SUMMERSLAM Late Preview!

I may take off for months at a time, but I WILL NEVER skip a Big Four PPV preview. Probably.
The show's already under way, of course, but I'm sequestering myself from society completely until watching the replay later tonight. My picks, in projected match order:


WWF Intercontinental Championship
Kofi Kingston v. Dolph Ziggler
The IC title is to Dolph what the ROH world title is to Tyler Black. It's nice that they both finally got the strap, but both companies waited too long to pull the trigger, and now the belt means much less than it otherwise might. I've seen these two fight a lot, so it seems like there won't be any real surprises here.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler
My Pick: Dolph, just for confidently using the Sleeperhold as a finisher in 2010.

WCW Championship
Rey Mysterio vs. Kane
This angle unfolded almost exactly like anyone would've predicted a few months ago when Kane vowed vengeance on the mystery attacker. Still, it's been a while since the last Taker-Kane feud, and a whole new group of kids who are into the product haven't seen it. I'm on board.

Winner: Kane, but with a special Undertaker appearance at some point.
My Pick: Rey Rey, just to see if they can somehow give him a worse title reign than his previous two.

Why Is This Here Handicap Match
The Big Show vs. The Straight Edge Society
Seriously, why is this here? CM Punk should be main-eventing, not needing the help of two minions to maybe beat the Big Show.

Winner: SES, because the WWF can't be THAT dumb.
My Pick: SES, because two competent non-jobber wrestlers should never lose a handicap match to one guy. And there are THREE of them here!

WWF Championship
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus
Count me among those interested in this match solely because of their promo on the go-home show. Hopefully they can top their lackluster Rumble match.

Winner: Sheamus
My Pick: Randall Q. Orton

WWF Divas Championship
Melina vs. Alicia Fox
Filler, crowd coolant, and it's not a real belt anyway.

Winner: Alicia, because the office apparently loves her.
My Pick: Alicia, because of her very kind and considerate relative lack of shrill screaming.

Team WWF vs. The Nexus
Now THIS is a main event to get excited for. Rumblings around the WWF seem to indicate that something big is planned here, whether it be a shocking heel turn or a shocking return. I have no idea what to expect. I can't wait.

Winner: Nexus, but with Daniel Bryan as your 7th man
My Pick: I'll be marking out for the WWF team, even though the Nexus should probably go over here. If this is the night they finally turn Cena heel, it will surely be something to behold.

Overall: Haven't been this amped to watch a WWF show since Wrestlemania, and it's all because of the main event. Really, I don't care about anything else. It's too late to advise anyone else to buy or skip this, but I just bought the replay and will now be sitting down to enjoy it. Happy summer, folks.
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WRESTLEMANIA XXVI PREVIEW

BUY ALL THIS!

Sorry, but I've gotta make this quick, heading out to the bar for it in just a few minutes. One note, though: for the past two Wrestlemanias, this site has voccally noted that the build has been underwhelming. Not so this year. I cant remember looking forward to a Wrestlemania this much since AT LEAST 2004.

Maybe it's because of Taker-Shawn, maybe because we finally have Cena and Batista facing off for the title after five years of it being bandied about. Whatever the reason, this feels like a big, huge, era-defining Wrestlemania on the heels of last year's totally-forgettable-aside-from-one-match card. Perhaps disappointment is inevitable, since my expectations for this are somewhere close to "right behind WMX7 as the greatest show of all time". I'm still beyond pumped, though. I cannot wait another hour and a half for this to start. A review, I promise, will be forthcoming. On to the picks, with a very rough guess at the match order:

WWF Tag Team Championship
The Miz & The Big Show vs. John Morrison & R-Truth
Probably a short opener, and no way they take the belts off of ShowMiz so soon.

Winner: ShowMiz
My Pick: ShowMiz

Money In The Bank Ladder Match
I doubt having ten people is going to help the match quality or anything, but this could be the finale for MITB matches at Wrestlemania. Given that, my money's on the winner cashing it in tonight.

Winner: Drew McIntyre
My Pick: Christian, and a much-needed Christian heel turn maybe?

Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
Everybody's sleeper match of the night. I just hope they get more than 5 minutes like Hardy-Rey at WM19 got.

Winner: Rey Mysterio
My Pick: CM Punk

No Holds Barred Match
Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon
Here's your sleeper pick to headline the show, although I think they'll have enough sense not to do that. I really hope the Hitman holds it together and gets his happy ending out of this.

Winner: Bret Hart
My Pick: Bret Hart

Triple Threat Match
Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase
As a commenter on DVDVR recently put it, Orton vs. "Team Milquetoast" is going to be the first bathroom break of the show. They really messed this one up.

