WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin was recently a guest on IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk Is Jericho, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. During their conversation, Austin shared the inspiration behind his famous “Shattered Glass” WWE theme.
Austin’s theme is one of the most iconic entrance songs in the history of professional wrestling. When fans hear the shattered glass at the top of the cue, it sends a buzz throughout the arena that will likely never be matched.
“The Texas Rattlesnake” revealed which song inspired his WWE theme, and also gave Jim Johnston a ton of credit:
“I went down to the studio and back in the day you know Chris I was pretty hands-on you gotta be. So I walked in there and I had a CD and I hand it to Jim Johnston and go, ‘it’s called Bulls On Parade by Rage Against The Machine’ and I played it.
“He got it, and so I don’t think my entrance music sounds anything like it but it was inspired by that and man I tell ya what the way he came up with that glass breaking I don’t know how he came up with that idea when he looped in that siren, I don’t know how or why he put that in a stroke of genius or luck or whatever it was that happened, magic?
“Sometimes things just happen the way they do. When I pitched him that song and we listened to it together and he came up with that and I give him all the credit in the world. I inspired him with their song… my idea, but his total creation [it’s] a fluke dude because you’ve been around and you’ve seen reactions when that glass breaks.
“Yeah I had to get over to get those reactions. It’s just the perfect music for the perfect setup for the perfect pop for any kind of dire situation or circumstance — goddamn that’s when we need Stone Cold. So, music is important.”
You can listen to Austin on Talk Is Jericho by clicking this link here.
Former WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore recently joined WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s podcast, The Steve Austin Show, to talk about his release from WWE. Amore was released from the company back in January after some sexual assault allegations were made against him.
The charges have since been dropped and Amore is focusing on his rap career. Amore, now going by the name “Real1” opened up to Austin about his various issues with Triple H. He also detailed a heated exchange he had with “The Game” in his office:
“I got my voice taken away from me and it’s the only thing I ever cared about: the most important thing. In wrestling, I’ll lay on my back for anybody 1-2-3. A writer tries to write a line I don’t like in a promo, I ain’t saying it and I’m going to go talk to Vince because I’m not saying it and Hunter’s gonna threaten my job.
“Triple H is gonna tell me I’m gonna get fired because I ain’t saying this sh*t….I’m still going to get handed a microphone every fu*king night, every single time, so I started living like that. You guys have threatened me ever since I got in the door here. You have been hanging it over my head that you will fire me…in the endI was fuc*ing looking at him in the face saying, ‘You’re fuc*ing lucky to have me here.’ I didn’t walk on any eggshells at the end at all. I dressed in my own locker room. When people got mad at me I didn’t care and I just went to Vince….
“I had a conversation with Hunter that I don’t think any other talent in the business has had. He ripped me a new one. He went so off – pulled me into his office and went off….the way I looked at it is I’m not trying to be you, I’m not trying to be Triple H….I’m not trying to marry within the company and be here forever. He was going off and he said to me, ‘Enzo you’re not going to change the fuc*ing world.’
“When he said that I stood up and shot my chairto the point that it fell and I said, ‘Don’t you get it? I am trying to change the fuc*ing world.’ Triple H stood up and said, ‘There’s no getting through to you.’ Boiling hot mad and he walked me out of that room”
You can listen to Amore on The Steve Austin Show by clicking this link here.
Chris Jericho was recently on a three hour flight from Los Angeles to Dallas. “Y2J” apparently flew American Airlines who didn’t feature a movie for the long flight and didn’t accommodate passengers with USB outlets to charge their phones.
This seemed to really frustrate the IWGP Intercontinental Champion, who took to Twitter to put the airline on blast – asking “How old is this plane and what year are we living in?”:
No phone charger outlets or movies on a 3 1/2 flight from LAX to Dallas? How old is this plane and what year are we living in @AmericanAir?
One fan responded to Jericho and called him out for being a “primadona” and complaining for the pettiest of things when there are much more pressing issues going on around the world. The fan then suggested Jericho charter his own plane if those things are so important to him.
Jericho hilariously responded to the fan before blocking him on Twitter:
CM Punk’s latest UFC challenger, Mike Jackson, was recently a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T’s podcast, Heated Conversations, to talk about fighting the former WWE Champion. Jackson said that he knew he was on a different level from Punk mixed martial arts (MMA) wise, and admits Punk was extremely confident heading into the fight.
He also truly believes that Punk thought he could win the fight by submission if he got it to the ground:
“I do believe that he did. I legit felt that in his mind that he was going to take me down and submit me. I believe that 100%. No man is going to get into a fight with nothing but winning on their mind. I don’t believe that. Outside of the bums who are just joining for a check, I don’t think he was doing it for a check,” Jackson said.
