Start of an Era or Error? *spoilers*

[Destor]

WWE Champion Edge: Start of an Era or Error? <HR style="COLOR: #89959b" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->From www.WorldWrestlingInsanity.com (http://www.WorldWrestlingInsanity.com)

JG's Columns
WWE Champion Edge: Start of an Era or Error?
By James Guttman
Jan 9, 2006, 01:56



Ring

Hello.

Hey Matt. Guess what I'm doing.

What?

I'm looking at my Spinning World Title belt. I just won it.

Yeah. Nice.

What are you doing?

Wrestling on Velocity.

Oh. That's cool. That's on the Internet now, right? You like that stuff. The Internet.

Yeah.

OK. I gotta go and make out with Lita. Just wanna say ha-ha. OK. Peace.

Click




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Tonight's New Year's Revolution has the potential to be one of WWE's key turning points as it enters a new era in professional wrestling.

Tonight's New Year's Revolution also has the potential to be something that WWE undoes the success of within two weeks.

In a nutshell, World Wrestling Entertainment delivered a fair show last night that peaked with an unexpected and highly welcomed World Title win by Edge. Following John Cena's boo-filled win over Carlito Cool to take an Elimination Chamber victory, Adam Copeland came out and took the prize from him. Up until that moment, the big news on the show was that Shelton Benjamin's mama referred to his opponent Viscera as "Benjamin." You know... as in her own last name. Funny? Yes. Worthy of being the big story on a show? Not at all.

What I'm saying is that WWE had preconditioned me to doubt their ability to hit the mark. Watching Cena win the Chamber was a let down. When Edge came out, I got an initial sense that something big could happen. Then I pictured them putting John over him. Seriously. I saw it happening. It was illogical. It would have sucked the life right out of the whole thing. The saddest thing was that it was entirely possible WWE would do it. I guess you could say I had no faith in them.

Keep in mind, earlier in the night they had the briefly important Gregory Helms job to Jerry Lawler. Anything can happen 'round here. I was getting Goldberg Elimination Chamber flashbacks.

When Edge defeated John Cena and held up the silly Spinny belt, I was happy. It was something new. It was a someone new. It was all new. A performer who has been steadily improving every week finally got a shot at showing what he can do. Considering that the main event saw the current champion getting booed like Ashley Simpson without musical backing, the title change couldn't have happened at a better time.

So here's the thing. Does WWE continue to shock me and do the right thing? Do they keep the title on Edge and see if they can carve out a fresh direction for WrestleMania? Do they take the spotlight off of the expecting Triple H and thrust it onto a new heel?

Or…

Do they do what we expect them to do? Do they yank the title off of Edge after giving Cena three weeks to chase it before hitting Mania with Hunter? Do they maybe keep the title on Edge and job him out to the Gamely Daddy at WrestleMania?

Like that overseas Raw that WWE cites when talking about their switch to the Attitude generation in the late '90s, tonight's PPV had that feeling. It was a definite sense of "in with the old and out with the new." Nothing this interesting and sudden has happened in WWE in a long time. Watching tonight's show closing moments, I kept thinking that this was the start of something big if only WWE lets it be.

That's the question. We all second guess World Wrestling Entertainment. They've dropped the ball before. This time I'm sincerely hoping that they prove us all wrong.

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============================
So which is it, the begining of an era, or error?

[FourFifty]

:rofl:
" Oh. That's cool. That's on the Internet now, right? You like that stuff. The Internet."

Priceless

[What Would Kevin Do?]

This is the first champ in awhile that most people were honestly surprised by. The last two that I can think of before this was Brock, and Jericho's undisputed win. Whether Edge is a good champion or not, WWE did the smart thing by putting it on him. Even if it's a short reign, they can stilll keep things going by not giving it back to Cena (at least face Cena) or HHH.

I'd like to see Edge beat HHH, and then have a "new" main event scene, where a tweener Edge starts giving people who would otherwise never get a title shot, a shot. Edge Vs Shelton, Edge Vs Carlito, Edge Vs Venis, etc. Make the mid card the main event for a bit. Then they can run a sort of New Blood esque angle where the older main eventers are pissed because they are being ignored and shoved down the card because there is a younger world champ giving younger guys the shot.

[Blitz]

Good article. I'm very interested to see Raw tomorrow, and see whether they try to turn Edge face, or keep him heel. I have the feeling that the only reason he was getting cheered was because he was against Cena. A babyface Edge is a tough thing to see right now, especially if Lita stays with him.

