Are you ready to Rumble, Royal!

ECW Championship: Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson

This is one of the match's I'm most excited about. Christian is, in my opinion, the best champion in the WWE right now and has been on a hell of a roll. Ezekiel Jackson is a guy who has a great look and I always thought had potential but until recently was just muscle. He's been given an opportunity and he's really stepped up. This is the interesting thing about the ECW title is the wwe isn't as protective as they are of the other two titles so a guy like Jackson could really be considered a threat. Throw in the recent surprising victory of sheamus( which I called btw) I think Jackson will win the belt this Sunday.
Winner: Big Zeke

Women's Championship: Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James

After the viciousness of the promos by Michelle McCool conventional wisdom would say inner beauty triumphs in the end. Wrong. While the WWE has been trying to make itself more family oriented this is still the promotion that has the one guy who speaks against drinking and smoking as the biggest villain in the WWE. i think we're about to see a long face title run but I think it'll be Maria to capitalize off of her upcoming stint on Celebrity Apprentice.
Winner:The Undertakerette

World Heavyweight Championship: The Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio

Rey Mystero has never been more credible as a main eventer then he is now. The Undertaker has been on a pretty dominate title reign and if they're going to take the belt off taker before mania this will be their last best chance. The outcome I keep going back and forth on, but I think the deadman retains.
Winner:Mr. McCool

WWE Championship: Sheamus vs. Randy Orton

This is an interesting ppv. You have the bizarre face vs face title match with Undertaker and Rey Mysterio and the equally unusual heel vs heel match with Sheamus and Orton.Long story short I think sheamus wins to build some cred and they take the belt off him at Elimination Chamber.
Winner: Sheamus

The Rumble Itself

This is the most interesting Rumble in a long time in that there aren't really any obvious Mania match ups and it's fill ed with stars. Cena, HHH,HBK, Batista, Punk and Jericho make up the main eventers who want to add another accomplishment to their resume. Rising stars like MVP, Morrison, Miz, Kingston and Swagger that could use this to legitimise themselves as Main eventers. Also there are a number of people who can make their debut/return and make a sudden Impact such as Danielson, Cavil, Rvd and George Bush(he needs a job even more then I do). It really is impossible to tell but I have a feeling this is Morrison's big break.
Winner: The Wrestlemania night delight.

Royal Rumble 2010

These are my 2010 Royal Rumble Predictions. Who will be the one?!?

ECW Champion Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson
I'm glad to see some of the younger/new guys getting pay per view experience. Jackson would have been a great threat in the Rumble but that may be one reason to leave him out. Christian should probably lose the belt here to focus on a big match at Mania since he has the capability to put on incredible matches. Regal will most likely have some type influence on this title match but won't be a huge problem for the champ. I can honestly never bet against Captain Charisma (while he is ECW Champion) for I am a Peep. 
Winner- Christian

Women's Champion Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James
This is probably the best divas feud in a long time. The whole "Piggy James" thing might annoy some people, but at least it gives the women some good promo time. McCool doesn't receive as much heel heat as she should but with a face like that... who could boo her? I have a feeling Mickie pulls off the win with a screw up by Layla or maybe interference courtesy of Beth. Winner Winner Piggy Dinner?
Winner- Mickie James

World HeavyWeight Champion The Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio
By having Rey Rey challenging Taker for the title means one thing to me; The Deadman is feeling good and healthy. This could possibly be his longest title run and its well deserved for how much he has given in his career. He has suprised me in the last few pay per views as I am always picking him to lose. I can see Rey winning here so him and Batista can continue their feud but on the other hand the Elimination Chamber will only be 21 days away. I say Undertaker wins this match but still manages to make Mysterio look like a top contender.
Winner- Undertaker

