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.
** Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards welcomed Ari Daivari onto AEW Unrestricted. Ari further touched on his desire to have a tag run with his brother Shawn Daivari. Before Shawn was brought back to WWE as a producer, Ari pitched the idea of them tagging to Vince McMahon. He stated that McMahon liked their look but feels McMahon was keen on using people who were already in the company. Daivari is still hopeful he’ll get that run with his brother.
When I got to WWE, before he [Shawn Daivari] was a producer, I went to Vince [McMahon] and I pitched re-hiring my brother which that was the hardest thing. I showed him all our tag stuff, he really liked it, he liked our look. We’re two Persian brothers. Even though he’s five years older, we’re roughly the same height. When I shaved my head bald, we looked similar. He liked the look and everything. The hurdle was hiring a new talent. Just getting someone new or getting someone hired. Vince just always seemed to wanna work with the guys who were already there so, asking to bring someone back in, that was kind of a tough sell and it didn’t happen. But I really wish we got to tag together and when I left WWE, he hadn’t got hired back yet as a producer. He was still kind of doing the end of COVID or whatever so he was still working at IMPACT I believe. So we kind of started talking like, ‘Ouu, this might be it. Maybe we’ll do it at IMPACT, AEW will be interested.’ I don’t think about it too much anymore but I’m still holding on to a little bit of hope that somewhere, we’ll get to tag together because people who do know, he’s still in incredible shape. My brother’s like the most jacked producer in the world. If he took his shirt off right now, he’d be out on television right now, people would be like, holy sh*t, that’s a pro wrestler ready to go.
I’m holding onto a little bit of hope that somewhere, sometime, me and my brother will still get to have that good, long tag team run so I’m jealous of all the guys who got to do that. The Young Bucks, Dante and Darius [Martin]. I’m like, ah! That’s probably gotta be so fun, tagging with your brother week in and week out on television so, hopefully someday it still happens.
After several WWE tryouts that were unsuccessful in terms of obtaining a full-time job, Daivari made up his mind that he was going to be done with wrestling after he wrapped up his bookings in 2015. He ended up doing extra work for the company and would soon get the call about what would be the Cruiserweight Classic tournament.
Once I had my NXT tryout, it didn’t work out. I was about to wrap it up. I said, I’m gonna finish up the rest of this year because I gave WWE everything I got, they weren’t interested. So I’m gonna wrap up all my other commitments because I had a lot of 2015 booked. I said, I’m gonna wrap up all my commitments and I think I’m gonna call it good, I think I’m gonna quit wrestling. I did it, it didn’t work out how I wanted so it is what it is and then over that year, WWE reached out a few more times. I went and did some extra work again. Even though I already had my NXT tryout, they said no, they invited me to do extra work. I almost blew it off because I’m like, what do I need to go for? I already showed you everything I got. You’re not interested. I’m not gonna go and I was like, you know what? F*ck it, I’ll just go. I guess it never hurts to show your face. Same thing happens, a bunch of people gave me compliments. ‘Hey, maybe we should send you to NXT?’ I was like, ‘I’m already gone’ but, ‘Oh, okay.’ I was like, whatever, waste of time and then a few days later, I got an email saying, ‘Hey –’ it was called the Global Cruiserweight Series or something. I got this email, it said, ‘You’re gonna be a part of this. We’re filming this in June’ and I was like, oh sh*t, okay. Another opportunity.
F1RST Wrestling promoter Arik Cannon, who played a role in training Ari, was supposed to wrestle Ari on Dark. Daivari said plans changed, but he was hoping to have that moment on a big stage with Cannon.
And we [Daivari & Arik Cannon] almost wrestled at AEW as well too recently when we were in Minnesota. Plans changed, but the original plan was for me to wrestle on Dark because of that same thing we were talking about. They said, ‘We don’t know if we want you to wrestle on TV here because you’re gonna get cheered.’ So they said, ‘Maybe we’ll just put you Dark and just have your feel good moment’ and I saw a list of who’s gonna be there and I saw Arik Cannon’s name and I said the only thing me and Arik haven’t done — we’ve done every type of match, we killed each other, technical matches, whatever. The only thing we haven’t done is wrestle on a big stage in the Target Center and we came so close but then plans changed. I end up wrestling Orange Cassidy which I was happy with that as well too but it just would have been one of those small things. I was like, man, we’ve taken this match all over the horn. It would have been awesome if we got to do it at the Target Center.
** John Pozarowski of the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast welcomed Marshall and Ross Von Erich onto his show. He asked the former MLW World Tag Team Champions about ‘The Iron Claw’ film which is about the Von Erich family. Marshall said he believes the director has been in contact with Kevin Von Erich.
