Monday’s episode of WWE RAW opened with Randy Orton challenging Christian to an Unsanctioned Match.
This came after Christian interrupted the former WWE Champion who was doing a promo talking about beating Edge in the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever the night before at the Backlash pay-per-view event. He also mentioned that Edge suffered a torn triceps in the contest.
Orton suggested that Christian walked out to the ring because he wants one more match. Christian denied that was the case.
Orton challenged him to a match on the show and it would be unsanctioned. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion had the rest of the night to give him an answer and if he didn’t then he was a coward.
Christian agreed to do the match. It ended up in the final segment of the show. Ric Flair tried to talk him out of it before hitting him with a low blow. Orton hit him with a punt kick then pinned him to win the match.
Christian was stretchered out, and a neck brace put on him. Orton cut a promo while talking to Christian about how he didn’t want to do this. Time will tell where this leads to next after this angle.
Jessica Eye issues statement after UFC on ESPN 10: 'I am never ashamed of myself' https://t.co/V9XqsC8r0S
– Christian returns to WWE programming next week on Raw. Captain Charisma will be on hand to host a special edition of The Peep Show. His guest will be longtime friend and former tag team partner, Edge.
WWE is hyping the segment by teasing what Edge will say just 6 days before the “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” against Randy Orton at Backlash.
– WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg will appear on this week’s After The Bell podcast with Corey Graves. He will be on hand to discuss NXT Takeover: In Your House. WWE is teasing that Road Dogg will reveal which NXT stars he’s got his eye on.
The DX alum and 6-time WWE tag team champion competed at the first WWE In Your House pay-per-view 25 years ago.
– The following matches are advertised for tonight’s edition of NXT on the USA Network:
El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Drake Maverick in the finals of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament.
Mia Yim vs. Candice LeRae
Catch up on the Top 10 moments from last week’s NXT:
Christian joined The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast to talk about the new film Cagefighter which also features Jon Moxley and former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.
Earlier this year, the UFC Hall of Famer expressed interest in a potential move to WWE.
In this interview, he was asked about Liddell’s interest and how he thinks he would do inside of the squared circle. According to the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, he sees him in the same way as WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan.
“He’s obviously got the look for it. It’s kinda like Hulk Hogan whereas any time Hogan walks into a room, he’s got that distinctive look. Everybody, whether you’re a wrestling fan or not, you know who he is. Chuck has that same thing. Whether you’re an MMA fan or not, he’ll walk into a room and everyone goes, ‘Oh, that’s Chuck Liddell.”
“I think that even at his age, he definitely brings something to the table. He also appreciates it and said it publicly that he’s a wrestling fan.”
Christian stated that Liddell appreciates what wrestlers bring to the table and that it’s a lot tougher than people give it credit for.
He added that is another thing he likes about the film because it gives credibility to the wrestler which I appreciate.
It should be noted that Liddell isn’t looking to do a run in WWE but rather just one match. Shane McMahon, who is good friends with Liddell, has expressed interest in trying to make a deal. Time will tell whether it works out.
Former WWE Superstar and World Heavyweight Champion Christian appeared on this week’s episode of WWE After The Bell.
‘Captain Charisma’ appeared on the podcast and discussed a number of topics from his illustrious career. One of the points raised was the fact that Christian is hailed as one of the innovators of the ladder match, alongside his former tag team partner Edge.
Edge & Christian
Edge and Christian were of course part of the first ever tag team ladder match, where they faced The Hardy Boyz back at No Mercy 1999. That bout looked a lot different to the ‘Corporate Ladder’ Money In The Bank match that took place this past weekend.
“My initial thoughts were obviously ‘this isn’t a traditional ladder match’ in the sense of what I came up doing” Christian would begin on the podcast talking about this past Sunday. “You know we’re in a unique situation in the world at this point in time, anytime.”
