Preview: Tables, Ladders and Chairs 4 December 2016

It seems far too soon for another PPV. This is partly because I was away on holiday and only watched Survivor Series a couple of days ago. Even so, it will only have given Smackdown two weeks to move from aiming their storylines at Raw than to aiming them at each other. Aside from the world title match, all of the bouts have been booked in the last two weeks. Whilst a few of them are continuations of feuds, it seems to be perhaps a little bit forced in places. Hopefully the creative team will be working hard to make a great event out of what doesn't look great on paper.

Reading an article last night on the evolution of the TLC matches made me a bit nostalgic for the old matches with the Hardys, Dudleys and Edge and Christian. As such, this card doesn't excite me as much as perhaps it would have done a day or so ago. I'm definitely going to have to go back and watch them at some point.

No Disqualification:
Nikki Bella v Carmella

This feels like it's not been progressing much recently. Sure, Nikki got taken out at Survivor Series but I'm fairly sure that wasn't Carmella. Aside from that it's just been a slanging match. I think the No-DQ will lead to Carmella picking up a victory when whoever attacked Nikki at Survivor Series shows up and does so again.

Prediction: Carmella.

Chairs Match:
Kalisto v Baron Corbin

A chairs match doesn't fill me with any sense of excitement. It just seems a silly proposition. It's basically a no DQ match but encouraging you only to use a chair. Chairs are used all the freaking time in the WWE. Perhaps less so than when I first started watching in the 90s, but still a whole lot of the time. I don't care about this match. If Corbin doesn't win, it will be a joke, though. Sure Kalisto is technically gifted, but if they have Corbin suffer another loss to him, then why did they bother letting him with the Andre the Giant memorial trophy? You have to build him up to be a proper bad ass after that. I might skip this match out of rage.

Prediction: Corbin.

Intercontinental Championship - Ladder Match:
The Miz (c) v Dolph Ziggler

Daniel Bryan has said this will be the end of the rivalry, whatever the outcome. Ziggler had a short title reign, which may have just been designed to save his career in the career match. I found the decision to give the belt back to The Miz to be slightly odd. However, if Ziggler wins here and Miz is denied his rematch, it will increase the heat between him and Daniel Bryan.

I'm not sure where they are going with that as the WWE doctors have classed Bryan as unable to wrestle. There have been mumblings of a possible return. The medical doctors actually cleared him before his retirement speech. So I guess, perhaps this is leading to a one-off match between the two of them at some point. Taking the belt off The Miz and denying him an opportunity to get it back would continue to send that in the right direction. I think we've probably have enough of the Miz v Ziggler now, as well,

I'm predicting heels for most of the rest of the card, so there needs to be a face win somewhere. I guess here is the best chance of that happening.

Prediction: Ziggler

Smackdown Tag Team Championship:
Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) v The Wyatt Family

The Slater/Rhyno storyline has fizzled out a little. The against all odds championship victory was a great storyline but them continuing to hold the belts hasn't progressed them too much. The Orton/Wyatt storyline is hot at the moment. With them being the survivors for team blue they are going through a push at the moment and the mind games they were playing against each other before hand has meant that they've been on people's minds for a good few months. The two of them are genuine main event starts, and for Slater and Rhyno to get a win over them - without Orton turning on Wyatt which I can't see happening yet - would be highly unexpected.

Prediction: The Wyatt Family

Smackdown Women's Championship - Tables Match:
Becky Lynch (c) v Alexa Bliss

I thought that this might be when Bliss gets her win over Lynch. She has really grasped the chance that she's been given to be number one contender. A few months ago, I would have thought she'd have no chance winning this. Now I am not too sure of the outcome. However, based on my other predictions with two titles changing hands - I'm not sure a third will - and with the heels getting most of the wins, I think Becky retains here but that this isn't the end of the rivalry.

Prediction: Becky Lynch

WWE Championship - Tables Ladders and Chairs Match:
AJ Styles (c) v Dean Ambrose

AJ Styles wins this. There's no reason to put the belt back on Ambrose right now, and there are a few good reasons to keep it on Styles. One is the fact that James Ellsworth has a title match at some point. With him being 3-0 against Styles, AJ really needs some retribution for those defeats. Another is the returning Undertaker. The Phenom is possibly doing a farewell tour, and as such should be in the main event picture. He should get a title shot - either just straight out, or potentially through the Rumble - setting up the Phenom v the Phenomenal One, either at the Rumble or Wrestlemania.

