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.
** On November 13th in Dubai, Bobby Fish will be making his pro boxing debut against the 2-3 Boateng Prempeh. Fish detailed how the opportunity came to be while on The Undisputed Podcast.
I got a message from a friend of mine who’s not related to boxing at all. He’s actually a friend of mine who lives in the U.K. and he mentioned that there was a friend of his that was trying to get ahold of me and then, so, he linked the two of us together. This gentleman and I spoke and he was the one that said, ‘Yeah, these guys want you in a boxing match. They are in Dubai. The fight would be in Dubai and yeah, they’re a fan of your stuff’ and I’m thinking to myself, okay, my stuff? None of my stuff includes boxing. There’s been kickboxing in there for sure but not actual boxing, and I would like and have wanted to get another amateur kickboxing or MMA fight in before the wheels fall of this wagon and I was gonna do it for an amateur fight, it would be free, right? So when this came along [boxing fight against Boateng Prempeh], even though I would prefer to do MMA or kickboxing, this is professional so, yeah, it’s a different kind of opportunity. We’ll be going to Dubai for a week. I’ve never been to Dubai. I mean that’s not why I’m doing it of course but yeah, everything just seemed to make a lot of sense. I got my agent Andy involved and he’s kind of taken care of things, continues to help take care of things. I spoke with one of my trainers at The Jungle MMA and Fitness and he said he’s in and I was like, ‘All right. Then we’re good.’ My wife was on board and really, that’s all I needed. If my wife’s good with it, my agent can sort out the details and I have a coach that I’ve known who’s coached me for — not for a fight yet but that I’ve worked with Muay Thai for I don’t know, since I’ve moved to Florida so four years. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m in. Let’s go.’ It’s happening.
Fish has trained in Muay Thai and kickboxing. He said it is difficult not using his feet and shared that his coach joked that if he does throw a kick in the fight, at least they’ll get some press from it.
[Bobby Fish laughs] Yes. That’s the thing too. Sometimes you get into movement and whatnot and then you gain the angle and you have the angle [to kick someone]. When you have the angle, you have a few different targets and it’s hard to resist just kicking somebody in the leg… and my coach said, ‘Well, you know, if you rifle one,’ he goes, ‘You’re gonna get disqualified but, we’ll probably get some press out of it.’ But no, it’s been good. It’s a pretty easy transition so far.
** IMPACT World Champion Josh Alexander joined Brian Hebner on his Refin’ It Up podcast. Alexander opened up about his past suicide attempts that stemmed from him being bullied in school. He spoke about how he goes about teaching his own how to deal with comments that may not sit well with them.
I was bullied most of my life. If I wasn’t the fat kid in class, I was the poor kid in class or I was the smelly kid in class because I didn’t have the nicest shoes, the nicest shirts and all this other stuff. I dealt with it all my life. I tried to commit suicide when I was in grade seven. I tried again six months later. I think I’ve talked about that before pretty openly and you know, it’s just — I don’t think there’s anything you’re gonna do about bullying, I really don’t. I think it’s always gonna be there. I think it’s even worse now with social media and all this other stuff. Not just with people and their ability to comment and say anything they want to you anonymously which will also eat away at you. I think people have to learn and this is something that I’m gonna have to deal with-with my own sons is you’re gonna have to learn you can’t take any of this stuff to heart. This is just — I don’t know what it was with me. Something clicked eventually when I was, what is it? My freshman year of high school, I was wearing a wrestling shirt to class, he wore a wrestling shirt to class and I started at a new school and immediately, we became best friends and the second I met him, all these thoughts of committing suicide and not wanting to be alive anymore because I was alone and all this other stuff. I finally had somebody I could talk to about all these problems and I think that’s the big issue. I think a lot of people feel they have nowhere to go. Sure, your parents love you but you don’t want to tell them these things you’re going through… It’s just all about finding somebody to be in your life that can, you know, listen to you and I was lucky enough to do that and there’s always somebody out there for somebody. There’s always somebody out there willing to listen. It’s just being open enough to find that person.
