Edge gets big-time DVD treatment

December 23, 4:43 AMPro Wrestling ExaminerMark Satrang

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Edge:  A Decade or Decadence

World Wrestling Entertainment released their newest superstar anthology DVD set today, this time for the wrestler simply known as “Edge.”

These DVD sets have been huge cash cows for WWE, as their expansive wrestling tape library allows them compile footage from a variety of wrestling promotions all in one easy package. But for Edge it was not needed, as the man born Adam Copeland was been a WWE staple since he made his television debut in the late spring of 1998.

He was and is a lifelong professional wrestling fan. Born and raised in the Toronto, Ontario, area he was in the crowd as a young boy for the April 1990 WrestleMania VI WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between his hero Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior held in the Toronto Skydome. Twelve years later at WrestleMania XVIII, Edge was competing in the same arena as his boyhood idol Hogan once again fought in the main event.

Edge’s journey starts like many wrestlers did back in the day. He worked his way through the regional promotions across Canada and the United States before being signed to WWE in 1997. He then spent time in the company’s developmental leagues and training camps before finally making his big-time television debut in 1998. He then, like so many before him, honed his craft as a low card tag team wrestler as he worked his way up the card. By early in the new millennium he became a solid fixture in the company’s mid-card before finally breaking out as a main event level superstar in 2006.

This DVD set takes you through that entire journey, match-by-match. Over the course of three discs, twenty-eight of Edge’s most memorable, impactful, entertaining and monumental matches are shown in their entirety, sandwiched in between comments from the man himself.

The matches chronicle Edge’s journey through the tag team ranks with his storyline brother and real-life best friend “Christian” as they innovate tag team wrestling for a new generation of wrestling fans. It then documents Edge’s coming out party as a viable singles star, as he earns singles championships and gets valuable on-the-job training from wrestlers much more experienced and higher up on the food chain than him at the time.

Edge also picks some of his own sentimental favorites, including matches against boyhood idols like Mr. Perfect and Owen Hart and the match were he actually wins the World Tag Team Championships with his true hero Hulk Hogan.

Over the course of his decade-plus long run working for WWE, he has picked up six World Championships, five Intercontinental Championships, a United States Title, and a record twelve tag team championships with five different partners (and those numbers are still growing.) He has survived numerous injuries, a legitimate love triangle and many character changes in order to become one of WWE’s legitimate, bonafide homegrown superstars.

This isn’t a career retrospective or a character biography of someone who is long gone or past his prime. This is a time capsule portrait of a professional wrestler who is currently at the top of his game and still considered in his prime.

The old adage is strike when the iron is hot, and WWE did just that with this anthology of Edge. It’s a smart business move in order to draw in newer fans who might not be familiar with the legacy Edge has built for himself, and it’s a great way for long-time viewers to relive the memories of someone they may have grown up with.