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.
** Cody Rhodes returned to the AEW Unrestricted podcast with Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone. The former TNT Champion explained how AEW’s agreements with extra talent[s] work. Those talents who regularly appear on AEW Dark and on Dynamite at times are under tier-based contracts.
“Agree to appear is a tier zero. Meaning you’ll get a bonus which Tony [Khan] is super generous. If you asked some of these extras what they’re making for being there, you would literally go, ‘What!? What!?’ My dad would have lost it. ‘What!?’ But he’s right, it’s COVID era, they have no other work. There’s no indies.
Tier zero is just a signing bonus and exclusivity to us in terms of like we get a first option on you I believe is how it works and we guarantee you X amount of dates, five dates. The exclusivity thing is case-by-case but we guarantee you X amount of dates. The goal is you don’t wanna pay someone an agree to appear — Chris Harrington would handle this much better than I am — you don’t wanna keep giving them their weekly, their weekly, their weekly, their weekly versus tier one’ing them which is our base contractor agreement.”
Cody further spoke about the chair shot he took from Shawn Spears at Fyter Fest in 2019. He said that as he was heading to the back to get checked out, he saw both Jon Moxley and Tony Khan yelling at Spears about what had happened.
“It’s entirely my fault what happened. The whole thing is my fault. The whole thing and the scene when I came back and I did not have a concussion, but I definitely was shell shocked when I came back and Steve Yu and all the Comeback Studios guys were filming it, filming a very real moment but I saw out of the corner of my eye as I headed to the training room, Moxley and Tony Khan just ripping [Shawn] Spears to shreds, and I hadn’t seen that side of the owner and the founder, the chief, the boss, Tony and I hadn’t seen that side of Moxley as some days, he says one half-a-word to you and other days he’s talking your ear off. He’s such a unique personality. It was cool to see that because he cared about my health and he cared about the product and I could see him pantomiming to Spears on how he was supposed to do it, and he’s doing this [hand motion] and Tony’s agreeing because you got a wrestler like that giving his advice. He’s clearly gotta be right. But, he’s wrong. I really appreciate [him caring] about me. He’s wrong because I’m the one who told Ronnie, Spears to swing from the side.
So, I told him swing from the side and the last words I told him because there’s a whole series of days prior to this where we’re going over it. The last words I told him were, ‘Swing for the fences,’ and when I landed, I don’t know if you can make out the camera shot but when I land, my head hit so stiff from the shot that I land the awkward landing where you have two falls. I muttered, ‘Swing for the fences.’ Here was my objective, and I want people to understand this: Wrestling is violent, wrestling is violent. People get hurt, it’s not ballet. You’ve heard all this stuff. Now I don’t want anyone to get hurt. The art is to make it look like we hurt each other and then we can go home. That’s why we shake hands over and over and over again. If we’re gonna be held in the same standard as TV and film which some people would like to hold us to those same standards. We have a comparable reach with global penetration, pop culture-wise. Well then, if Captain America can be swinging his shield around, hitting people on the head with it, no one is crying head shots. No one is blaming this modern generation for whatever the hell they did in 1990-something with Mick [Foley] and Rock and Shamrock. That’s not our fault. So, I wanted to take chair shots to the head back for the boys. But I wanted to do it safely.”
Continuing with the story, Cody communicated to Tony Khan to relay to sources that the chair was gimmicked no matter what. Cody brought up the name of an individual named Charlie who helped sand the seat of the “gimmicked” chair. Charlie was fired from the props department on the day of the incident because of what happened.
“In WWE, the department was called magic because it could be, ‘Hey, could I get some costume jewelry?’ to, ‘Can I get a sledgehammer that is actually rubber?’ and these are the eight different versions of it etc. It was actually a full department. So Charlie kinda filled that void but before he ever filled that void because he’s doing great now, he was briefly the head of our props division. He was also fired the same day he was the head of our props division because of how bad this all went. Plan was Charlie was going to sand the seat of the chair. Sand it, sand it, sand it, sand it so it was a cookie sheet. A cookie sheet can’t hurt anybody, can’t hurt anybody. It sounds like it does. It’s not unlike why we hit each other with the trash can lid. It’s weird that in these wrestling street fights we always somehow find that trash can lid from that steel trash can that no one’s had, in years but it makes a great sound, it looks good. He was gonna sand the seat of the chair and then again, swing for the fences. So, I wanted to see it and I, being very organized, organization being a thing, I said, ‘Well I want two of them. I want two of them because what if we decided to do one of them in the middle of the day to test it? I wanna have two of them and then you mark them with a piece of tape and you leave them in my face.’
