The Crystal Ball #3: The Bash, MVP, and more!

[thepsychic]

PSYchic: Greetings all! I’m Psychic, here with the Seer, and welcome to The Crystal Ball! We see many things here at The Crystal Ball, including what the Bash holds, the deal with the Francise Playa’ MVP, and of course, the Brew will hold something quite interesting this week as well. So with out any further ado, on with the show!

Seer: The Future of the Bash. I am still not entirely interested in this PPV. I'm not sure why though. On paper there are many good matchups. Jericho and Mysterio have been putting on some great work for us, and technically Punk vs. his anthesis, Jeff Hardy has the potential to be excellent as well. So why am I hesitant to care about the BASH?

PSYchic: That's a good question Seer. I personally am quite excited about the Bash, in particular because it's the first PPV in a LONG time that is actually trying to build new talent. After all, the SD! main event doesn't include the Big Six, and the Miz and Dolph Ziggler are being given a chance to shine. However, I am quite worried that my boy Edge has been left off the card up to this point; why would the WWE leave its best active performer off of a PPV if he is healthy?

Seer: I can't help but feel like something is missing however. Maybe this is what building new talent looks like. Or maybe this is what waiting for HBK and Taker to return looks like. Nevertheless, we get what we get. Why don't you get us started PSYchic?

PSYchic: We'll start with the tag match: the Colons (aka the Butts) vs. Rhodes and DiBiase for the Unified Tag Team Titles. This will be a good starter match and will provide some quick early action. I see Rhodes and DiBiase bringing home the gold-It's long overdue that Rhodes was rewarded with a title for being as amazing as he is, not to mention Legacy has yet to have their moment where all members have a championship.

Seer:I agree with the match prediction. The Colons, although I personally am a big fan of Carlito, are unlikely to hold the titles for much longer. They are just pawns in a much larger game that has been arrainged for the Legacy team. I only have one request. Get rid of both belts. As much as I like to see the creative ways the Colons have chose to wear the belts, a unified title should be just one title, not just carrying around both belts.

PSYchic: Next, we have Melina vs. Michelle McCool for the Women's Championship. Since the WWE has decided that titles changing hands is cool, and because McCool is in good with Taker, I'm going to say that Melina drops the belt here.

Seer: Simple and to the point PSYchic. I agree. But instead of talking about this match, I don't care for Melina much, and absolutely am bored with McCool, I will instead talk about divas I actually care about. Maryse is absolutely awesome. She knows how to pander to the fans and does it in the most sexual way possible. Bravo to her. Let us hope the WWE holds on to her for a long time.

PSYchic: Personally I'm partial to Gail Kim and Mickie James, Seer, but I digress. Match 3: John Cena battles the Miz in a put-up or shut-up match. Cena is being put to the test here: can he effectively build talent? After Edge built Morrison last week on SD!, Cena has some huge shoes to fill. However, Miz has been nothing but awesome (as he says) as of late, and I expect these two men to put on one of the best matches of the night. In the end, though, Cena will triumph, as he always does at PPVs.

Seer: I cannot stress the importance of this match enough. It literally will make or break the Miz. The Miz must "win" whether or not he actually wins this match. It is very much like Morrison vs. Edge of last week fame. Although Morrison did not win the match, he "won" in the eyes of the fans and proved he can make it on the main event level. Miz must do the same against Cena or risk becoming a great nobody. This is something that the writers cannot write into the storyline. This is completely in the hands of Miz and Cena. I guess Cena will win, but after watching on Sunday, I pray that the Miz "wins".

PSYchic: Well said. Match 4 is The Great Khali vs. the growing Dolph Ziggler. This is so reminiscent of what Kennedy did to Bats a couple years back. It seems to me that WWE is recycling the heel Mr. Kennedy character with Ziggler; too bad Ziggler isn't half the performer that Kennedy was. Back then, 3rd time was a charm for Bats, so I'm gonna say it is for Khali as well. A sleeper match, but Ziggler could use the PPV experience. Khali wins here.

