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Rogue Report: Night of Champions Preview |
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ROGUE REPORT:Night Of Champions Preview By: Ronin BlackKnight The Draft may be completed, but the story won't be truly over until this Sunday, when Night of Champions reveals where the various belts will finally reside. In this edition of the Rogue Report, I'm going to share my take on the card.
Paul Burchill can't get a break. His best gimmick was prematurely killed off, (some say made to “walk the plank”,) and Paul has never really recovered. Katie Lea appeared and suddenly people had a reason to look in Paul's direction again. But as before, the gimmick was never given enough time to develop,; Katie Lea moved on to singles competition, and with Mr. Kennedy being drafted to SmackDown, his feud dies as well. Paul Burchill, we hardly knew ye...
It should be noted that this match is not yet officially listed yet on the WWE.com Night Of Champions page, which is weird because the pay-per-view is two days away as of this writing. This leads me to believe that either something is going to happen to change the card, (something akin to the SmackDown belt that never left the velvet bag, during the Draft a few years back) or that WWE Creative is just making it up as we go along, (further evidence to follow presently).
ECW really took it in the shorts in this draft, and those of us who remember the “good old days” are constantly reminded that the ECW will never return to a “world” title footing alongside RAW and SmackDown. The draft only makes sense when you realize that ECW is either a stepping stone from FCW to the big leagues, (such as Kofi Kingston,) or a career rehab for older superstars who need a makeover.
The Irish Combo Meal was drafted to SmackDown, giving the SciFi network further justification of ECW's presence on their network by having another little mutant on their show, (besides Mike Adamle.)
No match on this card has fueled more speculation than the question ”Who's Ted DiBiase gonna pick?” There have been three lines of speculation. First, that he'd grab a monster such as Umaga or Khali to destroy Rhodes. Secondly, that he'd select a second-generation star like himself such as DH Smith, (though Smith's Supplemental Draft move to SmackDown places that guess in jeopardy) Thirdly, the possibility exists that Rhodes himself will swerve on Holly, and form a team with DiBiase. My guess? I'm placing my FantaEuros on the “son of a bulldog” that DiBiase blurted out at a fan event, but I'm not betting the mortgage...
Pound for pound the biggest match on the card... ah who am I kidding? When Kane was drafted to RAW, the first thing through my mind was “How are they gonna get themselves out of this one?” Sure, we expect the World and WWE titles to swap back and forth, but the ECW title is supposed to stay with the brand, at least that's what we were led to believe last year when Lashley was stripped of the ECW title. Ah, but any self-respecting smart mark knows that WWE is consistently inconsistent. So the ECW title has to go back to ECW. That's easy, that means Big Show will win it back at NOC, right? Uh, no. Big Show is a SmackDown guy. So no one from ECW is gonna compete for the ECW title at NOC? That just won't work. Enter Mark Henry to save the day, (and I never thought I'd say that.) Since he already called dibs on the NOC winner, we'll just shuffle Henry to ECW, and add him to the card... Remember when I said that WWE was making this up as they went along? I sure hope they are, because if this was planned out this way, then some people at WWE Creative should have been drafted out...
I'm sure most of you know already that this match was originally supposed to be Undertaker vs. Edge. Undertaker urgently needed to have some time off, (which raised the suspicions of everyone who remembers what happened this time last year,) and he was written out of the storyline in the most over-used gimmick of Ol' Widow Guererro's tenure as General Manager. So Batista was asked to step up, even though he had also asked for time off. Seniority has its privileges, I guess. I predict an Edge victory coupled with a Batista “injury” angle, and a little bonus at the pay winda' for Dave Batista for hanging on a little while longer to take his time off.
I'm honestly not really excited either way about this match. Both men are both loved and hated. You can't really tell which one of these guys is supposed to be the heel or the face. And in all honesty, the ir feud has pretty much boiled down to “This show ain't big enough for the both of us, (and our egos.)” Before the draft, I would have been happy with either one of these guys winning the belt. After the draft, I'm giving the preference to Cena just because I believe that the WWE will have each brand with a championship by the end of the night, and I don't see them positioning for a title unification program anytime soon. Besides, the spinner belt looks goofy on anybody but Cena.
