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.
** djvlad of Vlad TV conducted a sit-down interview with New Jack. Parts one and two of the interview are out now.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFfjPFYrd3c[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFyqrS3ysw[/embedyt]
** Arn Anderson and Conrad Thompson covered the 2015 Money In The Bank pay-per-view for the newest edition of the ARN podcast. Months after this event, AJ Styles debuted for the WWE at the 2016 Royal Rumble PPV and Arn shared that he was one of the people who lobbied for Styles to come into the company. Arn added that he talked to John Cena about Styles, Robert Roode and James Storm coming into WWE to work with him but initially, Cena was hesitant about it and stated that WWE had the NXT brand and could create its own stars.
“No I wasn’t surprised. I was pleasantly surprised and I pushed for AJ. There was a point in time when Cena had about run out of opponents and I was on that whole ride with John for all those years, more than a decade I would imagine, and we were sitting there and I was talking to him and it was when TNA was doing well and I would watch their show, not every week, not every other week. Probably because I was just too busy and suffering from burnout on wrestling but, I was sitting there with Cena one afternoon. We’re sitting backstage at a table. I said, ‘You know John, it would really beef up the company if we would go out and we would steal Bobby Roode, AJ Styles and The Cowboy, who’s James Storm. If you just brought those three guys in, it would just give you a whole plethora of new opponents, it would give a lot of guys new opponents’ and those three guys, I singled them out because of their work and their psychology and just things I knew I could benefit helping them and they would catch right on and they would be a very, very good fit and you know, fact is John looked at me and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got NXT. We got our own stars’ and I’m sure he was just transferring Vince’s psychology to me when he said that but I knew at that time what those guys could do in a match for John if you just give them six-to-nine months to come in and get over, but you would have to push them the right way just like they were [a] fresh, 25-year old body guy that you had hoped the stars for and that’s what comes from the top. That’s the deal. ‘We want them young, we want them to have great physiques, great athletes. We’ll bring ‘em in and we’ll build them.’ Well these guys have their experience. They already had their teeth cut on the indies, TNA, they were experienced. They were ready. You could bring them in day one, debut ‘em on RAW, debut ‘em on SmackDown and you had a player, and so AJ Styles and Bobby Roode and Cowboy, they were all on my radar for a while, before they ever made it.”
Arn also touched base on Roman Reigns’ “suffering succotash” promo. He joked that promo material like that should be a felony.
“And I think Roman has been given promo material for a guy that looks like that and can perform like that, to ever mouth the words ‘suffering succotash’ should be at least a felony in most states, and that’s for the person that wrote the line for him.”
** LMTOnline profiled pro wrestler Rok-C, real name Carla Gonzalez. Rok-C came forward about her past dealings with sexual misconduct as a part of the #SpeakingOut movement. Rok-C had encounters in the past with Joey Ryan, who many women in wrestling have also had similar encounters with as recently revealed. During the interview, Rok-C spoke about why the #SpeakingOut movement is so important.
“The Speaking Out movement is so important because it sheds light on certain experiences people have had to go through just trying to make a name for themselves in the business. These are experiences that mentally affect the victims for the rest of their lives. I remember hearing about things like this happening in the film industry, but you don’t realize how real these things are until you’ve had to experience it and hear other people’s experiences.”
** AEW Co-Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes joined David LaGreca and Bully Ray on Busted Open Radio. Cody was asked about NXT naming their next two weeks of television ‘The Great American Bash’ to go head-to-head with Fyter Fest. With The Great American Bash name being synonymous with Dusty Rhodes, Cody voiced his thoughts about the NXT brand using the name and hopes that it doesn’t become what WWE has turned Starrcade into.