Prediction: AJ Styles

Preview: Survivor Series 20 November 2016

This is written prior to the final Raw and Smackdown episodes before the PPV as I am on holiday.

Yes! Proper Survivor Series matches! I am so pleased by this! I loved them back in the day. The added Raw v Smackdown battle for supremacy should give them a bit of bite, although the mix of faces and heels will mean that most teams will have some division within their ranks. That makes it extremely difficult to call but should make them very entertaining to watch.

On top of that, this Monday's Raw really levelled up the tension, with all 5 men from both sides in the main event facing off, with most of them getting to hit their signature moves, as well as a face to face with Goldberg and Lesnar. It looks like being easily the best PPV since the brand split.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship:
The Brian Kendrick (c) v Kalisto

Whilst Kendrick has only had the belt a couple of weeks, there are a few good reasons to take the Cruiserweigh division to Smackdown. Firstly, Daniel Bryan. He championed the division and clearly has a passion for it and may be able to help develop it properly. Secondly, the fact that 205 Live will be on Tuesdays as will Smackdown. Thirdly, Smackdown is an hour shorter and could afford to beef up a little bit.

I'm not sure whether Kalisto is turning heel. Attacking Corbin and taking him out of the men's 5 on 5 match makes it seem that way. Kendrick is clearly a heel. I'm not sure where this could go. It doesn't have much build up yet, and they don't have much time to build it up before the PPV. To put the belt straight on the returning Kalisto would seem unfair to Kendrick - and the rest of the division who want a shot at it - and so I can't see Kendrick doing anything other than retaining here.

However, why would they add the stipulation that the division will move if Kendrick loses if not to actually move the division. There is a way to move the division without giving the belt to Kalisto who doesn't seem to deserve it, which is to have Kalisto win but Kendrick to retain through the champions advantage.

Prediction: Kalisto by either count out or DQ.

Intercontinental Championship:
Dolph Ziggler (c) v Sami Zayn

I fully expect The Miz to lose in his title rematch on the final Smackdown before Survivor Series, leaving Ziggler to fight this match. One of the reasons is because Daniel Bryan has said he would try to trade him to Raw if he loses. With the the rumoured Jericho departure, the could be a spot for Miz TV to replace the Highlight Reel, especially as Cutting Edge is returning as well.All of this seems to make logical sense.

The two names that Daniel Bryan has mentioned are Cesaro and Sami Zayn, which means that Ziggler could lose this match but the title still remain on Smackdown if Bryan trades The Miz for Zayn. From a story standpoint, it wouldn't make sense for Stephanie or Foley to agree to that as it would stop them having a chance of taking the title to Raw.

Smackdown probably can't really afford to lose it's second title for the mid carders to compete for. So unless the Cruiserweight championship comes over to replace it, I can't see Ziggler dropping the belt. He has had a resurgence since the brand split and a reign as a fighting champion, with him defeating a large number of the midcarders should hopefully build him up to move to the main event scene again in the future.

Prediction: Ziggler

Women's Elimination Match:
Raw (Charlotte, Bayley, Nia Jax, Alicia Fox, Sasha Banks) v Smackdown (Nikki Bella, Carmella, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Naomi)

Raw clearly has the stronger women's division with Carlotte, Sasha and Bayley all being top draws, and Nia Jax being a one woman wrecking ball, whereas Smackdown has Becky and Nikki - who hasn't had any big victories since her return. Anything other than a Raw victory seems unlikely here. I would imagine one of team blue - maybe Becky - will have a good showing eliminating at least one of Raw's big names but Raw winning with probably two or more competitors left.

Prediction: Raw

Tag Team Elimination Match:
Raw (The New Day, The Club, Enzo and Big Cass, The Shining Stars, Sheamus and Cesaro) v Smackdown (Heath Slater and Rhyno, Hype Bros, American Alpha, The Usos, Breezango)

Raw has the bigger names, but Smackdown has better strength in depth. This match could get crazy when you have one half of various tag teams eliminated and the teams needing to work together with each other. I'd love for Heath Slater to be the lone survivor. It'd be a great way to take his storyline. I don't know if that will happen. This match has too many possibilities to even be able to predict properly. The New Day have been so dominant in the tag team picture that they probably deserve to be on the winning side.

