The circumstances surrounding Christian's capture of the World Heavyweight Title in the Spring of 2011 obviously hinged on the fact that his good friend, Adam 'Edge' Copeland was forced to retire from in-ring competition. Scheduled to meet Alberto Del Rio for the title in a Ladder Match at the Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View, Copeland was unable, so WWE placed Christian into his place. What transpired was a truly wonderful, organic moment, as Edge looked on at his lifelong friend climbing the ladder, grabbing the belt and living out his childhood dreams. There was a real story to tell there, and people were enthused by the prospect of Christian - a notorious hard-worker - finally getting his due. At the next Smackdown taping, Christian lost the belt to Randy Orton, and fans turned on the match in a big way. So hostile was the response that Orton even reacted on social media, claiming that he wouldn't let the minority spoil his moment. Sadly for Randy and WWE, it wasn't the minority, fans viewed Christian in a way the company didn't, as a main event-level star.
