When Edge takes the ring on SmackDown, he will be celebrating 25 years in WWE.
Originally debuting for the promotion under the Edge moniker in 1998, two years after he worked his first house show under the very 1996 moniker Sexton Hardcastle, the “Rated-R Superstar” was an Intercontinental Champion by 1999, a seven-time World Tag Team Champion with his life-long partner/friend Christian Cage by 2021, and officially became a Heavyweight Champion in 2006, solidifying himself as a main event solo star in the process.
And when SmackDown goes off the air at 10 pm EST, it could mark the end of his in-ring career, as, according to the man himself in an interview with ET Canada, it will mark the final match of his current contract with WWE and may ultimately lead to his second retirement from being a professional wrestler.
“Here's what I can honestly say, and this isn't the answer everyone wants. I truly don't know. With 100% truth, I can say I don't know,” Edge said via Wrestling News. “That's strange for me, but I don't. I really don't. I've put some thought into it, but not a lot. This is the last match on my current contract. So, I don't know. I honestly don't know. I probably won't know until I get to the locker room that night and decompress, let all the anxiety and tension that I never used to have before I performed, I have now. That's strange for me and makes it that much harder to do this. I'm going to be 50 in October. It's not easy anymore. Before, what I used to take for granted to be able to do, now, there is a process and a fallout, and there's a lot. It's the dream gig, but it's getting really hard.”
Could this really be it for the “Rated-R Superstar?” Could, after having his dream ripped away from him for the better part of a decade, he really leave his boots in the middle of the ring before he turns 50, transitioning to a legacy contract typically reserved for “old timers” like Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, and Mick Foley, who can barely run the ropes, let alone work a believable match? And is this really how Edge wants to go out, working a match against first-time singles opponent Sheamus on an episode of SmackDown, instead of, oh I don't know, working a match in front of 80,000+ fans in an outdoor arena with his best friend and two of his all-time greatest opponents?
If the latter sounds enticing, Tony Khan has a chance to do something really interesting and book Adam Copeland – he most likely doesn't own the name Edge – and Christian Cage against Matt and Jeff Hardy for All In at Wembley Stadium.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvGogQC3anU
An Edge and Christian reunion is the perfect way for Adam Copeland to go out.
In December of 2022, Matt Hardy noted that, if he was afforded a chance to book a perfect retirement match for his long-time tag team, the Hardy Boyz, alongside his brother Jeff, it would be against Edge and Christian, as their rivalry is “just so iconic.”
Is that true? In a word, yes. In two words? Heck yes; the Hardyz, Edge, and Christian worked some of the most iconic tag team matches in wrestling history at the turn of the previous century, and even now, when all four men are either approaching or over 50, it's safe to assume they could still put on a banger of a performance that sells a ton of tickets and get even more folks to shell out $50 bucks to their favorite Pay-Per-View provider.
Fortunately for AEW, they don't have to worry much about the former, as they have just under 4,000 available tickets for All In left to sell, according to Wrestle Tix on Twitter, but any promotion that sells 0n-demand viewings of their in-ring efforts could always use a few more eyes on their product and the money that comes along with it, especially for a show looking to go down as one of the signature events in professional wrestling history.
If Edge is available, which is a big if, Khan needs to do whatever he can to get a deal done, even if it's just for one show.
Now sure, would it make sense for Christian to call upon his former friend for a tag team match against the Hardys, especially when they are in the middle of two very different angles on two different shows? Totally, AEW would have to do a little bit of leg work to make it make sense from a Kayfabe storytelling standpoint, but this isn't your regular professional wrestling show: this is All In; fans are going to accept bringing in big-time performers like Nick Aldis, Will Ospreay, and especially Edge if they can get them booked for the show for the sheer spectacle of the affair, even if the performers in question go away after and are only mentioned in passing from that point on.
Simply put, if you can book Edge and Christian versus Matt and Jeff Hardy, you do it.
In professional wrestling, very few performers are given a chance at a “perfect” happy ending. For every “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 39, you'll get goodbyes like Big E's no-contest with the New Day against the Brawling Brutes last March. Even if it's just for one night, even if he signs a new WWE contract the next day and has a “true” retirement match at WrestleMania 40, if Khan can get Copeland in the ring one final time alongside Christian and the Hardys, it might just be too good an opportunity for both men to pass up.
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