WWE Monday Night RAW 25th anniversary: Ranking the 25 biggest stars

12. Edge

Remember when I talked about the most successful of the six men of those three tag teams? Here we are. I could just go with the fact that Edge won 31 championships in WWE, more than anyone history, and just leave it at that but he obviously didn’t win all of those as a member of the RAW roster so we’ll dive into it a little more.

Edge first made a name for himself in WWE as a member of The Brood alongside Gangrel and Christian. Remember when they were billed as actual brothers? The two would break away after a while and would soon start a feud with The New Brood, a little duo of Matt and Jeff Hardy. This began one of the greatest rivalries in history. Throw The Dudley Boyz in the mix and we got some of the most entertaining matches in history, many of which were featured on Monday nights.

Edge and Christian went on to win seven tag team titles together but there was more out there for Edge. He won the King of the Ring tournament in 2001 and also won the Intercontinental Championship. After losing that, he won the United States Championship and it was clear that he was going to be okay as a single competitor.

He spent a couple of years on SmackDown but would return to RAW in 2004 after an injury as part of the draft lottery and his career skyrocketed from there. He would win some more tag titles but in 2005, he paired up with real-life girlfriend Lita during a program with Kane, which turned him into a completely different type of character. His reality-based feud with a returning Matt Hardy solidified his spot as one of the top heels on the red brand and in WWE as a whole.

The Rated-R Superstar was born soon after and in early 2006, he became the first to cash in a Money in the Bank briefcase, which he had won at the previous WrestleMania, as he beat John Cena to win his first WWE Championship. The next night on RAW, Edge promised a live sex celebration with Lita to celebrate his win and the ratings went through the roof. It was a very controversial segment but it certainly moved the needle and made Edge a must-see attraction for WWE.

He had a quick program with Ric Flair, including a great TLC Match on RAW, and then got into it with Mick Foley, which led to a match at WrestleMania, after losing the title to John Cena at the Royal Rumble. Edge would win his second WWE Championship on the July 3, 2006 episode of RAW  in a Triple Threat Match with Cena and Rob Van Dam. This got things going again with Cena and their on-again, off-again rivalry was easily one of the best of the decade.

Edge then set a record by winning his 11th tag team title as a member of Rated-RKO with Randy Orton, which was just one more successful thing Edge did during his career. He could be put into any situation with anyone and thrive. He spent the majority of the remainder of his career on SmackDown, winning more titles and putting on more great matches until finally having to retire due to injury on the April 11, 2011 episode of RAW, which was yet another emotional goodbye moment. Edge was responsible for so many great matches and moments on Monday nights and it’s a shame he couldn’t stick around to give the WWE Universe a few more.