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.
** Mark Henry chatted with Brandon Robinson of Heavy.com about WWE, the NFL and the NBA. Mark was asked if he could go back and redo a match from his career, which matches would he choose and one of the matches he selected was his WWE Championship match against John Cena in 2013 that was led into by Henry’s fake retirement speech. Henry feels that he should have won that match but at the time, he informed WWE that he was done with the in-ring portion of his career.
“The other one is after my retirement speech and I turned on John Cena which is one of the more historical wrestling moments in history. I was so beat up that I wanted to go home, that I didn’t really wanna wrestle no more. Like I was in so much pain, because like I said, it was real to me and I told people, ‘Lay it in, because I’m gonna hit you’ and I want you saying, ‘I beat you up and took advantage of you.’ Like I’m giving my body to you, let’s go, and the match I had was in Philadelphia [Money In The Bank 2013] with John Cena and I lost that match when I should’ve won that match. I should have told them, ‘Nah, I’m not gonna go home.’ Like, let’s run a six-month program and we could’ve had many matches, but you know, I was ready to go.”
Mark Henry appeared on RAW over the Summer in the ThunderDome. Henry detailed WWE’s COVID testing procedures and what talents/personnel must do in order to be cleared to head to the Amway Center in Orlando.
“They go into a weekly bubble and it’s kinda awkward because the first day you fly in is three days before you go into the bubble. You fly in three days which, man, that makes for a long five days, because three days, I don’t like that. I did it, but I didn’t like it, and to fly in, go get tested and man, they scrape — I mean through your nose, they touch over here [near the cheek area]. They go in there and then, you sit in the room for 24 hours. They don’t want you to leave your room, except if you have to go to the front desk or something but no leaving the hotel, really they don’t want you to leave the room, and then 24 hours later, they call you and say, ‘Okay, you’re good.’ [You] report to Full Sail, where you get on a bus, because they won’t allow you to bring your cars. You have to go get on a bus, they sanitize you down and then you have to do the spit cup, now you’re spitting and you get that to them and they analyze that in like 15, 20 minutes, and then, ‘Okay, everybody’s good. Everybody get on the bus’ and we’re out and you go to the Performance Center or you go to the Amway [Center], and you’re in an environment where everybody there has been through the same procedures that you’ve been through and it’s [a] pretty astringent testing system…”
** Lilian Garcia spoke to Braun Strowman for a new installment of her ‘Chasing Glory’ podcast. Strowman was candid during his ‘WWE Chronicle’ special on the WWE Network about mental health. Strowman further spoke about the mental breakdowns he had and almost being driven to the point of taking his own life.
“You know, it was just a culmination of things going on in my life. The worst about it was like, literally at the beginning of last year, I went through a really bad breakup and just wasn’t — my personal life was a mess. I mean, with being a WWE superstar, it’s really hard to balance the road life and your personal life and that’s part of the reason why the relationship I think didn’t work out and stuff like that, and then I got to a point to where, I felt like I wasn’t important at work so I had no escape. My mind and everything was just all over the place and I was by myself, I just moved into this house. I bought the house of my dreams, I bought this beautiful house on the lake and I’d been in there like six or seven months at this point and the only thing I had was a mattress on the floor and one in the room and a ringside chair sitting in the living room and I would get home from the road and something that was just weird, and I would sit there and sit in that chair in an empty living room in a empty house and sit there for like seven hours at a time and just sit there. Just because I couldn’t kick out of this funk that I was in and I’m dead honest — when I went to Vince [McMahon] to talk about some stuff that I was having problems with and it really pissed me off that the dirt sheets and these guys that like clickbait stuff tried to spin this whole thing and when I talked about this in the documentary that I wanted to commit suicide because I was mad with how I was being booked in WWE and that’s just complete, total opposite end of it. WWE was my only thing positive that I had at that point and I was so mentally hard on myself with what was going on in my personal life that I started letting it affect my business life. When in the grand scheme of things, I have the most amazing job on earth but I got to a point where I felt like a number in a system and I was like, ‘I need to address this.’”
Strowman spoke about his relationship with WWE and Vince McMahon and said that he’ll never wrestle anywhere else besides WWE.
