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.
** One of the individuals who cyberbullied Hana Kimura confessed to her actions while speaking with ‘The Mainichi’. The woman who resides in Eastern Japan said that she created a social media account and partook in the online abuse that led to Kimura taking her own life. She told The Mainichi that she has done a very terrible thing and expressed regret for her role in what happened. She first became aware of Hana Kimura through the show ‘Terrace House’ and initially viewed Hana as “a very nice kid who can cook and greet others properly.”
The incident that changed her thoughts about Kimura was when there was an altercation between Kimura and a male housemate who washed Kimura’s ring gear in a washing machine. The gear had a special meaning to Kimura. Kimura reacted by knocking said individual’s hat off of his head which drew a great deal of negativity towards her on social media.
The individual who partook in the cyberbullying said her feelings of “disgust” towards Kimura began to grow following the incident. She questioned why Hana had an attitude and saw a handful of other posts directed at Hana Kimura in similar vein and figured that she should send messages to Kimura as well. She never used social media prior to that but created an account just to send negative messages to Hana Kimura and admitted that she felt happy when she received “likes” from other people who agreed with her comments towards Kimura.
** Thunder Rosa did an interview with TheAllianceBlog. Thunder Rosa told the publication about her experiences wrestling in Japan and how it was expressed to her that she would not become a star and that motivated her to become what she has become today. Rosa also spoke about some of the favoritism that she saw first-hand when it came to the Japanese wrestling scene.
“I remember I told my husband, ‘Listen man, when I go to Japan, given the fact that I’m older, that I’m Mexican, that I’m not your typical 21-year old white girl that they love’ because they love really young girls and white even better — ‘I need to use this as a platform, because they ain’t gonna push me and I already know.’ I came here to do a job and that’s to put the girls over, no matter how good I am or how good I will become, that’s what I’m here for and that was eye opening for me, and you come there and you think you’re gonna become a star and whatever. Some girls went there and nobody even knew they were there so you know, I was like, ‘I’m gonna put myself over.’ No matter what, if I’m gonna come in here and do the jobbing work, I’m gonna put myself over, and I remember giving this — my last month there after I was out for a month with a concussion, I was talking to Kris Wolf and I looked at her and said, ‘Don’t ever let anybody tell you what you can or cannot do. This is, for me, a learning experience that when I come back to America, I’m gonna take over the f*cking world. Watch me, watch me.’ They told me I can’t be a star. Well I’m gonna be so undeniably good and popular, not because of how I look, but because I can freaking work.”
** El Phantasmo joined Tama Tonga on the ‘Tama’s Island’ podcast and spoke about the insensitive language he used during the Super-J Cup tournament in the Summer of 2019. Phantasmo referred to Will Ospreay as “The Autistic Assassin”.
“Then I had to cut a promo after the match to antagonize [Jushin Thunder] Liger and then antagonize Will [Ospreay] to set up our title match, and I was just saying sh*t to get heat and I called — I was like, ‘Will, The Aerial Assassin or should I say The Autistic Assassin’ and it got such a big reaction, but I never meant it as a diss to Autistic people. I meant it like, ‘You’re kinda dumb Will,’ and then the people on Twitter blew it up. So they got so offended and it was really weird because I had more Autistic people message me saying they thought it was funny or they were fine they had people actually message saying how offended they were, and then I realized it was a stupid thing to say and I apologized and I did feel bad. The crazy thing is my mom’s worked with Autistic people my whole life. We have them sleep over on weekends. I love Autistic people and people with disabilities and I have such a soft spot for them that I never thought of it as a negative way, that just five people on Twitter saw someone tweet that I called Will ‘The Autistic Assassin’. They blew that out of proportion and the people who were offended weren’t there, you know?
I didn’t want to apologize because we’re playing bad guys. We’re trying to say bad things to stir it up which is exactly what it did but, people we’re threatening to cancel New Japan World and all this stuff and I didn’t want that press going to the New Japan office. I was like, ‘I’m just gonna step in, take responsibility, clear the air here before it gets out of control’ but it’s one of those things where no one knows what’s okay and what’s not okay anymore.”