Winner: Randy Orton
My Pick: Ted DiBiase

WCW Championship
Edge vs. Chris Jericho
Yeah, the forced "Spear" chants are sort of retarded, but the match quality here should make up for the shortcomings of the feud itself.

Winner: Edge
My Pick: Edge

Triple H vs. Sheamus
I'm guessing this ends up higher on the card than most people assume. Could easily be good, more likely its about ** just like HHH-Orton last year.

Winner: Triple H
My Pick: Sheamus

Career vs. Streak
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
This is the big one, for sure. Much like the Warrior-Savage career match at WM7, I'd like to see this go on before the title match at the end. A segment of the crowd may be let down either way, although for in-ring performance, ain't nobody topping this.

Since they're going PG now, I'd also like to note how well they've played up the Career Match over the past few years. Jaded smarks will surely never buy the stip, but if you're a kid who watches WWF, the two career matches you can most easily remember - Michaels vs. Flair and Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk - actually meant "the end" in WWF for the loser. Even if Michaels ends up coming back just like Randy Savage did, this is still going to feel like the most epic match those kids have ever seen.

I can't wait for this any longer. This is the most perfectly built match in years.

Winner: The Undertaker
My Pick: For the first time in my adult life, I will be rooting for one Shawn Michaels.

10-Diva Tag Team Match
Total bathroom break, but I hope Santino is somehow involved.

WWF Championship
John Cena vs. Batista
Taker-Shawn is the real main event, sure, but when you have a WWF title match with the two biggest stars of the era, you've got to put it on last. At least I think you do. No real complaints if they don't, though.

Winner: John Cena
My Pick: John Cena

Overall: Jesus Christ, buy this show. Pay them extra, even. Do whatever you have to do to be in front of your television watching HBK-Taker II tonight.

Godspeed all, and may you enjoy what could easily end up being the best show of the decade.
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No Way Out of......St. Louis!

Ahhh, it's my favorite annual B-show! And like the WWF in Germany, I refuse to call this by that other name.

Soooo.....since I FINALLY got a big pick right with Edge last month, it's time for me to deface any credibility I may have built up with my picks for this one. First, a brief note directed at the WWF higher-ups:

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TAKING SURVIVOR SERIES AWAY FOR?!?!??!?! THIS IS BULLSHIT!!!!

(note over)

Seriously, I do not care for the new additions to the PPV schedule, and they best leave my remaining Big Three (well, Big Four if you count this one) out of their little marketing equation. We're fine for now, though, and it's time for No Way Out, a guilty pleasure of mine every year that's the last PPV stop before a newly-MITBless Wrestlemania. On to the picks, in projected match order:

WWF Championship Elimination Chamber Match
So here's my operating theory: remember last year when everyone and their mother (including this site and likely, my mother, for that matter) had the Chamber matches figured out, with Cena retaining and such....until they pulled that whole Edge deal and had him lose, attack Kofi, & then win??? Well, this year EVERYONE has the second match picked cold for Jericho, and most people have Sheamus or Trips going over here. My not-so-bold prediction: One of those results will not occur. I have no idea which one, though.

Also, I know it's the second match that Michaels is supposed to maybe be a part of....but please, can somebody take out Kofi and steal his spot??? Nothing against the guy, but that would be a great running gimmick every year.

Winner: Triple H, because he always wins these things and he's always in the Mania title match and let's just move on.
My Pick: Cena, if theyre doing Cena-Batista at Mania and not the tag match.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Drew McIntyre vs. Kane
Cool to see the IC title on PPV, and cool to see McIntyre's awesome new theme music on a big show. He's winning here.

Winner: Drew McIntyre
My Pick: Drew McIntyre

WWF Women's Championship, Butterfly Edition
Maryse vs. Gail Kim
No, I don't care who wins, but if they really don't have anything else planned and things are going poorly, they might ask these two to go 20 minutes or something. Then things will REALLY go poorly.

Winner: Maryse
My Pick: Gail, why not?

The Unknowable Void

They have four matches scheduled for this show. Sure, two of them are Chamber matches that are gonna go long, but still: FOUR MATCHES. Something else is gonna happen - like Big Show returning and confronting Mayweather in 2008, or Batista returning in 2006. There will be a Shenanigans segment, or at a minimum a ShowMiz match

Winner (what will actually occur): Miz vs. MVP
My Pick: Linda McMahon shows up and challenges Chris Dodd to a match at Mania.

