WWE: It’s important to understand where Edge is coming from

WWE legend Edge reacted sharply to criticisms of his match with Randy Orton at WrestleMania 36, and if you try to put yourself in his shoes, you can’t help but empathize with the man.

If you told me even three months ago that Edge would step foot inside a WWE ring, I would have told you to stop irresponsibly speculating about the man’s future. And if you told me he would appear in the Royal Rumble and have a brutal Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania, I would have told you to save your creative fantasy booking ideas on someone who’d actually be competing during WrestleMania season.

But against all the odds, Edge is back doing what he loves the most. He’s also still quite good at it. There will always be concern about his health and the risk of anything happening to his neck after it seemed like his career was over after a serious, even life-threatening, injury.

As his WWE 24 so powerfully shows, it has been a long road back for Edge, whose expression upon his remarkable entrance at Royal Rumble 2020 told the story of a man wanting nothing more than to spread love and joy to millions of adoring fans.

That’s what probably made it so difficult for The Rated R Superstar to see criticism of his emotional, personally meaningful return match with long-time frenemy Randy Orton at WrestleMania 36.

The match itself was long, yes. But that’s how Last Man Standing matches work in WWE. It was also very good, with a dramatic ending that showcased the very best of Edge’s acting chops.

Yet not everyone will like every match or will like every aspect of every match. There are always valid criticisms, and there will always be people who criticize, especially on Twitter, aspects of match. That’s how subjectivity goes, right?

Edge brought up the subjectivity of critiquing art, but many wrestling fans were disappointed with the harsh tone of his response to the commentary from fans. And I understand that perspective.

Here’s what The Rated R Superstar said on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast:

"“Everyone is entitled to their opinion, it’s wrestling, right? It’s art. It’s subjective, whatever blows your hair back. Randy and I have broad shoulders and we can weather the weight of a minuscule militia of malcontents who will just want to complain about everything. Complain about the length of a wrestling match during a pandemic? Really? Come on. But they are also the same people that are gonna complain that Bill and Brock go for four minutes. I just think there is a segment of people that enjoy not enjoying things and dwell on negatives, but I focus on positives.”"

[H/T Cageside Seats’ Cain A. Knight]

I understand where Edge is coming from, too. And I think it’s important that others take some time to do so.

Edge’s path to returning to the ring was difficult and fraught with uncertainty. Would the fans react to him as boisterously as they did before? Did they still have it? And then the fear, the anxiety of returning from such a severe injury with all the questions that entails beyond those related to performance or ability.

He didn’t do it all for fans. To suggest so would be arrogant and dismissive of all the other reasons – many personal – for him wanting to return. But I can’t help but think that being able to bring joy to others and share his gifts to the world in a positive way is important to Edge.

So to see negative reactions in his first match back must have been tough for Edge to see. It’s normal for him to react strongly to criticisms, even if they were, likewise, normal for fans. From Edge’s perspective, it can be overwhelming to see a flurry of tweets or articles with critiques of a return match that meant so much to him personally, and it can even feel a little bit like betrayal.

We’ve seen other wrestlers talk about the pressure instant feedback and social media puts on them. Negative comments stick and seem magnified in our brains, making all the countless positivity lost in the sea of words. I’m a writer. I know this phenomenon well.

When Edge last wrestled – and put his heart and soul into his work as a performer – he did so in an era where social media was different. Not more or less toxic; I think using that word is reductive and misses the complexity of digital human interaction. But it’s more active, reactive, and, again, overwhelming.

I understand the criticisms of Edge’s match. I think they are valid, especially since many of the people taking issue with certain aspects of it (mostly length) also enjoyed it.

But I understand where Edge is coming from. And I think we should be mindful of where he’s coming from and attempt to be supportive of him, since his journey “back” didn’t have a definitive endpoint at the Rumble or WrestleMania. It’s an ongoing process of being “back”, and, as a fan base, we share some responsibility in welcoming him “back”. As fans, we have a right to be critical, but we should also do our best to remember the unique situations of the human beings whom we watch and critique each week.