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411’s WWE 24: Edge: The Second Mountain Report – Edge On His Talk With Vince McMahon After Getting Offer From AEW, More

April 5, 2020 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
WWE 24: Edge

411’s WWE 24: Edge: The Second Mountain Report

-Original Air Date: 04/05/20
-Run Time: 1:14:53

-It’s time to wrap up WrestleMania weekend with the latest episode of WWE 24. Before getting there though, I will say I enjoyed Night One of WrestleMania and while certainly not a normal Mania, it was still nice to have something to look forward to and watch. I thoroughly enjoyed the Main Event for all the craziness involved and it worked perfectly to cap off a unique show. Now, it’s time to check out the new 24 that follows Edge as he makes his comeback inside a WWE ring. Let’s get to it!

-Edge starts by telling us initially this documentary was about life after wrestling and what he was doing. Then stuff started happening and it became a possibility that he could make an in ring return. He talks about being given a second act after thinking the first act was it. Nice as they show Edge backstage waiting and we hear the buzzer and theme as it bleeds into the show opening.

-WrestleMania XXVII: Atlanta, GA: Hey, I was there for this show. It was my 3rd Mania in a row and the last one I attended. Funny how the year before I was there for Shawn’s last match and then he returned at the Saudi show and then I was there for Edge’s last match and he returned. I was also in Pittsburgh for the Royal Rumble when CM Punk had his last match, so we will see if his retirement sticks. Edge says he knew he was in pain, but thought it was normal as he already had one neck surgery. The only one who thought it could be something more was Jey (Christian). Edge recalls looking out at the crowd and really soaking in the moment. His friend, Mike, sent him a text asking him if that was his last match based on the look on his face. Edge says he was going to take a break, but he felt he had another year in him.

-After Mania he went to see a doctor and Vince called him with results. Vince told Edge that he needed to retire. Edge feels what he wanted to do as a kid was taken away from him as it wasn’t his choice. We travel back to Edge’s retirement announcement on RAW and it’s still heartbreaking. Edge tells us that he was a wrestler and that’s all he wanted to be. He was sad for a few days and then looked back on all he accomplished. Christian tells us that Edge has held more titles than anyone in WWE history. It wasn’t the ending Edge wanted, but he couldn’t complain because he finished as World Champion with a match at WrestleMania. He just wishes he would have known it was his last match.

-We see Edge doing a radio show after his retirement and he talks about filming Haven. The producer of the show saw Edge’s retirement speech on RAW and thought he would work for their show. He picked up what they wanted him to do quickly and one episode turned into 42 of them. Edge mentions wrestling and acting are on the same tree, but different branches. Beth Phoenix is here talking about Edge going all in on acting and taking classes.

-He also still had pain and couldn’t do things like holding a coffee cup. Another surgery was needed, but he kept putting it off. He finally had the surgery and it took away a headache that he never knew he had. To him it just seemed normal and it was amazing to realize it went away. He was pain free, but was also told that wrestling was off the table. That made Edge wash his hands of pro-wrestling and it wasn’t because of ill will, but because he couldn’t do it, so he stopped watching.

-Little by little though he started to get sucked in by doing the podcast with Christian and then the E&C show for the WWE Network. It took a few years but he realized he could still watch it and enjoy it. He then took a trip to NXT and the performance center. He loved the passion from the kids and he gave all of them his number to call if they had questions. Ciampa took him up on the offer and would spend hours sending his messages. Edge was one of his favorite wrestlers and he marked out to his wife that he thinks he’s friends with Edge. I guess you could say that Ciampa thinks he knows him. Ciampa went through his own neck injury and surgery so Edge was right there to help him get through things when he had questions. The whole deal with the NXT kids got the creative juices going again for Edge.

-He kept getting acting jobs where he had fight scenes including Vikings. He talks about how physical that show was to do and he felt good physically after each shoot. They include some of his scenes from the show and his accent is decent. The producer from the show mentions they wanted their actors to do their own stunts. Edge admits he never went there thinking that wrestling could be possible because he was able to do fight scenes in a movie.

-Then tragedy as Beth’s father passed away and soon after Edge lost his mom. I remember her being all over the Edge documentary after his career ended and she seemed like a sweet lady that adored her son. Obviously that put Edge in a funk and they show us Edge having his mom come out on stage as he was wrapping up his career. They show her doing his entrance and it’s fantastic! Beth mentions they were both wrecked. Then Vikings wrapped and Edge was done with that show.

-Edge finally went back to the doctor to get a check up on his neck. The local doctor told him that everything looks great and there was no pressure on his cord. Everything looked normal and Edge still didn’t think wrestling and was focused on mountain biking. He did some rides with Sheamus and we get footage from that. After those trips his wheels finally started turning and he thought there was more to this than meets the eye.

-He headed up to Toronto for NXT/SummerSlam weekend to visit Beth. He was in his old stomping grounds and says Toronto will always be home even if he has been living in North Carolina. This is where the WWE asked to do this documentary. Wow, so they did just happen to luck into him coming back to the ring.

