SSP#28: WWE Money in the Bank 2010 Predictions

Hello my peeps… and welcome to another edition of the Shooting Star Press.

Fatal Four Way was very interesting and quite unpredictable, but those are the PPV’s I love. Many people may think that I get upset when I get my predictions wrong, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Unpredictability in wrestling is a very rare thing nowadays, especially when it is being targeted at the PG market. With that said, I am always happier when I am unable to predict the outcome, as it’s that element of surprise and shock factor that I miss about wrestling. Although certain elements of the previous PPV were predictable, in my opinion, Alicia Fox, Sheamus and Rey Mysterio coming out with titles would not be on the list. I salute anybody that was able to predict those outcomes.  With that said, let’s get down to the July History session and try to predict the upcoming PPV Money in the Bank.

July History Lesson

1995 was the year that the WWE began to introduce monthly PPV’s aside from the big 4 titled under the banner “In Your House”. July was host to the 2^nd in this series titled “In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks”. The following years would introduce “In Your House 9: International Incident” in 1996 and “In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede” in 1997. In 1998 WWE ended the numeric In Your Houses PPV’s; which would now be titled In Your House; “Insert Name Here”, in this case, Fully Loaded. Fully Loaded would continue to take place in July up until 2001. July of 2001 featured a PPV entitled “InVasion”, named after the Invasion angle featuring WCW/ECW superstars following the purchase of WCW. 2002 featured the 2^nd in the Vengeance Series which was introduced in December of the previous year. Vengeance would continue to take place in July up until 2005 where The Great American Bash took over. Renamed to The Bash in 2009 (PPV held on June 28th), with “Night of Champions” taking place in July of 2009.

*** Money In the Bank ***

The 1st Annual from the Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri.

Date:

Sunday July 18^th 2010

Featured Theme Songs:

“Money” by I Fight Dragons

Smackdown Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Drew McIntyre Vs Kofi Kingston Vs Cody Rhodes Vs Big Show Vs Matt Hardy Vs Christian Vs Kane Vs Dolph Ziggler
With two Money in the Bank contracts up for grabs I have a feeling that one of the contracts is going to be cashed in on the night, and to be honest, I’m a little torn as to which it’s going to be. I’m first going to break down the Smackdown MITB and state my case here before I move onto Raw. In my opinion, whichever Ladder match opens the card…. If any, will be the match in which the winner cash’s in on the night. In saying that, it doesn’t have to be the first match, but if there was to be one; I’m going to do with Smackdown as the Raw match has more star power involved.

I’m going to cancel out Kane and Big Show right away, as much as I think another Kane title run is well overdue, I just can’t see it happening.

Dolph one day might just take it, but when he does I think he’s going to do it himself, with no Vickie involved. It’s not his time yet.

Dashing Cody Rhodes – eh….. No… although seeing Cody take this and then Ted taking the other would be really interesting. Same as Dolph though, not his time yet.

Matt Hardy and Christian – As much as I would love to see either take it, especially Christian, I don’t think it’s going to happen. In my opinion the two are in there because of their experience and to start a nice feud between both leading into Summerslam. If that happens, I think they could easily tear the house down given the opportunity.

If Kofi Kingston wasn’t the IC Champion I would have him tipped to be a favourite, even with the title he’s still a heavy favourite for the win, as he could cash in when ever he wants. That said if rumours were believed to be true and a Kofi Kingston heel turn is on the way, then the shocker of the night could see Kofi cashing in on Rey (Spoiler for that prediction lol).
And that brings me to Drew McIntyre. It just fits, Drew to win the bank, cash in on Rey after he battles past Swagger and then he can continue to drive Teddy mental on Smackdown. I’m going to touch on this a little more under the Rey/Swagger prediction.
Winner: Drew McIntyre

WWE Unified Tag Team Championship
The Hart Dynasty (C) Vs The Uso’s
It would be a real kick in the teeth if the Hart Dynasty were to lose the titles this early. They are only just getting over and The Uso’s need to be pushed more as a tag team before they can be given the gold. These two teams could bring the tag team division back, but knowing the WWE I wonder if they will be given the opportunity. The WWE seem to use tag teams to push stars and see who’s the better of the two before splitting them up. They don’t seem to understand that tag teams don’t need to be broken up. Look at the Road Warriors and The Dudleyz. They made just as much money as a tag team as the main eventers did back in the day. I know the WWE will say we don’t do that any more, but what better time to go back to the old regime than when they are pushing for PG viewers. Let the tag teams have a proper spot on the card. It’s gotten to the stage where we see a tag team and wonder how long it’s going to take them to break up and have one turn on the other. In some cases like Shawn and Bret, one star is standout, but they still had a huge tag team run before it ever got to that stage. That works, but the Dudley break up didn’t work, Animal on his own doesn’t work, Cyrme Tyme on their own doesn’t work. Some wrestlers work better as a team and will attract fans as a team, not as single competitors. The tag team division needs to be fixed, the WWE just don’t seem to care about fixing it.
Winner: The Hart Dynasty

Diva’s Championship
Alicia Fox (C) Vs Eve
This isn’t going to be the most exciting match on the card but at least it’s going to be better than the Smackdown Women’s match. I still think that Alicia Fox is very green, she hasn’t got much of a reaction as a heel, people don’t really react to her at all, and I’m not sure where this title opportunity is coming from. She’s looks very stiff and more often than not is botching quite a lot. Don’t get me wrong, she can wrestle to a degree but I don’t see her as a champion at all. Fingers crossed that the WWE see that and give the title back to Eve.
Winner: Eve

Raw Money in the Bank Ladder Match
The Miz Vs Randy Orton Vs Edge Vs Chris Jericho Vs Evan Bourne Vs Ted DiBiase Vs John Morrison Vs Mark Henry
The Raw MITB has a few big stars and could have one of many winners. So let’s do the run down.

