Grilling JR - Cyber Sunday 2006 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Cyber Sunday 2006 

Cyber Sunday 2006 happened on November 5th in the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. 7,000 paid were reported to have been in attendance. It was the first of three Cyber Sunday pay-per-view events but the show was considered a continuation of the Taboo Tuesday series that began in 2004, so that would make this the middle show of the five internet-voting-PPVs the company held.

Did you like this concept of an interactive PPV? What night did you prefer to see it on - Tuesday or Sunday?

Live, the arena was set up for 12,000 people with parts of the upper deck blocked and production kills. Those seats were full, but much of the lower deck was papered. There were 5,000 tickets sold a few days in advance, which were the cheaper seats and the best seats on the floor, which is a very unusual ticket pattern for WWE. That would indicate the audience interested in the product was less affluent, or that as compared with the past, people aren't willing to spend as much money on a higher ticket priced "B" PPV show.

The show did about 228,000 PPV buys, according to reports. That was down from the year before, which was when the event was still Taboo Tuesday - and did 250,000 buys.

Cyber Sunday aired as a TV show and not a PPV show in the UK as a result of a deal put together only a week before the show between WWE and BskyB. The show aired at 1 AM late Sunday night on Sky Sports 1.

Did the company just not have a choice in the UK?

News

Jim Ross is working under a very short-term contract extension. No word on his future. They don’t have any backup announcers waiting in the wings, so it’s not like a departure is imminent. He may just keep signing short-terms.

What was the story with this?

Eric Bischoff’s book Controversy Creates Cash debuted in 16th place on the New York Times bestseller list, the highest placing of any book since Ric Flair’s in 2004.

Was this a big surprise to a lot of people?

WWE announced that Vito did a photoshoot for Playgirl. Everyone I talked to this weekend was appalled and confused. Several males noted that, as heterosexual males, they knew a good-looking man when they saw one and Vito was not a good-looking man. WWE.com noted that nothing would be shown (penises, etc.) (yes, I used the plural, it was funny), and that things would be “strategically placed so Playgirl readers won’t see everything”. I have no idea who this is supposed to appeal to. I figure telling gay dudes or straight women that you won’t see his penis is a bad selling point for a softcore porn mag, and it’s not like telling non-gay men that his penis won’t be visible will convince them to pick up the magazine and check it out. Plus, he’s a dress-wearer, so what’s the target audience? Very perplexing, and I’ve thought about this way too much already. Vito follows Shawn Michaels, who posed in the magazine in the mid-90s.

I don’t even remember this! How did this come about and did he get the blessing of the office to do this?

In late September, Kurt Angle was released by the WWE in what was a pretty big surprise to people on the outside, but maybe not so much to those close to Kurt. He would end up going to TNA Wrestling as we know but before then, several MMA companies tried to set up a shoot fight between Kurt Angle and...Daniel Puder. Angle told Bubba the Love Sponge that Pride offered him a $30 million five-year-deal for 15 fights at $2 million power fight. He then said UFC offered him a $10 million eight-year deal where he would only fight once (how that would be eight years, I don’t know). That one fight would be against Daniel Puder.

Did you or those in the company believe Angle might seriously go into MMA?

WWE filed a lawsuit on 10/12 in state court in Connecticut against both THQ and Jakks Pacific toys to attempt to get out of a contract with them and to put their videogame license up for bids. It’s a new lawsuit, as there was apparently a previous attempt to get out of the license by claiming the license agreement happened because a WWE official, since fired, had been BRIBED.

Do you remember that story? Do you remember the effort to get out of the THQ/Jakks Pacific agreement? What caused the relationship to go sour from your perspective?

TNA’s announcement that would re-write the history of the business, ended up being a big one. They signed Kurt Angle.

Who do you think was a bigger deal for TNA, based on your perspective as an outsider: Kurt Angle, Sting, or Hulk Hogan?

In October, The Marine, starring John Cena, was released in movie theaters, grossing $12,865,699 in two weeks. It ended up doing a worldwide box office gross of $22 million.

Did you ever see the movie? What did you think of WWE films at this point?

