No dia 22 de novembro, foi ao ar a vigésima terceira edição do Survivor Series, a segunda mais longa exibição em pay per view da WWE. Quase 20 mil fãs lotaram o Verizon Center, em Washington – fora os milhões de expectadores em mais de 20 países ao redor do mundo – para presenciar mais um espetáculo protagonizado pelas maiores estrelas do wrestling internacional.

O tio Ogro demorou um pouco, mas cá está uma breve cobertura do que rolou no evento mais legalzudo do mês:

Team Miz X Team Morrison (Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match)

O primeiro combate da noite serviu como uma excelente amostra do que os astros da nova geração podem fazer, mostrando que o futuro da WWE está em boas mãos. Para a surpresa de muitos, o United States Champion, The Mizz, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, Sheamus e Dolph Ziggler abraçaram a tarefa de deixar seus egos de lado e executaram um ótimo trabalho de equipe para derrotar o time do Intercontinental Champion John Morrison, formado por Matt Hardy, Finlay, Evan Bourne e Shelton Benjamin.

Iniciada com Bourne e Swagger, a luta logo tomou caráter caótico, com golpes e pinfalls pipocando por todo o ringue e estrelas colidindo como se não houvesse amanhã, incluindo um show à parte protagonizado pelo irlandês durão Finlay contra McIntyre e o guerreiro celta Sheamus.

Quando a poeira abaixou, restava o solitário John Morrison de um lado contra o trio Mizz, McIntyre e Sheamus. Jogando a cautela às favas, o ‘Shaman Of Sexy’ partiu para uma ofensiva explosiva, mas Sheamus o subjugou, conquistando a vitória para o Team Mizz.

Batista X Rey Mysterio

A sequência tinha um tempero especial: rancor, vingança e ódio. O universo da WWE assistiu ao gigante Dave Batista despejar toda sua fúria no antigo amigo Rey Mysterio, fazendo juz ao seu apelido, “The Animal”. Batista culpa Rey por tê-lo impedido de realizar o pin em Undertaker – em luta realizada no Bragging Rights, em outubro – o que o nomearia Heavy Weight Champion. Segundo Dave, ele está cansado do ‘quase’, de ver o título escapando das suas mãos, e não admite que isso tenha sido feito por um ‘amigo’.

Apesar de Rey ter lutado com todo o seu coração, partindo para a ofensiva com todas as armas que tinha, a fúria do “The Animal” sobrepujou sua coragem. Como uma locomotiva, Batista avançou sobre e Mysterio sem misericórdia. Após uma Spear fenomenal, um Spine Buster e três (sim, três!!!) Batista Bombs devastadoras, o árbitro não teve escolha a não ser finalizar o combate. Batista não esboçou qualquer sinal de satisfação com a vitória. Conforme comentado durante a tranmissão por Michael Cole, “Batista never went for a cover, never looked for a win…it was all about punishing!”, o que, em português, quer dizer que Batista é um badass motherfucker! Há!

Com Rey ainda caído na londa, Dave retornou ao ringue com uma cadeira de metal. Por um momento, todos esperaram que o gigante desse continuidade ao seu ataque, mas ele simplesmente sentou-se para assistir à agonia do antigo amigo. Após alguns momentos, Batisa se levantou sem dizer uma palavra, erguendo Mysterio do chão e executando mais um Spine Buster, em cima da cadeira de aço, para o choque de todo o Verizon Center.

A WWE tem agora um prato cheio para eleger seu novo vilão.

Team Kingston X Team Orton (Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Match)

Kofi Kingston e Randy Orton: eis uma nova rivalidade que vem dando o que falar na WWE. Com Kofi, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Christian e MVP de um lado e Orton, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, William Regal e CM Punk do outro, o ringue foi palco de uma batalha épica. O combate prosseguia, astros eram derrotados e outros mostravam tudo que tinham a oferecer.

Até que, ao final da luta, restavam apenas Kofi contra dois já condecorados campeões da WWE, o “Straightedge Superstar” CM Punk e ninguém menos que Randy “The Viper” Orton. No entanto, acostumado a nadar contra a corrente, Kingston não se intimidou e, movido pela torcida, mostrou toda a sua versatilidade e atleticismo, justificando o porquê de ser uma das novas estrelas mais adoradas pelos fãs da WWE.

Após uma sequência acirrada com Punk, Kofi realizou o pin. Orton, pretendendo pegar o jovem astro de surpresa, adentrou o ringue tão logo o companheiro é dado como eliminado. Mas Kofi Kingston tirou a noite para mostrar que tem tudo o que é necessário para lutar de igual para igual com estrelas já eternizadas na WWE. Com um vôo espetacular, ele aplicou um Trouble In Paradise em Orton, que desabou sem nem poder reagir. E foi assim que esse combate se encerrou: Kingstone aplicando o pinfall em dois antigos World Champions em menos de 6 segundos! O neguinho não é mole não, há!

World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker X Big Show X Chris Jericho (Triple Threat Match)

Há quase 20 anos, na primeira edição do Survivor Series em 1990, Undertaker subia no ringue da WWE pela primeira vez. Na época, ninguém sabia muito o que esperar do sinistro “Demon From Death Valley”. Já em 2009, todo o universo da WWE está ciente do que este homem obstinado é capaz de fazer, incluindo entre seus feitos, um recorde de 17-0 no Wrestlemania. E é com mais uma entrada triunfal que Undertaker sobiu ao ringue do Verizon Center.

A quarta luta da noite começou com Jericho e Big Show unindo forças contra o “Dead Man”. Mas tão logo Chris tentou finalizar o campeão com um Walls Of Jericho, o maior atleta do mundo interrompeu, ficando então cada um por si.

Depois de uma franca troca de pins interrompidos, golpes incríveis e massivas demonstrações de força física, Big Show – que havia nocauteado Jericho com um Right To The Head – partiu para cima de Undertaker com um gigantesco choke slam. Quando parecia o fim para o lutador das trevas, Undertaker reverteu o ataque e aplicou uma das mais temidas manobras de submissão da WWE, o Hells Gates em Big Show, obrigando-o a bater.

Mais uma vitóroia incontestável do “Phenom” e mais uma pergunta no ar: se nem mesmo o maior atleta do mundo pode parar Undertaker, quem poderá?

Team Mickie X Team Michelle (Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match)

Concluindo uma semana de insultos por parte de Michelle McCool, Lyla e Beth Phoenix à superstar Mickie James – levando a mesma até as lágrimas durante o Smackdown – esse foi mais um combate que se iniciou com sabor de acerto de contas.

A noite das divas da WWE foi marcada, entre outras coisas, pela impressionante força física da “Glamazon” Beth Phoenix. Mas não foi tudo o que Beth demonstrou. Ela também deixou clara toda a sua anti-desportividade ao não concordar com a sua eliminação, após um ótimo Crucifix perpetrado por Mickie James. Esta, aliás, foi outro destaque da luta, esbanjando seus tradicionais atleticismo e vigor.

Mas a conclusão do encejo ficou a cargo da Divas Champion Melina, que exibiu habilidades acrobáticas para executar um Sunset Flip na Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, que já dava a sua vitória como garantida, em sua arrogância costumeira.

WWE Champion John Cena X Triple H X Shawn Michaels (Triple Threat Match)

Como citado no site official da WWE, “quando se trata do título mais cobiçado da companhia, a lealdade se torna um preço que nem todos os superstars estão dispostos a pagar.”. Apesar da entrada de Triple H e Shawn Michaels como a famosa dupla Degeneration X, o combate seria cada um por si. E também, apesar do discurso de que não importa quem levasse o título, contanto que o mesmo fosse conquistado para a DX, a noite nos guardava mais algumas surpresas.

Segundos após o sinal de início da luta, Shawn Michaels despachou Triple H com um Sweet Chin Music. A arena permaneceu em choque, assim como o pasmo campeão John Cena. Com Triple H fora, HBK e Cena se atracaram como titãs.

No entanto, como qualquer fã da WWE pode afirmar, nunca tome “The Cerebral Assassin” por vencido. Triple H se recompôs e fez com que o choque dos três gigantes tomasse um rumo diferente, dinâmico e muito mais perigoso, fora dos limites do ringue. Foi então que H deu o troco no ‘companheiro’ executando um Spine Buster em Shawn, na mesa de narração do evento. Enquanto a luta quase chegava ao fim com diversas contagens interrompidas, foi um castigado e exausto Cena que, seguindo o seu lema de “never give up”, perserverou e aplicou o pin em Triple H, mantendo pra si o título de WWE Champion.

Será que após esse último capítulo, a história da polêmica Degeneration X chegou ao fim?

—

Putz! Dá pra suar só de ler né? Pois é, foi mais uma noite de entretenimento certo para os fãs da Wwe ao redor do mundo. E o próximo encontro já está marcado! No dia 13 de dezembro, a cidade de San Antonio, no Texas recebe o explosivo TLC, evento no qual os astros colidem, levando a ação para fora dos ringues com o auxílio de mesas, escadas e cadeiras. Dá pra perder?

Batista: I Walk Alone DVD
Released: October 20, 2009
The Matches

Disc two:

OVW Heavyweight Title: The Machine (w/Queen Victoria) vs. Leviathan (Batista)

Machine works over the shoulder, but throws dust in the face of the referee. Leviathan hits a choke-slam, but the ref, from the back, is late in getting there. Revolution runs down. Leviathan recuperates and goes for the Demon-bomb, but Victoria gets in the ring in and hits a low-blow. The ref was late in, so it is a two. Leviathan then hits the spear for the win in 7:53.

Thoughts: This was a decent showing from Batista. The match was a bit straight forward at times, but was okay for what it was. I love Cornette’s commentating; if ROH was smart they would put him on the announce team. He really has an ability of knowing how to make the wrestlers look good. **

Kane vs. Batista

This was the first PPV match Batista had Kane starts it up, and  clotheslines him over, In the ring, Batista spears Kane and then hits a powerslam for 2. Batista hits a botchbomb and nearly breaks Kane’s neck. Kane hits a flying clothesline. Then, Batista gives Kane a spine-buster, but it only gets two. Kane tosses Flair in, allowing Batista to sneak up, boot Kane in the gut, and hit the Batista bomb to win in 6:38.

Thoughts: This is as bad as you expect. The fans were really getting angry at Batista, because how green he was; Kane was no better, either, and looked very sloppy. In a nut-shell, this was a complete utter mess. If I saw this match live, I would have thought Batista would have became World Heavy Weight unemployed, rather than Champion. DUD

Batista (w/Ric Flair) vs. Shawn Michaels

Batista catches up with Shawn’s speed, while HBK tried to use it to his advantage. Batista then waits for get up and nails him with a clothesline. Shawn goes for his comeback; then hits a flying forearm and does his kick up thing, but Batista grabs him for the double choke-slam. Shawn fights out of the move and hits the top rope elbow. Shawn goes for Sweet Chin Music, but Batista catches him and delivers a spine-buster. Batista calls for the Batista Bomb, but Shawn slips out of it and hits SCM for the win at 12:21.

Thoughts: No HBK match is bad, but this is as bad as one could get. Batista looked misplaced for the whole match. His timing and pacing were awful. He just did moves for the sake of doing them, with no meaning behind him. Terrible match wrestled by Batista. *¾

World Tag Team Titles: Table Match: Batista & Ric Flair vs. The Dudley Boyz

The Dudleyz attack them.  Batista misses a punch and hurts his own shoulder. Bubba gets a table and slides it into Batista. The Dudleys set up the table and snatch Flair. They’re about to suplex him through it, but Batista throws the table. The table gets set up in the corner. Flair chops Bubba. Bubba comes back with the Elbow. Batista chokes D-Von with his foot. D-Von hits Flair with an airborne clothesline. Batista hits Bubba with a charge. Flair goes up, but Bubba slams him off. Coach comes in, and saves Flair from going through the table. Batista hits a Batistabomb through the table at 4:20.

Thoughts: Short, sloppy, and botched. The only structure in the match was because of Flair. Bad match. ½*

Disc Three:

Royal Rumble (01/30/05).

Batista is #28, and comes in and eliminates off the bat. Jericho jumps at Batista, but Batista catches him and tosses him over. Christian is #29 and he goes after Cena. Rey hits Kane with the 619. Cena tosses Kane over with the Fireman’s carry. Ric Flair is #30. Batista spinebusters Coach and Flair eliminates him. Flair throws Christian into a Batista spinebuster. Flair and Batista team up to throw that guy who won in 2004. Flair tries to be the dirtiest player in the game, but Batista catches him, but Flair denies it. Edge hits a spear on Dave. Edge goes for a spear on Rey, but Rey counters. Edge tosses Rey to the apron and Edge spears him to the floor. Cena tosses Edge out. Cena picks Batista up in the FU, but can’t get him over the top rope. Batista counters into the Batista bomb. Cena holds on. They fall over the top, landing at the same time. Each brand ref thinks their wrestler won. Vince McMahon restarts the match. Batista blocks the FU and then hits the spinebuster on Cena.Batista throws Cena over the top, and is heading to Wrestlemania.

Thoughts: Not the best Rumbles, but easily up there. I liked everything up to the end. I found it very rushed, and asinine. They should have just made it seem like it was an epic showdown of two evenly match contenders, rather than the ridiculous ending (which caused Vince to tear both his quads.). This was the start of the Batista era. ***½

World Heavyweight Title: Triple H (w/Ric Flair) vs. Batista (04/03/05).

A stiff tie-up; no one gets the advantage. They do it again, and Batista pushes him backwards. Triple H tries a shoulder-block but runs into Batista. HHH goes for it again, and Batista knocks him down. HHH goes for the Pedigree, but Batista shoves him and then press slams him. Batista gives him a backdrop. Triple H ducks a clothesline and delivers a knee that sends Dave to the floor. Hunter hits Batista with an elbow as Batista trying to get back in the ring. Later on, H goes for a Pedigree, but Batista backdrops HHH. Batista catches HHH with a sideslam for only a two. Batista catches up with HHH and slams his face into the ringsteps. In the ring, Batista starts pounding on HHH. Batista delivers clothesline. Flair distracts Batista while Hunter attempts to hit him with a chair, but the Ref blocks it. Flair runs into a spinebuster with the title in his hand. Hunter nails Batista with the title behind the ref for only a two. Hunter charges but its right into a spinebuster. Batista goes for the Dave Bomb, but Hunter counters and hits a low blow. HHH goes for the Pedigree, but Batista powers out and drops him with a Misawa’s finisher. Batista hits the Dave Bomb and gets the pinfall.

Thoughts: Very boring in the start, but picked up slowly throughout the match. They tried adding drama by using the bag-of-tricks booking, but it just felt substandard for a WM main event match. Batista was very charismatic in this match, which helped hide his flaws. Better days for Batista still to come. ** ½

World Title, Hell in the Cell: Batista vs. Triple H (w/Ric Flair — 06/26/05)

Batista was mega over at this point. In the ring, Batista clotheslines him and whips HHH to the cell wall. Hunter counters the whip and sends Batista into the ringsteps. Batista attempts to get back in the ring, but HHH knocks him down. HHH gets a chain and hits Batista in the mid-section. HHH chokes Batista. Batista snaps and counters it. Batista starts hitting HHH with the chain with great vengeance and furious anger. Batista goes for the Dave Bomb, but Hunter counters with a backdrop. Hunter nails Batista with his friend, but it only gets two. He attempts again, but this time Batista goes low on HHH. Batista picks up the sledgehammer and charges, but clever HHH finds the chain and drills Batista before Batista hits him. Batista throws Hunter over the top.  In the ring, Batista throws HHH into the ring steps he set up Batista goes for the Dave Bomb, but HHH goes low and then hits the Pedigree, but only gets a two. HHH goes for another one, but this time on the steps. Batista counters the move, and hits a spinebuster. Batista goes for a Dave bomb, but HHH grabs the Sledgehammer on the way up. HHH goes to hit him, but runs out of time as Batista hits the Batista bomb and gets the three.

Thoughts: Started off very similar to their WM match because of it being methodically paced, but rapidly enhanced as the match went on. The finish gave HHH an “out” but also made it seem like he deserved a rematch clause. In my opinion, Hell in the Cell is supposed to end the feud by giving one of the wrestlers a clean victory to conclude the feud. Despite its flaws, it still was a very good match with good amounts of realism and hostility. Nice work.  ***½

World Heavyweight Title: No Holds Barred: Batista vs. John Bradshaw Layfield (08/21/05)

JBL meets Batista and they start brawling. JBL grabs the chair, but Batista spears him through the crowd blockade. JBL recovers and comes back with a clothesline and starts pounding him with the belt. Batista takes the belt away from him and drills JBL with it. JBL blocks a charge and hits the lariat for a two count. JBL brings the ringsteps into the match and goes for a powerbomb on them, but Batista backdrops him and gives him the Batista Bomb. He picks JBL up and gives him a powerbomb on the steps for the pinfall.

Thoughts: Much better than there Great American Bash match. WWE obviously knew that they needed to keep this one short and sweet in order for it to be watch-able. While it only lasted 9 minutes and was short they did tell a good enough story of Batista getting his revenge on JBL. Not as bad as you would think. **

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. Eddie Guerrero (No Mercy – 10/09/05).

Eddie takes Batista down, but Batista pops up and powers him. Eddie throws the chair down, but Batista grabs him and yells at him. Eddie whiplashes Dave’s throat on the top rope and hits the frogsplash for only a two. Later on, Eddie rolls through the Dave Bomb, but Batista blocks his sunset flip and pulls him up by the neck. Batista hits his vintage spinebuster, but only gets two. Batista tries an elbowdrop, but the ultimate opportunist gets his knees up. Eddie goes for the traditional frogsplash, but Batista gets out of the way. Eddie runs into the spinebuster, which gets the pin.

Thoughts: The more experience Eddie Gurrero helped carry Batista throughout the match Even though this wasn’t the high-flying/athletic side of Eddie, he told a believable story that served the purpose of the story behind this match.

The problems with the match were that; it was way too slow at times and never really picked up at any stages of the match; Batista was becoming very stale and all his matches virtually felt the same; and the finish was very anticlimactic because of Batista not having to use a finishing move to defeat Eddie and beating him with his “set up” move. Sadly, this was Eddie’s last “big” match. **½

World Heavyweight Title: King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Batista (11/26/06)

Batista attacks Booker T before he takes his robe off (real babyface). Batista goes for the Dave bomb early, but Booker rolls to the floor.. Batista counters a neck-snap on the ropes and delivers one of his one. Booker then works on Dave’s ribs. Batista comes back with a Jackhammer; then a Bossman slam for a two count. They brawl some more. Batista boots Booker to the floor and nails a flying shoulderblock (that Cole never saw before) for two. Booker hits him with a Bookend, but it only gets a two count. Batista counters the Scissors Kick and hits the Dave Bomb, but Booker T gets his right hand on the bottom rope. Sharmell slides the title belt to Booker and gets on the apron. Booker T goes to hit Dave with the belt, but misses. Dave kicks Booker in the gut and steals the title from Booker. Wham! Batista hits Booker T with the title and gets enough for the pin.

Thoughts: Meh. These two wrestling styles never clicked together. This had some poor timing and a couple slightly blown spots. Everything just felt like it was delayed. The finish came weird to me, also. A babyface such as Batista (a big man face) shouldn’t have to cheat against someone as Booker T. Maybe it happened that way because Batista was scared to get messed up by Booker T, again. Bad match. *

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. King Booker (w/Queen Sharmell) vs. Fit Finlay (12/01/06).

