Only one announced match in US Champion Mr Kennedy vs The Undertaker (!) - but I'd bet on Batista vs Finlay, Chavo Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio, Matt Hardy vs Gregory Helms, Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs The Pit Bulls vs KC James and Idol Stevens, King Booker defending the World Championship, William Regal vs Vito, and isn't Chris Benoit supposed to be back some time soon?
Updated line-up with one week's Smackdown to go...
- World Heavyweight Champion King Booker defends vs. Bobby Lashley.
- WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London & Brian Kendrick defend vs. K.C. James & Idol Stevens.
- U.S. Champion Ken Kennedy vs. The Undertaker.
- Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms vs. Matt Hardy.
- Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero - Falls Count Anywhere.
- Batista vs. Fit Finlay.
- The debut of MVP
Predictions:
* Booker T to retain the WHC
* James & Stevens to win Tag-Team Titles
* Kennedy to defeat the Undertaker! :kennedy:
* Helms to retain to win the CruiserWeight Title (this time)
* Rey Mysterio to defeat Chavo
* MVP to win his debut match (probably someone like Tatanka or Funaki
King Booker to retain
Undertaker to win
London and kendrick to retain
Matt Hardy to win unless it's now a title match (not seen this week's SD yet)
Chavo to win, and Rey to go for knee surgery
MVP to lose and look awful as it turns out he's all talk
King Booker.
:kennedy:
London and Kendrick
Helms
Chavo
MVP
Batista to beat Finley (Have you guys forgot about this? Or have I missed something? Not yet watched Smackdown btw)
Predictions results:
You guys both got 3, I got 4, and my MVP prediction was close... badger, i wonder if your Helms/Hardy prediction was swayed thinking the cruiser title was on the line?
PPV thoughts tomorrow...
Quick thoughts now I know you guys are all PPV-ed up.
The PPV kicked off great with two fun matches. Hardy vs Helms was a good conclusion to their feud that had the crowd rocking. Then Paul London and Brian Kendrick once again retained their tag team titles, this time defeating KC James and Idol Stevens in a straight tag match. As they settle onto the smackdown roster, Stevens and James look pretty decent, ones for the future definitely. I loved the finish to the match with Sliced Bread #2 into the jumping shooting star.
From there, the PPV only having six (advertised) matches meant there was obviously going to be some filler. Angles like Teddy Long and Layla teaming up to embarass Miz made the show feel a bit more like the weekly TV show than a PPV, but it was funny, especially with Michael Cole pissing himself on commentary and JBL naturally getting some great lines in. For the first of several occasions, I thought I saw the return of the Boogeyman coming here but it wasn't to be.
After the setup of several running William Regal appearances during the show, we then got the debut of MVP. Ovbviously, it wasn't much of a match, but the storyline of Teddy Long having been sucked in by MVP's mouth and signing him to all that fanfare only to produce... well, nothing much, could go somewhere different.
I was disappointed by The Undertaker vs Mr Kennedy. Aside from the surprise use of a piledriver, Kennedy isn't that great on offense, and needs to rely more on his cockiness to carry him through a match. The finish was lame, I was hoping (perhaps stupidly) for more...
"London Bridge is falling down..." :D I laughed, hard. Regal is awesome. The shower scene and the unintentional excess, well, y'know, I could have lived without...
If you put aside the terrible storylines, Chavo and Rey had a reasonable falls count anywhere match, but something that kept it around ringside would probably have been a lot better. Factor in the storyline stuff, and I've had enough of this, and yet it still isn't over...
Thankfully, this PPV had another good match up it's sleeve, and a hell of a good surprise too. Once again I could have seen a Boogeyman appearance as the mystery opponent for William Regal, or a storyline continuing match with Vito (where was he, anyway?). When Benoit came out, I marked out completely, and best of all, they got eleven minutes to have a great wrestling match. The headbutts and face chops by Benoit were particularly brutal.
The main event was alright. It was kind of obvious where everything was going, the lack of a title change in particular. The action was solid, though Lashley and Batista's bits weren't as good as their Pick Your Poison match on the previous week's smackdown. It made sense for King Booker to get his win back off Finlay here, keeping the two big faces strong.
And that was No Mercy, done and dusted within 2 hours 40, which was a bit short, but overall the show was above expectations, with enough good wrestling to make me happy with my PPV purchase.