“So there are two events. People, I think sometimes mistakenly think Dusty just named Starrcade and Great American Bash, and it’s well beyond naming them. It’s a matter of booking them, of marketing them, of the creation of what the event stands for, especially at the advents of pay-per-views. My dad always told me that Starrcade was for my sister and that Great American Bash was for me and obviously at the time he came up with these events, I’m not sure if that was actually the case but that’s what he told me and that’s why it’s very special, both events to me and my sister. I’m not going to get angry, because it still brings up his name in a positive way. The marketing of the event reminds me a lot of what Disney currently does. If you go to Disney World, they still sell Haunted Mansion shirts and they are all done retro-style. That’s something that’s been marketed really well. They market nostalgia. If you run a sizzle with Sting and Dusty Rhodes and Hulk Hogan, none of those guys are gonna be there. So it’s a unique marketing thing. I’m not really upset about it. I know my sister was kind of — really thought it was so strange it was announced willy nilly, last minute. In the strangest of ways, I would hope that they do something special with it. I think our show is better. I think it will be better in execution but I hope they do something special with it because I hated what Michael Hayes did with Starrcade. He took a creation of my dad’s and he made it a live event because they weren’t selling any tickets in North Carolina and he wanted to save his job, and that was disappointing to me in terms of that was the premiere event in World Championship Wrestling and the NWA and you did what you did with it and the same I hope is not what happens with Great American Bash. I’m not upset at anything that brings my dad’s name in a positive light. Is it a weird feeling? For sure, but I’ve also been in a tag match with my brother competing ratings-wise against the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. One guy who I’ll never mind competing with is my own dad. I’ll never mind that and The Great American Bash… it is what it is and I hope that they do something positive with it. That’s really the only outlet I have on it unless I had like three or four Bourbons and then I would have an absolutely different outlook on it. But I like that they bring his name up in a charming and loving way. I just hope it’s not another Starrcade situation.”
Cody also shared high praise for Ricky Starks who received his AEW contract after facing Cody for the TNT Title at the Dynamite tapings. Cody thinks Starks has a certain presence that was missing from AEW and is proud that Ricky earned his spot in the company.
“I’ve loved every match I had [as TNT Champion]. Ricky Starks is such a unique example too. The open challenge was not intended on, ‘Let’s give people a job.’ That’s not what it was intended on and if you win the title, of course you’re gonna become an AEW — a member of our roster but in the case of Ricky Starks, as soon as I got in the ring, I looked at him and thought, ‘Man he’s got a swag. He’s got a presence that we’re missing in some areas here’ and Tony Khan thought the exact same thing. As soon as he walked back through the curtain, that was a done deal and it was something that I had not planned for so I was really proud of Ricky Starks and proud of the open challenge for being able to do that.”
** Retired pro Boxer Anthony Ogogo became All Elite Wrestling’s first developmental wrestler after his signing with the company was announced in the Fall of 2019. Ogogo also had the opportunity to go the WWE and while speaking with ‘Standard Sport’, he explained why he chose AEW or WWE.
“I had a choice of WWE and AEW and I chose AEW because I loved the company and loved Cody’s vision and I want to be part of something really special. The choice was simple.
I’ve got things I want to achieve in my life that I wasn’t able to achieve in boxing. But I still want to achieve those things and now I can look to achieve them in a slightly different arena in the world of professional wrestling.”
In a sanctioned fight in 2017, Ogogo suffered a fractured eye socket that led to him seeing a number of specialists, having surgery and ultimately retiring from Boxing. He talked about his pro debut and having those moments throughout the years of sadness because his career did not turn out to be what he thought it would be. Ogogo also explained why he could not get into the grove of commentating Boxing fights.
“My debut was the best night of my career which is really odd. It should have been the start rather than the pinnacle. Talking about it and going through it all again has brought those feelings back to the surface. I was a bit upset thinking about it, what could have been, what should have been.
Its been a tough 12 months and I’m almost at the other end. But I do get pangs of sorrow and sadness that I didn’t have the career that my talent and desire deserved. But I guess that’s life and all you can do is move on and not dwell on it which I am trying to do.
I couldn’t sit there and commentate and watch people live out my dream when I wasn’t able to do so. It would just be too painful for me.”
** New York Post pushed out their interview with Seth Rollins. Rollins was asked what has it been like for him mentally after finding out that there were people in WWE who’ve tested positive for Coronavirus. Rollins said its been a bit of a struggle because of the number of decisions that have to be made but he’s glad the company is now testing before every taping.
