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.
** In early May, it was first reported by Voices of Wrestling via their Patreon and then confirmed by F4WOnline that Ricky Starks fractured his neck during a match against Hangman Adam Page in April. Starks’ first match back was in July and he captured the FTW Title. During his Busted Open Radio appearance, Starks spoke about his recovery and the thoughts that came into his head such as his in-ring career possibly being over.
Man, I’m still a little pissed off about the injury to be straight up with you and nobody can tell me different about that until I’m ready to let go of that, deal with it the way I want to but, I did have the thought of, you know, when it happened, ‘Yeah, this is pretty much — this is the down — this is where it goes downhill’ because I’ve gone to school for physical therapy and I know an injury to the neck is a huge deal because when you have an injury like that, especially to the neck, pretty much everything else starts to follow. You start to have issues in other places and whatnot and I’m not saying that you can’t come back from neck injury but for a person, for 11 years who never had an injury, ever, ever in my career, to have a neck injury, the worst ideas came into my head in that this was pretty much it. So I did think that I wasn’t gonna be the same and maybe the in-ring career was kind of over and then once I allowed myself to deal with that and those feelings, I sat down, came up with a game plan and said, ‘Nah, you know what? I didn’t come this far to be like well, this is it.’ So, yeah, it did cross my mind but, being as stubborn as I am, I wasn’t just gonna sit back and be like, ‘Well, this is the cards I was dealt,’ you know what I’m saying? I was gonna reshuffle ‘em either way.
** Cody Hall’s last sanctioned match was in February of 2020. This past December, it was reported by POST Wrestling that after Hall and MLW agreed to a deal, they parted ways sometime after. Scott Hall did a virtual signing with K & S WrestleFest and assumed that Cody is done wrestling. Scott added that he hasn’t talked to him about his situation because Cody doesn’t want to “hear it” from his father.
He’s [Cody Hall] living in Maryland, just doing his thing. He’s not wrestling anymore. I guess [he’s done]. It’s hard for me to talk to him about it because I’m like dad. So he don’t wanna hear it from me.
** Karlee Perez, who wrestled for WWE as ‘Maxine’ and in Lucha Underground as ‘Catrina’ was a guest on ‘Excuse Me: The Vickie Guerrero Show’. Karlee’s last wrestled in 2019 but she would not rule out more wrestling appearances in the future. She stated that as of late, she has been getting contacted for more wrestling-related ventures.
No [I haven’t left wrestling behind]. I’ve actually been getting — I’ve been getting more calls back from wrestling stuff than I ever had before so it’s actually funny how that works out. I love wrestling. I love wrestling, I love performing, I’ve always loved performing in entertainment. I feel the role ‘Catrina’ really compared to ‘Maxine’, I was really being allowed to portray and build using my creative thoughts and what my talents were because we all have — everyone in the wrestling business is super talented in so many different ways. I just knew my strong point and a lot of the times it was suppressed so I was actually able to really use that when it came to the Catrina character so, I love the business, things about the business and performing and the fans is obviously one of them so I don’t ever wanna say it’s totally done or out. If it fits, it fits and we can go from there.
She dove into the freedom she had in Lucha Underground to present her on-screen character in the manner she saw fit. Karlee went on to share that she was offered a spot on the Lucha Underground writing team.
And they [Lucha Underground] were so open and trustworthy to allow me to do it. They took my thoughts on the creative side and even to the point of the writers were — there was a time they offered me a position in the writing room. They just loved my ideas and I felt so good to just be acknowledged for what I brought to the table, and in wrestling, I still believe to this day, you have so many amazing talents and athletic people in the ring, but I think it’s so important to be able to tell stories outside of it and a lot of the time, that can be forgotten.
** WWE Champion Bobby Lashley appeared on ESPN’s Cheap podcast ahead of his title defense against Goldberg at SummerSlam. Lashley was asked to recall a moment when Vince McMahon appeared to be happy with what he was doing on TV. Bobby mentioned a pull apart segment with Drew McIntyre that caught Kevin Dunn’s attention.
