Edge 'Excited,' Says 'All Bets Are Off' for WrestleMania 36 vs. Randy Orton
Edge called WrestleMania 36 opponent Randy Orton "one of the best ever" and said he's "excited" for what they can create despite the year's biggest pay-per-view moving forward from the WWE Performance Center in Florida without fans in attendance because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Rated R Superstar discussed the unique situation during an appearance on the Gorilla Position podcast (via Dylan Bowker of Wrestling Inc.):
"I know and I feel confident because I know in Randy I have one of, and I don't say this lightly, one of the best ever. Or possibly, and it's all subjective, truly the best to ever do this. Now you get my brains and his natural ability on this thing and I'm excited. I'm excited for what we can do and what we can bring to the audience.
"All bets are off. There's no rules. It's an entirely blank canvas and when I think back to Christian and I versus the Hardys in the first-ever tag team ladder match, we had a blank canvas and look how that turned out."
Edge referenced the empty arena match between The Rock and Mankind, which aired during halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII, as the only parallel to what wrestlers are going to face at this year's Mania.
"There's been the empty arena match with Mick [Foley] and Rock but nothing like this," he said. "Nothing like WrestleMania in an empty Performance Center. It hasn't been done. Sure, it's not ideal. We all get it, but we have to make do. We have to figure out, we have to adapt, and that's what this whole thing will be."
WWE announced last week it's decided to make WrestleMania 36 a two-night event on April 4 and April 5, with former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski as the special guest host.
In addition, the company is set to tape the entire event this week on Wednesday and Thursday at the Performance Center to prevent further travel restrictions from potentially causing major problems if they waited to hold the show live, per PWInsider (via Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co).
It will be interesting to see whether WWE is able to keep the show's results and biggest moments from leaking before it airs early next month.
Edge's return to the Showcase of the Immortals is one of the event's biggest storylines.
The 46-year-old fan favorite retired from professional wrestling in 2011 because of cervical spinal stenosis, a bone disease in the neck area. He made his return to the squared circle in January at the 2020 Royal Rumble and eliminated Orton during the match to set the stage for their feud.
It's been an entertaining, old-school approach with Orton turning into his Legend Killer gimmick to create some of his best work in years, and credit also goes to Edge's wife, Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix, for helping advance the feud by taking an RKO from the Apex Predator.
Edge was one of WWE's biggest stars at his peak, and his return provided a major boost to the WrestleMania build. There's little doubt his clash with Orton will be one of the best matches of the event.
