Bragging Rights Returning In 2012

[Jack-Hammer]

According to the latest update in WWE's ppv schedule, Bragging Rights has been added and will be replacing Capitol Punishment in June.

The thing that hurt the Bragging Rights concept was that there was so little interaction between Raw & SmackDown! that nobody really bought into the idea of there being any sort of rivalry or competition between wrestlers that would have zero contact with each other. For all intents and purposes, the idea of brand exclusivity is done in WWE right now and they might be able to make the concept work this time around.

 

[klunderbunker]

The good thing here is the place on the schedule. Putting it in June, as in AWAY from Survivor Series, is a good thing. The June PPV is pretty bland most of the time with just nothing happening more often than not in it. Moving a gimmick PPV in (since we're stuck with them) is the best idea they're going to ahve for the most part since they're just not getting rid of a PPV as they probably need to do. This is fine, all things considered.

 

[DiamondCaige]

Good. I personally liked Bragging Rights, because it allowed the younger superstars that are ready in our eyes to have a shot at the World Title, because a lot of the guys in the Main Event are in the 7 on 7 match. Really excited for this.

 

[Rising Savior]

It's pretty much a pointless ppv, I mean it's just a filler show. The whole concept of the bragging rights ppv is supposed to be raw vs smackdown for bragging rights but it's useless because right now with the way brands are with basically raw and smackdown stars appearing on both shows it makes bragging rights just another show i'll be skipping out on.

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

Can't say im happy with this but at least it's away from survivor series. I was actually hoping they would replace with a kotr type ppv but im really starting to thing that will never come back to regular ppv.

 

[Da Solo]

I think it's a good move. I actually liked the concept of Bragging Rights, having a 5-on-5 interbrand match (even though brands seem to mean less and less each year). And plus, it kind of provides an alternative to Survivor Series, so if one SS-style match ends up sucking (i.e. like this year), there is another to cover for it. And plus, Capitol Punishment wasn't a concept that had lasting power. Good to get rid of it ASAP before it got unbearable.

My only wish is that they would an incentive to winning the big match other than a prop trophy and the (now defunct) "my brand beat your brand" status.

 

[slice_of_life]

Disappointed because I really want the brand segregation to end. Talk about poor ratings, the segregation is one of the largest contributing factors.

 

[phoenixphreek]

i'm excited about this. I thought it was an interesting concept. just some good ole fashioned competitiveness. plus it let younger guys, not yet in the main event scene, be in the main event (at least i think so... were the team matches the main event of the ppv? even if they weren't, the younger guys got to work with the older, more established superstars in this match up)

and didn't Smackdown win both times? I thought that was lame, especially after they discontinued it this year. I thought Raw would never get redemption

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

Good move. Especially getting it away from Survivor Series. I'm a firm believer that if they were replace Survivor Series with a PPV, it should be Bragging Rights. They could add a stipulation to the Bragging Rights 7 on 7 (I think it was 7 on 7) match that sees the Captain of the winning team getting a title shot at a big PPV like SummerSlam or the Royal Rumble (depending on when they have the Bragging Rights PPV). Also, another stipulation could be something along the lines of being able to trade a superstar to the other brand and getting another one in return. Could make for some interesting storylines.

 

[Martin Gabriel]

I'm glad they moved to June for the reasons Klunderbunker stated, though I agree the concept hasn't worked well for the examples stated by the original poster. This year has been worse in that regard than in 2010 and 2009, considering the kayfabe exchange of talents between brands that's occurred thanks to the RAW SuperShows. However, the show normally isn't bad in terms of match quality, and I did like them revisiting the rivalry between John Morrison and The Miz when they met at Bragging Rights in 2009.

 

[GameOver]

Bragging rights in a realm where Smackdown is not competing with Raw anymore?
last time i checked they did away with the brand rivalry 2yrs ago.

 

[Arsenal]

Why should I care about whether Raw or Smackdown has "bragging rights"? That doesn't mean ish.

What would mean something is bringing back a PPV like King of the Ring, where the winner would get a title shot at SummerSlam. That would mean something. The 1-night tournament format gave a HUGE push to guys like Randy Savage (at WrestleMania IV), Owen Hart, Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Booker T, and Brock Lesnar.

 

[DeathClutch]

FFS, bring back the King of the Ring to PPV.
It's a different concept, it builds INSTANT attention to the show it gets people talking and has some surprises in it and has to be better than most of the flops WWE have been giving us on PPV for years now.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

In order for this PPV to work, they need to build the rivaly between the two brands from the beginning of the year and not only in the weeks before it. That way, having biult too much hate between the brands, have Vince McMahon come out and annaounce that they will solve their differencies at this PPV. Also, it would be good if you had the two World Champions being the leaders. Maybe also run a storyline where the champion is encircled with a team full of first contenders. That adds some suspense and makes thing a little bit more unpredictable.
Anyways, I'd love this PPV to return, but only if booked correctly by the creative team.

 

[SHIRLEY CRABTREE]

I never understood the need for the Bragging Rights PPV. Surely a better idea would be to keep the Survivor Series in its old 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 format, but have it teams from Raw verses teams from Smackdown, then finish with a Grand Finale to determine the overall brand winner.
You could maybe give the winning brand the final match at Wrestlemania or something similar to spice things up.
This would free open the Bragging Rights spot for a return of the King of the Ring as a one night tournament.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

Bragging Rights I say is pointless. There is no real "tension" between the shows. Plus guys change brands so often.

They should also get rid of Night of Champions because the whole idea is that "every title is on the line". Well guess what? At TLC every title was on the line. Kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?

I'm also not on board about the King of the Ring PPV. They were NOT GOOD PPVs. The tournaments stopped being good after 94. The matches go about 5 minutes and that's it.

