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October 25, 2010

WWE Bragging Rights thoughts

The Nexus got its first taste of gold at WWE’s Bragging Rights pay-per-view Sunday night. But don’t worry, Randy Orton fans, “The Viper” did not lose the WWE title to Wade Barrett in the main event.

It was actually the unlikely duo of David Otunga and John Cena that brought a championship to The Nexus camp, as they won the WWE tag team title from Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes in an impromptu match.

That wasn’t the only surprise of the night involving The Nexus. The faction also interfered in the Buried Alive Match, helping Kane defeat The Undertaker to retain his world heavyweight title.

As for the WWE title bout, Barrett won the match, but not the title. Barrett had said before the contest began that if he didn’t win the match, Cena would be fired. Cena figured out a way for Barrett to get his hand raised without Orton losing the championship, as he attacked Barrett during the match, causing Orton to be disqualified.

Overall, Bragging Rights proved to be a rather pedestrian show. I wouldn’t say there was anything on the show that was really bad, but the only above-average match was the opener between U.S. champion Daniel Bryan and Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler.

The seven-on-seven elimination match between Team Raw and Team Smackdown had its moments, but no one really buys into the supposed rivalry between the brands, and that was obvious from the less-than-enthusiastic crowd response to much of the match.

Here is a match-by-match look at the show:

Wade Barrett defeated WWE champion Randy Orton by disqualification (14:35): With a conflicted John Cena forced to be in the corner of Barrett, this was clearly the most compelling match heading on the show heading into it. The fact that Barrett wasn’t going to win the title was telegraphed not only by his choice of words before the bell – he said that Cena would be fired if he didn’t win the “match” but never used the word “title – but also by the announcers making the point several times that the deck was stacked against Orton and it was almost a foregone conclusion that Barrett would win. There was a “Fire Cena” chant early. There wasn’t a whole lot of heat for the match, as the fans just seemed to be waiting for the inevitable interference from Cena. There was a ref bump at the 11:30 mark. From there, Barrett ordered Cena to stand on the ring apron, but Orton shot Barrett into the ropes, knocking Cena down. The rest of The Nexus then hit the ring and attacked Orton, but Cena recovered and took them out. Barrett yelled at him, but Cena explained that he had to do it or else Barrett would get disqualified.

Orton made a comeback and was setting up for the RKO when Cena entered the ring and hit the Attitude Adjustment on Barrett. The referee called for the bell and awarded the match to Barrett by disqualification. Cena grabbed the title belt and went to hand it to Orton, but Orton hit the RKO on him. Orton also delivered an RKO to Barrett. The finish was logical and advanced the story line, but it made for a flat ending to a pretty lackluster pay-per-view. If WWE decides to pull the trigger and eventually turn Cena heel, this match (and the “fire Cena” chant) will certainly play into Cena’s motivation. He can claim that he was trying to make the best of a bad situation and do the ring thing, but the fans and Orton were ungrateful.

World heavyweight champion Kane defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive Match (16:58): I thought The Undertaker was going to regain the title and that this would be the blow-off match to the feud, but Kane defeated his “brother” for the third consecutive pay-per-view. According to several wrestling websites, The Undertaker has a bad shoulder and needs some time off but is expected back in a few months to begin his WrestleMania program. This match was all brawling, and at times it really dragged. The crowd chanted “We want blood” about a minute and a half into the match, which obviously WWE wasn’t going to deliver, so Kane and The Undertaker had their work cut out for them in trying to capture the audience. At the four-minute mark, the match was already starting to drag, so The Undertaker tossed several chairs and the covering on the announce table into the ring to wake up the crowd. The fans did get into at about the 10-minute mark, as they did the “yea-boo” chant when The Undertaker and Kane were exchanging punches.

