Roman Reigns Vs Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon being positioned as the top heel on SmackDown just about sums up where the WWE is at right now.
He has wrestled on every show this year and has only tasted defeat once but hopefully Reigns will put a quick end to that on Friday. That won’t happen though, and instead, we will be treated to an overbooked mess where Shane McMahon gets to look reasonably strong against a guy who main evented three WrestleManias in a row.
I’m going with logic and reason on this one and giving the win to Reigns, but don’t rule out Shane getting another ridiculous victory.
Prediction: Roman Reigns Wins
50 Man Battle Royal
I’ll be honest, until this week when it was mentioned briefly on SmackDown, I’d totally forgotten this match was happening.
The idea of having all 50 superstars start in the middle of the ring is going to be absolute chaos and it’s going to be interesting to see how the WWE handle it.
The 24/7 title should play a big part in this match and could make proceedings quite a bit of fun, especially given the number of jobbers that are likely to be involved in the encounter. Having Drake Maverick finally nick the belt off R-Truth could be quite a fun spot.
Not that victory here will do the winner too many favours, but someone like Drew McIntyre should walk away with whatever trophy or prize the WWE decides to add here last minute.
Prediction: Drew McIntyre wins
Other prediction: Drake Maverick gets his hands on the 24/7 title
Kofi Kingston Vs Dolph Ziggler – WWE Championship
Dolph Ziggler’s return to the WWE was a bit out of the blue and while this match doesn’t necessarily scream main-event draw, it has produced a reasonably compelling narrative and will likely deliver from an in-ring perspective.
Ziggler has been excellent in the build to this feud, but it seems unlikely that the WWE will give him the victory here. What we shouldn’t rule out, however, is Brock Lesnar coming down to the ring and taking Kofi’s WWE Championship from him.
Prediction: Kofi Kingston Wins
Extra Prediction: Brock Lesnar cashes in and becomes the WWE Champion
Seth Rollins Vs Baron Corbin – Universal Championship
Baron Corbin is one of the most actively disliked wrestlers in the WWE right now, and it would appear as though the company are misreading what is genuine dislike as good heel heat.
The company’s insistence on keeping Corbin in and around their main event is arguably one of the reasons Raw has been haemorrhaging viewers week in, week out and the complete lack of interest in this match-up just about typifies that.
Even the teased cash-in of Brock Lesnar has not been enough to boost interest in this encounter and in reality, is just a way to get Lesnar a payday at the show.
That being said, Corbin has actually been fairly solid from an in-ring perspective recently, and Rollins is one of the most consistent wrestlers on the planet, so providing this isn’t too overbooked, there is a chance that this could be a solid encounter, if not one of the finer outings of Corbin’s career.
Rollins is keeping hold of his belt here, and Lesnar is going to turn up elsewhere.
Prediction: Seth Rollins wins
Liam Hoofe – @liamhoofe
Photo Credits: WWE