-Edge heads to the arena and geeks out over the Stanley Cup banners in the rafters. He talks about the history he has in the arena. Edge and Christian broke up there and had their last singles match there against each other there. He also had a TLC Main Event with Cena and he started dating Beth after they had a show in the arena.

-Christian meets up with Edge at his request to go through a box that was left in his mom’s closet. His aunt had found the box and inside was things she kept that Edge made. There is a comic book Edge made of him and Christian as wrestlers. There are also designs of tights that he drew and some of them were actually made. He knows his mom knew that stuff was important to him even if he forgot they were important. That is just amazing and I am sure mom’s all over the world have similar things.

-Takeover Toronto: Cole and Gargano have one of the greatest matches of all time. It doesn’t mean much to this story but they showed a few moments from the match so I figured I would mention it. Edge had fun getting caught up with everyone including Mark Henry and Jeff Jarrett. Vince brought up the idea of him possibly cutting a promo. They were in Toronto so he figured Edge should make an appearance. Edge mentions he loves acting, but nothing can match being in front of a WWE crowd. Elias does a concert and kills the crowd by mentioning wanting to leave like Kawhi Leonard. Cue Edge’s music and the crowd goes insane. He breaks Elias in half with a spear! We see Edge backstage with Beth who isn’t all that thrilled that he did something physical. She jokes that she will be mad with him off camera.

-Edge says he knows what his capabilities are and he knows what he can do physically. He was listening to the audience and he knew what they wanted to see. Credit to Elias for going along with it and selling it so well.

-So SummerSlam happened and then he was contacted by another company in the industry (AEW though obviously not mentioned) to see if he was interested. Edge felt he should go find out and Beth told him he needed to see the best doctors and then she needed to see where he was. They saw 5-6 doctors and she kept thinking someone would say no and it never happened. He told AEW that when they give him an offer he needed to talk to Vince because he has always done right by him. He puts Vince over for giving him a chance and he told Vince he wanted to meet face to face. He wasn’t trying to get a bidding war as the WWE didn’t even know it was possible. Vince told him it had to happen here and sent him to see their doctors. Beth felt the visit with Dr. Maroon was going to shut things down. She was heading to NXT and when she landed a text came through: I’m cleared. With that text Edge was born again.

-Edge was content with being a dad, husband, and actor, but a new challenge was out there and he was going to sink his teeth into it. Beth says she was terrified but also excited for him. The doctors told him things he couldn’t do and Edge understood he could not longer dive through flaming tables. Now his matches have to be more nuanced and he is ok with that.

-He heads to Stanford and meets with all the officials in the various departments to come up with a plan. I love seeing stuff life this. Of course Edge already made a design for his gear that included his daughter’s initials and various callbacks to his career. Edge’s thought process is to come back at The Rumble and he wants to keep it as close to the vest as possible. He knows there have been rumors online and people know he was in Pittsburgh and assumed it was to the see the WWE doctor.

-Edge talks about how the internet has been great for wrestling, but also ruins surprises: they show Bryan being cleared, Morrison signing with WWE, etc. He wanted to have one of those moments that are rare in wrestling so he sent out a tweet saying he was done and not coming back. He had a goal for The Rumble and had something to work towards.

-We see footage Edge shot on his phone of him training in a ring for the first time. He has a WWE ring set-up on his property. He couldn’t go to the PC because people would know, so he called HHH and asked if he could get his own ring. They didn’t bat an eye and set one up for him. He talks about how crazy this would have been when he was a kid to be told he would have his own ring one day. Even at his age now it’s still crazy to see.

-Edge admits to having doubts as he was working on things and it was Beth how helped him fight through. He is able to sit down with her to talk ideas and it works because she understands where he is coming from. He admits it is odd to wrestle her and laughs because she can body slam him with no problem. He calls it kick ass to have a wife that can wrestle him and help him keep this secret.

-Next is footage of Edge being dad as Beth is on the road commentating for NXT. His girls are adorable as they video call Beth with how their day has been going. Beth is gone 2.5 days a week and it’s a lot for then to juggle. We see the crazy note system them have on a white board, but it works for them. Their goal is to always have at least one parent home with the kids to keep things normal. Edge thinks what his mom showed him in parenting that no matter what he will always have their backs. As I mentioned above, Edge’s mom always came off as someone that adored her son and was there to support him. Seeing Edge make lunches and fix their hair for school is tremendous! From Live Sex Celebrations to making sure the girls have a Christmas book for school and it’s fantastic to see.

-Workout time as Edge rediscovered the gym when he had the girls as he knew he needed to be healthy for them. He built a gym on his property and it made it easier to get back into things. Now he is training for a return and says “no knock on anybody, but I’m not training for a 40 second match.” Damn! One of his goals was to train is neck muscles to help avoid concussions. The routine looks like hell and why I have respect for anyone that can put in all this work. He wants to look like a million bucks at this his age.

