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Not many people in WWE have had worse luck than NXT UK's Eddie Dennis. Following a serious pectoral injury in 2018, the Welshman would be sidelined for six months in 2019 after a second pectoral tear on the opposite side.
All that seems to mean, though, is that Dennis is eager to make up for lost time - and what better way to kickstart 2020 than with a colossal clash at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II against one of the "founding fathers" of the brand - Trent Seven?
I had the opportunity recently to catch up with Eddie Dennis to discuss his injury, "Oh, my God" moments in WWE, and which skills he was able to transfer from his previous role of teaching over to professional wrestling.
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Hi, Eddie, thanks for chatting with me. So, there's only one place I can start - if I begin at a low point, we can only go up from there! You've just recently returned from a pretty serious injury. Can you tell us a little bit about the recovery process and just what it was like sitting on the sidelines for so long?
Yeah. So, I tore my left pectoral in March of this year. I actually tore my right pectoral in January 2018, so I was really aware this time. So, the second it snapped, it snapped at an independent show and the second it snapped, I kind of knew that it was gone because the feeling was exactly the same as before.
So, I immediately contacted the same surgeon who did my first surgery, to start the ball rolling.
The surgery was kind of different from the first time because, this time, it tore between the muscle and tendon, instead of the tendon and the bone - which is a slightly trickier repair to do, a little bit of a more long-winded recovery process, or at least it felt that way.
I'm a pretty positive person so, on the surface, I think people were just seeing me crack on with my physiotherapy - but the reality of it, what's going on in your head, is a little bit different. Especially because I spent so much time sat on the sidelines of 2018 as well, to realize I'd spend over half of 2019 on the sidelines was a pretty sobering process.
I remember just being sat... My girlfriend drove me back from the hospital and I was like, "I'm just going to go to the park by myself," and I just went and sat on a bench at the park and I've got a photograph on my phone, I don't know why, but I took a photograph just to remember that moment. I was sort of like, "Here we go again," you know, "Another six months of not being able to do what I love to do," and really not being sure, when I did come back, what kind of shape or state of repair I'd be in because I have bilateral pectoral tears now and both have been surgically put back together.
Yeah, it goes through peaks and troughs, right? So, you have really bad moments. Missing out on flying out to WrestleMania for Axxess weekend is a low moment, missing out on TakeOver in Cardiff is a really, REALLY low moment.
But there are high moments in there as well. As much as missing out on TakeOver: Cardiff was a low moment, to watch a brand which I've been a part of, and still felt like I was a part of, putting on a live special in my country for the first time ever, the first live special in Wales, live on the WWE Network, in front of millions of people, the largest event that you can imagine being put on in South Wales, was a high moment at the same time as it being a low moment - because I desperately wanted to be out there, obviously, but to be sat watching my peers, friends, and colleagues who I'd known my entire life get their opportunity was pretty special, too.
NEXT: Eddie Dennis discusses his "Oh, my God" moments in WWE
I recently had a chat with a man you're very familiar with, Mark Andrews, who told me how cool it is to work with the likes of Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Can I ask, what are your thoughts on both men, and have you had any "Oh, my God" moments since working with WWE?
Yeah! I mean, they just come thick and fast, really, don't they? I remember when we signed our WWE deals, we were at a Monday Night Raw event, and I remember being at catering and Kurt Angle came up behind me, and I was like, "Please, sir," and he's like, "No, no, no. You were in the queue first, you go." That was a pretty surreal moment.
I remember when Flash [Morgan Webster] got busted open in his 205 Live match, he came backstage and Daniel Bryan made his way down the corridor to check on him. I remember looking at that interaction, and thinking, "What is this?! This is the most surreal thing ever!"
As far as Shawn Michaels and Triple H go, we have pretty close conduct and interaction with Shawn on the NXT UK brand, but to sort of sit down in a room with someone like Shawn Michaels and watch professional wrestling while he's analyzing what goes well and what goes badly in a match, it's one of the most invaluable learning experiences in your life.
Certainly, in 1996, when I was a 10-year-old boy watching Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart's Iron Man Match at WrestleMania 12, I never thought I'd be sat in a room with him watching myself wrestle on tape.
It's pretty hard to believe when you think about it that way but the reality is, in the moment, doesn't feel like that. In the moment, it just feels like someone who is a master of the craft which you are trying to master giving you helpful advice, and that's all it feels like.
