Edge & Christian’s Pod of Awesomeness Recap
Episode 10 with Guests, Shawn Michaels & Mick Foley
Release Date: May 26, 2017
Recap By: Jeff Indelicato
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
“For The Benefit of Those with No Time” (Top Stories)
- E & C are pleased with the decision to turn Jinder Mahal into the WWE Champion.
- 70% of the ideas and spots from the Mind Games match were Foley’s.
- It was Mick’s idea to “botch” during the match, allowing Shawn to get “angry” and show grit.
- The only time that Foley has ever practiced a move was the table spot before the match.
- Foley’s only regrets are that he didn’t sell more during the end and that the match didn’t end in a straight finish.
- Michaels credits this match with further establishing the HBK character.
“5 Second Pose of Timestamps”
0:00: Show Introduction & Discussion on Jinder Mahal as WWE Champ
10:55: Sponsored Ad
12:15: Interview with latest contest winner
33:30: Sponsored Ad
34:45: Anatomy of a Match with Shawn Michaels & Mick Foley
45:00: Did Shawn really get angry with Foley during the match?
1:03:00: The only time Mick has ever practiced a move
1:37:00: Thanks and close of show
“You Think You Know Them” (Recap)
Opening Intros, and quick chat on Jinder Mahal 0:00-10:55
The team opens up the show excited, as this episode features the premiere of the Anatomy of a Match segment. Christian is extremely anxious as not only was this his idea, but the debut of the segment features not one, but two Hall of Famers in Shawn Michaels & Mick Foley. Edge says that the term Legend is thrown around a lot to describe performers, but he can confidently say that these men are two certified legends who changed the industry in their own way.
Before they get any further, Edge mentions that Backlash was just this past week, so they have to quickly discuss the main event, which crowned a new WWE Champion in Jinder Mahal. Christian felt it was a good surprise, and that it is hard to shock people with spoilers being readily available in this day and age. This was a circumstance where no one legitimately knew what would happen. He thinks that this is a good opportunity for Jinder and the company and that it’s different. Speaking from his own personal experience, he feels that the best thing that the WWE can do is throw a wrestler in the spot, and see if they can make it. Edge agrees and notes that there are many fans that are unhappy with the decision. He gets the passion but tells everyone to just let it play out, and be patient.
Ad for Sun Basket 10:55-12:15
Interview with Contest Winner DJ Know Skillz (Dan) 12:15-33:30:
As a quick reminder, DJ Know Skillz is the winner of this month’s contest, having chosen the fan base name of “5 Second Hosers.” When he’s not DJ’ing, his day job is that of a professional shredder, meaning that he goes to companies and shreds their important, proprietary documents. Edge assures him that as the contest winner, he can refer to himself as DJ 1 Skill. Christian reminds Edge that he noted last week that the name should be DJ Some Skillz.
Edge is glad that so far, their winners have been easy to talk to. Are there any questions that Dan has for E &C? The one with at least one skill says that he’d like Hobo Hank (Tommy Dreamer’s most recent Indy Event opponent) to make an appearance on the show. Edge challenges the clean shaven hobo to grow a beard. If he gets a beard, maybe he can be on the show. Christian warns Edge to tread lightly, because Hank may be unable to grow a beard.
Any other questions? Dan would like to know what their dream Survivor Series team is. The rules are that they can only choose WWE wrestlers who were around from 1985 to the present, and they must include one tag team. The DJ’s dream team is Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, & E & C. Christian would have Big Daddy Cool, Papa Shango, Papi Chulo, & E & C. He wanted a team full of Daddy’s or Papa’s. Edge has two dream teams. He first would like to see the team of The Undertaker, Kane, Andre the Giant, & the Legion of Doom. The next team would be Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection, & Shawn Michaels. On a closing note, Dan would like to see Sami Zayn & Cesaro on the show to discuss their 2-out-of-3 falls match from NXT for the next Anatomy of a Match segment. E & C thank Dan again for the name and hope to chat with him again in the future.
Ad for Zip Recruiter 33:30-34:45
Anatomy of a Match with Shawn Michaels & Mick Foley 34:45-1:37:00
As noted, HBK & Foley are on to discuss their match against each other at In Your House: Mind Games in September 1996. The Stone Cold impersonator is back to handle introductions by singing both Foley’s & Michaels’ theme songs. E & C thank both men for appearing on the show. All agree that this is something different than that of a normal podcast interview, so they’re amped to talk about it. They note that it is a match that has been at the top of a lot of people’s best matches list, but really doesn’t get talked about very much.
Everyone feels that leading up to the match, it was somewhat abnormal because they didn’t have a feud, or there was very little buildup. Shawn worked Vader the previous month at SummerSlam, while Foley was against The Undertaker. The match was just announced, and then it happened. In addition, HBK & Mankind had never been in the ring together previously, but when the time came, the experience was pretty magical. Christian agrees, and remembers studying this match when he was training, and adds that to this day, it still holds up.
Foley believes that when Shawn was champion back in ’96, that he was feeling a lot of pressure, so he took it upon himself to approach Michaels with ideas, including ones that would normally be considered “outside the box.” One of those ideas was the part where it appeared that Mankind had intentionally botched a move in the corner, which would lead Michaels “going off script” and attacking him. Shawn agrees, and admits that he was feeling a ton of pressure, and to make it even more difficult, he was made to be such a goody two shoes, which took away many of the characteristics that had made him popular. He was excited about the match and Foley’s ideas, as it would give him the chance to show some grit. To further elaborate on that botched idea, Mick remembers watching specific HBK matches where he would notice that sometimes when things didn’t go HBK’s way, he would get bothered, using the infamous SummerSlam match where Shawn yelled at Vader for missing a spot. Therefore, wouldn’t it be cool if they did something where it looks like he messed up, and Shawn would just get mad? Michaels loved the idea and was open to showing a different side of himself.
