Biggest Takeaways from 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's Podcast with Edge, Christian

In between kazoo jam sessions and five-second poses, fans took an extended trip inside the minds of Edge and Christian during their appearance on the Steve Austin podcast on the WWE Network.

The live interview saw the former tag team champions open up about their careers, the WWE product today and their post-wrestling lives. Fans who were hoping for a controversial, headline-generating conversation surely weren't satisfied. This was an entertainment-heavy interview with Edge and Christian being goofballs for much of it.

Still, even with the duo asking Austin to play a ukulele and with them playing a few rounds of "don't look at me," a game of their own creation, the interview revealed some intriguing items.

Edge and Christian offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of their famous TLC matches and talked about their favorite arena to work in. And when the conversation moved to the topic of current tag team wrestling, the longtime partners, not surprisingly, had plenty to say.

How Edge and Christian View Today's Tag Team Division

Fans aren't the only ones who are noticing a new electricity flowing through the current tag team scene. Both Edge and Christian seemed to be a touch giddy when discussing where the division is headed.

They talked up The Usos. Christian said that The New Day is "on fire" and about Luke Harper said, "That dude is money." Edge provided a surprising tip of the hat to an NXT team. He gave props to Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson for coming off like a real team rather than just two guys paired together.

Edge also applauded Dawson and Wilder's in-ring psychology. 

In his mind, many of the nuances of tag wrestling are missing today. He and Austin shared that sentiment, pining for better use of positioning and the referee.

Edge said he believes that The Dudley Boyz can help these younger teams learn those things. 

With their old rivals back in the mix and the stock of talent currently in the division, Edge and Christian both seemed plenty excited about what's to come. That's a great sign for WWE. If the tag team scene can pull in connoisseurs of the art such as them, things are going well.

A Peek at Their Mindsets

Listening to Edge and Christian talk about their goals for their TLC matches and how they planned them was like watching the director's commentary on a DVD. Fans gained insight to the inner workings of a series of classics.

They talked about how much freedom WWE gave them early on with preparing the bouts. The Rated-R Superstar believes that the company simply didn't know what to expect.

At some point, they and the other teams started butting heads behind the scenes.

In the process of setting up their TLC match at WrestleMania X-Seven, things came to a head. They wanted badly to live up to their past efforts, but that was no easy task. There were heated debates about how to make the most of these bouts.

Those matches ended up launching their careers, and despite the kinds of nasty injuries they suffered over the years, it was all worth it, in Christian's mind at least. Reflecting on the dangers of all those clashes, he said, "We were willing to take the risk for the reward."

The former tag champs also believe that their success is thanks in part to them just being themselves. When they started doing comedy skits and experimenting with their characters, that's when the duo truly connected with the fans.

"We were just having fun. That always translates to people," Edge said.

Random Nuggets

For big Edge and Christian fans, it had to be fun to hear the team reveal a series of odd bits of info. Those who watched the interview came out of it well armed to answer trivia questions about the two stars.

For one, Christian revealed that he wrestled as The Male Nurse early in his career. 

Both teammates named the Allstate Arena in Chicago as their favorite arena to work in. Christian cited the sound, vibe and atmosphere of the place as to why it's his top choice. Considering these guys have worked in countless places around the world, that says a lot about it and Chicago fans as well.

Edge told fans that Jeff Hardy was knocked out during their TLC match at WrestleMania.

That's not exactly surprising considering what everyone involved put themselves through. It adds a new layer to that bout, though. 

Christian explained that he played the "don't look at me" game with Austin during a serious scene on Raw. The heels were tying Austin to a cross, and Christian decided to goof around with his onscreen enemy and offscreen buddy. The rules of the game dictate that when one guy says "don't look at me," the other has to look away for whatever time the initiator specifies.

And The Texas Rattlesnake did just that despite being in the middle of a segment.

Retirement, Hall of Fame

Edge knew that his time in the ring was coming to a close even before his spinal stenosis diagnosis. He often felt numbness in his hands and discomfort in his neck. 

Vince McMahon called to tell him the news that his career was done. Before that, though, Edge had retirement on the brain. He said, "I was already preparing myself."

Having his WWE run end this way was a relief. He explained, "I didn't want to have to make the decision. I didn't have to let anyone down."

His emotional retirement speech on Raw did more than serve as his swan song. It also catapulted him into his next career. Edge told Austin, "The Haven producers saw my retirement speech."

That's how he got that gig, one that began as a short-term stint and eventually morphed into something far more substantial. 

As for Christian, he is apparently looking for post-WWE work as well, despite never officially retiring. After he suffered a series of concussions, WWE hasn't cleared him to compete. There has been no official word, however, on the state of his career.

It appears that it's over with, though. Austin spoke about Christian's time as a wrestler in the past tense, and Captain Charisma did not correct him.

Austin asked him how he is adjusting to the post-WWE portion of his life. Christian never said that he hasn't yet reached that point.

Instead, Christian talked about feeling that he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Edge wholeheartedly agreed. The conversation among fans now shifts from "Why isn't WWE bringing him back?" to whether he is worthy of the Hall.