All language subtitles for EP-07 - Edge

[soft dramatic music]

- [sighs]

♪ ♪

Wwe superstars
are part gypsy,

Part circus...
[crowd cheering]

Part actor,
part writer,

Part athlete.

Wrestling is all of that
thrown into one pot,

Mixed up,
and you burp out a wrestler.

Colorful outfits,

High flying...

- For the love of god!

He may be broken.

- Explosions.

It's theater in the round.

It's live.

You have no net.

You've got a live
microphone and a camera.

You have no idea the pain
that I have gone through.

Those are your tools
to tell your story.

- This is hell on earth.
- How in god's name

Can a human being even move
after that?

- Oh, no, it's unbelievable.

- That, to me,
is just so fascinating.

♪ ♪

It's the best gig in the world.

♪ ♪

- Look out!

- When he was a kid,
he wanted to be a wrestler.

He lived his whole life
wanting to be a wrestler.

- Downward spiral
from the ladder.

- The way he could've
happened and all the adversity

That he's had to go through.
- Oh, man.

- Carnage--
- there was still the knock

On edge that he wasn't tough.

- Oh, my god!

Edge from the 20-foot ladder!

- He was never the biggest,
never the strongest,

Never the fastest.

- He forced himself and pushed
himself and willed himself.

- He was someone that was
willing to risk it all...

- Oh, my god!

- To entertain the people who
paid money to see him wrestle.

- Whatever he wants to get,
he's gonna manifest.

- I don't know if I've ever
witnessed a wrestlemania

Moment like we just saw.

- When it comes to do or die
situations, I thrive.

- I was shocked
that he had to end

His career before his time.

[cheers and applause]

- There's gonna
be uneasiness that

Is never going to go away.

- Edge has shocked the world.

- The impossible.
He did the impossible.

- The ultimate opportunist.

- The rated-r superstar, edge!

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Growing up in orangeville,
I was a shy kid,

Which seems
counterintuitive

To what I ended up doing
for a living.

But I was a pretty quiet kid
and pretty well-behaved.

I--it was just
me and my mom,

And she worked
multiple jobs to--

To make sure that, you know,

I had enough food

'cause I ate a lot.

♪ ♪

- She was a single parent.

She was raising adam, and she
had several jobs at once.

And she would do whatever
it took to raise adam

The right way, I guess.

♪ ♪

Orangeville's a pretty, uh--

It's not the funnest town,

But it's a safe place.

It's probably what you'd call
a good place to raise a family.

Not a whole lot
going on usually.

Here's another place
where adam and judy lived.

Adam and judy,
they moved around

Probably, boy, about
half a dozen times at least

Over the years.

They lived once downtown,
then they lived in the place

I just showed you.

There are a couple more places
all around there.

♪ ♪

- There was this back alley
to the back of our apartment

And it was these rickety
old stairs.

I would try and sneak down
this back alley

So no one would see
where I lived

Because I thought,
ah, if there's anybody

Driving by they'll go,
"what's adam doing there?

Does he live up there?"

You go through those times
and those periods

Where you're self-conscious,
you're shy.

And some of that can be
because of finances,

Or you're the poor kid

Or you're the kid
that's gotta wear

The same shoes for a while.

I'm sure my mom probably
sensed that,

Which probably was not
an easy thing for her.

But she did everything
that she possibly could.

♪ ♪

- Judy worked two jobs
sometimes,

You know, making ends meet.

She did--she was
an amazing mother.

She did a wonderful,
wonderful job

Just to keep a roof
over adam's head.

- We kinda lived
paycheck to paycheck.

And I remember there was this
thing called the baby bonus.

I think it was
like 35 bucks a month.

I'd go down the stairs,

And I'd always look
in that mailbox

To see if that envelope
was there,

'cause I knew that 35 bucks
was really gonna help.

That was the difference
between that final week

Being pretty lean or we're
gonna have a casserole.

♪ ♪

Definitely some stress,
but you're a kid, right?

So it kind of
bounces off of you.

And maybe on deeper layers,
deeper levels,

It is helping to form the
person you're going to become,

But you don't realize
that at the time.

- She was everything to adam
and vice versa.

Adam was her life, period.

- It kinda felt like
her and I against the world.

She just put her nose
to the grindstone.

And what she taught me
was work ethic.

Nothing will come easy.

If it's something
that you want,

If it's something that
you truly want to attain,

There's gonna be
work involved.

And the reward
will be worth it.

I can look back now,

And I think her reward
was my success.

♪ ♪

- He got a lot of love.

And that--you know,
when you're a little kid

And you don't have much,
that means everything.

- He definitely had a lot
of male presence in his life

To kind of make up
for the fact

That his father wasn't around.

But I'm sure he had doubts

And thoughts and, you know,

Ran the gamut of emotions

As to why his father
wasn't in his life.

- My grandparents were there,
all my uncles were there,

My aunts were there.

There was always someone.

And they all pitched in,
and they all, you know,

Lent their hands
to making sure that

You know,
if my mom had to work,

There was gonna be
somebody there.

- Him and gary
were really close.

- He was the baby
of the family.

He was the closest
to me in age.

And because of that,
he was my uncle,

But it was more of

A big brother feel, you know?

Because we could relate
to a lot of the same things.

- He was into hockey big time.

♪ ♪

- While I may have
annoyed my older uncles,

I didn't annoy gary
because we were

Into similar things still.

We would draw together
and we'd sit there

And compare like our drawings
of goalies

And things like that.

- When he wasn't playing
hockey with his friends,

He was always with adam.

Always.

And then all of a sudden,
that was taken away from him.

[somber tone]

♪ ♪

I was out west
in western canada working,

And all I got
was a phone call saying,

"you better get home,
and you better get home now.

Gary's been in an accident."

- My uncle gary
and a bunch of friends

Were driving home
from a lacrosse game

And lost control
around a wet corner.

And, um--yeah.

Yeah, he was in the backseat
and didn't make it.

♪ ♪

It turned the entire family
upside down.

♪ ♪

He was the baby.

This is my best buddy.

At that age,
old people passed away.

It didn't dawn on me
that you could be 17.

- You know, gary was
kinda like the anchor.

When that anchor
was taken away,

You kinda just drift, right?

♪ ♪

You can never
replace that, ever.

♪ ♪

You say time heals all,
but it doesn't.

You just learn to live
with the scars, you know?

Just a big, big void.

♪ ♪

- I know my grandparents
never recovered.

And I--I truly don't think

Any of the brothers
and sisters did, either.

♪ ♪

And for me, I was young enough
that I started looking

And I found wrestling.

♪ ♪

It was all of those things
that I gravitated to

As a kid,
but now it was tangible.

Now, wait,
these guys and girls

Are gonna be down
at maple leaf gardens?

Or they may come
to the orangeville arena?

It became the friend
that my uncle was,

And now that friend
wasn't there...

- Not make the blow effective.

- Wrestling became
that thing for me.

- Jam-packed crowd here at
toronto's maple leaf gardens

For this fantastic event.

- Introducing first,
the number one frenchman,

Rene goulet.

♪ ♪

[all cheering]

- My uncle randy, my mom,

My aunt sandy and I,

We all went down
to maple leaf gardens.

This was my first trip
to maple leaf gardens.

♪ ♪

I just remember the ring
and the single light above it

And this giant wooden ramp
that came up

From out of the dressing room.

So maple leaf gardens was the
only one that had this ramp.

I just remember thinking,
these people are humongous,

Bigger than life,
brighter than life.

It was mind melting.

- Oh!
- Oh!

Cannon ball
off the top turnbuckle,

Down for the cover.

He got him.
[bell dings]

- I don't know what part of
my brain fired that said,

"this is what you're gonna do."

And I don't know why,
but it did.

♪ ♪

- This is orangeville district
secondary school.

There's a lobby in there,
and that's where adam and jay

Used to practice
their wrestling.

There's a set of stairs
that comes down.

They used to pretend they were
jumping off the top rope.

[upbeat piano music]

- I was 11 years old
when I moved to orangeville.

I was a really shy kid.

When my mom pulled up
to the--to the school,

I refused to get
out of the car.

- He was nervous,

And the teacher sent me out
as one of the kids

To try and ease him
into this thing.

You know, talk him into
the school to--

To tell him it's gonna be ok.

We started talking
about wrestling.

And he was as avid about it
as I was.

- We kinda had our own, like,
federations going on,

So we'd always kind of
update each other

Who was the champion,
with our action figures

And all those sorts of things.

My family took him in,

And he was with us a lot,
you know, for dinners.

