WELL WELL WELL!!

'Tis time once again for WWE to bring back this kickass Thanksgiving day tradition known as Survivor Series. Survivor Series was an original concept of Vince McMahon's of a PPV event that focused completely on tag team matches. Suffice it to say, it sorta worked.

Sorta.

Anywho, here we are, a mere 20 years later, and we are here for the 21st annual Survivor Series, in a place I love to call home, Boston Mass! GO SOX!

So, lets take a look at the matches:

1.) WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

Champion CHRIS JERICHO vs. JOHN CENA

Hmmm, is it just me, or is Cena getting a break? Get it? BREAK? *cough* ok, that was a bad joke, I'm sorry.

Moving on. Jericho has surprisingly been turining himself into one of the most interesting heel characters in the later half of 2008. He has been able to not only gain a good run as World Champion, but lose the title, and still keep himself within the title picture. The only question is, will his success be overshadowed by the return of WWE's most marketable wrester?

You have to take in a number of facts leading into this match, many of which have nothing to do with the match itself, actually. First off, Cena is returning. We've all seen the video in regards to the injury from Summerslam and how miraculous his healing has been. Between the videos airing of his regeneration process, as well as his career, its somewhat safe to say that WWE has put alot into this storyline and concept without Cena even being on live TV. Seems like it would be a waist just to have John not come back and win, don't ya think?

Second, you obviously have to look at the location. Boston, MA. His home state's capitol. Boston is only about an hour drive from his lovely home in West Newbury, as I too have relatives who live out there. This factor, however, may only be a sidenote. Keep in mind what happened the last time WWE did a PPV in Boston. Edge was able to hold onto the title, and of course beating Cena. But couple this factor with the previous and you have to agree, there is some thought behind this one.

Third is Jerihco himself. As menitoned before, Jericho has done quite a job on RAW since turning heel in 2008. Not only having, in my opinion, one of the best feuds in 2008 with HBK, but also capturing the World Tilte and have very good matches with the likes of CM Punk, Batista and once again Mr. Micheals. But is Jericho unbeatable? Don't forget folks, Wrestlemania is actually alot closer than you think, and so Vinnie Mac may be looking for that strong dominating heel on RAW that we haven't really had latley due to Orton's departure. Jericho certainly has both the in-ring skill and mic skill to carry this at least until the big 25th WM. But with Cena's momentum at the time, being a hot commodity, fans awaiting his return with open arms and the fact that he is still gaining popularity on TV without being there, I have to put my money on Mr. Cena (and no, not his dad).

2.) TRIPLE THREAT MATCH FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP

Champion TRIPLE H vs JEFF HARDY vs VLADAMIR KOSLOV

For me as a wrestling fan of tradition and competition, this will be the match I have my eyes on. Let me explain.

I really don't need to put Triple H over more than he already is at. The man is the Game, plain and simple. Being known for being a mentor of Ric Flair's and being arguably the greatest wrestler alive today, Triple H has everything he needs going into this match to, once again, walk out with the gold. The only problem is him facing both these men at once.

Now Koslov I haven't seen to much of his in ring skill, but from what I have seen with, I am somewhat impressed. He does have power, but not too much, the kind that would make him seem super-human, like Lesnar or Goldberg had. Koslov is a brawler, like Finlay, just with a little more umph. And considering that Smackdown has a very big lack of main event heels, Koslov's direct nature both in the ring and out of the ring, is a welcome change to some of the traditional whine-and-complain heels that we have been seeing latley on the Smackdown roster.

Jeff Hardy will be WWE Champion. The only question is, when and how. As mentioned many times by both fans and fellow workers in the WWE, Jeff has all the talent in the world to be champion, he just keeps missing it everytime. Some of the blame does indeed fall on Jeff himself, for his personal problems. However, backstage people also have a part in Hardy's lack of spinning gold. Jeff is slowly becoming a very marketable character in the company, especially for kids. Kids seem to go gaga for Hardy, and again, has everything he needs ring wise to be champion.

Now looking into this match, I have to put my money on Jeff. Not because I am a fan of his, I kinda am. But its all about the way this match is being presented. Jeff has had not one, but two chances at the championship and missed on both occasions. Now, he has had to battle both Triple H and Undertaker almost back-to-back to get another title shot. Suffice to say, either Hardy is going to win the title, or he's going to be out of the loop for quite some time, perhaps not again until 2009.

If for whatever reason Hardy isn't a victor, I would then put my money on Triple H. But rather than explain why I think Triple H would win, let me explain what Koslov needs to work on, in my opinion, to be champion. Koslov only needs really one thing to better himself, mic skills. While I don't think he needs a stick to get over, I do think its something he would need to fully express the Russian sympathizer. Hey, does anyone remember when he was doing that **** in the crowd like 2 years ago? I actually enjoyed it!

3.) CASKET MATCH

UNDERTAKER VS BIG SHOW

Well, this one is really really hard to say.

This is the part of the blog where I start to really not be sure about which side will emerge victorious, but here we go.

