WWE Cyber Sunday 2006 Review

Once a year, the fans are in control of what they want to see! Cyber Sunday 2006 saw the champions of all three brands clash against each other to find out who really is the champion of all champions. Which championship is on the line and who will walk out with the gold around their waist?

Match 1: Umaga vs. Kane
The fans add the option of choosing between Kane, Chris Benoit or The Sandman for this one with Kane winning by a pretty easy margin. At this point, Umaga is still undefeated and is being beefed up for an eventual feud with the WWE Champion in John Cena. Pretty decent opener here with Umaga catching Kane from the top rope with an uppercut to his neck before following it with a Samoan Spike. Take it for what it was but there is no doubt that with Armando Alejandro Estrada by his side, Umaga was beginning to look like money at this point.
Winner: Umaga
Rating: **

Match 2: Texas Tornado - Cryme Tyme vs. Viscera and Charlie Haas vs. The Highlanders vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
Funny to note that both Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler already mentioned that this would be a Texas Tornado match before they showed Todd Grisham and Maria announcing it for everyone with a drum roll and everything. Quick match with every team basically getting in at least one of their offenses as Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch knocked out one of The Highlanders before Cryme Tyme took advantage by hitting the pin. Nothing special here, just a filler of a match for the card.
Winners: Cryme Tyme
Rating: 3/4*

Match 3: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Carlito
By a landslide margin, Carlito earns his shot at the Intercontinental Championship against Jeff Hardy. At this point, the hype for the Hardy train was really just beginning and you could just feel how hot the crowd was getting for this guy. He also was having great matches left and right with this one being no exception. Really, this felt like watching a movie where the good guy has to fend off a bad guy who we know is going to lose. The crowd was just so hot for Hardy and were with him every step of the way. The two did a great job in keeping the match flowing without it being too one-sided. Carlito looked to hit a Hurricanrana from the top before Hardy pushes him off and hits a Swanton Bomb to score the victory.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: D-Generation X vs. Rated RKO
Eric Bischoff was voted in to be the special guest referee for the contest as the two teams collided in what would later become a very bloody and personal feud. The match started off like your everyday tag match with Bischoff actually calling things down the line. Rated RKO looked to be in the driver's seat by isolating Shawn Michaels thoroughly throughout the match while Triple H was left watching from his corner. The complexion of the match changed drastically once Edge inadvertently Speared the living daylights out of Bischoff. However, Bischoff still tried to help Rated RKO win the match as he led Michaels into a chair shot to the face by Edge. Edge then entered the match and hit Triple H with it before Randy Orton delivered an RKO to The Game on the same chair to secure the win. That was everything it needed to be to spark this feud into another level. The match wasn't the best thing ever but it didn't need to be since it served its purpose and will certainly lead to better ones down the line. Now it got personal with Rated RKO bringing the steel chair into the match and also using Bischoff to their advantage in order to steal the win.
Winners: Rated RKO
Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: WWE Women's Championship - Lumberjill - Mickie James vs. Lita
Since Trish Stratus rightfully retired with the Women's Championship, a tournament was made in order to find out the new champion with this being the finals. Decent action here for what it was with the lumberjills being the bigger story of the match along with Jerry Lawler barely containing himself on commentary. These were the days. After Victoria grabs Mickie James from the outside, Lita is able to hit a DDT and capitalize on the situation for the win. Lita gets back her championship before retiring just a month or so after this.
Winner: Lita
Rating: *1/4

Match 6: WWE World Tag Team Championships - The Spirit Squad (c) vs. Ric Flair and Roddy Piper
With the fans being able to choose between Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes or Roddy Piper, the Rowdy one was selected as he gets to team with Flair to challenge the young Spirit Squad. Both Kenny and Mikey were the representatives for The Squad. For the limited athletic abilities Piper held, it was still a joy to see him in the ring with Flair and working as a unit against the younger team. Miraculously, Flair makes Mikey submit with the Figure Four and picking up the huge win for himself and Piper. Afterwards, Sgt. Slaughter and Rhodes join the fray and take out The Spirit Squad with both Flair and Piper. Great moment here. Probably the funniest moment happened at the end of the segment when Jerry Lawler said he hopes there isn't going to be a live sex celebration to which Jim Ross dismissed in disgust. Amazing.
Winners: Ric Flair and Roddy Piper
Rating: **

Match 7: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - King Booker (c) vs. The Big Show vs. John Cena
Another landslide vote for this one as King Booker's World Heavyweight Championship was voted to be the championship on the line for tonight's main event. Loved the idea of this main event despite it being pretty damn obvious that Booker's title was going to be voted as the one to be defended. Despite Booker being the one to be in a defensive mode, it felt like it was John Cena was fending off the two heels here but once he took The Big Show out of the equation, some interference from Kevin Federline (yes, you read that right) helped Booker drill Cena with his belt to score the win and retain his title. The match certainly could have used a few more minutes as this was just underwhelming as it gets. Plus, having Federline added to the mix just adds more to the mess. To me, it just seems like a slap to the face of the buyers as their last image is Kevin Federline having a say in the biggest match of the night.
Winner: King Booker
Rating: **3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Such a weak offering from the WWE here with the voting being so predictable and almost taking the whole concept irrelevant in the process. A couple of the matches were good but nothing that were worthy enough to make this PPV a recommendation for anyone who hasn't seen it or has any remote interest in going back to 2006.
Rating: 5/10