If any of the quotes from the following podcasts or video interviews are used, please credit those sources and provide an H/T and link back to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
** Following the ‘Brawl For All’ episode of Dark Side of the Ring on VICE, former WWE writer John Piermarini praised Jason Eisener and Evan Husney for piecing together the episode. Piermarini also tweeted that Vince McMahon wanted to do another Brawl For All with some of the names in NXT in its original format but had to be talked out of it. Piermarini worked for WWE from 2009-2010. POST Wrestling reached out to Piermarini and he said that it happened so long ago that he can’t recount exactly how it came about and that he didn’t remember that McMahon wanted to do another Brawl For All until he [Piermarini] saw the Dark Side of the Ring episode.
Below is the trailer for the next episode of Dark Side of the Ring which focuses in on the murder of Nancy Argentino, who was girlfriend of Jimmy Snuka.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7xehMFZbtM[/embedyt]
** According to a report from Fightful, the tentative plan for WWE’s filming schedule is to film multiple episodes of RAW, SmackDown and NXT starting this Friday and going through the following Thursday. Last week, the state of Florida issued a stay-at-home order and WWE has been taping their shows at the Performance Center and at Full Sail University.
To follow up on that, POST Wrestling has learned that NXT is expected to tape a lot of shows this weekend at Full Sail and up to six episodes of NXT TV will be taped over two days this weekend. The SmackDown shows are expected to be taped first, followed by RAW shoots from the Performance Center. Below is a note from the 4/7/20 POST News Update:
“*Fightful Select has reported that WWE is preparing another big set of tapings beginning this Friday to cover several weeks of television for Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. We have been told at POST Wrestling through multiple sources that the tapings begin Friday at the Performance Center. One source added that NXT is expected to be taped at Full Sail University during this stretch of tapings.”
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated interviewed Paul “Triple H” Levesque ahead of the 4/8/20 episode of NXT. Levesque shared his thoughts about AEW besting NXT in the ratings for the past 14 weeks and had the following to say about the topic:
“I’m a believer in the long-term game. You create the right product, and over time, people will find it. I think back to Monday nights years ago, and it looks different now, but there were periods of time when WWE was putting on much better shows and the content was much better, but we were still getting beat. We were not winning ‘the war,’ but we stayed true to who we were. If it’s a flash and it’s exciting at first but you can’t maintain it, then it loses that pizzazz. It’s long-term duration, for me. That’s how you win. I’ve been saying it since the beginning—I’m not concerned about those numbers week-to-week. It’s about trying to put out the best show you can every week.”
** WWE is set to report their first quarter results for 2020 on April 23rd. WWE Chairman & CEO, Vince McMahon, and Interim CFO, Frank A. Riddick will host the conference call that will begin at 5 PM EST.
** AEW Co-Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes appeared on Busted Open Radio and Bully Ray asked Cody about some of the Vince McMahon-like tendencies that the Brodie Lee character has shown on AEW Dynamite. Cody said that isn’t a spoof of McMahon but he can see some of the parallels between Lee and McMahon that can lead to the conclusion that the character is a spoof of Vince.
“So I can never tell you the original plan and I don’t even know if there was an original plan and I will say, very unlikely on AEW, you’ll ever hear the name of Vince McMahon said and if you do hear me say it in interviews and in general, I always speak very highly of Vince, because, well A, he’s Vince McMahon and B, I was a WWE guy to start. I didn’t come from anywhere else. I came through their feeder system and they were the house that built me so, when it comes to some of the parallels, I don’t wanna be vague or coy with your question. When it comes to some of the parallels between Brodie’s style of leadership, there are unique parallels but I don’t think it’s particularly a spoof on Vince McMahon and maybe it’s because we’ll see how it develops in the next few weeks. I think Brodie just has a very power boss, very animal kingdom, kind of social Darwinism-type approach to the Dark Order, and I think that’s all in line with perhaps some of Vince’s quirks but, it’s not an outright spoof on the legendary Mr. McMahon. Not outright.”
** In regard to IMPACT Wrestling taping content for their weekly show on AXS TV in the coming days, PWInsider reported some additional details about the forthcoming tapings. The site noted that all talents in IMPACT who are going to be working the tapings are doing so voluntarily. There will be a medical unit set up for talent and staff to make sure that everyone is healthy before taking care of the business side of things. The act of social distancing will be used by the company at the tapings at all times.
