NOTE: I updated this review in 2013
"You Think You Know Me" is the opening phrase before every single incarnation of his theme music & it pretty much fits the character as he's gone morphed so many directions throughout his career such as a man running around in a long coat with some sort of inner rage, a gothic lifestyle who's trademark was bloodbaths, a comedic tag team specialist who loved posing for 5 seconds, an energetic wrestling rock star, a "Rated R Superstar", and lastly the ultimate opportunist but all these characters can be summarized in one word...Edge. Now this DVD is in the format of a match anthology where there's no documentary or anyone else speaking on the DVD except Edge himself but he stays in character & only appears a few times to talk about the the importance of the next series of matches while also showing highlights at times of the incidents leading up to a specific match as if it was a movie preview.
vs. Owen Hart - While Edge made his PPV debut the month before in a mixed tag match, this was his first PPV singles match along with it being a rare combination of 2 canadian wrestlers facing off against each other on a PPV behind held in their home country. Both men traded holds early with Edge going after Owen's arm while showing some athleticism with a dropkick & frankensteiner before Owen was able to keep catching Edge on the outside with a powerslam on the floor & in the ring release belly to belly while going arial himself with a top rope dropkick. They continued to trade momentum & kept countering each others offense including a moment straight out of WrestleMania X that resulted in a solid encounter between both men but the main story behind this match was the appearance of someone who would forever be linked to Edge.
"In Your House: Breakdown" Sept. '98
Ladder Match w/Christian vs. New Brood (Hardy Boyz) - This was the not only the first tag team ladder match in WWE history but also the finals of a series of matches between both teams called the Terri Invitational Tournament (which allowed Jerry Lawler to have so much fun with the initials) in which the winning team would gain an amount of money & her managerial services. Gangrel was ejected from ringside early on in the match allowing this match to be straight up between both teams with them having so many highlight moments such as Jeff being backdropped over the top rope all the way to the middle of the isleway, Christian giving Jeff a reverse DDT off a ladder, Edge powerbombing Matt off the ladder, Jeff's missle dropkick off the top rope knocking Edge off the ladder followed by a swanton bomb on the ladder, Christian on the receiving end of a legdrop off the top rope from Jeff who leapfrogged over a ladder in the process, Jeff Hardy being a handyman by breaking a ladder & then fixing it, Edge & Christian delivering a baseball slide with the ladder into Matt's crotch, Edge receiving a neckbreaker off the ladder, and all four men "crashing & burning" off the ladders. This was the match that put both teams on the map that would eventually plant the seeds for the future series of ladder/T.L.C. matches featuring various members. Since this was the first tag team ladder match, it was non-stop action & never a dull moment.
No Mercy '99
[The Ladder Match; Hardy Boyz: Leap Of Faith]
Ladder Match w/Christian vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz - Although these three teams are more famous with being the innovators of the T.L.C. match, this was actually the precursor to that match in this being the first triple threat ladder match. Everyone started brawling both in & out of the ring with the ladders coming in to play early as weapons such as a battery ram, the Hardys poetry in motion, an attempted 450 splash on the ladder that resulted in a bad landing, and Bubba Ray's top rope splash onto a ladder with Jeff Hardy underneath while later taking a page out of Terry Funk's book with using the ladder for an airplane spin. All six men began taking more risk off the ladder from Christian's crossbody in the ring to the outside, Edge's spear, Bubba Cutter, double suplex, and two ladders in the ring being pushed over with everyone having a bad landing. The Dudleys turned up the intensity as they brought tables into play that saw a "crash & burn" fall off the ladder through a table, a powerbomb off one table though another, one person being pushed off the table scaffold through another table that look like it exploded on impact, and the highlight reel of Jeff Hardy's swanton bomb off the biggest ladder in the match through a table. This was a non-stop highlight reel that was described by Jim Ross best, "Tables & Ladders & broken bodies along the way!"
