Dark Pegasus Video Review: Edge – A Decade of Decadence (Disc One)

Edge: A Decade of Decadence, Disc One by J.D. Dunn Your host is Edge (in character). The opening is very Spielbergian. Owen Hart vs. Edge (09.27.98). Edge is making his singles PPV debut, and he’s still in his Raven-lite phase, although Edge was already a better wrestler. Edge and Owen trade a few wrestling moves, and Edge lands on his feet off a monkey flip. They head to the floor where Edge jumps right into a powerslam on the floor! Ouch! Back in, Owen hits a sloppy (for him) belly-to-belly suplex for two. Owen hits a few moves but can’t put Edge away. The deadly enzuigiri puts Edge down, but Edge recovers and hits an Electric Chair facebuster. Nice reversal sequence as Edge backflips out of a backdrop and goes for a German, but Owen blocks, only to have Edge get two off a Northern Lights. Edge goes for a superplex, but Owen blocks. Edge gets his foot up to block something off the top, but Owen catches his feet and turns him over for the Sharpshooter. Edge kicks him away and rolls him up for two. Suddenly, a blond guy jumps the railing and stares at Edge. Edge is so shocked that Owen is able to pick up the win with a flying leg rollup at (9:18). That mysterious man would eventually be revealed as Edge’s brother “Christian.” If you didn’t know…now you know. Edge’s first PPV singles match, Edge’s first good match. *** The T.I.T. Finals Ladder Match: Edge & Christian vs. The Brood (w/Gangrel, 10.15.99). T.I.T. refers to the Terri Invitational Tournament. See, Terri Runnels wanted to get back into managing because…well, she had nothing better to do. This led to a best-of-five series between these two teams. They come into tonight tied at 2 matches apiece. Edge and Christian whip each other into the Hardyz. Matt and Jeff doubleteam Edge and call for Gangrel to bring the ladder to the ring. The ref stops him and sends Gangrel to the back. Matt goes out to get the ladder, but Christian springboards out onto him. Edge goes up, but Matt pushes the ladder over. Christian pins Jeff to the corner with a ladder and dropkicks him. Edge springboards off of Christian but splashes the ladder. Christian hits Jeff with a reverse DDT off the ladder. Matt goes up but gets powerbombed by Edge. Edge goes up. Jeff rushes up the turnbuckle and dropkicks Edge off. Matt slams Edge on the ladder, and Jeff Swantons onto him. The Hardyz clothesline Christian with the ladder. Matt moonsaults onto the ladder while Christian is laying underneath. Jeff goes up, but Edge returns with another ladder and knocks Jeff off with it. Edge goes up, but Matt returns the favor by ramming him with the ladder. The Hardyz go for another clothesline with the ladder, but Christian bodypresses onto them. Edge and Christian sandwich Jeff with the ladder. They take Matt out with a flapjack into the ladder set up in the corner. Edge hits the Downward Spiral on Jeff from the middle of the ladder. Christian and Jeff battle on one of the ladders. Christian hiptosses Jeff off. Edge and Christian try to superplex Jeff onto a ladder. Matt makes the save and battles with Christian. Jeff takes the opportunity to use the ladder as a see-saw and WHACKS both men in the face. Two ladders are set up, and all four men go up. Christian and Jeff tip over and slingshot themselves off the top rope. Edge and Matt tilt the other way and fall off. They set up the ladders again. Edge piefaces Matt off their ladder. Matt bounces off the ropes and knocks over Christian and Jeff’s ladder. As the ladder falls, Jeff steps onto Edge’s ladder, knocks him off and grabs the $100,000 prize at 16:28. Unlike many of the other recent ladder matches, this one has aged quite well. The spots don’t come off as contrived and the emphasis is on the battle, not the spots. This was the 1999 WWE MOTY for many publications. ****1/4 WWF Tag Team Titles, Triangle Ladder Match: The Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christian vs. the Hardy Boyz (04.16.00). All three teams are making their WrestleMania wrestling debuts here. Brawl on the outside to start. Christian hits Matt with a dropkick. Bubba and Jeff go next. Bubba lays in some chops, but Jeff comes back with the Whisper in the Wind. The Hardys hit Poetry in Motion into a ladder on Bubba. Edge and Christian try the same thing on the other side, but D-Von blocks. Matt drops an elbow on D-Von. Jeff DDTs Bubba and goes for a 450-splash. Bubba moves, and Jeff lands on the ladder. Bubba sentons onto Jeff, who is under the ladder. E&C set a ladder on top of Matt and sandwich him with another ladder. Bubba puts the ladder on his neck and hits everyone with it. Edge and Christian dropkick the ladder into Bubba’s face and then flapjack D-Von into another ladder. Christian dives off a ladder onto Bubba and Matt, who were fighting on the floor. Jeff climbs the ladder, but Edge dives off and spears him. We get a Coyote Cam replay. Three ladders get set up. Christian goes up, but Bubba catches up with him and delivers the Bubba Cutter to the canvas. Bubba is still out of it, so the Hardys do their legdrop/splash thing off the ladders. Edge & Christian double suplex D-Von off