As they were battling near the gravesite, The Undertaker caught Kane in Hell’s Gate and rendered him unconscious. Undertaker rolled Kane into the open grave, and then prepared to chokeslam Paul Bearer on top of his “son.” Just then, The Nexus ran out and attacked The Undertaker. He fought them off at first before ultimately being overpowered. Kane then smashed The Undertaker in the head with the urn, and Undertaker fell into the grave. The Nexus members began shoveling dirt onto him, and then Kane used his magic powers to make a bulldozer drop a huge load of dirt into the grave, thus ending the match. The fans booed, and I got the feeling that they were booing the nature of the finish rather than just the fact that their favorite lost. I’m curious as to what the explanation will be for The Nexus getting involved in the match.

Team Smackdown (The Big Show, Alberto Del Rio, Edge, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Tyler Reks and Jack Swagger) defeated Team Raw (The Miz, Ezekiel Jackson, Santino Marella, John Morrison, CM Punk, R-Truth and Sheamus) in an elimination match (27:44): To the shock of no one, Marella was the first to be eliminated, as he lasted just 2:37 before he was pinned by Reks. A little while later, Del Rio attacked his rival/teammate Mysterio and threw him into the barricade. Mysterio sold a shoulder injury and was taken to the back. At around the 18-minute mark, we were down to Miz, Punk and Jackson against Edge, when Mysterio suddenly made his way back to the ring to make it three-on-two.

Mysterio pinned Punk (some things never change) at the 24:08 mark, and then pinned Jackson a couple minutes later. The Mysterio-Jackson spot created an awkward moment, as Mysterio slipped slightly while doing his springboard splash off the top rope. He still landed on Jackson, who appeared to kick out just before the three count. Time stood still for a second and then the referee ruled that Jackson had been eliminated. That left The Miz against Edge and Mysterio, and I didn’t like Miz’s chances. Mysterio went for the 619, but Alex Riley covered up Miz and absorbed the blow. Miz stumbled to his feet but was met by a spear from Edge and that was it. Edge and Mysterio (and Hornswoggle) celebrated with the trophy that goes to the winning team. No matter how large the trophy is, however, the fans still view the whole “bragging rights” concept as pretty meaningless. Edge was the star of the match, and Mysterio and Sheamus also were booked to look strong. (The order of elimination is below).

U.S. champion Daniel Bryan defeated Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler (16:15): As expected, this non-title match opened the show – and Bryan and Ziggler stole it. They were given enough time to put together an entertaining back-and-forth contest that built to an exciting series of near falls. At the 14:35 mark, Ziggler hit The Famouser and went for a cover. The referee counted to three, but then waved it off as Bryan had gotten his foot on the bottom rope at the last second. A short time later, Ziggler, began taunting Bryan, and it cost him. Bryan suddenly grabbed Ziggler and hooked on The LeBell Lock, forcing Ziggler to tap out. This was a good showing for both guys. And by the way, I must say that Ziggler’s “girlfriend” Vickie Guerrero looked great. Someone needs to tell Jerry Lawler that he sounds ridiculous by still making fat jokes after Guerrero has lost so much weight.

John Cena and David Otunga defeated WWE tag team champions Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes to win the title (6:28): McIntyre and Rhodes came out and cut a promo, saying that everyone is scared to face them. That led to the anonymous Raw general manager making a match between the champions and the team of Otunga and Cena. Cena basically won the match on his own, as Otunga tried to take charge but was ineffective. Cena got the victory by forcing Rhodes to tap out to the STF. After the match, Otunga grabbed both belts and celebrated, but Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on him and left with the belts. I understand putting the title on these two to further the Cena/Nexus story line, but I didn’t like how McIntyre and Rhodes were made to look so weak. It will be interesting to see if WWE keeps them together or they go back into singles competition.

WWE co-Divas champion Layla defeated Natalya (4:48): Commentator Matt Striker delivered the line of the night in response to Layla and Michelle McCool cutting another one of their promos that get go-away heat. “That was Shockmaster bad,” he said. Do a Google search if you don’t get the reference. There was a cool spot early in the match, as Natalya got Layla up for a vertical suplex, held her in position for a several seconds and then did a few squats. That was impressive. As Natalya dominated the match with power moves, a frustrated Layla grabbed her title belt and started to leave, but Natalya caught her and threw her back in the ring. While the referee turned his back to get the belt out of the ring, Michelle McCool kicked Natalya in the face and Layla pinned her for the victory. The match was OK but it was another flat finish.

