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.
** Carlos Toro conducted an interview with La Rosa Negra and the written version is on Fightful. La Rosa was asked about the situation with Tessa Blanchard that came to the light in January of 2020 which had to do with Blanchard spitting in the face of La Rosa and calling her a racial slur. La Rosa stated that the details of the story are accurate and Blanchard did spit in her face while they worked a show together in Japan. Negra added that she does not need an apology from Blanchard at this point.
Let me tell you one thing. For whatever Tessa wants to do in her life and her career, good for her. It has no bearing on me. But when someone wants to be respected, they have to respect others. But if you don’t respect others and all you want is to humiliate others and to be above everyone and push your family name, which you’re quite small in being a part of that family. There was a WrestleCade where I talked and she didn’t say anything to me, but I spoke with her. I told her, ‘I forgive you. To hell with that. I can’t live my life holding that grudge.’ I don’t hate her. I just feel poor for her. She needs to grow. Nowadays, she denies what she did. Did she grow? Really? Okay, she grew. Me, I will keep growing. I lost a contract. I lost money for my family. She took a lot of opportunities in that year, but now I need to think about what people say on Twitter about her. I don’t care right now because if she did something, she needs to accept it. I accepted that she spit in my face, that she humiliated me. She also needs to respect the fact that I made her respect me for better or worse. You are not someone to humiliate people, but you made me grow. Now, I feel like I know my worth because I could defend myself and show that she is not above anyone else. It affected my personal life and my finances and me being able to provide for my family. I had to stay in Puerto Rico and grow. I came back and look where I’m at now. In 2021, I’m the Mission Pro Wrestling champion. A lot of wrestlers wrote to me and I want to say thanks to all those wrestlers. At the time, I was telling them to shut up about it and to forget about it. I accepted it. She spit at me and disrespected me and I showed her respect. She stays in her lane and I stay in mine. Not much else to talk about. I don’t need her apology because it’s too late. It’s too late and she still denies it. I got my conscience and it’s clean. You know what, kisses to you Tessa.
During their chat, La Rosa Negra shared that she sent an inquiry to AEW about wrestling for them but has yet to hear back.
Look, I didn’t have to wait on Mission Pro Wrestling to send an inquiry about AEW. I already inquired about that and I’m waiting to see if they call. I don’t know what is going to happen. Whether or not I get a call, I’m still here working. I would love a chance to compete in AEW, whatever big company is out there. I would love to return to Japan, just so you know. I know not everyone wants to go to the same company. WWE is good, but I would love to return to Japan. I love the Mexican style and would love to show that I’m capable of wrestling [in Mexico]. I love the Japanese style. When they hit me hard, I get angry, I get furious. When it’s like that in combat, it motivates me more to do more wrestling. I also like the American style and mixing it with old school Puerto Rican wrestling when I started there in 2012. It’s what allowed me to thrive into the wrestler you see and to become the Mission Pro Wrestling champion.
** Highspots Wrestling Network welcomed Anna Jay and Tay Conti on for a virtual signing. The AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator tournament is underway and Anna stated that there were talents in the tournament that were not aware there was going to be a Japan-based side of the bracket.
[Familiar with the Japan-based talent] name-wise? Yes. Their work? Not necessarily but it’s gonna be really interesting to see how this all kind of plays out. I think it’s going to be a surprise for all of us. I think — we didn’t even know that was happening so — oh no [we didn’t know], so this is really, it’s gonna be really cool. I’m excited for it. It’s really good for our division.
** While speaking to ABC’s Knoxville, Tennessee affiliate WATE, Bianca Belair shared that a month before Mark Henry contacted her about a WWE tryout opportunity, she was planning to reach out to WWE on her own.
I was actually thinking about entering my information into the system about a month before. In my mind, I was either thinking this is either too good to be true or this is all falling into place for me. I went and had two tryouts and I made it after my second try out.
