Review of WWE: Cyber Sunday 2007

Introduction

The WWE`s annual "interactive" pay-per-view concept hasn`t always been one that has been overwhelmingly successful, but there`s no question that it is at least something different from the norm.

For Cyber Sunday 2007, fans had the choice of which wrestler would get ECW and WWE Title shots, and when it came to the World Heavyweight Title match between Batista and The Undertaker, there was a choice of whom should referee the bout. Away from the title situations, fans also had the opportunity to choose what type of match Triple-H and Umaga, and Rey Mysterio and Finlay, would wrestle.

Cyber Sunday was held on 28th October 2007, from the Verizon Centre, in Washington, D.C.

Video

Video is presented in 4:3 fullscreen PAL, and is very good for a DVD of this genre. Production values are typically high, and the transfer to DVD is also very good, with only mild compression artefacts notable, on which is a disc crammed with three hours of footage.

Audio

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, and is excellent for a DVD of this genre. It is interesting that we are now back to 5.1 after several 2.0 releases.

The mix itself is very nice indeed, with the front speakers handling all the regular event sounds (music, in-ring action, commentary, crowd noise), and the surrounds providing some extra fullness to the music, crowd noise, and in-ring action.

International viewers will have to settle for 2.0, however, but they maintain their regular standard in German, Italian, Spanish, and French. There are also subtitles in Portuguese, Dutch, and Greek.

Features

Two short extras are available here, the first being a Diva Hallowe`en Costume Battle Royal, which is so bad that it doesn`t even have any comedy value.

Secondly, there is a backstage interview with JBL, recorded after the voting results have been announced for the refereeing duties in the World Heavyweight Title match. Typically, JBL shows fantastic microphone skills, but the segment as a whole doesn`t mean a great deal.

Conclusion

Todd Grisham was the man with the answers at Cyber Sunday, prefacing every match-up here with the results of the fans` voting. The first bout here was a re-match from No Mercy, as Rey Mysterio faced Finlay in what would be either a No Disqualification match, a Stretcher match, or a Shillelagh on a Pole match. This was a bout of similar quality to their previous pay-per-view effort, which really, was somewhat of a disappointment considering the tremendous bouts that these two have previously had on free television.

The fans` vote would then see one of either John Morrison, The Miz, or Big Daddy V contest the ECW Title with CM Punk, in a match that, in the end, should have been better than it actually was. Despite the fact that it was the fans who voted for Punk`s opponent, they were not into this bout at all.

After a fair bout in which the two voting "losers" (from either Shawn Michaels, Mr Kennedy, or Jeff Hardy) for the WWE Title shot contested a singles match, MVP defended the U.S Title against one of Kane, The Great Khali, or Mark Henry. No matter who the opponent was, this was never likely to be a good match, and when all was said and done, it was made even worse by a dreadful finish.

Randy Orton then faced the fans` choice for the WWE Title, in a match that was very good, until a poor conclusion put a dampener on it. Then, Triple-H faced Umaga in a bout which would either be a Streetfight, a First Blood match, or a Cage match. This was a very good contest for its type, although you would expect nothing less from two excellent wrestlers.

The main event of the evening was yet another match between Batista - the World Heavyweight Champion - and The Undertaker, to be refereed by either JBL, Mick Foley, or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Batista and The Undertaker seem to have been feuding for the entire duration of 2007, but when they consistently bring the best out of each other, as they did here, you`ll find no complaints from fans. This was the best bout on the show, and an extremely fitting way in which to end the show.


Overall, Cyber Sunday had its ups and its downs, but by the time the WWE Title match, Triple-H vs Umaga, and Batista vs The Undertaker had taken place, there was little to remember from the less impressive earlier bouts. All three contests were very good, especially the main event, which showed Batista to be as on-form as he`s ever previously been.

Recommended.