Cyber Sunday succeeds on many levels

SmackDown took centerstage at Cyber Sunday as “The Animal” Batista added another chapter to his feud with The Undertaker, by defeating ‘Taker to retain his gold. The match was stellar and complemented a fairly solid undercard, making Cyber Sunday a success on many different levels.

The main event stage was set as “The Animal” Batista was ready to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker, however, one question still remained: would JBL, Mick Foley or Stone Cold Steve Austin be the Guest Referee? Confident in his approach, JBL didn’t wait for a tally of the votes and declared that he would be refereeing the contest. Mick Foley disputed that decision, leading to a brawl between the two that was broken up by Austin who served up Stunners to both stars and won the vote to be the special referee.

The match featured back and forth action, with Austin staying firm, yet fair. After trading several near falls, Batista began to gain some momentum and sent ‘Taker into the buckles. He climbed the ropes and mounted ‘Taker, only to receive a Last Ride that nearly put him away for the victory. Batista rebounded and reversed a Tombstone attempt, planting ‘Taker with a Spinebuster. After another near fall, ‘Taker sat up and shook it off.

Batista freaked out and went right back on the attack, dropping ‘Taker with a Batista Bomb for yet another near fall. Enraged, Batista grabbed The Undertaker once more and drove him to the mat with a second Batista Bomb that put him away for the one-two-three. After the match, the champ celebrated with Steve Austin and a couple of beers.

WWE Cyber Sunday 2007 PPV Report

The show began with Michael Cole and JBL kicking things off. Todd Grisham was at the Control Center and announced that Finlay and Rey Mysterio’s match was voted to be a Stretcher Match.

Match One – Stretcher Match – Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio

This was a good match. Finlay’s beating stick was hanging on a pole. Finlay managed to wear down Mysterio enough to grab the stick and go to work on Mysterio’s legs. Mysterio fought back and hit a 619 on Finlay that sent him onto the stretcher, allowing Mysterio to drop a senton and push Finlay towards the line. A cord got in the way, but Mysterio ultimately got Finlay across the line for the win.

Winner Via Crossing The Line – Rey Mysterio

Match Rating – 6.5/10

In the back, Matt Hardy was shown with MVP and he looked all sorts of beaten up. MVP said that Matt Hardy would be unable to compete because of the injury he sustained on SmackDown. MVP said he was disappointed because he was looking forward to going out there. Hardy then informed MVP that just because he wasn’t competing didn’t mean that MVP wasn’t, as he would be defending the U.S. Title against either Kane, The Great Kahli or Mark Henry.

JBL was shown in a referee shirt, claiming that he would be refereeing the Main Event between Batista and The Undertaker. Voting was then opened up for MVP’s title defense. Maria was shown dressed as a cat, while Victoria wore a Yokozuna-ish sumo outfit and Kenny was Mr. Fuji. Ron Simmons jumped in with a “Damn!” Back at the Control Center, Todd Grisham announced that the Miz would be taking on CM Punk with 39% of the votes.

Match Two – ECW Championship Match – CM Punk (C) vs. The Miz

This was a decent match that saw Miz get reversed on several occasions by Punk. The end came after a barrage of nears falls by Punk, who countered The Reality Check with a GTS for the pinfall victory. Punk has been a good ECW Champion and Miz has certainly found a niche with Extreme Exposé.

Winner Via Pinfall and STILL ECW Champion – CM Punk

Match Rating – 6/10

The ECW Monster Mash match was hyped. Mickie James was dressed as a native, while Torrie was dressed as a football player. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler did their welcome bit, as a package was shown to hype the WWE Championship match. Todd Grisham was with William Regal who announced that Shawn Michaels garnered 59% of the votes and earned the right to take on Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.

Match Three – Ken Kennedy vs. Jeff Hardy

Kennedy did his best to wear down the high flying Hardy, who broke out a high crossbody and a huricanrana to derail Kennedy on two separate occasions. Hardy nearly had the match in the bag when he missed a corner dropkick, landing hard and allowing Kennedy to make the cover and pick up the win. Kennedy needs to take the Intercontinental gold.

Winner Via Pinfall – Ken Kennedy

Match Rating – 6/10

JBL and Michael Cole did some more hype. Michelle McCool was dressed as Eve and Melina was a showgirl. Mick Foley was then shown playing with cutouts of The Undertaker and Batista. JBL and Foley argued over which one of them should be the special guest referee, while at the Control Center, Todd Grisham was with Vickie Guerrero, who announced that Kane raked in 67% of the votes and would be taking on MVP for the WWE U.S. Title.

Match Four – WWE U.S. Championship Match – MVP (C) vs. Kane

MVP tried to mount some serious offense, but was ultimately taken down by Kane, who grounded and pounded. MVP eventually had enough of the offensive onslaught that Kane brought to the table and after getting driven ribs first into the post, decided to bail and take the countout loss, keeping his title in the process.

Winner Via Countout – Kane … STILL WWE U.S. Champion – MVP

Match Rating – 5.5/10

Another one of the mysterious “Save Us” promos was shown. Layla was shown as a bad cop, while Kelly Kelly was a “Gangsta.” A Survivor Series commercial was shown, hyping the return of Edge. In the back, Randy Orton talked about how he was capable of doing bad things to Shawn Michaels. A package was then shown to hype Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship.

Match Five – WWE Championship Match – Randy Orton (C) vs. Shawn Michaels

This was a very solid match overall. This match wound up going to the floor, HBK going to work on Orton. Back in the ring, HBK had things under control and nearly had the title won, but after missing Sweet Chin Music, Orton landed a low blow that got himself disqualified. Bad move putting MVP’s intentional countout on right before Orton’s intentional disqualification. Was a good match though. After the match, Orton went to do his patented kick on HBK, but Michaels got out of the way and hit Sweet Chin Music on Orton.

Winner Via DQ – Shawn Michaels … STILL WWE Champion – Randy Orton

Match Rating – 7/10

Brooke was Jane from Tarzan, while Jillian Hall was Britney Spears. She even dropped babies on the floor. Ugh. Todd Grisham was back at Control Center and announced that Triple H vs. Umaga was voted to be a Street Fight.

Match Six – Street Fight – Triple H vs. Umaga

This match was really good. Triple H and Umaga brawled back and forth and tore it up, with the fight spilling out to the floor and up into the stands. The announce tables were torn apart, as Umaga jumped off the SmackDown table and splashed Triple H through the ECW Table. Umaga then tossed Triple H back into the ring and missed a headbutt that allowed Triple H to roll out and get his sledgehammer. Umaga fought off a sledgehammer attack, but missed a Samoan Spike and got knocked out with the hammer and put away with the Pedigree.

Winner Via Pinfall – Triple H

Match Rating – 8/10

Todd Grisham was back and announced that Mickie James won the costume contest. JBL and Michael Cole then bantered a bit and a package was shown to hype Batista vs. The Undertaker. Todd Grisham was going to announce the results of the Special Referee poll, but JBL declared himself the winner. He and Mick Foley argued a bit and got into a scuffle that was broken up by Steve Austin, who delivered Stunners to both stars and won the vote to be the Special Guest Referee.

Match Seven – World Heavyweight Championship Match – Batista (C) vs. The Undertaker – Special Guest Referee – Stone Cold Steve Austin

Winner Via Pinfall and STILL World Heavyweight Champion – Batista

Match Rating – 7.5/10

Overall Event Rating – 7/10

EDITOR’S NOTE: Cheers to Chris Sokol for filling in as Comcast screwed over scheduled-reporter Dale Plummer yet again.

Chris Sokol is from Long Island, NY and enjoys Dunkin’ Doughnuts munchkins.