He went on family trips
with us,

And kind of becoming
a part of my family,

We just started
talking about it.

And it wasn't like,

"if we do this,
if we become wrestlers."

It was like,
"when we do this.

"when we become a tag team.

When we become
tag team champions."

We kinda manifested it
at a early age

That this was something
we were going to do.

♪ ♪

- And that was it.

Like, all bets were off
at that point.

I took this very seriously.

And this was it.

There was no plan b.

Failure was not an option.

- We're 65,000 strong
here at toronto skydome

For what will be
the greatest wrestling

Extravaganza of all time.

- So wrestlemania vi
was coming to the skydome.

It was everywhere.

I thought,
there was no way

That I'm gonna end up going.

In the meantime, my mom

And my grandparents

Were doing what they could

To get me down there.

We didn't have a credit card,
so my mom

Used my grandparents'
credit card

And then paid them back
in order to get me down there.

And then we took the bus down,

And it was a voyage.
[laughs]

- When you step
in the skydome,

When you feel the energy
that's gonna run wild

Throughout the arena,
those are my people.

That's my energy, brother.

- It was going to be hulk hogan
against the ultimate warrior.

Now as a fan in that time,
you had a clear side.

You were hogan
or you were warrior.

I was hogan.

♪ ♪

I'll never forget, like,

It's still burned
into my memory.

Hulkster is almost motionless.

Two.
- One, two--no!

[cheering]

- Like, how far we were

And the angle we were at

And how cool
it all was to me.

Sure enough, there I am
in my hulk rules tank top

Already about a head taller
than everybody else

In the audience.

My mom down at my shoulder.

The mullet,
stupid smile on my face.

Like, I just won
the super bowl.

[rock music]

- Jay youngblood, dino bravo,

The dean of wrestling
johnny weaver,

All the top stars are coming

In from all over the country.

- Toronto was maybe
the hottest market

In the world of wrestling.

♪ ♪

Just growing up
in that environment

Had a big say in adam's whole
development as a wrestler.

- In toronto, wrestling
becomes so popular,

The sports editors
at those papers,

They said, "you know what?

"when we run anything
about wrestling,

"our paid number for
that day goes up.

What about a weekly
wrestling column?"

♪ ♪

- One weekend, in the column
at the very tail end of it,

"wanna be a wrestler?

"write in, there's gonna
be an essay contest.

"the winner of
this essay contest

"will receive
free wrestling training

From sweet daddy siki
and ron hutchison."

Ok, I know these--
these names.

I know these guys.

This is legit.

I'm writing in.

I wrote it longhand, sent it.

That was the only copy.

I've never seen it to this day.

- And this is the letter.

This is the original letter.

Let's open it up here.

- Part of me is dreading
what I might have written.

[laughs]
but whatever I wrote worked

'cause we're sitting here now.

And a lot of it starts
with that essay.

♪ ♪

- "dear mr. Sullivan,
I am writing in response

"to norm da costa's column.

"I feel I could possibly
be a good choice.

"I've been a wrestling
fanatic since I was

"about eight years old.

"I stand 6'4", 224 pounds,
and I'm 18 years old.

Sincerely, adam copeland."

- It changed everything
for me.

But I also knew because they
were taking this chance on me

That I wanted to do
right by that chance.

If I didn't see it
to as far as I could see it

And work as hard
as I could toward it,

The chance they gave me,

I'm just [bleep] on it.

And I'm not gonna do that.

♪ ♪

- He didn't have
a car at the time,

So I actually
borrowed my mom's car

And drove him to his
first wrestling class.

And I would do that
quite often on weekends

Until he got a car.

- I loved every inch
of that place.

Finally, after, you know,
about six or seven months

Of falling on the floor,

I was given the nod
to get in the ring.

And finally getting in there
and being in there and landing

In there for the first time
was a real eye-opener.

I don't know why I thought
that might be easy.

[chuckles] and I was really,
really [bleep] wrong.

Luckily, my brain
was ok with that.

I don't know why.
[laughs]

I don't have
the answer as to why.

♪ ♪

[body slamming]

All right.

[sighs]

What we're about
to watch here

Is my very first
experience

Wrestling in front
of an audience.

- First,
from orangeville, ontario,

He stands 6'5" inches tall,

He weighs 218 pounds,

This is adam copeland!

[cheering]

- Look at that young fella
over there

In the corner in
the oakland raiders zubaz,

Lightning bolts
all over the place,

Fantabulous mullet
on full display.

Monarch park, toronto,

July 1, canada day.

Ron hutchison,
sweet daddy siki,

Our trainers,
ran a wrestling show

For free in the park

To get us some reps
in front of an audience.

[crowd chanting]
adam! Adam! Adam!

I just remember
getting chopped a lot,

Which is kind of a rite of
passage for the newbie.

So I'm like, eh,
I don't care if I'm a rookie.

I'm gonna chop you back.

Yeah, that's right, frank.
Eat that.

Now I'm just
chopping everybody.

[laughs]

I always had a bit of
an attitude, I guess.

- [shouts]

- I just remember thinking,

Yep, this is exactly
where I need to be.

This is the right spot.

♪ ♪

So this went a long way to
making me realize that, ok, I--

I'm on the right track,
at least.

There is no safety net.
There is no failsafe.

It was this and nothing else.

You gotta bet on yourself,

And you gotta believe
you can do it.

[upbeat music]

- I've been training
for about a year,

Year and a half.

"the dini petty show"
in canada,

It was a talk show, and
it was really big in canada.

Bret was gonna be a guest.

- Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome canada's own,

Bret "the hitman" hart!

[cheers and applause]

- So I said,
"I gotta get there.

"I gotta get
in that audience.

I'm gonna ask him
a question."

- We got two guys here looked
to me like they might be

Wrestlers in training here,
huh, by the--

By the sheer size of you two.

You wanna be wrestlers?

- We're just wondering, like,
how we should go about it.

And we work at siki's gym,
so if you ever wanna stop by,

There's little plug there.
[laughter]

- Well, when you wanna get in,
do you have to go

And audition for them
and meet them?

I mean, how did you get in?

- You have to have some
experience and then--

Which is very hard
to get nowadays.

And they can get you
on television

And give you sort of a tryout,
but that's about it.

[rock music]

In those days,
it was hard to get someone

To help open a door for you.

And here I was, I think I was
world champion at the time,

And I was like, how can I open
a door for a guy at his age

Where he is and at his level?

[cheers and applause]

- After the show, I'm coming
out of the bathroom,

And bret sees me and comes
walking down the hall.

And he said, "listen, man,
I wish I had more to tell you.

"I wish I had better advice.

Just stick with it."

♪ ♪

Bret hart just told me
to stick with it.

Damn right,
I'm sticking with it.

♪ ♪

- I had already been going
to humber college for a year.

And adam decided to do

A radio broadcasting course

To kinda have something

To fall back on if, you know,

Wrestling doesn't pan out.

- I wanted to take something

In college while I was just

Getting sporadic bookings.

I, uh, decided maybe
radio broadcasting

Would help to have to
kind of perform verbally.

Tune in to cbc
this Sunday at 8:00.

I'm adam jericho with
your char news update.

I had a great couple years,
and I was still wrestling.

And it was--you know,
I wasn't making any money,

But I was making enough
to get by.

- We just had a discussion,
he's like,

"hey, man, you keep saying
you're gonna do this.

Are we gonna--are you gonna
do it or what?"

And I was like,
"yeah, I am."

And so I was broke--
flat broke,

But I had a student loan
from college.

- So he took part
of his student loan

And put it toward training.

So now we're training
at the same school.

And then slowly but surely,
starting to break into

These different pockets
of the independent scene.

- He stands 6'5",
weighs 227 pounds,

From orangeville, ontario,

Adam copeland!

♪ ♪

- I had done a tiny show
in ajax, ontario.

And no matter what, we always
tried to put on the best match

We possibly could,
which meant

I'm gonna be out there
for half an hour

'cause I'm gonna use
every second of this time

To either get somebody
to notice or just improve.

- Sexton hardcastle opens up.

- There's probably
100 people there.

Do a tag team match.

- They seem to be
playing a good mind game.

- This guy, carl de marco,

Who at that point
is bret hart's manager,

Says,
"hey, you guys got something.

Get me a tape."

- I wanted to build him similar
to what we did with bret.

And I talked to adam
and I said,

"I see you going down
the exact same footsteps."

- Bret hart gets the victory.

- Look at this.
Hardcastle with the powerbomb.

- I said,
"adam, you've gotta trust me.