** More details have emerged regarding Phillip Thomas breaking into the home of WWE’s Sonya Deville, real name Daria Berenato. Tampa’s FOX affiliate noted in an article that Ariana Johnson, ex of Daria Berenato testified in court and shared that Thomas had been threatening her as well dating back to May of 2019. This led to her deleting her Instagram account. Prosecutors believe Thomas wanted to “get rid of competition” so he could solely pursue the attention of Berenato.
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated conducted an interview with IMPACT Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo. It’s noted in the article that while IMPACT Executives and Purrazzo were negotiating to bring her into the company, she was told that they wanted her to become Knockouts Champion and main-event opportunities would be available to her.
Elsewhere during the interview, Purrazzo stated that she feels she’s the best technical wrestler in the world.
“My match at Slammiversary wasn’t a fluke or a one-time thing. I’m the greatest technical wrestler in the world, and I’m going to prove that again at Emergence.”
** The Associated Press has a feature story up about the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the wrestling scene in Mexico. Quotes from luchador Fantasma were included in the article and he mentioned how there is currently a stigma out in the public regarding Mexican wrestlers passing away from COVID-19 and COVID actually not being the cause for all of those deaths.
** Newsweek chatted with Drew McIntyre ahead of the 8/24 episode of RAW. McIntyre, fresh off of his WWE Title match against Randy Orton at SummerSlam, is unaware if he’ll be working WWE’s Payback pay-per-view this coming Sunday. McIntyre was punt kicked three times by Orton on RAW.
“I’m intrigued that’s for sure. With the environment right now. I guess we have those capabilities to bring everybody content. We have the ThunderDome right here, which is really cool so I mean, I’m interested to see how it comes off and how people respond to it. I honestly don’t know if I’m doing anything [at Payback] and I don’t usually inquire about anything until the very last second. That’s just how I operate. I like to go on the fly and get a few things as I go, but I’m curious to see if I’m doing anything whatever else has been and how it’s received.”
One name that McIntyre is looking forward to seeing more from is Aleister Black. He feels that once Black gets the opportunity to put the pieces of the puzzle together, he’s going to have the run of a lifetime.
“There’s a few people that have stepped up and continue to step up and there’s more to come. I know there’s more to come from Aleister Black for sure. I’m just waiting for that big moment. He knows his character as well as I know mine. He knows what he’s going for and it’s really cool and I guess it’s just doing it the right way to connect the right way because he’s got all the tools. Once you put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in the right place is when someone gets on a roll. I think Aleister Black is finally going to put that jigsaw puzzle together and he’s going to be on the run of a lifetime.”
McIntyre also spoke about Keith Lee joining the RAW roster. McIntyre is looking forward to the possibility of wrestling Lee again and once Lee dropped the NXT Title this past Saturday, he along with many others began to speculate on the future of the former double champion.
“He had an incredible run in the indies and when I saw him I could never understand why the companies he would work for previously never really gave him a big opportunity. He got an opportunity in Evolve and was kind of coming in as I was going out. I’ve been keeping an eye on some of his matches especially at Evolve and then to see him get the opportunity in NXT the way he got and the talent shining through got him right to the top. He dropped the title the other night but I’m sure we all thought the same thing. ‘Ooo something is coming next for Keith Lee’ and I’m excited he’s coming to Monday Night RAW. He’s like myself, he’s a hybrid, you know? He’s a big guy, but he can do it all. I think we’re gonna see some exciting stuff from him and hopefully finally get that Keith Lee/Drew McIntyre match since I show[ed] up in Evolve and he powerbombs me out of the company. I show up at NXT when I was rehired and I tore my bicep and I never got to go back to wrestle at NXT.
I show up on NXT [during Survivor Series] and kick Dijakovic and Lee shows up and power bombs me again! Maybe we’ll finally get to have that match [Laughs].”
** WWE issued the following statement to Pro Wrestling Sheet about the KKK images that were shown in the crowd as a part of ThunderDome:
“This abhorrent behavior does not reflect WWE‘s values and we have zero tolerance for these unacceptable acts. We are working to ban those involved from future events and per our policies, any inappropriate actions result in the removal from the live stream.”
** Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia invested in the app ‘Acorns’ and Johnson spoke to PEOPLE.com about the investment.
** 2015 WWE Tough Enough winner Josh Bredl was a guest on Dan Matha’s ‘Spark In The Dark’ podcast. Bredl spoke about the backlash he received for sending out a tweet in 2016 about the ‘Social Outcasts’ group calling them “jobbers”. Bredl was met with tweets from the likes of Kevin Owens, Dustin Rhodes and was also temporarily banned from the WWE locker room. Bredl recounted that period of his career during the podcast.
“The whole reason why I knew what the ‘jobber’ word was and was trying to use it in my new found ecosystem, was because these motherf*ckers are jokingly calling us jobbers all the time, and I don’t care, that’s cool. I’m with that. If you wanna vet me from calling me a jobber, that’s cool bro. You don’t know what jobber is, Google that sh*t. You’ll be disappointed in Google. Basically I called them ‘social jobbers’ was disrespectful so, anyway, that led into all this crazy animosity. ‘You’re temporarily kicked out of the locker room.’ But guess what? No one actually said to me — I got an email about it and then a text message from [Matt] Bloom about it and then I was kinda like, ‘What? This is real?’ So then I tested it. I’m like f*ck it. Where I’m from, say that to my face [that] I’m really kicked out, you know what I’m saying? It’s kinda weird. Electronic sh*t talking about me on some indefinite sh*t so I just went into the locker room one day for a quick little first session. I left my bag, kind of not really claiming a spot in the locker room but also like in there. When we went to practice, I came back up and my sh*t was all out in the hallway. I don’t know if you [Dan Matha] remember, if you were there but my sh*t was all out in the hallway.”
As a result of his tweet, Bredl had to attend Wrestlers’ Court at a SmackDown taping and Mark Henry was the individual who headed the meeting.
“All of a sudden, some little — it was probably a ref or some little narc came up and was like, ‘Yo, Wrestling Court, P27.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, alright. Where’s that at?’ He’s like, ‘That way.’ I’m like, ‘Oh f*ck.’
And I walk by and so I see Lita and I’m like, ‘Hey!’ She kinda looks at me like I’m already dead or something or, ‘What the f*ck?’ So I keep walking and then all of a sudden I get in there and there’s this nice room, almost like there’s about to be a small ass little Jewish wedding, private ass high-class Jewish wedding, like foyer motherf*cker in there and go in there with my bag, I sit down and I see Mark Henry up there and I caught wind that he’s supposed to be the guy that’ll facilitate this shit by now so I’m like, ‘Cool, I’ll give him some attention’ and then I think one of The Dudley brothers came in there and he looked at me and kinda gave me like a, ‘What up?’ Like, what up? What the f*ck’s about to happen? And then more guys came in and then it started and then more people coming in and out. Like the room was breathing with wrestlers at times and people were getting their licks on me. They basically started bashing me. Mark Henry said some sh*t like, ‘When I first got here, I was a piece of sh*t just like you, but I had a way bigger contract than you. We’re talking millions!’ And I was like, ‘Where is this going dog? Do you even know what happened? What are we talking about right now? Is this about the tweet? This is crazy…’”
** Ric Flair was interviewed by Wrestling Inc. and during the conversation, Flair was asked about WWE’s COVID-19 protocols that were in place at the Performance Center in Orlando and here’s what he had to say:
“They are really strict about the quarantine. In other words, the way the locker rooms are laid out, because of the smaller facility, but even in the meeting room, everybody is six feet away from each other and masks are mandatory. So if you want to see Vince, I have to walk all the way back in through a building and an office, which I’ve done twice.
Like he and Bruce would be the only two in that particular room, and has he come out? I’m sure he has, but I have not been privileged to see it. Everybody wears a mask. It’s a fine and a half. Trust me, he’ll fine you. He knows that he’s going to be scrutinized because we get scrutinized like no other sport, but it’s because the guy’s the leader.”
