WWE Unforgiven 2008
September 7, 2008
Cleveland, OH
Reviewed on March 5, 2014

Background: 2008 was something of a bounce back for WWE. WWE was experimenting in trying to build new stars and they ranged from sure fire future superstars (Jeff Hardy, CM Punk) to intriguing (The Brian Kendrick, MVP, The Miz, Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase). There was also the rebuilding of some stars that quite never hit their potential…but WWE hadn’t given up yet (Matt Hardy, Mark Henry, Shelton Benjamin). This made for a very interesting time in WWE.

It is also worth pointing out that this is a John Cenaless PPV. There aren’t many of these post 2002, and there aren’t many without him on or near the top post 2004. It is always interesting to see the quality of a PPV without him.

Some quick storyline recaps here: For Smackdown, it seems inevitable that Jeff Hardy is going to win the World Title. Wrestlemania 25 seems like the best bet, but for the time being he’s a solid #2 behind World Champion HHH…and whenever Edge would return (note: Edge returned at Survivor Series…Hardy won the title at Armageddon).

On RAW, CM Punk shocked the world and cashed in MITB on Edge, winning the World Title. To be fair though, it may have been a little too early. In Punk’s defense though (and as his documentary stated), WWE didn’t give Punk nearly the proper build as a guy who supposed to be the top guy on RAW. I do think Punk’s time came next year though.

ECW…while not the ECW of old, had turned into a fun weekly show. Matt Hardy was doing the poor man’s version of what Jeff was doing on Smackdown and mainly feuding with Mark Henry.

I should also point out that Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho hate each other! Probably since Jericho hit Shawn’s wife.

Let’s go over the Scramble Match though, as there are three of them on this card. It works very similarly to the Wrestlemania 2000 Hardcore Battle Royal and a Royal Rumble combined. Two men start and every five minutes another one enters until all five men are in. Then there is five minutes after that until the match ends. Anyone can pin anyone at anytime, and if successful becomes the interim champion. Whoever is the interim champion at the end of the time limit is awarded the title. I actually have several issues with the Scramble match that I’ll detail at the end of the review.

The Card

ECW Championship Scramble
Mark Henry © vs. Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. The Miz vs. Finlay

First Championship Scramble. I never really liked the look of the new ECW title. Title belts should be gold.

Matt Hardy is #1. The Miz is #2!

Fans are pretty hot for Matt. For the record Matt would never be this high again, as 2009 was a down year for Hardy, and he didn’t last through 2010.

Miz hits this cool spot where Matt is on the 2nd ropes (in 619 position), only Miz runs up Matt’s back, jumps over the top rope and hits him in the back of the head. Don’t remember seeing that one before.

#3 is Chavo Guerrero.

Chavo quickly hits a Frog Splash on Matt and gets the three. He’s the interim champ.

Matt Hardy hits the Side Effect on Chavo get become interim champ.

#4 is Mark Henry. Somebody gonna get their ass kicked!

Henry was finally coming into his own in 2008.

World’s Strongest Slam on Chavo…he regains control of the title!

Finlay’s the last one in, Hornswoggle is here too. 5 minutes left in the match!

Shillelagh shot to Henry! Finlay nails Hardy with the Celtic Cross and controls the title!

Twist of Fate to the Miz, Matt Hardy controls the title with 3 minutes to go!

Matt Hardy wins the ECW Title in 20:04. Nice ending as Matt Hardy breaks up about 20 different pin attempts and holds on. Match was pretty average overall. Set up Hardy vs. Henry as Mark Henry never lost a fall.

World Tag Team Championship
Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes © vs. Cryme Tyme

Story here is that Cryme Tyme actually stole the tag belts, but Dibiase and Rhodes got them back. This was an important point in the formation of Legacy.

This is a very meat and potatoes tag team match. JTG is the babyface in distress. It’s pretty boring unfortunately.

Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase retain when Rhodes pinned JTG in 11:35. Pretty cool ending sequence that ends with Dibiase reversing a small package that JTG had on Rhodes. Match was pretty damn boring though. Cryme Tyme attacks Dibiase and Rhodes, but we get the debut of Manu to help them out! Woo?

Unsanctioned Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho

Let me just say this. When Chris Jericho came back in 2007, after an initially good response, he kinda fell flat. This feud is what transformed Jericho back into a surefire main eventer.

Jericho and HBK had some issues in the summer (Jericho even threw HBK into the jeritron…which was a big screen tv), but it all came to a head at Summerslam. HBK was announcing his retirement…and Jericho got involved. HBK told Jericho that he could tell his kids he will never be HBK. Jericho responded by trying to hit HBK…but HBK ducked and Jericho hit HBK’s wife.

I will say that the idea of an unsanctioned match is stupid. It’s in a WWE ring. With a WWE ref. On a WWE PPV. But that’s beside the point and a small nitpick.

It’s a slugfest to start and HBK beats the crap out of Jericho with his boot.

We’ve got a table! Jericho goes for a powerbomb but HBK fights out.

Jericho with some chair action!

Jericho goes for a vertical suplex from the ring through the table on the outside…but another block from HBK.

HBK makes a comeback and goes for Sweet Chin Music, but stops, instead deciding to beat the hell out of Jericho some more.

Crossface!

Jericho is able to slam HBK’s face into a chair in the corner…and then focuses on the injured eye from the summer.

Walls of Jericho. Apparently HBK told Michael Cole about some bible verse about the fall of the Walls of Jericho or something.

Somehow HBK is able to grab a fire extinguisher while in the Walls…he gets out by spraying Jericho of course.

HBK suplexes Jericho on the ramp. Ouch!

Lance Cade in the house! He’s on Y2J’s side here and attacks HBK. HBK dispatches him quickly.

Cade gets a shot in and hits a clothesline which HBK sells by spinning in air and landing on the concrete floor.

HBK has an injured arm, and Jericho wraps it around the post as Cade hits it.

Chair to the arm. Ouch!

Another HBK. SCM to Cade!

Jericho’s laid out on the top rope…chair to the head…and Jericho goes crashing into that table!

Jericho is now getting beaten down with the chair. Some pretty great screaming from Jericho here.

HBK elbowdrops Cade and Jericho though the Announcer’s Table!

Now HBK is whipping Jericho with a leather belt. He actually whips him in the eye once, which looks brutal.

Now HBK is beating Jericho with the metal part of the belt. Again, pretty brutal beatdown.

Shawn Michaels defeats Chris Jericho via stoppage at 26:53. Referee calls it as HBK keeps beating down on Jericho. HBK keeps going, and HBK superkicks the ref. I actually….don’t think this match is that good. It had the feel of a feud ender, which it wasn’t. It didn’t click for me until the part when HBK sent Jericho through the table…and even then it became overkill later.

I think this is because super emotional HBK just isn’t natural for him. It’s not the best HBK. The only time it really worked for me is against Ric Flair at Wrestlemania XXIV.

This result also hurts the very end of this PPV…which we’ll get to.

Rhodes, Dibiase and Manu talk to Randy Orton (why is he here?) Apparently Orton still isn’t impressed with them…since beating Cryme Tyme isn’t a big deal. He’s not wrong to be fair.

WWE Championship Scramble
Triple H© vs. Jeff Hardy vs. The Brian Kendrick vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP

Jeff Hardy is #1! How unlucky for the Hardyz that they each drew #1. Then again…Matt won earlier.

JR and Taz go over the rules of the Scramble Match. Uh…we had one earlier tonight you know.

#2 is Shelton Benjamin! This is Gold Standard Shelton.

Benjamin counters a kick with powerbomb in the corner. Unexpected but cool.

#3 is THE…BRIAN…KENDRICK! THE MAN WITH A PLAN.