"you're not there yet,
but you're close.

"I want you to do some more
independent shows

"to hone your craft.

We're gonna be keeping
in touch."

- Adam copeland!

- So they came to winnipeg.

And from there, we went

Through the norton tours.

♪ ♪

- There's a lot of tours
where, man,

You drive across these lakes

And they wouldn't be
all the way frozen.

- Some of the guys

On those type of trips,
they break out.

They start crying because
they figure they're gonna die.

You know,
they've never been in--

Crossing lakes
when you're driving, right?

And sometimes
the water breaks

And they figure that
they're dead.

♪ ♪

- The video camera--
- it's the I had to do it

On water tour.
- The on water tour.

The hell or high water tour.

- As you can see,
we're on a lake somewhere.

That was why they started
being called death tours.

♪ ♪

You find yourselves
in these conditions.

Like, we got up
to oxford house

And they said,
"it's -72 out.

"you gotta run inside
'cause you don't wanna

Be exposed for this long
or it's frostbite."

[laughs]
and I just remember

Getting out of that van and
my nostrils freezing together.

We would get wherever we could
to try and wrestle new people.

So jay and I took this trip--

And I still blame him
for this,

It's all his fault--

He had got in contact with

This promoter from tennessee.

And this promoter promised us

30 shows in 30 days.

♪ ♪

So we get to tennessee,
and we realize

There's no shows.

And we've used all of our
money to get this far.

- We'd just try
to walk onto shows.

And we ended up walking onto
all these different shows.

We did a couple shows
in a barn

In front of, like,
eight people.

Fans sitting on hay bales.

- That was one of the instances
where I had to--

To call home and say,

"can you wire me enough money
for a bus ticket home?"

I knew she didn't have it
'cause at this point,

We're living in
a one-room apartment.

You know, my mattress is on
the floor in this corner,

Her mattress is over there.

I don't know if she
asked my grandparents

Or scraped it together,
but it got there.

And that's what got me home.

♪ ♪

Yeah, you're not making
any money, and yeah,

Maybe 75 bucks a show,
hopefully.

But you're still
out there doing it.

My mom never questioned that.

She never said to me,
"what do you think?

"is it time to call it a day?

Maybe move on
to something else?"

She never said it once.
And I never said it.

You know, I'd be working in the
car seat factory and I'd go,

Ok, I'm doing this
that I can afford tights.

So I can afford those boots.

So I can afford the first
payment of car insurance.

Because I thought
if I keep putting

Into this thing, eventually--

Eventually it'll pay off.

- We had tunnel vision.

We were gonna make it
regardless.

And he had the same mindset,
and I had the same mindset,

And we pushed each other.

♪ ♪

- Carl calls me, and said,

"you should get out
to bret's."

Bret hart, who is the
wwe champion at that point.

- Every now and then, I finally
would step in the ring

And I'd go, ok,
I'm gonna wrestle adam.

And I would try to teach him
everything I could

In as short a way
and quick a way as possible.

And basically give them
the experience

Of working with
the best wrestler

In the world right now.

- So I just get in
and do my thing.

At the end of that,
bret goes,

"whoo-wee,
we gotta get you going."

You know,
"I think you're ready.

You've gone as far
as you can go to this point."

- Coming off the top.
Can't believe this.

- [shouts]

- It's not very often
that I give a big send up

To a guy like adam,
but it was easy for me to do.

- That's huge. I don't know
what else to say to that.

But, like, my stomach's
doing every flop

And flip you can imagine.

But I got a tour in
manitoba for tony condello.

And it's not
a northern death tour

This time because
it's during the summer.

So I go to winnipeg,
we're landing pontoon planes

On the lakes
to get to the shows.

And we're in cat lake.

I remember tony
coming to find me

And there's one phone
on the res.

And he said, "listen, we've
gotta go to the cop shop."

And it's a double wide.

So I walk in there,
pick up the phone.

It's carl de marco.

♪ ♪

"hey, carl, what's going on?"

And he goes,
"you've got a contract,

And it's waiting for you--"

[laughs]

[stammers lightly]

"and it's waiting for you down
in stamford, connecticut."

Phew.

[rock music]

It almost feels like the second
half of my life started there.

The first half was to get
to that phone call.

Then that phone call happened
and--and it all changed.

♪ ♪

I can look back at it now and
realize how pivotal it was.

And I knew it was at the time,
but looking in that rearview,

You realize, wow,
that single phone call

Changed the entire path.

It was the path I wanted.

It was the path I expected.

But that phone call
is what actually did it.

- ♪ you think you know me ♪

♪ but you will
never know me ♪

♪ you are lost and scared ♪

- I don't think
wwe had an idea

What to do with adam copeland.

- The only trait that edge
and adam shared was confusion.

Adam had no idea what edge was.

And therefore,
edge was very confused.

♪ ♪

So I didn't understand
that there

Was gonna be departments.

You'd have people
whose job it was

To try and come up
with this stuff.

That's great, but...

[laughs]

Ahh, I just--
I wanna do that myself.

You know,
it's my kid's light board.

It's lyric's
crayola light board.

And so I'll just put
something on there and go,

Ok, there's an idea.

That's a good size.

And then I'll just go,
ok, well,

I can trace it now that
I have the original drawing.

So that's kind of
my process, is I--

I get a pencil and some
sharpies and I start doodling.

I don't know why it's
always been this process.

I really enjoy it.
I think that's also

Part of the reason
because of that,

Because it does take me back
to when I was a--

A kid, and then a teenager,
and then an adult.

[laughs]

Now being a 40-something
middle-aged man,

Still doing it.

- ♪ what could have
happened to this man ♪

♪ that made him
do these things? ♪

- A lot of guys who've

Really shot themselves
in the foot

Right out of the gate

Because they don't like
their character.

And that doesn't sit well
sometimes with the higher ups.

[laughs]

♪ ♪

- I got some of these
creative drawings

And I looked like a
bee gee taking rave drugs.

Well, what is that?

Nothing was really fleshed out.

Nothing was told to me.

Didn't know what edge was.

Didn't know the story of edge.

Didn't have a back story.

None of that.

♪ ♪

I was really floundering.

♪ ♪

Saying no to that stuff might
not have been the best idea,

But I did.

- There was a period
where people

Had been in the business
for a while

And looked at anybody new,

"hey, you haven't
paid your dues yet."

- There's a really
fine line there of

Standing up for yourself
and what your vision is

And doing what it is
that they want.

Now you've kinda got
this stigma, like, ok,

This guy's hard to work with.

That could be career suicide.

♪ ♪

- So then I'd design my stuff,

And I would draw it.

♪ ♪

I gotta have my hands in it

In making this thing work,

But that's just not really
the way it always works.

- He couldn't wrap his brain
around it

'cause I don't think
he understood it--

How he would portray
this character.

To adam's credit,
he's always stood up

For what he believed in.

- That is some of
the things you have

To deal with politically,

Both with the office

And also in the dressing room.

- Any time that
a new talent comes in

That doesn't have the pedigree,
if you will,

To come in
and go right into a spot,

I think
there's a lot of jealousy.

♪ ♪

He wasn't a seasoned talent,
per se.

Guy's been in the business
for a cup of coffee

And comes in and he's being
hyped in a big way.

- Anybody that's on top--
and trust me on this--

Is always looking
over their shoulder

To see who's gonna
take their place.

- I won't mention names.
Certain other talent

Who have long hair,
similar to adam,

They were taking him
as a threat.

♪ ♪

There was a lot of political
behind the scenes pushing,

"I think you should
get a haircut."

Do anything they can
to sabotage his look

And image, et cetera.

- There was talk
that I would be deaf

With an inability
to speak at one point,

Which is the kiss of death.

'cause as a wrestler,

The microphone
is one of your tools.

And I thought, man, that's
being floated around for me?

I got nothing
if they take that away.

- I'm like, "what?"

Like, that was the dumbest
idea I've ever frickin' heard.

And I knew that
would be a career killer

Before he started.

- I mean, he really would
have been dead in the water

If he had to try to get over
without being able to talk.

- ♪ I made him
say these words ♪

♪ I made him not himself ♪

- I didn't know.

They just said,
"he's a tortured soul."

What does that mean?

When in doubt,
I just screamed.

"ahh!"

[screaming]

[chuckles]
I just screamed.

I'd look up at the ceiling
and scream.

- Well, that's what I've
heard, the same as you, jr.

This guy is supposed
to be tormented.

I mean, every time
I've seen him,

He seems to be in
some sort of a rage.