Christian would then touch on WrestleMania 36, the event that took place at the WWE Performance Center without a live audience. “You know having WrestleMania at the Performance Center? It’s unheard of, but for me it was necessary to do that show. To give the world some entertainment to escape.”
Cinematic Matches
The former WWF Tag Team Champion then moved into discussing how the ‘cinematic’ matches from that show have set a precedent for WWE. “That being said, it [the pandemic] also gives an opportunity to do more unique things. Like we saw with the Firefly Funhouse and the Boneyard Match and now the Money In The Bank match. I thought it [MITB] was innovative, I thought it was well done. I thought it was different and different is hard to do these days.”
Christian would finish by laying out the importance of the unique bout. “And more than anything? I think that every participant in it came off looking better than going into it. That’s important.”
Were you a fan of the Corporate Ladder MITB match? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Superstar Christian has reflected on his jump to TNA back in 2005, comparing his move to Jon Moxley’s recent signing with All Elite Wrestling. Speaking with Wrestling Inc. Daily, Christian noted how every person’s story is different but stressed that Moxley has been doing a “tremendous job.”
Christian shared how when he left WWE, he was physically and mentally burned out from WWE’s arduous schedule. He was also frustrated. Christian believed that he could “perform at a higher level” than he was able to showcase.
He admitted that when he left, he knew he was going to go back to WWE at some point. Until then, however, he knew he needed to take a chance on himself and get better. He felt the only way to do that was to “take some risks and go somewhere.”
This decision to sign with TNA gave Christian the confidence boost he needed. He knew that when we returned to WWE, he would be “better equipped” than before. This need to leave in order to grow and get better is something he believes Moxley is experiencing during his successful run in AEW.
Speaking on Moxley’s time in AEW, Christian said “Obviously he’s the champion and there was great noise about him and what he was gonna do next. Anytime you can surprise the fan base – which is hard to do these days and he did that – and that gave him a lot of momentum as well.”
Christian and Jon Moxley recently worked together on a new film, Cagefighter: Worlds Collide. Christian produced and starred in the film, which also features Moxley and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell.
You can read an exclusive SEScoops interview with Jon Moxley regarding his work on Cagefighter: Worlds Collide here.
Christian is one of the stars WWE Universe believes should be inducted into Hall Of Fame and fans root for his name every time the WrestleMania season comes around.
The former World Champion recently had an interview with
Andrew Thompson to promote his upcoming Cagefighter: Worlds Collide movie where
he talked about a number of things.
When asked about a potential Hall Of Fame induction, Christian claimed that he doesn’t think about it on a regular basis but he does appreciate the people who want him there:
“It’s not something that I think about on a daily basis, It is what it is and I feel like the things that I’ve done, I’m content with what I’ve accomplished and it’s like, everybody gets offended. And I appreciate — I really do appreciate the people who wanna see me in there
But it’s not like this is gonna be the last year, or next year’s gonna be the last year or the year after that is gonna be the last year. So honestly I don’t think about it at all. It doesn’t bother me. But I do appreciate the people who wanna see me in there.”
During the interview, the Attitude Era star also confirmed the rumors that their E&C Pod of Awesomeness podcast was canceled due to Edge’s planned return to in-ring action.
Apart from this, Christian also talked about the recent budget cuts made by WWE. He said it’s unfortunate and it’s hard to see people who he knows lose their jobs. You can check out his full interview at this link.
Former WWE Superstar Christian has shared his thoughts on Edge’s Last Man Standing Matchup at WrestleMania 36. His longtime friend and former tag team partner faced off against Randy Orton at “The Show of Shows.”
When asked on WWE show The Bumpwhat he thought of their clash, Christian joked how “It was alright.”
He highlighted how it’s unheard of for anybody to come back from the kind of injury that forced Edge to retire back in 2011. Christian noted how “it wasn’t in the setting or the environment that […] they both had hoped it would be in” due to the coronavirus pandemic. To him, however, it doesn’t matter if there was a crowd present or not: as soon as Edge’s music hit and he walked down the ramp, it became one of WrestleMania’s “greatest moments.”
