Vince McMahon Hits The Gym & Monty Brown Resurfaces: Ten Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling This Week

The big wrestling happening this week was WWE's Fastlane pay-per-view/Network special/Peacock clusterbastard, which was the last big stop on the fabled 'Road to WrestleMania'.

Well, that and Braun Strowman getting a choo-choo train sound effect added to his act, anyway.

Fastlane was certainly a memorable event with many talking points coming out of it.

Sheamus and Drew McIntyre beat the hell out of each other in a surly battle of endurance. Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns put on an absolute blinder, the finish of which will no doubt have implications as far as the WrestleMania main event is concerned. And Randy Orton, Alexa Bliss and The Fiend did a thing that resembled a dodgy sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street more than a wrestling match.

For all the great action from Fastlane, it was the latest chapter in the Bray Wyatt B-movie odyssey that had most people talking.

And tweeting.

And deleting tweets.

As you will see in this week's things you may have missed...

10. Vince McMahon Doesn't Skip Leg Day

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Vince McMahon is 75-years-old.

Vince McMahon is the CEO of a billion-dollar, publicly-traded company.

Despite that, Vince McMahon is still a maniac when it comes to working out and makes sure to hit the weight room religiously.

This week we saw some rare footage (which was so blurry it looked like it had been filmed with a Tamagotchi) of modern day Vince clanging and banging, uploaded by WWE's corporate trainer Michael A. Monteforte to his Instagram account.

Naturally, 'Dirty Deeds' from McMahon's favourite band AC/DC is blasting away in the background.

Stories of Vince and his late-night muscle-building sessions at Titan Towers are not uncommon, but seeing the man in action shows that they're clearly not tall tales. Vince really can still lift heavy and is in excellent shape, despite his hectic schedule and advancing years.

AEW's Chris Jericho commented on the video, referring to his former boss as 'the real Terminator'.

9. Dean Malenko Opens Up

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AEW producer Dean Malenko was the guest on Talk is Jericho this week, sitting down for a revelatory conversation with his longtime friend.

Malenko - who wrestled around the world for many years, including stints in New Japan, ECW, WCW and WWE, before working for WWE as a producer - spoke at length about his battle with Parkinson's disease, the stresses of working behind-the-scenes for the world's biggest Sports Entertainment organisation and his relationship with Vince McMahon.

On that relationship, the Man of 1,000 Holds said:

"It was fine. We had a great relationship in the beginning and the middle. It really went bad at the end there and it was time for me to go. Vince is very stern and it’s his show and we get that. He didn’t expect anything less than perfection. He trusted me a lot to go out there to help the talent try to get the best match and camera angles and teach guys the business a little. There, you’re a producer/agent".

On the evolution of his role and the stress that came with it, Malenko offered:

"I remember at the Hammerstein Ballroom when Vince said, ‘there are no more agents. I don’t know what agents do. You’re now a producer and help produce matches. From this day forward, you’re a producer’. I couldn’t help but raise my hand and go, ‘Do producers make more money than agents?’. He goes, ‘No, pretty much the same’. You want to do the best you can and it’s his show. If he wants to scream and yell at you, it’s his business. 

It’s not the easiest environment to work in. A lot of guys could have been good producers and they’ve looked at me and gone, ‘There’s no way in hell I would take that job. I couldn’t do what you do’. I used to hear that a lot. It’s a very taxing and stressful job because there’s expectations to succeed every night. 

One time there was a match and Vince goes, ‘Who is this? You wanna talk about the match?’. ‘Well, if you liked the match it was Dean’s, if you didn’t like the match it’s Steve Keirn’s’. Steve wasn’t working there. You have to be very selective and careful when you wanted to play around with Vince. If he didn’t want to, you knew real quick. Back in the day, he liked to have fun with the boys, but there’s a time where you don’t do that". 

There's much more to the conversation and it's worth going out of your way to listen to if you haven't already, since we don't get to hear much from the former Cruiserweight Champion these days.

The story of Malenko wrestling Steve 'Dr. Death' Williams in Japan and Williams, amped up after receiving a hot tag, running at Dean and shouting 'I don't know what's next!' was gold.

8. Punk Asks For Forgiveness

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Another week in wrestling, another week of CM Punk having fun and joking about on Twitter.

This week, the Straight-Edge Superstar was getting involved in the ongoing feud between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton.

After Wyatt tweeted a picture of Orton preparing to punt Bray (then Husky Harris) in 2011 accompanied by the caption "Someday, someone will break you so badly that you'll become unbreakable - The Joker", Punk sent his response, writing:

"I tried to warn him. Randal never listened. Hope you don't hold a grudge for that little whipping incident. Bygones and such".  

That 'whipping incident' was Punk and the rest of the New Nexus giving Husky Harris the old leather belt treatment as part of his initiation into the group on the January 10, 2011 episode of Raw.

It's a better initiation than encountering Bradshaw in the showers, I guess...

7. Randy's Tweeting Again...

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Sticking with Twitter (and Randy Orton) for a moment, one of wrestling's most combustible social media presences was at it again this week.

After his wife Kim Orton expressed her displeasure at Alexa Bliss's suggestive cover of her husband at the end of their 'match' from Fastlane, The Viper wrote (in a now deleted tweet):

"Apparently my wife doesn't care much for @AlexBliss_WWE. Maybe @SouljaBoy should tell her it's fake? #yoooooooooouuuuuu".

Let us know how life in the doghouse is, Randy!

6. Angle Talks About Slamming Mae Young

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WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle discussed his rookie year on this week's edition of the Kurt Angle Show podcast, including the story of the time he gave the Angle Slam to fellow Hall of Famer, the late Mae Young, on the February 7, 2000 epsiode of Raw.

