[2006-10-02-WWE-Raw] Edge vs John Cena (Cage)

[Kadaveri]

This match doesn't get anywhere near as much attention as the Unforgiven match a few weeks before but I think it's almost as good.

 

My takeaway from watching these is Edge deserves credit for being a 'gimmick match specialist'. He's not a very good wrestler otherwise, but he has loads of good performances in cage/ladder matches it seems unfair to dismiss it as mere smoke and mirrors. Dude just suits the more chaotic environment.

 

Cena is working with an injured arm, which Edge immediately attacks right at the start with nastiness. Cena's selling is good. I've said this for other matches but I appreciate how Cena can sell a limb injury but doesn't take it to excessive levels where he acts like it's totally disabled when nothing's that bad's happened to warrant that. It's escape rules so Edge is mostly trying to escape the cage rather than beat Cena outright. There's a great spot where Cena catches Edge trying to climb out with one arm and bulldogs him off the top.

 

My favourite part of the match is when Edge is almost over the top of the cage but Cena is pulling him down fighting with all his might. Crowd is popping for every bit of the struggle until Cena manages to pull Edge back into the cage. Lita and Lance + Murdoch now interfering all over the place to help Edge win but DX run out for the save. Lovely bit of choreography when Shawn Michaels superkicks Murdoch into the cage door which hits Edge in the head just as he was about to escape. Ha! Cena hits Edge with the FU and gets the win. Crowd is almost 100% pro-Cena here and loudly cheers this whole climax.

****1/4

[ohtani's jacket]

I thought this was an excellent TV match despite the cage match gimmick being overdone in the eight years prior. Much better than their Unforgiven match from an ebb and flow standpoint. I didn't love the interference at the end, but the marines being so staunchly in Cena's favor meant that it finished on a high note regardless of how it got there. Overall, I thought Cena did an outstanding job of selling the injury and Edge was practically Savage-esque compared to his usual ham acting. 

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWE Champion John Cena vs Edge - WWE RAW 10/2/06 Steel Cage

John Cena and Edge has 11 WWE Title Matches together in 2006 including triple threats Thats ungodly. It is impressive that the feud never felt stale at the time and it is definitely remembered fondly as one of Cena’s best feuds. I saw the Summerslam 2006 main event live and in person and remember it being disappointing and I have no desire to relive it. I think the Unforgiven match is their best match together and the WWE MOTY for 2006. This feels like the feud blowoff though they have one more title match on a random RAW in December. Edge transitions to teaming with Orton against DX in a pretty big feud at the time. Cena surprisingly has a very quiet Q4 2026 before picking it up with Umaga next year.
 

Finlay of all people injured Cena’s Arm. 2006 WWE was hurting for heels as we will see at the end of this match Cade & Murdoch make a run-in. King Booker & Finlay were having a very enjoyable run on Smackdown and I remember it fondly but basically there was nothing left on RAW for Cena so time to start interacting with the hot Smackdown heel act. 
 

This match is much better than the Rumble match I just watched but not as good as the Unforgiven match for my money. The arm injury helped them a ton. Cena really thrived in this. He gave a great John McClain Die Hard performance. Those back elbows the way he was throwing him to protect his left side looked great. He really presented himself as a one armed man in an ass kicking contest. Edge for his part didnt do anything spectacular Bur he also didn’t mess up the mode. He stuck to the script and worked the arm. This was not a violent cage match at all but a tactical one. Edge was attack the arm and go for the escape. This would trigger a lot of interesting cutoffs. You don’t see a babyface work cut offs a lot so I liked the novelty of that as well as the suplexes Cena used were quite novel for him especially that great belly to back. I thought Cena really varied his offense here. I was a bit annoyed when Cena did run through his typical comeback sequence when he has been working such an interesting style the whole match but one sequence doesnt ruin a whole match. Also where ever they were was super behind Cena I would guess the South he was always more over there. Lita gets involved she as so crucial to the Edge act. She passed him a chair before the ref throws her out. The ref gets wiped out by a Edge flying clothesline. This being pre-Benoit Cena swings for the fucking fences with the chair. Fuck how did we think that was ok back in the day. He smoked him. Cade & Murdoch of all people Storm the Ring. I had a soft spot for Murdoch as a teen but this was an over push. Don’t remember Cade with black hair. Ahhhh reunited DX man I have no recollection of this even thought I was watching every week. Classic Shawn Sweet Chin Music to Murdoch who hits the Cage door into Edge’s Face FU 1-2-3! Such a Shawn spot!

The body of the match ruled. Cena’s selling and the way he changed his offense to compensate make this a great match. Didnt like the comeback BUT the overbooked finish was pretty fucking fun. Sets up DX vs Rated RKO and DX needed real heels after the long and very bad McMahon feud. Cena really has nothing until Umaga in January. Great capper to this chapter of the feud. ****