The inaugural edition of WWE Bragging Rights came to you, live on pay-per-view, from the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, PA.
Quick Match Results
- RAW Vs. SmackDown: Champion Vs. Champion: Non-Title: United States Champion The Miz (RAW) def. Intercontinental Champion John Morrison (SmackDown) by pin after knocking John Morrison off the top rope in an attempt at Starship Pain; RAW takes a 1-0 lead over SmackDown.
- RAW Vs. SmackDown: 6-Diva Tag: Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, & Natalya (SmackDown) def. Divas Champion Melina, Gail Kim, & Kelly Kelly (RAW) by Beth Phoenix pinning Melina following the Glam Slam; SmackDown ties the score with RAW at 1-1.
- World Heavyweight Championship: Fatal 4-Way: The Undertaker (c) def. CM Punk, Batista, & Rey Mysterio by pinning Batista following the Tombstone Piledriver to retain.
- RAW Vs. SmackDown Bragging Rights Tag Match: Chris Jericho, Kane, Matt Hardy, R-Truth, Finlay, & The Hart Dynasty (Team SmackDown) def. D-Generation X, Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & Mark Henry (Team RAW) by Chris Jericho pinning Kofi Kingston following a Showslam off of the top rope by Big Show; SmackDown wins the Bragging Rights Trophy by defeating RAW with two matches to one.
- WWE Championship: Anything Goes 1-Hour WWE Iron Man Match: Falls Count Anywhere: John Cena def. Randy Orton (c) with a score of 6-5 to win the WWE Title (see "Detailed Results" for more information on the falls that were scored)!
Match Quality
- WWE Championship
- World Heavyweight Championship
- RAW Vs. SmackDown Bragging Rights Tag Match
- RAW Vs. SmackDown Champion Vs. Champion Match
- RAW Vs. SmackDown 6-Diva Tag Match
Detailed Results
On a night that was clearly all about "bragging rights", the appropriately-named pay-per-view kicked off with the first of three RAW Vs. SmackDown matches as United States Champion The Miz, from RAW, went head-to-head with his former friend and tag team partner, Intercontinental Champion John Morrison, from SmackDown, in a non-title Champion Vs. Champion contest. Being former tag team champions together served both champions well in this contest as counters were the name of the game, but in the end, it was The Miz capitalizing an attempt at Starship Pain by John Morrison that led to Miz getting the duke over his friend-turned-enemy and setting the precedent for RAW with a 1-0 lead in the RAW Vs. SmackDown war for brand supremacy with the winning brand getting the special Bragging Rights trophy to prove their dominance.
Backstage, Team SmackDown member R-Truth confronts Team RAW member Cody Rhodes and Rhodes calls Truth a "second rate competitor on second rate team on a second rate show" to which R-Truth responds by telling the Legacy member that Rhodes would not be in the WWE if it was not for his father, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, and would not be at the level he is at if it were not for the WWE Champion Randy Orton. Truth added that Rhodes most notable career moment would be him getting pinned in the Bragging Rights Tag Match! Fellow Team RAW member, Big Show, stepped in and told R-Truth that Truth has learned well from the co-captain of Team SmackDown, Chris Jericho, as Truth is taking "cheap shots" at Rhodes. "The World’s Largest Athlete" then tells Truth that Team RAW will let their "actions" do the talking. Tempers are flaring between the two teams, but who will be the dominant brand after the 7-on-7 Tag Match?
The Divas also took part in the war for brand supremacy the SmackDown trio of Women’s Champion Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix, & Natalya picked up the win over the RAW team of Divas Champion Melina, Gail Kim, & Kelly Kelly. With the SmackDown Divas’ hands raised in victory, SmackDown ties the overall score with RAW at 1-1! Who will earn the Bragging Rights trophy in the monumental 7-on-7 RAW Vs. SmackDown Bragging Rights Tag Match?
