Before I start Edgeucating for another week, I have to start off by congratulating the 2003 Stanley Cup Champions: the New Jersey Devils!!! Also, happy birthday to Grant Marshall, who gets the Cup for a present. Not to say I told ya so, but I did predict they would win the Cup. I predict that every year, though, so that doesn't really say much. Felt bad for guys like Steve Thomas, Adam Oates and Paul Kariya, but the Devils are tough at home. OK, enough hockey talk, on to wrestling.
Absolutely loved the Matt Hardy/Rey Mysterio match on SmackDown! last week. Just a great all-around match. Also good to see the return of everyone's favorite naked gold medalist, Kurt Angle.
On RAW, I really enjoyed seeing the Mickster, Mick Foley, return. The last segment was awesome. The crowd will be counting with every pin attempt in the Hell in a Cell on Sunday. Triple H and Mick have amazing chemistry together even after all this time. It's similar to the chemistry of Austin/Rock and Bret/Shawn. Fun stuff to watch. Looking at the rest of Bad Blood, I'm really looking forward to Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair and Booker T vs. Christian. Brutal attempt at the Spin-a-roony by Christian, although it was still probably better than my ultimate honky version at WrestleMania X8!
Had a great time at the Chili Peppers concert with Bubba Ray and his better half (not D-Von or Spike). Snoop Dogg opened, which had me scratching my head. Afterward, we went and met Snoop. Seemed like a nice guy. I could only handle the fumes in his dressing room for about 30 seconds, though, and I still walked out with a severe case of the munchies. For rizzle my nizzle! Peppers were great and very high energy. Definitely worth seeing them. Also met Flea. Eccentric little fella, but once again, seemed cool. If you get a chance, it's a good concert.
On to the sack o' Edgemail.
The first question which I get asked repeatedly is when I'm coming back. Today is exactly three months after the surgery. With the procedure I received, that means I don't get medical clearance for another nine months. That's if all goes well. Hopefully, I have quick-fusing bones, but there is no way I can control it. Just have to hope for the best. The neck feels good, and my workouts improve every day. I almost look like my old self again, so everything is looking good so far.
Another oft-asked question is my opinion of some of the talent working independent promotions. Now, I have to be honest, I'm really out of the loop on the new crop of talent, but there are some guys I've been able to catch who have impressed me.
I saw a great four-way cruiserweight match this weekend involving my good buddy and fellow trainee, Johnny Swinger, another buddy, Jerry Lynn, as well as Chris Saban and Frankie Kazarian. Usually, these are difficult matches to put together, but all four guys did some amazing, innovative things, while still selling properly. Jerry's a class act and an awesome talent, Swinger is a young vet at 27 years old, and Kazarian and Saban are young guns. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jerry back, and the other three of them in WWE before they're through. My old partner Joe E. Legend continues to do his thing better each time I see him. Another young vet with 12 years under his belt. American Dragon and Low Ki are extremely solid in every facet of the game. I wish I knew more of what was going on, and I'm sure I've slighted some guys who deserved to be mentioned, but like I said, I'm not up on the current scene.
Ever since the release of the Hardy Boyz book, “Exist 2 Inspire” (CHEAP PLUG!), people have wanted my version of "the blizzard of the millennium" story. It was in Baltimore. It was cold. It was snowing as much as the Devils win Stanley Cups (I couldn't resist). The storm was bad enough to postpone our taped SmackDown! No one would have made it. It was that bad. So we stuck around Baltimore for two days and went live on Thursday. When we got the news, Jericho, Christian and I decided this was an opportunity to do something we rarely do: drink. Now I'll admit, I'm not much of a drinker, neither is Christian. Chris usually morphs into his alter ego, Drunkacho. We thought we'd grab dinner together at the hotel restaurant. Now, I said I wasn't a drinker, so instead of whiskey or beer, we ordered three bottles of wine! Trust me, that was enough for me. By the end of the meal, you had three drunk, long-blond-haired Canadians on the hunt for mischief.
Earlier, we had talked to the Hardys, so we invaded their room in a different hotel. Somehow, this visit degenerated into a Lita/Drunkacho shoot fight that saw Lita tap out to the ankle lock, but damn she did good! As this was going on, the screen got knocked off the window. I was sitting with Jeff on the windowsill looking down at the snow from our perch on the 2nd story. It was getting really hot in the room with all the scufflin' going on, so I looked at Jeff and said, “What do ya think?” He said go for it. Now, normally I would have walked down safely through the lobby, but that wine had me feeling frisky, so I jumped. I looked up from my soft landing in three feet of snow and saw Jeff saying, "You crazy bastard.” From there, he proceeded to Swanton into the snow. Now everyone else realized what had just happened. All the remaining heads in the room filled up the window. Next was Chris, followed by a jimmy-jumping Matt, and finally Christian. Now we decided to start wrestling in the snowbanks. The Hardys had no shirts on, none of us had shoes on. What can I say? Boys will be boys. Blizzard + bored, drunk, immature wrestlers = snowbank wrestling!
As you are reading this, I'm on my way to SmackDown! to see my fellow comrades and catch up on how everyone is doing. From there I fly to New York for a quick appearance, and finally on to Toronto for a couple of weeks to get caught up with family and friends. Because of that (and the fact that my mom hasn't moved into the computer age) the Edgeucation will be on sabbatical for the next two weeks. It's a crazy hassle taking your laptop through customs in Canada. Sorry. Don't fret. It gives me time to remember some more stories (humor me, memory isn't quite what it used to be).
In the meantime, I'd love to get some feedback on what you think I should change or keep the same when I make that eventual comeback. Heel, face, music, trench coats, hair, moves, etc. You name it.
Until then, class dismissed. You have been Edgeucated!