You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
By Randy Pepper<br />
I did a guitar show in Asheville, North Carolina in October.<br />
As I was standing in my booth, a guy came in who looked<br />
very familiar to me. He was wearing a cap and I saw his hair<br />
kind of hanging out of the back of it. I said, “Hey, are you<br />
Edge?” He replied, “Yes, I am Edge.” No way!!! I asked if<br />
he plays guitar and he said he has been playing for many<br />
years. He said he has some Les Pauls, some Strats and<br />
other stuff. I found it interesting that a WWE Superstar is a<br />
guitar player. Edge is not just an 11-time World Champion<br />
wrestler, he is actually a pretty good guitar player. I asked<br />
how many people in the WWE play guitar and he told me<br />
there are a few who actually do. One Superstar named Elias<br />
comes out and plays and sings each week. Now, he’s not a<br />
great player and can’t sing very well but he makes the best<br />
of it and uses it during his schtick to get the crowd fired up.<br />
Edge told me that Elias has been playing for about five years<br />
and was surprised that Elias isn’t a better player after that<br />
time. I told him I teach guitar and some people just don’t get<br />
it as quickly as others.<br />
morning, wrestled the same evening and then played another<br />
gig that night, in three different states. Jericho actually<br />
hosted a rock and wrestling cruise that combined his love for<br />
both. The cruise featured over 25 different wrestlers and a<br />
handful of rock bands, including Fozzy.<br />
Probably the most famous wrestler-musician is Terry Bollea,<br />
a.k.a. Hulk Hogan. Hogan played bass in the band Rucus<br />
and he traveled the Florida club scene until being discovered<br />
by Sylvester Stallone for the movie “Rocky”. Hogan<br />
went on to be one of the most famous wrestlers of all time.<br />
Meeting Edge (Adam Copeland) was a real treat; he was a<br />
great guy and I hope I get to jam with him next time I’m in<br />
Asheville.<br />
Randy Pepper is the owner of the Guitar Attic in Holly Hill<br />
and is a freelance guitarist for hire.<br />
There are other wrestlers that are musicians also, like<br />
Frankie Kazarian, who wrestles for Ring of Honor and is the<br />
bass player for the metal band Vextemper (look for them<br />
on iTunes). Also, Chris Jericho is the singer for the popular<br />
hard rock band Fozzy. Jericho recently played a gig in the<br />
31
Change language