Review of WWE: Unforgiven 2005

Introduction

Held on 18th September 2005 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, WWE Unforgiven was a RAW brand pay-per-view that offered up some interesting matches. Would upcoming star Chris Masters be able to defeat former WWE Champion Shawn Michaels? Would Kurt Angle`s vendetta with John Cena be settled in the main event? And, after being thwarted in their previous match, would Matt Hardy gain a measure of personal and professional revenge on former best friend Edge?

Video

Video is presented in standard 4:3 full-screen PAL and is very good for a DVD of this genre. This is everything that you would expect from a digital television broadcast.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and is identical to the original televised broadcast. Commentary is supplied somewhat inanely by Jim Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler and The Coach.

Also present are Spanish, Italian and German audio tracks.

Features

There are only a two extras featured on this disc, although that is unsurprising given that the main presentation lasts over 2 ¾ hours. Firstly, WWE Diva Maria interviews veteran rock band ZZ Top backstage - for all of five seconds. Also included is the RAW match from September 19th where John Cena, The Big Show, Matt Hardy and Shawn Michaels tangled with Kurt Angle, Edge, Chris Masters and Gene Snitsky. The match is not much to write home about, but is energetic enough to keep the viewer entertained.

Conclusion

The 18th September was a good night for the WWE, which is saying something since, for various reasons, the card was missing some of the promotion`s best performers in Triple-H, Chris Benoit, and Rey Mysterio.

The opening contest between Intercontinental champion Carlito and Ric Flair was limited in content, but was kept alive by a crowd who were very into the antics of "The Nature Boy". Flair`s post-match shenanigans are either hilariously over-the-top, or a disgrace to his legacy. I found the skits - which continued to air throughout the show - to be a highlight of the night.

Things took a major downturn in matches two and three, when Trish Stratus and Ashley Massaro teamed to face Victoria and Torrie Wilson, and The Big Show fought Gene Snitsky. Stratus and Victoria are capable wrestlers - aided by training with Northern Ireland`s Dave "Fit" Finlay - but Massaro and Wilson are beyond bad and any of the action involving them was abominable. Show vs Snitsky was a punch/kick snoozefest that had an inevitable conclusion. We can only be glad that this was not turned into a more substantial feud.

As bad as these matches were however, I would have watched each of them a hundred times back-to-back just to be able to forget about Chavo Guerrero Jr.`s latest gimmick, calling himself Kerwin White, with the obviously-racist catchphrase "If it`s not white, it`s not right". What can I say, other than these sort of things make me embarrassed to call myself a pro wrestling fan? The irony is that as bad as the gimmick is, Guerrero is a very talented wrestler, and matched up here with Shelton Benjamin, he was in his element. This was the best wrestling match on the card, with impressive athleticism from both men.

The cage match between Edge and Matt Hardy is part of a feud that is derived from a very real-life situation. Hardy had been dating WWE Diva Lita for six years, before finding out that she was having an affair with his friend Edge (Adam Copeland). Hardy was dealt a double-blow with the news that he was being released from WWE because the company`s higher-ups felt that the personal situation would make it impossible for him to work in the same arena with Edge, a man who they foresaw as a future WWE champion. Several months later, after much fan pressure, Hardy was brought back to WWE for this too-close-to-reality feud with the very same man, who quite literally took his girlfriend and cost him his dream job.

The match, the second in their pay-per-view series, was an excellent affair, with the two putting everything into the bout, and the crowd showing their appreciation for it. For sheer determination, this was match of the night.

After a tag team title match between champions Rosey and The Hurricane against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch - which was notable for the horrendous DDT inflicted on The Hurricane - Shawn Michaels faced "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters. This was a much better bout than I had anticipated from the inexperienced Masters, and Michaels` pacing of the match was characteristically superb.

The main event featuring World champion John Cena against Kurt Angle is played out to a raucous crowd, which actually worked to the match`s disadvantage in the end, as the bout concluded with a deeply unsatisfactory finish.

Whilst this was a good example of how not to finish a pay-per-view event, Unforgiven 2005 was a good show which was made to feel better than it was by a crowd who were very much into the action. As usual, this WWE DVD is presented superbly, and I would recommend this to any WWE fan.