Looking back on the Iron Man match with TJP for the X Division Title, Alexander dove into how things got chippy between the two. Josh gave TJP a slap that popped his ear drum and TJP reacted by delivering four hard slaps to Alexander. He laughed when he said if a fifth came, he would have went after TJP. Alexander added that it was all respect in the end and the physicality just got turned up.
That was just me and him pushing each other, trying to wake each other up, trying to elevate the match a little bit [Alexander recalled him & TJP turning the physicality up in their Iron Man match], and that’s the thing, you can hit me as hard as you want. You hit me in the face, I’m not gonna care. I might curse or something a little bit because it stings. That’s just me amping myself up and that’s all it is man. It’s just two guys playing off each other trying to amp each other up.
The easter egg from that match that you really wanna know is in the tree of woe right before we went to extra time, I’m stuck in a tree of woe and T.J. sits in front of me and I slap him and I’m upside down. I am really accurate with my strikes. But, I’m upside down so when I slap him, I’m off and I slap him right in the ear and pop his ear drum. T.J. gets real hyped up and slaps the sh*t out of me like six times in a row and I’m helpless in a tree of woe and he hits me in the bone in the eye and that’s when my eye’s shut and he hit me — I said six times but maybe like four times and the first three, I was like, okay, one more. If he gives me one more after this, I’m gonna f*cking kill him. I’m gonna get off turnbuckle and I’m just gonna kill him and he stopped thankfully but, yeah, that was one of those moments where I cuffed him in the ear and in my head I went, sh*t, I know it’s coming. Here we go. Okay, go and he just bop, bop, bop, bop and he’s my boy so I don’t care.
Alexander is a two-time tag champion in IMPACT alongside Ethan Page. Page is now in AEW and recently shared that he agented his first match in the company. Alexander knows Page is going to be good at it and added that he can see himself in that role post-in-ring career as well.
Yeah [I could see myself becoming an agent]. I see myself now, especially since I’ve made it to a point in my career where I’ve made it on television for a company like this. But I see what agents and producers have to do. That’s something that I would love to do after I’m physically incapable of wrestling because part of this — the reason I think Ethan Page is gonna be so good at it — if he isn’t already regarded as being good at it from the first time he did it — he’s very creative and that’s the one thing we always had in common in The North is that we get our juice from putting together matches and having to go out there when you have those spots or whatever put together and you see how the crowd clicks with that and that idea just catches fire, right? And that’s something that we really enjoy about the pro wrestling thing and I think that’s something that agents and producers really help with because you have the basic structure of whatever match you wanna put on television but you also wanna lead these other people through it that are actually conducting this stuff physically so it’s a way that I’m gonna be able to get the juice out of the business after I’m physically incapable of doing it.
At last year’s Bound For Glory event, Alexander had a short-lived run as IMPACT World Champion because Moose used the Call Your Shot Gauntlet trophy to get a title match and bested Alexander. When asked about that moment, Josh said he’s always been of the old school mindset that he is paid to do a job. He added that he had to trust the powers that be in IMPACT but added that there was a part of him that thought about the reaction to his win being so good that the ending was reconsidered.
When you first hear about it, you’re like, okay, this is the plan. This is what I went into knowing that was the plan [Alexander said about losing IMPACT World Title to Moose at Bound For Glory 2021] but there’s part of me thinking, you know, what if I get over so much, they change the plan. That’d be cool. To have this feel-good story and all this other stuff but then, all that stuff happens and for me, I’m very old school in the sense of like, I’m getting paid to do a job. I go there, I punch my ticket, I do my job as well as I can, I punch my ticket, I go home and that’s all I did with the Bound For Glory thing. I was hopeful that things could get better or whatever it was but I just had to trust the writing team and the bosses at IMPACT because those are the people I’m working for and that’s what I had to do.
Circling back to the 2020 Bound For Glory pay-per-view, Josh and Ethan Page won the IMPACT World Tag Titles. Josh said he was surprised because it was clear that Page was planning to depart IMPACT. He knew well in advance about Page’s plan to leave the company.
