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.
** The conclusion of NJPW Battle in the Valley saw IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and IWGP Women’s Champion Mercedes Moné wrapping up the show together. As Moné was answering questions on a panel at Planet Comicon in Kansas City (video courtesy of COOLTOY), she joked that she thought she was main eventing Battle in the Valley and came out to let Okada know how to end the show. She said teaming with Okada would be a dream match.
I mean, I have to say, at (NJPW) Battle in the Valley, I came out just to let him (Kazuchika Okada) know who the CEO was because to me, I thought I was gonna main event that damn pay-per-view. So I had to let him know, this is how you’re supposed to end Battle in the Valley. But I love Okada. We share the same interests of moné. He’s ‘The Rainmaker’, I’m the money maker so I definitely think teaming up with him would be a dream match but I just need to know against who? Does anybody have any suggestions who we should face?
She has confirmed that her next title defense is on April 8th at NJPW Sakura Genesis. Mercedes added that she’ll be in Japan for a month. Mayu Iwatani is going to be challenging for the IWGP Women’s Title on April 23rd at STARDOM’s Yokohama Arena show.
It’s an amazing culture, I love it so much and I get to go back (to Japan) in April for a month so I’m excited to discover more kind of outside of Tokyo but I’m going to go train all over Japan again so I’m just really, really excited.
In February, Moné’s signing to United Talent Agency was made public. She expressed that she hopes to be part of the Mandalorian/Star Wars/Disney Plus family for as long as possible.
I just signed with U.T.A., so just do more, hopefully with The Mandalorian, Star Wars and Disney Plus. I hope to be a part of that family forever because they’re just so incredible.
** While Konnan was speaking to MuscleManMalcolm about his friendship with Rey Mysterio, he shared that AAA initially had the idea to put Mysterio in their minis division.
I saw him (Rey Mysterio) and, you know, I just said, ‘Wow. Even though there’s nobody in the business this small, I think this guy could be huge’ and I had to convince everybody to use him, including AAA. They actually wanted to put him in the minis division. The minis division is like little people division. He trusted me… I was a big star in Mexico at that time so wherever they took me, I said, ‘You have to bring this guy too’ and they were like, ‘Really dude?’ And I go, ‘Bro, I guarantee you’ll ask for him back. How about that? Or you don’t have to pay me.’ That’s how sure I was of this guy and bro, every time, ‘Oh my God, when can he come back?’… He revolutionized the sport.
Back in December, WWE representatives were present at a AAA event to film Dragon Lee announcing that he would be joining WWE. Konnan mentioned that WWE had to ask for permission to come film that.
Obviously, WWE had to ask permission (to come film Dragon Lee announcing that he would be joining their company) and I’ve always been a big fan of, no matter what political issue, what political problems there are between promotions and yeah, we’ll back a promotion if we have to but I don’t wanna get mired in political sh*t, I don’t wanna know that, ‘Oh, well you don’t work with him, you don’t want me to work with him.’ I think everybody should work together because if you’re outside WWE, who’s a mega monster, they’re like McDonalds, Walmart, you know what I’m saying? And everybody else should be working together. You know why? For the benefit of the fans. For that and you’re gonna make money because if you put matchups people haven’t seen, they’re gonna pay to see it so you’re making more money, the boys get an extra payday and the fans are happy. It’s win across the board.
As Konnan was listing his Mount Rushmore of modern-day highflyers in wrestling, he listed Ricochet among that group and told the story of when he worked with Ricochet in Lucha Underground and told Ricochet he needs to show what he can do at his max level. Konnan felt he was only showing 50 percent of that.
If I had to pick my modern Mount Rushmore of flyers right now, would definitely be Ricochet even though you’d never know that watching him in WWE. Ricochet’s incredible bro. I managed him in Lucha Underground and a lot of times I had to tell him, ‘Dude, you’re working at 50 percent. Show them what you got. You’re the most incredible wrestler in the world. Show them what you got.’ He’s incredible. So I would say, right now would be Ricochet, Will Ospreay, (El Hijo del) Vikingo and then, one, two because they’re very different, (Rey) Fenix and Komander, and all three of them are from AAA, from Mexico so I’m very glad we are exporting talent like we did back in the day with Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero and all the people that came from Mexico.
** During a sit-down interview with Stadium Astro, Cody Rhodes was asked who he would pick as a special guest referee for his Undisputed WWE Universal Title match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. He named Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque and Seth Rollins. Rhodes thinks Rollins would call it down the middle because he equally dislikes both him and Reigns.
Well, there’s a really good contingency of referees at WWE. A really young, wonderful crew and then there’s some luminary referees who have been around for some time who have great experience like a Chad Patton, John Cone is another wonderful referee from the past, Mike Chioda, legendary referee as well. I think I’d like to mix it up though. If I was to bring in a referee, I think that Triple H would be a wonderful referee for this situation and I think his current position, that would prevent him from that station but another good one who can’t stand either Roman (Reigns) or myself is Seth Rollins and I think Seth Rollins would be forced to by his own bias towards us both to call it down the middle so that’s another one that could be really interesting.
