Search - WWE: Unforgiven 2008 on DVD

How Do You Want Your Title Matches...Regular Or Scrambled?

D.P. | California | 10/12/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Please excuse my bad joke in the title but after the disaster reception that was Unforgiven last year, WWE tried to based this PPV revolving around a concept. Royal Rumble has the battle royal, WrestleMania has "Money In The Bank", One Night Stand is gimmick matches, Cyber Sunday is fan interaction, Survivor Series is the tag team elimination match, and earlier this year at No Way Out was the Elimination Chamber....this Unforgiven is about the Scramble Match. Now the match itself is a mix of the Royal Rumble & the "hardcore battle royals" they used to do when the Hardcore Championship was active over 5 years ago. The official time limit is 20 minutes with two wrestlers starting & after every 5 mins., a new superstar would enter the ring. Throughout the entire time period, whoever scores a pinfall/submission over anyone else becomes the temporary champion and whoever is the "champion" at the end of that time wins the match & becomes the OFFICIAL champion.

Scramble Match: ECW Champion Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. The Miz vs. Chavo Guerrero - This match set the tone for the remaining scramble matches as everyone had their certain moments like Miz getting some high flyin' in, Chavo at one point executing one of the best frog splashes I've seen from him, and Mark Henry showcasing his dominating power. Everyone, except Miz, won the championship at one point but in the end, Matt Hardy hung on to the time limit to walk out the new ECW Champion.

World Tag Team Champions Ted Dibiase & Cody Rhodes vs. Cryme Tyme - This was really just an average match between both teams that wasn't boring but then again, nothing noteworthy or exciting happened either during the match...but look out afterwards for the debut of another generational superstar in Manu, son of Wild Samoan Afa.

Unsanctioned Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho - Unlike most "grudge" matches I've seen, this one actually played out the fact that both men hated each other instead of two guys wrestling like they would a normal match. The match started out as a brawl with HBK using his boot in the opening moments & HBK heavily put over that he was out to hurt Jericho various times like stopping in the middle of "Sweet Chin Music" just to hurt him more. Lance Cade eventually made an appearence & helped work over HBK's injured elbow before HBK recoved and beat Jericho with his belt & fist until the match was stopped because Y2J couldn't continue. This match wasn't as "high impact" as the unsanctioned match between HBK & HHH 6 years ago but it was still intense to watch & was better than their last match at the "Bash" but didn't top the Judgment Day match. Various spots to look out for will be HBK's creative way of escaping the Walls Of Jericho, HBK's elbow on both Cade & Jericho through the announce table, and the aftermatch involving the referee.

Scramble Match: WWE Champion Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. M.V.P. vs. The Brian Kendrick vs. Shelton Benjamin - The match started off with Jeff Hardy & Shelton Benjamin having a suprizing grounded match since both men are known to be high risk takers, Kendrick follows with Jeff winning the belt from him before Kendrick won the title & held it longer than anyone else in the match, and M.V.P. dominated early when he arrived in the match as well. The match really picks up when Triple H enters as he regains the championship before Hardy gains it back with a bunch of high flyin' spots & mayhem all over the ring before Triple H regains the championship with one second left. This was the best scramble match of the event.

Right around here was the backstage interview with C.M. Punk that led to a confrontation with Randy Orton that resulted in a fight with Dibiase, Rhodes, Manu, Orton, Punk, and Kofi Kingston resulting in Punk being taken out of his World Title match.

Divas Champion Michelle McCool vs. Maryse - I'll give credit here as these women did try to make this match more interesting than the McCool/Natalia match at the "Bash" by working a faster pace & even taking the match on the outside for a bit. Maryse was the standout performer here as they kept working over McCool's knee with various submission holds throughout the match before McCool eventually got the win but this was a barely average match.

Throughout the night, the official "PPV text messaging" poll was weather the Big Show should have been included in the WWE Title scramble match. After the results revealed that he should have, Big Show came out to voice his opinion before Vickie Guerrero appeared to confront Big Show...which set her up for the Undertaker appearing to "take Vickie's soul" while Big Show kept Vickie from running away. However, Big Show ended up knocking down Taker with a huge punch before continuning to beat him down & dominate for a few minutes before Vickie Guerrero slapped & spit in Taker's face. This was the type of "confrontation" I felt like we should have had at SummerSlam with Jericho/HBK & was a good "teaser" segment.

