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.
** It has been two-and-a-half years since Taylor Rotunda (Bo Dallas) wrestled. He partook in a virtual signing for Captain’s Corner and said he’ll be back in the ring within the next couple of months. He further commented on that by thanking the fans for their continued support. He admitted that for a while, he lost some love for wrestling and thinks it showed but feels that he’s now getting back to that same feeling he felt about wrestling while in NXT.
Well first off, I wanna say thank you [the fans] for all your support. I don’t deserve it, no one does, thank you very much. I mean you’ve made my dream into a career, but looking forward, past my own insecurities and what you think about me and what I’m gonna do is… I have a whole new — I wouldn’t say a ‘whole new’. A trajectory, the way I felt whenever I was in NXT and I haven’t felt that in a really long time. For a little while, I’m gonna be completely honest, I lost some love for wrestling and it showed, but it’s… it still is and has always been one of the biggest parts of my life and my heart and I just wanna say to everybody out there that has supported and been a fan and been there for me through the hardest times and the best times, thank you and… to get excited because if you’re a fan, I’m not done. I’m far from done. Not to make any cliché, but I’m just getting started and if you don’t believe me, you’ll see. If you don’t Bo-Lieve, you’ll see [Rotunda smiled] and I’ll prove you right for believing in me and being behind me this entire time. That’s a promise… Thank you very much and I really appreciate everything y’all are doing. You’re gonna see me back in the ring real soon and it’s not gonna be anything like this so, beware.
He looked back on being a part of The B-Team with Joe Hennig (Curtis Axel) and becoming Raw Tag Team Champions. Rotunda views that as one of the high points of his wrestling career considering how much fun he was having. He added that he would not trade that for anything, including a WWE World Title run.
This [B-Team] was a special time in my career. Me and Joe Hennig [Curtis Axel], we took what we were given and we made it into the best possible thing you could possibly make it and we had the most fun with it we could ever have. Looking back, what I was given, maybe it wasn’t the best thing in the world but, dammit, it was one of the best times in my life and I miss it and to a high degree.
That was one of my favorite times of my career [being Raw Tag Team Champion with Curtis Axel]. I mean, both of us had bigger aspirations of what we should be doing or wanted to be doing but like, we had a common bond and we both wanted that. We both wanted to be doing bigger and better things but this is where we were and both of our dads taught us work is work and you do what you’re supposed to be doing and make it the best you could possibly make it regardless of what situation you’re in because you never know what situation it’s gonna bring you to and that’s exactly what we did and we turned chicken sh*t into chicken salad and we really made it special because I mean, I hope y’all enjoyed it, I really do but me and Joe Hennig really, really enjoyed that time in our life and I wouldn’t take it away from — I would not want it to be — looking back, I wouldn’t wanna be world champion at that time. I would rather be Tag Team Champion with Joe Hennig and I wouldn’t trade the two. I mean maybe down the road, I might be world champion. Who knows what’s gonna happen? But, I wouldn’t trade that moment in time for anything and we still revel in it and talk on a regular basis.
While he was doing the ‘Bo-Lieve’ character on WWE’s main roster, Taylor got in a bit of trouble with Fit Finlay so as punishment, Fit made him carry around a large ‘Bo-Lieve in Bo’ sign. Taylor said he had to travel with it and would have to get to airports three hours before flights so he could go through the process of bringing it onboard.
Just a side story, I, for a while, I mean I got in a little bit of trouble. But I was punished by having to travel with the ‘Bo-Lieve in Bo’ [sign] for over two months by Fit Finlay and he… not a lot of people I listen to and really respect enough to actually abide by the rules but Fit Finlay’s one of them. I traveled with the ‘Bo-Lieve in Bo’. That sign’s probably four-foot long, three-foot tall, two-foot at least. That’s not easy to get to the airport. I traveled with that for months because of Fit Finlay because he demanded it and Fit Finlay is worth a request demanded and follow through with.
