(Indy group from West Virginia) - USACW Episode 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaqlyOAvUUc

Cody Rhodes Talks Choosing The Main Event For 'All In,' WGN America Coming To Them, All In 2?

Cody Rhodes spoke with The Beat on choosing which match would close "All In," if there will be another "All In," and working with WGN America. Here are some of the highlights:

Prospects of an "All In 2":

"Well I mean this crew is together a lot. One day we're all in Japan and the next day its here and when I say crew I mean more than just me and the Bucks, you know it includes Marty [Scurll], Hangman [Page], and Kenny Omega. They're all very much factored into everything that's happening. I think we've pushed off all pre-planning and speculation to September 2nd. Because it's pretty common knowledge our contracts [with Ring of Honor] are coming up. They all end on the same day, shockingly.

"I mean what do we do? We have such great things in place already. Matt, Nick, Marty, Hangman, we've had such a great time in Ring of Honor and they've been such a great partner, on this project alone, by allowing us to breach our contract to do this. None of us wanted to come at this from a place of anxiety. Instead, we wanted to look at what we've done and ask, "Okay, now what can we do?" I think September 2nd is going to be an interesting day, for sure."

Working with WGN American to put on the one hour pre-show, All In: Zero Hour:

"It came later in the game, WGN America had actually approached us about the entire show and that was a great thing except it would have to be a little bit more streamlined for television. As important as matches are to me and seeing them get proper time like you see in New Japan, we couldn't do commercials and make it two hours. So that idea went away and then it became the idea of doing a pre-show. We sort of said, 'Well, let's not do that, but instead give them two really good matches featuring from the All In crew. Let's make it something special.'

"It became an opportunity to add one more feather in our cap, so to speak. Wrestling was going to be back on a major network and it wasn't going to be WWE … or even any one company. It's just three dudes and their idea. Growing up, my dad [Dusty Rhodes] put Jim Crockett's promotion on Turner at 6:05 [PM] and what Vince did with USA [Network], then the wars. I couldn't turn down the chance at putting our show on a network."

Choosing the main event for "All In":

"The main event will be the six-man; Rey Mysterio, Bandito, and Fenix against The Golden Elite (Young Bucks & Kota Ibushi). At one point it was going to be Kenny Omega vs. Pentagon, but what you see on Being The Elite is true, as silly as it may seem. Asking Kenny to do the main event was a lot after the G1 tournament [New Japan Pro Wrestling]. But I think you have the spirit of the event in the souls of Matt and Nick. Then there's Rey who was the guy who gave me my first WrestleMania, my first break, so there's a special nod there. Also, I just want to see what they can do in the ring together. As a fan, I'm excited for that."

I Wonder Who Taught Him Not To Do Jobs. :) Hulk Hogan Reveals Who Taught Him To 'Hulk Up' And No-Sell Opponent's Moves

Hulk Hogan's legendary appeal was successful because so many little things helped make his character work. The Hulkster was an icon during his heyday as he transfixed audiences with his finger waving, flexing, and shirt ripping. Hogan opened up on Apter Chat where he discussed the etymology of many aspects in his wrestling persona and the inspiration he was fortunate to choose from.

Hogan spent one year working for Vince McMahon Sr. in 1979, but he left to transform into the Superstar we know today. During his hiatus from the New York territory, Hogan found much of his footing and eventually returned in 1983 when Hulkamania ran wild.

"You know when I left the WWE originally [in 1980] and I went to work for Verne Gagne, I had a great deal in Japan," Hogan remembered. "I spent weeks and weeks, sometimes twenty weeks a year over there and I loved it over there because I actually got to wrestle over there and I didn't have to do the 'ear thing' and it was just totally different, it was fun for me it was kinda like how I learned how to wrestle.

"So going to Japan was fun and stuff like that but I've always dreamed about being the champion in New York. When I was there the first time [Bob] Backlund was the champion and even as a bad guy, kinda like how I heard how the crowd reacted to me and Andre [The Giant] at Shea Stadium, the Superdome -- not the Silverdome, brother -- for Bill Watts and working with Mike Labelle -- I worked all over with Andre. Then even in Japan, I was always the heel and I had that black leather armband and [Classy Freddy] Blassie would load it with a piece of metal and then I'd knock Andre out with it. "There was always that really great reaction so I had always dreamed that, 'Oh my gosh, if I could [do this in WWE].'"

