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.
** The Battleground Podcast welcomed Rocky Romero back onto the show and asked him about the working relationship between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling. Rocky shared that it was Kenny Omega who reached out to NJPW and that led to KENTA coming to AEW. Despite how NJPW felt about Omega’s exit from the company, Rocky said Omega reaching out was a big step in the right direction.
It kind of started with [Chris] Jericho [AEW/NJPW crossover], obviously [Jon] Moxley being a guy who’s important to both companies and Moxley always wanting to do something and kind of being that main focal point because obviously, he wasn’t really mixed up into the drama of what was going on between AEW and New Japan and wrestlers, whatever and then the third big component I feel like besides Tony [Khan] was obviously Kenny [Omega]. Kenny being a part of it and kind of Kenny — Kenny was one of the ones who reached out first and just said, ‘Hey, I know Moxley and KENTA have this thing and I’m doing this…’ Obviously he had a big rivalry with Moxley as well so you know, Moxley being the focal point… so you know, obviously Kenny and New Japan had their issues as he left New Japan to join AEW and I think — so that was a big step in the right direction and obviously Kenny is incredible at what he does. He’s literally one of the best, he’s a true pro and obviously to see the grand picture, he was the one that kind of who helped facilitate that amongst, I guess, probably at least the EVPs, you know?
Rocky commented on the talks that ensued between New Japan and WWE. Bryan Danielson did confirm that conversations between the two sides were held. Rocky added that it wasn’t the first time WWE has reached out. On the topic of Kazuchika Okada possibly coming into AEW, Romero is aware that fans want to see it immediately but thinks the relationship between the two companies is for the long haul.
You know, I mean I don’t know how much I can actually say but could say that definitely they reached out. You know, WWE definitely reached out as they do every X amount of years I feel like they reach out. I mean obviously [Bryan] Danielson being in the middle of that was no secret and it was no secret to Tony [Khan] either or AEW so, obviously Tony was a part of that too once Bryan was completely free and clear to make those talks with him so, so yeah. There was — a lot of people talk, you know what I’m saying? There’s talking. I wouldn’t go so far to say that there was ever gonna be a deal made or anything like that. It’s just like, you know, WWE comes knocking on the door and they wanna talk, people are gonna listen to what they have to say but I mean obviously working with AEW versus working with WWE is two completely different things, you know? Where AEW, they have a true understanding of New Japan and what the product is and have a complete respect for the history of the product, for what the product is, for the wrestlers and how they do. I mean obviously because, you know, New Japan wrestlers kind of leaving New Japan helped to start AEW so there’s always been that crossover connection so, it just seems to make sense in the grand scheme of things, both companies working together and I think it’s been — obviously it’s just been the beginning of it and I think that this is gonna be a — like the Hangman Page, Kenny Omega feud, this is gonna be a long-term thing so I think people are excited of course and they’re ready for [Kazuchika] Okada to show up and fight Kenny at Full Gear or something but like, I think this is gonna be a long-term thing because both companies are building themselves up right now, you know?
On the November 10th AEW Dynamite, Rocky went one-on-one with Bryan Danielson. He detailed the conversation he had with Tony Khan that led to the match being set up. Rocky thought Khan was going to ask for another NJPW talent to face Danielson.
It was really cool, it was really cool [being back in the ring with Bryan Danielson] because I mean, it kind of happened short notice too. I think I got the call on a Friday and then I showed up on Dynamite on that Wednesday so, Tony [Khan] called me and he was like, ‘Hey, you know, I was talking to Danielson and I was just thinking like, man, it’d be cool if we had some forbidden door action maybe this next week on Dynamite and you know Danielson’s been getting ready for the pay-per-view. It might be an opportunity to do something with Danielson’ and so I was thinking of course like, ‘Who are they gonna be interested in?’ Maybe like Juice [Robinson] or [David] Finlay or somebody and then he goes like, ‘Yeah, we’re talking maybe Rocky Romero versus Danielson.’ I was like — it took me a second because I was like, ‘Wait what? Oh me!? You want me!?’ Yeah, and I was like, ‘Oh, that makes sense.’ You know, because obviously Danielson and I have so much history going back to the original L.A. Dojo, training together and making our debut in New Japan in October of 2002, just two young kids, you know? So why not? ‘Yeah, that’s kind of cool. That’s a really cool thing’ and then I was just really happy with how it turned out and I thought the match was really, really cool and first time being on Dynamite and being on TNT was awesome. To be doing it against somebody who I have that kind of history with and all of a sudden, obviously he’s a huge frickin’ superstar now so, getting to go toe-to-toe with him and showing what I got was amazing so…
** Back in September, Melissa Santos posted a video on social media and stated that Brian Cage, her husband is being misused in All Elite Wrestling. Chris Van Vliet sat down with Melissa for an interview and she reflected on those comments towards AEW. She explained where she was coming from and said she was not going to hold her tongue about it.
