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In honor of this week’s 800th episode of Raw, here is an all Raw Fast Forward. Hope you enjoy!

MAIN EVENT PREDICTION

Jericho vs. Michaels: At the conclusion of Unforgiven I was thinking that this feud had run its course and both Y2J and HBK would be doing other things. I am kind of glad that I was wrong though, as a Ladder Match between the two is pretty intriguing. Although I just want to know, was there anyone else out there hoping that it would be an Iron Man Match instead? But my guess is that this Ladder Match will be one of the best in years, so that is a very minor complaint.

I think since the World Heavyweight Championship moved to Raw, it has been the toughest thing to predict. I mean, who would have thought that, after Edge, the next two champions would be CM Punk and Jericho? But with the surprises that come in the Raw title scene I also think comes better television. Personally, I want the “anything can happen in the WWE” mentality when I watch WWE programming. I like surprises and if I could predict everything that was going to happen I would be watching some pretty boring television. But predictions are the name of the game here, so I’m going to do my best.

As much as HBK as champion would be awesome, I don’t think it is happening right now. He will have at least one more run as top dog in the company, and it may be sooner than later, but I think that his run for the title will come from a lot of build in that direction, not in the direction of a prolonged feud that all of a sudden has the title thrown in.

So with that, by hook or by crook (or more specifically, by Lance Cade) Chris Jericho will retain the title at No Mercy to go on to face Batista (come on, no one honestly thinks JBL stands a chance) at Cyber Sunday. I wouldn’t be that surprised if Michaels got himself put in that match somehow to make it a Triple Threat, but I just do not see The Heartbreak Kid walking out of No Mercy as champion.

MID-CARD PREDICTION

The Intecontinental Championship: I have to hand it to Santino, I cannot think of anyone else who has done so much to make a title seem important without actually defending it. Well, I guess he defended it a couple of weeks ago against Snitsky, but does that really count? Personally, I see two ways that WWE could approach the IC Title situation that would make it a pay-per-view worthy title once again.

What he has done with the Honk-a-meter is absolute genius and his promo with the likes of JBL, Batista, and Orton really gave him some added star power. Now he just needs a real opponent to feud with to make his act an all around success. But therein lies the problem. They built Santino up as such a loser, who can they really have him feud with who has the least bit of credibility?

If they wanted to go this route, first the announcers have to stop talking about what a poor wrestler Santino is and start to talk like he is really improving in the ring. He can still have his funny moves, such as the saluting head butt and the polished-up elbow drop, but he should just be seen as more of a threat. Once gaining some convincing wins over some less than convincing opponents, Santino can start a program with someone like Kofi or Mysterio. He can become more of a hard character, all the while continue to be comedic.

Or if they wanted to go a different route with it, they could have the Honk-a-meter continue for a few more weeks until Santino issues an open challenge to the back for the title. Mysterio then accepts the challenge and wins the title quicker than The Ultimate Warrior won it from the Honky Tonk Man, thus allowing the announcers to let you know that Santino did indeed beat Honky Tonk’s record, but not the one he set out to break. Of course once the strap was around Mysterio’s waist he could go on to do big things with it.

I love Santino’s character, and the Honk-a-meter is terrific, but I really want to see one of my favorite titles to be defended once again worthy of quality matches and quality story lines.

FINGERS CROSSED PREDICTION

William Regal’s Road: Needless to say, William Regal received a very quick rise to the top of Raw and then descended from those heights equally as fast. Now he is starting to rise once again, but this time it is going to be much slower and a lot more work for him to reach the top of the totem pole.

I am really pulling for Regal and this feud with Jamie Noble is a step in the right direction. And with this feud Regal also acquired Layla, which helps to add some depth to Regal. I mean, he just looks even more powerful with her standing next to him. But a Noble versus Regal match will never appear on a pay-per-view or be the main event on Raw, so where does Regal go from here to make his character ascend towards the top?

Well right now and until Orton returns there is a guy by the name of CM Punk who has nothing going on. A Punk versus Regal feud would be really good. Once Michaels finishes his run with Jericho, I could also see a feud with him being of top-notch quality. Kofi Kingston is someone else who has hit a rough patch in his push, so a feud with Regal could do both of those characters some good.

Regal’s push is starting to come around again and the program with Jamie Noble has been done right. Once that has concluded I think we will see bigger and brighter things from Regal and I would look for him to appear to pay-per-view as soon as Cyber Sunday, if not, then at Survivor Series.

PLEASE NOT THAT PREDICTION

What could come of the Priceless Generation: I don’t know if “The Priceless Generation” has officially been coined for this group yet or not, but it is definitely a good fit for these second generation wrestlers. With the addition of Manu to Rhodes and DiBiase, and as it looks, Orton will soon be playing a leadership role to the group, I think it is safe to assume that this faction is not going to be slowing down anytime soon.

If there is one thing that we have learned from groups in professional wrestling, it is this: keep them contained! Just look at what ended up as one of the biggest flops in wrestling, the NWO. It was awesome when it was just Hall, Nash, and Hogan. It was still really good when they branched out to four, five, even six guys. But eventually it encompassed the entire company and was just incredibly lame.

Now think of successful factions. The Four Horsemen, The Hart Foundation, Degeneration X, Evolution; all of these were contained yet powerful. They were large scale, yet never contained too many people.

I think that WWE realizes this and will keep it smaller. I mean, if they really wanted to make a large, second generation stable, they could have included Carlito, Primo, Chavo, Deuce, DH Smith, Jesse, and Natalya already.

As of now, the group looks pretty good to me. Manu as the muscle and Rhodes and Dibiase as the tag team with Orton as the leader is a strong group. If they wanted to eventually add another wrestler to the group, I would not be entirely opposed, just so long as he or she brought in something new that is not there already.

Right now The Priceless Generation is rolling along quite well. They have a great look and all people involved bring something unique to the mix. Here’s to keeping them contained and organized.

ONE LAST PREDICTION

It’s a special Raw tomorrow night, right? And Raw’s ratings have been pretty low? I can only see one thing happening: Raw is McMahon! Two hours of Vince McMahon, live!

Kyle Hodgdon brings you “Fast Forward” each weekend. Write him at kylehodgdon@hotmail.com.

"Fast Forward" will appear exclusively on pwtorch.com each week. Email kylehodgdon@hotmail.com with any questions, comments, or predictions you might have.

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

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