This has been a very confusing and chaotic month to be a pro-wrestling fan. First, you have the “Million Dollar Mania,” which probably sounded wonderful in concept, but was painfully awkward in its execution, and it smelled too much like Vince was just trying to buy fans. Secondly, you have the Draft, great way to shake things up, but having the giveaway occurring at the same time was too confusing. Add to this mix the Night Of Champions pay-per-view, where every title has to be defended, and put it one week after your draft so that no one knows for sure what title is gonna end up where... and you have a perfect storm of chaos. Any of these gimmicks would be strong on their own. Jumbled together though, was a giant mess.
Until next time, this is Ronin BlackKnight. Have a great day. Views: 1,573 
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COMMENTS |
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Comment # 1
I don't buy ppv cause they are waste of money but this isn't going to be better then ONS.
Posted by I don't watch on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 2
I'm just wondering what's going on to the intercontinental title match, because right now there isn't one, and shafting out one title is going to raise eyebrows.
Posted by Gravedigger on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 3
You're absolutely right, I completely skipped the IC title, that's partly my bad, and partly the WWE's bad, because like the Diva's title it wasn;t listed on the website. It seemed like they were aiming for Y2Jerk versus HBK, but with Michaels' "eye injury," that seems to be stalling out. I'm going to see what happens to scramble together a match at the last second.
Posted by RoninBlackKnight on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 4
Good article looking forward to reading your next one.
Posted by The Mongolian Warrior on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 5
Hey, my former tag partner got a spot. Welcome aboard the list of things I read, amigo.
Conventional wisdom would have her face Michelle McCool, given Natalya's “scouting,â€
I'm not reading the end of that sentence. I had McCool down the week Vickie said she would choose.
he's now gonna have the chance to be the big fish in a little pond.
Something tells me you're completely missing Bam Nealy throughtout this preview. Completely. He's always at ringside for Chavo. Always. Little pond is a severe understatement. And this is coming from a guy who never watched the old days of ECW.
I'm placing my FantaEuros on the “son of a bulldog†that DiBiase blurted out at a fan event, but I'm not betting the mortgage...
I'll bet my mortage and supporter status for a year on this. I had this down 3 WEEKS AGO. 3, count them, weeks ago when he announced he was gonna find a partner. And you all shook me off, and now belive it was your idea.
Pound for pound the biggest match on the card... ah who am I kidding?
I've heard that joke about thirty times this week.
Good call on an injury angle.
And in all honesty, the ir feud has pretty much boiled down to “This show ain't big enough for the both of us, (and our egos.)â€
Pretty much. They call this 'personal.' Personal is the term thrown away looser around WWE than monster. It's personal now, Cena made it personal, it's personal, it's a bunch of baloney. Cena's gonna win, moving on.
We do not need yet another McMahon near-death angle after what happened the last time he tried this.
I liked last time. I actually believed last time. Call me stupid if you must, but I actually belived it. Maybe that's because I had to sit through a bell ringing two times for him LIVE and TELEVISIED. I was in the Center for ECW and Smackdown that week. Only a little less annoying than Regal saying "All Hail King Booker". If you walk up to me on the streets and say that to me, I will slap you.
Overall, I just want to see what you do with your next article.
-TPP
Posted by The Philadelpha Phighter on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 6
YEP PROPS ON THE ARTICLE IT WAS RATHER ENJOYABLE. true too about burchill. why dont wwe just put in another ledgend on commentary and get rid of adamle
Posted by azuzu rules on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 7
hello
Posted by rj on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 8
Its acually B.F.F.L
E R O I
S I R F
T E E
N
D
lol
Posted by King DX on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 9
with the draft results i think this might happen, maria goes against Natalya and wins, i could alos see mccool but if you think diva and she was getting a little push on raw not much but enough to put her above mccool the only diva i would book in the match is maria lets see if im right
Posted by crazy dude on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 10
should be retitled Night of Crap. The card is dull dull dull and reflects the poor state of affirs at the WWE right now.
Even the roster draft makes little sense, surely you have the draft and THEN the PPV to decide titles?
WWE are struggling to hold fans interest. True Raw scored great ratings last week, but the Sky TV viewing figures are FALLING here in the UK. The million dollar give aways are pointless for anyone outside of the US, even Canadians can't enter so why should we in the UK want to watch it?
And now a new 'is Vince dead' angle, oh please spare us.
