CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy for the World Heavyweight Championship
We continue on through the summer of 2009 and things have changed quite a bit since our last PPV as Punk went into One Night Stand as Mr. Money in the Bank in this random feud with Umaga, and he left the PPV as the new World Heavyweight Champion. Not only does he become the first man to win the MITB match back-to-back, he is able to cash in back-to-back years successfully and become champion though this year feels much different than the year before. For one thing, he cashed in on Edge the previous year while this year he cashed in on Hardy which felt even bigger given that Hardy just went through a grueling war to finally defeat Edge to become World Champion, and with the pops for Punk starting to fade a bit it made sense that he would cash in on someone greatly loved like Hardy especially if they plan to turn Punk heel though he played it off very well going into this show. Also, instead of being lost in the shuffle like he was a year ago on RAW, Punk now feels like one of the top guys of Smackdown and this was a feud that was going to be highly anticipated even if they stay with the face/face dynamic though it seemed unlikely they would.
On the 6/12 Smackdown, Punk cut a promo defending his actions at Extreme Rules and said no one complained when he cashed in on Edge a year ago as he promised to bring honor and respect back to the title, and Hardy would come out and said he wouldn’t complain though said Punk didn’t earn the title and he wanted a rematch that night. Edge would come out and said he was first to get a rematch as Hardy knocked him to the floor and gave Punk the Twist of Fate, and Teddy Long announced Hardy and Edge would face off in a match with the winner facing Punk that following week on RAW. In the main event, the match ended in a no contest when Punk got involved as Hardy gave Edge the Twist of Fate and Punk gave Hardy the GTS, and Long would announce that Punk would face both men on RAW in a Triple Threat match. On the 6/15 RAW, Punk defeated Edge and Hardy in a Triple Threat to retain the title as Long announced Punk would face Hardy at the PPV, and on the 6/19 Smackdown Hardy cut a promo as they reviewed what happened at Extreme Rules and RAW that previous Monday. Punk came out and said there was no rule preventing him from cashing in on Hardy and he did what he had to do to win on Monday, and Josh Matthews tried to get the audience to applaud both men though they would cheer Hardy and boo Punk. On the 6/26 Smackdown, Hardy and Rey Mysterio lost a cage match to Edge and Chris Jericho with Punk as the guest referee, and after the match Punk mocked the fans by telling them to cheer for Hardy as he held up the title. This was a pretty solid build for the short amount of time they had as it was clear they were steering Punk towards turning heel and we would see if they did another quick title change or kept the feud going.
Hardy gets a big pop from the crowd while Punk got a mixed reaction from the crowd that was more boos than cheers. The two men lock up to start with Punk backing Hardy into the corner and he gives a clean break, and they lock up again with Hardy hooking a headlock and Punk escapes as he turns it around and hooks a headlock on Hardy. Hardy whips Punk off and Punk knocks him down as he goes behind Hardy who turns it around, and Punk again goes behind Hardy as he works the arm until Hardy goes around Punk and takes him to the mat with the headlock. Punk tries to whip him off only for Hardy to keep the headlock on as Punk struggles to escape before taking Hardy to the mat with a headlock, and Hardy fights to his feet and whips Punk off as Punk knocks him down and Hardy leaps over him. Punk blocks a hiptoss and hoists Hardy onto his shoulders though Hardy escapes with a crucifix for a two count, and Hardy gets a kick in and looks for the Twist of Fate only for Punk to escape and Hardy backdrops him over the top to the floor. He hits a slingshot plancha onto Punk on the floor and rams him into the barricade as he leaps off the steps only to miss a dive as he hits the barricade, and Punk rolls back into the ring as the ref counts Hardy who barely makes it back into the ring before the 10 count. Punk gets a two count on Hardy and he kicks him in the back repeatedly before hooking a submission on, and he drives the elbow into Hardy’s head repeatedly for a two count and then he hits a backbreaker for a two count. He hooks the submission back on Hardy who reaches the rope to force a break and Punk hits a slam on Hardy, and he goes up to the middle rope only to miss the elbow though he recovers first and Hardy avoids a charge in the corner. He hits the Whisper in the Wind on Punk for a two count and hits a trio of clotheslines before hitting an atomic drop, and he trips Punk up and hits a legdrop to the groin before hitting a low dropkick on Punk for a two count. He hits a sitdown front suplex on Punk and goes up top as Punk rolls outside to regroup and Hardy hits a clothesline off the apron, and he throws Punk back into the ring and hits a dropkick to the back that sends Punk into the corner. He attempts the springboard low dropkick only for Punk to catch him on his shoulders though Hardy holds the top rope, and Punk puts him down and gets a kick in as he hits the running knee in the corner and a bulldog for a two count. He kicks at Hardy repeatedly and pounds on him until Hardy ducks a shot and hits the Twist of Fate, and he goes up top only to miss the Swanton as Punk looks for a suplex and Hardy hooks a small package for a two count. Punk kicks Hardy in the head and hoists him onto his shoulders though Hardy slides off as he gets a kick in and hits the Twist of Fate, and he goes up top and hits the Swanton which gets the three and we seemingly have a new champion only for the ref to see Punk had his foot under the rope and the match continues. Hardy argues with the ref as Punk gets to his feet and Hardy looks for the Twist of Fate again, but Punk counters and hoists Hardy onto his shoulders though Hardy escapes with a series of back elbows. Punk appears to have injured his eye as he stalls in the corner and the ref keeps Hardy back until Punk kicks the ref in the back which draws the DQ and Hardy wins the match though Punk retains the title. After the match, Punk takes the title and heads to the back only for Hardy to confront him on the ramp as Punk says he couldn’t see, and Hardy fires up on Punk and throws him back into the ring as he continues to pound on him on the mat. Officials come out and hold Hardy back only for Hardy to again knock Punk to the mat and pound on him, and the officials again hold Hardy back as Punk rolls outside to regroup with another official helping him to the back.
The match itself was pretty good as both men worked hard and put on a solid match that was only hampered by the weird ending. Both men were hitting their stride by this point and they had good chemistry as Punk played it straight for the whole match and it was a pretty clean match, and they had a solid 14 minute match though you could tell that they were clearly setting up for the future and more matches down the line. As I said, the ending was a bit weird as they do the Dusty finish with Hardy seemingly winning the title though Punk’s foot was under the rope, but it was confusing because it was hard to tell that Punk even had his foot under the bottom rope. On top of that, we then have the fairly weak DQ ending as Punk is clearly overselling the eye injury, but if anything it gave Hardy more sympathy as he once again gets screwed and he shows it after the match when he attacks Punk. The crowd was into the match and Punk, but are pissed first with the Dusty finish and then with the DQ ending as they were ready for Hardy to win. Hardy gets the win over Punk by DQ though Punk escapes with the title, but this issue isn’t over yet.
Final Grade: ***1/4
