Smark Out Moment

Though the card is a bit strange, there's a chance this ppv could be rather good, but as always, the execution is where we'll be able to decide that. Will the WWE put on a good enough ppv that they can brag about it, or will they have no right to when it's all said and done? Who knows? Will I think of a better way to work that pun in there next year? Maybe so. Let's get into it!

Nice effect having Lawler's name encased in red, Striker's name encased in blue, and Cole's name 50/50 as he's in the middle and on both shows. I love little details like that. The ropes are half blue and half red as well as the ring posts.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan
As much as I think Bryan is overrated, I love "Ride of the Valkyries", and I hope he keeps it for a long while. Lots of mat wrestling so far. Bryan jumps over Vickie and hits Ziggler with a flying knee. What I'm liking about this is that everything seems crisp and energetic without going overboard and getting haphazard. Striker refers to the couple as "Jiggles and Ziggles" (haha). The crowd is PUMPED tonight, and this match is surely helping out with that. Bryan goes for a back suplex from the top rope but Ziggler reverses it into a crossbody cover, gets a two, and Bryan reverses that into a two-count of his own. Bryan escapes the Sleeper and they collide with a double crossbody attempt. There's a series of different pinning attempt reversals followed by Ziggler getting the three, but Bryan's leg is on the ropes. After some bragging, Ziggler ends up trapped in the LeBell Lock and has to submit!

WINNER: Daniel Bryan via submission.
Now THAT was a great match. We should have that caliber match for every opening of a card. That was very, very good. One of Ziggler's best matches and one of the better matches I've seen in a long time. If Bryan keeps up this level of performance, then I'll admit that I was wrong about him, because this match was fantastic. Great start to the ppv. 

Backstage with the Miz and Alex Riley
Miz says Bryan owes his success to his training and Raw's off to a great start. Sheamus questions Miz's authority. Punk says Miz is "barely Captain Crunch" let alone the Raw captain. Santino asks where the snacks and beverages are. Sheamus says if anyone gets in his face, he'll kick his head off. Riley says Miz needs to get things together, that Santino thinks its a cocktail party and calls Sheamus "the Keebler elf".

"Dashing" Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre
The tag champs hit the ring and get on the mic. Rhodes says that the ppv name is appropriate for them to come out because they have a lot to brag about. Lawler makes fun of McIntyre's accent (and rightfully so when he says Smackdooon). They claim nobody wants to face them. Raw's GM sends a message (cue the chorus of boos, haha, I love the anonymous GM thing with Cole). Raw GM says there IS a team that will challenge them tonight. Out comes Wade Barrett! He says he's going to win the title tonight and introduces "one half of the next tag team champions...David Otunga, and his partner, John Cena". Cena BOLTS to the ring.

Tag Team Championship: Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena & David Otunga
Crowd's a bit confused about who to cheer for, outside of Cena, of course. The audience energy hasn't dropped though. Cena basically takes care of them for most of the match. He then wins the match by making Rhodes tap out to the STF. Otunga celebrates and Cole points out that he's been living off other people for his whole life and did the same here with Cena. Great little tidbit to throw in there. After the match, Cena gives Otunga an Attitude Adjustment.

WINNERS (and new tag team champions): John Cena & David Otunga via submission.
The match wasn't stellar, but it was good enough not to kill things. They kept the momentum going and we're rolling to the next segment easily.

Backstage with DiBiase and Maryse
Josh asks Ted how he'll get back his Million Dollar championship. Maryse spits out a bunch of French nonsense and Ted shuts her up to answer Josh, saying Goldust doesn't belong in the ring or even the same tax bracket as him. He'll beat him tonight, take back his belt, and then have Aksana deported.

Ted DiBiase vs. Goldust
Why isn't Maryse trying to get the belt while this match is going on? Striker - "Michael Cole is wearing jewelry, ladies and gentlemen, the rumors are true." Ted's getting a lot of close 2.5 counts so far. "Patented Goldust" from Cole, since according to him, he's used "vintage" already. NOW Maryse goes to attack Aksana. This distracts Goldust, allowing DiBiase to get a DDT and a quick pin on him. Maryse takes the Million Dollar title but Aksana attacks her (and has to readjust her dress so her ass doesn't hang out, unfortunately). She then flirts with DiBiase long enough for Goldust to hit the Final Cut on him. Goldust and Aksana walk away with the title still in their position.

