Few broadcasters in professional wrestling today can measure up to Alicia Atout. The AMBY founder and current MLW broadcaster is one of the most well-known backstage personalities in the industry today, with both her backstage and shoot interviews widely praised throughout the pro wrestling scene.

Recently, Atout joined me to discuss her recent time in Mexico as part of Major League Wrestling’s latest set of tapings. She also discussed her dream match featuring MLW-only stars.

MLW’s recent tapings in Tijuana:

“Yeah, it was my first time ever working a show down there! It was crazy. It was amazing because that’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always wanted to go somewhere else for wrestling. I’ve been in the States a ton, and the reason I was in both the Netherlands and Finland was because of music, so I’ve never really traveled internationally because of wrestling.

So, when this opportunity came about and we brought like a really small crew as far as film and even talent in the locker room, and they wanted me to be down there, I was like ‘oh my gosh! Yes! Of course!’”

“It was surreal. Just like crossing over the border, you finally get to the Arena, and it’s massive because it was an MLW and (AAA) collab, so that in itself – like, you see the iconic tunnel you hear about in that place that’s been around for years, and you just see all these things in person. There’s 5,000 people, sold-out, and it’s crazy. You could just, like, feel the energy.

”

“I didn’t do in-ring promos, but I did tons of stuff backstage. I think we filmed like – we did tons in San Diego the day before, I think I had like eighteen promos in a day, but the next time I think we shot four or five. It was cool because those ones involved Konnan, who owns AAA and is also with MLW. It’s just crazy, seeing how you’re working with these legends and people who have been in wrestling for so long and you’re in a foreign country.”

“The best part, though, was that they had tacos upstairs, like authentic tacos and they were so good like I went up there twice throughout the day, and man, they were awesome.”

What surprised her about Mexico:

“Just the magnitude of the show we were filming. It was huge. I wasn’t expecting it to be that big, I wasn’t expecting the fans to be so different. I mean, in North America, fans are loud and they cheer, but it’s completely different in Mexico. It felt like the place was erupting 24/7. It was such a cool thing to experience, and it was loud! I stood right by the side of the stage and it was deafening how loud they were. That was super cool. Just seeing the production and how many people were on board to make everything happen, it was a really well-run, tight ship. It was right in the back of my mind, thinking like ‘oh, you’re in Mexico for wrestling finally?’ It was very surreal.”

“Being in the back with all the dudes, they were all excited, it was a crazy crowd, and in the back of your mind all of this virus is going on! It was a lot to take in and a lot to think about, but a lot also to really be happy and grateful for.”

Her MLW dream match:

“I think it would be cool to mix things up and have someone like Lawlor, like Tom Lawlor team up with Jacob Fatu, because I think Lawlor’s such a technician in the ring, and Fatu is shockingly amazing at the high-flying moves. I think them teaming together would be so bizarre, but they both have a great sense of humour, so I could imagine those promos being out-of-this-world. Those two, as hard as they are in the ring, they’re goofballs. I think seeing those two team up against maybe…like, (Alex) Hammerstone and Davey Boy (Smith Jr), because they’re both really huge, I think that’d be really cool. That’d be really neat to see, and I know that hasn’t happened, so that’d be really cool.

”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.

From 2002-2004, Canadian pro wrestling Tyson Dux made a number of appearances for the WWE, a theme that has continued throughout the years. Dux has appeared as recently as the promotion’s Cruiserweight Classic, and potentially had the opportunity to join them at numerous points throughout his career.

Recently, Dux joined me to discuss whether there was ever an offer to join the WWE and if he would take the opportunity to sign if it was offered at this point.

If there were any formal offers to join WWE:

“It was the day that I got hurt. I wrestled (Mark) Jindrak in April of ’04 – no, it was March.

