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.
** Last month, Toni Storm made her All Elite Wrestling debut and qualified for the Owen Hart Cup tournament. Storm told Busted Open Radio that her AEW experience has been amazing so far.
Oh my God, it feels amazing [to be a part of AEW]. I feel like I’m a part of something really special. I’m around so many hard-working women that are just really hungry to show the world and it’s been a crazy few weeks but I love it so far.
She dove further into what it feels like being a part of AEW and Toni said when she left WWE, she was not banking on going anywhere else. She’s thankful that Tony Khan reached out to her and gave her a second chance.
I felt really overwhelmed in that moment [her AEW debut]. I was really excited and really happy because I just feel like I’ve been given a second chance at my career and it’s not all over. When I left WWE, I wasn’t banking on going anywhere else. It was kind of — you know, we don’t have that much time but without getting too much into it but I kind of left suddenly and wasn’t prepared for life outside of that at all. So I’m just so thankful that Tony Khan reached out and has given me a job, a second chance and an opportunity to really do what I love which is pro wrestling so… I’m excited.
One name that Storm would like to see compete in AEW is Nixon Newell (Tegan Nox). Storm feels that Nixon deserves a spot as such and commented on Newell’s love for pro wrestling.
Tegan Nox, I would have to say would be high up on that list [of people I would like to see in AEW]. I think that would be someone who would really deserve an awesome spot like that and I know she loves this business as much as I do so that would be cool to see that one day in the future. Who knows? Anything can happen. It’s pro wrestling [Toni chuckled].
** Scott Fishman of TV Insider pushed out his interview with former Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. Lynch shared that she received a script about a female boxer that she has been trying to track down writers for.
There is a script that landed on my desk about a female boxer that I have been trying to track down the writers for. A female boxer from Ireland who came over and made her name as champion over here. I relate to that story…as the main event!
** United Empire’s Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare and TJP sat down for a virtual signing on New Japan’s YouTube channel. When TJP was asked if he’ll be a part of the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, he said the official news is not up to him but a ball is rolling in that direction. He added that it might be a safe bet that he’ll be in it.
Well, official news isn’t up to me but, I will say that there is a ball rolling in that direction [TJP being in 2022 Best of the Super Juniors] and I will wait for the rest to unfold outside of my hands but, if you’re a betting man, it might be a safe bet.
** The group known as Tully Blanchard Enterprises (Brian Cage, Kaun, Toa Liona & Tully Blanchard) formed at ROH Supercard of Honor. Cage was interviewed by Chris Van Vliet and said he’s hoping to be a part of AEW programming along with what becomes of Ring of Honor. Cage has not wrestled on AEW TV since October 2021.
Right, I feel like you are correct. I know there are a lot of rumors regarding ROH and what’s next. There’s stuff that I know and stuff that I don’t. Hopefully we will be doing both at the same time, and I will be a part of both. I will never say no to work, I love this business and having amazing matches. If I’m taking an indie booking, I want an awesome and fun match. I don’t want to feel like I should have stayed at home, I want to be stoked.
** BT Sport caught up with Drew McIntyre to get his thoughts about the announcement of WWE’s stadium show in Cardiff, Wales. McIntyre discussed the idea of competing against either Roman Reigns, Gunther or Tyson Fury on the show. He admitted that he would prefer the match against Reigns.