On next week’s edition of IMPACT Wrestling, Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock will sign the contract for their match that is supposed to take place at the company’s ‘Rebellion’ pay-per-view. Tenille Dashwood will return to IMPACT to take on Taya Valkyrie, Johnny Swinger is taking on M. Jackson and there will be a singles match between Rohit Raju and Hernandez. At Rebellion, Kylie Rae will be in action against Kiera Hogan. Ace Austin is going to defend the X Division Championship against Willie Mack at the event, and Taya Valkyrie is going to be challenging Jordynne Grace for the Knockouts Title in a Full Metal Mayhem match.
** Independent wrestlers Stone Rockwell and Steve Brown were interviewed by SLAM! Sports. Both men had roles in the cinematic scenes of the Brawl For All episode of Dark Side of the Ring. Rockwell said that he was initially asked to play the role of Dino Bravo and he ended up being positioned in the Dr. Death role.
** All Japan Pro Wrestling cancelled their Korakuen Hall shows at the end of April and in early May.
** POST Wrestling’s own John Pollock interviewed AEW Dynamite commentator and WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross. Towards the end of the 30+ minute conversation, Jim Ross shared his thoughts about the Firefly Fun House and Boneyard matches that took place at WrestleMania. Ross said that he preferred the Boneyard match over the Firefly Fun House match because of the physicality but nonetheless, he still enjoyed both presentations.
“If I were so old and stuck in my ways as some people perceive, I probably wouldn’t like it because I’m a wrestling guy. That’s maybe why I like the Boneyard match better than I like the Firefly Fun House because of the physicality, on-going physicality, the story being told, the Clint Eastwood-like Undertaker and the amazing AJ Styles who’s just as good as anybody in the world, has been for a long time. I don’t know man… I like the sizzle more than a lot of my peers do at my age group. But I’m still a steak guy, and I still believe that The Undertaker’s match provided me more steak than the Firefly Fun House but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the Firefly Fun House. I just think it has so many nuances and many need to watch it a second time to fully understand and appreciate the creativity of it which was phenomenal.”
** There was a live edition of WWE Backstage on FS1 on April 7th and it featured Renee Young, Paige, Booker T and Christian. The new WWE Champion Drew McIntyre guest appeared and so did San Francisco 49ers Tight End George Kittle. Kittle went to ‘Promo School’ with Booker T. Also, it was announced that CM Punk will be back on next week’s program. Per Showbuzz Daily, this week’s episode of WWE Backstage drew 140,000 viewers which was up from last week’s 134,000 viewers.
** ‘Morning Picker’ has a story up about Big Show’s Netflix series, ‘The Big Show Show’.
** TV Insider released their interview with Jim Ross and Ross shared his thoughts about the recent presentations of AEW Dynamite in empty buildings/arenas. Ross thinks AEW has done a fine job and knows there will be more hurdles along the way but thinks AEW is making the best out of the situation.
“There is a small group that is doing a tremendous amount of work. What I watched on Wednesday night as far as the camera angles, the lighting, the audio, the things that make a TV show good that we often take for granted was spot on. For the little crew they had, the smaller ring, the smaller venue, no fans. It’s amazing to me that we’re getting anything done. You have this young and creative arm of AEW led by Tony Khan doing things that aren’t done by the book, but they are writing their own book. I know there will be plenty of first-run content on Wednesday nights going forward for several weeks. I’m sure there will be some interesting features. There are a lot of things you can do. This is the hand that is being dealt. I think AEW is making the best out of the situation. They are committed to having new products on television every Wednesday night. I’m sure at some point in time the matches they have in the can will run slim, and then you got to go to plan B. I don’t know what plan B is because I don’t know what plan A is of this damn virus. I go to the grocery store and then to my warehouse to sign books. This is a whole departure for me for someone who has traveled forever. I’m detoxing in that regard. AEW is going to continue just fine. We’re building some nice momentum and have been before this virus hit. I know we will step up again because these young creative minds never rest. They don’t have political issues like with this guy winning or that guy winning. I really love chemistry. That’s going to make this company successful in the long haul in my opinion.”
** Smoke DZA made a mixtape dedicated to those who enjoy pro wrestling.
** talkSPORT published their interview with WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman. During their chat, Strowman spoke about the Universal Title match that he was involved in at the 2018 Royal Rumble pay-per-view featuring himself, Kane and then-champion Brock Lesnar. During that match, Brock Lesnar and Strowman were trading some stiff shots and that led to Brock legitimately punching Strowman in the head. Strowman said that he and Brock laughed about it afterwards and they both took some blame for what happened in the ring.
