Edge & Christian’s Pod of Awesomeness Recap
Episode 24 with The Usos
By: Jeff Indelicato, PWPodcasts.com Specialist
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
“For The Benefit of Those with No Time” (Top Stories)
- Edge feels that Roman Reigns’ recent promo against John Cena was his best to date.
- The Usos have been requesting promo time for years, and had to fight to lose the face paint when they turned heel.
- In an effort to stand out, the team decided to use a Sharpee on their face during a dark match, and Vince requested that they use face paint from then on.
- Jimmy & Jey’s favorite match so far has been their match against Rowan & Harper at Battleground 2014.
- The team that The Uso’s are wanting to work with next are Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable.
“You Think You Know Them” (Recap)
Show Introduction/Cena-Reigns/Random Thoughts 0:00-38:50
The show opens with E & C talking about how busy they are. Referring back to his own goal of reading one book a week, Edge decides to ask Christian how his reading is coming along. Captain Charisma admits that he’s a little behind, but that he did recently purchase the book that Daniel Bryan had recommended when he was on the show a few weeks ago.
Edge gets ramped up that we are moving into the fall season, and is getting into Halloween mode. He notes that it is his favorite season and loves everything about it. In fact, he even has his Pumpkin Spice Coffee brewing in the other room.
The boys then send their best wishes to everyone that was affected by Hurricane Harvey in Houston, and urge their listeners to support in any way that they can.
Edge then asks for Christian’s thoughts on the recent interaction between John Cena and Roman Reigns. Jay thought it was cool, but wanted it feel a little more organic. He adds that only sparingly can you use that type of promo (where the opponents talk about backstage information), but feels that it was the right time for it, and added something personal to the feud. Edge questions why it is being booked for No Mercy, as it is a WrestleMania type match, and feels that there has to be something going on behind the scenes as a reason to do this so fast. Christian agrees, and adds that if they can’t make it to WrestleMania, why not at least Survivor Series. I also was quite surprised by thi, and agree with Edge. It’s really interesting.
Time booking of the match notwithstanding, Edge feels that it is the best promo he’s seen Reigns do, because you could tell he was feeling and believing it. He thinks that Cena calling him out in the middle of it lit a fire and allowed him to take it to another level.
They then talk about promos and both discuss how for someone to truly get over, you can’t always rely on someone else’s words, meaning the staff writers who script the promos. They both have seen some superstars get complacent, and just go with the flow, while others challenge it.
Edge remembers a situation where the show was about to start, and a newer writer came up and handed him five script pages for him to recite. He quickly dismissed this, and asked the writer, “What five things do you want me to hit?” They then worked it out from there. It’s in the ability to think on your feet, know what you’re trying to get across and go from there.
Christian has a similar story. Before a show, he was handed two pages of a promo written word for word. It was weirdly written, and didn’t sound like anything he would say. When he questioned the script, the writer said that “Vince approved it.” So, Christian went to Vince, got confirmation that he approved it, and they had a discussion about what Christian felt he should say. Vince then gave his approval for Christian to change it. Later, the writer came back to Christian, and noticed that he had changed everything from the script, to which he humorously replied, “Well, Vince approved it.”
They then move on to the recent incident between Sexy Star and Rosemary. Christian states that he wasn’t sure what the circumstances were, but no matter what, it is your job to be a professional, and she was anything but one. In his opinion, she shouldn’t be booked by anyone ever again. Edge agrees and uses his past history with Matt Hardy as an example. They obviously were going through some personal issues during their feud, and worked a little stiff sometimes, but they worked together, and prided themselves on what they accomplished. Edge put over Matt as nothing but a complete professional.
E & C give a shout out to their friend Bobby Roode, who recently debuted on SmackDown. Both question if he is slated to be a face, as they feel he’s a natural heel. Christian wonders if it’s because the WWE was worried that the crowd would react too favorable to him due to his theme music. They also give a quick congrats to new NXT Champion, Drew McIntyre.
Edge is looking forward to watching the Mae Young Classic later this week with Beth, and she will be on the show next week to discuss the tournament.
Tommy Dreamer’s Tales from the Indies 38:50 – 54:30
This really wasn’t much of a Tales from the Indies, as much as it was a conversation between some buddies. Tommy hadn’t been on for a few weeks, so they were just talking about the “Tommy Call” and how it is continuing to grow, and annoy Mr. Dreamer. They also talk some more about Hurricane Harvey relief and what Tommy is doing to help.
Ad for Morgan Spurlock’s new Podcast 55:05 – 55:40
Ad for Audible: 55:40 – 57:00
Interview with The Uso’s 57:00 – 1:58:00
After the break, we jump right into a phone interview with The Usos. E & C reiterate the recent props that they have been giving the team on the show for the past month. Edge loves how they are keeping it simple, but spectacular. The team thanks them, and talk about how they focus on trying to sell to everything. In their minds, you have to let the crowd soak it in, and you shouldn’t be focusing on trying to cram everything in. They also admit that they couldn’t wait to turn heel. In their minds, being a face was fun, but if you don’t adapt, you’ll get left behind, and they knew it was time to change.
