Originally published at Sylvain Grenier talks WWE producer role, scuffle with Bully Ray, neck fracture
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.
** The latest guest on René Duprée’s ‘Café de Rene’ podcast was his former tag team partner Sylvain Grenier. In January 2020, Grenier was hired as a producer for WWE. The COVID-19 pandemic put his role in the company on hold, but he hopes to be back on the road once the pandemic is over. Grenier provided French commentary for IMPACT Bound For Glory 2020. Also, he shared that when he started working in that producer role, it was brought up that his name was a part of the concussion lawsuit against WWE.
I was there .
Grenier addressed Bully Ray’s recollection of their scuffle behind the scenes in WWE. Bully told his side of the story on Busted Open Radio. Sylvain stated that while Bully did rough him up in the ring, he never laid hands on him when they had their altercation in the back. It started because Sylvain missed a spot during their match and when they met backstage, Bully attempted to kick him in the shinbone.
For me, nobody was ever stiff in the ring with me, ever. Even Bubba said, ‘Come on, he’s bleeding.’ I didn’t want to say, ‘No! You’re hurting me.’ I’m not in pain. He’s just b*tch slapping me.
I don’t think he slapped me. He was roughing me up but nothing dangerous, nothing dangerous. I don’t remember nothing dangerous. I put my finger just to capitalize on the f*cking blood. But I went backstage and I confronted him because if you wanna rough up, we can rough up. Just explain to me. I f*cked up but you know, maybe he hurt me a little bit but I don’t think my life was in danger. I just wanted to confront him and I know he didn’t slap me in between us.
But I remember when Jack Lanza and I me that recipe; one, two, three, four, how it works, I’m not stupid, I would have understood. But there’s no guide on wrestling.
In late 2003, while Sylvain was a part of La Résistance with Rene Dupree and Rob Conway, he suffered a fractured neck and didn’t return until March 2004. The injury occurred while taking a powerbomb through a table from Bully Ray. Sylvain wasn’t aware of the severity of his injury for a period of time afterwards so he continued to work. He recalled John Layfield getting upset because he was getting a massage backstage as rehab for his neck. Also, Sylvain was told he had to be in the business for five years to get trainer’s tape.
Because Rene and I was 240, 250, but the table, it just slowed us down. It didn’t break through. So it slowed us but my neck touched the floor first.
Maybe we were too far away or overdid opened the curtain, he was so f*cking upset. I’m like, he’s not doing anything. What the f*ck? Am I an employee or — anyway, that was so f*cking stupid. So I broke my neck and it was painful. It was very painful for the next couple of days and I had problems taking bumps and my head felt so heavy, had a migraine. But, there was no doctor with us on the road at the time. There was a trainer and I think, at the time you had to be at least five years in the business to get tape from the trainer so I was far away to get there.
The former 4-time World Tag Team Champion went on to discuss the heat that he and Rene Dupree garnered throughout their respective careers.
You have no idea how much heat I got when I started and after that, the heat went onto Rene because he was not clear headed outside the ring. So, for some reason, we always had heat but that’s a good thing in wrestling because you can work everywhere and you’re gonna have heat. But we have heat because who I was, my personality and I didn’t know the politics. He had that heat because he was not mature enough to be on the road but when he fixed that, he could have beat John Cena and had a run at the title because he had the skills. But you know, sometimes it’s not your time, you’re not ready, you’re not for some reason. Sometimes it’s physically, sometimes it’s mentally, sometimes it’s just luck like Rene said, you know?
** Prior to Bobby Fish’s match against CM Punk on the 10/27 AEW Dynamite, Fish spoke to Mike Johnson of PWInsider to promote the match. Fish reflected on his release from WWE and believing that things would work themselves out.
