Skyefire's WWE DVD review featuring NOPE matches

[Skyefire]

One of my favorite wrestlers ever, the Rated R Superstar, Edge. This DVD follows the first 10 years of his WWE career and matches are introduced by Edge himself, in character. No one else did that. Not Austin, not The Rock, not Ultimate Warrior.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would introduce myself but what would be like DeNiro introducing himself before The Deer Hunter, Brando before The Godfather, Costner before Waterworld...okay, maybe not THAT one."

Edge vs Owen Hart, In Your House: Break Down
At Summerslam, Edge made his first PPV appearance at Summerslam as the mystery partner for Sable against Edge and Jacqueline. One month later here he is in a singles match against Owen Hart. Edge makes his way through the crowd in Hamilton, Ontario. He's going up against another Canadian from the most famous Canadian wrestling family. Owen comes down wearing a Toronto Argonauts CFL jersey. Seems unlike a heel to be wearing a home team jersey. Nevertheless, the fans chant "nugget" at him. Edge is impressive against the much more experienced Owen. After a couple of minutes of some great technical wrestling by both men, Owen ends up out on the floor. Edge delivers a baseball slide from the ring to the outside knocking Owen down. He then gets up on the ring apron and gets a running start and charges at Owen, but Owen slams Edge to the floor. Owen goes to work on the back of Edge. A short while later, Owen whips Edge into the corner but Edge quickly climbs to the second turnbuckle and comes back with a flying press. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter but Edge stops him by pushing him away with his legs. Suddenly a mysterious man (Christian) enters from the crowd and stands at ringside. Edge is surprised to see him and seems to say "What are you doing here?" Owen comes up from behind Edge and rolls him up for the pin. While not the most exciting match, it was a very good showing for the youngster Edge.

Next up are two of the iconic ladder matches. The tag team ladder match between Edge & Christian and The Hardyz at No Mercy, and the Triangle Ladder Match from WrestleMania 2000. I won't be mentioning every high spot from these matches as that would take too long and would involve a lot of pausing the DVD to type.

Tag Team Ladder Match, Edge & Christian vs The New Brood (Matt & Jeff Hardy), No Mercy '99
Over the course of the next year, Edge would join Gangrel and Christian to form The Brood. They would then collectively join the Ministry of Darkness. Now it's October and Gangrel has now recruited The Hardy Boyz as The New Brood. A Best-of-Five tag team series between the two teams would take place with the winning team getting $100,000 and Terri Runnels' managerial services. The fifth match ended in a draw forcing this sudden death ladder match. Jerry Lawler is quick to emphasize the winning team getting Terri's "Services" and also mentions that the Best-of-Five series, is dubbed the Terri Invitational Tournament, or TIT for short. Some of the highlights of this match, Christian delivers a reverse DDT on Matt off the ladder. Edge powerbombs Matt off the ladder then starts to climb the ladder himself when Jeff comes off the corner with a dropkick to knock Edge off. Jeff delivers a Swanton to Edge who's laying on the ladder. Jeff does a leapfrog from the top turnbuckle over the ladder onto Christian. Edge is climbing the ladder when Matt throws the ladder at him knocking him off. Two ladders are set up in the middle of the ring as Edge climbs one, Matt climbs the other next to him and delivers a neckbreaker from halfway up. Moments later, Christian hip-tosses Jeff off the ladder. E&C set up the ladders in a slingshot position and are going to suplex Jeff off the top turnbuckle onto one of the ladders, when Matt breaks it up. Matt tosses Edge out of the ring and then begins going to work on Christian as the two men stand above the end of one ladder. Jeff then leaps off the top turnbuckle to the far end of the ladder sending it up into the faces of Matt and Christian. (The same move that would destroy Joey Mercury's face, and his career, years later.) The crowd is in awe. All four men are climbing the ladders and both ladders separately get knocked down sending all four men into the ropes. The two ladders get set back up. Edge and Matt on one, Jeff and Christian on the other. Matt gets shoved off by Edge. He bounces off the ropes and knocks over the other ladder. Jeff gets on the ladder with Edge, knocks him off and grabs the bag of cash to win the match. The Hardyz exit with the money right away and the crowd begins applauding Edge & Christian, as well as the Hardyz, for their efforts. At one point during this match JR states "These four men may never be the same after this." While he's referring to the physical toll it will take on their bodies, he's not wrong about what this match would do for their careers. My one complaint about this match is Jerry Lawler's commentary. Lawler keeps talking about Terri's "services", implying sexual, and talks about during Sunday Night Heat when he was interviewing Terri in the ring and she climbed the ladder and he looked up at her. At one point, he says that Terri's services were "winking" at him.

Tag Team Championship, Triangle Ladder Match: Dudley Boyz (c) vs Edge & Christian vs Hardy Boyz, WrestleMania 2000
Of the four iconic ladder matches this one tends to get the least amount of recognition. This DVD was released while WWE still couldn't use the WWF scratch logo, which is a big problem with this event because it's used as the W in WrestleMania in the logo for this event. Early on in the match a few fans are chanting for tables. The ladders are used as weapons early on in the match. Jeff lays Bubba on a ladder and goes for a Swanton but Bubba moves out of the way and Jeff lands on the ladder. Bubba then places the ladder on top of Jeff and delivers a splash onto the ladder on Jeff. Just a few minutes in and all six men are down. Bubba then channels his inner Terry Funk by placing the ladder on his neck and swinging it to take out all of his opponents. Jeff climbs the ladder and Edge leaps from the top turnbuckle hitting him with a spear. Bubba delivers a modified 3D to Christian from two-thirds of the way up the ladder. A short while later, Edge & Christian double suplex D-Von from the ladder. With all six men on three ladders in the center of the ring, Christian and Jeff's ladder gets knocked over sending both men all the way down to the floor of the arena, Bubba gets knocked off, he goes into the ropes and knocks down all the ladders. The Dudleyz each grab a ladder and slam them into Christian before hitting the 3D on Edge. D-VON! GET THE TABLES! (They hadn't actually started saying that yet, they just high fived each other and went for the tables). They set up a table bridging two ladders in the center of the ring. More tables are set up. D-Von places Jeff Hardy on a table in the ring and goes for a splash but Jeff moves out of the way. Outside the ring, Bubba stands on top of the Spanish announcers' table and powerbombs Matt through another table at ringside. Outside the ring, Jeff does his running up the guardrail leaping out towards a standing Bubba, but Bubba hits him with a ladder. Bubba then grabs a taller ladder and sets it up in the aisle with a table at it's base. He drags Jeff toward the ladder and starts to set him up on the table but Christian hits Bubba with the ring bell. Jeff then places Bubba on the table and removes his own shirt. (I've come to realize that Jeff taking off his shirt, while pleasing to many of the ladies in the crowd, it's also akin to Kurt Angle removing the straps of his tights. It means business is about to pick up). Jeff climbs the ladder all the way to the vert top and hits a Swanton Bomb onto Bubba. There's a smattering of "Holy Shit" chants in the crowd. In the ring, Matt and Christian climb the ladders onto the table. Edge follows Matt up and knocks him off, through a table, allowing himself and his partner to grab the belts and win the match. Edge & Christian are Tag Team Champions for the first time in their careers.

What an awesome couple of matches. There are so many more amazing spots in these matches that I just couldn't cover, so if you've never seen these, do it.

We jump forward yet another year. Edge & Christian, Hardyz, and Dudleyz would have two more iconic TLC matches. They then had a third TLC match involving Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho as a fourth team. In the summer of 2001, Edge won the King of the Ring tournament and began to break out as a singles star. The superstars of WCW and ECW invaded the WWF and Edge took the fight to them on behalf of the WWF. Now he's going up against I-C Champion Lance Storm.

I-C Championship, Lance Storm (c) vs Edge, Summerslam '01
"I've said that there's no reason for offbeat shenanigans in this business, and if I can extended the courtesy of no interruptions, I'll explain. Splendid. The reason is..." It's at that point Edge's music hits and out comes the King of the Ring. Starts off as a typical technical wrestling match. Nothing spectacular in the early goings. A couple of times Christian is shown in the locker room of Team WWF cheering on his "brother". The crowd is pretty well into this match backing Edge. Late in the match, Storm goes to the top rope and leaps off toward Edge, but Edge grabs him and turns it into a slam. The pace picks up after this. Later Storm applies the single-leg Boston Crab on Edge. Edge makes his way to the ropes. Edge then reverses it into a single leg crab of his own. Storm grabs the referee by the leg and knocks him down (wow, Jimmy Korderas is weak). Christian then comes down to the ring (he must have been right behind the curtain and ran out the instant Korderas wen down). Christian goes to spear Storm, but misses and hits Edge. Storm goes for a pin, but Edge kicks out. Edge soon reverses Storm and hits what would become known as the Edgecution on Storm and picks up the win to secure his second I-C Title reign and pick up a win for the WWF. This was a good technical match. Got exciting at the end. This was the second time Edge was I-C Champion (if you're not familiar with his first reign, his win is a bonus match on this DVD that's coming up later).

So over the next few months the partnership of Edge & Christian collapsed and Christian soon turned on Edge. Christian would defeat Edge to win the I-C title at Unforgiven in September. In October on Raw, Christian approached his "brother" backstage to tell him that their mother was in an accident and had been rushed to the hospital. It was all a setup as Christian and his new pals in The Alliance attacked Edge (Now, years later WWE would acknowledge that Edge and Christian were not actually brothers, which really brings that storyline into question). Christian would beat Edge in a Ladder Match at No Mercy to win back the I-C title. He would lose the title to test a few weeks later, then win the WCW United States Championship beating Kurt Angle, the same man he beat to win the King of the Ring. This would set up a title vs title match against Test at Survivor Series which Edge would win. That match is on this DVD, but I'm going to skip a review. I'm also skipping over a match between Edge and Mr. Perfect from Sunday Night heat in early 2002.

Hair vs Hair Match, Edge vs Kurt Angle, Judgment Day 2002
This match starts off at a fast and furious pace. This match is a rematch from Backlash when Angle won. Early in the match, Angle delivers a belly-to-belly overhead throw sending Edge from the ring to the floor. Back in the ring, Angle gets a sleeper on Edge. Edge refuses to give up or pass out. Angle takes advantage by grabbing Edge's hair to pull him down. Edge soon comes back with a belly-to-bell overhead throw in the ring. Despite the fact that this is a Smackdown brand match, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on commentary as they are for the entire PPV. Edge goes to the top rope. Angle does a running climb of the ropes in an attempt to take Edge down, but Edge shoves him off. Edge then delivers a missile dropkick from the top rope onto Angle. Soon thereafter, Edge goes back to the top rope and once again Angle runs up to the second rope and this time is successful in pulling him down. Edge later goes for a spear on Angle, but Kurt moves out of the way and Edge hits the referee. Angle grabs a chair and goes after Edge but Edge hits him with a spear. Edge covers Angle but the referee is still down. Edge hits a second spear on Angle and goes for a pin. This time the referee comes to and slowly counts the pin but Angle kicks out at two. Angle comes back with a spear of his own followed by the Angle slam and a pin but Edge kicks out at two. Angle applies the ankle lock to Edge. Edge struggles but soon turns himself over, kicks Angle off to the ropes and rolls him up for the three. Edge is your winner. But, Angle is a sore loser and attacks Edge after the match. Edge fights back with the Edgecution. This was a great match. Edge really showed that he can hold his own with the top stars. Afterwards, Angle tries to get away from Edge. Edge chases him back to the back of the arena where is jumped by Angle. The fight resembles a Hardcore title match. Angle drags Edge out onto the stage to the barber's chair that is set up. Edge fights back and gets a sleeper on Angle and Angle passes out. Edge places Angle in the barber's chair and shaves his head bald. Anytime there's a hair shaving you see them use electric hair clippers, but those don't work all that well on sweaty heads. Edge goes so far as to use shaving cream and a straight razor. Edge then wakes Angle up and hands him a mirror. Kurt is not happy. Edge grabs a microphone and says that now when they play Angle's music that instead of chanting "you suck" the fans are going to chant "you're bald". Angle's music then plays and the crowd chants "You're bald."

