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.
** Jimmy Traina welcomed Roman Reigns back onto the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast. The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion reflected on his line to Theory on Monday Night Raw in MSG where he said “Theory’s daddy”, referencing Vince McMahon, was no longer in charge. Reigns said he only ran that line past Paul Heyman. He went on to state that he has the trust of the powers that be and would never say anything that would affect WWE’s business.
Approved? I said, ‘Paul, what do you think about this?’ He said, ‘That’s great.’ I said, ‘I approve. Perfect.’ That’s our approval process right there.
No [I don’t have to go to higher-ups about a line like that], because I’m responsible and I’ve handled that responsibility for years now and they trust me and I’d never go out there and say anything that would affect our business and that’s they key and that’s — especially in the time we’re in right now with the guard shifting, it’s key that Triple H can see that in a lot of these younger people and you have seen those slip-ups, you have seen those little live conundrums happen to people out there using words and for me, if I’m Triple H or anyone running creative, I’m thinking, how can I trust these people with a live microphone? Because we [can] go out there and say whatever we want if we wanted to but that’d be the last time we ever did it so for me, I’ve just had that responsibility and I’ve taken care of it over the years.
The idea of hosting his own podcast was brought up and Reigns said he finds the idea interesting.
I think anything within all the different platforms of entertainment we have, I don’t see why not [Reigns responded when asked if he’d ever host his own podcast]. I mean, I talk for a living so why wouldn’t I wanna just sit down and have a discussion? We do these types of interviews. I’ve done several podcasts. I just haven’t been on the other side of ‘em. Obviously, they are just bs’ing, my crew or interviewing people but, I mean if you throw it to me and my cousins, we’re ready to go tomorrow. It’d probably be just ridiculous and we’d either get canceled or just people would, ‘No. These guys are idiots. No wonder they’re wrestlers and creative because they’re just big kids’ but yeah, I think anything I can continue to connect with my fans and showcase different layers, I’m definitely interested in that.
** After being released from WWE as a result of NXT UK going on hiatus and the pending launch of NXT Europe, Amir Jordan sat down with Cultaholic for an interview. He said the ‘Loser Leaves NXT UK’ match he lost on a May 2021 edition of the show was done so that he could have his shoulder operated on. Amir had been dealing with the issue since 2019. His shoulder would pop out of place and he recounted when the injury first occurred.
Yeah, that shoulder — that was difficult so, that initially actually happened at the start of 2019 and it’s on the Network actually. I’ll show you it later. You can see it. My shoulder hyperextends.
It was a baseball slide through Fabian Aichner’s legs. That’s all it was and then my arms kind of like jagged into the roof. My hand has kind of gotten stuck into the mat, my legs are obviously going that way because I’m doing the baseball slide and my arm just twisted… I subluxed my shoulder which is not a full dislocation, it’s a partial dislocation, so that’s the first time it happened and when we were out at Axxess at ‘Mania, it was against Zack Gibson where I literally, I came up off a wrist lock and then it just went again. So initially, I had to take six or seven months off to physio it. I couldn’t get surgery at that point. Long story but, I just couldn’t get surgery. Nothing to do with WWE or anything like that but it was seven months where I tried to physio it and I’ve just come back and then COVID happened so we were out for a bunch of months and then I came back and I was like, all right, let’s check this out. Hopefully it’ll be all right and it kept popping out, in and out, in and out to the point where I ended up keeping a diary of it so I subluxed my shoulder either during my matches or training outside or I think a couple of times, it happened at the gym too.
