Edge remembers his career

In honor of Edge’s recent retirement, I decided to dust off an old interview I did with him for the WWE Championship book (buy it here). It was probably one of the shortest interviews The Rated-R Superstar gave me over the years–mainly because he was minutes away from competing–but it resulted in many memorable quotes. Of course, most of the interview ended up in the book, but here are some quotes from the cutting room floor. Enjoy:

How did you celebrate winning your first WWE Championship?
We had to drive from Albany to Hershey, which was about a 300-400 mile drive. I was starving, so I stopped at this tavern … it was the only thing that was open about halfway in between, and I only knew about it because of the GPS. I think I had chicken wings. But what I remember most is getting back to my room and sitting the title on the TV stand and thinking ‘wow, look at that thing.’ And I remember hating the design of it. It was horrible, but hey, it’s the WWE Championship.

Years later, do you ever regret the live sex celebration that followed?
No. That was part of my character. My job at that point was to push buttons and if people were offended by that, it meant that I did my job. And the ratings tell a story that it did push buttons and it did get people talking and that’s part of my job.

But it’s definitely a different feeling standing there in your Calvin Kleins than it is in your tights. People ask me if I was excited, I say ‘no, I was scared to death.’ If anything, ‘my boys’ were looking for someplace to go.

Compare how different it is–if at all–to be WWE Champion versus World Heavyweight Champion.
They both hold such a distinction. For me, the World Heavyweight Championship goes back through the lineage of the NWA Championship, which technically would have more history. But I also grow up being a fan of Hulkamania and all that it entailed, so I can’t put one over the other. When it comes to appearance, though, I’ll take the World Heavyweight Championship over the WWE Championship any day. I can’t stress that enough.

Who do you think was the greatest WWE Champion of all time?
Hogan and Bret for different reasons. Hogan was the one that turned me on to this industry. He was a larger than life being to me, as I’m sure Cena is to kids nowadays. But to me, Hogan was a real-life superhero. Then as I got older and started to understand the nuances to what this thing was, I always wanted to watch Bret’s matches. I think he along with Shawn Micahels ushered in a new era where a guy like myself or Jeff Hardy or Chris Jericho can actually make it to the top. We don’t have to be 6’7″ and 300 pounds.

For more from Edge, pick up a copy of the WWE Championship book.
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