WCW Championship Elimination Chamber Match
So here's my Bold Prediction:

Everyone, literally EVERY preview I've seen, has Jericho winning the strap with Michaels interfering here. It's certainly the most likely outcome, but they like to surprise folks, so my pick:

Winner: Shawn Michaels, with the Taker rematch being for the strap and Edge challenging Trips and Jericho in a 3-way for the other belt.
My Pick: John Morrison and his faux-gimpy ankle, leading to an Edge-Jericho threeway match that will only happen in my dreams. No homo.

Overall: Of course you want to get this, it's the last show before Mania! Usually the finest B-show of the year, in terms of match quality (with the Chambers) and surprises. Buy this show! Or stream it! Do something!

Enjoy, folks.

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The 2010 Royal Rumble Countdown!

It's my favorite show of the year! Hoo daddy!

Right to the picks, folks, because I've only got 45 minutes before this starts:

ECW Championship
Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson
I really, truly couldn't care less. Isn't ECW about to fold anyway? At least it'll be interesting to see what Big Zeke's got.

Winner: Christian
My Pick: Pass

WWF Women's Championship
Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James
This is the real women's title with all the lineage and everything, not the pink thing. I've seen little of it, but apparently this feud is based around Mickie being fat, McCool making fun of her for it and the crowd being all sympathetic. The only problem? Mickie actually isn't fat at all. I really don't know what their problem is, she's incredibly hot and I certainly hope she prevails here. Don't see it happening though, because the people in the back surely want to send a message that you just can't be a WWE Diva without a concurrent eating disorder.

Winner: Michelle McCool
My Pick: Mickie James

WWF Championship
Sheamus vs. Randy Orton
Heel vs. Heel! Ballsy! I fully expect Atlanta to turn Orton face for the night, and I really don't know who wins here.

Winner: Sheamus, because of that rumored HHH feud at Mania. If it's Orton, though, DiBiase's Rumble odds improve exponentially.
My Pick: Sheamus, and for the poor pale fella to get a bit more face time on Raw with the belt.

WCW Championship
The Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio
Batistaference may be a given here, but Michaels could always get involved too. Enough alarm bells are sounding that it's probably time for an urgent....there's a chance that, given the storylines and the Undertaker's involvement, they could ruin the show by having this go on last, after the Rumble, a la 2006.

If they do, expect magic, explosions, fog and shittiness.

Winner: The Undertaker
My Pick: The Undertaker

The Royal Rumble Match
Everyone seems to be saying every year that this year, for a change, they just don't have any idea who's going to win the Royal Rumble! I'll be honest - as you can see with a quick dig through the archives, I haven't had a clue who would win the Rumble for a long time. I figured it would be Cena or Batista in 2005; every year since then, while my sentimental picks have sometimes won, my actual picks have not. I think I like this.

Nevertheless, I give you the debut of the ROYAL RUMBLE COUNTDOWN! Your most likely 30 Rumble participants (only 25 currently announced), ranked in reverse likelihood of victory. Here we go:

The Bushwhacker Luke Division
(lucky if they remain in the match for 15 seconds without getting humiliated)

30. Santino Marella (unannounced)

Ah, Santino. We here at HFR love you, but after claiming the Warlord's record last year and getting booted in one second, this is probably not going to be your night.

29. Zack Ryder
28. Carlito
27. Yoshi Tatsu
26. Evan Bourne

The Dory Funk Jr. Division
(surprise entrants who aren't very good surprises)

25. Chavo Guerrero (unannounced)


The Akeem Division
(for giant clods with no chance of winning)

24. Chris Masters
23. Mark Henry
22. The Great Khali
21. Kane

The Jerry Sags Divison of Deadwood
(yeah, they're not winning either)

20. R-Truth
19. William Regal
18. Shelton Benjamin
17. Matt Hardy
16. Cody Rhodes

The Diesel Push Division
(not even named after Diesel, but his Push)

15. Jack Swagger

It's gotta be Schwagga, right? They've been pushing this little angle for three weeks now. Also a candidate for the next division with Santino, though.

The Randy Savage/Jake Roberts Division
(pairs of guys who are currently feuding and will probably take each other out)

14. MVP
13. The Miz

Meltzer mentioned last week that the Miz is on such a role that he should really be winning the Rumble. I might not go that far, but he really has been awesome for the past few months. I even like his new music. The promo he gave on the Tyson RAW was the best I've ever seen from him.

12. Drew McIntyre (unannounced)
11. John Morrison (unannounced)

Morrison should probably just start carrying the MITB briefcase around now. I'd love to see him get a surprise win here, but it ain't happening. If they're not in it, alternate surprises could always include Goldust, Mike Knox, Hornswoggle, Finlay, a returning Booker T, a returning-for-one-night RVD, or some other guy who we'll get to later.

