Now, fast forward a few years, I'm 17 years old,
the Toronto Star had a wrestling column every weekend.
And in the column, said if you wanna be wrestler, write in an essay,
tell us why you wanna be a wrestler.
So I wrote in, and my essay got chosen.
And I got my wrestling training for free, which was very helpful.
>> [LAUGH] >> Because I can't afford it.
[MUSIC]
>> I'm WWE superstar Samoa Joe.
Nowadays earning success and
longevity in this business as a WWE superstar is harder than ever.
To truly become one of the greats it takes years of hard work and
the ability to turn heads of audiences all over the world.
I'll be spending a few minutes with WWE superstars and legends across multiple
generations to talk about the personal journeys of grit and determination that
make each one of them stand out in the world of sports entertainment today.
Welcome to WWE Grit and Glory presented by Chevy Silverado.
[MUSIC]
True grid is often personified by high levels of passion and perseverance.
So today we're gonna sit down with Edge, WWE Hall of Famer and
a man who has defied odds, expectations and
limits all the while blazing his own path and doing things his own way.
In fact, those high levels of passion and
perseverance have led him to win multiple WWE championships and
most recently becoming the winner of the 2021 Royal Rumble match and
giving himself the opportunity to finish his career on his terms.
[MUSIC]
>> Okay, I see.
>> How you doing man?
>> I'm doing well, how are you?
>> I'm doing very well.
>> Good to see you.
>> Thanks for coming.
>> Thank you.
>> Thanks for having me.
>> Well, Edge, first off, welcome to the show.
I'm glad to have you here.
I think like a lot of superstars we've had this long time love affair with WWE.
So give us an insight into your first experience of WWE, the first time
that you saw the show live, and when Edge became a part of the WWE Universe.
>> My first recollection of of WWE was was right in that rock and wrestling era.
So it's Rody Piper, Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Paul Orndorff, like that whole pocket.
And I remember just thinking myself, I love comic books, right?
But I can't go Like to smack the Incredible Hulk on the chest and
go good job, because he's not real.
But I could go to Maple Leaf Gardens and possibly shake hands with Hulk Hogan.
That was a game changer to me.
And that's when it took hold, I think I was like nine years old.
And from that point forward, I said that is what I was going to do.
Fast forward till 92 and then I started doing it as a kid still in high school.
And then eventually kind of worked my way up after, in retrospect,
a short time I got here in like five years to the WWE.
>> Well, and then relatively quick amount of time, but over that course of five
years, you have to admit there were times where is much more difficult than anybody
could have ever anticipated, especially on the road becoming a WWE superstar.
So give us a little bit of a look into what those five years look like for
a young man who has fallen desperately in love with something he wants to do for
the rest of his life, and now here he is on his journey.
>> So I found myself with a group of other guys.
We ended up doing these tours through
Northern Manitoba to these native reservations.
>> I've done a few of these tours, these are not hospitable-
>> No.
>> Weather wise, the people are wonderful but-
>> They are great.
>> But weather wise and as far as where they are located,
very inhospitable conditions to be traveling.
>> I wish we had one of these.
>> [LAUGH] >> Because we were in one of those white
cargo vans and you know it's cold when there's frost on the inside that thick.
And you're chipping it on the inside just so you can see out.
>> Yeah.
>> Minus 72 Celsius was the coldest that we encountered.
And they said 30 seconds of exposure and you have frostbite.
Now, this was my first tour up there, so I'm wearing steel toed combat boots.
>> Yeah. >> I'm wearing like I'm in my full
grunge face.
>> [LAUGH] >> So I got a flannel
in the combat shorts and one underwear thinking I'm any better.
And I got up there and I had no idea what I was in for.
All of that being said,
driving across frozen lakes that sometimes worn all the way frozen.
All of those experiences, I wouldn't trade them because they really helped
kinda shape what I needed to have in my tool belt going forward
once I got to the WWE because I needed to be prepared for anything.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Look at Edge.
>> My God, Edge from the 20 foot ladder with a Spear on Jeff Hardy.
For the love of God, Jeff Hardy might be broken smacked down in half.
>> So your fate is sealed, you've made the commitment.
I'm going to be a WWE Superstar.
Now, naturally the next question is, how did mom feel about that?
>> [LAUGH] So here's what was amazing about my mom is that
she never even point, she was simple do it.
And I think she just saw the effect it had on me.
And the positive effect it had on me because having kids now,
I see if my kids have something that they attach to like that and
they attach a dream to that, who am I to deny that?
I have to foster that, I have to water that.
And it may change and if it does great, then we water whatever the next thing is,
if they want to play guitar, play piano or be a wrestler.
But for me, it was one thing and one thing only.
And I think she really understood that, she just got it whether it was
a look in my eye or whether it was just my complete obsession with it.
I don't know what it was, but she was right from the jump.
She said, well, you just do it.
