Speaker 1: Welcome to the WWE Podcast, the most passionate and authentic
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Speaker 1: every Raw, SmackDown and NXT show, giving you a no
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Speaker 2: And that's the bottom line. What costone co e SETSU.
Speaker 3: Hey, guys, what is going on? And welcome back to
Speaker 3: WWE Rivalries with your host, yours truly, Anthony DeMarco. You
Speaker 3: can find me at aid Marco twenty five on Twitter
Speaker 3: if you guys want to get in touch. And I
Speaker 3: hope you guys are doing well. We are September tenth
Speaker 3: when I'm recording this Thursday, September tenth, but you will
Speaker 3: be listening to it most likely on September eleventh. So
Speaker 3: back by popular demand, or should I say brought to
Speaker 3: you by popular demand? We have this week's feature rivalry
Speaker 3: of Edge versus John Cena, and I'm going to focus
Speaker 3: on They're one that really ran through the better part
Speaker 3: of two thousand and six. I don't want to make
Speaker 3: this huge, story long rivalry when it spilled into the
Speaker 3: World Heavyweight Championship picture leading up to wrestling at twenty
Speaker 3: five when they had the triple Threat match with the
Speaker 3: Big Show that was mainly a part of SmackDown. I'm
Speaker 3: going to focus mainly on the two thousand and six
Speaker 3: version of Edge versus John Cena, because, as I've said before,
Speaker 3: I wasn't too in touch with the product in the
Speaker 3: year two thousand and nine, ten whenever that was. But
Speaker 3: to be quite honest, I think their rivalry in two
Speaker 3: thousand and six was the best part of it, as
Speaker 3: it was a catapult for Edge and it was one
Speaker 3: of the first big rivalries for John Cena as a
Speaker 3: main event star. But before we get to that, I'm
Speaker 3: just gonna give you a few of my thoughts on
Speaker 3: the current WWE product at hand. So we'll start firstly
Speaker 3: with the Talk of the Town, and that is a
Speaker 3: heel Roman Reigns, who was set to go one to
Speaker 3: one on one with his cousin jay Uso. Look, there's
Speaker 3: no way Juso is going to win. This is clearly
Speaker 3: a means to an end type of storyline and program,
Speaker 3: and that end being solidifying Roman Reigns as a true
Speaker 3: top heel. Look, I think that it's gonna be a
Speaker 3: slow burn with rains going to a full heal mode,
Speaker 3: and I think there's no better way to start that
Speaker 3: off by making him go up against his family member
Speaker 3: and a crowd favorite in one of the Uso brothers.
Speaker 3: I'm interested to see how they play this out over
Speaker 3: the coming weeks, how the interactions between jay Uso and
Speaker 3: Roman Rings are, because look, for all intents and purposes,
Speaker 3: ja Uso has no business being in this match, has
Speaker 3: no business being had no business being in the Number
Speaker 3: one Contenders match, just no business being around the Universal
Speaker 3: Championship picture. Like, I don't even think he's had a
Speaker 3: one on one opportunity for a singles title at all,
Speaker 3: including the intercon Nettal or United States Championship. So look,
Speaker 3: we're gonna throw logic to the wayside and just look
Speaker 3: at it for the betterment of this program and this storyline,
Speaker 3: which it is. To be quite honest, I can't think
Speaker 3: of a better first one on one guy to go
Speaker 3: up against the Roman reigns, then a family member to
Speaker 3: really push home the narrative that he is a true
Speaker 3: top heel. So I'm really looking forward to that, and,
Speaker 3: to be quite honest, SmackDown as a whole I think
Speaker 3: has been doing very, very well of late. I love
Speaker 3: what they're doing with the Intercontinental Championship picture bringing back
Speaker 3: Sammy Zain, and you know he comes from the same
Speaker 3: place in Montreal that I do, so I got a
Speaker 3: kick out of him speaking French. Just overly obnoxious type
Speaker 3: of character. I really missed him on television and then
Speaker 3: him involved with Jeff Hardy and aj Styles. I just
Speaker 3: think it's a great mid card type of feud for
Speaker 3: SmackDown right now, and I just think as a whole
Speaker 3: they are doing very well. The Bailey turn on Sasha Banks.
Speaker 3: I didn't know they were gonna do it that fast.
Speaker 3: I thought they're gonna let it drag on for a
Speaker 3: bit longer, but hey, they did it excellently. I'm here
Speaker 3: for a but it SmackDown as a whole is really
Speaker 3: doing well, and I think I touched on it last week,
Speaker 3: but I'm enjoying it a lot more than Monday Night
Speaker 3: Raw as of right now, and even the tag team division,
Speaker 3: Like I know that we haven't really seen Cizarro and
Speaker 3: Nakamura engage in any type of feud strictly on SmackDown. Obviously,
Speaker 3: they showed up on Raw this week to come face
Speaker 3: to face with the Street profits. But the way that
Speaker 3: they've given Nakamora and Cizarro screen time to kind of
Speaker 3: push home the fact of, you know, the Champions Lounge
Speaker 3: and the Champions Champagne. I think it's been really cool.