- ♪ you think you know me ♪

- We're about to see
the debut of edge.

Edge on his way to the ring.

♪ ♪

- I just remember thinking,
"ok,

"how do I try
and make an impression?

How do I try and get noticed?"

- [screaming]
- seemingly on the edge

Of exploding at any time.

- The match was going fine

Until it wasn't.

♪ ♪

- And look at this
great, big--oh!

Damn.
- Big somersault over the top.

And josé estrada's not
moving very much here, king.

- I think josé is out.

- I decided to try
this move called the hilo,

Which is a front flip
over the top rope

To the floor.

I had knocked josé out,

Out, in my debut match.

I roll in the ring.

Tim white is the referee.

He goes, he's out, kid.

And I just felt the world
drop out from underneath me.

♪ ♪

I'd never injured someone.

I'd never hurt someone.

So not only am I
smashing that glass,

But I'm doing it
in my first match

On television for the company
I've always wanted

To work for, and I know
how the locker room works.

I know people see that,
and the whispers start.

"the kid's not safe.

The kid's not safe.
The kid's not safe."

Now, you got people that
don't wanna work you.

That's all going
through my mind

While I'm on tv
in my debut match.

[bell dings]
- and that's all of it.

Edge will win his first match.
- Whoa!

- I'm sure not the way
he wanted,

But he's a winner,
needless to say.

- He's over the edge.

♪ ♪

- [exhales]

Now, look at it two ways.

Nowhere to go but up,

Or I just [bleep] the bed

And this could be it.

♪ ♪

[light guitar music]

- I've often said this is
kind of my field of dreams.

♪ ♪

Some people have
football fields,

Some people have ice rinks.

Now if you had told
16-year-old adam

That one day,

There'd be one of these

At his beck and call,

He would not have
believed that.

This is kind of
a collection of stuff that

Was never gonna see
the light of day,

But we got a wrestling ring,
that's ridiculous enough.

This is when I did a series
of slim jim commercials.

They had edge skateboarding

Like the grand canyon's
a half pipe. [laughs]

Ascending everest

And attacking a schoolteacher,
it seems, with a slim jim.

♪ ♪

Once you eat a slim jim,

Anything is possible.

[rock music]

- [growls]

- Easy, chief,
one step at a time.

Now eat it, and beat it.

This poster over here,

This was the first
wrestling show I ever went to.

For whatever reason, I still
had it all these years later.

So it felt like
that needed to live here.

We set up the chairs for
the show, jay and myself.

And they promised that if we--

If we papered the town,
if we postered the town

With these posters
and set up chairs,

They'd give us two minutes
in the ring.

And that was our--
we didn't get paid.

That was our pay, was,
"just let us in the ring."

That was our calling.

It even still boggles my mind

That two kids from
a small town like orangeville

Both had the same dream,
met each other,

And both chased the dream
to the furthest

That you could chase it,
and did it.

That still doesn't
really register

Or make complete sense to me.

[intense music]

I started on tv June of '98.

I wanna say it was, like,

Six months after
that jay started up.

And I was told he was gonna
be brought in as my brother.

And then they brought in
gangrel, dave heath,

And they put us together
as a group called the brood.

[dark synth music plays]
[cheering]

And that was
the first instance

Where I was like, ooh, there's
an element of character here.

- There's one word
to describe this trio,

And that's unique.

And gangrel in the middle,
he appears to be the leader.

Edge, on his right.

- We're supposed to be, like--
are we vampires, are we goth?

What is this thing?
But it was something.

The power lies within us.

- I remember the first time he
spoke, which was in new haven

And said, "the freaks only
come out at night."

- Because the freaks
come out at night.

[laughs]
- and the girls screamed!

♪ ♪

- I don't know...

- So I went, yeah, he's gonna--
he's gonna get there.

♪ ♪

- I just pictured this group
of, like, really cool vampires,

Whether they had fangs or not,

Just really cool guys.

It didn't matter if you got
your butt kicked

Every night, as long as
you looked cool doing it.

- Whoa!

The brood not interested
to let this thing go.

- Look out, now.

Oh!

- Anything he did
was gonna work.

They told me that that's
the guy that they were gonna

Strap a rocket to.

They knew he was
their future superstar.

- A combined weight
of 455 pounds,

Christian and edge!

- When we teamed up,
it's like, well,

We've been doing this
since the sixth grade.

We know what we do.

Now we get to show everybody
what we can do.

♪ ♪

I think there was a
realization that adam and jay

Need to be injected into this.

They can't just be
edge and christian

Because what is that?

Well, we don't know.

But if we can inject
some of our humor

And some of our idiocy
into this, maybe,

Just maybe they'll start giving
us some microphone time.

- Hey, listen to this.
I'm gonna play our music.

[playing kazoo]

- ♪ you think you know me,
you think you know me ♪

- That does it.
All right, get out!

- We'd added the last element
that we needed

To go from just kind of
being wrestlers

To being entertainers
and understanding

That there is a difference
between the two.

- What I really like
are those five-second poses.

- For the next five seconds,

We will very generously pose
for all of you

With the benefit
of flash photography.

Christian and I had been
rehearsing some new poses.

- This one we just simply call,
"uh-oh!"

- You have to be
an entertainer

If you really want
this thing to work

And you really want to get
to the upper echelons

Of what this thing is.

Here, I'll turn this
light on over here.

[light clicks, hums]

There's always gonna
be a ladder present

When I'm around, it seems.

I try to avoid them
at all costs.

- Yeah, so you have to, like,
practice with--

I mean, do you practice
with the ladders?

- You don't practice
the ladders.

You just don't touch a ladder
until it's match time.

[laughs]

That's just for
changing light bulbs.

I truly--I don't go anywhere
near that thing

Unless--
unless I absolutely have to.

♪ ♪

When most people see ladders,

I think the reaction is,
"oh, there's a ladder."

The pit of my stomach

Starts to feel a little queasy
when I see a ladder

'cause I know what happens
if you fall off of them

Because it was my job.

- There's a saying that every
single day of your career

Is one day less
of your career.

I think that in
some of these matches,

There's not just one day less.

There's probably--you take
about 20, 30, 40 days

Off of your career in every
high-risk match that you have.

- Matt and jeff hardy
against edge and christian.

This is the first tag team
ladder match in history.

The match only can end
when one team has secured

The $100,000 that's hanging
high above the ring.

♪ ♪

- For edge and christian,

It was that first ladder match
in cleveland.

They changed
the whole landscape

On a ladder match in one match.

- You know, we caught
lightning in the bottle

That night, and that took us
from being wwe wrestlers

To wwe superstars overnight.

♪ ♪

- We all realized being
as young and dumb and hungry

As we were,
that if we got an opportunity,

We ought to swing
for the fences.

Our goal was to tear
that arena down.

♪ ♪

[cheering]

So we started to look at
how can we build things

With these ladders...
- Oh, look out.

- That we can then fall on...
- Ow.

- Or that we can use
as a teeter-totter

And slam up into
somebody's face.

- Look at that!
- Look at this!

- Oh!
- What the heck?

- Just trying
to think of violent...

- Ah!
- Creative ways...

- Oh!
- To create things

People hadn't seen before.

- Jeff hardy--
- look at that!

- Leap frogged the ladder,
for god sakes,

And dropped the leg.
- And we did.

- How in god's name
can a human being

Even move after that?
- I don't know.

It's unbelievable.

- And then to get to the back
and get the congratulations

From your peers,

From people who were already
at the top of the show,

Went out of their way
to tell us, like,

"damn, guys.

I don't know what you just did,
but you did it."

All: Oh!

- I made sure that I was
the first guy they saw

When they walked
through the curtain.

I looked at all
four of them and I said,

"you guys just became stars.

- Uh-oh. Oh, no.
Not the power bomb!

- That was their big stamp
of approval.

Like, these guys are for real.

These guys are here

And you really have
to appreciate that.

- They all had chemistry,

And they worked
beautifully together.

In any combination,
they defined

What those matches would be
for the future of our business.

- The reaction was unlike
anything I'd ever experienced

Up until that point in time.

I never experienced
standing ovations

Or anything like that.

And the next night on "raw,"
it happened again.

It was like just goose bumps
when I was out there, like,

Just taking it all in 'cause
I just couldn't believe

Or even comprehend
or understand,

At that point, what that meant.

- Every single night,

You go in front of
a live audience.

You want to improve.
You want to do better.

And the audience now
has an expectation.

As a performer,
you can meet that expectation

Or you can exceed it.

And you always
want to exceed it.

- It just--we kept
having to top ourselves.