Marshall: No [the Von Erich family is not part of The Iron Claw film]. They’re making the movie. My dad is a public figure so they’re making the movie but, the director, I believe, he’s been contacting my dad and they’ve been talking and stuff and apparently, he’s a lifelong fan and he loves my dad, he wants to tell the story right and so we’re just hoping for the best. They seem like really good people and stuff and so, we’ll see. You never know with movies… Just like my brother was saying, he’s so different. People that know him, that really know him, you’ll probably never meet anybody like him. Some people that don’t know him would assume that he’s this good-looking pretty boy, Hollywood guy but, he wasn’t at all… I think if it’s told right, it’s gonna be a really, really great movie and I mean, it could be so many things. Of course, a love story, of course it can be sad, you know? With the deaths and the brothers but if you look at my dad, it’s not a sad story after… He told us death can do two things to a man. It can harden you towards the world and make you hate everything or it can break you down and make you compassionate towards those who suffer and my dad is one of the most compassionate men that I’ve ever met, with my children, with all the nieces and nephews, with us.
They joked about the photo of Zac Efron that’s been circulating on social media of him on set for ‘The Iron Claw’. Marshall recounted Kevin Von Erich joking that Efron needs to relax because he’s looking overqualified for the role. Marshall joked that he might have to switch to the role of Kerry Von Erich.
Marshall: Dude, huge, I know [he said about the photo of Zac Efron on set of The Iron Claw]. My dad said, ‘All right man, relax. You’re looking too good’ [he laughed].
Ross: Yeah, he’s out there.
Marshall: Might have to switch roles to uncle Kerry.
There was a time when Marshall and Ross received an NXT tryout opportunity that was set up by Jim Ross. Weeks before the tryout, they both had feelings that they could be rushing into something and maybe it was not the right time for them to go that route.
Marshall: So Jim Ross reached out to us and got us a tryout. It wasn’t an offer. It was a tryout for NXT and so they were gonna fly us out to go do the tryout and we immediately accepted but then… and I feel like too, my dad, when he found out we wanted to be wrestlers, he wanted us to go to the highest thing we could and go to WWE to learn the best way and my dad was like, ‘I can make some phone calls for you guys. If it’s anything y’all need to do’ and we’re like, ‘No dad. We really want to see if we can make it. The name has done enough for us. We just wanna see how far we can make it with just our skill and ability’ and you know, and so Jim Ross gave us a call and got us a tryout and I think it was like a few weeks before the tryout, we’re at the gym and I had this weird anxiety.
Ross: It was like unsettling feeling.
Marshall: Unsettling feeling like, it’s not the time, it’s not the time, it’s not the time and then I really didn’t say anything to him and he was working out and he mentioned something like, ‘I hope we’re not forcing anything to happen by doing this and not putting our best foot forward’ and when he said that, I was having dreams about it and stuff and I was like, ‘Hey man, what if when we go, we want to give the best product that we have and what if we give it another couple years or whatever before we go or something else comes up?’ Because what we were doing too, we both enjoyed. Wrestling in Texas, we’re getting better and better. We’re wrestling every weekend. We were working all around Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and we were getting a lot better and a lot more comfortable.
Over the summer, Ross and Marshall participated on Ric Flair’s ‘Last Match’ card. They wrestled the Briscoes in tag team action. They detailed the travel woes they had on the day of and how close of a call it was as far as the time they arrived at the venue. Marshall added that he was dealing with food poisoning as well.
Marshall: Dude, that was so awesome [competing at Ric Flair’s Last Match versus The Briscoes]. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. We got into Arizona and our flight was delayed six times and so we were just sitting in Arizona. We missed the meet-and-greet which we were upset about. We wanted to go meet the people and see ‘em. We literally flew in maybe 20 minutes before our match.
Ross: We got there after the show had already started.
Marshall: We had to get dressed in the van and had to wrestle in our jeans because you know, bags weren’t ready or anything so we just got there and went straight into the ring. I wish I would have been able to talk to more people but, it was almost better in a way because I never got to see the crowd until I walked out-out of the locker room and it’s a big crowd man. Everyone got to see our natural reaction but that was our first time absorbing what was going on.
Ross: That was us seeing the crowd for the very first time, not knowing what to expect. The whole thing was just off the cuff, work indie dates and give back to the indie scene.
Marshall: The Briscoes are fun. We definitely wanna work with them again. That was fun. There was definitely some brotherly rivalry in there and yeah, I want to do it again. I really want to do it again. At least redeem ourselves man. I’m not making excuses, but I was puking the whole trip. I got food poisoning and man, it was nuts. I said I was doing better right when the match was over. I think wrestling and sweating it out, started feeling better.