You know, and I think — I’m his [Brian Cage] wife, right? And I’m spicy. I’m not gonna be like, ‘Well I really wish things were different.’ No! F*cking use him more. Like, I love my husband.
He is my favorite wrestler. He is. I actually have a couple of favorites but he’s for sure my favorite. That’s how we even started talking. I’d call him my favorite in Lucha Underground all the time so, yeah, I think he’s incredible. It’s just like really, there isn’t — aren’t many wrestlers that look like him and have the discipline and have, you know, I know they all love, everyone loves wrestling. I’m completely enamored by it as well, a different way but I feel like my gosh, I wanna see him more like I used to, right? It’s just at Lucha Underground, he was being used all the time and it was different companies, right? In IMPACT, you’re the champion and I’m not asking, ‘Hey! Let’s just make him the champion.’ No, it’s just like I wanna see my husband more, you know? He comes out the first episode, you see him at AEW, he’s f*cking ripping f*cking ladders apart. The first time, I don’t know if you guys know this but when he was at Lucha Underground, one of the first things we see him [doing] is ripping the frickin’ belt apart. He comes down, he’s like — and he’s doing these body guy, strong things that you don’t really see that guy as much anymore. You see more of like, you know, the cruiserweight. You don’t see that and I don’t know, just for me, yes, I am bias. Like, he’s my husband. I wanna see more of that and so I did get heat because I’m spicy. I’m spicy. I’m very straight-forward. I’m not just gonna be like, ‘Well I’m just gonna… I really wish…’ Like no, f*cking use him. Come on.
Melissa does feel bad that Cage took all the backlash despite not saying anything. She said that Cage loves AEW and Tony Khan and she was just coming from a place of wanting to see more of him on TV. She apologized for the negative attention that Cage received.
I got really spicy about it. Maybe I shouldn’t have. But then he got all the heat. He didn’t even say anything. I know, I know. He got all the heat. I do feel bad about that because he loves wrestling, he loves AEW, absolutely adores Tony [Khan], loves being there and I feel like all of it came from the love of wanting [Brian Cage] to be more involved and that’s really it. It was just from a passionate place and because I’m all loud, loud, loud, I got him in trouble and I do feel bad for that because that wasn’t my intention, even though when I look back at the videos I’m like, ‘Damn, I should have just not been as spicy,’ but damn, it’s hard. It’s hard man. I get myself in trouble. I gotta sugarcoat things a little bit.
Yeah, and I feel like it was the impatient kind of my just — I was like, ‘Man, I just want to see more of him.’ I miss seeing my husband [on TV]. I’m a fan, right? I miss seeing my husband.
But yeah, so hopefully I can see my husband killing it a little bit more now that, you know, hopefully some of the heat falls off because I feel like in wrestling, there’s always something new that’s happening that’s like the talk of the town and so, you know, I’m sorry babe. I didn’t mean to get you all the heat. I just miss seeing you on TV, that’s really what it is and you know, AEW’s dope. I love more wrestling on TV. I love more of my husband on TV too. That’s really what it is.
Earlier this month, Santos partook in a fitness competition and coming out of the event, she contracted COVID-19 from her mother. Santos said she contracted the virus because her immune system was low and had become depleted.
I actually had COVID just recently and it was awful, and I’m healthy and you know, so if you can get — what we have control of is our body. We can control what goes in our body. We can’t really control a virus that we really can’t see as much as we try and we can mask and vaccinate and do all that stuff, but we can control how we eat in order to be prepared and have the right defenses just in case it comes. You know, it just happened to me recently and so it was actually right after my show [fitness competition in early November]. I ended up getting COVID because my immune system was very, very low, [became] very, very depleted. End up getting COVID, I got it from my mom. She needed to get help as well, she’s fully vaccinated as well, was really, really sick. But I made — I was like, ‘All right mom.’ I’m always on my mom’s health. I was like, ‘Okay, you gotta take these vitamins to work’ so we’re both [sticking] together and kind of helping but I know that because my mom is healthier because I’m in her life. She was able to combat it and my mom’s close to 70-years-old so, it’s those things.
