Edge and Christian open today’s show by speaking about last weekend’s NXT Takeover event.
They both agree that Undisputed Era and Moustache Mountain tore the house down with their opening match. Edge points out that this was a great match, and adds that all four men did a phenomenal job. He notes that Tyler Bate is special and he thinks WWE can do something big with him in the years to come. He’s also quite happy for Roderick Strong given the success he’s having right now.
Edge says that if he were to critique the match, there was just one little thing that bothered him. He points out that there was never a point in the match when the babyfaces, Moustache Mountain, appeared to have Undisputed Era beaten. He notes that one near fall could have been broken up by one of the Undisputed Era members, just to let the fans know that Moustache Mountain could of, or maybe should have won the match.
Both men enjoyed the Velveteen Dream/EC3 match. Edge points out that Velveteen Dream is a special performer, and he thinks he’ll be unstoppable at some point in the future. Christian thinks EC3 is a natural heel, and he thinks that’s where EC3 is going to make the biggest impact moving forward. He notes that as a heel, EC3 cuts “money promos”.
Edge is a big fan of Shayna Baszler, noting that she really plays the role of a bully well. He particularly likes Baszler’s stomp moves, which look devastating and legitimate in his opinion. He thinks Baszler should save those moves for finishes or for injury angles because they look so good. Christian also notes that as a babyface you can’t forget to sell, even while you’re on offence. Edge agrees, adding that there were a couple of times during the end of this match when it looked like Kairi Sane forgot to sell.
Edge points out that Adam Cole is in a weird spot right now because he’s “over” as a babyface, but he’s being booked as a heel. He notes that WWE could have a huge babyface on their hands if they ever decide to go the babyface route with Cole in the future. Edge also points out that while Ricochet is a great performer, he’d love to see him get truly angry during a match. If he can find that other side of his personality in the ring, it’ll take his entire presentation to another level.
Edge notes that Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano are magic together, adding that there’s no other program in NXT or WWE that comes close to them right now. He says that Ciampa is really in a groove right now as a heel, and it’s hard to name a hotter babyface that Gargano.
Moving onto SummerSlam, both Edge and Christian enjoyed the opening match between Dolph Ziggler and Seth Rollins. Christian points out that these guys are having a great program and he thought this match was paced very well. Edge agrees and says he doesn’t think those guys can have a bad match.
Regarding the WWE Title match between Samoa Joe and A.J. Styles, Christian notes that he has seen these two men wrestle multiple times in the past, but never on the WWE stage with the WWE Title on the line. They’ve both also grown considerably as performers since their last meeting. He notes that the finish surprised him because he thought Samoa Joe might take the Title here.
Speaking about the Universal Title match, Edge thinks the right guy won in Roman Reigns. He likes that the Champion will be around more and will be at live events now. While he can understand some of the criticism surrounding Lesnar as Champion, there’s no denying that his matches feel different and if he was around every week his matches wouldn’t feel as important.
Christian thought it was cool to see The Demon return and thought this type of short match worked on a lengthy show like SummerSlam. Edge notes that it’s important for WWE and Balor to protect The Demon, because there’s something special about that character.
Christian thought the Alexa Bliss/Ronda Rousey match went exactly how it should have. He points out that Rousey needs to be presented as the ass-kicker that she is, and this loss doesn’t hurt Bliss because she’ll be able to get her heat back. He adds that in order to be a great heel you need to rid yourself of all redeeming qualities, and Bliss has done that effectively.
Speaking about Jeff Hardy’s Swanton Bomb to the ring apron, Christian thought it was sick and amazing. However, he notes that Hardy only has so many of those bumps left. He has faith that Hardy knows when he can afford to take those kind of bumps at this point in his career. Edge was a little bit torn, adding that while the move looked amazing, it hurts to see Hardy take those kind of bumps at age 40.
Both Edge and Christian are looking forward to the upcoming Evolution PPV. They note that while Bliss vs. Trish Stratus and Rousey vs. Nikki Bella are seemingly locks for the event, they’d love to see Beth Phoenix take on Nia Jax, and Lita take on Becky Lynch as well.
A listener writes into the show and asks Edge and Christian if they’d consider returning to the ring if they were ever cleared to do so. Edge notes that he’s never going to be cleared to return so he doesn’t even consider it. Christian points out that he’s been out of the ring for 4 years now, and although he thinks he can return to the ring at a high level, that doesn’t mean he’d actually be able to do so. Therefore, he wouldn’t return to the ring at this point.
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!
