Well, folks, Edgemeister here, at home, and not in Seattle. All parties concerned thought it would be better to sit this one out in the fortress of pillows. I did hunker down with a whole lotta chocolate chip cookies and pizza (off the diet, as you can tell), and sat down to watch an extremely entertaining Wrestlemania XIX, I'm actually glad I wasn't there. I had to get up and leave the room on the opening video of what Mania means to the people involved, because I know what it meant for me to not be involved.
OK, enough feeling sorry for myself, on to my opinions of the show:
Matt Hardy vs. Rey Mysterio Perfect match to kick it all off. The first and last slots on the show are always the most important. First match has to set the tone and standard for the night, and Rey Rey and Matt came through with flying colors, with some help from the little MF'er Shannon Moore-on (maybe a name for his flock of fans? Moore-on, get it?). Well, that's the bad joke for the week out of the way. Really enjoyed the headscissors counter to the Side-Effect. Good stuff. Surprised my little buddy didn't take this one, but now the chase is on.
Undertaker vs. A-Train/Big Show Had no clue what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. Taker showed he's a go-to guy again. 11-0 now. Hmm, I'm 3-0, maybe I should target the Dead Man next year. Or maybe not.
Trish vs. Jazz vs. Victoria (with Steven Richards) Girls worked their asses off (not literally, and thank God for that. Sexist joke of the week out of the way). Always hard to get sustained heat and good false finishes in a three-way match. Glad to see my hometown girl grab the belt again, but I like the Stratusfaction better than the Chick Kick. By the way, Stevie, I like the Edge-Angle chair spot from Backlash, which we stole from Michaels-Diesel. Is nothing sacred?
Los Guerreros vs. Benoit/Rhyno vs. Team Angle See above. Sounded to me like Benoit got one of the loudest pops of the night. Good for him. Guys worked intense as always, but it's so hard to have false finishes, because there is always someone there to break it up. Eddie has the fastest, most crisp dropkick I think I've ever seen. I liked Chavo doing the little things, desperately grabbing for the ropes before every German suplex. Great "spears" by Rhyno, I refuse to call it a gore. Just jokin?, big fella. So when Kurt has surgery, what's Team Angle's name? Team Suck Squad!!!!
Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels This was my pick for match of the night, and to me they didn't disapoint. I love the way they countered everything, and used the moves and counters from the clips in the promo the week before on Raw. Awesome story. Shawn?s bad lower back, leading to multiple Walls of Jericho. Chris knowing all of Shawn?s moves. Double kip-up spot. That second Walls in the ring (awesome Frankensteiner counter) had me thinking the Showstoppa was going to tap. I sat there wanting to be in this match. It's matches like this that make me realise why I want to come back so badly. Kudos, guys!
Miller Lite CatfightCall me old school, call me a purist, but I would have preferred Morley/Storm vs. RVD/Kane, so I'll pass on my Catfight thoughts.
HHH vs. Booker T Told the story of working the leg well. I like that Flair started the leg damage. True heels, the bastards. Finish shocked me. I thought the Bookerman might take it. Shows how much I know (and no, I didn't know beforehand).
Vince vs. Hulk This match felt like a whole episode of RAW or SmackDown! in one match. It felt like the deserved end to "20 years in the making." Vince ain't pretty in there, but he makes up for it with those insane, demonic faces. Gotta love that emotion. Got the feeling Vince is new to ladder jumping, (kinda scary, huh Vince?) but he pulled it off like a champ. The Roddy Piper run in was a classic touch. You guys know how I feel about the Hulkster, but this one really surpassed my thoughts going in. It was just damn fun to watch. As entertaining as Jericho/Michaels for completely different reasons. Like I touched on last week, WrestleMania is the stage where you pull out all the stops, ladders, chairs, etc. The memory of Vince looking up over the apron with the "crimson mask" is forever etched into my brain (especially come contract renewal time!).
Rock vs. Stone Cold These two never fail to impress when faced against each other. Very shocked at the outcome, which seems to be the theme of the night. That's a good thing, keeps people on their toes.
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar I know exactly what Kurt was going through, and it doesn't feel good. You want to vomit after every bump. Kurt needs surgery now, his left arm is atrophying at an alarming rate, and I cringed every bump he took, (as much as I could cringe with a hard collar on). I was glad to see Kurt get the final match. He deserved it. Brock and Kurt WRESTLED. Wasn't it nice. The rollups were some of the fastest I've ever seen. Great solid wrestling match. Imagine if both guys did not have injuries. A healthy version of this match will top it, no doubt. My only reservation...hindsight being 20/20, if Brock ever tries the shooting star again(which I wouldn't advise), take the closer corner. There are too many of us getting this neck surgery done. We don't need him on the list.
Now speaking of neck surgeries, Kurt and I have been talking a lot about this doctor in Pittsburgh who says the neck problems can be fixed with six weeks recovery time. It sounds too good to be true. I hope it is true and works, if indeed Kurt goes that way. It will be great for Kurt and great for the rest of the boys who will have these problems (there will be more), to not have to endure this surgery. It sucks. I have to be honest, if I waited two more weeks I could have had this option. Pissed off? Yep. Frustrated? Yep. Gonna deal with the cards that have been dealt? Yep.
Overall, as hard as it was to not participate, it was a great show. I'm always a pretty positive guy, but even the glass is half empty people had to enjoy it.