Seer:I am a bit confused as to why this match keeps showing up. Khali is old, slow, and boring. I get it. You don't have to keep telling me. I don't see much point to Khali beating Ziggler here because he doesn't need to win. Build the young guys. They are the future. Oh well. Khali wins.

PSYchic: Match 5 will likely be the match of the night: Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio in a Mask vs. Title match. These two have had a wonderful feud this year, possibly the best next to Michaels/Taker before WM25. No matter how I look at this, though, I don't see Mysterio losing his mask. Mysterio wins.

Seer: Just expect great things. Every time these 2 have faced off, they have given us our mouths in our laps. (That is Jaw Dropping, if any of you didn't get that). Jericho has shown he is one of the best in a meaningful feud that people care about and he has no problem losing to someone he respects as much as Mysterio. Give the strap back to the Master of the 619.

PSYchic: Match 6 is the return of the Scramble match for the ECW championship! The competitors are likely the 5 best for the job from ECW: Dreamer, Christian, Swagger, Finlay and Henry. The Seer and I actually had the privilege of attending Unforgiven in Cleveland last year, and we enjoyed the scrambles, but we agreed that 3 in one night is simply too many. Looks like the WWE wisened up to that fact. But as to this match in particular, the winner cannot really be seen clearly. Since the challengers seem to be the ones who have been being built, I'm betting on the champion, Dreamer.

Seer: The Scramble is indeed an interesting match concept as long as it is done in moderation. I don't think Dreamer will retain, especially in a Scramble he can drop the belt without looking bad. I must admit to not watching much of ECW lately, so I don't have a lot to base this prediction on. I guess I go on a limb and say give it back to Swagger.

PSYchic: Match 7 is the other likely candidate for match of the night: SD!'s main event, Punk vs. Hardy for the 'Heavyweight Championship of the World', as JR would say. Both of these competitors are amazing in the ring. Punk finally is growing into the main eventer that he was supposed to be last year, and I do not feel as though he is an underdog in this match. Seeing as he just cashed in his M in the B, I assume the WWE has more plans for him as champion at this point. Punk retains.

Seer: I have always been sickened by everyone's love of Jeff Hardy. He is just slightly boring to me and since he has taken the spotlight of the better Hardy brother, shown he is reckless and irresponsible with pushes, and just plain too weird to be a valid role model for children. That being said, I don't like Punk all that much more. But I won't deny that Punk can wrestle, can talk pretty well and looks good in the ring. So I will base this match victory on safer role model for children....Looks like Hardy just choked on too many marshmallows playing "chubby bunnies". Give the win to Punk.

PSYchic: Haha, Seer. Remember, Hardy can be awesome; he just has to be more psychotic than is typically friendly for PG television. Finally, our main event: Orton vs. HHH in a 3 Stages of Hell match. Good gravy, this feud has been dragged on FAR too long between these two. Please, WWE, PLEASE let it end here. Orton-HHH is beyond stale. This is exactly why new talent needs to be built, which I will address more later about MVP. Both of these competitors are good, but I'm sick of it. However, I have never seen a 3 Stages of Hell match before, and I always have liked multi-fall matches. I see Orton retaining his title with possible help from Legacy so that the three may have concurrent gold, as I mentioned before.

Seer: I worry about a few things here. For one, the match will most likely not end in 2 falls. It takes away from the excitement of the potential strecher match. Therein lies a problem. We have time limits on matches in the WWE. Either they allow these two to take everything to the limit and treat us to a 40 minute plus spectacular or because of the 8 matches on the card they limit the match to about 20-30 minutes forcing the 3 falls to be rushed and not capable of reaching the true potential that is there. Bravo to them for bringing this match out of the graveyard, but poor time booking could turn it into something less than great. I would give the win to Orton.

PSYchic: Palm of MVP. Montel Vontavious Porter. What a lucky man, as Chris Jericho rightfully mentioned, that he was given the initials M-V-P. Nevermind what Jericho said about the other acronyms he came up with, however. Our concern here is where MVP is and where we see him going.

Seer: MVP is....wait...who is MVP? Has he even been on RAW these last few weeks? If he has, I can't remember it. Here is a weird fact. It doesn't matter if something happened or not as long as you believe it, it makes it so. Also, it is better to be used awesomely or even terribly than just being booked averagely. No one will remember the average superstars, the average feuds, the average matches. They remember the great ones, and the horrible ones. Oh....who were we talking about again?

