Tags
AJ Styles, Akira Tozawa, Auska, Becky Lynch, Brock Lesnar, Buddy Murphy, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, Drew McIntyre, Finn Bálor, Hideo Itami, Kalisto, Kenny Omega, Mandy Rose, NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Raw, Road To Wrestlemania, Ronda Rousey, Royal Rumble 2019, Rusev, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, Shane McMahon, Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, Smackdown, Sonya Deville, The Bar, The Miz, Vince McMahon, WrestleMania 35, WWE, WWE Championship, WWE Cruiserweight Championship, WWE Network, WWE Raw, WWE Raw Women's Championship, WWE Royal Rumble, WWE Royal Rumble 2019, WWE Smackdown, WWE Smackdown Live Women's Championship, WWE United States Championship, WWE Universal Championship
As I stated in my article yesterday, “This weekend is one of the coolest weekends in professional wrestling besides WrestleMania weekend because not only is it Royal Rumble weekend, it also marks the start of the Road to WrestleMania.” NXT TakeOver: Phoenix was last night and it did not disappoint, but tonight is where it all begins. The Royal Rumble is the platform that a wrestler can elevate his/herself to have the greatest opportunity afforded to them if they can out last 29 other men/women in the Royal Rumble match. This is one of two PPV’s that the WWE does that you hope that they don’t screw up and that they deliver on a product that is worthy of being presented to us as the main product. When the Royal Rumble invades Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, it will be the 32ND edition of the Rumble and I am excited because this is the start of the playoffs that will lead to the SuperBowl of the WWE in WrestleMania 35. Who will walk out WWE Champion? Who walks out Universal Champion and who wins the rumble match? Who will have the right to step on the stage that us wrestling fans like to call the “Showcase of the Immortals.” Hopefully, all of those answers will be answered and you as the wrestling fan get what you have hoped for.
I am going to talk about the Rumble matches first because it’ll paint a picture of who will win the championship matches tonight. Out of all the participants in the men’s Royal Rumble match, there are only two men that come to mind as a legitimate threat to win it all if Kenny Omega does not show up. Those two men are the architect Seth Rollins and the Scottish psychopath Drew McIntyre. Those two men have the best chances of winning the match, but only one can survive and I think that man is Seth Rollins. Seth has been quite the push as has Finn Balor and it just seems like destiny that he wins and claims his place at the top of the food chain. My iron man for the match which means the person who lasts a long time in the rumble is going to be Baron Corbin. I just feel like that snake will somehow find a way to stay in the match for a long time as he has done it before. The women’s Royal Rumble match is pretty cut and dry for me as I believe Becky Lynch will lose her match to Auska, but she’ll enter the rumble and she’ll win as she decides to challenge Ronda Rousey for her title as she’ll defeat Sasha Banks tonight. My Iron Woman for the rumble is going to be Sonya Deville who I believe in my heart deserves the push more than Mandy Rose and you can believe that.
Now, you probably guessed from the paragraph above that I believe that Brock Lesnar is walking out of the Rumble with the title. It’s not easy for me to say that because I would love to see Finn slay the beast or Goliath as Vince McMahon has referred to Brock as, but I just don’t see it happening. I just feel that the WWE is teasing you by giving you what you want, but I think Finn gets his real shot at the belt after Mania. The other championship match that is intriguing to me is the match for the WWE Championship between champion Daniel Bryan and challenger AJ Styles. I would love to see AJ walk out of the Rumble as champion, but I am starting to really get into Daniel’s heel run so I feel it’s too soon for him to lose it now. I don’t know what it is about the tag team match, but it’s one that I do not care about because I don’t believe in Shane and The Miz as a legitimate team to beat The Bar. I feel the same exact way about the United States Championship match between Rusev (Champion) and Shinsuke Nakamura. That has been a non-existent storyline on my radar so I have no vested interest. The only other match that seems interesting is on the pre-show and it’s the Fatal Four Way for the Cruiserweight title as Buddy Murphy defends his belt against Hideo Itami, Kalisto, and Akira Tozawa. I believe Buddy Murphy will retain, but it has the potential to be one heck of a match. Check out my predictions below and enjoy one of the coolest nights in Wrestling.
