Unforgiven '08 Predicitons

On Sunday night, the WWE will be presenting Unforgiven on PPV. I'm going to start my predictions off saying something that might be shocking to some of you. For the first time since doing this site, I would much rather watch something else rather than a WWE PPV event.

Maybe, I'm too much of a traditionalist, but I believe that "to be the man, you have to beat the man." I have never been much of a fan of a match where a champion doesn't have to be pinned to lose his title. To have three matches like this in one night is just overkill.

While on the topic of the repeating matches, has someone from the WWE been watching the Team Challenge Series on ESPN Classic and got some ideas for confusing their viewers with a match with multiple stipulations and then making them watch it several times in the same night. And while I'm discussing confusing rules, I hope that someone from the WWE announcing team gets a hold of this. Please don't tell me how simple the rules are for a match, then spend the next few minutes rambling off the rules, then show a graphic detailing the rules, and then follow that by telling me to go to wwe.com for more details about the rules of the match.

In defense of the WWE, it is smart that they are trying to brand this PPV event with a concept match. However, it would have made more sense to try it on just one match rather than repeat it three times in the same night. Even the Survivor Series hasn't had more than 2 Survivor Series matches in one night since 1996. Whether this decision turns out to be a good or bad move will be determined by the buy-rate for the show.

World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match: Champion CM Punk vs. Batista vs. JBL vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio - Of the three scramble matches, this is the only one featuring main event talent. While I wish Cena was still in this match, substituting Rey Mysterio in his place might make this match more entertaining due to the freshness of the matchups while he is in the ring. It is obvious that Kane and Rey will be feuding with each other after this event for some deeds by Kane that the creative staff wants all the fans to try and figure out on their own. Over the past few years, Batista has been the king of getting screwed out of a title win on PPV. That leaves JBL and he has been pinned a few times by Punk in the past few months. I can see JBL winning this match but not pinning Punk which will continue the feud between these two men. Predicted Winner: JBL

WWE Championship Scramble Match: Champion Triple H vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Brian Kendrick - Triple H is a 12-time World/WWE Champion. The men he is defending against are three-guys in a mid-card feud over the US Title and a wrestler that hasn't had a one-on-one match on PPV despite making his first WWE PPV appearance in 2003. Of all the matches on the show, this one angers me the most. The four contender's got into this match via some means of shenanigans while the real main event stars of SmackDown aren't even on this show. Where is the Undertaker? Where is Edge? Where is the Big Show? Predicted Winner: Triple H

ECW Championship Scramble Match: Champion Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Finlay vs. The Miz - This is a huge step-up for the ECW title as the ECW title matches at SummerSlam and WrestleMania were barely more than a minute combined. Predicted Winner: Mark Henry

Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho - This is the one match on the card that I am looking forward to. It is also the only match on this show that features a great storyline leading up to the match. Credit must go out to Shawn and Chris for the great job they have done on this feud, both inside of the ring and outside of it. Under normal circumstance, I would call this a potential match of the year. However, Shawn suffered an injury to his arm and will probably not be 100%. I'm going to say that Shawn wins the battle but loses the war. Just like his last unsanctioned match, which took place against Triple H at SummerSlam '02, this one will end with his hand raised in victory but will be followed by a post-match beat down that will keep him out of action for a few more months. Predicted Winner: Shawn Michaels

World Tag Team Championship: Champions Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes vs. Cryme Time - For such street-wise thugs, I find it ironic that it has taken Cryme Time this long to get a title shot. They won the right to a tag team title shot when they won a tag team turmoil match at New Year's Revolution '07. As far as this match goes, I see The Miz and John Morrison costing Cryme Time this match. The seeds for that feud have been planted on each team's wwe.com shows and finally got physical this week on RAW. Predicted Winners: Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes

Divas Championship: Champion Michelle McCool vs. Maryse - The best thing I can say about this match is that it isn't a 20-minute scramble match. If Michelle wins this match, there aren't many people left for her to feud with. A win by Maryse can lead to rematches with Michelle and a new feud against Maria. Predicted Winner: Maryse

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