Dark Pegasus Video Review: The History of the World Heavyweight Championship (Disc Three)

Posted by J.D. Dunn on 11.07.2009

The WWE Era.

The History of the World Heavyweight Championship (Disc Three)

by J.D. Dunn
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World Heavyweight Title: Triple H vs. Rob Van Dam (09/22/02).
Triple H was handed the resurrected World Title, but Ric Flair challenged him to a match so Hunter could prove himself. Hunter dispatched Flair later in the evening to cement himself as champ. Van Dam won a #1 contenders match, so here we are. Surprisingly, they go with kind of an old-school style of match as Van Dam slaps him in the face and takes Hunter down into a headlock. Hunter stalls a lot. Van Dam mocks the water-spit pose. OH SNAP, DAWG! Hunter outsmarts him (no, really) as Van Dam goes for a somersault plancha and Hunter just sidesteps him and lets him SPLAT on the floor. Hunter takes over on offense, and things calm down. Hunter goes up… and takes forever, so Van Dam slams him off. Hunter comes back with the sleeper (which actually worked and killed off Jeff Hardy’s mini-push on Raw). The ref gets bumped, so he’s unable to count when Rob hits the Five-Star Frogsplash. Hunter grabs the sledgehammer, but Van Dam kicks it back in his face. Ric Flair runs down and grabs the sledgehammer. HHH cowers, but Flair pulls THE SHOCKING SWERVE and nails Van Dam. Hunter hits the Pedigree as the ref recovers, and Hunter gets the win at 18:18. Former WWE scribe Seth Mates recently revealed on his blog that he pushed for Van Dam to be the first champion coming out of the title split, but he was overruled. It's interesting to think of how things might have turned out – no Katie Vick. In the short run, things would have been MUCH better, but with no Evolution, Randy Orton and Batista might not be what they are today. Anyway, the match was okay when Van Dam was in control, but the Hunter parts were boring. Their meaningless posturing was actually more entertaining than the bulk of the match. **1/2

World Heavyweight Title: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (10/19/04).
Michaels is suffering from a knee injury and is too injured even to dance. Triple H corners Michaels and pummels him. HHH targets Michaels' knee, of course. Jim Ross: This match could be over early… or maybe not. He's not the best color man in the biz for nothing. The ref wants HBK to give up, but Michaels refuses. HHH locks in a figure-four leglock. The ref is about to ring the bell out of mercy, but Michaels pulls him down. HHH is about to wrap Michaels' leg around the ringpost, but Michaels pulls him into the post. Michaels counters another figure-four by shoving Hunter into the turnbuckle. Michaels delivers a trio of atomic drops, which is pretty stupid. He rocks Hunter with a series of rights and covers for two. Triple H kicks him in the knee and readies for the Pedigree. He pushes the ref away, but that turns out to be a mistake. Michael low blows him behind the ref's back. Michaels hits a DDT and a flying elbow. He cues up the band, but Batista runs down. HBK takes him out and hits Triple H with Sweet Chin Music. Batista gets back up and distracts the ref long enough for Edge to climb in and spear Michaels. Triple H rolls over and covers for the win at 14:06. Well, thankfully they didn't upstage Orton and Flair. This wound up being a one-sided throwaway match due to the circumstances. Michaels loss was easy to predict, given that he could barely walk. They did the best they could with it, but it was still a match between a guy crippled by a leg injury and another guy crippled by a leg injury. **1/4

