Before I begin, let me just say that I seriously hope that they end this stupid Michael Cole angle at Extreme Rules, because they went WAY TOO FAR this past Monday night. Not only did Cole embarrass J.R. and King AGAIN, but he also insulted an entire country. If this isn't over after Extreme Rules...well, let's just say I won't be responsible for my actions.
Now that that's out of the way, let's get it on.
My RAW for April 18th.
Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler call the action.
Like before, John Morrison asks R-Truth for a match where Truth puts his Extreme Rules title shot on the line. Truth initially refuses, but "General Manager of the Night" William Regal comes out and informs Truth that the match will happen right now! The match will be the same as before, with Morrison winning, and Truth turning heel. As for the smoking...no comment on that.
Before the Bourne/Ziggler match, Vickie Guerrero, wearing a neck brace, a bandage on her forehead, and limping considerably, comes out and demands that John Morrison be taken out of of the WWE Championship match due to his heinous attacks on her. However, William Regal appears on the Titantron and orders security to escort her out of the building as he's got a one-way ticket for her back to the United States.
The Wiz then does his little "this whole match is unfair" stint, and demands that the title match be changed. That's when Sin Cara comes out with his Awesome entrance. John Cena then comes out and says that by order of the acting General Manager, Cena and Sin Cara will compete in a tag match against "Miz" and Alex Riley. After Cena and Cara are victorious, "Fruity Pebbles" then informs the WWE Champion that at the cage match, if Alex Riley interferes during the match, "Miz" will automatically lose the WWE Championship, much to Miz's anger and disgust.
Divas match will be the same.
Then, instead of "Sir Michael Cole," we have William Regal come out and give a heartfelt speech to the crowd, which Jack Swagger and NXT rookie Jacob Novak interrupt. Novak states that Swagger invited him to Raw and challenged Regal to a fight right here, right now. Regal then decided to make it into a tag match with Swagger and Novak squaring off against him and his tag team partner...Jerry "The King" Lawler. Swagger immediately protests, because he and Lawler cannot come into physical contact before Extreme Rules or else both will be suspended. Regal then states that he's lifting the rule for that night. The tag match ends with Swagger and Novak being disqualified when a masked assailant attacks Jerry Lawler. Afterwards, Lawler grabs a mic and informs Swagger that outside interference will be impossible in their match because it will now be an Empty Arena match, where the only people allowed inside the building during the bout will be the two of them, the referee, the timekeeper, and the cameramen.
Santino loses to Sheamus as before.
Then, as for the Punk/Orton rematch, Orton wins via disqualification when The New Nexus interfere and ambush Orton. Punk then picks Orton in the skull and informs the unconscious Viper that the "Rubber Match" at Extreme Rules will be a Last Man Standing Match, and then counts to 10, with Orton failing to regain consciousness.
My SmackDown! for April 22
Josh Mathews and Booker T call the action, joined by special guest commentator Edge. All three wonder who that mystery guy was that attacked Jerry Lawler on Raw the other night.
Everything with the show will be the same up to the Jack Swagger/Trent Barretta. Swagger wins this match when the masked assailant returns and attacks Barretta behind the referee's back. Edge notices that the assailant has a slight limp to him and has a theory to who he might be.
Anyways, the rest of the show is pretty much the same, with the downfall of The Corre continuing with Big Show & Kane winning the Tag Titles from Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel, Barrett barely managing to retain the IC title against Kofi Kingston, and Alberto Del Rio's "retirement" party for Edge. Obviously, since Edge is at ringside, Del Rio pretends not to notice the Rated-R Superstar there until Edge suddenly stands up, takes off his headset, and mocks Del Rio from the announce table. That's when Christian comes in, cheap shots Del Rio, Rodriguez, "Lita", and Brodus Clay, then climbs the ladder to grab the World Heavyweight WRESTLING Championship belt hanging above the ring.
You know why I put "wrestling" in all caps? Because WWE apparently no longer considers themselves simply to be a wrestling company, since they shortened the full name from World Wrestling Entertainment to simply WWE. However, I think this will backfire on them big time because they only thing they have ever been seriously good at is wrestling (and they've been sucking at it big time for the past few months).
And that's all. I'll try to come up with my reactions to the Draft in the upcoming week.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
My RAW and SmackDown! for the week of April 11, 2011
Once again, I've decided to come up with my own versions of this week's Raw and SmackDown shows continuing the angles from the previous week that I mentioned in How I would have booked WrestleMania entry.
On Monday Night Raw...
Once again Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler call the action, and we begin with the in-ring promo involving John Cena, Randy Orton, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, and R-Truth. Here are some things I would alter/change.
As well as Sin Cara's debut against Primo.
And the Apple/Corre match, unfortunately, would stay in, too.
Now, instead of the Lawler/Swagger match, Jack Swagger would come out and do an in-ring promo, stating that despite everything that has happened, and everything he has done over the past week, the suspension on Michael Cole still stands. Swagger than says that he is not leaving this ring until Michael Cole is reinstated! However, Jerry Lawler then decides to get in the ring and tell Swagger that it's over. Cole is the WWE. Get over it! The All-American American then challenges Lawler to a match at Extreme Rules, and if he beats him, Michael Cole would be reinstated in the WWE, and Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler would be fired. Lawler agrees, on the condition that if he beats Swagger, he is never to mention Michael Cole again on WWE programming. The two shake uneasily before Swagger cheapshots King and is about to put the Ankle Lock on him before Triple H appears on the Titantron and tells Swagger if he and King get into any physical altercations between now and Extreme Rules, he is not only canceling the match, but he'll suspend both of them indefinitely.
The rest of the show I would keep the same, only different being Triple H coming out again after the Cena/Truth match ends in an no contestant.
Triple H: "Okay, Wiz...you think just because that match ended in a double-DQ, you think there's no number one contender, right?"
Wiz: "Right!"
Triple: "WRONG! There will be, in fact, TWO number one contenders. At Extreme Rules, it will be you, Wiz, defending the WWE Championship against John Cena AND R-Truth in a TRIPLE THREAT MATCH!"
Now for Friday Night SmackDown!...
Josh Mathews and Booker T call the action.
At the start of the show, Alberto Del Rio comes out and declares himself the new World Heavyweight Champion due to Edge's retirement. At that moment, Teddy Long comes out and tells him that he seems to have forgotten that despite Edge being taken out of the Ladder Match at Extreme Rules, there is still one more opponent--that being Edge's best friend, Christian. He also announces that tonight's main event will be an eight man tag match with Christian and Del Rio as their respective team captains, and that each man will be allowed to pick three partners for their match.
After that, the rest of the show will remain the same, except I'll be adding a Big Show/Wade Barrett Intercontinental Championship match, which ends in a no contest after Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel interfere, and Kane gets involved, turning this math into a three-on-two handicap match, which Big Show and Kane winning.
Then, is the eight-man tag match, with Christian selecting Chavo Guerrero, JTG, and Trent Barreta as his partners, and Alberto Del Rio selecting Brodus Clay, Jack Swagger, and Tyler Reks as his partners. Before the match begins, Teddy Long announces that this will be an elimination tag team match. The eliminations will go as follows--
On Monday Night Raw...
Once again Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler call the action, and we begin with the in-ring promo involving John Cena, Randy Orton, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, and R-Truth. Here are some things I would alter/change.
- After Cena's bit, Orton would come out, and say that while Punk did beat him at Mania, he got the last laugh on him, and also say that he has unfinished business with The Wiz (my personal nickname for Mike Mizanin's character since he decided to turn the logo upside-down on the championship belt, I'm going to change the first letter of his name upside-down).
- Then, John Morrison comes out, and somewhat arrogantly proclaims that he should get the title shot because unlike Cena and Orton, he actually won his match at WrestleMania BY HIMSELF (a little reference to the backstage Morrison/Stratus disagreement).
- Then, Dolph Ziggler comes out, by himself, stating that Morrison's wins at WrestleMania and against him the following night were flukes, and proclaiming himself the uncrowned champion, saying he should be the one who should face Wiz.
- Then, R-Truth comes out, and the other four all admit that he shouldn't even get involved because he wasn't even AT WrestleMania.
- And at that moment, Triple H comes out. He comes out in a suit and tie, and stays on the ramp, stating that he's not here to challenge "The Wiz" (and he calls him that, BTW) for the WWE Championship, but that since Raw has no General Manager for the time being, he has been put in charge on an interim basis. With that in mind, he decides to settle the number one contendership issue with "a gold old-fashioned gauntlet match."
As well as Sin Cara's debut against Primo.
And the Apple/Corre match, unfortunately, would stay in, too.
Now, instead of the Lawler/Swagger match, Jack Swagger would come out and do an in-ring promo, stating that despite everything that has happened, and everything he has done over the past week, the suspension on Michael Cole still stands. Swagger than says that he is not leaving this ring until Michael Cole is reinstated! However, Jerry Lawler then decides to get in the ring and tell Swagger that it's over. Cole is the WWE. Get over it! The All-American American then challenges Lawler to a match at Extreme Rules, and if he beats him, Michael Cole would be reinstated in the WWE, and Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler would be fired. Lawler agrees, on the condition that if he beats Swagger, he is never to mention Michael Cole again on WWE programming. The two shake uneasily before Swagger cheapshots King and is about to put the Ankle Lock on him before Triple H appears on the Titantron and tells Swagger if he and King get into any physical altercations between now and Extreme Rules, he is not only canceling the match, but he'll suspend both of them indefinitely.
The rest of the show I would keep the same, only different being Triple H coming out again after the Cena/Truth match ends in an no contestant.
Triple H: "Okay, Wiz...you think just because that match ended in a double-DQ, you think there's no number one contender, right?"
Wiz: "Right!"
