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.
** Former NXT North American Champion Wes Lee guest appeared on Phil Strum’s Under the Ring podcast. He looked back at how he and Zachary Wentz ended up signing with WWE. Interest in them was initially expressed by William Regal but that first go-round, they were in conversations about signing elsewhere. When those IMPACT Wrestling deals came up, he said friends of theirs made sure ‘certain individuals’ knew they were going to be free agents soon.
There was a time period where myself and Zachary Wentz were tagging around the world and we were at a show in Los Angeles called PWG and it was the second night of the Battle of Los Angeles and we had a match where we tagged with our Japanese wrestling father, CIMA, under the Strong Hearts mantel and we had a great match and also during that time period, we got to meet Mr. William Regal and he voiced to us the admiration for our wrestling style and the way that we are really carving a path with the style that we have and how we’re connecting with fans and he expressed his interest in having us. Unfortunately at that time, we were in the process of signing a contract with another company and as that time period happened to go through, some really good friends that we had in our lives made sure that certain individuals knew that-that contract was coming up and we were brought in, we were looked at and we were evaluated and we came to the understanding that they really enjoyed what it is that we produce and they wanted to make something happen and once we put the pen to paper, it was hit the ground running. We debuted in the Dusty Cup Classic and never stopped running from there.
** Looking back at WWE Hell in a Cell 2022 and competing with torn pec, Cody Rhodes told Chris Van Vliet that Seth Rollins made a decision that day that Rhodes will forever be grateful for. He added that he still feels Rollins is undervalued. Cody said he and Rollins are not friends, but there’s been flirtation with the idea of them becoming friends.
I feel like because Seth and I’s rivalry is true, and real, I don’t want to tell you how unbelievably — it’s fair, it’s fair to say. I can’t even begin to tell you how good Seth Rollins is as a wrestler, psychologist in the ring. And without getting too far, Seth made a decision that day (Hell in a Cell 2022) that he made, it was his decision to make, that will forever be something I’m grateful for. Seth and I are not friends. It doesn’t look like we’re heading towards friendship. There has been some flirtation with it. Don’t think it’s going to happen though. All that aside, if I ever write a book one day, a whole chapter will be about how good that guy is and how he’s super valuable to WWE. And he’s still undervalued, in my opinion. And having Monday nights with him and I in a nice, competitive, who’s the guy? Without ever having to be in the ring with each other. I couldn’t ask for a better sparring partner in that sense. I don’t want to wrestle Seth ever again. But that day, he made a decision that was very important. And if you get him, ask him because I still don’t want to say nice things about him.
** As Cody Rhodes was speaking to Sam Roberts, he explained his comments from the 2022 WWE Money in the Bank commercial during which he said that ‘one lucky male and female superstar will win the chance to main event WrestleMania.’ Rhodes stated that the verbiage was double-checked, and it more so had to do with the theoretical idea of someone winning Money in the Bank, winning the title and then going on to headline WrestleMania.
Theoretically, which makes it accurate (Rhodes said about his verbiage in the 2022 Money in the Bank commercial) … What makes it accurate and what I will say about that shoot, that shoot fell apart, because we didn’t run Allegiant Stadium correct? We didn’t eventually go there so it’s a piece of history. It was fun. I got the tour, stood in the middle, had a good time with the team. We did double check language and as high up as you can go. We double confirmed language so I think the thought process was the theoretical. The person who’s holding Money in the Bank is obviously gonna be the WWE Undisputed Champion at some point which obviously means they would main event WrestleMania. The Royal Rumble is the thing we were describing, but we described Money in the Bank. We did double check, I said it, I won’t blame anybody else. I said it, it’s me saying it. It’s technically right, technically, maybe not even.
So it technically can be right. But hypothetically could be right and that’s a piece of history in terms of I don’t know where you send wrestling videos like that for things that don’t happen.
** Jim Varsallone welcomed Zoey Stark onto his YouTube channel for a chat. On the 7/24 Monday Night Raw, Stark wrestled Becky Lynch as Lynch is currently feuding with Trish Stratus. Stark gave props to Becky and said it’s been amazing working with her.
And then getting to look across the ring and it’s Becky Lynch, The Man, who has really done it all. So I gotta give her-her props because she’s been absolutely amazing and she has been on my bucket list of people to actually work with and now I get to do that…
Earlier in the conversation, Stark detailed how she got on WWE’s radar and it was because of a match she had in SHIMMER. Gabe Sapolsky saw the match and immediately wanted to give her a tryout.
