Edge & Christian’s Pod of Awesomeness Recap
Episode 11 with Natalya and a chat with John Morrison
Release Date: June 2, 2017
By: Jeff Indelicato
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
“For The Benefit of Those with No Time” (Top Stories)
- John Morrison’s new film, Boone: The Bounty Hunter is now available on Home Entertainment Platforms, which he funded himself
- Natalya is grateful for the opportunity to be on Total Divas, as it has exposed her to a new fanbase
- Nattie’s two favorite opponents are Charlotte & Nikki Bella
- One of her biggest regrets was not being able to have a rivalry with Beth Phoenix
- Natalya is the longest tenured female wrestler and has had the most women’s matches in WWE history
“5 Second Pose of Timestamps”
0:00: Show Introduction
11:25: Chat with John Morrison about Boone: The Bounty Hunter
35:45: Beginning of Natalya Interview
56:00: How has Total Divas affected her life?
1:12:00: Favorites to work with
1:35:35: Wrap Up & Close
“You Think You Know Them” (Recap)
Opening Intros 0:00-11:25
Edge opens the show and is hyped up because he is on espresso. Christian thanks the fans for their positive feedback on last week’s Anatomy of a Match. Since it was his idea, the boys ponder what other new segments they could debut. They contemplate possibly having an episode talking about the infamous Wrestler’s Court, with a real life example. Or they may even have a live Wrestler’s Court on the show.
Christian is heading to the UK for an appearance at Collector Mania 24. Beth Phoenix will also be there, which leaves Edge at home playing Mr. Mom, as he’ll be watching the girls. If not Mr. Mom, he would at least consider himself Mr. Mister, which for those unaware, was a band in the ’80s. This leads to E & C serenading each other with Mr. Mister’s classic hits “Broken Wings” and “Kyrie.”
A chat with John Morrison about Boone: The Bounty Hunter 11:25 – 35:45
We then shift over to a phone conversation with John Morrison to discuss his new movie, Boone: The Bounty Hunter, which is now available for download on various platforms. They all joke that he is the wrestler with the most “John” based names, from Johnny Nitro to John Morrison to Johnny Mundo. John talks about how this movie has been a passion project of his for years. In fact, one of the reasons that he left the WWE was to have the ability to make this movie. As soon as he was gone, he began writing it.
Unfortunately, he was unaware how difficult it would be to get the film made. In his estimation, the first draft would probably have had a budget of around $20 Million. When he began shopping the script around, he was told by many executives that it was too expensive, as he was untested in the entertainment world. He took that advice, and through the years, wrote more drafts that would continue to cut the budget. It got to the point where it was close to $2 million, and he made the decision to fund it himself in order to get it completed.
In John’s mind, there was never a time that he felt he’d scrap it, and so he continued to push through until his dream was accomplished. Since then, he wrote another movie called Ghost Puncher. Edge admits that he would watch that movie just based on the title. The boys gave Morrison props on the stunt work that he did, as they were very impressed. For John, it was just a sheer force of will. He left WWE to do this movie, and if you’re going to leave to accomplish a goal, then you need to work hard. He took on the various stunts and action scenes because he needed to prove to himself that he could do it, which kept him motivated.
Edge digs that Boone features the word “Chumpstain” in it, and compliments John for getting it in there. For the next movie, they grant him permission to use “Dorkchop.” E & C thank John for joining and alert the fans that there will be a future episode with John talking more about his career in the near future.
Interview with Nattie Neidhart 35:45 – 1:35:35
We then transition over to our interview with Nattie Neidhart. For those that were unable to catch Smackdown last week, Shane McMahon announced the first ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the PPV on June 18th. One of those participants will be Natalya. For E & C, it’s really cool to see the women getting to use same tools as the men these days, as they both feel that it has been well earned. They loved the all-out brawl that led to the announcement of the match, and are looking forward to seeing more.
We then hear about their friendship backstage, and it turns out that they all have animal nicknames for each other. Natalya is the wacky wombat, Edge is the mangy lion, and Christian is known as Mongoose Jay. She and the Mongoose are also bonded by their love of cats. Edge gives them trouble for talking about the lovable feline no more than two minutes into the conversation.
Driving the conversation back, Edge feels that his best matches were with the ones that he got along with the best backstage. Nattie agrees and admits that if you don’t get along with someone, it can lead to an unsuccessful match; however, for the most part, she does have good relationships with the superstars. She notes that frustrations can happen in the ring, and tells a story of when she was managing Tyson Kidd, and forgot to do a spot, which led to him getting mad at her. Edge believes that when you only have one thing to do it makes it worse and easier to forget. Christian remembers a few years back that he was on commentary, and the only thing that he was supposed to do was trip Edge. He was so into the conversation, that he forgot, and Edge had to find a way to get his attention. They all laugh, and Natalya talks about how she loves the job, and that it is always new and different every time. She tells a quick story about having her teeth knocked out in the opening of a match, picking them up, handing them to the ref, and finishing the match.