Triple: "WRONG! There will be, in fact, TWO number one contenders. At Extreme Rules, it will be you, Wiz, defending the WWE Championship against John Cena AND R-Truth in a TRIPLE THREAT MATCH!"
Now for Friday Night SmackDown!...
Josh Mathews and Booker T call the action.
At the start of the show, Alberto Del Rio comes out and declares himself the new World Heavyweight Champion due to Edge's retirement. At that moment, Teddy Long comes out and tells him that he seems to have forgotten that despite Edge being taken out of the Ladder Match at Extreme Rules, there is still one more opponent--that being Edge's best friend, Christian. He also announces that tonight's main event will be an eight man tag match with Christian and Del Rio as their respective team captains, and that each man will be allowed to pick three partners for their match.
After that, the rest of the show will remain the same, except I'll be adding a Big Show/Wade Barrett Intercontinental Championship match, which ends in a no contest after Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel interfere, and Kane gets involved, turning this math into a three-on-two handicap match, which Big Show and Kane winning.
Then, is the eight-man tag match, with Christian selecting Chavo Guerrero, JTG, and Trent Barreta as his partners, and Alberto Del Rio selecting Brodus Clay, Jack Swagger, and Tyler Reks as his partners. Before the match begins, Teddy Long announces that this will be an elimination tag team match. The eliminations will go as follows--
- Clay eliminated by disqualification (after attacking all four members of Christian's team, and the referee)
- Barretta eliminated by pinfall (by Reks)
- Reks eliminated by pinfall (by Chavo)
- Guerrero eliminated by submission (by Swagger)
- JTG elminated by submission (by Del Rio)
- Swagger eliminated by disqualification (after illegally double-teaming Christian with Del Rio)
- Del Rio by surprise pinfall
Friday, April 15, 2011
Edge--Tribute to an incredible career
April 11, 2011 is a date I'm not going to forget anytime soon. Even though I made a promise to boycott Raw and SmackDown on television until Michael Cole got the holy you-know-what beaten out of him, I still kept track of the shows via the WWE live chat and the various wrestling websites out there. When I saw that Edge was retiring due to injury, I couldn't believe it.
I had only seriously gotten into wrestling five or six years ago, and Edge was one of the wrestlers that stood out for me. Watching his matches over the years, I could see what an amazing athlete he was, but not only that, he was also controversial, and from what I've heard, an incredible human being, and a huge fan of the WWE since childhood.
This will be my look on the career of Edge, or Adam Copeland as he's known as on his birth certificate. This was a man raised by a single mother, and who has never met, nor seen a picture of his father. This was a guy who, at 16 years of age, was in attendance at WrestleMania VI, held in the Toronto SkyDome, along with over 60,000 fans witnessing the Ultimate Challenge of Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior. Copeland was wearing a Hulk Rules t-shirt, and if you look closely on the WrestleMania VI video, you can see the young teenager in the broadcast.
After graduating, Copeland began wrestling in the independent scene under the name Sexton Hardcastle (yes, he wrestled under that name). On May 10, 1996, Hardcastle wrestled at a WWF house show in Hamilton, Ontario against Bob Holly (before he became Hardcore). Bret "Hitman" Hart witnessed him wrestle, and put in a good word for the young man, which ultimately resulted in the 23-year-old Copeland receiving a WWF developmental contract.
Adam Copeland's first match in the WWF was on November 11, 1997, two days after the Montreal Screwjob, competing against Christian Cage, his real-life best friend, in a dark match. He would make his televised debut on the June 22, 1998 edition of "Raw is War" as Edge, an enigmatic loner who would make his entrance through the crowd. Two months later, he made his pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam as Sable's surprise tag team partner in a mixed-tag match against Marc Mero (Sable's then-real-life husband) and Jacqueline Moore. Edge & Sable won, with Sable getting the pinfall victory of Mero (Yeah, I know. It's supposed to be a mixed tag-match, but nothing really makes sense in wrestling).
Shortly after SummerSlam, Edge began a feud with "vampire" Gangel, who had brought in Edge's "brother", Christian (again, Christian is Edge's real-life best friend). Eventually, Edge joined forces with Gangrel and Christian to form "The Brood." The Brood would later be converted into becoming members of The Ministry of Darkness (Edge and Christian had helped in Undertaker "hanging" The Big Bossman, who was a member of The Corporation at that time). Eventually, around the time the Corporate Ministry was formed, The Brood broke off and feuded with them. On July 24, 1999, at the Toronto SkyDome, Edge won the first of five Intercontinental Championships by beating Jeff Jarrett in an open challenge. Edge's first title reign was short-lived, as he lost the belt to Jarrett at the Fully Loaded pay-per-view 24 hours later.
Shortly after that, Gangel betrayed Edge & Christian, joining forces with Matt and Jeff Hardy to form "The New Brood," beginning one of the most historic rivalries in tag team wrestling history. Eventually, on October 17, 1999, at the No Mercy pay-per-view, The New Brood and Edge & Christian met in a Ladder Match, which was the finals of the "Terri Invitational Tournament", where the winner would win $100,000 and the managerial services of Terri Runnels. The ladder match was already famous in the WWF with such classic as the Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels matches at WrestleMania X and SummerSlam '95, and Triple H vs. The Rock at the previous year's SummerSlam. The Hardys/E&C match completely revolutionized ladder matches and set the bar for tag team wrestling for the rest of the Attitude Era. Although Edge & Christian lost the match, both teams received a standing ovation from the fans. And if you think this was just a one-night deal, when both teams did their promo the following night on Raw (in which Matt & Jeff dropped The Brood nickname and simply became The Hardys), they received a standing ovation from the fans there.
At WrestleMania 2000, Edge & Christian, and the Hardys squared off against the reigning World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz in a Triangle Ladder Match for the Championship. Although it was officially a ladder match, tables and chairs would eventually become involved in the match. Edge & Christian would in the first of seven tag team championships that night, in a match that set off a major rivalry between all three teams over the next year. Around the same time, Edge & Christian became known for their comedic antics, five-second poses, and the devastating con-chairto (slamming an opponent's head with two steel chairs simultaneously, something that would never go nowadays). At SummerSlam 2000, the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match was introduced, and it set the bar even higher for amazing spots, and high-risk maneuvers, all for the WWF Tag Team Titles (which were held by E&C at the time of the event, and successfully retained by them). The peak of the rivalry occurred at WrestleMania X-Seven, when TLC II took place with Edge & Christian beating The Hardys and reigning champions The Dudley Boyz to win their seventh tag team championship in one year.
Allow me a moment to discuss something. Edge & Christian won all three major ladder matches involving the Big Three teams of them, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz. Now, they were already a dominant tag team during this run, but in my view, I think each of the teams should have won one match teach--Edge & Christian at WrestleMania 2000, The Hardy Boyz at SummerSlam 2000 (since it was in their hometown), and The Dudley Boyz at WrestleMania X-Seven. Now, you could have had Edge & Christian win the titles back shortly after those events (in fact, E&C could have regained the titles from The Hardyz due to some chicanery, leading to the cage match at Unforgiven; plus, they could have had an eighth run by beating The Dudleyz shortly after WM17).
Okay, moving on now. Edge & Christian's last run would be short-lived, as they lost the tag titles for the last time to The Brothers of Destruction (Kane and The Undertaker). Even though they competed in the underrated and under-appreciated TLC III (which was responsible for Chris Benoit's near-career-threatening neck injury), Edge & Christian was starting to split, with Christian becoming jealous of Edge's successes--Edge winning the 2001 King of the Ring tournament and winning his second Intercontinental Title from Lance Storm (this was during the ill-fated InVasion storyline). Christian would ultimately turn on his brother, first by beating him for the IC title at Unforgiven, then by joining the Alliance (mainly former WCW and ECW wrestlers), leading to a ladder match at No Mercy 2001. The match would end with Edge giving Christian a one-man con-chairto (a chair shot with the second chair directly under the prone opponent's head) and regaining the IC title. Edge would lose the IC title two weeks later to Test, but would quickly bounce back by beating Kurt Angle to win the WCW United States title one week later, then beating Test at Survivor Series to unify the two titles (the United States championship would return two years later as a SmackDown-exclusive title).
Edge was now a top singles player. Despite losing the Intercontinental Championship to William Regal, he would gain a huge victory over Booker T at WrestleMania X8 in his hometown of Toronto, 12 years after witnessing Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (that same night had The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan in a truly epic match). Oh, and if you were wondering what Booker T and Edge were feuding over. It was a Japanese shampoo commercial. I'm not kidding.
After WrestleMania came the brand-extension, in which the roster would be divided onto the RAW and SmackDown! shows, with Edge being drafted to SmackDown! There, he would feud with former friend and ally Kurt Angle, mainly caused by Edge encouraging the fans to chant "You Suck" during Angle's entrance music and whenever the Olympic Gold Medalist spoke. This ultimately led to a Hair vs. Hair Match at WWE (renamed after the company lost a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund) Judgment Day, where Edge beat Angle, resulting in Angle being shaved bald. This was an angle (pun intended) that helped both men--Edge continued to build his credibility as a singles star, and Angle would become more badass after being shaved bald (he honestly looked like a dork with hair, it's true).
Shortly after that, Edge had the opportunity to team with his boyhood idol, Hulk Hogan, and the two ultimately won the Tag Team titles, on the 4th of July of all days. The title reign was short-lived, but for Edge, it was dream come true. After the team split up, Edge feuded with Eddie Guerrero (who had returned to the company after overcoming a serious personal problems), leading to some great matches, but none greater than the No Disqualification match that occurred on the September 26, 2002 edition of SmackDown!, which Edge won, but also elevated Eddie in which he received a standing ovation from the crowd after the match.
