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.
** Ahead of the next installment of The Undertaker’s ‘1 deadMAN Show’ in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, he chatted with SPORTSNET. He recalled the idea for the talk shows first being to him suggested by Bruce Prichard. After Undertaker came to the back following his WWE Hall of Fame induction speech, he said people looked at him in a shocked manner. He’s still getting used to opening up during shows.
Oh man, I just got looped into it I guess (Undertaker said about how the 1 deadMAN Shows got started). I don’t know. You know what I did? I kind of screwed up when I made my Hall of Fame speech. Afterwards, I came back, I went backstage and everybody’s kind of looking at me like, ‘Where’s that been?’ And I was like, ‘Well, I guess it’s always been there. I just hadn’t needed it’ and I don’t know, maybe a week or so later, I think it was Bruce Prichard was like, ‘Hey, what do you think about doing this? What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Hmm…’ Because even that late in the game, I still have a tendency to not wanna talk about things. After doing it a certain way for 30 years or over 30 years now, it’s just kind of difficult and you know, we’re getting there and hopefully, people will enjoy some of these stories that I think will kind of blow their mind. I think everyone has this preconceived idea about The Undertaker and Mark Calaway. You always hear, ‘Oh, he’s the locker room leader,’ which all those things are fine and true but, I had some pretty damn good times while I was out doing The Undertaker and you know, it was easy for me early on because I didn’t have to worry about social media and cell phones and people filming everything and we actually had some really, really good times and the ones that I can share are pretty good (he laughed) and I’m getting to the point now where I’m actually starting to enjoy sharing these with our fans. It’s a good time.
Continuing on the topic of the talk shows, Undertaker joked that it usually goes off the rails when he opens up the floor for the Q&A.
That’s when it all comes off the rails (during the Q&A portion of the shows). I’ll do my open and I’ll have a couple of stories that I wanna tell or something that kind of goes with the message I’m giving that particular night and then when I open it up to the floor, that’s when all hell really breaks loose, because you just never know. You never know what somebody’s gonna ask and then the direction that it goes from there. I’ve done eight of these now and it always proves to be some shocker comes out. Like where on earth did you come up with that question? (He laughed)
** There’s an interview on Peter Rosenberg’s YouTube channel with Roxanne Perez. She recalled WWE first reaching out to her after Ring of Honor announced their hiatus in 2021. They wanted to bring her in for a tryout in early December of that year. Perez’s ROH contract did not expire until late December, but the company allowed her to partake in the tryout anyway.
It was just crazy, perfect time (when WWE contacted me about coming in), and at the time, it was still early December. My contract (with ROH) ended in late December so he (William Regal) was like, ‘You know, we wanna bring you in, you know, early December’ and I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it because my contract still lasted until the end of December. But I talked to Maria (Kanellis-Bennett) about it and she was so happy. It was so nice to see how supportive all of them were, because when I did tell them, it made them so happy because that’s what Maria was trying to do this whole time. That’s all she was trying to do, create more opportunities for women. She created this Ring of Honor women’s division, she brought it back to life and she made it awesome and then all she wanted was for us to be able to get opportunities out of it so when I told her about it, she was so excited. She gave me such good advice. She told me, ‘I’m always gonna be here. If you ever need someone to talk to, just call me’ and so, yeah, I ended up talking to her about that. They ended up just letting me do the tryout while my contract was still in place. They were like, ‘Yeah, you know, there’s not gonna be any opportunities in January with us. So, you’re fine. You can go ahead and do that tryout.’
** While speaking to Jim Varsallone, Kevin Kiley (Alex Riley) stated that he still keeps in contact with The Miz. That came up as Kiley was discussing his time in WWE and being fans of talents such as John Cena, Randy Orton and Miz while working with them.
So the thing about myself and I’m sure other people are like this, I hope they are, I was like massive fans of these people (I worked with in WWE like John Cena, Randy Orton & Miz). When I got in the business, I was watching it on TV religiously and they were stars to me, massive stars and when I got into it, I remember being backstage in the locker room and saying, ‘I cannot believe I’m even sitting with these people.’ This is like, wow, what an amazing thing, what a dream. But yeah, those are some of the highlights of my career. Both of them, all three of them, Cena, Orton and Miz, the top WWE performers, some that maybe have ever lived. That’s an amazing accomplishment and to be grouped in those names is incredible. I keep in touch with Miz here and there. He’s still doing great which I’m really happy for him. He’s got a beautiful family and he was the best and they were all good. So, looking back on it, I’m excited to get back into it (wrestling) and just see where all of this goes. I’m not looking past the pay-per-view (NWA Nuff Said), but I’m excited to see now, as I reintegrate, what happens.
In the Netflix series G.L.O.W., Kiley played a character named ‘Steel Horse’. He commented on beating out both Chris Jericho and Miz for the role.
I did, yeah (beat out The Miz & Chris Jericho for a role in GLOW). I try to stay humble in that space but I did do that, yep, which was interesting to me. I had just gotten let go from the WWE and then I ended up there. I was just like, okay. It was kind of nice. It was kind of a nice — okay, I guess I was pretty good. But yeah, it was pretty interesting. Yep. That’s the truth (Kiley laughed).
