10 Most Courageous WWE Moments

6. Edge's Retirement

Think about this: reigning WWE Champion AJ Styles is a relatively new face at the top of the tree and he's 41 years old. Meanwhile, company legend Edge was 37 when he was forced to publicly announce his retirement from the ring. That's far too young for anyone, let alone one of the best talents of his generation.

On the April 11 2001 episode of Raw, a nervous Canadian stood in front of thousands and revealed that neck injuries (a cervical vertebral fusion, mainly) had taken him out of the game. Edge didn't only lose temporary power of his arms at several points pre-surgery, he also lost the power to decide his own destiny.

Fighting back the tears and telling his story cannot have been an easy task, but he did it.

The painless decision would've been asking WWE to run a graphic and having the announcers tell his affecting tale of retirement instead. That wasn't what Edge wanted. He wanted to deliver the news himself and thank fans for their support over the years. That deserves respect, because it took guts.