“Its been a struggle in the sense that there have just been a lot of decisions that have to be made quickly as far as travel is concerned because now that we’re doing added testing and those swabs every single time before these tapings, that puts you in a little bit of a hole as far as your travel is concerned because now you are going to have to leave a day early, and when you don’t know you have to leave a day early until it all comes up it becomes a bit of a hassle. We had to make some changes to the taping schedule last week, which is going to force us to go back down again this week to do some more tapings.
As we as a country and the world really just start to learn more about this thing, we are just trying to get a protocol in place that makes sense for everybody in WWE. I’m for one extremely happy that we’re testing every time before we go in. That will hopefully minimize the risk of people getting sick in the Performance Center and obviously us passing it out into the general population. The fact that we’re testing is definitely great.
The extra travel days is what it is, not a big deal. But this week was crazy. It was a lot of people scrambling to make decisions and to try to figure out what the best order of operations is regarding this situation since we had not had this problem yet. Luckily, I think we have some good stuff coming up as far as we’re gonna handle this. The communication has been a lot better toward the tail end of this than in the beginning. It was (laughs) tricky at first, but we’re all along for the ride.”
Rollins spoke about former RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch who is currently pregnant with their child. He said that he does expect Becky to return to wrestling and knows she has aspirations to return but anything can happen between now and December.
“Oh yea, I expect so. Obviously that’s gonna be up to her and how she feels. Who knows what happens after childbirth once she becomes a mother, I don’t know. I believe she has aspirations to return. I think she would rather go out on her own terms whenever that time may be as opposed to stepping away for a child. I think she has aspirations to return, but I don’t know. Things can change between now and December.”
Seth Rollins has been working a storyline with Rey Mysterio and Rey’s son Dominik. Rollins praised Mysterio as a father because of how he lets Dominik explore himself and not hover over him regarding Dominik’s professional career.
“Rey’s a great dad. The way he allows Dominik the freedom to explore things on his own and then give input on the side. He’s not forceful, he’s not controlling. He’s not the dad that’s like, ‘You have to do it this way, you have to do it that way.’ He’s more of a guide. To watch them interact and the way they figure things out … also Dominik has a natural gift for it too. He’s very in tune to what it should be.”
** Chris Jericho chatted with KNAC.com about his music career and the forthcoming business ventures he has coming up, including his cruise that’s scheduled for 2021. In regard to the Coronavirus, Jericho says he’s not “terrified” of it like some people are since he’s taking the proper precautions to keep himself healthy.
“I’ve never been ‘isolated’ during this whole Coronavius thing, we’ve been working every week, we’ve been talking with people and meeting with people. We haven’t been shaking hands or anything like that. I’m not as ‘terrified’ of the virus as some people are. I’m not saying that in a reckless way, I meet people out on the street, we’re not spitting in each other’s faces and we’re not shaking hands or tongue kissing or anything like that. Since I’m taking these steps, I’m just not as worried about it.”
On the topic of the cruise, Jericho said although he doesn’t know what the future holds, he still plans to host the cruise on its scheduled date.
“Yeah, it’s still a go. Of course, who knows, we don’t know what the future holds, but right now it’s still scheduled for February of 2021. We’re full-steam ahead for the 3rd cruise at the moment, which sold-out in three days. It’s incredible. I think people are going to go nuts on the cruise after going through all of this.”
** Colt Cabana was a guest on Lucha Central’s ‘Business of the Business’ podcast to discuss his marketing techniques that he’s used throughout his career when it comes to merchandise and promoting himself. While on the topic of All Elite Wrestling, Cabana said he wants to continue promoting his brand that he’s built over the past decade-plus while also showing the powers that be in AEW that he is worth the signing and is contributing to the overall growth of the company.
