C.W.
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I don't think anyone was shocked that Nitro kept the IC belt. I'd be willing to bet that the Hardy/Nitro feud will end without Jeff getting a hold of the championship.
I'm surprised that they put on a "go to the bathroom" match so early on with Umaga vs Kane. The crowd hated the ending, but can you imagine a HUGE pop if Kane won, or a BIG boo if Umaga used the "taped up thumb of death"?? Vince must've decided that if the crowd wasn't going to care who won, neither would he. Double DQ.
I have to admit to being caught off guard that Spirit Squad kept the tag titles. I would hope that they'll lose them sometime soon. Having 5 wienie wrestlers hold a tag team title does about as much for the belt as when Judy Bagwell was 1/2 of WCW tag champs.
About the best way to describe a 27 minute Hell In A Cell match is to say Big Show & The McMahon's got the crap kicked out of them. I never understood why DX were supposed to be afraid of wrestling a 61 year old, his semi-athletic son, and Big Show, who during his time in WWE has been pinned by EVERYONE, including some non wrestlers. I hope Vince & Shane's "injuries" are enough to keep them off camera at Raw tomorrow.
Trish Stratus won the women's belt in her final match. Okay, that's pretty stupid. This was a token victory, given to her by Vince McMahon for services rendered. You ever heard of someone retiring from their accounting job and they get the gold watch?? Same basic principle. Doesn't mean squat. If Ric Flair's FINAL match was for the championship and was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, do you think they'd let him win?? Nope. Not even if he's Ric Flair. The heavyweight belt is too important. The women's belt is not. That's why when Trish was out for a few months last year, they let her stay champion. No one noticed or cared. So they'll either let Trish keep the belt which tells the other women "the only person we think is good enough to be champ just left the building forever", or they'll have a battle royale and Trish's precious 7th title win lasted less than a day.
Orton got a clean win over Carlito. Guess that's his "punishment" for testing positive??
Cena won the title - again. Think this is the end for him and Edge?? Mmmmmmmnope.
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The Hell in a Cell match was such a disappointment, they made the Big Show look like an idiot, plain and simple, there is no way DX should've won, but I guess that how creative wants it. I'm glad Trish went out on a winning note. The TLC match, I know you guys can relate, but the way Jerry & JR talked about hostile crowd, like Canada was going to riot if Edge didn't win. JR and Lawler, you need to be reminded about this date 6/11/06, ECW One Night Stand, that's a hostile crowd and NYC would've rioted if John Cena won, but I guess that's how the WWE creative team wants JR & Lawler to talk about things. I hope this ends the feud between these two, but I doubt it. Rate this PPV 5 of 10, wasn't worth $40.
Ray
NYC
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Hey my name is Jason and I just wanted to say what an awesome ppv...From bottom to top the wrestlers worked their butts off, the live crowd made the ppv extra special as a lot of crowds have been lacking and with the way the matches were spread throughout the evening it didn't seem like a cluster type ppv...Great opener between Nitro/Hardy and the crowd was way over into this match, sucks Nitro is still champ but the Hardy reunion backstage may be the seed to start the team up again...Kane/Umaga was good and I like the ending of a double countout with both monsters brawling back, my only problem was Jim Ross saying this was Umaga's ppv debut, didn't he beat Ric Flair and Eugene on Raw's last 2 brand only ppvs...Highlanders/Spirit Squad was fun to watch and both teams worked their butts off but like everyone else the Squad cheating to get the victory is old, they need to either make it 2 on 2 or fans will lose interest in the tag title...HIAC was an awesome match and it was the perfect end to the feud and I like the new Cell, the bumps were sick and they all worked their asses off and pulled out all stops what a sick ending with Vince finally getting his and Shane his...Lita and Trish, enough said they have always had great matches and what a treat to go out on top like that...Thank you Trish...Carlito/Orton was good but leaves a lot between these two and finally the TLC match was awesome and now Edge and Cena have both won in the other's home turf what an awesome display put on by both...This was a 40.00 well spent...
Jason Ouimette
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Good evening to all of you,
I have been a wrestling fans for numerous years and I must say that I have seen lots of highs (as well as lows) from WWE product lately. I have attended 8 of the 11 WWE PPV's this year, so I consider myself a loyal fan who knows the WWE product quite well. One of the lows I would like to mention happened tonight at Unforgiven during the TLC match during John Cena and Edge.
I witnessed an incident tonight that completely tore me apart. Two female fans sitting in the front row got thrown out of the building for "apparently" spitting on John Cena. Being sat in the same section as them, that could not be further from the truth.
Cena came out of the ring to grab a ladder and the two fans stood up to express their dislike for him (as I can totally relate). The referee ran up to them to tell them to stop spitting at Cena, and the security guard proceeded to have them ejected from the building.
I would like to go on record to say that no spitting was involved in the whole incident and the WWE security guard was totally out of line for taking the measures he took. From an outside point of view, I really feel sorry for those two fans because I have seen both of them at numerous shows that I have attended and have never been a problem before ..... why start now ???
