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.
** Following Keiji Muto’s final match, he spoke to the press and commented on inviting Masahiro Chono to the ring after the bout with Tetsuya Naito. He mentioned that Chono was his first-ever match in 1984 and wanted to end it with him. Chono lived up to Muto’s expectations and Muto said he was surprised Chono was able to move the way he did.
This is something I really wanted to do. After all, I had my debut match with (Masahiro) Chono, and I wanted to end the show with him. I’m amazed he was able to move (like that). It was a great feat. He was pumping adrenaline. I was very happy. He lived up to my expectations.
Muto is happy with his 39-year career in wrestling. He spoke about heading into the match injured and being able to move better than he thought he would.
It’s been 39 years this year, and there have been tough times along the way. After all, I’ve been constantly injured, and this time, for the past month, I was really bothered by a separated hamstring. Fortunately, that’s all I had to do today. I worked really hard on the treatment and rehabilitation. I’m glad I was able to move more than I thought I could. Well, everyone has to deal with injuries. I’m really glad I was able to finish. Many wrestlers don’t get to have retirement matches like this, but I was really happy in my wrestling career.
As he continued to reflect, he stated that there are regrets when he thinks about what more could he have done in his career. Muto joked that maybe he doesn’t feel like he’s truly retiring yet.
I have a lot of regrets (I’ve had throughout my career). I’m reflecting on what I could have done a little more, and I’m going down this road. Even though there is no next time. Maybe I don’t really feel like I’m retiring yet (laughs). There are so many little things that I should have done differently.
** During Homicide’s appearance on Rewind, Recap, Relive, he shared that he originally did not want to be part of the Cage Of Death match at Death Before Dishonor 2006 between ROH (Ace Steel, Adam Pearce, B.J. Whitmer, Bryan Danielson, Homicide & Samoa Joe) and CZW (Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston, Nate Webb & Necro Butcher). It was Gabe Sapolsky who convinced him to do it. Homicide said he felt like Stone Cold Steve Austin when he heard the reaction he got.
I didn’t wanna be in it (CZW vs. ROH Cage Of Death in 2006). That’s the funny thing. I didn’t wanna be a part of it. At the time, Gabe (Sapolsky) was the promoter and he was telling me, ‘Homicide, you need to do this.’ I’m like, ‘Hell no. I don’t wanna do this.’ I don’t know why but I didn’t wanna do it. One day, he just told me. I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s do it,’ and I heard my music and I felt like Steve Austin wrestling in Madison Square Garden so I was like, oh my God. This is big, you know? And it’s kind of funny that I didn’t wanna do it. That’s the funny thing and Gabe told me, ‘I’m telling you, it’s gonna be good’ and it was one of those, ‘Okay, I hope you’re right’ and he was 100 percent right. To this day, I’m still bugging out about that situation. ‘I don’t wanna be a part of this’ and it became something that’s a part of history. So, thank you Gabe, thank you Ring of Honor (he laughed).
He expressed how proud he is of IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. He shared that when he first saw Okada in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, a lot of people did not think Okada would become what he is present day. He feels TNA made a mistake with their presentation of Okada and Homicide went on to share how Okada motivated him.
You know this guy named (Kazuchika) Okada? The Rainmaker? From New Japan Pro-Wrestling? He’s the man. So anyway, a long time ago, he was my partner on TNA Wrestling. He was ‘Okato’… It was so bad. So a lot of people don’t know that me and Samoa Joe kind of trained him… (Tetsuya) Naito, he was one of them. They had a tag team called ‘No Limit’. Anyway, Okada was my partner. He was like, ah, I would not say a ‘whatever’ guy. But, when you look at him, you’d be like, this guy ain’t got no future. He’s not gonna be that number one guy in the world. Man, he proved people wrong. Right now, I seen him a couple of weeks ago. It was so cool that he remembered me. Got up and said, ‘Yo! Homicide, how you doing? Long time, no see.’ I’m looking at him like, ‘Bro, you took over the world.’ Forget about John Cena, Roman Reigns, it’s about The Rainmaker right now and man, I’m so proud of him because he was, I wouldn’t say a ‘nobody’ because he is somebody but he was one of those guys that people (felt), this guy’s going to be a nobody and TNA made a major mistake. They gave him a B.S. character, a B.S. everything and he went back to Japan and look, he blew up. He became The Rainmaker and now he’s one of those top guys. Not only in Japan but all over the world, you know? So, that kind of motivated me even more because earlier today, you (fellow podcast guest) told me that I’m very humble and yeah, my brother don’t like it that I’m humble, sometimes I gotta be a douchebag but, it’s the way I am man and I never forget where I came from and I was very humble for maybe 28 years. I never had this ego like, yeah, look at me. I still go back to my old neighborhood, the projects, even though I gotta gun but that’s a different story. But when I saw Okada, that kind of motivated me even more now because he still remembers me and I don’t know what it is, I became a better wrestler, it gave me that fire and I’m gonna be confident that I’m one of the best. I’m very underground king, but I’m very confident. I always tell people, ‘Be confident in yourself and be the best.’ That’s what I am. I’m very confident that I’m one of the best in the world and Okada of all people, he became a nobody to somebody and he remembered me and man, it lit a fire up my ass. It kind of took me to another level so, motivation is also good. It’s a good thing, it’s not a bad thing. If people say motivation is a bad thing, man, they’re lying.