WWE Champion Sheamus vs. Randy Orton 
Other than the Rumble itself, this is my most anticipated match to see on the card. Sheamus finally gets a competitor who can make him look legit. Orton has that ability to make anyone look good as long as they don't screw up (Kofi!). This is probably the WWE's way to get Orton into the Mania main event. Randy wins with a devastating RKO with no help from Legacy, at least I hope not.
Winner- Randy "The Viper" Orton
 
30-Man Royal Rumble, the winner to receive a championship match at WrestleMania
This is a star studded roster for the rumble this year. It's almost a toss up of who could come out on top. Triple H? HBK? Punk? Jericho? Big Show? Cena? So many possibilities to the point that Vince might not even have a clue just yet. As far as story lines go, HBK would be the logical choice so he can face the Undertaker at Mania. But what if the Deadman isn't champ going into Mania? This is such a hard choice that I must go to the crystal ball.... Santino!?! Stupid gypsy trinket. You can't just predict a winner, you have to predict who will headline WrestleMania. I'd like to somehow see Punk win this year but I find it doubtful. I say we see a previous winner do it again. Sorry Shawn but I'm picking the Animal.
Winner- Batista

What do you think about that Dave?

Thought you'd like that. Until Next Time...

The Unappreciated

Welcome to The Daily Slam!

Well it's that time of week again where I ramble on about things I ponder about. After watching an incredible match last night on ECW between two experienced veterans; Christian & William Regal, I find myself feeling bad that their stellar performances will go unnoticed and unappreciated. This happens on a regular basis within every wrestling company but noticeably within the WWE. They have a good core group of veteran talent that I feel gets a low blow from the company.

Let's take Christian and Regal for example. Both superstars have been carrying ECW on their backs this past year and haven't been given proper respect. Neither wrestler has moved onto Smackdown or Raw but has helped the younger talent spring board their careers on the other brands. I can see these two wanting to help out the young talent but it's a slap in the face when you feud with a up-and-comer who moves on to bigger things. Christian should be on Raw or SD right now getting a shot at the Heavy Weight or WWE titles. He's paid his dues since returning to the E and puts on the best performance out of anyone on the show week in and week out. Regal has had many shots at the ECW title but has lost every chance, including his 8 second loss to Christian at SummerSlam. 8 seconds!?!?! One of the best technical wrestlers only gets an 8 second title match at one of the four biggest pay per views of the year. It's a disgrace.

How about other veterans on Raw and Smackdown. Kane, Matt Hardy, Chavo, Mark Henry, Finlay, and Charlie Haas. All of these wrestlers have given years of putting young superstars over only to watch them win the gold at events like WrestleMania. I understand that you need to keep freshening things up to keep people intrested, but why not allow some of the older guys to get a chance. Kane has held belts before but never for a prolonged amount of time. In my opinion he has never been given the proper respect for what he gives to the company. A big man that can move around like that deserves a title shot here and there.

Matt Hardy, Chavo, Mark Henry, and Finlay are all in the same boat. They get a good month storyline that leads to nothing special. Chavo is a joke these days by losing to Hornswoggle every Raw for a few months. Henry gets a tag title shot (but never one-on-one) every once in awhile but even with his dominant presence never gets any kind of feud going. Matt and Finlay are those two guys who fill up time by giving the young guys some experience. It's sad because both of them are good promo workers and fan favorites. Honestly, Matt will never get the chances that Jeff received and it's sad because he actually has a good head on his shoulders.

That leaves us with Charlie Haas. He is probably one of the most over looked skilled wrestlers on the WWE roster. When he was a part of The World's Greatest Tag Team with Shelton Benjamin, he was able to show off some of those technical moves. I think Charlie's run in the E would be completely different if his brother Russ was still alive. After Russ's death, Haas teamed with Shelton who shares many of the same wrestling abilities. They won the tag titles twice but Haas (nor Benjamin for that matter) were never pushed into any kind of storyline to propel his career. Haas has been getting his ass kicked by almost everyone in the WWE for the past few years and it seems almost meaningless to continue down the same path.

