WWE Unforgiven 2005

1) Carlito v. Ric Flair- 6

Anyone remember that way overhyped emotional schlock when Flair had to "retire" because he lost to Shawn Michaels? Yeah, i thought not. I would take this match over that one as a celebration of Ric Flair. The crowd was super hot for all of the Flair stuff, actually coming off the top successfully, the figure four, and Carlito looked very apt to handle it all. Loved his fiery punches and Flair's chops were blistering.

2) Victoria/ Torrie Wilson v. Trish Stratus/ Ashley- 6
Wow, I can't even remember the days when they had enough faith and good workers to go nearly 15 minutes in the women's division. I dig Trish's pink old school Converse wrestling boots. Ashley isn't even in the same realm as Victoria and doesn't seem to realize wrestling is a physical sport. She looks odd too, her super small body with these large pale ghost melons on top, seems to impede her ability to move around. Finish drawn out but implemented the 3 woman heel faction well.

3) Big Show v. Snitsky- 5
I just watched the documentary on Big Show, and it's a real fascinating story, about how he grew up with his gigantism. Watching this bout made me give him much more credit than normal. At this point, he's bigger than an oil tanker, and more blubber than a blue whale but his selling the arm is really effective. The back suplex Snitsky gives him is sick too. This is almost worth seeking out.

4) Kerwin White v. Shelton Benjamin- 3
Such a Raw match. Who the hell thought they should hide a Guerrero under a golf gimmick? And that dyed hair makes him look like such a junior high student trying to impress the most popular girl in school; nice high water shorts too, shit stain. Some leg work went nowhere, and Shelton didn't have time to show the effects with so much high risk stuff to do. How come a golfer is carrying around Finlay's schillegleh? This blew like Kim Kardashian on scratchy home video.

5) Matt Hardy v. Edge Steel Cage Match- 9
I love this match. Probably my favorite WWE bout from last decade. The story's deep and really fucking personal, and everyone can sympathize. The role of slutty ex who cheated on you is the best thing Lita ever did in the business. The fans are dying for Matt to spill loads of Edge's blood and he does. The match has layers, like a delicious red onion, playing off Matt getting concussed by Edge at the last ppv, then using the Money in the Bank briefcase, when it was actually cool. Matt unloading verbally to Lita after she breaks the pin was probably real, telling her how much she hurt him and how he burned the toothbrush and crotchless lingerie after she left him. Edge and Matt work stiff too, on everything, like the end, even the cage rams Edge takes look violent. Then there's the legdrop- so awesome, probably the greatest moment of Matt's career.

6) The Hurricane & Rosey v. Trevor Murdoch & Lance Cade- 3
Quick encounter that really didn't show anything we love about tag wrestling. Rosey looked about as stupid as a human being can. Hurricane looked in tip top shape, and I liked the snap on his punches. Funny segment him coming to Lillian's defense and taking a nasty DDT on the floor. Not much here though

7) Chris Masters v. Shawn Michaels- 6
This got a lot of time to develop which was nice. Masters (who makes wrestling forum- goers worldwide blow loads with his Superstars performances) holds his own, taking a slow pace and putting a nice polish on all his moves, even if he took some of Edge's offense from the prior match. Shawn's adding the little nuances to his back selling which is a staple. This match is actually damn good, Masters is doing everything right, selling huge when it calls for it and Michaels does a tremendous job with the full nelson, making it seem dangerous and not just a pointless relic fromt he 80's

8) John Cena v. Kurt Angle - 6
Here's your title match and it felt like one until Bischoff showed up looking like the Silver fox. Angle didn't go into overload like his TNA stuff and skip the first act; he worked over Cena's leg and ankle. Loved the flying kneedrop he dropped on his ankle near the end. Cena' selling was on point even in 2005. Match was really physical usually Angle's punches seem so worked but he was lighting Cena up, felt like a late round MMA bout when you don't know who's going to end up with the knockout. Whole finish was just an angle, which looked fine but I checked out because i've lived through it once already.

Overall, I remember liking this show when we saw it live, i've not seen any of it save the Cage since but this show is really good, performance wise, everyone works hard and there's little to no backstage antics. I would venture this could have been one of the top shows of that year, but that's just guesswork.