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.
** Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Big Swole, Teasy and Damian Priest got together to record a new edition of the Swerve City Podcast. All three hosts and the guest shared a story in-which someone along the way in their respective careers helped them progress by somewhat being hard on them. For Isaiah Scott, that was New Jack and their run-in occurred prior to a CZW show.
“I had New Jack. Yeah, Dark Side of the Ring New Jack, VICE New Jack, and this was after said stories happened. So I’ll never forget, I was at CZW. I had a match later on in the show. So fans are already in the building and stuff and I’m walking to the merch table and I’m walking in my gear and a hoodie. So right off the bat, that’s bad etiquette, and I’m walking over there just to pick up a shirt or something because I’m going to wear it to the ring so I’m walking over there, and Jack is sitting on the side. He’s like, ‘Hey you! Aye, come here! Come here!’ I’m like, ‘Oh Lord.’ So I go over there, walk over to Jack. He’s like, ‘So why are you out here in front of all these fans with your gear on?’ I was like, ‘Oh, I’m just running to the merchan’—- ‘Aht, aht, aht, aht. Why are you out here in front of all these fans with your gear on? You’re like a stripper showing off your ass before you even get up on the pole. You know what? You aren’t worth not a damn dime to your name.’ ‘Well sorry si…’ He’s like, ‘Get out my face!’ And ever since then, I’ve never went out with gear on, and still to this day, I don’t go out or go upstairs to go to the back room — fully clothed gear. I don’t show nobody my gear before it’s time for show time, and Jack instilled that in me and I never fought back because, are you gonna fight back against New Jack? No. We’ve seen people try.”
For Big Swole, it was Mercedes Martinez. Martinez felt that Swole wasn’t being herself and knew that something was distracting her from her in-ring work. Swole agreed and soon realized that Martinez was right and figured out how to adjust and fix what was lacking within herself at the time.
“I think that my one came right before all of my AEW stuff happened. Mercedes Martinez pulled me to the side and she was just like, ‘Swole I don’t know what happened. You look great. You can talk on the mic. It’s all great but you’ve lost your voice.’ She’s like, ‘And your wrestling doesn’t come across the same way as it used to and I can tell you’re just in your head or whatever [has] got you but you’re so quiet in your matches.’ She’s like, ‘I don’t even hear you. You’re the loudest person on the roster.’ So I was like, ‘You know what? You’re right.’ She’s like, ‘You go out in that ring and you have to be just as loud as you are in the back’ and I was like, ‘You know what? You’re absolutely right’ so she just kind of put a fire under my tail and next thing you know, I had all these opportunities and things would happen and even after the tag match, I beat myself up because things didn’t go how they were supposed to go or whatever and she was just like, ‘No, you have it. You just have to find that chemistry with other people, and they have to find it with you. You have to slow down, because everybody can’t go as fast as you can, and you have to fill in that space but not make it seem like you are slowing down,’ and I was like, ‘You know what? You’re right.’”
The conversation then turned over to Damian Priest. Priest said that the character that he portrays on TV and in his vignettes on NXT is similar to who he is off-camera. He said that he’s an extrovert to an extent and loves going out and having a good time.
“I think I’m closer to who would you expect Damian Priest to be and you [Isaiah Scott] know that. After a show… it’s almost like I gotta celebrate. I celebrate everyday. I love having a good time. That’s not fake. That’s really real, every day. If I could have a good time every day, I will, and if I could also help somebody else have a better time, and I think more so now than ever [I’ve been an extrovert] and it’s like, ‘So wait, if I’m portraying this, I don’t have to hide… No, I’m gonna go all out.’ So, after a show, I’ll go take a shower, get changed and let’s go out. Let’s go do something. Obviously, not getting reckless or at least I try not to, but for the most part, I just go out and have a good time, even if it’s just to go out and eat but I like socializing, I like being around people — where I can just be normal. Not be TV Damian Priest, and meet people and interact with other people just for the sake of interaction.”
