What you're gonna do, brother, when the crypto bull run comes to you.
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it's for life. This is WWE Superstar Drew McIntyre and you're listening to the
WWE podcast God, the one that everybody wants me sixteen sad Just ress this
min we're gon acknowledge me. Welcome to the current state of ww We've got
Anthony Debarco back with us as we always do every single Monday night to talk
about what's on our minds for what's going on in WWE right now, and
as we are about two weeks a little less than two weeks away from Survivor
series, we have a new United States Champion and a guy that came in
as a YouTube star, but I think has really won over a lot of
people with his ability in the ring. And we're going to focus a little
bit on Logan Paul tonight. But first welcome Anthony. How you doing,
Not too bad man? And pretty interesting news coming up today regarding the new
United States Champion, Logan Paul, that he might be turning his full time
focus to ww announcing his retirement from boxing. I believe he did that on
a show on Fox at sports talk radio show. I forget which one it
was exactly, but it seems like he's kind of going, you know what,
deep into WWE. And this is kind of like what we spoke about
right when he won the championship at Saudi Arabia that this had to be the
potential for a really, really significant run with him as the US champion,
and one that had a lot of promise if he were to commit at least
semi full time. So if this is true and we're going to see a
full time or close to full time version of Logan Paul on SmackDown, where
do you think this is headed well. I mean with the place for him
to be on SmackDown, I think is a good place to be. We
certainly don't need another absentee champion. We have had enough of that over the
last couple of years. And I think him retiring from boxing, or at
least for the time being, retiring from boxing, is very promising because beyond
the fact that we don't want somebody as an absentee champion again, you do
want somebody that's fully focused on on the championship, and you want somebody able
to be there at least semi regularly. I would even him be being okay
if he's on every other SmackDown. I actually don't need him on every SmackDown.
You know, our our standard at this point are so low that we
would take him being there once a month. Uh, you know, that
would actually be considered full time compared to Roman. But when you look at
this, I think you have a United States champion that you know is going
to put on kick ass matches, you know is going to be able to
deliver in the ring and on the microphone. So I'm looking forward to his
his potential opponents, And you know, as I look at the roster.
He does have a pretty good amount of guys he hasn't been able to work
with yet, and you know, we can certainly run down some of those
names. Well, the other part that you mentioned in there that's so important
all of this is another absentee champion. We cannot have that SmackDown. That
is not something that we need or should get. And this was a SmackDown
that we just saw that the only championship that was featured was the women's championship,
not the world chap. What is it, the WWE Women's Champion.
Yeah, yeah, that's what it's called. So on the men's side this
week on SmackDown, there was no men's champion, no world title, no
mid card title, no tag title. And that's okay for a one off,
but we have to make sure that Logan Paul is there and the United
States Championship is featured because you look at what its counterpart on Monday Night Raw
has done over the last fifteen month around the race with the waste of Gunther
and how important that title has felt. And I do think Triple H in
his early days as had a creative, did a good job to build the
US title up on Monday Night Raw when it was the main championship when Roman
Reigns had both titles hijacked. But in order to regain that after a very
dull twenty twenty three to this point, after lackluster runs of Austin Theory and
Ray Masterio, it first and has to be featured weekly. Am I right?
Absolutely? Especially like we said with Roman gone, the tag team champions
seems to be stuck on on on a net raw. That absolutely needs to
be the case. Yes, And when I look at some of the people
he can work with, I mean it opens up a ton of possibilities,
Kevin Owens being one, of course, I would imagine that La Knight is
probably at the top of the list as well. And I think this is
this is gonna be a lot of fun. You're right, though, this
needs to be a much more present champion. I know he's a heel,
but he needs to be here every week. Actually is probably best. It's
just sad that I have been conditioned to believe that anything beyond once a month
is actually considered. You know, a lot of time on SmackDown if a
champion shows up. So I'm excited for this, actually, I mean I
came in despising Logan Paul I didn't want him here, and they try to
push the babyface thing that quickly went south. But now he's really kind of
he's coming into his own character. His promos have felt much more comfortable than
they have over the last year or two. And I am I'm loving where
this is at because I think he's going to be a long reigning United States
Champion. And the first question is, obviously, who will be the first
opponent for him. I don't imagine it's gonna be Ray Mysterio feels like he's
on a collision course with Santos Escobar and the impending implosion of the LWO.
