Interview: Eddie Edwards appreciates Broken Hardy, explains how backstage situation has changed after Anthem taking over
Eddie Edwards is a former TNA Heavyweight Champion and a former member of one of the best tag-teams in the world, The Wolves, along with Davey Richards. Apart from that, Eddie is also one of the nicest people in pro wrestling and a professional through and through. It was a pleasure talking to him.
It’s great talking to you Eddie. How have you been? You’ve had a great 2016. You won the TNA X-Division Championship and then you won the Heavyweight Championship. It was a great year for you. So what are you aspiring to in 2017?
2017, man, you know, like I’ve said all along… AIP, you now like I believe, anything is possible, so why not. I plan on first getting the world title back.
Also Davey Richards is back so The Wolves are back now. So I say why not win the world title, why not win the world tag team title? Why don’t we take all the titles? So that’s where our mind is right now.
I think 2017 is going to be a great year, not just for myself and Davey but for impact wrestling overall.
So tell me one thing, you were a tag team specialist for a long time so how was it transitioning into singles action when Davey picked up an injury?
Throughout my career I’ve always dabbled a little bit in both. I’ve done some singles and I’ve done tag obviously. I’ve always been very comfortable doing singles wrestling as well. So it was an unfortunate injury with Davey obviously but it gave me the chance to try to show what I am capable of as far as a singles competitor.
I figured I won the world title so I did okay. Hopefully, the fans now see. I think that’s one of the great things about me and Davey, we’re a great tag team but we’re also good on our own.
Impact wrestling has received a lot of creative praise lately. What do you think that is attributed to? Do you think Matt Hardy has played a role in this with his ‘broken’ character?
I think ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy has an effect on everybody in wrestling right now because I feel what he’s doing right now is so special and so creative right now that everybody’s paying attention and taking note so I feel that the more he helps out whether it’s behind the scenes or just on a personal level. Having help from Matt Hardy is a great honour to have so I hope he’s very involved going forward.
This is a little controversial… Regarding the saga between Billie Corbin and Dixie Carter… what would you say the atmosphere in the backstage was during the court proceedings?
We’re wrestlers, man. Wrestlers are going to wrestle. We can’t concern ourselves with stuff behind the scenes because we can’t control it. I myself am very relaxed and laid back so I just ride the wave, bro.
Whatever happens, I can’t control it. If I can’t control it, I don’ want to stress about it ‘cos I don’t want to worry about it. I let that happen behind the scenes. That’s up to them, they can handle it. My job is to go out into the ring and have the best match possible for the fans.
Now that Anthem has taken over, do you think there is a better vibe backstage? Now that you don’t have to worry about these court proceedings…
I think that everything’s straightened out. Just the fact that we have new management, we know what we’re doing going forward. We’re all on the same page going forward. We’re trying to take things to the next level. That is obviously very important.
Everybody has to be on the same page and want the same thing and there’s no doubt in my mind that we all want that right now.
What would you say is the biggest change since Anthem took over?
It’s hard to pinpoint whether it’s one thing or another thing but it’s just the feeling that we’re all on the same page, just the unity … stuff that we’re doing in the ring is the just top notch and I think that everything with our new ownership is top notch as well.
Do you have a favourite match?
It’s hard for me to pick a favourite match of mine. I can pick special moments… I and Davey against the Hardy’s in New York City were amazing. The crowd the whole feeling because those were two guys I had looked up to my whole wrestling career. So to be able to go in there and prove that we are on the same level as the Hardy Boys was pretty awesome.
Also, our best of series with the Hardy’s and Team 3D, like the stuff that we did there. And of course, beating Bobby Lashley. That’s something that will always be very special to me.
Do you have a dream opponent that you’d like to face in the future? Anyone in the wrestling industry.
There are so many great wrestlers out there right now. So many talented wrestlers out there. I just wanna face the best at any time. I’m a big fan of Japanese wrestler Naomichi Marufiji. I’m a big fan of him. I think he does some amazing stuff and I would love to show more of that in the States if we can. But honestly, anybody.
I wish I had a singles match with Kurt Angle before he departed TNA but I was there during that period of magic so it was awesome as well.
Do you have a favourite arena where you like wrestling?
I love doing shows at the Manhattan Centre and the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Those are great and a lot of history there, a lot of history for everybody. The crowd’s always great there.
The UK shows that we do for the Impact tours are always awesome. It just depends on the fans and the fans always take the venue to the next level. They make you feel the adrenaline. And also, Krakuen Hall in Tokyo Japan is also a very special place.
TNA had planned a tour of India which eventually got shelved. Are there any such plans in 2017. Fans in India would love to see you guys in action live.
That is something I would love to do. Talking to the other wrestlers I know, we all feel the same way. I know there are talks going on so I just hope that it happens real soon because that’s something I want to do. I would love to see the fans and meet the fans, show them what we can do live. I think the atmosphere would be very special.
We barely get any live wrestling over here. Maybe once a year if we’re lucky…
I would love to bring Impact over there and the fans would love it. The live experience is awesome.
Who is your favourite wrestler of all time?
The favourite questions… that’s a tough one. I love Eddie Guerrero. He did so much. I like smaller guys. And then Brett Hart. I think Kurt Angle is an absolute beast. He is a cyborg. He’s unreal and I think that he will go down as one of the greatest ever. I have no doubt in my mind.
In relation to the WWE tryout, you had in 2013. Can you shed any light on why things didn’t work out?
Much like in life you have to be in the right place at the right time. It wasn’t the right time for us. It wasn’t the right time for the WWE. We just did our things and went our separate ways. Luckily, we got here in TNA and Impact. Things have been going great and they’ve been doing great on their own so it just wasn’t the right place and the right time.