the top of a ladder. Edge, Christian, Matt & Jeff all go up. Christian and Jeff throw each other to the canvas. Edge Russian Leg Sweeps Matt off the ladder. All six men go up. Jeff and Christian’s ladder gets tipped over, sending them all the way to the floor! Bubba runs into Edge & Jeff’s ladder and pushes them out too. The Dudz sandwich Christian with a ladder and hit the 3-D on Edge. D-VON…GET THE TABLES! The Dudleyz set up a pair of ladders and set a table on top of them in a sort of malevolent scaffold. The Hardyz keep them from going up. To the outside, Bubba whips Matt into the steps and takes him up to the Spanish table. The Dudleyz go for stereo table spots. D-Von misses his dive, but Bubba puts Matt through a table with a powerbomb. Jeff tries the rail run on Bubba, but Bubba simply throws a ladder into his face. Bubba sets up a huge ladder (20 ft. sayeth JR). He tries to put Jeff through a table, but Christian makes the save. Bubba winds up on the table instead. Jeff climbs the giant ladder and SWANTONS through Bubba Ray! Back in the ring now, Matt hits D-Von with the Twist of Fate. Matt and Christian fight on the makeshift platform, but Edge sneaks up and pushes Matt off through a table below. Edge and Christian each grab a belt for the win at 22:27. This was voted the PWI match of the year for 2000. Not sure I’d go that far, especially with Triple H vs. Cactus Jack eligible. Also, I’d say they managed to top themselves at Summerslam at TLC 1. ****1/2 Intercontinental Title: Lance Storm vs. Edge (08.19.01). Edge interrupts Storm’s rant about “offbeat shenanigans” and hits a flapjack. He gets two off a flying crossbody, but Storm knocks him into the crowd barrier to gain a breather. Storm starts working him over slowly but tightly as JR and Heyman argue about who’s winning between the Alliance and WWF. Edge avoids the Straightshooter (single-leg crab) but gets caught with a Rolling Fireman’s Carry Slam. Storm works the back with an abdominal stretch, which turns it from a resthold to a preparation for his finisher. Edge catches Storm springboarding in and powerslams him for two. Edge gets another nearfall by countering a rana to a powerbomb, but Storm comes right back with the Straightshooter. Edge makes the ropes and counters to one of his own. Christian runs down and “accidentally” spears Edge. Storm nearly gets the win there, but Edge comes back with the Edgecution for the win and the title at 11:18. Well, it’s hard to blame them for making this move because Edge was seen (rightly) as the future superstar. Of course, he’d have to wait another 5 YEARS to be elevated. The match was pretty good if a little pedestrian. *** U.S. Title vs. Intercontinental Title: Edge vs. Test (11.18.01). Ross explains that the winner of the WWF/Alliance war will determine which title survives. The other will be dissolved. Not that it mattered in the long run because they’re both still around. Heyman recounts the history of both titles through his rose-colored glasses. Sure, everyone wants to go back to Greg Valentine, Tully Blanchard, and Magnum T.A.. People forget that the recent history of the title was more along the lines of the One Man Gang and Konnan. Not only that, but both titles had bounced around so much just in the few months of the WWF/Allliance feud that they became meaningless. Edge hits a crossbody early, but Test uses the power of the pummel to dominate the majority of the match. Edge cuts him off with a dropkick and blocks the pump-handle slam. Test spears Edge for two and hits that pump-handle slam. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Edge hits a spear. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Test picks him up for a Full Nelson slam, but Edge counters to a rollup for the win at 11:18. At least Edge made the most of his push. **1/2 Great promo featuring “quotes” from Edge’s opponents. Edge vs. Mr. Perfect (03.03.02). Oddly enough, this is all the Perfect show early. He hits all his usual bumps and then all of his offensive moves (minus the Perfectplex, of course). Edge makes the comeback as Tazz works in his “old-school announcer voice.” It sounds like a cross between Rod Trongard and Gordon Solie. Edge goes for a spear but accidentally nails the referee (with help from Mr. P). Perfect grabs a chair, but Patrick recovers and DQs him at 3:49. Edge spears Perfect before he can use the chair. Pretty standard Heat fare really. *1/2 Hair vs. Hair: Edge vs. Kurt Angle (05.19.02). One of the guys who really benefited from the brand extension was Edge, who took advantage of the thinner roster and gained gravitas with every performance. Of course, feuding with red hot Kurt Angle didn’t hurt. Edge rolls him up and tosses Kurt early, but Kurt belly-to-belly suplexes him over the top to the floor to take over. He works Edge over with suplexes and such. Edge comes back and dropkicks Angle to the floor. He gets a close two with a crossbody off the top. He hits the Edgecution and goes up, but Angle pops up and belly-to-belly superplexes him for two. Edge comes back with a DDT for two, but Angle ducks a spear, and Edge spears the referee. Angle sneaks up on him with a full-rotation German Suplex. Angle grabs a chair, but Edge spears him. No ref. Angle blocks a second spear, but Edge slips out of the Angleslam and hits it on another try! