Originally published at Alex Reynolds: I don’t think those safety concerns are validated
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.
** Pro Wrestling Junkies hosted a virtual meet-and-greet with Alex Reynolds. Last week, Reynolds provided an update on how he was doing after he was knocked unconscious on AEW Dynamite in a four-way tag match. During the virtual meet-and-greet, Reynolds was asked if the fans’ safety concerns about AEW’s protocols are valid and here’s what he had to say:
“No, I think our team does a fantastic job. I think they took care of me, right away when we all realized I was hurt. They got me out of there nice and safe, so it’s a contact sport, you know? Injuries are gonna happen and I think they’ve shown that they can handle those situations so yeah, I don’t think those safety concerns are validated, as somebody who’s kinda just lived through it. I’ve put my trust fully in our staff.”
Reynolds later added that when he heads back to Jacksonville for another Dynamite taping, he’ll meet with their doctor and the doctor does believe Reynolds will be cleared to return.
“Yeah, so we have this week off so I’m just kind of resting up and then doctor and see, but he thinks I should be good to go. Yeah, it was definitely a scary moment but I feel pretty good and looking forward to being back in action.”
** Former AEW and STARDOM talent Sadie Gibbs spoke with Chris Van Vliet for an interview. Sadie explained why she departed from STARDOM and it had to do with the reaction from the powers that be to her grandfather’s passing. Sadie became emotional while speaking about how the situation was handled.
“I won’t go back to STARDOM. I know it’s a great promotion and I loved it, I loved it but in terms of the professionalism and their humanity, in terms of grievance when I said my granddad passed, I was broken. I was sitting there watching whales — I know this sounds funny but, two days ago, I lose my granddad and then we’re going to a theme park to watch whales jump around. It’s the last thing I wanna be doing, and I just balled out in tears and… I’m getting emotional talking about it to be honest… God. But I remember that day and it was really — I can’t believe I’m getting emotional, and it took a lot for me to go tell the promoter I’ve got to go home, I can’t be here anymore and he tapped my leg and he said, ‘No, no, you stay, business’ and I just thought, because you know political-wise, I knew I was gonna get sh*t on for going home, and I always do right by me anyways. Like I said to you, if a career makes you feel like that, leave it in my opinion and that for me — I changed my flight myself and I went, and I would have loved to say goodbye and done it the right way to all the girls and been respectful because I know their culture and everything is about respect and it’s an amazing culture, but for me, that wasn’t respectful to me or family or myself, you know? And yeah, it was a hard time.”
Sadie was released from AEW in mid-August. She was asked what was going through her head as the COVID-19 pandemic begun. She thought it’d be two-to-three months before she was back in the U.S. for AEW.
“I heard the lockdown was happening but I didn’t think it would be before I flew. I thought I’d be fine to be honest and then in my opinion, when it happened, I thought, it’s okay, two, three months added on to not going and obviously it got worse and worse and come August, they’ve let three of us go from the UK so… but they’ve kept a couple from the UK I’ve noticed, without going into things, I noticed — Anthony Ogogo is still with them as well, yeah. So it’s a bit bittersweet really. It’s a hard one to swallow but you know, I guess they had to cut their costs and everything. They can’t use us. The situation is what it is isn’t it?”
** Belfast Telegraph has a story up about pro wrestler Brian Corr being placed on probation for two years after sending explicit pictures to a young pro wrestling fan. The prosecutor on the case, Nicola Auret stated that on June 7th, 2017, the victim met the defendant through a wrestling fan page. At the time, the victim was 14-years old when the exchanging of messages began. Initially, their messages were solely about wrestling but after some time, the messages became inappropriate as Corr sent pictures of his private areas.
The prosecutor added that the defendant groomed the victim by initiating a friendship before sending inappropriate pictures. Corr did ask the young teenage boy to send photos of himself as well. The day before the victim told his parents what was going on, Corr told him that he was going to delete him from Snapchat. Corr was arrested and when questioned by the police, he admitted to what he had done.
** Ariane Andrew and Matt Dillion welcomed AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes onto their ‘Sippin The Tea TV’ show. Brandi was asked about the idea of Women’s Tag Team Titles in AEW following the ‘Deadly Draw’ tournament several months ago and here’s what she had to say about the idea:
“Well, that’s quite a question so, I think the tournament was a step in the right direction, because across the board, there was this, I guess, thought that we didn’t have enough women to do tag team wrestling in AEW and a lot people got really down-hearted when we had some injuries and things like that, so I think that this just showed everyone that we have the women available, we’ve got great women, great characters, great in-ring competitors and we can hold people’s attention and put something really good together. So, my hope is that we continue to grow and go in that direction, but can’t promise anything, because you know, it’s week-to-week these days.”
** Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline reported that there was another COVID-19 outbreak “of sorts” at the WWE Performance Center. Details as of the writing were not known other than that the outbreak happened this past Friday and those who were there were asked to quarantine for two weeks due to contact tracing. A source indicated to the site that no one who’s on NXT TV has tested positive. POST Wrestling’s John Pollock reached out to WWE but has yet to receive a response on the topic. Tonight’s NXT Halloween Havoc show is scheduled to have 100 fans in attendance. If they pass their respective COVID tests which were conducted on 10/27, they’ll be allowed to attend.
F4WOnline provided an update on 10/28 and reported that WWE has confirmed with fans that if they tested negative for COVID, they can attend tonight’s show. It’s unknown how many fans passed their test.
** Former Australia Football League player Tony Modra talked to ‘News Corp’ about NXT talent Brendan Vink, now donning the name “Tony Modra”. He described it as disrespectful and didn’t know he had to copyright his own name.
“I’ve got no idea who he is. He claims to be an Adelaide fan but it’s a bit disappointing, a bit disrespectful. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know you had to copyright your own bloody name. My lad loves WWE and I see a lot of that stuff but he’s even asking why some wrestler he’s never heard of before wants to change his name to his dad’s.
I’m just bewildered. I’ve had people texting me left, right and center about it. I don’t think there’s anything I can do. If he was doing it for charity or something – I do a lot of stuff for Little Heroes Foundation – I wouldn’t mind, but it seems like personal gain.”
** Hollywood Life has an extensive feature published on their site about All Elite Wrestling and it includes an interview with Matt and Nick Jackson. Nick reflected on what the ‘Blood & Guts’ match could have done for AEW programming and viewership-wise. He added that they’re saving that match for fans and have the structure ready to go when it’s time.
“Man, it is tough to say because a lot of that we have planned for the future is what we are currently doing,” says Nick. “Somethings did change. Obviously, the Blood And Guts steel cage match never happened. And we spent a lot of money building that structure. for that show. We probably would have, but we can’t control what is going on around the world. I think that was probably the biggest change, not doing that cage match.”
Looking back at the Stadium Stampede match from Double Or Nothing, Matt Jackson said it was he and Nick’s BTE 200 match that convinced Tony Khan to go through with a cinematic-style match for Double Or Nothing.
“We always wanted to do this weird stuff,” says Matt. “So, we went home and shot this match called BTE 200, almost like a pilot to show Tony helped the cause, got the ball rolling, and convinced him for us to do it. You just have to think outside the box and do things differently and without fans.”
On the merchandise front, Matt Jackson shared that he has spoken to Dana Massie, his wife, about the idea of AEW ice bream bars.
“I told her that I would love to have some type of AEW ice cream bar. I remember fondly in the summer when the ice cream man would come, and I would get the Good Humor Hulk Hogan ice cream bar. I don’t know how much of a possibility it would be, but I put the idea out there, at least.”
** A GoFundMe has been set up for the independent wrestler who broke his leg while jumping off the middle rope.
** Hikuleo joined his brother Tama Tonga on the Tama’s Island podcast. One of the stories Hikuleo shared was about the difference between Toru Yano on and off-screen. Hikuleo stated that Yano is a well-respected senpai off-screen and recounted a time when he didn’t want to be disrespectful towards Yano at a restaurant.