That was the gimmicked chair. The night before walking to that Ocean Front Center or whatever it’s called there in Daytona, Tony Khan is adamant that Charlie hits him with the chair, and I was adamant that, ‘He is not hitting you with the chair. You are not taking a headshot. No, if you’re gonna take a headshot, I’m gonna take a headshot. I really appreciate it but we’re sanding this thing down and if we can’t dent it and if we dent one –’ perhaps we should have. I still would never want Tony to take this but he even was like banging it against his own head. Like, ‘See, it’s nothing’ and he kept banging it against his own head. ‘See, it’s nothing.’ He’s such an energetic individual. But what I told him, I said if we get a lot of heat right out of the gate, optics-wise, if we get a lot of heat for what goes down, say to whatever sources you want to, however you want to distill this information, tell them it was a gimmicked chair. So that in the fiction in the actual product in what we’re doing, we’re not addressing it. But off the record, he is addressing it. So really no one can get mad. That was the plan. Should’ve coordinated the plan with everybody. That would include Matt and Nick Jackson who I left out in the wilderness on this, Kenny who I don’t think I’ve said a word to about this. That was the plan so that’s where the term ‘gimmicked chair’ came from.”
** Sportskeeda’s Chris Featherstone hosted a Q&A session with John Bradshaw Layfield. When asked if he’d be interested in returning to the ring, JBL said he’d love to but isn’t sure if he’d physically be able to.
“I would love a return. I love the business. I loved every second of it. I retired when I had to, not because I wanted to, because of injuries and so, if I could do it, I would love to. I don’t know physically if I could or not. It’s been years since I’ve been in the ring. I believe it’s been about ten or 11 years so, I’m not sure a return is feasible. Would I love one? Absolutely, and I got a storyline for it too by the way. I’ve got a wonderful storyline [but] I don’t know if I could physically do it.”
Prior to the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, JBL appeared on SmackDown in a court segment with Otis and The Miz. He discussed what it was like working with Otis and being a part of the TV product:
“I love Otis. I think Otis as a character is great. I love doing commentary about Otis because I love bashing the character and trying to put him over as a heel. But, it was a lot of fun, those guys have a lot of talent and being the judge there in the Wrestlers’ Court, that is Taker’s seat. I knew I was kinda sitting in somebody’s chair I probably shouldn’t have been sitting in but it was a lot of fun. It was great to be back. I like going back now. You know, when I go back I sit in the TV locker room. I usually sit there with Booker T and a lot of times Samoa Joe is there and some of the announcers and we just sit and — Corey Graves is always there. We just sit and talk and have a good time. It’s really fun to go back now.”
** Former All Japan Women’s Champion Mima Shimoda did an interview with New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s official website. It was revealed that Mimi is under contract with NJPW and works in a backstage role. She explained how she was brought into the position she currently works in.
** Artem Chigvintsev, significant other of Nikki Bella, told US Weekly that Nikki and Brie have been in talks about returning to wrestling.
“She’s been having talks about coming back and doing something together with [her twin sister], Brie [Bella.] They both have kids, and I feel like they still have this unclosed chapter with wrestling. I would not be surprised.”
** Ryback welcomed David Benoit onto his YouTube show to discuss David’s aspirations in pro wrestling and what he’s enjoying about the current product. David stated that he does not want to go to WWE and would rather compete in other companies/promotions to gain experience.
“I don’t wanna go there [WWE]. I’d rather go to New Japan, AEW, IMPACT, AAA, NWA. Get some experience underneath my belt.”