Hardy pins Kendrick to become the interim champ!

The KENDRICK! Kendrick pins Jeff to become interim champ!

It’s MVP at #4! The Game gets 5 minutes of work in tonight I see….

Nice super dropkick from Kendrick! Knocked MVP right out.

Kendrick was great in this gimmick. Too bad he couldn’t stop smoking weed.

It’s something seeing MVP, Benjamin and Kendrick in the ring wrestling for the WWE Title.

Here comes the Game! Can he unseat THE BRIAN KENDRICK?!

Pedigree to Kendrick. HHH is interim champ. That was fast.

Twist of Fate! Jeff Hardy controls the title! 3 minutes to go!

HHH pedigrees Kendrick again…and pins him again. HHH is champ again!

Swanton to Kendrick! Jeff Hardy is champ again! 90 seconds to go!

We get the powerbomb-superplex spot from MVP, Benjamin and Kendrick!

30 seconds, can Jeff hold on?!

Triple H retains the WWE title in 20:16. Jeff takes out everyone but HHH…but HHH pedigrees MVP at the last moment and pins him. Finish is botched a bit…as Jeff clearly could have broken up the pin…but instead tried to pin Shelton. It’s a good match though, as it continually pushed Jeff Hardy as someone who keeps getting so close…but whose moment seems inevitable. Also, Kendrick, MVP and Shelton had some good moments.

HBK interview! Still looks upset. HBK is happy that for the first time in months, he doesn’t have to go to a hospital after a PPV. He’s content with how tonight went down. Not satisfied though.

CM Punk interview! Orton interrupts. Rhodes, Manu and Dibiase attack Punk! Kofi Kingston tries to help, but gets beat down as well. Orton then punts Punk in the head! Orton is impressed now with Rhodes, Dibiase and Manu.

Michael Cole talks about what that means for the Scramble Match later. I’ll talk later about why this sucks, but it sucks.

Diva’s Championship
Michelle McCool© vs. Maryse

I miss both of these Divas.

Taz talks about how Maryse and McCool have totally opposite personalities, that McCool is humble etc. Kind of funny considering Lay-Cool later.

Michelle just kicks Maryse right in the face.

Pretty messed up sunset flip, but Michelle saves it with a dropkick to the face.

I don’t remember McCool’s offense being all kick based.

Michelle McCool pins Maryse and retains the title in 5:42. Face-buster (I wanna say it was called the Wings of Love or something) for the pin. Pretty well wrestled Diva’s match I must say.

Ok, so a couple of times JR has talked about a poll about whether Vickie Guerrero should have allowed Big Show in the WWE Title Scramble. 77% said yes. I wouldn’t have mentioned it, but there’s apparently an angle later.

Raw GM Mike Adamle states that CM Punk will probably not be able to compete. I get putting over Orton’s punt, but it’s a little bs…which I will explain why later.

Here comes the Big Show.

Big Show suggests that Adamle should enter him in the World Title Scramble. You know…that actually makes sense compared to who was actually picked. Why not the Big Show?

Here comes a Guerrero move talented than Chavo…Vickie!

She’s mad that Big Show is causing a disruption. She called him a big dumb Giant!

Um…we get some druids. This took a weird turn.

Big Show’s cracking up. I admit that’s pretty funny.

Druids are bringing out a casket.

Undertaker on the titantron!

Taker offers her the chance to go into the coffin herself. Or he’ll come down there and put her in there himself. Obvious heel turn coming up.

GONG! Here comes the Undertaker!

For the record the history here is Taker beat Edge at Summerslam inside Hell in a Cell. And Taker and Vickie had problems as a result. Something like that.

Vickie tries to run, but Big Show holds her so she can’t.

Taker grabs Vickie…and Show punches Taker!

Big Show beats the crap out of The Undertaker. This would set up a Casket Match at Survivor Series.