Buddy Murphy Retains
Rusev Retains
The Bar retains
Daniel Bryan over AJ
Brock Lesnar over Finn Balor
Auska over Becky Lynch
Ronda Rousey over Sasha Banks
Becky Lynch wins the Women’s Royal Rumble
Seth Rollins wins The Men’s Royal Rumble
This weekend is one of the coolest weekends in professional wrestling besides WrestleMania weekend because not only is it Royal Rumble weekend, it also marks the start of the Road to WrestleMania. This is the most important time of the year because all of the storylines throughout the year have been building up to this point (or so we hope it does). Tonight at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, the WWE presents NXT TakeOver: Phoenix which features some of the most power packed matches which are a true testament to what they have been building all year long. NXT is the superior brand right now and that is a testament to all the amazing indy talent they pick up all the time as well. Usually with a PPV, there are a couple of matches that I am looking forward to, but that is not the same with NXT which is all killer and no filler. Every match on the card has the potential to be a show stealer and as a wrestling fan that is all I can really ask for. One match that I am interested to see where they will go with it is the NXT Women’s Championship match that sees Shayna Baszler put her title on the line against the undefeated Bianca Belair. Is Shayna going to end her run or is Bianca going to be challenging Auska’s record run in NXT? The other question is what kind of a factor are the rest of the Horsewoman going to play and if Shayna loses, do we see her in the Royal Rumble?
Tommaso Ciampa is the best heel in the business as we speak and I am so thankful that he went in this direction because he has mastered the arts of the dark side. The only problem is his way is Aleister Black, a man that many feel Tommaso cannot beat because of the interference that occurred thanks to Gargano. However, one cannot contest that Tommaso is not a serious threat as he has been NXT champion for 190+ days. That is no easy feet as the man has run through competition like Gargano and the Velveteen Dream to name a few. Will Tommaso pay for his sins or will he succeed in defeating Aleister Black and ending that notion once and for all? Another match that I am looking forward to it the NXT Tag Team Championship match that pins NXT Tag Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong) against the behemoths known as the War Raiders (Hanson And Rowe). The WWE really needs to build their tag team division and what they don’t realize is that it’s thriving in NXT. This is going to be one unbelievable match due to the contrast of styles and I can’t wait to watch.
I definitely saved the best for last because NXT North American Champion Ricochet is going to be putting his belt on the line against the underachiever Johnny Gargano. Gargano is going to be under a lot of pressure in this match because he has to prove that he can win under pressure and when it counts in a championship match. I truly believe for his legacy in NXT, Gargano really needs this win more than you think he does because if he loses then what’s next? This match in my opinion is going to be the match of the night as we witness some magic that is going to be on display as Johnny Wrestling clashes with a man that defies the laws of gravity in Ricochet. The other match on the card features indy wrestling darling Kassius Ohno who is looking for some revenge over the embarrassing loss to the “King of Bros” Matt Riddle who defeated Ohno in six seconds at NXT TakeOver: War Games II. Something tells me that we are actually going to get more of a wrestling match out of this one, but I expect the same outcome when it is all said and done. I hope all of you wrestling fans are going to check this one out because it’s going to be phenomenal. Check out my predictions below:
There is something that we should all be thinking about when it comes to tonights Impact Wrestling Pay Per View entitled Homecoming. Is the end near for Impact Wrestling as we know it? How much more into obscurity can this company go to when it switches to a channel that does not exist in my neck of the woods. It is the saddest deal that I have ever seen a company get excited about especially with the news of the new promotion AEW (All Elite Wrestling) that is sure to be the final nail in the proverbial coffin for Impact Wrestling. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone considering they tried to sell their company to AEW (Don’t believe me, just click 
After watching Ring Of Honor’s biggest show of the year in Final Battle on Friday, there is only one thing that I am hoping for out of tonight’s WWE TLC 2018 and that is some solid performances with a shot of the right decisions made. We are steadily approaching the Road to WrestleMania so the proper story lines need to be planted now. When the clock strikes 7PM ET at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, the tenth annual TLC will kickoff and there is quite the list of matches on the card and I am not even sure if there is a pre-show match. Out of all the matches on the card tonight, let’s be 100% honest with each other because you know just as well as I do that there is only one match that we are all chomping at the bit to see and that is Becky Lynch vs Auska vs Charlotte in the first ever women’s TLC match. This has been the most exciting television for the WWE in a very long time whether they like to admit it or not, but Becky Lynch is the man of the company now. She is not only making women’s wrestling exciting, but she is make the WWE exciting again. I am also predicting that this will headline TLC and it will be match of the night.