** Courtesy of Yahoo! Finance, class-action lawsuits have be filed against WWE by way of shareholders and below is a recap of the lawsuit (Heel By Nature was first to catch the lawsuit story):
According to the filed complaint, during the class period, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: Defendants perpetrated a fraudulent scheme which: (i) deceived the investing public regarding WWE’s business and prospects; (ii) artificially inflated the price of WWE Class A common stock; (iii) permitted certain senior executives of WWE to sell more than $282 million worth of their personally held shares at fraud inflated prices; and (iv) caused the public to purchase WWE Class A common stock at artificially inflated prices.
Liberty Oilfield Services, Inc. (LBRT)
LBRT Lawsuit on behalf of: investors who purchased securities pursuant and/or traceable to the documents issued in connection with the Company’s January 2018 initial public offering.
Lead Plaintiff Deadline : June 2, 2020
TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/liberty-oilfield-services-inc-loss-form?prid=6233&wire=1According to the filed complaint, (1) there was an oversupply in the hydraulic fracturing services market; (2) the Company’s pricing power was weak; (3) Liberty’s services were not increasing and its competition was not decreasing; and (4) as a result, Defendants’ statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.
** Prior to the news of him being furloughed by WWE, Gerald Brisco did an interview with Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald and spoke about WrestleMania 36. He praised the performers on that show and towards the end of the quote below, Brisco said that he was “proud to be a part of WWE at that time.”
“I just have so much respect for the talent that participated in WrestleMania 36 and the matches that they did. It’s so hard. These young men and women, they went out there to keep the intensity that you gotta keep and keep it at an upward level that you’ve got to keep for WrestleMania. Without any feedback whatsoever, it’s so hard to do and these young men and women, they went out and put on the shows of their lives. They had great matches. Would it have been better with the live audience? Probably, but how much better? I don’t know if they could’ve gotten much better because they still went, they put the effort out there… and I was so proud of my peers and my younger peers and people in the future are gonna look at this thing and go, ‘Wow, how did they do that?’ Because you do anything without a reaction, it’s just so hard to keep up the intensity and the emotion and the emotion especially because you’re not getting any feedback on what you’re doing. As a performer, you know when you did something good in the ring and you’re going to wait for that explosion that you get from the audience and you know, that explosion wasn’t there and if that explosion was there, even with the live audience when you don’t get the pop that you think you’re gonna get, you lose some of that emotion and you lose some of that intensity and these young men and women, they kept that emotion. They kept that intensity up. I was proud of the product. I was proud to be a part of the WWE at that time and I was just singing the praises of every one of those young men and women. I loved the show.”
** Kalisto took to his YouTube channel to provide an update on his status with WWE. Kalisto said he is still with the company but suffered a shoulder tear back in December and he doesn’t need surgery, but the recovery process without surgery takes a bit more time.
“I’m seeing a lot of fans tweeting at me, messaging me where am I, am I still with WWE, and the answer is yes, but, unfortunately I got hurt back on December 31st at the Staples Center in LA. So I ended up having an AC separation on my shoulder and some ligament tear. Thank God no surgery, but it’s a longer recovery, and I’m taking my time to come back and I wanna come back 100%. Every time I watch SmackDown or RAW, I just wanna get in there so bad, but I know my boys are doing great. Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, man, you guys, I know in my heart you guys are gonna win the tag team titles. I know that and I’ll see you guys soon.”
** Part two NJPW1972.com’s interview with Toa Henare was posted to the site. In this chat, Henare shared that before he officially joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he had to decide between them and joining WWE.
“I was in the States for three days. I was supposed to start on the fourth day. I got the phone call, and I had a one hour period to make my decision. Best decision I’ve ever made.”