They're so humble, so down to earth. It's very easy to forget who you're talking to in some ways. And if you want to ask a question, you just ask them. Those are the moments, really, when you try to quantify it, where you realize the situation that you find yourself in.
I was going to ask if you watched the product while you were away or completely removed yourself? But you already answered that so I can ask this - who's been your standout of 2019 in NXT UK, and of WWE overall?
Blimey! Stand out of 2019. All the years merge into one so I kind of have to think about events in particular. He's been a standout for years but it's really tricky not to put someone like Tyler [Bate] in the conversation when you're thinking about standouts on NXT UK.
The match against WALTER at TakeOver: Cardiff was absolutely mind-blowing. Just the highest level. And he's actually had some almost equally as mind-blowing matches just on television for NXT UK. If you seek out his bout with Kassius Ohno from a few weeks ago, that was incredible. Last night he wrestled Noam Dar on television. That was absently unreal.
It's difficult to bet against Tyler Bate, as much as I've got my issues with his tag team partner.
As far as WWE as a whole, in 2019... Blimey, I don't want to give a naff answer.
It might be Adam Cole. If I think about the body of work that he's produced on NXT, his consistency, it feels like he's main-evented every TakeOver this last year.
Those weeks leading up to Survivor Series where he wrestled Daniel Bryan on SmackDown and he wrestled Seth [Rollins] on Raw, and then he had that worldly match with Pete [Dunne] at Survivor Series. I think it's tricky to go against a guy like Cole.
As far as in-ring content goes, I don't think anybody could argue that we are in an absolute golden age of professional wrestling in WWE. The standard is absolutely through the roof.
NEXT: Eddie Dennis discusses his NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II Match
You mentioned missing TakeOver: Cardiff and you mentioned Tyler Bate's tag team partner... Well, the perfect opportunity to right some wrongs in a couple of weeks.
At NXT TakeOver: Blackpool II, it looks like you're going to be facing Trent Seven!
What are your feelings heading into that? Is it more relief at being back in the ring, a desire to make up for a lost time, or something else completely?
It certainly looks that way!
There's a couple of things, really. Obviously to be back in Blackpool - that's where I had my first TakeOver appearance, which was pretty special.
To be back at a TakeOver as soon as I am after a return from injury is... It's a lot of pressure but it's also a huge opportunity and it's a huge nod, I take it as a huge nod to myself that I'm being put in that slot, and I don't intend on letting anyone down in that regard.
So, it's pressure but pressure creates diamonds, right? That's what we're here for, we live for pressure.
As far as going up against Trent, it's something that I've wanted for years. He's a person who I've never, ever had a singles match within any promotion, on an independent level or at the WWE. If you follow independent wrestling, that's ridiculous because we've worked in the same promotions for years and years, and years. I've pretty much wrestled everybody else, he's wrestled everybody else, on numerous occasions, but our paths have never crossed, up until January 12th.
He's the founding father of the brand and, when I initially started on the NXT UK brand, I said that people like himself, Tyler Bate, Mark Andrews, and Pete Dunne built the brand, but that I was going to take it to another level. Well, January 12th is my opportunity to prove that those were more than just words, I suppose.
It means the world to me to be back in Blackpool, back on TakeOver, back on the WWE Network and getting my chance at Trent Seven.
Now, my favorite thing about Eddie Dennis, aside from the fact that you're amazing in the ring, is that you used to be a teacher!
Are there any similarities at all between both jobs, or anything you were able to transfer across from teaching?
There's a lot of transferable skills! It's not just right hands and power-bombs, you know?
As far as holding the audience's attention, as far as getting someone's attention, those skills are transferable.
When you stand up in front of an audience of 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 people, it's really not that different than standing in front of 700 children with a microphone in your hand - except for the fact that the 3,000 people paid to be there, the 700 children have no interest in being there!
There are definitely transferable skills with regard to that. I'm not saying that every school teacher in the country should go into professional wrestling, I think there are other unique attributes about myself that have made it a seamless transition - but there are definitely transferable skills.
Thanks to WWE, as always, for organizing the interview, and thanks to Eddie Dennis for taking the time to chat with us. You can follow Eddie on Twitter here.
