Edge on His Pick to Win the Rumble & WWE Title Match at Wrestlemania

Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with Edge discussing his choice to win this year’s Royal Rumble and the WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania 34.

On the topic of his choice to win this year’s Royal Rumble match, Edge stated Shunsuke Nakamura as his pick. He also stated a match between Nakamura and AJ Styles for the WWE Championship would be very worthy to close out Wrestlemania and something WWE fans really want to see occur at the event.

“The North American audience and, to an extent, the worldwide audience, has not seen what Nakamura brings to the table. We’ve seen flashes of it in his matches against Sami Zayn and Randy Orton. As evidenced by his New Japan work, he can be a very special performer. It would be nice to see him at least given that shot. From there, it’s up to him whether he sinks or swims. Sometimes, not everyone adapts to the style. It’s a different company, it’s a different audience, it’s an entirely different hurricane. Sometimes styles don’t translate. Rey Mysterio was a master of doing that. No matter where he went, Rey could make his style adapt. But not everyone is Rey Mysterio.

I love Nakamura, but it’s a transition for anybody who comes to WWE. You start him off with Sami at NXT, and talk about having the ultimate meal set for you: you get this amazing selling babyface and get to have this spectacular match. As I’ve talked about on the podcast, NXT is a different beast from WWE. But I think he and AJ can be one of the main events, and I also know the people want it. With the proper build, AJ-Nakamura could be the match on last.

That’s why I’d like to see Nakamura win the Rumble. He and AJ would have an amazing match, and that would give a different flavor to WrestleMania. You’d also have Brock-Roman and maybe Cena-Taker, as well as the women’s division, so then you’re pretty much set with a solid card.”

While discussing more about the WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania 34, Edge stated Styles deserves to headline a Wrestlemania and also prove main-eventing the show should not be reserved to just part-time wrestlers.

“I think it would be awesome. Nakamura has that kind of Jeff Hardy intangible, and then you add in the history with him and AJ.

I don’t think main-eventing WrestleMania is just for part-time talent, and I think AJ will prove that. He is a guy who has caught fire and figured out what he needs to do in WWE, which isn’t far off from what he was already doing, but you can tell he made some tweaks. Now, he’s just firing on every cylinder you can fire on. So I think he can be one that shows you can be with WWE full-time and main-event.”