Scramble Match: Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. J.B.L. vs. Chris Jericho for the World Championship - Unfortunally, despite Jericho replacing Punk along with the suprize ending, this was the wrong scramble match to end on because everyone involved couldn't top the SmackDown one or match the ECW one. This was really just an average match with everyone getting their typical spots in throughout the match with the only noteworthy performance being Batista's as he stared with J.B.L. & once again showcasing effort into adding to his wrestling style by working on J.B.L.'s knee & even using the figure four. The ending however saw Batista pinning Kane to become the "temporary" champion before he turned his back to counter an attack from Mysterio while Jericho sneaked in a pin over Kane after Batista did all the work & win the title after the time expired. Eventhough some people would say it's stupid for Jericho to win the title right after losing a match because he was knocked out, if you actually watch how the ending happened...it all makes sense.

DVD extras include Jericho addressing the crowd the next night on RAW & a backstage interview with Vickie Guerrero & Big Show. Overall, this event resembled other PPV's like Royal Rumble, No Way Out, Night Of Champions, and SummerSlam in that there are a couple of standout matches while the rest of the card is just an average/watchable so in the end, I would get as a rental & judge for yourself."

UNSANCTIONED or SCRAMBLED? A really good card

Scotty 2 Hotty 24 | Back Woods, GEORGIA | 11/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the poorly bad card at last year's Unforgiven, WWE wanted to try something different and new this year. We have seen Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, Money in the Bank, Royal Rumble, TLC, Steel Cage, Last Man Standing, First Blood, Parking Lot Brawl,and much more. We've seen nearly every single match type this year already leading into the Unforgiven event. So this time around we saw the Championship Scramble match. To those who don't know the rules, here they are...

- 20 Minute Time Limit Match
- 2 Men start and every 5 minutes at random a new superstar enters the match
- Whoever scores a pin fall or submission during the 20 minute time limit becomes the current World Champion
- At the end of the 20 minutes, whoever is the current World Champion becomes the offcial World Champion

1. Ecw World Championship Scramble Match
Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. Miz vs. Mark Henry vs. Chavo Guerrero
This was an excellent way to start things off. And as others stated this was the best scramble match out of the 3. Hardy and Guerrero had very good showings. Even the Miz impressed me in this match. He would also bleed towards the end of the match. All four guys did a good job selling the big power moves by Henry. The falls came at perfect times. Great match. Truly a crowning moment for Matt Hardy. 4.5/5

2. World Tag Team Championship
Cryme Tyme vs. Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase
This was a very good tag team match. Cryme Tyme looked pretty good in this one and of course so did the tag champs of Dibiase and Rhodes. A very good wrestling tag bout. After the match, Manu makes his debut. A pretty good tag team match up. 3.5/5

3. Non-Sanctioned Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
This was defiantely the most personal and emotional match of the night. HBK came for revenge and thats what he got. HBK just whelled on Jericho each moment he got. Cade would interfere. But soon gets his after being put through the announce table along with Jericho. The ref stopped the match once Shawn wouldn't stop beating on Jericho with his belt. Brutal match, especially for Jericho. 4.5/5

4. WWE Championship Scramble Match
Triple H vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP
This was another very good scramble match. Shelton and Hardy kept this match interesting in my view. So did Kendrick as well. Once HHH made his enterance, he really picked things up. It went a little bit slow at some points. But this defiantely lived up to my expectations. Another great match up. 4.25/5

This is the point in the card where Eve interviews CM Punk on his match and then gets taken out by Randy Orton along with Dibiase, Rhodes, and Manu. A good segment to check out.

5. Divas Championship
Michelle McCool vs. Maryse
I thought when the Divas title was released, it was a joke but these two showed me something in this match. This was actually one of the bests women's matches of the year. I really enjoyed watching this match. Maryse used a few good submissions on Michelle. A pretty good women's title match. 3/5

At this point in the show is where the Big Show comes out and taunts the crowd about not being in a Championship Scramble match. Soon Vickie Guerrero comes out. Then out of no where a casket pops up and the Undertaker reveals himself. As thinking Big Show is on Taker's side, he pops Taker with one of his big right fist blows. Taker and Big Show brawled for a good while until Vickie would slap Taker and spit in his face. A nice little brawl between these two monsters and worth a watch.

