The John Report: His Future Is Now
The best type of wrestling characters are those that seem the most real. The average fan will like the over the top gimmicks every once in a while, but the ones that really strike a chord with fans, the ones that truly make an impact are the ones that look legitimate. Right now there's a guy in WWE who is sporting a gimmick that is working absolutely perfect. He's playing a character that truly believes in everything he says or does. He's saying things that are true in many ways, yet are false in other ways, simply because he's a bad guy. It's the perfect balance between being an over the top heel and a realistic heel. What is this guy's name? Edge.
When Edge came back to Raw this year off the injured list, he was a babyface. He was shoved down our throats like many faces are, but the thing was that this guy just wasn't working in this role. Why would we cheer him? Well, he was fighting bad guys. I guess that's something. He was urging the fans to cheer him. That's something else. Then there was his promo against Randy Orton where he said "I don't like you." Frankly, I'm still laughing about the lameness of that. They tried and tried, but it never worked. They never were able to get Edge over as a babyface the way they had envisioned. The way he might have envisioned. To WWE's credit, they listened to the fans and they slowly turned him heel. The result? We now have one of the best characters that Raw has had on their show in many months, or even years.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you Edge's story. You probably know most of it by now, even if you haven't read his book (and I haven't yet). He grew up in Toronto as a wrestling fan and later won a contest in a newspaper by writing an essay to win free wrestling training at a local gym. He got into the business with his real life good friend Christian. They toured the indy circuit all around Ontario, Michigan and wherever else they could get a gig. For a lot of that time, Edge wrestled as a guy named Sexton Hardcastle. In 1998, WWE signed him (and later Christian) and the rest is history. They went on to form one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history. Edge has had some singles fame, but has yet to really, truly "break out" as a star. That is, until now.
Edge has many things going for him as we head into the new year. Want some examples? Here are some:
- He's hitting his prime right now. While I will argue to the death that wrestling is not a sport, it does have a similarity to sports in that their athletes have primes; a time period in one's life where their talents are maximized. In a sport like basketball, for this example I'll specifically use the National Basketball Association, an athlete usually reaches their prime at around age 27 or so and it will last a good three or four years. If you look at the NBA right now, guys like Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan (arguably the best players in the game right now), are both around that age. A guy like Shaquille O'Neal, now 32 years old, is slightly past his prime although he's still very good at what he does. There are exceptions of course, like LeBron James, but even he will probably be at his best in six or seven years, even though that sounds scary as hell. The point of all this is that wrestlers have primes too. They tend to come at a slightly later age, however. I'd say the prime for wrestlers is about age 30, and Edge just turned 31 a couple of months ago. He's hitting his stride right about now.
- He is a ten year veteran of the wrestling business. Recently when he was on Off The Record, Triple H correctly stated that a lot of WWE's current problems stem from the fact that a lot of younger guys in the company are green. They're not as ready for the spotlight as guys like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin and Triple H were when they got their shot to run with the ball. (As an aside, three of those four men didn't win their first world title until after they turned 30. Only Michaels won it before his 30th birthday.) Specifically, he could have been talking about Randy Orton and John Cena. Both guys have talent, both guys have bright futures, but both guys are still in their mid-20s with less than five years in the wrestling business. Edge has ten years. He's wrestled on the big stage, he's been hurt, he's had ups and downs, he's seen it all. He's a veteran in many ways, but an unproven one at the same time.
- He is WWE born and bred. I wonder how many wrestlers in the WWE locker room can truly look into their own eyes and say they knew from the time they were kids that they'd be wrestlers. Edge can do that. He grew up on this company. He's also grown up with this company. You can say many things about Vince McMahon good and bad, but the one thing I think we can all agree on about Mr. McMahon is that he is big on loyalty. He's also big on people who basically grew up with his company. Why do you think people like Booker and RVD have never really broken through? Why do you think Goldberg was largely mis-managed by WWE? Why do you think the company had no clue how to use Scott Steiner right, as a heel, until he was so broken down that he could barely walk? All those people came from other places. I'm not saying he'll never push a guy with a WCW or ECW upbringing, it's just that he clearly favors long time WWE employees and it's not hard to see that. Edge is a lifer. He's not leaving WWE anytime soon. He's the right kind of guy to have in high positions, as a leader for those below him on the totem pole.
- He is very fresh on the Raw roster. The work Edge has done on Raw over the past six months or so has been refreshing because he hasn't been a regular on Raw in almost three years prior to this. He became a part of Smackdown in the spring of 2002, then became a fixture on Smackdown where he benefited from working with great workers like the Angles, Benoits and Guerreros of the world. In early 2003 he hurt his neck, sat out over a year with the dreaded neck surgery and has come back as one of the freshest faces in all of WWE. Sure, his look is the exact same, but his freshness is there because there are feuds to be had on Raw that never happened before. He also was fresh in the aspect that comes from sitting out a year, analyzing your place in the company, and the business as a whole, and realizing the things you could do better in the future. When a guy as talented as Edge can come back with that freshness, it really does spice things up.
- Momentum is the last and most important thing that Edge has going for him. He has plenty of that. Unlike a guy like Randy Orton right now, Edge's push doesn't seem forced. It doesn't seem like he's being shoved down our throat as a way to get him over. He's getting over on his own volition. He's getting over because he's passionate about what he's doing and more importantly, he believes in everything he says. If you read his online commentaries when he was out with a neck injury you'd know that his main goal when he came back was winning the WORLD TITLE (he'd always capitalize it for the prestige). Now, you can say that he'd be pushed near the top when he returned no matter if he was a face or a heel, but the thing with him is you know he's earned it. You hear guys talking about paying dues, making sacrifices and things like that. Edge has done all that. He's got the momentum more than anybody in WWE right now.