Now that I was able to get that off of my chest we should take a look at the rest of the card that has matches ranging everywhere from interesting to who cares. The first match I am saying who cares to is the Ronda Rousey vs Nia Jax match because you know damn well that Nia is not winning the title tonight. Ronda will be walking into WrestleMania with the belt and she’ll be taking on one of the losers of tonights WWE TLC match in the main event. A match that has definitely peaked my interest is the triple threat match for the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships. ow that we’ve seen these competitors in plenty of tag team matches, but have The USOS, New Day, or Cesaro & Sheamus ever really disappointed you? These are three of the best tag teams on Smackdown right now and they’ll prove it once again tonight. Another match that I say who cares about is the Mixed Match Challenge match. The only thing that sucks about a series that no one has followed are the implications that winning it provides which is the number 30 spot in the Royal Rumble respectively.
You know Braun Strowman will not be showing up to TLC to take on Baron Corbin due to elbow surgery so I think that Bray Wyatt makes the return tonight in his place. It has been a while since we’ve seen the eater of worlds and he needs the proper push plus Vince is making an appearance which either means he is firing Corbin or making him the permanent general manager. Corbin’s cronies all have matches tonight as well and those should be decent matches as Drew McIntyre takes on Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley takes on Elias. 205 Live will make another appearance on a WWE PPV as Buddy Murphy defends his belt against Cedric Alexander in what should be a good match as well. One match that you know will be good, but I am just not impressed with his heel turn is the WWE Championship match between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. You know these two are going to deliver tonight, but will anyone still care about Daniel being a heel? Well, the answer is maybe because it is growing on me a little bit. I just thinking making it happen the same week that Dean turned on Seth was a bad idea.
Speaking of Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins, this is just there rivalry from a few years back renewed, but with the roles reversed as Seth is now the face who was betrayed by his partner who is now the heel. Way to go WWE on being so creative with your storytelling skills, but I will still watch the match because these two are money in my opinion. I am a huge fan of the Riott Squad which means that the veteran Natalya should be there to put Ruby over tonight in their tables match especially after the segment on this past week’s Raw. I’m just saying that there is no better person than Natalya to put Ruby over at a PPV. I am not sure if I throw this next one in the I don’t care lot, but I am not sure I am even excited to see Randy Orton vs Rey Mysterio to be perfectly honest. I’m definitely glad to see Rey back in the company, but that is only because I want my dream match of Kalisto vs Rey Mysterio. I am also definitely happy that Randy got his killer instinct back, but I could pass on this one. I think this should be a decent PPV with a lot of good spots, but the question is where is the WWE going with the company moving forward. Check out my predictions below and be sure to follow the Twitter account for a new Podcast project that I will be apart of in 2019 called 
One of the greatest things to happen in the WWE in the last year or two has been the women’s evolution where the men finally have to step up their game against a women’s division that is evolving at a high pace. The greatest thing to happen to the women’s evolution in that time span has been the one and only Becky Lynch, the Smackdown Live Women’s Champion who has been cutting some of the best promos around. At the WWE’s 32ND edition of Survivor Series, we were supposed to have the incredible match up between Becky and WWE Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey, but we were robbed of that due to a Nia Jax elbow to the face put Becky out of commission. It is not completely Nia’s fault because accidents do happen, but that would have been match of the night. But now, we were left with Smackdown and it’s writers deciding to flip the script and change everything. We will get the rumored WrestleMania 35 match between Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey and then for some god awful reason we got a heel turn from Daniel Bryan as he defeated AJ Styles for the WWE Championship which now means that Daniel is taking on WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in what will surely be billed as David vs Goliath.
