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Bragging Rights Rewind: SmackDown vs. Raw (2009)

Tonight at Vengeance, Divas Champion Beth Phoenix defends her title against Eve Torres. Leading up to the match, we’re going to take a look at other memorable matches at Vengeance and the various October PPV events. The designated October PPV has changed its name often, from Taboo Tuesday to Cyber Sunday to Bragging Rights and … Read more

WWE Bragging Rights in Review: Divas Seize the Moment, Remain More Flawless Than Brett Favre Cell Phone Pics

It’s fair to say that WWE pay-per-views are either hits or misses. The events are either successful surprises or true epic fails all around. Bragging Rights was no exception. For once, it fell into the positive category as the WWE put together a strong show on all accounts, and for us Diva fans, we were treated to something truly special. The decision to put Layla in the ring against Natalya was met with some skepticism and a few eye-rolls, but judging from their SmackDown interaction it had all the ingredients to make a yummy recipe. To say Natalya versus Layla delivered would be an understatement. They put together a gorgeous, pure wrestling match that told a story and left everyone wanting just a little more. Michelle McCool once again put on a flawless performance on the microphone and on the outside of the ring. And to add the icing to this already delicious cake, Aksana and Maryse got involved in the Bragging Rights action by fighting for their men during the Goldust/Ted DiBiase grudge match.

What a night.

The match us Diva fans waited patiently for all night kicked off in grand style. Lay-Cool made their way to the ring and they had microphones in their hands. Layla and Michelle walked out on stage where Layla promptly demanded that the sound techs in the back cut their music. Once it was quiet, Layla turned to Michelle and with a cheeky little grin, she told her BFF that Natalya was no doubt excited to have a title match in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Michelle looked confused and wanted to know why Natalya could be excited over such a thing and Layla simply pointed out that Nattie would be at home amongst all the stupid accents. Massive heat for that comment. Michelle chuckled and began to imitate the accent in question. She said the men in Minnesota like their women larger because it’s so cold. Layla agreed and said that by the looks of things, it got extremely cold in Minnesota. Cue the collective “brrrrrrrrrrrrr”. Lay-Cool got inside the ring and Michelle continued speaking. She said that the comfortable surroundings won’t help Natalya out tonight. She’s going to need more help than that because tonight, they (Lay-Cool) will beat Natalya faster than they can delete all those text messages they keep getting from Brett Favre.

Real Talk. Ewwwwwww. Stop. According to Lay-Cool, Favre is doing nothing but embarrassing himself. Both members of Lay-Cool agree that Brett can’t help himself when it comes to them because they are flawless. They started to check their reflections in their championships when Natalya’s music hit. The third generation Diva walked to the ring with a smile etched across her lovely face. The commentators went over the fact that this match was for the WWE Diva’s Championship (apparently they’ve dropped the ‘unified’ part) and Natalya played to the crowd. Both girls got ready for the match and when the bell rang, Natalya and Layla started to circle one another. They went for a lock-up but Natalya effortlessly scooped up Layla and grounded her. She tried to work over Layla’s arm, but the British-born Diva was able to reverse it into a headscissors. Natalya was able to spring out of it and land on her feet, but Layla responded with a swift kick to the back of Nattie’s thigh. Layla took hold of Natalya’s wrist and started to twist it, but Natalya flipped through it, reversed it, and got Layla up in the air. While holding Layla upside, Natalya showed off her strength by doing a few squats, an homage to her late uncle, the British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith. She planted Layla in the mat and went for a cover. Layla kicked out right before the two.