Talk then moves to Nattie’s real life friendship with Beth Phoenix, and how close they are. Neidhart admits that in the past, she had been known to worry about many things, which led to Beth talking with her, and advising to never put any negative experiences over. She calls this the best advice of her career, and how it has helped her avoid so many issues, from backstage incidents to questionable storylines. The question is then asked how Total Divas has changed her life. When first offered a role in the show, she was flattered, but wondered if she was a trainwreck; however, in all seriousness, the show has helped immensely because it has given her a mainstream audience, along with new fans. In addition, it’s allowed her to open up emotionally in a way that she never felt she could.
The show even helped Neidhart in completing Beth’s Hall of Fame speech, because cameras have been around during her most vulnerable moments. Does she get used to cameras being around her all the time? She does, and it becomes secondary by her pretending that they’re not there. In addition, they are a very professional crew, which makes it as comfortable as it can be. In fact, Nattie was so happy that people saw an episode where she and Tyson found out that their cat was sick, and had to put it down, because people connected with this real life situation, and were able to see a real side of her.
Talk then moves into how long have she’s been wrestling, beginning with her training in 2000, and leading to her first professional match in 2001. Nattie is one of only a few women to step in the Hart Family Dungeon to train, and it is a great honor of hers. She credits Tyson with helping her along the way and talks about how wrestling is what made them fall in love, as they have known each other since they were 10 years old. The way that he helped her made her want to pay it forward, which she feels that she did with Charlotte during their feud in NXT. In her opinion, the only way to improve is to work with people that are better than you. She kept training and working, but it took her five years to get hired by the WWE. At the time she wasn’t the “Diva” type, and just wasn’t fitting the mold. Looking back, she admits that her look was terrible, and understands why it took so long. Once in the company, Nattie felt pressured, and wanted to prove herself.
Natalya is then asked who her favorite opponents have been. She feels that she and Charlotte have a magical chemistry. When Charlotte first came into the company, they had an emotional conversation where Flair didn’t believe in herself and felt that not only was she built differently, but wasn’t pretty enough, and didn’t know where she fit in. In addition, she didn’t feel like she could be able to fill her father’s shoes. Sensing similarities in each other, Neidhart bonded with Charlotte, and admitted having the same issues, but advised her to embrace her qualities, as that would eventually lead to success. She loved their matches together, as they were very physical. Another favorite opponent is surprisingly Nikki Bella. Coming back from her neck surgery, there was some doubt whether Nikki would be able to return, so she was determined to prove herself after the injury, and they succeeded in their matches. For Natalya, her only regret is that she never had a feud with Beth Phoenix, as she feels it could have been something special.
Edge notes that Nattie is the longest-tenured woman in the WWE. She has continued to break barriers and has had the most matches of any woman in WWE history. She feels very lucky and grateful for all of her success, as it was a tough road to get there. In fact, her grandfather Stu, and her father, Jim, were not initially supportive of her joining the business, as they didn’t want her getting hurt. Once they saw that she was having fun, they changed their tune and were very supportive. Edge believes that when you feel the need to prove yourself is when you do your best work, and is super excited for Money in the Bank. Christian gives her credit for taking the ball and running with it and is proud of how the women are in some of the top rated segments. For Nattie, she can’t cook, dance, and is not a model, but she can wrestle and has never said no to anything because she knew she could make it gold. E & C thank her for being on the show and look forward to having her on again in the future.
Close 1:35:35-1:42:15
The boys mention again how great Natalya is, and how she always makes them smile. They plug Boone: The Bounty Hunter again, as well as the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. They wrap up the show by encouraging everyone to follow the show on Twitter @EandCPod, E-Mail them at ecpodofawesomeness@gmail.com, and to call their Voicemail at 929-367-8204.
Jeff’s Take: 7 Kazoos out of 10
Good episode this week. Obviously, the fans were left wanting more from the Morrison chat, since they only talked about the movie, but as noted, there will be more to come in the future. Good to hear from Natalya and get some thoughts on her career, as well as Total Divas, and her relationship with Charlotte. She’s been a tremendous hand for the company, and I also am looking forward to that match on the 18th as well. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @the_Indel or send me an email at indelpw@gmail.com. See you next week!
About the Author
Jeff has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was knee high to a grasshopper (little kid), after coming across the Wrestling Challenge episode after WrestleMania 7, and has not looked back. His passion has led him to winning wrestling trivia contests in his city and even won him his Senior Talent Show by dancing to Shawn Michaels theme song. When not annoying others with wrestling talk, he loves spending time with his family and friends, and focuses on his other passion: movies.
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