What If The WrestleMania 10 Ladder Match Had Flopped?

#1 Edge may not have reached the top

Edge built his name on Ladder Matches.

Edge achieved one of the greatest careers in WWE history, racking up double-digit world title reigns, main eventing a WrestleMania, and generally going down as one of the most universally well-liked and respected wrestlers of his generation.

The Rated R Superstar may well have taken any number of routes to the top, but one can’t understate the importance of Ladder Matches to his career.

Triangle ladder and TLC matches were key to getting Edge and Christian over at the highest level in their longstanding feuds with the Hardys and Dudleys, highlighted by Edge leaping from a ladder to spear Jeff Hardy at WrestleMania 17.

From there, Edge would become the first-ever wrestler to win a Money in the Bank contract. It was fitting that winning one of the biggest, best Ladder Matches in history was his vehicle to the main event. Once Edge arrived as a world champ, he had his first successful title defense in a TLC Match with Ric Flair. Later, he’d have terrific TLC showdowns with John Cena and with The Undertaker, not to mention a Ladder Match with Jeff Hardy for world title gold a year later.

Ladder and TLC Matches are inextricable from Edge’s success story and his legacy. Had the first one, years before his WWE debut, not worked out, it’s difficult to imagine what his career would have looked like.