Edge's return to WWE was nothing short of a miracle, particularly after what many believed was a career-ending neck injury. While the Rated-R Superstar was booked as a main eventer, the company stopped short of giving him the world title run fans hoped for.
In fact, Edge was only used sporadically across WWE shows; that's because the company viewed him as a part-time attraction similar to Brock Lesnar. Edge, on the other hand, wanted to wrestle weekly and take full advantage of the final few years of his career.
As a result, the WWE Hall of Famer decided to sign with AEW last year and has had mixed fortunes there after taking part in dangerous matches which, inevitably, saw him suffer injuries unrelated to his previous issues.
Now, WWE has filed to trademark "Edge" for "wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer."
While some have taken this as a sign WWE might be gearing up for Edge to make his return to the company, the reality is this is likely being done to stop Adam Copeland from using the "Edge" name in AEW or anywhere else, for that matter.
Shortly after signing with AEW, Edge addressed no longer being able to use that famous moniker.
"It's so strange because my first trainer, Ron Hutchison, when we would run shows in and around the Toronto area, he always wanted to bill me as Adam Copeland. And I was always kind of fighting it kicking and screaming, I was like, 'No, I want to be Adam Impact, or I want to be Sexton Hardcastle' because you need to have, you know, a cool name.
"And then I came to realize that I actually kind of enjoyed wrestling as Adam Copeland. When I started doing dark matches with WWF, at the time that I was coming in, it was all character names. And kind of like the one-word character name, right? So it's fun actually to wrestle as Adam Copeland."
"For the last few years, essentially, you're just getting a ramped-up version of Adam out there anyway. I've been pretty transparent with a lot of what the character has become, which is just a guy who loves what he's doing, essentially. And then obviously, you have to ramp it up with some pro wrestling elements and theatrical elements and turn the knob up.
"But yeah, it's cool. It's still kind of strange. But I've also always just introduced myself as Adam, I've never gone up or if I've met someone say 'Hi, I'm Edge.' That just never happened. So it's not really that different. But it's strange to see it as a banner. That's still a little surreal."
This might seem like a petty move on WWE's part, but they own the name and can do as they wish with it. It's a shame they won't allow Edge to make use of it, but some things in WWE haven't changed, even with Triple H being in charge instead of Vince McMahon...