Around the Ring: Predictions and questions around the wrestling ring

It's been quite the interesting week in wrestling since last week's bore of the Cyber Sunday PPV, Raw and Smackdown programs. There's a little bit to touch on this week seeing how this will be printed for all of you to read just before the Survivor Series, so I'll make a few predictions for that, too.

On Raw, it was interesting to see Jeff Hardy once again win the IC title. I thought the ending was a little weird because Nitro hit one hell-of-a-finisher on Hardy, only to have Hardy just reverse the pin at the end. It was great but I felt bad for what that does for Nitro's finisher.

Speaking of shocking, Flair and Piper just got the tag belts only to drop them to Orton and Edge! By the time the Raw before the SS PPV hits, we could see these belts (plus the IC belt) change hands again.

The DX stints and segements last night were hit and miss. HBK talkin' “gangsta” and HHH in the front row with a huge salami yelling “Lita's a Ho” were great. Other parts (such as the Spirit Squad's lame attempt to cash in on the bounty) were awful. Speaking of the bounty, did someone forget almost half way through the show that the WWE hooked us with that storyline?

As for the Survior Series, I think the WWE has done a good job in hyping up the story to the Kennedy/Undertaker match. While I still can't stand Kennedy, this should be an interesting bout where The Undertaker will come out on top (hell, it's his anniversary). If he doesn't, it means that The Undertaker will be going on ANOTHER vacation until the Rumble.

Lita vs. Mickie James will see Lita lose the belt and graciously leave the WWE behind for her band and to start an acting career. Hopefully they'll give Lita her props because I think she deserves an excellent send off like Trish's.

Batista vs. Booker T for the Heavyweight championship will hopefully be better than their last outing. I think the WWE knows that the fans want a new champ, although Booker has been entertaining inside the ring (notice I didn't say outside?).

Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guererro for the US belt is a bout I don't care to see. While it's nice to watch Benoit in the ring, I just don't care for Chavo and his whole involvement with Vickie Guererro and the story surrounding it. Benoit should retain because I can't see the WWE pushing Chavo any more.

Ric Flair, Roddy Piper (co-captains), Dusty Rhodes & Sgt. Slaughter vs. Kenny, Johnny (co-captains), Nicky & Mikey — Why on earth do we have to watch this? With Piper and Flair not holding the belts any more (at the time of writing this), this just doesn't seem like a good match now. We'll see the old timers win and the final nail in the coffin for the Spirit Squad in their current formation.

John Cena (Captain), Kane, Lashley, Sabu & RVD vs. Big Show (Captain), Test, MVP, Finlay & Umaga - This should be an interesting bout just because there are so many feuds in this one. While the winner and loser really don't matter, you may see Umaga pinning Cena here because the belt isn't on the line. Hopefully K-Fed won't be involved considering his lousy CD sales and that Britney dumped his ass.

DX (co-captains) CM Punk, Matt & Jeff Hardy vs. Rated RKO (co-captains), Johnny Nitro, Mike Knox & Gregory Helms — It's nice to see the Hardy Boys teaming up once again and CM Punk getting into a WWE main event already but even with this match, does it matter who wins or loses?

As much as I'm glad that some of the classic Survivor Series matches are back, the relevance of them just isn't there anymore. Will we see Bischoff get his revenge somehow? To make the match more interesting, I sure hope so.

Until next week's column, make sure to watch TNA (the wrestling brand, that is, because I haven't had the chance to watch too much if lately).