Eddie Edwards Reveals Why He & Davey Richards Didn’t Sign With WWE, Daniel Bryan, More

Eddie Edwards spoke with Sports Illustrated for a new interview. Some highlights are below:

On why he and Davey Richards didn’t sign with WWE: “There is a right place and right time for everything, but the stars didn’t align at that time. It wasn’t the right time, and we found our fit at TNA. We had our tryout match with the Ascension, and it just wasn’t the right place or time. We were also in talks with TNA, and that happened to work out, which has been great. We’re signed through the end of 2017.”

On his career highlight: “After the “Ladder Wars” match in Ring of Honor when I broke my elbow, the fans respected me for going out there the next day and wrestling in a ladder war. That was 2008 or 2009. I broke my elbow in Boston against Kevin Owens, and the next night Davey and I had a tag match against Owens and Generico [Sami Zayn] in the ladder match and I had my arm in a straight cast. The fans got behind me, and slowly but surely I continued on. I started doing some singles stuff, and I had the match-up with Roddy [Roderick Strong] for the title at Manhattan Mayhem, and the crowd erupted when I won. No one expected me to beat him. I like playing an underdog. I’m not this big, overpowering guy. I got my a– kicked by Roddy for a while, then I finally found a way to beat him, and the crowd erupted. That crowd reaction is one of the favorite moments of my career. I wasn’t an overpowering guy, so people never knew when I was going to get my a–kicked and lose the title, so I liked that dynamic.”

On who he’d like to compete against: “There’s so many guys doing well these days. It’s Owens, [Sami] Zayn and Claudio Cesaro, and I’ve been able to work with those guys in the past on a personal level, and it’s awesome to see them all doing so good. Wrestling is in such a good spot right now. There are so many good guys out there–Drew Galloway is someone I’ve never gone one-on-one with, and I’d love to wrestle EC3 and the Hardys, who keep reinventing themselves and continuously give back to pro wrestling.”

On his career goals: “I set goals for myself. I wanted to be a part of Ring of Honor, which I was. Of course I wanted to be a mainstay, then I joined Sweet and Sour, and I felt like I had a direction in the company. I knew what our character was–we were the heels, but I still hadn’t hit my stride as a worker. When Davey came in and we started tagging, then I knew what I was doing. I started to feel comfortable, and we’re still getting better. Once we started tagging, we had this instant chemistry. We wouldn’t be able to do anything without the fans. Thank you to the Wolves Nation, thank you for all of your support. I hope you support every level of pro wrestling, and thank you whether you watch TNA or not. I would like people to watch–if you’re a fan of wrestling, watch every show you can. I hope the fans understand their importance.”

On his cookie-eating contest story involving Daniel Bryan: “We were outside Tokyo, and it was a layover from one of the Pro Wrestling NOAH tours until the Ring of Honor shows [laughing]. We sat in the lobby and they had these unreal soft cookies. Davey [Richards] was at the hotel, as well, but Bryan and I went to the lobby and bought these cookies. They were all individually wrapped, so we felt even more guilty as we unwrapped and ate each cookie. Davey was outside doing sprints and jump roping, and Bryan said, ‘Oh man, we suck. We never should have done this.’ We tapped out in the twenties, but I think we ate two batches each. We both gave up out of shame. It’s unfortunate what’s happened to Bryan, but I’m really happy for his success. He was one of the first guys in Ring of Honor to take me in, and he was a really good friend, so I was very happy for him.”

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