Edge Reveals Past Talks With TNA, What Made Him Consider Signing With Them

Recently on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness, pro
wrestling great Christian talked about his WWE
departure in 2005 and WWE Hall Of Famer Edge
revealed that he was courted by GFW, the defunct
TNA, around 2008 or 2009.
According to Christian, he decided to leave WWE in
2005 because he was "burnt out", beat up, and tired
of being on the road for years. Additionally, 'Captain
Charisma' was dissatisfied over how his WWE run was
going, as WWE did not move him up to the main event
scene even though he was gaining popularity.
"It was a combination of different things, why that
happened. One of them was being burnt out, with
being tired. My body was beat up. I'd been on the
road straight since I was 24 [years old]. I think I was,
like, 31, at the time when I left. And also, it just kind
of felt like I was stuck in a rut and my situation
wasn't going to change if I stayed there at that point.
It was like, 'we know what we have with him. He's
there, he's doing his thing, he's good, [and] when
something comes up, we'll figure it out.' But that time
never came for me."
Christian explained, "even in that first kind of run, I
had a little TV program that I did with [John] Cena and
I was starting to get these crazy reactions and
nothing happened from there. I still didn't seem to
move up from there. It was one match. [It] turned
into a triple threat with [Chris] Jericho on the pay-per-
view and kind of got shuffled around again after that,
so to me, I was like 'well, if I was getting those
reactions and getting put in that spot and it's still not
happening, I have to do something here to change my
situation,' and that's when I decided to, when my
contract was up, I was probably going to step away
for a little while."
While leaving WWE was a gamble, but it worked out
for the best in Christian's view because his post-GFW
WWE run was better than his prior run 'up north'.
"You have to bet on yourself sometimes and my
contract came up and I decided that it was going to
be better, beneficial for me both personally and
professionally, to step away for a little while and
come back, and, hopefully, be seen in a different light
when the time is right to come back." Christian added,
"for me, it worked out, because I went away for three
years, came back, and I feel like the second part of
my singles career in WWE was much better than the
first."
While Edge said that "sometimes, taking a break and
going somewhere else, and, almost, for both parties,
absence makes the heart grow fonder," Christian
added that being featured in a different promotion can
help performers grow.
"Also [going elsewhere helps to] prove that you can
do that, even if it's on a smaller stage, that you can
carry a show, a main event type match. You can get
some buzz about you. You can step up your promos.
You can almost even branch out a little bit kind of as
far as being your own character, in a way. Do you
know what I mean? Like, there [are] not as many
parameters on the things that you can say and do.
Sometimes, that helps people develop as well. They
can kind of find themselves and what works for them
a little bit easier in that sense too and I found that
when I walked away as well."
Edge divulged that GFW reached out to him when his
WWE contract was ending around 2008 or 2009. 'The
Rated-R Superstar' acknowledged that the limited
schedule of Impact was enticing.
"Interesting little tidbit here that I don't even know
how much [Christian] know[s], if [Christian] even know
at all, to be honest. I don't recall talking to [Christian]
about it. I don't know how word gets out on contracts
being up and things like that, but there was one point
where my contract was coming up and TNA reached
out to me, and [Christian was] there, so they reached
out to me, and they told me numbers, and schedule,
and all of these things. And for me, at that point,
schedule was the thing that I was like, 'well, that'd be
a whole lot easier on the body' because I was getting
pretty beat up. It's like [Christian] said, I started with
WWE in '97. At that point it was like 2008 or 2009. I
can't even remember. It's a long time. Now, there
[were] breaks because of injuries, but that was my
body saying, 'take a break dude,' and I never did until
something broke."
Other attractive aspects of the then-TNA in Edge's
view were Christian being there and the opportunity
for fresh opponents. Ultimately, 'The Ultimate
Opportunist' recognized that he was not in a bitter
place, did not have a broken dream, and was not
prepared to leave it all behind.
"The idea that [Christian was] there, and the
opponents. If I went there, there's [Samoa] Joe,
there's AJ [Styles], there's a lot of fresh things to do,
but for whatever reason, from day one WWE felt like
my home. It felt like the place that I'd always wanted
to get to. I did those two TV matches in WCW against
Kevin Sullivan and Meng and within five minutes of
walking into that locker room I was like, 'I don't want
to be here - I could tell this is not the place for me.'
And the dream was still WWF and getting there.
"And then, finally seeing the inner workings and then
working into a position where I was one of the main
event guys and I was factored in, it just felt like they
did put that faith in me, that they did pull the trigger
with me for whatever reason they did and I felt like I
can't look that gift horse in the mouth. And sure,
there was work involved, but 'I got to stick it out here
and I got to stay here. I just want my career to be
here and nowhere else.' But for [Christian], I do
believe that was definitely the right thing to do."
Christian went on to clarify his comments and express
how difficult it was to leave WWE.
"Don't get me wrong, like how [Edge is] saying WWE
felt like home to [Edge] and it was home to me as
well, and it crushed me to leave. It really did. It was
one of the hardest things that I've ever had to do.
Saying 'goodbye' on my last night there, tears in your
eyes and you're crying because you don't know when
you're going to see your friends again. And these are
all the people that become your family when you're on
the road and spending so much time with them, and,
in a sense, you're leaving your family for something
that's unknown."
Also on this episode of E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness,
the duo behind the Con-chair-to delivered an interview
with NXT's Drew McIntyre. Check out the podcast
here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this
article, please credit E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness with
an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

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