Dark match Prior to the show airing live on pay-per-view, the crowd in attendance was shown an
untelevised match pitting
R-Truth against
Shelton Benjamin, which saw the former defeat the latter by
pinfall.
Preliminary matches The event began with the ECW Championship Scramble match. The match began with two wrestlers competing for three minutes with another wrestler entering every three minutes thereafter; when a wrestler scored a decision over another, they were declared the interim champion, and only lost the distinction if another wrestler scored a decision after them. Whoever was the interim champion as the time limit expired would be named the official champion. The first two competitors were Christian and Jack Swagger before the entrance of Finlay. Swagger became the first interim champion by pinning Finlay with a
roll-up; Finlay retaliated with a
Celtic Cross to Swagger. When incumbent champion Tommy Dreamer and Mark Henry entered the match, Henry became the interim title holder by pinning Dreamer after a
World's Strongest Slam, only to have Swagger become interim champion by pinning Henry following a
Swagger Bomb. As the time limit was set to expire, Dreamer executed a
DDT on Christian to remain champion. As the final minute of the match progressed, Dreamer spent the time preventing the four other men from scoring a decision to win the match and retain the title. ; he also retained his right to wear his mask. Chris Jericho and Rey Mysterio's match for the Intercontinental Championship followed; the contest was kept at a fast pace, leading to Jericho going to the floor of the arena surrounding the ring to have his opponent deliver a
seated senton. As the move also damaged Mysterio, Jericho gained control, whipping the challenger into the barricade before returning the action to the ring; Mysterio regained his momentum to take down Jericho with an
Arabian press. The match continued with both men countering each other's signature maneuvers in attempts to score a pin. Mysterio gained the upper hand by
dropkicking the champion onto the bottom rope in an attempt to execute the
619; once connected, Jericho quickly applied his submission hold, the
Walls of Jericho; Mysterio struggled out of the position, leading to an exchange of surprise pin attempts. The match came to an end when Jericho attempted to remove his opponent's mask, only to see another one in its place, leading to Mysterio taking advantage of the confusion by executing 619 again before performing a
springboard splash to pin his opponent, winning the title and retaining his mask. Third on the card was the
No Disqualification match between
Dolph Ziggler and
The Great Khali. The match quickly went to the arena floor with both men trying to gain control of a steel chair to use as a weapon.
Kane made his return in this match by assaulting Khali with the chair before Ziggler made a pin to win the match. The next match was between
The Colóns (
Carlito and
Primo) and
The Legacy (
Cody Rhodes and
Ted DiBiase) for the
Unified WWE Tag Team Championship. As the match was about to proceed, after being pressured by
Vince McMahon to improve the quality of
SmackDown, Theodore Long announced another team would be inserted into the match, making it a
triple threat match; the team would be Chris Jericho and
Edge. The match centered around The Colóns and The Legacy isolating themselves for the most part before Edge managed to tag himself into the match as Carlito went to pin Rhodes after the
Backstabber, but due to Edge tagging in, the match continued for Edge to deliver a
spear to Carlito, pinning him to win the titles.
Melina next defended the
WWE Women's Championship against
Michelle McCool. The match focused around McCool attacking her opponent's leg with her
associate,
Alicia Fox, inhibiting Melina. As the champion went to attempt a
body scissors, McCool delivered a
Faith Breaker for the pinfall victory, winning the title.
Main event matches The first of three matches billed as the main event was the World Heavyweight Championship match between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy. The match was wrestled at a fast pace as the two exchanged a series of holds and kicks. As Punk was about to deliver a
Go To Sleep, Hardy countered into a
Twist of Fate, and executed the
Swanton Bomb; Hardy then covered his opponent and got the pin. Though it appeared initially that he won the title, the referee soon discovered Punk's foot was under the bottom rope, causing the match to continue. As the competitors continued to fight, Punk performed a
roundhouse kick on the referee, causing him to get
disqualified, thus retaining the title. Following the match, a frustrated Hardy assaulted the champion, leading to the two being pulled apart by the referee and other officials. John Cena faced The Miz next. Cena executed an
Attitude Adjustment on The Miz and forced The Miz to submit to the
STF to win the match. The main event was the
Three Stages of Hell match for the WWE Championship between Randy Orton and Triple H. In the first match, a singles match, Triple H was disqualified after hitting Orton with a chair, giving Orton the first victory. The next fall was the falls count anywhere match, which Triple H won after attacking Orton with the chair and a
Pedigree outside the ring. The final match was the stretcher match. Triple H tried to end the match early by wheeling the champion over the yellow line on the stage that signified the end of the match only to have Orton slide off, leading to a brawl between the two on the stage. Orton performed a
DDT off the stretcher onto the entrance ramp on Triple H. The fight went back up to the stage with Triple H delivering a Pedigree, followed by loading the stretcher with Orton until Orton's two protégés,
Cody Rhodes and
Ted DiBiase, interfered, preventing Triple H from winning by distracting him to have Orton attack him, put him on the stretcher, and wheel him across the finishing line to win the match. After the match, when Orton was celebrating his victory, Triple H attacked Orton with his signature sledgehammer. ==Reception==