And that's a kind of
fun place to be,

If I'm being perfectly honest.

♪ ♪

- Well, there you see it,
ladies and gentlemen,

The tag team title belts

Hanging about 20 feet
above the ring.

- It started.
- Edge and christian now.

- Here we go. Whoa!

- Oh, no!
- There it is!

- Oh, 3d from up top!

D-von--oh, my god!

- Again.
- Double suplex

From the top of the ladder.
- Oh!

Swanton bomb,
top of the ladder

To the floor,
through the table.

- I'm standing
on top of this table.

It was wobbling like crazy.

- Matt hardy, it's all--

- Oh!
- Oh, no!

- I've just pushed matt hardy
off of the thing.

He's flipped and landed
directly on his tailbone

Through a table.

Looked so ugly, so I'm double
checking to make sure,

Ok, he's moving.

That's a good sign.

Now I have to figure out
how to stand up

On this wobbly table
that's about to pitch over.

- I just remember the reaction
when we were reaching

For the titles.

And I said to adam,
I was like, "I'm gonna fall."

He's like, "I'll get them."
so he grabbed both of them.

And if I had stood up,

That celebration would have
looked a lot different.

[cheering]
- edge and christian!

Edge and christian
have won it!

♪ ♪

- If you look at it on paper,

The chances of it happening--
stupid.

♪ ♪

Two kids from a small town
in southern ontario

With no inroads
to the wrestling industry

Whatsoever are gonna
find themselves

Standing on a table
on top of two ladders

In the pond in anaheim

After doing a match that has
never, ever happened before

In the history of wrestling
that they've helped create.

If everything ended after this
in terms of our team

And all of those things,
man, we did it.

We did what we said
we were gonna do.

- You know, winning
the tag team titles was great,

An amazing feeling.

- We're the kings
and the top of the heap

In the tag team world.

♪ ♪

I definitely think tag team
title is a stepping stone

To get to that next step.

You're almost there.

You've grabbed that ring.

Now it's time to go
for the next one.

- Please welcome my man,
the edge!

[cheers and applause]

- Reeking of awesomeness
the way we do

And being so totally cool,
I'm here at mtv on "trl"

To show them just exactly

What edge, movie star,
is all about.

How you doing?
- You totally ruined--

- See, she knows what
she's talking about.

Being one half of
edge and christian,

The most photogenic
tag team ever

And being on the real pulse

Of what the teens wanna see,

You know, you can understand
why mtv would come to us.

- Edge and edge can.

♪ ♪

- Edge was a big time player
star.

And if he'd have stayed

With that tag team,

You know, his career probably
would not have lasted.

I mean, it just--
that's just the way it is.

[cheering]
- and--hey, wait a minute.

Here comes edge's brother
christian

With a steel chair of his own.

- You can only do
the same thing for so long

Before it gets repetitive.

And I think we both wanted
to break up

Before people were like,
"ok, I've seen the act."

♪ ♪

- Once we split, I don't know
if either one of us

Understood how hard
it was gonna be.

- You wanna know
if you can make it

On that stage as a single.

When your time comes,

When they're ready to push you
as a big single,

You have to do it

Because if you don't
strive to be the best,

You're really
spinning your wheels.

- This is your fault!
You did it!

- A one man concerto
by christian

On his own brother.

♪ ♪

- Because we'd been
with the company,

We'd found success
with the company

And assumed it would be
an easy enough transition

Into this next stage
of our career,

And it was anything but.

♪ ♪

- The challenges
that edge found out

Was the place was popping.

And you had
so many great talents

That knew the business,
knew their game.

And I think he could feel
pressure from those

That were above them
that didn't want them

To supersede the top guys.

- As crazy as it sounds,
given the danger involved

In the ladders matches,
and later,

The tables, ladders,
and chairs matches,

There was still
the knock on edge

That he wasn't tough.

- Well, look at him.
Does he look tough?

[laughs] you know, come on.
Adam's in there.

He's a young kid,
all tanned and pretty.

Adam was pretty.

- He looked like a surfer.

He did not look like
your stereotypical tough guy.

He didn't look the part,
but he was the part.

- Because he's a handsome man
with a great physique

And a young man
with the long hair,

There are gonna be those
who don't think he has

What we refer to
as intestinal fortitude.

- Those that would say
that adam didn't have

The intestinal fortitude

Had never gotten
in the ring with him.

Edge as the performer
was willing to do

Anything that he had to do.

- I thought there was a good
chance he could be held back

And not climb to the heights
that he would be able to.

- I was treading water

And just kinda keeping
my nose above that waterline.

- And now edge
taking angle down.

- And then paul heyman
called me and he said,

"we wanna team you
and hulk hogan.

What do you think?"

And I went, "I think that
is a stupendous idea.

We will have a blast."

[cheering]
- the following contest is for

The wwe tag team championship.

- You know,
I'm not a tag team guy,

So don't have that psychology.

It was just totally

Out of my wheelhouse, you know?

So I said, "just whatever
you wanna do, brother."

- And you tell me that, well,
it's gonna be a lot, then.

[laughs]

- It was just such a crazy
night 'cause I'd never been

The tag team champion before.

And all of a sudden,
here I'm in the ring

With some guy
that's watched hulkamania

Ever since he was a kid.

And I was like his
wrestling hero growing up.

And to be in the ring with him
and know how cool this was,

It was almost like I had
my son with me or something.

- For edge to the honors.
- Leg drop!

- The leg drop in stereo!

The cover.

- Two, three!

- Hollywood hulk hogan
and edge have done it.

They win the tag team titles.

- Here are your winners

And the new
wwe tag team champions.

Hollywood hulk hogan and edge.

- What's your next step?

- [inhales sharply]
next step for edge?

Probably not tag teaming.

Probably go back off
and, you know,

Continue what I was doing
before with the singles thing.

- Five-o!
- Oh, wow!

Did you hear that?

- Edge is out, man.

- I started experiencing, like,

Just headache, like, just pain.

And my left arm
started to atrophy.

And I noticed it in my hands.

Like, the meat here
was disappearing.

- Uh-oh.
- Eddie's going down.

- Oh, my god!
- Oh, god!

- Oh, my god!
[cheering]

- When you're young
and hungry like that,

You're gonna do whatever
you can to make it.

He was sucking it up,
just kinda, you know,

Gritting his teeth
and fighting through it

Until he just
couldn't do it anymore.

- I was starting to see
little divots in my forearm.

I was like, oh, that's weird.

And then my rear delt
just left one day.

It was just gone.

It looked like someone had
golfed off of it.

And that's when
I finally gave in and said,

"I think something's going on."

♪ ♪

I went to steve austin's
spine doctor

Because he had had
a spinal fusion at this point.

He goes, "you gotta come down
to san antonio

And see dr. Youngblood."

- This is disc material
and bone spurs right here.

And it should be
a nice symmetrical oval.

- So I went down
and ended up getting

A double fusion
from c5 to c7.

♪ ♪

And basically, what they did is
they took a chunk from my hip

And they put it in my neck

And replaced
the ruptured discs.

- Get this bone graft
down in here.

♪ ♪

- And they put a plate
and six screws into the back.

And I just remember
having to sleep sitting up

In that neck collar
for about three months.

You'd get a couple of hours
here and there.

And if I woke up,
I'd just turn on the tv

And just kind of mindlessly
watch something

And try not to fall down
the well of depression

That every injury has and
every athlete has encountered.

♪ ♪

I had to calibrate my brain
to the aspect of

The psychological toll
that takes.

When you're used
to going 120

With no hint of putting
your foot on the brakes,

To you're in reverse

And you're going
in reverse fast,

That takes some--
some mental gymnastics.

♪ ♪

I had always hoped one day
it'll be my choice

To, you know, walk away.

And this wasn't my choice.
I think that's the hardest part.

Four days after
I had the surgery,

I thought it would be
a good idea to go in

And just,
"right, I'm going to the gym."

And I got in there,
and I sat down,

And I tried to lift the weight.

And it was seven pounds,

And my arms
were just shaking like that.

And I put the weight down.

I feel like crying
is what I felt like doing.

I got up, and I walked
out of the gym.

♪ ♪

- You have this thought--
and you can't help it--

"am I going to get
another opportunity

"when I get healthy
to come back and do this?

"am I going to be healthy
enough to come back

And do it at the level?"

So yeah, your mind
plays horrible,

Horrible tricks on you.

- You know, I talked
to michael hayes and he said,

"you know,
worst case scenario,

If you can't come back,
you've lived your dream."