** Per FOX 13, Sonya Deville (Daria Berenato’s) restraining order against Phillip Thomas will remain in place. Back in August, Thomas broke into Deville’s home with the intent to harm her. Fellow WWE talent Mandy Rose (Amanda Saccomanno) was in the home with Beranato at the time of the break-in. Hillsborough Judge Jessica Costello extended the temporary injunction until the criminal case is solved.
** The Wrap ran their interview with The Undertaker. “The Phenom” stated that he has talked to Paul “Triple H” Levesque about doing more work with the talents at the Performance Center and that option is on the table. The only obstacle for him would be the constant travel because he lives in Texas.
“You know, that’s the pickle that I’m in right now, is trying to [figure] out what lane I want to take. I’ve been on the road for so long, that really doesn’t appeal to me, traveling and doing all that. I love to teach. Triple H and I have had many conversations about me working with the talent there at NXT, in Orlando at the PC. And I really enjoy that. And we’re just trying to figure out how it works because I’d have to come in and go out. I live in Texas. So I’m sure I will do more of that moving forward. I think there’s a lot of– I think I have a lot to offer. The product is changing and evolving, but I think there’s a lot of what I bring to the table that is still applicable to the product and these guys need to hear it and see it from somebody who has made it work. So we’ll see what happens there.”
** Taylor Wilde welcomed Killer Kelly onto her ‘Wilde On’ podcast. Killer Kelly looked back at her time in NXT UK and how she was used on the brand. She feels that she was not used very well although she enjoyed her time in WWE overall.
“I’m very grateful for the time I spent in WWE. Like very grateful. I trained with William Regal. Like that’s a dream. I was very, very happy there working with them and training and having promo class with Shawn Michaels. Like what the hell? And I had a lot of good friends there and everything but I wasn’t used very well. I didn’t get to showcase myself like I did on the indies. I was still working wXw and people would see what I would bring to the table and they’re like, ‘Why isn’t Kelly doing that? Why is Kelly just the person who puts over other talent?’ Which, by me, I’m totally fine. I’m totally fine. That means that the company trusts you to put over other people and they trust you to do that. But, at the same time I was like, ‘Okay, I need something more and now is the time to do it.’”
** Major League Wrestling CEO Court Bauer spoke to Wrestling Inc. for an exclusive interview. Court is hoping to have fans back at MLW events by the Spring of 2021. He is also looking into running a show on an island and is going to send his team to scope out some potential locations.
“My hope and goal is to have fans in the spring, but we have no idea what the rollout of the vaccine is going to look like. I don’t really have a sense yet about athletic commissions and what their game plan is going to be for 2021 because it’s not just the fans. They have certain criteria for locker rooms and even big arenas, NBA-sized arenas can’t accommodate what they’re asking for, and what they’re asking for makes all the sense in the world. It’s just what is out there to make sure we can comply with that. It’s hard. So there’s a bit of that based on where we run in Pennsylvania.
We run in New York. Those are two key markets. We also run in Chicago, Dallas, Florida and a few other places, but it’s kind of like a jump ball. We have some ideas. We actually have a site survey that’s set for later this month, another exclusive for you, where we’re going to have our guys go out. It’s a tough gig. They’re going to have to go out to Hawaii and also down to the Caribbean because we are looking at doing an actual island show. So ‘Filthy Island’ is a real thing that’s going to happen we hope. Will we have fans when we do it? To be determined but we’re going to be doing something like that on the horizon.
I want to do a live show from a tropical location. I think it would be really cool for DAZN. It would also be really cool for TV. So we’ll see where it ends up. Those are some of the goals and some things we got in the mix. Where do I see us in a year from now? I think we’ll be, hopefully, returning to some semblance of normalcy. Will we be running every taping in the cycle and manner of which we did in the past? Perhaps, maybe it will take a little bit longer. It’s hard to know. Hopefully, we have a president by then. We’ll see what happens. I just want to get through 2020.”
** Per PWInsider, Savio Vega will be joined by Kane and The Godfather for The Undertaker’s 30-year anniversary celebration at Survivor Series.
** Graham Matthews of Bleacher Report has an extensive feature up about Bianca Belair. Belair was interviewed for the piece and on the topic of possibly teaming with Naomi and winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, Belair believes it’s something that will happen in the future.
