Preview: Survivor Series 19 November 2017

I'm not sure if you're aware, but Survivor Series is the only time that Raw and Smackdown go head to head. Did they mention that on TV at all?

I’ve not had time to watch the weekly shows recently, having to read online recaps to keep up to date with what has been happening. This will almost certainly affect the quality of my predictions, although based on how many I usually get right, I might get more correct by almost guessing randomly. Unfortunately I likely won't have time to preview NXT Wargames.

Cruiserweight championship:

Enzo Amore (c) v Kalisto

This is the match that I am least excited about on the card. The only match which doesn’t feature Red vs Blue doesn’t seem to have anywhere near as much star power. I know they’ve pushed Kalisto before but Enzo is the guy running the division at the moment and I can’t see that changing here. I’ve not been able to watch 205 live regularly, but in my opinion they seem to be mismanaging the division. Austin Aries left after being pushed to the top but never getting the belt as they were perhaps overly hot on Neville, who was then discarded instantly as soon as they decided to bring Enzo in as the new big name. I might just be bitter that they’ve turned Jack Gallagher heel. He was my favourite. Anyway, I guess Enzo retains here. I probably won’t even watch the pre-show.

Prediction: Enzo Amore

Intercontinental Champion v US Champion:

The Miz v Baron Corbin

Baron Corbin has been crapped over a bit this year with the way they made him drop the briefcase, but these two guys are actually two of my favourite heels. The Miz has been exceptionally good the last couple of years and Corbin’s two signature moves are bad ass and his lack of care about anyone else works well for his character. Having said that, I’m expecting him to be crapped over again here because the Miz should really be picking up the victory. He will be able to use it more to boast in future promos, and boast about how he held up his part for team Raw which should give him more prestige and possibly more opportunities.

Prediction: The Miz

Tag Team Champions v Tag Team Champions:

Cesaro & Sheamus v The Usos

The recently crowned Bar are in this match primarily because Ambrose and Rollins had to drop the tag titles so the Shield could be in a match against the New Day. The Usos have had the tag team division/Smackdown live on lock. I’d be rather surprised if they didn’t take the spoils here as the more established and more dominant tag team.

Prediction: The Usos

The Shield v The New Day

So, The Shield have to win here. They’re the guys on the rise having recently reformed with massive amounts of momentum and hype, and also a nice, slowly teased storyline. The only reason for the New Day to take the victory would be if this is a long running feud. They’re on different shows, so it won’t be. It should be a good match though, as both these teams have excellent performers. The Shield definitely go over as otherwise it pees all over the momentum they’ve got, especially as they dropped the tag titles recently.

Prediction: The Shield

Women’s Champion v Women’s Champion:

Alexa Bliss v Charlotte Flair

Charlotte won the Smackdown Women’s Championship from Natalya and was surprised by Ric Flair congratulating her in what sounds like possibly the most emotional scene on WWE TV this year. That means that probably the two best women of the last year will be facing each other in this match and it should be a good one. These two competitors have both been Raw and Smackdown Women’s champions and haven’t faced each other due to switching brands at the same time. It could be the match that steals the show. Charlotte’s emotional victory should spur her on to win here, with Bliss tapping out to the figure 8. I wouldn’t be surprised if Carmella comes out and attempts to pick the bones and cashes in her MITB contact, though. It would be a good stage for her to do so.

Prediction: Flair

Universal Champion v WWE Champion:

Brock Lesnar v AJ Styles

Apparently Daniel Bryan hit a great promo on this week’s Smackdown as AJ Styles’ advocate making it seem like he has a chance against Brock Lesnar. That is the problem with Brock Lesnar fights; often you don’t think his opponent has a chance. The most believable challengers recently have all fallen by the wayside.  Randy Orton, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman have all failed to beat the Beast and AJ Styles is much less of a powerhouse than all of these guys. However, he is an exceptional wrestler and if he can get the match to play to his strengths then he could stand a chance. My main issue with Brock Lesnar fights is that they’re generally not interesting because they’re not competitive. This is a chance for them to make Lesnar eat a pinfall without dropping the belt. I think they should take it. They probably won’t but I’ll really be rooting for AJ here.

Prediction: AJ Styles

Team Raw (Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Asuka, Sasha Banks & Bayley) v Team Smackdown (Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Tamina & TBC)

A spot appeared on Team Blue when Charlotte picked up the women’s title this week. The obvious candidate to fill the spot is Natalya who dropped the belt but a much more exciting option is that the rumoured returning Paige fills the spot. This is a difficult one to call. Alicia Fox is a much less likely winning captain than Becky Lynch. However for Smackdown to win, they’ll need to find some way to take Asuka out. Asuka who hasn’t been pinned or submitted since she joined NXT.  They could get around this by having her counted out or disqualified but that seems like a cop out. She should definitely survive and be on the winning team here, especially as her teammates (aside from Fox) are all strong competitors.

