Edge On Which Former WWE Star Used His Moves Without Asking, Most Upset He Was With Vince McMahon
Recently on E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness, WWE Hall Of Famer Edge talked about his epic Hell In A Cell match against The Undertaker at SummerSlam (2008), the importance of its place in WWE history, as well as the unwritten rules of using other pro wrestlers' moves.
On the subject of his superb Hell In A Cell match against The Undertaker at SummerSlam, Edge he got the instruction from Vince McMahon the day of the event that there would be no blood in the match. This news greatly "disappointed" 'The Rated-R Superstar', as he planned out the match around getting color and he shared his feelings with The Chairman.
"For me, I would say that Hell In A Cell? I remember going into that, and a little story about that Hell In A Cell, we got from Vince the edict that day that there would be no color in that match and I had put together this whole thing in my head that involved color and also involved me taking a chokeslam through the panel, through two tables, this whole thing. I know I have this written down somewhere. And it wasn't going to work and color wasn't going to work. And I'm mad. And I remember saying to Vince that day, 'this is the most disappointed I've ever been in a decision that I've had to try and make do with, I guess, in this company' because I really was. I thought, 'this is the culmination of a year-and-a-half angle. There has to be that. There has to be color.'"
According to Edge, McMahon banned the blades because he wanted the respected locker room leaders to set the standard of what a less gruesome and less gruelling HIAC match could be. Moreover, Edge acknowledged that 'The Walt Disney Of WWE' was right.
"I wasn't thinking further down the road or the big picture, all of the things Vince has to think about, and in hindsight he was right. He was right and what he said that day was completely right. He said, 'I trust you two to set the template for what a Hell In A Cell will be going forward' and I was like, 'oh, well s–t.' What do you say to that? There's the challenge. Alright, so the challenge is, we've got to figure out a way to do this then, and I think we did. It still got in the story I wanted to get across."
Edge continued, "it was fun to try, and, at that point in time, to Vince's point, set the template for what a Hell In A Cell would become. Yep, [the match was what McMahon wanted]. Yep, yep, [the feedback] was, 'that's exactly what it can be going forward.' It doesn't have to be gory. It doesn't have to involve bumps off the top of the cage. The challenge was, 'you're good enough to do it without all that stuff.' And I was just mad at first and once I wrapped my mind around that, it was like, 'alright, cool, I love challenges.'"
When the conversation turned to the etiquette surrounding borrowing another pro wrestler's signature moves, Christian explained that performers are supposed to observe the convention that one cannot use another's finish as just another move in one's repertoire. While asking for permission prior to using another person's move is a best practice, Edge indicated that Sheamus and Damien Sandow never asked him if they could use his moves beforehand.
"I did that one submission, I think I called it The Edgecator, or The Edgecation, or something, which was kind of like, I looked at it like a reverse Sharpshooter/ankle lock where I could be looking at the back of the head. I think Sheamus has used it since. He didn't call and ask me. He didn't text me. I don't care. Again, I think that's kind of a tip of the hat. I think Sandow used every one of my moves! And then, when he saw me, he was like, 'uh, oh yeah, by the way, is that cool?' And I was like, 'well, I mean, you've already done it, so it's a little late, but yes, it's cool.' And I like him, so I was just busting his chops. But yeah, I always look at that stuff as a tip of the old hatski."
TOMMAY! If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness