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Edge retired in 2011 due to what was thought to be a career-ending injury.
Thankfully for the Rated-R Superstar, and all wrestling fans, he managed to work through the injury and recover enough to return to the company nine years later. However, it was a long and difficult journey to get back to the ring.
In this article, we’ll take a look at Edge’s heartbreaking retirement ten years ago and talk about the situation in WWE at that point.
What happened to make Edge retire from WWE?
At WrestleMania XXVII, Edge defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio. He was successful in his defense and destroyed Del Rio to come away as the World Heavyweight Champion still.
However, all was not well.
Only a week after that, Edge appeared in front of a packed stadium during Monday Night RAW. He spoke to the audience, delivering a heart-breaking speech to let them know that he was retiring from WWE due to a neck injury.
Edge's words resonated throughout the WWE Universe, as he talked about how, given a chance, he would do it all over again:
"If you'd ask me if I'd go back and do all this again. All the way back from being hired by JR. If you'd ask me if I'd travel all the roads, log all the miles, hop on all the flights, all the sleepless nights, all the surgeries, all the injuries, the metal rods in my teeth, all of it. If you ask me if I’d do it again...in a heartbeat."
He revealed the injury was serious enough that one more bad bump could mean that he could be paralyzed or even lose his life.
He vacated the World Heavyweight title and retired as the World Champion.
Nine years later, at the 2020 Royal Rumble, Edge returned in front of a packed arena to one of the loudest pops in the last ten years.
What happened after Edge’s retirement?
Following his retirement, Edge stayed away from the ring for nine years. Immediately after his retirement, Edge's best friend Christian was pushed by WWE instead. Receiving the first-ever main event push of his WWE career, Christian won the World Heavyweight Championship.
His feud with Randy Orton at the time went down as one of the best feuds of the year in WWE.
Currently, Edge is back on SmackDown and feuding with Roman Reigns.