** In March, the NJPW Academy is launching and one of the head trainers is STRONG Openweight Champion Fred Rosser. He was interviewed by NJPW1972.com and spoke in-depth about the academy opening, training sessions and what he’ll be working on with trainees.
For me, it (coaching at the NJPW Academy) means that I can have my cake and eat it too. I’m able to wrestle, and I’m able to coach as well… I’ve always loved getting every chance I’ve had to coach. Even before STRONG, I would give back in my free time and do seminars. I love this business, and I want to give back… There’s a saying, ‘You never see a U-HAUL behind a Hearse.’ You can’t take it with you, you know? But you can leave it better than what it was. Here in L.A., there are a lot of wrestling schools you can go to, and I encourage that, but NJPW Academy is something really special… Well, it’s a 12-week program, two sessions a week. That doesn’t give you all that the full time L.A. Dojo offers, but whether your goal is NXT, WWE, New Japan, or even if it’s just doing this for a hobby, we’re going to give you the tools to get there and then it’s up to you… I’m not looking to break you, I’m looking to make you. There’s room for everyone at the finish line… Well, first thing that people can expect if they sign up is that cleanliness is godliness for me. There’s a state-of-the-art facility here, it’s very clean, and we’ll keep it clean. But we’ll be doing a lot of the little things, a lot of the in between, the details. A lot of footwork, endurance, physical fitness, and a lot beyond the ring as well. We’ll be doing promo class for example.
At the conclusion of the interview, Rosser was asked if there’s a chance he’ll be heading to Japan and he said hopefully in the summer. He added that if Tom Lawlor can compete in the G1 Climax, so can he.
Absolutely (there’s a chance I compete in Japan in 2023). Hopefully in the summertime, but in the meantime, I have to put my head down and keep working. Patience is a virtue, so we’ll see, but when it happens, you’ll know about it (laughs)… If Lawlor can do it, Mr. No Days Off can! (Rosser responded when it was mentioned that there’s a tournament NJPW hosts during the summer)
In 2022, Rosser defended the STRONG Openweight Title against Fred Yehi. It was the first time two Black wrestlers competed for a championship against one another in NJPW’s history. Rosser reflected on that bout:
Definitely, and we put on a hell of a performance for that crowd in Charlotte. It was a hell of a fight (Rosser said about the match against Yehi).
** NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tyrus guest appeared on Busted Open Radio. Among the list of challengers he’d like to defend the title against, he named former champion Nick Aldis, Dustin Rhodes, Jon Moxley, Baron Corbin, Paul Wight and Ryback.
Top of my list would be Dustin Rhodes (talents that I’d like to defend NWA Worlds Title against). I think it would be, emotionally, a big moment for me and I think the Rhodes family with the NWA legacy. Big Show, he’s out there. I noticed he followed me the other day on Twitter so he must be getting the itch. There’s guys, of course I already talked about Bully Ray and the student at some point needs to meet the teacher Mr. (Tommy) Dreamer. So, there are guys. The roster that we have is set and here’s to be honest with you, Nick Aldis, wherever you’re at, you held the Worlds Championship for a long time. Hopefully, as time sides… why would I not? We fought once in Japan and I would love to do it again so there’s a list of guys out there. Carlito is another guy I wouldn’t mind, P.J. (Black), Wes Brisco. Plus I could pay him back for his dad always putting hands on me so, because you can’t get around him without getting chopped up or smacked up so, and (Baron) Corbin is another one of my guys that I never danced with (Tyrus laughed). I’ve danced with Bobby (Lashley) and Drew McIntyre enough to last me a lifetime. But either one of those. There’s (Jon) Moxley; would be a guy. Ryback would be fun. Even though we are brothers in making sure you put your cart in the bin, he’d be another one. So, I mean that’s a long list. I know y’all only asked for a couple.
** The last deathmatch Matt Cardona did was in the summer of 2021 against Nick Gage in which he won the GCW World Title. Cardona told the Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast that if he were to do another, it would have to be on a big stage with a big payout. Cardona has been asked to do another by GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale.
People ask me this all the time, would I do another deathmatch? That match (with Nick Gage), in my opinion, selfishly, was iconic, it changed my career so there would have to be a really big stage and a lot, a lot of money to get me to even think about doing another one. There’s been so many promoters who reach out and want me to do random deathmatches. Brett Lauderdale, GCW booker wanted me to do another one. I just won’t do it. I beat Nick Gage in the most talked about and most famous deathmatch in wrestling history. I’m the deathmatch king. In my opinion, I’m retired from deathmatch wrestling. But, money talks so we’ll see.
** This weekend at NWA’s ‘Nuff Said’ pay-per-view, Kevin Kiley (Alex Riley) is scheduled to have his first singles match since 2016. He’ll be facing EC3. Kiley told Slam Wrestling that it was EC3 who approached him about the idea of doing a singles match and feels it was an easy decision when it came to the choice of working with EC3 or not.