“We laughed about it afterwards. It is what it is. We got to the back and I said, ‘Hey, my bad,’ he said the same thing and we went about our business. We’re both grown-ups, we both knew what we were getting into and at the end of the day, we’re both very dominant males and neither of us wanted to give in an inch, so in the end we took an inch from each other. Working with Brock, I go in with the mentality that it’s a real fight. You have to. I remember Royal Rumble a couple of years ago, I got a little ants in my pants, so did he and we threw some heavy hitters at each other and carried on from there. Let’s face it, Brock’s one of the baddest human beings on the planet and I enjoy it, I like the physical aspect of it. I didn’t get into this thinking it was water polo or tennis or anything like that. I knew this was a full contact sport and when you’re in the ring with Brock Lesnar, it is full contact. Ask anybody’s that’s worked with him. Brock brings the big fight and that’s why people pay money to see him.”
** Ring of Honor announced that former Women of Honor World Champion Angelina Love has re-signed with the company.
** Edge took to Instagram and shared that he’s officially out of self-quarantine after completing his match at WrestleMania 36 against Randy Orton.
** Per Fightful’s ‘Fightful Wrestling Weekly’ column, WWE provided a banned list of terms to their sponsors so those terms would not be used in promotion of WrestleMania 36.
** Coming out of her NXT Women’s Title victory at WrestleMania, Charlotte Flair did an interview with Newsweek. The publication asked Charlotte what advice did she have for her WrestleMania opponent Rhea Ripley prior to their match and here’s a recap of the words that Flair gave to the former NXT Women’s Champion:
“I just kept telling her that this could be the most watched WrestleMania of all time, because it’s two nights and WWE was producing content when other sports at that moment were not able to because of the circumstances and people were more interested in how we would do it. So looking at that as an opportunity, and just wrestling is the easy part—being a star is the hard part, and just being who you are.”
When speaking about Rhea Ripley’s experience in wrestling, Charlotte laughed at the note that Rhea Ripley has actually been wrestling longer than she has. Charlotte said she was also excited to go against someone who is the same size as her in regard to height.
“It’s crazy because I think she’s been wrestling a little bit longer than me,” Charlotte laughed. “That’s what I was most excited about, going against someone who was my size. I think what sets her aside from other tall people is how athletic she is, and when you take someone of our size, but also someone who can move and is agile, that makes a difference, and she’s definitely extremely athletic.”
On tonight’s episode of NXT, there will be a Ladder match between Chelsea Green, Dakota Kai, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, Io Shirai and Candice LeRae to determine a new #1 contender to the NXT Women’s Title. Out of the names listed, Charlotte Flair is hoping to work with Mia Yim.
“I have to say Mia Yim, 100 percent. She was my very first dark match in NXT and to see her career and how she’s made it to NXT — she was the vet then and to see how far I’ve come and watching our paths cross again, I’ll be looking forward to seeing her.”
** Gail Kim, Lita and Christy Hemme’s KAYfABE project did not reach its goal of $400,000. It had over 400 backers and tallied up $62,000.
** A new edition of WWE ‘The Bump’ premiered on WWE’s YouTube channel and the new WWE Champion Drew McIntyre guest appeared. McIntyre was shown a video of Sheamus praising him for the up and down journey that he’s had in his career. Heath Slater appeared live on the show and he and McIntyre became emotional when Heath said that Drew’s mom was proudly looking down on him. Busted Open Radio’s Bully Ray joined the show to recap WrestleMania, Titus O’Neil appeared and The Bump crew were re-joined by Mike Brown, who won the WrestleMania trivia challenge.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLjWKVOrFM8[/embedyt]
** Steven Muehlhausen of Sporting News conducted an interview with SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley. The topic of a potential rematch between herself and Sasha Banks came up and Bayley said that she would love to run it back with Banks one more time before they retire.
“It’s something that I’ve always dreamed about, especially after TakeOver five years ago. That was supposed to be our first match. Afterward, I was like, ‘Oh my God, when are we ever going to get to do this again? I’m going to miss her so much.’ She’s my favorite person to be in the ring with. Luckily, throughout my time on RAW and SmackDown, I’ve been able to share every WrestleMania with her and almost every pay-per-view. We’ve been tag team champions. I’m so grateful that we’re doing stuff together every single year. That’s definitely something I would love to do again before we both retire.”
