Aftermath – WWE Bragging Rights 2009
The first ever WWE Bragging Rights PPV is in the books. I don’t think any of us here at the Fight Game Blog were particularly enthused when the line up for this show was first announced. It looked like just another weak theme driven PPV offering from WWE. However, there were some polarizing views amongst our staff about how the show played out. So let’s get right in to it:
Big D
Thumbs Down
Best Match: Smackdown vs. Raw 14 man tag
Worst Match: Divas
Kind of an unusual show. Again, to me, almost no PPV WWE has put on is really worth the hefty 39.95 price tag, but this one certainly wasn’t close. Cena and Orton did the best they could to mask their lack of working ability behind gimmicks, but an hour of these two is too much regardless. They can barely entertain for 15 minutes. The 7 on 7 wasn’t as good as I expected and neither was Miz & Morrison. This wasn’t a B show, it was a C show
Duan
Thumbs up
Best Match: Cena Vs. Orton
Worst Match: Divas match (not even particularly bad)
I know that I am probably in the minority here, but I thought this was a really enjoyable show. All the undercard matches were fun. The 4 way and the big 14 man tag both far exceeded expectations. I was satisfied with how they handled the Batista turn, and I thought the beat down on Rey was pretty convincing. Jericho celebrating with the Bragging Rights trophy was, as Big D would say, Godlike.
The Iron man match was a minor miracle in my opinion. Orton was just phenomenal on Sunday night, and I felt that they had just the right mix of gimmickry and spots to make it work. They kept up a good level of suspense right through the hour, and as far as I’m concerned it never dragged for one moment.
Most importantly, I felt that it had a sense of finality about it which was a difficult thing to get across considering the amount of times we have seen these guys matched up recently. A terrific performance from both guys.
GG
Thumbs in the middle
Best Match: John Cena vs. Randy Orton
Worst Match: Raw Divas vs. Smackdown Divas
Everything was pretty solid on this show, but definitely unspectacular. Unlike Tall D (Duan), I didn’t like Batista’s turn so much. It was too fast and he didn’t sell me on why he was upset. He lost. He always loses. So what? Cena vs. Orton was better than I thought and I’m glad they got to do a good match for the blow off because I don’t want to see them wrestle ever again. What does it all mean? Probably nothing, which is why it’s just a middle of the ground show for me.
