By Jeremy Peeples, WrestlingObserver.com
Steve starts the show off in a great way, welcoming them and telling Christian the big mic is a dummy mic. Christian says that they were on the guest list after Mantaur. Steve says he got stopped at the border first due to the head, but then due to a kilo. They banter on about what names to call each other, and say that they all last saw each other at WM 28, and Steve got drunk with Edge after WM XXX. Steve talks about how they came into the company with long hair, looking like rock stars, but now they’re looking like responsible human beings.
Edge says they’re both fathers now, that he laughs at the guyliner, and how they wind up being born six weeks apart and didn’t quite know it. Edge called him and let him know Beth was having a kid, and Christian told him “well, WE ARE TOO!” and their kids refer to the other as uncles now. Edge says he’s now in Asheville, NC and he says that a benefit of the job was seeing everything. He didn’t like the heat of Florida, but enjoying NC because he can go to the mountains.
Edge says he’s a proud father of a daughter, who can already move furniture around. Christian says he’s in Tampa and has been since 2001. He got tired of the cold and loves the warmth, and his wife is getting her PHD in art history. She wants to be an art appraiser, and Steve says she can tell him how much his artwork isn’t worth. Steve asks how hard the transition has been for each of them.
Christian says there’s a bit of culture shock, but he didn’t know what to do, but he’s lucky enough to have a friend with a TV show that he got on. Christian says he enjoys fantasy hockey, and maybe they’ll get a Network show for Edge and Christian. Edge says he was ready for life off the road and he retired at 37, and while WWE was his only goal, he was ready to go by the time he retired. He planned to do keep going until the end of his deal, he wanted to lay the groundwork for SmackDown and get guys stronger, but it didn’t pan out.
Steve says he had to drive around a ton to relax, but Edge lucked out by the Haven producers seeing his retirement speech and realized they needed him on the show. Haven started as a one-shot right after Christian won the World title – he flew up to Halifax right after the PPV and their emotion was genuine. Steve says it’s time to grab a headlock and get things back on track, and asks for his theme to be played on kazoos. He loved watching all of their classic stuff, not on the Network, but on Youtube.
Christian agrees to it, but asks Steve to play a song on a ukelele. They do a reasonable job of Steve’s theme on the kazoo. This was hilarious, and Christian says he wishes he hadn’t spent thousands on gear because all he needed to get over was a plastic kazoo. Edge says it was just about having fun, which “made” them as acts. So shockingly, this amusing idea that has stood up as at least amusing for 15 years wasn’t come up with by 25 writers. Christian says the kazoo was just random – someone had one, so they used it. Edge says that he invented words with Brian Gewirtz.
Steve sings “Kumbaya” for a few seconds before tossing that crap off and asking Twitter questions. They’re asked about the tag division now and Steve says he loves to watch tag team wrestling. He prefers two on two matches and not trios matches. Steve says he loved seeing the Dudleys back and Edge welled up seeing again. Steve says they “went where they went” and predicts a Hall of Fame induction for them. Christian loves the New Day, while Steve says the tag division dried up and it pissed him off.
Steve says he hates seeing random guys thrown together and Edge says that Steve and Pillman came together out of just being a random team to getting matching gear, coming up with moves, and truly becoming a team. Edge says it’s a shame that tag teams go through peaks and valleys. Steve talks about loving Ole and Arn Anderson cutting off the ring and explaining the psychology of tag team matches with that and just using the tag rope. Edge talks about little things like making sure you don’t throw an opponent towards that team’s corner.
Edge says the art can be back since you can have real teams again. Christian feels that Harper and the Usos helped a lot and Steve puts over Harper huge. Edge says that Wilder and Dawson are cutting the ring off and compares them to classic teams like Stevens and Bockwinkel that they aren’t quite on par with, but the specific comparison is apt. Steve puts the referee over as a key part to a tag match and Edge compares it to a piece of a puzzle. Edge really enjoys seeing tag matches work fine. I’m surprised that Kidd and Cesaro didn’t get a mention here.
Steve asks who the leader was for their team and Edge says there wasn’t one. Edge says that Bubba and Matt were the leaders of their matches, while they came up with some crazy ideas. Edge says they’ve known each other since they were kids and have known each other for 35 years. We see a hilariously awful photo of them as kids while Steve asks about when they first met.
Christian tells Steve to not look at him for six seconds, and Steve explains it’s a rib between them to kill time on the road. Steve says that he and Bubba played the “don’t look at me” game and Christian says it was probably Steve. Christian talks about being a druid with Steve tying him to Taker’s cross and saying “don’t look at me” and Steve was worried enough about the chains holding the cross up and then had this little bastard playing a rib on him on TV in a main event angle.
Edge says they met thanks to Christian having a ninja star and ninjas being a big deal then, even with Steamboat having the shoes. Christian was playing with the ninja star at recess and that being his big ice breaker in a new school. He started a bidding war for it and wound up with ten new friends by the end of the day. Throughout that, they found out they loved wrestling and were instant friends.