“I’m not going anywhere, and I’ve said it time and time again. The day I take my wrestling boots off for WWE is the day I stop wrestling. I will not wrestle for anyone else. I will never — I’ve been given an opportunity from Vince McMahon and from WWE at life that I would’ve never gotten and I told him a long time ago, the day I take my boots off for you, I’m done, and I mean that.”
** Tokyo Sports published an article about Meiko Satomura and it’s noted in the article that after the today’s Sendai Girls’ show, Satomura stated that she is looking to move to the next stage. She will miss the November 22nd and November 29th shows and her schedule for December is undecided as of now. Tokyo Sports noted that it’s expected that Satomura will join NXT UK. In November of 2018, Satomura did an interview with Yahoo! Japan (now-deleted link) and shared that she planned to return to WWE in 2019. Satomura was a guest trainer at the Performance Center and she also invited Sasha Banks to train at the Sendai Girls’ dojo in 2019.
** Hannibal TV has an extensive interview up with NWA World Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa. Rosa announced that she is preparing for her next MMA fight and details about the fight and her opponent are coming soon. The fight will not be under the Combate Americas umbrella as of this interview.
“This week, I started my MMA training. I mean I’m gonna announce it here, I’m actually getting ready for a fight very, very, soon. I’m just waiting for my opponent and we’re gonna give a date. So, I’m ready for everything.”
** Former WWE talent Mark Jindrak joined David Penzer’s ‘Sitting Ringside’ podcast to discuss his career in wrestling. Jindrak recounted being swapped out of Evolution (Triple H, Ric Flair, Dave Bautista & Randy Orton) for Batista. Jindrak stated that if anyone should’ve been kicked out of the group, it should have been Triple H and Jindrak also detailed his friendship with Randy Orton.
“Basically, when I went over to OVW, I made a friendship with Randy Orton and we hung out all the time and eventually, when they moved me up to the big show, when I was traveling on the crew with WWE, we traveled together, me and Orton so we became almost like the Natural Born Thrillers I think. They see this Orton, who obviously they have huge, super huge plans for in some way, shape or form so they kind of had him in the group and then Batista was kind of supposed to be in it but he kept getting injured, so it was my spot and then, basically what happened was just that. It was just like, I was immature, Orton was immature. We both were immature. We had a lot of fun on the road. It was just — and a lot of people thought it was humorous. They loved our act. We’d come to TV and just show off and goof off and stuff and people loved it. It went from Kane to a lot of top guys but the one person that hated it, hated it, hated it was Triple H, and it was just completely — if you could be a fly on the wall for some of those car rides. Like when they basically made the group and we knew the group was gonna be Triple H, Ric Flair, myself and Orton, Triple H kinda wanted to have us driving together the whole loop, you know what I’m saying? House show, house show, house show, TV. Get talking wrestling, forming as a group and stuff, and that’s where you kind of get the chemistry in a group is hanging out, talking and stuff and to my knowledge, I thought we were. Orton and I were having fun, Ric Flair was a ton of fun. I thought the person that should’ve been kicked out of the group was Triple H, because he was the bore. He was boring as sh*t man, he was boring as sh*t.”
Evolution was profiled on the WWE Network via the Ruthless Aggression series. Jindrak’s issue with the documentary was that Triple H said he and Ric didn’t think Jindrak fit well with the group, but Jindrak stated that Flair was always fond of he and Orton and sort of lived vicariously through them.
“And that’s the problem I had with that little documentary, the Ruthless Aggression piece they did on Evolution is when Triple H said, ‘Oh, I told Vince he’s not good for the group. Vince said, Yeah he is and I said no he’s not, me and Ric.’ Triple H kept saying, ‘Me and Ric thought he wasn’t good for the group.’ It wasn’t Ric, it was [not] Ric in any way, shape or form. It was all Triple H and that’s the whole thing. These car rides, I thought these car rides were exposing Triple H for being a bore and non-charismatic, you know what I’m saying? That’s what I felt.”
** Major League Wrestling announced a partnership with the IWA promotion in Puerto Rico. MLW’s Richard Holliday is the current IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Champion.
