Eddie Edwards’ “bad” sides
Being reliable
Eddie Edwards is everyone’s friend and supporter. Brian Myers says, “He really looks out for everybody. He has everybody’s best interest in mind, and he certainly has TNA’s best interest in mind. He’s like a company man, and he wants to see the best for everybody. I think when you have that mentality, really cool and positive things come from it. People go to him for advice or help him out.”
He’s the guy who, if we need a big-time main event,
he’s going to be the reliable source to deliver no matter what. (Brian Myers=
He proved it at TNA Sacrifice when Steve Maclin was hurt. “Eddie Edwards had another opportunity to be the guy in TNA. An unfortunate incident, Steve Maclin gets knocked out, and Eddie Edwards just literally sees it and goes to the ring and creates magic and turns a horrible situation into a wonderful situation,” says Tommy Dreamer.
Being too reliable
As Brian Myers states, the weird curse of being reliable is to be a too good hand. “I wouldn’t say Eddie has a curse, because he’s a top talent, top star here in TNA, but when you’re that reliable as Eddie, they can put you in any role and rely on you to get the job done through a table. You can be put in there with an up-and-coming star who might not be as experienced. You can be put in there with an older star who’s kind of on their way out, and you can rely on Eddie to get a good match out of both.”
Edwards adds, “If you want to be a leader, if you want to be somebody that you know your coworkers and the company respect, you have to be somebody that they can rely on.” Being that dependable could be a huge curse. For Edwards, it’s just him.”It was something that’s always in me, and I think that comes from the deep love of professional wrestling.”
Being quiet, “crazy,” and critical
Eddie Edwards is not his biggest fan, as strange as it may sound. “Wrestling is so important to me that it can drive me absolutely crazy. I don’t watch my stuff because it’ll drive me crazy. I can’t. You’re always gonna want more. You don’t always want better.” Tommy Dreamer confirms he’s also his biggest critic. EE can question everything he has ever done and even why he has chosen this path for himself.
A selfish passion
Eddie Edwards is wrestling for himself, before anything and anyone else. “Pro-wrestling is a very selfish endeavor, is what we do. I know people will say, “We do it for you, do it for the fans, or you do it for this, or you do it for that”, but we all do it because this is what we want to do. Professional wrestling owes me nothing, and I think sometimes people come into wrestling thinking that this business owes them something, and that’s the furthest thing from the truth. We got into this because we love it.”
Nobody is bigger than professional wrestling, and I think
that’s important for people to understand. (Eddie Edwards)
He refuses to show that he is hurt or beaten up. Tommy Dreamer knows that feeling: “Every time we step in that ring, we have to constantly prove to ourselves, prove to the fans, prove to the company, prove to our peers that. We are who we say we are. I think the fact that we both walk around with that, a constant chip on our shoulder, is a blessing.”
He may wrestle injured. “It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, and I got that there because I had broken my elbow in a match and finished the match with a broken elbow, and then wrestled the next day and had a match with my arm in a full cast. Why? I don’t know. Because we are crazy.”
That’s the man Mike Santana wanted to face at TNA Rebellion: “I want to fight Die-Hard Eddie Edwards. I want Ring of Honor World Champion Eddie Edwards. I want the guy who broke his arm, went to the hospital, got stitched up, got bandaged up, came right back, and finished his match. I want that Eddie. That’s the guy who’d better walk into Rebellion.”
Gaining the respect of someone like Eddie Edwards is something that I appreciate.
Eddie’s a special guy because I don’t think he gets the credit he should.
He’s definitely one of the best in the world. (Mike Santana)
The middle-child syndrome
Don’t try to offer Edwards your hand because he will refuse it. “I don’t want to be the problem; I don’t want people to have to worry about me. I want to be the one who can help other people. I think I’m pretty good at hiding (…) We’re all prideful idiots in professional wrestling, so we need to open up if we can, and it’s a hard thing to do in pro-wrestling. Sometimes, you feel weak talking about what’s really going on in your life, but it’s important to have that outlet. It’s just being the middle child of three brothers, and not being the one that people need to worry about, that’s why I can take care of myself.”
A reason to live?
If wrestling disappeared tomorrow, what would I miss most? There’s not one thing I would miss. I would miss it all. It’s something that continues to drive me, that adrenaline, those butterflies, that rush that you feel. That’s why we do it, and that’s why people compare wrestling to a drug, because that’s what it is, it’s in your blood. There’s no way to get rid of it, and there’s nothing that compares to it.”
I don’t know what I would be without pro-wrestling. For so long, it’s been my identity.
I am very proud to be a professional wrestler. (Eddie Edwards)
