A Look Back: Edge and Undertaker's 2008 Feud

This month, WWE celebrated the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the storied career of WWE Hall of Famer Edge. What a career! Understatement, I know, but still. SummerSlam 1998 was his first PPV bout, as he served as Sable's tag team partner, and we know the rest after that. Became part of The Brood, teamed with Christian and won various tag titles, went solo and finally worked up to becoming an iconic main eventer, only for his career to come to a premature end barely a week after WrestleMania 27. Nearly nine years later, Edge returns at the 2020 Rumble, and has since been involved in several different and amazing angles since then.

Edge had a lot of great feuds in his storied career, and one of his best ones had to be his feud with another Hall of Famer, The Undertaker, in 2008. Hard to believe that it's been 15 years since this amazing rivalry took place, but even crazier is that fact that the seeds were planted a year prior.

2007

On SmackDown, The Undertaker and Batista had their latest battle over the World Heavyweight Championship, this time fighting in a steel cage after two bouts at WrestleMania and Backlash. Taker won the title at WM to continue his streak, but Backlash ended in a draw. The same can be said about their cage bout, but after the cage was hoisted up, Mark Henry laid out Taker, and it was surprisingly followed by Edge appearing with a Money in the Bank briefcase that he won from Mr. Kennedy. He would pounce on the prone Taker, and as a result, Edge captured the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, which was also his third overall World Title following two reigns as WWE Champion.

Edge's reign came to a premature end thanks to a legit injury, but four months later, Edge returned at Survivor Series and crashed the Hell in the Cell clash between Batista and Undertaker, costing the latter the match and the title. On the following SmackDown, Edge was "reprimanded" by the brand's General Manager, Vickie Guerrero, who put him in a title contest with Batista, only for The Phenom to crash that bout as well. The end result was all three of them fighting for the title at Armageddon, which ended with Edge winning thanks to the surprise assists of the Major Brothers, who were later renamed Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.

Edge would go through Rey Mysterio twice at the Royal Rumble and No Way Out in 2008, but regarding the latter event, the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match would result in a familiar foe for the Rated R Superstar.

WrestleMania XXIV

The aforementioned Chamber match was to determine the #1 Contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, and the challenger's chance would come at WrestleMania XXIV. So after months of cash-ins, sneak attacks, and con jobs, Edge would have to deal with The Undertaker in a one-on-one environment on the Grandest Stage of Them All. This was a big deal for Edge, as not only was this the main event, it was Undertaker's Streak on the line as well. Edge was absolutely certain that he would be the one, especially since he, at that time, also had an unblemished record at WrestleMania.

This bout was an absolute classic, though strangely, it would be referee Charles Robinson who actually stole the event. How, you ask? When the original ref was down, Robinson was shown running down the entrance after Undertaker hit the Tombstone Piledriver. Let me be more specific: the WrestleMania entrance. The WM entrance is about as long as a football field, yet Robinson ran it all the way without stopping and slid in the ring. That, alone, should be Hall of Fame worthy. Taker got a two count, but he would end the match with the move that would be later labeled "Hell's Gate."

Backlash

La Familia, the faction consisting of Edge, Hawkins, Ryder, Chavo Guerrero, and Bam Neely, and led by evil GM Vickie Guerrero, was not happy after WrestleMania. Edge received his rematch at Backlash, and in order to make sure he'd have a good chance, Vickie put Taker through the ringer for four straight weeks. Week 1 saw Undertaker forced into a battle against Kane, who had just won the ECW Championship. Week 2 saw him battle Festus, and the last two weeks saw The Deadman battle Batista both times, with the latter match being a title contest. All the while, Edge was in the catbird's seat, going on spa dates (ay caramba!) and watching as Taker was getting demolished. Edge figured that he would have an easy road back to the World Heavyweight Championship.

Instead, all he did was piss off The Deadman. You DO NOT want to piss off The Deadman.

I've watched Undertaker and Edge's Backlash 2008 battle many times, and there's one part that never ceases to amaze me. During the introductions, Undertaker mouths a few words, and they are quickly revealed to be, "I'm going to hurt you." The person who caught those words? None other than SmackDown's then-new color analyst, a man who has history with both combatants, Mick Foley. As Foley stated, The Undertaker is not one to make idle threats. If he says he's going to hurt you, take him seriously, because that's exactly what happened. Undertaker hit that Hell's Gate again on Edge and won, but this time, he put a little extra oomph on it. As a result, Edge ended up stretchered out, as Vickie looked in horror.

Judgment Day

Right after Backlash, the feud took quite an interesting turn. On the first SmackDown following the event, Vickie Guerrero announced that Hell's Gate was basically deemed an "illegal chokehold" and is now banned from The Undertaker's arsenal. Because (in Vickie's mind and words) the hold was used with no absolute remorse, Taker would be stripped of the World Heavyweight Championship. Wow. Obviously, this was done because the move was used on Edge...twice. A new champion would be crowned at Judgment Day, with Undertaker allowed to compete, while his opponent would be determined in a battle royal. Batista thought he won after eliminating Big Show, but Vickie announced a surprise last entrant: Edge, who Speared his way to an easy win.