Christian considered match itself to be the “[…] hard-hitting, a–kicking streetfight match that it needed to be. That’s what this match was built up to to be, and I think they delivered.”
Looking to the future, Christian shared who he’d love to see Edge feud with going forward. He joked about wanting to see Braun Strowman “kick his ass.” He then listed some of WWE’s top Superstars including Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, and even “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
Christian caught up with WWE Hall of Famer Booker T on his podcast, The Hall of Fame. During the interview, he was asked if Edge’s return gave him any hope of a comeback of his own. Christian explained how he and Edge suffered two very different injuries. He added how he has accomplished all he ever wanted to do in WWE, besides headlining WrestleMania. He then confessed that he doesn’t believe he would be cleared to compete, even if he wanted to.
“I’ve pretty much accomplished everything I’ve ever wanted to do, except main event WrestleMania, and let’s be honest – how many people actually get a chance to do that?”
Christian continued, “It’s one of those… I’m 46 years old, you know… and I had some concussion issues. It’s just a matter of… you know, I don’t see it happening. I’m medically disqualified. I just don’t… I’m not sure how I would ever get cleared.”
Christian’s WWE Legacy
Christian is a former World Heavyweight Champion in WWE. He is also a WWE Grand Slam Champion and has won gold in other companies including TNA. He was forced to retire after suffering a concussion during a Fatal 4 Way matchup on the March 24, 2014 episode of Monday Night RAW.
Although victorious in that matchup, Christian would never be able to capitalize on the Intercontinental Championship opportunity the won granted him due to the concussion.
Discussion: Would you want to see Christian come out of retirement for another match?
Booker T was recently asked who he felt the funniest person backstage in WWE was. After taking some time to think about it, Booker wasn’t sure but noted the funniest wrestler in the ring was Christian. Booker would continue to call Christian WWE’s most underrated Superstar.
“It’s hard to say who was the funniest backstage but in the ring it was Christian,” Booker said. “Christian was always the guy who had me laughing all the time. We’d be wrestling, we’d be in the ring, we’d be on the road, it would always be house shows, it would never be TV, it would always be house shows, it was his time to go out there and have fun and play around and just act stupid. He would be doing stuff in the match to make me laugh.”
“I had so much fun, so much fun working with Christian,” Booker continued.
Booker would then continue to talk about Christian’s in-ring work.
“He was one of the best guys that ever put on a pair of boots,” Booker said about Christian. “I always say Christian is the most underrated professional wrestler that ever worked in WWE because the guy was just that good.”
The full interview with Booker can be viewed in the player below:
Edge and Christian discussed the forthcoming Wednesday Night Wars between NXT and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on an episode of their podcast, E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness. The two expressed their excitement, stating that everyone will be performing to the best of their ability to help their promotion pull ahead in the ratings.
“I really do think it ups everyone’s game. I think right now if you’re a [professional] wrestling fan, if you’re a performer, what an exciting time to be involved in the industry. So, you have RAW and SmackDown sure, but man, Wednesday nights are going to be the night now. I just think it’s fun,” Edge said.
“I think back to the Nitro and RAW stuff and everything. I’m not saying AEW is WCW. I don’t even know if AEW looks at this thing like a competition. I just think they want people to have a different option or another option, but now it’s coming to this because hey it’s Vince [McMahon] and WWE and if you start a promotion we are going to try to run you out of town. But I think that does up everyone’s game.”
Christian agreed, adding that competition is healthy as it keeps everybody on their toes. Ultimately, he believes the winners are fans of pro wrestling.
“It keeps everybody sharp. And the people that are going to win – I’ve said it in the past – the people that are going to win in all of this are the fans because they are going to get some really, really great content, as far as [professional] wrestling goes, going forward.
Two Hour NXT
Edge discussed that NXT’s move to USA Network makes it WWE’s third brand, rather than ‘developmental.’ He expressed that there will no longer be conversations about moving to the main roster. Instead, if Superstars were to move between brands, it could be considered a “lateral shift.”