Big Dave beats on both the heels. Back from commercial, Booker is firmly in control of Batista. Finlay pulls Batista to the apron and boots him right in the head. Finlay slowly takes apart Dave. Batista sets him on top and delivers a muscle buster. Batista and Booker slug it out as Hornswoggle runs through the ring to distract the ref. Finlay uses the disruption to slip in and destroy Batista’s knee with the shillelagh for only two. Booker charges right into the spinebuster. Batista goes for a Dave Bomb on Finlay, but he counters by drilling the bad knee. Dave no sells the knee, and then hits the Big David Bomb on Finlay for the three.

Thoughts: Finlay added some well missing structure in the previous Booker-Batista matches. The match itself was a typical WWE style heels vs. face match. Heel dominates most of the match and attempts to get some heat; then the face does there comeback and overcomes the odds (usually by no selling the offense from the heel, which would make most of the match filler). Thanks for Finlay, though, this was a decent TV match. **1/2

World Heavyweight Title: Batista vs. The Undertaker (04/01/07).

This match had bad news written all over it. Batista was dogging most of his matches up to this point, and people didn’t think Undertaker would have been able to carry Dave to a decent WM match. Batista goes for a Dave Bomb, but Taker smashes him into the turnbuckle. Batista hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Taker. Batista is smashing Taker’s head in with the punches on top of the turnbuckle, but Taker counters to the Last Ride for a two. Taker goes for another Last Ride, but Batista counters and hits a spear. Batista goes for the Dave bomb and hits hit, but only get another two count. Dave is pissed. Batista goes for another Lametista bomb, but Taker shoves him into the turnbuckle, and then hits the tombstone piledriver for the win.

Thoughts: Just a tad overrated, but still very good. It was really surprising where this match got put on the card, because of all the build it had. Plenty of sources and dirtsheets were hearing rumors of Batista breaking the streak, and sadly I believe that the card placement ruined the unpredictability. Batista seemed very motivated for once in his career and it finally seemed like he cared about something other than a paycheck. What people predicted to be one of the worst WM main events all time, turned into a very good midcard match. ***½

World Heavyweight Title, Steel Cage: Edge vs. Batista (06/03/07).

Edge tries to dash out early. Batista drags him back in. Edge hits the edge-o-matic. Batista delivers a superplex, but instead of trying to escape, he goes up and dives off the top rope. Batista gets fired after Edge beat on him. Batista goes for the Dave bomb, but Edge grabs the cage and tries to escape. Edge hits a low blow. Batista goes the other way and tries to escape, but Edge drops to the floor and wins.

Thoughts: The psychology was present in the match. Batista played the all mighty face who does everything by the book, while Edge was the complete opposite. I do like proper characterization in my matches, but there characters, in the match, really restricted them from doing what they are capable of. **¼

World Heavyweight Title, Undertaker vs. Batista (10/03/2007)

There was a ref scandal before the match. The ref nominations for the match were: Jbl, Foley, and AUSTIN. While JBL was the only person who was on the show before this, everyone still voted for Austin.  What they should have done was to make JBL pull a George Bush and some how “change” the voting. Instead, they just had Austin be the ref and let him beat up Foley and JBL. Batista hits him with punches on the top, but Undertaker counters into the last ride for only 2 .Batista gets up and hits the spinebuster. Batista is puzzled and sells it well. Batisa hits the Batista bomb, but only gets another two. Batista is now furious. Undertaker staggers himself back up. Batista hits another Batista bomb and gets the three count.

Thoughts: They went all out in this match. Very good wrestling match, with both workers not holding back. I do believe JBL would have made a better ref than Austin, because JBL would have added in some heat and drama into it. Batista, as a shocker, gets the clean win over the Deadman. Great match from the big guys. ***¾

Triple H, Batista & Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton, Edge & Umaga (12/10/07).

This was the 15 anniversary show of Raw. On the show, Evolution was supposed to have a reunion. Everyone joined the reunion except Randy Orton (since he was the only heel). Orton then names another stable he was apart of and that is Rated-RKO. Edge comes out, and so does Umaga for no reason, and then they have a match. They do some basic tag stuff. Batista gets a hot tag from Flair, but Umaga  hits the ref and causes the DQ. Rated-RKO runs away. Evolution beats up Umaga just for the sake.

Thoughts: Nothing to rate. Everything in this segment/match was pointless. I don’t even know why this is on the DVD. Batista wasn’t even the main center of attention in any of this. N/R

John Cena vs. Batista (08/17/08).

They are dead even in the feeling out process. Crowd is either booing Cena or Batista(because there “cool).Batista gets a figure-four leglock and the woo chants occur. Cena goes for a FU but Batista elbows out and then Cena in the STFU. Batista makes it to the ropes. Cena goes for the FU, but Batista gets out and applies a weird looking choke. He lets go and then hits the spear but only gets two Cena counters a powerslam and hits the FU and sells the injuries by making a delayed cover. They dish out some blows. Cena wins and comes off for a top rope leg drop, but Batista catches him in the air and hits the Dave Bomb, but only get a two! Batista can’t believe it. Batista hits another Batista bomb and ends the match.

Thoughts: They added in the epic feeling they were looking for by using good power moves, counters, and near-falls. I would give this a great rating, if it wasn’t for the center of the match. The center had bunch of filler. It felt like they ran out of ideas and moves to do. Still a good match. *** ¼

Batista vs. Randy Orton (w/Manu & Cody Rhodes — 12/14/08).
Orton controls most of the match with his sluggish offense. Batista and gives him a DDT. Batista counters the RKO to an unprettier for two. Batista nails him in the corner for punches, and when Randy tries to counter, he accidentally finds himself getting Powerbombed.

Thoughts: Orton’s heat on Batista was so slow and went no where fast. The only thing that could have saved it was, either, good selling or a good comeback, but neither took place because Batista did his average comeback to win the match. Nothing was really that bad from a wrestling standpoint. No botches or anything, but how hard is it to botch when the match is slower than Nick Dinsmore’s character? *3/4

Going Home: This DVD takes through Dave’s life as a punk kid growing up-raised by a single mother, then becoming a bodybuilder and “saving his life” Then, getting into the wresting business from his debuting name: Leviathan; then all the way to becoming one of the most talked about wrestlers today.

This DVD isn’t just about Batista. The DVD also has a good moral behind it, and that is never to give up at what you believe in.  DON’T STOP BELIEVING!

The only match I could say that belongs on there was his Last Man Standing match with Undertaker, but every other important or good match of Batista’s is on there. I actually enjoyed most of the matches on here. Batista is one of those wrestlers who can be on his game sometimes, and completely stink  up the place another night.  On this DVD, you will mostly see Batista on his game; therefor, I recommend this DVD.

Thumbs up for “I walk alone”

Survivor Series 2009, November 22, 2009, Verizon Center, Washington, DC

Announcers: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, & Matt Striker

Opening Match: US Champion The Miz (Captain), Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, & Sheamus vs. IC Champion John Morrison (Captain), Evan Bourne, Fit Finlay, Matt Hardy, & Shelton Benjamin

Bourne and Swagger start off with Bourne using speed to get a rollup for 2.  Swagger gets a suplex and tags Ziggler who hits the jumping neck snap for 1.  Cool looking inverted slam gets 2, and then he gets another 2 off some elbows.  He and Swagger trade off again and Ziggler gets Bourne in a half crab.  Bourne kicks him off and gets a rana for 2.  He follows with a high knee and tags Hardy.  They hit a double elbow from the 2^nd rope.  Hardy hits the Side Effect, then tags Bourne who hits the Air Bourne shooting star press for the 3 count to eliminate Ziggler at 3:59.  No time to celebrate though as in comes Drew McIntyre and he hits the double arm DDT to finish Bourne off at 4:12.  Finlay is in next and he takes McIntyre down with the Finlay Roll.  McIntyre avoids a second one and tags Sheamus which sets up the big showdown between the Irishmen.  That lasts almost no time at all as Miz provides a brief distraction and Sheamus hits the big boot for the pin at 5:14.  Hardy comes in and fares a bit better, but then his Side Effect is blocked and he takes a powerslam for 1.  Sheamus drops some elbows and gets a 2 count, then tags Miz.  Miz controls with a slam and legdrop, and then hooks a rear chinlock.  Hardy fires out but then takes a neckbreaker for 2.  Miz goes to a front facelock, which Hardy escapes as well, and follows up with a Russian legsweep.  Miz tags Swagger, who cuts Hardy off from making the tag.  He controls for a bit before Hardy finally escapes and tags Morrison.  Morrison comes in hot with a dropkick and knee for 2.  He corner whip is reversed and he goes down, but Swagger misses the pump splash.  Miz tries to provide the distraction again, but to no avail as Morrison still connects with a springboard kick.  The cover draws everyone in and in the melee, Scott Armstrong takes a knee to the back of the head from Sheamus.  He stays down and they would later announce him has having suffered a concussion.  But it’s a big break for Justin King as he gets to step in and save the day.  After everyone is cleared out, Morrison takes Swagger down and connects with Starship Pain for the pin at 12:09.  Miz jumps him, nailing a clothesline in the corner and a double ax off the top for 2.  Benjamin takes a blind tag and surprises Miz with a rollup for 2.  He then hits a back suplex.  Stinger Splash follows and then a Northern Lights suplex gets 2.  Corner whip sees him run into a boot though, but he follows by getting his own boot up on Miz’s charge.  German suplex gets 2 and he sets up a neckbreaker, but Sheamus nails him to break it up.  Miz follows with the Skull Crushing Finale to end Benjamin’s night at 14:59.  Hardy comes back in as McIntyre gets the tag.  Hardy nails a couple of clotheslines for 2 and a headbutt, but he misses a charge.  He still hits a neckbreaker though and follows with the 2^nd rope legdrop for 2.  He hits another neckbreaker and goes up, but after a distraction by Sheamus, he misses a moonsault.  McIntyre gets the double arm DDT for the 3 count at 17:11.  This leaves Morrison one on three, and the odds take over quickly.  He gets caught by McIntyre and then Sheamus gets the tag and pounds away.  Tag to Miz who’s in with some kicks.  Morrison comes back with a dropkick, but Miz tags right away to Sheamus.  He hits a clothesline and runs Morrison to the corner where the partners beat on him while he distracts the ref.  Morrison tries fighting back and goes for a springboard move, but gets nailed coming down.  Sheamus the hits the Razor’s Edge, and that’s it for Morrison at 20:55.  Survivors: The Mix, Sheamus, and Drew McIntyre.  Obviously the heel team has the guys they want to protect and build up so it makes sense for them to win.  Ziggler and Swagger, who were seemingly the pet projects a few months ago, appear to have been shuffled downwards, only being used as token eliminations for the face team here.  I have to say that I’m not confident about a main event push for Sheamus, but I guess we’ll find out next month at TLC as he’s getting thrown right in there with John Cena.  **1/2

Next we get a dumb segment with team Kofi as they reassure Christian there’s nothing awkward about him being the only white guy on the team.  Christian of course manages to make it awkward by the end by rapping about it.  Just a dumb segment that does nothing to make me care about any of the guys, or the match they have coming up, but someone must have thought it was hilarious, I guess.

Rey Mysterio vs. Dave Batista

After the big turn by Batista last month, the feud comes to a head here in Batista’s hometown, which means he’s the crowd favourite regardless.  Definitely an example of poor planning there.  Mysterio starts off going for the knee, and quickly sets up a 619, but Batista rolls out.   Batista drags him to the floor and runs him to the apron.  Back in, Mysterio kicks him and tries a springboard, but Batista ducks it and nails a clothesline.  Mysterio keeps managing to escape Batista’s power moves and clips the knee for 2.  He sets up the 619 again, but Batista catches him.  He sets up the Batista Bomb, but Mysterio takes him to the floor with a rana.  Mysterio follows with a baseball slide and then leaps at him off the apron.  Batista then just starts no selling and beats Mysterio up.  Mysterio knees him coming in and hits a 619 to the back to set up the regular version, which also hits.  After the springboard press hits, he goes up and does the Eddie Guerrero dance to big boos prior to hitting knees on a frog splash.  Batista then gets him with a spear and spinebuster.  Batista Bomb follows, but rather then cover, he hits another, and then another before the ref stops it at 6:49.  Batista is not done though as he comes in with a chair.  The crowd wants him to kill Mysterio, which is probably not the reaction they were going for.  He teases doing nothing for a bit, but then ends up dropping Mysterio with a spinebuster on the chair.  Mysterio does a stretcher job and so begins yet another period of surgery and rehab for him.  *1/2

Randy Orton lets his team know that they’ve failed to live up to his expectations so far, and that they’d better come through tonight.  Punk stands up to him in a tease of dissention, but nothing comes of it.  At least this segment focused on the match and the issues between the guys rather then lame comedy.

Randy Orton (Captain), CM Punk, William Regal, Cody Rhodes, & Ted Dibiase vs. Kofi Kingston (Captain), MVP, Mark Henry, ECW Champion Christian, & R-Truth

Orton and Henry are in first with Henry whipping him to the corner and nailing a clothesline.  He takes shots at the entire heel team and then puts Orton in a bearhug, but Legacy comes in and breaks it up.  That sets up an RKO and Henry is done at 0:53.  MVP comes in as Rhodes gets the tag.  Rhodes gets MVP to the corner and they go to work with Dibiase, Regal, and then Punk all getting tagged in in succession.  Punk stays in and works him over a bit longer, but soon gets tossed away and MVP tags Truth.  These guys have an issue going so they get some heat.  Truth gets a hiptoss and then flips over him on a corner whip.  However, Rhodes distracts him and Punk takes advantage to nail the GTS for the pin at 3:14.  Christian comes in and rolls him up for 2.  He nails a forearm off the ropes for 1 before Punk knees him.  After a slam he tags Dibiase who comes in with a double stomp off the 2^nd rope for 2.  He follows with a powerslam for another 2.  He tries hooking the Dream, but can’t get it.  Christian counters to a Killswitch, which Dibiase in turn counters to a catapult to the buckle.  Christian comes back out with a kick and then a sunset flip gets 3 at 5:04.  Is Dibiase being shuffled down too?  His issues with Orton have pretty much disappeared and here he’s just beaten like an afterthought five minutes in.  Regal comes in for Team Orton while Christian tags Kofi who comes in with a dropkick, some punches in the corner, and an uppercut for 2.  He’s not really getting a superstar reaction though so expect them to give up on him any time now.  Corner whip is reversed with Kofi leaping back off the ropes, but Regal moves and Kofi hits the mat.  Tag to Rhodes, who drops a knee before tagging back to Regal.  Kofi fires back and tags MVP who comes right in with a big boot on Regal for 3 at 6:51.  Rhodes comes in off the top with a bodypress, but MVP rolls through for 2.  He then gets a suplex for another 2.  Tag Christian, whose tornado DDT is blocked and Rhodes kicks him down for 2.  To a bodyscissors, but Christian gets on top of him for 2 and forces a break.  Rhodes then clotheslines him for 2 and tags Orton.  Orton is in with a dropkick for 2 and works Christian over for a bit before tagging Rhodes back in.  Kneedrop by Rhodes misses and that allows a tag to MVP.  He’s in with multiple clotheslines and a facebuster.  He goes Ballin’ but Orton then distracts him and he takes the Cross Rhodes for the pin at 10:11.  Kofi immediately rolls him up for 2 and then tags Christian who comes in with a shot off the top.  Tag back to Kofi who gets a springboard double ax handle for 2, followed by a snapmare and splash for another 2.  Tag to Christian, on whom Rhodes is able to briefly take advantage, but he then quickly falls victim to the Killswitch and is pinned at 11:36.  See, now unlike his partner, Rhodes at least got to job to the guy’s finisher, and not only that he also got an elimination before being eliminated himself.  I don’t understand.  Orton comes in next and works Christian over.  He drops a knee and then takes a cheap shot at Kofi.  Christian gets a cradle for 2 and then Punk provides the distraction to set up the RKO, but Christian counters to the Killswitch.  He covers, but Punk saves at 2.  Christian beats him up and tosses him, but then misses a charge on Orton and takes an RKO for the 3 count at 13:27.  Kofi is in as the last member of his team, but Orton wants nothing to do with him and tags out to Punk.  After this Orton actually goes as far as not even standing on the apron for the entire time Punk and Kofi go at it.  Kofi wins a slugfest which leads to them trying and missing the finishers.  Kofi does get a dropkick and the SOS for 2.  He misses a splash in the corner though and Punk works him over with knees and kicks.  Kick to the back gets 2 and then he uses a headscissors.  Kofi escapes, but ends up charging into a powerslam.  Now Punk goes to a bodyscissors forcing me to note that his moveset in this segment would have Gorilla Monsoon impressed.  Kofi elbows his way out, but a splash hits knees.  Punk gets him with a superplex for 2, followed by the running knee.  He goes for a bulldog, but that gets countered to a back suplex.  Kofi goes up, and after fighting Punk off a couple of times, he gets a crossbody for 2.  He follows with a dropkick and clothesline, and then hits the Boom Drop.  Orton distracts him which allows Punk a rollup, but Kofi rolls through and gets the 3 count at 20:42.  Orton is immediately in, but Kofi is aware and catches him with Trouble In Paradise which gets another 3 count at 20:50.  Survivor: Kofi Kingston.  So the story is that Kofi beat two former World Champions in an incredibly short span of time.  Really good match here, but as noted Kofi is not quite to the superstar level of reaction yet.  If they keep it up, he may get there, but it’s gonna take some time.  ***1/2

World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho vs. The Big Show

Obviously the theme of our two Title matches tonight is that the Champion is defending in a Triple Threat Match against both members of a regular tag team.  Jericho and Show have teased some dissention leading up to this, but none the les they start right off with a double team on Taker.  Show nails a clothesline and then Jericho clotheslines Taker to the floor.  Taker lands on his feet though and drags Jericho out, ramming him to the barrier in the process.  Show slowly follows, but gets nailed as well, but then Taker misses a charge at Jericho and hits the barrier.  They set Taker up for the Big Right Hand, but Show opts to nail him in the gut for some reason.  Why would you do that when he’s wide open like he was?  Jericho follows up with a mic shot and then they get Taker in the ring for more double teaming.  Show goes to whip Jericho into Taker, but Taker moves and Jericho hits the post.  Now Taker takes over with a flying clothesline on Show and a couple of bodyblocks on Jericho.  He follows with Snake Eyes, but now Show drags him back to the floor.  Taker manages to send him to the post anyways while Jericho then springboards right into a fist from Taker.  He sets up Old School, but Jericho crotches him.  After a couple of tries, he gets a superplex for 2.  Lionsault hits knees, but he’s unhurt and goes for the Walls instead.  He gets it on and Taker struggles for quite awhile before Show comes in and breaks it in the first sign that it’s everyone for themselves here.  Show then chokeslams Jericho, and goes to do the same thing to Taker, but Taker counters to a DDT.  Jericho sneaks over and gets covers on both guys for 2.  They all slug away now until Show and Taker grab each other by the throat.  Jericho grabs the physical representation of the Championship and goes to nail Taker, but he ducks and Show takes the shot instead.  The announcers play up that Jericho may have intentionally nailed Show, but if that’s what they were going for it didn’t look like it at all as Taker clearly pulled Show forward into it and there was no hesitation by Jericho.  Taker then takes Jericho down with a big boot for 2.  He stomps Show to the floor and sets up the Last Ride on Jericho, but Jericho has the, oh screw it, the belt and clocks Taker on the upswing.  That gets a couple of two counts which frustrates Jericho.  He goes for a Tombstone, for no conceivable reason other than so Taker can reverse it to his own, which sure enough happens, but Show comes in and knocks Taker out with the Big Right Hand.  Show covers, but Jericho saves at 2.  Jericho then covers, but Show breaks that one up at 2 as well.  Now Jericho goes for the Codebreaker on Show, but it’s blocked and Show hits the BRH on him to put him out.  He then goes for the chokeslam on Taker, but Taker hooks him in the Hell’s Gates and that gets the submission to retain at 13:39.  Not a bad match, but not that great either.  Undertaker is seemingly going on to face Batista, while any issues between Jericho and Show are set aside as they are currently announced to defend the Titles against DX at TLC.  **1/2

We get a promo by the survivors of Team Miz as they put themselves over.  Now this was good stuff.  No stupid comedy or anything.  They just came out and talked about what they’ve done and what they’re going to do next.  Was that hard?  The writers must have been on vacation for something like this to slip by.  Either that or they spent all their time working on Christian’s rap.

