Well the general of the ol' Edge Army is back with the second installment of this column, and I have to admit, you guys and gals have gotten me really excited about this. After my request for material on the column, I received an overwhelming response. E-mails came from the good ol' USA, Mexico, Chile, Scotland, Colombia, Ireland, New Zealand, Jamaica, Bahamas (my old stomping grounds, for a year), India, Singapore, Puerto Rico, Thailand, England, and an amazing amount from Australia. Of course, the Canadians were extremely well represented. When I got into the literally thousands of e-mails, I have to admit I could not read them all, and for that, I'm sorry, but a dude only has so much time in a day, even with a bum neck. So I thank all of you.
Now it's time for a shout out to Droz, the most courageous person I know this side of my mom. Hey, buddy! Speaking of courageous, I wanted to thank the military families and personnel who e-mailed me, like Nicholas Morotta, stationed in Iraq, and his family, Sheryl Neiser, stationed in Japan, and Harry E. Santiago, stationed in Kosovo, who wants me to beat Chris Jericho's ass again (which would be fun). That's true courage, and makes what I'm going into a piece of cake. Come home safe, and thank you.
On to the Edgeucation, or at least my version of it. I definitely have enough column ideas now, but I will start this week with my physical update, since everyone seemed concerned. I'm feeling pretty good, considering. Would I like to make a habit of getting this surgery done? Would I want to see another Superstar (I've always felt uncomfortable with that term) get this surgery done? No, which brings me to the topic that I said I would touch on last week.
To tone down or not to tone down the product?
Firstly, many people jumped to the conclusion that I think we should go back to the days of the ever-devastating Sgt. Slaughter noogie hold. (Remember that one? Oh my God the pain! Will the Hulkster give in?) That's not a possibility. We (myself definitely included) have raised the bar too high. What can happen is a blending of the two styles. I think the master of this is the Undertaker. You believe everything he does. It's believable. Everything is done for a reason, and I would trust Taker to give me a Tombstone piledriver in the condition I'm in right now. OK, that might be pushing it, but you get the point.
It's a matter of working smarter. Does anyone remember Ric Flair/Ricky Steamboat?
They worked smart. Now I'm not saying everyone is a Ric Flair in his prime, but this business has always been built on the telling of a story. At one point that story became more of a stunt show. Now I can hear the Edge critics collectively gasping. Who is this talking? What a hypocrite! This from a "TLC" guy. Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing time helping create history in those matches. It's also probably the beginning of where I am now (sitting in my Scooby Doo boxers at a computer). I was always an advocate of making those TLC matches special, annual events. The blow off. They ended up being prostituted for ratings, and the crowd became desensitized to what we do to our bodies just to get one more "Holy S***!" chant, or to pop a good rating.
With all of that being said, I realise that writers of our product have a tougher job than the actual wrestlers some of the time. Now I know all you "smarks" are saying, "I could do it," and maybe you could, but until you walk in the shoes of the writers, or The Vinman himself, you can't really know for sure.
I actually like the direction of the in-ring product right now. It's getting back to storytelling.
CHEAP PLUG ALERT! If you read the Hardy's new book "Exist 2 Inspire" -- on sale at a bookstore near you -- even the perennial daredevil Jeff Hardy agrees the slower, but actually just-as-exciting style of storytelling is important.
Let's face it, wrestlers are always going to get hurt. This is not something new. Just watch Killer Kowalski try to walk, or ask the Dynamite Kid while he's sitting in his wheelchair. Arn Anderson described it to me best: Each bump we take is like a mini car accident -- the bigger the bump, the bigger the accident (for those who scoff, try taking a bump first). Has the increased pace of bumps per night caused this rash of neck surgeries? Probably. Has taking 15-20 bumps a night, as opposed to four or five, finally caught up to us? Probably. Can we get back to a happy medium? I think we have. I hope so, for the John Cenas, Randy Ortons and Team Angles of the world. Rhyno vs. Charlie Haas from this week's SmackDown! was a perfect example of what I mean. Great match (would have it liked longer), great story: Take out Rhyno's wheel so he can't hit the Gore. I remember when I first came in, guys would say, "You're only gonna have so many years at the pace you're going." I was young, dumb, and full of ... well you get the point.
They were right, they knew how to get a bigger reaction from one punch than I did from a plancha. Don't get me wrong, there is still a place for that (just ask Rey Mysterio), just at the right time and the right place. That's why what we do can be such an art form. That may sound strange, but I firmly believe it.
I had more success in the last year while slowing down my style. Not less exciting (at least in my opinion), just smarter, or to put it bluntly, trying to work like a "top guy," and it was a much bigger challenge than jumping off a ladder. Unfortunately, the 10 years before caught up to me. Pretty lousy timing, but hey you roll with it and come back stronger, and although it may sound like it, my finisher will not be the Noogie Lock.
Now that I've had my Dennis Miller rant for the day, I feel better.
Some people wanted to know my take on the shows. They wanted me to make changes to the shows, give guys pushes, give injury reports and juicy backstage gossip -- "Is Goldberg coming?" etc. Hey, I'm not Vince McMahon or J.R. here, people. I'm just a goofy bastard who needed to do something to exercise my brain and keep in contact with my ever-faithful army of Edgeheads!
However, here are some opinions:
-John Cena is oh-so-close to being there (as I've told him), and damn fun to watch. I have a great feeling about John in this business, especially in the near future.
-Team Angle looks real comfortable now (not because of the velour track suits), and that's a good thing. I still call 'em Team Suck Squad, though!
-Rico and 3 Minute Warning -- I still don't understand the pairing, but with that being said, I'm stuck for an alternative.
-Christian, Y2J, and Triple H are my RAW heel MVPs. Imagine that show without them right now.
-The Rock I can't consider a heel, but he's definitely an MVP.
-I hope the Hurri-train continues to roll. He can be RAW's version of Mysterio. Everyone is entertained by both characters, for completely different reasons, but they still have that same underdog appeal.
-Kurt, you are a trooper my bald-headed friend.
-Can you beat the intensity of Chris Benoit? We could have had some real fun teaming. Two stiff, Canadian, hockey-lovin' bastards. (I wonder if that could work for a team name? Either that or Degenerated Nex. Get it? Nex with an x, we have bad necks. OK, bad joke, moving on.) I enjoyed feeding off his intensity.
You don't get a true feeling for it until you are side by side or face to face in the ring with him.
-Rhyno has "reeked of awesomeness" (little old E&C for ya). Seriously, he's looked great, and I couldn't be happier for him. He is truly one of my best friends in this business. He actually felt bad because he started teaming with Benoit once we knew about my neck. If I would want anyone to take my "spot," it's the big ol' Man-Beast. Speaking of the Man we call Beast, I made a surprise appearance in Tampa during his match at a house show. Afterward he stayed at my house and ate everything. A dozen of my wife's famous "Alanah Banana Choco Chip muffins," followed by eating the rest of the batter! And then a loaf of crunchy French toast in the morning! Dude is insane, but my wife and dogs love him.
Hope everyone has a good time watching the BIG ONE, WrestleMania XIX, this weekend. Depending on how I feel, I may make the trip to Seattle and sit in the families' box to watch the show. I just can't picture not being there. At the same time, it's going to be really hard to sit there and not be involved. We'll see.
Finally, I must go. Lance Storm (who is a column veteran) told me to give you a little at a time or you get spoiled. So until next week this has been the ongoing Edgeucation of Adam Copeland. Sodas rule!