They spoke about NXT extending to two hours, with Edge voicing concern over fans being able to concentrate for that amount of time.
“[…] to me, one of the things I loved about NXT was that it was an hour because if you’ve got that ADD, you can probably focus through that hour and it’s just enough time to not overexpose anything. You expose enough, and that to me is kind of the biggest question mark. My hope is that if there’s talent that’s spinning their wheels and can do so much more like an Apollo Crews, like a Cesaro, so many people, let them go to NXT, man. Let them shine there. That, to me, is how you can fill up those two hours. That, to me, is how you can use those guys to teach the younger folks, ‘okay, this is live TV – this is how this works.’ And I think that that’s the key.”
WWE NXT debuts on USA Network on September 18th. AEW’s first show on TNT airs two weeks later on October 2nd.
Christian has revealed a piece of advice he received from “Stone Cold” Steve Austin that helped change his approach towards his matches.
Speaking with SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, Christian recalled his attitude towards his career at the time. He also described seeking feedback from Austin after an early match in his singles career.
“For me, early on in my career, […] I think I was smart enough to realize what I was, and that I was never gonna be the biggest guy, I was never gonna be the strongest guy, I was never gonna be the fastest guy,” Christian explained. “So, instead of focusing and trying to be great at one thing, I wanted to be good at everything.”
“It’s funny, if I look back at tape of myself now when I first started with WWE, I was like ‘Man, how did I get a job?’ You know, I just wasn’t that good. It just seemed like I was out there trying to put 10 pounds of crap in a 5-pound bag, just trying to do things,” he said.
Shortly after branching off into singles matches, he asked Austin for some thoughts on a match he believed had gone well. Turns out Austin thought differently.
“I came back, I sought out Steve, I was like ‘Hey, what did you think?,’ he turns around and looks at me dead in the eyes and says ‘Why don’t you learn how to effin’ sell?’ and walked away. That was a kick in the face, and I was like ‘Wow, like..what?”
Off this advice, Christian explained how he “went back and I watched a bunch of my tapes, and I was like ‘He’s right.’ I’m registering, but I’m not selling. So I had to fix that part of my game.”
Former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose has joined the cast of a new MMA-themed action movie, Cagefighter. Deadline was first to break the news.
Cagefighter tells the story of a popular MMA champion who loses a big fight to a pro wrestler who crossed over into the world of mixed martial arts. Shaken by the loss, the MMA fighter must fight his way back to the top and earn a rematch.
Former WWE star Christian (Jason Reso) is the Executive Producer of the film.
Ambrose is billed under his real name, Jonathan Good. The movie also stars real-life MMA fighter and actor Josh Herdman, Michael Jai White, Gina Gershon, Michelle Ryan and Jason Maza. MMA legends Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Alexander Gustafsson will also appear.
Cagefighter is currently in pre-production. No word yet on the targeted release date.
Ambrose made his acting debut in the 2015 WWE Studios action film 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown.
Former World Heavyweight and NWA World Heavyweight champion, Christian, won’t be returning to the ring. Christian spoke with the WINCLY podcast recently and said he accepts that at 45-years old, an in-ring comeback is just not in the cards for him.
“Well I’m 45 years old,” Christian said on the show. “If I was 29 or 30 and was forced to retire and felt like it wasn’t quite my time, then there may be a little push to see what I could do. But I’m also realistic at 45. I never wanted to be one of those guys who hung on too long.”
Christian’s last professional wrestling match came on March 24th, 2014. He defeated Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, and Dolph Ziggler in a fatal 4-way match on RAW.
Christian also spoke about a potential Hall of Fame induction.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. If I had a nickel every time someone asked me if I was going into the Hall of Fame, then…I could buy a lot of stuff [laughs]”
“I’m not worried about it. We’ll see if and when it ever happens. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Christian also referred to the current era of wrestling as a boom period, something he experienced while with WWE during the Monday Night War era.