It’s like a partial dislocation which means that it’s very painful while it’s out and everyone’s shoulders and everyone’s anatomy is different too, but I think at the end, I realized if it popped out, I could put my back against the wall and kind of just use the wall’s force against me, and slip it back in so yeah, it was a bit of scary moments. Looking back at it now, that probably affected me a lot mentally because wrestling my matches not thinking about my performance but thinking about, oh, shoulder’s gonna pop out… It happened on a backslide, it happened getting thrown out the ring, do you know what I mean? It was just one of those things where I had to get through that to get to the point where I could actually get it properly fixed which happened last year so when we did the whole ‘loser leaves town’ thing’… yeah, yeah, that was [so I could get the injury taken care of] so I ended up being out for — well I had the surgery in April and I was cleared in January of this year. But again, because our tapings aren’t consistent every week, I kind of had to wait as well and that’s where a little bit, if I’m honest, a little bit of the frustration did creep in where I was like, finally gotten my shoulder fixed and all that stuff and I’m ready to go and then, it was a year which was difficult. Being out of wrestling, you know what I mean? And then trying to get into coming back as well and it was kind of a little bit like, okay, now I need wrestling every week and that’s where a little bit of the frustration and my head not being quite right.
Jordan returned to WWE under a mask as the ‘Tiger Turan’ character to taunt Kenny Williams. Jordan said the plan was for him to eventually unmask, but he thinks the feeling from the powers that be was that they could use a masked wrestler on the show.
So basically, we [Amir & WWE] were talking about me coming back and how I would come back and obviously, I had been ‘let go’ from NXT UK so then the initial idea was for me to come back in a mask and taunt Kenny Williams and eventually get to a point where we took the mask off but, obviously it didn’t end up going to that point I think. Obviously, with the way things have ended up, I think they ended up being like, well, we could do with a masked guy on the show and at the WWE, there’s that thing like, you’re there to fill a role and try and do it to the best of your ability so my thing was, all right, I’ve been given this masked guy. Let me turn it into something so I turned it into a tiger [Jordan laughed].
** Prior to the 8/24 edition of AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan returned to Busted Open Radio. He commented on the growth of TNT Champion Wardlow and his change of character. Khan said the progression Wardlow has made has been exciting to see.
He’s [Wardlow] wildly, wildly popular and it’s somebody that the fans have really rooted for-for a long time, even when it wasn’t really fashionable to do so and when they weren’t sure what kind of guy Wardlow was. I think people always suspected it was a good person in there and to see the change in his character this year and the way he’s stepped forward, it’s really exciting.
KiLynn King was in action on Dynamite against Britt Baker. Tony spoke highly of KiLynn and her work ethic.
I love KiLynn King’s wrestling and her work ethic and I think she’s a great person. She is somebody that has been in AEW and a really hard worker and has gone out in the independent scene and done a really good job and built up a reputation and then came back and had an awesome match last week with Toni Storm on Dynamite and I thought it was excellent.
** While guest appearing on El Brunch de WWE, Drew McIntyre explained why he is no longer carrying ‘Angela’ the sword with him to the ring:
She’s always there, close by [McIntyre said about the sword]. Recently, I wanted to show Roman [Reigns] and show everybody I have the sword Angela by my side for a number of reasons. It was a tribute to my mother, it was an equalizer in a lot of cases but also, I wanted to remind everybody how capable and dangerous I am without a sword and by myself. With my bare hands, I’ve beaten Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in five minutes, I’ve beaten Goldberg, I’ve beat Randy [Orton], I’ve beat A.J. [Styles], I’ve beat a who’s who of WWE superstars. I am a weapon without carrying around a weapon and I just wanted to remind everybody of that and she’ll still be there for my entrances for sure. I enjoy the pageantry and the spectacle of WWE. I love [that] the sword’s named after my mom, I love the theater of the cool warrior entrance but also, I love to remind people you should be scared of my fist more than the sword.
** Going into WWE Clash at the Castle, News18 published the written version of their conversation with Alexa Bliss. She told the publication that when she first received the name ‘Alexa Bliss’, she did not like it, but it has grown on her. Bliss recounted being told by a coach in NXT that if she got to the main roster, she would probably undergo a name change.
At first, I did not like it, but my coach at the time in NXT said he liked it. When I got the list of names that were legally cleared, there were a bunch of names and my coach came up with Alexa Bliss. He also said that I could change and they would probably change it if I made it to the main roster, but it has actually become a nice little pun. But it has really grown on me and it looks really cool on a tee shirt. As I said, I wasn’t a big fan of the name when I first got it, but now it is a part of me and a part of my identity. It also makes for a lot of good dad jokes which is great.
