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.
** On 9/10, it was reported by PWInsider that longtime WWE road agent Mike Rotunda, also known as I.R.S. was released from WWE after being furloughed by the company in April. Rotunda was included in WWE’s recent cutbacks and he, Sarah Stock and many others in various departments in WWE were let go. Rotunda was a guest on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast and spoke about his release from WWE and said that being on the road was starting to take a toll on him and he’s enjoying being at home.
“Well, I got furloughed in the middle of April along with a number of other people so, it’s been quite some time and didn’t look like it was gonna open back up. I kind of prepared myself for it, but I wasn’t exactly sure what was gonna happen, which I’m fine with it. Like you said, I had a long run there, I’m 62-years old and to be honest with you, it was harder and harder to do all the traveling and keep that pace. It definitely helps being a little younger when you’re trying to keep the pace that you’d have to working for WWE. Especially, my whole time there, we did live shows. Like depending on which show you were on, we did both television shows and I did a ton of live events which were like Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then TVs were Monday, Tuesday until they switched to the Friday Night SmackDown. So I definitely put a lot of time in on the road and it’s kinda nice being home. My wife and I have been married, it’ll be 36 years in October and all but three years of that, I’ve been on the road so I mean, that’s a long time and I’m actually enjoying to be home more and be around my wife and see my grand kids some more and get a chance to go fishing more so, which I like to do living here Florida. That’s my go-to, my relaxation so it’s given me an opportunity to do more, to me something that’s important to do and it’s fun for me.”
Mike is the father of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. While speaking about Bo specifically, Mike praised his abilities and hopes that WWE finds something for Dallas to do to put those abilities to use.
“Windham’s had an opportunity to be world champion a couple of times and I’m sure he’ll do it again and Taylor [Bo Dallas] even had the opportunity to be a tag team champion and I think Bo has a lot of ability and even his brother will say that because he’s a better worker than I am but… hopefully they’ll figure out something that works for him, that enhances his career. He’s worked there quite a while and he has a lot of ability. They just need to find something to capitalize on that in my opinion. But that’s the biggest thing, just being able to work, a dad and his two kids for the best wrestling company and the biggest wrestling company in the world, that’s probably our legacy. Just being able to get that opportunity.”
Mike also heaped praise onto Bray Wyatt for his creation of The Fiend character. Mike shared that he did not know Bray was going to start doing The Fiend character. He also spoke about the balance of influence between WWE and Windham when it comes to the Bray Wyatt character.
“I thought the Bray Wyatt character was out of the box because I hadn’t seen anything like that and he pulled it off so well, you know? Then, I didn’t even know he was gonna start doing The Fiend stuff and all of a sudden, I was like a new fan watching it myself because I wasn’t aware that he was — even though you work for the same company there, you could go a month without being on the same show, because we were running so many shows, different directions and I’m sure he did have quite a bit of input in it because the fact of the matter is when you do have your own input, you’re gonna be more comfortable with your thinking in that direction and I’m sure creative gave him some direction too as well but I think he came up with quite a bit of that with his own creative so…”
Rotunda further spoke about his sons’ creativity and what they bring/can bring to the WWE product:
“Some people, you can do stuff to enhance a character and make it even bigger. It’s like the character my oldest son does when he did Bray Wyatt. They kind of came up with that themselves and it was… developed the character more and more and then they went to doing The Fiend stuff and he was just — Windham, my older son is good on the mic. He can talk well and speak well and he has a creative mind and so does my younger son. They’re both creative. They didn’t get that from me but, they both have creative thinking and have ideas to make it better and like I said, it just depends on the individual I think and also now, the WWE has a much more creative, bigger creative team assembled for stuff like that than they did back in the day. I mean it was more like a, ‘Hey, this is what you’re gonna be doing. We’ll do some vignettes’ and then you get going and then you just kind of feed off of that, try to make it the best you could.”