I think it’s always a little bit of, I’ll use your words, gut punch in that like you’re not necessarily expecting it and you got to reshuffle the deck and figure out what’s next. And that is like having a door slammed in your face or ripped wide open and you’re not expecting, whatever you want to call it. But what I will say is I think it’s just my time in life really. Just having enough in the rear-view mirror that you expect these sort of things and you know that in that moment when you’re present in that moment like, yeah, you kind of don’t know what’s next. It is unsettling and it’s anxiety-inducing, but I think more than anything it’s with that life in the rear-view, you realize or you come to understand with time like, ‘Okay, things are going to be okay.’ I don’t know what that’s going to look like and you stop trying to figure it out right away. So I think I gave myself a little bit of time and I practiced having some patience that the 25-year-old, 30-year-old me probably didn’t even have. And I think that-that patience, my girlfriend was, God, she was such a blessing. Immediately from the moment that phone call hit my ear, she was sitting right next to me and she just kept me focused and kept me on track to understand like, ‘We don’t need to know today what the progression of this looks like, but it will progress, and it will be better or it will work itself out.’
Since arriving to AEW, Fish has been using the theme song he used in Ring of Honor. He explained how that came to be.
I don’t know that I necessarily would have like sought that out immediately because I really didn’t know which direction this was going to go in, but I couldn’t have asked for anything better. It was like putting on a good pair of jeans. Once that came through, there’s a gentleman that works for AEW by the name of Jeff Jones who was also in Ring of Honor when I was there and it was Jeff who was pursuing that and everything kind of worked out. If there was any trepidation on my part, which there really wasn’t if I’m being honest. But if there were, as soon as that hit the speaker and I walked out the tunnel, like I said, it was like putting an old pair of jeans . It just felt right and it continues to feel right and I really, I dare I say, it’s part of what’s kind of shaping the direction I’m going in here.
** The Women’s Wrestling Talk podcast brought Madusa onto their show. Madusa said with all due respect to Trish Stratus and Lita, when it comes to the growth of women’s wrestling, she feels WWE often focuses on Trish and Lita’s time period on forward but they forget about the crop of talents that came before them.
It seems like Attitude . Why? So we’re still fighting for that. You know, to circle back about that too and evolution, I mean that pay has still gotta get better.
Throughout her time with WWF/E, Madusa never had a paycheck that was over $100,000. She feels that even today, the pay for women in wrestling needs to be higher.
For the future, we’re gonna evolve more and I know women are finally getting better paychecks which is good because, I mean I never made over — I never made over $100,000 when I was with WWE. I know that’s a shocker. Nope, never and then when you did make decent money which is still below $100,000, people are thinking, ‘Wow, that’s good money.’ Well no because you had to pay for all your own stuff plus your outfits and by the end — then you paid taxes by the way and so that — you were left with… in the hole but you kept going.
** Perched On The Top Rope has an interview with Ultimo Dragon. Sonny Onoo was present for the interview as an interpreter and the following quotes are from Sonny on behalf of Ultimo Dragon. The 54-year-old Ultimo thinks he has another two-to-three years left in wrestling and his dream opponent for his last match is Chris Jericho.
Onoo: He thinks of — to answer your question, he thinks, ‘I might have two or three more years’ and you know, to answer your question, ‘My dream match would be somebody like Chris Jericho who came up together ’. They started almost together so their wrestling history parallels.
‘So one other thing I’d like to mention is that the people that I came up with; Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, those guys are still competing and they’re still — they are superstars’ and he said, ‘That really makes me warm in my heart when I think of them.’
Ultimo Dragon spent one year with WWE. He said the company asked him if he wanted to unmask. He feels that they viewed him and Rey Mysterio in the same light as well. One of the reasons left is because of their idea to have him unmask.
Onoo: So, ‘When I — Rey Mysterio was there of course.’ He says the way they look at it, he says they’re similar characters; both masked guys, smaller, cruiserweight. ‘But I didn’t understand at the time.’ He says, ‘That’s true and I didn’t realize it until afterward.’ He said they asked him if he was gonna take his mask off. He says that’s why he left. That’s one of the reasons why he left. ‘Rey Mysterio was really popular so as a masked man, there wasn’t really a spot for me… I’m a promoter so I understand certainly a lot more now.’