** ‘Gopher Sports’ has an interview up with two-time NCAA All American Gable Steveson. Gable’s friendship with University of Minnesota alum Brock Lesnar has been well documented. Gable spoke about his friendship with Lesnar during the interview.
“My relationship with Brock has been awesome. It’s outstanding that a guy like that has noticed me and has gone out of his way to be there for me and guide me in the right direction. We all know who Brock is on TV, but behind everything else, he is a nice person and he has done some amazing things for me.”
Gable has stated in the past that he would like to join WWE. He’s of the mindset that it’ll happen when it happens but for now, he’s focused on his collegiate career and racking up wins.
“All I am focused on right now is winning. My time with the WWE will come if it comes. I just need to control what I can control, which is to keep winning and being dominant in my finishing years.”
** POST Wrestling’s own John Pollock caught up with Jake Hager for an exclusive interview. Hager was asked about his tweet towards Stephanie McMahon after WWE was named 2020 Corporation of the year. Hager tagged Andrew Yang in his tweet as well.
“Well, a lot of people wanted to say that there was only 30 wrestlers fired but they don’t understand all the people backstage that go into making the shows that they produce so good. All the PR people, all the sales reps, all the people that give up timeless hours, some people have been there 14-to-30 years and they get fired on a lie, that’s pretty low. I don’t wanna come across bitter, but that was just too, too much and I had to scorch the earth with that one.”
** Carlo Nohra has taken on a new role in WWE as he is now Vice President and General Manager of the company’s Asia-Pacific region. He’ll lead the day-to-day operations of the division and work with WWE partners across broadcast, live events, marketing, sponsorship, digital, licensing and merchandising. Nohra was successful in overseeing WWE’s media rights agreements in the Mena region.
** Ring of Honor talent Maria Manic posted the following video to her YouTube channel in-which she discussed mental health and how she is doing in various facets of her life.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCC4Fn_-ocA[/embedyt]
** Forbes ran their interview with Ohio Valley Wrestling owner Al Snow. Al was asked about the idea of OVW possibly becoming a developmental promotion for various major wrestling companies and he said it’s a possibility.
“I think eventually, yes [we could be a developmental territory for WWE], and not just with WWE but with AEW and other national organizations, I think we could provide a value.
If you think of the amount of investment that WWE has to make into a talent that they bring into NXT to develop them, it’s immense. But if they were to bring talent from OVW to NXT, it would accelerate the developmental for them from NXT on up exponentially. We’re not going to just teach a performer how to wrestle, or how to perform in front of an audience. We’re going to teach them how to operate a camera, how to set the lights, how to run the audio, how to produce, how to direct.”
Snow spoke highly of All Elite Wrestling’s MJF and his willingness to stay in character. Snow recalled his time in WWE and playing up his character off of television.
“He stays in character 100 percent of the time,” said Snow of MJF. “That’s nothing new. We’ve always done that in wrestling because in wrestling that’s what’s required. When I was really over with the Head, I remember traveling by myself, leaving an arena, going to get something to eat, and walking in and getting dinner for both myself and Head, sitting there in the restaurant having a conversation arguing with the Head over why they weren’t eating and being asked to leave numerous places because we were making the other customers uncomfortable…it was hard, but it was important.”
** Beyond Wrestling announced that they are not scheduling any more live events for the remainder of 2020. They have cancelled their 11/8 show in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
** Violinist and artist Lee England Jr., who’s known by wrestling fans as the violinist for Shinsuke Nakamura was a guest on the ‘Unplugged and Undeniable’ podcast. Lee dove into how he developed a relationship with WWE and what it was like to play Shinsuke Nakamura’s theme song in front of a live crowd.