Bob Sapp met with Vince McMahion and John Laurinaitis on 10/15 in Los Angeles, the Observer reported. His name came up many times over the years but this was considered the best chance yet of a deal happening. Paul Heyman had pushed for him to be brought in since 2003, even proposing a Brock Lesnar vs. Bob Sapp match for Wrestlemania.

By the November 20 Observer, according to those in WWE, talks with Bob Sapp are now dead. Sapp’s idea was to try and mix WWE and Pride, with the idea that doing Pride would give him “real” credibility, while doing WWE would give him U.S. popularity for his matches with Pride. His own thoughts were that nobody had ever at a high level done both at the same time. WWE wanted him full-time 365 days per year and Sapp wouldn’t commit to the number of house show dates that they wanted. He apparently wanted at least a few weeks off prior to fights, plus the ability to take movie roles. One source said Lashley is basically being plugged into the spot originally slated for Sapp. The original plans for Sapp were to start on 10/29 and be in the elimination chamber at the December to Dismember.

Do you remember ever having talks or hearing talks about Bob Sapp being brought in?

Was it a mistake on the company’s part to not make a unique deal for Sapp like we would see done for Brock?

It was reported in the Observer that the WWE had offered Big Show a five-year contract extension that he shockingly turned down because he didn’t believe he could continue because of how bad he was hurting. Everything hurts and his back was shot. He didn’t know if he was beginning a physical deterioration like Andre had around the same time or if with some rest, he can recover.

Up until this point, Big Show had been a big of a mixed bag for the company. There were stories of JR trying to cut off two years from his contract by adding a little extra money, and of him being sent to developmental with questionable results.

Did The Big Show just need a break? Did he need better travel accommodations (his bus)? Was there concern that this was it for the big man’s career?

Afa Anoia Jr. signed a developmental deal with the WWE the week of October 30. Reports were that his weakness was in promos because he was taught to do them like the Wild Samoans in the 80s, which wouldn’t fly in 2006 dammit.

He ended up coming in as Manu from 2007 to 2009 before being released that February.

Do you recall the company having high hopes for Afa Jr.?

His cousin Joe, playing at the time at Georgia Tech, was also under consideration after he graduated but he had publicly said he was not interested in wrestling until after he tried a run in the NFL. The Observer was told Joe Anoia had an “awesome look with long hair and crazy tattoos and is already a great talker.” We know that Joe was eventually signed and went on to become the Big Dog, Roman Reigns.

How closely did the company have its eyes on him in 2006?

Another developmental deal signed during this time, in November, was of Claudio Castagnoli. The future Cesaro signed his developmental contract and was expected to start around the beginning of 2007

Do you remember how long the company had its eye on Cesaro before signing him?

A strange situation the Observer said was caused by a hoax began on 10/15 when a man named Thomas Spear passed away at his home in White Marsh, MD. Thomas had told his family and friends for years that he wrestled as Corporal Kirchner in the WWF. The guy basically, from what we can tell, kayfabed his family into thinking he had been a wrestler.

Well, somehow, after he died, someone contacted WWE.com and they ran a story reporting the death of Corporal Mike Kirchner - the actual man who played Corporal Kirchner. Michael Penchel, who even had his kayfabe name Kirchner on his trucking license, was 46 and still very much alive, working as a truck driver. He even did an interview that week after being besieged by family and friends calling to ask if he had passed away following the news from the WWE. There was never a retraction printed and some of the late individual’s family insisted he had played the character citing WWE’s article as proof.

Remember hearing about this odd debacle?

Ted DiBiase, 52, was let go as a WWE agent as November rolled around. He was well liked by most but was criticized for having trouble communicating the finishes the office sent to him for him to give the talent. He had been moved to ECW and gained a reputation as giving honest reports for shows (most producer reports told the office what it wanted to hear, like “DX is super over, every match is great, fans loved it. DiBiase told the truth about crowd reactions).

There was even a report that he had been asked to come out of retirement and do occasional matches, but he turned down the request citing neck and spine injuries from his career.

Do you remember the company actually asking him to work matches during this time? Why didn’t the WWE want to keep him around?

