#2: Extreme Rules 2011 Predictions

This Sunday, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) presents "Extreme Rules". This will be the third annual "Extreme Rules" pay-per-view (.. if you do not count "One Night Stand: Extreme Rules" in 2008). In 2009, the event was held in June and replaced the original "One Night Stand" pay-per-view. That event saw Jeff Hardy defeat Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship in an awesome Ladder Match, only to have CM Punk cash in his Money in the Bank contract after the match and defeat Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship. In 2010, the event moved from June to April and replaced Backlash as the pay-per-view following WrestleMania. That event saw John Cena retain the WWE Championship in an epic Last Man Standing match against Batista, and Jack Swagger retain the World Heavyweight Championship in an Extreme Rules Match against Randy Orton. What will happen during this year's "Extreme Rules" pay-per-view? Let me share with you my thoughts and predictions on this year's event:

No Count-Out, No Disqualification, "Loser Leaves WWE" Match:
Layla vs. Michelle McCool


Prediction: Layla ~ In what could be Michelle McCool's final match of her career, she has decided to take some time off from wrestling to spend with her real-life husband, the Undertaker, while he's at home nursing injuries of his own. I hope that this is simply a break from the business and not an unofficial retirement because I think Michelle is one of the top divas in all of professional wrestling today.


Country Whipping Tag Team Match:
Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Michael Cole and Jack Swagger


Prediction: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler ~ I think this feud has run its course and needs to end at Extreme Rules. I have personally enjoyed the feud and I feel that it is now time to have Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler defeat Michael Cole and Jack Swagger as a form of revenge for everything that has happened over the past couple of months. I am interested to see where they go with the announce teams once this feud ends. Does Jim Ross become a main stay once again on Monday nights? Does Michael Cole remain an announcer or become a manager or an authority figure, perhaps the RAW GM? Finally, what happens to Jerry "The King" Lawler afterwards? So many questions.. hopefully we'll get answers on RAW next week when The Rock celebrates his 39th birthday.


Falls Count Anywhere Match:
Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio


Prediction: Rey Mysterio ~ Like the World Heavyweight Championship match between Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian, this match between Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio will end the feud between the two, as Rey Mysterio was drafted from SmackDown! to RAW last Monday night. I figured that Mysterio would put over Rhodes at WrestleMania but come out with the victory in the end, but that wasn't the case. Instead, Cody Rhodes pulled off the upset on the grandest stage of them all. Now, in their last battle, I think that Rey Mysterio will indeed defeat Cody Rhodes, sending both superstars to greener pastures. The one thing that did come out of this feud was the elevation of Cody Rhodes career. If Christian wins the World Heavyweight Championship, there are plenty of heels for him to feud with on SmackDown!... and Cody Rhodes is, in my opinion, definitely among that list!


Last Man Standing Match:
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk


Prediction: Randy Orton ~ It's common knowledge that CM Punk has been upset with the direction of his character over the past couple of months and is considering leaving once his contract is up. I, personally, do not have any idea what the main purpose of the New Nexus is, as they simply seem like a bunch of guys who were thrown together with a top superstar, CM Punk, as their leader. If anyone has an idea, please let me know. With Randy Orton getting drafted to SmackDown!, this Last Man Standing match will be the final encounter between these two superstars. I believe that the New Nexus will interfere in this match, but in the end, Randy Orton will prevail victorious by punting CM Punk in the skull and putting him on the shelf for the time being. CM Punk could always be repackaged after the New Nexus disband, and that way, it would freshen up the product. In saying that, I hope the WWE does not lose CM Punk, as he is one of the best superstars that they have right now!


Ladder Match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship:
Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian


Prediction: Christian ~ This match really is a toss up. Does Alberto Del Rio become champion and take the title to RAW with him? Does Christian become champion and celebrate this memorable win with Edge! Either way, one of these two superstars is going to become the World Heavyweight Champion for the very first time. If Alberto Del Rio wins, it means that RAW will have the WWE Champion and the World Heavyweight Champion on its brand whereas SmackDown! will have no major champion. For this reason, I cannot see Alberto Del Rio winning. I feel that if Christian wins, it won't bury Alberto Del Rio. This will allow Edge and Christian to have one last celebration inside the ring, kind of like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero had at WrestleMania XX. Also, it puts the faces over in the Edge-Alberto Del Rio-Christian feud while Alberto Del Rio (instead of being buried) will go to RAW and continue to be pushed! Therefore, this feud becomes a win-win-win for the three parties involved and helps elevate Christian (to a certain degree) and Alberto Del Rio (to a larger degree)!


Triple Threat Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship:
The Miz © vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison


Prediction: John Cena ~ Believe it or not, The Miz has held the WWE Championship since the November 22nd edition of RAW, which was the day after the Survivor Series. That's a total of 159 days! Many people would agree with me that his run has been remarkable, and that he's really improved over the past year. However, with "Over the Limit" just three weeks away, I think that he will drop the WWE Championship to John Cena this Sunday and choose to use his rematch clause at "Over the Limit" on May 22nd, 2011. As for John Morrison, I believe (and hope) that he continues his feud with R-Truth because I feel that R-Truth's heel turn was done in an "old-school" way and that's something that we haven't seen in awhile.


This will be a monthly blog of mine as I will post my predictions to each wrestling pay-per-view. Let's see how smart I am at this! :)

#1: Welcome!

First and foremost, I would like to welcome YOU to my new blog entitled Shooting on Pro-Wrestling: Past, Present and Future. Over the next little while, I hope to write many blogs on different topics in pro-wrestling concerning the past, the present and the future. I welcome all comments, both good and bad, pertaining to my blogs. I also encourage YOU to generate pro-wrestling topics that I can write about, and that WE can discuss, in my blog. The ultimate goal of my blog is for me to show respect to the business that I have grown to love, and to present ways in which I feel the industry can be improved upon today!


In 2001 and 2002, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) produced "Desire Videos" for many of their top superstars. These videos showed the sacrifices that each superstar gave in order to provide an entertaining product for the fans. The first lot of these videos used the song My Sacrifice by Creed. On the January 28th, 2002 edition of WWF Monday Night RAW, a new video was aired, but this time, instead of highlighting one particular superstar, the entire World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was the focus. The desire video was entitled WWF Desire: The History of the WWF. I believe that the main reason for this video was to celebrate the huge victory that Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) picked up over Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Paul Heyman and the World Championship Wrestling/Extreme Championship Wrestling (WCW/ECW) Alliance at the Survivor Series in 2001. This victory, which was scripted of course, meant that Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation had won the war, and that both promotions which made up The Alliance - World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) - were now officially dead. I have posted a YouTube link of this video at the bottom of this blog for those who have never seen it and for those who wish to watch it again. The song used for this video is Lonely Road of Faith by Kid Rock. At the beginning of this song, Kid Rock provides an inspirational quote...

If it looks good, you'll see it;

If it sounds good, you'll hear it,

If it's marketed right, you'll buy it;

but... if it's real, you'll feel it.

In closing, I just want to say that I really like this quote because I feel it has a double meaning with the industry today and with my blog. If the current product looks good, sounds good and is marketed right, then more people will watch the product, talk about the product and spend money on the product thus increasing revenue. If this happens, the industry will find itself going through what's called a boom period. I feel that the same can be said about my blog, that if what I say is interesting, controversial (Controversy Creates Cash, right Eric Bischoff, haha) and real, then you'll enjoy reading it and you'll constantly be checking back for updates! (: