Neville & The Lucha Dragons vs. The Cosmic Wasteland (Kickoff Match)
Anyone else find it funny that six people who seemingly have nothing going on have all been put in a match for the kickoff show? That seems to be a prerequisite for the kickoff. If this were a movie it would be called, “The Wasteland of Forgotten Pushes”. Ok, that might be a bit harsh but seriously think about it: the Ascension went from being the longest reigning NXT tag champs (for what that is worth) to getting beat up week after week by legendary tag teams. They have no heat whatsoever. The Lucha Dragons were the hottest thing in the tag team division before being taken off TV for seemingly no reason.
Neville and Stardust were in a high-level mid-card match during SummerSlam, but without the involvement of Stephen Amell (side note: Amell did better than expected in the match, anyone who doesn’t respect his work ethic needs glasses), their angle has been a bit flat. Maybe the newly formed partnership between Stardust and the Ascension will give this angle the push it needs to become remotely interesting again.
Winners:
The Cosmic Wasteland- if this angle is to continue the heels have to come out on top. Look for Konnor and Viktor to hit their finish on one of the Dragons for the win.
WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. The Dudley Boyz
First of all, it’s awesome to see the Dudleys back in WWE. Secondly, it is way too soon for them to be getting this title shot. Whatever happened to a slow burn? Or here is a novel idea, how about the faces chase the heels to get the title shot? The New Day just got the titles back after dropping them to another face team that really didn’t have any business winning the belts yet. Building the anticipation of a title win by having the team chasing lose a few times (via being cheated out of them or what have you) makes them winning the belts mean that much more.
Can’t say enough about the evolution of the New Day. Slowly turning them heel was one of the best things WWE has done in years. Taking advantage of the Freebird rule is great, but Xavier Woods seems to be at his best on the outside being an irritant to whomever New Day is currently facing.
Winners:
The New Day- taking the titles off New Day this fast again would be a crime. The New Day will hold the belts until at least Survivor Series. Look for Woods to save the belts for New Day. Even money says he breaks his trombone over one of the Dudley’s heads. That thing has to become a weapon at some point.
Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and a partner of their choosing vs. The Wyatt Family
This match is proof that WWE Creative in large part has no idea what to do when they have lightning in a bottle. The fact WWE somehow had two of the hottest factions working on top at the same time is almost unheard of. One thing we can't give WWE flack for is the subsequent face turn by The Shield. That had to happen at some point and let's just be happy they didn't turn The Wyatts instead. Once the Shield turned there was no way these two factions wouldn't eventually lock horns.
Once they faced off we were treated to a few classic encounters, with the Wyatts coming out on top. Instead of the faces eventually getting a win back, the Shield imploded. This is going to shock you (not), but we never really got to see the Shield/Wyatt feud payoff.
Fast-forward to way too far in the future and we are finally going to see the end of this previously awesome feud. Well you know without Seth Rollins and to a lesser degree Eric Rowan. Oh, and the Wyatts added Braun Strowman who is... Well, kind of terrible. Let's just say Strowman is six-foot-ten and a liability in the ring, and you can't teach that.
The only thing that can save this match/feud would be if we find out the third member of the Ambrose/Reigns 2015 Revival Tour (hands off WWE, this writer is totally going to trademark that) is someone major. Someone on WWE.com "accidentally" posted an image that showed Baron Corbin as the third member. If this was the WWE's original plan thank the heavens someone screwed up because Corbin would have been a terrible choice. Never mind the fact that he is a heel in NXT whose heat seems to be solely because everyone thinks he stinks. How about we have yet to figure out if he can wrestle. This writer has been personally asking that questions for months. This would be the perfect chance to introduce Samoa Joe to the main roster. No better way to get Joe over with fans who may not know him than to have him run rough-shot over The Wyatts.
Winners:
Ambrose/Reigns 2015 Revival Tour- this is a tough call seeing as how we have no clue who the third member is going to be. It's safe to say if it's a debuting wrestler the good guys will prevail.
Author’s note: Bray made a comment during Raw about it not mattering how many partners Ambrose and Reigns have. That line could be foreshadowing of there being some kind of everyone who the Wyatts attacked gang up on the Wyatts spot at the PPV instead of an actual third member of Ambrose/Reigns 2015 Revival Tour.
