When Edge was forced to retire in 2011 it was a shot to the heart for all of his loyal Edgeheads. He had given so much to WWE during his incredible career. However there was a point a couple years before then when his WWE contract was expiring and he had other options.
On a recent episode of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness, the Rated R Superstar revealed he actually came kind of close to making a move over to TNA in 2008 or 2009.
“Interesting little tidbit here that I don’t even know how much [Christian] know[s], if [Christian] even know at all, to be honest. I don’t recall talking to [Christian] about it. I don’t know how word gets out on contracts being up and things like that, but there was one point where my contract was coming up and TNA reached out to me, and [Christian was] there, so they reached out to me, and they told me numbers, and schedule, and all of these things,” Edge said. “And for me, at that point, schedule was the thing that I was like, ‘well, that’d be a whole lot easier on the body’ because I was getting pretty beat up. It’s like [Christian] said, I started with WWE in ’97. At that point it was like 2008 or 2009. I can’t even remember. It’s a long time. Now, there [were] breaks because of injuries, but that was my body saying, ‘take a break dude,’ and I never did until something broke.”
Even though a lighter wrestling schedule and the promise of working with insanely talented people like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe was tempting, Edge eventually decided against it.
“The idea that [Christian was] there, and the opponents. If I went there, there’s [Samoa] Joe, there’s AJ [Styles], there’s a lot of fresh things to do, but for whatever reason, from day one WWE felt like my home. It felt like the place that I’d always wanted to get to. I did those two TV matches in WCW against Kevin Sullivan and Meng and within five minutes of walking into that locker room I was like, ‘I don’t want to be here – I could tell this is not the place for me.’ And the dream was still WWF and getting there.
“And then, finally seeing the inner workings and then working into a position where I was one of the main event guys and I was factored in, it just felt like they did put that faith in me, that they did pull the trigger with me for whatever reason they did and I felt like I can’t look that gift horse in the mouth. And sure, there was work involved, but ‘I got to stick it out here and I got to stay here. I just want my career to be here and nowhere else.’ But for [Christian], I do believe that was definitely the right thing to do.”
If Edge would have made the jump over to Dixie Carter Land in 2008 or 2009, nobody knows how it could have went to change the path of his career. The lighter schedule might have afforded him a longer career in the ring. The carefulness of WWE’s doctors wouldn’t have been a present force in his life and he might not have had to give that sad retirement speech on April 11th, 2011 at the Raw after WrestleMania 27 when retained his WWE Championship against Alberto Del Rio in the third match on the card.
But in the end, all things seemed to work out for Edge. He’s a father of two daughters with his wife, fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Beth Phoenix, he has a pretty fun acting career that keeps him busy, and he’s got a great podcast with his best buddy Christian. Although it might have been awesome to see Edge and Christian do a 5 Second Pose in TNA, it doesn’t look like Edge is regretting much of anything at this point in life.
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Quotes thanks to E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness with and WrestlingInc for the transcription
