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This modern You're gonna acknowledge Rain all right, everybody, It is post
Summer Slam. This is a Summer Slam wrap up and a bit of a
focus on the world title and the undisputed w h World Championship that Roland Rains
is still carrying, and we'll get to that. And as always every single
Monday, I've got Anthony Demarca with me and Anthony Man I have to ask
overall thoughts and feelings about Saturday night's event. I thought the wrestling was very,
very very good. I thought that a lot of the matches that we
thought would be very very good delivered. There are some, I guess issues
I have with the outcomes, but I think the in ring stuff was excellent
as always and as we've been accustomed to in the Triple H era. But
I do think that maybe there were some unlofty expectations set by fans and probably
you and myself as well, so there were some disappointments in the way that
the show ended specifically and just how overall booking decisions came to be. But
from an in ring perspective, as I mentioned, a pay per view under
the Triple H regime knocks it out of the park in terms of match quality.
Well, let's talk about it. Then. Let's talk about Roman and
Jay and the quality of that matchup, which I thought was very good.
And while the pacing was at times almost too slow, I'd rather have that
than one hundred miles an hour. But at times it felt like it didn't
need, you know, as much time as it had gotten a lot of
near falls. To me, it never felt like during the event, during
that match that Jay actually had a chance, although there were some there were
some moments like the one of the useless splashes that you're like, oh,
okay, well maybe, and then ultimately it's Jimmy who screws over Jane.
There's a lot of a lot of strong feelings on that one. But I'll
let you let you kind of break down this match a little bit. Well,
I mean, it was a typical Roman match, and that's good and
bad. I really was hoping that it would just be a one on one,
no hooker crook match, and it quickly kind of turned into a handicap
match with the involvement of Solo Sakoa. I mean like the outcome of Roman
winning was something I expected. I had thought about Jay, about Jimmy turning
heel on Jay. I think a lot of other people did as well.
It's not like a profound thought. I disagree with it in match. I
understand why they did it because now you can set up a three four month
long program between the USO's and something that we haven't seen before and take their
focus off of Roman reigns. I just thought that maybe a heel turn could
have been done on SmackDown this week or just after SummerSlam. I really felt
that it would have been important for Roman to get a clean victory, and
obviously in a no disqualification match, and it's tribal combat, but that's essentially
what it was, notice qualification. I just felt that, you know,
Roman hasn't won clean per se since what WrestleMania thirty eight against brock Lessner,
it feels like, and I just felt like, given him going against Jay,
who, even though he's been built up very well, isn't a true
true main event or has ever held a singles championship, I thought that with
the stipulation of not disqualification, it could have set up for a lot of
ways to protect Jay. I just thought that it would have been best for
Jay to lose clean to Roman, and even the tribal combat rules, seemingly
at the beginning insinuated that no family member can interfere, but they quickly scrapped
those plans. Although it was always very blurry, but now the whole I
guess a segment of Roman blocking Solo from attacking Jay when they first agree to
this match really kind of makes no sense at this point. So look,
I agree with Roman winning for the most part, I just kind of disagree
with the way that they went about it. And it is like, look,
the refting get knocked out for once in a Roman match, so that's
something that should be applauded. I guess in a way, I just feel
like it's a bit tiresome with all the shenanigans that surround a Roman Rains match.
That's a good point. I was thinking about it while you were talking,
is well, when was the last time Roman Rains actually won clean?
