TLC 2009 Previews and Predictions
Previews and Predictions of all the matches scheduled to take place at TLC 2009.
DanG here again with the Previews and Predictions article.
As always for all the JayD fans out there he’s put the effort in and written the formal articles, which you can find at the links below.
Here’s the link for JayD’s Raw matches preview:
WWE TLC 2009 Raw Matches Preview
Which covers:
-Kofi Kingston Vs. Randy Orton
-The WWE Championship Tables match between John Cena (c) and Sheamus
-The Unified Tag Team Championship TLC match between DX and Jeri-Show (c)
and here is the link to his Smackdown/ECW matches preview:
WWE TLC 2009 Smackdown/ECW Matches Preview
Which covers:
-The ECW Championship Ladder match between Christian (c) and Shelton Benjamin
-The Intercontinental Championship match between John Morrison (c) and Drew McIntyre
-The World Heavyweight Championship Chairs match between The Undertaker (c) and Batista
DanG’s Views
Grudge Match
Singles Match
Randy Orton
Vs.
Kofi Kingston
It had looked for the longest possible time that the main event scene of Raw was a closed shop.
The usual suspects of Cena/HHH/Orton/HBK have had a virtual monopoly on the big matches, and I (amongst many others) was beginning to get just a bit sick of seeing the same old feuds and matches recycled ad infitum at the expense of promoting and pushing new talent towards the top.
It had felt like anytime a new Superstar got a push it came as a result of being on Smackdown, as the main event scene over there has been a lot more flexible over the past year.
We have seen talent such as CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, John Morrison and Drew McIntyre all receive strong pushes this year, and as a result the product has been vastly more engaging and entertaining than what has been served up on Raw.
But, just as it is only right to criticise the mistakes that have been made, so it would only be fair to recognise some of the positives that have begun to emerge from Raw. Over the last two months we have seen The Miz, Kofi Kingston and Sheamus given well planned and executed pushes into programs with some of the top stars in the company.
Out of these three, it is the feud between Kingston and Orton that has drawn my attention the most.
The first few times that I had seen Kofi, during his US Championship reign, I thought that he was a solid mid-card talent, but couldn’t actually see him ever breaking through the glass ceiling into the main event.
Then came the post-Bragging Rights Kofi Kingston.
Seeing Kingston destroy the personalised NASCAR that had been presented to Orton by Legacy brought back memories of similar acts executed by such stars as “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and (the old) D-Generation X. In this one moment, we lost the happy-go-lucky “Jamaican Sensation” and gained a credible challenger to one of the top heels in the company.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we may have just seen the birth of one of the first modern day true Superstars, and not a moment too soon. So following that little rant, how do I actually see this match going?
Predicted Outcome
This is a nightmare to call.
There are so many potential outcomes to this match, and very few of them would be a bad way to end.
Although this has been built up as the deciding bout between these two following a number of dubious contests in recent weeks, I simply see this as something that will continue to simmer throughout the next few months before exploding again into a WWE Championship program.
I am going to go for Kingston here.
I believe that in the build-up to Wrestlemania, we will see the long hinted at feud between Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase finally begin to gather some steam, and it would be good for Kofi’s momentum to take the win here.
This would allow for a strong showing for Kingston in either the Royal Rumble/Elimination Chamber/Money in the Bank which would present him with an opportunity to meet Orton for the title within the next year.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Singles Match
John Morrison (c)
Vs.
Drew McIntyre
Speaking of superstars on a push, here we find two of Smackdown’s best and brightest competing for the Intercontinental Championship.
McIntyre is beginning to grow on me.
He has a presence in the ring, and a seemingly vicious streak to him, plus being ‘handpicked’ by the Chairman of the company never hurt anyone’s chances now did it?
Being put in a program with John Morrison at this stage of his career is also very positive. Morrison has the ability to put on a good quality match with most opponents and does not appear to have too many qualms about putting other competitors over.
I also believe that it would be of benefit to Morrison’s career to lose the title as currently he is becoming somewhat stagnant without an obvious path of progression beyond the mid-card.
It’s kind of a shame how the last few months have played out on Smackdown regarding the Intercontinental Championship.
It was naturally assumed that Dolph Ziggler would be the man to take the belt from John Morrison, but this has not yet proved the case (and according to the Weekly Informer, may never prove to be the case).
If Ziggler had taken the belt, then this would have provided him with a step up to the next level, as well as freeing Morrison up to potentially enter the main event picture (ideally against CM Punk – though I will come back to that later!).