Now all the excitement for the PPV has almost completely left my body, but there are some matches that could save the night from being a total waste. I honestly believe that WWE Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura has the potential to be a match of the night winner as two of the best in the business in my opinion go at it for brand supremacy. I honestly do not believe that Brock Lesnar has what it takes anymore to put on an OK match which is why I think they are giving Daniel Bryan a shot, but I’d be surprised if he won. I honestly believe that Charlotte is going to be the saving grace of that match just like Becky Lynch would have been meaning that they will carry the match. As much as I would love to see the RAW women’s team win their traditional Survivor series match, I just think there is too much tension between Natalya and Ruby Riott right now that will somehow come into play during the match. I am just wondering who the last member of the Smackdown Live women’s team is going to be since Charlotte can no longer do it. I say that we bring in Nikki Cross since she already wrestled on the show a couple of weeks ago.
I don’t understand the point of having two heel tag teams face each other, but I am afraid to say that A.O.P. (Authors Of Pain) vs The Bar (Sheamus and & Cesaro) could actually be one hell of a match. I do not have too much invested interest in what 205 Live is bringing to the table only because I haven’t followed that in a while, but I like Mustafa Ali and what he brings so I’ll check it out when he challenges WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy. Now, the men’s traditonal Survivor Series match that sees Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Braun Strowman, Finn Bálor, and Bobby Lashley represent RAW as they take on Smackdown’s team of The Miz, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Shane McMahon, and Rey Mysterio should be a very interesting match. The line in the sand could be drawn from this match as we inch closer to the road to WrestleMania 35. I think the WWE lost faith in the Tag team version of the traditional Survivor Series match when they placed it on the pre-show, but mark my words it will set the tone for the rest of the night and reveal to you which brand will take it all this year.
If you missed last night’s showing of NXT TakeOver: WarGames II then you missed one hell of a night. That event definitely set the tone for the weekend that it always does. The first match saw Matt Riddle, the king of bros, dispose of Kassius Ohno in seconds. With a little help from some friends Shayna Baszler disposed of her arch nemesis Kairi Sane 2-1 in a best two out of three falls match that left much to be desired. The next three matches are a complete toss up of what could be considered match of the night. First in what was an excellent match, Aleister Black and Johnny Gargano fought an epic match where both men left everything they had in the ring, but Aleister dug in deep and found a way to win hitting not one, but two Fade to Black’s. The very next match did much of the same as the previous match, but one thing is for certain. Even though the Velveteen Dream lost to NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, he earned my respect and I look forward to watching this man whether it be in NXT or when he gets the call up. I loved the theatrics and the ode to Hollywood Hogan that Dream displayed last night. Last, but certainly not least the WarGames match once again lived up the hype as Ricochet, Pete Dunne, and the War Raiders went to war with The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O’Reilly). Both teams blazed a path of destruction that I will never forget, but The Undisputed Era couldn’t get it done this time around. While it’s a hard choice to make, but the match of the night winner in my opinion is Aleister Black vs Johnny Gargano. Check out the event on the WWE Network and check out my predictions below for Survivor Series.
Tonight is going to be one of the most historic nights in the history of pro wrestling and in WWE history because tonight is the first ever all women pay per view entitled Evolution. The WWE has been pushing the women’s evolution for about a coupe of years now and deservedly so because the product is so much better than it used to be. Tonight, you are getting two Women’s championship matches, A NXT women’s championship match, The Mae Young Classic final, and the return of two legends. The most interesting match and probably the match of the night will be WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch as she defends her belt against Charlotte Flair. They have been cutting the best promos in the past few weeks and Becky is exactly what we have wanted her to be as far as attitude and look. Let’s be honest, who really believes that Nikki Bella is going to defeat Ronda Rousey for her WWE Raw Women’s Championship? I understand why they are doing it, but Nikki is not what we wanted. I haven’t been watching the Mae Young Classic, but I am looking forward to seeing Toni Storm and Lo Shirai battle for the trophy.
