Edge’s announced retirement last night on RAW feels about as credible as anything that comes out of a Vince McMahon product. The utter lack of storyline build, combined with the way his speech poked out of kayfabe throughout, and the general air of unpreparedness around the promos, lends support to the story we have been told – that after a solid, though unspectacular, title defense at Wrestlemania, one of the company’s generation-spanning fixtures went to the doctor and was told that he could no longer delay the choice between retirement and a brief, excruciating extension of his career followed by life in a wheelchair. Blessedly, he has chosen the former.
As I’ve said, I only plugged back into the WWE in the last 5 years, and on a regular basis only over the last year or two, so many of the phases of Edge’s career simply didn’t register with me in real-time. I never saw the days of The Brood, or the Ministry of Darkness, or the heyday of Edge+Christian as a ladder-scaling tag team. When I saw Edge fulfill his promise to “make sweet love” with Lita in celebration of a championship win, it was on YouTube years after the fact, and so didn’t have that nervy oh-my-god-are-they-really-doing-this-on-live-TV energy that permeated the Attitude Era. I have seen enough to have a lot of respect for the man as someone who clearly has a lifelong love for the show, and has been willing to sacrifice his body to an insane extent in order to entertain. It takes dedication to return to the activity that broke your neck; and there’s no such thing as rehearsing a spot where you get body-slammed onto a pile of thumbtacks.
I was never crazy about The Spear as a finisher, especially from someone as lean as Edge, but one of the things I appreciated about him is that he didn’t let himself get locked into a program for winning a match. As the so-called “Ultimate Opportunist”, he frequently provided surprises in how he made his way to victory, and I think a lot more “superstars” could follow his example; but that’s a rant for another time.
Creativity, mic skills, mad energy and commitment – these things are known about Edge, and will be justly tributed now that the time has come to take the measure of his whole career. And I think it is a happy occasion that he is able to retire at the height of the longest and strongest-booked World Title reign he’s ever enjoyed.
But I think his retirement – obviously ahead of anyone’s plans – combined with the ongoing fall-out from what must be admitted to be an inconclusive and subpar Wrestlemania, underlines that the WWE is at a crucial moment of collective torch-passing. They obviously sense it with the Cena-Rock match they have set for next year – the early money says that Rock will be a good WWE citizen and job to Cena as Hulk Hogan once jobbed to Rock. That’s one giant torch-passing and should provide some closure to the fans who keep pining for the return of weekly Stone Cold Stunners, bra-and-panties matches, and car-crushings. Those days are over. But it’s increasingly clear that more of this torch-passing needs to happen for the message to get through and for the next generation to get their chance to thrive.
Word has yet to leak out about just how damaged The Undertaker is; but when the frame of conversation is about whether he can MAYBE make it into the ring a year from now to keep defending TEH STRE3K, you know that his condition isn’t good. Triple H is obviously done as a full-time on-stage competitor; his increased visibility on the Wall Street side of business, along with more upfront confirmation of his backstage role in scouting and booking, make it hard to commit the time to participate in a title chase storyline. A GM/Commissioner-style role, peppered with occasional beat-downs, seems to be his destiny if he wants it. Rey Mysterio has been performing hurt for months, and seems to know his career is in decline – witness the professional courtesy he showed the upcoming Cody Rhodes; choosing him for a Wrestlemania rivalry and then jobbing to him in what turned out to be one of the best matches of the night. Rhodes has benefited mightily both in his new gimmick and with the status gained by his victory, and should be reaping the benefits in the singles scene this year.
But that’s four marquee names out of the running; and a handful of other former World Champions are obviously past another run as well. The Great Khali is barely credible as a competitor anymore (some on the Internet would happily claim he never was), and The Big Show seems happy to just provide a smile, a wave, and a knockout punch whenever the crowd needs cheering up. Kane could always pursue the belt again, but he’s also in the final phases of the career, and arguably had his legacy run last year before Edge.
The WWE has dearly needed this for years – to finally purge the roster of the glut of “World Champions” fattened by those years when titles were changing hands every other week. A Main Event pecking order is crystallizing. Orton and Cena carry the banner on Raw, with Miz and C.M. Punk the top heels, while Edge was far and away the top face on Smackdown. His absence leaves a tantalizing vacancy, both in the World Heavyweight Title hunt and in casting that role as Smackdown’s hero.
It’s clear that the World Heavyweight Championship, with its much shorter lineage, is considered the lesser of the two World Titles – McMahon is still willing to use it to take a flier on upstarts with potential like Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler. And Edge’s departure certainly clears the way for Alberto Del Rio to fulfill that “destiny” he keeps talking about.
