Another Late Preview.....TLC !

Hey, it's time for WWF's latest Adventure in Unfortunately Themed Pay Per Views!

So no, none of these matches begat the use of tables, ladders or chairs in any kind of naturally-occurring-in-the-storyline way. Gone are the days of Michaels and Razor fighting over championship legitimacy and settling it with both titles hung from a hook; these days, TLC matches take place because "There's a pay per view coming up called TLC!". Not a problem, though, because this is still a decent-looking card.

Picks, in projected match order:

WWF Intercontinental Championship
John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre
I'm not all that impressed with Mr. McIntyre so far, but it'll still be interesting to see what he can do in a longer PPV match, assuming this gets some time. Can't go against Morrison, though. Let him keep the belt until he's ready to challenge for the bigger one, hopefully around Mania this year.

Winner: John Morrison
My Pick: Morrison

ECW Championship
Ladder Match
Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin
Very likely the FINAL swan song for the ECW title, at least on PPV. I'm certainly hoping, given the match format and Shelton's involvment, that they send it out with a bang.

Winner: Christian
My Pick: Shelton, why the hell not, its not going to be a title two months from now anyway.

Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton
I don't know what happened, but the WWF is actually sort of on a roll when it comes to getting newer guys over. This feud has been great so far, and the crowd legitimately freaked out when Kofi won at Survivor Series next month. Let's see if they have the balls to keep this going. I officially doubt their testicular fortitude.

Winner: Randy Orton
My Pick: Kofi Kingston

WWF Championship
Tables Match
John Cena vs. Sheamus
Nice picture, Sheamus!

IWC consensus on this match seems to be that Sheamus has no shot. I'm not so sure - if you read the Tribute to the Troops spoilers, it certainly makes it sound like Sheamus may have won here. They've done a great job building this guy in no time, and I've even seen a couple of mainstream outlets mention him. I'm very, very interested to see what they do here.

Winner: John Cena. I don't think they'll go through with the Sheamus win, I just think the chances of them doing so are much better than others suppose them to be.
My Pick: Sheamus would be interesting, but I'm sticking with Cena in the hopes that his reign will be a nice, long one.

WWF Women's Championship
Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James
Ugh, I don't care for the "Piggie James" stuff, especially when they have women on the roster so skinny that they're going to the hospital. Might be decent in the ring, though.

Winner: Michelle, because bigger girls don't get rewarded in this company for having the gall to eat.
My Pick: Mickie, who actually has some talent.

WCW Championship
Chairs Match
The Undertaker vs. Batista
I am LOVING Heel Batista so far. Say what you will about his in-ring work, but the guy knows what he's doing with subtle mannerisms and playing the part. Taker's eternally banged up, so I'm holding out hope that they take things to the next level here and give Batista his belt back.

In case you're wondering, a "Chairs Match" is just a No DQ match with chairs surrounding the ring. Not sure we'll see this more than once.

Winner: Batista
My Pick: The same

WWF Tag Team Championship
TLC Match
D-Generation X vs. JeriShow
Strange that we might actually be seeing the tag titles defended in a main event. Jericho can save anything, I'm convinced. These belts were dead six months ago.

I'm probably not going to be happy with the result here, but JeriShow's had a great run, and Show finally got a new singlet that doesn't make him look like such a useless fatass, so, um, can we please keep this going?

Winner: DX, to Send The Fans Home Happy!, one of the worst concepts the WWF has had in recent years. I fully expect this match to be very good, though.
My Pick: JERISHOW

Overall: Well, I'm posting this after the show took place, so I didn't order it and I wouldn't have advised you to do so either. Could be a decent show, and I'll certainly check it out in a day or two via alternate means, but as far as real-time viewing goes? Save your dollars, because its almost time FOR THE ROYYYYYYYALLLLLL RUMMMMMMBLEEEEEE!


Enjoy the show if you watch(ed) it, folks.