6. World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match
Chris Jericho vs. Batista vs. Kane vs. Rey Mysterio vs. JBL
This scramble match really disappointed me. It wasn't bad but it just didn't live up to the hype as the first two did. Not a whole bunch of falls surrendered in this match either. Kane and Batista had a very good showing. Of course the shocker in this match is Jericho being the replacement man after Punk got taken out. A good scramble match but in my eyes could have been better. A lot better. 4/5

Unforgiven is one I recommend taking a look at. Every match on the card is very good."

WWE Unforgiven 2008

J-Man | 08/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was a very good unforgiven, and this card was much better than the unforgiven 2007 card. The scramble matches were good, and they were something different. Thanks for reading!

ECW Championship Scramble Match
Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. The Miz vs. Chavo Guerrero
This was a very solid opener and my 2nd favorite scramble match of the night. The match started out with hardy and the miz. All 5 men gave an impressive showing. Mark Henry using his dominant power moves, chavo getting in some pretty nice frog splashes, finlay using his ground and pound skills, and even miz did a little bit of top rope action. In the end matt hardy walked away with the ecw championship, which was his first ever major world title. Match Rating:4.5/5

World Tag Team Championship
Pricless vs. Cryme Tyme
This was an average tag match, with nothing that special. Cryme tyme and pricless (now legacy) looked o.k. against each other, but thats it. Manu makes his debut in this match. Match Rating:3/5

Unsanctioned Match
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
This isn't your typical michaels/jericho match. This had alot of brawling and ground and pound moves. This matchup was very physical and brutal. In the opening moments shawn hit Y2J right in the head with his boot. Cade got involved in this match, which led to jericho and cade getting elbow droped through the announce table by michaels. The ending was very intense with michaels hitting jericho with a lether belt so many times, that Y2J couldn't continue. Very emotional bout and in the end shawn michaels got his revenge. Match Rating:5/5

WWE Championship Scramble Match
Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. The Brian Kendrick
This was my favortie scramble match of the night here. The match started out with hardy and benjamin and instead of seeing a whole lot of highflying moves from these two, they gave you physical ground and pound moves, which gave this match a twist. Later in the match kendrick intersepted mvp's running boot into a huge heel kick. HHH came out last with him and hardy getting pin after pin. In the end triple h got the pedigree on mvp with only a few seconds left to retain the wwe championship. Very good championship scramble and nice sportsmanship by both hhh and hardy after the match. Match Rating:4.75/5

Divas Championship
Michelle McCool vs. Maryse
This was a very good womens match here. Nice submissions pulled out in this bout. This was easily there best match agianst each other, and one of the best womens matches of 2008. Match Rating:3.25/5

World Heavyweight Championship Scramble Match
Batista vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kane vs. JBL vs. Chris Jericho
This was a good scramble match, but not worthy to be the main event because it didn't live up to the other scramble matches. Nice showings in this match by batista and kane though. When mysterio entered, the match picked up some pace and rey used his usual great highflying moves. A big suprise when jericho replaced punk for the final entry, because of the punishment he took earlier. As soon as Y2J stepped in the ring he got speared by batista. A shocking ending where batista got a spinebuster on kane and jericho slipped in and got the pin with only a few seconds left. Batista just watched in disbelief as the clock hit 0 and Y2J became world champion. Not a great scramble, but good and the shocking ending added to it. Match Rating:4/5

Good unforiven with three good championship scramble matches and a very physical unsanctioned match. I highly recommend this unforgiven.

NOTE:Unforgiven's name changed to breaking point, which is next month. I know proboly most of you know that, but i just put it on here just in case."

UNFORGIVEN Is Unforgettable

R.A. McKenzie | New York | 10/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll make this simple: I think UNFORGIVEN 2008 is the WWE's best PPV presentation so far this year. Every match delivered, and pointing out its imperfections would just be stupid nitpicks. I'm not gonna call this a flawless PPV, but the rest was so great that I just don't care about what's wrong with it.