So who is that next guy? Like you look at La Knight, I
feel like he's tangling with the bloodline at this point. It feels like his
time to go after the US title has already coming gone like it feels like
he's past that. And then Seamus, who you would imagine would be kind
of next in line, hasn't been seen since his match with Edge in Toronto
Edges farewell match in WWE. Could a returning aj Styles be that guy?
But for me, I look at Kevin Owens and I know you spoke about
it on the WWE. We can review about how he's kind of like middling
in no man's land right now. Obviously has a very loose feud with Austin
Theory and Grayson Waller, but he's a guy who has not held a singles
championship since twenty seventeen, conveniently enough, or coincidentally enough, the US title
when he was feuding with it over he was feuding with aj Styles over it
on SmackDown Live. That eventually led to his program with Shane McMahon and the
eventual return to Daniel Bright and all that. So when I look at the
next opponent for Logan Paul, it's Kevin Owens. And maybe I'm looking too
far down the line here, and you could extend this program probably right till
WrestleMania. But I would even make the case that Kevin Owens should be the
next guy to hold that championship just because of how long it's been since he's
held a singles title. Yeah, that's that's fair. And Kevin Owens is
in no man's land. The program he has with Austin Theory, Grayson Waller,
it's kind of like a slapstick comedy, fun but sometimes serious type of
program that really no one's got a whole lot of emotional investment in. Ken
is essentially free. I mean like that, I don't consider him in a
program that he can't go anywhere with that he can come and go as he
pleases. This is a Logan Paul with Kevin Owens match. I think ready
for the making. Ella A Knight, as you said, is still tangled
with the blood line. And you know what, maybe they don't even go
La Knight Logan Paul yet because Ella Knight should be favored to win that.
But if they want Ella Knight to win the rumble, I mean this is
where you start to long term book. You can't have Laen eight Lowse to
Logan Paul clean. Maybe he uses the Knucks, I don't know, but
right now, Kevin Owens should be the first guy up. If you're talking
about AJ Styles, absolutely. The problem would be though that when you look
at AJ Styles, then think about how he left with the blood line injuring
him. It wouldn't make sense for him to go into a program with Logan
Paul and totally forget about the fact. Oh yeah, the blood line is
the reason I'm not back and the blood line's reason I was out for a
couple of months. So I think aj styles. Though that said, Ken
quickly transitioned to Logan Paul. If they want to go that road, I
mean you also look at other guys too that are on the fringe. I
mean, you do have Bobby Lashley, who you know you could eventually get
in there, but he's a he's kind of a heel at this point,
you know. Outside of that, I mean, I really don't know dragon
Ly. I mean, there's another possibility, but this, this is a
there's at least a good handful five guys that could probably rattle off as we
did that are going to be able to work with Logan Pol in a very
effective program. I'm looking forward to this. So, assuming Logan Pol is
full time, and that doesn't mean wrestling every single SmackDown, but let's say
he appears on at least two smackdowns a month, He's on every pl he
has let's say one one match per month on SmackDown, like a relatively full
time run. And to be honest, I think if you're a champion,
one of the perks should be that you don't work the same full time schedule
as everyone else. I think that that's a perfectly realistic kind of perk for
being a champion in a professional sport or a simulated professional sport. So assuming
that we get a mostly full time nan of Logan pol here and go beyond
the United States Championship, But what kind of ceiling does this guy have?
Because maybe same for kurd Angle. I don't think anyone's picked it up as
quickly and as naturally as Logan Paul has. But like in the last two
decades, have we seen someone has such a natural as Logan Paul. Oh
No, this is I understand. The guy is a crazy athlete. He
was in amateur wrestling. He was very successful as a boxer. Lover or
hate him, put all our personal feelings aside. The guy has picked it
up in record time. He is a mini kurd Angle in that respect,
not to say he's kurd Angle Olympic level quality, but in how quickly he's
picked it up. He's compared all the time to that. And he has
no business being this good this quickly. He doesn't. He has what like
six seven matches that you know it singles matches in front of live audiences.
