32 Thoughts: The Podcast - We Texted WWE Superstar Edge… And Here We Are

Episode Date: February 12, 2021

The Royal Rumble champion, Adam Copeland a.k.a. Edge, joins Jeff and Elliotte to chat about his Toronto Maple Leafs fandom, his memorabilia collection, Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in 2010, falling in love with wrestling, returning from rehab and much more. Music Outro: The Zolas – I Feel The Transition Find more music by The Zolas here […]

that was a hell of an opening, dude. It was really well done. So I got to text him and tell him I appreciate that. You know, because I still watch my Canadian feed down here. I can't watch the American feed. I just can't do it. Okay, so today's edition of 31 Thoughts to Podcast, Elliot, is going to be a little bit different.

There's still going to be hockey talk. We're still going to talk about hockey. But we're going to talk about hockey with adam copeland who wrestles wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait before we talk about this i there's a story i have to tell everybody about jeff for this podcast okay great here we go so it's adam copeland edge who's our guest and i was really excited to hear that he was being made available to us. So we have a group text, Jeff, myself, and Amal, our fantastic producer. Oh, you get to tell this story.

And Amal sends us a note saying, how would you guys feel about talking to Edge for the podcast? And I'm like, absolutely. And Jeff goes, oh, I was just texting with Adam yesterday. Well, I was. And he didn't mention anything to me. Amal, like, did you feel big shotted? I felt totally big shotted. Please.

Listen, I keep in touch with Adam. This is back to my previous life covering wrestling on a consistent basis. He's someone I met relatively early in his career. I'm trying to remember if I first met him when he was wrestling with his old gimmick, which was, and you'll love this, Elliot, Sexton Hardcastle. He played like this on the indie scene,

this porn star professional wrestler. And the great story about it is- Was this before Val Venus, I assume? This is, is okay so that leads there so adam is you know scouted by various people in uh in wwe and you know it's coming to the company and he's wildly successful on the indies with this sexton hardcastle gimmick but he's too embarrassed to bring it to vince mcmahon thinking that vince will like sort of laugh it off and not take him seriously so they kind of went with this loner gimmick edge and he figured okay like who's gonna buy like some porn

star gimmick and then however many I don't know whether it was a matter of months it might have been maybe even one year all of a sudden Val Venus appeared and was like headlining and making tons of dough using essentially a gimmick that Adam used to use on the Indies. But the reason I was just texting him the day before is he either DMs or we text about our show on Wednesday nights because he watches. Like he watches, as you'll find out in this interview, he watches hockey religiously. Like here's a guy that grew up with the Maple Leafs. At the tail end of that, Daryl Sittler, Boreas Salming, Mike Palmatier, Lanny McDonald era.

So as much as his entire life has been about pro wrestling, and make no mistake about it, that's number one for Adam Copeland. He's a hardcore Maple Leafs fan and hardcore hockey fan. And in a lot of ways, he's just like any other Canadian kid. He grew up playing ball hockey in his driveway he grew up playing with the older kids and his uncle's in the driveway as a goaltender you know loved eating shots you know getting hit with you know plastic balls and frozen tennis balls so he's not unlike a lot of other kids other than the fact that he's you know

one of the most wildly successful um and charismatic professional wrestlers of his generation but no that's just because i was just talking to him about our show and i think he might have mentioned that you made some good points elliot freeman if i put that in our group text oh i was just texting with adam about how good you were last night elliot would it have made things a lot better? Would you not have felt as big-timed? No, no, I still would have ripped you. There's no question about it.

I still would have ripped you. You know, one of the things that we talk about in this interview with Adam is Maple Leaf Gardens. And I love talking about buildings. Well, Maple Leaf Gardens, I mean, everybody has the place they romanticize with sports, right? Absolutely. Whether it's a rink they played in, an arena they played in, or somewhere they went, Maple Leaf Gardens is that place for me.