I don't give out 5-star ratings often, so brace yourselves:

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1) Championship Scramble - ECW Championship
Matt Hardy v. The Miz v. Chavo Guerrero
v. Mark Henry (champion) v. Finlay
---Easily the biggest surprise to me, as this was my favorite match of the PPV. This whole Scramble was just non-stop excitement. Matt & Miz started off, and delivered a back-and-forth skirmish for the entire five minutes they had. Chavo's entrance only added more to the mix. Instead of being a one-on-one affair where a wrestler took an extended break, all three men engaged in a genuine Triple Threat Match. In other words, all of them kept going at it. Mark Henry actually entered 4th, and changed the dynamic of the whole match. Things mostly proceeded as a 3-on-1 attempt to keep the giant down; to Henry's credit, he never bored me for a single second. His offense was somewhat repetitve, but Miz & Chavo & Hardy still came up with creative ways to stay in the fight. And having Finlay close the opener did nothing but help, because he's as tough and unorthodox as they come. To summarize, all five contenders -- even Mark Henry -- gave what I would call a Match-of-the-Year candidate. The whole match was an action-packed, fast-paced frenzy. A truly exciting way to kick things off, and we're just getting started!
"8.5 / 10"

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2) World Tag Team Championships
Cryme Tyme v. Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase (champions)
---I haven't read many positive reviews of this match, and I can't understand why. All four men kept coming up with so many unique double-team maneuvers & counters, I don't have time to list them all. Cryme Tyme aren't my favorite pair of wrestlers, but the crowd loves them, and tonight I really enjoyed their unusual style. Given enough time, they'll be a team to look out for. But I'm already looking out for the impressive team of Rhodes & Dibiase. Even when compared to Randy Orton, these two champions have wrestling in their blood, and it showed in this PPV contest. The match did slow down a bit about halfway through, but it was slow in a good way. Manu's post-match introduction was a bit confusing, but otherwise, this was 13 minutes I'd gladly revisit. Jerry Lawler at one point was so quiet that he later asked, "You ever just sit back and just 'watch' a match?" If that's not a compliment, I don't know what is.
"8.5 / 10"

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3) Unsanctioned Match
Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels
---You better sit back, because I'm gonna try to summarize 40 minutes of video package, entrances, action, & post-match drama. First off, the history video was sharp and well put together. That might not seem like a big deal, but it's crucial to why this match was as good as it was. To be honest, I got a little worried once the Street Fight began. My fondest memories of Jericho/HBK matches are the technical displays, but when they engage in violent encounters like this, it can be a little jarring if you're not ready for it. But with patience, you'll realize that this rivalry is a jack-of-all-trades. For this encounter, don't expect pinfall reversals and clever submission holds; this was a ground 'n pound fistfight, with some toys thrown in. I really appreciated how little Jericho & Michaels actually used the weapons for most of the match. Rather than being a spotfest, the action was very even-handed and sensible (if you can call a Street Fight that). Perhaps needless to say, this match was violent, grueling, and shocking. The real shock factor, however, was the drama. UNFORGIVEN is the perfect PPV name to hold this grudge match, because it holds many meanings to this particular feud. On a very rare occasion, the WWE got us inside the heads of its characters. Pro wrestling is told through the body, but HBK & Y2J know how to use their facial expressions. Seeing Michaels' sadness & desperation to control the vengeful beast inside of him was breathtaking. A lot of us hardcore fans & critics like to use the word "psychology" in our reviews; trust me, this redefines how important it is. If you think I'm being corny, then you haven't watched this match. One of the most powerful experiences I've ever had watching a pro wrestling match.
"8.5 / 10"

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4) Championship Scramble - WWE Championship
Jeff Hardy v. Shelton Benjamin (United States champion) v.
The Brian Kendrick v. MVP v. Triple H (WWE champion)
---The SMACKDOWN crew had three tough matches to follow, but to my delight, they held their own. Jeff & Shelton's first five minutes were a back-and-forth affair, which should please any wrestling fan. The real treat of this Scramble, however, was the impressive performance by Brian Kendrick. It's a shame he took an unbelievable amount of punishment towards the end of the 20 minutes, because he looked more like championship material than anybody else in this match. Where SMACKDOWN's main event lost a bit of steam, I think, is when MVP & HHH entered the contest. Unfortunately, MVP didn't get to show much of his talent. And HHH's five minutes quickly shifted the focus to just Jeff & him. I love "The Game's" title reign, but on this night, he practically stole everyone's thunder when he showed up. However, SMACKDOWN still did an impressive job earning the PPV airtime. Ten great minutes, Five solid minutes, and Five decent minutes......very good combo, if you ask me.
"7.5 / 10"

