Another Sunday and another PPV has come and gone. This week it’s Bragging Rights, which was once known as Cyber Sunday, aka the consistently worst PPV of the year along with The Bash and sometimes Judgement Day. I got around to watching the whole thing the day after. I’m kind of a big Yankee fan and since the ALCS Game 6 was on at the same time, it had to be picked over Bragging Rights. Only five matches were on the card, and overall the show was solid. There were no classics but nothing was terrible either. Here’s a bit of analysis:

The Miz def. John Morrison
With another five or ten minutes, these two could have done wonders. Unfortunately, they were given barely over ten minutes, but the performance was still very good. This is the only prediction I got wrong, and if I had thought about it a little bit longer, I would have definitely picked the Miz. Between the two of them, Morrison seems like he will become a big star while Miz might just float around the upper mid card. For that reason, the Miz needed this win more. Morrison does not need this win to become a main event talent in the near future. Good opener from two young stars.
***1/2

Smackdown Divas (Beth Phoenix, Michelle McCool, & Natalya) def. Raw Divas (Gail Kim, Melina, & Kelly Kelly)
It’s good news and bad news time. Good news: This was one of the best divas matches I’ve seen in the past few months. Bad news: That isn’t saying much. In the world of WWE women, this was a success, but in the world of my five-star rating system, they scratched and clawed for two stars. Maybe one day we might see a turnaround in the women’s division.
**

WHC Match: The Undertaker def. Batista, CM Punk, and Rey Mysterio
I liked the pace that this match started at, and although it ended up as a decent fatal four-way match, I thought things got somewhat awkward at the end. The guys didn’t work as well together as they did at the beginning. The main focus of this match, however, was the Batista heel turn afterwards. I have good and bad thoughts about that. The way it was done was pretty horrible; I mean, why have Josh Mathews come out and interview? That made things so obvious. Why not have Batista or Rey grab the mic and start talking? Batista didn’t sound that great, but he gave a good beatdown and made it look believable. Also, a heel turn is the best thing for him, since most fans like myself are extremely bored with him now. Hopefully this will have some effect on his wrestling style and maybe even the quality of his promos. But besides that, it was a decent little title match that might have left CM Punk back in the mid card level.
***

Team Smackdown (Chris Jericho, Kane, The Hart Dynasty, Matt Hardy, R-Truth, & Finlay) def. Team Raw (DX, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & Mark Henry)
Well the Big Show turn might have seemed a bit obvious, but I am a bit intrigued at the direction this turn is going. It originally seemed that Show did it to spite DX and that they would get into a feud for the tag titles; instead, he revealed that his turn was in fact to get a shot at the WHC. Personally, I would rather see DX vs. Jeri-Show than both teams in different heavyweight title hunts. I was feeling really optimistic that a new guy on Raw would get a huge push and a title shot. Instead, they must have decided no one was ready and just stuck DX in there. Creative had a great opportunity to make a new star or two, and they let it pass by. As for the match itself, it wasn’t too messy, but there’s only so much that can happen with fourteen guys in one ring. Too many people for me, but okay nonetheless.
***

John Cena def. Randy Orton (Iron Man Match)
The whole Cena leaving Raw stipulation in essence gave away the outcome of the match. Did I think this was a good match? Yes. Would I want to see them do it again? Never in a million years. The whole anything goes idea worked out very well, since I think without that, it would have been a disaster. There wasn’t exactly too much wrestling involved, but it was entertaining. I really liked the whole pyro scenario. But the best thing about the match was the BLOOD. Yes, I sound like a savage, but wasn’t it really refreshing to see a guy bleed on WWE TV? And the fact that Cena refused treatment and kept bleeding for close to ten minutes was definitely a breath of fresh air. Compared to the other Iron Man matches I have watched (Angle/Lesnar, HHH/Rock, Hart/HBK), this ranks fourth. Those matches, however, were absolutely excellent, so matching up to them was a tall task. Credit these two for being out there for an hour and giving us an entertaining main event with only a few really slow spots.
****