And so when you fast forward a few years, I'm 17 years old in the Toronto Star had
a wrestling column every weekend and in the column said if you wanna be a wrestler
right in it In an essay, tell us why you wanna be a wrestler.
So I wrote in and my essay got chosen and I got my wrestling training for
free, which was very helpful.
>> [LAUGH] >> Cuz I cant afford it.
>> [LAUGH] >> So and again,
I had like get my grandpa to drive me down and
drop me off and he'd go grab a coffee and then he'd come back and pick me up.
And then eventually I saved up enough to get a car and then I drove down and yeah,
that was really the beginning of the whole thing and
it was this place called Sully's gym, which is straight out of Rocky one like,
I picture Stallone with that squash ball walking in this gym.
This place just smelled like jockstraps.
>> I find most,
prolific grapplers usually come from a pretty dingy he already bad gym.
>> Yeah.
>> Almost a prerequisite.
>> Yeah, yeah, and it was this boxing gym so
is a boxing ring that we trained in it was like concrete.
It was 12 by 14, you'd hit like two sides of the ropes and into the wall.
>> [LAUGH] >> Like there was just dense of
body parts.
It was like Wile E Coyote, Ali had train there at one point.
So I mean it had that, just that feel.
>> Earlier I'd mentioned that you were known for your passion and perseverance.
And that passion and perseverance led you to your first WWE Championship.
How big of an accomplishment is that for an athlete?
>> I think it's what we all set out to do.
If we into this this industry, this business, this form of entertainment,
like that.
That's the pinnacle, right?
That's the Oscar, that's the Emmy, that's the Tony.
Whatever analogy you wanna draw.
That's the mountain top.
And you like to think it's gonna happen but you don't ever know.
With this business, You just don't know,
you don't know until it actually happening, if this things gonna happen.
You can have the best laid plans and sometimes it just doesn't happen.
So to have that happen, even if it was just initially for three weeks,
and it might never happen again, at least it happened.
But that wasn't my goal, my goal was I'm gonna make it happen a lot more and
I'm gonna solidify this thing.
>> Now, touching back on things that are unexpected things that you can't plan for,
in 2011, you were forced to step away from the ring because of a very,
very serious injury >> I've been losing feeling in my arms.
So I passed strength tests and all of those things and
I I made it through WrestleMania.
But the WWE wanted me to go get more tests.
And thankfully I did because the MRI showed that, that I have to retire.
[NOISE] >> And through that time you had to
persevere, you had to have the intestinal fortitude to be able to stop yourself but
just something that you probably never had to do in your entire life.
How difficult is it to deal with all those emotions to kind of put them all together,
continue to keep going forward?
>> The interesting thing about my scenario was, I was told I don't have a choice.
So that in a way made it easier.
I didn't have to sit on the fence and go, okay, do I have any more left,
do I have to, no, you're not cleared to do this anymore.
What comes with that though,
is you have to pretty quickly wrap your mind around this thing.
This idea that this thing that you've wanted to do your entire life and
the only thing you've known your entire adult life is now gone.
There's emotional fallout from that.
And I can look back now and
realize that at the time I thought I dealt with it pretty healthy regard.
I started acting and I started doing some things and
got married and had kids and life was great.
But as I started facing other challenges in life and
getting through them and feeling good.
There's that little burning sensation back there.
I was like, if I can do this, why can't I do that?
And that's when the question mark started bouncing around my frontal lobe again.
>> That was the initial spark that started burning.
>> That's when I went okay, I got I got to at least find out.
It's been nine years, I've had a second neck surgery, so
now I've got a triple fusion in there.
Let me see, just to find out, even for everyday life, what do I need to avoid?
Cuz I'm wiping out mountain bikes, I'm doing fight scenes in Vikings, and
they're pretty physical, right?
>> Yes.
>> So I'm like, I need to know.
And then, little by little I started realizing that my neck,
for me, is in pretty good shape.
Now- >> For you.
>> For me.
[LAUGH] >> The operative term.
>> Yes, yes, but then those rusty gears started moving again.
And then they started getting moved, and
then here we are I can do this thing again.
And it was a ton of work, once I got a sniff that this thing was possible man,
I got my body in there and just kept moving and
grinding and grinding and grinding to get to this point again.
I learned that all of this I really need to savor.
Because what that was, was a reminder everyone could be the last one.
So every aspect of this, whether it's talking to guys in the locker room,
whether it's talking to you now, whether it's getting in that ring just to cut
a promo, whatever aspect of this that I do, I appreciate it.
And before I had the blinders on,
because you get in that that pocket of just getting through to the next day.
Now, I'm sitting in the pocket of this thing and
enjoying every second of this day.
[MUSIC]
>> Edge, thank you for being here.
I'm Samoa Joe, and thank you for joining us on WWE Grit and
Glory presented by Chevy Silverado.
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