Credit: Silver Vision.co.uk On a recent trip to England Silvervision.co.uk caught up with Edge to talk to him about his carer, this is what he had to say...
You were live in attendance at Wrestlemania VI in the Toronto Skydome - what are your memories of that historic event?
At that point I realised that that's what I wanted to do for a living, wrestling was it for me. I remember sitting there and being drawn away by the crowd's reaction, it was insane. I was a Hogan fan but he lost that day, and seeing Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, and being close enough to actually catch the action and feel the action. That's what I remember most about it.
Your first step into wrestling came when you won essay writing contest - "Why I want to be a pro wrestler". How did that come about and what did you write?
I really wish I could remember exactly what I put into that essay and I wished I had have saved a copy and put it in a book, but I didn't save it. I have asked my first trainers if they have a copy and they don't. I was 17 years old and I had a bit of an idea of what to and what not to put. I didn't say I am a huge Hulkamaniac. I just basically said I love this business and wanted to get into it, what do I have to do to get into it. This is what I am willing to do, which was pretty much anything. They then called me up and said it's down to you and a few other people, so I went down and they gave me all of the horror stories they could, what they had experienced that kind of thing and when that did not deter me. They let me sweat it for a week and called me a week later, and said here's your free training, and that was the beginning.
What did your family think?
My Mum was totally supportive. I had run my own car into the ground so I had no car; my Grandfather actually drove me down to my first six months worth of training. My Grandparents and my Mum were totally supportive, I think maybe a few of the others were like "Oh come on that's a bit of a pipe dream". "Do you really think you can do this?" I got that from a lot of friends too. When we are in Toronto, my friends come down now and watch. My Grandparents actually for the first time got to see me live, they are getting a little bit older now. It was a match with Rey Mysterio. I am going to bring them down to Summerslam.
Before WWE you wrestled as Sexton Hardcastle - who came up with that name?
Actually a friend of mine that now wrestles as Sin came up with the name - we would always sit in French Class and come up with names, we didn't pay attention at all in French class, I took ten years of it and didn't retain any of it, that's because we sat there and thought of character names and just weird stupid names. Christian, was "sweet daddy freak out" - I was the "Blonde bomber splint", and Sin he came up with the name Sexton Hardcastle - he thought the first name Sexton was the coolest name he had ever heard and he liked the TV show Hardcastle and McCormick so he combined the two and I thought it was ridiculous but I loved it. So when I took my character basically it was about Venus, I was a promiscuous character I guess and I asked Nick (Sin) can I use Sexton Hardcastle cause it would fit perfectly.
You formed a friendship with Christian - How long have you known him?
We were actually friends way before we got into wrestling, he moved to my town in grade 6 (11 years old) and we both liked wrestling at that point everyone liked it, but we were the 2 diehards. He had a Ninja star and at grade 6 that was the coolest thing in the world. I looked past the fact that he wore huge tennis sweatbands! And from that point onwards we kind of stuck to each others sides through high school and then from high school we went to college together, moved into the same house in college, then from college he started training, I started in high school and then when he was done training I brought him on the road. Then started wrestling as a tag team, a year or so after that. We always talked about it sitting in side yards talking about how we would be champions one day, making cardboard belts and wearing them around. Christian and yourself wrestled as the Suicide Blonds and High Impact - did you think about using either of those names in WWE before you settled on Edge & Christian?
Well when I first came out they created Edge and Christian around the same time, Sexton Hardcastle went out of the window because it didn't fit. Vince Russo words were the modern day Jim Morrison you can understand why I didn't know I had no clue what that was but I came up with the name Edge and some other names like Rage and Riot, but I didn't really like them so I pitched Edge. So going with that Edge and Suicide Blonds doesn't really go together that well, so Christian wrestled as Christian Cage, so when they brought him in as my brother they just dropped the Cage off, so we became Edge and Christian. I would have liked a tag team name but Edge and Christian started rolling of everyone's tongue.
Do you prefer Tag teams to individual wrestling, or do you look at them as 2 separate things?
Two separate things - both have pros, neither of them have cons. I know how to formulate it and put it together in teams but I like to know how to do the same in singles too. And they are both fun, I think it depends on your partner too. I have been lucky to have some amazing partners. In fact I think if it boiled down to it I would prefer singles because the onus is on you if it sucks its you and your opponent or if its good you can take all the credit. Tag teams if one guys a little off, the other guy can pick up the slack and its not so noticeable. I think I prefer singles but I love tag teams too.