Why is it for you? Like, what do you remember? You know what? We talk about the smell. Yeah. And in wrestling, it was the popcorn whole i don't remember it's smelling as much like popcorn for hockey but i sure do remember it smelling like popcorn for wrestling so going to maple leaf games and wrestling matches as a kid at maple leaf gardens a couple of things

always come to mind walking up the subway steps from from Carlton Station to get up there onto the street and you see the Maple Leaf Gardens and you look across the street and you see Tunney's office and there's that picture of Andre the Giant in the window, which I would always drive by and check it like, oh yeah, wow, that's where all the, that's where the wrestling offices are and that's really cool. But for hockey games, there were two things that always stood out. And I was convinced because I couldn't find them anywhere else in the city. I was convinced that the only places, the only place rather you could get Fresca and Frutella was at Maple Leaf Gardens. So this is seventies

and you couldn't find it at convenience store nowhere grocery stores nowhere so we would go and I would get like a little you know they sold those I think it was like a 4x6 hockey cards of the maple leaves and they're like a quarter each or something like that I would grab like a couple of those we'd go to Doug Laurie Sports

old timers will remember that one attached to Maple Leaf Gardens and I would get a pack of Frutella and I'd get a cup of Fresca and I was happy. And that was it. And I was watching hockey games. But for wrestling, and we talk about this with Adam, the ramp, like that ramp that the wrestlers went on, which by the way, was used for security purposes, not a gimmick. That was a way to keep the wrestlers away from the crowd

and have them walk above the crowd so nobody would hit them with anything. No grannies would swing their purses, as the old cliche goes, at any of the pro wrestlers going. But the ramp was big. And I remember all those matches. And I would go to hockey games with Dad, NHL,

OHA, and WHA. And I'd go to wrestling matches. I'd go to see Tunney shows. I'd go to see Sheik shows. To me, like, you're right. Like that still has it for me. Like, even when I think about it now, all those, you know, my dad, you know, passed away a couple of years ago.

And, you know, uh, every now and then I'll, you know, think back to all the times we went to hockey games there and all the times we did community pro wrestling as well. That is, and I'm guessing it's yours as well, special sports building. I loved it there. I miss it. I miss Maple Leaf Gardens. You know, obviously the modern era, you need the big one, Scotiabank Arena.

Every city is going through this. These places are antiseptic compared to what we all saw whether you went to the forum in montreal or chicago stadium in chicago you name it there's the old arena that you remember growing up if you're our generation the funniest thing i remember about wrestling there is there was one time where one of the key bad guys was the assassin and he wrestled in a mask from georgia the assassin yeah they're a great tag team this was a single we talk about this actually with uh with the edge is that it used to be mid-atlantic wrestling that came up to canada yeah run co-shows and mid-atlantic was based in the carinas and Virginia. And the assassin had a feud

with handsome Jimmy Valiant for a while. It was a big feud. And he came in and they had a great match and it was on a Sunday afternoon. And because it was an afternoon, I kind of hung around. And this guy walked out carrying a bag and he was a big, massive guy.

And he looked like a wrestler. We had no idea who he was. And then one guy just said, the assassin just got ruined for me. And we're like, why did he go, that guy was the assassin? His real name was Jody Hamilton. Jody Hamilton, yeah. Went on to be a great wrestling trainer later on. Yes, and it was just funny.

I just remember, I mean, I saw so many good matches, but I just remember that. Like the assassin totally ruined for me because I knew what he looked like. But we would all do that. Like at the end of the car, because I used to go to some of those afternoon shows as well. You would go to the back to the Wood Street entrance slash exit, and there

was one door where they all came out, and they all stayed at the Westbury Hotel. But in that era, that was the kayfabe, or the maintain the fiction. So all the baby faces would go at once to check into the hotel, then all the heels would go

together, so none of the wrestling fans would ever see them like in the lobby together or checking in at the West parade. Like you would just never see, like that was the lengths that they went to, to make sure that the baby faces were on one side and the heels were on the other side. That's a different era.

You know, we're taping this part after we've done the interview. I enjoyed this one. He was was great he was really good he was engaged he was talkative you know you obviously know him i didn't know him before this just what a fun fun person and good talker he's a wonderful guy uh you'll hear the interview in a couple of moments let's kick off the podcast welcome to 31 thoughts presented by the by the GMC Sierra 1840. We are pleased to be joined by Adam Copeland. You know him as Edge in WWE. I want to get to the Royal Rumble.