Like it's it's it's insane, and it feels like he has been here for
five to ten years to have this level of experience. Now, what's his
ceiling? Of course, time is gonna tell. We don't know what that
is yet. I would imagine that it's at bare minimum. At worst,
it's the fact that, Okay, he has a one month run his first
opponent beats and Logan Paul kind of you know, maybe goes back and forth
between boxing and WWE or something like that. That's worst case. Best case
is this guy has a US championship through WrestleMania forty and retains through WrestleMania forty,
I mean, and then continues on and has a sustained run. I
think that is the ceiling at this point. I mean to say, what
his ceiling is for his entirety of his career is a little bit more of
a difficult question to answer, given we have such a small sample size.
But I think those are kind of the extremes of what we're looking at right
now with Logan Paul. So do you think that there's any legs for him
to be a babyface eventually or is it just way too early to even forecast
that type of version of Logan Paul because there are just so there's so much
tread left on the tire with him as a heel. Because I was thinking
about this today with the Roman reign not around, if he's there on a
weekly or close to weekly basis, is he not the best rule in the
company. And out look, a lot of that can change with Drew McIntyre,
how much they elevate Damien Priest over the coming months with that that money
in the bank briefcase, rear Ripley on the women's side of things has a
case to be made as just the best heel in the company period, on
both the men and women's side. But if Logan Paul actually like fully dedicates
and commits and there's actually like legitimacy to what he said today or whenever it
was to him going you know what deep into WWE and wrestling, I think
that this guy could be the biggest heel in the company by as early as
this time next year, especially depending on what happens with Roman reigns in his
schedule. And what's interesting is you can actually have Roman and Logan do a
double turn at some point. I know they already had their matchup the kind
of one off and now he's diving head first into the deep end and really
going full time. If that, if that is true, I mean you
could have hit them to a double turn, because at some point Roman is
gonna turn babyface. I still I predicted in the next you know, twelve
months. I think by this time next year we could be talking about a
babyface Roman. You know, that's another discussion, of course, But logan
Paul, right now, I don't think it's in the cards. Right now,
he is on a nice heel run. He feels so much more comfortable
as a heel in the ring. His brass nut gimmick is is one that
is again reminds me of the William Regal days that has been sorely missed.
I really enjoy what he brings in the ring on the microphone. He's just
arrogant as an actual human being. I think his actual arrogance as a person
comes through and it translates very nicely on TV. So yeah, for at
least the next twelve months, I mean, I would keep him a heel
and see what you got and see how far you can go, and then
and kind of re evaluate. But sure you could turn a babyface. I
mean, look at that, how quickly they turned them his baby face.
He's been a heel for how many years, and all of a sudden everyone
feels bad and for the Miz and sympathy for the Miz. You could do
the same with Logan Paul. It's really not gonna be that difficult, because
you know, we'll feel bad if what if Logan Paul comes out and and
he does have some kind of faux injury and then you know, say a
heel group comes out beats him down and he's out numbered. I mean,
you'll you naturally gravitate towards the underdog, and if you see somebody getting beat
down three four on one, you're gonna want to see that other person try
to rise up and take them down. I mean, it's it's it's not
that difficult to do. But right now I wouldn't even I wouldn't even be,
you know, discussing it when I look at both sides of the roster,
Raw and SmackDown, and I see the star power that Logan Paul brings,
like with Roman Reigns not there on SmackDown. I think he has more
star power than any full time competitor right now, including La Night and on
the raw side of things, like Seth kind of has that star power as
much as we don't like the character. Cody Rhodes is over in that capacity
as well. But I do think it's fair to say with John CNN now
leaving Roman Reigns being on a part time schedule, the Rock nowhere to be
seen, brock lesra on hiatus for the last three months or so, this
is a roster, specifically on the men's side, that lacks high end star
power on a week to week basis. And I know that a lot of
people hate Logan Pung a personal level, and that's kind of been I guess
shifted over to a character level as well, which is what you want.
He is a mega mega heel, but if he does, he not bring
a type of star power that is a lacked heavily on both sides and on
both brands. Oh yeah, instantly, I mean, And that probably is
one of the biggest contributing factors for WWE giving this guy an opportunity is the
fact that he has how many you know, how many tens of millions of
social media followers that WWE is looking at and saying, hey, can we
translate these into dollar signs? Like they looked at his followers and probably just
saw dollar signs, and I would too, because you're thinking, even if
you bring over less than one percent, like half of a percent of one
of those people into regular viewership, they become viewers, regular viewers, and
then they start buying, you know, merchandise and attending live events. I'm
looking at this if I'm WWE and saying chi ching because again, even though
you understand a small, small fraction of those people are going to become wrestling
fans, you still are are able to cast a wide net and try to
reach some of those people, and I think they will. And I think
that's again a part of the reason why they brought him over is his star
power, is his social media influence. He's one of the biggest social media
stars on the planet. And on top of that, he's insanely good in
the ring, and he is coming into his own on the microphone and he
just gets it. Now. I don't think we've seen the best of Logan
pol See. That's the crazy thing is we haven't even seen the best of
him, right, I mean, this is still Logan Paul super green.