** Mickie James chatted with Comicbook.com ahead of the 9/14 episode of RAW. Mickie stated that she would like to see a women’s only show be added to the WWE Network. Mickie explained that the fan base is there for it and it could be something similar to a one-hour format like 205 Live.
“I feel that’s a very, it’s a big dream. It’s a big reach because it’s so much that’s involved when you’re creating something like that. I feel like where we are now, we have so much. First, we have the Network, which has so many outlets and so much stuff that we can do and different types of products that we can put out there.
We have the largest female roster that we’ve ever had combined between RAW, SmackDown, NXT and NXT UK, and there’s a vast amount of female talent, more female talent than there’s ever been. It could be an opportunity within our shows. Sometimes there’s really only time for a female championship match or whatever. A whole show, even if it was just an hour, like a 205 Live or something like that, that is cultivated just for the women, is something I think would satisfy a market that really just loves women’s wrestling. It’s a chance for a lot of females that perhaps don’t get a chance to shine as much on TV to shine there, and then Evolution could be our big pay-per-view of the year.”
** Longtime WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt spoke with Wrestling Inc. for an exclusive interview. McDevitt discussed the Benoit family tragedy and that being one of the first times that CTE was spotlighted in pro wrestling.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s clear that the first time that there was any indication of CTE having anything in professional wrestling was in the case of Chris Benoit, and with the publicity that occurred with Chris Benoit, it’s not even plausible for anybody in the wrestling business, especially wrestlers and especially people who knew Chris Benoit to say that they were not aware of the fact that Chris Benoit had been diagnosed with CTE supposedly and that had been associated with head trauma and that occurred in 2007 so by 2007, there’s not anybody in the wrestling business who can plausibly say they didn’t know about the Benoit findings.
If you did have any kind of symptoms or whatnot, you shouldn’t have been waiting until 2014 or 2016 to be bringing a lawsuit, and most of these people, to be honest with you Nick, although there are some exceptions, most of these people didn’t even perform solely for WWE or even long for WWE. There are people here in these class of people that had nothing more than a cup of coffee with the WWE and were gone there after.”
** Sasha Banks was featured in the trailer for season two of The Mandalorian that premieres on October 30th.
"Wherever I go, he goes." Watch the brand new trailer for #TheMandalorian and start streaming the new season Oct. 30, only on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/plfHssS8qG
— Star Wars (@starwars) September 15, 2020
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated interviewed IMPACT Wrestling’s Acey Romero about his journey to get healthier and drop down to the 200 pound range. While discussing his goals, Acey shared that he has two years left on his IMPACT contract.
“I was pleasantly surprised with my results, but there is still a long way to go. Wrestling is a big part of it, but this goes much deeper than wrestling. Success doesn’t mean anything if I don’t have my health.
I know people won’t believe what I want to do, but they won’t be able to believe the way I look, either. I have two more years on my contract, and my goal is to be Impact world champion. That’s my goal before the end of my contract. I’ll have to work my ass off to get there, but I wouldn’t want to do it any other way.”
Romero opened up about how some in the wrestling business were not supportive of his weight loss venture. He said that some told him he was “killing his gimmick” and while he somewhat agreed, he said he was also killing his health.
“A lot of people reached out and said I’m killing my gimmick, that I should stay big. Maybe they’re right, maybe I am killing my gimmick, but I was also in the process of killing myself. I understand that now, so I’m doing this for me. If I kept going the way I was going, I don’t know if I’d make it to 40. I don’t want to be that guy.”
** Mickie James and Asuka competed for the RAW Women’s Championship on the 9/14 episode of RAW. When Asuka had Mickie in the “Asuka Lock”, Mickie rolled her body over and shortly after, the match was ended by the official. According to PWInsider, the plan was for Mickie to tap to Asuka’s submission but the match was called off prematurely. The decision was made to ring the bell due to concern of Mickie being unconscious because of the way she was selling the submission. Per the site, Mickie just happened to do a good job at selling the move which raised the concern for her.
** In an update on Teddy Hart, PWInsider is reporting that Hart was sentenced to ten days imprisonment on September 10th following a court hearing in Virginia, but Hart was arrested again after being incarcerated.
