WWE Unforgiven 2006

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WWE Unforgiven 2006
Toronto, Ontario
Air Canada Center
September 17, 2006

I started watching this event a couple months ago when I pulled that stack of DVDs off my shelf, but then hockey season kicked in and wrestling has taken a backseat lately. I’ve finally got a little bit more time now.

No idea why I own this random Unforgiven 2006 DVD, but I think it was either given to me or I picked it up for a buck somewhere. It’s pretty fun to throw in these older events, not really watching them with any context. This fall 2006 era was a pretty huge memory. I was going over to Matt’s almost every Monday to watch Raw and we joked about the WWE constantly. The fandom would definitely begin to slide over the next year, but at this point we were hopeful that the WWE was starting to turn the corner as the calendar was closing on a generally awful 2006.

Matt and I were also on a roll of seeing the big 4 PPVs in the theatre during this era, having watching SummerSlam, and soon Series and Rumble 07. For whatever reason, we never bothered to check out these secondary events, something that still seems like a mystery to me even now. Sunday nights have never been the best for going out, so maybe it’s as simple as that.

1) WWE IC Champion Johnny Nitro (w/ Melina) pinned Jeff Hardy at 17:38 after Melina took off her boot, after falling off the apron and hurting her foot, and hit Hardy in the face with it

I’ll never fully understand the appeal of Jeff Hardy, but he was hugely over in this era. He had made his return at the end of August after being in TNA for the previous three years and was immediately embroiled in the IC division. Johnny Nitro is another guy who’s never really done much for me. His ring work is pretty good, but his offense never looked very crisp or effective. Still, this was a well wrestled match, a perfectly fine PPV opener. Somewhat surprisingly Nitro wins, thanks to that Jezebel Melina cheating on his behalf. Logical way to keep this feud going.

2) Kane fought Umaga (w/ Armando Allejandro Estrada) to a double count-out at 7:03 when both men began brawling in the crowd; the fight eventually went backstage

Hahaha, man we loved Umaga when he debuted right after Wrestlemania. One of the few bright spots of 2006. Him and Estrada were an amazing act. Funny enough, I don’t think him and Estrada lasted very long together. Umaga was getting a monster push, steamrolling over opponents, leading to his predictable monster feud with Kane. Nothing wrong with that, even if Kane sucks. This was also surprisingly Umaga’s first PPV match. He’d be a fixture on upcoming events and is involved in that tremendous feud with Cena in early 07. This match is nothing more than a brawl. Just two superbeasts beating the shit out of each other. I’ve always enjoying a bruising battle like this. Not every match has to be a workrate classic. The only problem here was the shit ending as they just keep brawling until they’re counted out. Should have just put Umaga over since he was headed for bigger things and a loss makes no difference for Kane.

3) WWE Raw Tag Team Champions Mikey & Kenny (w/ Mitch, Johnny, & Nicky) defeated Robbie & Rory McAllister at 10:00 when Mikey pinned Rory with a facebuster following an enzuiguri from Johnny behind the referee’s back

Haha! A match full of geeks. This totally brought me back to the days of hanging out at Matt’s apartment and laughing at shitty gimmicks like the Highlanders and the Spirit Squad. Man the tag division was garbage at this point. Who in the fuck thought the Highlanders were deserving of a title shot? Lawler was grating on commentary, constantly trying to roll his r’s and saying “Rrrrrrrrory” and “Rrrrrrrrobbie” like he’d do on every fucking Raw. How long were the Highlanders even in the company? I wonder if they even made it to any other PPVs? Some of these dweebs are just so specific to this era. Also irritating is Jim Ross scoffing at the male cheerleaders. No doubt he truly feels that men should be men and only play football and whatever, but he just keeps pressing that shit into his commentary. Of course they cheat to win, further pissing off Ross.

