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 Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker) was the focus of the latest Talk is Jericho podcast. All five members dove into the formation of the group, how members were selected and recounted stories along the way. Jericho reached out to Bryan Danielson and had a conversation with him about Daniel Garcia. They agreed to Garcia being part of what Jericho was building.
Jericho: So what you don’t know is I called Bryan Danielson and getting Bryan Danielson on the phone is almost as hard as getting Tony Khan because when Bryan’s not here, he goes home and farms watermelons or whatever the f*ck it is. I’m not kidding, he does farm watermelons. So I finally got him on the phone. I was like, ‘Dude, I have an idea and you might have the same idea and our ideas is we wanna be build stars. Do you wanna do something with Danny Garcia?’ He goes, ‘I just said that as a thing. I had no idea it was gonna take.’ I was like, ‘Well, can you do your thing that’s gonna take without Danny Garcia?’ He goes, ‘Well…’ ‘Because I have an idea’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can do Wheeler YUTA and I can do this guy, this guy, this guy’ and it was perfect so we actually talked and it was like GMs. I want Danny Garcia, I’ll trade you [Wayne] Gretzky and [Mario] Lemieux for Garcia and that’s kind of how it was because Tony was like, ‘Well, Danielson wants Danny.’ Everyone wants Danny Garcia suddenly. I’m like, ‘No. He’s already got a relationship with 2point0. We could really do something with this.’ So that’s kind of how that all came.
Garcia jumped into the conversation and recalled a talk that he had with Matt Menard and Angelo Parker. He told them that if it is going to be just him and Danielson as a team, he’d be good with that but if it was going to include multiple members such as Wheeler YUTA and Lee Moriarty, he’d rather remain with Parker and Menard.
Garcia: Well at first, I told them [Matt Menard & Angelo Parker] weeks leading up. After he [Bryan Danielson] had cut that promo about like, ‘What if I take YUTA? What if I take Daniel? What if I take Lee?’ And I told 2point0 and I remember telling them, ‘If it was just gonna be me and Bryan, I would be very happy with that. But if it was gonna be me and Bryan and Lee and YUTA, I would rather just stay with 2point0 and rather join someone else.’ So when you told me that [Jericho informing Garcia of Jericho Appreciation Society], I was like, okay. This gives me a chance to split away from these guys and on my indie run, the one that really got me over on the indies, a lot of people don’t realize, everyone just thinks I’m just like this technical guy. I got over with my personality and with my promos, and I was really grateful to be able to show that other side of myself.
Dating back to when Danielson first began to publicly mention Garcia, he would tease Parker and Menard about stealing him from their trio. Jericho added that Danielson is one pro wrestling’s best ribbers as far as what he says to people.
Parker: And then we’re [Parker & Matt Menard] coming in here, we’re having this really awesome run with [Daniel] Garcia. We really decided like, hey, we’re gonna do this thing. We are gonna commit to doing this and since day one, we’ve had each other’s backs and we’re like, we’re gonna make sure that this becomes a thing and we worked on it for six, seven months and then you were saying, Bryan Danielson cuts that promo…
Jericho: Did you know about that or did you just watch it and go like, ‘Oh sh*t.’
Parker: Well, we heard rumblings of it a couple weeks before.
Menard: Like anytime he did an interview, he would mention he wants to work with Daniel Garcia, you know? So in the back of my mind, I was like, oh, this is gonna happen. We’re gonna probably split.
Garcia: Wasn’t he like saying stuff about it to you backstage?
Parker: Yeah. ‘I’m gonna steal your son,’ because we were calling you ‘son’ at the time.
Jericho: Bryan Danielson, you might not think it, is one of the all-time best pro wrestling ribbers and not in like he’s gonna glue your shoes to the ceiling. Just the things that he says.
Menard: Any time he had the opportunity, he’d go, ‘I’m gonna take your son from you…’ I was just like, ‘Aye, it’s just our livelihood.’ I don’t have bills to pay. It’s fine [Menard said sarcastically].
