The Silver Report: June 16-22

Whenever the WWE goes to Chicago, the results are glorious.  Payback last Sunday was full of big developments that got the ball rolling on hopefully a great summer.  The return of CM Punk (in a match that has been raved as a classic), a surprising double turn between Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio and a set of new champions crowned are some of the reasons Payback may be one of the best PPVs of 2013 so far.  As great as Payback was, the following Raw was even better.  Setting a lot of compelling storylines in motion for Money in the Bank and Summerslam and the raucous crowd made it one of the better Raws of this year.  It also gave me tons to talk about for this week’s Silver Report.  As a side note, my hopes for the summer article has been canned due to how busy things have been combined with the fact that the developments of this past week killed quite a few of those hopes I would have elaborated on in the article.

Brock Lesnar, The Head of the WWE’s Welcoming Committee

What a great way to be welcomed back to the WWE with open arms and a F5.  24 hours after returning Sunday at Payback, CM Punk tasted the force of Paul Heyman’s Beast.  One F5 has kicked off a feud that will easily main event this year’s Summerslam and captivate many this summer.  Personally, this writer would love to see a rematch between Undertaker and CM Punk set for Summerslam yet this clash between these two Paul Heyman guys is just as enticing.  There is some great material for WWE to work off of due Punk and Lesnar’s association with Mr. Heyman.  The verbal sparring matches that we could possibly see between CM Punk and Paul Heyman, considering all signs point to him turning on Punk in the near future, will be nothing short of legendary.  This feud has only just begun so there are going to be bigger developments to come very soon.  This feud can be one to make or break this summer.

World’s Strongest WWE Champion?

News hit last Monday that Mark Henry would be retiring from the squared-circle.  Henry’s recent hiatus from the ring to rest from injuries was sign enough that the World’s Strongest Man would hang up his boots.  Speaking of boots, Henry even placed his boots at the top of the stage on Monday and came out in a bright pink blazer to give his retirement speech.  Henry’s speech induced tears, smiles and even chants as he had the audience wrapped around his finger.  John Cena, who Henry interrupted, came in to give Mark some time with the WWE Champions, a title that Henry has never held according to JBL’s commentary.  It would have been a sweet end for Mark Henry’s career, but the World’s Strongest Man goes out with a whimper, the World’s Strongest Man goes out with a bang.  Mark Henry drew John Cena in for one last handshake and hit the World’s Strongest Slam instead.  Once Cena plummeted to the mat, the realization hit that Mark Henry was not retiring.  It was all a ploy to lure in the WWE Champion and what a great ploy it was.  In one fell swoop, WWE Creative built a credible threat to John Cena’s WWE Championship and made Mark Henry a devious heel that will sink to the lowest of lows to get his way.  As much as it is a given that John Cena will walk out of Money in the Bank with the WWE Championship, Cena vs. Henry should be an interesting bout nonetheless.

The Return of the Whole Dam Show

The biggest news to come out of Payback last Sunday was not CM Punk’s return or the double turn, it was the announcement of Rob Van Dam’s return at Money in the Bank.  It was an incredible surprise as there were no rumours floating around the Internet about RVD returning that this writer saw.  It has been four years since RVD has been in a WWE ring so it will be nice to see what the Whole Dam Show has to offer.  Personally, I am a huge fan of RVD and I felt his run in TNA was disappointing due to how poorly TNA used him.  Hopefully WWE Creative can think of some interesting feuds to put RVD in especially considering how many up-and-coming stars he can work with in the WWE.  Since Money in the Bank will be in Philadelphia (the former home of the original ECW), RVD should get one outstanding pop from the crowd.  This writer personally hopes RVD is put in one of the Money in the Bank Ladder matches because it would be the best match for this veteran to show off all his exciting high-flying offence.

The New PPV on the Block: Quick Preview of WWE Payback 2013

Almost every Monday night for the past month, this writer has been busy with one thing or another.  Between hanging out with friends and watching the E3 press conferences, I have been slacking when it has come to tuning into the latest episodes of Monday Night Raw.  I have been following enough to somewhat understand what is going at this current point, but not enough to do a full-on preview of this upcoming PPV, Payback.  Instead this article will be a quick preview of the event with my predictions and thoughts on Payback as a whole.

