John: Welcome to the TJR preview of WWE Over the Limit. I decided to get a PPV prediction partner because frankly it gets boring writing previews on your own. To help me with this I've enlisted my buddy David K., who has written at thejohnreport.net before and has basically become our PPV preview guy since he does TNA PPV previews as well. We talk often and we're very good friends. I figured why not talk about the PPV and share our picks with you in a conversation type column format. I think the results were pretty good. David's thoughts will be signified by the green font while mine will be in blue. We'll also have polls for every match to see who you think is going to win.
The PPV features eight matches with the main event being the same match we've seen the two previous months while CM Punk and Rey Mysterio are going at it for the third straight PPV as well. The other six matches do have a freshness to them, so that's good at least. Who's winning? What will be the best match? Does anybody care too much with Lost's finale also on Sunday? All these answers are to come. We hope you enjoy it.
John: First match up is Ted Dibiase vs. R-Truth for the Million Dollar Title. Or not. How much is that belt worth really? Maybe $100. It doesn't look nearly as good as his dad's. Anyway, Virgil will be in Ted's corner while the kids they market to have no idea who he is. This won't be a long match, I bet.
David: I loved how everybody crowned DiBiase as the next big thing everywhere. He's got a great character that needed some fine tuning, and it was grown well under the Legacy name. Now they've moved both other members into other roles ... and Ted is left somewhere in limbo. R-Truth has not been built up as a worthy opponent at all, short match indeed.
John: I think it goes about 5-7 minutes tops, Ted wins clean or maybe with Virgil cheating to help him. I can't imagine Virgil being around long term, though, so maybe Ted wins and then beats him up after. I can't say I care too much about the return of Virgil. You got Ted winning too, Mr. Blackhawks?
David: I've got Ted winning with Virgil attempting to help R-Truth out ... some fun, non-racially biased stuff, that's What's Up.
John: By the way, that picture of Ted looks worse than the Sheamus one they always have. It looks airbrushed to me.
John's Pick: Ted Dibiase
David's Pick: Ted Dibiase
David: Next is the gorgeous Maryse facing the newcomer to the scene Eve. They're stunningly beautiful, but it still pains me to watch a division once dominated with pure entertainers nosedive into the mess it is today.
John: Is Eve a newcomer though? What year did she win the Diva Search? It's been a few years. They are both diva search contestants and they both wrestle like it. Is it so hard to get trained wrestlers on the roster to have decent matches once in a while? Also the storyline is pretty weak and it should result in a dead crowd too.
David: She won in 2007 ... what did she do before that? USC Fly Girl and L.A. Clipper cheerleader. She's listed in her bio's as "Dancer, model, and wrestler" ... in that order.
John: I know she's got a good university degree, so she's a bright girl. I'm not denying that. I'm just saying wrestling wise she has a long way to go. Anyway, I'd be surprised if the finish is anything other than Eve winning. It's been booked for her to retain.
David: I have her retaining too. Why? Maryse is a glamour model, which is great. Met her at a signing in Vegas, extremely nice. But as far as athletics go, Eve does hold a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitzu from Gracie Academy. I think taking part in these martial arts, similar to McCool doing Krav Maga, is going to help long term. She'll look better with time. Retain after a submission.
John: And since I'm an expert in this field, I'd like to say, in the words of Borat, they have nice physiques. I have a diploma in noticing physiques.
David: With a minor in shameless complimenting of Divas. Side note, Torres has a better GPA than Mr. 4.0 Jack Swagger.
John's Pick: Eve
David's Pick: Eve
John: Next up is my boys The Hart Dynasty w/Natalya's cleavage defending the tag titles against the team of Mizicho, Jerimiz, Jiz or just Jericho & Miz. This is one of those matches that I really hope gets 12-15 of in-ring time, but as one match on a card with eight matches I don't know if that'll happen.
David: Remember Natalya vs. Cherry on Edge/Vickie's wedding day? Mmm, hotness. Anyways, I want Jericho to be holding gold so badly. I'll take anything ... revive the Hardcore title and give it to him. He's the guy that deserves all the prestige he can possibly get. Why? Cause he'll do wonders for these guys without having to walk out with the titles. I see the Dynasty going over in 8-10.
John: I think the Hart Dynasty will have so much fun working with Jericho because they legitimately looked up to him coming up in the business, so they'll have their working boots on for sure. I'd expect the heel team to fuck up at some point due to their big egos (maybe they collide leading to Miz stumbling into the Hart Attack finish). I like the champs to retain in about 12 minutes or so. Should be fun. Let's hope the crowd is hot for it.
David: Think this'll lead to anything feud-wise with either Jericho or Miz? Or is this purely a get-the-youngin's over match?
John: Get the youngin's over match. You have to keep Jericho & Miz both heel. I don't think they'll team together long. For now there's no story for them, so this is fine in terms of adding credibility to the champs.
