Amir Jordan joins JPJ in Love Wrestling’s latest exclusive interview! Just prior to his return to Canada for the first time in seven years, the former NXT UK Superstar hopped on to chat about his upcoming return to the Great White North, his experience wrestling on the UK indies, his decision to become a pro wrestler, training under Lance Storm, and more!
Twitter: @iamamirjordan
Instagram: @iamamirjordan
Kevin Owens joins Spencer Love to chat about the upcoming WWE Canadian tour, similarities with Owen Hart, meeting Bruce Boudreau at the NHL Draft and their relationship since, claiming the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championships, wrestling Stone Cold at WrestleMania, and more!
KO: “Well, I gotta be honest, not being on the actual show was a real bummer. There’s no way around that. I really wish I could have been there. But, to be a little part of it at the end was great, and to see Sami get his really big moment that he deserved, and to see everybody reacting to him the way they did after all these years. Not that he was ever – obviously, anytime he’d show up in Montreal, you get a great reaction. But, to be in that spot, in that moment? For him, that was really big, so it’s great to see that. But, not being on the show, it definitely hurt a little. Honestly, it’s not even just because it’s Montreal, I feel the same way everywhere. Anytime we go to Canada, and I’m not on one of the shows. I’m like, ‘why am I not on this show?’ It’s everywhere. Canada’s funny this way, where, we tried to explain this to people in WWE, and other wrestlers, and even people in management, but I don’t think they quite grasp that Canada is just one big city in a way for their homeland guys. Whether we go to Winnipeg, or Toronto, or Quebec, or Vancouver – anywhere across Canada, really, we’re welcomed as being a hometown guy. That’s really special. Anytime there’s a show in Canada, and I’m not on it, that hurts a little.”
“You know, it sounds – I hate doing this, because it sounds like I’m trying to get out of it easily. But, there’s really no words to describe either experiences. The best way I can describe it is I look back on both of these these both these nights, and I I kind of can’t believe they happened. That I found myself in that situation, in that spot, getting to do that. The circumstances [of] both years were just so incredible. But, I guess if one takes the absolute cake, and it just edges out the other one by very little, I think it’s still more unbelievable to me that I wrestled Stone Cold Steve Austin, 19 years after his last match, in the main event of WrestleMania. Like that’s just – it’s just kind of a pinch yourself to make sure it’s real kind of moment. I’ve done that a lot over the last year and a half or so since that happened. But both those moments are things I’ll look back on when I’m done and think I was very, very lucky to get to experience those things.”
The NWA United States Tag Team Champions are here: it’s the Country Gentlemen! Just prior to the 2023 Crockett Cup, AJ Cazana and Anthony Andrews join Spencer Love to chat about their recent tag title win, the live editions of NWA Powerrr, goals for the Crockett Cup, the Briscoe Brothers, and more! Like, share, subscribe, and tune in to Spencer Love Interviews on Love Wrestling!
Twitter: @AJCazana
Instagram: @ajcaz1
Twitter: @ThoroughbredAA
Chicago’s Sweetheart. Miss Reality. The NWA World’s Women’s Tag Team Champions are here!
Today, both Madi Wrenkowski and Missa Kate join us to chat just prior to their first-ever defense of the NWA Women’s Tag Team Championships! Tune in as the dynamic duo discusses how their team came to be, defending them in Missa Kate’s home state, the origins of Madi’s Side Character Spotlight, and the growth of the women’s division in the National Wrestling Alliance.
Like, share, subscribe, and tune in to each and every exclusive interview here on Love Wrestling!
Madi: “I mean, for me, personally, I do remember coming into the NWA locker room and there wasn’t that many women. To see how it’s grown, not only in diversity but just in age as well. They are starting to bring in some younger talent. I’m not like an old talent, but I feel like it’s helpful to have had like The Hex [Marti Belle and Allison Kay] and Taya [Valkyrie] and Taryn [Terrell], even. Just these women who have been in the business [who were] able to like speak to us and help us.”
“I think the women’s division is growing, and I, personally, can go on record in saying that I think we’re going If it’s the women’s division is more entertaining than the men’s division, I mean, that’s what I get to see! I think we have made leaps and bounds, and I think it’s because the women realized maybe that it was time for the change, and they started doing it.”
Missa Kate: “They were trying to redefine it, they were trying to – again, every locker room needs to have a flow. [It] has to have some kind of mesh. I think they were trying to figure out the locker room and which women we could have here that are going to take the NWA women’s division to a new height. So, just like Madi was saying, now they’re finding a good balance of having newer girls come in, having vets lead us, and we got Madi and me smack in the middle that are just like, we’re trying to figure shit out! But I think we’re doing alright for ourselves.”
