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.
** WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon appeared on ‘The Playbook’ podcast with David Meltzer. Stephanie was asked about working alongside her father Vince McMahon and shared that there have been times when his criticism of her work was taken personally. She also shared the advice she received from Paul Heyman about the dynamic.
“Of course [I get my feelings hurt]. It’s hard. It’s actually interesting, I will tell a story with one of our wrestling personalities Paul Heyman actually said to me one time, because I was really upset over something that had happened with my dad as my boss, and it really hurt and my dad told me, when I first started working for him, he said, ‘Look, you can’t take it personally. I’m gonna be harder on you. I’m gonna say things that are gonna hurt your feelings. You can’t take it personally. This is all business.’ Right, easier said than done. But so, there was this one particular incident and it just rocked my world and Paul Heyman said to me, ‘You know what Steph, this is so good’ and I said, ‘What? Why is this so good Paul?’ And he said, ‘Because, if you can stand in a room and look Vince McMahon in the eye and go toe-to-toe with him in whatever opinion you’re trying to share, anybody else pales in comparison,’ and I thought, ‘Well, that’s a really interesting perspective’ and he said, ‘He’s training you that way’ which I don’t know is true or not, but I do know I am not easily intimidated by anything other than him. My dad, not Paul Heyman.”
** New York Post caught up with Lana for an exclusive interview. During their chat, Lana was asked about WWE’s third-party edict that led to their talents having to seize their Cameo and Twitch accounts. Lana feels that there is something that can be worked out between WWE and their talents. She claims to have expressed to the powers that be that she would like to create something for talents on the digital front.
“Absolutely. I know we are all in that discussion with the company of trying to work that out. Once again, the world has changed quickly. Everything has moved into digital space now. So there is a lot, a lot of money that can be made on the digital front from brand deals to Twitch, to YouTube. There’s so much money that maybe WWE didn’t always see they could make.
I may not be a main-event WrestleMania player but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a lot of money on the digital front. And I think with a lot of different people you see that. I see that. I think coming from the entertainment world to this, I always look at things in casting. So I look at our girls and I’m like man, Ruby Riott can make so much money in this aspect, Liv Morgan, Mandy (Rose) there, me there. I’m always like, ah. I should be a manager. I should be a real life manager.
I’m actually really excited because I expressed to WWE how much I would love to help them build something out for the talent because I feel like we haven’t even slightly started to tap into how big of stars we can be on the digital front and how much money we could make for WWE. So, I’m excited. I know sometimes when things happen it’s a slow and steady … you have to be patient with change. But I really believe I’m gonna be one of the ones that’s gonna help build this out and this new WWE where we are going to be bigger than ever, the talent.”
** JTG was the focus of Pro Wrestling Junkies’ latest virtual meet-and-greet session. He recounted his match against Santino Marella from the fall of 2013 where he uniquely sold Santino’s ‘Cobra Strike’ finisher. The way JTG sold the move was not well received by some backstage and it turned out to be his last match in WWE for the foreseeable future.
“Well I got two different reactions. From my peers, they loved it. This never happened in my career before where I had a great match and my peers got up and clapped for me. Like I’ve had a lot of great matches in WWE but with that sell, when I came back through that curtain, everybody got up and started clapping and laughing and we’re like, ‘That was amazing,’ and then the other reaction was from the office. My agent of the match, he was like, ‘That was pretty creative but you know, I don’t know if you did that to pop the boys or yourself but you got some — you might have a little heat with some people in the office’ and I’m like, ‘Why would I have heat with somebody in the office? The finisher is ridiculous.’ So, I was just having fun out there. He was like, ‘Eh… okay’ and then that happened to be my last match. That was my last match in WWE.”
** Former UFC fighter and current Bare Knuckle Boxing competitor Paige VanZant chatted with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald. Paige has expressed interest in WWE in the past and reiterated that she feels she and WWE are a perfect match.
“Yeah, you know truly, there’s been this kind of flirty relationship I feel like back and forth between myself and the WWE. I’ve always had interest and always felt like it’s the perfect match for me, it’s the perfect combination of my athleticism and fight skills, with a little bit more of the dance side of it where it’s like a little bit choreographed. You kind of get to have the showmanship part of it that I feel like I don’t get to utilize right now.”
Over the summer, Paige inked her deal with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. She shared that there’s a clause in her contract which allows her to take opportunities that present themselves such as a stint in WWE.