The Dark Horse

10. Ted DiBiase

A Legacy split into a title feud has allegedly been talked about for a while now. He's a bit bland still, but winning here would put him over huge.

The Contenders

9. Kofi Kingston
8. The Big Show
7. CM Punk
6. Chris Jericho
5. Batista

We're officially at the point where any of these guys could win and not cause me to spit out my drink. In particular, Punk or Jericho winning would be awesome, but there's a long tradition of heels rarely pulling this off.

The Favorites

4. John Cena
3. Shawn Michaels
2. Triple H

If we don't get a surprise, I think we get the Hs going over here. They may never be over enough to merit winning themselves a Rumble again. Also, Sheamus-HHH is their alleged Mania match, and HHH loves to steal the main event. Not "steal the show", to be clear - to steal the actual spot from somebody else. Either of these three could win, it would make total sense and it wouldn't surprise me in the least. They're usually good about this, though - they tease a HHH win, and we get something else. Like Mysterio four years ago. Like Orton last year. Like....

The 2010 Royal Rumble Winner

1. Edge (unannounced)

The current poster for the Royal Rumble DVD on the Blockbuster website?
Hmm, that guy looks familiar.

My Canadian Hero is also my sentimental pick for the Rumble this year. Good tidings to all of you, enjoy my favorite wrestling night of the year, and ORDER. THIS. SHOW.
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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.
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Late Survivor Series Preview!

Ah, the Thanksgiving Eve (Eve Eve Eve) Tradition!

Quite a lackluster job by the WWF of generating interest in this show, but the matches themselves could be fairly good. Onto the card before the tryptophan kicks in....

Survivor Series Elimination Match
Morrison Starship (John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Matt Hardy, Finlay & Shelton Benjamin) vs. The Awesomenauts (The Miz, Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler)
Ah, a rematch from the slightly-disappointing Morrison-Miz tilt at Bragging Rights! WWF brass are high on at least two of the heels, but I think Team Morrison still takes this one and gives John Morrison a win in the return match.

Winner: Team Morrison, with Morrison and Hardy surviving in a callback to their August alliance.
My Pick: The Same!

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio
Too early to end the feud, sure, but both brands need heels and Rey Rey needs some time off. We're in DC, which means any normal company would put the hometown guy over, but the WWF has a thing about that so you never know. Still, I think common sense prevails here.

Winner: Batista
My Pick: Batista

Black Power, Plus Christian! (Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Christian, MVP & Mark Henry) vs. The Royal Straight-Edge Legacy (Randy Orton, CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase)
Meltzer brought up a good point in the news update; regardless of who wins here, Kofi HAS to take out Orton to keep the momentum going from the MSG Raw (which was excellent, and I normally hate Raw). I think they do just that, but that Team Kofi still loses somehow

Winner: Team Orton, with Ted DiBiase as your Sole Survivor
My Pick: The above scenario sounds just fine as long as they put some effort into it.

WCW Championship
Triple Threat Match
The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show
I don't think they're about to break up JeriShow, but I'd have no qualms with Jericho getting the win here. Doubt it happens, though.

If they go through with Cena-Taker at Mania, are both guys going to drop their belts ahead of time? Is either?

Winner: The Undertaker
My Pick: Chris Jericho

The Spunky Hats (Mickie James, Melina, Gail Kim, Eve Torres & Kelly Kelly) vs. The Outfits of Puzzling Faith-Based Imagery (Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, Layla, Alicia Fox & Jillian Hall)
Awww, no Nattie? Even with just six matches on the card, I expect this one to be short

Winner: I doubt McMahon even cared enough to figure this out before this morning, but let's say the faces, eh?
My Pick: Team Mickie, as it includes both her (cute even at a controversial higher weight class) and the great Gail Kim

WWF Championship
Triple Threat Match
John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels
Well, they did the right thing in the Michael Bay-esque Iron Man Match, and gave the belt and the ultimate victory to Cena. After they spent the year switching the strap every week or so, I will now stand by my promise to support a nice, long Cena title reign. Orton wasn't reaching any new heights with the strap anyway, so might as well keep it on the Franchise indefinitely and make it mean something again.

That starts TONIGHT, I hope.

Winner: John Cena, and a DX breakup angle, which will only be watchable in a "we didnt see this from 2002-2004" manner if Michaels is the one who heels out.
My Pick: Cena, and the Michaels heel turn to end all heel turns. Seriously, he would be AWESOME in the role.

Or, we're just gonna see months and months of DX vs. JeriShow. There are worse things.