** Joining the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast was NWA owner Billy Corgan. At the organization’s upcoming ‘312’ pay-per-view, Chris Adonis is challenging Tyrus for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. Corgan shared an inside joke between himself and Adonis and stated that Adonis has been asking for a world title shot for quite some time. Corgan tells him he would have gotten it sooner if he wasn’t consistently trying to get himself booked for the WWE Royal Rumble.
And of course, we have Tyrus versus Chris Adonis (at NWA 312). Chris Adonis has been on me for years for a world title opportunity and so, he’s jacked up. I said, ‘If you weren’t out there running your mouth trying to get on the Royal Rumble every five seconds, I’d be happy to give you a title opportunity.’ That’s our little inside joke but, I love Chris and I’m excited for him because, you know, there’s a guy that was pushed out of the WWE system, basically was told, okay, your best days are behind you and he’s rebuilt himself on the independent scene as a top tier contender and so I think that’s where I look at matchups like that. It’s not just the match up on paper like, Tyrus, 6’7, 380 pounds versus Masters, probably a good 320, still jacked out of his mind and both of them being veterans. But it’s can they raise to that other level where people who doubt what they can do in the big game moments, can they show that they belong there? And that’s what takes me back to an ECW when you would see an RVD versus a Jerry Lynn and you would watch them in a show elevate to another level and that’s how people make their names, because people get this kind of thing like, ‘Oh, I’m not a fan’ or they wanna bring in other things like with Tyrus, bring in politics. I look at it as a promoter as, I’m gonna put these two guys in a spot. Can they elevate? And by elevating themselves, can they elevate the NWA? And quiet the discussion that they don’t quote-unquote belong there and that’s how you make your oats in the professional wrestling business as a booker, as a promoter and for the talent.
On March 15th, Taya Valkyrie made her All Elite Wrestling debut. She received a congratulations from the NWA and she responded to their message and told the organization and Billy Corgan ‘thank you’ for believing in her. Corgan said Valkyrie was a joy to work with.
One thing that I was really encouraged by was, you know, we just saw that Taya Valkyrie got signed to AEW. First of all, working with Taya was a complete joy. One of the best professional wrestlers, not just female, best professional wrestlers I’ve ever worked with. Total professional on every level. I can’t say enough good things about her but the fact that she went out of her way to thank us, myself included on her way to AEW and of course, we wish her the best in that, that’s part of why we do what we do. It’s because we are invested in the people and I think you see over time, it’s taken some time that people are loyal to what we are trying to accomplish because they recognize it’s something a little bit unique in a wrestling business that has a lot of commonality in it.
** Guest appearing on 103.5 The BEAT was Leila Grey. She expressed that one of her short-term goals would be to win Women’s Tag Team Titles in AEW with the current TBS Champion Jade Cargill.
I just wanna keep improving in my craft, keep proving myself to the higher ups at AEW on why I deserve to be there and why I deserve to be pushed and why I deserve more (she laughed). One of my dreams would be to be a champion at AEW, even if it’s the tag titles. I would love to tag with Jade (Cargill) and get the tag titles there. That’s definitely one of my shorter-term goals with the company.
** As Trish Stratus was speaking to Robbie Fox on My Mom’s Basement, she looked back on her appearance in the 2018 WWE women’s Royal Rumble match and it being a surprise. Stratus added that the crowd was expecting Ronda Rousey, who showed up after the match concluded.
I just love the surprise of it all. There’s nothing like that pop when they’re not expecting it. So that’s always fun and my Royal Rumble 2018, my appearance in that, I think people were not expecting me. They were literally, literally expecting Ronda (Rousey) so… oh sh*t, Trish Stratus? Okay, you know? So, that was cool, and that was cool because that was the first taste I got of getting in the ring with this generation that we had influenced and had an impact on so that was really cool and just to get that little taste and now to have it continue to play out is, ah, man, it’s great.
** It has been several months since Bronson Reed returned to WWE. He’s undefeated on Monday Night Raw and was part of the United States Title Elimination Chamber match in February. He told ‘The Inner Sanctum’ that his presentation gives him hope that the higher ups in WWE see something in him.
It’s sort of unheard of to return and I was on Monday Night Raw for about a month-and-a-half before I’m in the Elimination Chamber. So far, I am undefeated on Monday Night Raw. I was heavily featured in that Chamber match, so it does give me confidence that the higher-ups see something in me and all I do is make sure to keep working hard and I want to get that momentum rolling and after WrestleMania season, hopefully see some gold on my shoulder.
When it comes to marquee matches that Reed wants to have, he listed Brock Lesnar and Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER as two talents he’d like to share the ring with.
I know that me versus GUNTHER is something that the whole wrestling world would love to see and we’ve actually done on a smaller basis on the independents. We’ve actually wrestled each other in four different countries, we wrestled each other in Germany, England, Australia and United States. I’d love to do it on the big stage in WWE, but my main probably dream match is one that you mentioned and that’s against Brock Lesnar. So hopefully, that can happen.
