High Road/Low Road 10.23.09: Bragging Rights - Seven on Seven
Posted by Chad Nevett on 10.23.2009
This week we focus on the inter-brand multi man tag match from Bragging Rights and would love to know what you think about it. Plus, a huge announcement about the future of the High Road/Low Road column!
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!
A brief explanation of the column: Sat takes the High Road (positive view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Uncletrunx takes the Low Road (negative view).
Announcement:
Sat: We'll start off with a huge announcement from Uncletrunx.
Uncletrunx: Indeed, it is a huge announcement; sadly, this will probably be my last High Road/Low Road column. Other pressures mean I just can't guarantee that I can get the column done on time, and rather than let quality or quantity slip, I feel I have to step away. It's been a great experience, and I'd like to thank Sat for giving me the opportunity to join him in debate every week for the past few years.
Sat: This does leave us with a problem because we do not have a low road writer. I decided that since I had success with a reader taking on the role before, I would try it again. If you are interested in becoming the new low road writer, then shoot me an email at satuncletrunx@gmail.com. I would send you the high roads that I have written and you would send me the low roads. I plan on having the high roads done by Friday Night, so you should have an email by Saturday Morning. The person who has the best response is the new addition to this column.
Uncletrunx: I hope you find someone with a suitable sense of pithy negativity to join in! If necessary I can do next week too, so if there are several good candidates and you need to run a second audition, you can do so.
Sat: I'll set the deadline for Tuesday Night and I'll email the winner on Wednesday with all of the details. If you are selected as a writer, you will also be able to participate in Wrestler of the Week, Roundtables, and the Top 5. If you have any other questions, ask away via email.
Uncletrunx: Good luck to all of you who apply. It's the best job on the internet. You'll love it.
Results for Teddy Long On Probation:
High Road: 33%
Low Road: 41%
Both Roads: 26%
Bragging Rights: Seven on Seven
High Road:
I'll start off with something that I have been reading since this concept was announced and that is that this pay per view should have been held after WrestleMania because having this pay per view close to the Survivor Series devalues it. I will discuss why it is fine being close to the Survivor Series in the next High Road, but the thing I want to mention is that it would not have worked after WrestleMania because there would have been no brand loyalty because the draft is around that time. Having it now at least establishes that all of the guys have some loyalty to the brand that they are fighting for.
Low Road:
Surely having it at the time of the draft would mean the whole thing could somehow be tied into the draft, thus making it far more interesting in storyline terms. In WWE, people appear on the "other" shows all the time and are transferred frequently. Brand loyalty is a concept which WWE does very little to enforce apart from when it has an idea like this; it means nothing to most people and this match could be better used as part of the draft process in my view.
High Road:
The other thing that is being mentioned is that having a seven on seven match devalues the Survivor Series. I would say that it does not for a few reasons. One, the Survivor Series has multiple five on five matches while this pay per view has one. Two, the Survivor Series is an elimination match and this is being billed as a tag team match. Finally, we do not know the plans for the Survivor Series. Maybe the plan is to eliminate tri branded teams this year.
Low Road:
If I remember correctly, one of the key things you frequently suggest is that each Pay Per View needs its own identity. While I don't agree 100%, I do think it is a questionable decision to have a tag team match of this type so close to the Pay Per View event which has used this as its main gimmick.
High Road:
The seven on seven Bragging Rights match has created for an interesting week on RAW, SmackDown, and Superstars. The reason I say this is that all three shows had qualifying matches to determine who was going to be on what team. Having something like this makes it easy to write for the show and it creates a must watch show.
Low Road:
It creates a show where I feel the need to read the results; there's very little in the build up which made me think of it as "must watch TV". I knew that at the end we would have some teams for each brand; as such, all I needed to know was who the participants were. There was nothing "must watch" about the build up show for me.
High Road:
I look at this match and one thing is obvious. The RAW team seems to have a huge advantage and the reason is pretty clear. They have DX on it and like it or not they have a huge advantage over the SmackDown captains. Now, I know you could say that this makes the outcome obvious, but I really can't complain about this. First, we were saying that HHH was in the title picture for too long and now we are going to start complaining that his team as a huge advantage? You could argue that the SmackDown team should be stronger and maybe take some guys from the Fatal Four Way match, but that would be giving you a main event on SmackDown of either Taker/Punk, Taker/Mysterio, and Taker/Batista. I think while we can complain about RAW's huge advantage, we need to remember that making an equal match can cause problems with some of the other matches.