Tully Blanchard quit the company after a report about JBL going off on Tully at the 10/24 St. Louis TV tapings made its way on the internet and was described as an ugly scene. The Observer reported JBL told people all day he was anxious to see Blanchard, who had just started a few days before as a producer. JBL said when he first broke into the business, Blanchard had treated him like shit. As Blanchard was watching the show in front of many, JBL cut a promo on him calling him a hypocrite who used God to make money, a liar, a cheat, a drug addict, and an asshole - and those are the nice things he said. Meltzer said he was told JBL was “terribly unprofessional,” but that people believed Blanchard probably did shit on him early in his career. A few days later, Blanchard quit.

Do you remember hearing about this? Who was in the wrong, here?

Stephanie McMahion was scheduled to return full-time to the company at Cyber Sunday after being away on maternity leave.

Did you notice any big changes in Stephanie’s personality after she became a mother? Perhaps becoming more grounded or more patient? (Hey folks, experiences change people!)

In late October, the company decided to limit the choices for Cyber Sunday voting to three options - instead of doing five, which Meltzer thought was the original idea.

Nobody has made the connection, but the Smackdown turnaround and Michael Hayes as head writer have gone hand-in-hand. For all the people who complain about too much of the same, you really now do have two fairly different products. There is some goofiness on Smackdown with King Booker in that there is no seriousness to the main heel character, but he and Sharmell are great in the roles. Sharmell plays the role great, and Booker being so comical with the accent that he’s so corny it’s entertaining. Smackdown has a lot of stuff now with guys like Hardy, Helms, London, Finlay, Regal, Kendrick, Yang and others where they are given enough time on to give you good television matches, which you may get one of every other week on ECW and seem to happen with even less frequency on Raw.

Was Michael Hayes getting credit around this time for helping the booking on the blue brand?

One of pro wrestling's most all-time memorable characters, Sputnik Monroe, passed away in his sleep on 11/3 at a nursing home in Edgewater, FL at the age of 77. Monroe was an undersized heel, maybe 5-9 and 190 to 215 pounds, although he was usually billed at 220 to 235 pounds.

He was a great self promoter, an outlandish character, a very good working heel and most of all, great talker, that made him a main eventer in many Southern territories and nearly a cultural icon in Memphis. Before the days of Jackie Fargo, he was the No. 1 box office attraction in the city and has been credited with playing a major role in racial integration of public events.

His famous line was that he had a body that "men feared and women adored."

He was almost a stereotype of the carny storyteller, who was in character 24/7, and would come to cities early, go out in public places in character, mouth off and try and stir up hatred, but generally had a knack for knowing just how far to push it before things got too ugly. The idea was to be obnoxious in town so people would pay to see the babyface beat you up, but not take it so far that you end up arrested or in fights yourself. Lance Russell described meeting him when he first came to Memphis, and that after a while, a lot of the wrestlers themselves got tired of listening to him tell all his stories, but Russell, probably since he wasn't around him seven days a week, said he always enjoyed them.

Is there anything you can say about Sputnik Monroe?

EVENT ITSELF

Readers of the Observer gave it negative reviews;  Thumbs down 60.3 percent; 22.2 percent in the middle and Thumbs up 17.5 percent;

A. Super Crazy pinned Rob Conway with a standing moonsault in the lone dark match.

1. Umaga pinned Kane in 8:39. Crowd voted 49% for Kane, 28% for Sandman and 23% for Chris Benoit. Sandman did a good promo on ECW TV asking for the votes so that explained him beating out Benoit. I was surprised they beat Kane clean after how hot the Undertaker & Kane tag team came across on Smackdown. Obviously they are going with a Cena vs. Umaga program and want to keep Umaga untouched until that point. Umaga used a Samoan drop, but Kane sat up and went for a choke slam. Umaga eye raked him out. Kane went to the top rope and kicked Armando Alejandro Estrada as he came to him. Kane came off into a chop by Umaga, followed by the Samoan spike clean in the middle. Kane didn't even do a big post-match sit-up as they wanted Umaga over big as the story. **

What did you think about this match?

• Notes: Great line: JR says “Get this savage out of here!” Absolutely awesome
• Look at the Samoan Spike in this match - PICTURE PERFECT.
• We get a KANE CHANT in this match. Super rare.

Think about this question for a second. Kayfabe, is Umaga the baddest/strongest Samoan of all time? Who was booked to be stronger?

