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.
** Looking back at his program with The Miz, L.A. Knight stated that he feels his work on the microphone during that stretch was some of his worst performances. He told Chris Van Vliet he had to plan out material that he usually keeps in his pocket. He does not feel it was his personal best and prefers the on-the-fly style. Knight feels the overall program elevated both him and Miz and it brought more passion out of the two-time WWE Champion.
Miz was really bringing it to the point where I remember a couple guys in the back just being like, ‘Wow, I feel like this is like the best work Miz has done in a while. Coincidentally, I felt like it was some of the worst work I’d done in a while. So God, I hate pulling the curtain back a lot, but I’m not a good planner. I like to be off the cuff and I like to kind of just listen and react. But sometimes in these scenarios, when you’re doing this, you have to plan a little bit more. Just because there’s so many moving parts and things like that. And people want to know where you’re going and whatever. But in the past, other places I’ve worked, it’s just kind of, alright, well, we’re gonna go out there, we’re gonna generally talk about this. Okay, cool. I’ll save some stuff, they’ll listen to me, you are reacting, go back and forth. In this case, it was like, now I had kind of like planned canned stuff, but it’s like, I don’t know, whatever I’m thinking or saying at like three o’clock is not going to be the same stuff at eight o’clock. And so where I should have probably just dropped some of that stuff, and just listened and reacted and just shot back that way. It was like, I gotta keep the stock. So we got time, and I gotta hit the time, and they’re expecting this. And so some of that I was just kind of like, ah, this just doesn’t feel like my best. But that’s also, I think, a bit of a process and still adapting, because I’m still that old school, let’s go out and call it out there. Let’s go out there and do it on the fly. And let’s just kind of, you know, I’m gonna listen and react… I don’t want to know, and I don’t want you to know, because I want it to be fresh. I want it to be real. I don’t want you to already know what I’m going to say. Because then it’s like, okay, let me react. Let it be real. And then that way, I can really digest what you’re saying to me, and then just bring it back. So yeah, but at the same time, I think that feud in general, rivalry, whatever you want to call it — some people hate the word ‘feud’ — so that in general I think helped elevate us both in certain ways, because I mean, I think it brought out a passion in him. Because I think there are similarities between us even though I think we’re different, but we have some similarities to us. He was doing some great work. I feel like I was doing some great work. And at the same time, it was kind of like, showing a little bit of adversity because for so long, like I said, I was floundering and I wasn’t doing much and now it’s like, all of a sudden, now there’s a little bit of elevation. So okay, let’s show a little bit of adversity. Let’s show, here’s the guy who is established, he’s been there for a while. At the same time, I’m gonna get under his skin. He’s gonna get under my skin a little bit, but at the end of the day, I’m gonna kick his ass. And so that’s really what it comes down to. So as long as that happens, we accomplish that, then we’re good.
** The focus of a Signed By Superstars virtual signing was Matt Riddle. He shared that he’s been in touch with people from Bare Knuckle and MMA organizations. He said things are looking good, but he’s focusing on wrestling. If the right offer comes along, he’d jump at it and would love to get it done in 2024. He feels there’s money on the table with a UFC return, adding that Dana White allowed CM Punk to fight so if Riddle could make money for him, it’s a possibility.
I’ve been in touch with Bare Knuckle guys and I’ve been in touch with other MMA organizations. Not the UFC of course, not yet at least and things are looking good but right now, I’m just focusing on wrestling because the thing with fights, I have four kids and if a fight falls through, I don’t get paid and if I train for three months and then I don’t get that payday, I’m gonna be in a really deep hole. So right now, I’m focusing more on wrestling but if the right fight for the right money comes along, I’m gonna snag it because I definitely wanna get back in the ring or cage again and I would love to do it in 2024.
I think there’s money to be had on the table if I were to fight (for UFC again) … They let this guy fight (Riddle pointed to his CM Punk shirt) and he didn’t know how so I’m pretty sure he’d allow me to come back if I can make some cheddar for him.
Further speaking about the idea of a UFC return, Riddle feels his sweet spot would be middleweight. His dream fight is against strikers like Israel Adesanya.
