By Wade Keller, Torch editor

KELLER'S WWE CYBER SUNDAY PPV REPORT
OCTOBER 26, 2008
PHOENIX, ARIZ.

-A video aired with wrestlers talking about fan votes, most prominently with Vladimir Kozlov saying fans shouldn't vote.

-Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced the show from ringside as the camera panned the crowd.

1 -- REY MYSTERIO vs. KANE

Todd Grisham stood on the stage after Rey's ring intro but before Kane's. He revealed the stipulation choice of the fans was No Holds Barred at 39 percent, beating out Falls Count Anywhere at 35 percent and Best of Three Falls 26 percent. Lawler said, "Oh, man!" He said that choice favors Kane. Nice job, Rey fans. Cole said when Kane took off his mask, he wanted fans to accept him, but they didn't, and he's now bitter and conflicted as a result. Kane bent Rey over his knee mid-ring at 4:00. Methodically paced until a Rey comeback at 9:00 by reversing Kane into steel steps Kane had propped in the corner. Cole continues to call a move that's not a senton a senton. Rey used a chair to take Kane down into 619 position. Kane avoided the first attempt, but was hit on a subsequent attempt for a fan-friendly clean pin in the opener.

WINNER: Rey in 10:00.

STAR RATING: *

-The first Diva Costumes were revealed. Michelle McCool was dressed in Army uniform. Katie Lee was dressed as a vampire. Lena Yada was dressed as a Sexy Ninja. Candice Michelle was Marilyn Monroe.

-Chris Jericho walked up to Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, and Manu. He said he respets them and shares in common their frustration with being disrespected by Mike Adamle. He said they're on the cusp of greatness. He encouraged them to do to Batista what they did to Punk. Cody said, "We're not doing your dirty work." He said fans may have voted them to wrestle a tag match later, so they have other priorities. DiBiase said with the odds stacked against him the way they are, it looks to be priceless.

-They showed the exterior of the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix.

-On the stage, Grisham introduced ECW G.M. Teddy Long and his assistant, Tiffany. Long introduced Matt Hardy who made his full ring intro. Evan Bourne, Mark Henry, and Finlay stepped onto the stage. Bourne won voting 69 percent to Henry's 6 and Finlay's 25. Henry was disgusted. Finlay shook Bourne's hand.

2 -- MATT HARDY vs. EVAN BOURNE -- ECW Title match
Bourne hit an early high dropkick. Good back and forth rapid action early. The crowd chanted, "Let's Go Hardy" early. No counter-chant started for Bourne, as probably a lot of fans barely know who he is since only a fraction of WWE fans watch ECW, and strangely ECW features Raw and Smackdown recaps, but Raw and Smackdown don't feature ECW recaps where they'd do the most good. Grisham introduced viewers to Bourne's background, saying he came from virtual obscurity to a top ECW star over the past eight months. Todd actually called Matt Striker "Todd" at one point. Striker said, "You Todd, me Matt." Bourne hit a standing moonsault for a two count. He threw a high roundhouse kick to Hardy's head, taking him to the mat. He climbed to the top rope. Hardy rolled to the floor. Bourne went for a springboard from the second rope to the floor, but Hardy knocked him off balance and he got caught upside down in the ropes. Hardy then took over at 4:00. Grisham said Bourne is 5-6 in heels, but can dunk a basketball. Hardy went on offense and settled into an abdominal stretch with a yank of the leg a la Sheik Adnon El Kaisey circa 1980. Bourne escaped a Splash Mountain (Razor's Edge) attempt with a headscissors. Bourne threw some kicks, but Hardy countered with a sudden Side Effect for a two count. Bourne caught Hardy diving off the second rope with a spin wheel kick to the face. Bourne threw several roundhouse kicks, then scored a two count after a flip onto Hardy. Jeff Jarrett's name was uttered live on a WWE PPV. Striker said in 1999, Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett beat Ken Shamrock & Big Bossman for the tag team titles in Phoenix as evidence that Phoenix has seen big title changes before. Bourne hit his signature leaping knees to take Hardy to the mat for a very near fall. Bourne set up a Shooting Star Press, but Hardy stopped him. Bourne knocked Hardy down and went for the move, but Hardy moved. Grisham said that's the first time he's seen Bourne miss with the move. Hardy went for a Twist of Fate, but Bourne turned it into a backslide. Hardy then hit a Twist of Fate for the clean win. Hardy helped Bourne to his feet and shook his hand, then celebrated some more.

