Edge unseated WWE Heavyweight Champion John Cena for that title in a match of less than two minutes at the conclusion of WWE’s New Year’s Revolution PPV Sunday night. The storyline impetus for the match, which followed Cena retaining the title in an elimination chamber match, was that Edge cashed in his “money in the bank” credit, earned at this year’s WrestleMania, to challenge for the title.
The match and rushed title change marked two coincident changes in talent perception on the RAW brand. Primarily, it was a move of desperation in response to increasing fan hatred of their main star, John Cena. Cena, the company’s promotional golden boy, was groomed to be the company’s top face in advance of a feud planned for this spring with Triple H that would culminate at WrestleMania. As late as last month, Triple H was the planned winner of the Royal Rumble later this month.
There were few problems with Cena’s meteoric rise to the top of the company, culminating at WrestleMania when he won the title in the shadow of Batista, who also won the other championship on the same show. But as comparisons to the Ultimate Warrior, the former WWE star that was derided for being a bad worker, began to abound, fans at live events grew to dislike Cena. Though Cena is not a poor worker, he is probably among the bottom 25% in the company, and among the worst wrestlers of heavyweight champions since the time of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The company stuck with him because he remained very popular, selling more merchandise than even traditional favorites like Triple H and the Undertaker, but fans—particularly adult males—grew to dislike Cena’s popularity among women and children. To them, he was a populist choice only because he is handsome, but without commensurate skill. WWE decided not to move the title from Cena to Kurt Angle in November in hopes that he would recover. When Cena was booed resoundingly at Sunday’s PPV, on the order of the Rock at Summerslam 2002 (when the crowd was split between him and Brock Lesnar), it became clear that would not be the case.
It was also the consummation of the rise of Adam Copeland as Edge, whose turbulent 7 years in the company have positioned him uniquely to become the number 1 heel in the company, if only temporarily. After splitting with long-time tag team partner Christian in 2001, he was positioned as a solo wrestler and earmarked for a push as a babyface. Several injuries, mild response from fans, and several personal issues punctuated the push, but Edge’s television time has only increased in the past year, where he has been a heel, especially when WWE decided to go with him as a potential contender for the belt at April’s WrestleMania. He becomes the 79th recognized WWE Heavyweight Champion.
Edge, who lost to Ric Flair by disqualification earlier in the night, pinned a bloody Cena for the title in less than two minutes. It should be noted that Edge wrestled with a pectoral injury.
Cena had just retained his title in a match of over 28 minutes against Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Carlito, Chris Masters, and Kane. The Elimination Chamber match, which was good, was the centerpiece of a show with little else to offer, and largely failed. Fans turned not only on Cena, but on the booking of the match, Edge’s title victory in an unadvertised match, and most of the other matches on the card, which fell between good and horrendous. Regardless, the crowd didn’t respond to most of the matches on the show, and the negative response largely came at crucial junctures, much like the 2004 Summerslam headlined by Bradshaw vs. The Undertaker and Randy Orton’s title victory over Chris Benoit, though the wrestling here was worse. Overall, the quality of the wrestling was better than the 2004 Great American Bash, one of the company’s poorest shows in history.
The match results for the show were as follows:
1. Ric Flair defeated Edge by disqualification in 7:10 to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
2. Trish Stratus defeated Mickie James in 7:24 to retain the Women’s Championship.
3. Jerry Lawler defeated Gregory Helms in 9:02.
4. Triple H defeated the Big Show in 16:20.
5. Shelton Benjamin defeated Viscera in 7:05.
6. Ashley won a Bra and Panties gauntlet match in 11:30. Also in the match were: Maria, Torrie Wilson, Victoria, and Candice Michelle.
7. John Cena won an Elimination Chamber match in 28:24 to retain the Heavyweight Championship. Also in the match were: Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Carlito, Chris Masters, and Kane.
8. Edge defeated John Cena in 1:41 to win the Heavyweight Championship.
