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Credit: Live Audio Wrestling

By Stuart Wilson

On 1089 and 1053 AM…the UK’s biggest commercial radio station…talkSPORT!!!

The James Whale show is on the air and tonight’s special guest is “The Edge.” Disappointment for all fans of U2 as it turns out to be wrestling superstar Edge, rather than the guitarist from the Irish super group. Oh well.

The interview begins with Whale stating that he thought all wrestlers were over 45. A good start. The Edge informs us that wrestlers these days are, in fact, an entirely younger bunch of better looking guys. They talk injuries in the sport and The Edge tells the story of breaking his neck. Whale can’t believe he’s back wrestling after an injury so serious so asks if it was for the money but he says no, he always wanted to be a wrestler and that’s what drove him to return.

Whale asks how much of the soap opera side of wrestling appeals to The Edge. He says it’s part and parcel of what wrestling is these days but the main part is still two guys getting in the ring and wrestling. Whale wonders if fans will start to demand real blood before long. “It is real…” replies The Edge. Oh dear. Whale asks if he’ll still be wrestling when he’s 50, but he says no, he doesn’t want to become a shell of his former self and go on too long.

They start talking about The Rock and movies. Whale asks if The Edge has ever beaten Rock and if he gets paid more money when he beats him. Oh God. He’s played a part in a movie before but found it very monotonous and wasn’t crazy about it but has a lot of admiration for Rock and what he’s achieved. We go to a commercial break with Whale proclaiming: “I know a lot of fans want to call in and talk to The Edge.” I’ll wager 10 bucks that he gets put straight during the ads.

Back from the break, we hear a sound clip of Hacksaw Jim Duggan from when he was on the show screaming about “girls, high heels, stockings, high cut teddies, lots of lipstick and too much perfume.” And oh wait, Whale now refers to his guest as “Edge.” I win. Whale admits that he thought his guest was going to be the U2 guitarist and not a wrestler. This is going great. He asks if Edge’s real first name is actually Edge. We go to a caller to save this.

Kerry from Catworth asks how Edge will fair on Sunday night against Randy Orton. He says he’ll become a 5 time Intercontinental champion by the time he comes out of Sunday and Whale says: “What are you doing on Sunday?” Edge says he’s wrestling Orton for the IC Title, and Whale loses the plot shouting: “That Randy Orton needs a good slap; he’s got a big mouth on him.” Pot calling the kettle black, much? Whale asks Kerry the caller what she loves about Edge and she says it’s his hair. Edge picks up on this and asks: “So if I cut my hair you wouldn’t like me as much?” It’s coming dude, it’s coming. Hey if Christian can chop his locks and pull Trish Stratus, ‘nuff said. Kerry asks if Edge will become the World Champion before the end of the year. Haha yeah right. Edge says maybe not before the end of the year but definitely before he retires. I think he means after HHH retires, but whatever. Edge then plugs that they’ll be doing a live RAW from Manchester in October. Bring it on.

Daz from Birmingham is next up. He asks how often the wrestlers work out in a gym. Edge says it all depends on the schedule but he trains six days a week, doing weightlifting and cardio. Daz has a 10-year-old daughter who’s madly in love with Randy Orton and asks if Edge can get Orton to blow this girl a kiss on Sunday. If he does, I will mark for Orton as a true gentleman.

“Lisa in Southport, you’re through to The Edge.” Dang! As the Americans might say. Lisa asks about the TLC matches and if he would ever do one again. Edge says no he wouldn’t because his neck couldn’t handle it again and those matches were the main reason he busted his neck in the first place. Lisa asks if Edge & Christian will ever wrestle again as a team and Edge sounds very positive towards it and says maybe in the future, yes.

Danielle in Cumbria gets Edge to say happy birthday to her Dad. Aww cute. She asks who Edge’s favourite wrestlers are past and present and from growing up as a kid he lists Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart and right now he enjoys watching Christian, Orton, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit et al.

John in Dartford wants Edge to kick Orton’s ass and proceeds to label the longest reigning IC champ in seven years as “a prick and a bitch.” Business is about to pick up methinks. Whale loves it and asks what John hates most about Orton and the fired up caller replies that Orton is way too cocky and calls himself a legend killer when he really he’s nothing but a cheap shot artist. John is now so excited that he forgot his question so Whale sends him off and tells him to call back when he remembers it. Shame, that guy was entertaining.

Whale talks about becoming a wrestler and how hard it is, and Edge says you really have to go to North America in order to get spotted. Whale reckons it will never take off in the UK (yeah that’s why WWE are about to explode on to the UK scene, James). Edge says that the key is television time and that the reaction they get when they come here is amazing and there is demand for it.

-Commercial break-

We’re back and Whale says Edge is the David Beckham of WWE. (Yeah, only more talented.) Edge says that at autograph signings a lot of young girls come up and say they love Orton and John Cena but that their Moms love Edge. Whale demands that Edge whacks Orton on Sunday. Again.

Next caller is…no wait it can’t be…it’s Aaron Barshack the “comedy terrorist!!!” The backstory to this guy is that he dresses up as Osama Bin Laden in drag and breached security to infiltrate a royal family birthday party last year. Edge finds this hilarious. Barshack talks about some guy who’s coming to the UK to preach about hating Jews and gays and that Edge should go down and beat him up. There’s no point to this call. Edge is amused, though.