“He could have made the money elsewhere off of his brand. I felt that in his heart he thought that he was going to take me down and submit me, but like I said I was at a different level than where he was at. I had to shut all that down.”
Jackson then addressed SmackDown Live star Daniel Bryan’s recent comments in which he said he thinks he could beat Jackson on the ground. Jackson pretty much laughed that challenge off and said that if Bryan really wants to fight he’d happily accept the challenge:
“I saw that and I just laughed. I remembered seeing it scroll through my headline but I didn’t know what it was so I kept scrolling and didn’t pay any attention to it because I just thought it was a CM Punk reference. I just kept scrolling—I was in Chipotle and was trying to get me a bowl and next thing you know my phone is blowing up,” Jackson said.
“People were like, yo, Daniel Bryan said—I was like, dude, this is getting ridiculous now. I was like, what? Like I said, I kind of drifted away from pro wrestling once he grew in popularity, but I am very familiar with pro wrestling and the whole ‘Yes!’ chant and things like that.
“I know that he has a little background in catch wrestling and things like that, but my thing is that I know you have neck problems. I know where you are restricted in your abilities so why would my name even come out of your mouth? If Daniel Bryan wants this smoke, they call me ‘Chimney Man’ because I have all this smoke.”
You can listen to Jackson’s interview with Booker T on Heated Conversations by clicking here.
If you’re one of many professional wrestling fans frustrated by Brock Lesnar’s WWE status while he holds the Universal Title, things just got worse.
Initially it was expected that “The Beast” would return at SummerSlam later this year to defend his title. The expectation was that Lesnar would finally drop the strap to Roman Reigns before returning to the UFC and continuing his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that Brock Lesnar is no longer working the SummerSlam pay-per-view (PPV). He also added we might not see Lesnar until later this year, which is ridiculous considering he’s the company’s top champion.
As for Lesnar’s MMA career, he has until today to re-enter the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) testing pool. If he doesn’t re-enter by the end of tonight Lesnar will be ineligible to fight for the UFC for the remainder of the year. The promotion’s hope was to have him fight on their New Year’s Eve card.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) star Flip Gordon recently did an interview with the New York Post to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Gordon first talked about trying to get booked for “All In”:
“[Brandi Rhodes and I], we’re gonna figure out what she can do to help me get booked. In the meantime, Cody still hates my guts and has no plans on booking me, and I don’t know why. Maybe that’s my next step, figuring out why he doesn’t want to book me. If I figure out why, maybe I can change that why.
“That or break in. Don’t tell the cops. I can’t believe I just said that. Now they are going to be waiting for me at the door. Now, I’m going to have to buy a ticket. It’s sold out, so I’m screwed. I’ve had lots of fans who told me they got me an extra ticket.”
He then talked about today’s professional wrestling product compared to the past. Gordon feels today’s style is more fast and presents a more athletic style than ever before:
“I think it is a faster, more unique, athletic style. I think wrestling now is more like an action-movie fight, not necessarily amateur wrestling like it was back in high school. It’s evolved. It’s different. It’s not just headlocks and hips tosses.”
Gordon then discussed his role on “Being The Elite” and how weird it feels to be the “little brother”:
“It’s kind of funny because I’ve never been the little brother. I’ve always been the oldest brother out of my family. I’ve never had an older brother. I always looked to my cousins or other people that I looked up to as big brothers. So it’s kind of funny. I guess that is kind of my character because the Young Bucks, Marty, all them are like big brothers to me.”
You can read Gordon’s full interview with the New York Post by clicking this link here.
16-time WWE World Champ John Cena is known for having his ‘5 Moves Of Doom’ which have irked professional wrestling fans for the past several years. “The Leader Of The Cenation” is currently filming “Project X” with Jackie Chan.
He is replacing Sylvester Stallone in the film. Cena took to Twitter to comment on training at Chan’s facility in California and teased adding to ‘The 5 Moves Of Doom’:
Nikki Bella Promises To Streak If Total Bellas Wins Award
Former WWE Superstars Nikki and Brie Bella, The Bella Twins, took to their YouTube channel and made a big promise to fans if Total Bellas is able to win a Teen Choice Award.
Brie Bella promised to rap, while Nikki Bella promised to streak if fans can help them en-route to a Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show. You can check out the video here:
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently took to his podcast, The Ross Report, to talk about several professional wrestling topics. “Good Ole’ JR” first commented on the criticism that former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has been under for her promos in WWE.
