During a recent appearance on the “No-Contest Wrestling” podcast, GUNTHER praised Oba Femi, calling him a standout talent who has made big strides in a short while.
GUNTHER also teased a possible feud with Femi down the road.
You’ll be able to take a look at some highlights from the podcast below:
On Oba Femi’s rise: “I truthfully don’t really spend an excessive amount of time on looking what the opposite ones do. But I at all times control the large picture, and clearly Oba is a standout talent. I believe within the short time he’s in the corporate, he’s done huge steps. But I believe that’s also — we’ll see how he deals with that. That’s a giant burden, or a giant responsibility right from the get-go, and I need to see him reach that. Because I believe he’s a tremendous talent, and the long run could be very vivid for him. And I hope he maintains that, stays around so when it comes all the way down to us two, he’s going to be ready for it.”
On how he envisions a match between them: “I’m tall and I’m a heavyweight. Loads of people often put me when they give thought to matches with Oba. It’s not going to be something like how Oba and Brock is. I wouldn’t meet Oba on a physical level within the sense of like, I’m going to match him up. He’s stronger than I’m, he’s — I don’t know if he’s somewhat bit taller or not, and he’s younger than I’m. So, it makes absolutely no sense.
“I believe what would make that interesting is seeing me work perhaps even from underneath somewhat bit, wrestle from underneath against a stronger opponent. And I believe that’s a test that may be interesting for him: the best way to last in an extended match. The way to endure 20 minutes with someone much, way more experienced than him. And that’s why I would like him to again, experience himself first. Because once I meet him, I need to fulfill him on eye level.”
During a recent appearance on the “Mostly Sports” podcast, Kane revealed that his own fire never scared him as he stayed focused, yet other wrestlers’ pyros sometimes made him jump.
The WWE Hall of Famer pointed to Chris Jericho and Batista’s loud blasts and pyro misfires during his own WWE entrances.
You’ll be able to take a look at some highlights from the podcast below:
On the scariest WWE pyros: “My pyro never startled me. Probably because I used to be concentrating a lot on what I used to be doing. But like, when other people’s pyro would go off, you recognize, hopefully the camera wasn’t on me, since you’d see big tough Kane do the flinch and the jump somewhat bit.”
“The worst part was when it didn’t go off a pair times and it’s presupposed to. After which it’s very embarrassing. So, you’re presupposed to be this super cool dude and you may’t get your signature things to work like they’re presupposed to. So, that was somewhat embarrassing. Happened a pair times.”
“Probably Jericho’s. I forget, because that they had pyro, then they went away from it, then they brought it back. I can’t remember, but I just, you recognize, a pair times once I wasn’t ready for it and it got me….Batista’s was rather a lot. He would do the machine gun thing.”
On why Isaac Yankem was a worse character than The Undertaker: “A lot of its timing, you recognize. And the wrestling dentist thing, Dr. Isaac Yankem, DDS, you recognize, that was really in an era of WWE where all the things was super PG and it was it was really cartoonish, actually. Everybody has an occupation or some form of something or other. The thing in regards to the Undertaker is it was just super cool from the start.”
“I used to be joking, I said I couldn’t sink my teeth into it, but I just couldn’t get into that character. Whereas the Undertaker was made for Mark Calaway, you recognize? I mean, just he did it so well and it was really believable. Just like the dentist was never believable, for whatever reason, cuz it was form of over-the-top silly.”
“You concentrate on it, like, [Undertaker]’s presupposed to be a dead dude. It’s ridiculous. I mean, same with Kane. You’ve got this guy that’s form of supernatural and may summon fire and all this. A lot of it’s the execution; the way it’s presented.”
During a recent appearance on the “Studio 1 Sports Channel,” Indi Hartwell revealed that WWE and NXT were so tightly controlled that it made her natural creativity go away, whereas TNA gives her way more freedom and room to grow.
Hartwell added that she remains to be finding her footing in TNA and balancing that with YouTube and a busy indie schedule.
You’ll be able to take a look at some highlights from the podcast below:
On the storylines that got her into wrestling: “Well, I assume it’s form of like when you consider wrestling, I personally don’t consider the moves and the matches. When I’m going back to once I’m 8 years old, first discovering wrestling, I don’t know if the [Gene] Snitsky thing was the very first thing I ever saw, but it surely’s something that was identical to ingrained in my mind. Like seeing wrestling for the primary time on TV. I used to be like, ‘What is that this?’ Like, you may’t even like explain what that is. It’s like a soap opera, but they’re in a hoop, and so they’re fighting. It’s just weird. But Snitsky kicking the infant into the group is one of the memorable things for me. I don’t know if other people like put that up on their list as something being memorable, but yeah, I just keep in mind that. Also, just like the live sex celebration with Edge and Lita, identical to these crazy outlandish things that you recognize, like if it’s form of like if I’m in my bedroom watching wrestling and my parents walk in and see that, they’re going to be like, ‘What the hell are you watching?’ But yeah, just the larger-than-life stories.
