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.
** While speaking to Ariel Helwani, NWA owner Billy Corgan revealed that as he was finalizing the purchase of the NWA, the former owner of the organization put an active warrant out for his arrest in the state of Texas.
When I reached that sort of moment when I was dealing with somebody, trying to get this historic brand and legal complications and everything, even at one point, he put out a warrant for my arrest which is a whole other story [Corgan laughed]. The former owner of the NWA. I don’t wanna say his name but he did put a warrant out for my arrest. That’s a shoot. Put an active warrant out for my arrest in the state of Texas.
** NXT 2.0 commentator Wade Barrett guest appeared on El Brunch de WWE. He was asked for his thoughts about the announcement of NXT Europe and here’s what he had to say:
You know what? I found out this morning the same as everyone else [about NXT Europe]. I was working out and I suddenly got a memo sent through to my email account from WWE, hey, press release, just going out. Just so you guys know, I don’t know any more details than you guys. It was a surprise to me. I believe NXT UK is morphing into NXT Europe. What exactly that entails? I don’t know. How it’s going to play out? I don’t know. But I do know this, every time WWE makes a big change like they’re doing here with NXT UK, they always make things better. It’s never to make things worse. It’s always to make things bigger and better so I really don’t know the nuts and bolts of what NXT Europe is gonna involve, how it’s gonna be different to NXT UK but it’s exciting. I think there’s gonna be more opportunities to superstars all over Europe including, you know, not just the UK. Including Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Austria. There’s so many countries over in Europe and of course all over Eastern Europe too. You got Bulgarians and Romanians and there’s plenty of countries out there where they all love WWE.
The last time Barrett wrestled was in 2016. He said he is healthy and fit but when it comes to his commentary position, he said it’s the most fun he’s ever had in WWE and is enjoying it. He’s not against the idea of an in-ring return if the right opportunity came along and then mentioned Drew McIntyre.
That is the question I get more than any other. I get asked that a lot. I technically — if you’re gonna call it that, I retired at 35. That was the last time I was at a WWE ring. Haven’t been back in a ring since, which I would say is very, very young for somebody to retire in this industry. We got guys going in their mid-to-late 40s. I’ve seen guys compete in their late 50s, early 60s, okay? So there are definitely examples of people who have gone a lot longer. I will say this, in my career, including everything I’ve ever done in the WWE, my happiest I’ve ever been has been sat commentating at NXT. I’ve never enjoyed anything more than I enjoy right now so I’m not somebody sitting there thinking, ‘Aw, I gotta get back in the ring, I miss it.’ I miss parts of it and there’s parts that I don’t miss and it’s hard and you get beaten up. But I will say this, I’m healthy, I’m fit. If the right opportunity came along to get back in the ring to compete against, I don’t know, maybe Drew McIntyre, then maybe I could be convinced to get back in the ring once again. We will see so, to be decided.
** There were multiple job promotions within All Elite Wrestling such as Tony Schiavone being named Senior Producer and Special Advisor to talent. Along with Schiavone, QT Marshall and Pat Buck were promoted. Schiavone talked about the promotion on the latest episode of AEW Unrestricted.
It’s a crew of us [who] have been promoted. It’s Q.T. Marshall, Pat Buck and myself have been promoted within the confines of what’s going on and it’s a very important thing on many levels. I think, number one, you have to realize and I think a lot of times, people don’t realize this, that we’re still a very young company, we’re finding our way. Tony Khan has been so successful as we know with his ventures into Fulham [F.C.] and sports analytics and of course with the Jacksonville Jaguars but running a wrestling company is basically new to him.
He’s excited to be in the position he’s in. Schiavone said he does find it stressful at times but thinks it’s key to treat your athletes with respect and be there for them when they have concerns or attempt to intervene in the best way possible. Schiavone believes he was put in this position because he knows how to treat people.
One of the things I’m involved with now and I like it, I really do. I find it very stressful at times and that is working with Pat Buck and Christopher Daniels in Talent Relations, because I really think that is important in any type of business is to be able to treat your athletes with respect and with their concerns and try to intervene when there is a problem and as we know, in any sports teams, there’s problems, so, and I think I was put in this position because I really do… you know how I am. I don’t like to watch myself on TV, I don’t listen back to myself. I’m not in this for the ego but I do think I can say this about myself, that I know how to treat people and I think that’s one of the reasons that I was put into this position.
Schiavone went on to recount the conversation he had with AEW President Tony Khan about an increased role. Schiavone told Khan that he knows Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) are the EVPs and they have a lot of final say, but Schiavone was interested in working more with Tony. Schiavone and Pat Buck started working overnights which led to them formally being promoted.