** A dual virtual signing featuring Delmi Exo and Little Guido was presented by Captain’s Corner. Guido has been working with Major League Wrestling and he clarified that while he’s enjoying his time there, he is not under contract.
Little Guido: For me, it’s kind of new. I’ve kind of been on the regular independents for a long time doing my regular job and stuff and MLW got in touch with me and kind of makes me feel good again to be involved with a company again. I’m not signed to a permanent deal, which, you know, both sides are in agreement and I like it, it’s good.
Delmi provided an update on his sister and former tag team partner, Ashley Vox. Vox went down with a shoulder injury, but it did not require surgery. Delmi said Ashley is still recovering.
Exo: She’s hurt right now (Delmi said about Ashley Vox). Her shoulder’s kind of messed up.
** Captain’s Corner hosted a virtual signing with Velvet Sky as the featured guest. When asked about the idea of coming out of retirement, Velvet said she doesn’t think her body could handle it but if it could, she’d want to face Lita at Madison Square Garden.
My body can’t handle it (another match). I’m destroyed. But, okay, in a perfect world, who would it be against? There’s a couple but I would say Lita at MSG.
Yes (she is still killing it). Her and Becky Lynch as tag champions. They’re doing great. All the women are doing great. So proud of them.
** Guest appearing on Somethin’ Else was Big Swole.
** The fashion magazine, ‘WWDJapan’ is going to have a piece on Kaito Kiyomiya in their March 20th issue.
** STARDOM Results (3/19/23) KBS Hall in Kyoto, Japan
– Three Way Match: Yuna Mizumori def. Momo Kohgo and Saya Iida
– Mina Shirakawa & Mariah May def. Maika & Mai Sakurai
– Four Way Match: Saki Kashima def. AZM and Starlight Kid and Koguma
– Natsuko Tora, Momo Watanabe & Ruaka def. Mayu Iwatani, Hazuki & Hanan
– Syuri, MIRAI & Ami Sohrei def. Utami Hayashishita, Saya Kamitani & Lady C
– Tam Nakano & Natsupoi def. Giulia & Himeka
– Passion Injection Match: Nanae Takahashi def. Miyu Amasaki
** Dakota Kai plays The Last of Us:
** DDT Pro-Wrestling ‘Dramatic Dream Onita’ Results (3/19/23) Kanagawa Tsurumi Fruit And Vegetable Market
– Yusuke Okada def. Keigo Nakamura
– Yuki Iino & Danshoku Dieno def. Akito & Kazuma Sumi
– M.J. Paul & KANON def. Makot Oishi & Shinichiro Kawamatsu
– Hideki Okatani, Saki Akai & Yukio Sakaguchi def. Yukio Naya, Chie Koishikawa & Toru Owashi
– Konosuke Takeshita, MAO & Hikaru Machida def. Chris Brookes, Takeshi Masada & Sanshiro Takagi
– Ryota Nakatsu & Kazusada Higuchi def. Tetsuya Endo & Yuya Koroku
– Atsushi Onita, Toi Kojima & Shunma Katsumata def. HARASHIMA, Kazuki Hirata & Soma Takao
** NWA’s lead commentator Joe Galli appeared on Busted Open Radio. Leva Bates joined the show as well.
** To promote a WWE house show, Bobby Lashley was welcomed onto WISN 12 News.
** March 19th birthdays: April Mendez-Brooks (A.J. Lee).
** Dragongate Japan Pro-Wrestling ‘Glorious Gate’ Results (3/19/23) Nagoya Congress Center in Nagoya, Japan
– Kota Minoura, B×B Hulk, Ben-K & Minorita def. YAMATO, Genki Horiguchi, Kaito Nagano & Yoshiki Kato
– Big Boss Shimizu def. Konomama Ichikawa (Shizmu defeated Ichikawa again after the match restarted)
– Punch Tominaga & Ho Ho Lun def. Masaaki Mochizuki & Mochizuki Junior
– Susumu Mochizuki & Yasushi Kanda def. Strong Machine J & Jacky ‘Funky’ Kamei
– Kzy & Jason Lee def. Dragon Kid & Naruki Doi
– Yuki Yoshioka, Dragon Dia & Madoka Kikuta def. Shun Skywalker, KAI & H・Y・O
** DDT Pro-Wrestling pushed out the written version of their chat with Saki Akai.
** Jim Varsallone spoke to SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.
** There’s an interview with Elijah Burke (The Pope) on the Developmentally Speaking YouTube channel.
** WWE United States Champion Austin Theory joined Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick on WWE After The Bell.
** The latest guest on Out of Character with Ryan Satin was Karrion Kross.
** Episode #269 of Sunday Night’s Main Event included a chat with Nicole Matthews.
** Women’s Wrestling Talk interviewed Johnny Swinger.
** Dylan Postl (Hornswoggle) welcomed Brian Myers onto his ‘Going Postl’ podcast.
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.
