WWE Bragging Rights, the first PPV of its kind, was a mixed bag. The first match of the night was between former tag team champions; The Miz and John Morrison.
The match was solid, but I was left feeling a bit disappointed because these two could produce so much more. I was pleasantly surprised that The Miz picked up the win.
The second match of the night was the Team Raw Vs. Team Smackdown 3-on-3 Divas match. The result was a foregone conclusion with the score having to be evened out so the decider would be the 7-on-7 Raw Vs. Smackdown main event and therefore the Smackdown Divas did indeed win, with Beth Phoenix getting the victorious pin.
The third match of the night was the fatal four way for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Everyone in this match brought their working boots; The Undertaker delivered as well as he could giving his current health, CM Punk played the chicken-shit heel to perfection capitalizing on any opportunity, Batista was the dominating Animal and Rey Mysterio played the underdog role well, as he always does.
The Undertaker won when he pinned Batista following the Tombstone however it was the post match angle that stole the show.
After Josh Matthews began interviewing both Rey Mysterio and Batista, Mysterio continued to play the friend angle; however, Batista's frustration and rage, which were slowly built up throughout the course of the match, were unleashed and he beat down lil' Rey to a pulp which the beat down ending with a Randy Orton like punt to the head. Before the beat down occurred, Batista delivered this line to Rey:
"I'm gonna rip your head off...”
The casual way that this was delivered made it and the subsequent beat down even more memorable. Props the WWE for finally pulling the trigger on the Batista heel turn, however it may be too little, too late.
The 7 on 7 Smackdown Vs. Raw match was what I feared in would become; a clusterfuck with too many people on each team to allow each of them to shine. That said, the Hart Dynasty were allowed to show their potential and I absolutely loved their springboard Hart Attack. They are big players for the future.
We had some exciting moments such as the Kane & Big Show stare down and the HBK & David Hart Smith face off.
The ending was predictable; Big Show betrayed Team Raw allowing his tag team partner Chris Jericho to get the pin for Team Smackdown thus proving which is the better brand (ECW wins hands down though at the moment).
To cap it all off, Team Smackdown celebrated in the ring with a trophy! Chris Jericho’s expressions were priceless as always.
The card so far was a mix between good, mediocre and downright tripe however, the main-event stole the show. The rest of the card was just filler so that it could lead up to one of the biggest main events this year; Randy Orton Vs. John Cena in a No Holds Barred 60 Minute Iron Man Match.
I'll admit that I am one of those that has gotten tired of this feud however what a way to end it. The Iron Man Match is one of the few gimmick matches left that has that aura, that feeling of a major occasion.
Whatever is said about Randy Orton and John Cena, they always deliver on PPV's, which is where it counts.
Their Summerslam match was good, their Breaking Point match upped the level, their Hell in a Cell encounter was the best match of the night bar the DX Vs. Legacy bout and this match was the icing on the cake and a fitting ending to a feud between the top stars in the WWE (bar Christian obviously!).
It was a memorable moment after memorable moment; an Attitude Adjustment countered into an RKO... off the TOP ROPE (one of the greatest spots this year)!! This was prequeled by Cena getting the first pin via the STF.
What followed included a double Attitude Adjustment/RKO resulting in a double-pin fall and an AA from the top rope.
There was interference by Legacy and a Dream Street by DiBiase on Cena who were then run off by Ghana's own Kofi Kingston and a steel chair! Orton and Cena continued to brawl all over the outside and up the ramp when The Viper slammed John Cena's head into the pyro board causing pyro to go off on the stage.
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