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WWE Bragging Rights: Lay-Cool Take It Again, This Time with Help from a Boot…

Earlier this month, Layla‘s shoe-throwing helped Michelle McCool retain the Divas Championship for the duo, but this time they retained with help from a boot. Well, Michelle’s big boot, rather. In the closing moments of a hotly-contested Divas Championship match between Layla and Natalya, Michelle McCool hit a devastating big boot to Natalya’s head while … Read more

WWE Bragging Rights 2010 Discussion Post

The Divas Championship is on the line tonight at Bragging Rights when Layla defends against Natalya. Will the Hart Dynasty Diva finally realise her dream? Tune in at 8pm ET live on pay per view to find out. Discuss the show in the comments! Be sure to tune into Diva Dirt LIVE Does Bragging Rights … Read more

PPV Predictions: WWE Bragging Rights 2010

Tonight at Bragging Rights, the Divas Championship is on the line between Layla and Natalya, but who’ll come out on top? We weigh in…

Cryssi: With Layla being placed in this match instead of Michelle, I definitely see Natalya having the advantage. I think Michelle ends up getting kicked from ringside which will leave Layla at Natalya’s mercy. The two will put on a brilliant match with Natalya ultimately getting the victory. As she’s celebrating her long awaited Divas Championship win, Michelle comes running down to ringside with Teddy Long screaming at him that she is the rightful Divas Champion, and the contract Lay-Cool had was only good when they were co-Women’s Champs. She will make the argument that the title can only change hands if she were to lose, because she is the OFFICIAL champ seeing as how she unified the titles at Night of Champions. Long will have no choice but to declare Natalya’s championship reign over before it even starts, and once again Lay-Cool will escape with that title firmly in their clutches.

David: At Bragging Rights, Natalya gets her second straight championship match on PPV, this time against the other member of Lay-Cool. After a few slow months I think Lay-Cool is hot again and I’ve enjoyed their program with Nattie (Michelle’s Bret impression was hilarious). Sunday night, I expect Michelle’s interference to give Natalya a DQ victory so Layla will once again retain the title. However, if Kelly Kelly comes down to help her buddy, maybe this time Lay-Cool won’t throw shoes in the ring, maybe this time they’ll throw in the towel.

Eric: Whereas last month’s Hell in a Cell was a predictable Lay-Cool victory, this match up could really go either way. Unfortunately, the booking team has painted the Divas division into a corner. Either Lay-Cool wins and we have a continuous, pointless Divas division, or Natalya wins and has nobody to feud with but… Lay-Cool. So who wins? I see Natalya picking this one up. Unfortunately, I don’t see her keeping the belt long. Who will Natalya feud with next? I will give free hugs and a (false) promise to vote for Linda McMahon to the creative team if its not Lay-Cool.

Erin: Part of me is always reluctant to believe that the WWE would do anything to hold back a Lay-Cool push. However, I feel like this feud can be sustained even if Layla doesn’t pick up the win, which means the inter-brand Lay-Cool shenanigans would continue. With that loophole available, I think Natalya’s chances of winning are high. She’s been chasing them for a while (okay, not long, but in Diva land a few weeks is a long time, all things considered) and winning the title could be a turning point in the feud. So, I say Natalya wins the title tonight. How long she keeps it, however, is anyone’s guess.

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Divas Championship Rematch Added to Bragging Rights

Third-generation Diva, Natalya will receive another championship opportunity against Lay-Cool at Bragging Rights in two weeks time, it has been announced. The bout will be a rematch from from Natalya’s initial title shot against Michelle McCool at Hell in a Cell. However, that match ended in controversy after Layla threw her shoe in the ring, … Read more

WWE Bragging Rights Review: SmackDown Glam Slams to Victory

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The SmackDown team may have been led by WWE Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool but it was the newest addition to the roster that was a blue beacon of success for the brand. Decked in SmackDown colours, a royal blue Glamasuit [as we have affectionately started calling them], Beth Phoenix Glam Slammed her way to victory and had a helping hand in SmackDown taking the Bragging Rights trophy last night.

To the beginning now, let’s take a look at the match as it happened… Team SmackDown make their entrance first with the Women’s Champion debuting a new piece to her attire — a robe. Proving she can do nothing right, this one has already hit a sore spot on the interwebz with “AJ Styles rip-off” comments. Mmm… trivial. Meanwhile, Beth Phoenix is looking mighty Glamariffic in royal blue. While Team SmackDown have opted for eye-popping colours like royal blue, emerald green and hot pink, Team Raw are much more subdued in their colour choices.

