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 Busted Open Radio was Karl Anderson. Looking back on his days with BULLET CLUB, Anderson recounted the time that members of the group got Gedo in trouble because Finn Bálor threw NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi on the ground.
There was a time at Korakuen Hall. Prince Devitt had just won something and he told me he was gonna do this and I said, ‘I don’t think you should do this…’ and he grabs (Naoki) Sugabayashi-san who was the President of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. They were handing Finn Bálor the trophy. You guys can go back and watch and look it up. He grabbed Sugabayashi and throws him on the ground and starts putting a finger into his forehead. Sugabayashi was not selling it, he wasn’t happy, he was half-smiling. You could see all the cameras on there. We came back, we went out to eat, still didn’t think anything of it and then Gedo called us and goes, ‘Boys, please, please never touch Sugabayashi again. I get big trouble.’ Sugabayashi-san, you are free from us. My apologies.
Anderson shared a story about Windham Rotunda and recalled when Rotunda shot him a message as BULLET CLUB was hot and said it looked like they were having a great time. Anderson said they were, but they also wanted more money and wanted to land in WWE one day.
I remember I got a DM from Bray Wyatt and messaging me like, ‘Man, this BULLET CLUB stuff is crazy. You guys look like you’re having the greatest time of your lives’ and it’s like, yeah, we were. We were having a lot of fun but we wanted to make a lot more money and we wanted to come to WWE at some point or something, you know? But, yeah, I’m glad we’re all together where we’re at and it was a fun time in our career.
** Brian Cage went live on Whatnot for a virtual signing and expressed that he’s interested in being part of The Lucha Brothers’ show at The Temple on June 1st. The Temple is where Lucha Underground was shot. Cage added that he feels Melissa Santos should be involved.
Dude, The Lucha Brothers just booked The Temple. They booked the actual Temple where we shot Lucha Underground and I don’t know how they’re gonna set it up or anything but I wanna be part of that show June 1st so bad. They haven’t really announced anybody booked… That place is an actual movie studio, so it’s not like you’re just renting a venue. It was probably so expensive… If I can’t be on the show — I would love to be on the show because I doubt anyone will ever run there again. I’m like, Melissa (Santos) has to be a part of the show. She was like the heart and soul of Lucha Underground.
There was a point in the signing when Cage spoke about hating the spear as a finisher. He remembers jokingly questioning Ricky Starks being added to Team Taz because that was his finish. He explained why he feels the move works better for some than others.
Okay, my most loathed move in all of wrestling — no, not the superkick. Get that sh*t out of here. I like the superkick — is the freaking spear. I f*cking hate the spear, that’s why I dropped the f-bomb. I hate it. I hate it so much, so much. First question, who has the best spear? Of all-time, who has the best spear? You don’t even have to answer because we all know it’s Goldberg even though he didn’t do a lot well at all. Bron Breakker’s spear is pretty good. I’ll give him that, I’ll give him that. Bron Breakker’s spear is pretty good. I like Bron a lot, we’re cool. Bobby Lashley? Get out of here. It’s Goldberg, it’s Goldberg because he speared the sh*t out of you. But, how many matches has Goldberg won with the spear?… Exactly. So the guy with the best spear has never beat anyone with the spear. So not only it is a bastardized finish because it’s used by so many so often, here’s my problem with it: Goldberg’s looks great because he just speared the sh*t out of you for real and he was a legit football player, so it made sense. Rhino’s makes — because of The Gore and everything makes sense and his was okay. That was good enough. But then everyone just started to do it. Anyone that was just kind of big started doing it: Big Show, Batista, Bobby Lashley, Moose does — everyone does it, right? And then guys who weren’t big started doing it, like Edge, Ricky Starks, and I’m like, how is that a finisher from someone so much smaller? It’s just a tackle, and what really took me over the edge though was definitely the Divas era of wrestling. Every diva who was just a model, who couldn’t really wrestle that well, I feel like their go-to finish was always the spear because it didn’t take much talent or effort and it was always the laziest, sloppiest double leg takedown of all-time. I hate it, I hate it so bad and I’ve never lost to a spear in my entire career and I don’t ever plan to because I hate that move so much. I jokingly, but sincerely, but jokingly, I remember when Ricky Starks joined Team Taz, like, ‘Come on Tony, he can’t join Team Taz. His finish is the spear. The spear’s terrible.’ Now technically, his main finish now is the Roshambo so, he’s moved up in that regard. So the spear is like his number two go-to. He can beat people without his finish-finish but for a while there, it was his solid finish… So like Bron, he’s got a football background, he’s jacked, he’s huge, he’s super fast and he spears the crap out of you. Okay, he checks all the boxes. His works, his works. For people who aren’t any of those things, just don’t even use the spear, don’t use it. Even Roman (Reigns), I like the Superman Punch better than the spear. Just so many people do it and it’s just, I don’t know. I’m gonna be all night if I’m dealing with the spear. I can’t stand it. Starks’ spear that he gave MJF in their segment leading up to their match was really cool. I don’t know how he hit it differently, but it was really cool. It looked good but again, Ricky Starks is like, what? 180 pounds maybe? I don’t know, it’s not believable to me to beat somebody with that move. It’s just a spear. If you’re running from somebody and they tackle you, does that seem like that would beat you? I don’t know. I digress, I digress.