Prediction: Team Raw

Team Raw (Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe & Triple H) v Team Smackdown (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura & John Cena)

I like that they’re picked a few stars who are hot and on the rise for the signature match. Strowman, Balor, Joe, Roode and Nakamura should all be given a chance to shine here. I can imagine this match might last a while as Angle, Trips, Orton and Cena are all unlikely to go down without a fight. Shane is clearly the weak link here, especially if Owens and Zayn decide to sabotage Team Blue to take him out. I really can’t see past a Raw victory here. The talent and strength on their side is just too much for Shane’s crew.

Predicted final score:

Raw 4, Smackdown 3.

ECW Hardcore Heaven: 1995

It's been ages since I watched any ECW. This is partly due to getting distracted by all the current WWE content, partly due to getting a new job which means I am travelling more and partly due to getting married and spending a lot of time planning a wedding.

It turns out that since I'd last watched any ECW, the WWE Network had added some more ECW content, so I decided to go back to the oldest PPV available, which is Hardcore Heaven 1995, two years before the last content I watched. I'm pleased to note that the Network automatically displays a warning about what you are going to see not being appropriate for all viewers. It gives me hope that this might be classic Eee Cee Dub.

Hardcore Heaven
July 1st 1995

This event has minimal build up, promo packages or anything of the like. Mostly, it just cuts straight from one match to another which gives it a bit of a jolty feel.

The Dudley Brothers v The Pitbulls

The crowd chant "boring" during this match and you can't really blame them. As a show opener, it doesn't really liven the crowd. The Pitballs are accompanied by the new tag team champions - Raven and Stevie Richards who provide the most exciting moment of the match when Raven takes Richards and his girlfriend out to the back after Stevie kisses a woman in the crowd. This distracts one of the Pitbulls as he thinks his partner is getting the pinfall, however the ref is also distracted, allowing a Dudley to break it up and roll his partner onto the prone Pitbull for the victory. This doesn't feature any of who I know as the classic Dudleys (D-Von, Bubba Ray, Spike) and doesn't really feature any excitement, either. At least not until after the fight when the Pitbulls vow to get Richards and Raven.

Rating: 2/10

Don E Allen & Dino Sendoff v Chad Austin & The Broad Street Bully

Some big dude called 911 marches into the ring shortly into this match and just starts beating up absolutely everyone in the ring. The crowd love this, and he is accompanied by Paul E. which doesn't make a lot of sense as to why the owner of the company would just interrupt a match to allow someone to beat up everyone else. The match seems to end in a no contest. The commentator had been saying how bad the match was before the interruption. I'm a little confused all in all. It was still better than the opening match though, mainly due to Paul E. just grabbing a mic and screaming "Welcome to E C Fucking W, Austin"

Rating: 3/10

Big Val Pucchio v Hack Meyers

This match takes a while to get underway. There is a suggestion from Big Val that Meyers should attempt to body slam the 510 pounds Pucchio. The crowd really get into this and the atmosphere seems awesome. This is the first match that seems to have got the event really going. The wrestling itself isn't great, with some of the punches and kicks clearly not connecting but this doesn't seem to bother the fans and there isn't a moment of silence throughout the whole match. This is a very one sided match, with Pucchio completely in control, however he missed an elbow drop when Meyers rolls out of the way, Meyers arm rolls back onto Pucchio and the ref counts what seems to be a very quick 3 count to give Meyers a comical victory.

Rating: 4/10

Taz v 2 Cold Scorpio

This is the first match to feature some decent wrestling and is a reasonably well structured match. Both of these guys are decent wrestlers and hit some good moves in a fairly even contest. Scorpio hits a tombstone piledriver and then a double knee moonsault on Taz - two moves that would basically be finishers in the WWF at the time - but Taz jumps straight up after this, hits a suplex and pins Scorpio. The believability of the product is leaving a little bit to be desired with this finish.

Bill Alfonso gets up and says that the match should be restarted as Scorpio's leg was on the ropes (which the referee didn't see). Paul E gets upset but promises that no wrestler will touch Alfonso before pointing out that he isn't a wrestler and that he's going to kick Alfonso's "fucking ass". The crowd starts to get excited but Scorpio with a chair and Alfonso with a cheap shot knock out Taz and Heyman before Alfonso does a 3 count as Scorpio pins Taz. I'm not sure who officially won this match.

Rating: 6/10

Shane Douglas comes out to do a promo but I'm not entirely sure what he's getting at.The mich is a bit distorted. He says he's off to WWF, and it appears he went there shortly after. I'm not sure why ECW would give him this much time to announce his departure, as this promo seems to last maybe 20 minutes. It doesn't seem to really serve much purpose until Sandman comes in to break it up when it looks like Douglas is going to attack Woman (the future Nancy Benoit) and then Douglas says that he will fight Sandman later in the PPV. This really dragged on for far too long.

