This day in Pro Wrestling history - 28th November
Beat the Clock challenges usually give the most cliched endings in the WWE with multiple instances of superstars setting the same time in their matches. This edition of ‘This day..’ looks at a Beat the Clock challenge that took place 8 years ago to crown the No:1 contender for the WWE title involving Jeff Hardy and Triple H.
Also, read on to see what prompted John Cena to introduce the STF into his arsenal and how Brock Lesnar got one of his many kayfabe suspensions from the company.
28th November, ladies and gentlemen. Here we go!
#1 John Cena debuts the STFU – 28 Nov 2005
The Raw after the 2005 Survivor Series saw Vince McMahon give an ultimatum to Raw GM Eric Bischoff to improve the show and Bischoff booked a WWE title match on the main event. WWE Champion John Cena would defend his title in a triple threat match against Kurt Angle and Chris Masters.
The match would be a No-DQ, No-Countout, Submissions only match, intended to favour Angle and Masters as Cena did not have a submission move in his arsenal at the time.
However, Cena would rise to the occasion and introduce his Stepover Toehold Facelock submission, initially named STFU to match his FU finisher. Masters would tap out to the STFU and Cena would retain his title.
Cena would drop the ‘U’ in STFU and rename the FU to Attitude Adjustment soon enough to keep with the child-friendly nature of the PG rated WWE.