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.
** Johnny Christ welcomed Tommy End (Malakai Black) onto his Drinks With Johnny show. When Tommy made his return to WWE in April after a seven-month absence, he had a new theme song that was created by Brutality Will Prevail. He shared that Vince McMahon was not a fan of the theme but Vince added that he is in his 70s so he wouldn’t know if the song is considered good by today’s standards.
So, we record the song. I remember sitting with Vince [McMahon] in the office and I said, ‘Look, I’ve got this new song. It’s heavy as sh*t.’ He’s like, ‘Oh! Let me hear it.’ So I play the song for him and he’s like, ‘Does the volume change? Does the speed [change]?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s coming. It’s going faster.’ So he listens to it and he’s like, ‘Wow.’ He’s like, ‘I mean, I don’t know what the f*ck that was. I don’t think that’s music but hey, I’m 76-years-old, what the f*ck do I know, right?’ So he basically gave me the OK but for some reason, we couldn’t mesh it out with — we have all the rights to the song but, I think that WWE’s worries are and I understand this part because it has happened in the past where they’ve used outside sources and then all of a sudden, even when everything contractual [is] done, someone goes, ‘Yeah, but I want royalties’ or, ‘I want this’ or, ‘I wanna have credit’ and then, it causes lawsuits, it causes issues so WWE does everything in-house which I understand. That’s no biggie, it was just a bummer and then they hired the front man for Brutality Will Prevail to write their version of No Man’s Land and the idea was that after like three to six months, the guys would be paid for studio time again and cover the WWE version of that song in their own way so that we still had Brutality Will Prevail singing No Man’s Land, just in a slightly different way but completely their way of doing it so, and obviously we never got to that part which is a shame because even the character didn’t make it longer than four weeks before, you know, actually two weeks and then they started changing the direction up completely, and we never got to see any of that to fruition but this is the song that I’m definitely going to use out there [on the independents].
Tommy End debuted for All Elite Wrestling on 7/7 under the name “Malakai Black”. He brought up that he hopes to work with Chris Jericho. Tommy said a match with Jericho is high on his bucket list.
So, I’ve met Chris [Jericho] very briefly when he was about to exit WWE and like, I think we had one or two brief conversations. I’ve always liked Chris. Chris is definitely one of the guys that I look up to in wrestling. I think for a guy his age to be able to reinvent himself as much as he has done and the amount of talent that Chris possesses from his time in Japan to WCW and his WWE career, I think Chris is one of the all-time greats. He is one of the people that I really hope that before he decides to like, you know, hang up his boots, I hope I get to work him because I think his mind in wrestling is such a valuable treasure and to be able to pick his brain and learn from him and competing against him, it’s one of the things that’s on my bucket list. Like high on my bucket list to have that match.
The idea came up of Tommy possibly making a transition into MMA and taking some pro fights. He explained why he is not actively seeking that and it has to do with him respecting the sport. He would have to train for a lengthy period to properly prepare. Tommy has spoken to his trainer about the idea, but he’s currently focused on mapping out the rest of his pro wrestling career.
So, and you know, I have to put this perspective into how I view things. I’m not against anyone who tried MMA or kickboxing as a competitive sport after their career, but at age 36, I would not wanna compete on a high level. Injuries, not having enough knowledge. I feel that if I would do that, it wouldn’t be respectful to the sport, you know? If I ever were to do that, I would do that in a closed circuit on a very regional level so I would do — I’ve pondered on doing a couple of Muay Thai fights. I’ve spoken a little bit about it with my trainer, but I have to map out the future of my career currently within the realm of professional wrestling plus all of the other stuff that is currently coming my way. I have to map that out first and then see how much time versus what I need to do, do I really have and right now, I don’t feel that I am ready to say, ‘Hey, you know what? Let’s do a Muay Thai fight.’ I want to, I really do, but I wanna feel — for instance, when [CM] Punk did it, he trained for a whole year because he wanted to be… I think when it comes to that, he and I are similar [in] that we wanna bite down into it and really feel that at least whatever we do, whether we succeed or fail, we have tried everything that we could to at least prepare ourselves in the right way so I would have to see how I could clear my schedule and really dive into it and really take the step of like training five, six times a week, just specifically Muay Thai on top of the strength and conditioning that I do and really make that happen.