** Jon Moxley and Lance Archer promo segments are set for the 9/16 episode of AEW Dynamite.
** Dave Marquez joined the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast to promote the Prime Time Live PPV special on 9/15. Marquez revealed that he had a health scare at an NWA Powerrr taping and had to go to the backstage area to be checked on by the doctor in attendance. He said that could’ve been a reason why Sean Mooney was brought onto the program.
“One of the Powerrrs, I can’t remember which one. It could’ve been the pay-per-view. I had a complete… I was taken to the back by the medics and they were checking my blood pressure and I was having an episode on camera. I remember [Colt] Cabana coming out for an interview and he was like, ‘Hey! Cabana, Cabana.’ He goes, ‘You alright?’ I was like, ‘Am I not alright?’ Like I wasn’t conscious. Corgan comes out during the commercial, he’s like, ‘Yeah, you don’t look good.’ Okay. I said, ‘Let me get to the next thing’ and then Lagana was in my ear. Lagana’s like, ‘Hey, you need to come to the back and see the doctor.’ Like woah and that’s when Kyle Davis I think — it was that show that Kyle Davis took over at the podium for a while.
That could be a reason Sean Mooney showed up too. I never asked. That could be a reason, to limit those last set of tapes, I was on camera less. I was producing more in the back but I was on camera less.”
Initially, Marquez was not interested in appearing on-camera on NWA Powerrr. He shared that he suffered two strokes and has short-term memory loss. With that, he would have to write down every single thing he would have to say.
“I never wanted to be back on camera. I’ve had two strokes. You could kind of see it every once in a while. So, my protege, Billy Trask was directing the [Championship Wrestling from] Hollywood program and I was originally going to direct the Powerrr program and then [Billy] Corgan and [David] Lagana asked me to be the host, and I really didn’t want to do it because I have a really bad short term memory problem. So if I don’t scribble things down — like you should see my desk. There is just notes and things everywhere, reminding me every little bit to do. It’s everywhere. So if I don’t write it down immediately, I will forget it. My long-term is great, short-term is very difficult. So I was afraid I was gonna make them look bad because I know how wrestling works. Immediately, ‘Dave come here. Go say this.’ I don’t think I’ll be able to remember that. So, in the beginning, it was a little difficult, going back on camera. I was on camera for years on the Hollywood program but I took myself off because I was forgetting things, and if you go back and watch those older tapes, you’ll see me struggling trying to get through an open or trying to get through an interview or trying to remember the angle. It just wasn’t working. So I said yes and I did it and the public I guess really liked it. So I will be back on there.”
COVID precautions are in place for the Prime Time Live special. Marquez said that one of their announcers tested positive and he was around said individual so he went to get tested and had a series of tests set up in the days leading up to the 15th. Temperatures are being checked and if the staff does not trust the situation, a physician will be on-hand to conduct the COVID-19 test.
“You can’t necessarily trust the public getting tested and yeah, you could take their temperature and all that kind of stuff… we’re taking it pretty serious in our operation. I know that there’s others that don’t take it serious. Like today, I found out one of our announcers tested positive and I was with them four days ago so I went and got a test this morning. I’ll have another test next week and I’ll have another test on the 14th before the 15th to make sure everything is cool, and people are flying from across the country into this and so I have to take their word for it that they’re negative. Hopefully they have proof that they’re negative. We’ll take their temperatures and there is a COVID procedure at the stage if we really question it. There’s a physician or two to administer a test if we need it done. But, for the most part, we’re gonna be very cautious.”
David Arquette’s name was brought up during the interview and Marquez stated that he and Arquette have had talks about him appearing on Prime Time Live. He added that-that doesn’t only apply to in-ring work and Arquette could appear as a personality on the show.