Sharmell tried to recruit Big Show as an ally. The pitch was that if either of their titles were at stake, they'd work together and make a deal to make sure Cena doesn't win. If Cena's title is at stake, deal is off and both can go for it. Show said he didn't trust them and turned down the offer, and she vowed he would live to regret the decision.

Next up is four-corner tag team action. When Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch come out, their tights have unfortunate Confederate flags on them. But, as inappropriate as it was, it’s probably meant to be a “Rebel flag.”

2. Cryme Tyme won a tornado match over Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch, The Highlanders and Charlie Haas & Viscera in 4:28. Fans picked tornado match with 50% of the vote to 35% for a tag team turmoil and 15% for a fatal four way. This was the one election they did nothing to influence since the match was never even announced on television to begin with. The Highlanders did simultaneous dives out of the ring but the crowd died after it as Cryme Tyme was the only one of the four teams getting any kind of push. The finish saw Cade & Murdoch do the highlow on Rory, but JTG threw them out of the ring and stole the pin. Post-match saw them swerve Jerry Lawler and steal his computer. *1/4

JR noted Shad has had 23 arrests for assault during the match. :)

There’s some very interesting combinations in this match. Tell us your thoughts on the contest and on the pairings?

Backstage segment: DX told everyone to vote for Bischoff as referee. They explained that they'd already stuck Vince's head up Big Show's ass so there was nothing left to do to him, and Jonathan Coachman was humiliated on Raw. HHH riled up Michaels about Bischoff saying Michaels isn't controversial. Then Shawn superkicks a guy named Stan. Two other random guys get hit with superkicks.

3. Jeff Hardy beat Carlito to retain the IC title in 13:21. Carlito got 62% of the vote to 25% for Benjamin and 13% for Nitro. There were some real communication problems early. Jim Ross came up with a new name for a low dropkick, calling it a "Littlebrook" dropkick, after the midget star of the 60s and 70s named Lord Littlebrook. Jeff ran the barricade but was met on the floor by a dropkick by Carlito. Carlito held a reverse bearhug for a long time and garnered the only "boring" chant of the night. Carlito also used a sleeper and nobody bought it. But the crowd popped big for the near falls in the final few minutes of the match. The finish saw Carlito miss a hurricanrana off the top rope and Hardy pin him clean with a swanton. The crowd didn't appear to choose favorites. They did more flying than any other match, a lot of which was off. **Vi (No idea what this means but that’s what it says.)

Did you enjoy this match?

Carlito had a lot of fan support in the arenas but some dirt sheet writers were slamming him for his work around this time. How did you feel?

4. Randy Orton & Edge beat HHH & Shawn Michaels in 18:11. Crowd voted 60% for Bischoff as ref and 20% for both McMahon and Coachman. DX spent several minutes cheerleading different parts of the crowd. It looked like something that will become part of their regular routine. Match was a disappointment. Not bad at all, but it never got to the level you'd expect. Michaels pulled Edge's trunks down early. The heat spot started with Orton crotching Michaels on the ringpost. The beating on Michaels continued. Bischoff played a fair ref, actually counting slow and deliberate for both sides. Edge accidentally speared Bischoff. Edge spread HHH, but Michaels did a dive outside the ring on Edge. In the ring, Orton used the RKO on HHH. With Bischoff down, Chad Patton ran in to ref but HHH kicked out. After Orton was blocked for a second RKO, Michaels used a superkick on Orton and HHH went for the pin. Bischoff pulled Patton out of the ring and decked him. Edge hit Michaels with a chair and then Orton hit HHH with a chair right in front of Bischoff. Orton then used an RKO on the chair for the pin. Orton & Edge after the match pushed that they had ended the DX winning streak and pushed their tag team name as the Rated RKO tag team. **3/4

Up next, according to Meltzer,  is the worst match on the card and if you watch it, you’ll probably understand why.