It wasn’t easy man. It was conversations and there was — we go through the airport if not every day, three times a week in different places so it would mean I have to get to the airport not an hour early, three hours early so I could talk to the people about traveling with this so they didn’t break it or let me carry it and there was rare occasions where they actually did let me carry it with me. I didn’t know if Fit was in on it, like making it work. I got it through security for a really long time. There’s no way in hell I could get that through security right now with COVID and everything. They’d shoot me, they’d taze me, be like, ‘What is that? Bringing signs in here. Something on the sign.’ But Fit made me do it and I just wanted to bring that up… Yeah, he’s the only person who would enforce that on me. One of the only people, not the only.
From 2016 to 2017, he was a part of The Social Outcasts which included Curtis Axel, Heath and Adam Rose. Taylor stated that at the time, he did not want to be a part of a group and his new partners felt the same way. They felt that it made no sense to pair them together and they were all going down their individual paths. Taylor was focused on getting himself into the Intercontinental Title picture.
My internal reaction at that point [about being a part of The Social Outcasts], especially at that point because it was shortly after the ‘Bo Dallas’ character. I wanted no part of being in a team. I was ready to do it on my own, I was ready to go after a championship whether it’d be Intercontinental or world championship. I was mentally, physically and emotionally ready to go down a singles career path and when they came to me with that, I was mad, I was very mad and I think the majority of the… even though — the majority of the group was possibly upset by this idea, but we were all really good friends. I love Heath Slater, I love Joe Hennig, Adam Rose and everybody was good friends but, we all had — I think the majority of the group had ideas to do bigger and better things when we got put in this. It almost felt like… simplifying us and making us less than what we were and turning us into a comedy act and it was, but that’s exactly how we accepted it and that’s what it was and we turned it into the best thing that you could possibly turn it into because you can’t… throw away opportunities and expect to get more opportunities and that’s how we were able — which ended up making us all a lot closer and changed all of our lives individually at the same time, you know? We all felt kind of the same way about it when it was brought up to us like, ‘Ah, come on man. A group of just these random people that make no sense of being together. What is this?’ I was ready to go — at the time, I was working on trying to get a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. None of us were happy with it, but we realized the opportunity that it brought because we all had a lot of, not only comedic value but we all had separately, individually, we all had a lot of talent and none of us should have been in a group like that, none of us. Individually and together, we all could have been something a lot bigger separately but they put us together and we kind of realized that and we turned it into what it was which led into The Miztourage that led into this and that and I can’t speak for everybody else in the group but the group, the parts of the group, it stayed with me and my own feelings and thoughts on the whole situation, I just [go] from every situation with a fine spirit and getting through it and it’s not just accepting. Accepting is never okay, you know? Just accept something. You take something and turn it into something else.
In 2013, Rotunda made his WWE main roster debut by entering the Royal Rumble match. Shortly after, he went back to NXT and went on to have an NXT Title reign that ranks him fifth on the all-time list as far as days holding the title.
Taylor feels that something was missing from his on-screen character when he made that jump in 2013. He said he wanted to be a bad guy and went on to break down the ‘Bo Dallas’ character.
That happened — I started in FCW right out of high school, I got signed at 18 and I went in for war and did everything I could possibly do to make the next step but I didn’t necessarily know what that next step was and so I just kept on moving until I got to the opportunity to debut in the Royal Rumble [2013], which like I said earlier, was a dream come true. As dreams do, they fall short a little bit when you’re alive and it was missing something [his character] and obviously I wasn’t back on the main roster and… I wouldn’t say I was ‘put back in NXT’. I had the opportunity to find myself in NXT because at that time, like I said, I was so young, I was 18-years-old that all anybody ever saw was just a young babyface that no one could hate and no one wanted to hate so no one wanted me to be a bad guy and all I wanted to do was be a bad guy because I felt like a bad guy at heart and that’s what I wanted to do… transforming my mentality and thought process into what became the ‘Bo Dallas Bolieve’ character in NXT while I was the champion which was such a good guy, so overbearingly good guy that you hated so you know that guy that comes in and is like, ‘It’s Monday. All right, let’s do it!’ You know? ‘You ready? It’s Monday.’ Like, God I hated that guy and I hated that guy then, hate that guy now but that’s what I became. The guy that was so nice and so accepting in everything that he had-had to be fake and if he wasn’t fake, he was a psychopath and throughout lots of extensive research and different findings and what turned that character was in a way, that’s what it ended up becoming was the anti-good guy that was a good guy, which I think in this era is more hateable than any real bad guy.