“I think it’s something that’s definitely going to happen before the end of both of our careers, and I think it’s something that has to happen. I think it’s a given. It’s going to happen. She got drafted to Raw right before I got drafted to SmackDown. There was a moment when she got drafted to Raw where I thought, ‘Oh, is this going to happen?’ And then I got drafted to SmackDown. I just think we’re at two different times in our career right now.
I’m just getting my foot in the door, and maybe after I get on the road and figure out who exactly Bianca Belair is, definitely I think later down the line it’s something that’s going to naturally happen.
When it does happen, it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be great, and it would be a really, really great accomplishment as far as Naomi and I teaming and becoming the tag team champions one day in the future.”
As far as her debut at WrestleMania goes, she shared that the plans were always for her to have a big debut coming from NXT.
“I knew about debuting with The Street Profits at WrestleMania that morning. I knew about the possibility of debuting at Raw after WrestleMania. I knew they were going to give me this big, huge debut and there’s no better time to debut than WrestleMania or the Raw after WrestleMania. That was the plan, and then things got a little crazy with what’s been going on. It kind of went up in the air, and I didn’t really know what was going to happen.
I believe it was that morning I got a phone call saying, ‘Hey, you’re needed.’ ‘For WrestleMania?’ ‘Yes. You’re debuting with The Street Profits.’ ‘Oh, OK. Cool, great.'”
Coming off of her WrestleMania debut, Bianca Belair regularly wrestled on WWE ‘Main Event’ and did not have many TV appearances. She expressed that she is the type of individual to support people even when it’s not her time to shine because she’d want those people to support her when it is her time.
“I’m the type of person where I have no problem clapping for the people when it’s their turn and not my turn. I have to be happy for the people when it’s finally their turn and be happy for them because one day it’s going to be my turn, and I’d love for them to be happy for me.
It’s a thing of being patient and not being complacent and knowing what will be for you will be for you, and all you can do is do what you’re supposed to do. That’s what I’ve been doing since Day 1.”
** A new interview is up on MuscleManMalcolm’s YouTube channel with TJP. TJP went on to become the winner of the 2016 WWE Cruiserweight Classic and during the interview, he claimed that Paul “Triple H” Levesque asked him if he’d want to be a trainer/coach at the Performance Center one day.
“When I first went to WWE, Hunter pulled me aside during the C.W.C. [Cruiserweight Classic], before I was signed or there was an offer or anything on the table. One of the first things he said to me was, he asked me if I would want to be a producer and a coach there some day, and that my mind for my age is extremely valuable. I would’ve just done it then. I’m not that big on myself. I don’t need to keep wrestling. I don’t need to be like a star, like a figure of the show or anything so I told him, ‘I’ll just do this now if you want to.’ He says, ‘No, no. We want you to wrestle but consider that’ and that was kind of the first time that I thought, ‘Now I’m starting to reach this space where my experience and age are meeting at the same time.’ I’m now in like my prime years.”
** The Undertaker guest appeared on ‘Extraa Dhamaal LIVE’ to celebrate his 30 years in WWE. Undertaker reflected on his WrestleMania 36 match with AJ Styles and said had it been anyone else besides AJ, he likely wouldn’t have done the match.
“The match itself came off so smoothly. AJ Styles, I look at him as the modern-day Shawn Michaels. I just think he’s so talented, and probably, if it had been anybody other than AJ Styles, I probably wouldn’t have wrestled in that Mania. But I went into it as, ‘Okay, this is probably gonna be my last chance to wrestle somebody of that caliber and wrestle somebody I respected so much as a professional and the things that he had accomplished.’ So, that’s why the match kind of came about to start with.”
** Digital Spy released another portion of their chat with SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks. Sasha became champion at the Hell In A Cell pay-per-view and shared that she’s very happy with how the match turned out.
“I am extremely happy with the Hell in a Cell match. Bayley is absolutely my favorite opponent of all time and it went just exactly how I wanted. To have that Hell in a Cell with her was incredible. I love that match and I loved the outcome of the match.”
