Last night at the Royal Rumble after 9 years out of the ring retired, fans were shocked and amazed to see the return of the Rated R Superstar Edge. Despite coming up short, Edge put on a strong showing and this has stirred up conversation on if he will have a match at this year’s Wrestlemania and who he will face.
Your task much like the other tie tonight is to choose and build up to who he should face and what match he should have at this year’s Wrestlemania. The advantage you guys have here is you have a completely blank canvas as it’s not yet confirmed what brand Edge will be on. This match can be singles, tag, multi-man elimination or any type of gimmick you want. You must also argue why your choice is stronger and would be more compelling to watch at Wrestlemania than your opponent’s would be.
RULES:
- You have 72 hours and 2 posts each in this debate. A maximum word count of 400 words per post will be allowed.
- All posts must be done within the 72 hour time limit so any posts made after the time limit will not count even if there is in an uneven number of posts at the end.
- All posts must be staggered. You can't make your next post until the other debater has had their turn.
- If there is a no-show from anyone after 72 hours, then their opponent who does turn up will automatically advance.
- No editing of posts allowed. Anything that is posted the first time is what will count so choose your words carefully.
- Pictures, gifs and videos can be used in literally unlimited amounts to support your point. Information should be self-contained within your post. For example, you can't post a link to an article and expect people to go read it. Quote it in your post.
The order of posting will be determined by a coin toss. The coin toss has revealed that Romford Pele will be going first!
Happy debating!
EDITOR'S NOTE: We're going on that the Raw angle from last night hasn't happened yet as this tie was posted before that took place.
Last edited by Badger; January 28th, 2020 at 10:25 AM.
So, following the return of Edge at the Royal Rumble, what should WWE do with him at Wrestlemania? It is simple, you book him in a match with the one guy that who you KNOW cannot have a bad match…
The face that runs the place, AJ Styles!
Why? What is it about AJ that makes the most sense?
Well, firstly as I mentioned above the guy is arguably along with Daniel Bryan, the best bell to bell performer in WWE and has been since he made his debut in 2016. He can have a great match with anyone – just look at his Mania dance partners so far:-
Jericho, Shane O’Mac, Nakamura and Randy Orton.
All very different styles (pardon the pun) yet AJ managed to pull good to excellent matches with all of them. We don’t know exactly what ‘wrestling shape’ Edge is in. He looks ripped yes, but being in gym shape is very different to going in the ring. After 9 years Edge needs someone who will be able carry a lot of the load so that his ring rust can be hidden. So this rules him out from working with one of the part time legends (we all remember Goldberg/Taker)
Secondly, with Edge coming back, he is clearly going to Mania as a face. That eliminates a lot of options as the current roster is already lopsided with loads of top faces. Edge’s return needs to have a clear face/heel dynamic for the storyline to work.
Thirdly, we can involve others in the build – The OC can get a rub by having promos and interacting with Edge. You can bring Christian in as part of the storyline. By extension, others stock can rise by interacting with a Hall of Famer.
Fourth, they interacted at the Rumble – you already have the seeds of a storyline. Edge injured AJ and AJ comes back for revenge.
Edge is back and wants to retire on his terms – what better way to do that than by wrestling the best ring to ring performer on the roster on the biggest stage?
AJ Styles v Edge should be booked for Wrestlemania 36.
“You think you know me.” Those words blasted over the Minute Maid Park as Edge made his surprise entrance at the 33rd (and arguably one of the very best) Royal Rumble. Most of the WWE universe couldn’t believe it was true, and it made the entire night even more memorable. Edge is back, nine years after a several neck injuries caused his premature retirement. And he is not just back for the Rumble, he is in the best shape of his life, and he will be back for as long as he can.
Edge delivered a spear-fest at the Rumble, and he intrigued the WWE Universe with the possibility of more and more. The list of potential opponents is special, as the WWE roster is as stacked as it has ever been.
But there is one opponent who has brought out the best in Edge, and we need to see it one more time. Randy Orton. When motivated, there is no doubt that Randy is one of the very best performers of this generation. The two of them will tell a memorable story, and they can give us something that has been missing in many of the current feuds. They can get fans interested in whatever story they are telling. It won’t be just about the great wrestling. It will be simply because they can get fans to CARE about both of them. There is no doubt that if these two are given a decent amount of time, they will show the rest of the roster what wrestling should be. It won’t be just a couple guys who are great in the ring but happen to be thrown together in 50/50 booking. It will be memorable.