For some of these guys, where they are at in their careers is the best its ever going to be. I would love to see Benjamin and Haas team back up and show the WWE crowd how tag teams are supposed to wrestle and not that DX bullshit they feed us every week. Finlay should be the leader of a European stable while his younger members are challenging for mid card titles. Kane, Hardy, and Henry have had their time to shine but deserve a good clean win over a top main-eventer every once in awhile to hold credibility. Chavo honestly should probably leave the WWE and rule the Mexican wrestling indies. He could probably be a champion down there. Lastly, Regal and Christian are the only reason I continue to watch ECW at this very moment. These two have that amazing chemistry to wow me every week. I just hope Vince gives them one last run at something good. After the years of sweat, blood, tears, and downright brutal beatings, all these guys deserve one main event pay per view win so the fans can rememebr why these guys put themselves through it all.

Until Next Time...

Rookie Mistake

Welcome to The Daily Slam!

This week's episode of Raw had what should have been an epic #1 contenders match for the Royal Rumble. Unfortunately, the match was a dud. It had all the perfect elements; Orton vs two of his most recent rivals, Cena and Kingston. Watching Kofi try to take control seemed so awkward. Even though most people are tired of seeing the same Cena/Orton matches, but at least they put on decent matches.

Nearing the end of the match Legacy gets somewhat involved. Rhodes takes out Cena with the stairs and DiBiase helps Orton take Kofi to the ring floor from the top turnbuckle. Now at this point the crowd is totally invested. Everyone is cheering for the Viper to snap Kofi's neck with a devasting RKO. This is the point where Kofi does a "Can you tell I'm not ready for the main event?" moment. I'm not sure if he was supposed either take his time to get up from the floor or jump up faster but Randy was so pissed he broke charecter. When Kingston finally stood up in the middle of the ring Orton gave him one devasting RKO. Once the Legend Killer stood up you could see his frustrastion as he screamed "Stupid! Stupid!" then pins him with a following "You're Stupid!" scream.

You can tell how aggravated Orton is by his actions in just a 30 second time frame. From yelling at Kofi, to ripping his arm from the ref as he holds it up, followed by his stare at Sheamus who was standing at the top of the ramp. Now normally I would insult the wrestler for breaking his character and humiliating another wrestler during a live tv event. At this moment though I give Orton credit for not beating the hell out of Kofi right then and there. We all know of Randy's aggressive past from trashing hotel rooms and provoking fans so I'm surprised he didn't stomp a mud hole in his ass (props to Stone Cold).  Last time a wrestler messed up during a match with Orton was Kennedy and he was released right after the incident. We'll have to wait and see what happens to Kofi. Could be back to the mid-card for the Jamaican turned West African wrestler.


Until Next Time...

Missed Opportunities: Monday Night War 2 Part 2; The Oppostition speaks.

Let me start by saying that Monday night was the most fun I've had as a wrestling fan in a long time. The Hype, Nostalgia and the Surprises are the things I love about wrestling and Monday couldn't have possibly done more in those fronts.

On raw we saw a solid tag title match between the two highest profile WWE tag teams in a long time and the historic return of Bret Hart. However, for the first time since March 21st 2001 Monday Night belonged to another wrestling promotion.

I'm going to be honest that was a horrible effort TNA put on. The first hour especially X division match was an abortion. Most of the returns are people that will not only have zero positive effect but will actually probably hurt the promotion (Nasty Boys and Orlando Jordan whats up?) and none of the matches had enough time. TNA was advertising hogan on Raw instead of Jeff Hardy(you know the guy who was WWE champion last summer, selling more merc than any1 else on the WWE roster at the time, and who's defection even surprised Vince McMahn). That being said it was still a fun show. It was kinetic and had me wanting to see what was next. On raw there was literally history being made and i just wanted to flip back to Impact.

