Edge & Christian | The Steve Austin Show

initially I didn't do much, I really tried to stick with it. um, it was just that we trained in a ring where you couldn't jump off the top rope because the roof was so bad, it was boxing. It sounded like those things didn't really come on my radar until we started working on the Hardee's and it was like okay, now we can do these things. I guess we hadn't really had a chance before, so Dory was kind of another layer of foundation, you know, because with Ron and Siki they really taught us that the most important thing they taught us was a drop kick, but we had the psychology and just being ground based, yeah yeah we had to drill a hammer to lock the head back.

For, uh, lighthouse, you know, we were just changing holes and fighting for like a year before they even contemplated allowing us to have a match or think about a, you know, sunset jump or something. From there we just went out to

show

s and then you'd try things on a

show

, so it would be like a crossbody bag on top, it was like a big thing and then little by little they would just add layers here and there, then From that, I guess the next type of education. that i had was at brett's house at brett hart's house because he was down with an endoscope and he was a champion at the time and it was carl demarco said you should go out and see brett so I went out and worked a little bit with him and uh he He said okay, well we have to get everyone to look at you because you're ready, then I went out, did some more touring, went out again this time, Jay came with me and then we both went out there like sitting. under brett's learning tree for a while and then from there it was the funky dojos with dory so we were very lucky with the brains we got to pick and just listen and then beyond that we were fighting guys like rick martell . and bad news, brown and these experienced guys who for some reason just saw these two little kids who were willing to listen and not just do what they know, can you give me some advice and then do something the other way around?

We actually sat down and listened to what these guys had to say and then tried to implement it and not just let it slip away like now we know it's not like that or something, but let me jump in here because a while ago you said that when you guys were fighting each other. It was right after shitty work, right, yeah, okay, and now you know, uh, Adam, you know that Brett called you on the house system before shitty work, right, yeah, okay, so you know, obviously you know brett handpicked me I think it was a 95 or 96 for his comeback match at Madison Square Garden and I flew to Calgary and we talked a little bit and visited and of course you know Brett was always a big influence on me and for a guy that I absolutely had the utmost respect for just him as a person and what he can do in the ring and our level of trust and level of respect for each other just to talk about the fucking job for a second from You guys, just being outside, what were you? 'All the thoughts about what had just happened in this company, which I guess, uh Adam, you're part of who you are and Jay, do you like being a part of it or yeah, what were you all thinking at the time?

This was done because it was hard work, yeah well the thing is we decided we wanted to watch this match in the crowd and we had been backstage all day so we found this little side, it was pretty cool so they had These like from the locker rooms there, you could go out to the uh through these doors and you could stand a little bit in a kind of hallway away from the floor, but you had a direct shot at the rings, so we walked through one of those. and I saw him in the crowd, so to speak.

I remember when the ending happened. We didn't really register it at the time. I just looked at Adam and said that was a little strange, wasn't it? ends and then we walk in and suddenly we see people running and running around a bunch of commotion and we didn't really know what it was, we didn't understand, we couldn't understand it, what it would be like. we just fell, we didn't know until the next day, really what had happened, yeah, it was a weird moment, man, I just remember again, Demarco came up to me and said, yeah, you should go, yeah, okay , we will do it. we went with our suitcases and left and then yeah, the next day, I think it was Ottawa and that's where you know we were the last ones to get those kind of words because I'm in a development, it's not like I really know anyone yet, But word got out and I just remember thinking, well, this is a game changer and Brett helped me get here, so how does that all play out now?

You know, it's just uh, you know, because they look at me like a brat. Owen will also be gone. How can this be solved? I remember talking to brett and brett said do what you have to do don't worry he'll leave worst case scenario I can talk to him. you in the wcw, but I always wanted to get to the wwf and I felt that that was the place where he was going to receive a shock and be able to show it to him, because at that moment the wcw you already know what he was like.

I mean you were there, it just wasn't the place for me, I didn't think, um, I thought with wwf, man, they were, it was young, it was hip, it was vibrant and it just felt like that's how things were. They took you away and they took you away and you know there's Sean and I just felt like it was the place I wanted to be, but it was a weird, weird time, sure, man, it was weird because the Davey guy was going crazy, Owen was going crazy. crazy. I mean that whole backstage thing and I wasn't even close but I didn't understand it all and then there was that famous thing where you know Vince was going to come into the dressing room and you know he would at least say something to Brett. give him his chance, i think brett took the chance, it was just weird because coming out of it I was like, man, what's going to happen to this company?

You know brett was our world champion. You know it again. I'm a big Sean fan, but brett. was the guy at the time and then I was thinking man, this company is going downhill, you can't fire your world champion because it was still like a shootout, I mean we all know each other at work, but on that level it's a shootout and I just uh man, I just didn't know what was going to happen, I thought the territory was going to fall, yeah, I remember thinking that too, you know, because hey, that just happened to the flagship guy, so how does it work? a locker? room, be confident now if you're going to do that to Bret Hart, how can that not happen?

