PWTORCH.COM
VIP SIGN-UP JUMP TO VIP
CONTACT US VISIT MMA TORCH




Select Next Article by Category





TAKE PWTORCH
WITH YOU!

PWTORCH IPHONE APP
Get our iPhone App (FREE!): Click Here
Or enter "PWTorch.com" on your Blackberry or other Smart Phone browser for mobile-version of PWTorch.


The Specialists
FAST FORWARD: Main Event and Mid-Card Predictions, Please Not That Predictions, Fingers Crossed Predictions
Sep 7, 2008 - 7:56:59 PM


By Kyle Hodgdon, PWTorch Specialist

MAIN EVENT PREDICTION:

The Undertaker and Vickie Guerrero: The Undertaker has vowed to take Vickie's soul at tonight's pay-per-view. I find it hard to believe that he will literally accomplish this, but I do feel that The Undertaker will symbolically make good on his promise and do something similar to what he did to Edge last month by "sending her to Hell."

Vickie has grown drastically since the days of Teddy Long's assistant. With her "excuse me!" approach she can really take the fans in the palm of her hand. But that aside, it is time for a break from Vickie Guerrero, maybe even permanently.

The number one reason that Vickie cannot continue as GM is that her and Edge cannot coexist. It won't make sense for them to keep apart from each other, but at the same time, it wouldn't make sense for them to be entwined with one another. Therefore, they cannot both be part of Smackdown right now.

So with La Familia behind him, where does The Deadman go from here? Well, there is a lot that Smackdown can offer him. There are big-man feuds to be had with the likes of The Big Show, Umaga, and Kozlov, as well as feuds with smaller guys such as Kendrick, Benjamin, and MVP, and of course he is still going to have an encounter for the WWE Championship with Triple H.

I wish I had more insight to when The Samoan Bulldozer will be ready to make his return, but a feud with Umaga would be perfect for The Undertaker to head to No Mercy. After that I would pull the trigger on the Triple H/Undertaker program to take us to Survivor Series.

MID-CARD PREDICTION:

The Future of The Miz: Who thought that The Miz would be included in the ECW scramble tonight while John Morrison hung out backstage? Many people do not have much faith in The Miz, but I think that WWE officials have more faith in him than most people would think.

The Miz is pretty darn decent in the ring. Despite his poor finisher, he's got a unique move set. He also has the mannerisms that make him interesting to watch. Many people were really taken aback when the fans chose him as the contender to the ECW Championship at last year's Cyber Sunday, but I can honestly say that I was not. He was the guy who I voted for. I wanted to see him in a higher profiled match. I was interested to see him on a pay-per-view to see what he could do given a bit more time.

Needless to say, The Miz can talk. The Dirt Sheet is the Crown Jewel of wwe.com and has been so successful that it has been featured on ECW on two occasions. As great as the Dirt Sheet is to both The Miz and Morrison, I think that it has held them back a bit. If The Miz and Morrison work so well together, it almost seems like they will never get stale and it will be very hard for WWE to finally pull them apart.

The Miz and Morrison still have a lot of life left and I predict that they will remain together until next year's draft. From there Morrison will be moved to one of the other shows while The Miz remains on ECW and becomes the top heel on that brand. With his skills on the mic, I even see WWE having enough faith in him to give him the ECW Championship.

FINGERS CROSSED PREDICTION:

Where to go with Jericho: It is looking like the HBK versus Jericho feud will finally conclude after tonight's unsanctioned match. Few would argue the fact that this has been the standout program in the company throughout the duration of its run, but now with it over, what is in store for Y2J?

This was the feud that Jericho needed ever since he made his comeback. Heck, it's the feud he needed ever since becoming Undisputed Champion back in 2001. It is time for him to get another crack at the World Heavyweight Championship and CM Punk.

They have had a pretty decent match on Raw, but I would really like to see these two in a high profile title feud that would culminate at No Mercy. Jericho would make a great advisory to CM Punk on the mic as well as in the ring. It would also make for a nice change rather than to have JBL or Batista back in the title picture.

