WWE Vengeance 2011: 10 Bold Predictions for the Upcoming PPV

Vengeance is set for Sunday night in San Antonio, Texas, and the card looks pretty decent, but it does face its share of criticism.

First off, the three weeks to build up the event.  Actually, you could take out a week that was primarily focused on the walkout that cost Triple H his on-screen power.

You take away that week and you see my second point: a similar card to what we saw at Hell in a Cell with a couple of key differences that really shows that WWE is forcing themselves to create new story lines on a week-to-week basis.

A Del Rio/Cena championship confrontation that we saw at Night of Champions but with a Last Man Standing stipulation that may see things get a little more rough...doubt it.

Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger get another crack at the tag-team titles and sub out Randy Orton for Big Show and that's about it for the main event...except for an Orton/Cody Rhodes match that we've been wanting to see since Orton cut Rhodes open a few weeks ago.

On that note, here are some BOLD predictions on what is going to happen at Vengeance, including a few key returns.

Eve Loses to Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly Heel Turn

Eve Torres has gotten out of the shadow of Kelly Kelly's Divas title run and is getting her shot.

Unfortunately, the run that Beth Phoenix is having will prove to be too much for the former champ, and we will see another Phoenix victory.

Kelly will try to console her dear friend Eve inside the ring, but that is when Kelly will strike.

Remember how much Kelly loved that Divas Championship and how angry she became after she lost the belt?  Now, tie in the fact that Kelly didn't receive a rematch and Eve did instead.

There is the catalyst of a heel turn and in general, this could lead to a four-way Divas Title match at Survivor Series between Phoenix, Eve, Kelly and Natalya.

Dolph Ziggler to Go 1-1 at the Vengeance PPV

SPOILER ALERT!  Dolph Ziggler has two matches at Vengeance.

More on his second match in a second, but Ziggler will get another shot at the Tag-Team titles with Jack Swagger against Air Boom.

This will look a lot like their match at Hell in a Cell, and Air Boom will lose the belts to the duo that we thought were going to feud a couple of months back.

Looks like WWE pulled a fast one on all of us as Ziggler and Swagger have developed quite the in-ring rapport between each other and really are feeding off each other well in promos.

Don't expect a clean win as Vickie Guerrero will likely have some influence in this match, a match that will make Ziggler a double-champion...for a few minutes at least as he has a United States Championship defense against Zack Ryder.

Zack Ryder Wins US Title; Drops Internet Championship

From one championship to another, everyone is going to be passing around the championship gold like the turkey plate at Thanksgiving dinner.

Dolph Ziggler will win the tag-team titles and then face Zack Ryder for the US Title.

Ryder has been on a roll and is over with the fans so what better way to reward him than to give him a title he didn't have to create on a YouTube channel.

He will go over Mr. Ziggles and win the United States Championship and although he paid a pretty penny on the Internet Championship belt that you can see on Z! True Long Island Story (yes, a shameless plug, I'm serious, bro), the belt will be substituted for the US Title until he drops it down the road, perhaps in a rematch to Ziggler on RAW.

Also, watch the video for some small promo work from Ryder towards Ziggler.

Cody Rhodes to Beat Randy Orton

Who can see Randy Orton lose three straight PPV matches?

Who can see Randy Orton lose three straight PPV matches clean?

In my opinion, if you said no to one of these, you're wrong.  I can't see Orton losing three straight matches clean.

Look for a Cody Rhodes win here, after utilizing the protective mask in a match between the two former Legacy members.

The Intercontinental Championship will mean a lot more with Rhodes going over a former WWE and World Champion and although it is silly to bury one of your best performers, Orton will come back from it.

Mark Henry Retains Title, Looks to Put Big Show out of Action Again

Mark Henry has looked dominant in his reign as the World Heavyweight Champion and what better way to show his power than to go over the World's Largest Athlete, Big Show?

It will be a physical match that probably won't get a huge amount of votes for "Match of the Year" but will serve as a stepping stone in the growth of Henry.

After Henry puts away Show, he will look to injure him again, using the same chair/ankle combination until...