“Then, having females that have been in the business as agents for a while: we have Jazz [and] we have Medusa constantly being there for us if we have questions and stuff like that. So we have as much as you see in front of the camera behind the camera as well. We have women just killing it all over the place right now.”
Twitter: @Madi_Wrenkowski
Instagram: @Madi_Wrenkowski
Facebook: Madi Wrenkowki
Twitter: @MissaKate11
Instagram: @missakate11
It’s the NWA World’s Television Champion: Thomas Latimer is here! Today, the current NWA star joins us to chat about his impending matchup with Bully Ray at NWA 312 in Illinois on Friday, April 7th. He also chats about his love of Jeff Hardy, implementing their real-life issues into storylines, the Lucha Libre World Cup, and more! Like, share, subscribe, and tune in to each and every exclusive interview here on Love Wrestling!
Twitter: @Thomas_Latimer_
Instagram: @thomas_latimer_
The Darewolf. Former member of The Nexus and The Corre. Three-time Tag Team Champion. PJ Black is here! On the eve of ArcadeMania, PJ Black (fka Justin Gabriel) joins Spencer Love to chat about his upcoming WrestleMania week appearances, teaming with Tyson Kidd, his return to IMPACT Wrestling, his free agency, a potential NXT offer, and more! Like, share, subscribe, and tune in to our latest interview on Love Wrestling!
You won’t find many wrestling fans, if any, who haven’t heard of the renowned Hart Dungeon. Founded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1955, the Dungeon became known as one of the most brutal, but one of the best, training schools in professional wrestling history. Led by the legendary Stu Hart, the Dungeon produced some of the biggest names in professional wrestling history, including the Hart family, the Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, Tyson Kidd, and more.
Unfortunately, the Dungeon closed in 2003, shortly after the death of the Hart family patriarch. Since then, there has been no true predecessor to Stu’s fabled Dungeon: at least, nothing until recently, with TJ Wilson and Natalya opening their own version of the Dungeon in Florida.
Recently speaking with Natalya, I asked her about her love of training and, of course, the New Hart Dungeon itself.
“It’s awesome. We love our dungeon!” espoused the Queen of Harts. “Of course, a lot of people ask about how they can come and train with us.
It’s not a school, because we don’t have time for school. TJ and I are on the road so much: literally, like six days a week, we’re working. But, we train on a certain day of the week, and it’s sort of invite only. There’s people that I’ve run into during my career that will say, ‘Hey, would it be okay if I came down and checked it out?’ I’m totally fine with that. But, it’s just so hard because there’s so many people, it’s hard to get everybody in the ring.
“My practices are really intense. The training is really…it’s grueling. It’s like the way the Dungeon was back in the day. The Dungeon actually was started in 1955, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the Hart House. It’s a tradition, it’s our family tradition, and it’s so nice to be able to carry on that tradition.
It is really a place for people that love wrestling. It’s like a wrestling workshop. There’s a lot of secrets that are shared about the industry as far as how to construct a match, and how to be great, and how to excellently execute things. It’s like a wrestling workshop. It’s really cool for the people that come in there and train with us.”
One individual Hart was quick to point out was Street Profits star Angelo Dawkins. Since the return of live crowd, Dawkins has been noted as one of the most-improved wrestlers on the WWE roster. That’s no accident, says Natalya, but his efforts both on and off of shows.
“You look at somebody like Angelo Dawkins. He’s been training with us since the very beginning, and you see the growth and the improvement that he’s made. He’s lost all this weight and his performances are incredible. His conditioning is awesome. It’s just like a testament to him.
He’ll be on Raw, he’ll be on SmackDown, he’ll be doing live events, [and] he’ll be on a pay-per-view. But, he shows up. He comes in, he trains with us and he puts in the work even though he has a family, too. It’s just so commendable.”
Tune in to our full interview with Natalya below. For those who choose to use the above transcriptions, please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling.
The career of Sami Zayn has seen lots of changes in recent months, but one thing that has remained with him is his finishing move. The Helluva Kick, a running Yakuza Kick with his opponent prone in the turnbuckle, earned its name through a happenstance of mispronunciation, WCW magazine, Denny’s and one of AEW’s lead commentators.
Ahead of his main event match with Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber last month, Sami shared how his version of the Yakuza Kick earned its name, for the first time ever, with Love Wrestling.
“If you want the actual history here, I don’t know if I’ve ever actually told it in an interview.” Sami begins. “When I was a kid, I had a WCW magazine, and I was reading some match results. It said Chris Jericho defeated Syxx – or maybe it was the other way around – with a hell of a kick.
It was written “helluva” like that, and I thought it was a Helluva kick, so I thought it was a type of kick.”
It wasn’t until he shared this anecdote with a peer that Sami’s Yakuza Kick would earn the variant name. “So I told this story to Excalibur, who now does commentary on AEW every Wednesday. I told this story to him at dinner one time at Denny’s after a PWG show, then we started calling the running Yakuza kick in the corner that I would do at the time, we started calling it a Helluva kick. So that’s actually the real history of that name.”
