The short version is, “yes.” But before Randy Orton accepted Edge’s WrestleMania challenge of a Last Man Standing Match, The Apex Predator took the opportunity to set the record straight on his tumultuous, twisted past few weeks — and defend his own reputation.

Despite amending his earlier statement that Edge is a junkie for the crowd (“Adam Copeland is a junkie for Edge,” went the new refrain), Orton once again claimed that he has always loved Edge and his family. According to The Viper, that love will always be the reason he tried to put The Ultimate Opportunist back on the shelf, regardless of what Edge thinks. But as for Edge’s accusation that Orton is a gritless, entitled brat, Orton took exception. Yes, he was handed an opportunity (something he pointed out a so-called ultimate opportunist would never turn down), but doesn’t it take grit to convert on that chance? Isn’t longevity in an unforgiving industry its own form of grit?

Orton has been happy to let Edge write his own story, but with his final two words — “I accept” — he promised to be the one who ends it. And with the central question of this match now which man has more grit, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that these two might not be friends or rivals so much as two sides of the same coin.