Both Edge and Christian had Hogan as their favorite wrestler. Edge says his favorite arena to wrestle in was…”you can’t look at me” and Christian says he loves the All-State Arena in Chicago, and it’s Edge’s too. Steve says that’s his favorite one too because of the wooden ceiling, and they all say they loved the acoustics of it. Steve says that you have to pay attention to wrestling and asks if they’re pro wrestlers or sports entertainers – they’re all wrestlers. Steve says you have to pay attention to the crowd to really get going.
Steve asks Edge what Christian’s favorite match was. Edge guesses it’s Summerslam against Orton and he’s wrong. Christian’s favorite one is the ladder match against Alberto when he won the World title. Christian guesses that Edge’s favorite match was the one against Taker at WM, and Edge says that’s his too. He felt validated by Taker, the audience, the spot, and felt like he belonged in that spot. Edge says he wishes he could bottle the feeling because he’d be rich.
Austin asks about their most embarrassing moments and Steve says his was in the Summerslam ’99 triple threat and he pushes Shane and winds up hanging upside-down in the ropes. He yells for Mick, who can’t hear him due to the bad ear, then he yells at Jesse, who pays no attention to get his stuff in, but he yells at HHH to help him because it made no logical sense.
Edge says his almost bacon stripped his white tights after a bulldog off the top. Christian says his was during the invasion PPV where he tries the poetry in motion bodypress over the top, but Edge’s back is too sweaty and he fell short. Lance was one of the opponents was just totally stern throughout it. Christian says he has no idea how they followed up on it and Steve throws to highlights of TLC stuff.
Edge says that Jeff was knocked out for a few minutes after being powerbombed by Bubba through a table with Edge on it. We also see Christian take a bump off the ladder over the top rope to the floor in the SmackDown TLC match and Jeff’s crazy bump with the spear off the belt rung. Steve says his research showed ladder matches in England in the ’70s, and Edge says that the WM 16 ladder match was really the first TLC match. In a hilarious bit, Steve says that if you’re watching this WWE Network show and have the WWE Network, watch it there or anywhere you can find it. Steve asks how they could follow it and Christian says they “put the girls on”. Oh how little things have really changed since then.
Steve talks about their WrestleMania records and Steve says that there’s no chance to really rehearse the TLC stuff. Christian says that they risked it just being a car crash and figured out how to put psychology in them after the first couple – which you can really see in the TNA series that the Dudleys had with the Wolves and Hardys last year. It’s one of the more underrated “best of whatever” series out there, but it did tell a story match to match and served as what seemed like at the time, a great swan song for the Dudleys as a team. Edge compares TLC matches to a tornado in a trailer park.
Edge says they butted heads before the WM 17 match and they felt like they had to top the prior matches. Edge says that Bubba told him there was only one part in the series where something went awry – and it’s when Jeff tried to walk along something and fell off at 17. Christian says the whole goal of the matches was to elevate everyone and it did. While they weren’t all instant main eventers, they were at least all acts that everyone wanted to see and might wind up being remembered more than the main events.
Steve puts over the Hardys and Dudleys and how they all had excellent chemistry. Steve says that trust is key here and Edge says that Jeff alone put his life in Edge’s hands and Edge makes boxing comparisons between the three teams. Christian says he tried to do a workout after the first one and wound up putting a weight down instantly because he wound up with a hole in his arm.
Steve talks about Adam being Sexton Hardcastle while Steve wanted to be Samson St. Claire. Christian says he was known as the Male Nurse in a mask for a bit. Sexton was a pure joke name with as much depth as a name with “sex” and “hard” in it would seem. Adam has no idea what “Edge” was, but he just rooted the look in what he wore anyway and roared in frustration because he didn’t understand the character, so it worked out there.
Christian puts the Brood intro as getting them over. Edge says that Gangrel really gave them instant credibility as a veteran, and still loves Gangrel’s theme. Edge says he doesn’t yearn for the business, but enjoys seeing folks every now and then. Christian says that he loves seeing the young guys now because he was in that role before. It’s amazing to see Christian fully embrace retirement since his retirement came seemingly against his will, but I guess that holds true for Edge too.
Christian says that Edge had one of the greatest careers ever, and while his pales in comparison, he still had a damn fine career on his own. Christian is also aided by achieving in-ring success outside of WWE. Edge says they’re the only tag team that also went on to be World champions and Edge feels that it was so special for them because they were friends since kids, so they knew their whole journey.
Edge felt he was inducted into the Hall of Fame early, but Bret and HBK told him he deserved it, so he was okay with it. Steve says that he was a cheap guy, as was Mick, and Christian says that Edge deserved it and he’d like to go in, but he doesn’t quite think it will happen. Edge says that on paper alone, he deserves it and he’ll start a petition if he has to. Steve says he deserves it, and says it’s more of a waiting process than anything else.
