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.
** This past April, Nevaeh formally announced that she had finished up her run with IMPACT Wrestling. She spoke to Lucha Libre Online about her departure and confirmed that she was never under contract and was there on a ‘as needed’ basis.
I think it was kind of just more natural as far as like okay, it kind of ran its course. Where do we go from here exactly? So it was kind of like a goodbye for now. Maybe not a goodbye forever, hopefully not a goodbye forever but, a goodbye for now. It was very just a natural separation there, and as many people don’t know, I was never actually officially under contract with IMPACT. So I was there for that full year but it kind of was on a ‘as needed’ basis.
** Over the past two weeks, current NXT North American Champion Bronson Reed has been one of several NXT talents who were present at Raw and SmackDown tapings to compete in dark matches or a Main Event taping. Reed discussed those recent appearances while on El Brunch de WWE.
I feel great. I think it’s another opportunity to get more eyes on The Colossal Bronson Reed so I got to wrestle Drew Gulak and I hit my Tsunami Splash and beat him, one, two, three so feeling very happy about it.
When it comes to joining the main roster full-time, Bronson does not know when or if that will happen. He said he’s happy in NXT but would not mind joining Raw or SmackDown.
I mean, I don’t know. I am the North American Champion of NXT and I’m happy to continue to defend that and be in NXT but, if the powers that be have me on Raw or SmackDown, I’m happy to show up and keep hitting that Tsunami Splash as many times as possible.
When asked which brand he thinks would better suit him post-NXT, Reed thinks SmackDown would be the better fit.
That’s a tough choice. I think both [Raw & SmackDown] have benefits but if I had to choose, if I had to leave the black and gold NXT, I’d probably say the blue brand. I would say Friday Night SmackDown.
** Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee, the former Billie Kay and Peyton Royce were the latest guests on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast. As the conversation rolled on, Renee recalled Paul “Triple H” Levesque consistently checking in on her when Jon Moxley had to take time off because of an MRSA infection. Renee said Levesque offered to help in any way he could.
Even when Jon [Moxley] left, there was times that Hunter pulled me aside because Jon was injured when he came back from New Japan and Hunter kept checking in to make sure Jon was okay, if he needed anything that they would have been able to help him in any kind of capacity so, it was kind of nice to know that-that olive branch was still extended and it wasn’t like — it wasn’t that heat seeking thing that everybody thinks that it is. It’s like, we’ve all spent so much time together and nothing bad went down.
Coming out of her release from WWE in 2020, Renee was asked to do Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast. She explained why she did not do it.
I remember because right when I left, like I said, I was in Jacksonville and [Chris] Jericho’s like, ‘Come on and do my show. Come on and do my show’ and I was like, ‘I’m gonna do your show. I’m gonna do it’ and then the more I kept thinking about it, I was like, I just wasn’t ready at that time to have those conversations because emotions can be a little bit all over the place and you’re like, ‘I might say something that I don’t necessarily mean or I’m feeling. It’s just in this moment’ and then it becomes this negative thing that I had to pump the breaks on that too because — so I’m sorry Jericho, I never did your show. We’ll do it again later, we’ll do it again. I at least know what I wanna say now so it’s good but it can be super overwhelming when everyone wants that like — you wanna get the views, you wanna get the listens, you want everyone to talk some sh*t.
The IIconics were let go from WWE this past April. They were split as a pair in August of 2020. Jessica McKay heaped praise onto TJ Wilson for being there for her when she was moved to SmackDown as a solo act.
I’m thankful I was able to go to SmackDown because I definitely think we needed to be on separate brands and I don’t think they realized what the domino effect would be after splitting a tag team up, especially us two. So when [I] get to SmackDown and I’ve mentioned this before but TJ [Wilson] helped me a lot. Like I would — it was one time I was like, ‘You’re my new Cassie’ because everything that I would vent to Cass, I was just saying to TJ. That’s why he’s so special, he listened to me. We would talk for hours at TVs, he would listen to me and he would support me and he was like, ‘If this is what you want to do, do it’ and I was like, ‘I just want to be myself. I just want to make people laugh and make people smile. That’s all I wanna do.’
During her time on-screen on SmackDown, McKay would hand out her resume to fellow talents in an attempt to align with them. She said she received a great deal of praise for those segments which made her release more of a shock.