Parker: Finally getting a little nugget of something and yeah, here goes the rug and he did that promo. Like, oh, it’s done. It’s over.
There was a point during the conversation when Jericho discussed a segment he had with Eddie Kingston. He then said he would never cut a promo like Kingston because he feels Kingston displays many red flags of what a promo is, but added that Kingston is brilliant at what he does and that’s why it works.
Jericho: We go to Bridgeport [Connecticut] and Eddie’s like, ‘I don’t even know why I’m here’ and Eddie has such a — I would never cut a promo like Eddie Kingston. He throws up so many red flags in my mind of what a promo is, but it’s brilliant. He’s so good at it. I could never do what he does because I’m like, no one would ever say that. But he does and it gets over.
Jericho heaped praise onto Jake Hager and thinks Hager is one of the most underrated talents in AEW. He said Hager takes whatever is given to him and exceeds expectations.
Jericho: Because I always say Jake [Hager] is one of the most underrated guys in our company only because whenever he’s given something to do, he always kills it, always. Always, every f*cking time. No matter what it is. It’s a one percent thing, he’s there. If he has to main event a no-people match against [Jon] Moxley with only Jim Ross commentating, he’s there. So I’m just like, we don’t have to get a new heater [for The Jericho Appreciation Society]. I’ve got one.
The pairing of Garcia, Menard and Parker was focused on for a portion of the conversation. Prior to joining AEW on a full-time basis, Garcia opted to decline extra work that the company offered him. When he eventually came back, he was told he had a pre-tape with Menard and Parker, but he did not know who they were.
Garcia: I had done AEW extra work a few times and then I went on a really, what I thought at the time, was a really big indie run and they had asked me to do extra work again and I kind of said no and then, I was like, ‘I’m not really interested’ and then I really turned up on the indies after that and then they hit me up after, they said — like Tony [Khan] reached out to Pepper [The Blade] directly and asked if I could come in. He’s my trainer, and I didn’t really know what it was for but I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come through, I’ll see what’s up’ and then one of the production people came up to me and said, ‘Hey, we have a pre-tape.’ I’m like, that’s random. I’m just sitting in catering with I think [Evil] Uno and [Alex] Reynolds or something like that. They’re like, ‘You got a pre-tape’ and I had no idea what it was for and then I was like, ‘With who?’ And they were like, ‘Oh, 2point0.’ I was like, ‘Who’s 2point0?’ I was like, ‘Who are these people that I’m doing a pre-tape with?’ And then we did the pre-tape and it actually, it felt really good. It felt really good.
Continuing that story, Garcia recounted Tony Khan telling him that the three of them were going to be an official trio. Garcia initially felt it was random but acted like he loved the idea.
Garcia: I know Tony [Khan] said too at one point — I can’t remember where, to who, but he said that the group promo that we did [Garcia, Matt Menard & Angelo Parker], the first one, he was like, ‘It got a lot of attention so it seems like something people would wanna see more of’ because I remember right before I was gonna go out for my — I think I was gonna wrestle Fuego [Del Sol] on Dark the night before our Dynamite match and he said, ‘Yeah, I think I’m gonna keep you and 2point0 together as a trios’ and in my mind, I’m like, this is the most random thing that’s ever happened. But of course I’m gonna act like I love it.
While listing off teams, factions and groups in AEW, Jericho praised Tony Khan’s ability to pair people together.
Jericho: Here’s one thing that’s interesting about Tony [Khan] and I’ve noticed this since I started. He’s really good — obviously, he loves factions, he loves group warfare, but he’s really good at putting people together as tag teams. He really is. Like you said Danny, very random, Garcia and 2point0 but it really kind of fit and like, how does he know this? It’s like putting together Luther with Serpentico, it really worked or Griff [Garrison] and [Brian] Pillman [Jr.]. The Acclaimed, these are just — they didn’t know each other before. I think they might have known each other but they never teamed. It was just Tony saying, hmm, this might work and it usually does. He’s very smart about that so when he put you guys together and like you said, wow, it actually worked. Some instinct that he had told him that it would go that way.
