By Richard Garner, Torch specialist

Edge tore his Achilles tendon during a house show match against Jeff Hardy, and the injury is severe enough to put him out of action for the rest of 2009. Footage of the surgery was shown on Raw this Monday night; there was no pretense that the injury occurred in one of his televised matches.

Edge appeared on Friday's edition of Smackdown in a video interview that was interrupted by Chris Jericho. This set up a potential feud for 2010, with Edge in the babyface role, as his former tag team partner berated him for being injury prone. Unfortunately, despite Edge's prodigious talent, there is truth in Chris Jericho's statements.

While I hope that Edge makes a full recovery, it is certainly not a given. An Achilles tear can be a hugely troublesome injury, which many athletes have struggled to overcome, and there is the prospect that Edge will not be the same when he returns. Sports fans will be aware of the severity of Achilles injuries, as athletes such as Dan Marino have suffered a tear and never been the same again.

An injury this serious places question marks over Edge's future in WWE. He has already spoken of the difficulties in recovering from the ladder match with Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules. This latest injury provides a compelling case for Edge to be put on a reduced schedule, similar to Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker.

In Edge's favor, he has slowed down in the ring his personality has evolved, making him one of WWE's most valuable commodities. WWE has a limited amount of top heels, and that he and Chris Jericho were put together to win the Unified Tag Team titles seemed like recognition of that. WWE was able to make use of their talents on Raw and Smackdown, truly exploiting the rule that the titles can be defended on both brands.

Though Edge may have slowed down in the ring, he is still capable of producing exceptional performances. The aforementioned ladder match was great, as was his performance at the Royal Rumble where he beat Jeff Hardy for the WWE title. Edge has become the workhorse of the WWE; the man that management can turn to when they have run out of ideas. He has evolved from a nearly man into a wrestler that can be relied upon to bring credibility to the World title.

Now is the time for Edge to ask for a lighter schedule. His injuries are occurring with increasing regularity, and the WWE should do everything possible to protect him as he moves into the latter stages of his career. He is popular enough to maintain a strong presence without wrestling regularly on television or house shows.

WWE has managed to get another seven years out of Shawn Michaels in spite of his numerous health problems by negotiating a reduced schedule, and Edge has certainly put in enough hard work in recent years to justify him and the WWE coming to a similar agreement.

[Edge art by Grant Gould (c) PWTorch]

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