“Oh for sure. We have already been in conversation about it, he and I so… so when his availability is there, I’m sure you’ll see David on the show. I have different roles I’d like him to play and we’ve come up with different ideas for him outside of him being an in-ring talent, but a personality on the program, so we’re working that out. He made his movie. I don’t think his wife wants him getting thrown around anymore.”
Elsewhere during the podcast, Marquez expressed that Prime Time Live will be the only true wrestling alternative out there.
“This is a pretty pricey endeavor, and the way we’re kind of justifying it too, internally… this is a pretty pricey endeavor. We’re committed to it, we’re doing everything we can to present the best 90 minutes every week and again, no affiliations necessarily. It’s an open door and we’re really trying to present something special and different. A true alternative! People like to say, ‘Well oh, this is the alternative. We’re gonna make the alternative.’ This is really the truest alternative there is in reality and it’s not just promoter hype. It’s just truthfully is. I don’t care what acronym you belong to, I don’t care what championship it is, I don’t care. We have 90 minutes to fill, 52 weeks so there’s a lot of time on there for people. Use it!”
** Booker T revealed during his Hall Of Fame podcast that he tested positive for Coronavirus back in June. He recently received those tests results back. Since then, he has taken multiple tests and those have come back negative.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X03hmjJD-jc[/embedyt]
** Eddie Dennis did an interview with the PA News Agency about teachers having to pivot their teaching styles during the COVID-19 pandemic and the NXT UK brand. While the furloughs and cuts were happening in April, Dennis said it did cross his mind that NXT UK could possibly close down.
“When all you read on the news and when you’re watching television is about furloughs and redundancies – I couldn’t lie and stand here and say that it didn’t go through my head,” Dennis replied when asked if talk of NXT:UK closing had crossed his mind.
But in all honesty, the organization have never, ever given us any kind of indication that-that would be the case. They’re an American organization that have put out content for a worldwide audience for, I don’t know 20 or 30 years now – we’re the first time that they looked for regional content.
This is the first time they’ve ever done anything like this and with a globalization strategy for an organization, for NXT:UK to be successful I would imagine is absolutely key in being able to replicate this system in different markets.
I want to ride this wave, as far as it can go. So I want us to be a prominent fixture on BT Sport. I want it to be that it’s something that people tune in to [weekly] to watch our products – a legitimate fourth brand of the company if you like and I’m riding that wave of being an integral part of that roster and that team.”
** NXT UK’s A-Kid spoke with Inside The Ropes to promote the return of NXT UK on the WWE Network. A-Kid said his match against Ricochet in 2017 inspired him to continue wrestling because prior to the match, A-Kid was set on quitting the business.
“It’s clear that it should be a very difficult situation for me but it was really easy because I was about to quit wrestling. So, I took it as a last chance. I was like, ‘Alright, if this goes wrong then let’s just do it. Let’s just quit wrestling and focus on math’ which I was doing at the moment. But it went great, it went amazing. Everyone loved it and it just made me love wrestling again. So I can say that Ricochet was the one that reignited that fire in me.”
** Warren Hayes of Bell To Belles chatted with Ivelisse ahead of her NWA World Women’s Title match against Thunder Rosa on AEW Dynamite. Ivelisse was asked if there’s a contract in the wings waiting for her in AEW and here’s how she responded:
“…Obviously I’ve been featured a lot and that’s definitely a good thing. So, yeah, I can’t really comment further on that, but, definitely things look very positive.”
** Sugar Dunkteron, formerly known as “Pineapple Pete” was a part of the RAW Underground crowd on 9/15.
** Trish Stratus and Mickie James are appearing on the 9/16 edition of WWE The Bump.
** J SPORTS has chosen ‘The Switch’ to deliver live telecasts of Major League Baseball, PGA Golf and WWE.
** The New Day welcomed RAW Tag Team Champions Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins onto their ‘Feel The Power’ podcast. During the conversation, Woods heaped praise onto The Street Profits for being good representatives for Black children who watch pro wrestling.