Women’s Champion Michelle McCool (Captain), Layla, Beth Phoenix, Jillian Hall, & Alicia Fox vs. Mickie James (Captain), Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve, & Divas Champion Melina

Ok, here we go with the token women’s match, which is bound to be bad, but they’ve spent all night talking about “tradition” and that’s as long running of a tradition as any in this company I guess so it makes sense.  Kelly and Layla are in first and they trade some shots with Kelly then hitting two clotheslines and a legdrop for 3 at 1:16.  Michelle and Gail go next with Gail hitting a dropkick and getting a rollup for 1.  Michelle then gets her with the Styles Clash for 3 at 2:05.  Eve tries a rollup for 1 and then Michelle tags Jillian who drops an elbow for 2.  She gets a hairtoss and then Eve misses a dropkick and Jillian covers for 2.  She goes for the handspring elbow but gets kicked in the back and Eve comes off the top rope with a sunset flip for 3 at 3:35.  Beth is in and immediately hits Eve with the Glam Slam for the pin at 3:52, which is followed by Kelly also taking a Glam Slam for another elimination at 4:09.  Mickie is in next, hitting a dropkick and then pinning Beth with a crucifix at 4:44.  This is rather brisk so far.  That’s not a bad thing though.  Beth nails her after the fact which lets Alicia Fox sneaks in for the cover and get a 1 count.  Alicia then gets a Northern Lights suplex for another 1.  They get backed to the corner and Mickie kicks her off, and then hits a top rope Thesz press for the 3 count at 6:25.  Michelle comes in and pounds Mickie, dropping a knee and a leg for 2.  They trade some shots, but Michelle is able to cut her off from making the tag.  She stomps Mickie down and gets a 2 count, but this time Mickie gets away and tags Melina.  Melina is in with a spear and she pounds away.  She gets a spin kick, followed by a rope straddle and faceplant for 2.  She does her “Matrix” avoiding of a big boot, but Michelle ends up dropping her anyways.  She hits a belly to belly suplex for 2 and then sets up a powerbomb, but Melina rolls through and gets the 3 count at 10:39.  Survivors: Mickie James and Melina.  Nothing more to say here.  ½*

Main Event, WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

So like the earlier Title match we again have the Champ against a tag team, but in this case Shawn Superkicks HHH right off the bat and puts him out of the ring.  This gets a big positive reaction from the crowd by the way.  Even Cena seems stunned by this course of action.  So now he and Shawn go one on one with Shawn hitting a neckbreaker, followed by a Thesz press.  Corner whip is reversed and Cena nails a bulldog off of it.  Suplex gets 2 for Cena.  He sets up the Attitude Adjustment, but Shawn counters it to a DDT for 2.  Shawn then clips the leg and hooks the figure four.  Cena eventually reverses and Shawn breaks the hold.  Cena goes for the shoulderblocks, but misses the second one and goes to the floor.  Shawn nails a dive and then preps the announce table, but takes too long and is set up for the AA again.  But finally, after about five minutes, HHH has recovered from that Superkick and makes the save, but only because he wants to put Shawn though the table himself, which he does with a spinebuster.  He then gets Cena in the ring and hits him with another spinebuster for 2.  After working Cena over a bit, he gets 2 off a corner whip and a neckbreaker.  He sets up for the Pedigree, but Cena blocks and catapults him to the buckle.  HHH comes out of there though with a clothesline for 2.  Cena gets sent off, but connects with a shoulderblock.  He follows with a second one and then hits the Protobomb.  Five Knuckle Shuffle hits and sets up the AA, but now Shawn makes the save, sending Cena to the post.  Now we have a DX showdown, but HHH has to stop and toss Cena for good measure and that allows Shawn to hit him with an inverted atomic drop.  Irish whip is reversed and HHH hits the high knee.  He then gets the facebuster, but Shawn comes back with a clothesline.  He kips up, but is right into a HHH spinebuster.  Shawn then backdrops out of a Pedigree attempt and goes up, but Cena is there to crotch him.  Cena now goes up for the legdrop on HHH, but that misses.  Shawn is up top again, and comes off with the elbow on Cena.  HHH tosses Shawn, but quickly gets hooked in the STF by Cena.  Shawn makes it back to save though by hooking a crossface on Cena, who powers to his feet, then drops Shawn and puts him in the STF.  Shawn makes the ropes, and after they break, he gets Cena with the Superkick.  He hits another on HHH as well, but HHH falls on top of Cena and the ref counts, but Cena kicks out at 2.  The crowd was convinced that was the finish.  Cena then hits HHH with an Attitude Adjustment.  Both Shawn and Cena crawl to make the cover on HHH and the there at the same time, but HHH kicks out at 2 anyways.  Another Superkick is blocked by Cena and then Shawn goes for a piledriver on HHH.  HHH backdrops Shawn to avoid it, but he lands right on Cena’s shoulders.  Shawn slips off and hits another Superkick on HHH, but turns right into an Attitude Adjustment.  Cena opts to cover HHH instead, but still gets the 3 count to retain at 21:14.  Really good stuff here, but then I would expect nothing less with these guys as they’ve all done so many main event three ways that they could probably put one on in their sleep.  Cena will have a bigger challenge next month as he gets to face Sheamus, who is completely untested in a big match environment, so we’ll see what kind of miracle working abilities he’s got.  As mentioned earlier, DX goes on to what will probably be the real main event of TLC to face Jericho and Show for the Unified Tag Team Titles.  For this match, it squeaks ahead to take match of the night honours at ****.

Final Thoughts: If this year’s WWE PPV’s could be summed up in one phrase, I think it would be “Solid, but completely unremarkable”.  From an in ring perspective, they rarely put on a bad show and this was certainly no exception, but there’s just nothing there that’s gonna make you remember this show even a few months down the line.  The Divas match was the lowlight, but that’s to be expected, and Mysterio/Batista wasn’t that good, but it worked for the story they were telling so it’s forgivable.  Main Event was the big highlight, although it suffers from the dreaded Same Old Match Syndrome.  Thankfully they do appear to be legitimately addressing that issue, although it will take time to see if they’re doing it with the right guys.  As for Survivor Series, I can’t say it was a bad show overall.  In fact, it gets a Thumbs Up, but the truth is that if you missed it, it’s not a big deal which is becoming more and more of the trend.

Ok, I’ve been a terrible blogger. I’m now behind on three weeks of Smackdown and one week of Raw. Oops. Those catch-up posts will be up tomorrow, promise. But for tonight, let’s focus on Survivor Series.

Batista vs. Rey Mysterio
Is there anyone who thinks Mysterio is winning this? I didn’t think so. Batista looks better and stronger as a feel than he ever has a face and it makes no sense for him to lose now. The only question is how badly will he hurt Mysterio?
My Pick: Batista

Michelle McCool, Jillian Hall, Beth Phoenix, Layla and Alicia Fox vs. Mickie James, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and Melina

First of all, can I comment what an oversight it is that Natalya is not in this match? She’s probably the most talented woman on the WWE roster and I loved seeing her in the ring at Bragging Rights, it was one of the highlights of the terrible show. She would be a much worthier contribution than Layla or Alicia Fox, just saying. That said, team McCool is a little less useless than Team Mickie, so they’re winning.
My Pick: Team McCool

John Morrison, Matt Hardy, Finlay, Evan Bourne and Shelton Benjamin vs. The Miz, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler
Team Miz seems stronger since it’s got five hot, young stars including two guys (McIntyre and Sheamus) who are getting major pushes from the powers that be, while Team Morrison has three guys who are mid-carders at best and never going to be more than that, as well as two hot, young stars. But… The Miz and Jack Swagger seem to be headed for a big feud and I see that getting in their way tonight and giving the win to Morrison’s team.
My Pick: Team Morrison

Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr., Cody Rhodes, William Regal, and CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston, Christian, R-Truth, MVP and Mark Henry
We actually get to see Christian at a PPV! Yay! That said, I don’t think we’ll see much of him. This match is really about Kofi Kingston and Legacy, particularly Randy Orton. My prediction is that Kofi will be the last man standing on his team and he’ll be left facing Legacy, but that the three members of Legacy will start squabbling and somehow Kingston will manage the victory. This would solidify Kingston as a major player and it would start the long over-due destruction of Legacy. Not saying they’re breaking up tonight, but I think after tonight we’re going to be one step closer to the final split.
My Pick: Team Kofi

The Undertaker vs. The Big Show vs. Chris Jericho for the World Heavy-Weight Championship
I’d love for Jericho to win this, but we all know that’s not happening. And The Big Show doesn’t seem like a legitimate contender either since he hasn’t managed a one-on-one title shot in the last year, neither has Jericho for that matter. The Undertaker is retaining, but the destruction of the tag team champions is going to happen. They might not break up tonight, but the end will be in sight.
My Pick: The Undertaker

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship
Cena got a clean pin over on Triple H on Monday, which makes me think he’s losing the belt tonight. The only thing I went back and forth over was which member of DX is going to win the title. In one way it made more sense for it to be Shawn Michaels to win to set up the eventual DX split since we all know they’re facing each other at Wrestlemania. After all Triple H used to be the guy who was all about the title, it would drive him nuts to see his friend with the belt and lead to a Triple H heel turn. But then, I realized that it also made sense and would be in character for Shawn Michaels to help Triple H win the belt (remember Michaels once laid down to give Triple H the European Championship) and would allow for tension down the road. The fact that Triple H took the pin on Monday made me think that that’s the way it’ll go.
My Pick: Triple H

The following results come from WWE.com’s Greg Adkins. I’ll have the HeelZone RAW Rundown posted tomorrow sometime.

QUICK RESULTS:

- Kofi Kingston def. Dolph Ziggler
- Sheamus def. Finlay
- WWE Champion John Cena def. CM Punk
- Mark Henry, MVP & R-Truth def. Jack Swagger, Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero
- Randy Orton def. Evan Bourne
- Divas Champion Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly def. Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Layla & Jillian
- DX def. The Hart Dynasty
- Legacy def. Cryme Tyme
- Sheamus def. Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in a Breakthrough Battle Royal

HERSHEY, Pa. - In a city famous for all things chocolate, special guest host, Gov. Jesse  Ventura, brought to Raw an appropriate revolutionary new concept: sweet for some, bitter for others and a little messy when things got too hot to handle.

WWE Champion John Cena and Sheamus signed title match contract; Sheamus attacked Cena
Gov. Jesse Ventura has never been afraid to speak his mind. So, at the conclusion of the contract signing between WWE Champion John Cena and his opponent at the WWE TLC pay-per-view, Sheamus, Ventura admitted that he thought there was a conspiracy at WWE. As the host of Conspiracy Theory, a truTV program that has Ventura hunting for answers to determine the validity of various theories, the WWE Hall of Famer told The Champ that he feels there’s a conspiracy by WWE officials to maintain Cena as the face of the company.

While Ventura went on to say that he hopes Sheamus defeats Cena, The Celtic Warrior attacked the WWE Champion from behind and slammed him through a table. It was then that Ventura declared that the WWE Championship Match at WWE TLC will officially be a Tables Match.

Raw’s special guest host next week will be Verne Troyer
Next week’s Raw promises to be huge, even if the show’s special guest host packs all his manic energy into a less-than-giant frame. Austin Powers alum Verne Troyer will stroll into Baltimore, Md., to take control and show the WWE Universe that big things come in small packages.

Sheamus def. Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
With each having earned their spot in the first-ever Breakthrough Battle Royal, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase each appeared focused on what could prove to many to be the opportunity of their careers. Whichever Superstar emerged victorious would compete in either a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship Match.

As special guest host, Gov. Jesse Ventura, alongside Mr. McMahon, announced the bout, the action inside the ring tumbled along at a frenetic pace. While alliances were utilized, they were also tested. Two Superstars that have showcased an unusually high level of rancor, Kofi and Orton, were at each other throats almost immediately. Before the end of the match, though, The Dreadlock Dynamo would get the best of The Viper, sending him over the top rope and out of the competition. Kofi had little time to celebrate, however, since, by the end, it was The Celtic Warrior, Sheamus, who would emerge from the pack of hungry Superstars to become the No. 1 contender for the WWE Championship.

Legacy def. Cryme Tyme
Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase have always been eager to please. And with their Legacy ring leader, Randy Orton, in the Breakthrough Battle Royal, you can just bet that The Viper loudly emphasized the need to have his henchmen in the ring with him. Well, Randy, mission accomplished. The Legacy duo beat back the challenge of Cryme Tyme to qualify themselves for the night’s main event.

Kane confronted Batista
After “embarrassing” his former best friend, Rey Mysterio, at Survivor Series, Batista informed the WWE Universe that he will stop at nothing to get his hands on The Undertaker’s World Heavyweight Championship. Not so fast. The Deadman’s brother, Kane, then entered the ring and confronted The Animal, begging that Batista try to crush him like he did Rey the night before. The Animal, however, would not take the bait and left the ring.

DX def. The Hart Dynasty; Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show will defend their titles against DX at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs
Despite practically trying to dismantle one another at Survivor Series in a Triple Threat WWE Title Match, Triple H and Shawn Michaels reestablished their bond, understanding their actions the night before were in the heat of competition. Once they put bygones behind them, they quickly found their groove while facing off against The Hart Dynasty. While Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith looked to be in top shape and gave the DX duo a bit of a scare, the veterans pulled out the victory.

Afterward, Chris Jericho paid the two a visit to discuss he and Big Show defending their Unified Tag Team Titles against the challenge of DX at the upcoming pay-per-view, WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. After listening to Jericho condescend for a while, DX happily informed the self-important Superstar that their bout will be a TLC Match!

Divas Champion Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly def. Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Layla & Jillian
Forget everything you learned about Thanksgiving in elementary school. On Raw, the Pilgrims and Native Americans didn’t sit down to a fall feast. Instead, they dressed in sexy outfits and tried to tear each other apart in a Thanksgiving Mayflower Melee Match. Clad in Native American apparel, Divas Champion Melina, Mickie James & Kelly Kelly fought Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Layla & Jillian. To complete the Thanksgiving theme, the Goobledy Gooker even served as timekeeper.

Once the match got underway, Team Native American was able to best Team Pilgrim when Melina managed to pin Jillian. Always eager to speak with Divas, Jerry “The King” Lawler entered the ring for an interview with the beautiful Latina. And that’s when things took a turn for the weird. The Gobbledy Gooker attacked the Divas Champion from behind. Moments later, it was revealed that the turkey costume was actually stuffed with Maryse!

Primo attacked by The Viper/Randy Orton def. Evan Bourne
Like a spoiled child, Randy Orton simply won’t take “no” for an answer. In a desperate attempt to qualify for the Breakthrough Battle Royal, The Viper attacked Primo as the Boriqua brawler made his way to the ring for his qualifying match against Evan Bourne.

As a result, Primo was unable to compete. After consent by special guest host Gov. Jesse Ventura, it was Orton who battled Bourne. Unfortunately for the aerial artist, The Viper proved too much to handle as he slithered into a qualifying position.

DX being sued by Hornswoggle
Just as Triple H and Shawn Michaels were reciting a list of things for which they’re grateful, the two were interrupted by a lawyer representing Hornswoggle. The attorney informed DX that, after last week’s Pedigree on Hornswoggle, the leprechaun is suing the duo for intentional infliction of emotional distress and will see them in “little people’s court” next week.

Mark Henry, MVP & R-Truth def. Jack Swagger, Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero
As proof that a WWE ring possesses the capacity to support massive amounts of gross tonnage, Mark Henry, MVP & R-Truth climbed into the squared circle to face Jack Swagger, Chris Masters & Chavo Guerrero in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. The contest would determine which three individuals from the winning squad qualify for tonight’s Breakthrough Battle Royal. In the end, R-Truth showed the WWE Universe what’s up by pinning The Masterpiece, Chris Masters.

Jesse Ventura and Mr. McMahon to return to announce table
Being Raw’s special guest host has its privileges. As such, Gov. Jesse Ventura welcomed himself into Mr. McMahon’s office to deliver a message: He’s getting the band back together! Well, actually, just the announce team of Ventura & McMahon, which will reunite to call the Breakthrough Battle Royal.

WWE Champion John Cena def. CM Punk
Raw’s special guest host, Gov. Jesse Ventura, expressed his desire to break free from convention – and tonight he succeeded. He arranged a non-title match between WWE Champion John Cena and a SmackDown Superstar, CM Punk. The preachy pugilist, Punk dropped by Raw just one night after falling shy of clinching victory for Randy Orton and his team at Survivor Series. The Champ, on the other hand, was fresh off a successful title defense against Triple H and Shawn Michaels at the colossal pay-per-view.

The momentum proved too much for Punk to overcome as Cena dug in his heels and managed to triumph over his opponent’s high-energy attack.

Sheamus def. Finlay
The power and peril of Sheamus continues unabated. After channeling his considerable rage at the WWE timekeeper and Jerry “The King” Lawler during the prior Raw, The Celtic Warrior punished fellow Irishman Finlay at Survivor Series, kicking him in the head before pinning him. Tonight, the troubles persisted. Finlay once again found himself on the losing end as Sheamus defeated him and qualified for the Breakthrough Battle Royal.

Kofi Kingston def. Dolph Ziggler
Fresh off his pounding of Randy Orton a week ago and his team captain victory the night before at Survivor Series, Kofi Kingston faced off against Dolph Ziggler in the first-ever Breakthrough Battle Royal Qualifying Match. The wind clearly at Kofi’s back, The Dreadlock Dynamo hit some rough waters but eventually sailed past Ziggler to become the first Superstar to qualify for tonight’s contest.

Special guest host Gov. Jesse Ventura announced Breakthrough Battle Royal
Whether as a WWE Hall of Famer, the Governor of Minnesota or the host of truTV’s upcoming Conspiracy Theory, Jesse Ventura has always proven himself an iconoclast, a man predictable only in his unpredictability.

Ventura hewed close to form when he dropped by Raw to serve as special guest host. Confronted by Randy Orton demanding a WWE Title Match, Ventura informed The Viper that neither he nor anyone who has possessed the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship would be granted title opportunities.

In fact, Ventura devised the first ever Breakthrough Battle Royal, in which a series of bouts would be held between members of Raw and SmackDown who never held a World Title. The winners of these bouts will then participate in the Breakthrough Battle Royal with the winner earning a either a WWE or World Heavyweight Championship Match.

Match #3: Team Kofi def. Team Orton

ORDER OF ELIMINATION:

1. Mark Henry by Randy Orton
2. R-Truth by CM Punk
3. Ted DiBiase by Christian
4. William Regal by MVP
5. MVP by Cody Rhodes
6. Cody Rhodes by Christian
7. Christian by Randy Orton
8. CM Punk by Kofi Kingston
9. Randy Orton by Kofi Kingston

Survivor: Kofi Kingston

UP NEXT: World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat (Undertaker vs. Jericho vs. Big Show)

QUICK RESULTS:

- Zack Ryder def. Shelton Benjamin
- Eric Escobar def. Jimmy Wang Yang
- Mark Henry def. Cody Rhodes

Hit the jump for my full show thoughts.

