By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week
From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.
Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.
Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit
5: Trish Stratus
4. Owen Hart
3: Edge
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 240 lbs.
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Greatest Match: Edge/Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz – Wrestlemania X-Seven
Question: What do Bret Hart, the Undertaker, Steve Austin, The Rock, John Cena, and Harley Race all have in common?
Answer: None of them have won as many World Championships in their long, illustrious careers as Edge has.
For those who aren’t keeping score at home, Edge has nine World Championship reigns.
Nine.
In fact, only three men have more World Title reigns than Edge: Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Triple H.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Gordon, those three guys aren’t Canadian. So, why isn’t Edge the greatest Canadian wrestler of the modern era?”
Well, I’ll tell you. Edge managed to amount that obscene number of World Titles in less than four years. This is due to three things: there are two World Championships, thus two World Champs at a time; titles change hands much more frequently than they used to (case in point: Jeff Hardy is a three-time champion and has zero successful PPV title defenses); and Edge’s “Ultimate Opportunist” gimmick.
The third reason may be the most damning. While I think the gimmick is very successful in generating heel heat, it may be hurting him in the long run. Of the nine World Title victories Edge has enjoyed, four fall into the “Edge Steals World Title In Surprise Matches” genre…
January 8, 2006 – Edge defeats John Cena by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.
May 8, 2007 – Edge defeats the Undertaker by cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.
November 23, 2008 – Edge defeats Triple H and Vladmir Kozlov in a match in which Edge replaced Jeff Hardy at the last moment.
February 15, 2009 – Edge wins an Elimination Chamber match over John Cena, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Mike Knox, and Kane. Edge wasn’t originally scheduled for this match; he attacked Kofi Kingston before the match and stole his spot.
Surely seeing Edge win this many titles in such a short period of time under such cheap circumstances has to fall under the law of diminishing returns. (You know, you eat one Big Mac, you’re not as interested in having another Big Mac immediately afterwards).
So now Edge is in the midst of his first-ever face push toward a World Championship. Is it going to fall flat? Probably.
Does anyone, even the most hardcore Triple H fan in the world, still get excited when Triple H claims another title?
Doubtful.
The same holds true for Edge. If he spears Chris Jericho and claims his tenth World Title at Wrestlemania X-Sixteen (sorry, couldn’t resist) will anyone care? It certainly won’t hold even close to the same significance as Shawn Michaels’ “Boyhood Dream” victory or Steve Austin’s “Kicking Off the Austin Era” victory.
In this era where World Titles are being passed around the locker room like Missy Hyatt, this lack of strong pushes and lengthy reigns is killing newly minted main event stars like Edge, Jeff Hardy and CM Punk.
Just going by the numbers, Edge is head and shoulders over our No. 1 and No. 2 best Canadian wrestlers of the modern era (which are coming in the next two weeks). But when you look beyond the numbers, he’s a distant third.
Now, I don’t want anyone to take this article the wrong way — Edge is an extremely talented worker who cuts strong promos and portrays an entertaining character. But basically, Edge is the Barry Bonds of wrestling. He’s got the numbers, they just don’t mean as much as they used to.
Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.