Except for the first match, I got all my predictions right. Now it’s on to Survivor Series, where members of the top two tag teams in the business will be involved in both heavyweight title matches. The thing I’m looking forward to the most is Kofi vs. Orton. It might be done as a traditional Survivor series match, but seeing Kofi drop the accent and get into a feud with a top guy like Orton is really awesome. Now all Orton needs to do is put him over, and we have a legitimate main eventer on our hands! Hopefully he can remember what the Undertaker did for his career back in 2004.

Time to change things up. I am thrilled at the fact that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are going to TNA. This is a definite turning point in the company. These two are really going to change things up and give it a run at the WWE. If there is one thing I have learned by being a student in the business school, it’s that competition brings productivity. Hogan and Bischoff have the potential to make TNA big if they handle things correctly. For Hogan, that would require running things and not stepping into the ring more than twice a year. One would hope that Bischoff learned from his WCW mistakes and will not do them again. If TNA can pick up some steam, it will make both them and the WWE better in every way. Advertising will be a big deal, Monday Night Wars II could possibly happen, higher quality matches will happen more often, and more young studs will be elevated and pushed. This is the type of thing that could really get wrestling front and center in the next couple of years. As long as they don’t screw things up, fun times are ahead.

I wanted to mention this last week but it completely slipped my mind since I was in a bit of a rush with all the work that had to be done. While I’ve only been writing on this website for about five months and I’m still the rookie blogger on the staff, I had been a fan of WNW for over a year. I know that I would always find time on Tuesday or Wednesday to read Luke’s Raw blog. He gives readers exactly what you would want from a blogger: a unique opinion that gets questions asked and debates started. Without that, most of these blogs wouldn’t be very interesting if they just repeated facts over and over. Luke does a great job of sharing his honest opinions about the product while throwing in plenty of humor as well. I know that whoever blogs Raw next year, whether it is a current member of the WNW staff or someone new, they will have some pretty big shoes to fill. To write about this stuff for over three years is quite a feat. So Luke, as a reader, I want to thank you for your dedication to wrestling, WNW, and all of us for sharing your opinions and providing quality blogs week in and week out.

Well I have been rambling more than ever this week, but all this stuff needed to be said. So FINALLY, it’s time for the show of all shows on Thursday night (minus FlashForward), WWE Superstars!!

Match #1: Jack Swagger vs. Primo
We start things off with Swagger ready to put his undefeated streak on the line, which has gotten bigger than Undertaker’s 17-0! Uh….well maybe not that big. Cole tells us the main event is R-Truth & Cryme Tyme vs. Mike Knox & The Hart Dynasty. One would think that Drew McIntyre should be in this instead of Knox, but I guess Truth is moving in to bigger and hairier things. Primo gets an okay pop on his way out, which is basically the best pop he has gotten in a long time. Swagger shows off his big time amateur wrestling background at the beginning of this contest. Swagger mocks Primo, who fights back with a strike and a toss. He hits four punches in the corner and a kick to the knees, followed up by another to the side of the face. Two count on Swagger. Armbar applied. A rollup gets a two count, but Primo keeps on the offensive with an arm drag and another armbar. Swagger powers out and gains control with a power slam combo into the turnbuckle and then in the center of the ring. He connects with his big running splash in the corner for a near fall. Neck submission hold locked in. He hits an elbow to the back of the neck and a leg drop on the front for another near fall. Another submission hold applied as the crowd tries to get behind Primo. He fights out but is brought right back down with a bog clothesline to the back of the neck. Two count. A big leg drop misses and finds canvas. Primo starts his offense with a springboard elbow. He keeps it up with another elbow, a clothesline, and a dropkick. Two count. He tries a springboard body but is caught. Primo, however, is able to squirm away and try a rollup, but only gets two. Swagger puts Primo prone on the canvas with a big boot to the jaw. It’s gutwrench powerbomb time. He connects and the match is over.
Winner: Jack Swagger