Last summer, Matt and Angelo appeared on Jericho’s podcast following their exits from WWE. Shortly after recording, they made their AEW debuts, but Jericho did not know that was happening. Both Matt and Angelo knew they would be debuting for AEW.
Jericho: So, talking to you guys [Matt Menard & Angelo Parker] at my house and I’m like, these guys are really good, you got good chemistry so I said to Tony [Khan], ‘What do you think about using these guys?’ ‘Well they’re coming tomorrow night.’ I was like, ‘You never even told me that.’ Did you know when you came to my house that you were gonna be there on Tuesday?
Menard: Yes.
Parker: We knew.
Jericho: Assholes. Let me see if I can help you out kids. Send me a tape and some pictures [he jokingly said]. You think this guy — what an asshole this guy is.
Parker: I remember afterwards like, you were like, ‘What do you guys got? Maybe I can put in a word.’ I was like, well… we might be there.
** On the latest episode of “Da” Podcast, Big Damo joined the show and dove into his AEW debut on 5/20 when he took on Shawn Spears. Damo said his appearance almost happened the week prior. He stated that he had a great time there and did not feel like he was walking on eggshells.
Honestly, somebody got in touch with me and then another staff member got in touch to come in and do this day. It [AEW debut] almost got changed to the week before actually, and then whatever happened, it went back to the original date but, it was a great experience. It was so amazing because so many people who I knew from NXT greeted me, knew from the indies or I knew actually from my personal life. It ended up being really bizarre. It was just so many people who I really liked all there at the same time. It was weird. It was actually quite emotional, you know? Honestly, I had a wonderful time. The craziest part was it was like, all [of it] was kind of the same production as WWE but without the stress and that was really hard — I was trying to explain that to one of my friends and I was like, it’s really hard to put into words what I felt. I didn’t have — I didn’t feel I was walking on eggshells, I didn’t feel I was — I didn’t feel like my opinion didn’t matter, little things. When I was telling you, in WWE, you feel like you’re a character in somebody else’s play. In AEW, you also feel like you’re involved in the creative process and that’s bizarre because I was only there in such a minor role, but I saw it as it was playing out for everybody else as well, you know what I mean? And so yeah, honestly, it was a wonderful experience. I think Tony Khan and the team there have a massive, incredible roster. There’s just so many lads and ladies there that are just phenomenal at what they do and it was a pleasure to be there to be honest. Honestly, it was something I didn’t expect to happen. When I first got released, AEW was one of the few companies that I had no interactions with so I was like, you know what? If it doesn’t happen, that’s fine. I’ll go and I’ll kill it where I can and if something comes up, great. So I was very blessed that an opportunity came up and you know, we’ve got open communication now maybe for the future and we’ll see, you know? But if it doesn’t, same with the rest of anything. I had a great experience and be able to — the day that I retire, I’ll be able to go, well, I did this, I did this and had the time of my life there in Houston so…
Damo looked back on his time with WWE and mentioned that some coaches in NXT showed signs of doubt about the ability of non-American talents. He added that-that mindset would change once Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque gave his stamp of approval to a talent. Damo added that Malakai Black felt the same way.
In my opinion, I think there’s a massive bias towards the American wrestling as opposed to anybody from Japan or Europe or whatever else and until there’s almost like a… until there’s almost a moment where Hunter — like for example, Hunter said, ‘Oh, this is my guy’ and everybody, especially from the American coaches, whatever else [at NXT], they might be a little bit bias towards the Europeans and whatever, as in saying they’re not very good and then once Hunter says they’re good, then suddenly that all changes and I felt that myself. I know Aleister [Malakai] Black felt the same thing as well. I guess there’s accidental xenophobia if that’s the best way to describe it, because they don’t know who you are, you haven’t been on television. Me personally, I had only done a few dates with TNA so wasn’t like I was a massive name on American television so, it was up to us to try and change that opinion and thankfully, I got to the point where I did change those opinions and I had some great moments over that next year.
