Unforgiven 2006 Review

Sunday, September 17th, 2006
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Intercontinental Championship Match
Johnny Nitro vs. Jeff Hardy

I wouldn't have minded being able to watch the Shelton Benjamin/Super Crazy pre-show match. The crowd is very much into Hardy and it's a good sign for the show here. After some heel tactics by Nitro, Hardy hits a sliding dropkick and then a crossbody over the top rope. He goes up top, but Nitro is able to knock him off and he takes a big bump. Nitro goes to work on the knee of Hardy, using a combination of kicks and submissions. Hardy makes his comeback after Nitro misses a corkscrew moonsault. He hits Whisper In The Wind, but can't pick up the victory. Hardy goes for a Twist Of Fate, but Nitro counters into a grapevine. Nitro runs into Melina, knocking her off the apron and Hardy gets a 2 count on a roll up. Nitro goes off the top rope again, but Hardy catches him and hits a powerbomb out of it. Melina takes off her heel and hits Hardy over the head with it and that's enough for Nitro to walk away with the title here. They certainly gave these two a lot of time and they engaged the crowd the entire time. The leg work really didn't amount to anything though. 

Match Rating: ***1/4

Teddy Long is up in a box at the arena.

Matt Hardy tells Jeff that he's proud of him. In walks Lita to mock them and then tells them to watch her and Edge defend their titles tonight. 

Umaga vs. Kane

Kane comes out firing, but Umaga hits a spin kick to knock Kane down. Kane sits up and then very kindly walks right to the ropes to telegraph that he is going to be clotheslined to the floor. Kane allows himself to get distracted by Armando Alejandro Estrada and Umaga hits him with a flatliner. Umaga goes for the Samoan Spike, but Kane hits him with a right hand instead. Kane gets in some offense, but can't get him off his feet. Kane runs the ropes, but Umaga catches him and hits a Samoan Drop. He goes for a second rope headbutt, but Kane sits up and now he climbs the turnbuckles. Kane hits the top rope clothesline and the crowd is feeling it. Kane catches Umaga and hits a suplex over the top rope and to the floor. They start brawling through the crowd and both are counted for a terribly lame finish to a somewhat surprising decent match. I'm not sure why you had to protect Kane here. Just let Umaga run through him so he is built up properly. The fight continues and officials are shown trying to get after them.

Match Rating: **

Vince and Shane are watching highlights from Monday's match and they go over the plan for tonight. 

World Tag Team Championship Match
Spirit Squad vs. Highlanders

It's Mikey and Kenny again for the champs. The challengers use lots of quick tags to isolate Mikey in the early going. Kenny gets tagged in, but the outcome is still the same. Robbie goes for a dive to the outside, but falls awkwardly and now the champs are in control. This one is starting to lose the crowd and the Squad doesn't even get boos for doing the Hart Attack. Kenny goes for the top rope leg drop, but Robbie moves out of the way and makes the tag to Rory. They hit the Scot Drop, but Kenny is able to barely make it in time to break up the pin. Johnny hits a kick to the back of Rory's head and Mikey is able to pick up the victory. This one didn't have bad action, but just felt flat.

Match Rating: *3/4

Hell In A Cell Handicap Match
Big Show, Shane McMahon & Vince McMahon vs. Shawn Michaels & Triple H

This is the tall version of the Hell In A Cell. I kind of forgot that was a thing already. I'm also surprised that this match went on so early, but good on them for prioritizing the TLC and Trish matches. It doesn't take long for Shane to be busted open and Triple H uses a screwdriver to rip Vince open. DX is able to neutralize Big Show for a little bit, but eventually the numbers game catches up to them. They isolate Triple H and Shane goes under the ring to grab the trash can. With the assistance of Big Show, Shane hits the coast to coast and Triple H is bleeding from the ear. For some reason Shane uses the bottom ring steps to hit a slingshot into the cage on Triple H. In the ring, Show hits the Vader Bomb splash on Michaels. Vince goes for the pin, but lifts Michaels up at 2. That never backfires. Show then hits his new backbreaker/submission and then the leg drop. Vince goes for the cover, but again lifts him up. Triple H is back in the ring and he dumps Show out of the ring. He hits a facebuster on Vince and goes for the Pedigree. Shane comes in and lifts Triple H up and then hits a move that you can't tell who executed. JR thinks Triple H countered it. Vince is pulling his pants down, but Triple H hits him with a right hand. Show knocks him down and body slams Shawn. Show accidentally splashes Vince thanks to Shawn and then DX crotches Show on the ring post. They hit an inverted atomic drop/spinebuster combo on Shane and then put a chair around his neck. Shawn hits an elbow drop off the top rope onto Shane. Show starts to come to life again and grabs the ring steps. He goes to hit Triple H, but he hits him in the gut with a chair first. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music on Show and he's draped on the top rope. Vince is the only one standing for his team and they pull down Show's pants. Vince is begging, but they shove his face right in the crack. Who wouldn't want a bloody billionaire's face shoved up their butthole? JR gets a Dr. Heinie joke in there. Good for him. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music and Triple H cracks the sledgehammer over the back of Vince. That finally puts this feud out of its misery and the cell is quickly raised up. This is one of those matches that is hard for me to grade. I don't necessarily love matches like this as much as I used to and I don't care for this feud. The match itself was entertaining, but also nothing that I want to go back and re-watch. They do the stretcher job for the McMahons as DX poses. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

