It’s hard to imagine the history of WWE without Edge and Christian. But there was a time when they were having their first matches in a WWE ring just like any other beginner. Of course, they weren’t totally green because they had already traveled throughout Canada.
Edge and Christian recently spoke on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness about their first match in a WWE ring because Edge was celebrating a rather awesome anniversary. On May 10th he celebrated his 21st anniversary of wrestling in a WWE ring. The two went on to discuss their first experiences wrestling in front of a WWE crowd.
“May 10th 1996, this guy had his first WWF match…21 years ago” Edge said referring to himself. “First match period for the WWF against Bob Holly in Copps Coliseum as Sexton Hardcastle and I walked out to Pantera’s ‘Walk’ and you (Christian) were in the audience after driving me to the arena.”
Christian went on to describe the day they had that led Edge to his first match in a WWF ring. It was a normal day until out of the blue Edge got a call from Carl DeMarco needing him to fill in for someone at the show.
Being the head of WWF’s Canada division, Carl Demarco was always looking to help Canadian wrestlers. After a chain of messages to tell Edge that he was on the show, he finally got the word and found himself in the ring later that night. Christian said he was in the crowd heckling him during his match.
“It was interesting, as I was going out and when I got in the ring that’s when it hit me. It’s like ‘this is possible, this is doable.'” Edge said, “I always pictured it, but that’s kind of the first time where I went: ‘Ok you know I can do this. We can do this. I think this is gonna happen.'”
“And even I remember standing on the top rope and I was about to miss an elbow drop off the top on that old concrete ring [WWE] used to use and I looked and I saw you guys, and I saw my mom and I was like ‘woah, this is a mind trip, this is amazing. This is everything that I thought it would be. This is exactly why I trained in that boxing ring, exactly why I loved this growing up, and just tore apart tapes trying to study and be ready for this moment.’ And standing on that top rope and seeing Bob [Holly] down there and my white tights with the tassels hanging off and everything I was like: ‘Ok, yeah. This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.’ Yeah, May 10th ’96.”
Christian said seeing his friend in a WWF ring during the opening match wrestling Bob Holly was mindblowing. He went on to discuss how he got his first WWF match and how it also came out of nowhere.
“It was a year or two down the road, you (Edge) had already signed a developmental contract, I was not under contract” Christian recalled. “You call me in the afternoon saying, ‘hey some people are having issues at the border, they need me to come down to the house show, the live event in Hamilton — the same venue [as Edge’s first match]. And I was like, alright.”
“I’m sitting there playing NHL ’96 on Sega Genisis in my bedroom. So I go up and ask my mom to borrow the car. Wrestler’s rule: never go anywhere, never go to a show without my [ring] gear. So I throw my gear in the trunk and I go to pick you up. We go down there, we get there — the show’s already started. And like the second or third match is in the ring. And they said, we walk in together and they said ‘did you bring your gear?’ And I said, ‘of course’ and they said, ‘okay you guys are working each other after intermission.'”
“And we’re like, ‘what?’ Like no time to prepare — which was probably better” Christian continued. “And we just threw our stuff on. We’ve wrestled each other a million times in the gym and all these other places. Maybe had twenty, thirty minutes if we’re lucky to get ready, get in the right mind frame, and get out there in front of this crowd. And we went out there, had a match, and came back. And I remember they paid us pretty well for, great considering at the time I was broke.”
“But, we drove back to Toronto and went to our usual [resturaunt] late at night which was the Perkins by the airport where we used to get our late-night meals. And next thing I know we’re sitting there and I look up and I’m like ‘did that really happen?’ Like was I really playing Sega NHL ’96 and then like two hours later I’m wrestling on a WWE show and now I’m eating at Perkins after? Like I mean, what just happened? But it was that same thing. I got that taste of the crowd under those lights and I realized when I’m in there I can do this at this level.”
It just goes to show you that all you have to do is work hard and keep at it. You always need to be prepared for when that moment strikes because your big break could happen at any moment. It did for Edge and Christian and we’re sure glad they were able to answer the call then they got it.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness with a H/T to Still Real To Us for the transcription.
