Great American Bash Preview
Sunday night in San Jose the WWE will present The Great American Bash, a PPV that was defined by the days of the old NWA and WCW. The event over the past three years since it has become a WWE event has been downright awful. The 2004 event saw the JBL era start with a win of the WWE Championship and one of the worst gimmick matches ever as Undertaker beat the Dudley's in a handicapped match, then more or less "killed" his manager Paul Bearer as he poured cement on him in a crypt.
2005 in Buffalo saw Batista lose to JBL in the main event via DQ as he kept the title. Those two went round and round that summer in a rather slow feud that eventually saw Batista win and keep the title. Last year, again a SmackDown PPV, the start of King Booker's title reign took place as he beat Rey Mystero to win the belt when Chavo Guerrero turned on Rey, starting their never ending feud.
Which brings us to 2006, and a PPV that has all three brands on it once again, which was the switch at the start of the year. This of course is the first official PPV since the Chris Benoit tragedy, and the WWE is still playing silent, not stating Benoit's name or anything about the case on TV. Meaning that if you didn't know better, you still would think Chris Benoit never existed. Here is our official Great American Bash Preview:
MVP vs Matt Hardy for the US Championship - Hardy has been on a roll as of late, as week after week he has been gaining wins on SmackDown when it appears he was on the verge of losing. The longterm plan is for him to keep winning, but I think they throw a hiccup in here and let MVP get one over, building towards a series of matches and then a rematch at SummerSlam. These two had a solid match recently on SmackDown, so this should be okay if allowed to go 10-12 minutes.
Dusty Rhodes vs Randy Orton in a Texas Bullrope Match - The push for Orton is full steam ahead, as here he will take out yet another legend in Rhodes. Dusty cut a great promo two weeks ago on RAW, and is still one of the best in that department in the sport today. As for this actual match, I think you'll see Cody Rhodes get involved, have a few gimmicks, and in the end, Orton will find a way to win. Could we see an appearance from Cowboy Bob Orton here to even the odds when Cody comes out?
Candice vs Melina for the WWE Women's Title - These two have had a pretty decent women's feud, and I think we'll have a successful defense for Candice here. There really isn't any other solid female wrestlers on the roster but these two and Mickie, so I see Candice keeping the belt here and the two going back and forth a few more months.
Umaga vs Jeff Hardy for the IC Title - No build here, and it feels rushed, so I can see Umaga in a short match keeping the strap in getting set for the "Jackass" angle at SummerSlam. It's hard for me to buy this as well since Jeff has been beaten by Umaga more than once in the past, and he not only loses, he loses bad. Umaga basically squashed Jeff for the belt the last time, so I think he goes over here.
John Morrison vs C.M. Punk for the ECW Title - Wow, never in all my years of wrestling do I think I have ever seen a guy, midstream with a "heavyweight" title, change character. I don't really know what was wrong with Johnny Nitro, or who came up with this poor man's Edge character that is now John Morrison. To change a successful character like this with a belt in a feud seems really odd. Anyway, despite the fact Punk is the hottest star in ECW, Morrison wins here.
The Great Khali vs Kane vs Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship - Another rushed put together match, as they got the belt off an injured Edge this week and put it on..ugh...Khali. Then they rushed a match between Kane and Batista to see who would face Khali, and of course they landed at this conclusion. Khali as a World Heavyweight Champion is wrong on so many angles, I don't even know where to start. Oh well, for now, it's about one of the only choices they could make. I don't foresee a title switch here, so it'll be Khali in what will be a rather painful match to watch. Let's hope it's about 6-7 minutes.
John Cena vs Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship - At least they threw us a better curve ball here than what I thought we would be seeing - which would have been King Booker vs Cena. They have been selling the Cena vs Lashley as a huge impact match, which I think it could be a good match, but overall I fail to see how people would really get excited about this one. Lashley's push has been so force fed over the last year, people are just not into him. As for Cena, the internet world seems to be talking more and more that it's time for someone else to get the strap for awhile. That's all fine and good, but who exactly would that be? Orton? Booker? Kennedy? All in all, Cena will have to carry most of this match, which he will, and in the end I think come out a pinfall winner to build for a SummerSlam showdown with Orton.