TNA be brave, go against Raw on a Monday night. Not just now, just give WWE another chance to dig themselves into a deeper hole and then go for it. That would be the kick up the ass that WWE need. Sack the writers too, they suck. Edge and Vicki booring and more than a tad nauseating. Sorry but WWE as a product makes me despair. I attended a show by Pro Wrestling Noah here in the UK and in the three hours plus, we saw matches that dumped over anything we have seen in the way of quality from the WWE in the past few weeks, no scratch that months.
WWE is in trouble. Keep this standard going and come the end of '08 I can see them being on life support....
Posted by night of champions on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 11
In the UK i get every one in two PPVs for free unfortunatley this isnt one. Mysterious personally i think this look to be a very good pay per view. But i think make all divas interbrandual (on every brand) would help very much
Posted by the mysterious one on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 12
nice article..go cena!!!
Posted by cenas#1fan96 on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 13
I hadn't considered the possibility of a belt merger. I don't think the Big Show has been back long enough for that, so my personal picks for winning stand for me.
winners:
HHH
Batista
Mark Henry
Matt Hardy
Mickie James
Ted Dibiase Jr & ???
Y2J
I'm not calling the Miz/Morrison Vs. The Finlays.
Posted by Big Bad Wolf on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 14
Number 10 is part right WWE hasn't been doing well in the stock market latley, so much for the expected increase.
Posted by Undead James on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 15
I like ur report keep up the good work.
Posted by Jose Cena on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 16
I would like to see Batista and Triple H win/keep their titles switching the title locations for a while. And to have the chaos go on for a while longer - have KANE keep his title. Use the vacume of the missing title cause ECW to use desperate measures to get it back.
Posted by Blue Knight on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 17
itz a gd report but not show it should be hardy HHH coz theyre both on smackdown triple h knew he was gettin drafted by da way.
Posted by irish badass on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 18
yo man the draft realy was a storm of chaos and i think your predictions are quite real.nice job.keep going;)
I live in Romania and this takes all my time:((
Posted by the wolf92 on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 19
HHH
Edge
Big Show
Matt Hardy
Mickie James
Natalya
Dibiase & ???
Y2J
Finlays
All 3 brand's titles go to Smackdown, creating further confusion until it is all straightened out at the next PPV.
Posted by daddy on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 20
My Predictions (If anyone cares ha)
Edge
Cena
Miz and Morrison
DiBiase + ?
Jericho
Mickie
Natalya
Big Show
Matt Hardy
Posted by Curtis Kash on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 21
WWE has been lame for the last couple years now. John Cena is over used how many times do we have to watch the same old song and dance he's done day in day out. I want to see some more under used talent like matt hardy, jeff hardy, rey rey get some chances at the big gold.
Posted by Zack Morris on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Comment # 22
I personally think Ted Jr. Is going to pick Joe Hennig. Yes Jr. Perfect is going to team with with Jr. Money. That's my opinion.
Posted by Ranger on Monday, June 30, 2008
Comment # 23
finlay&hornswoggle hardcoreholly&codyrhodes matthardy &mabye for the intercontintal hbk&mysterio vs. cade&y2j hbk&mysterio markhenry edge cena but now who i want to win hornswoggle&finlay worldtagteam dont care matthardy hbk&mysterio ecwchampion dont care batista hhh
Posted by fartface on Monday, June 30, 2008
Comment # 24
missed 2 kellykelly mickiejames
Posted by fartface on Monday, June 30, 2008
Comment # 25
No title for Raw - who saw that coming? Smackdown has both the WWE and the WHT, ECW keeps theirs, and Raw is in the cold.
Posted by Blue Knight on Monday, June 30, 2008
Comment # 26
If John cena win the wwe championship then better Lor.
Now maybe he fight for interconental match.
Surely win.
Posted by MR ICE KING on Monday, June 30, 2008
Comment # 27
BOORRIINNGG!!
Posted by Boring on Monday, June 30, 2008
Comment # 28
ep demais
Posted by joao cleiton marques on Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Comment # 29
The Philadelpha Phighter you owe him a year
Posted by Zephon on Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Comment # 30
Why the heck did you underrate NOC so low? The official rating for it was a very high 4.5 by the way. Regardless of what you think, me and many others think it rwas great, just like ONS
Posted by dabest on Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Comment # 31
Okay, I was in the Navy and out to sea last year, what was the deal with the Undertaker this time last year?
Posted by DonTommy on Saturday, July 19, 2008