Roman, he’s the champion [McIntyre responded when asked who he would choose to face at WWE’s Cardiff show; options included Reigns, Gunther & Tyson Fury]. You know, that’s a situation that I’ve been away from the title for a long time, Roman has been so dominant, doing the best work of his career. We are on a collision course, it is five months away. If somehow, we can avoid each other for five months, that would be such a big match, especially on U.K soil. I can’t even imagine the atmosphere for that match. When it comes to Gunther, that’s a match himself, myself have been talking about for a long time and we’ve never had a big singles match but for right now, I think it’s a case of let’s educate the world on the big stage, who Gunther, formerly WALTER is and we know what he can do. Most of the hardcore wrestling fans know what he can do but let’s just get the general public familiar with him, see what he’s capable of, see how physical he is and make them also want, ‘Oh man, imagine what Drew and WALTER could do together –’ Gunther, sorry, and Fury, he’s the one I’ve been talking about. He’s the one I’ve been going back and forth [with], throwing digs at each other for the past — it’s been over two years now I think. Yeah, that’s wild. Throwing it back and forth at each other and that’s the one where I said over and over, if it takes something a little out of the box that will draw the attention, not just of the WWE fans or the wrestling fans but of the general public, I can’t think of anything bigger in WWE or sports-related than Drew McIntyre and Fury and I know just being around the man, watching the man, his involvement with WWE, how much he enjoys our product, he’s got passion for WWE, clearly entertaining as well and we could do some fun stuff so if it ends up Drew-Fury, I’m good with that as well because that’ll get a lot of people talking but of course I’d pick the title match in the U.K in the main event.
** For episode 100 of GAW TV, Kurt Angle joined the show and expressed that his ‘love triangle’ storyline with Stephanie McMahon and Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque made his career. Angle said he does not know where he would be career-wise if that storyline did not happen.
That program I did with Triple H and Stephanie [McMahon], that is what made my career. If I didn’t do that, I don’t know if I would be where I am today. That was a very important program for me, it elevated me to the main event level and right after that is when Vince McMahon decided to give me the world title.
** AEW’s Brody King joined the Wrestling Perspective Podcast and while discussing the House of Black group, King said they have not talked about adding a new member, seeing as how King and Buddy Matthews are still new and Malakai has only been with AEW for almost a full year.
Yeah, I mean we’re always talking about what we can do to make it [House of Black] more than what it is and even if it’s not now, but when. We haven’t really discussed adding new people because we’re just, you know, with Buddy [Matthews] and I being so new to the company — I mean, even Malakai [Black] has only been there since August. It’s still… we’re still trying to really establish ourselves and make the House of Black a staple in AEW because it’s one of the few things in AEW that was created there. You have a lot of things that were created elsewhere that are kind of brought there and have gotten over there but, [House of Black] in essence has been fully created at AEW.
Prior to joining AEW full-time, Brody King had been with Ring of Honor and was a multi-time tag team champion in the company. Now that ROH is owned by Tony Khan, Brody would be interested in having a presence in AEW’s presentation of Ring of Honor.
I think if, you know, something happened and there was a storyline I was asked to be part of, I would love to go back. I really enjoyed my time at Ring of Honor and you know, when I started wrestling, I wasn’t really familiar with the independents, I wasn’t really familiar with a lot of wrestling. You know, I watched pretty frequently until I was about 13 and then I kind of fell off completely and it was kind of like, almost in my mid-20s when [CM] Punk was doing the Straight Edge Society stuff that kind of brought me back in and then from there, I started to watch Ring of Honor and then when I started wrestling, then I really started watching New Japan and Ring of Honor, stuff like that and it was Ring of Honor that really made me a wrestling fan again because you know, how could you not be? It’s some of the greatest wrestling to ever exist, the early 2000s Ring of Honor stuff. So to be part of Ring of Honor, I felt like that was… most guys cut their teeth in Ring of Honor and then they went on to do great things. So you know, hopefully that is also going to be my trajectory, fingers crossed. But, yeah, I would like to go back if I was needed. I had a couple shots at the world title that I didn’t really get to clutch up, by outside interference but, I think that’s maybe kind of left off the bucket list.
Elsewhere during the conversation, Brody spoke about how important Rocky Romero has been to his career. Brody said he likely would not be as connected as he is in pro wrestling without Rocky.