And I thought,
"well, I've lived it,

But I haven't fulfilled
my final dream."

That's to win
either the wwe

Or the world heavyweight
championship.

- Ladies and gentlemen, this
has been my trip of just--

Oh, my god!

Who's that?
Is that triple h?

Wait a minute. Oh--

- At least you didn't say test.

[laughter]

- I had gone down to see him
at his place in florida

When he was recovering.

It was funny because
he looked relieved

To sort of be on a break.

I think the first couple
of years were a whirlwind.

♪ ♪

Maybe a blessing in disguise
to sort of take a deep breath

And be back at home.

- You're interrupting
my morning coffee.

Thank you very much.

This is my humble abode.
Where should we head to?

Books.
I read all the time.

That's pretty much
one thing I do.

My own, which I wrote,
by the way.

Apple mango tango.

Ah, see that right there?

That right there is an
ass crack that is implanted

In my couch from when
I had my neck surgery.

I had to sleep there
sitting up just like this.

So my ass crack is permanently
embedded in this spot.

- I think it's the motivation.

It's setback, yes.

But I know where I can go
and I know what the company

Feels about me,
so I'm going to work harder

To prove that
they were right in spite of

Having this happen.

- And making his way
to the ring,

He is the
intercontinental champion

And toronto's own, edge!

- I thought, man, I've been off.

I haven't been back
in toronto--

I think it was two years
at that point.

I'm coming back. I'm the
intercontinental champion.

I've had spinal fusion surgery.

This has gotta be

A hero's welcome, right?

- Both jericho and batista

Are on the outside.
[crowd booing]

- I came out and they booed me.

[crowd booing]

- What is going through
the mind of edge right now?

It's ironic here, this crowd.

- I'm amazed at these fans
here in toronto.

- You could see it
on edge's face.

Like, "why don't you love me?

"I'm edge!
You're my hometown audience.

Don't you love me?"

- What our vision is,
you know,

Edge is this heroic character
and fighting through the odds

And yadda, yadda, yadda.

They're not buying it
'cause it's the same thing

I was doing before I left.

They were buying it then,

But for whatever reason,

This break has caused them
to not buy it anymore.

- Yes!

- Instead of asking,
"why do you hate me?"

Make 'em hate you more.

And turn it around
to take all of the things

That you do being a nice guy
and just put a twist on it.

And just put a little bit
of an attitude on it.

And that will help the audience
confirm their belief.

"you're an [bleep].
I don't like you."

- Did not see that coming.

- Oh, the spear.

My god, right in the sternum.

A big time spear.
- That's it!

- It ends with it.
[bell dings]

[crowd booing]

- Now they want something
different, they're telling us.

So let's give 'em
something different.

- When you're kind of pegged

To be a future superstar,

You're gonna maybe even get

Some more opportunities

That others wouldn't get.

And I felt like maybe
he thought

His chances were running out.

- The following contest

Is the money in the bank
ladder match.

[cheering]

The first individual
to climb the ladder

And retrieve
the briefcase will win

A contract for
a world heavyweight

Championship match.

- And the edge is gonna
win this thing.

Somebody get in there!

- He--but--he's got it!
[bell dings]

- It can be extremely difficult

For a guy to go from being

A babyface to a heel.

And normally, it is
a recipe for disaster.

But man, as a heel, I think
he is just so much better.

[rock music]

- That then became
this character

Who was just maniacally
obsessed with being

The world champion because that
was the last thing

That needed to be done
on my checklist of things.

And that's adam sitting back
and going, "right, what else?

"you got that.
Did that, cool.

"did that. Did that. Did that.

"gotta do that, though.

I mean, this can't end
until that happens."

With that neck injury,
it made me realize

Like, you're gonna
have to make it happen

Sooner than later.

- Nobody goes anywhere.

This night is not over.

First of all, I'd like
to congratulate john cena

In retaining
the wwe championship.

[crowd booing]
there's one more match

To happen here tonight.

This individual is cashing in
his money in the bank

Privilege that he earned
at wrestlemania.

The wwe championship match
will take place

Right here, right now.

John cena defends against edge!

- I'd like to think because
adam is so focused

On all things wwe,
that that truly

Is the pinnacle achievement.

He's definitely
proving himself.

With new performers, that's
a tough mountain to climb.

Everybody wants
to be the champion.

[bell dings]

- Hear him call for the bell,
and here comes

The r-rated superstar, edge,

To bloody john cena over
and over again if he has to.

Oh! And again!

[crowd chanting]
- one, two, three.

He got him!
[bell dings]

Edge has shocked the world!

- This was indeed
a historical night.

- Edge is the new
wwe champion.

- They told me the plan.

"you're gonna have this thing
for three weeks,

"and then you're going to
drop it back to john.

"and then john is gonna

Wrestle triple h
at wrestlemania."

[cheering]
- off the back of his head.

He's gonna do it
with the f-u!

Oh!
He may have to--

Cena pulling back
[indistinct] as champion.

There it goes!
[bell dings]

♪ ♪

- That one put a big chip
on my shoulder.

I found out after
the fact that there was

A lot of very vocal,
"I wasn't ready for it.

Don't know if I'll
ever be ready for it."

It was the locker room
where that--

That was the feeling.

All of that was
ammunition for me.

♪ ♪

- There's always somebody in
the dressing room that's like,

"ehh, him?
I don't get it."

But they don't appreciate
what he was doing.

- I think from
my perspective,

He got to win
the championship.

And it's all about, "what is
my perception going forward

"and how can I
take what's happened

And continue
a compelling narrative?"

♪ ♪

- The ratings go up, the
hits on the website go up.

Ok, merchandise is selling.
This is a good thing.

We're gonna go with this.

"no, we're not."

That pissed me off.

So I got mick, right.

Now we can show everybody.

- The first ever
wwe hardcore champion,

Mick foley versus
the r-rated superstar

In an extreme rated match.

- Mick foley, for my career,
was absolutely what edge needed

To finally kind of
cement where I,

Adam, thought edge belonged.

[audience oohs]

- He was a guy--
and still is to this day--

A guy who likes
to prove people wrong.

♪ ♪

- Spear!
He hit the spear.

- There's only so much
a human body can take.

- Trying to roll
to the outside.

- Oh, my god.

♪ ♪

[cheering]
- and oh, no!

There it is.

- There's barbie.

- One of the things I never
really thought about

Was how barbed wire
would feel

When it's wrapped around
a baseball bat

And it's hitting you
in the stomach.

[audience exclaiming]

Those thoughts crossed my mind
as they were about to happen,

Like a nanosecond before.

[audience exclaiming]
oh, ow.

Oh, that sucks.

One in the back--
ah, that really--wow, ok.

Mm-hmm.
That--that's barbed wire.

That doesn't do good thing--
your skin's not meant for that.

- Oh, take a look it.
Take a look--take it--

Oh, my--
- the thumbtacks,

I mean, the look on my face
pretty much sums it up.

It's kind of like being
on the high-diving board

And just back flopping
into a pool.

But like, I'm talking one
of the high-diving boards

From the olympics.

That kind of, like, smack
where it might knock you out.

Like, take your breath away.

♪ ♪

In the midst of this violent
theater of the absurd,

You're getting a real--a real
emotion in the eyes there.

- Oral surgery being performed
by the dr. Mick foley.

- Oh, my god.
- Oh, my god, here we go.

- We had an idea in our head.

I was borrowing from a couple
of scenes I had witnessed,

But I just felt like
doing it on the grandest stage

Of them all.

It makes it our moment.

- Oh, my god.
Here we go.

Oh, my god.
What's gonna happen?

- Look out!
[audience exclaims]

Ah! Oh, my god!

- Oh, my god!

- And I'm crawling over,
I roll him over.

I said, "I love you, mick."

- Spear through the table,
covered.

- Two, three!
[bell dings]

- [laughs]

The last thing that
you think someone

Would say in that instance.

And he said the same thing.

♪ ♪

[cheering]

- I don't know if I've ever
witnessed a wrestlemania

Moment like we just saw.

- Right there!

- Mick, you did what
you wanted to do.

- Thanks, pat.

♪ ♪

- I don't need one.

I don't need one.
- It'll take--you sure?

- It's--no, I'm good.
I'm good. I'm good.

- It's the smell of
forearm hair burning.

A little bit of skin,
as well.

- Let me take a look at it now.
It's sealed.

No stitches.
- All right.

- As stupid as it sounds,
you survive

Something like that together

And you create
this story together.

And that feels
really, really good.

You feel horrible,
but you feel elated.

And after that, I started
to see respect in the ring.

