Edge...

[Adam Rush]

Okay so I was thinking the other day...Edge had to retire about a year ago. He was 38 years old at the time and a 11-time World Champion (correct me if I'm wrong). Now, assuming Edge wouldn't have had to retire, would Edge have won any more world titles? Would he have surpassed Ric Flair's 16 world titles?

I need your opinions.

 

[WCW/WWF Halo 4]

I think he had another 5 or so years left in him, prior to his injury, couldn't have surpassed Flair, but still would've won a few titles.

He's a great technical wrestler.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

I think he had another 5 or so years left in him, couldn't have surpassed Flair, but still would've won a few titles.

He's a great technical wrestler.

Not a great fan of the Hall of Fame ceremony I take it or interviews leading up to it? What about Edge as a wrestler, fan of his? Cause for the past year every interview he did he said he intended to retire at Wrestlemania 28 and that WWE knew he wanted to finish his career against Christian. So no he didn't have five years left in him. He'd one.

Would Edge have won five World Heavyweight Championships in a year? No, he wouldn't have. And besides that, chances of WWE actually letting someone surpass Ric Flair's record are slim at best, and if they ever allow it It'll be to someone special like John Cena, and I can't even see him making the record.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Edge is my favorite superstar of all time. Thats one reason I posted this thread. But say Edge never went to the doc, I bet he would have had a good 3 years left.

No, he wouldn't have. He was in tremendous pain, if you were a fan of his you'd know this from watching his DVD or picking up Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine or simply scouring the Internet for interviews. I am not even that big of an Edge fan, to the point where I'd forgot he existed until the Hall of Fame induction was announced and even I know this.

Just to further prove my point and end this thread dead in the water, I Googled the term, "Edge Retirement WM 28" and allow me to show you the first of over one million results that came up.

http://www.tpww.net/2012/03/edge-says-he-likely-would-have-retired-this-year/

He states it there. His body wasn't able to cope and he was going to finish this year. And on his DVD, he said he didn't mind retiring because he only had a year left in him anyway and that he wished he could have gone out on his own terms.

 

[Trill Co$by]

Not a great fan of the Hall of Fame ceremony I take it or interviews leading up to it? What about Edge as a wrestler, fan of his? Cause for the past year every interview he did he said he intended to retire at Wrestlemania 28 and that WWE knew he wanted to finish his career against Christian. So no he didn't have five years left in him. He'd one.

Kane thought the same thing a while back and wanted just one last run against Taker, but that ended up becoming much longer than expected. I believe that if Edge were medically cleared to do so, then he would've been around for a lot longer than just one more year. Face it, Edge had a lot to give back to the WWE and still does. He could become a General Manager or be involved in WWE in other ways, should he choose to.

To be honest, I think that if Edge were medically cleared and his body would let him, Edge would've loved to stick around for another 3 years or more. Whether or not he would've surpassed the 16 mark, I don't know... but I could see it happening.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Kane thought the same thing a while back and wanted just one last run against Taker, but that ended up becoming much longer than expected. I believe that if Edge were medically cleared to do so, then he would've been around for a lot longer than just one more year. Face it, Edge had a lot to give back to the WWE and still does. He could become a General Manager or be involved in WWE in other ways, should he choose to.

To be honest, I think that if Edge were medically cleared and his body would let him, Edge would've loved to stick around for another 3 years or more. Whether or not he would've surpassed the 16 mark, I don't know... but I could see it happening.

Yeah, if Edge were medically cleared, is an entire different story, because then you're venturing back to the original neck injury, and hypothetical booking with, "What would have happened if Edge had never broken his neck?" And then we have to go into the entire Lita/Matt thing and it drags up an entire different topic altogether and there is no point to it.

If he was medically cleared, of course he'd still be wrestling. If Stone Cold Steve Austin was medically cleared he wouldn't have quit in 2003, if Triple H was medically cleared he wouldn't have missed Wrestlemania 23, if Kurt Angle was medically cleared he wouldn't have had to take several months off after Wrestlemania 19 to get surgery on his neck. But those are all, "If's", I'm dealing in reality.

