Another Question about psychology

[Guest Kid Kablam]

I noticed, before the ladders came out and the match turned into a sweet free spot fest, that Edge at one point went for Eddy's shoulder. Eddie sold the shoulder while the hold was being put on, but once he was out of the hold they didn't really go back to it, it became a no factor. My question here: Was this a part of the match, or an aborted attempt at strategy? And if it was aborted, who's at fault, Eddy for not selling (I find that extremely hard to type and I'll probably get flamed) or Edge for not following up? I know this is probably a very basic part of ring psychology, but I'm just not sure, and after Edge got barbequed for not selling the shoulder at SUmmer SLam, I had a few questions.

[Guest Goodear]

Well, there is a school of thought that once you go to a body part, it should be the focus of the match from then on, with the agressor going after it at every opportunity and the defender selling it for the rest of the match. But, in my opinion, you can get around that model if the bodypart work isn't prolonged or devastating. For instance, if Benoit is going to work over someone's shoulder for 5-7 minutes, they better be selling that the whole match long. But if Edge puts Eddie in an armbar for a minute, the most selling that really warrants is Eddie shaking the arm to lossen it up after escaping. Storyline wise, these short periods can be worked in as an attempt to injure a body part, but the stategy didn't work so the workers moved on to something else.

[Guest Brian]

The idea early on was that Edge was working the arm because Eddie used that powerbomb, roll-up from the second rope at Unforgiven to counter the fact that Eddie was working the neck, but once Edge assumes the role of face-in-peril, he's almost useless to do anything other than that. Anyways, the basic idea is that once Edge gets so far back in the match, that he has to succumb to any strategy and just look for openings. But Edge only worked the arm a little and that arm-bar basically served as a transition in the match.