And I understand that WWE's logic always, you know, is strongly that Heels
have to cheat to win that they never want to defend their titles and baby
faces will defend it against anyone at any time, which I really think both
both of those logics are flawed deeply. It's not that clear cut, but
to WWE it seems to be. And with Roman, if you want to,
you know, maximize his run here, why wouldn't you want to start
making him feel like a dude that doesn't need help, but heels don't always
have to need help to win. I understand that. It's yeah, exactly
exactly. Now they actually finish with Logan Paul bringing back brass Knucks. I
love that. I love brass Knucks. The old William Regal finish, I
loved it. I thought that was again not to get into that match,
but I mean it was exactly what as advertised and I enjoyed it. But
yeah, this is something that I think they could tweak a little bit where
he doesn't always need help, like he's on a legendary run. We don't
need a cowardice three year run to sneak into the discussion here. I think
that you can start to make him just a legit, a legit badass,
and he is, but there is that Achilles heal of him needing help in
wonky finishes and ref bumps, as you mentioned, and as far as my
thoughts on Jimmy, I mean, again, guys, I know I've done
the full review last night, but just to kind of give the cliff notes
version of it, I think that it was weird. While some people pointed
it out and thought it was a possibility, I thought I was out there
in the realm of possibility as well, but when it actually happened, I
don't think people really knew what to think. I don't know if this is
a program people actually want to see. And I equated it to Matt versus
Jeff Hardy back in the mid two thousands, and I think Leda was the
referee or something like that it was, and I remember feeling like do people
want to see this? Like, yeah, it's a turn that most people
didn't see coming. But I mean that's a question to you, is like
do you even want to see Jim versus Jay? I mean I do,
but I don't because the reason why they're doing this, and look, the
story rights itself, you know exactly, like all you've been in a spotlight
for three years, right hand man, main event, j USO and when
I'm on the shelf injured, you use that to punch your ticket to a
World Championship match to main event summers. I'm like, you already see where
this is going. And much like Matt and Jeff where Matt turned heel because
he was in Jeff's shadow, and I believe they even reignited that program that
culminated a match at Wrestling at twenty five. I think, so they went
back to the well on that a match that Matt actually want if I'm not
mistaken. So you see where this is going, and I understand why they're
doing it because Roman's gonna take time off. We're done with the whole Roman
verse, Jay Slash, the USO story, and now we're gonna find a
way or we're finding a way to keep Jay and Jimmy in the main event
scene, because I guarantee you that on the SmackDown side of things, in
Roman's absence, this will be presented as the main event program. That being
said, do I want to see it? Like, look, I'm I'm
not getting blood lined out, but I'm just getting I guess in like Civil
War blood line out. And it seems like based on what we just saw
at SummerSlam they planted seeds for Solo versus Roman, and they are going down
the path of Jimmy versus Jay. So I'm just like, I just I
don't know how much more like anything short of the Rock versus Roman. Maybe
we could get into that as well, or you know, the lack of
the Rock that is. I don't know if I really have an appetite for
anything more of internal fighting in the blood line, Like we've been seeing this
essentially since WrestleMania, Like they've only fought themselves since Solemania, and now all
signs point to more internal fighting. But now it's breaking down to the usos
against each other and Solo and Roman against each other. And to be honest,
I like, if it were up to me, I would have written
Jay off of TV for a while. Like I'm just kind of I'm exhausted
a bit with you. So it doesn't mean I'm over them. I just
think that a little time away for both of them would have been good.
And then if you want to revisit this, maybe in WrestleMania season you could
have. It's just it feels like not that I don't want to see it,
I just don't think the timing is right, because it just feels a
bit too much. That is how I'm feeling too. For the first time,
then I said this last night, for the first time in this Bloodline
run of three years, I looked at this and I said, hmm,
I said, and I didn't. I wasn't crapping on this decision or I
thought it was awful, But for the first time, I didn't look at
it and go, wow, that was a great idea, you know,
And look, the follow up will happen. The follow up will happen Friday.
Maybe things turn, we start to feel more invested, But for this
is the first one where people go huh, you know, like, you
know, what, why is Jimmy doing this? Like sure, people are
shocked, but are people even going to be emotionally invested in this? And
like you said, I'm a bit of the Bloodline civil War burned out than
the just the story of Roman's run, which I'm still on board for.
But I guess what they're trying to do is just squeeze every combination of people
fighting that they can out of this magical story that is admittedly something that does
not come along often at all. And I don't blame them for it.
But now the question turns as we look forward, and after this we'll talk
about Finn and Seth. But given our time constraints here, I do I
need to ask we look forward. Roman is going to certainly take payback off
and probably not compete until October at fast Lane, So there's an initial additional
two months as just Roman continues to tack on these months of as we've discussed
many times, there's two months automatically to his run, and he'll probably be
off to me for a little while, you'd imagine. So if Roman is
not a payback there was no Rock last night or two nights ago, So
I was a bit surprised by that. I didn't expect it, but I
thought it was the highest possibility that we've seen thus far of the Rock coming
back. Where do you envision Roman now moving forward? Is it solo that's
his next competitor? Do they move away from that? Is it's somebody else
where the hell Randy is? I mean, there was zero big returns at
Summer's Slang, which a lot of people were disappointed by. So where do
you see this going in the next few months for Roman? Anyway? Well,
how many pay per views do we have between now and Survivors Series two?
Yeah, I believe it's Vast Lane in October and next month is Payback.
So there's no Crown Jewel. I'll have to look that up while you're
talking, but I don't because I would imagine he would fight at Crown Jewel.
Look. I mean, the one thing I want to say about the
USOS before I address their own question, is that I do agree with you
that they're trying to squeeze every last bit out of every combination they have.
