Edge & Christian open today’s show by speaking about last weekend’s NXT Takeover and WrestleMania events.

Edge informs that he really enjoyed the match between Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa. He thought this was a much different match than Gargano’s bout with Almas on the last Takeover, but he loved that this match had the emotion of the “blood feud” that this was. Christian agrees, pointing out that this match needed to give fans the feeling that both competitors hated to lose more than they wanted to win.

Christian said months ago that if someone wanted to stand out in NXT they’d just be a true heel. Ciampa has done that lately, and Edge points out that Lars Sullivan is doing the same thing right now. By devoting themselves to being real heels, both Ciampa and Sullivan are standing out right now.

Christian thought the WrestleMania card was really good but he thought it was too long. When people have to sit for that long, good matches may not get the treatment that they deserve from the live audience because they’re simply exhausted from the hours of entertainment that they’d already sat through.

Edge and Christian both agree that the Charlotte/Asuka match was spectacular, and they both consider it to be their favourite match on the card. Christian thinks it was the right move to have Charlotte break Asuka’s streak and Edge agrees, pointing out that this will help Asuka in the long run. Asuka doesn’t need to be a buzzsaw anymore, and now she can be booked in different situations where she can get sympathy from the WWE Universe.

Edge mentions that after seeing how Ronda Rousey performed in her debut WWE match, he thinks Charlotte and Rousey can main event WrestleMania next year. He thinks the timing is right for the first ever Women’s main event, and those two women are big enough stars that they can make it happen. Christian doesn’t doubt that prediction at all.

Edge thought the Nakamura/Styles match was good, and he thinks it would have been tough for them to replicate their WrestleKingdom match. Christian points out that the crowd started to get fatigued around this time  on the card, and he thinks that negatively affected this match. He also thought Nakamura’s heel turn at the end of the match was more important than anything that happened during the match.

Edge admits that he was confused by the Undertaker/John Cena match. He thought this was an opportunity to have a dream match at WrestleMania, but it seemed lost somehow. Christian points out that maybe WWE will come back to this match next year, where they can build towards a rematch more traditionally than the unique build we saw this year.

Christian says he was quite surprised by the finish of the Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar match. Edge says he was surprised as well, and he notes that he would have put the Universal Title on Reigns here. However, he admits that if Reigns was standing tall to end WrestleMania again this year the crowd would have been furious, and this would have put him in a tough spot.

Edge and Christian welcome NXT Champion, Aleister Black to the show.

Black informs that he started training to become a professional wrestler back in 2000, but it was very tough to find trainers in the Netherlands at that time. He and some other young performers would travel all around Europe just to meet with renowned trainers for an hour or two.

Christian asks him how his love for wrestling started. Black informs that he was watching television with his father one night and he saw a clip of WWE as his father skipped through the channels. That clip stuck with him for a couple of years, and soon NJPW and WCW became available on television there. WCW would come on very late Friday nights, and he’d make a deal with his parents to do all the chores so he’d be allowed to sleep on the couch and watch wrestling.

Black talks about the origins of his NXT character. He informs that Triple H originally asked him, “What do you want to be?” to which Black responded by saying that he wanted to be Motorhead, Black Sabbath and everything that that rebellious music represents. He wanted to represent all the people who felt out of place in normal society, and he thinks he’s been able to do that thus far.

He notes that the “Aleister Black” name was a collaboration between him and Triple H. He also had a huge influence on his theme music, even writing the lyrics himself.

Black says the current NXT roster is stacked, and he feels that everyone there has earned their spot. It’s a very competitive environment, and there’s always new performers nipping at your heels trying to take your spot. He’s focused on continuing to work to be the best that he can be, because once you make it to the top it’s even harder to stay there.

Black informs that he trained in kickboxing for a while and had a couple of fights. He has implemented some of the kickboxing style into his character’s offence and he thinks that style has worked well for him in professional wrestling thus far. Christian notes that footwork is very important in the ring and Black agrees, noting that he’s been able to utilize some of the footwork he learned from kickboxing in his professional wrestling career.

Edge asks Black who he’d like to work with in NXT moving forward. If Black had to pick two guys right now to work with it would be Johnny Gargano and Tomasso Ciampa. He points out that the Gargano/Ciampa match at Takeover was a thing of beauty and he’d love to work with either of those guys.

Black informs that his ultimate goal is to perform at WrestleMania one day. He considers that to be the top of the mountain and he’s determined to get there, especially after seeing how magical WrestleMania is up close and personally over the last couple of years.

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!