At IMPACT Wrestling’s Knockouts Knockdown event, Melissa was the ring announcer. Gail Kim presented the ring announcing opportunity to Santos.
Gail [Kim] for example, you know and she’s the one who actually called me and was, ‘Melissa, you’re gonna ring announce.’ I’m like, ‘What?’
[She told me to] just come, yeah and just be Melissa and, ‘You’re gonna ring announce because we feel like you should be the ring announcer. I mean it’s an all-women’s show and we want you’ and I’m just like, ‘What?’ Yeah, it was really cool and wanna do it again so IMPACT, I’m waiting.
** Prior to Billy Gunn’s match against Darby Allin on the latest episode of AEW Rampage, Gunn chatted with Z100’s Josh Martinez. The 58-year-old Billy Gunn figured he’d be retired from in-ring competition at this point in his life. But his sons Austin and Colten Gunn keep him going.
It’s amazing [working with Austin & Colten Gunn in AEW], it really is. I’m lucky enough to have an awesome career and I figured by now, maybe I’d be retired and be able just to coach and do my thing and there they go, they drag me right back in. But it’s been amazing, it really has and I enjoy what I do and you know, the funny thing is me and the boys always have this thing, if they graduate college, they can do whatever they want, you know? I would help them with that so our deal was always they had to graduate from college first, they both did that and then all of a sudden, they both wanted to wrestle and I knew Austin would always wanna do it because he’s me, just amplified 100 if you can believe that and Colten has his thing that he does but it’s been amazing and it’s a great way to cap an awesome career that I’ve had.
Billy has managed to make it through his career with asthma. There are times when it can get ahold of him but he just settles down and keeps it under control.
I don’t know if it’s that [asthma having an affect on his singles career] because I can manage it. You know, I’ve been able to manage it okay. It’s not something that I really think about or really hark about. It’s just something I have and you either deal with it or you just quit. I mean I do have preventive inhalers and stuff and I know how to manage my energy level so of course there’s gonna be times where it’s gonna grab me and I just gotta be able to settle down and kind of grab it under control and then keep going. It’s not something that I let stop me or keep me from doing what I do.
** Episode #44 of the MCW Cast featured Shannon Moore. While Moore and Shane Helms were making their way into WCW in the late 90s, they were sent to the Power Plant to train. Moore and Helms felt they were too experienced to be used as practice bodies for newer talents. They went to go speak to Paul Orndorff and that resulted in both Shane and Shannon being put on the ‘to be fired’ list. It was Jimmy Hart who saved Shannon and Shane’s jobs.
So Shane [Helms] went down [to WCW], they ended up hiring him. But yeah, from there, I sit home for a couple of months just getting paid. They send us down to the Power Plant and me and Shane were down there for a week and we were both like, ‘Dude, we’ve been doing this a little too long to be here getting knocked out by guys that don’t know what they’re doing’ and I got a bad concussion while I was down there like on day three. So me and Shane were like, ‘You know what? We’re gonna go into Paul Orndorff’s office and we’re gonna tell him that we’re going home’ and you know, you heard rumors about Paul. It’s like we didn’t know — and we talked about it. We’re like, ‘Dude, we’re probably gonna have to fight him’ and I was like, ‘How do you want to handle this? Like what if he grabs a knife or –’ we heard stories. Paul was supposed to be really tough and he was apparently crazy whenever it came to fighting and stuff so, we were prepared and we went in and told him and he was like, ‘Ah, I don’t know why you’re here anyways. Yeah, go home’ and we were going, ‘Okay. Where’s the punchline here?’ You know, we’re waiting on it and that’s all he said and we were like, ‘Okay, cool. We’re going home’ so we went home and then I think immediately, like two or three days later Jimmy Hart called me and he’s like, ‘Hey baby. What are you doing? You’re on the To Be Fired list now.’ So it was a complete, you know, ‘Here. Yeah, go home. Watch this, I’m gonna fire you,’ you know? Just a dick move. Typical carny ass [thing]. But Jimmy, he saved the day man. Jimmy scooped in and he made sure that they kept me and Shane and I think that’s whenever Jimmy was like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna form this boy band. Brittney Spears is hot, Justin Timberlake is hot. We’re gonna do this thing, we’re gonna tour and you guys are gonna play in shopping malls’ and he had this babyface outlook like we were gonna be as big as Brittney and for real, he thought that we were gonna be a legit [boy band].