But, assuming he does win the belt, it’s pretty sure he’s going to have to win a match to do it; and it’s also pretty sure he’s going to need a rival once he’s got it. That means at least one new top face, and arguably another main event heel as well, so things don’t get stagnant. The main event scene on Smackdown is all-but an empty playing field at the moment; and both faces and heels, on both Raw and Smackdown, have to be looking in that direction.
I want to have a look at the possibilities for some people who could crowd their way into a spotlight that suddenly has some room in it.
#1) Christian
This is one of those things that Vince McMahon probably won’t do just because doing it is so clearly obvious and justified. When choosing between coherent storytelling and unpredictability, coherence will always get clobbered by a steel chair in McMahon-land. Just based on recent weeks, Christian is perfectly-primed to fight in his friend Edge’s stead – he just took Del Rio to the wire in a #1 Contender’s Match. Making the ladder match at Extreme Rules into a match for the vacant title is a cinch. Christian has a long history with the ladder but has never worn the big belt, and he has been cresting a wave of popularity and putting on solid matches with Del Rio for months now as part of the Del Rio/Edge feud. Giving him the title as a thank you would provide several months of audience satisfaction while Smackdown transitions. But that requires that Vince McMahon like Christian – and evidence of that has been iffy.
#2) Jack Swagger
I’ve been thinking for months that a face turn would do Swagger good. His first Heavyweight Championship run fizzled, and he doesn’t seem to have many cards left to play in his heel persona. The sign that he may be turning on Michael Cole last night could be used to turn him; maybe steer that Extreme Rules tag team match they just announced into a three-way beatdown on Cole – which the audience would obviously appreciate. It’s a weird experiment, I admit, but it’s all upside at this point.
#3) Drew McIntyre
I think McIntyre has that potential to get over with the crowd without sacrificing the ruthlessness of his character, much like Randy Orton. He put on a couple of quick-but-solid matches with Edge recently, and demonstrated that he could hang in the ring with someone of Edge’s caliber. He seems more adrift than anyone on the roster with his level of talent. A turn to a face, or simply a cheer-able tweener with a good storyline, seems merited.
#4) John Morrison
Morrison has been knocking at the main event door for over six months now, and they keep teasing letting him in. Every week there’s a blast of noise on the Internet about whether Morrison’s stock is up or down backstage, and how much this may have to do with who is having sex with Melina this week. This is a pointless distraction. The bottom line is that there is a glass ceiling on RAW and he hasn’t busted through it. As good as he is, he hasn’t been good enough to make it clear that Orton or Cena should stand aside and make room for him. There is no such problem on Smackdown, and it would be a fresh roster of superstars to match him with to see if he can find more of that chemistry he had with Sheamus. And speaking of the big fella:
#5) Sheamus
As I’ve said before, the man is paying his dues, but there just doesn’t seem to be room at the top for him on RAW anymore. He’s getting some good heat with his U.S. Title reign, and has turned around the downward momentum that had characterized his career for months. If he wants to continue his trajectory upwards, a jump to the other roster is the most natural move. If Morrison were to move over there as well, then I don’t think anyone would begrudge a revival of that feud.
#6) Wade Barrett
It’s hard to say what McMahon wants out of The Corre right now, although Barrett still is a credible main event talent. If they can find some direction beyond serving as a random run-in mob or as a foil for Santino, Barrett could build off his new Intercontinental Champion status and try to get back in the hunt for a top belt. He’s got all the tools necessary, but his role as a stable-leader is feeling exhausted at this point.
There are a couple of wild-card names: Kofi Kingston is a legitimate star by PG standards. Just watch what the kids in the crowd are doing whenever Kingston makes his ring entrance – he’s got them in his pocket. And that matters these days. He’s put on good matches with Wade Barrett, but only rarely when watching a Kingston match do I believe his flashy moves actually HURT anyone. For someone with his agility and energy, the fact that his opponents so frequently need to oversell and cover botches is a problem, and there are times that I sense him coasting through matches. The charisma isn’t there for me – but I’m not a child so my opinion may be irrelevant.
Daniel Bryan has the in-ring talent and a small but fervent fanbase. The average quality of his matches is as at a high a standard as anyone on the roster. I think he’ll have a time for the main event, but that time isn’t here yet. He’s not over enough with the crowd at large, and the writers haven’t yet cracked the best storyline use for his skills. He keeps getting nudged aside or booked as random filler. Still – Smackdown might not be a bad home for him this year. A feud with Del Rio could produce some stellar matches.
When I started writing about WWE, I said that if push came to shove, I would be focusing my attention on RAW, since that’s where the WWE seems to invest the most time and energy. But I have to admit, with Edge’s surprise announcement, Friday nights look like they’re going to be interesting this year.