“Ok, so first, I like to give credit where credit is due. That was one of the direct things that the Jordan brand did for me, because the Jordan brand, being a shoe brand, they have a lot of people who they just gift. That’s a lot of people, so everybody’s always looking for opportunities to do something great for the Jordan brand and this came up, and there was a conversation about [Shinsuke] Nakamura moving up to the next level or whatever, and they was like, ‘He’s got this theme song with these violinist’ and my boy at the Jordan brand said, ‘We got a violinist.’ He said, ‘Yo, we should have him play it,’ so that’s the precursor to how it all started. So, they flew me to New York and I started working with CFO$ to get the music all together and they let me write my own part, and so I wrote my own part and so when it came time to actually do the show, I remember doing sound check, so literally, literally! I hadn’t watched wrestling in years, right? But I remembered… sound check comes, I step out onto the platform and it all came rushing back to me and I said, ‘Oh sh*t.’ I said [to myself], ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute, where are you at right now?’ Because I was looking up at the ring and the lights and all that and I literally forgot every single note that I was supposed to play, but this is during sound check, because I was just overwhelmed because I just remembered what a spectacle wrestling is. It’s like athletic theater and in that moment, it all came rushing back to me like, ‘Bro, you are about to be — it’s just gonna be you out here, and it’s gonna be thousands of fans and this is a big deal.’ It didn’t hit me until that moment and I forgot everything, I made sure my sound was good and I said, ‘Yo, I gotta go back to my dressing room.’”
** Inside The Ropes published their interview with CyberFight owner Sanshiro Takagi. DDT-Pro Wrestling, NOAH and Tokyo Joshi Pro are all under the CyberFight banner. Takagi stated that CyberFight’s goal is to one day run the Tokyo Dome and it needs to be decided whether it will be a NOAH, DDT or joint-show that’ll bring that event to fruition.
“As CyberFight, we are eyeing Tokyo Dome. We need to consider whether it would be a DDT show, a NOAH show, or a joint show, etc. The reset button has been hit on a lot of things surrounding DDT with COVID-19 so we have to take things one step at a time, but first things first we must return to Saitama Super Arena which got cancelled this year, and then we will start paving our path to Tokyo Dome.”
Takagi discussed the relationship that Tokyo Joshi Pro and DDT have with All Elite Wrestling. He talked about wanting to bring Kenny Omega back to DDT and listed off talents he’d like to see return to AEW.
“We were going to bring Kenny Omega back, so we want to make that happen when it becomes possible again. His harsh words against Endo and Takeshita got them motivated, so we want to see that through all the way until the end. I also want Yuka Sakazaki and Shoko Nakajima to return to AEW, and I would also like to see other Tokyo Joshi talent in AEW too, such as Miyu Yamashita, Maki Itoh, Yuki Kamifuku, Hikari Noa, Miu Watanabe, Mirai Maiumi, Suzume, etc.”
While on the topic of competition, Takagi spoke about New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the varying styles between DDT and NJPW. He said that DDT was one of few promotions that did not get “swallowed up” by New Japan but in saying that, he added that they did get Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi.
“Personally, I am very flexible about in-ring styles. For example, when I faced NOAH’s KONGOH in the ring, I felt that the fundamentals underlying the respective wrestling styles were not so different between DDT and NOAH, but at the same time I felt that we had different goals; at DDT, we do not focus solely on winning inside the ring, but our end goal is to satisfy the audience and viewers.
In that sense, it is rare that we ever compete inside the ring directly with promotions that do not share our mindset. NJPW was one of them; we are one of the few promotions that competed with them after UWF which was decades ago, and we are also one of the very few, if not the only promotion that did not get swallowed up by NJPW at the end of the competition. Having said that, they did succeed in taking Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi from us, so in that sense I feel that we neither won nor lost.”
** WWE commentator Byron Saxton appeared on the latest episode of the ‘New Day: Feel The Power’ podcast. New Day praised Byron for his role in the growth of KofiMania in 2019 and Byron spoke about the significance of Kofi Kingston becoming WWE Champion and what it meant to him personally.
“I think for me, it was just speaking from the heart, you know? It was seeing a guy like Kofi [Kingston] who had worked as long as he’s worked and a guy who’s been so ultra-talented, but a guy for a long time who has only [been] seen as, ‘Okay, he’s good but he’s not gonna be there,’ and you think he should be there and you believe he should be there but for whatever reason, it just hasn’t happened and to get to a point where not only you see him climbing that ladder, but then you see the people were with him and they’re with him on that journey every step of the way and culminating at WrestleMania, I’ll never forget, towards the final few minutes of that matchup, I was feeling it so much to the point that my eyes started getting watery, you know? Because I’m thinking back — I’ll tell you, I’ll give you one comparison here. If you think back to when Ron Simmons won the WCW World Title, I think it was like ‘92-ish against Vader and when he won that world title, y’all probably remember that kid in the front row. He was going hysterical, losing his mind and when Kofi won that title, it meant so much to me but I also started thinking that there’s a kid, probably thousands of kids who are reacting the same way because someone who looks like them, achieved the greatest honor you could in our industry and that in that moment just overwhelmed me with so much emotion.”