WWE needs to understand that certain characters may not be as well liked as others but protecting them like they are worth gold is not appropriate. If fans cannot express what they feel (without any spitting involved .... as not to get wrong ideas), where does that leave us???
A WWE Fan that has lost lots of respect for wrestling tonight
Jean-Francois Trudel
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Johnny Nitro vs Jeff Hardy – When I saw Hardy’s soppy hairstyle I assume that mean we’d have a bad match – don’t ask me why… I guess history has shown us that the dumber he looks, the worse the match. However, that was not the case, and both guys upped their game tenfold to give us a good old fashioned wrestling match. A bit of psychology, solid mat work and some great near falls, this had it all. this is a feud that I would be happy to see run as these two have great chemistry together. Nitro is green but he won over the fickle Canadian crowd and I suspect a few more people too. Great opener.
Christ, did we REALLY need another poxy feature on The Marine? There is a difference between promoting a film and ramming down people’s throats to the point that they don’t want to see it.
You know, I was thinking that The Hardy Boyz vs Nitro & Helms would make a good tag match. And how ironic was it that Lita screwed up her lines when she had to call Jeff “a screw upâ€ÂÂÂ…
Kane vs Umaga – I can’t say I expected much from this match but it was a lot better than I thought it would be. They did manage to keep the energy levels up which is unusual in big guy matches. The finished sucked though and the crowd were right to boo.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before we saw the McEgos in a pointless, self serving skit.
Spirit Squad vs Highlanders – Trust the Squad to kill the live crowd…by the numbers tag match that gave the Highlanders a chance to show themselves as more than a comedy team. Nasty bump by Robbie onto the floor from the Suicide Dive. I didn’t see the Squad retaining he belts which doesn’t make sense seeing a they’ve not been pushed lately. Okay for what it was.
DX vs McMahons & Big Show – I’m surprised this is on so early but then again, to have two high impact gimmick matches back to back would be hard on the live crowd. And typical of the McEgos to have a bigger HITC then everyone else although it didn’t really make any difference….I wonder if that stupid jiggy entrance of Shane’s is the reason he got no reaction coming out? Match was about as I expected it to be. One thing that hacks me off is that WWE keep holding up HHH as the worker to watch for psychology and selling and yet he keeps making these OTT Superman comebacks that like we saw here that have little to no selling of his bloody beatings whatsoever. Okay and brutal match but frankly a huge ego trip for everyone involved. And no, we didn’t need to see Big Show’s exposed ass!
Nice vide package for Trish’s last match. I’m going to miss her…
Lita vs Trish Stratus – Nice pop and reaction for Trish as expected. It was also good to see Lita lift her game for this match a she has been horrible over the past few months. Strong match and you could see that Trish was giving it her all to go out on a high. The Sharpshooter (while not the most perfect application) was a nice touch and I’m glad that we got the fairy tale send off for Trish. I’m just disappointed that Trish didn’t get any mic time after the match unless they are saving that for RAW tomorrow night….Anyway, farewell Trish and thanks for the past 6 years of Stratusfaction!
I know that SD is moving to a new network this week but how can a show that runs for 52 weeks a year have a “season premiere�
Carlito vs Randy Orton – Carlito seems to be getting over quiet nicely as a face and his increased work rate and moveset has helped his cause. Definitely one of the most improved wrestlers of the year. Orton is still sloppy and too cocky in the ring. The finish surprised me as I didn’t see Orton going over as he is supposed to be in the dog house over the Wellness Program yet they punish him by giving him the win? Cool spot leading into the pin though. Okay match.
Edge vs John Cena – Why did Edge come out first? The champ should ALWAYS come out last. The “Cena Sucks†chants before he even came out amused me but it seems he started to win over a lot of fans by the end of the match. Aside from the early botched Powerbomb spot this was a pretty solid match that actually built up the spots rather than just throwing them out there. Both men took their lumps but Edge seemed to take the more risks (including the run up the ladder that nearly ended badly). Lita’s appearance was not unexpected and it looks like there may be a possible split in the making after this. I’m glad this went on last and not the HITC and this was the better match and more deserving headliner. Great stuff. However Cena as champ again with no credible heel challengers?…Bleh!
Bottom Line: So far this year, SD has provided us with the stronger single brand PPVs despite the WWE bookers putting the emphasis on RAW but tonight, the red roster pulled one back big time. Everyone upped their game and delivered a strong show. It may not be the most memorable but it was the best RAW effort in a long time.
Hopefully this interminable DX vs McEgos feud is over. It’s gone on WAAAAY too long and this really should be the finale. And not that Mr. Polarity John Cena is back as WWE Champ, who is going to challenge him? Orton seems to be the only logical choice but he has lost his luster big time.
Maybe RAW tomorrow night will have the answers…
My Score: 7/10
Cheers LEE RELPH, UK