“The worst one was in Osaka young boy with me too, another young boy and we’re both trying to chug it and I remember I stopped halfway and I just felt it all just come up and I ran to the bathroom, threw up and Fale was like, ‘Good job. It’s better to throw up than to not try.’”
** The Paramount Animations and WWE Studios film ‘Rumble’ has been pushed back to May 14, 2021 for its release date, per Deadline. The film was previously scheduled for a January 2021 release. The likes of Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns and Stephen A. Smith did voiceover work for the film.
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated caught up with Shotzi Blackheart for his ‘This Week in Wrestling’ column. Shotzi detailed what she wants people to think when they see she is announced for a match:
“That’s exactly how I want people watching at home to feel. I want them asking, ‘Is Shotzi Blackheart going to die tonight?’”
** The Dark Order’s John Silver appeared on the ‘Living The Gimmick’ podcast recently. Silver expressed his dislike of doing extra work in WWE and explained why he did not enjoy it compared to his enjoyment of once doing extra work for AEW.
“To be honest, those don’t really — doing extra work for me honestly made me more depressed than anything, because it’s like… you’re there and you have to — a lot of the guys, not all of them, but walk around with like their . It’s like come on, go f*ck yourself.”
Silver talked about talents from the independent scene being spotlighted on AEW Dark. With having competed in various promotions and tallying up 13 years in the business, Silver feels that it’s not a good sign if he isn’t already aware of an independent talent as they come in for AEW Dark.
“There’s been so many people who’ve came in and did these dark matches I’ve never heard of before and I wouldn’t say I know everything about every indie show but if I don’t know who you are, that’s not a good sign. That means you’re not anywhere near top promotion-wise, and I’ll usually attribute that to an extent, that you’re not trying to get there. If you’re not in any company I’ve ever heard of, then you’re either not good or you’re not trying hard enough to get to those places. If you’re good enough, then there should be a way for you to get in. If you’re not good, you’re not good but it’s good when I see people that have been busting their ass and working hard and they really appreciate the opportunity to come down and to do these shows so…”
** On the 11/3 edition of United Wrestling Network’s ‘Prime Time Live’ show, Lio Rush is making his debut and the UWN World Championship tournament will commence. Fred Rosser vs. Karl Fredericks, Eric Redbeard vs. Watts along with Mike Bennett vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr. is official for the tournament.
** ‘Metro’ ran their interview with NXT commentator Wade Barrett. Barrett further reflected on his feud with John Cena a decade ago and Barrett stated that he felt he was not John Cena’s equal in their storyline.
“Obviously, there was a huge disparity between where he was at career-wise and where I was at. There was never that level – I never felt like we were level as peers, when it came to putting the matches together or working on storylines or anything like that. Whereas shortly after that, I would have programs with Kofi Kingston who I very much saw as my kind of level at the time in 2011. We’d gone through developmental together and I felt much more comfortable working with him. You just have to take those opportunities when they come, and I was very, very grateful to be in there with John Cena.”
** Shotzi Blackheart talked to Stephanie Chase about her transition from the independent scene to WWE. Shotzi feels it’s been easy, seamless and added that where she is now is where she is supposed to be.
“It’s been really easy and really fun. I was actually really worried that I would have to change everything and everyone was kind of in my ear being like, ‘Oh, you’re gonna have to change yourself’ and they kind of — I came in and they were open arms with everything that I was already doing and they just get me there. It’s super, it’s just so nice that they’re just like, ‘Yeah, do you, do you.’ So yeah, it’s been very easy. It was very seamless and just felt like meant to be. Yeah, I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
** The Young Bucks noted on Twitter that they’ll be making an announcement on the 10/28 episode of AEW Dynamite during their interview with Excalibur and AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler).
** Jake Atlas versus Santos Escobar is official for NXT Halloween Havoc.
** AEW filed to trademark “AEW Games”.
** Independent wrestler Willow Nightingale joined the Women’s Wrestling Talk podcast. One of the topics that came up during the 30-minute discussion was the rise of Black performers over the past five months. Willow shared her own experiences of discrimination in wrestling but feels that she is privileged because of her skin tone.