He once used a finisher named ‘Ulster Plantation’ that is similar to Kenny Omega’s ‘One Winged Angel’. Damo was already leaning towards changing his finisher when he recognized his move-set focused on the gut area, but the finisher did not. He then noticed Omega doing the move and said Kenny does it better than him.
As I got heavier and stuff like that, all my other moves were more to the stomach and to the back so I was — it was one of those… I realized — I think it was Joe [E.] Legend who’s a Canadian wrestler actually who’s now based in Germany. He said to me, ‘Your finish, it doesn’t really follow the psychology as well, as all your moves seem to be to the gut but then your finisher is this driver’ and that’s something that kind of stuck with me and then, as Kenny Omega got really popular, he started doing — he was doing the same move, it’s the One Winged Angel and his was even better than mine so I was like, oh Christ, so it felt like the right time to let that go. But as he started a lot more in North America, it was like yeah, it made perfect sense to try and go into something because it’s something that had been weighing on me to try and get something more based to the gut.
Along with Eric Young and Axel Tischer, Damo was called up to the main roster. He said his biggest disappointment as far as that experience goes was that producers they worked with in NXT did not help make their transition smoother.
My main disappointment in going up to the main roster was maybe the producers and stuff who had worked with us down in NXT, maybe didn’t… weren’t helping us with the transition. I remember one particular producer said to me, like, ‘I’d had really liked if you did’ such and such and I was like, ‘Well you tell me after the f*cking fact,’ and this is the thing and E.Y. [Eric Young] said this best once, we were in a car, he was like, ‘You tell me what to do, I promise you I will do it. But if you don’t tell me, I can’t read your mind’ and sadly, that is one of the aspects of wrestling is there’s just so many cooks on Raw and SmackDown and everything else that it can be very difficult, you know, to figure out what they actually want from you and like, then you go to Vince [McMahon] if you can finally get through to him and you get speaking to him and it’s very simple, it’s very easy and then come a week later, he might have changed his mind, which is the sad but true part. So that was the major transition for me, going from indie where you’re choosing your own thing.
Earlier in the conversation, Damo expressed the thought that NXT of old did not prepare talents for Raw or SmackDown, although the production was on a high level and he was able to learn a great deal during that time.
My first six months [in NXT], I did find it very difficult because I think at that point, all the coaches were singing off different hymn sheets and then there was a period, I think when we got about to the middle of 2017, they were all — they had all kind of figured out what Hunter wanted but, until they got to that point, they weren’t sure and there were still some of them rebelling almost — the producers, whoever else — because they weren’t sure exactly because there’s something on Raw or SmackDown that was definitely different than what we were able to present on NXT and I think everybody was just singing off different hymn sheets for a while and then when everybody got on the same hymn sheet, I think we had this beautiful year, maybe two years where NXT was killer. But the thing is, NXT was meant to be a feeder system for Raw and SmackDown so one of the hardest parts I think for a lot of people was that difference. What you do in NXT was not preparing you for Raw or SmackDown. Yes, in terms of the production. Yes, in terms of, you know, being called stuff by the referees from the producers or above, you were learning that aspect of it. Yes, you’re able to follow the cameramen, what they’re doing. They’re a wonderful part of the setup there and they’re great people, so much experience. They’re great people to pick the brain of actually.
** While guest appearing on The Black Announce Table podcast, Carmelo Hayes expressed that he wishes he got to do more with Johnny Gargano on NXT 2.0. He feels there was more that could’ve been done with that as well as wrestling Adam Cole again.
I mean I really like working with Johnny Gargano. I feel like that was cool. I feel like we could’ve done some more stuff. I feel like that was just so quick and then he took off. Shoot, even Adam Cole. I just feel like all the guys I got to work with early, I wasn’t my best. Not saying I’m my best now, but I’m the best I’ve ever been now, you know what I mean? But, I think those guys man, if I could just get it back one time or two times with Gargano in a singles match but I’m looking forward to working with guys up on the main roster more, you know, then what’s going on right here. Maybe that’s a bad thing, I don’t know. But I’m always thinking ahead. You know, I’m not really — what I did is what I did.
