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.
** SO CATCH by Hal 2 recorded an interview with Bandido during Bandido’s tour of France. He reflected on being a part of the ALL IN main event and said he wrestled the match with a broken shoulder. Bandido recalled Rey Fenix encouraging him to push through because it was his time to shine.
Ah, dreams come true amigo, for real [Bandido said about sharing the ring with Rey Mysterio at ALL IN] and I feel like a child with him in the dressing room and he’s like a super legend and a very amazing person, you know? I hope [to] one day be one percent like him because he’s [an] amazing person, amazing wrestler, amazing everything. He helped me because that night, I broke my shoulder. I broke my shoulder and I did the show with my shoulder broke. So, when the show [ended], he helped me a lot. He got the doctor to check me. He [supports me all the time] with Dominik [Mysterio] and for that reason, all the time and all my life, I’m gonna be grateful [for] them.
I don’t know how I did [it] but I remember when I was in the corner with [Rey] Fenix and Fenix said, ‘Hey, if your shoulder is broke, you need to continue brother. You need to do it. It’s your night, let’s go bro’ and I said, ‘Okay! Let’s go! I can do this’ but I did bro, I did it. I don’t know how, but I did.
As the conversation progressed, Bandido was asked to share his thoughts about how luchadors are presented in WWE. He said it’s up to those talents to feel how they want to feel about it.
Well, they have opportunities. They need to… I don’t know. How do you say it?… So they need to do the things that the company says, the company talks, you know? So if they need to [be] a funny luchador, they do. So, it’s up to them, no problem and for me, if the company says we can do it and we agree, let’s do that. Why not?
Bandido has been PWG World Champion since December 2019. He looked back on that title win and said PWG is the best place to have a match.
Amigo, it’s like a… very good moment for me and for my career [PWG World Title win] and in that moment, my dad was with me at the place so I really enjoyed a lot both times, BOLA and tournament. My dad is always with me so, for me, PWG is the best place in the world to take a match.
Hayabusa’s influence on Bandido was discussed and it was from the moment Bandido first saw Hayabusa on video that he was inspired.
He was the first Japanese luchador that I’ve seen in my life. Also, I remember, Stuka is my first teacher in the wrestling business so, he [had a] phone, I remember that and he put the videos with Hayabusa highlights so when I saw that, oh my God, I wanted to do it but he was, in that moment, my inspiration and some day, I want to be like him.
** Big Japan Pro Wrestling’s Drew Parker appeared on the Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast. He recalled an idea being floated out there of an animal being used in a Big Japan match pre-COVID, but the World Wildlife Fund vetoed it. Parker believes the suggested animal was a crocodile.
So we had a big show, maybe right before COVID really popped off and it was like [Mitsuhiro] Matsunaga was like Mr. Danger. He was doing the sponsor of the match sort of thing. He was gonna come back, not to wrestle, just be there sort of thing and I think — what did they try to get? They tried to get some animal. I think it was crocodiles again. But then, the Japanese WWF [World Wildlife Fund] was like no sir, not now. It’s not 1997 anymore and I remember some of the Big Japan office being like, ‘Those motherf*ckers. We’ve already done it once before.’ I was like yeah, but it’s a different time period. I wouldn’t want to do those matches anyway.
In the past, Parker had been asked to run Big Japan’s English Twitter account. He turned that down and explained why. He added that he has told the powers that be about updating their video on demand service.
They [Big Japan] asked me to run the Twitter once. They wanted to start an English Twitter but I said no. I was like, I can’t — I feel like if I do that, then I’m settling into — I don’t know. Jun Kasai wouldn’t do that, you know what I mean? [Parker laughed] He’s not gonna be subtitling anything. You’ve got to fake it ‘till you make it like we said earlier. I feel like the issue with Big Japan is the streaming service. Like you said, the videos will eventually get over. The streaming service is pretty old and stuff like that and I’ve tried to tell them, like just spend a little bit of extra money and get a real V.O.D. and it’ll be worth it but, yeah, I don’t know. You can take the horse to water, you can’t make them drink. That’s what I’ve settled on.