WINNER: Ted DiBiase via pinfall.
Not a bad match. I hope with this and the tag title match, it doesn't take too much time away from the 7-on-7 match or the two world title matches, but it wasn't bad.

Divas Championship: Layla vs. Natalya
Layla and McCool do the typical "make fun of the local people" stuff and cut another terrible promo. Natalya has a good spot where she's keeping Layla up with a vertical suplex and actually doing squats in the process. Natalya's quickly proving that if they give her the chance, she's easily the best wrestler they've got out of the women. Layla tries to leave, but Natalya cuts her off and throws her back in the ring. While the ref isn't paying attention, Michelle kicks Natalya in the head. Layla gets the pin.

WINNER: Layla via pinfall.
If Natalya never gets the title, that's ridiculous.

Josh Mathews in the Grave
Josh gives a rundown of the Buried Alive match while standing in the grave area.

World Heavyweight Championship [Buried Alive Match]: Kane (c) vs. The Undertaker
Brock Lesnar attacks the Undertaker! Just kidding. Taker goes after Kane before he can even make it to the ring. Paul Bearer stays far away. If I heard them correctly, the fans were just chanting "we want blood". Taker and Kane are now fighting amongst the fans. Undertaker starts throwing chairs into the ring...and the top of the announce table. But they go back to the fans. Then back inside where Kane starts hitting Taker with one of the chairs. Kane chokeslams Taker, but as Cole points out, it doesn't matter, as he's a long way away from the burial spot. Kane chokeslams him again. Kane starts carrying Taker towards the grave, but Taker strikes back and now they start fighting around the ramp. Taker wins the punch-for-punch competition. Kane scrambles around the grave and Taker signals the end. Kane throws dirt in his eyes, though, and gives him a big boot to the face...and knocks over a microphone. Undertaker locks in the Hell's Gate and Kane taps out, but it doesn't matter. He passes out, but Paul Bearer is sneaking around. Taker pushes Kane into the grave, then sets his sights to Paul Bearer, who begs for mercy. Taker pushes his face into the dirt, then gets ready to chokeslam him in. The Nexus comes out (sans Cena) and attacks Taker. While Slater, Gabriel, Otunga, and Barrett gang up on the Undertaker, Kane comes back out of the grave and hits Taker with the urn. Kane throws the urn into the grave along with the Undertaker and the Nexus starts shoveling in the dirt. Kane tells them to get out of there. He then does his pyro taunt and the construction crane dumps more dirt in the grave. Kane wins.

WINNER: Kane via...burial.
Hm. Hearing about the possible shoulder surgery with Taker kind of spoiled it (which is by no means the WWE's fault, it's our fault for reading the spoilers), but I'm surprised at how things came out, especially with the Nexus being the reason Taker won.

After the match, Taker's music plays and a cheap lightning effect happens, with Taker's logo being displayed on the tombstone. They try to play up the eerie feel...and when we cut backstage, Josh Mathews is grinning like he just got a blowjob from Kelly Kelly hahaha. What a weird transition.

Backstage with Randy Orton
Orton says if Cena interferes, he'll take him out.