World Heavyweight Title: Kurt Angle vs. the Undertaker (02/19/06).
Undertaker attacks right away, but Angle is able to dodge. Taker goes after the shoulder early. He makes the mistake of going Old School, and Angle yanks him down. Taker goes back to the arm to stay on top and get the Old School forearm anyway. A Snake Eyes sets up a big boot, but Angle dodges and stomps him down in the corner. He knocks Taker off the apron to the crowd barrier. Taker catches him coming off the apron and rams him into the ringpost. A guillotine legdrop on the apron leaves Angle reeling on the outside. Taker goes for the chokeslam, but Angle kicks at his knee. Big Kurt gets heelish, wrapping Taker's knee around the ringpost and applying the ringpost figure-four. Angle splashes Taker's knee against the ropes, so Taker tosses him to the outside in desperation. Taker tries another guillotine legdrop on the apron, but Angle catches his leg and drags him out into the anklelock! Great spot there. Angle goes back and forth between the anklelock and breaking Nick Patrick's ten count. Back in, Angle slaps on a spinning leglock. Taker fights out of it and counters to a Triangle Choke, which is somewhat coincidental because that was the move they were in when Taker tapped out during the pin back in 2002. To the outside, Taker tosses Angle into Tony Chimel. Bad night for Chimel. Taker sets up the announce table, but Kurt dodges him and put Taker down with an ANGLESLAM THROUGH THE TABLE! Angle refuses to take a countout victory, though. While that's honorable, it's certainly not smart. Taker makes the immediate comeback and goes up top. Kurt catches him and delivers a super belly-to-belly suplex! Taker nearly didn't make it over. ONE, TWO, THRE-NOOO! Taker goes for the chokeslam, but Angle counters to the ANKLELOCK! Taker struggles and reverses into a TRIANGLE CHOKE! Angle reverses *that* to another Anklelock, though! Taker rolls Angle away and hits him with a chokeslam! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Angle rolls his shoulder. Taker goes for the finish for real with the Last Ride, but Angle slips over his shoulder into the ANKLELOCK! Taker scrambles toward the ropes but finally just pushes Kurt away. ANGLESLAM! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Angle gets fired up. DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Oh, but Taker isn't going to settle for that. ZOMBIE SIT UP! Taker goes for the Tombstone, but Angle reverses to his own. Taker reverse *back* to a Tombstone, but Angle shimmies out into another ANKELOCK! He even applies the scissors, which is usually the death knell. However, Taker kicks his way out of it. ANGLESLAM! Angle tries to roll him into a stacked cover, but Taker counters to another TRIANGLE CHOKE! Kurt is out. The arm falls. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Kurt pops up and flips over into a Jackknife Rollup! ONE, TWO, THREE! (29:36). They try to sell it as if there's some sort of controversy just to make sure Taker doesn't lose cleanly. That was unnecessary, but the match was incredible. Probably Taker's finest singles match since he went Biker. They did everything to play to the strengths he has left (looking like a bad ass, faux MMA, and laying around on the mat), and it worked perfectly. Man, did the opposite ever wind up being truer. This was the first match in the Undertaker's in-ring resurgence while Angle began to deteriorate around this time. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton (04/07/06).
Orton forces Rey to the corner, so Rey shoves him in the chest. Rey takes him down in a side headlock. That's an interesting strategy. You'd think Rey would want to go up tempo. Tazz points that out just after I type it. Rey finally does pick up the pace, but Orton catches him with a forearm uppercut. ORTONLOCK! Rey tries his Wheelbarrow Bulldog, but Orton counters with a facebuster. Back to the chinlock. Orton ducks the 619, but Rey hits a springboard senton all the way to the floor. Back in, Rey gets two. Rey pummels Orton in the corner, but Randy comes back with the stretch backbreaker for two. Back to the chinlock (3). Rey blocks a charge against the ropes and goes for a springboard, but Orton dropkicks him off the ropes and down to the floor. We come back to Orton holding, what else, a chinlock (4). Rey makes the ropes. Rey tries a satellite headscissors, but Orton slams him down with another facebuster. Back to the chinlock (5). Rey misses another dropkick, but Randy decides to go up. He stops to pose, so Rey is able to get his boot up to block. Orton falls right in the position for a 619. He gets up but stumbles into a Wheelbarrow Bulldog. Springboard Vertical Senton! Another dropkick gets two more. Orton goes to the eye to counter. Rey surprises him with a Quebrada DDT! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Rey takes too much time going up, and Orton is able to catch him with a dropkick. Tazz mistakenly calls it the shortest championship reign in history, anticipating Rey's loss. Even if you don't count Andre, you gotta count Kane and Mankind. Rey slips out of the Canadian Neckbreaker but runs into a clothesline for two. Orton misses a corner charge. This time, Rey hits a ringpost 619 and another back in the ring. He goes out, Drops the Dime, and picks up the win at 21:38. Despite Orton's tendency to rely on chinlocks, this was a tremendous effort. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Title, Triple Threat: Batista vs. Edge vs. The Undertaker (12/16/07).
Edge decides discretion is the better part of valor and decides to start the match on the outside. Batista and Taker fight it out over who gets to turn Edge into his bitch, but that allows Edge to keep escaping. Edge knocks Taker to the barrier and charges Batista, but the champ catches him in a spinning Bossman slam. I think Edge just pooed a little. Edge drop toeholds Batista into the buckle and readies for the spear, but Batista blocks with a punt to the face. Taker goes for the guillotine legdrop on Edge, but Taker cuts him off with a clothesline. Edge charges right into a spinebuster from Batista. Edge goes low to counter the Demonbomb, though, and hits the Edgecution. Taker yanks the ref out, saving the title. Edge poos a little more when he sees that he's alone with Taker. Taker boots Edge in the face and hits the Old School Ropewalk Forearm. He sets up for the Last Ride, but Batista spears him in mid-move. Edge gets tossed aside, so Batista tries to stack up the Taker for the pin. Taker counters to a Triangle Choke, though. Good move. The bell rings… oh, but it's Edge ringing the bell, so it doesn't count. He sneaks around and spears a confused Undertaker. That gets two. He tries the same on Batista and only gets two on him as well. Edge sets up for the Conchairto, but he gets tossed aside again. Batista goes up but gets crotched. Taker superplexes him for two. He tries for the Old School Ropewalk, but Batista catches him with a spinebuster. A fake Edge (um…Border?) runs in and gets killed. A third Edge (um…Side?) also gets clobbered. Taker hits the Tombstone on Batista, but the real Edge hops in with a chair and nails him in the back. Edge covers Batista and gets the opportunistic pin for the win at 13:01. Of course, the fake Edge are Brett and Brian Major, who cut a deal with Edge to help them become a more successful tag team. And what's their stable name? Well, it has to be The Triangle – because there are three Edges, obviously. I digress. The match was just fine, and the foolishness with the triple Edges makes sense as long as they don't try to play them off as actual clones. I would have preferred Edge going over just Batista and staying the hell away from Undertaker for the next few months, but that's a minor quibble. Virtually no resting in this match, which is also a good thing. ***

World Heavyweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. John Cena (11/23/08).
For once, the champion entering first makes sense. Still, Jericho gets some vocal support. I'm not sure putting Cena back in the title picture in his first match back is – OMG, HE TOOK OFF HIS SHIRT! ::SHRIIIIEEEEK::! Ahem. Jericho's "you're not so great" look is pretty funny. Cena takes a hard bump off a shoulderblock and takes a powder. Back in, he tackles Jericho and pummels him. Cena runs into the buckle to tease the neck injury, but he comes back with the Throwback. He goes up but hesitates, and Jericho is able to catch him on his way back down. Jericho boots Cena's head into the post, so the ref backs Jericho off and checks on him. Cena makes it in at a count of nine, but Jericho sidesteps his charge and tosses him right back out. Cena fights his way back, but Jericho hits a bulldog. Cena avoids the Lionsault and hits the sitout backdrop suplex. YOU CAN'T SEE ME—oh, I guess you can because you're putting me in the LIONTAMER! Jericho leeeans on the neck. Cena powers out but takes a clothesline. Jericho turns him over into the Walls of Jericho. Cena makes the ropes and hits a desperation FU. Cena can't cover, though, and Jericho is able to target his neck again. They fight on the top, and Cena knocks Jericho to the mat. CENA SLICE! Cena sets up for the FU, but Jericho hits the Codebreaker. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Cena locks in the STFU. Jericho makes the ropes and rolls him up into the small package for two. Cena holds on and powers up for the FU at 21:21. I'm not sure what the point of giving Batista a short reign this Fall was, other than maybe to signal that Jericho can easily win it back if given the opportunity. This match was pretty sluggish, thanks, presumably, to Cena's ring rust and injury. I liked the viciousness that Jericho displayed in going after the neck, so the psychology was solid. The action was just a series of Cena comebacks, and that gets old after a while. **1/2

World Heavyweight Title, Extreme Ladder Match: Edge vs. Jeff Hardy (06/07/09).
That is a lot of ladders at ringside. Jeff backdrops Edge onto a ladder and goes up. Edge yanks him down and tries a flapjack into the ladder, but when that doesn't work, he just throws Jeff onto the fallen ladder. Ouch. Edge slaps a ladder-assisted Sharpshooter on him for a tapout. Great, the ladder match now has a more compelling tapout spot than the submission match. Edge goes up, but Hardy dropkicks the ladder out from under him. Jeff sets up the ladder upside down and front suplexes Edge onto the little stabilizer bar. Twist of Fate and Jeff goes up a big ladder. Edge rolls out of the way, so Hardy just leans forward and grabs hold of the line holding the title belt. I'M TARZAN, BITCHES! Edge yanks him down before he can untie the belt. WHISPER IN THE WIND! To the floor, Edge hits a big boot. He sets a ladder across the ring and barricade, but Hardy blocks his suplex. They fight over to the announce table and grab a big ladder. Oh, this can't be good. They set it up and fight all the way up it before it tips over, sending them crashing through the bridge ladder Edge had set up earlier. Both guys get back in and crawl up ladders. Edge thinks he's going to spear Jeff off the ladder just like he always does in ladder matches, but Jeff counters to a Diamond Cutter in mid-air. Awesome! Edge goes up, but Hardy pulls him through the rungs of the ladder and traps him! Edge is helpless, so Jeff goes up and retrieves the belt at 20:06. Great, inventive spots in this one, which is really all I ask out of a ladder match. The creativity is a plus, and there were only two spots where I thought they overdid the death-defying spots. ****

Well, Jeff finally recla—

Oh, fuck you, bitch! Not so fast. CM Punk returns and cashes in his Money in the Bank shot.

World Heavyweight Title: Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk.
Jeff can barely stand, so Punk hits the Go2Sleep. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Jeff small packages him for two. Punk gets pissed, kicks him, and hits a second Go2Sleep at 1:00. The fans are not impressed with Punk for that, which makes Punk's in-your-face celebration that much better. 1/4*

The 411: Purists may balk at the inclusion of so many WWE matches, but I'd call many of them welcome inclusions. As with the other sets of its type – the WWF Title and Intercontinental Title sets – it doesn't just give you a series of matches but a glimpse into the climate of each era. It rivals, and perhaps surpasses for many fans, the History of the WWF Title set.

Thumbs way up.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]