http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?8648-The-Dusty-Finish Wrestling News and Discussion - eWrestlingNews.com Community en Thu, 23 May 2013 21:54:58 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/blog.php?8648-The-Dusty-Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39546-Random-Hell-In-A-Cell-Thoughts Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:27:35 GMT We are but a very short week and half removed from Night of Champions, and in just a few days we all face that dreaded question, “Do I really want to... We are but a very short week and half removed from Night of Champions, and in just a few days we all face that dreaded question, “Do I really want to spend $50, when I just did two weeks ago.” Well my answer is no, I won't be spending the money to buy this PPV, and there's good reason for it. Why would I want to drop half a bill for matches that have no build up whatsoever. The only match that has been properly built up enough to deem necessary a Hell In A Cell atmosphere is the Henry/Orton match. Every other match has just been thrown together, and unfortunately it did not have to be that way. So let's talk about things I would have done differently.

Orton/Henry, I think has been booked very well, and I am fine with the direction that the WWE has taken with them two, The only thing I hope, is that they don’t pull a Cena, and put the title right back on Orton this Sunday.

Cena/Punk/Del Rio, I feel was just thrown together without any thinking. If we go back to Night of Champions, I think if WWE did one thing differently, we could have two extra matches that are a lot more meaningful that the triple threat match we're getting for the WWE Title. First and foremost, Del Rio should have retained. If you don’t want Cena to lose cleanly, then use Ricardo Rodriguez as a distraction so that Del Rio has the opportunity to cheat to win. If Del Rio retains through the help of Rodriguez, then you have reason for the rematch, at HIAC, to be in the cell.

So there’s one match, that has preexisting build up that people could look forward to. Then, due to all the interference in the Hunter/Punk match, you have a rematch there too. Now I understand that in doing this your top three matches would be repetitive as they are the exact same from the previous PPV. But do you really have another GOOD option, with only two weeks between PPV's. Thee WWE thinks so, but I do not agree. Anywho, you put Hunter and Punk in a rematch to settle the score about who is better. I don't think you'd even have to have all the extra stipulations (i.e. Triple H loses COO position if he loses) because you could focus this match on Punk believing he was so close to beating one of the best in the business. And I think you can sell that rematch on that idea alone, on who the better wrestler is.

So those are things I would have done differently. I think Raw was a slow show this week, and I don’t think they did enough to really sell HIAC. There are only two matches I am looking forward to, and that is Beth/Kelly Kelly, and Orton/Henry. And my reasoning for that is because those are the only two matches that I feel have a back story to them. Speaking of those two matches, as I said earlier, I sincerely hope that Henry retain, and I actually hope the exact opposite for Kelly Kelly. I really hope Beth finally gets the title that she severely deserves.

Well I've rambled enough folks. Ill post my predictions up this Saturday. Take care all. Be sure to leave feedback guys. You can also follow me on twitter @_TheDustyFinish and read all my blog entries at www.thedustyfinish.blogspot.com. ]]> The Dusty Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?39546-Random-Hell-In-A-Cell-Thoughts http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?33660-Who-do-Rock-and-Cena-Team-Against-at-Survivor-Series Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:30:04 GMT (I took way to long of a break and I apologize to anyone who was actually paying attention.) Like I said, it been a while since I have blogged and... (I took way to long of a break and I apologize to anyone who was actually paying attention.)

Like I said, it been a while since I have blogged and a ton has happened in the world of WWE. Nash got fired, along with Miz and R-Truth (NWO anyone?), CM Punk is out of the title picture, and John Cena won his record 10th WWE Championship. Not only all of that, but the WWE has announced also that The Rock's in ring return will happen at Survivor Series, where he and John Cena will team in a traditional five on five Survivor Series match. So today's blog will be my speculation as to what that match will entail.

