Somewhat Apathetic Bragging Rights Preview

First things first, my sincere apologies for recommending Hell in a Cell, which may have been the most disappointing PPV of the year. I'm not a big TNA fan, but Bound For Glory was certainly a superior show.

Now.....

If the "workrate" is your thing, this could very well be a decent show. Aside from the main event and the Morrison-Miz match, though, this is all stuff that should be on free tv. If the WWF is really expecting people to care about which brand has the mythical "Bragging Rights", they may be in for a shocker when this buyrate comes in.

On to the picks:

John Morrison vs. The Miz
This could be quite a match; I don't believe it's for either belt, but I hope Morrison gets the win here, I'm a bigger fan of his long-term potential than that of the Miz at this point.

Winner: John Morrison
My Pick: John Morrison

RAW Divas vs. SmackDown Divas Tag Match
I really don't know why this is on a pay per view, but hey, I'm just happy to see Natalya.

Winner: SmackDown, to balance out the other brand v. brand tag match result
My Pick: SmackDown

WCW Championship
Fatal Four Way
The Undertaker vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
The WCW title match at HITC was the one that really pissed me off, just a quick means of getting the belt on a hobbled guy who shouldn't be carrying the belt. An honest to god HITC win would've put Punk over huge. He's good enough that I don't think it's too late to regain momentum. I'm now furious every time I order a PPV and it features multiple title changes. I usually like to see long title reigns. Tonight, I'm hoping two such reigns begin.

Winner: Batista
My Pick: CM Punk

Team RAW vs. Team SmackDown
No mystery in who's likely to go over here, since front-office darlings DX are captaining one team, and 5/7 of the other team was just replaced two days ago. We've been given NO reason to care about the outcome here, but I personally prefer all of the Smackdown guys, and Hey! it's the Hart Dynasty! On PPV! The match itself here might end up being pretty good.

Winner: Team Raw
My Pick: Team SD, Tyson Kidd getting the fall on HHH. Hey, I can dream.

WWF Championship
No DQ Iron Man Match
John Cena vs. Randy Orton
This is the FOURTH straight PPV event headlined by these two facing off against each other. I didn't like their HITC match anywhere near as much as some others did, and while their Breaking Point match was decent, their Summerslam outing was abysmal and I think everyone's sick of this matchup.

That said:

With the Iron Man setup and the stips here (Cena goes to SD with a loss, Orton never gets a rematch if he loses), they've essentially sold the show based on a promise that this is the definitive blowoff to a feud that's been alive, off and on, for over three years, the 2007/early 2008 portion of which was both awesome and lacking in a blowoff. On top of that, they embraced the length of this feud with one of the best music video packages they've put together in years



I was burnt out on these guys before I saw this package, now I really want to see them wrestle for AN HOUR and blow this thing off for good. That's a sign that you've got a good production team.

On top of that, they've made it plausible that Cena's actually going to lose. I have no clue what the result's going to be.

Winner: John Cena, because they wouldn't move their top guy to Smackdown. Right?
Winner: Cena, but THAT'S IT for title changes this year. You hear me? I want this belt to be his until 2011 or something.

Recommendation: There are two matches you may want to see here, and this show is expensive. If you're a regular reader and were ripped off by a Hell in a Cell show where two of the three Cell matches included precious little use of the Cell itself, well, please take a pass on this one. Or, view it by some sort of means that puts no money in the WWF coffers whatsoever.

Enjoy the show, if you're so inclined.