Hayes went on to speak about his confidence on and off-screen. He stated that he’ll talk with current NXT 2.0 talents and tell them that even if they don’t have that inner confidence, act like they have it and exude it.
I feel like it was one of those things where when I first started, not here at WWE, but it’s like, you almost fake it ‘till you make it [Hayes said about having confidence]. You know, when you’re put into situations so many times, you know you can get your way out of it, you build that confidence little by little by little and I just feel like I got this thing on lock. I feel like they’re never gonna present me with anything that’s gonna throw me off and if they do, they’re not gonna know it. So it’s one of those things where it’s like they’ll never see me sweat. They’ll never catch me off guard. But, as far as confidence goes, man, it’s just either you got it or you don’t. I feel like, you know, I talk to a lot of people here, lot of younger people and the way that they perceive themselves or the way they present themselves is like they question themselves. I just think like, man, if you question yourself now, even if you don’t got it, fake it bro. Fake it ‘till you make it. That goes so far. The biggest thing that got me put on here was my confidence. I’m telling you man, the way they saw I was — the way I guess I carried myself and they were like, okay, he believes in himself? We believe in him.
School teacher Victor Perry is known for hosting his wrestling club that Sasha Banks recently visited. Hayes’ North American Title match with Cameron Grimes at NXT Vengeance Day was shown to the class and when that video made the rounds, Hayes and Trick Williams were pulled to the side by Shawn Michaels who talked to them about the influence they have.
He’s [Victor Perry] been such a cool supporter to me. He actually did one of those videos when I won — I mean I defended the title at Vengeance Day against Cameron Grimes that first time and he showed it to his class man and they reacted to it and I got a message from Shawn [Michaels] and he was like, man — he pulled me and Trick [Williams] aside and was like, ‘Look, you guys don’t realize your influence already.’ He goes, ‘You guys have to realize the power that you have now’ and he goes, ‘That’s so special.’ He’s like, ‘I want you guys to take this in and realize that you are influencing a generation, you are influencing,’ you know, kids that look like us and it’s such a huge — something that I don’t take lightly, you know what I mean? Because it’s like, when you get into this, you think, oh, I’m gonna be a pro wrestler and I wanna win championships and I wanna be rich and I wanna be famous and this but it’s like, it’s so much bigger than that. Man, I think that seeing that clip made me realize — it made me move different a little bit because it’s like, you got kids really watching you, and looking up to you. Like I said earlier about I want kids to look at me and be like, ‘Oh, I wanna wrestle like Carmelo Hayes, I wanna be like Carmelo Hayes. I wanna carry myself like Carmelo Hayes’ so yeah, so shout out to Victor Perry for real because he really opened my eyes on really the mission of this platform that I have I guess.
** UFC’s Tai Tuivasa stated that he would be interested in appearing on WWE programming. He was featured on ‘Fine Dining with Fighters’ and mentioned fellow Samoans Roman Reigns, Rikishi and The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso).
F*ck yeah [I would go to WWE].
Yeah, they’re all Samoans, the boys in there. Roman Reigns, Rikishi’s sons, those boys. F*ck yeah. I’ll be the new Rikishi. I’ll get my ass out [Tuivasa laughed]. I love Rikishi man. I grew up watching wrestling. My nana was a wrestling — she still does watch it. She’s crazy about it. I remember when my uncle told me it was fake, I cried for ages, because I used to think they were the hardest, the hardest cunts, you know what I mean? I used to watch it and just be [like], ‘F*ck,’ and then when he told me it was fake and I started watching it, it would be hard. I was like, ‘It’s not fake. They’re f*cking hard cunts’ and then after that, I couldn’t watch it again for a long time because I was like, dang. I was heartbroken.
** Leading up to AEW Double or Nothing, there was a segment on Dynamite involving Wardlow and MJF in MJF’s hometown of Long Island, New York. Wardlow was booed for a good portion of the segment but was cheered at the end of it. He talked to Inside The Ropes about that segment and being in front of a crowd that supports MJF.
