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.
** Guest appearing on AEW Unrestricted was one-half of Aussie Open, Kyle Fletcher. He stated that he and Mark Davis were supposed to be in the 2019 NJPW World Tag League tournament, but Davis went down with an MCL and ACL injury. Aussie Open debuted for NJPW in 2022.
God, that whole period of time was really difficult (when Mark Davis suffered MCL & ACL injury in 2019). Davis gets injured at B.O.L.A., that was September. We were supposed to go to Japan for World Tag League (in) November and that was obviously a big thing for us. Like I said, that was a huge dream of mine to go and wrestle in Japan so that was like immediately shot in the gut. It was like, oh God, okay. But it was very much like, don’t worry. As soon as Davis is ready, you’ll be over and then literally a few months later, COVID happened. It’s like, okay, this won’t last that long, I’m sure and then, it’s years later still waiting on borders to open up so it was very difficult to say the least I think. The adjustment from going to tag team everywhere to trying to get singles bookings, I feel like I had to prove myself all over again if that makes sense. It’s kind of like you earned your spot as a tag team, everyone wants to see the tag team. Oh no, your partner’s injured. I guess we can book you in a singles match. So I felt, again, I had another chip on my shoulder. It was like, heck, whatever, yeah, let’s go and then I would go out and just try to kill it in singles matches and then just as it started to feel like I had momentum with that again, COVID happens so yeah, it was a very weird time but I don’t know, character development is what I like to say.
** On August 4th, Sareee is presenting the second Sareee-ISM event from Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan. She’ll be teaming with KAIRI to take on Arisa Nakajima and Takumi Iroha. Sareee told Proresu-TODAY how the team with KAIRI came to be. KAIRI sent flowers to Sareee for her first match back in Japan. She reached out to KAIRI afterwards and the former IWGP Women’s Champion said she’d like to team up someday. Sareee made the offer on the spot.
So I really didn’t think that I would be able to have the second event three months later (following Sareee-ISM Chapter 1). Since we had already held the first event, I was thinking that I would like to hold Chapter 2, but I had no idea when that would be. Then, KAIRI sent me flowers to congratulate me on my return. When I contacted her to thank her for that, she told me that she would like to tag team with me next time.
When I heard that, I thought, what? I thought, I’d love to! I thought, this is now or never. So I immediately made an offer.
Sareee added that she made it to WWE like KAIRI did, but they never had anything to do with each other in that setting. She always wanted to share the ring with KAIRI.
I have been able to step into the WWE, and since I have never had anything to do with KAIRI, I was hoping to stand in the same ring with her someday…
** Episode #312 of Straight Talk Wrestling featured a chat with Janai Kai. Coming off of her stint with Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling in February, Kai said she is in talks to return to the promotion for an extended period of time.
So, I am in talks of going back (to TJPW). Just wait for that. I haven’t announced anything. Things are still in the talks, but I do plan to be back and I’ll give you a little hint, maybe for a little bit longer. Maybe for a longer tour.
When it comes to being signed, Kai is not worried about that as she knows her time will come. The podcast host mentioned that he thought AEW would sign her. Kai said it’s unfortunate that Dark and Dark: Elevation are no longer in operation.
So usually, when they (AEW) are coming over to D.C. because I’m based in D.C., I do reach out to see if they’re needing any extras or anything so that’s kind of been what the relationship is lately. But I’ve been enjoying it. It’s unfortunate that they had to scrap Dark and Elevation because I kind of saw that as really, again, opportunities for indie wrestlers or even those that are buzzing to showcase more on a higher level and it did. It did help a lot of them. Some of them are signed that got to have that opportunity so, I don’t know, we’ll see what happens. I have other little goals that I’m trying to reach too in the meantime so that’s kind of what I focus on instead of just trying to worry about too much of getting signed somewhere, because I know eventually, my time will happen.
