7 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (Feb 21)

3. A Hall-Of-Fame Open Challenge

This is the time of year you start seeing wrestlers lining up opponents for the biggest show of the year. Even if it’s not clear yet, the table gets set and you just have to wait a bit.

Edge did just this Monday night, when he returned to Raw and walked fans through his history with WrestleMania, whether it was listening to results from WM 3, attending WM 6, being unused talent at WM 14, competing at WM 16, stealing the show at WM X-Seven, and so on. He said that he needs WrestleMania, but Mania needs him as well.

The Rated-R Superstar then laid down the challenge to the locker room: Someone needs to step up and face him at Mania 38 in six weeks. He told them to “fight (him) and (he’ll) make you live forever.” (Wait, isn’t that Damian Priest’s old tagline?)

Edge’s name has been linked to AJ Styles and Austin Theory at Mania. Either of them could step up to face him, and while they would be two very different stories and matches, both could be very good if done correctly. And maybe it isn’t coincident that Priest talked about wanting world-champion caliber opponents and Edge used Damian’s old catchphrase.

Allowing someone to step up to a Hall-of-Famer is a nice way to kick off a storyline like this. There’s no need for a sneak attack or contrived encounter. Just have someone answer the challenge and then it’s off to the races.