And the amount of praise that I got backstage after that, I was like, ‘Oh!’ If I’m remembered for anything and it’s this, I would be happy, happy, happy, happy. It was just so much fun and I think that’s what made it more of a shock [her release] because I was booked. There were a couple weeks here and there but I was and I was able to work with all the girls which not many people get to do and I was doing promos with [Big] E and The Street Profits and it was just so much fun for me. I was really enjoying it and then I’m so grateful that I was able to be at WrestleMania and be in that match because that was my last one which I think is very special so I’m just trying to stay positive but, the shock and the raw emotion is definitely still there and I think it will be for a while because like you [Renee Paquette] said, you’re seven, eight months out and it still hits you from time to time.
** During his appearance on the Black Guy Wrestling Podcast, D’Lo Brown shared that at WrestleMania 15, he and Mark Henry were supposed to defeat Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Tag Team Titles. Henry went down with a knee injury and D’Lo ended up teaming with the late Andrew Martin (Test) and they lost to Hart and Jarrett.
The one thing that I wish would have played out, I forget which WrestleMania. I think it was WrestleMania [15] in Philadelphia. Mark Henry and I were gonna wrestle Owen [Hart] and Jeff Jarrett for the WWE Tag Team Titles. I think it was still WWF at the time, and Mark got hurt. Like two weeks out, he hurt his knee and had knee surgery but we were supposed to win the tag titles at WrestleMania. That never happened. That’s probably one of the things you go, ‘Damn, I wish that had happened.’ I wish that had happened just for — just to have that feather in the cap.
D’Lo is now working in the Talent Relations department for IMPACT Wrestling and he’s also the company’s color commentator. He sporadically wrestles at independent shows but Brown is comfortable not being a full-time wrestler anymore. He said he’s aware that he has had his time in the sun.
You know, for me, and I’m not gonna put it out — it was kind of easy. I wouldn’t say ‘easy’ but it wasn’t very difficult because I made peace with I had-had my moment in the sun and I was good with that and I was good with the fact that I did what I did, I did it at a high-level and now it was time to move on and I didn’t want to remembered as that guy who used to look like that or he used to be good. You know, I was ready to make that transition so now for me, and this just came to me the other day, for me now, I get joy out of watching someone else walk that same path I did, watching their journey. So now I get to see them in the beginning and watch the arc of theirs from the third person perspective and that brings me joy. But what also brings me joy is talking to someone and saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you try it like this, this or this?’ And then watching them go out there and literally see the light bulb pop up on their eyes and they go, ‘Holy hell, that worked.’ So you just redirect what brings you joy and you redirect what brings you that emotional rush and it’s just — I segued to the office quite nicely and I’m happy where I am and you’re gonna have to pry me from the announce desk by my cold, dead hands because I’m not going anywhere.
** One day after NWA’s all-women’s show ‘Empowerrr’, the organization is presenting their 73rd Anniversary pay-per-view that will feature the in-ring return of Mickie James. Mickie guest appeared on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast and listed off a handful of names who she’d be interested in wrestling at the event such as Kylie Rae, Serena Deeb and Deonna Purrazzo.
You know, I don’t know because I’m like well, if we go within the NWA, there’s Kylie Rae now. I think that obviously there is Kamille as the champion but me as a businesswoman [goes], ‘She’s aligned with my husband and she’s champion and he’s the champion and as a businesswoman, I don’t need to do…’ I think I like Kamille. She comes over the house, she comes swimming at the house, you know? We’re all friends so, when it came time to go after the championship, I would just really like to have one of those matches with like a Thunder Rosa or like with a Serena [Deeb] or someone who’s really like that type of girl of today that people really have their eyes on and put on a hell of a match and that’s all. Have like a really amazing showcase and whoever that might be, I mean there’s Deonna [Purrazzo], there’s so many girls that are — I mean, Ring of Honor’s getting ready to do that tournament, they’re getting showcased. There’s women that I haven’t even stepped in the ring with that have really risen up in the last five years since I’ve been back and on the road and stuff, because of this whole, you know, renaissance of women’s wrestling so it’s kind of cool to see. There’s so many people I haven’t even seen yet so, we’ll see.