I can’t remember the exact match. But it was the level of aggression I had when I was out there. I mean Kevin Dunn came running in, he was like, ‘Holy sh*t man! He switched gears’ and it’s different because they see it from me because a lot of people see me as just, ‘Oh Bobby’ because I’m always just chill. But when I go into that ring, there has to be a different side of me and I think when I was wrestling Drew [McIntyre], when Drew stood up and me and Drew, we were about to get a pull-apart, he was like, ‘Holy sh*t.’ Everybody’s like looking at me and saying, ‘Man, what did he do to you?’ So there’s been several different instances before I won the title that everybody was like, ‘This is a different side of Bobby and it’s scary.’
** The most recent guest on El Brunch de WWE was Chad Gable. From 2019 until late 2020, Gable was known on WWE TV as ‘Shorty G’. He explained how good it felt to be done with that name.
When I got that chance to decide that I wanted to move on from ‘Shorty G’ and I was no longer gonna be that guy, I can’t tell you how cathartic it felt. It felt so good to say, ‘I’m done with that,’ and I just know how many people go through that and feel that way about different aspects of their life whether it’s their job or just certain things they’re going through and they say, ‘I wanna be done with that’ and I got to do that and just say, ‘I’m finished. It’s over, no more’ and yeah, it felt so good and I’m so happy.
Although Gable is in a tag team with Otis, he doesn’t want to limit himself to just tag team accolades. He wants himself and Otis to be able to go after singles titles. Gable added that because of his history as a tag team wrestler, it is assumed that he is just a tag wrestler.
Above and beyond that [tag team accolades], my vision for the Alpha Academy is to also turn out guys like myself and Otis to be individual champions. Champions of singles, whether it’s Intercontinental, WWE Championships, Universal Championships, U.S. Titles. We’re not just limited to tag team and I’m not just limited to tag team. I think because of my past and what you said and I’m very proud of my record as a tag team champion, of being a Triple Crown Tag Team Champion, you know what I mean? It’s something I’m very proud of but I also don’t want people to assume that I’m simply just a tag team wrestler and they’ve also gotten to see moments of like my run in King of the Ring a couple years ago for example. Matches I’ve had with different guys like AJ Styles and just throughout my career where you can see that I’m very capable as a singles wrestler and I have big goals as a singles wrestler as well so, it’s not limited to one thing. We wanna just take over. Take over the world here with the Alpha Academy.
Elsewhere during the conversation, he was asked about a potential match at WrestleMania and Gable said he’d like to have a ladder match with all of the teams on SmackDown.
Man, I would love to throw down in one of the — a multiple man ladder match at WrestleMania where it was just like everything on the line with The Usos and Rey and Dom [Mysterio] and like The Dirty Dawgs, like Bobby [Roode] and Dolph [Ziggler] and put all of these guys and The Street Profits, all these guys that I know have so much potential and talent. Everybody in one match, throw a bunch of ladders in there and just let us go crazy and I think we would just tear it down, you know what I mean?
** SportsMattersTV welcomed Samoa Joe onto their channel. Joe was asked about the idea of wrestling AJ Styles in NXT and here’s what he had to say:
I don’t know. He’s [AJ Styles] walking around with that big meal ticket he’s got with him right now, I don’t know. He might not be too keen to get in a real fight these days. You know, I need to find me an Omos, man. He’s got a really good gig going on. I’m a little jealous to be honest. He’s figured out something great but you know, absolutely [I would like to wrestle Styles in NXT]. I think the never-ending war between me and AJ will always continue and he’s always expressed to people that he’d love to do a little stint in NXT, come over and have some fun so, like I said, in this chaotic world, no one knows what the future holds.
** While speaking to Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN, Goldberg was thrown a short list of WWE talents who he could see himself working with. Riddle’s name was included and Goldberg shared that although he may not see eye to eye with Riddle, he does appreciate his work ethic.
Yeah. The cocky kid (Riddle) spouting off his mouth in the beginning, and I didn’t appreciate it very much by any stretch of the imagination. But the guy has put in a lot of frickin hard work and a lot of hard work, and he’s dedicated his life to this business. Whether I like him as a human being or not, I have to understand and appreciate his passion for the business and his work ethic. Because he works hard and that I appreciate as an athlete and as a human. Is he a prick sometimes? Absolutely. But that’s him. That’s his character, and so am I.