And I actually think that you could have had Jimmy versus j at WrestleMania,
because I think that it would have given people enough time to digest everything that
they just saw, and then you revisit that maybe in the new year in
twenty twenty four, and then you build to that. As for Roman,
who does he face? I mean, I guess it's solo because by all
accounts, we're not going to see Roman four. I wouldn't be surprised if
we don't see Roman until October, which is crazy, but that's where it
seems to be going. And then maybe he'll pop his head out of this
end, and I would imagine his next title defense. I mean, I
want to say his next title defense is going to be at Survivor Series.
But we've already he heard rumblings on the internet and I may, I don't
know if you've seen them, that they're preparing for a champion versus champion match
at Survivor Series of Roman versus Seth, which I mean I'm I'm in for,
don't get me wrong, But then that means that it's another major pay
per view where he's not defend the championship and I'm down to see him versus
Seth for sure, both of them as respective world champions on their respective brands,
all the history involved, the unresolved stuff from the Rumble in twenty twenty
two. But he's not going to defend the WWE Championship at Survivor Series.
And I don't know if he's going to defend the title at Payback or I
don't know if he's going to defend the title at fast Lane. So if
he doesn't defend it at Payback and fast Lane and the rumors are to be
believed that it's him versus Seth in more or less an exhibition match at Survivor
Series, when's the next time he's going to be defending that championship, And
when's the next time we're going to see Roman Reigns in a feud with any
one other than a family member. And that's why you said something earlier that
I totally agree with that I'm not over Roman's run as champion. I'm just
over this version of it, just like I was over him feuding with Rock
Lessner from the summer twenty twenty one until the spring of twenty twenty two.
But this is something that it just feels is dragging, dragging and dragging,
and before you know it, we're gonna go through all of two and twenty
three more or less that he will have defended his championship against no one other
than within the blood line aside from Kevin Owens at the Rumble. And I'm
counting Sammy Zane as a blood Line member because he was so like I.
It's hard for me to really articulate how I feel because I'm not over Roman.
I'm not over him as champion. I think he's really good. Yes,
the way his matches are booked are becoming very repetitive, and I really
would I would kill to see a Roman match that doesn't involve hanky panky,
like I don't know why. Like I mentioned while you were talking, you
know you see Gunther beat Drew Clean. It can happen that Heels win Clean,
and I just think we're missing that with Roman reigns, and I just
I really want to see him face someone other than the bloodline. Like we've
had this story for four months. It's okay, And now you see the
way Bobby Lashley is coming back. He looks like he's gonna be super over
with the crowd, with a new faction you have at LA Night. You
still have Shamus that you've never gotten to. And that's not counting any of
the potential returns. But I just named three fresh opponents on SmackDown four Roman
reigns that you could book between now and WrestleMania, but based on what we've
seen, and no seeds being planted for any of those three, and with
him rumored to take time off and a rumored match with seth Rawlins where no
belt is going to be on the line at Survivor Series, it's just it's
exhausting me thinking about Wednesday, next time we'll see Roman reigns in a non
like you get what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, this is you and
you mentioned the non and basically yet another exhibition match with Seth. Yet they
have yet to have a true proper long term program, which is mind boggling.
It really does boggle the mind, Like you like, how has they
how have they not let this full fleshed out? And sure they may have
their exhibition and it'll be good and they can pull in their history, but
they just kind of dip their toe in and then get back out of the
pool. It's like, no, like, can we get a real program
with Seth? In Roman? There isn't a guy on the roster currently he
has more history with outside of maybe brock Leser, but even then, there's
a more emotional ties to Seth. And I just I'm not understanding if they
just do that exhibition which means absolutely nothing with no titles on the line,
why they would do that and not just get the most out of it,
do a big trade. I continue to propose the trade, but it does
You're right when you look at everything line young up now, yeah, time
off. You know, if it's solo, fine, but then if he's
if it's solo at Survivor series. Then again, it's still intra family.
No one else Unsmackdown, even acknowledges pun intended. I guess that the title
exists, or that there is a world title on SmackDown. Everyone just is
blind and doing their own thing. It's it is a bit frustrating. And
again it sounds like I'm complaining just like you, but I'm not. It's
just that this needs to evolve outside the bubble of the bloodline family issues.
It needs to go outside. And I understand Solo is going to be a
big star. I get it, but there are still other guys and that
you could work with, and of course the returns that we mentioned. That's
why Roman reigns as a run right now. Still has so much left that
he could do. And that's why I think that outside of that bubble of
the bloodline is where a lot of that kind of fresh feeling will come.
Because if it's Solo, it's like, all right, well that's cool.
