Goodbye Edge-RAW 11/04/2011

(Now I won’t do play by play commentary, but I will note anything that I think has an impact on the match, or just looks amazing)

 I apologize...I tuned into RAW about 15 minutes into it

A match card revealed...Jack Swagger (with Michael Cole in his corner) vs Jerry 'the King' Lawler (with Jim Ross in his corner). The match stipulation is that if Swagger defeats King, Cole can retire 'undefeated' and King can never challenge him again. If King wins, he not only gets to face Cole at Extreme Rules, he gets to choose the match type and stipulation.

Some creepy promo with what appears to be a man with braids holding a doll. The face is not visible. This person then flicks off the dolls head. Awesome Kong? Mark Henry heel turn? After all...he is retiring soon.

Divas Championship match....snore...
Although Eve wanting to mark one of the Bellas with a marker is pretty ingenious.

During this match, Cole makes a snide remark about family members to King. Disgusting..(if you recall, he had a mouthful to say about King's deceased mother)

It seemed like a subpar match. Eve used her standing moonsault attack and failed to get the cover. She also hung Brie Bella from the Tree of Woe and did a baseball slide. Those were probably the highlights of the match. However, with a distraction from Nikki and the referee finally noticing that it was the wrong twin, Brie does a sneak attack and wins once again with ‘Twin Magic’. 

This is my legitimate beef with the women’s division. I don’t think that a championship that’s been merged with the Women’s one should be won through a gimmick.  I’ll write about this another day though.

Sin Cara walks down a hallway in preparation for a match.

<Commercial Break>

Backstage segment with Eve. Gail tries to show her sympathy and does Natalya, but Eve rejects them saying that they’re all the same and storms off as the two puzzled divas walk away.

We go back to the arena with Sin Cara and his new robe. He takes it off and then jumps over the top rope to face off against Primo, who is already inside the ring. Just because it’s Primo, I can already say this looks like a squash match. We quickly hear Sin Cara chants. It seems the crowd has quickly embraced this sensational luchador. 

Consecutively, we see Sin Cara counter Primo by running up his chest, doing a monkey flip, drop kicking Primo out of the ring, and then diving over the ropes to do a Hurricarana.  King happens to say that Sin Cara might be having a hard time with the competition in the WWE, a statement I find absolutely hilarious. The match continues and Primo looks to dive off the turnstyle, until he gets hit with a step up ezuigiri.  Sin Cara then joins him at the top but Primo botches and Sin Cara falls outside the ring. He gets back into the ring to a perched primo, delivers another step up ezuigiri and then his finisher (which is a moonsault slam from the turnstyle)

<Commercial Break>

New DX DVD =) I hope their merchandise comes available again in the WWE Shop.

<Commercial Break Ends>

Been hearing about the Main event and Edge’s Retirement. The Main event is a #1 Contenders Match for the WWE Championship. The match has John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison, R-Truth, and Randy Orton. They keep showing this picture of Edge that says Retirement? right underneath. It seems possible-at a house show he hinted at his retirement in the near future.

A recap of the alliance between The Rock and John Cena last week on RAW as they took on the Corre. Nice to see fan service for all generations.

The Corre is now in the ring. Wade Barrett talks about their unsuccessful ambush on the aforementioned superstars. He escapes the blame by shifting it onto the other members of the group. An angry Justin Gabriel grabs the mike and talks about his 450 splash, leading to Slater saying that nobody is able to take away from the fact that he is a two-time tag team champion. Ezekiel Jackson talks about his dominance and how he put Corre on the map. 

Santino’s music plays and interrupts the arguement. Santino introduces his team and swears to bring an end to the Corre with his group, the APPLE (Allied People Powered Loathing Everything [the Corre stands for]) in the name of Vladmir Kozolov. The Team consists of Evan Bourne Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan and Santino. 

<Commercial Break>

The Top 50 Superstars DVD is advertised. I’ll write my review on this another time and provide my own list.

<Commercial Break Ends>

The Corre is now man-handling Bryan in the corner. Slater has Bryan in a triangle chokehold and then delivers an Irish whip, to which Bryan counters in the corner. He escapes Slater’s unrelenting attacks and tags in Santino. Santino wastes little time to punch Gabriel off the apron After Santino dodges Slater’s running clothesline by doing the splits, he catches the rebounding Slater and does his arm throw. Santino tries to go in for the cover but Barrett and Jackson break the pin, resulting in an all out brawl. Santino tries to use his Cobra finisher (a throat thrust) on Slater, but a recovered Gabriel punches Santino in the back of the head, allowing Slater to get the cover and win the match.