Banks touched on the storyline that has played out over the years with herself and Bayley. She feels that it was touch-and-go at times but appreciates the attention that WWE put it on.
“This whole storyline with Bayley, it was a long time coming and there were times in the past where we saw it stop and go, but in the long run we really had to have the fans see this long, long friendship which you don’t really get to see in the WWE too often. Five years of this journey, of this friendship growing and growing, and then Bayley turning on me… it’s been everything that I’ve ever wanted. I got really inspired from Trish Stratus and Mickie James – they had a year-long storyline when I was watching as a teenager. That’s what I wanted growing up, I wanted a yearlong storyline where you just were on the ride the whole time. So for us, it’s kind of like a revamp of that. But it’s really cool to see just the investment and time WWE has given to, not only myself and Bayley, but all of the women in WWE. It’s just been non-stop of this incredible momentum of women just taking over the company.”
** The Hashtag Show posted their interview with Karl Anderson and Rocky Romero. Anderson discussed his brief series of singles matches in WWE and doesn’t feel like steam ever got behind it. Although he wants to hold a plethora of tag team gold with Doc Gallows, he does not want people to forget how good he is as a singles talent.
“You know, I feel like the steam never got going [in WWE for a singles run]. I always had confidence in myself and I still do and that’s why now I got a chip on my shoulder now because I want me and [Doc] Gallows to have all the tag team success in the world, right? But I just need people to realize, let’s not forget how God damn good I am. Let’s not forget when a singles match happens, you’re trying to tell me I can’t get in there and go with [Seth] Rollins, whoever the f*ck is at the top? You’re trying to tell me that me and Prince Devitt or Fergie can’t have a great match? Like get out of here man because I’ve done it before, I’ve proven it before and I’m gonna do it again. But, that’s what drives me so it doesn’t — I’m not sitting around bitter about it. I know that I’m gonna get these opportunities again and right now, being able to pop all this business off with my boys and entertain the world in this insane Talk N’ Shop A Mania alternate universe, that’s fun. I got a singles match coming up on IMPACT on AXS TV on Tuesday, then I got a tag team title match on Saturday. Sh*t is popping off and then New Japan’s gonna get hot. It’s exciting, it gives me chills even thinking about it.”
On November 22nd, Gallows, Anderson and Romero are hosting a live recording of Talk’n Shop at Jimmy’s Seafood in Baltimore. Anderson promoted their forthcoming stage show:
“November 22nd at Jimmy’s Seafood, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood in Baltimore, Maryland, we’re doing our first-ever live Talk ‘N Shop at 6 PM, and you can order tickets at talknshoppod@gmail, only 100 tickets are available or 125 or whatever but they’re moving pretty quick once we started to figure out how to promote it and how to get people to pay and all this sh*t. But it’ll be fun because I don’t have any idea what we’re gonna do. We’re just going to be up on stage and just be talking sh*t. You know how we are.”
** The Undertaker interviewed with the New York Post. The publication asked Undertaker about the story shared by Jim Ross during the Grilling JR podcast about Undertaker waiting on Shawn Michaels after WrestleMania 14 to make sure Shawn dropped the belt to Steve Austin. At the time, Undertaker did not trust Shawn 100 percent to do business and was prepared to get physical with Michaels if he needed to.
“Shawn, everyone knows the story, is supposed to drop the belt to Steve. Shawn was being Shawn in my opinion and like I didn’t know if he was gonna do it. My intention was to make sure one way or another business was done that night.
I felt so bad because our relationship had changed so much that he goes, ‘Were you really gonna beat me up?’ I was like, ‘No man, that’s just all rumor. Taping my hands up and everything, come on.’ He goes, ‘I didn’t think so. I mean that really didn’t sound like you.’
The whole time in my head I’m like, ‘I was gonna smash you if you didn’t drop that belt to Steve.’ But yeah, he’s a completely different person, I love him to death now. But, yeah, that’s the story. I was sitting there hands taped ready to do whatever I needed to be done.
We’ve mended any broken fences. I think the world of Shawn and how he’s changed his life. Obviously, we’ve shared some very special moments in the ring, WrestleMania’s and all that.”
