Anything Is Possible for Eddie Edwards
By: Gary Kevany
Eddie Edwards has an extremely positive attitude in life and a fitting mantra that can be summed up in the acronym A.I.P. – Anything Is Possible – and that attitude and belief was vindicated in October of last year when he became TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
“Oh man, what was going through my mind was a ton of different emotions. What was going through my mind was the question – ‘is this really happening?’ A flood of thoughts and emotions, my buddy, who had trained me, had recently passed away so I was overcome with emotion before I even won the title but to accomplish that for him, for Davey [Richards], for the Wolves Nation. Finally, being able to beat the man who is Lashley is a feat in and of itself. I always wanted to prove I’m the best, in every federation I’ve been in so it was great to achieve that goal.”
Edwards parents were supportive of his goals and is fortunate to have that encouragement and support growing up in Boston, MA, while many parents of those who wish to become wrestlers will not be encouraged, although, Edwards’ parents believed it was a passing phase, they were happy to see their son have a goal – a goal he would reach consummately.
“I’ve been pretty lucky, my patents and two brothers have always been supportive of my dreams. When I first told my parents, I think they may have thought it was a phase I would grow out of, but they’ve been really supportive.”
The TNA application is something which was released earlier this year to great fanfare, following on from the discontinuation of Challenge’s airing of TNA Impact and Pay-Per-Views in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Eddie got his first hands-on time with the application while appearing in England and was more than taken aback.
“My first time using the TNA Total Access App was when I came over here [The UK] recently and I think it’s great. My FAVORITE part of the application is going back over past Pay-Per-Views and matches, you can check out title lineages and I hope that’s something that fans using the app will take advantage of it. It’s got so much on and I’m sure that fans will need plenty of time to go through what’s on there already, let alone all that will be added in the coming weeks and months.”
Edwards holds a unique pivotal position in the wrestling industry as the only Ring of Honor and Total Non-stop Action Triple Crown Champion, a feat that has ensured his name will be etched well and truly into the history books of sports entertainment.
“I always think that it’s in the history books now, nobody can take that away and it’s great to see my name alongside some of the greats of this business such as Kurt Angle and A.J. Styles is really awesome!”
When pressed to name his favorite matches throughout his TNA tenure, Eddie was, unsurprisingly for a man with such an array of title victories, stand-out matches and accolades, able to cite quite a few.
“The title wins I’ve really enjoyed, the Iron Man match where I lost the title, obviously it wasn’t the outcome I wanted but it’s a match I feel I will grow from and I feel the fans enjoyed. Also, the match with Lashley at the Hardy Compound at Apocalypto – that was something really out-of-this-world, cool to be a part of and myself and Davey against the Hardys and the best-of series with the Hardys and Team 3D; being in there with talents of that calibre has enhanced our own abilities and helped me be better. When we were out there, Davey and I had to sink-or-swim and I think we swam pretty well.”
Speaking of the Hardy Compound, Eddie couldn’t help but laugh and speak with a smile as he was asked to discuss Total Nonstop Deletion.
“It was wild! Just like it looked, it was very interesting, very different. When I got into pro-wrestling, I never thought I would be wrestling on a volcano against Lashley but I’m glad that it was something that I got to be a part of. It was an amazing atmosphere, totally unique. It was a really special time, really great to be a part of and after the first couple of airings from the Hardy Compound it was something I knew I had to be involved in so I’m glad I was able to.”
On the Hardys, Eddie was full of praise for the Cameron siblings.
“Oh man, they’re geniuses, you look at them and how long they’ve been doing this, they could easily take a hiatus and just wrestle occasionally but both Matt and Jeff continually reinvent themselves, they adapt and readapt and remain on top of the wrestling world. If you don’t change you won’t succeed.”
Eddie and his own tag-team partner, Davey Richards, much like Matt and Jeff, have wrestled both alongside and against each other on numerous occasions and Davey’s re-emergence and turn on Edwards at this week’s Impact means there will most likely be a number of more matches with both members of the Wolves facing off.
“It’s been a wild ride for us, first tagging over here in the UK in Wolverhampton, that’s how we got our alias, The Wolves, we knew each other but we weren’t super close. We’ve grown, and become like brothers and grown to know what each other is going to do before they do it. We’re very different people and I think that plays in our FAVOR, the ying-and-yang factor, we do something different when we’re in the ring.”
Both Eddie and Davey complement each other when they’re in the ring, and commenting on whether he prefers singles or tag-team wrestling Eddie, much like many TNA X-Division champions, opted for Option C.
“Why not do both? It’s something I think we are capable of, for Davey and I, we can do our tag stuff and can do our work individually as singles wrestlers. We both have our single aspirations. Wrestling Davey is top-notch, if I want to be able to keep up with, and survive in the ring against, Davey, I need to bring my A game and be at my very best.”
Eddie also commented on the new ownership and management structure within TNA and believes this is a great time to be a fan of TNA wrestling.
“This is a great time for TNA, it’s a new year and we truly believe this is a new beginning and a new era, the most important thing is that we are all on the same page. I think the fans need to be prepared for the year of Impact!”
Eddie concluded with an assertive outlook on his future for the forthcoming year with a foreboding message for the man who dethroned him as TNA Heavyweight Champion.
“2017 man – A.I.P., Anything Is Possible, I know I’ll regain my World Title, it’s a matter of time, I plan on doing that and taking that title back from Lashley!”