Edge vs Dolph Ziggler (WWE, 1-30-2011)

WWE Royal Rumble, Boston, MA

This is a request via Ko-fi. Edge, defending the world heavyweight championship, cannot use the spear or he loses the title, as ordered by acting Smackdown GM Vickie Guerrero.

Ugh, I forgot we were ass deep in the heel Michael Cole era for this match. Along with Lawler and Matt Striker, it’s a real all-star roster on commentary.

C&E start, Edge with a knee to the gut and the overhand right, then a forearm. Ziggler rammed into the corner. Ziggler with a back kick and a right hand to turn the tide. Elbow to the back of the head, right hands in the corner, Ziggler beating Edge down a little bit.

Edge with a boot to the gut, whip to the corner, Ziggler hits hard. Little driving kneedrop from Edge, a couple more shots and a cover for two. Stomachbreaker from Edge, cover gets two again. Ziggler sent off the ropes, kneelift from Edge. Cover, two. Right hand from Edge. Another. Ziggler to the apron, right hand blocked, Edge lands one, slides through the legs, and drives Ziggler down into the apron, then throws him into the barricade.

Edge breaks the count, then goes back outside. Edge drops Ziggler over the barricade, chest-first. Ziggler sent back into the ring as Michael Cole lusts over Vickie Guerrero. Dolph catches Edge with a kick coming back into the ring, and a hangman’s reverse neckbreaker for two.

Ziggler stomping away until the referee breaks him off, with Edge under the bottom rope. Ziggler slides to the floor, and drives an elbow over Edge’s throat on the apron. Another one. Edge now face-down, and Ziggler elbows the back of the neck this time. Ziggler in control now, taking Edge apart. Kick to the head and a choke over the second rope for a count of four. Cover, kicked out again.

Chinlock from Ziggler. “Let’s go, Edge” chant. Edge with right hands out of the headlock, but caught with a boot in the corner. Ziggler with a sunset flip, Edge rolls through and catapults Dolph into the corner. Sunset flip style cover, two count for Edge. Ziggler back with a kick to the knee, then another reverse neckbreaker. Cover gets two.

Ziggler with the rolling neck snap, another cover, another two count. Ziggler back to the chinlock. A little hair pulling before he breaks, then an elbowdrop to the chest, cover for another two. Ziggler with a right, then a knee to send Edge from the apron down into the barricade outside the ring.

Back into the ring, cover, two. Elbows to the neck, and another chinlock. Edge fights up and throws right hands to the body to get out. Ziggler off the ropes, clothesline ducked, and they collide with simultaneous crossbody presses at mid-ring. Both men down.

Count reaches five before both get up. Ziggler charges into the corner for a Stinger splash, Edge moves and Ziggler hits the turnbuckles. Ziggler up and charges again, this time runs into a pancake type move from Edge. Both men down again. Edge up, ducks a clothesline, hits a forearm. Another shot from Edge, then a faceslam, cover gets two.

Edge up first, but slowly. Ziggler catches the clothesline on his shoulder and hits a jawbreaker. Ziggler goes for the Rocker Dropper, Edge catches it in mid-air and counters with a sit-out power bomb for two. Edge goes up top, but Ziggler catches him with a right hand and follows him up. Headbutts from Ziggler, and he goes for a superplex. Edge blocking, Ziggler tries again, Edge still blocking.

Edge knocks Ziggler down to the canvas, and from up top, hits a flying crossbody. Ziggler rolls through, though, and gets a long two count. Both slow to get up, then Dolph explodes with a standing dropkick for two. Edge comes back, countering with the Edgecator, and hammering away at the ribs, but Ziggler gets the ropes.

Edge with a couple more shots, then a running something or other to the ropes misses, with Edge bouncing off the cables. Ziggler with the Rocker Dropper! Two count! After a short break in the action, Ziggler with a whip to the ropes, sent in, and he runs into a boot from Edge. Edge gets That Look and sets himself in the corner for the spear, then remembers he can’t use it. Ziggler goes around the back and tries for the sleephold, but Edge counters with the Impaler DDT for two.

Vickie gets up on the apron to argue with the referee and scream at Edge, then she slaps him in the face. Ziggler almost runs into Vickie, but stops short. Edge rolls Dolph up for two. Vickie slaps Edge a few more times. Kelly Kelly comes in from behind to attack Vickie!

Zig-Zag from behind and Ziggler has the pin — one, two, no! Both men down and struggling at this point. Sleephold from Dolph when they get back to their feet. Edge fighting it, but Ziggler has it in deep. Edge lifts Ziggler on his back, but Ziggler keeps the hold on. Edge swinging them around, and Ziggler hits the referee. Edge counters with a piggyback stunner. Referee is down. Vickie’s down. The crowd wants Edge to use the spear, nefariously. And Edge knows it.

Edge sets in the corner, but is fighting himself on using it — he does, though! Michael Cole is very upset. Edge pretends to be down and out so that the referee just wakes up to two guys down on the canvas. Killswitch from Edge, taken from Christian! One, two, three! Edge retains.

Rating: 3.5/5. Edge was working with a pretty busted neck by this point, and would retire just a couple of months later because of it. So this is more a methodically-paced match than you might expect of Edge and Ziggler on paper, especially in a pay-per-view opener for the world title on a big show. That said, it works out pretty well, and the spear story adds enough to the match. When they did use it, the crowd was way into it. It spoke to Edge’s cleverness and resourcefulness that he found a way to use the spear without getting caught, and then used a move that he knew well, taken from a longtime partner and rival, for the actual finish. Ziggler was relatively bland here, as usual, but served well enough as a challenger.