Cyber Sunday 2007: Why Did This Have To Be Real?

Cyber Sunday 2007
Date: October 28, 2007
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 10,097
Commentators: Michael Cole, JBL, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Joey Styles

It’s the next to last one of these and thank goodness for that. These shows just are not that good overall and it shows badly. The main event this time is Batista vs. Taker where the vote is for the referee. Austin, JBL and Foley are the choices. I think you get where this is going. Other than that the card looks ok as they’re mainly going with picking opponents here. This looks better than the last few so let’s get to it.

The opening video is about voting for the right candidate like it’s an election which is a cool twist on things. Our votes can alter history here. Oh I’m sure it will.

Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay

You pick the stipulation, which can be stretcher, shillelagh on a pole or No DQ. I don’t remember this feud at all but I wasn’t huge on Smackdown at the time so a lot of the show just kind of came and went. Stretcher wins but it’s rather close. Wow this match doesn’t sound interesting at all. In a cool spot Finlay throws Rey under the bottom rope where he lands on the stretcher and slides partially up the ramp.

They head to the aisle to tease some endings and brawl a lot. Finlay apparently turned heel like two days before this to set this match up. No wonder I don’t remember the feud because there hasn’t been much of a feud at all. Ah scratch that as it started at No Mercy yet they were a team on Friday. These years generally sucked for WWE and particularly Smackdown so there you go.

Finlay goes up the pole for the club (the real name is hard to type) because that’s perfectly fine here. Rey hits a baseball slide to the crotch which has to hurt terribly assuming a lack of a cup. Rey gets the club and keeps it for about two seconds. Rey crashing onto the stretcher is a cool looking thing for some reason.

It’s been mainly Finlay here as he is just beating Rey up. That of course tells me that Rey will win but whatever. That being said, this hasn’t been a very interesting match. I’ve never gotten the appeal of these matches. And there’s a modified 619 and a front flip splash onto Finlay onto the stretcher. They break the stretcher and botch it as the stretcher gets caught on a cord. Finlay charges and hits the stretcher, knocking it and himself over the finish line.

Rating: D+. It’s ok I guess but this just wasn’t that interesting at all. Nothing really happened here and nothing really got going at all. Stretcher matches are pretty pointless but at least they have a history involving a stretcher, which we’ll get to in the No Mercy series. This wasn’t as bad as I expected but this just never got going at all and wasn’t very interesting at all.

Matt Hardy might not be able to fight tonight due to a BAD cut on his head. He’s in the back and looks horrible. MVP comes in and gloats. I think the original match was about them in a tag match or a one on one match but it’s not like it matters. Matt has gotten Vickie to set up MVP in a US Title match and it might be against Mark Henry, Khali or Kane.

JBL is campaigning to be the referee tonight. I like the whole election theme here which is a change of pace at least.

The Divas are having a Halloween costume contest. Maria is a cat. Victoria is a sumo wrestler. Ron Simmons doesn’t know what to think of this.

ECW Title: CM Punk vs. ???

The options are Morrison, Big Daddy V and that Miz guy. Miz and Morrison are a tag team and Punk beat Morrison for the title. V had been built up as a monster (with Matt Striker as his manager of all people) and MIZ of all people wins it. You can hear the legit shock of everyone as he was more or less thrown on there as a nothing guy here. This would be like picking Santino or something.

I can’t get over how different Miz is now. We have a basic back and forth sequence to start where Miz actually wins a bit of it. That’s different if nothing else. The announcers sound legit shocked by Miz getting the shot. Miz controls with basic stuff which is the extent of his offense at this point. The fans think Miz can’t wrestle. This makes where he is nearly three years later all the more amazing.

Punk misses a cross body as Miz rams the knee in which was a nice spot. This is more or less Miz’s coming out party, of which he’s had like 5 so far, but he’s showing off here and it’s working well. Punk just starts going off on Miz throwing kicks and knees. Springboard clothesline and down goes Miz for two. GTS is countered, Miz gets a rollup for two and then walks into the GTS to end it.