** AEW’s Evil Uno guest appeared on Cultaholic’s ‘Straight To Hell’ series. When Dark Order arrived in AEW at Double Or Nothing 2019, they were met with a negative reaction from those in attendance and from some on social media. Evil Uno shared that during the early days of Dark Order, he received death threats and messages from people who thought he should be fired from AEW.
It’s honestly been fantastic to just skip to the end part. Obviously nowadays it feels great to know what organically, the two guys [Uno & Stu Grayson] that people met with silence and ‘who are you?’ and many death threats and many messages saying I should be fired from the company. Those first few months were very mentally draining, and it’s great to find out like now, two years into it, people have gotten to know who we are. Obviously our characters have changed dramatically in the last two years and that’s helped as well, but just people have been a lot more receptive. The early days were tough. I also kind of enjoyed it in a sense. I really liked being on the other side of the coin and being one of those polarizing figures that people really hated but at the same time, you don’t see a whole lot of what I look like in professional wrestling and also what we were doing. So it’s been neat. It’s been great that my venture in AEW as of yet has been seeing the low points and seeing the high points of both sides of the medal and I just hope that I get further and further cool experiences. Hopefully not as negative as the first few but, I invite the future adventures that we will get.
Further elaborating on the hate messages he received, Evil Uno clarified that it did not get to a point where his home was being contacted, but it was just the negativity surrounding it all that weighed on him.
It’s that and I also just think it was — AEW was at a weird time where — it’s always Pepsi or Coke. It’s always XBOX or PlayStation, right? So you always — if you don’t like one, you hate the other and you have to hate the entirety of the other and somehow, hating the other also involves threatening, all kinds of violence. So I think none of it was actually — I didn’t get letters to my house. No one knocked at my door. It was more of the negativity of all of it, but there were definitely some, ‘I hope he dies’ or, ‘I hope,’ blah, blah, blah. There were some of those and I invite you if you’re out there and you post that kind of stuff, no one deserves that stuff. You don’t know what people are going through, please don’t single out others. But yeah, it’s changed dramatically. I don’t get those anymore, thank you. But yeah, those early times were pretty tough.
This coming August, AEW will present the first episode of their ‘Rampage’ program. Evil Uno has heard about how the show will be presented graphically. While the information is not concrete, he has also heard that Rampage is going to be packaged differently when it comes to promos.
So I can’t confirm anything because the show hasn’t happened and so I think right now, it’s more of a concept on paper and it’s probably — the graphic department and all that have probably done a gazillion things backend that I haven’t seen. I know that graphically and tonally — it’s still gonna be wrestling. We’re not hiding away from wrestling. It’s still gonna be professional wrestling. I think the way it’s gonna be packaged might be slightly different. Things that I’ve heard is that there will be a more graphical element to it and I’m not talking about the 3D sculptures that you see in WWE for example. Not that kind of graphical. I’m not even sure what the big graphical changes will be but I’ve heard that it’s going to be packaged differently, even promos will be packaged differently in a sense. So I’m really excited to see what happens but from what I understand, if you like you’re professional wrestling, you’re going to get an hour of straight up, great professional wrestling and that will never — AEW will never shy away from just great, straight one-on-one professional wrestling with no bells or whistles added to it.
Evil Uno reflected on the segment in December of 2019 when one of the Dark Order minions went viral for not laying in better looking punches on Dustin Rhodes. While discussing the usage of the minions, he said that Alan “5” Angels and Preston “10” Vance were always minions and that led to them being formally placed into Dark Order.
It’s a lesson I unfortunately had to learn and it’s also helped us get to where we’re at today. That is what’s helped John Silver and Alex Reynolds in those positions because they were people we could trust. That’s how Alan Angels and Preston Vance who, people may not know this, were [Dark Order] minions originally. They were always under masks helping us out but that’s how they got to their next part. They were people we could trust on because they did it so well. But at first, we were in different cities every time and when we need 20 guys, you can’t travel with 20 flights for people that you’re not sure if you’re gonna use, so you’re using a lot of people that you… who may not be used to the limelight who for example, the minion who fought Dustin Rhodes may have hit Dustin Rhodes in the head real hard and then didn’t wanna hit him in the head real hard afterwards because he’s Dustin Rhodes, and those are mistakes that unfortunately can happen when you’re leaving that much trust with people you don’t know, right? So I do miss the concept of the minions but I don’t miss the attachment that comes with it, that’s for sure.