-Commercial break-

Whale says Edge is here promoting the Vengeance PPV in October. Sigh. Edge puts him straight and says he’s gonna kick Orton’s ass. Whale says that Orton can’t be underestimated and is actually a talented wrestler. Yes, Orton is now being pushed by James Whale. Forget Foley, this is REAL career elevation. Whale says that cheating may be the way to go and that he should bust up Orton’s pretty face because he’s always smiling with a stupid smile. Wait, does Whale really watch wrestling afterall? Edge gets in the plug for Vengeance and Whale says you can watch it on Sky. Actually you can’t, but why let facts get in the way.

Caller is Raz in Burnley. He says he did backyard wrestling and hurt his brother once. Edge gets serious and tells him to stop doing it because “it’s idiotic.” Whale says there should be a TV show called “Smack Idol” where wannabe wrestlers like Raz try out to become grapplers with Edge being on the panel of judges. If Theodore R. Long was also a judge, this thing may have potential.

Whale drops a bombshell by saying that Edge’s favourite TV show is Emmerdale. This is an awful UK soap set on a farm (I think) and Edge says that whenever he goes to his Mom’s in Canada, she’s watching Emmerdale, Eastenders or CORONATION STREET!!! This man is a legend. Edge says he knows all the theme tunes. Oh it just gets better.

Julie in Essex is on next and knows her stuff. She talks about his time in The Brood. She asks what the highlights were in Edge’s career and he says winning his first IC title in Toronto was huge and totally unexpected. The first tag team title win with Christian yada yada yada but coming back from the neck injury was probably the biggest highlight. Julie asks if Edge could headline Wrestlemania against anyone past or present, who would it be? Edge thinks hard and says Michaels, Hart or Hogan. He goes with Hart and says if you gave them an hour long iron man match then it would be awesome. Whale asks Julie if she would like to see Edge in the movies and she says no, she’d rather see him headline Wrestlemania 21 in Hollywood. See I knew she was smart.

Whale goes through emails and reads out one which asks how it felt for Edge to be booed at recent UK house shows. Edge said it was due to facing Flair who is a total legend. Edge said he turned on the fans at the end and found it fun to do because it’s better to be a bad guy. All things come to those who wait, Edge. Another email asks if it’s right for wrestling websites to post spoilers. Edge says if you’re a real fan you’ll still watch the show no matter if you know spoilers or not, and the internet has changed the industry so much. Next email asks if Edge broke his neck due to a screw-up from Eddie Guererro. Edge says no it was nothing to do with Eddie. An emailer from Scotland (yay) asks how the injury has affected the style which Edge wrestles. He says that basically he wrestles a little more mat based and slower and doesn’t take the risks that he used to.

Whale then asks if any wrestlers smell. Well, I guess the quality of this interview couldn’t be kept up for too long. Edge says he brushes his teeth before he goes out but that he reckoned Vader never washed his ring gear. Whale says that Canada is a lot like Scotland and Edge says that’s cool but that he’s not been to Scotland yet. He asks if it’s a good thing that Canada and Scotland are alike and Whale says “No.” Tosser.

-Commercial break-

Edge’s hour is up but Whale is enjoying it so much that he wants Edge to stay a little longer. Edge agrees. So we’re going into overtime, kids.

-Break for news and sports updates-

We come back with more promos for Vengeance and then on to a caller, Craig in Chelmsford. He asks what Edge likes to do in his spare time. Edge says he doesn’t have much spare time but he likes to read and write. He’s in the middle of editing his book which is out this November and learned to play guitar when he was injured. Edge is asked who he’s enjoyed working with. Edge says he’d love to do a long program with HHH. Uh oh here we go. The caller says there are rumours that Edge and Benoit will clash later this year and Edge says that will be great because he and Benoit formed a close bond having both suffered neck injuries and that Benoit was one of the first people to call him when he got injured.

Rich in Birmingham asks what Edge’s best ever match was, other than kicking Orton’s ass this Sunday. (Why does everyone hate Orton so much?) Edge says any match with Angle has been great and the tag stuff with Mysterio was a lot of fun. Whale asks if Edge would like to wrestle any of the women and Edge replies: “…Not on TV” Funny guy. He says he’d be scared of hurting a woman.

Dean in Chester says that Edge and Angle both had similar injuries but was Edge glad that he took the route he did, rather than try to come back too quickly like Angle. Edge said when he was told to take a year off; he decided it had to be done. He said Angle called him and said he’d found a surgeon in Pittsburgh who would do minimally invasive surgery that would mean only missing two months and Edge was like ‘Wow I got screwed then!’ But Edge talked to his surgeon about it and he said the surgery was an option if you weren’t a wrestler but because of what he did to his body, it wasn’t something they would do. If he was pushing pens around an office, then they would have given him the surgery that Angle got. They don’t do it for people who land on their heads for a living. Edge says Kurt will probably have to get another surgery so it proves that he went down the right road.

Whale thanks Edge for coming and says that he must give Orton a slap from all of us. Looks like the Legend Killer just stole this show. But Edge came off really well, especially with the stupidity of Whale to deal with.
 
 
 

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