With SmackDown! receiving its own Tag Team championship, Edge formed a team with Rey Mysterio, and while they lost the finals of the tournament to the makeshift team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit (two wrestlers who did not like each other), the four completely stole the show at No Mercy 2002 (considering that the main event of that night was the Hell in a Cell match between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker). Edge & Mysterio would ultimately beat Angle & Benoit in a two-out-of-three falls match, but would lose the titles shortly afterwards to Los Guerreros (the team of Eddie Guerrero, and his nephew, Chavo Guerrero, Jr.).
A few months afterwards, Edge suffered a serious neck injury, requiring surgery that put him out of action for over a year. He would make his return at the 2004 Draft Lottery, having been drafted to RAW earlier in the show. This would start the next part of his career. He would win two World Tag Team Championships with Chris Benoit (the first one in Calgary, home of the legendary Hart family, both of them having trained at Stu Hart's Dungeon, plus Benoit being World Heavyweight Champion at the time, and the second one a rather reluctant pairing which I'll talk about in a minute), plus a fifth Intercontinental Championship, which he would have to forfeit after suffering a groin injury. Upon his return, Edge underwent a heel turn, becoming obsessed with the World Heavyweight Championship, which was a refreshing change of pace. Remember when I mentioned Edge's second tag team title run here was reluctant? Well, the fans had a choice between Edge, Chris Benoit, and Shawn Michaels as to who would face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at Taboo Tuesday. Michaels won the vote (even though he was injured during this period), which meant that Edge & Benoit received a Tag Team title shot at La Resistance (Robert Conway & Sylvain Grenier). Edge abandoned Benoit during the match, but they still won the titles anyway. The two would lose the titles to La Resistance when Edge again abandoned Benoit during the match. Oh, and the team that Benoit & Edge lost the titles to in the first place? La Resistance...in Montreal.
Edge would become one of the six competitors in the Elimination Chamber at New Year's Revolution 2005 to determine a new World Heavyweight Champion (the other competitors were Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Randy Orton, Batista, and Triple H), with special guest referee Shawn Michaels. It was here that Edge learned a very important lesson--don't ever lay your hands on an official, especially if that official is Shawn Michaels. Because of this, Edge lost the match, and blamed Michaels for the loss, resulting in a match at the Royal Rumble between the two, which Edge won. Edge would ultimately become a part of the first-ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match involving him, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin. Edge would end up winning the match, receiving a contract that would allow him to face the World Heavyweight Champion (later the WWE Champion when the titles changed brands) at any time for up to one year.
It was shortly after this time that the Matt Hardy/Edge/Lita triangle began. I won't bore you with all the details, but long-story-short, Matt Hardy was fired, and Lita in storyline became a heel by turning on Kane (whom she was paired with at the time; don't ask) and joining forces with Edge. Eventually, on July 11, 2005, Matt Hardy made a surprising return to RAW by attacking Matt Hardy, resulting in Hardy ultimately being rehired to face Edge at SummerSlam. Props to those guys for putting their personal issues aside to work on a great feud, but the match at SummerSlam was...not so good. Thankfully, they made up for it with a cage match at Unforgiven (in which Hardy delivered a leg drop from the top of the cage onto the prone bloody Edge), and at RAW Homecoming (Raw's return to the USA Network), in which Edge forced Matt Hardy to leave RAW after beating him in a Ladder Match for Edge's Money in the Bank contract.
After this, Edge feuded with Intercontinental Champion, and 16-time World Champion Ric Flair. It was during this feud that Edge introduced the "Cutting Edge" talk show, which was used to start his feud with Flair by mocking Flair's legal issues at the time. The two would have a match at New Year's Revolution 2006, which Edge lost, but the Rated-R Superstar...that was the nickname he gave himself around the same time as well...would have the last laugh by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on John Cena, who had just successfully defended the WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber, leading to Edge's first WWE Championship title reign, which lasted only three weeks before losing it back to Cena at the Royal Rumble. However, during his brief title reign, Edge and Lita celebrated by having a live sex celebration in the middle of the ring (well, it wasn't actual sex, but it was the highest-rated segment of Raw in years), plus he also had a TLC match (the first in over three years) against Ric Flair in North Carolina (Flair country).
After losing the WWE Championship back to Cena, Edge began feuding with the man he says cost him the championship in a rematch...Mick Foley. The two would square off in a hardcore match at WrestleMania 22, which ended with one of the greatest WrestleMania moments ever--Edge spearing Mick Foley through a flaming table. As Joey Styles put it when he called the match--"OH MY GOD!!!" Edge would be a part of the Triple Threat WWE Championship match at Backlash, also involving Champion John Cena and Triple H (whom Cena beat at WrestleMania), before forming an alliance with Foley, with Edge, Lita and Foley facing Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, and Beulah McGillicutty at ECW One Night Stand. Edge's team won the match, and later that night, he cost John Cena the WWE Championship in his match against ECW Original Rob Van Dam. Edge would fail to regain the title against RVD at Vengeance, but would succeed in a Triple Threat Match on RAW involving John Cena one week later (which was around the time RVD was suspended).
After managing to keep the title against Cena on two separate occasions (first, being disqualified in a match at Saturday Night's Main Event, and second, managing to beat Cena at SummerSlam {held in Boston, near Cena's hometown of West Newbury, Mass.} in a match where if he was disqualified, he would lose the title), Edge introduced his new Rated-R Spinner Belt (the WWE Championship spinner belt used since 2005, only with a Rated-R Superstar logo in the middle of it), and was attacked by John Cena, ending up being thrown into the Long Island Sound and leading to a TLC Match at Unforgiven, which was held in Edge's hometown on Toronto. It was also a match that Cena had never competed in, a Match that Edge had never lost (if you don't count TLC III), and if Cena had lost, he would have gone to SmackDown! (similar to what happened to Matt Hardy). Despite overwhelming odds (and also the fact that most of the "smart" audience hates John Cena), Cena managed to beat Edge to regain the WWE title, mainly thanks to Lita (whose second attempt at interference backfired when Cena ended up pushing Edge off the ladder through two tables).
With his WWE Championship dreams dash for the time being, Edge formed an alliance with Randy Orton (whom he had beaten for the IC title back in 2004), who had had issues with Triple H. Okay, here's the full story. D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) had cost Edge the WWE title in a steel cage rematch on RAW, and Orton had been a member of Evolution, led by Triple H, and was kicked out of the group after he had beaten Chris Benoit to win the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 2004. Because of this, the two formed Rated-RKO, and actually scored a victory over DX at Cyber Sunday (thanks to special guest referee Eric Bischoff; hey, the fans voted for him). Later, they beat Ric Flair and Roddy Piper (taken out of the match beforehand due to health issues) to win the World Tag Team Championships, Edge's 8th title and Orton's 1st. Oh, by the way, the guys that Flair and Piper beat for the Tag Team titles? Five males cheerleaders, one of whom I will get to later on. Oh, and speaking of Lita, all the heat towards her would become so intense that she ultimately decided to retire at Survivor Series, losing her Women's Championship to Mickie James, and getting the worst send-off she could possibly get.
Edge & Orton would lose the Tag Team titles to the makeshift team of John Cena & Shawn Michaels (who would end up facing each other at WrestleMania for the WWE title), after Triple H had been injured during the DX/Rated-RKO match at New Year's Revolution. Edge & Orton would also compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23, but neither was successful (Edge, in fact, was taken out by Jeff Hardy by being drilled through a ladder after jumping off of another ladder). Edge & Orton were also unsuccessful in a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE title at Backlash (which also involved ex-Tag champions John Cena & Shawn Michaels). Shortly afterwards, Edge defeated Mr. Kennedy (who was working injured) to win the Money in the Bank Briefcase that Kennedy had won at Mania, and later that week, went to SmackDown! to beat a weakened Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Championship, beginning the next part of his career.
Edge would retain his title against Batista at One Night Stand and Vengeance: Night of Champions, but would be forced to vacate the title after being injured by Kane. After returning from injury, he would begin what I consider to be the low point of his career--his alliance with Vickie Guerrero. Okay, let me get this out of the way. I didn't start having real issues with Vickie Guerrero until after she became involved with Edge. I didn't really have too much of a problem during her alliance with Chavo Guerrero against Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit (then again, I only recently got back into the business, so I wasn't as passionate a fan of Eddie Guerrero as I am nowadays), but after she aligned herself with Edge and managed to maneuver her way into becoming General Manager of SmackDown! (which had been held by Theodore Long until his "heart attack"...I might get to that in a future blog entry), I lost all respect for her. And needless to say, I'm sure a lot of fans lost respect for her, too. In fact, I'm sure when they did the angle where Edge "married" Vickie, Eddie Guerrero turned over in his grave.
Okay, end rant...for now. Edge would retain the World Heavyweight Championship at Armageddon in a Triple Threat involving Champion Batista (who had regained the title from The Great Khali {you'll be hearing about that story in a future entry for sure}) and The Undertaker. During the match, the former Major Brothers interfered to ensure that Edge would regain the title. These "Edgeheads," now named Zack Ryder (watch his show on YouTube, people. The Broski needs a major push) and Curt Hawkins, would form "La Familia" with Edge, Vickie, and Chavo Guerrero (who I had little respect for until recently). Edge would turn back Rey Mysterio at title defenses during the Royal Rumble and No Way Out 2008 before he would fall to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXIV, becoming the Phenom's 16th victim and losing the World Heavyweight Championship. He would also lose to the Undertaker in a rematch at Backlash, and this is where I get to the point where Vickie Guerrero became my most hated person in professional wrestling.
