Edge & Christian’s Pod of Awesomeness Recap
With Shelton Benjamin, Beth Phoenix, & Tales from the Indies
By: Jeff Indelicato
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
“For The Benefit of Those with No Time” (Top Stories)
- Edge feels that the Kevin Owens segment with Vince McMahon will take him to the next level.
- Vince’s words to Edge when he cashed in his first Money in the Bank contract were, “Prove me right.”
- Edge, Christian, & Beth Phoenix were all impressed with the Mae Young Finals, and feel that this is the next step in the evolution of women’s wrestling.
- Shelton Benjamin felt his release in 2010 was a blessing in disguise, as he believed he was becoming complacent and spinning his wheels.
- When the company originally announced his signing in 2016, it wasn’t official, and he was unaware that he had torn his rotator cuff.
“You Think You Know Them” (Recap)
Show Introduction/Kevin Owens-Vince McMahon Segment 0:00-19:20
The show opens with E&C sending good vibes to those affected by the Hurricane, and encourage their listeners to help in any way they can.
Edge then moves on to Smackdown and the Kevin Owens/Mr. McMahon segment. Both of them thought it was a big story and didn’t see the attack coming. Edge adds that he enjoyed how they built it throughout the show and feels that the company is now on its way to properly building Owens, which will take him to the next level. He is curious what Vince said to KO right before the attack, as he knows that McMahon likes to say things to the wrestlers on camera. He references when he was just about to cash in his first Money in the Bank contract, Vince said to him, “Prove me right.”
Christian remembers being backstage at Summerslam 2013 prepping to face off against Alberto Del Rio, and Vince saying to him, “I dare you to steal the show.” Moving back to Owens, both men hope that he will alter his style to be more of a brawler, instead of focusing on the technical aspect, as they feel it will build his overall character as well.
Tommy Dreamer’s Tales from the Indies 19:20 – 37:50
We open with Tommy talking about his upcoming schedule, including an appearance on another podcast, which gets the boys riled up.
Tommy talks about some of his more recent matches, including one against Bad Boy Joey Janela, who he proceeds to put over. He likes when he sees wrestlers continuing to improve and notes that Janela is one of them.
He is looking forward to leaving for Germany soon, which leads into a discussion about flying. Christian gives him some input on an injury he created called “Southwest Knee,” which is only to be used when flying Southwest Airlines. Per Captain Charisma, when you get within 100 yards of the gate, start limping, and ask the employees for a pre-boarding card. Explain to them that you have a knee injury, and it should hopefully get you close to the front of the line. This leads to both Edge & Tommy ragging on Christian and telling him how horrible he is.
Ad for Morgan Spurlock’s new Podcast 37:50 – 38:20
Ad for Stich Fix 38:20 – 39:55
Chat with Beth Phoenix 39:55 – 1:05:45
Since Christian is referred to as Jay Bird around the Copeland household, Beth & Edge try to determine what kind of bird Jay is, while finally settling on a stork. They then talk about Beth’s experience at the finals of the Mae Young Classic and how awesome of a time that she had. She believes that it is so important for the future of professional wrestling, and it helps towards building the next generation of women wrestlers.
Regarding the finals between Shayna Baszler & Kairi Sane, Beth felt that the WWE did a great job of building up each competitor, and that there was a good dynamic between them both. She also enjoyed hearing the crowd’s reaction throughout the match. She felt the energy, as you could tell that the fans were invested.
As it relates to the result, Christian felt it was a good swerve that Shayna didn’t win, considering that Ronda Rousey was in the crowd. Edge believes that while it never does harm for the underdog to lose, it can be harmful for the one who is booked as a brawler to be defeated. Christian makes sure to point out that Shayna may not be under contract, which may have played a factor in the decision. Both Edge & Beth would love to see Shayna get signed and be managed by Paul Heyman.
Overall, all three greatly enjoyed this tournament and feel that it continues to build up the women’s division, while putting them on equal ground as the men. Beth closes the segment advising all of the competitors that this is not the end for them, only the beginning, and that no one should feel disappointed.
Ad for Me Undies 1:05:45 – 1:07:45
Ad for Harry’s Shaving 1:07:45 – 1:09:00
Interview with Shelton Benjamin 1:09:00 – 2:11:00
We then jump into the interview with Shelton. Christian reminisces about their prior feuds, and how he would constantly smack Benjamin in the back of the head. It grew to the point where he would do it any chance he got, including backstage. Finally, Shelton told him, “You’re the only person that can get away with this…” They then laugh about how Christian would always scowl backstage when he was in the zone, which made a lot of wrestlers think that he was always in a bad mood. Christian admits that it was just his “default face.”
Now that he’s been gone for 7 years, how does it feel to be back? Shelton thinks that it is awesome, and that there were nights where he would have dreams that he was back, and wake up. He always felt he’d be back and feels now is the right time. His first night back was very emotional for him, and he was blown away by the crowd’s reaction. Edge says that it speaks to the fact that his first run had moments that will be played forever, specifically mentioning his spots in the Money in the Bank match at WrestleMania 21, as well as his 2005 Raw match against Shawn Michaels.