On his own DVD, Angle states that he and Vince pranked Edge into thinking that he was going to get his head shaved. It was shortly before the start of the show that they finally revealed to Edge than Kurt was getting his head shaved. Angle also mentions that he was naturally losing his hair at the time (and you can kinda see that here) and thus was willing to shave his head. It's almost weird to see Kurt with hair. It's almost like losing his hair reinvented him and took him to a new level. Kurt does say that soon after this was when the era of goofy Kurt ended and serious Kurt began.

Steel Cage Match, Edge vs Kurt Angle, Smackdown May 30, 2002
Edge and Angle are set to do battle in the rubber match of their rivalry, this time inside of a steel cage. Angle comes to the ring wearing amateur wrestling headgear holding a toupee on his head (he claims it's not a toupee and that he grew his hair back). This takes place in Calgary, Alberta, and the Hart Family, including Stu, are seen at ringside. This comes less than two weeks after the death of Davey Boy Smith. The two men start off with some technical wrestling. Angle is outside the ropes as Edge goes for a spear, but Angle moves out of the way and Edge hits the cage. They go back to wrestling and Angle hits the three consecutive German suplexes. Angle rams Edge head first into the cage and Edge is now busted open. Edge soon fights back and slingshots Angle into the cage. Angle's hair is barely hanging on at this point. Angle whips Edge off the ropes, Edge goes for a flying body press but Angle moves out of the way and Edge hits the referee. Angle begins to climb the cage, but a bloody Edge meets him there and delivers a belly-to-back superplex. Edge begins to climb, but Angle meets him and delivers a low blow. Angle then delivers an Angle slam from the top rope. Angle them climbs the cage and escapes. But, there's no referee. Angle thinks he's won, but Hulk Hogan comes down and attacks Kurt. Hogan slams Angle into the cage then picks him up and throws him back in the ring. After the commercial break Angle gets the ankle lock on Edge but Edge shoves him off into the cage. Edge then applies an ankle lock of his own, but Angle gets out of it. Angle begins to climb the cage. Edge is not far behind him, though. Edge rams Angle's head into the top of the cage. Angle drops down but falls crotch-first onto the open door. Edge decides to bring Angle back into the ring. Edge perches himself on the top rope and leaps off delivering a spear to Angle. Edge gets the pinfall and the win.

WWE World Tag Team Championships, Billy & Chuck (c) vs Edge & Hulk Hogan, Smackdown, July 4, 2002
Edge comes out first, Hulk second. For the first time in nearly 10 years "Real American" plays over the speakers of the arena. Hogan had been using his NWO theme music even after turning babyface but brought out "Real American" for the Fourth of July. He comes to the ring carrying an American flag and wearing a red, white, and blue boa. The champions are accompanied to the ring by their stylist, Rico. Edge and Hogan are working together well early on in this match. Billy and Chuck use their double teaming to take advantage. Edge gets tossed to the outside where Rico attempts to get involved but ends up superkicking Billy. Edge tries to make his way back into the ring but Billy rams him head first into the steel stairs. Edge manages to make the tag into Hulk. Billy and Chuck do a really good job of selling Hogan's offense. Hogan goes for the leg drop on Billy but Chuck hits him with a superkick. Hulk comes back with a double clothesline. Edge gets the tag an goes to work on both of the champions. Rico gets involved and Hulk makes him pay for it. Soon a brawl breaks out among all four men in the ring. Edge hits the Hogan leg drop followed by Hulk with the leg drop and Edge picks up the pin. Edge and Hulk Hogan win the tag team titles. This wasn't a spectacularly great match but the crowd was really into it.

Edge vs Eddie Guerrero, Unforgiven '02
Several minutes in as the "Eddie sucks" chants begin, Guerrero has the advantage on Edge. Edge comes back with a right hand. Edge dives towards Eddie in the corner but Eddie moves out of the way and Edge runs into the turnbuckle. Edge would come back with a face plant to Eddie. Guerrero leaps off the top rope but Edge counters into a sit down powerbomb. Edge would go for a spear but Eddie moved out of the way but Edge stopped himself before hitting the corner. Edge hits the Edgecution and goes for a pin but only gets two. Edge goes to the top and goes for a missile dropkick but Eddie moves out of the way. Eddie fully exposes the steel turnbuckle that he loosened earlier and attempts to throw Edge into it but Edge reverses it and Eddie goes back first into the exposed steel. Guerrero is planted on the top rope. Edge sets up for a superplex but Guerrero rams Edge's head into the turnbuckle. Eddie then delivers a sunset flip powerbomb from the ropes, goes for a pin, pulls the tights of Edge, and gets the win. This was a good match, though these two would have better matches in their rivalry.

The Edge vs Eddie Guerrero rivalry would continue into the fall but in tag team wars. Edge would team with Rey Mysterio, Eddie with his nephew Chavo, and the third team in the feud Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit with the three teams being the first three to hold the Smackdown Tag Team Championships. In early 2003, Edge would find himself aligned with Benoit and Brock Lesnar in a feud with Kurt Angle, Charlie Haas, and Shelton Benjamin. This was supposed to lead to a six man tag team match at No Way Out, but a neck injury would force Edge out of the match and on the shelf for a year. Upon his return he get involved in a feud with I-C Champion Randy Orton.

I-C Championship, Randy Orton (c) vs Edge, Vengeance '04
This match starts off with a slow pace. Good wrestling, a lot of scientific moves, plenty of (rest) holds. About 10 minutes or so into the match, Orton is on the outside as Edge delivers a baseball slide to knock Orton down sending him head first into the corner of the broadcast table. Edge delivers a missile drop kick off the top rope in the ring and receives a mixed reaction from the fans for it. More slow periods. Orton puts a headlock on Edge that lasts about three minutes. Fans start chanting "Let's go Orton". Orton replies by shouting "I don't need your help." About 20 minutes in, Orton takes a leap off the top rope and gets met with a dropkick in the process. A fan in the arena has a sign that says "Birthplace of the Gooker". It is the same arena that hosted the 1990 Survivor Series when the Gobbledy Gooker was hatched. Orton whips Edge into the ropes and goes for a dropkick, but Edge holds onto the ropes. Nevertheless, you can hear Orton clap his hands together as if he was expecting to make contact with Edge. Edge delivers an Edgecution to Orton and goes for a pin, but only gets two. Orton drops Edge on an exposed turnbuckle and goes for a pin but only gets two. Orton goes for an RKO but Edge grabs him and turns it into a backslide. Edge only gets two. Edge whips Orton into the exposed turnbuckle then hits him with a spear and gets the win. This match was slow at times. Went on rather long at over 26 minutes. This would have worked in the 70's or 80's especially in the NWA. The crowd was surprisingly well into it. I think it was a matter of some fans turning on Edge and cheering for Orton so the Edge fans responded by cheering louder.

Around this time, the fans were starting to get tired of Edge and his gimmick and started booing him. He would be forced to vacate the I-C title due to an injury in September. He wouldn't be out long, though. He would be back in October for Taboo Tuesday and was one of the choices to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H. Shawn Michaels would win the fans vote and Edge would hold that against him. Now, in early 2005 the two go to war in a Street Fight.

Street Fight, Edge vs Shawn Michaels, Raw 2/28/05
"Come dressed as you are" street fight rules. Both men are wearing jeans and Shawn quickly removes his belt and whips Edge with it. The brawl quickly goes to ringside. Shawn goes under the ring and pulls out a metal trash can which he hits Edge with. Shawn then pulls out a ladder, but Edge smacks Shawn over the head with the trash can hid with quite a bit of force. Back in the ring, Edge drops Shawn head first onto an open chair and Shawn is busted open. After a commercial, Shawn is wearing the proverbial crimson mask as he brings the ladder into the ring. Shawn sets the ladder horizontally across the second ropes in the corner. He goes to whip Edge into the ladder, but Edge stops himself and then delivers a drop toe hold sending Shawn face first into the ladder. Edge sets the ladder up properly. He climbs the ladder and leaps off delivering a splash to HBK. He goes for a pin but only gets two. Shawn soon catapults Edge into the ladder. Shawn then smacks Edge over the head with a chair. Shane takes control of the match as he gets his second wind. He hits Edge with a Kendo stick to the head before going to the top rope and delivering an elbow to a fallen Edge. Shawn goes for Sweet Chin Music, but Edge ducks and delivers a low blow using the side of a chair. Edge brings a second chair into the ring. He sets up for a one man con-chair-to, but Shawn delivers a low blow. Shawn picks up a chair and goes to hit Edge with it but Edge delivers a spear. Edge soon sets up for another spear tapping his foot on the ground beforehand the way Shawn does, but this time is met with Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere and Shawn Michaels gets the three count. This was a brutal match. Shawn bled a lot. His entire face, probably most of his head was covered in blood. Despite the loss this helped elevate Edge to new heights.

Gold Rush Tournament Finals, Edge vs Kane, Raw 5/16/05
Kane comes accompanied by his wife, Lita who's walking with one crutch. Edge already has the Money in the Bank contract, he's looking for another title shot. The winner of this match faces Batista the next week for the World Heavyweight Championship. After the excitement of the last match this one was kind of slow. In the middle of the match, Edge shoves Kane into the referee and then delivers a low blow. Edge delivers a chop block to Kane taking the big man down. Edge continues to work on the leg of Kane. Kane fights back delivering a running clothesline to Edge. Edge attempts a spear but is met by a hand around his throat from Kane. Edge grabs the referee allowing him to deliver a low blow followed by a DDT. Edge sets up for another spear. Kane picks him up from the side and delivers a sidewalk slam. Edge shoves Kane into the referee and hits the spear. Kane sits up and Edge grabs his briefcase. Edge goes to hit Kane with the briefcase but Kane hits him with a boot. The briefcase falls and Lita picks it up. As Kane goes to the top rope, Lita slides the briefcase into Edge. Kane comes off the top rope and Edge hits him with the briefcase. Lita brings the referee back around and the referee counts three. Edge and Lita engage in a passionate kiss on the stage as Kane watches. Is anyone really surprised that Lita turned on Kane. She never wanted to be with him in the first place. She was forced to marry him after Kane beat Matt Hardy in a match. It wasn't until after she lost their baby thanks to Snitsky (though it wasn't his fault) that she was suddenly in love with Kane. Has Kane ever had a romance/relationship storyline that didn't totally suck?

So of course, the Lita-Edge relationship stemmed from a real life affair the two had had. The affair was exposed by Lita's then real-life boyfriend Matt Hardy. This would translate into an on-screen rivalry between Edge and Matt Hardy.

Street Fight, Edge vs Matt Hardy, Raw 8/29/05
This is a rematch from Summerslam, where Edge beat Matt Hardy so badly the referee had to stop the match. Edge and Lita comes out first. An angry Matt Hardy comes out next and goes right for Edge. Hardy begins pounding on Edge. The fight goes into the crowd. Soon, Hardy pulls out a ladder from under the ring. After a commercial, we see that Matt delivered a superplex from the top rope during the commercial break. Matt whips Edge into the ladder which is vertically leaning against the turnbuckle. He then fully opens the ladder and begins to climb. Matt then delivers a leg drop from the ladder onto Edge. Hardy gets a chair from under the ring and is going to hit Edge with it but Edge comes back with a Kendo Stick to the midsection. Edge goes for a con-chair-to but Hardy takes him down with a leg sweep. A short while later, Edge drags Hardy to the corner and places his head between the ring and the steel steps and then kicks the steps, but Hardy just manages to get his head out of the way. Edge then goes for a DDT on the bottom half of the steel steps but Hardy fights back and delivers a DDT of his own. Hardy grabs another chair, but before he can use it, Lita hits him in the back with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Hardy goes after Lita, but Edge attacks him from behind. Back in the ring, Matt lays Edge on the ladder and goes to the top rope for a moonsault but Edge moves out of the way and Hardy lands on the ladder. The two men soon brawl their way up the ramp to the stage. Matt soon goes after Lita and sets up to powerbomb her off of the stage, but Edge comes to Lita's rescue. Edge picks Matt up and is about to slam him off of the stage but Matt slips out. The two men exchange blows. Hardy grabs Edge and delivers a side slam off the stage sending both men into the electrical area. Sparks fly. The referee calls for the power to be shut off as doctors and paramedics attend to both men. The match is officially over. This was the second street fight in three matches. While the Shawn Michaels match was the two men beathing the hell out of each other, this one was more big moves and high risk offense. The feud would conclude with a ladder match on Raw in October with Edge's Money in the Bank contract and Matt Hardy's job on Raw on the line. The match would end with Matt tied in the ropes and Lita holding him in the ropes as Edge climbed the ladder and retrieved the briefcase.