UFC fight?… I feel like I’d match up very well against a lot of the welterweights. The only thing is I don’t wanna cut back down to welterweight. So I think middleweight would be my spot or 205 but I’d probably go down to middleweight and I think the fight I’d want there — and I feel like my wrestling’s really good. I had some of the best takedown defense and everything else when I fought in the UFC. I felt like my takedown percentages were very high. So I think I’d like to fight a lot of their strikers like Izzy (Adesanya) and guys like that.
Looking back at his time in WWE, he spoke about the sit-down interview segment with Seth Rollins during their feud. Riddle said he told Rollins to bring up his family turmoil and getting a divorce.
Was the promo scripted between me and Seth Rollins? You know, I’ve always wanted to answer this question but when I was there, they never really asked me. Not only was it scripted, I told Seth to say it. I go, ‘There’s already all this flack or whatever crap going on.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ Just like how I ‘abandoned my family.’ I got divorced, got kicked out of my house and my son’s Pee Wee football coach was living there two days later when my kids called me. So, yeah, I guess I’m a really bad person but whatever dude.
When it comes to Matt’s time on WWE’s main roster, what got him the call-up was Vince McMahon seeing his moment in NXT when he said, ‘How much fish could Bobby Fish fry if Bobby Fish could fry fish?’
And Bobby’s a great guy too, you know? I feel like I devastated him with that song. The fish fry got him, and then I had a t-shirt and everything with it. It was catchy… Before that, all my hard work, matches with Adam Cole, this, that and the other thing, didn’t mean anything. Vince (McMahon) saw me sing that about Bobby Fish and I got the call the next day to possibly come up to the main roster and I was like, ‘That did it? Not an emotional heart wrenching promo or a crazy, grueling match?’ No. How much fish could Bobby Fish fry if Bobby Fish could fry fish?
Earlier in the signing, he was asked to speak about working with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. He enjoyed it but does not know if they felt the same. He praised their in-ring skills but sometimes it could be tasking to put matches together. Riddle closed by saying things always turned out great.
Sami (Zayn) and Kevin (Owens) are really nice people, they’re nice guys. They’re really good at wrestling. I’ve always enjoyed them, I don’t know if they always enjoy me. But that is what it is. I would say the only thing is it’s sometimes difficult to get that match put together sometimes but, the match always comes out beautiful, it’s always great, it’s always exciting so, I do enjoy working with them for sure. They’re good guys.
He would be asked for his thoughts about WWE United States Champion Logan Paul and how Paul was received by the talent roster backstage. He said he wouldn’t know because Paul had his own locker room. Riddle added that Ronda Rousey had her own locker room as well.
I don’t know (if Logan Paul is liked by the locker room). He doesn’t hang out with us. He has his own locker room like Brock (Lesnar) or anybody else. Brock doesn’t hang out with anybody… Logan Paul goes to his locker room. Ronda (Rousey) would go to her locker room.
There have been three Fight Pit matches that WWE has hosted and Riddle was in two. He’s wrestled Seth Rollins and Timothy Thatcher in that match type but prefers the bout with Thatcher because he trains in combat sports. He feels the match won’t be as good if you do not know how to fight. This conversation came about when Riddle was asked if he thinks his on-screen interactions with Solo Sikoa should’ve led to a Fight Pit.
Okay, so I love the Fight Pit match. I’m a huge fan of it, but, even the one I did in Philadelphia with Seth (Rollins) was okay. The thing with the Fight Pit, if you actually don’t know how to fight, it’s not gonna be as good of a match as it should be. I’m not gonna say Solo (Sikoa) doesn’t know how to fight, but I’ve also never seen him fight professionally in the UFC either. So, I don’t think he’s at that level. Kind of like Seth. Now when I had a match against Tim Thatcher in the Fight Pit, I probably enjoyed that out of all my Fight Pit matches the most because Tim Thatcher does jiu jitsu, does striking, trains in combat sports. So when you go into a combat sports-style match, it’s easier to work because the thing is in the Fight Pit, there’s no rope breaks, in the Fight Pit, there’s no ropes to climb up on and do moves. You can’t exit the ring because there’s a cage but there’s also not a door. You’re not trying to escape. You can’t escape. There’s actually a case around it. You know, and then we have a platform at the top which honestly is grueling because it’s literally steel and metal and everything else.