<Commercial Break>

J.R. comes down the ramp with Cole insulting him on his weight. He makes jokes about squeezing his own barbeque sauce all over him last week, which results in JR trying to get into the Cole Mine (the cubicle he has set up for himself), and manages to get a couple of slaps upside the head and rattles the Cole Mine. Cole and J.R. exchange insults back and forth while an amused King laughs. Attempting to surprise King, Jack Swagger bolts at him, but King is prepared and the two exchange blows. The referee starts the match.

<Commercial Break>

 After Swagger knocks King over, he does his taunt where he runs laps around the ring with his arms outstretched. King, however, finds the chance to ground Swagger and then imitate him by doing his taunt. Swagger soon gains dominance and gets the ankle lock on King, with an encouraging JR telling King to reach for the ropes. Swagger is forced to break the hold. Throughout this match, Cole shouts his many insults and ruins the match in a way only Cole can. Swagger continues dominating with his many submission holds. Having enough, King punches Swagger but soon loses control again. King is distracted by the Cole on the apron and gets a wicked clothesline by Swagger. JR pulls Cole off the apron and his face bounces off of it. Swagger tries to engage JR from inside the ring by pulling on his head but King gets a roll –up pin. King and JR celebrate together as a confused Swagger looks in disbelief. 

Enraged, Cole runs into the ring and stars asking Swagger if he is an idiot and gets physical by poking his finger into his chest. He then slaps Swagger and quickly rolls out of the ring. 

King decides to make their match a tag-team match with himself and J.R. vs. Michael Cole and ‘his former friend’ Jack Swagger.

Recap of WM 27 with ‘Taker vs HHH II. Simply put, one of the best matches I have ever seen.

Cena and Edge shake hands in an inaudible convo. Hype is being built for his announcement coming up.

<Commercial>

Edge is introduced by Justin Roberts.

He seems like there is something on his mind. He asks the audience to bear with him for rambling. He says that although many people think the WWE is smoke and mirrors, it truly isn’t. He talks about breaking his neck, an injury that he sustained eight years ago and since then, he had been running on borrowed time.  He passed pre-Wrestlemania tests but MRIs show that he has to retire. He is thankful that he does no have to be in a wheelchair. Edge is visibly upset as he tears up. He thanks the crowd and the crowd begins chants of “Thank you, Edge”. He talks about his best friend Christian and how he’s provided support. Wrestlemania VI was his inspiration as he saw the Ultimate Warrior take on Hulk Hogan and fast-forward on how he got to face Undertaker at Wrestlemania. May 10, 1996 was his first match and he says he’s learned a lot. He chronicles his career; being a part of the Brood, being goofy with Christian, becoming despised and doing it with Lita. Edge hopes that he earned everyone’s respect and that he’s going to miss all of it. He says that despite the many hardships he’s faced, he’d do it all over again. He thanks J.R. for discovering him. ‘We love you’ chants begin and a tearful Edge walks onto the ramp and holds his rock on sign with both hands with his back turned towards the crowd for the lasat time. I was honestly expecting an angle but this is legitimate and making me upset.

<Commercial>

A sad Edge walks away through a hallway consisting of the entire locker room. Further affirmation that this is legitimate. Long-time rival Dolph Ziggler is the first to shake his hand, and everyone applauds Edge. He hugs Mark Henry, Natalya, and the Bellas and knuckle-bumps Khali as he walks out.

The Miz joins the commentators along with his associate, Alex Riley. The main event begins and Randy Orton is the first to come out followed by Ziggler. These two will square off first. After struggling in a triangle choke hold, Orton breaks out, does his clothesline and his scoop slam. Ziggler escapes the ring but Orton does his signature rope DDT. Orton is fully in control until the Nexus members David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty appear and distract Orton, allowing Ziggler to get the roll up. Ziggler leaves as the two Nexus members run in, with Orton successfully defending himself until he is greeted by a big boot from Mason Ryan. Punk is notably absent.

<Commercial>

R-Truth is out now. Ziggler beats Truth in the corner and tosses him into the other corners. After an elbow he goes for the cover. Truth looks like he’s break out from a triangle chokehold but Ziggler does his leg-drop bulldog to him. He goes in for a cover but fails. Ziggler dominates but Truth lands his new finisher, the What’s Up (leaping reverse STO).