As I have said before, I do not think it is time for Punk's title reign to come to an end. I really hope that Orton will be good to go when Survivor Series rolls around (especially since I will be in attendance) to face Punk for the title. But I would really like to see Jericho as a world champion sometime again in the not too distant future. This feud with HBK reminded the wrestling world that he would make a very capable champion.

PLEASE NOT THAT PREDICTION:

Mick Foley's Roll in TNA: It is now official. Mick Foley is heading to TNA, but that brings about the question: what will his roll be? Announcer? Manager? Management? Wrestler? At this point we really don't know.

I think TNA will do all that they can to get Foley in the ring. Sure his mere presence will help the company, but make no bones about it, they want him to wrestle. And knowing Mick Foley, he won't want to hold back, no matter what doctors tell him.

Foley is smart enough not to be a full time wrestler, so whom is the Hardcore Legend going to get into the ring with?

This I a strange time for Foley to enter the fray of the TNA waters because there are so many different programs for him to become involved with. Typically when TNA brings in a big star they are thrust right into the main event title picture. But where it stands now, the TNA title is not included in the main event scene, even though the champion is. Currently, the prime focus of TNA is Sting's direction. This one storyline involves most of the upper echelon stars, which encompasses Sting, Jarrett, Angle, Booker, Styles, Joe, and Nash.

Looking beyond who is in the match, keep in mind what it is all about. Sting does not think the younger generation has the respect for the older generation that they should. Doesn't that seem like a topic that Foley would have some input on?

With the star power of that feud, as well as what is driving it, it seems like that is where TNA will include Foley. But I am really hoping that this does not take place. With seven big name stars already included, we really do not need to add another. It is just becoming a mess with too many personalities. Sure Foley could have something to say on it all, but do we really need it? I think this whole angle could have been done (and done better) had it just been Sting versus Styles.

So I am hoping that TNA does not include Foley into this mix. And the last thing I want to see is Foley included in some big eight-man tag match. That would be such a waste.

Of course there is the possibility that TNA will dump Foley onto the TNA original that closely resembles him, that being Abyss. But last time I checked, wasn't Abyss involved with some sort of program with Matt Morgan? Or has that been forgotten by now?

I really don't know what I would do with Foley right now due to the fact that it is hard to find a place for him, but I know I do not want him injected into the feud that already has way too many identities involved.

ONE FINAL PREDICTION:

Michelle McCool will retain the Diva's Championship against Maryse tonight. Now I know nobody is going to dispute with me on that one!

That does it for the forth edition of "Fast Forward." Send any comments, questions, or some of your own predictions to kylehodgdon@hotmail.com kylehodgdon@hotmail.com. Now let's see how things develop with all that unfolds at tonight's Unforgiven!

Comment on this Article Below

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)
[an error occurred while processing this directive]

(CLICK FOR COMMENTS RULES OR TO REPORT ABUSE)

