Bragging Rights (2009)

Background

The concept of the show featured a seven-on-seven tag team match pitting contingents from Raw and SmackDown against one another. On the October 12 episode of Raw, it was announced one-half of Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho would act as the co-captain of SmackDown's team with Kane as the other co-captain, and Shawn Michaels and Triple H (collectively known as D-Generation X) would act as the co-captains of Raw's team. Later in the program, the other half of the Tag Team Champions The Big Show would qualify for the latter team by defeating Chris Jericho in a match that would qualify him to be on the team. Continuing the trend of qualifying matches on said episode of Raw, Cody Rhodes defeated Ted DiBiase and John Cena in a Triple Threat match, Jack Swagger defeated Montel Vontavious Porter, and Kofi Kingston defeated Evan Bourne. Mark Henry became the final member of Team Raw by defeating Chris Masters on the October 15 episode of WWE Superstars. The following night on SmackDown, Kane revealed that in fact the SmackDown team will be co-captained both by Jericho and himself. Qualifying matches for the SmackDown team commenced on the same night, with Dolph Ziggler defeating Mike Knox and Finlay in a Triple Threat match, Shad Gaspard and JTG (collectively known as Cryme Tyme) defeating David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd (collectively known as The Hart Dynasty), Eric Escobar defeating Matt Hardy, and Drew McIntyre defeating R-Truth. On the October 23 episode of SmackDown, Jericho and Kane booked a 4-on-5 handicap match pitting Ziggler, JTG, Escobar and McIntyre against Finlay, the Hart Dynasty, Hardy and R-Truth, where the winning team would join the two at Bragging Rights. The latter team won the match, thus replacing the former team, along with Gaspard.

The main rivalry from the Raw brand heading into Bragging Rights was the continuing conflict between Randy Orton and John Cena over the WWE Championship. The two had faced at the three previous pay-per-view events, with Orton retaining the title at SummerSlam, Cena winning the title at Breaking Point in an "I Quit" match, and Orton reclaiming the title at Hell in a Cell in the event's eponymous match. The following night on Raw, Cena challenged Orton to one last rematch for the title, this time a 60-minute Iron Man match where the competitor with the most decisions at the end of that time would be named the victor. In order to accept the challenge, Orton added two more conditions to the match, that Cena would leave the Raw brand if he loses and that the match would be "anything goes".

The Undertaker made his return to the company at SummerSlam after CM Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship. Punk would then defeat his challenger at Breaking Point under controversial circumstances before to losing the title to The Undertaker at Hell in a Cell a month later. On the October 9 episode of SmackDown, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon announced Punk would receive his rematch at Bragging Rights, but it would be in a Fatal Four-Way match with Batista and Rey Mysterio.

On the October 12 episode of Raw, the reigning WWE United States Champion, The Miz, announced that he will face the WWE Intercontinental Champion John Morrison at Bragging Rights. In 2007, the two formed a tag team and gained success in the tag team division, winning the WWE Tag Team and World Tag Team Championships as well as the 2008 Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year. In an untelevised match at WrestleMania XXV, the team lost their unification match against The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) that would form the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. A week later, The Miz found himself drafted to the Raw brand in the 2009 WWE Draft due to botched interference from Morrison. Miz subsequently attacked Morrison after the match, ending the partnership. Morrison was later himself drafted to the SmackDown brand. Both wrestlers found singles success with Morrison winning his third Intercontinental Championship from Rey Mysterio in September, while The Miz defeated Kofi Kingston to become the new United States Champion on the October 5 episode of Raw.

Event

Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, a dark match took place in which Christian defeated Paul Burchill to retain the ECW Championship.

Preliminary matches

In the first match, Smackdown's Intercontinental Champion John Morrison faced RAW's United States Champion The Miz. During the match, Morrison performed a Springboard Roundhouse Kick on Miz but Miz placed his Foot on the bottom rope to void the pinfall. In the end, Morrison attempted Starship Pain on Miz but Miz pushed Morrison's legs to counter the move and pinned Morrison to win the match.

Next, Smackdown's Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya faced RAW's Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim in a six-diva interbrand tag team match. Phoenix pinned Melina after a Glam Slam to win the match for her team.

In the third match, The Undertaker defended the World Heavyweight Championship against CM Punk, Rey Mysterio and Batista in a Fatal 4-way match. During the match, Batista performed a Spinebuster on Undertaker but Punk broke up the pinfall. Punk performed a GTS on Mysterio but Batista broke up the pinfall. Undertaker applied Hell's Gate on Batista but Punk broke the hold. Undertaker performed a Last Ride on Punk but Batista broke up the pinfall. Batista performed a Batista Bomb on Undertaker but Mysterio broke up a pinfall. Undertaker pinned Batista after a Tombstone Piledriver to win the match and retain the World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Josh Matthews interviewed Mysterio and Batista. Batista attacked Mysterio, turning heel.

In the fourth match, Team Raw (D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry) faced Team SmackDown! (Chris Jericho, Kane, R-Truth, Matt Hardy, Finlay and The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith)) in an interbrand 14-man tag team match for the Bragging Rights trophy. In the climax, Big Show performed a Chokeslam on Kingston, betraying Team RAW. Triple H confronted Big Show, who delivered a Knockout Punch to Triple H. Jericho pinned Kingston to win the match for Team Smackdown.

Main event

In the main event, Randy Orton defended the WWE Championship against John Cena in an Iron Man match. Cena forced Orton to submit the STF, making the score 1-0. Orton pinned Cena after an RKO, making the score 1-1. Cena attempted to perform an Attitude Adjustment on Orton but Orton countered the move into an RKO. Orton pinned Cena whilst Cena pinned Orton, making the score 2-2. Cena pinned Orton after an Attitude Adjustment off the top rope, making the score 3-2. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase interfered, with Dibiase performing a Dream Street on Cena. Rhodes and Dibiase placed Orton on Cena for a pin, making the score 3-3. Kofi Kingston, holding a steel chair, forced Rhodes and DiBiase to retreat. Orton pinned Cena after throwing Cena through the electronic wall, making the score 4-3. Cena pinned Orton with a Small Package, making the score 4-4. Orton pinned Cena after an Elevated DDT onto the arena floor, making the score 5-4. Cena pinned Orton after an Atttitude Adjustment through the announce table, making the score 5-5. Orton performed an RKO on Cena for a near-fall. Orton attempted to perform a Punt Kick on Cena but Cena countered the move into the STF and forced Orton to submit, making the score 6-5 to Cena, who won the WWE Championship.

Reception

The event was generally well received by critics, with positive comments on the opening bout between Morrison and The Miz and mostly on the Iron Man match main event. The Sun, in a positive review, praised the Iron Man Match and the Fatal 4 Way Match, but criticized the tag team Bragging Rights equalizer as confusing and causing many of the competitors to become lost in the action. They awarded the event a positive 7 out of 10. The pay-per-view drew 181,000 buys, and is up from the 153,000 buys Cyber Sunday 2008 got.