Busted Open's Dave Lagreca Talks NXT Going Head-To-Head With AEW, If Kofi Kingston Should Retain

Busted Open host Dave LaGreca will be on hand in Toronto for SummerSlam weekend where he'll be hosting a live episode of the show alongside Mark Henry. Before that, LaGreca spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast about WWE and Kofi Kingston defending his title against Randy Orton.

"I like Kofi as champion. I think he can be a champion you can really get behind as far as moving to FOX," said LaGreca. "I think they've done a great job with Kofi since WrestleMania 35. I have no problem with Kofi holding onto this championship. I know Randy Orton is a major figure and mainstream name. When it comes to wrestling, there are very few who are better than Randy Orton. But to me, I think the smart choice is to keep that title around Kofi Kingston's waist."

Many people think that the NXT: TakeOver events are often better than the WWE pay-per-views and LaGreca is also a part of that group.

"When you look at TakeOver, for the most part they outshine what you see for the main roster. When you look at TakeOver in Toronto, you're looking at five matches: tag match, triple threat, singles, 2-out-of-3 falls. They give a little bit of everything and I love the stipulations involved in the match," stated LaGreca. "Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole ? you can't really get much better than that and that will probably be the match that steals the weekend."

AEW's TNT show will air live on Wendesdays this fall which is also the night that NXT airs on the WWE Network. LaGreca was asked if WWE should create a "Wednesday Night War" atmosphere by pitting NXT vs. AEW.

"I don't know if its a bad idea but is it going to be live?" LaGreca asked of NXT. "If the answer is 'no' then I think AEW is going to have the advantage. Whether it's on the WWE Network or FS1, the most important component is 'live.' If it is live, then it is a discussion you can have. But until I hear that, I still think AEW is gonna have the upper hand."

There's a lot going on in the wrestling world in Toronto this weekend outside of WWE and LaGreca talked about what he's most looking forward to.

"This is my first time in Toronto and it's the first time Busted Open has ever been to Canada. Obviously SummerSlam, NXT, I know there's a ton of indie shows, but I just wanna get the pulse of a city I've never been to before," LaGreca said before adding that he plans on trying the poutine.

LaGreca then discussed how his show, Busted Open, came into being as one of the first pro wrestling shows on the radio.

"We just celebrated our 10th Anniversary and it took one hell of a sales job to get this on the air at SiriusXM. I was a part of their NFL crew for 13 years and Steve Cowen gave it the green light," LaGreca said before adding that he had a co-host originally but then it grew to include Bully Ray, Mark Henry and Tommy Dreamer.

"We've never looked back and it's one of our biggest shows on our platform. It's like a dream come true to talk wrestling for a career for three hours every day. So, it's been an awesome ride."

Dave Lagreca and Mark Henry will host the Busted Open SummerSlam Pre-Show live from The Rec Room this Sunday in Toronto at 3 pm. This event is free to the public. His full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In it, Lagreca discusses Busted Open's pre-SummerSlam party in Toronto, Mark Henry as a journalist, the Bully Ray – ROH fan incident, NXT vs AEW, Becky Lynch's tough SummerSlam spot and more.

You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.