Former WWE superstar, Edge (Adam Copeland) – who now plies his trade for AEW – name-dropped Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in an in-ring segment on AEW’s Saturday night show this week. He invoked the name of The Rock to humiliate 33-year-old Ricky Starks.

Despite how much Tony Khan hates to lose to WWE, he can’t help but use his rival promotion to bump up his show ratings. There have been numerous instances where AEW stars have name-dropped WWE stars in their shows. Therefore, once again, it happened in the latest edition of Collision.

Edge proves why he shouldn’t be messed with

This week’s Collision episode kicked off with a chat between Copeland and Christian Cage. Moments later, Bryan Danielson -scheduled to have a match with Cage in the main event – also made his way to the ring. Soon Ricky Starks also followed.

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As Starks started talking, he kept getting distracted by Copeland and asked him not to stare at him. The WWE Hall of Famer took offense and roasted Starks in return. He made fun of Stark’s outfit and called him ‘the Vanilla Midget version of The Rock.’ In response to his insult, Starks clapped back with an “Edge” reference.

It is a pivotal tactic AEW uses to attract more eyes to their show. Johnson is not only a big name in WWE but in the Hollywood industry as well. Therefore, the reference could generate curiosity and help the Jacksonville-based promotion boost its ratings. The war for emerging supreme over ratings becomes more important after their recent loss at Tuesday Night War.

NXT beats Dynamite on Tuesday Night War

It was Copeland’s in-ring debut on AEW Dynamite this past Tuesday. Therefore, Khan was sure that the segment would help the promotion beat its rival promotion in the Tuesday night war against NXT. However, Khan only received disappointment by the result as WWE beat AEW with a significant numbers gap.

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According to a report on Twitter by WrestleOps, WWE NXT attracted 921,000 viewers and earned a 0.30 rating in the P18-49 demo. Conversely, AEW Dynamite only had 609,000 viewers and a 0.26 rating in the P18-49 demographics, putting it far behind WWE.

WWE stacked up NXT with many special appearances and surprises, which aided in increasing the ratings. But Khan didn’t appreciate WWE using the tactic at all. It was evident that the results pissed the AEW President as he targeted WWE legends like The Undertaker and John Cena in his tweet later.

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What do you think of Edge roasting Ricky Starks using The Rock’s reference? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. We would love to hear from you.