While Ross notes that the former UFC champ isn’t the best on the microphone, she’s improving time after time:
“I hear experts talk about, ‘well, Ronda’s verbal skills are not as refined as…’ and they’ll give you another example of a talker. Well, hell, of course it’s not.” Ross explained, “this is new to her. Don’t be pissed off at Ronda Rousey because she’s in a new world that she was invited to join and make worth their while. I don’t get why that’s a bad thing. I think she’s doing fine, I really do. Look, she won me over a long time ago as a badass athlete.
“Great skillset all the way around. She’s a different breed of cat. She’s like Kurt Angle was when he first… full of P and V, when he came to WWE. He was on a different athletic level than most of the other guys. As a matter of fact, I would say all of the other guys. He was that good he was able to separate. And that’s what happens when you win gold medals when you’re in international competition.
“You excel there. Ronda did that, 17 year old Olympian, bronze medalist. So I think her verbal skills have improved. I’d give her some bullet points. I’d keep her off TV in that role. It’s just soundbites because people won’t remember it anyway. That’s the kind of society we live in. So her athletic skills are still amazing.”
Ross also touched on the older professional wrestlers that seem to have an issue with Rousey’s WWE run. The Oklahoman declared that they’re likely just jealous:
“When I hear ex [pro] wrestlers or older wrestlers b—h about Ronda Rousey, I believe it’s based on jealousy.” Ross continued, “and the fact that a lot of men are still having a hard time with the females taking up so much of their time on television. Their time?
“It’s our time. So it was the same thing in the territories. When [Fabulous] Moolah’s girls came to a territory, four girls came in and four guys were sent home with no pay. If [the women] were there for two weeks, [the men] wouldn’t be booked for two weeks. No paycheck, no guarantees. You don’t get paid unless you work.”
On the topic of CM Punk, Ross said that he hopes the former WWE Champion’s last outing inside the UFC’s Octagon was his last:
“Hey the guy lost a unanimous decision.” Ross said, “he went three rounds against Mike Jackson. I don’t know how much Jackson celebrated himself there. He didn’t impress Dana White and it looks like, according to what White has said, this was likely CM Punk’s last UFC fight. I hope Dana’s right.
“I hope that’s an accurate prediction. Hey look, I love CM Punk’s willingness to try something new, boldly try something new, compete on an entirely different canvas. But let’s be honest – at his age and skillset, I hope that Phil Brooks will look elsewhere for a new challenge.”
Finally, Ross revealed that he doesn’t see Punk ever working for another professional wrestling organization full-time again:
“I don’t see Punk ever, ever, being full time for any [pro] wrestling company again. See what I did there, a little Chris Jericho thing?” Ross joked. “At this stage in [Punk’s] life and his recent experiences in the pro wrestling biz, plus, he’s not in a cash-strapped situation. He [has] got nothing left to prove. He doesn’t owe the wrestling fans anything. He [has] given it all to you.
“What more do you want? How many more years? So he [has] got a lot of marketable skills, Phil Brooks. I think he’d be a great broadcaster in many areas. He [has] got a lot of interests. But CM Punk is, as Gordon Solie used to describe ‘Cowboy’ Bill Watts in Florida Championship Wrestling, when Gordon would say, ‘that ‘Cowboy’ is a strange enigma that many simply do not understand. Uh-uh.’”
You can listen to The Ross Report by clicking this link here.
Jim Cornette recently took to his podcast, The Jim Cornette Experience, and shared some memories of his good friend, Leon White (a.k.a. Big Van Vader), who recently passed away.
Cornette remembered the hilarious interview with Vader and The Undertaker where the former WCW World Champ went nuts on the interviewer for making some disrespectful comments:
“Leon and The Undertaker, a rare appearance on any kind of talk show for The Undertaker on a talk show but they were in Kuwait. It was a big tour, it was a sold tour for a lot of money. They were being interviewed on one of the morning news shows like ‘Good Morning Kuwait’ I think actually might have been the title of it or whatever the host just, actually said to the side some blatantly disrespectful stuff to the guys sitting there about how he thought that wrestling was all fake and a show.
“Whereas Undertaker kinda sat back and was cool he didn’t say anything at first, Leon turned around and backhanded snatched that guy by his tie and his shirt and I’d had Leon snatch me when he was working and he’d yank all your chest hair out and it was stiff and the guy just s–t himself. Leon cut a little promo on him and let him go and kinda just pushed the little coffee table over and everything. They detained him.
“I guess some people would remember, some might not have been alive it was over twenty years but they detained him in Kuwait. After the tour was over all the guys left and were glad to get on the plane to come home and they kept Leon for a while deciding what to do. There was daily reports being called in. Vince called him ‘our man in Kuwait.’
“You know he stuck up for the business I think more than I would’ve in Kuwait if I would’ve been there, but finally, they let him go. I can’t remember if he paid a fine or whatever but they let him get back on the plane. You know that wasn’t necessarily the venue to protect the business but he did it. I admired him for that.”