Reality is, Edge couldn't continue wrestling because his neck was in too poor of shape, WWE employ doctors to check talent and if WWE had allowed Edge to continue wrestling considering the man himself has admitted that before he retired he was in tremendous pain and he knew it was coming to an end in a year, they'd have been poor employers and it would have looked bad.

But they didn't, cause their not idiots. Edge did retire, for the benefit of his own health, had he stayed on, he'd have only gone another year anyway so to answer the question in the opening post once again, no, Edge wouldn't have surpassed Ric Flair's record, end of story.

 

[enviousdominous]

Edge left the audience wanting more. I know that the audience would have accepted him surpassing Flair's number of title wins, that includes me as well.

If they weren't willing to let Punk and Edge put on a huge main event, they likely would have transitioned the belt to Edge through a heel and the crowd would have been just as happy. I could see Edge and Cena starting their fued up again selling tickets, as much as I hate to credit Cena with anything.

 

[PlayTheGame]

Although Edge's career came to an abrupt end, at least he went out on top and didn't hold on for too long like so many people do in the business. Speaking of Ric Flair, his name comes to mind. Edge wouldn't have broken his record if he had another year, maybe not even if he had two or three years. If Edge had stayed, he probably would have wound down being in the championship hunt, just as Cena, Triple H, Undertaker, and others have. He'd probably be in more high-profile feuds that don't need titles to make them important, feuds that often involve the names I just listed. Edge wanted to continue wrestling, but as he's said numerous times, his body and the doctors just wouldn't allow it, and he did it for his own long-term health, a hard but wise decision that probably still haunts him to this day to some extent. I'm sure a day doesn't go by without Edge still missing it. Judging by his very emotional reaction at the HoF, I think that says it all. It'd be nice to see him in some capacity (GM, manager, etc.), but certainly not necessary, because he doesn't "owe" anything. He spent 38 years of his life dreaming/training/performing as a wrestler and went out on top.

With that said, as I mentioned in another thread, if his neck ever improved a bit, I'd love to see him in one more Wrestlemania match somewhere down the line (if Stone Cold's neck is rumored to be improving with "one more match" rumors swirling around him, then maybe the same will go for Edge in the future). However, I'd be perfectly fine with it if he weren't up to it physically. He's done enough.

 

[Starchild]

With that said, as I mentioned in another thread, if his neck ever improved a bit, I'd love to see him in one more Wrestlemania match somewhere down the line (if Stone Cold's neck is rumored to be improving with "one more match" rumors swirling around him, then maybe the same will go for Edge in the future). However, I'd be perfectly fine with it if he weren't up to it physically. He's done enough.

I'm with you on this one 100%. Edge is one of my all time favorites and the very first guy who I can say I saw his entire career from television debut to retirement and HoF induction. There's plenty I've caught most of their careers or guys that are still active like Trips, Taker, Cena, Orton, etc. but none at such a high level that have retired yet save Edge. Coming from the Brood to one of the greatest tag teams of all time, to providing highlight after highlight at Wrestlemania,to 11 time champion Edge has been a guy that I've behind since the beginning.

I was very upset when he had to retire, especially before we got a proper Edge vs Christian world title feud. Of course I don't blame him it all, he did the right thing and had nothing else to prove. Still though I have it kind of as a dream that Edge will be able to come back for one last match, probably at a Wrestlemania like we see guys like Rock, Taker, and Lesnar doing now. Different circumstances but you get the picture. At any rate, who knows with advancements in technology and medicine, Edge may yet be able to make a return a few years down the line. We need only think back to Shawn Michaels for someone forced into retirement through injury that was later able to return. Much younger and different injury of course, but it doesn't hurt to hope.

Personally, I'd love to see him come back against either Christian or even Cena as they are near the top, if the not the main rivals of each other.

 

[Wrestlefan73]

Edge only retired because he was tired of being asked the same question over and over and over...."How can a guy nicknamed The Rated R Superstar be on a rated PG show?"

Seriously, I believe he would have had the most World title runs because he was pretty much a home grown WWF/E superstar. Minus one match for WCW Pro, he was in the indies until Bret Hart put in a good word to Vince and got him hired on. Before anybody says so was (insert name), Edge came in as a tag team wrestler, won tag titles, and climbed the ladder of success, and I can't think of too many guys that have done that.....not Foley, Hart, HHH, HBK, Jericho, Punk, and even Rock. I say Rock because Rock's was pushed beyond belief and won the IC title 3 months into his WWF/E career.

