Thoughts and Commentary on Unforgiven
2007 Unforgiven from Memphis took place on Sunday night. The 10th anniversary show was okay, with one big title change, and of course the return of the Undertaker. Here below is our take on the card:
Undertaker vs Mark Henry - It was what you would expect out of a Taker return, a lot of punching, kicking, and as normal, a rather lackluster match with Mark Henry. What anyone would want to see Henry in a main event is beyond me, but this was all about the return of Taker, and at the end of the show he did the whole motion with the belt, meaning it looks as if we will eventually see some Taker vs Batista matches down the road. Overall, a decent card, but this as a main event was rather weak.
John Cena vs Randy Orton - Odd booking as I guess we will have Taker vs Mark Henry last. That should be the only time in the career of Henry that he should be on last in a PPV. Cena loses the match, but not the belt, as you could sense from the get go we'd have one of those DQ finishes where Cena loses, but keeps the strap. This was pretty much a brawl from the start, with very little wrestling, and if it would have been the last match it would have been a total letdown. They will do this again next month, and this time you'll finally get a stip - Last Man Standing.
Cade and Murdoch vs Paul London and Brian Kendrick - This one for the tag belts was a lot better than the other tag title match, and they did not go with the title switch here, as expected. Cade and Murdoch are solid as tag champs, and London and Kendrick should continue in their chase of the belts. Another solid back and forth with these two teams, and I think they will keep these two going at it until down the road they are finally able to grab the belts.
Khali vs Rey Mysterio vs Batista - FINALLY! That is all I can about this one, as they did exactly the right thing, which was to get the strap off of Khali and on to a real wrestler in Batista. I was convinced they would keep the belt on Khali, and possibly throw him into a program with the Undertaker. Instead, they did what they should have done last month, and that is move the belt. The match itself was pretty sloppy, as most triple threat matches are, but in the end, you had Mysterio do the 619 on both guys, and then Batista recovered, threw Mysterio out, and then he got the pin after a spine buster. The best part was post match when HHH and Batista had a back and forth, teasing what could down the road be a feud once again between the two.
Beth Phoenix vs Candice Michelle - Candice has been a solid womens champion, and as I have said before on the prematch show, they seem to like to keep the belt on the women for a longer peroid of time, and with Candice getting the win here, that is the route they seem to want to follow again. Beth is a solid womens wrestler as well, and I like the two in the ring together, as they gave a solid back and forth womens match. Candice ended up winning after getting press slammed, and she used a crucifix move to score the win. I expect them to have more of these back and forth matches to come.
Carlito vs Triple H - The rule here was that Carlito could use whatever weapon he wanted, while HHH had to abide by the rules. While it made for a somewhat interesting match, the truth of it is we all knew who was going to win this, and despite a decent effort from Carlito, HHH came out ahead with the pin. I still think they are sort of finding their way with HHH, as that is basically two squash matches in two months back on PPV. Carlito I still think has a lot of talent, but they underuse him as well. As for Triple H, look for bigger and better if they start him with a feud with either Randy Orton or Ken Kennedy.
Deuce and Domino vs Matt Hardy and MVP - Another classic case of Hardy and MVP playing back and forth, and they once again allowed them to get over on the D&D boys. Overall a pretty good back and forth match, with the odd look of the D&D boys wearing black shirts and jeans. This whole feud was based on MVP and Hardy going back and forth as a comedy team. This one ended with Hardy using MVP as a battering ram, and then getting the pin with the twist of fate. I still see MVP doing the final heel turn down the road and them losing the straps pretty soon.
C.M. Punk vs Elijah Burke - A fast paced opener, with some decent wrestling from both sides. Burke in my opinion had something to prove here, and while both men wrestled hard, it was somewhat of a letdown. Punk won with a reverse of a roll-up, and keeps the title. We all thought he would keep the belt, and I think now he moves into a program with John Morrison when he jumps back into the title picture in two weeks following his suspension.