4) Shawn Michaels & Triple H defeated ECW World Champion the Big Show, Vince & Shane McMahon in a handicapped Hell in a Cell match at 25:05 when Triple H pinned Vince after breaking a sledgehammer over Vince’s back after Michaels dropped Vince with the superkick

Yeah no, I fast forwarded straight through this bullshit. This actually may be the most violent match in WWE history. FOUR fucking guys do blade jobs and bleed buckets all over the ring. There’s endless weapon use and brutality and somehow this bullshit goes 25 minutes. Why are the McMahons the greatest force in wrestling history? I stopped fast forwarding to watch the overly stupid finish. After scoffing at male cheerleaders, Jim Ross is hollering in delight as DX pulls down the Big Show’s tights and shoves McMahon’s face into his bare ass. Because you know, men should be men, and shove each other’s faces into bare asses. Mercifully the end of the DX-McMahon feud was in sight.

5) Trish Stratus defeated WWE Women’s Champion Lita via submission with the Sharpshooter to win the title at 11:35 (Trish’s retirement match)

Now THIS was incredible! Easily the best match of this PPV. I never fully appreciated Trish until about 2006. All the credit to her for learning on the job and becoming the worker that she became. Obviously the women today are fundamentally better wrestlers, and arguably Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano wrestled better matches in the 90s, but Trish was the true pioneer of modern women’s wrestling in the WWE, combining the technique, the looks, and the personality. Her and Lita deliver an excellent back and forth match in front of a crowd that was still raised on the idea of Divas and puppies. Her fellow Torontonians are solidly behind her, and Trish brings down the house when she clamps on the sharpshooter! What a moment! Huge pop for Lita tapping to the sharpshooter. What a fantastic way for Trish to wrap up a historic career… oh wait… until she returned time and time again wrestling in crappy matches as a legend. Oh well. Side note – still to this day, I just can’t stand Trish’s theme music. That “Oh, it’s time to rock and roll” music is the fucking worst.

6) Randy Orton pinned Carlito with the RKO at 8:42 as Carlito attempted a double springboard off the ropes

This match had some kind of backstory, but who cares, this was dull as shit. Carlito was death in the ring, and here he was a lukewarm face. No idea why they always tried to push him, as he never had much heat as a face or a heel. I can’t name you a single great Carlito match, or even a Carlito match that I enjoy. As a character he had some moments, but he never lived up to the pushes he’d receive. Orton wins with a true RKO out of nowhere before that was a thing. And like Matt said in his review, at least this had some blood, as Orton was busted open hardway early on.

7) John Cena defeated WWE World Champion Edge to win the title in a TLC match at 25:28 after hitting a FU from the top of the ladder through two tables stacked on top of each other; pre-match stipulations stated if Cena didn’t win the match he would have to sign a 3-year contract with Smackdown!

This was an excellent feud that unfortunately peaked too early. Too bad they didn’t carry Cena-Edge all the way to Wrestlemania 23. A TLC match in Detroit would have been a phenomenal main event. Edge truly came into his own during this feud and was simply outstanding as a dick heel throughout 2006. Him and Cena fit their roles perfectly and had tremendous chemistry. I remember watching all the hilarious Raw segments with Matt, where Edge throws the spinner belt into the river, followed up by Cena throwing Edge into the river, Edge beating up Cena’s dad, etc. What an amazing feud – one of the greatest of the 00s. It was a shining light in 2006 that’s for sure. And it kept Triple H and Michaels out of the title picture, something that had been a problem for the past three years. This TLC match was definitely great, and I liked how they stacked the odds against Cena, having this be a match he’s never been in and a match that Edge had never lost, taking place in Edge’s hometown no less. As with all TLC matches, the only critique I have is how contrived a lot of the spots are and how much set up time there is. There was also a lot of reeeeally slow climbing, which was kind of annoying, but those are only minor complaints, as this was overall excellent. The red hot, pro-Edge crowd made for yet another hostile environment for Cena to be in, which in storyline, usually drove him to try even harder. Tons of sick and brutal bumps throughout, and the huge finish of Cena FU’ing Edge through two tables was a sight to behold. Overall tremendous match to end a fun event. It’s just too bad they never saved Edge-Cena for Mania, though the big plan was for a Cena-Triple H rematch before H got hurt.