People want to see Solo versus Roman. Can Roman actually beat Solo? All
that? And then but then where does Jimmy Lyne and Jimmy like then it's
weird. It gets weird again. I want the family the hell out of
this and have Roman actually have a real, true, proper opponent over a
couple of months. And it doesn't look like by the way, I don't
see any Crown Jewel event. That could change, but as of right now,
I don't see anything. It's Payback, Fast Lane Survivor series. So
that's the lineup. But you know, I'll let you have any closing comments
here because I do want to talk about Seth and Finn, but I'll let
you have the floor. Yeah, I don't want to dump on this because
I really do liker the bloodline, and I think the storytelling is great and
all of their chemistry with each other is second to none, and I do
think that all these are separate matches that I would eventually like to see,
Like I do you asked me before what I want to see Jay and Jimmy,
I do, just not now. Do I want to see Roman and
Solo? Probably just not now. And it's like eventually, I mean,
we told the story of the civil war, it blasted into Smitherians. It
seems like we're gonna have a sub civil war now, but like eventually,
like here's the thing is, like we've on SmackDown. We saw Lashly debut
basically like the Hurt Business two point though, which I think is really bad,
as I think it's a great rebranding for the street profits. And the
first thing in my head was just like, could you imagine these three against
the Bloodline? But now we can't see that, Like I almost would have
rathered after Jimmy turned on Jay, like all of them, like four,
like the four members of the Bloodline in the ring at SummerSlam, just all
like agree, like Jay falls back in line, just because I would be
like, Okay, it's over whatever, kind of predictable and all this,
but at least we know the Civil War stuff is over and we can move
on to a non blood Line opponent and for Roman reigns. But the fact
that, like, and I get that they're always trying to tell a story
and further a story, but it almost feels like the storytelling they're doing with
the Bloodline, it's like they're going too far just to say that they're telling
more of a story, Like and I can't believe I'm saying that, because
I felt like under Vince McMahon, they overtly wouldn't do good storytelling and they
would just care about the payoff. But it just feels like with the Bloodline
stuff, it's and I know that Paul Haman and Roman Reigns easy enough for
me to say, are very involved in booking it and writing it, so
I understand that they have a vested interest. It just feels like maybe going
down a simpler path and having Jay and Jimmy fall in line, Like maybe
Jimmy would have been like, we just had to fall in line, and
we're stronger when we're together and whatever, but he just felt like maybe simpler
would have been better for this time, just for this time. Yeah,
absolutely, and this is something that hey, maybe we'll be vested interested,
much more interested come Friday when they have something that Jimmy says that you're like,
Okay, fine, you know this makes sense, let's go. But
yeah, I mean, did Jimmy turney? When I look at it,
I'm like, well, Jimmy's the one that actually turned on Roman to begin
with, and now he's the one bringing him back. Anyway, that's a
whole nother conversation. But all right, Well, let's let's talk about Seth
and Finn, a matchup that I thought was very good. A lot of
people, including you and I thought that Finn had a very good chance to
win, and I think we both predicted Finn to win, I believe,
and there's an argument to me made that he should have won, and they
didn't go that road. They went the Damian Priest and Finn slow burn about
to explode though road where we had the briefcase get thrown into the ring,
Seth uses it inadvertently. We assume it was supposed to be for Finn.
He used on Seth, but Seth ends up capitalizing and stomps Finn's skull off
of the off the briefcase and gets the victory. And that's the way Seth
retains. So what did you think about the match and where you think they're
going now with the world title? You know what, I actually liked it.
I thought that my predicted Finn to win. I thought it would be
better for storytelling for Finn to win, and I do think, and I
still maintain this, that this was probably your last kick at the can with
Finn valor as a credible world champion in a lot of ways. So,
I mean it's a sacrifice they felt was needed, But I mean they did
a hell of a lot of storytelling here. And to be honest, after
the match was done and I was looking at Finn and I was looking at
Damien, I was saying to myself, like, you know what, Damian
feels like more of a main eventer than Finn, And I think it was
the right decision. And I still do think there's a lot more tread left
on the tire of Seth Rawlins' World Heavyweight champion, and they could string this
out a bit and there's a good storytelling that's going to be told with Damien
and fim Balor, for sure. I mean, Damien Priest to me is
a star in the making. He looks the part. I think he is
the part, and Finn Balor kind of just came off, and this was
probably their intention, kind of just came off as like an entitled weasily leader,
if you will, but and subconsciously knowing that in some ways his understudy
is surpassing him in terms of legitimacy. So the fact that I was able
to take that away from the match maybe say that, hey, you know
what I was wrong, Seth holding onto the championship was the right call.