** Cultaholic conducted an interview with Sami Zayn and asked him if Kevin Owens’ decision to re-sign with WWE influenced his decision to stay with the company. Zayn said that could have been the case subconsciously but added that he was and is happy with his standing in WWE and the company expressed to him that he is valued and they were doing that prior to the renegotiation period.
I don’t know, that’s a good question [if Kevin Owens staying with WWE made Sami want to stay]. I don’t know, I don’t know because we’re actually on separate brands but our contracts were coming up at around the same time, so I don’t know. It’s not like we were kind of in it together with regards to negotiation or anything like that or even decision-making. Whatever decision he made, I don’t know if it was 100 percent going to influence my decision or vice versa. But I mean, on a subconscious level, I’m sure it helped for sure. But I was already in a very good place with WWE and they made it very clear that — and not just when it was time to negotiate but in the last, whatever, year, year-and-a-half, whatever it is, I have definitely gotten the impression and they had said as much that I’m a valued part of the roster and I feel valued and I get a lot of television time. So I’ve been very happy, I’m stimulated creatively even, which I know is a difficult thing to get in WWE sometimes. With so many moving parts and so many talented people, sometimes inevitably, you kind of get left behind but I haven’t felt that way in a very long time with WWE. So that was really the main factor driving my decision to stay. I was very happy to stay because I felt valued, I felt appreciated and it was reflected as such by the amount of television time I got. So, I don’t know. For me, it was a bit of no-brainer really to stay right now, and I’m happy here and I’m happy to keep doing my thing.
** At MLW’s SuperFight taping in February, Gangrel made his in-ring debut for the organization. He explained to SEScoops how the opportunity came about and shared that MLW wanted to bring him in last year as an agent and talent.
Wow, was it in February? [his MLW debut] Is that how much time has gone by? I still haven’t seen the match yet. All I know is, yeah, it’s a bloody one. It’s a little bit of a bloody one. So, M.S.L [Mister Saint Laurent], he hit me up and I’ve been talking to MLW. Last year, they were trying to get me to come in. It was an agenting type of thing and wrestling. Every year I think I’m done with wrestling and something drags me back in but I was super busy with my schedule but this year, we were able to get schedules to match up and everything so, I’m super happy to be aboard. Looking forward to going into the WrestleMania weekend up there. MLW’s in Gilley’s in Dallas on Thursday and a Friday. What is it? The 31st and the 1st or the 30th and the 1st? So Azteca [Underground] on the 1st. Really exciting times, looking forward to it, you know? And yeah, just ready to do some fangin’ and bangin’.
Bare Knuckle and MMA fighter Paige VanZant is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling and has started her in-ring training with Gangrel at Coastal Championship Wrestling in Florida. He’s mixing up his training style when it comes to VanZant by teaching her the basics along with relaying information that would benefit her if her in-ring debut happened quicker than expected.
With her [Paige VanZant], I’m doing a — I’m mixing it up with her, she’s a little different because she probably has a match too, I’m not sure but like, it seems that way and so, I spend like an hour on basics and an hour on something she might need in that particular match. But she really wants to learn the basics but she’s picking it up so quick that it’s just… she’s just like piling on but no, I usually stick to a certain set of training.
** Nick Aldis guest appeared on The Jobber Tears Podcast. Back in February, Aldis wrestled ROH and PROGRESS World Champion Jonathan Gresham on a Championship Wrestling from Memphis show. Aldis feels that initially, Gresham underestimated his technical wrestling skills and was surprised by what Aldis could do.
I wrestled Jonathan Gresham a few weeks ago [for Championship Wrestling from Memphis] and it was funny because — and I don’t wanna speak for Gresh because I don’t know him that well but I’ve known him for a long time and I’ve always liked him, but I kind of got the feeling that he maybe thought, maybe underestimated my technical skills and it was funny because like, then once we got in there and started working, I could just tell that he kind of went, ‘Oh, okay.’ You know, but because I don’t do that stuff very much because it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to do it but I can do it if I need to because you know, I was taught all that stuff when I broke in. I was broken in by a bunch of crusty old British shooters, you know? So I can do all that stuff if I need to.
