One Night Stand 2008 Predictions

One Night Stand is just a few days away. That means that it is prediction time. Since One Night Stand is the one event a year where every match is “Extreme”, this is the one time a year where I take my picks to the extreme. With each pick, I am going to write about a range of topics that have been on my mind lately. Just like a no-holds barred match, I will be delivering many below-the-belt shots as I tackle many issues

You can let me know what you think will be happening in the next few days by clicking on the comments link at the bottom of this post. Please note that I am writing this post before the airing of the final episode of Friday Night SmackDown. Since this site is non-spoiler, I ask that you do not mention anything in your comments about what occurred at the taping of that show. I will update the blog Friday night if there are any new matches added to this show.

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy - If Jeff didn’t have “Wellness Issues”, he probably would have been in the main event picture by now. Instead, he is in yet another throwaway feud with Umaga. Nothing against Umaga, but it appears that his purpose on RAW now is just to be a guy involved in matches leading to nowhere for both him and his opponent. He is in need of a fresh start and hopefully he will be moving over to SmackDown in the draft which will be taking place in four weeks. Vince McMahon had suggested this might happen at his shareholder’s meeting a few weeks ago. Predicted Winner: Jeff Hardy

First Blood Match: JBL vs. John Cena - I’m still in shock that John Cena was in an opening match of a PPV last month. He’ll be back in the main event scene very soon regardless of what happens here. Since there will be both a last man standing and a TLC match later on, this match can’t get too bloody. That means that the winner of this match will be determined by a tiny trickle of blood and it will not be a blood bath like these men had a few years ago in their I Quit match. Just based on the majority of the first blood matches I have seen, I see it going like this, JBL is cut open first yet the ref doesn’t see it. Cena then gets cut but since the ref sees his cut first Cena will be screwed out of a victory he deserves. Predicted Winner: JBL

Singapore Cane Match: The Big Show vs. CM Punk vs. John Morrison vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Tommy Dreamer - The big rumor right now is that after the draft, ECW will be touring with RAW instead of SmackDown. There has been no confirmation of this rumor and wwe.com still lists future events as being SmackDown and ECW shows. As far as this match goes, the winner of this match gets an ECW title match against Kane at Night of Champions. That kills the rumor that there was going to be a RAW/SD/ECW title match at the show. Speaking of all three brands, since the Big Show returned in February, I can’t figure out whether he is a part of any of these brands. Technically, he is listed as a SmackDown star but it appears to me that he flips between shows on a whim. Predicted Winner: Big Show

Stretcher Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Batista - Speaking of wrestlers showing up between shows, Batista has yet to have a one-on-one PPV match against anyone on the SmackDown roster in 2008. He went from the main event at WrestleMania 23 to a throw-away match at WrestleMania XXIV and has been involved in no major feuds on SmackDown since the beginning of the year. He is totally lost in the shuffle at SmackDown and would benefit more than any other wrestler by being moved in the draft. Predicted Winner: Batista

I Quit Match: Beth Phoenix vs. Melina - This is a major step forward for the WWE Women’s division from a year ago. Last year at this time, the women’s match on this show featured Melina wasting her wrestling talents in a pudding match. I know that there is a segment of the audience that enjoys watching that but to me those types of matches reek of something that the perverts in my area go to once a month at the local strip joint, not something that should be on a wrestling PPV. If I have insulted anyone by my lumping them in with perverts, I apologize and offer you the following link as a peace offering. You can download a new Diva wallpaper for your cell phone every day for a nominal charge. Predicted Winner: Beth Phoenix

Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship: Champion Triple H vs. Randy Orton Starting with No Mercy in October, this will be the fourth one-on-one PPV match between these men and including multi-men matches, this will be the sixth time they have faced off on PPV since October. I can only assume that the reason Vince plans on giving away $1 million to the fans is out of guilt for making them pay for the same matches. It is obvious to everyone that having three PPV events in a five-week span is overkill and the writers should be ashamed of themselves for making the fans have to pay to keep seeing the same matches. Maybe that $1 million that is being paid out to the fans should be coming from the salaries that “creative” is supposed to be coming up with. Predicted Winner: Triple H

TLC Match for the Vacant World Heavyweight Championship: The Undertaker vs. Edge - Speaking of people needing to be ashamed of themselves, I think that the SmackDown writers have done a horrific job over the past few weeks. This is four straight PPV events to feature Edge vs. the Undertaker. This is also the second straight PPV where there has only been one SmackDown-only match. There are three possible excuses for this. One is that since Michael Hayes is suspended for his bigoted remarks the company is in a holding pattern waiting for him to return. The second is that since the head writer is away, the rest of the staff is severely goofing off while their boss is away. The third is that the company doesn’t care about SmackDown for the next few months because they are leaving the CW. Regardless of the reason, fans should not be paying to see the same main event four straight months. Here is a scary stat. Starting with WrestleMania 23, there have been 14 PPV events that have featured a match involving at least two of these three men (Batista, Edge, and Undertaker) battling each other. The four events when they didn’t face each other were due to the injuries of both the Undertaker and Edge last summer. Predicted Winner: The Undertaker

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