Brand supremacy was not the only thing on the line at Bragging Rights as the World Heavyweight Championship was on the line in a Fatal 4-Way Match as The Undertaker defended the gold against "The Straightedge Superstar" CM Punk, "The Ultimate Underdog" Rey Mysterio, & "The Animal" Batista. When it was all said and done, it was Undertaker who drilled Batista with a Tombstone Piledriver and pinned "The Animal" to retain the World Heavyweight Title!
While The Undertaker earned a hard-fought victory in a chaotic Fatal 4-Way Match to retain the World Heavyweight Title, the big story took place between two of the four competitors in that match after the match was over. After the match concluded, Rey Mysterio assisted his friend, Batista, to his feet after "The Animal" suffered the Tombstone Piledriver at the hands of The Undertaker. An exasperated Mysterio commented on the match and stated that he and Batista did their "best" and optimistically proclaims that there will be "another day" for them to win the World Heavyweight Title. Back to his feet, Batista asks Rey if they were "close" to capturing the title. That’s when things took a dark turn as Batista told Mysterio that he thinks that "he" was "close" and that he is "tired of his best friend stabbing him in the back"! As Mysterio tried to calm the situation with "The Animal", Batista assured Rey that he was "not playing" and told the man that calls Batista a member of his "family" that he was going to "rip his head off"! An unstable and irate Batista then waylaid Mysterio with a vicious clothesline! In a true example of changing his "spots", Batista continued the brutal and emotionally charged assault on Mysterio; sending the helpless Mysterio to the outside of the ring. As "The Animal" grabbed Rey by the skull, a broken Mysterio tried to talk Batista out of it and begged Batista to stop, but "The Animal" viciously tossed Mysterio into the barricade and followed it up with a heinous kick to the skull of Mysterio! As the fans in attendance sat in total shock, Batista finally exited as referees came to the aid of Rey Mysterio. Batista took out his frustrations on someone he once considered his "family", but the question is: why did Batista assault Rey Mysterio? How will Mysterio respond to the attack by Batista?
With The Miz scoring a fall for RAW and the SmackDown Divas scoring a fall for SmackDown, all sides were even as the Bragging Rights Tag Match got underway as seven of the best RAW Superstars teamed up to face seven of the best SmackDown Superstars. Team RAW would be headed up by co-captains and RAW staples, Triple H & Shawn Michaels, as DX led the team of "The World’s Largest Athlete" Big Show, the second-generation Superstar Cody Rhodes, "The All-American American" Jack Swagger, the former United States & Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston, & "The World’s Strongest Man" Mark Henry against SmackDown co-captains Chris Jericho & Kane, with their team consisting of Matt Hardy, R-Truth, Finlay, & The Hart Dynasty. With so much on the line, the big tag match eventually broke down and the chaos all started with Kofi Kingston hitting Trouble in Paradise on Chris Jericho. When it looked like Kofi would score the upset and pin SmackDown co-captain, Chris Jericho, The Hart Dynasty intervened and prevented their team from losing the match. However, both members of The Hart Dynasty were taken out of the equation after Mark Henry mowed down Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith! The North Carolinian connection of Matt Hardy & R-Truth were able to take Mark Henry out of the match, but while this was going on, Finlay took out Cody Rhodes, followed by Jack Swagger coming in and laying Finlay out with the Swagger Bomb! SmackDown co-captain, Kane, then laid Swagger out with a big boot, but "The Big Red Machine" was nearly split in two following a huge Spear by Big Show! After all this chaos, Kofi Kingston climbed the top rope and was about to launch himself onto Chris Jericho until Big Show looked to offer Kofi some extra leverage. However, Big Show grabbed his RAW teammate by the throat and delivered a huge chokeslam off of the top rope! Witnessing this betrayal, RAW co-captain Triple H started to enter the ring to confront Big Show, but the Benedict Arnold of Team RAW leveled "The Game" with a devastating right hand! After doing his damage, Big Show walked out of the match and Chris Jericho was slowly able to recover and pin Kofi Kingston for the win! Though by very controversial means, Team SmackDown defeated Team RAW and claimed the Bragging Rights trophy and celebrated their brand supremacy! How will the Superstars of Monday Night RAW react to the betrayal by Big Show? What made Big Show decide to turn on his own teammates?
