Welcome to our live coverage of WWE’s Cyber Sunday PPV from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, AZ.

As always, we’re looking for your feedback on tonight’s show of our coverage at phil@ifight365.com or via our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/ifight365 and if you’ve not already read it, we’ve got a preview of tonight’s show up on the front page of the site, along with our latest weekly Roundtable feature from myself and some of the iFight365 team.

We’ll be updating this page over the next few hours from 7.45pm EST/11.45pm UK time (an earlier start than usual due to the “preview match” being streamed on WWE.com), so be sure to fresh your browser regularly for all the latest from tonight’s show!

In a glorified dark match airing via WWE.com, Shelton Benjamin defends the U.S title to kick things off.  R-Truth, MVP or Festus. Who will the WWE UNIVERSE vote for? Todd Grisham is at the ‘Cyber Sunday Control Centre’ to help us out while Jim Ross and Tazz are to call the match. Benjamin will face…R-Truth.

Killings took 59% of the vote. He comes out doing his rapping, which gets a decent reaction. Good start to the match with the crowd really reacting big to Killings’ moves. Benjamin fights back but R-Truth is straight back into the match and hits a dropkick from the top. After a near fall, Benjamin hits the PayDirt out of nowhere and gets the win. Winner and still U.S Champion – Shelton Benjamin.

Decent, short match.

The PPV gets underway with a freakin’ terrible opening video. Usually I love WWE’s video packages but this was awful. Basically a few minutes of short clips from most of the roster, each saying they didn’t care if people voted tonight. Then, they find out that fans votes will determine their futures, and everybody is saying vote, vote, vote. Awful!

Rey Mysterio vs. Kane opens the show. Weird choice. I figured the ECW title match would open the show. No Holds Barred wins the vote with 39% of votes over Falls Count Anywhere with 35% and 2/3 falls with 26%. No Holds Barred? Really? This WWE Universe isn’t particularly smart.

Mysterio hits a dive over the top rope early and they immediately bring weapons into play with a road sign being used. This crowd is silent, by the way. They obviously didn’t like the NHB stip. Kane strangles Rey with a camera cable then proceeds to use his size advantage as he dominates. After several minutes, Mysterio starts to mount a comeback. He hits Kane with a kick to the which sets him up for the 619 but Rey runs into a clothesline.

Kane brings a chair into the ring but Kane dropkicks it into his face. At least that looked like the spot, but it looked real bad. Rey jumps ass first onto Kane, driving the chair into Kane. Rey then goes up top but Kane hits him with a right hand in midair. Crowd are livening up as Kane tosses the ring steps into the ring. He sets them up in the corner but Mysterio sends him face first into them with a drop toe hold. Mysterio then uses the chair on Kane, hitting him several times and again setting up the 619. This time he runs into a chokeslam but Rey counters into a hurricanrana and then hits the 619. He follows it up with a springboard splash and gets the win. Winner: Rey Mysterio.

Not a great opener. The final couple of minutes were decent but otherwise pretty dull.

We’re treated to a video package with some of the Divas showing us what they’ll be wearing tonight. Great.

Backstage, Chris Jericho tells DiBiase, Rhodes and Manu they should take out Batista tonight to earn respect. Rhodes says they won’t do his dirty work for him. DiBiase says Jericho’s match should be “priceless.”

Teddy Long comes out to introduce Matt Hardy. Hardy defends his ECW title against Evan Bourne, who took 69 % of the vote! Finlay takes 25% and Mark Henry just 6%.

Crowd are pro-Hardy. Bourne’s going to have to impress here as the crowd weren’t really into him when the announcement on the vote was made. Real good opening to the match with a ton of nice wrestling moves and some near falls. I really hope they push Bourne sensibly and give him plenty of time to connect with fans as he really could be a star in this company. He hits a standing moonsault on Hardy for a two count.

Bourne goes to the top rope but Hardy rolls out of the ring. Bourne then looks to hit a springboard to the outside but Hardy pushes him off the ropes to the apron. Nice spot. Hardy takes control of the match. For some reason they decide to slow things down with an abdominal stretch but soon pick up the pace again. Hardy looks to hit a Razor’s Edge but Bourne counters it into a hurricanrana. Hardy hits Side Effect for a two count and then hits a second one for another near fall.

Hardy comes off the second rope but Bourne hits him with a spinning heel kick before making his comeback. He misses a kick to the head which allows Hardy to roll him up for a two count but Bourne gets back in control. He goes up top for the SSP but Hardy follows him to the top rope. Bourne punches him back down and hits the SSP, only for Hardy to move out of the way. Hardy looks for the Twist of Fate but Bourne connects with a backslide for another near fall. Hardy hits the Twist of Fate and then gets the pin. Winner and still ECW champion: Matt Hardy.

Real good match. Grisham and Matt Striker really put Bourne over huge on commentary as well. Worth noting perhaps that Striker referred to both guys as entertainers and superstars here. Perhaps Vince has done an about turn on referring to all wrestlers solely as entertainers.

Another video package for some more Divas ahead of the Halloween contest tonight. Gah.

Refresh this page throughout the night for the very latest from tonight’s PPV!