Mark Henry – Mark has replaced R-Truth and they didn’t really make too much of a fuss of him going in, seeing as he wasn’t due in there in the first place I can’t see him winning.

Ted DiBiase and John Morrison are both getting deserved pushes on Raw at the moment and it is quite possible that the WWE might see them in the main event picture in a years time. Ted winning would be very interesting and to be honest, I would rather a young gun win and hold onto it until next year.

The Miz – If you were to ask me who I wanted to win this match I would probably say Jericho, but besides Jericho I would love to see The Miz winning this. Similar to Kofi, the fact that he holds the US title is throwing me off, but there’s still that possibility. I’m just not sure if the WWE want to push him to the top just yet.

Edge and Chris Jericho – These guys are more often than not the guys that always have the opportunity to take advantage of World Champions at their weakest. Edge is the ultimate opportunist after all. Problem is though, I think they’ve both done it too much and can’t see it going their way tonight.
Randy Orton and Evan Bourne – The home state boys both hail from Missouri where the MITB PPV will take place and both are going to be the fan favourites. Orton’s roll at the moment appears unstoppable however and I can only see him being gifted with the prize. Orton with the case seems like the obvious choice considering his current popularity.
Winner: Randy Orton

Women’s Championship
Layla (C) Vs Kelly Kelly
This may seem a little rude and I’m sorry if it comes off the wrong way but….zzzzzz. I think Layla is a terrible wrestler and this whole duel Women’s Champion angle is a joke. I understand the character’s that LayCool are portraying at the moment but to me this has taken credibility from Michelle McCool as a Champion. Kelly as the top challenger just goes to show the lack of women’s talent they have on Smackdown (especially with Beth on the injury list!). Maybe letting Mickie James and Maria go wasn’t the best idea after all. With the current double-teaming storyline I’m going to go with Layla for the win, but I will probably miss the entire match when I go to put the kettle on.
Winner: Layla

World Heavyweight Championship
Rey Mysterio (C)  Vs Jack Swagger
It came as a shock to a lot of people when Rey Mysterio won the World Title for the 2^nd time but to be honest I think he deserves it. His last title run was a joke and I thought a decent title run this time around would have been in order. Unfortunately I can’t see it happening this time either. Rumour has it that Jack Swagger lost the World title because he wasn’t over enough as a heel, and Smackdown want a heel as World Champion. So Rey has been given the title and beaten down by Swagger to help increase his heat. So with that said I can see Rey beating Swagger, maybe with a roll up at some point, only to be beaten by the person who wins the Smackdown MITB, in this case Drew McIntyre. Although a Kofi Heel turn isn’t totally unrealistic, I do however think it would be a bad move considering Kofi’s popularity.
Winner: Rey Mysterio

WWE Championship – Steel Cage Match
Sheamus (C) Vs John Cena
Another shock from Fatal Four Way was Sheamus winning the WWE Championship for the 2^nd time, becoming the holder of the 100^th WWE title run in WWF/E History. I think I’m going to have to go with Sheamus to retain at this point. The Irishman was firmly established himself as a main eventer following his feud with Triple H and is finally being taken seriously. I don’t really see the point in him having a short title reign unless it’s a set up for the MITB winner to take the title. With it being in Randy’s home state of Missouri it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Orton cash in and take the title. If Orton does win I think he’s going to hold onto it before he cashes in. I can see the Nexus somehow getting involved again, regardless of the steel cage. Costing Cena the title once again.
Winner: Sheamus

“ I use to always compare my family to the Brady Bunch.”  – Jerry Lawler..

WWE Raw 12th July 2010

Good Idea

* The current GM angle – I am enjoying not knowing who the GM is. Those “Who is It” angles always go down quite well.

Bad Idea

*Putting Mark Henry in MITB, I would have rather seen Khali go in…

A lot of factors come into consideration to summarise the SSP Top Ten:

• Overness (crowd reaction as a heel or face)
• Backstage goings on
• General performances both in the ring and on the mic.

Basically I’m ranking them on the current card position, what they are doing for the company and how entertaining they are.
Previous positions are in brackets…

RAW	SMACKDOWN	DIVAS
1. Randy Orton [-]	1. Rey Mysterio (World Heavyweight Champion) [4]	1. Michelle McCool (Womens Champion) [2]
2. Sheamus (WWE Champion [4]	2. Jack Swagger [1]	2.Eve [1]
3. John Cena [-]	3. CM Punk [2]	3. Maryse [4]
4. Edge [-]	4. Drew McIntyre [8]	4. Alicia Fox (Diva’s Champion) [8]
5. The Miz (US Champion) [-]	5. Kofi Kingston (Intercontinental Champion) [6]	5. Vickie Gurerrero [New]
6. The Nexus [New]	6. The Big Show [3]	6. Serena [7]
7. Chris Jericho [6]	7. Kane [-]	7. Layla (Womens Champion) [6]
8. Ted DiBiase [9]	8. Christian [9]	8. Kelly Kelly [New]
9. Evan Bourne [10]	9. Matt Hardy [10]	9. Natayla [3]
10. The Hart Dynasty (Unified Tag Champions) [7]	10. Cody Rhodes [New]	10. Tamina [New]

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Until next time peeps..this has been another edition of the Shooting Star Press.
Regards,
Edgedogg