Matt Taven joins Spencer Love to discuss being discovered by Ring of Honor, his time in Alberta, the ‘prove it’ mentality of the ROH locker room, Sexual Taven, the intricacies of a hair-versus-hair match, being a part of so many ROH firsts, and more!
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HIGHLIGHTS
Defending the ROH Title outside of Ring of Honor:
“I think of it as how – because I’ve been a fan my entire life, so I always look at the guys who traveled the world and did all these things. When you hear those cool NWA stories about, like, Flair coming here and there and defending the title. To me, that’s what the World Championship is all about. I had some great experiences going to England with it. But like being the first-ever Ring of Honor World Champion to go to Arena Mexico was crazy. Being able to go up to Canada, and like, I had such an incredible experience winning the World Title in Madison Square Garden. For me, I mean, could there be a bigger moment for a wrestling fan? I can literally remember as a kid, you know, destroying all my parent’s furniture and being like ‘in Madison Square Garden, I’m the Champion!’ For it to actually come to fruition one day is just a dream come true. And so, that energy that kind of that gave me, I wanted to keep it going. To go and travel – and I started cutting a crazy schedule. It ended up biting me literally in the foot in the end, because I had to have surgery. But I wanted that because I felt like that’s what wrestling was all about. After achieving that dream. I was like ‘I know how to keep this feeling going, and it’s by going out there and showing everyone why I’m the Ring of Honor World Champion.”
The prove-it mentality of the ROH locker room:
“That’s always – and that’s what made Ring of Honor and still makes Ring of Honor so good, is that we look around the locker room, and I go, ‘damn, he’s really good. I got to step my game up.’ You know what I mean? It was that way when I first got in there, and I probably wasn’t ready for that. But, you know, you’ve got the Kevin Steens and the Roderick Strongs, and the Briscoes that are still there, and Jay Lethal, and Adam Cole, and it’s like, ‘oh, man, I gotta – these are thick, these are rough waters to swim in, and I’ve got to stay afloat.’ I think that that has always been a feeling: a competitive, a good competitiveness in the Ring of Honor locker room has always been there. I think if there’s anything that’s different now, it’s more of a team competitive. It’s ‘alright. Maybe if people doubt us, let’s show them if they tune in that they’re looking very foolish for ever doubting us.’ And we’re very supportive of one another now, but at the same time, man, I was watching the episode last night and it’s like, you got Shane Taylor and Dragon Lee and Gresham and Lethal and Kenny and Rush and you’re like, you start doing push-ups. You’re like, ‘I gotta do something to keep up with everyone!’ That’s a competitive spirit that I think has always been in Ring of Honor, and I think it’s always been the reason why Ring of Honor has been such an innovative force in the wrestling world.”
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Musician Ian Abel of the Ian Abel Band joins me to discuss his work with All Elite Wrestling, creating music for Cody vs Dustin, what makes this lineup of the Ian Abel Band unique, the process of moving the band to Nashville mid-pandemic, and more!
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AUDIO
HIGHLIGHTS
A background on the band:
“What are we? A band of misfits, really! Who are we? We’re still trying to figure that out. No – so, currently moving to Nashville, because of everything is going on. The band’s kind of spread out right now. But we’ll be based out of Nashville starting out. And it kind of makes sense. I mean, we’re more of that, like, I call it modern-day outlaw country, which outlaw country think like Waylon [Jennings] and people. If someone hears us, they’ll be like, ‘I don’t know about that,’ but we’re just a bunch of musicians just trying to write about what I guess we go through.”
“I try to keep it all pretty personal. I never sit down and think ‘this is exactly how things are going to be.’ You know, I would have never imagined that I would have a song used in such an awesome way. Two songs used, but especially with ‘Shoes’ for the brother-versus-brother match. I don’t know if that answered your question, but as far as who we are, I’m still trying to figure that out, I think.”
