Raw Roundup: Stepping back from the Edge

Edge, one of the greatest superstars of our generation, retired last night, and news of the Rated-R Superstar’s retirement dwarfed the rest of the action on WWE’s flagship program.  Edge has had 31 championship reigns, more than anyone else in the history of the company, and was a defining face of the current era of wrestling.  From his days of playing second fiddle as part of a stable to his time as Intercontinental Champion all the way through his ascent to a main event fixture, Edge led a long and wildly entertaining career.  He was one of the few superstars who could play the role of a face or heel equally well, and his career-encompassing DVD set will eventually be a must-have for any wrestling fan.  Edge, we’ll miss you.

We’ll take an in-depth look at Edge’s Hall of Fame career and tragic retirement tomorrow, reliving some of the highlights that he’s given us of the years, but for now, the show must go on.  The rest of Raw, which was actually fairly eventful, after the jump.

• The Extreme Rules main event was set, and well, it’s weird.  On Raw last night, a 5-person gauntlet match was made to determine the number one contender.  The participants: John Cena, Randy Orton, John Morrison, Dolph Ziggler, and R-Truth.  Ziggler and Orton kicked the match off, but Orton was eliminated after Mason Ryan, David Otunga, and Michael McGillicutty interfered.  Ziggler was then eliminated by the next entrant, R-Truth.  Morrison came out next and his burial was continued when R-Truth sent him packing.  When John Cena and R-Truth squared off as the last two combatants, WWE Champion the Miz and buddy Alex Riley entered the ring and leveled both guys.  As a result, the main event for Extreme Rules will be a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship pitting the Miz against both John Cena & R-Truth.  For me, it’s an odd choice to stick Truth in the match considering he hasn’t been on TV in a month.  More than half of his matches this year have been on Superstars or NXT.  And now he’s in a WWE Championship match on Pay-Per-View.  Hmmm.
• A new Divas Champion was crowned when Brie Bella defeated Eve with the old Bella Switch.  I assume the Bella Twins will be defending the title under a Freebird Rule of sorts with both defending the title.  There was some nonsense backstage with Eve after the match where she was accusing other divas of only being out for themselves, but the real story was before the match, when an Awesome Kong vignette was shown.
• Sin Cara made his in-ring debut, and the results were a little disappointing.  I’m not doubting his ability, and I’m confident that he’ll be a pleasure to watch each week.  His background certainly hints that he’ll be a success and a quick look at his work from Mexico will prove that he’s the real deal.  His debut match left a lot to be desired though.  He defeated Primo with a unique and impressive top rope maneuver, a flipping downward spiral from the top rope, but the move was botched on the first attempt and it had to be setup again.  The match was paced slower than what I had expected, although I’m inclined to believe that won’t be a recurring theme with the masked superstar.  So, despite a kind of lackluster debut match, I generally still feel really good about Sin Cara moving forward.
• Jerry Lawler defeated Jack Swagger while Michael Cole was extra annoying at ringside.  As a result, Lawler will have a rematch with Cole at Extreme Rules, and he was able to chose the stipulation for the contest.  By decree of The King, it’ll be Michael Cole & Jack Swagger vs Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross at the pay-per-view.  Hopefully that’ll wrap this whole thing up – I lost interest in this commentator war a long, long time ago.
• The Corre teased a breakup when Wade Barrett blamed his teammates for the beatdown they received last week, and while the members were bickering, Santino Marella’s music hit.  He appeared on the ramp, alongside Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan, & Evan Bourne.  Santino explained that while the guys in the ring were the Corre, the guys on the ramp were the A.P.P.L.E.: Allied People Powered by Loathing Everything (you stand for.)  This ragtag team is the Union all over again.  The Corre picked up the win with a little teamwork, so hopefully they’re all back on the same page now.  I’d hate to see another team split up without good reason.

Edge’s retirement eclipsed everything else on the show, as it should.  The guy is a one of the best to ever lace them up.  In all actuality, though, the rest of Raw was pretty good too.  There’s a new Divas Champion, the first Awesome Kong vignette aired, Sin Cara made his in-ring debut, the Extreme Rules main event was made, The Union 2.0 was formed, and Jim Ross is going to wrestle.  Thumbs up, Raw.  Despite the lack of CM Punk, thumbs up.