WWE News: Edge Recalls Dangerous Incident That Ironically Led To His Comeback
Despite how he had not wrestled a match in more than eight years and how he made his return at this year’s Royal Rumble at the comparatively advanced age of 46, Edge’s WWE comeback appears to have been a success so far. And with days remaining before his Last Man Standing match against Randy Orton airs as part of the WrestleMania 36 card, the “Rated-R Superstar” recalled how a “gnarly” accident had strangely set the wheels in motion for his return to the ring.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Edge looked back on the mountain bike crash that took place when he joined Sheamus for an episode of the Friday Night SmackDown star’s YouTube show, Celtic Warrior Workouts. During this episode, the 11-time former world champion was doing a stunt on his bike as part of what he called a “stupid competitive thing” with his WWE colleague and hit the ground hard.
“It’s a pretty gnarly wipeout. I was going probably 20, 25 mph, landed on these stones, rolled right up to my feet,” Edge recalled, as quoted by ESPN. But I’m fine. I was all cut up, but my neck was fine. Couple that with doing all of these fight scenes over the years on sets — some pretty physical stuff, especially with ‘Vikings’ — and I thought, ‘OK, I feel really good.'”
Following the bike crash, Edge visited his family doctor, who then referred him to a spine specialist in Asheville, North Carolina, where he currently resides. He pointed out that once he saw the specialist, he was advised to “keep doing what you’re doing,” which prompted the question of whether he could wrestle again. After a subsequent appointment with a pair of Birmingham, Alabama, doctors, it was determined that a wrestling comeback “could actually happen.”
"You dug yourself another hole, didn't you @RandyOrton? This time, I'm not gonna pull you back out. I am gonna push you so far in, you will NEVER get back out!" – @EdgeRatedR
Who will be the #LastManStanding at #WrestleMania?#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/XvnyR0b8D0
— WWE (@WWE) March 31, 2020
As further recalled, the next step for Edge was to shake off the ring rust that had accumulated since he retired on the night after WrestleMania 27 in 2011. But since he wanted to keep things quiet and avoid being seen at WWE’s Performance Center in Florida, the Hall of Famer had the company send him his own personal ring where he could get himself ready for his return. Edge also made sure to thank his wife, fellow WWE Hall of Fame inductee Beth Phoenix, as well as Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder (aka The Revival), for helping him train for his comeback.
“I was keeping up with them. I wasn’t tired, and I wasn’t sore, and I thought, ‘OK, this is going to happen, and this is going to happen at a level that I wanted.'”
As of this writing, Edge’s match with Orton has already been taped ahead of WrestleMania 36, which will be airing on the WWE Network on April 4 and 5. This will mark his first singles match since his January comeback, and as Bleacher Report previously noted, one that might include some spots that aren’t usually possible with a live crowd in attendance.