ECW Tag Team Championship:
Raven & Stevie Richards (c) v Tommy Dreamer & Luna

A substantial portion of the early part of this matchup involves Luna using a testicular claw on Stevie Richards. She does hit a few good wrestling moves on him whilst Dreamer takes care of Raven outside the ring using various weaponry. Luna is about to win but then another woman comes and throws flour in her eyes which allows Richards to get the victory. The match is the best yet, content wise but it also doesn't flow too well as a story due to the fact that two fights are going on all the time, and one of them is almost out of view.

Rating: 6/10

Taipei Death Match: 
Ian Rotten v Axl Rotten

Next up, Bill Alfonso is called out to the ring by the commissioner and told that as he's the guy who wants to enforce all the rules, he is being allowed to referee a match with no rules, the Taipei Death Match that is coming up. The commentator is keen that "a stray punch might catch Alfonso right in the mush." He seems to be a rules stickler and this has been used for storyline purposes previously.

The two brothers come out for their match, basically dressed alike and with weaponry attached to their fists. At no point is he format of the match explained, other than that there are no rules. Ian gets slightly cut open from the first punch and Alfonso checks him out and attempts to stop the match due to a lack of vision.

At this point Gangsters and Public Enemy come into the arena fighting each other but security stop them from fighting. I'm not sure why as ECW seems to be so chaotic that they don't care who fights whom. Alfonso demands they are ejected from the building, and he also leaves as well.

The Commissioner, noting that Alfonso has left the building, gets on the mic and restarts the match.

Despite the fact that someone in the crowd has "Axl vs Ian Feud of the year" on a sign, the match isn't much of a spectacle. A lot of it consists of one brother towering above the other, punching them in the face or attempting to cut open their face with their gloves.  It picks up a little bit when they start to use a few more moves and thumbtacks are brought into the ring, the crowd chant "Thumbtacks!" Ian is body dropped onto them before Axl hits a leg drop and gets the pinfall.

Both of the Rottens are covered in blood, which would be cool except that the way they were cut open was quite dull.

Rating: 4/10

The feed then inexplicably cuts back to Raven and Richards fighting Dreamer and Luna again. I have no idea what has happened to get us here. The Pitbulls then run in and Richards wants a superbomb. I have no idea where in the continuity of the PPV this actually sits. The Pitbulls attack Richards and Raven as they had promised earlier. The Dudleys then run in and attack the Pitbulls. This seems like a reason for a bit of chaotic violence but doesn't fit the flow of the event.

ECW Championship:
Sandman (c) v Cactus Jack

The levels of confusion have risen again, as Shane Douglas said he was going to fight Sandman tonight so I was expecting him to come out after Sandman had entered. However, I was excited to watch Foley in an ECW match. He comes to the ring with barbed wire wrapped around his wrist and forearm, and Sandman comes in with two Singapore canes. You know that this match is going to be violent before it even starts.

Sandman leaping over the top rope to attack Cactus on the floor with the cane is pretty impressive. The Sandman also wraps barbed wire around his belly in order to hurt Cactus when he attacks him. It's slightly silly as they're both wearing t-shirts and surely it will hurt them both as much but nevermind, this is ECW. Whilst I've been complaining about the product not making sense, it's fine for the characters to be crazy and not rational.

The Franchise shows up and drops an elbow on the prone referee before hitting a piledriver on Sandman. He grabs the mic and taunts Sandman before also attacking Cactus Jack before throwing the prone Sandman onto the prone Jack which gets him the victory.

Douglas says "ECW kiss my ass goodbye," before the commissioner reverses the decision and gets into a war of words with Douglas who tells him he'll stay if the commissioner gets on his knees and asks him to stay. He commissioner looks like he's going to do so before telling Douglas he is "fucking fired." Douglas takes his anger out on the commissioner and any referees or wrestlers that happen to get in the way until 911 gets in the ring and chokeslams Douglas.

Rating: 6/10

Public Enemy v The Gangsters

Public Enemy get on the mic and give a warning that anyone who doesn't like blood and guts should leave the building. They don't disappoint. There is a somersault from the commentary area through a table as well as several other uses of tables, use of a large number of unconventional weapons, a whole tonne of blood... and also a decent amount of actual wrestling. This was easily the best match of the night.

Public Enemy get the win and celebrate in the ring with the crowd waving their hands in the air for a good while, with a whole bunch of fans getting into the ring to celebrate with them.