 

[LeviCook]

Edge previously stated he would have retired at this Wrestlemania or next Wrestlemania anyway. [Can't remember which] So with that being said i don't believe he would have passed Ric Flair. He already had enough world title reigns under his belt. If he hadn't have got injured we would have seen one more maybe two more tops. I believe in his last year he would have helped put over talent as well as just have feuds. Not feuds for the title just feuds. He was at the point in his career where he didn't need to hold a title. People were invested in Edge enough. I think most people would have much rather seen Edge vs Christian in a Wrestlemania match than him chasing the title for no reason.

 

[DeathClutch]

Edge stated he was retiring this year regardless, so anyone saying if he was medically cleared he'd of done 2-3 or 5 years more is surpluss.

But on the flip side we don't actually know how bad Edge truly is for all we know he and WWE could have decided last year to-do that actual retirement deal because his contract was up and he was walking away; we wouldn't know, he had been putting on some hot matches as of late so going down the he's injured route was DIFFERENT, Edgy, Shocking & Surprising it pulled on the heart strings of the wrestlings faithful few.

(Though I believe he was injured, I'm just surprised that he was medically cleared for WrestleMania then he was pulled within the week and retired. If he or WWE had any kind of inkling something was wrong I wouldn't have thought they'd have risked him further injury but that's just my opinion.)

 

[Defekt]

I don't think there's any doubt Edge would have won more world titles. Besides Randy Orton, nobody else on Smackdown can match Edge's star power.

As for Flair's record, I doubt he would have broken it. The WWE seems invested in Flair. He may currently be with TNA, but they own the video archive comprising a great chunk of his career.

 

[kapone21]

No! In all reality there are only two people that could achieve that. John Cena and Kurt Angle. Edge had a year left, his words, and you are not getting the strap that many times in a year!

 

[Silly Willy Nilly Vanilly in the Milly]

I think Edge was pretty much done. Even if he had a few years of energy left in him pre-injury, that last WHC reign would have been his last. He probably would have ended up pushing younger talent, dropped to mid-card, or heck, E&C may have had one more tag title run. Point is, we will never know. These are just my opinions, don't criticize me.

 

[Mark Gallows]

Edge, possibly the most undeserving "hall of fame"-r ever. Who cares how long he had left? I'm glad he's gone. The guy was boring, he was "alright" in the ring at best, I just never believed him. I thought him trying to be a "psyco heel" was cringeworthy at best, pathetic at worst. He's a mid-carder who got lucky to get where he got, now he's gone I don't miss him. Think about it, is WWE any worse off without him? No. He was never a draw, just the mid-card guy who stuck around long enough.

 

[TLK]

Probably would've had the belt one last time and dropped it to Christian at Mania 28 (which, ironically, Christian didn't compete in due to injury) if all the stars aligned. As others have pointed out, he only had one year left in him. He could have come back for one-off matches here and there if his body allowed him to, but I think as a full-time wrestler, he was going to hang it up after Mania 28. If he were to return as a part-time wrestler down the road, I don't think he'd be winning any more titles, and surely not enough to break Flair's record. Not sure he'd want to, anyway. I think most wrestlers have a lot of respect for that record. That, and Taker's Mania record or probably two of the most widely-acknowledged pro wrestling accomplishments.

On another note entirely, I had no idea Edge was 38 when he retired. Time sure flies.

edit - sigh... being involved in numerous Mania main events, putting on multiple matches considered to be up for MOTY, winning every championship conceivable, risking his body night after night in some of the most famous (and grueling) matches in WWE history (TLCs), being a top heel for years, being great in the ring and also on the mic, being adored by fans, selling merch, drawing fans to watch your "live sex celebration" in one of the highest rated segments in the last near-decade are apparently not prerequisites to make it into the HoF.

