WWE Bragging Rights: 10 Burning Questions Heading Into Sunday Night Pay-Per-View

With WWE Bragging Rights to take place amidst what is sure to be a newsworthy weekend in a variety of sports, a litany of questions have surfaced pertaining to both the circumstances of this pay-per-view as well as the pay-per-view itself.

A potentially historic WWE pay-per-view (for all the wrong reasons) faces both good and bad dilemmas as we begin to get into the meat of the CeNexus angle, which will headline an otherwise ordinary pay-per-view.

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1. Is Wade Barrett Your Next WWE Champion?

All signs may point to yes.  With John Cena in his corner, Wade Barrett seems to have not only a distinct advantage to become the WWE Champion for the first time in his career, but Cena in his corner also provides a possible platform to continue a very slow burning heel turn for the face of the WWE.

Cena's involvement in this match, and its subsequent fallout, will tell us a lot about where this angle is going.  Should Cena 'accidentally' screw Wade Barrett, the stage would then be (unfortunately) set for Cena to turn back into a face.

However, should Cena either abide by Barrett's orders and assist in the demise of Randy Orton, or should he even accidentally screw Orton, then to quote a temporary quasi-celebrity, we may have a situation.

The irony of this angle is if the WWE continues to be greedy and value merchandise sales over intriguing storytelling, and if their plan for the payoff is to turn back into a full fledged babyface, the audible and vocal portion of Cena haters would only be vindicated.  This would only add fuel to the Cena haters' fire, and those audible anti-Cena chants that are heard in almost every arena these days would only get louder.

2. Is The WWE Making a Mistake By Premiering Bragging Rights This Weekend?

Touting a brand name that was synonymous with the lowest buyrate of 2009, the WWE's Bragging Rights pay-per-view (ironically held in Minnesota) will be going head to head with a pivotal, prime time showdown between Brett Favre (with the Vikings) and his old team the Green Bay Packers on NBC.

We saw how RAW's ratings were affected the last time the WWE went head to head with a nationally televised game featuring Brett Favre and the tasty TV drama that comes with his brand, and the last time Favre v. Vikings was on national television it was the most watched show in cable TV history.

To make matters worse, this Saturday the UFC, the WWE's chief competition at the box office, will be running possibly its biggest pay-per-view event of the year in UFC 121.  This action-packed MMA card will be stacked with notable draw Tito Ortiz and a debuting Jake Shields performing on the undercard of a pay-per-view to be headlined by former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.

Even if Vince McMahon continues to live in his own treehouse with the mentality that UFC isn't competition, one cannot deny the negative impact that the former WWE champion's main event heavyweight title defense will have on the WWE fanbase.

To make matters more worse, Bragging Rights could possibly have to worry about a game 7 in the NLCS in a hotly contested series between big market baseball teams in the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Long story short, I wouldn't want to be the stooge who has to be around Vince McMahon the day those numbers come out.

3. Will John Cena Please Wear A Nexus T-Shirt Already?

While the WWE has done a lot right with what I (wishfully) hope is a slow burning heel turn for John Cena, they seem to be having their cake and eating it too with this angle.  

Cena still wears his overbearing, buy my purple t-shirts, hats, and other Cena paraphernalia, he still comes out to his own theme music, yet we at home are supposed to believe that the guy is a slave to the Nexus?

To add life into a pay-per-view that needs all the help it can get this weekend (see question no. 3), why didn't Wade Barrett insist that we have heard John Cena's theme music for the last time because your hero would now be coming out to Nexus' theme music while donning a black and yellow Nexus T-shirt for the first time in order to show solidarity for his master in a pivotal title match?

Why be so safe when it's become obvious that risks need to be taken to make this angle pop?  The longer we see Cena in a get 50 percent off this purple t-shirt, the more temporary this angle seems, and the more people would be more inclined to seeing Brett Favre run around like a kid out there.

4. Has The Turnover Between Brands Devalued the Bragging Rights Concept?

With so many of its performers moving from brand to brand outside the otherwise mandatory WWE Draft, the WWE is doing no favors to a concept like 'Bragging Rights' where Smackdown goes up against RAW.  Just a few weeks ago, Edge was traded to Smackdown for CM Punk, and each will now be representing a show that they've been on for less than a month.

How does one go about believing that Bragging Rights are truly important to guys who just started playing for a new team?