Abusing her power as General Manager, she stripped The Undertaker of the World Title and declared his Hell's Gate submission hold illegal. Then, at Judgment Day, she abused her powers again by not declaring the Undertaker the Champion after he beat Edge by count-out. But what really pissed me off was the TLC match at One Night Stand, where she proclaimed that if Taker lost, he would be banned from the WWE, which is exactly what happened--Edge won his fifth World Title, and Taker was "banned" from the WWE. After a VERY controversial title defense against Batista (who had been drafted to RAW at the 2008 draft) at Night of Champions, Edge got a taste of his own medicine when Batista beat the living daylights out of him the following night on RAW, followed by CM Punk cashing in his Money in the Bank contract that he won at WrestleMania XXIV and beating Edge in less than 30 seconds to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
Remember the "wedding" I mentioned? Well, after losing the World title, Edge initially called off the wedding to Vickie Guerrero (to the delight of every WWE fan in existence), but the wedding was soon called back on (to the chagrin of every WWE fan in existence). At the post-wedding reception, WWE Champion Triple H (who was drafted to SmackDown! in the draft) interrupted the ceremony, and then showed video of Edge making out with "wedding planner" Alicia Fox before the wedding. Needless to say, Vickie was pissed, and after Edge lost the WWE title match at The Great American Bash, the GM/wife re-instated The Undertaker and put Edge in a Hell in a Cell Match at SummerSlam. He lost the match, and was "sent to Hell" by the Undertaker (in actuality, he took an injury sabbatical). Edge would return in a VERY CONTROVERSIAL WWE Championship Match at Survivor Series (I'll get to that one in a future entry for sure), and win the WWE title for a third time (6th World Title overall). Edge would lose the WWE title at Armageddon in a Triple Threat which involved Triple H and Jeff Hardy. Guess who won?
Come on, guess.
Okay, I'll tell you. It was Jeff Hardy. Edge would regain the title at the Royal Rumble one month later (7th world championship), after Matt Hardy turned on his brother Jeff (this was during a No-Disqualification match, BTW). At the No Way Out, during the SmackDown! Elimination Chamber, Edge would lose the WWE Championship (in fact, he was the first one eliminated), but would have the last laugh by forcing his way into the RAW Elimination Chamber by taking out Kofi Kingston and ultimately winning the World Heavyweight Championship (8th world championship). Edge would lose the title to John Cena at WrestleMania XXV in a Triple Threat Match which also involved The Big Show. Big Show would later help Edge regain the title (9th world championship) at Backlash in a Last Man Standing Match, bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to SmackDown! (the WWE Championship was brought back to RAW when Triple H was drafted back in the 2009 draft). Edge's reign would end at Extreme Rules when Jeff Hardy defeated him in a Ladder Match, but Hardy's luck would run out when CM Punk cashed in his WrestleMania XXV Money in The Bank contract and defeated him to win the title (this would mark the start of Punk's heel turn and Hardy's eventual departure from the WWE {plus his entrance into legal hell}).
After Edge lost the championship, he decided to end his marriage with Vickie Guerrero (who had become the General Manager of RAW {don't ask why} and was now resigning), which made wrestling fans all around the world happy (and made Eddie Guerrero turn back up in his grave). At The Bash, Edge would form a tag team with Chris Jericho (another Dungeon graduate), winning the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship from Carlito and Primo Colon (who had unified the titles at the WrestleMania XXV dark match). The tag team was short-lived, however, as Edge suffered a torn Achilles tendon. Edge would have to forfeit his half of the titles, but promised everyone that if he came back...WHEN he came back, he would prove Jericho (who turned on him) and everyone else wrong.
Edge would indeed make his return at the 2010 Royal Rumble, winning the match at entry #29 (taking out Jericho shortly after his entrance, and ultimately eliminating John Cena to win the match), and ended up challenging Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship (Jericho had won the WHC at Elimination Chamber thanks to Shawn Michaels, who was seeking a WrestleMania rematch with The Undertaker). Edge would be unsuccessful in unseating Jericho, but did Spear Jericho through the barricade, weakening him enough to have the Money in the Bank contract cashed on him by WrestleMania XXVI winner Jack Swagger (you now, this is really starting to get old). Edge would ultimately end his feud with Jericho by beating him in a Steel Cage Match at Extreme Rules.
Following that, Edge (and Jericho) would be drafted to RAW. This, in my opinion, would be a mistake, as well as turning him back heel when he had been a huge face upon his return earlier in the year. Edge's run on Raw in 2010 didn't really give him any success, as he lost his Fatal 4-Way Championship match involving Sheamus (who won the title), John Cena (who lost the title), and Randy Orton (who he was feuding with upon returning to RAW). Edge was also unsuccessful at the Money in the Bank ladder match at the pay-per-view of the same name (that match was won by The Miz, or as I like to call him now, The Wiz. {I'll tell you why in a future blog entry}). Edge was also a part of Team WWE (in reality, Team RAW, since there were only RAW members on the team) in the 14-man elimination tag match against Nexus at SummerSlam (the other members were John Cena {captain}, John Morrison, R-Truth, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, and the returning Daniel Bryan {I'll get to THAT in a future entry; I'm making a lot of promises today, aren't I?}). Team RAW was successful, but Edge was eliminated during the match. Edge was also unsuccessful in the Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Title at Night of Champions (which involved Champion Sheamus, John Cena, Nexus Leader Wade Barrett, Chris Jericho, and six-pack victor Randy Orton).
The following events would lead to his face "re"-turn, and his return to SmackDown! After hosting a Cutting Edge with special guest, the "Anonymous" General Manger of RAW (oh, you are going to hear from me about that, I guarantee it), and ultimately destroying the RAW laptop after the GM reversed a decision on his match against John Cena. Upon returning to the Blue Brand, Edge joined the SmackDown! team in the Bragging Rights match, becoming one of the two surviving members (the other being Rey Mysterio) in their victory against RAW (SmackDown's now 2-0 against Raw at BR). Edge would then feud with Kane and abduct Paul Bearer, who had returned (GTTL), and while he failed in regaining the title at Survivor Series (a double-pin, are you serious?), he would the World Championship for a tenth time at TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in a TLC match also involving Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio.
And now, I get to the point of the blog which will cause some controversy with the fans. Vickie Guerrero (remember her? I wouldn't want to), who had become the "executive consultant" of SmackDown!, made her new 'boyfriend', Dolph Ziggler, the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble, and with General Manager Theodore Long temporarily out of commission, she decided to abuse her powers again by barring the Spear during the championship match. Despite this, at the Royal Rumble, Edge would regain. However...in a rematch with Vickie Guerrero as special guest referee, she blatantly refused to count on Edge, and thankfully was taken out, leading to one of the Green Bay Packers (I forget which one), making the three count on Edge, and retaining the title...or so we thought.
Here, THE BITCH (you know who I'm talking about) would abuse her power again by firing Edge and stripping him of the World Heavyweight Championship. After awarding Ziggler the title, Teddy Long would return, and force Ziggler to defend his title against the re-hired Edge (who won). T-Lo would then fire Ziggler, and the following week, Vickie herself was fired (although not for long, unfortunately) after losing a tag match which involved Edge.
Allow me to rant for a moment. Dolph Ziggler was once a member of the Spirit Squad (namely Nicky, as his real name is Nick Nemeth). Simply awarding him the World Heavyweight Championship when he did absolutely nothing to deserve it, and then having Edge regain it was just absolutely STUPID. What I would have done, if I were booking this show, was have Teddy Long strike Dolph's "title win" from the record, give Edge the World Heavyweight Championship back upon being rehired, fire Dolph, and then force Vickie to go one-on-one with Edge (which Edge would of course, win). In fact, I refuse to acknowledge these ridiculous title changes. End rant.
After successfully retaining his title at the Elimination Chamber, Edge would have to deal with the Royal Rumble winner, Alberto Del Rio. However, Edge would have help this time in his buddy Christian (who had left the WWE in 2005, returned in 2009, and began aligning himself with Edge in late 2010 starting with the memorable Slammy Award speech.), and at WrestleMania XVII, Edge would succeed as he had failed the previous three times in winning a title match. This, however, would prove to be his last televised match as he would be forced to retire.
Here's the speech he gave at this past Monday's Raw.
What else can I say? Thirty title reigns (as I mentioned, I don't count the "changes" from early 2011), Royal Rumble winner, King of the Ring winner, Triple Crown champion, and sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer. Not only one of the greatest Canadian wrestlers in history (and there have been a lot of great Canadians in wrestling history), but one of the greatest PERIOD.
And for the record, here are the championships he won over his 13-year WWE career. Championships marked with (*) are reigns that ended due to injury.
WHEW! That was a long one. Hopefully my next blog entry isn't that long.
I had only seriously gotten into wrestling five or six years ago, and Edge was one of the wrestlers that stood out for me. Watching his matches over the years, I could see what an amazing athlete he was, but not only that, he was also controversial, and from what I've heard, an incredible human being, and a huge fan of the WWE since childhood.
This will be my look on the career of Edge, or Adam Copeland as he's known as on his birth certificate. This was a man raised by a single mother, and who has never met, nor seen a picture of his father. This was a guy who, at 16 years of age, was in attendance at WrestleMania VI, held in the Toronto SkyDome, along with over 60,000 fans witnessing the Ultimate Challenge of Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior. Copeland was wearing a Hulk Rules t-shirt, and if you look closely on the WrestleMania VI video, you can see the young teenager in the broadcast.
After graduating, Copeland began wrestling in the independent scene under the name Sexton Hardcastle (yes, he wrestled under that name). On May 10, 1996, Hardcastle wrestled at a WWF house show in Hamilton, Ontario against Bob Holly (before he became Hardcore). Bret "Hitman" Hart witnessed him wrestle, and put in a good word for the young man, which ultimately resulted in the 23-year-old Copeland receiving a WWF developmental contract.
