10 Wresting Title Reigns That Were Ruined By Injury

Truthfully, there’s very little difference between Edge’s situation and Daniel Bryan’s or Bret Hart’s. What separates him from the rest, however, is the sheer shock value of his sudden retirement. Nobody saw it coming, and it hit the WWE Universe like a bolt of lightning.

Edge had successfully defended his World Title against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania XXVII, but eyebrows were raised when he took the ring in street clothes, without the belt, on the following night’s Raw.

In one of the most impassioned and emotional speeches in WWE history, Edge revealed the true extent of his long-standing neck problems. A career spent wrestling in countless dangerous, high-impact matches had taken a severe toll on the Rated R Superstar’s body, and after a long series of tests and MRIs, doctors decreed that his time in the ring was over.

Edge’s retirement hit fans right in the gut. It was impossible not to feel for him as he recalled his career and the events that had brought him to that point, and although Edge could barely contain his emotions as he spoke, some fans immediately pegged it a work. Sadly, the situation was very, very real, and it was a horrible end for one of the modern era’s all-time greats.

Edge let go of the World Heavyweight Championship that very night. He went out at the very top, and after being inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame at the age of 38, his place in history is more than secure.