WWE History: On this day Edge made his debut in a match which involved a legitimate neck injury

On this day in history, 22nd June 1998, The Rated-R Superstar, Edge, made his televised debut in the world of WWE and it was the first time that the WWE Universe got to take a look at what would be a future WWE Hall of Famer.

ON THIS DAY 🤘 ... in 1998, we got our first in-ring look at @EdgeRatedR! pic.twitter.com/ovxlx7tlrg

— WWE (@WWE) June 22, 2020

In this article, we are going to be taking a look at the events leading up to his debut and what happened when he finally made his first appearance in the world of WWE.

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Edge in WWE

While his formal televised debut would not take place for another 2 years, Edge made his debut on 10th May 1996 in WWE at a house show in Hamilton, Ontario. Bob Holly was supposed to be wrestling in that match against someone else, but for some reason, he was not present, and Edge replaced him to actually face Bob Holly in his first match in WWE.

June 22, 1998 I made my @WWE televised debut. Tonight, on #RAW exactly 22 years later, I update everyone on my future. pic.twitter.com/A6FGcrwIp7

— Adam (Edge) Copeland (@EdgeRatedR) June 22, 2020

During this time, Edge was not actually a part of WWE officially and was not on a signed contract with them. WWE paid him on a weekly basis, and also paid off his college debt of $40,000.

Edge also trained with Bret Hart at this time, alongside others like Test, Mark Henry, and Ken Shamrock as well. Edge would also take his future WWE tag team partner Christian to Bret Hart's house as well.

Edge then received his developmental contract with WWE in 1997.

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Edge debuts in WWE

Finally, almost a year later, following weeks of vignettes being aired for the character on WWE television, Edge made his WWE television debut on the 22nd June 1998 episode of RAW. The vignettes had aired showing off Edge as a dangerous loner character who attacked people on the street.

He made his way through the crowd to meet Jose Estrada in the WWE ring. The two started to brawl and soon enough Edge had the advantage. Edge would hit Jose Estrada with a somersault out of the ring, seemingly leaving him incapacitated.

The match had to end prematurely at this point as Jose Estrada's neck had actually been injured. Edge would leave the ring and walk away through the crowd. This unplanned segment actually made Edge seem even more dangerous to the WWE Universe.