Edge declared that The Undertaker never beat him in an actual fair fight, and that he would become the new champion, however, the contest at Judgment Day didn't go as Edge figured. After attempted involvement from Hawkins and Ryder, the fight ended up going outside the ring as the referee made the ten count. Once the count of ten was reached, only Undertaker returned to the ring, and as a result, he won the match and believed to have won the World Heavyweight Championship.

Notice I said "believed." Vickie comes out post-match, and states that the championship cannot be won via disqualification or countout, so we still have no World Champion. The announcers were stunned. Michael Cole stated that he thought that the title couldn't change hands under those stipulations, but there was no champion in the match. Mick Foley referred to the ruling as a blatant abuse of power, but no one was more stunned than Edge, who was on the receiving end of a Tombstone Piledriver.

One Night Stand

With no champion crowned at Judgment Day, it was decided that Edge and Undertaker would fight for the vacant title again at One Night Stand, and it would be contested as a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match, which (surprise, surprise) just happens to be Edge's specialty. Also, a stipulation was added, if The Undertaker lost, he would be banished from WWE. The Undertaker had never competed in a TLC Match, but on the evening of June 1, 2008, he would finally do so. The Deadman found himself at a rare disadvantage, and it didn't help that every member of La Familia was thwarting him at every turn. Thanks to all of those factors, Edge managed to climb that ladder and regain the World Heavyweight Championship that he lost at WrestleMania.

All was well for the Rated R Superstar. Edge was champion again, and The Undertaker was out of his hair. Well, for a while anyway.

A Rapid Downfall

After Edge defeated Batista at Night of Champions, the following night's Raw saw Edge appear and boast about how Raw had no World Champions after the Draft, but he would be accosted by Batista after his big speech. It was followed by CM Punk cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and capturing the World Heavyweight Championship, leaving Edge titleless and having to deal with his wedding to Vickie, which was wrecked by Triple H, who revealed that Edge and wedding planner Alicia Fox had been playing tongue hockey with each other. Edge failed to capture the WWE Championship from Triple H at The Great American Bash, but he figured that he could repair his marriage to Vickie.

Vickie did forgive him, but...she still wanted to punish Edge big time. She revealed that when she was at her angriest moment, she did something Edge would not like: she reinstated The Undertaker. Edge figured that Undertaker and Triple H would kill each other and that he could pick the bones and take the WWE Championship, but Vickie already had a planned opponent for Taker: none other than Edge himself. Even worse, Edge would have to face the Deadman inside Hell in a Cell, and as Vickie laughed maniacally over the news, the Rated R Superstar found himself up the creek without a paddle.

SummerSlam

The match was set in stone for SummerSlam, and as for Edge, he was panicking. I remember the build to this very well. Edge was climbing the walls, though it can be said that he's getting a taste of his own medicine. Remember: Edge (and Vickie) put Undertaker's back and career to the wall when they set up their title bout as a stipulation that the The Deadman had never been in, while Edge mastered it. Now the tables have turned. Edge had never competed inside Hell in a Cell, but The Undertaker owned that structure. Knowing this, Edge desperately turned to Mick Foley for help and advice in one of my favorite Cutting Edge segments, only for Foley to basically voice his semi-regret over placing Edge on a high pedestal regarding his talent, while chiding Edge for his immoral methods. Foley would later say these words:

"Not only will I not help you, I can't help you. But I know the one person who can: Edge."

Foley told Edge to look inside his heart and his mind and find that same person who made Foley say that he was the greatest superstar in WWE, the same person who "took the letters T, L, and C, and made them mean something." Foley added if Edge took his current demeanor to SummerSlam, he would be torn apart by The Undertaker. In response, Edge said, "I understand," and then delivered a brutal beatdown to Foley. As we would see on the following week, Edge wasn't done, as he banded together with Vickie and Chavo in an apparent stand against Taker, only for Edge to attack Chavo and display his increased intensity to Vickie, stating that Foley was right all along.

The Hell in a Cell clash served as SummerSlam 2008's main event, and honestly, this and the segment involving Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels (along with HBK's actual wife) were the only true highlights of that event. It was also full circle, because it was inside Hell in a Cell at the 2007 Survivor Series that Edge cost Taker the title. Jim Ross and Tazz called this bout (as well as the other SmackDown matches), as Foley's commentating days were over after just four months, and this was an absolutely thrilling match that saw a pair of callbacks from Edge. One, Edge's "I understand" attack to Taker, and two, Edge's video camera attack (shades of that Survivor Series event). Despite Edge's very game effort, the Deadman was victorious, but it didn't end there, as Taker delivered a Last Ride to Edge from the top rope.

Aftermath

The SummerSlam contest between Edge and The Undertaker brought their feud to a captivating end. The Last Ride post-match ending was done to give Edge some time off, and he returned three months later at the Survivor Series event, while The Undertaker entered a feud with The Big Show. Edge and Undertaker's rivalry was absolutely epic. It had a lot of twists and turns, bells and whistles, a lethal submission, a vacant World Title, and a presumed end of a legendary career, only for a return to take place under the order of a scorned GM. At the time that this feud began, Edge had been basking in the main event spotlight, but this feud more than cemented Edge as a big time player in WWE, and he would remain one for the rest of his storied career, which is still going on strong.

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