WWE held their Unforgiven pay-per-view last night from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The event was not even close to a sellout with the majority of the upper deck being tarped off and the open portion vacant based on the camera shots that I saw. While some are speculating that this is an indication that WWE failed in their build for the pay-per-view, I do not believe that to be the case. I have attended several wrestling events and basketball games at the Quicken Loans Arena and I can tell you that the venue has never drawn big unless LeBron James is in the house. Over the past two years out of all of WWE’s trips to Cleveland I believe that I have seen one electric crowd and it was for an edition of Raw that I did not attend. Nonetheless last night’s pay-per-view was a little something different as the company decided to vacate all of the titles and hold Scramble matches to determine their new holders. Did it work? Below are my thoughts on a match by match basis.

WWE opened with the ECW Championship Scramble Match which I thought was a below average bout. I know that WWE did not have a monster crowd in Cleveland but the fans that they did have were dead for the entire first 15 minutes of this contest. That’s the problem with the Scramble concept as the first 15 minutes are basically irrelevant because no one is eliminated which makes pinfalls meaningless. Everyone’s work rate seemed to be down in this match which made it even more painful. I like Matt Hardy as the ECW Champion but I would expect continuation between him and Mark Henry.

The World Tag Team Championship match was up second and probably would have served as a better opener since the Scramble Matches left the crowd for dead. Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes had a pretty good bout with JTG and Shad if only DiBiase and Rhodes didn’t overwork the arm of JTG like they did. I do not like it when a tag team isolates a particular body part of an opponent, only using submissions to work it. It takes the excitement of the match and is not very believable. The notable in this match was when Manu made his debut, aligning himself with Priceless.

Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho get the nod for the match of the night and given the condition of Michaels, I will say that his work rate was remarkable. This bout came off just as it was intended to be with Michaels going absolutely psychotic on Jericho for all that he has done to him. Michaels pulled off one of the riskiest spots in recent memory when he hit a flying elbow off of the top rope onto the announcers table onto Cade and Jericho. Michaels has no reason to perform spots like that because he has nothing to prove. The risk was probably much greater than the reward but it was fun from a fan’s perspective. Michaels looked to be in considerable pain throughout the bout and Jericho got roughed up with a busted nose and cuts and bruises all over his body. Michaels got the win after the referee stopped the bout which is a finish that I have come to enjoy in professional wrestling.

I enjoyed the WWE Championship Scramble Match better than the ECW Championship Scramble Match but again the crowd was dead for the first 15 minutes of the contest. Brian Kendrick thoroughly impressed me on the big stage. I know that Kendrick can work but to do it at a pay-per-view with some of the best workers on the SmackDown roster is saying something for him. Shelton had a notable botch in the match which is rare for him. Hunter ended up winning his title back after a pedigree on MVP for the pinfall. I was told that it was a possibility that all three titles could have changed hands to sell the Scramble concept but I did not see Triple H not going over in this match.

One of the most bizarre things on the pay-per-view happened during a backstage segment when Randy Orton, Priceless, and Manu (a/k/a Afa who made his on-screen debut) took out CM Punk and Kofi Kingston backstage. I guess WWE really wants to do Orton vs. Punk because that was banking on a lot to take him out of the Scramble match. The backstage segment with Orton was fun and believable. Orton sure didn’t look injured to me. Before that segment, Michaels cut a promo on Jericho indicating that there was more to come. This indicated to me that perhaps last night’s match was not the blow-off that I thought that it was going to be.

Michelle McCool vs. Maryse for the Divas Championship was short and basic with nothing notable. The fans could have cared less and most probably used the match to stop by the concession stands and use the restroom. Personally I do not see the point in two women’s belts but of course it is not my company.

After the Divas worked, Mike Adamle came out and proclaimed that CM Punk’s status for the World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match was up in the air because of the attack that he suffered backstage. Enter Big Show as he came out and cut the way too obvious promo that he was a babyface getting ready to turn heel just as he did at No Way Out earlier this year. We broke on Wrestling News World Premium earlier last week that Show would be doing an angle with the Undertaker at Unforgiven to turn heel so I was not surprised. The beating that Big Show gave Undertaker went on a little too long and didn’t get much reaction until Vickie slapped Taker and spit in his face. I would look for Undertaker to seek revenge on SmackDown.

Why William Regal was featured talking to Mike Adamle about a spot in the Scramble Match I do not know. That was pretty random if you ask me. The World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match went just as the other two went. No crowd reaction for the first 15 minutes and then things got weird. Chris Jericho replaced CM Punk as the final entrant in the match which I knew they had been talking about (as I reported on WNW Premium) but I thought that the plan had been scrapped when they opted to do Jericho vs. Michaels. They didn’t and Jericho ended up stealing the win and the World Heavyweight Championship. I have a big problem with this. Of course I think that Jericho is a capable and competent Champion but I do not think that it made logical sense to have him come out and get the title win after the beating that he took from Michaels. It made Michaels’ attack (where the referee stopped the bout) look pointless and in my opinion made Michaels look weak. The storyline suggests that Michaels had taken Jericho out, now he’s the World Heavyweight Champion. Can you make any sense out of that? I sure can’t.

Scramble me crazy but I thought that Unforgiven was a mediocre pay-per-view at best. WWE denigrated the best thing on the card (Michaels vs. Jericho) with Jericho winning the World Heavyweight Championship at the end. The crowd was small and not into the event what-so-ever. The Scramble Match concept failed because the 3/4’s of the match was essentially pointless. Cryme Tyme and Priceless had a good match but it was probably better suited for a pay-per-view opener or the 10:00 main event spot on Raw. It will be interesting to see what happens tonight on Raw but they are up against ultra stiff competition with the season premiere of Monday Night Football. Injuries hurt the pay-per-view and while Michaels should be commended for his work, there were times during this event where I felt like WWE creative had no clue what they were going to do.

Richard can be contacted at richard [at] grayinternet.com

Richard Gray is a professional wrestling journalist and frequent contributor to Rajah.com. He has been covering the world of professional wrestling since 1999 and has had the opportunity to cover ground breaking stories such as the demise of ECW, the WCW buyout, the Benoit tragedy, Bobby Lashley leaving WWE, and more. For more on Richard check out his web site, Wrestling News World.

– “Richard Reacts” Archive By WrestlingNewsWorld.com’s Richard Gray