E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness Recap w/ Rhyno – ECW’s Demise & WWE Debut, Initial Name Ideas in WWE, Teaming with Heath Slater, More!

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

Christian thought Ricochet & Velveteen Dream had a terrific bout. He points out that Dream has really grown into his character and Ricochet is second to none in terms of what he can do in the ring, and he thought both men meshed really well together. Edge agrees entirely and points out that Dream has only been working for about three years, and when he improves on some of the details of his in-ring work he’s going to be fantastic.

Edge also thought the tag team match between Burch/Lorcan & The Undisputed Era was a great way to start the show. He notes that Undisputed Era are walking the line between heel and babyface and sometimes that makes it tough to work matches, but in this case it didn’t affect it at all. He adds that even while losing Burch and Lorcan were more over when the match ended than they were when the match started, and that’s a positive thing.

Edge was a huge fan of the NXT Title match between Lars Sullivan and Aleister Black. He thought Black brought Sullivan up to his level during this match, and he thinks Black is ready to take the next step in his career. He says that if he could return to work a match against anyone right now it would definitely be Black. Christian notes that the botched Black Mass towards the end of the match added realism to the fight and he didn’t hate that at all.

Christian is also very complimentary of the main event match between Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. He says that Ciampa is standing out in NXT right now because he’s a true old school heel, and this was an old school-paced match.

Moving onto Money in the Bank, Edge starts by discussing the Seth Rollins/Elias match. He really enjoyed this match and was impressed by Elias’ work. Christian notes that Elias’ character is so strong that people sometimes forget that he can hang in the ring. Edge agrees, and adds that if Elias can hang with Rollins in the ring, he’s going to be just fine.

Christian thought the Women’s Money in the Bank match was good and well structured, but he does critique the selling in between spots. He notes that creating tension and drama during these matches are important, and if performers don’t focus on selling in between big spots the match loses some of that drama. Edge agrees, noting that it’s hard to build drama with 8 competitors compared to 6. He thought the Women’s match was better than the Men’s, and he thought all 16 competitors did a good job in that challenging situation.

Christian was very impressed by Ronda Rousey in her debut singles match against Nia Jax. It’s evident to him that Rousey isn’t just showing up and cashing a paycheque, and he was particularly impressed by her ability to sell in this match. Edge adds that there was no shame in selling for Jax, and now this allows Rousey to sell in future matches without damaging her credibility as an ass-kicker.

Edge was surprised to see Braun Strowman win the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. He doesn’t think Strowman needs the briefcase at all, and he thought the contract would have been much better served in the hands of someone like Finn Balor or Rusev.

Edge and Christian welcome Rhyno to the show.

Edge notes that they came up in the business together and knew each other long before making it to WWE. Rhyno recalls debuting in WWE for the first time alongside Edge and Christian. He followed them out through the curtain and remembers thinking that he was watching himself on television. It was very cool to now be on the WWE’s grand stage with his two buddies.

Edge recalls being very impressed by Rhyno’s in-ring work when he first saw him. Rhyno was a big man but he could still move in the ring and he had a certain crispness to his work. Rhyno notes that he always tried to work crisp because whether fans are watching live in the arena or at home, a performer’s offence needs to look believable.

Eventually Rhyno caught the attention of Paul Heyman, who saw promise in him and decided to push him. Rhyno notes that Heyman couldn’t shove him down the fans’ throat because in that ECW environment the fans would have rejected him. He was with the company for a couple of months before working the ECW arena, and within a year and a half he was the ECW Heavyweight Champion.

Speaking about the death of ECW, Rhyno notes that the writing was on the wall for a while but it was still hard to believe. Eventually the business folded and Rhyno worked the indie scene for a while before making the jump to WWE.

Rhyno informs that when he transitioned to WWE they had issues with his name because they wouldn’t be able to patent it. Edge and Christian supported Rhyno and helped him keep his name, suggesting to WWE that they spell the name with a “y” instead of an “i”. Initially, some of WWE’s name ideas for Rhyno included “Sarah”, “Juggernaut” and “Mary”.

Rhyno immediately teamed up with Edge and Christian and became involved in their feud with The Dudley Boyz/Spike and The Hardy Boyz/Lita. Eventually his partnership with Edge and Christian ended and he had a run with the Hardcore Championship which he’s quite proud of.

Before getting re-hired recently Rhyno was working independent shows and he was enjoying that. Eventually Triple H called him and wanted to bring him into NXT, and that was a very cool experience for him. After working with NXT for a while WWE had their brand split and he was one of five guys who Vince McMahon wanted to hire back. He’s had so much fun working with Heath Slater since being brought back to the main roster, and he notes that Slater is a very funny guy who makes life on the road much easier.

That sums up this week’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!