WWE Extreme Rules is this Sunday and I have decided to review a match from an Extreme Rules event. The match I picked was the Edge vs. Jeff Hardy World Heavyweight Championship ladder match from the first Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View in 2009. I had never seen this match prior to making this review.

The Facts:

  • This match happened on June 7, 2009 at the New Orleans Arena, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The attendance was 9,124.
  • Edge’s World Heavyweight Championship was on the line in this match.
  • This was the first Edge vs. Jeff Hardy one-on-one ladder match.
  • This was the last Edge vs. Jeff Hardy Pay-Per-View match.
  • Matt and Jeff Hardy defeated Edge and Christian in the first WWF tag team ladder match at No Mercy on October 17, 1999.
  • Jeff Hardy and Edge had 17 ladder match appearances (11 for Hardy and 6 for Edge). They had 12 Tables, Ladders & Chairs match appearances (7 for Edge and 5 for Hardy). They had 4 Money in the Bank ladder match appearances (3 for Edge and 1 for Hardy). That adds up to 33 appearances in WWE matches with a ladder (17 for Hardy and 16 for Edge).
  • Jeff Hardy left WWE in August 2009 and Edge left WWE in April 2011.
  • The announcers for this match were Todd Grisham and Jim Ross.
  • The time length of this match was 20:07.

The Match:

Edge and Hardy attack each other in the ring corner to start the match. Hardy pulls Edge to the middle of the ring and slams Edge down. Hardy hits Edge with a leg drop. Edge fights back. Edge whips Hardy into the corner and spears him there. Hardy blocks a suplex and hits Edge with a face first suplex. Hardy leaves the ring and tries to bring a ladder into the match. Baseball slide by Edge and he kicks the ladder into Hardy! Edge leaves the ring and Hardy attacks Edge. Both men are back in the ring. Hardy is whipped into the ropes and hangs onto the top rope. Edge runs at Hardy and Hardy tosses Edge out of the ring and onto a ladder that is leaning against the ring apron. Hardy sets up a ladder in the middle of the ring. Hardy starts to climb and Edge stops him from grabbing the World Heavyweight Championship title. Edge picks up Hardy and Hardy tries to grab the ladder. Hardy knocks down the ladder and Edge drops Hardy onto the ladder. Edge leaves the ring and brings a new ladder into the ring. He leans the ladder against the ring turnbuckles in the corner. Edge whips Hardy into the ladder. Edge moves the ladder to another ring corner. Edge pulls Hardy towards the ladder and Edge pushes Hardy’s head into the ladder. Hardy is resting next to the ladder and Edge looks like he getting ready to spear Hardy. Edge runs at Hardy and Hardy jumps out of the way. Edge goes face first into the ladder. Hardy puts the ladder on Edge and kicks the ladder into Edge. Hardy puts the ladder next to the ring corner and pushes Edge into the ladder. Hardy tries to kick Edge into the ladder but Edge moves out of the way. Hardy goes into the ladder and then the ladder falls on top of him. Edge has the ladder and makes a Jeff Hardy ladder sandwich. Edge does the Sharpshooter on Hardy with Hardy caught between the ladder. Hardy is tapping but there is no submission or pinfall in a ladder match. Edge throws Hardy out of the ring. Edge sets up the ladder in the middle of the ring and climbs it. Hardy jumps off the top turnbuckle and dropkicks the ladder. Edge falls off the ladder. Edge, Hardy and the ladder are all down in the middle of the ring. Hardy gets up first. Hardy sets the ladder up but it is upside down. Hardy lifts up Edge in the air and drops Edge belly first onto the ladder!  “Holy shit” chant from the crowd. Hardy brings another ladder into the ring. Hardy hits Edge with the Twist of Fate! Hardy climbs the ladder. He is too far away from the title. Hardy tips the ladder over while he is still on top of it and grabs the title! The ladder falls down and Hardy stays in the air by holding onto the title! Edge is up and he grabs Hardy’s legs. Edge pulls Hardy down and the championship is still hanging from the ceiling. Hardy could not unhook the title.

Edge tries to whip Hardy into the ladder. Hardy reverses it and whips Edge into the ladder. Edge falls down and Hardy climbs the ladder. Hardy hits Edge with the Whisper in the Wind off the ladder! Hardy leaves the ring and brings another ladder into the ring. Hardy sets the ladder up and then clotheslines Edge out of the ring. Both men fall out of the ring. Edge gets up and kicks Hardy in the face. Edge takes a ladder and creates a bridge between the security wall and the ring apron. Edge tries to suplex Hardy onto the ladder but Hardy blocks it. Hardy shoves Edge into the security wall by the timekeeper and then throws a ladder at Edge. Hardy tries to whip Edge and Edge reverses it. Hardy goes into the ring steps. Edge throws Hardy into the security wall. Edge brings the ring steps towards Hardy and Hardy knocks Edge down. Hardy slams Edge’s face into the steel steps. Hardy hits Edge with a move that looks like a bulldog. Edge’s head bounces off the top of the security wall and Hardy goes into the crowd. Hardy climbs over the wall and puts Edge on the ladder bridge that Edge made. Hardy is setting up a ladder outside the ring. Jim Ross asks, “What is Jeff Hardy thinking?” Hardy climbs the ladder and now Edge is climbing the ladder. The ladder falls down and both of them fall on the ladder bridge! The fans start a “Holy shit” chant. Both men are down. The ladder they fell on is broken. Both men get into the ring at the same time. Hardy knocks Edge down and climbs the ladder in the middle of the ring. Edge climbs a ladder by the ring corner. Edge jumps off the ladder. Hardy catches Edge and gives Edge a Twist of Fate in mid-air! Hardy is climbing the ladder. Edge is climbing the other side of the ladder. Hardy falls off the ladder.  Hardy grabs Edge’s legs and Edge is trapped in-between the ladder rungs. Hardy climbs the ladder and pulls down the title! Jeff Hardy is the new World Heavyweight Champion!

Winner: Jeff Hardy

Rating: ****1/4

I enjoyed watching this match. I liked that ladders were used often in this match. Edge and Hardy knew that this was a ladder match not a wrestling match and they did very little technical wrestling. Some wrestlers don’t do that. I thought Chris Jericho and CM Punk did too much technical wrestling during their street fight at last year’s Extreme Rules PPV. In my opinion, this match is underrated. I think many people only remember CM Punk cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Jeff Hardy after this match and don’t know that Hardy and Edge had a great match before the cash-in. I was at Judgment Day and one month before this match and the main event at Judgment Day was Edge vs. Hardy. That was the first main event match I ever saw at a wrestling event. I thought the Judgment Day match was great and this match was better. The Edge vs. Hardy rivalry in 2009 was so good that they main evented two consecutive WWE PPVs. It’s rare to see the Smackdown main event match get a better spot on the match card than the RAW main event match and the John Cena match. The two match-ups that didn’t get the main event in those two PPVs were Randy Orton vs. Batista for the WWE Championship and John Cena vs. Big Show. Edge and Hardy excelled in extreme style matches and I don’t think WWE could have picked a better main event match-up for the first WWE Extreme Rules PPV.

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