Skysports.com's James Coyle takes a look back at last year's action-packed Bragging Rights event!
Skysports.com's James Coyle takes a look back at last year's action-packed Bragging Rights event!
At last year's Bragging Rights, the rivalry between then WWE Champion Randy Orton and John Cena came to a head in a One Hour, Anything Goes WWE Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship.
The climax of this bout put an end to one of 2009's biggest rivalries, a rivalry in which fans witnessed some of the fiercest pay-per-view matches ever seen in a WWE ring.
In one of the most exciting finishes ever, Cena tie-breaked Orton with just nine minutes remaining. Then, with just seconds to spare, Cena applied the STF on The Viper for a tie-breaking, final fall to become the new WWE Champion.
In an exciting Fatal Four Way Match for the World Heavyweight Championship, then champion The Undertaker emerged from a fast-paced encounter with his gold in-tact, reigning supreme over three former World Champions - Batista, Rey Mysterio and CM Punk.
With Punk and Mysterio suffering on the outside, The Phenom took his golden opportunity, flooring The Animal with a dreaded Tombstone in the middle of the ring for the victory.
After the match, an angry Batista insisted he was just seconds away from a huge victory over The Deadman, if it had not been for Rey Mysterio's intervention. The Animal later snapped and decimated the 6-1-9 Superstar that he claimed to be "as close as a brother."
Betrayal
The opening match of the night saw then United States Champion The Miz defeat his former tag team partner, then Intercontinental Champion John Morrison, to give RAW an early advantage.
With SmackDown down 1-0 to RAW, Women's Champion Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya tied up the score when The Glamazon's impressive display overcame Monday night Divas Melina, Kelly Kelly and Gail Kim.
Then, in the first-ever WWE Bragging Rights Tag Team Match, a hugely anticipated battle of the brands took place as Team SmackDown faced Team RAW in a battle for brand supremacy.
Team SmackDown, who consisted of co-captains Chris Jericho and Kane, along with Finlay, R-Truth, Matt Hardy and The Hart Dynasty took on WWE's flagship brand which featured co-captains Triple H and Shawn Michaels along with Big Show, Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger and Kofi Kingston.
In the end, Team SmackDown emerged victorious, courtesy of The Big Show, who shockingly turned his back on Team RAW. The betrayal saw The World's Largest Athlete chokeslam Kofi Kingston, setting him up for the pinfall by Jericho.
The tag team victory allowed the blue brand to break the 1-1 tie with RAW on the night and take home the coveted WWE Bragging Rights trophy.
This year, The Miz will lead Monday Night RAW's squad into war against Team SmackDown, captained by The Big Show. Do not miss the action when these two teams clash in a battle for brand supremacy!