- He is the rated-r superstar

And the wwe champion, edge!

[cheering]

- Man, is he
a really great heel.

He's just got that slime,

And he enjoys it.

- It's funny because the people
that are really genuinely

True nice guys oftentimes
are better at being a heel

And being that nasty,
despicable character.

- What a cheap shot by edge.

- I thought there could be money

To be made if you're that guy.

- Undertaker has sent edge
straight to hell.

- A lot of those characters
are big,

Large, large men.

Undertaker, john cena,
batista, kane, big show.

A lot of their
character involves

Throwing that bad guy around.

- My god, look out!

- I was that bad guy.

- Look at the strength,
the power.

- Ohh!
- Whoa! Ahh!

- I want you all to know
that I'll be a champion

That you can be proud of.

A champion that will take on
any and all comers.

- Batista bomb!

- Edge!

♪ ♪

- Ohh!
- Oh, my god!

Bodies and ladders are broken.

- I didn't fully grasp
how bad I felt.

♪ ♪

I just thought it was,
well, yeah,

I got a double fusion
in my neck.

Of course that's how I feel.

- I was one of the few people

That knew how much pain
he was in,

What he was dealing with.

He was kinda keeping it
as quiet as he could

Until after wrestlemania.

Obviously,
it wasn't a good situation.

- Finally, in the lead up
to wrestlemania 27,

I got hit in the back
with a chair...

- Oh!

- Live.
- Well, that's gonna

Teach edge.

- Man, he's gonna be going
into wrestlemania

A little bit more banged up
than I thought.

- And I think this was the
first time that cameras caught

The extent
of what my body did...

[laughs] when stuff like this
would happen.

♪ ♪

Alberto was grabbed me by
the shirt and just flailing

Me around and I couldn't--
couldn't do anything.

Like, I was just
like a limp noodle.

The trainers came running out
once we were dark,

Once the show
went off the air.

And they're,
"what's going on?

I'm like, "no, no, no.
All good. I'm good."

You know? What--what exactly
is going on?

I just lost my arms
for a bit, that's all.

[cheers and applause]

- Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to wrestlemania!

[cheering]

- I do a bunch of strength
tests the day of wrestlemania,

Passing everything.

We make the decision, let's
get through wrestlemania.

- Spear! Spear!

Del rio's down, and edge
retains his championship.

[cheers and applause]

- After wrestlemania,
they, uh--

They wanted me to go get
the mris, I got the mris.

I drove up to charlotte,

Did a spear on this guy.

- And edge with the spear
on the outside!

- Kinda lost my arms again.

- He injured the disc above the
level of his previous fusion.

It was literally impinging
on the spinal cord and also

The nerves to his arms
at the time.

- Oh, my god!

- There's no way he could
have continued to wrestle

With the injury that he had.

The risks would have simply
been unjustifiable.

- So I then get a call, like,
two days later from vince.

Those calls are pretty rare.

He said, uh,

"you know, this is
the toughest call I've ever--

"I've ever had to make,
but, uh,

You gotta retire."

[somber music]

Huh.

♪ ♪

- Think I might have been the
first person that he called.

He was choked up,
and I think

Even though he knew
it was closer to the end

Than he was to the start,

Not being able to close
the book on his own terms

Was hard to swallow.

- It was a big shock, um,
'cause, man, he was rolling.

He had no other choice
than to walk away

If he wanted to be healthy.

And it--it was tough.

It was tough to watch.

♪ ♪

- I knew I was getting
closer to the end.

I didn't know that
was my last match.

Like, that can't
be my last match.

I didn't know.

I would have treated it
differently.

I would have come into it
differently.

I would have approached it
differently.

I don't--I don't know how,
but I would have.

- Rumors have been swirling
all day long about

What edge is about to tell us.

I hope it's not true.

- I went to "raw,"
and I basically

Just went out
and talked as adam.

Like, there was no edge.

Last little while,
I've been in a lot of pain.

It was adam

Ending what
he'd always wanted to do.

And that's it.

The wwe wanted me
to go get more tests.

And thankfully, I did.

Because the mri
showed that, uh,

That I have to retire.

[crowd jeering]

That's--I mean, trust me,
it's not my choice.

The doctors have told me that--
that I got no choice.

I'm gonna miss all of this.
All of it.

No matter what,
I came out here

And I tried to give you guys
as much as I had

Every single night.

And in turn, you guys gave it
right back to me.

[cheers and applause]

Thank you, guys.

[cheering]

[all chanting]
- thank you, edge.

Thank you, edge.
Thank you, edge.

Thank you, edge.

- It was just, like,
shocking to me.

I felt bad for him,
and I know

He felt like a good part of his
life was being ripped off.

- I cried.

I cried because I felt

For adam copeland,
the human being.

It's sad when a talent

Has to lose what they love

And what they
have a passion for

And what they've dreamt
of doing their whole life,

And it's taken away from you
in an instant.

♪ ♪

- There's gonna be
some uneasiness

In his soul that is never
going to go away.

That's what we live with
if we don't have closure

On our careers.

- I have to figure out how
to wrap my mind around this

Because this is all I know.

This is what I've done
with my entire adult life.

This is all I've wanted
to do since I was a kid.

If I don't figure this out,

Emotionally, this is--
this could be bad.

This could cause
a wormhole of,

I don't know what.

But I need to put on
my big boy pants

And just go, right,
what is life now?

- Here we go.

- You missed us!
- There you go.

- [laughs]

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

Being a dad now,

Having not necessarily
a template

To draw ideas from
on how to do this dad thing,

I really just came
to my own conclusions,

Is that all you gotta do
is love your kids

And support them.

- Is there any ice cream
in there or is it just candy?

- I put ice cream in there.

- It sounds delicious with
gummy frogs and marshmallows

And chocolate.
- It tastes delicious.

- Beth and I were on
the roster at the same time

But very just,
"hey, beth."

And like,
never called me adam.

It was always edger.
"hey, edger."

- I could totally
have him wrapped around

My little
pinky finger, too.

- And I retired,
and then we started talking

And talking
and talking and talking.

Then it just kind of
blossomed from there

And we started
dating seriously.

And then started
talking about the idea of,

Ok, well,
we're gonna have kids, right?

- Guess what?
- What?

Chicken butt.

Being a dad is easily,
hands down,

No competition whatsoever,

The best thing
I've ever done with my life.

- I tell him this a lot.

But I said, "adam,

"you've become the dad that you

Always deserved growing up."

That will get on the floor

With the kids and be silly

And let them
paint his toenails.

He's just all-in
on being a dad.

- It was a life away
from wrestling.

It really was.
We didn't watch.

We moved away from it and into
what everyday life was now.

But if wrestling's
not on the table,

I still need
to do something creative,

Whatever that is.

♪ ♪

- You had no business here.

- This is haven.

Making things disappear
is my business.

♪ ♪

I'm gonna go act
on a tv show.

I don't really know
how to do that, but,

I mean,
I guess I'll figure it out.

- Action!

- I had four scenes in the
first episode that I was in.

And halfway through
the second scene,

They pulled me aside and said,
"can you do more episodes?"

I mean,
I got nothing else to do now.

[laughs]
sounds good.

So that first episode, it turned
into four that season,

Turned into 41, all told.

And I realized in that time
how much I loved acting.

♪ ♪

After all, I am a viking.

None of this was possible
without beth.

She has been my support.

She has been my everything.

The mother of my children,
my partner, my best friend.

She almost took on--

And I think on purpose--

What my mom would have done.

I think that was probably
part of a pact that they made.

And I don't know
if they officially did,

But I know they did.

♪ ♪

- We really wanted
his mom, judy,

To be here with us
in asheville.

And we were working on
our immigration papers.

And right around that time,
she was diagnosed with cancer.

[dark music]

- It was really a hectic time
just because

I had already signed on
to do "vikings."

I found myself doing this
triangle of travel

For about 2 and 1/2 years,

Where it'd be asheville--
dad, husband,

Try and be
all of those things.

Gotta get up toronto, check
on my mom, see how she is.

I gotta go back to dublin.

Got some scenes coming up.

Then back to asheville,
then toronto, dublin.

Then maybe back to toronto.

And it was pretty exhausting.
[door creaks, slams]

And the emotional aspect
of watching my mom

Go through, you know, chemo,

And just battle through
this thing.

♪ ♪

- Yeah, I was with her
the last five months.

It was gut wrenching.

I just said, "adam--"

I text him and I said,
"you better get back home soon."

I said, "I don't think
this is good."