“One other thing that I know that we as a trio definitely try to do our best at is trying to make sure we are representing ourselves as best as we can and another reason why I think we like you guys a lot is because we feel you guys are a great representation of who you are as men, as human men and out there [on-screen], you still portray yourselves as you are,” Woods said. “I’m not trying to say like in real life or blur the lines or anything, but you guys do a good job at being representatives for, I’ll say young Black children who are watching wrestling for the first time because while there were Black wrestlers while we were growing up and watching, it’s nice to see just this generation of guys come in and continue to raise the bar for all of us so, that’s one thing we look to you guys for as well so we appreciate that you guys fight that fight.”
Elsewhere during the discussion, The Street Profits revealed that they were not aware that they were getting red solo cup pyro and the first time they saw it, they were genuinely surprised. Initially, they thought the solo cups would appear virtually via the Thunderdome.
Montez Ford: “It was crazy. It was like a birthday celebration. It’s like a party and we’re just like, ‘Ahh!!!’ But I remember they were telling us before SummerSlam, they were like, ‘You guys have solo cups in your entrance.’ I’m like, okay so we’re thinking maybe they’re going to be on the Thunderdome and when they shot ‘em, we were like, ‘Ohhh!!’ It was cool, it was cool.’”
Angelo Dawkins: “I was like, ‘Yeah man, aye that was cool but you know what though? That janitor about to be cleaning up a [ton].’ I was like, ‘Aye! This tight dawg. Aw man, I hope the janitor likes lots and lots of happiness fam.’”
** All Japan Pro Wrestling ‘Champion Carnival’ Results (9/15/20) Korakuen Hall
– Koji Doi & Yusuke Kodama def. Baliyan Akki & Yusuke Okada
– Dan Tamura, Hikaru Sato, Osamu Nishimura & Shuji Ishikawa def. Black Menso-re, Masanobu Fuchi, Ryuki Honda & Takao Omori
– Izanagi & Shigehiro Irie def. Hokuto Omori & Kuma Arashi
– Akira Francesco, Ikuto Hidaka & Rising HAYATO def. Atsuki Aoyagi, Koji Iwamoto & TAJIRI
– Champion Carnival 2020 Block A: Zeus [4] def. Jiro Kuroshio [2]
– Champion Carnival 2020 Block B: Yuma Aoyagi [4] def. Yoshitatsu [2] by referee’s decision
– Champion Carnival 2020 Block B: Kento Miyahara [2] def. Shotaro Ashino [0]
– Champion Carnival 2020 Block A: Jake Lee [4] def. Suwama [2] by referee’s decision
** Hindustan Times published their interview with NXT Champion Finn Balor. Balor was asked about the possibility of an off-season in WWE and he personally would not want an off-season and explained why:
“It’s something that has been spoken of a lot among wrestlers. For me personally, an off-season is something I wouldn’t want. As performers, we are very, very selfish and addicted to being in the ring. Addicted to proving that we are the best in the world. If that opportunity is taken away from us with an off-season, then there is going to be a lot of upset talent. Obviously, there comes a point in someone’s career where they need a break and focus on themselves for a while and not what they are doing in the ring. I was 19 years wrestling non-stop when I reached that threshold. I definitely don’t need an off-season every year.”
Balor talked about working with Paul “Triple H” Levesque. Balor admitted that like most professional relationships, sometimes they see eye-to-eye and sometimes they do not.
“He has been instrumental in a lot of people’s careers. He is a great motivator. Backstage people want to perform for Triple H, they want to perform and make him proud. The way he has the confidence of the locker room is something I feel makes NXT different. On a personal level, I have had a great working relationship with him. When the opportunity came from Triple H to come to NXT, I jumped on it. Sometimes we have a good relationship and sometimes like anything else we don’t see eye to eye on many things. As long as I am there in the ring, I’ll go out there and perform every night.”
** Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy interviewed Bianca Belair. The WWE RAW talent stated that she’s fine with working with her husband Montez Ford on-screen and loves being a wife but doesn’t want that to be the only label attached to her in WWE.