I want to get to your hockey background. I want to get to the room you're in right now because over your right shoulder is a beautiful mask of Mike Palmatier, who is my favorite goaltender. But I want to ask you about the 2010 gold medal hockey game. I'm told there's a story there. It involves you and an arena somewhere in Texas. I believe some bull arena in Texas. What's the story there,

Adam? So I want, it wasn't Laredo might've been Abilene, Texas. So not one of our bigger towns. And Chris Jericho and I wanted to watch the gold medal game. And we were on last. It was myself and John Morrison against Jericho and CM Punk.

Jericho was world champ at the time. Him and I were in our feud building up to WrestleMania 26. So we go out on one of the crew guys buses to watch the feed. And we told, you know, Punk and Morris and we're like, okay, we're going to go and watch the game. Everything good. Cool. All right. Go up. We watch the game. Now literally Sid scores and our music hits. literally Sid scores and our music hits. It's like that close.

So now Jericho and I are on cloud nine for this match opposite each other. And we're supposed to be like hated rivals, but inside we're like, yes, like we did it. Cause of course we did it. As all of Canada said, we did it. But so we were just ecstatic, right? Because of course we did it. As all of Canada said, we did it. But so we were just ecstatic, right? And then we get to the back and Punk's like, he wouldn't tag Jericho during the match because he was mad that we went and watched the hockey game. So now when I see him tweeting about the Blackhawks all the time,

I'm like, well, where was this hockey fandom when we were watching the Olympic gold medal game? So, yeah. Was that game ever in doubt in your mind? I mean, no, because it can't be. We're supposed to win the gold. That's just the way it works, right? I mean, that's what we think every year.

It doesn't always happen that way, but I think it's probably like when the Americans play basketball. They're not going to lose. That's not the way this works. I think that's kind of where we were at, but I still almost shot through the roof of that bus when he scored. Here's my question, though. If the overtime had continued,

would you have gone out and wrestled, or would you have demanded somebody cut a promo? Here's what probably would have happened. We're like, okay, all right. Ten minutes will do, right? Because Abilene's not going to care. Sure. We would have done what we always do, but I would have been running straight back, still in full gear to see if that game was on. And I would have been in tears if it weren't.

wrestler i'm a professional traveler because that's what we do we live in airports and we live on planes and rental cars i'm a professional traveler so in that spirit if you're waiting to get on a flight and the game goes into overtime and you're supposed to board to get to raw the next day do you get on the flight i check to see if there's backups i check to see if there's later flights and go right is it possible to switch to that flight and still maintain my first class seat because i don't want to sit and coach because then i'll get a middle seat and now i've missed the game and sat in the middle seat. If there's backup, I'm staying. But if there's not, are you on the flight? I think I got to.

Wait, RAW's the next day? Yeah. Ah, then I take a morning flight. Okay. It's so close that there are no other flights and you're making a decision. It's overtime or RAW. He just answered the question. He's going to RAW as much as it hurts. I got to do RAW.

I have to because that's just the way I'm wired. But a part of my soul will die. That's a great answer. Hopefully not an important part. It's just a little part down here. For those people who will watch this on YouTube, you've got some interesting stuff behind you. As Jeff mentioned, there's a Mike Palmatier

mask there's also a goal stick is there a significance to the goal stick over your shoulder that is a game played Marty Brodeur and um I love Marty I just I love the way he played I love the Devils as well um that started with Chico Resch it started with their jerseys so i i love marty so i got marty all up there oh and the masks yeah wow that's all marty that's team canada that's st louis that's jersey then i got uh kujo i got eddie and uh felix and then i got uh bunny larocque wayne thomas Thomas. Wow. Good. I also have this little bad boy too. Oh yeah. No way. Toronto Maple Leafs, WWE belt.

Hang on. Hang on a second. I want to, I want to see the plate, uh, the second plate to the left. Yeah. Does that say Toronto arenas?

Oh, that's a great touch. Arenas. And wait, what's the, okay. What's the story behind the, on the St.