I think that by now the WWE had made it obvious that we are going to get some sort of faction from the recent firings. As soon as Miz and Truth hit the ring at Night of Champions, I thought that was when it was going to happen. My thought process immediately went to Bash at the Beach and Hogan Leg Dropping Randy Savage. I really thought we were going to see Kevin Nash come out last Sunday and help Miz and Truth to form a new NWO, or some sort of new faction. It doesn't necessarily have to be called NWO, and I don't know if it should be. I would like it to be, but there are also a lot of people who are sick and tired of it. I would just like it because of the nostalgia of it. Yet, how many of the current younger fans know what the NWO is really all about? Some of the currents fans memories of the NWO may be the failed attempt to bring it back in 2003, which didn’t turn out very well.

So obviously with the recent firings the wheels for this have already began to turn, and it will be interesting to see how quickly they bring this into light, if they do at all. I shouldn’t use if there, because I think it has to be done. I think that they have to form some anti WWE movement and that alone is the reason why Rock and Cena will team together at Survivor Series. They will team together for the sake of the company, to keep control of the WWE from this faction consisting of Nash, Miz and Truth.

So hypothetically speaking we have Nash, Miz, Truth, and two players to be named, taking on Rock, Cena, and three other players to be named. It will be interesting to see who else sides with Nash and company. Laurinaitis is a person I think that sides with them, maybe their inside man, but I don’t know that he wrestles in this match. You can't bring in Hall or X-Pac, due to medical reasons and Hogans tied up in TNA. So it will be interesting to see who they side with these three. One the other side of things, I personally would like to see a team of faces and heels teaming together to take on Nash and the others. It would make a great story that these guys put their differences aside to fight for the company that they love. So it would be nice to see Orton and Christian, or maybe Sheamus and Henry teaming up with Cena and The Rock.

And just one more quick note before I wrap this up. There has been speculation that maybe Cena turns heel at Survivor Series, Ala Hogan as described earlier. I don’t think it happens. I was listening to the PWtorch podcast and they were discussing this possibility. They were under the impression that it would be a good idea to turn Cena heel so that The Rock isn’t getting a mixed reaction in his hometown at Wrestlemania. Due to if Cena were heel, he'd get all the heat, leaving a very pro Rock crowd. Yet I think this is wrong. I think you want a split crowd, who cares if it's in Rock's hometown. This is about the new era vs. the old attitude era, and I want to be able to pick which era Id like to cheer for.

I’ve rambled on long enough folks, I hope you all enjoyed. Be sure to leave feedback guys. You can also follow me on twitter @_TheDustyFinish and read all my blog entries at www.thedustyfinish.blogspot.com. ]]> The Dusty Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?33660-Who-do-Rock-and-Cena-Team-Against-at-Survivor-Series http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?11731-A-Passion-Renewed Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:33:38 GMT It wasn't until recently when I just happened to flip by Monday Night Raw that my interest in professional wrestling began to grow again. Sure I had semi payed attention, off and on, for the past few years, but this was something else. This renewed interest isn't just a need/want to watch Raw on Mondays. This renewed interest instead was a passion, one that I haven’t felt in almost ten years. I don’t just want to watch wrestling on TV, I want to somehow be a part of it.

Ten years ago, at the ripe age of sixteen, I decided “Hey, I've always wanted to wrestle, so let's do it.” I still remember the independent wrestler who referred me where to go to. “The Cajun Kid” Mark Vaughn was a wrestler I used to talk with often online on AIM (This was long before the days of Facebook, MySpace and blogging). One day I shared with him that I too wanted to one day wrestle, and it was through him that I learned about High Impact Wrestling. HIW was a small independent promotion that ran out of Texas City, Texas, about 45 miles southeast of Houston where I grew up. He told me there was no charge, to just show up and they'd let me train. I remember how nervous I was as I pulled up and walked to the ring for the very first time. A few people asked if I wanted to come inside, which I swiftly declined, saying I was just there to watch. As a matter of fact I didn’t even get in the ring that day. It wasn’t until the next week that I finally decided to climb in that ring.