While Shannon has not had a conversation about this with Eric Bischoff, he recalled hearing that the original plan for the WCW cruiserweights were to put them together in a house and film it like a reality TV show. Moore used the ‘The Real World’ as an example.
Chris Kanyon, he’s the one who ended up getting me hired [by WCW] and ultimately, like rumor has it — I’ve never had the discussion with Eric [Bischoff] but, they were gonna hire 21 cruiserweights and put ‘em in a house together and film it like a Real World-type — I don’t know if you remember Real World. But yeah, they were gonna film it, from what I hear like The Real World and watch these 21 cruiserweights kind of evolve in WCW in this house, living amongst each other. But that kind of got scrapped and I was one of the first that was hired for that idea.
The topic of drug addiction became a focus point and Shannon spoke candidly about it. There was a point in his career when he was spending $1,000 a day on his vice. Moore was afraid to ask for help because of the potential consequence of being labeled an addict within the wrestling business and that possibly costing him opportunities.
You know, whenever — I knew a year before I asked for help that I needed help but I was scared. I was scared because I didn’t wanna get blackballed from the industry. I didn’t want people to look at me as a drug addict or an alcoholic because I did pretty well hiding my addiction, right? And I was like, ‘Man, everybody’s gonna label me, I’m not gonna get work, nobody will want me on their shows if I go to treatment.’ But, after a while, my life was so bad, I couldn’t get on a plane and fly anywhere because I needed — by the end, I had a thousand dollar a day habit and it’s like I had to have so much, like a larger amount of drugs a day, it was impossible for me to jump on a plane and fly to Baltimore and show up and be normal because by the time I got here, I’d be so sick that y’all would be, ‘Dude, are you gonna make it?’ Because that was my daily routine. It was like wake up and try to survive and just feel normal. So as far as — by that point, I didn’t care. I knew at this point it’s either I’m gonna end up in prison, I’m gonna end up dead or I’m gonna get help and you know, Road Dogg, Brian James, he’s my boy, I reached out for help from him and he’s like, ‘Dude, just do it. Go to treatment, we’re gonna get you in treatment. WWE, let us try to send you a treatment and just, let us get you better and let’s get you back happy’ and at that point, I just made the decision like nothing else mattered. It was about me getting healthy and me becoming happy again and everything else would fall into place and that’s exactly what happened. You know, I focused — once I got out of treatment — I was wrestling some while I was in treatment. Once I got healthy enough, I did a few shows while I was in treatment and then whenever I got out, I ended up doing coaching at NXT for a year and that was — so, nobody looked down on me. Everybody was like, ‘Dude, I’m proud of you.’ They pushed me and they were glad that I got help.
** While speaking to SEScoops, Mercedes Martinez expressed her feeling that ageism is the biggest problem for women in wrestling. She feels that women are expected to be done with their in-ring careers once they hit their early to mid-30s.
Professional wrestling has this thing where they put an age limit on the females that after a certain age, you should be stopping. You should be whatever it is that you wanna do but not be in the ring and not be an athlete, whereas the men, they’re, you know, around the same age as us and they’re given opportunities after opportunities. You don’t look at them any differently as if they were 20 years old. But when it comes to females, it’s a whole different ball game like we should stop at a certain age whether it’s 30-years-old or 35. You can’t tell me at almost 41-years-old that I can’t run circles around a 20-year-old and then some. You know, it’s up to me to make that decision. It shouldn’t be up to anybody otherwise and I think that’s where the biggest problem is right now for female wrestling is just that ageism and that age gap when we have to stop and I think if you can go, you can go. There’s always something for everybody, doesn’t matter what your age [is]. As long as you can deliver on what you’re supposed to deliver and do your job and have fun with it, just keep going until you say it’s time to stop, not anybody else.
** The latest guest on Teasy’s Table was Knōa, formerly known as ‘Kona Reeves’ in WWE. This past August, Knōa was released from the sports-entertainment company. He admitted that it was hard for him to digest but he had to keep pushing forward.
