Well, 2013 came to a close and Jim
won the Head 2 Head for a second year in a row!
Jim finished at 60-27, while Tom came in at 51-36. So, Tom will have his head shaved while attending
a wrestling show with Jim this year.
He’ll also be wearing a Chicago Bears T-shirt to pay off the 2012 wager
as well, as we were unable to attend a wrestling show together in 2013. More info on that soon!
2014’s Head 2 Head kicks off with
the Royal Rumble! While we’d love to do
this as a podcast (and would have loved to do a year end one as well), life has
just not allowed our schedules to coincide and get one done, so we present it
to you in blog format!
The wager for 2014 is: Undetermined at this time…seriously, we’ve
been hit with life like the East Coast got hit with snow this week! If you have good ideas, let us know here or
on Twitter @TwoSpotMonkeys
Kickoff Show - WWE Tag Team Title Match
Cody Rhodes & Goldust (c) vs. The New Age Outlaws of Road Dogg
& Billy Gunn
Jim: Interesting to see the Outlaws hang around a bit here. With the tag division as potentially strong
as it’s been in quite some time, I am ok with them being a veteran team that
can be used to put over up and coming teams if they use them that way. Though, I have my doubts on that. I’m actually a bit afraid that they could win
the tag titles here, but I think that would be a huge mistake. I think the Rhodes boys will defend the
titles here, but there will be some sort of start to teasing an eventual
breakup between them as I truly do think we’re headed towards Cody Rhodes vs.
Goldust at Wrestlemania. I think they
keep the titles here, but may lose them at Elimination Chamber, if not sooner. Perhaps to the Wyatts.
Tom: If you had told me 6
months ago that I would be seeing 3 of 4 wrestlers from the “Attitude Era” in
the Tag Team Title Match at Royal Rumble, I would have called you crazy. I do think it is interesting that both Road
Dogg and Billy Gunn have gotten back into the mix as active talents. I saw them live just a few days ago at the
Smackdown taping and they certainly did not look out of place. I don’t think they are the team to dethrone
Cody & Goldust, but do agree with Jim’s opinion that the tease of the
potential Cody vs. Goldust match at WrestleMania might very likely start on
Sunday. The Brotherhood retains.
Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt
Jim: Speaking of the Wyatts,
Daniel Bryan gets a one on one shot at Bray Wyatt here. Seems WWE realized the mistake they made
“turning” Daniel Bryan heel and are leaving him as a baby face. Now, here’s my thing. Daniel Bryan should be in the Rumble and win
it. At this point, all signs point to
him not even being in the Rumble itself.
That would be a HUGE mistake yet again.
They could “explain it” by having Bray and his boys take Bryan out
again, but really...don’t do it WWE. Realize
the error of your ways (yeah right!) and give Bryan the win and put him over at
Mania...it’s what your fans want. DO
IT! That all being said, I see Wyatt
getting the win here as Bryan will help put him over to make him.
Tom: I’ve read a lot of
opinions on the way that Bryan joined the Wyatt Family and then turned, as well
as the perception of what the WWE “machine” is doing to him. They are varied and they are also very
angry. I personally didn’t have a
problem with Bryan becoming a Wyatt and in my perfect booking scenario, the
turn would have come this Sunday with all in the Rumble match. Maybe it would not have had the impact of the
same scenario that played out on Raw a few weeks back, but it might have made
some greater long-term storyline progress.
Of course, it would have led to a Bryan-Bray match at WrestleMania with
a really awesome, big time feel…but alas we get that bout Sunday (and in my
view) without all of the proper build-up.
I am torn on this match because Bryan does not need the win to stay
strong and Bray has been one of the most vilified heels without the in-ring
work to back that up. That has to change
sometime, right? Why not on Sunday and
no better place than the Rumble. Bray
Wyatt gets the win.
The Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar
Jim: Can’t say I’m dying to
see this one, though Brock Lesnar is welcome on any show I’m watching, wish he
was around more. No doubt about it,
Lesnar wins this one, as Show going over Lesnar would be stupid on every level. My guess is Brock can beat the tar out of
Show too, which will make him look even more terrifying than he already
is! Lesnar is likely to be in a big
match at Mania (I’m guessing Rock or Undertaker, if either are able and willing
to go), so this starts the push to that.
Lesnar proves how silly strong he is and gets the win here.
Tom: Gotta give WWE a ton of
credit here. This is a feud that
happened nearly a decade ago and they’ve built it on TV to be fresh and
new. Also, I would have never believed
you if you told me a year ago that Lesnar would be doing battle with The Big
Show…but again, here we are. Lesnar will
indeed prove that he has the answer to the things Big Show was throwing at him
thus far and come out looking really strong and headed to WrestleMania and I
have to imagine a chance to break the streak against The Undertaker. Brock gets the win.