Even after the RAW Vs. SmackDown Bragging Rights Tag Match had concluded, tempers were still running high in the backstage area as Cody Rhodes confronted Kofi Kingston and blamed the loss on Kofi! Rhodes then assaulted Kofi and left Kingston laying! How will Kofi respond to this assault by Cody Rhodes?
After more than two years of battling over the WWE Championship, one of the greatest rivalries would come to a head at WWE Bragging Rights as Randy Orton would defend the WWE Title against John Cena in an Anything Goes 1-Hour WWE Iron Man Match with the stipulation that, if John Cena loses, he must leave RAW forever! Before the match got underway, the rules of the WWE Iron Man Match were clarified to include that pinfalls and submissions would count anywhere in the arena and that after every successful fall, there would be a thirty-second rest period for the Superstars. With so much on the line, Randy Orton & John Cena went to war one final time where the true "Iron Man" would be decided.
The first fall of the hour-long match was scored in the first four minutes of the match as John Cena locked in his STF on Randy Orton, which led to Orton immediately tapping out in an effort to save his energy to last the entire hour! With Cena taking the early 1-0 lead, the mandatory thirty-second rest period was in place.
After the thirty seconds of recovery time, the two bitter rivals went back to the match and just under the nine minute mark, Randy Orton was able to surprise John Cena with the RKO to tie the match at one fall a piece! With 51 minutes left in the match, the second rest period of the contest took place as both men prepared to square off again.
After the first two falls took place in the ring, the "Anything Goes" stipulation came into play as Orton & Cena took the match to the outside of the ring where the sadistic Orton began his plan to decimate John Cena. Orton starts the assault by leveling Cena with a television monitor from the announce table! Orton then grabs a microphone and blasts Cena in the skull with it! The shot with the microphone bloodied the head of the challenger, who refused any medical attention for his wound. After seeing the damage done to him by Randy Orton, John Cena got a rush of adrenaline and started pummeling the WWE Champion! The attack concluded with Cena setting Orton up for the Attitude Adjustment, but midway through the delivery of the maneuver, Orton grabbed the head of Cena which resulted to Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment at the exact same time Orton hit the RKO! Not even aware of the situation, both men landed with their arm draped over their opponent’s chest, leading to the referee counting both men’s shoulders down for a three-count, earning both men a fall; keeping the match tied, but with two falls a piece!
With John Cena still recovering, the medics quickly tended to Cena and was able to temporarily "patch" the cut on Cena’s head in the thirty-second rest cycle.
With a little under forty-five minutes still left in the grueling contest, the warriors went back to the match and a few minutes later, Cena was able to score with the Attitude Adjustment on Orton off of the top rope, resulting in Cena earning the fall and taking the lead with a score of 3-2!
As soon as Cena scored his third fall of the match, Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase rushed to the ring to help Orton as Legacy attacked Cena! Proving that he is still a worthy member of Legacy, Ted DiBiase laid out Cena with Dream Street and then Legacy pulled Orton onto Cena for the pin, which scored Orton his third fall; evening up the match at three falls a piece! After being attacked by Cody Rhodes earlier in the evening, Kofi Kingston rushed out with a steel chair in hand and chased Legacy away from the ring!
With Kofi chasing Legacy away from the match, it was back to Orton against Cena as the two men resumed their grueling no holds barred war. The two men fought to the pyrotechnic area where Orton bounced the head of Cena off of the pyro board; igniting an explosion of pyro on the stage! The explosion looked like it had given Orton a sinister plan as Orton threw Cena through the lighting grid near the stage, resulting in an explosion of sparks! Orton then dragged Cena from the wreckage of lights and pinned Cena on the concrete to scored the 4-3 lead in the match!
