First of all, let me stress that I hate how One Night Stand has changed in recent years. Initially debuting as an all-ECW event, then used for ECW vs. WWE matches, the PPV has devolved into just another WWE PPV event, in which the ECW brand is an afterthought. Keep in mind that the only match with current or original ECW members in it was the second match of the night; any other match on the card could have taken place at any other WWE PPV throughout the year.
That being said, the only remnant of ECW remaining in One Night Stand is that all the matches were “extreme rules” matches. Well, not really. More like they were all stipulation matches. Some of these dust-ups were pretty lackluster, but the match of the night has to go to the main event match between Edge and Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Title.
As a TLC (tables, ladders, chairs) match, the stipulation played to Edge’s strengths, as he made a living a decade ago, along with the Hardys, at putting on injury-defying TLC matches that almost shortened the careers of Matt and Jeff Hardy, as well as Edge and his then-partner, Christian Cage.
While Taker is nowhere near as acrobatic, fast and flexible as Edge is, well, Edge isn’t as nimble as he was a decade ago, either. Still, the two men put on an amazing show that proves why TLC matches are so popular… and so rare. If you ever get a chance to see one live, buy a bus and make sure you get there and take a bunch of friends along with.
The excitement was enhanced by having Taker’s career “on the line” based on the outcome of the match; since Edge won, that means that Taker conceivably has been “retired” by Edge, though it is widely expected that this is either an excuse to give Taker an extended vacation, which he takes periodically over the past few years, in order to minimize the abuse on his aging body, or may simply set Taker up to “reappear” on the Raw roster at the WWE Draft, due in three weeks during a special, three-hour Raw episode on USA.