I like Morrison a lot as a wrestler, and whilst he could do with working on his promo delivery, his look and in-ring ability should see him emerge as a main event competitor over the coming year, once he is ‘free’ of the Intercontinental Championship.
Predicted Outcome
I believe that Drew McIntyre will take the title either here, or very soon after.
As mentioned, I do not see any reason to continue to leave the strap on Morrison much longer, and removing it from him presents numerous development opportunities along the Road to WrestleMania (in much the same way as Kofi Kingston).
He can be provided either with a push at the Rumble, a spot in the Elimination Chamber Championship match or (most likely in my opinion) be one of the competitors in Money in the Bank at ‘Mania.
WWE Heavyweight Championship Match
Chair Match
The Undertaker (c)
Vs.
Batista
As has been mentioned previously, I am not a massive fan of match-ups pitting two huge behemoths against each other, however recently we have seen some fairly clever matches executed by the big men of the WWE.
I did quite like the recent #1 Contendership bout between Kane and Batista and thought that the ending to this told a very good story, helping to sell Batista as a heel.
Hopefully creative have learnt their lesson, and will book angles to suit the talent as opposed to bringing in “monsters” with precisely zero talent and undeservedly pushing them to the moon (*cough* Kozlov *cough* Khali).
I am assuming that the match type will work in some way like the Singapore Cane match that occurred between Kane and The Great Khali at Breaking Point(which unfortunately I can remember), except you can replace the word “Cane” with “Chair”, and the word “Singapore” with “Hulking Great Steel”.
Judging by the actions of The Animal in recent weeks, including the savage attacks on Rey Mysterio and The Undertaker, I have high hopes that the brutality factor of this match is enough to save it from the lumbering pace that will not help to create any sort of spectacle.
A spot of claret would also be of some help in selling the impact of the match-up, however with the ‘E’ still on a PG rating, this may be a tad over-optimistic.
What we do have from this PPV though is a Smackdown card that does not include CM Punk at all. It’s brilliant that Kofi Kingston, Sheamus and Drew McIntyre have high profile opportunities to progress from this event; however the biggest success story of this year surely has to be the meteoric rise of CM Punk from MITB challenger, to a place amongst the top heels within the company, and to leave him off the event seems strange.
It is bad enough that Punk lost the Heavyweight Championship in the first place, then became involved in a ‘feud’ with R-Truth, butthe final straw has to be the fact that he doesn’t even have a place amongst the card for this event.
What I said earlier about Smackdown showing the better quality over the last six months has been in large part down to the presence of both CM Punk and Chris Jericho.
So, what happens when you have two hugely deserving contenders to the Heavyweight Championship? You ignore them both and rehash another old feud. Fantastic.
With that out of my system, it’s onto the predictions…
Predicted Outcome
Batista to take the title here.
I’m not going to be happy about it, but it is the only thing that makes sense with The Undertaker’s current physical condition. Taking the title away from him will ease some of the pressure on the Phenom to perform regularly, and will hopefully lead to a resurgent Edge or John Morrison moving onto feud with the Animal over the coming months.
ECW Championship Match
Ladder Match
Christian (c)
Vs.
Shelton Benjamin
Similar to the Dreamer/Christian bouts for the ECW Championship a few months back, there is little to no substance to the rivalry between these two beyond a desire to win the title.
Two popular faces going up against each other normally makes it difficult for the fans to decide who to back, however for this matchup, my advice would be to simply sit back and enjoy the spectacle.
When discussing Match of the Year contenders, I have already suggested that this be shortlisted, as I fail to see any way that this will fail to entertain.
Two highly athletic and experienced ladder match competitors going at it one on one. I have very little else to say about the actual match, but I am fully expecting this to shoot straight up there as a potential candidate for Match of the Year.
Simple as that.
However I would like to take this opportunity to offer some views on the two competitors.
This will more than likely be the pinnacle of Shelton Benjamin’s career. He has all the athletic and wrestling skills necessary, but I do not see him making a major jump up the brands or the PPV cards.
I would love to be proven wrong, but I don’t see any natural route of progression for him to take that other more deserving Superstars wouldn’t step up and take themselves. One of those superstars just happens to be the defending champion in this match: Christian.
Ever since he returned to WWE from TNA, Christian has been relegated to the third brand in the ‘E’.
In much the same way that John Morrison has outgrown the Intercontinental Championship, Christian has become far and away bigger than every other contender in the Land of Extreme, and is worthy of so much more than helping to develop fresh talent such as Yoshi Tatsu or rehashing match after match with William Regal.
