WWE Over the Limit: 10 Bold Predictions for the Upcoming PPV

On Sunday, wrestling fans will be taken Over the Limit.

No, this isn’t some drunk driving ad. It’s the second WWE PPV in just a three-week span.

Of course, we could sit here and go on and on about how holding two pay-per-views hurts the product, but I’m actually not going to do that for once. I’m here to talk about the actual PPV itself and just how it might play out when it’s all said and done.

With a number of interesting matchups on the card, Over the Limit certainly has the chance to be a solid show. Then again, it could be incredibly disappointing as well.

But I’m going to look at things on the bright side today, and actually predict that the will shock us on Sunday.

So what can we expect to see in just a few days? Well, here are 10 BOLD predictions for Over the Limit.

10. Alberto Del Rio Will Interfere in a Match

Why is Alberto Del Rio not on the Over the Limit card? I have no idea, but that definitely doesn’t mean he won’t be appearing on the show.

In fact, I could see Del Rio getting involved in either the R-Truth vs. Rey Mysterio match or the John Cena vs. The Miz match—the Mysterio bout for obvious reasons, and the Cena bout because he’s rumored to face Cena at SummerSlam.

So, don’t be surprised to see Del Rio make a HUGE impact at the pay-per-view to set up a potential feud down the road.

9. CM Punk and Mason Ryan Will Lose in a Squash

I realize that the WWE creative team is trying to build up Mason Ryan and that squashing CM Punk isn’t exactly going to make him want to stay with the company.

But this is the WWE we’re talking about here, and we know that the company loves to book Kane and The Big Show as unstoppable monsters.

Especially after the way they lost on Monday’s Raw, I’d expect this match to be booked so that the WWE Tag Team Champs destroy Punk and Ryan in less than five minutes.

After all, if you really pay attention, then you’ll realize that the general rule in the WWE is: Whoever gets the upper hand on Raw is probably losing at the pay-per-view.

8. This Will Be the Last Match EVER Between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler

For about a month now, I’ve said, “This has got to be the end of this seemingly never-ending feud between Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler”.

Good thing I didn’t hold my breath, because I’d be dead by now.

So, since I’ve made this prediction several times already, I’m going to do it again: Lawler and Cole will NEVER wrestle again after their bout at Over the Limit.

I think even the WWE has to realize that it’s time to pull the plug on this rivalry.

7. Jim Ross Will Return to WWE Programming…Full-Time

Keeping in theme with the last slide, I think that the Lawler/Cole feud will end on Sunday.

But there’s no reason to end that feud, and then just immediately put them back together as an announcing tandem. That would be an instance of literally throwing logic out the window.

So, if the ongoing rivalry between Lawler and Cole does come to a conclusion at Over the Limit, then it would make sense for Jim Ross to return as a full-time announcer on Raw .

Have him come back on Sunday, beat down Cole after the match, and then reunite with Lawler on Raw. Then, send Cole back to Smackdown where he belongs.

6. Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel Will Turn on Wade Barrett

I’ve always thought that Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel would work far better as faces than they ever would as heels.

And I think the WWE creative team realizes that, too.

If I’m booking Sunday’s show, I have Wade Barrett command Gabriel and Slater to hit Ezekiel Jackson with a cheap shot when the ref is distracted. Then,  the two Corre members refuse, and Barrett goes nuts in the ring.

As Slater and Gabriel walk up the entrance ramp while shaking their heads at Barrett, Jackson takes advantage for the win.

There’s your face turn, folks.

5. John Cena vs. The Miz Will Go 30-Plus Minutes

Allow me to steal a line from Vince McMahon’s theme music: There’s “no chance in hell” that John Cena is losing the WWE Championship just three weeks after winning it.

But the WWE has to be careful about its booking here. While Cena will undoubtedly be booked strongly—dare I say like a Super Cena?—the creative team still views The Miz as a top wrestler in the company, so The Miz has to look strong, too.

The only way to do that is to book him in a long, hard-fought match with Cena that shows the WWE audience that his title reign wasn’t a fluke.

4. Beth Phoenix Will Return

Since making her WWE debut, Kharma has been cleaning house in the Divas division.

Though it’s still unclear at this point if she’s a face, heel or even a tweener, I think the WWE would be smart here to hold a Divas match—any match, I really don’t care—and then have Kharma enter the ring and destroy the match participants once again.

After that, I’d have Beth Phoenix make her “return”—where exactly did she go anyway?—and “save” the Divas division from the beast known as Kharma.

That feud has the potential to be one of the best we’ve seen from the Divas in the last six or seven years.

3. Randy Orton vs. Christian Will Be the Best PPV Bout So Far in 2011

In my book, the best pay-per-view match we’ve seen this year is Triple H vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 27.

Well, that’ll change at Over the Limit.

After the great TV match between Christian and Randy Orton a couple weeks back—a match I gave four stars—I see these two veterans stealing the show on Sunday.

Give them maybe 20-22 minutes, and there’s no doubt they’ll top what they did on Smackdown, and what anyone’s done on PPV in 2011.

2. Rey Mysterio Will Lose Clean

There are three WWE wrestlers who almost never lose clean: John Cena, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio.

But of those three, I’d say Mysterio is easily the least important to both the long-term and short-term success of the company, which is why a clean loss for him is a lot more likely than it is for Cena and Orton.

And, the truth is, Mytserio has to lose clean to R-Truth to continue Truth’s push as one of Raw’s top heels.

Sure, a cheap win by Truth gets him a lot of heat. But a clean win by Truth, followed by a beatdown, accomplishes the same thing (getting hit) and gives him more credibility as a main event talent as well.

1. Christian Will Begin His Heel Turn

I’m still of the belief—and likely will be for a while—that the WWE has way too many heels. More than is necessary or good for the product.

But we’ve predicted that there might be a “bigger picture” to Christian’s short title reign. And this could be it.

Maybe Christian loses, and then goes nuts afterward. Or maybe the WWE books his heel turn another way.

No matter what, though, I think we’ll indeed see the “bigger picture” by the end of the night: a heel Christian.