Edge, Part 4

Nevertheless, or perhaps because of this, Edge was paired with Lita in an angle where she turned on her kayfabe husband Kane. On the July 11 edition of RAW, Edge's main event match with Kane was interrupted when Matt Hardy made a surprising appearance. The situation was suspected to be a worked shoot, with Hardy referring to Edge by his real name, "Adam", and issuing a threat to Lita as well. When Matt Hardy was officially brought back to RAW he and Edge faced continued their feud leading to a match at SummerSlam 2005, where Edge defeated Hardy in a hardcore match by "excessive blood loss".They then competed in a classic Street Fight. The match was resulted in a no-contest when Matt Hardy did a Side Effect on Edge off the entrance ramp and into sound speakers and other electrical equipment. They also fought in a Steel Cage match at WWE Unforgiven 2005, which Matt won after a leg drop on Edge from the top of the cage. Edge defeated Hardy in a "Loser Leaves RAW Money in The Bank Ladder Match". at WWE Homecoming, seemingly ending their feud once and for all.

Shortly after the Homecoming victory, Edge suffered a (legit) torn pectoral muscle that kept him shelved for several weeks. During his time off, he starred in his own talk show segment on RAW entitled The Cutting Edge and dubbed himself the "Rated-R Superstar". Edge used his talk show to start a feud with Ric Flair following Flair's well-publicized arrest in connection with a road rage incident. Edge began using "The Cutting Edge" as a soapbox to run down Flair until, after weeks of public mockery, Flair eventually showed up and attacked Edge. Edge and Flair formally met at New Year's Revolution 2006 in a match in which Edge was disqualified. Later that night, however, following the main event Elimination Chamber match Vince McMahon appeared on stage, declaring that John Cena would defend the WWE Championship he'd just retained "one more time." Cena was forced into a match against Edge, who decided to cash in his Money in the Bank contract. Edge defeated Cena in less than two minutes after two spears (the first one Cena used his last bit of energy to kick out) to become WWE Champion, and a Triple Crown Champion.

In an interview conducted after New Year's Revolution on WWE.com, Edge announced that he and Lita would have "hot, torrid sex" in the middle of the ring on RAW the next night to celebrate his victory. On RAW, a visibly aroused Edge seemingly held up to that promise by engaging in foreplay with Lita until they were interrupted by Ric Flair calling Edge a disgrace and "dead in the bed". However, Flair ended up on the receiving end of a con-chair-to on the announcers' table until John Cena came out to rescue Flair (and delivering an F-U to a half-naked Lita much to the surprise of Edge). The "Live Sex Celebration" segment earned RAW a 5.2 rating and Edge would later call himself the "most-watched WWE Champion in the last 5 years" due to the high ratings.

Three weeks (to the day) later, at the 2006 Royal Rumble, Edge lost the WWE Championship back to Cena. He then lost a return match on a special Thursday edition of RAW held on February 16, 2006. Edge blamed special guest referee Mick Foley for his loss, claiming biased officiating, and attacked him. At WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, Foley had gotten revenge on Edge, assaulting him with a Con-chair-to. They feuded until Early April's WrestleMania 22 where Edge defeated Foley in a Hardcore match, bringing Edge's WrestleMania record to 5-0, the second best undefeated streak at WrestleMania (second only to The Undertaker's 14-0).

Edge would challenge John Cena for his title again in a Triple Threat match including Triple H at Backlash 2006. Cena pinned Triple H to retain.

After Backlash, Edge appeared to be continuing his feud with Mick Foley as they entered a Triple Threat Hardcore Match; however, Foley immediately attacked friend Tommy Dreamer, with Edge's assistance. Edge and Foley then proclaimed that, because of their brutal match at WrestleMania, they are the true Hardcore Champions. The duo partnered against Tommy Dreamer and Terry Funk, leading up to One Night Stand 2006'. At the pay-per-view, Edge, Foley, and Lita defeated Dreamer, Funk, and Beulah McGillicutty in an "Extreme Rules" tag team match.