Thumbs Up
Best Match: Smackdown Fatal FourWay
Worst Match: Women's Match
 
I thought Bragging Rights more than delivered and was probably in my
top 3 WWE PPV's for the year. I thought that only having 5 matches
really made the card seem different and allowed more time for each
match to really develop and breathe. Everybody worked really hard and
the result was an excellent card.
 
Morrison/Miz - This was my biggest disappointment of the night, as I
really thought these two had it in them to steal the show. Match could
have been longer. Beginning was good but the second half didn't have a
lot of flow, in my opinion. Also, Miz going over Morrison is a real
head scratcher.
Women's match - one of the best women's matches on WWE tv in quite some
time. Everybody looked really crisp. The booking here again was kind of
illogical. Given the 7-on-7 had a heel victory of sorts, and you had to
have Smackdown and Raw at 1 and 1 going into that why not let the face
teams go over in the first two matches. That way Morrison looks good,
the women's match has a happy ending since no one really cared about it
anyway.
Smackdown Four Way - My favorite match of the night. I know everybody
is complaining about its length but it was literally non-stop action
from the start. I was jumping up and down at all the nearfalls. I
thought the post-match angle was great too. Big question is what does
Undertaker do now, since I assume we'll do Batista/Rey next month.
Seven on Seven - Match was good, but hurt by mixing the heels and faces
on separate teams, making it hard to root for someone or tell a decent
story. I actually thought this would go longer too. Bring on DX/Jerishow
Iron Man Match - I really and truly applaud both men for going 60
minutes, but this match was a let down. I wanted to like it so much,
but there were huge chunks that were beyond boring. The double pinfall
was stupid unless it was an audible called to close up Cena's head. I
find Randy Orton to just be so boring. The thirty second rest periods
(closer to 45 seconds to a minute) took away some intensity too. I did
enjoy the mad scientist Orton trying to blow Cena up.
 
Justin McClelland
 

WWE Bragging Rights

Thumbs Up

Best Match: John Cena v Randy Orton

Worst Match: Diva match

Are we done with Cena v Orton? Please?

The group viewing the PPV had a brief discussion about elevation of talent and RAW v Smackdown. The talk centered around HHH motioning to high five Big Show and then pulling away his hand, making Show look like a chump. This of course led to the promo where HHH and Michaels essentially buried their own team. Why the rest of them didn't turn and leave it a 7-on-2 after this segment was beyond us. But it did lead to talk about how Jericho and Edge (and Misterio) are on Smackdown, because they are willing to work with (and put over) the younger talent, to get them ready for main events. Unfortunately, too often this means they are shipped to RAW, where they have to put over Michaels and HHH.

A good example of talent elevation if RAW had the Smackdown mentality would have been to let Cena have a "final" match against someone like MVP or Kofi. He could win, shake hands with his opponent, and the crowd is happy. Then have HHH fight Jack Swagger on the same show, and Swagger wins on a fluke. Now, after Cena regains the title, you have Swagger having a legit claim to being a top contender, in addition to HHH. So if you still don't think Swagger v Cena would pop a buy rate, you can do a three-way. Swagger is elevated by appearing in the main event of a PPV and nobody loses their "spot."

HHH in his 40s is obsessed with "his spot." He's guy who did not want to make the same mistakes of the "old regime," i.e., Hulk Hogan. In the process, the WWE has lost another generation of talent (MVP being the most notable name) who COULD have been somebody, but got lost in the shuffle behind the old guys.

Jeff Cohen
Flushing, NY

Hi guys,

I thought the UFC show on Saturday night felt like a really unimportant, almost TNA level  show, and that was before that main event finish. I had it 4 - 1 Shogun and I actually thought the judges could go 3 - 2 Shogun just since Machida was the champ but that decision was just astoundingly bad. There can be no doubt who won that fight and it wasn't Lyoto. I actually think this could hurt his drawing power too, because he came across like such a cowardly heel on television. If he'd have done the old pro wrestling "I don't want to win that way" and asked for a rematch (can't quite see UFC giving them "5 more minutes, can you?") I think it might not have been so damaging, but as it was, he came off looking real bad.

Bragging rights was a really fun show top to bottom. Best match was the main event, worst was, surprise surprise, the divas.

I thought Miz and Morrison opened the show witha really fun, 3 or 3 1/2* match. They worked well, the crowd seemed into it, and the finish really came out of nowhere, which I thought was cool. I liked that Miz got the win since Morrison can challenge him to a rematch or perhaps captain a Smackdown team of his own v a Miz Raw team at Survivor Series. Hopefully they don't read this and decide against it.

The women worked well together and actually had one of their better matches, with the only botch coming toward the end. That said, the girls are all so generic it's impossible to care, the outcome of the match was a given because Raw couldn't win 2 straight, oh, and why must they SCREAM incessantly?

The World title match was your typical 3* fatal four way from a Smackdown main event or something. With the time they had it was hard to build any major drama, but at least it was frenetic entertainment for the 10 minutes they were out there. Loved Big Dave's heel turn, the fact that he told Rey it was coming was brilliant because everyone knew it anyway, and it gave the whole thing a little more intensity. This felt like an 80's heel turn in WWE, which is a compliment because it felt intense and important I cannot wait for Dave's heel run now. Shame it's going to cut the legs off Punk though.