Low Road:
That's called "booking" and it seems to be an increasingly lost art. I don't see the problem with a one on one title match and some higher grade talent in the tag match. I'm no fan of four way title matches at the best of times and when they draw talent away from other key points on the card to the detriment of the card as a whole, I like them even less.
High Road:
The seven on seven Bragging Rights match is a big time match and I like that some of the younger guys are getting a chance to participate in this match. I think guys like Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntrye, Eric Escobar, and Dolph Ziggler.
Low Road:
What will their role be is the question I have to ask. With so many people in the match, they will either be lost in the shuffle or will be used as cannon fodder for the established stars. It is just possible that one of them could be elevated by scoring the win for his team over a recognized Main Eventer, but I really don't see it happening.
High Road:
Bragging Rights is going to have a few matches on it because of the Iron Man match. At the current time that I am writing this there are five matches on the card and I see this match getting 20 to 25 minutes. I see this being plenty of time for the match and I expect to see a very good multi man match.
Low Road:
I expect to see the likes of Triple H dominating and the lesser partners getting lost in the shuffle. To me, it all looks like a gimmick for the sake of having one. It's too similar to the upcoming Survivor Series concept, they're fighting for "Brand superiority", a concept nobody believes in and which is usually ignored by the company and the teams are lopsided, detracting from the interest still further. In short, a huge Low Road for me to finish on!
Simply write "High Road", "Low Road", or "Both Roads" in the comment section.
Comments:
Below are the comments for last week's columns and our responses. Every comment will not be included because it makes our lives a lot easier.
The Gold Standard Writes:
Low Road. I get sick of the E giving Teddy Long BS storylines where hes about to lose his position as general manager when clearly hes been the best and most consistent general manager for Smackdown. If they really want to do something new for him, have him turn heel and favorite the heels or something. CM Punk would be a great person. Have Teddys ultimate goal is to get the Undertaker to retire and then at the grandest stage or whenever he does have Taker deliver his last Tombstone to Teddy.
Sat: I'll admit that Teddy has had some weird storylines with him having a heart attack at the wedding being a prime example.
Uncletrunx: He does suffer at the hands of the creative team.
The Great Captain Smooth Writes:
Both Roads. Low, because aside from him screwing Taker, they really haven't done anything with the story. High, because a lot of people can relate to him for having a boss that doesn't treat you with any respect.
Sat: You make a good point about this being relatable; that would have made a great high road last week.
Uncletrunx: It is, but they ran that particular well dry during the Stone Cold era. They need new material.
BobbyC Writes:
High Road (barely).
What this adds to Smackdown is a little bit of uncertainty. Will Teddy be the face that he's always been when the boss is not around, will he be the suck-up who does exactly what Mr. McMahon wants? Will he be the bumbling idiot who tries to do both things - but accomplishes neither?
While I like that Smackdown is the wrestling focused program for WWE, I wouldn't mind seeing a better mixture of wrestling and storylines between both programs.
Mr. McMahon, in small doses, is acceptable. Same for Vickie the Chipmunk. But if this becomes a central point around which multiple matches and storylines are being driven - this will end up being a low road.
Sat: Vickie in small doses is a good thing, but I don't see that being the case.
Uncletrunx: Nor me. Vince also doesn't seem to do small doses when he's on TV.
The Logical One Writes:
Both roads - it allows Long to freshen his character without becoming the overdone and unrealistic "Pure Evil GM" gimmick. My biggest problem is that Long was a good ref, but he is an average actor (at best). Even in pre-taped segments, he's just not that good.
He seems like a good guy and model employee, so I can see wanting to reward his loyalty and experience with this GM position; but there's got to be a position backstage, in Stamford, or Tampa where he can be more useful. This current storyline helps set up his departure, so it's not a total low road for me.
Sat: I have not found Teddy Long to be an average actor. The only time I was cringing when he has been acting has been his stuff with Krystal (that was totally not believable) and the week after the Undertaker abducted him. Besides that he has been very good.
Uncletrunx: I don't see why he can't be a referee. He was excellent at that.
DaJuice Writes:
low road and high road on this one. teddy long has been one of the best on air general managers in recent years and while it does freshen his character a bit unless there is some big payoff that advances the storyline and his character keeps his job than no I don't see this going anywhere
Sat: A good payoff is needed to make this worthwhile.