Ted DiBiase Jr. defeated Goldust (7:28): It was nice to see Goldust get a pay-per-view match. Near the latter stages of the match, Maryse attacked Aksana, who really wasn’t dressed for a catfight. Her short dress kept riding up on her during the beat-down, so she had to keep pulling it back down while she was getting roughed up. That was funny. After Goldust went to check on Aksana, DiBiase hit him from behind and finished him off with a DDT. Goldust got his heat back after the match by hitting The Final Cut on DiBiase and leaving with the Million Dollar belt still in his possession.

Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown order of elimination:

• Reks (S) pinned Marella (R), 2:37

• Sheamus (R) pinned Kingston (S), 6:51.

• Morrison (R) pinned Swagger (S), 13:07.

• Sheamus (R) pinned Reks (S), 14:30.

• Sheamus (R) and Big Show (S) both counted out, 15:28.

• Edge (S) pinned R-Truth (R), 16:41.

• Edge (S) pinned Morrison (R), 17:09.

• Punk (R) pinned Del Rio (S), 18:05.

• Mysterio (S) pinned Punk (R), 24:08.

• Mysterio (S) pinned Jackson (R), 26:15.

• Edge (S) pinned The Miz (R), 27:44.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 11:22 AM | | Comments (32)
        

Comments

Dang, two years and a row.
Team SmackDown just kept winning everytime they fight a team of red shirts.
And I am ready for the undertaker-kane fued to die.

How long does it take for WWE to deliver us a program between Punk and orton?

I'm not sure why you want Cena to turn heel so badly Eck. With Jericho gone there really isn't another face who could carry the company right now, especially with Edge over on Smackdown.

If Cena goes heel, who is the face that could carry a program with him? Raw has an abundance of credible heels, but precious little in faces right now. Orton is in his zone as a tweener and I don't think either Sheamus or the Miz are likeable enough to sell a face turn.

And when will this stupidity with the Nexus end? As bad as the storyline was to begin with; they were done when they lost at Summer Slam. Now there's (finally) gold in their camp but it really belongs to the reluctant member of the group, John Cena.

Yeah, the current story Cena's forced membership is getting Wade Barrett over big time, but Barrett is the only one in that group that is worth anything right now. The rest of the bunch don't generate much of anything and could be quickly forgotten.

Now the Nexus has gone an picked a fight with the Undertaker? Unless WWE decides to bury him once and for all (pun intended) that's not going to end well for Nexus.

RESPONSE FROM KE: If Cena goes heel, it would set up a feud with Orton, which, to me, would be interesting since they will have switched heel/babyface roles from their previous programs.

wicked night

Oh how I miss the wrestling of the 1980's NWA. At least it was semi-believable.

Crap! Just realized we now have David Otunga on both brands!

I'm surprised you did not mention the Brock-'Taker staredown. Or that 'Taker speak in a normal voice on t.v. with McCool.

Usually a great job, Kevin, but on this one you got some splaining to do.

RESPONSE FROM KE: I'll weigh in on it later.

What do you think it meant after the Buried Alive match when they played Taker's music and his symbol appeared on the tombstone? Hinting at something? I thought they were going to go the Royal Rumble 94 route and have Taker show up on the big screen talking from the dirt and then floating out of the arena.

i like what john cena did thanks

I see Nexus defending the tag titles under "Freebird rules" where any Nexus member can be in the match to represent the team.

Why does it feel like 2004 all over again with the buried alive match? (Survivor series vs Vince McMahon.)Practically the same ending as the buried alive vs Mankind too. I have a feeling that Kane will lose the title to either big show or Edge setting up a match between the Undertaker and Kane at Wrestlemania. I really do not think that all the internet rumors are true about a Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker at wrestlemania match.....but stranger things have happened.