I mean, being released from WWE was very hard on me, you know what I mean? I would probably say that’s probably the hardest thing that’s ever happened to me. I was there for seven years but then you kind of think about what you’ve done and where you’ve come from, you know what I mean? And I can’t hate on nothing that I did in the past. I’ve lived my life, I lived a dream that I’ve always dreamt about. Do I just stop here and just say, ‘Oh man, that’s it,’ or do I keep going? You can’t just stop. Life doesn’t just stop, time doesn’t just stop. You gotta keep running man. You might get an injury. Like I tore my labrum about a year-and-a-half ago but that didn’t stop me, I kept going, I had to keep trying, I had to keep pushing myself because this life don’t stop. You know, the grind don’t stop. That’s life. You’re gonna have ups and downs but the downs aren’t gonna last forever, unless you just let it last forever.
Knōa is still active in the ring but as far as what he wants to do outside of the wrestling, he is interested in acting.
I would love to act. That’s probably the biggest thing that’s been on my mind lately. I love wrestling. I’ve been wrestling for 12 years. 12 years of my life has been in professional wrestling, you know what I mean? So like, sometimes I have, ‘Do I want to pursue something else?’ But definitely acting. I love acting.
** talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy caught up with Stephanie McMahon and asked her how Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque is doing following his cardiac event in September. She said he’s doing fine. Stephanie went on to share that she and Levesque’s oldest daughter began in-ring training.
We have three daughters, Triple H and I do, they are 15, 13 and 11. Our oldest said when she was eight years old, ‘Momma, I don’t want your [job]. Daddy, I don’t want your job. I want Pop’s [Vince McMahon] job. So, just like her grandfather, she wants to be the boss so we’ll see what happens with my oldest daughter who has already started training in the ring. My youngest daughter is also very interested but she is all about the personality [laughs]. Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to see what she is going to do.
** Ivelisse joined the Front Row Material podcast and she did a deep dive into her time in FCW and being a part of the transition into NXT. Ivelisse enjoyed working with Dr. Tom Prichard but knew her days were numbered when Bill DeMott was brought on board.
Dr. Tom Prichard, he was the one at the time that was running it [FCW], which he’s awesome. He was always awesome to me. I don’t know… and actually shortly after that was when Paige arrived and we kind of clicked very quickly because she had an independent scene background as I did. One of the few that had [that background] when we first got there. So we kind of clicked on that and then, it was a really eye-opening experience for me in a lot of different ways. I tried to learn as much as I could but obviously politics has always been my Achilles heel in terms of me as a whole and my whole career. So that’s the one that I was learning the most and the quickest. But when it really took a big hit for me was when Bill DeMott was placed when there was that switch from Tom Prichard. That switch after that, Bill DeMott was put as head of the facility. That’s when I knew my days were counted, so I was doing everything possible to try to stay afloat any way I could possibly, humanly figure out. But yeah, my days were counted and it [was] very evident to everybody.
Before Sara Del Rey came into NXT, Ivelisse helped Norman Smiley train the women’s roster. Ivelisse claims she was the lowest paid out of the women at the time.
I had no idea that they were gonna hire Sara Del Rey at that time yet. I was actually one of the ones that was helping a lot with the training of the girls. Like even there were a couple times that before of course, leading up to me being let go which made it even more confusing for me, I was even helping them and taking over the class to help Norman Smiley and everything like that and also too, they told me that even all that, I was the lowest paid of all of them and that was a whole other conversation thing too.
Ivelisse talked about FCW’s transition into NXT and recalled there being a plan to repackage most of the roster as a part of that change. In 2012, when NXT rebooted the first time, Ivelisse scored a win over Paige. Although their match lasted just over two minutes, Ivelisse did not want to squash Paige and said that was the original plan for their match.
We were also working on a repackaging because they [FCW/NXT] were also — for that entire transition, they were trying to repackage as many people as they could. They had repackaged Shaul [Guerrero] with the ‘Ultra Diva’ thing. They were trying to — when they were gonna transition to NXT, they were already planning to repackage almost everybody. So with me, my repackaging was gonna be the first female with MMA background and introducing MMA into the character as a part of the anti-divas and that was my way of being an anti-diva, introducing the MMA aspect of my background and through all of that, that short time, it went — it [never] fails. It starts off really great and real quickly, it just disappears and you’re just like, ‘What happened?’ It’s always politics and I’m always left like, ‘What did I do?’ I breathe wrong, I breathe on the wrong spot on the wrong time or the craziest things that I — I swear because look, think about it, how does Ivelisse kick off NXT with Paige and going over and clean and this and that and honestly, also too, that match was supposed to be a squash. They wanted me to squash Paige the entire time. Like, ‘No, I can’t do that. I don’t want that’ and I didn’t do it. I purposely didn’t do it because I didn’t feel right doing that to her. First of all, we were close and the Anti-Diva thing and I don’t even like squashes, always when they ask me to squash talent or even in AEW, ‘Okay, you got five minutes.’ I’m like, ‘Five minutes? Okay. I’m gonna find a way to make this the most competitive five minutes regardless.’ I don’t care about being a name. I just want it to feel like this crazy fight always.