Bayley also spoke about the day she decided to cut her hair. She wasn’t too sure about it until she showed Vince McMahon and Vince said he loved Bayley’s new hairstyle.
“That whole day when I first did it I was like, ‘Oh my God, I made a mistake. What did I just do?’ I actually had to go see Vince to show him my hair. Once he saw it, he was like, ‘Oh, I love it, looks awesome.’ Then that calmed me down a little bit. But then I also had to come home to my fiance. He loves long hair and he was like, ‘Oh no, I like it, looks good.’ I was like, ‘OK, I feel a little bit better about it.’ So I’d say it took about four days to where I was happy with the choice.”
** Former two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Scott Norton was the most recent guest on the NJPW Official English Podcast.
** MLW CEO Court Bauer did an in-depth interview with MLW.com and chatted about a variety of topics. One of those topics included an ambitious endeavor that Court has and it involves bringing all within the wrestling world together, similar to the World Wrestling Peace Festival.
“I introduced an idea to some of my friends and frankly some competitors where we would unite for what some may consider the spiritual successor to the 1995 World Wrestling Peace Festival. The wrestling world coming together to celebrate the return of the sport and help those in need is a powerful and exciting notion. Unity in general is something the world needs now more than ever. It is very early and a very ambitious project. I could see it going down in America or Mexico…. or perhaps Europe or even Japan. That said, it is unknown what suggested group gathering guidelines will be initially… so, we’ll see but there’s great enthusiasm among my colleagues. Right now, I think we all crave and cling to hope. That’s the essence of this project.”
As far as the future goes for MLW, Court stated that MLW is preparing themselves for several scenarios and are building business models that indicate that things will be back up and running in the world by those specific scenarios.
“Wrestling is the greatest sport there is. It’s also a wonderful device to use to escape reality. For as long as this thing lasts, it’s my goal to hopefully provide that escape through MLW and make people laugh, get excited and distract. As for strategy… we have a plan and it ties into something the fans have been demanding since we relaunched in 2017. We have at a minimum 50 episodes being mapped out. We could comfortably go into mid 2021 without promoting a live event. I pray the world overcomes this pandemic sooner than that timeline and everyone can return to enjoying life in good health. But I have to prepare for every scenario. We are building business models for a return as early as June, one that anticipates a return in 15 months and a few in-between that range. We need to be ready for several scenarios. There’s no playbook for what we’re going through, so we just have to be nimble, prudent and realistic about this.”
** TMZ Sports posted their interview with Drew McIntyre.
** Former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa did an interview with Mike Johnson of PWInsider. Ciampa told the site that after he and Johnny Gargano taped their match that is going to air on tonight’s NXT, he felt a sense of fulfillment.
“As weird as it sounds, at the end of it all, when I got home after taping this thing, it was a big sense of fulfillment I think is the right word. Just in the… here’s a five year feud and we’re giving people something and we gave them our souls and we gave them our hearts and we gave them our souls, and I’m proud of what the outcome of all this is at the end of it all. I’m proud of… I’m a big legacy guy. I’m a big story guy, and I think when people look back at it, just like I said it the other day — when people look back at this WrestleMania 10 years from now, I really think they’re going to appreciate it even more because of what everybody went out and did, and I think they’re going to feel that way about the match that they’re going to see tomorrow night on USA.”
Tommaso also spoke about the status of his neck and how it feels post-surgery. He said since he came back, he has felt fine after matches and there’s been a double-edged sword to it because after matches, he does feel fine but that gives him the sense of he can do anything during a match. WWE’s medical staff has pulled Ciampa to the side on several occasions to let him know he does not need to go the distance in every match he has.
“How about I’m training the way I am and I’m going all out having these matches, I mean, I feel that way. Like, it’s hard for me to even think back to how much pain I was in before and to feel the way I do now and think like, ‘Oh my God. If that was my norm and I just didn’t realize that wasn’t normal.’ Years of losing feeling and all this stuff that I just thought, ‘Oh, this is just normal.’ I couldn’t lay on my back, I couldn’t sleep much. So now it’s just, all that stuff’s gone. All the symptoms are gone. Going out and having that match, the WarGames match and then the match with Adam Cole, and waking up after Portland feeling the way I did, that’s when, I don’t know, it was probably good and bad. Good, in the sense that I felt great, but bad in the sense I started to go like, ‘Oh, I guess I’m fine.’