Needless to say, that is the twilight zone. I mean it is a total difference universe. You know, Long Island, the only place where Wardlow and CM Punk get booed and Max gets cheered. But you’re right. Even — I seem to have a few fans there. As much as they love Max, they booed me heavily but they still got excited when I put someone through a table at least.
In part two of the conversation, Wardlow recalled his first match ever on the independent scene and being complimented by Matt Cross. Wardlow said he blacked out before the match and came to when it was over. He added that the same thing happened for his Steel Cage match with Cody Rhodes.
I had this same experience my very first wrestling match on the indies [blacking out from adrenaline and coming to after it was over]. My very first match, I remember coming back and just sitting there, kind of confused because I was like, it was so much adrenaline that you don’t even comprehend what just happened. It was like, was that good? Was everything all right? Was that OK? And ‘M-Dogg’ Matt Cross happened to be there, who I looked up to for years and he was like, ‘How long you been wrestling?’ And I was like, ‘That was my first match’ and he didn’t believe me. He was like, ‘That was your first match ever?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He was like, ‘I would’ve thought you were wrestling for ten years’ and I was just floored by that. But I had the same experience with the cage match [against Cody Rhodes]. I came back and I was just like, what just happened? Was that good? Was that bad? What just happened? And from what everybody said, it was pretty damn good.
** Monday Night Raw commentator Jimmy Smith was interviewed on The Universal Wrestling Podcast. Jimmy detailed the advice that Vince McMahon gave him about commentary in WWE. Smith was told to stay behind the audience, meaning that if something happens on-screen, let the audience react to it before the commentary team does.
There was a match, you know, where someone was bailing on their tag team partner, they were walking out. They’re getting beat up and the guy was like, forget this and walked out. Mr. McMahon told me, he goes, ‘Stay behind the audience,’ meaning, somebody’s walking, don’t go, ‘Oh my God! They’re leaving their tag team partner.’ Let the audience figure that out before you come in and add to it. That’s very dramatic, right? It’s very thematic. It’s very, ‘No, let the audience…’ Now, that’s not combat sports. Where I’m from, normally you wouldn’t let the audience figure out — your guy’s going for a heel hook, you don’t let a guy finish a heel hook and then go, ‘Oh my God! He got submitted!’ You know what I mean? You’re ahead of the audience. But, what we’re doing is dramatic, it’s tension-filled. So, be a little behind, not ahead like you would in sports broadcasting. So that’s specific to the WWE, right? That’s not a broadcasting thing, that’s a WWE thing and you have to learn that and when I talk about learning, that’s part of what I mean and that’s part of what, you know, Vince’s instruction is about and I go, ‘Oh! Yeah, yeah,’ because yeah, I’m used to a sport where you want to be ahead. ‘Oh, it looks like they’re setting up a dime package. They need 20 yards.’ Broadcasters can be ahead of the action, they can be ahead of what’s happening. In the WWE, be behind what’s happening so the audience can experience it first and that was one of those lessons like, oh, yeah. Oh, all right, I see how that’s different than where I’m from. So learning all that stuff has been the education.
Michael Cole is the head of commentary at WWE and Jimmy spoke about how helpful Cole has been to him. May 31st is Smith’s one-year anniversary of debuting on commentary for WWE and he said he’s just now getting the swing of things.