‘I don’t know, but let’s give it a shot’ (Kiley responded to EC3 when asked if he’d be ready to do a singles match). It was extended to me and I thought it was a really good idea… When I knew him in WWE and now even reconnecting with him, he’s really intelligent. He’s a really smart guy, I really respect what he’s doing, and his message. So, for me, it was kind of an easy decision.
** Episode #90 of WWE – Die Woche featured Elias. He expressed that he would be game to form a team with Rick Boogs who returned to WWE in late January.
Hey, I’m totally game for that (forming a team with Rick Boogs). I’ve got this perspective now as I wander through the WWE that whatever comes my way, I’m gonna put all my heart into it, make it work and if me and Boogs become a tag team, you better believe we’re gonna give it everything we can and have some fun with that there so…
** Bobby Fish welcomed Matt Taven onto the newest episode of The Undisputed Podcast. Taven credited both Jay Lethal and Adam Cole for some of the growth early in his pro wrestling career. He shouted out Lethal for the in-ring help and Cole for helping him become comfortable on the microphone.
Again, there was so many people we were there (in ROH) with at the same time who are my peers that are signed that day or my age, you know? (Adam) Cole’s younger than me so I’m watching him kind of take off and I’m like, ah man. I’m missing certain things that I’m seeing in my friends and (Mike) Bennett and stuff like that and two big things happened that really turned stuff around. My confidence went through the roof with working with Jay Lethal in my Television Title run. When we worked together, I had always looked up to Jay because man, the guy’s been on TV since he was like 12 years old… And I had watched him do everything beforehand and I always thought he was good in the ring and then to kind of hold my own with Lethal, I was like, ah, okay, I got this and then when they put us all in one group with Mike, Maria (Kanellis-Bennett), myself and Cole and I wasn’t necessarily scared to kind of put myself out on a limb more because I had a backup, you know what I mean? If I go out there and f*ck up a promo, I can just hand the mic to Cole and he’ll take it from there type deal. So I felt just kind of this freedom of, I can say whatever the f*ck I want at this point. I can do whatever. Who cares?… So it was just kind of one of those times where I was like, oh, okay. After working with Lethal, it felt like I got the in-ring stuff. I know my style in the ring and how it fits in Ring of Honor and then once we had started the original Kingdom, I felt like, alright, turn the camera on. I have no problem staring at the red light now and just kind of saying my thing.
** While speaking to Renée Paquette on The Sessions podcast, Wheeler Yuta expressed that he’d like to compete in another NJPW Best of the Super Juniors tournament and would like to participate in a G1.
Yeah, I’d love to (compete in the NJPW G1 Climax). I’d definitely need to put on some pounds to do the G1. But I’d love to do Super Juniors again, I’d love to one day do the G1. Those tournaments are so grueling but they’re such a fun way to test yourself. When I was there, I faced so many kinds of wrestlers. Like El Lindaman was a short, stocky, more of an amateur wrestler type shooter guy and then you face El Desperado who can do a little bit of that but he can also get more violent, a little bit more hardcore and then you would face guys like Robbie Eagles who are just awesome high-flyers… You have to wrestle everyone because it’s a round-robin tournament so, it was so much fun just kind of (seeing) how different things interact with different characters.
** NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez was announced as a playable character in WWE 2K23. Hyan shared on Twitter that she did motion capture for Perez’s in-game entrance. Perez and Hyan trained together at Reality of Wrestling.
** Come March 7th, New Japan Pro-Wrestling is going to be hosting a ‘farewell party’ in honor of Antonio Inoki who passed away in the fall of 2022. It’ll be held at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall and the general public will be allowed to attend.
** Emerald City Comic Con is bringing in Mercedes Moné and Trinity Fatu.
** Yuji Nagata is scheduled to challenge Kento Miyahara for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship on February 19th.
** Chris Bey posted the following photo with Rey Mysterio at the Future Stars of Wrestling Academy:
Bey Mysterio #BeyxRey pic.twitter.com/JTqco4xSS8
— Chris Bey (@DashingChrisBey) February 8, 2023
** NJPW The Road to New Beginning Results (2/9/23) Matsumoto General Gymnasium in Matsumoto, Japan
– Aaron Henare def. Ryohei Oiwa
– Great-O-Khan def. Akio Fujita
– Toru Yano def. Oskar Leube
– BUSHI & SANADA def. Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma
– House of Torture (EVIL, SHO, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi) def. Minoru Suzuki, Yuto Nakajima, Ren Narita & El Desperado
– Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi def. Kazuchika Okada, Ryusuke Taguchi & Shota Umino
– Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match: Hikuleo, Jado & Tama Tonga, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Master Wato def. BULLET CLUB (El Phantasmo, Gedo, Jay White, KENTA & Taiji Ishimori)
** Joining Busted Open Radio were Angelina Love and AEW’s Rebel.
** Episode #37 of Xavier Woods and Tyler Breeze’s Battle of the Brands series:
** A story about independent wrestler Leo Ironside.
** On the latest episode of GAW TV, Mickie James, O.D.B. and SoCal Val celebrated Lisa Marie Varon’s birthday.
** Season five of Taylor Wilde’s ‘Wilde On’ podcast featured Session Moth Martina.
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.
