WWE Fatal 4-Way

Fatal 4-Way
Promotional poster featuring Randy Orton
Promotion	World Wrestling Entertainment
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown
Date	June 20, 2010
City	Uniondale, New York
Venue	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Attendance	10,000[1]
Theme song(s)	"Showstopper" by TobyMac[2]
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Over the Limit (2010) Next → Money in the Bank (2010)

Fatal 4-Way was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on June 20, 2010, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.^[3] The show was based on certain matches on 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. This was the final WWE pay-per-view event to be held in Nassau Coliseum after the coliseum will have a renovation. This was the only Fatal 4-Way event produced by WWE.

Storylines[edit]

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.^[4]

The main feud for the Raw brand was a fatal four-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 May 24 episode of Raw, Bret Hart was announced as the new Raw General Manager. Before Batista could cut a promo, Hart interrupted and said that if Batista wanted his rematch, then he would have to qualify. Batista refused to wrestle, citing an injury and Hart then let Orton qualify by forfeit, before quitting the WWE. Edge and Sheamus won their respective qualifying matches to gain entry into the match alongside Orton. The following two weeks saw the four wrestlers compete against each other in singles and tag team bouts.

The main event for the SmackDown brand was a fatal four-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 championship since it cannot change hands on a disqualification, and as a result qualified for the fatal four-way match. The Undertaker and CM Punk won their respective qualifying matches against Rey Mysterio and Kane. Later Kane found his half-brother Undertaker in a storyline vegetative state, unable to compete and The Undertaker was removed from the match. A battle royal was put in place to determine The Undertaker's replacement in the match, which was won by Rey Mysterio who last eliminated Kane.

On the April 12 episode of Raw, Eve Torres beat Maryse for the Divas Championship. When Maryse attempted to seek revenge at Over the Limit, she was defeated by Eve. On the May 17 episode of Raw, Gail Kim teamed up with Evan Bourne to defeat Alicia Fox and Zack Ryder. After this, Kim and Fox started to feud for several weeks. On the June 14 episode of Raw, the current Divas Champion, Eve, teamed up with Kim in a winning effort against Maryse and Fox and a fatal four-way match was announced between the four.

Event[edit]

Preliminary matches[edit]

Kofi Kingston retained the Intercontinental Championship.

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 executed an S.O.S. on McIntyre for a near-fall. Kingston then applied a submission near the turnbuckle, but it was countered 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 attempted the pin, however, Long refused to count to three. As they argued, Matt Hardy interfered and attacked McIntyre, which allowed Kingston to perform Trouble in Paradise on McIntyre. Kingston then pinned McIntyre for the win and retained the title.^[5]

The WWE Divas Championship was defended next by Eve against Alicia Fox, Maryse, and Gail Kim in a fatal four-way match. Eve performed a moonsault on Maryse, but her pin attempt was broken up by Fox, who threw Eve out of the ring. She then covered Maryse and won her first title in the WWE.^[6]

Chris Jericho cut a promo, challenging Evan Bourne to an impromptu match. Jericho executed a Codebreaker on Bourne for a near-fall. The match ended when Bourne executed an Air Bourne on Jericho's back and pinned him for the win.^[7]

Main event matches[edit]

Mysterio won the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time.

In the first main event match, Jack Swagger, Rey Mysterio, Big Show, and CM Punk competed in a fatal four-way match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Big Show dominated the first half of the match, quickly knocking down his opponents. The advantage turned when the other three concentrated their offense mainly on him taking him out for some time. The match was then contested evenly until Punk delivered a GTS to Swagger, but before he could pin him, Kane interrupted them, attampting to put Punk in a casket but Punk escaped with Kane in pursuit. Mysterio took advantage of the situation and delivered the 619 to Swagger and covered him to win the World Heavyweight Title.^[8]

In the next match, The Miz faced R-Truth United States Championship. The match went at a quick pace throughout and ended when Miz reversed R-Truth for a pin attempt to retain the title.^[9]

In the next match, Unified WWE Tag Team Champions The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith and Natalya), faced The Usos and Tamina Snuka. The Hart Dynasty won after Natalya pinned Tamina after a Nattie-By-Nature.^[10]

In the main event, John Cena faced Sheamus, Randy Orton, and Edge in a fatal four-way match for the WWE Championship. 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 the rookies from the first season of NXT who had previously formed a faction against the roster of the Raw brand, interrupted. The rookies first attacked Cena in the ring. Edge then tried to help him but was Nexus's next victim instead. In the midst of the commotion, Sheamus pinned Cena to win the title, bringing the event to a premature conclusion.^[11]

Reception[edit]

Approximately 10,000 people attended Fatal 4-Way live at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.^[1]

The event received generally mixed reviews. Bob Kapur from Canadian Online Explorer's wrestling section awarded the WWE Championship match an eight out of ten and the World Heavyweight Championship match a seven out of ten. He also appreciated Chris Jericho and Evan Bourne for their performances in their match and rated the match as eight out of ten. Overall, he awarded the event a score of eight out of ten.^[12] In a mixed review, Rob McNichol from The Sun awarded the event six out of ten. He stated that the finish of the WWE Championship match was simply a "cheap title switch" and the NXT rookie invasion was just a "rehash" of the original. The shortened length of the event was harshly criticized by the reviewer, who stated the event concluding 25 minutes earlier than scheduled was "short-changing [...] a paying audience".^[13]

Results[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official WWE Fatal 4-Way website