The opening match between Shelton and Ryder was pretty good for about eight and a half minutes, and then it was all ruined by Rosa getting in the ring and trying to give Zack his cellphone in the middle of the match. Just completely stupid. At least this time Ryder got the win because of the Rosa distraction, so I guess that was something different to further the program. Good match, horrible ending.

I care nothing for the Batista/Mysterio feud. Batista comes off as a whining pussy because his friend didn’t let him win a title.

Eric Escobar vs. Jimmy Wang Yang was a sloppy three minutes. Jimmy is a great talent, although he’ll never be anything more than fodder in WWE, but this Escobar guy just doesn’t seem ready. He needs a lot of work, very bland and boring in the ring (and the gimmick too).

Cody got in almost no offense in his match with Henry, which is odd considering that Legacy spent months taking DX to the limit. A very standard match here, and I will admit that I hate to see any Mark Henry match go past six minutes, and this one was almost 12 minutes. Henry is okay in short matches, but drawn out singles encounters start being a little too much to take, especially when they’re as one-sided as this one was.

A very skippable show this week. If I were giving it a letter grade, I’d give it a D-, and that’s only because Shelton/Ryder was, despite the lame finish, a good match.

Tonight on WGN America, it’s WWE Superstars. Tonight’ you’ll see RAW get the main-event slot when Mark Henry takes on Cody Rhodes. Friday Night Smackdown gives us Jimmy Wang Yang against Eric Escobar, and ECW’s contribution is Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder. That’s tonight on WGN, at 7pm CST.

Honestly, the show doesn’t look that good this week. Especially the Smackdown match. The Benjamin/Ryder feud has been a fun little mid-card program on ECW, and the match both could and should be good, but it won’t be enough to carry the show. The main-event will probably be an average TV match at best, which is a shame since we’re only a few days away from Survivor Series. A show like this, that features all three brands, really ought to push the pay-per-view the week heading into one, and WWE never does that.

We’ll have the results/thoughts on the show posted sometime tonight, but not immediately following the telecast.

Monday Night Raw 11/9/09
Sheffield Arena
Sheffield, England
Announcers: Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

- We start this week’s show with a recap of last week’s goings on involving JeriShow, DX and John Cena. We then hit our opening animation before heading inside the Sheffield Arena where we are on tape from Jolly Ol’ England! Michael Cole welcomes us to Raw as we are just a scant two weeks away from Survivor Series. And right out of the gate, Justin Roberts brings out tonight’s Guest Host: Ricky Hatton. He makes his way out, escorted by the Bella Twins, natch. The crowd welcomes him warmly as Cole and King put him over a bit. Hatton welcomes us to Raw and talks about his memories in Sheffield. We even get some clips of his title unification match from a few years and 75 pounds ago. He talks a bit more about his excitement before he is rudely interrupted by JeriShow. They are looking super swank as always as they strut down to the ring with smiles on their faces. Show gets right up to Hatton and stares down at him, saying his breakfast was bigger than Hatton is. Show isn’t impressed with Hatton’s credentials and asks him to leave the ring. Hatton wants to why Show has to act like this because he is a big fan of WWE and Big Show. Well, he loves when Show got knocked out at Wrestlemania anyway. Show says he wants to give Hatton a free shot, just like he did for Mayweather. The difference is that Show gets to knock Hatton out after he takes his swing. Show awaits but Hatton says he needs a ladder to take up the challenge. Show drops to his knees and offers the shot again. Hatton is about to strike but Jericho cuts him off and calls him “little man”. Jericho doesn’t want Show to get embarrassed by another lowlife boxer. They get into a little argument about their upcoming triple threat match at Survivor Series. Show calls Jericho “Napoleon” and says he will be walking out as the new Champion at Survivor Series. Hatton has had enough and he wants to see JeriShow defending their tag team titles against DX. Jericho rips on Hatton, the British fans and the Royal Family. Hatton says he can’t understand a word Jericho is saying and asks him to speak English. Jericho calls him a “punch drunk” but Hatton says Jericho is just a guy with a bad haircut. They circle around Hatton until DX heads to the ring to save Ricky. Hunter asks JeriShow why they keep messing with the Guest Hosts when they always end up getting embarrassed. He says Hatton was ten seconds away from knocking both of them out before DX came out. The crowd chants for Ricky as Hunter thanks him for the match tonight. Shawn wants to throw down right now instead of later. Show disrobes as Jericho hits the deck. Show shakes his fists a bit before quickly turning around and leaving the ring. JeriShow head up the aisle as Hatton and DX play to the crowd and we head off to break.

- The Ratchet & Clank Slam of the Week takes us to last week’s Diva Battle Royal, which was won by Alicia Fox. Back live, we head to the ring for our opening match.

1) Kelly vs. Alicia Fox

Kelly makes her way out first and she is joined by Gail Kim, her partner at the upcoming Survivor Series. Alicia is out next and she is accompanied by Jillian. Cole tells us that Alicia will get her title match next week on Raw, live from MSG. Kelly takes Alicia down and hammers away at her. Alicia drives her into the middle rope and then spikes her into the mat face first for two. Melina is watching the match backstage as she preps for the title match next week. Alicia clotheslines Kelly and then she spikes her into the mat again. Alicia hooks a rear chinlock but Kelly works out of it. She lands a clothesline and a face plant and then follows with a headscissors takeover for two. Kelly hits a Rocker Dropper and gets another near fall. Kelly goes for another headscissors takeover but Alicia hot shots her across the top rope. Alicia follows with a big scissors kick for the win. Alicia d. Kelly with a scissors kick; Grade: .5

- Alicia mocks Kelly as Cole takes us to a special Wrestlemania ticket sale video package. Backstage, Ricky Hatton and his son are walking the walls and greeting various people, including John Cena. After an unintelligible exchange, the Hattons head off as we go to break.

- We are back and the King is thanking Art of Dying for the Survivor Series theme song “Get Thru This”. Cole then takes back to last week when Sheamus made his Raw debut by destroying Jamie Noble. King tells us that Noble is contemplating retirement after that beating.

2) Sheamus vs. British Jobber

As Sheamus hits the ring, we find out that he will be on Miz’s team at Survivor Series. Sheamus has the mic and takes credit for ending Noble’s career last week. They lock up off the bell and Sheamus just clubs the jobber down. He clubs away at him and beats him viciously all around the ring. He crushes him with the Urinage backbreaker and then drills him with a stiff kick. He hoists the jobber up and drops with a Crucifix Powerbomb for the win. I am so pumped that move is finally back! Sheamus keeps on rolling. I hope they give him the Bad News Brown treatment at the PPV and have him walk out on his team. Sheamus d. Jobber with a Crucifix Powerbomb; Grade: 1

- Sheamus celebrates his destruction as we take a break.

- We are back from break and Cole is pimping the Survivor Series section of WWE.com. They then show us some stills of the Hatton Health & Fitness Center in Hyde. Backstage, the Bellas are chatting up Ricky, giving him a chance to promote himself. I don’t have an idea about anything he is saying, sadly. The Bellas as Ricky for some darts lessons but Santino Marella interrupts, dressed in some interesting boxing garb. Apparently he is “Ricky Fatton”. Santino says that British ladies love fat guys with bad teeth. Chavo now comes in for more of our weekly hijinks. Chavo says he won the Cinco Dart Mayo competition three years in a row and wants to show off a bit. Chavo grabs a dart but misses badly. Hatton steps up and drills a bulls-eye. Chavo shrugs it off and challenges Santino to a match. Hatton steps in and says he wants to see boxer vs. wrestler so he will take on Chavo tonight. The crowd likes that one. Chavo storms off as Santino offers to be in Hatton’s corner.

Elsewhere, Josh Matthews is with Miz. Miz reminds us that he defeated John Morrison at Bragging Rights and claims he will do it again at Survivor Series. He puts over his team, calling them the future of WWE. Before he can finish, Jack Swagger comes in to chat. Swagger reminds us that he is still undefeated, per his promise from five weeks ago. They argue a bit more until Swagger heads of and we hit a break.

3) Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger

We are back from break and Evan Bourne is heading down to the ring for our next bout. Swagger is out next and is oozing confidence. Swagger picks up Bourne off the bell and slams him down the mat. Swagger spikes Bourne down and then hits a Vader Bomb. Swagger hooks a surfboard submission as the crowd rallies Bourne. Swagger buries a shoulder to Bourne’s gut but he eats a knee on a follow up attempt. Bourne takes Swagger down for two. He roll Swagger up and gets another near fall. Bourne kicks away at Swagger but jack clubs him back down. Swagger hoists Bourne up but he rides Swagger down with knees to the face. Swagger kicks Bourne down as Miz’s music fires up and the captain heads down to the ring. Swagger hits a Urinage but he allows Bourne to roll to the apron. Bourne blocks a suplex and kicks Swagger in the face. Bourne heads up top and hits a beautiful Air Bourne for the win! Swagger’s streak is dead. Bourne picks up a nice win in another good match between these two. Bourne d. Swagger with Air Bourne; Grade: 2

- Miz reminds Swagger that he is the team captain at Survivor Series and not Swagger. Jack stares at Miz as we take a break.

- When we return, we see some clips of two weeks ago when Kyle Busch and Joey Logano showed off their WWE race cars. We then get highlights of them racing said cars this past weekend. Busch won the race as well and showed off his WWE Championship belt post race. Back in the arena, the VIP Lounge is set up and MVP and Mark Henry are chilling inside it. MVP welcomes us to the show and Mark Henry brings out their guest, Kofi Kingston, with a great introduction. MVP also tells us that Kingston is the captain of their Survivor Series team. Kofi hits the ring and is all smiles. Kofi puts over MVP and Henry a bit before MVP tells the tale of Kofi destroying Orton’s car. Henry then takes us to clips from last week when Kofi, MVP and Henry defeated Legacy. Kofi says that is only a taste of what is to come at Survivor Series. MVP has Henry pop a bottle of champagne so they can raise a toast to Kofi. Before they can drink up, Legacy stalks down to the ring. They try to get into the VIP Lounge, but the security guard stands in their way. Orton stares him down until he opens the rope and lets them in. All six men stare each down until Orton starts to speak. He says Henry, MVP and Kofi are low class street thugs. Henry stole a victory last week, MVP is the definition of a common criminal and Kofi should be in jail after destroying Randy’s car. The only reason Orton hasn’t put Kofi down yet is so he can embarrass him at the PPV. Cody calls MVP “Montel” and rips on the VIP Lounge. Ted makes fun of the pleather couches and cheap champagne. He also tells MVP that his bank account is larger, but MVP clarifies that it is his dad’s account. Orton says Legacy belongs in the ring while Henry, Kofi and MVP belong in the hood where they came from. An intense stare down rages on as we take a break.

4) Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton

When we return from break, the match is already underway. They circle around each other until Orton grabs a side headlock. Henry plants him with a shoulderblock but Orton kicks his knee and trips him into the middle buckle. Orton stomps away at Henry and then hammers away in the corner. Henry hooks a bear hug but Orton slugs free. Henry knocks him back to the mat and gets two. Henry misses an elbow drop and Orton lands some boots to the arms and legs. He follows with a leaping kneedrop for two. Orton keeps putting the boots to Henry before hooking a front facelock. Orton gets a near fall and then drops some more knees to the face. Orton hooks a chinlock as the crowd stirs a bit. Cole tells us that MVP and DiBiase will wrestle on Superstars this week. Henry fights up and slams Orton to the mat for two. They trade some right hands before Henry plants Orton with a clothesline. Orton bails to the corner and Henry splashes him. He lands a series of headbutts as Orton is staggering in the corner. Henry drops his head down on a whip and Orton goes for a sunset flip. Henry fights it and pulls Orton up by his throat but Orton slinks free and hits the RKO for the win. That was a basic match that had a neat finish. Orton gets a much needed win there too. Orton d. Henry with the RKO; Grade: 1.5

- Kofi comes in to check on Henry but Orton comes in get in his face. Kofi fights him off and Legacy bails as we take a break.

- As we return, Cole tells us that the new Raw theme will debut next week. It is entitled “Burn it to the Ground” and is performed by Nickelback. Sigh.

5) Chavo Guerrero vs. Ricky Hatton in a Boxer vs. Wrestler Mixed Martial Arts match

And with that, Chavo Guerrero is making his way down to the ring. Lawler talks about his boxer vs. wrestler match with Leon Spinks back in the day. Hatton is out next, wearing his boxing gear and a sombrero to mock Chavo. This is Hatton’s first match since May. Justin Roberts gives us the big match introductions and runs down the rules. Hatton gets a big hometown pop and apparently only weighs slightly over 140 pounds and Lawler is as incredulous about that one as I am. Chavo bails to the apron to start, avoiding the charging Hatton. The crowd is serenading Hatton as he eggs them on. Hatton peppers Chavo with some jabs in the corner but Chavo quickly rolls out to the floor. Chavo comes back and takes Hatton down, but Ricky escapes and both men get back up. Chavo catches him with a kick and clubs on his back. Chavo tries to take him down but Hatton smacks him with a big right hand. Chavo can’t beat the count and Hatton wins the match via knock out. Hatton d. Guerrero via knockout; Grade: 0

- Hatton greets his fans around ringside as we go to break.

- Back live, Cole and King run down the Survivor Series card as the show is just two weeks away. Backstage, John Cena is talking to Hornswoggle, who is still wearing the DX gear. Cena warns him to stop wearing it or he will lose a lot of money in court. Horny runs off as DX comes in looking for him but Cena tells them to focus on their match tonight instead of finding Horny. They discuss Survivor Series as Hunter gets a funny “Tweeting” joke in, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Michaels says that Cena is distracting them and playing the old shell game in hiding the Leprechaun. Cena calls the “whimsical Leprechaun” Horny back in and he is now wearing Cena gear this time. After DX takes off, Horny rips off the Cena shirt and hat to reveal the DX merch. He laughs and crotch chops as we take a break. That was a funny little segment.

- We are back and Cole takes us back to last week to see clips of the Osbournes taking Raw for a ride on the crazy train. I could watch Chris Masters’ performance art presentation of Crazy Train all day long. Not that there’s anything wrong that. Back live, Cole tells us that Roddy Piper will be in the house next week as he hosts Raw from MSG! We are then joined by John Cena who gets a big split reaction, as is the norm. Cena hops in on commentary as it is main event time.

6) Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Chris Jericho & Big Show in a non title match

JeriShow is out first as Cole reminds us that Jericho will take on Undertaker on Smackdown. It is the first ever one on one match for those two, so check it out. DX is out next and they get a jolly good pop. Cena is so much better when he just speaks like a normal human being as he is doing on commentary right now. Jericho and Michaels kick things off as Chris puts him down with a shoulderblock. Michaels comes back with a chop and then tags in Hunter. He runs Jericho into the corner but eats a boot on a charge. Jericho slugs away and follows with some boots to the gut. Hunter ducks a clothesline and lands a high knee. Hunter takes Jericho down and slingshots him over the top to the floor as we take our final break. When we come back, Jericho drills Michaels with a kick to the face before tagging in Show. Michaels dropkicks Show’s knee but can only get a one count. Michaels leaps onto Show but Show spikes him back to the mat with a headbutt. Show walks across Michaels and tags in Jericho. Cena is proving some good insight about the upcoming triple threat match on commentary. Jericho tags in Show, who clubs Michaels across the back to maintain control. Michaels is able to crawl over and tag in Hunter. He hits a facebreaker and goes for the Pedigree but Show backdrops out of it. He nails Hunter with a spear and beats on him a bit before tagging Jericho back in. Jericho hooks a modified sleeper as Hunter fights to his feet. Jericho takes Hunter down and gets two. The crowd is pretty much dead at this point which is surprising. Jericho tags in Show and they give Hunter the wishbone treatment. Show stands on Hunter’s back as Cena’s commentary continues to be the best part of the match. Show hits a big splash and gets two. Show grabs a reverse bear hug and then releases it and lands some hard right hands to the gut. He tags in Jericho but Hunter starts to fire back a bit. Jericho regains control but Hunter catches him with a spinebuster. Hunter crawls over and tags Shawn. He hits all the Vintage Michaels maneuvers on Jericho, taking out Show in the process. Shawn tunes up the band but Jericho ducks it and takes Shawn down. Shawn avoids the Walls but Show splashes him from behind. Show swings at Michaels, but he ducks and Show cracks Jericho with a big right hand. Hunter takes Show out and Michaels covers Jericho for the win. This was totally paint by numbers and pretty heatless. Michaels & Triple H d. Jericho & Show when Michaels pins Jericho after a Show punch to the head; Grade: 2

- As DX regroups in the ring, Justin Roberts tells us that next week’s main event will see DX battle JeriShow and Cena & Undertaker in a triple threat match! Taker appears to a huge pop. He stands on the ramp and all six men stare each other down as we fade out. This was a solid enough show tonight and I will say that it was very focused throughout. Hatton was fine in the role but he was hard to understand. The crowd was pretty flat and wasn’t nearly as hot as past British crowds. Still, we got some really good PPV build and a couple of decent matches mixed in. Next week’s show brings us home to New York City as Raw will emanate live from Madison Square Garden. See you then!

Final Grade: C-

WWE Raw
November 2, 2009
Worcester, MA
DCU Center

Note: Justin was watching the Yankees LOSE (sorry big guy) last night, so I’m your substitute Raw recapper. I was watching the Saints/Falcons game which is why this is a day late. My bad.

We see some smoke rising in front of the ring with Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne inside. One of Ozzy’s songs plays overhead. I’m not the biggest Ozzy fan, so I couldn’t tell you what it is and I can’t make out any of the lyrics. Surprised? I mean, it’s Ozzy. ALL ABOARD THE CRAZY TRAIN! Kiddies, this isn’t the first time Ozzy has been inside a WWE ring. Sharon introduces a clip of WrestleMania 2 where Ozzy accompanied the British Bulldogs and yelled, “BRITISH BULLDOGS FOREVERRRRR!” Sigh. He also appeared on Smackdown in 2007 to perform with his band, “I Don’t Wanna Stop”. I did know that one. Alright, let’s move on. Ozzy says he has no recollection of either one of those appearances and the crowd cheers. YAY MIND-ALTERING DRUGS! Where’s CM Punk when you need him? Speaking of MTV whores, The Miz interrupts to say he’s a bigger star than all of the Osbourne family combined. O RLY? Since Ozzy and Sharon are the guest hosts, he wants them to overturn the decision last week where Miz lost to Evan (Os?)Bourne by countout. Ozzy interrupts Miz to ask him who he is. Well he’s certainly not part of the British Bulldogs. He’s Miz and he’s awesome. Now DiBiase and Rhodes interrupt the Miz to tell him how petty he’s being for complaining about a countout loss. They have much bigger problems – Kofi Kingston vandalized the Randy Orton NASCAR and they want a handicap match with that punk – tonight. The interruptions just keep getting bigger as the Big Show comes to the ring. He tells Ozzy to ignore the three complainers in the ring because he was betrayed and assaulted by the entire Raw roster. Now he wants an apology. So Ozzy apologizes? Big Show threatens that somebody is going to get a BIG RIGHT HAND OF DEATH tonight. Ozzy screams “Sharonnnnnn” and out comes Degeneration-X. What the FFFF could they possibly have to complain about? Triple H calls the four already in the ring the “ratings killers”, so they have come to save the day. They plug Ozzy and DX’s books coming out eventually in fine bookstores everywhere. H whispers to Ozzy and then Ozzy repeats as he points to the Miz, “You will wrestle Evan Bron tonight…” and H whispers again, “…for the US title.” Shawn plugs WrestleMania tickets which go on sale this Saturday while taking a dig at Legacy. He whispers to Sharon who repeats back to Legacy, making a Kofi Kingston versus Randy Orton match for later tonight, which isn’t what they asked for at all. Big Show doesn’t want an apology now, maybe he just wants to see a warm-up match for Survivor Series with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and John Cena. Big Show plays the DX game and whispers his idea to Ozzy, but HHH changes the plans and whispers in Ozzy’s other ear to make a John Cena-Big Show-Chris Jericho main event. Big Show is pissed, but Sharon says these matches are final. If you’re not down with that, you can suck it.