** Nick ‘Eugene’ Dinsmore chatted with René Duprée on his Café De René podcast. Dinsmore dove into when he was re-hired by WWE in 2013 to be a player-coach for the NXT brand. Dinsmore said he was supposed to show up in better shape. He recounted John Laurinaitis being blunt with him about what he was expecting from Dinsmore.
Raw was at — one of the shows was at Freedom Hall in Louisville so, I went over, and Johnny [Laurinaitis] was pitching this idea of a player-coach where I could work with some guys in Florida a little bit and then go on the road with them and wrestle them in the live events or dark matches or whatnot. So we started the paperwork, did all this stuff. We went to Pittsburgh to do the brain testing and all that. Showed up for my first TV and granted, I was not in very good shape. But I was expected to be in better shape than I was in and then it just kind of — it f*cked me right away. Vince [McMahon], ‘Get him out.’
That’s what Johnny Ace told me, Johnny Ace goes, ‘Nick, we’re not selling old, fat Eugene.’ ‘Okay, thank you.’
That’s the thing with Johnny, you knew right away. It was very little bullsh*t. He’ll tell you. You might not like what he says but, he was [like that] with me. That’s just how I felt.
** After losing to Zack Sabre Jr. in the finals of the 2022 New Japan Cup tournament, Tetsuya Naito spoke to the press and said the following about his loss:
If you lose in the finals, it’s meaningless. It’s frustrating… it’s like Naito to not get a result at the right moment, but it’s frustrating. It’s a strong opponent like that-that makes me want to work even harder. The road to the main event is far away again, but I would like to thank all of you who supported [me] to win the N.J.C., and all of you who came to Osaka-jo Hall, Gracias Amigos! I’m very happy to be here.
** Recent WWE signee Rok-C became the first ROH Women’s World Champion at ‘Death Before Dishonor’ in 2021. Amy Rose, who assisted backstage in Ring of Honor and was the timekeeper, joined Jason Powell on his Pro Wrestling Boom podcast. Rose said initially, she was not sure if Rok-C was the right choice to be the first holder of the title, but after seeing the match she put on with Miranda Alize, she knew the right choice had been made.
You know, they still weren’t decided on who was gonna win [the ROH Women’s World Title tournament]. But we knew once we got our format, we knew what the finals would be and I wasn’t 100 percent sure if Rok-C was gonna be the right choice, but I will say after calling her match and being on commentary and seeing her and Miranda [Alize] absolutely kill it for the title, I knew they made the right decision and I think both of them are absolutely incredible but Rok-C is such an impressive talent. She’s so young and she has a huge future in professional wrestling. But I was very proud to say that she was our first Ring of Honor Women’s Champion.
Through her on-screen partnership with Kenny King, Amy was a part of La Facción Ingobernable with RUSH, Dragon Lee and Bestia del Ring. She would serve as a translator for the group and helped in scenarios when the powers that be in ROH needed to talk to La Facción or to help them communicate with their opponents.
Oh frequently. I was always helping out. You know, they [La Facción Ingobernable] really did not speak very much English at the time so I was constantly helping them translate between them and the office, them and their opponents in their matches, things like that and then also just very much behind the scenes whenever we would do promos or things for TV, I would help translate for the Spanish talent.
The on-screen partnership with Kenny King started after he was sprayed by Keiji Muto at G1 Supercard. She said Kenny asked her backstage if she wanted to accompany him to the ring and it became a regular occurrence after that.
It was definitely presented to us [the idea of her and Kenny King’s pairing in Ring of Honor]. It was something that just came about by accident really. I remember we were backstage for the first time I ever came out with him. He was ‘blinded’ at Madison Square Garden and he needed ‘assistance’ getting to the ring. So he had asked me because I’m always around and he said, ‘Hey, will you come take me to the ring with you?’ You know, I walked him out there and it just caught fire. Like people loved the segment, people loved the look of us together and the rest was history.
** The Asylum Wrestling Store went live on Facebook for a virtual signing with Kris Statlander and Kaleb with a K. Kaleb shared an interaction he had with Dean Malenko while doing extra work for WWE. Malenko told Kaleb that he looked like a Toys “R” Us security guard.