Pat's. Oh, that's great. Okay. What's the story there, Adam? So there adam so um well being a wrestler where this is kind of what everything is based around uh and i saw this on instagram you know this toy company and i reached out i was like what is that? And how do I not have one? So next thing I know, uh, I have one and, and it takes a nice spot. Uh, actually it takes a nice spot right beside Wendell painted on a tabletop hockey game. That's so cool. Like you're like legit, like legit super leaf leaf fan i was saying to you off air like i love the fact that as a wrestling fan i was called a mark for so many years and now in hockey i can

call you a hockey mark you absolutely i love i love this adam like this is finn so when did this start for you and who are you and who are your first guys so i mean it really started it's really hold on hold on hold on hold on hold on before we do that i have to ask this question okay so you just won your big match the royal rumble this week if somebody said to you watch this interview and said to you edge i want to challenge you for your maple leaf belt would you put it up in the ring well yeah but they'd stand no chance if that's on the line i annihilate them i'm not losing that thing so who are your guys who are your who are your guys when you grew up because i see paul mature over your shoulder and that was paul mature and salming

were my guys so that is the era that the haroldard years, really. And that's because that was when my entire family would sit around the TV and we'd watch hockey. So I remember sitting on my grandpa's foot and he'd do like a horse ride and I'd be watching hockey and I'd be watching Palmatier and watching Rick Vive and, you know, Sittler and Salming. Vive and, you know, Sittler and Salming. And it just, there was something about the way it looked, the way it felt, the old Maple Leaf Gardens, like it, just everything about it appealed to me. And I can't explain it, except that you almost have to be Canadian to really understand it. I think to really feel that feel that strange thing that you feel as a Canadian when you see hockey or you hear that Hockey Nut in Canada music. It takes me back. It takes me back to innocence and childhood and discovering this amazing thing that I've been a

lifelong fan of ever since. And it resonated with me on so many levels. And it also brought me close to my uncles because we'd go out after and play street hockey and they're way older than me. And they are just drilling the ball at me. And I don't care. I'm trying to make that glove safe. I'm getting beamed. I'm catching them in the armpits. I remember having a bruise in my armpit for probably three weeks from stopping one of my uncle's slap shots. And it hurt so bad, but I was so proud. Now, hang on. So you mentioned Maple Leaf Gardens there.

And Maple Leaf Gardens and Elliott's, this is a special building for people growing up in Toronto. And you're from Orangeville. And I'm sure you went to maple leaf gardens plenty of times but for me maple leaf gardens wasn't just hockey it was also wrestling like i used to go to see all those tiny shows when they ran with mid-atlantic so the top three matches were all mid-atlantic matches my very you'll love this one my first main event i can remember i'm with my dad remember getting walking up the stairs coming off the subway and going into maple leaf the first main event that i ever saw was over the u.s mid-atlantic u.s title was rick flair versus ricky steamboat and i remember leaving i know right so i peaked early so i remember leaving there leaving the arena thinking that all

wrestling was like that little did i know i i probably had seen like one of the best in-ring fuses ever because it brought the house down right like fantastic and i used to go see you know chic would run every month coming up from detroit um not to rob the tarofsky brothers who were photographers at maple leaf gardens both hockey and wrestling as well so that's what it always meant to me what do maple Maple Leaf Gardens mean to you? You know, here's what I loved about Maple Leaf Gardens is that it looked like no other arena. We had the ramp. And that ramp. Oh, man. Where is it?

Do you know where it is? I have no idea. But that ramp made Maple Leaf Gardens like no other building. No other building looked like that. And here's what it did for me. So my first show that I went to at Maple Leaf Gardens, the main event was Jesse the Body Ventura and Macho Man Randy Savage against Junkyard Dog and Tito Santana. Also on that card was King Kong Bundy

against Till Billy Jim. When King Kong Bundy got up on that ramp, I had never seen a human being that big in my life. And my little brain exploded because human beings aren't made like that. Like you would see it on TV, but that's when the enormity of these guys really landed on me. And I went, oh, my God, these truly are superheroes come to life for me because yeah, I can read about the incredible Hulk and Thor and daredevil a bit. I can't touch them. I can feasibly go smack hands with King Kong Bundy. What does that feel like? Maple leaf gardens, like the smell and the session stands and that one light over the ring so good it's so good it's so good and i miss that element now everything is so polished and looks so professional and i appreciate it so bright and i understand it i do but man give me that single light over the ring hall you know

