JBL to overcome. ECW Championship Match: ©Mark Henry vs. Tommy Dreamer Prediction: In case you haven’t been watching ECW, which is probably most of you, WWE Hall of Famer Tony Atlas is now Mark Henry’s advisor, manager, whatever you want to call him. Why Tony Atlas, I’m not sure, other than Vince McMahon decided he wanted more black personalities on TV. It’s certainly a bizarre choice, but Atlas seems to be up for the job, judging by this past Tuesday’s show. Why Tommy Dreamer? I guess it’s his reward for being a company guy. He gets a rare PPV payday, and a match in the old ECW’s stomping grounds where he should be received warmly. Other than that, there’s not much else to say. I have a better shot at winning the ECW Title than Tommy Dreamer. Put your money on Mark Henry. Match To Determine New Smackdown Diva’s Champion: Michelle McCool vs. Natayla Neidhart It was someone’s bright idea to give Smackdown their own woman’s championship. Personally, I think it’s a stupid idea. There are already too many titles in WWE, why add another meaningless one to the mix? But I suppose it does give the girls on Smackdown something to fight over, and a purpose to their matches. I think the smart thing to do would be to put the title on Natayla, and push her as the dominant heel diva, much like they did with Beth Phoenix on Raw. Natalya is the daughter of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, for those that aren’t familiar with her. They’ve had her dye her hair red like her father, and partly because there were already too many blondes on the show. They’ve also had her start doing her own version of her father’s trademark laugh, and his "Yeah baby!" catch phrase. They’ve pushed the Hart lineage hard with her, regularly mentioning her grandfather Stu Hart, and her Uncle Bret. Cousin Teddy could have joined her on the roster if he wasn’t such a mark for himself. Prediction: Natalya winning makes the most sense. Then you can have the other faces on Smackdown like Michelle McCool, Maria, and Cherry chase her for the title. Victoria could be in the mix also. That’s what I would do. And that’s why I think Natalya will beat Michelle to win the title. Those are the six matches that have been announced. Speculation is a Cody Rhodes/Ted Dibiase Jr. vs. Cryme Tyme match for the World Tag Titles could be added to the show. There is a lot of talent missing from this show. But the top four matches all have the potential to be good to very good matches. The crowd will hopefully be lively. WWE hasn’t really had a bad PPV all year so far, and on paper anyway, I don’t expect this one to be any different. Thanks for reading. Until next time, take care and be well! You can send feedback to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it {plug} |
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