Choke's WWE Raw rant & Smackdown Preview 1/27/2014 - 1/31/2014
Posted by: choke Jan 30, 2014 | 1570 views | 5 comments
Royal Rumble and RAW Rant
Well for what feels like the 34th straight PPV and 3rd straight year of RAW shows, I was disappointed in the results. I think it's a joke the New Age Outlaws won the tag belts, I think it's a joke Batista is headlining Wrestlemania, and I think it's a joke Chris Jericho didn't come back because I picked him up as a free agent the night before the Rumble :( I'm still hopeful for Wrestlemania even though I haven't been thrilled with the programming for years. Probably just wishful thinking considering the DroptheBelt.com staff is going to New Orleans to see it.
As you've all seen by now, Punk has left the WWE in what is crushing news for those who have him on their leagues and those of us who don't alike. Easily one of the top 5 talents the WWE had and will be a hard spot to fill. No, Sheamus isn't cutting it.
Smackdown Preview
As always my preview comes from prowrestling.net and does not contain any spoilers as I don't know them. These are my guesses, and are sometimes hilariously wrong.
1. Dolph Ziggler vs Antonio Cesaro in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. Wait, what? I mean I love both of these guys but what on earth have they done to deserve even a qualifying match for the Chamber? I'm so blown away by this. And it's also annoying because you know neither of them has a shot in hell of winning it, so why even waste our time? Okay so it's almost a foregone conclusion that Orton wont be losing the belt there, but still, shouldnt it be filled with guys like Cena, Bryan, Reigns, etc who at least you can come up with a 2% chance theory that they'll win it? I have no idea who wins, I guess I'll say Cesaro, and then Swags probably fails later and they can have some fun with the team arguing about that later.
2. Fandango vs Xavier Woods: Good god who cares? Fandango beat Xavier Woods the last time they met on Raw, so I think Xavier picks up the rematch. Brutal we have to sit through this again though
3. PTP vs Ryback and Curtis Axel: This looks like a Main Event card so far. I see no reason to give PTP the win as they dont seem as involved in the tag team division ranks right now. Could go either way, but I'll say Rybaxel take it
4. Christian vs Jack Swagger in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Hard to see Swagger getting in over the long awaited returning Christian, so I'll go with the obvious. Christian makes it in
5. Damien Sandow vs Kofi Kingston: Yup, this is a bad, extended episode of Main Event it seems. The good news is none of these matches is CRAZILY predictable and we might even get some good matches out of it. Kofi seems to have more momentum what with his always impressive Rumble showings, the wins over Orton, etc. I'll stick with that and say Kofi gets the win, but it wouldnt surprise me in the least if Sandow gets it in what will hopefully be a return to what he had before the Cena loss.
6. Road Dogg vs Cody Rhodes: I'm assuming Rhodes picks up the win to further the rematch for the tag belts "storyline" Next week on RAW or Smackdown Billy vs Dust?
7. Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio vs the Shield in a 6 man tag: So is the WWE really going to leave Bryan, Sheamus and Cena in the Elimination Chamber with that weak DQ finish? Either way, what's the point of this match? The Wyatts dont have much need to interfere since Cena isn't here, and I dont see a reason to give either team a loss. If it doesnt result in schmozz, I see Bryan closing the show out with a win just to send the crowd home happy.
Doesnt look like much to be excited about
Rising
1. Sheamus: As expected, he's back, and he's probably soon to be brogue kicking his way onto the front page.
2. Christiian: Back for Friday's show! Barring further injury which seems to follow Christian around, he's always good for solid points and getting matches weekly
3. Road Dogg/Billy Gunn: I guess I should include them here since they won the belts. Not sure how many months the WWE will drag it along, but even when picking up cheap DQ wins they still earn valuable points. I could see a few leagues out there sleeping still
Falling
1. CM Punk: Unless you think this is some masterful work by the WWE and Punk, looks like he's gone for at LEAST the remainder of the season. God help us all
2. Chris Jericho: Is he or isnt he? I'm not going to hold on long term to find out
3. Big Show: I do expect him back before Mania, and I'm gonna hold onto him for the timebeing, but I've just hated having this lumbering oaf on my squad. The crowd could really not give a shit about him point blank period.