The John Report: WWE Capitol Punishment Preview
By John Canton
Follow me on Twitter at @johnreport
For the first time, WWE’s June PPV is called Capitol Punishment. In case you’re wondering Capitol is spelled that way because the show is in Washington DC, home of the United States Capitol building. Personally I think the June PPV should always be called the Great American Bash. The name has some history behind it too. Plus it sounds good. It’s a show that won’t get a lot of attention going in, but if you look at it on paper (or on a computer screen as it were) the lineup looks to be strong. The best thing about this card is you’ve got some matches on here that have the chance to be excellent if they get time. The ones that stand out are Kingston/Ziggler, Punk/Mysterio and Orton/Christian. The first two feuds were long running feuds on Smackdown while Orton/Christian have already had two four star plus matches in the past two months. I’m not complaining about quality matches, but I can understand why some are bitching about the lack of fresh matchups.
You know what’s not a good thing about this card? Of the seven announced matches, only two come from Smackdown. They are doing a poor job of advancing midcard storylines on the blue brand right now. There’s no sign of guys like Daniel Bryan, Sin Cara and Cody Rhodes (among others) on the show. I think for PPVs like this where you won’t get a lot of interest going it’s a better opportunity to feature fresh faces on the card and throw them out there to see if they stick. Before I start, I just want to thank WWE for having a PPV where I don’t have to preview a Lawler vs. Cole match. I’m so glad that feud is over.
US Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler
This rivalry was built up well on Smackdown towards the end of 2010 and into 2011. They had a handful of three star plus matches week after week and month after month. Over there the IC Title was in play. Now the US Title is. Each man has received a video package on Raw in the last couple of weeks. Ziggler also beat Kingston in a non-title match a few weeks ago. Who does that favor? Neither, of course. However, it lets you know that they are getting behind both guys. Whoever wins leaves as US Champion. Whoever loses is a heavy favorite to win the Money in the Bank match next month. I guess the winner of this match could get it too, but they don’t usually do it that way. I’m not sure how Dolph Ziggler is “new & improved” although they said that more during his ill conceived black hair run. I’m sure they’ll have a decent match as long as they get at least ten minutes, which I’d expect. As for my pick I’m going with Kofi Kingston to retain the title while Ziggler will be a favorite to win Money in the Bank next month.
The Pick: Kofi Kingston
CP: Kingston vs. Zigglersurvey software
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
In the 2010 Johnny Awards my choice for third best feud of the year was CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio. They had a memorable feud a year ago that featured plenty of great matches both on television and PPV. It culminated in Punk getting his head shaved, which led to him donning a mask for months afterward because he didn’t want the world to see. Of course he kept shaving his head for months too, so when his mask was taken off he was still bald. That hiccup aside, it was an awesome rivalry. Now that they are on Raw, the feud has started up again because I guess the creative team thinks it’s fresh. Chances are if they get 10-15 minutes for this match it will reach the four star level with a hot crowd too. With Punk beating Cena “clean” on Raw and Truth likely being a one month opponent for Cena, logic points to Punk winning here on the road to becoming #1 Contender to the WWE Title at Money in the Bank in July. Please give them time. I will enjoy the great match. I don’t care if I’ve seen them wrestle dozens of times. It’s better than seeing a bad match. That’s for sure.
The Pick: CM Punk
CP: Punk vs. Mysterioonline survey
Intercontinental Title: Wade Barrett vs. Ezekiel Jackson
If you’re looking for a match that won’t be Match of the Night you can pretty much write this one down for that award in dark ink. Their match last month wasn’t very good. Barrett kept the title. I’m not sure Jackson is a babyface long term. The dude is huge, sure, but he bores the hell out of me. He doesn’t wrestle with a lot of charisma and his moveset is so poor that his three successive bodyslams are considered big spots.
As for Barrett, the Corre (a group that didn’t leave a mark because they got broken up so quickly) has left him and he’s all alone. He’s had a poor run as IC champion because he’s barely defended the title since he won it. Barrett’s a decent worker for a big guy, but Jackson is poor especially against a big opponent. Keep it short, please. I think Jackson wins.
The Pick: Ezekiel Jackson
CP: Barrett vs. Jacksononline survey
Alex Riley vs. The Miz
Has there ever been a wrestler who lost as much as Riley did in the last year only to be thrust into a top match at a PPV? I guess Virgil did, but he didn’t wrestle much prior to his face turn on Dibiase. To WWE’s credit, they have handled the face turn of Riley well and he’s getting big ovations from the crowd every week because of it. The problem is, can he work a regular match as a babyface while generating those same reactions? It’s one thing to call Miz a loser and receive cheers because Miz is so over that it’s easy. It’s another thing to get those same cheers during a match. What we know is that the creative team is getting behind Riley, so win or lose, succeed or fail, the push will likely continue. That doesn’t mean a win because I think Miz will go over leading to some kind of gimmick rematch next month. They should keep this one around eight minutes, protect Riley’s weaknesses and let the feud continue to grow into next month where Riley will score the biggest win of his career. For now The Miz wins thanks to his craftiness.
