Brandon’s World: Thank You Edge
Crowd: “FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!”
Corey Graves: “Who’s it gonna be?”
Sound in the arena: “YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME!”
Michael Cole: “No, no way… OH MY!”
Booker T: “You got to be kidding me!”
Cole: THE RATED R SUPERSTAR… EDGE IS HERE!”
Crowd erupts in cheers as Edge makes his entrance.
Cole as Edge makes his way down the ramp: “It’s been nine long years! Edge, who retired in 2011, after triple-fusion neck surgery (Edge enters the ring)… Edge, with a Spear!”
I’ll never forget that moment on Jan. 26 2020 when my favorite wrestler of all time, the RATED R SUPERSTARRRRR, returned to WWE and competed in a match for the first time in nine years! When I heard the synonymous, “You Think You Know Me”, I popped out of my black office chair and fell on my knees as fast as a speeding bullet. I had seen the rumors over the last couple of months that Edge had been cleared for in-ring competition, but I didn’t believe them.
During an episode of Monday Night RAW on April 11, 2011, Edge announced he had to retire due to previous neck injuries. He stated that WWE’s doctor’s told him that if he were to ever compete again, he could become paralyzed.
I remember my 10-year-old self watching my childhood hero that night, bawling my eyes out. I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of Edge’s mouth.
“NOT HIM!” I kept saying. “NOT MY EDGIE!”
I started watching wrestling on May 8, 2007. It was a Friday night, which meant that Friday Night Smackdown was on the CW. I remember coming into the living room with my dad and my older brother as they were watching Batista battle the World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker in a Steel Cage Match for the strap. I was in awe of what I was seeing: Two titans battling for championship gold with a cage surrounding them. I thought it was the coolest thing ever!
The match ended in a draw, as both Batista and The Undertaker escaped the cage at the same time. When a match ends in a draw, the champion retains the championship, so the gold was rewarded to “The Deadman”. However, as soon as the referee handed a bloody and clearly beaten Undertaker his World Championship, Mark Henry ran down to the ring and beat the heck out of him, leaving him lifeless in the ring. The commentator’s explained that Henry was returning from an injury that Undertaker caused him, and that Henry, the near 400 pound man, was out for revenge.
Just as Henry was leaving the ring, Edge’s “You Think You Know Me” music could be heard. Edge ran down to the ring holding a black briefcase with a logo that said, “Rated R Superstar” on the front of the briefcase.
The commentator’s seemed mad at Edge, but I thought Edge looked like a superhero, the crazed look in his eyes caught my attention. The commentator’s explained that Edge was cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase on the Undertaker for a World Championship match. Once the bell rang, Edge covered the Undertaker, the commentator’s were begging him to kick out, which he did, but then, “The Deadman” tried to sit up, but he just fell back over. This prompted Edge to go sit in the left corner of the ring and plead Undertaker to get up. With help from the ropes, a lifeless Undertaker rose to his feet before Edge delivered a maneuver to the champion and covered him to win the title.
Edge celebrated like mad as the commentator’s were sick and disgusted. I thought it was the greatest thing I had ever seen, and I was hooked on wrestling, and there was no doubt that Edge was my favorite! Ironically, one of the commentator’s at ring side that night was Michael Cole, and the move Edge used to win the World Title was the Spear, so that shows how long those guys have been in the business.
For the next four years, whether Edge was a good guy or a bad guy, a champion or not, I was obsessed with Edge. Yes, I really liked WWE as a whole, but Edge was my childhood crush. I wanted to be him!
In 2008, I wrote him a letter and sent it to WWE’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. In the letter, I stated that I would like to be a part of his stable, La Familia, with Vicki Guerrero, his on-screen wife, and his henchman Chavo Guerrero, Bam Neely, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. I described that I was his biggest fan, and that I could help him defeat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 24 and help him retain the World Championship and end Undertaker’s 15–0 Wrestlemania streak. Sadly, I didn’t get a response back, and Edge lost the match to Taker, but hey, at least I tried!
In 2009, I went all out for Halloween! My mother bought me a blonde wig, and we bought Rated R Superstar pins, and we pinned them on a pair of black pants that we made as my “tights”, and I wore my Edge shirt. I felt like I was on top of the world!
So watching my favorite wrestler give his retirement speech only four years after watching him for the first time sunk my heart. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I also knew it wasn’t fair. By this time, I knew more about him. I knew he grew up in a single parent household. I knew he wasn’t always a top star. I knew he busted his butt for years before he got to WWE, and I knew he had to wait for eight years before he got into the main event picture in WWE. I knew he wasn’t always respected by WWE Management or the fans. I knew he had earned everything, and I knew he had injuries. Heck, I witnessed a lot of them!
In July of 2007 right after I started watching wrestling, he tore his pectoral muscle right off the bone. He was out for four months. In 2009, he tore his achilles tendon right off the bone and was gone for seven months. I knew about his neck history from googling his career before I started watching WWE. I knew he had missed 14 months of action in 2003 and 2004 after having neck surgery. I just didn’t know how serious it was.
Right after Edge retired, I still watched wrestling, but looking back at it now, it just wasn’t the same, and no, it’s not because it was no longer TV-14; it was PG when Edge retired. I just missed Edge.
