POST Wrestling News Update
By: Andrew Thompson
**PWInsider is reporting that former 5-time WWE World Champion CM Punk was present at FOX studios earlier this week in Los Angeles, California for a meeting concerning Punk possibly having an on-air role on ‘WWE Backstage’. WWE Backstage will air on Tuesdays at 11 PM EST beginning on November 5th. Renee Young and Booker T are hosting the show on FS1 to break down all that is going on within WWE. PWInsider added that Renee Young was at FOX studios while Punk was there and Punk tested “on-camera material”. It is not confirmed that Punk has signed on to be a part of the show. It is also noted in the report that Taz, Rey Mysterio, Paige and Sean “X-Pac” Waltman were brought in by FOX for potential roles over the past several months.
**Southside Wrestling recently announced that WWE pulled all NXT U.K. talent from Southside’s final show on October 26th before the promotion goes under the umbrella of Revolution Pro Wrestling. With that news making the rounds, AEW’s Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks noted on Twitter that they would like to help Southside Wrestling on the talent side. Shawn Spears and MJF will now be appearing at the anniversary show in Stevanage, England.
**Jerry “The King” Lawler was profiled by Commercial Appeal about returning to the RAW commentary desk. Lawler said that he received a call from Kevin Dunn about the position this past Tuesday. The decision to add Lawler to the team of Vic Joseph and Dio Maddin was Vince McMahon’s as Paul Heyman wanted Joseph and Maddin to lead the charge on Monday nights. “I got a call about it Tuesday morning from Kevin Dunn,” Lawler said. “He said, ‘I’ve got a proposition for you. It may be good news, and it may be bad news.’ He knows I don’t like to travel a whole lot anymore, so that was the bad part. I said, ‘What’s the good part?’ He said, ‘We want you back on RAW.’ He told me it’s for however long I want to do it, so that sealed the deal,” Lawler said. “It was Paul (Heyman’s) idea to put Vic and Dio on RAW,” Lawler said. “Apparently, what I was told, Vince (McMahon) said, ‘You can’t throw these two new, young guys on our flagship show. Call King.’ That’s how it happened.”
**With the news emerging that Dish Network has dropped all FOX channels, WWE pushed out a link to KEEPFOX.com which is a site dedicated to getting FOX channels back to Dish Network.
**Prior to the October 2nd edition of NXT on the USA Network, there will be a pre-show beginning at 7:30 PM EST featuring Charly Caruso, Sam Roberts and Pat McAfee. The pre-show will be streaming live on WWE.com, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the WWE Network.
**FOX announcer Mark Schlereth who compared Rey Mysterio to Nacho Libre, took to his ‘Stinkin Truth’ podcast and talked about how fans of professional wrestling criticized him for his comments about Mysterio: “I seem to consistently step in it. So I do a promo, because now FOX is in with WWE wrestling superstars and I do a promo with this WWE superstar Rey — God I can’t even remember his… Mysterio!”, Mark Schlereth was reminded by his co-host. “First off, I meet him, great guy. He’s in his mask. I don’t know. I call it — from Nacho Libre, that’s what I know it from. His luchador”, Schlereth said while rolling the “r” in luchador. “Woo, that was great. Luchador [rolling “r”] mask, and so, I’m like… he’s got a spare and I’m like, ‘Oh let me put that on. We’ll go do this together’ and he’s like, ‘Ehh, it’s probably not going to fit your head’ and it’s not that I have a big head, Mike. For an ex-offensive lineman, I’ve kind of got a little tiny peanut head.” Schlereth continued, “This guy is 5’7 and maybe 170 pounds or something. His head is small compared to my head. So anyhow, he was right, it didn’t fit so we do this little wrestling promo and it’s silly. It’s 15 seconds, whatever. I meet his son and we’re talking about football and wrestling and all these things and then they flashed him and he’s sitting in the stands with his mask on and we flashed to him and I say something about the luchador mask and Nacho Libre. It was like, ‘It reminded me of the Nacho Libre mask’ you know? And wrestling fan[s] went ape bananas on me like I’m the most disrespectful guy in the history of broadcasting and that’s a superstar of WWE and how disrespectful can I be and I should learn the sport type of thing and I’m just like, ‘You’re kidding me right?’”