Cornette then shared a story about Vader getting too close to some pyrotechnics while under the stage and becoming disoriented:
“At the Raw tapings in the 90’s during the Attitude Era, they started using all that pyro to open the show, right? I guess Leon I guess didn’t know exactly what time of night it was or the show was about to start but he walked under the stage where you could walk under the Raw stage and you could look out and see the crowd and the arena and the people.
“You could watch matches from under there, you know if you peeked through the curtain people couldn’t see ya. So it was something people did every once in a while but not right at the start of the show because they’re about to blow all the pyro off on top of the stage. He walked under the goddamn stage and nobody saw him or caught him and he was peeking out at the crowd and the building when suddenly they blew this s–t off right on top of him.
“All of a sudden several of the boys were sitting backstage and they see Leon come back out from under the stage and he’s holding his head in both hands and he’s swerving from left to right like in the cartoons, right? Like he couldn’t figure out which was he’s gonna fall down. He drops to his knees and he couldn’t hear, people were screaming: ‘Leon! You okay?!’ Anyway, it was a famous moment there and poor Leon finally he could hear later on but god o mighty. I can’t imagine — it would’ve been like being shelled in the military.”
You can listen to The Jim Cornette Experience by clicking this link here.
Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes recently participated in a media conference call to promote the G1 Special Tournament. Cody will challenge IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega at the event for his title.
“The American Nightmare” first talked about what it would mean for him to win the ROH World Heavyweight Title before he heads into his IWGP match against Omega:
“As far as the Ring Of Honor World title heading into the G1 Special, I have these title matches. I have the Ring Of Honor one at Best In The World: Baltimore [Maryland], June 29th [2018], the day before my birthday.
“July 7th [2018] on AXS TV, what we’re talking about today, I have the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. And then, at All In, the show I’m executive producing, I have the NWA World’s Championship title match. So the world is not enough for someone like me. The character you see in the screen is very not… there’s not much difference. I think that might disappoint some people, I’m a bit of a dick in real life. And I don’t want to go 0-3. I don’t want to go 1-3. I don’t want to go 2-3.
“I want to go 3-3. I want to take this completely and it would mean a great deal to show up at Bay City [California], The Cow Palace, on AXS TV as Ring Of Honor Champion. And I think it would also be really good for Ring Of Honor. The Dalton Castle experiment didn’t pay off and this is my opportunity to get back to where I was because as their Champion, and even not as their Champion, I’ve continued to grow their business.
“And they’re very grateful for it and I’m very grateful for them. It’s an opportunity for me. But yeah, I’d very much like to show up and be able to hold my title up alongside [Omega’s] and see where it gets us.”
Cody then talked about wanting to compete in the G1 tournament this year. Unfortunately an acting gig presented a scheduling conflict. He promised he’d be in the G1 tournament next year or the year after:
“I would’ve wanted to be in the tournament this year, but there’s this other part of my life that’s not [pro] wrestling and that’s… I’ve been working to break into acting a little further. I had my guest roles in a couple of past seasons [of Arrow] and there was something I was able to accrue or book.
“It hasn’t been announced yet and that’s eating up my schedule. I actually don’t have a day off until the Wednesday before All In. After, I think I start July 1st [2018] and then go all the way till the Wednesday before All In. No days off at all.” Cody added, “that was the reason I wasn’t able to be in the G1. I think, I’ll just guarantee it. I’ll Joe Namath it.
“I will absolutely be in the G1 if not next year, the year after that. I give you my word. I’ll be in the G1. If I have to move Heaven and Earth to do it, I will compete in one. I’ve seen the importance of it.”
You can listen to Cody’s media conference call by clicking this link here.
WWE is making big moves in regards to their broadcasting in 2019.
Shortly after this was made official, rumors began to go around indicating that a big change could be coming for NXT as well. It appears that might just be true. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that there have been discussions of putting NXT on FS1. Satin says the announcement is “imminent”:
Brad Shepard of Bodyslam.net confirmed the news as well, claiming that the deal was done last week, and the announcement should be made no later than next week:
This is huge news for NXT, which will now be available to a much larger audience should the news prove to be true. It should be interesting to see what kind of success the program has on FS1.
It should also be noted that Shepard teased the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event to Saturdays on FOX. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more…
Discussion: What do you think about NXT potentially being broadcasted on FS1? And the return of Saturday Nights Main Event on FOX?
It looks like WWE United States Champion Jeff Hardy is still working through some injuries.
According to a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE has been protecting Hardy by having him participate in short Fatal Four-Way matches at live events. The United States Champ has also been seen limping quite a bit during live shows as well.
