JC's Take: WWE Bragging Rights Preview
Hello all. Welcome back for my preview of this Sunday's WWE Bragging Rights PPV. This is the third PPV in a month's time. That could be a problem for the WWE. Not many fans are going to be willing to shell out $50 that many times in a month's span. Not only that, but the WWE is going to face some heavy competition this weekend. There is a big Brock Lesnar UFC fight the night before, and the Sunday night football game this week is Vikings/Packers, Brett Favre's return again to Green Bay. This has a chance to do one of the lowest PPV Buyrates in company history. I don't think it will be lower than the abomination that was December to Dismember, but it could be the second lowest in company history. This is again an example of the WWE having too many PPV's. They need to cut down. If I were them, I'd break it down into the following:
1. Late January- Royal Rumble
2. Late March/Early April- Wrestlemania
3. Mid May- Extreme Rules
4. Late June- King of The Ring/Judgement Day
5. Mid August- SummerSlam
6. Early October- Night of Champions
7. Mid November- Survivor Series
8. Late December- Insert PPV Name Here
This gives the WWE about a 6 week time frame between PPVs, except the December-Royal Rumble time frame, to continue current storylines or build new ones. By only having 8 PPVs, it gives the fans more reason to shell out $50 for a PPV. Plus it makes PPVs feel more like a big event. It also takes away gimmick PPVs such as Hell in a Cell and TLC, hopefully alllowing more meaning to be brought back to those matches. They could be saved for the conclusion of big time feuds, kind of like a potential Cena/Barrett Cell match.
The problem I have the most with Bragging Rights is that it is right before Survivor Series, which used to be the traditional 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 elimination style matches. Plus, the "Bragging Rights Trophy" being fought over disappears from TV after a couple weeks, essentially leaving it meaningless. I was always a fan of the 4-on-4 elimination matches back in the day, the mixing and matching of different stars was fun. But that's debate for another day. Here's my preview for this Sunday's PPV.
WWE Divas Championship: Michelle McCool (C) vs Natalya
As much as I don't particularly care for the women's division in the WWE, it is nice to see an actual feud built up between Natalya and Laycool. Natalya won via DQ at Hell in a Cell when Layla threw her shoe in the ring, causing a DQ. Either Layla or McCool can defend the title here, but I'd expect McCool to be the one to do the wrestling on the PPVs. She's a better worker than Layla. I think Laycool holds on to the titles here. I believe Vince and Company are high on them. I can see them holding onto the title until Beth Phoenix returns from her knee injury.
WINNER: Michelle McCool
RAW vs Smackdown, Champion vs Champion
United States Champion Daniel Bryan vs Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler
This is a match that was thrown together this week on RAW. It would have been nice to see this been put together immediately to give these guys a couple of weeks to build an actual storyline, other than their 5 minute confrontation from RAW this past week. These two are both good enough workers to put on a good match. Daniel Bryan is the one I see coming out on top here. He needs the win more in my opinion. I could also see some failed interference on Vickie Guerrero's behalf costing Dolph the match. Also with Bryan, I kind of liked his "Ladies Man" thing he did this past week on RAW. It gives a nice wrinkle to his character.
WINNER: Daniel Bryan
Team RAW vs Team Smackdown Bragging Rights Match (7-on-7 Elimination Match)
You know these brands hate each other right? They don't like each other. Of course a month from now no one will even care. I don't like how they are trying to force this brand pride down our throats, when it's obvious that they don't really care. Like I said above, the reason I don't like this PPV, and this match in particular, is because it takes away from the mystique of Survivor Series. How can you have a unique 4-on-4 elimination match with people like John Morrison and say Edge on the same team if they were on rival brands facing each other on the previous PPV? Anyways, Smackdown won the random brand Battle Royal this past Monday. And not to spoil Smackdown for anybody, but Smackdown again gets the upper hand this Friday. So, at least to me, it is quite obvious that Team RAW is going over on Sunday. Since it is an elimination match, I expect the Miz to end up being the sole survivor for Team RAW, further pushing him as a top heel on the RAW brand, and getting him ready for his eventual WWE Title run in the near future. I'd also expect RAW team member Eziekel Jackson to look dominant in the match. But I'll say The Miz gets the win after eliminating the last 2 Smackdown members Edge & Rey Mysterio. Chalk this one up for Team RAW.