** Lio Rush was the focus of an online meet and greet/virtual signing on New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s YouTube channel. One the questions had to do with Rush working with NJPW while being the current AAA World Cruiserweight Champion, seeing as how CMLL has a working relationship with NJPW and is not on good terms with AAA. Here’s how that conversation played out between Rocky Romero and Lio:
Romero: No working relationship I guess between New Japan and — it’s not anything that’s not known is that there’s no working relationship between AAA and New Japan, but there is one between New Japan and CMLL and there’s obviously a huge divide and rivalry between CMLL and AAA if you didn’t know but…
Rush: Now I do. I’m getting hot like thinking about it.
Romero: It’s all good. It doesn’t matter. Congratulations on your win. Either way, we’re happy that you’re a part of New Japan Pro-Wrestling and I can’t imagine — the partnership between CMLL and New Japan is so strong, I can’t believe — I can’t imagine anything will affect anything with AAA. Whether it’d be a working relationship, I couldn’t see that in the future so, I hope that answers your question because Lio didn’t know.
** Edge was a recent guest on Sportsnet’s 31 Thoughts podcast. During their conversation, Edge reflected on the damage he did to his body during his first run in WWE. He feels that at times, he was his own worst enemy.
I realized that it was repercussions now, because up until, yeah, you just assume, ‘Yeah, I can do that. I can get through that.’ I did not listen though. That was my main problem is I just continued to go, ‘Okay, right. Spear through a flaming table with thumbtacks in my back? Got it, okay. An A.A. [Attitude Adjustment] off a ladder through two tables in Toronto? Yeah sure. Oh, a Last Ride powerbomb off a ladder through two tables? Yeah got it.’ Now by this point, all those things that I said, I already have a fusion in my neck, but I still did ‘em. I was my worst enemy a lot of the time, then it was taken away and pulled from me and in coming back this time, I realized that I need to finally listen and in listening, hold on a second, I can tell better stories I think because I can tell those stories with my eyes and I can tell those stories with my promos and I can try and be more nuanced and layered and bring in elements that I learned in nine years of acting and, ‘Hold on a second, maybe I can be better than I was,’ without leaning on, ‘Yeah, I’ll go through two tables. Got it, no problem.’ Well it is a problem because it hurts.
** Dominic Garrini spoke to Fightful and indicated that his multi-year deal with Major League is for three years. The following paragraph is from the Fightful Wrestling Weekly:
Dominic Garrini indicated to us that the “multi-year deal” he’s under with Major League Wrestling is actually a three-year contract, which would put him under contract through September 2022. Garrini told us that MSL actually reached out to him first, and when he was weighing his options about his future in late 2019, he reached out to All Elite Wrestling’s BJ Whitmer. Whitmer advised him to go to Major League Wrestling and assess where his career was in three years, which is what he ended up doing. Garrini stated that during the pandemic he was out of work during his day job and Court Bauer spoke with him weekly to go over things and talk over MLW’s plans and strategies.
** Brandon Walker, who joined Wade Barrett and Sam Roberts on the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day Kickoff show welcomed Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez onto his podcast. Raquel shared what Paul “Triple H” Levesque said to she and Dakota after their women’s Dusty Classic win.
Yes, he [Triple H] was very proud. Very proud of us coming together and pulling this off and he asked us as well if we had ever met Dusty [Rhodes] while we were at the PC and like I said, unfortunately we both came and started at the PC after his passing but he said something very special to us which was that Dusty would be very proud. He would be very proud to know that Dakota and I are the first women to win the women’s Dusty Classic.
Elsewhere during the interview, Dakota discussed the Shawn Michaels/Diesel dynamic between herself and Raquel. She said they did use elements from that partnership but as of late, they’ve been mostly riding their own wave as far as presentation goes.
Well, initially we were very much compared to the Shawn [Michaels] and Diesel-type dynamic. Shawn actually said it to us himself which is the craziest compliment in the world. From someone like HBK, I don’t know about you Raquel, but I still get weird seeing Triple H and Shawn Michaels helping us and being our boss. It’s just weird to me, I don’t know. I looked up to them when I was younger so…
But on what you said, initially we did take a lot of the sort of same blueprints as they did but I think as of now, we’re kind of just running with what we have and doing our best to try new things and really work on this dynamic that we have together because it’s different and yeah, I think we’re kinda just running with it at this point and [I] think it’s been successful, so far.