Another thing that Foley was proud of was that there weren’t many false finishes. With all due respect to the current environment, he feels that too many false finishes loses the sense that a wrestler is fighting for his life. Christian agrees and thinks that statement is a great way to look at it. To further that point, in the pre-match promo, Michaels had admitted that he was nervous to get in the ring with Mankind, so it would feel like he was fighting with everything he had.
Going back to the “botch”, E & C admitted that they originally didn’t know if Shawn was legitimately mad or not. Foley tells a story of running into Tommy Dreamer after the match and being asked how he maintained control after HBK snapped. Shawn laughed and credited Mick for the genius idea. In his mind, it was about pulling the curtain back, and using whatever true or rumored stories were around to hook people, which they did.
Christian also loved how even the opening was untraditional, as they started brawling right after the bell rang. Shawn wants everyone to know that this was all Mick again. While he appreciates a lot of the credit being thrown his way, Foley does have some regrets. One is that he wishes he would’ve sold more in the last couple of minutes of the match. Another is that he wishes the end of the match would’ve had a clear, straight finish instead of ending in a disqualification. Shawn doesn’t remember non-finishes being as big of an issue back then as they are today when it comes to criticism. As far as he recalls, this was the main event of a pay per view, but at the same time, the company didn’t want either wrestler coming out worse after the event, as they wanted both of them to be strong.
Mick notes that prior to the match, it was the only time that he ever practiced a move. This was the spot towards the end where he and Shawn were on the outside turnbuckles, and he lifted him up for a back suplex, which was countered into a cross body, resulting in them crashing through the announce table. His reasoning for this was to ensure that they could pull it off effectively without getting injured. Shawn notes that this was one of the first times that they used a table during a match, and just can’t stress enough how good this match and spots were for the HBK character. Edge agrees and states that Shawn was at a point where he was having great matches, but the question remained if he could get down and gritty. He noticed that after the spot, it appeared that Vince leaned over to them since he was announcing at the commentary table. Was there anything that he said? Shawn doesn’t remember anything specific, but his guess was that Vince was just checking on them to ensure they were okay. Edge could see that, especially since neither man cleared the monitors before the spot, which he gave them props for, as it looked unplanned. While a good moment, they all note that it was dangerous and that this was where people within the company learned that stuff should be cleared before proceeding with the use of an announce table.
With all the ideas that Foley was coming up with, Shawn continues to give credit where credit is due and mentions how committed Mick was to that character, describing how he would pull his hair out during matches. For him, it is easy to buy into those ideas when you see someone who is so committed and passionate. He feels that it’s not just the wrestling match that you should be focused on, as in reality, it’s all about the bigger picture. As a wrestler, success is usually the result of you continuing to evolve throughout your career. He believes that many people are pretty set and content with their characters, which may not necessarily be right. He advises others to keep stretching with range and emotion, because if you don’t, you may get stuck in a rut.
Foley wishes that they could’ve had an opportunity to have that match on a bigger stage, like a Rumble, SummerSlam, or even Mania. He always wonders how much bigger that match would’ve been had it been on one of those shows. HBK notes that with the exception of Foley, there has been only one other time that there has been a build-up to a match where he had never stepped in the ring with his opponent, and that was against Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21. In both situations, what was most important for him was to get his opponents timing down. Foley says that you can’t script magic and that he and Shawn had it. Shawn agrees and adds that at least with Angle, they had a similar body type, and style, while Foley and he were total opposites. Christian brings up a neat point that while that may be true, they were both similar in that both of them had something to prove. Michaels 100% agrees, and says that when both of you have that in your mind, you are both sold. He once again credits and thanks Mick, and makes sure to state that easily 70% of the ideas and spots came from Foley, it was a huge asset to him and his career. Foley thanks HBK, and confirms that this is one of his two favorite matches of all time.
Close 1:37:00-1:42:00
E & C thank their guests again for coming on the show and state how happy they are with the segment, as it accomplished exactly what they were hoping for. They ask the fans to keep sending their requests in for the next Anatomy of a Match segment and are looking forward to the next one.
They wrap up the show by encouraging everyone to follow the show on Twitter @EandCPod, E-Mail them at ecpodofawesomeness@gmail.com, and to call their Voicemail at 929-367-8204.
Jeff’s Take: 8 Kazoos out of 10
Fun episode this week. I remember when this match first happened, and how different it felt. I remember being amazed at some of the spots and being excited to see HBK get gritty like he had been in the past. This segment is a great idea, and I really am looking forward to hearing more. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @the_Indel or send me an email at indelpw@gmail.com. See you next week!
About the Author
Jeff has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was knee high to a grasshopper (little kid), after coming across the Wrestling Challenge episode after WrestleMania 7, and has not looked back. His passion has led him to winning wrestling trivia contests in his city, and even won him his Senior Talent Show by dancing to Shawn Michaels theme song. When not annoying others with wrestling talk, he loves spending time with his family and friends, and focuses on his other passion: movies.
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