My World: April 29th

Posted in In My Head by Jack at 04:05, Apr 29 2006

By Justin Bailey

The combination of Team USA is impressing me. There?s a nice array of innovative moves coming from the team of Alex Shelley, Sonjay Dutt, and Jay Lethal. I?m interested to see how the World X Cup transpires as it is now underway. It?s too early to pick a winner as we have yet to see Team Canada and Team Mexico in action, which I am glad to see Team Canada?s Johnny Devine returning.

Speaking of returns, it?s great to see the return of Low-Ki, who is now known as Senshi. Him and Christopher Daniels had a nice bout at Lockdown, and I?m curious to see what the former X-Division Champion does in his return to TNA. I was thinking that him and Daniels would develop into a feud, but I?m not so sure now that "The Fallen Angel" and AJ Styles are challenging America?s Most Wanted for the World Tag Team Titles next week.

I suspected Team 3D to go back after AMW for the one set of Tag Titles they have yet to win, but there?s no answer to that yet with the Tag Title Match next week, along with Team 3D not on the show this week. There?s really nothing else I can see Team 3D doing after ending their feud with Team Canada now.

Props goes out to Sabu for wrestling at Lockdown despite having a broken arm. There?s no one quite like Sabu in the wrestling business. The match was short, but you have to respect the effort put forth by him. As reported earlier this week, he now is expected to sign with WWE with their revival of ECW as a brand this summer. As far as Samoa Joe goes, I?m not sure who will stop him. The only thing I can see happening as far as his streak goes is he gets screwed on a decision and some kind of outside interference in a match causes his streak to be over, but time will tell there.

With the not-so-eventful arm wrestling contest between Konnan and "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, hopefully, this can lead to a tag team match between The James Gang and LAX, and that feud can come to a conclusion as it?s been going on for several months and doesn?t draw much interest from what I can tell. Besides, Homocide and Hernandez have much talent they showcase in a better way.

I like how it?s going to be Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner in a tag team match at Sacrifice against Sting and his yet-to-be-named partner. I say that because it keeps Jarrett, Steiner, and Sting out of the World Heavyweight Title picture. The younger and upcoming talent are staying in the spotlight, which is always a big plus.

Now, we?re going to be seeing what I believe will be the second-ever Full Metal Mayhem Match in TNA with Christian vs. Abyss at Sacrifice for the NWA World Heavyweight Title. I knew they were going to have a rematch after the way their match ended at Lockdown, which was about as good of a match those two could have had against each other. I?m suspsecting Christian to still go over here and he get get the title back in his posession. But, the last two years, we have seen the King of The Mountain Match in June. I am wondering if there will be a third edition of that match at Slammiversary in June. I was thinking that Christian would retain the title at Sacrifice, but Abyss could win it in a King of The Mountain Match at Slammiversary, granted they do indeed book that. It?s just a bit of fantasy booker on my part, but seems logical to me at least. We?ll see how it all plays out.

They are really pushing JBL as the super heel U.S. Champion. Yet, I do like it and a while back knew that if he was ever given the title, he?d make for a great heel U.S. Champ. The key element is how he is so pro-American, when at the same time, everyone hates him. It was nice to see William Regal back in one-on-one action as he wrestled JBL for the title this week. He would make a good U.S. Champion, but I don?t see him being champion anytime in the near future.

Why are they trying to push Tatanka? Like I said before, I liked him ten years ago, but not many people are into him anymore. He would have made a good Intercontinental Champion in the past, but not now.

As much as I put Paul London and Brian Kendrick over each week in their feud with MNM, one thing I will say is WWE needs to in some way let London and Kendrick explain what their real gimmick is as far as wearing the masks to the ring and such. Also, with them and Super Crazy picking up the win this week over MNM and Gregory Helms, it just have a sneaking suspicion that it will all lead to MNM retaining the Tag Team Titles when they eventually have their rematch for the title.

With Jillian Hall on tv this having her dispute with Melina, we know she?s not headed anywhere off tv. At least, that?s what I assume considering WWE does make spontaneous decisions at times. I am curious to see what she does or who she may manage.

This week, it?ll be Chris Benoit vs. Finley in the last First Round Match of the King of The Ring tournament. I want to say that I expect Benoit to go over here, but both have been involved with the Booker T/Gunner Scott program after this week. Also, you could get a rematch with Finley and Lashley in the Semi-Finals, which was a feud that never really had an ending to it, so I?ll go with Finley pulling out the win here, after pulling out some kind of cheap victory, or possibly help from Booker.