Steve wants Michael Hayes in and it’s pretty ridiculous that he isn’t. Edge says Hayes saw a bit of the Freebirds in Edge and Christian, and Steve talks about he and his drunk friends going to the Sportatorium throwing stuff at the wrestlers. Steve says Hayes had tons of heat then, and Christian says he has just as much now. Steve goes over the brilliance of the Freebirds where you had the worker, the talker, and the guy that everyone in the building knew that if they got him, they could kick his ass in Roberts. Edge says the key to a top heel was having a kernal of belief that you can be the best and believe what you say and do. Christian says that Hayes respected them and knew they’d at least try their best at it.
Steve puts over Edge’s Rated R Superstar promos and that run playing to his acting skills. Steve talks about wrestlers court and them being brown-nosers who ate dinner at a head writer’s house – but they never went there and just pitched ideas in the war room. They explain wrestler’s court and Taker being the judge and JBL being the prosecutor.
This session was due to them having book deals and they doctored up a book cover and they brought in some doctored book covers and said they’d sign the book for them. They made the title “Edge and Christian: Ass-kissing to the Top” and popped them. They bribed Taker with a giant Harley-Davidson book and a set of boxing DVDs, and Taker said there wouldn’t be a blemish on their records. Wrestler’s Court needs to be a Network show.
Steve says that Vince was like a brother, father, and a shrink. He learned more with Vince than he did in college, and Vince told Adam he was done over the phone. Edge knew something was off because his hands were trembling regularly, and didn’t quite know what was going on with his body at the time. Vince called him and told him his career was done. Steve says Vince usually breaks the ice, but didn’t here and Edge says he was sad, but called Christian right away. Steve says that he felt a great weight lifted off of him when the three count tolled at WM XIX. Edge felt that way too and Vince told Edge to call the doctor himself, and he wanted to tell Edge himself that he was done.
Steve asks what his biggest takeaway was from dealing with Vince, and he is amazed at his world view. Steve calls him the most competitive son of a bitch ever and Edge agrees, but it’s not for Edge. Edge enjoys just sitting in the mountains and knows Vince can’t – he feels bad for him. Steve says Vince loves motorcycles, but the business is his baby. Christian says he admires his dedication and it being 24/7 to him. Vince doesn’t sleep much and has an unreal work ethic. Christian says he was in a bad place years ago and was in quicksand as a single and asked Vince what he needed and Vince gave him pointers and said he just wanted to be the best. Christian says that he doesn’t look like “the guy”, but he did eventually become World Champion.
Steve talks about having an exit strategy and not having one lined up. He found the bottom of a lot of bottles before finding acting, reality TV, and podcasting. Edge lucked into acting, but did acting before in Highlander and Bending the Rules. Edge says he saved money, lived frugal, and has a great life now. Steve asks why guys have trouble finding a post-wrestling life and Edge says it’s because guys treat the business as their life, and he just goes by Adam now to everyone. Christian got the Haven role and then the show got cancelled, which has Steve worried for his future now. Christian says he was brought in to bump the ratings.
Steve goes on about the origins of What and that damn thing still existing. Christian is asked if he still has Steve’s voicemail and he says no, it was 12 years ago. Christian was in a gym and there was no reception and Steve was the first guy to get to the building and just couldn’t hear a thing due to Christian being in the gym and going “what” over and over, but the whole thing being due to Steve just screwing around to kill time since he just wanted to amuse himself.
Edge talks about an ice road truck story. Edge and Christian were doing a death tour and were driving down roads that were just snow plowed away from the trees and they realize that they’ve driven onto some ice. The promoter gets a post and says the top layer is ice, but they just decide to gun it, then inch it across. The ring van goes into another route and they wind up dropping into the ice, but they’re all still stuck because they don’t have much room in the one van they’re in. They try to rock the van back in place and Christian drops down and his pants froze to his legs.
Rhino was in the van crying and didn’t want to die, but they had him get the van out since he was so strong and he actually did. He’d have been a blast on this thing, and Steve says his biggest regret is not jobbing to Brock. Edge says he has no regrets and he has no complaints. Steve ribs him about a farm animal and Edge says he still has no regrets. Christian regrets this show, but no, he has no regrets. Edge just wants kids to have fond memories of him, while Christian just wants to be remembered as being better than Edge. Ha! He just wants to be known as a guy who gave fans their money’s worth, and Steve asks about the five second pose.
Edge doesn’t remember, but Christian says it was during a meeting with Gewirtz and they brainstormed. They were heels and didn’t want the fans to touch them, so they’d just be gracious enough to give the fans five seconds to take a photo with them. Christian says they’d use current stuff with that town and do ribs there. Steve does a five second pose, but declines to wear the hat and they go out with a five second pose and a “don’t look at me”. This was an hour well-spent and these three have marvelous chemistry together. On-paper, this wasn’t an amazing show going in, but it was always entertaining.
To see every screenshot taken for the show, just click here.