** Jason Powell welcomed Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff onto his Pro Wrestling Boom podcast. The two parties touched on a variety of topics concerning Ring of Honor, including their partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and now-former relationship with CMLL.
You know, first of all, CMLL, nobody’s wrestling, nobody’s traveling back and forth. I know their wrestlers are but there’s no real interaction in that. New Japan is fine, except they’re a competitor in the United States. It’s not like it was where Ring of Honor was their American portal to wrestling. They now have a functioning promotion, they’re in the United States, they are somewhat of a competitor to us. They don’t have near the distribution. They don’t have near the American size that we do, so I think these happen organically. I mean, we have used New Japan wrestlers, Rocky Romero’s been on shows. We have a very cordial working relationship, but to be honest, until the big shows start coming around again — I mean, we had plans to do a tour with New Japan as we always did in May. You know, nothing really changed except COVID stopped everything. I know they’re wrestling in Japan. Every time I look at the papers, there’s more problems in Japan. So I don’t know how easy it is for them either. So, I’ve always been concerned about our promotion and what’s best for our promotion and we’re happy to work with other promotions, we always have. We will continue to do so when it makes sense for both parties, but as far as the formal working relationships as it existed with CMLL and New Japan, they haven’t been dissolved, there’s just no activity for them.
Koff was asked about the ROH TV viewership numbers. He explained that those numbers come in from a handful of different places since ROH TV is on syndicated television. He reiterated that the numbers are good and are holding up.
It’s doing just fine. It really is. When you amalgamate all of our numbers over the course of a week and you take into effect all of the places that it’s viewed, I mean we’re doing hundreds and I mean mid-to-high hundreds of thousands a week of people seeing our product. It’s just that it’s not on at one time, it’s not on a single destination. Our Ring of Honor fans know how to find us and it’s readily available. We’re on 24/7 on our STIRR app, which is available everywhere which is S.T.I.R.R. We have a Best On The Planet channel there. Thank you Sinclair [Broadcast Group], that’s one of our companies. We’re on all of the Sinclair stations, we’re on all of Bally Sports. I mean, it’s just not in one place and that makes it harder to measure but, I can tell you that I look at the ratings every week and they’re holding up just fine and they’ve improved in many markets.
Ring of Honor has instilled a bubble format for their television tapings. Koff said that system has changed due to some talents being vaccinated. He added that those who have been vaccinated have a bit of leniency when it comes to the ROH bubble format.
No, the bubble system is not entirely gone. There’s a little leniency towards vaccinated people, and that’s basically on — they have to show proof of that and they’re not specifically in a bubble, but those who’ve not been vaccinated and there’s plenty of people who choose not to from a performer side, they will be masked, they will have a little different set of protocols at that point but it is so much more lenient. I wouldn’t say the bubble has broken, but the bubble has a leak in it and it’s not — it’s workable. The bubble’s workable. Remember those plastic bubbles we used to get with the little blower and it was a little bit more flexible than the water blowers? That’s kind of what we’re in. Our bubble’s very flexible and depending on your health status and where you are, the flexibilities go there.
The discussion turned over to Ring of Honor keeping all their talent on the payroll throughout the pandemic. Koff shared that the off-camera crew who are full-time have been paid throughout the pandemic as well.
Yeah, if they’re full-time Ring of Honor employees, they were paid throughout the whole pandemic, and we even took care of some of our outside contractors, especially last March and April in those first two shows because they were booked and they had plans and stuff like that. We were very, very generous and very, very caring and I think it really comes down to, you know, our DNA. To me, welfare, safety, health, family were far more important to me than whether we did an event in April or May. I wanted people to be with their families, I wanted them to feel safe. I wanted them to know that their safety was foremost in our mind, their health and welfare and I’m really proud of the job we did and I’m also proud of the job we did in creating content over this period. Using our massive library, we are so fortunate to have such a reserve and robust library that we could create original programs.
** WWE is reporting their second quarter results on July 29th. By that time, the company will have been back on tour for over a week.