Talk then moves to his new partnership with Chad Gable. He obviously had heard the comparisons of American Alpha to Haas & Benjamin, so he’s looking forward to seeing what they can do. He’s pretty excited about it, and feels it’s a really good way to bring him back in. It’s been fun getting to know Chad, while figuring out the team’s strengths & weaknesses. He also clears that he has Charlie Haas’ support as well. Christian adds that Shelton will have the ability to use his veteran knowledge to help push Gable. Benjamin agrees, and notes that he has a big competitive drive, and that he’s not there to “collect a check.”
The boys then want to discuss his release in 2010. Benjamin feels that it was a blessing in disguise and was something that he needed. While he had had a lot of great moments, there were other goals that were not met, like becoming WWE Champion. Throughout his time, there were ups & downs, wonderful experiences, & frustrating ones. So when the time came for the release, it was mostly mutual. Due to the starts and stops, he began to feel that he was spinning his wheels and getting complacent.
About a year before his release, he had a conversation with Triple H. They talked about how at the time, Shelton was not sure what to do regarding his career, and that maybe it would help him to step away for a while. So he started his journey on the indies, which became the best thing for him as it gave him a better understanding of the wrestling business. Benjamin mentions working with such wrestlers as A.J. Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, & Neville, and learned just as much from them with regards to character and wrestling performance as they were able to learn from him.
Edge reiterates all of the great moments that Shelton had given in the past. Benjamin mentions that he never realized how cool something would be prior to doing them in front of the crowd. He remembers watching the WrestleMania 19 match between Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan and seeing Vince say to the cameraman, “Make sure you get my face when I emerge from the ring apron.” It clicked with him, and he realized that Vince wanted to create a moment. From then on, he focused on creating moments in his career. Edge adds that as a wrestler, you’re not only the actor, but you’re the director as well.
Back to his time on the independent circuit, the question is asked what knowledge he imparted on his fellow competitors. The first thing was to show them how to do less with what you have. For example, a wrestler may have 15 special moves, but he or she shouldn’t be focused on trying to get them all in one match. They should focus on maybe 1 or 2, and build around that. Edge feels that they are trying to get noticed, but that they will not truly get noticed until they’re able to give the company just enough to show that they can work while doing incredible stuff. In addition, it takes its toll on your body, so they should also be thinking about career longevity.
Another thing he taught others was the ability to think about the big picture and not just about yourself. Christian agrees and remembers a live event match in Canada where he was the heel and Shelton was the face. No matter what Christian did, he kept getting cheered, so they called an audible and switched face/heel for the night in order to keep the crowd appropriately invested.
Shelton then moved to New Japan, which continued to rejuvenate him. He puts over the management there, and says that he was treated very well during his time there. All of the wrestlers backstage treat each other equally, and because of that, it was difficult to determine who the top guy was. He admits that it was interesting being the foreigner in the locker-room, but took it as a challenge, and learned how to have good performances there as well. It was a learning experience, which led him to the conclusion that wrestling is a universal language that anyone can translate.
Last year, it was finally time to make his long awaited return, until it was discovered that he had torn his rotator cuff. Shelton explains that he had torn it a month and a half before he got the call to return, and didn’t even know it was torn, since he was able to still wrestle. In his mind, he thought he was just sore. It wasn’t until he saw the doctors that he discovered it was more serious than he realized, which at the time affected him personally. He was so excited to be back, but when the company first ran a vignette, hyping his return, it was before everything had been finalized. In fact, he was surprised that his return was announced, since he hadn’t taken his physical yet, and thought someone had leaked the news.
Even though he was disappointed, he took it as a blessing in disguise, and realized that it may have gotten much worse had it not been diagnosed. He says that you will drive yourself crazy if you keep focusing on what you lost, so you pick up the pieces and move on. His focus was to then get healthy, and still return, which has now officially happened. E&C then thank their guest, and look forward to seeing what’s next for the former Gold Standard.
Wrap Up & Close 2:11:00-2:13:00
Edge thanks his guest again and tells a quick story about being in a Battle Royal match with Benjamin on Raw. During the match, he took a backflip, and popped his shoulder out, which would lead to a pectoral tear. Shelton took the initiative to protect Edge, and clue all of the wrestlers in that he was hurt, which he really appreciated.
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: 7 Kazoos out of 10
Decent show this week. Nothing really big as it relates to news, but a good way to just be entertained for 2 hours. It was good to get Beth’s thoughts on the Mae Young Finals earlier in the show, and Shelton was a nice guest to listen to. Interesting to get his thoughts on his release, but his first run really wasn’t covered. I am excited that he’s back, and look forward to seeing what he and Gable can do. 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/Kevin Owens-Vince McMahon Segment
19:20: Tommy Dreamer’s Tales from the Indies
37:50: Sponsored Ads
39:55: Chat with Beth Phoenix about the Mae Young Finals
1:05:45: Sponsored Ads
1:09:00: Interview with Shelton Benjamin
1:15:00: Teaming with Chad Gable
1:25:00: Being released from the WWE in 2010/Wrestling in the Indies
1:54:00: Experience in New Japan
2:01:00: Injury prior to scheduled return in 2016
2:11:00: 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 episode of E&C Pod of Awesomeness with The Usos.
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