What were your experiences with Gangrel and Christian in The Brood?
That's when I first started to feel comfortable - that's when I first started to say "this I get". Up until that point I really did not have a modern day Jim Morrison reciting poetry and walking on the streets of America beating people up there's no real direction. So then when they brought in Christian as my brother and then they brought in Gangrel after that then they started that story line and there's really no explanation why we joined, so that didn't make sense, but when we did join it was the first time I felt kind of comfortable in my skin. It was fun I really enjoyed it, but we got broken up too soon. We had the entrance and the music the whole thing was really cool. We had cool music. We were the Brood. The crowd loved us I think because of the way we wrestled, we had some cool moves, and we felt really comfortable with each other. At the time I loved being the mysterious gothic sort of creepy guy, now I don't think I would like that too much, as a performer I think I am better as a baby face, than I am as a heel. Why did you feel that you got broken up too soon?
Well the reason I thought we got broken up too soon is because really we had a lot of momentum and I remember reading things and saying that behind Austin we were getting a lot of reaction and I thought that pretty cool. We were wrestling the Hardys every night and if not the Hardys then other people, it just felt good. T-Shirt sales were good, we were selling out of our shirts, they then came out with our second T-Shirt the day they broke us up It seemed to be a really quick decision that was not really thought out too good, otherwise would you be putting out another T-Shirt the day you broke us up. We all felt it was too soon, we felt we were just getting some good momentum going.
Can you remember much about your WWE TV debut on Raw on June 22nd 1998 against Jose Estrada Jnr?
I can't remember too much, but I do remember throughout the day that I didn't think he felt too pleased about me beating him. I got that vibe and looking back now at that point I had blinders on and had no idea what was going on the whole political thing back stage, but looking back I realised he didn't want to do it, so was he knocked out. I don't know but yeah I just remember hitting the move rolling in looking down and seeing a dazed expression on his face, so then Tim White who was the referee for my first WWE match was also there for my first TV match. He said I think he's out and I said o no and I just remmember JR commentating which at that point was probably the last thing I needed to hear.
Where you nervous at all?
No actually at that point I had already been wrestling for the company for almost a year, doing non televised matches. So not really no, I just had no clue what my character was, that was the most difficult part.
So you don't find it that different between a televised match and a non-televised match?
Not really I just go out there and do it, although you have more fun on the non televised, because there's no structure put before you, there's no time constraints, you just go out and have fun with the crowd, you can tell if they want you to get out of there you do, if they want you for longer you go on for longer. TV - there's a commercial break coming up and you have to be done by the top of the hour and so just more time constraints that kind of can take away from the fun. I would always say its better for the crowd non-televised match wise. Televised - you get to watch Divas videos in the commercial breaks, which isn't a bad thing.
How did it feel to win your first WWE title when you defeated Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental title in Toronto in July 1999?
Because it was completely unexpected, it was surprising - one of the best feelings I have ever had in the industry. Because originally we were just going to do a deal, Ken Shamrock was stuck in Detroit, he was supposed to be the opponent that night, Pat Patterson said go out there beat him, beat Jarrett and tell the crowd you were the contracted the opponent so you have to hand the title back and enjoy the next day at the pay per view. So we did the match and did the deal the belt was handed back to Jarrett. Jack Lanzas came down and said, "Go get your belt!" I said "What" he said, "go get your belt" I grabbed the belt they had reversed the decision back to what it originally was and the place went nuts - very unexpected. You went from being an all action tag team to a comedy duo who were given a lot more time on the mike and backstage - how did that transition come about?
It was really just the next stage of our characters, because we had proven we could go out and high fly do a lot of matches, do all of that and put on entertaining matches, but we really had no characters, we barely talked on TV, no one had a clue we could do it or what we were really like. So we got an opportunity to do commentary one night before Wrestlemania 16, and at that match they were going to break us up, we did commentary I think a week or two before that and Vince said "wow" I didn't know they had that in them, and we were like hey we had it all the time, just did not get an opportunity. So from that point on, they realised that we could be some of the comic relief on the show, put us with Mick Foley and Kurt Angle and your going to get some good stuff. We could still do the TLC stuff and turn up the volume in the matches, now we just had characters as well.
Did this prove to be a new challenge?
