The legacy of Edge makes him one of the greatest superstars in WWE history. Adam Copeland joined the company with huge expectations when adopting the character of Edge. A tag team run with his lifelong best friend Christian allowed them both to break out together as arguably the top duo of the Attitude Era. WWE ended the team during their peak to push Edge as a singles star considering he had such strong potential.
It turned out to be a great bet since Edge would go on to dominate the singles landscape of WWE for many years. The incredible track record of Edge featured 11 world title reigns, 14 tag title reigns, 5 Intercontinental Championship reigns, a Royal Rumble victory, the first Money in the Bank win and a Hall of Fame induction. We will look back at the career of Edge with five rivalries that made him a star along with five that surprisingly disappointed.
10 Best: Matt and Jeff Hardy
The first feud to help Edge start to break out on a stronger level during his tag team run with Christian came in their battles against Matt and Jeff Hardy. All four wrestlers pushed the envelope to new levels with iconic matches that changed the industry forever.
Edge continued his rivalry with each of the Hardy Boyz in singles fashion. The love triangle gone wrong between Edge, Matt and Lita featured Edge and Matt facing off in intense matches. Jeff and Edge had another impressive feud to showcase how far they’d come with a great slate of matches for the World Championship.
9 Disappointed: Triple H
It is a bit surprising that Triple H and Edge never had a great feud given they were both top stars around the same time. Their best work together came in tag team action with Edge and Randy Orton forming Rated RKO to take down Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ D-Generation reunion, but Triple H’s injury cut the feud short.
The biggest feud took place when Triple H revealed Edge was cheating on his storyline wife Vickie Guerrero with wedding planner Alicia Fox. Triple H got the better of Edge in their short feud, but it was a rivalry no one ever talks about given the lack of significance.
8 Best: Mick Foley
Mick Foley recently allowing Bray Wyatt to take him down with the mandible claw showed just how much he loves helping young talent get over. This is nothing new as Edge was one of the wrestlers to benefit from Foley coming out of retirement to help.
The genius storyline used Foley’s real history of disappointing WrestleMania matches to claim he wanted one at WrestleMania 22 against Edge. This was after Edge’s hot WWE Championship ended shortly for the John Cena/Triple H title match plans.
Foley and Edge stole the show with a classic that featured an iconic spear through a flaming table. It helped cement Edge as a legitimate top main eventer.
7 Disappointed: Alberto Del Rio
The last feud of Edge’s in-ring career ended faster than expected due to his career-ending injury. Alberto Del Rio won the 2011 Royal Rumble match to earn a title shot against Edge for the World Championship at WrestleMania 27. It could have been a great feud between an established legend and new rising star.
Their WrestleMania match was lackluster, and Edge retained in his final official match. The title was vacated shortly after with Christian defeating Del Rio for the title. Del Rio lost most of his momentum during this feud and Edge had a weak final feud to end his career.
6 Best: Kurt Angle
Edge’s rivalry with Kurt Angle was one of the first ones to help make the jump towards the main event picture. The two wrestlers were linked together as friends in Team RECK with Rhyno and Christian before Edge defeated Angle to win the 2001 King of the Ring and turn face.
Their big feud would start a year later with Angle losing his hair in a match to Edge. They had a couple of classic matches that showcased Edge was now able to hold his own against a former world champion and established main eventer.
5 Disappointed: Kane
Kane and Edge squared off in a few different angles as part of their rivalry. None of them really connected with the audience despite the fact they were legends to progress in the same time frame. Their biggest storyline came when Kane was having his final World Championship reign as a heel.
Edge was now a face that did his best to play mind games with Kane. Some of the tactics included abducting Paul Bearer as Kane’s manager and father figure. Edge ended Kane’s title reign, but it did little for either man since fans weren’t invested at a main event level.
4 Best: Undertaker
The Undertaker and Edge would become important feuds for each other in the late 2000s. Their first major match main evented WrestleMania 24 with both undefeated streaks at the event on the line. Undertaker would prevail to keep his longer streak going and winning the World Championship in the match.
The two legends went back and forth trading wins for the next year. Undertaker even took part in a rare TLC Match losing to Edge before returning the favor in Hell in a Cell. The rivalry between Undertaker and Edge carried the Smackdown brand win some of the best matches of the time.
3 Disappointed: Randy Orton
Randy Orton and Edge had some good times together during the Rated RKO tag team. However, their rivalry facing each other often left a lot to be desired. One forgettable feud took place in 2004 when Edge returned from an injury to end Orton’s Intercontinental Championship reign. This was the time when fans started turning against Edge’s face character.
Orton and Edge had a few more short runs against each other in their later years, but they never had a strong chemistry as opposition. Both men were better off in feuds against Undertaker, John Cena and Shawn Michaels rather than facing each other.
2 Best: John Cena
The most defining rivalry of Edge’s career featured him becoming the top heel to oppose John Cena. Edge officially ascended to the next level by cashing in his Money in the Bank title shot to dethrone Cena as the WWE Champion. Cena regained the belt for WrestleMania within a few weeks, but their feud continued.
Edge and Cena spent most of 2006 facing off in a few incredible matches. The most memorable one came when Cena ended Edge’s second pivotal reign by defeating him in a TLC Match in Edge’s home country of Canada. WWE went back to the rivalry a few times later as they always delivered together.
1 Disappointed: Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho and Edge were two of the best wrestlers of the 2000s, but they never had a great rivalry. Their first attempt came on Smackdown right after the original 2002 brand split. An injury to Edge ended things quickly as we never got a major match between them at the time.
WWE tried to run with them as a tag team in 2009 until another Edge injury cut it short. Jericho ran down Edge leading to his return as a face in the Royal Rumble to earn a title shot showdown at WrestleMania 26. Their match was a bit disappointing and the rivalry never could create the magic fans wanted.