Rating: 8/10

Overall

As an event, it didn't really flow and it didn't always make sense. Perhaps it would have meant more to me if I'd be watching ECW TV, although I would still like to think that a product should be easy enough to follow on an intermittent basis. If you watch the current WWE output, pretty much every feud is explained before bouts on PPVs. The action was reasonable in most of the matches, although the quality improved substantially as the event went on.

Preview: No Mercy 24 September 2017

Again, life has taken over and so I've not been paying too much attention to everything that's been going on but I have just watched this week's Raw, so hopefully I won't be too far off the mark.

I'm going to have much less time in the future, so if anyone wants to help with writing predictions or articles, feel free to send me a message.

Finn Balor v Bray Wyatt

The stipulation that Balor cannot bring out the Demon King is intended to give Wyatt the advantage here. As the demon, Balor managed to get a victory over Wyatt at Summerslam. This could therefore go one of two ways. Balor gets the victory and proves that he is more than a bit of make up; or Wyatt gets his revenge and Balor starts to question whether he is able to win without the Demon. The second is the more interesting story and it's for that reason that I think Wyatt will go over here.

Prediction: Bray Wyatt

Cruiserweight Championship:
Neville (c) v Enzo Amore

Enzo has been thrust into the Cruiserweight title picture despite only having been in the division for five minutes. The direction that they have been going in is rather confusing. It looks like they've started to turn Enzo heel a little, with him gaining a couple of victories by cheating. It's a crazy way to go with his character because he is so over, and whilst as a heel he'd definitely be a cheat because his in ring skills are nowhere near as good as his mic skills, it's the most illogical turn ever.

These two bring a bit of star power to the division, though, and Enzo has paid his dues but if I was another cruiserweight I'd be rather annoyed that Enzo has come into the division and taken a title shot away from someone who has been holding 205 together.

Anyway, I think Neville should hold onto the belt. It'd be a mistake to give Enzo some gold so quickly but I can't help the feeling that they're going to give it to him to attempt to elevate the division.

Prediction: Enzo Amore

Tag Team Championship:
The Shield (c) v The Bar

The only reason to get the Shield to drop the belts so quickly would be to have one of them turn. An Ambrose heel turn has been rumoured for over a year. It is far too soon for that to happen. You'd need to get the fans a lot more invested in the team before that should happen. They were playing the long game with Ambrose and Rollins getting back together as a team, and they should play the long game with the split too. Therefore, they will retain here.

Prediction: The Shield

Intercontinental Championship:
The Miz (c) v Jason Jordan

They are persisting with Jordan's push despite the fact that he doesn't seem to be getting over, and the fans have been chanting for his former tag team partner, Chad Gable. Jordan won a 6-pack challenge to get here, which gives him a bit more credibility. I guess they're going to give him the belt. It seems like where they're going. If they don't then the whole story kind of seems a bit pointless, unless they're going to have Kurt properly mentor his "son". I guess he gets his hands on the gold here.

Prediction: Jason Jordan

Raw Women's Championship:
Alexa Bliss (c) v Sasha Banks v Bayley v Nia Jax v Emma

A multi-woman match means that Nia can be competing for the title but without them feeling like they need to give it to her. I think both Nia and Emma aren't likely winners. Bliss is probably the best all-round performer out of the others at the moment, but Bayley has just returned from an injury and the feel good factor of her coming back, forcing her way into this match and then winning is a trick that the WWE probably won't want to miss. I think they might not go down this route, though. Setting Alexa Bliss up to face her former friend Nia Jax one on one would be the best way to give Nia her first title reign. I think Bliss wins this, possibly taking advantage of Nia in some way to pin her for the victory.

Prediction: Alexa Bliss

John Cena v Roman Reigns

The Battle of Who The Fans Hate Less keeps being billed as a Wrestlemania worthy match. Remember who these guys faced this Wrestlemania? Reigns defeated the Undertaker. Cena was in a mixed tag match which seemed to have only been booked to frame his proposal to Nikki Bella.

Cena is surely on a trajectory to get his 17th title. Reigns has got many years left in his career. I think that Cena goes over here to justify pushing him into the Universal title picture sometime in the next year or so. Reigns will always be the guy that retired The Undertaker. Also, if they take him out of the main event picture, we could be looking at a full Shield reunion. Cena is probably going to be the fans favourite here, and he's also my favourite for the match.

Prediction: John Cena

WWE Universal Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) v Braun Strowman

In a second match with no clear fans favourite, the Beast takes on the Monster. I really want Strowman to win but I always want Lesnar to lose. I think therefore he probably won't. He'll win. I'll get upset. That's how it works.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar

Preview: NXT Takeover Brooklyn III: 19 August 2017

It's been a while since the last NXT Takeover although to me, it seems perhaps that not as much has moved on as one may have expected.