He [Tony Khan] and I talked at the party and we talked flying back and I said, ‘Listen, I know your EVPs are The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. They wrestle and they have the final say on a lot of things’ but I said I’d like to work closely with him and just helping out any way I can and he was very receptive to it and so we started working overnight with him and Pat Buck had been brought in and Pat is very professional and does a great job on a lot of things so, I got working closely with Pat and then he brought us all in at Universal [Studios] during a taping and he says, ‘Guys, I really need your help. This company is going gangbusters, but I feel that I can use you in these ways’ and we said, ‘Sure’ and then the announcement was made. So it all started with a meeting at Palm Beach during a very, very over the top [NFL] owners party.
** The August 17th episode of Busted Open Radio featured Brian Gewirtz and C.J. Perry (Lana) as guests. When Gewirtz joined the show, he recounted when Vince McMahon told him that the word ‘damn’ could not be used when he saw Gewirtz write it into a promo. Gewirtz countered by saying Ron Simmons says it all the time and has a t-shirt with ‘damn’ on it.
Gewirtz: I remember getting into arguments with Vince [McMahon]. I had someone in a promo saying the word ‘damn’. He’s like, ‘Ah, you can’t say damn.’ I’m like, ‘Ron Simmons literally wears the word damn on a t-shirt and goes out there.’ You could totally say ‘damn’. We are PG, which is like the parental guidance is suggested.
Brian said he was never a major prankster in WWE, but he did rib Candice Michelle once and told her there was a plan in place for her to be presented on TV as the first WWE women’s wrestler who was born with no tongue. Gewirtz said Candice was being a team player when approached about the idea and was reluctantly game for it.
Gewirtz: I didn’t pull many wrestling ribs in my day. It’s not really my thing to do, but I did rib her when I told her — because we did all these vignettes with her, like, ‘Candice Michelle coming soon’ and these sexy, almost SHOWTIME after dark-type vignettes that were gonna debut Candice. It was during that era and I said, ‘Oh Candice, you’re gonna love this’ because Candice was friends with Jessie Ward who’s now Jessie Whitney, married to Tommaso Ciampa and they were friends from Wisconsin so I said oh, well she’s friends with Jessie so Jessie could explain this away if I go too far so I told her like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be great. We’re doing these vignettes, they are airing, you’re doing great and then when it’s finally ready to go, you’re gonna be the first diva in history born without a tongue. It’s gonna be this special thing so when you finally speak, you’ll have this hissing’ and she’s like, ‘Oh, okay.’ ‘But no, no, it’s okay Candice because eventually we’ll understand you…’ And we were going to make her into a modern-day Chewbacca and she’s such a trooper that she was, you know, just, ‘Oh, okay. That could be good, I guess’ and then I let her off the hook later that day, but I think she secretly had it pent up as I need to get back at this little bastard at some point.
During the CJ Perry portion of the show, she shared that she is directing a short action-comedy and it’ll be premiering on her website.
Perry: I’m directing a short action-comedy and that’s next month. That’s gonna also premiere on CJPerry.com.
** The reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther was interviewed on the ‘WittyWhittier’ YouTube channel. He shared that he enjoyed the empty arena setting when he was in NXT UK and feels it fit his style of wrestling.
I gotta say, for me, I gotta say I enjoyed those events we had in empty arenas. During that time, I was in NXT UK and for, I think it was at least… I’m bad with taking time spans and stuff so I would say it was at least a year, maybe a little bit more. Our shows happened in an empty building and got taped in an empty building. But I kind of liked that atmosphere, it was different and for the style I have, a very physical style in the ring, I think I benefited from that a lot too. But, to finally be back in an arena with an audience and have that feeling back is definitely, yeah, the preferred choice I would say.
When asked how his experience in WWE has been so far, he said he’s always been treated with respect and had the freedom to be himself.
It’s been very good so far [Gunther’s experience in WWE]. I signed with the company in 2019 for NXT UK and yeah, I can’t complain. It’s been really good. I’ve basically — from the person I’ve been before on the independents, I’m still myself, I’ve always been treated with respect and always had the freedom to be myself more or less and yeah, that’s the case still to this day.
** During the Bushiroad financial results briefing, company President Takaaki Kidani said he would like for NJPW and STARDOM to both gross ten billion yen in combined sales within the span of four years.
** To promote WWE’s loop of shows in Canada, Kevin Owens appeared on the TWC Show.
** The annual Summer Sonic Festival in Japan is scheduled for August 20th-21st. NJPW’s Hiromu Takahashi will serve as a special reporter at the event.
** IMPACT World Champion Josh Alexander spoke to Darren Paltrowitz.
** Generation of Wrestling has an interview with Gisele Shaw.
** Trish Adora was a guest on the PWPonderings Podcast.
** Eddie Kingston versus Stu Grayson is taking place at C4 Wrestling’s August 19th show.
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.
