WWE Vengeance predictions and preview

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is back on pay-per-view tonight (Sun., Oct. 23, 2011) with its latest offering, Vengeance, from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. 

Like most WWE pay-per-views this year, it feels rushed and lacks the necessary punch it could have packed if given just a bit more time. After all, the last show, Hell in a Cell, was just three weeks ago. Hardly any time to marinate.

Then again, a lot can happen in three weeks and it has. Triple H is still technically COO (figure that one out) but he's back as an active wrestler and still feuding with John Laurinaitis, who is now the acting General Manager until a permanent figurehead can be appointed.

Just as soon as "The Game" assumed the role of on-screen COO, Laurinaitis was there to cause problems for him. And while there has been many a time in which WWE has teased an ultimate payoff, they've yet to follow through on anything concrete.

It's a slow build ... to what, we don't know. Hell, they probably don't even know.

And that's been the issue as of late. As we've reported here at Cageside Seats, booking for Raw is being done on the fly. Vince McMahon is still borderline insane and hardly anything we see on television makes sense because the writers have so little time to craft a story worth telling.

The good news is that should all be coming to an end here shortly. The Rock is returning, with a measure of creative control over his character, and the direction of the company will become rather clear cut in a very short period of time.

So, essentially, this is the final event before the real fun begins. Does it take away from what we'll see tonight? You bet your sweet buns it does, but try to remember that there is at least some light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel.

On to some predictions for the event on Sunday that we'll dub "Predictable."

Sheamus vs. Christian

This match represents the first part of our "Predictable" play, seeing as it's fairly obvious who's going over and who's being made to job ... again. The last time Sheamus lost on a pay-per-view was to Mark Henry in their infamous count out finish after going through the outside barricade. Henry went on to win the title and has become an unstoppable monster as heel champion. Sheamus' big push has kicked into high gear since then and he's been an unstoppable babyface. See where this is headed? Sheamus wins clean.

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes

In part two of "Predictable," we have Randy Orton going over ___ <--- insert name, which just so happens to be Rhodes thanks to a memorable segment they had on Smackdown that went viral. Orton went nuts, busting Rhodes open with a ring bell and the Intercontinental champ proceeded to break the Muta scale by painting the arena with his blood. Cody has looked phenomenal for the past few weeks, elevated big time as a main event level heel thanks to his feud with one of the top babyfaces in the company. He's still got his draw backs, like the goofy voice he uses during promos and the paper bag gimmick, which will always be a bad mid-card schtick, but his potential is finally starting to be realized a bit. Even a loss here won't hurt him too bad because Orton has actually bothered to take care of him. We know Orton is going to win because he's lost at consecutive pay-per-views. Three in a row? Not going to happen ... not even a little bit. Orton wins clean.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder for the United States championship

It's good to see Ryder finally get himself a fairly high profile match on pay-per-view, seeing as he's contesting for a title. As I've said before, whether or not he wins seems to be contingent on what the plan is for the tag titles. What I would like to see is Ryder come extremely close to winning the match before being screwed over by a run-in from Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero that sees Ziggler retain. That way WWE continues building him up and he can then win the belt at Survivor Series a month from now, which will be a far bigger show. I believe the first part of that will happen, but I'm unsure of the second. This feels like a test to see if Ryder can hold up in a title match on pay-per-view. He drew the best possible guy to work with, as Dolph could make anyone look like a million bucks. Hopefully this one pans out. Ziggler wins after a run-in.

Air Boom vs. Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger for the tag team championships

To continue the idea behind Ziggler retaining his U.S. title, it would make sense, then, to have he and Swagger win the tag titles later on in the night. They establish early that they're a great tag team that works well together and pay it off later by actually winning the titles. As mentioned before, have Ziggler lose the U.S. strap at the next pay-per-view so it can actually get some real love and attention while he and Swagger hold the tag belts as heels for an extended run. This would be the smart way to build the tag division back up as well -- bring in some fresh babyface challengers. They're out there, too. The question is whether or not WWE wants to invest the time in them. So far the answer is no but that doesn't mean it can't change in the next 10 seconds ... like usual. Ziggler and Swagger win after a modified clusterfuck of a match.

Beth Phoenix vs. Eve for the Diva's championship

Act three of "Predictable" features a women's match that seemed to be booked just to meet the quota of Diva's championship matches on pay-per-view. The belt hasn't been much more than a hot potato, which is what breeds apathy. Who cares if Beth loses the title? She'll just win it back next week. Or the week after, or at the next pay-per-view. That's how the flat this whole charade feels. Phoenix wins clean.

Mark Henry vs. Big Show for the world heavyweight championship

Although I'm sure it won't go on last, this is the match that deserves main event status. In the past I would have laughed at you had you told me Henry defending the world heavyweight title against Big Show would be reason to purchase an event sometime in the future. Now? It's glorious. It's two guys who have always had immense talent getting their time at the top to show how foolish WWE has been for not having them there all along. Henry has single-handedly made Show a bigger face than he ever could have been otherwise. He's also done the lion's share of creating any sort of intrigue surrounding the outcome of the match. When the heel is selling for the babyface like he's fuggin Mr. Perfect, it makes the good guy look like a threat to dethrone the bad guy. Again, though, there's no real reason right now for that to happen and the "Predictable" play continues. No complaints on this one, though. Should be a lot of fun. Henry wins clean.

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena in a Last Man Standing match for the WWE championship

The fifth and final act of "Predictable" features a match no one really wants to see. Why? Because it's a placeholder. A go between, a stall tactic, a meaningless muddle of muck that has no rhyme or reason to it. Okay, maybe that's going a bit far but we know that Del Rio wins here because Cena is just a stone's throw away from moving on to his feud with The Rock. "ADR" is then reportedly going to move on to Punk. The only intrigue surrounding this match is how exactly they'll go about having Cena lose. It's most likely going to be something that keeps him strong, something like what he did to Batista in their Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules last year. So at least in that sense, I'm curious to see how they handle it. Other than that, these two haven't been lighting the ring on fire and it's the right time to move on. Del Rio wins with outside help.

Triple H and CM Punk vs. The Miz and R-Truth

I can't imagine too many scenarios that see Miz and Truth winning here but if they get their legs cut out from under them this fast, what's the point of the larger storyline? We still have yet to find out who it was that was pulling the strings to oust Trips as COO and I'd hate to think they would spend so much time building to something without ever paying it off. Then again, the anonymous Raw General Manager podium is still set up ringside from time to time. We are talking about Triple H, of course, so this will see some form of resolution. Punk is reportedly moving on to another run with the WWE championship, which is apparently going to lead into WrestleMania next year. Now that Triple H is back as a wrestler and he'll need something to do next year, on what could very well be the biggest show in the history of the company, how far fetched is it to think he'll position himself to challenge Punk for the belt at Mania? The seeds could be planted in this match but I think it's more likely the babyfaces go over clean and Punk and Trips mutually part ways. Triple H and CM Punk win clean.

That's it for us. Now it's time for you Cagesiders to give us your thoughts on WWE Vengeance. Who do you think is going to win tonight? And, more importantly, how?