Edge, one of Canada’s most popular wrestlers, appeared on TSN’s Off the Record Wednesday in a one-on-one interview with Michael Landsberg. Much of the show centred on his neck surgery, but there were also a few “shoot comments” and some discussion about drugs in wrestling. Here’s the highlights:
Said he still has 9-1/2 months left of rehabilitation before he can get back in the ring. Edge dropped 30 pounds at one point, but he has gained back 15 while going to the gym.
Said the news of needing surgery was “kind of like getting punched in the face.”
After rolling clips of some of the TLC matches and his Smackdown match with Eddy Guererro, Edge said he was stupid to take such high-risks. He said that for the Eddy match, the two had the crowd in the palms of their hands.
Edge said that he took the higher-risk bumps in order to get noticed.
The show rolled clips of Kurt Angle talking about getting back into the ring from his 1-on-1 a while back.
Edge says he’s taking a risk in the ring, but he’s having too much fun in the squared circle.
Edge noted Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels as being two wrestlers who introduced the high-risk style of wrestling.
Edge said his program with Hulk Hogan was amazing. He said that Hogan was one of his three idols, along with Michaels and Bret Hart.
Edge feels, however, that Smackdown should not be centred around Hogan.
Edge is very happy for Christian and the push he is getting. He talked about how he has no enemies in WWE, and compared it to the years before, citing from Hogan’s and Piper’s books that people hated each other back then.
Quirky Fact: Edge was in radio broadcasting at Humber before going into wrestling. (Editor’s note: Way back in 1999, Edge and our own John Powell rapped about life at Humber in a Q & A session.)
Feels that Goldberg isn’t a great wrestler; more of a merge between wrestling and UFC.
Edge said that he promised himself at the beginning of his career that he’d never fall into the drug scene. He said he went off painkillers two weeks after his surgery. He also said he was very proud of Eddy Guererro and his recovery from his problems.
Edge promo’d the “Together for Toronto” promotion in July.
Before the show, Landsberg did word association with Edge:
RVD – Gumby, uninjurable
Booker T – underutilized
Shawn Michaels – the best at one time
Big Show – gentle giant, teddy bear
Kevin Nash – should not be the focus of RAW
Ric Flair – legend
Triple H – overly criticized
Roddy Piper – crazed, the two have never met
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