** Mick Foley hosted a panel at Steel City Con. Foley told the story of when he pitched a storyline in TNA to be the love child of Abyss. Foley was going to be called ‘Son of Abyss’.
Are you guys aware of Abyss? The wrestler Abyss? Okay. Abyss, he looked similar to Mankind we could say, right? And I wanted to do a story in TNA where it has been revealed that Abyss had a love child who would be me. Just think of this name, Son of Abyss. You could print money with that thing, right? I just thought I would come in as a — Eric Bischoff was like the heel authority figure and I just — reveal of the secret tag team partner, come in for the big win, they hand the microphone to Eric Bischoff and he goes, ‘Son of Abyss! Son of Abyss!’ And it would’ve had like a great two month arc and never got done so that’s one of my big disappointments in life.
One of the questions asked of Foley was if he was in his prime, what talents of today would he like to work with. He feels that a Bray Wyatt/Mankind program could be good and Foley also feels he could have been a good first feud for Ricochet in WWE.
Of the current wrestlers, man, I would have loved to have feuded with The Fiend. I think that a Mankind/Fiend feud would’ve been a psychological thriller. Kevin Owens would have been, you know, a battle of the bowling pin types and I always loved wrestling guys with styles opposite of mine. I still maintain that if I’d been there in WWE in my prime and done Ricochet’s first feud, that I could have made it mean something. I was really proud of that-that I think I made almost everything I was in and I’m not talking about match quality but, I like to think that when the programs were over, most of the guys that I wrestled with were worth more to the company than when they started so, that was always my goal, ‘How can I make this person worth more than he was when we started?’
Mick’s A&E Biography episode aired in late May. He wishes that he could’ve asked for Becky Lynch to be interviewed for it considering their close friendship.
I’d say Becky Lynch is probably my closest friend [in WWE] and the one regret I had about my A&E documentary — which anyone see the documentary on A&E? This is a Mick Foley panel and only eight people saw my — so, I just wish Becky, I wish I’d said, ‘You need to interview Becky Lynch’ because it gives a different perspective, a female perspective and I was somebody who inspired her considering she’s The Man in WWE. That’s a really nice story, so I really like that, you know? I really value all the baby photos she sends me and she’s just a great young lady so I go with Becky Lynch, best friend, final answer. There you go.
** This past Saturday, Andrade El Idolo challenged Kenny Omega for the AAA Mega Championship at Triplemania. Charlotte Flair was present at the event and on the day of Triplemania, WWE held a live event in Charlotte, North Carolina that Flair was advertised for. Andrade confirmed to Sports Illustrated that Flair requested that time off two months ago.
Ashley knew how important this was to me, so she asked for the weekend off two and a half months ago. She told me she was so nervous watching my match and tearing up, so it meant a lot that she could be there.
** Before her AAA Reina de Reinas Title win at Triplemania, Deonna Purrazzo spoke to Comicbook.com. She shared that while she was paired with Susan (Su Yung) and Kimber Lee, she wanted their trio to be called ‘High Renaissance’.
I also pitched a while back when I was with Kimber and Susan, but then we never really went the tag team route with them as I wanted to be the High Renaissance, which refers to the Italian Renaissance and a group of painters and things like that. And their artwork is referred to as the High Renaissance. And I wanted to bring that to life at Impact with two other people. And I think Matthew Rehwoldt is the perfect person to do that with. Maybe it’s just the two of us or a third person, I don’t know. But definitely I have so many ideas for something like that one day.
Continuing on the topic of her run in IMPACT, Purrazzo thinks since arriving to the company, holes in her overall presentation have been patched up when it comes to her confidence and microphone skills.