PSYchic: MVP, Seer, MVP. I really had high hopes for this guy, as I see him as a possible Big Six playa' in the next 5 years or so if he stays clean and healthy. But this current booking is shameful. When he called out Orton and battled him, things were looking good. But I see a couple things that are really holding him back. First and foremost, is his lack of an impactful special. It really is high time that MVP either brought back his modified Shining Wizard (The Drive-By) or a Powerslam/Suplex/Powerbomb/Something with power. MVP is 250 and could easily use these things on the younger, non-roided superstars of the future. Second problem: MVP's terrible booking. MVP should not be putting over Kingston at this point in his career. He needs to either crush Kingston to save face over this spot-fest newbie, or move to the main event scene and stay there. No more of this useless dilly-dally. RAW, if you can't use MVP as he should be used, send him back to SD! for goodness sakes! The only light I see at the end of this tunnel is the fact that yesterday on Superstars the crowd chanted for MVP and not Kingston. Suck on that, Fake Jamaican Boy!

Seer: MVP has the potential to make it big. Bret Hart talked about the 3 things that a wrestler would be judged on. Their overall look, including toughness and body build, their mic work and their ability to wrestle. MVP scores high in all 3 categories. He just needs to get over his very bad case of creative-has-no-idea-what-to-do-with-me-itis.

PSYchic: Agreed Seer. Now we have reached The Brew! This week's Brew is: Quick Jabs! We ask each other questions rapid-fire, and answer them just as quickly for some quick fun and laughs! Start us off, Seer!

Seer: Would you rather date Maria or Layla?

PSYchic: Maria. She's HOT. What is uglier: The Great Khali, or Tyson Kidd's hairstyle?

Seer: Oh God, Khali. Could HBK carry a match with a sack of potatoes?

PSYchic: I think he could, Seer. Is it more nerdy to read encyclopedias or wear sunscreen?

Seer: Sunscreen is for pussies. You can learn a lot from the encyclopedias. Which movie will suck more but still make a ton of money: Transformers 2 or Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?

PSYchic: HP for sure. Gawl, when is that series going to be finished in theaters anyways? If you had to choose between sliding down a 40-foot razor into a pool of salt water or sucking the snot out of a dead man's head until it collapsed, which would you choose?

Seer: I would certainly choose the snot.

Well, if you have any unfounded guesses into the future of wrestling, please share them with us and our fellow columnists. Remember only we have The Crystal Ball and we make tomorrow happen today.

[Box Car Rocco]

I thought this was good, nothing more or nothing less. I like the "Fortune Teller" gimmick that you have going. There was hardly any noticeable errors which is always good. I thought that you could have elaborated on MVP a bit more, I know your all about looking into the future but looking at MVP's past accomplishments and his skills wouldn't have hurt. Good stuff.

[Andy_Savana]

Despite the style of your predictions it is nothing more than a predictions column with minor enlightenment to MVP.

[Endiment]

I agree with the guys above me. Good column, but it would have been a lot better with more depth in what you were talking about. That goes double for your MVP talk. I think you could have done a lot more there.

That being said, I love the gimmick and will continue to read.

[Stryder]

Good outing here, nothing ground breaking but the content was solid and I’m still a fan of your gimmick. I think your right about Legacy each holding a title come Monday’s Raw, I really hope that is the case as I feel all three of them need the win at the PPV to gain some credibility. I love Maryse. I really hope Cena doesn’t win, not because I don’t like him because I do, but where does the feud go if Cena destroys Miz? No where. I personally would have Show cost Cena the match and have Miz and Show join forces, but that’s just me. MVP has fizzled out on Raw, I thought him moving would be the start of his rise to the main event but it appears as if he will be languishing in the mid card for a while more. No major spelling/grammar issue, catch you next time.

[Super Chrisss]

I liked it again, guys. It was an entertaining read all the way though, but just like last time, business really picked up near the end.

I would recommend adding some images or something to space out the matches/topics but that's just me.