“It’s weird because I wanna sell stuff for myself to keep those profits margins high but then I also wanna make sure I sell stuff for AEW that they see the value they get within signing me and it’s important that I move big numbers so the execs there are like, ‘This was a good signing. We’re happy with him. He moves the needle and he’s an important part of our business’ and that’s the way I continue wrestling and performing and keep on extending a contract with AEW. So it’s a fine balance. Obviously, in my head I’m always trying to help my business, whatever it might be, but a part of signing this contract is saying to myself like, ‘Now it’s time to be loyal to someone else and try to help their business also’ and I’m very invested in that and it’s very important for me to help the AEW business as much as they’re gonna help my business.”
Colt also revealed during the podcast that back in 2010 which was a year after he was let go from WWE, he pitched a podcast idea to the company and shared that he was laughed at for his idea.
“In 2010, I had pitched a podcast series to WWE based off of the success of my own and they laughed at me, and they told me that — they were like, ‘WWE is a visual medium. There is no point in the audio.’ They laughed at me but I laughed at them because I knew how stupid they sounded.”
** Its been over a month since the passing of Shad Gaspard. His family and friends remembered his life with a series of tributes and ceremonies that were held in the area of his passing. His wife, Siliana Gaspard recently spoke with PEOPLE.com to share her memories of the man who she shared her life with.
“Shad was a family man, an excellent father, and it shows in our son. Everyone has nothing but good things to say about him, and how well-behaved he is, how well-mannered he is, and they all give me credit. But the truth is, it took two of us, and Shad was a big part of that.
We’re just doing our best to push forward,” Siliana says of losing Shad, 39. “We’re just trying to ensure that his legacy lives on through his projects and, of course, our son. He is the most important thing for both of us. So I have to stay strong for him.”
Regarding the story that Shad made sure to rescue he and Siliana’s son, Aryeh, before telling the rescue team to save himself is something that Siliana 100 percent believes because according to her, that was the type of person that Shad was.
“I’m not surprised that Shad did that, because that’s who Shad is. I wasn’t surprised to see my son come back. I was surprised that Shad didn’t. But he was just himself at that moment. That’s really the best way I can explain it. He just did exactly what he would do.”
** Kenny Omega appeared on Mega Ran’s ‘Random Encounters’ podcast to chat about video games, All Elite Wrestling and several other topics. While discussing how AEW has adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic as far as putting on shows, Omega talked about the methods the company has used to put out their product consistently.
“So, we’ve made the best out of a bad situation. We’re still pumping out shows, and we’re doing the one live, one taped method so we’re doing one week on, one week off, and coming up for Fyter [Fest], we’re doing next week live then the week after live because it’s Fyter… Its been different man.”
** Former WWE and TNA talent Trenesha Biggers, formerly known as “Rhaka Khan” is set to appear in court for a trail on August 1st in El Paso, Texas according to ‘Justia U.S. Law’. The charges against Biggers are interference with child custody and “aggravated kidnapping facilitate.” She was indicted on the charges last Summer and that led to her being labeled as one of El Paso’s most wanted fugitives. Biggers is scheduled for a status conference on August 13th in El Paso for another charge.
** The first installment of Sportsnet’s ‘Top Of Her Game’ series featured Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte Flair. Charlotte opened up about her run as Divas Champion and why she is proud of it, along with the opportunity to be the first WWE Women’s Champion of the new era of women’s wrestling in WWE.
“I could go on about this. Well first I want to say, it was an honor to hold the Divas Championship because as a woman who grew up in sports, who wasn’t a model or known for her looks, I was just known for my talent and to know that I could be athletic and confident and this larger-than-life character, known for her athletic ability and not her looks and call myself a Diva, I was like, ‘Yeah that’s right. I’m the Divas Champion.’ So, to retire that title meant so much to me but then to represent the company and win the WrestleMania 32 Women’s Championship…
No big deal [crowd size for that match], and I look back, I’m like, ‘We could’ve done so much better. We could’ve done so many things different’ because if we had the experience but it was just going like, ‘Here I am, one, generational wrestler. Two, not known for my looks but for my athleticism’ and from NXT as a talent, sometimes you feel when it’s that moment when you can hold this title. It’s the talent that makes the title, not the title that makes the talent and in that moment, when I held up that title, like Stephanie [McMahon] said, in front of our largest audience with one of the best matches on the card I go, ‘No, this is a new era of women’s wrestling. This will go down in history as we’re no longer just eye candy. There’s Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks, the future of this company’ and that I can hold that title meant everything but because of my athleticism. Not because of my last name, not because I was a model somewhere — Diva Search. No, it’s because what I brought to the table as an athlete and that was my message.”