Hardy began defending his United States Title against SAnitY member Eric Young on SmackDown Live earlier this week, however, that match turned into a Six-Man Tag Team match between Hardy and The Usos against SAnitY.
On a May 17th episode of SmackDown, Hardy injured his leg during his entrance. He has also been dealing with a nerve issue that has caused numbness in his fingers. There’s currently no news on if he expects to take time off to deal with these injuries.
Discussion: Do you expect Hardy to drop the US Title soon and take some time off?
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley recently joined The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk about his “20 Years Of Hell” tour. Foley talked about his infamous Hell In A Cell (HIAC) match against The Undertaker which took place exactly 20 years ago today (Thurs. June 28, 2018):
“It is definitely cathartic to talk about it. I’m kind of finding out new elements about the match as we go. Especially since it was a match that I kind of ran from for so many years and did not want to talk about it but after a while and I guess in the same way that Adam West came to terms that he was Batman and I know there are some other actors that have kind of felt pigeonholed, I didn’t want to be known for just that one thing.
“But after it awhile it was like maybe this isn’t the worst thing to be known for but it has been really cathartic to discuss it and I can honestly say that these have been the most fun shows and the best shows that I have done.”
Foley then talked about what was going through his head while being tossed down off the top of the cell by The Undertaker, before crashing into the announce table below:
“It’s funny because in the show I only curse once. It is like a two-hour show with a Q and A and I curse one time. But it turns out that I think in curses and that all I was doing was dropping f-bombs to myself before and after. It was what the BLANK was I thinking? And you’ve got to be BLANKING kidding me?
“It is why I was so glad when (Chris) Jericho’s Book “A Lion’s Tale” came out he talked about wanting to do something from the top (of the Cell) but when he went up there earlier in the afternoon {which I didn’t do or otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now} and he said the people down below looked like ants and I’m not exaggerating, they looked like ants and I thought to myself that is exactly what they looked like.
“If I could have thought of a graceful way to climb down the cell structure without ruining my career, I believe I would have done it.”
Ring Of Honor (ROH) is gearing up for their Best In The World pay-per-view (PPV) tomorrow night (Fri. June 29, 2018), which will feature some of the promotion’s biggest names.
ROH COO Joe Joff recently took part in a media call to promote the event, and was asked about the ROH dojo which is grooming the promotion’s stars of tomorrow. When asked for the long-term plans for the dojo, Koff said that he’s more focused on the short-term.
Koff explained the promotion’s priority is identifying talent in order to bring them over to TV or their digital network:
“I’d like to look ten years ahead but I think we’ll just focus on the next twelve to eighteen months,” Koff said. “What I’m hoping for what our expectation is identifying talent that we can bring pretty quickly to over the air TV or our digital network.
“We’re just looking to just bring talent through. Identify them from their local promotions or other places give them training and give them the opportunities. Understand the Ring Of Honor brand, understand the Ring Of Honor style so they get better before they’re seen in the bigger matches on TV or pay-per-view.”
Former WWE Superstar Gene Snitsky has announced his intentions to retire from professional wrestling.
Snitsky, who’s real name is Eugene Alan Snitsky, is likely best known for his WWE run between the years 2004 and 2008. Most notably Snitsky had a feud with Kane that involved Lita in the storyline as well, which was heavily featured on Monday Night RAW at one point.
After his WWE release Snitsky has been keeping busy working the independent circuit as well as a brief run with TNA in 2014. The 48-year-old recently took to Instagram and announced he plans to retire after a few more shows in order to spend more time with his girlfriend and focus on weight training.
Here’s what he had to say:
“Only gonna do a few more shows!!!!! I’ve decided to move on and focus more on other things like @carianneb1 for instance…. And ofcourse weight training and appearances just no more in ring competition lol…..”
“I’ve been losing the love over the last few yrs and honestly don’t like the way wrestling is going….. Just wanna thank all my fans…. for without you there would never have been a SNITSKY!!!! I truly love my fans and always will…… Thx for taking the time to watch me perform it means the world to me!!!!!”
WWE Superstar Sasha Banks was recently a guest on CBS Sports’ In This Corner podcast to talk about several professional wrestling topics. One such topic was the current WWE run and success of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Rousey debuted in WWE back in January after the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble and confronted Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair before pointing to the WrestleMania 34 sign. She’d go on to The Show Of Shows to team up with WWE Hall Of Famer and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle to defeat Stephanie McMahon and Triple H in Mixed Tag Team competition.
Just a few months later Rousey made her singles debut against Nia Jax with the RAW Women’s Title on the line at the Money In The Bank (MITB) pay-per-view (PPV). Rousey seemed like she was on the verge of winning the title, before Ms. Money In The Bank Alexa Bliss attacked both women and cashed-in her briefcase to win the RAW Women’s strap.
