WWE No Way Out PPV Predictions

A WWE PPV is upon us and that means one thing. Wrestleblogger predictions. As always, Dave is here and will be offering up his picks. As a gesture of kindness, I am allowing him to give his picks first. These are the matches announced so far. If anymore matches are announced between now and Sunday I will be posting my picks for the new matches.

John Cena & Shawn Michaels v. Batista & Undertaker
Dave Says: This is interesting. Two face teams squaring off. Also, four wrestlers that very rarely lose. Of course in tag team matches anything can happen. The question is who will they allow to have pinned? My guess is that the Undertaker will turn on Batista in order to set up their match at WrestleMania. This would set up the Undertaker as the heal since a face vs face main event is unlikely. Cena will pin Batista after Undertaker turns on the Animal.
I Say: With the 4 participants of the two main-events @ WM23 in this match it's hard to get an outcome that will keep them all strong going into the biggest show of the year. These are arguably the 4 top names in the WWE right now (not including HHH who is injured) and having even one of these guys come out looking weak will kill his WM23 match. Not to get too much off topic I find the WM23 booking a little unusual. That's not to say I don't like it. I just find it strange. You are have 2 title matches and all four guys are faces. Add to that the fact RAW's (if not the entire WWE's) 2 biggest heels (Edge & Orton) facing off against each other and you have some odd booking. Again, I'm not saying that I don't like it because I do like it. Especially the slow burn that they have going on between Edge & Orton. Back to this match. Since RAW is the WWE's flagship brand I will agree with Dave and pick Cena & HBK to win. I will also agree with Dave and say that the tension will continue to build-up between Batista and 'Taker. Also, I really hope that Shawn turns into the 'heelish face' like he did during his feud with Hogan a couple years back. That's when Shawn is at his best.

WWE Tag Team Championship
Paul London and Brian Kendrick (w/Ashley Massaro) (c) vs. Deuce 'N Domino (w/Cherry)
Dave Says: I actually saw Deuce 'N Domino. They look pretty good. I like the retro gimmick and I don't mean the 50's look. I mean the gimmick of having a tag team with with an absurd hook. London and Kendrick have good workrates but they annoy me so I'm going with Deuce 'N Domino. I would bet money that I'm wrong but this is more of an emotional pick.
I Say: I'm surprised that Dave didn't say 'The Deuce you say' so I will - The Deuce you say! This match was originally a rematch of the 4-team ladder match between Kendrick/London, Regal/Taylor, Hardys, & MNM. Reports indicate that Vince McMahon decided that he didn't want The Hardys and MNM wrestling as tag teams anymore and wanted to concentrate them on singles matches. All that business about Vince not wanting them to wrestle as tag teams has been going for months now, but they have continued to do the opposite. Therefore, I don't buy it. The real reason that the original match was cancelled was because Vince knew that the main-event only had 1 guy who could 'go' (HBK) and he didn't want the tag match to outshine the main-event which it surely would have done. On to the match at hand...I've picked against Kendrick and London a few times before and have always come up wrong. Add to that the fact that D&D are still a little too new to give a title run. My pick is Kendrick & London.

King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Kane
Dave Says: C'mon Booka' Man. Kane is winding down his career so I see a Booker win. Please don't let the King Booker gimmick die.
I Say: I too want to see Booker T continue as King Booker. I've become more of a fan of his since assuming the crown. No matter what happens these two are probably going to have a gimmick match @ WM23. An Inferno Match? Cage Match? That gimmick match will favor Kane so I am suspecting that Booker will be forced to accept the match if he wants revenge for his loss here @ NWO.

