by Phil Speer

MONTREAL Feb. 23, 2003 -- Bad news for Edge-Heads: Edge found out earlier this week that hell need spinal-cord-fusion surgery which will keep him out of the ring for a full year.

The operation is set for March 10 in San Antonio, Texas, and will be performed by Dr. Lloyd Youngblood.

Hes in the best hands, Stone Cold Steve Austin said. Lloyd Youngblood is a phenomenal surgeon.

The 29-year-old Toronto native joins the Whos-Who list of Superstars who have already had a similar procedure by Dr. Youngblood: Austin, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, Lita, Scotty 2 Hotty and Bob Hardcore Holly.

All of those Superstars have either recovered or are on the path to do so, leaving Edge optimistic about his chances of being able to return to the ring next year, although there are no guarantees.

Thats what Im gunning for, he said. To get back by (next years) WrestleMania.

Hell be having his C6 and C7 vertebrae fused.

Edge is one of the most well-liked Superstars backstage, and his peers say coming to work wont be the same without him.

Edge is a motivator in the locker room, Kurt Angle said. Hes a guy who leads by example in the ring, and hes somebody who everybody gets along with in the locker room. Hes always had good chemistry with everybody, as far as the office and the boys. So were going to miss him. Hes one of the smiling faces in the locker room that you can always go to if you need help. Its going to be kind of difficult to go on without him. But other guys are going to have to step up and take Edges place for the next year. Nows their opportunity to try to step in there and prove themselves the way Edge did. Hopefully, they can.

In interviews over the last year or two, Edge openly discussed the fact that he could already feel the sports-entertainment business taking its toll on his body having participated in several Ladder Matches, Cage Matches and Tables, Ladders and Chairs Matches. Its no exaggeration when Jim Ross says that TLC Matches are career-shorteners.

Ive said that since we did them, Edge said. They took years off my career. Its just showing up now.

Over the last six years, Edge added, If theres a show, Im on it, and I think for a while now, my bodys been saying, Hey, can we take a break?

The injury bug has bitten Edge especially hard over the last year. Its weird, he said. Its been my best year wrestling-wise and my worst year injury-wise. And I think they go hand in hand."

First there was a shoulder injury that didnt end up requiring surgery, but did require rehabilitation, and continues to do so. Then, in December, he tore his MCL, an injury that would sideline a football player for six to eight weeks. Edge continued to wrestle with the bad knee for three weeks until he was finally given a minor reprieve he was taken off non-televised house shows (he missed a total of five), but continued to wrestle at SmackDown! tapings and on pay-per-views.

I was so worried about tweaking my knee I didnt pay attention to anything else, he said.

While his neck injury is the result of 11 years of in-ring action, changing the way he bumped from mid-December until now has expedited the process dramatically. To avoid landing on his knee, Edge began jumping higher and, for dropkicks, landing on his back, like Rey Mysterio.

One night, I felt (my neck area) and I go, That kind of hurt, he said. But I didnt think anything of it.

Two weeks ago, Edge wrestled Angle at a non-televised event in Milwaukee. The Olympic gold medalist gave him a German suplex a move Edge has taken hundreds of times. But this one was different. Edge recalls, I looked at the referee and said, That one hurt.

Soon Edge started feeling numbness in his left hand, and then pain down his left biceps. He figured he had a pinched nerve. In a subsequent match, he was hit with a forearm to the back and he felt a jolt down both arms.

Thats how I knew something was up because I never felt that before and Ive taken harder (shots to the back), Edge said. But of course I still tried to (continue to wrestle and not think about it).

While working out in San Francisco two weeks ago, Edge said he was unable to do more than four repetitions of curls, using 25-pound dumbbells, with his left arm.

The next day at SmackDown! in Bakersfield (Calif.), I sat down with Benoit and just asked him what he went through and if it was similar at all, Edge said.

Benoit gave him some advice: He basically said, Get in (to the doctors office). Dont wait. Get an MRI tomorrow. Edge talked to Rhyno, who said the same thing.

The danger in waiting to have surgery is that the muscles in his left arm would atrophy. So Edge took their advice and got an MRI in Tampa, Fla., then flew to San Antonio to see Dr. Youngblood. The doctor originally thought that Edge had three vertebrae that would need to be fused, in which case, Dr. Youngblood told Edge, Youre careers over. But it was eventually determined that only two discs were harmed.

Im happy it wasnt three, Edge said. Thats the way Im looking at it.

Edge has remained remarkably upbeat for someone about to have career-threatening surgery. The Canadian heartthrob says hes grateful to have a loving family and wife -- Alanah, who has also been extremely optimistic -- to support him. Edge says he and Alanah will use this time to take a long-delayed honeymoon, and to try to start a family. He also says he plans to read, watch a lot of hockey and maybe take up the guitar. One thing he said hed prefer not to do, however, is to appear on WWE television while he recovers, in a non-wrestling role like an announcer or manager.

I would rather not be Announcer Edge, he said. Im a wrestler, Im not an announcer. I would rather be gone and come back. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Id rather let it heal and come back 100 percent. I want to come back with a whole lot of momentum.

Edge said hes scheduled for Tuesdays SmackDown! and the subsequent South African tour before returning stateside for the surgery. While in San Antonio, he said hes promised to have coffee with Shawn Michaels and dinner with Funaki. Stone Cold has also said hell visit him at the doctors office.

I told him Id come down and say hi to him, Stone Cold said. I remember when I was doing it, ol J.R. came down to say hi to me, and I appreciated it.

Austin added, Sometimes you take these breaks the little hiccups in your career and you might come back stronger than you were before. And I believe that with Edge. I think he was just fixing to come over the hump and be a top guy -- hes the next guy that I see doing that. Thisll set him back a little bit, but when he comes back, hell be stronger than he was before. Hes very talented, and he loves the hell out of the business, so when he comes back hell rise higher than he was this time.

So many Superstars have had to have surgery from Dr. Youngblood over the past two or three years because theyre taking too many risks, Edge said.

The fact that seven of us have been in there shows that we have to slow down a little, he said, because youre going to have a generation of crippled wrestlers.

Austin agreed, saying, Its just moving too fast. Its not smash-up derby. Its professional wrestling.

*credit WWE.com*