Howdy folks, Edge-o here for another week of your Edgeucation.
Went to see Dr. Lloyd Youngblood last Wednesday, and the prognosis is good. Right on schedule. I was able to get rid of the hard collar (finally), and move to a soft one. I'm slowly weaning myself off of that, too. I feel like a human-sized bobble head. My head must weigh at least 48 pounds! It feels like I have A-Train’s head on my body (picture that!). I've also been cleared to start hitting the gym! For me, that was the biggest news. I’m not supposed to lift anything over five pounds, but at least I'm there and won't regress any further. I've become the dreaded "skinny fat guy!" Just jokin’, but that's the way it feels, so the gym is a nice mental hurdle for me, and I'd like to thank everyone, once again, who sent me e-mails. They mean a lot to me.
Alright, the cheesy stuff out of the way. Now, last week I said I'd go a little more in depth on my first, unexpected, Intercontinental Championship reign. Now let's see if I can set the mood. It was a dark and stormy night; the water, she was rough, my friends ... Sorry, wrong story. I've had a lot of time on my hands, OK? Cut me some slack.
It was in Toronto at SkyDome. We were doing our house shows there. It was June 24, 1999, and Christian and I faced the Acolytes (APA) in the first match. Match 4 was Jeff Jarrett vs. Ken Shamrock for the I-C Title. Only problem was, Shamrock was stuck in Detroit, so I was the replacement. Jeff and I were working the pay-per-view, Fully Loaded, the next day in Buffalo, N.Y., so it made sense.
Jeff was in the ring when it was announced Ken would not be there. He grabs his belt, goes to leave, but ... YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME (only no cool Zombie music at that point). Road agent Pat Patterson came up with "an ell of an idea" (French accent for ya. He misses his H's -- I'm Hedge, Hunter is Unter. Go figure). I would win the match but not the belt because I was not the "contracted" opponent. Cool. So Jeff and I went and did our thing. Here comes the finish ... the place goes apeshit! Then they handed the belt back to Jeff, and my hometown peeps were none too pleased. The announcement was made, and that just added fuel to the fire.
At this point our other agent, grizzled Jack Lanza, came down to the ring with a gleam in his eye (I'm embellishing. I'm allowed. It's my story). He asked referee Earl Hebner to ask Jeff what our finish was the next day.
It was relayed back that Jeff was going over (at this point I didn't get told that stuff). I was standing beside Jack and Howard Finkel on the floor when Jack looked at me and said, "Go get your belt, champ." Huh? Say what? "Go get your belt, champ." Are you serious? "Go get it!" All of this was filmed for the huge Jumbotron at the Dome, and I later got a copy. It's hilarious because you can actually hear this conversation. So Earl hadn't screwed another Canadian in Canada, and I went in and grabbed the belt. The announcement was made. I'd grown up hearing Howard announce "and the new Intercontinental Champion ...," but it means so much more when he announces you. It was amazing. I literally could not believe it. The next day, the Toronto Sun had a full-page photo, and the look on my face is priceless. I was smiling so big my teeth looked like white tombstones!
I only held the title for one day (no change of plan there), but it was amazing. I've yet to match that feeling -- came close, but not quite. Maybe because I had no clue, maybe because it was my first WWE title. Who knows? I'm still the last person to win a title on a house show, and thankfully my family and friends were all there. I get amped up just writing about it. The only thing to match it will be the WORLD TITLE! (Always in caps.)
I've received a lot of questions regarding the I-C Title. Should it have been unified? Should it be brought back? My answers: no, I don't think it should have been unified, and yes, I think it should be brought back. It gives guys somewhere in the middle or higher something to shoot for. Growing up, it was always the steppingstone to bigger things. You'd watch guys like Randy Savage, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Triple H, Rocky and Edge (whoops, got carried away there), and know the I-C Title was their last stop toward the WORLD TITLE.
Now the new guys don't have that steppingstone of fan acceptance. They have to try and hop straight to the top, a la Brock Lesnar, and that's really tough to do. In my perfect world, the I-C Title on RAW and the Cruiserweight Title on SmackDown! would balance it out. Guys like Randy Orton, Batista and Hurricane could really benefit from it.
Speaking of Hurricane, did anyone else notice the green Hurri-fro last night on RAW? His head looked like AstroTurf (just jokin’, buddy ol’ pal).
That's my Dennis Miller rant out of the way.
Since I talked a little about E&C last week, I thought I'd answer another oft-asked question. Why did we split? Honestly, we both felt we had accomplished what we set out to do as a tag team. What else was there to accomplish? The most tag title reigns in WWE history. A nice run with some wrestling history made, with the help of the Hards and the Duds. It's always good to end things before they get stale. That way, if there ever is a long-term E&C reunion, people would look forward to it (hopefully). That's pretty much all there was to it. At some point, you want to see if you can do it on your own. I'm sure Lennon/McCartney felt the same way. Not that we're wrestling's equivalent of the Beatles, but you get the point.
On to hockey! Went to the Lightning/Capitals game this week, and it was awesome. Seventeen thousand people with those blowup thunder sticks. Of course, I hit Christian with them all night. The best part is, he can't retaliate! Yes!
So far, my predictions are pretty good. Ottawa won, Anaheim won, Dallas won, Jersey won (of course), and the Lightning called my bluff -- so far, my only bad call. Thank God, more playoff hockey for yours truly. The Canucks have taken it to seven, so there's still hope for that pick. The Avs are moving into Game 7 tonight, and the toughest series, the Leafs/Flyers, also moves to Game 7. You know what I'll be doing tonight -- hockey all night long! All I can say is, GO LEAFS GO!
Some people have wondered what I plan on doing with all the spare time I'll have this year. That's been the hardest part, keeping my mind occupied. There's only so much “That ‘70s Show” you can watch. I've decided this will be my concert summer. Livestock here in Tampa has some great bands coming up (Godsmack, Stone Sour, 3 Doors Down, Def Leppard, etc.). I'm going to see the Eagles and the Doors with Ian Astbury of the Cult on vocals. Chris Jericho and I are definitely hitting Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour, even if we have to fly to that bad boy! Have to check out Black Label Society at Ozzfest too. Like to see Audioslave at Lollapalooza. Good summer for tours.
Alanah and I also plan on finally taking a honeymoon. We got married, and I was on the road the next day. I don't know how she puts up with me. We're going to spend a lot of time in Canada this summer, and possibly take a train trip across the country. I'm trying to turn this negative into a positive, and so far it's working.
I also wrote 200 pages of what could possibly be my autobiography one day (like I said, a lot of time on my hands). Between all of that, my guitar and rehab, I should be a busy man.
Plus, I need to keep all the Edge Addicts in the know. Until next week,
you have been Edgeucated.