WWE Diva Talent Invitational
Kristal Marshall, Jillian Hall, and other divas from RAW/SmackDown!/ECW TBA
Dave Says: God. I think Jillian Hall was the girl with the giant thing on her face. No idea who Kristin Marshall is. I'll go with Marshall because I just don't give a crap.
I Say: Well Dave, it's Kristal Marshall. It's hard to pick who will win when all of the participants aren't known. All I know at this point is that Jillian's talent will be singing and it will be horrible. I am fairly certain that all of the other Divas' talents will envolve dancing, stripping, or posing in a bikini. I am going with a two pronged pick. If Torrie is in the match she will win. If not, I pick Kristal. This match would be good chance for WWE to give some of these Divas' characters some dimension, but I'm sure that they will screw it up. Finally, is it just me or do the Divas switch back and forth between heels and faces without any sort or explaination?

Boogeyman vs. Finlay
Dave Says: Finley is awesome. He has no look and no Charisma. He looks like he should be wrestling on the indy circuit but here he is. I'll go with Finley. Another emotional pick.
I Say: I have to admit that since Boogeyman's return I haven't been as much of a fan as I was during his initial run in WWE. I'm coming to a realization that he is almost all gimmick and very little wrestler and that can only go so far. I make fun of and look down on a lot of wrestlers for being all gimmick and very little wrestler. For example, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, and Batista. Boogeyman takes this concept to a new level though. I'm holding out a little hope on Boogeyman though foir the simple reason that I have read that Boogeyman makes limited house show appearences because he is training @ Booker T's wrestling school on his days off and that can only help him get better. I really don't miss Finlay when he's not on TV, but I hope that this feud continues so Boogey can get some help on his fundementals. Like him or hate him Finaly is very fundamentally sound and can teach Boogey a thing or two. On to the match - I expect the Little Bastard & Little Boogeyman to get involved. I think that Boogeyman had been getting the best of Finlay in the past few weeks on SD. I'll go with the same thing to happen @ NWO. Boogey with the win. Maybe by count-out.

Lashley v. Mr. Kennedy
Dave Says: Mr. Kennedy ought to change the name of his finishing move to the Kennedy Assasination. But seriously. I'm a big Mr. Kennedy fan so I'm going with him to beat the Michelin Man.
I Say: First off, Dave, this is my site. That means that I make the jokes. You don't. With that said Kennedy ought to change the name of his finishing move to the Kennedy Assassination!Yeah! Aren't I funny?! Lashley has been booked as an unstoppable force. I'll go with Lashey to win unless they are trying to build-up to Kennedy getting an ECW Title shot @ WM23 (or earlier on ECW TV). I may lean towards a match on ECW TV since there may be a Lashley/Snitsky WM match in the works.

7-Way match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Gregory Helms vs. Scotty 2 Hotty v. Daivari v. Shannon Moore v. Jamie Noble v. Funaki v. Jimmy Wang Yang
Dave Says: WOW!!! What a five star.. aw... who gives a crap. Bring back Grand Masta' Sex-ay. Shannon Moore looks like he just stepped off the short bus in Road Warrior. I didn't know Jimmy Wang Yang was still in the WWE. I'll go with Gregory Helms because... because the stars tell me so.
I Say: As with other matches with a large number of participants I will force eliminate those who I know won't win. Scotty won't win eventhough he is a big fan favorite. Shannon Moore has become a joke and a poser. Noble certainly has the ability, but I really haven't really seen him since Kid Kash got released and the Pitbulls broke up so I'm not picking him. Funaki has no shot either. Although Yang is over (kinda) I can't see him winning the belt. That leaves Daivari and Helms. Daivari has been jumping back and forth between brands so fast that they should really do something to give him a reason to have an established 'home brand'. He's only wrestled on TV a couple of time and most of the time the matches were very short and only served and a set-up for Hassan and mostly Khali to interfere and destroy his opponent. I can't pick him though. I'll go with Helms to retain. I wouldn't be surprised though to see Khali interfere on Daivari's behalf.

Summary
Dave picked Cena/HBK, Deuce & Domino, Booker, Kristal, Finlay, Kennedy, & Helms.
I picked Cena/HBK, Kendrick & London, Kane, Kristal (or Torrie), Boogeyman, Lashley, & Helms

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