WWE Vengeance 2011 PreviewBy Chris Blackwood| October 23, 2011 WWE Blogs Wow. Our 3rd WWE Pay-Per-View in 5 weeks. But from the looks of things this card could potentially have some blinders on there. The WWE seems to have lost it’s momentum a little over the last couple of weeks, but could this PPV help them pick things back up again? Let’s take a look… WWE Divas Championship Match Beth Phoenix © vs. Eve Torres Not much to say about this other than, “Oh poor fragile Eve Torres, what have you let yourself in for? Your constant bitching on Twitter is has gone and got you in a whole heap of trouble” (how much fun is it now WWE have finally embraced the whole “social media” thing?). You know what? I really could care less about Eve Torres, and her “poor man’s Wonder Woman” impression. She’s only here by association with Kelly Kelly, and I’m pretty certain she’s gonna get mauled by the Glamazon. In fact, the result of this match has to be a foregone conclusion, right? Surely they’re not taking the title off Beth after a couple of weeks? I don’t see how it’d make any sense, but that’s never stopped the WWE before, has it? I’m pretty sure this is just going to be an exercise in putting Beth over as the heel champion, which probably getting some dirty tactics from Nattie on the outside. Which is always fun. Especially if she wears those dresses. Good grief. Who I want to win: GLAMAZON!! Who I think will win: Beth. It’s got to make sense? Unless Kelly gets involved somehow. Oh Christ. Kelly might get involved and cost Beth the match. I hope not. WWE Tag Team Title Match Air Boom © vs. Ziggler & Swagger I’m quite getting into Swagger & Ziggler working together as Vicki’s stable. Ziggler does the crazy bumping, Swagger hits the ring for the power moves and clear outs. It’s a good combination. Plus they’ve looked excellent hunting down Air Boom in pursuit of the Tag Titles, just a real old school tag team angle. Speaking of Air Boom, they’ve been excellent so far in their role as babyface champions, and they’ve really gone from strength to strength since the start of their reign. They’ve got the look, they started throwing the double team offence in, and finally they have actual team music!! They’re no Motor City Machine Guns sure, but they’re improving all the time. I’m expecting this to turn out to be quite a good little match. Who I want to win: Air Boom. I think they’ve still got some legs in their title reign, and it’ll stabilise the Tag Titles to give them a good showing in solid tag team feud. With Miz and Truth onto other things at the moment, then Air Boom are the next best choice for this. Who I think will win: Hmmmm. Not too sure on this. I think Air Boom, but mostly because I’m pretty certain Dolph Ziggler should be moving on to bigger and better things soon…more on that later. Sheamus vs. Christian Woohoo!! Sheamus beating people up! Always good for a giggle. I’m actually really digging Sheamus and Christian’s feud they’ve got going on. Christian wants one more match, Sheamus wants him to move his a*s aside because he’s got his eyes on the title. You’ve got to believe that this is all being done with the main goal of getting Sheamus ready for his inevitable shot at Mark Henry (which I’m gonna freakin’ love), and truth be told that is the perfect role for Christian. Think of him as being like Jake the Snake or The Million Dollar Man. He’s the opponent you have to get through if you want to get to the champion. His job is to take a mid-carder, help get them over, and get them ring savvy enough to hold their own in a main event match (hopefully). It’s what’s happening right now with Sheamus, and it’s working. Sheamus is getting some nice fan reactions just being a big rough Irish brawler who beats people up. Christian should hopefully make this guy look like a million bucks, and help us all to buy into the idea of Sheamus being a serious contender to the title. Who I want to win: The Great White. Fella. Who I think will win: Sheamus. He has to be the next man to step up on Smackdown and challenge for the big gold strap. Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton Hey Cody Rhodes, welcome back. It seems like an eternity (in reality about 4 months) since Cody Rhodes has been at this level. He’s gone all “sinister supervillain” again, and I absolutely love it. I love the tone and delivery of the promos, I love the way he carries himself, and I love, love, LOVE the old school Intercontinental Title he’s bought back. Mmmm…white strap. I just spoke about Christian doing what he can to put Sheamus over, and I can’t help but think that Orton has to have been given the task of doing the same thing with Cody Rhodes. They’re obviously looking to make a big deal of Rhodes as Intercontinental Champion, and I can’t think of a better way than him defeating the man who bought him under his wing as part of Legacy. Finally the student will defeat the master, yadda, yadda, yadda. A loss to Rhodes won’t hurt Orton in the slightest, he’s Randy Orton. But a win (or two) over Orton could push Rhodes up from Intercontinental Champion to a serious contender for a main event spot. I think it’s worth giving the guy a shot, or at least a prominent lengthy IC Title run, claiming scalps such as Orton instead of the usual mid/lower card fodder. Who I want to win: The deliciously devious diabolical Cody Rhodes. Who I think will win: Rhodes. By hook or by crook, Rhodes should walk away with the victory. I could see the feud continuing past Vengeance with some kind of screwy heel finish from Rhodes, which would not be a bad thing at all. United States Championship Match Dolph Ziggler © vs. Zack Ryder ZIGGLER DOUBLE DUTY!! YES!! AND ZACK RYDER!! DOUBLE YES!! Okay, I’m going out on a limb with this one, but this right here is my sleeper pick for match of the night. Ryder and Ziggler have been working their respective as*es off to get noticed over the last few months, and this is their opportunity to work together to make everyone sit up and take notice. They’ve diligently built a logical angle through Ryder’s internet show, that’s spread out onto Raw at times (Hugh Jackman), before again using Ryder’s show to run the angle of Chiapetta being attacked by Dolph with a pipe. It’s just been really fun to watch two guys who obviously get along throw their all into an angle