** Rey and Dominik Mysterio guest appeared on the ‘Keepin It 100 with Konnan’ podcast. Rey was asked how much longer he thinks he can continue wrestling and as of the podcast, Rey feels that he can keep going until he’s 50. He is currently 45 years old.
“Me personally, at the rate I’m going, I can see myself doing this about five more years.”
Rey and Dominik talked about people who they’d be interested in facing or teaming with. Rey said he’d be interested in working with Sasha Banks and praised Banks and Bayley for their interest in the Lucha Libre style.
“I would love to do a tag match with Sasha [Banks]. Yeah, I think she trained Lucha for a minute. She even went down to Mexico and trained there for a minute with Kalisto, but Sasha and Bayley love that Lucha Libre style man. They’re hungry, they’re really hungry.”
** Here is the lineup for NJPW’s ‘Fighting Spirit Unleashed’ show on 8/28:
– Danny Limelight vs. Jordan Clearwater
– Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks, ACH & TJP vs. Adrian Quest, Blake Christian, Barrett Brown & Misterioso
– Chase Owens vs. PJ Black
** Sendai Girls are streaming two live events on September 21st and September 22nd.
** An article was written about pro wrestler Eastyn Collie. Collie and his father-in-law were on a boat on-which an incident took place which forced them to hang from the boat to potentially stay alive. The article can be read on the ‘Fraser Coast Chronicle’ (subscription required).
** Chris Dickinson was announced to be a part of United Wrestling Network’s ‘Prime Time Live’ pay-per-view on September 15th.
** The registration link for a spot in the ThunderDome for this week’s Friday Night SmackDown can be found here.
** ‘Barrett Sports Media’ shared details from a CBS memo that read that Pat McAfee’s show will no longer be a part of CBS Sports Radio’s lineup after August 28th. Bobby Burack of Outkick reported that McAfee is in discussions with SiriusXM to air the radio version of his daily show.
** Darren Paltrowitz chatted with IMPACT X Division Champion Rohit Raju. Raju was asked if he’d be interested in returning to tag team action with The Desi Hit Squad and admittedly, Raju said he has always wanted to be a singles competitor and his current spot is where he wants to be.
“Well, I mean, for me, I always wanted to be a singles wrestler. I do want both guys to come back though, but I want to move forward so if they come back, something needs to happen where we move forward. I don’t want to move backwards if that makes any sense, and to me, I got into wrestling to be a singles wrestler and to be a singles star and not saying I don’t want to team up with my friends or anything of that nature because I do because I enjoy teaming up with them and just the camaraderie but I also wanna do my own thing which right now I’m absolutely loving. It’s just me going out there being me, cutting promos, wrestling matches that I wanna wrestle and it’s just fun. I’m having a great time so, I would like to keep it like this but you never know what the almighty pen will say so…”
** The following note is from Fightful Select regarding several recent NXT call-ups not receiving new WWE contracts:
“Fightful has heard from multiple sources that several recent WWE call-ups have not received new contracts. Many of them are actually working lighter schedules than they were in NXT before the pandemic started. One source high up in WWE told us that the topic of extending the contracts or offering new ones will likely be broached when things “return to normal,” though that’s much easier said than done. WWE has no idea what their live event schedule will look like when that happens, or even if they’ll have one outside of TV.”
** USA Today spoke with David Arquette to promote the ‘You Cannot Kill David Arquette’ film. Arquette talked about his Deathmatch with Nick Gage at Joey Janela’s ‘L.A. Confidential’ show in November of 2018 and discussed how his wife Christina was upset with him for the amount of blood he lost in that match.
“My wife (Christina McLarty) got really mad at me after. She’s like, ‘I just feel like you want to die putting yourself in these situations that are so dangerous.’ It helped me realize that I had just been beating myself up for so many years and that I had to learn how to love and appreciate myself.”
** Samoa Joe is the voice behind ‘King Shark’ in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
** Here’s the newest edition of AEW Dark:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtbOk9VBWqE[/embedyt]
** Jordynne Grace’s new theme song has been uploaded to IMPACT Wrestling’s YouTube channel.
** Several Major League Wrestling staff members underwent training to become certified in COVID-19 protocols. MLW is also adding a COVID-19 compliance officer to their team. This individual will be responsible for enforcing COVID-19 protocols as MLW is set to reveal their plans to resume production.