** Gary Cassidy of Sportskeeda spoke with Michael Elgin ahead of the 4/28/20 episode of IMPACT Wrestling. Elgin was asked who some of the free agents in pro wrestling are that he’d like to see join IMPACT and here’s his response:
“You know, I think that FTR, former Revival, would be amazing. I think we have a very strong tag team division and I think they would greatly add to it. For myself, personally, I think the number one of the free agents recently that have opened up would be Rusev. I saw so much in him in WWE that I think he can really do something special and obviously past greats of IMPACT Wrestling, EC3 and Eric Young, are now available and I would love to be able to show what I can do against guys who once helped put IMPACT at the forefront.”
** Former NXT talent MJ Jenkins did an interview with Sportskeeda and told the site that following her departure from WWE, she’d like to compete for AEW and listed off several names in the company who she’d like to share the ring with.
“Oh man… You know, there is so much wrestling out there and… [MJ laughs] .. I can say, from what I’ve seen, the main place I would love to go is AEW. I can’t lie. To say that I haven’t been watching would be a complete lie. I think what they’re doing is amazing. All the talent that they have there… Sonny Kiss has been one of my friends for the longest. I met him so long ago in New Jersey when I was wrestling and he was wrestling, at a smaller indie company. Britt Baker is there, and me and Britt had our first-ever tryout match in front of the whole WWE locker room at SmackDown, and we killed it. You just have so much great performers there. Ariel Monroe, Big Swole is what she goes by now… But I would love to go there because I believe in what they’re doing and I believe in their women’s division.”
** talkSPORT posted their interview with NXT Tag Team Champion Pete Dunne.
** Ryan of Wrestlebotch spoke with Sid Vicious about his devastating leg injury from 2001. Sid said that it was John Laurinaitis who wanted him to do the spot and although Sid told John that he wasn’t comfortable, John insisted because the production truck was going to be looking for it. Sid said that to this day, he still suffers from the after-effects of the injury.
** Adam Cole chatted with The Indian Express to promote the 4/29 episode of NXT.
** POST Wrestling’s John Pollock spoke with AEW World Champion Jon Moxley to promote the Cagefighter: Worlds Collide film on FITE TV. Moxley revealed that he was hesitant to do the crowd entrance after departing from WWE because he didn’t want to use most of what worked in WWE after he left the company. He said it was Rocky Romero who convinced him to use the entrance in New Japan and even after using it in New Japan, he was hesitant to use it in AEW.
“It was actually Rocky Romero’s idea to come out of the crowd. I was real hesitant to do [it]. At first, I was a little eh, I was iffy on it. I didn’t even do it at first in AEW. I was like, ‘No’ because I thought that was like a Shield thing, and one thing I didn’t wanna do when I kind of moved on, I didn’t wanna lean on any old things in WWE that worked. Like keep the DDT and everything else I’m throwing out. I don’t want [it] to be like, ‘Former WWE superstar!’ And rely on old stuff. Wipe the slate clean. So I was kinda iffy on the crowd thing, but, then I thought about it. We’re sitting there at the bar. I thought about it for like 30 seconds and I was like, ‘Nobody’s ever done that here’ and so I was like, ‘As soon as I step out, it’s gonna change the tone of the show and people are gonna be like, Oh sh*t, something new is happening. This is gonna be wild’ and it was definitely the right call. I was like, ‘Hundred percent the right call.’ So, I’m glad I went with that idea and then, I was like, ‘Ah, but I won’t do it in AEW.’ But then some of the producers and directors, a lot of people are like, ‘Man, it’s such a cool entrance though’ and I’m like yeah. It’s mine as much as it is anybody’s so I’m gonna keep it and now it’s kind of like a signature thing that obviously now, I can’t do.”
** Jesse Ventura expressed his interest to potentially run for President of the United States.
** On the first episode of Ring of Honor’s ‘ROHStrong’ podcast, co-booker Marty Scurll joined the show. Marty was candid about many topics concerning Ring of Honor including the possibility of them working with All Elite Wrestling.