** Mia Yim made her return to in-ring competition at WrestleCon’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial Super Show on 3/31. It was the first time she competed in a sanctioned match since December 2020. Yim told SEScoops what it felt like to be back in the ring.
I am very happy about the match. It’s been years since I’ve wrestled Athena and it’s also been over a year since I had my last match anyway so it was a lot of mental blocks in my head because you know, I wasn’t in a good mental space so getting into this match with a friend, having her help me through it kind of help give me back that confidence that I lost so I’m very — overall, the match was good, I got the win but aside from that, I feel like I’m slowly becoming myself again. Very, very [emotional moment].
In early February, Yim’s significant other Keith Lee made his All Elite Wrestling debut. She admitted that it was challenging keeping it a secret but added that his debut gave her chills.
Very hard [keeping Keith Lee’s arrival to AEW a secret] because of course he doesn’t tell anybody anything so everyone’s coming to me and it’s like what? I’m not — ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ you know? So, people always think they can get scoops from me and it’s just — especially with Keith, that’s his business. Don’t come to me with that.
I was so proud [seeing Keith’s AEW debut]. I knew the reaction he was gonna get was gonna be authentic and loud, but just to see it as it was happening gave me the chills and it was like this is what he deserves.
** The latest edition of Phil Strum’s ‘Under The Ring’ podcast featured AEW’s Anthony Bowens. He discussed he and Max Caster’s rise in AEW and seeing the crowd migrate in their favor. Bowens said it has not been an easy road, but he and Max always felt their team would start to grow on people.
It wasn’t an easy, easy road [for The Acclaimed] because we’re in a unique situation in the sense that a lot of times or all the times really, throughout AEW, you’ll see people debut as these perfect packages. You know, that’s because they’re in a warehouse for six months, eight months sometimes here, working on their characters, working on their in-ring work, working on everything so that when they do hit TV, they’re like this perfect presentation. With us, like I said, we didn’t team together so we had to figure out all that stuff in front of a live audience every single week and people hated us. That’s what ‘everyone loves The Acclaimed’ came from was, you know, I try not to look at social media feedback because Twitter, like people like to say is not a real place. But I couldn’t help it because it was so overwhelmingly negative when we first signed, like, ‘Who are these people?’ Blah, blah, blah and I would see these things and my first thought was what would a delusional heel in this sense think? And I go, oh, deep down, everyone loves The Acclaimed. They can’t stop talking about us so they love us somehow so I would obnoxiously just keep saying it over and over and over again and it stuck and now it’s the truth. Everyone loves The Acclaimed and I’m proud that we were able to, you know, take that kind of reaction, turn it around into something positive because we both knew that in time, people would come around to it because we’re two incredible athletes, we’re incredible performers. We’re too charismatic for people to kind of stay in this weird mindset that they had.
Bowens went on to speak about inclusivity within the AEW locker room and those spaces in pro wrestling in general. What attracted Bowens to AEW outside of the in-ring product was seeing the likes of Nyla Rose and Sonny Kiss being themselves without having to put that proverbial ‘wall’ up.
Absolutely [the locker rooms in wrestling are more inclusive]. That was one of the things that drew me to AEW outside of the product being fantastic was when I got there as an extra, I think in — what was it? August, September of 2020, I was so relaxed. I wasn’t walking on eggshells and I saw people like Sonny Kiss and Nyla Rose just authentically being themselves without having to worry or hide or put up these walls about, like you said, protect themselves from other people or showing others who they truly are so, I think the locker room has been fantastic and I’ve always had so much support from fellow professional wrestlers that I’ve never really felt unsafe at all in any locker room that I’ve been in. I’m sure on the independents, there’s probably some pockets of things out there that still exist but I think wrestlers and fans too have done a good job policing that nonsense and making sure that it doesn’t exist in pro wrestling. Will we completely eradicate it? I think that’s something that’s hard to do. There’s always gonna be those select few people that, you know, carry that nonsense around with them but I think the acceptance in the wrestling space in 2022 is way better than what it was when I first started because there were times when I first started that I was like, oof, that kind of kept me in the closet I would say.