“So, I feel pretty fortunate because I know there are other Black women in wrestling and Black male wrestlers as well, who have faced a lot more discrimination or had opportunities taken away from them for that fact we’re on. I personally have one story that really kind of could have held me back and that’s a promoter being like, ‘Well I already have a Black girl, why would I need another one?’ And like, I heard that, I was like, ‘Mhm, okay, I’m not sure this is somewhere I wanna work,’ but I consider myself really fortunate. I understand my privilege, I’m light skinned, so I guess some people don’t even view me as Black and they think that-that’s a compliment to go, ‘You’re not even Black in my eyes.’ I don’t know how to take that. But that is like the worst thing I think I’ve experienced, at least directly. I don’t know if anyone’s ever turned their eye at me, turned the other cheek and just not given me an opportunity because of it, but I’ve never shied away from who I am because at the end of the day, I am a big girl, I am kind of weird and quirky, I am a woman of color and I can’t hide those things, so I embrace them all and I try to kind of put that to the forefront of my personality in wrestling and people seem to dig it. The places that I work support me for those reasons, not in spite of them and since we’ve been seeing more protests across the country since Black Lives Matter has kind of gained more momentum recently, in the wrestling community, obviously it’s translated there as well. I have been super fortunate and overjoyed to see the amount of overall support from everyone, because even if someone said, ‘Oh I’m not racist’ or whatever before, I think there’s a new level of appreciation being given towards Black wrestlers. You’re seeing shows pop up like For The Culture for example, which was supposed to happen before COVID and everything, and then they recently had Black Wrestlers Matter, that show and they’re doing a second one and being able to see we’re in a landscape where that can happen, that’s awesome, that’s empowering. Ten years from now, hopefully that won’t be like the special attraction kind of match. That’ll be the standard. It’s not a weird thing to have a lot of Black wrestlers on your show.”
** Sportskeeda caught up with Big E and E was asked for his thoughts about Jey Uso’s performance in the storyline with Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Big E thinks Jey has been more than a key piece in that storyline turning out the way it has.
“He’s knocked it out the park, he really has. To think that, what? Just a few months ago, he was just hosting a karaoke segment with the women. He was kind of just a guy who’d be flown to TV because his brother was hurt and they’re so used to booking him in these tags, but to see him get this singles run, to see the way he’s stepped up, to see the way — just the amount of emotion he’s brought to this, just — I knew he had this ability, and I’ve just talked to him about the way he’s perceived wrestling, the way he perceives the industry, the way he carries himself and I know he’s been ready but it’s just a matter of getting that opportunity, having that door opened and as soon as a crack was opened in that door, he was able to step through it and he’s knocked it out the park and I’ve told him several times, ‘You’re killing it right now. The stuff you’re doing is so legendary, this feud has been incredible’ and he’s been a massive reason why.”
** Here are the announced matches for Revolution Pro Wrestling’s ‘Epic Encounters 5′ show on November 15th:
– RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. RKJ
– Dan Moloney vs. Sha Samuels
– Two Out Of Three Falls Match: Kenneth Halfpenny vs. Brendan White
– Michael Oku & Connor Mills vs. JJ Gale & Callum Newman
– Mad Kurt vs. Robbie X
– Bobbi Tyler & Zoe Lucas vs. Jamie Hayter & Bea Priestley
** Raquel Gonzalez is scheduled to compete against Rhea Ripley at NXT Halloween Havoc. Raquel chatted with TV Insider ahead of the match and she talked about her father, former in-ring performer Ricky “Desperado” González initially steering her away from wrestling when she approached him about her desire to pursue it.
“When my dad would work, we’d go to Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Houston, and all of those places that were two-to five-hours away. It was like a weekend family trip. My sister and mom would love to go to the malls or in the city. Sometimes I was up for that, but a lot of times I didn’t want to go shopping. I would sit around and hang with my dad and wait around the venue with the other kids. I just loved the atmosphere watching my dad do what he loved in the ring. When I told him about wanting to wrestle, he wasn’t happy. It was a different time for women in wrestling. He did try to deter me from it.