He says, ‘I’m a promoter now but if I was given a chance between Rey Mysterio and Ultimo Dragon, I would choose Rey Mysterio.’
With already having a successful career prior to WWE, Ultimo said the reason he joined the sports-entertainment company is because he wanted to take the opportunity that was in front of him. He discussed how being able to experience WCW and WWE made him better.
Onoo: He says I had an opportunity , I took that opportunity but, you know, it was very difficult for my body to follow that opportunity, even now. He says, ‘What I really realize now is I got to see WCW, how they work and I got to work at WWE and being able to realize the company, how they work.’ He says, ‘I’m not saying which one’s better or worse’ but he says, ‘Because I experienced it, that makes me a better individual.’
** Raw Tag Team Champion Riddle joined Peter Rosenberg on ESPN Cheap Heat. He mentioned the ‘NXT to main roster curse’ when talents make that transition and it does not go smoothly. Riddle feels that his transition to the main roster has been awesome.
Dude, honestly, since I’ve came up to the main roster, I know people talk about this curse or what have you but it’s been awesome. I won my first singles championship on main roster, United States Champion, I’m Tag Team Champion right now with Randy freakin’ Orton. I know that’s like Seth Freakin’ Rollins but it’s Randy Orton, The Legend Killer, The Viper, The Apex Predator and my best friend, my best buddy.
** Longtime pro wrestling referee Mike Chioda joined John Layfield and Gerald Bisco on their ‘Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw’ show. JBL told the story of when he pranked Paul Wight on an overseas tour. JBL had someone in the production truck switch Wight’s theme song to ‘All Star’ by Smash Mouth.
Hey, we were in Europe one time and one of the greatest things is the ribs on the house shows. Those were so freaking good so I’m standing in the ring with Kurt Angle and Big Show’s coming out and Big Show blames me for this but I can’t control the music from the ring so obviously, I had at least an accomplice, probably somebody else that was directing it, which you guys can guess who that was. So he comes out, ‘Hey, it’s Big Show,’ his music is playing. It goes, ‘Hey now, you’re an all-star’ and Kurt Angle looks at me and goes, ‘What is that?’ I go, ‘That’s Shrek’s theme music’ and so, Kurt looks at me and goes, ‘Oh my God, he’s gonna kill us.’ Big Show hears it and he turns red and he starts sprinting to the ring and when he gets to the ring, I say, ‘Kurt, listen, it’s my fault, I did it. I’ll take full responsibility.’ So we’re standing there. As soon as Big Show gets up the ring, I said, ‘I swear to God, Kurt Angle did it. I had nothing to do with it’ and I jetted out of the ring.
Chioda touched on his 30 years with WWE and how he has no regrets. He would’ve liked to end his career with the company and began training the next crop of WWE referees but he’s grateful for what he’s been able to do.
And I always think back after 35 years, how many stars there are with The Rock and John Cena, what they’re doing now and all that talent that I’ve worked with and some of the best professional wrestlers in this industry in three-and-a-half decades. It’s been a phenomenal career for me and I have no regrets, none whatsoever. You know, would I have liked to gone out and retire and maybe help down PC which I was trying to do as well, to train referees down there? Would I have liked to retire as a referee? One of the longest reigning referees in the WWF, WWE history? Yeah. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out like that but I have no regrets in my career. I’ve had a fantastic career, fantastic time, got to see, got to meet a lot of interesting people, to see 60-something different countries, a lot of countries over and over all throughout the United States, all throughout Canada and I don’t think in any other business or any other sport I would have got the chance to do that and all the icon matches that I’ve seen and I can’t say what is the best. Maybe some of the best reactions I’ve seen in matches but I worked with some of the best talent in this professional industry, in this wrestling industry and it’s awesome and I appreciate, you know, the fans and the feedback and stuff and the boys for what they’ve said over my career and how good of a job I’ve done and I took pride in that. I took a lot of pride in that.