The possibility of that happening to everyone else, obviously, there's more involved, there's different sides to the stories and all that stuff, but I remember thinking that. Okay, this is where I want to be, but this might be a strange place to be for a long time if there's still a place to be. You're listening to another classic episode of the Steve Austin Show only on the podcast. Hey, right? own or rent your home, you sure do it and I bet it can be hard work, you know what's easy, bundle policies with geico, geico makes it easy to bundle your homeowners or renters insurance along with your auto policy , it's also a good thing because you already have it. lots to do in your home visit geico.com get a quote and see how much you could save it's geico easy visit geico.com today that's geico.com this is the

steve

austin

show that I want to talk to you about and obviously you I've talked about the wear and tear on your bodies and man in the past, for the last day, I've been watching ladder, table, ladder, chair matches, you know, with you guys, the Dudleys, uh, Matt and Jeff Hardy, and you know when I.

I'm doing some research or just reading up on lighter matches. I guess you know that around the world, or in England or in the United States, there were some letter coincidences in the 1970s, it wasn't like the WWF made them up, Brett and Sean had actually had one on a show of challenge, I guess 394, but the 1994 Sean Razor match that matched that type of match on the map was just an outstanding match, great psychology and was the basis for later matches, so my question is for You guys, I guess in all my notes here I don't have the date that you had your first ladder fight or tables, letters, chairs, what were your thoughts when someone said, hey, you guys are in this fight? it was actually our our speech actually this was the first this was the first thing we ever released um story wise and it was strictly an attention getting thing you know we were kind of floating between being raw and being in heat or you know, whatever the kind of side shows, sometimes we show up with the unheated, sometimes we fall apart or, we just, you know, we're trying to get on our feet and we're just all you know, like I just mentioned the Razer Sean match and that was like the measuring stick for us, it was a match that changed things for all of us in a sense and we were all talking and we were working a lot live. events and we thought, you know, just spitting out, like, how can we take this to another level, how can we really stand out here and you know it wasn't going to happen, you know any other way, because I mean the card was stacked, I mean, you had yourself in your prime, the rock on this prime acre, you know, triple h does foley like all these big stars like at once, you know, we know we weren't getting close to the top of the car for the singles.

So how do you stand out, how do you get a spot each week on the show? That is, it is a prominent space in a good position and how you get to each PPV and how you become an important cog. the wheel that needs to be there or it doesn't work well, you know, so we were throwing different things and we said what if we did a best of seven match and each match is a different stipulation and then it ends with the first tag team ladder match and when we launched it we obviously said, you know there's got to be something hanging over the ring and we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves because none of our teams had ever been tag team champions or even close to it, I think at the time they said you know, but I mean, maybe there has to be a title or something, but something has to be hanging visually so we can grab it and win.

That's when they came up with the idea of ​​doing Terry's invitational tournament where the winner received a hundred thousand dollars in management services from Terry Reynolds, so it was kind of like this tournament that she had organized with this best. of seven and that's how it came about and we knew that hopefully this was going to be our springboard to becoming uh and I think Matt Hardy said that at one point it took us from being WWE wrestlers to WWE superstars you know , and that was what we were trying to do, so what was the thought process in terms of creating the first two, you know, moving on to actually the three that I focused on were uh, the one of uh, I guess Was it tlc one, what is summerslam tlc2? which had been what was wrestlemania 16 or 17 17 17. uh in wrestlemania 16 and 17 according to professional wrestling illustrated those letters on the table sharon's fights with yourselves, hardy and mama ray and dibon were fights of the year uh and Yo buddy, I'll never forget it.

I was re-watching a little bit of Wrestlemania 17 last night. I'm getting ready to talk to you and I went ahead and saw that ladder match and that was Jesus Christ. That thing was amazing, it was just super exciting and I. I was thinking, you know, because I was in the building and I didn't see the game. I've watched the match, you know, probably two or three times on YouTube or the WWE Network, but then I watched it again last night, it was kind of off. the timeline, the danger, the excitement, the chills, I mean you know they both took some incredible hits, and to think you know after that, you know triple h goes out to work with Undertaker and they have a really good fight and I remember yeah Do you remember in the arena before the show started, you know Motorhead was going to play Triple H's entrance song and they were there rehearsing and holy smokes, you know I've always been a Motorhead fan, but that speed metal I didn't. were. very low with the Triple H song, it was a very heavy bass and it was Lemmy and boy, they played that chord, you know, in rehearsal, I got chills down my spine, so that night at the show, this is after the match of all of you.

Suddenly Motorhead starts and Lemmy says we're Motorhead and we're going to kick your ass and boy, they just released that version of Triple H's song and man, he starts singing, he had that microphone up high and he had his neck. crane back and they sink, you know, about 45 seconds, maybe a minute, finally here comes Triple H and he makes his entrance and he goes down and boy, if you look at Lemmy while they play and those guys played for four or five. minutes and Lemmy is just dancing. I'm sure he's probably high as a kite, but it was amazing.