** Jake Hager has a fight coming up for Bellator against Brandon Calton on October 29th. While speaking with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald, Hager shared that the fight was originally scheduled for May 9th of this year but was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that he wouldn’t be surprised if he takes on another fight soon after his next.
“I was originally scheduled to fight May 9th for Bellator, so I was one of the first cards to get scrubbed from this whole pandemic and so since then, we really wanted to get two-to-three fights in this year but since then, everything changed, so we’ve been waiting and staying ready and waiting staying ready and it’s just finally come together now. It’s kind of funny that we’re back here in October, but honestly, I’m in really good shape now. I wouldn’t be surprised to take another fight soon after this and just keep going.”
Hager spoke about his time in All Elite Wrestling and considers this last year as the greatest period of his career. Hager also added that he feels Chris Jericho and MJF’s ‘Le Dinner Debonair’ segment is one of the best segments in wrestling history.
“I consider this last year at AEW like my greatest year in my career. Working with Chris [Jericho] has been beyond phenomenal. I try to soak up everything he does. It’s just, the guy cares so much, not just about his segment and what The Inner Circle is doing, but about the whole show. He is just that type of person and you can see how he’s helping people and helped people raise their level to this high level of competition that we have at AEW, it’s great. The best part is, Tony [Khan] knows how good Chris is. So Tony doesn’t stifle Chris. Instead, he gives Chris the things he needs, the resources to make it happen, instead of fighting him. Like Chris said on [Sirius] XM Radio the other day, it’s really how creative can you be, because that’s how successful you’re gonna be and it’s really exciting to work in a situation like that where your hard work is directly related to your results and it’s very motivating and I think a lot of the AEW roster sees that, they look up to Chris and I mean, just forget about it, Le Dinner Debonair? That was one of the best segments I’ve ever seen in pro wrestling history. You don’t have to stand in front of each other and tough talk each other anymore. They just opened the door. I guarantee you, once a month, we’re gonna have new competitors singing at each other.”
** Takumi Iroha will be out of action for a significant amount of time after suffering a right knee anterior cruciate ligament injury, a right knee medial collateral ligament injury and right knee lateral meniscus injury during her match on the 26th.
** Booker T took to his ‘Hall Of Fame’ podcast to further elaborate on his recent comments about Sasha Banks.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSv8hghTDxo[/embedyt]
** Thunder Rosa did an interview with ‘Tru Heel Heat Wrestling’. Rosa recounted WWE offering her the opportunity to become a referee and she explained why she decided to pass on that opportunity.
“Well the contract was for a referee. I was at that point. I was at that crossroads when I just left Lucha Underground, I didn’t have any other offers. Like, it was kind of like one of those valleys, and I’m like, ‘Man, I ain’t got sh*t.’ So I was already training for Combate [Americas] but they offered me a contract to become a professional fighter so I took it, I needed a challenge, a complete challenge and a complete… change my gears and my mindset of what I wanna do as a professional athlete, and that was one thing that I never experienced was to literally live, breath and eat and crap your sport, because you’re about to get into a fight, you know? And if you don’t get ready, you can get killed, like literally. So I was like, ‘Alright cool, let’s have this, let’s do this and see what happens’ and that’s when WWE called, because I asked a friend, ‘Hey dude, you know what? I’m ready to hang the boots. There ain’t nothing right now for me. I’m about to have a fight and you know [if anyone needs a] referee? I mean I have done [it],’ and then, he’s like yeah and they contacted me and then we talked about numbers and then my husband — after, I called my husband. He was a little upset. He was like, ‘Dude, you’ve been training for four months to become a professional fighter. Are you gonna dump that because of this much money? Remember, once you sign this contract, you don’t have independence. You don’t have the freedom to be you. You belong to a company, for many years then another thing, we got to move. Remember, we got a son, we have a dog and I have a job. You gotta think about this stuff. You are not alone. If you were single, yeah, whatever. God Bless you, I’ll see you in Orlando. You gotta think about things’ and I was like, ‘No, you’re right’ and he was like, ‘If you were to decide to go, fine, I’ll be there with you, 100 percent, but just remember, before you sign anything that’s gonna put a hold on things that you have worked on, things that you’re passionate about, remember that you might get depressed and you might not like what you’re doing.’”