WrestleMania XXVI is coming March 28 2010. Buy your tickets this Saturday at noon at Ticketmaster.com!

• WWE U.S. Champion The Miz vs. Evan Bourne
  

Miz kicks and stomps Bourne around to start. They go for the hiptoss across the ring spot, but Bourne catches himself on the top rope and springs down into a rana on Miz. Spinning heel kick sends Miz to the floor where Bourne follows him out with a slingshot diving double knee drop on the shoulders. Incredible. Back inside, that gets two. Bourne tries to charley horse the leg, but Miz comes back with a knee to the gut. “MIZ IS AWESOME” chants begin. He drops Bourne stomach first on the top rope and then grabs a deep ab stretch on the mat while Cole shills Ozzy’s biography again. How much you want to bet he just read the part about the bat? Bourne escapes a pumphandle slam and falls on top for two. Miz attempts another front suplex, but Bourne knees out and knee strikes Miz into the corner. Shining Wizard misses, but Bourne catches himself and hits a springboard roundhouse kick to the back of the head for 1-2-NO! Miz headbutts the gut and charges Bourne in the corner, but Bourne brings a foot up to block and flips up onto the top turnbuckle for to go AIR BOURNE. Miz moves, but Bourne lands on his feet and charges into a hiptoss that sends him crashing into the corner. SKULL CRUSHING FINALE! It’s all over. (4:14) So Miz gets his win back. They really need to do more with Evan Bourne though. I don’t think there’s any argument there. **

Please don’t try this at home.

Josh Matthews gets a word with Sheamus. Will he try to impress Ozzy Osbourne? He thinks Ozzy should have retired a long time ago and after tonight, Jamie Noble’s career WILL be over. Soooo, I’m guessing the answer is no.

• Sheamus vs. Jamie Noble

At least until Bryan Danielson arrives, Sheamus is the whitest man ever in WWE. Total squash. Sheamus takes Noble to the floor and runs him into the ringpost. Back in, more ripping and tearing and beating and knee strikes before he delivers the IRISH CURSE! Bicycle Kick connects, but Sheamus lifts him up at two. He puts the boots to Noble in the corner until the ref stops the match. (2:24) Oh it’s not over. Sheamus places Noble up top and boots him out to the floor for a POWERBOMB. Here come the referee squad to prevent anymore spine-busting moves. Poor Noble ends up doing a stretcher job. Somewhere I’m sure Bono is smiling. ½*

WWE DID YOU KNOW: Last Monday night, Raw was watched by more male viewers than every program on NBC, the CW, and FOX? Sounds impressive, but let’s see what is on at 9-11 on those networks. CW has Gossip Girl at 9pm, FOX has Lie To Me at 9pm and then the local news at 10pm, and NBC has Trauma at 9pm and the Jay Leno Show at 10pm. So the only show out of that two hour block on those three networks that a majority of the male demo would even WATCH is the Jay Leno Show.

A recap video is shown of last week’s Raw where Kofi Kingston pinned Chris Jericho before being attacked by Randy Orton and knocked off the stage because he ended up costing him the WWE title at Bragging Rights. As a consolation prize, DiBiase and Rhodes made Randy a custom-made NASCAR. Since Kofi was pissed about the shove off the stage, he ends up vandalizing Orton’s new NASCAR.

Josh Matthews stops Kofi Kingston on his way to the ring. The man refuses to be bullied by anybody. Heyyyyyy, where’d your accent go?

• Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston
  

Kofi fights off an assault from Orton and clotheslines him out. Back in, Orton gets dumped out on top of DiBiase and Rhodes who run down to ringside. Here comes Kingston with a suicide dive! That’s all real and good, but it’s 3-on-1 pal. While Legacy surrounds the ring, Ozzy and Sharon interrupt us on the jumbotron and changes this match to a 6-man tag. I thought all the matches were final? MVP and Mark Henry (or The Kool-Aid Men, whichever you wish to call them) head to the ring to join Kofi Kingston. LET THE MADNESS BEGIN! Commercials!

• The Legacy vs. Kofi Kingston, MVP & Mark Henry

When we return, the match is in progress and Kingston is making a comeback out of a chinlock. Double chop to DiBiase! Armdrag and a double chop to Rhodes! VINTAGE STEAMBOAT! Orton takes a hiptoss and heads to the floor. Russian legsweep to DiBiase apparently leaves him for dead as Kingston and MVP deliver STEREO BOOM DROP AND BALLIN. Cover, 1-2-NO! WHAT. In comes Mark Henry, who takes care of a double team attempt from DiBiase and Rhodes. MVP screws it all up and runs into a boot in the corner to become *your* face in peril. This goes on for several minutes while everybody takes their turn punishing MVP and preventing him from making a tag. Belly to belly toss to DiBiase sets up a HOT TAG TO MARK HENRY! Rhodes gets squashed with an Avalanche, but Orton saves him from a running powerslam. RKO? Nope. Kingston saves Henry with a dropkick to Orton that sends him to the outside. Rhodes comes off the top with a flying bodypress, but gets caught for the WORLDS STRONGEST SLAM. See ya later. (9:46 shown for the whole thing) Dang what a hot crowd. This was a perfectly fine formula tag for TV. Kingston stares and points at Orton while he sulks up the aisle way looking as only Orton can look at somebody. **¼

RAW’S GOT TALENT: In this age of terrible talent shows that are DONE to death on basically every major network, I don’t think I need to explain what this means. Ozzy, Sharon, and the Great Khali are your judges. Great – only one person anyone can even understand. Apparently the Ryan Seacrest of the segment, Jerry Lawler, speaks Indo-Aryan all of a sudden and interprets what Khali says. He’s got a big crush on Kelly Osbourne. Sharon would love him as a son-in-law. REALITY SHOWWWWWWW. The first contestant is Santino Marella dressed in his best interpretation of Ozzy Osbourne as he will sing Ozzy’s 1983 hit song “Bark at the Moon”. He’s got ripped up white pants on splattered with “blood”. Perhaps bat blood, Cole? Santino changes his mind and decides to do something as equally impressive. He’s going to bite the head of a bat…man figure. Both Ozzy and Sharon disapprove and give him the thumbs down. STEREO THUMBS DOWN! Chris Masters is the next contestant and booby dances to the beat of “Crazy Train”. Sharon approves while Ozzy & Khali are oddly mesmerized. Our final contestants are Chavo Guerrero and Jillian. She’s a HUGE fan of Ozzy. How about a duet of Ozzy and Lita Ford’s 1989 hit “Close My Eyes Forever”? Yeah, they get buzzed. Jillian says Sharon has always been jealous of Lita Ford and she’s really not even a fan of Ozzy. They head to the ring as Jillian starts singing some Britney Spears. Of course she gets a Linda McMahon slap. Chavo wants Ozzy to control his wife, but he knows he can’t do it by himself. Chavo gets in Sharon’s face until Khali stands up and BRAIN CHOPS him away. Uh oh, Hornswoggle dressed as Jack Osbourne runs down and TADPOLE SPLASHES poor Chavo.

Bouncy Bouncy Smiley Smiley Kelly Kelly is WALKING. He high fives the Bella Twins as they walk past Gail Kim. Just so she doesn’t get left out of this segment, Eve comes over and gives Gail Kim the DOUBLE high five! They’re all smiling! Everybody’s happy and having a good time!

Next week’s host is one of Mayweather’s biggest foes – British pro boxer Ricky Hatton!

• Divas Battle Royal – Winner gets a Divas title shot

Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Eve, and the Bella Twins are your competitors. Figures the only chick who hits a wrestling move (straight jacket neckbreaker on one of the twins) gets eliminated first by Kelly Kelly. Gail Kim is kind of pissed at that. Jack Swagger comes out to get a closer look at the ladies – specifically Eve. She’s ruling the ring right now eliminating both the Bella Twins until she catches eyes with Swagger and gets tossed by Alicia. Kelly Kelly tries to get rid of Alicia with a Handspring Back Elbow in the corner, but Alicia catches her and throws Kelly to the floor! (2:43) What? Alicia Fox is the new #1 contender. Melina seems somewhat pleased. I would be too. What’s this chick done anyway? ¼*

Update on Jamie Noble: He’s got some serious back and neck issues. Good luck, Jamie! We’ll miss you?

Earlier Tonight: WWE’s Got Boobies and Jackswoggle?

Another recap video shows the recent happenings with Rey Mysterio and his big pal Batista over on Smackdown.

Chris Jericho interrupts what looks like Ozzy tweaking Sharon’s nipples to tell him that he’s a HUGE fan of his, but now he realizes that he’s better than Ozzy. And if either one of them embarrasses him again, it will be “The Ultimate Sin”, won’t it.

Well gee, what’s DX doing? Talking to Jackswoggle I see. They have him hung up to the wall so they can see him at eye level. They rip off his afro wig and warn him to never imitate DX again. John Cena appears for the first time tonight and helps Hornswoggle off the wall as he’s crotch chopping DX. Cena tells DX that you can never hang a leprechaun on a hook. His uncle did it one time, but he only did it once. Once, Hunter…once. Anyways, Hunter tells Cena that he’s not really sweating the triple threat match at Survivor Series since he just beat Cena two weeks ago. Next week Raw will be in the UK, and the UK is where Shawn beat Cena. Bottom line is, they have all beat each other. They beat each other all the time! Well what do you know. The Bella Twins are standing right beside them, heard the whole thing, and decide to leave. Oh look, Cena is embarrassed. Shawn ~ “Way to go!” While Shawn is no genius, he knows that DX has the mathematical advantage to walk out of Survivor Series with the WWE championship. Whatever. THE CHAMP IS HERE!

• WWE Champion John Cena vs. Chris Jericho vs. Big Show – non-title match
  

DX joins us for commentary to make fun of Michael Cole by saying “vintage” and “oh my” a bunch of times. Hilarious. Triple H is more into that than Shawn seems to be. He’s more about putting Cena over for being a toughie. After a commercial break, the match is in progress. Cena shoves Big Show off into the ringpost and hits the release fisherman’s suplex on Jericho for two. With Big Show still on the floor, he pulls Cena out and throws him into the barricade a couple times. When he sends Cena back in, Jericho jumps on the cover for two. Big Show’s not cool with that. Nevertheless, they continue to double-team the champ. Meanwhile DX fails at math and Cole corrects them. HOW DARE HE? Back in the ring, Cena avoids an avalanche from Big Show and hits a face slam on Jericho, but stands up into a spear by the Big Show. Lionsault connects for 1-2-NO! Show pulls him off the cover! Now Jericho is PISSED. He slaps Big Show around and then takes a face palm that sends him all the way to the floor. Cena escapes the CHOKESLAM and goes for the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, but he collapses. Could it be pump splash time? No, Cena moves and shoulderblocks Show to the floor. That leaves more shoulderblocks and the Protobomb. Five Knuckle Shuffle sets up the ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, but Show saves his championship partner with a BIG RIGHT HAND OF DEATH. Jericho gets the 1-2-3 after all. (7:14 shown) They were screwing with us all the whole time! Those two are still friends! Now that the handshakes are over and Cena is still down, they put him in a WALLS OF JERICHO/CAMEL CLUTCH submission. Since DX are such decent guys, they try to make the save. Shawn steps into a BIG RIGHT HAND OF DEATH while HHH takes a headbutt into a CODEBREAKER! Yes! Will this lead to DX taking the tag belts from these two and being the unified tag champs until kingdom come? Oh man I hope not. **

And with that, we are outta here.

Bragging Rights 2009, October 25, 2009, Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

Announcers: Michael Cole, Todd Grisham, & Jerry “The King” Lawler

Well, this would probably be the PPV I was least looking forward to in a long time.  First we have this Bragging Rights series of matches between Raw and Smackdown, which is a good idea in theory, but come on.  Guys switch back and forth all the time, and nearly everyone has been on each show at some point so it’s kind of hard to buy the idea that they have any sort of loyalty to one or the other.  Hell, some of them in the Women’s match just switched a few weeks ago, and we’re expected to believe that they already “bleed” their new colours?  Sigh.  And then we have this Ironman Match.  I expect it to be in the range of good overall, but still I fear that they’re going have a lot of trouble filling this time.  Other then Cena’s Raw match with Shawn Michaels (and let’s face it, that was a Shawn Michaels performance all the way) I don’t believe either guy has ever been close to this long.  Well, it could be a long night, so let’s get started.

Opening Match: The Miz vs. John Morrison

We start out here with the US Champion against the Intercontinental Champion although neither Title is on the line.  What is on the line is the first point in the 2 out of 3 Raw vs. Smackdown series, which has a nice little trophy sitting at ringside to be awarded to the winning team.  So does it suck to by Marty Jannetty, or what?  They’ve spent the buildup here debating which one of them will be the Shawn Michaels of their team and which one will be the Marty Jannetty, thus making Jannetty’s name synonymous with “Loser”.  They start out trading holds and reversals until Miz gets a rope break to a round of boos.  More of the same leads to a Morrison shoulderblock off of which Miz bails.  After regrouping, Miz gets him with his own shoulderblock, but comes off the ropes again and gets flapjacked.  Morrison hits a standing Shooting Star Press for 2.  Miz comes back and pounds him in the corner then tosses him.  Morrison blocks a suplex back in and comes through with a rollup for 2.  Morrison gets on top, but Miz bridges out and goes to a backslide, which is, ironically enough, a spot used in the past by none other than Marty Jannetty.  No one picks up on that though.  Morrison escapes the backslide anyways.  Miz misses a knee and Morrison clotheslines him to the floor, then dropkicks him through the ropes.  Back in, that gets 2.  He then goes for a headscissors, but gets dropped over the top to the floor by Miz.  Miz gets him back in and goes to work with a back suplex for 2.  Morrison kicks him off, but his corner whip is reversed and he then takes a clothesline in the corner.  Miz sets him on the apron and knees him from the floor.  That gets a 2 count and then Morrison responds with a couple of rollups for 2.  They trade kicks and then Morrison takes advantage with a forearm and clothesline.  Dropkick gets 2, but then he misses a kick and Miz gets a rollup for 2.  Morrison is back on him though, hitting a springboard kick for 2.  He sets up Starship Pain, but Miz rolls to the floor, so he just hits a corkscrew plancha instead.  That gets another 2, so he goes for a superplex.  Miz shoves him off and drops a double ax.  He goes for the Skull Crushing Finale, but Morrison counters to a Russian legsweep.  He goes for Starship Pain again, but this time Miz nails him coming down, and that’s enough to get the 3 count at 10:55.  Raw goes up 1-0.  Not a bad match, but I was actually expecting this to be better.  **1/2

Next we have a backstage confrontation between Cody Rhodes and R-Truth.  Big Show then comes in and bullies Truth away.  With the way Smackdown got buried here it was a pretty good sign they were winning in the end.

Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. Melina, Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim

So it’s the Smackdown Divas against the Raw Divas in match two of the Bragging Rights series.  Of course Smackdown has to win, otherwise our big 14 man tag becomes meaningless, but then again, who really cares about this match anyways?  Beth and Gail start with Gail getting caught on a press attempt, but still getting a cradle for 2.  Beth hits a clothesline but McCool steals the tag and puts the boots to Gail.  Gail comes back with a rana and that has McCool backing off.  Tag to Natalya who trips Gail up for 1.  Gail tags Kelly who puts a boot to Natalya’s throat.  She then takes her down with a headscissors.  Natalya recovers and drops Kelly on the ropes for 2.  Kelly gets caught in the Smackdown corner, but manages to fight her way out.  She tries a rollup on Natalya, but McCool gets the tag first.  After a few knees, she tags in Beth who gets a snapmare for 2.  Kelly fires back, but can’t make a tag.  Beth does make a tag though, to McCool, and she continues working Kelly over.  Beth steals the tag back, but falls victim to a rana for 2 and then a jawjacker.  Kelly then makes the tag to Melina who takes Beth out with a drop toehold and faceplant.  McCool provides a distraction which allows Beth to take over again, and then in the coolest spot of the match, Beth goes for a slingshot suplex, which Melina slickly counters to a small package, but the ref is distracted making sure Gail is in the corner.  McCool rolls them over before the ref finally gets back and counts 2 for Beth.  Beth goes for a side slam now, but that gets countered to a faceplant by Melina for 2.  Every one goes at it now, but the ring is soon cleared leaving Melina and Beth again.  Beth hits her with an ugly Snake Eyes and then uses the Glam Slam to finish her off at 6:55.  One of the many little details they fail to pay attention to concerns Melina losing the fall here.  Why?  They just moved Beth over to Smackdown so they can’t really be building to a Title match between them.  What possible reason could they have other then intentionally wanting to make the Champion look weak?  It’s not like Kelly and Gail have unbeatable reputations that need to be protected or anything.  Either on of them could have been pinned here and it would have the same effect without unnecessarily making the Champion look bad.  That’s a -1/2* penalty in my book.  This was actually a perfectly fine match by Divas standards while it lasted but taking the penalty into effect it gets *1/2.

Back in the locker room, and now knowing that their match will decide it, Shawn Michaels and HHH give Team Raw a motivational pep talk.  Of course they end up making fun of everyone along the way, but the team still shows solidarity.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: The Undertaker vs. Dave Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk

Punk cheapshot Mysterio and then runs away from Batista, but Taker takes him out.  Punk goes for Taker now and has some success before getting caught and tossed.  Rey leaps at him off the apron while in the ring Taker hits a flying clothesline on Batista.  Mysterio dropkicks Taker to the floor, but Taker is right back in and hits a big boot.  Old School on Batista hits but when he goes for it on Mysterio, Punk crotches him.  Punk goes for a superplex, getting knocked back on the first try, but trying again and hitting it the second time.  Mysterio follows with a springboard splash only to have his pin broken up at 2 by Punk.  Batista works Punk over with a couple of clotheslines and a powerslam, but Taker nails a boot on him.  Mysterio comes off the top, but gets caught and set for the Last Ride.  Batista makes the save with a spear, and then he and Mysterio stare at each other as though they both want to follow up but won’t because of the other.  Taker just grabs Mysterio by the throat to end that debate, but Batista nails him and sets him up for the 619, which Mysterio hits.  This knocks Taker back into a Batista spinebuster which gets 2 as Punk saves.  Mysterio takes the GTS for 2 with Batista saving, followed by Taker hooking Hell’s Gates on Batista, but Punk breaks that.  Punk follows with a running knee on Taker, but then gets caught and hit with the Last Ride.  Taker covers, but Batista saves at 2.  It breaks down to a slugfest between Taker and Batista with the crowd solidly behind Taker, who eventually takes advantage and hits a chokeslam.  That gets 2 as yet another save is made by Punk.  It’s interesting to note that Mysterio has not yet been there for Batista.  Punk gets tossed by Taker but that allows Batista to take advantage and hit Taker with the Batista Bomb.  He covers, but Mysterio not only breaks the pin, but tries for a cover himself before Batista gets him off.  Batista gives him a piece of his mind for that, and ends up shoving him down.  He turns around into a chokeslam for 2 and then they end up clotheslining each other.  Punk sneaks in and tries covers on both guys, but only gets 2.  Batista dumps him and then catches Mysterio who came at him off the top and dumps him as well.  He then turns around again, and this time is caught with a Tombstone and that gets the 3 count for Undertaker to retain at 9:58.  There was some good action here, as well as some good storytelling, but it wasn’t really spectacular or anything.  ***

Following the match, Josh Matthews hits the ring for a post match interview with Mysterio and Batista.  First he talks to Mysterio who says they were close, but he’s cool with the effort they gave and that there will be another day.  Batista, meanwhile, is tired of being close, and tired Mysterio.  He tells Mysterio flat out that he’s going to take him out, and then proceeds to do just that.  Not a bad idea here as Batista’s babyface run has pretty much outlasted its usefulness so we’ll see how he does as a heel again.