Following Mickie’s release from WWE, she shared a photo of a trash bag that WWE sent her belongings in. Following that, former WWE senior director Mark Carrano was cut from the company. Mickie said she felt remorse about that considering Carrano was a friend of hers.
I have remorse about [Mark] Carrano getting fired and I shouldn’t if he was not happy in that position but Mark was my friend, you know? I had a lot conversations with Mark about some of these things that were bothering me in there so, you know, you look at it and go, ‘Yeah’ and the fact that Johnny [Laurinaitis] and Hunter apologized in the sense and that was cool but it was also — their language was very similar and I think Stephanie [McMahon] taking the time to write a genuine apology in the sense of like — I have love [for] Stephanie and I have so much respect for her in the business and I think what she’s been trying to do and really put forward is make changes in the way women are perceived in the business and all of these things and you know, it’s not like a one-person battle, that’s just it.
Elsewhere during the conversation, James continued to speak highly of Serena Deeb and said she’s the greatest women’s wrestler there is right now.
Yeah, I know and I’m so happy for her and I would have said Serena [Deeb]. I know I’ve wrestled Serena but everybody knows Serena is always my go-to because I think she’s the greatest women’s wrestler out there right now, and I’ve always felt that way. I always have a kindred spirit with Serena because I remember her when she first moved to Louisville in OVW when she was just a kid. She moved from Virginia so there was already like a little bond right there because we’re both Virginia girls.
** While doing a virtual signing for Asylum Wrestling Store, Lita stated that if she could manage two active talents, those talents would be Becky Lynch and Kris Statlander.
Man that’s difficult. Okay, I would say, let’s go… Becky Lynch and Kris Statlander. She’s on AEW if you haven’t seen her. I think they would make a cool team too, so I think that would be a cool little trifecta.
** Nick ‘Eugene’ Dinsmore was interviewed by Jeremy Prophet of Jofo In The Ring. Dinsmore recounted when he passed out in a hotel lobby during a WWE U.K. tour in 2005. It was a situation of Dinsmore breaking WWE’s wellness policy and he said that one of the company doctors told him to stay away from Somas but did approve Dinsmore to take pain pills.
[I passed out] in the middle of the hotel lobby with everybody watching in my underwear, in England.
The incident sent me to a nine-week vacation and then when I came back, the WWE doctor said, ‘Just don’t take the Somas’ because Somas would kill all the guys and then, ‘But you can take the pain pills’ so I started taking the pain pills and I took one that I didn’t have a prescription for it but the doctor, to approve it, I had to get him to write a statement. He [the doctor] committed suicide. But I had it from way back so the Walgreens said that they couldn’t find it on their machine because it was over a year old maybe.
Back in 2017, there were segments on SmackDown when Dolph Ziggler mocked the entrances of John Cena, Naomi, Shawn Michaels and ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage. For the Randy Savage segment, there was an individual alongside Dolph who played the role of Miss Elizabeth. That individual was Nick Dinsmore’s wife.
Actually, a couple years ago they opened a new big arena here [in Sioux Falls, South Dakota]. A big, I don’t know, 26,000 seat arena, it’s huge because the population is growing here and WWE did their first TV here, the SmackDown and my wife was f*cking on it. Dolph Ziggler wanted to do a deal where he was Macho Man and then the casting agency got a model from the area which my wife got the job and she went out and was like Miss Elizabeth on the first WWE live TV from Sioux Falls.
Diving back into his WWE run, Dinsmore stated that when he was moved to the SmackDown brand, an idea was floated out there to pair him with Hardcore Holly.
But then they sent me to SmackDown and the plan was to have Eugene — I don’t know if it was a plan but it was an idea that I heard. Put Eugene with Bob Holly, and there again is that odd couple pairing. Bob’s always pissed off and Eugene just doing his antics and then you know, but non-compliance got me released for the first time in 2007.
** Following AEW Saturday Night Dynamite, a video made the rounds of Eddie Kingston sending the fans home with a speech. He mentioned that the competition does not want to listen to their fans among several more remarks about WWE. He reflected on those comments while speaking to WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo:
Let’s get this question out of the way. Let’s all calm down. You think I’m going to go bury the locker room that I work for? No, plus I love our locker room. I love AEW. What do you want from me? They’re paying me! They’re putting me on national television after – it’ll be 20 years in October. Of course I’m gonna rah-rah AEW. Relax. Relax. I expect people from the other joint if they’re allowed to mention our names, they’ll probably do the same thing cause you know what I mean? They want their home team to win. It’s just like the NFL or Major League Baseball, man. You wanna go with your home team, AEW’s my team. That’s my squad.