He was asked if he keeps up with the WWE product. Homicide has watched The Bloodline storyline and said it’s like a movie.
I went to Jay Briscoe’s funeral… And Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn was there and I know them, Jersey All Pro, Canada, Ring of Honor and it’s something about Sami, I need to see his product. I never watch WWE so, now I do because I watch The Bloodline. My daughter loves The Usos… But yeah, I watch the product and I just watched The Bloodline gimmick and man… I love it. It’s like a movie. It’s a great storyline.
Elsewhere during the chat, Homicide mentioned that he would like to share the ring with Cody Rhodes.
I did pick Cody Rhodes as one of the guys (I’d like to wrestle) because I’m a big west Texas guy, Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes… I haven’t wrestled his son. But I would say Cody Rhodes would be my number one.
** In her latest blog post, Jungle Kyona wrote about Mercedes Moné’s tribute to the late Hana Kimura at NJPW Battle in the Valley. Kyona mentioned that Hana enjoyed Mercedes’ work and admired her. Kyona wonders if Mercedes knew what Hana thought of her and then explained why the tribute made her feel happiness and a little sadness at the same time.
Flowers suddenly muttered, ‘Cute, cool, I love it! She’s my idol.’ I said, ‘Who are you talking about?’ I asked. Hana said with a big smile, ‘Sasha Banks.’ At the time, Sasha was a top star in the WWE. I remember that conversation very vividly. I’ll tell you why. Hana has a lot of other people who like her in a lot of different fields. I was about the only female professional wrestler to mention her name, and she was about the only female wrestler to mention my name. I heard her mention it a few times after that. I thought she really admired her. I could tell by Hana’s face when she talked about Sasha-san. So, you know, (when I saw the tribute at NJPW Battle in the Valley), you know, I was really, really surprised. I was really surprised. I was so excited. The way she was looking was just like Hana herself. I felt like I could see the continuation of Hana’s dream. Your smart gesture reminded me of Hana. I feel like one of her dreams has come true. I am happy and feel a little sad. But most of all, I feel happy. Thank you very much. I respect you. Did she know Hana’s feelings for her? Can anyone tell me?
** Episode #268 of the Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast featured Nick Aldis. He touched on the misconceptions concerning his exit from the NWA and the assumption that he left there because there was something lined up for him. Aldis reiterated that he just wanted to explore opportunities.
I think there was this sort of misconception that when I decided to move on from the NWA that it was because I had something else lined up. One of my reasons for moving on was just because I just wanted to do something else, explore other opportunities. I know that-that just sounds like one of those open-ended things that people say, but it really was. I’m like, let’s see what happens, let’s see what’s out there because if I’ve learned anything I guess from the last few years, I didn’t leave TNA and then go, you know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna call Billy Corgan up and I’m gonna convince him to buy the NWA. All that stuff just sort of happened, things just happen in the business. I always remind people, Hulk Hogan didn’t grow up dreaming of being in the WWF because it didn’t exist… Once he decided to get in the business, he was like, ‘I just wanna be a big time wrestler.’ I remember Scott Hall saying to me once, ‘I just wanted to be a big time pro wrestler’ and it’s like, there are many different ways to skin a cat and in my mind, it was sort of like, okay, well, like the Australia thing (Starrcast/pro wrestling event in late 2023) and stuff like that. It’s like, okay, put your money where your mouth is… If you think you can do a better job, what’s stopping you? Try it.
** During the WWE No Way Out 2003 episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, Angle agreed with the idea that Mark Henry would’ve been a good fit for Team Angle as an enforcer. Angle added that the only thing is Mark was not an amateur wrestler, but he is an Olympian.