** To promote Ring of Honor’s Best in the World pay-per-view, Matt Taven joined the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast. Taven feels that the days of talents being plucked and pulled from Ring of Honor are over, as they’ve assembled a roster that wants to be there for the long haul.
Yeah, but those plucking days are gone. You know, Ring of Honor, we’ve built like a roster of guys that are gonna be here for the long run and I think that this is — we’re building something very special. Obviously are plans kind of — like I said, everyone’s plans were kind of spoiled a little bit with the pandemic but, we’re ready to get back at it and that moniker of being the best in the world, a lot of people feel that’s some stupid tag line or this and that but we truly believe we are the best wrestling on the planet and that starts from back in the day when a lot of that talent was being pouched to certain places from here or there, because they were seeing that this was the best wrestling on the planet and people were trying to take from that pot and now I think we really have this crew of guys that we all really believe in the letters. We believe in the product and we want to make this place the place to be and that starts with this Sunday [Best in the World pay-per-view].
** Moose joined Mina SayWhat, Dexter Stuckey and Latoya Charleston on the Mina’s House Podcast. He dove into the communication that he has with IMPACT Wrestling creative. Moose explained that it can best be described as a 50/50 ordeal.
I would say at IMPACT Wrestling, you have more creative control than you do elsewhere. Like, there are things they might tell me I’m gonna do and if it makes me look a certain way, I might tell ‘em how much I dislike it and out of respect, [they] might not do it or go another way or try to make it better for me but sometimes that doesn’t always work so it’s almost like 50/50 on creative. But they’re always — the one thing — I’ve never worked for WWE but I’ve heard stories. The difference with IMPACT is you usually know what you’re gonna do and you could actually pitch to them how to make it different or how to make it better in your sense and sometimes they go with it, sometimes they don’t, where in WWE, it doesn’t matter what you think or what you say. They go with what they want.
In the interview, Moose did explain why he decided to re-sign with IMPACT Wrestling instead of heading to WWE. Within that conversation, he was asked if he owns his in-ring name and here’s what he had to say:
I don’t have it trademarked but, I do own the name so whatever company I go to, I could use it unless WWE decides, ‘Hey –’ if I ever was to go there, they decided, ‘Hey, we don’t want you to go as Moose, we want you to go as somebody else’ then we’ll have to figure out what that name would be, you know?
As far as what he wants to do after his in-ring career, he isn’t sure what that stage of his life will look like yet. Moose is not against the idea of being an agent or a producer.
Honestly, I’ll probably just roll off into the sunset. Once I’m done, unless I work with a company, helping other wrestlers like being an agent or producer or something, I don’t have no passion to open up a school or — probably not. But who knows? And that’s another reason why I don’t like making goals like that because my mind could change. I can wake up three months from now and be like, ‘Hey, I wanna open a wrestling school. Let’s do it.’
Moose went on to share that legendary pro football quarterback Michael Vick was the individual that gave him the name “Moose”.
My rookie [year] in the NFL, Michael Vick gave it to me. He said I looked like a guy named Moose that played before I even got there. Never met this guy. I guess he looked like me or I looked like him and I just — I hated the name when I first got it but it just stuck so… so everybody from — that I played with from 2006 to now my wrestling career calls me Moose.
As the conversation rolled on, Moose recounted his first time meeting Scott Hall. He shared that they got high together.
I remember the first time I met Scott Hall/Razor Ramon and we became good friends but like, the first time I met him, I actually smoked weed with him. In my mind, I was like, ‘Are you f*cking serious? I’m smoking weed with Razor Ramon.’ Like unreal. Craziest moment of my life so it was like, that was definitely the biggest, probably the most exciting time since I’ve been in wrestling when I met Razor Ramon for the first time on weed, I was at his house. We were just smoking a joint like it was nothing. It was like it blew my mind.
** WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo conducted an interview with Ariya Daivari. Ariya was released from WWE on June 25th. He admitted that he thought he wouldn’t fall into the category of being released because he was working 205 Live every week.
Me and Tony Nese were on like literally every episode of 205 Live like the entire pandemic even beforehand so we were working every single week and we were working with a lot [of] new guys they were bringing us. Again on one hand, like I said, when bigger names got let go, [so the thought was], ‘Oh it could be anybody.’ On the other hand, we were working every week so I didn’t think I’d fall into that category, but I don’t know. I was always told by more veteran wrestlers the average WWE career is like five to seven years unless you’re a big star.