I would definitely have liked to see this match go a few extra minutes. They had a match on Superstars a few weeks back and worked well together, and while this wasn’t given as much time as their previous encounter, it was still a nice little opener. Swagger going over was the absolute right choice, since having him declare an undefeated streak and then lose three weeks later would be terribly pointless.
**1/4

So now they’re doing some segment about divas getting asked questions??? Interesting…

Match #2: Kelly Kelly vs. Alicia Fox
Kelly gets a better pop than usual, presumably because this is being taped in or around her hometown. Alicia has looked okay in the last couple of months, but seeing her here doesn’t bode well for her future. Alicia goes straight to work on Kelly’s left arm. Kelly uses some acrobatics to get out of the predicament. Dropkick by Kelly connects for a one count. Alicia turns the tide with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Two count. Another cover and another two count. Submission applied. Kelly reverses a scoop slam attempt into a rollup for a two count. Alicia gets right back up and locks in another submission. Alicia tries to throw Kelly to the outside, who wants to skim the cat. As she does, Alicia connects with a right to the gut and Kelly is now laying on the apron. Kelly gets a rollup over the ropes but only has a two count. Kelly hits her spinning and screaming hurricarana. She hits two clothesline and another hurricarana for a near fall. Kelly tries her running handstand elbow on Alicia but she gets her knees up and knocks Kelly down. Alicia connects with the scissors kick and that’s the end of it.
Winner: Alicia Fox

I feel like I say this with every divas match, but that was another typical divas bout. Although there was nothing terribly off about the match, it just didn’t look as good as it could be. The WWE should look at the tag match from Bragging Rights and try to build off that decent performance.
*1/2

Match #3: Zack Ryder vs. Tyler Reks
My day just got much better when I saw that Zack Ryder is making his in-ring return to WWE Superstars tonight. WGN America is bringing back the WOOWOOWOO. ECW has a new announcer and his name is Byron Saxton. Let’s see how he does in this match. Ryder will be taking on the surfer dude Tyler Reks. Early edge goes to Reks with a shoulder block. Tyler targets the left arm and shoulder of Ryder. Zack tries to fight back with a couple of strikes but a dropkick propels him out of the ring. Tyler tries a sliding dropkick, but Ryder avoids it and hits a kick to the face. He pounds away at Tyler on the outside. Zack continues the assault back in the ring. Zack kicks the crap out of Tyler in the corner but only gets a two count. Neck submission hold applied. Tyler counters with a back suplex. Reks builds momentum with a clothesline, a couple of elbows and a very nice chest-first suplex. Two count. Tyler throws Zack face first into the canvas and tries to get the crowd fired up. He hits what I would guess is a surfer-like elbow and gets a long two count. Saxton is calling it a wavy elbow, so I’ll go with him. Ryder hits a boot in the corner and goes right for the Zack Attack, which finds its mark. One..two..three.
Winner: Zack Ryder

Here is another quick match that could have been very good if allotted a proper amount of time. Reks looks much better in the ring since I last saw him, and he seemed to be getting over with the fans a bit more. Ryder looked pretty good too, and even Saxton wasn’t so bad on the mic.
**

Josh talks about Halloween week on WWE.com, which of course leads right into a video about the Big Show. It’s followed by another video recapping the seven-on-seven tag match at Bragging Rights.

Match #4: R-Truth & Cryme Tyme vs. Mike Knox & The Hart Dynasty
R-Truth is out first to a nice pop, rapping his way down to the ring. Commercial time immediately follows.