WINNER: Hardy in 9:00 to retain the ECW Title.

STAR RATING: **3/4 -- Really good match. Right finish, too. Good pacing and drama and athleticism throughout.

-A WrestleMania ticket launch countdown clock was shown.

-Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler were shown at ringside plugging the voting for the WWE Diva Costume Contest. Then they went to more costumes. Beth Phoenix was a knight. Jillian is Batgirl. She sang the song poorly. Maria was a Playboy Bunny. She was munching on a phallic carrot. Kelly Kelly was dressed as a ship captain.

-Grisham revealed the tag team match results. The fans' choice was Miz & Morrison vs. Cryme Tyme with 38 percent. Second place was C.M. Punk & Kofi Kingston vs. Rhodes & DiBiase at 35 percent. Mickie James & Jamie Noble vs. William Regal & Layla was third with 27 percent.

3 -- CRYME TYME vs. MIZ & MORRISON

Cole plugged this week's episode of "The Dirt Sheet" on WWE.com with the latest trashing of Cryme Tyme. Good back and forth action. Shad got the hot tag at 8:00. Miz interfered behind the ref's back leading to Morrison hitting the Midnight Ride for the pin.

WINNERS: Miz & Morrison in 9:00.

STAR RATING: *1/2

-More Diva Costumes were revealed. The voting has to heavily favor those who were shown earlier on the show rather than later. Hardly fair. Tiffany was a sexy nun. Bri Bella was Cleopatra. Natalya was a traffic cop. Eve was a Ninja Turtle.

-Grisham stood on the stage and went over the options for Undertaker vs. Big Show. He said voting is still open online.

-They went backstage to Jericho talking to somebody off camera, asking this person to be in his corner to keep things fair. The camera panned back to reveal The Great Khali and Ranjin Singh. Khali spoke. Singh translated Khali's rant as simply, "No."

-A John Cena video aired about his injury rehab.

-Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix walked out. He showed the Honk-a-Meter tally - 64 to 11. He said in one week and one year he will be the greatest IC Champion of all time. He said Phoenix is where once great athletes come to die. Randy Johnzon. Shizam O'Neill. They went to a shot of Shaquille O'Neill in the crowd. He said they should have retired long ago, just like his opponent tonight. He threw to Grisham to reveal his opponent.

-On stage, Grisham showed Roddy Piper, Goldberg, and the Honky Tonk Man. All three were present. Results were HTM with 35 percent, just edging Piper who was at 34 percent. Goldust was third at a surprising 31 percent. Lawler said that was close voting - closer than the Presidential election probably will be. HTM cut a promo on Santino when he walked into the ring. He said, "I don't know about cool and cocky, but you are bad." He said he can't sing like he can, he can't dance like he can, and he could be IC Champion for ten years, but he'd never compare to him. HTM told Santino to stand back and let him show him how it's done. His music played agan and he did his signature dance. HTM is a big of a mix between the sorta fat Elvis and Wayne Newton post-cosmetic surgery, but overall, he has held his look nicely. Santino then danced, which drew laughs from the crowd. Santino then slapped HTM. HTM went down like he was shot.

4 -- SANTINO MARELLA (w/Beth Phoenix) vs. HONKY TONK MAN

HTM wrestled in his full jump suit at first, then disrobed to just enough to reveal a single arm singlet. HTM went on early offense and took Santino down with a shoulder tackle. Phoenix tripped him coming off the ropes. The ref called for the DQ. The crowd booed almost as much as in last night's main event which came to a premature ending. Santino yelled at Phoenix for costing him the match by DQ. Cole said Santino keeps his title. The arguing continued as they walked toward the back.

WINNER: HTM in 2:00.

-Goldust then stepped out in his bodysuit to his full ring entrance. Then Piper's music played and walked down to ringside. He spit his gun at Santino. Great aim from 12 feet away. Santino rolled into the ring where HTM kicked him in the gut. Goldust gave him the Final Cut suplex. Piper entered he ring and poked Santino in the eye. HTM then gave Santino the Shake, Rattle, and Roll neckbreaker finish. HTM slipped on Goldust's wig in the middle of his post-move celebration dance. The three stood together as HTM's music played.

-A commercial aired for the 800th Raw Celebration.

-Jim Ross and Tazz were shown at ringside. They threw to more Diva Costumes. Maryse was a sexy French maid. She said she loves when things get dirty. Victoria was a big banana. Eve was Princess Leah. It was about what you'd have any right to expect from that segment. She said, "Vote for me because I have appeal." Mickie James held two pistols and had a long pony tail.

