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 conclusion of AEW Dynamite: Fyter Fest week one saw Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland become AEW World Tag Team Champions. Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks competed in that three-way tag for the belts and while doing a virtual signing for K & S WrestleFest, Ricky said although he and Hobbs did not win the belts, he’s excited for their respective and collective futures.
We [Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs] didn’t win the [AEW] Tag Team Titles and that’s cool. I think it’s time to move on from that whole thing. I really think you can expect me and Hobbs to try to find something other, whether that’s singles or tag team, to try to occupy. I’m really excited for this next few months, especially as we get closer to the end of the year as well. All Out’s coming up so I’m hoping that me and Hobbs have something of substance and importance on there. So, I think we have a good enough momentum that we’ve built up since the beginning of this year. It’s just a matter of trying to keep that going and you know, I thought we would’ve had the Tag Team Titles last week but that didn’t happen and you can’t stop there.
** On the SOUNDSPHERE YouTube channel, there is an interview with Max Caster. He commented on the diss track that WWE’s MVP put out that was directed at Bobby Lashley titled ‘Fall Mighty’. Caster said it was great, but the song was too serious and he’s not going to remember it. He compared that to he and Anthony Bowens’ ‘Goth Phase’ track about Sting and Darby Allin and explained why he feels wrestling fans will remember a song like that.
I always like to find my own way in the world, especially, you know, with music. I have a pretty mixed taste just like we all do these days so, I’m thankful for that. I think it comes out in the rap, especially marketing rap to wrestling fans because it — again, if it was just Hip-Hop and I was like, man, this is the hardest rhyme I ever spit, no one would resonate with that. They did something on WWE with MVP and he did a diss track [‘Fall Mighty’] and he’s great. He’s a great rapper but, it was in earnest. It was so serious that I watched it and I go, okay, he’s angry, he’s mad, whatever. But I’m not gonna remember it. But, you know, people remember ‘Goth Phase’ to this day because that music video was so silly, because we don’t take ourselves so seriously and we make a mockery of whoever we’re wrestling. I mean we wrestled Sting and we’re calling him goth. Like who does that? Who does that? So, we’re not afraid to lean into it and I think that’s helped as well is diversifying the sound. Is it Rap? Is it a little bit of Rock? Is it a little bit of Pop? And then it’s not taking yourself too seriously so, I think that’s the key to what we do.
** Antonio Inoki has been in and out of the hospital for the past several years after being diagnosed with a disease that impairs blood circulation throughout the body. A special about Antonio Inoki and his health issues aired on NHK BS Premium and the producer of the documentary, Kenzo Suzuki, told the press in Japan that he met with Inoki on July 15th. He said Inoki’s current state of health is neither good or bad. He mentioned that he’s considering creating a drama about Inoki and said Inoki is eager about the possibility of starring in it himself.
** Mike McGuire of Sunday Night’s Main Event spoke to Harry Smith. Smith recalled speaking with AEW President Tony Khan in late 2020. Smith felt that the setting was not the right time to talk business, but he tested the waters and said Khan was interested. Ultimately, Smith figured that he did not want to waste Khan’s time because he knew there was interest in him from WWE and they were going to be inducting his father into the Hall of Fame the following year.
Well I had spoken to Tony [Khan] at Chris Jericho’s birthday party a couple years ago and we were having a fun time so I didn’t feel it was the right time to talk business but just feel the waters and he was definitely interested and at that time, this was right around — because his birthday’s in October so it was right around the time when COVID was starting to fizzle out and I was talking with WWE a little bit… I knew my dad was going into the Hall of Fame the following year so I just figured why waste his time if there’s interest from WWE for me to go back? And then I kind of talked to Arn Anderson a little bit. I mean if I had approached it more, I probably would’ve. I had just figured, why waste his time if I’m going back to WWE?
He further elaborated on his most recent stretch with WWE. Smith said now-former Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis, told him after he was released that they would reassess in six months. Harry stated that Laurinaitis is a big reason he returned and Laurinaitis signed him to a good deal.