they’re obviously having fun with. I’d also like to think this is the perfect opportunity to take the US Championship off Ziggler and start to send him onwards and upwards to the main event scene. I honestly think he’s improved enough since his last ME feud with Edge on Smackdown to be a serious player on the Raw Main Event scene now. I don’t know about you lot, but I’m excited about the prospect of seeing Ziggler tangle with guys like Punk and Cena one on one. And if you’re gonna take the title off Ziggler, I can’t think of anyone better right now than Ryder to wear it. The guy’s popularity is immense, and he’s shifting merch by the ton. The WWE need to capitalise on this by giving him some prominence on the shows. Right now I reckon he’d be a pretty perfect US Champion, and the crowd should get behind him even more. Expect Ryder and Ziggler to leave it all in the ring tonight, I can’t wait. Who I want to win: Ryder. WWWYKI! Who I think will win: Hopefully Ryder, releasing Ziggler on to push up to the main event. He and Ryder may have a couple of matches over the US Title, but as long as ultimately it means Ziggler gets the nod to head on up, then I’m fine with that. Triple H & CM Punk vs. The Awesome Truth WWE, just what in the holy hell are you doing to my beloved CM Punk? YOU’RE TRYING TOO HARD TO MAKE HIM A GOOD GUY! You know when you can tell someone is putting too much effort in? Yeah. And it’s not Punk’s fault. He’s trying to do what he can with what he’s being given, but that’ll only see him so far. He’s doing his best to offer some kind of explanation as to why he’s a “good” guy now, but WWE seriously need to knock it off and just allow him to connect with the fans in his own good time. You can’t just give everyone the standard “hey, you’re a face now” push and expect it to work. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to this match. Anything that involves Punk or Awesome Truth instantly gets thumbs up from me, and I’m expecting this to be another “shenanigan-fest” (I’ll get my broom). The only thing I’m worried about is will HHH do what needs to be done and make sure it’s the other guys who look great coming out of this, and not himself? You’d like to think so, but Hunter hasn’t got the best track record as far as this is concerned. Provided that HHH doesn’t go on the rampage and just Pedigree EVERYONE at the end, then this should be a good match. The Miz/Punk match from this week’s Raw certainly hyped me up for this, and I can’t wait to see what happens. Expect Johnny Ace. Who I want to win: Come on, I’m sat here writing this in my CM Punk shirt. Who do you think? Who I think will win: Miz and Truth, via mass amounts of shenanigans. It’s the way to continue the “conspiracy” plotline they’re running, and it’s the best way to make sure Miz and Truth stay dangerous. Although saying that, I guess Awesome Truth could end up getting disqualified at the end or something, so who knows? WWE Heavyweight Title Match Mark Henry © vs. Big Show If you’d have put this match on 12 months ago, I wouldn’t have even looked twice at it. As soon as the Big Show’s music started, I would’ve hit the fast forward button and saved myself the misery of watching this match. So what’s changed now? Mark Henry is still officially the Baddest Man on the Planet, that’s what. Not only that, but Big Show came back from the “vacation” Mark Henry was kind enough to give him with an amazing promo that instantly sold you on wanting to see Show kick Henry’s a*s. For two guys I was so ready to dismiss such a short time ago, I am excited about this match. This is Mark Henry’s moment to shine. He’s been able to eat his opponents so far, so this is the match to prove to the world why he deserves to be champion. How will Henry fare when he can’t simply overpower and maul his opponent? How will the champion do when he’s not the biggest man in the match? We saw him devastate Khali, but Khali isn’t prone to knocking bitches out in a single punch like Show is. This should be a great big man match. Fingers crossed. Who I want to win: Mark Henry. The reign needs to continue! Who I think will win: Henry again. I can see this being the match that helps legitimise him as champion, and I can’t see WWE putting a stop to the reign any time soon. WWE Championship Match Last Man Standing Alberto Del Rio © vs. John Cena Aaaand here we are again. Heading into a WWE PPV with Cena challenging for the title, and I think pretty much EVERYONE hoping that Cena doesn’t win again. We all know the drill by now, WWE tries new things, gets jittery, Cena wins. But at some point that vicious cycle has to end, right? The only problem is I can’t see them letting Cena lose in a last man standing match. I mean that’s Cena’s whole schtick isn’t it? You can beat him down, but he’ll never quit. Hustle, Loyalty, Respect, armbands, etc. So why should this be any different? Which is kinda sucky, because Del Rio doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment twice in six weeks. So, let’s look at this laterally. If Cena wins, we know they’re reverting to back to the same old comfortable, boring WWE. If Del Rio wins, then we can still hold a glimmer of hope for a bright new exciting future where new stars can hopefully be built. In fact, that’s a running theme through this whole PPV. We do seem to have a fair few “old guard vs. new school” matches, where you’d hope they do what they can to put the next gen over? Who I want to win: Alberto Del Rio. For him, and for us fans. We don’t want another Cena reign, it’s only been 5 minutes since the last one. Who I think will win: I hate to say this, but I think Cena’s gonna win. I can’t see the bookers allowing Superman Cena to stay down for a 10 count, unless he gets hit by a truck or something. And then he’d probably be up at 9 and three quarters. So there it is, short and to the point, but if they will have 3 PPVs in 5 weeks, of course I’m gonna run out of stuff to say! Feel free to let me know what you think is gonna go down at Vengeance. There’s a big ol’ comment box down there just itching for you to type in it. Or head over to the forums at TalkWrestlingOnline.com and share your opinions there. See you next time, and enjoy the show! What do you think will happen at WWE Vengeance tonight? Post your thoughts below or join us in our chatroom HERE.
