WWE Region, Third Round, Pure Rules Match: (4) Ricky Steamboat vs. (5) Edge

[Thriller Ant]

I know closed fists are out of the equation, but what about a standard thumb to the eye? Edge isn't Ric Flair by any means, yet I've seen Flair thumb someone's eye then chop block them to weaken the legs for the figure 4. Well, Edges submission manoeuvre also requires him to weaken the legs so what's to stop Edge employing this same tactic on The Dragon? It could be that Edge goes down this route simply to make Dragon use up his rope breaks then go back to the spear.

As Sanka pointed out, the 20 count seems like it could be a saving grace for Edge; whether he uses the time to hurt Dragon outside the ring or simply to frustrate him and make him come and get Edge.

Admittedly I don't know too much about Ricky, but Sankas post gave me food for thought.

Edge isn't as smart of a wrestler. He frequently survived matches due to outside interference in one way or another instead of any abilities he may have had. Steamboat, on the other hand, would wear down his opponents frequently counter just about anything they would throw at him.

As for the thumb to the eye, anything that would be a DNQ would be treated the same was as a closed fist in Pure Rules matches in ROH, so I'm treating it the same way here.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I'm bad with acronyms, what does DNQ stand for?

Even if Edge justs uses the thumb to the eye once at an opportunistic time, he would only receive a warning though, correct?

 

[deem]

Wow. So Steamboat's some naive boy scout who would be duped into losing a match? Get real. Edge can't win big matches without cheating or using underhanded tactics. Period. If he attempts to use those tactics, he's disqualified.

And this mid-card bullshit you talk about with Steamboat makes no sense. He feuded with Ric Flair and had two of the greatest wrestling matches of all time against him. That was for the World Heavyweight Title. Not a mid-card belt. And his match against Savage at Wrestlemania 3 STOLE THE SHOW FROM ANDRE AND HOGAN! Doesn't sound too mid-card to me.

Edge is so overrated by the folks on the forums that it borders on the absurd. Edge's title runs were fine, but he wasn't billed as the top guy the entire time he was champion. That belonged to John Cena. Steamboat wasn't either, because of Flair and Hogan, but he was never asked to be. All Steamboat had were classic matches. Edge's most memorable matches involve a ladder, chair, cage, or flames.

None of those things can be used in a Pure Wrestling match.

Steamboat wins.

Lol wow chill. Re-read my post, I'm voting Steamboat. The "in kayfabe, of course this favours Edge" was a typo, as the rest of my post makes abundantly clear.

I stand by Steamboat being pretty much a career long midcarder. Sure his feud with Flair was in the main event, but that's about the only time he got that high on cards. And you really, honestly think he stole the show at WM3? He was in undoubtedly the better match, but the fan integration and drawing power of Hogan Andre might be the biggest of all time. Come along. Anyway, never will wrestling for the IC title in the midcard be an argument against being a career midcarder.

Whatever, as I say I'm voting Steamboat, but don't overhype him. He's suited by the gimmick and is lucky he's done well against Edge's type before. I consider this a pretty huge upset despite agreeing with Ricky to win.

 

[Thriller Ant]

I'm bad with acronyms, what does DNQ stand for?

Even if Edge justs uses the thumb to the eye once at an opportunistic time, he would only receive a warning though, correct?

Sorry, I meant DQ not DNQ. Theoretically yes, but if you've ever watched an Edge match, you know that he's not just going to stop after one thumb to the eye.

 

[Tastycles]

It's a tough one, solely because of the stipulation. Based on career, Edge is head and shoulders above Ricky Steamboat. But, as everyone has stated, he was mainly a heel and for that reason he'd be troubled here.

I was all geared to vote Steamboat, until I started to think about it. Even if you ignore the entire portion of Edge's career from shagging Lita to turning face right at the end of his career - obviously the most successful portion of his career - he's still won more world titles, more mid card titles and been generally higher up the card than Steamboat. When you factor in the heel antics, it becomes almost certain that he would be able to beat a man vastly inferior to him on balance.

 

[Papa Pillman]

When you factor in the heel antics, it becomes almost certain that he would be able to beat a man vastly inferior to him on balance.

But wouldn't you admit that Flair was also known for his ability to exploit those same "heel antics", perhaps even moreso than Edge? And you would also label Flair "vastly inferior on balance" to Steamboat, correct? Yet The Dragon was still able to best Ric and take his World Title. Why then would he not go over Edge in an equally big match, especially one that includes a gimmick that favors his strengths?

 

[Tastycles]

But wouldn't you admit that Flair was also known for his ability to exploit those same "heel antics", perhaps even moreso than Edge? And you would also label Flair "vastly inferior on balance" to Steamboat, correct? Yet The Dragon was still able to best Ric and take his World Title. Why then would he not go over Edge in an equally big match, especially one that includes a gimmick that favors his strengths?

I haven't seen that match for years, but Flair doesn't do anything particularly heelish does he? Mostly as he was about to turn face. I would not say Flair was vastly inferior than Steamboat, no, and he beat him ten weeks later to win the title back.

The fact of the matter is this, Edge was a main eventer as a face for longer than Steamboat was a main eventer in total.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I haven't seen that match for years, but Flair doesn't do anything particularly heelish does he? Mostly as he was about to turn face.