** Coming off the heels IMPACT Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view, Tom Hannifan joined Busted Open Radio with Dave LaGreca and Tommy Dreamer. Hannifan credited WWE’s Pat McAfee for making it okay for pro wrestling commentators to be more animated on television while expressing how excited they are to call a match.
It’s been great dude [Tom said of his time in IMPACT Wrestling]. I think one of the first tapings I did, I kept saying the word ‘superstar’ and you guys are like, ‘You don’t have to say that man. You can say wrestler, you can say whatever you want.’ Even Scott D’Amore being like, ‘You can say belt. You can say that for the title’ so it was just a lot of things that I’ve had to, you know, habits that — that’s the way that WWE likes to do things so it’s like, okay, I did that for nine years and I’m unlearning a lot of things and all of you at IMPACT Wrestling have been extremely patient with me but you talk about getting excited about stuff, the ‘Styles Clash’ in the middle of [Josh] Alexander and Moose [at Rebellion], I jumped out of my freaking chair. I’m sure the spy cam, if they record it, still has that footage. I was on my feet when Josh won the title. It’s just you feel this stuff and it’s any commentator. I think the beauty of Pat McAfee, to your point, is that he made it okay for commentators to jump up and down and literally get on the desk. I mean [Michael] Cole’s not doing anything like that but we all feel that emotion so, if anything it’s just kind of loosened everybody up in commentary in all of professional wrestling.
** One of the more recent guests on The Turnbuckle Tavern podcast was Gringo Loco. He mentioned that when Mascara Dorada f.k.a. Gran Metalik exited WWE, Gringo immediately contacted GCW owner Brett Lauderdale and told him that he should book Mascara.
Well, I mean as soon as [Mascara] Dorada got released [from WWE], I was like, ‘Hey Brett, we have to get this guy. I’ve known him for 15 years. We trained together in CMLL and Guadalajara. We know each other, he’s a great dude, let’s do it’ and he was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s my favorite wrestler of all-time.’ I was like, ‘Oh, sick!’ So honestly, he was number one on the list.
‘The WRLD on Lucha’ that took place as a part of The Collective 2022 was put together by Gringo Loco. He detailed how luchadors being spotlighted in GCW came to be and touched on putting together The WRLD on Lucha. He also shared that he booked the six-man at ‘2 Cups Stuffed’ in 2019 that saw Arez, Laredo Kid and Ophidian defeat Black Taurus, Gringo and KTB.
He [Brett Lauderdale] started kind of asking me and guiding me on, ‘Hey man, could you get some really cool wrestlers, luchadors from Mexico, like whoever you know and can we make a match?’ And it was 2 Cups Stuffed after ALL IN, All Out, one of those two in Chicago and I booked that entire thing and it went really well and then he started giving us more and more opportunities on different shows here in there; couple in Jersey, couple there and they were just going really well so then I got my wheels turning because again, I go ten out of ten on everything so I’m like, ‘Yo, why don’t we do this on every show? Not just to get me booked but we can call it like the lucha corner of the GCW show. You can announce it as, now, the lucha corner match, whatever you guys wanna call it. It’ll just be our little spot on the show to showcase what we can do’ and you know, he’s kind of a guy that just goes all in on everything as well and he was like, ‘Let’s just do an entire show during WrestleMania weekend at The Collective’ and we’re like, ‘…Yes. Of course. I would 100 percent be interested in doing that.’ I mean, and then we announced it and it got like a bunch of buzz the first night. I was sitting at an airport, all these messages started coming in. All the ‘congratulations’ and stuff. I really became aware of how watched I was being or becoming and yeah, we were just off to the races from there in terms of promotion and who we could get and realizing that it was gonna be an extremely busy weekend and who was gonna be available to us. But I think it turned out really well. Yeah, I had a hand in booking the entire show. Brett had an influence but I think that most of it was my idea and I think we had a little bit of everything which every GCW show does. That’s why it works so well, you know? You got your hardcore, you got your high-flying, you got this, you got that, strong style. We did that in lucha format and I think, based on everything that I’ve heard, people are really happy with the outcome as we are so…
At The WRLD on Lucha, Gringo wanted to climb up the entrance structure and do a move off it but a member of the production team put that idea to bed because the structure was light and could be damaged easily.