** Scott Fishman of TV Insider interviewed All Elite Wrestling’s Dasha Gonzalez on behalf of Wrestling Inc. Gonzalez shared that while she was in WWE, there were several times when she pitched to get physical if the company wanted her to do so on-screen.
“I’ll throw out there, ‘Hey, if you need me to take a bump. I’ll take a bump. Let me know.’ That opportunity never presented itself there. But a lot of people don’t know this, but I was signed to NXT as a wrestler before moving into announcing. I tried, but it wasn’t in the cards for me there.”
** Glory Pro Wrestling announced their first show since the Coronavirus outbreak in North America. The show will take place on August 1st entitled ‘Peace Up, A-Town Down’. Those attending the show are being encouraged to wear their face masks and in the venue, there will be multiple sanitizing stations. Social distancing will be instituted via the seating arrangements.
** Below is the newest video on Asuka’s YouTube channel.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX3yzqmEIRo[/embedyt]
** Batista and Titus O’Neil will be part of the UNICEF live stream for Amazon on 6/30. The stream lasted from 11 AM to 6 PM EST on the official Amazon website or it can be watched on Fire TV.
** The Ledger spoke with Ring of Honor’s Kenny King for an exclusive interview. King talked about the normal ROH schedule prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and how that matches up against the WWE touring schedule. King said he regularly speaks with Kevin Owens and AJ Styles about how they’re able to manage their schedules and being an effective parent.
“I’m very thankful for that. It’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed with Ring of Honor. Being a father, I’ll talk to guys like AJ Styles and Kevin Owens about how they’re able to do this, be on the road and still be an effective parent. You have to have an amazing partner and I have that now.”
** Jeff Jarrett appeared in court on June 30th to represent his company, Global Force Entertainment in a lawsuit against IMPACT Wrestling parent company, Anthem. This note came from PWInsider.com.
** Pro Wrestling ZERO1 is hosting an emergency press conference on July 11th, which is the 15th anniversary of Shinya Hashimoto’s passing, who is the founder of the promotion.
** Kevin Kelly interviewed with Karl Fredericks ahead of the Lion’s Break Collision show. During the interview, Fredericks revealed that he is no longer a New Japan young lion. After he suffered a tear in his right shoulder, he went to Japan and trained with Katsuyori Shibata who gave Fredericks the green light to do away with the young lion ways and rules that followed him outside of the dojo into the ring.
“Yeah so, a lot of people don’t know this but, you know, I’ve been given the green light to step out of that shell, and preparing for that match with KENTA, I knew I was ready to step out of that. I was ready for more but I also knew that my arsenal, my offense wasn’t enough so I was actually — I went straight from this injury [right shoulder] that I tore in America and I asked to go back to Japan because I wanted to be in the dojo and rehabbing there and I started kickboxing with Shibata-san and I was training for hours every day, and I think he saw that and he saw how serious I was and that I was ready for more and yeah, I’ve been given that green light and it’s sink or swim now.”
** WWE’s Paige did a live stream on Twitch with Zelina Vega and photographer Raquel Welch.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taIGICL7dA[/embedyt]
** ScreenRant published an article about Chris Jericho being denied a role in the film ‘The Devil’s Rejects’. According to Jericho, he didn’t get the role because he was “too pretty”.
