Thoughts From The Top Rope 01.22.08: A Rated R DVD

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 01.22.2008

It's been announced that Edge, amongst others, will be getting the WWE Home Video treatment this year and I have all the matches necessary to make this a must-have DVD, inside! In HD~!

Thoughts From The Inbox

I could not agree more with your assessment of Jeff Hardy, but I see it playing out a little differently. I see shenanigans in the Rumble Match with Orton. I think with the push Hardy has been getting lately, he would be better off to lose to Orton due to some nefarious means at the Rumble, win the Elimination Chamber match at NWO, and then challenge Orton again at Mania, possibly with another contender in the match, maybe the Rumble winner. I smell a repeat of a WM20 feel good moment, with Matt Hardy winning his first major singles title (US title from MVP), the same night that Jeff captures his first World title.

Todd Vote

Well WWE does want to do anything and everything to wipe out the memory of Chris Benoit, so giving us a new feel-good moment to look back on is something they may well do.

It's going to be an unusually short column for me today due to me still being ridiculous ill. No Desire Championship Wrestling, but it'll be back next week, hopefully.

Thoughts From The Top Rope

So I recently saw a list of a bunch of new DVDs that WWE plans on releasing this year and it got me thinking about what matches I'd want to see on certain individuals' career retrospective. While I think I'll leave the likes of Mr. Perfect's set up to someone who has actually watched his career unfold, I think I've got some pretty decent ideas as to which matches need to be included on some of these DVDs.

Let's start things off with Edge, a guy who's career spans eight years and has countless classic matches under his belt. His career is really broken down into three periods – tag team with Christian, baby face on SmackDown and Rated R heel. Each era of Edge's career has produced great matches and thus should be represented equally. So let's get right on this bad boy.

Intercontinental Championship – Edge vs. Jeff Jarrett (7/24/99)

This was Edge's first ever title win, as he won the IC gold from Jeff Jarrett. The only problem with including this little match is that it took place at a house show and thus WWE probably doesn't have footage of it, which is a shame. If that is the case, then I'd replace this with Edge teaming up with Sable against Jacqueline and Marc Mero which took place on 8/30/98 and was Edge's biggest match, and first pay-per-view appearance, to date. I'd include his TV debut as well if he hadn't legitimately injured his opponent's neck during the match. **3/4 for the mixed tag.

Triangle Ladder Match – Edge and Christian vs. The Hardyz vs. The Dudleyz (WrestleMania 2000, 4/02/00)

This match is essentially TLC before TLC was invented, as tables were a big factor in this match. The thing to note here is that this is Edge and Christian's first huge win as they captured the tag team titles for the first time. It's also a hell of a match, arguably the best of that year. *****

Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2 – Edge and Christian vs. The Hardyz vs. The Dudleyz (WrestleMania X-Seven, 4/01/01)

TLC 2, another tremendous outing from these 6 incredible athletes. They took it to new heights here and nothing this epic has been produced since this match in terms of high-risk matches. Edge and Christian win the titles again here for what would be their seventh and last time. *****

*I should add that a collection E&C's 5 Second Poses need to be included as extras, because those were so awesome. Dare I say it, but they reeked of awesomeness.

King of the Ring Final – Edge vs. Kurt Angle (6/24/01)

This was Edge's biggest win to date as a singles wrestler. In fact he was still teaming with Christian at this time and this began Christian's slow turning on his brother because he was jealous of his success. It's also a really good match. ***

Intercontinental Championship Steel Cage Match – Edge vs. Christian (Rebellion, 11/03/01)

Ah, this match. Most of you probably won't remember this match because it was on the UK-only pay-per-view Rebellion, but I fell that there should be a match from the Edge/Christian feud and their other two matches sucked, quite frankly. This is a fun cage match with some good spots and a hot crowd. The finish is also great. This is miles better than their ladder match from the previous month, and having a "never seen in the States" match on the DVD may help to shift some copies. ***1/4

Kurt Angle vs. Edge (Backlash, 4/21/02)

This is by far Edge's best singles performance to date and although it was a losing effort, it was one hell of a losing effort. Edge really did look like a star in this match and this was only the beginning of his meteoric rise to the top. I'd include this over the hair vs. hair match because this is only slightly better. ****1/4

Tag Team Championship Match – Edge and Hulk Hogan vs. Billy and Chuck (SmackDown, 7/04/02)

This is the July 4th match where Edge gets to team up with his idle and they win the tag titles. It's not a great match but I think that it should be included for historical purposes if anything. Plus, Hogan's name value and the fact that a lot of people may not remember much of this match may shift some more copies. **