Hogan was starting to put the pieces together as a heel and then he received some treasured advice from Gagne which really set his previous experience into high gear. Until then, Hogan was selling like any wrestler normally would, but through his time with Gagne, Hogan was able to add a vital aspect to his repertoire which became a staple of his Character.

"When I first started working in Pensacola [Florida], Austin Idol was there," Hogan said. "He used to be a friend of my brother's before my brother passed away.

"I knew [Idol] as a kid and he was really nice to me because he knew my brother really well. So when I went to work with him in Pensacola I watched him and he had the gimmick down, brother. He was the first one that I heard say 'Idolmania' so guess what I did? Guess who's the first one I saw do 'the ear?' Austin Idol, I saw Austin do it. So I kinda watched him work and I said, 'Oh okay, I get it... Austin Idol, Dusty Rhodes... I got this. I can figure this one out.' So I kinda took the hot sauce from each one of those guys.

"You know when I'd go down to sell and that one finger would come up brother... you know I'm selling and that one finger starts shaking. That's Dusty Rhodes all day long."

Hogan merged many different aspects of different legends in order to create something special for himself. One unique part of his persona came when he would rip off his shirts to pop the crowd. Hogan explained how he first stumbled across this idea and that the pre-cut rips in the back of his iconic look were due to a strategic necessity.

"I was in a six-man tag at the Rosemont Horizon [now Allstate Arena] and the place was sold-out of course," Hogan said. "It was me, Greg Gagne, and Jim Brunzell in the AWA [...] There were three Sheiks against us three and that night when I was in the ring I had a shirt made up that said 'Hulkamania' on the front and 'Python Power' on the back at the local mall there and in the middle of the ring, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell ran up to me and ripped my shirt off -- just ripped it off me. I was in crazy shape back then, I was a lot younger and the crowd went nuts. I went, 'Okay... that worked!' I didn't even know they were gonna do it. So I just start ripping my shirt off after that, you know?

"But the cuts in the back were my ex-wife. I used to buy smaller shirts -- the bigger I'd look, right? So instead of buying like an extra large shirt I'd but a medium shirt and there's no way I could fit in it. So I'd cut the sleeves off so it'd make me look just huge. Then because I didn't want to look like an idiot and some shirts are harder to rip, I'd always put a little tiny cut in the neckline so it would tear evenly when you pull it. Because sometimes you go to rip a shirt and you just can't do it and you look like an idiot, you know?

Hogan merged many different aspects of different legends in order to create something special for himself. One unique part of his persona came when he would rip off his shirts to pop the crowd. Hogan explained how he first stumbled across this idea and that the pre-cut rips in the back of his iconic look were due to a strategic necessity.

"I was in a six-man tag at the Rosemont Horizon [now Allstate Arena] and the place was sold-out of course," Hogan said. "It was me, Greg Gagne, and Jim Brunzell in the AWA [...] There were three Sheiks against us three and that night when I was in the ring I had a shirt made up that said 'Hulkamania' on the front and 'Python Power' on the back at the local mall there and in the middle of the ring, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell ran up to me and ripped my shirt off -- just ripped it off me. I was in crazy shape back then, I was a lot younger and the crowd went nuts. I went, 'Okay... that worked!' I didn't even know they were gonna do it. So I just start ripping my shirt off after that, you know?

"But the cuts in the back were my ex-wife. I used to buy smaller shirts -- the bigger I'd look, right? So instead of buying like an extra large shirt I'd but a medium shirt and there's no way I could fit in it. So I'd cut the sleeves off so it'd make me look just huge. Then because I didn't want to look like an idiot and some shirts are harder to rip, I'd always put a little tiny cut in the neckline so it would tear evenly when you pull it. Because sometimes you go to rip a shirt and you just can't do it and you look like an idiot, you know?

"I would cut a little tiny rip in the front and my ex-wife would say, 'That shirt looks horrible on you, it's so tight, is that a small' I'd go, 'No, it's a medium, come on!' She goes, 'Let me make it a little better for you.' So she cut the three little cuts in the back which actually gave me room to breathe and opened my shirt up a little more. So that's where all that stuff started."

