411’s PPV Preview: The Road to Vengeance 2007

DEUCE AND DOMINO VS. THE MAJORS BROTHERS FOR THE WWE TAG TEAM TITLES

Background: The Majors Brothers moved from ECW to Smackdown in the WWE supplemental draft. On the last Smackdown they defeated the tag champs in a dark match. This match has not been added to the pay per view at this time, but seems likely.

Match Up: The Majors are new to Smackdown and WWE overall, but have shown a lot of heart. One can’t forget that Deuce and Domino have been in the company less than a year too and they are already tag team champions. Youth and inexperience could lead to a sloppy match where whoever takes advantage of a miscue is going to win. Look for the champions to isolate one of the brothers and work him over in traditional tag team style.

Outcome: This night of champions has revealed how weak some of the title divisions are. This was a dark match for Smackdown and it most likely will be the same for the pay per view if it makes it on. Since there are no other tag teams, the Majors Brothers are being thrown in there too fast, but then again so were Deuce and Domino. It’s going to take some great writing and character building to get fans to care about these guys. The greasers should retain just because.

LANCE CADE AND TREVOR MURODCH VS. MATT AND JEFF HARDY FOR THE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES

Background: Background: On the RAW following Judgment Day the Hardy Boys battled Kenny Dykstra and Johnny Nitro. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas watched at ringside, saying they were scouting talent. The World’s Greatest Tag Team attacked after the Hardys won. Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade made the save. On May 28th, the Hardys teamed with Cade and Murdoch to face Dykstra, Nitro and TWGTT. Jeff pinned Dykstra. Benjamin and Haas stated that since they didn’t get pinned in the match they should get a tag team title shot. Jeff and Matt accepted, while Cade and Murdoch seemed put off. The Hardys retained at One Night Stand, but were very beat up in the ladder match. The next night on RAW Cade and Murdoch challenged the Hardys, but wanted to wait until they were healed up. Vince McMahon, dazed from losing the ECW title, booked the match for that instead. Jeff Hardy was pinned by Cade after Murdoch knocked his foot off the ropes. Matt questioned the new champs after the match about it and they attacked him.

Match Up: This has developed into a real blood feud with all four men despising the other. The Hardy Boys feel like they were played, but Cade and Murdoch in their warped minds feel that it was the Hardys that didn’t play fair with them. Look for the mean streak of the champs to resurface. The Hardys have a list of nagging injuries and they will go after them. The Hardys can’t aggravate those with their usual risky offense and would best be served to wrestle a wear down strategy on their bigger, stronger opponents. Cade and Murdoch will go ground and pound and will just look to beat the Hardys to a stain on the mat.

Outcome: Since the Hardys have remained on separate brands after the draft it would seem that they are going to break the pair up again. London and Kendrick moving to RAW also gives a new feud for the current champions to move onto. The Hardys will hopefully work strong to put Cade and Murdoch over. If you look at the match above, Cade and Murdoch were another team that was pushed too far too fast in their first tag title reign and have since matured into better, serviceable heel champions.

MELINA VS. CANDICE MICHELLE FOR THE WWE WOMEN’S TITLE

Background: On the May 7th RAW Candice Michelle and Mickie James defeated Victoria and Melina when Candice hit Melina with a spinkick. The next week Candice beat Victoria while Melina sat in on commentary. The night after Judgment Day Candice won a non-title affair over Melina to prove she was no fluke. On May 28th Candice beat Melina again in a diva battle royal water fight that also included Mickie James, Michelle McCool, the Expose dancers, Jillian Hall, Kristal Marshall and Maria.

Melina retained at One Night Stand in a pudding match. The night after on RAW Candice got revenge by pinning Melina in a six man tag with Cryme Tyme as her partners. Melina was with Johnny Nitro and Kenny Dykstra. On the June 18th RAW Melina pinned Mickie James off the hog log while their partners Candice and Jillian Hall fought on the outside of the ring.

Match Up: Melina has sold Candice short and it has cost her a lot of matches. Instead of making her respect Candice though, it has just made her mad. This won’t give Melina the focus she needs. Look for her to be overly aggressive and that could cost her. Candice has become a more competent wrestler. She just doesn’t have a move set now, but is building ring generalship and psychology. If Melina doesn’t take Candice seriously she will lose her title and maybe then she will.

Outcome: Melina and Candice have both become adequate wrestlers, but not good enough to hang the women’s division on. Melina by default is the new Trish Stratus or Fabulous Moolah where she will hang onto the title forever, despite a few blips here and there to build storylines. With as many wins as Candice have scored on Melina it would stand to reason that she loses here.

CHAVO GUERRERO VS. JIMMY WANG YANG FOR THE WWE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE

Background: Jimmy Wang Yang had been floating around Chavo Guerrero for some time bucking for a title shot having won some non-title and tag matches. On the June 8th Smackdown Yang teamed with Brian Kendrick and Paul London to beat Chavo with Jamie Noble and Shannon Moore. On the June 15th Smackdown Yang won a match over Moore, Noble and Daivari to earn the title match at Vengeance. On the June 22nd Show Chavo and Noble defeated Moore and Yang in a tag match.