I was seeing how cool the entry was and I think when I look back, I think it was probably my favorite entry. done in the history of the business and now Triple H is somewhat famous for his great entrances at Wrestlemanias, but that one there in '17 just because of how incredible and rude he wasMotörhead and they were on a real roll at the time was incredible. and anyway they would have that match and of course The Rock and I were the main event, there were 65,000 people there after watching them totally destroy the place, the ring, everyone in that damn match, you know, I had forgotten what, uh , that.

It was a huge task trying to follow the fight you had. I think that in Wrestlemania 17 everything is subjective, but for me that is the best card and the best PPV of all time and only for the entirety since the opening match. Until the last game, everything was delivered and everyone got off, I mean, because sometimes things don't add up, man, everyone who came out that night clicked, yeah, and that can be really weird, you know? And you know our mentality when you know that when we did the first Ladder Match with the Hardys, our mentality was always that we don't want anyone to be able to follow this.

You know we know we don't have the promotional skills yet. From the guys at the top we haven't had those reactions yet, but we want to get there and what we can do to get there now is start taking these risks that, honestly, you know, like I said, Jay, and I didn't really take them until In At that point we decided, hey, we want to draw attention in this land to these giants of the industry that, when you look back, is probably the most complete roster of all time, how do you stand out in that?, that's cool, we'll launch a ladder. and we'll do the first tag team ladder match, so we have carte blanche, it's an empty canvas, so we can paint whatever we want on this and you know, sometimes the first time is like the doghouse match from hell or something like this or not it's good, but with a tied tag team ladder match, we knew it could be good, so we really did everything we could think of for that match and then the Dudleys came in and added an aspect that Edge, Christian and the Hearties didn't have one. that kind of thing, that tough guy I've always said, if you listen to the reactions to our matches, you know, jay and I would go out and get cool food, we're the heels, the enthusiasts would get that rock and roll blast, dude in 17 They blew the roof off, go ahead, yeah, and then the Dudleys would get that guttural Philly pop guy, you know what I mean?

And that mix of those three is exactly what was needed to make those matches work. If we caught lightning in a bottle and our goal was the six of us and then when you add Spike, Lita and Rhino, our goal was to go out and do well, if anyone's going to follow us, they're going to have to kick ass tonight, yeah, I guess that. That was the mentality of the entire roster, so you know it was funny too, Steve, because like in the first ladder match we did against the Hardys, they told us to have three endings and one was us winning, another was them winning. and the other was me.

He kind of got nervous and it cost us the match, so it was just Hardy being one and then there were some rumors at the beginning that maybe we even split up and did something which made me pretty nervous because, you know, I was still trying to find my get together. standing up and finding out what my character was, I really had no character, so, you know, no problem in time, all that stuff, I was like a man and I remember being an excessive swimmer, you do that, um, Only in Europe, I pay per view at that time, so we used to go on the charter planes and you and I were standing enjoying a glass of red wine somewhere on the plane and you just told me, you just turned around and you just said to me, hey, what are those rumors that I heard about them, maybe they broke them and I said I don't know, I said it's just that I've been hearing the same thing because and you said you had to put after that and I went?

Well, I mean, I've never had those conversations with anyone before, so I don't know how to do it and you're like, listen, you guys are the team, you know you're the best team and you're going to be counted on, you're going to be everything. we want like this I was just saying you know we had a spotlight we were the main team and right out of your mouth you said look at the top of the card. Single guys, you're not going to get there, you will eventually get there someday, but it won't be anytime soon. They need to put up with this as long as they can because it's working and it's good and whatever they have to do. stop it, you have to stop it and that's when we started spitting about quitting this kind of double babyface stuff that we've been doing with the Hardy's too um and luckily there was Brian Gortz, who was our age and was a young writer and was trying To find his way, we had another guy named Tommy Blatcha, you know, we've been talking to those guys and maybe exploring like, hey, what if we turned heel and actually started talking and having some personality? and then that changed everything for us, once we started commentating for a match, we started doing it on a heel-to-toe basis, no pun intended, but we started to have a little more attitude.

We did this backstage thing where we did a uh like. an interview with the Hardys where the coach was interviewing us both and the writer said say what you want and if you swear we'll let it play just give us something real so we went out and we were dropping f-bombs and we were like these mothers , like everything you can imagine and as if you were looking back, it's like we ripped off our microphones and got up, we came out improvised. I came out and that's like, oh wait a second, here's a different dynamic of these guys that we haven't explored yet, maybe they're not done as a team and that's when it started to show up. a different direction one thing that stands out like you guys knew you needed to do something to stand out from the crowd, I mean look at the list, it was a stacked list, yeah, and like I told you on that plane, I'm glad.

You remind me of that conversation. You know she was direct. I mean, there was nowhere to go. Know. I've told this story many times, but only to spread 4-1-1 or put a microphone in someone's ear. You know I remember it. having a conversation with vince when they were editing my lines on the raws that weren't live and i knew i needed to separate myself from everyone and i knew it exactly like i told vince walking through the parking lot in lowell or worse or masa wherever i was, i said, hey, I meant, I said, uh, you have a second and what's your bow and I said, hey, man, I realized when you guys know I'm watching Monday Night Raw, you guys are editing a lot of stuff.

