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.
** At the Logan Paul versus Roman Reigns press conference, The Sporting News caught up with Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque. He was asked about multi-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard and his potential future with WWE. Levesque explained that all Howard has to do is reach out and has to be willing to put in the work like a Bad Bunny, Logan Paul and Tyson Fury.
I think the ball’s in his court [Levesque said about Dwight Howard possibly coming into WWE]. It’s funny, Dwight, in the conversations we had, he was like, ‘I really wanna do this. I’m serious, I really wanna do this.’ But we hear that a lot and there’s a difference between saying I want to do this and putting in the grind and doing the work to get there. Came by our tryouts in Nashville, was incredibly entertaining, jumping in promos by himself and then with others. Incredibly entertaining, really driven to want to do this. It’s just a matter for him — he’s got a lot of things going on, right? So when he says, hey, I wanna give this a shot, he’s got my phone number. All he’s gotta do is call me and we’ll see what can happen and if he’s willing to put in the grind and the drive that guys like Logan Paul and Bad Bunny and Tyson Fury are willing to put in then, let’s go.
On the Tyson Fury front, Levesque thinks Fury is ready to get back in the ring, whether that be boxing or pro wrestling. He selfishly wants Fury to come work with WWE again but also wants to see what else he can do in boxing.
I think Tyson Fury is chomping at the bit to get in the ring. The question is what ring will he get into? Is it going to be the boxing ring? Is it going to be the WWE ring? We were just together in Cardiff, we had a long talk about it. He’s as enamored as ever, is wanting to do this with us. I think he knows he’s got a few big fights left in him in the boxing world. I think he’s gonna capitalize on those fights as you are hearing. Talks about [Oleksandr] Usyk, talks about Anthony Joshua. You know, selfishly, I want him to come work with us. Also selfishly, I wanna see those fights so, I hope he knocks those out and I hope he stays interested because I do think with the dedication and the drive that he had to do what we do, I think he could do something special with us as well.
** While on Barstool’s Rasslin’ podcast, MJF recounted doing extra work for WWE and them using him as a test canvas for the ‘Demon’ paint that Finn Balor was going to use. MJF then shared that he ran into John Cena as the paint was smudged over him.
I met him [John Cena] one time. It was back in the day, I was 18. I was doing extra work for WWE and they wanted to paint me up like Finn Balor because they were trying to figure out what his paint should look like for the show. So they painted me up, they took a photo of me. Finn Balor comes into the room, he’s like, ‘Yeah, this is good’ and I was like, this is wild. What a wild concept interaction. Couldn’t you guys have done like a mock drawing, a cartoon? I was quite literally the paint dummy for Finn Balor. Now I’d imagine I probably make a lot more money but it’s fine. It’s not important. Finn’s a great guy. Finn’s a great guy. So, I leave the room and I wash off as much of it as I can but obviously I’m doing extra work so I showed up in a suit so the only other thing I was wearing were dress pants and dress shoes and then my upper[body], I’m not wearing anything and there’s just smudged paint on me. Basically, I looked like Darby Allin and you never wanna look like Darby Allin, ever! So obviously Cena looked at me and he was like, ‘Interesting. Interesting choice of clothes’ and I said, ‘Thank you John’ and I walked away and that was our interaction… It was good, it was good.
** Ahead of his in-ring debut at AEW Rampage Grand Slam, Action Bronson joined Busted Open Radio and said he’s open to continue wrestling after Grand Slam if someone wants to give him the opportunity.
You know, at this point in my life, I love so many different things that it fits into my whole being. This is my being. It’s just kind of meant to be at this point and if someone wants to give me a shot, I’m more than willing to take it [Bronson said about the idea of wrestling past AEW Grand Slam].
** The idea of doing another match was brought up to Sean ‘X-Pac’ Waltman while doing a virtual signing for K & S WrestleFest. He said if he’s going to wrestle again, it’ll have to be a big deal such as appearing in the Royal Rumble match.
It’s hard for me to answer a question like that [who he would like to face if he had more one more match]. I’m not in the frame of mind, like where I’m at physically… [to] wrap my head around it. Especially after the last couple of matches I had this year. It’s just, man, we get old.