John Morrison comes out and has new gear which is all black along with a black leather jacket.  With a determined look in his face…THEY CUT TO COMMERICAL!

J.Mo captivates with his high-flying style. After a wicked clothesline, J.Mo does a kip-up and then a windmill kick to a grounded R-Truth. Both men are now outside and it appears there will be a double countout, but they pull themselves together by eight. J.Mo is dominating after they both slide into the ring. He’s going to win! After a springboard kick, he drags Truth to the corner only to miss Starship Pain. Truth lands his finish and pins J.Mo. The Miz says that was J.Mo’s punishment for not cutting out the high-flying stuff. Cena comes out and does his entrance in the ring.

<Commercial Break>

‘Cena Sucks!’ chants break out in the arena. Cena did a dropkick which is pretty unique. He can’t seem to put R-truth away until he resorts the Five Moves Of Doom. He does his leg drop from the turnstile. Truth slaps Cena but happens to fall down. We hear more ‘Cena Sucks!’ chants. Truth does a few clotheslines and this his spinning lariat. Truth stalks Cena, waiting for him to get up, but Cena counters with an irish whip and then grounds him with a shoulder block. He then does his 5-knuckle shuffle. Before landing the Attitude Adjustment, the Miz and Alex Riley attack both men. The referee rules the match as a double DQ. The Miz grabs a mike and talks about there being no number #1 contender. The Anonymous GM agrees but says there are now two contenders. Cena and Truth recuperate and attack the duo until they leave the ring. The two then have a staredown but shake hands. However Cena takes a pat on the back the wrong way and both men begin to slap each other on the back until an angry Cena shoves Truth. Truth appears to be confused at first but smirks, and bobs his head to his music as he exits.

My thoughts:

Sin Cara is a BEAST! Reading through the strategy guide for the WWE All-Stars game, they based the acrobatic class off of his moveset, and after tonight’s episode, I have no disagreements with that. The man preformed a combination of high-flying moves! I hope his talent is used properly and not for any silly storylines.

The inception of the APPLE group is witty. I look forward to what happens to them in the future. Its not something I’m dying to see, but the Corre needs to end. Well, actually, the Nexus needs to close up shop.  

It can be established as fact to say that Cole has already overstepped all boundaries. He was almost fired for his homophobic remarks, so with him, what you see on TV..is what you get IRL. I hope that he gets released after Extreme Rules. We had an entire buildup up until WM and then King gets DQ’d. Cole needs to leave, seriously..

Back to what I was saying about the Nexus…seriously? Like…they got kicked in the head. Batista gets kicked in the head and comes back months later, and these fools come back in the matter of weeks. 

Cena does not seem as enthusiastic as he did before WM. A possible heel turn? 

JMO! God! What does this guy need to do to win the title. He did the single most amazing thing I have ever seen at a Royal Rumble. And then…he climbed the ceiling of the Elimination Chamber! He needs to win soon. I am a huge J.Mo fan as this website’s name would indicate.

Now...I tried to write my thoughts in order but I saved this one for last. Edge retiring. This almost had me in tears. You have your Hulk Hogans and your Rocks but Edge had to be my all time favourite. Maybe it took him leaving for me to realize that, but he really served as an inspiration over the years.  He overcame the odds and didn’t go to fancy wrestling schools for training. His mom was a waitress and he was just some guy from Orangeville that was really dedicated.  I thought for a while I grew out of wrestling but when I attended the house show in February…something came over me, and I felt the electricity throughout Ricoh Coliseum as soon as his theme music played. I joined in with the crowd chanting SPEAR…SPEAR…SPEAR.. as he prepared to land one onto to Dolph Ziggler. I tried to get an autograph for my little brother who couldn’t make it and braved the snow with my group of buddies as other superstars drove away, waiting for Edge to come out and sign my copy of his autobiography. Security informed me that Edge left, and I’d been meaning to write a letter to him since then explaining that I missed him but I’d really like to hear from him. I’d stand in the snow again if it meant I had a chance to meet him. A friend I happen to be having problems with berated me for my passion for pro-wrestling and said that the injuries were fake, which infuriated me, because Edge received spinal fusion surgery. There’s nothing fake about that. Edge was not only an icon, but someone real…more real than anyone I’ve ever seen in the business or will see in the business again. I intend on writing a letter to Edge soon, just to let him know how I feel.