“There’s always going to be those boom periods and this is definitely one. I think that more than anything, there is a lot of talent out there,” said Christian.
“While there is a platform for them to show what they can do, there’s only so many spots on each roster. Ultimately, at the end of the day, the winner is the wrestling fan because they have a lot of options.”
Christian hosts a weekly podcast with Edge, “E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness”.
Christian recently did an interview with WINCLY podcast last week where he spoke about a wide range of pro wrestling related topics. This includes a potential return to in-ring action.
It should be noted that his career in the pro wrestling business ended due to his history of suffering concussions. Thus, in 2014, his career came to an end once WWE doctors wouldn’t clear him to compete again.
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion started out by stating that he’s 45 years old and if he was 29 or 30 and was forced to retire and felt like it wasn’t quite his time then there may be a little push to see what he could do.
“But I’m also realistic at 45. I never wanted to be one of those guys who hung on too long. I was never a guy who needed to go out there and say, good bye or anything like that. I don’t know what’s going to happen. If I had a nickel every time someone asked me if I was going into the Hall of Fame, then…I could buy a lot of stuff.”
Although the future WWE Hall of Famer is no longer wrestling, he’s now working the Kickoff Shows for WWE pay-per-view events.
During a recent episode of E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, WWE Hall of Famer Edge and former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Christian spoke about a wide range of pro wrestling topics.
One topic was interesting as it was about WWE making changes to the main event of the Fastlane pay-per-view event. WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon announced on this week’s SmackDown Live that Kevin Owens would replace Kofi Kingston in the title match against WWE Champion Daniel Bryan at Fastlane.
Christian started out by stating that he thinks it’s another twist and a play off of what they did with Becky Lynch as it was another good surprise because nobody was expecting to see Owens back.
He also thinks that WWE did this to further build Kofi’s popularity and potential match at WrestleMania. “It was interesting and I didn’t see it coming. It makes sense to extend the feud to Mania.”
Edge chimed in by stating that they did this so fans didn’t have to see Kofi vs. Bryan three straight times on PPV. He thinks it is awesome and great to see Owens be thrown into the mix. “Him and Bryan will have a great match. It also allows Kofi to go to Mania and get an amazing moment.”
In 2005, Christian left WWE and signed with TNA. According to the former World and NWA Champion, he was betting on himself. In recent weeks, several WWE Superstars have reportedly asked the company for their release. Christian offered some advice to those considering making a jump while promoting his new show on the History Network, Knight Fight.
“What I needed to do was I needed to take a chance on myself,” Christian said to Talk Sport regarding his 2005 departure from WWE. “I needed to bet on myself. And if you’re willing to bet on yourself then sometimes it works out and if you believe in yourself and your abilities that will be the case.”
“I did go to TNA when I left WWE briefly in 2005 for three years,” Christian said. “When I went there, it was solely to prove to myself, even if it was on a smaller platform that I could carry main event matches, programmes and promos and be the face of a show.”
Cody offered similar reasons for leaving WWE when he did so in 2016. He wrote the following shortly after leaving WWE:
“My goal in pro-wrestling has always been to win the WWE Championship (the one accolade in the game my Father never obtained), and for a decade I tried to convince both Vince and HHH that I could be their star-player, their varsity quarterback if you will, but it seems we have reached the point where neither saw that in me.”
Christian continued to talk about how his time away from WWE from 2005-07 helped him regain his confidence that he could be a main event guy.
“I needed to do that. I needed to gain that confidence and go back and be able to do it,” he continued. “It happens for different people at different times, you just have to be confident in your ability.”
Former WWE World Heavyweight and Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian participated in a Q&A session as part of their Pod Of Awesomeness podcast. E&C discussed their favorite match stipulations, title designs and more.
When asked what their favorite match stipulation was, they agreed that the Iron Man match was the ‘most intriguing.’
