Considering how poorly the Championship Scramble match had been received in the weeks leading up, WWE had to do something to get some buzz coming out of tonight's Unforgiven pay-per-view. They certainly did just that as Chris Jericho regained the WWE World Title in a match he wasn't originally supposed to be in.
Jericho took the place of now-former World Champion CM Punk. Punk was attacked in a backstage angle by Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu (who? Hold on...we're getting there).
Punk was unable to then compete in the match and was replaced by Jericho as the final entrant, only revealed upon his actual entrance into the ring. It seems fitting that the weakly-booked Punk's reign came to an end without him actually having a chance to defend the belt, but c'est la vie.
But wasn't Jericho supposed to fight Shawn Michaels? And what about the other Championship Scrambles? Read on as Ropes, Ring, and Cage brings the action to you in the order that it happened:
Matt Hardy won the ECW Title in a Championship Scramble: Instead of attempting to explain exactly what happened and how, I'll just tell you this. The match included Mark Henry (champion), The Miz, Chavo Guerrero, and Finlay. Hardy pinned Miz with around three minutes left and was able to evade Henry enough to keep the belt. The match wasn't good as Matt Striker described it as "bowling shoe ugly."
World Tag Champs Ted DiBiase/Cody Rhodes defeated Cryme Tyme to retain the belts: DiBiase reversed a small package that allowed Rhodes to get the pin on JTG. Post-match, the two teams brawled and Afa Jr. (later revealed as Manu) came in on DiBiase/Rhodes behalf.
Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Jericho in an unsanctioned match: People were livid this match was so early, but they would soon figure out why. The match went just under 30 minutes and the end came when the referee stopped the match after Michaels repeatedly was punching Jericho with a belt wrapped around his hand.
But it was supposed to be an unsanctioned match, you say? Exactly. Big spot where HBK hit a top rope elbow on Lance Cade and Jericho while the latter were laid out on the ECW announcer's table. Of note was that they acted like Michaels was possessed with Michael Cole asking whether God would forgive him. Uhhh...
HHH retained/won the WWE Championship in a Championship Scramble:
5 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Dozer 9 months ago
I only got to see about an hour of Unforgiven, my DVR was acting up. I saw the WWE Championship Scramble and it was a good match. I like how you just skipped over theh divas match. lol good read.
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Dan Casazza 9 months ago
"It seems fitting that the weakly-booked Punk's reign came to an end without him actually having a chance to defend the belt"
Exactly - the mismanagement of the title change is indicative of the poor booking throughout.
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Ryan 9 months ago
Yes! This was the only possible thing that could've happened to make me happy about Punk losing the title, which isn't all that terrible for him--he goes into a high-profile feud with Orton now.
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Shane H. 9 months ago
i am not at all happy with WWE. Unforgiven was as garbage as the VMAs. How does Punk lose without being in the match? Did creative no see the momentum he was building. If they didn't shackle Punk so much and let him shine like we all know he can, his reign would have been so much better. Punk should've have held the belt and fought with Orton at Survivor Series.
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David Trent 9 months ago
Jeff hardy has to be one of the dumbest people, he had the match why in the hell would you keep wrestling, just stupid.At least we know whos the smarter brother in the family, matt. Damn wwe didnt even want punk to be in the match thats just sad. Divas championship sucked.
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