Cyber Sunday Recap

??? Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay - The fans voted that this was to be a stretcher match. Despite the vote, there was a shillelagh hanging from a pole that was set up for that potential matchup. Rey grabbed the shillelagh but Finlay gained control of it before Rey could use it on him. A few minutes later, the men beat each other up using the stretcher. With Finlay trapped between the stretcher and the ring, Rey hit a modified 619 that put Finlay on the stretcher. Rey was about to drag the stretcher over the line but it got caught up in the TV cable. Finlay got off the stretcher but quickly found himself planted face first on the stretcher again and was taken for a ride over the while line to lose the match. Winner: Rey Mysterio

- After footage of Matt Hardy’s gash from Friday Night SmackDown was shown, Matt Hardy and MVP were talking in the back. In their conversation, it came out that Matt was unable to compete in the match but that MVP would have to defend the U.S. Title tonight. A new vote was put up on WWE.com for that potential match. Fans could vote for Mark Henry, Kane, or the Great Khali.

- It was also fans could vote for the Diva they wanted to see win a Halloween costume contest. Photos of the Divas in their Halloween costumes can be seen on WWE.com. Call me crazy, but if I spent $40 on a wrestling show, why would I want to have to go to my computer during the event. I know that I have to for this job but I can’t figure out why anyone else would walk away from their TV after spending $40 to watch the TV show.

ECW Title Match: Champion CM Punk vs ??? (The Miz, Big Daddy V, or John Morrison) - The Miz won the vote and the fans in attendance and the announcers seemed to be in shock. During the match, the fans start a loud “You Can’t Wrestle” chant at the Miz. I would like to issue an apology for a sentence I wrote in the prior paragraph. Watching this match made understand why people would walk away from a show they spent $40 on. Punk won with the Go to Sleep which ironically woke the crowd up. Winner: CM Punk

- RAW GM announced that the two men that lost the vote for the WWE Championship match would have to face each other. It was then announced that Shawn Michaels won the right to wrestle for the WWE Championship which then forced the next match to happen.

Ken Kennedy vs. Jeff Hardy - Jeff’s Intercontinental Championship was not on the line. Hardy was in control of the match but missed a high risk move (swinging dropkick type maneuver) and lost the match. Winner: Mr. Kennedy

U.S. Title Match: Champion MVP vs. ??? (Great Khali, Kane, or Mark Henry) - Kane got over 2/3 of the vote. Kane beat up MVP, who after rolling out of the ring, unsuccessfully “attempted” to reenter it before the 10 count. Even though he lost the match, the title can not change hands via count out. Winner: Kane

WWE Championship Match: Champion Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels - The beginning of the match saw Shawn work over the left arm of Randy Orton. Too bad for Shawn that Randy is right handed. Later in the match, Shawn was about to hit the Sweet Chin Music when Randy used that right hand to hit Shawn in the nether regions. Randy was immediately disqualified. After the match, Randy tried to punt Shawn in the head but he was greeted with Sweet Chin Music instead. Winner: Shawn Michaels by DQ

??? Match: Triple H vs. Umaga - The fans voted for a street fight. The match started outside of the ring and the men fought through both the crowd and the stage set. Once inside the ring, Umaga controlled most of the match. Once the match went back outside of the ring, Umaga delivered a splash through one of the announce tables after running across the other two. A few moments later, Umaga missed a headbutt off the top rope which gave Triple H the opportunity to bring the sledge hammer into the ring. Umaga missed a Samoan Spike and wound up with the sledge hammer in the face instead. Triple H then hit the pedigree to get the win. Winner: Triple H

- Mickie James was announced as the winner of the fans vote for the Diva Halloween Costume contest.

- Prior to the announcement of the referee for the next match, JBL entered the ring and started to talk smack about being the referee. Mick Foley then entered the ring. It was then announced that Steve Austin won the vote with a 79% total. Foley anf JBL started to fight each other as Austin walked towards the ring. When he entered the ring, he gave Foley a Stunner. JBL got a little bit of offense in on Austin but he quickly suffered the same fate.

World Title Match with Steve Austin as Special Guest Referee: Champion Batista vs. Undertaker - This was the fourth encounter for the title between these men this year and like the previous three battles, both men appeared that they would win the match on several occasions. Unlike the last two televised battles between them, this time there was a clear winner. Batista hit two Batista Bombs to get his first pin fall victory over the Undertaker. Winner: Batista

What does this event mean for the future?
On SmackDown, Batista and Undertaker are now 1-1-2 against each other in televised championship matches this year. Batista wrote in his book that prior to the Undertaker’s injury this summer, the feud was supposed to culminate in a Hell in a Cell Match. I see no reason for them to deviate from that plan. The other big news for SmackDown on this show was that during an ad for The Survivor Series it was officially announced that Edge will be returning.

On RAW, the feud between Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels is sure to continue but with Triple H defeating Umaga, where is he in the title hunt? Triple H and Shawn Michaels have yet to appear on screen together since they both returned from injury. With both members of D-Generation X having scores to settle with Randy Orton, can the two friends coexist together when they are both going after the same prize?

Overall Thoughts
If you decided to watch Game 4 of the World Series you saved yourself $40 and didn’t have to deal with a championship not being able to change hands on a count out or disqualification. The first part of this show was pretty bad but things picked up once the WWE Championship match started. The thing that kept annoying me throughout the show was that the announcers kept harping about the voting still being open on WWE.com. If I had a dollar for every time they wanted me to go to WWE.com then I wouldn’t have had to pay for this show. And when you pay for a TV show you shouldn’t have the announcers telling you that the place to be is elsewhere.

Match Results (bolded items represent the victorious fan vote)

• Stretcher Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay
  
• ECW Title: CM Punk beat The Miz
  
• Mr. Kennedy beat Jeff Hardy
  
• U.S. Title Match: Kane beat Champion MVP by count out
  
• WWE Championship: Shawn Michaels beat Champion Randy Orton by DQ
  
• Street Fight: Triple H beat Umaga
  
• World Heavyweight Championship Match w/Steve Austin as Referee: Champion Batista beat The Undertaker

_{Photo: © 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Undertaker can be seen every Friday noight on the CW Network show Friday Night SmackDown}