WWE Raw In 2004: 10 Best Moments

Edge missed over a year of action after undergoing major neck surgery in February 2003. He was gathering some serious momentum as a top babyface on Smackdown before he was cut down, but he came back as a member of the Raw roster, being drafted to the flagship in the March 2004 draft.

From the off it seemed as though something was, well, off. The heavy metal hair and 1980s style tights just weren't cutting it anymore. His character, move set and interview style were the same as they had been since late 2001 and, to be honest, the fans were growing tired of it.

He was still producing some damn fine matches, but he was stale. The Canadian heard a smattering of boos here and there over the summer, which could be brushed off, but he and WWE creative were given a wakeup call when he was booed out of the building by his hometown crowd at SummerSlam 2004 (Edge faced Chris Jericho and Batista in an Intercontinental Title triple threat match).

Soon after, Edge began to display heelish tendencies. In the run-up to Taboo Tuesday, Edge fought intensely with fellow babyface Chris Benoit. Then Edge walked out of their World Tag Team title match on the show, although Benoit won it all by himself. Edge, as underserving and ungrateful tag champ who resented the fans and his fellow wrestlers for not getting the World Heavyweight Title shot at Taboo Tuesday was a breath of fresh air compared to happy-go-lucky fiery babyface Edge.

There was never an official turn, per se, but the future Rated-R Superstar grew more and more villainous. He spent the winter months of 2004 feuding with Benoit as well as briefly reforming his team with kayfabe brother Christian.