That is persistence and perseverance and understanding it takes a long time to learn [is the best advice I’ve gotten since joining WWE]. That is something that has been drilled into my — Michael Cole by the way has been really exceptional as a person mentoring me and telling me how it goes. That’s the one thing he always tells me is perseverance because this isn’t like anything else. All the — number one, I hadn’t done really play-by-play before. This is my first play-by-play gig — was, you know, Monday Night Raw in front of two million people a week. But, he said it takes a long time to get how this business works. ‘Nothing you did in combat sports –’ I’ve done boxing, I’ve done MMA, I’ve done kickboxing, I’ve done wrestling, I’ve done everything. Two people hurting each other, I’ve called it. None of that is really like pro wrestling or like the WWE, because you can do pro wrestling and then do the WWE and go, what the hell is going on here? It’s totally different. So, that idea of, ‘Jimmy, it takes a lot –’ I’ve been there a year. My year anniversary, what day is it? My year anniversary on Raw is like [May 31st]. 31st was my first match on Raw. I’ve been doing it a year and I’m just feeling now like, okay, I get what’s happened. I’ve not mastered it, but I’m like, all right, I’m getting what’s going on and the verbiage and the language and how everything works. I had to learn this all at one time and the patience with myself as a broadcaster to go, it’s cool. You’ll get it. Take a breath. Don’t be hard on yourself about it because it wasn’t easy.
** Prior to advancing to the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation tournament, Ruby Soho joined Busted Open Radio and during the conversation, she spoke about mental health and her own personal struggles that she’s gotten a better hold of.
Honestly, it’s [mental health] something I’m very passionate about and I love to be vocal about it because I think it’s so important for more people to be vocal about it so that it takes away the stigma that, you know, any kind of mental health struggle is equivalent to weakness and that is not at all the case. I think that most people don’t realize that someone, like you said, in some capacity has some struggle that they deal with. Like I said before, I struggle with anxiety, I was diagnosed a few years ago with ADHD — adult ADHD and you know, I have struggled with depression in the past and you know, my biggest piece of advice that I have — I have two actually that I think are equally important is to no matter what, to talk to someone because in no way whatsoever are you alone. You’re never, ever, ever alone. Whether it’d be someone, a counselor or there are multitudes of different therapy apps out there that you can reach out to someone. A friend, a family member, a co-worker. There is always someone out there that is willing to listen and then also to get educated on what you’re suffering from, to find out why you feel the way that you do, what is causing you to feel the way that you do, understand a lot more. Once I was diagnosed with ADHD, it was a game changer for me to understand that there was things that I just was like, ‘Why am I like this?’ It almost made the anxiety worse because I didn’t understand. But, it was a huge thing for me to be able to be educated and to get the information that I needed.
** While speaking with PWInsider, Britt Baker shared that the Carpool Karaoke episode with herself, Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage and CM Punk was filmed during Full Gear 2021 weekend in Minnesota. Baker also went on to speak about the pressure of being of being the first woman signed to AEW.
I’m never satisfied, I’m very restless, I always want to be doing something more, something better or something bigger, which is, you know, a blessing and a curse. It can sometimes be a little bit of one of my fatal flaws, but there’s a lot of pressure with being the first female signing and having such a big role in All Elite Wrestling because people look at you when things are going great and they look at you when things are going not so great too. So you always have to be ready for the good and the bad feedback and you know how wrestling is, on wrestling Twitter, people are very vocal and very passionate about who they like and what they like. So sometimes that can be a lot to handle, but I’m still thankful for everything that I have and I’m thankful for All Elite Wrestling, I’m thankful for Tony [Khan]. Wrestling is a really cool place right now and competition is great for everybody. Everybody involved benefits from there being competitive, awesome wrestling companies.
** Independent talent ‘Puf’ guest appeared on Gregory Iron’s ‘Iron-On Wrestling’ podcast. He looked back on a match he had with Orange Cassidy in 2019 and stated that he was concussed when it took place because it was several weeks after the car accident involving himself, Daniel Garcia, Kevin Blackwood and Kevin Bennett. Puf did not remember anything from the match until he saw the footage.
But when I got to wrestle him [Orange Cassidy], in the back of my mind, we’re putting together this match and I’m pitching ideas and he’s laughing and he’s pitching stuff and I’m laughing and I’m like, this is what he was talking about. I’m experiencing it. This means the f*cking world to me and then we had a f*cking great match. I was concussed for it because it was very close to after my accident, in the car accident. So I didn’t remember any of that, but then literally like a year ago, Wild Zero put it out and I was like, I gave him the f*cking ‘Rikishi Driver’? I didn’t know I was doing that back then. So I was like, oh sh*t. Oh boy. The finish was him giving me a ‘World’s Strongest Slam’ and I was like, oh sh*t.