Man, competition’s good. Watch pro wrestling. I don’t care. I grew up during days in the ’90s where you had guys in ECW calling out everybody. You had WCW doing everything they could to beat World Wrestling Federation at the time. They did too! It’s good! Competition’s good y’all! Because then everybody watches pro wrestling. When everybody watches it, for those who are into it for this, this happens [indicates making money]. I’m into it because I love it, I never want to do anything else, but anyway I digress cause I could keep talking, but for what happened, for the after-show, let everyone go home happy, people got butthurt and some didn’t, everyone relax. Let’s love it. Let’s love this. Let’s relax.
** Mike Johnson of PWInsider pushed out his interview with Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher are challenging for the NXT Tag Team Titles at Great American Bash on 7/6. Ciampa said he was surprised to discover how well he and Thatcher clicked as a team.
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I won’t say that I was against teaming with him. I have a lot of respect for him, but it was, like I said, the last year has been a bumpy road. So it’s been kind of like, ooh, man, just trying to find something that would click. But it’s not something that, a year ago, if you had asked me, it’s not something I would have even thought of it. It was, ‘Well, yeah, Timmy and I, put us together and see what happens.’ But right out the gate, from our first tag match with Undisputed Era to even having promo segments together, and sitting in the chairs and stuff. And just seeing us on the camera together, just right away it just made sense. It was like, ‘Oh, okay, yeah, this is going to work. This has legs to it.’ And I see the certain fan base that is drawn to us and it makes perfect sense to me. So it’s, right now it’s a matter of like, ‘Okay, well, let’s see how far we can take this.’
Ciampa has spoken out in the past about his desire to remain with NXT and not being interested in a full-time transition to either Raw or SmackDown. He’s still of that same mindset and wants to partake in things that will help his legacy as a wrestler in the long run.
Yeah. It’s a tough one for me to answer, because I don’t know that… That’s not how I work, as far as goals go. When I was a kid, it was different. When I was a kid, I wanted like, ‘Oh, I want to be on WrestleMania and stuff.’ For sure, those were the goals. Because I was signed at 20, 21, and released, and then did a bunch of independents, and toured around the world, and just found myself and grew as a performer. It’s just all these different experiences I had, and it just became more about the journey than anything, and it became more about just becoming better, a better performer. So when Johnny and I came to NXT and our first thing was doing the Dusty Classic in 2016 or something, even then, I mean, it was just, for me, it was like, ‘Oh, cool, here’s an opportunity to get in the ring with new different people, fresh people, get in front of different audiences and grow as a performer.’ And obviously it keeps snowballing, but… the Raw brand is fantastic. Great roster, lots of talented men and women. Same thing with SmackDown, same thing with NXT. I’d love to get in there with everybody. It’s just more about me doing things that, I don’t know, help my own legacy at the end of it, that helped me, as a performer, grow and get better and stuff. There’s no door that’s closed, but at the same time, there’s no weird carrot that’s dangling in front of me, where I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s what I got to do.’ It’s just going with the flow of it all and making the most of every opportunity that’s presented to me, essentially.
** Fred Rosser joined the Straight Talk Wrestling podcast and called for John Cena to come work with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Rosser said he and Cena would have a different match than the one they had in WWE a decade ago.
And I said it on social media. I think I said it or I plan on saying it. I wanna say, John [Cena], try something different. Come to New Japan man. Come to New Japan STRONG. You never stepped in the ring — you wanna do all this different stuff like acting and all that stuff. Come to New Japan. WWE wants to apparently do some kind of collaboration with New Japan and WWE, come to New Japan STRONG. Ten, 11 years ago when we wrestled, that main event on Raw, the outcome I can promise you is gonna be different because I’m not a young, punk kid anymore. I’m a grown ass man Cena and you’re a lot older so, come to New Japan STRONG.
** Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp released his interview with The Varsity Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison). Pillman Jr. recalled going to two “prominent” people in AEW and asking them for their thoughts on the Varsity Blonds tag team name. Both individuals were not receptive to the idea but Pillman pitched it anyway.