I honestly didn’t expect to win the titles again at Bound For Glory [2020], because I knew that Ethan Page’s intent was to leave IMPACT. It was already kind of signed, sealed and delivered, you know what I mean? And I knew that my contract was longer than his and all this other stuff so I would be left in this state of limbo, not knowing where my career was gonna go. So I was preparing for that and he was preparing for that and then they ended up putting the championships on us again which, you know, worked in a way so that we could help elevate The Good Brothers and hand the titles over to them in a different match but, you know, it’s just like television wrestling man. It’s all storyline stuff. But we were definitely prepared for it. I knew well in advance because my relationship with Ethan, what his intentions were.
The topic of dream matches came up and Alexander listed names such as GUNTHER, Sheamus, Shingo Takagi, Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay as talents he hopes to wrestle before his in-ring career is over.
If you talk about AEW [matches I would like to have], I think Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson are at the top of the list. If you talk about New Japan, Will Ospreay and Shingo [Takagi] and [Kazuchika] Okada are right up there with my personal bucket list matches that I need to have happen before I stop wrestling. WWE, there’s a ton of people at WWE I’d wanna work with. Most notably, probably, you know, the Sheamus’ and the GUNTHERS just for how hard-hitting it would be or Drew McIntyres but, there’s a ton of talent throughout this whole wrestling industry right now that I’d love to work with. It’s just, you know, whether or not it happens is a different thing and I can’t stress about those kind of things.
** While speaking to Comicbook.com, Chris Jericho commented on the “growing pains” in AEW when asked about everything that has happened in the last month-and-a-half. Jericho stated that himself, Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson are the captains of the team.
It’s just that we’re a growing company. You know what I mean? When I worked in WCW, it’d been around for 50 years. When I worked for WWF, it had been around for 60 years. We’ve been around for three years, so there’s always going to be growing pains. And that’s why somebody like myself and Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley, we are the captains of the team. It’s like a football team or a soccer team or a hockey team.
And there’s always going to be little dips and dots in any company, in any locker room of any type of sport. It’s just the way it is. So you just deal with it. And the funny thing is, everyone’s got an opinion when they’re online and the social media and all that stuff. We know what’s really happening and we know, sure there are things you got to fix, but the positivity in our company is off the charts and the optimism of where we’re going over the next few years is also off the charts. So it’s very exciting and the fact we just had our third year anniversary is huge because we never knew. We never knew if we would have one anniversary. So, there’s growing pains, it’s just the way it is and that’s okay. That’s what I’m here for and we’re taking care of the issues and focusing more on the positives, which are 98% to two.
** The last time that Rosa Mendes wrestled was in 2018. She told D.S. Shin of Ring The Belle that she would return to WWE for a Royal Rumble appearance if the payout was donated to a charity of her choice.
Okay, so, I said that I wasn’t gonna do it and then I thought about it but I would do it for charity [return to in-ring action for the Royal Rumble]. I would do it if Vince [McMahon] or WWE offered me this really good amount and offered [it] to a charity of my choice for a good cause and I would do it for that. Yeah, and I’d give that whole check to them.
During an episode of WWE Main Event in 2014, Rosa’s trunks were pulled down in a tag match. This left her backside exposed and she recounted Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque and former Head of Talent Relations Mark Carrano being upset. Rosa said she immediately started crying because she had never seen them that angry, but it was Layla El who took the brunt of the verbal backlash.
So, I did not know that-that was gonna happen [wardrobe malfunction on WWE Main Event]. I had taped — we all tape our stuff and it’s very well taped. This was toupée tape by the way and because it sticks, you know? And we wanna make sure our gear stays on and when you pull someone, you’re supposed to pull [out], not [down]. But, I felt so bad because she [Layla El] got in a lot of trouble. I didn’t think she meant it. You’re in a match, your heart is racing, there’s a crowd, adrenaline. So I’ll tell you a funny inside thing. I was like, wow, my bump must have looked so good because the whole crowd went, ‘Whaaaa!!’ And I was like, ah, look at that pop and then I didn’t know what happened. So I get in the back and like Triple H and Mark Carrano and everyone looks red and angry so I just start — because I’ve never seen them that angry before — so I just start crying, like right when I got back because I think that they had thought that we planned it because I think that is a planned kind of thing in certain matches in the indies or whatever where it’s like a spot and this was not planned and so, she got yelled at, I got yelled at but I’m like, ‘Literally, I did not know’ and then she got really yelled at and then so I said, ‘Listen, we didn’t plan this’ and it was all taken care of after but… yeah [the Total Divas producers probably liked it] and then we did a story about it after and then we did a weird scene on Total Divas that was really weird.
