Edge and Christian open today’s show speaking about last Sunday’s Survivor Series event.
Christian says he thought this was a pretty good show overall. He was most looking forward to watching the Brock Lesnar/A.J. Styles bout, and that match really delivered the goods. Edge agrees and says that he was really looking forward to seeing Sheamus & Cesaro take on The Usos.
He thought those four guys had a good match and the diving tag executed by The Usos at the end of this match was absolutely ridiculous. Christian agrees and says that although those types of ideas sound great on paper, sometimes the execution can slip and the point of the move can be lost in translation. He thought the diving tag was executed perfectly and this resulted in a crazy looking spot.
Christian also thought the Sheamus & Cesaro/Usos match was paced well, while some other matches struggled with their pacing. The Shield and The New Day put together a good match and all six men worked hard, but he thought things felt rushed at the end of the bout. Edge agrees and says that he got lost and confused with all the tagging in and out from each competitor.
Christian also thought it was strange to see Xavier Woods lifting Big E on his shoulders, when Big E is the defined ‘strong man’ in The New Day. He thought that by having Woods execute this power move, it took away from what Big E brings to that group on a nightly basis.
Edge really loved the A.J. Styles/Brock Lesnar match. He points out that this made Styles an even bigger star and that was no guarantee going in, since Lesnar matches can either be great and competitive or average and quick. He points out that Lesnar was really selling for Styles, especially while catching him for the F5 at the end, and this drama made for some fantastic television.
Christian thought Charlotte and Alexa Bliss had a good match but he thought they left enough on the table so that a rematch still has a lot of potential, perhaps at WrestleMania. Edge agrees and thinks these two women have another great match in them somewhere down the line.
Edge was blown away by Velveteen Dream’s performance at NXT Takeover: War Games. He thought Dream had a great match with Aleister Black, and points out that there were several terrific false finishes during this bout. Edge says that it’s hard to believe that Dream has only been training at the Performance Centre for 3 years because he has such a terrifically defined character and his work is very good in the ring.
Christian thinks that if someone really wants to stand out in NXT all they need to do is act like a real heel. He points out that at one point in this match the audience was chanting, “Velveteen!” and that wasn’t the way things were supposed to go. He says that if there was a defined period of heel heat in this match from Dream, the audience probably would have got behind Black more.
Edge also liked the NXT Championship match between McIntyre and Almas. He was sorry to see McIntyre get hurt at the end of the match and he intends on contacting him in he next couple of days to wish him well. He was very impressed by Zelina Vega’s performance here as well, and her physicality as a female valet reminds him of Lita in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
A listener writes into the show and asks Christian if he was actually upset about returning to TNA for his one-off appearance in 2012 in exchange for Ric Flair’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. Christian admits that he was surprised to be asked to do that, but he wasn’t upset about it at all. He actually enjoyed his time in TNA and he wasn’t embarrassed to work there at all, and getting asked to make that appearance in exchange for Flair was actually quite a compliment.
Another listener writes into the show and mentions that Edge came out first as Champion in his Unforgiven 2006 match against John Cena in his hometown of Toronto. The listener wonders if this bothered Edge. Edge says that didn’t bother him at all and he doesn’t believe entrance order really matters to any competitor.
A final listener writes into the show and asks Edge and Christian what they’d choose as an alternate finisher if they had the option. Edge says he always wanted to use the ‘Sister Abigail’ move before Cody Rhodes and Bray Wyatt made it well known. Christian jokes that he’d choose the ‘Small Package’, while admitting that in all seriousness he hasn’t given that topic much thought.
That sums up today’s episode of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness. You can listen to the show yourself anytime here, and I’ll catch ya next week for another recap!