** The Busted Open Radio crew welcomed Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) onto the show. He shared that while he was in WWE, the likes of Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and Mike Rotunda who were agents at the time, urged him to use his amateur wrestling background in matches. Nic was more focused on the sports-entertainment aspect and for several years, he wanted to incorporate his background into his matches but was not able to due to time cuts. He looks forward to rolling around with the talents of NJPW’s locker room and being physical with them.
Absolutely (there’s a chance people will see my amateur wrestling again), and Arn Anderson used to yell at me for not putting it in there enough and I always (had) this slippery slope of, I’m a shooter — what we call — because I wrestled grade school, high school, college but also, I was so focused on the sports entertainment aspect, that I would be like, ‘Well, I don’t want people to think of me as a wrestler. I’m trying to be a number one guy at WWE’ so I would get away from it sometimes. But then Arn was so insistent on it sometimes. I.R.S. too, so many different guys, Dean (Malenko). So many different people would be like, ‘It’s what makes you stand out,’ especially when I’m a foot shorter than a lot of the guys, you can get some things in and… that was on me for a few years so I would make sure to incorporate it. It makes things stand out and especially now, going to Japan, I really look forward to someone being able to retaliate that back to me and be able to go and make a different — matches look differently than they would have in WWE. Even like a Daniel Bryan-style match. Him and I had a bunch in WWE but it would be very different in this aspect. But of course, in a non-negative way, several years of it was, ‘Well, we just lost three minutes in your four-minute segment. Can you ditch all your sh*t?’ And I go, ‘Yeah. Okay, let’s get to the pro wrestling.’ So, a lot of it was me forgetting that every once in a while but several aspects was, the last five, six, seven years was, ‘We have 90 seconds till break. We don’t have time for your sh*t.’ So, okay, I’ll make something else happen… In that locker room in Japan going, ‘Who the hell can roll around here with me? And we can go and kind of crack each other in the face and try and make each other tap out.’ I look forward to it.
** As Denise Salcedo was speaking to Rey Fénix, he reflected on the best-of-seven series that Death Triangle (PAC, Fénix & Penta El Zero Miedo) had against The Elite (Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson). He feels he did his best in every match, adding that no one could do a best-of-seven like those two trios were able to.
Well, amazing (Fénix said about being a part of The Elite versus Death Triangle best-of-seven series)… You’re right, seven crazy matches with, in my opinion, one of the best wrestlers in the world, three of the best wrestlers in the world. I don’t miss my opportunity, so I do my best in every match and I think the result, that was not the best, right? But in my heart… I did my best every match and I feel happy about — I think nobody can do seven matches like we did.
** Joining Busted Open Radio was Adam Copeland and he spoke about the ‘less is more’ advice that he’s given to Killswitch (Luchasaurus). Copeland brought up that Killswitch can do a moonsault off the top rope to the outside and while they’re working together, he’s learning when to pull out moves like that.
I look at a guy like Killswitch who can do a moonsault off the top rope to the floor. After this, he’s gonna learn when to do that and it’s gonna be at All In at Wembley Stadium and it’s gonna get that much bigger of a reaction because now they’re starting to care about the character and a mask by the way and all he has to do is turn his head or shrug his shoulders a couple of times and I’ve been telling him, ‘Dude, less is more. We can make a meal out of these beets. So, let’s make sure we work them right’ and that to me is really fun to see lightbulbs go off for talent…
** AEW Continental Crown Champion Eddie Kingston guest appeared on First Coast Living.
** There’s an interview with Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) on PROGRESS Wrestling’s official website.
** January 9th birthdays: Samantha Irvin, Ruby Soho and César Barrón (Silver King).
** On the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel, Xavier Woods conducted Superstar Savepoint interviews with Bronson Reed, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.
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.
