CM Punk Still "Pain in the Eye" for Jeff Hardy

WWE Smackdown
July 3, 2009
Fresno, CA
Report by: Mike Tedesco of WrestleView.com

start of show

CM Punk makes his way to the ring to a not so friendly reaction. Punk gets in the ring with a microphone. Punk says everyone is talking about the big controversy stemming from the Bash and, to be honest, he’s getting a little sick and tired of that. Punk says he’s sick and tired of people saying he purposely struck an official to take a cheap way out and retain his title by disqualification. Punk says he’s come out here to show us step by step what really happened. First, the allegation that Jeff Hardy won the World Heavyweight Championship but was somehow robbed.

We see the part of the match where Jeff Hardy hit the Swanton Bomb and gets the cover but Punk clearly had his foot under the rope, out of bounds. Punk says the referee is only human and saw he made a mistake. Punk says where he comes from, the rules still mean something. The funny thing in all of this is that he was the one who was almost robbed. If the referee didn’t see his foot then he wouldn’t be champion. Things would get worse as he suffered an eye injury.

We now see the part of the match where Jeff Hardy goes for the Twist of Fate but Punk twists out of it and gets him in position for the GTS. Hardy elbows out and in the process somehow injures CM Punk’s eye. Punk holds his eye and then kicks the referee in the back, causing the disqualification. Punk says clear as day it’s pretty obvious he couldn’t see. His vision was obstructed as his eye was damaged. Punk says he thought he was swinging at Jeff but hit the referee instead accidentally. Punk says he prides himself on being a competitor and is a man of honor. Punk says he’s never taken the cheap way out nor has he ever taken a shortcut inside or outside the ring. Hardy had every reason for being frustrated; they were having a classic championship match, he thought he was on his way to becoming champion, but nothing, and he means nothing, excuses what he did to him next.

They now show the end of the match where Hardy confronted Punk about kicking the referee on purpose before snapping and destroying CM Punk with punches. Punk just rolls around and holds his eye while Hardy is pulled away. Back in live action Punk is shaking his head. Punk says Jeff Hardy has no idea who he is as a person. If he did he would know that he has principles and integrity – he never has and never will take a shortcut. What Hardy did to him was obviously deliberate. Now, as Punk understands, Hardy is going around telling anyone who will listen that he wants a rematch from Punk. Punk says that’s fine by him but he wants something from Jeff Hardy – an apology. The crowd boos.

General Manager Theodore R. Long’s music hits and he makes his way to the ring smiling. He’s happy for a guy who is on probation. Long says he’s going to get right to the point. Long says he doesn’t know if he took the cheap way out, and Punk goes to interrupt him, and says not to cut him off. Long says Punk was right – he and Jeff were having a classic match so he won’t let it end like that. At Night of Champions he will face Jeff Hardy once again for the World Heavyweight Championship!

Punk says that’s “super” but what he needs Long to do is get Hardy out here and apologize. Long says he doesn’t have to do anything. Mr. McMahon was happy with the way he shook things up at the Bash and he made it clear to him to keep it going. Mr. McMahon wants controversy to shake things up so tonight the new Unified Tag Team Champions will take on the team of Jeff Hardy and CM Punk!

Jeff Hardy’s music hits and he comes out to a great reception. Hardy gets in the ring and gets in Punk’s face. Hardy says he doesn’t want to hear Punk’s excuses anymore. Punk knew Hardy had him beat at the Bash and he knew exactly what he was doing when he kicked the referee. Hardy asks if being straight edge means being a liar. Whether Punk knows it or not he can see right through him. Punk says unless the next words out of his mouth are “I am sorry” he can shut up because he doesn’t care about what he has to say. Hardy says he’ll apologize for beating the holy hell out of him at Night of Champions and he pushes Punk! Punk pushes back and Teddy Long separates the two!

Punk says it’s cool but tonight they need to be on the same page or Jericho and Edge will tear them apart. They’re already at a disadvantage due to his eye injury and the crowd boos. Punk says he had to forfeit a match on Superstars, something he didn’t want to do. Punk says he’s not forfeiting anything tonight but if he can give Hardy a piece of advice, because he knows that Hardy wants to punch him in the face, his piece of advice is something Hardy should have done a long time ago – “Just say no!” Punk leaves the ring as we ponder what he really meant by “Just say no.”

