Two days ago, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan took part in the weekly Impact press pass. Edwards will face off with the future TNA/Impact Wrestling Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock at Bound For Glory this Saturday. But Edwards will also have to deal with his old enemy Sami Callihan, who will be at ringside supporting his new best friend. Edwards and Callihan seem never to end as if fate was always finding a reason to make them be in the same ring again.

Here is what Eddie and Sami had to say about the upcoming matches, Ken Shamrock, what the future holds for them, and their respective success and legacy on Impact Wrestling.

Mr. AIP

On if fighting Shamrock is his biggest challenge

“My next match is my toughest challenge. It doesn’t matter who it is. I’ve gone to hell with Sami. We fought in the woods, a challenge where I was beaten down with a baseball bat involving my wife, that’s a challenge, and now Sami’s actually trying to bring other people into it. Shamrock’s a guy who I did respect before, with what he’s done along with Sami, things have changed, but I’m looking forward to going in there with the Legend that he is. He will be a Hall of Famer at that time, and it would be an honour to beat a Hall of Famer, check another name off the box, and continue my journey back to the world title.

“He’s the World’s Most Dangerous Man, and I truly believe that, as Sami says, he’s trying to get him back to that killer that he is, and I know what Sami is capable of, what Shamrock’s capable of. He’s obviously dangerous, and it’s going to be a mix-up stylistic for me. It’s something new, and I’m looking forward to the challenge. I know he’s going to bring something that I’ve never faced in the ring. It’s the first time I’m facing him. I’m looking forward to it and dangerous, that’s what Ken is.”

On training in MMA with Dan Severn

“I was pretty lucky to be in there with Dan at his gym. That’s some stuff that I’ve carried on with me since I did that and every bit of my training, every bit of my career is going to come into play against Ken because you don’t really know what he’s going to do, he’s an MMA fighter, he’s a pro wrestler, so I’m just going in there prepared for anything. That’s my main goal to use anything in my back pocket that I have that maybe I haven’t used recently, but I’ll be ready for it.”

What’s next for him after Bound For Glory

“The main plan is to get back to my World Title, that’s always the goal and if I have to focus on Shamrock, I’m all looking past him, but if I can get by shamrock, which I have faith that I can, I want to move on back to the World Title, get back in that picture and perhaps mess around with Sami again.”

Impact’s “Daddy”

On working alongside Ken Shamrock 

“I want Ken Shamrock pretty much the guy to be my best friend right now, me and good old ken #KenSamrock. I’m doing this for Ken, so he gets back to where he is because, in the last couple years, he’s pretty much become a b*tch, and I’m the guy to get him out of his rut.”

On a World title chance for Shamrock

“It all depends on what Ken Shamrock wants. After he beats Eddie Edwards, he and I might go to a steakhouse, have a nice dinner, sit around and figure out what the next game plan is. Ken Shamrock can do whatever he wants, especially when Ken Shamrock is behind ‘The Draw’ Sami Callihan. Ken Shamrock could be World Champion, we could be Tag champions, he’d be X-Division Champion, hell, he might be Knockouts champion. We’re going to take all the belts.”

On how he’s been preparing Shamrock for his match

“I’ve been teaching Ken Shamrock everything he has to know about Eddie Edwards. This is like any other fight Ken Shamrock’s had in his historic career. What I’ve been training Ken Shamrock in is the controlled chaos of Eddie Edwards. That’s the biggest thing he has going for him. You don’t know exactly what he’s going to do and when he’s going to do it. Over the last couple of years, I’ve known him better than anyone else, and I’ve passed that along to Ken Shamrock, and his game plan is to break both of Eddie Edwards’ ankles this Saturday.”

A few questions for both

On the 2-on 1 situation this match is and possibly adding a stipulation to it

Eddie: “I’m prepared. I’m ready to go straight up. I don’t care if it’s two on one, three and one, it doesn’t matter. Sami can try to do as much as he wants, but in the end, it’s not going to be enough. I have a good friend named Kenny. Maybe he’ll be around. I got my partner at all times, who knows, maybe Tommy Dreamer will come out. You don’t know what I have up my sleeve, but I’m prepared for whatever Sami does. Go ahead and do it. I don’t care. I’m focused on Shamrock. There’s a man who’s a legend in this business, he’s a legend in MMA. That’s what I’m focused on. Sami is just a footnote, as usual, Sami’s on the side.”

