Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[Lean]

Classic post there, Andrew.

Just seen the Bash, and it's good to see Batista going back to his prime Raw days. His performance during the WHC match is great, in my opinion.

Any idea what's in Kane's bag? I have a feeling that it's his mask (again).

[Andrew]

Could be, though there's not much point in him wearing the mask again unless they can get the idea over that he somehow feels comfortable in it.

[buzzy]

It's definitely his mask I'd say. When Kane said "Is he alive or dead", he probably meant his former self.

[Andrew]

It's certainly a possibility. We definitely know he's not referring to the Undertaker since he'll be returning on Smackdown and despite prior speculation, will remain there.where I doubt he'll get another title run as long as HHH is on the show.

[Lean]

I think it would be a cool feud with Undertaker still on Smackdown.

[Andrew]

With Edge or HHH? The feud with Edge has pretty much run its course, I can't imagine it will go beyond Hell in a Cell.

[Skills]

Can someone remind me why the Undertaker and HHH don't get along? Oh and by the way, after watching RAW last night, I'm just confused right now. What the hell is Mysterio's mask doing in Kane's bag? Very uncalled for..

[Lean]

I guess that will setup for Mysterio's return. Though it sucks to see another David-Goliath match that is very damn predictable.

[buzzy]

lol @ Kane's bag. For those who have been following the WWE longer than me, has had Mysterio any bigger storylines with Kane in the past? If not, I don't really get what Mysterio has to do with anything.

And anyone up for some early SS predictions?

[Andrew]

Can someone remind me why the Undertaker and HHH don't get along?

None of the insider websites have published any detailed reports but apparently it goes back to their Wrestlemania 17 match. Probably just your usual backstage politics, HHH is reportedly not a popular figure backstage, he was apparently mocking Jericho's comeback which didn't go down well with a lot of the wrestlers who like and respect Jericho and Undertaker is also supposed to be a very respected individual backstage so that's where the conflict may lie.

lol @ Kane's bag. For those who have been following the WWE longer than me, has had Mysterio any bigger storylines with Kane in the past? If not, I don't really get what Mysterio has to do with anything.

Not that I can recall, they're kind of just being thrown together on this one.

And anyone up for some early SS predictions?

Sure.

Edge vs Undertaker (Hell in a Cell)

It's a feud that they could probably draw out longer but I think this is the blowoff match. They've had Edge get the upperhand with Vickie stripping Taker of the belt, screwing him out of the vacant title and then Edge winning the belt and kayfabe banishing Taker from the company so it makes sense to end the feud with the face getting his revenge in one of his signature matches. I'll pick Undertaker.

Triple H (Champion) vs The Great Khali (WWE Championship)

The WWE is apparently convinced if anyone can get a great match out of Khali, it's HHH. Not to sell The Game short but considering the only thing Khali can really do is a couple of power moves, a chop, scream in Hindi and be one of the biggest wrestlers on the roster, I think they've being optimistic. Putting the belt on Khali would be a huge mistake but fortunately I don't see HHH losing it anytime soon. HHH

CM Punk (Champion) vs John Bradshaw Layfield (World Heavyweight Championship)

The segment on RAW suggests JBL is going over, which doesn't fill me with glee. On the mike - as a wrestler, not a commentator mind you - I think JBL is great at getting over as a heel. He and Edge are two of the best in the company at getting you to mark out and think "Man, I want to see him get his ass kicked" so full credit to him for that. But he should not be champion and ending CM Punk's run so early would just prove that the WWE is committed to the same old product. Punk needs a credible victory and beating a former champion who's been whining about Punk being a paper champion is a good way of doing that.

I'll pick CM Punk to retain but I'm not as confident in the pick as the other title match. I wouldn't be surprised if JBL got a DQ or countout victory or the match ended in a no contest though, even if it is a Big Four PPV.

Mark Henry (Champion) vs Matt Hardy (ECW Championship)

I could see them spinning this one out a bit longer too but I think they'll put the belt on Matt Hardy. I expect they want him to be the face of ECW and giving Henry the last word on ECW is standard booking when a title is about to change hands. Since I've picked the other two major champions to retain, I can see them wanting to go with one title change and I'd say this is it. Matt Hardy

John Cena vs Batista

I don't mind that they've gone with this matchup for the first time outside a Wrestlemania card. Summerslam is one of the main PPVs and if anything, it just adds some history that could be used in the buildup of a future Wrestlemania showdown. The buildup has been pretty good, the tag title change is kind of redundant as they could have thrown in the intrigue of two tag team partners competing (a la HBK and Steve Austin back in 1997 and Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania 21) but it was still played out pretty well.

