It's difficult to picture what the WWE would have looked like without Edge and his dastardly days as a heel wreaking havoc on Monday Night RAW or SmackDown with the world championship around his waist.
As soon as Vince McMahon announced that Edge was cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase at New Year's Revolution against a bloody John Cena, a main event player was solidified as Edge claimed his first world title win.
MAIN EVENT STAR
Since then, The Rated R Superstar managed to stay at the top of his game all the way up to his retirement. He never became irrelevant; he was loved by superstars regardless of whether he was a heel or a face while he also continued to rack up the championship wins.
That level of success is perhaps why fans were distraught when he emotionally announced his retirement - and is one of the few that has remained true to his word.
Obviously, Edge has continued to come back here and there, but it's clear that he's not going to have a match again. Now, Edge has revealed which Hall of Famer is responsible for turning him into the massive main event star he went on to become.
When speaking on E&C's Pod of Awesomeness last week, Edge and Christian participated in a Q&A session where Edge revealed that WWE's creative team had given Shawn Michaels the task of turning him into the main event star.
Their thought process was that if The Heartbreak Kid couldn't do it, then it was probably never going to happen - so the challenge was both accepted and completed.
CHALLENGE
He said: "You know what, I think that was coming off of like the Cyber Sunday or Taboo Tuesday, whatever that interactive pay-per-view was. I think, where they voted - the fans voted as to who would face Triple H in the World Championship match.
"And I think that’s where that whole angle started and that’s when I was first kind of starting to turn heel and lose it a little bit and just be completely, solely focused on the world title and that being everything for the character. And Shawn was kind of the first guy that I worked in that incarnation of the character.
"[...] But I don’t know how much creative was put into our angle, per se, except that I was the angry guy who felt he should be world champion.
"And I think Shawn was kind of given the challenge from creative to try and get this kid over to the next level, you know, see if it can happen. Because if it doesn’t happen with you, then it’s probably not gonna happen, kind of thing.
"So now I know that that was the challenge that he was given to see if this could work or not. So, I guess he helped me prove that I could, so thank you, Shawn."
Michaels is widely considered one of the all-time greats, and this just proves why he belongs in that conversation.
It's a good job that Michaels was able to get the best out of Edge, because WWE will have certainly looked a lot different without Edge and his success helping to lead the way,
What do you make of Shawn Michaels being challenged to turn Edge into a main event star? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.