| Fatal 4-Way | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Promotional poster featuring Randy Orton |
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| Theme song(s) |
"ShowStopper" by TobyMac[1] | |||
| Information | ||||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Entertainment | |||
| Date | June 20, 2010 | |||
| Attendance | 10,000[2] | |||
| Venue | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | |||
| City | Uniondale, New York | |||
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||||
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Fatal 4-Way (also known as 4-Way Finale in France[3]) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on June 20, 2010 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.[4] The concept of the show was based around three championship matches in the card that were contested as Fatal Four-Way matches.
The event received 143,000 pay-per-view buys, down on The Bash's figure of 178,000 buys. A second Fatal 4-Way event was scheduled to take place in 2011 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., but was later replaced with a new event titled "Capitol Punishment".[5][6][7]
Contents |
Fatal 4-Way featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that played out on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that build tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.[8]
The main feud on Raw was a Fatal 4-Way match for the WWE Championship between defending champion John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge and Sheamus. After Cena retained his title against Batista in an "I Quit" match at Over the Limit, Sheamus attacked Cena. On the next edition of Raw, Bret Hart was announced as the new Raw General Manager. Before Batista could cut a promo, Bret Hart interrupted and said that if Batista wanted his rematch, then he would have to qualify. Batista claimed he couldn't wrestle because of an injury and refused to fight. Hart then let Orton qualify by forfeit, with Edge and Sheamus winning their respective qualifying matches to be part of the match. Edge and Orton had previously faced off at Over the Limit.
The main event for the SmackDown brand was a Fatal 4-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Jack Swagger, Big Show, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio. At Over the Limit, Big Show defeated Swagger by disqualification but did not win the title since it cannot change hands on a disqualification, and as a result qualified for the Fatal 4-Way match, with The Undertaker and CM Punk winning their respective qualifying matches against Rey Mysterio and Kane. Later Kane found his half-brother Undertaker in a vegetative state, unable to compete and taken out of the match. A SmackDown battle royal was put in place to determine Undertaker's replacement in the match, which was won by Rey Mysterio last eliminating Kane by reversing a chokeslam into a hurricanrana, meaning that he would face Punk in five pay-per-views in a row.The following 2 weeks saw the 4 wrestlers compete into showdowns. On the 6/11/10 editions of Smackdown! Rey Mysterio beat Jack Swagger with the 619 and Big Show beating CM Punk via disqualification after CM Punks disciples interfered although Kane came to clear the ring. The following week on the 6/18/10 Big Show and Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk and Jack Swagger in a tag team bout after Mysterio reversed Swagger's Gutwrench power into a backbreaker for the pin.
On the June 14 edition of Raw, a Fatal 4-Way match for the Divas Championship was announced. On the April 12 edition of Raw, Eve Torres beat Maryse for the Divas Championship. When Maryse attempted to seek revenge at Over the Limit, she did not succeed, and was defeated by Eve. On the May 17 edition of Raw, Gail Kim teamed up with Evan Bourne to defeat Alicia Fox and Zack Ryder. After this, Gail Kim and Alicia Fox started to feud for several weeks. On the June 14 edition of Raw, the current Divas Champion, Eve, teamed up with Gail Kim in a winning effort against Maryse and Alicia Fox.
Before the event began, Zack Ryder defeated Montel Vontavious Porter in a dark match.