** Sportskeeda hosted a Q&A with Big Damo (Killian Dain). Damo looks back on his run with WWE in a positive light and he would not change anything. Damo said getting to work with Nikki Cross in America was a plus and added that he is glad he was able to take care of his family in a variety of different ways while under contract to WWE.
First thing I would change, give me loads of millions of dollars. That would be incredible. I could bring my family. That would be amazing. That’d be great. No, out of all seriousness, I’m a weird — not weird but I generally believe that you learn from your path and I wouldn’t change anything. Like listen, were there days where I grumbled? Sure. Were there matches that I wish were slightly longer? Were there matches that could’ve happened, should’ve happened? Whatever, yeah, absolutely but realistically, everything that happened to me has got me to this point. I’m very happy with who I am and I’m very happy with where I am right now and out of all seriousness, I look back on five years and I look back mostly with huge positivity and I had a really great experience, I met some brilliant people. I got to live and work in America with my wife and we both had different paths and we somehow managed to get here at the same time and listen, I’ve been able to support my family, I paid my parents debts off, I was able to get something to help my sister with property. There’s all the things you want to do, I was able to do and I can’t take — things could change, whatever else but I’m so lucky I was able to do all these things. That’s the one thing I wanted to set out to do was to try and look out for my family because they carried me so it was great to be able to return the favor.
** Drew McIntyre was the focus of an international media call. The International Business Times was a part of that call and he told the publication his thoughts about the recent WWE releases.
You know, when the releases happen, it’s a sad time. We’re gonna miss seeing a lot of our superstars regularly every week (on) television. But at the same time, it is a huge opportunity. That’s the way I look at it. Perhaps some of the superstars that were released weren’t particularly happy with their position. Now, they have an opportunity to go out there and reinvent themselves and the world’s opening back up. The wrestling scene was thriving and will be thriving again very soon with live fans back in the building all across the world. And they’ll get the chance to go out there and try something different. Really make their own name and create their own buzz.
** NWA World Television Champion Da Pope Elijah Burke appeared on Straight Talk Wrestling. He was asked to comment on being the last person to wrestle Chris Benoit. Their match took place on June 19th, 2007 on WWE’s ECW program.
Well, first thing is you cannot deny the ability, the skillset and everything that Chris Benoit was. Certainly a hall of fame talent and that can’t be taken away from him. Unfortunately, we know the story, but I’ve been asked that question a couple of times, I’ve talked about it on my Pope’s Point Of View podcast with Elijah Burke. Chris, in the last days as far as me wrestling him last, I did the loop with him so I wrestled him in Georgia as well, Columbus I believe it was. If not Columbus then whatever, but it was in Georgia and I could never do that Ric Flair stuff. Ric Flair’s what? 72-years-old and he could just name the dates, the places, the arenas, my God. How do you remember all that? I can’t even remember what I ate for breakfast this morning. But nonetheless, Chris Benoit was himself. He was the same Chris that I’ve always known since I’ve been in the WWE and to have that distinct… honor or not? Depending on how you look at it. As far as wrestling him last, I certainly didn’t wanna be known as the last guy to wrestle Chris Benoit, you know? But I was and it was, for me, at that time specifically and even now, it was just a great honor. You’re talking about somebody I grew up watching, somebody that I was watching kill it WCW, no pun intended Lord. But he was tearing it up in WCW, he was tearing it up in WWE, big Horsemen guy, you guys know NWA so to have Chris Benoit select me, handpick me to be the guy that he wanted to elevate, it meant a lot and while I got knocked — felt like my back [was] swollen during that matchup when he came down with that flying headbutt in the opposite direction. It was everything to me and I was looking forward to having more matches with him.
** During his appearance on Wrestling Observer Live, Colt Cabana stated that the majority of the AEW locker room is always talking about how great Hangman Adam Page is. Cabana believes Page is the future of wrestling.