I think specifically for me, I’ve always been confident in my wrestling. I’ve always been confident in, put me in the ring with anyone and that’s my happy place, I’m in control, I know exactly who I am and what I’m doing. But for me, the backstage promos and the in [the] ring segments weren’t my strong suit, and I definitely had some holes in my game, but I think Impact has been able to build up my confidence and patch up those holes and give me the time to develop on-screen speaking as a character who is confident in herself and knows what to say and is condescending and rude. But I definitely think that’s something that we’ve been able to see, over the last, not even just six months, but year, year and a half that I’ve been with Impact that I’ve grown tremendously at. But then in terms of the Virtuosa character, I think because I’ve been Champion for so long, which is great, but you have to constantly have that evolution and that progression. And I think right now what I’m trying to get across is like, this evil queen, this mad queen, she’s obsessed, she’s like a dictator. She’s ruling over the division. So it’s been that progress of yeah, I’m the best, and now it’s like, I’m going to be best forever and I’ll do anything to hold it in my grasp.
And I’m just trying to play with different ways of like, okay, what else would the Virtuosa do now? Or, what are different phrases I would use? So that’s why I have been using social media so much, long may she reign and forever, and I’m not just the greatest technical women’s wrestler in the world. Now, I’m the absolute greatest period. I think over time you have to get way more confident and cocky and show that evolution we’re talking about. So some things click and some things don’t, but I just think it’s, especially social media being our biggest tool right now, we get that immediate reaction of, okay, I like this, or I don’t, so it’s not just up to me, it’s kind of what the fans grasp onto too.
** Complex pushed out their conversation with Bobby Lashley. Lashley feels that he has five-to-ten years left in wrestling before he formally retires. He added that he does want to have a Goldberg-esque schedule where he returns here and there for a match.
Being on the road gives us the opportunity to drive around, and that’s [a part] of wrestling that you can’t buy. We don’t even talk about it. That’s just our personal experience of just traveling around the world and having different craziness happen in different cities all over the place. Things that happen every single day from the airport to the car rental places to the hotels to the shows. There’s all kinds of different stories that we have. Riding with him [MVP], we joke about this stuff, talk about this stuff, riding this wave. I mean, me and him are kind of at the tail-end of our careers, and it’s fun to be able to do some big stuff like that because, ultimately, five, 10, years down the road when I retire, I want to be that Goldberg that comes back every once in a while and puts a hurting on some of these people. That’s what the Hurt Business is about. The Hurt Business is still alive, man.
** Damo (Killian Dain) was released from WWE this past June. He recently spoke to the Belfast Telegraph about how his time in the company got started. Initially, he was passed on, but William Regal told Damo that he would try to get him noticed by the higher-ups in WWE and that led to him being signed.
I started working for ICW in Scotland and one of their commentators called me The Beast of Belfast. That was the lightbulb, the switch that made me think, ‘Yes, this is exactly what I’m trying to go for’. So I grew my hair a bit more, I stopped shaving my arms, my back, these kind of things because I really wanted to buy into this beast character.
After a year of being The Beast, it was obvious I looked different to everybody else. I eventually did a try-out for WWE to which they said, ‘Thanks for coming but no.’ I was planning to wrestle in Japan. I set everything up to go out there. In the lead-up I wrestled Shinsuke Nakamura, one of Japan’s most influential wrestlers.
WWE had just signed Nakamura and wanted footage to build hype. They used footage of my match with him. William Regal, who I had spoken to at the try-out, and who had stayed in touch with me after, was impressed with a promo I gave about growing up in Belfast. He said to me at the time, ‘Listen, I’m going to try and put your stuff in front of the bosses. Because you’re a real person, we need real people here with real experiences.’ And you know, I didn’t really think much of it at the time. The next email I got from the talent scout was very different to the ones I had gotten previously.
** Wardlow joined the Bubba Show on 100.7 Star Pittsburgh. He detailed his journey to get to AEW and brought up how he went all in to pursue a career in wrestling. At 29, Wardlow sold his home, his motorcycle and moved back in with his parents to see if he could turn his goal into a reality. When he received a call from QT Marshall about AEW, Wardlow thought it was a prank up until QT picked him up from the airport.
