Here's your fight size update for Wednesday, April 7, 2021:
- In a special Q&A version of his podcast, Kurt Angle reveals which writer came up with the idea for him to drive a milk truck and hose down the alliance back in 2001.
“That was our writer, Brian Gewirtz. He came up with great material for me. It was a spinoff of Stone Cold Steve Austin beer truck incident, where he brought the beer truck in and hosed Vince McMahon a couple years prior. So, since I was doing a program with Austin, Brian came up with the idea of driving a milk truck in and dowsing Stone Cold and The Alliance with milk. It was an awesome event, just so much fun. I had a blast.”
These days, Brian Gewirtz is working with Dwayne Johnson in his company, Seven Bucks Productions.
(If you use the above quote in any future articles, make sure to credit Fightful and link back to this article.)
- Speaking on WWE After The Bell, Rob Van Dam revealed that Stone Cold Steve Austin reached out to him to congratulate him on the Hall of Fame with a special text message.
[Regarding people who congratulated him]: “Friends from the past that I haven't heard from in a long time and everybody that I went to school with, they're telling me how proud they are of me. As far as Superstars, I didn't expect to get a message from Stone Cold Steve Austin. He said something like, ‘Congratulations, you deserve it you stiff son of a bitch.’ Pretty cool.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Rob Van Dam talks about wanting to see Sabu be inducted one day.
(If you use the above quote in any future articles, make sure to credit Fightful and link back to this article.)
- Speaking of the Hall of Fame, the WWE on USA YouTube channel has uploaded the full speeches of the New World Order, Kane, The Bella Twins, and others.
- Speaking with The Root, Sasha Banks says she wants to get into music one day.
“I really want to get into music...I love makeup and giving back to my community. I want to do something for young women and young men just giving them hope that they can achieve their dreams, because I believe there needs to be more mentors letting young people know, and honestly letting everybody know that you can do it if you push through,” she said. “I want to do a lot in this world, and wrestling is just a little legacy I want to leave on this planet.”
- Speaking with the Tampa Bay Times, Bianca Belair opened up about her battles with costochondritis, a condition in which the cartilage between the ribs and the sternum becomes inflamed. Luckily, Bianca says it hasn't been much of a hindrance in her wrestling career.
“Luckily I haven’t had too many huge issues with it so far, but it was a tough journey dealing with it and getting here,” she said.
- Speaking with Sporting News, Bronson Reed discussed switching his name from Jonah Rock after entering WWE.
"I knew I couldn’t keep the Rock in WWE, I had to get rid of that part of the name," he laughed. "I did want to keep Jonah, but after some deliberation, I got to spitball some names and I was actually the one that came up with Bronson Reed. That’s what I am today. I gave them a bunch of different names, and that’s the one that stood out to them. "I think Bronson is such a strong sort of name, it sort of fits me perfectly. For so many years I was Jonah, and that’s what I responded to. Now, I haven’t had anyone call me that in two years’ time and now I’m Bronson, and I completely forget that I once was Jonah."
- Bobby Lashley once again proclaimed that he is willing to face Brock Lesnar either in a WWE ring or in the octagon.
- For Rhea Ripley, NXT TakeOver is not just the name of an event.
Taking TF Over! #NXTTakeOver #WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/bFAsFQClV4
— RheaRipley_WWE (@RheaRipley_WWE) April 7, 2021
- A new preview has made its way to social media of Chris Jericho on The Broken Skull Sessions. In the preview, Chris name-drops Sammy Guevara.
.@IAmJericho reveals his #ListOfJericho of favorite opponents, #WrestleMania moments and more.
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) April 7, 2021
Catch @steveaustinBSR's interview with Jericho this Sunday on an all-new #BrokenSkullSessions! pic.twitter.com/JAN9vPtWCK
- Speaking of Sammy, check out his latest vlog.
- Regarding the interview between Chris Jericho and Steve Austin, Tony Khan tells DAZN News that he did not require seeing the final edit before allowing the interview to air and be promoted.
"I didn't demand a final cut. Going into it, that's one of those things I could have done. I could have said that's fine, and you guys can do this, and I want the final cut or something like that. I think this is one of the reasons why people like dealing with me. I’m not going to make things overly difficult if they don't need to be. I think Steve and Chris had a great interview, and I didn't want to turn it into a legal pissing match between the two companies where I’m demanding a final cut if they have Chris on their show. I trust Steve. I trust Chris. I don't know if I trust these guys (WWE), but I don't think they're going to just totally hack up Steve's show either. In this situation, I did trust everybody involved, and I didn't think it would be conducive. We're all so busy. We all have a lot going on.
“I didn't think it would be conducive to the nature of the project, especially when you know we're all friends and in terms of Chris and Steve being friends with people on both sides. Chris works for us. Steve works for them. Steve's a friend of mine and Chris is a friend of theirs. It was a unique situation, and that's why I think it got done. I didn't need to demand a final cut. I haven't seen it. I've heard about it from Chris. They might make some changes to it. I don't know. But I'm pretty comfortable with Chris and Steve sitting down and talking about just about anything.”
- Curt Stallion says he refuses to miss next year's WrestleMania.
Last year for 'Mania week, I was going to wrestle on WWE Axcess without a contract. A big deal for me to say the least, but COVID hit.
— Stallion (@CurtStallion) April 7, 2021
This 'Mania week I sit at home (contracted), recovering from surgery after breaking my wrist.
Next year in TEXAS, I'm not missing out again.
- Kazuchika Okada had the honor of being an Olympic torch-bearer today.
- Cedric Alexander has spoken!
No It’s Not https://t.co/IvXMD7ZApQ
— PRIME Alexander (@CedricAlexander) April 7, 2021
- Want more audio content this WrestleMania week? Fightful has you covered.
We have over FIVE HOURS of free Fightful Select audio up on all of our podcast feeds, as @FightTalk_ has dropped two free preview editions of The Weekender, previewing @GCWrestling_ Collective and @indiewrestling Showcase of the Independents!!https://t.co/COGGRSoW8M
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 6, 2021
- Today, WWE stock closed at $56.50 per share.
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