The bragging rights match was my only minor disappointment of the show. I thought it was good, 3*, but nothing more which I kind of expected since it was an important match. There weren't any major false finishes which I guess hurt it. That said, the finish was exactly what I and most ahd predicted, and it makes sense because Jerishow Vs DX is ready made and could actually draw.

I can't say enough positive about the Iron Man Match. I loved, loved, loved it. I'm like Bryan, I normally find hour matches a chore and can't sit still, but I, along with my 2 buddies I was watching it with (live at 3am over here in Ireland, no less) not only were glued to the screens but no one even got up for a snack or bathroom break, it was just captivating television. The intricate detail in every mannerism Randy Orton does, how well the match was laid out, how well each guy plays their respective role, there was so much to admire here. Anyone who says the crowd weren't into it just because they were only standing and going crazy for the last 5 minutes is missing the point - if you go and see a movie your emotional investment is less 5 minutes in than 5 minutes from the end because you know the thing is building and this isn't the finish. I honestly felt they couldnt have done this match any better, 5* for me.


Kenny Murphy

WWE "Bragging Rights"....Thumbs up, shockingly....Best match: Orton vs Cena....Worst match: The 7 on 7 tag match.
 
I was sure this was gonna be a stinker, but my buddy had a feeling so he bought it, and I popped over. He was right-this was the best PPV by this company since the Elimination Chamber early in the year.
 
1) Morrison vs Miz-(**). Fairly boring match, which doesn't shock me. People in the know really talk these guys up, but I don't see it. Morrison is amazingly athletic, but on the mic, let's just say he's a walking ad for the return of the managers. Also, he's soft...his clotheslines couldn't knock over my 4 year old. Well, they could, but don't expect any pop...Bout picked up toward the end a bit, but my eyes were glazed over. Very surprised by the clean pin by Miz.
 
2)Divas match-(**1/2). One of the better diva's matches in some time. Have I mentioned how hot McCool has gotten since flipping? Way, way hotter than before. Strange. Kelly is so, so bad in the ring. And, I know it's sexist, but who cares? Gail Kim is athletically gifted, and hot, as well. I'm obviously bringing nothing to the table on this match, I'm outta here. Oh, yeah, team Smackdown won-Beth Phoenix pins Melina. Series tied 1-1.
 
3) Undertaker vs Batista vs CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio. (***). No, the 3 stars aren't for any kind of artistic achievement, and they're certainly not for the awful but expected Taker win. (The man cannot move, yet he remains champ.) It bordered on sad, seeing Taker bend down. Why not do the right thing for once, Vince? Get over your petty power trip with Punk, and give the belt back to the man who's been filling seats the last 3 months? Heat, thy name is Punk. Then, let Taker rest up for Mania. Let Punk keep the belt until Mania, so a title change could have a little drama. Do I need to come there to show you how to do this? Ridiculous. The 3 stars are for the Batista switch, even though it's been telegraphed for weeks. The joy in Dave's face was a sight to see-he's said he hates being a babyface, and wants to end his career as a heel. This change might make his matches watchable again. Still, a dilemma: Batista came from Raw to replace Jeff Hardy as a top face. Smackdown is now loaded with great heels(Batista, Punk, Jericho, Show) but who's gonna face them? Taker can't move and Rey's 3 feet tall.
 
4) Raw vs Smackdown-(**). I hate these concepts-taking way too many people and having them all stand awkwardly while the guys inside try to get to their moves as quickly as possible. Mostly mediocre, but kudos on a great ending-They got me with the Show swerve. Loved seeing Jericho holding the trophy, and a rare pat on the back to HHH for being the one to take the punch and lie there. Good stuff, now stop jobbing out Jericho to everybody, please.
 
5) Randy Orton vs John Cena: 60-min. Iron Man challenge. (****). I don't care what anyone says. I haven't been this entertained by a WWE match since Taker-Michaels, which this takes a close 2nd to for WWE match of the year. First of all, to the oh so rare, banned yet here-it-is! presence of blood-Welcome back, old friend. The minute the crowd saw the blood on Cena's face, the entire mood changed. That's the beauty of the psychology of blood; it instantly gives a match another layer of importance. And to plan a monitor shot! That made me gain back a little of the respect I'd lost for Cena this year. My God, put a knuckle to the eyebrow, why risk serious injury like that? With that said, thank you. Randy Orton is really, really great. His ability, his acting, facial expressions, mic work...this is a guy that actually deserves to be called "superstar". Superb storytelling by both men throughout the match, and brilliant bringing in the juice early. As in the other world title match, the wrong man won. (Can we PLEASE have a title reign longer than 3 weeks?!) But because the team came up with such great stories, subplots, surprises, all magnificently performed, it doesn't matter. Until tomorrow. Cena wins by a fall, forcing Orton to tap out with 4 seconds left.
 
Derek Hamel