WrestleMania 2000
[Wrestling's Highest Flyers; Jeff Hardy: My Life, My Rules]
vs. Intercontinental Champion Lance Storm - This was during the period of the "invasion" angle with Edge representing the WWE while Storm was a member of the WCW/ECW "Alliance" with Edge starting off in control early hitting moves like a top rope crossbody before Storm heavily focus on the ribs from hanging him on the ring ropes to various kicks & stretches while grounding Edge with his knee in the midsection. Edge was able to catch Storm in mid-air making a comeback with power moves like a powerbomb & powerslam as both men would go back & forth such as Storm with a half crab that Edge was able to reverse into his own with a big amount of close nearfalls. Lance Storm has gone on record as this being on his favorite matches in his WWE career as it was a solid contest with the story of Edge's ribs being worked on being played out heavily from start to finish.
SummerSlam '01
Unification Match: WCW United States Championship vs. WWE Intercontinental Champion Test - This was the first of two unification matches to merge WCW & WWE championships together with the winner also securing a job regardless of which company would win the "Winner Take All" match later in the night. Test started out the match in his favor taking the match to the outside & dropping Edge on the guardrail numerous times while also using power moves while Edge went for a more aerial attack with various dropkicks including one off the top rope & catching Test in mid-air with another one as they traded momentum throughout the contest such as Edge countering the pumphandle slam while Test hit a spear of his own. Edge was really coming into his own as a singles wrestler while this was Test's best year in his career resulting in a real good match.
Survivor Series '01
vs. Mr. Perfect - On Mr. Perfect's DVD, Edge talked about how much of an honor it was to wrestle Mr. Perfect since he was one of his wrestling heroes growing up as this was the match he was talking about but it went around four minutes & too short to be anything noteworthy...besides the awful commentary.
"Sunday Night Heat" Mar. '02
Hair Match vs. Kurt Angle - Both men were very aggressive from the start with various moments happening in the early moments of the match from Edge spearing Angle while he was tied up in the ropes to Angle delivering a belly to belly suplex sending Edge out of the ring to the floor. They exchanged momentum as Angle attempted slowed down the pace grounding Edge with holds like a chinlock while Edge was very fast paced such as a running crossbody over the top to the floor & missle dropkick causing Angle to resort on a heavy amount of suplexes including a release off the top rope which Edge retaliated with spear after spear before Angle did his own spear resulting in both men having a heavy amount of close near falls. This match was the definition of the word "intense" as both men started off hot & didn't let up making this a standout match in both mens careers with the special added bonus of all the backstage segments & eventual haircut adding some extra entertainment.
Judgment Day '02
Steel Cage Match vs. Kurt Angle - It should be noted that Stu Hart was in the audience for this match while Kurt Angle during this time refused to show his bald head after Judgment Day & was wrestling with a wig inside of amateur wrestling headgear. The cage came into play early on with Angle being thrown into it while Edge missed a spear attempt going shoulder first into the cage but Edge kept bring the fight to Angle using his own suplexes & top rope clothesline before Angle got back the momentum using various suplexes of his own & ramming Edge's face against the cage busting him open. The action continued to get more aggressive with to the point where the referee became a casualty while Edge delivered such a suplex from the top rope that it flipped Angle inside out only for Angle to come back with an Angle Slam from the top rope as well with each man pulling out their signature moves while still taking & delivering some high risk impactful moves involving the cage door & coming off the top of the cage with another man who Angle had his issues at the time made an appearance as well. This was a very exciting cage match that continued to play off the feud they had going at the time where it was very intense from start to finish.
"SmackDown" June '02
[Bloodbath: Wrestling's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches]
w/Hulk Hogan vs. WWE Tag Team Champions Billy & Chuck - This was a dream situation for Edge as his childhood hero was Hulk Hogan to the point where he got the ticket to see him at WrestleMania VI & not only does he get the opportunity to team with him but it was also against the Tag Team Champions on the Fourth Of July holiday complete with Hogan coming out waving the American flag & his classic theme of "Real American" (Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" was his regular theme during this time).
Read more ›