Banks has been pleasantly surprised with Rousey’s run in WWE thus far, saying The Rowdy One has been “killing it” inside the ring and she has thoroughly enjoyed watching her matches:
“She had been killing it. She’s proven all the doubters wrong, and it’s so crazy to see her matches,” said Banks. “I’m like in shock, I’m in awe. I loved her match at WrestleMania, I loved her match at Money in the Bank, and I definitely think she’s one to watch.
“I can’t believe Money in the Bank was only her second match and I am so impressed, and I hope I get to wrestle her in the future and I’m really excited for her here in the WWE and she really has been killing it.”
The Legit Boss admitted that she had her reservations about the Rousey-WWE signing at first, saying “When I first heard that she was gonna be here, I was a little like, ‘huh, that’s not really fair.”
Now, however, Banks sees that Rousey has proven herself worthy to be in the position she’s currently in with the company, and is excited to have Rousey in WWE.
You can listen to Banks on the In This Corner podcast by clicking this link here.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Good Ole’ JR first talked about getting to call Cody Rhodes vs. Kenny Omega at the upcoming G1 Special in San Francisco:
“Kenny is so cerebral and makes his matches so different. He and Cody have some characteristics that are compatible, but they also have some very different traits. The story they’re going to tell is going to be so well told. They are two of the best in the game. They’re going to mix all those ingredients into a hell of an entrée on July 7.”
“They’re both in their 30s, they’ve both paid their dues, they’re not new kids on the block. They have the chance to close the show on a live, free national broadcast. There is a lot of opportunity for positive exposure. They just need to get it done, bell-to-bell. It should be absolutely off the hook.”
Ross then explained why he thinks that Will Ospreay could be professional wrestling’s next big breakout star:
“Ospreay is the next breakout star, but only if he can stay healthy. He has a great upside, without any question, but the questions concern the style and how he works. Calling his matches, I’ve seen him get up after I thought he hurt himself or broke something in his body. At some point, you don’t need a medical degree to figure out the fact that when you take bumps on surfaces that were never intended to be bumping surfaces, and you do it for too long, the cumulative effect is going to be negative.
“He has a great imagination and he’s a great improvisationalist, and he’s really good with strikes and submissions. So if he leaned a little more on the other aspects of ‘The Aerial Assassin’–he doesn’t have to do a moonsault to the outside to be an aerial assassin, he just needs to land on a surface that will half-ass welcome your body to it.
“He’s got some size, he’s a real keeper, but I do worry about the number of risks he takes on any given tour. I hope I’m wrong, because he is so entertaining and wonderfully creative, and he’ll be a big, big star if he stays healthy. It’s up to guys like myself and Josh Barnett, or Don Callis and Kevin Kelly, to make sure we don’t make him known for only one thing in taking risks. Sometimes the talent believe what you say about them, and they continue down that road, which has a very unfortunate but inevitable destination.”
You can read Ross’ full interview with Sports Illustrated by clicking this link here.
Some fans were a little thrown off when Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle announced that the multi-man match at Extreme Rules to determine the No. 1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title at SummerSlam had been cancelled.
Angle cited “contractual issues” with Lesnar as the reason for the decision. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter sheds some light on the situation. Meltzer reports that Lesnar’s “contractual issues” is a storyline. The current plan has Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley going down at Extreme Rules, and the winner being Lesnar’s opponent at SummerSlam.
Apparently the idea behind suggesting Lesnar has “contractual issues” is to get Lesnar booed by fans and make it seem as though he’s heading to the UFC with the Universal Championship. WWE would like to push the narrative towards hardcore fans that Lensar refuses to drop the title before he leaves WWE.
WWE also wants to keep having Superstars tell Roman Reigns that he doesn’t deserve another shot at Lesnar because of all the times he has failed in attempt to get fans to be sympathetic towards The Big Dog. If they cant get sympathy from fans, at the very least they’d like to get Reigns some “grudging admiration” when he finally dethrones The Beast.
As for Lesnar’s UFC future, we should know in the next few days whether or not he has re-entered the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing pool. This should provide some insight into whether or not he will be fighting the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier for the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 206 next weekend.
It was announced that Lars Sullivan suffered a broken jaw halfway through his match against NXT Champion Aleister Black at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II. No additional details have been provided on the injury, but WWE’s NXT account Tweeted out the following x-ray photo showing the break:
According to a report from PWInsider‘s Mike Johnson, WWE Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler’s contract with the company is set to expire later this summer. It was also noted that he has yet to sign a new contract with the company.