Rating: C+. Decent little match here but not a classic or anything like that Miz got a chance to showcase himself here and soon after this he and Morrison would start getting their push, which is where things really get rolling in both of their careers. Fun match though but nothing that you wouldn’t see as the main event of ECW at this point.

Ad for the ECW Monster Mash Battle Royal. It sucked.

Mickie James is an Indian.

Torrie is a football player. This is really stupid.

We recap No Mercy which is where Orton was handed the WWE Title then lost it to HHH and then won it back later that night. It was also the first LD I participated in. We’re going to vote on who his opponent is tonight: Shawn, Hardy or Kennedy (Anderson for you REALLY young guys out there). Shawn had recently come back after Orton beat him up and put him out, so this is about as much of a given as you could imagine. He and Kennedy had been feuding lately too and since the two losers fought each other this really is a no brainer.

Shawn of course dominates the poll with Kennedy getting a meager 10%.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Jeff Hardy

Hardy is one of the most popular guys in the company at this point and the Intercontinental Champion but this is non-title. They do a lot of reversals and jockeying for position which is entertaining if done right. Jeff hits a nice dive to take down Kennedy on the floor as this is better than their TNA stuff, but of course this would get a THIS IS WRESTLING chant in TNA.

They’re not doing anything really special here but it’s pretty decent so far. Kennedy is controlling for the most part and he takes the head off of Hardy with a clothesline. Hardy hits a hurricanrana which isn’t something that he hits that often but it wasn’t bad. Both of these guys can throw a clothesline.

Hardy starts his comeback as this is picking up. This hasn’t been bad at all and far better than them having a bad tag title win that no one cares about. Hardy misses that slingshot dropkick in the corner that he does on occasion and it’s enough for Kennedy to get the pin. That came out of nowhere.

Rating: B-. Fun match here and better than most of what they’ve done in TNA. This would have been a much better match if they had more time. This needed about another five minutes or so and it would have been much better. Still though, good match and Kennedy winning perfectly clean over the IC Champion was a nice boost for him.

Cole votes for Kane to fight MVP.

Michelle McCool is Eve from the Garden of Eden. She wears less when she wrestles.

Melina is a showgirl and is more or less in a bikini.

Foley yells at cardboard cutouts of Batista and Taker but JBL cuts him off, saying he has an advertisement. This is well done and rather funny. Ah those are Fatheads, not cardboard. Fathead is the sponsor tonight so this makes sense.

US Title: MVP vs. ???

MVP is half of the tag champions with Hardy here too. The vote goes to Kane by a wide margin. MVP immediately runs which makes sense. This is more or less unannounced so I guess you can’t complain about them not giving us a good replacement. This was a fairly long running feud so it makes sense at least. MVP hits a running big boot in the corner which is patented apparently.

We hit the rest/wear down hold almost immediate which makes me think very little of this match already. MVP works on the ribs which are injured from an attack on ECW. See what a basic idea like that can do for you? It gives you a basic idea and story for a match and often times that’s all you need. Kane takes over with power stuff. I love basic stuff like this where a guy the size of Kane can do basic stuff but a guy selling well can make it look far better, which is what MVP is doing here.

MVP gets laid up along the top rope and gets punted in a cool looking spot. Both guys have their ribs worked on and it’s mainly Kane here. And then he gets knocked to the floor and just takes the countout. Why does that not surprise me? We were having a fairly decent match here so I should have seen the bad ending coming.

Rating: C. Good match but the ending just crippled it. This could have been good with an actual finish but with the way they did this it just didn’t work. I get that they didn’t want to give the title change of course but I just wish we could have gotten a better ending out of it. Then again it’s a Kane match so like he’s going to get to have a clean ending.

Save Us video, which turned out to be the return of Jericho.

Ad for Survivor Series. That wasn’t a bad show and the main event, Batista vs. Taker in the Cell was very good.

Layla is a cop.

Kelly is a Diva, which means ho without saying it. She looks great.

