WWE Cyber Sunday (October 2007)

Original Airdate: October 28, 2007

From Washington, DC; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Joey Styles, and Tazz

Opening Stretcher Match: Rey Mysterio v Finlay: Stretcher match wins the vote with 40% over No DQ (36%) and Shillelagh on a Pole (24%). Finlay tries to shove him around to start, but that proves to be a mistake, and Rey strikes at him with a series of kicks. Finlay manages to take him to the mat to stop the attack, and he throws Rey into the post before blasting him with a short-clothesline. He then throws Mysterio under the bottom rope, with Rey landing right on the stretcher, in a nicely choreographed bit. Finlay follows out to drop Mysterio across the stretched with a forward-suplex, though it would be significantly more impressive if the stretcher wasn't covered in a giant cushy pad. Finlay tries to push Rey over the finish line, but Mysterio gets off before he can cross it, and they head back into the ring. Rey throws a dropkick in there, and it's right back to the outside, where Mysterio roundhouse kicks Finlay in the head. He tries to get Finlay onto the stretcher, but that goes nowhere, so they head back inside, where Mysterio hits a baseball slide to the groin. Sunset bomb follows, but Finlay gets hold of the whappin' stick, and he whaps Rey in the leg a few times. He puts him on the stretcher, but Rey gets off, and hits a modified 619 on the floor to put Finlay on it. Mysterio follows with a somersault senton splash onto the stretcher, but the wheel gets tangled in some cable, and he fails to push Finlay over the line. That allows Finlay to get the whappin' stick, but Mysterio dodges him, and Finlay goes over the line at 9:46. Didn't work. ½*

ECW Title Match: CM Punk v Miz: Miz is the voted in opponent with 39% of the votes over John Morrison (33%) and Big Daddy V (28%). The fact that that many people voted to watch Big Daddy V is unsettling. Feeling out process to start, with Punk dominating him. An ugly slingshot suplex gets two, but Miz snapmares him, and gets a legdrop to take control. Miz goes up, but Punk follows to try a superplex, so Miz drops down to the apron, sweeping Punk's legs to send the champion crashing into the turnbuckles for two. Miz with a corner clothesline for two, and he slaps on a cravat. Punk escapes, and tries a springboard bodypress, but he and Miz are on different planets there, and they just kind of collide. Looked like a bad miscommunication there. It still gets two, regardless. Miz snaps his throat across the top rope and works a chinlock, followed by a snap suplex. He goes up, but Punk pops up with a hiptoss off the top, and he starts making a comeback effort. Bulldog leads to a springboard clothesline for two, but Miz counters the GTS with a rollup for two - only to get reversed for two. Miz tries a kneelift, but Punk counters that into the GTS, and we're out at 8:53. Woof. ¼*

Jeff Hardy v Mr. Kennedy: Hardy and Kennedy both lost the vote for a WWE Title shot tonight, so they wrestle each other instead. Hardy is the WWE Intercontinental champion, but this is non-title. Jeff looks like his entrance routine is getting him winded at this point, which might explain why he immediately goes to a side-headlock at the bell. Man, even Ultimate Warrior paced himself better than that! They trade off on the mat for a while, until Hardy sends him to the outside while escaping a headlock, then dives after him with a flying bodyblock. Back in, that gets two, so Jeff tries a ten-punch count in the corner, but Kennedy dumps him to the outside. Kennedy with a big boot for two on the way back in, and he works a cravat. Isn't it weird how random moves like that just randomly pop up multiple times on the same show, and then disappear again for a few years after? See also the Cruiserweight Classic, where everyone was using cravats all of a sudden. Kennedy with a DDT for two, and he tries a sleeper, but Hardy escapes, so Kennedy levels him with a lariat for two. He goes up, but Jeff brings him down to earth with a rana, and starts throwing clotheslines. Sling blade gets two, but Kennedy blocks the Twist of Fate, so Jeff regroups with the Whisper in the Wind for two. Legfeed-corkscrew kick follows, but Kennedy dodges the follow-up in the corner, and hooks the leg for three at 9:07. Decent enough, but nothing special. *

WWE United States Title Match: Montel Vontavious Porter v Kane: Kane is voted in as the challenger with 67%, over Great Khali (24%) and Mark Henry (9%). Can't blame the people there. That Henry match with Undertaker at Unforgiven the month before was so bad and so amateurish that I'd rather watch Khali wrestle instead, too. MVP tries to come at him (bro), but Kane shrugs him off with a big boot, and quickly hits a sidewalk slam for two. He goes upstairs, but Porter knocks him to the outside to stop that effort, and he brings Kane back in - kicking a few field goals in his ribcage for two. Corner big boot gets two, and Porter grounds his challenger in a mat-based abdominal stretch. MVP keeps after the ribs with strikes, but Kane takes him down, returning the favor with a flurry of fists to the kidney area. Backbreaker leads to his own abdominal stretch, and into the corner, Kane keeps hammering the kidney area. He wraps Porter around the post, and the champion ends up on the outside - Kane stupidly leaving him out there for the countout at 6:40. How dumb can you be? And it's not like Kane didn't realize the count was going on, the idiot was standing there and watching the whole time! And he's a long time veteran! The match was technically fine, but on the dull side. *