Hell no it came naturally; this was pretty much us always, maybe being a little bit more goofy than usual. So it was not difficult at all. It was the most natural thing we had done to that point.
What did you think when WWE bought WCW?
I didn't think it was a good thing by any means, because I think in any industry where you have total monopoly is not a good thing and not only that you already had enough guys on WWE. Now you got these WCW guys and you think well where are they going to fit in, how are all these guys going to fit onto one roster, someone's time is going to get cut down, you always have to have Rock, Triple H take there time so there's going to be guys on the cutting board. I understood the theory in it, rather than just let WCW go by the wayside, you don't want that, so I understood it, but at the same time I knew there were going to be some ramifications, it got confusing. I knew it was going to change and not necessarily for the better.
How different is it now to how it was then, since you started wrestling?
When I first started you had competition, which I think is good, because you can compare and contrast. I started training in 92 I guess it was around 97 to 98 that competition was really full scale when I first started with WWE. It was a really exciting time to be involved because you were competing against those guys over there and you wondered who had the better show and you wonder whether theirs is better story lines and so it was really exciting, and now we kind of have got that back because you do feel like you are competing with Smackdown and Raw, they've tried to capture it, but I don't know if it has exactly the same feel. In late 2002 you took part in some amazing tag team matches. How did Rey Mysterio compare as a tag team partner to Christian?
With Christian it was like second nature because we had grown up together so we knew what the other was thinking before we did it, or if he wanted to do something I knew right away what he was going to do. So we were basically one. So that was easy. With Rey it was too but I just had to throw him around more. I think I threw him around more than our opponents threw him around. It was a lot of fun, we just clicked.
In early 2003 you took time off to have neck surgery. Did you at any point think about giving up wrestling?
No actually, not once. I think that's maybe part of the reason I came back. Even when you are sitting there after surgery, the first time I got back to the gym would have been the time when I would most have doubted it, you look at yourself the mirror and your body is wasting away, because you're not hungry and not training and your life style has completely changed. I think it helped on the back end knowing everything was going to be ok, but it also helped knowing other wrestlers had been through it, so I had lots of people I could go to to talk to and see them looking great.
Do you think it made you stronger?
Definitely when you go through something like that it definitely makes you stronger, it changes you. Any kind of surgery where you have to sign a waiver that if you die on the table they are not responsible its going to change you. Now anything pales in comparison. It makes you realise if you can get through that you can get through a lot.
You must have found it frustrating?
Yes it was frustrating at the time that it happened, it was pretty lousy timing, but you cannot really control that, you have to just roll with it. At first you're sitting up sleeping on your couch, day by day. I dropped down to 205 pounds. You just don't look like yourself. You watch the shows and that's frustrating. I found that if you sit down and feel sorry for yourself it makes the time go that much longer. I started writing and reading whenever I could to keep my mind active.
During your time away from the ring you wrote a regular column for WWE.com called the Edgucation of Adam Copeland - did help you cope with not being able to wrestle?
I would definitely like to write more. I always read, that's one of my vices on the road is reading and listening to music and to keep a journal. It seemed natural for me to write the column and keep in touch with the fans and give me something to do. I looked forward to Tuesdays, I thought about ideas and what I wanted to write about, then because I had kept a journal I thought why not take all of that and condense it and throw it into one journal, then WWE heard about it, and asked if I would be interested in doing a book. I said I would if I could write it myself, I didn't want it to sound like an interview. Things that were important to me could get watered down, they cannot put it they way I would. So I wrote 20 chapters and everybody said they loved it so, I said ok well I had better get going. I had 6 or 7 months left at that point before I came back. I wanted people to be able to hear my voice in their head when they read my book. It's something I would want to pursue I always said I would like to write children's book's as they would be fun.
If you were not a wrestler - what career path do you think you would have taken?
A Radio Broadcaster - that was something I wanted to have as my fall back option in case I broke my neck lets say. Because if earlier in my career I would have done it, I don't know if they would have had the surgery to fix it, to where I could still compete, I probably would not have been able to afford it, so it probably would have ended my career. Radio would have been fun I always have loved music, that's if I could not have wrestled. I never did doubt that I would be a wrestler. Do you have any regrets about getting into the wrestling business?
No, I mean there are matches where I look back and think I could have made that better, or I wish that was better, but by the same token I can't regret it. It happened its done, just make sure it doesn't again. I don't think you can live with regrets not in this industry.