 

[#Zombienatureboy]

Edge was definitely one of the greats. Would he have won more titles? Sure. But that really doesn't mean much when they play hot potato with the belts. In 2 or 3 years someone like Ziggler or Miz will be 5 time world champions. Hell, Trips has been in WWE for 17 years and is a 13 time world champion that's really close to almost averaging 1 heavyweight championship win a year throughout your entire career. Trips....wow...

But yes, Edge deserves whatever he received and he would have received more titles for sure.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

I imagine that they will try to get Cena past the 16 as fast as they can considering Flair went to TNA. It wouldn't look good for WWE if their record world title holder was with a rival company.

Yeah, I guess they should have made Cena a 16 time World Champion as fast as they could, considering you know, Flair has been gone now for four years and when he left Cena was a seven time World Champion. Then I guess they may want to make Cena a 16 time World Champion considering you know, Ric Flair is with a rival company in TNA, has been there for three and a half years now and only just got inducted on Saturday night into the WWE Hall of Fame... for the second time! And appeared at Wrestlemania, while under TNA contract, because WWE were willing to go to the expense of negotiating with TNA to bring him in. Your statement makes a lot of sense.

I'm teaching people things in this thread, learning is fun.

 

[mrpops]

Edge is great and everything but i dont think he wouldve surpassed ric flairs record. Even if he was 100% and still wrestling for another 5 years i still dont think he would even tie it.

 

[Adam Rush]

Edge, possibly the most undeserving "hall of fame"-r ever. Who cares how long he had left? I'm glad he's gone. The guy was boring, he was "alright" in the ring at best, I just never believed him. I thought him trying to be a "psyco heel" was cringeworthy at best, pathetic at worst. He's a mid-carder who got lucky to get where he got, now he's gone I don't miss him. Think about it, is WWE any worse off without him? No. He was never a draw, just the mid-card guy who stuck around long enough.

Okay, dude, no. Edge is one of the greatest superstars ever. Do you realize how much he's done for the WWE? He was in one of the greatest tag teams ever, he won 31 titles in the WWE, he was an 11-time world champ...Without Edge, the tag team division would have been far less relevant. Without Edge, SUPER CENA would have won at least 3 more world titles.

Learn to appreciate the Rated R Superstar. Anyway, thanks for all your responses, and now I'll tell you mine. Edge would have won about 4 more world titles. That would bring him to 15 world titles. Edge would have gone 2 more years as well. In the last few months of his career, he would have become unhappy with being fed to younger superstars, which leads to his eventual retirement at Wrestlemania 29.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Learn to appreciate the Rated R Superstar. Anyway, thanks for all your responses, and now I'll tell you mine. Edge would have won about 4 more world titles. That would bring him to 15 world titles. Edge would have gone 2 more years as well. In the last few months of his career, he would have become unhappy with being fed to younger superstars, which leads to his eventual retirement at Wrestlemania 29.

You are a moron.

The man himself has admitted, repeatedly, he had one year left! You go on a tirade telling someone to appreciate Edge but you don't even respect him! You, are basically saying that you don't care that he was in agony for the final several months of his career, and just to fill your like of the guy, you wanted him to put his body through two more years of this agony, risk his health, possibly paralyze himself just so you could see him wrestle. Do you realise the severity of the neck injury he sustained? I bet you don't. You can like Edge all you want, but you show no respect for Adam Copeland the man.

The guy said he was retiring at Wrestlemania 28. This is fact, he had it planned, WWE officials knew about it. He wouldn't have won four more World Championships and he wouldn't have surpassed Ric Flair's record! Don't start typing up tirades about people needing to respect the man when they give their opinions, when you don't respect him when people give you facts.

 

[Adam Rush]

You are a moron.

The man himself has admitted, repeatedly, he had one year left! You go on a tirade telling someone to appreciate Edge but you don't even respect him! You, are basically saying that you don't care that he was in agony for the final several months of his career, and just to fill your like of the guy, you wanted him to put his body through two more years of this agony, risk his health, possibly paralyze himself just so you could see him wrestle. Do you realise the severity of the neck injury he sustained? I bet you don't. You can like Edge all you want, but you show no respect for Adam Copeland the man.