Cryme Tyme is first out after the break, and they get a very good crowd reaction as well. The Hart Dynasty is out now, with Mike Knox trailing behind, feeling a bit sad that his music wasn’t included in these intros. Kidd and JTG are going to start things off as Grisham tries to go all gangsta on us on the mic. JTG start off with a headlock, but Kidd counters out and mocks JTG with about a 4-second scream. Kidd goes to work with blows to the back. JTG fights back with a couple of strikes and an innovative backbreaker. One count. Kidd escapes from another headlock and tags in big bad Mike Knox. Knox tosses him around in the headlock position. JTG gets out of it and tags in Shad. He hits a flurry of strikes on the hot tag. A shoulder block doesn’t knock Knox down. Shad tries again but runs into a boot to the gut. Knox hits some more knees and strikes to the back. Submission hold applied. Shad tries to get out of it but gets tossed to the outside. Natalya gets far away from Shad as we go to another break.

Shad has Knox in an armbar in the center of the ring. Knox pushes Shad over to the heel corner and David Hart Smith tags in. Him and Knox utilize the fill five count to dish out some pain. Shad tries to fight back and take out the whole team, but he ends up getting hit with a kick to the back of the neck from Kidd and a back suplex from Smith. Two count. Submission applied. Smith continues the assault with numerous strikes to the forehead. Kidd is tagged in and they do some double team jawbreaker-big kick combo. Knox is immediately tagged in after that and continues the assault on the back. Big splash on the lower back connects for a near fall. The deadly bear hug is locked in. Knox takes out JTG but walks into a back suplex from Shad. Kidd and R-Truth are both tagged in. Truth hits a few strikes, does a shimmy, and hits one more big one. He connects with a hip toss but eats a massive boot from Knox. Knox disposes of Shad on the outside but JTG comes from behind and tosses him out as well. JTG is looking for a suicide dive but ends up being blindsided by Smith. He charges at Truth, who pulls the top rope down to send him flying to the outside. Kidd and Truth are the only ones left. Both try rollups and both get near falls. Truth is able to connect with the Lie Detector and pick up the win for his team.
Winners: R-Truth and Cryme Tyme

While Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty have worked together in a number of matches, they still were able to put on a good bout and keep things fresh. Cryme Tyme gets the win here and gets revenge for the Hart Dynasty replacing them in the Bragging Rights match. Once again, they have helped give Smackdown the match of the night, which seems to be a consistent trend throughout the whole year. Both of these tag teams are worthy of getting shots at the tag titles, although it looks like they’re out of luck for the next PPV.
**3/4

While I am a much bigger fan of having three matches on the show instead of four, all of the matches in this episode were decent. Swagger/Primo and Reks/Ryder could have been much better if they were given that extra few minutes to develop. Once again, Smackdown had the main event and they showed up with the best match. At this point, there’s no possible way that any brand can catch up to Smackdown. In my mind, the amount of quality matches shows me that Smackdown is the best wrestling brand on TV. And I didn’t need a whole PPV to figure that out.

The match of the night was Smackdown’s R-Truth & Cryme Tyme vs. Mike Knox & The Hart Dynasty and this week’s episode of WWE Superstars gets a grade of B.

Ah Smackdown, how dominant you are.

Matches of the Week

1. Smackdown 15
2. ECW 4
3. Raw 3

My 2009 Top Ten WWE Superstars Matches

1. Chris Jericho vs. John Morrison 06/11/09
2. U.S. Championship: Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy 06/25/09
3. John Morrison vs. CM Punk 10/15/09
4. Dolph Ziggler vs. Finlay vs. Mike Knox 08/27/09
5. Christian vs. Paul Burchill 09//17/09
6. John Morrison vs Kane 07/23/09
7. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox 08/06/09
8. John Morrison vs. David Hart Smith 08/13/09
9. Cryme Tyme vs. The Hart Dynasty 10/08/09
10. CM Punk vs. Edge 07/02/09

Later.

Tags: Alicia Fox, Bragging Rights fallout, Cryme Tyme, Hogan TNA, Jack Swagger, Kelly Kelly, Mike Knox, Primo, R-Truth, The Hart Dynasty, Tyler Reks, zack ryder