Mark’s co-host chimed in and said, “So, they’re telling you to be more serious about something that’s fake?” Mark then continued, “Exactly. Be more serious about the soap opera that is the sport.”
**WWE Champion Kofi Kingston took to Instagram and shared a two-part story of how he was profiled in an airport on his way to Austin, Texas.
**UFC President Dana White sat down with Robbie Fox of Barstool Sports for an exclusive interview. White was asked about letting NXT star Matt Riddle go from the UFC. Over the years since his release, Riddle has opened up about being let go from the company on several occasions. Dana White stated that he has no ill-will towards Riddle and is glad Matt is doing well in WWE but does not regret letting him go from the UFC: “I’ve heard interviews with Matt Riddle and he’s very fired up about being let go and everything but, at that place and time where we were, it was the right move, but I’m happy for him.” White said. “I’m happy that he’s been successful and he’s doing well. I don’t wish the kid any ill-will. I don’t hate Matt Riddle or dislike Matt Riddle in any way. I know he feels the opposite as he should. But, I don’t wish him any ill-will or anything like that but no, I don’t regret the decision that I made at that time.”
**Sporting News interviewed Mark Haskins.
**WWE Hall Of Famer Sting has been announced for Starrcast IV in Baltimore, Maryland.
**NXT’s Cameron Grimes will be in action for EVOLVE on October 11th in Atlanta and on October 12th in his home-state of North Carolina.
**Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan has been made official for SmackDown’s debut on FOX on October 4th.
**Brody King appeared on ‘The LPN Rasslin Podcast’ and gave high praise to Marty Scurll and The Briscoes. Brody said that Marty Scurll is one of the best wrestlers in the world and added that The Briscoes could one day go down as the greatest tag team of all-time: “They’ve [Ring of Honor] always just cultivated new talent. Like, right now, we have guys like The Briscoes and we have Marty Scurll and, I feel like Marty Scurll is bar none, one of the best wrestlers on the planet right now. As far as an entertainer and an in-ring worker. I don’t think he can be touched.” Brody King expressed. “The Briscoes, I think one day will go down as the greatest tag team of all-time. They just have something that you can’t teach and it’s hard to even explain unless you’ve seen them live. They just have this… this thing that gets this guttural reaction from people that is unbelievable. But yeah, I feel like bringing in guys like Flip Gordon and guys like myself, we want to make Ring of Honor better and we want to make it what we loved as a kid. We want to be the next Samoa Joe or the next AJ Styles. I feel like if you don’t want that, then you shouldn’t be there. You should want to be in Ring of Honor because of the lineage that Ring of Honor has.”
The conversation then transitioned over to promo skills. Brody King mentioned how Marty Scurll is the mouthpiece for Villain Enterprises and began talking about the mic skills of AEW star MJF. King had high praise for MJF and stated that Friedman could be the best heel of the current generation: “I do think that mic skills are… I don’t want to say it’s being lost, but I don’t feel like it’s being put on the forefront that it should, and I think the best example of that is MJF, Maxwell Jacob Friedman.” He continued, “He’s on AEW. He is such a piece of sh*t, that it… you don’t ever have to see one of matches and you’re entertained by what he’s doing. Everything he says is going to get a reaction out of somebody and that’s what you want in wrestling. Like if he can go in there and cut a ten minute promo and then have a five minute match, he’s one, saving his body, and two, that’s career longevity, because he’s going to be able to talk way longer than he can wrestle. I happen to know Max personally and he’s also a piece of sh*t.” Brody laughed. “I’m just kidding. Roddy Piper, when he passed away, some part of him entered MJF’s body and that’s… he’s just going to be the best heel of our generation I feel like. I texted him the other day and I said, ‘You’re not going to be happy until a fan stabs you’. He goes, ‘I can’t wait for the day’, and I said, ‘Well I hope it’s in the lower leg and not somewhere fatal but you have a scar to remember it by’.”
