In a recent interview with Busted Open Radio, Christian talked about Edge and here is what he had to say.

Christian on if it was bittersweet that he won the title after Edge was forced to vacate it: “Of course, it was a tough pill to swallow. He’s my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were in sixth grade. I knew that he was having issues with tingling and things like that in his arms. He had neck surgery years ago, so I think he realized that at some point, it may come back to bother him again at some point in his career. The day after Wrestlemania he went and had everything checked out and it turned out he had the spinal stenosis and the whole thing and he was in serious risk of permanent damage to himself. All it takes is a fall, or to do something one wrong way and the risk of paralysis was even there. Nothing is worth that type of risk.”

“He called me right after he got the news and obviously he was very upset about it. We got off the phone and I started thinking about it a little bit. I called him back and I said I understand why you’re upset, but you can look at it two ways. You can look at it that way or you can look at it this way. Your career has been amazing. There’s not many people that can say they had the type of career you had, done the things that you’ve done. You’ve always done things the way you wanted to do them. If this is it, your last match was at Wrestlemania in front of seventy thousand plus people in one of the main events, and you walked out as the World Heavyweight Champion. I said I don’t know if you can write a better ending to a script than that. And he’s like ‘Man, I didn’t even think about that.’, and right away I think he kind of felt better about it. It took him a couple days to kind of let it sink in, but that being said, he realizes there’s not much he can do about it now except look forward to the future.”

“None of us were expecting any of this to happen, it just happened and it’s one of those things where when you get a chance to step up, you gotta step up and I feel like I did.”

After looking down from the ladder at Extreme Rules and seeing Edge with tears in his eyes, Christian knew “it meant just as much to him to see me do that as it did to myself.”

Coming into WWE at the same time, both Superstars enjoyed an illustrious tag team career together. But, there was a time when the two squared off against each other in the ring, including when Christian won his first Intercontinental Championship against Edge.

“It’s almost like you’re fighting your brother. You didn’t want to, but you kind of had to. You had to fight to get the respect of each other. It’s like two brothers going out in the back yard to duke it out and your father picks you up and dusts you off and says ‘now shake hands.’”

After years of success in WWE, Christian has finally elevated himself to the next level – a level his friend Edge was accustomed to being.

And in perhaps the most fitting fashion, Christian won his first World Title in a Ladder Match – something he and Edge excelled at for many years.

For those of you who don’t know, Edge and I used to regularly perform one of the greatest tag-team moves of all time. Let me set the scene for you. Any arena, in any part of the country for roughly an eighteen month period -maybe early 1999 through late 2000. Al Snow, despite what I may have written in the past, was actually quite a witty guy; more than capable of holding his during the course of our legendary (if ridiculously drawn-out) battle of the brains. Think of each insult or joke as a punch, putting together as many as possible – some better than others, some hitting their mark, other missing wildly – with the ultimate goal of knocking your verbal sparring partner out. It was not unusual for Al to start off strong, peppering me with jabs, sinking some solid body shots. But like DeNiro in Raging Bull, Al Snow never did put me down. Why? Because he lacked my secret weapon. Because, literally, he had no Edge. But I did.

Sensing that his friend might be in danger of an embarrassing loss to the underdog Snow, Edge would leap into action, overselling the laughs at whatever feeble comeback I tried to mount, before combining with me to hit the valiant, yet doomed Snow with that most incredible of finishers – The White Guy Jumping High Five! The move was a guaranteed knockout: creating such waves of laughter among my WWE contemporaries, that Al would simply concede defeat, saying something about how it wasn’t fair, that Edge was my henchman, that my jokes weren’t even funny, blah, blah blah. All valid points, but none of that mattered at the time..or even now. All that mattered then..and now, is that Edge was my secret weapon, and that I was undefeated in locker-room (or airplane, train, boat, baseball games..you get it) showdowns with Al Snow.

It didn’t take a crystal ball to see that Edge was going to be a star. He clearly had the moves, the look, the charisma. But it wasn’t until a particular “Brood” interview, where Gangrel seemed to stumble verbally, that Edge was given a chance on the stick – an opportunity he took full advantage of; leaving all the boys with that unmistakable “ohh, he can talk, he’s going to draw money” feeling. Clearly, this guy was not meant to be either silent or brooding, and within a matter of weeks (or so it seemed) Edge and Christian had been de-Brooded and began to explore their more comedic side, from the 5 second poses for those with the benefit of flash photography, to their stellar showdowns with the kick-ass, take-names new Commissioner of WWE –me! I’ve often mentioned that my days as WWE Commissioner were among the happiest of my career. And of all the things that went into making that time so happy, nothing made me happier than to work with Edge and Christian on a series of bizarre, innocent and ridiculous backstage vignettes we collectively referred to as “Chredgeley” – as in CHRistian, EDGE, and foLEY. You know, until I wrote that out, I never realized that Edge got his whole name in there, and Christian and I only got three letters each. Hey, that doesn’t seem fair! Not trying to sell A DVD here, (especially since I have a new one coming out on 4/19 that I WILL be trying to sell) but I enjoyed working with Jay and Adam (pretty sure you know which is which) so much, that I specifically asked for a “Credgely” compilation package on 2000’s “Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops” video.

