IGN.com recently interviewed Edge regarding a number of topics leading into Wrestlemania 22. Here are some of the highlights:
The Lita-Hardy situation helping Edge’s rise to the top as a heel: “I was already getting booed, but that definitely accelerated it. [laughs] I think now we’re removed from that, so people hate me because I’m a jackass on TV. Whether you think I’m a jackass in real life too, more power to you, but that just means you’re going to boo me more and that’s what I want. I’m never going to dissuade anyone from thinking I’m a jackass away from the ring too. The people who are close to me know I’m not, so as long as they know that, we’re cool. It was surreal for a little while, and I stayed quiet on it for a long time until it was time to say my side of the story, and when I did, I think it was like clubbing a baby seal when it came to the promos. I don’t think there’s any comparison to Matt Hardy wanting me to die in a car accident to me telling him to strap in time because I want him to be safe so I could curb stomp him at SummerSlam, then I went out and did it. People hate guys who go out and do that, but I think people realize that there was a lot of truth to what I was saying.”
Live Sex on Raw: “That was probably the most awkward thing I’ve ever done. I don’t get nervous before a wrestling match, but I was nervous as hell for that thing. When I go out there, I’m pretty much half-naked anyway…I’m wearing tights, I just don’t think about it. It’s no big deal. But when you’re standing there in your underwear, there’s a big difference. Thankfully, I just looked at Lita, I looked at Amy, and we just tried to make a joke out of it. This was so over the top that we decided to be over the top with it and have fun with it. We basically just went out there and acted like jackasses and had fun with it. It’s funny, after it was over, all anyone wanted to know is if there was movement down there. No. If anything, it was trying to hide because I was scared to death. [laughs] Hell no, it wasn’t going anywhere. You could’ve sent me a bottle of Viagra and there wouldn’t have been any movement.”
Not Main Eventing Wrestlemania 22, but instead wrestling Mick Foley: “Mick and I go back a long way, and we’ve always had really good chemistry. Back when it was Edge and Christian with Foley as commissioner, we always had great chemistry when it came to cutting promos, but we never had that chance to get in the ring together even though I always wanted to. Mick, along with Undertaker, those are the last two guys I really want to do an angle with in wrestling, so I’m finally getting to do that with Mick. Mick has that reputation for being the hardcore guy, but I’ve also built my own reputation now. So if you see Edge, whether it’s a Street Fight, a Stretcher match, a TLC match, a No DQ match, I’ve had some pretty crazy matches in all of those formats. So when you hear that Edge is in one of these matches, you know you’re going to get something special, and by putting me in there with Mick, who is also known for these crazy matches, all I can tell you is this: We’re going to steal the show. I am going to make sure that no other match at Wrestlemania can touch it. That’s my mentality. The way to do that is with a whole lot of brutality and to do some things that you’ve never seen before in WWE. It’s going to be violent, and it’s going to be one of those matches that you don’t want the kids to watch. It might feel like a horror show at times. It might feel like a car wreck at times. But I’m going to make sure that when people are leaving that building, they are saying: ‘Damn, Edge and Foley tore the house down.’ My feeling is that I should be in the main event this year. You don’t want to put me in it, so I’m just going to go ahead and steal the show.”
Doing a TLC Match after publicly stating he never would do one again: “Yeah, I actually tore a chunk out of my elbow on that one. My doctor told me the other day…I didn’t even realize it. I knew my elbow hurt, but I took a big chunk out. What are you going to do? [laughs] I did the Money in the Bank ladder match last year at Wrestlemania, and I made sure everybody knew I didn’t want to do that match either. I was more or less talked into it because there were five other guys to spread the responsibilities around. Then I did the ladder match with Matt Hardy, and I knew if any two people could pull off a ladder match, it was Edge and Matt Hardy. The big test, though, was with Ric Flair. It wasn’t just a ladder match, but a TLC match, and then we’re talking tables, then we’re talking chairs. We’re also talking about Ric Flair who has never been in a ladder match or a TLC match. Part of the reason it was such a huge challenge was part of the reason I wanted to do it. As much as I say I don’t want any part of these matches, I really don’t because of my body’s sake, but then my mind and my competitiveness takes over and I want to show that I can do a TLC match with anybody. And to Ric’s credit, he got in there and he completely backed up his claims to being one of the best ever, if not the best ever. He got that glimmer in his eye and he was able to hang with me. I’m not trying to sound cocky, but if you can hang with me in a TLC match, then you’re doing something good.”
His Future: “I always said that I wanted to accomplish everything that I listed for myself, and now I’ve done that. I can be content in the fact that I accomplished everything. I have a little while left on my contract at which point, I think I’m going to take a break and see how my body feels. See where I’m at mentally. Take a break from the traveling. Find a place where I want to live, then buy my dream home. After that, then I’ll come back. I just feel like I’ll need to rest, refuel, recharge my batteries, let my body rest to the point where I feel like a real human being again, and then comeback. I can’t put it down to an actual age or an actual amount of years, but as long as I physically feel like I can still do it at the level I’m at now, I’ll continue to do it. The minute I go in there and I can hear the crowd go “oh man” or I feel pity when they watch me or I hear about some guy who looks at the sheet and finds out he’s wrestling me and thinks it’s going to be a rough night because I’m no longer bringing my A game. I want to leave people with fond memories of my matches, not the memory of me holding on too long. I’m not going to be one of those guys.”
Bret Hart being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame: “Oh man, I am so happy he’s finally getting his moment. He deserves it, his fans deserve it, and I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be one of those moments where I guarantee you almost every one of the boys, and the same with when Eddie is inducted, it’s going to be tough to keep the tears back.”