You know what? It’s not a bad idea (Mark Henry being a part of Team Angle). He was an Olympian. The problem is he wasn’t an amateur wrestler, and Team Angle was about amateur wrestling, bringing the amateur wrestlers together, building a team of professional wrestling amongst us but it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to have Mark Henry join. I would have loved it, yes. Definitely as an enforcer, definitely.
At the aforementioned No Way Out event, Edge had to be removed the six-man tag versus Team Angle as he suffered a neck injury and was set to undergo surgery. Angle would not doubt that if himself nor Edge got injured, then coming out of WrestleMania 19, Edge would have been next to get a run with the world title.
This was a time when they were pushing him hard (Angle said about Edge in early 2003). I mean, this really put a monkey wrench in his plans for a little while. He had to work his way back up to the main event again. At this particular time, I wouldn’t doubt if Brock (Lesnar) didn’t beat me at Mania (19) that Edge was gonna be the next champion, and that wasn’t gonna happen because he had to have neck surgery, he’s gonna be out for a while.
** On the latest edition of Booker T’s ‘Hall of Fame’ podcast, his co-host recounted a conversation he had with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson over XFL kickoff weekend. Johnson spoke highly of Booker and in response, Booker said himself and Johnson could have had more great matches together.
Yeah man, we could have had some great matches (Booker said about himself & The Rock). I really think we could have had some of those matches where I would’ve been able to look back and say, man, oh, that was a good one. Man, that one right there definitely stands out as one of those standout moments but, you know, it is what it is, it was what it was. We got a chance to go out there and rock it a few times and that was good enough for me. For me, it was always about the fans, going out there and giving the fans the ultimate thrill ride just one more time so that’s coming from The Rock (how highly he thought of Booker), I appreciate that. Seriously, I really do.
** Joining Renée Paquette on The Sessions podcast was Nikki Bella. She told the story of how she was originally going to be on season 23 of Dancing with the Stars but that also fell in line with her return at WWE SummerSlam 2016. Nikki had the idea in mind to do both but heard from Vince McMahon that Chris Jericho said it’s tasking doing both. Bella ultimately decided that she wanted her comeback to be for wrestling and not dancing.
I was originally supposed to do Dancing with the Stars — when I came back from my neck injury at SummerSlam (2016), Dancing with the Stars was trying to get me on that season and I was going to dance with Derek Hough and I remember I was sitting and talking with Vince (McMahon) in the office and I was just telling Vince, ‘I want my comeback to be in the ring. I’ll do both, but I won’t choose dancing over wrestling. I want to wrestle’ and so Vince was just like, ‘Chris Jericho said it was really hard doing both so, you just have to make that decision.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna wrestle. I’m not gonna do Dancing with the Stars.’ I didn’t care because I was just wanting to get back in that ring and all that happened because the Eva Marie (wellness policy situation) … But then, the opportunity came back and look, then I was with Artem (Chigvintsev on Dancing with the Stars 25).
** Back in 2022, Barry Horowitz made a cameo appearance on AEW Dynamite as a part of the feud between MJF and Wardlow. Horowitz told ‘The Wrestling Chatter’ that he was flattered to be offered an appearance on the show and added that he still has a ‘toolbox full of tools’ and to let him open it every now and then.
AEW got in touch with me. I did a promo as ‘The Legendary Jewish Professional Wrestler’. I thought that was pretty cool… Well they called me up and asked me and I felt flattered and again, I still got the toolbox full of tools. Just let me open it every now and then. They’re not rusty or anything. Maybe they’re a bit rusty but they still work and they still look good.
** The attendance number for Keiji Muto’s final match event at the Tokyo Dome was 30,096.
** Shinjiro Otani weighed in on Keiji Muto’s career ahead of his final match and pushed out the following via Twitter:
Mr. Muto was not the type to give guidance to his juniors. However, we learned a lot from his life as a professional wrestler. My only regret is… I wish I could have been there to witness his retirement match!
** Coming off his loss to Kazuchika Okada at Keiji Muto’s final match event, Kaito Kiyomiya’s next defense of the GHC Heavyweight Championship is taking place on March 19th against Jake Lee.
** Yahoo! Life published the written version of their chat with Carmella.
** David Taub of GV Wire spoke to Clark Connors.
** The latest guests on the Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz were The Hex (Marti Belle & Allysin Kay).
** February 21st birthdays: Giulia, Ricky Starks.
** Koffin Radio has an interview with Blake Christian.
** Guest appearing on Brian ‘Road Dogg’ James’ Oh…You Didn’t Know podcast was Dean Muhtadi a.k.a. Mojo Rawley.
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.