She further discussed her experiences with Bill DeMott. It reached a point where Ivelisse got in contact with WWE’s HR department and filed complaints about DeMott. It was not long after that-that Ivelisse was cut from WWE.
There was so many things that happened within a short period of time that were all negative. Not necessarily with the [me losing to Tamina] thing but, all coincidentally, the stopping of the repackaging, the ridiculousness that didn’t make any sense like reprimanding of a hair clip [Ivelisse was spoken to about wearing a hair clip to the ring] and a bunch of other things that were just kind of like all stacked up and then I had called HR because I was just exhausted dealing with the whole thing with [Bill] DeMott. Even other things that I never mentioned that were not very — along the lines of other things that came out, along the lines that I hadn’t mentioned to HR. I was just living through it and trying to push through it or whatever and so I just caved and I called HR and I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do so I called HR and I was just kind of letting them know how I felt and I was literally like crying for 30 minutes straight trying to figure out, trying to make sense of it, and shortly after that is when I received the call to let me go, to let me [know] what they want in a diva.
** Mirror Fighting caught up with Stephanie McMahon at a WWE/Special Olympics community outreach event. Stephanie was asked about the possibility of Tyson Fury returning to WWE. She thinks he’s tailor-made for the company and only time will tell if he’s coming back.
Tyson Fury, I feel, is made for WWE. He has all of the personality, all of the charisma, he’s an incredible athlete with a tremendous look, he’s a big man, lots of strength, power, speed and agility. I think he is tailor-made for WWE and we’ll see if and when he comes back.
** Former IMPACT Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo was a guest on The Bob Culture Podcast. She said she’d like to return to the NWA if the opportunity presented itself.
We got to do some really cool stuff with NWA and EmPowerrr. I would love to go back to the NWA if the opportunity from IMPACT was there.
** Graham Matthews of Daily DDT spoke to Drew McIntyre prior to Survivor Series. McIntyre spoke about the night he won the WWE Championship for a second time and recalled initially hearing that he and Randy Orton had 20 minutes until their match started. McIntyre went to get taped up and while doing so, he heard his theme song playing and was soon informed that-that was his entrance cue. He was actually told he had two minutes before the match.
I don’t believe it’s the same sword [Vince McMahon’s sword], not to ruin anyone’s fantasies. It was a stand-in initially until we got my current sword, but I’ve had this one for a while. If you watch my very first entrance with it, the night I wrestled Randy and won back the title, I was informed our match wasn’t for another 20 minutes. So, I was in the training room getting ready and we were at the Amway Center. I was putting on my wrist tape and I heard my music play. I turned to somebody and said, ‘That’s weird, are they testing the music?’ They said, ‘No, that’s your entrance.’ I was misinformed, I was actually up in two minutes. I sprinted all the way to Gorilla for my entrance and they’re wondering where I am. It’s my first entrance with the sword, so I said, ‘I’m building anticipation!’ I walk through the curtain and if you look closely, I only have one wrist tape on.
** The ‘All Real Wrestling Podcast’ has an interview with Chris Dickinson. The former ROH World Tag Team Champion discussed his current run in Ring of Honor and how much he enjoys working for the company.
Ring of Honor, for me personally, has been a blast. I love working there, I do. I think it’s a great locker room, a great group of guys, a great group of good brothers, you know what I mean? I’m just like laughing my ass off whenever I’m working there, just a good time. Great people to work with and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve done so far in Ring of Honor. I really have. I’m so grateful that-that opportunity presented itself and it’s worked out the way it [has] because listen, I was a huge Ring of Honor fan. I mean I was — Ring of Honor in a lot of ways is the — led me to the water, you know what I mean? It was like it exposed me and a lot of fans from that time period to so much of that Japanese wrestling that you know, if it wasn’t for Ring of Honor… the first time I saw stuff that really changed my whole life is Pro Wrestling NOAH, KENTA and [Naomichi] Marufuji and that whole era, I was there for that live.