What does Logan Paul look like when he starts to mature and actually, you
know, get his timing down to a point where he looks like a veteran,
Like this is Logan ball as a green guy. What does it look
like when he's actually fully polished? And that's the scary thing, but he
gets it so much in the ring, like you cannot see through any of
his work, And when I mean work, I don't mean that exclusively to
his innering physical capabilities, like he knows how to cut promos, his cadence
is on point, he knows his character. He's a d bag by nature,
which I mean, I guess inherently makes it easy for him to portray
that on television, Like he's made for show business. And he's clearly an
A plus athlete. So you put those two things together together, which is
pretty much professional wrestling. And this was made for him. And just because
he is from an outside world and just because he didn't go through the indie
circuits or go through NXT, I don't think that he should be burned at
the stake. For maybe there are kind of wrestling purists who are more in
line with like an indie style man for lack of it where it's aw style
type of wrestling, But I get it that he's that the social media stuff
and for w W, it's very advantageous monetarily to push this guy to a
prominent position. But this isn't like you're putting the US head on Johnny Knoxville
or something like. This guy is a legit badass. He did box for
real, He's really good in the ring, with the exception of him not
paying his dues. Per se, there is no reason from a from a
an in ring perspective, a creative perspective, and a business perspective not to
be positioning this kind of prominent position. No, there is no good reason
to not. And I'm sure that the only possible resistance to this are guys
in the back who are jealous or are insecure about their own position, or
feel like he hasn't paid his dues, and to be honest, has he
Probably not, But that doesn't mean that if he is on the show,
show it's a bad thing. Because if fans want to see him, fans
are reacting to him, and he continues to deliver, you can complain until
you're blue in the face that he hasn't quote unquote paid his dues and the
boys in the back, he hasn't earned their respect, which is it's gonna
come, but it's got to be earned. We all know that. But
at the end of the day, if he ends up delivering in the ring
and showing respect and just little by little earning the guy's respect, that'll come.
But that, to me is the only resistance that I could imagine,
you know, or hesitation on management part is is this gonna be a you
know, is this gonna hurt morale backstage? Is this gonna, you know,
piss off some guys backstage, because there are a lot of guys that
have been there a lot longer than he has. And all of a sudden,
he's US champion, He's being featured in prominent matches on on on WW
television. He's had an opportunity at Roman Reigns, he beat raymis Stereo And
I've been here twenty years and I haven't you know that kind of thing,
and I totally understand that argument. I'd feel the same way, But it
all comes down to crowd reaction. It all comes down to delivering when the
light goes on, and Logan Paul has done that. Well, that's the
thing, Like I get that the hard work, paying your dues, like
grinding for that opportunity. But as much as it's like an intangible, there
is such thing as an IT factor, and he has that it factor.
He has the look, he has the confidence, he has the promobility,
he has the athletic ability, he has the in ring IQ. And this
is all to your point being a green performance. Was his first in ring
match? Was what was it? The tag team match with the Miz at
WrestleMania thirty eight? Was that his first match? So? I mean and
singles matches? Was this not his fifth? Like, let's go through his
singles matches? He had the mis I believe was his first Roman Rings seth
Rawlins, Ricochet and raymis Heir? Were those the am I missing any singles
matches from logan? Paul, I don't think so, you said Roman rains,
Yeah, so I don't think so, And rattle off the guys he's
faced and hung with in the ring, like, okay, the Miz.
He doesn't match the other star power, but he still is a seasoned veteran
in the ring. Roman Ring is the biggest star that the company has to
offer right now. Seth Ron's arguably the best in ring competitor right now,
Rick with a like the guy might as well work for SIRC to silay like.