As such, they haven't really telegraphed the winner all that much. I think whomever goes over at Summerslam is the one that takes the fall at Wrestlemania 25. I'd expect Cena to be the one they'll put over at Wrestlemania which means Batista would go over now. However, I can also see them going with a draw so that the question of who's better (in kayfabe) remains unanswered until Wrestlemania 25. If there is a winner, I'll go with Batista but a draw wouldn't surprise me.

MVP vs Jeff Hardy

Two guys the WWE seems keen to push in at least the upper midcard. They might go a couple of PPVs with this one, in which case I'd expect MVP to win here and Jeff Hardy to get revenge later.

Winners Take All Tag Match (Mickie James & Kofi Kingston vs Beth Phoenix & Santino Marella)

If it was anyone else teaming with Beth, I'd say they had a shot but Marella's currently fulfilling the role of glorified heel jobber so I don't think they'll end Kingston's push this early to put the IC belt on him. Beth Phoenix is probably going to get the women's belt back sooner or later but I don't think it's at Summerslam.

HBK Announcement

With the promos Jericho has cut and all the hints that HBK is done, I'm guessing the exact opposite will be revealed, with HBK gaining some revenge on Jericho who is sure to interfere in the proceedings. Perhaps there will be some kind of impromptu match but whatever the case, I think this will further the angle with Y2J with HBK as an active wrestler.

[Lean]

Speaking of the ECW Championship, did they really scrapped the old ECW Heavyweight Championship design?

[buzzy]

Appearently, yes. Guess they like plastic-toy like looking Champion belts.

Andrew, I agree on most of them, I predict 3 matches differentley though.

A draw or a DQ between Batista and Cena is very likely going to happen, but if I'd have to pick a winner I'd go with Cena.
I also pick Jeff Hardy to win his match. TBH I don't know much about this feud, all I saw is that VIP Lounge where they first confronted, so I pick the fan favorite.
As dumb as it sounds, I also pick Marella and Phoenix to win the Tag Team bout.
It seems they get cheered alot with Santino as the guy who wrestles women and Beth acutally being the superior wrestler. I'd like to see Kofi reigning longer but I think they acutally pull the trigger and put the title back to Beth and, unfortunately, Santino.

[Andrew]

They wanted a belt with the WWE logo on it. They were using the original ECW belt which naturally didn't have a WWE logo. I think it also symbolises the new direction of ECW with only very vague links to the original promotion with the odd Extreme Rules match and of course, the name and initials.

Yeah, I could see the Winner Takes All match going the other way since I haven't picked a lot of heels to win. I'll stick with my original picks but I do have the faces winning a majority of the matches which seems a bit unlikely but I don't know where the swerve is coming. I don't see them doing a title change for RAW or Smackdown, Cena vs Batista is technically face vs face, Undertaker/Edge should be a blowoff match and Mark Henry got the last word on ECW.

[Christian.]

Mick Foley Heading To TNA To Wrestle?
Posted by Vegas Martin on August 13, 2008

According to the U.K. Sun, Mick Foley will be heading to TNA after his contract with WWE expires. The article includes a statement from Foley's friend, "Mick's body cannot handle a full time schedule, even in TNA. But he's hell bent on doing everything he can to further his legacy and put them on the map. So Mick's plan is to wrestle select dates, like Sting currently does."

[Andrew]

It'd be a good move on TNA's part, I can't imagine the WWE would be too pleased about it but supposedly his contract won't be renewed upon mutual agreement. WNW is reporting that it's not a done deal but I guess we'll soon find out.

[Christian.]

maybe that's the reason why foley is out on smackdown?

[Andrew]

His impending departure from the WWE is definitely the reason they're holding him off TV, presumably until his contract expires but they'd probably do that regardless of whether he was going to TNA or not.

[Christian.]

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Backstage SummerSlam News: Injuries, HBK, CM Punk, JBL, More
Posted by Vegas Martin on August 17, 2008

-- Shawn Michaels' real-life wife Rebecca took a stiff shot by Chris Jericho and had a nasty fat lip that really swelled up when she arrived backstage after the segment.

-- CM Punk was busted open the hardway when JBL fell back and their heads clashed. That looked nasty during the replay they showed. I'm sure Punk needed stitches after that and likely had one hell of a headache.