Kevin, did you see the confrontation between the Underatker and Brock Lesnar after UFC 121? The USA Today (today, Monday) has a video link where UT is being interviewed (McCool is behind him), and Brock comes by after his defeat and they have a brief encounter over some old grudges. UT says, "You want to do it?" or something similar. VEEERRRRY interesting, as UT also says he would've done MMA had they had it years ago. Anyway, I wonder if Brock would come and do UT's final Wrestlemania.

RESPONSE FROM KE: Yes, I saw it. I will post something on it later.

I was in attendance and had a really good time. A lot of kids had Nexus shirts. Undertaker's entrance is awesome in person.

The mystery to me is why would anyone over the age of 8 shell out the money WWE asks for these PPV events for farcical title matches like those?

Am I the only person who thinks Mysterio continually beating Punk, and in this match a guy the size of Big Zeke, is a total and utter joke? It has no believability whatsoever, and is purely because kids buy his merchandise. Punk could be a main event heel if WWE wasn't so retarded and marketed towards children.

Hey Kev from what i heard about why the Taker lost was that he had a shoulder injury and rumors flying last night that Brock Lesnar may the opponent at Mania .

Way too many ppv's. I will be interested in seeing the buy rates for Night of Champions, Hell in a Cell, and Bragging Rights. These storylines seem contrived and rushed.

I still feel like Daniel Bryan smirks too much, but there's no denying that at both Night of Champions & Bragging Rights his matches blew others' out of the water.

He and Ziggler are both technically gifted, although in different ways and presented an interesting contrast. What a marvelous, exciting, and INTERESTING match that was!!

Also, someone needs to do something about the commentator situation. We need new, better commentators who will focus on the MATCH rather than scoring points off each other. To take just one example, Striker slamming King for having booked his own promotion was WAY out of line-- Lawler is a Hall-of-Famer for a reason-- and emblematic of how far off-topic these cretins are getting.

The WWE needs me more than ever

I AM Really tired of the Nexus, They were elimated and should stay elimated. As far as a fued between Orton & Cena, That has been done again. I Reallt think we need Shawn And Triple H. Back to eliminate Nexus

Bragging Rights just doesn't work as a concept. It might work if all the matches were interbrand matches, and the WWE was better during the year at keeping the two brands apart, so that this was the only time all year that you got to see the WWE and World Champion go at it. But the tag match is just pointless, with the main eventers involved seeming like they had nothing better to do. It would just make so much more sense to eliminate this PPV but keep the "brand cup" alive at the Survivor Series.

I wonder if this was always the plan to get Undertaker off the air; it's actually pretty shocking to see Kane completely get the better of his "brother". The logical feud now for Kane, I guess, is Edge, but I have a feeling that those two won't mesh very well together. But Edge did prove against 'Taker a couple years ago that he can handle his own against power wrestlers, so maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.

I'm thinking that the Nexus involvement in the Taker/Kane match could be the early stages of a way to work Cena/Taker into WM if they need a rationale for doing so later down the line. That also opens the door to have Nexus appear on both shows if needed (that, and the tag titles account for it too). This could provide the shift away from Kane/Taker in the future and more towards Barrett/Cena/Taker... amen!

The finish to the WWE Title match is the reason i don't order PPV's anymore.

DQ's just shouldn't happen, let alone on a PPV.
It's a weak, nothing finish, the last salvation of the lazy writer.

Last night was bull. Why would they make smackdown embarass raw by having smackdown look good on raw and their own show while making them beat raw at the ppv. I was absolutely disgusted at how the wwe keeps [expletive deleted] on Raw. RAW shouldve been booked to win or at least not made to look like losers all weel on both shows. shows how pathetic the wwe boking is when they make there top show look like a joke to a show that has had 3 networks in 4 years

I thought it was a solid PPV with a bland ending. I have become a huge fan of Daniel Bryan, even though I'd not heard of him before NXT, which I never watched except for the Daniel Bryan / Micheal COle.
I know he's small, but do you think he'll ever be WWE champ?