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Kurt is the master of the last-millisecond kickout. Angle blocks the Edgecution and spears Edge! ANGLESLAM! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Angle goes for the Anklelock, but Edge enzuigiris him. Angle stays with it and reapplies the hold. Oh, but Edge spins over, kicks Angle into the ropes, and small packages him on the rebound at 15:29. Fantastic finish. So good, in fact, that Angle has repeated it with every opponent capable of keeping up with him. Another winner from these guys, and it served as a template for the multi-reversal formula Angle would use with Benoit, Eddy and just about everyone else. ***3/4 Steel Cage Match: Kurt Angle vs. Edge (05.30.02). So Kurt got his head shaved by Edge at Judgment Day but started wearing a wig and headgear to hide his bald head. You can thank Buddy Roberts for that angle. Presumably, heels always try this so they can wrestle while tanning their heads to match the rest of their body. They start out with wrestling, but Angle gets sent into the cage. Angle comes back and stomps a mudhole, but Edge clotheslines him off the top rope. Angle recovers quickly and goes into the ROLLING GERMANS! Edge gets sent into the cage and busted open. Angle pummels the cut. Edge gets a surprise catapult into the cage and hits the Edge-o-Matic for two. Edge fights his way back but accidentally nails the referee. Angle’s hair is now a Mohawk thanks to the brutality. Angle goes up, but Edge catches him with the SUPER FULL-ROTATION GERMAN! Edge goes up now, but Angle goes low and hits the SUPER ANGLESLAM! Angle goes over and out, but there’s no ref to call it. Hulk Hogan wobbles down and tosses Angle back into the cage. We come back from a commercial to Angle hitting the Angleslam. The ref is up. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Angle misses a charge and bounces off into an ANGLESLAM BY EDGE! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Angle yanks Edge down into the Anklelock. Edge reverses to his own, but Angle kicks him away. Angle opens the door, but Hogan is standing there, so he goes over the top. Edge knocks Angle down and crotches him on the top of the steel door. ::mother:: Edge drags him back in and tosses him to the canvas. Angle sees Edge perched on the top and charges him, but Edge comes off with a spear for the win at 14:39. Edge looked like a third wheel in his own match as the real story was between Angle and Hogan. 2002 really was a breakout year for Edge as a singles wrestler, though, and it was feuds like this that put him over as a main-event talent. **** WWE Tag Team Titles: Billy & Chuck (w/Rico) vs. Edge & Hulk Hogan (07.04.02). Edge has been elevated to honorary American for the holiday. Hogan and Edge dominate early, and Hogan is hugely over in front of the Boston crowd. Chucky finally hits a belly-to-belly to give the champs the advantage. Rico accidentally tags his own man with a superkick, but Billy spikes Edge’s face into the ring steps. “Call me ‘Billy Bitchcakes,’ will ya!” Edge sunset flips Chuck but can’t quite…make…the tag. Hogan cleans house with the usual, but Chuck tags him with a superkick to break up the legdrop. Edge tags back in and hits Chuck with the Edgecution. Rico trips up Edge from the outside but gets taken out by Hogan. Edge recovers and spears Billy, but Chuck pulls him off. The challengers hit double boots and double legdrops for the win and the titles at 10:04. Feel good moment for us Americans, who finally vanquished those evil… quasi-gay Americans… with the help of a Canadian. *** Edge vs. Eddy Guerrero (09.22.02). Edge is coming into the match just after a concussion. Eddy tries to get him angry early and hits a Tornado DDT to take over. Eddy tries to twist Edge’s head off. Edge punches him right in the face to come back. Eddy loosens the turnbuckle pad, so the ref chastises him. Edge schoolboys Eddy for two and hits the Edge-o-Matic. Eddy runs up the ropes and goes for a huracanrana, but Edge counters to a powerbomb! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Eddy avoids the spear, and Edge hits the Edgecution. ONE, TWO, THRE-foot on the ropes. Eddy undoes the turnbuckle pad, but Edge spears him into it. Edge sets up for the superplex, but Eddy slams his face into the exposed turnbuckle and finishes with his SICK sunset flip bomb at 11:57. Great psychology and storytelling from Eddy. They sell it as Edge having a concussion, but Eddy was a consummate cheating bastard, and this is where he really started to let that show. ***3/4 Special Features The Totally Awesome Best of Edge and Christian: A collection of Edge and Christian’s greatest moments. Best moment From 2000: Mick Foley: That Lita’s pretty hot, huh? Edge: Pfft. Yeah, from a distance. Apparently, that distance is two feet away from the back of her head with her face buried in the pillow. The kazoos are pretty funny too.

The 411: More Edgecitement to come!
Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]