Happy Halloween to all and welcome to the end of another wild week in the WWE. Bragging Rights answered a few questions but brought up more. RAW and Smackdown competed for the top dog status in the WWE, and ECW saw a very good title match. The fallout of the PPV has set the stage for an intense Survivor Series. Let’s take a look back.
MATCH OF THE WEEK: JOHN CENA DEF. RANDY ORTON FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP IN AN IRON-MAN MATCH AT BRAGGING RIGHTS WWE WEEK IN REVIEW
By Marco
This is the final chapter in a vicious, violent, and brutal rivalry. John Cena and Randy Orton wanted to end it properly, with one final battle. What they gave the fans was a Match of the Year candidate. Cena and Orton battled throughout the arena, into the stands, on the stage, and in the ring. Both men scored decisions on pinfalls. There were no count-outs and no disqualifications, so Orton took his liberties. To prove he will stop at nothing to defend his title, Randy experimented with the stage pyro to hurt Cena. That is something I have never seen before in WWE. For John Cena, he had his back to the wall and sometimes looked out on his feet. However, there is a certain toughness and strength that John Cena possesses. In my preview, I suggested his brawn would be a negative in this marathon. In the first and last fall, he used that power to wear on Randy Orton. Orton submitted early to avoid a prolonged submission hold from Cena, but had no escape in the final seconds of the match, submitting with five seconds to go. Orton had a chance to take a 5-5 draw, which would have forced sudden death, but he was unable to last the final seconds while Cena cinched in the STF. Cena has to be as excited that he has the title back, but perhaps more excited he has put Randy Orton out of his life.
SURPRISE MATCH OF THE WEEK: CHRIS JERICHO DEF. KANE TO QUALIFY FOR THE TRIPLE-THREAT WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH AT SURVIVOR SERIES
After winning the Bragging Rights trophy, Chris Jericho thought he automatically deserved a shot at the Undertaker and the World Heavyweight Championship. Teddy Long made him earn it, going against his co-captain, in what was a very physical match between two veterans. Kane and Jericho battled like it was a title match. Jericho, the master of chain wrestling, had a tougher time with the larger opponent, but was able to use his counter-wrestling effectively. Kane’s size gave him a chance to pound on the smaller man and took advantage early and often. Chris Jericho is a very smart ring general, as he is keen to tell the fans, and showed that prowess in avoiding the big move. When Kane chokeslammed Jericho , Jericho rolled out of the ring. Kane, not one to be satisfied with a countout, dragged the deadweight of Jericho into the ring but was unable to secure victory. Jericho pulled the victory out when he reversed Kane’s flying clothesline into the Codebreaker. Jericho talks a lot, but he backs up that mouth with skill. He brings a very interesting factor in a battle of super-heavyweights scheduled for Survivor Series.
LAME MATCH OF THE WEEK: CM PUNK DEF. SCOTT ARMSTRONG ON SMACKDOWN
Yeah, this was a bad match. Anytime an official has to wrestle a Superstar, it usually ends poorly for the referee. CM Punk got a measure of revenge on the referee who “screwed” him out of the World Heavyweight Championship. However, it was unnecessary. The only thing that can come out of Scott Armstrong feuding with CM Punk is the return of Scott’s real-life brother, the Road Dogg. Oh God I’d love to see that.
IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR: THEODORE LONG
The embattled GM of Smackdown was the real winner at Bragging Rights. Teddy Long’s show won the event, and he got some pressure off him. His Superstars and his Divas won their respective tag-team matches. Teddy Long ensured his team’s victory by making a secret deal with The Big Show to steal the match. In exchange, he has presented his World Heavyweight Champion with a challenging opponent. On Smackdown, he scheduled a good match to make it a Triple-Threat match and made the match more compelling. Chris Jericho won and entered the match. The Unified Tag Team champions will face each other and attempt to unseat the very dangerous Undertaker. He appears to have regained control of the show, quieting his critics and even getting CM Punk off his back. Teddy Long is a very good entertainer. He is also showing he can assess and manage talent on his roster, giving the proper wrestlers chances to shine. He will have to also to manage a very good and contentious Divas squad. We should all be so lucky.
IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR: JOHN MORRISON
John Morrison had a huge opportunity at Bragging Rights. He had a chance to beat his old tag-team partner, the Miz, and further establish himself in the pantheon of dominant young wrestlers. He had a chance to shut up the big talking Miz and prove he was the better man of the tag team. He had a chance to light it up on a big stage against a fellow champion. Quite frankly, John Morrison did not. For the second straight PPV, John Morrison was unable to dictate pace, and had to grind it out against a more physical opponent. John can wrestle at a slower pace due to his excellent condition, but not only does it put him at a disadvantage, it’s also very boring. He came back on Smackdown! and lost to his rival on that show, Dolph Ziggler. While it was by countout, a loss is a loss. The Friday Night Delight cannot be delighted with what has transpired, and this puts his title reign on thin ice.
INTERESTING TURN OF THE WEEK: TRIPLE-THREAT MATCHES FOR THE WWE AND WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Undertaker and John Cena each won his title and vanquished their rivals at Bragging Rights. Their next task? Face the two best tag-teams in the WWE in Triple-Threat matches for said title at Survivor Series. John Cena will face two incredible singles wrestlers in HHH and Shawn Michaels. The two have about 20 World Titles between them. Each man has faced Cena for the title at Wrestlemania. Either man is a viable threat to the champ; combined spells suicide for the champ. The only hope Cena has is the two are such egotists that their famous bond could break easily. The Undertaker faces a similar fate. The Unified Tag Team champions are such good wrestlers. Jericho is almost as good as he claims he is. The Big Show is just devastating. More importantly, Show is not afraid of Jericho or the Undertaker. Jericho is the wild card between the two big battlers. He can turn the match with one move and run rings around his partner and the Dead Man. These matches should be excellent.
EPIC FAIL OF THE WEEK: WILLIAM REGAL’S “BLOW-UP” ON THE ABRAHAM WASHINGTON SHOW
After watching RAW, I was about to unleash on the RAW bookers who picked the NASCAR guys for Halloween week and left Ozzy Osbourne for next week. Who does that? I then realized that Monday will be Day of the Dead, and Ozzy seems like a fair host for that day. The next night was ECW. The show started with The Abraham Washington Show. His guest was the ECW Gm Tiffany. William Regal came out and again pleaded for a title shot. Again Tiffany refused to placate. The “proper English gentleman” did the polite thing: he trashed the set. It was hysterical. He clearly has never trashed a talk-show set. The British are not particularly known for their talk show, so his chances to practice may be limited. Otherwise, it was a very poor attempt and he should probably let his larger cohorts sends messages with mischief.
SIGHTING OF THE WEEK: ROWDY RODDY PIPER ON “IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA”
A very funny episode of this very funny series featured The Hot Rod as, well, a washed-up wrestler. He does some work in a local wrestling promotion and the cast picks him to do a benefit event. It was hilarious, and also kinda sad, given the destitute condition of his character. Try to find it online or on-demand. It’s worth a half-hour of your time.
Contact me at marco.cerino@gmail.com