Speaker 3: I like Cizarro and Knackamora. I think they just fit
Speaker 3: like a glove with one another for a tag team.
Speaker 3: So as a whole, I am really intrigued on what's
Speaker 3: going on on SmackDown. As for Monday Night Raw hasn't
Speaker 3: been bad, but I'm starting to get a bit tired.
Speaker 3: Like I'll just say it, Mysterial Family cannot and them
Speaker 3: cannot take any more of it. Dominic coming out there
Speaker 3: looking like a power Ranger beating up Murphy, which I
Speaker 3: don't understand what the point of that was. I think
Speaker 3: Murphy becoming a jobber to the Missterio family is a joke,
Speaker 3: quite honestly. As for the main event feud, look, I'm
Speaker 3: still invested in Orton versus McIntyre, but at the same time,
Speaker 3: I feel like the injection of Keith Lee into that
Speaker 3: into that program has really hurt Randy Orton in particular.
Speaker 3: It's almost like he has two foes right now. I
Speaker 3: know that they had Keith Lee say like that Drew
Speaker 3: Barer not interfere in his match again and whatnot. But
Speaker 3: I just don't think that's where Keith Lee needed to be.
Speaker 3: And I love Keith Lee, he has a bright future
Speaker 3: on the main roster, but just any other type of
Speaker 3: program would have been better to did for Keith Lee.
Speaker 3: I thought they were doing an excellent job with pushing
Speaker 3: Randy Orton as the true top heel in the company
Speaker 3: and in professional wrestling as a whole, maybe rivaled by
Speaker 3: MJF and AEW, but they I don't know, they cool
Speaker 3: them off the back to back losses in the same
Speaker 3: week by the roll up and then the power bomb
Speaker 3: by Keith Lee or I forget what his version of
Speaker 3: the power bomb is called. But I don't really like
Speaker 3: what they've done with Orton in the past few weeks,
Speaker 3: even Drew getting the three claim wars on him this week.
Speaker 3: I just I feel like they've really halted the momentum
Speaker 3: of Randy Orton and kind of disappointed there, to be
Speaker 3: quite honest. Then the biggest positive though of Monday Night
Speaker 3: Raw is the Hurt business. I love it, absolutely great.
Speaker 3: They've taken three I would say obscure and random and
Speaker 3: insignificant guys in MVP and Shelton, Benjamin, Cedric Alexander. And
Speaker 3: we can't lump Bobby Lashley into that mix because he
Speaker 3: did have a solid run going on even before the
Speaker 3: herb business showed up. But they have really taken Raw
Speaker 3: by the horns and in my opinion, are the most
Speaker 3: entertaining part of the show right now. I really love
Speaker 3: what they're doing. I really hope to God that on
Speaker 3: two of the members tag team together and take the
Speaker 3: Tag Team championships away from the street profits. I think
Speaker 3: that's what this faction needs. Hopefully it would be Shelton
Speaker 3: and Cedric Alexander or MVP and Cedric Alexander. Just Cedric
Speaker 3: Alexander would have to be involved. I love him joining
Speaker 3: the group, but I'm hoping that they get more gold
Speaker 3: around their ways, as Bobby Lashley is already the United
Speaker 3: States champion. So look, all positives across the board for SmackDown.
Speaker 3: Not so much for Monday Night Raw, but it isn't
Speaker 3: awful by any means. I just think that for whatever reason,
Speaker 3: it's kind of become a bit redundant on Monday Night Raw,
Speaker 3: especially the mysterio thing, and I don't mean to keep
Speaker 3: coming back and rehashing and whatnot, but my god, I
Speaker 3: am just so done with that whole mysterio seth Rawlins
Speaker 3: thing and Dominic. I don't know, there's something unlikable about him.