Team Raw: Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, & Kofi Kingston vs. Team Smackdown: Chris Jericho, Kane, Matt Hardy, Fit Finlay, R-Truth, David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd

So we’re 1-1 and this match will decide it.  Everyone is wearing shirts representing their show except for DX who wear their own shirts.  The Smackdown team other then Jericho and Kane was completely replaced just last Friday and I think they got a better overall team for it, but they’re still perceived as the lesser stars here.  Rhodes and Truth start things off stemming from the confrontation earlier, and they break right into a slugfest.  Truth nails a dropkick, but runs into an elbow.  They keep trading shots until Rhodes hangs onto the ropes on an Irish whip and Big Show takes the tag.  Truth thinks better of that matchup and tags Kane leading to an epic staredown.  Kane then gets some shots in followed by a corner clothesline.  Show comes out with a shoulderblock and drops a leg for 2.  Tag to Swagger, who takes a clothesline and then Kane tags Matt Hardy.  Hardy controls until his corner whip is reversed, but he gets the boot up on the charge.  2^nd rope legdrop for 2 follows and Swagger escapes to the floor.  Hardy follows, but gets distracted by Rhodes and sent to the post.  This leads to a standoff between the two teams, but the ref maintains order.  In the ring, Swagger goes to work on Hardy’s arm.  Tag to Mark Henry, who keeps up the work and prevents Hardy from tagging.  He then tags Shawn Michaels, who sends Hardy shoulder first to the buckle, but puts his head down on a whip and gets kicked.  Side Effect follows and that gives him the time he needs to tag Finlay.  Finlay pounds Shawn down for a bit, but a collision in the corner puts both of them down.  They make it to their feet and Shawn connects with Sweet Chin Music, but Finlay falls into a tag to David Hart Smith.  The Harts immediately take Shawn out with a springboard Hart Attack for 2.  Smith slams Shawn and tags Jericho who puts the boots to him.  Shawn fires out of a rear chinlock and gets a rollup for 2, but Jericho is right back with a clothesline for 2.  Tag Kane who hits a seated dropkick and tags back to Smith.  Shawn fires out of another rear chinlock, but takes a back suplex for 2.  Smith tags Kidd who misses a springboard elbow and that lets Shawn make the tag to HHH.  High knee for Kidd, facebuster for Smith, spinebuster onto Smith for Finlay, and then another spinebuster for Kidd to add him to the pile as well.  Kane comes in though and hits a chokeslam, letting Kidd cover for 2.  During the match, the announcers have been cheering on their respective teams, which is fine and all, but I get the feeling that for some reason Michael Cole doesn’t like the Hart Dynasty.  He seems to be going out of his was to put them down going beyond just brand loyalty.  Tag to Jericho, who bulldogs HHH, but misses a Lionsault and HHH tags Kofi.  He springs in with a clothesline on Jericho, followed by a dropkick and tomahawk chop.  He goes for the Boom Drop, but Jericho block and goes for the Walls, which Kofi in turn counters to an inside cradle for 2.  Jericho hits a clothesline and comes off the ropes, but runs right into Trouble in Paradise.  The Harts make the save, but Mark Henry clears them out.  Truth and Hardy then take Henry out, including hitting a double dive out to the floor.  Finlay lays out Rhodes with the Finlay Roll, but immediately takes the gutwrench powerbomb from Swagger.  Kane boots Swagger out of the ring, but then takes a spear from Show.  Kofi, who is still the legal man, looks to come off the top, but now Show turns on him with a chokeslam.  HHH questions Show, but falls victim to the Big Right Hand for his troubles.  Meanwhile, Jericho, who’s also still the legal man, gets over and covers Kofi for the 3 count at 15:35.  Smackdown wins Bragging Rights and the trophy.  To their credit, the team celebrates like those things actually mean something but I don’t find myself caring about this series at all.  The match itself though was actually quite good.  ***1/2

After a video package for the main event we see Kofi Kingston walking backstage where Cody Rhodes confronts him about losing the match for Raw.  Kofi tells him to get lost, but Rhodes leaves him laying instead.

Main Event, WWE Championship, No Disqualification, No Countout Falls Count Anywhere, Iron Man Match: Randy Orton vs. John Cena

Well, a lot of people were not excited about the idea of sitting through this one, so I’ll sit through it for you.  It also has the stipulation that if Cena loses he will have to leave Raw, so that doesn’t exactly make the result a mystery, but we’ll see if they can do something good on the way there.  They’re hyping this as the final match of a two plus year long rivalry which is actually the same thing they did with Cena and Edge at Backlash back in April.  Time will tell on this one I guess.  They start out trading holds until Cena gets a hiptoss, but his corner whip is reversed and he goes down.   Now Orton’s whip is reversed and Cena looks for the bulldog, but Orton tosses him off which lets the announcers let us know that they’ve wrestled each other so many times that they know all the counters to the signature moves.  Orton stomps him for a bit, but Cena trips him up and hooks the STF.  Orton immediately taps out to put Cena up 1-0.  The story there is that it’s smarter to give up a fall early in the match rather then risk injury by fighting it.  There’s a 0:30 rest period in between falls too, during which the clock is running as a way to help them kill more time off.  We start again with Orton nailing a powerslam and dropping a knee.  Cena goes to the apron, so Orton suplexes him back in for 2.  To a rear chinlock, which Cena powers out of, and then Cena hits the Throwback.  He follows with the top rope legdrop and goes for the Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Orton springs to his feet and hits the RKO for a 3 count to tie the score 1-1.  Starting again, Orton knocks Cena off the apron to the barrier, and then rams him to the steps.  He preps the table and gives Cena a monitor shot in the process.  That gets a 2 count on the floor.  Orton grabs the mic and for a second it looks like he’s going to stop and cut a time wasting promo, but instead he just nails Cena with it.  Cena has been busted open and they actually stop the clock briefly so that a couple of trainers at ringside can check him out.  He doesn’t care though and charges right back at Orton, tossing him to the floor.  Cena follows and rams him to the steps, but a whip to the other steps is reversed and Cena hits from which Orton gets 2.  Orton then sets him on the bottom part of the steps and stomps him for another 2 before getting him back in the ring.

Fifteen Minutes In: Orton works Cena over some more, but the RKO is blocked.  Cena hits two shoulderblocks and the Protobomb, followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle.  He sets up the Attitude Adjustment and it hits, but in mid move, Orton positions himself to take Cena down as well in an RKO.  That was kind of cool but I needed the replay to actually see what happened so it must have been confusing for the fans live.  Anyways, they both end up with an arm on each other and the ref counts both guys down giving them another fall each to make it 2-2.  What’s the point of that other than needlessly running up the score?  The trainers take advantage of the rest period to wipe Cena down and close the cut up.  We get going again with Orton missing a charge, so Cena puts him on the top rope and hits a super Attitude Adjustment for the 3 count to go up 3-2.  Legacy runs in during the rest period and attacks Cena.  Dibiase hits Dream Street and they get Orton on top for the pin to even it again at 3-3.  There was no hint of the tension between Dibiase and Orton here, so perhaps that’s been dropped and they’re once again a big happy family.  After that fall, Kofi Kingston runs in with a chair to clear Dibiase and Rhodes out so there’s a new feud at least.  The match starts up again with a brawl on the floor and Cena rams Orton to the barrier a couple of times.  They fight up to the production area where Orton knocks him down and gets a 2 count.  Cena then gets thrown through some lights with a small explosion going off.  Orton drags him out and covers for a 3 count to take the lead for the first time 4-3.  So now Orton decided that was cool and all, but now he really wants to blow Cena up.  He sets him on the stage where the pyro shoots out of and returns to the control table.  He does a big dramatization of pushing the button, but when he does, nothing happens.  He tries again, but still nothing.  Then he just starts mashing buttons until something finally goes off, but we see that Cena has rolled out of the way just in the nick of time.  And so with that filler idea out of the way, we go back to ringside where he whips Cena to the steps.

Thirty Minutes In: Orton picks up the steps and throws them at Cena which gets a 2 count.  He then nails him with a chair for another 2.  Back in the ring, Cena small packages him out of nowhere and that gets a 3 to tie the match 4-4.  Orton immediately attacks as the rest period begins, but the ref holds him off because that doesn’t go in this anything goes match.  After patiently waiting it out, Orton makes Cena pay by dropping him with the hanging DDT off the apron to the floor.  That gets a 3 count and puts Orton back in the lead 5-4.  They go again with Orton hitting the Garvin Stomp and dropping a knee for 2.  He allows Cena to make it to his feet, and then just knocks him right back down for another 2.  They do that a second time, and then a third, but that time Cena fights back so Orton bails up the aisle.  Cena follows, but Orton keeps eluding him.  Back to the ring they go, where Orton nails him coming in.  He sets up the hanging DDT again, but Cena gets out and tries the Attitude Adjustment again, but Orton escapes that as well.  Orton runs into the crowd and they kill more time as Cena chases him all the way up and back down to ringside, stopping occasionally to get a few shots in.

Forty Five Minutes In: Cena gets him back over the barrier and covers for 2.  Running him to the stairs gets another 2, and then he sends him right through the part where the ring announcers and timekeeper sit.  He then picks up the steps and nails Orton with them before setting them up next to the announce table.  Attitude Adjustment from there through the table gets 3 for Cena and ties us up at 5-5 with about nine minutes to go.  He waits out the rest period and immediately covers again, but this time Orton kicks out at 2.  Cena sets a table in the ring and puts Orton on it for a legdrop, but Orton avoids it and Cena breaks the table.  Both guys make it to their feet and start trading shots with Cena retaining the advantage.  He sends Orton off and sits a shoulderblock, but on a second one, Orton ducks and Cena takes the ref out instead.  Orton hits the RKO but there’s no ref to count.  A new one quickly runs in to count, but Cena kicks out at 2.  Orton takes out his frustrations on the new ref, and then sets Cena up for the punt, but it misses and Cena hooks him in the STF with just under a minute left.  Orton fights and fights but with five seconds left he taps out to put Cena up 6-5 and then the 60:00 time limit expires at 60:24 (counting the time they stopped the clock to check on Cena’s cut).  Cena regains the WWE Title yet again in the “final” encounter between these two.  I watched it once, and I can safely say that I never want to see this match again.  I was worried they’d have trouble filling time, and I was right.  What they basically did was take their standard 20:00 PPV main event, and they stretched it out to 60:00.  They had the benefit of being able to do all the falls to keep it interesting, but all they really did here was prove that neither of them are true sixty minute men.  It has some redeeming value, but as a main event and supposed blowoff to a major multi year feud, it fails.  **

Alright, so that’s Bragging Rights.  My two main feelings coming out of it are that I don’t care about anything I just saw, and that this may be the most forgettable show in years.  The action was fine, not really any better or worse then anything you might see on any other PPV and certainly nothing blew me away.  Then that Ironman Match came on, and well, maybe the less said about that one going forward, the better.  Thumbs Down for Bragging Rights 2009 and a recommendation to just forget about it.

I didn’t think Raw could have a worst guest host than Jermey Piven. I was wrong, in fact it got two of them: Kyle Busch and Joey Lagano. First, I admit it, I’m not a Nascar fan, I just don’t get it. I grew up watching Indy and Formula One, and quite honestly, don’t understand them either. I don’t consider driving a car at an insane speed a sport; a death wish, maybe, but not a sport.

Bad guest hosts aside, Raw was actually pretty good. Mainly because of the elevation of Kofi Kingston. I’d be predicting a Kofi/Cody Rhodes feud, not a Kofi/Randy Orton feud, but that’s where it looks like I’m going, which is amazing for Kofi. Orton needed a new opponent (before his inevitable Mania feud with Ted DiBiase) and Kingston is well deserving on this kind of push.

I also like the idea of a Jack Swagger/The Miz feud, since these are two arrogant young men and have a lot of potential as rivals. I just hope the WWE handles it well and doesn’t drop the ball the way it did with what could have been an entertaining MVP/Jack Swagger rivalry from earlier this year.

The explanation for The Big Show’s treachery made no sense to me, but then a lot of things the WWE does make no sense to me, so I’m letting it go. I figure all will be explained on Smackdown (I hope) and I did enjoy watching The Big Show get the beat down from most of the Raw roster.

As for the the main event… At first I thought it was a little soon for the beginning of the end of DX, then I realized that there are only four PPVs between now and the next Wrestlemania. So if they have a triple threat at Survivor Series, then it allows three PPVs for DX to completley fall apart, before we get a HBK vs. Triple H match at Wrestlemania 26. Plus, I think it’ll be a great match.

The WWE enters this week in a weird place, mainly because there’s a major pay-per-view coming (Survivor Series), and basically all the major storylines ended Sunday night at Bragging Rights. As a result, it’s scramble time to set up compelling angles in a matter of weeks.

SmackDown! has its money rivalry set, we hope: Batista vs. Rey Mysterio in the classic ‘best friends until one turns on the other’ angle. Undertaker will defend Goldie against Big Show, which the latter claimed was his reason for turning on the RAW team in the 7-on-7 Bragging Rights match.

After Monday night, RAW has three semi-decent angles it can run with heading into Survivor Series, in reverse order of importance:

The Miz vs. Jack Swagger

This angle has been there for a few weeks, but it appears WWE finally is deciding to run with it. Over the course of the night, Miz and Swagger competed for Eve’s attention…though after hearing her dreadful voice announce the Miz’ match, I’m not entirely sure why. Oh yeah…she’s hot. Carry on…

Anyway, Miz loses his match to Evan Bourne via countout because Swagger straight-up cockblocks him during the match. He walks down the ramp, grabs a mic, stands with his back to the ring, tells the Miz nobody is watching his match and stares at Eve the whole time while doing so.

Pros: Puts two solid upper-mid guys together, gets someone besides Kofi Kingston in the U.S. title picture

Cons: Ummm…both these guys are heels, and pretty despicable ones at that. While I personally will love this angle, the majority of fans will have trouble picking someone to root for, which means they’ll have trouble being interested. Count on Swagger to get the cheers, since he’s the lesser of the two evils here.

Kofi Kingston vs. Legacy

The seeds were planted at Bragging Rights, when Cody Rhodes blamed Kofi for the 7-on-7 loss and attacked him. Kofi then broke up Rhodes and DiBiase’s run-in during the ironman match between Randy Orton and John Cena.

You won't like Kofi when he's angry...

Fast-forward to Monday. After Kofi defeated Chris Jericho, who was proudly toting the Bragging Rights trophy all night, Orton attacked Kofi on the ramp. A few minutes later, Orton’s cronies give him a present as a token of their appreciation (or something like that). Since Kyle Busch and Joey Logano (two NASCAR drivers, if you’ve been living under a rock) were guest hosts and brought their cars to the arena, it only made sense for Rhodes and DiBiase to buy Orton a car with a kick-ass Orton paint job.

Later in the show, all three members of Legacy are in the ring and, by this point, all three have stated their cases as to why they should be the one to challenge Cena at Survivor Series. Meanwhile, Kofi wants a piece of Orton and just so happens to be standing on Orton’s new toy.

Kofi, the ‘phony Jamaican’ (as exposed by D-Generation X last week) with the perma-smile, proceeds to lose his shit and take it out on the car. He keys it, then crowbars it, then pours a bucket of orange paint on the hood. Totally unexpected, yet totally awesome.

Pros: Instantly elevates Kofi, lets him work the mic, puts him in a real rivalry besides ‘I want your belt’ for the first time, gives Orton something to do with someone new to avoid the same old boring dreck WWE has thrown at us since before WrestleMania, keeps Rhodes/DiBiase at a high level as they improve, keeps the inevitable DiBiase face turn/Legacy breakup angle on ice since they can go to that at any time.

Cons: None. Even if this is a short story, it’ll be a good one, especially in the ring.

John Cena vs. D-Generation X

No, Cena’s not turning heel or anything like that. He needed somebody to wrestle at Survivor Series, so it was decided by Hornswoggle that he will face HHH and Shawn Michaels in a triple-threat match.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Supposedly, Busch and Logano had trouble figuring out who Cena would face. Hornswoggle carries a grudge against DX, so he somehow convinced the guest hosts to put them both in the WWE title picture.

As to why Hornswoggle carries a grudge? Read on.

This man has decided the fate of the WWE title...

Apparently Hornswoggle is an HBK fan, because in recent weeks he has dressed as HBK and mimicked the DX crotch chop at any opportunity possible. HHH keeps telling him to stop, but the little bastard keeps on going.

After interfering with yet another Chavo Guerrero match in his new favorite ring attire, Hornswoggle was served papers (I know, right?!) saying he must cease and desist his gimmick infringement. Clearly this pissed him off enough to try to stick it to DX.

As a result, we actually have a major title match with some intrigue. Good job, little guy.

Pros: Shawn Michaels gets a shot at the strap, a slight change of pace from the Orton/Cena/HHH triumverate that has plagued the title picture, the potential for great comedic promos of one-upsmanship involving all three parties, Shawn Michaels gets a shot at the strap.

Cons: WWE will inevitably find a way to screw this up. Sad times.

NEXT BLOG: ECW (featuring Yoshi Tatsu and Christian for the Ford bumper belt)

Monday Night Raw 10/26/09
HSBC Arena
Buffalo, NY

Announcers: Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

We start this week’s show off with a recap of last night’s PPV. We then head inside the HSBC Arena where Michael Cole welcomes us to Raw. We are immediately joined by Big Show and Chris Jericho. Jericho has his Smackdown shirt on and is carrying the Bragging Rights trophy high above his head. Cole calls Show “Brutus” for stabbing Raw in the back and King asks if he is referencing Beefcake. Show has the mic and he wants us to know that he is still a proud member of the Raw roster despite what happened last night. Jericho tells him that he doesn’t need to explain himself to all the germ incubators out there. He says Show did what he did out of loyalty and honor for Jericho and their team. Show has something to say, but Jericho wants to thank him for ending the reign of DX. There will be no mirth or hawking of cheap merchandise out of embarrassment. Show stood up for what was right by punching Triple H in the face and helping Smackdown win. Show has something to say, but Jericho keeps cutting him off and putting over Smackdown and himself. Show cuts him off and says he did what he did for himself, not for his team or show loyalty. He spoke with Teddy Long and struck a deal. Because Smackdown won Bragging Rights, Teddy gave Show a shot at Undertaker’s World Championship. Jericho isn’t happy with that and makes a fat joke. As they argue, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are tearing up the parking lot in their cars. They speed into the arena and pull right up to the ramp to a nice pop. They hop out of the cars and head to the ring, accompanied by the Bella Twins. They both grab mics and play to the crowd a bit. Busch speaks first and lets us know they are huge fans and are happy to be here to host. Busch says the fans aren’t impressed with what Show did to Raw last night. He is a man’s man and he is with Show. Busch shakes Show’s hand but Logano doesn’t like what Show did. He calls his actions weak. Show tells Busch to teach Joey about respect. Kyle apologizes and calls Joey young and dumb. Busch says they are here to win championships and make Raw happen. He says Buffalo hasn’t made it to the playoffs since Hulkamania and then rags on Terrell Owens. He says they will be singing “Oh, Canada” soon as well. Logano says Show will take on Triple H here tonight. Jericho mocks sympathy and then shows off his “grail of greatness” off to Busch and Logano. Jericho wants to go back to their office and he will tell them how he won the trophy last night. Busch isn’t impressed and puts Jericho in a match with Kofi Johnson…err, Kingston here tonight. And that is happening right now, as Kofi comes jogging out. Before that happens, though, we are taking a break.