** On the 11/19 edition of NXT UK on the WWE Network, the Heritage Cup will conclude with Trent Seven and A-Kid in the finals. Rampage Brown made his in-ring debut on today’s show and also scheduled for next week is Kay Lee Ray defending the NXT UK Women’s Title against Piper Niven in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
** WWE Hall Of Famer Goldberg was interviewed by KSAT.com as he was helping serve free meals to veterans on Veterans Day.
** Xavier Woods was announced as a co-host of the eSports awards.
** NXT Tag Team Champion Danny Burch chatted with Daily DDT and told the site that he wants to establish himself as the greatest British wrestler of his generation.
“For me, I just want to cement myself as the best British wrestler from my generation. I came before Pete [Dunne], I came before Trent [Seven], I came before Tyler [Bate]. I just want to cement that and it doesn’t matter what brand I’m on because I don’t see us as just developmental. We are an undeniable, 100 percent third brand. I just want to continue doing my thing and take pride in the fact that I am one of the hardest-working guys on our roster and that’s something I’m always going to continue to do.”
** WWE producer and on-screen authority figure Adam Pearce joined Corey Graves on the After The Bell podcast. While reflecting on his time as NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion, Pearce recounted seeing Murphy early in his career and heaped praise onto Murphy for his success in WWE.
“Just the international tours. I did a lot in Australia. Seems like from 2009-2012 I was in Australia like every other month so, that’s where I met Buddy Murphy or Murphy, excuse me, who I think is really gonna be a fixture in WWE programming going forward. I feel like he has every intangible and is just now starting to scratch the surface of what he can be capable of. I met him as NWA Champion down in Australia. I wanna say that’s maybe 2011.”
** Black Label Pro announced the postponement of their ‘SLAMILTON’ show that was scheduled for November 21st in Crown Point, Indiana. The show was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
** To promote the next season of Miz & Mrs. on the USA Network, The Miz and Maryse were interviewed by TV Insider. Miz stated that his father George Mizanin owns a food truck called ‘Miz Steaks & Wieners’ and sells ‘Mike’s Little Wieners’.
“You’ll see this on the show, but my dad is retired now. He comes in and says, ‘I retired.’ We’re like, ‘Does that mean you’re going to be here more?’ He is like, ‘Yep.’ So we try to find my dad a hobby. His idea of a hobby was buying a food truck. Buying a food truck is not a hobby—it’s a job. What does he call it? He calls it Miz Steaks and Wieners. His hot item that he sells is Mike’s Little Wieners. Yes, he utilizes my name, my brand to exploit me and make fun of me all in the same aspect. That’s what I’m dealing with.”
** The Talk’n Shop A Mania 2 roster was revealed via a press release and here’s who’ll be a part of the show: Tommy Dreamer, Justin Credible, Rhino, Scott Steiner, Shane “Hurricane” Helms, Scott D’Amore, NZO, Chavo Guerrero , Teddy Long, Tommy Dreamer, Gangrel, Justin Credible, Nathan Orton, Rhyno, Heath, JTG, Brian Myers, Balls Deep Billy, The Warlord, Freight Train, Ball Lame Man, Barbarian, Virgil-Sami Calihan, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, Ethan Page, Taya Valkyrie, Mark Jindrak, Rory Fox, Mike Knox, Mad Man Fulton, Air Paris, Swoggle, Mr. Hughes, Alex Kozlov, Uncle Bobby Ferguson, Paul Lee, Kevin Fertig, George North, Lazer, Lariato Man, Annie Cruz, David Penzer, Bryce Cannon, Rimjob, Stump Kowalski, Frankie Coverdale, Chris Van Vliet, and Lisa Ann.
** Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a part of the ‘Army and Air Force Exchange Service’ Facebook stream.
** The latest episode of ‘Old School in Session’ with Gary Juster was posted to the Ring of Honor YouTube channel. Juster, current ROH Director of Operations and former WCW, NWA and AWA promoter talked about Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair clashing at times during the peak of their respective careers.