Ziggler is a part of one of the biggest feuds on RAW at the moment. He recently defeated Seth Rollins to win the Intercontinental Championship, and the pair tore the house down in their rematch on Monday Night RAW earlier this week.
It should be interesting to see how Ziggler’s contract situation plays out given that he’s currently a WWE title holder.
Tenille Dashwood recently took part in a media conference call to promote Ring Of Honor’s (ROH) Best In The World pay-per-view this weekend (Fri. June 29, 2018). Dashwood (known as Emma in WWE) discussed her time in WWE as well and her portrayal of the Emma character.
Dashwood commented on distancing herself from the Emma character and wanting to be taken more seriously now that she’s gone from WWE:
“I definitely want to be taken seriously,” Dashwood said. “I didn’t feel like I had something to prove if anything it was for myself. I wanted to wrestle.
“I wanted to enjoy wrestling again and to meet all my fans and have competitive matches and those were all goals I had for myself. So I definitely want to be taken seriously to show myself I could do it still and you know to give that back to the fans too.”
Ring Of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Cody Rhodes took part in a recent media conference call to promote the upcoming NJPW G1 Special on AXS TV. Rhodes first discussed how writers and producers in WWE have more power than talent creatively, when it’s the performers that will suffer on behalf of poor instruction:
“I don’t look at it as being in control of my creative.” Cody explained, “I literally look at it as just knowing myself. I guess knowing my act, knowing what I would do, and what I wouldn’t do, and going out there and trying it out. The fans will tell you if you got it right or if you got it wrong. I think that’s one of the most backwards ass things about [pro] wrestling in the first place is writers. What are you writing? What on Earth are you writing?
“I have some friends who are writers at WWE and the most thing they could ever offer was, as far as pre-tapes and backstage interviews, they were there to provide a little bit of direction, a little coaching. But they were there to look at the shot. In that vein, they were very valuable, so I see the importance there. But as far as this industry, if people ever say that it’s scripted, I dare you to find me a wrestling script. It doesn’t exist. We’re a rare thing, a rare bird in the world of entertainment, an important bird.
“Same with producers! I love all those legends. I love them to death. Some of them are like family to me, but how the hell are you going to tell me what to do out there? You don’t! And that was my biggest mistake with WWE is ever listening. There’s a difference between collaboration, and advice, and being told to do this because that’s not how it works. You go out there and you’re the one on TV. You’re the one who gets heat if you suck and you reap the rewards if it’s a grand slam.”
Rhodes then discussed the differences in the locker rooms of WWE and NJPW, as Japan’s locker room is a lot more traditional:
“There’s a huge difference in the locker room philosophies between WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.” Cody elaborated, “I can tell you, it’s not a knock on WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling understands much more how to do their locker room. The individual factions are separated.
“Chaos has their own locker room. Bullet Club has their own locker room. But there are no outsiders, no celebrities, they can be somewhere else, but they can’t be in the locker room. It’s a real traditional space. You ride on a bus with your crew and no other crew. You don’t stay at the same hotel. It’s a real traditional space.
“And it’s something just as an old school [pro] wrestling fan, I really value when I go. But I think they have the locker room. I think that’s the philosophy in the locker room as far as company goes, it’s much different.”
Recently The Elite challenged The New Day at E3 for a battle in the Street Fighter video game. WWE provided some extensive coverage and promotion of the event, mentioning Omega and The Young Bucks by name a few times. Rhodes offered his thoughts on the company doing this:
“I thought that was really, I hate using this expression, but good for business.” Cody continued, “that’s something that The New Day, and The Elite, I guess now, The Golden Elite, that cross-promotional element is something that they wanted to do for a long time and [WWE] can’t pretend that people don’t exist anymore.
“Kenny Omega is a revered star worldwide. He’s the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion and I think it was good for business. I had a nice little banter back-and-forth with some of my friends from the WWE locker room, but I kept saying, ‘hey, you guys are welcome for the rub.’ And then, they kept saying pretty much the same thing back to me.
“But yeah, no, I’m glad The Elite won regardless of whether Kenny’s my best friend or if I could [not] care less about him. But The Elite, in this case Kenny, defeated Xavier Woods and they put that one to rest. But who knows? I think The New Day/Golden Elite rivalry might just be getting started.”
You can listen to Rhodes on the AXS conference call at this link here.
Last night’s episode of SmackDown Live from Ontario, California ended before tapings for 205 Live began. The dark match main event of the evening was a Tag Team match between the teams of The Miz and Samoa Joe against Kofi Kingston and Big E of The New Day.
Miz reportedly poked fun at fat people in the crowd before the match started, and told them to sit down and shut up so the ladies in attendance could enjoy checking out his body. He also unlocked his inner Rick Rude by calling the fans “sweathogs.”
