Welcome
to a quick Extreme Rules Predictions column, with me Justin Ballard and my
colleague Daniel Moore. It's pretty straightforward - we'll run down the
card and tell you who our picks are and why.
Big
E vs. Bad News Barrett - Intercontinental Championship: Barrett just
won an 8-man tournament to earn a title shot.
Justin's
pick: Barrett. There's no way they spent three weeks on this tourney
just to have the winner choke at the end. I liked this tournament and the
fact that it made the I-C belt feel like a prize again. What I didn't
like was the non-entity status of the Champion, Big E. Barrett had to
wrestle three times to get a shot at a champion who's hardly been on TV
lately. Makes no sense. At that point why not make the tournament
for a shot at Daniel Bryan's WWE Title? Also, a couple weeks ago on
Smackdown Big E lost a match by DQ to Alberto Del Rio....who was eliminated
in the tournament's first round! If the Champ can't beat a
first-round loser that's a pretty lame prize they're all fighting for.
Dan's
pick: I’d like to see Barrett win here. I’ve enjoyed what they’ve done with
this new incarnation of his character…however, I don’t think they’ll just have
Big E dump it here. I think (hope) it starts an actual feud, and the IC belt gets
elevated, the way it should be.