Uncletrunx: I'm not convinced that a big payoff is in the interests of Smackdown. It takes the focus off the in ring action, something I'm against in principle.
Anthony_McMannequin Writes:
This is a definite LOW ROAD! I for one am so tired of these super-lame gimmicks that 'the E' has foisted on us lately. For you guys to say you don't know where this angle is going really makes no sense to me. I'm not an online superfan, but I can see this thing coming a mile away. All roads are leading to it unfortunately.
Sat: I honestly cannot see where this is going? Why don't you tell us where it is heading?
Uncletrunx: It's heading to a rehash of the Montreal Screwjob. All WWE angles go back there eventually.
JLAJRC Writes:
Low Road.
Since it seems like they're not gonna turn him into a heel, even after the stuff with Taker, there is only two roads for them to go down.
1.) Vince fires Teddy and appoints a new GM.
2.) Teddy gets sick of Vince and punches him, leading to a match between them with Teddy's job on the line. No one wants to see that.
Sat: If this is leading to Vince versus Teddy, then this is the ultimate low road…
Uncletrunx: Yup. I could also see it being Vince vs Teddy's chosen wrestler which might be marginally better.
Black Hole of Charisma Writes:
High Road
If it leads to Teddy Long being replaced by someone who is actually entertaining (And Vickie Guerrero, god bless her, is just as lame). Let's face it, Long is serviceable as a walking plot device, but he doesn't add anything to SD!. And there will be times that a segment is humming along and he'll show up and bring it to a screeching halt. There are more than a dozen guys on Legends contracts who would be superior to Long in this role like Dusty, Dibiase, Piper etc etc etc. Hell, Flair seems to need money at this point, grab him.
Also, the whole good guy GM thing is just as played out at this point as the bad guy GM was. Between Teddy, the guest hosts on RAW and Tiffany, we've had good guy GM's for a while now. Apparently the E thinks that since heel GM's screw with the faces, that face GM's have to screw with the heels. Its actually making me miss the days of Jack Tunney. Can you imagine how Roger Goodell would look if he so blatantly and intentionally screwed over one team because he didn't like them?
If Teddy Long stays on as GM, or it goes to someone lame like Vickie, then I don't even go down a road because I couldn't care less about the whole thing.
Sat: There are a lot of capable people that could be GM, but I don't think any of them want to be making weekly appearance.
Uncletrunx: It is all in the balance, and it will depend on where they take it. Sadly, I have no faith that it will be anywhere good.
Uncletrunx:
So with that, assuming a new writer is found by next week, it's goodbye from me. I would say I hope to win this weeks poll, but I know that in wrestling you leave with a loss…
So long folks. It's been fun.
Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at satuncletrunx@gmail.com or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week's column.
What are they fighting for? Brand Supremacy? Why would they want that when they might very well be on the other brand in 6 months, meaning they just helped make their new home weaker.
And what do they win? Bragging rights? Not title shots, money or anything that matters the next morning. Why should the wrestlers even care (which is a different way of saying why should I care)? Heck, have somebody put together a Brand Supremacy trophy and use it as a setpeice in the winning GM's office. BUT MAKE THEM FIGHT FOR SOMETHING! Otherwise its a big fat load of who cares.
Posted By: black hole of charisma (Guest) on October 22, 2009 at 10:49 PM
Low Road: Simply put, all this nonsense could/should have been done for Survivor Series. This time there would be time to build this rivalry than what? 2 weeks?
Posted By: Jaime (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 12:31 PM
Low Road mainly for the simple reason Survivor Series is around the corner and one could imagine out of these teams theyll probably compete again face vs heel at Survivor Series.If they really wanted to have a Raw vs Smackdown ppv they should have had light something like a night of champions without defenses like smackdowns world champ vs raws etc
Posted By: The Gold Standard (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Low road Show turns on Team RAW with lead to Team Jerishow vs Team DX. Armageddon or TLC will be DX vs Show and Jericho.
Posted By: T-Mac (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Low Road for 2 reasons
1) 7 on 7 is too many for a single fall.
2)They should of waited till survivor series & made it an elimanation match.
Still has potential to be a good match tho.
Posted By: jbardo (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 12:51 PM
Low Road
"What are they fighting for?" - black hole of charisma
"Absolutely nothing. Say it again." - Edwin Starr, "War"
Here's what I would have done.