Wardlow’s name was brought up and Cage thinks he gave the former TNT Champion one of, if not his best match on the October 5th, 2022, episode of Dynamite. He would like to have a longer program with Wardlow.
I enjoyed very much working with Wardlow. I love working with big guys, especially athletic big guys and I thought, personally, I thought I gave Wardlow one of, if not his best match that he’s had too and I had a blast in it and I would love to have a bigger match, a longer match and I would love to have a program with Wardlow, like à la Triple H and Scott Steiner. I think that would be money, that would be so great.
Speaking about his AEW action figure, Cage stated that he is grateful, but is disappointed in the detail of it.
I mean, it was cool (holding my AEW action figure). But, I have a lot to say. I was a little disappointed… So, first of all, everybody has all their tattoos so detailed, right? I mean, the gear and everything is great, detail in there. But everybody’s got their detail of the tattoos. I didn’t think it would be that hard. You can see, I have a little bit of this chest hair going on and I’m like, they could have put a little bit of chest hair right there and also, mind you, I think I’m the only guy that’s more jacked than his figure. Most action figures are crazy jacked, right? For no reason. Even if the guy’s not jacked, they’re super jacked. So the fact that I thought my figure would be overly jacked, to you know, overcompensate for my real muscularity and the fact that my son, who’s not even into wrestling in that regard, he even looked at the figure and was like, ‘Dad, your figure’s not that jacked at all. You should be way more buff dad.’ ‘Exactly! It’s just not me, it’s not just me.’ So that was actually my first thought. It’s still epic that I have an action figure, right? I happen to have an action figure, trading cards, I’m in a video game. That’s all really cool.
** With the 2024 NFL Draft coming up, NFL Films are sending a camera that will catch Tony Khan as he tends to his duties with the Jacksonville Jaguars and All Elite Wrestling. Khan shared that note on The Chris Russell Show.
NFL Films is gonna send a camera crew to document this weekend, so it should be kind of cool because NFL Films will get to follow me back and forth from the Draft room to AEW going back and forth on one big complex as I bounce back and forth between the NFL Draft and AEW.
** On his JAXXON PODCAST, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson stated that he was offered a pro wrestling match in Japan. He may have been referring to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport Bushido, which he is announced for. Jackson stated that he might not do it.
I got offered to do a pro wrestling match in Japan. I always wanted to wrestle out there but… I don’t think I’ma do it. It’s not worth it. I’d lose money going out there; what I was offered. I wanna do it because it’s a friend asking me, but then… I forgot the motherf*cker name (who I could be wrestling) but he said it’s a big name.
** The idea of reuniting with Kyle O’Reilly was brought up to Bobby Fish during his appearance on the Cheap Heat Productions Podcast. Fish reacted to that and then touched on his future.
I don’t think I could ever turn down a chance to team with Kyle (O’Reilly) because we’re just two peas in a pod. So it wouldn’t matter where it was, but I don’t rule anything out from a company standpoint. If it’s pro wrestling, hell, even if it’s not pro wrestling. I fought in Dubai a year or so ago in a boxing ring. For me, the legs that I got left when it comes to just an active, sort of professional career is yeah… anything is possible and I don’t rule anything out. I think I still have a few legitimate fights left in me, I know I’ve still got some wrestling left in me… I love kind of giving back and I love seeing that there’s another generation of people coming up that I can help and more than anything, that’s where I see my value is in helping other people.
** Tetsuya Naito was interviewed by Tokyo Sports when he returned to Japan after losing the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to Jon Moxley.
** Tokyo Sports published an article about the time one of their reporters spoke to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in February 2002 at Narita International Airport.
** There’s an interview with Steve Maclin on the McGuire on Wrestling podcast feed.
** A new interview that Sports Illustrated conducted with Adam Copeland.
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.