I told everyone that I was 17 since they probably would not have let me do anything if I they knew I was only 16. I stood nervously in the corner, dumbfounded, yet excited as I listened to pointers on the proper way to bump. I still remember the sting and pain of that first bump. It was nothing like I could have imagined it being. But as much as it hurt, it was also exciting. I remember jumping right back up smiling, as though it didn’t hurt at all. That first day flew by with bumping drills, running the ropes, and the introductory chop line. For those wondering, the chop line is when you're in the corner and everyone gets to come by, one by one, and chop you. As if my back wasn’t going to ache enough from bumping, now my chest was bright red, raw, and bleeding. It was a good feeling.

When my alarm went off the next morning, my brain told me to sit up in bed, but my body said I don’t think so. I literally had to roll out of bed, and land on my feet as I fell out of bed. As I slowly stood up I wondered to myself if this excruciating pain would ever subside. Fortunately over time it did, and as time went by, when I woke up in the morning my body would hurt less and less. I continued to train once a week. After about three months of training and running practice matches, I was told they wanted to use me in a run-in at the next monthly show. I was stoked, and excited about the possibility of finally getting to do something in front of a live crowd. Yet that excitement would not last long, and its not because I got pulled from doing a run-in, well actually I did. I got pulled in order to actually work a match. A weeks worth of excitement, turned instantly to a lifetime of horror. (I'll blog about that more in-depth at a later time.)

In the end though, it all turned out okay. As did the other handful of matches that I would go on an wrestle before enlisting into the Navy. Even though that was so long ago, that passion has come back to me. Does that mean I want to go out there and bump all over the place? Maybe... But even more so, I just want to be apart of it, be a part of something. Listen here guys, I know I'm lucky. I'm married to a beautiful wife an I have two wonderful children. Unlike so many other people I've actually lived out my dream, a dream that I had when I watched Shawn Michaels come oh so close to capturing the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania XI. That dream was to simply wrestle in front of a live crowd, which I had the pleasure of doing. It may not have been 10,000 people, but the adrenaline and the feeling was the same to me. And here ten years later, a part of me longs for that again. Weather it's wrestling, announcing, or just being somehow involved, a part of me wants that again.

That's all for now guys, hope you all enjoyed the read. Be sure to follow me on twitter @_TheDustyFinish and check out my blog “The Dusty Finish” at http://thedustyfinish.blogspot.com/ ]]> The Dusty Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?11731-A-Passion-Renewed http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1810-The-Dusty-Finish-Getting-Out-of-the-Slump Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:28:28 GMT (This was my first blog i ever wrote. It was written shortly after CM Punks return to TV after Money in the Bank.) How many people at going to... (This was my first blog i ever wrote. It was written shortly after CM Punks return to TV after Money in the Bank.)

How many people at going to read this? To be honest, I'm not quite sure of the answer to that one. For starters, I'm just an average fan who wants to share my opinions on a sport (yes, I will call it a sport) that I have been enthralled with since I can remember. A lot of people use that term, since I can remember, but I honestly mean it. Some of my earliest memories involve being huddled around a tiny TV in the late 80's with my brother and cousins watching legends such as Hogan, Savage, Piper, and Slaughter and an array of other stars as they marched around the ring, entertaining a world of people. A second reason I wonder how many people will read this is because wrestling isn't overly popular right now. It's not the mid to late 80's and it's definitely not the attitude era. We're back in that early to mid 90's slump again. Which as a fan is unfortunate.