WWE Championship, John Cena (c) vs Edge, New Year's Revolution '06
We start with the closing moments of the Elimination Chamber Match as Carlito and Chris Masters are double teaming Cena. Cena is busted open after a DDT on the steel. Cena had lost a first blood match the previous week on Raw and came into this match with stiches. Carlito turns on Masters and pins him. Cena then immediately rolls Carlito up and pins him. Cena is you winner and still WWE Champion as Mr. McMahon's music hits. He says that this night is not over. He congratulates Cena on retaining the WWE title then introduces Edge who is cashing in his Money in the Bank contact. Cena is bloody, he had just fought the entire Elimination Chamber Match and is struggling to stand. Edge goes right after Cena as soon as the bell rings. He quickly goes for a pin but only gets two. Edge then hits a spear on Cena but only gets two. Edge is in disbelief. He then sets up for another spear and hits Cena with it and gets the three count after less than two minutes to become WWE Champion for the first time in his career.

Edge would hold the belt for only three weeks until losing it back to Cena at Royal Rumble with Mick Foley as the guest referee. Edge blamed Mick for the loss and the two engaged in a feud. That would lead to a Hardcore Match at WrestleMania.

Hardcore Match, Edge vs Mick Foley, WrestleMania 22
Joey Styles is doing guest commentary for this match. I don't remember the exact story but Styles had replaced Jim Ross as lead commentator on Raw. Ross was brought back for WrestleMania, but Styles was brought in for this Hardcore Match, since Styles has the experience with hardcore matches from his days in ECW, so Joey is losing his "WrestleMania virginity." Edge has a baseball bat with him as he comes to the ring and takes swings at Mick with it. After a minute or so of wrestling, Edge asks Lita to get the weapons from underneath the ring and he hits Mick with a cookie sheet and a street sign. Edge hits Mick with a spear but it affected Edge as much as it did Mick. Mick removes his larger, bulky flannel shirt to reveal that he has a sting of barbed wire wrapped around his midsection. Edge is bleeding from the shoulder. Mick takes the barbed wire, whips Edge with it and then rubs it into the shoulder wound. Mick pulls out his barbed wire baseball bat. He's about to hit Edge with it when Lita jumps up on his back. With Lita on his back, Mick delivers a Cactus Clothesline to Edge sending all three to the outside. Edge comes back soon by hip tossing Mick into the steel steps. Edge pulls out a table and sets it up on the outside of the ring. Edge is unable to use the table right away. Edge brings out lighter fluid and douses Mick in it. Mick comes back with a piledriver. Lita distracts Mick allowing Edge to take control. Edge goes for the barbed wire bat and hits Mick in the midsection with it then a shot to the head. Edge then grinds the barbed wire into Mick's face. He follows that up with a bulldog onto the bat. Edge brings out a sack of thumbtacks and spreads them out in the ring. Edge goes for a bulldog onto the thumbtacks, but Mick reverses it and delivers a side suplex sending Edge onto the thumbtacks. Edge is in obvious pain as the tacks are sticking to his body. Mick brings out Mr. Socko and wraps barbed wire around hit before sticking it in Edge's mouth. Lita jumps in the ring and gets a mouth full of barbed wire herself. After she rolls to the outside you can see a little bit of blood around her mouth. Mick has the barbed wire bat and hits Edge in the midsection then the back. He then hits Edge in the face knocking him down. Mick grabs the lighter fluid and sprays it on the table. Lita then hits a low blow on Mick using the barbed wire bat. She then puts more lighter fluid on the table and sets it on fire. Edge spears Mick from the ring through the flaming table. HOLY SHIT! Edge covers Mick on the outside and picks up the win. That was awesome! As Edge and Lita walk away she still has blood around her mouth. He's busted open and still has thumbtacks sticking out of his body. What a brutal match.

Edge, Mick Foley, Lita vs Tommy Dreamer, Terry Funk, Beulah, One Night Stand '06
Three months later, Mick Foley had now aligned himself with Edge and he's scheduled to team with him against his best frenemy, Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer. Mick comes out first and cuts a heel promo. The fans are chanting "You sold out" and Mick says he did sell out...he sold out Madison Square Garden. He then goes on to say that he used to have respect for ECW back when it was run by a true creative visionary...Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley. "Long live The Alliance." He then introduces Edge as co-holder of the Hardcore Championship and Edge comes out with the Hardcore belt. Edge then cuts a heel promo on the ECW fans saying they're going to go home and text their imaginary girlfriends and then look at pictures of his actual girlfriend. Lita then cuts a promo on Funk and Dreamer. Funk and Dreamer then come out accompanied by Beulah. Beulah then takes the microphone says that since Lita likes three-somes they should make it official, three-on-three. So, now we have a six person tag team match. Fans are chanting "Fuck her up, Beulah, fuck her up." Dreamer and Edge start the match. After about a minute, Edge tags in Mick. Mick wants Funk and he gets his wish. After taking a couple of slaps to the face, Mick backs off, says he doesn't want this and tags in Edge. The fight goes to the outside. Foley and Funk on one side of the ring, Dreamer and Edge on the other. Dreamer brings out some weapons. He hits Edge with a street sign. Funk begins hitting both Foley and Edge with a metal trash can. Foley and Funk take their fight up the ramp and into the laps of fans. Edge has a ladder in the ring. He goes to spear Dreamer into the ladder which is leaning against the top turnbuckle. Dreamer turns it into a hip toss sending Edge into the ladder. Funk places the ladder around his neck and starts swinging it around knocking down Edge and Foley. He sets the ladder up in the ring and climbs it for some unknown reason. Edge then tilts the ladder sending Funk backwards to the ring canvas. Dreamer picks Edge up and Lita comes in and delivers a low blow to Dreamer which is the first action either of the women have had in this match. Edge and Mick go under the ring and bring out a large board covered in barbed wire. They pick the board up and drop it onto Dreamer. Terry Funk knocks Mick down with the barbed wire landing on him. The fans are chanting "we want fire". Funk and Dreamer set the barbed wire board up in the corner and whip Mick into it, but Mick stops short. Dreamer and Funk take jabs at Foley before slamming him backwards into the barbed wire. Shortly thereafter, Lita goes under the ring and pulls out a string of barbed wire which Mick wraps around his fist. Mick then drops a fist onto Funk. Foley then rakes the barbed wire in Funk's face. Funk is bleeding and is complaining about his eye being damages. Doctors take a look at Funk and take him back to the back. Fans are chanting "We want Sandman". Foley brings out his barbed wire baseball bat at hits Dreamer with it. Mick then brings out Mr. Socko as the fans boo. He places the Mandible Claw on Beulah, then on Dreamer. Edge then grabs Beulah and begins making sexual gestures with her. Terry Funk returns. He has his eye bandaged and is carrying a barbed wire 2x4. He begins hitting Edge and Foley with the board. Funk then lights the board on fire and hits Mick with it. One of the shots knocks Foley off of the ring apron and through the large barbed wire board that Dreamer has set up at ringside. Edge then knocks Funk off of the ring apron and into the same barbed wire. Dreamer takes the string of barbed wire and places it around the throat of Edge. Lita comes to Edge's rescue and Beulah comes in and goes after Lita. Cat fight in the ring. Dreamer pulls Lita off of Beulah and hits a Dreamer Driver on her. Edge comes up from behind Dreamer and takes him down with the string of barbed wire. Edge then spears Beulah, picks her legs up and pins her while thrusting on her at each count. Wow. That was intense. Funk and Foley are still entwined in barbed wire. I think I need a cigarette now. This match had a perfect ending. Edge was a budding main eventer so to lose to Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk would have hurt considerably. Edge also had nothing to prove by pinning Dreamer. The fact that he pinned Beulah after spearing her really makes him look like an asshole.

WWE Championship, Rob Van Dam (c) vs Edge vs John Cena, Raw 7/3/06
So, after that we move on to a WWE Championship triple threat match. A few weeks earlier at ECW One Night Stand, Edge screwed Cena out of the WWE title against Rob Van Dam setting up this match. Cena and Van Dam briefly start teaming up on Edge but soon each man wants to get their shots on Edge and they get in each others way. After a commercial Edge is on the outside as Cena and Van Dam fight. Edge soon comes back in and powerbombs RVD off the second rope and covers him with his own feet on the ropes, but the referee sees the feet and stops the count. The fight goes to the outside and Cena tosses Edge into the steel steps. Van Dam then leaps over the top rope out onto Cena. Back in the ring, Cena picks Edge up for a vertical suplex, but RVD comes off the top rope knocking both men down. Soon Cena starts hitting some moves on Edge and then hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He goes for the F-U, Edge is able to grab onto the top rope, but Cena then tosses him over the top rope to the outside. Lita comes in the ring with a chair but Cene picks her up and hits an F-U on her. Van Dam, who had been down on the outside, comes back in and hits the Van Daminator on Cena. He goes for the Five Star Frog Splash, but Cena moves out of the way. Cena hits the F-U on Van Dam but Edge comes in with the WWE title belt, strikes Cena with it, and pins Van Dam to win the match and become WWE Champion for the second time. Edge briefly goes to help Lita but then decides to celebrate some more instead. The next night on ECW, Van Dam would lose the ECW title to The Big Show. Behind the scenes Van Dam was forced to drop the titles after being caught by police with marijuana in his car. He would be suspended for 30 days starting after his loss of the ECW title.

WWE Championship: Edge (c) vs John Cena, Summerslam '06
John Cena won't go away. He steps up in his own hometown to challenge Edge for the WWE title at Summerslam. After Cena comes to the ring, the golden couple comes out. WWE Champion Edge and Women's Champion Lita. If Edge gets disqualified in this match, he loses the title. A lot of this match revolves around that, especially the commentary. Cena dominates early but Edge is able to turn things around and send Cena to the outside. The referee begins his 10-count and Edge is encouraging the referee. After some more back and forth wrestling in the ring, Edge sends Cena for a ride to the outside. Time for another count. Of course, Cena makes it back in the ring. Later in the match, Edge delivers a clothesline from the top rope. Edge applies a Camel Clutch to Cena. Cena makes it to his feet with Edge on his back and breaks the hold. With both men down, Lita tosses a chair into Edge but that only distracts Edge as he does not want to use the chair for risk of being disqualified. Cena takes advantage with a series of moves on the champion. Cena delivers the Five Knuckle Shuffle and goes for the F-U but Edge slides out of it and hits a DDT. Lita soon gets up on the ring apron distracting Cena. Edge goes for a spear on Cena, but Cena moves out of the way. Edge runs into Lita (not quite a full spear) and knocks her off of the ring apron. Cena comes up from behind Edge, picks him up and delivers a side suplex. Cena soon applies the STFU on Edge. Lita is up on the apron ready to hit Cena with the WWE title belt, but Edge tells her no. Edge makes it to the ropes. The referee pulls Cena off of Edge, meanwhile Lita slips a pair of brass knuckles onto Edge's hand. Cena picks Edge up for an F-U. Lita gets in the ring and leaps onto Edge's back. Cena picks them both up. He delivers the F-U to Lita. Edge slips out of the move, and while the referee is tending to Lita, Edge hits Cena in the back of the head with the brass knuckles. Edge covers Cena and retains the title. Most of this match was pretty average for a PPV main event, but the ending was good. The whole "Edge can lose the title by DQ" added a mostly positive element to the match, especially with Lita there. The ending was good with Edge still managing to cheat his way to victory and beating Cena in what is close to Cena's hometown. Cena would go on to beat Edge for the title at Unforgiven in Edge's hometown of Toronto, in a TLC Match, Cena's first TLC match and Edge's first TLC loss.