And I do think they really have something with Damien Priest. I don't know
why, but the stare he gave Seth Rawlins and fim Balor after the match,
just that look he gave made me think, like, this guy,
when he becomes world champion is going to really do special things. That look
it was the most dead pan just look, but it told such a story.
I don't know where that came from, but it was a burning image
in my mind, like whoa, you know, like, without saying a
word, what the hell is going on here? And I don't dislike this
decision either, even though you know I was wrong that that's to me,
it's fine because there is still a lot you could do a Seth and especially
if you're trying to get Seth versus a Roman for an exhibition match as Survivor
Series and all that you're looking ahead. You know that then you can do
that. But because you don't want to Heal versus a Heal Roman and I
get that, um, but the matchup with Thought was really good. I
could watch these two, you know, every other pay per view if they
if they just kind of had wanted to have like an annual few that you
know, they have five six matches a year, I could. I could
do it they're so damn good together. They brought back the twenty sixteen injury
of having Finn try to do that to Seth that I figured they would do
that where they kind of do they do that same spots at this time Someone's
shoulders not torn off their you know, their body. But it was well
executed. Having of course Dom get involved, he I think he got stomped
on the outside, Riah getting involved, the usual suspects, but then it's
furthering Finn versus Damien, and sure having Finn's champion looking over his shoulder with
Damien, uh, you know, over there saying I'm not gonna cash in
and your man, I'm not going to cash it on you. Eventually knowing
Damien's gonna cash in on Finn would have been a fun story. And also
having them being able to claim that they are all holding gold would have been
a lot of fun. And I think that, yeah, sure, that
that's a story that they absolutely could have told. No one would have been
sad about it. But I think what it comes down to it is that
they look at this and say, well, Seth hasn't had a full fledged
run yet. It's still you know, kind of in its infancy or man
more like it's teen years, like it's we're just getting going here, and
I think that they look at sat Seth as a longer term champion, maybe
at least six months before they start to talk about Seth losing it. And
overall, again, good storytelling it. You really can't go wrong here,
Like, you know, just because I was wrong about the pick doesn't mean
that I just it's not the right pick. You really couldn't have gone wrong
with either way, because there's a good story to be told that both.
I really have no complaints. No, I don't either, and it's I
guess what they're going for here with Finn. I do kind of feel bad
for like the actual person. I don't know his real name, but the
actual man, because it feels like his character is best used to kind of
just shoving himself in a position that he doesn't belong in, like trying to
recreate history and rewrite his story. Not to rip off Cody Rhodes, but
he's trying to like rewrite history and be like, no, I was supposed
to be a main eventor and I deserve this World Championship run, but in
the end time has pasted you buy men, and it's Damien's ton now and
that's the story that I think they're telling. And to me, you know,
I'll eat my words. I thought the best story would be having Finn
hold the world title and having Finn, you know, be the leader the
Judgment Day, which I suppose by de facto he kind of has been positioned
as for the last fourteen fifteen months, and having every Judgment Day member hold
some form of gold or in Damian Priest's case, the briefcase. But lo
and behold, they told the different story, and I think the storytelling was
perfect, And to be honest, I wonder where the Judgment Day is going
to go from here. I wonder if they oust Damien Priest. I wonder
if they ouse Finn balor like for you, do you think one of them
get ousted? And if so, which one is it? I think Finn
turns baby face. I mean, what's going to happen is Finn is going
to get I think he's going to be attacked by the entire Judgment Day.
Maybe Priest you know, bludgeons him with the with the briefcase. I don't
know if it will happen, right, you know, what happens tonight.
I mean, I don't Again, I don't know what happened on Raw yet.
Maybe maybe it gets drawn out several weeks and happens at payback, or
they again they pulled the trigger tonight, or are they drawn out even further.
I'm not sure, but either way, this is going to result in
Finn Balor being the baby face and having Damien Priests be the heel. That
just seems to be the natural way to go as people have a lot of
respect for Finn. He's very likable. He's you forgot how good he is
on a promo for you know, many months at a time where he doesn't
get to talk. He's just got that that just inherent likability about him.
So yeah, Damien versus Finn is going to be something that happens, and
maybe Damien puts his briefcase on the line or something like that. I don't
know, but that's where they're going, is uh, you know, probably
in the next couple of months leading out to fast Lane. And do you
think, well, where do you think seth Rawlins goes with the World Heavyweight
Championship Because we look at the Raw roster like there hasn't really been a heel
positioned in a an event capacity since before the draft, because this stuff with
Finn and Seth has been going on essentially since WrestleMania and subsequently the Draft.
