Various: Nick Aldis on Hard Work in NWA Being Undone, Jay Lethal on Jay Briscoe Tribute Match, Indies

May 31, 2023

Nick Aldis Comments on His Hard Work for NWA Being Undone & Talks with WWE

Metro held a recent interview with Nick Aldis. One of the topics discussed included Aldis’ thoughts on his feeling that a lot of his hard work for the National Wrestling Alliance has been undone since his departure this past January.

“I don’t wanna speak too much about my conversations with (WWE). And I certainly don’t want to imply or suggest that I had a choice of anywhere to go. That would be disingenuous or dishonest. It’s more about, what’s the best option right now? I did need a little bit of a mental break – because I did put a lot of pressure on myself. I’ll be honest, it was kinda heartbreaking to see a lot of my work get undone at the NWA. I needed a bit of time to just process it and go, hey, what they decide to do now that you’re gone is none of your concern. Your body of work will live on through your fans and that’s it. You build this brand for yourself. (Mickie James) was good at restoring that confidence in me as well.”

Aldis also gave his thoughts about his recent talks with WWE for a potential contract following his departure from the NWA.

“I don’t wanna speak too much about my conversations with [WWE]. And I certainly don’t want to imply or suggest that I had a choice of anywhere to go. That would be disingenuous or dishonest. It’s more about, what’s the best option right now? I did need a little bit of a mental break – because I did put a lot of pressure on myself. I’ll be honest, it was kinda heartbreaking to see a lot of my work get undone at the NWA. I needed bit of time to just process it and go, “Hey, what they decide to do now that you’re gone is none of your concern. Your body of work will live on through your fans and that’s it. You build this brand for yourself.” [My wife Mickie James] was good at restoring that confident in me as well.”

Jay Lethal Comments on Match with Mark Briscoe at ROH’s Jay Briscoe Tribute Show

Sporting News held a recent interview with Jay Lethal. One of the topics discussed included Lethal’s thoughts about his match against Mark Briscoe that was held in honor of the late Jay Briscoe at Ring of Honor’s Jay Briscoe tribute show this past January.

“To start it off, it’s one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do (Lethal said about the Jay Briscoe tribute match), and the day started when I knew I was going to eventually, in the locker room, at some point, I had to come face-to-face with Mark Briscoe and I just knew that, man, I just gotta try to keep it together and the wild part was and it’s the God’s honest truth, when I got together with Mark Briscoe, instead of me trying to console him, it was the flipside. I feel like he was more so consoling me and trying to keep me together and his reasoning which really resonated with me… You gotta know Jay Briscoe but to have either one of us crying or saddened, if Jay Briscoe was there, I can’t say because I can’t curse. I can’t say the bad words that he’d probably say but, he would call us every name in the book. Look at you over there crying. That’s why Mark Briscoe, it was easier for him to hold it together, he said, which made total sense. Well anyway, another tough part was I go to the ring and then when I get to the ring, we go to commercial break and while in commercial break, I had no idea — I wish they had told me, especially since we were in commercial so it wouldn’t have mattered but, while we were in commercial break, they played this video on the screen and I don’t know if they played it on TV for you guys eventually but they played one of… all I can describe it is one of the saddest videos that I’ve ever seen in my life because my friend was gone. That video broke me down and I remember the ring announcer at the time, Bobby Cruise, he gave me his handkerchief, because he could see (me) and when we got back on, when we came back on television, I was able to pull it together. It really felt like the opposite of what I thought was gonna happen. Going into the match, I thought I was gonna have to keep Mark Briscoe, help him keep it together and it was the exact opposite. Mark Briscoe had to help me keep it together and to this day, there has been nothing more, in my life, more tougher to get through and I’ve been put through some pretty tough workouts (he laughed). Nothing tougher to get through than that moment. Ultimately, I’m glad it happened. One of the only things I could think to pay tribute to a great friend of mine. But yeah, after the match, I definitely felt a weight was lifted because the whole time, I was worrying about whether or not I’d be able to get through this whole match without just breaking down. So after the one, two, three, I was definitely like, oh, I got through that. So yeah, a weight was definitely lifted off my shoulders after but toughest thing to date that I’ve ever had to do in my life.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

Game Changer Wrestling recently announced that El Desperado will be making his official debut for the company at their Tournament of Survival 8 event on June 3rd in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The Cauliflower Alley Club recently announced that Mickie James is the winner of their 2023 Women’s Wrestling Award and will be officially honored at this year’s awards ceremony on August 28-30 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DDT Pro Wrestling announced that Chris Brookes recently suffered a dislocated right shoulder injury at an event for Gatoh Move this past Monday. It was also announced that Brookes is currently expected to be out of action for at least the next three weeks.

This past Monday’s Super Strong Style 16 Tournament 2023 event for PROGRESS Wrestling in London, England featured Kid Lykos defeating Mark Haskins in the Finals to be crowned the winner of this year’s tournament.

Pro Wrestling Revolver recently announced that Jon Moxley will be making an appearance for the company at their Ring of Destiny event on June 17th in Dayton, Ohio.

Pro Wrestling NOAH recently issued an official statement regarding the proper etiquette for their fans when contacting the company, talent, and staff on social media and their issues over inappropriate and offensive content being posted towards those listed. The company also announced that they are also upset over some fans posting “slander” in regards to making up rumors that go against the company’s official statements or are meant to hurt the company online. (English translation via PostWrestling.com)

New Japan Pro Wrestling talent Francesco Akira recently announced that he will be holding two tours of the United States this summer from July 21st to August 9th and August 21st to August 30th.

NJPW recently announced six new matches for the card of their co-promoted All Together Again event with All Japan Pro Wrestling and NOAH on June 9th in Tokyo, Japan:

Amasuka, Atsuki Aoyagi, & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Master Wato, Rising Hayato, & Hayata
United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP, Aaron Henare, Great-O-Khan, & Jeff Cobb) vs. Jun Saito, Rei Saito, Ryuki Honda, Hikaru Sato, & Dan Tamura
Strong Style (Ren Narita, El Desperado, & Minoru Suzuki) vs. Naomichi Marufuji, Takashi Sugiura, & Junta Miyawaki
Hokuto Omori & Shuji Ishikawa vs. Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima
Shota Umino vs. Yoshitatsu
TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. Chris Ridgeway & Sean Legacy

Impact Wrestling recently announced two new matches for the card of their Against All Odds 2023 event on June 9th in Columbus, Ohio:

#1 Contender for Impact World Championship 8-4-1 match – Bully Ray vs. Jonathan Gresham vs. Heath vs. Nick Aldis vs. Moose vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs. Rich Swann vs. PCO
Impact X-Division Championship – Chris Sabin vs. Trey Miguel (c)

New Horizons Pro Wrestling recently announced a new match for the card of their Crossroads event on August 26th in Perth, Australia:

Low Ki vs. Minoru Suzuki