RECAP AND REVIEW: Prime Time with Sean Mooney with Christian on breaking into the business with Edge, when management first thought of breaking up their tag team, how TNA helped his career, life after WWE

Prime Time With Sean Mooney – Christian

Release Date: 12/11/18

Running time: 1:22

Recap by: Joe Aguinaldo

DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNOAD

Today’s guest is one of the most decorated wrestlers of all time, Christian

Going Home

• Christian says it always good to go home. He grew up in a small town called Orangeville, very similar to a small town USA. When he was growing up there they had a population of 24K or 25k.
• They got inducted into their hometown’s hall of fame a few years ago. Adam couldn’t make it but Jay went. It was fun and it’s a crazy thing they both made it.
• When they were growing up, they got the WWF shows from both Buffalo and Toronto on TV.

The Ninja Star

• Jay never meant to sell the star. He used that as a ploy to make friends.
• When it came down to Adam, they found they both liked wrestling and became friends.
• Edge and Christian would come up with cards and dream matches with wrestlers from different promotions then perform the matches in the living room.
• Edge would draw pictures of them with wrestling titles.

Getting Into The Business

• At one point, a couple of independent promotions rolled through town. They got to know a local promoter and offered to help with the shows. The promoter said they could help set up seats at the events. Because Edge and Christian helped, the promoter said they could take whatever seats they wanted.
• During intermission, Edge and Christian slid into the ring and did a few spots to which the crowd reacted. Security pulled them out and threatened to kick them out but that’s how the seed got planted and how they knew they wanted to get into wrestling.
• They kept plugging away at wrestling and Edge won a competition to win free wrestling lessons. Jay would drive Edge to the class and was allowed to watch and was learning even though he didn’t know it.
• A year and a half later when he went to college, Christian took a portion of his college money and paid for wrestling school. He was trained by Ron Hutchison at Sully’s Gym where Edge trained as well.
• Because of all the times he watched Edge, he picked things up quickly and had his first match after nine months of training.
• Christian and Edge started going to the gym even before Edge started wrestling training to look the part.
• When Christian started training, he knew he wasn’t getting by on his size and focused on trying to be great not on one thing but in everything.

• Christian looked at guys like Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart and 1-2-3- Kid as wrestlers to study and watch.
• When Christian got into wrestling, the business was down and you may get 1 or 2 bookings a month. He didn’t get booked because he had no experience so he would ride to the shows and ask the promoters if they had anything on the show. Sully’s Gym had a reputation for putting out good talent so when they found out Christian was trained under Ron, the promoters were willing to put him on the show more times than not.
• Christian would work in Toronto, London, Woodstock and some stuff in Upstate New York and Michigan. Whenever there was a spot show he would call and try to get on the show.
• Christian says ring time is important during a young wrestler’s career. They would always record their matches then watch them with the boys to find ways to improve. Whenever he met someone who had been in the business he would ask a bunch of question.

Angelo Mosca and Dustin Rhodes

• A gym opened up in Orangeville and one of the investors was Angelo Mosca, who was a wrestler and football player. Edge and Christian would talk his ear off. He was always cordial to them and encouraging.
• When Christian made it to the WWE, Angelo came by and gave Christian a hug. He was proud of him which was a cool moment
• Another time, Christian went into a bar and saw Goldust. Christian went up to him and said ‘kayfabe’ and said he was a worker. Dustin said cool and turned back to his conversation. Dustin ended asking Christian what his wrestling name was and said he’d keep an eye on him.
• Years later, he told the story to a bunch of people and when everyone left, Dustin was afraid he might have been a jerk to Christian.

Getting To The WWE

• Christian made it to the WWE in a little over 4 years after training.
• Edge had a developmental contract at the time and was invited to Survivor Series (the Montreal Screwjob). He didn’t have a car and asked Christian to drive him and of course, always bring your gear.
• On Tuesday, he was asked to wrestle a dark match with Edge. Jim Cornette was impressed and exchange numbers with Christian. Christian would call him once a month to keep him informed of what he was doing.
• One night, Christian came back from the gym late and had a message to call Cornette back who told him they wanted to get Christian to a training camp.
• A month later, he got to the camp and got hired from that.
• Christian knew he was far from a finished product but as a prospect felt he was ready to take a step. The internet was in its infancy so Christian tried to get into the writeups in Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Christian felt he was the best in the camp he was in.
• Christian had a vision in his head there was something more for him at a young age.
• In school, Christian told his teacher he was going to be a hockey player or a wrestler.
• After Christian finished college, he had to pay back his student loan and needed to find work. Wrestling wasn’t paying the bills at the time so he started working at a woodmill. He realized he couldn’t do that job and needed to make it in wrestling. During days at the job he would think about matches, storylines, outfits and anything wrestling.