So how does the business go about getting out of that slump? How does it go about recapturing a mass crowd as Hogan did in the 80's and Austin, The NWO, and DX did in the attitude era? Well let’s first talk about some of the reasons the business boomed in these eras in the first place. Wrestling exploded in the 80's basically because of TV. Vince McMahon took a product that was used to being regional and expanded it. Each company had its territories and that's where they could be seen. McMahon didn't want to be limited, so he went national, using television and PPV to broadcast his company to anyone who would watch. And watch they did, and the business boomed. Now let's talk attitude era and what its main reason for success was. One word I think sums it up, competition. Obviously there are plenty of factors that led to the increase of popularity, but how much of that would have happened if Ted Turner didn't give Eric Bischoff a three hour time slot opposite the WWE and Monday Night Raw. Competition and the Monday night wars are the reasons why we got the attitude era. It's the reason why we got the controversy of the NWO, DX, and Austin's screw anything and everyone attitude. To this day I still remember the initial confusion and "What the heck is he doing on Nitro?" when Scott Hall interrupted a match and jumped on the stick declaring war on WCW. And even more so, I won't forget the feeling of "I don't know what just happened, but man that was awesome.” That night, and the ensuing NWO angle is what brought on the attitude era and the business boom associated with that timeframe. So how does wrestling get out of this slump? The product is already on TV, Vince crushed WCW long ago, and let’s faces it, TNA isn't going to offer any competition any time soon with the direction of their product. The only answer I can give is I don't know. Although I do think that they had a golden opportunity to boost rating somewhat with the recent CM Punk angle.

This angle started off hot and should have stayed hot. Although most who may read this probably know the angle, we'll do a quick recap. On June 27 Raw goes off the air with a disgruntled CM Punk "shoot" interview. In the "shoot" he expresses his frustrations with WWE management and threatens to leave the company with the WWE Championship after beating John Cena for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank. Punk's microphone was cut off and he was immediately "suspended". Now here is the first unfortunate part of this angle. The following weeks Raw fell on the 4th of July; therefore WWE taped that episode immediately following Raw. In doing so spoilers were immediately available, so anyone who visits any type of news site immediately knew that CM Punk was just going to be back the following week. That for me took a little bit of the awe out of what we had just seen and heard. Fast forward to the Monday before Money in the Bank, which ended with a contract negotiation between McMahon and Punk. The meeting would eventually be interrupted by Cena, which I didn't think was needed. To me the main event at Money in the Bank was more about Punk vs. WWE than Punk vs. Cena. This is why I don’t think Cena was needed in the contract negotiation segment. Cena's interaction led to Punk storming off ripping his contract up, pretty much guaranteeing his contract would expire at midnight following the Money in the Bank PPV. Now the web was already buzzing after the worked shoot, and I think people were really curious and interested to see where they were going with this. I’ll be honest; due to the stipulation that if Punk left with the WWE Championship that John Cena would be fired I thought the WWE would have Punk beat Cena, only to drop the title to one of the Money in the Bank winners. Which is why when Alberto Del Rio ran to the ring immediately following Punk's win I let out a huge sigh of frustration, thinking to myself "Why can't the WWE do something other than the norm just once?” So you can imagine my surprise when Punk laid out Del Rio, blew a kiss to Vince McMahon, and left through the crowd. I would be confident thinking that the majority of fans around the world thought "I can't believe that just happened.” So the WWE Champion leaves the PPV, and an hour later he isn’t under contract. The Comic Con confrontation I thought was good on the WWE's part. Where I think they messed up was rushing Punk back onto TV too quickly. Why not keep him off TV longer? Instead of coming out to music post John Cena winning the title back, I think it could have been much more interesting to see Punk, in street clothes jump the barricade, and enter the ring showing his title. After a stare down I think Triple H could have showed up with security and had Punk removed. I think he should have been presented as a non-employee for much longer than what the WWE did. They could have worked out deals with ROH, OVW, and a number of other promotions to let Punk go there with the title and wrestle in those companies like he said he would. There are endless possibilities that could have furthered this angle and made its ending more satisfying than rushing Punk back on TV for two weeks worth of hype to SummerSlam. In my opinion, the WWE dropped the ball. And you can't get out of a slump and improve your overall business when you drop the ball.