What do you like best about being in the WWE?
The time in the ring definitely, that's what you do it for, the lousy part of that is you spend lets say about 15 hours a day to get to that 20 minute portion, of the day that you enjoy the most. You get up you fly, you check into your hotel, grab a bite to eat, work out, eat again, go straight to the building then you get to do the show. By that time you are pretty exhausted, but you get out there you hear the music and the crowd, and that's the part I enjoy the most.
What do you like least?
The travelling, it's not even funny! That's my biggest con and probably the only one, apart from being away from home.
What would you do if you had complete control over your character?
I would probably like to be a heel again, or more of a vigilante baby face.
What wrestlers do you admire?
I was really happy with the way Christian had developed his character; he really had turned the corner. He is finally getting that chance. His character I really enjoyed. Randy Orton has really evolved his too, he's a different guy, you can really see his confidence and his real character coming through. He's really fun to watch and wrestle. And there's Ric Flair - no matter what he does he's so entertaining, he's awesome. I don't get to watch Smackdown much but I know Eddie's on the ball, he's really morphed his character well. Mysterio - he's awesome to watch, he is an action movie.
What would you say is your greatest match?
It is hard to narrow it down to just one - as each match had different opponents and traits. Opponent wise I could not nail it down to one - Randy Orton, Eddie Guerrero, both were awesome to wrestle for different reasons, Benoit is an amazing performer, Jericho was a great opponent - from the little I have done with Triple H I know he would be great. I love wrestling Flair. I would love to wrestle Shaun Michaels, as I know what could happen there. So, many different guys that I have wrestled that were all good. Greatest Match - some of my favourite ones are the Haircut match, the cage match, Jericho Cage match, The TLC matches whilst they were punishing they were fun. The Hardys, Chris Benoit - there are so many I cannot just narrow it down to one.
If there is one wrestler from the past that you could have wrestled who would it be
Top of the list would be Bret Hart; he would be the guy that I would want to wrestle. I have wrestled Ric - I would like to Wrestle Michaels, which I know will come soon, and I would like to wrestle the Undertaker, we have wrestled in Tag, but I would like a one to one. Hogan would have been nice to wrestle, but teaming with him was amazing and probably just as good if not better.
You said you like reading - What sort of stuff do you like to read?
I read a lot of biographies, I enjoy the standards, John Grisham, Stephen King, they are good writers. There are a lot of books I like it does not have to be a particular writer; if I pick it up and it tickles my fancy I read it. I just finished Ric Flairs book. Children's books I am pretty much wide open. What music do you like listening to?
Growing up my mum listened to the Beatles, Zeppelin and the Eagles. My band was Kiss, which I got everyone else hooked on. The Beatles are probably my favourite band. From there I discovered Metallica, Chilli Peppers, I really like their new stuff because they are maturing along with me.
Do you ever watch DVDs of yourself in your matches?
Yeah I do I like to watch them. You can say right I won't do that again, I better do some cardio this week, I had better watch my diet. I watch everything I still watch old tapes and get some ideas. I can watch other wrestlers in case I end up in the ring with them; I have a better understanding of what they are doing at this point.
Does it ever seem strange to you the way the crowds act in the videos?
I love it sure I get a kick out of it, to me its like I grew up watching it so I understand the reactions because growing up I did the same thing for the guys. I love being on the other end of it, but being a wrestling fan I understand it too. Its pretty cool the first few times when you hear it, or the first time you see yourself on a DVD or on TV.
Has there been an embarrassing moment in your career?
Not really - anything I have done that's embarrassing I plan, I still normally embarrass myself when I do it. I pulled my pants down once, but that was my idea.
You have been very successful with WWE - What's your next challenge?
Sunday is Vengeance, if I win that I am a five times IC Champion. So I have pretty much conquered that. The last thing to do would be to win the Heavyweight title.
How would you describe your career?
Right now incomplete, that's only because I have one last thing to accomplish - not little I guess. I look at in comparison to a guy like Bret, or like Shawn Michaels, they started off in tag teams, I kind of conquered that role, went to the IC title range, conquered that role, and eventually into the world title range. Where I'm wrestling for the IC title this weekend for the 5th time, and I think I am in that realm now where I'm competing for that. That's the last thing to conquer. If I can do that I can retire and say "good".