“Yeah, I don’t see why not. It would have to be a matter of timing and a matter of, I spoke about [it] previously, just where it would benefit both companies but like I said, I have an amazing relationship with The Bucks especially. I still talk to them on a regular basis. I have a pretty good relationship with Tony Khan and I think both parties are definitely willing to work with each other. It’s just a matter of timing I guess. Like when it would be suitable to do so. So it’s definitely something I wouldn’t rule out for sure. I’m not saying anything will happen. I’m just saying I wouldn’t rule it out. There’s no reason why we wouldn’t. The timing needs to be correct. It needs to be a fitting situation for us to work together. I’d personally like to see it happen at some point.”
With his new role in Ring of Honor, Marty addressed the common idea that most have when it comes to an active wrestler being the booker of a promotion or company. Scurll said it’s all about balance and every decision he makes will be for the benefit of everyone involved in Ring of Honor.
“I think what I’ve achieved in Ring of Honor speaks for itself so, for example — it’s not too much of an awkward position in the sense of I was booked as a top guy beforehand. There’s no reason for that to stop. It wasn’t like I was an undercard guy then I became booker and now I’m world champion all of a sudden. I’m always gonna make the best decisions, not for myself but for the company so for example, if me being world champion is best for the company at the time, then we will do that, despite what my other roles might be. At the end of the day, the fans are gonna tell you if they believe something or not. If someone is champion that they don’t believe should be champion, then they’re gonna let you know. For example, if I’m booked on top — now I don’t think any of the fans are gonna say, ‘Oh, why is he on top? He shouldn’t be there.’ So no… I understand a wrestler being a booker, maybe it’s somewhat a conflict of interest but at the same time, where do you get these bookers from? It’s not like people can go to university and train how to be a booker. The only way you can be prepared for this job is to have years and years of experience in the business and that’s something that I have. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve wrestled with pretty much every big star in the world today. So I have a lot of experience and wisdom in this job.”
Scurll spoke about the support for him to win the ROH World Championship at G1 Supercard in 2019. Matt Taven was the winner of the title at that event and Scurll stated that ROH was in a tough position because they didn’t know if he was going to re-sign or not. Although he didn’t win the title, Scurll said that doesn’t mean it can’t happen in the future.
“Well, I’d say good things come to those who wait. Would it have been nice to have been world champion by now? I mean absolutely. But at the same time, I don’t have an ego when it comes to those types of things. I just want what is best for the business as opposed to what’s best for myself. In terms of the event that you spoke about, MSG, I think obviously there were a lot of fans that wanted to see me win and they wanted that moment and so, maybe it might’ve been an idea to give them it, but obviously that wasn’t my day and it doesn’t mean they’re not gonna get it later. I wouldn’t say it was dropping the ball. At the same time, I think as many fans there were that wanted to see me win the title, Matt Taven who won the title, he has such a huge following so there was a lot of people that were excited about that and his time with Ring of Honor, he’s more than deserved — he’s been there a lot longer than I have and more than deserved his title run and I think he did a really good job with it, and actually I feel like even though he’s not the champion anymore, I feel like there’s untapped potential with Matt Taven. I feel like he can go on to do really big things. He already has in this company but I think even bigger and brighter things in this company. But no, it would’ve been nice to win the title and I’m sure a lot of fans would’ve wanted that moment but, they didn’t get it then but maybe they’ll get it later. So, who knows? It’s a hard position as well. Without peeling it back too much, it was a hard spot for the company because obviously they knew my contract was expiring so, how do you put your number one title on a guy you don’t necessarily know you’re gonna have? You know what I mean? It’s a really tough spot for them.”
** Aleister Black and Zelina Vega posted part two of their Q&A session to their YouTube channel.
** According to PWInsider, Teddy Hart’s court date has been pushed back to July 16th. The site is also noting that Van Hammer, real name Mark Hildreth pleaded not guilty for his current court case and the pre-trail hearing has been set for June 10th. Hildreth was arrested on January 26th after striking a child with a vehicle while said child was riding a bicycle.