**A new compilation of reactions featuring WWE superstars has been uploaded to the ‘FBE’ YouTube channel. The new edition of the show sees WWE stars reacting to the top ten SmackDown moments of all-time as listed by WWE.com.
**Cody Rhodes joined The Rich Eisen Show to promote All Elite Wrestling.
**Jocephus stated that he will be present at the NWA television tapings in Atlanta.
**Nick Hausman of WrestlingINC welcomed WWE Hall Of Famer Rocky Johnson onto the WINCLY podcast to promote his book, ‘Soulman: The Rocky Johnson’ story. Johnson spoke about some the stereotypes he overcame as an African-American wrestler during his years in the business and what promoters would ask of black wrestlers during that time period: “When I went to Tennessee, they had stereotyped… when I wrestled, I always considered myself an athlete and a wrestler even though it was a work. But I kept myself in shape, kept my body in shape and I worked out every day and I trained and I went down there. They had them on TV eating watermelon, fried chicken… I wasn’t going to play that game. I wasn’t an Uncle Tom and I never was going to be.” Johnson said. “Then, they didn’t have a choice. It was either that or they weren’t going to use them. I don’t play that game. I came in as an athlete and I’m going to leave as an athlete. Whether it is today, six months from now or two months and that’s when I became the first black Southern Heavyweight Champion they ever had.”
**Clips of Titus O’Neil and his mother’s appearance on the Tamron Hall show can be watched at this link.
**LifeBlood member Tracy Williams spoke with Monsters & Critics ahead of Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. Williams talked about LifeBlood potentially walking out of Death Before Dishonor with championship gold and wanting nothing but success for his friends Chuckie T, Drew Gulak and Cesaro in their respective careers.
**The second edition of ‘The Liger Sessions’ with Jushin Thunder Liger and Togi Makabe is up on NJPW1972.com. Liger talked about wrestling in different promotions and companies on his road to his retirement match in 2020 inside the Tokyo Dome: “It’s fun wrestling all these different guys, but I don’t really feel like I’m counting down per se. I wrestled in Mexico in July, in Arena Mexico and Arena Coliseo, and for another independent promotion, but I didn’t really feel particularly sentimental. It was the same when I announced my retirement actually.” Liger explained.
**Sammy Guevara appeared on the most recent episode of the STF Underground podcast to discuss his journey to All Elite Wrestling and taking on Cody Rhodes in the first match of AEW Dynamite on TNT.
**Will Ospreay answered questions from fans for a piece on NJPW1972.com. One of the questions presented to Ospreay had to do with him missing being in the ring with Hiromu Takahashi. Ospreay expressed that he does miss wrestling Hiromu and added that since KUSHIDA departed NJPW for NXT, he has been the only junior heavyweight that NJPW has depended on and the other junior heavyweights need to step their game up: “Yes! I genuinely miss just being challenged. I don’t want to sound horrible or egotistical, but I feel that ever since KUSHIDA left, I’m the only true junior heavyweight that NJPW is depending on.” He said. “Every time there’s a showcase for the junior heavyweight division, they look straight to me. Yeah, I know ELP won the Super J-Cup, but nobody is talking about him. Every time there’s a showcase match for the junior heavyweights — be it singles or tag, the responsibility for that goes straight on my shoulders. Hiromu brought so much energy, and a different persona to the division. It made things so much more interesting; our personalities could bounce off one another, and our matches would be so…you just couldn’t miss those matches. Do I think the junior heavyweight division would be nothing without me? No, absolutely not, but I do think that the other juniors need to step up, because right now I feel I’m carrying the whole division on my shoulders.”
**Former WWE Divas Champion Kaitlyn was interviewed by Sportskeeda. Kaitlyn said that competing in the Mae Young Classic tournament ignited her passion for wrestling again and talked about the forthcoming head-to-head battles between AEW and NXT.