I can’t walk the next day after I do sh*t like that though [what X-Pac of old would do in the ring]. So if I get back in the ring again, it’s gotta be a pretty big deal. It’s gonna be something big like the Royal Rumble or something like that. No [it’s not gonna be a random appearance]. I’m f*cking done with that.
He was later asked if he’d consider taking a job behind the scenes with WWE under this new regime. Waltman explained that he has a good groove going in his life and a good relationship with WWE. He does not want to bring stress and/or frustration into that and isn’t sure the company could pay him enough to be on the road. He did not want to comment on Vince McMahon no longer being Chairman and CEO of WWE.
If they really thought they needed me, yeah [I would take a behind the scenes job with WWE]. If my friend asked me, ‘Hey man, we could really use your help with this,’ I wouldn’t say no but I just don’t see where I’m this f*cking creative genius that’s just gonna go in there and f*cking, you know, bring some… me personally, I was that way years ago. That was years ago man. We need cool people. We need young, fresh minds that know what the f*ck is hip. I learn from young people, so I don’t need to be… I don’t know. I’d like to think I’m self-aware enough to know I’m not… here’s the thing man, I have a real nice balance in my life right now and I have a nice relationship with WWE and f*cking everyone for that matter as far as I’m concerned and I don’t wanna f*ck that up. I don’t wanna go and become unhappy and have to bring that sh*t home with me and be stressed out and traveling that much, and I don’t know if they could pay me enough for that type of thing to make it worth it. I don’t know what that kind of job pays around there now. I can’t imagine it being more than I get by doing these… Anyways, I hope I answered your question and the second part, I’m not commenting on any of that [change of power in WWE].
Waltman co-hosted the ‘Pro Wrestling 4 Life’ podcast and he explained that he stopped doing it because if he has critiques for his colleagues, he’ll give it to them directly. He mentioned that after being asked did he have any thoughts about the reported physical altercation involving CM Punk, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson).
Absolutely not [I do not want to give my take on the CM Punk/Omega/Bucks situation] … I don’t do that anymore. I don’t give my hot takes on sh*t anymore. That’s why I quit my f*cking podcast. I’m serious too. If I have any critiques for my fellow colleagues, I will do it them directly. Not blast it out for f*cking masses to hear. Regardless [if my words get twisted or not]. I would appreciate it if they did that with me.
Earlier this year, Waltman got back in the ring for Game Changer Wrestling. In one of those bouts, he teamed with Joey Janela to take on Matt Cardona and Brian Myers. He said Cardona and Myers were the perfect people to work with for his return match.
They [Matt Cardona & Brian Myers] were the perfect people to work with. That’s one of the most valuable guys out there [Cardona]. He’s a really good guy too.
** During edition #13 of the Café De René livestream, Brian Pillman Jr. joined the show and as the conversation rolled on, Pillman Jr. shared that he pitched the idea of a second-generation stable in AEW.
I pitched something similar to that including all of the second-generation wrestlers in the company [AEW]. I think it would make for a great storyline and a potential faction to have us all involved but you know, that’s just an idea.
He mentioned that he’s often heard he should take on his father’s ‘Loose Cannon’ persona. He understands why people see that in him and thinks his take on something like that would be interesting but added that the exact same thing his father did is not going to work today.
Yeah, I hear that a lot. I get that all the time [that he should take on his father’s ‘Loose Cannon’ persona]. But, I understand why people see that in me. Obviously, I look like him and I could probably pull off something similar but I’m also a very creative person and I think people will be surprised when they see my own take on something like that. I think I could do something even better or even more creative just because of the technology we have today and just how the industry’s different. Whatever my dad did back then is not gonna work today. The exact same thing is not gonna work so you gotta find out what’ll work today and what type of content and what type of character would really turn some heads today. But yeah, I do think there’s something on the horizon that I’m working on so…
** For episode #139 of the Insiders Edge Podcast, Larry Zbyszko joined the show and told the story of when he had a match with Ivan Putski and a riot broke out. It resulted in Larry being stabbed in the rear end with a knife and needing to get a tetanus shot. The situation escalated when Putski fought a fan over a comment about his height.