A move to Smackdown and a World Championship program is a must for a hugely talented wrestler, and one of the most popular faces currently within the company.
Predicted Outcome
Shelton Benjamin to pick up the title here.
If he does then I hope the creative team have a quick exit plan arranged for Christian to get him straight across to either of the big two brands, because whilst leaving Christian on ECW as champion would be a waste, leaving Christian on ECW without the title would be completely ridiculous. (A Royal Rumble win and brand switch possibly? – Ed)
If there are no plans afoot to move Christian cross-brand, then they may as well leave the strap with him.
Just don’t ask me where the next legitimate challenger to the ECW Championship is going to come from.
WWE Championship Match
Tables Match
John Cena (c)
Vs.
Sheamus
Whilst being the potentially best suited of the themed (*shudder*) PPV’s this year, I do feel that something sacred has been tarnished by the lack of TLC innovators (The Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian) at this event.
The use of the table in particular seems like an afterthought to this contest; however it may well be the best way of taking the belt off of Cena whilst maintaining his ‘Superman’ image.
So do I think that Cena will lose the title here? Not on your life!
Whilst the removal of the traditional win conditions here would ensure that John Cena would not lose a huge amount of credability in being beaten, the same can be said for the protection of the image of Sheamus that is currently being developed.
I quite like the push that Sheamus has received recently, and whilst having a touch of the ol’ overly-generic-monster-heel-itis affliction (because not everyone can do it like Brock Lesnar!), he has indeed been made to look like a credible challenger and has indeed even made some people question whether or not he could actually win on Sunday (JayD being one of them).
By ticking both of these boxes, the WWE booking team have done their job well, and whether or not Sheamus actually wins the title has become more or less irrelevant.
I will explain why as I move onto my predictions…
Predicted Outcome
John Cena to retain.
Stability continues to be the key with the WWE Championship in order to restore some sense of value and worth to the strap, after a huge sequence of pass-the-belt over the last few months.
The likeliest scenario for this match will be Sheamus beating Cena all over San Antonio, before Cena retaliates with an Attitude Adjustment out of nowhere through a carefully arranged table.
In the match finishing like this, Sheamus’ dominant image is preserved (after kicking seven shades out of Cena), and Cena’s ‘Superman’ image is preserved for his fanbase.
End result = a credible main event heel is founded while WWE’s Golden Boy emerges with his belt and his rep in tact.
Remember where you heard it first!
WWE Unified Tag Team Championship Match
TLC Match
Jeri-Show (c)
Vs.
D-Generation X
The match-up that I expect to main event the PPV (and when was the last time that was said of a tag team bout?) will see a mass of star power collide with any number of tables, ladders and chairs as the dominant tag team of Chris Jericho and Big Show face off against the veteran duo of Triple H and Shawn Michaels.
The last few months have seen a slow and steady build up for this feud and an exciting opportunity for the Heartbreak Kid to win the titles in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
Traditionally TLC matches encapsulate a number of high spots and risky bumps and it will be interesting to see how these are handled here with no out and out ‘high flyers’ involved.
Both Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho have a lot of experience in ladder matches, and both are capable of pulling a surprise out of the bag, but it would be sad to see this match amount to these two pulling off a high risk stunt show, while Triple H and Big Show stand aside and watch.
Much has been made about the fact that D-Generation X have not never held the tag team titles in their current guise, and once again in my opinion, the end result of this match will come down to the future booking decisions that have been made, as well as the severity of Big Show’s current injury.
If the decision has been made to bring Chris Jericho back into the main event as a singles competitor, then I am all for him dropping the tag titles.
D-X picking these up would also mean that they are kept out of the Raw singles event for some time and mean that the young stars such as The Miz, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Sheamus can continue to have an unhindered shot at the main event.
This would be a win-win scenario, and an excellent chance for the Raw brand to continue its recent developmental work.
Predicted Outcome
D-X to take the gold.
Although hypothetically this would bring Jericho back into the single’s fold, I do not see him being immediately launched back into the World Title picture.
However, this would still give the opportunities to the young Raw talent that I mentioned previously.
The other plus side to D-X taking the titles will be that as a face team, heel team such as The Hart Dynasty should get the opportunity to work a title program and develop themselves (or at the very least face someone other than Cryme Tyme!)
The End
Thank you all for joining me for the previews and predictions again!
I hope you enjoyed what I had to say and consider joining us for TLC live on Sunday.
DanG (on behalf of the WWEBlog Team)