When Rosa was in developmental, she said she disrespected a well-respected talent, but was not aware of this individual’s status because she did not watch wrestling. As a result of her actions, Rosa ended up being ribbed quite often.
I was a loudmouth [in developmental] and I didn’t know that you had to respect certain people and you know, obviously you respect everyone but there’s certain things you do in wrestling before you start to be loud and voice your opinions so I was very what you would call disrespectful when I first came there because I didn’t think before I spoke. I would just say it and I disrespected a very important, very, very, very well-respected wrestler and I didn’t know because I didn’t watch wrestling really so I didn’t know who exactly and I had so much heat I was on fire and so, they would prank me. They would put my boots over the pipes before I would come out so I would have to come out with just tights on, like the tights, no shoes and they would put mustaches on my posters. They ribbed me so much, but they ribbed me because I would react.
As the conversation continued, Rosa spoke highly of Trinity Fatu (Naomi). She talked about how easy it was to wrestle Fatu because she was giving.
She [Naomi] is a dream to work with, that girl. What makes her good is that she’s a giver. I feel like some matches, people wanna beat you up and I always agree with everything because I’m super nice and like, ‘Who cares?’ You know, whatever. I love being out just performing but she knew that she would get more over if she gave something. So if I hit her back a little bit, if I made the match look close, it would put her over and I think a lot of wrestlers, they think, okay, so I’m just gonna beat this person up and I’m gonna look really tough. Well, but you beat up somebody that’s not even strong but if you beat up somebody that looks strong for all you workers out there, that makes you look tougher so give. If you’re a babyface, let the heel do really crappy things to you so you can look awesome and be the hero at the end. It’s hero versus villain, you know?
** At the conclusion of WWE Extreme Rules, Bray Wyatt made his return. When asked about the moment on her gaming stream, Ronda Rousey expressed how excited she was and recalled walking past Wyatt in Gorilla Position. She added that if Rob Fee, Director of Long-term Creative had anything to do with that then she’s excited for the future.
Well actually, Põ [Rousey’s daughter] was kind enough to be asleep when I was done wrestling [at Extreme Rules]. So, I could actually sit and watch the rest of the card and then right as Bray [Wyatt] was coming out, my mom comes with Põ because I guess she woke up and I was trying to have her around the screen, like keep her happy because I knew — because I saw Bray go past me from Gorilla into there and I was like, ‘Ahh!’ So I knew he was about to come out before he came out so I wanted to see it and Põ was losing patience, but she stuck it out until the show was over so it was pretty awesome and I just the way that Triple H is doing things and if that is new — that new Creative Director [Rob Fee] that has the horror background that had something to do with that, I am very excited for the future.
** Back in June, Ali Mattox was one of 15 names announced as a part of WWE’s N.I.L. class. She was interviewed by WMC Action News 5 as WWE kicked off their Campus Rush tour. She initially thought WWE wanted her to be a ring girl.
I thought that they wanted me to be a ring girl, and then I thought, WWE does not have ring girls. I had the opportunity to go to WrestleMania in Dallas. I actually got to watch them in the WWE tryouts and that’s when it really clicked for me and how similar dance and wrestling actually is.
** There’s an interview on Peter Rosenberg’s YouTube channel with Solo Sikoa. As he was talking about being part of The Bloodline, Solo said prior to Clash at the Castle, he had not seen Roman Reigns in-person in 20 years. He added that they were not as close growing up because of the age difference but they’ve been getting closer since he joined the main roster.