** After the 2021 Final Battle pay-per-view, Ring of Honor will be going on hiatus until April 2022. Talent and commentator Caprice Coleman wrote about the announcement for his blog on ROH’s official website. Coleman reiterated that ROH is not closing down and the company is simply being upgraded. Here’s an excerpt from the piece:
Ring Of Honor is not shutting down.
The way I see it:
It’s almost like a cell phone company that goes into competition with others. Each phone has the ability to update. Some update more often than others.
Some people choose not to go for every update, for various reasons. This could result in the phones becoming obsolete for some.
However, when brought back to the developers, the cell phones say, “Hey look at me, I’m outdated and everyone seems to be more updated.” The developer looks at the phone and says. “Yeah, but some of the updates were flawed.”
There is a loyalty clause in your contract. Even though you haven’t chosen to update every time it was available, your loyalty allows you a free upgrade.
Again, Ring of Honor is not shutting down; it’s making upgrades! I believe this upgrade will be like no other.
** Wrestling Inc. pushed out their interview with JONAH a.k.a. Bronson Reed. He was asked about Ring of Honor going on hiatus and if he had conversations with an official from the company. He said someone from Ring of Honor did reach out after his WWE release but nothing came of it. ROH was on JONAH’s radar.
I’m still, obviously, in talks with different companies. Ring of Honor was something that was definitely on my radar. I have friends within the business that are like, ‘It’s a good place to work.’ I have nothing set in stone with them or anything along those lines, but it was something that I would definitely be interested in. But hopefully it’s something that can survive, I guess. That seems to be the next question. When I was first released, I had someone reach out from Ring of Honor but nothing really since.
** Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated published a column about CM Punk’s run in AEW which included quotes from both Punk and Tony Khan. Khan discussed Punk’s match with Bobby Fish on Dynamite and recalled The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) mentioning that Fish is one of their favorite people to work with.
I had this date—Wednesday, Oct. 27—circled a long time ago. This is our first Wednesday back from the time shifting. I intentionally booked all his television dates on Rampage, knowing that I wanted to give our fans something really special on Dynamite, and that is the Dynamite debut of CM Punk. Bobby Fish is a very important free-agent signing for us, and he’s a great wrestler. When he worked for the competition, he’s someone I had a ton of respect for. He was also amazing with Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The Young Bucks mentioned he’s one of their favorite people to work with, and he’s such a great matchup for Punk, who is so focused on his wrestling. His matches have focused on grappling, selling, and psychology, and I’m really excited for people to see this match on a very important night for us.
** While speaking to Daily DDT, Indi Hartwell said she noticed her confidence going up when she began working with Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae and Austin Theory as a part of The Way. She thinks the confidence she gained from doing backstage skits with the group led to a boost of confidence for her in the ring.
At the start, I was very scared, very timid. I was kind of walking on eggshells, being thrust onto TV. It was very new to me, but I think each time we filmed those backstage skits and those segments with The Way, like the Christmas one and the therapy one, those segments helped me show more personality and definitely made me more confident. I think the confidence I got from those skits translated into the ring and made me a much more confident performer.
I don’t think I’d be the performer I am today without having Johnny and Candice by my side, whether that’s backstage or on live TV. I’ve just learned so much from being with them and working with them. Having casual conversations where they don’t even realize they’re teaching me things but they are… they don’t realize it because they’re just so knowledgeable and so experienced in wrestling because they’ve been around for a long time. Whenever I’m around them, I try to soak up as much knowledge as I can.
** Sam Roberts welcomed Eric Bischoff onto his ‘Notsam Wrestling’ podcast. Bischoff explained why he’s not a fan of Shawn Michaels’ superkick and touched on why he believes Michaels’ execution of the move is bad.
Well that deserved to be criticized . Keep in mind, I spent a lot of time in martial arts, I was an instructor, I fought competitively as a black belt, even had a couple pro fights back before UFC was called the UFC and it was called — not it was called but it was the P.K.A., Professional Karate Association. I fought on ABC Wide World of Sports and CBS Sports Spectacular. I didn’t fight on — well I think I did fight on CBS Sports but, nonetheless, from a martial arts perspective and that being something that, you know, I’m a little familiar with certainly, that superkick deserved to be criticized. It had nothing to do with my feelings about Shawn Michaels or WWE. That was just a horse sh*t superkick.