I just want to know why it's like that and I was supposed to be a hill at the time he goes well frankly Steve you're blowing up all the guys in the truck and you know if you're blowing up everyone in the truck, they can do it. the world, so I told him something similar to what you guys did, I just said, hey man, I said I'm 61,250, bald goatee, black boxers, black boots, I said Vince, if you take away my personality, I can't compete, but if you give me I, my personality, I can compete with anything you have, that was my way of doing exactly what you guys do, did you guys know about ladder matches and all that other stuff and now you take another risk here being, you know, a little bit exaggerated? on the mic uh to get back to the ladder match or the tlc match or however you guys want to continue with this process well let's talk about 17 specifically because that was very subdued and leda yeah like you said rhino lita, peak, uh, the bump that you all took and Lita was so cool back in the day, I mean when she came down and she had that high thong in her pants, she had that cool factor, she was like punk, cool, sexy.

Of course, she was tough, she was a hard worker. Spike comes down and hits them both with his Venice J. They took a couple, well they both took some crazy hits, sure hits, but whatever is finished cancels off the apron through that table and then you. Here comes the rhino and then who was it? Jay, you were on his shoulders to get that belt, yeah, yeah, yeah, he put me on his shoulders and it was a funny story because like when we were, we were in the building that night. before we just tie up some loose ends, you know, you just know because it's different when you're inside, it sounds strange, but it's true that when you're in such a big space, sometimes time can be an issue and So we're just trying to take time for certain things and we're all lying there like they're talking about it after everyone sat there and said, "Wait a second, don't do it." We got some offense in this match, we need, we need to rethink some things, I was like hell, no, I was like, I don't want anything, I said, the rhino is charging me at the end, I'm grabbing the titles, that's all the heat I need . but that's a great idea but put me in a room with you when you're trying to design this because I literally mean he's just watching the game if there's any calls everything is protected and you guys have this set up but it's not like you're getting reviews, man, this was 17, you know it's very different from what's going on, so when you've obviously had experience, you've worked with these guys a couple of times, there has to be a super high level of trust and then it seems like you guys know everything is coming together but you're looking out for each other and there's a high level of trust when you have six guys and then you have these other three components coming into play. contribute to this game that would be totally out of the ordinary how do you guys set this up you do this I'm going to do that and how does the process go because there are down periods after big bumps periods of action different guys trying to rise up, get those belts, you know, I've never had a fight like that.

I had a bench and chain ladder fight once, it was a dress line, so as soon as they told me we were going to have a ladder fight, I was like, I pass the letters fine because I didn't need to take off, so you know I never I've been involved in something like this, so you walk me through that process and who can realize that we realized that if we were, if it was going to be like this. they have some lasting power and if people stayed engaged and wanted to watch these games, we couldn't let them be car accidents, which maybe were some of the first, they were all kinds of things, really you know, it sounds strange, but we were trying to get some psychology into these matches as a reason to do certain things, not just right, why is he putting a chair here when you know when everyone is there?

You try to make everything logical. Because? We are doing certain things and that was the challenge so a lot of times you know you have six people there with all the ideas and they are creative people and they feel strongly that their opinions are the right ones so there were times when you knew we were arguing about things and it wasn't coming from a place of someone being angry at each other, it was a place of a passion where we all cared about this so much that we were willing to argue our points and then in the end, we would figure out how to do it. that everyone's ideas would work and then we would go out and like you said, no matter where we were there, we had 100 trust in each other and you know that's also a lifelong bond that we're all going to have together too.

I think so, I mean, there were times when we clashed, but it was always to try to achieve what we all thought would be best and stuff. It can be difficult with six people to try to achieve something unanimous, it wasn't going to be that way and the chemistry of the teams, the way it worked, is that Matt would be the guy who would speak for the Hardys and, above all, the idea guys and it was bubba for the dudleys for us it was both jay and I where we would both come to the table with a lot of ideas and many of you know and jeff and devon just aren't connected that way and that was fine jeff would come up with a great idea and then we would say okay, how can we work on this?

How can we try to make some sense of this? and then we also have Michael Hayes as our agent and he's a big part of it too, man, because we'd all just sit down and just throw these ideas at the wall and see what stuck or resonated with the most of us anyway. and then we tried to appease everyone and make it work, but like Jay said, try to have things make sense, but at the same time I wanted those things to look like a tornado event through a trailer park. For me, the best image is after Wrestlemania 17.

Just take a look at the ring, take a look at the bodies everywhere. look at the broken stairs, the destroyed tables, well, mission accomplished, that's how it should look after this match and I've said it repeatedly, I think we all went too far, we really did, but it was our mentality of just trying. to get attention and then once we got far we had to outdo ourselves because then it was like okay now we're going to do tlc too and now we're, you know, and okay, now what do we do, how do we do ? Top this and I'll tell you this too, Steve, likeIf the real challenges are not so much the last games, but rather you too.