Speaker 3: Maybe it's the Power Ranger costume. Not too sure there,
Speaker 3: but certainly has not been my cup of tea. But look,
Speaker 3: let's get to the reason why you guys are here,
Speaker 3: and that is WWEU rivalries and brought to you by
Speaker 3: popular demand. I know a lot of you guys email
Speaker 3: the Matt at REALWWE Podcasts at gmail dot com to
Speaker 3: express your interest in me taking a episode to focus
Speaker 3: on Edge versus John, And look, I had that one
Speaker 3: sitting in the back pocket, and I was gonna do
Speaker 3: it anyway. No, I'm just kidding. I know, I definitely
Speaker 3: thought about doing it for a couple weeks now, but
Speaker 3: figured I might as well do it right now, seeing
Speaker 3: as though so many of you wanted to hear about it. So,
Speaker 3: like I said, I'm going to concentrate on their feud
Speaker 3: in two thousand and six that culminated at the Unforgiven
Speaker 3: pay per view following SummerSlam. So to bring you back
Speaker 3: to two thousand and five a bit to really set
Speaker 3: the stage for where these two guys were coming from
Speaker 3: and how they led to be how they ended up
Speaker 3: being against one another. Rather in two thousand and five
Speaker 3: WrestleMania twenty one. This was a big pay per view
Speaker 3: for setting the stage as to where John Cena and
Speaker 3: Edge were heading for the succeeding year, year and a
Speaker 3: half even two years. So at this time, John Cena
Speaker 3: was the number one contender for JBL's WWE Championship over
Speaker 3: on SmackDown, And at this time SmackDown was really going
Speaker 3: through a changing of the guard for who their top
Speaker 3: face was going to be and their top heel for
Speaker 3: that matter. As you may have recalled, Brocklesner had left
Speaker 3: the company the year before. They had just gone through
Speaker 3: the Eddie Guerrero w W Championship, a run that ended
Speaker 3: at the previous Great American Bash in June of two
Speaker 3: thousand and four, and JBL was on a nine month
Speaker 3: run as WWE champion, and he faced off against guys
Speaker 3: like Eddie Guerrero, Booker, t Undertaker, Big Show, and he
Speaker 3: fought them all off and blow and behold John Cena,
Speaker 3: who was fresh off of a year of being the
Speaker 3: US Champion on and off, having a lengthy feud with
Speaker 3: Booker t the debut in Carlito ended up losing it
Speaker 3: to the Chief of Staff to JBL Orlando Jordan and
Speaker 3: had never been a champion other than the US Champion
Speaker 3: to this point in his career. So following the No
Speaker 3: Way Out pay per view of two thousand and five,
Speaker 3: John Cena faced off against or embarked on a program
Speaker 3: with John Bradshaw Layfield, his first ever main event feud,
Speaker 3: which he ended up winning the ww Championship from him
Speaker 3: at WrestleMania twenty one in two thousand and five. Meanwhile,
Speaker 3: over on Raw, RAW was enjoying some of its best
Speaker 3: time during the Ruthless Aggression era in my honest opinion,
Speaker 3: because at this time Bautista and Triple H were entering
Speaker 3: their inaugural feud in the main event scene, as Bautista
Speaker 3: just turned on him and hence just ending evolution as
Speaker 3: we knew it for the time being. But while they
Speaker 3: had a strong upper car main event scene, the other
Speaker 3: great part about Raw during this time was the fact
Speaker 3: that they just had a such a strong mid card,
Speaker 3: and you saw guys in the mid card like Shelton Benjamin,
Speaker 3: Chris Jericho, Christian Crisp and Wah and Edge and just
Speaker 3: other people who I'm missing, but Raw at this time Caine.
Speaker 3: They just had a very very very strong mid card.
Speaker 3: You could even make the case that Randy Orton had
Speaker 3: slid back into the upper mid card at this point
Speaker 3: as he faced off against the Undertaker at this WrestleMania.
Speaker 3: So essentially what happened at WRESTLEMANA twenty one was the
Speaker 3: inaugural Money in the Bank ladder match. And at this time,
Speaker 3: if you guys remember, the Money in the Bank ladder
Speaker 3: match was held annually at WrestleMania did not yet have
Speaker 3: its own pay per view, and at this WrestleMania it
Speaker 3: was a raw exclusive. So what we saw here was
Speaker 3: basically all the upper mid card guys get thrown together
Speaker 3: in a ladder match for the money in the Bank contract.
Speaker 3: And it was such a foreign concept. We didn't even
Speaker 3: know how this would work, how you would cash it in.
Speaker 3: The match featured Edge, Christian, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Caine,
Speaker 3: and Shelton Benjamin, who was the inter Continental Champion at
Speaker 3: that time. Throughout the match, very good match, I suggest
Speaker 3: you guys go back and watch it, and it ended
Speaker 3: up with Chris Benoit on the ladder seemingly ready to
Speaker 3: win the first ever money in the Bank ladder match,
Speaker 3: but during the match he had really got his arm
Speaker 3: messed up, so he's climbing the ladder very gingerly on
Speaker 3: one arm. Edge comes in the ring, smashes him in
Speaker 3: the bad arm with a steel chair, climbs the ladder
Speaker 3: and unhooks the first ever money in the bank briefcase.
Speaker 3: And this set Edge on a very strong year as
Speaker 3: he really came into his own in two thousand and
Speaker 3: five as a top heel, because in two thousand and
Speaker 3: four he was a babyface for much of it. Had
Speaker 3: a program with Randy Orton over the Intercontinental Championship in
Speaker 3: two thousand and four, so it was clear that following
Speaker 3: wrestling in twenty one, giving him the money in the
Speaker 3: Bank contract was a way to really push forward with
Speaker 3: Edge as a top heel. Because you gotta remember, at
Speaker 3: this time on Monday Night Raw, Triple H had reigned
Speaker 3: supreme atop the heel part of the mountain. At least
Speaker 3: of Monday Night Raw for almost three years running. He
Speaker 3: had been the World heavyweight Champion. I would say at
Speaker 3: least eighty percent of the time, save for a few
Speaker 3: short brief runs by Ben Wah and Sean Michaels and
Speaker 3: Randy Orton and Batista just won the World Heavyweight Championship
Speaker 3: at that same pay per view, so they had to
Speaker 3: start looking to the future, and two thousand and five
Speaker 3: was their first step in doing so in the main event,
Speaker 3: specifically with Edge. Now, to be quite honest, it took
Speaker 3: Edge quite a long time to get to the main
Speaker 3: event picture, even following that money in the Bank, I
Speaker 3: keep saying championship. Sorry, guys, it's just its habit for me.