He's a He's a like as cheese as it sounds. He is in
a lot of ways a live action superhero and ray Masteriro, the best little
man in the history of the company and the standard bear for any Lucas style
wrestler. So he's hung with like the cream of the crop from a psychology
standpoint, a star power standpoint, a legacy standpoint in ring standpoint, and
he has yet to have even a mediocre match, Like all of his matches
have been out of the park. And that's not to even mention what he
did at the Royal Rumble last year, which was astonishing in and of itself.
So I get it that there is the whole paying your due stuff and
that applies to a lot of walks of life. But he has that it
factor and he has done nothing promo wise, creative wise, envying wise to
not position him where he is right now. No, that's again, that
is what it comes down to at the end of the day, is did
you deliver? Are the fans reacting to you do you feel like he belonged?
And as you said, do you have the it and Logan Paul has
the it guys in the back. Hey, I'm sure there's a lot of
them that don't like him, or are jealous or are portraying their own insecurities
on him, and that's just natural. I'm not blaming them for it.
But he is the best choice right now for US champion. He can work
with anybody, anybody they put in front of him. At least from what
I've seen so far, he has yet to have a stinker of a match.
And you see what he did with the Raymisterio match at Crown Jewel where
he saved the life of Ray. Now, you could argue again that was
he in position where that that actually shouldn't have happened and he should have been
closer to Ray. Sure, I mean there is maybe a little blame to
put on Logan, but he still heads up enough and smart enough and realizes,
hey, you know that that instantaneous fraction of a second reaction that he
had to catch Ray. If he didn't, of course, that the consequences,
as we all know, would have been devastating or fatal. I mean
literally it would have been absolutely awful. And for that to be something that
Logan Paul can put under his belt and for management, I'm sure that was
not lost on them. That kind of stuff is uh. You know,
you are protecting the guy you're working with, and of course is the number
one priority. And he has shown that and he hasn't done anything stupid outside
the ring. He's he has his own podcast. We know that. But
he has really matured at least outside the ring from what I understand, And
you know that's also super important. He is the guy. He's also super
young. I mean he is youth, he's athleticism, he's star power,
He's got every box you'd want to check for the making of the next star
in the company. What you're gonna do, brother, when the crypto bull
run comes to you, The ticker is SmackDown on a blockchain. Brother.
We're the first and only wrestling theme crypto and we're bridging wrestling in cryptocurrency to
make the most electrifying meme coin in crypto history. OO mean coins like doges
Pepe and she Be and you are leading the upcoming bull run and we got
the juice to turn our two passions into the next crypto phenomenon. Join the
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SmackDown ten in you, and the ticker is SmackDown Just remember, brother,
it's for life. And even the fact that he has been a d bag
on the like in the real world, he's done some questionable things, He's
he said some questionable things. He is a YouTube sensation, but in a
real way, doesn't that make his character more may not endearing, but more
relatable, Like I think he's around my age on twenty nine years old,
and guys my age, my buddies, when I'm sure you're not fine from
my age either, like what nine years older than me? I believe,
like we've all done stupid, you know what when we're young, right,
And the fact that we're seeing like a real life guy portray his real life
f ups on into ww programming kind of makes him relatable even if he is
a d bag. But he's kind of like in college, the frat guy
that every girl wants to be with and every guy wants to be and that
kind of makes you hate him, but at the same time live vicariously through
him all at the same time, if you if that does kind of appeal
in some ways. So I don't know. I know he's supposed to be
a heal and I know he's a d bag in real life and on screen,
but there's something that is kind of endearing about him and for some guys
I'm sure relatable about him as well. Yeah, he's got that charisma that
you just what the lover hate him, you can't deny he has it.
I'm not even talking about you know in the ring. He's got it and
it translates perfectly. But you can just take him and place him in a
frat house and you're like, I know exactly who this guy is, Like
you just know outside everyone knows kind of who a Logan Paul is in their
life, even if you're not friends with them, just kind of acquaintances or
maybe our chenemies or whatever. You know what kind of guy he is and
you can't deny that, even if you don't like him. He's got it.