There's a fine line of just being labeled as guys who make gimmick matches that when you go out to Make a Proper Match and you want to spend some time and you're trying to tell a story and take people on a journey where it's like If he didn't go through a table or get hit with a chair, he wouldn't fall. of a ladder, I'm not really interested, you know, it's like there's a fine line there where you have to be able to separate that, hey, these guys can go when they're not falling, so that was a challenge too, oh man. you're 100 right because I mean you can put yourself in a corner, but then you know, like you said, once you said "hey man, let's keep this together," you started thinking about kind of a hill move and the attitude, uh like we were just In the latter part of that era, you know, you became more character-based instead of hey man, there are a lot of guys that you date or not many, but some guys that are labeled as hey man if this guy has to work a straight. combat is not going to be as good because he is a gimmick combat guy, yeah, yeah, and that was one of the things we knew with our promo work and our character work and just you know, the five second poses and things like that, okay.

It's what can make us different now, those matches showed that we can do all that, so if you put us in any situation, whether it's just a tag team match, which was our personal favorite, you know, give us 20 minutes with a great tag to the team and let us do what a tag team match can do if done right, but if you need a TLC match, that's fine, we can do that too. We wanted to be like that multi-tool kit that you know you can put in any situation. I know we worked with The Rock and Undertaker and for the titles and then we would do a TLC match and then we would work with Apa and then we would work too well and then we just wanted to be that team that you could connect to. any situation and we could do what you needed for you, I was going to say backing up when you were talking about what I learned from Dory and there was something there like when I was in his class there was a kind of threat to me in him that every time I wanted to prove something I would take myself to a side and demonstrate something for the class whenever there was something I wanted done, you know, a certain different side because there were all different sides of the boys and there were monsters and there were boys who were, you know, six four, there were guys who were smaller than me, there were guys who were my size, most of the time he would ask me to do a short sparring match with this person or to make a spot or to do something.

So, in my head I thought, well, there's a reason for this and one of the things I learned was that at our size, I may not necessarily be good at one thing, but I need to be good at everything, and that was kind. of what I took away from him and that's with the tools that I use in the future, that at my size I really had to be able to adapt to whatever style I was in the ring with and that's what I took away from him. from him in that match it looked like he might be getting uh it might have been the match it might have been the year before when uh bubba ray put the ladder over his head started swinging it at everyone it looked like he took a nice shot Jay, do you did they hit with that?

No, actually I didn't, no, I just liked it. I put my hands up at the last second and got a little hit, so luckily also with long hair you know you can type. Many of you know that you get away with a lot more with long hair, right? They just throw their hair back and it gives the illusion that they know something and the most important thing is that it sounds good, like sometimes something hits something like a chair or a ladder when you pump them, if it sounds or makes a noise it will resonate not only in the front row to the middle of the arena but also at the top of the arena and that people will react to that, so you know, I think. that too with the sound of the slap and the hair being pushed back, I think, you know, it was always for really cool moments, Adam, you came out of that stuff unscathed regarding your neck because, I mean, man, you took some crazy hits and Jay, did you miss or I guess you were intentional on that triple ladder point in the middle, uh, but Adam, did you come out of these things okay or did they contribute to you knowing your neck problems?

I mean, at the time I thought so, but if you really trace it um, I think it has to be where it started, you know if it was the way I crashed, I crashed a little bit higher up, so now you're crashing a little bit higher up. , but you're doing it from the stairs. I don't know, it's hard to pinpoint because the moment you know your hands would be bruised, your elbows would be bruised, you know, your hand, your joints would be sore just from taking the stairs and the chairs and the tables, but they were things like that and I looked at them and thought, how come one of us didn't die with some of the things we were able to do up because the mark was the margin of error?

Man, it was very fine and the fact that we all came out of this without anything happening that night during an announcement, it's still a little incomprehensible to me, to be honest, what happened was, however, you see throughout the years that those you definitely know put some notches on our belts in terms of injuries because when I was starting to get into my swing as a single, things were starting to come up now and I think it started with those matches, you know, it's funny, you said in that match 17, you know there was a place where I was falling off the ladder and I was going to go over the ropes and land on the floor and I had done it before and visually it looks pretty crazy, but I would go over the ropes, I would take a step and I would land my feet and they would kind of roll on the floor, so in this particular case somehow the ladder kicked me when it was tilting and instead of going over the feet first, my feet swung up and off.

I actually went over the ropes first backwards, yeah, and I remember looking at the ceiling and saying "Oh my God, this is not going to be good" and I basically fell to the floor from the ladder in the middle of the ring and I don't know how I didn't. I landed on a piece of rubble. On a ladder, on something that would have caused serious damage, I landed perfectly on a spot that had nothing on it and flattened it and took the good air out of me. I couldn't breathe, but I was lying there. I like to move my arm a little bit, okay, I can move my arm, okay, I can move my legs, oh my God, I'm okay, how did that happen?