 

[LSN80]

Somewhat confused here. We have Raw Supershows every week where faces from Raw often team with faces from Smackdown to take on heel teams from both brands. I hope this is a sign of some kind that following Wrestlemania season, the brand split will go back into effect in order to manufacture some sort of rivalry.

Fortunately in this case, they're keeping this PPV away from Survivor Series, and replacing a PPV that had little impact as well. I didn't mind Bragging Rights, as the tag match was always fun, as were the champion vs champion matches, although those are things you can see tuning into Raw or Smackdown these days. The best part of this is it won't go back to back with Survivor Series, meaning it won't water down the elimination matches that Survivor Series provides.

 

[Defekt]

I think bringing back Bragging Rights is a bad idea.

The "prize" is worthless. No one has bragged about winning the trophy since the night after the last Bragging Rights PPV a year ago. Also, a rivalry between the brands is not believable. Smackdown wrestlers appear on RAW every week, and besides a small handful of guys, most wrestlers have been drafted back and forth in the past.

The PPV might have been cool in 2005, but now it's just filler.

 

[King of the Words]

Like DeathClutch said, they need to bring back The King of the Ring to PPV. It was always a great ppv that should not have left. The winner should get a shot at the WWEC or WHC at Summer Slam if KOTR PPV is in June or July. Forget Bragging rights. If they insist on having a Bragging Rights match between the 2 brands then have it at the Survivor Series where it would fit best.IMO.

 

[Leakee]

There is a thing that is already in place where both Smackdown and Raw superstars go at it for one night only and that night is called the 'WWE Draft.' This is where; as you all know, superstars fight each other to win rewards of one superstar or diva to go to their show. Therefore, there is no reason for the Bragging Rights PPV as it would just be the same; without a reward.

BUT, I actually like the theme of the Pay Per View but they could easily do it one Raw. It is much better than Vengeance, as it is the only non-themed Pay Per View other than Over-The-Limit. I'd much rather have Bragging Rights than Vengeance. In 2010 Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler had the 2nd greatest match of the year. If Bragging Rights could pull this off with the champions; possibly Rhodes v Ziggler, that would be amazing.

Who Knows what could happen?

 

[#SAWFT]

I think Bragging Rights could work next year, as the Raw Supershows can lead in well to it. Maybe making Smackdown vs Raw a huge thing by having a brand v brand brawl on a Raw Previous to the event. I think I would work well. Should Vince choose to make it work.

 

[rge2010]

Dont know what to think. Cross promoting between both brands is needed to boost ratings, yet makes a mockery of Bragging Rights. Wrestlers fighting for their brand yet they all fall under the WWE banner anyway so makes no difference. Good concept, poor execution.

I remember a Survivor Series back in 05/06. Batista, JBL, Lashley and a cupla others turned up to confront HBK, Show, Masters etc on Raw. It really meant something because at the time it was unfamilair to see SD superstars on Raw. It was a great skit. I loved how heels and faces joined forces too.

 

[Johnny Scumm]

YESYESYES!

However, as much as I love Bragging Rights, what's the fucking point when we have Supershows? We need to scrap them ASAP, because we all know it's only for star power on RAW. Scrap the Supershows, keep SD to SD & Bragging Rights will be lovely.

Have a good old 7v7 match for that lovely trophy and then I'm interested. If you don't scrap Supershows, it'd be like watching RAW fighting RAW.

 

[rge2010]

YESYESYES!

However, as much as I love Bragging Rights, what's the fucking point when we have Supershows? We need to scrap them ASAP, because we all know it's only for star power on RAW. Scrap the Supershows, keep SD to SD & Bragging Rights will be lovely.

Have a good old 7v7 match for that lovely trophy and then I'm interested. If you don't scrap Supershows, it'd be like watching RAW fighting RAW.

The only way to scrap super shows is to treat Raw and Smackdown as equals. Like they did in 2002-2004. For a time, Smackdown equal or maybe the better brand. But that was subjective.

WWE simply needs to share the wealth. Move the rosters about and give Smackdown some of the bigger storylines like returns. Making it live would help. Tuesday evenings.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I, for one, can’t wait for the return of Bragging Rights. Granted, it was as good as it looked on paper, but with a little more effort…and logic…this could work out to be one of the most important PPVs of the year. Now onto what to do about the show.

Imagine for a second if the Main Event at Bragging Rights 2009 was:
Team Raw – John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Shawn Michaels and MVP vs. Team Smackdown – The Undertaker, CM Punk, Kane, Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio

Imagine for a second if the Main Event at Bragging Rights 2010 was:
Team Raw – John Cena, Randy Orton, The Miz, Evan Bourne, Mark Henry and Sheamus vs. Team Smackdown – The Undertaker, Big Show, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Kane and Drew McIntyre.

I think it would have been better to have zero Title matches at Bragging Rights 09 and 10, and placing the Main Eventers / Champions in the Raw vs. Smackdown Bragging Rights Elimination Tag Team Main Event. At the very least, we should have a card full of Raw Champions vs. Smackdown Champions, and then the Main Event.

• 5 – On – 5 Raw Divas vs. Smackdown Divas match
• Women’s Champion vs. Divas Champion match (They should bring back the Women’s Title to Raw)
• Intercontinental Champion vs. United States Champion match
• WWE Tag Team Champions vs. World Tag Team Champions match (They should bring back the World Tag Team Titles to Smackdown)
• WWE Champion vs. World Champion match
• 5 – On – 5 Raw SuperStars vs. Smackdown SuperStars match

That should be enough to fill up the card. Making EVERY match a RvS match would be better than having half the card RvS and the other half RvR and SvS matches. We can always hope things improve this year.