“I love being a wife, I just don’t want to be only seen as his wife. I feel like I have a very strong character, I’m super talented and the possibilities are endless for Bianca Belair.
She’s somebody who can stand on her own and have a very successful, long career but at the same time I have no problem being paired with my husband in any shape or form because it’s a part of who I am. As long as that’s not the only element that gets shown.”
** New Japan Pro-Wrestling revealed the bracket for the Lion’s Break Crown tournament. Logal Riegel is taking on The DKC. Clark Connors is facing off against Jordan Clearwater. Danny Limelight vs. Barrett Brown is set for the tournament as is Adrian Quest vs. Blake Christian.
** WALTER told GIVEMESPORT that when he first saw his action figure online, he initially thought it was a rip off and asked the account why they were creatiing unofficial action figures.
** ACH vs. Lee Moriarty has been added to the GCW For The Culture lineup.
** WWE Hall Of Famer The Godfather appeared on the Battleground Podcast. Godfather shared his thoughts about The Hurt Business (MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley & Cedric Alexander) and initially, he was surprised that they weren’t called the Nation of Domination.
“I’m surprised Vince hasn’t touched that already. I don’t know man. That’s a touchy situation. That could really hurt him. I would’ve did it already. I would’ve called them the Nation of Domination. What could you do? They’re gonna be babyfaces. They’re not gonna be heels. Even if you try to make them heels, they’re gonna be babyfaces. What if you go with that? Like today, if you had DX going up against The Nation, DX would be the heels and The Nation would be the babyfaces. So I don’t know. Vince is a smart man. He didn’t make all that money by — everybody sh*t talks him now and then but he’s a smart man and he keeps up with the times, and so I’m surprised. Personally I would’ve did it. I would’ve called them the Nation of Domination.”
Godfather reflected on his time in WWE and touched on the topic of Right to Censor. He expressed how much he hated his time in WWE during that stretch and said that he almost quit during that time period as well.
“I don’t have any fond memories of that. I hated it, I hated it, I hated it, I hated it, I hated it, almost quit because of it. I was having so much fun as Godfather. Believe me, everybody enjoyed that Godfather gimmick. The fans, the wrestlers, the office, everybody loved that Godfather gimmick and then Vince once again called me to his office, [I] go into the office, he goes, ‘Change of plans.’ Good ole’ change of plans again but I remember something was coming up because Vince was taking so much heat. He used to tell me… the sponsors were going after him hard about Val [Venis], about DX, about the puppies and mostly about me and he was fighting for me. He used to tell me, ‘Charles, I’m fighting for you. I’m fighting for you.’ Well finally they got to him so, he’s like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna put you [here] and you’re gonna do this and that, you guys are gonna lose this match, you’re gonna be in the R.T.C.’ and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute…’ I just remember I kept saying, ‘So, no more Godfather?’ He’s like, ‘Nope, or we can call you The Goodfather.’ I said, ‘Do I have hoes?’ He’s like, ‘Nope, no more hoes.’ I’m like, ‘I have no hoes?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah! No hoes.’ I was like in shock. Like what do you mean I’m not The Godfather no more? And I did the best I could but, I wasn’t happy.”
** Carmella was a guest on The Daily Popcast with Lance Bass.
** Renee Paquette, formerly Renee Young in WWE appeared on the Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast. Paquette spoke about her time as a member of the RAW commentary team and feels that no one knew how to produce or guide her in that role.