** All Japan Pro Wrestling ‘The Triple Crown of Wilderness’ Results (6/30/20) Tokyo, Japan
– 5th Asunaro Cup: Dan Tamura def. Atsuki Aoyagi
– 5th Asunaro Cup: Hokuto Omori def. Rising HAYATO
– UTAMARO & Zeus def. Black Menso-re & Takao Omori
– Seigo Tachibana & Yoshitatsu def. TAJIRI & Yuma Aoyagi
– Akira Francesco, Jiro Kuroshio & Kento Miyahara def. Hikaru Sato, Yusuke Okada & Shuji Ishikawa
– AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title #1 Contender’s match: Koji Iwamoto def. Yusuke Kodama
– Jake Lee def. Kuma Arashi
– AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship: Suwama (c) def. Shotaro Ashino
** Josiah Williams uploaded a new video to his YouTube channel of a throwback edition of ‘Wrestle & Flow’ based around WWE Hall Of Famer Mark Henry.
** The NBC preview of the USA Network series ‘Cannonball’, hosted by Mike “The Miz” Mizanin brought in 2,748,000 overnight viewers from 10-11 PM EST on 6/29, per The Wrap.
** Former RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey is doing a Facebook Live stream for episode one of her ‘Rowdy’ gaming league.
** Here’s the first episode of AEW’s Road to Fyter Fest series:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-THlVsjr0i8[/embedyt]
** Brie and Nikki Bella put up posts on Instagram about their mother, Kathy Laurinaitis who is undergoing brain surgery today.
** Part two of Tetsuya Naito’s interview with NJPW1972.com is up on the site.
** Mirror Sport has an interview with Sonya Deville.
** MLW announced that they are teaming with Wildcat Championship belts to manufacture a line of authentic championship belts. The belts are available for purchase at this link.
** Streaming on the WWE Network this Sunday will be a new edition of ‘WWE 365’ based around the past year of Ricochet’s career.
** Terry Funk turned 76-years old on June 30th. AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes turned 35-years old today. ROH’s Will Ferrara also has a birthday today and he’s now 29.
** Prior to the 6/29/20 episode of RAW, Dolph Ziggler spoke with Sports Illustrated and he was asked if he enjoyed being in the veteran role during his storyline with Otis, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Ziggler explained that he did enjoy it but he’s also accustomed to it and he further elaborated on his answer:
“It’s a little bit of both. I’ve been out there with young people, or I’m the middle guy on someone’s way to fight Cena and the entire machine is behind them, and I’ve also been in there with someone who is having their first match. Mandy, Sonya and Otis were not only excited to get better, they were excited for the chemistry, the moment and the work that goes into it. I feel like having me in there really helped out and I was able to say, ‘What about this? A similar psychology went into this 14 years ago when I was wrestling DX.’ As much as I like to talk trash and pretend I don’t give a damn, when I’m putting something together, I put everything into it. Whether it’s 30 seconds or 30 minutes, I have my hands on all the moving pieces. As awesome as all three of them are going to be, and as great as they were to work with, a huge part of it was having me there, giving a huge psychological edge that you can’t have without 15 years here. I hate that I’m the guy responsible for that. I want to be the champion, the guy everyone is gunning for, but my mentality is to make my match better than the champ’s match. So it’s a blessing and a curse, and all of my bosses have told me that since day one. But as long as you stay in the game, you never know. Sometimes you’re in a title match, sometimes things go your way, sometimes a move gets made and this is your one chance after 15 years to sell in three weeks that you should be champion.”
** STARDOM’s next shows will take place on July 11 & July 12 from Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan. The shows will be available to watch on STARDOM World in the days following the shows being taped.
** Below is the newest episode of AEW Dark:
** Comicbook.com has an interview with The Undertaker that they ran last week and during that interview, Undertaker talked about his biker persona and feeling that more could’ve been done with that version of his character.
“I think we cut that off. We cut that off kind of early when we did the American Badass the first time. I think we could have got a little more mileage out of it, but, it was a different variation. It was an older iteration of it. The American Badass has got a few more years on him. He’s a little more grizzled even. And there were still so many I think, aspects of The Undertaker you could see in there, so I think it was just like I’ve wrapped everything all together. And I think those people were really excited.”