** Ring of Honor spotlighted Flip Gordon with a full documentary about him.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NFFvDJnjWg[/embedyt]
** Spencer Love of Win Column Sports chatted with NXT’s Chelsea Green. During their interview, Chelsea shared that her end goal was to always land in WWE.
“I guess with me, I set my sights on what I think is the top. Whether it’s the top or not, I set my sights on the top and then I don’t waver, and I’ve always been like that. I always pick a goal, and I can not get off of that track for that goal. So, although I was so excited to get [to] IMPACT – and, honestly, I got [to] IMPACT before I even deserved IMPACT, and same with Lucha Underground. They gave me an opportunity on Lucha Underground that I was not prepared for and didn’t deserve, but I was so thankful for it. But, I just threw out all of that. I knew my end goal. Although now, looking back on it, those were so much more amazing than I even thought they were at the time because I was so on a one-track frame of mind.”
** Tokyo Sports ran an interview with IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito. Naito was asked about the recent meeting that was held in Japan with multiple representatives of promotions and companies to discuss how to move forward with the wrestling business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those companies/promotions submitted a request for the “spread of simple test kits” and “compensation for leave of absence for annual contracted athletes”. Naito agrees with the idea of a union being formed and thinks it should’ve happened a long time ago. (Translation via @dartvader_one on Instagram).
“I really agree if it’s made for the development of the industry, and I think its been done a long time ago! I feel like there’s going to be a problem.”
He added that he was courageous to say what he was thinking, and that it was a wonderful action, but he was reluctant to ask for leave compensation during this period. Naito also feels that there is a lot of work that can be done within New Japan before they can be united with other groups.
** Madison Rayne and Josh Matthews did a joint-interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider.
** Following his departure from WWE, Heath Slater joined Lilian Garcia for an edition of Chasing Glory. Heath said that during his time with WWE, he was burned out and everyone around him knew it. He added that being let go from WWE lit the fire in him again.
“I was burned out man. Like burned the hell out, fact. I knew it, family knew it, my co-workers knew it. I was just burned out and it’s like 14 years, four years developmental, ten years on the road to where it’s you can be promised, you can be told, you can have it in your hand and ready and it just changes on the drop of a dime, and then it’s one of those things like putting everyone over for ten years will take a toll on somebody. Confidence and your drive, your fire, all of that and it’s like, my goodness. I do everything you ask. I can’t get a bone? Like that type of thing. I went through those a lot, a lot! And I wish I would’ve took more control. You know, walking in there saying, ‘Why is this happening? Why are we doing this? Why can’t we do it this way? I have 15 other damn great reasons why we could do it this way, but why are we going that way?’ Which takes a toll on you a little bit.”
During his time with WWE, Heath began to lose confidence in regard to pitching ideas because he was denied so many times. He stated that other than his SmackDown run with Rhyno, he was burned out and did not care for a portion of his career.
“I think what it was in my younger days was the whole — but I did go in there and try to talk. I did go in there and try to push but they just, ‘No, no.’ I heard ‘no’ too many times, to where I literally said, ‘You know what? Sh*t. I ain’t gonna pitch no more sh*t,’ because when I do, it goes nowhere or if I do pitch something good, they give it to someone else to where I’m just sitting there like, ‘Hello! Come on now. When you get tired of hearing, ‘No, no. Not for you, not for you, not for you. Can’t do that. No, no, no,’ you kinda start believing. You kinda start damn believing it and then, like I said, getting fired I really believe I needed this. The times are crazy. The times are weird now because you can’t go out and make money and all that stuff, but I really believe I needed this to get the fire, get the hunger, focus. I can honestly tell you that out of the last four or five years, besides me and Terry [Rhyno] winning the tag titles, which was an awesome little run, I have been so burned out and not even really caring, to where this happened, so I have to say thank you for lighting that fire for me again. Giving me that, ‘Oh, what? I’m gone? So I can spread my wings and fly a little bit?’ I thank WWE for every year I was there. Every damn year I was there, I thank them because man, I went so many places I never even dreamed of ever going and it’s just one of those things where I made so many relationships with so many people and best friends too. Drew [McIntyre] is one of my best friends, period. He was the second person to text me when everybody got released. So it’s just one of those things where like, hey if I didn’t work there all this time, I wouldn’t have met or gone or experienced so many things. So that part was amazing. But then again, every job is like a relationship. You got your ups, you got your downs but it’s how you handle it.”
