Everyone under the sun is aware that on April 5th at WrestleMania 36, Edge and Randy Orton are all but set to face-off in a violent Last Man Standing match. This came after this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw when ‘The Rated-R Superstar’ challenged his rival to the highly-intense grudge match. Edge delivered one of his best promos of all time with such conviction and emotion, but I feel like this story is missing one key ingredient: Christian.
‘The Rated-R Superstar’ made a triumphant return at this year’s Royal Rumble where he delivered spear after spear after being forced to retire nine long years ago. The very next night on Raw, he was reconnected with his former Rated-RKO tag team partner, Randy Orton, who heinously and unmercifully attacked the Hall of Famer. The uncomfortable image of a vicious con-chair-to was engraved into the minds of the WWE Universe for weeks.
‘The Viper’ then began to target Matt Hardy, a superstar of Edge’s past who was only trying to do the right thing and in return suffered the same fate. Two weeks later, Edge’s real-life wife, Beth Phoenix, made a return to Raw to deliver a heartfelt injury update about her husband. She was rudely interrupted by Orton who questioned her devotion to Edge by allowing her husband to return to in-ring competition.
‘The Viper’ stated that in a way he truly loved Edge more than she ever could. Phoenix, filling her husband’s head up with false hope of wrestling again with a recuperated neck, was foolish. This led to her attempting to low-blow Orton, which resulted in a disgusting RKO. The following week, an irate Edge returned and that’s where I feel WWE messed up what could have been an incredible throwback moment.
Why wouldn’t they have Christian play a role in the ongoing storyline? Edge and Christian have been synonymous in each other’s careers since arriving in WWE back in the 90s. Bringing Edge’s real-life best friend and former tag team partner back as another victim for ‘The Viper’ to eliminate would have added another incredibly personal touch to the rivalry.
It would’ve evoked a similar emotion to when Triple H’s best friend Shawn Michaels was interjected into his rivalry with Brock Lesnar ahead of their blockbuster match at the 2012 SummerSlam pay-per-view. The haunting image of HBK screaming in agony while locked in Lesnar’s Kimura Lock was exactly what the story needed.
‘Captain Charisma’ could even bring up his and Orton’s past rivalry over the World Heavyweight Championship from 2011. Christian could deliver a heartfelt promo about how much that meant to him on a personal level. Orton would interrupt him claiming that once again, he was only trying to give Edge his life back outside of the squared circle.
In my opinion, watching Christian on the verge of another vicious con-chair-to and Edge making his return to thwart Orton’s sadistic plans would have given the current storyline the extra fuel for the fire. With nearly a month before The Show of Shows, WWE could have really hit a home run and provided a new twist to eat up more time.
Instead, Edge returned the next week and the challenge has been laid out for Mania, given that ‘The Viper’ accepts next week’s edition of Raw. We could have even quite possibly seen Christian in Edge’s corner for WrestleMania but now we’ll never know and perhaps even a full reunion in the main roster’s ailing tag team division further down the line.
Do you think Christian could still insert himself into this growing rivalry? How would you book the return of ‘Captain Charisma’? let us know in the comments below.
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