I did a SHIMMER show and Gabe (Sapolsky)… he saw my match at SHIMMER and as soon as that match ended, I got back to the hotel and my coach, Allison Danger, we were sharing a hotel room and she kind of looked at me and she’s like, ‘You’re not gonna believe what message I just got’ and I said, ‘Oh yeah? What it is?’ And she said, ‘Gabe Sapolsky saw your match and he immediately wants to give you a tryout.’ So, that same night, within literally three hours after my match, I got a big opportunity. So if that match never really happened, I don’t know if I would be in WWE so I gotta say thank you to Allison Danger and SHIMMER for that because Allison Danger set that match up for me.
Stark was in the 2023 women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match. Her former tag partner in NXT, IYO SKY, won the match. Zoey expressed how happy it made her to see SKY get that accolade.
It was an insane feeling (to watch IYO SKY win Money in the Bank). I was so incredibly happy for her and I was actually being able to sit there and watch her grab that briefcase and the reaction that she got, it just made me feel so good for her to actually see her get that opportunity.
** While chatting with Josh Martinez on the Superstar Crossover podcast, Xavier Woods mentioned that he’d like to host a reboot of Nick Arcade. Woods added that without saying too much, he may have already had talks with Paramount Global (f.k.a. Viacom) and Nickelodeon.
There was this show on Nickelodeon called Nick Arcade. I want to host the new Nick Arcade. That’s the big goal.
So without saying too much, I mean, we may have been talking. We may have been talking. But it’s always good to put the goals out there, keep yourself accountable.
** Viktor, former NXT Tag Team Champion and member of The Ascension, sat down with PWMania for an interview. He openly spoke about the interactions he had with Shawn Michaels in WWE that were up and down in terms of those interactions either being pleasant or unpleasant.
This never happened to me but, Konnor told me he got tapped on the shoulder one day at a bar or restaurant or something. It was Shawn Michaels and Shawn never really spoke much to me. I don’t think he ever spoke much to Konnor either but I think it was really random when it happened. He told me and he said Shawn talking to him was like, you know, ‘You guys really set the tone for this place. You guys built it’ and so even though I didn’t hear that from his mouth, he had a lot of respect for us and I mean, my interactions with Shawn were just very — because he didn’t start in the Performance Center until after we were gone and I mean, the couple interactions I had with him before that was quite typical Shawn Michaels moments that weren’t the reborn Shawn Michaels you would expect. I mean after those couple times and what I mean by that is I met him once before when we were NXT Champions when Hunter introduced us backstage one day and when we were doing the n.W.o. thing or whatever it was on Raw, just after we debuted. It was just funny. It was funny in the way of he just didn’t give a sh*t about us at all. Didn’t even want to acknowledge us. But then after, I would always see him and say hello and he was much more polite…
** There’s a story about WWE N.I.L. athlete Derrian Gobourne on the WTSP website. She expressed that WWE has given her-her purpose and the ability to connect with a variety of different people.
I feel like WWE has really given me my purpose and to be able to just connect with people of all kinds. And so I think that’s something that makes me really excited because I just love to just pour into other people through my gift, and that is definitely going to allow me to do that.
** During the latest Something to Wrestle podcast, Bruce Prichard commented on Cody Rhodes’ new documentary that is going to air on Peacock:
I’ve only seen bits and pieces of it (Cody Rhodes’ new Peacock documentary) and what I saw was excellent. It was one of those bits and pieces I saw, I wanted to see more, and shut it down. I said, ‘Show me the final cut. I’m not gonna take notes on it.’
** The newest episode of Comedy Store Wrestling features Brandon Cutler. His current dream match is against AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy and feels they could get through an entire match with their hands in their pockets.
Right now, as the stooge, (my dream match is) Orange Cassidy. I think we can have an entire match with both of our hands in our pockets. I think we can get through an entire match, hands in the pockets.
** WWE German commentator Sebastian Hackl is making his in-ring return as a part of wXw Shortcut to the Top on August 12th. wXw Germany pushed out a hype video for him.
Wrestling-Comeback nach 10 Jahren@SebastianHackl will Unified Champion werden!
Im exklusiven Interview erzählt er von seinen Beweggründen und den Vorbereitungen auf #wXwSTTT.wXw Shortcut to the Top
12. August, Oberhausen
🎟 https://t.co/hq8FxOtnQs
PPV: https://t.co/SWNm9jneEa pic.twitter.com/cxTYX9ZPBY— wXw Germany (@wXwGermany) July 24, 2023
** Yoshiki Inamura, Atsushi Kotoge and Alejandro are representing Pro Wrestling NOAH at the 2023 ARIAKE ARENA Sports Fest.
** AEW’s Sting appeared at Jazwares’ San Diego Comic Con panel that Danhausen was a part of.
** July 25th birthdays: Finn Bálor.