It was March of ’04 where I blew out my knee. I tore my ACL in half in my right knee, and that match there was – I talked to Stephanie McMahon before we were in catering. We were eating together, we were discussing moving and all this stuff because there was no NXT, there was no Orlando. It was you just you go to work or you go to OVW and then they bring you up right away. So I talked to Stephanie in the afternoon and then I talked to Johnny Ace (former WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis) just before I went out, and the word was, from Johnny Ace was like ‘finish up, get yourself done, and then we’ll talk after your match. Me and Stephanie will sit and we’ll talk about what the plans are.’ Sure enough, I blew out my knee that night. Dean Malenko actually helped me to the back, he knew I was really badly hurt. He pulled me to the back. Then, when I was sitting in with the trainer, Johnny Ace came and put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘hey man, we don’t know if you’ll be well. We can’t really – we honestly can’t hire you in this condition, so we’ll have to wait and see,’ and then that was just the window. The window was gone when I came back when I was healed up.”

If a major promotion is still the goal:

“I would never close the door, the window is always open to do a little bit of work wherever it comes from. I’m ready to go, and always ready both physically and mentally to work. I do, I’m not saying I won’t take any opportunities, but I really enjoy being a freelance guy. My school does well, I do well on the road, barring this virus thing. Nobody’s doing well on anything anymore right now, but I do okay.

If it comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, I’m still at peace with it.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

In 2008, Canadian pro wrestler Tyson Dux made an appearance on the popular television show Kenny vs. Spenny as part of their “Who’s the Best Pro Wrestler?” episode. Not only did Dux make a memorable appearance on the show, but has continued his feud with Spencer “Spenny” Rice since the episode aired.

Recently, Dux joined me to discuss appearing on the show, as well as his continued “feud” with Rice.

On his appearance on Kenny vs. Spenny:

“It’s funny how things work. My business is always worked through professional wrestling, and I’ve gotten roles and different kinds of opportunities in different kinds of markets, but it’s always been linked by somebody through professional wrestling. This time it was the Megan boys, the twins Jian and Page, who are great dudes out of Toronto. I’ve always gotten along really well with them. They said ‘hey, we really want to get you to be a part of this project,’ because they have – they get a lot of good business up in the Toronto areaway.”

“So, the first call they made was to me to be the trainer for Spenny. It was two days of probably – it was the oddest, the weirdest, and probably one of the most memorable moments. I don’t know if it was the most fun, I had a lot of fun though. It was a great time, let me tell you, working with both Kenny and Spenny on their show. I got free movies and popcorn for probably a year and a half after the fact because every student that was working at Cineplex knew who I was, and it was just so easy to get in for free so that was quite a bonus for me.

”

His continued feud with Spencer “Spenny” Rice:

“The funny thing is Spenny messages me from time to time because if you could tell by the show or anybody who hasn’t seen the show, Spenny is a massive, massive wrestling fan. Like the old, old school stuff.

Like, anything with the Sheik, and Giant Baba and all these old guys is what he grew up on at Maple Leaf Gardens and stuff like that.”

“So Spenny’s a huge, huge wrestling fan, so anywhere Spenny can kind of weasel himself into a show, he’s going to do it. To the point now where, in the past, anybody would talk to Kenny vs. Spenny, they’d be almost star-struck by those two guys.

Now, it’s almost on the other side for me, When I see a message from Spenny I’m like ‘oh, God, here comes Spencer again! I wonder what he want’s now! What show does he want me to get him on now?’”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

Few professional wrestlers are as associated with the Canadian pro wrestling scene as Tyson Dux. The 20-year veteran has long been regarded as one of the countries’ top independent professional wrestlers and has gone on to represent the country in the WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic, in TNA as part of Team Canada, and under the WhatCulture Pro Wrestling banner as the promotion’s Canadian representative. It’s earned him accolades as one of the ambassadors of Canadian pro wrestling, an accolade that he discussed during our recent conversation.

His status as an ambassador of Canadian professional wrestling:

“See, I never even think about it. It’s so weird because I have people tell me stuff like this every once in a while, I’ll brush it off.”