And that's what he's bringing to the Ring here, and I think it's
gonna translate very well, and I ultimately I think he's gonna have a very
successful career, barring injury or barring he you know, maybe he wants to
leave WW and go back to boxing. We don't know. I mean,
we've seen guys Will, particularly Brock Lesner, do kind of the dual UFCWWE
thing and it worked out for Brock. But we'll see how much leverage Logan
Paul has. If he's diving headfirst into this, I would imagine he's going
to be there for at least the next year full time, and seeing what
that brings and seeing how he matures is going to be a fun project to
watch. I think they're gonna when I look at the rain here, I'm
thinking that they're gonna take this on a case by case, month by month,
pl e by ple e because they don't have a whole lot to work
with with Logan Paul. When it comes to in ring, big stage,
big moments. He's delivered thus far, but there's a larger body of work
they need to have him show them before he decides, yeah, this is
our guy for the next you know, five years. There's a long way
to go. But there is not anybody I can think of in the last
twenty years outside of Kurt Angle, that has come along that I've said,
oh my God, like this this guy. It feels like he's been here
ten years and he's been here, what a couple. The first thing I
remember is Kevin Owens stunning him. I think it was a Wrestlmania thirty eight.
Yeah, he was like the special wrath or enforcer for Kevin versus Sammy
or something like that. Yeah, And I remember them trying to get him
cheered, and Kevin Owens stunned him, and I'm like, that's exactly what
I wanted to see. So of course they could pull on that if Kevin
wants to face Slogan. But yeah, this is this is gonna be all
the fun. I have no complaints thus far, and a heel chanceion is
always a better one in my eyes because Babyfaces in chase mode is a better
formula. So with no pay Pal View or pl E between now, rumble,
is there a way to use Logan Paul in the US Championship in a
fashion that makes it feel important? Oh? Yeah, I mean, and
this is what I've thought about. What they're gonna do since there's no pl
E to to fill the gap in December, is they're gonna have a more
championship matches, especially in December than they otherwise would have to kind of make
it feel like there's important things going on, even though there's not a PLI
to make it an official platform to have those matches. So you know,
you'll probably have another World title match, You'll you know, you'll definitely have
like I would imagine a United States Title match as we get into December after
Survivor Series, when you know you're getting close to the end of the year,
and you know, maybe mid December or so, they're gonna start throwing
in US title matches and you know, trying to make maybe a triple threat
between Kevin ray And and Logan Paul that seems to make sense. La and
I'll probably be still messing around with Jimmy USO. But yeah, they'll probably
have more tampion matches than otherwise they would have because they got eight weeks of
television to fill. It's too much, isn't it. It's it's it's insane
like here, I feel like there's some parts of the year where there's too
many pay per views, but now there's not enough, Like for me,
could you have not moved fast Lane or Payback into December? Like for me,
fast Lane was kind of a useless pay per view, not to say
that there wasn't good that came out of it, but you had two pay
per views, you basically now have had, uh, what will it be
three pay per views in two months, and then you're going two months with
no pay per view. Yeah, And that's what I don't understand. And
I look historically at pay per views in that December month, like Day one
was brilliant, but I also know that the calendar doesn't always fallen away that
allows you to do that New Year's She was a really good pay per view
way back when Armageddon. Maybe the name could stand just be changed and there's
a reason why they don't use that pay per view anyway. But like I
thought, like Armageddon was always a pay per view that delivered, whether that
was Chris Jericho as the first ever undisputed Champion, the Night of Shine where
Evolution Walker with all the Gold at Armaged in two thousand and four, the
Armageddon al in the Cell match, which was kind of like the precursor to
the toh not the precursor, kind of like the predecessor to the Elimination Chamber
in two thousand, Like I don't know, like I think that that was
always a very important pay per view and really got the ball biling into the
Ray Rumbles season and was the buffer between two major pay per views of Survivor
Series and Ray Rumble. But now it's almost like that that no pay per
view in December hurt Survivor Series in a way in some odd fashion. And
not only that, it just causes a major lull around the holidays. That's
just it. And I made this I made this case last night of my
week or review. Is what's their logic? They would tell us, Well,
people are busy in you know, December, and it's the holidays,
and well, what does the NFL do? Does the NFL take a week
off? I mean, people are more engaged in their screens in televisions in
December probably than a lot of other months during the spring and summer months when
it's warmer, people are outside, they're taking vacations. What do they think
people are literally at the mall all the time, going well, I have
no time to watch any TV. What do they think people are doing?
I think that's kind of an antiquated thought process. Really, I understand why
people think that way and why companies feel WW feels that way, but it
just it actually is kind of counterintuitive. I don't mind if you want to
kind of hold this, you know, hold steady, don't do anything crazy
till the Rumble season starts and when WrestleMania season officially starts. Fine, but
you can hold a ple e. There's no reason not to hold a ple
e in December. There really isn't. People will find a way to get
there. There's there's no good reason outside of just well, it's the holidays.