Prediction: Raw

Men's Elimination Match:
Raw (Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman & Seth Rollins) v Smackdown (AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Shane McMahon)

Shane was an interesting addition to this match. Baron Corbin was the one guy in the Smackdown team that didn't seem to be at main event level yet, but could really have done with the boost from being in this. However I was expecting Daniel Bryan to announce either Cena or the returning Undertaker. So, while I love Shane-o-Mac, I was a little let down at the announcement.

However, having your commissioner on your team could really help the team harmony and may give team blue the advantage. Both sides have two guys in an alliance with one another - JerichKO and Wyatt/Orton - although I can't see the Wyatt/Orton alliance lasting too long.

One thing I can see happening here is possibly Strowman lying down for Wyatt. They tried to play up the angle of Wyatt holding him down, but the easiest way for him to be pinned without looking physically weak would be Wyatt mind controlling him in some way.

I can also see the Universal Champions/best friends having some sort of falling out that might lead to Jericho (sadly) leaving the WWE again to focus on Fozzy, and therefore there will definitely be more cohesion on the blue team.

AJ Styles has been the guy who beats everyone this year, so I can see him being on the victorious side. On top of that, all of the Smackdown team bar Shane were attired in Smackdown t-shirts on last night's Raw. For those two reasons, I'm leaning towards team blue.

Prediction: Smackdown

Brock Lesnar v Goldberg

I never watched WCW back in the day, and when he was in WWE was one of my periods of not watching sports entertainment. So, basically, I don't really know who he is. Sure, I've heard about his achievements and I was aware that WCW had this bad ass called Goldberg, but I can't recall actually watching a match with him in before. It will be good to see someone whose image makes him look like he can stand up to Lesnar. Lesnar annoys me. He just seems to smash through everyone, has no personal charisma (he needs the amazing Heyman to get him over) and seems to have the fact he destroys everyone written into his contract.

You can make an argument both ways about whether Goldberg would come back for a one-off match and win. Firstly, why would he come back if he didn't think he could take out Lesnar again. On the other side, he's not going to be in as good shape as Lesnar (although in reality he probably would have known about the match for months), Why would Lesnar put over someone coming back for one match? It would make more sense for the main guy at the moment to continue to look indestructible.

I'm going for Goldberg just because I can only recall Lesnar losing one match recently - to the Undertaker and that wasn't clean - and it's about time he took a clean loss.

Prediction: Goldberg

Preview: NXT Takeover - Toronto 19 November 2016

This written before the final NXT prior to the event as I will be on holiday. However I can't see much changing to the card, except potentially a stipulation being added to the title match after both Nakamura and Joe's disrespectful behavior towards security and William Regal last night.

This is the fourth NXT Takeover of the year. Unlike the Raw/Smackdown PPVs which only have a number of weeks to develop the storylines, NXT has three months to develop rivalries and build excitement. This gives them a bit more freedom, and makes the resulting event seem a lot more natural and perhaps less forced than other WWE events.

Bobby Roode v Tye Dillinger

Both of these guys are good performers and good draws. Hopefully this should be a great match. Roode has got the history outside the WWE which should make him the favourite here. I love his theme music. Every time I hear it, it stays in my head for the best part of the day. However, I think Dillinger will get the pinfall here. It will give Roode a chance to get distraught at being beaten by someone who he openly derided even when trying to recruit him as his tag team partner, and for these guys to have a few matches over the coming months.

Prediction: Dillinger

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Final:
The Authors of Pain v TM-61

I was not expecting these guys to be in the final. I definitely thought that the Revival would make it but the kayfabe injury has meant that they can fail to win the tournament without having to take a loss, which means they can drop the belts with just one loss. While the Authors of Pain are bad asses, TM-61 have had a much longer wrestling history and are the more exciting prospect, and I can see them picking up the victory here.

Prediction: TM-61

NXT Women's Championship:
Asuka (c) v Mickie James

Asuka has been dominant in the women's division, with no one seeming to be even in the same league as her. In bringing in a 5 times WWE Women's Champion and 1 time Divas champion as her opponent, NXT have definitely upped the ante. Mickie might be the one to hold the title once Asuka gets the call up but I don't think she'll be moving on just yet. I think Asuka retains here to continue to build her reputation.

