WWE Tag Team Championship — Air Boom vs. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger
I have to admit, his partnership with Dolph Ziggler, under the managerial skills of Vickie Guerrero has turned Jack Swagger into a relatively fun to watch heel. I’m still not aboard the “most under-rated guy on the roster” train, but I’m glad that I no longer gag when I hear Rage Against the Machine. That being said, I think it’s too early for the established Champions to lose the gold. They’re the first legitimate tag team to be properly developed and pushed in a long time, and I’d hate to see that momentum crushed so two guys who probably won’t work together in the long-term can get a win. Prediction: Air Boom retains the WWE Tag Team titles. If they’re going to change hands, continue building up Dolph and Swagger, and let it happen on the bigger stage in Madison Square Garden.
WWE Divas Championship — Beth Phoenix vs. Eve
This could be the best divas match we’ve had since Layla defeated Michelle McCool. Beth Phoenix is a great performer with a dominant character and decent push running with Natalya, while Eve is a technically sound diva in her own right. If Phoenix could take Kelly Kelly in and out of several decent PPV matches, I’m excited to see what she pulls off with Eve tonight! On the other hand, I’m a little less interested because Eve bores me to no end… She’s in the top of her class as far as ring skills go, but she’s entirely one-dimensional and I have no reason to invest in her character. At least when Kelly won the title she was the underdog, and when we got bored of her she showed some new attitude and tried a few new moves to stay relevant. But Eve is… bland. Everything from her look to her ring gear is monotonous. I don’t want to appear too hard on the former Divas champ, I’m just really looking forward to Beth kicking her ass… Prediction: Beth Phoenix wins. Divas of Doom will form a heel team against Kelly and Eve’s face team at Survivor Series.
United States Championship — Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder
I make it no secret that the enormous internet support for Zack Ryder bewilders me. I also realize that my opinion is not a popular one, and while I support everything he is trying to do to get himself over in an extremely competitive and (at times) unfair industry, I don’t see a bright future for Ryder in the WWE. That being said, I am a huge Dolph Ziggler fan. These two colliding for the title gives me a whole lot of mixed emotions, because on one hand I’d love to see the internet darling get his first big win and title run, but I’d also love to see Ziggler retain. My biggest issue with all of this is that Ryder has been given too many minute-or-less wins and has never been granted enough time to show that he can go in the ring. Contrary to popular belief, that is a semi-IMPORTANT ability for a champion… There’s eight advertised matches already for Vengeance, and that usually means one of them is going to be a quicky. They should not, under any circumstances, give the belt to Ryder in a match that is anything less than five minutes long. It will cheapen his victory and make one of the only credible champions we’ve had in the mid-card look like a fluke champion. The only way I’m ok with Ziggler losing the belt is if they intend to continue pushing him with Swagger in the tag team division. I’d rather have the title on Ryder than Ziggler continuing to ignore the fact that he has it… Prediction: Dolph Ziggler retains the US title.