As for me, I kind of got to be the dad [during AEW’s Jacksonville run] and I think that’s my role as I’m in my early 40s moving on in my wrestling career is I’m almost the dad of pro wrestling, the dad of The Dark Order and I’m happy to give Hangman Page some advice. I think he needs to go and face Kenny Omega. Those are just two of the best and a lot of people talk in the locker room of just how great Hangman is and he is — this isn’t even Dark Order — not Dark Order, Hangman Page is the future of wrestling and hopefully he’s the future champion of AEW and can wave the flag for our company.
AEW is presenting three shows during All Out week, one of which is the pay-per-view event. Cabana said he’s going to pull every string he can to secure himself a match in his home state of Illinois.
We’re coming to Chicago, I’m excited. I’m kind of a background figure for the Dark Order, but I’m gonna pull all the strings I can to get a match in Chicago. I’m assuming it’ll happen someway, somehow and I can’t wait to perform in front of my backyard, my friends, my family and my community.
** D-Von Dudley welcomed Byron Saxton and NXT’s Kayden Carter onto his Table Talk podcast. During Byron Saxton’s portion of the show, he heaped praise onto Corey Graves and expressed that Graves is up there with some of WWE’s greatest commentators. Saxton added that it’s a blessing for WWE to have Graves.
I think when you look at all the — and there’s been so many greats but when you look at Jesse [Ventura] and Bobby [Heenan] and all these great color guys, The King [Jerry Lawler], who have been in this company, you know, Corey [Graves] is right up there. He is so talented, he is so witty and it’s a blessing for this company to have someone as talented as he is and I’m very fortunate I’ve been able to work with him as long as I have.
Kayden Carter then joined the show and she spoke about her name change. She was formerly known as “Lacey Lane”. Kayden does miss her former name.
Listen, I’m trying. It was Joe’s idea and Joe isn’t there anymore and I’m just like, ‘Hey, it’s something. It’s here,’ you know? It made sense with Kacy [Catanzaro]/Lacey. Since we’re tagging, that was like the chant. Everyone’s like, ‘Kacy! Lacey!’ And I was like, ‘Yes! This is great’ and then I had to change it and I thought I was slick so I changed it to Kayden Carter so you can still call me Kay-C if you want and I still got some kind of ‘acy’ up in there but I don’t know. It’s not the same.
In early 2020, Kayden had several matches on Monday Night Raw. She is all for the idea of getting called up to Raw or SmackDown but stated that she is happy in NXT.
I mean, I got a little taste of it [main roster]. I got to go up there in the beginning of COVID. So I got to main event against Asuka, do Raw against Asuka, Raw against Charlotte [Flair]. So I got to work with the top girls up there so I skipped the line and got to experience that and it was really awesome. Those ladies are unbelievably talented and it was a good experience and so at the same time, I really love wrestling. I feel like because I was bred in school and everything and then I started watching it, doing it on the indies and stuff, I feel like I love wrestling and NXT, it’s more of that hard-hitting wrestling and it’s a different focal point. [I feel like] everyone should want to go to the main roster. Either way I’ll be happy, but as of right now I’m really happy in NXT just being able to wrestle and do what I love to do, you know? But, if one day I get that phone call, I mean I’m ready.
Elsewhere during the conversation, Carter explained why she did not feel like she was a part of WWE’s women’s evolution when she officially arrived in NXT and that stemmed from her feeling that she was not making an impact.
I think for me, the reason why I want so bad to wrestle these women is because — this sounds so bad and I don’t mean it in that way, but when I first got to NXT, I felt like I was not able to be a part of the evolution with the women. Like I get it, I’m there so people are like, ‘Yeah, you’re a part of the evolution.’ But when I say, ‘I wanna be a part of the evolution,’ I want to be a person who makes a difference and to be able to hang with those people at that level, that says a lot about what I’m able to do or where my potential lies and that’s why I try so hard to — when I came in to wrestle her [Asuka] or when I do want to wrestle her again, to show the growth that I’ve had since that first interaction because I haven’t stopped. I haven’t stopped working, I’m still as hungry. It’s like I have that in the back of mind like, ‘Dang, you really didn’t get to be a part of the Evolution.’ I didn’t even get to go [to the Evolution event] and witness that history and that’s always been something weighing on me. I really want to leave a mark here, you know?
** Sassy Stephanie brought IMPACT Wrestling’s Havok onto her Talkin’ Sass podcast. Havok detailed her journey to getting back to IMPACT Wrestling. After her feud with Kia Stevens (Awesome Kong) in TNA, the company did not use Havok and she eventually made her exit. It was not until years later when she came into contact with Executive Vice President Scott D’Amore and pitched herself for another go in the company.
