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WWE Unforgiven PPV Reax #3: "Allow me a second to be a contrarian, but I thought Shawn's facial quiverings might have been a tad overdone." Sep 8, 2008 - 12:28:43 PM
Eric Gall of Bridgeport, Conn. (7.0): Best Match: Jericho wins the belt! Worst Match: Tag team match. This was a spotty show, and the main event was a perfect example. You couldn't pick three worse guys to start one of these Scramble matches than Kane, JBL, and Batista. That's a ten minute snoozer. The big question was whether Punk would come out or not, or would it be Big Show? To my pleasant surprise, it was a roughed-up Chris Jericho. He has saved us from the mediocrity that Raw has become after all! As much as I didn't want to see Punk's title reign end, I am even more excited about Jericho's championship. His rivalry with Michaels has been the best I've seen in 12 years, since the legendary Tommy Dreamer-Raven feud redefined wrestling. It's great to see him get rewarded for potraying the best crafted heel of the milennium. Good for Matt Hardy becoming ECW Champ. When you look at the roster, it's really a no-brainer that Matt should be the standard bearer here. I don't see much in either Crime Time or Cody Rhodes, but Ted Jr. looks like he could be a natural... and I am no fan of rewarding guys a spot on the roster just because their dads were wrestlers. I'm skeptical of the new second-generation heel stable. Jericho-Michaels was everything I thought it would be. Allow me a second to be a contrarian, but I thought Shawn's facial quiverings might have been a tad overdone. No real suspense to the Triple H Scramble match, as I never thought he was in any real jeopardy. Either I'm too easy on the Diva matches, or most others are too hard, but I thought tonight's women's match was just fine. Maryse does well for a newcomer, and I think she will be the next Candice Michelle (in terms of becoming Most Improved).
Paul Lucas of Tallassee, Ala. (7.5): Best Match: Michaels vs. Jericho. Worst Match: Raw scramble match. This is the first WWE PPV I've ordered since WrestleMania and it was primarily due to the Michaels-Jericho build-up and the fact that the scramble matches guaranteed at least one title change. Overall, I was satisfied if not overwhelmed with my order as I felt the dead crowd really detracted from a lot of the action. Michaels-Jericho was undoubtedly the highlight of the night - just superb story telling that could easily have been the blow-off to the feud in different circumstances. However, I think there's more to come from these two and I couldn't be more thrilled. The Scramble match concept was interesting - three matches following the same formula was too much for one night but I can see the potential in the idea if used infrequently. How ironic though that the Raw Scramble match, featuring the most experienced performers, was the most underwhelming - slow, sluggish, and further evidence that the Raw main event scene needs a breath of fresh air. The twist with Jericho winning the title made up for the disappointment, however, and I think this was a good way of taking the title off Punk without hurting him - it could even make the fans rally behind his championship chase. The Smackdown match was the best of the three with Kendrick stealing the show. I find it bizarre that this is now Triple H's thirteenth title reign. However, if the title changes during the match aren't counted as official title reigns, then why isn't this simply a successful title defense for Triple H? The ECW Title match set the tone for the evening and, although the repetition of Henry bearhugs and slams detracted from the contest, it was a good crowd-pleasing opener. The Vickie-Taker-Show scenario was unbelievably predictable, but kudos to WWE for actually advancing storylines at this PPV. It's been a criticism in the past that if you miss the PPV you miss nothing but maybe a title change - not so this time with the Orton stable forming, the lead Smackdown storyline advancing and of course the Jericho victory. The tag title match was just a by-numbers affair, but I'd like to give some special credit to the divas title match. I personally can't stand the personality-devoid Michelle McCool, but she did a good job in this match. And let's give some credit to Maryse too. She's extremely charismatic, plays her character perfectly, and seems to improve week in and week out in the ring. At this point in her career I'd go as far as to say she's better than any other diva search contestant or fitness model that WWE has brought in without previous indy experience - and yes, that includes Trish Stratus. Not to say she'll be that good eventually but the star potential is there. Overall a good PPV that was certainly worth the money spent.
Alex Roberts in the UK (3.5): Best Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho. Worst Match: Big Show Heel Turn. After reading the bulk of feedback and reviews for this show, I once again realize how completely out of step I am with the majority of wrestling fans. I couldn't stand this show at all. I was incredibly disappointed with the Shawn Michaels-Chris Jericho match. The fact that it gets best match honors speaks more the (lack of) quality on display everywhere else than anything they did in the ring. The match itself was a good match, but nothing more and, despite months of faultless and epic booking, this felt like an underwhelming middle of the card match rather than the climax to the WWE's best angle in years. The emotion and the action wasn't an epic climax; it was all just there and the complete lack of booking protection given to Jericho was completely unforgivable, especially given what happened later in the night. And Michaels's match ending right hands were among the weakest I've seen on WWE television in a long time. More worrying than this is that if Michaels's promo is anything to go by this feud is going to continue, which seems like a giant mistake. Yes, it's been great but the time has come to move on. Moving on, I was completely unimpressed with all three Scramble matches. WWE has managed to fumble what should have been a great feel good moment in Matt Hardy winning the title by giving him the belt in the most anti-climactic way possible. The Smackdown Scramble match was the best of the three primarily because it gave the chance for some new talent to shine and Kendrick grabbed that chance with both hands even if he was predictably used as Triple H's bitch. Personally, I'm fine with Triple H's inevitable victory because he needs to drop the belt one-on-one to give whoever takes it the rub of having beaten him for the gold. However I have absolutely no interest in Jeff Hardy being the man to dethrone Triple H, in fact I'd be happy if I never saw Hardy on my TV again. The first 10-minutes of the Raw Scramble were incredibly painful to watch. The story of the Raw Scramble was Jericho winning the belt which is both excellent and not so great. After the way he was booked as Michaels's bitch earlier in the night giving him the belt in this way seems like a mistake and a repeat of the horrible way they gave Punk the title. However Jericho has been on fire over the past few months and has a thousand times more credibility than Punk, so on the whole I'm incredibly excited by Jericho as World Champion. Lets not repeat this Scramble match concept again please.
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