“I think the two of them had great respect for one another, professional respect. But yes, they had their moments. I don’t think anything ever serious. They both had big egos and well deserved, and big egos will sometimes clash especially when everyone’s looking for that number one spot.”
** Johnny Gargano was a guest on the Wrestle Buddies podcast and discussed NXT being viewed as a “developmental” despite being on the USA Network. Gargano also touched on the notion that talents who’ve been in NXT for a long period of time have to depart but that never holds the same for RAW and SmackDown talents.
“I love it. I mean I’ve done so many interviews where I said it’s a viable third brand even before it got on the USA Network, and now that it’s obviously been on the USA Network for a year, then it only furthers my case and I know there are still people out there that view it as a developmental brand and I wish those people would get out of their own way. Because for some reason, they look at that as a negative thing, but if you look at it in that sense, RAW is a developmental brand, SmackDown is a developmental brand, NXT’s developmental. We’re all still growing. I mean everything should be a developmental brand at this point. I think everything is interchangeable. We’ve seen people like Finn Balor come back. We’ve seen people like Ember Moon come back, we’ve seen people move on. I believe in my heart of heart that NXT is a third brand and for people out there that say things like, ‘Oh, Undisputed ERA should leave. They’ve been there too long’ or, ‘Tommaso should leave, he’s been there too long’ or, ‘Johnny should leave. He’s been there for too long.’ You weren’t saying the same thing about Seth Rollins on SmackDown. You weren’t saying the same thing about Seth Rollins [when] he was on RAW. I never saw that narrative where, ‘Seth Rollins should leave RAW.’ No one ever said that. So I think everyone should just calm down, enjoy the content, enjoy the matches you see and I think everything will be good.”
** The Miz told PopCulture.com that he would love to have a third season of Miz & Mrs.
** Bianca Belair and Montez Ford recreated the opening scene of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ for their Halloween costumes. Belair put a video together to detail the process of getting everything together for their costumes.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5EssieobiY[/embedyt]
** DDT ‘DAMNATION Produce Illegal Assembly Returns’ Results (11/12/20) Shinjuku FACE
– Chikara & Nobuhiro Shimatani def. Tsutomu Oosugi & Yasutaka Oosera
– Antonio Honda, Ryu Gouma & Yasu Urano def. El Lindaman, Mad Paulie & T-Hawk
– Amigo Suzuki def. Hiroshi Yamato
– Ryuichi Sekine & Tetsuya Endo def. Brahman Brothers (Brahman Kei & Brahman Shu)
– Soma Takao def. Yusuke Kubo
– Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuko Miyamoto vs. DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki & Shuji Ishikawa) – Time Limit Draw (30:00)
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated interviewed Jeff Hardy as a part of his ‘This Week in Wrestling’ column. Hardy heaped praise onto NXT’s Cameron Grimes for his growth and success in wrestling.
“Trevor is incredible. He’s just so talented. Many, many moons ago, even before I debuted in WWE against Razor Ramon in ’94, I was training in Trevor’s dad’s old yard. That’s where our ring used to be. I can still remember doing shooting stars and landing on my feet, doing reverse-450s and landing on my feet.
I remember when Trevor was a little baby, he was in that ring. I’ve seen him grow up, and to see him so big and healthy and athletic, it’s a beautiful thing. His dad passed away at the age of 50, but I’m sure he’s living vicariously through his son. It’s such a cool thing to see another human being come from this little antique town called Cameron, N.C., and be on this main stage. He is such a talented and deserving individual, and I wish him the best of luck.”
** Sefa Fatu is joining the roster lineup for GCW ‘Slime Season’ on December 12th.
** Chris Van Vliet caught up with Lance Archer for an interview. During an April edition of AEW Dynamite, Archer faced Marko Stunt in singles competition and Archer credited Marko for being tough in the ring despite his size.
“No [limitations on the match], none whatsoever. You know, Marko, he’s a tough little son of a b*tch, man. He’s one of those guys that you look at him and you see him, if you don’t know him you’re like, ‘Man, he’s –’ like you said, he’s such a small dude. But he is a tough little dude man. He got tossed and thrown from here to Timbuktu in that match especially. That’s been his whole career and he’s still running and gunning, going and full of spunk, fight and attitude. You have to respect him for that. I say, ‘Everybody Dies’ and somehow he survived. I let him live. I tossed him, killed him and destroyed him but I didn’t wanna just completely end his life.”