“So yeah, in my Bare Knuckle Boxing contract, it is an open door for me to pursue other things that coincide with Bare Knuckle Boxing. It definitely is open so, the opportunity is definitely there.”
** ROH World Television Champion Dragon Lee announced that he and his significant other are expecting a child.
** Danhausen was a guest on the ‘Not About Wrestling’ podcast and as the conversation went on, Danhausen stepped out of character and explained the origins of his on-screen persona.
“So the easiest way I can explain this is when you’re not having fun, because usually you’re not making money when you first start wrestling, you should at least be having fun or I don’t know, you should be getting something out of it and when you’re getting nothing out of it, it sucks. Wrestling, it’s literally either the best job or the worst job and it depends on what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. So, at the time I was like, ‘This is the worst job in the world. Why am I doing this?’ I’m getting beat up, I’m losing money. At that time, I didn’t feel like I was learning anything and I’m not having fun and I’m putting miles on my car, and yeah. I was like this sucks. I was like, ‘I can quit and just work a regular job,’ which is fine, or I was like, ‘I can try to do what I feel like doing and not doing what people want me to do or what I think people want me to do,’ and at that point, I just didn’t care. It was like I took out the safety net. I’m just gonna do this and then it snowballed and evolved from there. I was like, ‘I’m gonna be a horror character because that’s what I like.’ I like horror movies, and so I started to do that and that kind of caught on, but not enough because wrestling is already very niche and then horror is niche and then you combine those and it creates a smaller crowd that’s going to be into you. So then I was like, ‘Well, I like –’ I’m sarcastic or whatever in real life and I was like, ‘Well, what if I let that part in and be more of myself mixed with a horror character’ and I was like, ‘Let’s see how that works’ because some of my favorite movies are like Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness and Return of the Living Dead and Texas Chainsaw 2 and those are all, ‘Hey, the first ones of these movies are very serious and just straight up horror movies and then the second ones are very tongue-in-cheek and they have fun.’ I was like if I’m having fun, the crowd will notice that I’m having fun, hopefully and then that’s what worked.”
** It is noted in the latest Fightful Wrestling Weekly that in regards to Big E’s new theme which was created by Wale, it was WWE who wanted the new theme for Big E. The theme was supposed to debut around the time of the Big E vs. Sheamus feud but tweaks needed to be made it to it.
** VICE has an extensive feature up with longtime WWE composer Jim Johnston whose tenure with the company ended in 2017. Johnston detailed the creative process and broke down the meaning behind WWE themes that he’s created. One of those was D-Generation X’s theme.
“A lot of people tell me this is a Rage Against the Machine type of song, but it was always a straight-up funk groove to me. It’s a complete swing rhythm and I guess an ode to people like James Brown in terms of my chord progression.
I think it was Chris Warren’s brilliant vocal that gave the song this counterculture punk-rap vibe. He really symbolized what D-Generation X was all about in terms of upsetting the order of things. I remember we were in the studio and I held up a big sign with phrases that I wanted him to say in his iconic wise guy voice. I had written down, ‘You think you can tell us what to do?’, ‘You think you can tell us what to wear’ and like hundreds of other phrases, which I then cut down to what you hear on the intro. The long introduction of this track was a big risk as it went against the instant glass-shattering chaos that so many of the other themes had. I was worried Vince was going to shut it down quickly because, boy, the intro is so long! But there’s just something about it. Chris’ voice has this magnetic quality and he creates this anticipation in the arena. I feel like the song’s sound inspired a few nu-metal bands. That line: ‘Are you ready?’ caught on as well, as it was used on adverts for holidays, insurance and all kinds of things.”
Johnston came up with Vince McMahon’s theme song because he had been upset with McMahon in a work-related sense. His thought process was, “You’ve got no chance with this guy.”
“When I was writing Vince’s No ‘Chance In Hell’ entrance theme, I had been really upset with him about something at work. I found myself thinking: ‘You’ve got no chance against this guy!’ He’s got the power, the money, and in terms of pro-wrestling, he was pretty much the only game in town. I had written the guitar groove much earlier, and I found myself singing ‘No Chance…No Chance’ over that groove. Rather than a song about one man, I wanted it to be about ’The Man’.