That's all for now guys, hope you all enjoyed the read. Be sure to follow me on twitter @_TheDustyFinish and check out my blog “The Dusty Finish” at http://thedustyfinish.blogspot.com/ ]]> The Dusty Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1810-The-Dusty-Finish-Getting-Out-of-the-Slump http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1798-The-Dusty-Finish-The-Raw-Reflection-8-15-2011 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:31:20 GMT Coming off what can only be called a bizarre, yet exciting end to SummerSlam, I was on the edge of my seat awaiting Monday Night Raw. Why’d Nash do... Coming off what can only be called a bizarre, yet exciting end to SummerSlam, I was on the edge of my seat awaiting Monday Night Raw. Why’d Nash do what he did, and did someone put him up to it? If so, then who was it? So as I sat huddled in front of my TV, waiting anxiously for the start of Raw, I wondered to myself just how many of those questions would we get answered. As I sit here writing this, I’m still wondering what those answers are, and you know what? I’m happy that I am still wondering.

Raw got off to a good start, with Triple H claiming he only gave Nash tickets, and in no way knew why he attacked CM Punk. Which at the moment he said it, I didn’t really believe him. Yet as the show progressed my feelings changed on that.

Del Rio came out to his normal over the top entrance and really played up to the crowd really well. I’m not a big Del Rio guy, but I will admit he did a great job last night in getting that crowd pretty riled up at him.

So what was the deal with the announcer during the R Truth/Morrison match? The fact that they kept talking about Morrison finally gets to get his opportunity to get his hands on R Truth is annoying. Have they paid attention to the action they have been calling lately? This was about the fifth meeting in the last four weeks. Fortunately the match was a falls count anywhere match stipulation that gave us something a little new to see. Not a bad match at all, good spots and was glad to see Morrison FINALLY get a W over Truth. And on a side note, they Ultimate Warrior guy was awesome.

The Miz once again showed why he deserves to be in that top tier of superstars on RAW. Although he did not get #ovenroastedchickensandwich trending on twitter, like he claimed he would, he did come out there and let his star shine for a bit.

I checked out for the diva’s match, but made it back in time to see good ole Kevin Nash arriving.

So now we got Nash claiming he got a text from Hunter that told him to stick it to the winner. So what we have now is two contradicting stories from two different people. Who are we supposed to believe? Enter CM Punk. I expected this exchange to be a lot better than it was. CM Punk is gold when it comes to his work on the mic, and there was a time of day when Nash was one of the top talkers. But to be honest, Nash wasn’t so hot last night on the stick. Now yes I am a CM Punk fan, but I am also a big fan of Nash (as well as the rest of The Clique). And I don’t know what happened with Nash, but I was disappointed by the exchange. I think CM Punk totally outshined him in this segment. It looks as if we are going to ultimately see some sort of CM Punk/Kevin Nash match. I’m curious to see how far out from now that we see this match.

As far as the text message storyline, we have two ways to go with it. Are Nash and Triple H really in on it together and are just letting it play out, or did someone swipe Triple H’s phone and send Nash a text without him knowing. I’m hoping it’s the first option. As I blogged about in my SummerSlam results blog, I think it’d be great to see a new corporation faction with Triple H as the boss, Nash as the hired bodyguard, and Del Rio as the “corporate” champion. Yet I think we get the second option here. I think Stephanie sent the message and we get some type of Triple H/Stephanie confrontation in the near future.

Was I the only one lost/annoyed during the Riley/Swagger match? What in the world was going on at the announcing table. I wonder how bad Vince was yelling in people’s headsets, because what was going on at that table was ridiculous. The only spot I remember from the match is the botched ending, which made both Swagger and Riley look bad. A waste of my time. I did though enjoy the segment afterwards in which Swagger wants Vicky to manage him as well. He brought up some good points with the old school managers.

Kids distracted me during the tag match and I wasn't able to get back to the TV until mid way though the Del Rio/Mysterio match. Good first title defense for Del Rio. I like that they played up the injury angle here getting Del Rio a lot more heat. Was almost thinking Cena was going to be a no show until he hit the ring for a save. As much as I disliked Cena on the mic during his whole CM Punk program, I thought he was great tonight. I don't know if I'm the minority but I was someone who used to really dislike Cena, but I think this program with Del Rio will change my opinion with him. I thought he was good on the mic, and look forward to see If he keeps up the same intensity.

