Cyber Sunday (originally known as Taboo Tuesday) was an annual pay-per-view event produced by the WWE. Established in 2004, the event was originally called Taboo Tuesday as it was held on Tuesdays. In 2006, the event was moved to the more traditional Sunday night for PPVs and was renamed to Cyber Sunday. The theme of the event was the ability for fans to vote on certain aspects of every match, using their personal computers and text messaging via mobile phones. The voting typically began in the middle of an episode of Raw a few weeks beforehand and ended during the pay-per-view, often moments before the match was slated to begin. Because of this, the event was billed as an "interactive pay-per-view."
During the event's first two years as Taboo Tuesday, it was held exclusively for wrestlers from the Raw brand. The 2006 event, which was the first held as Cyber Sunday, was also Raw-exclusive. Following WrestleMania 23 in 2007, however, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, thus the events in 2007 and 2008 featured the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The event was discontinued and replaced by Bragging Rights in 2009.
Cyber Sunday contains examples of:
- Alliterative Title: Taboo Tuesday. Averted after the name was changed to Cyber Sunday.
- Fake Boobs: Christy Hemme embarrassed Carmella De Cesare in their match at the 2004 event by pulling out the two she had stuffed her bra with.
- History Repeats: Ric Flair had competed in two steel cage matches in this event (2004 and 2005). Two of his opponents were two fellow Evolution members Randy Orton and Triple H respectively.
- I Approved This Message: In the 2006 event, The Sandman was one of the three potential opponents, along with Chris Benoit and Kane (who was the winner of the vote, but not the match), for Umaga. The Sandman cut a promo urging the fans to vote for him. As this was a mid-term election year, he ended his promo with, "I'm the Sandman, and I approved this message."
- Lampshade Hanging: For the 2005 event, fans voted online as to whether Mick Foley would face Carlito as Cactus Jack, Mankind, or Dude Love. Mankind won the vote and the match.
- Marilyn Maneuver: One of the best examples of this trope occurred at the 2008 event. Since the event took place just before Halloween, the Divas held their second annual Halloween Costume Contest. Candice Michelle (who had missed the previous year's contest due to a neck injury) was prominently featured as Marilyn Monroe from The Seven Year Itch, complete with a blonde wig and a copy of the famous white halter dress. Not about to miss a golden opportunity, WWE had an air jet installed under the entry ramp to the arena to blast Candice's dress as she came down to the ring for the final judging - and the resulting Panty Shot revealed that Candice was wearing the exact same cut of panties that Marilyn had had on in the 1955 film. Candice obviously did her homework.
- Moment Killer: In the 2005 event, Vader had been brought in by Jonathan Coachman (along with Goldust) for a beatdown on Batista (who was filling in for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for a match at Taboo Tuesday.) Vader and Goldust laid Batista out (I know, right?) and then, as the villainous trio were making their exit, Vader jumped off the apron... only to lose his balance and promptly fall on his ass. Not that that match had much steam going into Taboo Tuesday as it stood, but that COULDN'T have helped.
- Naughty Nuns: Taryn Terrell dressed up as a nun for the 2008 Halloween costume contest. Right around the time WWE went PG."Vote for me and I will personally take you to heaven."
- Older Hero vs. Younger Villain: Inverted in the 2004 event. The steel cage main event had a 24-year-old Randy Orton (face) facing off against a 55-year-old Ric Flair (heel). Played straight in the following year as Flair faced a heel Triple H in the same match.
- Sore Loser: At Taboo Tuesday 2004, Edge, having been outvoted by Shawn Michaels to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship, walked out on Chris Benoit during their World Tag Team Championship match against La Resistance; Benoit defeated them by himself to win the titles. Edge would later return during the Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels match; he hit the Spear on Michaels and escaped while he screamed, “IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!” repeatedly, allowing Triple H to retain the title and cemented Edge’s Face–Heel Turn.
- Traumatic Haircut: The 2004 event saw Eric Bischoff vs his Kayfabe nephew Eugene where the stipulation is that the fans will vote for the fate of the loser of the match. Bischoff lost the match and the fans voted for his hair to be shaved.