I was looking forward to seeing the match that originally involved Trish Stratus and Lita taking on Mickie James and Alexa Bliss. The only problem is that Alexa has been pulled from the match and they substitute her with Alicia Fox which means Trish and Lita are winning tonight. The Historic Women’s Battle Royal is only historic because it features some current and classic battling for a chance at the championship which is the same as the Royal Rumble. The best part about it though is that Alundra Blaze is going to be competing it so that will be fun to see since she never lost her women’s championship. Now the other match I am looking forward to is the six women tag match that sees The Riott Squad taking on Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Natalya. I am hoping that the WWE makes the right call and let’s The Riott Squad win to build them as a legitimate team because they deserve it or at least Ruby Riott does. Shayna Baszler is one bad ass woman who I think restarts her reign of terror on NXT tonight. Here are my predictions and please enjoy history!!!
Last month, I tweeted all of my predictions for SummerSlam and it was not only because I was running out of time, but because I was disappointed in the product. I went into the night thinking that maybe the product wouldn’t totally suck, but they made some poor choices to go along with the really good ones. Nonetheless, I tried watching Raw the next night and I just could not take the product that they are producing. It’s so bad in my opinion that Smackdown Live is becoming the more appealing product. It’s becoming so bad that NXT is the supreme brand in that company and Cody Rhodes is looking more like a genius everyday. Did anyone happen to catch All In because that is how an event is done so the WWE should take notes. So to start out the convo about tonight’s pay per view which is Hell In A Cell, we have to look at what happened last month to lead to this one. For starters, we are getting the John Cena/Nikki Bella vs Miz and Maryse, but with Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella because why not? That in my opinion is a pre-show match because I don’t want to see it.
One of the biggest things I don’t understand is why did you have Ronda Rousey destroy Alexa Bliss in their first match to only give her a rematch? Is Ronda only going to destroy her again or is she going to have something up her sleeve this time around? It’s just frustrating because you want me to believe that Ronda is the baddest chick on the planet who just wrecks people, but tonight Alexa will have fought a better match this time around. Why give Braun Strowman the Money In The Bank briefcase for him to treat it like he is John Cena? We all knew a match between Strowman and Reigns was going to happen anyways, I’m just wondering if we are going to get an appearance from Brock tonight or what role will Mick Foley play as special guest referee. Can someone please tell me why in the hell are The New day tag team champions and why has it taken Rusev Day this long to be in the title picture? Can someone please help WWE creative get a clue already because Rusev Day has been hot for a while. The only thing I want to see is Rusev Day walking out with the WWE Smackdown Live Tag Team Titles.
Now let’s look at the things that they got right last month at SummerSlam and we’ll start with Samoa Joe vs AJ Styles. The match may have ended with AJ getting disqualified, but man you could feel the anger and tension at the end of that fight. These two want to kill each other in the ring and I am 100% buying into it. Becky Lynch’s heel turn last month was what everyone in the world wanted and they delivered. It’s the best programming going around right now in WWE Women’s wrestling and they have not disappointed a single soul yet. I want to see Becky Lynch continue with this mean streak well past this event and into the future because the lass kicker is here to take names. I like what Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler have been doing for a while together, but I am not sure if I like them being called Strowman’s Stooges. Nonetheless, all I want is for Dean to have his heel turn tonight and for Drew and Dolph to walk out as champions once again. I personally do not have any stock in the Orton/Jeff Hardy fight, but it’s nice to see that Jeff will finally have his first Hell In A Cell match ever. Check out my predictions below:
Tonight is World Wrestling Entertainment’s annual Pay Per View Extreme Rules, you know the event that they claim they let go extreme, but we never really see anything too extreme in the sense of the old 90’s Hardcore scene. If you’re a WWE Fanatic then you are just excited that the PPV is here because there are some decent matches on the card with the one match I am looking forward to in the 30 minute iron man match for the Intercontinental championship that pins the champion Dolph Ziggler against former champion Seth Rollins. I mean other than that match, the only other matches worth looking forward to is the Extreme Rules women’s match between Nia Jax and Champion Alexa Bliss and the Raw Tag Team Championship match between The Deleters of Worlds (Bray Wyatt & Matt Hardy) vs The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel). I know a lot of you are looking forward to the return of TeamHellNo (Daniel Bryan & Kane), but I am kind of over it because there is still a rivalry that needs to commence while they have The Miz on Smackdown Live. One match that I would have been interested in is the AJ Styles/Rusev match for the WWE Championship if I thought that the title was actually going to change hands, but it’s not.