So like, where do you think this leads for Seth? Because we know
he's going to be the Fighting Champion and he's going to Maine event probably fast
Lane and Payback before presumably getting to Roman at Servirus Series. Like, what
do you think is in store for Seth rollins in the world title between now
and serviror Series. Well, I would say Dominic Mysterio wish, I really
wish he would become world champion. Obviously they went a different road and put
the NXT North American title on him, which is fine, I would actually
say, I mean, I think given that Cody Rhodes is now freed up
from brock Lesner and presumably for the time being, Seth and Finn are complete
as Finn moves his focus to Damian and Cody also confronted Seth before brock Lesner
attacked him again a couple month or two ago, that the Cody's going to
continue to try to pursue Seth's championship, and maybe that's what happens. Maybe
it is Cody versus Seth perhaps, I think that's one possibility, or they
keep those two separate because they are arguably the top two baby faces unwrong,
so I mean, looking at the rest of the roster, I mean,
Riddle doesn't make sense. Ricochet is a baby face, you don't want him.
Bron Stroman maybe, I mean, yeah, broun Stroman has been an
m I am. I would imagine he's injured, so I haven't heard much
about him. But Gunther's got the IC title. I really I don't know.
I mean, that's really kind of it. Unless it's like a fatal
or a triple threat. Maybe Seth does, you know, stay in the
judgment Day's crosshairs and they have a triple threat even though he's the money in
the bank briefcase holder. I mean, that's also a possibility. But other
than that, I don't see any other guy on the roster pending a massive
return, of course, on the roster that would make sense for Seth to
face off of against in the next couple of months. The only thing I
thought about, and I thought that this was going to happen after Seth won
the World heavyweight Championship at I believe it was a Knight of Champions against j
Styles in Saudi Arabia that he won it, and I thought that his first
opponent would be a heal Drew McIntyre. They went to the Finn Road.
I thought it was an excellent decision. His feud with the Judgment Day has
been awesome. But I don't know if you caught this, but after Drew
loss claim to Gunther, they just showed a clip of him like marching up
the ramp, up the aisleway, whatever you want to call it, and
I just thought to myself, like, maybe this is the straw that breaks
the camels back in the baby face version of Drew McIntyre, Like we're three
and a half years into him weighing the rumble, which is effectively when he
turned baby face in January twenty twenty, and I don't know if he's going
to continue this feud with Gunther. Like I mentioned when we spoke last Thursday
in the preview show, I wouldn't be opposed to him eventually dethroning Gunther,
even though I thought that Summerslime wasn't the right time to do it. But
I wonder, like, are they maybe going to go down a path of
Drew turning heel and that it just he's finally snapped. He can't sit idly
by anymore. He hasn't held the championship since the winter of twenty twenty one
when the miss cashed in on him, And I'm just thinking myself, would
a heel Drew McIntyre be a good opponent for seth Rawlins. Oh hell yeah,
I think Drew needs. And again, anytime you come back from a
return, whether you're heal or baby face, people you embrace you, but
eventually they get bored with you again. It's just human nature. So I
think a good way to refresh Drew is to turn him. Hell, as
you mentioned, it has been several years pre pandemic, before or since Drew
mcti has been a heal. And he's a good heel. I mean I
think he no, I know, he could play a very good heel.
He's a polished wrestler, he understands a business, he's got great in ring
psychology, he can cut good promos, he's legit badass, like, he
checks all the boxes to not just be a good baby face, but a
really good heel. And it also would give Seth another guy to work with
that is a legitimate threat to his world title, not just one of the
stepping stones of well, it'll be a fun match, but Seth will win.
No. I think Drew turning heel and facing Seth would be a very
real threat to sets world championship. Absolutely, But like you said, does
that I think that. Here's the thing I will say, I think that
happens. Yes, I do think that happens, but I don't know of
the timing of it, because perhaps Gunther and Drew stretch this out one more
because don't forget this pay per view that's coming up is called Payback, and
that would insinuate that some whatever happened at the previous event, the you know
that payback has come and not that every match how in the card has to
fit that, but for some of the high level ones it would make sense.