Alexander Black v Hideo Itami

Itami recently failed to take the title from Bobby Roode. Black is on his way to the top. This should really be a no-brainer, but should also be a good match.

Prediction: Black

Johnny Gargano v Andrade Cien Almas

Gargano split with his former tag team partner at the last NXT Takeover and they had just a short lived feud. Almas has been putting over pretty much everyone in town. As Gargano seems to be the member of #DIY picked to have the singles career, I expect him to take the victory here.

Prediction: Johnny Wrestling

NXT Tag Team Championship:

Authors of Pain (c) v Sanity

AoP have been completely dominant in the tag team division. Sanity use the numbers game, so Paul Ellering will need to be on crowd duties to stop Eric Young and possibly Nikki Cross from interfering. Sanity haven't yet held any gold, but have been completely dominant. I think perhaps they are the ones to put an end to AoP's undefeated streak. It makes sense as if they are going to get called up en bloc to the main roster at some point, which I think would be a great idea, it would be useful for them to have a title to add a bit of legitimacy to their threat.

Prediction: Sanity.

NXT Women's Championship:

Asuka (c) v Ember Moon

I keep thinking that Asuka's title reign has to come to an end but it never seems to. I'm going to call it here, again, though. This is on the basis that there is a rumoured superstar shakeup coming after Summerslam. If this is so, it's the perfect time to call up Asuka to the main roster. Ember Moon has, to my knowledge, only lost once in NXT which was to Asuka in a previous title match where she was slightly underhanded. She is best placed to take over the NXT Women's division from Asuka.

Prediction: Ember Moon

NXT Championship:

Bobby Roode (c) v Drew McIntyre

Bobby Roode seems to be fighting on two fronts. McIntyre on one hand and Roderick Strong on the other. He's beaten Strong so I think he takes McIntyre here and possibly sets up a triple threat for the Takeover prior to Survivor Series in November. I think he's probably just a better figurehead for the brand at this stage, and I've also predicted a ludicrous number of title changes for the weekend, so I think he retains.

Prediction: Bobby Roode

Preview: Summerslam 20 August 2017

Unfortunately real life has taken over a bit and I've not been able to watch all of the weekly shows so I might be a bit out of the loop if it weren't for recap websites. There is surprisingly no Intercontinental Championship match booked, at least at this stage. It looks like Jason Jordan will be the contender when The Miz next defends the belt. The Hardy Boys are among other notable absentees.

Finn Balor v Bray Wyatt

Finally we're going to see the Demon King on the main roster. And the Demon King v The God should make an awesome feud. It'd suck for Balor to bring out his demon and lose, and he deserves a measure of revenge on Wyatt from Raw, so he gets the victory. This should hopefully be an awesome and creepy match. I've been looking forward to it for a month or so now.

Prediction: Balor

John Cena v Baron Corbin

Man, they have ruined the excellent build that they have given Corbin over the last 2 years by having him throw away the Money in the Bank briefcase. It was ridiculous. They might not have thought he was worthy to be champion, but they could have at least made him lose in a less embarrassing way. If they don't book it as Corbin is super angry and tears Cena to shreds here, then I will lose all faith in WWE Creative.

Prediction: Corbin

Randy Orton v Rusev

I feel sorry for Orton. They just seem to pull him in when they need a stop gap champion and give him a push so that he can then do a job for an upcoming star.  Orton will always be a legitimate opponent for any competitor, but has had a meandering storyline since the Wyatt angle finished. He'll probably have a min-rivalry with Rusev which will allow him to attain the main event status that his former tag team partner, Jinder Mahal has accomplished.

Prediction: Rusev

Big Show v Big Cass (with Enzo Amore in a Shark Cage)

Big Cass seems to have got some allies in The Club now. There's no reason for the Big Show to take the victory here. He's at the end of his career and Cass is on the rise, so it makes sense to continue getting him over. I'm confused as to why Enzo is in a shark cage. Usually it's done to stop a heel interfering. I guess they've got something planned. There's no way that Cass isn't getting either a victory or disqualified. Cass and the Club would probably be a great move for both of them.

Prediction: Big Cass

Cruiserweight Championship:
Akira Tozawa (c) v Neville

A slightly confusing title change on Raw - I'd have expected them to wait for the big PPV - has thrown me off my guard. The last time something similar happened, I thought it was so that the rematch could be on the PPV and then the champion could move on to defending and feuding against someone else. I was wrong. I think this again now, though. Neville has had the spotlight of the Cruiserweight division for quite some time with the now departed Austin Aries being his main contender. They need to elevate a couple of other competitors, even if Tozawa defeats them easily. They need a few more cruiserweight stars. So therefore Tozawa wins and goes on to defend against the likes of TJP and Tony Nese.

