The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 14
WWE Hall of Famer Edge is one of the most honored WWE superstars in history.
The "Rated R Superstar" won 31 titles in total during his 13-year career in the promotion. This includes a record seven World Heavyweight titles and 14 Tag Team titles, as well as Intercontinental and United States gold. He won the WWE Championship on four separate occasions.
His first title reign began on January 8, 2006, when he became the first man to cash in the Money in the Bank contract to win the the belt. He did so at the expense of John Cena in an unforgettable moment at the New Year's Revolution pay per view event.
Edge's initial title reign was significant for the massive boost it provided to WWE's television ratings. Edge's title reigns were almost always a successful affair, both at the box office and inside the ring. The title was a significant boost to the "Rated R Superstar"'s career and in each subsequent reign, Edge would boost the title's prestige. The perfect marriage of title and wrestler.
Edge became known as the "Ultimate Opportunist" due to the manner in which he won the majority of his World titles.
This was prevalent in his victory over an injured Ken Kennedy to win Kennedy's Money in the Bank contract, which he used to successfully cash in on an injured Undertaker to win the World Heavyweight Championship, and when he replaced a waylaid Jeff Hardy to steal the WWE crown away from Triple H during his gruelling battle with Vladimir Kozlov.
Edge made a career out of winning World titles although he was decidedly less successful in defending his belts.
His final two WWE Heavyweight Championship wins are covered in this part in my long-running series, covering every title change in the title's 56-year history.
Previous entries in my series can be found here:
Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12 and part 13.