After losing the title, Edge and Mysterio went their separate ways to focus on their singles careers. At the Royal Rumble, Edge competed in the 30-man Royal Rumble match on January 19, 2003, where he had three eliminations before getting eliminated by Chris Jericho. Edge then teamed up with Chris Benoit, facing Team Angle in a series of singles and tag team matches. Prior to No Way Out, Edge suffered a legitimate neck injury, rendering him unable to compete in his scheduled match. The injury stemmed from a bump he took on a closed ladder on the September 26, 2002 edition of "SmackDown!" while wrestling Eddie Guerrero, who then frog splashed him while he was still laying on the ladder. His arms would then numb more and more in the following months before deciding to have the surgery, as he was gradually in more pain and did not want to risk dropping an opponent dangerously because of his numb arms. At No Way Out on February 23, Edge was written off television through a backstage attack. He then underwent surgery with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood and was sidelined for over a year.