So I think it happens probably shortly after Payback, maybe leading into fast
Lane or Survivor Series if they don't do Roman in Seth. So I think
that's happening for Drew. Before twenty twenty three is over, we'll see a
heel Drew Macintar against Seth rollins and they had a very underwhelming program in the
early stages of the pandemic era, if I'm not mistaken, and it just
feels like a program we never really got to see. Obviously, back then
it was a baby Face Drew and a heel seth Rollins, so it would
be reversed. But I mean, just quickly, like I'm kind of thinking
about it, do you feel like the SmackDown roster, not in terms of
star power, but just like the mid card and the depth is much stronger
than the Raw roster. Well, I mean it depends, like you take
Roman Reins out of it and for the most all intents purposes of how frequently
he's there. I you know, the roster. It's it's difficult because when
you add the world title to Raw, that's really helped and it's made the
guys chasing it feel more important because they have a top title to chase.
But now that things are I guess as equal as they've been in a while.
When I look at the SmackDown card, I mean, or the SmackDown
roster, you have a kind of an amba of Bobby Lashley, who's been
heel baby face with the Hurt business, not with the hurt business. You
know, he's been all over the damn place, and now he's got this
new group. Bobby Lashly has been all over But I still like what he's
doing and I think he's a real opponent for Roman Reigns whenever they want to
go down that road. I think, ultimately, though, SmackDown does have
the more I guess better is a subjective term, but it's a more star
studded roster I think. I mean, you have Edge wherever the hell he's
going these days. You have AJ Dials, you have Juzo, Jimmy Us,
Roman Reigns of course SOLOSICOA. You have a rising La Night and we
didn't even talk about him, but maybe that's another conversation. La Night.
Is you know a star, a mega star, truly in the making right
now? You have Shotzi with her new haircut, she feels fresh. You
know you have ray Masterio he's injured right now. I mean, I think,
really, when you look at this right now, SmackDown's probably the bigger
star that I guess, more exciting roster than Raw. Yes, well,
I was just theme bot because you also have Austin Theory who's been lost in
no management land. And returning Bobby Lashly as you mentioned Shamus, who was
just like a really good utility guy, and I think he didn't interview where
he said he felt underutilize, which I would concur with, like you could
have Shamus even if it was baby Face versus baby Face feud with seth Rawlins
and then buried at the bottom of the food chain is AJ styles feuding with
carry and Cross and carrying Cross is about as stale as you can get.
But I still actually think there's something fare with him. I really do think
there's a lot of untapped potential. It's just about finding him a meaning and
I just find that there's not good chemistry with him in AJ and I just
I don't care that much. But like just AJ and to a much lesser
extent, Carrying Cross being buried at the bottom of the SmackDown roster kind of
tells you all you need to know, because for me, like I do,
I guess you have Sammy and Kevin on RAW, but they're tagging right
now, so that kind of takes them out the single scene. And then
you even have a guy like Santos Escobar, So I mean, I just
think there are some guys on SmackDown that if they were on raw could put
themselves into that mix with Seth Rawlins, And I just think that maybe maybe
overall right now there's a lack of heels, and I guess, like it's
so weird, like Bobby Lashly returning now as a heel, presumably based on
what the street profits did, it almost feels like he would be the perfect
guy to feud with Seth Rollins, right, Oh yeah, yeah, I
mean absolutely if they could make that happen. Yeah, but with Bobby Lashly
seth Rollins, you know, on separate brands, it's a little difficult again
unless they do some kind of trade, but or they just have people come
over, because you know that happens every now and then now where people just
come over and no one cares and the whole draft rules and imaginary ones anyway,
so they could still make it happen even if honestly, even if there's
no trade, they can still I mean really like because they have told us
that it doesn't really matter and that we can just kind of pop people over
whenever we feel like and you're not going to care because you're getting the best
match possible. And people are blinded by that, so that's still a possibility
for all intensive purposes. They have a brand split, but they don't when
they don't want one. So um, yeah, that Brobby lastly would be
an absolutely, I mean, it'd be an excellent opponent for Seth Rollins right
now. But all right, well, well you know I'm gonna I guess
I'll end things here. We could go on and on about Summer Slam,
and there's so much we didn't even talk about. With a brilliant MMA rules
match with Shane and Ronda that was just overwhelming with the crowd reaction and all
that. But I'll pause and I'll just give you the floor for anything that
we didn't talk about, maybe that you wanted to quickly mention. Um,
you know, I guess we could briefly touch on. Uh, there's so
many things. I just wanted to say. One thing, I guess you
know what m l A night. Um. All I would say is that
maybe this is the beginning of a major push for him. Obviously, for
all intents and purposes, it's a meaningless a battle royal that is just for
bragging rights. But there were some decent names in there, you know,
Shame is aj styles I liked Oh my god, I almost said brotus Clay
Bronson reed, I liked him, yeahs in that match carrying Cross. I
mean, maybe I'm one of the few, but I do think there's something
there with him, even though he is boring as all hell right now in
a lot of ways. But I do think that maybe this is the start
of something with with La Knight. But one now that I'm really thinking about
it, like, is it not absurd that Austin Theory wasn't on the pay
per view? About as absurd as the fact that I mean, first of
all, yes, because they did so much in the last couple of years
to build up the US title with the absence of the World title on Raw,
which I mean it only got built up simply because something else wasn't there.
