Wrestlers come into the company with all sorts of athletic backgrounds. For Oba Femi, it was shotput. For others like Kelani Jordan, it was gymnastics. But for Lola Vice, it was fighting. Also on this episode, Victoria Crawford is back to discuss numerous topics, including the new Vince McMahon docuseries on Netflix, the return of The Rock this past week and the new media deal for AEW.

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On this episode of Going Ringside it’s an episode of champions as we’re joined by NXT Champ Roxanne Perez and NXT North American Champion Kelani Jordan.

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The champion is here and the challenger is too. When NXT debuts on CW Network on Oct. 1, all eyes will be on the main event between champion Ethan Page and his challenger Trick Williams. On this episode, host Scott Johnson sits down with the two men at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

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On this special episode of Going Ringside we’re joined by All Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan. Khan was profiled just this week by NFL Films for a day in his life. It detailed what it’s like for the man who lives between two worlds: Pro Wrestling and Pro Football.

The documentary which was featured on FS1 highlighted why he went viral at this year’s NFL draft for wearing a neck brace because he had been attacked in the wrestling ring the night before.

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In sports and music it’s Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift. In music alone it’s Beyonce and Jay-Z. And in the world of pro wrestling, the biggest power couple is Bianca Belair and Montez Ford.

“What a time it was,” recalled Ford about when he arrived in NXT at their Orlando studio in 2015. A year later he met his future bride, Belair. “In that first year I was at NXT in developmental learning myself as a WWE Superstar.”

“NXT is not just close to our heart because of wrestling,” said Belair. “It’s close to our heart because we met each other. So our life started in wrestling in NXT and our life together in NXT.”

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Matt Riddle knew how to fight before ever setting foot in pro wrestling. A dominant fighter in the world of MMA and UFC the transition to WWE was natural. “Well wrestling was my first love,” said Riddle. “But growing up in the late 90′s early 2000′s, I didn’t think I was big enough. And I started amateur wrestling, then started wrestling in college and then the natural progression took me on the route of mixed martial arts.”

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On this episode of Going Ringside we’re joined by pro wrestling FSU football legend Ron Simmons. Simmons made history as the first black world champion with WCW in 1993 with his historic win over Big Van Vader. That cemented him in the industry as a major player.

Following that Simmons was on the radar of the World Wrestling Federation (today’s WWE) and quickly was brought over to that company. Simmons was immediately thrust into a controversial faction called the Nation of Domination. That faction help launch the careers of stars like Mark Henry, D-Lo Brown, The Godfather and most notably Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who had just entered the company as a rookie.

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She walked in late to the Going Ringside interview as Al Snow yells “Now business is picking up!”

In the art of pro wrestling, entrance is everything and Hollywood Haley J knows that. By nature she’s a heel, and by the reality of society she’s an overnight superstar. She’s one of the young wrestlers thrust into stardom when the juggernaut streaming platform decided to produce a show called “Wrestlers”.

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From their time gaining national prominence in the “Attitude Era” to AEW and beyond in the 2020′s the wrestling world has belonged to Matt and Jeff Hardy. The duo really cemented their legacy at WrestleMania 2000 against Edge & Christian and the Dudley Boyz in a tables, ladders and chairs match. The match was so well received it eventually spawned its own TLC Pay-per-view.

On this episode Host Scott Johnson is joined by A.J. Francis who wrestling fans knew as “Top Dolla’” to interview the brothers as well as take questions from fans. It was on a panel set up by River City Wrestling Con.

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The dynamics of politics and pro wrestling have been fascinating to watch this summer. First, the Republican National Convention was headlined by Hulk Hogan speaking where he endorsed Donald Trump.

Now, weeks later it appears the Democrats have a response with another very high profile ex-wrestler. Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Ventura did as much for mainstreaming the industry as anyone in 1998 when he was elected Governor of Minnesota. The former Navy SEAL is now endorsing Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz. This comes two years after Ventura, a self described independent endorsed Walz for Governor.

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