Iron Man Matches
“I never got a chance to participate in one, but I wanted to be in an iron man match. I really just wanted to go in there and I remember pitching a couple of times too, and it wasn’t necessarily for an iron man match. But I wanted to just go out there for a full hour and just do a match.” Christian confirmed.
“I never got a chance, but I think that would have been my favorite stipulation just because it’s such a challenge to pace yourself and keep the audience engaged the entire length of that type of match.” Christian elaborated further, saying “there are so many things you could do with it, like nobody has a fall going into the last minute, or one guy is down a fall, or you could have a bunch of falls happen pretty quickly, whatever, or a few fall quickly toward the end and they’re trying to get that last pin. There [are] so many different ways you could go with it.”
Edge also commented on the stipulation, saying “I’ve never been in one of those either. I think that would have been a cool, fun one to try to wrap your brain around. Yeah, I’m going to agree. And here’s one thing, though, that I think I might have mentioned it in the history of this show, but why do they call it an iron man match still when it’s two women wrestling? It should be an iron woman match.” Edge continued, “that bugs me when I see that.”
Dream Opponents
When asked who they wished they could’ve faced in their careers Edge gave some interesting answers. Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, WWE Superstars Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. Christian said that he wishes he could’ve had a match with former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega.
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Christian recently gave his take on the current state of pro wrestling and the launch of AEW while doing an interview with TV Insider to promote his new television series on the History Channel, Knight Fights, which he is hosting.
This is where he gave some advice for AEW officials, and it all stems back to TNA Wrestling, which had an unbelievable roster in the early 2010s but was too focused on what the WWE was doing instead of just focusing on their product. They did so to the point that in 2010, they moved their flagship show Impact! From Thursday to Monday in order to go head-to-head with WWE RAW.
In the eyes of the future WWE Hall of Famer, If AEW can avoid doing so, he thinks they will be just fine.
“I think that they need to focus on themselves. I think the knock TNA had is they seemed to worry too much about what WWE was doing instead of focusing on their own. That would be the way to go, in my opinion. As far as new signing Chris Jericho goes, he is obviously one of the biggest names in the history of the industry.”
“So that is a major feather in their cap right off the bat that they are legit and going to try to make it work. Otherwise, Chris is a professional. He wouldn’t have attached himself to it if he didn’t think AEW had a bright future.”
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has been the talk of the professional wrestling community as of late. Tony Khan is serving as the President of the promotion. Cody and The Young Bucks have been named Executive Vice Presidents. Names like Chris Jericho, Adam Page, PAC, and more have already been announced as members of the roster. The new promotion has a lot of fans optimistic about the future of professional wrestling.
Especially with all the big names involved. Recently, Edge and Christian took to their podcast, “E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness” and discussed AEW. Christian said he has actually met AEW President Tony Khan a few times. “Captain Charisma” detailed a lunch he once had with Khan, who he could tell was a very big professional wrestling fan:
Meeting Khan
“Well, I’ve met [Khan] a few times,” Christian said. “I met him, strangely enough, through Chris Nowinski, actually. And, yeah, I had a little meal with Chris Nowinski and Chris brought him and he was telling me about stuff in matches that I had that I don’t even remember happening.
“I mean, that’s how big of a fan he is and he just wanted to talk to me about wrestling. And I was kind of more interested in the football side of it, so I was talking to him about football and he kept trying to switch the subject back to wrestling, and I kept trying to switch it back to football.
“Anyways, at one point in the conversation, I tried to talk him into firing his GM and hiring me as the General Manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yeah.”
It’s nice to hear that someone with a love for wrestling, such as Khan, is overseeing AEW. With the likes of Cody and The Young Bucks at his side, AEW certainly has a ton of potential. AEW’s first-ever show is slated to go down from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 25th. The pay-per-view (PPV) will be called “Double Or Nothing.”
What do you think about Christian’s story in which he had lunch with Tony Khan?