And even going to pitching The Varsity Blonds, actually I asked two people and I won’t name them. I will not name these people. I asked two people in AEW that are very prominent figures, what they thought about the name Varsity Blonds and they both relatively said the same thing, ‘Oh, that’s stupid. You’re wrestlers, you’re not football players’ and then I said, ‘You know what? F*ck it, I’m pitching it anyways,’ and here we are.
On the topic of the expectations that were placed upon him since getting into wrestling, Pillman Jr. thinks he has managed those expectations well. He admitted that he has made his mistakes along the way but he has learned from those mishaps.
I definitely think early on, there was a lot of eyes on me. There was YouTube, every match was being posted, MLW hired me like two or three months into my career so, there was a lot of spotlights and a lot of magnification on me early on and I think I made my mistakes and I think I learned from them but I think the way the timing worked out with how I developed and then when I arrived at AEW was just pinpoint. I think at that point, I was meeting all the expectations, I was checking all the boxes, the hair was in shape, I was in good shape. I showed up, I believe it was July of last year, July 1st or 2nd when I came in and had my first extra booking here and then Griff [Garrison] maybe a little before that so we both arrived around the same time and I went out there with Shawn Spears and Brian Cage the following night and there was nothing but praise.
** Damian Abraham welcomed Tommy End (Aleister Black) onto ‘Turned Out A Punk’. During their conversation, Tommy spoke highly of Danhausen who he credited for carving out his own space in wrestling and not waiting on anyone to promote him as a special talent.
Look at a guy like Danhausen. He’s the perfect example. Here’s a dude who tried something and it caught fire. You know, and that’s great, I love that. Never met the guy. I think I knew him before he was Danhausen, at least I think he was a wrestler before. I just think he tried this and it kind of became a thing for him, to the point where Dwayne The Rock Johnson is retweeting him, you know what I mean? And I love it. I love it because why not? Why not?
** While speaking to Daily DDT, AC Mack detailed an experience he had while training to be a wrestler that had to do an individual in wrestling telling him to keep his sexuality to himself and not speak of it publicly.
Yes, from somebody in the wrestling industry. Once I started training in 2016, like I said I was already out by then. I talked to him and told him who I am. He actually told me, ‘Hmm, you don’t wanna say that here. Actually, don’t mention it at all.’ So in my mind, technically it felt like having to go back in the closet for pro wrestling.
It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but Pride specifically within pro wrestling, that’s kind of a relatively new thing. We didn’t have EFFY’s Big Gay Brunch back in 2016. So, at that point in time, it was kind of crushing to finally start training and finally start chasing my dreams but then be told, ‘Oh, but you can’t be yourself anymore.’ It’s crazy when you think about it that only a few years ago it was still an issue or a bigger issue than it is today.
** TJ Wilson has spoken at length about his career-ending neck injury. He touched on it again during his appearance on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling. Wilson recalled his doctor telling him that other than neck injury he suffered, his spine was in perfect condition and that he had the spine of someone who just sat on their couch opposed to wrestling.
He [the doctor’s] like, ‘Your spine is perfect.’ He’s like, ‘You have the spine of someone who has never — just sat on your couch. Minus that injury, your spine is fine, it’s perfect’ so, it just was a crazy, crazy freak thing. It wasn’t some wear and tear. Obviously, now I have the fusion but, otherwise, my spine’s perfect. I’ve never had a back issue or anything at any point in my wrestling career.
** MLW World Middleweight Champion Myron Reed defeated Lio Rush to regain the title on a May episode of MLW FUSION. Several weeks after that episode aired, Rush debuted for All Elite Wrestling in the Casino Battle Royale but suffered a shoulder injury during the match. Soon after, Rush announced his retirement from wrestling. Reed spoke about Rush’s retirement while on Straight Talk Wrestling and further expressed how much he admired Lio early in his career.
So, honestly when I first broke in, Lio [Rush], he was one of those guys that was going crazy at Ring of Honor, stuff like that so like, I really looked up to him back then so whenever I got the opportunity to wrestle him two different times right before — honestly, this is a shock to everybody but, when I got to wrestle him the two times, I was like, ‘You know what? This sh*t is an honor man.’ You never know. You never know when they’re gonna be done. I’m thinking we’re gonna have number four, number five, number six, seven and after the second one, it’s like he’s hanging ‘em up like you said, and honestly your health is more important. It’s the most important thing at the end of the day so, you know, I’m wishing him good luck to anything he’s doing though.