David: Credibility to a title? Whoa whoa whoa, slow down there champ.
John: I know. I'm disgusted with myself.
John's Pick: The Hart Dynasty
David's Pick: The Hart Dynasty
David: Next is the future main eventer's match between Drew McIntyre and Kofi. As far as booking goes, this one has been done pretty well. I'm surprised there's this much heat built up in a match with the Intercontinental belt.
John: It's because the Drew/Hardy story is good. I am a huge Drew fan, and to those that hate him I ask what are you watching? He's got good heel charisma. The beatings he does look more real than most people in wrestling and as a result he's getting over huge. I don't think he needs the IC title long term anymore, so the booking of this match will be interesting. I can see it going either way. Convince me, buddy.
David: Kofi wins. This is the reason: Drew is starting up a feud to get him into the main event scene. The belt is no longer a necessary part to his character. He needs to start having heat for being a bad person, not just an unnecessary title holder. He'll do more dastardly (yes, I said it) things that'll make people hate him. I just don't like his smug face and hot wife. Just ... grr ... I wanna punch something right now. Where's my Hulk Hogan plush ...
John: Yeah because wrestlers that get married when they are 24 years old really last a long time as a couple. Look at all the examples. I'm also an expert in wrestlers being terrible spouses.
David: That's one step in front of Batista. That man knows how to get into long term, meaningful relationships. I'm surprised that man hasn't won a husband of the year award yet.
John: I'll save Batista comments to myself. Let's just move on. Anyway, onto the match I think Kofi's likely to win too with a possible run-in by Matt Hardy. I see Drew trying to cheat, Matt coming out to stop it and Kofi hitting Trouble in Paradise "out of nowhere" for the win. Man, imagine how annoying it could be during this match with Cole belting out "controlled frenzy" while Striker calls him the "spring loaded superstar." These things make me dislike Kofi even though I like him a lot.
David: I just hope this doesn't lead to a series of horrible matches for Kofi, Raw-style on Smackdown. I'd love to see Kofi coming out of this looking like a heel. Unfortunately, I see him coming out looking super happy just to be there. Kofi over after T.i.P.
John: I got Kofi winning after about 12-14 minutes. I'd be shocked if it's totally clean. Drew winning could happen. I guess I'm about 60/40 on the former Jafaican.
David: I can see a roll-up or something interesting. I only see Drew winning and beating down Kofi afterwards if he does. They want that rage to come out, that's how it could happen ... won't ... but could.
John's Pick: Kofi Kingston
David's Pick: Kofi Kingston
John: Next up is a stipulation match with your Chicago boy CM Punk putting his hair on the line against Rey Mysterio, who will take the SES pledge if he loses. No more tequila for Mr. 619 I guess. Anyway, this could very well be the match of the night because these two have developed great chemistry and have had multiple three star matches. To hit the four star level they need 17-20 minutes to tell a story. Will they? I don't know. The result of the match should be interesting. Each guy has one PPV win, so this is the grudge match so to speak. I'm thinking Punk wins, keeps his hair, Rey's the reluctant SES member and the feud rolls on into Summerslam where Rey will ultimately win the feud.
David: Can Rey go that long anymore? I'm surprised this feud is so hot right now, cause I thought this would be a one PPV match and over. Punk never ceases to amaze me, and as the leader of this "cult", he's just shown another part of his character that is beyond entertaining. What do I like about this match the most? Serena coming out from the back. Mmm. Anyways, I see the masked member will unveil himself here, and Punk wins.
John: Rey's supposedly healthy enough to work through the knee injury according to the Wrestling Observer (f4wonline.com for subscription rates). I think Rey's smart enough to know he's in a great storyline here just like he was with Jericho last year. If you can work through it then you do it. The masked member is of course Joey Mercury, who got fired, went to rehab for a painkiller addiction and got re-hired with the perfect tie-in to be in the SES. He'd form a nice team with Gallows long term, I think. Anyway, I pick Punk to win. Who you got?
David: Punk keeps the hair ... the last match will be Summerslam with Hair vs. Mask, with Punk walking out bald like his brethren. Mercury will be a great pop, but I think he'll be a dud long term. Lots of speculation that it's not Mercury under the mask ... think it was somebody else to throw off suspicion?
John: It's him. They could debut somebody else, but it'll be him. I'm pretty sure. I could see MVP coming out to help Rey at some point just because he's doing nothing, but Punk will ultimately win in the end. And it should be a fun match as they always have.
John's Pick: CM Punk
David's Pick: CM Punk
David: Next up is Rated RKO vs. ... eachother. Wow, this feud was hot a few years ago, but now it just seems ... blah. While these are two great performers, the build up between these two has been quite lackluster, although I will say that the match between Edge and Christian made this non-Canadian a happy one.