** Lilian Garcia told CBR that she believes the likes of Trish Stratus, Jacqueline, Ivory and Lita started the women’s evolution in WWE.
“It was Ivory and Jacqueline and Trish and Lita — they started that Evolution. And I think it’s just been incredible to see where it has gone from there.”
** Here’s the newest episode of AEW Dark:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AxmYC4Hiwo[/embedyt]
** Roman Reigns is set to appear at the MTV EMAs on November 8th.
** WWE filed for the following trademarks on 10/22:
– Sam Gradwell
– Ridge Holland
– Saxton Huxley
– Sid Scala
– Toni Storm
** Bell To Belles’ interview with Nicole Savoy was uploaded to the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast feed. Nicole talked about being a free agent and how getting signed is not at the top of her priority list as far as her career goes.
“For me, when I first started in wrestling, it really wasn’t — my goal was really not to get a contract [in the sense that she wasn’t aiming for it]. That was the last thing on my mind. My goals were really to wrestle for SHIMMER, become a champion for SHIMMER and make a name for myself on the independent circuit. That was my main focus. So, I’m not signed anywhere, but it’s not like I’m really bothered by it, you know? I’m still enjoying my time on the indies.”
** MMA News caught up with Jake Hager ahead of his bout at Bellator 250. Hager stated that he feels AEW World Champion Jon Moxley would fare well in the octagon.
“I think Jon Moxley is a great [AEW] World Champion. I know after wrestling him for that championship, for 43 minutes in front of no audience, in the Florida heat, that man has what it takes to go five rounds. He’s trained just a little bit and I think he’s a natural for (MMA). He definitely has that I don’t care attitude, and I’m ready to fight.”
** Lance Storm told Fightful that he and Chris Jericho have an unofficial pact to have their respective last matches in wrestling with one another.
“Yeah, it’s about that. It was either ’16 or ’15. Wherever Mania in Dallas was the last time. It was a WrestleCon match against Matt Hardy, was technically my last match as of now. We still, Chris Jericho and I sort of have an unofficial pact that we will have our last match ever together. Because we had our first match ever together and we’re still really good friends, so provided he doesn’t keep wrestling for another twenty-five years, there is the probability, or at least possibility, that he and I will have our last one and we will do our debut and our joint retirement match together. So, there’s still the possibility of that one someday.”
** Here’s the official trailer for Talk’N Shop A Mania 2:
#TalkNShopAMania2 First look! pic.twitter.com/Fv4XH9eQTz
— “The Big LG” Doc Gallows (@The_BigLG) October 27, 2020
** The following is from wXw which is the announcement of their latest project, the 2020 Catch Grand Prix:
wXw Catch Grand Prix 2020
During the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic wrestling companies are struggling to cope with the new reality. wXw out of Germany has produced two seasons of the storytelling and segment-heavy wrestling show wXw Shotgun.
After season 1 got hit hard by the SpeakingOut movement season 2 has been far more of a success. Six episodes and one marquee event “wXw Shortcut to the Top 2020” averaging over 2 hours playtime each are available with wXw’s streaming service wXwNOW as well as via the WWE Network.