Speaker 3: Following his money in the Bank contract victory. So following
Speaker 3: this pay per view, he obviously had a short brief
Speaker 3: feud with Kine where he aligned himself with Leda. Then
Speaker 3: he had what I love, one of the most underrated
Speaker 3: feuds that I guess it kind of fell flat, But
Speaker 3: his feud and program with Matt Hardy in the summer
Speaker 3: of two thousand and five playing off of real life
Speaker 3: events was pretty damn cool, even though it was kind
Speaker 3: of lackluster in the end. So while Edge was on
Speaker 3: the ascent in two thousand and five, John Cena was
Speaker 3: doing much of the same. He closed out his program
Speaker 3: with John Adshaw Layfield on SmackDown, and then he was
Speaker 3: drafted over to Raw as him and Batista swap swapped places,
Speaker 3: both world championships, swapped the brands, and it was a
Speaker 3: pretty big shift in the landscape of w WE. Personally,
Speaker 3: I think it's because Vince mcmahnon company saw John Cena
Speaker 3: as the top guy ahead of Batista. That's why they
Speaker 3: made him switch to the flagship show, Monday Night Raw,
Speaker 3: and right out of the gate, he engaged in a
Speaker 3: feud with Chris Jericho. I believe. He defended the WWE
Speaker 3: Championship at Vengeance two thousand and five in a triple
Speaker 3: threat batch with Christian and Chris Jericho, his first title
Speaker 3: defense as part of Monday Night Raw. Then he embarked
Speaker 3: on a program with Jericho just up until SummerSlam. Jericho
Speaker 3: ended up getting fired AKA pursuing his Fozzy career and
Speaker 3: he was away from WWE for about two years after that,
Speaker 3: and then afterwards he had a see had a program
Speaker 3: with Kurt Angle which lasted much of the fall of
Speaker 3: two thousand and five, culminated at Survivor Series, and he
Speaker 3: ended up defending his WWE Championship in a elimination chamber
Speaker 3: match at New Year's Resolution two thousand and six, and
Speaker 3: this match included the likes of Chris Masters, Carlito Cain,
Speaker 3: Shawn Michaels, and Kurt Angle along with John Cided. And
Speaker 3: if you guys don't remember, Carlito and Chris Masters were
Speaker 3: really kind of getting pushed as top young guys on
Speaker 3: Monday Night Raw. They were part of Team Raw in
Speaker 3: the inaugural Raw Versus SmackDown Survivor Series match. Then I
Speaker 3: think I'm going to do a Rivalries edition on that
Speaker 3: as well, Raw Versus SmackDown in two thousand and five,
Speaker 3: because it's not kind of like the forced version as
Speaker 3: we see in today's WWE. It's more so it was
Speaker 3: more so of an organic program. But nonetheless, so we
Speaker 3: saw Cain in that match, who was won half of
Speaker 3: the World Tag Team Champions with Big Show, Shawn Michaels
Speaker 3: and Kurt Angle. So what we saw in this one
Speaker 3: as Kurt Angle went out first, Shawn Michaels and Cain
Speaker 3: followed and it came down to Carlito Masters and John
Speaker 3: Cena and John Cena started this match with Shawn Michaels.
Speaker 3: So he was a bloodied mess and he was just
Speaker 3: getting double team by Carlito and Chris Masters. Carlito turned
Speaker 3: on Chris Masters, got the pin, and then John Cena
Speaker 3: pinned Carlito for the roll up, seemingly closing out the
Speaker 3: night as WWE champion, overcoming the odds. And by this
Speaker 3: point John Cena was he was w W champion for
Speaker 3: going on ten months. At this point, you know, he
Speaker 3: had won it back in I believe it was in
Speaker 3: March that year Wrestlmingia or April, so it was almost
Speaker 3: a year. It was coming up on a year of
Speaker 3: John Cena being the WWE champion. But while we thought
Speaker 3: that John Ceno was gonna walk away from that pay
Speaker 3: per view as WWE champion, and just when we thought
Speaker 3: the show was over and John Cena would live to
Speaker 3: fight another day as w w E Champion, Vince McMahon appeared.
Speaker 4: This individual is cashing in his money and the bank
Speaker 4: privilege thirty earned in Wressellmania Championship match will take place
Speaker 4: right here, right now, Oh Johnsina defense ac.
Speaker 2: Cash Well, I thought, and I said it earlier than that.
Speaker 2: Are you kidding me? That head would use it.
Speaker 5: A Presselmania, but his casting in cash it is big
Speaker 5: time when.
Speaker 2: Jud Cina is not his weakest. Oh hard, turn around,
Speaker 2: Tony boy, turn her around.
Speaker 5: It's over and drelse waiting on the tow You ain't chip,
Speaker 5: it's waiting on him.
Speaker 2: Check under the spin.
Speaker 4: Too.
Speaker 3: Did he get in?
Speaker 4: No?
Speaker 3: He didn't.
Speaker 5: How in the world did John Cena kick out him?