Adam Copeland's first match in the WWF was on November 11, 1997, two days after the Montreal Screwjob, competing against Christian Cage, his real-life best friend, in a dark match. He would make his televised debut on the June 22, 1998 edition of "Raw is War" as Edge, an enigmatic loner who would make his entrance through the crowd. Two months later, he made his pay-per-view debut at SummerSlam as Sable's surprise tag team partner in a mixed-tag match against Marc Mero (Sable's then-real-life husband) and Jacqueline Moore. Edge & Sable won, with Sable getting the pinfall victory of Mero (Yeah, I know. It's supposed to be a mixed tag-match, but nothing really makes sense in wrestling).
Shortly after SummerSlam, Edge began a feud with "vampire" Gangel, who had brought in Edge's "brother", Christian (again, Christian is Edge's real-life best friend). Eventually, Edge joined forces with Gangrel and Christian to form "The Brood." The Brood would later be converted into becoming members of The Ministry of Darkness (Edge and Christian had helped in Undertaker "hanging" The Big Bossman, who was a member of The Corporation at that time). Eventually, around the time the Corporate Ministry was formed, The Brood broke off and feuded with them. On July 24, 1999, at the Toronto SkyDome, Edge won the first of five Intercontinental Championships by beating Jeff Jarrett in an open challenge. Edge's first title reign was short-lived, as he lost the belt to Jarrett at the Fully Loaded pay-per-view 24 hours later.
Shortly after that, Gangel betrayed Edge & Christian, joining forces with Matt and Jeff Hardy to form "The New Brood," beginning one of the most historic rivalries in tag team wrestling history. Eventually, on October 17, 1999, at the No Mercy pay-per-view, The New Brood and Edge & Christian met in a Ladder Match, which was the finals of the "Terri Invitational Tournament", where the winner would win $100,000 and the managerial services of Terri Runnels. The ladder match was already famous in the WWF with such classic as the Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels matches at WrestleMania X and SummerSlam '95, and Triple H vs. The Rock at the previous year's SummerSlam. The Hardys/E&C match completely revolutionized ladder matches and set the bar for tag team wrestling for the rest of the Attitude Era. Although Edge & Christian lost the match, both teams received a standing ovation from the fans. And if you think this was just a one-night deal, when both teams did their promo the following night on Raw (in which Matt & Jeff dropped The Brood nickname and simply became The Hardys), they received a standing ovation from the fans there.
At WrestleMania 2000, Edge & Christian, and the Hardys squared off against the reigning World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz in a Triangle Ladder Match for the Championship. Although it was officially a ladder match, tables and chairs would eventually become involved in the match. Edge & Christian would in the first of seven tag team championships that night, in a match that set off a major rivalry between all three teams over the next year. Around the same time, Edge & Christian became known for their comedic antics, five-second poses, and the devastating con-chairto (slamming an opponent's head with two steel chairs simultaneously, something that would never go nowadays). At SummerSlam 2000, the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match was introduced, and it set the bar even higher for amazing spots, and high-risk maneuvers, all for the WWF Tag Team Titles (which were held by E&C at the time of the event, and successfully retained by them). The peak of the rivalry occurred at WrestleMania X-Seven, when TLC II took place with Edge & Christian beating The Hardys and reigning champions The Dudley Boyz to win their seventh tag team championship in one year.
Allow me a moment to discuss something. Edge & Christian won all three major ladder matches involving the Big Three teams of them, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz. Now, they were already a dominant tag team during this run, but in my view, I think each of the teams should have won one match teach--Edge & Christian at WrestleMania 2000, The Hardy Boyz at SummerSlam 2000 (since it was in their hometown), and The Dudley Boyz at WrestleMania X-Seven. Now, you could have had Edge & Christian win the titles back shortly after those events (in fact, E&C could have regained the titles from The Hardyz due to some chicanery, leading to the cage match at Unforgiven; plus, they could have had an eighth run by beating The Dudleyz shortly after WM17).
Okay, moving on now. Edge & Christian's last run would be short-lived, as they lost the tag titles for the last time to The Brothers of Destruction (Kane and The Undertaker). Even though they competed in the underrated and under-appreciated TLC III (which was responsible for Chris Benoit's near-career-threatening neck injury), Edge & Christian was starting to split, with Christian becoming jealous of Edge's successes--Edge winning the 2001 King of the Ring tournament and winning his second Intercontinental Title from Lance Storm (this was during the ill-fated InVasion storyline). Christian would ultimately turn on his brother, first by beating him for the IC title at Unforgiven, then by joining the Alliance (mainly former WCW and ECW wrestlers), leading to a ladder match at No Mercy 2001. The match would end with Edge giving Christian a one-man con-chairto (a chair shot with the second chair directly under the prone opponent's head) and regaining the IC title. Edge would lose the IC title two weeks later to Test, but would quickly bounce back by beating Kurt Angle to win the WCW United States title one week later, then beating Test at Survivor Series to unify the two titles (the United States championship would return two years later as a SmackDown-exclusive title).
Edge was now a top singles player. Despite losing the Intercontinental Championship to William Regal, he would gain a huge victory over Booker T at WrestleMania X8 in his hometown of Toronto, 12 years after witnessing Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior (that same night had The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan in a truly epic match). Oh, and if you were wondering what Booker T and Edge were feuding over. It was a Japanese shampoo commercial. I'm not kidding.
After WrestleMania came the brand-extension, in which the roster would be divided onto the RAW and SmackDown! shows, with Edge being drafted to SmackDown! There, he would feud with former friend and ally Kurt Angle, mainly caused by Edge encouraging the fans to chant "You Suck" during Angle's entrance music and whenever the Olympic Gold Medalist spoke. This ultimately led to a Hair vs. Hair Match at WWE (renamed after the company lost a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund) Judgment Day, where Edge beat Angle, resulting in Angle being shaved bald. This was an angle (pun intended) that helped both men--Edge continued to build his credibility as a singles star, and Angle would become more badass after being shaved bald (he honestly looked like a dork with hair, it's true).
Shortly after that, Edge had the opportunity to team with his boyhood idol, Hulk Hogan, and the two ultimately won the Tag Team titles, on the 4th of July of all days. The title reign was short-lived, but for Edge, it was dream come true. After the team split up, Edge feuded with Eddie Guerrero (who had returned to the company after overcoming a serious personal problems), leading to some great matches, but none greater than the No Disqualification match that occurred on the September 26, 2002 edition of SmackDown!, which Edge won, but also elevated Eddie in which he received a standing ovation from the crowd after the match.
With SmackDown! receiving its own Tag Team championship, Edge formed a team with Rey Mysterio, and while they lost the finals of the tournament to the makeshift team of Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit (two wrestlers who did not like each other), the four completely stole the show at No Mercy 2002 (considering that the main event of that night was the Hell in a Cell match between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker). Edge & Mysterio would ultimately beat Angle & Benoit in a two-out-of-three falls match, but would lose the titles shortly afterwards to Los Guerreros (the team of Eddie Guerrero, and his nephew, Chavo Guerrero, Jr.).
A few months afterwards, Edge suffered a serious neck injury, requiring surgery that put him out of action for over a year. He would make his return at the 2004 Draft Lottery, having been drafted to RAW earlier in the show. This would start the next part of his career. He would win two World Tag Team Championships with Chris Benoit (the first one in Calgary, home of the legendary Hart family, both of them having trained at Stu Hart's Dungeon, plus Benoit being World Heavyweight Champion at the time, and the second one a rather reluctant pairing which I'll talk about in a minute), plus a fifth Intercontinental Championship, which he would have to forfeit after suffering a groin injury. Upon his return, Edge underwent a heel turn, becoming obsessed with the World Heavyweight Championship, which was a refreshing change of pace. Remember when I mentioned Edge's second tag team title run here was reluctant? Well, the fans had a choice between Edge, Chris Benoit, and Shawn Michaels as to who would face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at Taboo Tuesday. Michaels won the vote (even though he was injured during this period), which meant that Edge & Benoit received a Tag Team title shot at La Resistance (Robert Conway & Sylvain Grenier). Edge abandoned Benoit during the match, but they still won the titles anyway. The two would lose the titles to La Resistance when Edge again abandoned Benoit during the match. Oh, and the team that Benoit & Edge lost the titles to in the first place? La Resistance...in Montreal.
Edge would become one of the six competitors in the Elimination Chamber at New Year's Revolution 2005 to determine a new World Heavyweight Champion (the other competitors were Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Randy Orton, Batista, and Triple H), with special guest referee Shawn Michaels. It was here that Edge learned a very important lesson--don't ever lay your hands on an official, especially if that official is Shawn Michaels. Because of this, Edge lost the match, and blamed Michaels for the loss, resulting in a match at the Royal Rumble between the two, which Edge won. Edge would ultimately become a part of the first-ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match involving him, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Kane, Christian, and Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin. Edge would end up winning the match, receiving a contract that would allow him to face the World Heavyweight Champion (later the WWE Champion when the titles changed brands) at any time for up to one year.
It was shortly after this time that the Matt Hardy/Edge/Lita triangle began. I won't bore you with all the details, but long-story-short, Matt Hardy was fired, and Lita in storyline became a heel by turning on Kane (whom she was paired with at the time; don't ask) and joining forces with Edge. Eventually, on July 11, 2005, Matt Hardy made a surprising return to RAW by attacking Matt Hardy, resulting in Hardy ultimately being rehired to face Edge at SummerSlam. Props to those guys for putting their personal issues aside to work on a great feud, but the match at SummerSlam was...not so good. Thankfully, they made up for it with a cage match at Unforgiven (in which Hardy delivered a leg drop from the top of the cage onto the prone bloody Edge), and at RAW Homecoming (Raw's return to the USA Network), in which Edge forced Matt Hardy to leave RAW after beating him in a Ladder Match for Edge's Money in the Bank contract.
