10 Wrestling Pay Per View Concepts That Didn't Catch On
6. WWE Bragging Rights
Inter-brand competition is almost completely non-existent in WWE’s current state, but WWE at least attempted to promote it during the original brand split. Having used SmackDown vs. Raw as the premise for several years worth of video games, WWE decided to cash-in and transition it onscreen in 2009.
Theoretically, Bragging Rights was the only time WWE fans could see red and blue wrestlers competing against each other. That was the unique selling point, but the shows themselves were pretty lacklustre. Neither 2009 nor 2010 actually featured a Raw vs. SD match in the main event, and escalating apathy towards the brand split curbed fan interest in Bragging Rights. It flopped as a concept, and the brand split was completely done away with the following year.
Perhaps Bragging Rights would have fared better, had it came about earlier in the brand split when fans were still excited about the split rosters. Regardless, WWE did the event a disservice by presenting just three inter-brand matches in 2009, and one the following year.
There has been little to no talk of reviving the PPV for the current brand split. If the previous two shows are anything to go by, this is a good thing.