When Randy Orton bounced gruesomely off an exposed turnbuckle, into Edge's waiting spear and was covered for three, it served as a powerful reminder of just how hard it is to hold onto the Intercontinental Championship in this age of WWE parity.
Edge said that one-by-one, Evolution would fall. Sunday at Vengeance, he picked off a rising star and with it the Intercontinental Championship. Edge's success has to be attributed to his ability to avoid and negate Orton's finishing RKO. Once, Edge fought out of the move. Then, he converted it into a backslide that earned a two-count. Orton was left working Edge's neck, something he did successfully all match long. But it was the Legend Killer's choice to remove a turnbuckle's padding - perhaps looking for a shortcut to victory - that ultimately proved to be his undoing.
Edge stole away with his new title, leaving Orton to lament his loss in the ring before an unsympathetic crowd in Hartford, Conn. The charged fans gave Orton a "Goodbye" serenade as he left in a manner that foreshadowed Evolution's woes in the World Heavyweight Championship match.