Prediction: Tozawa

Raw Tag Team Championship:
Cesaro and Sheamus (c) v Ambrose and Rollins

I'm a bit disappointed I missed this week's Raw. The build up to the Ambrose and Rollins tag team partnership has been quite a well worked story over the last month. Predictable, at times, but well worked. It doesn't feel like a rush job. It feels smooth and it feels like the right time. Both of these guys have been sort of ambling around the midcard for a while without any direction. This will give them a focus. Usually a tag team wouldn't get the belts or even a victory in their first match together, but as they have history and should already have chemistry then I can see them getting the win here, potentially. There's also the possibility that Sheamus and Cesaro could screw them in some way which would allow them to continue to build on the storyline but my gut says that this will be the first match on and that the former Shield brothers will get the win to set the night off with a big pop.

Prediction: Ambrose and Rollins.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship:
The New Day (c) v The Usos

After the Usos beat Woods and Kingston on Smackdown, I assume that the New Day draft in Big E for this match and retain. It seems like odd booking, though. Unless this is going to lead to whichever member of the team that lost on Tuesday to start to feel like the weak link and attempt to prove themselves. I assume that the New Day retain here, in what will likely be a good match. But the storyline is confusing.

Prediction: The New Day

US Championship:
AJ Styles (c) v Kevin Owens with Shane McMahon as Special Guest Referee

These guys are three of my favourite performers and out of the whole card, I'm most excited about this match. I can only see two reasons for Shane-O-Mac to be the guest referee. The first is that Owens thinks he screws him and they get into a feud, potentially leading to a match at Survivor Series. The second is that Shane turns heel. I think this is probably more likely. All the GM/commissioners on TV at the moment are face, so it might make an interesting change to have a heel in charge again. It would certainly mix things up a bit and it wouldn't be out of character for Shane as ref to screw someone, as has been pointed out in recent weeks.

Prediction: Owens

Smackdown Women's Title:
Naomi (c) v Natalya

I'm not really sure it matters who wins here, as Ellsworth has teased that Carmella is going to cash in her money in the bank contract. It seems that they want to get both out of the way in the space of a week so they don't need to worry about how to book with them hanging in the background. It seems like a silly thing to do, really, especially as Corbin's shot was completely wasted. I can't imagine they'll have another unsuccessful cash in, so Carmella will likely be the champion coming out of the event. I think that would be the right call. She has been the better entertainer out of the three of these competitors, and will make the title more interesting. I obviously need to pick a winner, so I think maybe it will be Naomi. This is mainly based on the fact that if Natalya loses, she has an incentive to continue beating down Naomi with Carmella to give the Queen of Staten Island an easy victory.

Prediction: Naomi, with Carmella successfully cashing in MITB after.

Raw Women's Title:
Alexa Bliss (c) v Sasha Banks

With Bayley being injured, Sasha has stepped up to be the top face on Raw. There are really no other faces at her level, or even in the same ballpark so she's going to be holding the division together for a while. It makes sense for her to get the belt here, as the division can run on a Banks/Bliss/Jax feud for a while until Bayley returns or someone else gets elevated.

Prediction; Banks

WWE Championship:
Jinder Mahal (c) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Whoever wins here is safe from a Corbin cash in. I have enjoyed Mahal as a champion. I've felt sorry for him really, as his heat has been based on xenophobia when he is really just a proud Indian. The exact same character played by an American would be a huge face. Sometimes the WWE does uncomfortable booking. Whilst I like Mahal as champ, I know that many others haven't. And those that haven't would definitely like Nakamura as champion. Despite coming to the WWE earlier than AJ Styles, Nakamura has lagged behind him in terms of accomplishments. I think he gets the rub here. I hope he does. I love the guy. However, it is important that Mahal doesn't just disappear as it would entirely devalue his title reign.

Prediction: Nakamura

WWE Universal Championship:
Brock Lesnar (c) v Roman Reigns v Braun Strowman v Samoa Joe

I think that this has been booked as a fatal 4-way to make it easier and/or more believable that Lesnar drops the belt. There's rumours that he's going to be back for a one-off fight in UFC at some point and this would be a good way for him to drop the belt to another contender and still appear strong as he doesn't need to eat a pinfall. He has a built in get out clause in that Heyman has said that they are both leaving WWE if he doesn't retain the belt. It's all set up for a title switch. That could be the perfect reason for them not to do it. Apparently Brock's contract lasts through to around Wrestlemania next year. Maybe he is sticking around. Either way, I'm bored of Brock as champ, so I'm saying he drops it. Joe is a bit too new to the main roster to get the belt, I think, and no-one wants it on Reigns. If Strowman doesn't get it in the next year or so then his build will start to stall, so I think he takes it here.