** Candace Cordelia of ‘Everyday Fan Sports’ conducted an interview with IMPACT Wrestling’s Rohit Raju. Raju shouted out former Desi Hit Squad member Gursinder Singh, who is currently wrestling under the name “Rohan Raja” in NXT UK. Rohit joked about their names being too similar.
I do want to throw out a congratulations to him [Gursinder Singh]. He made his debut in NXT UK, very proud of him, looks in tremendous shape, watched his match so that’s huge. Nothing but love to Gursinder, or my bad now, Rohan Raja. Sounds a lot like Rohit Raju brother. I don’t know what to say but… I don’t know who gave him the name. When I saw his name, I was like, ‘Man his name sounds like my name. What are you doing?’ But no, I’m sure he didn’t do that on purpose but I’m so proud of him so I do have to throw out a huge congratulations to him because sky’s the limit for that guy.
** Ahead of his Pure Title match against Jonathan Gresham, Fred Yehi joined the ROHStrong Podcast. Yehi has been in the wrestling business for close to a decade and when it comes to the idea of signing a full-time deal with a company, as of the podcast recording, Yehi’s mindset is why sign exclusively with one company when he can have the freedom to work wherever he wants when he wants.
Yeah, that’s a very good question. I’ve been asked that a bit. I’ve been kind of — I guess I can elaborate on that a little bit. You know, the wrestling landscape has changed a lot and because of that, I don’t — the idea of being signed exclusively to a company and just kind of being locked in on that company, that’s just not really appealing. That’s just not really that appealing to me honestly. If it were about money right now then that would be a whole different story, but it’s not really about money so that’s not something I’m interested in. Fred Yehi, like I mentioned Rocky [Romero] earlier, the vision I have for my career is to be able to wrestle everywhere and if I can get a few non-exclusive deals with different companies and have that freedom to just wrestle everywhere then that would be phenomenal. The truth is we don’t have a whole lot of time in this business like that and you don’t really know what could happen in a couple years from now. We don’t really know. So just like I tell the people around me when we have these kinds of conversations man, when my time is up, not just in the wrestling business but I’m talking about just life in general, when my time is up, I want to make sure that I’m dying on empty. Like that’s the way I see it and this pro wrestling thing, it’s an art, it’s a craft and it takes a lot of hard work but also just on a spiritual level, this is a gift and I wanna share this gift with as many people and I want to take it as many places as I can. So, the idea of I can have an exclusive contract, I’m not saying that I would just rule it out forever and ever, but for the time being, I just don’t really feel that-that’s in the deck of cards for me now. Perhaps at a certain point, it will be okay to say, ‘You know what? I am gonna take my talents here and I’ll lock down here’ but it’s just that right now, that’s just not really the case that my heart is set on. You know, just wrestling all over the place and just having that freedom. Having that freedom to create as well. So yeah man, so I hope that-that answers your question.
Yehi made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut on their STRONG program on 6/11. He credited Rocky Romero for bringing him onboard.
Man it’s one of those things, you know, sometimes you just need the right people to see you. I worked a match with Rocky Romero not too long ago on Ring of Honor TV, or for Ring of Honor television and we had so much fun out there. Rocky, Rocky Romero, as a professional, I’m sure there are other wrestlers who can relate to this but you have those opponents and Jon Gresham’s one of ‘em too but you have those opponents that when you’re in-ring and it’s so — I’m kind of gonna peel the curtain back a little. When you have those opponents where they’re so easy to work with and when I say easy to work with, I don’t mean in the aspect of, ‘Okay, I’m not gonna be challenged tonight.’ It’s not that. But you have those opponents who are so easy, so easy to go out and be you and to just be present in the moment because you don’t have to worry about it. You don’t have to worry about if he’s — is this guy gonna get lost? Is he gonna get flustered? Is he lacking confidence? Or whatever it is and Rocky Romero, he’s one of the easiest opponents who I’ve ever worked with.
I did a match with ACH that went to a 20 minute draw so working with Rocky and working along with Pat who’s in the production [team] in Chicago [for AAW], those two worlds kind of met and next thing you know, that gave birth to Fred Yehi over in New Japan STRONG so, very grateful man.
