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.
** On October 5th, Satoshi Kojima went to the hospital and got electrocardiogram, blood, CT and MRI tests done. He noted that he was shown a photo of his neck and it is fine. Kojima added that he feels a sense of relief for now and can continuing wrestling. He tweeted this information one day after a video went up of him trying different food dishes and Kojima noted that he has a condition called ulnar nerve palsy and is unable to extend his ring and pinky fingers in both hands. He asked those who viewed the video to understand why he held his chopsticks in the manner that he did.
** Episode #154 of ‘All The Smoke’ saw Dwight Howard join Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the show. Dwight dove into his interest in WWE and further expressed that. He recounted being at the tryouts in Nashville, Tennessee and being told he had the best promo of the entire tryout.
I would definitely enjoy being a real wrestler like that. My whole life growing up as a kid, me and my brother wrestled. I played around acting like I was the Hulk [Hogan], you know what I’m saying? And then, my nickname is Randy Savage so that’ll tell right there how much I love wrestling. Randy Savage, that was my sh*t so, why not? I really enjoy the crowd, I enjoy entertaining people, I enjoy the fans and stuff like that and the atmosphere is crazy. I went to SummerSlam this summer and I got a chance to do some promos for wrestling and Triple H and Stephanie McMahon was there. She had just became the new CEO of WWE and I did my promo and they was like, ‘Man, that was the best promo of the whole tryout and do you really wanna wrestle?’ I was like, ‘I think it would be great.’ I feel like it’s so many other avenues I could do and after doing this thing that I did with the military this summer, it’s like my mind is the most valuable thing and it’s the strongest and with that, I can do anything. It’s the sharpest tool that I have in the shed so, if wrestling can happen, man I’ma go get that bill [Howard smiled].
** Kicking off the anniversary episode of AEW Dynamite was Wheeler Yuta versus MJF. Yuta joined Busted Open Radio and reflected on the match and said he enjoyed it.
It was definitely a different pace, but I’ve wrestled MJF a bunch [Yuta said about his match with MJF on 10/5 Dynamite]. We wrestled a lot on the independents. I think they even said we were like 2-2 in singles matches and that we’ve had a bunch of other tags and different iterations of that.
Yeah, definitely [there could be some rust there for MJF]. He hasn’t been in the ring in that long but I don’t think I really had to step down or do anything like that. Obviously, he went out there and he brought it and I really enjoyed the pacing of the match. It was really nice to kind of, like you said, hear the crowd and hear how they were reacting to certain things and it was definitely something that I enjoyed but yeah, I think it was a bit of a change of pace but I don’t think it was I had to take a step back or anything. I think it was just a different lane that we took. But, I really enjoyed the match last night.
There were several occasions over the last few weeks that Yuta went toe-to-toe with MJF on the microphone. He is proud of how he came off in those segments but knows there is ‘immense’ room for improvement in the promo department.
I was definitely proud but, I understand that there’s immense room for growth. This is obviously not where it ends for me with promos, with talking on the microphone. You brought up the Rocky analogy. Obviously in the first movie, he doesn’t win, he gets his ass kicked but then as you move on from there, things start to improve a little bit, right? So hopefully as I continue to sort of move forward, I won’t just be the guy who’s kind of hanging with the other person. Hopefully I’ll be able to really develop that skill set, really show that as well but, I’ve had many reps in the ring. I haven’t had as many reps doing promos so I was happy with where I was at-at that point but obviously, just wanna keep improving, keep growing.
** Aubrey Edwards and Alex Abrahantes hosted this week’s AEW Unrestricted podcast and Julia Hart was the featured guest. She talked about the vignette she did with Miro that caught the attention of C.J. Perry (Lana). Hart said she was ready if the comments from Perry were going to formulate into something.
My favorite part of wrestling is how creative everyone can be so seeing Miro get on his creative side, how he visualized this vignette was really cool and being a part of it and how he wanted to do it. I didn’t even think about his wife when I was doing it and I didn’t even realize. I was just being Julia Blackheart in the moment, you know? Filling out and then I saw it on Twitter, I was like, ‘Oh sh*t. Is this gonna be a thing? If it is, I’m ready.’ Let’s go. I have no problem. I represent the House and we’re always ready for violence so if that’s what you wanted, but I think everything’s smoothed over now. I haven’t heard much from her anymore.
I know she said she wanted to body slam me and I was like, okay. Be ready for a superkick or a moonsault, I don’t know, whatever [Hart laughed].
Julia is a member of House of Black along with Brody King, Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews. She discussed being incorporated into their entrance and said it’s more difficult than people would expect. She recalled a time when the lights went out and she collided with Brody.