5. Lita pinned Mickie James in 8:07 to win the vacant women's title in a lumberjack match. Lumberjack got 46% to 40% for a no DQ and 14% for a submission match. All the regular women from the three brands were there dressed in various seductive outfits. Ross buzzed Lawler by saying these lumberjacks didn't look like Jos LeDuc (one of Lawler's legendary opponents) with a flannel shirt and an ax. The match was just brutal. It really put over how good Trish Stratus is. All their traditional pro wrestling spots looked bad. Then they did submissions on the ground and the crowd didn't buy that. There were various spots where the lumberjacks attacked them. Right before the finish they tried something that went awry and Ross said, "What was that?" None only that, but whatever it was ended up being replayed. Among the worst PPV matches of the year. Lita won clean with a DDT. -*

This was Lita’s fourth WWE Women’s Championship. She lost the belt back to Mickie James on Nov. 26 at Survivor Series, Lita’s final match of her main WWE run (she’s done spot shows for them since).

If you look at her face when she won, she looks so angry. It could be great acting, or it could be that it was a bad match. But...Something important to remember:  She had turned heel and ‘divorced Kane’ in May of the previous year. Then the whole Matt Hardy/Edge real life thing happened where Hardy basically dragged her online for cheating with Edge. For almost 18 months, she was getting pelted with chants of “Ho” and “Slut” and “Crack Whore.” Looking back...awful stuff. And when she left at Survivor Series, Cryme Time auctioned her belongings in a “ho sale.”

That had to be psychologically hard on her, right?

On November 20’s Raw, Lita cut a scathing promo saying she was fed up with the negative effect WWE fans had on her personal life.

Was that a shoot?

Let’s go back to our show and backstage: Kenny was running down the rest of the Spirit Squad, noting that he was the only one who wasn't a loser. They pushed hard a feud with Kenny vs. Johnny, who he was running down the most and apparently being positioned for a face turn when the group breaks up. But it didn't play into anything on the show.

6. Ric Flair & Roddy Piper may have become the oldest world tag team champions in history beating Kenny & Mikey in 6:55. Fans voted for Piper with 45% to 36% for Dusty Rhodes and 19% for Sgt. Slaughter. Ross brought up Flair & Piper as a tag team in the Mid Atlantic area. Piper physically looked horrible, and he was the one doing the selling, which probably wasn't the best idea. Flair hot tagged in and got Mikey in the figure four, but Kenny broke it up the first time. The second time, Mikey was stuck in the middle and Kenny couldn't save him and he tapped. Really big pop and it played out well as it was sold like it was a miracle that they were in late 2006 and these guys were tag champs. Imagine if the belts weren't so devalued. Post-match saw Rhodes and Slaughter do a run-in and clean house on the entire Squad, and then they danced in the ring together. That was something for the ages, watching Sarge get down. 3/4*

Meltzer said The only surprise of the show was that Roddy Piper was voted in as Ric Flair's tag team partner in a planned title change over the Spirit Squad. Piper, 54, had a gigantic gut and no tan, to the point the announcers couldn't ignore how bad he looked physically in the ring. He'd have been best served working with his shirt on. Piper was at a public appearance in New York the day before and openly said he hoped he wasn't picked, and joked that all three candidates were hoping the same thing. The match was sad, but the biggest genuine emotional reaction of the show was when people realized Flair & Piper had won the tag team titles.

Backstage segment: Booker & Sharmell tried to get Cena to make a pact to work together, because Show was so huge. Cena listened and said he'd do it, which shocked everyone. Then he said-only one condition, that he gets a night with Sharmell. She was furious and Booker told her to leave. Then, with her gone, Booker said it would be okay and it's a deal. Cena then said he's sick, that's his wife and Cena said it only because he knew he'd never agree and talked about how twisted he is. They left the room and in front of Sharmell, Cena apologized and then pretty much told her that Booker had agreed. She was pissed. This led to the Ron Simmons "damn." spot.