Ross: There was so much leading up to that. It was unreal. We’re like, just got there, boom. It was crazy.
Marshall: It was so much to worry about that at one point, you’re just like, worrying is obviously not making the plane go faster, not making cars go faster. Let’s just be as light-hearted as we can, let’s enjoy what we can and smile and laugh.
Ross: We make it, we make it. If we don’t, we don’t.
Marshall: We had a great time in Arizona and we ended up making it. We had the match and it ended up working out.
** With NXT UK going on hiatus, it is being promoted that the brand will return as ‘NXT Europe’. Former NXT UK Champion Butch (Pete Dunne) was asked about the hiatus and rebrand during his chat with Ryan Satin on the ‘Out of Character’ podcast. He said he owes a lot to the British and European scene(s) and hopes the British talent get back onboard with a bigger spotlight.
Anything in regards to U.K. and Europe, I’m most excited for. A huge reason being, I get to go home. Any opportunity to go home and see my family and get my wife and daughter back is amazing but also, I owe so much to the British, European scene, whatever you wanna say. We were lucky enough to have such a good group of us all around going under the radar for like I said, a decade, until it all really started to blow up and to have that experience of going out there and doing those shows under the radar and making every mistake and tweaking them and fixing them ourselves and having like-minded people around, I’m so grateful for that time in my career. I feel like it’s something, it’s really difficult to get now with how the internet is and Twitter and whatnot. When something’s good, people see it immediately. Well we were doing good stuff, but we still weren’t good yet. So having that extra time under the radar to do that and so many fun memories of traveling around the place and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, I hope it gets running again and I hope that — in fact, I know it will get rolling again and I really hope that a lot of those British talent that deserve it get back on board with an even bigger spotlight. That’d be incredible to see.
Butch is one-third of The Brawling Brutes with Sheamus and Ridge Holland. He dove into what he’s been able to learn from Sheamus and what Sheamus has been able to pick up from him and Ridge. Butch stated that Sheamus is helping him get more comfortable on the microphone.
The backstage stuff and the microphone stuff, it’s no secret but that’s what lags behind for me and I feel like this is one point in my career where we’re getting more confident with that. Sheamus is bringing me up a little bit more with that and then obviously, we’re trying to help Ridge [Holland] along as somebody, who’s at least compared to us, relatively new to the business and instilling confidence in him and you can just see, you know, all three of us, it’s starting to build up together and I do think too, in some ways, we help Sheamus too because he’s got us to fall back on and to rely on and talk to and to push ideas around and I’ve wrestled for a very long time too so, I have my own views and opinions and ideas and all that kind of stuff and to his credit, he’s super open to all that too so we’re always bouncing ideas off of each other and it’s a really, really fun process, and I’m so happy that I came up to the main roster in this group. It definitely gives you that settling period where you get to group some things up there that isn’t necessarily the stuff that’s in my wheelhouse that I do best. Like you said, the microphone work or sort of the backstage type stuff but then when it comes to the in-ring stuff, that’s where my mind comes in and where I can help out and give as many ideas as I can so, we all bounce off each other and we all help each other out. Of course now we’re traveling together, we’re all really great friends. Feels like I’ve known Sheamus for the whole time I’ve been wrestling. Reality, it’s been less than a year since I came up so, yeah, it’s all been a whirlwind, it’s been really fast but super enjoyable.
The growth of The Brawling Brutes as a trio was discussed. He reiterated that it feels like several years have passed because things have happened so quickly and it’s been a fun ride.
Definitely, there’s a real positive vibe backstage, and you know, I can only speak for myself and who I’m surrounded with and just in the last three months, I feel like Sheamus, Ridge [Holland] and myself, we’ve grown leaps and bounds. Me and Sheamus have actually — we were talking about it yesterday, when we look at where we were three months ago to now, it feels like a whole year or two has passed but it’s so condensed and it’s been such a fun ride and I can’t wait to see where it leads to in the next few months.
** On November 27th, now-retired soccer player Adebayo Akinfenwa will make his pro wrestling in-ring debut under the PROGRESS Wrestling banner. As he was being interviewed by Cultaholic, Akinfenwa reiterated that he has been contact with WWE but added that it was a time when he was still locked in on football. Anthony Ogogo was who contacted him about competing for PROGRESS.
