The last two years have turned the world upside-down, for the majority of time for the worst, we’ve been hit by a pandemic that has changed our everyday lives. For me, though times were pretty tough and horrendous before the ‘C-word’ hit in 2020.
College was a struggle to get through, one exam failure after another, and studying a subject and course that I don’t really like talking about to this day. However, on January 26th 2020 there was that little crumb of comfort, that little ray of sunshine, and I remember it so vividly and since that day it has provided me with something that I can go back and watch at times when I’m feeling down.
What I’m talking about is the return of Santina Marella….. don’t worry I’m just kidding obviously I’m talking about the return and in the words of Tony Chimel “The Rated R Sssuuuuupppperstar Edge!”
Rumours of Edge coming back to the ring after nine years had been swirling around for a few months prior to the Rumble, although it still felt to me like an ‘I’ll believe it when I see sort of moment’. Then as the clock counted down to No21, and that music hit it sent me to a place that as a wrestling fan of 13 years I’d never felt before. A guy who, when I was much younger, I despised as he was the heel going up against my heroes, had me at 3 o’clock on an early Monday morning in tears of joy.
I’d already watched the return on a number of occasions in the days following, more so out of the sheer excitement still of it all, but when a former support assistant and friend of our family passed away at the end of the month, I found myself needing something that would help me cheer up and most of the time it would be this,
It helped me remember the times when I was happy and could feel like a kid again without having to worry, and that’s the beauty of wrestling and for me personally, there are very few things in life that can get you the way wrestling gets you. When people at school laughed at me for being a fan and said: “uh you know it’s fake right” it’d obviously frustrate and upset me because to me, it’s not true.
The emotions that I got when Edge returned weren’t “fake”, they were as real as real could get, the excitement on the fans faces when CM Punk debuted in AEW certainly weren’t “fake” that is the beauty of this industry that we are fans of, moments like this when they happen are one’s that you’ll never forget.
Edge winning the Rumble last year perhaps wasn’t the most popular idea, but for me, it was, because the memories of the previous 12 months came flooding back, and once again the emotions got the better of me, and the prospect of him main eventing Wrestlemania just sent shivers down my spine.
That’s why in an SLTD Roundtable Podcast of our Top 10 Wrestlers with myself and Adam, I said Edge was my No1 wrestler because ultimately his return and what’s followed has helped me get through the last two years. Seeing his feud with Seth Rollins was the personification of a dream rivalry, two of my favourite wrestlers having three incredible matches and telling a great story along the way.
This article is far more of a Callum Owen piece rather than my usual ‘Wrestling Brain’ predictions, but for me, it’s been one that I’ve wanted to write for a while now. Edge’s return meant more to me than anything else that has happened in wrestling, period. It has played a huge part in my recovery during one of the most troubling periods of my life, and I’m so glad I have had something there to fall back on when I’ve needed it and I know it’ll still be there for me if I need it again.
Anyway, that’s it for now, again I know this is a lot different from what I usually write about, so if you want to check out something far more uplifting, myself and Mike JC have joined forces for Royal Rumble Predictions, so keep your eyes peeled on @sltdwrestling and feel free to follow me on Twitter @callumowen98
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