After this, Edge feuded with Intercontinental Champion, and 16-time World Champion Ric Flair. It was during this feud that Edge introduced the "Cutting Edge" talk show, which was used to start his feud with Flair by mocking Flair's legal issues at the time. The two would have a match at New Year's Revolution 2006, which Edge lost, but the Rated-R Superstar...that was the nickname he gave himself around the same time as well...would have the last laugh by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on John Cena, who had just successfully defended the WWE Championship in the Elimination Chamber, leading to Edge's first WWE Championship title reign, which lasted only three weeks before losing it back to Cena at the Royal Rumble. However, during his brief title reign, Edge and Lita celebrated by having a live sex celebration in the middle of the ring (well, it wasn't actual sex, but it was the highest-rated segment of Raw in years), plus he also had a TLC match (the first in over three years) against Ric Flair in North Carolina (Flair country).
After losing the WWE Championship back to Cena, Edge began feuding with the man he says cost him the championship in a rematch...Mick Foley. The two would square off in a hardcore match at WrestleMania 22, which ended with one of the greatest WrestleMania moments ever--Edge spearing Mick Foley through a flaming table. As Joey Styles put it when he called the match--"OH MY GOD!!!" Edge would be a part of the Triple Threat WWE Championship match at Backlash, also involving Champion John Cena and Triple H (whom Cena beat at WrestleMania), before forming an alliance with Foley, with Edge, Lita and Foley facing Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer, and Beulah McGillicutty at ECW One Night Stand. Edge's team won the match, and later that night, he cost John Cena the WWE Championship in his match against ECW Original Rob Van Dam. Edge would fail to regain the title against RVD at Vengeance, but would succeed in a Triple Threat Match on RAW involving John Cena one week later (which was around the time RVD was suspended).
After managing to keep the title against Cena on two separate occasions (first, being disqualified in a match at Saturday Night's Main Event, and second, managing to beat Cena at SummerSlam {held in Boston, near Cena's hometown of West Newbury, Mass.} in a match where if he was disqualified, he would lose the title), Edge introduced his new Rated-R Spinner Belt (the WWE Championship spinner belt used since 2005, only with a Rated-R Superstar logo in the middle of it), and was attacked by John Cena, ending up being thrown into the Long Island Sound and leading to a TLC Match at Unforgiven, which was held in Edge's hometown on Toronto. It was also a match that Cena had never competed in, a Match that Edge had never lost (if you don't count TLC III), and if Cena had lost, he would have gone to SmackDown! (similar to what happened to Matt Hardy). Despite overwhelming odds (and also the fact that most of the "smart" audience hates John Cena), Cena managed to beat Edge to regain the WWE title, mainly thanks to Lita (whose second attempt at interference backfired when Cena ended up pushing Edge off the ladder through two tables).
With his WWE Championship dreams dash for the time being, Edge formed an alliance with Randy Orton (whom he had beaten for the IC title back in 2004), who had had issues with Triple H. Okay, here's the full story. D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) had cost Edge the WWE title in a steel cage rematch on RAW, and Orton had been a member of Evolution, led by Triple H, and was kicked out of the group after he had beaten Chris Benoit to win the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam 2004. Because of this, the two formed Rated-RKO, and actually scored a victory over DX at Cyber Sunday (thanks to special guest referee Eric Bischoff; hey, the fans voted for him). Later, they beat Ric Flair and Roddy Piper (taken out of the match beforehand due to health issues) to win the World Tag Team Championships, Edge's 8th title and Orton's 1st. Oh, by the way, the guys that Flair and Piper beat for the Tag Team titles? Five males cheerleaders, one of whom I will get to later on. Oh, and speaking of Lita, all the heat towards her would become so intense that she ultimately decided to retire at Survivor Series, losing her Women's Championship to Mickie James, and getting the worst send-off she could possibly get.
Edge & Orton would lose the Tag Team titles to the makeshift team of John Cena & Shawn Michaels (who would end up facing each other at WrestleMania for the WWE title), after Triple H had been injured during the DX/Rated-RKO match at New Year's Revolution. Edge & Orton would also compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 23, but neither was successful (Edge, in fact, was taken out by Jeff Hardy by being drilled through a ladder after jumping off of another ladder). Edge & Orton were also unsuccessful in a Fatal Four-Way match for the WWE title at Backlash (which also involved ex-Tag champions John Cena & Shawn Michaels). Shortly afterwards, Edge defeated Mr. Kennedy (who was working injured) to win the Money in the Bank Briefcase that Kennedy had won at Mania, and later that week, went to SmackDown! to beat a weakened Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Championship, beginning the next part of his career.
Edge would retain his title against Batista at One Night Stand and Vengeance: Night of Champions, but would be forced to vacate the title after being injured by Kane. After returning from injury, he would begin what I consider to be the low point of his career--his alliance with Vickie Guerrero. Okay, let me get this out of the way. I didn't start having real issues with Vickie Guerrero until after she became involved with Edge. I didn't really have too much of a problem during her alliance with Chavo Guerrero against Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit (then again, I only recently got back into the business, so I wasn't as passionate a fan of Eddie Guerrero as I am nowadays), but after she aligned herself with Edge and managed to maneuver her way into becoming General Manager of SmackDown! (which had been held by Theodore Long until his "heart attack"...I might get to that in a future blog entry), I lost all respect for her. And needless to say, I'm sure a lot of fans lost respect for her, too. In fact, I'm sure when they did the angle where Edge "married" Vickie, Eddie Guerrero turned over in his grave.
Okay, end rant...for now. Edge would retain the World Heavyweight Championship at Armageddon in a Triple Threat involving Champion Batista (who had regained the title from The Great Khali {you'll be hearing about that story in a future entry for sure}) and The Undertaker. During the match, the former Major Brothers interfered to ensure that Edge would regain the title. These "Edgeheads," now named Zack Ryder (watch his show on YouTube, people. The Broski needs a major push) and Curt Hawkins, would form "La Familia" with Edge, Vickie, and Chavo Guerrero (who I had little respect for until recently). Edge would turn back Rey Mysterio at title defenses during the Royal Rumble and No Way Out 2008 before he would fall to The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXIV, becoming the Phenom's 16th victim and losing the World Heavyweight Championship. He would also lose to the Undertaker in a rematch at Backlash, and this is where I get to the point where Vickie Guerrero became my most hated person in professional wrestling.
Abusing her power as General Manager, she stripped The Undertaker of the World Title and declared his Hell's Gate submission hold illegal. Then, at Judgment Day, she abused her powers again by not declaring the Undertaker the Champion after he beat Edge by count-out. But what really pissed me off was the TLC match at One Night Stand, where she proclaimed that if Taker lost, he would be banned from the WWE, which is exactly what happened--Edge won his fifth World Title, and Taker was "banned" from the WWE. After a VERY controversial title defense against Batista (who had been drafted to RAW at the 2008 draft) at Night of Champions, Edge got a taste of his own medicine when Batista beat the living daylights out of him the following night on RAW, followed by CM Punk cashing in his Money in the Bank contract that he won at WrestleMania XXIV and beating Edge in less than 30 seconds to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
Remember the "wedding" I mentioned? Well, after losing the World title, Edge initially called off the wedding to Vickie Guerrero (to the delight of every WWE fan in existence), but the wedding was soon called back on (to the chagrin of every WWE fan in existence). At the post-wedding reception, WWE Champion Triple H (who was drafted to SmackDown! in the draft) interrupted the ceremony, and then showed video of Edge making out with "wedding planner" Alicia Fox before the wedding. Needless to say, Vickie was pissed, and after Edge lost the WWE title match at The Great American Bash, the GM/wife re-instated The Undertaker and put Edge in a Hell in a Cell Match at SummerSlam. He lost the match, and was "sent to Hell" by the Undertaker (in actuality, he took an injury sabbatical). Edge would return in a VERY CONTROVERSIAL WWE Championship Match at Survivor Series (I'll get to that one in a future entry for sure), and win the WWE title for a third time (6th World Title overall). Edge would lose the WWE title at Armageddon in a Triple Threat which involved Triple H and Jeff Hardy. Guess who won?
Come on, guess.
Okay, I'll tell you. It was Jeff Hardy. Edge would regain the title at the Royal Rumble one month later (7th world championship), after Matt Hardy turned on his brother Jeff (this was during a No-Disqualification match, BTW). At the No Way Out, during the SmackDown! Elimination Chamber, Edge would lose the WWE Championship (in fact, he was the first one eliminated), but would have the last laugh by forcing his way into the RAW Elimination Chamber by taking out Kofi Kingston and ultimately winning the World Heavyweight Championship (8th world championship). Edge would lose the title to John Cena at WrestleMania XXV in a Triple Threat Match which also involved The Big Show. Big Show would later help Edge regain the title (9th world championship) at Backlash in a Last Man Standing Match, bringing the World Heavyweight Championship back to SmackDown! (the WWE Championship was brought back to RAW when Triple H was drafted back in the 2009 draft). Edge's reign would end at Extreme Rules when Jeff Hardy defeated him in a Ladder Match, but Hardy's luck would run out when CM Punk cashed in his WrestleMania XXV Money in The Bank contract and defeated him to win the title (this would mark the start of Punk's heel turn and Hardy's eventual departure from the WWE {plus his entrance into legal hell}).
After Edge lost the championship, he decided to end his marriage with Vickie Guerrero (who had become the General Manager of RAW {don't ask why} and was now resigning), which made wrestling fans all around the world happy (and made Eddie Guerrero turn back up in his grave). At The Bash, Edge would form a tag team with Chris Jericho (another Dungeon graduate), winning the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship from Carlito and Primo Colon (who had unified the titles at the WrestleMania XXV dark match). The tag team was short-lived, however, as Edge suffered a torn Achilles tendon. Edge would have to forfeit his half of the titles, but promised everyone that if he came back...WHEN he came back, he would prove Jericho (who turned on him) and everyone else wrong.
