ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: Interview with Eddie Edwards (Puroresu Weekly, 20th September 2017)

The interview starts with Edwards saying he came to Japan to learn the Japanese style of wrestling. He has memories of the Noah dojo as it was then (in his day it was in Differ) and those were happy days.

Q: How long did you stay in the dojo?
EDWARDS: Five months, I stayed until September and then I returned to America, but I came back soon afterwards.

For his first stay at the dojo he didn't have any matches and just trained, it was in his second stint that he actually started having matches. He said he came to Noah as he wanted to experience training at a Japanese dojo as he was inspired by Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit to do so, so by all possible means, he wanted to do it too. It wasn't just that he admired what they had done, he also had an admiration for the Japanese wrestlers themselves, and he wanted to learn a style that you didn't find in America.

Q: You stayed in Japan for a long time, that takes determination.
EDWARDS: I did not understand the language, and the practice was also harsh, and I could hardly keep up with it the first time. Sometimes I wondered what the people around me thought, maybe they were thinking, "this guy is useless", so I had no choice but to be a daredevil.
Q: How did you first contact Noah?
EDWARDS: It was through Ryu-san (the late Ryu Nakata, the then ring announcer); there was no guarantee, but I wanted to experience it first.
Q: What made the Japanese way of practicing so strict?
EDWARDS: Although I had already debuted in the United States, practice in Japan was fundamentally different. Practicing in America was as a wrestler, here, the bridge and the squat were done so quickly, and it was hard. So for me Bison was like an older brother.
Q: Didn't you do this when you went to the Killer Kowalski Dojo?
EDWARDS: We did do it, but it was more about the degree of preparatory exercise. The basic fitness training in the Japanese style, wasn't really anything to do with it. In America you learn the rope work, how to be passive, the chain wrestling etc, you know, the technical skill. In Japan, all of us did it together, myself, Morishima, Hashi, Marufuji, Sugiura, KENTA, Suzuki (Kotaro), Shiozaki, we all did basic joint physical exercise before training.

After that Genba Hirayanagi entered the dojo as did Maybach Taniguchi, and Edwards says that there were many things that were learned in the ring.   
So what of learning things outside of it?
Edwards said that in the dojo, whether it be the cleaning of it or living with and the learning the Japanese etiquette, he learned the Japanese way of respect.

Q: Is it different to the United States?
EDWARDS: It is different, yes. In the United States in many cases wrestling is taught like a class in the form of a wrestling school, it is not so in Japan, and we have to strive to excel. In the US you hire a cleaning staff to clean the dojo, the feeling of respect you get from having to keep the exercise area constantly clean becomes important. Although it isn't a bad thing at all to pay to become a professional wrestler, it was better for me to have done it at the Noah dojo.

They then discuss Edwards's third visit to Japan in April 2006.
Edwards says he was very happy when he was asked back, and his hard work had paid off, and in those days he was going out with Noah for about two or three tours a year, and of course Bison Smith was among them.

EDWARDS: Michael Modest, Donovan Morgan, Scorpio, Low-Ki, Richard Slinger, there were many overseas wrestlers in Noah at that time. Things changed as time went by, but Bison and I remained at Noah. He was like the boss of the gaijin wrestlers. We never had a tough relationship though, he was like an older brother. He would watch my matches, and tell me if he thought I had a good one. I also used to help shave his back hair before the match.
Q: Would you say you where his second in Japan?
EDWARDS: I guess
Q: Did you see much of him when in America?
EDWARDS: I am on the East coast and Bison was on the West, so it could only be early (rough translation).

They discuss Edwards entering ROH, and how Noah's style is part of Edwards fighting style. Edwards says it is his style to blend it with the American style, and it all comes out in the match, (Kobashi's chops, Misawa's Tiger Driver, Taue's Dynamic Bomb), as he has been studying Noah's style for a long time, ever since he was a trainee. He is still watching Noah, in the venue he will stand somewhere and watch, if he is out of Japan, he will watch it on the internet.
Noah has remained a part of his life.

Q: What you saw as a trainee inspired you...

"Each time I was a second, I always kept thinking that I wanted to have a belt in Noah, and I would change my clothes in hurry after my match was over and get back. I wanted to see as much Noah as possible. I think what I saw has led to my current style. Had things been different, then I may not have been champion. Everything is connected".

Q: How was the match with Katsuhiko Nakajima?
EDWARDS: It hurt. My body is full of bruises from his kicks.
(Edwards shows his right arm)
EDWARDS: This is the bruise I got from his kick when he countered the lariat, but, such a fierce battle is the style of Noah.