-A video package aired on the Big Show-Undertaker feud.

-Grisham introduced Vickie Guerrero on the stage, wheeled out by Chavo Guerrero. She revealed fans chose Last Man Standing match at 49 percent over 42 percent for I Quit and 9 percent for Knockout.

5 -- UNDERTAKER vs. BIG SHOW -- Last Man Standing match

They opened with a slugfest. Show knocked Taker through the ropes to the floor. Show followed and got punched as soon as he reached the floor. Show punched back with shots to the gut and then threw Taker over the security railing. Back in the ring Taker caught a charging Show with a boot, but Show came back with a clothesline to drop Taker to the mat. He followed with a headbutt. Tazz said, "He's got a head the size of a small engine." They fought at ringside. Show clutched his chest as if he were having a heart attack at 6:00. The limitations of this match became more clear as it progressed with repeated standing punch exchanges filling at least half of the time. Taker grabbed Show's throat at 8:00. Show grabbed Taker's throat. Taker countered with a DDT at 9:00. Show was down. The ref counted toward ten. Show beat the count and threw more headbutts. He ripped off a top turnbuckle pad, but Taker threw Show into it chest-first, then hit a flying clothesline. Both men were down as the ref began his count. Show stood at nine. Taker went for a running big boot, but Show moved and Taker tumbled over the top rope onto the steps at ringside. Show threw Taker's head into the steps and the methodically punched him. Then he hit Taker in the face with a television monitor and began tossing around parts of the ringside announce table. Show held up a chair. Taker punched the chair, knocking it into Show. Show surprised Taker with a chokeslam through a table at ringside. That drew a "Good god!" from Ross. The began counting Taker down. Taker stood at the last possible split second, pulling himself up by using the security railing for leverage at 14:00. Taker made a comeback with a barrage of punches in the ring followed by a DDT. Taker sat up. The ref began counting Show down. They showed Vickie Guerrero on the stage watching with concern. Show got up before ten. Taker walked the top rope. Show turned that into a chokeslam. The ref began to count Taker down. When Taker stood, Show hit him with the special punch that counts more than the other hundred he threw in this match because it was straight on and not a roundhouse. The ref began counting Taker down. Show watched intently as the ref reached eight and Taker sat up and pulled himself to his feet with the top rope. Show entered the ring with a chair and smashed Taker with it. Taker got one hand up to absorb some of the impact and help with the sound. When Show moved in on Taker, though, Taker applied his submission hold, the Death Valley Vice. Show fought it at first, then went limp. Taker released. The ref began counting both men down. Taker pulled himself up by the ropes right before ten, while Show was still knocked out cold for the loss.

WINNER: Undertaker in 20:00.

STAR RATING: ***1/2 -- A lot of repetitious punching and the many ten counts by the ref were both dramatic and patience-testing (a strange paradox). There was enough drama, though, at ringside and with the signature spots, including a strong finish, that it was in the end overall a very satisfying big-man match.

ALERT: UFC 90 REPORT - Full results of last night's event rightnow at MMATorch.com

-Jericho implored Raw G.M. Mike Adamle to get rid of the special ref stip. He said G.M.s don't make the popular decisions, they make the right decisions. Jericho said if he doesn't, they will have problems from here on out. Adamle said he wouldn't back down and asked Jericho how spineless he thinks he is. Jericho said they'd talk about it later.

-Tazz stood mid-ring to reveal the Diva Halloween Costume Contest. The Divas paraded to the ring as Cole and Lawler talked about their various costumes. Tazz revealed the winner was: Mickie James. A brawl broke out among the sore losers. Lawler said, "I was afraid this was going to happen. I mean, I was hoping this was going to happen." Costume pieces flew everywhere. Lawler said, "We're the real winners of this."

-A video package aired on the Triple H title match stip. Triple H's full ring intro took place. Grisham then revealed the results of the voting. The fans' choice was Jeff Hardy with 57 percent, followed by 38 percent for a Triple Threat, and just 6 percent for Hardy.