Later in 2006, Edge would align himself with Randy Orton and form Rated RKO. They would feud with D-X for several months. By early 2007, Edge would be looking to get back the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania. To do so, he would have to beat the man he won the WWE title from, Rob Van Dam.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match, Edge vs Rob Van Dam, Raw 2/19/07
Van Dam starts with a wrist lock on Edge. RVD displays his unique brand of offense in the early going of this match before taking Edge down into a hammer lock. Edge escapes with a poke to the eye. Van Dam takes Edge to the outside and drapes him across the guardrail. Van Dam goes to the ring apron and delivers a spinning leg drop to Edge on the outside. He tosses Edge into the ring, then as RVD himself is attempting to get back in the ring Edge grabs his head and delivers a swinging neckbreaker. Edge goes to whip Van Dam into the corner, but Van Dam reverses it sending Edge into the corner. Van Dam shows off his flexibility by delivering a spinning kick to the side of Edge's head. Edge looks glossy-eyed. In one his DVD interviews before the match, Edge mentions that this kick cracked his jaw and knocked him "half unconscious". After a couple more moves, Van Dam whips Edge off the ropes and hits him with another kick to the jaw. RVD then goes for Rolling Thunder, but Edge counters it into a slam. Edge places RVD on the top turnbuckle. He looks to be going for a superplex but Van Dam shoves him off and Edge crotches the top rope. Van Dam then delivers another kick to Edge sending him to the outside. Van Dam then leaps over the top rope out to the outside onto Edge. Van Dam tosses Edge into the ring and then goes to the top rope. RVD leaps off of the top rope but Edge meets him with a dropkick in mid air. Edge goes for a spear, but Van Dam gets out of the way. Van Dam then delivers yet another kick the side of Edge's head before hitting a split legged moonsault. RVD is unable to get the pin on Edge. Van Dam is feeling froggy, but Randy Orton comes out. Van Dam leaps off the top rope with a kick to Orton on the ring apron. Edge hits the spear on RVD and picks up the win. Edge is going to WrestleMania after an exciting fast-paced match.

Edge would fail to win the Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania. He would get a title match against champion John Cena in a Fatal Four Way Match that also involved Orton and Shawn Michaels. Before that, Edge would have to go one-on-one with his now former partner on the April 23 Raw. That match, however had to be postponed until the following week because John Cena and Shawn Michaels would battle for a full hour and there would not be enough time for Edge and Orton. That Michaels vs Cena match was released on the Shawn Michaels: Heartbreak and Triumph DVD. Both the Michaels vs Cena match and this match would later be released on the Best of 2000s DVD. The Fatal Four Way Match was released on the Shawn Michaels: My Journey DVD. So, several good matches involving these men in a week's period.

Edge vs Randy Orton, Raw 4/30/07
The two men go face-to-face and soon start exchanging blows. Orton gets Edge down and begins stomping on his legs. After a commercial, Edge rams Orton shoulder first into the ring post. Edge then spears Orton from the ring apron down onto the announcers' table. Edge then drags Orton back into the ring and goes for a pin but Orton kicks out. The fans are cheering for Orton in this match. Now, Edge is going to work on Orton. Edge takes Orton down with a reverse heel kick. Edge goes to the top rope but Orton meets him there. Edge would shove Orton off and leap off of the top rope but Orton would deliver a drop kick in mid-air. The two men are exchange blows once again. Orton would take Edge down with a backbreaker. These two show that they know each other very well as former partners. The two both go off the ropes and go for a cross body but they smack into each other. Edge is up first and removes the turnbuckle pad. The referee scalds him for that. Orton takes Edge down with a clothesline. Orton sets Edge up in the corner and begins pounding on him. Edge slips out of the hold and sends Orton down head first to the turnbuckle. This isn't the turnbuckle that is exposed but Orton's head hits beyond the pad to the metal bolt and a he begins to bleed. Edge goes for a pin with his feet on the ropes, but the referee stops him. Orton then rolls Edge up for a pin with HIS feet on the ropes and the referee notices that as well. Orton sets up for an RKO but Edge turns it into an Impaler DDT. Edge allows a bloody Edge to get up as he goes for the spear, but Orton leapfrogs him and Edge runs into the corner. As he comes out of the corner, Orton goes for an RKO once again and Edge shoves him off. Orton nearly runs into the exposed turnbuckle but stops short. When he turns around he's met with a spear. Edge gets the three count and beats his former tag team partner. That was a great match. You'd think these two had been teaming for years the way they knew what each other was going to do. I'm not sure if WWE planned on Orton being the fan favorite but he was playing that role for a good part of the match.

Mr. Kennedy would win the Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania. A couple of months later on Raw, Edge would challenge Mr. Kennedy for the contract and win. Behind the scenes, Mr. Kennedy was injured and WWE was afraid he would be out of a lengthy period of time so they wanted to get the contract off of him.

World Heavyweight Championship, Undertaker (c) vs Edge, Smackdown 5/11/07
We start as Undertaker and Batista are doing battle in a steel cage match for the title. Both men escape the cage and their feet touch down simultaneously. The two referees want to see a replay on Michael Cole's monitor. This match is a draw. The crowd boos. But they cheer when it's announced that The Undertaker is still champion. Undertaker is attacked by Mark Henry after the match. Henry rams an already bloodied Undertaker head-first into the steel steps and then spine first into the ring post. Henry places Undertaker in the ring and hits two running splashes. Cue Edge's music. Edge is cashing in Money in the Bank. Edge goes right for a pin, but Undertaker kicks out. Undertaker slowly gets to his feet and is met with a spear. Edge is the new World Heavyweight Champion.

World Heavyweight Championship, Edge (c) vs Batista, Vengeance '07
This is Batista's last chance at the championship. Legendary 8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Harley Race is in the front row and endorses Batista. Batista starts off by backing Edge in the corner and ramming his shoulder into Edge's midsection. Batista takes Edge down and begins working on his arm and shoulder. As Batista attempts to get back in the ring, Edge rams him shoulder-first into the ring post. Batista's next attempt at getting back in the ring is met with a baseball slide. Batista manages to make it back in the ring. Batista soon charges at Edge but Edge moves out of the way and Batista goes shoulder-first into the ring post. Edge begins to work on the arm and shoulder of The Animal. Edge hits an Impaler DDT on Batista and goes for a pin but only gets two. Frustrated, Edge goes outside and grabs the World title belt. The referee takes the belt away from him. He gets back in the ring and Batista rolls him up for a pin, but because the referee is on the outside, it takes a couple seconds longer for him to get in and make the count, and Edge kicks out. Edge sets up for the spear but he's met with a spear from Batista. Batista sets up for the Batista Bomb and Edge hits a low blow. Edge is disqualified. Batista wins but Edge is still the champion. Edge is walking toward the back when Teddy Long's music hits. Long orders Edge to get back in the ring and the match is going to restart. This time if Edge gets DQ'ed he loses the title. Edge hits the spear on Batista and Batista kicks out at two. Edge goes to the outside and grabs a chair but quickly drops it knowing he would lose the belt if he's disqualified. Back in the ring Batista goes for a Batista Bomb but Edge manages to slip out of the move and out of the ring. Batista follows him to the outside. Edge goes for a spear and Batista delivers a big kick. Batista then hits the Batista Bomb on Edge on the outside. Batista tosses an unconscious Edge back in the ring, but Batista isn't able to make it back in before the referee's 10 count. Edge is your winner and still champion. After the match Batista hits a Batista Bomb on Edge in the ring. This was a good match. It felt like the 2004 Edge vs Orton match but in a decent time. I actually like the finish. Edge didn't cheat in the end, and this was Batista's last chance at the title. Afterwards, Batista shows the emotion of his loss.

World Heavyweight Championship, Edge (c) vs Rey Mysterio, Royal Rumble '08
Just a few weeks later Edge world have to vacate the title due to injury but he would return later in the year and win the belt back at Armageddon. Edge was now in a relationship with the new Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero who comes to the ring in a wheelchair reluctantly pushed by Teddy Long. Edge's new buddies, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder come out as well. They helped Edge win the title. Rey walks to the ring a bit slower than usual. Edge not only has the size advantage over Mysterio he also has help at ringside. Mysterio uses his smaller size to slip around Edge and escape to the outside. Hawkins and Ryder make their way to Mysterio but the referee catches them and ejects them from ringside. Rey delivers a seated senton off the top rope onto Edge in the ring. Edge soon retakes control and works over Mysterio's previously injured knee attempting to ground the Luchador. Rey is having trouble standing under his own power. Edge attempts to remove the knee brace of Mysterio's but Rey fights back. Edge whips Mysterio into the corner and charges at him but Mysterio gets his feet up. Rey goes to the top rope and delivers a double stomp (think Finn Balor's finisher) on Edge. Edge escapes to the outside and Mysterio slides under the bottom rope and hits Edge with a swinging DDT. Back in the ring, Edge goes for a spear but Rey trips him sending him into the ropes. Mysterio then hits the 619 on Edge. Rey goes to the rope and hits a splash on Edge. The referee begins to count, but Vickie Guerrero gets up and pulls him out of the ring. Rey manages to get Edge back in the 619 position and goes to hit it but Vickie puts herself in front of Edge and takes the hit. Rey goes for the West Coast Pop on Edge but is met in midair with a spear who pins Mysterio to win the match.

Edge refers to the spear he hit on Rey as one of his favorite of his career. Next we move on to who Edge refers to as the Batman to his Joker, the Superman to his Lex Luthor, the Spider Man to his Green Goblin, The Undertaker. Undertaker beat Edge for the World Heavyweight title at WrestleMania, then after Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero banned Undertaker's Hells Gates submission hold, and Undertaker used it to beat Edge in a rematch, Vickie stripped Undertaker of the title and set up a TLC Match for the vacant title at One Night Stand.

World Heavyweight Championship, Title vs Career TLC Match, Edge vs The Undertaker, One Night Stand '08
The Undertaker gets Edge into the corner and starts punching him. Undertaker hits "Old School" early on in the match. Taker goes to bring a ladder in the ring, but Edge delivers a baseball slide to the ladder sending Undertaker into the guardrail. The fight continues on the outside. Undertaker sets up a quartet of tables (two on top of two) on the outside of the ring. On commentary alongside Michael Cole is a former rival of both men and the man who (kayfabe) invented the TLC Match, Mick Foley. Edge sets up a ladder in the ring and starts to climb but Undertaker pulls him down. Undertaker starts to climb but Edge meets him on the ladder. Undertaker shoves Edge off and Edge comes stumbling back to knock Undertaker off the ladder. Edge sets a ladder up horizontally across the top rope in the corner, but it's used against him in the form of Snake Eyes by Undertaker. The two men end up outsider the ring and Edge bridges the ring and guardrail with the ladder. Undertaker sets up for the Last Ride but Edge hits a low blow. Edge then smacks the Deadman across the head with a chair. Edge lays Undertaker on a table at ringside. Edge climbs on the announcer's table and hits a splash onto Undertaker. Edge sets up a ladder in the ring but Undertaker is stirring and slowly gets back in the ring to knock Edge off but Edge hits a spear on Undertaker. Edge then places Undertaker's leg in the ladder and strikes the ladder with a chair injuring Undertaker's knee. Edge now sets up a larger ladder in the ring. Before climbing it he gives Undertaker some (unprotected) chair shots to the head. Edge decides to deliver some more punishment before climbing the ladder but the Phenom comes back with a low blow. Undertaker chokeslams Edge from the ring apron onto the ladder that is bridging the ring. Undertaker has a clear ride to the top. At least he would if it wasn't for Hawkins and Ryder. The former Major Brothers set up two tables the ring placing Undertaker on top of one and the other ladder on top of Undertaker. The Deadman gets up and sends both men separately through tables at ringside. Edge comes back and spears his opponent off of the ring apron to the outside. Edge sets the double stack tables back up in the ring then starts to climb the ladder. Undertaker gets back up and climbs up after Edge then delivers a Last Ride through the two tables. Undertaker struggles to climb the ladder with an injured knee and is attacked by Chavo Guerrero and Bam Neely (I bet that's a name you don't remember). The two try for a Con-chair-to but Undertaker ducks and the two strike each others chairs. Undertaker delivers the punishment with the chair then. Undertaker starts to climb the ladder. Edge gets up as The Undertaker is close to the top and pushes the ladder over sending The Undertaker through the four tables at ringside. There's no one left to stop Edge from claiming the gold and ending Undertaker's career. Those two delivered big time in this amazing match.

As Edge and Vickie Guerrero were about to get married it was revealed that Edge had cheated on her with their wedding planner. Out of spite, she re-instates The Undertaker and places Edge in a match with him at Summerslam. This time it would be a Hell in a Cell Match.