So, when I was training, there was a school that was much closer to my house so, I’m from the Valley which is like… yeah [southern California]. So I’m in the Valley. It’s like North Los Angeles and my school was in East L.A so I would drive two hours to my school every day and then like an hour home. It was a pain in the ass but, when I was about a year into my training, Rocky [Romero] started training at the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood school which was in the Valley, so every Wednesday he would go and whoever wanted to show up, you pay ten bucks and then you go for a few hours with Rocky and it was really bizarre because nobody went. It would be like me and three other guys and you know, some of the guys didn’t really end up doing much but, I think Rocky kind of saw in me that was… willing to kind of do whatever it took to take it to that next level and he really took me under his wing and like, taught me a lot. He taught me a lot about character work and he taught me a lot about just wrestling in general and I think at that time, I was really heavily into New Japan Pro-Wrestling and just wanting to know more about Japanese-style wrestling and how to be more than just… at the time, obviously WWE was the biggest thing you could do that wasn’t Ring of Honor and New Japan and it’s like, I never wanted to be a ‘WWE big guy’. You know, it’s kind of like a stereotypical big boot, clubbing hand. It’s like I wanted to be like the big guys from Japan like when Bam Bam [Bigelow] or all those guys were just doing crazy stuff or just having these huge hoss matches, like Kensuke Sasaki and [Kenta] Kobashi were just having these big moments and being these massive dudes. I wanted to learn how to do stuff like that and you know, even though Rocky is very much a junior heavyweight, he was kind of able to guide me in the right direction and yeah, I mean he played a huge part in my career and in my wrestling in general. He kind of opened the door for me to go to New Japan, for me to go to Ring of Honor and I think without him, I wouldn’t have had a lot of the connections or experiences I’ve had so far.
** Celeste Bonin a.k.a. ‘Kaitlyn’ from her time with WWE was the most recent guest on The Sessions with Renee Paquette. It is well known that Celeste established a close friendship with Big E during their time in WWE that is still intact. She spoke highly of E as a person and talked about the amount of support he received when he won the WWE Title.
[Big] E and I — and Grant [Celeste’s significant other] is now close with E too but you know, E and I have been so close for years and years and even since I haven’t been wrestling or on the road but, we have always touched based. We have always been like, ‘Here’s my –’ or something funny or like an old memory or something. He has — it’s funny. You can go through our text thread if we had one consistent one, you could see the shifts in both of us and our perceptions and our ability to be open, just to expand ourselves and so he’s like — we actually connected on a deeper level now because he so much has — you know, he does [have a beautiful mind]. He’s brilliant, he’s brilliant and he’s been through a lot. He’s experienced a lot and so have all of us have but you know, in particular, we have so much love for him and I think personally that when he got the [WWE] Title, something just like either dissolved within him or aligned or clicked and it’s almost like he can see himself more clear because I don’t know one person that was not so f*cking elated that he won the title because there’s not someone more deserving or more unbelievably charismatic and loving and just such a beautiful person.
I — 100 percent. I feel like it helped him open his eyes just a little bit to who he is because none of us see ourselves, you know? But I think that he is really starting to open to that and it’s so, so beautiful.
** Lucha Libre Online sat down with AOP (Akam & Rezar) for an interview. Towards the conclusion of their chat, Akam talked about when he and Rezar were paired with Seth Rollins and Buddy Matthews. That was a time that Akam remembers fondly.
Akam: Ah, it was awesome man, it was awesome [being paired with Seth Rollins in WWE]. Seth is such a cool dude, right? We learned so much from him and he’s a visionary, you know? He sees a lot. His work is special. Every time he does something, he goes through every single detail. He goes over and over and everything’s perfect and it was really cool to see somebody take that much pride in their work and be a part of it, you know? And we were a huge part of it and it was awesome. Every Raw, we had a blast, house shows. It was a really fun time for us. We enjoyed every bit of it.
** Ahead of IMPACT Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view, Josh Alexander is making the media rounds to promote the show and he guest appeared on the Last Minute Wrestling Podcast. Alexander shared that while Jake Something was with IMPACT, he tried to help Jake in any way possible.
I try to help whoever I can. I was very good friends with Jake Something before, you know, his recent departure from IMPACT Wrestling. I tried helping him all I can because he’s extremely talented and all this other stuff but like, anybody that wants advice, anybody I can get in the ring with, I’ll do everything I can to help everybody because it’s not about holding anybody down. I think we all have to be successful for IMPACT to be successful. That’s the main thing.