** Chris Van Vliet pushed out his interview with Lince Dorado. When asked about the idea of joining All Elite Wrestling, Dorado feels that he’d be ‘another masked guy’ as he felt he was in WWE. He added that freedom in wrestling is what he’s chasing after and even if the money is great, it does not influence him.
Yeah, but I’ll be honest, I see AEW as the same for me. I will be in the same spot and just be another masked guy, and they already have 2 masked guys there, Fenix and Pentagon. I would love to go to any company who would say to me, ‘What do you want to do?’ But nobody wants that, it’s ignorance. They are like, why do we want this lucha guy when we have this lucha guy? At the end of the day, I want freedom. Even if the money is great, I don’t care. I have been poor before and broke before, I will be good.
** ‘Dogg Pound Dojo’ is a promotion based in Texas that is ran by Jazz and Rodney Mack. Their current ‘Pound for Pound’ Champion is 60-year-old Don ‘Hoss’ Holding, who has been wrestling for one year. Mack appeared on The Black Rasslin’ Podcast and spoke about welcoming Holding into the fold and why Don decided to start training in his early 60s.
We [Dogg Pound Championship Wrestling] also have another title called the ‘Pound for Pound’ belt which is held by Don Holding, Don ‘Hoss’ Holding. He’s a 61-year-old guy who just broke in the — he used to be a promoter and he went back for the love of the game and started training and whatnot and he’s a story of — yeah, he’s got a story of his own, and he’s the guy.
61 and he just started wrestling last year. He went back to school, but he started off at a place called ‘Hybrid’, then he transferred over to us and then we got him in the ring and hooked him up man, this guy is something else. But he’s our ‘Pound for Pound’ Champion.
Of course [we had a conversation with him about starting out at his age]. Yes, very much and with this guy though, it’s to hold him back, because he’s got a motor. So we gotta hold him back so he can, you know — so he’s able to wrestle [Mack laughed]. His motor don’t stop. His motor doesn’t stop but of course he understands it. I mean, he’s 61 years old, he’s run a very successful indie promotion here in Texas as well and so he understands a lot of it. He’s been in the ring and he’s been on the streets, you know, doing the work. So he understands it, as opposed to the young guys, you gotta tell ‘em about the — explain about this is a process, and you gotta trust the process.
** The Men of the Year Hop in with RJ City | Road to Double or Nothing:
** Rhino has been producing IMPACT Wrestling’s B.T.I. matches as of late, per PWInsider.
** On June 5th, Bryan Danielson will be doing an autograph signing at The Vault Music Hall & Pub in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
** At STARDOM’s 5/28 event, New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Great-O-Khan appeared and joined the commentary team.
** NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Results (5/28/22) Chiba, Japan
– Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Francesco Akira (6) def. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (4)
– Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Taiji Ishimori (10) def. Clark Connors (6)
– Best of the Super Juniors B Block: Titán (4) def. BUSHI (6)
– Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi (4) def. YOH (6)
– Best of the Super Juniors A Block: SHO (8) def. Ace Austin (10)
– Best of the Super Juniors B Block: Wheeler YUTA (8) def. Master Wato (4)
– Best of the Super Juniors B Block: El Phantasmo (10) def. TJP (6)
– Best of the Super Juniors B Block: Robbie Eagles (8) def. El Lindaman (8)
– Best of the Super Juniors A Block: Hiromu Takahashi (8) def. Alex Zayne (8)
– Best of the Super Juniors B Block: El Desperado (10) def. DOUKI (6)
** AEW President Tony Khan continued to make the media rounds to promote Double or Nothing and joined Mike Jones on DC101.
** Steve Fall chatted with Drew McIntyre on his ‘Ten Count’ podcast.
** Powerhouse Hobbs was a guest on Thunder Rosa’s vlog.
** May 28th birthdays: Seth Rollins.
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.
