WWE Hall of Famer says he feels bad for Drew McIntyre, Rhea Ripley over WrestleMania 36
Edge has said he feels bad for Drew McIntyre and Rhea Ripley due to them both having had to compete at WrestleMania without an audience.
In a recent appearance on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina, the Rated R Superstar was asked for his opinion on the circumstances surrounding WrestleMania 36. Last year's WrestleMania famously emanated from WWE's Performance Center in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Edge himself did perform at last year's event, competing in a grueling Last Man Standing match against Randy Orton, he said his thoughts were with superstars like McIntyre and Ripley. Both stars appeared in arguably the biggest matches of their careers in front of no fans:
"If I look at it from (the standpoint of) the roster, I feel more for a guy like Drew McIntyre, who finally gets to the pinnacle of this thing that he works so hard to get to, and there’s nobody there for it. So I feel more for a guy like that because I’ve had plenty of those moments, you know. And I can focus on the positives. But those were the guys and girls who I felt for. Rhea Ripley, who’s in her first WrestleMania and she’s wrestling Charlotte and there’s nobody there… They’ve got loads more in front of them, which is amazing, but that had to have been tough."
McIntyre will face Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 37, while Ripley will face Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship. Thankfully, there will be a limited capacity audience in attendance, offering both stars a chance to enjoy a crowning moment with fans present.
Edge on WrestleMania and the pandemic - "There is way bigger things going on"
During the conversation with Jimmy Traina, Edge admitted he was disappointed there would be no fans present at last year's WrestleMania. However, the former WWE Champion also realized that the gravity of the pandemic outshone these kinds of issues:
"The way I look at it, and the way I had to look at it, is I had the Rumble. So I got that reaction. Now, if that had happened without an audience, that would have… man, that would have been a bummer. I’m not going to lie. That would have been hard to chew. But because of that, I realized, “Hey, me jumping around in tights isn’t seen by the audiences I would have liked.” There is way bigger things going on."
Edge is set to face Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 37.