Once upon a time, Edge was a hot heel in the WWE and, while feuding with John Cena, he became a main event star (thanks for being a whiner and getting Edge, but not yourself over, Matt). The Raw main event was, as always, crowded, so Edge lobbied to go to Smackdown. What followed was one of the great heel runs in WWE history as through his “Ultimate Opportunist†gimmick, feud with the Undertaker and Jeff Hardy, and relationship with heat machine Vickie Guerrero, Edge became the center of the entire brand. The move was a huge success, but now, back on Raw, we can see why it was a necessary one.
Despite being the most over natural heel on the roster, and make no mistake, with Chris Jericho leaving, Sheamus and Nexus don’t touch him, Edge is being utterly wasted on Raw. He’s gone from a centerpiece to a show that drew good ratings to a mid-card afterthought. Sure, he occasionally gets thrown in a big match, but he’s being used more as enhancement for others angles than having anything truly interesting to do on his own.
And that’s a shame. Edge has never been the very best wrestler on the roster, but he’s always been quite good, and his promos, with excellent expressions to really bring out his character, are even better. He’s a natural heat machine that fans love to hate and will pay money to see lose. He’s the rare heel who isn’t at all cool, but just cruel and evil enough to always find a way to beat his better opponents, no matter how cowardly he is. Fans and he himself both know he could be more, but he, like a true villain, would rather take the easy way out.
So how does Raw use him? They feud him with a computer.
Raw’s computer GM is a failed idea already. The fans turned on it about two weeks in and it’s complete nonsense with story serving character and no heat. The WWE, to get a freaking computer over, is having it outsmart Edge at every turn, making his life miserable. In trying to make the fans like the virtual GM, they are saying that fans should just hate Edge more and root for the stupid machine. Of course, that this terrible idea keeps topping Edge is just embarrassing and really hurts this formerly strong character’s credibility. So much for his reputation as a manipulative mastermind.
Now, with the Edge feud, the GM has to be a wrestler of some kind of there simply is no pay-off. As obvious as it is, the only logical wrestler for this to be is a returning Triple H. That’s terrible news for Edge. While the returning Cerebral Assassin could credibly outsmart him, Triple H is going to need to look good and strong upon his return and will likely crush Edge like he was King Booker. Triple H is, after all, a far better politician than anyone else with more far reaching ties. That’s why Edge left to Smackdown to begin with. What a waste.
Our own Jake Ziegler weighs in on the Best in the World Debate:
Chris Jericho has been all over the world. He’s wrestled extensively in Japan, Mexico, and Europe. He wrestled small territories in Canada, regional promotions in the United States like Smokey Mountain Wrestling and ECW. Over his 20 year career he has battled the likes of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Chris Benoit, Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, and just about every other major mainstream star during his career. He’s held championships everywhere. Just look at this list:
– WWE Championship (1x)
– World Heavyweight Championship (3x)
– Intercontinental Championship (9x)
– WWE Tag Team Championship (1x)
– World Tag Team Championship (4x)
– Cruiserweight Championship (4x)
– ECW Television Championship (1x)
– European Championship (1x)
– Hardcore Championship (1x)
– WCW Championship (2x)
That is a total of 27 major championships. It is safe to say that there is no one in the business has a resume that accomplished. Edge may have held more titles, but with Jericho’s experience and superior promo work gives him the overall advantage.
What I find most amazing about Jericho is that he got over being a sarcastic, funny, goofball kind of character. When he came back to the WWE in 2007 he seemed like such a lame duck character – someone who could have good matches with just about everyone but wasn’t in any interesting storylines. Then his feud with Shawn Michaels began, and Jericho took everything about what got him over in the first place and eliminated it completely in order to become a more sinister, sadistic character. His feud with Shawn Michaels is the best WWE has seen in years, and was a prime example of wrestling storytelling at its best. His tag teams with Edge and Big Show helped revitalize the tag team division and made the Unified Tag Team Titles seem more important. His feud with Rey Mysterio was just a shade below the work with Michaels. The matches the two of them had built off each other and made the Intercontinental Title something worth fighting for.
I don’t see any two ways about it – Chris Jericho is the best in the world at what he does.
That’s it for today. Remember to check back not only tomorrow morning at 10am for the Wednesday Backlash on the big news of the week, but at 4pm today for Jake Ziegler bringing you an awesome Dragon Gate USA Review! If you’re interested in previous Morning Backlash editions, click the tag for it below and click through the last week’s articles! See you all tomorrow morning!