“To me, I have so much I want to do and so much I still want to accomplish, that I always have – my vision is almost tunnel. It’s almost tunnel-like, where I’m always just pushing forward and wanting to go ahead, because I always keep thinking like, when I’m done and I’m retired and I’m old, I can sit back and I can reflect and enjoy the time that I had and what I accomplished. In the meantime, as I’m young enough to go out there and do it, my mindset has always kept me from reflecting because I’m always pushing ahead. The moment I’m done is when I’ll relax on it – maybe!”

Canadian pro wrestling being under-appreciated:

“That is exactly what it is. It’s a geographical thing. We live in this massive, massive country with one of the smallest populations on Earth.

We have places that are smaller than Ontario, countries that are smaller than Ontario with three times, four times the population we have here.

That adds a lot to it, because if you don’t have – Quebec City has a promotion called NSPW, and they have such talented workers like a Matt Angel, or a Marco Estrada, or a Marcus Burke, who’s from New Brunswick as well, these guys don’t get the due they should have, and they’re all über-talented guys, but you’re not going to have it when you’re in the middle of Quebec City and nobody else but that fan, that clique of fans, can appreciate them.”

“So, you don’t have the write-ups, you don’t have the – even in the social media day and age, everybody’s Canadian social media when it comes to promotions and stuff is very weak. It isn’t as strong as in the middle of the States, because it is the America’s. It has more media, it has more outlets, it has more interest in that kind of stuff that it gets pushed to the moon, whereas we really don’t.”

Representing Canada in the Cruiserweight Classic, TNA, and more:

“I haven’t even put much thought, seriously. When you mentioned it is the first time I put two and two together. Like, I’ve done Impact as Team Canada or TNA as Team Canada, the Cruiserweight Classic I was the Canadian representative, for the WhatCulture tournament I was also Canada trying to get into the finals there. It’s a little overwhelming sometimes if I sit back and I do think about it because there are a lot of moments and there has been a lot of opportunities where I’ve gotten to represent and hopefully I’ve represented well.

What makes the Ontario wrestling scene unique:

“Ontario’s a little different than the other provinces, because it’s very central, and a lot of people want to come here (with) Toronto being the big city. And, it has a lot of cities that are close to Toronto. It’s not Toronto itself – I’m not saying Toronto’s the most major city in all of Canada, but we do have a lot of cities, feeder cities that go around it, so anywhere within an hour to two-hour range you could be in another city, which is a little bit different than being anywhere else. Even in New Brunswick, where I’m from, to travel from Miramichi where I grew up in the little city there to Moncton is over two hours.”

“When you have the ability to hit a highway and drive under two hours and be on another show in another town and stuff like that, it is going to, first of all, start more promotions. There’s more work in Ontario than there is in any other province, and that’s not a bragging thing, it’s just a logical thing. Because there’s so many cities and they’re all based around each other, there’s so much work to be had. That way, with so many shows and so many different little hotspots in Ontario, guys get to be seasoned a lot sooner than, say, in the middle of Quebec, or in New Brunswick, or Prince Edward Island where they would only have a show maybe every two months or three months, you have guys working three times a week. So, in that regard, you’re going to get a little bit more seasoned, a little bit better, just because practice makes perfect.”

“The more time you put into it, the better you are. I’m not saying that pro wrestlers out of Ontario are better, that’s not what I’m saying, but I’m just saying that you’re going to hear about them more. They’re going to be more frequent. They’re going to be able to use their skills a little bit more than they would in say, Saskatchewan. Prepared is a good way of saying it. If you have a week off, or two weeks off,  it’s not that you’re rusty, but you could be a little bit foggy in the head, or ‘oh, what should I do? How am I going to react to this?

’ Whereas if you’re consistently going at it every weekend, you don’t have that option anymore. You’re just good to go.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.