Prediction: Strowman

Preview: Battleground, 23 July 2017

Smackdown definitely seems to build to it's pay per views more efficiently. All the title matches have been built well, and the flag match between Cena and Rusev has had a reasonable build as well, with the two guys having history together on top of their recent rivalry. Even without the storytelling, there are a few matches that are exciting match-ups. This could be a surprisingly good pay per view.

Pre-show: Tye Dillinger v Aiden English

Poor Aiden English. According to Internet Wrestling Database, aside from a DQ victory against Randy Orton, he has not won a match since February. That was part of an twelve man tag team match. Before that, his previous victory was in June 2016 when the Vaudevillains beat Enzo & Big Cass (again by disqualification).

He is currently embodying the definition of jobber. This is a man who was an NXT tag team champion. They obviously like English at they kept him around when his partner, Simon Gotch left the company a few months ago.

Dillinger beat him at Backlash, and I don't think he'd be elevated too much by beating English again. Something in me thinks that this might be part of a little push for English, so I have to go for him here.

Prediction: Aiden English

Shinsuke Nakamura v Baron Corbin

Both of these guys have a claim to be looking at a title shot in the near future. Nakamura has come in as a 2-time NXT champion, and Corbin has been on the rise since winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania last year.

Corbin has been attacking Nakamura before matches recently; he did this before the tag team match on Smackdown and the Money in the Bank match. I can see him potentially trying to do the same here. Nakamura deserves a degree of payback which he should do by getting the rub here, especially as Corbin is Mr Money in the Bank.

Prediction: Shinsuke Nakamura


5-Way Elimination Match for the Smackdown Women's Championship #1 Contender:
Natalya Neidhart v Charlotte Flair v Becky Lynch v Tamina Snuka v Lana

I love elimination matches. They make multi-competitor matches seem a lot more credible in my mind. They also allow you to give competitors a minor push by allowing them to gain an elimination.

I have a feeling that they will get Lana to eliminate one of the other competitors, as whilst she had a few matches against women's champion, Naomi, she didn't look very credible in them. The last one lasted under a minute. I think they will give her a shock elimination over either Becky or Charlotte to set up a mini-feud.

They will likely want a heel to face Naomi, so I think that Natalya is the most likely challenger as Tamina has no real momentum.

Prediction: Natalya to win.
Predicted order of eliminations: Tamina (by Charlotte), Charlotte (by Lana), Lana (by Becky), Becky (by Natalya)

Flag Match: 
Rusev v John Cena

The flag match is not a common match, and essentially works like a wrestling version of capture the flag. It can be used as a tool for getting a crowd onside using patriotism. I imagine this is the tactic they will use here, which is smart as Cena is a divisive character and it might help to get more of the crowd onside.

Rusev does seem to be quite liked by fans. When he came in initially, there was a long running angle about him being unbeatable, with lots of Americans attempting to do so. They should go back to this as it made him look like a beast, and I think that will mean he takes the victory here.

Prediction: Rusev

US Championship:
AJ Styles (c) v Kevin Owens

I imagine that they want one or other of these guys to move onto a new feud. That seems like the most logical reason for them to hand the belt to Styles at a house show, leaving this as Owens rematch. If they'd waited for Styles to take the belt here, then there would have to be a rematch at some point in the future. Which of these guys it is, and who they will feud with is not obvious at this stage. They should put on a good show but the result shouldn't be in doubt.

Prediction: AJ Styles

Tag Team Championships:
The Usos (c) v The New Day

I think this is when they will pull the trigger on the New Day becoming champs. They've paid some dues on Smackdown and will be rewarded with the belts. This rivalry will continue though, as it's been pretty enjoyable. Especially now that American Alpha have split, it leaves Breezango and The Hype Bros as the only other credible challengers for the belts.

Prediction: The New Day

Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship:
Jinder Mahal (c) v Randy Orton

We took a look at the history of the Punjabi Prison Match earlier. It won't take much for Mahal and Orton to produce the best of the three matches. In both previous matches, there was an obvious favourite, and the face won. I don't think there's an obvious favourite here. 6 months ago, you would have picked Orton without a second thought. Jinder's rise has been meteoric, and it would destroy everything they've done to not give him a reasonable length title reign. It's for this reason that I don't see him dropping the belt to Orton here, although don't discount the possibility of it being a controversial victory involving the Singh brothers interfering in some way to help Jinder to the victory.

Prediction: Jinder Mahal

The Punjabi Prison

Before this coming weekend, there have only be two previous Punjabi Prison matches. The match was designed by The Great Khali and named after his home state. Involving two cages, an inner one 16 feet tall with spikes on the top, and an outer, six sided cage, which is 20 feet tall.

The inner cell has four doors with a referee attending each. A door will be opened at the request of a competitor and will be opened once only, for 60 seconds, before being locked shut.