6 -- TRIPLE H vs. JEFF HARDY -- WWE Title match

At 1:00 Hardy went for an early Twist of Fate. Triple H blocked it and went for a Pedigree. Hardy blocked that and then grounded Triple H with an armbar a minute later. Ross wondered which Hardy would show up - the mat wrestling veteran or the high-risk taker. At 5:00 Hardy hit a facebuster suplex for a two count. Triple H came back at 5:00 with a spinebuster as a counter to charge into the corner. Triple H applied an STF for more than a minute. The action spilled to the floor where Hardy reverse-whipped Triple H into the steps. Hardy charged at Triple H and knocked him hard into the security wall. Hardy hit a Whisper in the Wind at 10:00. He did it again because the first one didn't hit solid. That led to a near fall. Nice audible there by repeating the move. Hardy hit a swing kick in the corner, then went for a Twist of Fate. Triple H powered out and went for a Pedigree. Hardy countered with a flip into a bridge for a near fall at 11:00. Triple H applied a sleeper. Hardy escaped quickly and then hit a Twist of Fate for the first time in the match. Hardy then hit a Swanton. He ripped off his shirt, threw it to the crowd, and climbed to the top again. He went for another splash, but Triple H lifted his knees that time. Ross said he was surprised Hardy didn't go for a pin before that second move. Tazz said Hardy must've felt one wouldn't be enough. Both were slow to get up. Triple H kicked Hardy and set up a Pedigree. Hardy reverse kicked out of it and knocked Triple H to the floor. He shot himself over the top rope and overshot Triple H completely. Hardy popped up and threw a tantum, slamming the ringside table and kicking the steps. Ross said he was having an "out of body experience." Hardy threw Triple H into the ring and climbed to the top rope. Triple H kicked him off balance and hit a Pedigree off the top rope for the win.

WINNER: Triple H in 14:00.

STAR RATING: ***1/2

-Another video featured aired on John Cena.

7 -- CHRIS JERICHO vs. BATISTA -- World Hvt. Title match

Chris Jericho's full ring intro took place, followed by Batista's. Grisham then revealed that voting went overwhelmingly for Austin with 74 percent, followedby Michaels at 22 percent and Orton at 4 percent. Lawler called it a landslide. The glass broke and Austin headed to the ring to his hold stomping grounds. Austin and Jericho had a brief pre-match staredown. Jericho turned and slapped Batista. Batista powered Jericho into the corner and threw his shoulders into him repeatedly. Jericho bailed out to ringside. He teased returning to the back. Austin asked for a mic. He said, "Hey Chris, I know if you think if you get disqualified or counted out, you keep the title, but eh eh. That ain't gonna happen." He said if he counts him, he's going to switch the title anyway, "and that's the bottom line because Stone Cold said so." Austin began the count. Jericho rushed back into the ring. Batista overpowered Jericho and gave him a return slap. Jericho turned momentum by throwing Batista to ringside followed by a slidekick. Jericho dominated for several minutes working over Batista's legs. At 7:00 Batista powered Jericho up, but Jericho leveraged Batista with a sunset flip type move for a near fall. Batista was slow lifting his shoulder and Austin had to stop before three even before Batista lifted his shoulder. Jericho continued to kick at Batista. At 9:00 Jericho applied a half Boston crab. Batista reached the ropes. Jericho was slow to break, so Austin yanked Jericho off of Batista. Batista followed with a side slam for a near fall at 10:00. Batista continued to sell his leg injury from the Boston crab. They fought on the second rope. Batista knocked Jericho to the mat and then hit a flying shoulder block for a two count. Jericho elbowed out of a slam attempt and dropped Batista for a two count. Batista shoulder tackled Austin by mistake. He rolled to the floor. Jericho hit his Code Breaker. There was no ref. Michaels ran to the ring. He counted very, very slowly. Batista kicked out at two. Jericho argued with Michaels. Michaels teased a superkick. Batista speared Jericho. As Michaels began a count, JBL ran out and yanked Michaels out of the ring. He gave him a Clothesline from Hell. Batista got up and limped over to look at JBL. Jericho clipped Batista from behind. Jericho grabbed his title belt from ringside. Randy Orton entered the ring and hit Austin as soon as Austin returned to the ring. Jericho KO'd Batista with the belt. Orton counted, but Batista kicked out. Austin got up and shook his head behind Orton. Then he delivered a Stunner. Orton bounced out of the ring. Austin shoved jericho and then set up a Stunner on him. Jericho blocked it and shoved Austin into the corner. Batista spinebustered Jericho, then shook the top rope and hit a BatistaBomb. He made the cover and Austin counted to three. Austin presented Batista with the belt.

WINNER: Batista in 17:00.

STAR RATING: ***1/4 -- Solid main event match. Good usage of Austin and getting Michaels and Orton into the mix worked well, too.

-Not a must-see show for any one match, but not a bad show overall.

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