ALSO DISCUSS MORE SUBJECTS IN OUR PWTORCH FREE FORUM

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET


For UFC NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO


MORE "The Specialists" ARTICLES
CHARACTER MATTERS: Why The Game Doesn't Play with Me - The Flaws of Triple H's On-Air Persona
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 7/2 TNA Impact: Kurt Angle saw "The Hangover," Stacker2, A.J. Styles Eats a Lot of Cookies, Stacker2, Jeff Jarrett Has the Power of Flight
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 7/2: Kevin Nash's sit-down, Kurt Angle Plays the Game, Matt Morgan a Hit?, Samoa Joe muted, Bad acting, Raven MIA
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 7/2: Paging Dr. Wayne Cowan, look at all those tag team titles, cool stats for wresters in debut matches in WWE vs. TNA
7/2 WWE Superstars Hits & Misses: Santino, Reks, Edge vs. Punk
DEROSENROLL's ROH HISTORY: Classic Feuds v.6 - C.M. Punk vs. ROH
6/30 ECW Hits & Misses: A Look at the Total Re-Launch of ECW
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 6/30 ECW TV: You See, Stereotyping People Put Smiles On Faces
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL: Mark Henry Returns From His Time Machine, Monday Night Raw Wants To Be Like Saturday Night Live, Why "Proven Commodity" Reigns Supreme
6/29 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: McMahon's Announcement, Miz vs. Cena, MVP vs. Triple H, Gauntlet
MAYER'S BLOG: Analyzing the "Re-Draft" - ECW is only supposed to be pillaged once per year, Looking at where Swagger, Hardy, Benjamin fit in
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 6/29 WWE Raw: Raw Trade Players to be Named Later, Spellchecking Signs, A closer look at Lilian Garcia, Can Big Show really bench press a VW?
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - Wrestling Burnout, Suge Knight Shares Foxhole with Vince McMahon, Feuds That Won't Go Away, Yoda Teaches Young Skywalker About "The Cena"
PARKS BLOG: The Bash Hangout Report - Quick Reaction to Rey vs. Jericho, Hunter vs. Orton stretcher job, Miz's clean loss, McCool & Taker
NEWTH'S STORYLINE ANALYSIS - As The Bash airs, get analysis on how WWE handled the Punk-Hardy rivalry leading into the PPV
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - 6/26 WWE Smackdown: No good reason why McMahon was on SD, Name Game History of The Bash, English please, The Crusher
GARDNER'S KEY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: Randy Orton vs. Triple H given away on commercial-free TV
6/27 Awesome Independent Wrestling Show: Featuring PN News, Mastino, Matt Morgan, Alex Shelley, and Homicide
6/26 WWE Smackdown Hits & Misses: McMahon - Long, Truth vs. Benjamin, Morrison vs. Punk, Rage in the Cage
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 6/25: Kurt Angle and Eric Young money promos, Beer Money vs. Steiner & Booker, Gimmick match overload

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.

QUICK CLICK REFERENCE LISTING
-CLICK TO FOLLOW PWTORCH ON TWITTER!
-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PWTORCH IPHONE APP

-CLICK FOR OUR FREE PODCAST (#1 in iTunes!)
-CLICK TO GET INFO ON BECOMING A VIP MEMBER
-CLICK TO VISIT MMATORCH.COM
-CLICK TO VISIT PROWRESTLING.NET

-CLICK TO EMAIL PWTORCH EDITORS


PWTORCH READER POLL

FOURTH OF JULY POLL: What's your favorite July 4th "gimmick" in pro wrestling?
The Great American Bash
The Bash
Consequences Creed
Independent wrestling
The Patriot Del Wilkes
Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Mr. USA Tony Atlas
U.S. Title
USWA promotion
Babyface Sgt. Slaughter
Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle
Lex Luger bodyslams Yokozuna
USA Network
  

VOTE IN OR SEE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS


ARE YOU VIP? SIGN UP NOW FOR $7.50 A MONTH FOR INSTANT ACCESS TO AD-FREE, BENEFIT-PACKED VIP VERSION OF PWTORCH.COM (see screen capture)
PWTORCH VIP HOME PAGE

INFO ON SUBSCRIPTION TO AD-FREE VIP SITE

INCREDIBLE BENEFITS!
Over 50 full-length audio updates per month (iPod compatible)... New weekly award-winning Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (text and printable pdf versions) with latest exclusive insider news, new Torch Talks, great columns, Keller's cover story, much more... Hundreds of full-length back issues of PWTorch Newsletter from late-'80s to today... Ad-free access to PWTorch.com's Main Listing... VIP Forum with interaction with other subscribers and Torch staff... Torch Talk Library with text and audio of hundreds of interview installments from last 20 years... Great layout... Deepest archives on pro wrestling history anywhere... Keller's PWTorch Today PDF Bulletins with email alerts... VIP Email reports on major PPVs and TV shows... Staff Roundtable Reviews (text and audio) followiing major events... The best staff of writers and world class reporting since 1987... We'd love for you to join us and experience the most entertaining, authoritative, experienced staff of professional reporters and commentators in the business...

SIGN ME UP NOW!

Compare the value of four or five months of PWTorch VIP content to the price of just one PPV. Can you cut 25 cents a day from your budget to make room for PWTorch VIP?

AND NEW FOR 2009!
Monthly "Vintage Audio Torch Talks." We are releasing for the first time ever audio versions of our text Torch Talk updates, the historical first series of insider interviews ever. Wade Keller's newsmaking in-depth interviews with wrestling's biggest names are now being made available exclusively to VIP members. But you must be a member each month, as these are not archived, so they are replaced with a new one each month! This debuted in January 2009 with a 68 minute interview with the late "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. Who's next? Hulk Hogan? Eric Bischoff? The Rock? Goldberg? Jeff Hardy?