Who he would like to write entrance music for:
“Three. Okay. Anna Jay because she’s awesome! Yeah, different. Anna Jay. I think she’s incredible. She’s also super gorgeous, and she’s – I follow her on Twitter, she seems awesome, and I think she’s going to be huge. I think she’s gonna be a household name sooner than later. Also, let’s see Orange Cassidy. I’m a huge Cassidy guy. Big time Orange Cassidy fan. I think I could write a sick one for him. And another one. Let’s go – screw it! Let’s go MJF! I can write some real real obnoxious I think.”
SL: “I was gonna say, you know, to go back to that outlaw comparison. He’s an outlaw in a very interesting way I suppose in a lot of ways, right?”
IA: “I guess Hangman would be the smartest one. Besides Anna Jay, Hangman, probably the smartest as far as music that we write. Hangman for sure.”
FOLLOW The Ian Abel Band
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Laynie Luck joins Spencer Love for the first time ever for a brief run-down of her career to this point, including being part of The Collective, Rey Mysterio, how her upbringing affected her wrestling career, the Zelo Pro Women’s Championship, wrestling against Shotzi Blackheart and Kylie Rae for IMPACT, and more.
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Former DEFY World Champion Artemis Spencer joins Spencer Love to discuss the Lions Gate Dojo, being underrated, Kyle O’Reilly stories, what makes a great trainer, the wrestling scene in the Pacific Northwest, and more.
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AUDIO
HIGHLIGHTS
The Lions’ Gate Dojo
“I’ve been teaching for ECCW for, like, 13 years, 14 years before they – I feel like they kind of shut down. Years ago, probably five, six years ago, I was joking that it’d be funny to start Lions Gate Pro Wrestling because I think it’s a cool sounding name. It’s about the Greater Vancouver area just being Lions Gate. We jokingly started calling our school the Lions Gate dojo for a little bit, and then [when] we finally made the move to just start our own school, we decided just to go with the Lions Gate dojo name. We already had like a logo and name, because we all have T shirts and stuff like that. It was kind of a clean transition, because we just kind of [went] like, ‘yeah, it’s our school now!’”
Gorgeous Michelle Starr
“In the beginning, I felt like I was there just to keep the lights on. I think the only reason I was accepted in the school was because I got the sense that they were hard up for money, and they needed a few other students. But I didn’t get the attention that I saw other students – well, they were adults that already looked like wrestlers. When I came in there just the skinny teenager, I can understand them not giving that much attention to me. Or, even when I started having matches, nobody ever gave me feedback on my matches, because nobody watched it. My relationship with Michelle Starr’s really good now. He’s probably taught me more than anybody around here in the Pacific Northwest. And, he’s still active in the wrestling scene, just giving back as he always had.”
Winning the DEFY Championship
“I’m kind of a down to earth kind of guy. I’ve won lots of championships, like in ECCW or around Vancouver. I’ve won lots of belts over the year and I’m just like, I’ve never been like, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s just kind of a prop. It’s fun, whatever.’ But, when I had that DEFY Championship, I really felt like it meant something. When I got that, a bunch of doors opened up for me and that’s when I started to believe the belts can kind of mean something. I’ve never been a belt guy, and never been all about the championship, but I can’t deny that that DEFY Championship got a lot of eyes on me from a lot of people. I’d say that DEFY World Championship means a lot to me.”
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Canadian wrestling legend LuFisto joins Spencer Love to chat CZW, The Summit in Toronto, going up against the Ontario Athletic Commission, her legacy, and, of course, RuPaul’s Drag Race!
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Canadian wrestling icon Duke Durrango joins Spencer Love to discuss the Duke You Suck podcast, getting sucker-punched in the Hart Dungeon, TJ Wilson, wrestling a five-minute main event, the difficulties of booking, and more!
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Canadian wrestling icon Tyson Dux joins Spencer Love to chat about his brand, Hammerlock Apparel, All Elite Wrestling, what makes Shawn Spears his favourite opponent, Bloodsport, a great story about Tajiri, Speedball Mike Bailey, and more!