WWE Title Match: Randy Orton v Shawn Michaels: Michaels gets 59% of the vote to be Orton's challenger, over Jeff Hardy (31%), and Mr. Kennedy (10%). The crowd is hot for this one, too. Shawn goes for the Superkick early on, so Randy bails to the outside, but Michaels is right on him with a somersault plancha! That's a new one for him. Back in, Shawn uses a takedown for two, so Orton throws an uppercut, and grounds his challenger in a front-facelock. Shawn fights to a vertical base in the hold, and sends Randy into the post to escape, then rams the hurt shoulder into the turnbuckle. Michaels works the arm and shoulder, and it's nice to hear wrestling announcers actually discuss things like saying that maybe Shawn should be going after Orton's dominant right arm, instead of the left. It's also a sad commentary on the state of today’s announcing when I'm longing for 2007. Randy fights him off and tries a charge, but Michaels side steps, and Orton takes a bump over the top. Shawn goes after him out there, but ends up taking a side suplex onto the barricade, and Orton takes him back in to get a two count out of it. Corner whip follows, and Orton throws a standing dropkick for two, then grounds the challenger in a chinlock/bodyscissors combo. Shawn escapes, so Randy tries another dropkick, but Michaels manages to avoid it, and hooks a somersault cradle for two. German suplex, but Randy counters to a side suplex, so Michaels topples him for two. Orton counters a kick into the inverted headlock backbreaker for two, but Shawn tenaciously blocks a superplex to set up a flying elbowdrop - only for Orton to move! RKO, but Michaels counters with a backslide for two, and bops Orton with a jumping forearm to cue a comeback - the crowd going wild for the routine! Superkick, but Orton blows him low to block, and the referee disqualifies the champion over it at 15:57. It's nice to have HBK back on pay per view, I'll tell ya that. ** ¼

Street Fight: Triple H v Umaga: Street Fight wins with 57% of the vote over Cage (26%) and First Blood (17%). Hunter charges him in the aisle during the entrances, and the brawl is on! They fight over to the entrance set, which gives me the opportunity to note that the giant keyboard image on the ramp is pretty cool. They end up fighting behind a piece of the set, and in a very obviously phony spot, Hunter spears Umaga through it. If they were going to have Umaga simply move away from HHH for no discernable reason other than positioning himself in front of the breakaway portion of the set, they could have at least kept the camera off them for a second. They brawl through the crowd back to ringside, where Umaga tries a charge, but misses - crashing over the barricade. Into the ring, Umaga tries a stinger splash, but misses, and Hunter hammers him with punches, but the big Samoan won't go down. HHH responds by grabbing a trashcan, and that puts Umaga down for two. Hunter comes at him with the weapon a second time, but Umaga counters with a Samoan drop, and he takes control. Splash gets two, as Umaga works him over in slow, dull fashion. I kind of wish they'd just turn Umaga face already, because he's got enough stuff for bursts of offense, but falls short when having to control the bulk of a match. Bearhug leads into a belly-to-belly suplex, and the Wrecking Ball is worth two. Mind you, that sequence of three moves took about two minutes, with lots of punching and kicking in between. Umaga grabs a chair, but HHH blows him low to block, and DDTs him onto the weapon for two. HHH with a kneeling facebuster to set up the Pedigree, but Umaga drops him into the corner to block, and puts the Game down with a scoop swinging scrapbuster. Lazy one, too. To the outside, Umaga splashes him through an announce table, but a flying splash on the way back in misses, allowing HHH to grab his trusty sledgehammer. Umaga tries to block him with the Samoan Spike, but ends up getting nailed anyway, and the Pedigree finishes at 17:24. I've seen worse. Of course, I've also seen better. * ¼

Main Event: World Heavyweight Title Match: Batista v Undertaker: Steve Austin is the special guest referee for this, winning a landslide 79% of the vote over Mick Foley (11%) and John Bradshaw Layfield (10%). Austin holding up the Big Gold Belt before the match is a neat image. Batista charges with a spear right at the bell, but Undertaker dodges, and they feel each other out. Undertaker smacks him with a big boot for two, and he starts working the champ's shoulder in the corner, but Batista returns fire, unloading with blow after blow. Cross corner whip works, but a charge doesn't, and Undertaker grounds him in a headscissors. Batista quickly makes the ropes, so Undertaker pounds him, but misses a high knee in the corner, and they spill to the outside. I like Austin as a referee, not even bothering to pretend he's going to count them out. Batista rams 'Taker into the post on the outside, but gets caught with a jumping clothesline for two on the way back in. Undertaker tries for the ropewalk, but Batista blocks and goes for a superplex, but Undertaker shoves him back to the mat for two. He tries a corner big boot, but Batista ducks, and 'Taker ends up taking a spill over the top as a result. Pretty solid bump there. Batista follows to whip his challenger into the steps out there, but ends up getting hit with the guillotine legdrop on the apron for two. Undertaker with a pair of corner clotheslines to set up the snake-eyes, but Batista counters the running big boot with a clothesline for two. Batista Bomb, but Undertaker railroads him into the corner to block, so Batista tries a charge, and ends up bashing the shoulder from earlier into the post when he misses. 'Taker capitalizes with the ropewalk forearm, but Batista catches him in a rotating spinebuster, in a neat counter. And speaking of counters, as Batista goes for the cover, Undertaker grabs him in a triangle choke! Batista manages to leverage it into a cover for two, so Undertaker drops him with a chokeslam for two. Snake-eyes, but Batista counters with the spear for two. Bomb, but 'Taker counters with a backdrop, and since it's after the year 2000, Batista responds by trying a ten-punch, and eats the Last Ride for two. Tombstone, but Batista counters with a spinebuster for two, and drops the Bomb for a dramatic two. Another Batista Bomb, and that does it at 17:26. Took a while to kick into high gear, but it was pretty great once it did. ** ½

BUExperience: After a rough start with the first couple of matches both falling flat, the show is pretty watchable, though I wouldn’t go out of my way to see anything here.


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