** New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Karl Fredericks last competed in Japan in January of 2020. Fredericks told the All Real Wrestling Podcast that he is not sure when he’ll be returning to Japan. He admitted that it has been frustrating for him because he wants to be compete as a part of New Japan’s main roster.
It’s up in the air because of lockdowns and visa issues and things of that sort so it’s all still up in the air when I’ll go back. I don’t know, we don’t know any plans for that stuff so it’s probably gonna be closer to two full years before I’ll be back in front of the Japanese audience which I think in the long run, it’s been, for me, it’s very frustrating mentally just not being a part of anything other than the STRONG show, you know? But seeing all the stuff that’s going on over there and I want to be on the main roster, fighting the main roster and missing the [New Japan] Cup, I wasn’t in the USA Cup this year and it’s been tough on that end but I think in the long run, it’s going to benefit me a bit because this has been like essentially my excursion, you know? Usually they send you away for a couple years so, hopefully the fans will be just as excited to see me as I will be them.
** Willow Nightingale guest appeared on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast. She promoted the Black Wrestlers Matter (2021) show that took place on June 19th. She spoke about the movement that led to the first Black Wrestlers Matter show happening in 2020. Willow also recounted a promoter who told her that they already had a Black woman on their show so there was no need for her.
So the first Black Wrestlers Matter show was born out of a lot of kind of racial tension and a lot of people opening up their eyes to the reality that like, ‘Okay, white privilege is a real thing,’ which shouldn’t be such a taboo thing to say, but is still. As a country, I think a lot of people were like, ‘Okay, maybe there is a divide. Maybe racism is still real’ and as with wrestling, it’s just kind of like a lens for the rest of the world. Like everything that happens in the rest of our society happens in wrestling. So we see things like, you know, oppression of a marginalized people whether that’d be intentional or not. Black wrestlers often being in that situation. There have been time and time again where I’ve heard from other Black wrestlers that they feel like they’re only put on a card to fill a quota. I specifically have been told like, ‘We don’t need you on our card. We already have a Black woman, we’re set.’ So, it’s — that is the reality and we are in a much better place the past couple of years than we have in the past. But like, that just doesn’t mean we stop progress so Black Wrestlers Matter was kind of born as a celebration of Black wrestlers because at the end of the day, yes we’re Black wrestlers but we’re not only a Black person who is a wrestler. That’s not all that we are as Black. So this show is a celebration for the different array and diversity that exist within the Black community alone, you know? So it’s not like an exclusive club that you’re not allowed to be a part of, it’s just a celebration. If you’re not Black, you can still watch it and support it and love it. We do encourage you to but at the end of the day, I’ve just kind of been looking at it as a celebration and I’m really excited to be a part of this one.
** Tommaso Ciampa made the media rounds and one of the outlets he spoke with was Daily DDT. Ciampa was asked about the recent batch of WWE releases and shared the advice he was given when he was cut from Ohio Valley Wrestling:
For the people who aren’t aware, when I was 21, I was signed and sent down to OVW. Within six months, I was released. Crushing, obviously, right? It’s your dream job and my window was real quick. Some people are lucky to be there a little bit longer. But I remember when it happened, the advice given to me was, ‘Go find yourself and if this [is] something you love and you want to pursue it, pursue it by all means. Find yourself and get experience. Not just wrestling, but get life experience.’ That was probably the best piece of advice that was given to me at the time, that was my takeaway. It just evolved.
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated caught up with Samoa Joe for an interview. Joe heaped praise onto NXT’s women’s division and described them as a “murderer’s row” of top talent.
A lot of why I’m back is the people I’m working with in NXT. It starts with the passion of Hunter and Shawn Michaels, who is an incredible mind. And I’m amazed at the women on the roster. They’re beyond incredible. Some are very young in their careers, and they’re exceptional—look at how Raquel [González], she’s been fantastic. Then look at Ember Moon, Dakota Kai, Io Shirai. It’s a murderer’s row of top-tier, internationally certified talent. NXT, they’re putting out an incredible wrestling program.