I am still sour over the fact that after having him wrestle AJ Styles at WrestleMania, The Greatest Royal Rumble, Backlash, and Money In The Bank that Shinsuke Nakamura is not WWE Champion. I had high hopes for the King Of Strong Style, but apparently the WWE didn’t and now he is fighting for the US Championship against Jeff Hardy which don’t get me wrong will probably be a good match. It’s just not what I had in mind for Shinsuke after winning the Royal Rumble. Then they are giving us a match that while it features two of the most physical wrestlers in the ring, it also features two of the worst on the microphone in Bobby Lashley vs Roman Reigns. What did we do to deserve this punishment in our lives? So you have to expect a very physical match with almost no wrestling skills behind it and definitely no microphone interactions. The other question is whether the WWE is going to stop being afraid of someone who doesn’t speak the language that well become a champion. You know I am talking about Asuka who won the first ever WWE Women’s Royal Rumble match and failed to win as well at WrestleMania like her fellow countrymen. Enough is enough already and just make her champion because Carmella being champ was fun while it lasted.
I haven’t really paid attention to Raw or Smackdown so I have no idea what Finn Balor vs Baron Corbin is about other than it keeps Finn away from the Universal Championship that must have disintegrated when Thanos clicked his thumb during Avengers: Infinity War. Braun Strowman is on on heck of a ride right now and I am enjoying every second of it because he looks like a genuine good guy and he is exactly what Vince McMahon loves which is a big physical specimen. He takes on Kevin Owens in a steel cage match which means that Kevin is going to try and escape all match long, but he’s going to catch those hands. The pre-show has two matches attached to it with talent that should be getting pushed like Sanity and Andrade “Cien” Almas. Andrade “Cien” Almas could be a really great heel for the company, but you know xenophobia is a crazy thing. Sanity has some real talented individuals behind them like one Killian Dane who I think has a lot of potential in the future. They are paired against The New Day which I think are running on their last legs while I didn’t even realize that Sin Cara is still on the payroll and taking on Almas. So, tune in tonight because in case you didn’t know rumor has it that Hulk Hogan is showing up tonight now that he has been reinstated. So, check out my predictions below:
As the WWE rolls into the Allstate Arena in Chicago for the Ninth annual Money In The Bank PPV, here are some of the things you can expect to happen tonight. As awesome as it sounds to have a match between Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey, we all know that Ronda is not walking out of Chicago with the title. I also do not think that she is necessarily going to lose either, but I do think that there is going to be outside interference that will put an end to the match. It is still too early in her career for her to be crowned a champion and I feel like the WWE is still just getting started on Nia’s dominant run as WWE Raw Women’s Champion. I am hoping that tonight is the last that we are going to see of Shinsuke Nakamura challenging AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. I am hoping that the WWE has come to it’s senses and that they have finally decided what they are going to do with the belt. I mean what are you going to do with it? Are you going to have AJ retain somehow? Or are you going to finally put the strap behind Shinsuke who will honestly do better with it than Jinder Mahal.
I Honestly do not see Carmella walking out of MITB with the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship. I get that she cashed in and was able to win the title that way, but I do not see her handing Asuka a loss on her record. I honestly think her championship run ends tonight and let the dominance begin. As much as most of the wrestling world hates Roman Reigns and as much of the reports we hear that maybe Vince has woken up like Matt Hardy, I still think Vince is big on Roman and he’s walking out with a win. Sami Zayn has to be on someone’s shit list because as much as I’d love to see him beat Bobby Lashley, it’s not going to happen despite his poor mic skills. I am having a hard time deciding who I want to win the IC Match because while I like Elias, I am still a huge fan of Seth’s and he is making the IC belt legitimate. That is the only reason why I see Seth walking out as IC Champion, sorry Elias. I don’t understand the point of having this rivalry between Big Cass and Daniel Bryan only because there are better opponents for Daniel on this dream run.