During the rest period, Cena slowly crawled onto the stage as Orton investigated the pyrotechnic board. Once the match was back on, Orton grabbed a steel chair and blasted Cena in the back with it! Orton then laid his diabolical plan into place as he placed Cena over the area of the stage where the pyro explodes! Orton then went back to the board that controls the pyrotechnic explosions and assaulted to tech guy running the board. After the first button did nothing, an unstable Orton pressed a bunch of buttons at once, resulting in a massive pyro display on the stage! Luckily, Cena was narrowly able to escape the blast with just a bit of temporary blindness! Enraged that the pyro blast missed Cena Orton went back on the attack on Cena, brawling with the challenger back to ringside where Orton levels Cena with the steel steps! The fight returned to the ring and, about seven minutes after going through the lighting grid by the stage, Cena was able to surprise Orton with a roll-up to score his fourth fall and tie the match at four falls a piece!
Absolutely livid by the surprise roll-up, Orton went to the outside and delivered his patented suspended DDT onto the arena floor! After spiking Cena on the floor, Orton scored a fall to take lead at 5-4!
After being on the receiving end of Orton’s relentless assault for much of the match up to that point, Cena was finally able to mount some offense against "The Viper"! However, Orton would escape Cena’s offense and would go all the way to the stage in order to stall time for himself! With almost twenty-five minutes left in the contest, Cena pursued Orton on the stage where Orton regained control, but, once again, Orton high-tailed it back to the ring as soon as Cena got the advantage! Cena then made his way back to the ring, where Orton regained control again! Seeing that this plan was working, Orton took off once Cena gained momentum; this time taking off through the crowd. However, Cena was able to catch Orton before he got too far and Cena pummeled Orton throughout the crowd! Finally, Cena threw Orton back into the ringside area and continued to assault Orton. With revenge on his mind, Cena propelled Orton, not into, but through the barricade at ringside; leaving Orton and the barricade in a heap on the floor! With Orton out of commission for the moment, Cena took apart the steel steps and set the bottom half next to the announce table while he used the top half to level Orton with! Cena then reassembles the steel steps next to the announce table. Cena then carries a prone Orton to where the steel steps are set up an delivers the Attitude Adjustment through the announce table! After about twenty-five minutes, another fall was scored as Cena pinned Orton to tie the match at five falls each!
Cena then sets up a table in the ring and carries a lifeless Orton to ringside and rolls the WWE Champion in before placing him on the table. Cena then climbs to the top rope to deliver his signature leg drop, but when Cena takes flight, Orton rolls off of the table, which leads to Cena crashing through the table! After they both felt the unforgiving wrath of a table, Orton and Cena slowly got back into the match by brawling back and forth. It was Cena who regained momentum first and tried to take Orton down with a shoulder block, but Orton ducked out of the way and Cena plowed into the referee; taking the referee out of the match! When Cena turned around, Orton caught Cena with the RKO, but with the referee out of it, there was no one to count Orton’s fall. A second referee made his way to the ring, but enough time passed to allow Cena to kick out of the RKO! Orton then blamed the referee and shoved the referee down; taking the second referee out of the match! As the original referee recovers, Orton goes for the signature punt on Cena, but Cena is able to dodge the move! Cena then locked Orton in his STF and, unlike the beginning of the match, Orton hung on as long as he could, but with just four seconds remaining in the match, Orton tapped out; which gave Cena the sixth fall he needed to win the match and reclaim the WWE Championship! John Cena survived sixty minutes of hell with Randy Orton and came out the victor and is now a seven-time World Champion! Not only is Cena once again "The Champ", but now he will remain a part of RAW! How will Randy Orton respond to losing the WWE Title? What kind of condition will both competitors be in come RAW?