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Kaci Lennox joins Spencer Love for the first time to chat about training with DVon Dudley, AEW Dark, this year’s Royal Rumble, her time with MLW, Billie Kay and more!
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HIGHLIGHTS
Kaci Lennox – Highlights & Links
Where she’s grown as a pro wrestler
SL: “You mentioned growing as a person, but as far as professional wrestling goes, number one, I just don’t think people realize how long you’ve actually been wrestling for. It’s about 10 years, right? Since that point where you would have first stepped in the ring. You know, obviously the experience of getting in the ring and getting your reps in would just improve you overall. But as a pro wrestler, where do you maybe find you’ve changed the most or grown the most in your time as a pro wrestler itself?”
KL: “So I will definitely say, I feel like I have been in wrestling for 10 years. But like, when I think about that five year hiatus that I took, I’m like, ‘have I really been in wrestling for 10 years?'”
SL: “Is it cumulative, or do you just go by the days?”
KL: “How many injuries did I have to take off, blah blah blah. But, I definitely feel like I’ve grown in the aspect of being more confident in myself. Back then, and even when I started in 2016, I was so unsure, and I wanted to do everything by the book, and everything had to be called out and like, if one thing got messed up in a match, then I would totally freak out and go all deer in headlights. So that is definitely where I feel like I have progressed the most. Just being confident and confident in the ring. Knowing that I know what to do if one thing gets messed up, or if somebody slips, or anything crazy like that. Just knowing that I am capable of working around it. I feel like that’s where.”
Kaci Lennox – Highlights & Links
Her opportunity on AEW Dark (16:23)
SL: “I think Myron Reed’s a perfect example of that in that before I started watching MLW, I had frankly just never heard of him. Then, you start watching every week and, well, he’s a match I look forward to every single time he’s on a card. It’s a nice parallel as well, because AEW Dark, I think, is starting to do a lot of that same thing. Maybe it’s not the same comparison in that nobody’s had TV experience at that point: you had, [and] a lot of other individuals who have wrestled on Dark have to this point. But tell me maybe how that experience came about? Was it through D-Von? Because you see his kids there now, and maybe there’s that natural connection, right? But how did your experience on AEW Dark happened for Kaci Lennox?”
KL: “So I actually was messaged by somebody who works in the company, and essentially, they were just like, ‘hey, do you want to come in and do some work for us?’ Of course, I’m not gonna turn it down.”
SL: “’No, sorry, I’ve got something to do that day.'”
KL: “I know, I’m busy. I actually was! I did have an appointment. Because now what they’re doing is I believe they’re still taping two days a week. If they’re not, they were just doing it for the holidays so people could spend time with family, which is nice. I actually could not make the Wednesday taping, which was the live Dynamite. So I could only make it that Thursday. So I actually was busy!”
SL: “You big-leagued them!”
KL: “I know! But, I was messaged by somebody who worked there and he was like, ‘do you want to come in?’ And, of course, I said, yeah. We had to just fill out all the information and get a COVID test. And then, they COVID test you when you get there. I didn’t know anything that I was doing. QT had the match card, I was facing Ivelisse, and that is what you guys got! We actually were the last match of the night. We went on at like three o’clock in the morning. It was cold! That was the that was one of the weeks that it was like freezing. It was like 30 degrees.”
SL: “Have fun!”
KL: “But it was totally fine. And I’m glad that I got to wrestle with Ivelisse, because she is one of my former trainers. She knows what I’m capable of. She knows that even if I’m like, ‘I can’t do it,’ she literally knows that I can. She believes in me more than I believe in my own self, and a lot of that stuff that I did in the match was actually the first time that I had ever done it in a match. Like I’ve done it at training. Crazy, right? Who does Who does that? Kaci does that! I mean, I’ve done it in training and stuff like that, but I had never actually done some of those moves in matches. So yeah, I’m thankful that I had somebody like Ivelisse to kind of lead the way and have that faith in me. So yeah, hopefully I go back. Fingers crossed! Double fingers crossed!”