– Lilian Garcia announced today that she will perform the U.S. National Anthem on Sunday, October 7 before the New York Jets take on the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Her performance will be part of the Jets’ “Kids Day” featuring WWE.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnolIGtHrhX/
A person replied, “Why? It’s clear (the) NFL doesn’t like the anthem or our flag.”
Garcia responded, “I can’t control what others do but I can control what I do and that is sing my heart out for a country that has allowed me so many opportunities.”
– Former WWE star Eva Marie announced today that she has partnered with PodcastOne to launch her own podcast, “The Natalie Eva Marie Show.” She is co-hosting the podcast with her husband, Jonathan Coyle, and it premieres next Wednesday.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnojUG4hxPN/
Click here to listen to Eva Marie preview “The Natalie Eva Marie Show.”
– It was on this day in 2004 when Chris Jericho and Christian faced off in a Ladder Match at Unforgiven for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. The official Instagram account of the WWE Network posted a clip from the match, which ended with Jericho winning.
The new NXT North American Champion was a guest on E&C Pod Of Awesomeness. Ricochet addressed many topics during the interview, even on his first encounter with Rey Mysterio and how emotional he got after their bout on Lucha Underground.
Konnan Starting Heat
Ricochet recalls first meeting Rey Mysterio and how Konnan was there as well trying to make a wedge between the two high flyers.
“I remember the first time really meeting him, I walked into the room, and Konnan’s like, ‘oh, here he is! This is the guy saying he’s better than you.’ And I was like, ‘what are you doing? Like, why would you say that?’ Because I didn’t know Rey. I didn’t know how cool he was. I was like, ‘why would you say that? He probably hates me now?’ But that’s just Konnan.” Ricochet noted, “but Rey is the coolest guy in the whole world and I’m his biggest fan.”
Goals For NXT
While still a newcomer for the developmental territory, Ricochet mentioned that he intends to make NXT bigger than it is now.
“It’s my goal to, like… I don’t know how long I’m going to be here,” Ricochet continued, “like, if I’m here two or three years, that’s perfectly okay with me because I really honestly enjoy it here, so my goal is to make it as big as possible.”
Another goal of the famed high flyer is to get better on the mic. The Rock was one of Ricochet’s inspiration to get better at speaking as he mentioned that in The Rock’s debut back in’96 he wasn’t the famed charismatic speaker that he is today.
“I always say, ‘look at ’96, The Rock’s debut at the Survivor Series and I think he did a promo afterward, and it was, like, not good. And you look at him later on and he’s the best to do it ever,’ so, like, it’s all about, yeah, growth.”
You can listen to the interview in its entirety below:
Christian has given some insight into the decision that was made about the name of his finisher when he was an active pro wrestler.
If you recall, during his first stint with the WWE, his finisher was called The Impaler while he was with The Brood but later changed it to The Unprettier which stuck for a while. Once he decided to go to TNA in 2005 where he had a successful run, his finisher name stayed the same until he decided to return to the WWE three years later and placed on the ECW brand and the name of the move was once again changed to The Killswitch.
During a recent episode of E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, the former World Heavyweight Champion explained why the name of the finisher was changed.
“The name The Unprettier kinda came as a joke between myself and The Hardys and Adam we would joke around. I don’t even remember how we came up with it but I jokingly called it The Unprettier because I hate how it makes you feel so damn unpretty.”
He continued by stating that they would jokingly talk about it behind-the-scenes and one announcer (could’ve been Michael Cole) heard it and then said it on the air during his match where it would later stick.
“But I never thought the name matched how dangerous the move was. So when I came back from TNA to WWE I kinda wanted to repackage a few different things, the name of my finish being one of them. I had a conversation earlier that first day back with Vince and I told him my feelings on it and what I wanted to name it and he went, ‘no that’s great. Do it.’ So that’s how it got changed.”
During a recent episode of the E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness podcast, the former WWE World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Edge took questions from fans that led to them talking about various topics.
