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CALDWELL'S BLOG: Analyzing Jim Ross's review of the Bragging Rights PPV - younger stars that benefited, Seven-on-Seven analysis Oct 26, 2009 - 12:35:58 PM
WWE announcer Jim Ross posted his review of last night's Bragging Rights PPV from the comfort of home after his third Bell's Palsy attack last week. Ross said he's expected to get MRI results later today to determine the severity of his recent attack. He still does not know when he will be able to return to work announcing Smackdown.
Following are some of the highlights from Ross's review of the PPV on jrsbarbq.com with my comments following each item.
-- On The Miz being the only Raw "player" to win at the PPV, Ross said: "Miz can now tell the world that he carried the banner for Raw while the 'other guys dropped the ball.' Nice."
JC: Good point from Ross. On last night's PPV, I was looking for "signs for the future" to see what WWE was going to do with the younger talent put in big positions to elevate themselves in the eyes of the fans. Ross is right that, ironically, it was a younger talent not even in the seven-on-seven match-up who will have the most - wait for it - bragging rights on Raw tonight. WWE has an opportunity to really capitalize on Miz's victory over Morrison on tonight's show while continuing to build up the secondary U.S. Title.
Gabe Sapolsky just posted a blog on the importance of building up secondary titles, using specific examples of ROH building up the Pure Title and ECW building up the TV Title during Rob Van Dam's legendary run. Great blog from Sapolsky on his MySpace page.
-- Ross on the young talent being exposed to the PPV audience: "Several young talents got some viable exposure no matter how succinct some fans may have perceived it. Again, I'm about quality of minutes and not quantity of minutes. Guys like Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, R-Truth, etc. got a chance to make verbal and or physical contributions that will hopefully lead to bigger and better things for them and who they step in the ring with in the coming weeks."
JC: One of the missed opportunities on the PPV was WWE not finding a way to incorporate the Old Team Smackdown members into the match to give them TV time after they were featured on Raw. Dolph Ziggler was missing from the PPV in a significant way. As for the talent on the PPV, I believe Jack Swagger benefited the most from his exposure backstage during the Raw locker room segment. I'm hoping WWE comes up with something for Swagger in a higher position on the card starting on Raw tonight. Also, Kofi Kingston had talking time and a main event run-in that benefited him. WWE has a budding Kofi vs. Cody Rhodes program that could be a strong mid-card feud.
The most disappointing moment for the younger talent was Ted DiBiase nonchalantly becoming involved in the main event by helping Randy Orton. The announces did not draw attention to DiBiase having an epic struggle over whether to side with Orton or drop him like a bad habit on Raw. Instead, DiBiase was back to his lackey ways. More emphasis needed to be placed on DiBiase's role in the PPV main event to reinforce the excellent struggle DiBiase presented on Raw last week.
-- Ross on the Seven-on-Seven match: "Fans can choose to nit pick any seven-man tag all they choose but with 14 bodies in one, one fall match these massive tags are tough to navigate. ... For anyone who may think that 14 athletes are going to get 'equal time' in a bout such as this isn't realistic. The things that were top-line issues got the focus they seem to need/warrant. I thought the seven-man tag delivered as expected, again in a challenging format."
JC: I disagree. I don't think criticisms of the match were simple "nitpicks," but an overall view of how the participants in the match seemed to cancel each other out, there wasn't a definitive conclusion to the PPV namesake, and no one really stood out at the end of the match. It came across like a multiple-man TV match. WWE dressed up the match with a trophy on the line and everyone (except for Triple H) wore appropriate team colors, but the match didn't have that "bite" you're looking for in a multiple-man match. It was a challenging format, but I didn't feel the match was given enough time to be memorable or deliver on its promise. The combination of WWE switching the match on Raw-only viewers and not delivering a finish to one of the main events is most-concerning because of its potential negative impact on future WWE PPV orders. It hurts the trust between consumer and provider.
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