Alexander worked several dates for New Japan Pro-Wrestling via the STRONG program. He hopes those appearances materialize into him traveling to Japan to compete for the company.
Well, there’s nothing in the schedule, in the books right now for me to go to Japan. I’ve never been to Japan. I’ve done this New Japan STRONG stuff in America over the past year or so and I got another one coming up next week. But, hopefully it can materialize into me going to Japan, competing for the best wrestling company out there in New Japan Pro-Wrestling because I think their roster is stacked and I think there’s a bunch of matches I could have that highlight myself and that company so…
** This past February, Lee Moriarty went one-on-one with Bryan Danielson on AEW Dynamite. Moriarty talked to Monthly Puroresu about that bout and what he was able to learn from Danielson during it.
The match with Danielson was certainly a dream match for me. I learned so much from being in the ring against him. The story of the match was Danielson looking to bring a more violent side out of me and I think he did that. I thought I was violent enough, but I learned about a new level from that one and I can’t wait to implement it into my matches. The only thing going through my mind during that match on TV was to hit him harder than he hit me. Now while the bruises on my body after the match let me know I didn’t accomplish that, haha, I believe I fought well.
In 2020 and 2021, Moriarty regularly competed for Game Changer Wrestling. He credited AJ Gray for making that happen and said Gray has always been a supporter of his.
I think people getting to know me through AIW helped get me the opportunities for places like BLP. AJ Gray was a big supporter and the reason I received my opportunity in GCW. To be a part of the top promotions tells me I’m doing something right.
** Episode #141 of Cultaholic’s Desert Island Graps show featured Eric Young. He recounted the time when Shawn Michaels credited him for his performance in a dark match during the early 2000s. Young considers Michaels to be the best wrestler of all-time so that meant a great deal to him.
I get a dark match [for WWE] which is a non-televised match for Monday Night Raw in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They announced me as the hometown kid from Grand Rapids. It’s like 20,000 people there for Monday Night Raw, it was insane; 2000, I think 2001 and he’s [Shawn Michaels] opening Raw so he’s right there at the ‘Go’ position soon as you go out. So when I come — you know, pretty decent match. They tell you two or three things. They said, ‘It’s six minutes, don’t go out of the ring, don’t do anything that somebody does here, don’t hurt yourself and remember the most important thing, nobody’s here to see you, go.’ So, that was the instructions. We kept it simple and had a pretty good match and I’m kind of thanking everybody. As I go by, Shawn kind of grabs my arm and turns me — I’m getting goosebumps telling you this story — and I turn and he goes, ‘Man, that’s one of the best dark matches I’ve ever seen’ and literally took everything in my body not to start weeping in front of him, you know? I’m not a religious person but that would be the same — and I talk about it in the story, if you’re curious about it, it’s gotta be online somewhere [Eric Young’s ESPN piece about Shawn Michaels]. But you know, it would be like if you’re a religious person, if you’re a Christian and God showed up at your house and said, ‘Man, you’re doing a hell of a job.’ That’s what it was like for me and literally — and he didn’t realize it. It was no big deal to him but for me, I never, have ever doubted myself since that point, not even for a second. The best wrestler in the entire world, ever, said that I had one of the best matches, dark matches he’s ever seen. I mean, I literally had to run away and go to a broom closet by myself and weep openly.
** New Japan Young Lion Yuto Nakashima suffered a dislocated elbow in his first match for the company in February 2021. The 25-year-old returned to action last October and he spoke to NJPW1972.com about that injury.
Well, I dislocated my elbow. That was on February 14 last year. Now, I’m absolutely fine though. I actually failed my tryouts (for NJPW) initially, and that was far tougher on me, mentally.
Nakashima dove into his background and getting invited to train at Bad Luck Fale’s dojo in New Zealand. Nakashima discussed the routine he got himself into to save money so he could get to New Zealand. He shared that he got three hours of sleep each day for three months trying to make the trip happen.