I still have the medical team here, luckily, pulling me back sometimes with, ‘We’re still going to control your reps’, or, ‘We’re going to… you don’t have to be on every single thing at all times. You don’t have to go 20-30 minutes every night,’ and it’s good that I have that because like any athlete could probably say in any sport, I need somebody to put the brakes on. I can’t do it myself. I’m just not programmed that way. So I’m happy I have the team I do here at WWE NXT and everything, who can put the brakes on for me because fortunately I feel great and its been a blessing.”
** Below is a video of Killer Kross and Tony Deppen’s match from ICW New York’s ‘No Holds Barred’ event:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL06Jv-8aLA[/embedyt]
** Pro Wrestling Sheet chatted with Johnny Gargano recently. Gargano spoke about the different elements of his character that have been put on display over the past several years. Gargano said that when it comes to being a consistent underdog, he thinks his days of being an underdog were over when he started main-eventing TakeOvers back-to-back.
“Honestly, I’m super excited. I’m so excited, because, you gotta think, I’ve done the same thing on NXT since I’ve been there. Since the beginning I have been lovable underdog Johnny Gargano and I have been pigeonholed as this lovable underdog. Everyone says, ‘Oh, he is the best babyface of a generation! Love this Johnny Gargano that does that!’ Guys, I haven’t been an underdog since… I’ve main-evented more TakeOvers than anyone. First Triple-Crown champion in NXT history. Kinda hard to be the underdog when you’re the most-decorated man in the company, and, honestly, I’ve been received that way. I’m not an underdog anymore. That time is well-gone. So to get a chance to do this new thing, show this new side of my character, to kinda create these new things, things that I am very excited for, because you gotta think, I’ve put more thoughts into this than a lot of people. I’ve sat back and I’ve found so many different things. So many new things that I’m excited to do and try out. That’s why this needed to happen. That’s why me and Tommaso needed to happen. It needed to end so we can both move on. The only way that I can move on, the only way I can evolve, the only way I can change is to put Tommaso Ciampa behind me this way. So, for me, I am so excited. I feel like my creative energy is sparked again. I feel like my wheels have been turning for a long time. I’ve been doing the same thing for a long time, but I think the world is gonna see a new Johnny Gargano, a revitalized Johnny Gargano, a re-imagined Johnny Gargano, and it’s something that I am personally very excited for.”
Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa’s final match will take place on tonight’s NXT. Gargano shared how his match with Ciampa will differ from the Firefly Fun House and Boneyard matches that took place at WrestleMania.
“The Firefly Fun House match… I’ll say this, it was awesome! It was freaking awesome. People are so split now on these types of matches, whether it be the Boneyard match or the Firefly Fun House match, but I think it is obviously the next evolution of what we’re doing here, of what kinda art we can present, and honestly, in this day and age, I think it’s very much so needed. I don’t know how many empty arena matches you can have. How many empty arena matches you can watch and not feel like your wheels are spinning here. So I think it is definitely going to be unique. I will say this… it is not like the Boneyard match. It is not like the Firefly Fun House match. There’s obviously certain elements that can be implemented from both, but this thing lives on its own. It’s its own monster. It is incredibly unique, it is incredibly special. But one thing I will say about it is it’s incredibly physical. It will be physical. When you have me and Tommaso, we are physical. I promise you, everything does hurt way more when there’s no people around too. I promise you guys that. No audience keeping you going.”
** A new edition of AEW Dark premiered on the All Elite Wrestling YouTube channel and it featured a match between QT Marshall and Lee Johnson. MJF accompanied Wardlow to the ring as Wardlow took on Ryan Pyles. Also, Kip Sabian was accompanied to the ring by Penelope Ford for his match against Tony Donati.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igx-YWBBFKc[/embedyt]
** WWE’s 2010 Extreme Rules pay-per-view was the focus of the latest episode of Arn Anderson’s podcast. Arn spoke about Joey Mercury’s return to WWE in 2010 and him staying with the company up until 2017. Arn stated that when Joey Mercury started to take on multiple roles in the company, he noticed Mercury starting to burn out and he alerted Mercury that he was seeing the early signs. It was in January of 2017 that Mercury finished up with the company.