Yeah, I think a lot of people thought that too because that was a dream match that I would constantly see people tagging me in on Twitter and stuff [Havok vs. Awesome Kong] so it’s like, I know when it all came together, people were like, ‘Oh!’ Now the only thing I didn’t like about it was I felt like — because that was the first time I was at IMPACT. There was different management and stuff like that and I just feel like a lot of people who used to be part of [the] office there were like, ‘This girl doesn’t know what she’s doing,’ this and that and I was already ten years in when I first got to TV, but so I was like, ‘I feel like I know what I’m doing a little bit’ but like, when it came — TV is so much different than the indies and people don’t realize that but TV is so, so much different so, when I got to IMPACT the first time, I was just like — and it was TNA at the time, but I was just like, ‘Man, do I know what I’m doing?’ Because I really lost a lot of confidence and I feel like they kind of saw that and the only thing I didn’t like about my feud with Kong was just that it was a big — it was too quick. We had like two stare downs and then a Lockdown match, and it was just like that was kind of it. They brought me back for one more taping and I did five one-night-only pay-per-views in two days and it was another hardcore match with her and then a few other things. But it was just like — and then they, you know, I think they were in the middle of trying to figure out what TV — what was gonna happen. The new contracts and things like that so I think they just went the route with keeping Kong and just putting me on hold for a little bit and I got to go and do some other cool things while I had taken a little time off I guess from IMPACT. It wasn’t really up to me. If it were up to me, I would have wanted to stay, but I really do like — I don’t regret how things happened because I learned a lot and I got to go to Japan and live there for a few months back when I was like 15 years in and I felt like — maybe actually 13 or 14. I’m trying to think because I’ve been wrestling almost 17 years now but like, so some stuff is a blur.
But I truly feel like I came back an even better wrestler after I came back from Japan and I remember I was booked for a [Wrestling] REVOLVER/IMPACT joint-show and after — it was me and Nevaeh tagged against Madison Rayne and Samantha Heights and after the match, I walked up to Scott [D’Amore] and I shook his hand and I said, ‘Thank you for the opportunity. That being said, when you guys need more girls, I’d love to throw my name in the hat. I have had awesome matches with every girl on your roster and I really think that I have something that I could bring to the table, so just keep me in mind’ and he was like, ‘Oh thank you,’ you know, whatever and maybe not even two months later, he called me up and was like, ‘Hey, you want a contract?’ And I was like, ‘Hm, yes! Please! Where do I sign?’
** Chris Jericho appeared on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast to discuss his ‘List Of Jericho’ book. He mentioned that in the book, there’s one of the last documented interviews with Jon Huber (Brodie Lee) before he passed away.
And I had written a bunch about Brodie [Lee] because I worked with Brodie in 2015 probably 30 times. I was just doing house shows and the last night he was ever in AEW before he went home, Alex Marvez got a story from him for this book and then we never saw him again. Unfortunately he passed away but, kind of the last recorded interview with Brodie is for this book.
** NJPW1972.com published their interview with Dick Togo. Since his arrival to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2020, Togo has been in the corner of EVIL. EVIL’s IWGP Heavyweight Title run was met with mixed reviews and Togo gave his thoughts on the negative reaction to the title run:
Nothing. Neither of us really care for what other people might think. We do what we want, and if that makes people unhappy, then that’s what makes us happy if anything. Their worst-case scenario is our best. The more it pisses people off, so much the better. What are you gonna do? Make a nasty comment? I’ve had rocks thrown at me in Puerto Rico, nearly got killed in Vietnam…
Togo admitted that when he first got the call to join New Japan and work with EVIL, he did not know much about EVIL, but they’ve built up a sense of trust since those early days.
Right. I’ll be honest, when I first got that call, I didn’t know all that much about EVIL. But it was an opportunity, and ever since then we’ve built up a sense of trust. We’ve had a vision, we’ve had a game plan and we’ve stuck to it, no deviation. That’s made us completely unique. Nobody fights the way we do.
