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Powell's WWE No Way Out 2012 Preview and Predictions: Who will A.J. end up helping? Will John Cena or John Laurinaitis be fired? Is there any chance Dolph Ziggler wins the World Hvt. Championship?

Posted in: Powell Editorials
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Jun 17, 2012 - 05:37 PM

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John Cena vs. Big Show in a cage match: Vince McMahon will fire John Laurinaitis if Big Show loses, and Laurinaitis stated on Smackdown that he would fire Cena on Monday if he loses to Big Show. Someone is going to be fired! Or not. WWE hasn't been great about living up to their firing stipulations, and I could see a situation where Vince McMahon shows up and overrules Big Johnny.

I came out of Monday's WWE Raw show feeling like it was inevitable that Show would win simply because Cena laid it on so thick while talking about what a loser Show will be if he doesn't win this match. The Cena firing stipulation added by Big Johnny has me thinking twice about it. However, WWE isn't even playing up the Cena firing stipulation on their own website. In fact, they didn't even bother to add that part of it to the match preview and there's no hype for it on the website main page. Cena is trying via his Twitter page, but it seems to end there. Thus, I'm sticking with my original prediction.

Big Show escapes the cage to win the match.

C.M. Punk vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Kane in a Triple Threat for the WWE Championship: The addition of Kane to the Punk vs. Bryan feud didn't do anything for me initially, but they've told a good story with A.J. that has viewers wondering which of the three men she'll align with. I assume Kane was added to the match to either lose to Punk so that Bryan doesn't lose and his singles feud with Punk doesn't get tarnished or so Punk can drop the title to Bryan without actually losing. I'm cool with Kane being involved, but I would be shocked and downright horrified if Kane actually wins the WWE Championship.

A.J. seems to be the key to the match. She's done an awesome job in her role as the crazy chick who has feelings for ex-boyfriend Bryan, has a crush on Punk, and likes to make out with Kane in the middle of matches. My assumption is that we should be looking at the person she seems least likely to side with according to the storyline. Bryan was bothered by her actions on Monday and even chased her at one point, so I assume it will be revealed that she never got over Bryan or has been in cahoots with him all along. Thus, I'll go with Bryan to win, though I must note that my track record in predicting the outcome for Punk's WWE Championship matches hasn't been pretty.

Daniel Bryan wins the WWE Championship.

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan for the World Hvt. Championship: I'm not overly confident in my picks for the top two matches, so I'm going for the gusto here. I have a pretty good track record with this, so I can live with it if I go 0-3 in the big matches on this show. If I'm going to struggle with my predictions then I might as well bomb in a big way. I admit this is based partially on wishful thinking and WWE's need to create new stars due to all of the injuries and suspensions.

The smart money is on Sheamus to retain since Ziggler wasn't even supposed to be in the match in the first place. I like a long shot (see my prediction of Sheamus winning the Royal Rumble). Thus, I'll go with the upset and hope that WWE creates a new star and a new main event feud for Smackdown by giving Ziggler instant credibility.

Dolph Ziggler wins the World Heavyweight. Championship.

Triple H addresses the Brock Lesnar situation: Where was the hype for this on Monday night? Is it still happening? A caller on the Extreme Pro Wrestling Radio show on KFAN.com asked an interesting question about the possibility of WWE going with Triple H and John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar and Big Show at SummerSlam. I assume WWE wants singles matches out of Lesnar in his limited dates, but they have gone with some big tag matches at the summer event in the past. I'll stick with my assumption that we get Hunter vs. Lesnar at SummerSlam, and perhaps Paul Heyman shows up tonight or Monday to argue with Hunter. Perhaps it's as simple as Triple H says Lesnar can have the contractual terms Big Johnny gave him only if he beats him at SummerSlam.

Christian vs. Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Title: It's been a wild week for Christian. He worked TNA Slammiversary, Monday's Raw, Tuesday's Smackdown taping, and now WWE No Way Out. This should be another good match. I don't see any reason for a title change here.

Christian retains the Intercontinental Title.

Layla vs. Beth Phoenix for the WWE Divas Championship: Would this match be on the show if WWE didn't have so many injuries and suspensions? The Divas didn't even get match time on Raw for two weeks and then they raced into setting up the match. I'd like to see Beth win the match and get back to being the dominant Diva. Layla just isn't over with the fans. This may be another wishful thinking pick.

Beth Phoenix wins the WWE Divas Championship.

Santino Marella vs. Ricardo Rodriguez in a non-title tuxedo match: Santino in a monkey suit. Ricardo showed on Smackdown recently that he can run the ropes pretty damn well in a tuxedo. I have no idea why I even remember that or why I felt the need to include that trivial bit of information. What do you want to me write? It's two comedy characters in a match that will result in one of them being stripped to their underwear. I just want to know if the same person who came up with the idea of having John Cena strip Michael Cole to his underwear and slather him a JR's BBQ Sauce is responsible for this too.

Santino keeps his clothes on and wins the match.

Brodus Clay vs. David Otunga in the pre-show match: WWE set this up by having Otunga stop posing long enough to beat up Clay on Smackdown. This feels like a two-minute time filler on Raw, not something you'd use to entice viewers to order a pay-per-view.

Brodus Clay wins.

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