** Lance Storm interviewed former two-time WWE Women’s Champion Molly Holly and she recalled how she began working with WCW and it was by way of her training Randy Savage’s then-girlfriend, Stephanie Bellars.
“I met Lanny Poffo at an indie show in Tampa and we became friends and then Macho Man Randy Savage asked Lanny, ‘Hey, do you know any girls that can teach my new girlfriend Stephanie how to wrestle because I might need her to do some stuff on the show’ and Lanny said, ‘Oh, I know this girl Nora. She just works locally on the indie scene and she’s really nice and she can help her.’ So Macho Man asked me if I would teach his girlfriend how to wrestle so I took a leave of absence from my job, spent a month in a warehouse in Tampa teaching his girlfriend moves and then his girlfriend Stephanie was like — she also went by Gorgeous George once she got to be on TV. But she’s like, ‘Gosh Randy, this girl Nora works so hard and she’s so nice and I feel guilty that I get to be on TV and she’s not on TV. Do you think she can come on TV with us?’ And Randy was like, ‘Sure…’ So that’s how it happened is that Stephanie wanted me to be a part of an entourage in WCW and Randy thought, ‘Why not?’ Because he was [in] a pretty high position of power in WCW, part of the booking committee and of course a huge star so whatever he wanted kind of happened and so he asked Eric Bischoff to give me a contract and there I was on Monday Night Nitro.”
** ‘Wide World of Sports’ caught up with WWE talent Daniel Vidot. Vidot recalled receiving props from Vince McMahon after his match against Sheamus on the 4/24 episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
“It’s very last minute, they will tell you-you have a match tomorrow. They could message me today. It’s not like rugby league where you get told a week in advance. All I know is they’re pretty happy with me. I got a handshake from Vince [McMahon] after my match with Sheamus and apparently that’s a rare thing. All I can do is put my head down and keep working hard.”
** Mandy Rose is back to using her personal YouTube channel after Sonya Deville chose to step away from the WWE following her home being invaded last week. Mandy and Sonya both ran the ‘Damandyz Donutz’ channel.
** A clip from Rusev’s Twitch stream was uploaded to his YouTube channel and in this clip, Rusev stated that Cesaro is the greatest professional wrestler ever.
** This week on the WWE Network, a Braun Strowman ‘WWE Chronicle’ documentary along with a new ‘WWE Timeline’ episode about Christian and Randy Orton will premiere on the WWE Network.
** Virtual Basement revealed the title of their video game and it’s being called ‘The Wrestling Code’.
** The latest installment of Josiah Williams’ ‘Wrestle & Flow’ Show podcast was focused around Bianca Belair and Montez Ford and how they’re an inspiration to many.
** Former WCW talent Ice Train, real name Harold Hogue was a guest on F4WOnline’s ‘Left My Wallet’ show and he spoke about he and his family overcoming COVID-19.
** Pat McAfee chatted with ESPN for an exclusive interview to speak about NXT TakeOver: XXX. As far as McAfee possibly wrestling in NXT again goes, he is open to the idea but also has a good amount on his plate as far as other business ventures that need his attention.
“That seems to be a conversation that has been circling me for the last couple of days, and even maybe the last week or so in the buildup to this. And this is going to sound very cliche, but it’s 100% real and it’s how I literally operate with everything. I just focus on literally what’s next in my life. Because I run a business. I’ve got a daily show. I got a merch business. We have a touring company. I mean, there’s a lot of advertising, marketing. There’s a lot of things I do. And I just focus on what’s next for me.
So for when it came to the match on Saturday, I was only focused on that match. I was only focused on, ‘OK, how do I go in here, put on a hell of a show, hell of a fight and get a win? And then, we’ll worry about everything after that on Sunday.’ We’ll cross that bridge whenever we get to it. And I’ve heard the conversation start all around me and there was a lot. … Even my mom was asking, ‘Well, are you going to do this again?’ I’m like, ‘Well, let’s worry about that on Sunday.’
