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Shane Helms on Edge’s Retirement (VIDEO)
Shane Helms (@shanehelmscom) has posted a very emotional video about the retirement of Edge. They’re freinds but they are linked by a very common bond. Shane had the same neck surgery (in 2007) that Edge had in 2002. In this video, Shane talks about his “Bump Card” and what the term “working on borrowed time” means to him. Check it out.
Shane hosts a weekly show called Highway 2 Helms. You can subscribe to get it on iTunes here. Or watch it live every Wednesday at 7pm eastern / 4pm Pacific here.
Follow Shane on Twitter – @shanehelmscom
David Lagana (@Lagana)
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#ThankYouEdge – Career Retrospective Video!
Courtesy of WWE.com
The news of Edge having to retire from WWE caught us all off guard. I think we all took for granted how great and consistent that he was over the length of his career. I looked back at his career from the last neck surgery to this past week in this article. Read it here.
It’s hard to sum up one person’s career in one article or in one video really but then I saw this on Smackdown last night.
Found that this video was cut by my friend Jessica who works at WWE. She’s one of the amazing talents employed by Kevin Dunn and create these masterpieces. I hear all the time how much the video work done by WWE reaffirms why we are fans of wrestling. Like Adam Pennucci, David Sahadi, and all the amazing producers who have worked at that the WWE TV Studio, my friend Jessica started as a fan, remains a fan and continues to make fans with her work. Like the creative team, so many people in that company are “faceless” to the outside world and we wouldn’t have had it any other way when we work there. The focus is on the talents in the ring and the breathtaking things they do inside a wrestling ring to entertain us. This video just celebrates another great talent that made us all fans.
Tweet by Christian re:Edge
You all shared your support of Edge with that hashtag above. Also you shared your voices with me on this special podcast. Check it out now if you haven’t.
David Lagana (@Lagana)
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Thank You Edge!
On Monday Night, almost out of nowhere, Edge (Adam Copeland) announced his retirement from pro wrestling. The first instinct of everyone was to think it was a not real. WWE, in the past two years, has done seemingly twenty five firings and fake retirements; only Shawn Michaels being real. What transpired on Monday Night Raw was as real a moment could be.
Courtesy of WWE.com
From my very first day (Feb 2002) in WWE in Milwaukee, Wi to the last day I worked with him (Jan 2008) when he came to do a guest shot on ECW to work with CM Punk, Edge was a nice, warm and passionate guy. He is a fan of wrestling, it’s all he ever wanted to do and you always saw that passion. He’s the kind of talent you dream to work with, create with and be a fan of. His speech tonight affirmed all of the reason I was a fan of the wrestler Edge and the person Adam.
The injury that sidelined Edge in 2003 is the same one now ending his career in 2011. Edge’s last show in 2003 was also my first show of taking over Smackdown as lead writer. Edge had really come into his own in 2002 as one of the “Smackdown 6” as booked by Paul Heyman. He was having great single matches with Jericho, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero and teaming with Rey Mysterio. The injury stopped that momentum but didn’t stop his hunger.
Not many people know that Edge went to the boss and asked “what he could do” in the time off. And for a short period, Edge was part of the WWE creative process. I remember the first time I sent him the script he called me and asked, “Okay, now what do we do.” Edge would offer input, give ideas and really wanted to keep himself fresh. But his passion was focused on returning to the ring. As he got closer, we’d talk from time to time and he was chomping at the bit. He knew that when he came back, he would make it his time.
Edge returned and was moved to Raw. It was the right move for him and he had this new passion in his eyes. Nobody was going to deny him and nobody knew how big he was going to get. It was a night in his home town of Toronto where the crowd turned on him that started him on the road to being the “bad guy”. An off screen love triangle launched him into the hottest storyline of 2005 with Lita and Matt Hardy. While Matt Hardy was the hot story at first, it was Edge’s eye catching promo ability that showed he was really ready to break through to that main event level. And then he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase.
And in one night, Edge became the biggest thing in WWE. He cashed in the briefcase, beat John Cena and was “the Rated R Superstar”. This was before Twitter and things trending. This shocked EVERYONE. Ratings shot up immediately with WWE crossing over that 4.0 level. For the next few weeks, he was the star of Monday Night Raw and the numbers proved it. His TLC match with Ric Flair became an instant classic and cemented that he could really hang as not only a main event talent but draw ratings. But the plan was always for Edge to drop the title back to Cena a few weeks later. I remember the disappointment that Edge felt; feeling he had genuine momentum. He had shocked the world and his segments were now fueling the brand. But he didn’t give up.
He worked Wrestlemania with Mick Foley and proved he deserved to be at that level. He might not have had the title but he was right back in the mix after that. And like the nickname he adopted of the “Ultimate Opportunist”, he was always ready to step in and show he was the guy for the company. When WWE needed to get the title off RVD in the summer of 2006, Edge was the guy. Edge was the perfect antagonist for John Cena. Most of Cena’s opponents would bring in the cheers. Edge was smart enough to turn the crowd against him.
When Mr. Kennedy was hurt in the early summer of 2007, Edge took the opportunity and became the top guy on Smackdown defeating the Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Title. The kid who watched Hulk Hogan main event Wrestlemania 6 got to live out his dream at Wrestlemania 24. Edge wrestled in THE main event against The Undertaker to close the show. Edge was the reason to tune into Smackdown most weeks. His chemistry with Vickie Guerrero proved how versatile a performer he was and signaled a possible future in acting.
I saw Edge again for the first time since my departure from WWE as he was finishing up a few scenes for a WWE movie in Los Angeles. He had unknowingly booked himself in the same hotel as the WrestleReunion convention. He didn’t hide, he interacted with fans and came to watch our ROH show that night featuring Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. Edge, along with Sinn Bohdi, started watched the match from behind the curtain. I remember telling Edge there was a better spot to watch from but he was so concerned from taking away from the match. We found him a spot he felt comfortable and he watched the match intently. He still was that same little kid, he was still a fan.
Edge’s future in the ring seems to be over but I don’t think his contributing is. I can see him being an agent/producer, an on air talent, or maybe he takes the dive full time into acting. The outpouring of emotion on Monday shows that no matter what Edge does, the fans will be with him.
UPDATE – 3pm Pacific – Read more and hear more Wrestler and fan reaction to Edge’s retirement here.
Courtesy of WWE.com
David Lagana (@Lagana)
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