That was just calling it right down the middle . It was — when you lean, when all of your bodyweight is leaning away from your intended target, that ain’t a kick. No. If you watch a really good kicker, someone who will stand up straight, pick up that knee and shoot that side kick out when they’re almost perpendicular to the ground and their body weight is moving into the target, that’s a side kick, that’s a superkick. But that leaning way back when your head’s about eight inches off the mat while you’re kicking up in the air, you couldn’t crack a f*cking egg with that kick.
** Hikaru Shida defeated Serena Deeb to advance in the TBS Women’s Title tournament. Shida chatted with Sports Illustrated at Dynamite in Boston and expressed that she feels she could have done better during her reign as AEW Women’s World Champion.
After losing the title, I was very frustrated. I thought I could have done more and been better as champion. So this tournament for the TBS title means a lot to me. It is a great opportunity to get back to the top.
She added that she has started taking acting classes to get more accustomed to being on national television. Shida is also actively working on her English.
I have been learning so much from Kenny Omega and Dustin Rhodes, and they teach about what it takes to be on a TV show. Being on TV is something an actress does, so I took acting classes. And my English has got so much better from watching Sherlock Holmes on BBC.
** According to PWInsider, former WWE personality Ricardo Rodriguez was present at the 10/27 AEW Dynamite. He was helping with the Spanish announce team.
** The NXT Women’s Tag Titles were contested for in a Ladder match at Halloween Havoc. Indi Hartwell teamed with Persia Pirotta in that match and before it took place, Hartwell chatted with Comicbook.com. She stated that she would like to go on a singles run one day in NXT.
I would eventually like to do a singles run. Yeah. I think I can’t live NXT without becoming NXT Women’s Champion. But if I become an NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion again, I would definitely want a long run with the title.
The on-screen partnership between Hartwell and Pirotta derives from their real-life friendship. Hartwell said they were paired together because during the InDex storyline, someone who is close to Hartwell off-screen was wanted for a role in the story.
So she and I have been real-life best friends for years. We both kind of came up and started wrestling at the same time and have had parallel careers. And then when we were figuring out the bachelorette party for the InDex storyline, we wanted to put in someone who has a real-life connection to me. So, she was newly signed and we had the idea to have her as a bridesmaid to introduce her onto the show. And obviously with Candice being pregnant, then I don’t have a tag team partner. So I think it worked out perfectly that way.
** To promote Beyond Wrestling’s ‘Reverse the Curse’ show, Beyond owner Drew Cordeiro talked to Sports Illustrated and he said being able to collaborate with AEW to use their contracted talent only adds credibility to Beyond.
John Silver and Alex Reynolds cut their teeth in Beyond, and they’re back. We’re lucky to have access to so many different athletes. WWE has made it so nobody else works with them, and that’s their decision, but AEW is different. Even on their television platform, AEW endorses other companies. On an independent level, AEW adds more credibility to us.
** A middle school in Florida was named after WWE’s Titus O’Neil.
** ‘Pink Heals’ is hosting a wrestling event on 10/29 to raise money for local cancer patients. Tommy Dreamer, Rhino and Swoggle are being advertised.
** To promote the release of his new book, Jon Moxley appeared on Renee Paquette and Miesha Tate’s ‘Throwing Down’ show.
** The Briscoes vs. Homicide & Eddie Kingston from Ring of Honor ‘Raising the Bar’ Night Two (2014):
** Newly crowned Knockouts Tag Team Champions Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee briefly touched on their title win during their ‘Off Her Chops’ podcast.
** Bianca Belair guest appeared on the health and wellness show ‘Bloom’.
** Cesaro was the most recent guest on Into The Danger Zone with Chris Denker.
** WWE’s Mansoor turned 28-years-old today.
** George McKay of Straight Talk Wrestling spoke to ROH Women’s World Champion Rok-C.
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.