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[Q1] Backstage, Chris Jericho complained to Mike Adamle about the special referee stipulation for Cyber Sunday. Adamle defended himself and said Jericho wouldn't even be champion had he not added him to the Championship Scramble match.

Adamle booked Jericho in a match against an opponent of Batista's choosing. He added that Jericho could pick an opponent for Batista. Jericho complained and said he was going above Adamle's head to Shane and Stephanie McMahon. Adamle laughed and said they turn their ringers off during the show. Jericho said he has another way to reach them. He left the room, walked past Jamie Noble, Mickie James, and Candice Michelle.

Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced the show at ringside. Jericho interrupted them on the house mic. He called out to Steph and Shane and complained about the referee candidates for Cyber Sunday. He said none of the candidates would call the match evenly. He saved Steve Austin for last and put more emphasis on him than the other two candidates.

Jericho continued to bitch until he was interrupted by Shawn Michaels' music. HBK walked to the ring in street clothes and approached Jericho. He said nothing would thrill him more than to tell Jericho that he could put all their differences aside and call the match right down the middle. HBK said it would be better for him if Jericho won so that he could challenge him and beat him or the World Hvt. Title.

HBK said he will do everything he can to make Cyber Sunday the worst day of his life. He said he won't beg people for votes like a politician. He said he's going to do what Barack Obama and John McCain would love to one another but can't. With that HBK punched Jericho knocked him down. Michaels threw a few more punches and Jericho scurried out of the ring and to the backstage area.

Jericho returned with a mic in hand and said he just decided who his choice is to face Batista later in the show. "The opponent is you, Shawn Michaels," Jericho said. HBK stood expressionless in the ring while glaring at Jericho... [C]

Powell's POV: Good opening segment. The Jericho vs. Michaels feud lives. It will be interesting to see whether HBK or Stone Cold finishes higher in the voting. Why wouldn't the company announce the gimmick with Jericho and Batista picking the opponents in advance? HBK vs. Batista is a pay-per-view main event quality match. My interest level in this show just increased dramatically.

Highlights aired from last week of the Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy vs. Kane and Mark Henry... Cole announced that Mysterio vs. Kane in an (a) falls count anywhere match, (b) No Holds Barred match, (c) two-of-three falls match...

Powell's POV: What about (d) let Mysterio feud with a new opponent?

[Q2] 1. Kane and Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) defeated Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy in 5:20. A shot aired of Johnny Knoxville sitting at ringside. Late in the match, Hardy and Henry brawled to the back. In the ring, Mysterio leapt off the top rope, but Kane caught him with a boot to the face and scored the pin. Afterward, Kane tried to chokeslam Mysterio, but he slipped away and knocked Kane out of the ring.

Powell's POV: Good action down the stretch with Mysterio hitting his signature spots.

Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed Batista about his match with Shawn Michaels. Batista said Jericho isn't stupid because he knows there's still friction between him and HBK. He said he respects Shawn as a competitor and would beat him to the punch if he tried to take him out...

An ad for Smackdown hyped the Jeff Hardy vs. Vladimir Kozlov main event for Friday night... [C] The Cyber Sunday theme song is "Propane Nightmares" by Pendulum...

JBL's limo pulled into the building. It was parked close to the guardrail and JBL struggled to get out of the back door. He scolded his driver. Meanwhile, a shot aired of Nancy O'Dell from Acess Hollywood sitting in the crowd.

In the ring, JBL cut another promo about the economy. He said the fans were looking at him with puppy dog eyes wondering if they were going to lose everything. He said his friends were insuring the fact that he'll keep all his money "and making bank." He said congress realizes the rich must be taken care of.

[Q3] JBL was interrupted by Hulk Hogan's entrance music. The crowd popped. Charlie Haas came out wearing Hogan gear, including a blonde wig and mustache. Lillian Garcia introduced "Haas Hogan." The crowd cheered. They played along as he ran through the pose routine...