Its tag team time with the votes going to  Cryme Tyme vs. The Miz & John Morrison with 38% of the vote. Punk/Kingston vs. Priceless took 35% and Mickie/Noble vs. Layla/Regal took 27%.

Very little crowd heat for the match, bar a few failed ‘Money, Money’ chants. Miz and Morrison worked over Shad for much of the match, until he makes the tag. JTG clears house until being cheapshotted by Miz. Morrison then works over JTG as the crowd start to show some signs of life.  JTG makes the tag to Shad who hits Morrison with clotheslines and big boots. Morrison then rolls him up but JTG makes the save. With the referee distracted, Shad is doubleteamed and Morrison hits the Midnight Ride and makes the cover. Winners: The Miz & John Morrison.

A dull, dull match.

We cut to some more Divas backstage. Has anybody actually bought the show tonight to see them?

Backstage again as Chris Jericho is asking somebody to help him out tonight. The camera pans up and out to reveal Great Khali. He rants for 20 seconds or so. Ranjin says The Great Khali says: “No!”

A video promoting John Cena’s return plays. His return is the Survivor Series on November 23. We’ll cover that live right here at iFight365.com.

InterContinental Title match: Santino Morella defends his IC belt against Rodney the Piper, The Honkey Donkey man or GoldenDust. Morella cuts a promo saying that in one year and one week, he’ll be the greatest IC champion of all-time. He cuts a promo running down Phoenix, including ‘Shazzam’ O’Neal. The camera cuts to Shaquille O’Neal at ringside. That was pretty funny. Todd Grisham reveals Santino’s opponent, who is….The Honky Tonk Man. This was real close. Honky had 35% of the vote, Piper had 34% and Goldust 31%.

Honky comes out and cuts a promo. He says Santino could be IC champ for 10 years and not be as good as he is. Honky’s music plays again and he starts to shake, rattle and roll to NO reaction. Santino starts doing some freaky robotic dancing which gets a pop and Santino then cheap shots him to get the match started.

The match lasted about a minute before Beth tripped Honky up. The ref called for the DQ and the crowd booed. Santino shouted at Beth for costing him the match as Honky’s music played. They went to leave but Goldust’s music played. He came out and actually got a pop. Man he needs to drop some weight if he’s hanging around as that outfit has got a little too tight. Roddy Piper’s music then plays. Piper’s gets a good reaction as he heads to the ring. Santino runs back into the ring and is beaten up by all three.

The match was pointless and the segment was pretty lame as well to go out on a PPV.

The 800th edition of Raw which is a week away was plugged, before we got ANOTHER freakin’ Divas video package.

The Undertaker vs. Big Show is up next. We get a video package showing the build up to tonight’s match before Todd Grisham introduces Vickie Guerrero, who gets more heel heat than every other heel thus far tonight has combined. The vote is revealed, with a Last Man Standing match winning with 49% of the vote. Hilariously, Vickie announces it as an I Quit match, seemingly unaware the result had appeared on the screen. I Quit took 42% of the vote with Knockout Match taking the remaining 9%.

They brawl from the opening bell, heading to the outside. Undertaker nails Show with a chairshot to the head. They return to the ring where Show hits a big clothesline. They go back to the outside where Undertaker puts a chair up against Show’s throat and rams him into a ring post. He follows it up with a legdrop on the apron. Unless its just how the Arena is mic’ed up, this crowd are dead.

Taker pummels Show with right hands but Show counters with a clothesline. They go back and forth with punches and such like. Taker attempts a chokeslam but Show attempts one of his own. Taker counters and hits a DDT that dumps Show on his head. Show gets back to his feet before the 10 count and headbutts Taker before removing a turnbuckle pad. Taker counters and sends Show into the exposed buckle, following it up with a clothesline.

Taker charges at Show in the corner, but Show moves and Taker gets crotched on the same buckle before falling to the outside. Matt Striker bails as they brawl near the ECW announce table. Taker is hit with a TV monitor before Show kicks him over the guardrail and into the crowd. For some reason, Show picks up a headset and talks into it, despite it being switched off. Taker punches a chair into Show but Show then chokeslams him off the guardrail and through the announce table.

Taker gets back to his feet before the ten count is made, with the help of the most uneven count to ten you’ll ever find. Charles Robinson may as well have shouted “nine and a quarter, nine and a half.” They get back into the ring where they again trade blows before Taker hits a DDT. He then goes ‘Old School’ but Show catches him coming off the top rope and hits a chokeslam. Taker slowly gets back to his feet, where Show decks him with a right hand. Taker beats the ten count again as Show brings another chair into play. He swings and nails Taker across the head. Show reaches down to pick Taker up, but Taker catches him and locks in “that MMA move” ( © Michael Cole). Show taps, but obviously this is a Last Man Standing match. Charles Robinson makes the ten count and Taker gets the win. Winner: The Undertaker.

Second half of the match was really good, largely due to Undertaker. The crowd were into it as well and went nuts for the gogoplata hold at the end.

A video package for WrestleMania XXV aired. Perhaps this is me nitpicking, but its being billed as WrestleMania’s 25th anniversary. Surely WrestleMania 25 is the 24th anniversary of WrestleMania??

