WWE Byte This Review
April 13, 2005
Hosts: Marc Loyd and Steve Romero
Guests: Edge and Rey Mysterio
They show a clip of HHH vs. Edge from a few months ago.
Edge joins the show.
Loyd congratulates him on winning the ladder match at WM. Edge says it's one of those matches where going into it, they didn't know what to expect. It could have turned out really good, which he feels it did, or it could have turned into a complete train wreck. He says it was fun and to be able to do it at WM. He said it wasn't easy to be thrown into that situation. But all six competitors pulled it off and are proud of themselves.
Loyd said that it must have been a lot of pressure to pull off a good ladder match. Edge says anytime you have a ladder involved and with the stuff they have done in the past, you always want to top it. He says it's impossible to top it now with the amount of TLC and "stupid things we've done in the past." The most important thing now is to make it entertaining to the people and that they are into it. He says you can't top yourself every time; otherwise you'll end up with a injury like a broken neck. He says, "Luckily, Shelton Benjamin was in the match," and adds you can count on him to pretty much do anything you ask of him athletically. He says he can jump from the mat to the top of the ladder. So it helped that he was in the match, because guys like himself and Benoit can't be jumping off ladders anymore.
Romero says Edge took the "Muhammad Ali" approach to winning the match as he believed in himself, told everyone he was going to win, and then went out and proved it. What did it feel like when he unsnapped it and had the briefcase in his hands? "It felt great - to do that match and everything else at a WM." He says this is their Superbowl, which you can say till you're blue in the face. He says their mentality this year was to steal the show, and they knew they had competition, which is a good thing. But they are all proud. Going up the ladder, he was just concerned about not falling off, and to get the "stupid thing unhooked." But once he did it, he was relieved.
Loyd wants to know what was going through his mind the seconds before he got the briefcase, as he was climbing up the ladder. Was he concerned that someone like Benjamin would come flying and knock him out? He actually moved pretty quick up the ladder, because he saw Kane and Benoit on the mat so he thought you'd better move quickly or you are gonna be in trouble. The only time everything slowed down for him was when Shelton t-boned him off the ladder. Ouch. They landed completely twisted from the way they started. He compares it to a scene in Rocky, where Rocky gets knocked out and the crowd in the background becomes blurry. Loyd says "be happy you didn't go up against Thunderlips." Edge laughs and says "That's Muhammad Hassan."
Loyd brings up that a lot of fans want to know. Now that he won the ladder match, will he please stop complaining? Edge laughs and says that's what he does now. He says it's been a lot of fun. He says it's nice to vent and get paid for it.
Romero says that now he has to make that great decision about when he wants to cash in on his title shot. Will he pick a particular event or a particular opponent? Edge says Batista isn't the best choice to go after. But he says he's also beaten him before. He can outsmart him, that much he knows. He says in a perfect world, you try to have the patience to hold out till WM 22. He adds "but have you seen the writing team lately?"
Loyd asks him where the WM 21 moment rank up against the rest of his WM moments. Edge says it ranks up there with the first WM he actually wrestled at. He's been around for 8 WMs, but only wrestled at four. His first WM was the first PPV he was brought to, and the Edge character wasn't in development yet. That was the WM with Austin-Michaels. The next year, he was part of the Brood and involved in the Bossman-Undertaker Hell in a Cell. The next one was his first wrestling appearance, in the triple ladder match. That was big, because up until then they wanted to split up Edge and Christian. So to win the tag titles was a big one for them. They felt like they stole the show. The next year was TLC in Houston which was huge too. The next was going back to T.O twelve years after sitting in the crowd watching Hogan-Warrior and this year coming back to win the ladder match. So they have all been big. They'll all have a special meaning to him. This year's was most special because after missing two in a row, it was frustrating being injured and not being able to compete in them, and not have a choice in the matter.
Romero moves on to him attacking Benoit after losing to him last week on RAW. Did emotions get the best of him? Edge says "definitely an angry young man." He says he and Benoit have a long history, whether it's been as opponents or teammates. They have been two-time tag team champions, even though Benoit won it on his own the second time. Edge says Benoit is his favourite opponent, as strange as it is to say. He is one of the guys who brings out the best in you. When you get in there, it's a fight from start to finish, and he likes it that way. He has total respect for Benoit, but doesn't mean he wont do anything to beat him.
Email: What was his favourite moment from the Hall Of Fame ceremony? Being a huge Hulkamaniac, he would have to go with Hogan being inducted. He says the crowd reaction was awesome and it went on and on and on. It showed the guy the respect he really deserves. He is the reason why a lot of them are in the dressing room. A lot of people might not admit it, but it's the truth. He says Piper's speech was entertaining after chuckling a bit. He says the class of 2005 was the guys he grew up on, all part of WM 1. He says it was cool seeing all the guys he used to watch, and mentions Rock-N-Wrestling. Edge adds that he was happy that he was the only one booed during introductions.
Romero asks if he sees himself in the HOF, will he need the WWE Title or the World Title to get there. Edge thinks he might need that. But he doesn't see that far out. Right now, all his goal is the World Championship, and after that he will see how he feels physically. He doesn't know how long he will be able to wrestle, with the way his body has been beaten down the last few years. He doesn't look at the HOF as something tangible yet. If it did happen, it would be awesome, but he is not setting out to do it. If you look at credentials, he could get in. But there are some pretty good guys in there, so he doesn't want to throw in his name with them.
Romero says with the roughs and tumbles in this business, even with having great superstars, you still have to live day-to-day. Edge agrees and says he's had some injuries to remind him of that. For the first 11 years of his career, he felt indestructible, and then it was one thing after another. He says when you bite the bullet and have the surgery, and they make you sign the waiver saying if you die while being operated that they wont be responsible, that's when it all hits home and you say, "ohh okay."
Loyd asks with all the injuries, how has that changed his lifestyle, whether being on the road or at home. Does he train differently, or give his body rest to recover? Edge says they don't have opportunities to let their bodies rest, bringing up that they just got back from Australia during night time and had to do RAW the next day, so not enough time to rest. Next week they do RAW at MSG and then head to England right after. So, rest isn't a luxury they have. He does train his neck every day now. He has to, to keep the muscles around the plate in there strong. He hasn't changed anything at all, except that he isn't as strong as he used to be. The left side of his body isn't as strong as it used to be. It can get frustrating when he can't work out as he used to. But he says you have to grit your teeth and deal with it.
Romero talks more about cardio, and ask if he can't do reps, does stretching help? Edge says RVD is like the stretching guru. He does an hour of stretching before every match. Edge wishes he had the patience for that. He used to see him do all that stretching and thought he was like Gumby and he couldn't get injured, but then he got the knee injury, which he says sucks. So stretching is important. He says the days go by very quickly. He only gets five minutes to sit back, not an hour. But RVD finds that time and makes sure he gets it in. It's part of his day. Edge thinks that something he himself should do, and he wouldn't have many injuries if he did.
There is an Edge fan in the chat room who wanted to say hi. Edge jokes that he has only three fans left.
Loyd brings up that this Monday will be one year since he came back at Backlash last year. Edge says he had a broken hand when he returned, which was frustrating because he couldn't whip or reverse a whip because the way the cast was put on. It was a damper in the comeback for him. He couldn't perform the way he wanted to. He didn't only have 13 months of rust to work off, but also the broken hand. It was a tough match being back, especially against Kane.
Romero asks what kind of year it has been. Edge says up and down. He had lot of injuries and other stuff going on, but you deal with it. You have to grit your teeth and keep going.
Edge leaves the show.
Thanks to Sam for sending me this transcript!