And we'll leave it all behind.
"I started in the WWE when I was 23. I’ve been doing this for 19 years, 14 of them with the WWE. My first match was May 10, 1996 in Hamilton Scott’s Coliseum. I was 23 years old and I feel like I’ve grown up in front of all of you. I feel like I’ve made a whole lot of mistakes in front of you. I’ve learned from them and I’ve become a man in front of you. I’ve gone from being the silent guy running around the streets of New York with a trench coat that was way too small for him, to a pseudo vampire in the Brood, to one of the funny, goofy guys along with Christian, posing for those with the benefit of flash photography. I became one of the most despised guys in WWE history. In fact I got thrown into the Long Island Sound. I’ve had a Live Sex Celebration - thankfully with Lita and not Vickie Guerrero.
And I would hope that through it all I’ve earned the respect of everyone in that locker room and I hope that I’ve earned all of your respect because no matter what, no matter what, I came out here and I tried to give you guys as much as I had every single night, and in turn you guys gave it right back to me. So I’m going to miss all of this. All of it. I’m going to miss that reaction when I hear my music and I come out on the ramp. It’s like a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart from you guys and it’s amazing - I can’t describe it. But, that being said, I don’t have to wear tights tomorrow and I am going to eat a whole lot of ice cream tonight.
But if you asked if I would do all of this again, all the way back to getting hired by JR, if you asked if I’d travel all the roads, log all the miles, hop on all the flights, all the sleepless nights, the surgeries, the injuries, the sleepless nights, the metal rods in my teeth, all of it - if you asked me if I’d do it again - in a heartbeat. So thank you. Thank you very much."
No. Thank you, Mr. Copeland.
One of my original favorites when I got into wrestling all those years ago when he was with the Brood. One half of my all-time favorite tag team, with Christian. An innovator unlike any other I've watched, and frankly, one of the best damn wrestlers I have ever seen.
A large part of my original wrestling fandom is gone. I cannot tell you how much this sucks for me, seeing him leave like this. But, like many, I'm very happy that they caught his injury in time, and as he said in his speech, he won't be in a wheelchair.
So thank you, Edge. Thanks for being so goddamned entertaining, be it in promos or in matches. Thank you for putting so much on the line. And thank you for every single blood drinking, kazoo playing, shampoo commercial coveting, flash photography rewarding, Angle trolling, opportunity seizing, Lita banging, Rated R offbeat shenanigan-filled moment you've given me as a fan.
Now, if you folks will excuse me, I'm gonna listen to a couple Alter Bridge and Rob Zombie songs, read the various /wooo/ tribute threads, and watch TLC II.
And yes, probably end up crying like a baby during all of it.
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“You don’t have to be the biggest, you don’t have to be the toughest, but you do have to be the smartest.” --Edge