Jeff Hardy challenged Johnny Nitro (now Morrison) for the WWE Intercontinental Championship in the opening contest. Hardy had only just recently returned to the WWE after a 3-year hiatus caused by drug issues, no-shows, and a reported refusal to attend that led to a firing. Hardy works this match like a man with something to prove - this isn't an out-and-out carry job, but man, Jeff goes on a tear here, his bumps, timing, and selling looking absolutely terrific from beginning to end. Hardy was still a couple years away from being arguably the most popular babyface on the roster, but the audience is 90% in the corner until, as the match progresses, Nitro's toughness and targeting of Hardy's knee seem to win over a portion of the crowd. Speaking of Nitro/Morrison, at this point, he looked like a guy who could be slotted into a main event run within the next few years but it just never materialized. At this time, though, his act with Melina wasn't yet stale and hadn't proven to be as one-dimensional as it ended up being. There are some great false finishes here and there and Hardy puts in the kind of performance that he hung his hat on for so many years - losing but winning over the crowd and getting himself over even when failing to get the W. (3.5/5)
Umaga vs. Kane followed. Everytime Kane has a match that doesn't completely bore me to tears, I feel surprised. Could it be that Kane is actually better than I think he is? I don't think so. I mean, based on the dozens of Kane matches I've seen, he's really only consistently good in multi-man matches and when his opponent is someone who can pull a great match out of a corpse - like Daniel Bryan or Rey Mysterio. Umaga is not that great a worker, but I like that he gives no quarter to the Big Red Machine, taking the fight to him and making Kane look vulnerable at times. When Kane takes over, Umaga proves he can bump and sell too, the fight eventually spilling out into the audience (which was fully into this). This one doesn't overstay its welcome, but I wish it would've ended cleanly with Umaga going over as he - along with the dearly missed Armando Allejandro Estrada - were a much better act than I thought at the time (when I incorrectly judged Umaga as a "Samoa Joe" knock-off). This wasn't as good as the opener, but it exceeded my expectations just by being a stiff slugfest between two super heavyweights. (3/5)
Backstage, Vince and Shane are backstage rewatching a clip from RAW where Vince ended up pinning Triple H after hitting him with a sledgehammer.
The Spirit Squad, who held the World Tag Team Championships at the time, come out next to defend their gold against The Highlanders, a team with a gimmick that I feel like the WWE has tried to get over multiple times but were never able to. The Highlanders aren't very interesting or fun to watch, so I spent some of the match time reading up on them. I was shocked to learn that they're still competing, mostly in Canada it seems. Robbie McAllister had particularly decent size and a good look, but was fired for showing up on-camera in TNA as a spectator. Whoops. The Spirit Squad are fine as heels, but the best part of their act was always their cheers and trampoline usage. Kenny and Mikey are representing the Squad, another two guys that I was surprised were still going strong in the business. I like the Highlander's finish - a double-team reverse slingshot suplex - but I'm glad they ate the pin. (1.5/5)
Degneration X took on The McMahons and Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match. In 2006, the WWE was not yet fully "PG," but the humor and adult content was more sophomoric than anything (though, credit where its due, the Mickie James/Trish Stratus sex stalker angle was awesome). This first of two reunions of DX seemed like it served two purposes at the time - first and foremost, it helped the WWE move a ton of merch and, second, it gave Triple H something to do aside from dominate RAW's World Title scene as he'd done for basically the previous 5 years. When the match begins, a very loud "You Screwed Bret" chant breaks out, which is funny because it could be aimed at 3-out-of-5 guys (if you believe Triple H's story that he was one of the guys who helped conceive the Screwjob). Shane gets busted open almost immediately after getting tossed in the cage and then Vince follows suit. Considering that Vince found blade jobs to be "barbaric," he sure didn't mind doing them to himself for nearly every match he was in from 1998 on. The numbers game catches up with Shawn and Triple H and the McMahons and Big Show go after Triple H's damaged ear. Show delivers a cool move where he lifts Shawn up into a powerbomb position and bashes him face-first into the cell wall before dropping him. I loved Show around this time as he was adding all sorts of cool moves to his arsenal as ECW Champion. Show follows it up by sending Michaels like a dart into the wall and then returns to punishing Triple H in the ring. Shane takes out a trash can and the audience pops in anticipation for the Van Terminator / Coast-to-Coast. McMahon nails it and the blood drips down from The Game's ear as the crowd chants "Holy Shit." Michaels rolls back into the ring and he's a bloody mess too. The "color" in this match is why a Hell in a Cell needs blood. You can perform all the moves in the world, break a million tables, have guys fall from 30 feet in the air, but what really sells the brutality is the blood. Shane catapults Triple H into the cell wall and The Game has a full crimson mask now. Back in the ring, McMahon directs Big Show to beat down on Shawn more. Big Show hits a Vader Bomb that draws an audible gasp from the crowd. Vince looks like he may have the W sewn up but decides to inflict more punishment. There's the nasty Cobra Clutch Backbreaker by Big Show! I love that move. He hits him with a leg drop and McMahon makes the cover - but refuses to accept victory. Triple H valiantly comes back into the ring and trips Big Show over the top rope before getting some offense in against Vince. Shane breaks up a Pedigree attempt and puts Triple H up in a Torture Rack! Wow. Michaels is on his feet now and he hits an enziguiri on Shane! The heels regain control, though, and Vince unbuckles his pants, looking to add insult to injury. Vince bends over and exposes his thong-covered ass, but Triple H is back up and sends Vince to the mat. Big Show clocks him, though, and bodyslams Shawn. Vince tells Big Show to splash Shawn, but Shawn pulls Vince in the way and its Vince who takes the full 500 pounds. DX split Big Show's leg and pull him into the post crotch-first. A loud "DX' chant breaks out as they ping-pong Shane O-Mac with right hands. Shane eats an atomic drop and then a spinebuster! Triple H pulls Shane into the center of the ring and grabs some chairs, putting one around Shane's neck. Shawn hits an elbow drop onto the chair! It didn't look great, but the sentiment was there and Shane starts coughing up blood to really sell it. Big Show is back up and the war continues, Show sliding some steps into the ring. Show tries to bash the steps into Triple H, but The Game catches him with a chairshot to the gut! Show falls into the steps and Triple H bashes the chair onto the steps. Again, its not necessarily a "realistic" maneuver, but it gets a great sound and response. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music on Big Show and now they're left with just Vince. In a great moment of poetic justice, Shawn and Triple H pull down Big Show's shorts and shove Vince's face into it! Vince sells it like his face has been doused with acid and the crowd goes absolutely insane. Triple H grabs a sledgehammer as Shawn tunes up the band. Shawn hits him with a superkick as Triple H nails him in the back of the neck with a sledgehammer shot that leads to the sledgehammer's top snapping off and flying out of the ring. One of the most thoroughly violent and entertaining Hell in a Cell matches ever. I've got no problem putting this match up there with the best Hell in a Cell matches ever. (4.5/5)
The WWE Women's Champion, Lita, defends her title against Trish Stratus in Stratus's retirement match next (Stratus would come out of retirement several years later, but this was her last match for a good number of years). Compared to today's better women's wrestling matches - or even the ones that were happening on the indie scene or in Japan for well over a decade before this - this match doesn't measure up as an all-time great one, but context is important. It was a rarity to see a Women's Championship go longer than 10 minutes. It was a rarity to see two women actually get to deliver a competitive match without being told to restrict themselves from certain spots. It was a rarity to have two women competing that had similar levels of experience and talent (as it was more typical for one woman to be the "worker" and the other the "eye candy" and then have the worker lead the less skilled grappler through a filler match). This match has purpose, has physicality, and may even be Lita's career match (while there are just a few Stratus matches I'd rate higher for her). At the time, I could see this being considered within the top 5 women's matches the WWE had ever produced - maybe even in the top 3 - but, fortunately, it is no longer even in the top 20 as, in the decade plus since this match, the female talent has finally been given the opportunity to showcase their toughness and ability. Still, due to the hot crowd, this is a well above-average match even in 2020. (3/5)
Randy Orton took on Carlito in what was essentially a "filler" match. I appreciate what they attempted to do here, but these two just didn't totally click, an example of a bunch of good ingredients not coming together to form a great dish. One might think Orton was putting on a lazy performance, but his effort isn't the problem. Carlito doesn't do a poor job of anything either. They're even blood! They're given almost the perfect amount of time - a little under 10 minutes - and the commentary work is no better or worse than anything that came before it. But this just isn't anything more than "pretty good," maybe slightly above average. The crowd obviously knew that the main event was next and seem to be just buzzing with that expectation (and I'm guessing that many were going to the beer lines to grab one more before cut-off) rather than investing in the match. (3/5)
Main event time - John Cena challenging Edge for the WWE Championship in a TLC Match. I just reviewed the first TLC pay-per-view and commented about how underwhelming that show was so this match was a nice reminder of just how good a TLC match could be. This match has everything that a TLC needs to have to really work: heightened stakes (not only is Edge's WWE Championship on the line, but if Cena loses he is forced to leave Raw), a reason for happening that made logical sense (Edge only willing to grant Cena a title shot if he got to choose the location and the stipulation), two guys that were unafraid to do some potentially permanent damage to their bodies for the sake of stealing the show (and this was not an easy to show to steal after the excellent Hell in a Cell, memorable Stratus/Lita match, and a strong opener), and perfectly timed, sequenced, and executed (mostly) spots. Cena and Edge went all out, bashing each other with ladders, flying and falling through tables, and the kind of chair shots that the company no longer allows anyone to do. Again, the context plays a role too. Not only is this match fought in front of a very passionate, very pro-Edge crowd (though Cena has a decent number of fans in attendance too), but the match does feel like the perfect punctuation point on a night that, from beginning to end, harkened back to so many of the WWE's hallmarks: The McMahons bleeding buckets, crotch chops, tables and ladders and chairs being swung and smashed with enthusiasm, Jeff Hardy fighting from underneath, an old school hoss fight in Umaga/Kane, and the literal conclusion of Trish Stratus' career. There is one notable "botch" - a failed sunset flip-powerbomb through a table early on that they turn into a bodyslam through the thing, but aside from that, everything feels organic. Even some of the table spots are almost surprisingly brilliant in the way they are captured - with the audience sometimes wondering if the victim actually went through a table or just fell 30 feet onto the arena floor. The final 5-6 are terrific and do not feel forced (and even benefit a little bit from an unplanned moment when the double-table stack accidentally gets undone after Cena FUs Lita). Definitely a top 5 singles match for Edge and maybe even in the running for Cena. (4.5/5)
With a Kwang Score of 3.29-out-of-5, Unforgiven 2006 is an above-average show, enjoyable from beginning to end and featuring at least two matches that I'd figure, without digging through my own reviews or trying to conjure up great matches I haven't reviewed, would land in the top 30 of the decade for the WWE. What really makes this a top tier show, though, is that aside from the Highlanders/Spirit Squad, the rest of the card is mostly good-to-great (and I've seen some fans heap more stars on the Stratus/Lita match even 14 years later). With barely any fat to trim, I'm comfortable rating this...
FINAL RATING - Watch It
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