hang on you know what that does ellie and i have talked about this before when it comes to hockey and you don't see this anymore because hockey's have just like the lights on the ring and everything else. Everything else was dark and wrestling was like that specifically at the gardens. And you know what you got that you don't have anymore in either sport because all these buildings have the audacity to be well lit. Now you had shadows and the shadow game is gone either in wrestling or in hockey in all sports the shadow game has vanished it's completely gone you go back and you see a picture of let's say i don't know johnny bauer and and boom boom jeffrey on's coming down on him right it just the the look of that

like those are the pictures i grew up with those are the pictures that I grew up drawing and trying to get onto paper. And there's something special about that. And it really does. It just harkens back to childhood and all of those fond, amazing memories or trying to do that out on the rink in the backyard. It was special. It really was. And I get that everything evolves. I understand that. And I think every generation and every era pines for what they grew up on. I think that's normal. And I think you'll have a generation of kids now watching that will pine for today's product 20 years from now. That's the nature of it. But gosh, to me, it looks so much cooler back then. the nature of it but gosh it looked to me it looks so much cooler back then you know i i don't see why there's any reason you can't because it's still there now it's obviously not the same but you know ryerson plays their sports events in it i wonder if you could make a small wrestling card

at maple leaf gardens and set it up the way it used to be set. I mean, I would be all in for that. The key is the ramp, though. Adam's right. You need the ramp. You need the ramp. They have these things called tools, Jeff. You could build a new ramp. Like if you can't find the old one, you could build a new ramp.

I'm familiar with this fancy technology of yours, Elliot. What are these things you speak of? fancy technology of yours what are these things you speak of yeah you know like i'm watching you now and the incredible recovery and return you have i don't see why you couldn't say you know one last time i'd like to recreate the old you know we'd have to burn popcorn for a month beforehand so you can smell like that and you don't exactly have the same seats but you could create a small with that lighting i bet you you could do it get back in the old bar hey but before it's all said and done who knows maybe that could be a nice place for the last one for the very very last one that would seem fitting like that would be i'd be bawling all night i would i i have no shame i will fully admit that if i could wrestle a match in maple leaf gardens

i would be a blubbering idiot oh man it would be awesome my first one was sergeant slaughter black jack mulligan for the u.s title i would love i'd be right in there with you and Jeff. Just watch. It just, it brings back so many great memories. It's awesome. Yeah. Part of your story is injuries and recovery. And I remember having a conversation with, uh, with Chris Jericho. This is at like a hotel by the airport in Toronto after like a WCW show. This was when there were more, uh, Japanese mexican wrestling influences in wcw at the

time and it was high spot high spot high spot and chris was talking about how you know when he was younger that was it like that's what he wanted to do and that's how he wanted to wrestle and then he said something that always stuck with me and i'm curious your thoughts on this one if you had the same experience he said jeff look what you don't understand is everything changes after your first injury. Until then you feel invincible. You're bouncing around. You're an Indian rubber ball. Like you can do whatever you want. After the first injury, it all changes. Did it for you? And how did, like, how did you adapt? I realized those repercussions now, you know, because up until, yeah, you just assume, yeah, I can do that.

I can get through that. I did not listen though. That was, that was my main problem is I just continued to go, okay. Uh, right. Spear through a flaming table with thumbtacks in my back. right spear through a flaming table with thumbtacks in my back got it okay an AA off a ladder through two tables in Toronto yeah sure oh a last ride powerbomb off ladder through two tables yeah got it now by this point all of those things that I said I already have a fusion in my neck but I still didn't I don't I was my own worst enemy a lot of the time. Then it was taken away and pulled from me. And in coming back this time, I realized that I need to finally listen. And in listening, hold on a second, I can tell better stories, I think, because I can tell those stories with my eyes. And I can tell those stories with my promos. And I can try and be more nuanced and layered and bring in elements

that I learned in nine years of acting. And hold on a second. Maybe I can be better than I was without leaning on, yeah, I'll go through the two tables. Sure. Got it. No problem. Well, it is a problem because it hurts. Yeah. You know, can we just pause on something you said there? Because that's really interesting. I remember back when I was covering wrestling full time, I can't remember who said it to me. Someone with WWE, obviously, because it was a Vince McMahon quote. And it was talking about, you know, how you make your money,