“Once Joey got in that producer spot and he was part of J&J [Security], now we’re skipping ahead, years now. But I’m just talking about the evolution of Joey when he came back and he started wearing too many hats, more than once and Joey will tell you that I looked at him and he had that shell shocked look. He was being overwhelmed. He was put in that position of pleasing the boss, dealing with top talent, having to be talent and being involved with maybe as many as five segments on a show. That’s a plate full, and I used to look at him and we’d be making a trip and I would say, ‘Joey, don’t get overwhelmed. You look like, to me, the deer in the headlights. You’re starting to get overwhelmed’ and as it shook out, he was and some guys can handle doing both — being talent and being a producer. Some guys can handle it, some guys it’s just too much and it became too much for Joey and it was not a happy ending and I’m sorry to see that too.”
** The Miz and John Morrison’s ‘Hey Hey’ song is available on Apple Music and Spotify.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUkAuoNx4zo[/embedyt]
** Dunfermline Press posted their interview with Big Show.
** Alicia Atout of ‘A Music Blog, Yea?’ spoke with one-half of the current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Nikki Cross.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FV_LfBQ43k[/embedyt]
** Renee Young and Peter Rosenberg joined Booker T’s Hall Of Fame podcast to recap WrestleMania 36. During the Renee Young portion of the show, Booker T joked about missing out on that WrestleCon money.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqC1BAu2jQI[/embedyt]
** Rocky Romero, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson recorded another edition of the Talk N’ Shop podcast and they chatted about the Tiger King show on Netflix.
** Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson hosted another Q&A on his Instagram page and he shared that his most significant match was against Chris Jericho at a house show in Hawaii. There was a detailed story that The Rock opened up about that explains why being in that setting and in Hawaii meant so much to him.
** Darren Paltrowitz of The Paltrocast spoke with Barry Horowitz and Barry said that he’s never had his retirement match. He added that he’s planning on getting his knee replaced and after that, he wouldn’t mind getting back into the ring but he doesn’t want to give anything less than 100%.
** Mark Henry appeared on the #WORDWITHSCOOP’ Instagram Live via Heavy.com. Henry said that there were conversations about him possibly ending The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak at WrestleMania 22.
“It was close, and there was some conversation about me being the one to break the streak, and if they would’ve asked me, I would’ve been like hell no! I don’t want to carry that weight [laughs]…”
** Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report conducted an in-depth interview with former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa spoke about his runs as a heel and a babyface and said he 100 percent is a better heel than he is a good guy and also praised Johnny Gargano as the best in-ring performer there is.
“Plus for me, my entire career up to that point, I am 100 percent more comfortable as a heel. That is like my bread and butter. I’d worked for two or three years in NXT as an underdog, baby-face tag team guy, and I knew, ‘Oh, they haven’t seen anything yet. Wait til they see what’s coming.’ I knew that Johnny Gargano is the best in-ring performer today. There’s no one that touches them, and so I don’t have to worry about that because he’s going to do his job. He’s now the babyface. His partner turned on him, now he’s got to find himself, find his way. He’s perfect for that. I know he’s going to do his job. All I’ve got to do is go do my job, and my job was just work your butt off, get in the gym and train and get ready. I don’t know man. I felt as confident as somebody could possibly feel in that situation. For me, the whole time doing rehab, I knew what was waiting for me. I just had to deliver. I just felt like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re going to do this. We’re fine.’”
** The first episode of DC Universe’s ‘All Star Games’ featuring Xavier Woods is up on their YouTube channel.
** talkSPORT released their interview with NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
** Edge is going to be on the 4/9/20 edition of WWE After The Bell with Corey Graves.
** On his YouTube channel, Ethan Page dove into the making of his ‘Body Guy Extravaganza’ animated show that streamed live on YouTube in place of the show that was supposed to take place during WrestleMania week in Tampa.
** NJPW Young Lion Karl Fredericks appeared on the ‘No Particular Angle’ podcast and chatted about his experience with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and in the L.A. Dojo thus far. Karl shared that he’s not really a black trunks, black boots type of person and can not wait until he’s allowed to show more of his personality and flashiness on-screen.