** Denise Salcedo of Instinct Culture spoke to Beth Phoenix about her EP ‘Stone Rose & Bone’. Beth almost backed out of releasing the project but it was Edge who gave her a vote of confidence to see it through no matter the response.
Then I kinda got cold feet, about halfway through especially after we got the photos done and we started picking a date for this to come out. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I am afraid of the feedback’, I just started feeling panics like everybody knows me as a wrestler and I was kinda like this tough wrestler, ‘What are they gonna think of this new side of me? Am I gonna get laughed at? Does this album really suck and everybody is just gonna try and be nice to me?’ {laughs} It was a lot of stuff, I had a lot of fear kinda ruling my decisions. I almost bailed on the whole thing and my husband was like, ‘Don’t let fear rule your decision, when you put something out into the world it’s nobody’s business what they think of it, you just put your heart into it, your soul into it, let it out there and let it be received how its received but that shouldn’t lessen how proud you are of it and that’s definitely how I felt with the product I put out. I got wonderful feedback… there’s always gonna be the haters, you can’t control them or focus on them. I am proud that I went for it because I like to live my life with the philosophy of ‘no what ifs.’
** Windham Rotunda, the former ‘Bray Wyatt’ is scheduled to appear at WrestleCon in Dallas, Texas during WrestleMania 38 weekend.
** The Talk’n Shop podcast released one of their Patreon episodes featuring Alex Koslov.
** 2point0 (Matt Lee & Jeff Parker) went live on their YouTube channel.
** NJPW World Tag League Results (11/23) Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
– Kosei Fujita vs. Yuto Nakashima – Time Limit Draw (10:00)
– World Tag League Tournament Match: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI def. Tiger Mask & Yuji Nagata
– World Tag League Tournament Match: EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi def. TenKoji (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)
– World Tag League Tournament Match: Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens def. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)
– World Tag League Tournament Match: Guerrillas Of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) def. Minoru Suzuki & TAKA Michinoku
– World Tag League Tournament Match: United Empire (Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan) def. Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.)
– World Tag League Tournament Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & Tetsuya Naito) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano
** Taylor Wilde welcomed Masha Slamovich onto her podcast.
** IMPACT Wrestling’s Steve Maclin appeared on The Bob Culture Podcast.
** AJPW’s ‘Zeus 15th Anniversary Show’ Results (11/23) Osaka, Japan
– Dan Tamura def. Jun Saito
– Shuji Ishikawa def. Rei Saito
– Hikaru Sato def. Kuishinbo Kamen
– TOTAL ECLIPSE (Hokuto Omori, Jake Lee & TAJIRI) def. Black Menso-re, Koji Iwamoto & Ryuki Honda
– Real World Tag League Block C Match: LEONA & Mitsuya Nagai [2] def. Seigo Tachibana & Yoshitatsu [0]
– Real World Tag League Block D Match: Takao Omori & Yuko Miyamoto [2] def. TOTAL ECLIPSE (Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi) [2]
– Real World Tag League Block A Match: Shotaro Ashino & Suwama [4] def. Abdullah Kobayashi & Drew Parker [4]
– Bodyguard, Izanagi, Shigehiro Irie & Zeus def. NEXTREAM (Atsuki Aoyagi, Kento Miyahara, Rising HAYATO & Yuma Aoyagi)
** NJPW1972.com published their interview with Chase Owens and Bad Luck Fale that was conducted before the 2021 World Tag League tournament started.
** A story about Tetsuya Naito and pro baseball player Aren Kuri.
** Briana Brandy (B-FAB) is celebrating her birthday today.
** Pro Wrestling NOAH ‘Premium Prelude’ Results (11/23) Niigata, Japan
– Masao Inoue def. Kai Fujimura
– Ikuto Hidaka, Kotaro Suzuki & YO-HEY def. Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada & Hajime Ohara
– Manabu Soya def. Kinya Okada
– Kongo (Aleja & Tadasuke) def. Stinger (HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka)
– Two On One Handicap Match: Yasutaka Yano & Yoshinari Ogawa def. NOSAWA Rongai
– Kongo (Hao & Kenou) vs. Kongo (Katsuhiko Nakajima & Nio) – Time Limit Draw (30:00)
– Daiki Inaba, Kaito Kiyomiya, Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura def. Funky Express (King Tany & Mohammed Yone), Naomichi Marufuji & Takashi Sugiura
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.