I don’t know [what happened with my last go-around at WWE]. You [interviewer] would know as well as I would. I got signed, I thought it was the perfect timing to go back because my father was being inducted into the Hall of Fame and they were supposed to do a documentary on him for their legends… The one they did with Yokozuna [WWE Icons]. The only ones that they didn’t release were the ones with him and Lex Luger for whatever reason and I did a million videos and interviews for it and was sort of waiting to see when I was gonna re-debut and then… just one [dark match]. Just one and it went good. I teamed up with Austin Theory and we had a good tag team match and I was told the next time I would be brought to TV was when I was debuting and everybody said I did a great job and then, that was like in July and then next month in August, we were supposed to do TVs in — was it Tampa or St. Petersburg? For SmackDown. I was supposed to have another dark match and again, they were gonna film more stuff with me with the jacket backstage for the documentary and unfortunately, I got COVID during that time. So I had to cancel and I was sick for a month and whatever… and then you know, they brought me back to TVs like one or two times, like one of their pay-per-views. Kind of talked to the writers and they were gonna be in touch and I was trying to think of ideas and then I wasn’t the only one that got, you know, cut, so it’s just a budget thing but it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t — I showed up there. When I was sitting at home, I was training super, super hard. Almost too hard where, you know, I was picking up cars and walking them for almost a mile and doing a lot of powerlifting… I put in a lot of time and effort into my meal planning and I was really ready. When I came back to TVs one of the last times, Vince [McMahon] had seen me, he said, ‘Oh, you’re looking good kid.’ Said, ‘Oh, thanks.’ Looking good as ever and I wasn’t the only one that didn’t do anything wrong.
I always hear there’s more cuts and then what I was told by Johnny [Laurinaitis], he said he wanted to reassess things in six months and he said it’s just a budget cut thing but unfortunately, John Laurinaitis who’s one of my big supporters and he was one of the big reasons why I came back and he signed me to a very good contract, he’s not in that position. So, I would like to approach them if there is something but if there isn’t…
** A new episode of The Wives of Wrestling Podcast is out with Lina Fanene (Nia Jax) on the show. Fanene dove into being part of the 2019 men’s Royal Rumble match and expressed how surprised she was that Randy Orton bumped for her considering that was not planned.
You know what was even crazier that I did not know was gonna happen [in the 2019 men’s Royal Rumble match]? And I almost peed myself, was when I gave Randy [Orton] a shoulder tackle and he bumped for me. I legit was [shocked]. I looked down, I was like, oh f*ck. Randy just bumped for me. He wasn’t gonna bump. We didn’t talk about that. It was just gonna be a shoulder, he was gonna go in and he bumped for me. People who are in the business and you guys know, that is huge, especially for Randy Orton on his pedestal, he’s just incredible and then for a woman to get in there with him and he bumped for me. I was [surprised]. It was literally like a moment where everything kind of stopped for a second and yeah, that was — I can hear Kim [Orton] though. Kim was like, ‘That’s what you get Nia!’ [As I was walking back], she was like, ‘I still love you.’
Coming out of the 2019 men’s Rumble match, Fanene went to go thank Vince McMahon for the opportunity and he jokingly told her that he wanted to see her get her “ass kicked”.
I always had a good relationship with Vince [McMahon]. We chatted, we laughed, we joked and so, I even went up to him and just said, ‘I’m very grateful that you thought of me for this’ and he was like, ‘Of course, of course. I wanna see you get your ass kicked.’ You know, jokingly Vince is.
** Episode #67 of René Duprée’s Café De René podcast features longtime pro wrestling referee Mike Chioda as a guest. Chioda revealed that he was supposed to be part of the ‘Fighting with My Family’ film. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson contacted him for it, but Chioda was rehabbing at the time after undergoing surgery.
He [The Rock] actually reached out to do that movie. What was that? The wrestling movie, with Paige, you know? [Fighting with My Family] Yeah, and I had just went through ACL surgery, finally got my ACL done. I had to get a cadaver about five, six years ago and he calls me and I’m like — it’s like a week in rehab. I’m like, ‘You gotta be kidding me. You call me now?’ He’s like, ‘Aw man, you gotta be kidding me.’ So, yeah, I missed an opportunity for that movie.
Before SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium got underway, Chioda along with the ring crew were setting up. Chioda ended up tearing his ACL and it was The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) who took care of him. They taped him up and drained the blood and fluid out for him.