We get a video of Orton beating up Shawn which Randy introduces. Mainly Orton just injures his head.

Raw World Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton

Like I said this was a long feud so this is really a no brainer at this point. I like Burn in My Light better than Voices actually but I’m probably one of about 3 people that do. Wow that title just doesn’t look right with Orton. Shawn hits the plancha early on and is dominating. They go to the mat where of course Shawn is more comfortable. Shawn gets out of a front facelock and sends Orton’s left arm into the post.

In a cool move, Orton takes a neckbreaker on the arm. I’ve never seen that in that manner before. Again Shawn does the smart thing by using a wide variety of moves to work on the arm which keeps things fresh, including a hammerlock slam ala Arn Anderson. Orton oversells the arm but at least he’s trying which is better than underselling. He takes over on the floor and slows things WAY down.

Just like in every other match with Shawn in it, the guy works on his back. Why does no one get that that just doesn’t work? Orton can throw a great dropkick. Ah there’s my chinlock. Good to see that Orton never changes. He gets his backbreaker which JR calls the Security Wall. That’s a new one on me. Orton sells the arm later in the match even as he sets for the RKO. Little things like that can make a match.

RKO is blocked into a backslide for two. Both guys are down and what do you think Shawn does? The nip up sets up the basic comeback. He sets for the kick in the corner and after stomping about 9 times, Orton has a clue of what’s coming and punches Shawn in the balls for the DQ. Punt misses as Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music. I love how Orton sells that as he just kind of stands there for a bit and then collapses. I love that for some reason.

Rating: C. Not bad but again just nothing special. It felt like a house show main event which while good isn’t worth much since this is a Pay Per View, not a house show. It’s just ok, which is the issue. This was one of their big matches but it never really went anywhere after this. The fans chant for Y2J as they know what’s coming. WWE held off forever on the reveal and when they did it the moment meant nothing, but that’s a different story.

Wrestlemania is at the Citrus Bowl in 08, which was the first one in Florida which is odd.

Brooke is a jungle girl. Why are snakes supposed to be sexy?

Jillian is Brittney Spears. I think that’s all of them.

We recap HHH vs. Umaga which is fallout from DX vs. HHH as Horny was revealed as the kid so HHH is getting all over Vince for it. He brought in Umaga as the hired gun more or less. The choices are street fight, first blood or cage. It’s nice to have three choices where there is a legit chance of all three of them. Street fight wins by a wide margin which is a bit surprising.

HHH vs. Umaga

HHH comes out first for some reason. In something we need more of, we hear a small reference to the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl. Go look THAT one up if you want to see a brawl. Good luck finding it though. HHH runs straight at him and it’s on in the aisle. They’re fighting on a massive keyboard which just looks weird. This is a big brawl to start so at least they have the idea right.

HHH knocks Umaga through a wall in a pretty cool looking spot. This isn’t falls count anywhere so this is just a fun beating. I like HHH better when he just beats on people rather than wrestles them as he can get pretty vicious. In the ring now and Umaga misses a splash, slamming his head into the post. Somehow that doesn’t take him down so HHH busts out the weapons.

The Samoan Drop reverses things. Is that a requirement for all Samoans to learn? I don’t remember the Wild Samoans using that move like ever. This has been a fun brawl that has been very hard hitting. Umaga hits a thumb to the forehead. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to hurt or not but it looked really weird. Umaga hits a bear hug, which at least makes sense as he worked the ribs earlier. Rest holds can work if they’re done right and if they fit the story.

Running hip smash gets two and Umaga tries to eat the referee in a cute spot. Chair time but HHH hits a DDT on it which barely works since he’s a Samoan. HHH goes lucha as he tries a cross body. Take a guess as to how that works for him. Back on the floor and a chair shot misses as we hit the Spanish announce table. Whoever makes those is either really good or really bad. Are they supposed to be that breakable?