** During Nick Aldis’ appearance on Hitting The Turnbuckle, he shared tough criticism he received from Billy Gunn early in his career while in TNA. Aldis said it was not mean-spirited and it was to encourage him to do better.
I was having this conversation with a couple of veterans the other day at Slammiversary actually, where I was like, ‘You know how many times in the early days of TNA, I would just have a rotten match. Just absolutely stink up the place on a house show and I come back and Billy Gunn, Bubba or I don’t know, Al Snow, anyone would be like, that was sh*t.’ Billy Gunn especially, would be like, ‘That was the drizzling sh*ts. You need to get better at this.’ Not in a mean-spirited way. As in like, you need to know this and he was right and it’s like… is that sort of happening anymore? Is anybody coming back when they had a sh*t match and being told that was sh*t? Because I don’t see it and I think that quality control is something that should be done in private in pro wrestling and I think there are a lot of people who are way too sensitive to be in this business who at the first sign of any sort of criticism, they run to Twitter to get everybody on their side and gaslight the other person. ‘Look, he’s being mean to me’ or they label it as a generational difference or they label it as a sort of — ‘they haven’t evolved’ and all this sort of thing and I just think back and I go, no, I absolutely needed that.
** Joining Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer on Busted Open Radio was IMPACT Wrestling backstage correspondent Gia Miller. She shared that she’d like to be a manager in IMPACT. She manages Chris Bey and Ace Austin on the independents.
I wanna be a manager (in IMPACT Wrestling). That’s what I wanna be. I think that’s where I’m the strongest because not only am I great to look at on the outside, I am also very smart and very strategic and that sickeningly sweet southern accent can be very manipulative and it could get me a lot of places so, I think I’d be a great manager… I am a little bit partial (as far as who I’d like to manage). I’m a little partial to ABC. They got a good thing going for them and I do manage them on the indies as well so we have a good little thing going for us but, I am down to manage anybody that wants to succeed because with me at their side, that’s what they’re gonna do.
** On an episode of Grilling JR, Jim Ross expressed his thought that Último Dragón should’ve had more success in WWE than he did. Último was with the company from 2003-2004.
I don’t know (why Último Dragón did not find more success in WWE). That’s a good question. He was a really talented guy. No doubt about that. But for some reason, it just didn’t click. It may have been who we booked him with. I don’t know. But he was very, very talented. There’s no doubt about that and he should’ve had more success in WWE than he earned. Like you (podcast co-host), I enjoyed his work in WCW when I would catch it. But, it just didn’t pan out and it’s one of those headscratchers. He’s such a talented guy. It’s almost like, well hell, he can’t fail. Well yeah, he can and he did.
** Naomichi Marufuji is going to be a guest commentator for the ‘Krush’ kickboxing promotion on July 22nd.
** In XXL Magazine’s Freshman issue for July 2023, there’s an interview with AEW’s Swerve Strickland.
** Cody Rhodes, Diamond Dallas Page and Brandi Rhodes were interviewed by 11Alive.
** IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi is scheduled to be in action for Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS on August 11th.
** Pro Wrestling NOAH ‘Sunny Voyage’ Results (7/20/23) Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan
– Daishi Ozawa def. Yu Owada
– Junta Miyawaki, Hajime Ohara & AMAKUSA def. Yoshinari Ogawa, Super Crazy & Kai Fujimura
– Ninja Mack def. Stallion Rogers
– Lance Anoa’i & Adam Brooks def. Masa Kitamiya & Yoshiki Inamura
– Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima & Hi69 def. Naomichi Marufuji, Kenoh & Atsushi Kotoge
– Eita def. LEONA
– G.L.G. (Jake Lee, Jack Morris, Anthony Greene, YO-HEY & Tadasuke) def. Manabu Soya, Alejandro, Shuji Kondo, Daiki Inaba & Seiki Yoshioka
– GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship: HATAYA (c) def. Atsuki Aoyagi
** Newest episode of Battle of the Brands via UpUpDownDown:
** July 20th birthdays: Gringo Loco.
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.