New Day members were making grinding motions towards Miz and Joe. Miz returned fire with some of his own but Joe left the ring and refused to take part. Kingston took out Joe with Trouble In Paradise before he and Big E hit Miz with Midnight Hour to pick up the win.
The trio celebrated for the crowd to end the night.
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega was recently a guest on Sean Waltman’s X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast and talked about his match with Kazuchika Okada at Dominion 6.9.
It was arguably the greatest match in professional wrestling history. The two-out-of-three falls match lasted about 65 minutes and Omega revealed it took “a lot of thought and care” to put together parts of the match.
The Cleaner also divulged that he and Okada didn’t want to do too much in the two falls leading up to the third in order to keep the audience intrigued. Creatively, Omega and Okada didn’t want to exhaust themselves creatively, leaving the door open for a fifth possible meeting between the two rivals:
“It’s what story are we going to tell that complements the other three matches that we’ve done,” said Omega.
“What story do we tell that leaves something open for a possible fifth match, because even though we were never told that there was gonna be a fifth match, I have a feeling that there’s gonna be a fifth match. So I didn’t want to blow everything in that match, and I wanted to leave it for that there is gonna be another one.”
For a fifth meeting between himself and Okada, Omega wants to bring something different to the table “whenever it happens.”
You can listen to Omega on the X-Pac 1,2,360 podcast by clicking this link here.
The Brooklyn Brawler was recently a guest on Prime Time with Sean Mooney where he talked about several professional wrestling topics. Brawler was able to work for WWE several times over the years, but the memories that stick out to him the most were his performances in Madison Square Garden.
His most memorable MSG experience was likely his WWE Title opportunity against Shawn Michaels. His journey to earning that match was a rather interesting one:
“Okay so we’re wrestling in Madison Square Garden and we’re having a battle royal. I’m in the battle royal but I’m just a guy to get thrown out, this and that. All of a sudden Ken Shamrock who was scheduled to win the battle royal got injured in her sternum, his chest he got injured,” Brawler said.
Shortly after the injury producers went to Vince McMahon and alerted him Shamrock couldn’t win the match because he was injured. McMahon decided to make the call to put Brawler over instead:
“Put Brooklyn Brawler over, he’s local.”
McMahon didn’t realize, however, that he promised the winner of the Battle Royal a shot at the WWE Title. Brawler reminded McMahon of this at the next MSG show, and The Chairman Of The Board responded with “You got your match.”
Initially Brawler was supposed to work with Bret Hart for the WWE Title, however, during that time The Montreal Screwjob had just occurred and Shawn Michaels was the new World Champion. At first Brawler believed that Michaels was going to refuse to work with him, but to his surprise HBK was very accepting of the idea and immediately began putting the match together with Brawler:
“His finish is the Superkick if I Superkicked him people would come unglued,” Brooklyn Brawler said. “What a match we had. It was the first Garden show with DX with Chyna and Triple H on the apron on the outside of the ring. Me and Shawn Michaels in Madison Square Garden. I remember The Undertaker walking into the room, into the dressing room and looking at the line-up and it shows me in the main event, he’s underneath me and he goes, ‘what the f–k is this?’
“That’s what he said. I just said, ‘it’s not me I didn’t do it!’ Because nobody wants heat with The Undertaker. But I tell ya, my career, you couldn’t even write this the way it happened. He’s kicking out at two-and-a-half and he’s selling and doing all these crazy moves,” Brawler said .
“I mean he made me look like a million bucks. I’m telling ya and then Triple H jumps on the apron and I pop him, nail him then Chyna comes in and gives me a Frankensteiner. I mean, it was great.”
You can listen to Brawler on Prime Time with Sean Mooney by clicking this link here.
Monday Night RAW was capped off by an epic main event for the Intercontinental Title, as defending champion Dolph Ziggler took on Seth Rollins.
Former WWE Superstar TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) produced the match, according to Fightful. It should be noted that some of the best matches on RAW for the past several months have been produced by the former Tag Team Champ.
Bobby Lashley and Roman Reigns vs. The Revival was produced by Michael “PS” Hayes. Matt Hardy and Curtis Axel’s one-on-one affair was produced by WWE Hall Of Famer D-Von Dudley.
Scott Armstrong produced the squash match between The Authors Of Pain and their ocal enhancement talents – Rex and Rick Gibson. Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya was produced by Fit Finlay.
Sarah Stock was the producer for the Six Woman Tag Team match of The Riott Squad vs Sasha Banks, Bayley, and Ember Moon. Dean Malenko was listed as the producer for No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley, even though the match never got underway.
Finally, Jamie Noble was the producer for Braun Strowman and Kevin Owens vs. Constable Baron Corbin and Finn Balor.