** Court Bauer announced that Mance Warner will have his own line of beer in 2021.
** Alicia Atout of ‘A Music Blog, Yea?’ interviewed NXT U.K.’s Nina Samuels.
** Game Changer Wrestling’s ‘Homecoming Weekend’ of events are scheduled for the weekend of July 24th. Both shows (25th & 26th) will be held on the Garden Pier on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
** Karl Anderson noted on Twitter that he and Luke Gallows have a meeting with some “Elite Brothers” on Wednesday.
** There was a Dungeons & Dragons stream held with Jeremy Crawford, Xavier Woods, Ember Moon, Alexa Bliss, Dio Maddin and Tyler Breeze:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbjw9h0lK3k[/embedyt]
** Sean Mooney has put out the final episode of his Prime Time With Sean Mooney podcast. He’ll now be working on a new venture/podcast called the ‘Upside of 40’ which also includes a YouTube channel to go along with the podcast.
** Referee Kris Levin was a guest on the ‘Big Ben & Friends’ podcast. During the chat, Kris explained why he departed from IMPACT Wrestling and spoke about the type of environment that he maneuvered through during his time with the company.
“One thing I can say about IMPACT is they make it their mission to break down people’s self-esteem so that they will do anything for them and it really messes with your head while you’re there and it’s a big reason why I’m not there anymore. It’s just such a toxic environment of control and mind games and negativity.”
Kris said that when he first got involved in wrestling, he trained to become an in-ring performer but it was soon after he completed the training process that he realized the physical portion of the sport is not for him.
“When I got into the business — well before I got into the business, I had this dream that I would be a wrestler and then when I started going through the bumps of it all and by the time all was said and done with my training, I did all the training that’s required to be a pro wrestler, and since then I’ve had a few matches. Just here and there whether it’s goofy, ha ha things or under a hood or whatever, it’s just not for me. I’m built like a baby bird. I just can’t handle all the bumps that frequently, that regularly.”
** Santana and Ortiz chatted with Bleacher Report Live ahead of AEW’s two-night Fyter Fest event.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJUr7Hbhq-k[/embedyt]
** ‘The Indian Express’ spoke with NJPW President Harold Meij, Hiroshi Tanahashi and journalist Fumi Saito about the return of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the Coronavirus’ affect on the wrestling business in Japan.
** MMA fighter and reality TV star Aaron Chalmers spoke with Metro and further discussed his desire to become a pro wrestler. He wants to finish out his MMA contract with Bellator but pro wrestling has always been on the back-burner and it’s just a matter of making the right move at the right time.
“That’s always been in the back burner, but we’ve had to do everything in the right steps. Try and build a profile in different ways to try and get recognized, to hopefully go to the wrestling in England and then America, and hopefully retire! I’ve got to put a lot more work in to get to that level, which I’m willing to do. You can’t just expect to go straight in at the top at the level where I’m at.”
Chalmers talked about the negativity that he received on social media from wrestlers when he announced his plans to venture into the sport. Chalmers feels that his first match would likely get more press and attention than any other wrestler on his debut card would get.
“A few wrestlers were starting to get their backs up. It’s jealously, because they know when I get signed there’ll be a new face in town. My first wrestling match will probably get more press than every wrestler altogether on that card. People don’t like it, but tough s**t!”
** A new episode of OVW TV has been uploaded to the promotion’s official YouTube channel.
** Brackets are set up on ROHWrestling.com to vote on the greatest rivalry in Ring of Honor history.
** Here’s the newest video on Lana’s YouTube channel featuring Mandy Rose:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W90p6G3mF1Q[/embedyt]
** WarnerMedia is selling the CNN Center in Atlanta, per The Wrap. The building used to be the WCW Headquarters.
** Kurt Angle is hosting a preview show for a film about retired Greco-Roman Olympic Gold Medalist wrestler, Rulon Gardner. The full press release can be read below:
Original Film Featuring American Wrestler Rulon Gardner’s Rise to Stardom and Incredible Life Story Beyond the Olympic Games Available to Livestream at olympicchannel.com Starting at 7pm EDT on the 21st
Preview Show with Olympic Gold Medallist and WWE Star Kurt Angle alongside Rulon Gardner Streams Live at 6:30pm EDT on 21 July
“MADRID – 30 June 2020 –American Greco-Roman wrestler Rulon Gardner’s inspirational story of beating the odds is featured in the upcoming Olympic Channel original documentary, RULON, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Gardner’s victory over the world’s most dominant wrestler and three-time reigning Olympic champion, Aleksandr Karelin of Russia at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000.