Whomever gets the pin gets to create a 4 man team for Surivor Series. Whomever gets pinned is off TV the rest of the year.
The winner at Bragging Rights will have a team of 4 wrestlers. Two individual wrestlers and one tag team. The winner of their match at Survivor will win guaranteed Championship matches (on their brand) at TLC - World/WWE (going to the team captain), IC/US (to the other singles wrestler) and Tag Team. Their opponents will consistent of one former World/WWE champ, one former IC/US champ and one former Tag Team champion. Those wrestlers will be selected in a "lottery" on the November 2nd Raw.
Posted By: BobbyC (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Low road - mainly because the timing is all wrong. You don't have to do it at Survivor Series necessarily, as the 5 on 5 elimination match works on it's own, but either do it @ Survivor Series or the December PPV, and put something on the line.
The best way I can think of, if I was going to book it, would be to put spots in the Royal Rumble on the line. Say, the winning brand gets 15 spots, the loser gets 10, and ECW gets 5 regardless. If it's elimination style, you could even go a step further and say that the captains on the winning team are guaranteed a number in the RR from 21-30.
Now you've got something that everyone on the roster is interested in, since if the team does well they havea better opportunity of qualifying for the Rumble. In addition you have the possible dynamic of a heel team member intentionally getting pinned to screw over a face captain or something like that, or cutting a deal with the other team.
Posted By: akakhawk (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 02:11 PM
High Road.
Despite the awkward timing of this PPV, I like the idea. I realize it's meant to coincide with the release of the new SVR video game, but I think it would be better in December.
Survivor Series puts everyone in a "team" frame of mind. That's an easy transition to Bragging Rights.
As for the winning prize... I'd say the winning brand gets to determine who's #30 in the Royal Rumble. Besides, the promos could go: "they we're partners, now it's every man for himself" or something cliche like that.
A few other tweaks...
- More brand vs brand matches. Make it like the WWE's Olympics.
- Eliminate single-brand matches. Let the Orton-Cena saga rest for a month.
- Change the main event format. 14 guys in the ring at once? Yikes. I'd say have 7 brand-vs-brand matches, and the winners advance to the main event tag match.
Posted By: Guest#5344 (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 02:22 PM
High-ish Road
If the brands were kept totally apart, then this would be like the old MLB All-Star Game. As it is, it's merely a clever idea that has no real impact. More needs to be at stake; for example, the brand that wins the most matches might be allowed a shot at the other brand's 2nd tier belt or even their championship.
Posted By: Iron Knee (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 02:33 PM
Low Road. Anyone who buys this PPV is nothing more than a suck up to Vinnie Mac. The question is there anyway that the younger stars get a chance to get over. Doubtful. With the eventual DX-Jericho/Show (JeriShow is lame) matchup on the way you know that will overtake the rest of the 7 on 7 match.
Posted By: JR (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 04:37 PM
Both roads. High, because it could be used to see which wrestlers might have chemistry together and that info might come in handy around the Rumble, MITB, or Draft. Low, because it showcases my main issue with the teams. Why would HHH want to team up with Swagger to beat up R-Truth? I say they need to make two matches. RAW faces vs. SD heels and RAW heels vs. SD faces. If the RAW heels won their match and the RAW faces lost their's, they could start some shit about how they were good enough to beat SD, but the faces weren't. There are so many storylines that could come out of any combo of winners and losers. It's a good tool, just aimed wrong.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 05:01 PM
I almost forgot. Peace out, Uncletrunx.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 05:02 PM
I expect to see the likes of Triple H dominating and the lesser partners getting lost in the shuffle. To me, it all looks like a gimmick for the sake of having one. It's too similar to the upcoming Survivor Series concept, they're fighting for "Brand superiority", a concept nobody believes in and which is usually ignored by the company and the teams are lopsided, detracting from the interest still further. In short, a huge Low Road for me to finish on!
That is a perfect statement
Posted By: Jay (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 05:51 PM
Both Roads.
I like the idea and teams for the event. But I don't think it should be one fall. They should've waited until Survivor Series and did it with the traditional elimination rules.
Posted By: JLAJRC (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 06:53 PM
High Road
--A multi-man tag is main eventing a PPV (presently, at least). Considering that tag matches rarely get to headline any PPVs (in the 'E), I'll always be psyched when it happens.
