WWE Bragging Rights Preview: 10 Reasons Team RAW Will Top Team Smackdown

Seven of the best from RAW (well, six and Santino Marella) will collide with seven of the best that Smackdown has to offer in the second annual Bragging Rights pay-per-view this Sunday.

While this year's event features three inter-promotional matches to determine the supreme brand, much like last year's, all indications point to the Bragging Rights trophy being on the line in the 7-on-7 Raw vs Smackdown tag team match.

For the RAW side, The Miz will serve as captain for John Morrison, R-Truth, CM Punk, Santino Marella, Sheamus and Ezekiel Jackson. Meanwhile, for the "blue" show, The Big Show will be Smackdown's team captain, alongside of Tyler Reks, Jack Swagger, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Alberto Del Rio and Kofi Kingston.

While Smackdown captured the victory in this match last year, here are 10 reasons why RAW will claim the Bragging Rights this Sunday.

1) The Feuds On Smackdown

Four of the seven men of Team Smackdown are in feuds with each other. Jack Swagger and Edge have been in a rivalry for the past few weeks.

Edge's mission of eliminating all that is stupid in WWE (a quite daunting task, if you ask me) led the Rated-R Superstar to Swagger's mascot, the Swagger Soaring Eagle. 

As for the other feud, Alberto Del Rio has made it a mission to take out Rey Mysterio. Del Rio claims that he is a more suitable representation of the Mexican people and wishes to eliminate Mysterio to prove it.

With these combustible elements on Smackdown's team, how can they co-exist? We already saw Swagger attempt to injure Edge on RAW Monday night during the inter-promotional battle royal. What is to stop them from having a similar episode on Sunday?

2) Sheamus

The Celtic Warrior is the most recent world champion among the 14 men in the match. Since his Hell in a Cell match a few weeks ago, there hasn't been much made of Sheamus and his direction for the future. He is a two-time WWE Champion who can never seem to win clean in a title match.

The man needs to be stripped down to the basics and built right back up. It was at last year's Survivor Series that Sheamus dropped onto the radar.

A full year has passed now and the man is dire need of some credibility. A dominant performance, parlayed with more wins, could make him a desirable candidate in the 2011 Royal Rumble. Bragging Rights is the first building block for him.

3) The Miz Needs To Win a PPV Match

This picture shows the last time that The Miz was victorious at a pay-per-view. Way back at Money in the Bank in July, The Miz captured the briefcase for a future WWE Championship match at any time that he chose.

Since then, he was kept off the card at SummerSlam, lost his United States Championship at Night of Champions, and lost his rematch at Hell in a Cell. How can you have a man who can potentially be WWE Champion one day not win a pay-per-view since he won his opportunity?

Personally, I feel that The Miz would have been the first man to lose when cashing in, but perhaps this is being done to have him float under the radar. Every time we see The Miz, the IWC goes wild with thoughts of him cashing in, but it won't happen until a time when The Miz is in good health and the champion is not. Perhaps TLC in December?

4) and 5) Needed Pushes For Ezekiel Jackson and CM Punk

If there are two men on RAW in need of becoming legitimate again, it is these two men: Ezekiel Jackson and CM Punk. Both were not seen on RAW until very recently, with Punk being traded to RAW for Edge and Jackson returning from a long hiatus with injuries.

Punk was in world championship matches regularly a year ago, but has failed to find that consistency in months. Meanwhile, Jackson won the ECW Championship in the final match of that brand's history.

He was intended to get a push on Smackdown before injuring himself during a house show. He was then traded under the radar to RAW and not seen on the brand until this past Monday.

I, personally, jumped for joy when I realized he was on Team RAW. At first, I thought they may have hit his music by mistake for some reason. During the battle royal, we saw Jackson show some of the domination that hasn't been seen by anyone in six months.

A win here for Punk and Jackson may not give them title runs very soon, but it will give them the much-needed and much-deserved momentum going into Survivor Series and the looming Road to WrestleMania.

6) Hype Of Last Year Leans To RAW's Favor

The hype Smackdown is putting off from winning Bragging Rights last year is like the same hype The Miz gave himself by assuming he would be a world champion with his Money in the Bank briefcases. This is why neither are likely to happen.

By the way, this is how the trophy looked last year and it has been remodeled to be a poor man's Stanley Cup. How prestigious could this trophy really be?

7) Alex Riley > Hornswoggle

Even though it is a 7-on-7 match, there are likely going to be an eighth superstar that accompanies both teams to the ring. One will be Smackdown's mascot, Hornswoggle, while the other will be Alex Riley, The Miz's mascot.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Varsity Villain, who will likely be holding The Miz's Money in the Bank briefcase during the match, is more of a factor than a blue-faced leprechaun wearing viking horns and waving a flag twice his height.

By the way, doesn't it look like Riley is doing his best Matt Striker impersonation in this photo?

8) Not an Elimination Tag Team Match

It's a regular tag team match, which means that only one of these men will have to be pinned or made to submit.

If this were an elimination tag team match, the odds favor Smackdown, strictly because of the Big Show and the need to keep men like Edge and Tyler Reks, who looks to be getting a Drew McIntyre-esque push, strong.

However, only one man needs to lose the fall. This is how having men like Santino and R-Truth won't necessarily hurt you in the end.

9) Increases Relevance For John Morrison

No superstar has suffered through more "is he getting a push or isn't he?" banter than John Morrison. Many feel that the man has had his potential squashed time after time, just as he is about to make it to the next level.

Morrison is in the middle of his latest push to the glass ceiling which seems to be lower than most would hope it to be.

Don't ask me why, but don't be surprised to see Morrison be the one to gain the pinfall on Sunday in the match. Being the one to gain the fall will mean more to him than pretty much any other man in the match.

10) RAW Is Booked As The Stronger Brand

Everyone can tell you that RAW has been and, seemingly, will always be viewed as the better brand. Had it not been for the turn of Big Show on RAW, the red brand would likely have won last year.

With most of the top talent being crammed onto Monday nights and the higher ratings for the flagship brand in sports entertainment, it's hard to not pick RAW to be the favorite.

Perhaps the win will help to finally reveal the anonymous RAW GM? Let's hope so, because I am starting to hate laptops.