Speaker 3: That was it a three or two?
Speaker 2: It was a two?
Speaker 4: It was a two.
Speaker 2: And Edge is in total disbelief. I don't think Edge
Speaker 2: is the only one in disbelieve.
Speaker 5: After all that Sina's gone through. Look at Edge now,
Speaker 5: he can't believe it. But this belief now turn into
Speaker 5: frustration and angry. You can see the face of age changing.
Speaker 2: Oh no, not another spear everybody.
Speaker 3: I guess that's figures. That's what it's gonna take. Edge,
Speaker 3: will spirit seen them all?
Speaker 2: We're gonna be asked and I can't cover are good?
Speaker 2: What has he been here tonight? Why are you?
Speaker 3: I can't believe it.
Speaker 2: I can't believe it.
Speaker 3: That's what the.
Speaker 2: Data historical nights. It just sucked the world. I want
Speaker 2: to tell you what he's done.
Speaker 3: So there you have it. Edge, with the inaugural money
Speaker 3: in the bank. Cash In takes the championship away from
Speaker 3: John Cena, the first time the w W Championship had
Speaker 3: changed hands in close to ten months. As I just said,
Speaker 3: and fun fact, and I believe you guys already knew this.
Speaker 3: Uh Matt was in the crowd for that, for that,
Speaker 3: for that match and that pay per view. So a
Speaker 3: pretty cool bit of info there. I'm pretty sure Matt
Speaker 3: did a whole restling nostalgia based on this. So this
Speaker 3: was the kickoff to the Edge versus John Cena feud.
Speaker 3: But while it was the kickoff, it didn't really last long.
Speaker 3: The falling night on Raw, Edge had the infamous live
Speaker 3: sex celebration, which, uh, man, you want to talk about
Speaker 3: rated R superstar that is just about as rated R
Speaker 3: as it gets. John Cena interrupted, and they embarked on
Speaker 3: a program that led to Royal Rumble two thousand and
Speaker 3: six and le and Behold, John Cena won back the
Speaker 3: WWE Championship less than a month later. And I guess
Speaker 3: if I look back at this objectively, I understand why
Speaker 3: they put the belt back on Sena right away, because
Speaker 3: if you think about it, I know we think of
Speaker 3: John Cena now as being forced down our throats for
Speaker 3: the better part of ten years and never losing paper
Speaker 3: matches and just basically a WWE version of Superman. There
Speaker 3: was still a lot of juice to be squeezed from
Speaker 3: the initial John seen a push at this time. And
Speaker 3: I know that may be crazy to say, because he
Speaker 3: had just been on a near year long run as
Speaker 3: WWE champion. Why put the belt back on him right away?
Speaker 3: But there was still a lot of runway to go
Speaker 3: with John Sieda, because even though he had only been
Speaker 3: in the main event picture for or that he'd already
Speaker 3: been in the main event picture for a year, they
Speaker 3: really hadn't got him involved in very high level feuds
Speaker 3: to this point. Like I said on SmackDown, it was
Speaker 3: a four month long program with John Bradshaw Layfield, he
Speaker 3: came over to rob he had a two month long
Speaker 3: program with Chris Jericho, who was no longer on the
Speaker 3: Monday Night Rob Brand. Then he went to Totoe with
Speaker 3: Kurt Angle for three months, who by this time in
Speaker 3: January two thousand and six, had jumped back over to
Speaker 3: SmackDown and once again had reclaimed the World Heavyweight Championship.
Speaker 3: So John Cena had yet to really engage in a
Speaker 3: few that's stuck. It was all kind of one and
Speaker 3: done's And you saw what they did following him regaining
Speaker 3: the w W Championship at the Roe Rumble, as he
Speaker 3: went into a pretty good and underrated program with Triple
Speaker 3: H leading into WrestleMania twenty two, and maybe they thought
Speaker 3: it was premature to put the strap on edge. If
Speaker 3: I had to give an objective take on it, I
Speaker 3: think it's because they saw the potential by booking John
Speaker 3: Cena versus Triple H at WrestleMania twenty two. And at
Speaker 3: this time, not to say that that Triple H had
Speaker 3: little runway left because he competed as a full time
Speaker 3: competitor for about four years after this, but he wasn't
Speaker 3: a spring chicken, So you only had so many years
Speaker 3: left of Triple H his absolute prime to go one
Speaker 3: on one with John Cena and main event a WrestleMania.