Edge & Chris Jericho vs. Jeff Hardy & CM Punk

It’ll be CM Punk starting out against Edge. They circle the ring before locking up. Edge wrenches the arm and drops CM Punk to a knee. Edge wrenches it again before CM Punk rolls out, slaps the hand, and dropkicks Edge. CM Punk wrenches the arm and tags in Jeff Hardy. Hardy comes off the second rope with a forearm to the shoulder. Hardy punches and kicks Edge in the corner before sending him sternum first into the opposite corner. Hardy covers but Edge quickly gets a foot on the rope. Hardy bounces Edge’s head off the turnbuckle, wrenches his arm, and tags in CM Punk.

Punk comes off the top rope with a club to the arm. Punk wrenches the arm before kicking Edge in the chest twice. Punk then takes Edge down with an arm bar. Edge fights up and forearms Punk before making the tag to Jericho. Jericho runs into an arm drag takedown. Punk wrenches the arm and body slams Jericho down. It looks like Jericho jammed his knee a bit on that. Punk makes the tag to Jeff Hardy, who hits a leg drop on Jericho off the second rope, for a two count. Jericho hits Hardy with some punches and kicks while talking trash, of course. Jericho has a whip reversed on him but Hardy lowers his head and Jericho kicks him in the face. Jericho goes back into the ropes and Hardy hits him with an inverted atomic drop followed by a double leg drop to the midsection. Hardy wrenches the arm and tags in CM Punk.

Punk kicks Jericho’s arm before wrenching and hitting a snapmare for a one count. Punk gets an arm bar on before Jericho pushes him to the ropes. Jericho gets a headlock on and tags in Edge. Edge kicks Punk in the ribs and Jericho punches Punk before leaving the ring. Edge head-butts Punk but has a whip reversed on him and Punk hits a back heel kick. Punk tags in Hardy and sends Edge to the corner. They then hit Poetry in Motion, which also catches Jericho, who came over to help. Hardy and Punk look at each other as we go to commercial.

-Commercial Break-

We come back from the break to see Jeff Hardy and Edge squaring off. Hardy walks right into a kick in the midsection and Edge punches him a few times. Edge punches Hardy before whipping him into the corner but Hardy slingshots over him and hits an arm drag followed by an arm bar. On the apron CM Punk is holding his eye. Hardy wrenches Edge’s arm and goes for a tag but Punk refuses, claiming his eye is hurting. Hardy hits Edge down for a one count. Hardy hits a nice suplex before getting a nice jackknife pin for a two count. Hardy punches Edge to the corner and whips him to the opposite. Hardy backs up and charges but Edge moves and tags in Chris Jericho.

Jericho comes in and hits a low dropkick before talking some trash. Jericho drops a pair of elbows before punching him. Jericho yells at Punk and causes a referee distraction. Jericho throws Hardy out of the ring and distracts the referee while Edge punches him into the barricade on the outside. Jericho goes outside and retrieves Hardy, throwing him back in the ring. Jericho cuts Hardy off before he makes the tag but he wouldn’t have made it as Punk is concentrating on his eye. Jericho taunts the crowd before locking on a chicken wing submission. Hardy fights up and punches out. Jericho reverses a whip to the corner so Hardy attempts to slingshot over but Jericho catches him and throws him over the top rope. Jericho taunts the crowd again as the referee begins counting Hardy out. Punk is attentive now and willing Hardy on. Jericho goes outside to get Hardy but Hardy runs in and attempts to tag in CM Punk but Punk’s eye is hurting again!

Hardy punches away at Jericho and has a whip reversed on him to the corner but Hardy counters with Whisper in the Wind! Both men are down and Jericho makes the tag first. Edge cuts Hardy off and goes for the Edgecution but Hardy counters into the Twist of Fate and forcibly tags in CM Punk! Punk comes in and hits a high knee into a bulldog for a two count. Punk goes for the GTS but Edge counters into the Edge-O-Matic and appears to have raked the eye on the way down. This gets Edge a two count. Edge taunts the crowd and drops a knee into Punk’s ribs. Edge forearms Punk and kicks him down in the corner before being admonished by the referee. Jericho chokes Punk as the referee is distracted. Edge now tags in Jericho.

Jericho comes in and hits a kick to the ribs. Jericho then pokes CM Punk in his good eye before being admonished. Jericho talks some trash before getting punched by Punk. Punk and Jericho have a bit of a misstep as they whip into the corner but the pros make the save with a double clothesline. Both men are down and crawling to make the tag. Just as Punk goes to tag in Hardy, Hardy feigns an eye injury! Jericho rolls Punk up for a near fall. Jericho then attempts to lock on the Wall of Jericho but Punk kicks him away. Punk gets Jericho on his shoulders but loses his footing and Edge tags in. Punk hits the GTS on Jericho but turns right into a Spear from Edge! The Unified Tag Team Champions get the win!

Winners by Pinfall: Edge & Chris Jericho

read the full Smackdown results here