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***At this point, UNFORGIVEN 2008 might turn off some people. World Heavyweight champion CM Punk was being interviewed backstage, only to be confronted by Randy Orton, and ambushed by "Priceless" (the Rhodes/Dibiase/Manu faction). I think if I paid $40 on PPV, I'd be very disappointed. But on DVD, this segment worked pretty well, mainly because it was quick & effective.***

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5) Divas Championship
Maryse v. Michelle McCool (champion)
---Guess what? I actually liked this match, too. Granted, it was only 6 minutes, got some stupid "BORING" heckles, and was probably just a way to cool the down the audience. However, this particular match made me respect these two women. From bell to bell, Maryse & Michelle used a lot of interesting takedowns, counters, & holds to compete for SMACKDOWN's Women's title. I don't care for Maryse much, but she gave an overall crisp performance. And I think McCool has been a Diva to keep an eye on for a couple months now, and I hope I'm right about her being the next Trish Stratus. In any case, this isn't the main reason to buy the DVD, but I still liked it overall.
"6.5 / 10"

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***After the Divas Championship Match, RAW GM Mike Adamle assured the audience that while CM Punk might not be in the main event, the Championship Scramble would still continue with five competitors.***

***Next, Big Show entered the ring, and got plenty of laughs & smiles after he made a case for being Punk's replacement, and ripped on Vickie Guerrero's GM performance. Then, Vickie came out and spoke some very harsh words to Show for interrupting the PPV.

Then, Undertaker -- in a nice throwback to his old Dead Man threats from the mid-90s -- basically said he was coming for Vickie at this very moment. After Taker entered the ring, Big Show suddenly started clobbering him all over ringside, eventually knocking him out.

So what did I think of this segment? It was a great idea, but went on so long that Big Show's twist became predictable. If the scenario had been trimmed by about 5 minutes, it would've been great. As such, it worked overall, but not as well as it could've.***

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6) Championship Scramble - World Heavyweight Championship
Batista v. JBL v. Kane v.
Rey Mysterio v. Chris Jericho
---Before I get to Jericho's surprising victory, there some kudos to give the other four competitors. For starters, JBL & Batista began the Scramble with a slugfest that made me forgive their terrible matches from 2005. When Kane entered third, most of the main event was a one-on-one fight, but it was still entertaining. Once Mysterio made his way to the ring, all four men started using more creative offense. Mysterio used Batista for some high-risk assistance, and JBL came up with an impressive spot where he Fallaway Slammed Mysterio onto an opponent. And lastly, Jericho's presence in the main event was a strange bit of comedy. He literally did nothing but take a spear, and get the winning pinfall. I believe that most fans will regard RAW's Championship Scramble as the worst; while it's my least favorite too, it's still a good main event. It's more of a slower-paced slugfest with Mysterio thrown in to shake things up, and with Jericho added for shock value. Reading that description doesn't do a good job of telling you how well the ingredients mix. RAW's presentation was a different kind of story, but was just as worthy of a PPV as the others.
"7.0 / 10"

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OVERALL
---With the exception of a short Divas Match and a less-than-perfect betrayal segment, UNFORGIVEN 2008 was an outstanding PPV. All three Championship Scrambles will hold up as time passes. The rules & stipulations are clearly explained by the commentators -- who did a great job of keeping things fresh, by the way -- and the quality of the matches is very solid. The Jericho/HBK Match is going to entertain many fans, and for many different reasons. And even if you don't like the twist where Punk was replaced by Jericho, please remember that the first two hours are so good you'll forgive it (forgive the pun...twice).

2008 has been a great year for the WWE, and UNFORGIVEN is undoubtedly the most fun I've had so far. Buy It!"