1) Chris Jericho vs. Kofi Kingston

When we return, the bell sounds and we are under way. They lock up and get a clean break in the corner as Jericho bails to the floor. Jericho gets back and starts slugging away at Kofi. He shoots him into the corner but eats a Kofi boot on the charge. Kofi peppers him with rights and then plants him with a dropkick for two. Kofi hooks an armbar as Cole tells us that the Raw locker room is livid over Show’s actions. Jericho catches Kofi with a right hand and then slugs him down. He chokes him over the middle rope but Kofi sneaks a roll up in for two. Jericho comes back with some boots to the head before hooking a side headlock. He breaks the hold and puts Kofi down with a shoulderblock. Kofi is back up and nails Jericho with a back elbow but Chris bails to the floor. Kofi flies out with a plancha as the crowd is rocking a bit early here. Both men are back in and Kofi leaps up into the corner and hammers away but Jericho spikes him down to the mat with a powerbomb. Kofi slides out to the apron but Jericho meets him with a springboard dropkick. Kofi falls to the floor as we take a break. When we come back, Jericho sends Kofi neck first into the bottom rope with a slingshot. Jericho hooks a rear chinlock as we check out the action that happened during the break. Kofi fights free and gets a roll up for two. Jericho puts Kofi back down with a clothesline and gets two. Kofi tries to fight back with some right hands and is able to send Jericho flying into the corner as he attempted a bulldog. Kofi hits a pair of clotheslines and a dropkick and then puts Jericho down with a flying right hand. Kofi lands the Boomdrop but Jericho rolls through and goes for the Walls. Kofi flips free but Jericho meets him with an Enziguri for two. He stomps on Kofi and then smacks him around a bit. Kofi nails a kick as Jericho charges into the corner. He heads up top but Jericho meets him with a right hand. Jericho follows him up and tries for a superplex but Kofi blocks it and drops him to the mat with a gourdbuster. Kofi comes off with a high cross body but Jericho rolls through and gets two. Kofi is back up and takes Jericho down with a Russian legsweep. Kofi goes for the TIP but Jericho blocks it and goes for the Walls. Kofi blocks that and rolls Jericho up for a really close near fall. Both men are back up and Jericho nails him with the Codebreaker. He covers but Kofi just gets his foot on the bottom rope. Jericho jaws with Jack Doane and then turns around and walks right into TIP. Kofi covers and picks up the win to a big pop. That was a heck of a match and a big win for Kofi. Kingston d. Jericho with the Trouble in Paradise; Grade: 3

- Kofi is pumped up as he heads to the back, leaving Jericho to shake off the loss in the ring. As he is walking back, Randy Orton comes flying out and just chucks Kofi off the ramp and to the floor. Orton stalks around as we head to break.

- We are back and King is putting over the Halloween themed goodies on WWE.com this week. Backstage, Josh Matthews catches up with Randy Orton and asks why he assaulted Kofi. Orton says it was payback for Kofi interfering in his match last night. He has only just begun on Kofi. Rhodes and DiBiase come up to him and Orton wants to know what they want. They say he should be champion and that they agree and have a gift for him. They walk over and pull the tarp off a custom Randy Orton race car. Orton thinks it is incredible and can’t believe they bought it for him. Ted says it is a token of their appreciation. Cody says they have another surprise tonight involving John Cena and that it is only a matter of time before the title is back with Legacy. Orton stares at the car creepily as we cut over to the GMs chatting with Eve. They debate over who will win their upcoming race as Jack Swagger comes in for a chat. Swagger wants a title match with John Cena tonight. Busch says Cena wrestled for an hour last night so he won’t wrestle here but Logano says they will be choosing Cena’s next opponent tonight. Swagger likes that and then he introduces himself to Eve but Miz comes in to speak his piece as well. He says he is the only Raw member to win last night and that he should get the title shot at Survivor Series. Miz kisses Eve’s hand, grossing her out, before taking off. We cut elsewhere to see Santino Marella and Melina walking, surrounded by paparazzi. They are in action after this break.

- When we come back, Cole and King put over Sheamus, who has apparently been traded to Raw. We then head back to the ring for our next match.

2) Santino Marella & Melina vs. Chavo Guerrero & Jillian

Marella and Melina head down to the ring and they are followed by Chavo Guerrero and Jillian as we are in for some mixed tag action. Chavo and Santino start things off as Chavo shoves Santino. Santino comes back with a flurry and then drops Chavo with a back elbow. Chavo turns the tables and runs Santino into the corner. He chokes away with his boot and then lands an uppercut for two. Chavo hammers away in the corner and tries a hiptoss, but Santino cartwheels to his feet. Santino does a split to avoid a clothesline and then slugs Chavo down. Chavo tags in Jillian, who comes in and smacks Santino. He tags in Melina but Jillian drops her with a clothesline. Hornswoggle pops up from under the ring and distracts Chavo, allowing Melina to attempt her finisher. She botches it badly so Jillian hooks the ropes to break up the pin. Melina drops her with the Primal Scream for the win. Marella & Melina d. Guerrero & Jillian when Melina pins Jillian with the Primal Scream; Grade: .5

- Hornswoggle celebrates with Melina and Santino until a suit comes in the ring and gives Horny a green envelope. He opens it and then runs over to Lawler to have him read it. King says it is a cease and desist order from DX to make Horny stop wearing his DX garb. Horny walks off dejectedly, shaking his head. We see Cena walking backstage as we go to break.

- Back from break, we check out the Just for Men Slam of the Week, which brings us stills of the Iron Man match from last night. Back live, Justin Roberts is introducing John Cena, but before he can finish, Legacy interrupts. Rhodes and DiBiase head down to the ring and grab mics. Cody says this would be a good time for Cena to parade out here and talk about his “epic victory” last night. But, Cena will have to wait because the Legacy is here. Just because Randy can’t fight Cena for the title, doesn’t mean they can’t. At Survivor Series, they will bring the Championship back to Legacy. Ted says they didn’t ask the guest hosts for permission because they don’t have to. They are making a direct challenge to Cena here and they invite him out to accept it. Cena obliges and heads out to the ring. Cena says he doesn’t have to brag about last night because it was what it needed to be. It was the best of WWE competing in one final showdown. He can speak for Orton in saying that both of them were exhausted physically and mentally when the clock ran out. They did it for themselves, for the title, for the fans and because they both knew that the Cena/Orton rivalry needed to end. And it did. That brings us to Raw the next night as the WWE Universe is tuned in to see who the next challenger is. And that wouldn’t be Randy Orton’s Legacy. Cody says that they aren’t Randy and Cena agrees, telling them they have a lot to learn. Cena says the fans will think this is a rerun as they keep running in circles. Last night, he beat Randy Orton and earned the right to say no more. Legacy can come out and make empty challenges and say they are bringing the title back to Legacy, but if they want a shot at the title, they need to lace their boots up tight and fall in line with everyone else. They need to work for it because that is how it is done. He is looking at them and thinks they haven’t earned it. He asks the fans if the “Baby Oil Boys Club” has earned everything. Cena says he was talking to the guest hosts about a match for Legacy tonight and they agreed. That match is happening right now and their opponents are headed to the ring…MVP and Mark Henry. They head down to the ring as we go to break.

3) Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs. Mark Henry & MVP

When we return, Ted is picking up a near fall on MVP. He tags in Cody and they hit a double fist to the gut. Cody drops a knee and then hooks a rear chinlock. MVP fights out of the hold and hits a clothesline. He crawls over and tags in Henry. He nails Cody with a back elbow and a headbutt. He hoists Cody up in a choke but DiBiase come in and clips Henry’s knee. Cody gets a near fall before tagging in Ted. They quick tag and take turns working Henry over in the corner a bit. Cody hooks a front facelock but can’t get Henry to the mat. Henry tries to fight to his corner, but MVP ends up distracting the ref, allowing Ted to come in and kick the knee again. Cody gets two off a double dropkick. He goes back to the front facelock as the crowd starts to rally Henry. Henry finally tosses Cody off and both men make tags. MVP tosses DiBiase and then follows with some right hands and a facebreaker. MVP drops the Ballin elbow and gets two. MVP gets a sunset flip after a clothesline from Henry and ends up getting the win. MVP & Henry d. Rhodes & DiBiase when MVP pins DiBiase with a sunset flip; Grade: 1

- DiBiase and Rhodes yell at the ref but that ends when Randy Orton heads to the ring with an angry look on his face. Orton says the guest hosts are searching for Cena’s next opponent and it officially looks like the next opponent will not be him. He understands the terms of his match last night but he doesn’t care. He is a former champion and is entitled to his rematch. He will take his case to the Board of Directors to get back what is his. Kofi shows up on the Tron and mocks Orton for losing, saying nobody cares about what he has to say. Orton calls him out to the ring to say it to his face. Kofi says that is an interesting choice of words, because he is already doing that right now. The camera pans down to see Kofi standing on Orton’s race car. Orton warns him not to hurt the car but Kofi keeps walking around on the hood. Kofi likes stock cars because they are so durable. He walks over and grabs a rolling trunk and pushes it into the door. Kofi says smaller things do more damage and he pulls out a key. He scratches up Orton’s car with it and then pulls out a crowbar and smashes the hood and windshield with it. Kofi wants to make things right after messing up the car, so he grabs a bucket and dumps red paint all over it. Orton is not happy as we go to break. That was some great work by Kofi and it looks like he is being elevated.

- We are back and checking out some Buffalo Bills players at ringside. Cole then sends us to a replay of the last segment. Justin Roberts then brings out Eve to announce our next bout.

4) Evan Bourne vs. Miz in a non title match

Bourne charges to the ring and he is followed by Miz, who picked up a big win last night. Miz mugs for Eve a bit and makes Roberts open the ropes for her to exit the ring. Miz lands a kneelift off the bell and picks up a one count off a leg sweep. Bourne comes back with some kicks but Miz regains control and chokes him out on the ropes. Miz drops Bourne with a back suplex and gets two. Miz rubs Bourne’s face into the mat and then hooks an armbar. He turns it into a double underhook surfboard style move. Bourne fights free and back drops Miz. Miz goes for a sunset flip but Bourne flips free and knees Miz in the face. Bourne kicks away some more and then hits a nice flying headscissors for two. The crowd has totally died off here. Miz hammers away in the corner as Jack Swagger makes his way out to the ring. Swagger grabs a mic and tells him that nobody is watching him or his match. They are really watching Eve. And Eve is watching Swagger. Miz swats at Swagger and then rolls to the floor to confront him. They jaw with each other until Bourne flies out on to both of them. Bourne slides back in the ring and he beats the count as Miz is counted out. I was hoping for much more from those two. Bourne d. Miz by count out; Grade: 1

- Bourne takes off as Swagger and Miz stare each other down and we head to break.

- We are back and Cole tells us that Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne will be hosting Raw next week. Back in the arena, Jamie Noble is in the ring. Busch and Logano show up on the Tron and wish Noble luck against Raw’s newest star: Sheamus.

5) Jamie Noble vs. Sheamus

Sheamus heads out as Cole and King put him over for his destruction of ECW. Sheamus introduces himself and tells us that he is here to make an impression. Sheamus sends Noble to the floor with a shoulderblock. He follows him out and whips Noble into the steps. He tosses Chavo back in and drops a pair of stiff elbows onto him for two. He hoists Noble up into a hanging backbreaker but Noble goes to the eyes to break the hold. Sheamus tosses Noble into the corner but misses a charge. Noble goes for a roll up but Sheamus blocks it and pulls Noble up by his throat. Sheamus works Noble over as the crowd has gone flat again. Sheamus sticks him with a stiff backbreaker and then buries him with a big boot for the win. Despite the crowd apathy, Sheamus looked really good. I hope he doesn’t get lost in the shuffle with Raw’s cluttered mid card. Sheamus d. Noble with a boot to the face; Grade: 1

- DX is walking backstage as we head off to commercial.

- We are back from break and the Quiznos Rewind brings us still from last night’s Bragging Rights fourteen man war, which was won by Smackdown, thanks to Big Show turning his back on Raw. Cole then talks about Batista turning on Rey Mysterio last night, King talks about the Iron Man bout and Cole talks about the bragging rights tag bout. We then head up to the ring, where Big Show and Chris Jericho are chilling.

6) Triple H vs. Big Show in a no disqualification lumberjack match

Show is all business as Jericho prances around with his trophy. I hope he carries it around for the whole year because it has been awesome so far. Theme from DX fires up as Michaels and Triple H crotch chop and glow stick their way to the ring. As the bell sounds, Hunter grabs a mic and says he just met with Busch and Logano. They forgot to tell Show that this is a lumberjack match. And unfortunately for Show, the lumberjacks are all the guys Show screwed over last night. And on cue, the Raw locker room empties and they all head to ringside. Jericho quickly walks off through the crowd, trophy in hand, leaving Show to fend for himself against the Raw roster. Michaels now has the mic and lets us know this is also no disqualification. Michaels tells Charles Robinson that he can take off, because they have a special guest referee for the night: John Cena. Cena marches to the ring as Triple H knocks Show to the floor and we head to our final break. When we return, Hunter is hammering on Show in the ring. Hunter hops on Show’s back and hooks a sleeper as Show slowly starts to fade a bit. Show wakes up and mares Hunter down to the mat. Show misses a charge in the corner but he collapse on Hunter during a slam attempt. Hunter charges but Show meets him with a big spear. Show steps on Hunter’s chest as he jaws with Michaels. He chops Hunter and then steps on his back. Hunter tries to fight back but Show drops him with a sidewalk slam. Show covers and gets two and then goes to a nervehold. Hunter gets to his feet but Show puts him down with a headbutt. Hunter staggers around and gives Show a crotch chop but Show clubs him and slams him down. Chris Masters takes a swipe at Show, so Show yanks him into the ring and cracks him with a right hand to knock him out. Hunter comes back with a facebreaker and then slugs away, but Show catches him by the throat. Hunter slips out of a chokeslam attempt and drops Show with a DDT for two. Hunter goes for the Pedigree but Show back drops Hunter over to block it. Show heads to the middle rope and lands the Vader Bomb. He covers but Cena only gives him a two count before faking a shoulder injury. Show gets in Cena’s face and that allows Primo and Chavo to come in and land a double dropkick. Swagger, Miz and Henry hits splashes in the corner. MVP comes in and slugs Show down, allowing Bourne to drop the SSP to a huge pop. Santino sneaks in and goes for his cobra chop, but Show drops him with a chokeslam. Kofi comes in and nails Show with the TIP. Cena drops Show with the AA. Hunter puts a Smackdown shirt on Show’s neck as he struggles to his feet. Michaels nails Show with SCM and Hunter drops him with the Pedigree for the win. That was a hot ending to an OK match. Triple H d. Show with the Pedigree; Grade: 2

- As Cena and DX celebrate, Logano and Busch come back out. The crowd isn’t happy to see them, but they are ready to announce the top contender for Survivor Series. They couldn’t agree on a choice until Hornswoggle for them on the same page. Horny comes out, still wearing his DX gear. Busch says Cena will take on both Triple H and Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series. All three stare each other down as we fade out.

- No great shakes here tonight coming off a solid PPV. The Jericho/Kofi match was really good and it looks like Kofi is set for a good push here. The crowd was pretty good for most of the night, but the rest of the show was just sort of there. Busch and Logano tried but just didn’t have the charisma to pull anything special off and none of the other matches were that good outside of the decent main event. Well, hopefully things pick up by the time we get to Survivor Series. See you next week as we all hop on the crazy train!

Final Grade: C-

I think Bragging Rights gets my vote for worst PPV of 2009. A bad concept, no great matches, and the agony of the Iron Man Match between Cena and Orton… Definitely a waste of $40.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, Bragging Rights had it’s moments. I actually believed why Team Smackdown wanted to win, but was never sold on why Team Raw cared. Most of the matches were good, if not great, and I’m glad that some of the great younger talent got a chance to shine, but still… Not a good night, not by a long shot.

The Miz b. John Morrison
This was the match I was the most interested and it was good. Not as spectacular as I might hoped, but very good. I’m glad The Miz won and won clean. The loss doesn’t hurt Morrison and The Miz needed a big win to show he was ready to play with the big boys and this gave it to him, showed that the WWE takes him seriously. Maybe we’ll get a round two of The Miz vs. Cena in the coming months? If done well, I think that could be spectacular.

Michelle McCool, Natalya and Beth Phoenix b. Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim
This was the best diva match in a long time. A little lopsided, but that was to be expected. The Smackdown divas dominated, but the Raw divas didn’t look bad. I was glad to see Natalya get a chance to shine and to see Beth Phoenix back on track, because I think she was misused on Raw. I’m also glad that Gail Kim wasn’t the one to get pinned, because she didn’t need that. Melina, on the other hand, can weather the loss.

The Undertaker b. Batista, Rey Mysterio and CM Punk to retain the World Heavy-Weight Championship
This was an ok match and it doesn’t surprise me that The Undertaker retrained, though I think that was the wrong decision. I think Punk deserved the title after the year he’s had, but that’s just me. The biggest story from this match, of course, is Batista’s heel turn and the beating he laid on Mysterio. it was a move I didn’t see coming, but it was a good one because Batista could use the change and a Mysterio/Batista program could be fun to watch.

Team Smackdown b. Team Raw
I totally called this. Smackdown needed to win this one more than Raw did and I predicted that The Big Show would betray Team Raw to set up a program with DX. It was an interesting concept and a pretty good match. I’m glad the younger guys got some decent ring action, it was great to see the Hart Dynasty get some action and though Kofi Kingston was the one to get pinned, it was done in a way to make him look strong, so I’m okay with that. These guys are the future of the WWE and they need to be given the chance to succeed and I think that was the best thing about Bragging Rights, that it put the young talent with the veterans and gave them a chance to learn.

Obviously, we’re getting a DX vs. Jerishow feud, which I think could be exciting. I think a DX tag team title run could be fun and that if anyone should take the titles off Jerishow, it’s DX, who certainly have the same amount, if not more prestige, as the champions and are able to help elevate the belt. If nothing else, having Chris Jericho, The Big Show, Triple H and Shawn Michaels fight for the tag team belts will show that they are definitely worth holding, so I think it’s a great move for the WWE.

I’m also excited about the idea of a Cody Rhodes/Kofi Kingston feud, which seems inevitable from the way these two got in each other’s faces at the end of the match. They’re both young, extremely talented guys who could go far and a feud between them would help them both. I hope the WWE doesn’t drop the ball on this the way they did on MVP and Jack Swagger.

John Cena b. Randy Orton to become WWE champion
This was the main event. It was hyped as the end of Cena and Orton’s epic feud and all I can say is thank God it’s over. Thank God we don’t have to watch these two wrestle each other again, but can I please have that hour of my life back? I’m sorry, but it was bad and it was boring. It wasn’t an epic battle, it was a battle to stay interesting and they failed. Iron Man matches are tough, but Cena and Orton should have been able to pull it off, they should have been able to deliver a satisfying ending to their feud, which has had some good battles, but they didn’t. The predictable Cena victory didn’t help. I’m just glad it’s over.

