Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
As the old saying goes…”Sex Sells” and that certainly was a motto the WWF followed during the Attitude Era. This, however, didn’t happen during that period of time, but during the Ruthless Aggression Era in 2006. While WWE was a bit more toned down from the Attitude Era, there were still remnants of it lingering in the company. This segment, was just one of those remnants that had Edge and Lita simulate sex for all the WWE fans to witness live.
Before we delve into the actual segment on Monday Night Raw, we need a little background first. The night before Raw, was the New Year’s Revolution pay per view. Edge became the first person to ‘cash in’ his Money in the Bank briefcase after then WWE champion John Cena survived a brutal Elimination Chamber match. Edge pinned the worn down Cena, to win his very first WWE world title.
The following day, Vince McMahon gathered his creative team and posed the question…’What would be something Edge would do to celebrate his first world title win?’ As every member of the created team were putting on their thinking caps, it was writer Christopher DeJoseph who blurted out…’If it were me, I would have sex in the middle of the ring.’ Vince McMahon’s eyes lit up and the creative process began on moving forward with the idea.
As DeJoseph penned the outline for the segment which was entitled ‘Edge and Lita’s Live Sex Celebration,’ Vince seemed excited for all the possibilities that the segment could create. McMahon envisioned the Edge character as being this controversial figure daring to push envelope every time he was in the ring. He was, after all, becoming the Rated R Superstar. The Raw following New Year’s Revolution took place in Hersey, Pennsylvania on January 9, 2006. The promos leading up to the segment said that Edge promised to have sex with his girlfriend Lita live in the middle of the ring.
As the whole segment was being pitched to both Edge and Lita before the show…Lita balked at the idea. According to Amy Dumas (Lita) she told the writers and producers that she was very uncomfortable with the plan and didn’t want to do it. She said that she was told by a producer that this is what Mr. McMahon wants and if she did not go through with it…she would be fired from the company. Lita took her concerns to her real life boyfriend Adam (Edge) Copeland and John Cena. They both apparently went straight to management to try and kill the segment before it went live on TV. Both men’s requests were flatly denied and were not able to even tweak the concept.
Edge recalled hating the idea himself. He said, “I think when everything with Matt Hardy and Lita, I didn’t enjoy any of that, that was hard. It was a position that I put myself in and thought okay, I made my bed, I just got to deal with this. Then I thought okay, we’re here now, how can we pull a positive? Let’s make some money. That’s what we did, this is the situation, now let’s try and get something good out of this pretty lousy scenario.”
The couple decided to try and make the best out of a bad situation and went ahead with creative’s plans. WWE Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Ross said that while the idea was to get more eyes on the product, he felt WWE’s advertising of the Live Sex Celebration was in poor taste and should have at least called it something else for the sake of younger fans.
The Live Sex Celebration took place as planned and scheduled. Despite the couple’s best efforts to get the idea scrapped…they were in the middle of the ring with a bed…ready to do what was demanded of them. The couple embraced, kissed and slowly began disrobing one another down to their underwear. Edge then put Lita in the doggy position and snapped off her bra. While WWE fans stood in stunned or rather titillated silence, Edge and Lita climbed into the bed and went underneath the covers. Years later, Edge would say that the whole segment was nothing but a blur in his mind. He cites that perhaps their uncomfortableness led him to block the entire situation out of his brain.
During the course of the celebration, things did get a little bit crazy. There was a point where Edge moved the covers a little too much and the cameraman caught Lita topless for a split second. Apparently, that moment would later be edited out on the WWE Network and later Peacock streaming service. The segment would be interrupted by Ric Flair and led former champion John Cena to attack Edge.
Not too surprisingly, the end result for Edge and Lita’s Live Sex Celebration segment did very well ratings wise. It scored a 5.2 rating which was the first time a Raw segment reached a 5 rating in close to a year. It still was well behind the ‘This is Your Life’ segment involving The Rock and Mankind which drew an astounding 8.4 rating in 1999. Still, WWE management praised the success of it and led Edge to boast that he was the most watched WWE champion of all time.
As for Lita, she ultimately left the company after frustrations continued to mount between her and the company and the fans continual negative remarks towards her. She lost a retirement match to Mickie James and then later on…Cryme Tyme auctioned off articles of her clothing and sex toys saying it was a “Ho Sale.” Lita believed this was WWE’s way of burying her on her way out. The segment is still looked fondly by some, as Drake Maverick wanted to do a recreation of that segment with his wife during his 24/7 title run. Corey Graves and Carmella also pitched doing an updated take on it as well. Both were turned down by WWE management.