Match Up: Similar to the match above, Yang has scored a lot of non-title wins over Chavo. Chavo acts like he might not take Yang seriously, which is easy to do with his redneck character, but Chavo is a Guerrero. He’s sly and devious. He makes you think he’s not focused to put the opponent in a false since of calm. Chavo earlier in his career was the high flying risk taker that Yang is, but he’s matured in and out of the ring. Guerrero will ground Yang and take out the legs to limit his offense. Yang must use his speed to play keep away and befuddle Chavo with his explosive offense.

Outcome: This is how WWE has built every title feud. The challenger gets a bunch of nothing wins and then gets jobbed royally on the pay per view. While Yang is a great wrestler and a fan favorite, he lacks a weight of character to make him a credible champion. Guerrero has just turned into Helms as champion and the whole division is treading water. Look for Chavo to retain, but they might do a switch to build to a SummerSlam rematch just for something to do.

MVP VS. RIC FLAIR FOR THE US TITLE

Background: Ric Flair and Torrie Wilson were traded to Smackdown in the draft lottery. That Friday on Smackdown Flair coached Batista before facing MVP. Batista won the match. Later, MVP attached Flair to cause a DQ win against Edge. Batista saved Flair from a further beating. The next week on Smackdown Edge hosted Torrie Wilson on the Cutting Edge. He accused her of killing Vince McMahon. MVP came out. He challenged her to take a lie detector test. Flair came out to defend her and was attacked. Batista made the save. In the main event of the show Flair and Batista defeated Edge and MVP.

Match Up: MVP had wars in the ring with Chris Benoit and just managed to take the US title from him. But who taught Benoit? Benoit was a trained wrestler when he joined the Horsemen, but Flair mentored him into a World Champion. Flair has more, dare I say, flare than Benoit has in and out of the ring making him a master of getting a guy off his game mentally. Porter is a rising superstar, but can easily be shook up thanks to the experience of the Nature Boy. Flair will look to wrestle his standard match and allowing him to control the pace and flow will be death for Porter, but it will be nearly impossible for him to take that away from the mat veteran. He needs to blitz Flair hard and fast to go for the quick win. Don’t let him find himself in the match.

Outcome: Flair is just taking Benoit’s place in the MVP feud. While working with Flair will continue the growth of MVP in and out of the ring, this match had little build up. Due to that look for MVP to retain by cheating and then feud with Flair throughout the summer. A flash title win by Flair is not out of the realm of possibility, but would hurt the build up MVP has been given as he’s now a legitimate champion and not a joke character.

SANITNO MARELLA VS. UMAGA FOR THE IC TITLE

Background: RAW on 4/16 came from Italy. Vince McMahon recapped the events from last week and then challenged anyone in the back to face Umaga. No one showed. He made it an Intercontinental title match. Still no one showed. McMahon then decided to open the challenge up to the crowd and he chose a man in the front row named Santino Marella. Marella started off well, so Vince made the bout a handicap match. This backfired and Lashley ran out to turn the tide and help Marella win the championship in a major upset. Lashley introduced Marella the next night on ECW and celebrated in the ring with him. Since that time Marella has made a few title defenses against Chris Masters while Umaga continued to help Vince McMahon against Bobby Lashley. They’re rematch is finally going down.

Match Up: With Armando Estrada nowhere to be seen lately, Umaga is a rudderless battleship of destruction. However, he lacks focus. He’s just a gun with the safety off. Marella got help from Lashley to beat him the first time, but showed that he’s a competent wrestler, if not still a bit green and naive in the ring. Marella will need to be on the top of his game to come out with the belt. He should refine the strategy from their first match of sticking and moving and chopping out the legs of Umaga. It’s an interesting match up to see if the wrestler can defeat the brawler.

Outcome: It’s almost laughable it has taken this long for a rematch. Marella’s whole character and heat is tied into him being an underdog champion. They can still ride that for a while. Especially since this rematch has gotten little build. I guess that what’s you get when you put two guys together who can’t talk with no managers (Estrada has been MIA lately). An Umaga face turn would freshen up his character. He matches up well with Snitsky. Don’t be surprised if he attacks both men for a no contest. Marella getting caught in the middle of the giants would help further his character too.

CHRIS BENOIT VS. CM PUNK FOR THE VACANT ECW TITLE

Background: Bobby Lashley defeated Chris Benoit on the June 11th RAW to get ECW a draft pick. That pick wound up being Benoit. Later on, Lashley was drafted to RAW and forced to vacate the ECW title. The next night on ECW Benoit debuted by teaming with CM Punk to face Elijah Burke and Marcus Cor Von. The following week on ECW Benoit beat Burke and Punk went over Cor Von to earn a match for the title against each other at Vengeance.

Match Up: Another ten years and Punk will be Chris Benoit. Both are great, innovate technical wrestlers that will brawl or take a risk when they have too. Benoit is the seasoned veteran and seems hungry again for gold. The move to ECW might have revitalized him. A win over Benoit would be huge for Punk and say a lot about him as a rising blue chipper. The match should be friendly with a lot of chain wrestling to start during a feeling out period. Punk then might try to step it up with his speed and youth, but Benoit is smart enough to counter with power wrestling and wear down holds. Punk needs to mature fast from a ring private to ring general if he hopes to win the ECW title here.