**The Reality of Wrestling YouTube channel has a clip posted from Booker T’s Hall Of Fame podcast, during which Booker talked about his new role as a part of ‘WWE Backstage’ on FS1 with Renee Young.
**Ring Of Honor C.O.O. Joe Koff chatted with CBS Local Sports and shared his thoughts about Marty Scurll’s pending free agency: “There’s no question about his power inside of what he’s accomplished. Marty is a proven performer. He is definitely a fan favorite. We face this every year. Talent comes, talent goes. I don’t like losing any of my talent. We’ve gone through this list of people that have left Ring of Honor over the course of time, and I think I was sad about every one of them leaving. But Marty’s got a great future with Ring of Honor. He’s important to Ring of Honor, and hopefully, we can conclude that positively, which is always our goal.” He said. “But, again, I want people who want to be in Ring of Honor and feel what I feel about it in the strength of the company and the strength of its direction, and if all those things are in line, then I think we can expect to see Marty going forward.”
Koff also talked about ROH World Champion Matt Taven who is in a similar situation as Marty Scurll in regards to free agency: “I think so,” Koff said about things going in the right direction with Matt Taven. “First of all, Matt has been a tremendous champion for Ring of Honor. He has taken on every single person that’s come at him, and he’s done an amazing job. His matches are just, bar none, some of the best matches I’ve ever watched, and this goes back to his first match back in Brooklyn when he won the tournament to get a title shot at Jay Lethal. I remember it being in Brooklyn, and in the cage was their first match, and the amount of athleticism and artistry and just smart, ring smarts, that Matt Taven has. He’s just been a superb champion. I see an unbelievable future with Ring of Honor. We’re happy to have him, happy to have him as our champion. … So, yeah, I think things are looking up with Matt.”
**‘Girl On The Third Floor’, starring CM Punk will premiere in New York City on October 23rd at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
**Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake is the most recent guest on the Prime Time with Sean Mooney podcast.
**It is noted in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that former two-time PROGRESS Tag Team Champion Mark Davis, who is a part of Aussie Open is scheduled to have an MRI on October 3rd after blowing his knee out on night two of PWG’s Battle Of Los Angeles show.
**Matt Sydal spoke with The Ledger for an exclusive interview.
**WWE put together a new edition of ‘WWE Day Of’ featuring the RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch on the day of Becky’s match with Sasha Banks at Clash Of Champions.
**WWE Hall Of Famer Edge will no longer be a part of E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness. There were several factors that led to Edge making the decision to leave the show and he addressed his departure during the latest edition of the podcast. Christian stated that he does not know what the future of the podcast will hold but he will keep listeners updated: “Bitter sweet I guess, because I don’t know what you’re going to do,” Edge said to Christian. “If it’s going to be the C Pod of Awesomeness but the E is dropping out the game. Tapping out faster than somebody in a Coquina Clutch.” Edge said. “As much as it sounds like, ‘Well how can you not squeeze that in?’ There’s more to it than just what you hear of us flapping our gums. There’s the logistics of it and trying to… separate schedules, different places, guests, things like that. It just ended up being one of those deals where it’s kind of hard to navigate right now for me, so yeah. This will be my last episode of the E&C Pod of Awesomeness but stay tuned because the C-man… we never know what he’s going to do folks.”
**WWE’s NXT U.K. brand is hosting television tapings in Brentwood, Essex on October 4th and 5th. On November 15th and 16th, the brand is heading to Hull, England for a set of television tapings.
**There is a wrestling show set for September 28th in Canton, Ohio entitled ‘Wrestling With Suicide’. Proceeds are going towards the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and appearing at the show are Shane Douglas and Bobby Fulton.
**Lance Anoa’i shared the news on Twitter that his father Samu underwent a successful liver transplant surgery that lasted nearly 14 hours: “So after about a 13 1/2 hour liver transplant surgery my dad went thru, the DR. Was very pleased how the surgery went! My dad is in tons of pain! But I personally wanted to come on here and say thank you for all the wishes and prayers! His journey to recovery is just beginning!!”