The Cena situation is also interesting. A full on heel turn seems to be the only option right now, and I'd welcome it (I imagine pretty much everyone would).

Above all else, though, I certainly hope they keep the Carlito push going (I could give a damn about Masters).

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Above all else, though, I certainly hope they keep the Carlito push going (I could give a damn about Masters).

I was really surprised to see that Carlito eliminated HBK, by the sound of things, more or less cleanly.

[Blitz]

Yeah, I finished watching the match about 20 minutes ago. It was clean. Only thing is, it could be covered by saying Shawn was injured, bleeding etc., or that Carlito was the fresher man or that he had Masters' help. I'd love to see Carlito get a clean win in a one on one match with HBK it the next little while (maybe at the Rumble).

[Mr. Nerfect]

Edge can work as a tweener. He's with the dirty slut, but the guy is damn entertaining when he wants to be. Let Edge be entertaining and bang the dirty slut, and have him feud with John Cena and let the fans take whichever side they want to.

I'd keep the title on him, at least until a more worthy challenger comes along. I think they might have another title swap soon, and Edge might be on SmackDown! as WWE Champion maybe even prior to WrestleMania.

With Batista apparently injured, why not have Edge enter a tournament on SmackDown! culminating at No Way Out to decide a new World Heavyweight Champion? You could even have Edge win and unify the title belts.

I kinda wish they had Edge win the WWE Intercontinental Championship earlier in the night, as well. It would create intrigue as to whether or not Edge will be forced to drop the IC Title.

I will mark out if Edge becomes a "Champion for the Underrated" and he gives solid title matches to Val Venis, Chavo Guerrero, Gregory Helms, Shelton Benjamin, etc. I also hope they have him and Lita carry all the previous incarnations of the WWE Title. Have Edge replace the "W" logo in Cena's belt with an "R", or an "E" and have him carry the previous WWE Title belt, and the eagle belt on his shoulders, and have Lita wear the Attitude belt and old WCW Championship for him.

This could be a great angle if the WWE takes advantage of it.

[Destor]

:rofl:
" Oh. That's cool. That's on the Internet now, right? You like that stuff. The Internet."

Priceless
If you think thats funny read this (little late, and long, but none the less: )

http://www.worldwrestlinginsanity.com/artman/publish/article_261.shtml

[Corkscrewed]

Kinda hilarious that people are so desperate to get the belt off Cena that they're willing to have it on the guy everyone thought was boring a couple of months ago (altho he's improved a lot in the last two months). Even the crowd was crazy, despite Edge being the heel. :rofl:

[D Mac]

I was really surprised to see that Carlito eliminated HBK, by the sound of things, more or less cleanly.

They'll probably have a Carlito-HBK feud of them arguing who is the coolest.

[D Mac]

Kinda hilarious that people are so desperate to get the belt off Cena that they're willing to have it on the guy everyone thought was boring a couple of months ago (altho he's improved a lot in the last two months). Even the crowd was crazy, despite Edge being the heel. :rofl:

Anyone could have beaten Cena and the crowd would still go crazy.

[Y3J]

I didn't enjoy a moment in WWE like that in ages. But i'm not sure whether it's because Edge won or Cena lost.

I think the latter, it was such a relief to see a new champ

[Vastardikai]

Can't say I didn't see "Edge: WWE Champion" coming a mile away.

After all, they only spent the last year putting him over EVERYONE.

[CharismaInjection]

Matt Hardy will now brag to friends.

Matt: I've beaten the WWE champion, which kinda makes me a WWE Champion.

Friend: No, it doesn't Matt.

[TerranRich]

Matt Hardy will now brag to friends.

Matt: I've beaten the WWE champion, which kinda makes me a WWE Champion.

Friend: No, it doesn't Matt.
LMAO. :D

[Vastardikai]

the Hardy/Edge feud made people care about Edge. He stepped up his game big time.

Hardy, if your intention was to make Edge, you succeeded...

[XL]

I was thinkin about the whole situation with Cena! Everyone's on his case at the moment and saying he should turn heel and get that harder edge back but isn't that what got him over in the first place? So Cena turns around and beats the hell outta Edge, does this make him a heel or does he return to the Cena everyone liked and thus get cheered again? I see a problem ahead!

[Kane Knight]

This is the first champ in awhile that most people were honestly surprised by.

That'sa huge shocker.

Hey, the sun rose this morning. I didn't expect that either.