Overall a pretty good show coming off of SummerSlam. I like that they are playing the Nash/Punk/Hunter angle out slowly, giving us something to tune in for next week. That's all for this week folks, hope you enjoyed the read. Be sure to follow me on twitter @_TheDustyFinish and check out my blog “The Dusty Finish” at http://thedustyfinish.blogspot.com/ ]]> The Dusty Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1798-The-Dusty-Finish-The-Raw-Reflection-8-15-2011 http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1788-The-Dusty-Finish-SummerSlam-Fallout-Thoughts Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:18:53 GMT SummerSlam is billed as the biggest party of the summer, and last night that is exactly what the WWE gave us. For a PPV that I was skeptical about... SummerSlam is billed as the biggest party of the summer, and last night that is exactly what the WWE gave us. For a PPV that I was skeptical about due to the fact that only four matches were announced by the end of Monday Night Raw last week, I walked away very impressed. We the fans got treated to three big returns (one really big one) and three title changes. Let's take a look at why I'm on the edge of my seat awaiting Raw tonight.

I unfortunately missed the first match of the PPV, and sadly the CM Punk/Stephanie skit that everyone was talking about. Let's talk about what I did see. I saw four outstanding matches that kept me entertained throughout the night.

Sheamus/Henry match was great. These two guys worked their tails off in that ring. I thought they made Sheamus look really strong throughout the match. Great spot with Henry press slamming Sheamus back into the ring, absolutely loved that. But I can't stress how much I loved this finish. Such a huge spot there at the end and the reaction of the "fans" was awesome. I love that the WWE put Henry over but still gives Sheamus the argument of "Yes you beat me, but you didn't destroy me". I think from here we see Henry challenge Orton and Sheamus and Christian somehow get thrown in the mix.

I took a bit of a break during the Cee Lo Green and Diva's matchup. I didn't start paying attention again until Barrett vs. Bryan. I was surprised at the outcome of this match. I really expected Bryan to continue his momentum and capture the win here. One of my favorite spots here was Bryan's knee to face of Barrett coming off the ring apron. Good strong match from two young guys. I really liked the finish here. I think the WWE may be setting an eventual match with the briefcase on the line.

Christian vs. Orton rocked the house and may have stolen the show. It was great to see Edge out there again, as I really do miss that guy. After a relatively slow start these guys really picked up the pace. By the way, Christian plays such a great heel. Another random thought, why RKO someone on the announce table... The RKO is not something that is worsened by performing is on the announce table such as a piledriver, powerbomb, or Pedigree would be. Back to the match though, I thought the DDT on the trashcan was a great spot. I loved the finish here; RKO on the steel steps was a nice way to end it. Be interesting to see where these two go from here. Was this the end all match? I think so but we'll have to wait and see.

CM Punk and John Cena did it again. The two put on a pretty darn good match. Punk even treated us with a nice Savage tribute with a top rope elbow drop. Here is my problem with the finish, of the match, not the post match stuff. Triple H earlier in the match brought in both competitors to save the match from a double count out. So why post match was he not shown footage that shows John Cena's foot on the rope like I've seen happen in other matches. Restart the match then finish it. I understand its part of the storyline and it will play out, but from the standpoint of Triple H wanting to fairly call the match it doesn't make sense. Especially when other times throughout the WWE with similar finishes, matches have been continued after the ref was shown the footage.

Now let's talk post match, the return of Kevin Nash, powerbombing CM Punk and allowing Del Rio to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and capture the WWE Title. So what was this all about? So many questions. Assuming he's doing a bodyguard gimmick, was he hired by Del Rio, or did Triple H have something to do with it. We all know Triple H and Nash were a part of the infamous Clique, so maybe they bring him in to have more things Punk can "shoot" about. Also makes you wonder if everyone was in cahoots and we will see some new type of Corporation faction with similar to McMahon's some years ago. This one would consist of Triple H, Nash, and Del Rio. All I know is I'm seriously looking forward to Raw tonight and getting some of these questions answered.

