Edge in Manila, February 2006. (all photos by Hub Pacheco)The Driver Seat
by Hub Pacheco
"The MRI showed that I have to retire," revealed Edge in the April 11 edition of RAW, less than a week after WrestleMania 27.
Edge's sudden retirement came off as a bigger shock to the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) than The Rock's run in with John Cena and The Miz at the WrestleMania 27 main event.
There were hints of Edge retiring soon but for him to announce it abruptly, especially after a tough title defense at WrestleMania, it's too much of a shock for me. I still haven't gotten over Shawn Michaels' retirement speech the RAW after WrestleMania 26. If you look at the speeches Edge made in both RAW and SmackDown!, you could really see the sincerity in his eyes. His smile, his thank-yous to various peeps - it was genuine. People in general dismiss pro wrestling as fake or staged, but seeing his demeanor in his last week on TV, you can't get any more real than that, man. That was from the heart.
Manila loves the The Rated-R Superstar.Respect, Edge said, is the most important thing he can take away from this tragedy. And I agree. On February 2006 when RAW held two shows here in Manila, Edge was then the WWE Champion. And honestly, I wasn't convinced of Edge as a world champion, the world champion at that. You see, he had just cashed in his Money-in-the-Bank briefcase and took the title from John Cena a month ago on New Year's Revolution. Hey, I'm no Cena fan, too, but I felt Edge hadn't proven himself yet. He wasn't main event material for me. I guess the same holds true for other midcarders suddenly pushed to the top.
Oddly enough, a few world championships later, Edge grew into it for me. From the Edge-Lita teamup to team Rated-RKO with Randy Orton to the Edge-Vickie Guerrero-La Familia-Edgeheads to his surprise return at the 2010 Royal Rumble, he solidified his character of The Rated-R Superstar and The Ultimate Opportunist.
Edge retained the WWE Championship vs Cena in Manila. Circa 2006. It was fortunate that Edge ended his career as a face, although his retirement speech would've been more interesting to formulate had he been a heel. But hey, there are a lot of WWE greats who had a bad sendoff when they retired (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart). How many wrestlers can say they had two retirement speeches and retired as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion? So it's still a blessing even if we will never see that Edge-Christian feud we all have been waiting for since Christian came back to the WWE in 2009. Much like Rey Mysterio when Eddie Guerrero suddenly passed away late 2005, Christian now has the unenviable but well deserved chance of carrying Edge's momentum as Captain Charisma is currently in line for a World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules this Sunday.
I can say the same about The Miz, too, but that's a another topic altogether. I won't delve deeper into Edge's main event status because I think other IWC bloggers can say it better than I can. Hey, Edge's career wasn't all roses and cherries. He had his fair share of controversy (Lita/Matt Hardy, steroids), but he (pun intended) speared his way though all that and achieved more than anyone else in recent memory. Check the T-shirt to see what I mean.
As briefly as he said it in his speech, thank you, thank you very much, Adam Copeland.