how you make your money. And Vince stopped him and said, you make your money with your face. That's where you make money. You guys are thinking, oh, you got to have big bodies and do, you know, big bumps and all that stuff. You make money with your face yeah that's where you make money you guys are thinking oh you gotta have big bodies and do you know big bumps and all that you make money with your face you sell that's why adam's made more money jeff yeah way more money than you and me combined we're just talking off air a second ago but how you lost a beard and adam's all disappointed in you um but does that resonate with you that you make your money and wrestling with your face with selling that emotion i mean it's true. And what's interesting with it, because,

you know, for instance, if you're doing Ford Field, okay, there's 85,000 people there. So you're telling the story with your face, but it has to be bigger, because you have to try and translate it to someone 85,000 people away. Okay. So there's that. When I got to acting, and they're doing my close ups, and I'm still doing those wrestling things and directors are coming up to me going, what are you doing? I don't know. And then I said, can you show me? And she showed me and I looked like a maniac. And I realized when a camera can pick up your nose hairs, you really need to dial everything back. But in coming back here and in coming back, you know, without audiences, I was like, wait a second. I can use those skills, those new tools that I have. They'll work in a different way and hit in a different way than my promos did before. Because now the minutia, the little tiny things are going to get picked up, the tone,

all of those differences, even in terms of wrestling. With Randy at Backlash, when I tore the tricep, I was able to do some things that normally wouldn't have been picked up if it's in a full arena. And that will be a strange transition going back to a crowd. I can't wait. But some of those little details that I've really enjoyed being able to get out, I don't know if they're going to get picked up. You know, one of the biggest stories

this week in hockey was Brian Burke. And he liked TV and he was good at it, but nothing, when he called and said he was going to Pittsburgh, the thrill and the excitement, nothing will equal trying to compete for a championship for him. And I'm watching you and I'm watching you as you won.

And you have a successful podcast. You have a successful career outside of wrestling. You have a family. You've done, but I understand the pull of, this is what I was born to do this is who i am and i'm 47 i've battled back injury but the accomplishment of getting back in there and hitting the top to me it's like when someone wins the stanley cup everything is validated and in that moment i just wonder what it meant to you knowing everything you'd been

through to get back. You know, I truly do feel like I am one of the lucky few that found what it is that he was supposed to do. And I don't look past that because the odds are astronomical that you find that thing that you know you were meant to do and this is all I ever wanted to do like there was no anything else anything I did was geared toward this I went to Humber for television and radio with the idea that could help me with my promo skills and my timing that That's why I went and did that. And it did help. So to have it taken away, to fight to get it back, and then to get injured in my third match back,

I mean, a lot of people I'm sure probably went, okay, you're done, dude. You got to stop. But that never entered into my brain. I got this thing back. I got to see this through now. And not only that, but I feel like I can tell better stories now. And that is so exciting to me. It is sinking my teeth into this whole new era of talent. And if I can in any way help them along their path the way I was helped along by the Rip Martells and the Bad News Browns and the Leo Burks and the Bret Harts and all of these guys imparted so much wisdom to me

and helped me so much along the way. If I can in any way pay that back, that's extremely exciting. Now, I wouldn't do it if I didn't feel I could still do it at a certain level. I don't want to go out and embarrass myself. I don't want to be a shell of my former self. I don't do it if I didn't feel I could still do it at a certain level. I don't want to go out and embarrass myself. I don't want to be a shell of my former self. I don't want to just do the greatest hits. I want to come back and make a difference. And I think the rumble was a little bit of that validation. Like, yeah, I can be in here for an hour at 47 years old and keep up. And I don't know how I'm doing it sometimes. I think it's stupidity and stubbornness, but it's just, it's also, I love it. And it's you.

And one thing I will say is that I just get back up and that that's, you know, I just, I will always get back up and I want to get back up until I can see this through and walk away from it going, okay, there. I just needed that closure. And that's what this is about. So it hits on multiple fronts. I want to help new talent. I want to tell great stories.

And then I want to be able to walk away and go there. There. I know that was my last match. And the rug wasn't pulled up from under me while i was world champ you know what you figured out you know what that sounds like you figured out the way to make how you live the same as why you live like when i hear you talk like that there's how you live and there's why you live and you put it together and that's like that special spot that i think everybody hopes to get to i want to get to one because i know our time is limited i want to get to one question that i've

always wondered about and everyone's got a different answer for it the answer for me is it's okay to be a villain what do you think wrestling can teach other sports sports in general hockey specifically does not ever embrace the idea of being a villain. Everybody wants to be the good guy and I want to be respected. Wrestling teaches us that when it comes to entertainment, when there is a dollar available, that's the wrong way to think. So that's always been my answer. But what's yours? What can wrestling teach other sports?