You know what? There was conversations [between me & WWE]. There was truth to the conversations. My team sat down with their team. To be fair, I even had a conversation or me and Triple H had sent back messages back and through. But these was times I was 100 percent still concentrated on football and I was a footballer. But, there was truth in that but now, I’m retired and I’ve said this, just before I retired anyway, I was lucky enough to play 22 years but now I’ve finished, I wanna try my hand at as many different things and what lands, lands. I am going to try to enjoy the next chapter of my life and yeah, this PROGRESS Wrestling came about. Anthony Ogogo reached out to me. He’s a friend of mine, I’ve known him for years now and I see he made the transition from boxing to wrestling. He reached out and said, ‘Look, I’m gonna have his back.’ When they call the beast, the beast has to come. Especially if I check for you and yeah, I won’t even lie that I enjoyed the first wrestling experience, the energy of the crowd. It’s similar to football. I love football because of that connection you have with the fans. You entertain and that’s what I got from the Sunday fight I should say.
He went on to share the advice that Ogogo gave him ahead of his in-ring debut. Akinfenwa expressed that the in-ring bumps are ‘different’ and his body was aching in a variety of different places the following day after a session.
And basically, that’s the advice he [Anthony Ogogo] gave to me. He said, ‘Look –’ you know, like anything, he doesn’t need to tell me but, ‘One, enjoy it. If you enjoy what you’ve gotten into, it sometimes ain’t gonna feel like work but best believe you gotta put in the work.’ So yeah, that’s what it was and I can first-hand say them bumps are different. I’m used to [being] the one putting people down. When I was taking the bumps, my body was aching in different places the next morning so, trust me, first-hand I can tell you that. Yeah, it’s real.
** AEW’s Shawn Spears is a co-owner of Flatbacks Wrestling School alongside Tyler Breeze. While on The Sessions with Renée Paquette, Spears said he hopes Breeze is not done in-ring. Breeze has not wrestled in a sanctioned match since being released from WWE in 2021.
I think it still creeps in every now and then [Spears said about Breeze’s inner self wanting to wrestle again] and I only know that because of how passionate he is when he teaches too. So if he didn’t care, he’d be a little bit more relaxed. I think it’s still there a little bit. It’s just a matter of timing or the right opportunity presenting itself. But I hope, honestly, that he’s not done because he still has a lot to offer. He still does offer a lot, but I mean, just an incredible coach, good human being and you know, a benefit to this industry.
Earlier in the conversation, Spears elaborated on his love-hate relationship with pro wrestling throughout his career. He does not believe he’ll be remembered in wrestling in great detail but what’s important to him is that his family knows what he accomplished.
I’m glad we get to cover a little bit of this because for a long time and in other interviews, I’ve given the, you know, and I apologize to any other interviewees who are gonna be watching this but I’ve given the general, generic answer of, ‘Oh, it’s been great. I love professional wrestling and I’m very happy.’ The reality is it’s been a love-hate relationship. It has been up and down, it has been a lot of down. But, yeah, there’s been times where I’ve hated this industry and the reason being is because it’s entertainment and without pulling the curtain back too much, there are just things you’re not in control of so it can have a tendency to make you feel like you’re not good enough, despite how hard you’re working, despite how much time and effort you’re giving to the industry and despite what the audience might be doing. It just might not be your number and this business doesn’t owe anybody anything. You’ve heard that before and anybody who’s been in it for an extended period of time will agree. Doesn’t owe us anything. It moves on with or without us… What keeps me kind of motivated or what keeps me kind of going is knowing that my legacy, the legacy I leave behind will have nothing to do with pro wrestling in my opinion. No one’s probably gonna remember me in great detail after I’m gone, but my son will. My son will know what I’ve done. My future children will know what I’ve done, my family knows what I’ve done so my nieces and nephews will know what I’ve done and if that is enough to kind of guide them down a path, a good path that can be beneficial to their life and the life that they create with someone going forward, I’ve done my job on this earth. I know that sounds a little weird or odd, but, yeah. It’s just about, if I can inspire people around me, great, wonderful. People come to shows, fantastic. Like I mentioned about those DMs that came in after what I said about my mother, wonderful. I will talk with people all day long and hopefully help in any way I can but at the end of the day, my legacy is gonna be remembered by my family the most and that is what matters most to me so that’s what kind of keeps me going forward and that’s why I’ve kind of recently had a bit of a change of heart.
** The reigning IMPACT Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace told ‘Counted Out With Mike & Tyler’ that she and Jonathan Gresham are considering the idea of doing a bodybuilding show together.