Even though as you say the bragging rights concept is flawed, I still enjoyed the match.

I thought the Wade Barratt / Orton match was good and suspenseful, but the finish was LAME. I would have liked to have seen your predicition instead.

So ridiculous...Maybe I missed it but did someone get the Undertaker out from all that dirt? Obviously there was a trap door of some type but if you look at it from a kayfabe perspective there was a person that was buried under "2 tons" of dirt as Lawler kept putting it. When the match ended, they just went on to the next mtach in the pay per view like nothng had happened. There was no "maybe we should dig him out before he suffocates" or anything like that...now let's move on the next match. So in reality there was supposedly someone buried under all that dirt that we just are supposed to forget about and move on to the next match...I cannot believe that match wouldn't go on last. The whole thing is just so ridiculous...I miss the 1980's NWA too...I can't believe I even watch this nonsensical stuff anymore...but hey, alcoholics will drink mouthwash or cologne to feed their addiction if they can't get their hands on anything else...I guess today's wrestling is mouthwash, even though it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time I watch it...

I liked the ending of the Orton-Barrett match, but I hate to say it, I can see a Cena-Orton-Barrett match at a future PPV, possibly TLC. Just when I thought WWE couldn't bury the tag division any more, they have Super-Cena singlehandedly defeat the tag champs, who hadn't lost a tag match since they won the titles (correct me if I'm wrong). Then WWE takes another step down, and has Otunga lay down for Slater and Gabriel. Don't get me wrong, I'm in full support of those two being tag champs, but it would have been better if they had beaten Rhodes and McIntyre in a regular match. This now buries Otunga, Rhodes, and McIntyre and now guarantees that Gabriel and Slater can appear on both shows. The only match that I really care about the most right now was the Dibiase-Goldust match. Besides the Ziggler-Bryan match, all the other matches had storylines involved that are really starting to get old. It was great seeing Edge and Mysterio on the same page, brings back memories of 2002 when they were tag champs

I think that they should call the team of Layla and McCool "The Shockmasters." They really are that bad.

Of all the people they could have picked to get taken out of the match early, only to make a heroic comeback later and pin a huge guy and a former 3-time WHC, it had to be Mysterio? Really? Really?

They couldn't have had Mysterio pin Jackson or something, have Punk eliminate him and then have Edge eliminate Punk?

Way to make CM Punk look credible; have him pinned for like the 6th time this year by Rey freakin' Mysterio, an injured one this time, no less.

Ugh.

Was there last night and it was the best show I've seen live (of course most were house shows so that might have something to do with that.)

Not sure if it showed on TV but half the fans were on their feet the entire Taker-Kane match. Taker's entrance was awesome, but I think the boos were more because the match was so short (and no blood) then because Kane won. there was also some boos in my section the second time they were fighting in the crowd and a few scattered "pansies" chants broke out when they stopped, although that might because the ones that were yelling that (myself included) were sitting about 20 feet from where they stopped.

Vickie and the Raw GM got tons of heat. I don't think any one wanted them there. Someone behind me even yelled for the Williams Wall to come in and drag her out of there.

I actually did get to see Bragging Rights Sunday night:

* I was actually looking forward to the PPV quite a bit (Bryan v. Ziggler, 7-on-7 and Orton v. Barrett). I think WWE has actually found something with the CeNexus angle and Orton involved as the babyface opposite the heel Barrett and tweener Cena was compelling from a story perspective. But I could not have been more disappointed with the main event. I thought the match was pretty flat and while everyone knew Cena was going to get invovled, I actually think WWE Creative picked the worst possible way to go. Nexus is the most dominant heel faction the company has had since the heyday of Evolution, and I think their hesitancy in booking Nexus too strong and Cena as a heel is starting to show. I personally would've had this match at Survivor Series, and I think they did all involved a disservice by delaying it. Wade Barrett needs to be booked strong. VERY strong...otherwise, what's the point? If Barrett doesn't end up with the title out of all of this, just go ahead and disband the Nexus now (which would be a bad idea). I have no idea if Wade Barrett is ready to be WWE Champ, and I don't think WWE is totally sure either. But you would have figured they did when they set this whole story into motion. Wade Barrett has been absolutely destroying on the mic for more than a month and has even overshadowed Orton and Cena. The fact that David Otunga (and now Slater and Gabriel) has gold before Barrett is weird and does no favors for legitimizing Barrett as a main event guy.

