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<\/p>\nThree years ago, 11-time world champion wrestler Adam \u00adCopeland wasn\u2019t thinking about slamming an opponent, swinging a chair or jumping off the ropes.<\/p>\n
In fact, wrestling in WWE was the last thing on the mind of the man known to millions of fans worldwide as Edge.<\/p>\n
But this Sunday, 10 years to the day after the \u201cRated-R Superstar\u201d tearfully told fans he had no choice but to retire, he will walk to the ring for the main event of WrestleMania 37.<\/p>\n
His incredible comeback \u2013 which has seen him get into the best shape of his life \u2013 started because the grappler simply wanted to climb steps at his North Carolina home with no ill effects.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt one point, I walked up the stairs and I was out of breath,\u201d says Edge. \u201cI went: \u2018That\u2019s no good. I\u2019m not eating healthily. I don\u2019t feel healthy. I don\u2019t feel good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
This trigger point led the 47-year-old Canadian to restart his wrestling career \u2013 nine years after a severe injury forced him to hang up his tights and undergo surgery to fuse three bones in his neck.<\/p>\n
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But back at this point, in 2018, Edge and his wife Elizabeth \u2013 WWE star Beth Phoenix \u2013 were going through a hard time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur family were going through some depression,\u201d Edge recalls. \u201cWe\u2019d lost my mum and lost Beth\u2019s dad in a two-month time-frame.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have two little girls \u2013 we didn\u2019t start to have kids until I was 40. I\u2019m an older father and I want to be around for them. So that was really the catalyst.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started focusing on my diet and needing to go to the gym again every day, instead of it feeling like a chore \u2013 which is what it had become.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was doing just enough to not go into full dad bod.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his initial 13-year run with WWE, Edge became the most-decorated champion in the company\u2019s history, winning 31 major titles and gaining a fearsome reputation as someone unafraid to take risks to thrill the audience.<\/p>\n
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In 2001, Edge stole the show at WrestleMania when he took his trademark \u201cspear\u201d move to the next level \u2013 leaping off a ladder to tackle opponent Jeff Hardy down to the mat during a tables, ladders and chairs match.<\/p>\n
Five years later, he upped the ante by diving headfirst out of the ring to drive WWE legend Mick Foley through a table that had been set on fire.<\/p>\n
Despite the huge impact his in-ring career has had on his body, Edge says: \u201cI don\u2019t really have any regrets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I didn\u2019t do that spear to Jeff Hardy or do that spear to Mick Foley through a flaming table, I don\u2019t know if Edge the character would have got to where I thought he should be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t look at it as a mistake, but as a learning process.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/figure>\nWWE legend Road Dogg suffers heart attack and is hospitalised, wife says![](\"https:\/\/s2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/@trinitymirrordigital\/chameleon-branding\/publications\/dailystar\/img\/logo-schema-dailystar.png\"){kind=logo}
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At first, Beth was worried when Edge started to talk about returning to the wrestling ring. But after doctors cleared him to compete again, she supported her husband to rediscover his confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cNine years is a long time to not do this \u2013 in fact, nine days is a long time to not do this,\u201d says Edge. \u201cI\u2019m very lucky in that when I was getting ready to come back I could ask my wife for help. She can actually pick me up and help me do all these things that I need to do. That\u2019s a game-changer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause this is entertainment, people assume it\u2019s easy. But it\u2019s really not. There\u2019s so much that goes into it. There\u2019s anxiety, and there are doubts and fears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d never done this as a parent before, so that was huge. These were all things I was trying to navigate, but I had help with that from someone who truly, fully understood.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Edge has turned these worries into a positive, bringing new depth to his character.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to come back and just do a greatest hits,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to come back and reinvent the character a little bit. I wanted a lot more of Adam involved, \u00adbringing the insecurities and the anxieties to the forefront. For me, that\u2019s real \u2013 finding that truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edge returned to the ring in the best shape of his life when he emerged as a surprise entrant at the Royal Rumble in January 2020, thrilling the 42,000 fans in attendance.<\/p>\n
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But in his third match back, Edge tore his triceps wrestling former tag-team partner Randy Orton. Yet, despite facing more surgery and six months on the sidelines, he never thought about quitting.<\/p>\n
He says: \u201cWhen I learned I\u2019d torn my triceps, as stupid as this may sound, I thought: \u2018Eh, I\u2019ve torn my Achilles, I\u2019ve had two neck surgeries\u2026 torn triceps? Do you think that\u2019s going to put me off?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Now fully healed, Edge returned to the ring in January to win the 2021 Royal Rumble. He\u2019s keen to square off with new opponents, having faced characters like The Rock, The Undertaker, Ric Flair and John Cena in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been in the ring with 98% of the current roster,\u201d he says. \u201cSo that\u2019s all fresh, brand new and invigorating at this point in my life and career.\u201d<\/p>\n
This Sunday, Edge will face Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan in a Triple Threat match for the WWE title \u2013 it\u2019s a chance to add a 12th world championship to his impressive CV.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to get in there with Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan \u2013 who I think I wrestled once for four minutes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are new, fresh, different things I can have fun with. And I hope they will have fun too. If we\u2019re telling compelling stories, then hopefully the audience will feel the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
But given his history, Edge knows he can\u2019t take anything for granted. \u201cI don\u2019t know how long it\u2019s going to last \u2013 every match could be the last one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a different set of stakes to each match now. I\u2019m really just trying to ride this bolt of lightning and enjoy every aspect of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
WrestleMania 37 takes place this Saturday and Sunday. It will show in the UK from midnight on BT Sport Box Office or on The WWE Network, which costs \u00a39.99 for subscribers.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n