AEW Backstage News, WWE recruiting, More

Sean Ross Sapp has provided the following notes

• Hollyhood Haley J has finished up with OVW and is headed to Texas. She's expected to work in Reality of Wrestling.

• Samantha Irvin was backstage at AEW Dynamite in Atlanta.

• Fightful is interested in multi-streaming our podcasts to large Twitter/X, Twitch and Facebook accounts. Contact us if you're interested.

• We've relaunched our Instagram recently, which you can check out at Instagram.com/FightfulOnline

Corey Brennan has provided the following notes from the UK scene: 

• A PWA source tells us that the promotion has interest in bringing in Duke Hudson now he is a free agent.

• WWE have begun reaching out to talent in Europe for extra work on their upcoming tour before WrestleMania 41. In addition, we are also told they have reached out to wrestling schools and promotions in Europe for recommendations for said extra work.

• Jim Smallman, WWE’s head international scout, visited several promotions earlier this week in the UK including TNT and Future Shock Wrestling. Several talents we spoke to told us Smallman offered advice to those he spoke with, otherwise, Smallman was just an observer.

•  We are told wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion Peter Tihanyi’s shoulder injury is legitimate, but we haven’t heard of him withdrawing from any bookings other than the previously announced withdrawal from an upcoming wXw Road To 16 Carat event.

Mike D Vecchio Interview Notes

Fightful’s Corey Brennan recently sat down with Belgian wrestler Mike D Vecchio for an interview to discuss a range of topics. You can check out the full notes from the interview below.

Corey began the interview by asking Mike about his recent announcement that he would be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania week, with Mike expressing his excitement at the opportunity, feeling like this is ‘his time’ in the US. Mike also said that he would love to face Gringo Loco while he is in the United States due to him being an exceptional base, meaning he can be more of a high flyer against Loco. Mike also said that while it’s unlikely, he would also love to work with Brian Cage.

In the interview, Mike spoke at length about the struggles of beginning his career in Belgium, talking about working lower shows for free in the early days of his career, and pointing out that while there are schools in the country, they are nowhere near the level of some you see in UK, Germany and other European countries. Throughout the interview, Mike also spoke about what it means to him to find success as a Belgian wrestler in major companies, and admitted he wants to win the PROGRESS Atlas Championship.

Mike also reflected on his recent tour of Japan and talked about how appreciative the Japanese fans were to his ‘manga like’ character, and the respect they had for performers. 

While discussing his time in the UK, Mike had praise for both NORTH and RevPro, and spoke about what it meant to him to compete in the top companies in the United Kingdom as a Belgian pro wrestler.

1 Called Manders Interview Notes

Fightful’s Corey Brennan recently sat down with 1 Called Manders to discuss his time in the UK and Europe. You can check out the notes from the interview below.

Corey kicked off the interview by asking Manders what the biggest difference was between working in the US and Europe, with Manders pointing to the chants that fans in Europe come up with, attributing it to being fans of ‘proper football’. Manders then talked about not making his PROGRESS debut last year, explaining that the plane he was on had an issue that required a part change, leading to a lengthy stretch of sitting on the runway for four hours. Manders did note he was happy he later got the chance to make his Electric Ballroom debut.

Manders then spoke about his upcoming match with Tate Mayfairs in PROGRESS, noting he doesn’t believe Tate will be fair in their match, and is expecting Mayfairs to attempt to cheat his way to victory. Corey then asked Manders about his experience in North and his upcoming tag title match alongside Thomas Shire, noting the champions Will Kroos and Rampage Brown are ‘mean SOBs’. Manders later noted he’d like to defend against Lykos Gym or the GYV in the future should he and Shire capture the gold.

Manders would then discuss his rivalry with Luke Jacobs, and agreed that Jacobs is amongst one of the best in the world and currently the best in the UK. Manders also praised how Jacobs carries himself. He hopes to one day wrestle Jacobs in Japan. Later on, Mander had praise for Leon Slater, Robbie X and other staples of the UK scene.

Manders had nothing but praise for RevPro additionally, noting that they are one of the best promotions in the world, explaining how his work in wXw led to him making his RevPro debut, and Manders also stated that he feels like there are a lot of similarities between RevPro and GCW.

Manders also spoke about wanting to appear in OTT in Ireland and BZW in France in the future, confirming later that he wants to make working in Europe a regular occurrence, with the goals of winning wXw’s 16 Carat Gold tournament and competing in York Hall in the UK as two goals for 2025.