2005 in Buffalo saw Batista lose to JBL in the main event via DQ as he kept the title. Those two went round and round that summer in a rather slow feud that eventually saw Batista win and keep the title. Last year, again a SmackDown PPV, the start of King Booker's title reign took place as he beat Rey Mystero to win the belt when Chavo Guerrero turned on Rey, starting their never ending feud.
Which brings us to 2006, and a PPV that has all three brands on it once again, which was the switch at the start of the year. This of course is the first official PPV since the Chris Benoit tragedy, and the WWE is still playing silent, not stating Benoit's name or anything about the case on TV. Meaning that if you didn't know better, you still would think Chris Benoit never existed. Here is our official Great American Bash Preview:
MVP vs Matt Hardy for the US Championship - Hardy has been on a roll as of late, as week after week he has been gaining wins on SmackDown when it appears he was on the verge of losing. The longterm plan is for him to keep winning, but I think they throw a hiccup in here and let MVP get one over, building towards a series of matches and then a rematch at SummerSlam. These two had a solid match recently on SmackDown, so this should be okay if allowed to go 10-12 minutes.
Dusty Rhodes vs Randy Orton in a Texas Bullrope Match - The push for Orton is full steam ahead, as here he will take out yet another legend in Rhodes. Dusty cut a great promo two weeks ago on RAW, and is still one of the best in that department in the sport today. As for this actual match, I think you'll see Cody Rhodes get involved, have a few gimmicks, and in the end, Orton will find a way to win. Could we see an appearance from Cowboy Bob Orton here to even the odds when Cody comes out?
Candice vs Melina for the WWE Women's Title - These two have had a pretty decent women's feud, and I think we'll have a successful defense for Candice here. There really isn't any other solid female wrestlers on the roster but these two and Mickie, so I see Candice keeping the belt here and the two going back and forth a few more months.
Umaga vs Jeff Hardy for the IC Title - No build here, and it feels rushed, so I can see Umaga in a short match keeping the strap in getting set for the "Jackass" angle at SummerSlam. It's hard for me to buy this as well since Jeff has been beaten by Umaga more than once in the past, and he not only loses, he loses bad. Umaga basically squashed Jeff for the belt the last time, so I think he goes over here.
John Morrison vs C.M. Punk for the ECW Title - Wow, never in all my years of wrestling do I think I have ever seen a guy, midstream with a "heavyweight" title, change character. I don't really know what was wrong with Johnny Nitro, or who came up with this poor man's Edge character that is now John Morrison. To change a successful character like this with a belt in a feud seems really odd. Anyway, despite the fact Punk is the hottest star in ECW, Morrison wins here.
The Great Khali vs Kane vs Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship - Another rushed put together match, as they got the belt off an injured Edge this week and put it on..ugh...Khali. Then they rushed a match between Kane and Batista to see who would face Khali, and of course they landed at this conclusion. Khali as a World Heavyweight Champion is wrong on so many angles, I don't even know where to start. Oh well, for now, it's about one of the only choices they could make. I don't foresee a title switch here, so it'll be Khali in what will be a rather painful match to watch. Let's hope it's about 6-7 minutes.
John Cena vs Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship - At least they threw us a better curve ball here than what I thought we would be seeing - which would have been King Booker vs Cena. They have been selling the Cena vs Lashley as a huge impact match, which I think it could be a good match, but overall I fail to see how people would really get excited about this one. Lashley's push has been so force fed over the last year, people are just not into him. As for Cena, the internet world seems to be talking more and more that it's time for someone else to get the strap for awhile. That's all fine and good, but who exactly would that be? Orton? Booker? Kennedy? All in all, Cena will have to carry most of this match, which he will, and in the end I think come out a pinfall winner to build for a SummerSlam showdown with Orton.