I think to revel in the fact to not take yourself too seriously, take what you do seriously, but that doesn't mean you need to take yourself seriously. When I have a match, I'm thinking about it. Like there's nights I don't sleep and I am constantly like my brain is like this weird alchemist trying to put the series of things together to try and tell this story. But I also realize I'm jumping around in tights. And if that can make people smile, and if that can make people laugh, or it can make people angry, if it can elicit emotion, that's why we do it. That's why I loved it. That's why I loved hockey. I loved when I saw Tiger Williams with that stick between his legs. Are you kidding me? Yeah. That's right. The Vancouver goal. Yeah,

that's right. Yeah. You know, feel flurried, like sliding down the ice. I want to, because now I know how much you care. And that to me, I think is just, you can take it serious, but you can also have fun. And here's what happens as a viewer, when you know that the athletes are having fun or the performer is having fun, you have fun too. You live vicariously through that. And, and that is a, that's a beautiful relationship. Here's my last one. Kyle Dubas, the Maple Leafs general manager, big wrestling fan,

just any interaction between the two of you guys. And will this Maple Leaf group win a Stanley cup? So, so, uh, we follow each other on Instagram and we compare notes and everything. Um, you're recommending trades to Kyle.

Now, Adam, I love what he did. I love, love, love what he did. I love, love, love what he did for this team this year. I have, I sound like your classic lease fan.

I know, but I have such a good feeling. Like we have a season where the lease and the haves are one and two. What the hell? I inject this in my veins. Like I am all about this. I am so happy and I am so excited. I'm excited for the Habs too. I think it's great. I love the changes they made,

but I look at the Leafs and I've been talking about Simmons for a few years. I'm like, we've got to get Wayne, got to get Wayne, got to get Wayne. That's the kind of guy we need. That's the kind of guy that went, man, when he got in that fight with Chabot and he went, come on. And he looked at the bench. I was like, no, I was so fired up. I was like, that's, that's the guy we needed. And then you got Joe Thornton and, and I love Spezza and I love the way he's playing. And it's like, he's realizing the chance that he's getting at this point in his career. And he's taking full

opportunity with it. I love Campbell as backup. When he got hurt and he would not go out, I went, man, that team is going to play for that guy. That team is going to die on their sword for that guy. And that's what I feel like the Leafs have been missing, is that team that will die on their sword for their guys. And now they have that core group of guys that I think instills that and have that experience and have been in the trenches like that. And now you have these younger players who have dipped their toes in that, like Matthews and Marner and Nylander and all of these guys, ridiculously talented. They needed those guys. And I think you're starting to see now that okay there's a package here that i think finally finally finally of course it's in the pandemic year but man i am so psyched for this

team and no matter where they go i mean i'm just going to be happy but like i feel good i feel probably all right my last one and i do i should have done this off the top the rumble like I feel good. I feel pretty good probably. All right. My last one. And I should have done this off the top. The rumble, like congratulations. Like that's a remarkable athletic achievement to do what you did, you know, for as long as you did. Like that's remarkable.

I know even more special. That's an event created by Pat Patterson. Yes. And Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens, one of the best tag teams ever. One of the best at ever laying out a match I know how important he was to all you guys I understand all that

I want to end on a funny story so what does Adam Copeland say when I put these words and people together Iraq, Saddam's Palace JBL Undertaker and Vince McMahon oh and I'll throw in blazing saddles as

well horrific gas and it was what's the story so oh my god so we had flown over on on one of the military planes and the seats are straight and they're steel. And like, I hung a hammock from these giant pallets. Like it was, it was a train wreck in terms of like the travel to get there. And then we're eating, you know, that dried food. It was, it did not agree well with my stomach. And I was on a top bunk. And in this room was Vince, JBL, myself, and Undertaker. And one had seeped out. And I just started giggling because I knew what effect this was going to have on the room.