The inner cage has straps which can be reached and used as weapons, and between the cages there lies an assortment of other weaponry. The winner of the match is the first competitor to escape the outer cage.

The match, on paper, is an interesting twist on the standard cage match. In practice, both previous matches have failed to set the world on fire.

One issue is that, as Undertaker and Batista have both shown, it isn't too difficult to get from the top of the inner cage to the top of the outer cage. The most efficient way to escape, is to climb the 16 feet of the inner cage and then jump to the outer cage and climb down.

Another issue is perhaps that in both the previous matches, the winner seemed obvious. Undertaker is always the favourite in any match he competes in, and Batista seemed unlikely to drop the belt he had recently gained from Khali.

Neither of the matches seemed really innovative. What I've heard about Randy Orton suggests that his studiousness will lead to a really well planned out match, and I'm hopeful that this will give us the best punjabi prison match yet at Battleground this Sunday.

Undertaker v Big Show
Great American Bash 2006
Duration: 21:35
Winner: Undertaker
Rating: 6/10

The match's inventor, The Great Khali, was due to compete in this match but was removed as elevated liver enzymes left him medically unable to compete. In storyline, this left Teddy Long to make a decision to replace Khali with the Big Show for no other reason than they'd been bullying the Undertaker together.

The Big Show plays his part really well at looking upset and distraught about the situation he is placed in. It's difficult for a 7 foot man to look convincingly worried or intimidated but he does a good job of it.

The Show is also currently the ECW champion; I'm not sure what his persona was at this time other than that he was somehow teamed with Khali and Divari to beat up the dead man. Whilst I've always liked the Big Show and I appreciate how hard a worker he is, sometimes his size makes him look a bit messy, especially when selling moves.

The match starts in the inner cell, with 'Taker deciding to attempt to climb out. It looked like he was trying to get a strap from the top of the cage to use as a weapon but that didn't materialise. Show later manages to get a strap which he uses as weapon just as one door was locked on the Undertaker.

Shortly after this, a second door was shut on the Big Show and he insults the referee for doing his job. Show starts to take out his anger by cutting the Phenom open on an exposed turnbuckle and headbutting him to inflict further damage.

Despite there being two doors left to open, the Big Show starts to climb out of the inner cell. He his stopped by Undertaker with a low blow and then a superplex which shakes the ring slightly and elicits half-hearted "holy shit" chants from the crowd. This allows 'Taker to get out of the third door. The dead man tries to kick through the cage and realising it's impossible, he starts to climb. This all allows Show to easily make his way out of the fourth and final door,  where he stops 'Taker climbing and starts to use the weaponry before throwing him back inside the inner structure.

At this point, Show just needs to escape the outer structure; not easy for a man of his size. Both men are climbing their respective structure at the same time. Taker managers to reach the top first, and bridge from the inner to the outer to prevent Show's escape. Despite 'Taker selling like hell, he manages to perform a leg drop on a standing Show to put him through a table which busts him open.

Undertaker seems to have control of the match at this point and he starts to climb the inner cage as Khali and Divari start making their way to the ring and climbing the exterior structure. The dead man performs a cross body on the Big Show which knocks them both through the outer structure, with 'Taker's whole getting outside first, giving him the victory. Show is left on his knees bloody and crying, perhaps overacting a bit too much at this stage, though.

World Championship: Great Khali v Batista (c)
No Mercy 2007
Duration: 14:47
Winner: Batista
Rating: 6/10

Khali is finally able to compete in the match that he designed. He quickly requests a door to be opened, but is struggling to get underneath it due to his height which means Batista is easily able to get up and prevent him escaping the inner cage.

Batista requests a second door to be opened shortly after but Khali overpowers him and forces him up against the edge of the cage until the time the door is open before using a rope to choke out Batista, and then getting a thick leather strap to whip the champion. Whilst doing so, he requests the third door to be opened but the Animal is on him straight away and hits a spinebuster to prevent Khali getting out. He attempts to crawl out past Khali who holds onto him to prevent him exciting.

Batista with the strap starts to whip Khali and decides to attempt to climb over the inner structure rather than using the door.  Khali stoops him and manages to get the vice grip on Batista. The commentators talk up how it has taken down a large number of top wrestlers and that no-one has ever escaped from it. As Khali asks for the last door to be opened, Batista somehow manages a low blow and starts to crawl over of the door. Khali closes the door, using it as a weapon to attack the champion as he's escaping. Khali was disappointed that the final door was locked shut and takes it out on a referee, but realises that he needs to start climbing.

After pulling Batista from the cage, making him suffer a 10-foot fall, Khali manages to get out of the first structure. As he's scaling the outer structure, Batista quickly scales the inner structure and he leaps to the outer cage. The two men race to climb down the outer cage with Batista narrowly gaining the victory.