SIGN ME UP NOW!


UPCOMING EVENTS LISTING

Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
FOURTH OF JULY: Fun facts from the Great American Bash 10 & 20 years ago
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 2 of 2)
TORCH MONTHLY AWARD VOTING: Polls OPEN for best/worst in pro wrestling from the month of June (Part 1 of 2)
WWE News
WWE News: Jeff Hardy contract status update, Hardy's future to be decided soon
TNA News: TNA video game franchise without a home after Midway Games bought out; Analysis of interesting domino effect involving WWE
WWE News: Jerry Brisco's heart surgery postponed again, update on his health
TNA News
TNA News: Latest episode of the Spin Cycle with Sting, Jarrett, Cornette, Foley greatness (w/VIDEO)
TNA News: TNA video game franchise without a home after Midway Games bought out; Analysis of interesting domino effect involving WWE
TNA News: Sting talks Shockmaster with Jeff Jarrett, Jim Cornette (w/VIDEOS)
ROH News
ROH News: Lance Storm's first match out of retirement announced, details on second match against Chris Hero
ROH News: Notes on Toronto Gauntlet match, Nigel McGuinness below-average performances into storyline, ROH selling PWG DVDs
TOP FIVE STORIES - Weekend edition: Three WWE PPV title changes, WWE announcer leaving, Lashley blasts Sapp, Jerry Lawler's son arrested, "State of TNA" address
Other News
Other News: Torch Talk All-Star Lanny Poffo Video interview, great poem on taking out Hulk Hogan
Other News: Brian Blair denies hitting his children in Father's Day Fight; local news runs 911 call leading to arrest (w/VIDEO)
Other News: New clip of Rob Van Dam doing a stunt for his upcoming movie (w/VIDEO)
PPV Reports
THE BASH PPV COVERAGE: Listing of the Torch's WWE PPV coverage - Title changes, Jericho writes on Rey match, Miz on Cena match
RADICAN'S WWE THE BASH PPV BLOG 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Hunter PPV
CALDWELL'S WWE THE BASH PPV REPORT 6/28: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Orton vs. Triple H, Punk vs. Hardy
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 7/3: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Punk & Jeff Hardy vs. Jericho & Edge
WWE News: Preview for tonight's Smackdown - Mysterio vs. Kane and Edge & Jericho vs. Punk & Jeff Hardy
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 7/2: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Team 3D vs. Booker & Steiner
Arena Reports
7/3 WWE in San Diego, Calif.: First-hand report on Edge's apparent injury, Punk vs. Rey Mysterio, Ricky Steamboat in action
6/27 ROH in Chicago: Austin Aries vs. Nigel McGuinness, KENTA vs. Black, Petey Williams looks odd, Crowd eats up Flair's generic promo
6/28 PWG in California: Joey Ryan vs. Necro Butcher, Davey Richards vs. Young Buck, Michael Jackson entrance themes
MMA / UFC Coverage
UFC News: Kimbo Slice, Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans plus rest of cast of TUF 10 to be revealed...
UFC - ENNIS COLUMN: The Lay of the Lane - A look at MMA's top heavyweights from Brock to Mir to Carwin to Fedor to...
MMA: Plan a week of UFC and other MMA viewing with the Torch's viewer's guide including Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER: How bookers, like Jeff Jarrett last night, show that they're the toughest SOBs in the world
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT TAKE 7/2: Thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
KELLER'S ECW ON SCI-FI REPORT 6/30: Results, star ratings, thoughts, observations, nitpicks, and quotebook
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL SHORT: WWE Proving Once Again That Life is Easy...
MOJO MITCHELL'S 6/29 Raw Stream Of Randy Orton Faces ECW and Loses and That's The Main Event
Mitchell Short: Your Thank-You Note to WWE
MCNEILL'S TAKE
The Names Have Been Changed To Protect The Buyrates: McNEILL Previews WWE Bash 2009!
Redemption: McNEILL previews TNA Slammiversary 7!
MCNEILL BLOG: A Modest Proposal For Monday Night Trump
