Post-GAB 2006 Thoughts

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Once again, I haven’t seen this year’s Great American Bash. However, I’ve taken a look around the web (at great sites such as PWInsider and LordsOfPain.net) to see how the show went down.

King Booker T is the new World’s Heavyweight Champion. I have no idea if the WWE managed to plan long term enough with a worked fight between Booker and Batista, but if they did – good for them. Chavo did turn on Rey like I thought. That makes sense. Odds are that they will fight over Eddie. Maybe the WWE can just simply make this about being the best wrestler in the business. Either way, the two have had some great matches in the past and this will give Chavo a main-event level feud.

Batista lost his mind and destroyed Kennedy. Kind of had the same ending that I had written a couple of days ago except Batista got DQ’d instead of Kennedy. Post match destruction was what I expected (I said that Batista should “flatten” Kennedy). It has the makings of a good long-term feud.

However, with Batista going after the World Championship this SummerSlam, there is a chance that Mr. Kennedy will be without a program. There are a couple of ways to keep this storyline going with Batista going after the championship. Kennedy could simply be plugged in and a three way match for the World Championship. I don’t think Kennedy should be put in the main event based just yet. I think he needs some more time to grow. But, with the WWE SmackDown! Brand hurting for main-eventers, pushing Mr. Kennedy into the World Championship race would increase the amount of main-eventers.

Alternatively, Kennedy could become a member of King Booker’s Court. This could lead to humorous interactions between Kennedy, Regal and Finlay.

SmackDown! may have quite a decent showing at SummerSlam with Booker and Batista (with Kennedy floating around), Chavo and Rey feuding once again, and the unfinished Lashley-Finlay U.S. Championship feud. Plus, the Cruiserweight championship could be defended. What’s my idea for a storyline? The Hurricane vs. Gregory Helms. It would make for an interesting subplot during the summer as we could wonder, “Who is the Hurricane?”

The Upcoming Great American Bash

Because I should be studying, I’ve decided to write about the Great American Bash (“GAB”).

This Sunday night, WWE is presenting the Great American Bash with its SmackDown! brand. The Great American Bash has easily become one of the worst pay-per-views of the year in its short WWE existence. GAB featured Eddie Guerrero losing the title in a gimmick match thanks to Kurt Angle and also featured the demise of Paul Bearer using a cement truck. Last year, Batista headlined GAB and it had a DQ finish on a PPV. A DQ finish on a show that costs money. That is unacceptable.

I remember when the Great American Bash was a big PPV for WCW. I may be wrong, but it seemed like the GAB was the 2nd most important PPV for WCW (next to Starrcade). I remember watching Sting finally defeating Ric Flair for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship as it happened. I used to look forward to these shows.

WWE has managed to destroy the Great American Bash name. Also, I have no idea how a PPV with that title fairs in the international market. I am not going to order the PPV, but I’ll make a few predictions.

Predictions for GAB 2006:
The Main Event:
Rey Mysterio will retain the championship. Every other columnist has Rey losing so the WWE can get the title back on Batista at SummerSlam by defeating Booker T. I find this highly unlikely for the reason the WWE isn’t that smart. It would make sense to push the feud between Booker and Batista since they had that fight while promoting SummerSlam. It would make sense for a loud-mouth, arrogant heel to face off with the top face on Friday Night SmackDown! That’s why I think the WWE is going to screw up. It’s too logical and intelligent. The WWE’s style is to fly in the face of logic. They could quite possibly turn Rey heel to confuse the masses and ruin his marketability. That sounds more like the WWE to me.

In the alternative, if Rey does lose, I expect Chavo to cost him the title and have Rey feud with a returning Chavo while Batista chases the title once again.

Other Matches:
Batista vs. Ken Kennedy
Originally, it was meant to be a #1 Contender’s match. I am not sure if that stipulation is still involved with Mr. Kennedy substituting. I expect Batista to go over cleanly considering Ken couldn’t even beat Matt “When was the last time I was on a PPV?” Hardy. What chance does Kennedy have against Batista?

Here’s how it should go down: Kennedy gets himself DQ’ed by choking Batista with that hanging microphone wire. Then we find out that Kennedy has a buddy in the production truck who let that happen. Batista saves himself, flattens Kennedy, and looks strong. Kennedy looks strong with a crazy performance and he didn’t lose via pin or submission.

Here’s how it will go down: Kennedy has limited success with offense before the Batista bomb lays him out in a match that will go under 10 minutes (excluding the intros).

Beyond that, I don’t care about the rest of the card.

Take it easy, readers.

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