Edge looks back on his Hardcore Match against Mick Foley at WWE WrestleMania 22.
Speaking on the Brotherly Love Podcast, Edge recalled his match with Foley at WWE WrestleMania 22. He recalled how he signed a waiver ahead of the bout.
“That was a lot of stupidity on my part,” Edge said with a laugh. “I always say that I’m probably missing a chip. We were heading into WrestleMania 22, and I was wrestling this guy named Mick Foley, who is also missing a chip. I thought that Edge should be in the main event. I thought I’d really put in the work to earn that, and I had a chip on my shoulder.
“So when they said, ‘How about you wrestle Mick?’, I was like, ‘Great because he’s just as nuts.’ We got together, and we said to ourselves, ‘Okay, we’re gonna steal this show.’ We’re in a hardcore match, which means there’s so rules. I had to sign a waiver before, that if anything happened to me, no one was responsible but me. Signed it. Didn’t even think about it. I was like, ‘Yup,’ signed it. I’m coming to steal the show.”
Edge Describes Having A Chip On His Shoulder Before WrestleMania 22
Edge then detailed how he was at a point in his career where he had a chip on his shoulder, as he was determined to make it back to the main event scene. He noted that he was angry, and he had something to prove.
“When I look back at it now, especially having two little girls now, I realize how stupid it was. But at that point, I’m 32 years old, I’m almost at the pinnacle of my industry,” Edge said. “I got there for a little bit, and I tasted it, and ratings went up, and all these things went up, but they still went with these story plans that didn’t involve me.
“That really, really made me angry. If the ratings weren’t there, if all that didn’t go up, I would have said, ‘Okay, failed experiment. Sure.’ But it worked. Hence the chip on the shoulder.”
Edge Details Brutal Spots During Hardcore Match
The WWE Hall of Famer went on to detail some of the rough spots in the hardcore match, including being hit with barbed wire.
“Going into this match, it’s a hardcore match,” Edge said. “Mick Foley is probably missing more chips than me. Because he’s like, ‘Ah, we gotta use real barbed wire if we’re gonna use barbed wire.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure, okay.’ Now, I’ve never been hit with a barbed wire baseball bat. Who has? But I realize, when he hits me in the stomach, how badly that hurts.
“So he hits me in the stomach. I’m like, ‘Oh, that sucks.’ I look down, and there’s all these little punctures. Hits me in the arm, my arm start bleeding. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is pretty legit.’ Rakes it across my forehead. I still got a scar. But we’re in it now, and also really feeling it, and so is the audience. So, land in thumbtacks, and I’m like, ‘Oh, ah, okay.’ That reaction is pretty legit.”
Edge: When Edge Does Something Stupid, Adam Cooked It Up
The legend then highlighted the finish of the match, where he hit Foley with a Spear through a flaming table. He described how he didn’t even realize his skin would be exposed to the flames until he was setting up the move.
“The finish was my idea,” Edge said. “Usually when you see Edge do something really stupid, it’s because Adam cooked it up, and he has too much time on his hands. So the finish of this match, I do this thing called the Spear. I said, ‘Hey, Mick. What if I Spear you through the ropes into a flaming table?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, of course.’ I didn’t even factor in the idea that he wears a flannel, he wears a T-shirt. He’s got like three layers of clothing on.
“As I’m coming at him, this is when it dawns on me. ‘Oh, I don’t have a shirt on, and I’m going face-first into these flames.’ As I’m running, that’s when it dawns on me. I’m like, ‘Well, I’m here. We’re committed.’ So I hit him, and I just tried to tuck my head into his body as much as I could. Burnt my arm, burnt my hair. We go through the table, the fire goes out. As I’m crawling over to cover him for the pin, I see my arm is smoking, and it’s turning gray. I’m kind of shaking a little bit. I didn’t fully realize until I got to the back and they’re looking at me, I’m kind of in shock. You can kind of tell, I don’t really know what’s going on right now. It’s pretty weird to see now, especially where I’m at in life now, it was a different dude, then.”
The full interview is available here:
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