Don Callis said he wanted to "get rid of the silliness" in Impact Wrestling, BUT... What About, THIS!?

Don Callis has said many times that as a booker in Impact Wrestling he wants to 'get rid of the silly stuff" But yet here's silly stuff like that that he and Amore booked. So I again ask, How is it you're going to get rid of the silly stuff when YOU'RE booking the silly stuff? Dumb ass.

LAX was on “the block” celebrating their win last week to get back the Impact World Tag Team Championship. OGz were shown driving in a car while LAX celebrated. Konnan said he had a big surprise in his car across the street. Konnan told LAX and the rest of the boys to come with him. The OGz pulled up almost ran down Konnan with a car, but they did run over the kid with the belts before the show cut to a break.

(McMahon’s Analysis: Did they just kill a child on television? I think they just killed a child on TV, and it didn’t even close the show. … I’m a big LAX fan. In fact, I think they’ve been the best act in wrestling for the last year. But these heavily-produced, non-realistic segments I’m not a fan of. It’s not on the talent, but the idea that this type of production works on a wrestling show, where you’re supposed to be simulating a sport, is lost on me).

— Back from the break, Mathews and Callis were on camera and said it was their job to continue the show, but something has to be done about the OGz. Mathews then previewed what would happen next week at ReDefined.

(McMahon’s Analysis: Hey, a child may have died outside, but here’s what’s happening next week! Now onto the death match in our main event! … Seriously though, this is why that type of storytelling and production doesn’t work in pro wrestling. Not when you have to come back from a break and go to the next match, while a kid was apparently just killed outside the building, on your TV show.)

You can read that and see what I mean, here.

https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2018/08/23/8-23-impact-wrestling-results-mcmahons-live-report-on-pentagon-vs-sami-callihan-in-a-mexican-death-match-brian-cage-speaks/#comment-109160

Carlito On What He's Learned Since His WWE Run, Risks In Operating The WWE Performance Center

Carlito Calon captured the WWE Intercontinental Championship, US Title, and two pairs of tag team gold during his seven-year run with Vince McMahon and Company. The second-generation Superstar has changed since 2010, but so has World Wrestling Entertainment.

Carlito recently called into the Chair Shots To The Cranium show and said he's focusing a lot of time recently on NBA 2k as he looks to earn a 99 rating. He is also busy working the independent wrestling scene and commented that he travels overseas more often now than he did during his tenure with WWE.

It's been eight years since Carlito's WWE release, but the last time we saw him on WWE television was during the 2014 WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony for his father Carlos Calon Sr.'s induction. Carlito spoke about what he's learned since his WWE release and credits his own maturation to continuing his physical shape.

"I think I've had time to really think about things," Carlito said. "I enjoy the slowed-down pace. What I've learned is kinda like what I think the great athletes like basketball players and stuff what you start to learn as your physical abilities start to dissipate or whatever. You start to adjust to succeed otherwise.

"I feel like a much better wrestler just because of new ways that I have found to workaround situations and entertain people. It's like a total difference performance now than when I was younger when I was just worried about how high I could jump or what flip I could do."

Although the WWE PC is a valuable resource, Carlito acknowledged that so many people training from a single source could produce an aspect of uniformity detracting from some of the individual NXT Superstars' personal characteristics.

"I don't know much about NXT, I don't really see much of it," Carlito continued. "I heard it's a great product. I heard the [WWE Performance Center] is a state-of-the-art thing like you know, I wish we had that in our day -- we didn't have that -- so you know they have a whole staff training. Not just wrestling, but weight training and all kinds of stuff

"I think it's great. The only thing is I've always been a fan of not throwing everything into one bucket, like having different styles. I feel like a lot of those guys just go into a system and instead just work the system's style and they start to deviate from what makes them unique."

Madison Rayne Gone From Impact Wrestling.

As expected, Madison Rayne's latest stint in IMPACT Wrestling has officially come to an end.

Earlier this week, her profile on ImpactWrestling.com was removed from the Knockouts roster and placed among the Alumni.

Last month at Slammiversary, Rayne unsuccessfully challenged Su Yung for the Knockouts Championship. Rayne passed out after Yung locked in the mandible claw, thus awarding the victory to Yung. Immediately following the match, Yung placed an unconscious Rayne inside the coffin and stood on top of it with the Knockouts Championship held high.