They [fans] really hated me and we’d be in arenas and there would be riots and it wasn’t like today where there’s big barriers all set up and the audiences are smart and a different mindset. But back then, I was in a match with [Ivan] Putski and me and him were wrestling and there was one guy — everybody hated me but one guy for some reason hated Putski and he was yelling things like, ‘Hey Putski! Your mother’s really ugly.’ Putski kept wrestling and didn’t do anything. Then the guy made another comment about, ‘Hey Putski! I slept with your sister!’ Something stupid. Putski didn’t care. We just kept wrestling. Then the guy says, ‘Hey Putski! You’re short’ so Putski loses his mind, jumps out of the ring and starts punching this fan in the front row and you got a couple security guys stop him so he’s coming back in the ring so I said to myself, well, this is the perfect time to really, you know, get the fans. So when Putski was coming back in the ring, I gave him a low blow and the ref wasn’t looking and pinned him, one, two, three and there was a riot that broke out. People were jumping the ring trying to get me and I jumped out the other side of the ring trying to get back to the dressing room and one of the secrets was during a riot, if you act crazy, people would have second thoughts of coming at you because they don’t know what’s going on. It’s not normal and I’m going down and all of sudden, I feel boom. This thing hits me on top of the head and I turned around to hit somebody that’s hit me with something and it was like an 80-year-old guy that hit me on top of the head with one of his crutches and after he hit me, he lost his balance and fell over on the floor. So I didn’t do nothing. I just start acting crazy, going back to the dressing room and then all of a sudden, it felt like someone kicked me in the butt and I turn around and the cops grab some guy and I made it back to the dressing room and Arnold Skaaland’s sitting there playing [a game] with André [The Giant] and he said, ‘Hey, how’d it go? It sounded good’ and I went, ‘Yeah, that was a good match. People went nuts’ and then I said, ‘Something kicked me. It felt like they gave me a good charley horse’ and I put my hand back near my butt and I felt this thing, I pulled it out and it was a knife blade about this long. I don’t know if you ever saw ‘em but the Japanese had these wooden knives. They were skinny and one piece of the wood, the blade would go on the longer piece of wood, you know, so it wasn’t like a Bowie knife. But when I turned to hit the guy, it broke the blade off in my ass. The scariest shot was going into the emergency room to get a tetanus shot because you didn’t know what infection you were gonna get there but yeah, I got stabbed there, I got shot at, my cars were smashed. I used to have to hide in people’s trunks and be driven into the arena in someone’s trunk so they wouldn’t know I was there. Good ole days.
** There is a lengthy feature about Hiroshi Tanahashi on the Mainichi Shimbun site. They dove into how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Tanahashi feels that he is going to go down in history as the man who helped revive New Japan twice coming out of bleak situations.
I will go down in history as the man who revived New Japan Pro-Wrestling twice.
Looking back on the early COVID period of wrestling, Tanahashi said all the excitement New Japan built up was reduced to nothing with one blow. He added that he was depressed during that time but has found a reason to get reenergized again.
After all the excitement we had built up over the years, we felt like we had been reduced to nothing with a single blow. I was really depressed. But now I have found a reason to try again.
** Back in June, David Finlay made his AEW debut and took on Hangman Adam Page on Dynamite. Finlay chatted with NJPW1972.com and said he was informed of the opportunity several days prior. He’d like to run it back with Hangman.
I really enjoyed it, it was really cool. It was my first time, doing like big time American TV wrestling. So uh, it was cool to get the opportunity to do that. I got the call from the office like three days before, ‘Hey, there’s an offer for you to wrestle Hangman Page, do you wanna do it?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ No hesitation. He beat me unfortunately but I’d like to run that back with him.
At the conclusion of the ongoing ‘Burning Spirit’ tour, Finlay is challenging Will Ospreay for the IWGP U.S Heavyweight Championship. Finlay commented on the title being somewhat snake bitten with the injuries to champions and the title being vacated. Finlay said he’s in perfect health and there will be no issue with him having to defend the belt consistently.
I mean you say that but I feel like we’re still at risk, because Ospreay’s kidneys were failing him a couple months ago. Anything can happen, it feels like that title is a little snake bit. But rest assured, I am in perfect health, there’s nothing you need to worry about there. I’ll defend it every single time.