And I think it was Taker was below me and he felt the movement and he went, oh no, like he knew what was coming. And so I dropped a human scud basically on everyone. And yeah, it was bad. It was bad. Can't lie. That may be the best end to any interview that we've ever done on this podcast. And yeah, it was bad. It was bad. Can't lie.

That may be the best end to any interview we've ever done on this podcast. We're not going to top that. That's it. Time to go home. Wrap it up, boys. Adam, this has been a lot of fun. Congrats on the rumble. Like, listen, it's so good to see you again. Great catching up.

You're in great spirits. You're in great shape, obviously, as well. Nothing but continued success with the WWE. Thanks so much. Thanks, guys. And I'll be watching. I'll be watching you guys. And, you know, my wife's just like, look at you.

I'm like a little kid watching you guys. So it's a symbiotic back and forth relationship. Just make sure you say, hey, look, how good looking is that host or what? Wow, that guy's looking sharp. Who needs Ron McClain? Look at that guy. Exactly. Look at Merrick,

man. Ooh, fresh off the runways of, well, Stouffville. Thanks for this, Adam. Much appreciated.

Thanks guys. Here's the thing, Adam, if they do win the cup, you're coming up and you're co-hosting parade coverage I'm I'm in and and I tell you what I'm gonna present them with one of these belts oh then and that can be their player of the game thing that's the deal you'll come up you'll be part of the parade coverage it's a deal we'll make it one done done way to end the interview merrick well you don't like that oh my god i know people will find

that hilarious actually of course i find that hilarious but i guarantee you there's going to be somebody who's going to say to us this podcast is too classy to end an interview like that Elliot I got news for you nobody's not that classy nobody is going to say that and as a matter of fact what we just did was put the ass in class thank you very much so that's Adam

Copeland what a wonderful guy you know him as Edge and WWEwe congrats on on winning the royal rumble which from an athletic point of view to be in the ring that long to be around the action that long is exhausting and here's a guy elliot as you point out in the interview injuries are part of the story here for him like injury significant injuries are part of his game. This week is a total reminder to me that you are who you are. And it's, it's very difficult to change that. You know,

the thing that he's lucky about, very lucky about is that at 47 years old, you can still wrestle. Most athletes at 47, they can't do what they love to do. He still has the opportunity and that's a great thing for him. I asked around just for people who might know him a bit. Obviously, I'm not as plugged into the wrestling world as you are,

and that's one of the questions they talked about was getting to go back into it. And I thought about Berkey, who I brought up in the interview, just about how excited he was because as much as he likes TV, it's not in his blood, like competing, being on a team, competing and trying to build a championship team is.

Yeah. And I'm happy for people, especially now when life has been as hard as it's been, if he can say, I can still do it. I can still do what I'm born to do and um i am a wrestling fan not to the same level you are but i am and i was really happy for him watching that match well like like listen like like i said in the interview to adam like i'm always happy when i see people hit

that magical intersection of how you live and why you live being in the exact same place. Like he's there, he's in that spot. Like take any sports analogy, you know, ask a, ask a baseball player, like, what does it feel like when a fastball hits your bat at the perfect spot and it leaves the yard? It's like you don't feel it. Like you're going right through it. Ask guys that rip one-timers. Like ask Ovechka about his one-timer. Like the most perfect one-timer he's ever taken.

Does he feel it? No. It's just his body and everything around him is just one thing. And at that moment, that's what he was put on the earth to do. I think Adam's aware of that. That's why he's here. How he lives is also why he lives.

I'm happy for him. Thanks to Adam Copeland for stopping by the podcast today. And thanks to the WWE for making him available for us. Taking us out today is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, who've been part of the Canadian music scene for over a decade. With their latest single, I Feel the Transition, here are the Zolos on 31 Thoughts, the podcast. Like a platinum car It goes back and forth

It goes side to side Feel the compression Feel the overdrive I feel the transition I feel the transition I feel the transition Come here I feel the transition

I feel the transition I feel the transition I feel the transition Come in Yeah, you're old for school Yeah, you're underdressed Roll your business cards Into fancy tips Can you feel the power

When you're rolling with friends Under vacant towers of the wilderness I feel the transition, I feel the transition I feel the transition coming I feel the transition, I feel the transition I feel the transition coming Oh no, today's like a shooting star No coming back to where we are

Catch your breath and drop your gun When life turns to dark We'll face it on and on and on and on and on