We kick things off with Beth Phoenix and Gail Kim, in something of a dream match. Beth starts off with a kick to the gut followed by the Divas exchanging forearms. The crafty former Women’s Champion, Gail Kim goes for a mid-rope crossbody but is caught but the powerful Phoenix. Gail manages to flip things over into a pin attempt but Beth kicks out. The Glamazon begins woman-handling Kim before Michelle McCool blind-tags herself in. Gail manages to subdue the Champ with a lovely hurricanrana that is sold well by McCool, who then cowers into her corner allowing Natalya the tag.

Another dream match here; Nattie vs Gail. The physical third-gen Diva slams Gail to the mat. As things progress Gail hits her lovely launch through the ropes on Natalya followed by that unorthodox jumping butt bump. Kelly Kelly is then tagged in to the biggest pop so far, Kelly works well with Nattie and keeps the pace up with a twilt-a-whirl hurricanrana. Natalya then hangs Kelly on the ropes, showing her prowess. Natalya, with her brute force, drives Kelly into the corner and begins kneeing her. This all looks rather ferocious which is perhaps the biggest difference between Natalya and the Glamazon; while both share powerhouse quality — there’s nothing pretty about Nattie’s offense while Beth is a little more Diva-esque. In the corner, Kelly goes for a sunset flip but to no avail as Michelle tags in. After a short exchange, in comes Beth as Team SmackDown begin their ‘wear down’ of Kelly. Kelly makes a desperate effort to tag in Melina or Gail but the powerful Beth manages to drive her back to the Team Blue corner. Michelle is back in now and hangs in there with her team mates, throwing Kelly around like a rag doll. Beth Phoenix then blind-tags herself in much to McCool’s shock, Kelly begins fighting back with a hurricanrana into a rollup but Beth kicks out. Kelly with a jawbreaker on Beth and finally hits a tag to Melina.

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WWE Bragging Rights Discussion Post

Discuss tonight’s Bragging Rights live blog in this post. It’s the battle of the brands — Divas Champion, Melina leads Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim into battle against Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya. If you’re unable to join us for our live blog, feel free to discuss your thoughts & opinions on … Read more

WWE Bragging Rights Predictions

So the WWE Divas return to pay per view tonight for the second time in a month, but this time rivalries are put aside for brand pride. Melina, Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim will represent Raw as they go into battle against SmackDown’s Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Which trio of Divas will win … Read more

Bragging Rights, Taboo Tuesday & Cyber Sunday: Through the Years

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Before there was Bragging Rights, the late-October pay per view spot once belonged to a pay per view known as Taboo Tuesday, which later became Cyber Sunday. So before the Raw and SmackDown Divas wage war on each other tonight, let’s take a look back at some of those past pay per views:

2004
Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal

In 2004, the Raw brand introduced an interactive concept that allowed WWE viewers to vote for stipulations for each of the matches. Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus defended her title in a battle royal against Molly Holly, Stacy Keibler, Victoria, Jazz, Gail Kim and Nidia. The stipulation, as voted for by the fans, was for the Divas to wear school girl outfits.

Part 1

Part 2

More after the cut:

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Bragging Rights Tag Team Match Announced

The Divas match for Bragging Rights this Sunday has officially been announced as a six-Diva tag team match. Divas Champion, Melina will lead the Raw team consisting of Gail Kim and Kelly Kelly against the team of SmackDown’s Women’s Champion, Michelle McCool, Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Notable exceptions include Eve Torres and Mickie James, though … Read more

Bragging Rights Match Expected To Be…

As revealed on SmackDown last week, the WWE Divas will also be involved in the Raw vs SmackDown aspect of Bragging Rights this Sunday on pay per view. The match announcement will likely be announced tonight on Raw, but it’s expected to be Divas Champion Melina (representing Raw) taking on Women’s Michelle McCool (representing SmackDown), … Read more