Recommendation: Well, it's too late already, because this is going up after the show happened (although before I know anything of the results). I hope you read last week's TNA preview and splurged for that, because it was the best show of the year. I expect significantly less here, and will be watching it later by a means that will cost me 0 dollars.

Happy thanksgiving, all.
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TNA, yes, TNA Turning Point Preview

Very possibly the only time that I'll urge you to spend your money on this.

Way back in 1994, WCW had been in a funk for a few years running; more specifically, they'd spent the previous year doing this. However, when news broke of Hulk Hogan's imminent arrival, the good folks at WCW came together and delivered a run of excellent shows to rival even their 1989 peak period. This came to an end when Hogan eventually got there, but those few glorious months made for some great television.

Fast forward to 2009; Hogan, nearly 60, will be arriving in TNA in January with full control of the company, according to him. I was at first excited about this news, because initial reports implied the displacement of Vince Russo, the day-to-day involvement of Eric Bischoff and a Monday night timeslot, which could easily get things rolling again in a universe that's been devoid of big-fed competition for a decade. Since then, Hogan has announced that his Big Plans to resuscitate TNA include the pursuit of Steve Austin, Randy Savage, and "Nasty Boy" Brian Knobbs. Seriously, that's his plan. In the year 2009 (2010 once he takes over).

I could be dead wrong, but I don't see this ending well for TNA. Fortunately, we still have a month and a half left of actual TNA! If tonight's card is any sign, they're doing all they can to pull an early-1994 WCW and prove to posterity that TNA was, indeed, worthwhile before Hogan laid waste to it. Tonight, you get a rematch of the best match in TNA history, and a top-to-bottom excellent card with only one likely stinker.

Onto the show:

Six Man Tag
Matt Morgan, Hernandez & "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero vs. Rhino & Team 3D
Well, I like all three babyfaces, and Team 3D are a bunch of useless hasbeens, soooo......

Winner: Team Morgan
My Pick: The Same

Steel Cage Match
Tara vs. Awesome Kong
Very much looking forward to this one. I like both girls and hopefully the cage actually wards off Russorific booking. Don't bet on it though.

Winner: Tara
My Pick: Awesome Kong

TNA Knockouts Tag Match: All Titles On The Line
ODB, Taylor Wilde & Sarita vs. The Beautiful People
And here's your likely craptastic match. Yes, both the women's title and the pointless women's tag titles are on the line. Welcome to WCW 2000.

Winner: The ODB team
My Pick: Eh. Next match.
TNA X Division Championship Amazing Red vs. Homicide
Don't lnow what the issue here is, but the match itself should be fine.

Winner: Amazing Red?
My Pick: Fine with either as long as they get some time. TNA Tag Team Championship The British Invasion vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money
Oh goodness, I want to see this. Nigel was allegedly supposed to be in the Invasion the first time they tried to get him. I think he's better off on his own.

Winner: The Brits
My Pick: Either of the other two teams, both of whom I greatly enjoy watching.

Bobby Lashley vs. Scott Steiner
Scotty looked great at BFG last month, and I remain a Steiner mark through and through. Besides, Lashley might be leaving for MMA anyway.

Winner: Lashley
My Pick: STEINERLINE!

Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe
Wolfe, of course, is Nigel McGuinness, the awesome former champion of ROH and the new poster boy for why indy guys should go to TNA rather than the WWF. McGuinness debuted a month ago with a sudden attack on Angle, and boom, now he's in the semi-main event, and instantly credible. What does this prove? Two things: that Angle (who dragged a **** match out of Matt Morgan last month) rules the world, and that the WWF development system is a mess. Yes, it's good to have guys work their way up the ladder, but wrestlers at McGuinness' level shouldn't have to go through the "year in FCW/year on ECW/MAYBE a US title reign four years in" cycle. You can effectively debut these guys in larger roles and have the fans buy it going in; you just have to do it right.

I anxiously await to see if the WWF follows suit with Bryan Danielson. If not, things may be hopelessly backwards for a while.

Winner: Kurt Angle
My Pick: Desmond, but Kurt will make him look like a million bucks either way.

TNA Championship
AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels
A rematch of the best TNA match I've ever seen, their 2005 tilt which I had at somewhere around ****3/4-*****. Tonight's probably won't be that good, but still may be good enough to merit buying the show on its own.

Winner: AJ Styles
My Pick: AJ, too soon to take the belt off your franchise player.

Overall: Buy this, skip a lackluster Survivor Series next week, and enjoy the feeling. If you only base your selections on what I recommend, it's very possible that you'll love tonight's show and then never watch a TNA show again.

6 weeks left til Hogan. Go get 'em, boys.
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