WWE WrestleMania 37: Roman Reigns, Edge, and Daniel Bryan reflect on the impossible journey to the epic main event

On Sunday night, WrestleMania 37 will conclude its two-night premiere with the main event in which Roman Reigns defends the universal tournament against Edge and Daniel Bryan. The match is one of the most difficult events in the history of WWE to offer the biggest event in a decade.

The three men had to face each other without fighting to face life. After being forgiven for more than a decade, Reigns, the real name of Joe Anoa’i, had to leave the universal title in 2018 when he was found fighting the leukemia. He would return to action in 2019 when he was admitted to forgiving cancer again. . Bryan, real name Bryan Danielson, had a number of accidents that forced him to retire officially in 2016. It would take more than two years of assessments and perseverance in 2018 to finally be in the ring competition.

For Edge, the real name of Adam Copeland, the journey was even longer. In 2011, Edge was forced to retire when he began to feel cheated in his arms after a fusion of the anterior cervical vertebrae. Doctors told him that continuing to participate in fighting matches could lead to paralysis or death. It wasn’t until the 2020 Royal Rumble that it appeared as a surprise in the Edge match when Edge reintroduced the fight ring as a competitor.

Despite similar experiences, the three men told CBS Sports that they are not sitting down to discuss the main event that is currently being the most important event of the year.

“We haven’t done it, and I’m sure there will be that moment, but I think it will be before or after that game to hear the roar of the crowd and know that it’s really happening,” Edge said. “Right now, it doesn’t feel like anything real. That aspect of this thing is with three types, at one time or another, they thought it might be. If you look at that aspect of the story, it’s hard to hate a character. And that’s part of our job. If you’re looking at it from the point of view of Joe, Bryan and Adam, we’re three guys who thought that at some point this was never going to happen again – that’s crazy – it’s really. I think we’ll have a moment to really sit back and reflect on that, but maybe not It will be until the end of the match. Then it will be, “Okay, we did that. We did it. And we thought we would never do it.” That’s pretty special. “

Bryan will see his wife, Brie Bella, enter the WWE Hall of Fame on Tuesday night. In his opinion, his journey to the main event of WrestleMania is not dominated by a large part of his thinking.

“It’s weird that it went through my head, but I haven’t really given it much thought. It’s not an in-depth assessment of that,” Bryan said. “It’s something that needs to happen to me. A lot of things in life go by so fast, right? Now my family – and I’m sure three families – are at this stage, COVID is raising things at this point, which means my wife is busier and famous. He also goes to the hall.We’re like boats that spend the night sometimes going around with kids, all sorts of things, trips, and all that stuff – sometimes you get caught too much to not be thankful for what’s really amazing.

“I’ve taken a couple of moments to understand that getting my wife into the Hall of Fame is great. That’s great for me as a husband and I’m very proud of that. A little less time to appreciate that, well, I’ll be at WrestleMania’s main event again. It didn’t seem like it to me. that could have been a real thing a few years ago. And then I was really able to reflect on the two men I have so much respect for and the three of us who are there. I thought for a second, but I never sat down and I really appreciated what was happening. “

Reigns ’time out of the fight was much shorter than his two opponents, as his leukemia resulted in a tremendous rapid return of less than a year.

Despite this, he suggested that there was an unspoken bond between the three men, rooted in all the experiences that had taken them away in unexpectedly cruel ways.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m focused on that,” Reigns said. “I think that’s because of the experience. We can all connect and match all the mindsets. I think we’re all grateful today and the opportunity that comes with that. I think in all our ways, we’ve experienced that feeling when it’s not there. We’ve all woken up and the show went on without us.Although we all sat down and talked about it, there are weird connections and chemistry.I’m not sure if they feel the same or have experienced the same thing, but I feel that through them.I appreciate that thanks This gratitude for being able to wake up and do what we love outside of family and our children, our wives, we all greatly appreciate the opportunity to wake up and be physical, to be a sportsman, to be a health storyteller, there is no way to entertain us. all, all emotions, all felt, touched, smelled – everything is part of our show. That’s where we have a deep connection. ”

Between Edge and Bryan, the latter was the one who came later for retirement and the one who came back earlier. After Edge retired, he hung out on the WWE frontiers, occasionally took part as a special guest, and was one of the stars of a WWE Network comedy show with a longtime Christian friend and teammate.

When Bryan made a moving announcement of his return, the moment passed when Edge passed the Hall of Fame without a glimmer of hope that he would also return to the ring a few years later.

“I didn’t see the product, so I didn’t see much of it for a long time,” Edge admits. “Now I can look back and say that this thing was a phase of mourning after it was ripped from me. It took time. It really did. At the time, I lost a lot and that was one of the things I didn’t see. I know every injury is different, right? I heard he was allowed to come back again, but there were contusion problems.I know the spine and a blow (or leukemia) are very different things.So you can’t be too wrapped up, “Oh man! That guy is back! “It’s just different cases. I was very happy for him, when you can get this thing back, that thing you love and that you never wanted to do, and that’s the case with Daniel Bryan – that makes you smile. But it never makes me moving the wheels is neither for me nor anything ”.

Edge would follow the look of the 2020 Royal Rumble by moving to an on-screen altercation with former label partner Randy Orton immediately, a showdown at WrestleMania 36 and a WWE rematch of the billed “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever”. While filming the game before the live backlash session, he tore a triceps and was on the sidelines again.

The injury left no doubt in Copeland’s mind, however, when he decided to return as a ring talent. Well, he was surprised that the neck wasn’t on the shelf.

“Well, this is it,” Edge said. “I’m 47 now and I’m asking my body to do that and we’re going to have a 48-minute game. You know I’m going to go to zero for the hero, right? So I might have some falls in there. For me, I just thought, ‘Wow.’ It’s not my neck. That’s amazing. “I really had to look at it that way. More than anything, I still agreed with the pandemic and was dealing with someone. For me that was a lot bigger:” Do I want to do this? “Audience? Did I go back to that without an audience? ? ‘I look at this aspect in itself, because I know that there are much bigger fish for frying than jumping in socks. For me that was the most fun part of this job, which is audience participation and back and forth. That’s gone. Is this fun? it was more of a question. But the injury? Nah, I’ve done worse than that. “

For Bryan, the experience of returning to another legend was much more positive. After all, she was already back in the ring and was doing what she loved. So getting Edge to tie the boots and get another race was a positive experience.

“You know what? It’s weird,” Bryan said. “I don’t mean it’s more joy, but it’s a different joy when you see someone else able to do it and you get to be very happy. I know from my point of view, it made me want to see him do it … so when they cleaned me up, it was Monday night and Bahrain I had just done Comic Con and was in the Middle East and flew to Pittsburgh, where I landed late and [WWE Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon’s] office. I’ve done so many tests before, but they had to cross your T’s and see your type I stuff. Dr. Maroon had already left, but he left me a note and said at the end, ‘Finally. You’re clean. ‘ Most of the time I spoke back to the airport hotel, I boarded the plane the next morning, flew to Texas, announced that I was allowed to fight again. I think I was bombarded with an apron or something, you know how it goes. But he was very emotional and very emotional.

“When it happens to someone else, it’s not a roller coaster. There’s no roller coaster with them. It’s pure joy. I didn’t even know it was going to happen or was going to happen. He had a triple fusion in his neck. I don’t know any athlete who came back from it. was, “Oh, god! It’s awful! “It’s just a different feeling when someone else, because you don’t have to deal with falls, to end up being there.”