And then I got to Sunday, obviously, and I woke up. Neck was sore, back was sore, foot was sore. I got flipped on my head. To be completely honest, I’m not 100% sure what’s going to happen. I’m not under contract to do anything else with Mr. H. I assume he and I will talk about this at some point because I heard his comments in the press conference afterward, which were very nice.
But for me, all I was worried about was that match at NXT TakeOver: XXX and then I’ll let everything else kind of sort itself out. And I think that’s where I’m at right now. I feel good. If I never get in the ring again, I’ll be very thankful for the opportunity and I’ll be proud of it. If something pops up and it’s right and my wife doesn’t mind, because I did miss some of the honeymoon for this whole thing and she’s been incredibly cool. There’s a lot that goes into it. To be honest, I just started thinking about it within the last 24 hours, and have no idea what the future holds.”
Pat McAfee spoke in detail about the back flip off the top rope that he did at TakeOver: XXX. McAfee said he did not practice that and did it off the cuff because he has this confidence that he can do anything which in his words can be a good and bad thing.
“As the backflip off the top rope is starting, because he pushes me off, kind of off-balance, [I’m thinking,] ‘Here we go. Let me hit a backflip here instead of falling on my back, hopefully.’ I’ve never done that before off the top. Even on my own ring that I have, I’ve always done a moonsault onto a bed, but I had never done a backflip and landed it. So doing it there, attempting it there, it goes very much along the framework that I am such an idiot that I think I can do things. And I think that has been an advantage for me in my life for a lot of different professions that I’ve tried.
For me, I think that doubt never ever creeped in. … So, wherever I choose to hit that backflip, in my head while I’m flying through, I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to land this.’ And then the thought is, ‘How can I get back up there as quickly as possible?’ And just jumping up to the top as if I’m Shelton Benjamin just felt like the right move.
I have this confidence that I can accomplish things. But after watching it for the first time yesterday, I got a chance to watch the match back, it was very interesting to see myself in a ring and something I’ve dreamed about doing for a long time. Getting to watch it for the first time was cool. But as I was watching it, I was like, ‘That could have went wrong so many different ways.’ And I’m just very thankful that in the moment, I didn’t even have those thoughts. So, maybe me being so new and it being my first time in there benefited me greatly, especially in those particular situations.”
** Prior to NXT TakeOver: XXX, the new NXT Champion Karrion Kross spoke with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald.
** Comicbook.com spoke with Drew McIntyre.
** During Monday Night RAW, Mustafa Ali tweeted that he was not going to be on the show and will be wrestling on ‘Main Event’ and is going to show everyone that he’s “way too good”.
** Former IMPACT X Division Champion Chris Bey spoke with Big Gold Belt Media for an exclusive interview.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5bBMM0WRHk[/embedyt]
** WWE is looking to fill the position of the Vice President of Medical Affairs.
** Booker T gave his thoughts about Renee Young’s departure from WWE during his ‘Hall Of Fame’ podcast.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snor26KlaCo[/embedyt]
** The Scottish Sun has a Q&A up with Drew McIntyre.
** Here’s the newest upload to the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U_2_-3flqc[/embedyt]
** Zeda Zhang was interviewed by Ringsiders Wrestling.
** NXT’s Bronson Reed turned 32-years old today. Kylie Rae also has a birthday today.
** While mentioning Bronson Reed, a video is up on the WWEPC YouTube channel featuring him discussing his tribute to Bam Bam Bigelow at NXT TakeOver: XXX.
** Arn Anderson and Conrad Thompson covered the 2015 SummerSlam pay-per-view for the latest installment of the ‘ARN’ podcast.
** Liv Morgan was featured in a video on Lana’s YouTube channel.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADcOSJ2STns[/embedyt]
** Nia Jax was profiled by ABC News to promote the series ‘What Would You Do?’
** New Jack is guest appearing on Highspots’ Virtual Gimmick Table on 8/27.
** Eva Marie chatted with Darren Paltrowitz.
** Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture interviewed IMPACT Wrestling’s Madison Rayne.
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.
