New World Champion Crowned On Smackdown!

Edge suffered a torn pectoral muscle from taking a bad bump during the Mardi Gras angle on the Smackdown show that aired on Friday, July 13th. The injury will require surgery and will keep Edge out of action for four months, which prompted WWE officials to strip Edge of the World title.

WWE made the decision early Tuesday to have a battle royal on Smackdown that night for the vacated title and to have The Great Khali walk away with the belt. The WWE's own website acknowledged the title change right after it occurred, reporting that "The Great Khali now holds sports-entertainment's most elite prize, one that dwarfs even his 7-foot-3, 420-pound frame. During tonight's taping of SmackDown in the Laredo Entertainment Center, he won the title in true colossal fashion, by being the last man to stand inside the ring after an excruciatingly hard-fought 20-Man Battle Royal. The historic contest had been ordered by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, who earlier this evening had ordered an injured Edge to surrender the World Heavyweight Title."

Edge is expected to be out for four months, which is around the time The Undertaker should be returning. Both Undertaker and Edge were scheduled to have lengthy runs with the title before their respective injuries.

When speaking to WWE.com, Edge acknowledged his injury, as well as other nagging injuries that have plagued him for awhile, saying "I've broken my neck, dislocated my shoulder twice, torn my other pec, my elbows are mush, I have two protruding discs in my lower back. I even got bit by a brown recluse spider that turned into a flesh-eating disease ? the list goes on."