OK, time to answer a few questions that keep popping up in my e-mails that most people probably won't care about:
Boxers or briefs: (I can't believe I'm answering this) Boxer briefs, best of both worlds, since the surgery, just plain old boxers Favorites
Music: Faith No More, Red Hot Chili Peppers (best album released last year), Foo Fighters, Metallica, Slayer, Queen, Kiss, Cheap Trick, Weezer, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Lenny Kravitz, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Jerry Cantrell, Nuno Bettencourt, Guns'n'Roses, Beautiful Creatures, Black Label Society, Thin Lizzy, Perfect Circle, Sum 41, 311, Stone Temple Pilots, I Mother Earth, Disturbed, Rollins, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Bon Jovi (yes Bon Jovi. Sambora can play, man), and of course my main man Rob Zombie. Hey, if it has guitars and drums, I'm into it.
CHEAP PLUG ALERT! I picked up the Rob Zombie produced Ramones tribute CD this week. An extremely talent-packed, fun CD, even if you are not a Ramones fan. It features the Chili Peppers, Zombie, Metallica, U2, Offspring, Green Day, Kiss, Eddie Vedder, etc. Well worth it. Also don't forget to check out Rob's directorial debut in House of a 1000 Corpses, opening April 11! Dude is multi-talented.
Actors: Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt, DeNiro, Steve Buschemi, Ed Norton, John Travolta
Movies: American History X, Godfather 1&2(skip 3), Raging Bull, Oceans Eleven, Point Break, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Fight Club, Kalifornia, Seven, Pulp Fiction, The Crow, Spider-Man, X-Men, and too many more to mention.
TV: SmackDown! and RAW (go figure), Sopranos, Behind the Music, Punk'd, That ?70s Show, Seinfeld, Simpsons, SportsCenter
Cities: Toronto, San Antonio, Chicago (best crowds), Seattle, San Diego, San Fransisco, Vancouver, Calgary, Tampa, Tokyo, Cape Town, Johannesburg
Sports: Hockey & Football (I picked the Raiders-Bucs at the start of last season).
Caught the Devils play the Lightning live this week at the St.Pete Times Forum. Great game, Martin Brodeur is the best goalie in hockey. Great game 2-2 tie. My buddy Grant Marshall just got traded to the Devils, so it was great to see him. He endured the same surgery as me, and is one of the main reasons boarding (being checked from behind into the boards) is now a penalty. He broke his neck and skated off the ice, but that's a hockey player for ya. Here's hoping the Bolts can go far in the playoffs so I can check out some more hockey. If not, me and the Hitman (yep, that one), are gonna fly to T.O. to catch some Leafs playoff games. Bret is doing great, by the way. I know there are a lot of people wondering.
Books: You name it, I'll read it, music, boxing, wrestling, fiction, autobiographical, comics, everything. I've read five books these last two weeks. My mind is still going 110 mph, but my body is in neutral. I like Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen King, Henry Rollins, I have a biography of every Boxing Heavyweight champ since Jack Dempsey; Thomas Harris, Richard Matheson, C.S. Lewis, all the Harry Potters, Lord of the Rings, books on Lennon, McCartney, Cobain, Freddie Mercury, etc, Neil Gaiman, I think every wrestling book ever written, etc.
Speaking of books , I talked to The Mickster, Mick Foley, while I was still in the hospital. He was visiting a very huge, but sick Edgehead, who was herself in the hospital, and decided to bring smiles to both of our faces. That's Mick for ya, a true class act. By the way I'm sure I saw a Credgeley sign at ?Mania, which was what Mick, Christian and I called ourselves during our now infamous pre-tapes.
Next week I'll hit my favorites involved with wrestling, matches, opponents, partners etc.
On the injury front: Can't lift weights for six months, so there is no rehab involved. My rehab is sitting and walking, although I did pick up my brand new Classic Les Paul Voodoo series guitar. So I'm driving a little now, an I've learned the opening riff to Smoke on the Water (I think everyone learns that first). It's been a nice outlet for me, and kept me somewhat sane. Who knows maybe Jeff Hardy and I on guitars, Chris on bass, Kurt on drums and bring back Nickolai Volkoff for vocals! Throw Hulk on one side of the side of the stage just doing air guitar (with the boas), and Rhyno on the other side in a pin striped suit doing the running man all night. My dream band ELECTRIC MUSTARD would be born!!!!! And no, I'm not on painkillers!
My throat wound has healed and the scab came off like a fruit roll-up. It was pretty freaky. The hip wound is still healing. There were no stitches, it was sealed with glue.
Finally I would like to congratulate my hockey team The Shelburne Wolves (I sponsored them this year), for winning the Georgian Bay Bantam Rep Championships, 3 games to 0 over Collingwood. My cousin Justin, 15, got back-to-back shutouts between the pipes (that means net), and is on his way to the All-Star game April 12. They have been proudly sporting Edge Army on the back of their jerseys all year. Way to go guys!
My cousin Jacob, 9, is on his way to the spring Collingwood Triple A rep team, and my cousin Jesse still wants to write my book, at the ripe old age of 12.
Oh yeah, some people wanted to know if I plan on writing a book. I definitely want to one day, but I still think I have some chapters to create in my career though. Winning THE TITLE, and headlining a ?Mania. One thing I will say, I have some interesting stories to tell. What would I call it? The Edgeucation of Adam Copeland of course!