Unforgiven 2006: Toronto Turns Cena vs. Edge into a Classic and Gives Trish the Perfect Goodbye

Nitro and Hardy receive nearly eighteen minutes, enough to turn a familiar athletic matchup into a patient opener rather than a highlight reel. Nitro's decision to attack Hardy's leg gives the match a clear spine and creates a reason for Hardy's explosive offense to arrive in bursts instead of continuously. Hardy still reaches the Swanton, but the damaged leg slows the cover and preserves Nitro's control of the story. Melina's interference ultimately steals the result for the champion, which is conventional but useful because Hardy has only recently returned and does not need a clean defeat. The crowd stays engaged, the near falls are credible, and both wrestlers leave with a reason to continue. It runs slightly long, yet the structure is stronger than most midcard openers of the period.

Kane and Umaga begin with exactly the kind of blunt collision their characters promise. Umaga's speed for his size gives the early exchanges some surprise, while Kane's comeback keeps the match from becoming a simple showcase for the undefeated newcomer. The problem is that the bout never develops beyond the premise. Once they spill outside and fight through the crowd, the referee counts both men out and the advertised question of which monster is superior remains unanswered. Protecting both wrestlers is understandable, especially with a rematch program ahead, but the pay-per-view receives a television-style non-finish after only seven minutes. Nothing is disastrously executed, and the physicality is convincing. Still, the match feels like the first act of a feud rather than a complete attraction that earns its place on this card.

This is the point where Toronto's energy noticeably drops, and the match never finds a strong enough idea to win the audience back. The Highlanders work a conventional challenger formula with early control and a later hot tag, while Kenny and Mikey rely on basic double-team offense and the numerical advantage surrounding the ring. There is competent movement and no major breakdown, but little feels exclusive to a pay-per-view. The finish reinforces the same problem: outside interference from another Spirit Squad member creates the opening for the champions to retain, preserving a gimmick the audience has already seen repeatedly on Raw. The match is short enough not to damage the show, yet it also feels disposable. Compared with the personal stakes elsewhere on the card, this title defense has almost no urgency.

The Hell in a Cell is less a wrestling match than a twenty-five-minute feud execution, and that approach produces both its best and worst material. Vince and Shane bleed early, Shawn Michaels and Triple H absorb brutal weapon shots, and Big Show's size gives the three-on-two advantage a visual logic whenever he is upright. Shane's willingness to take dangerous punishment adds genuine intensity, while the closing sequence leaves no doubt that DX has finally destroyed the McMahon side of the rivalry. The complication is tone. Serious bloodshed, a chair-assisted elbow, steel steps, and a sledgehammer share space with extended butt-based humiliation, so the match repeatedly asks the audience to switch between revulsion and comedy. It is memorable spectacle and a decisive blowoff, but it lacks the cohesion of the best Cell matches.

Stratus and Lita understand that the audience already knows their history, so they spend less time introducing a rivalry and more time playing off familiar counters and expectations. Lita anticipates several signature sequences, forcing Stratus to adjust instead of simply running through a farewell checklist. Toronto supplies enormous emotional leverage, but the wrestling earns the reaction rather than hiding behind it. The finish is ideal: Stratus turns a sunset-flip attempt into a Sharpshooter, a move tied instantly to Canadian wrestling memory, and Lita submits cleanly. Winning the title on the way out could have felt sentimental in a bad way; here it feels like the correct final image for a performer who defined the division with Lita. The match is compact, purposeful, and deeply satisfying.

Carlito wrestles with the urgency of someone trying to prove he belongs at Orton's level, and the match is best when his springboard offense forces Orton to react quickly. Orton slows the pace with familiar control work, but the bout never becomes plodding because Carlito's bursts are frequent and athletic. Neither man develops a particularly deep story, which leaves the match feeling more like a sharp television showcase than a major pay-per-view rivalry. Then the finish changes the memory of the entire thing. Carlito launches into another springboard attack and Orton catches him in midair with an RKO, a counter so clean that the crowd instantly treats it as the point of the match. The eight-minute runtime limits the ceiling, but the pacing is efficient and the closing image remains excellent.

Everything surrounding Edge and Cena gives the TLC match unusual tension before the first major stunt. Edge is the hometown favorite, TLC is his specialty, Cena has never wrestled one, and a Cena loss would send him away from Raw. The match then escalates through ladders, chairs, tables, Lita's interference, and several enormous falls without losing sight of the championship hanging above them. A few setup moments are visibly deliberate, but the crowd's investment makes even the pauses feel dangerous. The final sequence is definitive: after surviving Lita and Edge's last climb, Cena hoists Edge from the ladder and sends him through two stacked tables with an FU, then retrieves the title. It is a violent feud climax, a landmark Cena performance, and the clear in-ring peak of Unforgiven.