While discussing different match types, Bliss explained why she is not interested in participating in a ‘Beat the Clock’ challenge or a gauntlet match:
I’ve never been in a ‘Beat the clock’ challenge, and I don’t think I’d want to. Especially if you’re staying the longest or something like a gauntlet match, I don’t think I’d want to be a part of that. That is a lot. I feel I could do well in a ‘Beat the clock’ challenge as I depend on my speed a lot in my size because I’m not going to outpower someone but maybe I could outwit them. And maybe beat someone in a match before the buzzer calls time, I could probably do, but, when there’s like a gauntlet match where you face pretty much everyone on the roster and to be the last woman standing, I don’t know if I ever want to do that.
** Episode #189 of ‘Under The Ropes’ featured Nick Wayne as a guest. When Wayne turns 18 in 2023, he’ll be able to start with AEW. He listed off two sets of trios he’d like to be a part of in the company. The first included Dante Martin and Rey Fenix and the second included Bryan Danielson and Daniel Garcia.
Me and two others that I feel like would just be a crazy high-flying tag team would be me, Dante Martin and Rey Fenix I feel like would be crazy. Or, either that one, or, me, Daniel Garcia and Daniel Bryan. I don’t know how those two would be on a team together, probably not good. I’d probably be the one to have to split things apart but I feel like those two are just on another level right now. I feel like they are two of the most — especially when they wrestle each other, like the most talked about thing in pro wrestling right now.
Earlier in the conversation, Wayne heaped praise onto ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey for always being available and helpful. He recounted a match he had with Bailey and did not want Bailey to go easy on him because of his age.
So, Mike Bailey, I share a lot of locker rooms with ‘Speedball’ and he is always just the biggest helping hand to anyone and everyone. Mike Bailey, I’m not sure if those who follow his social media see that he runs certain classes at a school, he’ll run seminars around the world. Just being able to share a locker room with him, he has an amazing brain for pro wrestling and just him being there and him being able to help everyone, the young wrestlers especially is just such a grateful thing that we have, that we can know that we can always talk to ‘Speedball’ whenever we need something. If we ever need critiques, you know, Mike Bailey, he’s watched your match. You don’t even gotta ask him, ‘Speedball, did you watch my match?’ He watches the entire show. An amazing helping hand to everyone in professional wrestling, in the locker room. But I did face ‘Speedball’ for a Prestige versus West Coast Pro show in San Francisco and that was one of the — it was an insane match. Everything you see of Mike Bailey and everything you would… everything he does or you see in the ring, he does in every match so going into the match, I knew, I was like, oh gosh, there’s gonna be the moonsault double knees, there’s gonna be his double knees and there’s gonna be a lot of chest kicks and I was mentally prepared for it going into the day. I was ready to get ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey. I didn’t want him to go — ‘not easy’ on me because I know ‘Speedball’ would never go easy on anyone but I didn’t want him to treat me a certain way because of my age and he didn’t. He gave me ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, the same one that he gives everyone else.
** NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Trevor Murdoch was interviewed by Comicbook.com. He told the site about his history with WWE’s Ciampa and both being trained by the late Harley Race. Murdoch shared that prior to Ciampa getting an opportunity with NXT, he was contemplating undergoing knee surgery or not and Murdoch suggested that Ciampa get the surgery to get it out of the way.
Ciampa’s got a no nonsense idea about pro wrestling. He’s very confident and he’s right in his thinking that this is how pro wrestling is supposed to be. Every time he goes out there, it doesn’t matter if he’s out there for 3 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, he works his a– off for every ounce of that. It’s a Harley Race quality that he instilled in us. And he’s tough as nails. I remember a long time ago before he got his NXT opportunity, he was having some knee issues and he was like, ‘Do I go get the knee surgery now? Or do I wait?’ And I said, ‘Get it now. Get it out of the way so you can get moving forward.’ And thankfully, he did. And now we’re talking about him today and sky’s the limit for him on Raw.