Hell in a Cell Match, Edge vs Undertaker, Summerslam '08
We go from a match that The Undertaker had never been in to one that Edge had never been in. As Undertaker makes his way to the ring you can tell that Edge is in awe, both of his opponent and the cell. Undertaker enters the cell and slams the door shut behind him. When the lights come on Edge looks to be ready for the match. It's a back and forth fight at the start of the match. The fight quicky goes to the outside as Undertaker slams Edge into the cell. Undertaker soon drapes Edge across the ring apron and drops a leg on him. Vickie Guerrero and La Familia are shown in her office watching the match on TV. Taker brings the bottom of the ring steps into the ring and drops Edge face first onto the steps in the corner. Edge then comes back and throws Undertaker into the steps. Edge then goes under the ring and brings out a table which he sets up at ringside. Edge then sets up another table on top of the first one at ringside. Edge then strikes Undertaker across the back with a chair before setting up yet another table, this time in the ring. He then goes out and pulls out a ladder. So now we basically have a TLC in a Cell Match. Edge places Undertaker on the table in the ring, climbs the ladder while bringing a chair with him then drops his body with the chair onto Undertaker. This was the same move he used to take out Mick Foley a few weeks earlier on Smackdown. Edge then attempts Con-Chair-To on Undertaker but the Deadman fights back. Edge is on the ring apron as Undertaker hits him with a big boot sending him into the cell. Undertaker then strikes Edge with the other set of steel steps. Edge fights back, then gets a running start and leaps off of the bottom of the steps delivering a spear to The Undertaker who's against the wall of the cell breaking the cell panel. The fight goes to ringside as Undertaker is bleeding from the forearm. Edge uses a TV monitor (they were still using the old monitors) and strikes Undertaker across the head. Undertaker is soon standing on top of one announcers table as Edge delivers a spear across the three tables sending Undertaker through one of them. The two men manage to stumble back into the ring. Edge then grabs a TV camera from under the ring and strikes Undertaker with it, much like when he cost Undertaker the world title in the last HIAC match at the previous Survivor Series. He then goes for a spear but is caught and hit with a chokeslam. Taker goes for a pin but only gets two. Undertaker sets up for the Last Ride but Edge hits a low blow (it's amazing Undertaker was still able to have kids). Edge then hits the Impaler and goes for a pin but Undertaker gets his shoulder up. Undertaker fights back and goes to send Edge on a Last Ride through the table on the outside but Edge slips out and hits a spear. Edge then goes for Undertaker's Old School but Undertaker brings him down crotch first on the turnbuckle. Taker then chokeslams Edge from the top turnbuckle through the double stacked tables at ringside. Taker drags Edge into the ring and hits a spear on him. Undertaker then uses the TV camera and gives Edge a shot to the head. Undertaker isn't done yet as he delivers a Con-chair-to to the Rated R Superstar. As if that wasn't enough, Undertaker delivers a Tombstone and it's all over, Undertaker wins. But the Deadman still isn't done with his opponent. He starts to head back to the locker room when he sees Edge stirring on the video screen. Undertaker returns to the ring and sets up a ladder. He then picks Edge up and places him on the ladder. Undertaker then gets another ladder and sets it up next to Edge's. Undertaker then chokeslams Edge through the ring and straight to hell. Undertaker then poses in the ring as the fire erupts from the hole in the ring. What a sight. And what an awesome way to end Summerslam and end this DVD.

And now two bonus matches from disc two.

NOPE Match
Adam Copeland vs Christian, Raw Dark Match 11/10/97
Matt Striker and Edge are in the WWE studio to introduce the match. Edge mentions that he was already under WWE contract at this point, while Christian was still trying to get a job. The two lock up and then exchange wrist locks. Christian takes Edge down with a hip toss. Edge comes back and applies an armbar. Edge tries to fire the crowd in Cornwall, Ontario up. Edge goes to whip Christian into the corner but Christian reverses him. Christian drapes Edge across the second rope then goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a leg drop on him. Christian then goes back to the top turnbuckle and goes for a leg drop on Edge in the middle of the ring but Edge moves out of the way. Edge whips Christian off the ropes and hits a sit-down spinebuster. Edge goes to the top turnbuckle but Christian knocks the ropes causing the to drop onto the turnbuckle. Christian goes for a superplex but Edge knocks him off and hits a flying crossbody off the top turnbuckle. Edge picks Christian up and hits a running sit down powerbomb on Christian and picks up the wind.

NOPE Match
I-C Championship, Jeff Jarrett (c) vs Edge, WWF House Show 7/24/99
Another introduction from Edge and Matt Striker. This takes place in Edge's hometown of Toronto. Edge & Christian had wrestled the Acolytes earlier in the night and soon thereafter Edge was asked to fill in for Ken Shamrock and wrestle Jeff Jarrett later in the show. Jarrett comes to the ring accompanied by Debra and gets on the mic and says that none of the fans deserve to see the puppies, only him because he's the greatest I-C Champion of all time. It's then announced that Ken Shamrock had transportation problems and was unable to make it. Jarrett demands the referee raise his hand in victory. That's when Edge's music hits. As soon as Edge hits the ring, Jarrett begins stomping on him. Jarrett wants to use the belt to hit Edge but the referee takes it away from him. After Edge takes control of Jarrett, Jeff gets frustrated and starts to walk away. The referee counts and Jarrett comes back and pulls Edge to the outside. Jarrett whips Edge into the steel steps and goes to hit him with a chair, but the referee takes the chair from him. Jarrett takes Edge back into the ring and gets a sleeper on him. Edge turns it into a headlock and Jarrett turns it into a suplex. Jarrett whips Edge off the ropes and goes for a leapfrog but Edge turns it into a sit down powerbomb. Debra gets up on the ring apron distracting the referee and Edge. Jarrett sneaks up from behind Edge but Edge sees it coming gets away and hits a spear on Jarrett and pins him. Edge is handed the I-C title. There was some confusion among the officials as to whether Edge was indeed the champion or if it was a non-title match. The belt is returned to Jarrett. Official Jack Lanza then comes to ringside and informs Edge, the referee, and Howard Finkel that the it is indeed at a title match and Edge is new champion. Edge is in shock himself. This is another match of Edge holding his own against a more experienced opponent. Edge would go on to drop the title back to Jarrett the next night at Fully Loaded. That would allow Jarrett to break Razor Ramon's record for most I-C title reigns with five. He would add a sixth title reign a couple of months later and hold the record until 2004 when Chris Jericho would break it.

Edge is one of my favorite wrestlers and this is one of my favorite DVDs. Certainly a fine collection of matches. Each disc as a pair of awesome matches back to back. Disc one has the two ladder matches, disc two the two hardcore matches, and disc three the two matches with The Undertaker. If I were to change some things I would remove one of the 2001 I-C title matches since those both kinda ran together and also the Mr. Perfect match. I would add one of his 2001 matches against Christian. This DVD was released a year and a half after the Ladder Match DVD which included the Edge vs Christian Ladder Match from No Mercy and I suppose between that and all the other ladder matches on this DVD that match was left off of this. I also suppose those two reasons are why his TLC Match with John Cena was left off. Ideally I would like to see one of the late 2002 Smackdown Tag title matches but the two good ones both include Chris Benoit.

Next up, we go from a classic bloodbath between two Hall of Famers to a couple of matches involving Mr. McMahon to a Triple H vs Shawn Michaels classic to the likes of Umaga, John Cena, Randy Orton, and Cody Rhodes.

 

[Skyefire]

Falls Count Anywhere: The Greatest Street Fights and Other Out of Control Matches

Who better to host this DVD than the Hardcore Legend Mick Foley.

Alley Fight, Pat Patterson vs Sgt. Slaughter, Madison Square Garden 5/4/81
There will be no referee in the ring during the match. One fall to a finish. Howard Finkel explains the rules to the crowd. He then introduces both wrestlers before either one comes to the ring. Patterson comes to the ring wearing an "I Love NY" shirt and a Yankees ballcap. Slaughter is accompanied to the ring by his manager, The Grand Wizard. Patterson attacks Slaughter as soon as he enters the ring and rams him head first into the turnbuckle. Slaughter falls onto the announcer's table which is right up against the ring. Patterson takes his belt off and whips Slaughter with it. He then proceeds to choke the Sarge with the belt. Slaughter soon grabs the belt, whips Patterson off the ropes and clotheslines him with the belt. Slaughter the removes Patterson's shirt and chokes him with it. Patterson then uses momentum to toss Slaughter over the top rope and out to the floor. Back in the ring, Patterson drops a knee from the second turnbuckle onto the head of Slaughter. Patterson begins biting his opponent. Patterson takes Slaughter down and then catapults him into the corner as Slaughter hits his head on the turnbuckle. Sarge is now bleeding profusely. Patterson goes to work. Slaughter comes back with a low blow. Slaughter now has a pair of brass knuckles and he strikes Patterson with them. Patters is able to come back and ram Slaughter into the turnbuckle once again. Patterson then removes his cowboy boot and huts Slaughter with it. He then goes back and forth between cowboy boot and corner. One such corner shot sends Slaughter out onto a cameraman. Patterson is beating Slaughter with his boot and the Grand Wizard throws in the towel for Slaughter. Pat Patterson wins a brutal, bloody match. This type of blood and brutality was rare in the early 80's outside of maybe a cage match. This match is to hardcore matches as Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon is to ladder matches. You could argue that better matches have happened since then but it was a first of its kind and set the bar for matches to come.

Atlanta Street Fight, Jimmy Valiant & Miss Atlanta Lively vs The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey), Starrcade '85
Miss Atlanta Lively is Ron Garvin in drag. Valiant is in his "Boogie Woogie Man" gimmick. Since this is a "come dressed as you are" street fight, naturally the Midnight Express are wearing Tuxedos. I started to review this match but I couldn't keep up, it is such a mess. Valiant and both Midnight Express all bleed in this match. The ending comes when Eaton comes off the top rope about to splash Valiant but Lively catches him in mid-air with a punch. She then pins Eaton to get the win. After the match the babyfaces get Jim Cornette in the ring and strip him down to his boxers.

WCW World Tag Team Championships/Street Fight: Doom (c) vs Barry Windham & Arn Anderson, Starrcade '90
Anderson and Windham represent the Four Horsemen. I'm not sure who else is in the group at this point other than Flair. Doom, the pairing of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed come to the ring accompanied by their manager, Teddy Long. Reed and Windham start the fight on the elevated ramp. Soon the two pairs switch places. Simmons uses his belt on Anderson on the ramp. Reed an Windham go to the outside to fight and Reed slams Windham's head into the ring post causing him to bleed. Reed then uses the buckle of his weight belt and digs into the open wound of Windham. Arn Anderson now has the with belt and begins choking Reed with it. Windham whips Simmons with the weight belt. Anderson strikes Reed over the head with a chair. Windham uses the belt buckle to bust open Simmons. Anderson is also bleeding. Simmons goes to the top but Windham hits him with a low blow. Windham then hits a superplex on Simmons. He goes for a pin but only gets two. A bloody Butch Reed his a shoulder tackle from the top rope onto Windham. Windham gets Reed in a small package while Reed drapes his hand over Anderson and the referee counts both pins. The match is a draw. The fight continues up the ramp. Despite the finish this match was a bit better and a bit more organized than the previous one.

Falls Count Anywhere Match, Sting vs Cactus Jack, Beach Blast '92
Cactus waits on the elevated ramp for Sting to arrive. The begin the fight on the ramp. Cactus attempts to hiptoss Sting into the crowd but Sting blocks it. Sting backdrops Cactus on the ramp. Sting attempts a Stinger Splash on the outside as Cactus is leaning against the ropes, but Cactus moves and Sting hits the turnbuckle and falls to the floor. Cactus hits the elbow off the ring apron onto Sting and covers him on the floor but Sting kicks out. Cactus then hits a neckbreaker on the concrete floor. Cactus goes back to the apron and does a sunset flip on Sting, but Cactus has hit the concrete floor himself. There are no mats at ringside for this match. Sting fights back and suplexes Cactus on the floor. They make their way into the ring. Jim Ross is on commentary for this match. His broadcast partner was Jesse Ventura but his commentary was removed from the DVD. After a minute or so in the ring, Cactus delivers a Cactus Clothesline on Sting sending him to the outside. Cactus picks up a chair and strikes the WCW Champion on the back. Sting comes back and delivers a belly-to-back suplex on the floor. Sting again goes for the Stinger Splash and once again misses at strikes the guardrail this time. Cactus goes to the second rope for an elbow drop but Sting moves out of the way and Cactus hits the concrete floor. Sting grabs a chair and repeatedly hits Cactus with it. With Cactus on the ramp, Sting climbs to the top rope and delivers a flying clothesline to Cactus and picks up the pin. This was a good match. Certainly not as extreme as people come to expect from Cactus Jack, and not as good as the Cactus vs Vader match, but for 1992 WCW is this was certainly different. The really made good use of their surroundings barely spending any time in the ring.