While speaking about Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal becoming WWE Champion, Heath was asked if he ever saw himself as champion. He said he didn’t and took responsibility for his mentality being that way.
“Hell no. Hell no. Opportunities man. I was there for a decade. A whole decade. Like this [up and down]. I might have a faction here, a faction there. Man I was in so many damn factions too. I was always the little puzzle piece to a group. But, I didn’t see myself being champ. Why? Mentality I wasn’t there.”
** During an interview with JOE, Sheamus said that he would love to have Vince McMahon an episode of Celtic Warrior Workouts.
** Here’s the latest edition of AEW’s ‘Road To TNT Championship’ series:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZvxZ0Brv5Y[/embedyt]
** Per PWInsider, on April 23rd, WWE made the move to oppose the trademarks “Slamboree” and “The Match Beyond” which Cody Rhodes was in the process of trademarking.
** SPORF released a clip from their chat with Adam Cole. Cole spoke highly of NXT founder and senior producer Paul “Triple H” Levesque and how Levesque wants everyone in NXT to succeed.
“He’s a very large man, and he carries himself… it’s so hard to — he’s just so large that he has this aura about him, and he’s not trying to be intimidating, he just is intimidating. But then when you get to know him and you talk to him, and you talk wrestling or whether it’s about life or whatever it is, just such a friendly guy. Someone who really, really wants to help everyone who’s involved in NXT. NXT is his baby and he really does want everyone to succeed. He wants the show to be as good as possible. So, watching him and listening to him talk about certain aspects to the show and things like that makes me realize how smart he is, but the thing that I admire the most is that man is very, very busy, and every single week, he’s at NXT. He’s on the entire time. There’s a million people coming up and asking him questions or giving ideas or whatever it is and he’s always focused, he’s always present and he’s always happy to be there. So it motivates guys like me and I know it motivates other people to be like, ‘Man, Triple H still has this mentality, still has this mindset. Look how focused he is. I’m gonna be even more focused.’ He just brings it out. He is very good at motivation through action, and whether that be the stuff in the ring or just your thought process about wrestling, he’s just very, very smart. A genius. I really think he is.”
** FOX 21 interviewed ‘Heavy on Wrestling’ promoter Dave Sabick about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the wrestling business and his promotion specifically.
** WWE honored World War II veteran Captain Tom Moore with a custom WWE Championship belt.
** The Lucha Pod welcomed Will Ospreay onto the podcast and among the many topics that were discussed, Ospreay shared his thoughts about the NXT UK brand. He said he tunes in every week to see his friends but wishes that the brand established more characters.
“It’s not that I don’t like NXT UK, because I do. I watch it all the time because I like seeing my friends on it, but it’s just the little things where I’ve noticed — I’ve noticed little things about it where I’m just like, ‘It didn’t need this. It didn’t need that. I wish they would just [have] done a pinfall.’ It wasn’t like people were like, ‘I’m gonna do a lock up…’ I wish there was more characters. Where is the Ric Flair in NXT UK? Where’s the Val Venis? Where’s The Godfather? Where’s bloody Right To Censor? Where are all these guys and that’s just my main thing. They have so many talented wrestlers there and they are phenomenal, phenomenal guys, but for an hour you gotta hold my attention with the same phenomenal athleticism. I want a bit of comedy. I want a bit of showmanship and just like bright colors and they’re all kind of wearing the same type of clothing, all in the same type of colors and fabric and stuff like that, and I could get into this all day, but I just want a little bit of variety. That’s all I’m asking and not [for] the handcuffs to be on so tight. Give us a little bit of wiggling room.”