They discuss Nakajima for a bit and how Edwards and he fought in Noah when they were both juniors, and Nakajima was just a young boy, and now, they were the two people who fought for the GHC Heavyweight at Korakuen Hall.
It has been a long drama as the interviewer says, and it would not have had the same impact getting a GHC Heavyweight match been so easy for two people who didn't have the emotional history they have had for so long. The situation was often painful. There were times when he had other obligations to other promotions, and could not be in Noah.
Then other gaijin started challenging for the GHC Heavyweight championship.
Edwards said this motivated him also to challenge, but he did have regrets at the time that he couldn't, but it all turned out for the best. He came to the understanding that he knew what it truly meant to have a GHC Heavyweight championship match, and that was the difference between him and the others.

"If Bison was alive, he would have been there"

Q: After you became GHC Heavyweight champion, you talked about your thoughts of him?
EDWARDS: It was a real shock when I heard that he had died. I heard it from Bobby Fish. You get used to sudden death in this business, but still, Bison's death was so sudden. When Misawa died, Bison made the call to D'lo Brown and he was shaking. It is a shock that can't be expressed in words, even then.
Q: They were members of Noah, there is much sadness.
EDWARDS: Misawa and Bison are part of my life. I have only really fun memories. Although what became of them is sad, such experiences had tremendous impact on the present, and made my feelings for Noah become even stronger. Meeting them, spending time with them, not only made my life as a professional wrestler, but also shaped my views on life. That is where the technique called the "Die Hard Flowsion" was born from (it was inspired by Misawa's "Emerald Flowsion").

They then talk about Naomichi Marufuji after the match with Nakajima. Edwards said he knew for the match with Nakajima they couldn't finish it with the usual finishes such as the Boston Knee Party and the Vertical Spike, which is why he had developed the Die Hard Flowsion move.

Q: Have you actually realized that you are the GHC Heavyweight champion?
EDWARDS: Sometimes I think it was a dream, then I realize that the belt is here. Perhaps I will realize it more when I make my first defense as champion.
Q: The challenger is Marufuji

EDWARDS: Marufuji incorporates Misawa's technique, and there is a lot of of Misawa that I sometimes feel is inside Marufuji. Marufuji has been my favorite for a long time. When I came to Noah, he was already the standard bearer of the next generation, and I always thought I would like to be a wrestler like him someday. I have a lot of respect for him, and still have that feeling.

"I have come to the point where I can compete equally with Marufuji as a professional wrestler. I'm happy, its going to be fun, and various emotions have arisen."

Q: What kind of impression do you have of Marufuji?
EDWARDS: He has always left me with a good one.

The last match with Marufuji was four years ago, and Edwards said that he thinks that both have changed during that time. He has been researching Marufuji for the match, so he generally knows what he will do in it, but all challengers and champions come up with something unexpected.

Q: Once upon a time, Noah held many events at the Budokan, what do you think of the current state of affairs?
EDWARDS: The pro-wrestling industry always comes in waves; wrestlers enter, wrestlers leave, there are ups and downs, and the situation is always changing. IMPACT Wrestling, which I am contracted to, has changed its name and business organisation from TNA this year. In that kind of situation, there is only one thing to do, and that is to go to the ring and show everyone a good match. That is the only answer. I can only think about doing well as the champion of Noah. AIP ("Anything is possible"). You can do anything. There is nothing impossible.
Q: As Noah's champion, how do you see the pro wrestling world?
EDWARDS: Changes are taking place everywhere. (Next part doesn't translate well)...the new generation is rising to the top. It has become a really fun era. I always loved professional wrestling, and I would buy anything I could so I could understand the situation. When I was at the Noah dojo I was able to hear it word of mouth, but now there is information on the internet. When I came to Noah and I saw "Weekly Pro", I felt felt nostalgic, as it used to be the way I saw it.

They discuss New Japan. Edwards says that they are attracting new fans, and he has many friends who are participating there. Regarding Noah and New Japan, Noah has not lost out to them.

Q: How will you lead Noah?

Edwards says he would like to make a defense abroad, there will be a possibility then that new people will be interested in Noah, and he wants to bring new fans to Japan and also inside of it as well. In the past Noah was of Misawa, Kobashi, Akiyama and other wonderful wrestlers, but now there are many new stars who he wants people to see. He is the GHC Heavyweight Champion, and it would be worth it, even if only 20 fans were interested in it. He has a long history with Noah, and it is inevitable to strengthen hopes together. He may be with IMPACT, but that doesn't mean to say that he hasn't lost his feelings for Noah, his thoughts will always be with them, and he hopes that Noah will one day go back to its former position.