When Edge made his WWE debut in 1998, there was no WWE Performance Center. Instead, there was a warehouse in Stamford, Connecticut, where guys like himself, Christian, Kurt Angle, The Rock, and others, honed their craft and proved their worth before joining WWE.
Speaking on a recent media call, Edge praised the superstars of WWE NXT. It’s no surprise that he keeps a close eye on the brand, as his wife, Beth Phoenix, is a regular commentator for the Wednesday night show.
His comments (via Sportskeeda) speak glowingly about names such as Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Keith Lee, and there’s a major compliment for former WWE Universal Champion, Finn Balor.
“There are so many talents, you can seriously point to everyone on the roster. Obviously (Tomasso) Ciampa and I have a very close relationship, we’re both ‘neck’ guys for a lack of a better term. So he’s picking his brain a lot and I love it because he cares a lot and he’ll try the ideas too,” he began. “I love [Johnny] Gargano. To me, ‘the guy’ who is dialed in and completely found what it is that he’s supposed to do is Finn Balor. It’s exciting to watch him right now. To me, he and Gargano set the template for what an NXT match should be going forward.
“You got your workhorses like Adam Cole who’s just out there week-in, week-out, night after night in the grind and you just got to tip your hat to that guy. Keith Lee is so impressive – I’d love to be able to get in the ring with that guy and just show him exactly what he is and how he can be. Velveteen Dream to me is just this raw, completely natural character – he has just found his character and that’s so exciting to watch. It’s not just all about moves, about 84 superkicks. He has tapped into his character and it’s really fun to watch and to see where he takes that – the future is good. ”
Edge may not have gotten the opportunity to train at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida when he was training to enter WWE, but he will get the opportunity to have a match inside of an empty Performance Center when he takes on Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania 36.