SL: “Absolutely! Well, I will do whatever I can in my own small non-ability-to politick-ways to make it happen. But was gonna say it must have made it that much easier for you to have the opportunity to get in there with someone you had wrestled before [to] sort of take that little bit of pressure off, hey? Good good good!”
Follow Kaci
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Ring of Honor star Mike Bennett joins Spencer Love to discuss his return to ROH, the promotion’s response to the pandemic, Matt Taven, maintaining a positive mindset, the ROH bubble, Brodie Lee, and more.
VIDEO
AUDIO
QUOTES
On proving himself as a pro wrestler:
MB: “To me, that’s the most exciting part right now is I have a chip on my shoulder. I do. And people can take that any way they want, but that’s what motivates me, that’s what fuels me, and that’s what drives me. I’m determined to show people that the last three years isn’t what determines what people remember. That’s not my legacy. It also sucks, too, because some of my favorite matches I’ve ever had were on 205 and nobody saw them. And nobody watched them. Like I had – my match with I had a No DQ match with Tozawa that I absolutely love and I adore. I have – one of my favorite matches ever was against Rockstar Spud, or Drake Maverick, sorry. Some of those matches were my favorite, but it’s like nobody saw them. So now, I’m actually in a company where they’re putting me at the forefront. They’re allowing me to be myself, they’re giving me this opportunity, and I’m determined to show people that I want to be considered one of the best wrestlers. When people say, ‘oh, who’s the best wrestler that you [can] think,’ like if there’s a list, I want to be on that list. Some people can call it [and] say, ‘oh, that’s crazy. You’ll never be there,’ and that’s fine. But like, I didn’t get to where I am now by not believing in crazy things. You know, if I was like, ‘oh,’ you know, when I was 15 and I told my mom I was going to be a pro wrestler, everyone told me that was crazy then, and if I listened to them, I would probably be doing something I didn’t like right now. So yeah, I just, I set huge expectations for myself and I put the pressure on myself to achieve them. I’m happy that Ring of Honor has given me that platform to try to achieve it.”
Public speaking endeavours
MB: “Yeah, I just – you know, it’s funny. I had a talk recently with my wife when we were driving home. We were just kind of talking about my career and stuff, and we started talking [and] she’s like, ‘you genuinely like to help people.’ And I was like, ‘I do.’ Again, it makes me feel good. I enjoy it! It’s the most selfish, unselfish thing I do. Because I genuinely enjoy helping people. That’s why when you asked me ‘how did you feel about Tavan winning?’ Like, I was responsible in helping train Taven and, you know, we would travel to shows, and he would pick my brain and all this stuff. So to see that someone I helped achieve success, that makes me happy. My wife is the same way. We need more of that. We need more of that in life. There’s just, there’s so much animosity, and so much negativity, and for what? We’re all out to do the same thing. We’re all just trying to be good people, provide for our families, and survive. At the end of the day, that’s all we are. To me, I look at it and I’m like, we’re all just imperfect people trying to survive at the end of the day. Once you break it down like that, it’s like, I enjoy it. If you need help, I’ll help you. I enjoy talking to people. I enjoy – to me when someone comes up to me and says like, when you say to me ‘you’ve helped me with your story,’ and this and that, that means more to me than any world title I’ll ever win. I had a guy come up to me in Arizona one time at the Royal Rumble, and he was like this big jacked-up, dude, all tatted up, and I was like, ‘okay, what’s this guy gonna say to me?’ He came up and he was super nice and super soft-spoken. But then, he started – he broke down in front of me and started crying. He was just like ‘I just need to tell you this, because I didn’t think I’d see you here.’ He’s like, ‘but your story helped get me through my divorce. My divorce was my toughest time in my entire life.’ And he’s like ‘and you [and] your story helped me get through it.’ And I just – to this day, that was like two and a half years ago, but it moves me. I get goosebumps thinking about it to know that I can have that kind of effect. Knowing that I have a platform that reaches people. To me not using it in a positive way seems irresponsible.”
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