The rivalry between Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz was the highlight of WWE's tag team division throughout the early 2000s. The three teams stole the show in tables matches, ladder matches, and TLC matches. The peak of the rivalry came at WrestleMania 17 when the three teams competed in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match that is still one of the most memorable matches in WrestleMania history.
Speaking to Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report, Edge looked back on those matches and wondered how all six men made it out alive.
"It was six young, hungry talents, truly trying to steal the show and to get noticed and make our mark," Edge says now. "I think we'd all started to at that point. We'd had the first tag ladder match with the Hardys, and then the Hardys had the tables match with the Dudleys. But this was the first time where all of those combustible elements came together. And I think we all knew. We just all knew. And as a performer, you know when you have the right people in a match and you have something that can be special. We had all of that in spades, and it was time to go out and do it. That doesn't mean a classic match is always going to happen, but when it does start to happen and you can feel it and you know it, there's no better feeling. There really isn't."
He continued, "There is that part of me that feels we pushed it too far. At that time, we were young and we were hungry, and we were just champing at the bit to get noticed and to make our mark. And how do you do that when you have Steve Austin firing on every cylinder? When you have The Rock firing on every cylinder? When you have The Undertaker and Mankind and Kane and Triple H—what do you do to stand out, to get noticed, to start creating some kind of a groundswell? Well, we were willing to take risks. And we'd like to think that they were calculated and that they made sense. But I still think we've pushed it so far. And when I look at young talent now and I see matches like, 'Oh, they're doing so much.' But then I have to temper it, remind myself, 'Well, dumbass, you're partly responsible for this because of the TLC matches.' I really would love for it to become more story-driven, more selling and more just that type of thing. But I'm also proud of it, you know? And I'm proud of the work we all did. I'm proud of all those guys. And we'll always share a special bond because of that. Being involved and then on the ground floor of something like that, it's special."
On social media this week, Edge singled out the ladder spear on Jeff Hardy as the defining moment of the first chapter of his career.
Here’s an alternate view of “that spear” with @JEFFHARDYBRAND which happened 19 years ago today at WrestleMania 17. It came define the first chapter of my career. At WrestleMania 36 I define the second chapter vs @RandyOrton #LastManStanding pic.twitter.com/hOLbzKWagq
— Adam (Edge) Copeland (@EdgeRatedR) April 2, 2020
Edge is scheduled to take on Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania 36.
Fightful will have live coverage of WrestleMania 36 beginning Saturday, April 4.