Hope you all enjoyed the read, thanks for checking it out. Be sure to check follow me on twitter @_TheDustyFinish and check out my blog “The Dusty Finish” at http://thedustyfinish.blogspot.com/ ]]> The Dusty Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1788-The-Dusty-Finish-SummerSlam-Fallout-Thoughts http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1770-SummerSlam-Thoughts-and-Predictions Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:14:35 GMT In a little more than forty eight hours the biggest party of the summer is set to kick off. SummerSlam comes to us live from The Staples Center in... In a little more than forty eight hours the biggest party of the summer is set to kick off. SummerSlam comes to us live from The Staples Center in Los Angeles. Yet will it really the biggest party of the summer? While Raw ratings continue to disappoint from a business standpoint, there has to be some concern over how successful SummerSlam will be. I myself am intrigued enough from the Cena/Punk storyline to say yes, this will be the biggest party of the summer. But what do most people think? Are they concerned with the lack of undercard? Are they turned away by Triple H's involvement in the main event? Let's take a look at the matches and explore some of these concerns.

A big question on everyone’s mind has to be the lack of an undercard. So far we have only been presented with four matches. You have to believe that there will be other matches on the card. My main concern is how does the WWE expect people to pay for these other matches that will pop up on the card when no time was spent building it up. The fact is that we only have four matches. Of these matches, three really matter, and one (Diva's Championship match) most people aren't going to really care about. I'm not trying to come off as rude, but I think the fact is that most of the common wrestling fans aren’t interested in seeing the Diva's wrestle. I would love nothing more to see Miz or Del Rio in action on Sunday, but I guess the WWE is looking at just focusing in on the four announced matches.

Mark Henry over the last few months has been destroying anything in his way. The big question is can anyone stop him? Insert Sheamus. Sheamus answered a call on Friday Night Smackdown, when Mark Henry verbally called out anyone. This feud has been booked well, and the hype has made this match one that I'm looking forward to. My big concern here is that weather the loser of this match stands to lose a lot of momentum. I think they put Henry over again, building up his momentum and setting us up for feud with Orton, who we are going to talk about right now.

Some people have been concerned with the length of the ongoing feud with Christian and Orton. Well no more concern should be needed. Sundays match is going to be a no holds barred match, and we all know what that means, right? A no holds barred match is normally an end all match in feuds. This match I believe this will be the last match against each other for these two in a while. So who goes over? Who does WWE stick the title on going ahead. I don't think the WWE is prepared to let Christian come out on top and carry Smackdown. I think Orton wins here in the no holds barred match.

Now let's talk about the match that the WWE is hoping carries SummerSlam. Punk vs Cena, Champion vs Champion, for the undisputed WWE Championship. Or will he be undisputed? I say that because last Monday Triple H took it upon himself to insert himself as the guest referee in the match. And as Raw went off the air we saw a Cena and Punk confrontation that led to Triple H taking an accidental shot from John Cena. So where do they go with this one? To be honest, this one has me really guessing. I think that they let Cena take the win, but in some kind of sketchy fashion. I think this will lead to some sort of Punk/Triple H feud that will mirror the Austin/McMahon feud.

So that’s how I see SummerSlam shaping out. I don’t think Del Rio or Daniel Bryan cashes in their Money in the Bank briefcases at the PPV. Yet as we all know, anything can happen in the world of professional wrestling. I hope you all enjoyed the read, thanks for checking it out.

Be sure to check follow me on twitter @_TheDustyFinish and check out my blog “The Dusty Finish” at http://thedustyfinish.blogspot.com/ ]]> The Dusty Finish http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/community/entry.php?1770-SummerSlam-Thoughts-and-Predictions