Winners: Team RAW
Ah, the feud that refuses to die. The Undertaker has already had two chances to try and win the title from Kane, but he has been unsuccessful. So why not give him a third chance at it? Like I've said in previous postings, I think this match should have been saved for Survivor Series, the 20th anniversary of the Undertaker's debut. They could have easily subsituted another opponent for Kane, such as Edge. But they decided to have this match here. The Undertaker now apparently has the same magical powers as Kane. Whether that gives him an advantage or not remains to be seen. For those of you who don't know what a Buried Alive Match is, the rules are as follows: There are no pinfalls, submissions, countouts, or disqualifications. The only way to win the match is to "bury" your opponent in a set up grave, usually by the stage. With the way they have been making The Undertaker seem vulnerable recently, I think I'm actually going with Kane here. I think, possibly, it will set up a re-debut of the Undertaker at Survivor Series. I'd think it'd be awesome if he re-debuted as the American Badass Taker, but that's highly unlikely. So I think Kane gets the win here, and my guess it that there will somehow be a reason to give Undertaker a rematch at Survivor Series.
WINNER: Kane
This match should be good. Wade Barrett has been on fire since Hell in A Cell. He's playing his role of master and commander over John Cena perfectly. His verbal tirade on Cena two weeks ago was great. He comes off as an arrogant, cocky guy who believes that he is as good as he thinks he is. While the Cena/Barrett interactions have been great, it has also taken the focus more of Barrett's opponent Randy Orton. It just has seemed like he is playing second fiddle to Barrett/Cena. It'll be interesting to see how Cena either helps or doesn't help Barrett in this match. While I agree that Barrett has been awesome lately, I still think it's a tad too early to give him the title. Somehow, I think Orton will retain the title here. If I had to guess, I'd say Cena tries to help Barrett win but it somehow backfires. Or Cena could do what Shawn Michaels did a few years ago at the Royal Rumble. Deliver his finsher to both men, then put Barrett on top of Orton and leave, similar to what HBK did when he was "working for" JBL and had to help him in his match against Cena. Cena retained, but HBK did his job. Either way, I'll say Orton retains here.
WINNER: Randy Orton
That's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow with my Week 7 NFL Picks.
Until next time,
Justin C
World Heavyweight Championship: Buried Alive Match- Kane (C) vs Undertaker
Ah, the feud that refuses to die. The Undertaker has already had two chances to try and win the title from Kane, but he has been unsuccessful. So why not give him a third chance at it? Like I've said in previous postings, I think this match should have been saved for Survivor Series, the 20th anniversary of the Undertaker's debut. They could have easily subsituted another opponent for Kane, such as Edge. But they decided to have this match here. The Undertaker now apparently has the same magical powers as Kane. Whether that gives him an advantage or not remains to be seen. For those of you who don't know what a Buried Alive Match is, the rules are as follows: There are no pinfalls, submissions, countouts, or disqualifications. The only way to win the match is to "bury" your opponent in a set up grave, usually by the stage. With the way they have been making The Undertaker seem vulnerable recently, I think I'm actually going with Kane here. I think, possibly, it will set up a re-debut of the Undertaker at Survivor Series. I'd think it'd be awesome if he re-debuted as the American Badass Taker, but that's highly unlikely. So I think Kane gets the win here, and my guess it that there will somehow be a reason to give Undertaker a rematch at Survivor Series.
WINNER: Kane
WWE Championship Match: Randy Orton (C) vs Wade Barrett w/John Cena
This match should be good. Wade Barrett has been on fire since Hell in A Cell. He's playing his role of master and commander over John Cena perfectly. His verbal tirade on Cena two weeks ago was great. He comes off as an arrogant, cocky guy who believes that he is as good as he thinks he is. While the Cena/Barrett interactions have been great, it has also taken the focus more of Barrett's opponent Randy Orton. It just has seemed like he is playing second fiddle to Barrett/Cena. It'll be interesting to see how Cena either helps or doesn't help Barrett in this match. While I agree that Barrett has been awesome lately, I still think it's a tad too early to give him the title. Somehow, I think Orton will retain the title here. If I had to guess, I'd say Cena tries to help Barrett win but it somehow backfires. Or Cena could do what Shawn Michaels did a few years ago at the Royal Rumble. Deliver his finsher to both men, then put Barrett on top of Orton and leave, similar to what HBK did when he was "working for" JBL and had to help him in his match against Cena. Cena retained, but HBK did his job. Either way, I'll say Orton retains here.
WINNER: Randy Orton
That's all for today. I'll be back tomorrow with my Week 7 NFL Picks.
Until next time,
Justin C
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