As for the lineage, I hope that Ospreay is 100 percent. I know I said I hope he’s burning the candle at both ends, but I want the Ospreay that was in the G1 Climax finals against Okada. That’s the guy I want to beat. I don’t want some medical problem to come up and have a match against someone who didn’t deserve a title shot and say, ‘Oh, well, who’s gonna be the champion?’ No. I wanna beat the champion. I feel like I want it to be undeniable, definitive, I am the champion.
** Following his appearance at All Japan Pro Wrestling’s 50th Anniversary show, Stan Hansen was interviewed by Tokyo Sports. He commented on being the ‘special witness’ for the main event bout between Kento Miyahara and Suwama for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Title.
It was a pleasure to come to Japan for the first time in three years and witness a great match at the Nippon Budokan, which holds fond memories for me. I was honored that the fans remembered me and my signature pose. The longhorn pose is like my trademark.
This was the first time I saw a match live [of Miyahara’s], and I felt he had a lot of potential and I was very impressed. I think he will become an even better wrestler if he absorbs the good points of the Four Heavenly Kings, such as Kenta Kobashi and Toshiaki Kawada, as well as various other wrestlers, and establishes his own style. Of course, his opponent Suwama was also a good wrestler.
During the match, Suwama went up to Hansen and called him out. Hansen joked about that and said sometimes, you must buy a fight that’s being sold to you.
Well, nothing happened [when Suwama approached me] (laughs). There are times when you have to buy a fight that has been sold to you.
If Stan could offer any advice to members of the All Japan roster, it’s to have respect for their own wrestling style along with keeping up with the historical and traditional Japanese style without being too influenced by others.
I want to tell them to respect their own wrestling style. It is important to keep up with the historical and traditional Japanese wrestling style without being influenced by American style or other styles. The Japanese style that Antonio Inoki, Giant Baba and myself have been doing is the best in the world.
** At NXT Worlds Collide, Ricochet went one-on-one with Carmelo Hayes. He told Steve Fall on the NBC Sports ‘Ten Count’ podcast that he thinks Hayes should be on WWE’s main roster.
I mean, yeah [Carmelo Hayes should be on Raw or SmackDown]. I think Carmelo Hayes could really be Raw, SmackDown, NXT. I think everywhere he goes, he’s going to show out and show why he belongs there so I mean, I don’t see why not. I don’t see why he couldn’t be. If Solo’s walking around here doing everything, I don’t see why Melo can’t be doing the same thing.
** To promote Monday Night Raw in her hometown of San Jose, California, Bayley appeared on ABC 7 News and touched on how her injury in 2021 further showed her how important her family and friends are.
It [injury in 2021] also showed me how important my friends and family were, just being able to be home during that time. Now to have them all there [at Raw] after this injury is going to be crazy.
** New York Post ran their interview with Taz and he stated that it was during his third training session with HOOK that he knew his son had something unique within him when it comes to pro wrestling.
** Former ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham is scheduled for GCW shows on 10/8, 10/9, 10/22, 10/23 and 11/20.
** Flash Entertainment, who worked with WWE to bring live events to Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2014 and 2015 has officially set up a headquarters in Riyadh.
** Eddie Kingston versus Naomichi Marufuji from House of Glory’s 8/28 event has been added to the WRESTLE UNIVERSE streaming service.
** NWA’s Cyon, Natalia Markova and Bryan Idol were a part of the video for The Smashing Pumpkins’ single titled ‘Beguiled’.
** On 9/29, Chris Hero is going to be doing a seminar at the Freelance Wrestling Academy in Northbrook, Illinois.
** At Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s ‘Wrestle Princess III’ show on 10/9, Aja Kong is teaming with Raku and Pom Harajuku to take on Max The Impaler, Yuki Aino and Rika Tatsumi.
** September 20th birthdays: Ethan Page, Arn Anderson.
** There’s a story about John Silver on NY Sports Day.
** EC3 was a guest on The Tyrus and Timpf Podcast.
** At MCW’s ‘Ladies Night’ event, Dye Sporting Network interviewed both Melina and Trish Adora.
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.
