NEW DELHI: WWE Hall of Famer Edge will be featuring in his first singles match in nine years when he takes the ring to face Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania 36. The professional wrestling company’s marquee event will, however, be significantly different this time as it will be played before an empty stadium in Orlando due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Edge said that it is important now more than ever to have events like WrestleMania which can provide a temporary distraction from the problems being faced by people around the world.
“Right now the world is on its head and in times like this I truly feel the world needs entertainment and books to help,” he said.
“My responsibility is to help you forget about your responsibilities for two or three hours a day. It’s a privilege and I don’t look past it. I didn’t have it for nine years and now I come back and the gravity of that responsibility is not lost on me. Sure it’s entertainment, yes we are jumping around in tights. But in a time like this, its very important.”
Edge said that he himself is doing whatever he can to mitigate the risks that come with performing. “At the same time I am trying as much as I can to mitigate the risk. I am trying to do what I can to stay socially responsible while trying to give everyone a break from whatever they are going through. I have a job, I have a contract and I work for a company and right now its more important for a company like ours to do what we do,” he said.
Edge said that his return to WWE is exciting for him because he believes the creative outlet it provides helps him perform his roles better at home.
“From a creative outlet, that is so exciting for me. Because I love telling stories and the storytelling process. That’s what I get off on and I am hands-on with all these things,” he said. “So to get back and be in the WWE where I am given that opportunity and trusted with being involved in every aspect, I love that process and I need that in order to be the best dad at home. I have that creative outlet, I get that out of my system and when I am home, I’m dad.”
Edge had announced his retirement in April 2011 and relinquished his World Heavyweight Championship title. “As the years passed I was feeling really good and I started putting in the work which I thought would be needed to come back. The whole process of coming back was such a challenge and I thrive on challenges.
“The challenge of doing something no one has done before in sports or entertainment — of coming back from a triple fusion surgery — that challenge got me through. And then that night at the Royal Rumble, that was when it started becoming real and tangible,” he said. Wrestlemania 36 will be held on April 4.
