Bragging Rights is supposed to determine once and for all (Or at least until Monday night) Which of WWE's brands are the superior one, Smackdown! or Raw. (Wait, isn't there three brands? I'm sure that ECW should count, but it never does) There are a series of matches within the card that have been made which feature Monday Night Raw Superstars vs. the Superstars of Friday Night Smackdown.
Now, I don't normally order Pay Per Views. I find that their $40 price tag is far too steep for usually the one match that I show any interest in.
Now the Smackdown Vs. Raw matches are not the only ones on the card, the "Main Events" (If you can call them that) feature Title Matches, to which the world has never seen! (Sarcasm Detector at MAX!)
The question before you is this. Is this newest concept PPV one that the fans are going to care about?
The WWE tried something like this in 2001. It was called "InVasion" which featured the then "WWF" versus the WCW/ECW alliance. The PPV was one that I was interested in, but of course like the wrestling biz of the last 8-9 years, it's was an event I found sorely lacking.
Flash forward 8 years, and of course, we see the same sort of scenario, downplayed a great deal, but it's the age-old question since the Roster Split of 2002. Who's the better brand? Raw? Or Smackdown?
The Answer? Who really cares?
It's one of like 20 Pay-Per-Views that the WWE puts on each year.
And the worst part is, is that Vince McMahon and the rest of the WWE elite don't care about anything but the money generated from the WWE-lemmings who are dumb enough to pay for the PPV's, Buy the Shirts, Purchase the DVD's and buy the tickets for the live events for the same main event that you saw last week, and the week before that, and of course, the PPV before that!
The wrestling business hasn't been fresh and inspiring since the Monday Night Wars, and I don't see another renaissance like that in the near future.
So let's look at the card for this "MEGA-EVENT" and see if it inspires me to purchase the PPV, and then get chewed out by my parents for putting $40 on their cable bill without asking....
There are 5 Matches announced for the 3-hr card. We'll start with those of the least importance.
The first match: Raw Divas: Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim Vs. Smackdown Divas: Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya.
Ok, now the Divas matches are never interesting to watch for me. I love watching scantily-clad women. Especially large-chested scantily-clad women. But these matches are generally less-than-stellar, and never really have a clear-cut finish. It's just an excuse to get the Divas on-screen. Although, I love Natalya, I will never really care enough about this match to bother giving it my full attention.
Match 2: Intercontinental Champion: John Morrison (Smackdown) vs. United States Champion: The Miz (Raw).
I like these two. I really do. As a team, they had great chemistry. But like the wrestling world usually does, they break up some of the greatest teams for the sake of having them fight each other, thinking that the fans will get off on it. (See: The Rockers, The Hollywood Blondes, The New Age Outlaws, DX, Harlem Heat, the list is endless)
Both wrestlers are pretty good in the ring, Morrison being the better one. And both are good on the Stick (The Mic, for you non-wrestling fans). And the "Dirt Sheet" episode they did on Smackdown 2 weeks ago, calling each other the "Marty Jannetty" of the team was classic, as any Forch Foreign Legion Member knows, I always call the weak link of the team a "Marty Jannetty". This match will be good, but I don't think that enough focus will be placed on it. Look for this one to be the best match on the card.
Match 3: WWE Champion: Randy Orton Vs. John Cena. (Raw Championship Match) To be contested as a 1-hour "Ironman" match contested under "Anything goes" rules.
How many times do I have to see this match?
I hate Orton. He's far too overrated, and irritating. I can't stand him about as much as I can't stand Triple-H. John Cena? He needs to update his gimmick. Both are main-eventers, but to me, not the draw of a Stone Cold, or The Rock or Mick Foley or anyone else who I could believe in. Both of these two are overrated, and need to take a step back for the sake of the business. More Orton than Cena, but still.
The match? It's going to be boring. Most Ironman matches are. Of course, they're going to overbook the match, so that there's a run-in with "Legacy". I am sure that it's going to have Orton dropping the title to Cena, so that he remains on RAW (If he loses, he leaves RAW) and it'll probably be because of some mistake made by a run-in by Ted DiBiase. Teddy, Jr. will get his ass beat on RAW the next night, and it will start his face-run, which seems to be needed to promote his "Blockbuster" direct-to-video movie: The Marine 2. (Did this movie really need a non-related to the original sequel???)
Match 4: World Heavyweight Champion: The Undertaker Vs. C.M. Punk vs. Batista Vs. Rey Mysterio in a Fatal Four Way match for the title.
I always hate these sort of matches, because they always end up the same way, the champ loses the belt, but not getting pinned, then the ex-champ gets mad, and demands a rematch because of it, and it usually ends up with a Triple-Threat match to follow, and then of course some gimmick match to finally settle the score, and nothing ever, ever gets settled.
I am a fan of all four of the combatants, me being the C.M. Punk fan more, I would love to see him with the belt, especially with his heel run in full-stride, he makes a great champion in my opinion, because he's not really a bad guy, but because he preaches his "Straightedge Lifestyle" in the manner that he does, he comes off really dickish, and of course the fans hate him! He's a great heel.
'Taker and Batista are really past their prime, and both injury prone, so keeping the belt around them is a mistake. I feel that Mysterio deserves another shot with the strap, but you know McMahon, he's not going to put it around him long, if at all, because McMahon always favors the big guys.
I see Punk walking out with the belt. But don't hold me to it.
Match 5: The Smackdown Vs. Raw 14-Man tag team match.
Team Raw: Co-Captains: DX (Shawn Michaels and Triple H), The Big Show, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston
Team Smackdown: Co-Captains: Chris Jericho and Kane, plus: R-Truth, Finlay, The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd) and Matt Hardy.
Of course with that much humanity in the ring, you know that there's not going to be a clean-cut finish. It's one pinfall to a finish, which means that the finish itself will either be a screwjob (Where one of the team members betray their team) or you'll see the ring clear out with a brawl outside, leaving two members in the ring and the ref'll get distracted, and a weapon will be used to score the pin.
You know if there's a clear victory, that it will involve a pinfall by either Michaels or Triple H.
It's going to be an interesting match to say the least. Why do I say that? Because it'll be interesting to see how the WWE actually makes this match look original and fresh.
The match itself should really be saved for the next PPV, which is Survivor Series, that would make more sense, and then make the match contested under traditional Survivor Series rules. But you know that the screwjob that occurs, is only what is going to lead the series of events to the next PPV.
My prediction? Since the current Tag Team champs are on opposing teams, I see one of them (Most likely Big Show) betraying their respective team, and causing the win for the opposite team.
So I see Smackdown winning, because they're the lesser brand, however, the WWE needs to make them seem like a viable option, and not bury the superstars on the Smackdown Roster, so they'll win, even though the fans know that Raw had the better team, and the rivalry will continue...
So the event will end, and absolutely nothing will get settled, and you'll be out $40, that you could have used to put gas in your car. You'll kick yourself in the morning, because quite frankly, when was the last time the WWE put on a PPV worth buying?
I certainly can't remember...
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