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL: Analysis of WWE's roster shuffle from the 15-person trade - who benefited, which brand needs help
CALDWELL: Instant Reaction to key storylines on Raw and post-PPV developments
CALDWELL: WWE Smackdown/The Bash PPV analysis - Don't Mess with C.M. Punk's dynamic character
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: Torch readers sounds off on Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw (w/Radican Reax)
RADICAN: Mark Henry's shining moment on Raw leaves a bad smell in the room
RADICAN: A follow up on the Death Before Dishonor audio with Feinstein with notes on Special K angle, Punk-Raven feud, where's Misawa now?
The Specialists
CHARACTER MATTERS: Why The Game Doesn't Play with Me - The Flaws of Triple H's On-Air Persona
ABSURDITY OF IT ALL - 7/2 TNA Impact: Kurt Angle saw "The Hangover," Stacker2, A.J. Styles Eats a Lot of Cookies, Stacker2, Jeff Jarrett Has the Power of Flight
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 7/2: Kevin Nash's sit-down, Kurt Angle Plays the Game, Matt Morgan a Hit?, Samoa Joe muted, Bad acting, Raven MIA
Guest Editorials
EDITORIAL: Historical perspective on Austin Aries's ROH Title victory - his journey from main event to mid-card back to main event
EDITORIAL: TNA needs to K.I.S.S. the King of the Mountain match to make it more appealing to TNA viewers
EDITORIAL: How WWE could have better handled the Vickie-Edge segment on Raw and caught up with the year 2009
Torch Feedback
Smackdown TV Reax #1: "Fresh match-ups, superstars, and storylines just create great TV"
Thursday Night TV Reax - SS/Impact: "X Division, we hardly knew ya after Abyss beat up the only two representatives who showed up"
ECW TV Reax #2: "Yoshi is already on the road to being the next Funaki at this point"
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: 2/7 "Proving Ground: Night 2" (Danielson-Generico, Steen-Richards)
RADICAN'S TORCH DVD REVIEW SERIES: YouShoot with Sabu: Sabu opens up about working in WWE, incident with Kurt Angle, negotions with TNA, more...
RADICAN'S PWTorch DVD review: The Best of RVD TV Vol. 1: RVD trains MMA with a UFC fighter, talks the power of the mind with The Ultimate Warrior, discusses love on a beach with Samoa Joe
Torch Flashbacks
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT REPORT (5 Yrs. Ago): Eric Young headlines, Jerry Lynn, R-Truth, Dusty Rhodes, Sabu, A.J. Styles, Jarrett, D-Ray 3000!
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Bruce Mitchell Feature Column - The Fluke Death of Owen Hart - May 23, 1999
OWEN HART 10 YRS. AGO: Torch Newsletter #550 cover story on Owen Hart's death (PART TWO) - May 23, 1999
VIP Exclusive Features
7/4 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show, part two: The Vickie Guerrero Injustice, Torrie Disrespect, Jericho Laments Schedule, Wrestler Twitters Going Too Far, Punk's Surprising Hardy Comment, TNA's Ho-Hum Kidnapping of Lauren (76 min.)
7/4 Wade Keller Hotline - The News: Edge Injured, Jeff Hardy's Uncertain Future, WWE PPV Strategy, Wrestling on FX? (19 min.)
7/4 VIP East Coast Audio - Smackdown: Punk-Hardy great exchange, Rey loses to Kane, Dolph and Maria an item? (40 min.)
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
FOURTH OF JULY POLL: What's your favorite July 4th "gimmick" in pro wrestling?
7/3 SMACKDOWN MICROSCOPE POLL: What related topic from tonight's Smackdown do you want to see analyzed Under the Microscope?
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 7/2 episode if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
FREE AUDIO: Keller & Mitchell Discuss Randy Savage's Place in WWE History, Elizabeth's Strengths and Weaknesses
FREE FOR ALL TODAY - 5/31 Keller Hotline: Tons of info on Kennedy situation, immediate future, plus what top star's days in TNA are numbered, what's working against Kennedy getting big push in TNA, much more
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart