WWE Discussion Thread (4/15 SD: Edge's Retirement, WHT match: Christian/Del Rio)

[Master Rudy]

Well DarkestLight's topic in regards to the return of The Rock showed me that enough people here likely have an interest in talking about the WWE and seeing that I myself have gotten back into watching the past few weeks I figured it might be a good time to start a topic in regards to the WWE. I'll do what I can to keep this updated with the big news from Raw and Smackdown as well as recaps of the last PPV.

That being said onto tonight's biggest news:

Edge Announces His Retirement

I seriously wasn't expecting this one. Edge had just defended the World Heavyweight title at Wrestlemania 27. There's been teasing of an Edge/Christian reunion as well. I've spent the last few weeks expecting one of my favorite tag teams to either get back together or for the two men involved to potentially start a feud. However that all changed tonight. Despite not watching in many years I know that if someone comes to the ring and breaks kayfabe/character the way Edge did tonight just prior to the announcement that it's going to be something big. Originally the WWE was setting up a rematch between him and Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match at Extreme Rules for the World Heavyweight Title.....this was before Edge's recent medical test results came back however. Shortly after Wrestlemania he saw a doctor in regards to numbness in his arms and hands, took some tests and then did the Smackdown taping that aired this past Friday. Since then however it's become clear that the numbness is related to the spinal fusion he had in 2003 and as a result doctors cannot clear him to enter a ring ever again as it would eventually lead to paralysis.

Edge will be missed as he was always one of the more entertaining guys both in the ring and on the mic I'm hoping he at least stays on with the WWE and eventually joins the announce team as I enjoyed listening to him go back and forth with Micheal Cole during the Del Rio/Christian match on this past Friday's Smackdown. If you are a newer fan who only knows of Edge in recent years then do yourself a favor and look up his matches with the Hardys and the Dudleys from the late 90's/early 00's (the very first TLC match between all three tag teams pretty much set the standard for all future ladder matches).

Full video of the announcement:




In regards to the WHT match at Extreme Rules I'm kinda hoping that Christian takes Edge's place in the match and is given the win. Not only would it be passing the torch in a way but I think it would help further the feud between him and Del Rio.

Feel free to add your own thoughts on the Edge announcement as well as discussion on the other matches/events on tonight's Raw.

[DarkestLight]

Missed RAW last night. Thanks for the video WIll comment later, but that's laaaame. I never liked Edge but the fact that he HAS to stop or risk paralysis is well pretty damn sad, considering that a) this is fake but b) everything they do to their bodies is pretty much real :/

[Master Rudy]

Missed RAW last night. Thanks for the video WIll comment later, but that's laaaame. I never liked Edge but the fact that he HAS to stop or risk paralysis is well pretty damn sad, considering that a) this is fake but b) everything they do to their bodies is pretty much real :/

Well as Edge said in the announcement anyone that calls it fake has obviously never been in the ring. Granted the storylines can be called that. Obviously there's a certain way to throw a punch, take a fall and act like it hurt. However there isn't any amount of training that can prepare a wrestler to take a huge 15 foot fall. Case in point:



Edge's spear off the ladder at Summerslam 2000. Not to mention perhaps the two most famous Hardcore/Extreme Rules falls of all:



The infamous Hell in a Cell match at the 1998 King of the Ring. Foley's first fall was planned. The second one with the roof of the cage giving way wasn't. Even the Undertaker has gone on record in interviews as saying that he was afraid he killed Foley following the second fall.

[Bear]

Haven't watched wrestling since Bret Hart and Randy Savage were active. Miss those guys

[Heald]

Mick Foley was one of my favourite wrasslers ever, not just for his insane ability to get away with the most reckless bumps in the world, but the fact that he always put crowd pleasing ahead of his own life. One reason why I hated Triple H was that everything was so damned stage-managed. The one thing that wasn't stage managed, he ended up ripping a damn muscle and was out for nearly a year. Mind you, I suppose after that, they had to stage-manage all his matches. He was also very injury-prone before that too. Post-DX Triple H hardly took any risks, and the inevitable outcome was that all his matches became very boring to watch. DX Triple H was one of my favourite wrasslers too though (loved that Intercontinental Ladder match with the Rock he had).

