By Pat McNeill, PWTorch Columnist

Wake the pets and call the neighbors, it's time for our exclusive WWE pay-per-view projections!

DISCLAIMER: Projections are based on what the columnist would do if he were booking this event, instead of Paul "Concussion" Levesque, Stephanie "Twitter Mom" McMahon Levesque and WWE President Bats--- Crazy Vince McMahon. Projections are not predictions, because this is the column where everything's made up and the points don't matter. This preview has been sealed in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnall's porch since noon today. A representative of our studio audience will receive an Angel's Flight wardrobe consisting of pants, vests and blazers. Slim, snug and sexy. Angel's Flight: Any way you look at it, it's a winner. The stars have been briefed to help with the bluffs, but they are hearing the actual questions for the first time. Remember, this is only an exhibition. This is not a competition. Please, please, no wagering. This lineup is based on the best available information as of this writing. These predictions are based on what the columnist would do if he had creative control over WWE, unless it's not funny enough.

There's enthusiasm in the air in Stamford, because WWE Raw jumped back to a 3.0 rating. We've head some tremendous performances from Daniel Bryan and The Shield, and the McMahons have been all over Raw. But, judging by the size of the overrun, it appears the big draw was the last bit of interaction between WWE Champion John Cena and top challenger Ryback. Even if some of us at PWTorch are more excited about the undercard, a lot of the casual WWE fans live and die by John Cena. Keep that in mind.

By the way, if you're looking for a REAL second screen experience for WWE Raw, you need to be our the PWTorch public list on Twitter. http://twitter.com/pwtorch/torch-staff That's the place to be online when a major pro wrestling show is going down.

Before we get down to business, let's get to this month's edition of the Wrestling History Lesson, because that's why many of you clicked here in the first place. Twenty years ago, on June 13th, 1993, WWE's first "King of the Ring" pay-per-view took place in Dayton, Ohio. Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan and the late Randy Savage had the call. The show opened with a quarterfinal match in the King of the Ring tournament, as Bret Hart battled Razor Ramon.



Did you get to see WWE Friday Night Smackdown? No? Don't sweat it. Here's your main event, with Kane, Randy Orton & Daniel Bryan against The Shield. Michael Cole, Josh Mathews & John Layfield had the call.



What was happening in the WWF fifteen years ago? I'm glad you asked! On June 15, 1998, Raw was war in San Antonio, Texas. Not only were Vince McMahon, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Undertaker, Kane, Mankind and Sable there, but early in the show we had a King of the Ring tournament match between Vader and The Rock. Jim Ross and Kevin Kelly have the call.


WWF Raw - 06-15-1998 Part 1 by WWF1996-1999

Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and John B. Layfield will probably be announcing tonight. On with the projections!

Sheamus vs. Damien Sandow: This is your preshow match on WWE.com and various other sites. At least WWE was nice enough to let Sandow get the drop on Sheamus, once, to set up this contest. Projection? Sheamus wins with the Brogue Kick in about four minutes.

Kaitlyn Bonin vs. A.J. Lee (WWE Divas Title): The Chickbusters Explode! After weeks of buildup, it turned out our nice Divas champion got catfished by A.J. Lee and Big E. Langston. And you knew something was wrong when Big E. showed up to declare his feelings for Kaitlyn. For whatever reason, I couldn't picture him as a fan of obscure Simpsons references. Projection? Kaitlyn hits the spear and scores the fall before Big E. Langston can get in the ring to break it up.

Dean Ambrose vs. Kane (WWE United States Title): Daniel Bryan has moved on from Team Hell No, and Kane is back to singles action. I'm not sure that's good news for Kane, but I'm fairly sure this is bad news for our new United States champion. Projection? Ambrose hits a low blow, the ref misses it, and Dean wins with the Headlock Driver.

Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns (w/ Dean Ambrose) vs. Daniel Bryan & Randy Orton (WWE World Tag Team Titles): We saw an incredible match on Smackdown where Daniel Bryan and friends finally scored a pinfall victory of The Shield. And you know what that means. Projection? Bryan has Reigns pinned, but Ambrose distracts the referee and Rollins hits the springboard diving knee for the victory. Then Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan have another disagreement.

Wade Barrett vs. The Miz vs. Curtis Axel (WWE Intercontinental Title): Paul Heyman's new charge, Curtis Axel, takes the place of the injured Fandango. Wade Barrett hasn't been given too much to do as International Champion. Projection? Axel surprises Barrett with the Axelplex to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion. I know Axel's going to suffer a loss someday, but I'm pretty sure he won't be losing to Miz or Barrett tonight.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Alberto Del Rio (Smackdown World Title): Dolph Ziggler has worked two matches since his concussion. Both of those were tag matches. Moreover, they were tag matches where Ziggler didn't do a whole lot. Perhaps that's why the betting line has swung so heavily in the favor of Alberto Del Rio. Projection? Del Rio has Dolph beaten, and then Big E. Langston attacks Del Rio and gets Dolph disqualified. If Ziggler can't go, there needs to be a title change. But WWE has options. Since Del Rio is barely popular enough to be a transition champion, Ziggler can lose the title to someone else on Raw or Smackdown.

Chris Jericho vs. C.M. Punk: Is there trouble brewing between C.M. Punk and Paul Heyman? That's the real question here. So far, all signs point to "yes." While you're not going to get much of an audience to see C.M. Punk vs. Curtis Axel, a Punk vs. Lesnar matchup at SummerSlam could draw very, very well. Projection? Punk is angry with Heyman for dragging him back to WWE to face Jericho. Jericho rolls up Punk and wins. Punk gets into an argument with Paul Heyman. Curtis Axel takes Heyman's side, and there you have it.

John Cena vs. Ryback (WWE Title - Three Stages of Hell): You have a lumberjack match, a tables match and an ambulance match. That's an awful lot of gimmickry for a monthly pay-per-view. So why do it? Because Triple H and the gang think Cena and Ryback need all the help they can get. Projection? Cena rams Ryback into the ringpost and scores a flash pin to win the lumberjack match. Ryback owerpowers Cena and puts the champ through a table to capture the second fall. Cena and Ryback brawl all around the ambulance during the third fall. They brawl on top of the ambulance, Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment and Ryback goes through the (gimmicked) roof of the ambulance to give Cena the win. Cena endures.

Aftermath: Ryback beats Ziggler on Raw and takes the World title. So next month at Money In The Bank, it's Cena vs. Curtis Axel for the WWE Title, Ryback vs. Del Rio for the Smackdown title, and Orton vs. Bryan vs. Rollins vs. Reigns vs. Jericho vs. Punk vs. Christian in a super duper Money In the Bank ladder match.

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Pat McNeill of Richmond, Va. has been a PWTorch Columnist since 2001. VIP members can join Pat and his amazing friends for the Roundtable after tonight's show.

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