** Comicbook.com pushed out their chat with IMPACT X Division Champion Josh Alexander. He was asked about the idea of reuniting with AEW’s Ethan Page. Alexander believes they are both happy in their current situations, but adds that there’s a lot left on the table for he and Page as a team.
It’s just fan fantasy for now. I think [we’re] both happy in our situations, with the challenges we’ve been given. We’re playing in separate fan boxes. Understandably, there’s this chemistry between the two of us, as tag team members, that doesn’t come along very often. And it’d be a horrible waste, especially with the amount of dream matches that fans want to see. So, from a business perspective and a pro-wrestling perspective, I think, there’s a lot to be left on the table if it doesn’t happen.
** Fanbyte’s Joseph Anthony Montecillo wrote an extensive feature about Eddie Kingston. As a part of the piece, Montecillo spoke to Kingston and Kingston expressed his desire to have a match with current DDT Pro-Wrestling KO-D Openweight Champion, Jun Akiyama.
Why not both? Why not two, maybe get a third one out of it? I would chop him [Jun Akiyama], smack him, hit him, suplex him just like he would to me. And we would fight and it would be great because I just like fighting in that ring. I know I would learn something from him in the King’s Road style. It would be the highlight of my career.
** There was a Rusty Brooks tribute show held in Florida on June 26th. Two of his trainees, Ricky Martinez and AEW’s Diamante were present and they were interviewed by Jim Varsallone. Ricky shared that Brooks never accepted money from he and Diamante because he had a feeling they would make it to the main stage[s] of pro wrestling. Martinez joked that Rusty was half correct. He added that in his mind, once Diamante made it to national television, so did he.
He [Rusty Brooks] took everybody else’s money but he never took a dime from me and he never took a dime from her [Diamante] and then I always asked him why. He’s like, ‘Because I know you two will make it’ and he’s partially right, you know? I’m still working on it but, I always told her if she made it, I made it so I’m happy. I’m already content. If I could retire tomorrow, I’m happy, you know? I’m happy to see family on TV so…
** The Daily Item’s Justin Strawser sat down with Mick Foley for an interview. Foley shared that he wishes he could have had matches with both Bruiser Brody and Terry Bollea.
Yeah, Bruiser Brody was one of ‘em going back a long time and I wish I’d wrestled Hogan, really wish I had. Even when we were older, we probably could have told a good story, would have been methodical which is wrestle speak for slow moving, but I believe we could’ve had a good, interesting, entertaining match together.
** Tyler Breeze is back on the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel for he and Xavier Woods’ Battle of the Brands series. Breeze was released from WWE in June.
** Bruno Laurer, also known as Harvey Whippleman was sworn in as an alderman of Walls, Mississippi.
** Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks will be representing WWE at the 2021 ESPYS.
** Hiromu Takahashi is doing a live stage show on July 29th. In March, Hiromu underwent surgery for a torn pectoral muscle.
** Brie and Nikki Bella spoke to Sports360AZ about the Phoenix Suns being in the NBA Finals.
** Cardi B and John Cena played ‘Box of Lies’ with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
** At OTT’s return show on July 18th, Sammii Jayne will defend the OTT Women’s Championship against Jamie Hayter.
** Episode 3 of Maryland Championship Wrestling’s Breakthrough series featuring Lio Rush:
** Arda Ocal of ESPN caught up with Kevin Nash for an interview.
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated chatted with Bandido.
** The most recent ‘See You Next Tuesday’ podcast was hosted by IMPACT Wrestling’s Josh Alexander.
** Brody King and Chris Dickinson sat down with Kevin Kelly to discuss New Japan STRONG’s upcoming Tag Team Turbulence tournament. Fred Yehi and Wheeler YUTA were also interviewed.
** Sean “X-Pac” Waltman appeared on the Front Row Material podcast.
** Penelope Ford plays The Sims 4:
** The 7/7 edition of Wrestling Observer Live featured Ring of Honor’s Shane Taylor.
** Carlito vs. Jordan Oliver was announced for Hybrid Wrestling’s show on August 14th.
** Newsday has an interview with Bianca Belair.
** Hyan vs. VertVixen from Reality of Wrestling’s Diamonds Are Forever show:
** The WWEPC YouTube page spotlighted Amari Miller, who made her NXT TV debut in June.
** Sportskeeda published their interview with Zach Gowen.
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.