John: The problem with this match is the winner is irrelevant because they'll both be in the Fatal Four Way title match in June (along with Cena and Sheamus). So really, what's the point? I know I'm thinking ahead, but it's not like this is going to be a one off match with these guys. Prior to Monday I wasn't sure who would win. Now I have to go with Orton simply because Edge got the edge (pun intended) on the last Raw and my theory of "beat up on TV, win on PPV" has been in place for a decade now. I use it. I don't know if it's always right, but I will use it here in predicting a victory for the Randy boy.
David: See John, this makes sense to me. The match? Hell no. The reason you're not on the Raw creative team. With all your fans out there signing that petition, I'm sure somebody at WWE Corp looked at your blog, and saw that one huge flaw in your resume: You remember things. We're not supposed to remember TV just a week before the event. They'll recap what they need you to know before the match, and that'll suffice.
John: I know I'm at fault for remembering stuff. I don't think the winner matters a whole lot, but I'm going Orton in a 15 minute match clean with the RKO. They should keep his momentum going. Edge can afford to lose, doesn't really hurt him. It'd be stupid to have Orton lose, which he did last month to Swagger by the way.
David: You just made my choice, I've got Edge winning in some dirty way. It'll put him over as the bad guy, which people aren't sure why we're supposed to believe, and Randy as the good guy, who we'll just understand since he just got cheated out of a match. It won't go more than 12 though, I just see a lot more of the filler this PPV than usual.
John: Well it's nice to disagree, I guess. In my booking I'd have Randy go over. He's the babyface you want to push in the future. He shouldn't lose. That's how I roll.
David: My WWE creative won't let me down ... The logical is STUPID~!
John's Pick: Randy Orton
David's Pick: Edge
John: It's World Heavyweight Title time with Jack Swagger defending against Big Show. I think the build for the match has been decent with Swagger bragging about his accomplishments while Big Show's transition to babyface has been decent. I just don't know what kind of match they'll have. It kind of reminds of Lesnar/Show, but Jack's not as good as Lesnar was. I miss Brock.
David: I don't miss Brock as much as I miss Dawn Marie, but that's neither here nor there. What I am unsure of going into this match, is whether or not Show can put over a guy like Jericho or Michaels could. Show's good, but mostly in Tag scenarios or against established talent. These seems more like a speedbump in Swagger's career, but I understand why they give him a B-level feud to start out with ... more to hone the craft and build up his new character with little pressure. Can't see any way that Show pins him here without bursting out laughing.
John: Yeah there's no way that Big Show wins here. He's there to put Jack over, to have the announcers gush over how great Jack is that he beat an established top guy and to move on to the next one. I just wish they booked Jack better on TV. He loses far too much.
David: I think he wrestles far too much on TV. You've struck this note in the past, but why are people going to pay to see something they see night in and night out? I understand when the ratings wars were going on, but TNA is a distant second now, so things can get softened down a bit. These main eventers need to promote the PPV's and have squash matches, while the mid-lower card talent shows off in the ring to get that main event status. Simple formula that worked for years before, and has gotten lost in the shuffle.
John: That's fine with me, just don't book him to lose as much as they do. Anyway, Swagger wins in about 10 minutes. You shouldn't book a Big Show singles much that's longer than that.
David: but they will. I bet Swagger attempts many pump-handles, but can't lift Show cause of his weight ... then finally hits it. I see it going 14 with a good 5 of it being staredowns.
John: A Big Show singles match going 14 minutes without a stipulation is like an Ironman. I don’t see it being that long.
John's Pick: Jack Swagger
David's Pick: Jack Swagger
David: Okay, we've got Batista vs. Cena in a "somebody pays attention to TNA so we must change the stipulation" I Quit Match. The thing that baffles me here is why they went with the I Quit stipulation. Does anybody in the world believe that Cena will say those two words? Does WWE Corp want their star to say those words? Sure, I'd be shocked if he said them, which would be a huge plus for all those smarks in the world, but let's be realistic. This match is going down one of two ways: Batista winning, or Cena being knocked out. Kinda like when Mankind had the recording played by the Rock (history kids), it's just not possible to believe it'll happen any other way.
John: I think it's hilarious how WWE only mentions Extreme Rules when Cena won via duct tape on Batista's feet, yet they don't mention WrestleMania where Batista tapped out clean. They act as if Cena barely beat him last month, which I guess is true, but what about the month before? I know I know, I'm thinking again. Shame on me. Also, if anybody thinks Batista is winning this match they are clearly out of their mind. There's a better chance of Mark Henry beating Usain Bolt in the 100 metres at this point.
David: But Joooooohnnnn .. nobody at WWE knows the TRUE facts about what's going on with Big Granddaddy Cool. They've been kept in the dark about this one, it's a big secret.