Well, the WWE found a replacement for the abysmal Over the Limit PPV.  Funny enough, it is just another generic PPV by the name of Payback.  WWE has done a commendable job of taking the name of this PPV and making it the theme of most of the matches on the card.  Each match on the card has some sort of bitter feud behind it.  It is a nice parallel to the name of the PPV, but it is not enough of a selling point for Payback.  The real selling points will be the big matches on the card especially CM Punk’s return match against Chris Jericho.  While the WWE has not done much build for this match outside Jericho’s initial challenge on the Highlight Reel, it will still be a major match this Sunday.  This match will set the course where the WWE takes CM Punk leading into one of the most important times of the year, the summer.  There are rumours of some sort of double turn taking place at Payback, but this writer does not know for sure.  Personally, I would love to see Punk stay heel and go onto challenge the Undertaker to a rematch at Summerslam or Night of Champions in order to lead to a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell PPV, but we will have to wait for Sunday to see.  CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho will easily be one of the best matches on this card especially considering Payback will be in Chicago, one of the hottest wrestling cities in the world and Punk’s hometown.  Another match that should gain plenty of attention this Sunday is John Cena vs. Ryback in 3 Stages of Hell for the WWE Championship.  As much as this writer has his fingers crossed that Ryback will finally win the WWE Championship at Payback, reports say otherwise. This 3 Stages of Hell match will be used to make Cena look strong heading into the summer months and a potential feud with Daniel Bryan.  At least, we should get a very physical and hopefully entertaining match out of Cena and Ryback.  Looking at the card, Payback seems like a fine show.  It is not the WWE’s best offering as this writer believes they are holding out until Money in the Bank and Summerslam to really knock us out, but with the backing of the phenomenal Chicago crowd Payback should be a fun PPV.

Wade Barrett (c) vs. The Miz vs. Curtis Axel in a Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship

Prediction:  Curtis Axel wins the Intercontinental Championship

Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Kane for the United States Championship

Prediction:   Dean Ambrose retains

The Shield (c) vs. Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton for the WWE Tag Team Championship

Prediction:   The Shield retains

Kaitlyn (c) vs. AJ Lee for the Divas Championship

Prediction:   AJ Lee wins the Divas Championship

Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship

Prediction:   Dolph Ziggler retains

CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

Prediction:   CM Punk wins

John Cena (c) vs. Ryback in a 3 Stages of Hell for the WWE Championship

Prediction:   John Cena retains

Since 2009, the WWE has gone through quite a few different PPVs with only a few actually sticking.  June has been a hard month to hammer down a PPV for.  Hopefully, Payback does well enough to be the regular June PPV from now on because this writer does not want to have another brand new PPV next June. 

The Silver Report: May 26-June 1

Say goodbye to the month of May and hello to June.  We are just a few weeks away from the official start of summer and the Payback PPV.  Payback in the oh so glorious wrestling city of Chicago will be the beginning of the build-up for the Biggest Event of the Summer, Summerslam.  There is a lot to hope for this coming summer as we move out of a lackluster few months.  To hype up this summer, next week’s blog will be this writer’s Top 5 Hopes for the Summer.

Clash of the Best in Chi Town

CM Punk disappeared from WWE television just over a month ago after a rather cryptic promo.  What this promo meant was anybody’s guess, but we will not have to wait much longer.  Last Monday in Calgary, Chris Jericho hosted a special edition of the Highlight Reel with Paul Heyman as the guest.  While pleasantries were exchanged at first, Jericho quickly got down to business, the whereabouts of the self-proclaimed Best in the World.  Heyman tried to redirect Jericho’s questions, but nothing would deter Y2J.  Jericho kept pushing Heyman’s buttons by saying Punk no longer deserved the Best in the World moniker and getting the Calgary crowd to chant said moniker at Mr. Heyman.  Heyman would eventually succumb to Jericho’s mind games and accept Jericho’s challenge to face CM Punk at Payback.  While it has only been a year since CM Punk and Chris Jericho feuded over the WWE Championship, it is still exciting to see these two wrestle especially considering the roles have been reversed since their last feud.  This match at Payback looks to be more of a way to bring Punk back in time for the summer rather than the start of a summer long feud.  Either way, the match should be entertaining nonetheless.  Considering that Payback takes place in Punk’s hometown, the atmosphere surrounding this match should be nothing short of electric.  This story should keep many fans interested in the weeks ahead.

The Axel Begins to Turn

From the Shield to Fandango, this year has already seen a good number of fresh faces debut.  The latest to join the main WWE roster is Curtis Axel, the son of “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig and the grandson of Larry “The Axe” Hennig.  With the mentorship of the one and only Paul Heyman and the supposed backing of the WWE big wigs, Curtis Axel is primed to being pushed to the main event of the WWE.  Those plans are not for certain considering WWE executives love to change their minds on a dime.  Axel has gotten a win over Triple H (funny it took a week to tell the audience the result) and John Cena in his first two weeks on Raw.  While these wins have only been by count-out and knockout (I believe), they are wins nonetheless.  It will be interesting to see how Axel will be booked in the coming months.  It is nice to give him wins over main eventers like Cena and Triple H, but Axel will need some pinfall victories if Creative wants the fans to believe Axel is a bona fide main eventer.  This writer just hopes that Creative does not get scared when it comes to pulling the trigger on taking Axel to the next level like they are currently doing with Ryback.  Only time will tell if the Curtis Axel experiment is a success or failure.  Considering the WWE is in dire need of stars, expect Axel to be pushed heavily in the weeks and possibly months ahead.