[shazza]

Christian will forever be a midcarder.

[Bear]

Andre the Giant ftw

[kainashi]

Christian will forever be a midcarder.

(Spoiler:) christian vs. del rio for the title at extreme rules. sure he probably won't win but at least he's main eventing

[Heald]

Best Gimmicks?

Doink, Blue Meanie, Gold Dust, Al Snow (the Head and Head/Cheese eras were brilliant).

Rock n Sock Connection too.

[DarkestLight]

Best Gimmicks?

Doink, Blue Meanie, Gold Dust, Al Snow (the Head and Head/Cheese eras were brilliant).

Rock n Sock Connection too.

O gawd NO! I HAAAAAAATED Gold Dust. I was so glad the Rock came around and put the kabash on that crap. People in my school would run around saying that shit ALL DAY in H.S

[Ayeun]

And now, for the benefit of those with Flash Photography.

*Pose*

*Pose*

*Pose*

Ah... Thank you Edge!

[Drago]

All of my favourite wrestlers are long gone. Lance Storm, Eddie Guerrero, Foley... Chris Jericho is getting on in years, and not currently active...

And of course, this guy right here.

Oh Kurt, you crazy nutter.

[shazza]

(Spoiler:) christian vs. del rio for the title at extreme rules. sure he probably won't win but at least he's main eventing

(Spoiler:) Wow, awesome! I think there's a definite possibility that Christian will win. If he doesn't, then there's a possibility their feud can continue. It's the first PPV post Wrestlemania, and the World Title is essentially the secondary of the two, so this shall be interesting!

[Master Rudy]

Finally got around to seeing tonight's Smackdown on my DVR. Quick recap:

-Mysterio and Rhodes extend their feud
-The Corre seems to be suffering a breakdown
-Michael Cole attempted to patch things up between him and Swagger.....he got a 619 for his trouble
-Laycool has broken up (does anyone seriously follow the Divas division? )

As expected the major storyline of the night regarded the now vacant World Heavyweight Title. As the original plan was for a ladder match between Edge and Del Rio this naturally had Del Rio as #1 contender. The WWE ran with this and had Del Rio get some cheap heat by bragging about being the man that forced Edge to retire. He then went ahead and demanded that Edge make him the champ. Naturally this would not sit well with Teddy Long who said that there would be a 20 man battle royale to determine a #2 contender for Del Rio to face in the ladder match at Extreme Rules. Anyone who has watched the WWE long enough knows that on the current roster that Christian was second to Edge in regards to being the best performer in ladder matches. I think anyone who watched and saw he was in the main event had no doubts as to who would win that thing

The real question now is who's gonna win? Personally I see it being Christian as he has never held either the WHT or WWE Championship at all in his entire career. Granted they could push Del Rio for the win but I don't see it happening. With the loss of Edge I could see many fans seeing it as a slap in the face to let a newcomer such as Del Rio hold the WHT before Christian.

Either way they go however it should be an exciting match and no matter what the outcome is there is not any doubt that this is only going to push the feud between the two of them to new levels.

[Ayeun]

As much as I would like to see Christian win the WHT, you have to take in to account that he isn't really champion material. With Competitors like Big Show, Kane, and even Wade Barret to contend with, the WWE knows that Del Rio will sell main event tickets vs those competitors in the future. Christian MAY win in a ladder match, but how can you see him standing up to the super heavyweights in the future, and in normal matches?

Cole and Swagger... Oh god how I HOPE that Swagger knocks him for six come ER! Silence him, I am just SICK of listening to him.

The Corre - That break up cant happen fast enough.

Mysterio and Rhodes - Get rid of Rhodes already. He is a dick.

Diva's - I love my divas. Laycool however, need to break up so that Layla can move on to the title.