-- This hasn't been confirmed yet, but I heard from one source that JBL may have injured one of his arms. His fingers were shaking real bad during and after the match backstage. I'm told there was a tingling feeling at points during the the match. Stuff like that can be associated with the neck and back.

-- Santino's unibrow is somewhat of a backstage rib, which is why they really emphasized it at SummerSlam during the backstage segment.

-- For those who missed it, Santino Marella is now the intercontinental champion, and Beth Phoenix reclaimed the Women's championship after defeating Mickie James and Kofi Kingston at SummerSlam.

-- Prior to the Summerslam pay-per-view in Indianapolis, Indiana, The Big Show defeated Bam Neely in a dark match.

-- There were 15,977 fans in attendance at The Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. for the PPV. That was a sellout.

[Andrew]

All in all it was a pretty good show, I caught the replay. Mick Foley's absence definitely suggests that no matter what he does next, he's not returning to do commentary on Smackdown. I've read he's upset with being told what to say, though there's also been reports that he's second guessing his decision. Either way, looks like JR and Tazz will be partnered permanently on Smackdown for the forseeable future.

5/7 for my picks, though that deserves an asterisk as I kind of made two predictions for Cena/Batista. A few thoughts:

Hell in a Cell was great. The post match stuff was a bit much but hey, why not. The match itself was good for a spotfest, Edge took some huge bumps and the result was a great way to (presumably) blow off the feud. The angle with Vickie still requires closure but now Taker should be able to move onto other things, assuming he's going to be a regular on TV in this run as he was up until his most recent break.

The Great Khali is just awful. Apparently there were some within the company that felt if anyone could get a good performance out of him, it'd be HHH. They were wrong. It wouldn't be so bad if he could sell, but he can't. The crowd was giving him the Cena treatment with "You can't wrestle!" chants. He has no business taking up main event spots in title matches. Find some other role for him or get rid of him. Maybe he could fulfil a bodyguard role instead of being a fulltime wrestler.

JBL vs Punk wasn't too bad, I was happy to see Punk go over. Putting the belt on JBL would've been a mistake, if there's a heel on RAW that should have the belt it's Jericho. He's been getting tremendous heel heat. Speaking of which...

The segment with HBK, his wife and Jericho came off very well. It's not really something that sells a PPV and honestly it could have been done just as effectively on RAW but it was a great promo, teasing the retirement but obviously drawing HBK back in. It also led to my favourite unintentionally funny bit of the night, when a woman in the front row (or close enough to it) screamed "Do you feel like a big man now, Jericho?" after he'd hit Rebecca.

Cena/Batista was a pretty good match, very interesting finish with Batista snapping and hitting that second powerbomb for the win though he kind of Hulked Up in so much as stopping selling the beating he'd received then suddenly selling them again after the match was over. Ah well, put it down to an adrenaline rush I guess. My guess is that his victory will mean Cena goes over in a future match that will likely have more at stake, meaning the payoff for this bout won't come along for a while yet.

The intergender match was decent, it's a shame they had to put the IC belt back on Santino but he plays the annoying tool heel perfectly and him getting on Beth Phoenix's shoulders was great. I'm guessing...or perhaps hoping...that she holds onto her belt longer than he does his.

The ECW title match was a waste of time though, not that many people probably bought the PPV to see it specifically but still...do these angles on TV and use the PPV for the blowoff to the feud instead.

I wasn't too thrilled with the title matches but as I said before, all in all it was a pretty good show. Worth catching in the encore presentation or DVD when it comes out.

Moving on to RAW, the announced title match sounds interesting but it could be terribly overbooked if the belt changes hands too many times within the twenty minutes. Perhaps it would be better served being like the Ironman Match at Wrestlemania 12, teasing a lot of decisions but then just having the one title change towards the end of the time limit.

[Lean]

Hmm, looks like there will be a twist on the coming title match.

Anyway, any idea on who's gonna replace Tazz on ECW?

EDIT: at Jericho's new ring attire.

[Andrew]

It appears Matt Striker will be his permanent replacement.

[Billie]

The intergender match is funny thanks to santino's unibrow.

[Andrew]

Giving him the IC belt isn't quite as amusing though. Still, the secondary belts are long past being used effectively.

[Billie]

agree..could have been better if kingston hold the belt longer or if the match was seriously done..but because of his unibrow..itsalottafun!..

wait..what do you think is the plan for edge next now that he got burned?

[Andrew]

Supposedly he's going to take some time off.