2 Out of 3 Falls for the WWE Tag Team Championship – Edge and Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit (SmackDown, 11/09/02)

This match is an absolute classic. Luckily, WWE is including Benoit matches on some of their DVDs again so this may well have a decent chance of making it on there. I chose this match over their ***** No Mercy encounter simply because it's rarer and Edge and Rey go over. It's still a classic match though and should have been on someone's DVD a long time ago. ****3/4

Intercontinental Championship Match – Edge vs. Randy Orton (Vengeance, 7/11/04)

This would be the match where Edge captures his first title after returning from a career-threatening neck injury, and it was a hell of a match as well. Orton and Edge had another great match on Raw a few weeks later, but I'd include this over that one because we have a cooler moment here and it's probably a better match as well. ***3/4

Shawn Michaels vs. Edge (Royal Rumble, 1/30/05)

This was Edge's first big win after he had turned heel towards the back end of 2004 and was the beginning of his ascent up the roster. It's not as good a match as you might expect from these two, but it's not a bad match by any means. ***

Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Edge vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane (WrestleMania, 4/03/05)

This match is on there for obvious reasons. Edge wins MITB that allows him to eventually become WWE Champion the next year. It's also a ridiculously good match as everyone involved puts in one hell of a performance. ****1/2

Kane w/ Lita vs. Edge (Raw, 5/16/05)

This isn't an obvious choice and it's not a great match either. But you may recall that this is the finals of the Gold Rush tournament which Edge won only to go on to lose to Batista the next week. But the important part here is the beginning of the Edge/Lita relationship on screen, as Lita would turn on Kane to give Edge the win here. *3/4

Street Fight – Edge vs. Matt Hardy (Raw, 8/29/05)

Of the matches that Edge and Matt Hardy had, this one is probably the better one to throw on the DVD. It's not as good as the cage match but Edge takes a big loss there as opposed to the non-finish here. This also puts over the brutality of their feud as they both take a big bump off the stage. Their later ladder match wasn't a great match and too short to be worthy of going on here. ***1/2

WWE Championship – John Cena vs. Edge (New Year's Revolution 1/08/06)

And this is Edge's first title reign and thus gets on the DVD by default. It's only a 2 minute match as Cena had just endured the Elimination Chamber but it's a great piece of history. *

Hardcore Match – Mick Foley vs. Edge (WrestleMania, 4/02/06)

This would be their tremendous Mania match with the insane flaming table finish. It's a tremendous match and one of Foley's best. Edge also goes over in a career-defining moment, so it has to be on the DVD. ****

WWE Championship – Edge vs. John Cena (Summerslam, 8/20/06)

Another great bout between Edge and Cena. This was easily Edge's biggest win over Cena and probably their best match as well. ****1/4

Steel Cage WWE Championship Match – John Cena vs. Edge (Raw, 10/02/06)

This would be the final encounter between these two. Cena recaptured the gold in September in a TLC match but I think that match is over-exposed as it is and probably doesn't need to be on here. This is also a great match and I think it's better to include their last match. ***1/2

World Heavyweight Championship – Edge vs. Undertaker (SmackDown, 5/11/07)

First of all, we'll need a video package showing how Edge got the Money in the Bank off of Mr. Kennedy earlier in that week. This is another quick match as Taker had just been battered by Batista in a cage and then left laying at the hands of Mark Henry. Edge would capture his third world championship here before getting injured himself a month or so later. *

World Heavyweight Championship – Batista vs. Undertaker vs. Edge (Armageddon, 12/16/07)

And we come full-circle to Edge's latest championship victory from just last month at Armageddon. It's a good match and showcases Edge at his best. ***1/4

By the time the DVD is released, I'm sure we'll have a few more candidates to be included (if Edge faces Taker at Mania, that has to be included, because it will rock). But just looking at this list, we've got 19 matches, 7 of which crack **** stars and there are a fair few forgotten gems. I think we've got ourselves a pretty good career retrospective of the Rated R Superstar right here, with every big moment in his career covered.

OK so I'll continue with this little experiment over the next few weeks, picking matches for other wrestlers' DVDs each week. Next week I'll either go with The Evolution of The Hardys or Triple H: The King of Kings. If I'm feeling frisky, I may even put together some DVDs that WWE hasn't planned on releasing yet.

That brings us to the end of another column. I'll be back tomorrow along side Jordan Linkous for the official return of The Fink's Payload so be sure to check that out.