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.
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#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.
#2 Another Beat the Clock Challenge and another tie – 28 Nov 2008
2008 Survivor Series would see Edge substitute for an injured Jeff Hardy in the triple threat WWE title match. Edge would compete in the match, also involving Triple H and Vladimir Kozlov and would end up capturing the title.
The next SmackDown would feature Hardy, Triple H and Kozlov in a Beat the Clock Challenge in order to decide the No:1 contender for Edge’s title.
Hardy would take on the Brian Kendrick, Kozlov would face Jeff’s brother Matt and Triple H would square off against Shelton Benjamin. The superstar winning the match in the least amount of time would be the No:1 contender.
Hardy would go first, setting a time of 12:13 against Kendrick. Kozlov would fail to match that time against Hardy whereas Triple H would pin Benjamin at exactly 12:13, resulting in yet another tie in the Beat the Clock Challenge.
Both Hardy and Triple H would face Edge at Armageddon for the title, with Hardy winning his first WWE singles title at the event.
#3 The Big Show vs The Fabulous Moolah – 28 Nov 2002
The main event of SmackDown on November 28th 2002 would see the 67-year-old women’s wrestler Fabulous Moolah taking on surprise opponent The Big Show.
Show was the WWE Champion at the time and was in the middle of a monster push, having become the first man to beat Brock Lesnar during that month’s Survivor Series PPV to capture the title.
The match with Moolah would never get going though as Lesnar charged the ring while Show was threatening Moolah. Lesnar would proceed to F-5 Show through the announce table, earning himself a suspension from the company.
Kurt Angle would beat the Big Show at next month’s Armageddon PPV to win the title, resulting in a feud with Lesnar culminating in a five-star match at Wrestlemania 19 for the championship.
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