You know, I saw the entryway — I’m just giving you guys all the secrets tonight. I saw the entryway to The WRLD on Lucha and I know the production guy and I was like, ‘Yo, I’m going up on that tonight.’ He was like, ‘Oh no you’re not. It’s too flimsy.’ I was like, ‘Dude, you have to reinforce it when my match goes on. Just do something’ but, it was definitely on my mind to do something that night but it wasn’t in the cards. It was too dangerous because the thing could have fallen down but it’s definitely on the horizon, I can tell you that much, that again, judging by the response in Dallas to the Psycho Clown match, I can definitely do a lot more with ease so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.
Gringo’s first match for GCW was at Spring Break 2 in 2018. He initially was not going to do the show but it was the late Markus Krane who convinced him to fly to Louisiana for the event and that kicked off his relationship with GCW.
They do [his dates with GCW go back to 2018]. So my first official date was Spring Break 2, that was 2018 so, I don’t know if you guys want the funny backstory to that but I wasn’t gonna do that show man. I didn’t know what it was. I had no idea how important and how big and how vital it could’ve been to my career and rest in peace Markus Crane, he was the one that convinced me to do the show. He was like, ‘This is going to be either a make-or-break moment for you. You need to do this’ and I looked at the map from Cleveland where I was when he was telling me this and I was like, ‘Dude, it’s too far to drive’ because at that point, I wasn’t getting flown anywhere, you know? And I was like, I’m just not gonna do it and somehow, Markus just being as adamant as he is sometimes or ‘was’ I should say, he convinced me to fly myself down there and he was 100 percent right. Everything came from that Spring Break to date. Apparently, a lot of eyes were on the product at that time, obviously because it’s GCW. I had no idea bro and everything just kind of gelled from one thing to another after that chapter in time. It’s crazy.
** WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Naomi was interviewed by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp at the pre-WrestleMania 38 media junket. Naomi looked back on her on-screen program with Sonya Deville and came out of it reassured that she could carry a story like that. Naomi could not recall a time when a storyline was that focused on her.
I don’t know because my entire career, I’ve never really had a storyline like that, that focused on me. Let alone that lasted a month, longer than two weeks. So I wasn’t sure what it was going to come about, but I was super excited to be a part of a storyline and to also have a great heel to work. I feel like my job was made a lot easier because she was and is so terrible and so unfair and abused her power a lot. I feel like I learned a lot, I feel like I grew a lot. I know that I’m capable of carrying a story like that. Honestly, I want to beat her up some more. I need to get her some more, I need a little more.
In the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble match, Naomi reunited with Ariane Andrew (Cameron). Although it was not a lengthy reunion, Naomi thinks there’s more in the future for Ariane in WWE when it comes to a Funkadactyls reunion.
It was the best. We stay in touch, but obviously, we don’t get to see each other as often as we would like. There was some tears and there was a lot of cries. Who knows, I don’t think that’s the end for Cameron. She’s definitely expressed that she wants to be involved and come back and do it one more time. So maybe somewhere down the road, there’s a bigger Funkadactyl reunion. I would love that. I love her. I still think there’s more you can get out of the funks.
** During Homicide’s appearance on the Battleground Podcast, he expressed that he believes Eddie Kingston will be AEW World Champion. He feels that Eddie deserves it and commented on the friendship they’ve established.
