Smark Out Moment

And so we cast aside the voting polls from Cyber Sunday and usher in a new pay-per-view wherein a tag team match is the gimmick of the show: Survivor Series...wait, I'm getting ahead of myself, and so did the WWE. That's next month as this Sunday is Bragging Rights, wherein the brands of the WWE will face off to determine which of the two are better, because apparently the WWE doesn't realize that there's a third brand in ECW. What do we have in store for the debut of this new ppv concept?

Six Diva Tag Team Match: Team Raw (Melina, Kelly Kelly, & Gail Kim) vs. Team Smackdown (Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, & Natalya)First off, thank god they put Natalya on here instead of Layla, and Kelly and Gail instead of the Bella twins or Eve. Clearly they've continued the "Raw is face, Smackdown is heel" motif here. Really, it doesn't matter what happens as nobody will care.

PREDICTION: Team Raw wins.

John Morrison vs. The Miz
I'm head over heels excited for this match. Both Morrison and the Miz are two of my favorites in the WWE right now and two guys that I think we can all agree will be on top of the company in the future. There's lots of comparisons lately about the Shawn and Marty duo, but I'm actually looking at this match in a different light. You know what this reminds me of? Steve Austin versus The Rock for the Intercontinental title...before either man made it as a main event star. I wholeheartedly expect these two to put on one hell of a show and leave us looking back a few years from now, while they're headlining WrestleMania.

PREDICTION: John Morrison defeats the Miz.

World Heavyweight Championship (Fatal Four-Way): The Undertaker (c) vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
I think we've all discussed this already...Batista is going to turn heel. This angle where they're repeatedly drilling home the point that he and Mysterio are friends, alongside him being frustrated from losing recently, just spells that Batista will somehow lose this match and lash out, probably on Rey. Rumor has it that the WWE wants to do another program between Batista and Taker and I can see them doing that for Survivor Series while Rey and Punk start a program together. Look for Punk and Rey to try to quicken the pace while Taker and Batista do a power struggle a lot. Could work, could be a snooze.

PREDICTION: The Undertaker retains and Batista goes nuts afterwards.

WWE Championship (Iron Man Match): Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena
As excited as I am for the Morrison/Miz match, I'm equally NOT excited about this match. I have absolutely no faith that these two will pull off a decent Iron Man match. Why? Because I don't feel like watching 40 minutes of headlocks from Randy Orton and I don't want to see the Five Knuckle Shuffle performed 12 times from Cena. Sure, Cena receives a lot of criticism about "only knowing five moves", which is a bit of an exaggeration, but he certainly is no Shawn Michaels when it comes to variation. He's got his leg drop, his punches, his STF and his Attitude Adjustment, but not much more than a handful of other moves. Plus, Cena has a trouble selling pain for more than thirty seconds, so I wouldn't be too surprised if this match looked like it made no sense. The main problem I foresee with Orton is pacing. He wrestles very slowly...and walks...very...slowly....and....talks...very....slowly....and that will become boring as all hell if you're watching it for a straight hour. Another thing that bothers me about this is that its so obvious that Cena will not be losing. Do you really think they'll move their top guy in ratings and merchandise to the show that some people don't even get on their cable networks? Not a chance. So far, the WWE has had their Iron Man matches with the outcomes of 1-0, 6-5, 5-4, and 4-3. Want to go with the pattern and say 3-2? I'm hoping that's not the case, as I think the more exciting conclusion would be if they had lots of decisions.

PREDICTION: John Cena wins the title. I'm hoping with something like 8-7, but knowing the WWE, it'll probably end up being 3-2 lol

Bragging Rights: Team Raw (DX, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & Mark Henry) vs. Team Smackdown (Chris Jericho, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Cryme Tyme, Drew McIntyre, & Eric Escobar)
First off, let me say that I'm all for giving pushes to the younger guys, but I think its a major, major mistake that they put McIntyre and Escobar in this match. I also think its a mistake that Cryme Tyme is in it. I don't see what's so great about McIntyre that he's getting this push, nor do I think Escobar even showed enough in his match against Matt Hardy to warrant being on the main roster. Cryme Tyme...just give me a break. You can't tell me that Smackdown wouldn't look more formidable with the likes of Knox, Hardy, and Finlay instead of three of those four I just mentioned. But therein lies why they did it, I think. Nobody expects Smackdown to win, which is why they will. I will be utterly shocked if somehow this match ends with anything other than Big Show having conspired with Jericho to sabotage Team Raw and let Jericho score the winning pinfall against either Shawn, Kofi, or Mark Henry. This opens the door for DX to be pissed at those two and have them challenge for the tag titles at Survivor Series, or possibly, reestablish their "teams" in Survivor Series format with Team DX against Team JeriShow. Hoping for the former, though, as I'd rather see the Survivor Series elimination match be comprised of other people.

PREDICTION: Team Smackdown is victorious.

*UPDATE: Now that Team Smackdown has changed to be Jericho, Kane, the Hart Dynasty, Matt Hardy, R-Truth, and Finlay...actually, I still think that Team Smackdown is going to win from Big Show screwing over Raw. However, I no longer think that the odds are so heavily in favor of Raw, as now, the teams are pretty evenly matched up (all things considered).

As noted earlier, I'm afraid that this pay-per-view will cheapen the effect of Survivor Series since it is taking place directly before it. They need to tread a fine line here to make it appear different enough that the fans don't feel like they're being given the same thing twice. With no ECW representation, an Iron Man match that I feel is doomed to fail, a divas match that nobody will give two shits about, and only three credible members of Team Smackdown (*Update: With Team Smackdown changing, it upgrades the match to watchable), I think the only two crown jewels of this whole card are the Morrison/Miz and Fatal Four-Way match. I guess we'll just have to see.

What are your predictions? What are you looking forward to/not looking forward to? Which brand are you rooting for? Leave your comments.