Unforgiven 2008 Recap & Results

This show featured three championship scramble matches. Since these are the first championship scramble matches in WWE history, I’m going to take a moment to explain the rules of the match. Each match will feature five men and will be 20-minutes long. The match will start with 2 men in the ring and every five minutes another man will be added to the match. Whenever anyone pins or forces an opponent to submit, they will be declared the interim champion. The wrestler that obtains the final pin fall or submission during the 20-minutes will walk out of the ring as the champion. The champion at the beginning of this match does not have to be pinned or forced to submit to lose their title.

ECW Championship Scramble Match: Champion Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Finlay vs. The Miz - The match starts with Matt Hardy and the Miz. Chavo is the third man to enter the match. As he entered the ring, he delivered a five-star frog splash on Matt to get the pin. A few minutes later, Matt delivered the side effect to Chavo to become the interim champion. Mark Henry enters the match. Mark delivered the World’s Strongest Slam to Chavo to regain the title. Finlay is the final man to enter the match and hit the Celtic Cross on Matt to get the pin. Matt then pinned the Miz with the Twist of Fate and spent the next few minutes breaking up multiple pin attempts to win the match. Winner and new champion: Matt Hardy

World Tag Team Championship: Champions Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes vs. Cryme Tyme - The champs looked like they were about to lose the titles when JTG had Cody rolled up in a small package. DiBiase rolled the pair the other way and the referee made the three-count. After the match, Cryme Tyme tried to get revenge on the champions but a newcomer came to the ring and helped the champs. While he was not named, the mystery man is Afa Anoa'i Jr., the son of WWE Hall-of-Famer Wild Samoan Afa. Winners: DiBiase and Rhodes

Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho - A few days prior to this match, Shawn suffered a legitimate tear to his left triceps and his arm is heavily bandaged. This brawl was methodically paced and saw a variety of weapons used. The match took a turn for the worse for Shawn when Lance Cade got involved and went after the injured arm. Chris and Lance worked on the arm for several minutes until Shawn was able to reverse the situation. Shawn was able to deliver an elbow off the top rope through the announce table that he had positioned both Cade and Jericho on. Shawn then rolled Jericho back into the ring and proceeded to use his belt on Jericho. Jericho was unconscious while Shawn unmercifully punched Jericho in the eye with his fist that was wrapped in the belt. The referee stopped the match and awarded it to Shawn. Winner: Shawn Michaels

- Randy Orton goes into the locker room of Simply Priceless. They state that the mystery man’s name is Manu, the son of Afa. Orton refused to give the champions credit for their victory and said that they accomplished nothing. He told them that luck runs out and talent lives forever.

WWE Championship Scramble Match: Champion Triple H vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Brian Kendrick - Jeff Hardy and Shelton Benjamin start the match off. Brian Kendrick entered the match next and was pinned by Hardy but he was able to return the favor and pinned Hardy before MVP entered the match. Kendrick’s luck ran out when Triple H entered the ring and it took him less than a minute to regain the title when he pinned Kendrick. A minute later, Jeff Hardy pinned MVP after hitting the Twist of Fate. With two minutes left, Triple H pinned Kendrick. As soon as Triple H got off of him, Jeff hit the Swanton Bomb on Kendrick to get the pin. With seconds left in the match, Triple H pinned MVP just as Jeff was about to pin Shelton. Winner: Triple H

- CM Punk was being interviewed in the back when he was interrupted by Randy Orton. DiBiase, Rhodes, and Manu attack the champion from behind. Kofi Kingston tried to help Punk but was unsuccessful. Orton then punted Punk in the head.

Divas Championship: Champion Michelle McCool vs. Maryse - Michelle successfully defended the title when she pinned Maryse after giving her a face-first impact suplex. Winner: Michelle McCool

- Mike Adamle came out and stated that it appears that Punk may not be able to compete. If he can’t, Adamle will find a suitable replacement.

- The Big Show came out to complain that Vickie Guerrero forgot to put him in the title match. Vickie Guerrero came to the ring, insulted him, and said that he will be forced to deal with the consequences. The Undertaker’s music then came on and the druids wheeled a coffin to the ring while the Big Show was still in the ring laughing at an annoyed Vickie. The Undertaker appeared on the Titantron and he promised that she would be leaving the arena in the coffin. The Undertaker entered the ring while the Big Show held Vickie in the ring. When the Undertaker was about to grab Vickie, the Big Show attacked him. After the brutal attack ended, Big Show held the Undertaker and Vickie slapped him and spit in his face.

World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match: Champion CM Punk vs. Batista vs. JBL vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio - Batista starts the match against JBL. Kane came out next. He pinned JBL after hitting the choke slam. Rey Mysterio is the fourth man to come out. The suitable replacement for CM Punk was a bruised and battered Chris Jericho. As soon as he entered the ring, he was given the spear by Batista. With 30 seconds left, Batista pinned Kane. Batista and Rey got into it and Jericho crawled into the ring and crawled on top of Kane to get the pin. Despite having delivered no offensive moves in the match, Chris Jericho is your new World Heavyweight Champion. Winner and new champion: Chris Jericho

What does this event mean for the future?
The title scene on RAW is in a state of flux right now. Punk has lost his title despite not wrestling due to Orton. Jericho is the champ even though Michaels is still looking out for revenge. Batista was very close to the title again only to find a new way to get robbed of the title. The next few weeks of Raw will be very interesting.

On the SmackDown side of things, the Vickie Guerrero-Undertaker feud is sure to continue to dominate the main event scene. I am sure that we can expect to see the Undertaker and the Big Show in battle soon. On ECW, I can guarantee you that Mark Henry is going to complain about losing his title without getting pinned. That will make the feud between Henry and Hardy continue for another month, only now Hardy is the champion instead of the challenger.

Overall Thoughts
I had stated a few days ago that if not for this job, I probably wouldn’t have ordered this show. I’m glad that I have this job because this show was fun. I wasn’t a fan of the scramble matches but I was a fan of the twists and turns that happened tonight. Michaels and Jericho have had three very different but equally entertaining PPV matches over the past few months and the ending of the last few segments of this show were very exciting and kept me guessing.

Match Results

• ECW Championship Scramble: Matt Hardy beat ECW Champion Mark Henry, the Miz, Chavo Guerrero, and Finlay to win the title
  
• World Tag Team Championship: Champions Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes beat Cryme Tyme
  
• Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels beat Chris Jericho
  
• WWE Championship Scramble Match: Champion Triple H beat Jeff Hardy, Brian Kendrick, MVP, and Shelton Benjamin
  
• Divas Championship: Champion Michelle McCool beat Maryse
  
• World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match: Chris Jericho (subbing for champion CM Punk) beat Batista, Rey Mysterio, Kane, and Batista to win the title

_{Photo: © 2008 World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.}