RULON premieres worldwide on Tuesday, 21 July at 7 p.m. EDT at olympicchannel.com and on its apps for mobile and connected TV devices. Immediately prior to the film’s debut at 6:30 p.m. EDT, fans are invited to tune into a special preview show with Kurt Angle and Gardner who reminisce about their Olympic careers and talk about the sport of wrestling. (No TV subscription is required.)
RULON, part of the Five Rings Films collection, tells the incredible story of Rulon Gardner, the youngest of nine children from a Wyoming farming family, who twenty years ago shocked the world at the Olympic Games in Sydney and became an American icon overnight. Instant fame was then followed by tragedy and adversity including near-death experiences, crushing weight gain and bankruptcy. Now, he’s returned to wrestling as a high school coach and is trying to make sense of his legacy – both as an American icon and a cautionary tale for what can come after a miracle.
Told in the first person by Gardner and directed by Adam Irving, RULON features never-before-seen video, exclusive International Olympic Committee (IOC) archive footage and insightful interviews with wrestlers Karelin and former world champion Dremiel Byers, and Gardner’s coach and 1984 Olympic gold medallist Steve Fraser. Additional commentary includes media personalities who have covered Gardner’s Olympic career and rise to stardom including Bob Costas, Katie Couric, Phil Hersh, Jim Lampley and Joe Posnanski.
Five Rings Films, the Olympic Channel’s signature documentary series, is a series of incisive and entertaining documentaries directed by some of the biggest names in film from around the world. In addition to depictions of iconic individuals and record-breaking teams, each feature length film showcases the incredible humanity, variety and achievements of the modern Olympic era.
Five Rings Films is produced exclusively for the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) global media platform by Frank Marshall and Mandalay Sports Media (MSM). Marshall, whose producing credits include legendary titles such as “Jason Bourne,” “Jurassic World” and “Indiana Jones” franchises, serves as executive producer alongside MSM’s Mike Tollin and Jon Weinbach whose recent credits include “The Last Dance”. Greg Groggel will serve as executive producer for the Olympic Channel.
Offering year-round coverage of Olympic sports and elite athletes in their quest for success, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Channel over-the-top (OTT) streaming service is available worldwide and subscription-free at olympicchannel.com, its mobile apps and on connected TV devices.”
** Shelton Benjamin joined Xavier Woods in a game of Tekken: ‘Final Fight 3’.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMaglh2nGf4[/embedyt]
** Former IMPACT X Division Champion Ace Austin was a guest on Cultaholic’s ‘Desert Island Graps’ podcast.
** Booker T is going to be a guest judge for several mobile gaming tournaments this Summer. Booker T will be on the judges panel for a Minecraft Pocket-Edition Build Contest on Thursday, July 16 and the Lonestar Mobile Gaming College Championship on Sat, August 1.
** Lio Rush posted the following video to Instagram:
** The latest edition of New Day’s Feel The Power podcast features guest, Big Jay The Barber who has cut the hair of many WWE talents.
** Asuka and Nikki Cross’ Last Woman Standing match for the NXT Women’s Championship has been uploaded to WWE’s YouTube channel.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I-c7yIg_CQ[/embedyt]
** PJ Black was the most recent guest on the ROHStrong podcast.
** Ric Flair congratulated ARCG Media on their 7th anniversary.
What a great way to end this amazing week! Yesterday, @arcgmedia celebrated its 7th anniversary & there is no better recognition than from the living legend himself, the 2x @wwe Hall of Famer, @RicFlairNatrBoy! Thx so much Ric. I will cherish this with all my heart! ❤️ #WOOOOO! pic.twitter.com/ox0baRYr5v
— Rob Aurelius® (@RobAurelius) June 19, 2020
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.