So I catch my breath and reach back and Cain walks by. He and I think and he says are you okay? Because of how he is, are you okay? and I said yes, I'm fine and he grabs me by the shoulder, turns me around, pushes me against the wall and says, you scared me. Don't ever do that again and he walked away. Kane almost hurt me more. I also think about the past as if there were little things that I would like to remember. He was lying on a table and I think Bubba picked Jeff up. and I powerbombed them through me across the table, but it was a little short and if you look back, it's basically just the back of Jeff's head hitting my arms and I reach for him to try to grab him a little, but that one hit him.

He went out for a while and I remember and that was long before we still had to do the crazy thing, you know, hang up the spear, yeah, so you know we all had confidence and we all knew those things were going to happen. but you guys would eventually come out of the wash and we would get over it, you know it's funny too, don't you realize that moments like that and Wrestlemania is about getting the moments right and I like, or that's it, I want say, that's it. which we do anyway, but I know this didn't happen at mania for you, but you know you think of the beer truck like it's a moment that repeats and repeats and is iconic, and the same thing with that spear. place that we didn't realize at the time we were setting it up and if I had, I would have volunteered to be the one to do the place if I'd known it was going to be so iconic, but it's, yeah, but it's one That this in any video package you know promoting Wrestlemania or WWE, you see that spot where Adam throws Jeff Hardy off the ladder, he's hanging from the ring in the middle trying to grab the titles and Adam Edge dives in and throws them. it goes off and you just see people standing and you see the lights flashing and you see the hit that Jeff takes.

It's, you know, that's one of those moments and, like, thinking about it now, we didn't know at the time that it was going to happen. be things like that, you know, and it's really cool, like a lot of times too, like I like a signing last week in France and you still have little kids that you know aren't even born yet, and Telling you that they love the last ones matches, they love TLC matches and their parents still show them this stuff and that's cool, I'll never forget it. We were working the Highway to Hell match in Madison Square Garden while me against Underker got knocked out early. in the match I don't remember the rest of the match but I continued in the match the match was normal but at one point we had planned a small place where I was going to be at the commentary table a tiger was I'm going to go up top and drop a big leg so you know we talked about it and all of a sudden I'm laying on the table, I'm looking up, first of all, take his seven foot tall and then he's on top of the turnbuckle and I'm the target and I'm thinking, well, I guess we'll do it after all and suddenly Taker shows up and that's a high-risk move, but it's certainly not as risky as you think.

I know the entirety of this match that you guys had at 17. But the point I'm trying to get at is that it takes me back to where you guys were because there's so much time there, it's not like you guys have a chance to practice this Jeff. hanging on um, who's that Bubba? He was that Devon, I think he was pushing him back. Okay, Bubble was backing up with the chair and you know he had to get the right release with his feet and then there you are on the ladder, take me. that as far as what the hell, here I go, yeah, that was really it, uh, what I was really trying to pay attention to is which rung I needed to jump to for the trajectory to work and like, it's okay if I'm third rung up down which in a perfect world should have us making contact right at the moment I picture it at least in my head now if you look at it again although I almost commit too soon there's just a little scream like a scream and I .

It held and the ladder didn't tip luckily and like a nanosecond later I went and if I had followed that first initial instinct it would have been horrible what would have gone wrong, yeah the thing was because if you had overridden if you would have turned too much you would plant it on the back of his head right in the middle of the ring or, if you rotate a little, you'll plant him on the lower back or the bag and that will lift him up. because of the whip and the blow to the small of his back, I mean, man, the fact that he landed completely flat, I mean it was as perfect a landing as you could have hoped for or he stayed just fine and that goes back to confidence. , you already know.

Jeff is just one of those guys who gives up a lot and busts his ass and sells it to make people look good, so I knew if he could hit this right and protect it, he was going to make this look good. like a billion dollars because he trusted me and I didn't want you to know that you would never want to hurt anyone, but especially with something like this where it could go so horribly wrong, I thought this has to do it, I have to hit this. perfect and I didn't even realize it when I saw it again, like when I hit it, I grabbed it, held it and let it go right before I hit the mat and that's just one of those things where you don't think about doing your instincts.

There we just do it naturally and, um, yeah, we get it, um, and you know, that initial instinct to jump almost wouldn't have actually been repeated correctly, because that wasn't then when Jeff and D-Bomb were up. There was like a fight and then Devon got knocked down, was that it? uh no, that was a stoppage, okay, it was a summerslam, this was when jeff tried to do the frogger too, yeah, and jump from ladder to ladder to get to the belts, yeah. and then from there, you know, it didn't work, but yeah, it was okay that it didn't work, it almost made it better because it made it seem real, it actually just ended up being expanded again, but when you look back, all those matches which was your personal favorite oh man, I mean, was the 17 for me the ones I saw?

