Full “Official” Card:
Santino Marella (c) vs. Antonio Cesaro
United States Championship
Winner: Antonio Cesaro – As Roddy Piper once said, the only people who need a “strap” are ones who can’t get over on their own. Cesaro fits that description perfectly.
Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman)
Winner: Brock Lesnar – If they are smart, they will re-establish Brock Lesnar as a monster threat. If he loses to Triple H after losing to Cena, his character just might be too damaged to be worth anything.
CM Punk (c) vs. The Big Show vs. John Cena
Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship
Winner: CM Punk – There’s been so much talk about John Cena facing The Rock at the Royal Rumble, which makes perfect sense. But IT’S AUGUST! There’s plenty of time to get the belt on Cena before then while still giving Punk credibility as champion. Plus, I’m expecting the new rumored WWE title at Summerslam or the more logical, Night of Champions, next month.
Kane vs. Daniel Bryan
Winner: Kane – Kane doesn’t need the win at all but Bryan is getting even MORE over with this paranoid, crazy character, loses could actually help him. I can see AJ getting involved and costing him the match.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho
Winner: Dolph Ziggler – Jericho has the reputation of feeling the most useful by putting over new talent that has a future in the WWE. That man is Dolph Ziggler and I honestly can’t see him losing.
The Miz (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Winner: The Miz – Why the hell would Rey Mysterio win the Intercontinental Championship?
R-Truth and Kofi Kingston (c) vs. The Primetime Players (Titus O’Neil and Darren Young)
Tag Team Championship
Winners: The PTP – I don’t care for either of these teams but I think they are finally realizing that Kofi and Truth aren’t getting over as a team whereas O’Neil and Young are as heels, even without AW.
Sheamus (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio
World Heavyweight Championship
Winner: Sheamus – Sheamus has defeated Del Rio cleanly numerous times already and there’s no reason to put the belt on a heel while a heel (Dolph Ziggler) carries the Money In The Bank briefcase. Honestly, I can see Del Rio losing, beating up Sheamus post match and Ziggler successfully cashing in the briefcase.
Final Thoughts:
It would be interesting if the World Title match took place before the Ziggler/Jericho match and then changing that match to a World title match. If that was the case, I would absolutely see Jericho winning the World title (especially after all this talk of “winning the big one”.) While this would suck for Ziggler, he could very easily win the title back at Night of Champions, running Jericho out of the WWE and moving onto a feud with Sheamus who never got a rematch.
Although we’re supposed to think Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H is the biggest match, Triple H won’t take the stiff shots Cena took at Extreme Rules and I think a lot of people will be let down. Extreme Rules was not a wrestling match for Lesnar so he’s going to be rusty and as good as Triple H is, he is over 40 and carrying a rusty, MMA trained Lesnar through a decently long match might be too much.
CM Punk/John Cena/The Big Show is going to be the story of the night. While I still hold firm that this storyline would have been stronger without Big Show, CM Punk’s recent teases of a heel turn have added the intrigue this match needed. Punk’s character is already pissed that he hasn’t been in the main event for months and now the first time he is in the main event, it’s with John Cena. It’s time to pull the trigger and bring back the CM Punk of last summer and let the fans choose whether or not boo him. I think we’ll be seeing a CM Punk standing tall over a beaten down Cena by the end of the night.