Speaker 3: And even more so, it's clear that they had plans
Speaker 3: to bring back Degeneration X in the summer of two
Speaker 3: thousand and six, which we saw succeeding the WrestleMania in
Speaker 3: two thousand and six. So look, they clearly wanted to
Speaker 3: strike while the iron was hot, and they put the
Speaker 3: strap back on John Cena to go into a feud
Speaker 3: with Triple H heading into Mania twenty two. And while
Speaker 3: this was also the case, I'm sure that there was
Speaker 3: still a bit of hesitation to push forward with Edge
Speaker 3: as the top heel and arguably the top guy on
Speaker 3: Monday Night Raw. And you know, I think by this
Speaker 3: time Edge had done more than enough to prove that
Speaker 3: he was by and large a main event player on
Speaker 3: Monday Night Raw and in the WWE, but I could
Speaker 3: see the hesitation possibly so they made him engage in
Speaker 3: a with mcfoley heading into Wrestling at twenty two. And
Speaker 3: I feel that the feud with mcfoley and the match
Speaker 3: in particular at Wrestling at twenty two with mc foley
Speaker 3: was the final test for Edge to see if he
Speaker 3: could actually be a legitimate main event player for Monday
Speaker 3: Night Raw and the w w E, because, like I
Speaker 3: said before, there was there was a spot at the
Speaker 3: top of the mountain for Edge to take. You know,
Speaker 3: Randy Orn had made the jump to SmackDown by this point,
Speaker 3: Kurt Angle was on SmackDown as well, Ray Mysterio, the Undertaker,
Speaker 3: all on SmackDown. When you looked at the raw side
Speaker 3: of things, it was John Cena, Triple H. I guess
Speaker 3: you could make the case Shawn Michaels, but he was
Speaker 3: never really involved in the title picture. At this time,
Speaker 3: had just started a feud with Vince McMahon. After that,
Speaker 3: there was a whole lot of nothing. You know, Ben
Speaker 3: Wall had gone back to SmackDown as well, so Jericho
Speaker 3: had just retired. So when you looked at Raw, it
Speaker 3: was just a whole lot of nothing in the mid card.
Speaker 3: And as we had seen in as I just talked
Speaker 3: about in two thousand and five, that Raw had a
Speaker 3: very strong mid card that really evaporated for numerous reasons
Speaker 3: by the time two thousand and six roled around. So
Speaker 3: it was there for the taking for Edge because after
Speaker 3: Sena and Triple H, there was not a lot of
Speaker 3: big time players there. So he had the match with
Speaker 3: Mick Foley, which match also reviewed on Wrestling Nostalgia, and
Speaker 3: that was just what a gory and just crazy hardcore
Speaker 3: match that was go back and watch it won. That
Speaker 3: Edge ultimately won, and at this point he still had
Speaker 3: a perfect record at WrestleMania. So John Con and Edge
Speaker 3: really stayed apart from one another for quite a few
Speaker 3: months after they started. The ECW re launching as a
Speaker 3: permanent brand for w WE in the late spring of
Speaker 3: two thousand and six, which ended up with Rob Van
Speaker 3: Dam challenging John Cena in June. I believe it was
Speaker 3: June eleventh, two thousand and six. At the One Night
Speaker 3: Stand pay per view, Rob Van Dam had won the
Speaker 3: second ever money in the briefcase. I want to say championship.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, guys. He had won the second ever money
Speaker 3: in the bank briefcase at Wrestling of twenty two, and
Speaker 3: unlike Edge and unlike the majority of money in the
Speaker 3: bank winners, he booked a date foreign advance to challenge
Speaker 3: Sena for the w WF WWEE Championship. We saw Van
Speaker 3: Dam win at the One Night Stand pay per view
Speaker 3: against John Cena at the Bingo Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Speaker 3: and I remember there were signs saying that if Sina wins,
Speaker 3: we ride, and by this time we really started to
Speaker 3: see the everyday crowd go against John Cena. I know
Speaker 3: this was a special special case scenario with the ECW
Speaker 3: Championship or the ECW pay per view, so that it
Speaker 3: was a very anti WWE crowd, but just on the regular.
Speaker 3: It became kind of commonplace to boo johnsena out of
Speaker 3: the building for even when he was against full fledged heels.
Speaker 3: So Rob Van Dam walked out of the One Night
Speaker 3: Stamp pay per view as WWE Champion and taking that
Speaker 3: title belt to the ECW brand. At that same pay
Speaker 3: per view, Edge was tagging with Mick Foley to go
Speaker 3: in a hardcore match versus Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer,
Speaker 3: one of which him and Mick Foley won. And this
Speaker 3: is again a reason why he was the rated ar superstar.
Speaker 3: He actually speared Bulah McGillicutty and Pinner in the most
Speaker 3: offensive way possible to win that match, because right before
Speaker 3: the match started they actually made it a six man
Speaker 3: hardcore match, adding Beulah and Lida into the match. So
Speaker 3: go back and watch that. That was a gruesome match
Speaker 3: as well. McK foley got let on fire, Terry Funk
Speaker 3: had his eye almost got gouged out by the barbed wire.
Speaker 3: It was just that was a that was a great match,
Speaker 3: That was a great pay per view all in all.