* You also do Randy Orton absolutely no favors by booking him to look weak. Wade Barrett's win may mean nothing (and it does), but the fact Orton couldn't get a clean win over a relative newcomer is weak. That's why Cena should've helped Barrett win on Sunday. Cena could continue to play the tweener role, as he gradually transitions to a heel character. He could easily claim he was in a no-win situation and had to make a tough decision. Plus, even though Orton is now a face, why would Cena go out of his way to help him? If this is what they are planning for SS, they are going to have to double back and explain this, and good luck with that. Unless of course, they are chickening out on Cena's heel turn.

* I was kinda looking forward to the 7-on-7, but was slightly disappointed. I've seen better multi-man tag matches, and I'm sorry, but the whole concept and "brand rivalry" is ridiculous. It was a hodgepodge of wrestlers and I thought there were flat points throughout the match. And I'm sorry (I don't want to sound to IWC Smark-ish), but why would you be putting Rey and Edge over Miz at the end? That makes less than zero sense. The Miz (love him or hate him) is one of your rising stars, is your MITB winner and very likely future WWE Champion. The Miz winning Bragging Rights as the sole Raw participant had more to gain than Rey and Edge together did. Terrible waste of an opportunity. Can you imagine the AWESOME promos for the next couple of months we would have had as Miz brought up winning as captain and threw it in wrestlers' and fans' faces alike. Missed opportunity,

* Match of the night was obviously Daniel Bryan Danielson v. Dolph "I need a new name" Ziggler. People who follow the indys know Bryan's wrestling abilities, and it is wonderful to see WWE giving him a little free reign and push to start his WWE career. Ziggler definitely showed up and stayed with Bryan, and their Raw match was really good too. Now if we could just get Bryan to do a suicide dive to knock Cole off of announcing.

* The announcing was distractingly bad. I miss JR more by the show.

* Buried Alive was worse than I thought,. And I didn't think it would be much to start. The Nexus interference reeked of last-minute emergency booking, since 'Taker is gonna be injured and out. Just brutal. Yet again, Kane needs help/shenanigans to beat 'Taker. Yes, he has been a dominant World Heavyweight Champion. But that doesn't take away from the fact that all 3 of his "victories" can be easily explained from a Taker perspective. Thank god this feud is done cause it was dead weeks ago. What do you think Vince's reaction was when he heard "Fire Cena" and "We Want Blood" in the same PPV. And THAT is only going to get worse. Because PG is not going anywhere, anytime soon.

* LayCool. Brutal. Ugh.

* Glad Goldust got a PPV paycheck. Good veteran who has done a lot for this company is being rewarded. Nice to see.

Overall, I thought the PPV was a major missed opportunity. The real winners of the PPV were Daniel Bryan Danielson, Edge and Rey Rey. Everyone else lost or was booked weak. Everytime WWE seems to be making strides, they just can't get a head of steam for momentum. Let's hope SS is what Bragging Rights should have been.

It is about time for the WWE to take the cuffs off David Otunga and let him have his shine. We all must know that he is a much better wrestler than what they are letting him show. The Nexus all togather need to disarm and go their own ways. They are each better off on their own. However David Otunga and Skip do make a better tag team. I also think Gabrell and Slater could be good. Let Otunga raise as he to do from was from the beganning.

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About Kevin Eck
The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Eck blogs about professional wrestling.
E-mail Kevin.
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