Edge.
Edge became a very interesting up and coming character in WWE around his return and heel turn in 2004-2005. He could both be psychotic and cunning. He was a pretty good choice for the first ever MITB match winner. Nowadays that doesn't look so special anymore, but I remember watching NYR 2005 live on a crappy stream at like 3AM or so and Edge suddenly cashing in and beating Cena for the title. It was pretty cool, and since me and many others had enough of Cena by then, Edge became my hero. And of course, some months late,r he helped RVD beat Cena for the title at ONS 2006. "THANK YOU EDGE!" remember that one? Edge was a GREAT nemesis to Cena. JBL and CM Punk were pretty good rivals of Cena too, but Edge is up there as well.
Edge's rise was a bit strange. It seems like Lita cheating on Matt Hardy helped Edge immensely. Usually when someone backstabs a friend of theirs like that by sleeping with their gf, they get their ass kicked or something. They don't get "rewarded" with a push nor do they get more over with the crowds. Lita caught the most flack for it, clearly. But regardless, they made a hell of a team together. Had great chemistry together and Lita wasn't just an eye candy valet to him.
Edge could be pretty entertaining. He also had a funny side to him. I can say that, once Triple H turned face, Edge was the top heel of the company. Rated RKO was also an interesting concept, and Edge was clearly the leader of the tag team. Edge has always sounded comfortable in the mic.
As for ring work, well, not gonna hold it much against him since all those TLC matches and such broke his body. I remember reading back in 2007 already that Edge wasn't thinking of staying much longer in the industry. And in fact he retired 4 years later in 2011. Edge's best matches, or at least the most memorable ones, were usually gimmick matches. Usually involving ladders and tables. We all know about his TLC match teaming up with Christian against the Hardyz and the Dudleys at WM 17. Edge also stole the show at WM 22 against Mick Foley in a hardcore match.
The problem with Edge, is that by the time he climbed up to the main event, he was already a bit banged up. So he became rather injury prone. He's a 10 time World champion, but around half of his reigns were cut short due to either injuries or because he was a transitional champion... like the first time he won the title. 3 weeks or so? And yet his reign was memorable and gave Raw very big ratings with his "live sex celebration". So yeah, again not exactly something against him, but for a guy who 's a former 10 time world champion, he doesn't feel like it. He entered the title picture at a time where the brand split was in effect already and when WWE had tow title reigns, so that inflated his title reigns a bit. Usually when you think of guys with 10 or more world title reigns you think of someone like Ric Flair or something. As cool as Edge was he wasn't that big of a star.
As someone who only began watching WWE in 2004, I've only watched Edge's 1999-2002 work through youtube and such. I can see why to some people who were already watching at the time Edge and the other guys from the AE who won the big one in 2004-2009 never felt much like main eventers to them. But it's nice that Edge had time to grow and develop. He wasn't just forced into the main event overnight like that. No one felt Edge's rise to the main event was forced. And for a guy who grew up watching the "Rithless Aggression era", Edge was definitely one of the most memorable wrestlers of that period.
I do wonder if he wouldn't have won the title earlier if he had not gotten a bad neck injury in late 2002 or so, though. Perhaps he'd have even won his first WWE championship as a face with his 2001-2002 character. Imagine that. How different history would be?
So yeah, I like Edge. Most of the stuff he was involved in was entertaining to some degree. I was a big fan of him at the time, especially in 2006-2007. I'd go as far as put him in my top 10 favourite wrestlers of all time list. Always preferred him to Christian, even though I feel like Christian was a bit more popular with internet wrestling fans.
So yeah, thoughts?
Edge became a very interesting up and coming character in WWE around his return and heel turn in 2004-2005. He could both be psychotic and cunning. He was a pretty good choice for the first ever MITB match winner. Nowadays that doesn't look so special anymore, but I remember watching NYR 2005 live on a crappy stream at like 3AM or so and Edge suddenly cashing in and beating Cena for the title. It was pretty cool, and since me and many others had enough of Cena by then, Edge became my hero. And of course, some months late,r he helped RVD beat Cena for the title at ONS 2006. "THANK YOU EDGE!" remember that one? Edge was a GREAT nemesis to Cena. JBL and CM Punk were pretty good rivals of Cena too, but Edge is up there as well.
Edge's rise was a bit strange. It seems like Lita cheating on Matt Hardy helped Edge immensely. Usually when someone backstabs a friend of theirs like that by sleeping with their gf, they get their ass kicked or something. They don't get "rewarded" with a push nor do they get more over with the crowds. Lita caught the most flack for it, clearly. But regardless, they made a hell of a team together. Had great chemistry together and Lita wasn't just an eye candy valet to him.
Edge could be pretty entertaining. He also had a funny side to him. I can say that, once Triple H turned face, Edge was the top heel of the company. Rated RKO was also an interesting concept, and Edge was clearly the leader of the tag team. Edge has always sounded comfortable in the mic.
As for ring work, well, not gonna hold it much against him since all those TLC matches and such broke his body. I remember reading back in 2007 already that Edge wasn't thinking of staying much longer in the industry. And in fact he retired 4 years later in 2011. Edge's best matches, or at least the most memorable ones, were usually gimmick matches. Usually involving ladders and tables. We all know about his TLC match teaming up with Christian against the Hardyz and the Dudleys at WM 17. Edge also stole the show at WM 22 against Mick Foley in a hardcore match.
The problem with Edge, is that by the time he climbed up to the main event, he was already a bit banged up. So he became rather injury prone. He's a 10 time World champion, but around half of his reigns were cut short due to either injuries or because he was a transitional champion... like the first time he won the title. 3 weeks or so? And yet his reign was memorable and gave Raw very big ratings with his "live sex celebration". So yeah, again not exactly something against him, but for a guy who 's a former 10 time world champion, he doesn't feel like it. He entered the title picture at a time where the brand split was in effect already and when WWE had tow title reigns, so that inflated his title reigns a bit. Usually when you think of guys with 10 or more world title reigns you think of someone like Ric Flair or something. As cool as Edge was he wasn't that big of a star.
As someone who only began watching WWE in 2004, I've only watched Edge's 1999-2002 work through youtube and such. I can see why to some people who were already watching at the time Edge and the other guys from the AE who won the big one in 2004-2009 never felt much like main eventers to them. But it's nice that Edge had time to grow and develop. He wasn't just forced into the main event overnight like that. No one felt Edge's rise to the main event was forced. And for a guy who grew up watching the "Rithless Aggression era", Edge was definitely one of the most memorable wrestlers of that period.
I do wonder if he wouldn't have won the title earlier if he had not gotten a bad neck injury in late 2002 or so, though. Perhaps he'd have even won his first WWE championship as a face with his 2001-2002 character. Imagine that. How different history would be?
So yeah, I like Edge. Most of the stuff he was involved in was entertaining to some degree. I was a big fan of him at the time, especially in 2006-2007. I'd go as far as put him in my top 10 favourite wrestlers of all time list. Always preferred him to Christian, even though I feel like Christian was a bit more popular with internet wrestling fans.
So yeah, thoughts?