** ‘Smart’ Mark Sterling was the latest guest to join Aubrey Edwards and Tony Schiavone on AEW Unrestricted. He spoke highly of the first Create A Pro Wrestling academy class that included himself, MJF, Kris Statlander, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens among others. Sterling feels they all owe each other for their respective success in pro wrestling.
I just so happened to be next to one of the greatest wrestling schools in America and then the other thing too is that first class at Create A Pro: Max Caster, Kristen Statlander, MJF, myself, Bear Bronson, Anthony Bowens was in New Jersey so affiliated with us, Bear Boulder also. That was our first class among other people, with Brian Myers and Pat Buck who you heard his story a couple weeks ago on this podcast, trained by literally the best so I think part of the reason — and you got these two great trainers. We call them mom and dad. Brian’s the mom, Pat’s the dad. He’s a little nicer. You got the good cop, bad cop situation. We all pushed each other. We’re seeing what’s working for him, we’re seeing what’s working for her. ‘Well he got booked there so we gotta get booked there’ and it was like all of us helping each other with training, extra training but also pushing each other, driving with each other. It was a hell of a group and I think, sort of, we all owe each other any of our success. That’s my opinion.
** There’s a video on the ‘Insider’ YouTube channel with Shelton Benjamin rating wrestling scenes in movies. As the video went on, Benjamin recounted asking John Cena how he got better at doing promos. Benjamin went on to express how important personality is in wrestling.
I started with John Cena and I remember asking him, how did you get so good at what we call cutting promos? And John said, ‘I basically just sit at home all day and talk to myself in the mirror’ and that’s a part of wrestling I think a lot of aspiring wrestlers don’t get. They assume it’s the moves, it’s never the moves. I’ve seen a million elbow drops, but for some reason, when I see the Macho Man does it, it’s something special. It’s the personalities that surround all these moves. The moves are actually secondary.
** On September 3rd, New Japan’s Great-O-Khan is going to be competing for Pro Wrestling NOAH. He’ll be teaming with NOSAWA Rongai and The Great Muta in a six-man tag. Tokyo Sports asked O-Khan about his upcoming NOAH debut and he responded in-character.
Ah, that’s the hard part of being a popular wrestler, isn’t it? If it suits me, I would like to form an alliance with Muta and have him serve as my second in New Japan, Muta’s home.
** New York Post has a feature story about Ric Flair’s cannabis line, ‘Ric Flair Drip’. Flair stated that if the venture is as lucrative as Chad Bronstein, President and Chairman of Fyllo, says it is then he’ll be a hard person to get a hold of and the prices for his autograph and picture are going up.
If everything Chad Bronstein has told me comes even remotely close to being true, I will be a hard camper to find. It will cost twice as much for my autograph. It will cost three times as much for my picture. I will have a boat bigger than this 85-foot yacht sitting outside my apartment right now. I will be sent off the coast of whichever country where I want to be. The boat will have a small boat that can go 90 miles an hour tied up to it to play around with. And I will be surrounded by attractive women.
** On top of the September 5th and 6th dates, New Japan Pro-Wrestling will be allowing vocal crowd noise for their October 16th and November 2nd shows. The seating at the venues will be 50 percent of the normal capacity.
** TMZ has photos of former WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon out with John Cena for his 77th birthday.
** The latest Perched On The Top Rope podcast included a chat with The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson).
** In the September 8th edition of ‘Shukan Jitsuwa’ magazine, there’s an interview with Yuji Nagata.
** Mickie James, Lisa Marie Varon and SoCal Val welcomed Taylor Wilde onto GAW TV.
** FOX News did a piece on Rey Mysterio to promote his ‘Biography’ episode on A&E.
** Maven guest appeared on The Bob Culture Podcast.
** To promote NWA 74, TSC News spoke to the organization’s lead commentator, Joe Galli.
** Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake and Greg Valentine are scheduled for Highlands Pop Con on 9/10 in Ashland, Kentucky.
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.