During this season wXw has focussed on a roster of non-contracted continental European
wrestlers. Lifting the ban on intergender wrestling has enabled wXw to tell new storylines. A new focus on younger, fresher talent has made for an exciting season of wrestling television including matches for three of the wXw titles. wXw has also produced two cinematic matches with the 30 minutes long Wrestling Academy match between Avalanche and Norman Harras receiving a lot of praise in the German wrestling media.After wXw Shotgun had been very storyline-focussed the new product has more of a
wrestling focus. The wXw Catch Grand Prix 2020 is an homage to the heyday of old
German/Austrian catch. Fourteen wrestlers compete in two blocks of seven over the course
of seven weeks. All matches are contested under five 3-minute-rounds. This is billed as a
prize-fighting tournament with monetary fines as well as yellow and red cards for cheating.
wXw has put their roster reveal, a modern take on the old parade which traditionally opened all catch events, on YouTube on October 18th.The tournament participants are:
Block A: Unified World Wrestling Champion Bobby Gunns, 16 Carat Gold winner Cara Noir,
Shotgun Champion Metehan, World Tag Team Champion Fast Time Moodo, Avalanche,
Anil Marik, Hektor InvictusBlock B: Emil Sitoci, Marius Al-Ani, Norman Harras, Prince Ahura, Senza Volto, Tristan
Archer, Vincent HeisenbergwXw presents one match per day starting tonight, October 26th, on wXwNOW. The
tournament lasts until mid-December. There are pre- and post-match interviews as well as
expert panels on every night. Clearly Catch Grand Prix is presented much more as a sports
product than wXw Shotgun is.wXw Catch Grand Prix was filmed in September before the second wave of the COVID-19
pandemic hit Europe hard. As wXw has done for all tapings since May, they have worked
extensively with local government to follow all laws and regulations and establish a security
protocol. For Shotgun Season 2 and Catch Grand Prix 40 extras were allowed to fill the roles of fans.
wXwNOW is available for 9.99 EUR per month. All releases are available in English with all
German interviews being subtitled.
** Shotzi Blackheart made the media rounds and chatted with GIVEMESPORT. She stated that she thinks Rhea Ripley is one current NXT talent that’s ready to head to RAW or SmackDown.
“The main roster is the main goal. That’s why we’re at NXT. So every time someone moves up to the main roster it’s awesome. I think Rhea Ripley [will be called up next]. I don’t know what’s taking so long, honestly! She belongs up there, she’s a superstar. I think very soon she’ll be gone. That makes me sad because she’s one of my favorite tag team partners, but she deserves it!”
** The following names were announced for the Nick Gage Invitational tournament on November 7th: Aeroboy, AJ Gray, Low Life Louie, Mance Warner, Lucky 13, Masada, Shane Mercer and Alex Colon.
** Yahoo! Finance has highlights up of XFL co-owner Dany Garcia speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit.
** The following matches were announced for this week’s NJPW Strong show:
– Clark Connors & The DKC vs. the Riegel Twins (Logan & Sterling Riegel)
– Karl Fredericks vs. Blake Christian
– David Finlay, PJ Black, Alex Zayne & Misterioso vs. BULLET CLUB (KENTA, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hikuleo)
** WWE announced Pat McAfee for NXT Halloween Havoc. McAfee assisted Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan in becoming NXT Tag Team Champions last week. McAfee also tweeted out that he was the one who paid Ridge Holland to take out Undisputed ERA.
** Lacey Evans will be a part of the Military Influencer Conference on November 10th.
** Here are the results from the most recent episode of ROH TV that was based around the progression of the ROH Pure Title tournament:
– Pure Title Tournament Block B Final: Jonathan Gresham def. Josh Woods
– Matt Taven vs. Vincent goes to a no-contest.
– Pure Title Tournament Block A Final: Tracy Williams def. Jay Lethal
** The UK-based ‘Wrestle Carnival’ promotion will be running London’s ‘229’ venue on January 31st, 2021.
** PWInsider chatted with Lilian Garcia to promote the ‘Chasing Glory’ podcast debut on the WWE Network.
** The Austin Chronicle published a story about the ‘Ale’ documentary that premiered at the Austin Film Festival. ‘Ale’ is about 19-year-old pro-wrestler in training, Alessandra Goh Bollier who resides in Switzerland.
** NJPW1972.com has an interview up with Hiromu Takahashi and the two parties discussed the forthcoming 2020 Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
** Here’s a new episode of AEW ‘Road to Dynamite’:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3kYBkxL3po[/embedyt]
** Prior to Bound For Glory, Steel Chair Magazine conducted a joint-interview with Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards.
** NXT UK’s Isla Dawn chatted with ‘Metro’.
** Sammy Guevara uploaded a new VLOG to his YouTube channel.
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.