But they still did a nice job, and all the all the equity
that they built up in the US title, it wasn't on SmackDown, or
it wasn't on SummerSlam. It is a bit of an abomination. Yes,
not not necessarily that Austin Theory wasn't on it, but the US title more
importantly wasn't showcased on SummerSlam. Yes, it was ridiculous. But also,
you know you didn't have Trish and and Leda or I'm sorry Trish and Becky
Lynch. How does that take it? I mean, like certain things,
and I know all the time constrains this and that. I mean, how
about you substitute out Ronda and Shana for Becky and and Trish. I mean
that that's a hell of a better story. And yet I don't know.
I digress. Yeah, I mean it's I think overall it was a good
show. I guess the one thing, well, I could say a bunch
of one things. I guess this is the lack of return somewhat surprised me.
Not saying that I was expecting Voldemort, but I just thought that maybe
we would get one return. But at the same time, we can't always
expect to return. But no bray White, no Randy Orton. I was
kind of surprised by that. Yeah, I thought at least one of the
one of the four three four that we mentioned would come back. And I
think that took away because people were waiting. I feel like there was that
kind of underwhelming or that kind of ground swell of people like, Okay,
who's coming back, where's the big return. Where's the big and the biggest
thing coming out of that his own Jimmy USO signing with Roman, Now,
like that's the biggest item arguably that you could come up with. Um,
you know, and again, I know, returns don't necessarily make or break
an event, but I feel like it's been a while since we've seen a
big return. I mean, it feels like it's been I mean, I
don't know, it feels like it's been months since we've had that shocking like,
oh my god, so and so's back, and we keep waiting for
Randy, like where's Randy, where's Randy? Ah, he's coming back here
doctors reports, and then ten minutes later you'll say, oh, well no,
doctors say, you know that they told him never wrestle again. And
then they're like, well Randy still wants to wrestle. It's like, what
is going on? You know, Like, so Randy Orton is still floating
out there. But yeah, the no returns, it was Honestly, it
was a disappointment. I'm not gonna lie that was a bit disappointed there no
returns, but the overall solid event, I don't think it was their best
event of the year. Crowd certainly didn't match what we saw overseas the last
few months. But yeah, yeah, overall a good show, and there
are specifically on Monday Night Raw, but even on SmackDown, Like I'm really
interested to see where I'm just saying call them the hurt business two point zero,
but I mean, I'm really interesting to see what happens on SmackDown with
Bobby Glashley and the street profits l A Night and on Monday Night Raw.
Really interested to see what happens with the World Heavyweight Championship in what direction they
take it. Agreed. Yeah, and like you said with La night Man,
this is the beginning of something. I hope they finally gave the fans
something to sink their teeth into and I hope it continues. And boy,
again, they couldn't have given a more just basic foundational victory. I mean
that that you talk about starting from the bottom winning a Battle Royal. And
then the promo video for the Battle Royal included just royal rumble footage. It
was like, no, no, no, no, it's not a Battle
Royal, right, Like fifty percent of that footage was Royal rumbles, not
Battle Royals. But I digress so all right, Well, I know that
this week you'll be returning with a new retro last week we take take breaks
on our pl e weeks, but I don't know if you want to give
us any sneak peek or maybe you're not sure yet of what you're going to
talk about this week. Yeah, I'm really not sure because I sometimes review
angles, I sometimes review pay per views, so I'm bound to a few
things around right now. I have a couple of irons in the fire,
but I'm not going to reveal all that just just yet. Cool. All
right, well, looking forward to it, and thanks so much for coming
on. It'll be, like I said, very interested to see what's going
to be happening over the next couple of months because we can already. Sounds
insane, but I think we can already kind of start taking a peek at
WrestleMania. A lot of times, storylines go from summer slim to mania.
We've seen it several times over the last five years or so, so I
don't know. It sounds crazy, but I think we can start looking over
the horizon and start booking a little bit. So it's crazy. That's WrestleMania
season right around the corners. I know, I know it is, and
ay, WWE already has want to understand their top four or five matches already
booked out, so we'll have to decode it and figure it out. But
all right, well, thanks so much for coming on and there we'll be
chatting in a week or so. Yeah, man, looking forward to it.
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