Adam Copeland Retires

[filkertom]

Edge, that is. One of the most talented and charismatic and athletic wrestlers of the past twenty years. He has to hang it up, because he's had a number of injuries (including a broken neck in 2003 and spinal fusion surgery to correct it) that have resulted in him being just one or two good hits away from a wheelchair, or worse.


His last match was at WrestleMania 27 a week and a half ago, successfully defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio, and, as usual, he gave it everything he had. His retirement is sad news for rasslin' fans, but he's getting out of the biz alive and upright -- and, while we may miss his performances, that's a hell of a lot better than reading his obit.

Comments

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

Speaking of wrestlers, Sharon and I have been watching the occasional episode of "Dancing With the Stars", which works ok as mindless fluff. One of the contestants this season is Chris Jericho, and he's doing pretty well. (Other contestants whose names you'd recognize include Ralph Macchio and Kirstie Alley.)

[kilbia.livejournal.com]

I remember reading articles about professional boxers who got injured, had to retire from said injuries, and had nothing to fall back on.

I definitely think this guy made the right decision, and I hope he's able to move on to success in other endeavours. And that he doesn't get too much grief from other "fans" who don't care or think about things like what you've mentioned.

(Pre-emptive userpic deets: I swiped this from someone else and don't remember whom at this point. I also may not have asked permission because I didn't intend to use it - translation: expect to ever have such a perfect opportunity to use it.)

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

Okay, the conglomeration of names confused me...I'm a fan of U2, the guitarist being the Edge and the bassist Adam (Clayton), as well as the Police, w/the drummer (Stewart) Copeland. I had to read it twice before everything clicked, LOL!

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Jericho, Y2J (he premiered in the WWF in 2001), is one of my very favorites -- hell of a man on the mike, amazing physical storyteller, and a pretty good conventional actor. (I'd love to see him play in something with Neil Patrick Harris, who has many of the same facial expressions and characteristics.) And I've seen a few clips of him on DWTS, and I think he looks pretty good out there. The bit to "I Got Rhythm (http://youtu.be/TWeIbbxvhx8)" the other week was great fun.

[tallizen.livejournal.com]

he could make a good manager or anouncer. HE could mentor up and comming new wrestlers.

[shaharazad.livejournal.com]

Tor further confuse matters, there's also a wrestler named Sting.

[vid848.livejournal.com]

Monday was a sad day in wrestling. Not only the retirement of Edge, but also news of the death of "Sweet And Sour" Larry Sweeney.

Anyone who has followed ROH or Chikara over the last 5 years would recognize the name. In Chikara he was an active wrestler and commentator. During his ROH run, he was primarily a manager running Sweet & Sour Inc. with members like Chris Hero, Sara Del Ray, Matt Sydel, Tank Tolland and (in one infamous night) Jonny Fairplay. He also had a memorable feud with F4W Online founder Bryan Alvarez back in 2007 of the Tex-arkana TV Title belt. Sweeney was one of the best promo men around and his role in ROH harkened back to the days of classic "managers" like Jim Cornette, JJ Dillon and Sir Oliver Humperdink (who just passed last month).

Sweeney had a history of battling drug abuse and bipolar depression. He left ROH in 2009 after having a bipolar "flare up" and spent the last couple of years fighting his demons. Unfortunately it appears they caught up with him. He was found hanging in his wrestling school, an apparent suicide. He was only 29.

As far as Edge's retirement, this is much more surprising that I would have thought. To be honest, I probably underrated his abilities and talents, sort of took him for granted. I haven't watched RAW in a long time, but I did go to WWE.com and saw the video of his speech. As he was talking, I suddenly remembered all the moments that he has provided and started really noticing his impact in the business. That is when the severity of the void his forced retirement really presented itself.

Although, I would rather miss his in-ring work and have him around for years to come than to have him keep on going but break down. The names are too numerous to list. Hulk Hogan, Billy Graham, Dynamite Kid. Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy are a couple of guys who everyone fears will end up there. Even, god forbid.....Chris Benoit. He and Edge had the same neck fusion surgery. Just what if Benoit was able to have the mental facilties to be able to retire before he got to the point where he ended up at.

Forgive my rambling on, just needed to express.

[tcgtrf.livejournal.com]

He has a degree in Communications and the few times he's sat in the color chair, he's done decent job (although not as good as CM Punk). I hope he keeps a job somewhere in the business--it's clearly his love and this was clearly a surprise.

Tom Trumpinski

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Well, guess we know who's getting in the Hall of Fame next year.

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

I thought it was Edge who died of either a heart attack or a stroke right before he was supposed to return to the ring after being out for a year due to a neck injury. He spent most of 2003 and the start of 2004 as a commentator on WWE.com, and that was where his surprised death was reported. Now I am trying to remember who it was that died. I know the cause of death turned out to be an inherited problem they didn't know they had until it hit them fatally. Does anyone remember who it was since apparently it was not Edge??

[eoywin.livejournal.com]

I was at this past WrestleMania and I'm very thankful that I got to see Edge's last match. I'm sad to see him retire, but I'm also glad he's not in worse shape.

Plus, now he's going to move to the town I live near :D I hope that sometime I'll run into him at the grocery store :D

[tcgtrf.livejournal.com]

If you include his tag-team championships with Christian, he's held more belts than any other current or past WWE wrestler. I'd say he's earned a membership--at least as much as Sean Michaels (who coasted except for his PPV performances for his last couple of years in the business) has.

Question for you and Tom:

Who do you think the best new guy/gal is in any TV promotion? Myself, I like Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater's tag team combination and wish they could come over to the face side of the coin for a while. For singles, I am very impressed with Seamus, who puts in a great performance for house shows as well as for the televised stuff. I've seen Sin Cara both in house and on RAW and while he's spectacular on TV, he is nowhere near as high-risk (or fast) off camera.

I've been also watching Stone Cold's reality series, since one of the girls, Ivelisse, is from the Dreamwave Promotion up in Northern Illinois, where she performed as Juliet the Huntress.

Tom Trumpinski

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

New guy? I'd certainly go with Sheamus as one of 'em. Through sheer toughness, he's proved himself as one of the, to my mind, best kind of heels -- the nasty guy who beats the crap out of people and dares others to do the same to him. My all-time favorites of those were "Macho Man" Randy Savage, the Dudley Boys, Big Van Vader, Finlay (WCW era), Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorf, and Mr. Perfect, Kurt Hennig. Yeah, they'd pull a trick here and there, do something sneaky and lowdown, occasionally even have someone interfere on their behalf... but, for the most part, they were perfectly comfortable to Get In Your Face and just have it out.

I enjoy the athleticism of both The Miz and John Morrison. Most of the rest, especially Alberto Del Rio, are, as far as I'm concerned, Midcard 4 Life. But then, I feel that way about Randy Orton, who has for years now been getting pushed far, far more than I feel he deserves, so I may not be the best opinion source. ;) John Cena has, at least, paid a bucketload of dues. It has never felt to me as if Randy was anything special.

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

"Sin Cara" is Spanish for "Flavor of the Month".

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Umaga, I think.

[austinwolfclaw.livejournal.com]

Hmm I didnt know you were a wrestling fan! I invite you to Furnet IRC to the channel #WWE to chat about Raw and Smackdown. (the channel is most active when Raw and smackdown is on) Hope to see you there.