Zack Ryder And Curt Hawkins On Which TV Show Inspired The Edgeheads Idea

On a recent Talk Is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho welcomed Matt Cardona and Brian Myers, formerly Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, to the podcast. The three talked about Cardona's self-made rise in WWE that they speculate may have been resented by those in charge, and they talked about The Edgeheads. Cardona first talked about what was going on before they became The Edgeheads

"I think that the pitch was that they were going to eventually make a tag team division that never happened," Cardona revealed. "So we kind of got lost in the shuffle. Then we got drafted to Smackdown and then really did nothing on Smackdown, until the whole 'Edgehead' thing happened in December of that year."

Jericho had assumed that Edge was the one that had the idea for The Edgeheads. However, Myers revealed that the idea was theirs.

"No, so he actually didn't at all, and we barely knew him at this point," Myers answered. "So like I said, we kind of got set up almost for failure looking back on it. Like there was supposed to be some kind of division on ECW of tag teams that never happened, and we were just green babyface tag team doing nothing.

"Back then in developmental, there would be these days where the writers would come down and you kind of have to put on like a fake performance for them. You have these matches and the crowd is them of 10 just watching you. You do a full entrance, a promo, same with your opponents and then you have a six-minute match. So we were at TV. Like I said, we were full-time OVW, TVs and live events, and we see Michael Hayes. We're like, 'hey, you guys are coming this week, but like we're already on the road here like what we do?' He's like, 'well, show me something different.' We kind of took that as, 'alright, f–k you.' We conjured up this thing.

"We were watching a lot of Entourage at the time. So we kind of stole it from Entourage where we wanted to be, since we looked like him anyway, and we truly admired him and marked out for him anyway, like what if we were Edge's entourage and we were lackeys."

Myers continued his story talking about showing their new characters to the writers and Michael Hayes. Cardona also talked about the story that they had come up with to naturally associate themselves with Edge.

"So we raided the merch drawer of all the Edge stuff, and that week we came out to the music at the promo," Myers described. "I think unexpected to all those writers that came in, that really got all the wheels spinning, and then back to friggin Michael Hayes, so he was like impressed with it all, and he's like, 'well, you can't just be like a storyline or something.' We're like, OK. Then we just had to sit back and conjure up this plan of how we can be with Edge.

"There was a PPV coming up where Edge would be in a triple threat match against Batista and Undertaker for the title," Cardona stated. "And then we had this idea like, well what if we're like under the ring and one of us comes up as Edge and Batista takes one out. Then another one comes up and Taker takes him out thinking its Edge, and then Edge finally reveals himself and wins."

Edge and The Edgeheads had a mini-reunion in 2016 showing the close bond the three shared after so long. That was not the case at first, and Myers told a story about getting Edge's email address. He also told a backstage story involving Funaki.

"We know him in a hello-and-goodbye relationship right now. Maybe a conversation once or twice," Myers discussed. "I mean that is it, and I literally went up to him and said, 'hi, sir, Mr. Copeland. My partner and I have this idea. He gave me his email, and I wrote it like a very concise email. Luckily, the graces of the wrestling gods, he actually read it which I can't believe and liked it enough to talk to Michael.

"I remember before, I don't even know if Matt remembers this, the real deciding factor was if we really looked like him. So he brought a bunch of extra gear, and we kind of hid in an office at a TV and tried it all on. We're waiting for Michael to come and see it, and I remember Funaki saw us by accident. He goes, 'oh, you guys.' I was like, OK, I think we're good if he's believing it."

Myers and Cardona said that once Edge got injured, there was nothing in the plans for them. They were tag team champions but admitted that they had nothing else other than just being a good hand for the company.

"So what happened was Edge just got hurt, and without Edge, we were just the Edge guys," Cardona admitted. "We were Hawkins and Ryder, but nobody knew who was who.

"I mean, we won the tag team championships, and we were Hawkins and Ryder," Myers added. "Then we lost them, and then it was just like what are you now besides like, the good-hand tag team? That's basically what it became."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.