One fan asked Christian about if he preferred a traditional ring or a six-sided ring when he worked for TNA. If you recall, the promotion, which started in 2002, had a six-sided ring to stand out from other promotions instead of a traditional squared ring for many years.
“I’m a traditionalist; I like the square one,” said Christian (transcript courtesy of Wrestling Inc). “I get that the six-sided [ring] looked different, but I don’t think it was enough to be like, ‘oh, man this ring is so different.’ It was a little bit awkward to wrestle in, because sometimes when you are shooting somebody corner to corner, you had to adjust because it wasn’t directly across. And it was also really hard, like it was a hard ring. If you weren’t bumping pretty much around the middle of it, like around the edges were super, super hard, and it hurt. Christian continued by stating, “So, I’ve always been partial to the square ring. I got used to it, and I didn’t think of it at a certain time, but even little things like when you climb up the ropes to jump off the top rope, the foot positioning is farther apart because of where the ropes are, the distance, I guess, that they have to travel to the next post is different than when the ring is square. So, it was a smaller area to put your feet on a regular ring, and it was further apart and I always found it harder to jump off the top rope with your feet really far apart.”
Christian added that he liked a traditional ring better than a six-sided ring and the appeal of it.
What are your thoughts on Christian’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
The Background
Christian had found a ton of success while working for the sports entertainment company. He started out as a member of The Brood and had plenty of Tag Team Title reigns alongside Edge.
Christian ended up departing from the WWE and spending some time forging friendships in Florida while a part of TNA. As a result of his time in TNA, when he finally returned to WWE in 2009, he was pushed as a big star, which is something that he deserved for his hardwork.
As a result of his history with concussions, WWE wouldn’t clear him, and he was forced to retire from in-ring competition. It could be argued that if it were a different time in the professional wrestling business, then he could still be competing.
We now know why two former WWE World Heavyweight Champions were backstage at the Backlash pay-per-view event.
On Sunday afternoon (May 6, 2018), a report surfaced online that stated WWE Hall of Famer Edge and Christian were spotted in Newark, New Jersey, which was the site of the Backlash PPV event.
This led to speculation that they could appear on the broadcast. As seen by watching the show that was not the case.
According to a report by Mike Johnson of PWinsider, the reason they were in town but didn’t appear on the broadcast of the show is to prepare for production of the second season of The Edge & Christian Show on the WWE Network, which is set to begin filming on May 25.
Do you plan on watching the second season of this show? Sound off in the comment section below.
WWE Superstars travel anywhere upwards of over 300 days a year for out entertainment. If anyone in sports and entertainment deserves an “off-season” it’s professional wrestlers who work for WWE.
In a recent edition of their E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian discussed this possibility. Christian first explained why he thinks the concept is impossible:
“I feel like you can’t do that – you can’t just stop WWE and have it like a sports league for three or four months. It’s an entertainment company. It puts on a live show every week and it prides itself on being out there and working.
“Yes, the wrestlers themselves could benefit from time off; but, it’s hard when you have certain guys in top angles who are relied on to draw houses and be the main events on shows, pay-per-views and live events and all this job entails.
“For the body, yeah, it would be a great idea to cycle having certain guys off and when they come back certain other guys off for a certain amount of time. I don’t know if that is the way; but, to me you can’t just stop the show for a certain amount of time.”
The Rated-R Superstar explained how the idea seems nice on paper, but the company has TV contracts to obligate:
“There are just so many different things that go into it. Yeah, it sounds great on paper and all of those things; but, you have tv contracts. There are so many different layers to this thing that the laymen doesn’t necessarily think of that factors into this decision.
“It’s not as easy as that and it is a completely different beast altogether than every other sporting league or any other touring thing. It’s not like a band and there’s an album cycle. It’s not like that. It’s just different than that and that’s the way it’s set up.
“I don’t know what the quick answer is to that; but, I know there’s a lot more to be thought of, even though it sounds great on paper.”
You can listen to E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