Divas Champion Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte
What happened this past Monday night during the Divas title match was a travesty. The Internet was set ablaze when Charlotte won her Divas title match against Nikki Bella by pinning Brie Bella (yes, even though there are two distinct differences between Nikki and Brie they are still trying to pull off twin magic) only to have Stephanie McMahon come out and reverse the decision. Let's not waste time discussing how silly Nikki being the longest reigning champ is. The ending of the match was just plain stupid. Thinking about it just... Just... Argh! Never mind.
Winner:
Nikki Bella- didn't see that coming did you? This is a total shot in the dark pick, but Nikki retains after more Team Bella shenanigans. The reason this is likely is due to how upset the Internet Wrestling Community has been since Raw. WWE will try to cash that in for cheap heat to make it seem like people actually care about Nikki for as long as they can. Nikki will drop the title on Raw to someone who is not named Charlotte. #Swerved
Intercontinental Champion Ryback vs. Kevin Owens
Going to have to keep this one short so it doesn't turn into a novel about all of the reason Ryback is a terrible Intercontinental champion. Kevin Owens should be the U.S. champ right now. All that said and this hurts to say...
Winner:
Ryback- WWE seems hell-bent on building Ryback up. Unless something drastic changes between now and the PPV, there is no way Owens wins this match. Look for Owen to chase Ryback until Survivor Series before he actually takes the belt of Ryback.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev
Quick question: Are any of you remotely interested in this angle? Breaking up Rusev and Lana didn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s funny that after losing to John Cena at WrestleMania everything seems to have gone downhill for Rusev. Rusev went from being an indestructible monster to average mid-card heel in a matter of weeks. Putting him with Summer Rae does nothing for his character. If creative wanted him to have an attractive blonde for a valet, they should have just kept him with Lana.
Speaking of which, the pairing Lana with Dolph Ziggler doesn’t really add anything to either of them. Ziggler doesn’t need a hot manager because he is already over and that is usually the reason faces have hot female managers. The only way this could eventually work is if they flip it and Ziggler turns out to be worst than Rusev. This may sound blasphemous, but why not have them work the old Macho Man/Elizabeth angle? That would get Lana more steam as a sympathetic figure (you know like they tried to do when they teased the Lana Rusev split initially?), and it would add a much-needed wrinkle to Ziggler shtick as well. Ziggler needs to break away and a heel run with nuclear heat behind it would do wonders for him.
Winner:
Rusev- With Lana being out due to injury Rusev has to win to prolong this feud. Look for Summer Rae to be the deciding factor here. Ziggler is outnumbered.
United States Champion Seth Rollins vs. John Cena
This is probably the match that will be hardest to predict. It's really hard to bet against Cena here seeing as how he lost to Rollins at the last PPV. There really isn't much to say about the build to this match because it was hastily thrown together. For some reason, the WWE wanted to have their world champion also hold the premier mid card belt as well. Gee, wonder where they got that idea from...
Of course, no idea is original, but you have to admit the whole timing of Rollins winning the U.S. title is a bit suspect.
Winner:
John Cena- There really isn't any rhyme or reason to this other than WWE will come to their senses and realize Rollins having both belts makes no logical sense. Having Cena hold the U.S. title and having him work with the younger superstars is what's best for business.... Ugh... That was to totally unintentional.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs. Sting
Never thought that in the year 2015 Sting would be headlining a PPV for a world title. Normally it would be easy to poo poo a match like this but Sting looks to be in phenomenon shape. Rollins will make him look like a million bucks, which means the match will be good.
The problem here is that much, like the Cena match, there has been little to no build. Sting randomly appearing and stealing Rollins statue was well... kind of stupid. Let's not even discuss the fact that Triple H granting Sting a title shot was also kind of stupid. With Sting’s career winding down, let's just enjoy this match for what it really is: Just another stop on the Sting retirement tour.
Winner:
Seth Rollins- It would be great for Sting to get the win here and add WWE champion to his resume, but taking the world title off Rollins at this point would essentially undermine what they have done at this point to build Rollins to the point he is at. Rollins is destined to drop the title to Roman Reigns.
Author’s note: You are probably wondering why there was no mention of Sheamus and the Money in the Bank briefcase above. WWE has been spending way too much time insinuating that Sheamus is going to cash in during Night of Champions for it to actually happen. The only scenario in which we get a cash in is this:
Sting actually wins the belt at the PPV. He comes out the next night on Raw and gets assaulted by Rollins, which leads to Rollins having to watch Sheamus cash in right in front of him to win the WWE World title.
Let us know what you think about these predictions in the comment section below!