5. Will Bryan/Ziggler Live Up to Its Show-Stealing Potential?

In a battle for Internet mancrush supremacy, standout wrestler(s) Daniel Bryan and Dolph Zigggler will wage war in an inter promotional champion vs. champion match.

On paper, this match has all the tools (otherwise known as Daniel Bryan) to steal the show.  If given the time, which shouldn't be a problem given the fact that this pay-per-view currently lists only five matches, these two should do more than enough to help each other to a great match as well as helping their own respective careers. 

6. How Many Times Will The WWE 'Stand Up' For Itself During This Broadcast?

The recent 'Stand Up for the WWE' campaign, a shrewdly veiled attempt to influence voters to vote for Linda McMahon without (overtly) violating FEC standards, has invaded your WWE television screens as Führer McMahon fights off those mean democrats.

The WWE will continue to flex its political muscle as D-Day draws nearer in Connecticut, and with plenty of time to be filled at Bragging Rights given its minuscule match card, expect multiple references, promos, and tomfoolery that implicates the WWE with Linda McMahon's current senate race.

Because politicians embrace the WWE.  As if that's a good thing...

7. Can Kane and Taker Brawl Their Way to a Decent Match?

Although it was anticipated by approximately nobody, Kane and Undertaker's first no-holds-barred match at Night of Champions was actually quite impressive.  With their second match all but a snoozefest, the Undertaker and Kane are once again placed in a situation where they will be able to have a good ole fashion brawl as opposed to a more traditional wrestling match that does not compliment their styles.

Expect both guys to overachieve in this buried alive contests as they have proven successful in the art of no disqualification warfare.  The Buried Alive concept is still quite novel in the WWE, and should add further intrigue to this long feud. 

8. Will Natalya Continue To Be Pushed in The Diva's Title Picture?

With Natalya finally getting the time she deserves to be featured in a real feud with other Divas, her critical match with Michelle McCool will answer quite a few questions as it pertains to the WWE's long term plans for the diva.

Beth Phoenix is currently on the shelf, and given the striking similarities between Phoenix and Natalya one cannot help but wonder whether or not Natalya is simply being used as a stand-in.

McCool/Natalya should be a pretty good match as Natalya is quite good in the ring and Michelle McCool is underrated.  But if Natalya loses this match, history tells us that her subsequent activity may be undesirable to say the least.

9. Is There Too Much of a Youth Movement in The WWE?

With yet another WWE pay-per-view to be headlined and borderline saturated with newcomers and the next generation of WWE performers, one must ask whether this youth movement is too much, too soon..

Habitual momentum killer Kevin Nash recently made comments about the WWE's current youth movement being a mistake, and while such comments can easily be dismissed as asinine, perhaps there is some value to them as the WWE's pay-per-view business continues to diminish.

In all professional sports, almost every championship roster has the perfect combination of home grown talent, polished veterans, and free agents.   With the WWE once again going into somewhat of a full fledged rookie mode in the face of declining pay-per-view buys, perhaps they need to begin making calculated investments in free agents and veterans who have proven to make a difference in the pay-per-view business.

Are you really excited to see Tyler Reks make his pay-per-view debut?  Alberto Del Rio will be good given time, but he aint moving units at the box office, and neither is Daniel Bryan, the Internet be damned.

Perhaps it's time to see the return of a Bill Goldberg, Booker T, or dare I say the debut of Sting in the WWE to infuse veteran talent with up and comers and create intriguing new matchups.  The youth movement is has been a noble solution to what was a prevailing problem in the WWE of seeing the same guys on top.  However if the WWE would like to really reinvigorate their brand at the box office, they would be wise to hire some familiar faces with some novelty to boot.

10. Could We Begin Seeing Wrestlemania 27 Storylines Begin to Take Form?

With Wrestlemania 27 just five months away, it's not too early to begin planting seeds for the biggest show of the year. 

John Cena and Randy Orton, a match up that I have long since predicted would be your Wrestlemania 27 main event, will be curiously involved in the same WWE Championship match. 

The Bragging Rights match will provide many opportunities for budding feuds through possible defections and mishaps. 

Feuds originating at this pay-per-view, to be blown off at Wrestlemania, will enjoy the luxury of ample time which would only help in any given feuds' development going forward.

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