I’m so happy for him man. He is the Godfather of my baby daughter, you know? So he’s part of my family. He’s legit a part of my family and I am so happy for Eddie Kingston to be on top of the world right now. He deserves it. We spoke so many times. I mean we go to a bar, we drink, we might do a little 4/20, we talk all that crap but it’s some real stuff out there, you know? And he’s getting his flowers and I’m very, very confident and I hope he’s hearing this that he’s gonna be the next and future All Elite Wrestling Champion of the world. I’m not talking about the secondary belt, the tag. I’m talking about he’s gonna be the number one of All Elite Wrestling — everybody talking about the return of Kenny Omega but come on, we’re not stupid. We know he’s coming back and he wants payback, he wants [the] title back, you know? I’m hoping that Eddie Kingston wrestles Kenny Omega. Let’s see if that happens but I feel that Eddie Kingston’s gonna be the next AEW World Champion. I really think it, I’m really happy for this dude. He deserves it and people say he don’t deserve it, then you need to go to the corner and kick rocks and be depressed or I don’t know. Do something with your life but that dude, he deserves it. I don’t care how he looks, how he talks, I don’t care. He deserves it.
Homicide is the reigning NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion. He listed off potential future challengers and one name he brought up was Tony Deppen. Homicide feels Deppen is the most underrated wrestler in the world.
I just wrestled a show last week — no, excuse me, last Saturday against a good friend of mine. His name’s Tony Deppen. He used to be in Ring of Honor. That guy’s the most underrated wrestler in the world. I even got on the microphone and I pissed people off but like I said… if you don’t like it then kiss my ass, you know?
** Ella Jay of SEScoops pushed out her interview with Brandi Lauren that was recorded at WrestleCon 2022. Brandi spoke about her time with IMPACT Wrestling and said it was a per-appearance deal. Lauren wrapped up with IMPACT after being ‘sacrificed’ as a part of Su Yung’s ‘undead brides’ storyline.
So that’s a really good question [what’s next for Brandi]. I — you know, this sounds crazy but I’ve always just gone with the flow. My first year of wrestling, I didn’t have anything planned or anything like that. I got a lot of really cool opportunities. My first year of wrestling, my goal was to work for SHINE on the pre-show and to work in like one other state and within my first year of wrestling, I was on the main show of SHINE consistently. I had a contract with IMPACT, I wrestled for Ring of Honor, I just did everything so then after that, I was like, I don’t even know what goals I have because I’m just like, I just want to see what I can do. So it’s more just like, I don’t have any particular plans. I just go with the flow and take what happens and see where it goes. I mean with IMPACT and stuff like that too, you know, they had messaged me right before one of the taping dates and they were like, ‘Hey, is your non-compete done?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Cool. Are you available all these dates?’ And I was just like yeah, sure because that was just a per-appearance deal. I didn’t sign a contract or anything like that. But it was really cool and it was doing something I — I showed up and I didn’t know I was gonna be doing that. I did not know at all. I did not know I was gonna be murdered [as a part of Su Yung’s ‘undead brides’], no. It was a surprise but honestly, some of the most fun I’ve had in wrestling are doing the dead character and creating new… just a whole new character. Like something that’s out of my comfort zone.
** IMPACT Wrestling co-head of Talent Relations Gail Kim spoke to SEScoops about Gisele Shaw’s arrival to IMPACT. Gail said she wanted to bring Gisele in for a while and when the talks first talked, Shaw was content with staying in the U.K. but changed her mind several months later.
I actually wanted her [Gisele Shaw in IMPACT Wrestling] for a little while because I saw that she had a really athletic side and we were kind of lacking a little bit of the high-flying action and I like a little diversity in terms of our athletes and so I always had her in my mind and I mentioned her a few times and we finally asked her but she was in the U.K. and she kind of was happy there for the moment and then I would say maybe two months later or so, a very short time period, she changed her mind and she said, ‘Okay, you know what? I’ve accomplished what I wanted to in the U.K. and I wanna be part of the Knockouts’ and I said, ‘I think that’s the best decision you’ve ever made because you can go back to the U.K., work for PROGRESS while you’re working for us, make a name yourself here in the United States’ and I’ve just been aware of her for years now so I just thought she’d be a great fit.
** At Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor, Kaun was revealed to be a member of Tully Blanchard Enterprises along with Brian Cage and Toa Liona. Shane Taylor commented on Kaun’s latest venture while speaking to MuscleManMalcolm. He said Kaun is always going to be a part of Shane Taylor Promotions and hopes there’s great things ahead for him.
