Ranking Edge's WWE SummerSlam Matches From Worst To Best
Running down the Rated R Superstar's summers.
At time of writing, it has been 11 years since we last saw the Rated R Superstar feature on the biggest show of the summer.
Even with eighteen months’ distance, Edge’s improbable return at 2020’s Royal Rumble still feels like a sports entertainment miracle (not least because of another injury layoff which kept him from our screens for another significant chunk), and as such, every match from the guy feels like a gift.
He’s taking on Seth Rollins at the Las Vegas showcase, an early contender to steal the show and a fresh clash we can’t wait to see. But how have Edge’s other SummerSlam showings stacked up? Well, it’s a mixed bag.
Edge’s rise to superstardom was a steady one, and his career can be broken up into several chunks, from promising debutant to tag team specialist, rising midcarder to bonafide main eventer. Some of these phases boast better results than others, but the guy’s a Hall of Famer for a reason.
From blunders to hidden gems and bonafide classics, Edge’s SummerSlam bouts have been nothing if not eventful, and often downright brilliant.
9. vs Matt Hardy (2005)
In 2005, the Edge/Matt Hardy/Lita love triangle was the hottest angle in wrestling. Stemming from real-life infidelity, the friends turned foes Edge and Hardy had nuclear heat, and the super popular Matt could have carried that righteous indignation into a vicious match with Edge at the year’s second-biggest PPV.
Instead, we got an under-five minute brawl which ended by ref stoppage after Edge beat the returning hero into a pulp. Ah. It was clear from the off that WWE’s eggs were in Edge’s basket, with Hardy, the wronged party in the affair, fired before being reinstated. But once it became clear how scorching an angle they had here, surely they should have gone the other way in the booking.
Using real-life stories is always shaky ground, but it would have been understandable had Matt been given a chance at revenge. Instead, at the very peak of public interest, he essentially got squashed, bested once again by his personal and professional rival.
Between Hogan/Michaels and the Dominick ladder match, 2005 is a particularly strange SummerSlam, but this one’s just baffling.