Man, you know, seeing Roman [Reigns] in Cardiff, I haven’t seen him for like over 20 years but I haven’t — we really weren’t close [growing up] but he was always around at our house playing with my brothers because they were the same age and I was way, way younger than them but, he was always, always around our house but I think now coming into the business, I’m starting to get close with him, even though the age gap is there. I’m really starting to get close with him, because it’s big uce Roman Reigns. He’s been running this game for a while now and so, I’m starting to form that relationship with him.
** While speaking to Steve Fall on NBC Sports’ Ten Count podcast, Kimber Lee reflected on being part of the Monster’s Ball match at Knockouts Knockdown. She went over that match being a tribute to the late Shannon ‘Daffney’ Spruill. Lee became emotional as she was speaking about her friendship with Spruill but understands that she’s no longer suffering.
Well for me, it was huge [Monster’s Ball at Knockouts Knockdown] because Daffney was one of my best friends. It still kills me that I can’t call her… I still read the last text message she sent me which was just a couple days before she left us. This little tattoo here [on the wrist], we had matching with Amber Gertner and Amanda Rodriguez are the other two girls that have it but you know, we were a sisterhood and what that tattoo is-is it’s actually a bipolar tattoo because it is something both her and I struggled with and I still struggle with and I’m open about it because it’s something that should be talked about. I’m very, very for being open about your mental health and saying, I need to take a break. I need to step back, and that’s a lot of the reason why I haven’t been doing as much as I have in the past too is because I needed a break. A lot of crap has happened to me in the last couple of years and that’s okay and I’m doing okay now but at a certain point, I wasn’t and I just needed to take the time to get myself back on track and… anyway, I’m starting to kind of divert a little bit. But, with that Monster’s Ball match and Daffney being somebody I was so close with and losing my sister and IMPACT knowing that and giving me the opportunity to be in that match to honor her and they even let me carry the crowbar out which was her weapon. That match will mean a lot to me for so, so many reasons for the rest of my life and I miss her every day. I’m gonna cry because I really — you know, I understand that she’s not in pain anymore, she’s not suffering. She just couldn’t take it, and as bad as I’ve been, I’ve gone from sad to mad. There’s just so many emotions I go through thinking about Daff but, whatever you believe, I think she still sends me little signs all the time. I still talk to her. She’s come to see me in dreams and that match means a lot to me and it always will because that’s my sister and it’s a struggle going through life without her but I know she’s still watching over all of us and she’s in a better place.
** Both MJF and Liv Morgan shared a picture of them together at a party. Morgan was asked about that by ‘Metro’. She said she did not know he was going to be there and they had good conversation. Liv commented on MJF’s career decision come 2024 and said wherever he goes, he’ll be a star.
Aha! So, I went to my friend Skylar’s birthday party and he [MJF] was just there! I had never met him before that. We had great, great, great, great banter. We have a lot in common actually!
When 2024 comes, I think only he can know or decide what is best. I think whatever he wants to do is gonna be the best decision for him. Wherever he goes, I’m just — he’ll be a star.
** Over 300 people attended the wake for the late Antonio Inoki. The likes Shinsuke Nakamura, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tatsumi Fujinami were among those in attendance. Tanahashi did an interview with the press prior to the wake during which he spoke about Inoki.
** Jungle Kyona shared a video of her grappling with Minoru Suzuki.
鈴木みのるvsトライアングル叫女🤼♂️
ふぁいっっっつ🛎💥 pic.twitter.com/VhEGAuxOpF— ジャングル叫女 Jungle Kyona (@junglekyona) October 13, 2022
** The following video is from Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Twitter page:
Your wholesome content for the day!
4-time GHC Heavyweight Champion @goshiozaki54039 battles some school children! #noah_ghc #ThrowbackThursday pic.twitter.com/DVpw0c7yUB
— Pro Wrestling NOAH Global (@noahglobal) October 13, 2022
** ‘Sports Interaction’ spoke to ‘Daddy Magic’ Matt Menard ahead of AEW’s debut in Canada.
** AEW President Tony Khan returned to Busted Open Radio for his weekly segment.
** The Shining Wizards Wrestling Podcast welcomed Sam Adonis onto their show.
** Episode #21 of Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze’s Battle of the Brands series:
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.