Sami: “First of all, Eddie says he has a good friend named Kenny, well I got a good friend named Ken Shamrock. Like I said, he’s my best friend at this point, and like it or not, he still is the World’s Most Dangerous Man. If I could add a stipulation of this match, it’d be a fight to the death, so I can watch Eddie Edwards finally die in the middle of the ring.”

On the infamous baseball bat incident and its consequences

Sami: “Eddie should thank me for his entire career at this point. Before that, he was just a guy, a lone wolf, or whatever you want to call it. Since I and Eddie Edwards became a thing, since I came into Eddie Edwards’ life, he’s become a bigger and better human being. At the end of the day, he owes me a steak dinner, and I will guarantee that one day, Eddie Edwards is going to look me dead in my eyes and thank me.”

Eddie: “Our rivalry will never end, there’s no end in sight for it. So you can’t grade something that’s not done. This is something that’s continuing on, and I’ll gladly continue this on with Sami. And Sami, I know you are mad saying that I don’t thank you for what you did. I have thanked you publicly. I will thank you again. Thank you for making me who I am because without you, I would not be the man I am today, so I do thank you for that. But I will still gladly beat your ass at any point. Gladly.”

Sami: “We’ll see, here’s the thing, I’m going to go out and say it. We’re one of the best, if not THE best rivalry in IMPACT history. The entire management, the entire locker room should be thanking us for putting this company back on the map and bringing it to where it is today. Like it or not, me and Eddie Edwards are the heart and soul of Impact wrestling, and that’s not going to change.”

On what they have been able to accomplish for the company

Eddie: “Everybody is on the same page, from the boys and girls in the locker room to the office to production. I feel that everybody is trying to take those staying the same steps forward. We’re all on the same page, we know things aren’t going to change overnight, or they weren’t going to change overnight. I know what Impact Wrestling is capable of, I know collectively everybody in the locker room, the office, I know we can continue to move forward, continue to make IMPACT the greatest wrestling show on Earth. Obviously, Sami and I, we have our differences, but I know if I’m wrestling, or if I’m not wrestling him, he’s going to go out there and he’s going to bust his ass, and that’s the way it is. I can trust the office to do what’s best for the company because, in the end, we are a team, and this is what it’s all about. I can honestly say that it does feel like a family because we all have each other’s backs in good times and bad times, that’s the best part about it.”

Sami: “I agree with Eddie Edwards. Impact Wrestling is a family, and I’m the Daddy. When I say Ken Shamrock’s a b*tch, he isn’t a b*tch anymore. Ken Shamrock was letting people get into his head, he was afraid to hurt people, he was afraid to go out there and be the killer that he is. He was trying to make everyone happy, play the nice guy, do the right things for the business without doing the right thing for Ken Shamrock. I did the best thing for Ken Shamrock in the past 15 years, that makes him relevant and make him the biggest killer in Impact Wrestling.”

Eddie: “As Sami said, we feel that we are the heart and soul of the company. I can speak for myself like I live and breathe and die Impact Wrestling, this is what I am, this what I do, and Sami feels the same exact way. Nobody has flown the IMPACT flag higher than we have. This is something we take pride in, so anytime they put us in a spot to go out there and steal the show, we’re going to go out there, we’re going to leave our heart and soul out there because that’s what we do. We do it all for Impact Wrestling, this is what we want to do. We want to help take it to the next level. We want to be at the forefront of the Impact Wrestling army. We want to be out there leading everybody, we want to be the guy to say, ‘get on our backs, we’ll take you to the promised land.’ That’s why we go out there. That’s one thing I do have respect for Sami because I know he feels the same way. We go out there, we try to kill it, and we do that for Impact Wrestling.”

Follow Sami Callihan on Twitter @TheSamiCallihan and Eddie Edwards on @TheEddieEdwards.

Bound For Glory will air live on Saturday, October 24 at 8 PM EST worldwide on Fite TV and on Premier Sports 1 in the UK. IMPACT Wrestling is airing on Tuesday at 8/7c on AXS TV and Twitch in the USA. The show is available to view in the UK from 2 am Wednesdays on the IMPACT Plus app and airs on FreeSports at 10 PM every Wednesday and 5STAR on Fridays in the late evening (please check local listings weekly).

All pics, videos, and screencaps courtesy of Impact Wrestling, AXS TV, Fight Network, and Basil Mahmud. Photocollages by @frenchnygma exclusively for @steelchairmag.