The Royal Rumble Match for WWE Title Match at WrestleMania:
Announced Participants: Batista, Alberto Del Rio, Kofi Kingston, The
Miz, Big E Langston, Goldust, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Cody Rhodes, R-Truth, Xavier
Woods, Damien Sandow, C.M. Punk (Entrant #1), Fandango, Rey Mysterio, Seth
Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.
Jim: We’ll pick the final
four and the winner here, allowing for five possible points with this match. With 20 officially announced, there are at
least 10 slots left open. Curtis Axel,
Zack Ryder and Wade Barrett all at one point were announced, but do not appear
on the official list on WWE’s website as of this writing. As I said earlier, I think Daniel Bryan
should be in, and win the match, but I just don’t see them doing it. I could never be happier to be wrong if I am,
but at this point, I will proceed with that thought. So, really the only guys that have any shot
at all are CM Punk, Batista, Roman Reigns, Sheamus (if he’s back)...and really,
that’s about it. So, my final four are
Punk, Batista, Reigns and Big E. Langston (they still seem to like Langston a lot,
so let he and Reigns be some new blood in the Final Four). I think there will be definite dissension in
The Shield, as I think we’re headed towards a 3 way at Wrestlemania between
those three men. But, that’s for another
day, on Sunday, I think Batista gets the win.
I hate the idea of Batista vs. Orton at Mania, but I have every belief
that we’ll see that (or even worse, Batista vs. Orton vs. Cena!)
Tom: Yes! The match I am super eager to see on
Sunday. I love the Rumble every year and
hope that this year only adds to the legacy of great bouts and memories from
the past. Like Jim, I too hope that
Daniel Bryan gets in and imagine that if so, he will have a great run only to
have that stunted by The Wyatt Family at some point. I do also think that Wade Barrett, Ryback and
Curtis Axel are shoe-ins for the match…but really am eager for the surprise
names – perhaps Jake “The Snake” Roberts or Big Daddy V (as he rumored tweeted
earlier in the week!). The match of
course comes down to those with only legit chances to be in the Main Event of
WrestleMania XXX and there are only 4-6 of those guys announced, at best. It would be awesome as well to see CM Punk
break the record of Rey Mysterio for longest time in the match…that would be a
heckuva story! Punk is a no brainer for
the Final Four. I will also go with
Batista because you don’t have him return here and not get a major spot. So, Jim and I are identical on picks up to
now. I will also go with Alberto Del Rio
being in the Final Four and also Seth Rollins, with Roman Reigns getting dumped
by Rollins to his dismay and with Big E. and Ambrose going out just ahead of
these guys. I expect that to have a lot
of drama! I do think it will come down
to Batista-Punk, with The Authority screwing him over and giving Batista the
opening to win. Batista will be the 2014
Rumble winner.
WWE World Heavyweight Title Match - Pinfall or Submission Only:
Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena
Jim: Well, here we go again,
a match that I could give two craps about for the WWE World Heavyweight
Championship. How many times can we see
Orton vs. Cena, and it’s nothing new.
I’m bored with Orton as champ, but to go back to Cena would be a big
mistake too, even in WrestleMania time. Whatever match Cena has at Mania (as
proven two years ago vs. The Rock) will be big anyways, so why does it have to
be a World Title Match? I hope it’s not
this year. I actually loved the idea
(that apparently WWE is not doing now) of Cena and Hogan vs. Piper and a heel
(I know he wanted CM Punk, but I’d love to see them give Ambrose the spot since
he reminds me of Piper so much, but Ambrose isn’t big enough for that spot yet
due to booking). Anyways, I hope this
ends the feud between these two, and I’m guessing it might, or at the very
least it leads to Elimination Chamber where some other folks get involved as
well. I think Orton keeps the title here
and rolls on towards Wrestlemania as the “face of WWE”.
Tom: With my previous pick
of Batista winning, I have zero doubt that Randy Orton retains. I think from a historical perspective and in
terms of what WWE wants to see, fans will “care” more about this match than Batista
vs. Cena, and also cheer Batista fully and boo Orton. That is about all that can be said. I trust Cena and Orton to have very good
match, but my opinion like that of Jim’s is that I’ve seen it to the point that
it is not fresh at all anymore…not good for a co-main event on one of the
bigger pay-per-view events of the year!
There you have it. Pretty close picks almost all the way down
the road. Only difference is in who we
think we comprise the Final Four in the Rumble Match.
Check back with us next week for a
REACT (maybe a podcast or here on the blog) and we will re-connect on what we
liked, what we didn’t like and what we hope/expect to come next!
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