The event began with Kofi Kingston defending the Intercontinental Championship against Drew McIntyre. SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long was also in attendance near the announce table. The contest was even between both competitors. Kingston hit his S.O.S. signature maneuver, but McIntyre kicked out. Kingston then went for a unique submission maneuver near the turnbuckle, but it was reversed by McIntyre, who threw Kingston's legs into the referee, knocking him out. Since the referee was unable to officiate the match, McIntyre forced Long to fill in for the referee. When McIntyre went for the pin, however, Long refused to count to three. As they argued Matt Hardy interfered and attacked McIntyre which gave Kingston time to recover and hit his finishing move, the Trouble in Paradise on McIntyre. He then pinned him for the win and retained the title.[9]
The Divas Championship was defended next by Eve against Alicia Fox, Maryse and Gail Kim in a Fatal 4-Way match. Near the end of the match, Eve hit Maryse with a body splash, but her pin attempt was broken by Fox, who threw Eve out of the ring. She then covered Maryse and won her first title in the WWE.[10]
Chris Jericho would come out next and taunt the crowd by saying that it was because of him that they were all at the event that night. He then referred to his disqualification loss against Evan Bourne the previous week on Raw calling him a has-been who tried to make a name for himself off of Jericho. The match began after Jericho called Bourne out to the ring. The match included a lot of high-flying offense from Bourne and many near falls. Jericho got the advantage when he hit Bourne with his finisher, the Code Breaker, but Bourne kicked out. The match ended when Bourne hit Air Bourne on Jericho's back and pinned him for the win.[11]
The first main event of the night featured the World Heavyweight Championship being defended by the champion Jack Swagger in a Fatal 4-Way match against Rey Mysterio, The Big Show and CM Punk. Big Show dominated the first half of the match, quickly knocking down all of his opponents. The advantage turned when the other three competitors concentrated their offense mainly on him taking him out for some time. The match was then contested evenly until Punk hit his finisher on Swagger, but before he could pin him, they were interrupted by Kane. Kane attempted to put Punk in a casket but Punk was able to espape with Kane in pursuit. Mysterio took advantage of the situation and hit Swagger with his finishing move, the 619, and covered him to win his first World Heavyweight Championship since 2006.[12]
The Miz defended his United States Championship against the former champion R-Truth. Miz made his entrance using his opponent's entrance music, barring a few tweaks he made in his favor. The match went at a quick pace throughout and came to an end when Miz reversed R-Truth for a pin attempt which was completed and he retained his title.[13]
The Unified tag team champions, The Hart Dynasty, competed against The Usos and Tamina next in a six-person tag team match. The match was won by the Hart Dynasty.[14]
The seventh and final match of the evening was for the WWE Championship defended by John Cena against Sheamus, Randy Orton and Edge in a fatal four-way match. The crowd gave every superstar a positive reaction regardless of their status of a hero or villain. None of the competitors stayed in the ring for long as when one would get an advantage over another opponent they would be interrupted by another one of the challengers. The match came to an abrupt end when it was interrupted by the rookies from the first season of WWE NXT who had previously formed a faction against the roster of the Raw brand. The rookies first attacked Cena in the ring. Edge then tried to help him but was then attacked next instead. In the midst of the commotion, Sheamus pinned Cena to win the championship, bringing the event to a premature conclusion.[15]
The event received generally mixed reviews. Bob Kapur from SLAM! Wrestling awarded the WWE Championship Match an 8 out of 10 and the World Heavyweight Championship Match a 7 out of 10. He also appreciated Chris Jericho and Evan Bourne for their performances in their match and touted the match as "Match Of The Night". Overall he awarded the event a score of 8 out of 10.[16]
In a mixed review, Rob McNichol from The Sun stated that the WWE Championship finish was simply a "Cheap title switch" and the NXT rookie invasion a "rehash of Raw". He also claimed the World Title match was tainted by Kane's attack on CM Punk. The shortened length of the event was harshly criticized by the reviewer, claiming the audience were "short changed as the event went off the air 25 minutes ahead of schedule". The event was awarded a score of 6 out of 10.[17]
| # | Matches | Stipulations | Times[18] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dark | Zack Ryder defeated Montel Vontavious Porter[19] | Singles match | Unknown |
| 1 | Kofi Kingston (c) defeated Drew McIntyre[9] | Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship | 16:29 |
| 2 | Alicia Fox defeated Eve Torres (c), Gail Kim and Maryse[10] | Fatal four-way match for the WWE Divas Championship | 05:42 |
| 3 | Evan Bourne defeated Chris Jericho[11] | Singles match | 12:04 |
| 4 | Rey Mysterio defeated Jack Swagger (c), CM Punk and The Big Show[12] | Fatal four-way match for the World Heavyweight Championship | 10:28 |
| 5 | The Miz (c) defeated R-Truth[13] | Singles match for the WWE United States Championship | 13:23 |
| 6 | The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith and Natalya) defeated The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) and Tamina[14] | Six-person mixed tag team match | 09:29 |
| 7 | Sheamus defeated John Cena (c), Randy Orton and Edge[15] | Fatal four-way match for the WWE Championship | 17:25 |
| (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match | |||
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