Momentum is huge in wrestling. Want an example of that? Look at Steve Austin. He didn't get to be the number one guy because it was in the plans. He got it because he did it for himself, he gave himself the momentum and he ran with it like nobody else.
Now, the question is will Edge be the breakout star of 2005? Maybe. It's hard on Raw, though. Clearly, he's best as a heel and with so many faces on the Raw roster there are plenty potential feuds for the guy. I would expect longer programs with the likes of Michaels, Benoit, Jericho and Benjamin during the year, assuming none of them switch to Smackdown in a trade or lottery. Thing is, with Triple H the obvious leader of Raw, there's usually no way that somebody new could break through to the top on Raw. When was the last heel champion on Raw? I guess Brock Lesnar would count, but that was two and a half years ago and he soon went to Smackdown. I'm not saying HHH holds people down. It's just that with him on Raw, the chances of another heel emerging is unlikely.
That's an interesting point, though. Would Edge be as good as he is right now if he were to hold the WORLD TITLE? Part of me says yes, part of me says no. The reason I say no is because what makes his character so good, so real, right now is that you can sympathize with the guy. Even though he's a bad guy, there's sympathy there. Every time he says "I've never really got a shot at the title" you can say that he's right. There's been the odd title shots on Smackdown over the years, as well as house show title shots, but there's never been Edge in a singles feud for that belt. The longer they hold out on it, the better it will be should he make it there. That finish on Raw a few weeks back where it was declared a draw with Benoit, that was beautiful. That promo Edge had two weeks ago with Orton? That was money. I loved it. The Edge character is outstanding right now. I don't think he's walking out of the Elimination Chamber with the WORLD TITLE, but he'll make the match exciting simply because of the promos he'll use in building up to it.
The point I'm trying to make here is that Edge's chase for the title is the best thing in all of WWE right now. If this was a babyface doing the same types of things Edge was doing right now then it would help the company reach wonderful heights. They'd be soaring right now. That's part of the problem with WWE. While their babyfaces are good or great in some areas, there's nobody with the "I really want this guy to win because he's been cheated so many times" type of appeal. Cena might be, but I think he's hurt by being on Smackdown, since many consider it the "B" show it's just not the same.
You know how we as fans will have our favorite wrestlers, then we'll have another list of guys who we want to see do well? Edge is a guy on both lists for me. While I admit to liking Christian more, I've always liked Edge. More importantly, I've always wanted to see the guy do well. I saw him in his indy days. I talked to him quite a bit in those days. I could tell from his eyes and from the words that he said that he was going to be a big star one day. I don't remember the last time I saw him, must have been the summer of '97 or something like that. I remember talking with my buddy about how cool it would be to have this guy become a world champion. He's around my age, he grew up about an hour from where I did and I even went to university with a guy who was in graduating high school class. I got this connection to the guy. He's a homegrown boy done good.
I'm not saying Edge is perfect. I think he's got some flaws. Most notable is the spear. I hate that move for him. It works for a guy like Rhyno or Goldberg because they're thick, burly guys who (in Goldberg's case) have a football background, so the move makes sense. Edge is a tall skinny guy. Why would a tackle from him hurt a whole lot? What I also hate is when a guy's on the apron, Edge puts his shoulder into him and the announcers call it a spear. No it's not! It's a shoulder tackle. Get it right. I don't understand why Edge has abandoned the Leaping DDT, which I believe he called the Edgucution. It's a good, impactful move that can be applied to anybody. He actually went for it on Orton during their Raw match this week. I would have marked for it huge. Then there's his lack of submission moves. Remember on Smackdown when he had that funky leg submission called the Edgucater or something like that? Another good move. He needs to bust that out again. It's good to have an alternative finisher, especially when your main one is so questionable. Other than those gripes, I like many things about Edge right now.
He's developed into a really good talker. Fans boo him mercifully these days because he speaks with such passion in his voice. As I've said before, you believe what he says comes from his heart. It doesn't seem like something forced off of a script like Orton trying to be like Rock backstage with Grisham. In the ring he's always getting better. Sitting out a year did him wonders because he spent a lot of time watching tapes of the greats, picking things up off of them and realizing he could put those things into his arsenal. He may never be the worker the caliber of a Shawn Michaels or Chris Benoit, but he's certainly good enough that he can be make people want to be the next Edge. Most importantly, Edge has never been as over as he is now. He's never been this close to being the very best. That's the best thing about what's happening to him now. He's on the brink of something special.
There are many things to look forward to as WWE heads into 2005. The Royal Rumble is always fun, WrestleMania should be a blast as always, but for me there's something more important than all that. It's the evolution of Edge. Whether or not he wins the WORLD TITLE is beside the point. The fact that he's at that level, the fact that he's already right there is as good as a win at this point. Holding the gold belt doesn't mean you're the best. It just means the company likes you the best at that point in time. What makes you the best are your performances in the ring, on the microphone and everywhere else the company asks you to be. Edge is among the best wrestlers in WWE right now. Top five at least. He doesn't need a belt for us to see that. We can see it through his hard work, through his pain and through his suffering. Guys like Edge are what make this business so fun to watch.
You know that old saying about how the cream rises to the top? Well right now, that cream's name is Edge. It's like he's a train passing through the different points in his career with only one destination left. Lucky for us, it's just around the corner. Forget about the future. This guy is the future and it's his turn now.
Next stop is 2005: The Year of Edge.
Smell ya later,
John C. - oratoryjohn@gmail.com