It was simply spectacular. I just do not know. I just don't know you. That is for me. We are looking for. From an outside point of view, I think 17 was my favorite because of the stage it was in and also because in the summers Summerslam won TLC One and then there was the Triple Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 16. For me, TLC One was very important. In such a short time we didn't give anyone a chance to breathe and that was by design, but it was, I don't know, mania, it just still felt like people you already knew, there was always action, but it just could be. it is digested better and I thinkbecause he is the one that has packages reproduced from him or spots reproduced from him in wrestlemania packages, that for me is the one that stands out, I think for me, that is, I think the same thing, the first one with him with the Hardys has a special place for me just because It was our launching pad, like I didn't know where we would have ended up if that game had never happened and if we hadn't hit it out of the park in that one you could bet we wouldn't have had another chance to do it, so there was a lot of pressure on that one, but I think that in terms of the general match itself, I would think that the 17th was and for another reason it is.

After Kevin Dunn had a conversation with him after that match and said that realistically with these types of matches you think about it and you shouldn't be able to tell a story, but you guys are now telling stories with these matches and that's it. a testament that you know the talent of everyone involved and that always had a special place for me, that he recognized that when I watched those games it was interesting because I almost think I watched them in the basic logical order. or I looked uh yeah, I think I did, but what I noticed was and I think everyone started with a rush, he just looked in17 like you guys as you headed to the ring like you'd been there and done that and I thought your work on the six months before a year or a year and a half was still at a very high level.

I just thought everyone seemed more comfortable, everyone was ready for the stage and that was a built show, I mean the crowd was crazy, but just with you all heading to the ring, it seemed like everyone had another year older. and a half seasoning and to me that always makes the difference in a professional performance, no matter how scientific or how crazy you try to be, it's professional wrestling and I think that's how we had it at the time. He had some nerve for us, you know, and some arrogance for us, while you know, as much as I love the ladder match with the hearts because it put us all on the map, it was still okay, we're four guys here , we are trying. to prove something at wrestlemania 17 we already felt that we would prove something and we knew it you know that said with that first ladder match the ladder match with the most difficult that was the first time they put the camera above the ring So yes, and it was really the first moment where, as artists, I remember hearing a reaction that I had never heard before, so I want to say that it has a special place because that's where the wave started, but at Wrestlemania 17, man, I felt like You know , tsunami, it was just uh and it felt like we were riding it too, one of those things too where, you know, I said everyone was on the same page and we clicked, it wasn't like, oh man, Edge and Christian are winning this. once again man, we should win this one like it wasn't like that, you know we were, we were different teams, but we were all a team in a sense, you know it didn't matter, the goal was to go out and play a game that would stand the test of time and steal the show and it didn't matter who won, it didn't matter, you know who's taking the most hits or taking the most offense, that didn't matter, we were out.

I was there to do one thing and that was to put on the best show we could, oh man that's what it really doesn't matter who would have won the belt. You know you guys kept him or wanted him. Did they retain or win? them, I think we retained at the first or we won at the first at 16 and then we retained at Summerslam and then I think we beat them again at seven, okay, so you want them one of the 17, but my point is it doesn't really matter. who won and in the end, of course, he did, but my point is to go back to exactly what you said, as long as the whole match is a rough match and everyone gets something out of something that everyone gets over the crowd, uh, you.

I know he's so into it, so in love and excited about the match that everyone gets over it and it's good for everyone, no one has to be selfish, it was really about the belt because you put yourself through all this, you know, there's killing and damage to try. . get the belt and that's what the belt means to you, but whoever would have won it, it would still have been the same match and it's just a case of everyone going out and working hard and not being selfish or caring who it is. go win or have to move your face oh I'm losing the title yeah I think our mentality was in all of us we all came out of this stronger than when we came in absolutely who has what you know the Hardys.

It's going to go on and be, you know, the Babyface team that can go to work with you on Triple H and the Dudleys will be the team that can go to work, you know, Kane and Underker and then eventually Jay and I will split up and do our thing. . singles thing and it all stems from, you know, that whole series of matches where basically, you know where we figured out who you guys were before we were done with this and I'd like to come back and talk to you again about you. you know the rest of your career as a label, yeah, you know how to get that five second pose, you know, establish some of your character traits and then the split, because you know the split, you know that all of a sudden you're surfing a label. team, you know you suddenly break away and go back to a single role because I've been there, you know you have a complete lack of confidence and it's almost like you know the distance on your watch and you could have been working.

However many years it is, but you don't have that safety cushion, you're not in it, you know you're not at 11 or going, you know what the guy has done before you, so it's a real lesson, but let me ask you one last time. What comes from that game, you guys get together, everyone, you always say thank you after a game, but after something like that, when there could have been so much carnage, there could have been such a high margin of error and you make it. Spectacularly, a couple of things fall short, but I mean, and the scope of things is only 10 out of 10.

