Edge and Christian open today’s show by discussing the passing of King Kong Bundy. Edge says he can still remember Bundy facing Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 2, and his mother trying to tell him that Hogan was okay after Bundy beat him down. When he saw Bundy debut he couldn’t believe his eyes because he didn’t know a person could get that big.
Edge points out that Samoa Joe finally won a main roster Title this past week. Edge thought that was great, noting that Joe is very deserving of that Title. Christian says he still thinks Joe can be a credible threat to Brock Lesnar, and after being on the main roster for a couple of years now, this might be the first step in building Joe up for a big run.
Edge says he really enjoyed the recent NXT match between Drew Gulak and Matt Riddle. He says that Gulak has always impressed him, and Riddle is now finding a real groove in NXT. Christian adds that Riddle has that unmistakable trait, similar to someone like Jeff Hardy, that makes fans gravitate to him.
Edge and Christian congratulate Torrie Wilson on her WWE Hall of Fame induction. They note that she brought a lot of skills to the table in a time when women weren’t booked very well in WWE. Edge says that Molly Holly is another very deserving woman who should be inducted at some point, because she was a tremendous worker and is a great person.
Edge says he was bummed to hear that Tommaso Ciampa will be out of action for some time after undergoing neck surgery. He points out that Ciampa has been competing at a high level for a long time, and sometimes the body needs time to heal. He’s sure that WWE can still conclude the Gargano storyline when Ciampa returns, but the main thing right now is for Ciampa to get healthy.
Edge likes WWE pairing up Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. He says they’re both great singles performers, but maybe they can accomplish more together in the tag team division. Christian also liked the quick build to The Shield’s reunion over the last couple weeks since Roman Reigns’ return.
Edge and Christian welcome NXT’s Bobby Fish to the show.
Fish says that as a fan, his favourite era was the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, with Dusty Rhodes and the NWA running wild. He watched a lot of wrestling with his father, and though his fandom started with WWE and Hulk Hogan, as he got older he watched more NWA.
He informs that he trained in martial arts and wanted to be a ninja as a young teenager, but as he got older he started playing football and wanted to be a professional football player. His size hurt his chances in football, and as his college football career ended he began thinking about a career in professional wrestling.
He actually discovered the Dynamite Kid’s book and reading that really boosted his interest in becoming a professional wrestler. In the beginning he was thinking that it would at least keep him from having to work a 9-5 job, but after getting in the business he really got bit by the wrestling bug and developed a real love for it.
Fish worked for Pro Wrestling Noah for quite some time, and with that promotion he was able to travel to Japan to work. He notes that they worked a very stiff style there, and he had to go through an adjustment period when he left there and began working elsewhere. He worked with Kenta (Hideo Itami) there, and all the injuries Itami suffered in WWE could have been a result of the style they worked over there years prior.
Fish informs that his partnership with Kyle O’Reilly began in ROH. O’Reilly had already been in ROH for over a year when Fish debuted there, but after they began teaming things really took off for both of them. He notes that they have very similar styles in the ring and similar personalities out of the ring.
Fish thinks the reDRagon name really helped make them as performers. Their branding and promos were all done with a purpose, and once it started to work their confidence grew. They began travelling to Japan through the ROH/NJPW working relationship, and that was a nice step for them as well.
He was never really sure whether this tag team would bring them to WWE, because WWE was the land of the giants and they were smaller, work-first performers. In the back of their minds they both probably wanted to make it to WWE, but at the same time they were doing good work and having success in ROH and NJPW.
He informs that Adam Cole once teamed with him and O’Reilly as somewhat of a one-off in ROH, and the audience reaction was incredible. He pitched an idea to ROH creative to keep them together a bit longer, but it wasn’t in the plans. When they got to NXT and had a meeting with Triple H, he posed an idea of an incoming Adam Cole forming a stable with them and they couldn’t believe it.
Fish says he was in NXT for about a year when he hurt his knee. He was very scared and insecure about his spot after he got hurt, but Triple H put his mind completely at ease. He was a bit worried upon returning about kicking with his injured leg, but after being back for a while he doesn’t even think about his knee when he wrestles now which is a huge relief.
He adds that he’s very fortunate that the injury happened while working for Vince McMahon and WWE, where they treat you like an investment and take care of you while you rehab and get better.
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!