• When Christian got to the WWE, he became the light heavyweight champion in his first match. The WWE gave him a push right away.
• Christian was lucky because Edge had started an angle with Gangrel and the idea was to use Christian as Edge’s brother. Being part of the Brood helped him get his feet wet. It made the process much easier.
• Christian learned a lot from Gangrel. The WWE put Edge and Christian with Gangrel to help guide and mold them.

The Brood Breaks Up

• When the WWE broke the brood up, Christian was nervous and felt he had some growing to do.
• They kept Edge and Christian together which helped and they also gelled with the Hardy Boys and caught lightning in a bottle.
• As singles, they knew they wouldn’t be getting near the top of the card and felt they could contribute to the WWE and make their names in tag matches. They also got the confidence to pitch ideas which eventually led to the first tag team ladder match.
• Their mindset for that match was to go out and steal the show.
• They figured out you could still use psychology in these matches to make the big spots mean something.
• Christian feels he came out of those matches unscathed and feels the injuries he suffered later on were from flukey situations.

Edge And Christian Break Up

• Prior to the Wrestlemania 17 match, there was talk of breaking up Edge and Christian after that match.
• The Hardys had turned babyface and had them do a sit down interview. The writers liked that and put Edge and Christian on commentary. Vince liked what he saw and decided not to split them up.
• Christian knew they had to make a mark in order to continue getting opportunities. They wanted to be on every PPV, RAW and Smackdown and be in a position that mattered.
• In 1999, Edge and Christian split up. They could have run with the team a little longer but they got out when it was at its highest. They both had aspirations as single wrestlers as well and already had a great legacy as a tag team.
• Christian doesn’t feel he or Edge were ready for it yet but were programmed in a short feud.
• He realized the hard work was just starting. It was time to dig his heels in and work if he wanted to make it as a singles guy.
• After the IC feud with Edge, there weren’t plans for Christian and he felt he was trying too hard to please everyone.
• He came home one day feeling dejected and felt he was at his lowest point. He decided at that point to go out and have fun and whatever happened would happen. He started to be himself which helped him rebuild his confidence.

Leaving the WWE

• Christian felt he had hit a roadblock at WWE and it didn’t seem that much was going to change no matter what he did. His contract was coming up and his mindset was to take a chance on himself.
• He needed to prove to himself he could work at the top of the card. TNA gave him a great opportunity to prove himself and grow as a performer.
• TNA let Christian work at the top of the card consistently. He needed to know for himself he could do it and people cared. He also realized that being on the WWE schedule wasn’t giving him time to figure out who he was as a person.
• TNA allowed him time to be home, be a real person, mature as a person and figure out who or what he was so when he came back, he was a more mature person.

• Christian always felt he would be back at the WWE. When his contract with TNA came to an end, he was back in the WWE.

Coming Back To the WWE

• When Christian came back, he wasn’t promised anything. He was expecting to come in and do the work.
• The WWE asked him to be the ECW champ and he wanted to prove he could carry the show.
• Winning the World Championship from Orton was big for Christian. It validated all the hard work he had put in.

Injuries

• Christian had a pec tear which was flukey and hurt his ankle on a baseball slide. When he got a concussion, that’s when the issues started.
• He was starting a family and wanted to be able to have a conversation with her. Plus he was turning 40 and felt he had nothing left to prove.
• During a fatal four way match on Raw, he got kicked in the head which rattled him. He knew something wasn’t right and that was the last concussion where everyone decided it was time for Christian to stop.

Life After The WWE

• Christian and Edge have been busy since leaving the ring. The Edge and Christian show is back for a second season. Sean was on the show in season 1 and is back for season 2.
• When Edge and Christian started working on season 2, they wanted Sean back. They knew what the show was in the second season.
• The show is written for wrestling fans and it’s been fun being involved in creating the show.
• Edge and Christian wanted to make it a fun show and want the superstars who come on to have a good time.
• Christian was recently in an independent film which is getting some good feedback. He was also on Murdoch Mysteries and has a project he’ll be talkinga bout in a couple of weeks.
• The Edge And Christian pod of awesomeness drops every Friday.
• Christian also has a young daughter and it seems like Christian is in a great place.

Sean thanks Christian for coming on the show and they sign off.

Rating – 7.5/10

Fun podcast. As always, Sean does a great job with the interviews. I’d heard many of these stories from Edge’s perspective but it was nice to hear them from Christian’s viewpoint. Christian is also funny and great at telling stories. Definite recommend on this podcast.

About Joe:

Joe is a long time wrestling fan from Toronto. He is a co-host on the Pull Apart Podcast with Jeff Rush and Caitlin Lavelle as well as a contributor to www.pwpodcasts.com. One of his life goals is to be a guest host on one of Wade Keller’s post-show podcasts. He doesn’t consider himself any sort of expert, he just likes wrestling. Check him out on Twitter and Instagram @ja113.