Edge would indeed make his return at the 2010 Royal Rumble, winning the match at entry #29 (taking out Jericho shortly after his entrance, and ultimately eliminating John Cena to win the match), and ended up challenging Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship (Jericho had won the WHC at Elimination Chamber thanks to Shawn Michaels, who was seeking a WrestleMania rematch with The Undertaker). Edge would be unsuccessful in unseating Jericho, but did Spear Jericho through the barricade, weakening him enough to have the Money in the Bank contract cashed on him by WrestleMania XXVI winner Jack Swagger (you now, this is really starting to get old). Edge would ultimately end his feud with Jericho by beating him in a Steel Cage Match at Extreme Rules.
Following that, Edge (and Jericho) would be drafted to RAW. This, in my opinion, would be a mistake, as well as turning him back heel when he had been a huge face upon his return earlier in the year. Edge's run on Raw in 2010 didn't really give him any success, as he lost his Fatal 4-Way Championship match involving Sheamus (who won the title), John Cena (who lost the title), and Randy Orton (who he was feuding with upon returning to RAW). Edge was also unsuccessful at the Money in the Bank ladder match at the pay-per-view of the same name (that match was won by The Miz, or as I like to call him now, The Wiz. {I'll tell you why in a future blog entry}). Edge was also a part of Team WWE (in reality, Team RAW, since there were only RAW members on the team) in the 14-man elimination tag match against Nexus at SummerSlam (the other members were John Cena {captain}, John Morrison, R-Truth, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, and the returning Daniel Bryan {I'll get to THAT in a future entry; I'm making a lot of promises today, aren't I?}). Team RAW was successful, but Edge was eliminated during the match. Edge was also unsuccessful in the Six-Pack Challenge for the WWE Title at Night of Champions (which involved Champion Sheamus, John Cena, Nexus Leader Wade Barrett, Chris Jericho, and six-pack victor Randy Orton).
The following events would lead to his face "re"-turn, and his return to SmackDown! After hosting a Cutting Edge with special guest, the "Anonymous" General Manger of RAW (oh, you are going to hear from me about that, I guarantee it), and ultimately destroying the RAW laptop after the GM reversed a decision on his match against John Cena. Upon returning to the Blue Brand, Edge joined the SmackDown! team in the Bragging Rights match, becoming one of the two surviving members (the other being Rey Mysterio) in their victory against RAW (SmackDown's now 2-0 against Raw at BR). Edge would then feud with Kane and abduct Paul Bearer, who had returned (GTTL), and while he failed in regaining the title at Survivor Series (a double-pin, are you serious?), he would the World Championship for a tenth time at TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in a TLC match also involving Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio.
And now, I get to the point of the blog which will cause some controversy with the fans. Vickie Guerrero (remember her? I wouldn't want to), who had become the "executive consultant" of SmackDown!, made her new 'boyfriend', Dolph Ziggler, the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble, and with General Manager Theodore Long temporarily out of commission, she decided to abuse her powers again by barring the Spear during the championship match. Despite this, at the Royal Rumble, Edge would regain. However...in a rematch with Vickie Guerrero as special guest referee, she blatantly refused to count on Edge, and thankfully was taken out, leading to one of the Green Bay Packers (I forget which one), making the three count on Edge, and retaining the title...or so we thought.
Here, THE BITCH (you know who I'm talking about) would abuse her power again by firing Edge and stripping him of the World Heavyweight Championship. After awarding Ziggler the title, Teddy Long would return, and force Ziggler to defend his title against the re-hired Edge (who won). T-Lo would then fire Ziggler, and the following week, Vickie herself was fired (although not for long, unfortunately) after losing a tag match which involved Edge.
Allow me to rant for a moment. Dolph Ziggler was once a member of the Spirit Squad (namely Nicky, as his real name is Nick Nemeth). Simply awarding him the World Heavyweight Championship when he did absolutely nothing to deserve it, and then having Edge regain it was just absolutely STUPID. What I would have done, if I were booking this show, was have Teddy Long strike Dolph's "title win" from the record, give Edge the World Heavyweight Championship back upon being rehired, fire Dolph, and then force Vickie to go one-on-one with Edge (which Edge would of course, win). In fact, I refuse to acknowledge these ridiculous title changes. End rant.
After successfully retaining his title at the Elimination Chamber, Edge would have to deal with the Royal Rumble winner, Alberto Del Rio. However, Edge would have help this time in his buddy Christian (who had left the WWE in 2005, returned in 2009, and began aligning himself with Edge in late 2010 starting with the memorable Slammy Award speech.), and at WrestleMania XVII, Edge would succeed as he had failed the previous three times in winning a title match. This, however, would prove to be his last televised match as he would be forced to retire.
Here's the speech he gave at this past Monday's Raw.
What else can I say? Thirty title reigns (as I mentioned, I don't count the "changes" from early 2011), Royal Rumble winner, King of the Ring winner, Triple Crown champion, and sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer. Not only one of the greatest Canadian wrestlers in history (and there have been a lot of great Canadians in wrestling history), but one of the greatest PERIOD.
And for the record, here are the championships he won over his 13-year WWE career. Championships marked with (*) are reigns that ended due to injury.
- WWF Intercontinental Champioship (July 24-25, 1999; 1st)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (with Christian; April 2-May 29, 2000; 1st each)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (with Christian; June 25-September 24, 2000; 2nd each)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (with Christian, as Los Conquistadores; October 22-23, 2000; 3rd each)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (with Christian; December 10-18, 2000; 4th each)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (with Christian; December 21, 2000-January 21, 2001; 5th each)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (with Christian; March 19, 2001; 6th each)
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (with Christian; April 1-19, 2001; 7th each)
- WWF Intercontinental Championship (August 19-September 23, 2001; 2nd)
- WWF Intercontinental Championship (October 21-November 5, 2001; 3rd)
- WCW United States Championship (November 12-18, 2001; 1st)
- WWF Intercontinental Championship (November 18, 2001-January 20, 2002; 4th)
- WWE World Tag Team Championship (with Hollywood Hulk Hogan; July 4-22, 2002; 8th for Edge, 1st for Hogan)
- WWE SmackDown! Tag Team Championship (with Rey Mysterio; November 7-17, 2002; 1st)
- WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (with Chris Benoit; April 19-May 31, 2004; 9th for Edge, 2nd for Benoit)
- WWE Intercontinental Championship (July 11-September 6, 2004; 5th)*
- WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (with Chris Benoit; October 19-November 1, 2004; 10th for Edge, 3rd for Benoit)
- WWE Championship (January 8-29, 2006; 1st)
- WWE Championship (July 3-September 17, 2006; 2nd)
- WWE RAW Tag Team Championship (with Randy Orton; November 13, 2006-January 28, 2007; 11th for Edge, 1st for Orton)
- World Heavyweight Championship (May 11-July 20, 2007; 1st)*
- World Heavyweight Championship (December 16, 2007-March 30, 2008; 2nd)
- World Heavyweight Championship (June 1-30, 2008; 3rd)
- WWE Championship (November 23-December 14, 2008; 3rd)
- WWE Championship (January 25-February 15, 2009; 4th)
- World Heavyweight Championship (February 15-April 5, 2009; 4th)
- World Heavyweight Championship (April 26-June 7, 2009; 5th)
- Unified WWE Tag Team Championship-RAW (June 28-July 26, 2009; 12th for Edge, 4th for Jericho)*
- Unified WWE Tag Team Championship-SmackDown! (June 28-July 26, 2009; 2nd for Edge, 1st for Jericho)*
- World Heavyweight Championship (December 19, 2010-April 15, 2011; 6th)*
WHEW! That was a long one. Hopefully my next blog entry isn't that long.
Monday, April 11, 2011
How I would have booked WrestleMania XXVII, plus the subsequent Raw and SmackDown
For starters, I'd like to apologize for not posting anything over the past few months (then again, nobody's really reading this blog). I just haven't had the motivation to write anything in here. But after what happened last week, I feel I must break my silence.
WrestleMania XXVII, held on April 3, 2011 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, has to be, arguably, the worst WrestleMania of all time. Your mileage may vary, of course, but after reading the results and watching the live chat on WWE.com, I honestly felt that this was worse that WrestleMania IX (which had lackluster matches, and stupid angles such as Hulk Hogan winning the WWF Title for no real reason) and WrestleMania XI (which also had lackluster matches, stupid angles, plus the main event involving a CELEBRITY {okay, he's a professional athlete of another sport}). What exactly did I hate about Mania 27, you ask? Well, here's what I posted on Facebook...
"Oh, boy. Where do I begin?
First off, they completely screw Daniel Bryan and Sheamus by putting them in a dark Lumberjack Match which then turns into a non-title Battle Royal!
Then what's the first match at the actual event? The World Heavy...weight Championship Match! Uh, aren't World Title matches supposed to be near the END of WrestleMania?!
At least Edge retained his title. That's one good thing.
Cody Rhodes then beat Rey Mysterio. That was okay.
Then we had the Eight Man Tag Team match. I thought Kofi was the perfect replacement for Vladimir Kozlov since he had history with The Corre. My only problem? IT WAS TOO DAMN SHORT!
As for the Orton/Punk match, I have to say I was a little disappointed.
Now we get to the moment that really pissed me off...
THAT (EXPLETIVE DELETED) RAW GM REVERSED THE (EXPLETIVE DELETED) DECISION ON THE KING/COLE MATCH!!
Whoever the Raw General Manager is...(EXPLETIVE DELETED) you.
I'm sure the Taker/Triple H match was epic...but it still didn't save the show.
I have no comment on the Snooki match.
