Audio: Eddie Edwards talks TNA’s TV situation, facing Team 3D, Bound for Glory, more
From Donald Woods:
Donald Wood: The biggest news from TNA over the last several months was the move from Thursdays to Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. ET. What are your thoughts on the transition and what is the feeling amongst wrestlers regarding the contract negotiations with Spike TV?
Eddie Edwards: As far as the move to Wednesday, I think it was a good idea, you know, with the NFL having the Thursday night games televised now, I thought it was a good idea because it’s a similar fan base and it’s just a smart thing to do. As far as the contract situation, you know, we have nothing to do with that so we just focus on our stuff in the ring and let that stuff handle itself; if you can’t control it, no need to worry about it.
Mike Chiari: Recently TNA has kind of been at the forefront of emphasizing tag team wrestling with yourself and Davey Richards facing Team 3D and The Hardys. Knowing that The Wolves are leading that ascent in TNA and really in the business as a whole, do you and Davey view it as a challenge and a responsibility to be the faces of tag team competition?
Eddie Edwards: Definitely. That’s always been our goal is to, not only for The Wolves ourselves, but for tag team wrestling in general to bring it back to the forefront and make it the focus of not only TNA but pro wrestling in general because I think every once in a while, it gets washed by the wayside here and there. We just want to be a main focus and show the true magic that is tag team wrestling.
Brandon Galvin: Your recent matches with the Team 3D and Hardyz have been among the most highly regarded matches in TNA this year. Could you explain to us how important it was for The Wolves to able to wrestle in such high-profile matches and anything you and Davey Richards may have learned from working with those two tag teams?
Eddie Edwards: I mean, we have no choice but to learn from being in the ring with those guys. Both teams are legends and me and Davey both watched them growing up and we want to have careers like both of those guys. Being in there, you have no choice but to learn and see what true tag wrestling is and it’s just an honor to be in there with guys of that caliber.
Donald Wood: You have found great success with Davey Richards as The Wolves, but you are also known by many fans as an elite singles competitor. As a former Ring of Honor world champion, do you still have the desire to fight for singles gold or are you only focused on tag team competition?
Eddie Edwards: Right now it’s all tag team stuff, I feel like we have something great going and I would never want to do anything to deter that. Do I look forward to singles matches? Yes, but right now the main concentration is tag wrestling.
Mike Chiari: TNA’s biggest pay-per-view, Bound For Glory, is going to take place on Oct. 12 in Japan. There’s a lot of intrigue surrounding the event now that TNA has announced the card, but yourself and Davey Richards aren’t scheduled to appear. Is there any disappointment on your end that you’re not part of it especially with the momentum you guys have?
Eddie Edwards: I think as competitors we want to be on every event that they have, but I think they were just trying to play it safe due to Davey’s injury and whatnot. I know that we’re both disappointed but they gotta do what’s best for the company. Either way it’ll still be a great show.
Brandon Galvin: You’ve been regarded as one of the better pure workers in the industry today. What do you think is the most important aspect of building an entertaining match?
Eddie Edwards: I think it would be trying to connect with the fans. The crowd, you have to get that emotion out of them, so that’s the main focus because if the crowd is not paying attention and they’re not emotionally involved they’re not going to care, so you have to make that connection.
Donald Wood: You have worked several tours of Japan during your time wrestling. Tell the fans ready to watch Bound for Glory about some of the differences between American wrestling and Japanese wrestling, both in terms of style and crowd interaction.
Eddie Edwards: The style is definitely more hard-hitting and more intense than one might see in the States, and the crowd, you almost have to earn their respect because they almost look at it as a pure sport over there, so they’re waiting to see what you can do and once you get them reacting to what you’re doing, you know you’re doing something right because they won’t just give it to you, you have to earn it.
Mike Chiari: One thing that TNA has done quite a bit over the past several months is reshaped its roster and brought in a lot of new talent. As someone who has done it all on the independent scene in the United States and had success in Japan as well, are there any particular wrestlers out there who you believe could be a good fit in TNA and who you’d like to see the company bring in?
Eddie Edwards: There’s so many talented guys out there right now, the Indies is overflowing with them. It’s unfortunate because obviously everyone can’t be seen all the time, but obviously Ring of Honor has a lot of great guys, I don’t know if they’re considered Indy or not, but look at the roster for PWG. You could just pick and choose from that roster and so many of those guys would be ready to jump right into TNA.
Brandon Galvin: In a potential farewell match, whether it be your final match in a company or final match of your career, would you prefer to wrestle with Davey Richards in a tag team match or wrestle against Davey Richards in a single match?
Eddie Edwards: That’s a good one, could I do them both? I don’t know, it’s a tough one, I think it’d be, depending on who our opponents are, tag wrestling.
