5 current WWE Superstars that were close to signing for AEW

#1 Edge: WWE's Rated-R superstar

Rated R superstar returns home [PC: Medium.com]

Easily the biggest comeback story of 2020 is that of WWE Hall of Famer, Edge. Edge hung up his wrestling boots in April 2011 after several neck injuries forced him into an early retirement from WWE.

The only person who seemed more emotional than the WWE fans during his surprise return at 2020’s Royal Rumble was Edge himself. As he surveyed the crowd with the eerily fitting lyrics of his theme song ‘Metalingus’ played in the background, there was not one dry eye left in the stadium.

We’re still not over the return of @EdgeRatedR! #MensRumble (via @wwe) pic.twitter.com/B5ExOEaVGm

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) January 27, 2020

But the story leading to the return is quite intriguing in itself. It was all set in motion on Summerslam 2019’s pre-show where Edge delivered a devastating spear to Elias. The spear opened the door to his return. One of the parties interested happened to be AEW.

In WWE’s Documentary “WWE 24: The Second Mountain”, Edge mentioned that another wrestling promotion had approached him. Dave Meltzer later revealed that Edge was indeed referring to AEW who offered him an incredibly lucrative contract. When Edge informed Vince McMahon of this, the WWE Chairman came up with a counter-offer, which AEW could not match.

With Edge having a history with WWE and being such a huge draw, it is difficult to picture him anywhere else. It is nevertheless fascinating to imagine an alternate timeline where Edge and Randy Orton both pulled the gun to make the jump to AEW and have their high-stakes feud play out on Wednesday nights.