[Master Rudy]

As much as I would like to see Christian win the WHT, you have to take in to account that he isn't really champion material. With Competitors like Big Show, Kane, and even Wade Barret to contend with, the WWE knows that Del Rio will sell main event tickets vs those competitors in the future. Christian MAY win in a ladder match, but how can you see him standing up to the super heavyweights in the future, and in normal matches?

Christian.....not champion material? 0_o

*does not compute*

I haven't been back to watching for very long but I can tell you this: if they honestly thought a Del Rio match would sell tickets then the match with Edge at Wrestlemania would have been the main event instead of the first match......

Ok granted that may not be the best example as WM is expected to sell out. However Del Rio currently is not a big enough name to sell tickets. It's not a knock at the man's ring talent and mic skills. From what I've seen those are pretty good. However once you get away from pay-per-view, Raw and Smackdown and focus on the smaller house shows that's when you get the idea of who the people really want to see. There's an upcoming house show at the NKU Campus in Highland Heights in a few weeks. The local advertisements will without fail mention names like John Cena (*puke*), Randy Orton, The Miz, John Morrision, Rey Mysterio and Edge (before his sudden retirement that is)

People know Christian. Excluding the brief stint in TNA he's been with the WWE for a long time. Prior to Edge's bad news the #1 contender match was between Del Rio and Christian. People were cheering for Christian not just because he's a face and he's the guy you are suppose to cheer for......quite a few of them were hoping for the ladder match to be Edge/Christian. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Christian is in the top ten as far as the most popular active wrestlers goes. Hell with Edge gone now it's not much of a stretch to think he's #2 behind Rey Mysterio in terms of popularity on Smackdown (the kids just love that guy! ). In fact try asking a casual fan who he and who Del Rio is......I promise you more people will know Christian than Del Rio.

Del Rio sell more tickets than Christian? Sorry Ayeun.......to me that's like saying X-Pac was the most popular guy during the Attitude Era XD

But enough about that.....I say it's about time for the WWE to have Rey and Sin Cara face off

[shazza]

.I say it's about time for the WWE to have Rey and Sin Cara face off

He only just debuted. They may tease a few encounters here and there, a bit of friction, but there won't be a one on one match against each other until Wrestlemania 28 which has the potential of being a wonderful feud.

If this was the Attitude Era, however, they would probably be facing off within the next couple of months.

[Master Rudy]

Going back to Edge for a moment here's something I figured people may be interested in: Edge's very first televised match ever!

The shocker? It wasn't with the WWE :O



He actually started with WCW in 1996 as a jobber but left the company shortly after because he didn't like the gimmick he had while he was with them.

His first actual WWE match was in 1998:



It's ironic....the very first move he ever used in a televised WWE match was the Spear. His final move in his last match? The Spear

[Ayeun]

Lets talk about the Draft pick. I think with Del Rio going to raw, that Christian is now 100% going to win the ladder match. There is no way they would leave Smack down without a champion.

[Master Rudy]

Lets talk about the Draft pick. I think with Del Rio going to raw, that Christian is now 100% going to win the ladder match. There is no way they would leave Smack down without a champion.

Haven't caught up on the most recent Raw/SD due to some RL chaos. However I've heard about some picks so I'll bite in regards to Del Rio.

It's highly possible that Christian will win the ladder match as he is debatably the biggest active star on Smackdown now. However it's also possible Del Rio will win for the simple fact that loopholes have allowed people to challenge for the other show's title before.

In the event that Del Rio wins I'm predicting he goes up against The Miz in a title vs. title match at the next PPV to determine who the Undisputed Champion is. Despite being a heel it does seem like The Miz has quite a following of fans and is over with the crowd big time. A Del Rio win in this case could be a potential push to turn Miz into a face....granted his character would still be an asshole but it's the type of match where you'd HAVE to cheer for him

[Ayeun]

Extreme rules is coming!

1 - Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross vs. Michael Cole and Jack Swagger
2 - The Miz (c) vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison (Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship)
3 - Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio (WWE Heavy Weight Championship ladders match)
4 - Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
5 - Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio
(other matches to come)

Places your bets gentlemen!