Unforgiven Results and Thoughts

I went back and forth yesterday on whether or not I wanted to see World Wrestling Entertainment’s Unforgiven pay-per-view. Ring of Honor was airing a repeat of Respect is Earned (which I haven’t seen yet) at 6 while the W.W.E. would put their show on at 8. I went with the W.W.E. and in some ways I think I would have been better suited going with Ring of Honor. As far as bang for your buck goes, R.O.H. delivers.

The W.W.E. had three scramble matches – the rules of which seemed to not only confuse the announcers, ring announcer and even the wrestlers, but definitely the fans. The concept would not be bad if it was used in an Intercontinental Championship match, but not a World title bout because it cheapens the title.

Triple H lost the title during the W.W.E. Championship scramble several times, but ultimately walked out with the belt, however, the ring announcer said he retained the title. But that’s really not true. I just checked the title history on W.W.E.com and Hunter is listed as never having lost the belt since he initially won it from Randy Orton several months ago. I’m confused. Do we recognize Jeff Hardy as a two-time W.W.E. Champ off of yesterday’s match or what? I may be nitpicking at it, but there has to be something that makes sense. In some ways, the holes in the scramble just make me think the W.W.E. has some very lazy writers.

I didn’t like the Undertaker-Big Show segment because that is something that can be saved for t.v. The W.W.E. also walked a very dangerous line with Vickie Guerrero and the casket. I give the show a 7 out of 10 overall, mostly due to the Michaels-Jericho match. For future pay-per-views I would like to see the W.W.E. please get back to having one on one title matches!

I did like the forming of the young stable led by Randy Orton which contains Afa Jr. (now called Manu), Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho lived up to expectations, although wasn’t Jericho knocked unconscious by Michaels? Yet, somehow he recovered in time to beat four other guys for the World Championship. Still, I like seeing Jericho with the title – mostly because I’m hoping Michaels gets the strap – but taking CM Punk out of the match is just wrong. Punk is not a W.W.E. creation, that is, he never came through one of the company’s developmental territories so I wonder if that is the reason why he is treated like a bastard at a family reunion.

WWE Championship Scramble
W.W.E. Champ Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. The Brian Kendrick
Triple H leaves with the W.W.E. title in what was predictably the best of the three scramble matches.

World Heavyweight Championship Scramble World Champ CM Punk vs. JBL vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista
Chris Jericho replaced CM Punk who was beaten up by Randy Orton, Afa Jr., Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Jericho goes home with the gold, which makes sense because he is the most marketable heel on Monday Night Raw right now. By the way, wasn't Kane supposed to have "destroyed" Mysterio, yet the two never really seemed to have an issue with each other during the match. In fact, Mysterio stopped Batista from pinning Kane at one point. There was also a moment in which Batista -while champion - was going for a pinfall. Why? What would be the point of pinning someone else when you already have the title? Wouldn't it make more sense to throw everyone else out of the ring?

ECW Championship Scramble E.C.W. Champion Mark Henry vs. Finlay vs. The Miz vs. Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero
I was actually really happy with this one. Maybe because my expectations were so low, but I thought it had some really good action. Nice to see Matt Hardy with a championship!

Divas Championship Match Michelle McCool defends title vs. Maryse
This wasn’t a pay-per-view match and had no business being on the show. By the way, McCool retained.

Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
Very good and quite disturbing at certain points. Michaels wins but says he isn’t “satisfied,” so I am assuming the feud continues. This match was what made me want to get the pay-per-view, I’m glad it delivered.

World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs. Cryme Tyme
Cody and Ted retained in a match that was as good as it will get with these four. Now can they end this feud and have the champs move on to something worthwhile.