He told me I needed to go to school first and get an education. I’m so happy he did because that’s probably an accomplishment I wouldn’t have made otherwise if I didn’t have his support. He inspired me to start playing basketball. He started coaching at one of the schools my sister and I were going to. They only had a men’s team. I sat in on a practice and said, ‘Dad, I want to play.’ From there, he took me to the Boys & Girls Club and started me on a team. Because I was so tall, I was immediately seen by coaches who did AAU. That was the turning point. Basketball was my life.
I switched my mindset from wrestling into that. Then, of course, getting a scholarship in college a dream come true for me and my family. When I graduated I said, ‘Dad, I’m getting my degree and appreciate it. But I still want to try and wrestle.’ At that point, he gave in and said, ‘I can’t stop you.’ He ended up encouraging it.”
** Today’s episode of WWE ‘The Bump’ is up on WWE’s YouTube channel. Maven, along with Elias are appearing on next week’s episode of The Bump.
** Raquel Gonzalez spoke with PWInsider.
** Inside The Ropes released their interview with Ilja Dragunov ahead of his NXT UK Championship match against WALTER on 10/29. Ilja was asked about the Survivor Series event coming up in November and one of the names he’d like to compete against is Bray Wyatt.
“Absolutely. I always think about the perfect scenario and not like just match-wise, dream match-wise, I think about something which is so special because nobody would think about this before, which could be like very unique and very unpredictable. I think a character as unique and special as Ilja Dragunov is what appeals to me, so for that reason I think it would be very special to face Bray Wyatt. It would be very special in a lot of ways that I think nobody would ever see it coming.”
Ilja reflected on his TakeOver: Cardiff match against Cesaro from the Summer of 2019. Ilja saw that as a steppingstone to show that he can hang in the ring with a talent such as Cesaro and present a good match as he was given that spotlight.
“My first memory of this was when I found out I was going to face him, I had the feeling, ‘OK, that’s the biggest sign of respect I can get,’ because if the company gives a lot of trust in me, I’m definitely going to make the best out of it. It was a steppingstone for me, of course, because people wait for the chance to show what they truly are about. And I think it was like this was a very good impression for the people of what I am all about, especially against a world class competitor like Cesaro is.”
** Chad Gable will be on the 10/29 edition of WWE After The Bell.
** ‘Smokey Mountain News’ has a story up about how politics and pro wrestling are intertwined in the town of Jackson County, North Carolina.
** Former WWE writer Robert Evans appeared on the 10/27 episode of IMPACT Wrestling on AXS. Evans played the role of Deonna Purrazzo’s representative. Purrazzo lost the IMPACT Knockouts Championship to Su Yung at Slammiversary. Purrazzo is claiming that she was prepared to defend the title against Kylie Rae and not Su Yung. Purrazzo will get her rematch next week. Evans is known as the writer who quit WWE during the 2019 Hall Of Fame ceremony.
** The UpUpDownDown crew recorded another UNO session.
** Bianca Belair and Montez Ford hosted a Q&A on Belair’s YouTube channel.
** Tyler Breeze guest appeared on the ‘Uncool with Alexa Bliss’ podcast.
** Former two-time WWE United States Champion MVP turned 47-years old today.
** Fightful conducted an interview with Jake Hager.
** NXT Tag Team Champion Danny Burch chatted with GIVEMESPORT.
** Tokon Shop is hosting a virtual meet-and-greet session on November 9th with guest Katsuyori Shibata.
** As a part of MLW’s restart, Myron Reed will defend his Middleweight Championship against Brian Pillman Jr.
** Alexa Bliss did an interview with WWE NOW India.
** The next portion of Hiroshi Tanahashi’s interview series is up on NJPW1972.com.
** Jake Hager spoke with the Orlando Sentinel.
** AEW is selling their Double or Nothing 2019, All Out 2019, Full Gear 2019, Revolution 2020 and Double Or Nothing 2020 pay-per-views on DVD.
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.