♪ ♪

- I think she finally felt
like she could rest

Because I had beth

And she knew, like,
I had a partner

That truly has my back.

♪ ♪

- Losing his mom like that,

That tore that constant
in his life.

♪ ♪

It really hit him hard.

And I don't know how much
he dealt with that grief

For a long time.

♪ ♪

- The weird thing about
depression, I think,

Is sometimes you don't
necessarily know you are

Because it becomes
just mundane

And--and you just--

I don't know.

♪ ♪

It's a weird funk,
like you're just, you know,

Kind of stuck in the mud,
right?

♪ ♪

I don't know if I really
fully grasped that I was

Until I pulled myself
out of it.

And that I can attribute
to the girls.

♪ ♪

Howdy, girls.
- Aww.

- And realizing like,
whoa, hold on a second.

You know, snap out of it.
[indistinct chatter]

- Yeah, well, so did you.
- 'cause there's a camera here.

- They became kind of the--

The starting point
for everything.

- I don't think
it's the wrestling

That makes him happy.

I think it's the challenge.

Whatever the toughest route is,

Whatever the road
least traveled is,

That's what makes him
feel alive.

I remember once or twice,
it was ever said,

Like, "I wonder--I wonder if
I could have one more match."

And I would shut that down
real quick.

When that man
comes up with an idea,

There ain't no stopping him.

If he wants something,
he manifests it.

- How's it going? I'm sheamus,
aka the celtic warrior

Here with the
rated-r superstar, edge.

We are going in the mountains,
fella,

And we are not coming back.

♪ ♪

- [laughs]

- That was a good one.
- Whoo.

- They came flying up
and my brother-in-law eric

Was behind me with the gopro.

And he's like, "whoa, dude,
are you ok?"

I was like, "yeah, actually."

- As long as you're all right.
That's the important thing.

- Yeah, that was my first,
like, good one.

People see that and go,
why can't you wrestle?

I feel great.
I feel alive.

I feel like--that's all that
was running through my head.

- Holy [bleep].
- There we go.

- Oh, yeah.
- There we go.

♪ ♪

- I feel like I was
a big roadblock for the return.

♪ ♪

I retired from wrestling
in 2012.

It was six
or seven days later,

Adam had neck surgery.

We don't talk about it
a lot anymore,

But he was having
very bad symptoms

At the time of his retirement.

He was dropping things.
He had atrophy.

He had nerve damage.

And so what I was told
when he had that next surgery

Was, like,
"if he gets rear-ended,

You know, in a car accident or
something, like, he could die."

- She'll tell me, you know,
we would be out for two hours

Running errands
and then you'd have

To go get flat because your
head would just be pounding.

And I've washed that out of
the memory banks a little bit.

[mat thunks]
- I said, listen,

For this to happen,
there's two things.

I gotta hear it from the best
in the world that it's ok.

Because for a long time, I've
been told this will end badly.

And number two is, I gotta
see it with my own eyes.

I gotta see this and
I gotta make sure you're ok.

♪ ♪

[mat thunking]
- [grunts]

Was that good?
Was that enough?

♪ ♪

- Ah, ah.

- How many wives
can you do that to?

♪ ♪

[mat thunks loudly]

- Come on, kid!
Come on!

- No.
[laughs]

- Once he took that first bump
and I looked down at him

And he looked up at me
and we were just like,

"is everything ok?"

And like, I was just, like,
holding my breath.

And he's like,
"I think I'm ok."

- So I went up,
met with the doctors.

- We had a long,
detailed discussion

And we thought that, yes,
there was minimal risk.

There's risk any time
you do these kinds of things.

But we ended up feeling
that it was safe.

- I still don't--
can't fully explain it.

Just worked really hard,
you know,

To strengthen everything.

You know,
there's still parameters.

Don't get me wrong.

I'm not gonna try
and land on my head.

But that's pretty much
everybody in the world.

Got that final clearance,
and then it really became real.

[crowd cheering]

- Welcome to
the 33rd royal rumble.

- If someone
took away the thing

That at that point
in your life you loved most,

And after that,
you landed on your feet,

You started
a beautiful family,

You did all of these things,

But someone
dangles that carrot

Of doing it again
and ending it

The way you want to,

How many people
are gonna say no?

- When I found out
he was gonna come back,

I thought it was the most
amazing, coolest thing

That I've seen happen
in this business,

Maybe of all time.

- I was excited for him

Because he was gonna

Have an opportunity to go out

The way that he wanted

To go out and finish

What he started, really.

- [exhales]
about to blow up.

- Yeah, man.
[laughter]

- Let's just cut to the chase,
shall we?

- Yeah.

- [mouthing]

God, he looks amazing,
doesn't he?

♪ ♪

I think that's when it
really became real for beth,

For the company,
for everyone to really

Start to go,
"oh, this thing is--

Not only can it happen,
it's now going to happen."

- And in ten seconds,
entry number 21.

[crowd chanting]
- three, two, one.

[buzzer blares]

- Who's it gonna be?

- ♪ you think you know me ♪

[cheers and applause]

- Oh, my!

The rated-r superstar!

[victorious rock music]

♪ ♪

- People are always looking
for those surprises.

I dare say,
edge was a huge surprise.

And an unbelievable
live response.

- It's been nine long years.

[cheering]

♪ ♪

[fireworks booming]

♪ ♪

Edge, with a spear!

Now this is
a royal rumble moment.

Oh, a spear fest
at the rumble.

[all chanting]
welcome back! Welcome back!

Welcome back!
Welcome back!

Welcome back! Welcome back!
Welcome back! Welcome back!

- It's still surreal, you know?

And it really kinda felt like
a dream sequence out there.

It felt really good
to hear them react

The way I thought they would.

That's--that's the...
[snaps fingers]

Oh, you can't--

Oh, you can't beat that.

I know there's not many
of these left for me.

So I have to truly
soak it all in.

- The rated-r superstar!

Edge dumps orton!
- Oh, oh.

Edge wins!
Edge wins!

Edge is going to wrestlemania.

- If you wrote this
as a script for hollywood,

They'd say it's impossible.

It can never happen,
it's not realistic.

♪ ♪

Yet, here we are.

- Adam's comeback
has been special.

First of all, it was
never supposed to happen.

So any time you hear something
like that, that's excellent.

Second of all, it's the best
he's ever looked.

- I've been waiting for the
moment for someone to step up

To face me at wrestlemania.

- The ultimate opportunist
strikes again.

The rated-r superstar
battering the phenomenal one.

- Oh, spear in mid-air!

- What makes him a legend

Is the fact that
it's in his blood.

I mean, when he was a kid,
he wanted to be a wrestler.

He lived his whole life
wanting to be a wrestler.

And he left a mark that you
can't erase on this business.

- The rated-r superstar,

Edge!

- The edge fears no man.

- ♪ you think you know me ♪
- look at this great--oh!

Oh, my god!
Edge with a 20-foot ladder!

- Look out!

- There's few wrestlers
that have had the journey

That adam copeland has had.

- ♪ you think you know me ♪

- To have it gone
for nine years,

Yeah, I mean, nine years
is long enough that you think,

This thing has sailed.

That ship is gone.

And it's not even
on the horizon.

- Edge is out of it.

Oh, my god!
Oh, my god!

- So I...
[sighs]

I had to come to terms
with that.

- Bodies and ladders
are broken.

- No!
- And now suddenly,

Wait, hold on a second.

This is doable,
and I got it back now.

Even if it's for this
limited time frame,

I'm going to make sure
that I soak in

Every single part of it.

♪ ♪

So in a strange way, I'm almost
thankful for the nine years.

- I love you.

- Because in that nine years,
beth and I become a couple.

We have kids.

- The extra special thing, he's
a great husband, a great dad.

He's got a lot more things
to balance,

So I respect the hell out of him
for what he's done.

- It's made me appreciate
all of this so much more

And not look past it
and really understand

That you have to live
in every single moment

As it's happening.

- He's not a wrestler
that stands out

For a particular time
or the end of his career

Where he was great.

He's a guy that was great
throughout his whole career.

- I'll consider edge
one of the all-time greats.

- He's a legend.

He's the guy.

- He's quietly carved out
one of the greatest careers

In the history of the sport.

- From the get-go,

Edge had something,
and you saw it.

I'm just proud of the man
he's become.

- I'll be able to know
when the end is,

And be able to
walk away from it...

♪ ♪

And know that
I'm walking away from it.

That's gonna be huge.

This time,
it's gonna be my choice.

And in a strange way,

I'm looking forward to that,
too.

♪ ♪