I’m surprised that Ted DiBiase didn’t get involved in a bigger way than that one run-in, I would have liked to see more conflict from him, after the events of last week’s Raw. I also would have liked to have seen Dolph Ziggler at least make an appearance. Maybe those two things would have helped make Bragging Rights a little less awful.

Go ahead and admit it.  You weren’t feeling very confident that John Cena and Randy Orton could go for an entire hour and keep the crowd interested.  You were expecting a ‘boring’ chant around the 35 minute mark, right?  Well, it looks like you were wrong on this one, as Cena defeated Orton and made it pretty exciting in the process.  So go apologize to Cena.  I’d avoid Orton for a few days.

The secret to their success was the no-DQ, falls count anywhere format.  The longtime feud between Cena and Orton has been highlighted by acts of brutality, being it kicking Cena’s father in the head (which still looks painful, two years after it happened) to the I Quit match of two months ago.  By allowing the two men to take it outside of the ring, they could showcase their hatred of each other without having to keep it in the ring.  I don’t actually recall it being announced as falls count anywhere, but it would have been pretty awful having to pull each other back to the ring after tossing them through the stage.

And Orton and Cena got creative about it.  Orton tossed Cena through the bottom of the set, blowing several lights in the process.  He then tossed him on the stage and try to set off a pyro burst with Cena on top of it.  Cena set up the ring steps next to the three man commentary table, then gave Orton an Attitude Adjustment through it.  Their of course was a ref bump which cost Orton a chance at perhaps the winning fall, and complaining about it got him locked in the STF, forcing him to tap just seconds before the timer ran out.

As I had anticipated, both members of Legacy got involved, but all animosity in the stable seemed gone as DiBiase and Rhodes simply beat on Cena for a while before being chased off by a chair-wielding Kofi Kingston.  I doubt Legacy will be quite so cohesive now that Orton is out of the title picture as long as Cena is champion.  Where does he go from here?  In fact, who will be going after Cena now?  DX looks to be dealing with Jerishow, so who steps up as the heel challenger?  Jack Swagger?

But that’s for later.  Now for the rest of the show.

• I was pretty surprised to see the Miz defeat John Morrison to start the show.  Of course, when they revealed that the show that one two out of three matches would get a trophy, it was obvious the first two matches would be split, so this became more obvious.  Perhaps I had my expectations set a little high, but this one wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.  It wasn’t bad by any means, but I still thought it would be a little better.  Anyway, with the Miz winning, expect to hear about for a long time.  Because the Miz is aweosme.  Just ask him.
• The only thing surprising about the Smackdown heel divas beating the Raw face ones is that Gail Kim did not take the losing fall.  Instead, Beth Phoenix pinned Diva’s champion Melina for the win.  One would expect this would toss Phoenix into top contention for Michelle McCool’s belt, but since they are both heels, I’m not sure how well that would work.  Natalya looked excellent in her performance as well.  They should have her wrestle more often.
• The fatal four way match for the World Heavyweight title was short and rather uneventful.  It was mainly everyone hitting their big moves, then having their pinfall broken up until Undertaker finally hit the Tombstone on Batista to retain his title.  Probably my favorite moment came during the entrances when CM Punk yelled to the crowd ‘What time is it?’  then answered ‘It’s clobberin’ time!’
• The big news out of the match was Batista beating the crap out of Rey Mysterio…because, uh, it is Mysterio’s fault that Batista keeps losing.  Sure.  The turn came very slowly as Batista calmly told Rey that he was going to destroy him.  And it didn’t really work at all.  The attack looked savage, sure, but I think it would have been better to have Batista simply demolish Rey during his mic time rather than speaking about it on his own.  It seemed like the fans really didn’t know what to think, as many cheered when Batista began his attack.
• I could watch Team Raw’s backstage interaction all day long.  After letting Jack Swagger know that no one respects him, Triple H made reference to Mark Henry’s relationship with Mae Young during 1999 (thankfully without mentioning the hand).  Shawn Michaels mentioned that not everyone liked them, then paused for Big Show to toss in an ‘It’s true’ before continuing on.  There was another reference to Kofi’s lack of an accent, but also played for humor.  Oh, and Cody Rhodes is a jerk.
• So Team Smackdown won – how about that?  The finish came when Big Show decided that his tag team was more important than his brand, so he chokeslammed Kofi Kingston and allowed Jericho to get the pin.  Everyone got in on the action, and it was chaotic enough to prevent anyone from seeming left out.  The Hart Dynasty was in quite a bit which is a good thing – perhaps they’ll get something more to do than going back and forth with Cryme Tyme every week.
• I thought it was a good move to have Show give Jericho the win.  Jericho is the part of the team that needs the win (goes with his character) while Show is the one who helps him get it, but really doesn’t care about the personal glory.  I also liked that Jericho shared the trophy with Team Smackdown, though it was a little weird seeing Kane smiling with it.  Ah well – the match was fun.
• Cody Rhodes blamed Kofi Kingston for the loss, even though Big Show turned on them.  This led to Kofi running Legacy out of the main event with a chair.  A program between Cody and Kofi could be interesting.

How I Did
I went 3 for 5 in my predictions, getting the Miz/Morrison and Smackdown vs. Raw matches wrong.  I thought DiBiase would be more of a factor in the main event and I believed Gail Kim would be doing the job in her match, but I still got the results down.  So take that.

Earlier tonight saw the completion of Bragging Rights, a WWE pay-per-view featuring three matches between RAW and SmackDown! superstars/divas/let’s just call them ‘wrestlers’ for…you guessed it…bragging rights. The other two matches were a 4-way for the World Heavyweight title (which will be referred to as ‘Goldie’ from this point forward) and and an ironman match between John Cena and Randy Orton for the WWE title.

In theory, a great card, right? Hell, I just added $40 to my cable account, and I’m broke as shit.

Unfortunately, as has been the case with WWE for quite a while now, in theory does not mean in practice.

Here’s a short breakdown of each match, for those who wisely chose to save their money:

U.S. champion The Miz def. Intercontinental champion John Morrison; RAW leads Bragging Rights, 1-0

This match should’ve been better, but it was acceptable. Plus, these two will have far more chances to compete against each other in the future, assuming one doesn’t go the Marty Jannetty route and shovel vast amounts of

booze, pills and who knows what else into his body.

Morrison flew around and outside the ring because he’s Young Shawn Michaels 2.0 (with a better look and better gimmick). Miz played his angry, overaggressive heel part and relied some chicanery and about as much of a power game as is believable from a professional wrestler who weighs 230 pounds.

The match revolved around Morrison’s finisher, a split-legged corkscrew moonsault from the top rope called Starship Pain. The first time he set it up, Miz rolled out of the ring. The second, Miz got up, threw off Morrison’s balance and pinned him. A better finish would’ve been desired, but it was a sneak one and, well, The Miz is supposed to be sneaky.

Women’s champion Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya def. Divas champion Melina, Gail Kim and Kelly Kelly; Bragging Rights tied at 1.

There’s really not a lot to say. It was dull. It was boring…it was a WWE Diva match. Beth hit her finisher on Melina for the win. Now let’s move on, but not before a gratuitous photo of Kelly Kelly…Kelly. For more, Google her real name (Barbie Blank) and thank me later.

Feel better? So do I. Moving right along…

The Undertaker def. Batista, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio to retain Goldie

The biggest part wasn’t how Taker won (or how). It was the Rey/Batista dynamic, which resulted in quite possibly the best part of the PPV that didn’t involve John Cena getting the holy shit kicked out of him. At one point, Batista hits his powerbomb finisher on Taker, then covers. Mysterio breaks up the pin, since that’s what you do when it’s a Fatal 4-Way.

Batista loses his shit.

First, he breaks up Rey’s cover then, after a brief argument, shoves him out of the ring. After the match, Josh Matthews interviews the pair in the ring. Batista says he’s tired of his friend stabbing him in the back, then beats up a man half his size to a pulp. That, my friends, is how you turn heel.

Naturally, this sets up for Batista and Rey to settle things at Survivor Series, then possibly a heel Batista facing Taker for Goldie at Whatever-the-Hell-the-WWE-December-PPV-Is-Called.

As you noticed, CM Punk wasn’t much of a factor. Oh well. I’m sure as a result of his diminshed role he’ll go have a smoke, or get tanked, or snort some…oh wait. He’s the Straight Edge (TM) dude, right? Oops!

Chris Jericho, Kane, Finlay, Matt Hardy, R-Truth and The Hart Dynasty def. D-Generation X, The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry; SmackDown! wins Bragging Rights, 2-1, and earns a shiny trophy.

Basically, a typical example of the WWE philsophy that, since tag-team matches are cool, they should fit as many  people as possible in a tag-team match. First off: No. Second: Why not save something like this for Survivor Series, go elimination-style and avoid a clusterfuck?

It also followed the typical WWE formula: normal tag match for a while, things start to break down, bodies fly everywhere right before someone hits a finisher on the only other dude in the ring. This case was a little different. With the choice of beating up fellow tag champion Chris Jericho or RAW teammate Kofi Kingston, Big Slow did the latter and chokeslammed top-rope-perched Kofi.

SmackDown! wins and Todd Grisham seems happy that it is the ’superior’ brand. Yay.

John Cena def. Randy Orton, 6-5, in Ironman Match to win WWE championship

John Cena. Randy Orton. No DQ. Ironman match. Even WWE can’t screw this up…right?

…right?

Wrong. Very wrong.

The first ironman match was a classic. Unfortunately, Randy Orton and John Cena are not Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

To put it mildly, this match sucked. It sucked so bad, I’m not even gonna waste a ton of space on it. There were some cool spots (simultaneous RKO and Attitude Adjustment, Orton DDT from apron to floor, Orton trying to blow Cena up with pyro on the stage, Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment from the newly transported ring steps onto the announcers’ table), but a lot…I repeat, a lot of cheap pins. It was like the booking committee decided the more decisions, the better the match.

WRONG.

Hart/Michaels at WrestleMania XII was a classic, and it had zero decisions in 60 minutes. This was an ironman match intended to keep the attention span of the legion of 8-year-old Cena fans. Meanwhile, this 24-year-old Orton fan quickly lost interest because basically anything resulted in a pin. Plus, I’m sure they could have cut this match even at a semi-moderate pace and done all these spots in about 25-30 minutes.

Oh well. Get used to more of what’s below, against an opponent who likely will be instantly elevated from the middle of the card. Oh boy.

]]> http://canadiansportschick.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/bragging-rights-predictions/ Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:36:01 +0000 Canadian Sports Chick http://canadiansportschick.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/bragging-rights-predictions/

I’ve made it clear I’m not thrilled with the Bragging Rights concept. I think it’s boring, badly handled and makes no sense. However, if the WWE wants to shake things up, that’s up to them and I’ll try to buy into the premise and try to figure out why we should care which brand is better.

The Miz vs. John Morrison
To me, this is the most interesting match on the card. These two guys had great chemistry as tag team partners, hopefully they can bring that same chemistry as competitors. They both seem to be on the verge of big things and I want this match to be the one that pushes them over and handled well, it could be. I think The Miz needs the victory more than Morrison does to solidify as a solid contender (and he hasn’t had a PPV victory yet), so I’m giving him the victory.
My Pick: The Miz

Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya
Can I tell you how thrilled I am to see Natalya in this match? I think she deserves much more attention than the WWE has given her, because simply put she’s the most talented diva on the WWE roster. I think Smackdown is taking this one, to make the two shows even going into the main event, and simply because the Smackdown divas are more worthy of victory.
My Pick: Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya

Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kofi Kingston, The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger and Mark Henry vs. Chris Jericho, Kane, Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, R-Truth, Matt Hardy and Finlay
First I’m so thrilled to see the Hart Dynasty in this match, getting some major exposure and I hope we get to see them in the ring. In fact, I hope we get to see all the younger guys show what they are capable of. Smackdown is so winning this, obviously that was the plan all along and the team change was to make it more believable. Either The Big Show or Cody Rhodes is going to screw Team Raw. I’m voting the Big Show, since the DX vs. Legacy storyline is over and Legacy is busy self-destructing. I’m predicting a DX/Jerishow bout for the title at the next PPV and this will be the lead in.
My Pick: Team Smackdown

The Undertaker vs. Batista vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio for the World Heavy-Weight Championship
Punk seems like the only choice here. Who else is logical? The old guy who looks like he can barely move in the ring? Or the guy who spends more time on the disabled list than in the ring? Or the guy who just got back from a suspension? Yeah, not loving any of those choices. So Punk makes sense, plus he was a great heel champion. But, I don’t think that’s going to happen, not after the way he was booked on Friday, so of my three unpalatable options, I’m going to go with Batista since I think the Undertaker is going to be feuding with Vince McMahon (yawn) and I just don’t see Mysterio getting a championship run right now.
My Pick: Batista

Randy Orton vs. John Cena in an Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship
The biggest challenge of this match will be keeping it interesting for an hour. Iron Man Matches are so rare, because they’re so challenging. I’m hoping that these two can bring it, that they can make it the match of the year. These two work well together and have had some great matches, so there is some optimism there. This should be a brilliant match, filled with intensity and these two men pushing themselves and each other to the brink. I want the same intensity I saw from them at Breaking Point and if I get that, I’ll be a happy girl. I think Cena’s winning because I don’t see him switching brands, not right now anyway.
My Pick: John Cena

The two biggest absences from the card, in my opinion, are Dolph Ziggler and Ted DiBiase, but I suspect that they’ll both get involved. Ziggler in The Miz/Morrison match and DiBiase in the Orton/Cena match. Both men are two hot right now, not to appear in some and with brewing storylines, it’d make sense for them to get involved in the aforementioned matches.

Jeez – just three weeks and already another WWE event?  There used to be two PPVs in October for a reason.  Aside from No Mercy, the WWE had a novel little event called Taboo Tuesday in which fans voted on the stipulations and even participants of the matches for the night.  Then it turned out having a PPV on a Tuesday was a bad idea, so it became Cyber Sunday.  The event was pretty cool in that the WWE actually followed the fans’ votes rather than rigging it themselves, but because of it, matches had to be planned on the fly and some of them ended up suffering for it.

Well, those days are gone and in its place we get the new gimmicked PPV Bragging Rights featuring Raw vs. Smackdown matches and coincidentally being released right along with this year’s Smackdown vs. Raw video game.  Puuuuure coincidence.  The card’s not big, due to the length of the main event, so follow along.

Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship
Randy Orton(c) vs. John Cena
Apparently someone realized the Orton vs. Cena feud had been going on for half-past forever, so they’re bringing it to a close with an hour long match.  The match was proposed by Cena with the stipulation that afterwards there will be no rematches.  The winner moves on and the loser lingers out of the title picture.  Seeing himself at something of a disadvantage, Orton changed the stipulation to if Cena loses, he must leave Raw “forever”.  Cena accepted, and now everyone’s wondering if he’ll be a Smackdown superstar next week.  He sure isn’t going to ECW.

Randy Orton and John Cena are definitely comfortable around each other and work well with one another, but I question if the two of them can make an hour long match worthwhile.  Despite the complaints against him, Cena is a pretty good worker, but he usually sticks to the same process, which is fine for a regular PPV match, but what about one that is three times as long?  Sure, Orton’s pretty good himself, but again, I question whether the two can pull out the necessary stops here.  There’s one thing for sure – this isn’t going to be Hart/Michaels.

As for results, I’m guessing that despite all the setup for Cena leaving, he regains his belt and stays on Raw.  Orton has been having tension with Ted DiBiase as of late, and I feel like he’s going to get involved somewhere here, perhaps costing Orton a fall during the match.

14-Man Raw vs. Smackdown Tag Team Match
D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H), Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry vs. Chris Jericho, Kane, the Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd), Finlay, R-Truth and Matt Hardy
To give the PPV’s name some meaning, this match was set up with the ultimate prize being a fat load of nothing bragging rights to call their show the Dominant Brand of Sports Entertainment.  With a whole three weeks to set up, the two shows set their rosters last week, then spent this week getting in each other’s faces.  Well, at least they did that on Raw.  Smackdown used the go-home show to completely changing its lineup, removing Cryme Tyme, Dolph Ziggler, Eric Escobar and Drew McIntyre in favor of the Hart Dynasty, Finlay, Matt Hardy and R-Truth.

While I agree that the new lineup is a better representation of Smackdown (and preventing a full roster of heels), this really should have been done on week 2 to give the team a little bit of time to sell the idea to the fans that they could work together.  Having it on the last show reveals that a) they have no time to mesh as a team and b) this PPV had too little set up time.  I’m also not sure if this match is elimination or single fall.  Either way, it’s going to be fast and expect at least one full team brawl.

So who wins?  That would be Team Raw.  While Smackdown does have a more experienced team now, they are also completely made up of guys who take a lot of losses.  Jericho is the punching bag of Jerishow, Kane teeters back and forth from dominance, the Hart Dynasty regularly loses to Cryme Tyme, R-Truth is being horribly wasted, Matt Hardy has lost all his steam from his too bried heel run and Finlay is about on the level of Tommy Dreamer.  Raw has guys on hot streaks (DX, Rhodes, Swagger, Kofi) along with the size of Big Show and Mark Henry.  It’s going to be Team Raw with the win.

Fatal Four-Way Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Undertaker(c) vs. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
This came about when CM Punk demanded his rematch from his loss at Hell in a Cell, and GM Teddy Long was upstaged by Vince McMahon in an effort to…uh…well, I’m not really sure where the McMahon/Long stuff is going.  Apparently, McMahon is trying to get Long on the bad side of the Undertaker while holding his job over his head.  I hope this doesn’t end up with Long getting ‘fired’ as he really has been a consistent bright spot for Smackdown in his years as GM.

So to keep the crowd from Punk/Taker III, Batista and Rey were tossed in fresh off their loss at Hell in a Cell (hey, I gave TNA crap about it too).  This match will be alright – Punk and Taker are good, Rey’s exciting and Batista’s got his act down.  I’m thinking Taker retains here (though I hear he’s nursing an injury) and animosity will raise between Rey and Batista.  I suppose.  I’m not really excitied by this match.

Raw vs. Smackdown Match
The Miz vs. John Morrison
While this is the Intercontinental vs. United States champions (for bragging rights, mind you), the real story here is between former (Slammy Award winning) tag team partners Miz and Morrison.  They were a dominant tag team from ECW showing up on every show until Miz got drafted to Raw and immediately turned on his partner (who had lost the draft pick in a match).  This was never really followed up on as the shows have actually pretty good about locking down their rosters on their shows.  Now, finally, the animosity is back as both have become successful singles competitors on their respective shows.

I’m thinking that Morrison will be winning this match for two reasons.  One, he’s the face in the feud.  Two, I think team Raw will be winning the big Raw vs. Smackdown match, so Smackdown will win the two smaller ones leading into something at Survivor Series.  The match will be excellent, as not only are they good on their own, but after so long of tagging, they know each other very well and can work together.  This has the potential to steal the show.

6-Diva Raw vs. Smackdown Tag Team Match
Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya
To toss in some eye candy, but keeping with the theme, the shows’ respective women’s champions are in action with two of their show’s divas.  So we have the Raw team of faces in Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim vs. the Smackdown team of heels in Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya.  There’s really no story here.  Just a tag match.

I fully expect the heels to get the win here, with Beth Phoenix likely pinning Gail Kim.  Phoenix will then get all up in Michelle McCool’s business about her Women’s title.  I’m fairly confident on this one.

Worth buying?
It all depends on how much you like Randy Orton vs. John Cena.  The other matches are pretty much blow offs, but if you’re into the iron man match, then by all means, yes.  It’ll be decent, the Miz/Morrison match will be good, and the others will be so-so.  I’ve got a group that is getting it (including the other two writers of this blog) so I’ll be enjoying it live.