During a recent interview with Screen Rant, WWE Hall of Famer Edge discussed the competition between AEW and WWE NXT, Roddy Piper, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On competition between AEW and WWE: “I think competition in anything is always a good thing. I think it forces people to up their game and not rest on their laurels. I think, if I’m looking at it from the performer’s aspect, it’s another place to be able to ply your trade, and that’s amazing. That’s never a bad thing. Just imagine if there was only one studio, if all there was was MGM. I like the fact that there’s a bunch of different studios, and I think the same goes for wrestling. I think it ups everyone’s game. As a wrestling fan, that’s never a bad thing! To have, you know, a lot of different options. Now’s a great time to be a wrestling fan. It’s a really good time to be a performer, too. I look at it from the aspect of, I’m someone who always wants to be the best. I always want my character to stand out. That’s even more so if there’s more competition. Personally, I think it’s a good thing.”
On how there were more promotions when he was a young fan growing up: “The era that I grew up, there was all kinds of different promotions. That was always fun and exciting, to go to the local variety store and pick up these wrestling magazines and see these wrestlers who I’d never seen before, but now I knew they were out there, because of these magazines. That, to me, was really fun. Then, when they’d eventually make it to the WWE, and I’d see them for the first time, I thought, ‘Oh, I kind of know this person! I know this character!’ I miss that. I think it’s changed, definitely. But the point being, I think competition is good.”
On the first wrestler he wished he could be like: “The first guy that I remember was Roddy Piper. But as a kid, I didn’t like Roddy, because he was doing his job. (Laughs) He wasn’t supposed to be liked! But then I saw Hulk Hogan, and I was just, like, what is going on here? This guy is the Incredible Hulk come to life! This guy is Thor come to life! I could go down to Maple Leaf Gardens, and if I get the right seat, there’s a possibility that I can shake that dude’s hand. It was the energy, it was the eyes, it was all of these things. As a kid, I saw it, and something in my brain was either initiated or broken. I don’t know which! (Laughs) It was from that point forward that I said, ‘I’m gonna do this.’”