The good news is Bobby Lashley advances in the King of The Ring tournament. The bad news is how weak of a win it was over Mark Henry. They need to really make him look unstoppable, and somehow, he needed a pinfall victory over Mark Henry. Having Henry be dumped out of the ring to be counted out wasn?t that impressive. I know they did that to try to keep Henry strong, but it?s not like many people want to even see him anyways. There was a collective groan when he returned in January, and it has been about the same feeling since. Granted, he is very powerful and has an impressive frame, but in-ring he?s pretty limited. His contract runs up in the summer, and I say they just not resign him. He has been in WWE for ten years, and he?s been European Champion for one month and been involved in two WrestleMania?s (14 and 22), one of which was a battle royal. Now, he?s back in the main event picture after attacking Kurt Angle, with Kurt selling broken ribs. Is it going to be Mysterio vs. Henry at Judgment Day? I sure hope not. Angle vs. Henry at the Royal Rumble was enough.

I?m not sure why Rob Van Dam got the clean pin on Shelton Benjamin in their six-man tag match this week. Rob?s got to win the match Sunday, and giving him an advantage like that leads one to believe that Shelton will be pulling off the win Sunday. It almost looked like Chris Masters was supposed to stop RVD from hitting the Five-Star Frog Splash as he got on the apron and seemed like he was about to do something.

I was afraid Trish Stratus was going to drop her side of being Mickie James after Mickie James herself quit acting like Trish. But, Trish stuck to the character, which is good, because this role reversal is good. I?m not sure if the feud will even end this Sunday, but I guess we all will see.

I was curious how John Cena, Triple H, and Edge would be booked this after having a set of three handicap matches. That turned out to be interested in facing The Spirit Squad in the first three-on-five handicap match I can ever recall. It seems like they?re slowly turning Triple H face from the past two weeks. So, we really don?t have two heels and a face exactly. If you really look at it, we have Cena as a mixed face, Triple H as a heel teasing a face turn, and Edge as a solid heel.

This Sunday is WWE Backlash and below I have listed every match with my predictions for each of them.

WWE Backlash predictions:

WWE Title Triple Threat Match
John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Edge
You have quite the combination of characters in this match, with all three having about na equal chance to walk out with the title. Whoever wins this match goes to ECW One Night Stand to drop it to Rob Van Dam. The plan is to have Triple H go over here if you have seen the ECW One Night Stand poster floating around. There are factors such as he?s been teasing a full blown face turn, plus Stephanie is due in the next couple months, and I?m not sure if Triple H will be around for much of the second half of the year. If Edge wins, he?d basically have another transitional run, so I am doubting him taking it. You could have Cena retain again, but they teased enough last month at Mania with everyone thinking Triple H was winning the title then. This time around, I think The King of Kings will indeed go back on his throne.

Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels/God
I?ll be glad to have this feud hopefully end here. This has dragged on for long enough, let alone the use of God in the storyline. Not much to look into here besides a possible partner or interference on Shawn?s part by Triple H so they can tease reforming DX even more. I?ll go with Shawn getting the win again and here?s to hoping we move on.

Intercontinental Title/Money In The Bank Match
Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin
Rob can?t lose the contract as it?s set in stone he?s going to One Night Stand to take the title off whoever the champion is. At the same time, Van Dam doesn?t need the IC Title, unless they want to make him the first person since The Ultimate Warrior to have both the IC Title and WWE Title at the same time. Yes, bad reference I know, but just a fact I?m putting out there. I?m going with RVD, because they have to have him go into One Night Stand strong.

The Big Show vs. Kane
Kane will get the win, so they can keep him strong with his movie coming out...MAY 19TH.

Carlito vs. Chris Masters
I?m going with Carlito, but it was Carlito doing most of the backstabbing here. I?ll still say Carlito cheating to win, but not breaking the Masterlock, so they can keep that going for Masters. I?m not sure where these two go after their feud is over. Both are future main eventers, but I see them staying in the Intercontinental Title divisions with Charlie Haas and Matt Striker, which I don?t mind. We can actually have a division hopefully for that title now.

Ric Flair vs. Umaga
It?s time for Flair to retire. I know some people want him to win the World Title for a 17th time, but I don?t see it happening. Another reason he needs to hang the boots up is because he?ll be jobbing to Umaga. So, Ric should just retire and be inducted in the Hall of Fame next year. There?s just nothing left for him to do, granted I do enjoy seeing him around still. Umaga goes over here and continues his push from here.

WWE Women?s Title Match
Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus
This will be the third Pay-Per-View match between these two, but I?m not sure if it ends here. I don?t see Mickie dropping the title right back to Trish, and at the same time, I don?t see the feud ending with Trish in a role reversal acting like Mickie. So, Mickie gets the win, and the feud continues.

I went to a local indy show last weekend for TASW-Texas All-Star Wrestling with some friends of mine. It was a pretty decent show. Highlights of the show were a Three-Way Dance for the TASW Hardcore Title, and a 15-Man Tribute Battle Royal where every wrestler involved wrestled as a past or present superstar, which was entertaining. I also talked to BLT-Bubba Lee Travis, one of TASW?s top stars. It was nice to see him as he recognized me right off the bat and brought up my column.
Well, that?s it for this week. Enjoy Backlash. See ya next week.

My World: Justin Bailey on MySpace-http://groups.myspace.com/justinbailey

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