What are your feelings? What do people tell you? Did you get a stand-up and a bouncer? And is there what the big hug is? the back because man, when you don't leave the park, it's a very high stage, the highest Wrestlemania stage in the mall and you crush it. What did you feel? It was the next day or right after the fight, it was strange. Honestly, the way the astrodome was, and like we talked about before, sometimes there's a delay, yeah, there's not that kind of instant gratification where you know okay, that worked because the sound has to go up, hit the ceiling and bounce back at you, so while we were there, we talked about it afterwards, we were like, man, the crowd didn't sound like they were really there like we thought they would be and then when we saw it at the after party, we watched the game again on tape and They're like, oh, okay, it was just that delay, at least it got us out of that a little bit in terms of, you know, getting that instant reaction, if that makes any sense, but man, we came back and yeah, it's one. one of those agreements where everyone says, the first thing is are you okay and the second is you know, damn, and it was also one of those things where we hear from a lot of men every time that we don't think you guys can overcome.

It's one of those things too where yeah, you know you get it, it's amazing and satisfying when you get your peers, people you respect, you know, giving you a standing ovation or giving you a pat on the back saying you did a great job. great job and uh, but then we always tried to go find a little corner to be alone, kind of a big group hug and ask each other, you know? The adrenaline is still pumping, you still can't feel any injuries or anything like that at the time, but we always try to find a little corner for five ten minutes and just relax, hang out and have a little laugh. you know, yeah, and you just like to depressurize a little bit because you know what it's like when you have that kind of chemistry with someone and you know that you just made something that's going to resonate with people for years.

See, there's a bond that's built and you're in this together and you know, it's one of those deals where yeah, we'd go out and find a room and be like, oh man, okay, I just think we did it. again, damn, you and we are fine, and you know it, there was always a lot of that man, we're doing this, you know we're doing it and now I look back and Dudley is going to the hall of fame. this year and you know jay and the hardys are coming in and okay we did it that's where it all started before I let them go tell everyone about your podcast and where they can find it the birdman you want to take. this yeah, so it's enc's pot of wonder and you can find it, you know, wherever you get your pots,

steve

, it's on itunes, spotify, stitcher, google play, all those, all those good places that you know and, yeah , it's basically, you know, it's just We break each other's balls just having fun and talking like idiots like we normally do and if you like that kind of stuff, then listen, you know, listen, you guys do a show a week , we do it once a week.

It comes out on Fridays and we do it, we've only had one so far, it's called Anatomy of a Match and it was Jay's idea and just to sit down with the people who were in a match and talk about nothing more than that. combine and just separate, you know, the whole process, what was the mindset in doing it, how did you feel there and uh, we want to do it and we're thinking brett hearts, oh man, that would be so easy to do. It breaks down to be amazing and that's one of my favorite matches of all time and one of my favorite wrestlers of all time.

I love Bret Hart, so yeah, I'd be willing to take him because there's a lot of backstory to a lot of things that happened. in that match, so whenever you guys are ready, let me know, yeah, that's for sure what we'd love to do and, you know, we like it, we have one now, like I said, Adam said we just did one of them and it was Shawn. michaels and uh and the humanity of uh in your house very underrated mind games, a type of match that goes unnoticed, which was simply incredible if you are going to put it, I have never liked to give it stars, but if you were, it is a Lucha de five stars you know it's really good so it was cool to sit down and understand the mentality of those guys and what the outcome was so it's a lot of fun which sounds good hey it was good talking about you guys. and adam, uh, good luck filming.

I'm glad you could join us because, man, you'd be there until there. I think you know, based on what I heard at sound check. It seems that we are pretty. in the same room a lot and jay, thanks for calling me back, it was good talking to you two, two guys that I have a lot of history with and we can talk about it again on another podcast in a couple of weeks. that's good, don't look at me how long, uh, 14 days, Jesus Christ, until we do the podcast, okay, I'll be on the enc podcast in a week or two or three or whatever, when Adam gets back from overseas and give me. one call I'm here I'll see you on the way I enjoyed it all don't look at me goodbye thanks for joining us for another classic episode of the steve

austin

show please leave a rating and review on apple podcasts and tell your friends more steve austin shows go to podcastone.com, that's podcastone.com, support for this podcast comes from pluto tv, you need an escape, enter pluto tv for a world of free television, stream hundreds of channels and thousands of movies and shows, all for free, yes, free, no subscriptions, no fees, imagine 24, 7 channels of narcos, csi, star trek survivor and everything in between, from hit movies to binge-worthy TV shows, the latest news, live sports comedy and More, what are you waiting for download pluto tv free app for android? iphone roku and fire tv and start streaming now pluto tv watch for free all sports fans podcast one has two great new shows for you to watch seven time nba champion robert orri is bringing big guests and excellent comments from the nba about big shot bob.

The Brooklyn Nets remind me of Oklahoma football before and we have to have to outscore you every time and that's what the Brooklyn Nets are, man, you've got Steve Nash at the helm, you've got Dan Tony, they ain't thinking about no defense and Eric Bowling and brett favre team up to bowl with farb, everything from sports to politics, business to culture, any ideas about what Aaron plans to do in Green Bay. What I read in his comments was simply frustration, nothing more than that. Subscribe now to big shot Bob. pod and bowling with farv on apple podcast one app spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and rate and review shows on apple for a chance to be featured