The Case
Every once in a while, the WWE pits the stars from Raw against the
stars of SmackDown, and this year, it all goes down at WWE: Bragging
Rights 2010. Additionally, Kane and the Undertaker fight for glory, while
Randy Orton takes on Nexus. Let's take a closer look at what this PPV has to
offer:
• Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Champion vs. Champion
Non-Title Match
Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler kick off this year's
edition of WWE: Bragging Rights. Even though they both carry gold, this
battle is not a title match. That said, they both put on a highly entertaining
show, going at it full force for 16 fast-paced minutes. Leaving practically no
room for a breather, the two athletes showcase a variety of strong moves and
truly impressive kicks in an attempt to get the crowd to its feet. Needless to
say, the end result is an excellent opening matchup, and that's exactly what a
solid WWE PPV needs.
• Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena & David
Otunga in a WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Alas, the excitement doesn't
last very long, because this match for the tag team titles is anything but
memorable. Cena does all the work inside the ring while Rhodes and McIntyre
desperately try to deliver a few maneuvers, and before you know it, the bell
rings and the nightmare has come to an end. Good thing this match only runs for
six minutes. Moving on…
• Goldust vs. Ted DiBiase
With two divas at their side,
Goldust and DiBiase go at in this regular match. Even though they both
occasionally deliver decent high-risk moves, they still fail to put on a notable
show. The wrestling coordination here works for the most part, but in the end,
this is by no means a nail biter. On the contrary, it's not much more than a
bland matchup that should've been left off the card.
• Layla vs. Natalya in a Divas Championship Match
WWE's
girls are at it again as well, and as usual, they keep it short and rather
boring. This title match features a couple of strong kicks and one or two
stronger maneuvers, but best of all, it's all over in less than five minutes.
Hey, even the crowd got quiet during this one.
• Kane vs. Undertaker in a Buried Alive Match for the World
Heavyweight Championship
Undertaker and Kane are going head to head yet
again, and this time, they're in for a Buried Alive match. Essentially, this
means that one of the two monsters has to shove his opponent into a grave and
bury him alive. No rules or counts in this battle. At 10 minutes, it's quite the
short matchup between the two popular wrestlers, although I admit I'm glad it
didn't go any longer. The action inside the ring is limited to about two
minutes, and all Kane and Undertaker do here is stroll around the arena while
throwing some easy punches and delivering some hard kicks. That's all there is
to it, really. Let's just hope the WWE finally puts this monotonous rivalry to
rest once and for all.
• Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown in a 7 on 7 Tag Team Elimination
Match
This is the match that should've been the main event, but for some
strange reason, WWE's show officials decided against it. A total of 14 wrestlers
battle for a trophy and the rights to brag in this tag team elimination match,
which runs for a long 28 minutes and features some of the night's most
entertaining battle action. This tag team match will by no means go down as a
great pay-per-view moment, but some of these participants actually manage to
keep things moving at a steady pace via a solid assortment of powerful
maneuvers, high-risk dives, and other cool tricks. Parts of this matchup do hang
heavy at times, but overall, this is easily one of the better battles of this
PPV.
• Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett in a WWE Championship Match
The main event puts Orton against Nexus member Wade Barrett, who's got John Cena
in his corner in case he requires assistance. The WWE is famous for coming up
with dull feuds and ridiculous story lines occasionally, and this one is
certainly up there with the least interesting ever. Sadly enough, this so-called
main event mostly lacks solid wrestling, even though Orton tries to showcase his
skills and at least execute a few power maneuvers. Things quickly escalate
though, and the final minutes of this rather short battle bring this rater
disappointing pay-per-view to an unsatisfying close.
Ever since the WWE has started broadcasting shows and events in HD, the
picture quality of these pay-per-views have improved. Strong colors and sharp
images rule the day, and the audio transfer does a solid job as well. The disc
also comes with a small bonus section, in which you'll find a silly backstage
interview with the SmackDown team and a weird little video following
Undertaker as he walks into the light. Yes, it's really as strange and absurd as
it sounds.
With the 2010 edition of Bragging Rights, WWE has unleashed another
weak pay-per-view. The quality of the matches fans get to watch here is mostly
atrocious, and among the event's seven battles, only two stand out. I guess that
doesn't make it a total disaster. Nothing for the WWE to brag about
here…