John: Yeah well he's probably not around after the PPV. You know what else needs to be talked about? These guys are pretty good at working together. They are better than Cena/Orton or Orton/Batista matches as far as I'm concerned. They can hit the four star level because they'll have a twenty minute brawl with good bumps. They're both underrated as workers, really.
David: They really bring out the best in eachother, and I can't put my finger on why. Both guys have similar offense, and neither is particularly good at carrying somebody else. Maybe it's just because they both came up together, and it's that one-ups-manship that keeps these two going at such a high pace. Look for Cena to win after a good 16-20 minute match.
John: Yep, Cena wins after 20 minutes or so to end the show. Attitude Adjustment off the stage or something. Maybe off a car since they have the car theme for this PPV in Detroit.
David: Maybe they'll light it on fire a la JBL in their street fight they had ... wait, there I go remembering stuff now, fuck. It's contagious.
John's Pick: John Cena
David's Pick: John Cena
FINAL THOUGHTS
David: In the end, this sandwich has a lot of good ingredients, but just is going to come out tasting bad. On paper, the matchups are a good mix of stuff we've seen and stuff we've wanted. Unfortunately, the stuff leading up to this has been a mix of great and bad. Look for the youth on this card to rise to the top, and the old to settle into the expected. I wanted this one to be really good for some reason, and I think it's because this is the lesser known Road to Summerslam, where we see how the second half of the year is going to break down. Unfortunately, with a couple exceptions, we're just a tad bit off from the direction the WWE was heading with Wrestlemania. We went from a great card, to a mediocre one with crap we've seen before. Hopefully some of the blow-offs of these feuds will lead to better ones with others, but I don't see that happening. Maybe WWE can land Betty White, and she'll fix all.
John: I think it's a fairly predictable PPV (Dave and I disagree on only one match) that isn't going to do very good in the buyrate numbers. Doing Cena/Batista for three straight months isn't going to draw up that much interest while Big Show's not a great opponent for Swagger. The undercard matches should be pretty good as far as being able to hit the three star level if they get time, but I don't think this is the most interesting PPV or anything like that. It's typical WWE, though. The months from April to July are usually pretty slow in terms of excitement. That's just how it is.
THE BIG FINISH
Note: This is blatantly stolen from Pardon the Interruption. We love that show. Consider it an honor.
John: Q1. The best match on this PPV will be...
David: Drew-Kofi ... more of a gut feeling than anything else
John: Really that'd be like 4th for me! Mysterio vs. Punk although it could be ruined by overbooking. It should have a lot of heat. I think Batista/Cena and tag titles are better too.
David: Q2. Biggest pop goes to ...
John: Biggest pop is probably Orton. People are tiring of Cena.
David: Yeah, I agree with Orton, I just wish Edge was more heel to really push the boos, but his turn is too fresh.
John: Q3. Any Bryan Danielson sighting on the PPV?
David: I say no, only because Vince will hear about the promo he cut and not be happy that they let him do it
John: Ha don't wake Vince up. I don't think he'll be there either.
David: Q4. Feud we want more of after this PPV ...
John: I think Punk/Rey is great and I know it's continuing, so I'll say Hart Dynasty vs. Jericho/Miz for another month would be good.
David: I agree, although if Matt Hardy wasn't around, I'd love to see where Drew/Kofi would lead.
John: Q5. Is this the last PPV where we see Batista for at least 2010?
David: Hard one to pick, but I'm saying yes. With the loss of Michaels and him, they really need to step up their game with main eventers with HHH and Taker on Summer leave. Won't be room this year if he decides to come back.
John: I think he just wants a break. He'll be back by year's end.
David: Q6. Throw another match in, who makes a bonus match you add in?
John: Christian should be on every PPV and it's a damn shame that he's not. I'd throw Christian vs. Ziggler out there. He can help Dolph.
David: I'm sticking with Christian, but throwing him in a tag with MVP against Ziggler and Rhodes. Just seems like it'd be a fun one.
John: BONUS Q: Lost finale on Sunday night. It's all a dream, right?
David: I hope so. But Sawyer will die on the island before anybody wakes up. Count on it.
John: Me and Kate on an island, that's one of my dreams. Seriously, I'm so excited for this finale. Do not fuck with me on Sunday night. I need to concentrate. And Kate, I'll miss you.
David: You and your short brunettes.
John: Yes, I like a couple of them at least.
We will not have a live recap of Over The Limit on thejohnreport.net on Sunday because frankly all of us are watching Lost. The good news is Monday's a holiday in Canada (Victoria Day), so I might be able to watch it hungover and write some kind of quick recap Monday before Raw.
Dave and I will be back previewing next month's Fatal Fourway PPV. Enjoy Over The Limit.
Thanks for reading,
John Canton Twitter.com/johnreport
David K. Twitter.com/DaveTheAwesome