Randy Orton is good wrestler and a future hall of famer, no doubt. But is it really anything new or different? Lets not forget they feuded in 2007 and 2010 and neither time was the feud particularly memorable or special.
Also, why bring Edge back and then have him feud with someone that he has already done so in the past? Surely after 9 years, with so much talent on the roster and potentially a limited number of dates and time you want to have some different matchups. Going back to the well with Randy Orton after such a long hiatus just isn’t very different or creative.
I take issue that AJ/Edge would be just a good match and have 50:50 booking. AJ can go on the mic, no problem – he is certainly more than just an elite worker. The beauty is you can built a feud here anyway you like. AJ could just want revenge for the Royal Rumble. He could attack Christian to make the feud personal. He could get his OC buddies to do a number on Edge. AJ has shown that he can get the fans to love him or hate him in equal measure – you just have to look at his feuds with the likes of Cena, Ambrose or Bryan to see that. He can do it all.
An AJ/Edge feud and match would benefit both guys. AJ by working with a Hall of Famer with star power; Edge by having his first match back with the best bell to bell worker in WWE.
AJ Styles is a good wrestler and a future hall of famer, n0 doubt as well. But what they would be missing is any history. The history that Edge and Orton have - the team Rated R-KO, was certainly memorable, and the kickoff to their feud on RAW was without a doubt Randy's best segment in many years. This angle is as hot as, if not hotter than anything WWE has given us since Becky's rise. The WWE Universe is begging for this already.
Don't forget, Randy matches are better when he seems motivated. I don't think Edge showed any ring rust in the Rumble appearance, but Edge and Randy both are skilled enough to hide their shortcomings, they will build a match that highlights their strengths.
In your first post you correctly pointed out Edge will be a face as he attempts his comeback, and he needs a strong heel to work with. But Randy is better as a heel than AJ is - and this is not meant disrespectfully to AJ. But AJ's character seems lost without a title to fight over - and a match with Edge will not be over a title. And Randy is more comfortable working as a heel.
They don't need to trot out Christian to make the fued personal. Edge's Hall of Fame wife, Beth Phoenix, was also featured in the Rumble, and it would be far more believable for Randy's character to deliver the "RKO outta nowhere" to Beth. If AJ tried to get into Edge's head by attacking his wife, it wouldn't work nearly as well.
- The winner of each tie will be chosen equally from 4 sources. 3 selected judges and a public vote.
- The 3 selected judges who will PM their votes to Mazer and myself. The judges are @Jarrod1983, @Psycho666Soldier and @virmicious so please send us your votes. Each judge's vote will be worth one point each to the total overall score.
- The 4th source is a public vote where readers can post in this thread who they felt had the better argument. The combined public vote will count as one point towards the overall score.
- If there is a 2-2 score in the total score of a tie after all the judging and public voting, then either myself, Mazer or perhaps a mystery judge will be asked to step in and break the tie.
- All votes must be backed up with solid reasoning. Anyone who just says stuff in their votes like "I voted for Mikey just because his argument was better or I agree with him" will be asked to elaborate on their vote further before it can be counted.
Voting will be open for 72 hours, same length as the tie.
I'm going for Romford. 3puppies used half of his first post to instead write a review of Edge's return, it felt like waffling. Romford got right into it and made a decent argument for Edge vs AJ.
I didn't find the Orton argument convincing and I don't think mentioning something that happened on Raw is really fair anyway - shouldn't be able to let the TV write it for you.
Almost a coin toss on who won for me but I have to give it to 3pup. I think the 2 post limit hurt both of you because both could have used some more fleshing out of maybe booking patterns of the WWE to counter each other more. That was really the only negative as both options made perfect sense. I was leaning toward AJ until I re-read the posts and was convinced that the more heat in the feud the better. And AJ has a tendency to get people on his side unintentionally as a heel due to how incredibly good he is in the ring.
My vote goes to Romford. Firstly, to be fair, one has to disregard what happened on RAW because it's an unfair advantage. Therefore, you have to ignore the first paragraph of 3pup's last post so while you do have the history in favor of Orton, you do have the concerns raised by RP about it being old hat, something done before, not particularly memorable and no guarantee they will actually care. Also, feel like 3pup wasted the first paragraph of his first post just describing Edge returning which felt like filler. I was more swayed by the idea of AJ based on it being fresh and what could be done with the feud and think Romford argued a bit stronger.