Ospreay also told the story of how Scotty Davis got the opportunity to face Jushin Thunder Liger at Scrappermania 5. Ospreay and Davis were supposed to face each other but Ospreay had to be pulled from the show due to his obligations with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. NJPW offered Jushin Liger to compete on the show and Ospreay was the one who recommended that Scotty Davis do the honors.
“In I wanna say May or June, something like that, I was meant to wrestle Scotty Davis and for some reason — I think New Japan got in contact with Joe [Cabray] and was like, ‘Hey, we saw that you advertised Ospreay. Unfortunately, we need him’ and they were kind of like, ‘Oh God. What do we do? Who do we get?’ And they were like, ‘We can give you Liger,’ and Joe was just like, ‘Who do I put Liger against?’ And I said, ‘Give him to Scotty,’ and he was like, ‘Oh God, but he’s 18, Liger’s 53. I don’t want him to give Liger at Gator Roll and separate Liger’s shoulder or something.’ I go, ‘Joe, trust me. He’s really, really good. He can do it,’ and the thing is, I said to him, I went, ‘If you let me announce it tonight’ because I was at the OTT show when this was happening. I was like, ‘If you let me announce it tonight, Liger versus Scotty Davis. This crowd is gonna go insane and they’re gonna support him so much.’ This crowd is gonna be like this is the start of witnessing a young man like Scotty Davis get his rise, and then he sat on it for ages. I went, ‘Let me call [the] office.’ So I called [the] office and the call service said, ‘Yeah, we’re more than happy for Scotty Davis to face Liger’ and he’s already faced Juice Robinson at this point but once again, this is Liger, an actual living legend and nothing on Juice Robinson. Juice is one of my best friends. You can’t compare him [Liger] to anybody. So then it was one of those things where the moment I announced it, I just felt this crowd rumble in the arena.”
** On the latest edition of New Day’s ‘Feel The Power’ podcast, Tyler Breeze joined the show and Breeze talked about the match that he and Fandango had against The Usos at the 2017 Backlash pay-per-view. In that match, Breeze changed characters and went from a janitor to an elderly woman. Initially, it was supposed to be a serious match for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles and Breeze told the story of how the match was converted into a comedic match.
“So we start putting together this normal match, then all of sudden they’re like, ‘Hey, you’re getting called into the office.’ I’m like, ‘Okay.’ So we go in and all of a sudden, I’m told, ‘You dress up like other things right?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sometimes,’ and he goes, ‘Yeah, but like a girl, lady and whatever…’ I said, ‘Yeah, I could dress up like whatever,’ and he goes, ‘Do that tonight,’ and I was like, ‘Well how am I supposed to dress up like a couple things while I’m wrestling?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, figure it out’ and I went, ‘Okay’ and so Usos — everybody’s got this bewildered look on their face. We got like 15 minutes for this match on a pay-per-view, tag titles, so like what’s happening here? I don’t know how to make this work. So, Usos always laugh because they used to love working with us because they used to know I just come in and be like, ‘Hey guys. This, this, this, this, this’ and they just call me agent Breeze because I put the match together and they were like, ‘Cool, works for us’ and I’d go, ‘Awesome.’ So, they start laughing as we walk back to the locker room and I’m just sitting on the floor, and I have nothing in my head, and they’re just laughing at me and I go, ‘What’s so funny?’ And they said, ‘We just never seen you like this. Like you have no ideas,’ and I said, ‘How am I supposed to get changed in the middle of a ring? How am I supposed to change from outfit to outfit?’ So then, somebody said something about — I was like, ‘Okay, we gotta figure out what to do here.’ So I was like, ‘Well, I think I could do the janitor like an old lady. I think that should be enough.’ So I’m like, ‘Well, if I dress up like an old lady underneath, then I could roll under the ring and get the janitor stuff off and then be the old lady coming out.’ I said, ‘That’s really the only way I can do this.’”
