BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I was really underwhelmed with WrestleMania 29. There just wasn’t too memorable about it. It wasn’t the worst show, but it was pretty lackluster. The Monday Night RAW after was more exciting and entertaining for a few reasons. Since then I’ve had a really hard time caring about the WWE product. I am a huge fan of their talent roster at the moment, but it’s just exhausting to invest time or interest into WWE. I’ve tried too. I’ve attempted to watch RAW, I’ve watched some Smackdown, I’ve checked out stuff online, and I’ve kept up with news, rumors, and the columns I frequent. It’s just all weak sauce.
Extreme Rules should be fun though. No matter how uninterested I am in the storylines and direction of the WWE, I think anyone can get behind a whole bunch of gimmick matches. 9 times out of 10, if you take the two shittiest wrestlers and put them in a gimmick match casual fans would be more interested than a typical 6 minute TV match. So take that sentiment and the fact I AM a fan of the roster, I’m looking forward to this show as maybe getting my interest back at least a little. Worst case scenario, I’ll see a ladder match, a cage match, a strap match, and a last man standing match. Something in there has to be awesome… right?
For my picks, I have to pretty much go with vague logic. I am up to date with what’s going on, but in broad strokes. I’ve not heard every line in every promo or every spot in every match over the past month or so. Still, I don’t think it’ll be too hard to get at least a few of these predictions right.
Orton and Big Show are having an “Extreme Rules” match, which is basically just a hardcore match. I assume that’s a hardcore match with falls counting anywhere, but who knows. Big Show is constantly surprising us with stellar performances, but Randy Orton is due a good run. The problem is that it seems a lot of people are unsure if Orton is going to remain a face or go heel. If there is a change, he’d lose but I’m going to go with Randy Orton getting the win and then go on to feud with Dolph Ziggler. Then again, this could all change because the same stuff can be said for Sheamus vs. Mark Henry in their Strap match. Henry puts on surprising matches and Sheamus is sort of lost in the shuffle. Mark Henry just beat Ryback at WrestleMania and it seems like everyone has forgotten about it. Meanwhile, Sheamus got the loss in a Six Man. I still don’t think they have an idea of what they want to do with Sheamus and it’s always good to build the monster heel up so Mark Henry is going to win here.
I’m not excited about the Brock Lesnar/Triple H cage match at all. I’m sure it’ll be a fine spectacle of a match, but this storyline is one of the main reasons I’m tuning out when watching the WWE product these days. I find entertainment and value in everyone involved, but this storyline doesn’t have any fire to it. It feels really forced and is seemingly ineffective. I’d much rather see both guys take on new people. Would it hurt to put a Sheamus or Randy Orton in a program against Brock Lesnar? Why couldn’t Triple H have a storyline with a fresh enemy like The Miz or even Wade Barrett? I’m going to go with Brock Lesnar getting the win and going for the belt. Hell, maybe they’ll have Brock and Orton feud over the number one contender’s spot while Cena and Ryback milk a little more out of their story. THAT would be at least mildly interesting.
The match I’m looking forward to the most is the Triple Threat Ladder Match. The ladder match is my favorite gimmick match of all time thanks to having my young fragile mind blown by HBK and Razor at WrestleMania 10. On top of that, Dolph Ziggler is my favorite person on the roster to watch these days. This match has a rumored to be injured Ziggler defending his belt against Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger. I have grown to really appreciate Alberto Del Rio’s work in and out of the ring. He’s constantly improving and he can put on some good matches. The problem with this match is Jack Swagger. I can’t get behind him. I don’t care that he got busted with weed or that his gimmick is “controversial”. In fact I like weed AND controversy. The problem is I just can’t get into his ring work. I think he lacks “presence” so badly that it hurts anything he’s involved with. I think fans would revolt pretty hardcore if Dolph Ziggler lost his belt so soon after winning it. I have no problem with him losing it sooner than later because he’ll put on great matches and win more titles regardless. I think I just want his title loss to mean something. This wouldn’t be that moment. Whatever happens, Dolph Ziggler wins! (Or we all cry like little girls!)
Cena and Ryback are having a Last Man Standing match. For some reason I’m interested in this match more than I should be. I’m not a fan of either guy’s work, but I’m at least curious and open minded to Ryback’s heel persona. It could evolve into something cool or it could be crap, but I’ll give it a shot. Not much about Cena entertains me. I know he gives his all in big matches and this shouldn’t be any different. John Cena rarely ever loses clean and this is a perfect chance for them to have him lose without actually losing. Maybe The Shield will finally reveal he’s the fourth member. Who knows? I’m sure there will be some kind of shenanigans. Does Cena overcome them and still win or does Ryback get the belt to leave Cena on the chase for the summer? I’m going with John Cena as the winner. I hope I’m wrong, but I’ll take the safe bet.
|