** The latest guest on ‘Talk Is Jericho’ was Jake Hager. Towards the end of their conversation, Hager speculated on the idea of where WWE came up with the name “Swagger” for his in-ring last name. He recalled a time where Vince McMahon stated that he hated his [Jake’s] smile and said fans would hate it too. That somehow led to the name “Jack Swagger”.
“It was just from WWE creative. It came after I had a meeting with Vince [McMahon], and I was smiling too much I guess. He was like, ‘See that smile, f*cking pisses me off,’ and so I wipe it off immediately being a rookie and he’s like, ‘No, no, it’s great. It’s gonna piss them off too.’ So I think something from that smile… Swagger came out.”
** Bianca Belair guest appeared on D-Von Dudley’s Table Talk podcast.
** Maryse and The Miz made the media rounds and one of the outlets they spoke to was PEOPLE.com. Maryse shared that there are times when she misses that “on the road” lifestyle that WWE brings to one’s life.
“I get to see my kids at all times, and I want to see them at all times. I do really bad being away from them for 30 minutes. Being a mom of two, obviously, I cannot be on the road with WWE like I used to be. We used to be on the road 275 days a year, if not more. I kind of do miss that lifestyle sometimes, but I love being with my kids. I’ve never seen my mom and my family more since filming Miz and Mrs., because I used to be always gone. So, this kind of brought my family together.”
** ETOnline caught up with The Miz and Maryse. Miz told the publication that if his children want to pursue a career in WWE, he’s all for it.
** PWInsider chatted with Danny Burch ahead of the 11/11 episode of NXT. Burch was asked what led to him and Oney Lorcan forming a team and it derived from the two of them being physical with one another in singles matches.
“So we had two matches against each other and we beat the living snot out of each other and it was one of those things where after those matches we were presented with the idea of, ‘Do you guys want to be a tag team?’ I laughed, instantly, I was like, ‘Well, everyone’s gotta step in the ring with us so that’s not going to be a pleasant experience for them.’ From those matches, an instant mutual respect was born and the chemistry just got stronger and stronger since then and I love our team. We are…what you see is what you get, we will hit hard, we will hit first and we will ask questions later.”
** Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and recounted the time he met Ric Flair. Flair joined the show with Rodgers to reflect on their encounter.
** NJPW hosted a fan Q&A with YOSHI-HASHI and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion stated that the red stripes on his gear are a tribute to Shinsuke Nakamura.
** Jeff Hardy surprised pro wrestling fans in India and their reactions were recorded.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zr3AhoChfU[/embedyt]
** Shane Taylor joined Jason Powell on the Pro Wrestling Boom podcast.
** The newest edition of Ace’s HIGH with Hiroshi Tanahashi is live on NJPW1972.com.
** Ric Flair will be a part of LOL Network’s ‘Cold As Balls’ show.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Psf3KaNSk[/embedyt]
** Damian Priest was profiled on the WWEPC YouTube channel.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6HI5vHI4Qg[/embedyt]
** Nick Aldis joined Mickie James, Lisa Marie Varon and SoCal Val on GAW TV.
** The following video is from Ruby Riott’s YouTube channel:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEYKSgeFz6U[/embedyt]
** Bill Pritchard of WrestleZone spoke with Doc Gallows.
** Kevin Nash was a guest on the ‘Morning Kombat’ show.
** Below is Angelina Love and Session Moth Martina’s match from ROH ‘Gateway to Honor’:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zJI6nXe3xc[/embedyt]
** Gabriel Kidd’s latest blog post is up on NJPW1972.com.
** Dakota Kai, Mia Yim, Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler joined Xavier Woods to play the game ‘Phasmophobia’.
** The Reality of Wrestling YouTube channel uploaded Jordynne Grace and Alex Gracia’s match from 2019.
** Shane Taylor joined Tommy Dreamer and David LaGreca on Busted Open Radio.
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.