7. King Booker retained the World heavyweight title and won the mythical Champion of Champions beating John Cena and Big Show in 21:05. Only 12% of the fans voted for Cena's title at stake, since he's the face. 67% voted for Booker's title and 21 % for Show's title. Show was taken out early when Cena dropkicked his knee outside the ring and Show, holding the steps, fell head first into them. He was out of the match for the next 8:00. Booker used a book end, but missed an ax kick. Cena went for the FU, but Booker escaped into a DDT. Cena later got the STFU but Booker made the ropes. Show came back and destroyed everyone. Show got Cena on his shoulders in an electric chair spot. Booker came off the top rope with a missile dropkick, but to Show's face instead of Cena. Show suplexed both men at the same tie. The finish saw Cena kick a chair into Show's face as he took a bump on the floor. Sharmell ran in with the title belt, but Cena caught her and gave her an FU after teasing it. Booker grabbed the belt and went to use it, but Cena put him in the STFU. Kevin Federline then ran in and hit Cena with a belt shot. Cena no-sold it and got up. Federline ran off. Cena turned around, but then Booker hit him with a belt shot and got the pin. The closing shot of the show was Federline mocking Cena as opposed to Booker celebrating. **3/4

What did you think of the match?

This was in the middle of the Kevin Federline antics that we would see in the WWE in 2006. How did you feel about K-Fed? Did you meet him?

BEST MATCH POLL

Jeff Hardy vs. Carlito took first

Cena vs. Booker vs. Show and Michaels & HHH vs. Orton & Edge were basically tied for second and third with the main event edging out second by one vote.

WORST MATCH POLL

Lita vs. Mickie James by a landslide

4-way tag match in second

Meltzer thought the show underperformed, saying WWE's Cyber Sunday was an overall blah show, which largely showed the company generally has little program manipulating its audience. With one exception, all the key voting choices seemed to end up with what the company expected, and in most cases, led the people to want. But the show itself, on 11/5 from the U.S. Bank Arena, was a lackluster event. The big statistic claimed was a record 2.5 million voters casting 14,687,233 votes. During the show, votes were coming at the pace of 6,000 per minute, and they were hyping fans to continue voting until the start of the main event. Part of the goal of the show was to break the record, as prior years only had one day of voting and this had several weeks' worth, and they also encouraged fans to vote multiple times. Preliminary indications don't look like a good PPV number translating from this, even though this was a rare "B" PPV which was pushed hard on all three shows. The prior interactive shows, Taboo Tuesdays, both did bad PPV numbers given the line-ups presented, but Tuesday is not PPV night, so it wasn't a fair test of the idea of drawing with fans picking the matches as opposed to the matches laid out ahead of time. Here, they laid out the money matches ahead of time and just had fans pick stipulations.

Why didn’t the formula work for Cyber Sunday?

It would last two more years and be discontinued.

What would you let the fans vote to decide? Stipulations, match opponents, or something else?

Meltzer wrote that The biggest story was that Kevin Federline was back, and in a finish somewhat reminiscent of a Jerry Lawler vs. Nick Bockwinkel AWA title match in 1982 with Andy Kaufman in the Federline role, he distracted Cena, allowing King Booker to hit Cena with a belt shot and retain his world heavyweight title, the belt fans decided overwhelmingly would be at stake.

Basically, in what was pushed as the first ever three-way with three world champions, to determine the so-called Champion of Champions, all of the fans largely were there to see either Cena win or lose, as opposed to caring about what happened with the other two. Most likely if fans had voted for the ECW title at stake, then Show would have won. If they had voted for the Raw title, one would think it would have to change hands short-term to get the finish they wanted. As hard as this is to believe considering it's WWE, the voting and results were a shoot.

There were supposedly three finishes worked on for this match depending on what outcome the polls had. So here’s a question: If fans had voted for Cenas title, how would they have booked the match? If they’re going to have K-Fed screw him, does Cena lose the belt to Show or Booker T?

Questions

Jamey asks...For Cyber Sundays and Taboo Tuesdays, did the WWE/F actually take fan results into account, or was that a work to generate interest? #AskJR

Fernando asked….If JR could rebook this card, and change the result of any match which would it be? #AskJr

Jeremy asks...Cyber Sunday was fun to watch and a fun concept. Do you think this would be a good try again or should this idea stay in the past? #AskJR

Benen asks...what was the idea behind the Champion of Champions match i think the concept would have made more sense if you had one belt for 3 shows

Ray asks...How aware was WWE about Piper's health at the time given he would be diagnosed with cancer? #AskJR

Francis asks...How Roll Tide was Maria looking in the PPV Poster? #AskJR

Jordan asks...Did you consider the ECW World Championship in this era as a legit world title? Or do you feel it didn’t mean nearly as much as the other two world titles? #AskJR