The song is about the work system that imprisons us all. It’s got a thrust of someone who’s kind of like marching like they’re the kind of ‘big I am’. What I loved about Vince was how he liked to be surprised. He let me take risks and if I surprised him with something and it was good then he would be delighted. But if it wasn’t good then boy he would tell you about it! I will always class him as a friend. We were creating something entirely new as the business Vince had bought from his dad didn’t have any music for the wrestlers. Our work together radically changed things and made it so much more theatrical. I’ll always be proud of that.”
** Mike Chioda told Inside The Ropes his recollection of the Montreal Screwjob.
** TNT Champion Darby Allin spoke with Sportskeeda and he told the publication that he agrees with Jim Ross’ recent comments about wrestlers often clustering up on the outside for a big dive.
** The newest episode of NWA’s Shockwave series:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s93GWCzOEy8[/embedyt]
** Tommy Dreamer welcomed Ethan Page onto his House of Hardcore podcast. Ethan reflected on his time in EVOLVE and stated that for the duration of his run in the promotion, the Hamilton, Ontario native was working without a work visa.
“What happened with EVOLVE was at the time, they were really starting to mold their relationship with WWE and I really wanted to stay with EVOLVE but for some reason, we weren’t able to line up the money or the lawyers but to be able to get me a work visa at the time. My stock was rising so quickly at the time that I was getting really afraid of getting caught at the border, because my entire EVOLVE run, I had no visa. So I was just traveling and telling them, ‘Hey, I’m going to wrestle. I’m not making any money.’ That was mostly true. But it was an invaluable experience getting to work with Gabe [Sapolsky] and to be able to do that for three years but I needed the paperwork. My wife, I believe was either pregnant or about to be pregnant around that time and in came IMPACT Wrestling and I ended up doing the lawyer character, ironically, getting the work visa but then having to sit on the sidelines for about eight to ten months until Ethan Page actually debuted.”
** While making the media rounds to promote WWE TLC, Kevin Owens chatted with ‘Metro’. He told the publication that he’s open to working with Goldberg again. Back in 2017, Owens lost the Universal Title to Goldberg in under 30 seconds.
“I’d love to work with him again if he was here to work. I’m not saying this is his fault, but he’s not – his career has never been about long matches or anything like that. To me, I don’t see much positive out of wrestling him for two minutes, or 20 seconds or 30 seconds or whatever, you know what I mean? I’d love to work with him again if you got to do a story beyond – all we did was, what, two weeks, maybe three weeks? If we got to do some cool stuff, and some cool promos, exchange back and forth, and then have a quality match, that’d be great. But that’s just not usually what he’s here for.”
Owens added that the quick matches are not something he’s a fan of. Even when Goldberg had the streak going in WCW, Owens was not a fan of the way Goldberg was presented in-ring wise.
“Look, it works. I’m not saying anything against that, it’s just not what I’m interested in. As a fan, I’ve never been interested in that stuff. Even when he was in WCW, I didn’t really like it. That’s just not what I look for in my wrestling.”
** Ring of Honor previewed their Final Battle pay-per-view that is scheduled for 12/18. Dalton Castle will join Caprice Coleman and Ian Riccaboni on commentary.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXQnqkGVn1s[/embedyt]
** Joey G at Wrestling Headlines interviewed former IMPACT X Division Champion Chris Bey. Bey was asked about the working relationship between IMPACT Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling and he feels it’s great for both sides. He added that the dream match scenarios are there and he has a few of his own that he wants to make a reality.
“I think that this is a great thing for the business. I think that whenever we can make that excitement and break that fourth wall so to speak and take what everyone thought they knew about the business and switch it up…because this is an era nowadays that is pulled back so far that a lot of the people who have never taken a bump or who have never actually done this feel like they know. It’s okay to know, but they feel like they really know. The greatest part about moments like these…those same people who think they really know, they see this and they go, ‘Oh I didn’t know this was possible. If this is happening I bet this can’t happen,’ then the next week that same thing they say can’t happen happens. They start to learn we can switch it up on them at anytime. I think this is great because it’s going to provide a lot of dream scenarios and give a lot of people to be seen on different platforms. A lot of people who watch AEW don’t watch IMPACT, a lot of people who watch IMPACT don’t watch AEW. So this will give a lot of different fans someone new to tune into, who they might like or relate to, or find their new favorite wrestler. I think it’s great. Now we talk about the dream matches. I’ve seen a lot of people post stuff like they wanted to see me versus Kenny, then they wanted to see me versus Darby Allin, or they think because of the charisma through the roof they wanna see me and Ricky Starks. There’s one in particular that stands out to me that I need to check off my bucket list personally because it all started a little over a year ago, but I need…for the sake of my story…I need Dashing Chris Bey versus Dashing Cody Rhodes. That’s the one that I need.”