The only thing left to be talking about are the two Money In The Bank ladder matches for the men and the women. In the men’s match, we have Finn Balor, The Miz, Rusev, Braun Strowman, Bobby Roode, Kevin Owens, and a member of New Day to be decided at the event. In reality, I’d love it to be Big E Langston in the match, but Kofi would be cool to see as well. The only person I would want to see win this match is Braun Strowman, but there is a very good chance that it’s Finn Balor that walks out with the briefcase. I just feel that he is destined to have another shot at the WWE Universal Championship. The women’s match features Charlotte, Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Ember Moon, Lana, Natalya, Sasha Banks, and Naomi. I don’t understand how there is no one from the Riot Squad or what was left of Absolution in this match, but instead we have the old order and one newbie in Ember Moon. The WWE gave Carmella the briefcase twice last year so do not be surprised if Lana somehow pulls this off, but I am routing for Ember Moon to win the match. Check out my predictions below:
Back on September 10, 2016, so many of us WWE and or wrestling fans wanted to believe that our hero CM Punk would be able to do what only Brock Lesnar has been able to do when he stepped foot in the octagon at UFC 203. We wanted to believe that there was a chance that CM Punk was going to be successful when he took on Mickey Gall, but boy we were wrong. At the 2:14 mark of the first round, Punk was forced to tap out to a rear naked choke and his future in the sport became foggy with reports that Dana White was done with the idea of having Punk in the UFC. There were those that were hoping that our Second City Savior was going to come back to the WWE after this loss, but did you all forget what happened to Brock Lesnar the first time he stepped in to a UFC Octagon? You see Brock lost to Frank Mir in his UFC debut at UFC 81 when he tapped out to a knee bar. It was his first loss in the UFC, but Brock didn’t quit and in fact he kept going defeating two men (Heath Herring and Randy Couture) before he won the rematch against Frank Mir at UFC 100.
You see all I am trying to say to all of you is why should we give up hope on CM Punk? When CM Punk steps foot back in the Octagon at UFC 225 in his hometown of Chicago against Mike Jackson, why shouldn’t we believe that there might be a glimmer of hope that he walks out of the fight a winner? Mike Jackson has the same record as CM Punk as he also lost to Mickey Gall back at UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson. Mickey Gall seems to believe that CM Punk has a chance to win the fight. Nathan Zurr is reporting that according to Ariel Halwani’s tweets that Mickey Gall stated, “MJ does have more experience. He has more hard-wired skill. MJ should win. But I’m picking CM Punk. Punk lasted 2:14 with me, which is pretty impressive. MJ lasted only :45. Punk has almost triple the time of ufc experience.” We will see if Mickey Gall is correct about this, but Mickey Gall also went on to tell TMZ Sports that Punk was lying about wanting a rematch with Gall. He said, “I think he’s a liar. I don’t think he actually wants that.” He also went on to insinuate that UFC wouldn’t allow that saying, “I don’t think they’ll let that happen to him again.”
No matter what the case is, one of the other questions that looms over him is what happens to Punk if he loses the match. We have heard him say over numerous times that a return to the WWE is not in the cards for him, but we know that not everyone stays away forever. I can’t picture that Dana White would be willing to give Punk a third chance at trying to get a win if he loses to Mike Jackson. I’m sure all the UFC purists and wrestling haters will confirm that if he loses he does not belong in the MMA world. While all of that may be true, you can not fault a guy for trying to see if he can succeed at something. Way too often do we always cut people down for trying something and I have seen it numerous times in sports. No one blasted Conor McGregor who did the unthinkable at the time for going from the MMA world to professional boxing where he lost to Floyd Mayweather in what was arguably a fixed fight. We all knew that Conor wasn’t going to win, but we wanted to believe it. So, why can’t we believe that CM Punk can do it tonight in Chicago? It’s going to be a long fight for Punk, but I think he can pull it off tonight. There are a lot of great matches on the main card as well that you can see below, but tune in tonight for UFC 225.