While fun and gaining an impressive rating(for TNA) they should be embarrassed. This was the most important show they have ever produced and they really needed to put their best foot forward instead they just showed all their weaknesses. Their ADD logically deprived booking, over reliance on has beens and just overall wasting the talent of some of the most gifted athletes in the world.

Let's start with their advertising campaign. While, probably the most aggressive one they've ever pulled off they only focused on Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan is a big deal but you can't build your promotion around him in 2009. They really needed to announce more matches before the show and hype the hell out of them, especially the world title match. Also they have a pay per view coming up that could use some building to as well. TNA has all the tools they could possibly need except the ability to think.


Next,the returns. Acquiring Jeff hardy is a big deal and Ric Flair adds prestige to any promotion he works for. Shanon Moore and the afore mentioned Nasty Boys and Orlando Jordan aren't as positive especially when their are much bigger stars they could set their sights on. Lita would have been a much better choice to bring in with Hardy than Moore. Ken Kennedy, RVD, the Briscos, A Train(he got better) and Mistico all would have been excellent additions to the TNA roster. The jury is still out on Val Venus. I like him but his best days are behind him. Still, he would make a good tag partner for Matt Morgan.

The first match is always the most or second most important match of any given show and that has never been more true then this one. This impact was an attempt to lure new viewers to TNA and those new fan's first impression of TNA is a bunch of talented guys that they have ever seen before going at it in a steel cage for 2 minutes before a dq. Bad TNA, bad!

I would have gone a different route. A fatal four way match for the #1 contendership at Genesis between Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe, Daniels and Desmond Wolfe. These are four guys TNA has been trying to build their promotion around and I think It would be a good idea to put them out first and for most so that new fans can identify TNA with these four guys, not blah. Kurt Angle is a household name and currently a face new fans shouldn't have too much a problem getting behind Especially, when overcoming the odds against these three very talented heels. It would also be a much bigger deal if Jeff may his debut saving Kurt Angle from a three on one beat down that could set up a potential feud with either of these three guys. I would also have AJ out on commentary and while that isn't his strong point the champ needs to be a focal point of this show and needs to be on camera every chance TNA gets.

When will wrestling promotions learn that if you can't give a match 10 minutes its best to just leave the match off the card. Matches like Matt Morgan/Hernandez vs Raven/Dr. Stevie, Samoa Joe vs Abyss, Steel Asylum, Dinerio vs Desmond Wolfe and Tara vs. ODB were just thrown together, not even given a chance to develop and won't lead anywhere. Instead of the steel asylum match I would have just had a one on one match between the Amazing Red and Homicide for the X division title where homicide would get the title win. Instead of the Hernandez/Morgan vs Raven/Dr. Stevie I would have had Hernandez/Morgan /Dinero/Abyss vs the World Elite with a screwy finish leading to hogan giving Abyss/Morgan a tag title shot at Genesis, Hernandez getting a shot at Eric Young's global championship and Dinerio a shot at Homicides x division championship. Tara and ODB should have been left to Genesis.

With Angle being moved to the opening match that would leave the world title match open. Bobby Lashley would have been a perfect replacement. He just recently won a tournament giving him a title shot, signed with strike force and being a former WWE star gives him name recognition enough to justify a title shot against A.J. Having Ric Flair come out was a good idea but they should have put him on commentary, it would create a big match atmosphere having one of the great legends on commentary putting these two guys over.

One last thing, if you want to unmask a masked assailant and swerve the audience you should do it on the live episode and not the taped episode the week later. Imagine this, the masked assailant attacks AJ, Bobby Lashley sets up a spear leading the audience to think he's going to help AJ, Bobby Lashley then tells the masked man to get out of the way and spears AJ going heel in the process. The two them beat up on AJ till Ric Flair pulls A.J. out of the ring. The masked man unmasks himself. The lights dim. A mic falls from the ceiling. He says "The Future of pro wrestling has arrived and his name is Anderson...Anderson!".