Falls Count Anywhere Match, Randy Savage vs Crush, WrestleMania X
So the rules for this match are that you must pin your opponent, and pinfalls can occur anywhere, then your opponent must make it back to the ring withing 60 seconds or the match is over. Savage attacks Crush on the walkway. Crush soon picks Savage up and drops him across the guardrail. Crush gets the pin on Savage and now Savage has 60 seconds to get back in the ring. Savage is nearly back in at 30 seconds when Mr. Fuji hits him with the Japanese flag. Savage manages to make it back in at 58 seconds. Crush hangs Savage upside down in the corner. Mr. Fuji hands Crush some salt but Savage hits Crush hand and the salt goes back in Crush's face. Savage hits a flying elbow drop on Crush, tosses him on the outside and pins him. Fuji pours a pitcher of ice water on Crush and Crush makes it back in the ring at 59 seconds. Savage rams Crush into the ring steps then sends him out into the crowd. They make their way back to the backstage area. Savage rams Crush's head into a door and then pins him. Savage then ties Crush's feet up and attempts to hang him from his feet all while the clock is ticking. Crush is unable to break free of the ropes and make it back to the ring. Savage is your winner. This was certainly not a bad match, but it was not great. The match comes in at just under 10 minutes for which three of those minutes there was no action going on as the wrestlers attempted to get back in the ring.

Chicago Street Fight, Road Warriors vs Sting & Booker T, Uncensored '96
Naturally, the Road Warriors attack Sting and Booker before they get to the ring, but then they go straight to the ring. WCW has a split screen to show all of the action. Some of the highlights of this nearly 30-minute match: Animal crotches Sting on the ring post. Sting later returns the favor. Sting grabs a chair and separately strikes both Road Warriors with it. But Animal soon returns the favor to Sting and Booker. Sting hits a piledriver on Hawk but it has no effect. Sting goes for a Stinger Splash on Hawk but misses. Tony Schiavone makes note that mist of the match, at least through the first 15 minutes or so has been mostly focused in the ring. Booker T delivers a DDT on Hawk on the outside and goes for a pin, but it takes a few seconds for the referee to get to the outside of the ring and Hawk kicks out after two. Booker delivers a great spin kick to Hawk in the ring. Sting strikes Animal with a chair and soon Hawk takes the chair from him and strikes both The Stinger and Booker. Sting walks back to the entrance to look for more weapons. He comes back with...a broom. Two brooms actually. He strikes Animal with the brooms before going in the ring and striking Hawk. Animal then grabs the brooms and uses it on his opponents. Booker T then walks away from the ring seemingly as if he's leaving the match. Animal finds him. Booker goes to the back and Animal finds him and attacks him. They come across Lex Luger who is priming his hair in front of a mirror. Animal accidently hits Luger and Luger attacks Animal. Stevie Ray and Jimmy Hart join in the fight. They tape Animal to a pole. Back at ringside Sting once again misses a Stinger Splash on Hawk this time against the guardrail, but Booker T comes to Sting's rescue. Booker misses the Harlem Hangover and Stevie Ray comes down and strikes Hawk in the back with a chair. Booker then pins Hawk for the win. This match went on a bit too long, but it's not bad. There was a lot of mostly random fighting and the finish was kind of odd but it is still enjoyable.

Chicago Street Fight, Ahmed Johnson & Legion of Doom vs Nation of Domination (Faarooq, Crush, Savio Vega), WrestleMania 13
One year later the Road Warriors are in yet another Chicago Street Fight. This time it's 3-on-3. LOD and Ahmed make their way to the ring. Hawk is carrying a literal kitchen sink. Hawk and Animal are wearing black and silver shoulder pads, while Ahmed is wearing a traditional red and black LOD pad. After quickly disposing of the Nation, babyface trio take out their frustrations on PG-13. Ahmed leaps over the guardrail attacking Crush. Animal nails Faarooq and Crush with a trash can. A 2x4 board is used in this match, as is a fire extinguisher, and a street sign. Ahmed slams Faarooq through the French announcers' table. Multiple trash cans are dented. The ring mat is stained red with the blood of Steve Austin from the previous match. D-Lo Brown gets involved and gets attacked by Ahmed. Savio pulls out Marlena's director's chair from underneath the ring and uses it on Ahmed. Savio uses a nightstick on Hawk. LOD hit the Doomsday Device on Crush. Ahmed and Crush then clothesline Crush with the 2x4 and Animal pins him. The fight isn't' over, though, as the Nation strikes back. Ahmed hits the Pearl River Plunge on D-Lo. Hawk then hits a double Doomsday Device on the two members of PG-13. This was definitely more fun than the previous match. Less than 10 minutes, not counting post-match antics. Good use of foreign objects.

Street Fight, Bret Hart vs Steve Austin, Raw 4/21/97
Austin is already in the ring awaiting Bret's arrival. Austin eagerly waits for Hart to enter the ring. Bret is reluctant to enter the ring. Owen and Davey Boy attack Austin from behind. It's a 3-on-1 assault on the Texas Rattlesnake. Shawn Michaels comes through the crowd and clears house of the Hart Foundation with a chair. It's down the Bret and Austin. Bret hits a pilederiver on Austin. Bret then grabs a chair and places it around the ankle of Austin. He then climbs the ropes and goes to slam his foot on the chair but Austin moves out of the way. Austin then uses the chair to his advantage attacking the knee of the Hitman. Austin then applies the Sharpshooter on Hart. Three referees are trying to get Austin to break the hold. hart has nearly passed out from the pain. More officials including Pat Patterson force Austin off of Bret. After a commercial The Hart Foundation are in the ring. Bret is injured. Back in the back, Gorilla Monsoon is confronting Austin and Austin says he doesn't care about the rules. Monsoon kicks Austin out of the arena. Bret is put on a stretcher and taken to a waiting ambulance. After another commercial, Bret is being loaded into the ambulance. The ambulance is ready to leave when Austin gets in and attacks Bret. The Hart Foundation fight him off as officials try to keep him away. Finally the ambulance is able to leave with Bret. This was more of a brawl segment than a match.

Falls Count Anywhere Match, Cactus Jack vs Hunter Hearst-Helmsley, Raw 9/22/97
For the first time ever Raw is War is live from Madison Square Garden. On the same night that Stone Cold hit the Stunner on Mr. McMahon for the first time, this match is supposed to be Hunter vs Dude Love. Dude's music hits and he appears on the Titantron. He says Falls Count Anywhere is not his type of thing and introduces Mankind. Mankind says as much as he'd love to fight Hunter, he knows someone else who would enjoy it even more, it's Cactus Jack. Cactus Jack has arrived in WWF. Hunter runs up the ramp to greet him and Cactus hits him over the head with a metal trashcan. Cactus rips off the floor mats and hits a swinging neck breaker on the floor. Hunter runs from Cactus and Cactus is taken out by Chyna. Hunter and Cactus fight into the crowd. Hunter slams Cactus on the floor goes for a pin and only gets two. Hunter thinks he's won. Cactus comes back with a fire extinguisher. Cactus has Hunter on the floor at ringside and goes up to the second rope. Cactus goes for an elbow drop on Hunter but Hunter moves out of the way and Cactus lands on the trash can. After a commercial, the two men are on the ring apron as Hunter goes to ram Cactus into the ring post, but Cactus kicks him down low. They go to the outside of the ring where Chyna gets involved. Chyna hits Cactus with a chair with little affect. Cactus is trying to tell Chyna to leave when Hunter comes up from behind and shoves Cactus sending him, and Chyna into the ring steps. Hunter delivers a side suplex on the steel ramp. Hunter sets up a table on the stage. He sets Cactus up for a Pedigree on the table but Cactus fights back with a piledriver through the table and pins Hunter for the win. The culmination of a feud that really helped elevate Triple H to new heights and proved he can handle hardcode matches. This was one of Hunter's first hardcore matches, but it certainly wouldn't be his last as we will find soon.

ECW Death Match, Taz vs Bam Bam Bigelow, Heatwave '98
I'm not sure what the "ECW Death Match" is supposed to be. The ring announcer states that the match is Falls Count Anywhere which is a surprise to Joey Styles. So was this "Death Match" supposed to just be a No Hold Barred Match just like any ECW match? Taz's FTW Championship is not on the line in this match. Shane Douglas is doing commentary alongside Joey Styles. Bam Bam hits a powerbomb on Taz early on but it has no affect on Taz. Taz soon hits a Samoan Drop on Bigelow. These guys may not be high flyers but the action between them is fast paced early on. The fight goes to the elevated walkway and soon into the crowd. Bigelow slams Taz head first into the chairs. They fight into the hockey boards and Bigelow then throws Taz into the seats. The fight goes toward the entry way where Taz takes Bigelow down with a spinebuster. They fight back towards the fans. Taz gets an armbar on Bigelow. The fight goes back to ringside where Bam Bam hits Taz across the back with a chair. Bigelow hits Taz with a powerbomb in the ring. He then tosses a table into the ring. He sets the table up vertically in the corner and then tosses Taz through the table. Taz is busted open. Taz soon comes back and hits a T-bone Tazzplex through the remnants of the table. The fight goes back to the ramp. Bam Bam sets Taz up for a suplex, but Taz turns it into a DDT through the ramp. An awesome sight as they bust through the ramp to the concrete floor. Bigelow is the first to get up. He's stumbling towards the ring as Taz gets up and applies the Tazmission. Bigelow taps out. Taz is your winner. Shane Douglas claims Bigelow was reaching for the ropes and not tapping out. It's hard to tell but it seems as though Bigelow was busted open, likely during the fall, and as soon as the match was over you can see Paul Heyman at the entrance directing medical crews to him as they apply a towel to his head. This was a really good match. The action was all over the arena. There's a lot of this match I Wasn't able to cover in my review as it was fast paced, plus when the action got to the crowd it was harder to see since it wasn't lit well in those areas. It wasn't strictly hardcore, though. There was a lot of good wrestling. And they used the objects around then not necessarily as offensive weapons but as ways to make their wrestling moves hurt worse. I will say this, I hope security guards got a really nice payday out of this as they deserved it. Rowdy ECW fans, no doubt some alcohol involved the guard hard a hard time keeping the fans back when the wrestlers fought in the crowd.

Next up is the Al Snow vs Hardcore Holly match from St. Valentine's Day Massacre which I reviewed recently on the Hardcore DVD, so go check out that review.

Strap Match, Triple H vs The Rock, Fully Loaded '99
One year earlier at Fully Loaded, The Rock and Triple H fought in a Best 2 of 3 Falls Match for the I-C title which ended in a 30-minute draw. Now they're fighting for the right to challenge for the WWF Championship at Summerslam. The Rock doesn't even get the strap on before the begin to fight. This is not a typical strap match where you touch the turnbuckles, this is pinfall or submission just while they're attached to a leather strap. The fight goes to the outside as Triple H drops The Rock on the Spanish announcers table. Rock reversed Triple H into the steel steps. The fight then goes into the crowd. Overall the fans are doing a better job of staying out of the wrestlers' way than the ECW fans did. Rock tosses Triple H into the guardrail and the two are now near the entrance. The Rock gives a brief pose as the crowd cheers. Triple H throws Rock into one of the steel supports for the entrance. Helmsley is now whipping Rock with the strap. Triple H goes for a suplex on the floor, but Rock reverses it into a suplex of his own. Rock goes for a pin and gets a close two. The two men are soon exchanging blows in the ring. Chyna makes her way to ringside. Rock hits the Rock Bottom on Triple H and goes for the pin, but Chyna has the referee distracted. Triple H goes to the turnbuckle and begins choking The Rock with the strap. Rock comes back and tosses Triple H off the top turnbuckle. The fight soon goes to the outside once again. Triple H grabs a steel chair and goes to hit Rock with it but Rock whips Helmsley in the gut with the strap. Rock continues to whip Triple H with the leather. Back in the ring, Rock hits Triple H with DDT and goes for a pin but only gets two. Chyna gets up on the ring apron as Billy Gunn comes down and knocks the Rock out. Triple H goes for a pin but Rock kicks out. Helmsley goes for the Pedigree but Rock hits a low blow. It's People's Elbow time. Rock goes for a pin but Billy Gunn pulls him out of the ring. Gunn the finds himself on the receiving end of a Rock Bottom. Triple H takes advantage with a low blow of his own followed by The Pedigree for the win. These two frequently put on good matches with one another and this is certainly no exception. Helmsley would go on to face Stone Cold and Mankind in a triple threat match for the WWF title in the main event of Summerslam, while Rock would go on the face Mr. Ass.

"Love Her or Leave Her" Greenwich Street Fight, Test vs Shane McMahon, Summerslam '99
From Summerslam 1899. Wait, no, this is 1999? But they're fighting over Stephanie McMahon's right to date Test. Shane comes out alone, without the Mean Street Posse. But the injured Posse make their way out anyway and Shane appears to be shocked as he said he was going to go at it alone. Joey Abs is wearing a walking cast, Rodney has his arm in a sling, and Pete Gas has a neck brace all thanks to Test. The Posse all have front row seats, or rather a couch. in the crowd. As you might expect the fight goes out to ringside and then into the crowd. Shane leaps off the guardrail onto Test but Test catches him and slams him on the floor. Test then tosses Shane onto the Posse. The Posse then fight Test. They hand Shane a metal mailbox, because they have one of those laying around, and Shane hits Test with it. In the ring, Shane would attempt a corkscrew moonsault from the top turnbuckle but Test moved out of the way. Test hit a powerbomb on Shane and went for the pin, but Rodney distracted the referee. Test accidently kicks the referee then knocks Shane to the outside. The Posse get involved again and they place Test on the Spanish announcers' table. Shane goes to the top rope and delivers an elbow onto Test on the table. The Posse toss both carcasses in the ring. Shane goes for a pin but Test kicks out. The crowd actually popped pretty good for that. Pete Gas accidently hits Shane with a sign and Test goes for a pin but Joey Abs pulls him out. Out come Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco who attack the Posse. Test hits his pumphandle slam on Shane. He then goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers an elbow on Shane and gets the pin. Stephanie comes running down to ringside and hugs Test. Outside of Shane's two big moves and Test's elbow from the top there's nothing really special about this match. It's pretty basic especially considering one month before WWE did the Triple H vs Rock strap match. That would lead up to the wedding where Stephanie would marry Triple H and that would lead to a match between Vince and Triple H and any hopes of Test being a main eventer died.

Street Fight, Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon, Raw 10/29/01
A rematch from WrestleMania, this time Vince is the fan favorite owner of the WWF and Shane is the hated owner of WCW. Shane goes right out after Vince. Vince begins pounding Shane on the ramp. Vince grabs a camera cable and begins choking Shane with it. The fight goes into the ring but not before Vince starts tossing trash cans into it. Shane grabs the lid of the trashcan and beats Vince with it. Shane sets the trash can on Vince and climbs to the top turnbuckle. Shane goes for a shooting star press but Vince moves out of the way and Shane lands on the metal trashcan. Vince grabs a kendo stick and beats Shane with it. Vince knocks Shane to the outside. Shane fights back with the trashcan lid. Shane goes to the top turnbuckle and delivers a big elbow drop to his father. Shane drags Vince into the ring and goes for a pin but only gets two. Shane sets Vince up for the Coast-to-Coast. Vince gets up and tosses the trashcan into Shane in mid-air. Booker T and Test come to the ring and attack Vince. Undertaker and Kane come out to their boss's rescue. Undertaker hits the Last Ride on Booker but William Regal comes out and hits a low blow on The Undertaker. Out comes The Rock who attacks Regal with the Rock Bottom. So, who's next? Stone Cold of course. Stunner on The Rock. Kurt Angle comes out followed by Chris Jericho. Angle turns and strikes Jericho with the chair. Angle has joined the Alliance. Austin hits the Stunner on Vince then places Shane on top of Vince. The referee manages to find room on between all of the bodies in the ring to count the pin. Shane defeats his dad once again.

Street Fight, Ric Flair vs Vince McMahon, Royal Rumble '02
Ric Flair is back in the WWF and back in Atlanta. Vince comes out second and is all jacked up for this battle of the WWF co-owners. This match actually starts off in the ring with the bell. Vince knocks Flair down and then poses. Vince then applies a headlock to Flair. Flair comes back with his signature chops. Flair does all of his usual moves, his upside down dive into the corner and his faceplant in the ring. The brawl goes to the outside and that's when this match starts to get good. Vince strikes Flair over the head with a trashcan and Flair is now busted open. Vince tosses Flair into the ring post and then into the stairs. They're now fighting right in front of Reid and Flair's other daughter (I don't know her name). Vince tosses a bloody Flair back into the ring. Vince then wraps Flair's legs around the ring post and rams them into the post one at a time. Vince then applies a Figure Four on Flair in the ring. Flair starts to fight back and soon turns Vince over and breaks the hold. Vince then pulls out a lead pipe from under the timekeeper's table. Before he can use it, Flair hits a low blow on him. Flair delivers a series of chops to Vince on the outside of the ring. Flair then grabs a TV monitor and hits Vince with it. Vince is now busted open. Flair brings Vince over to Flair's family allowing them to take pictures. Flair then grabs the lead pipe and hits Vince over the head with it. Figure Four is applied and Vince gives up. Flair proves he's still got it in the ring, at least when it comes to bloody street fights.

Unsanctioned Match, Shawn Michaels vs Triple H, Summerslam '02
Shawn Michaels had been seemingly forced to retire four years earlier due to a back injury but was not back in the ring and facing his former best friend, Triple H. Michaels goes right after Triple H as soon as The Game enters the ring. Michaels knocks Triple H to the outside then leaps over the top rope out onto him. Michaels soon breaks out the trashcans. Michaels smashes Triple H over the head with the can. Triple H comes back with a backbreaker to Michaels. Helmsley then whips Michaels into the turnbuckle back first. Triple H continues to target the injured back of Michaels. Triple H soon uses a steel chair on the back of his former best friend. Triple H then delivers a DDT onto the chair. Michaels is the first to bleed in this match. Triple H then removes the belt from Michaels pants and digs the belt buckle into Michaels' head. Triple H brings out his sledgehammer. Michaels fights back but Triple H whips him into the turnbuckle. Michaels climbs to the top rope with some sort of intentions to deliver a move from there but Triple H shoves referee Earl Hebner into the ropes knocking Michaels down. Triple H then strikes Michaels on the back with a chair. He then sets the chair upright in the center of the ring and drops Michaels back first onto it. He then places the chair flat on the mat and drops Michaels on it once again. Triple H goes for a pin but Michaels kicks out. The Game is not pleased. He sets up for a Pedigree onto the chair but Michaels comes back with a low blow. Triple H grabs the chair and comes at Michaels but Shawn delivers Sweet Chin Music to the chair sending it into Triple H's face busting him open. After Michaels knocks Triple H down again he does his signature kip-up from the mat as the crowd erupts. Michaels hits Triple H with a chair to the head. Outside the ring, Michaels hits Triple H with a bulldog to the bottom stairs. HBK brings out a ladder. He uses it first as a blunt object. He then leans it up against the ring post and catapults Triple H into it. As Michaels goes to bring the ladder into the ring, Triple H delivers a dropkick to the ladder into Michaels. Michaels is able to regain control and pulls out a table from under the ring. Michaels sets Triple H om the table outside of the ring then leaps off of the top turnbuckle out onto The Game. Michaels brings his opponent into the ring and sets up the ladder. He climbs the ladder and drops and elbow into the cold, black heart of Triple H. Shawn is pumped up now. Only one thing let to do and that's Sweet Chin Music, but Triple H blocks it and turns it into a Pedigree attempt, but Michaels jackknifes Triple H into a pinfall for the win. Michaels celebrates, but Triple H isn't done. He strikes Michaels in the back with the sledgehammer. Then winds up and strikes him once again in the back. An awesome match. That was an awesome match. The action, the brutality, the storytelling, all top notch. Michaels would sell the injury resulting from the sledgehammer attack over the next few months before making a grand return at Survivor Series in the first ever Elimination Chamber Match.

World Heavyweight Championship Street Fight, Triple H (c) vs Kevin Nash, Insurrextion '03
Shawn Michaels comes out first. He's going to be in Nash's corner. Nash comes out second. Then Triple H comes out along with Ric Flair. Thought, not only does Flair not get a big entrance the way Michaels does, he's hardly even seen. He waits a moment before coming out, there's no spotlight on him and the cameras stay on Helmsley. He is mentioned but otherwise, you'd hardly know he's there until the music stops and the lights come back on. Flair is the reason why Shawn Michaels is out there as Michaels is there to offset any advantage Triple H may have with Flair out there. Michaels and Flair get into an altercation early on as Flair attempts to interfere. Michaels rams Flair's head into the ring post and Flair is busted open. Flair manages to break away and get into the ring and attack Nash but Nash knocks him down. Flair and Michaels battle up the ramp. Nash and Triple H soon follow them. Flair delivers a low blow to Michaels. The Flair vs Michaels fight is more interesting than the Triple H vs Nash fight. Triple H goes for a Pedigree on the steel ramp, but Nash reverses it into a backdrop. Nash then strikes Triple H in the back with a chair. They fight over by JR and King, whose announcers' table is out near the entrance. They make their way back to the ring. Triple H goes after Nash's recently injured knee. Triple H grabs the steel steps and goes to hit Nash with them, but Nash trips him sending The Game face first into the steps. Triple H is now bleeding. Nash goes to whip Triple H into the turnbuckle but Triple H reverses it sending Nash into the referee and the corner. Ric Flair is back and he's got a chair. But he gets a boot to the face for his efforts. Triple H hits Nash on the head with a chair. After another referee comes to count the pin and Nash kicks out, Triple H strikes the referee. The Game and The Nature Boy double team big Nash until Shawn Michaels comes back and delivers Sweet Chin Music to Flair. He then prevents Triple H from using the sledgehammer. He goes for Sweet Chin Music on Triple H but Triple H blocks it and hits a Pedigree. Nash then hits a jackknife on Triple H but the referee is still down as he covers Triple H. A third referee comes down and begins to count but Flair pulls him out and knocks him down. Nash then goes after Flair. Nash goes for a Jackknife on Flair but Triple H hits Nash with the sledgehammer and overs him as the first referee makes the count. I don't usually give a rating to these matches but I'm going to give ***1/2 stars to Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair match. Only two stars for Triple H and Kevin Nash, they were dull without Michaels and Flair.

Women's Championship/Falls Count Anywhere Match, Melina (c) vs Mickie James, Raw 3/5/07
As Melina goes for her signature pre-match pose, James knocks her off the ropes with a sliding dropkick. Melina then runs away from James and then attacks her with a trashcan. They fight through the makeup area. Then James whips Melina into a door. The fight goes into the Women's locker room. Maria gets involved in the fight. Victoria then attacks James. Torrie Wilson uses hairspray in the face of Victoria. As the two original women in the match battle it out, Candice Michelle comes out wearing only a towel yelling at them to get out. Melina grabs Michelle's towel and uses it on James. The camera man gets knocked down and the crowd boos that. After a commercial the fight comes back to the arena as they grab each other by the hair and roll down the ramp. James tosses Melina by the hair in the ring. James then delivers a fisherman's suplex (hey, an actual wrestling move) and goes for a pin but only gets two. James places Melina on the top turnbuckle and goes for a hurnacanranna but Melina holds on and James goes down to the mat. Melina rolls James up and pins her. After the match, Melina has a staredown with guest ring announcer Ashley Massaro, who she would face at WrestleMania. This was another typical 2000s Divas match. Not a lot of wrestling action, just two women grabbing each other and rolling around for the attention of the male viewers.