-Edge is off to pick up Beth from the airport so she can throw him around a wrestling ring. He is at a point where he needs to get reps and comfort. She is on only 2 hours of sleep, but she is sacrificing for him. They show some of the photos and posters Edge has on his walls and one is of him and Hogan with the tag titles. Nice! All the photos and pictures are up to make it look like more than a garage or warehouse. Beth admits she can only do so much, so Dash Wilder is brought it. Oh man, this could be the last thing we ever see from him that is WWE related for some time. Beth playing ref and providing commentary while they work is funny. Edge says he and Dash go way back as they worked together in a gym. Dash didn’t mention he was a wrestler because he didn’t want to bother him. Edge found out and they connected. He went to bat to help Wilder find an in and all these years later, he is now helping Edge. Dash is amazed at how well Edge is moving around and it made him realize that he is going to kill it.

-Under all of this it’s about having fun as we get footage of him and Beth wrestling again while she yells at him about doing the dishes. Nice! They brawl on the floor a bit and they want to make this experience fun for the fans, but also for them. Dash wants to lighten the mood because he knows Beth may have some fears considering that is her husband and father of her children. Beth breaks down a bit as she promised Edge’s mom that she would look out for him. She knows Edge is going to be great, but she needs Edge to be safe for their kids. She knows they have a great group around them that will make sure he is safe.

-We are off to Houston for the Royal Rumble. Carrano is there and asks Edge if he is sure he wants to do this. Edge says to ask him after the match. He hides his face and gets rushed into an office as quickly as possible. He knows there are some rumors out there, but he is doing all he can to make it special for the audience. He knows that when he was a fan that it was so much better when it was a surprise. I will say I heard the rumors, but didn’t buy them so I was shocked to see it. Beth brings him a coffee and asks “is he naked” as she walks in with camera and sound people all in the room. Edge laughs at the question and says he was just hiding so nobody could see him through the open door.

-Christian knew the moment was going to be big when he saw that Edge was nervous. He knows he wants to come back as Edge and not a shell of what he was. Edge breaks out his new jacket that weighs about 40 lbs. He plugs the company that makes the jacket. He will know he succeeded if people come away thinking “damn, that guy can still go.”

-Rumble match time and Edge is getting stretched out and loose. This is the second chapter, but in his mind it is still all fantasy. Becky Lynch is backstage when Edge came out and she is marking out. Aleister Black is awed by the fact he is going to be in the ring with Edge. That had to be a surreal moment for a lot of those young guys. They work in the spot where Brock was eliminated by McIntyre.

-The moment arrives, the music hits, and the crowd explodes as Edge makes his return. Amazing moment! They slow things down to show Edge’s face as he makes his entrance as he soaks in everything. Nice touch there! Beth is in tears as she watches backstage and this is just epic. I love the people who produce these shows.

-Now we are into it and Edge hands out spears to everyone and I am sure they were all thrilled to take them. Orton arrives to reform Rated RKO and you kind of knew they were setting something up between the two of them. There was a brief instance they teased something with AJ, but Orton makes more sense. Edge eliminates Orton and that is where you knew they were setting up a program. Edge makes it to the finalthree and gets eliminated by Reigns, who is used to getting booed so it was better for him to do it than McIntrye. Drew wins the match a few minutes later and he is heading to the Main Event of WrestleMania.

-Edge heads back through the curtain to a standing ovation and Shane is there to greet him first. Owens is there and he is grinning for ear to ear. Edge talks about taking the Deep 6 as his first bump and it felt good from there. Drew tells Edge he loves him and thanks him for the match. Beth who looks wrecked with emotion for the night meets him and they go looking for their family. Christian says he told him he looks like he belongs and looked like Edge.

-Edge winds down from the match and now it feels real. He half expected that the buzzer going off was going to be his alarm and one of his daughters was going to wake him up. He is just giddy over the reaction from the crowd. Christian talks about getting sent a video from a bar with the reaction to Edge’s return and we get a montage of videos of people freaking out over the return. It’s a good thing nobody records me during moments like that.

-He knows this was supposed to be a different type of documentary at first, but wants people to get out of it that he is now able to go out on his own terms. Beth tries to wrap his head around why all this has happened this year. She thinks this could be Edge’s mom doing what she can to remind Edge of who he is. The last 4 minutes are set to a song with a montage of everything while Edge talks about how he gave everything the first Act, but he realized he has a second Act in him. His promo on RAW after Rumble is covered and he just looks like he is having a blast.

-An In Memory Graphic closes: “In loving memory of Judy Copeland 1953-2018.”

-I know I say this after nearly all of these, but that was amazing. This was well done every type of emotion involved and a did a fantastic job of giving up the motivation behind the return. It also covered the justified fears Beth had, but also her reasons for standing beside his decision. I also appreciate they left in that Edge did received an offer from AEW (again, without naming them) and covered the online rumors. That kind of stuff happens and should be discussed as it is part of the overall story. This was a great table setter for Mania tonight and I think Edge and Orton will deliver something epic in a subdued setting. As for this special, go out of your watch to watch this one. Thanks for reading and join me Tuesday night for Backstage!