The team talks about how they are always thinking about what they can do to stand out. When they started to evolve as faces, no one was painting their face, or wearing shorts, etc. They kept it running for as long as it could go, and mention how the crowd began to turn a little on them when they started associating themselves with Roman Reigns, and thus, it became natural to head into the heel direction.
E & C give props on their promo skills, and want to talk a little about that. Surprisingly, the team was always asking for promo time, and after the heel turn were given a 30 second backstage segment. They took that as an opportunity, and really dissected what they could and should do. One thing that came to mind was conducting the promo in another area instead of in the normal backstage area. In their mind, they wouldn’t come across looking tough with a purple background, so they came up with other ideas. Edge compliments this way of thinking, and believes that it a key to success. He adds though, that if you’re going to speak up, it’d better work.
In another interesting tidbit, it is noted that the company wanted the team to keep wearing the face paint, which they had to fight to get rid of. They felt that with the heel switch, they wouldn’t be taken seriously. I completely agree with this line of thinking, and love when a wrestler completely evolves a character when they turn face or heel.
E & C go back to when the team first debuted, and how after a while, they weren’t on Raw, and were only making appearances on Superstars. Even though it was disappointing, Jimmy & Jey enjoyed Superstars, because it gave them time to wrestle longer matches. It’s mentioned how Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater, who were heels, were scheduled to work a Superstars match, but didn’t have any opponents, so the company just decided to have them face The Usos, who were also heels. The match turned out really well, and from there, they were instantly faces. To continue the evolution, The Usos decided to paint their face one night during a dark match with a Sharpee. Vince made the remark that he liked it, and only added that they used bright colored face paint.
Christian remembers being in the crowd and witnessing the Uso’s match against Rowan & Harper at Battleground 2014. He was blown away by that contest, and they all remember him coming up backstage and personally congratulating them on the match. Jimmy & Jey add that it was really fun to put together, and that to this day, it’s their favorite match.
We move into discussions about crowd reactions, and they talk about how right now they’re in the middle of being cheered and booed. This has led them back to the drawing board in questioning how they can make the fans not like them. Edge advises to keep the promos the way they are, but direct it at the audience a little bit more. Christian adds that it is tough to be 100% heel right now, but just lie to the crowd with a little bit of truth sprinkled in.
Edge feels that one thing that can help direct feeling on the crowd is if you were booed by them at any time that you were a face. He references coming back after neck surgery in 2004 and being booed by his hometown crowd of Toronto as a face. This fueled his entire heel run that occurred shortly thereafter.
E & C make note that Rikishi is the father of The Uso’, so the question is asked what kind of advice he gives. For the most part, it is to stay humble, and stay hungry. In addition, the wrestling business is tough and lonely sometimes, so always remember that at least you have each other. One great line from “The ‘Kish” is that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. This leads to them getting on a side tangent about something that irritates them, and that is when people tell them that their family line is the reason that they have a job. For one thing, they have worked hard to get where they are. Secondly, because of the family heritage, and all of the wrestling legends in their family, they feel immense pressure to live up to those expectations. Jimmy and Jey tell a funny story about how when Rikishi became The Sultan in the mid ’90s, he had to shave his head bald. When he did, the kids came home from school and laughed at him, which led to all of them having to have their heads shaved bald as well.
The question is then asked what tag teams The Usos are looking to face off against in the future. They quickly mention the new team of Benjamin & Gable, as they’ve never been in the ring with Shelton. In addition, they joke that when they first began training, Benjamin & Haas took them into a gym, and roughed them up to get them ready for wrestling, and they never forgot about that. In all seriousness, they are so happy that Shelton is back, and have enjoyed working with Chad Gable as well. Edge adds that he would also love to see them against The Revival & The Hardys.
They wrap up the interview from there, and talk about how much fun they are having, and how they are looking forward to more down the road.
Wrap Up & Close 1:58:00-2:00:00
E&C close the show and thank their guests, and everyone for listening. They encourage 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
Great guests this week. E & C are choosing wisely with their guests, as fans are getting the opportunity to learn more about these wrestlers and how they think. The past few weeks have had guests that are smart and really passionate about what they do, which is great to hear. The Usos were also smart in understanding what the fans would probably want to hear, and gave tidbits that most of us wouldn’t know, from the face paint info, promo thoughts, and just their overall way of thinking. Good stuff. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @the_Indel or send me an email at indelpw@gmail.com. See you next week!
“5 Second Pose of Timestamps”
0:00: Show Introduction/Cena-Reigns/Random Thoughts
38:50: Tommy Dreamer’s Tales from the Indies
55:05: Sponsored Ads
57:00: Interview with The Usos
1:16:00: Getting Over as Faces/Heel Turn
1:31:00: What advice has Rikishi given them?
1:41:00: Future possible feuds
1:58:00: Wrap Up & Close
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.
For more, check out last week’s recap of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness with Kenny Omega.
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