WWE Hall of Famer Edge left WWE when it became apparent to him that the company would only ever require his talents on a part-time basis.
The Rated-R Superstar - now known as "Cope" - decided to sign with AEW and has since worked a full-time schedule. That hasn't come without its fair share of difficulties, though, as he's only just returned from an injury which kept him sidelined for 7 months.
Edge chose Sheamus as his final opponent in WWE but it turns out that wasn't always the plan. Talking to Chris Van Vliet, the Celtic Warrior revealed that his longtime friend was originally scheduled to face Damian Priest.
"I remember we talked about doing an angle together, a storyline together for a while. We came up with a storyline, it was shot down for whatever reason. And then it just happened. I just got a call, I think it was because we did a promo the week before, and then we did the match the week after. Edge’s contract was coming up. I didn't know. No one knew if he was going to stay or go. No one really knew. I didn't know. I thought he was going to stay, because we're talking doing something after that as well. But yeah, it was just a situation."
"I think originally Damian Priest was penciled in, but then it just turned to me. So I don't know however it happened, but I was really surprised that did happen. Both excited about it too, because me and Edge have never had a one on one match. Me and Rey [Mysterio] still haven't had a one on one match. Me and Punk still haven't. Well, no, I think me and Punk did wrestle a couple of times back in the day, about 12 years ago. But for me, I think Rey is the only person I haven’t wrestled who has been on the roster for a substantial amount of time."
Edge putting Priest over on his way out of WWE would have given the Archer of Infamy a boost but he's done just fine without it. Triple H deserves a lot of credit for allowing "Cope" to pick his final opponent as Vince McMahon wouldn't have offered him the same courtesy.
Later in the conversation, Sheamus confirmed that he's just signed a new WWE contract and plans to wrestle under the company's banner for as long as possible.
"I just signed a new five year deal. [So that'll take you into your 50s?] Yeah, my wife reminds me all the time, 52. Listen, I'll go to the wheels fall off me. Could do it until physically I can't do it anymore. I love what I do, and listen, there's plenty of time to sit back and read a book and just watch TV. I know a lot of people. I've talked to some talents as well, but we meet them all of Mania and everything when they come in, especially the Hall of Fame, but also everybody gets invited to Mania. You can tell a lot of the talents who just retired too early. I mean, look, if I had to hang on my boots when that stuff happened with my neck, I’d be at peace with it. Because sometimes you can tell that when they have retired before their time there is a little bit of regret there."
You can watch the full interview with Sheamus in the player below.