Edge retired from the squared circle following a successful World Title defense against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 27. The following day, in fact, he told the audience in Raw that we'd seen the last in-ring appearance of The Rated R Superstar, the result of a decade of neck-related injuries.

 

This WWE documentary joins him a year later, when he's returning to a live event in Toronto for "Edge Appreciation Night". Edge admits because of the way he left and the fact that he had no choice in ending his career then and there, there's no reason to complain about the legendary run he had in the business.

 

We then go back to Edge and Christian growing up in Orangeville, Ontario (about 90 minutes northwest of Toronto) and wanting nothing more than to be WWF superstars. Friends and family explain how a young Copeland won wrestling lessons from legend Sweet Daddy Siki by entering a contest in the local newspaper.

 

After several years as an independent wrestler (including rare footage of him getting his feet wet in Canadian and U.S. promotions), Edge was hired by the WWF in 1997 at the age of 23. WWE legends including Bret Hart, Mick Foley, William Regal, Jim Ross, Trish Stratus, Lita, CM Punk, Rhyno, The Miz, Michael Hayes and others weigh on his development from enigmatic newcomer to The Brood,  Edge and Christian (complete with the best of their "five-second pose" gimmick).

 

After the painful but necessary split with Christian, Edge became a singles star. While his first neck injury shortly after that set his career back somewhat, his return and subsequent heel turn launched him from mid-carder to title contender. However, a much bigger hurdle was next for him to face.

 

The Edge-Lita affair is delved into next and the impact it had on not only Matt Hardy but really the entire locker room. Lita reveals that not many of their peers stuck by them once the affair became public, and while Edge understands why, he drew the line at when strangers were reading about the situation online and criticizing them. Edge said he was so pissed that he took a negative  -- being the most despised person in the industry -- and turned it into a positive, leading to the best run of his career.

 

From there, Edge cashes in his Money In The Bank title opportunity against John Cena and the entire feud between the two is recapped. Edge admits the quick title change back to Cena lit a fire inside him to become a better performer. This leads to the WrestleMania 22 match between Edge and Mick Foley  -- both of the aforementioned programs are among the best of the modern era, and it's fun to revisit them.

 

Edge's SmackDown era where he became The Ultimate Opportunist, included runs against Batista, Jeff Hardy, Kane, Rey Mysterio and The Undertaker, as well as his "marriage" to Vickie Guerrero. Finally, his match against Alberto Del Rio is detailed before he called it a career.

 

Interspersed in between the story of his career is footage of him living now in Asheville, North Carolina, which he moved to without knowing a soul because he loved the scenery and outdoors so much. 

 

After Edge retired, he went into acting (the television show Haven and the WWE Film Bending The Rules) and the final scene has "Edge Appreciation Night" in Toronto, where Christian, Bret Hart, Sweet Daddy Siki and others paid tribute in the ring.

 

In addition to the main program, which is among the best biographies WWE has produced, there about a dozen matches in the DVD set, including bouts against Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Christian and John Cena. Plus there's one of his first matches as "Adam Impact" against Christian from 1995 and his final match against Del Rio.

 

Really, the only complaint I have with the match section is that there aren't more tag team matches, given his successful partnerships with Christian, Rey Mysterio, Hulk Hogan, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho. And of course, there's an earlier Edge release called A Decade Of Decadence that covers much of that off.

 

Overall, I would highly recommend this to any Edgehead, or really any fan of wrestling from The Attitude Era to now. It's a great look one of wrestling's underrated superstars.