I wanna wrestle Dean Malenko. He’s not wrestling but, I would love to.
Yeah, Dean Malenko was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up, ‘till he broke my heart when I was extra talent for WWE, he told me I look like a security guard for Toys “R” Us.
** WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg starred on an episode of ‘Texas Eats’.
** At Destiny Wrestling’s 3/26 event, as Josh Alexander was in the ring with his wife Jade Chung and their children, Moose appeared and speared Jade. Moose is scheduled to defend the IMPACT World Championship against Josh Alexander at IMPACT Wrestling Rebellion.
** Pro Wrestling ZERO1 is celebrating their 20th anniversary and Samoa Joe sent in a video to congratulate the promotion on the milestone.
【4/10両国まで後14日！ 】#押忍PREMIUM #410両国へgo #プロレス #pwzero1
「押忍！サモアジョーです。
20周年おめでとうございます。
ZERO1にとって私は、長い歴史のほんの一部ですが、ZERO1との想い出は、私の人生でとても大きな意味を持っています。
これからのZERO1 の20年に乾杯！」 pic.twitter.com/0my4o3dFcl— プロレスリングZERO1 (@ZERO1_Wrestling) March 27, 2022
** The Shining Wizards Podcast welcomed Jazzy Gabert onto their show to promote her ‘Sirius Sports Entertainment’ promotion which is based in Germany. Jazzy explained that she uses the ‘sports entertainment’ name because the media where she resides looks down on wrestling and she wants to be able to market her shows to the masses.
Because in Germany, wrestling has a bad reputation. They always say ‘fake, fake, fake’ and they never give it a chance. For example, when I asked the venue, the venue is like cultured, you know? There is no sport. It’s unique that I can go there so when I said — my email is ‘germanwrestling,’ you know? You can see it, but I wrote them and I said, ‘Hey, I have a sports show I want to produce there’ and they said, ‘Ah, no, we don’t want wrestling here’ and I’m like, ‘Please, hear me out’ and then I sold it as a musical. So it’s a wrestling show but it’s also a musical and when I talk to the newspapers, they don’t wanna use the word ‘wrestling’ and they make it bad or sound bad and they always ask, ‘It’s fake, right?’ But if I — I open the door and say, ‘Hey, it’s sports-entertainment,’ then everything is clear, you know? And it seems like we wanna — you mock the fans or something. No, we are open with it. Wrestling is determined. We have a great, entertaining show so come on guys, give it a chance. That’s why I used it.
** DDT Pro Wrestling unveiled their new KO-D Openweight Championship design:
📢Announcement
Here's your NEW KO-D Openweight Championship belt! We'll start out 26th year with this wonderful belt 👑#ddtpro pic.twitter.com/YAeQZNbTVd
— DDT Pro-Wrestling (English) (@ddtproENG) March 27, 2022
** Lucha Libre Online interviewed AEW’s Santana at an even in Puerto Rico. The channel has a quick chat with Willie Mack as well.
** TMZ caught up with SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair and asked her about Ronda Rousey and their match at WrestleMania 38.
** Caprice Coleman announced his arrival to the National Wrestling Alliance.
** On a recent episode of the Talk’n Shop podcast, a portion of Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson’s in-person chat with The Rock “N” Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) aired.
** WTAW’s ‘Infomaniacs’ welcomed Mark Henry onto the show.
** Ice Ribbon Results (3/27/22) Osaka, Japan
– Maika Ozaki & Makoto def. Nao Ishikawa & Rina Amikura
– Cherry & Yuuki Mashiro def. Banny Oikawa & Yuko Sakurai
– Asahi def. NATSUMI
– Tsukasa Fujimoto def. Kaho Matsushita
– International Ribbon Tag Team Championships: Hikari Shimizu & SAKI def. Hamuko Hoshi & Ibuki Hoshi (c)
– ICExInfinity Championship: Tsukushi Haruka (c) def. Totoro Satsuki
** Bianca Belair and The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) surprise a young wrestling fan:
** Vicente Beltran’s sit-down interview with Nikki A.S.H.
** NXT U.K. commentator Andy Shepard guest appeared on The Ringer’s MackMania 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.