--Agree with the possibly of this getting a lot of time (or as much time as one would expect WWE to give something), though not necessarily because of the short # of mtaches on the card, but because it will be blantantly booked to differentiate from the SS matches next month: history has showen that those are usually booked to be shorter, with the eliminations coming fast and often.
--On the possible booking of "young guys and undercarders get crushed, main eventers stroke their ego, this is all just to advance another storyline": Folks, this is one of the advantages of watching so much Japanese wrestling,CHIKARA, and TNA (to a certain extent): that is the sort of thing that tends to happen in these multi-man MEs, and after a while you get used to it. Plus, with the live crowds it's a formula that works. The key there, as in this case, is for the talent involved to add enough nuances to the match so that no one ends up caring too much about the predictable booking. Then again, they could do what the other promotions tend to do at least semi-often: book it in completely different ways.
Posted By: B.W.G. (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 08:26 PM
Based on the question itself, Low Road, but based on the arguments given, Both Roads.
It seems like both of you are kind of down on the execution, which I don't blame you for. Like so many other things the WWE has done, it's an interesting concept but the card doesn't live up to the idea. This is just like the InVasion all over again: a mediocre build-up to one big match, where they talk about competition but don't really show it. That's the problem with the storytelling in the WWE: they tell us what they want us to think is going up, but they never really show it. It shouldn't be about one match, especially if it's single elimination. It should be about brand vs. brand, champ vs. champ, with other interbrand matches to round out the card. The Iron Man match shouldn't be on the same PPV.
One of the other comments has it right: this PPV should be done in December, and should be the new kick off of the Road to Wrestlemania. I like the idea of letting the winners choose #30 in the Royal Rumble, because it would immediately peg them as the favorite. Then you can do a month of stories on that brand with all the players trying to convince the GM that they should get the #30 slot. This would add to the build to Wrestlemania.
It could also help establish a new "meta-story" for the WWE, where the shows are about more about competition between the brands, building up to Bragging Rights. It could make the draft seem more essential, because the GMs have to start figuring out their teams for the next year, and undercut the opposing brand. Of course, that would mean getting away from the "random selection" process that's been used in the recent drafts, but that was annoying anyway. Inter-brand rivalries could be built up using the Unified Tag Titles, though that would mean letting them trade hands more often. I like Jerishow's current stranglehold on them, though. But it would help shift the big arcs away from 'evil GM screws champ,' and explore new ground.
Of course, this would leave ECW out in the cold, but we're used to that. Or you could have subplots of Raw or SD GMs coming and trying to sign promising ECW talent for use in the Bragging Rights team, or something like that.
This has the potential to be an interesting type of PPV, but this card leaves me cold. It's not being built, and it's not building to anything.
Posted By: Sly Reference (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 08:30 PM
High Road
Posted By: BPN (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 08:35 PM
Low Road - No one buys the brand vs. brand idea. There's too much fluctuation in rosters; Raw doesn't even have a permanent GM. Not only does this kind of devalue the Survivor Series (whether anyone wants to admit it or not), but it devalues ECW even more than it already is by leaving it out of the brand wars.
Here's what I would do. Hold it at the PPV right before the Royal Rumble, and in the weeks before the PPV, each of the 3 brands holds a 9-man tournament with 3 Triple Threat matches in the first round and a final Triple Threat match to determine who will represent their brand in a tri-branded Bragging Rights 3-way-dance (instead of a 7-on-7). And check this out - the winner of the Bragging Rights match would be guaranteed the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble, but the other 2 losers in the match would be the #1 and #2 entrants. This would place the participants in the Bragging Rights match in a huge risk/reward situation.
Posted By: Adam Jones (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 09:37 PM
definitely a high road
Posted By: Guest#1651 (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 10:45 PM
DX Is putting over the new guys by working with them.
HIGH ROAD
Posted By: X8 (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 10:46 PM
High Road
Looking foward to it.
Posted By: Guest#0757 (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Dont you remember they have already done it at Survivor Series. Team Smackdown one. It was a diffeent concept and build around it though.
Because team smackdown won there im going to say TEAM RAW for the win.
Posted By: Michael (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 11:52 PM
High Road
Posted By: Greg (Guest) on October 23, 2009 at 11:53 PM
HIGH ROAD
Posted By: HBK (Guest) on October 24, 2009 at 10:18 PM
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