Men’s Royal Rumble winner Edge is headed to NXT for an appearance on Wednesday night.
After Edge teased the appearance on social media, WWE confirmed that Edge will be on this Wednesday’s episode of NXT. Edge was also on Raw last night and is set to appear on SmackDown this Friday.
“In Orlando to visit my wife. Then I had a thought, @WWENXT needs to get #RatedR,” Edge tweeted. Beth Phoenix, who is married to Edge, is part of the NXT commentary team.
WWE hasn’t announced which title Edge will be challenging for at WrestleMania, but Dave Meltzer reported that Edge facing Universal Champion Roman Reigns is planned for WrestleMania. Reigns is a member of the SmackDown roster.
Last year, Charlotte Flair won the women’s Royal Rumble and challenged for the NXT Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.
Finn Balor is the current NXT Champion. WWE has been building to Balor defending his title against Pete Dunne at NXT TakeOver on Sunday, February 14.
In an interview with CBS Sports after winning the men’s Royal Rumble, Edge spoke about appearing on WWE television every week heading into WrestleMania:
I didn’t come back to just do a greatest hits tour. That’s not why I came back. I didn’t just want to do regurgitated greatest hits. I wanted to come back because I wanted to tell compelling stories. I wanted to get in with a lot of talent so that … if I could impart wisdom from 29 years of doing this, in terms of trying to tell a story, that’s really exciting for me. I love so much of this talent, and it’s exciting to be able to get in with them. Did I necessarily know that I was going to try to work toward WrestleMania? No. A lot of those things are out of your hands. I did know I was going to put the work in to be able to do it if called upon. That’s part of my responsibility in coming back, as well.
I don’t just want to be another body. I want to be able to help, and to help the totality of the industry if I can. If that means that this year Edge main events WrestleMania? Ok. I will do my part to make that happen and make it as compelling as I possibly can. But I also want to get in there with loads of talent. My goal is to come back and tell great stories in the main event of WrestleMania or on Raw, whatever it is. I came back committed to this. After my family, this is my top priority. If I’m asked to be in a title program heading into WrestleMania? I’m here every week. That’s the way I operate. I’m not going to be a guy who comes in for one week and floats off for eight weeks. If I’m involved and I’m in the mix, I’m going to be here every week because that’s how I operate.
Here’s the updated lineup for Wednesday’s NXT:
Edge appears
Men’s Dusty Classic quarterfinal match: Undisputed Era (Adam Cole & Roderick Strong) vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher
Men’s Dusty Classic quarterfinal match: Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado) vs. Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde)
Women’s Dusty Classic semifinal match: Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar defends against Curt Stallion