Bey was featured in NJPW’s Super J-Cup and challenged Rich Swann for the IMPACT World Title on the same night. He spoke about that accolade and what it means to have been featured on two different platforms on one night.
“A night of history man. A night of history indeed. It’s a weird world we live in. It’s a great time in professional wrestling where people are able to show up on multiple platforms in one night. It creates more buzz…it gets the fans more interested and it makes the realm of possibilities just endless. So for me it was great to represent IMPACT Wrestling in the Super J-Cup because not only does the tournament have so much history behind it but also I feel like I’m that guy whose gonna be able to now crack the door open a little bit more for anyone else who wants to work between these two companies. If anybody else is going to be heading over there or coming through I feel like I helped open that door for that relationship currently. And then with the Final Resolution match…what more really can I say about it. For me personally it was my best match that I’ve had in my career. I was taken to the limits and I didn’t get the job done but I got plenty of other jobs done as far as inspiring people and motivating people and letting everybody know that if you work as hard as you possibly can and you dream as big as you can dream…anything is possible. I think that showed in my performance and that showed in the story that we told.”
** NECW uploaded John Cena and Frankie Kazarian’s match from April of 2001 to their YouTube.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykbesWSQbJg[/embedyt]
** IMPACT Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo was guest on the Sitting Ringside with David Penzer podcast. She was asked about the potential matchups that she could have with talents in AEW’s women’s division and she mentioned Britt Baker and AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida.
“Oh, well, The Roll Model, the face of their [AEW] women’s division, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. is my best friend.
I would love to wrestle Britt at Hard To Kill. I would love to wrestle [Hikaru] Shida at Hard To Kill. But as far as our IMPACT roster goes… my number one right now, just because we’ve had some interactions is Taya Valkyrie.”
Deonna looked back at her match with Jordynne Grace from Slammiversary that was well received. Following that bout, she and Grace had a 30-minute Iron Woman match but it was the reception to their first bout that led to the Iron Woman match happening.
“Yeah, so I am the first ever Iron Woman of IMPACT Wrestling. That was the first ever Knockouts Ironman match, 30 minutes and especially just in the climate that we’re in where there’s no fans. 30 minutes is a long, long time and I think it’s old enough to talk about it that-that wasn’t the original plan for what Jordynne [Grace] and I were working to and because of the response from Slammiversary, the chemistry Jordynne and I created that night and the response from the fans saying it was the match of the night, potential match of the year for the Knockouts which again is just amazing to me, they wanted us to do this 30-minute Ironman match and it’s almost like, ‘What the heck? What are we gonna do for 30 minutes?’ And especially because we filmed some stuff that then didn’t get aired to make it make sense and you know, it was just a whirlwind of changing things around and trying to make the stories make sense but, I think that ultimately, we were able to make it all come together and like I said, first-ever Iron Woman of IMPACT Wrestling so we’re just gonna keep adding accolades to my resume and for things that you [David Penzer] need to say when I go to the ring.”
** Lee Moriarty chatted with Fightful and shared that he was supposed to compete on Ring of Honor’s ‘Future Of Honor’ program earlier this year but because of the pandemic, that was put on hold. More recently, Moriarty was scheduled for Ring of Honor tapings but those plans fell through as well.
“So, it was back in, I wanna say, March or April. Alex Shelley was talking to me, Ben (Carter) and Tre (Lamar) about doing Future of Honor, which was supposed to be in May. That ended up getting cancelled because of the pandemic. Shelley’s always been a big supporter of ours, so when he went to IMPACT! he was pushing us to the people in charge there. We got the opportunity because of Alex Shelley recommending us.
I’m completely open to doing pretty much anything. I’m 100% a freelancer. So, I can do whatever I want whenever I want, which is my favorite part of it. I still haven’t found where I fit in yet, so I need to just experiment and expand. A lot of people don’t know, but I was scheduled to do Ring of Honor’s tapings recently, but because of the pandemic they got cancelled and I couldn’t do it.”