Sami also shared his thoughts on returning to Montréal, Laura Jane Grace of Against Me, and Sami For Syria. Tune in to the full video interview below, and please give a h/t to Zak Ralph for the transcription.
Check more of Love Wrestling’s interviews from the Elimination Chamber junket, including conversations with Natalya, on YouTube
Mat Rats, the fledgling promotion run by Teddy Hart, is one of the great ‘what-if’ stories in professional wrestling. In spite of its short run, Mat Rats consisted of some of the most talented young wrestlers in the country, including TJ Wilson, Harry Smith, Jack Evans, and more. Not only was the promotion set to be produced by former WCW booker Eric Bischoff, but was set to run on MTV. Though the promotion never got off the ground, its impact on the Canadian, and worldwide, wrestling scene is immense.
One individual who got their start in Mat Rats was none other than Natalya Neidhart. Beginning with the promotion as a ring announcer, Natalya was surrounded from the start of her career by a veritable who’s-who of the Canadian wrestling scene.
“Mat Rats was so crazy because it was something that was just thrown at us,” Natalya stated. “It was like ‘Eric Bischoff’s producing the show with Jason Hervey and they want to make this for MTV. It’s gonna be like wrestling and rock concert joined together.’ That’s actually where my cousin – I worked with TJ [Wilson], Harry [Smith], and my cousin Ted [Hart] and Jack Evans. Rene Dupree was in it. Mauro Ranallo was in it. I’m just trying to think who else was in it. We had a whole bunch of different people in it.
“
Natalya continued, stating that not only was that where she learned the inner workings of professional wrestling but her first move, too.
“They were like ‘Natty should do a move,'” she began. “The very first wrestling move that I ever learned was a dragonrana, which is like a front flip onto somebody’s shoulders into a hurricanrana. I never even knew how to do a headlock! That was the first move I learned. It was so much fun doing Mat Rats.”
In spite of the presence of future industry legends, Mat Rats unfortunately never earned its place on MTV, and now is simply looked back on fondly by all involved.
“Of course, it never really got off the ground,” Natalya lamented. “But, it was just a really cool chance for us as kids. My husband and I were on that together.
It was a good chance for us as kids to see what it was like to work for a big set. It wasn’t just like a small independent show. There was cameras and there was TV angles, and there was monitors, and people backstage, and producers, and directors, and it was just like it was cool. I felt like I was on a movie.”
Tune in to the full video interview below, and please give a h/t to Spencer Love for the transcription.
Women of Wrestling star. Trained under Thunder Rosa and Jazz. Some know her as Jennifer Florez. Jasmin Allure is here! You’d be hard-pressed to find a major promotion that Jazmin Allure HASN’T worked for at this point! Signed to Women of Wrestling and with appearances for WWE, AEW, and the NWA under her belt, Allure’s quickly become not just a rising star on the independent scene, but a star, period! Tune in as she chats with Spencer Love about her meteoric rise in pro wrestling, signing with W.O.W, taking on the likes of Lacey Evans, Thunder Rosa, Kamille, and more, advice from AJ Lee, the character-based nature of WOW, and more!
“So with Jazz and Thunder [Rosa], they trained me. They physically trained me. AJ is more
like my mother. My godmother, I call her. She’s my godmother, because she made my dream
come true! She gave me the first contract. She brought me to W.O.W. But she’s like a
mother to me. She tells me when she sees me training, she’s like, where are your elbow
pads? Wear your elbow pads, you don’t want to have that elbows like me!
The first training
she saw me, my elbow started bleeding from the mat, like the mat burn. She’s like, ‘What did
I tell you? Wear your elbow [pads]! She’s just like a mother, and she gives great advice.
When we’re at W.O.W., she watches my matches and afterwards, she’ll give me critiques
and stuff like that.”
“When I heard they were coming back, and I heard AJ was a part of it, I was like, ‘wow, this
is gonna be really good.’ I, at first, was kind of like, oh my god, they’re very character [based]
and like, gimmicky and all that stuff, and I’m kind of not. I’, more of a wrestler-wrestler.
But,
when AJ contacted me, she was like, ‘I think you’d be great for this.’ I was like, ‘I can’t say no
to her!’ And, also, Women of Wrestling, I would watch that as well.
These woman kicking
ass, they’re so inspiring as well. And the locker room! Once I got there, everyone was so
nice. There’s no drama. It’s 40, I think 40 girls, plus. For that to be as great as it is, it’s
insane. It’s pretty awesome. We’re all so supportive, and it’s really great. The fact that AJ
brought me in, and getting to meet like David McLane, who owns it, it’s a pretty great
opportunity.”