This day in Pro Wrestling history - 24th November
WWE fans would witness two of the greatest matches of the new millennium on November 24th - one being a tag team match and the other a singles match.
The fact that both matches involved arguably the finest athlete to conquer the tag team and the singles division is surely poetic justice to the huge talent that Adam 'Edge' Copeland possessed in a wrestling ring.
Eventually retiring as the winner of eleven World Championships and fourteen Tag team Championships, Edge might just be the finest all-around wrestler to have ever graced the WWE.
This day also saw TNA turn over a new leaf by announcing the arrival of the WWE’s top earning Superstar of the past year – Kurt Angle. The Impact Zone was buzzing for quite a while after the announcement and the promotion would see a number of high-quality matches in the aftermath.
Read on to enjoy today’s edition of ‘This day..’
#1 The Hardys and Edge & Christian steal the show without a ladder – 24th November 2000
Unforgiven 2000 PPV would be bought by a record number of households in order to witness the return of Stone Cold Steve Austin to the ring, but the highlight of the night would be the tag team title match between the Champions Edge & Christian and the Hardy Boyz.
E&C had captured the title in the first ever TLC match at Summerslam also involving the Hardys and the Dudleys. The teams were gaining a reputation for producing a classic out of any ladder match they were put in – But Unforgiven’s title match would not be a Ladder match, instead it would be a Steel Cage match.
Both members of a team had to escape for the match to end other than via submission or pinfall. Christian and Jeff Hardy would escape the cage leaving Edge and Matt Hardy to fight inside the ring. A returning Lita would take out Christian at ringside and Jeff would deliver a Whisper in the Wind onto Edge and Matt from the top of the cage.
The match would conclude with the Hardys delivering a Conchairto to Edge on the top of the cage, sending him tumbling down to the mat. Matt and Jeff would then escape the cage to win the tag team belts yet again. Incidentally, November 24 is also Matt Hardy’s birthday.
#2 Edge vs Eddie Guerrero becomes a SmackDown Classic – 24th November 2002
Edge sure likes the date November 24, doesn’t he?
Exactly two years after stealing the show in that Steel Cage tag team match, Edge would produce an amazing singles performance on SmackDown – this time against a more than game Eddie Guerrero. The two would have fans on the edge of their seats during their No DQ match.
The match would involve a ladder shot to the referee, a sit-out powerbomb by Eddie from the top of the ladder and plenty of back and forth action. The match would have a phenomenal finale, with Edge delivering an Edgecution to Eddie from the top of the ladder.
The match is rated as #8 in the Top 100 moments in SmackDown history DVD released by the WWE.