[Gertner]

Christ I hate Edge. I was soooo hoping for MAsters or Carlito to win. Edge just plain sucks. Ah well, at least he's better than Cena

[Kane Knight]

At least Masters' excuse is that he's green...

[Just John]

For some reason I think that edge wasn't planned to win the title, I think that if Cena got boos, they would send edge out, its a long shot, because they'd have to think up things for the following raw in a short time.

It was just an inkling.

[TerranRich]

That'sa huge shocker.

Hey, the sun rose this morning. I didn't expect that either.
Can you honestly say that Saturday night (the night before) you expected Edge to win the title at the very end of the PPV? I can't even say that, and I even announced that my gut instincts told me Cena would retain (although, to be fair, I said in the Elimination Chamber, and not at the entire PPV).

[My Final Heaven]

BULLSHIT.

It's fucking BULLSHIT.

Only in WWE would sleeping with another man's girlfriend = world title push. I keep on hearing about how Edge's "stepped it up" lately, but I honestly don't see anything. He's been doing the exact same shit for about a year now, (goofy faces + calling his opponents LOSE-ERs = persona, right?) & now he's world champion. Fucking christ.

If WWE doesn't do a Kane / Austin world title switch tonight, this is going to be the biggest joke since Katie Vick. I'm not necessarily saying I want the title back on Cena, pretty much anybody besides him or Masters would be ok with me.

[Volare]

all i have to say about Edge is....they better not pull " a kane title run" (fuck him out of the belt the next night) by telling him to drop it right away

then i would be extremely pissed

simple reason give him a shot and lets see what he can do..you never know

[Innovator]

Did you not hear the LETS GO MASTERS chants last night? I mean cmon Vince, put the strap on him already!

[Volare]

Carlito "hey cena..your no longer champ...and that's cool!"

Cena"yeah, but you cant see me!"

Carlito"well...no one does...especially with the belt"

[My Final Heaven]

I'm not necessarily saying I want the title back on Cena, pretty much anybody besides him or Masters would be ok with me.

[Stickman]

I'm definately not the biggest Edge fan but I think this has tonnes of potential. He has the ball and he could roll with it. I think fans hate him in the "we're supposed to hate you" kind of way, not the Cena "we hate you because you really do suck" kinda way. A cowardly heel with a sluty chick could work. For the first time in awhile, I have faith in this.

[CSL]

BULLSHIT.

It's fucking BULLSHIT.

Only in WWE would sleeping with another man's girlfriend = world title push. I keep on hearing about how Edge's "stepped it up" lately, but I honestly don't see anything. He's been doing the exact same shit for about a year now, (goofy faces + calling his opponents LOSE-ERs = persona, right?) & now he's world champion. Fucking christ.

If WWE doesn't do a Kane / Austin world title switch tonight, this is going to be the biggest joke since Katie Vick. I'm not necessarily saying I want the title back on Cena, pretty much anybody besides him or Masters would be ok with me.

<font color=white>Caaaaaaaaaaalm down V1'er</font>

[Kane Knight]

Can you honestly say that Saturday night (the night before) you expected Edge to win the title at the very end of the PPV? I can't even say that, and I even announced that my gut instincts told me Cena would retain (although, to be fair, I said in the Elimination Chamber, and not at the entire PPV).

the minute his MITB was used, I knew this was going down.

Before that, I suspected that he's use MITB. And if you think this is bullshit, look at the number of people who made this prediction on here.

For those of you who seem to be bothered that I think this is about as shocking as the sun rising, I apologise. I apologise that I am not mentally retarded. I've been predicting about 90% of the WWE since I was about 12. Before then,. I just didn't watch enough to get the pattern.

My friends have done the same.

Even this one guy I hang with who was in special education.

Wrestling has thrived on predictability. In fact, when it's out of the blue, it's usually bad. When they do succeed in shocking us, it's usually because the surprise is so nonsensical as to be predicted only in an expression of random chance. Katie Vick, for example.

Wrestling is every bit as formulaic as kung fu flicks, romantic comedies, and Stephen King. Plagiarism included on that last one. It's shallow entertainment. It may entertain us, but rarely should it shock us if we have any grasp of patterns, logic, and formulaic programming.

[Destor]

Can you honestly say that Saturday night (the night before) you expected Edge to win the title at the very end of the PPV? I can't even say that, and I even announced that my gut instincts told me Cena would retain (although, to be fair, I said in the Elimination Chamber, and not at the entire PPV).
I did! Still a good moment though.