Now, as for the final Cena/Miz match...I absolutely HATED HATED HATED HATED the ending. Sure, The Rock restarted the match, then he gave the Rock Bottom to Cena (who deserved it), but then...THE MIZ RETAINED THE WWE TITLE!!!
While many people say he deserves his spot, that still doesn't change my view of him. I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HATE HIM! (and I know I'm probably in the minority of that opinion)
Even though The Rock beat up The Miz after the match ended, it still didn't save the show. It was doomed from the start. THAT'S MY VIEW AND I'M STICKING TO IT!
First off, they completely screw Daniel Bryan and Sheamus by putting them in a dark Lumberjack Match which then turns into a non-title Battle Royal!
Then what's the first match at the actual event? The World Heavy...weight Championship Match! Uh, aren't World Title matches supposed to be near the END of WrestleMania?!
At least Edge retained his title. That's one good thing.
Cody Rhodes then beat Rey Mysterio. That was okay.
Then we had the Eight Man Tag Team match. I thought Kofi was the perfect replacement for Vladimir Kozlov since he had history with The Corre. My only problem? IT WAS TOO DAMN SHORT!
As for the Orton/Punk match, I have to say I was a little disappointed.
Now we get to the moment that really pissed me off...
THAT (EXPLETIVE DELETED) RAW GM REVERSED THE (EXPLETIVE DELETED) DECISION ON THE KING/COLE MATCH!!
Whoever the Raw General Manager is...(EXPLETIVE DELETED) you.
I'm sure the Taker/Triple H match was epic...but it still didn't save the show.
I have no comment on the Snooki match.
Now, as for the final Cena/Miz match...I absolutely HATED HATED HATED HATED the ending. Sure, The Rock restarted the match, then he gave the Rock Bottom to Cena (who deserved it), but then...THE MIZ RETAINED THE WWE TITLE!!!
While many people say he deserves his spot, that still doesn't change my view of him. I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HATE HIM! (and I know I'm probably in the minority of that opinion)
Even though The Rock beat up The Miz after the match ended, it still didn't save the show. It was doomed from the start. THAT'S MY VIEW AND I'M STICKING TO IT!
(Whew!)"
Plus, on the following night's Raw, we had Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler reunite for the first segment, but it quickly went all downhill from there...
THEY CONTINUED THE (EXPLETIVE DELETED) MICHAEL COLE ANGLE!!!
Plus, they had him completely embarrass Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, two Hall of Famers, and have him take over the show again. Because of this, I am boycotting Raw and SmackDown until they take Michael Cole off of television.
Now, how would I have booked WrestleMania differently? Well, let's find out.
First-off, I would keep the pre-show battle royal, only not include Daniel Bryan and Sheamus (obviously).
Then, The Rock would welcome the audience to WrestleMania, but not have a 20-minute promo. Also, there wouldn’t be as many “entertaining” backstage segments.
Calling the action for the first part of the show would be Josh Mathews and Booker T.
Now, the wrestling begins, with…(drumroll)…Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus for the U.S. Title. Bryan would win by a surprise roll-up to regain the Title (which he would then lose the following night on Raw).
Second, keep the Rhodes/Mysterio match the same (having Rhodes beat Mysterio)
Third, the eight-man tag match would be longer…and this time, The Corre would win.
Fourth, CM Punk vs. Randy Orton. This time I’d have Punk win, but Orton would get the last laugh by RKO-ing Punk after the match due to the Straight Edge Superstar bragging right to Orton’s face.
Fifth, the Edge/Del Rio world title match. I’d keep the match the same (Edge retaining).
Now, onto the King/Cole match.
Obviously, Cole would have little-to-no offense on King. However, Swagger would interfere and end up throwing Lawler on Josh Mathews, taking him out. Austin would then stunner Swagger after the All-American American flips the Rattlesnake off. The match would end with Lawler delivering his fist drop and Austin counting the 1-2-3. Now, for the after-match. Cole would regain consciousness and begin to complain to Austin, who would respond with a Stunner. And then…King would give Michael Cole a well-deserved Piledriver. And after that, Booker T comes into the ring to do the spin-a-roonie, and the Austin stuns him. Yeah, I kept that part it. So now, JR and King call the rest of the event.
Next would be Undertaker/Triple H. No changes there.
After that…yes, I’m putting the Mixed Tag Match here to give the crowd a chance to relax. Oh, and it’s a lumberjill match involving the other Divas. Morrison and Ziggler would get more involved, and the face team would win. Oh, I’d also have Morrison give Starship Pain to Vickie as payback for a few weeks earlier.
Now, for the last match. Here’s how I’d end it—Miz hits SCF on Cena, but Cena kicks out. Cena gives AA to Miz, but Miz kicks out. A ref bump, then Miz gives a SCF to Cena on the floor, grabs the title, then tries to walk out of the Georgia Dome, but The Rock stops him and throws him back into the ring. Cena, who managed to recover would then hit another AA on Miz, and Cena covers. Rock counts two, but then stops just before three. Cena gives him a surprised look, and Rock then Rock Bottoms Cena. Miz then slowly makes his way to the Cena and covers just as the ref regains consciousness. Yeah, I don’t like it, but I decided to let Miz retain. But then, Rock would give Miz the Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow to end the show.
With this WrestleMania, we’d have the Bryan/Sheamus match, the one title change at WrestleMania that’s been around since the beginning, plus all of the other divas would be involved.
Now as for Raw, here's what I would have changed...
After the opening Triple H promo, Cole would come out wearing a neck brace, and limping to the ring, complaining that his match against Lawler was unfair and demand that the Anonymous General Manager reverse the decision.
However, Stone Cold would then come out, saying that he was supposed to come out later to introduce the Tough Enough contestants, but after hearing Michael Cole continue to run his mouth off, he couldn’t take it anymore. The Rattlesnake would then explain that last night he discovered who the Anonymous General Manager really was, stating that backstage after the match, he overheard Cole and Swagger talking, before revealing that the General Manager was in fact, all this time…MICHAEL COLE!!
Cole brags about fooling everyone all this time (yeah, right!), and then tries to reverse the decision himself, but Austin stuns him, and then invites the Divas to the ring, who then continue beating up on Cole, including a Glam Slam by Beth Phoenix, and a Sharpshooter by Natalya. Finally, the King would enter the ring, with J.R. telling him that enough is enough, and Lawler gives Cole one more piledriver. Just then, the GM beeps, much to everyone’s confusion. Jim Ross then goes to the laptop and reads the e-mail stating “And I quote…due to his actions over the past several months, Michael Cole has been suspended indefinitely!” (yes, Jim Ross does say “And I quote” as it’s part of the message) Cole would then be taken out on a stretcher, while the audience sings “na-na-na-na hey hey goodbye!”
After the break, Jack Swagger is seen arguing with Arn Anderson about being refused entry into the building. Double A informs the All-American American that he has been ejected from the arena by orders of the Anonymous General Manager. Swagger refuses to budge and demands to speak to Michael Cole. Anderson says that it just isn’t possible and points out the stretcher carrying Cole. Swagger asks the paramedics what happened, but they won’t answer, so he decides to follow them.
Back at ringside, as the participants for the Orton/Mysterio-Punk/Rhodes match enter the arena, J.R. announces that in celebration of King’s victory at WrestleMania, plus Cole’s departure, he’s throwing a party after the show.
Later that night, when Austin comes out to introduce the Tough Enough contestants, he gives Lawler a souvenir…Michael Cole’s BlackBerry that he’d been using to send himself the e-mails. He had pocketed it after stunning Cole in the ring (at Raw), which means that he was also the one that sent the e-mails earlier in the show. Then, after the Tough Enough crew were introduced, when The Miz comes out, he congratulates Stone Cold for his actions earlier in the show, stating that Michael Cole was starting to get on his nerves, before going back to bashing him.
During the John Morrison/Dolph Ziggler match (just a singles match between the two of them), when Vickie (who was still suffering the affects of Starship Pain from 24 hours earlier) tries to interfere during the match, Trish Stratus (who accompanied Morrison to the ring) gives her a Chick Kick. After the match, and Ziggler loses, the “Perfection” simply leaves Vickie lying there. Ultimately, during the break, when several officials try to help her to the back, she shoves them off, screams likes a banshee, then heads back under her own power.
Yes, I would have kept the Rock/Cena confrontation and announcement of their match for Mania 28. I didn't know what else to put there.
Now, here's how I would have changed SmackDown...
Josh Mathews and Booker T call SmackDown by themselves. Booker says that he and Josh attended a party thrown by J.R. and The King celebrating Michael Cole’s defeat at WrestleMania, total embarrassment on Raw, and suspension from the WWE. Josh says that it’s been an almost perfect week for him. The only things wrong with it were the fact that he was taken out by Jack Swagger at WrestleMania and that he didn’t have any shots at Cole on Raw for himself (due to the Twitter controversy).
Jack Swagger comes out later in the night, explaining that he’s sent a letter of complaint to Vince McMahon in response to Michael Cole’s humiliation at WrestleMania and “wrongful” suspension on Raw. He also vows to make Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, AND Stone Cold Steve Austin pay for their “crimes”. That’s when Sin Cara enters and attacks.
As for the Christian/Del Rio match, it ends in a no contest when Brodus Clay, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Edge get involved. Teddy Long comes out and announces that the World Heavyweight Championship ladder match will now be a triple threat involving Edge, Alberto Del Rio, and Christian! By doing this situation, Del Rio gets his rematch, plus the fans get what they want--Christian given an opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship.
But, if you watched the Blue Brand this past Friday, you'd notice that Cole was still on that show, plus the Ladder Match is again Edge/Del Rio with no Christian. Now you see why I'm boycotting that show, too.
Man, that was a long one. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with more blog entries soon (that is, if anyone will read them).
That's my rant. I'm outta here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)