Edge has admitted he was legitimately frustrated when he lost the WWE Championship to John Cena at the 2006 WWE Royal Rumble event.
On January 8, 2006, Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at New Year’s Revolution to win his first WWE Championship from Cena. Three weeks later, The Rated-R Superstar’s reign came to an abrupt end when he tapped out to Cena at the Royal Rumble.
The latest episode of the WWE Network show WWE Untold focused on Edge’s WrestleMania 22 win over Mick Foley. He recalled how the WrestleMania match came about shortly after his 21-day reign as WWE Champion suddenly ended:
“That [losing to John Cena] made me mad because I felt like I was doing everything I could on my end and I was very motivated, and then in talking to Mick Foley I realized that he was just as motivated to get that moment and to help me, to help me solidify myself as a main-event player here, to help me change the perception in the fans’ eyes.”
As Edge alluded to, he wanted to bounce back by proving himself to be one of WWE’s top stars. Meanwhile, the returning Mick Foley was determined to create a “WrestleMania moment” for himself at WWE’s biggest show of the year.
Edge was keen to show after losing to John Cena that he was more than just a transitional title holder. In Mick Foley’s opinion, his in-ring rival had already proven his credentials as a future multi-time WWE Champion:
“The crazy thing is, Edge by every known indicator had proved his toughness. The ladders, the tables matches he had with The Hardyz, The Dudleyz, they were second to none. And he and I both felt if we went all out that I could redeem myself and he could establish himself as the guy in WWE.”
Edge went on to defeat Foley in a classic match at WrestleMania 22. The 47-year-old is now an 11-time WWE World Champion, having won the WWE Championship four times and the World Heavyweight Championship on seven occasions.
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