In the strangest episode of WWE's Monday Night RAW ever aired, Edge provided the show's best promo that worked to re-define his already compelling feud with Randy Orton. While the absence of a crowd generally hurts the atmosphere of a promo, the silent background instead elevated Edge's speech to a higher level of intensity.
In his speech, Edge referenced his first encounter with Randy Orton backstage in 1998, when Edge was a rookie in the WWF and Orton was introduced to him by his father, Cowboy Bob Orton Jr. Randy Orton had previously referred to this first meeting on a recent episode of RAW, tracing their history all the way back to the Attitude Era.
The reason why Randy Orton's father is significant to the storyline is that it points out the major difference between Edge and Orton's paths to the WWE. Orton was the one who had the big opportunities handed to him as a third-generation wrestler. He was groomed by Ric Flair and Triple H in the Evolution faction and became the youngest world champion in history just two years into his WWE tenure.
Edge was raised by a single mother who worked tirelessly to provide her son the opportunity to live his dream. The Canadian kid who attended WrestleMania VI at the Toronto Skydome did everything he could to be like his heroes. Edge spent years in the mid-card and tag-team division for the WWF/WWE before finally becoming WWE champion after eight years on the main roster. Edge believes that Orton can't stand the fact that someone achieved as much as him and worked harder than him to do so.
A new twist to this fascinating storyline emerged when Edge revealed what his wife Beth Phoenix was going to say on RAW two weeks earlier before Orton interrupted her. According to Edge, Phoenix was going to announce that he was retiring again because she didn't think it was fair he'd be forced to retire twice. In a twisted way, The Rated-R Superstar was grateful that The Viper prevented the retirement announcement because it stopped him from making a "horrible decision," while giving him ample motivation to fuel his feud with Orton.
The Rated-R Superstar also referred to each other's links to Mick Foley and how he pushed them both to reach their potential. They each had a classic match against the hardcore legend in their past that helped them become legends themselves. Orton's brutal match with Foley at Backlash 2004 helped him garner a ton of respect from his peers and the WWE fans who were skeptical of him. The spot where Orton received dozens of thumbtacks on his back still remains one of the most disturbing moments in WWE history, and the match helped him become the youngest World Champion in history just a few months later.
Following Edge's first WWE championship win, he too fought Foley in a Hardcore match at WrestleMania 22 that continued his development as a main eventer. The finish, which featured Edge spearing the Hardcore Legend through a flaming table, became a classic WrestleMania moment. Afterward, the Rated-R Superstar won 10 more World Championships over the next five years.
A WrestleMania match between these two WWE icons has been inevitable since Orton first attacked Edge the night after the Royal Rumble, but the intrigue has increased with the addition of a new stipulation. On RAW, Edge challenged The Viper to a Last Man Standing match on the biggest show of the year. Whether or not this stipulation was planned before WrestleMania changed locations, a Last Man Standing match is the perfect twist to capitalize on the emotion of the match. Which 21st century WWE legend will outlast the other? The one who had been destined to be a WWE superstar since birth or the one who worked his way to superstardom from the bottom-up?
With WrestleMania now going to be performed in front of no audience, most of the matches are going to suffer from the lack of crowd response. Edge and Orton's Last Man Standing match should prove to be the exception to the rule as it ratchets up the intensity between two legends who despise each other.