Huge Name Backstage At AEW Dynamite, Top TNA Name Refused To Change In The AEW Locker Room, MVP’s Advice To Will Ospreay
Bryan Danielson, who is retired from full-time in-ring competition, is reportedly backstage at tonight’s AEW Dynamite TV tapings in Phoenix, Arizona.
Pwinsider Elite is reporting that while it is uncertain if he will appear on the show, it’s not the first time Danielson has been backstage, though he has kept a low profile during previous visits.
AEW recently announced that Double or Nothing will take place in Glendale, Arizona, on May 25, marking the first time the event will be held outside Las Vegas, except during the pandemic years. Danielson lives in Arizona with his wife, Brie Garcia, and their children.
During a recent appearance on “The Huge Pop Podcast,” AEW star and The Hurt Syndicate member MVP commented on giving advice to Will Osreay.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Will Ospreay: “Me and Will talk. I told him, ‘That bump card is a real thing. I understand your exuberance and desire to go out there and do all these amazing things all the time, but you can’t. It’s not sustainable. It’s not physically sustainable. Go out there and give them a great show, but hold back a little bit and save some of that stuff for the pay-per-view. Save some of that stuff for the important moments.’”
On Ospreay’s attitude: “Will has such a great attitude. Despite his incredible talent, he really is a humble kid. I met him on the indies back when I was doing a UK tour years ago when he was just a skinny little kid. ‘This kid could actually be something.’ Throughout the years, we stayed in touch and I’m proud of his success.”
On his attitude toward veterans as a younger wrestler: “Everybody has to come into it at their own time. I remember being a younger wrestler and having to work with older veterans and being like, ‘This guy is going to be lazy. Ah man.’ At this point in my career, I get it now. The other part is, you have to know your audience. You have to give your audience the match they want to see. If people show up to your restaurant for Italian food, and you’re serving Chinese, ‘Well, this isn’t what I came here for.’”
On his thoughts on knowing your audience: “You have to know your audience and be able to perform for your audience. You can get into your tribalism with that about what’s right and wrong, but I came on the end of one generation and did the crossover into the new generation. I would see a lot of the old timers, ‘Look at this idiot flying over the top rope. Anything to get over. You don’t need that and all this ECW junk. What are you doing all those flips for?’ As I recall, Karl Gotch or Lou Thesz called Harley Race a spot monkey. I’ve heard that.”
On how every generation thinks the other one is doing it wrong: “It’s all generational. Every generation is, ‘You’re doing it wrong.’ If people are showing up to buy your content, then you’re doing something right. Even though I have my own criticism of certain styles of working and how people do it, I’m from that generation of, ‘Hey, slow down, make it count.’ There are some people who want to see flip, flop, and fly. ‘Don’t stop, don’t take a break, don’t sell, don’t grab a hold. Keep going. That’s what I want to see.’ I’ve always felt that professional wrestling is a buffet and there is a little bit of everything for everybody.”
During a recent virtual signing with K&S WrestleFest, Frankie Kazarian commented on his AEW exit, AEW lacking management and leadership before he left, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the virtual signing below:
On when his wife told him he had to leave: “Funny thing about my wife, she obviously knows the business very well. She went to one [AEW] show, physically went there with me. She was in there for maybe a half hour and she pulled me aside and she said, ‘You have got to get out of here.’”
On this happing a year-and-a-half before his exit: “This was a year and a half before I left. She saw, half an hour, and she said, you have to get out of here. She knew my frustrations at the time, and she just got that vibe too. I’m not burying the company, to all the AEW fans. It’s a fine place if that’s what you enjoy, but it just wasn’t for me.”
On AEW lacking any management or leadership: “It all comes down to management, leadership. I felt that there really wasn’t any, especially if you were not one of the featured acts. I get [it]. TK is a very, very nice guy, and I do like Tony, but his attention is on those that are on the program, and towards the end, I wasn’t one of them, and that was fine.”
On why he no longer wanted to be in the regular locker room in AEW: “The AEW locker room when I was in there, for the last two years I was there, I changed with the coaches because I didn’t want to be in the locker room for a variety of reasons and I had friends, Arn Anderson and Jerry Lynn and Billy Gunn, those are my buddies, I kind of had more in common [with them]. So TNA, I actually enjoy being in the locker room because my friends are there and everyone is focused on the same goal. It’s legit the funnest locker room I’ve ever been in.”
