By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Retired WWE star Edge (Adam Copeland) offered new insight into his 2011 retirement in the latest edition of WWE's "30 Years of WrestleMania" podcast.

"There were some issues that day," Copeland told podcast host Renee Young about his match against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 27. "I see in hindsight now that they were more concerned than I realized. And, I was doing strength tests because I knew there were issues with the neck. I was having issues, but I just assumed that I could take a break, come back and see my contract through, and ride off into the sunset (one year later)."

Copeland said WWE trainers were even hanging around the backstage monitor watching his WWE World Title defense against Alberto Del Rio, which turned out to be his final match.

"By the entrance, I think I knew something was different. This feels like if it's not the last, it's one of the last," Copeland recalled thinking to himself. He added that when he underwent MRIs the next day, he had a tingling sensation in the back of his brain that perhaps his career was ending earlier than he anticipated. Then, he received the phone call the Thursday after WrestleMania and announced his retirement on the next Raw.

"I didn't have to stew about it like Shawn (Michaels) did. How do you walk away when you're there (at the top level)? I didn't have to do any of that. That was taken out of my hands. I had no choice. I was told I would never be cleared again," Copeland said.

This led to an interesting discussion on WWE's own website about the brutal WWE schedule.

"When you stop, when you're not immersed in the deep end of the pool, you realize how deep it is," Copeland said. "And how tired you are and how crazy the schedule is and how beat up you actually are."

Copeland recalled needing a six-month process of shedding his "wrestling bumping skin" to go back a normal human body condition - or what was left of that normal body.

Other Interview Highlights

- Regarding his WrestleMania 22 match against Mick Foley, Copeland recalled being driven by anger when deciding to give Foley a shirtless spear through a flaming table.

"I was very angry, stubborn, I had a chip on my shoulder. I thought I should have been in the main event. I was that guy that year. So, it was 'I'll show you, I'll dive into a flaming table with thumbtacks in my back,'" Copeland said.

- Copeland said he initially did not like the Money in the Bank ladder match concept when it was pitched to him before WM21. Mainly because he was tired of ladder matches and felt like he was being pigeonholed with Jeff Hardy, Christian, and Chris Jericho.

However, Copeland bought into MITB when he understood the concept and saw it as something new and different. Then, it became a "huge kick-start" to his career when he won the first MITB match.

- Copeland called his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 24 the most special moment of his career because he felt like he finally arrived being in the main event of WrestleMania.

- If he could have one more match, Copeland said it would be against Christian at WrestleMania. "Just a straight-up match," he said.

As for dream opponents, Copeland said he never got to be in the ring with Bret Hart or Steve Austin. He also picked Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and The Rock as WrestleMania dream opponents.

[ LINK: Copeland's full interview with Renee through PodcastOne.com HERE ]

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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