You are partly correct, Flair worked progressively more face throughout the trilogy. Culminating in working the final match at WrestleWar fully within the rules to regain the belt, setting him up to be the babyface in the I Quit match with Funk that happened due to the post-match beatdown by Funk on Flair.

But the initial encounter at Chi-town Rumble, Flair lost his belt despite using most staple heel antics in the match. During the match he failed to give Ricky clean breaks, pulled him outside where he rammed Steamboat's head into the railing for an attempted count-out, he had a roll-up attempt with a hand full of tights, he used the ropes for leverage on a figure four, and he had a succession of near-falls stopped due to using his feet on the ropes to leverage the pin attempts. So Steamboat won the belt in a match that Flair worked very much heel.

As for this...

I would not say Flair was vastly inferior than Steamboat, no, and he beat him ten weeks later to win the title back.

I had juxtaposed the names here. My query was actually that you would admit that Steamboat would appear to be just as "vastly inferior" to Flair as he would be to Edge. Yet he was able to beat a still prime Flair for the title.

 

[Jomo_mark]

Come on guys, this is the freaking WWE for goodness sake! I think it's safe to say that Edge was a bigger star than Steamboat. Now. Picture how this would actually play out in the WWE. Will a match like this EVER have a clean finish? I strongly doubt it. I mean, take for example tag team matches. The guy that has not been tagged in cannot interfere with the match, but has that EVER happened? I'm not saying Edge can just blatantly break the rules, but I'm sure it would be booked in such a way that Edge gets the unclean win via very heelish tactics.

Besides, it's not like the rules make it so much easier for a technical wrestler to win. Like previous posters mentioned, the 20 count outside could benefit Edge. Edge is being given far less credit than he deserves. Granted, most of his victories come from cheating, but that doesn't mean he is some slob in the ring! He did beat Del Rio, one of the better technical wrestlers, clean in a WM match. Yes, Steamboat is better, but not as much as it appears. This, combined with the fact that Edge is a much bigger star and could most likely find a way to win this, and also taking into consideratio that this match doesn't even favour Steamboat by that much, is why I think the Rated-R Superstar should take this.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I don't know what people saw in Edge honestly. The only time he was interesting to me was when he was sticking it to Hardy behind the curtain and sticking it to Lita in front of it. His matches were dull, he was OK on the stick and what not. Had a good look, thats it.

Steamboat is the better wrestler, 'purer' wrestler and I know, Edge's heel tactics could work, but I honestly see the Dragon taking this.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Sorry, I meant DQ not DNQ. Theoretically yes, but if you've ever watched an Edge match, you know that he's not just going to stop after one thumb to the eye.

Haha no worries. I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that DNQ was some kind of pure stipulation!

Edge did love his cheap shots but I'm not sure of his tendency to return to the heel well one too many times. Would he risk a second blow to the face? Possibly. Would he employ other heelish tactics to unsettle Steamboat? Definitely.

I don't like to bring in many comparisons with other wrestlers and their matches, but Lesnar purposefully sacrificed some falls in his iron man match with Kurt Angle for the greater good of winning the contest. He just about scraped by and got away with it, but Lesnar never seemed like the brightest knife in the drawer, so I can see someone like Edge who was a lot more cunning as a heel to employ some similar tactics that may put him at the risk of DQ, but ultimately win.

 

[fenderjapan]

Steamboat via disqualification. He is a striking expert without using fists. Edge will be disqualified for violating the closed hand strike rules, perhaps without even realizing he has done it. Edge will become frustrated with the rules while Steamboat will be able to play right into them.

 

[Thriller Ant]

Haha no worries. I wouldn't have been surprised to learn that DNQ was some kind of pure stipulation!

Edge did love his cheap shots but I'm not sure of his tendency to return to the heel well one too many times. Would he risk a second blow to the face? Possibly. Would he employ other heelish tactics to unsettle Steamboat? Definitely.

I don't like to bring in many comparisons with other wrestlers and their matches, but Lesnar purposefully sacrificed some falls in his iron man match with Kurt Angle for the greater good of winning the contest. He just about scraped by and got away with it, but Lesnar never seemed like the brightest knife in the drawer, so I can see someone like Edge who was a lot more cunning as a heel to employ some similar tactics that may put him at the risk of DQ, but ultimately win.

Allow me to present you with a very, very likely scenario. Edge loses a rope break due to cheating and the two others to escape pins/submissions/whatever. Despite that, he takes advantage of that and manages to get a few shots in on the floor or behind the ref's back that are less than legal. Edge lines up the spear, but Steamboat catches Edge in a small package, similar to how he beat Randy Savage at WrestleMania III. This time, however, it is closer to the ropes. Steamboat hooks Edge's leg in the ropes, which is both completely legal and makes it more difficult for Edge to kick out. Steamboat wins.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think this is a match that favours Steamboat. While Edge is a very good wrestler, he has found most of his success in matches than involve weapons of some kind and is a known cheat- the one thing this match aims to stop.

Steamboat has superior wrestling skills and is known for beating some of best dasterdly heels in the game, and I think he would have more than enough in his prime to see off Edge.

Winner: Ricky Steamboat