Well I’d only seen them do it and I always thought it was so cool [House of Black’s entrance] and I remember they asked me, it’s always like, ‘Okay, who wants to stand where? Who wants to do what?’ They just kind of, I don’t know, they just threw me in. I was just like, ‘Okay, this is what we’re doing?’ They’re like, ‘Follow us’ and I’m like, ‘Okay. Whatever you guys need me to do, I’m there for’ so, I don’t know. They just threw me in and the lights cut out and next thing you know, I can’t see and I’m trying to appear in the next spot but not being able to see so yeah, I will say the entrances are a lot harder than people think and not knowing where you’re really going and I think one time, me and Brody [King] actually collided. I was going this way, he was going that way and we’re like, ‘Move! Move! Move!’ This is going on. Oh my gosh. It’s dark and I can’t see but yeah, I think it’s so cool. I think the entrance is one of the most important parts of people’s whole thing so having a cool entrance is definitely — and now I feel like I have a cool entrance so I love watching my entrance.
Prior to aligning with House of Black, Julia was paired with Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr. as the Varsity Blonds. She does not regret leaving the group and said she has not spoken to Pillman Jr. and Garrison much because she does not see them as much as she used to.
I don’t regret it all [leaving Varsity Blonds]. It’s not one part of me that regrets it at all, no, and still friends with them? Uh, I don’t know. I don’t really talk to them much so, I just haven’t seen them in a long time. They haven’t been at TV in a while so I don’t know. But yeah, not a part of me regrets it. I can say that.
Definitely when it happened [split from Varsity Blonds], I was like, end of era, that’s so weird. I’m never gonna wear my varsity jackets again or I’m never gonna be a cheerleader again. It was almost like I was closing a chapter of cheerleading as well because I did the character because I was so comfortable being a cheerleader and it was just something easy and I actually quit cheerleading for wrestling and I thought I wanted to say thank you to cheer by doing a cheer gimmick because I loved [it]. It was literally my life for so long. But it was honestly just like, I need to close this chapter of my life and close the yearbook and go to college at the House of Black. I graduated [Hart laughed].
** WWE to report their third-quarter results on November 3rd. They’ll host a conference call at 8:30 AM EST to discuss the results.
** On the latest episode of Bruce Prichard’s Something to Wrestle with podcast, he answered questions that were sent in by listeners. If Prichard could go back in time and stop either Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan) from leaving WWE in 1992, Stone Cold Steve Austin from leaving in 2002 or CM Punk from leaving in 2014, Prichard would stop Austin from departing the company.
[Steve] Austin in ‘02 [is who I wish I could’ve stopped from leaving]. Austin in ‘02. I wish I could have stopped that. I wish that never had happened, so, yeah. Definitely because Steve was the biggest in the business and he was upset at something that could have been talked through.
When thinking about some of the biggest missed opportunities in WWE match-wise, Prichard feels that Steve Austin versus Hulk Hogan in 2002 was one that would have been nice to present. He added that the Sting versus Undertaker match was “dead in the water” by the time Sting joined WWE.
Oh God, Taker-Sting, by 2015, that was dead in the water. Austin-Hogan [2002], you know, that would have been nice but obviously yeah, that didn’t happen but, the Sting thing with Taker… if that didn’t happen in 2001, 2002, why?
Looking back at his time working behind the scenes at WWE, Prichard listed off some of his proudest accolades and moments that he’s been a part of bringing to fruition such as WrestleMania 17 and having an event on Wall Street.
That’s hard to nail down [proudest moment working behind the scenes]. I think looking at some of the things that we’ve been able to pull off from shutting down Wall Street and having an event there in front of the New York Stock Exchange and everybody told us we couldn’t do it. Shutting down Times Square and having it work out in the middle of Times Square at noon and things like that. WrestleMania 2001 in Houston at the Houston Astrodome and being able to be a part of that, the event itself, the lead up to the event, the fact that we went after a sponsor and they were looking for a small amount and I went for a huge amount and got it so that was kind of a haha. But, probably that event overall was when you look at personally for me, what we were able to pull off in that was pretty cool.
** Mickie James, Lisa Marie Varon and SoCal Val welcomed Michelle McCool onto their GAW TV series. McCool recounted having Varon’s then-farewell match in WWE in 2009. She verbally fought for Varon to win the match, but it was set in stone that McCool would be winning.