“I’m very proud of how athletic I am, and yeah, I’m gonna throw a lot more flash on it because at the end of the day, I don’t know if you’ve seen any of my social media, if you watch me whether it’d be the promos or anything in wrestling. I think it’s safe to say that I’m not exactly a black trunks, black boots kind of guy. I’m a flashy guy and I can’t wait to really iron out, refine my style and all of the things I’m capable of doing and I think I’m gonna be a very distinct fighter.”
** Otis and Mandy Rose will be going live on Instagram at 6 PM EST.
** The Big Show appeared on ‘Good Day DC’ on FOX 5 to promote his new Netflix show. ‘Click On Detroit’ has an interview up with Big Show. OzarksFirst also posted their interview with The Big Show.
** Tommaso Ciampa did an interview with CBS Sports.
** Below is a video of Chef Gordon Ramsey and UFC Hall Of Famer Ronda Rousey making Breakfast Burritos:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lomPpgq9sCw[/embedyt]
** Bret Hart and Angelina Love are going to be starring in a horror film entitled ‘Demented’ and the film will be released in the Fall of 2020.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc4disbz9Ok[/embedyt]
** Bret Hart sat down with ESPN for a lengthy interview about his history at WrestleMania. While breaking down each of the matches he’s had at the event, he spoke about his bout at WrestleMania 8 against Roddy Piper. Hart praised Piper for wanting to elevate the next crop of talents and Hart said that the likes of Hulk Hogan and Jake Roberts never did that while they were at the peak of their respective careers in wrestling.
“He wanted to basically make me. He wanted to be that guy to build me up to the next level. He believed in me and sort of saw an opportunity to give back which I really love and appreciate about Roddy which I — when I look at some of the supposed big name, great wrestlers from the 80s like Jake Roberts, Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior. They never really did anything for the next generation. They never made any other wrestlers. When they were holding the torch and they kinda stuck the torch in the ground, they never helped anyone else make it to the next level. The guys that are gonna fill your shoes as time goes on, and I always resented those guys but Roddy was one of those guys that did say, ‘I’m gonna reach down and help the next generation by helping a Bret Hart or helping a Shawn Michaels or helping…’ and that’s why I really appreciate what Roddy did for me at that time, by just agreeing to the match and to work with me at WrestleMania at such an iconic stage.”
** Steel Chair Magazine posted their interview with Ring of Honor’s Joe Hendry. During their chat, Hendry shared his thoughts about Marty Scurll jumping into the creative writing role in the company.
“I think that it’s a part of the upper trajectory the company is going through right now, but I think, obviously, with everything that’s happened with the current situation and the Coronavirus, that’s put a halt to every industry in the world. But we’re still very unified as a roster, and I think it’s a very exciting time creatively for Ring of Honor. Marty’s done a lot of great things in his wrestling career, and he knows what the fans want to see. Now, he’s going to have the opportunity to give that to the fans. We’re all super excited to get back to doing what we do, and I know he has a lot of awesome ideas and what direction he wants to take the company in. So, I’m excited to get back to working and seeing where it goes.”
** Michael Musto of ‘NewNowNext’ chatted with Sonya Deville.
** DDT Pro-Wrestling is hosting a new TV series that’ll kick off on April 12th.
** TMZ published a report about the medical precautions that WWE is taking to continue on with RAW and SmackDown this week.
** WWE posted John Cena’s nWo-style entrance from the Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnNNW-5GnOY[/embedyt]
** GameSpot posted their chat with Johnny Gargano.
** Johnny Gargano did an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated and said that while he appreciates those who said that they want to see a match between himself and Tommaso Ciampa happen at WrestleMania, Gargano thinks NXT is the perfect setting for what’s being billed as their final bout.
“I heard from a lot of people that wanted to see me and Tommaso at WrestleMania, and I appreciate that. When you grow up a wrestling fan, your dream is to wrestle at WrestleMania, but me and Tommaso are NXT through and through. If this is going to happen anywhere, it needs to happen in NXT. We were both big proponents of moving NXT to the USA Network. We wanted that stage, and now we have a chance to deliver the biggest NXT match yet on USA. Everyone is hanging out at home looking for something to watch. I’ve watched everything on WWE Network, I watched everything on Netflix, I watched everything on Hulu and Disney+, so I’m running out of things to watch, but WWE is still providing fresh, new content. It doesn’t get any better than the grand finale of me and Tommaso, and it’s only right that it needs to happen in NXT.”
If any of the quotes from the following podcasts or video interviews are used, please credit those sources and provide an H/T and link back to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
