By: Jason Esteve

Looks like I'm going to miss a good one. Generally if it's not Wrestlemania, then my wife's not going to let me drop real cash money on a PPV. If there's a room full and everyone's chipping in, then that's a diffreent story, but my wife refuses to let me pay money to yell at the TV by myself. She gets that enough when the cable goes out.

Regardless of whether I'm watching it or not, Vengeance is shaping up to be a most auspicious event. Major titles on the line, compelling storylines, relatively little filler. Everything fans want in a pay per view. The big question then becomes, who gonna win? That's why you're here, right? Allow me to break if down for you all scientifical like. Here's how it's gonna go down...

Trish Stratus -v- Jacqueline

Women's Championship

What? No stipulations? No gravy? No whipped cream? No bra and panties on a pole match? Thank you! I've always been a big fan of the Women's division as a straight wrestling division. I think with the acquisition of the WCW, there are more than enough women to keep the storylines interesting and feature a lot of matches with different people in them. This is (hopefully) the first step towards that end. The match itself is kind of blah, though. I'm guessing Trish is the face here, but what has Jackie done to be a heel? I haven't seen her since just after "Tough Enough." Maybe this is just a setup to get Nidia to run in and start a feud. On a side note, if anyone sees Maven, let him know that Steve Austin's watch says that his 15 minutes are up. Off the record, I think this is Vince's way of rewarding Miss Jackie for a great job on "Tough Enough," so I look for her to get the duke.

This is one of the few matches on the card that haven't really been built up as well as they could have been. I think that the WWF realizes Christian works best when he's part of a duo, but that Edge has really taken the crown and run with it since King of the Ring. Realizing the situation that this presents, the writers have recently teamed Christian up with the ex-commish, Winniam Regal. Rather than put Edge and Christian into another brother against brother match, they've wisely put Edge in the ring against Regal. I like Edge to retain here, but I think outside interference from Christian (which makes sense on several levels now) will cause the previous Goodwill Ambassador to become the IC title holder. Another gift from McMahon after Regal had to plant his pucker on Vinnie Mac's posterior.

I wish they'd have given the whole Edge/Christian thing time to blow over before they used the tried (tired) and true brother-versus-brother plot. That being said, this looks like a possible sleeper match on the card. Lita ends up being the wild card. I could see either Hardy taking the match. With regards to plotlines, it doesn't really matter. The question is: "Where does Lita fit in to all this?" 'Net wisdom has Lita either calling it down the middle, causing current boyfriend Matt to get mad at her; or having Lita cost Jeff the match by turning to Jeff's evil ways. The latter, added to Jeff's recent foray into the "Stratus"-sphere, sets the stage for a boy-girl feud. Those confrontations could last for at least the time between PPVs with the blow off happening at Royal Rumble. I like the first situation better, personally. It could lead up to Lita ditching both Boyz and taking her rightful place as the cornerstone of a serious female division. Oh well. I guess that's why they don't ask me to book these things.

Filler. Pure and simple. This has had no time to build and doesn't make any sense. I vaguely remember the Big Red Show beating someone (was it the Hardys?) for the right to face the Duds, but other than that, I haven't really cared been paying attention. The only reason for watching this match is to hope that Stacey gets pantsed. The outcome is foregone.

Isn't the Hardcore Championship up or grabs on this one? If not, then why not? Regardless, I just don't like this matchup. If the 'Taker wants respect, then why go to RVD for it? There are plenty other people to beat the crap out of to get some respect. It looks like the Undertaker has picked up right where X-Pac left off. The American No-Sell doesn't do the job and if he does, then it's either a DQ or he gets the pin clean the next night on RAW. All I ask is please keep this short and let Mr. PPV get in a couple of good shots.

Decisions, decisions. Having Rocky not be in the main event would be sort of sacrilegious, but at the same time, Jericho is due for a bigger push than he's seen. His big heel push has just started gaining momentum, so I'm going to go out on a limb (sort of) and say that Jericho gets the win. My wife thinks that Triple H comes out of nowhere and gives Y2J some help, but we all know that HHH will come back as a face, so we all know that won't happen. I can see some interference, though. It's just a question of who? Can you see Ric Flair giving him a hand? I can. Rocky is the WWF's poster-boy, so Flair won't want to give him any props. It's Flair's belt anyway, he'll argue, so the Nature Boy should decide who should face the winner of the next match.

Another one that's too close to call. Given that I've picked Jericho to win the previous match, I've got to go with SCSA in this one. It just makes sense to have a face versus a heel in the main event. Kurt got the win last time, so it's only fair, anyway. Sorry about short-changing the rest of this but I need t post this before the PPV actually starts.

Chris Jericho -v- Stone Cold Steve Austin

Again, Jericho is due for a push, and who better to put him over than the Rattlesnake? He'll be Flair's protégé and that way SCSA and the Rock can battle for the WWF belt all the live long day after the companies split in January. I'd really be looking forward to this match if my wife let me get the Pay Per View.