Solid match so far as Umaga is dominant. He does the run across three tables for the splash on the third table spot which is rather cool. HHH is basically out so I’d bet on him kicking out here in a SHOCK. A top rope splash misses and Umaga lands head first which looked good. Sledgehammer is brought out and Umaga gets popped in the head with it and the Pedigree ends it.

Rating: B+. That’s probably high but I really liked this. This was a very hard hitting match where they both just beat the crap out of each other. That’s how you do a match like this as it felt like these two just wanted to beat each other up and hurt the other as much as possible. That’s how you do a street fight and these two did very well. HHH is a great brawler when he needs to be and this is no exception. I really liked this.

Ad for WWE Magazine which isn’t something you see that often.

Mickie wins the costume contest. Can’t argue much there as she looks hot.

We recap Batista vs. Taker, which really was a great feud. They’re probably Batista’s best matches ever, of which he has better ones than he’s given credit for. The first one was at Mania which Taker of course won. The rematch at Last Man Standing and a cage match on Smackdown both were draws. This is the fourth match as Batista got the belt back by beating Khali.

We get ready to announce the referee but JBL cuts Todd off. He insists he’s the winner no matter what the totals say but here’s Mick Foley instead. Some people call this filler. Some people call it drama. I call it annoying as I want to see the main event. Foley doesn’t even say anything as Austin gets about 80% of the vote. Foley and JBL fight for a bit until the glass shatters. Austin stuns them both and gets the biggest pops of the night as it’s unlikely Batista or Taker are going to top that.

Smackdown World Title: Undertaker vs. Batista

I was able to check my voicemail and call the guy back before Taker got in the ring. That’s rather amusing. It’s very cool to see Taker and Austin in the same ring again given the battles they had. The battles weren’t like good or anything but they were built up huge. Batista gets the hometown boy pop which is definitely weaker than Austin’s. The machine gun thing Batista did for his pyro was always cool.

Austin holding up the big gold belt is a strange sight. They’re off early and you can tell this is going to be a hard hitting match just like the last one. Taker goes for the arm, including throwing punches at it as he channels Rocky Marciano. Taker dominates to start. Lawler is on commentary with Cole because JBL is gone from the Stunner. Austin threatening people with DQs is very funny for some reason.

Taker hits the jumping clothesline, which for once is something that it’s ok to call vintage. Taker blocks a top rope suplex for two. They head to the floor and the fans chant for Austin, showing the issue here. Running legdrop on the apron connects and it’s all Taker here as it has been for the majority of the match. This is basically both guys countering each other’s big moves, which is fine as it shows respect from both guys for the other.

Batista catches Old School in a spinebuster in a cool looking move. Taker counters the cover into a triangle choke. In another nice counter, Batista rolls a bit so that Taker is covered and has to let go to kick out. Chokeslam is blocked once but not twice for two. Crowd is WAY into this. Taker blocks the Bomb again so Batista breaks out the drop toehold of PAIN!

Like the idiot that he is, Batista does the ten punches in the corner against the freaking Undertaker so the Last Ride gets two. Spinebuster and Taker sits up. Batista Bomb gets two to a HUGE pop. Big Dave snaps and the Bomb hits again, this time ending it.

Rating: A-. Very fun match as the crowd was WHITE hot here. These two know how to have some incredible matches as it was just two monsters pounding away on each other in a war of attrition. This was a huge win for Batista, so of course he lost to Edge next month since Vince loves Edge. This was a good match and definitely a PPV quality main event and then some. Great match.

Overall Rating: C+. Definitely the best show of the four so far, but there are only two really good matches here. Other than that this show is pretty weak overall. The two last matches are very good, but outside of that it’s another show where nothing really works that well and nothing is worth going out of your way to see. It’s good, but it’s still a far cry from being a PPV worth going out of your way to see. The last two matches are the only ones worth watching and the street fight won’t please everyone. Good show, but nothing great and not really worth seeing, but there are worse things to spend three hours watching.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, check out my website at kbwrestlingreviews.com and pick up my new book on the History of the Royal Rumble at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PZ1GR7E

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6