** The Straight Talk Wrestling podcast welcomed New Japan Pro-Wrestling talent Chase Owens onto the show. Back in February of 2020, Chase announced that he signed a new deal with NJPW and during the podcast appearance, he explained why.
It’s just the way New Japan takes care of you. Making good money and like I said earlier, they’re the best wrestling in the world so, how are you gonna become the best wrestler if you’re not competing night in, night out with the absolute best?
Chase also weighed in on the back and forth between Bullet Club members in Japan and the reformation of the group in AEW with Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. Chase said he doesn’t like to comment on it because he has friends on both sides of the coin.
Yeah, I’d rather not get into that.
I don’t fully agree with them trying to be Bullet Club but I don’t think they’ve actually, like, said they were Bullet Club, you know what I mean? I don’t know. Who knows? This might be something for AEW and IMPACT, New Japan to work together. I don’t know, I don’t hear nothing. But who knows? The only reason I don’t like commenting on it because you know, I’m friends with Tama [Tonga], I’m friends with [Bad Luck] Fale, I’m friends with [Doc] Gallows and [Karl] Anderson and Kenny [Omega] so, and I don’t have a bone in the fight so…
** AAW announced the passing of “The Mississippi Madman” Don Jackson, who wrestled for the promotion in 2006. Mustafa Ali paid tribute to Jackson.
** NXT’s Saurav Gurjar is starring in the ‘Brahmastra’ film. He is playing the role of an antagonist.
** Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair are confirmed to be guest starring in NBC Peacock’s Punky Brewster reboot.
** New York Post ran another portion of their interview with Cody Rhodes. The AEW Co-Executive Vice President reiterated that he would like to share the ring with Sting who’ll be competing at the Revolution pay-per-view on March 7th.
To me, the cinematic matches, they really don’t have a current definition. I’ve seen the Stadium Stampede. I’ve seen the Boneyard [match]. I’ve seen various different ways to present cinematic.
And really cinematic just means with different camera cuts. It can mean a lot of things, but ask me that question again in a few months because I want the opportunity to stand across from the Stinger and I think he knows that. It’s almost kind of itching at me under my skin that if there is somebody I wanted to beat, it’s the face of TNT’s hottest period and run.
** Lulu Pencil chatted with AEW Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida to talk about the AEW Women’s World Title Eliminator tournament. Shida was asked about the differences between the wrestling in the United States and Japan and here was her response:
I think the biggest difference is ‘confidence.’ The players over there are full of confidence in what they are doing. I really feel that what I’m doing is what I want to do. That’s why I want to tell Japanese players that when they leave Japan, they can be confident in the professional wrestling they have been doing. AEW is an organization that is willing to take on more and more challenges, so I want you to be willing to take on challenges. If you have something you want to do and act to realize it, it will respond to it. That’s why I’m working on this tournament right now. It’s definitely this time of year that you should definitely see AEW.
** Randy Orton shared that he smoked with Snoop Dogg before WrestleMania 24. Orton defeated John Cena and Triple H in a three-way for the WWE Championship on that show.
** Booker T took to his ‘Hall Of Fame’ podcast and gave Christian the label as the most underrated in-ring performer of all time.
Probably Christian. I think Christian is perhaps the most underrated wrestler that I’ve ever been around, knowing what he can do inside the squared circle. He’s always been a top notch worker man, always been one of the guys I always, you know, loved it when I saw his name by mine. Whether it was a house show, TV, didn’t make no difference man. Our title feud, it was just so much fun coming to work at that time knowing that I was gonna go out there and work with Christian because he was gonna have some fun other than the one time he hit me in the eye. But nah, Christian, probably perhaps the most underrated guy, perhaps should’ve been world champion many, many more times than he actually was.
** BBC Sport caught up with several Muslim wrestling fans, coaches and wrestlers to discuss their experiences in the sport.