I had no ACL for a while. I tore my ACL when I — was 1992 at Wembley Stadium, it was SummerSlam and I remember I tore my ACL there. That’s when we had no trainers or nothing either at that time and I remember I jumped over — we built this ring on a platform. It was like a five-to-six-foot platform because you had to build the ring up higher for Wembley Stadium and I remember I had to go run and get something. I jumped up over the barricade, thinking it was the normal barricade jump over and I wind up going down like eight to ten feet, boom. I blew my knee out before the show. But, oh man, bro, but I had Animal, Hawk, you know, Joe Laurinaitis, God bless his soul and Hawk, you know, Mikey. One of them taped my leg up and one of them drained the blood and the fluid out and I was like… Joe taped me up really good. I got through the match. So it was cool. So it was just old school taking care of me.
** Chris Long welcomed Goldberg onto his ‘Green Light’ podcast and as the conversation rolled on, Goldberg brought up his second pro wrestling match ever in 1997. He was told to never go to the top rope again. He said following that order was the best thing that ever happened to his in-ring career.
I went to the top rope my second match and my boss told me never do it again and that was the best thing that ever happened to me because it meant that I can stay on the ground the whole time, right?… And also at the end of the day, you look at longevity. You look at guys who are busting their loads trying to show everything in every match to make it to a certain level. Well once they make it to that level, their bodies are gonna be destroyed. So, it’s a different entity.
** This weekend, Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia are going one-on-one for the ROH Pure Championship at Death Before Dishonor. Yuta appeared on Phil Strum’s ‘Under The Ring’ podcast and commented on the upcoming bout.
I think it’s gonna be a very fun one [match against Daniel Garcia at ROH Death Before Dishonor]. Daniel Garcia and I have only wrestled in a singles match one time before, it was on the independents. We went for an hour-long draw. So I think this will be a really fun way for us to kind of show a different side than what we showed at Blood & Guts. We’ve had the violent, physical brawls and that’s not to say this won’t be violent and physical, but it will be within a very strict set of rules to where we can really find out who the best pure professional wrestler is so I’m very excited for that match and I think it’ll be a different challenge and I think for some of the AEW fans that maybe haven’t seen a Ring of Honor Pure Rules match before, I think it’ll bring something different to the table so I’m excited to have this opportunity.
** The next guest on Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions is Sami Zayn.
** Garden State Pro Wrestling announced that Konosuke Takeshita and Miyu Yamashita are hosting a seminar on July 23rd in Newark, New Jersey.
** Jacob Henry, son of Mark Henry, guest appeared on Busted Open Radio with David LaGreca and Bully Ray.
** Ahead of the Barbed Wire Everywhere match at AEW Fyter Fest, Eddie Kingston spoke to TV Insider.
** At the post-NWA 74 tapings, Ricky Steamboat is scheduled to be present and will be doing a meet-and-greet.
** Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair is going to be present at the New York Mets game on 7/22 for ‘WWE Night’.
** Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) have hit the one-year mark as SmackDown Tag Team Champions. They won the belts at the 2021 Money in the Bank Premium Live Event.
** ‘Asian News International’ sent out a press release about their interview with Britt Baker.
** Upon Ninja Mack’s return to Pro Wrestling NOAH, he was interviewed by Tokyo Sports.
** Jay White versus Tomohiro Ishii from the 2020 G1 Climax:
** Koffin Radio posted their in-person chat with ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton.
** All Japan Pro Wrestling ‘Summer Action Series’ Results (7/18/22) Osaka, Japan
– Hokuto Omori & Yusuke Kodama def. Oji Shiiba & Yoshitatsu
– Kuma Arashi def. Black Menso-re
– Cyrus, Jake Lee & Takao Omori def. Kohei Sato, Shuji Ishikawa, & Ren Ayabe
– The Bodyguard, Zeus, Atsuki Aoyagi & Yuma Aoyagi def. Dan Tamura, Hikaru Sato, Ryo Inoue & Yuji Nagata by referee’s decision.
– Suwama & TARU def. Kento Miyahara & Rising HAYATO
– AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Tiger Mask (c) def. Izanagi
– AJPW World Tag Team Championships: Ryuki Honda & Shotaro Ashino (c) def. STRONGHEARTS (Shigehiro Irie & T-Hawk)
** July 18th birthdays: Shahid Khan.
** Adam Scherr and EC3 appeared on The Ringer’s MackMania podcast to promote Control Your Narrative.
** The Tyrus and Timpf Podcast with Austin Idol guest appearing.
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.