**A new WWE series called ‘The Bump’ has videos up on the series’ Twitter account featuring on-air hosts such as McKenzie Mitchell auditioning for a role on the show. According to PWInsider, The Bump will be more of a morning talk-show that debuts on October 2nd and is about WWE-based topics. All of WWE’s social media channels will host The Bump.
**Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet interviewed Cody and Brandi Rhodes ahead of AEW’s debut on TNT on October 2nd. Cody was asked about the reaction amongst the higher-ups in the company when the AEW World Title belt went missing and Cody shared that the LongHorn Steakhouse story was the more attractive story but was not actually what happened: “Actually it was not [AEW EVP’s group chat was not in a frenzy]. It was kept quiet amongst the ‘need to know’ for as long as we could keep it quiet. I think the tale of it getting stolen at a LongHorn Steakhouse and the grand theft potentially involved — again, LongHorn Steakhouse. I think that’s a really great story. What actually happened was, a gentleman just placed it on the roof of a car and it fell off. That’s not as sexy as a story. The main thing I was happy about because I ordered a second title immediately — I was happy that we found it and it was undamaged and Chris [Jericho] has it in his possession because when he got it that night, it meant the world to him, so I’m just glad we have it. I was planning on having Conrad [Thompson] mine the dark web because Conrad could buy it.” Cody explained.
**StateChampsNY released part two of their sit-down interview/brunch with SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley.
**Rusev announced that he is officially an American citizen.
**Officer Cem Duzel met John Cena recently. Cem was shot in the head while trying to apprehend a suspect in Colorado during the Summer of 2018. John Cena has reached out to Cem through social media and the two finally met in-person and photos of their meet-up were shared by the Colorado Springs Police Department.
**Mandy Rose talked to Yahoo! Lifestyle about some of her daily routines.
**It was announced via CMLL INFORMA that CMLL World Women’s Champion Marcela will no longer be competing at the 86th Anniversary show after injuring her ankle. Marcela was set to defend the title against Dalys la Caribeña. Filling in for Marcela will be Metalica who’ll be defending the Mexican National Women’s Championship against Dalys.
RESULTS
**AIW ‘Bad Boy For Life’ Results (9/26/19):
* Tre Lamar def. Lee Moriarty
* Zach Thomas def. KTB
* Dr. Daniel C. Rockingham & Parker Pierce def. Alex Kellar & Evan Adams
* Alex Shelley def. Joey Janela
* PB Smooth def. Danhausen
* Allie Kat & The Philly Marino Experience (Marino Tenaglia & Philly Collins) def. Eric Taylor, Mikey Montgomery & The Duke
* 1 Called Manders def. Twan Tucker
* Joshua Bishop def. Dominic Garrini
* AIW Intense Championship: Matthew Justice (c) def. Eric Ryan
**NXT Des Moines, IA Live Event Results (9/26/19)
* Matt Riddle def. Ridge Holland
* Candice LeRae def. Taynara Conti
* Keith Lee def. Dominik Dijakovic
* Shane Thorne def. Bronson Reed
* NXT Tag Team Championships: Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish (c) def. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)
* Damian Priest def. Denzel Dejournette
* Reina Gonzalez, Bianca Belair & Rhea Ripley def. Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir & Jessamyn Duke
* NXT North American Championship: Roderick Strong (c) def. Pete Dunne
NXT St. Petersburg, Florida Live Event Results (9/26/19)
* Austin Theory defeated Tehuti Miles
* Deonna Purrazzo & Chelsea Green def. Santana Garrett & Jessi Kamea
* Dexter Lumis def. Daniel Vidot
* Arturo Ruas def. Mohammed
* Danny Burch def. Fabian Aichner
* Kassius Ohno def. Babatunde
* Io Shirai def. Mia Yim
* Breezango & Rik Bugez def. The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler, Wesley Blake & Jaxson Ryker)