So, you say it’s sacrifice. I don’t think of it as a sacrifice. I think of it as necessary steps to accomplish your goals. But, if you wanna talk about sacrifice, yes, I sold my house, my motorcycle, quit my job and moved in with my parents at the age of like 29, because you reach a point in life where it’s do or die, and trying to work a normal job and make it isn’t happening so we have to go all in, pardon the pun. So yeah, I found myself at one point jobless, living upstairs in my parents’ [house], completely lost, completely broke, not knowing what my future held. So if you can call it a sacrifice, I call it necessary steps and one day I was taking a nap after a workout session and had nothing to do so I’m sleeping and I woke up and I had a missed call from QT saying, ‘Hey, this is QT Marshall from AEW. See if you can give me a call back’ and I remember I was calling before I was even awake, and we end up having an hour-long conversation and the funny thing is I thought it was a prank up until the point he picked me up from the airport. Even standing in Atlanta, I thought somebody’s about to call me like, ‘Ha, you idiot. You actually went to Atlanta.’ Yeah man, I’m a very skeptical person but it’s just so much had went wrong up until point, I was like, ‘There’s no way this is real,’ but… and here I am.
** Ryan Satin welcomed Roman Reigns onto his ‘Out of Character’ show. Reigns touched on a critique he heard about his match with Edge at Money In The Bank which was that it was a slow-paced match. Reigns explained that he was not going to attempt to outpace the men’s Money In The Bank ladder match.
I’ve heard the one critique of it was it was a little bit slower paced but, we’re heavyweights. I’m not gonna go out there, especially following like a stunt-heavy ladder match, we had to reset it and everything that I had in mind, the game plan, you know, for the performance, it really came to fruition and to see it develop and to hear the crowd in real time, interact and react to everything that was happening, it was phenomenal.
** Wrestling Inc. has an interview with Brody King. He discussed PWG’s restart and the announcement of him and Malakai Black teaming at ‘Threemendous VI’ on September 26.
It’s crazy because I feel like there’s not a lot of surprises in pro wrestling anymore, and now Tommy has been the main focus point of two of them, which is pretty awesome. That moment at PWG, it was insane. I was a fan in the crowd when Super Dragon had the lights out moment, and the crowd would go insane, and now I’m part of it, which is insane to say. And being able to have that moment with Tommy, it was just special.
He’s always been a really good friend of mine, and I told him the day of the show, about five years ago, I went to Florida when WrestleMania was there. I did an EVOLVE tryout, and I was sleeping on his couch and I think I had one WrestleMania weekend show. I got paid $5 to do, and I’m sleeping on Tommy’s couch and he debuted at Takeover that day. Five years later, here we are preparing to do our thing together, so it was a really, really cool moment, like a full circle moment.
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated chatted with Goldberg about his forthcoming match at SummerSlam. Goldberg expressed that he wants to give back to the wrestling business and wants to do so by elevating talents such as Bobby Lashley.
I was fortunate to run through the wrestling world like a hot knife through butter in my career, and then I was gone. Serving the business is a responsibility. That includes getting butts in seats and making sure people invest in the product, but it also means you have to give back. I didn’t always do that before. But that’s my duty, and that’s a big reason why I am here. I owe the business a lot more than I have given. I can provide a star like Bobby Lashley a worthy adversary. I need to come back for that reason. There is also a plethora of talent that I believe is on the cusp of stardom, and I am here to help elevate them to the next level.
Goldberg added that he’s only back because he wants to be. He knows he can still go in the ring and if given the proper time to prepare, he can still deliver.
Whether I’m 25, 35, or 105, I’m still Goldberg. My mentality allows me to still get in the ring and entertain the people to an extent that I don’t tarnish anything or everything that I’ve done. Those are considerations you need to make when you come back. I don’t need to come back, I don’t have to. I’m here because I want to be here. Mentally, I know I can do it. Physically, it’s a little harder. But given enough time, I still can do it.
** Former ROH World Champion Xavier passed away one year ago today.
** ‘Kotaku Australia’ caught up with Toni Storm for an interview. She discussed how important all-women’s tournaments like the Mae Young Classic are when it comes to discovering talents overseas that may not get as much shine.
It’s important that [women’s wrestlers] get seen as well and that we have a platform to show what we can do. We’re tucked away in Australia or the UK and it’s hard to be seen and heard. Those tournaments really get right to the roots of the independent scene and pull out who’s doing well. The [Mae Young Classic] is probably the reason why I’m here.