“So I think it was interesting because when I first started it, I feel like everyone was high-fiving, ‘You knocked it out of the park, this was great.’ Vince was like tweeting about it. It felt like it was a big success. But then it seemed like my confidence went down. I also just think nobody knew how to produce me in that role either. I don’t think anyone knew how to help me and it wasn’t for lack of me wanting help. I was talking to a bunch of different people trying to get better and I obviously want to do a good job. I wanna be good at what I do, but I was not skilled in that area. Prior to me getting that spot on RAW, it’s not like I was down at NXT calling matches or even just getting in the booth and messing around. It was not on my radar at all. Since I got pulled off of doing commentary years ago, I was only doing it for a few months. It was a very short stint so it’s not like I had all this experience under my belt to step in there and know how to handle that spot. So yeah, it was all very weird. I was very insecure about it which I don’t think helped, obviously. You can’t really do your job that well if you’re stressed out about what you’re doing but I honestly just felt like I was really stressed for like a year-and-a-half. I felt very stressed out every three hours. There was a few times I’d be like, ‘Oh, that was good. I felt good about that show.’ Any time we could just have fun and mess around and really have the dynamic of me, Cole and Graves working together because we’re all good friends in real life and you should be able to go out there and call some wrestling with them and have it be a cool experience but, there’s just so many moving parts and trying to find what my voice was on there. Am I an analyst? Am I a journalist? Am I just a fan? I felt like that kind of kept switching and I just couldn’t get a grasp on it. It was really, it’s hard man. I commend anybody that’s out there doing that job. It’s tough.”
** Chris Jericho applied to trademark “Mimosa Mayhem” on 9/9.
** Brian Myers chatted with Darren Paltrowitz for an exclusive interview. Myers discussed wanting to create a podcast network alongside Matt Cardona and being surprised that IMPACT Wrestling wanted to plug The Major Wrestling Figure podcast on their weekly show on AXS.
“No, if anything it would be wrestling-related [another podcast]. The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast that I do with Matt Cardona has really exploded in a way. We’ve batted around the idea of kind of having a podcast network and there’s things that I would like to do and I’ve actually already worked on a pilot of something that I can’t really disclose. But yeah, the idea that IMPACT allows us and embraces it is even way cooler. My first week at IMPACT, someone wrote me from the office and said, ‘Hey, can we have the graphics for your podcast?’ I was going, ‘Why?’ They’re like, ‘Oh, because we wanna plug it in the lower third on the television program’ and I think my wife was in the room when I read the email. My jaw was on the floor. That’s so not something that WWE would ask of you. It’s cool for them to embrace something like that so yeah…”
** U.K. outlet ‘Metro’ spoke with Bianca Belair. Belair admitted that she would’ve preferred that her WrestleMania debut be in front of thousands of people in Tampa but tried to see the positives in the situation. She added that when she eventually gets her title opportunity, she is “going all out.”
“You have to be honest to yourself, and say, ‘Yes I would have rather done it in front of thousands of people. I tried to see a positive in it. I started at the Performance Center. I came here not knowing anything, and the Performance Center was my home. I actually met my husband at the Performance Center, so to be able to make my transition to Raw and debut at WrestleMania at the Performance Center alongside my husband, that’s kind of the way that I looked at it to make the moment even more special to me.
When I get a title opportunity, I’m going to make the best of it. I’m going all out! I’m on Raw, and that’s all I can do. I’m going for every single opportunity that I get. I’m just ready to get going. Give me the spotlight and watch me shine!”
** Chael Sonnen told Sky Sports he believes Brock Lesnar is subtly using MMA as a way to leverage deals elsewhere.
** Ahead of her RAW Women’s Title match against Asuka on 9/14, Mickie James did an interview with Sports Illustrated and reflected on she and Asuka’s first title match in 2016 at NXT TakeOver. Mickie described that as a pivotal moment in her career.
“That was a pivotal moment in my career. I still remember that genuine fan reaction in Toronto. I was still wrestling and I was very proud of what I’d accomplished, but I’d been off WWE television for almost seven years at that point. A lot of the younger audience may not have even known me, so to get that response meant so much to me. And I was able to prove I could still go toe to toe with the woman they deemed their best.”
** Fightful has an interview up with Anthony Greene who recently signed with WWE. During the interview, Greene spoke about Leon Ruff being signed to WWE as well and praised Ruff for his efforts that led to him getting signed.
