Edge Comments on WWE Royal Rumble Win, Christian’s Return, WrestleMania, and More

After his shocking and emotional return at the 2020 Men’s Royal Rumble, the “Rated R Superstar” Edge would add to his Cinderella story by winning the event one year later. Now with his sights set at the main event of Wrestlemania, the 11-time World Champion looks to recapture the gold that he never lost. In the meantime, Edge sat down with Bleacher Report to discuss winning this year’s Royal Rumble, seeing Christian return, and his potential opponents at Wrestlemania.

After winning the 2021 Men’s Royal Rumble match, Edge joined a legendary list of multi-time winners for the historical match. He would describe the surreal feeling of winning the Rumble again:

“I’ve tried to put my finger on it, I’ve tried to explain it to myself or continue to pinch myself over this year-and-a-half-long period. I’m going to stop doing that and just savor that this is happening and enjoy every moment of it that I can and soak it all up.”

Some fans complained about Edge announcing himself as an entrant rather than keep it a surprise. However, the former WWE Champion explained the reason for not having another surprise return:

“Last year was once-in-a-lifetime. There’s never going to be another time where I’m off for nine years and have fought back from this injury that was supposed to be the end of my career. That’s not the case. So, this year, I have to treat it differently, not only from a creative standpoint but also from a mental and emotional standpoint and understand there is no audience this year so let’s announce it.”

Edge’s win was the biggest story from the Men’s Royal Rumble match, however, another memorable moment from the match was the return of his longtime tag team partner, Christian. Edge spoke seeing his best friend back in the ring after being forced to retire seven years ago due to concussions:

“I had known he was cleared for a few months. We knew and we were keeping it under wraps because we didn’t know what was going to happen or what creative was or anything like that. That all kind of came together last minute, but the reaction I had when he was coming down, again, it speaks to what I said before: truth. An audience can tell when something is truly affecting a performer and seeing him get that back and walk down that ramp, crowd or no crowd, I was just so happy for him.”

“We went back to his house and sat down and had a shot of whiskey together and said, ‘That just happened. We just did that. Somehow, we both find ourselves here doing this thing we were both told we weren’t ever supposed to do again.’ It was just a really, really nice moment to have together in what has become a lifetime of amazing things that have happened within our friendship.”

Although he has not wrestled full-time since returning last year, Edge explains why he does not consider himself as a part-timer:

“I don’t consider myself a part-timer. If I’m in the hunt for a championship, I’m here every week. That’s the way I operate. I don’t care what my contract says. Everybody knows that here, too. That’s the way I operate and if that’s the way you want me figured in, then I’m going to be here because that’s the way Adam Copeland does things. I don’t care what other ‘part-timers’ do, I know what I do and that’s what I do.”

While Edge has not made his decision on which championship to challenge for at Wrestlemania, Edge spoke about possibly facing Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship:

“With Drew, the Drew I faced 10 or 11 years ago was a different person entirely. That being said, the Edge that Drew would face now is a different performer entirely. That’s intriguing to me. I really respect what Drew did. I really respect the path that he took and his road back here is very redemptive and I respect that. I appreciate that. He’s a sponge. He’s the kind of guy that’s constantly asking, ‘What do you think about this? What do you think about that?’ And I’m more than happy to be there for that. There’s a lot of similarities to our character traits and personality traits and that’s something that can easily be played upon.”

As for the Universal Championship, the Ultimate Opportunist describes his interest to face the current champion Roman Reigns

“With Roman, what’s so intriguing about that is the dichotomy in terms of character. That’s fun, too. You have this Head of the Table, almost like a mafia leader, and you have Rocky trying to get this thing back, knowing there’s only so long you can do it so you just have to try. Either way, the story is going to be compelling. Honestly, I really can’t go wrong and that’s a great place to be. Whichever direction this goes, I feel I’m going to be able to tell a compelling story that I hope people enjoy.”

Aneil’s Take: This was a great interview with Edge especially speaking about why he announced himself in the match and explaining why he is not a part-timer. He makes a valid reason for not having another surprise return, as it would not have the same impact as it did last year. I also like him clarifying not being a part-timer, explain he will be on TV every week, unlike other part-timers. Originally, I thought he was going to face Drew McIntyre for the WWE championship, but with recent reports and his explanation for the story behind facing Reigns, it does make it more intriguing.

You can read more of Edge’s interview with Bleacher Report here.