The Insanity Staff Previews:
NO MERCY
No Mercy airs this
Sunday on Pay-Per-View. Join us on WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
for ongoing results as the show airs.
Main Event: Batista
(C) v Eddie Guerrero
Paul O’Brien: Eddie
should take the belt here, but he won’t. Although
his arms are huge now so that should give me a chance.
Look for Eddie to carry Batista in his best match since
leaving his Sugar Daddy HHH.
Mallory Mahling: Two of my favorites
here and I’d be happy to see either one of them
win. But looking at the big picture, Batista retaining
makes the most sense.
Matt Aponte: Does Eddie win? Should
he win? Do I want him to win? All compelling questions.
The answer to all three is a resounding no. Eddie does
not win. Nor does he lose cleanly. I smell screw job DQ
finish. No he shouldn't win. As poorly as Batista’s
reign has been booked, he still has potential to be a
future star. They can salvage his horrendous title reign
and they definitely need to keep the belt around him until
Orton is ready to take it back. And no, I don’t
want Eddie to win. As much as I like him, he just isn’t
ready to run with the ball again.
Dan Crocker: I’m going to go out
on a limb here and say that Eddie lies, cheats and steals
his way into winning. That way, we can have Benoit v Guerrero
at Wrestlemania. Hey, I can dream can’t I?
Zah: Batista is being protected both
in and out of the ring thus far to perfection. He is super-over
as champion and isn't being shown as dumb in any way.
Eddie should be able to grab a ***+ match out of Batista
if played right. I don't think the storyline thus far
makes Eddie hot enough to take the belt at this point.
Batista retains.
James Guttman: Batista is the obvious
choice. Then again, it seems like WWE hates Smackdown
lately, so they could always just put the strap on Jillian
Hall or something.
Handicap Match:
Undertaker v Randy & Bob Orton
Paul: I think who ever
watches this is handicapped.
Mallory: Again? How many times do we
have to see this one? This is a pretty uninspired feud
and it’s way past time to move on.
Matt: Isn’t Taker like undefeated
in handicapped matches? Isn’t Taker like undefeated
against Orton? Isn’t Taker played out? My bet, Taker
wins, goes on to eventually feud with Batista and get
his last title run. Sure Orton should win here and be
the person to take the belt from Batista but come on,
Taker does what he wants and if Vince McMahon had another
daughter, Mark would be married to her.
Dan: Look for Foley and Piper…or
don’t look for Foley and Piper, I can’t tell
you what to do.
Zah: If WWE turns around and finally
lets the heels win a 2-on-1 handicap match (on PPV no
less) I'll sh*t myself. Cena's been winning 2-on-1 matches
for months now and as much as Orton should go over 'Taker,
I just can't see it happening. Interference possibly from
Piper and/or Foley and a 'Taker victory.
James: At least this one now has some
sort of meaning following Monday's attack on Piper and
Foley. It'll be nice if they mix up the formula and allow
the heels to win for a change. I'm going with Undertaker
because he isn't a big fan of losing.
US Title Match: Chris
Benoit v Booker T v Christian v Orlando Jordan
Paul: Logic tells you that OJ should
pin Benoit clean. Logic, unfortunately doesn’t reside
in WWE so Booker T wins and turns.
Mallory: *Tossing coin* My pick is Benoit.
Matt: Benoit. No explanation needed to
be given. He is Benoit and hasn’t feuded with anyone
else since winning the belt.
Dan: Benoit retains proving once again
he’s one tough SOB. I mean, he has a missing tooth.
That automatically makes him tough, right?
Zah: As much as I'd love to see Christian
with some gold around his waist, I think Benoit will get
to keep it for awhile longer. Could be a sleeper match.
James: This is going to be a pretty
good match. Sadly, it's another case of WWE throwing people
into one match in order to get them on the show. There's
little to this, which is sad because all the guys involved
can do some good work. Who knows? Maybe WWE is going to
start focusing on US Title picture soon! You know, just
like they're going to start focusing on the tag division...and
the women's division...and Matt Hardy....
Rey Mysterio v JBL
Paul: It’ll be interesting
to see if Rey can match JBL’s Cork Screw Plancha.
Having established himself as the best talker on Smackdown
and having had a string of good matches on PPV recently,
I think that pressure might be on Rey in this one. His
feud with Eddie never really clicked in the ring and Mysterio
obviously wants to mix it up where the money is, the Heavyweight
Division. Rey wins to continue the feud.