The guy said he was retiring at Wrestlemania 28. This is fact, he had it planned, WWE officials knew about it. He wouldn't have won four more World Championships and he wouldn't have surpassed Ric Flair's record! Don't start typing up tirades about people needing to respect the man when they give their opinions, when you don't respect him when people give you facts.

Hmmm...so I'm a moron huh? I've been watching WWE for 7 years, but I'm a moron? I know what Edge said. But it's possible he would have pulled a Brett Favre and stayed a couple more years. This forum is STRICTLY hypothetical. I'm sorry I made a HYPOTHETICAL forum. If you have a problem with what I'm saying then keep it out of my forum, and don't call me a moron.

As for the severity of the injury, I know how bad it is. Spinal stenosis caused Stone Cold to retire. OT Chris Samuels, a former 1st round pick and former NFL star (Washington Redskins) played his whole 10-year career with spinal stenosis. So shut up, I know what I'm talking about.

In conclusion, yes I have respect for Adam Copeland. This forum was never intended to be taken "oh, he's too hurt to wrestle". It was strictly hypothetical.

 

[Mark Gallows]

Okay, dude, no. Edge is one of the greatest superstars ever. Do you realize how much he's done for the WWE? He was in one of the greatest tag teams ever, he won 31 titles in the WWE, he was an 11-time world champ...Without Edge, the tag team division would have been far less relevant. Without Edge, SUPER CENA would have won at least 3 more world titles.

Ehhhh, no. You guys really need to stop believing VKM and WWE's rhetoric and think for yourselves, propaganda's dangerous, if you listen to it.

Greatest Tag Team ever? Nope...and kinda funny how they only got that title when WWE were trying to push Edge, the tag-team scene was VERY strong when E&C came in, Outlaws, Dudley's, Hardy's, APA, T&A, Kai-en-Tai..not all great teams granted but tag-team wrestling was a bigger focus of the product then and E&C weren't even the stand-out team. The TLC matches were MADE by the Dudley's and Hardy's, watch the matches again, E&C were the smallest part of those matches, despite being the champs on most ocassions.

He was booked to win a bunch of titles, way hey. I guess John Cena's a better superstar than Edge then, by that logic, he's won more world titles than Edge. Come on man, the fact you can't name ANY of his achievements other than pre-determined title wins kinda backs my statements here don't it? Edge got "over" for one reason...and her name's Lita.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Hmmm...so I'm a moron huh? I've been watching WWE for 7 years, but I'm a moron? I know what Edge said. But it's possible he would have pulled a Brett Favre and stayed a couple more years. This forum is STRICTLY hypothetical. I'm sorry I made a HYPOTHETICAL forum. If you have a problem with what I'm saying then keep it out of my forum, and don't call me a moron.

As for the severity of the injury, I know how bad it is. Spinal stenosis caused Stone Cold to retire. OT Chris Samuels, a former 1st round pick and former NFL star (Washington Redskins) played his whole 10-year career with spinal stenosis. So shut up, I know what I'm talking about.

In conclusion, yes I have respect for Adam Copeland. This forum was never intended to be taken "oh, he's too hurt to wrestle". It was strictly hypothetical.

Yes, you are a moron, so much to the point that when Edge suffered his injury you weren't even watching wrestling. Yes, you are a moron, because you've attempted to convey you wrestling knowledge through the length in-which you've been viewing the product, longevity doesn't make knowledge, I've been watching WWE since 1996, I remember Edge's debut, hell I remember the vignettes leading up to his debut, I remember Christian's debut, I remember The Brood, Hardy Boys vs. Edge and Christian in the first ever tag team ladder match, I remember when they broke up, Edge's return from his neck injury; but I know for a fact, and this isn't hypothetical, that Edge couldn't keep going.

You asked a question and the majority of your answers reflects that of my own, so get with the program. Edge couldn't pull a Bret Farve, he was in too much pain! The guy couldn't keep wrestling, he'd have paralyzed himself, it isn't a thing of he didn't want to it is a fact of, he couldn't. If you knew what you were talking about you'd realise no matter how much of a hypothetical thread; not forum, the forum is the entire function surrounding which the thread is made, once again showing your lack of knowledge on anything you're spitting out, Edge couldn't keep wrestling. End of story.