As funny, and as talented as each were, it wasn’t until Summerslam 2000’s “Tables, Ladders and Chairs” match that the world began to see them as legitimate superstars, and ironically, not until returning from 2003 spinal fusion surgery on his neck, that Edge was given a legitimate chance at breaking through that glass ceiling; the invisible, yet very real barrier that prevented most WWE Superstars from ever taking that final step from Superstar to SUPERSTAR – from valuable role-player to main eventer. The 2003 Edge didn’t tap at that ceiling. He didn’t ask politely if he might gain entry. He smashed through it, just bleeping shattered it. He didn’t take that final step; he pretty much just vaulted over everybody. And he did it with a hybrid of tools – ring experience, psychology, humor, physicality, determination – that allowed him to steal just about every show he appeared on. I got to see a few of those matches live. I watched many more on television. Hell, I even got to be in one of them – Wrestlemania XXII, where the Edgester wove his magic spell on a clearly out of shape, past his prime relic of a by-gone era and allowed him (meaning me) to have that one elusive great Wrestlemania moment.

I had no doubt at the time, 2006, that Edge was the number one wrestler in the business. I think one could put up an argument that he was the number one wrestler for a period of time during any one of a number of years. His matches with the top WWE stars of his era – The Undertaker, Triple H, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, John Cena, etc. etc. – are the stuff of legend. If there is any weakness to an argument for Edge, it is that he did amazing matches with such regularity that I’m not sure fans could completely appreciate just how amazing they were. Following my Mania match with Edge, I spent a LONG time in bed, caught a late flight, and made it home just in time to see Edge on Raw, stealing the show again – less than 24 hours after stealing the biggest show of the year.

I don’t know if there will ever be a consensus on who the best wrestler or worker of that era (call it 2003-2011, starting and ending with the neck injury) is or was. I once said I could make a good argument for Shawn Michaels – and I can. I think I could make a pretty good argument for Kurt Angle. Based on big money matches, some might say Triple H. For pure wrestling, maybe AJ Styles or Samoa Joe, or any number of Japanese stars who have flown beneath the mainstream radar.

But look at the other attributes that Edge brought to the table. A willingness to fully immerse himself in every storyline – to make people believe, or at least to believe that he believed. He embraced the ridiculous. He loved the emotional. He thrived under pressure. He stood up for what he thought was best for his characters, his matches, his opponents, and the shows. As viewers, we knew that every segment he appeared in was going to be good. But more importantly, we knew that any segment with Edge had the potential be great. In baseball terms, he was a five-tool player; a guy who could do it all. There have been other five-tool players in the wrestling game – guys who could wrestle, draw money, talk, create characters, be dramatic or comedic. But to me, he was the most versatile, and the most entertaining. So while there may be an argument over who the GREATEST WRESTLER was from 2003-2008, to me, there is no real argument over who was the era’s GREATEST PERFORMER. Hands down, it goes to Edge. What an incredible person. What an amazing career.

Please share with anyone you think might like it.. Anyone can use it – from any site, magazine or other form of media.

The following is a passage from Jim Ross’ latest blog where he talks about Edge’s retirement and future.

Edge’s retirement this past Monday on Raw was a shocking surprise. I had no idea that it was going to happen even up until the time Edge came to the ring and gave us the emotional news. There are no wrestlers in the business that I respect more as a performer and a man than I do Adam Copeland aka Edge. When I signed him in the 90′s, he was a lanky, over achieving kid who simply wanted to live his dream of making it onto the WWE Roster. He and Christian were like brothers and both fed off the other in the ring as they each worked diligently every day to improve their game. I honestly can’t remember a single day when Adam Copeland ever did anything to disappoint me or cause our department or company any problems.

Edge has a brilliant mind, a kind soul, patience, and would be a great teacher, producer, broadcaster, scout, or whatever task he may want to undertake in WWE. I look for Edge to take some much needed time away from the business and enjoy the North Carolina mountains and his dogs that he loves so much. He deserves no less than to return to WWE in whatever role that creates a win/win for Edge and the company but only whenever Edge is ready to re-engage.

In my role as the head of WWE Talent, I signed many athletes/performers who ended up excelling in WWE but none, and I mean no one, was more of a pure joy to work with and to watch grow from a mid card, tag team wrestler into one of WWE’s most prominent and enduring superstars who will no doubt be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame some day.

I shutter to think what would have happened to Edge in another generation of the biz as it relates to accurately diagnosing his injury. Most old timers would have ‘worked through it,’ or attempted to do so, until their body completely shut down. That’s sad and unnecessary. Modern medicine and the WWE attention to such matters regarding their talent’s health were a blessing for Edge who will now be able to lead a somewhat normal life. I am especially pleased that one of my guys has attained financial independence and that he was able to live his boyhood dream.

Notwithstanding the touching farewell address by the popular native of Ontario, no one can debate that this story did not have a happy ending. Good things more often than not happen to good people and Adam Copeland aka Edge was one of the truly ‘good guys’ I ever had the privilege of knowing in the business. Now, Adam, if he so chooses, can start phase two of his WWE life and potentially gift the younger talents with his wonderful knowledge and passion for the genre.

Do it on your schedule Adam. Enjoy those North Carolina mountains and reflect upon a job well done. It’s people like you that make me extremely proud to be in the business.

In Jim Ross’s latest blog he commented on the Edge retirement rumors and here is what he had to say:

I have not read the latest dirt that Edge is contemplating retirement. Honestly speaking, any athlete that is Edge’s age, he’s still young but has been in wrestling a long time, and has had his laundry list of injuries must obviously ‘think’ about their future if they are smart and Edge is a very smart guy. Edge has earned exceptionally well and he’s been admirably smart with his funds. I see Edge sticking around and contributing a few more years but he will not be one of the guys who’s 50 or more and still wrestling at the local, VFW Hall for grocery money. Edge is a true student of the game and still has so much to give and him being on Smackdown is timely and smart positioning for WWE.

Very pleased with my match with Edge at Wrestlemania. Still recovering from the spear off the table though… BONK