** Tetsuya Naito did an interview with NJPW1972.com.
** 15-years ago today, former 3-time ECW World Tag Team Champion Chris Candido passed away.
** Chuck Liddell chatted with The Sun and further expressed that he has interest in professional wrestling.
** Titus O’Neil will deliver the virtual commencement speech for University of Florida’s 2020 graduating class.
** Jim Varsallone of the Miami Herald spoke with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. McIntyre said that WWE ring announcer Mike Rome told him that he was nervous during the introductions for the WWE Title match at WrestleMania. Rome felt the intensity between Brock Lesnar and Drew McIntyre and thought they were gonna seriously come to blows.
“I remember Mike Rome, the ring announcer, told me he was like, ‘I was so uncomfortable standing between you two guys because I was just worried one of y’all were gonna swing a hand and accidentally catch me and that would’ve been me in the hospital.’”
** Alicia Atout has interviews up on her YouTube channel with Killer Kelly and Chelsea Green.
** PINKVILLA pushed out their interview with No Way Jose.
** English promoter Barry Hearn chatted with ‘Metro’ and talked about how WWE inspired him with his business dealings.
“I think certainly WWE has influenced me. I invented Fish’O’Mania the day after a WrestleMania, that’s why it is called Fish’O’Mania. I thought ‘mania’ is such a good word. A lot of my walk-ons that we brought to boxing early doors and subsequently to the darts, were inspired by WWE. Not so much UFC. That inspires more a digital, younger market through commercialization. From a show projection, the leader was WWE. It was families having a good time and they were promoting something that wasn’t even real so it was brilliant, it was genius. They got everyone so involved and I’m a big fan of personality-building in your stars, which is part of their vision, and also the crowd being part of the show, which follows their vision.”
** IMPACT Wrestling released the cold open for night two of their Rebellion special on AXS TV.
** Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp chatted with Crown Of Glory Champion AJ Gray. Gray reflected on ending Nick Gage’s 800-day reign as GCW World Champion and what that meant to him.
“What’s going through my head as it’s occurring? ‘Oh sh*t, this is really happening.’ It had been 800 days, and that happens, to that magnitude? You even get shocked a little bit. You see what puts this guy away, and you did it.”
** The trail for Luc C. Vu, who is the man arrested for the death of Matt Travis, has been pushed back until July 20th, PWInsider learned. The trail was supposed to commence on April 20th.
** Zack Ryder filed to trademark “Internet Champion” and “Alwayz Ready”.
** Summer Rae and Tenille Dashwood participated in Ring The Belle’s ‘Best Friends’ challenge. The channel also has an interview up with Deonna Purrazzo.
** Stephanie McMahon has joined the Ad Council Board of Directors.
** Mickie James’ song, “With The Love of a Child” is being used to promote National Child Abuse Awareness month.
** Johnny Gargano did an in-character interview with SunSport.
** IMPACT X Division Champion Willie Mack joined The Wrestling INC Daily Podcast.
** Kelly Kelly spoke with The Hashtag Show.
** Per PWInsider, former WCW, All Japan and WWF talent John Nord, formerly known as “The Bezerker” was arrested on March 16th in Minnesota for a DUI.
** Chris Van Vliet conducted an interview with Mandy Rose.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqQVucbla6g[/embedyt]
** The following video streamed on the NWA YouTube channel:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOORxZN6EGc[/embedyt]
** GameSpot published their interview with Adam Cole.
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.