According to the Olympic Hero, Mae had some very specific instructions before they went through the curtain:

"So, before we headed out, we were in the Gorilla Position. Mae Young comes up to me and says, ‘Mr. Angle, I want to tell you what I want you to do to me tonight’. I said, ‘OK, Mae’. She said, ‘I want you to spike my ass as hard as you can into the mat’. I want you to Angle Slam me as hard as you possibly can’. I was like, ‘OK, Mae, if that’s what you want, I’ll do it’. 

The crazy thing is, when I was doing it, I’m thinking, if I slam this woman, she is going to end up coming up as dust. I mean, she was 82 years-old. I’m like, what the hell am I doing slamming this woman? She could literally die. Mae was just incredible because she would do whatever you asked. She would take whatever bump was necessary. She always did whatever she was told, and she was always game for anything". 

With taking a stiff clothesline from Hardcore Holly, eating an Angle Slam, being put through a table by Bubba Ray Dudley and giving birth to a hand, Mae had quite the eventful start to the new Millennium, didn't she?

5. Some Monty Brown News!

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For me, Monty Brown is one of the great modern wrestling 'what ifs'.

He had the look and charisma to be a star and, with the Pounce, one of the coolest finishers in the game.

Following a standout run in early-day TNA, Brown was signed by WWE in 2006 and received a decent push as 'Marcus Cor Von', a member of the New Breed on the revamped ECW.

The Alpha Male left the company midway through 2007 for family reasons and hasn't wrestled since.

He's popped up periodically since and, this week, it was announced that Brown is going to be training police academy recruits in the Great Lakes Bay area of his home state of Michigan, via his Alpha-1 Fitness programme.

Good luck in the Serengeti, cadets.

4. Stephanie Clears Kane's Name

WWE.com

Kane is going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year (and rightfully so).

The Big Red Machine's colleagues and friends, including The Undertaker, Trish Stratus and Drew McIntyre, were quick to offer him their congratulations.

The tweet that caught the eye the most, however, came courtesy of WWE's Chief Brand Officer, Stephanie McMahon, who gave her congratulations while referring to one of the more outlandish storylines from Kane's career.

"Congratulations to one of the most unique characters & individuals I have ever known, @KaneWWE. A man w/ unparalleled intellect, whose heart is as big as his body. Welcome to the #WWEHOF Class of 2021! #YouDeserveIt (Don’t worry, we all know you had nothing to do w Katie Vick!)". 

And for those reading that don't understand the reference to Katie Vick, basically what happened was...

Ahhhh, you know what? Forget it. 

3. Mick Foley Makes The Case For Lex Luger

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With the Hall of Fame on the horizon and Molly Holly, Eric Bischoff, Kane and The Great Khali already announced for the 2021 class, Mick Foley has made the case for Lex Luger's future induction.

Foley - who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013 - took to webisjericho.com recently to write a piece outlining the reasons he believes The Total Package should be immortalised.

It's a great read and I would recommend giving it a go, as Mick illustrates his various points fluently and reminds us all of the positive impact Luger had on the industry and what a star he was in his prime.

After reading it, it's hard to see why Luger wouldn't be inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame, besides perhaps some lingering resentment over his association with the much-loved Miss Elizabeth before she tragically passed away in 2003.

As Foley states in the article, given Lex's recent health woes, it would be better if an induction came sooner rather than later.

2. This Week In RVD

WWE.com

Though not officially confirmed, Rob Van Dam is also scheduled to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

Van Dam has been doing the rounds lately promoting his work in an upcoming film as well as the WWE Icons documentary about him, which is set to be released in the near future.

Though it's a couple of weeks old, Van Dam made some interesting comments while appearing on the Dropkick Podcast recently.

The Whole F'N Show claimed that during his early days in WWE in 2001, that it was pitched for him to do a romance storyline with Stephanie McMahon, though it was ultimately nixed due to RVD's relationship with his then-wife Sonya.

Van Dam also mentioned that WWE weren't fans of his airbrushed singlets and that they had another, more plain one made for him (see photo above), but that he only wore it a couple of times before relegating it to non-televised events.

And in the final bit of RVD news this week, the former ECW and WWE Champion responded to a fan who said that they felt like all the 'hokey sh*t' that Riddle is currently doing is stuff that Van Dam 'said no to back in the day'.

His simple response of a laughing emoji would seem to indicate he may, at least partly, agree.

1. The Next 'Next Big Thing'?

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The University of Minnesota's Gable Steveson celebrated winning the NCAA Title at 285lbs by doing a cartwheel followed by a massive backflip.

Not long after his victory, he tweeted a waving emoji at Vince McMahon.

I mean, I'm no mathematician or anything, but a NCAA heavyweight champ representing Minnesota, who has a penchant for entertaining...

Could Gable Steveson be the next 'Next Big Thing'?

I know many have pointed out the physical similarities between Brock Lesnar and Parker Boudreaux, who has recently signed a WWE developmental deal, but Gable seems like a smarter bet.

He has trained with Lesnar in the past and his brother Bobby is already training at the WWE Performance Center.

In a previous interview with Gopher Sports, Gable had this to say about his WWE ambitions:

“This is a dream I’ve had since I was a kid. Everybody grew up watching WWE when they were young, I know I watched it. It’s just been a lifelong dream of mine”.

He mentioned in the same interview that he sees himself one day being a 'Paul Heyman guy', too.

One thing's for sure, at 20-years-old and with his size and pedigree, the sky is the limit for Gable Steveson.