WWE Women's Championship Match
Lita vs. Trish Stratus

This is Trish's retirement match in her hometown of Toronto. Trish hits a Lou Thesz press off the apron to the floor and then hits her handstand headscissors before throwing Lita back in the ring. After both ladies get some offense in, they battle up on the top rope and they both take a spill to the floor. Lita goes for a moonsault, but Trish is able to move out of the way. Trish goes for Stratusfaction, but Lita throws her to the floor. Lita dominates for a little bit until Trish hits the handstand headscissors again. Trish hits the Chick Kick, but Lita kicks out at 2. She goes for Stratusfaction, but Lita counters into a pinfall. Trish counters that and then puts Lita in the Sharpshooter to a huge pop. Goosebumps for that one. Lita tries to reach for the ropes, but Trish drags her back to the center and we have ourselves a new champion. Lita wasn't the performer she used to be, but she did her part here and Trish nailed it here. Good match, good moment. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

They show Teddy Long in the suite again before going to a backstage interview with Randy Orton. He makes fun of Canadians and then talks about how Orton won the championship in this building. 

Randy Orton vs. Carlito

This feud always just felt very minor for Orton. Carlito misses the springboard moonsaul, but lands on his feet and hits a dropkick. He's able to knock Orton down again and hits a couple more springboard aerial moves and gets a 2 count out of it. Orton is giving Carlito a lot of offense here, but eventually hits his variation of the backbreaker. He's also bleeding from the mouth. Carlito hits a Backstabber out of nowhere, but Orton gets to the ropes. He goes for a double jump move, but Orton catches him with a RKO in midair and pulls off the victory. This match was meant to build Orton back up after the Hogan match at SummerSlam and probably to pull off the cool finish. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Tables, Ladders & Chairs Match For The WWE Championship
Edge vs. John Cena

We get a painful looking inverted DDT onto 2 chairs from Edge onto John Cena. That didn't sound good. Edge then dropkicks a ladder into Cena's face from the barricade while Cena is still in the ring. Cena battles back and hip tosses Edge onto a ladder. Cena tries to FU Edge through two tables set outside the ring, but Edge lands on the apron. they battle it out and Edge gets the better of him. Edge goes up top, but Cena crotches him and goes and grabs a table. They battle on the top rope and Edge goes for a sunset flip powerbomb and what we get looks like a tumbling act. They have to improvise and Edge puts him through a table from a body slam. Edge then tries to do a Shelton Benjamin and makes it look even more dangerous than it is before leaping onto Cena on the floor. Edge now has a chair and goes for the One Man Conchairto, but Cena is able to counter and then hits a Blockbuster. He uses the ladder to torture his rival before hitting a super Five Knuckle Shuffle from near the top of the ladder. Edge comes back and cracks Cena over the head with a chair. I'm not sure if Cena blocked that as much as he maybe was hoping. Absolutely awful. Edge then lays Cena on a table before stacking a second table on top of it. Cena sees it coming and sends Edge to the floor. Cena sets up a ladder to start going after the title. Edge climbs another ladder and leaps to hit the Spear on Cena. Cena comes back by powerbombing Edge into a standing ladder. Cena climbs and gets his hand on the title. Lita comes out to save Edge, possibly a little later than was communicated and throws Edge through the table on the outside. Now it's Edge's turn to get thrown through a table. They both climb the ladder and battle at the top. Cena is able to get Edge on his back and hits the FU through the double tables and grab the belt to become the new WWE Champion. Poor Teddy Long. I think he really thought Cena would be his. The match was very good, but not quite a classic. After the match, Cena embraces his dad. 

Match Rating: ***3/4

As far as brand specific shows go, this is probably one of the stronger ones overall. The three main matches all delivered to some degree, even if there weren't any all timers. This one did feel a little bit more special than a lot of them with their being basically the two biggest specialty matches not named Royal Rumble on it and the farewell of their biggest female star. Thumbs up.

Overall Rating: 74%