That was a pretty boring beatdown to be honest. We couldn’t we do this on TV?

We recap the recent history with Orton and Punk.

William Regal thinks he would be a great candidate to replace CM Punk if needed. I agree!

World Heavyweight Championship Scramble
CM Punk© (Maybe) vs. Kane vs. JBL vs. Batista vs. Rey Mysterio

Batista is #1!

Let’s go over the Scramble rules again!

#2 is a WRESTLING GOD….JBL!

Figure Four by Batista on JBL. How unexpected…although he’s obviously honoring Flair.

#3 is KANE!

It’s all Kane vs. Batista. JBL is on the outside or something.

Interesting that the three big men were the first three in.

Chokeslam to JBL! Kane gets the pin and is the interim champion!

#4 is Rey Mysterio. We get some drama…will CM Punk make it for #5?

Mysterio has some mohawk thing going on. Looks out of place.

Rey and Batista work together to hurt Kane! That was something else that replaced the original Eddie Guerrero and Batista friendship angle back in 2005.

#5 is….Chris Jericho! I guess he wasn’t beaten down that badly afterall?

Jericho is still selling the injuries from earlier.

Kane’s still champ right now. Can he hold on?

Michael Cole points out that Jericho doesn’t seem fit to be in this match in the first place. That’s a great point Michael Cole.

Three minutes left…can Kane hang on?

Why does Kane go for covers? Lawler correctly points out that it changes nothing.

A minute left, but Batista is beating up Kane!

Spinebuster! Batista gets the pin! Batista is champ with 30 seconds left!

Here comes Rey…Batista counters him with a powerbomb…but Jericho covers Kane…1…2…3! Batista should have just pinned Rey…he had 6 seconds left.

Chris Jericho wins the World Heavyweight Championship in 17:15. Match was just plodding along to be honest, I can’t remember a meaningful spot or moment until Jericho shows up…and Jericho does nothing in route to winning the title.

Ok, let’s talk about this whole CM Punk thing. It makes little to no sense backstage wise, and storyline wise it’s okay except for one thing.

Backstage wise, according to the CM Punk documentary, the Jericho-HBK feud needed the title. They did a ladder match at No Mercy, do I get that. Fine. BUT…Jericho and Punk have a steel cage match a couple of weeks later for the title which Jericho won. So…why couldn’t Punk just drop the title there? I don’t know. Somehow Punk just giving up a chance to defend the title made more sense. It doesn’t, but that’s what we got. Pretty ass backward thinking there.

Storyline wise it could have worked…except Chris Jericho should be in a lot…A LOT…worse condition than CM Punk was in. I get the punt was being put over as death. But Chris Jericho was beaten down, but through two tables, helped out of the ring, etc. etc. I get that Mike Adamle was supposed to be dumb or something…but that was really dumb. Big Show, William Regal ,heck, even Randy Orton made more sense! Even if Orton was still “injured”…he was in better shape than Jericho!

Let’s talk the concept of the Scramble Match. It worked out well in the ECW Title match…but Jeff Hardy not breaking up the pin in the Smackdown one is pretty dumb. Why are you going for a pin? You were the interim champion!

In the RAW one…Chris Jericho did nothing. He took a spear, then did nothing and covered Kane. If your match is designed in a way where an injured broken down wrestler can just sneak in and get a pin without the element of surprise (like MITB would have) and win the World Title, I’m sorry, but that doesn’t really work for me.

There has only been one more Scramble Match in WWE history I believe, in 2009. While I think you can make the concept work, it needs to be booked better overall.

I don’t think this is a bad PPV, but it just has a lot of mishaps overall. Nothing really clicked (although I liked the Smackdown title Scramble a lot). The angles seemed more important than the matches (Legacy, Punk going down, Taker-Show), and HBK vs. Jericho didn’t feel right at all.

In the grand scheme of things though, irrelevant. WWE storylines would keep going as they always did.

Final Grade: C