** Former WWE talent Chris Nowinski chatted with Lucha Libre Online and told the outlet about how his first concussion in wrestling changed the direction of his future:
Yeah, it’s sort of unfair to call it a ‘stiff kick’ because I mean it was a boot in the forehead that I ran into and I ran — I was running — it was a very quiet house show and so, we were all sort of moving a little faster than usual to try and bring in energy and I was closer to his [Bully Ray’s] foot than I maybe usually was and so it just sort of took my head off and I had a bad concussion but didn’t appreciate how bad it was so I kept wrestling, not only that night but for weeks and developed permanent post-concussion syndrome, headaches, nausea when I worked out for a decade and I just — I was in so much pain that I couldn’t get in the ring and then after that pain lasted for more than a year, I realized I couldn’t live the rest of my life like that so if I got better, I wasn’t gonna put myself at risk like that again.
** TV Insider conducted an interview with Bobby Lashley ahead of tonight’s Raw. Lashley gave his take on the possibility of Olympic Goldmedalist Gable Steveson coming to WWE. Lashley feels Steveson is going to make a lot of money in his life and he’ll do well if he joins WWE.
When I met him, he seemed like a really humble kid. I wish I had his potential at such a young age. That kid is going to make so much money in his life because he has so many years ahead of him. He is tagging Dana White on social media. He’s tagging Vince McMahon, Jon Jones. That is what he should be doing. He should be getting his name out there. I think if he comes to WWE, he would do really well. He is a big kid and very athletic and charismatic. I think he should wait a little bit. He is 21. Wait until I retire at least. When I’m gone, he’ll have an opportunity to possibly win another world title.
At the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, Lashley made quick work of Kofi Kingston. He feels there is more story to tell between himself and Kofi.
I think there is. Kofi is one of those guys where he won’t ever give up. Kofi has already positioned himself as one of the greats in the business. He is an incredible worker. He has great matches across the board. He has the potential to do so much more. If I have the opportunity to wrestle Kofi again one-on-one, I’d accept it.
** Natalya’s newest article is up on the Calgary Sun website. She reflected on some of her favorite SummerSlam moments and here is an excerpt from her write-up:
Some of my favorite matches of my career have been at SummerSlam, along with some of the most iconic matches in WWE history. I look back at 2017, when I faced off against Naomi at a sold-out Barclays Center in Brooklyn and won the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Naomi was my opponent but also a close personal friend of mine, and someone whom I have the utmost respect for. We poured our hearts into that match. When I won the Smackdown Women’s Championship that night, our match truly embodied all of our hard work we had been putting in for years. I still watch it back to this day with so much gratitude for what we accomplished together that night as strong, powerful women in WWE.
** REDCON1 hosted a conversation between Kenny Omega and bodybuilder Kai Greene:
** IMPACT Knockouts and AAA Reina de Reinas Champion Deonna Purrazzo joined Dave LaGreca and Bully Ray on Busted Open Radio.
** The following matches were announced for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s 9-year Anniversary show on August 21st:
** RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Doug Williams
* Hyan vs. Skye Smitson
* Great British Tag League Final: Lucian Phillips & Screwface Ahmed vs. Connor Mills & Michael Oku
* Ethan Allen & Luke Jacobs vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
** Episode 269 of Being The Elite:
** TVMovie caught up with Finn Balor for an interview. He said he’d like to share the ring with Edge and Rey Mysterio on SmackDown.
** Chris Dickinson, Suge D, AC Mack, The Awakening (Big Kon & Vik), Dani Jordyn, Danny Limelight and more have been announced for the Championship Wrestling from Atlanta television tapings.
** K & S WrestleFest hosted a virtual signing with Mickie James.
** Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier spoke to FanSided.
** Paul Wight talked to Popculture.com about possibly wrestling Shaquille O’Neal in AEW.
** Luke Hawx spoke to The Intelligencer about his contribution[s] to the show ‘Heels’.
** The ‘Samoan Excellence’ edition of Rob Schamberger’s Canvas 2 Canvas series:
** Scott D’Amore guest appeared on Busted Open Radio.
** Liverpool Echo has a feature story about Lizzy Evo.
** Bobby Lashley appeared on the Battleground Podcast.
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.