I was very honored [to have that match with Lisa Marie Varon before she finished up with WWE in 2009] but I did — you know, it’s funny, people, they really do think the worst of me. They think I use Mark [The Undertaker] for everything and they think all this stuff but I clearly remember just fighting for like, ‘What does it matter? Why not put her over? She has totally carved this path for all of us. It would be such an honor. I’m having the last match. That’s amazing but why not?’ I do remember fighting for that and I just, ugh, I felt horrible that it had to go out that way… Everybody always says, ‘What were you and Victoria talking about at the end of your match?’ I guess they could see us whispering something. I’m like, ‘I just remember saying I love you sis.’ That’s it.
** Cody Deaner of IMPACT Wrestling spoke to VL Média for an interview. He opened up about Joe Doering being away from IMPACT Wrestling as he’s battling brain cancer for the second time. Deaner touched on how positive of a person Doering is and what he added to their group on-screen.
What made us so unique was just being authentic. We’ve all been friends for years. Eric and I were there for the first week of Joe’s training career. We were also there for his first IMPACT [matches]. It was very easy for us to form a clan and have a chemistry on-screen since we have a chemistry behind the camera as well. I spend all my free time in the locker room with them. As for Joe’s importance in our group, he’s the one who brings a certain kind of legitimacy. He’s an exceptional wrestler. The work he has done on the Japanese side is not recognized enough by the fans. He did a lot of things that were cutting edge for the time. He was working in Japan before it was fashionable for ‘gaijin’ to wrestle there. He is a very important member of Violent by Design. He is currently fighting a disease that he was able to beat once. I hope with all my heart that he will be able to kick this cancer’s ass again. I would also like to point out that Joe is a very positive person and that is something I have always done during my career. Despite this difficult time, he is still smiling and the messages of support he is receiving on social media are keeping his spirits up.
With Deaner and Eric Young now being a duo, he was asked if there is any interest in adding a third to their current on-screen presentation. One name that was specifically mentioned was Deaner’s former partner Jake Something. Deaner is of the ‘never say never’ mindset.
Let me use a cliché phrase in wrestling: never say never. Could Jake Something join Violent by Design? Maybe. Are we going to bring in new members to reinforce what we’re doing now, with this ‘Revival of Violence’? I don’t see why not. The great thing about what’s going on right now is that you want to know what’s going to happen. Fans have a lot of questions in their minds when they see what’s going on with Violent by Design right now. I have the answers to those questions. Eric Young has them too. I’m not going to tell you anything right now. You’ll have to wait and see for yourself.
** At IMPACT Wrestling’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view, Frankie Kazarian is challenging ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey for the X Division Championship. Kazarian was interviewed by Darren Paltrowitz and said he and IMPACT E.V.P. Scott D’Amore had been back and forth since the summer concerning his next appearance for the company. Kazarian added that he likes keeping a secret.
So I had spoke with Scott D’Amore over the summer after my last appearance there [IMPACT Wrestling] and you know, we talked about maybe if there would be an opportunity for me to come back at some point so we, you know, kind of went back and forth and I’ve known for a little bit so it’s cool. I like keeping secrets. I think wrestling needs a little bit more of the unexpected. So it’s cool to be a part of something you don’t see happen every day in our crazy world of pro wrestling.
** Prior to the in-ring action of NJPW’s ‘Declaration of Power’ show on October 10th, they’ll be doing a ten-bell salute for the late Antonio Inoki.
** Bad Luck Fale and Tony Kazina (NJPW New Zealand dojo coach) guest appeared on 531 Pacific Mornings to promote NJPW TAMASHII.
** Edmonton News has a story up about the wrestlers and trainers who played the role(s) of the ‘Mizforce’ on Monday Night Raw who were sent out to protect Miz from Dexter Lumis.
** Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair went live on Instagram with ProSieben MAXX.
** Ahead of AEW’s debut in Canada next week, Ethan Page appeared on Sunday Night’s Main Event.
** Togi Makabe addressed Keiji Muto ahead of the six-man tag for Pro Wrestling NOAH on October 30th. It’ll be Makabe teaming with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomoaki Honma to face Muto, Yoshiki Inamura and Naomichi Marufuji.
** Episode #20 of Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze’s Battle of the Brand series:
** GHC Heavyweight Champion Kaito Kiyomiya is teaming with Yuki Yoshioka to take on Kenoh and Kota Minoura at the NOAH x Dragon Gate show.
** To promote IMPACT Wrestling’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view, Scott D’Amore appeared on Busted Open Radio.
** Variety’s ‘Strictly Business’ podcast was joined by Brian Gewirtz.
** A story about the ‘All Star Wrestling’ promotion based in Canada. The Bollywood Boyz (Harv & Gurv Sihra) are scheduled for the promotion’s next three events.
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.