Backstage, Chris Jericho urged Mike Adamle to help him out as he continued to try and get out of his match with Batista tonight. Adamle refused to change the match, which led to Chris Jericho makes a phone-call. Either that, or he’s registering a ton of votes for Randy Orton to be guest referee.

Tazz is in the ring to reveal the winner of the Diva Halloween contest. All the Divas come out in their various costumes. The WWE UNIVERSE reveals the winner is…MICKIE JAMES. They didn’t give out the percentages. All the Divas end up brawling in the ring until the heels are dumped out of the ring.

We get a video package ahead of our next match.

WWE Title match: Triple H defends against Jeff Hardy or Vladimir Kozlov or both in a triple threat match. Triple H comes out first to a big pop. After his entrance, Todd Grisham reveals the result of the vote. Triple H will face…JEFF HARDY. Hardy takes 57% of the vote, with the triple threat getting 38% of the vote and Kozlov just 5%.

They started off at a slow pace but with some good mat wrestling. The pace picked up with both looking to hit their finishers only for the other to escape. Some good exchanges between the two with the crowd split on who to cheer for. Hardy probably the more popular actually.

Hunter locked on the crossface before Hardy eventually escaped. They went to the outside where Hardy threw Trips into the ring steps before charging at him and leaping off the ring steps to connect with Hunter against the guard rail. They returned to the ring where Hardy connected with Whisper in the Wind not once but twice. He attempted the Twist of Fate but Hunter rammed him into the turnbuckle. Hunter looked to hit the Pedigree but Hardy countered and got a two count.

Hunter tried to slow things down with a sleeper but Hardy countered and hit a Twist of Fate for another near fall. He then went to the top rope and nailed Hunter with a Swanton Bomb. Instead of making the cover, he went to the top again, but this time Hunter put his knees up as Hardy came down with another Swanton.

Both men got back to their feet. Hunter attempted another Pedigree but it was again countered and Hardy sent Hunter to the outside. Jeff dived over the top rope and landed on Hunter, although he didn’t connect with much of it. They headed back into the ring where Hunter caught Hardy on the top rope and dragged him off into a Pedigree. He nailed it, made the cover and got the win. Winner and still WWE Champion: Triple H.

A really good match. With Hardy getting in so much offensively it kind of gave the ending away, but it was the best match so far tonight.

Another package for John Cena’s return at Survivor Series aired.

Main event is up next. Chris Jericho vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Title. They play a lengthy video package prior to us finding out whether Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels or Randy Orton will be special guest referee. After both Jericho and Batista make their way to the ring, we get the results of the vote, which reveal that the special referee will be…STEVE AUSTIN. He picked up 74% of the vote. Shawn Michaels had 22% and Orton just 4%.

Austin comes out to a huge pop and we’re ready to go.

Batista dominates early, causing Jericho to bail the outside. He starts walking up the aisle heading to the back. Austin grabs a mic and says that if Jericho walks or gets DQ’d, he drops the belt to Batista. Whatever. Jericho heads back to the ring and we get underway again with Batista taking it to Jericho once again.

Jericho fights back and sends Batista to the outside. He follows it up with a baseball slide before rolling Dave back into the ring and working over his left knee. Batista tries to mount a comeback but Jericho sends him face first into the middle turnbuckle and regains control, again working over Batista’s leg.

Batista fights back again and hits Jericho with a powerslam, but he’s selling his leg. He attempts a powerbomb but Jericho blocks it and reverses into the Walls of Jericho. Batista eventually grabs the ropes. Austin calls for Jericho to break the hold and when he doesn’t, pulls him off by the hair. Jericho comes off the ropes but walks into a side slam from Batista. Batista then goes for the Batista Bom but Jericho blocks it. he climbs to the top rope but is hit with a clothesline on the way down.

Batista sets up for a spear but Jericho sees it coming and Batista hits the ring post. They both go to the top rope. Jericho is tossed back into the ring as Batista comes off the top rope with a flying shoulder tackle for a two count.

Batista charges at Jericho looking for a shoulder block, only for Jericho to move out of the way, causing Batista to crash into Austin and send him to the outside. Jericho hits the codebreaker on Batista and tries to make the cover. Shawn Michaels hits the ring and makes the world’s slowest ever count. Michaels teases a superkick but Jericho turns around and is hit with a spear. Michaels makes the cover but JBL interferes and takes out Batista.

Boos all round as Austin gets back to his feet with the match back in progress. Randy Orton then hits the ring and takes out Austin as Jericho brings the title belt into the ring and nails Batista with it. Orton makes the cover but Batista kicks out on two. Austin then hits Orton with a stunner before Batista hits Jericho with a spinebuster and then a Batista Bomb. He makes the cover, Austin makes the count, and its over! Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion: Batista.

Wow, quite a surprise. The match went over well live apart for the JBL run-in which was booed like crazy. Good main event.

Batista and Austin drank beer in the ring to close the show.

Thanks for joining us for our Cyber Sunday coverage tonight. We’ll have reaction and fallout on the site throughout Monday as well as a look ahead to Raw and much more! 

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com