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3puppies takes it.
Excellent stuff from both, but the thing that put 3pup over the top was the fact that Orton is better at getting a heel reaction than AJ. Though I don't totally agree with every point he made, I feel that was the thing that put 3pup over the top for a win but Rom did not make it easy!
PUBLIC VOTE is tied 2-2 meaning the point is split so Rom and 3pups get half a point each.
JUDGE JARROD1983
Originally Posted by Jarrod1983
This was a tough one. I felt both came out swinging.
Pele had some good points in his first post, although I don't think Edge has much ring rust. He went 20 minutes at RR and I'd bet my house Edge and Beth have been training for this day for Edge for months. The Christian angle and The OC involvement would be interesting to see though.
3p did bring up that Edge looked to not have any ring rust and had a option for Beth taking a RKO which would probably have more impact than Christian's involvement or a OC beat down.
RP mentioned we've seen Edge/Orton before and that AJ would be a fresh match up.
I think 3pups got bogged down setting the stage with Edge's RR return and maybe could have put those words to better use.
In the end Romford Pele gets my vote. I feel like RP had excellent points and 3puppies could have done more to mention Orton/Edge's excellent chemistry together after RP said we saw this in 2007 and 2010. Push that Vengeance 2004 match (Great match!), the fact that 2007 they were involved in multi man matches like WM MITB match or the excellent 4-Way the month after and how we should have gotten a big PPV showdown after Rated RKO broke up. Bring up the Over The Limit 2010 match and how it ended in a double count out. 3p could have even pushed to save AJ for WM next year and that Orton is perfect to "reintroduce" Edge to a new generation of fans, some that didn't see their previous encounters.
Great debate!
1 point to Romford
JUDGE PSYCHO666SOLDIER
Originally Posted by Psycho666Soldier
This, unfortunately, is a victim of circumstance. Right out of the gate, 3puppies choosing the wrestler he did made it easy to visualize how the feud would go down, because it's actually happening on TV. Despite this, I think that Romford made a good case for AJ Styles as an alternative. He was smart to focus on AJ's ability to have a good match with anyone, allowing for Edge to look good no matter what ring rust he had. And bringing up the necessary face/heel dynamic was a good point to build on.
Unfortunately for him, 3puppies turned that against him when he mentioned that Orton is more effective at coming off like a hateable villain. And while I think RP was smart to bring up that it wouldn't be anything new, I think 3puppies was convincing that it didn't matter in lieu of what he could offer as far as making a compelling storyline. Adding that Edge and Orton have the experience to know how to have a good match with their limitations was a nice extra push.
RP's choice was good, and I think he did a fine job proving AJ would be a good choice. But his argument was never strong enough to convince me that it was an all-around better choice than Randy. So 3puppies gets my vote.
1 point to 3puppies
JUDGE VIRMICIOUS
Originally Posted by virmicious
Tie 2 features another decent debate where you can definitely feel both sides of the story. Personally for me, one thing led to the other downfall. That was 3pups kinda of dissing his pick in saying Randy has his shortcomings. While I get we see a lazy Randy here and there it has been evident that when Randy is "motivated" he is truly one of the best of all time. 3pups wants to make mention of RKO being motivated and how good he was but still have short comings. To me, if you are throwing you weight behind the pick you don't back down. ROM never faltered on AJ and why would you? Love both me but ROM gets the day here.
Final point to Romford
In the closet result so far, @Romford Pele wins in his official Wilfred's debut by 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 points! Unlucky @3puppies but like kdestiny, will keep you in my mind if there are any drop outs the rest of the first round.
Congrats, @Romford Pele, you deserve to move on. It's difficult to pick anyone over AJ Styles, but I am still glad we will get Randy doing something with a compelling story behind it. Randy v. Edge is still the best story WWE has going at the moment. I hope AJ gets something we can enjoy even half as much.
Thanks to all the judges - including the "public" votes. Reading the constructing reasoning behind the votes has been helpful - I agree I wasted the first part of my first post because I was still so pumped about Edge's return, and I should have focused more on who his first opponent should be.
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Originally Posted by virmicious