Outcome: They may be pulling the trigger on this a little early. Punk just had an aborted heel turn and Benoit has worked better lately as a face. However, putting ECW on Punk as the top face would be a great vote of confidence. Then again, Benoit has plenty of heel challengers waiting for him on the roster with Burke, Cor Von, and Kevin Thorne. This should be the match of the night easy if the guys are allowed to run. Look for a clean match up with a handshake at the end, with perhaps the seeds of a Punk turn sewed.

EDGE VS. BATISTA FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE, LAST CHANCE FOR BATISTA

Background: Ken Kennedy won the Money in the Bank Ladder match at Wrestlemania. On the April 30th RAW he announced that he cash it in next year at Wrestlemania. On the May 7th RAW Edge challenged Kennedy to a match for the title shot, stating that he was the real Mr. Money in the Bank and defended while he had it. Kennedy accepted the match. Edge jumped Kennedy before the match and bashed a monitor over his head. Kennedy consented for the match to start, but quickly ate a spear for the loss. That Friday on Smackdown Undertaker and Batista had a cage match for the World Heavyweight Title. Both men escaped the cage and seemingly hit the floor at the same time. The bout was declared a tie and Undertaker retained. Mark Henry then appeared and beat up UT further. Edge came out with a huge smile on his face and cashed in his title match. He covered Undertaker quickly, but he kicked out. Edge covered again and he kicked out. Finally a spear put him down. Edge appeared on the May 14th RAW to give his farewell address. He was challenged to a match by Shawn Michaels and loss. On Smackdown that week Edge was officially awarded the title by Teddy Long. Batista came out and said the title was rightfully his and he would take it back at Judgment Day.

At Judgment Day Batista’s bad leg collapsed on a spinebuster and Edge won with a schoolboy rollup. That week on Smackdown Batista defeated Finlay, Mark Henry and Kane to earn another title shot. Batista was Edge’s guest on the Cutting Edge. The two slapped each other, pushed each other and then Batista decked Edge. On Saturday Night’s Main Event, Edge walked out on his partner MVP to be defeated by Batista and Chris Benoit. Edge hung on at One Night Stand.

On the June 8th Smackdown Edge defeated Chris Benoit. Edge interfered later as Batista faced MVP to give him the DQ win. A rematch happened the following week with Batista winning. Batista later saved Ric Flair from a beat down by Edge and MVP. The next week he saved Flair again from another attack as he was trying to defend Torrie Wilson. The former Evolution members won a tag team main event over Porter and Edge.

Match Up: When you corner an animal he becomes more mean and violent than usual. We have that here with Batista who is desperate to win the World Heavyweight Title back in his last chance at it while Edge is champion. Edge is crafty and has done a great job of stifling Batista so far. Look for Edge to use cowardly heel tactics to lull Batista into false confidence. Batista has one speed, full ahead, and that’s dangerous against a competitor like Edge. Look for Edge to weather the Batista onslaught and sucker him.

Outcome: They seem painted into a corner with Batista winning the title back, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone lost a last chance match like this and got through a loophole or just cooled his jets until the champ lost the title. Smackdown got ravaged in the draft lottery and there aren’t a whole lot of guys for Batista or Edge to go on and feud with. Batista winning the title would help lead to a SummerSlam blow off where Edge gets a last chance match.

JOHN CENA VS. BOBBY LASHLEY VS. RANDY ORTON VS. KING BOOKER VS. MICK FOLEY FOR THE WWE TITLE

Background: A five way open match for the WWE Title was announced on the June 11th RAW. Any former champion could enter. Mick Foley was there for Vince McMahon appreciation night and threw his name into the mix. Booker T and Bobby Lashley came over to RAW via the draft. On June 18th Foley apologized for the comments he made toward Vince McMahon the week before. Orton and Booker came out to accuse Foley of killing Vince. This drew out Lashley and Cena. Cena accused everyone of having a motive. Later on, Foley was destroyed by Umaga in a match while Orton and Booker got a victory over Lashley and Cena.

Match Up: All five men in the ring at the same time will be chaos. Foley thrives in chaos and you can never count him out, but he seems too far past his prime to hang with all these guys for long. Booker is the next veteran in line and has proven himself a cunning grappler over his last title reign. He will hang back and look for his opening. Possibly working with Foley to start with to conserve himself. Orton is hungry,but his recent dementia might make winning the title second place to him over causing pain. Lashley didn’t like being stripped of the ECW title and wants to prove himself quickly on RAW. John Cena has beaten the odds again and again. He needs his luck to hold out and the other guys to cancel each other out.

Outcome: This will just set up the summer programs. Look for Lashley and Orton to go at it and Cena vs. Booker. Even the reverse would work. Foley will probably serve as a special guest referee somewhere down the line. He looks to only be around to help push the McMahon death angle. Eventually this is all building to Cena vs. Lashley at Wrestlemania next year. Look for Cena to retain, but Lashley taking the belt would make a good shake up.