Smackdown vs. Raw 7-on-7 Bragging Rights Elimination Match: Team Raw (The Miz, CM Punk, John Morrison, Ezekiel Jackson, Santino Marella, R-Truth & Sheamus, with Alex Riley) vs. Team Smackdown (Big Show, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger, Tyler Reks, Kofi Kingston, Alberto Del Rio, & Edge, with Hornswoggle)
Long enough title for you? When Morrison comes out, the pyro's set up at the wrong spot, completely off-screen. Reks comes out to absolutely zero reaction. Chimel's voice naturally cracks when he introduces Edge, as it always does. Morrison starts things off with Reks. Santino is tagged in. Expect his elimination soon. Santino goes for the Cobra and yup, Santino is eliminated by Reks. In comes Ezekiel. In comes Big Show, who overpowers Ezekiel. Mysterio comes in and soon tags in Kofi. Both of them are overpowered by Ezekiel, who then tags in Sheamus. Kofi takes it to Sheamus and hits the SOS, but Sheamus gets his hand on the ropes to break up the count. Sheamus hits the High Cross powerbomb. Kofi Kingston is eliminated by Sheamus. In comes Mysterio. Sheamus tags in Punk, who gets a huge set of cheers from the crowd. Del Rio arrogantly tags himself in and mere moments later, is thrown into Mysterio. Del Rio then throws Mysterio into the security railing. Big Show yells "have you lost your damn mind?" Mysterio is being taken away by the trainers. Swagger's in now with Punk (who is still getting cheered heavily by the audience). Morrison, from the OUTSIDE, flips into the Starship Pain! Swagger is eliminated by Morrison. Reks comes in, attacking JoMo. Sheamus is tagged in and after Morrison distracts him, Sheamus kicks Reks in the head and eliminates him. Big Show comes in. Sheamus pushes Hornswoggle to the ground and they start fighting around the ramp area while the ref is counting. Both Big Show and Sheamus are counted out! We're down to Edge and Del Rio on Smackdown against R-Truth, John Morrison, the Miz, CM Punk, and Ezekiel on Raw. R-Truth misses the Ax Kick and Edge spears him. Edge eliminates R-Truth. Morrison misses the Starship Pain and possibly tweaks his leg (though that may just be kayfabe), allowing Edge to spear him. Edge eliminates John Morrison. CM Punk comes in and Del Rio tags himself in. CM Punk eliminates Del Rio with a backslide! Edge is alone (unless Mysterio comes back out) against Punk, Ezekiel, and the Miz. Lo and behold, Mysterio comes out, attacks Del Rio, and re-enters the match. Edge is passed back and forth amongst the Raw superstars, unable to tag in Mysterio. Punk misses the knee in the corner, allowing Edge to give him an electric chair. Rey is tagged in. Rey and Punk reverse each other into a series of two-counts. Rey then hits the 619 and eliminates CM Punk! Ezekiel comes in immediately and levels Rey. Edge for some reason isn't on the apron. Ezekiel is eliminated by Mysterio, despite kicking out. Everyone's confused. Something went wrong. Riley protects the Miz from a 619. The Miz counters and gets a two-count. Edge is tagged in and spears the Miz. The Miz is eliminated by Edge! Team Smackdown wins!

WINNERS: Team Smackdown via pinfall.
Good match. It didn't go as I thought it would in a lot of ways, which made it better. The only people that really looked bad in the process were Santino and to an extent R-Truth.

Striker celebrates afterward, boasting towards Lawler and Cole. Mysterio, Edge, and Hornswoggle celebrate in the ring with the trophy. Cole points out that he's a part of Smackdown, too.

WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs. Wade Barrett
Before the match starts, Barrett gets the mic and tells Cena that if he doesn't win, he's fired. The fans chant "fire Cena" (lol). Pretty even contest so far (which makes Barrett look like a legitimate main eventer). Well, we all saw it coming, and now the ref is knocked out. Barrett is ordering Cena to come into the ring. He's knocked off the apron, though. The rest of Nexus attacks Orton. Cena attacks Slater, Gabriel, and Otunga. Barrett asks him what the hell he's doing and Cena says if Wade gets DQ'ed, he'd lose. Wade sets Orton up for Wasteland but Orton gets out of it. Cena comes into the ring and gives BARRETT an Attitude Adjustment. Wade wins by disqualification. Orton gives Cena an RKO. Orton retains the title, but lost the match. Orton then gives Barrett an RKO.

WINNER: Wade Barrett via disqualification.
Well...it wasn't the best way to end the match, nor was it the best way to end the ppv. Once the disqualification happened, all the energy in the audience just completely evaporated. The match wasn't bad, but that ending kind of fucked it up.

Though the ending of the ppv was lackluster, overall, Bragging Rights 2010 was great. Not a single match on the card was bad and there were some good twists and turns in there. Very, very good overall. This was one that you shouldn't have missed.