2. JBL pinned Haas Hogan in 1:20. Haas Hulked up less than a minute into the match and hit JBL with the big boot. He went for the big leg, but JBL moved. JBL followed up with the Clothesline From Hell and scored the pin...

Powell's POV: That could have gone really bad if the crowd had been pissed that they didn't get Hogan. I think most of them probably saw it coming. Haas got a solid reaction and the fans seemed to have some fun with him.

Grisham interviewed Johnny Knoxville and a couple guys from "Jackass" at ringside. They showed some lame comedy photos of Knoxville mocking Great Khali on his website. Grisham asked if they were having fun. Knoxville said he was having a ball, but he was waiting to see the midgets... [C]

Powell's POV: Spare me the email. He used the term midget, not me. I love the little people!!!

A graphic told us that ECW was the Sci-Fi Channel's most watched show on Tuesday...

Powell's POV: Duh, no shit. Wow, they've really lowered the bar for what they'll gloat over.

Edge, Triple H, Jim Ross, Shawn Michaels, Mickie James, Maria, and others talked about John Cena like he's a god. They showed the ECW One Night Stand crowd reacting to Cena and flipping him off. Hunter said you either like him or you don't. "Cena Returns" read a graphic at the end of the well done video...

Randy Orton walked onto the stage and said he finds it funny that no one had any kind words to say about him when he got hurt. "I guess I'm not John Cena...thank God," Orton said. Randy told the fans not to vote for him at Cyber Sunday. He said he doesn't want to put himself at risk when he's so close to his return. He encouraged viewers to vote for Austin, Michaels, or don't vote at all...

The announcers ran through the voting options for the special referee of the World Hvt. Championship match... A shot aired of Batista walking backstage...

Powell's POV: Wow, the live crowd has been hot for everything all night, but they didn't seem to care about Orton. Strange. If the live crowd's reaction is any indication, Austin will win the voting...

[Q4] [C] Ring introductions for the Batista vs. Shawn Michaels match took place. Just before the referee could call for the bell, Jericho appeared on the big screen and announced that they would be competing in a lumberjack match. The lousy Raw music played. A large group of Raw heels came out to serve as the lumberjacks... [C]

3. Shawn Michaels fought Batista to a no-contest in a lumberjack match in 15:00. The match was joined in progress following the commercial break. HBK was sent to ringside. He punched Deuce and rushed back inside the ring, where he locked Batista in the figure four. A shot aired of Jericho watching the match on a backstage monitor.

[Q5] Batista took control of the offense and worked over HBK's lower back with a leg scissors and then forearms. Batista charged toward HBK in the corner, froze, and then improvised for whatever spot they missed. Ugh. Later, Batista tried to toss HBK to ringside, but Michaels skinned the cat and then walked into a twisting side slam for a good nearfall.

Batista clotheslined HBK ringside. Bam Neely went after Michaels, but Henry shoved him aside and locked him in a bear hug. He threw HBK back inside the ring, where Batista scored another nearfall. The show abruptly cut to commercial. [C]

After the break, HBK tossed Batista to ringside. Orton set up for the big punt kick, but Batista moved, fought off a couple heels, and got back in the ring. A short time later, Batista regained control and went for the Batista Bomb, but HBK held on and punched him repeatedly until they both tumbled to ringside. The heels ganged up on HBK and Batista, so the referee called for the bell.

After the match, HBK superkicked JBL. Batista speared Mark Henry. They were lying in the ring struggled to stand up when a shot aired of a pissed off Jericho watching on the backstage monitor. Batista's music played and they eventually got to their feet. Batista offered his hand.

[Q6] Michaels hesitated, but eventually accepted the handshake. A shot aired of Jericho making a hilarious looked that combined shock and disgust in reaction to the handshake he was watching on the monitor... [C]

Powell's POV: The match lasted longer than I thought it would. It started slow and there were some rough spots. I don't think the live crowd took it seriously at first because they just waited for the obvious finish. When it finally happened, the live crowd booed. Great facial expression by Jericho in the locker room.

Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix walked to the ring. Meanwhile, the announcers ran through his possible Cyber Sunday opponents and played short videos of Roddy Piper, Goldust, and Honky Tonk Man. The HTM footage showed him bashing Randy Savage and Bret Hart with guitars.

In the ring, Santino presented the Honk-A-Meter. It's 64-9 in favor of Honky. Santino noted that one year from now, he'll only be a week away from Honky's record. Santino referred to honky as "an incredibly racist term." Funny. He ran through his possible contenders.

Santino invited "Johnny Knockville" to join him in the ring. Knoxville was hesitant, but he eventually agreed. Santino asked what Knoxville was thinking by making fun of Great Khali. He said he was just curious about his "tallywacker." Knoxville figured that "you dudes" get asked about theirs all the time.

Beth took offense and slapped Knoxville. She picked him up and bodyslammed him. Well, at least tried to. She lost her grip and he fell to the mat. Hornswoggle came out and hit the Tadpole Splash. Little People revenge! Knoxville's buddy entered the ring to check on him.

Big Dick Johnson came out to no reaction wearing a warmup suit. He took it off and danced for Knoxville's buddy, who took off his own clothes and revealed a bow tie and a g-string. They danced together until Boogeyman's music played. Johnson left. Knoxville's buddy stuck around to take a clothesline and get the worm treatment.

Knoxville came to and asked his buddy if he was okay. He called for a water and took a swig. Knoxville took the mic and hyped his website. Great Khali's music played and he came to the ring with Runjin Singh. Knoxville looked concerned. Once Khali was in the ring, Knoxville laughed. Khali laughed back. Knoxville held his fingers close together. Khali applied the vice grip and hit the Khali Bomb...

Powell's POV: The segment was funny when Santino had the mic. The rest? Not so much.

[Q7] Backstage, Shad was hanging out with Kelly Kelly when they spotted JTG "borrowing" an Anaheim Ducks plastic mask... [C]

In the ring, John Morrison and The Miz rapped to prove they were more "gangsta" than Cryme Tyme. Hilariously, Jillian Hall sang along with them. Awesome...

4. Cryme Tyme and Kelly Kelly defeated John Morrison and The Miz and Jillian Hall in 3:20. In the end, JTG hit Morrison with the duck mask and then JTG scored the pin...

The announcers hyped that Jericho would face an opponent selected by Batista... [C]

[Q8] Highlights aired from No Mercy of Big Show knocking out Undertaker... The announcers pimped the fans on voting for the special referee option... Chris Jericho made his ring entrance... [C]

Powell's POV: At this point, I'll just be happy if it's not Steve-O from Jackass. My expectations are low. Here's hoping they do something big to save this show.

5. C.M. Punk defeated Chris Jericho in a non-title match with Batista as the special referee in 6:10. The announcers recalled Jericho taking the title when Punk couldn't appear in the Championship Scramble. Batista appeared on the big screen before the ref could call for the bell and named himself the special referee. Batista wore a tight ref's shirt that was ripped in the back. The announcers said they couldn't find one big enough for him to wear.

Lawler said this was the first time that Batista has refereed a match. Batista was clearly inspired by Steve "Mongo" McMichael's work because he counted slowly when Jericho covered Punk. His count was only slightly faster when Punk made his first pin attempt. The live crowd broke into a loud "C.M. Punk" chant.

At 5:30, Jericho avoided the GTS, hit the Codebreaker, and covered Punk. Batista counted to two and then stopped his count while pretending he had something in his eye. Jericho stood up and Batista kicked him in the gut and gave him the Batista Bomb. Punk covered Jericho and Batista made the three count...

Powell's POV: That really made Punk look weak. Jericho avoided Punk's finisher and had him pinned clean. Very bad for Punk. I'll have more to say about this mess of a show in tomorrow's WWE Raw Hitlist.

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