** Stone Cold Steve Austin was featured on ESPN’s ‘Monday Tailgate’ program and he shared his thoughts on Pat McAfee’s run in the NXT brand so far:
“He puts it all on the line, he’s going for it. Basically, I think his verbal skills, he’s slaying everybody but he’s not afraid to go out there and put it all on the line so you know, you wouldn’t expect that from a guy who kicks the football but no, Pat McAfee’s badass. I think he’s doing a really, really good job. I give him a solid A.”
** Inside The Ropes released a clip from their stage show with Paul Heyman. In this clip, Heyman talked about his pairing with CM Punk and how much he enjoyed working with Punk on and off-screen.
“I loved working with him [CM Punk]. I loved it. I had the time of my life because it was so different from what I was completely — I got to play two different characters on television. I got to play the advocate for Brock Lesnar in which I get to say every single word because there’s no reason for Brock to talk, because — it’s not an insult. If you guys saw the promos he did going into UFC 200, you know Brock can talk for himself but there’s no reason for him to talk. The dynamic between us just works better with me doing all the hype about Brock Lesnar, BROCK LESNAR! And the thing with Punk is I really didn’t have to say much.
I just found myself to be the guy that stood behind Punk and made faces. That’s all I really did. Punk would be laying into people. ‘I’m CM Punk. I’m the longest reigning WWE Champion in the past 25 years. I will rip your stupid head off. I hate Dwayne Johnson, I hate John Cena, I hate Dolph Ziggler, I hate Alberto Del Rio, I hate Vince McMahon, I hate everybody and I hate each and every one of you’ and I’d sit there and go, ‘Oh yeah!’”
** Ethan Page told Bodyslam.net during an interview that regardless of where he lands in 2021 as his IMPACT Wrestling contract expires at the end of 2020, he and Josh Alexander will not be splitting as a team.
“We created this team before Impact. We invested in each other as performers, partners, road travelers before Impact. All this was before Impact. So if you think for one F’N second that we’re going to let Impact dictate whether we break up, or we don’t, or whatever you’re out of your damn mind.
I’m telling you guys. Everyone watched Final Resolution, and everyone saw my mental breakdown, whatever. It doesn’t matter. I’m telling you guys that no matter which way this goes The North are not splitting. Wherever I land in 2021, we are not breaking up. That’s my best friend in real life. That’s my best friend on screen. So, that’s not something that I’m willing to toy with to make a couple dollars in the entertainment industry.
Like I said whatever happens in the years to come, if I stay in Impact, The North is The North, we’re the best. There’s so much we still can do, and there is so much I will do, and if I go somewhere else he might end up there in a couple of years. This is a forever friendship and the friendship is tied to the tag team. It’s something that we will choose what happens with. It’s not just a name, it’s more than just he name. We were the Monster Mafia before. We’re The North now. We can be, whatever Ass Kisser #1 and Ass Kisser #2, it’s Josh Alexander and Ethan Page, that’s the magic, it’s not the logo or the brand of The North.”
** WWE is partnering with JetSynthesis to create a new mobile racing game titled ‘WWE Racing Showdown’.
** Bu Ku Dao vs. LA Park Jr. has been added to the 12/16 episode of MLW FUSION.
** IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito won Tokyo Sports’ MVP award for the year of 2020. Naito’s fellow Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemate Hiromu Takahashi won the ‘Fighting Spirit’ award.
** Bleacher Report Live has a video up of All Elite Wrestling’s best pay-per-view moments of 2020.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMPPURNLd9o[/embedyt]
** Mike Bennett and Matt Taven spoke with Wrestling Inc.
** John Silver of AEW’s Dark Order was a guest on F4WOnline’s ‘Left My Wallet’ podcast.
** MLW uploaded their ‘Kings of Colosseum’ Control Center video to preview the Lio Rush versus Myron Reed World Middleweight Title match on the show.
** Rob Schamberger’s latest Canvas 2 Canvas episode is based around Alexa Bliss.
** The following video is from the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD_81aPpRwo[/embedyt]
** AEW talents reenacted scenes from ‘A Christmas Story’. Those scenes will begin airing on TNT and TBS on Christmas Eve as a part of the networks’ 24-hour airing of the original movie.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM4FDwXYpCo[/embedyt]
** Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald spoke with Lana.
** Dustin Rhodes joined the Sports Guys Talking Wrestling show.
** Digital Spy caught up with Eric Bischoff.
** Alicia Atout’s interview with Calvin Tankman:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFD21Pt_MaQ[/embedyt]
** Chris Bey interviewed with Jim Varsallone.
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.