I mean, yes, we got some good storylines in over those nine years he was away. The Nexus, the summer of CM Punk, Brock Lesnar coming back, John Cena vs A.J. Styles, The Shield, The Authority, The Wyatt Family, The Hardys coming back, “The Fiend”, and a whole heck of a lot of other things, but there was no big star I liked like Edge!
Probably the closest superstar that I liked after Edge retired was Daniel Bryan. The whole storyline from 2013–2014 of Bryan chasing The Authority and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was magical. Bryan was an underdog that everybody loved though. Edge’s story was different. Nobody appreciated Edge until it was too late.
When Edge would make sporadic appearances during his retirement, the crowd in the arena would chant his name to the rafters, and of course, I would be doing the same at home, but it wasn’t the same. Seeing Edge in a WWE ring just made me think about what if… and apparently it made him think about the same thing.
During the WWE 24 documentary on the WWE Network titled “The Second Mountain”, Edge detailed the process he went through to get cleared.
After he retired, in 2012, he went under the knife for a second neck surgery to repair his neck, but at that point, he never dreamed of competing again. It wasn’t until late 2018 when he and fellow superstar Sheamus were riding their dirt bikes through a mountain in North Carolina, where Edge, his wife, WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix, and their two children, Lyric and Ruby, reside. Edge recalls flipping over his bike head-over-heels and landing right on his neck. Edge recalls Sheamus running over to him, asking him how he felt, and Edge said he felt fine.
“Then, the wheels started turning, and I started thinking, ‘What If’” Edge states in the documentary.
So when Edge returned at the Royal Rumble earlier this year, I immediately felt like a kid again. I hadn’t been that happy since my Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII to capture the franchise’s first Super Bowl Title! I was just so happy to see him back in a WWE ring where he belongs because I know he has more left in the tank, and as he said the next night on RAW, “Retiring as the World Heavyweight Champion was cool and all, but I busted my ass to get in the best shape of my life at 46 years old, so I can end my career ON MY TERMS!”
During the Royal Rumble, Edge reunited with his former Rated RKO partner and veteran Randy Orton. The two worked together to eliminate most of the remaining competition until Edge turned on Orton and eliminated him from the match. After Edge was done giving his emotional return speech on RAW, Orton came out to the ring, and confronted my favorite superstar of all time. After teasing a Rated RKO reunion, Orton stuck Edge with an RKO, and then hit Edge with his famous conchairto maneuver. Edge sold the heck out of the segment, making me and the audience believe he was legitimately hurt again.
That segment set up Edge’s return match: A Last Man Standing Match vs Orton at Wrestlemania 36. The build to the match was arguably the best build to any match on the Wrestlemania card, and even though the match had to take place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida without fans instead of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa because of the coronavirus pandemic, the two legends put on a near 37 minute masterpiece. The storytelling was terrific, and the use of smack talk instead of the crowd being heard honestly added to the match in my estimation. Edge ended up winning the match after delivering a conchairto to “The Viper” on top of a truck.
About a month later, Orton challenged Edge to a traditional one-on-one match at BackLash, the former claiming that he is a better pure wrestler than the latter, and that Edge couldn’t beat him one-on-one. Edge accepted, but not without apprehension, as this story was all about how Edge would fare in a one-on-one normal match for the first time in nearly a decade.
At BackLash, the two main-evented the show and had the match of the year in my opinion. No, it wasn’t the “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” like WWE advertised it to be, but it was a 45 minute masterclass on how to put on a great wrestling match. Once again, the storytelling was terrific with the blood, the use of other great wrestlers’ finishers, the kickouts, the mat wrestling. Everything was perfect… That is until the ending.
I’m not upset the way the bout finished (Orton punting Edge in the skull). I thought both men put on a heck of a performance, especially under these conditions, and they told an excellent story with room to continue their feud, but it was revealed on social media after the match that Edge had legitimately tore his tricep off the bone during the match, and that he would be out 4–8 months.
When I read the news after the show, it inspired me to write this column because it made me realize how much Edge has truly meant to me and my life. Yes, Edge has always been my favorite wrestler of all time bar-none, but for some reason, the announcement that he would be out with an injury once again just hit differently.
Maybe it’s because I just watched him have a fantastic 45 minute match during a pandemic. Maybe it’s because I just started seeing him on my TV regularly again for the first time in nine years, and I was upset he would be leaving my screen again until at least November. Maybe it’s because I know how hard he worked to get back, and I know he has so much more left in the tank, and I want to see him wrestle the likes of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, and continue his rivalries with the likes of Randy Orton and John Cena, and now that has to be on hold. Maybe it’s because he finally brought back my love for wrestling. Maybe it’s a combination of everything above.
Whatever the reason may be, I can’t wait till “The Rated R Superstar” and “The Ultimate Opportunist” steps foot back inside the squared circle, and until he does, WWE, just like it was when he was retired, just won’t be the same.
Brandon Lewis is a columnist, radio show host and podcaster. Check out his podcast, Brandon’s World, here, and follow him on Twitter @real_bworld. Columns will be out every Friday!