I’ve always wanted to be seen as a strong power wrestler and I wanna look the part. I feel like I did look the part a couple years ago but, I was a lot bulkier and I want to have visible muscles. Someone that I think looks incredible and I look up to her physique a lot is Jade Cargill. I think she looks just incredible and I’ve been thinking eventually, both me and my husband [Jonathan Gresham] have been talking about doing a bodybuilding show so I think that’s kind of our next goal is that we would love to get our pro cards in bodybuilding. So maybe, eventually that’ll happen. I’ve been telling him we need to enter a competition that’s not having us prep through the holidays because it’s already hard enough as it is without having to diet during Christmas and Thanksgiving. But hopefully at the beginning of next year, I’ll be in even better shape and I’ll be able to step on a stage.
Grace was asked for her thoughts about Mickie James and said she thinks it’s great for James to be that representation for veteran women’s wrestlers. By seeing what James is doing, it gives Jordynne the mindset that she’ll be able to go for another decade.
Well first of all, I think it’s important because Mickie [James] is — she’s older, she’s in her 40s and I think it’s extremely important for women’s wrestling, especially nowadays, to have the representation of someone who’s a veteran like that. It is extremely rare to be able to see women wrestle at the caliber she does at her age, just because, you know, we have kids, our bodies get beat up quicker and you have guys like PCO, you have 60 year old men out here and we don’t have the same representation in women so, I think it’s incredible that we have someone like her in the locker room who’s a veteran who is basically — I’ve always said to myself, oh, I’m gonna stop wrestling when I’m 30. That’s four years away. That’s likely not gonna happen and Mickie, I think she’s… don’t quote me, 42 maybe? And she’s still going and I’m like, well, maybe I have another decade or so left so she’s definitely someone I look up to in that regard.
** Off the top of his head, Steve Maclin named Chris Sabin as his favorite opponent in recent memory. He relayed that information while on Brian Hebner’s Refin’ It Up podcast. Maclin is hoping to have another program with Sabin.
So far, other than myself [Maclin laughed], that’s tough [to name my favorite opponent in my career] … Chris Sabin lately has been the one that I’ve enjoyed. I hope to have another program with Sabin. Just so damn good and just, yeah, Sabin, I’d put that one up there right now. Just off the top of my head.
** Ahead of Crown Jewel on November 5th, WWE is hosting a press conference on November 4th at 10:05 AM EST/7:05 AM PT.
** On December 18th, Pro Wrestling NOAH is running back-to-back shows at Shinkiba 1stRING in Tokyo, Japan.
** Asuka’s recent upload to YouTube during which she comments on becoming WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion again:
** NJPW Battle Autumn Results (11/3/22) EDION Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan
– Toru Yano & Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Yuto Nakajima & Ryohei Oiwa
– Hikuleo & Jado def. Gideon Grey & Aaron Henare
– United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) def. David Finlay & Tomoaki Honma
– DOUKI, El Desperado & Taichi def. Gedo, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori
– Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr. def. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Dick Togo & EVIL)
– BUSHI def. Francesco Akira
– Titán def. BUSHI
– Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi) def. Ren Narita, Alex Zayne & Master Wato
** Pro Wrestling NOAH ‘Sunny Voyage’ Results (11/3/22) Kira Messe Numazu in Numazu, Japan
– Shuhei Taniguchi def. Taishi Ozawa
– Ninja Mack & Xtreme Tiger def. Dante Leon & YO-HEY
– NOSAWA Rongai & Super Crazy def. Yoshinari Ogawa & Yasutaka Yano
– Takashi Sugiura, Timothy Thatcher, Satoshi Kojima & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. def. Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshiki Inamura, Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito
– AMAKUSA & Alejandro def. Tadasuke & Hi69
– Kenoh, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Manabu Soya, Hajime Ohara & Shuji Kondo def. Naomichi Marufuji, Masa Kitamiya, Daiki Inaba, Atsushi Kotoge & Seiki Yoshioka
** Episode #24 of Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze’s Battle of the Brands series:
** Ganbare Pro Wrestling Results (11/3/22) Radiant Hall in Yokohama, Japan
– Tsuyoshi Okada def. Yuki Kanzaki
– Moeka Haruhi & Willow Nightingale def. Yoshiko Hasegawa & Yuna Manase
– HARUKAZE & Yumehito Imanari def. Ken Ohka & YuuRI
– Mizuki Watase & Toi Kojima def. Keisuke Ishii & Soma Takao
– Kouki Iwasaki def. Shinichiro Tominaga
– Spirit Of Ganbare World Openweight Championship: Hartley Jackson (c) def. Shuichiro Katsumura
** Lucha Libre Online’s chat with Tommy Dreamer:
** There’s a feature on the Sports Illustrated site about the Beyond Institute of Pro Wrestling which is going to be co-ran by Beyond Wrestling promoter Drew Cordeiro and Kenn Doane.
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.
