9 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 18)

6. Feud In Reverse

Typically, a stipulation such as a Last Man Standing match is the end of a long, personal, vicious feud. But in the case of Randy Orton and Edge, it was the beginning, and now we’re progressing (regressing?) to a traditional one-on-one wrestling match.

Listening to Orton say “wrestling” over and over was somewhat surreal in a company where that’s almost a dirty word. He talked about how athletes are a dime a dozen and can’t do what he does. That brought out Edge, who pointed out that wrestling was Orton’s backup plan, that just because he’s gifted in the ring doesn’t mean it’s anything more than a paycheck for him.

It’s an interesting way to build toward the match, pitting Orton’s natural in-ring talents against Edge’s heart and grit. With Edge still riding his road back to active competition, it’s a great setup to see if he can hang with one of the best in-ring performers in Orton.

Now, calling it potentially “the greatest wrestling match ever,” we’ve already panned. But the story buildup is pretty nice so far.