Edge Reveals Terrible Gimmick WWE Proposed, Vince Russo Almost Making Him A Deaf Mute, More
Could you have pictured former WWE superstar Adam "Edge" Copeland and Sean "Val Venis" Morley as a new version of "The Midnight Express?"
Well, it almost happened, along with several other doomed-to-fail ideas presented to Copeland during his early days in the WWE
Copeland, appearing on a recent episode of Chris Jericho's podcast, talked about gimmicks pitched to him from the brass, including former head writer Vince Russo.
"We are thinking of making you guys the new 'Midnight Express,'" Copeland said. "I just went, 'Oh, no. Anything new, whatever it is, it's not going to work.' That (idea) was doomed for failure right away."
He added that the names for Morley and himself would have been "Adorable Adam" and "Sensual Sean." While neither seemed thrilled with the prospects, they didn't feel as if they could turn the chance down.
"What are you going to say?" he said. "That's brutal? a horrible idea, and I know Sean felt the same way. We were like, this is not good, but we'll make it work and be a kick-ass tag team no matter what they call us; we'll do good with this."
After some disagreements with Russo in terms of the direction of his character, Copeland said plans were being put in place to make him a "deaf mute." He was scheduled to work as a Jim Morrison-like character, reciting poetry and "wearing chains and stuff."
"Russo wanted to write me as a deaf mute because he didn't think I could talk," he said. "It was his idea, so obviously he didn't think I liked his idea and thought I'd screw with this kid. (The idea would have made me) dead in the water."
Instead, Copeland transformed himself into Edge, one of the more iconic wrestlers of his generation. Other names like "Rage" and "Riot" were thrown out, but he tuned in to a radio station called "Edge" and liked it ? with one exception.
"Had I thought about it, I would have done something with more syllables," Copeland said. "I was throwing around names, 'Offspring,' something in the musical realm.
"I didn't put any more thought into it, but wish I had because you can't (chant) with 'Edge.'"
Source: Talk Is Jericho