Nothing’s going on with that. Tully Blanchard’s a legend in the sport. I’m sure Kaun’s gonna learn a lot. He’s got some great talent by his side. Kaun is always gonna be S.T.P. [Shane Taylor Promotions], that’s my guy, you know what I mean? But I said from the gate, we can all show up somewhere or we can each be in different spots and still take over the whole game as a collective that way so, shouts out to him. I hope it’s nothing but great things for him.
** The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) became NWA World Women’s Tag Team Champions at EmPowerrr last August. During their virtual signing with Captain’s Corner, Marti shared that they did not know what the tag titles looked like until they arrived at the venue and just so happened to have gear that matched the titles.
Belle: So, when we won the [NWA World Women’s Tag Team] titles, we had no idea what they looked like. We had zero idea what they looked like. We got gear made with our gear maker which is the gear that we are… It’s a teal color, crazy. We had no idea. We planned this gear way ahead of time. We had no idea what the titles looked like. We found out what the titles looked like the day of the show. They were the same color.
** At PROGRESS Wrestling’s 4/18 event, the tournament to crown a new Atlas Champion concluded and coming out of it victorious was Luke Jacobs. He talked to Manchester Evening News about the title win and defeating JONAH to become champion.
It’s been busy but it’s been good. My social media has blown up a bit. I’m getting constant notifications. I feel like it’s matured me, given me more confidence and just elevated me to the next level. It was quite surreal working with a guy like Jonah. Although I’m perfectly confident in my own ability, this is a guy I’ve sat on my couch watching at 3am in the morning. It’s mental now being in that lineage of people [to win the title] because a few of them are wrestlers I’ve really looked up to and guys like Walter (Gunther) have completely inspired me as a wrestler. I’m really fortunate to be in the position I’m in so early on because there are people who have been doing it 20-odd years and other up-and-coming wrestlers and now I’m a flag bearer for the biggest promotion in the UK. I’m really proud of it. When I’m in a promotion where one of the champions is the Ring of Honor world champion (Jonathan Gresham) who wrestles in AEW and I’m another one of the champions, it’s a great place to be in.
** A fundraising campaign is being set up for Shinjiro Otani, who underwent surgery for a cervical spinal cord injury that he suffered on April 10th. ZERO1 noted that a press conference is going to be held on 4/28 to share further details about the fundraiser and there is going to be an update on Otani’s status.
** Episode one of NXT 2.0’s Edris Enofe and Malik Blade’s ‘Black Table Talk’ show featuring fellow NXT talent Jakara Jackson.
** The ‘Good Mythical Morning’ crew welcomed Sasha Banks onto their show:
** Bushiroad launched a fitness club in conjunction with their group companies: New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Bushiroad Fight and Bushiroad Welby.
** Atsushi Onita told Tokyo Sports that he wants to wrestle in Ukraine. He is aware of the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia and would like to hold an event there after it is over and provide an opportunity for people to take wrestling classes. Onita added that if he can make that happen, he will not be participating in any explosion matches like he normally does.
** DEFY Wrestling’s ‘WILD ONES’ show on April 30th is airing live on Pluto TV. Colt Cabana is doing commentary on the show alongside Rich Bocchini.
** Thunder Rosa, Ethan Page and Evil Uno were featured in Input Magazine’s piece about pro wrestlers who vlog. Rosa shared that she has received bookings stemming from her taco vlog videos.
** AEW and ROH talent Kaun guest appeared on BMORELifestyle.
** The finale of ‘Chief Donut Maker’ featuring Goldberg:
** Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts was the focus of a Captain’s Corner virtual signing.
** Ahead of Bianca Belair competing in her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee on the 4/25 episode of Monday Night Raw, she was interviewed by WATE 6.
** At WrestleCon in Dallas, Texas, Chelsea Green was interviewed by SEScoops.
** Keiji Muto will be on commentary for Pro Wrestling NOAH’s 4/30 show. In February, Muto and Naomichi Marufuji had to vacate the GHC Tag Team Titles due to Muto being sidelined with a hip injury.
** April 26th birthdays: Glenn ‘Kane’ Jacobs.
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.