The Edge/Undertaker rivalry was one of the most interesting feuds in 2008 also because of the part of Vikie Guerrero.

Needless to say, though, that the Show/Taker fued doesn't have that same appeal, because Show isn't as afraid, and is almost as powerful as Undertaker.

Undertaker has been distracted by the GM of Smackdown ever since his return, but his dominance is obviously still felt. Even though he has lost twice to the Big Show, Taker doesn't show any sign of slowing down anytime soon, as he usually does.

The only big factor in this match is the casket. Casket matches are no dq, which leaves this match wide open to???? THATS RIGHT: INTERFERENCE! Although most of the familia is gone and departed, there is always a chance that Taker's next lovely opponent/rival is waiting in the lurks for his awesome surprise! Considering that Big Show has beaten Taker twice, my money is on the Undertaker, as this is his match of choice. However, I also have my money on either some form of interference, or something very interesting happening.

4.) SURVIVOR SERIES ELIMINATION MATCH

JBL, KANE, MVP, MIZ & MORRISON vs HBK, MYSTERIO, CRYME TIME & KHALI

Now, I find the fact that WWE just randomly announced two survivor seires team matches like this kinda surprised me, however, they are very nice meshes of the current mid-card feuds, so I have no complaints.

JBL & HBK rivalry I can't really say too much on, mainly becuase nothing really hasn't happened. JBL and HBK have interfered in matches featuring each other, but other than that, the two really haven't had not only major contact, but a good old fashion talk down. This rivalry is something that could be great, esp. if you throw religion into the mix. Money vs religion, could be good. Hopefully this'll set the tone for something great!

MVP and Khali. Ummm, I really don't know what to say other than I won't kiss Khali......EVER! Good luck to MVP.

Cryme Tyme in my opinion is one of the most entertaining tag teams in wrestling today. They posses that rare combination of not only power & speed in the ring, but also the hilarious promos they cut. It was a great decision for WWE to bring them back, and its gonna be great to see them go against another great team. Miz & Morrison shouldn'tve lost the tag titles. They are not only very good heels on the stick, but they are actually very very skilled working together. To put these teams together in a giant match is a great call, and will be interesting to see.

And finally, Rey & Kane have had some very interesting matches as of late. The storyline is not all too clear as to how Kane hates Mysterio, but regardless, the power vs speed; david vs goliath is always great to watch.

If I were a betting man, I would place my money on Team HBK. It seems as if HBK's success in Surivor Series matches seem to go well. I think that with Khali and the popular Mysterio on their side, and the possibility of a long-term HBK/JBL fued, I put my trust in Team HBK.

5.) SURVIVOR SERIES ELMINIATION MATCH

BATISTA, CM PUNK, KOFI KINGSTON, MATT HARDY & R-TRUTH vs. ORTON, RHODES, REGAL, HENRY & BENJAMIN

This match has more gold than Fort Knox. You have the ECW Champion, U.S. Champion, IC Champion & Both World Tag Team Champions in one match! So you know this will be good!

Now, lets start with the whole Orton/Rhodes/Punk/Kingston thing. The whole thing started with Orton costing Punk his title at Unforgiven and help setting up this thing with Manu/Rhodes & DeBiase. Rhodes & DeBiase were, in my opinion, the greatest running tag team on RAW. I honestly thought that Orton would help lead them into greatness with Manu being a kickass next generation faction. However, it seems as if Punk has been somewhat demoted after losing his world title, which I think is a sin. If you go back to when Punk was in ROH, he could easly be champion again, but then again, who knows? As I said before, WM is right around the corner. Also, I am a mark for Kingston. I think he is a very impressive talent who has a way to go in WWE and I think can make it even bigger. Together, these two are a great tag team. Putting Rhodes, Orton, Punk and Kofi together will be interesting to say the least.

Honestly, I think they just threw Batista and William Regal to balance everything out, lol, nothing against both. Both are fantastic athletes.

Now Benjamin and Truth have been having some fantastic matches. Truth I have watched from both his previous stint in WWE as well as that other promotion *cough TNA cough* and was impresed with him throughly. The same goes for Benjamin. His match with HBK in 2005 was one of my favorites. Having these two collide with their amazing skills and speed, should make this match all the better.

Henry and Hardy have been going at for quite some time now, dating back to August where Hardy became so close to winning the ECW Championship. Now, a mere three months later, Hardy has proven to be a great champion, carrying the third brand pretty well, even having a very impressive match with Finlay, that I enjoyed. Hardy brings technical skills, while Henry brings the beef. Ouch!

My prediction: Team Orton. Why?: MANU! Manu has been interjecting himself with the Orton/Rhodes storyline, plus I think it is only a matter of time when Orton's team will run rampant on RAW. Considering also that Orton has survived and won every traditional survivor series match (except 06) that he has been in, my money would be on the legend killer and his "posse".

 

Well, that's my thoughts at 2 o'clock in the morning. Wait til you see what I think about the SS results! Ill see you all in PPV land!

PPV land? It doesn't exist? AWESOME!

:-D