“And truthfully, I believe that’s why the InDex stuff with me and Dexter [Lumis] like that, that stuff got really over, I assume, is the word, since it was realistic but additionally form of outlandish. So, yeah, I believe it’s really vital in wrestling to have those moments and people stories because those are the things that individuals remember probably the most.”
On the wrestlers she gravitated toward while growing up: “As for those who I gravitated to, I loved Trish Stratus as a child. I still love her. She’s like my favorite of all time. I believe a variety of girls loved her growing up watching her. So, she’s someone I gravitated to. Also, the larger-than-life characters like John Cena, he’s obviously a favourite. I loved Jeff Hardy growing up. Now, I’m colleagues with Jeff Hardy. So, it’s so sick.”
On what it’s like being co-workers with The Hardys: “I wasn’t even born yet once they [started wrestling in the 90s] — like I’m not even considered one in all the young people on the roster. Like, I’m not a Leon Slater. Like, I’m 29, but they’ve been wrestling longer than I’ve been alive, and so they’re still wrestling, and I’m on the roster with them. Prefer it’s crazy. It’s crazy to take into consideration these those who I watched on TV, and now I got to tag with Matt Hardy at a show last yr at TNA. Like, it’s really cool.”
On the creative freedom in TNA vs. WWE & NXT: “I’d obviously heard how much creative freedom you might have at TNA, but it surely’s something that I’m still attempting to get used to. Such as you mentioned, at WWE, things are very micromanaged, especially at NXT, because at NXT, you’re form of learning the ropes. So, every step is intentional. All the things is micromanaged. And it’s something that I’m not likely used to. I feel like that form of made my creativity go away. So, I’m still trying to search out it. It’s only been a yr. You understand, you could possibly take a look at a yr and think that’s an extended time, but in point of fact, I’ve been wrestling for 10 years. So, the past yr at TNA is barely 10% of my profession. So, there’s still more to come back, still more to learn, more to grow.”
On not updating her YouTube channel in two months: “I mean, just like the past like two months, I believe I haven’t uploaded a video because I’ve been specializing in other things, and yeah, I mean, it’s a real thing on this business, in any business, really, you lose motivation. So yeah, that’s something that I actually should like step it up. I’m attempting to determine what do people wish to see from me. People wish to see a complete bunch of things. You understand, I like doing gym videos, but I don’t think my audience really wants that. They only wish to see me living my on a regular basis life, you recognize? They wish to see me live my on a regular basis life. They wish to see me traveling to wrestling shows. They wish to see me backstage at a wrestling show. They wish to see my raw thoughts right after getting back from a wrestling match. Sometimes, having to love bring the camera out takes away from the moment.
“So, I assume it’s like a it’s a transition again, like in TNA. I’m just attempting to get used to it. I’m still trying to search out my groove with YouTube, but it surely’s been really fun. And I believed once I — before I got released from WWE, I actually did want to begin a YouTube channel. After which once I got released, I believed, well, that is the right opportunity. I purchased the camera, and it was a extremely good technique to connect with my supporters, form of directly. Not likely. It’s not like I’m live-streaming and attending to discuss with them live, but I’m posting these personal videos in my house, and so they’re commenting. I comment back to everyone because yeah, I just I need I need them to see an actual side of me because whenever you’re wrestling on TV or on a wrestling TV show, it’s possible you’ll get 5 minutes or 10 minutes. So, people don’t really get to see you. They get to see the character that whatever must be done for that show, that’s what they see. They don’t get to see your real personality. So, that was my predominant goal with it. I just got to maintain at it.”
On how Steph De Lander helped her following her WWE release: “I believe the one that helped me probably the most throughout this has been Steph De Lander. She’s my best friend. We were best friends in Australia. We were on the indies together. We were at NXT together. She got released in 2022. And he or she form of needed to navigate that each one by herself. She had the assistance of Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green, who’ve also been a extremely great help for me. But just attempting to determine how the indies are lately because you recognize I’m doing TNA, but I’m also doing the indies because I’m indie wrestling. So determining how that each one worked now cuz it’s different to you recognize, the last time I used to be on the indies was in 2019, so it’s been quite some time co has happened since then, so the landscape has modified.
“There’s one other major wrestling company on the market now. So there’s just more opportunity. Steph has really helped me rather a lot, and Steph told me that, you recognize, whenever you’re not working for WWE, and also you’re on the indies, you’re working 24/7. And it’s so true. It’s not such as you’re just traveling to a show on the weekend and wrestling and coming home. It’s like daily, I actually just got micro brawlers. There’s one within the background in case you can see. … I got Micro Brawlers. So, the past few days, I’m just sitting here on this office packing and shipping them out. I’m making graphics for things to advertise. It’s prefer it’s a continuing thing, really. So, it’s a grind, and it teaches you rather a lot.”