When I was invited to the Fale Dojo, I needed money. So I would train at 10 in the morning, and work at the gym after that. Then I’d have a night job until 5AM, sleep for three hours and then do it all over again. That was every day for three months, and eventually an MMA sponsor helped get me to the million Yen I needed to get myself to New Zealand.
** One day after WWE’s stadium show in Cardiff, PROGRESS Wrestling is running a show in Cardiff and tickets are currently on-sale.
** After three seasons, Netflix’s GLOW series was cancelled in 2020. GLOW co-creators Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch were interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter and shared their respective thoughts about the series coming to an end and not being able to put out a final season.
Flahive: We knew stuff about GLOW would come up when we’re talking about another show. We were canceled during the height of a pandemic, when there were so many horrible losses in the world. We were incredibly sad not to get to make that final season in a pretty profound way. But things were just so much bigger than that. They always are. But, at that moment, there was just so much loss and change. There are many times when the place you start making a show changes as you continue to make the show. I think it’s fair to say that kind of happened at Netflix with us. Also, initially, I think we had a really great creative time there. We got to do what we wanted with that show and make it exactly as we intended to make it. That’s something a lot of people making their first show don’t get to say. It’s a different place now. And I don’t think we’re the only people to have felt that change. It’s weird. I still think about those characters. I still think about that season every once in a while. Like my brain tricks me into thinking, in a weird grief way, that I’m still gonna get to make it. We both have that weird phantom limb feeling about it.
Mensch: It’s an unfinished, unsettled feeling. There was definitely no closure. Two years later, we’re in the acceptance phase. It happened. But there’s also this strange dissonance because we got very far into making that season. We wrote most of it. We filmed two episodes. Sometimes, when you’re making something, you forget that the world hasn’t seen it. It feels so real. I feel like it exists. And then I remember it’s just a private version that never made it — like a stillbirth. Liz and I sometimes take solace in the fact that it’s the most underdog move ever to get canceled in the same fashion as the show that you’re based on. The original GLOW, in the eighties, got ripped from the airwaves ahead of its time. We’re at least in good company.
** All Access | Jacob Fatu • Chapter 3:
** The latest ‘Onorato & Co’ show included appearances from Sasha Banks and Kofi Kingston.
** A new episode of ‘Ronda on the Road’:
** In place of SANADA who is sidelined with a fractured orbital bone, Hiromu Takahashi is going to fill him in for him at Dradition Pro Wrestling’s 5/12 event, which is the promotion ran by Tatsumi Fujinami. It’ll be Hiromu, Fujinami and Shingo Takagi taking on Shiro Koshinaka, Yuji Nagata & Mitsuya Nagai.
** AJPW Champion Carnival Results (4/15/22) Tokyo, Japan
– Dan Tamura & Hikaru Sato def. Izanagi & Ryo Inoue
– Koji Doi & TAJIRI def. Black Menso-re & Takao Omori
– Hokuto Omori, Jake Lee & Yusuke Kodama def. NEXTREAM (Atsuki Aoyagi, Kento Miyahara & Rising HAYATO)
– Champion Carnival 2022 Block A: Shigehiro Irie [4] def. Ryuki Honda [0]
– Champion Carnival 2022 Block B: Yuma Aoyagi [4] def. Yoshitatsu [2]
– Champion Carnival 2022 Block A: Shuji Ishikawa [4] def. Shotaro Ashino [4]
– Champion Carnival 2022 Block B: Suwama [5] def. Kuma Arashi [2]
** To promote the joint-show between NJPW and AJPW on 4/16, Hiroshi Tanahashi spoke to Tokyo Sports about the show.
** ABC Action News published a story involving Titus O’Neil.
** Connor Casey of Comicbook.com conducted an interview with Johnny Gargano.
** Per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) filmed a series of shorts for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers. During home games, videos of Matt and Nick getting the crowd to chant for the Clippers are going to air.
** Max the Impaler versus Ray Lyn from Maryland Championship Wrestling’s July 2021 show has been uploaded to the MCW YouTube channel.
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.