Prediction: Asuka

2 out of 3 falls:
NXT Tag Team Championship:
The Revival (c) v DIY

The Revival are the only team with two reigns with the belts and have held them in total for the best part of the year. It's probably time to look at a new champion to spice things up a bit. Raw could also do with another good heel tag team to spice things up so I can see the Revival getting called up there shortly. They refused to fight DIY in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and that suggests they are afraid of them and probably for a good reason. I can see the belts changing here. A 2 out of 3 falls match is nice as it gives both teams a chance to pick up a fall and look strong. Everyone comes out of it with a better reputation.

Prediction: DIY

NXT Championship:
Shinsuke Nakamura (c) v Samoa Joe

The build up for this has been going on for quite some time and has just led to increased anticipation for this rematch. Samoa Joe was literally smashing his way through the roster to get to Nakamura. When Shinsuke returned a few weeks ago with neck brace on, the resulting brawl almost couldn't be contained.

I'm not sure why but Shinsuke just seems amazingly cool. Just looking at him gets me excited about what he's going to do in the ring. Joe is a proven quality, and so hopefully this match should live up to the hype that has been building around it.

No-one has yet been a 2-time NXT champion, and 7 of the 9 NXT champions are currently on the main roster. The eighth and ninths are in this match up. The likelihood is that at least one of them will be moving up shortly. I would assume whoever is likely to go up first will lose this match. My money would be on Joe as he has been in NXT for longer and whilst Nakamura is completely over with the crowd, they probably want to develop him a bit more before he moves up.

This is the only way that I can separate these guys. I can see this being an incredible match.

Prediction: Nakamura

5 Reasons to Reunite The Shield

I criticised Roman Reigns and told him to turn heel a while ago. I am now going to propose an alternative solution. The Shield should reunite. Not a full reunion - I think Dean Ambrose should probably stick around on Smackdown as I think that he is thriving with the chance to be the main challenger on the blue brand and he has got the mic skills to hold his own. But reuniting Reigns and Rollins as former tag team champions is a good idea for the following reasons:

1. To get Reigns over

WWE clearly want Reigns to be a top star in the long run. It might be my perception but the boos seem to be getting louder each week. If they're not going to turn him heel, they will need another way to get him over. Rollins is the top face on Raw at the moment and teaming him with Reigns should help to get Reigns over by default. Rollins has much better mic skills and Reigns can be the powerhouse, the strong silent guy. The Shield were so over and Reigns was loved by the fans at the time. This will allow WWE to build him back to that status again. They just need to ensure that they don't over push him after the team dissolves again. 

2. The Raw tag team division is weak

Outside of The New Day, The Club and Enzo and Cass there are no established tag teams on Raw. They have thrown together Cesaro and Sheamus to keep the New Day occupied for a while but they're struggling with proper tag teams compared to Smackdown who have such an abundance of talent that they have been holding qualifying matches for Survivor Series. An established team who can instantly become viable belt holders would definitely help to fill out the division's roster.

3. Give Rollins a storyline away from the title

Rollins is a star and should be involved in top storylines. However, there's only so many times he can lose to Kevin Owens before he starts to look weaker. Owens should keep the title for a while as he's a fantastic heel and Rollins stepping down from the title scene will give Owens a chance to smash through the rest of the roster - there are guys that deserve to step up to the main event scene but don't really deserve a title run - I'm mainly thinking of Cesaro. It makes sense to take Rollins out of the picture for a little while.

4. It's a good story

Everyone loves a good reunion/make up story. Rollins turned on the Shield in June 2014. In the two and a half years since then all three members have spent time feuding against each other, largely over the top belt. If Rollins apologises and the guys make up, it's a good story and again will help Reigns get over. It's difficult for two faces to dislike each other without one the fan's least favourite slipping into heel territory and so this storyline would help prevent that.

5. The fans would love it 

When Rollins helped clear the ring at the end of this week's Raw and the two had a stand off, the crowd were chanting for The Shield. It could be that WWE Creative were testing out what sort of reaction they would get. It was probably a lot better than they had hoped for.

In moments where they have been temporary Shield alliances in the last two years - for example in the Fatal Four Way for the Championship at Payback when they Triple Powerbombed Randy Orton - the crowd have gone nuts and would love to see it again.

There is still a space on the Raw team for Survivor Series which it looks like they are holding open for Rollins. It would be very strange for the number one draft pick to not be involved in Survivor Series and specifically in that match. Reigns is already on the team and it would allow them to team up again without forcing it too much at this stage. Get them to do a few double team moves, test the crowd reaction and then have them team up in a match in the next couple of weeks and then BOOM! Shield reunion sorted.