The Pick: The Miz
CP: Riley vs. Mizonline survey
Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio
Even though they are both Raw guys, they used Smackdown this week to heavily push this feud thanks to two very good segments. The idea is that Big Show is now so angry over the fact that Del Rio got Ricardo Rodriguez to “run him over” that he’s injuring people. On Raw, Rodriguez got taken out on a stretcher and on Smackdown it happened to Mark Henry too. Del Rio watched the whole thing from the stands, playing the coward while Big Show continued to be the angry giant despite being a babyface. The plan, as far as I know, is to build Del Rio up to challenge Cena for the WWE Title at Summerslam. That’s why they’ve been kept apart. They’ll use Big Show to make Del Rio look good. I think this story will stretch to the next PPV. With that in mind I’d go with Big Show winning the match because I think if Del Rio gets pinned or submits it will hurt his credibility going forward. I’ll go with Show winning by DQ while Del Rio manages to avoid a severe beating. Then next month they have their blowoff match.
The Pick: Big Show
CP: Big Show vs. Del Rioonline surveys
World Heavyweight Title: Randy Orton vs. Christian
I’m looking forward to this match more than anything on the card. On May 8th I wrote about Smackdown’s new world title picture after seeing the great match where Orton defeated Christian to win the World Title (four stars out of five). I predicted, like most, that the result would lead to Christian turning heel. These two have given us two great matches already. At Over The Limit in late May these two men had another amazing match that I’d rate ****1/2 out of five, second only to HHH/Taker at Mania that earned the same rating from me. I’m ready for the next one on Sunday to see if they can top themselves once more.
There is a bit of concern going into the match because last weekend while in Europe, Orton suffered a concussion in a triple threat match with Christian and Sheamus. They mentioned it on Raw. On his Twitter account he wrote about taking an Impact test (standard tests that athletes go through after concussions), which he has passed, so he’s good to go on Sunday. There’s no Sheamus in the picture because Orton punted him to end Smackdown this week. Now we’ve got heel Christian, coming off a win against Sheamus, going against babyface Orton. My personal opinion is that Christian is the best overall performer in WWE right now (Punk’s not getting the opportunities to show his stuff) and that he has brought out the best in Orton. Is it time for Christian to get the belt back? Perhaps, but I don’t think it happens here. I’d be surprised if Orton’s title reign is so short. I also don’t think this is the end of the feud, though. I’m going with Orton retaining, but something will happen to keep it moving forward. Maybe next month they do a triple threat where Christian gets the title by not pinning Orton. There are a lot of things they could do. I’m interested in seeing the booking for this one. I’m also hoping they get more than 15 minutes again because it’s the best feud in WWE this year. If I was in charge of the order of matches this would go on last due to the fact that Cena/Truth won’t be able to top it. I doubt that is the case, though.
The Pick: Randy Orton
CP: Orton vs. Christianonline surveys
WWE Title: John Cena vs. R-Truth
The heel turn of R-Truth over the past few months has been the best thing on Raw. He’s been very effective in terms of getting over as this crazy guy who has lost his mind in pursuit of the WWE Title. They had him “take out” John Morrison on two separate occasions and he went over Rey Mysterio last month too. He hasn’t done much else in terms of in-ring success because they’ve focused so much on developing his character via promos. There was also the dreaded WATER BOTTLE OF DEATH~! last week that took Cena out. The “lose on TV, win on PPV” theory certainly applies here since Cena lost last week to CM Punk. In terms of match quality I don’t have high expectations. Cena’s good PPV matches come against elite workers. Truth is capable in the ring, but he’s not elite. How do you spell R? Great promo, Vince. Not really. Cena wins. If he doesn’t he’s still leaving as champion. I know that there’s group of people that think R-Truth getting the title would be a great move. I really doubt that Vince McMahon is one of those people. Truth is the guy for Cena to beat this month. Then he moves back down the card to continue the feud with John Morrison when he gets back in action within the next month.
The Pick: John Cena
CP: Cena vs. R-Truthcustomer surveys
That’s all for Capitol Punishment. I’m not looking forward to this PPV as much as I am to Money in the Bank next month (I love ladder matches), but if they use smart booking and give the right matches a good amount of time it could surprise some people by being a very good show. I think the two best PPVs this year have been Extreme Rules and Elimination Chamber rather than the more popular choices like WrestleMania or the Royal Rumble. You never know. In terms of interest, though, it’s not a show that is getting a lot of attention. That’s on the booking more than anything. It’s been very average on both shows post WrestleMania. Let’s hope things get better as we head into Summerslam season.
I will be back on Sunday night to write about this PPV live on thejohnreport.net and after it’s over I’ll post the recap on the other sites I write at too. On Monday night I’ll be on the Monday Night Mayhem show for a 15 minute segment starting at 8:45pmET. It will actually be on opposite the three hour Raw, but turn your TV sets down and listen to me. The Monday Night Mayhem show is great and I’m excited about being on it for the first time. Then on Tuesday morning I’ll post the Raw Deal. I’m not writing that one live. As always things are busy for me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Thanks for reading!
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