Street Fight, Triple H vs Umaga, Cyber Sunday '07
Fans get to choose the stipulation between Street Fight, First Blood, or Steel Cage. Street Fight wins with 57% of the vote. Triple H meets Umaga in the entrance and the fight is on. Triple H goes for a Pedigree but Umaga blocks the move. They go back behind the stage set but soon barrel their way back onto the stage. The fight goes into the crowd. This is just a pure brawl. Umaga charges at Triple H who is leaning against the guard rail but Triple H moves out of the way and Umaga goes flying over him. They make their way into the ring where Umaga charges at Triple H who is in the corner but Triple H moves and Umaga strikes his head on the turnbuckle. Triple H grabs a trashcan and goes after Umaga but Umaga blocks him and hits a Samoan Drop. Umaga then throws his weigh around fighting The Game. Umaga hits a splash on Triple H. He then drops his leg on him. Umaga gets a bearhug on Triple H and begins shaking him. He follows that up with a belly-to-belly suplex. Umaga then grabs a chair. He goes to strike Triple H with it but The Game counters with a low blow followed by a DDT on the chair. Triple H sets up for the Pedigree but Umaga picks him up and slams him into the corner. The fight goes out to the announcers' tables. Umaga clears the hoods from each table. He goes to hit Triple H with a chair but Triple H fights back and sends Umaga over the Smackdown announcers' table. Then over to the Raw announcers' table. Finally the ECW table. Umaga lays Triple H on the third table and gets a running start across all three tables and delivers a big splash to Triple H. Umaga then places Triple H in the ring and climbs to the top rope for a splash but Triple H moves out of the way and Umaga falls flat on his face. Triple H goes under the ring and pulls out his sledgehammer. He goes to hit Umaga with it but Umaga stops him. The Samoan Savage then goes for his dreaded thumb to the throat but Triple H ducks and strikes him with a sledgehammer. One Pedigree later and it's all over. This one was better than the Triple H vs Nash match, but not really great.

Street Fight, John Cena vs Umaga, Raw
As Umaga comes out we can see Mr. McMahon on stage after one of his "Win Mr. McMahon's Money" drawings. Cena is already in the ring and jumps Umaga as he enters. But Umaga quickly gains the advantage. Umaga knocks Cena off the ring apron and into the guardrail. After a commercial break, the two men are fighting on the steel ramp as Umaga delivers a Samoan drop on Cena on the ramp. Umaga drags Cena back towards the ring. Cena fights back and the two men make their way into the ring. Cena tries for a cross body off the top rope but Umaga catches him and delivers a sidewalk slam. Umaga goes to the outside and begins to tear apart the announcers' table. He also grabs a chair and brings it into the ring, but Cena intercepts it and rams it into the midsection of the Samoan Bulldozer. Cena picks Umaga up for an AA but he can't hold the big man up and he collapses to the mat. Cena rolls to the outside and Umaga follows tossing him into the steps before placing him back in the ring. Umaga goes for a pin, but Cena manages to kick out. Umaga tosses the steel steps into the ring with ease. Umaga charges at Cena with the steps but Cena picks him up and delivers the AA and pins him. I found this match to be more enjoyable than the Triple H vs Umaga match. It was a bit short and could have benefited from Umaga kicking out of the AA but it still worked. Umaga was one of those wrestlers that I didn't appreciate when he was an active competitor.

Submissions Count Anywhere Match, Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase, Breaking Point
"Are you ready? Then for the thousands in attendance, for the millions watching at home, and for Montreal because I know there was an incident that happened quite a few years ago that apparently just sticks with some people who can't let go, I just want to say for me, personally...it was all his fault." After Legacy make their way to the ring the fight is on. Naturally, things spew to the outside of the ring quickly. Shawn and Cody fight into the crowd. The other two soon join them. The fight proceeds up the steps of the arena. Shawn applies a front face lock on DiBiase who's laying across a railing. Triple H and Rhodes fight back towards the concession stand. The two members of D-X apply simultaneous Figure 4 leg locks to the two members of Legacy, but the youngsters are able to escape. The fight continues back toward the main part of the arena and down the stairs. Soon, all four men are back at ringside. Triple H pulls Cody through a chair and applies a Boston Crab while Michaels applies a crossface at the same time. DiBiase comes to Rhodes' rescue. Michaels and Rhodes soon battle back to the tech area and then up into the stands. Rhodes shoves Michaels off of the stands and over the side railing down to the floor below. Triple H goes to check on Michaels then proceeds to take the battle to Legacy all by himself. Triple H sets up for a Pedigree to Rhodes on the stage, but DiBiase breaks it up. DiBiase sets up for a Pedigree of his own, but Triple H hits him with a back body drop. Triple H and the two members of Legacy battle to the backstage area. DiBiase applies the Million Dollar Dream to Triple H but he is able to get out of it. The Game then slams Rhodes into the catering table. Meanwhile, Shawn is stirring again. Rhodes strikes Triple H in the back with a chair. Legacy intercept Michaels as he attempts to come to the aid of his partner. They double team the Heartbreak Kid as they reenter the ring. Michaels fights back and disposes of DiBiase but Rhodes takes him down and applies and ankle lock. Michaels breaks free. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere on Rhodes. Everyone is down. Michaels is able to apply a Figure 4 to Rhodes. DiBiase comes to Cody's aid. Legacy sets up for a spike piledriver on Michaels but Michaels gets out of it. He sets up for Sweet Chin Music on DiBiase but Rhodes pulls him down. Rhodes applies a Figure 4 around the ring post. DiBiase comes and applies a Million Dollar Dream at the same time. Triple H stumbles his way towards the ring but before he can make it, Shawn taps out. Legacy are you winners. This was a very good match. D-X really helped elevate Legacy and there was some good storytelling.

Street Fight, Batista vs Rey Mysterio, Smackdown 12/11/09
Batista had turned on Mysterio a few months earlier and this was the payoff match. Batista takes control early on as he whips Rey across the ring into the turnbuckle. The match starts off with mostly a slow, methodical pace of wrestling moves. Batista rolls to the outside and Rey delivers a sliding dropkick to The Animal. After the commercial, whips Mysterio with a TV cable. Batista picks Mysterio up and drops him on the announcers' table before tossing him back in the ring. Mysterio attempts a comeback but Batista takes him down with a vicious clothesline. Batista brings a steel chair into the ring. Batista sets up for a Batista Bomb on the chair, but Rey reverses it and delivers a drop toe hold sending Batista face first into the chair. Rey then kicks Batista into the ropes, hits the 619 followed by the West Coast Pop and goes for the win but Batista kicks out. Mysterio then uses the chair on Batista but Batista comes back with a spear. Batista then hits Mysterio on the head with a chair and pins him. Batista wins the rivalry and goes on to Armageddon to challenge The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship. This was a tale of two matches. When Batista was in control it was a slow, plodding match. He would hit a power move then walks around a bit, not exactly posing but still basically stating that he's in control. When Rey was in control the match was fast paced and fun.

Street Fight, Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes, Smackdown 11/4/11
This was when Cody was still wearing the plastic mask on his face and is accompanied to the ring by his "bag men". The bag men hand out paper grocery bags to people in the crowd to cover up their faces. This was the peak of Cody's first WWE run. Orton takes Rhodes down early with a side headlock. On commentary for this match is the A+ team of heel Michael Cole, Josh Matthews, and Booker T. They kinda put JR and King to shame, am I right? The fight goes to the outside where Rhodes tosses Orton shoulder-first into the steel steps. Rhodes is aggressive on Orton as he slams him on the floor and drops bare knees on him. Orton fights back and tosses Rhodes out into the crowd. They fight through the crowd. They go back to ringside where Rhodes tosses one of his bagmen at Orton who delivers an RKO. After a commercial, the fight goes up the ramp to the stage. Up on the stage, Rhodes sets up for a suplex off the stage (the stage is only about 3 feet off the ground), but Orton reverses it with a suplex of his own. They go back to the ring where Orton delivers a super-superplex from the top tope. I'm not sure how it happened but Orton is bleeding from the top of his head. The fight goes back to the outside where Rhodes removes his mask as uses it as a weapon. We return from another commercial break to find Rhodes tossing Orton over the announcers' table. The fight returns to the ring and Rhodes delivers a front suplex on Orton. Rhodes goes for a pin but only gets two. Rhodes applies a Figure 4 on Orton. Rhodes removes his mash and strikes Orton in the face with it. Orton gets ahold of the mask and uses it for his own benefit. Orton is on a roll. He goes for an RKO, but Rhodes slips away and springboards off the ropes with a knee to Orton. Cody goes for Cross-Rhodes but Orton slips out of it and backdrops Rhodes. Rhodes pulls Orton to the outside of the ring. For his efforts, Rhodes gets dropped on the guardrail. Orton then delivers the DDT from the guardrail on Rhodes. The Viper tosses his opponent back in the ring and hits an RKO for the win. After celebrating his win, Orton finds one of the paper bags on the floor and places it over Cody's head. This was a fun match. Like I mentioned it was the peak of Cody's first run with WWE. This match clocks in at over 20 minutes (including two commercial breaks not on the DVD) and it was only the first match on the show that week. Now, I joked about the commentary team, though Michael Cole wasn't at his worst here and Booker T was better than he is nowadays on NXT.

Overall I enjoyed this DVD. I like these wild, out of control brawls. I especially enjoyed the classic Pat Patterson vs Sgt. Slaughter Alley Fight. It was something you didn't see back then. It definitely could have done without Macho Man vs Crush and possibly replace it with Shawn Michaels vs Diesel from 1996.

Next up, a collection of matches that spans 34 years. Includes both a Survivor Series Elimination Match, a Royal Rumble Match, an Elimination Chamber, a Hell in a Cell Match, and a Money in the Bank Ladder Match all in their entireties.

 

[Leon TrotSky]

That WM10 Falls Count Anywhere is such a bizarre match, and really quite lame with a load of downtime. It's clear they had no idea what they were doing with matches like that. Just like in 1997 they had no idea what they were doing with triple threats

 

[Skyefire]

I've decided to put a hold on the reviews for a while. I'll probably pick it up again sometime in the new year. In the meantime, I have some other DVD-related things to post including my own ideas for WWE DVDs. This first one is called Hometown Heroes. It's wrestlers competing in their hometown.

The Roar of the Hometown Crowd
There's northing like the roar of the crowd especially in your own hometown.

Chicago Street Fight
Legion of Doom & Ahmed Johnson vs Nation of Domination
WrestleMania 13, Rosemont, IL

Mick Foley vs Jonathan Coachman
Smackdown 11/2/07, Uniondale, NY

Randy Orton vs Sheamus
Battleground '15, St. Louis, MO

Winning the Big One
Winning in your hometown is one thing. But winning a major championship is extra special.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Vader (c) vs Ric Flair
Starrcade '93

WWF Championship
Psycho Sid (c) vs Shawn Michaels
Royal Rumble '97, San Antonio, TX

WWF Tag Team Championships
Acolytes (c) vs Hardy Boyz
Raw 7/5/99

WWE Championship
John Cena (c) vs CM Punk
Money in the Bank '11, Chicago, IL

When the Hometown Hero Falls
Winning in your hometown is special, but sometimes the hometown hero loses.

Jerry Lawler vs Randy Orton
Raw 8/7/06, Memphis, TN

WWE Championship
Edge (c) vs John Cena
Summerslam '08, Boston, MA

World Heavyweight Championship
Damien Priest (c) vs Drew McIntyre
Clash at the Castle '24, Glasgow, Scotland

Homeland if not Hometown
For some superstars, coming back to their home country draws big emotions even if it's not their hometown.

I-C Championship
Bret Hart (c) vs British Bulldog
Summerslam '92, London, UK

Sheamus vs Finn Balor
House Show 11/4/15, Dublin, Ireland

WWE Women's World Championship
Rhea Ripley (c) vs Nia Jax
Elimination Chamber '24, Perth, Australia

A Matter of Hometown and National Pride
Sometimes competing in your hometown is a matter of national pride.

Hart Foundation vs Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock, Legion of Doom
Canadian Stampede, Calgary, AB

WWF Championship
Steve Austin (c) vs Kurt Angle
Unforgiven '01, Pittsburgh, PA

Hometown Duels
Some cities have more than one hometown hero. And sometimes they face each other.

Edge vs Christian
Raw 5/17/10, Toronto, ON

The Miz vs Dolph Ziggler
Raw 1/27/14, Cleveland, OH

Starting and Ending
Some superstars make their debut in their hometown. While others bring their careers to an end in there.

United States Championship
John Cena (c) vs Sami Zayn
Raw 5/4/15, Montreal, PQ

WWE Women's Championship
Lita (c) vs Trish Stratus
Unforgiven '06, Toronto, ON

A Matter of Hometown and Family
Hometowns can sometimes be about family.
Smackdown Women's Championship
Natalya (c) vs Charlotte Flair
Smackdown 11/14/17, Charlotte, NC
Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs Damien Priest & Finn Balor
Raw 7/4/22, San Diego, CA