** Milwaukee Business Journal has a feature up about Zelo Pro Wrestling’s show on 9/17 which features Aiden English.
** KYR News has a preview up on their site of the WWE Battlegrounds game.
** Mike Bennett was a guest on the ‘This Is The NWA’ podcast.
** Here’s the latest upload to Bianca Belair’s YouTube channel:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8wNNE9TRM[/embedyt]
** Rick Bassman welcomed Rob Van Dam and Cabbage onto his ‘Talking Tough’ show.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHPp6LhTTeg[/embedyt]
** Big Japan Pro Wrestling Results (9/14/20) Korakuen Hall
– Kota Sekifuda & Tatsuhiko Yoshino def. Frank Atsushi & Kosuke Sato
– Daichi Hashimoto, Daisuke Sekimoto & Kazuki Hashimoto def. Ryota Hama, Takuho Kato & Yasufumi Nakanoue
– Hardcore Match: Akira Hyodo & Kankuro Hoshino def. Hideyoshi Kamitani & Ryuichi Kawakami
– Barbed Wire Board Deathmatch: Ryuji Ito & Shunma Katsumata def. Drew Parker & Yuki Ishikawa
– BJW World Strong Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership: Yuji Okabayashi def. Kazumi Kikuta
– Saikyo Tag Tournament 2020 First Round Match: Fuminori Abe & Takuya Nomura def. Shinjiro Otani & Yuya Aoki
– Saikyou Tag Tournament 2020 First Round Match: Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto def. Ryuichi Sekine & Takumi Tsukamoto
– Fluorescent Light Tubes Alpha Deathmatch: Masaya Takahashi, Takayuki Ueki & Toshiyuki Sakuda def. Abdullah Kobayashi, Jaki Numazawa & Minoru Fujita
** Mickie James made the media rounds and one of the outlets she spoke with was Daily DDT. Mickie said that if an Evolution 2 were to happen, she wants to take on Trish Stratus in singles competition.
“We have a lot of girls and I feel like I haven’t had a lot of singles matches with any of these women. It’s been all tag matches or Battle Royals or stuff like that. If I was to do only one match, I would say one more time with Trish.”
On another note, Mickie spoke highly of former three-time WWE Women’s Champion Melina and said that Melina has the greatest entrance of all-time.
“I think still to this day [Melina has the] greatest entrance ever. Pretty amazing entrance. Well, mine, so maybe not the greatest entrance, but for females, it was iconic I think. She was so talented. What a hellcat. I loved our matches, she was always so intense. We had the first Falls Count Anywhere match [for the women]. I always loved being in the ring with Beth Phoenix, I’ve always said that. She’s one of my favorite people in and out of the ring and I always loved my matches with her. But I’d love to see Melina come back and do something crazy.”
** Miro (Rusev) further spoke about his All Elite Wrestling debut:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBFK_jy7u6o[/embedyt]
** Sonny Kiss vs. Cassandro has been added to EFFY’s ‘Big Gay Brunch’ show on 10/10.
** Adam Cole joined GameSpot’s ‘Wrestle Buddies’ podcast.
** SEAdLINNNG Results (9/14/20) Shin-Kiba 1st RING
– ASUKA & Makoto def. Honori Hana & Rina Yamashita
– Three Way Match: Kaho Kobayashi def. Hiroyo Matsumoto and Riko Kaiju
– Sareee def. Yoshiko
– SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Title #1 Contender Match: Arisa Nakajima & Tsukasa Fujimoto def. Miyuki Takase & Ryo Mizunami
** Vicente Beltran spoke with A-Kid.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcdKLHiZD1k[/embedyt]
** Dakota Kai was the latest guest to appear on Superstar Savepoint on the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel.
** Tama Tanga and Tanga Loa did a NJPW G1 prediction show for the latest episode of the Tama’s Island podcast.
** The following video is from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s YouTube channel:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnbGDEtXjAg[/embedyt]
** Jim Varsallone spoke with Mickie James before the 9/14 WWE RAW. 411 Mania also spoke with James.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMQKOy2lW_o[/embedyt]
** Kurt Angle and Booker T did promotional work for Pop Star J’s music.
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.