** The latest edition of F4WOnline’s Left My Wallet show featured Jeff Cobb. He gave his take on the Young Lion/Young Boy system that is common in some Japan-based wrestling promotions and companies. Cobb said it’s neither here nor there when it comes to the question of if the system is perfect but there’s no doubt that it is effective.
The main thing is you’re somebody’s young boy. You’re coming up through the system and I feel, you know, is it a perfect system? Maybe, maybe not, but you can’t deny the amazing talent that has come out of systems like that so, and I have such a newfound respect for that. It’s tough to go through a system and have to squat 500 times and bump a bunch of times and maybe go through a whole month without even doing a spot, you know? You’re just learning and repetition and getting your body used to these things because New Japan’s not just gonna put you out there if you can’t do the basics so, you know…
** Sports Illustrated has an excellent feature story about the growing diversity in the Georgia wrestling scene. Several Black wrestlers in the area were interviewed for the piece.
** The Wrestling Index’s ‘King of My Ring’ show had Danny Limelight on as a guest. Limelight shared that his dream faction consists of himself, Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz.
I have this dream faction in my mind, where it’s like Eddie Kingston, Santana, Ortiz and myself.
** Cody Deaner spoke with Denise Salcedo of The Sportster. He dove into his character change on IMPACT Wrestling since aligning with Violent By Design and becoming a co-holder of the IMPACT Tag Team Titles.
It’s been scary. Some people are seeing the new version of me and are saying, ‘I’m scared of you.’ But it’s also been scary for me in the sense that it was risky because I was very much comfortable with the previous version of myself. I’d been kinda portraying that character for over a decade and was very comfortable both in the ring and out of the ring with my look and how I live my life and how I portrayed myself in the ring. I decided I needed to make a change, I needed a creative evolution and I decided to take a risk.
My career has done nothing but move forward and upward, onward and upward in a positive direction since I made the change.
** Ronda Rousey and Travis Browne’s gender reveal:
** Trey Baxter, the former Blake Christian was profiled via the WWEPC YouTube channel:
** Shane “Hurricane” Helms joined the five-year anniversary episode of Keepin It 100 with Konnan.
** Titus O’Neil’s ‘Back to School Bash’ is scheduled for August 9th. Titus and his foundation are going to be helping thousands of children obtain school supplies for the forthcoming school year. The festivities will be held at Raymond James Stadium.
** The Sportster has an interview with Tommaso Ciampa.
** Steven’s Wrestling Journey with guest Cody Rhodes:
** Dr. Frank Romascavage spoke to Wrestling Inc. about his time as a doctor for WWE.
** Heath Miller is scheduled to appear at All Star Wrestling’s ‘Bash in Beckley’ show on August 7th. Matt Cardona and Brian Myers are appearing as well.
** The following video is from the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel:
** WrestlingSport has an interview with Sami Callihan.
** Paul Wight joined ‘The Greek Zone’ on 940 WINZ.
** New Japan Pro-Wrestling hosted a virtual meet-and-greet/signing that Jay White was the focus of.
** Johnny Saint turned 80-years-old on 6/29.
** Mickie James and SoCal Val welcomed Fred Rosser onto GAW TV:
** NJPW Kizuna Road Results (6/29/21) Takaoka Techno Hall
– Ryusuke Taguchi & Tomoaki Honma def. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
– DOUKI, Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. def. El Phantasmo, Jado & Taiji Ishimori
– Dick Togo, EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi def. Kazuchika Okada, SHO & Toru Yano
– Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Master Wato & Yuji Nagata def. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOH & YOSHI-HASHI
– Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Tiger Mask & Togi Makabe
** Chris Sabin did an interview with Darren Paltrowitz.
** The latest episode of the ‘Tama’s Island’ podcast.
** IMPACT X Division Champion Josh Alexander guest appeared on the WrestleSlam Podcast.
** Former NWA World Women’s Champion Serena Deeb turned 35 on 6/29.
** Dynamite Download welcomed Danny Limelight onto the podcast.
** Darren Paltrowitz caught up with NXT’s Franky Monet.
** Teal Piper and Deimos appeared on episode three of The Turnbuckle Sessions.
** Brody King joined Alyssa Marino on her ‘Let’s Get Cereal’ show.
** Mark Sterling and Matt Cardona recorded episode 19 of MC! True Long Island Story.
** Sam Adonis appeared on Lucha Central Weekly.
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.