Speaker 3: I remember Sabu and Raymondsdeo had a really intense extreme
Speaker 3: rules match for the World Heavyweight Championship as well. So
Speaker 3: while it seemed that Rob Van Dam was going to
Speaker 3: get the push to be potentially the face of the
Speaker 3: company although he was on the ECW, the recently relaunched
Speaker 3: ECW brand, some personal things happened. I believe he got
Speaker 3: stopped for a dui and WWE quickly pulled the shoot,
Speaker 3: pulled the plug on that. So ultimately what happened is
Speaker 3: that they had a triple threat match between Edge, John Cena,
Speaker 3: and Rob Van Dam on a Monday night raw for
Speaker 3: the w W Championship. And I'm reading this off of
Speaker 3: the WWE dot COM's title history page, so if you
Speaker 3: think you've heard this before, I am reading this verbatim,
Speaker 3: so full disclosure there. John Cena was able to hit
Speaker 3: RVD with an attitude adjustment, but before he could make
Speaker 3: the cover, Edge came from out of nowhere and leveled
Speaker 3: Sena with the championship. With both men already knocked out,
Speaker 3: Edge covered RVD and stole the w W Championship from
Speaker 3: John Cena. So once the belt got put back on
Speaker 3: Edge at the beginning of July, this is when we
Speaker 3: got the first real program with Sena and Edge for
Speaker 3: a lengthy period of time, and I know that they
Speaker 3: had that month long program at the beginning of the
Speaker 3: of the year after Edge cashed in, and then they
Speaker 3: had the match at the Roll Rumble, But like I said,
Speaker 3: that seemed almost premature. It seemed like WWE backpedaled on
Speaker 3: their original plans because how often do you see a
Speaker 3: guy win the championship, his first ever WACH championship win
Speaker 3: and lose it at the succeeding pay per view. We
Speaker 3: never see it. We never see that, so I felt
Speaker 3: like they weren't quite sure if Edge was ready, But
Speaker 3: by the time this ruled around, they were ready to
Speaker 3: run with Edge. They brought the championship back to Monday
Speaker 3: Night Raw from ECW. Rob Van m also lost the
Speaker 3: ECW Championship shortly thereafter the Big Show, so his push
Speaker 3: or seeming the main event push, was completely halted due
Speaker 3: to personal reasons. So then we saw Edge and John
Speaker 3: Cena basically main event Raw for the whole summer. They
Speaker 3: had a match at SummerSlam, which Edge won and hitting
Speaker 3: John Cena in the back of the head with brass knucks,
Speaker 3: retaining the championship. And on a side note, this was
Speaker 3: a very very good summer for wrestling. It was obviously
Speaker 3: the return of Degeneration X and they had that lengthy
Speaker 3: program with the McMahon which ended up culminating at Unforgiven
Speaker 3: two thousand and five, which coincidentally was the culmination of
Speaker 3: John Cena versus Edges program. So to give you a
Speaker 3: bit of a backstory here, or a bit of a
Speaker 3: setup rather, is that Unforgiven was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which,
Speaker 3: as most of you probably know, is the hometown of
Speaker 3: one Edge. So you could be sure, like between the
Speaker 3: hometown of Edge and just almost the universal hate for
Speaker 3: John Cena at this point that the crowd would be
Speaker 3: strongly behind the heel and vastly against the top babyface
Speaker 3: in John Cena. And to make matters worse for John Cena,
Speaker 3: the match for the WWE Championship was held in a
Speaker 3: TLC format, which is the bread and butter of Edge
Speaker 3: and always has been. And just some of the things
Speaker 3: leading up to this match, like there was John Cena
Speaker 3: throwing Edge into the Long Island Sound. Edge actually rebranded
Speaker 3: the w Championship because it was the Strimp the Spinner
Speaker 3: at that time instead of the w WE logo in
Speaker 3: the middle. He had the rated R Superstar logo that
Speaker 3: spun in the middle. So Edge was really playing the
Speaker 3: heel character well and was really coming into his own
Speaker 3: at this point. So they go into unforgiven. The big
Speaker 3: blowoff to this feud, the w W Championship match in
Speaker 3: a TLC match in Edge's hometown, all of all of
Speaker 3: the momentum swinging in Edge's favor, and let's take a
Speaker 3: listen to how that match ended.
Speaker 2: Okay, hello, John.
Speaker 4: Thing right now?
Speaker 2: You know, looking back, get the sad and leer and
Speaker 2: when does that do it? I put you came here
Speaker 2: for John, You came to win the love you mean
Speaker 2: Todd seeing a place in that lender. Well, this is
Speaker 2: the smartest thing in seeing him to you. It's this history.
Speaker 3: When this thing stailing wrong, ain't I bin a Gona
Speaker 3: Thomas A wait a minute, put a minute.
Speaker 2: There's a w W chiming Edge Edge back of the
Speaker 2: prayer here, King Buck of the equation the champion matter.
Speaker 2: I don't, guys are about to go tone to Tom
Speaker 2: at the top of this ladder.
Speaker 5: The danger staying in the real dangerous put tea for
Speaker 5: the learner, just a step up, fine career ending boots
Speaker 5: men bridging with.
Speaker 2: The w W that'll look at it. There's nothing my
Speaker 2: cop Oh my god, don't don't.
Speaker 3: Do this job.
Speaker 2: The don fin John play. Yeah, I want John Sam turn.
