Choke's WWE Raw rant and Smackdown Preview 7/22/2013 - 7/26/2013
Posted by: choke Jul 26, 2013 | 1583 views | 4 comments
A quick review of RAW from this week, followed by tonight's Smackdown preview. No match result spoilers, I promise (namely because I dont know them either)
Interesting couple of weeks for the WWE. With their overseas tour happening this and next week, they've already taped their next three shows (Smackdown from tonight, and Raw and Smackdown from next week).
First, this weeks Raw: Naturally all I can really recall that even happened was the Bella nip slip. Oh yeah and that epic Bryan/Cesaro match! I always love it when the WWE lets a mid-card guy like Cesaro really show their talents in a big match on Raw. Unfortunately it doesnt happen nearly enough, but it was fun while it lasted.
Nothing else really excited me. Let me know if I missed anything in the comments. I'm extremely disappointed in the Summerslam buildup as of yet. Let's get to the previews:
Smackdown for tonight
1. Orton vs Sandow - the two case winners. I think they're going to bury Sandow a little as his case is "less important" plus he has the Cody feud to worry about. Orton should get the easy win here. Might we see some Rhodes during or after the match?
2. Mark Henry and the Usos vs PTP and Wade Barrett: UGH. Clearly Henry and the Usos need the win to further their BS with the Shield. Where do they go with this? Usos with another shot against the Shield? Henry against Ambrose? I thought Henry would eventually team with someone that doesnt have anything to do right now like Sheamus to take on the Shield for the tags, but no real evidence of that yet..... Maybe Shield interfere here and cause a DQ, but no way will PTP and Barrett go over clean. BARRETT IS A JOKE LOCK OF THE WEEK ON HENRY/USOs
3. Alberto Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam in a non-title match: A-ha. This is where I thought they might go with Del Rio since as of yet he doesnt have an opponent for Summerslam. Something will probably happen here where Del Rio just runs away and takes a countout, or maybe even gets pinned in some weird way. If they bury RVD here with a clean win, that probably means he wont be getting the title shot at SS after all. I'll go with RVD winning somehow, but not pinfall
4. Tons of Funk vs Luke Harper and Erick Rowan: Wow, I'm a little surprised we're seeing Harper and Rowan debut as a tag team so early. I expected the random beatings to continue until Summerslam where we'd maybe see Kane return, but I'm glad it's going to happen sooner than that. That is, unless they jump Tons of Funk before the match even starts. I'll say it actually goes on and they win easily.
5. Jack Swagger vs Christian: Guessing the burying of Swagger continues. I would have thought Christian was going to end up against Ambrose for the US title, but they havent shown much that would make me think that now. Maybe the Shield will start messing with him again soon. Christian wins
6. CM Punk vs Fandango: If I had any faith Lesnar would be at Smackdown, I'd say Lesnar would disrupt this match. I guess it's possible Heyman or Axel will interfere instead, but I can't go against Punk here no matter what
No rising/falling this week, I'll save that for my recap of next week's action
Here are some bonus predictions for the Raw taping for next week (no match spoilers)
1. The Shield vs Mark Henry and the Usos: wow, they're giving this to us next week and not waiting for Summerslam? This makes me happy. Really confused where they'll go from here FOR summerslam though. Mark Henry doesnt need the US title, and we really dont need to see any more Rollins/Reigns vs Usos matches. Going out on a limb and sticking with my prediction that we'll see Henry team up with some other superstar for the tags. So I'll say the Shield win because of the Usos, then attack Mark Henry until someone makes the save (Christian? Sheamus?)
2. RVD vs Fandango: RVD should continue his roll towards possibly facing Del Rio for the World Title. Even if that's not the angle, he should still get the win I'd guess. Is Fandango turning into a glorified jobber? Are all of the heels in the WWE minus Del Rio and the Shield turning into glorified jobbers?
3. AJ Lee vs Kaitlyn in a non-title match: FUCK. I'm angry about this because I dropped Kaitlyn days ago, but the girl apparently just never goes away. I really thought they were going to pull away from having AJ wrestle and have her instead involved in Dolph vs Big E, but with this, who knows. Maybe Dolph will cause Kaitlyn to win? If AJ wins, I think that'll end the feud, if not, we probably see this again at Summerslam (I hate when they basically duplicate PPVs....)
4. Dolph Ziggler vs Big E Langston: This seems like an excellent card for a Raw, but again I fear a lot of these matches will just end up having rematches on SS. Where else can they go with these two for the PPV? Unless they're planning not even having these two have matches at all? If this has a clean pinfall finish, I expect Big E to get the win since Dolph winning means nothing for their feud. AJ can cause him to lose here
5. Alberto Del Rio vs Christian in a non-title match: Another possible contender for the World Title in Christian. Seems like Del Rio has been running through all the contenders lately. I like him to get the win here, because the crowd isn't really over on Christian as they'd need to be to sell us this match. Still begs the question of what on earth is Del Rio going to do at Summerslam?
6. Cody Rhodes vs Wade Barrett: WWE is trying to build up Cody, and BARRETT IS WORTHLESS in this game. Cody wins. LOCK OF THE NIGHT
7. Daniel Bryan vs Kane: Oooooooooh I'm excited for this one! What will Kane be like? Will the Wyatts interfere (probably), will Kane turn? They can't give Bryan a loss in the situation they're in, so I gotta go with a schmozz ending with the Wyatts
8. Natalya vs Brie Bella: lol @ going from all these decent to great matches into Brie Bella vs Natalya. I knew they'd be selling us the Total Divas show with these girls in some matches. I think since the Bellas are the biggest stars on the show, they'll pick up more wins. I'll go with Brie here
9. Curtis Axel vs R-Truth: Weird match for a lot of reasons. Kane gets beaten up by the Wyatts and is presumably coming back as a changed man. Truth gets beaten up and a week later he's on Smackdown fighting Axel? I figured they were writing him off for a bit too. He can't get the win here unless he comes out in a sheep mask, jk. Obviously Axel should win, though maybe Punk will come out depending on the situation with him and heyman. Seems like a weird match so deep in the card
10. Cena vs Ryback in a tables match: Damn 10 matches? I like that. Ryback can't go over here really, it wouldn't serve much purpose. Cena sends em home happy.