Mallory: There is a wee bit of a size
difference here. Will JBL go for the "Lawn Dart"
move made famous by Big Daddy Diesel to take the win?
Or will a wily Mysterio outwit JBL? My pick is Rey.
Matt: JBL gets the win here. I can’t
see him losing to a cruiserweight more than once. And
as much as Rey should be in the heavyweight division and
get a reasonable push, it isn’t going to happen.
Stop fooling yourselves. It isn’t going to happen.
Dan: I have to agree with Paul on this
one.
Zah: This is a match that will go a
LONG way in deciding whether or not Rey Rey is truly ready
to be a main-event wrestler worthy of a legit title run.
There are rumors of Rey winning the Rumble and taking
a run at the title at Mania...but if he can't pull a good-to-great
match out of JBL then maybe those plans will change. In
this match, though, JBL gets his win back.
James: I give this to JBL simply because
the guy can't afford too many more losses. His entire
character was built on his sudden spurt of victories.
While I think Rey Mysterio is a great talent and has more
potential for a top run than anyone else on Smackdown,
he can afford to lost this one and still bounce back quickly.
John I'm not so sure about.
LOD & Christy Hemme
v MNM
Paul: I, like most men,
can only hope a booby flops out in this one. And not Animal’s
either. MNM are slowly being choked by WWE. LOD are a
huge embarrassment to themselves and Christy Hemme may
only be eclipsed in hotness by Melina. MNM wins, cause
it’s their turn again.
Mallory: An epic battle, to be sure.
I’m kidding. I’ll pick MNM—for no particular
reason.
Matt: Why is this on the card? Next
question please.
Dan: There’s still a tag team
division. Ok, let me flip a quarter. MNM wins! My magic
8 ball says so.
Zah: Skittles versus MNM? I coined the
term for Heidenreich & Animal until they lose the
belts back to MNM. I simply REFUSE to call them LOD anything.
This has absolutely GOT to be the end of the run for these
f*ckin' douchebags. MNM need to be champs...end of story.
James: I'd say that MNM should be pushed
harder, but considering that all the Tough Enough people
got fired, I'd say that Johnny Nitro should just thank
God that he has a paycheck. By the way, with the additions
of Hemme and Heidenreich to LOD, that moves Rocco the
Dummy to #3 on the "Worst Members of the Road Warriors"
List.
Simon Dean v Bobby Lashley
Paul: Dean will do everything
he can to protect Lashley, make him look like a start
and lay down flat for three seconds. For that, he can
expect to be let go in the next round of cuts. Lashley
wins impressively.
Mallory: Poor Simon Dean. I have to
agree with Paul here about that next round of cuts. Maybe
Lashley’s gimmick will work better than Nova’s.
Maybe it won’t. Only time (and enough guys putting
him over) will tell.
Matt: A no brainer here. Even though
I haven’t seen Smackdown since it moved to Friday
due to Yankee baseball here in the Bronx, I hear Lashley
is good and is supposed to be "The Next Big Thing".
Simon Dean, not so much.
Dan: Lashley squashes Dean. Maybe we’ll
get to see a bit more from him, however
Zah: Guess who's in the beginning stages
of a big-time push? The only test here will be whether
or not Lashley knows how to sell anything
James: Simon Says: OUCH!
Bob Holly v Ken Kennedy
Paul: Only Kennedy and
Lashley(with the exception of Bob Orton) are worth watching
Smackdown every week for. Kennedy obviously likes the
mic but he can bump well and knows his way around a (short?)
match too. Hardcore, of course, will act the prick and
lay into him to see if he’s "got it."
It amazing to him that they send out the ones who obviously
don’t "got it" to see if someone knew
does. Kennedy has to win here.
Mallory: Why is this one even on PPV?
I’m picking Kennedy. Why? Just because I’d
like to see Holly get his ass kicked.
Matt: Really? Someone thought that people
would pay to see Bob Holly on Pay Per View? Meanwhile
Paul London, Spanky, Nunzio, etc are watching from home?
Wow. I go with Kennedy.
Dan: Kennedy wins and afterwards he
and Holly bleach each other’s hair.
Zah: Guess who's in the middle stages
of a big-time push? MR. KENNEDY.......................................................Kennedy...........
James: Ken Kennedy has it all right
now. He's the breakout star of Smackdown. To predict anything
but victory for him would be ridiculous....ridiculous.