Kane Returns

Kane was injured by Mark Henry in July in the same manner that took out Big Show.

It has been three months since Kane was sidelined and his return is imminent, and for a show that will likely see a plethora of returns, Kane will look to save his tag-team partner from another brutal assault, courtesy the World Heavyweight Champion, Mark Henry.

If you are building Survivor Series, now is a great time to get started as Kane looks to establish himself as another threat for the World Title.

As far as Henry is concerned, with more people targeting him and the longer he keeps his belt, the more over he will be as the monster heel holding onto the richest prize on Smackdown.

Speaking of more men targeting him, look for a six man match at Survivor Series involving Henry, Show, Kane, Randy Orton, Sheamus and Christian.

If Henry gets out of that match, some of the non-believers may start doing some believing, plus, it would serve as a great prelude to an Undertaker return to face Henry at the TLC PPV.

DX Reunion

Vengeance is in San Antonio, so this is more of a certainty than a bold prediction that Shawn Michaels will be part of the event in some way.

He will probably cut a small promo on his hunting show and will reunite with Triple H for an evening as DX, not in a match, of course, but HBK will likely be in the corner or HHH/CM Punk as they take on Miz and R-Truth.

Kevin Nash Returns to Cost Triple H/Punk Their Match

There is a conspiracy in the WWE and the Awesome Truth know about it.  They've been talking about it for months.  The one thing they didn't want to tell you was that they were in on it the whole time.

It's not an nWo conspiracy, but it definitely comes close to it.

John Laurinaitis is the head of it all and just as he brought Miz and Truth back, there is another man that will return because of him, Kevin Nash.

Three members of The Kliq will be at ringside and unfortunately for Triple H and Michaels, Nash will walk away with Miz, Truth and Laurinaitis as a new super group is born, and that is the truth and it is AWESOME!

Oh, and Miz and Truth will win the match.

Alberto Del Rio Retains WWE Title

In a world where John Cena reigns supreme and inches his way towards breaking the world title reign record, currently held by Ric Flair, we have run into a slight problem.

Are all these title reigns making Cena look strong or are they just making Alberto Del Rio look weak and at the same time, is the WWE Title losing credibility?

The WWE Title has left on a new shoulder in each of the last four PPV events, dating back to Money in the Bank.

The streak will stop here as Del Rio will go over Cena and continue his reign as champion because to take the belt off him now will just make him lose all credibility, and he may never be a believable champion in the foreseeable future.

A Del Rio win also sets him up to be a leader on the five-on-five Survivor Series match coming up.

Speaking of that match...

The Rock Comes to Draw the Battle Lines for Survivor Series

When (not if, when) Alberto Del Rio retains the title over John Cena (with the help of Ricardo Rodriguez), expect Del Rio to continue the assault.

One by one, each of the men that will be involved in the five-on-five match will come down to draw the battle lines.  A baby face (CM Punk) will come to save Cena.  Miz and R-Truth will come down to stack the odds again when Triple H comes down.

Laurinaitis comes out with Kevin Nash, followed by Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger, who will probably run into The Game at some point in the PPV to develop some animosity.

Those will be your five heels, just in case you lost track: Del Rio, Miz, Truth, Ziggler, Swagger accompanied by Nash.

Zack Ryder will come out to thwart Ziggler and help out the same man who Pedigreed him a couple weeks earlier.  Strange, but for the sake of this, is a bold prediction in itself.

Anyway, HBK will come out to try and even everything up, help his friend and likely get some retribution for the tag match earlier in the evening.

We have pandemonium at ringside, much like Hell in a Cell.

The heels will get the upper hand until you hear "IF YOU SMELL...", followed by the biggest pop since CM Punk's night in Chicago at Money in the Bank.

The Rock will make his return and help out the faces as the heels retreat.

There's your Survivor Series match: Cena, Rock, Punk, Triple H and Ryder (which of these wrestlers don't belong?) against the heels listed above.

The faces will close out the PPV celebrating in the ring.

What do you think?

Mark Pare is a WWE Featured Columnist. You can follow him on  Twitter and don't forget to check out his sportswriter page.