** A GoFundMe was set up to cover the costs of the late Rusty Brooks’ funeral.
** Below is the lineup for the 2/19 episode of NJPW Strong:
– Rocky Romero, Adrian Quest & Misterioso vs. Rey Horus, Barrett Brown & The DKC
– Hikuleo vs. Fred Rosser
– Lio Rush vs. El Phantasmo
** ‘Metro’ released another portion of their interview with Davey Boy Smith Jr. Davey Boy spoke about his father, British Bulldog’s pending induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Smith Jr. talked about the potential speech he’ll give and how he thinks WWE will go about handling the ceremony during the pandemic.
My sister and my mother will be with me on the podium, and how much we’re gonna have to divide that between the three of us – and who’s going to do the induction for him. I’m not sure what or who that might be at this point because of the Covid restrictions. I think it will just be me inducting Davey, as far as I know. I don’t think that they’re doing an audience, just with the fans from the Network on the screens.
** Arn Anderson has joined the WrestleCon lineup for WrestleMania 37 week in Tampa, Florida.
** During his ‘Hall Of Fame’ podcast, Booker T told the story of why he considered not traveling on the road with Rob Van Dam anymore.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-2AR6cpcRI[/embedyt]
** NJPW1972.com pushed out their interview with Hiroyoshi Tenzan. He stated that there is a bit of competitive jealousy towards Satoshi Kojima because of how hard Kojima is still going after the years he’s tallied up in the business. Tenzan said it is motivating to see.
Oh yeah, whenever you have somebody who came up the same time as you do well, there’s a little jealousy there and you want some of that too. He’s putting it all out there and that’s definitely inspiring. It makes me think I have to put all I have into what I do, too. It isn’t just about us being pals and getting along. There has to be a little rivalry there.
** Faye Jackson’s ‘Grey Sweatpants’ Battle Royal will be a part of The Collective Remix in Tampa, Florida for WrestleMania 37 weekend.
** Empire had the chance to catch up with Dave Bautista while he was on set of the ‘Army of the Dead’ film. Bautista said he tried for years to be a part of The Walking Dead series.
I’m a zombie fan. I tried to get on Walking Dead for years. I said I would come and play a zombie for free, but they said, ‘You’re too big!’ And with Snyder’s genre mash-up – promising scares, action, and heist-thriller twists and turns – he found something that stood out in the long-established genre. For me, there had to be something special about a zombie film for me to sign up. What sets us apart is the heist. But there’s a whole bunch of different layers to this film.
** IMPACT Wrestling announced an agreement with electronics and media company StarTimes which will bring IMPACT programming to Sub-Saharan Africa.
** NJPW Road to Castle Attack Results (2/16/21) Korakuen Hall
– Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay & Great-O-Khan def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Satoshi Kojima & Yota Tsuji
– Taiji Ishimori, Yujiro Takahashi & El Phantasmo def. BUSHI, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi
– Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & SHO def. Gedo, Jay White & Chase Owens
– Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito def. Yuji Nagata & Kota Ibushi
– EVIL & Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) def. Kazuchika Okada, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI
** FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) guest appeared on the Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast.
** Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appeared on NBC’s TODAY Show to promote the Young Rock series.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD7-eif-UwA[/embedyt]
** WWE uploaded footage of what occurred between Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly after O’Reilly was superkicked by Adam Cole at NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr3KX3klmY8[/embedyt]
** Rob Schamberger’s latest Canvas 2 Canvas painting was of Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae.
** Former ten-time WCW World Tag Team Champion Stevie Ray appeared on the Keepin It 100 with Konnan podcast.
** Part two of Shane ‘Hurricane’ Helms on The Culture State Podcast.
** DAZN.com has an interview with Tom Lawlor.
** Highlights of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on The Kelly Clarkson Show to promote ‘Young Rock’.
** AEW’s Alan Angels has a birthday today.
** Renee Paquette recorded a Valentine’s Day edition of her Oral Sessions podcast with Jon Moxley.
** The following video of King Corbin is from the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUsGs4nvz5w[/embedyt]
** Chris Dickinson guest appeared on the RRBG Podcast.
** Major League Wrestling shared footage from their Filthy Island taping that will premiere on MLW FUSION on 2/17.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9gFeNkzWRM[/embedyt]
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.