Speaker 3: We're here and I know so as you heard, John
Speaker 3: Cena reclaims the w W Championship, handing Edge his first
Speaker 3: ever loss in a t l C ladder match and
Speaker 3: if you guys can make it out over just the audio,
Speaker 3: John Cena stacked a two tables, one on top of
Speaker 3: each other. They both climbed the ladder and John Cena
Speaker 3: was able to beat Edge at his own match in
Speaker 3: Toronto in his home crowd to claim his third WWE
Speaker 3: Championship on route to getting a total sixteen if you
Speaker 3: combine that and the World Heavyweight Championship. So following this rivalry,
Speaker 3: John Cena went on to have a short program with
Speaker 3: The Big Show. He also had a relatively short program
Speaker 3: with Umaga, faced him at that Following Royal Rumble and
Speaker 3: then Main Event did Wrestling at twenty three with Shawn Michaels,
Speaker 3: while Edge aligned himself with Randy Yorton and formed the
Speaker 3: inaugural version of Rated RKO as they went on a
Speaker 3: lengthy program with Degeneration X for the remainder of two
Speaker 3: thousand and six, and look, it took Edge about just
Speaker 3: about another ten months I would say maybe a bit
Speaker 3: shorter to get back into the main event title picture,
Speaker 3: because even though he at least in my mind, proved
Speaker 3: himself to be a one main event player during the
Speaker 3: summer of two thousand and six with his great program
Speaker 3: with John Cena, it still took a little less than
Speaker 3: a year for WWE to further fully pull the trigger
Speaker 3: on him. And what ended up happening is that he
Speaker 3: took the money in the Bank briefcase away from mister Kennedy.
Speaker 3: He cashed in on the Undertaker in June of two
Speaker 3: thousand and seven and became the World Heavyweight Champion for
Speaker 3: the first time in his career and made the jump
Speaker 3: over to SmackDown. And that's when Edge really kind of
Speaker 3: caught fire as a true main event player when he
Speaker 3: went over to the Blue Brand as the World Heavyweight Champion. Obviously,
Speaker 3: he main evented Wrestling A twenty four with The Undertaker.
Speaker 3: The following WrestleMania, he was in the triple threat match
Speaker 3: with the Big Show in John Cena, which surrounded the
Speaker 3: whole Vicky Guerrero La Familia Angle. But this story and
Speaker 3: this program between Edge and John Cena. It was important
Speaker 3: for a lot of ways. And first off, I think
Speaker 3: it was very important for John Cena because it was
Speaker 3: the first true main event personal rivalry for SINA. I
Speaker 3: know originally it was John Bradshaw Latefield, but that always
Speaker 3: kind of just seemed a bit forced for me, Like
Speaker 3: John Cena was the only top baby face left on
Speaker 3: the SmackDown roster at that time, and SmackDown lacked a
Speaker 3: lot of true top heels. In late two thousand and
Speaker 3: four early two thousand and five, they had already gone
Speaker 3: down that road with Kurt Angle. Then through the summer
Speaker 3: of two thousand and five he had various rivalries with
Speaker 3: Jericho and Kurt Angle and whatnot. Had that short program
Speaker 3: with Triple H building up to Mania two thousand and six,
Speaker 3: mind you Wrestling at twenty two, But the one with
Speaker 3: Edge that started at New Year's Resolution, the cash In,
Speaker 3: they put on the back burner on the bit and
Speaker 3: then revisited it in the summer of six. I truly
Speaker 3: believe was John Cena's first top feud because if you
Speaker 3: look back at John Cena, obviously you think of Randy
Speaker 3: Orton more recently, ag styles the rock, but you rarely
Speaker 3: think of Triple H and JBL. The first big rivalry
Speaker 3: you think of when you think of Johnson as a
Speaker 3: main event player is against Edge, and as we know,
Speaker 3: they revisited it several times in the following few years.
Speaker 3: And as for Edge, it was his first program as
Speaker 3: a main event guy, I think we could argue that
Speaker 3: his best main event run and his best program in
Speaker 3: a main event scene was with The Undertaker. They had
Speaker 3: many classics with one another. Also, him and Chris Jericho
Speaker 3: had a few good matches, But again, John Cena and Edge,
Speaker 3: I really feel used each other to propel one another
Speaker 3: as into true main event players. Obviously, John Ciena was
Speaker 3: much more of the main event player beforehand, and Edge
Speaker 3: was the much more beneficiary of the rivalry. But you
Speaker 3: can't diminish what Edge meant for the John Cena character
Speaker 3: either as legitimizing him as a top babyface in WWE
Speaker 3: for the succeeding decade. I know a lot of people
Speaker 3: don't like John Cena. I'm not the biggest fan of
Speaker 3: John Cena. I don't hate him as much as most do,
Speaker 3: but you have to admit that he is one of,
Speaker 3: if not the biggest star the company has ever seen,
Speaker 3: especially when you consider since two thousand and five. So listen, guys.
Speaker 3: That's just about it for rivalries this week. Be sure
Speaker 3: to send in your requests to Matt at REALWWE Podcasts
Speaker 3: at gmail dot com, or you can hit him up
Speaker 3: on Instagram, or you can follow me on Twitter and
Speaker 3: send me a DM like a few of you have
Speaker 3: already had at a DeMarco twenty five. So I hope
Speaker 3: you guys enjoyed it. Feel free to reach out and
Speaker 3: I'll catch you next week.