Edge Reveals Random Accident Convinced Him to Return to Wrestling in WWE

One of the undisputed highlights of WWE in 2020 thus far has been Edge's return to the squared circle. The 11-time former world champion came out of retirement back at the Royal Rumble in January and is setting up for Last Man Standing Match at WrestleMania 36 during a white-hot feud with Randy Orton. For years fans though the "Rated-R Superstar" would never return after being forced to retire in 2011 due to a history of neck problems. But in a new interview with ESPN, he revealed that a random event convinced him he was healthy enough to step back inside the ring.

Back in mid-2019 Edge filmed a handful of "Celtic Warrior Workout" videos with Sheamus for his YouTube channel. During filming he accidentally crashed his mountain bike, but noticed that despite the nasty fall his neck was completely fine.

"It's a pretty gnarly wipeout," Edge explained. "I was going probably 20, 25 mph, landed on these stones, rolled right up to my feet. But I'm fine. I was all cut up, but my neck was fine. Couple that with doing all of these fight scenes over the years on sets — some pretty physical stuff, especially with 'Vikings' — and I thought, 'OK, I feel really good.'"

Between consulting his family doctor and Dr. James Andrews' team down in Birmingham, Alabama, Edge realized he was healthy enough to start taking bumps again even after getting triple-fusion surgery.

He then explained how he was able to start training with his wife Beth Phoenix and The Revival.

"I talked to [Triple H, Paul Levesque], and I said, 'I can't go to a ring anywhere because people will start seeing me. I can't go to the PC.' So they sent me a ring. I got a warehouse space, and I set up a ring and basically had my own personal 'Field of Dreams,' and I just got in there and got to work. Thankfully, I'm married to another Hall of Famer who can pick up and body slam me, which you can't say for a lot of wives. The Revival, they both live in Asheville, so they'd come, and they'd get in there with me, and they'd put me through my paces.

"I was keeping up with them. I wasn't tired, and I wasn't sore, and I thought, 'OK, this is going to happen, and this is going to happen at a level that I wanted.' I didn't want to come back and be anything less than what I was. I'm going to have to work differently. I'm going to have different limitations ... I still want to be able to go in there and be able to go half an hour."

Edge's battle with Randy Orton will take place this weekend at the WrestleMania 36 at the WWE Performance Center.