What about the rest of it. There are major holidays throughout the rest
of the year that arguably people are less home for that. I mean fourth
July, people are taking vacations. There's usually something going on around the fourth
of July. I mean hell, I mean around Thanksgiving. Survivor Series is
what two days after Thanksgiving here in the United States, and so like people
where are people? Are they not with their families? Are they not traveling?
And suddenly we can do a pl here. So I just I don't
know outside of well, it's the holidays, people are busy. Why they
don't do a pl in December. What is the good reason? You don't
have to do anything major, anything revolutionary. Just hold the course, don't
do anything crazy, and then you know, do you know, do your
next event at Rumble and really get things into gear. Well, like,
for you, would you have like a gimmick pay per view, a championship
match pay per view like you've had Day One, You've had elimination a not
elimination chamber, but New Year's Revolution that often had elimination chambers descending to dismember
arm Again, Helena, So like, what kind of pay per view do
you think it would be advantageous to put in in the December? Oh?
I would. I would bring back Taboo Tuesday. I'd go wild. I
mean that that's what I would do. I mean, in this digital world,
Tabloo Tuesday was ahead of its time and I had no issue with it.
And sure people could say, oh, the results were rigged. I
don't think they were. I mean they put decisions or choices in there.
They knew people probably were going to choose, and so they kind of swayed
the way people should vote. But I ultimately think you could, you know,
not chip away the good will of fans and make them believe that the
results are real, because I think they are, and you do something crazy
like that. You could do a Tabloo Tuesday or come up with something Saturday,
so it's not during the week. You could do that too, so
it's not interfering with people's workdays, and you could do that. But that's
what you would do. So it's like, oh, December, Now,
December is kind of fun. It's never a massive event, but at least
they're doing a pl where it feels like I can interact and I can see
the results I voted for. Are they going to come out on the event?
What did other people vote for? What other voting results. In this
ultra digital world where people are to their screens, I think that it's a
no brainer to do something like that and have voting for fans and having them
be able to actually be a physical part of the show. That's what I
think they should do, and that's what I would do in December. Make
it fun, make it kind of lighthearted, but there are serious results that
could result. So that's what I would do. But one thing, no
matter what kind of pay per view would be, it would have to involve
the world champion, right, and not to go on a Roman bring to
diet tribe, but the fact that he is not only doing another two plus
months without defaying the championship is missing Survivor Series. This is a Lenstan Like,
I don't even know if I would consider it a big full pay per
view anymore. It feels a crown jewel has overtaken it just as a result
of the sums of money that they get from Saudi Arabia to go over there.
But now it's become a well, it's been a gimmicky pay per view
for the better part of a decade, it feels like, but now it's
the biggest star and the most prominent championship you have in the company. Are
not doing to be featured on the show? You're not gonna have a real
title defended on the men's side of things, Like, you know, we'll
talk to me maybe about Survivors Series as a pay per view and what it's
become since let's say twenty sixteen, at a later time when we get closer
to the actual pay per view, But like, is there anything left to
be said about what has gone on the last year or so with Roman Reigns's
title run? Noah, I mean I feel like I'm gonna just, you
know, beat a turn on the broken record and take it off, beat
it again. And try to repair it, because I feel like I am
saying the same thing with this, but this is it's getting to the point
I don't even know what to say anymore. I'm actually at a loss of
words. And look, if it is health related, if his cancer is
back, and that's the reason he's taking more and more time off, it's
if you notice it's getting worse as we go on. It's not improving,
it's getting worse. So if it's health related, by all means, man,
take the time off all you need, to spend time with your family,
whatever you gotta do. But don't, don't, you know, sacrifice
everyone else's careers and livelihoods simply for just looking, Oh, another day's past,
another day's past. Oh we can add five weeks, six weeks,
eight weeks to his reign. Oh cool, Like that that is beyond the
point of return for me, Like that is not something I even care about
anymore. I really don't even care if he beats Hulk Hogan's record. I
actually don't give a damn about his record anymore. Because I realized that no
matter what they do, there is nothing they can do to repair all the
damage that they've done. That they'll never know they did, but that is
inherently there, meaning guys that could have had opportunities to be world champion or
underspeed a champion and main event with Roman Reigns or main event with whoever and
work with whoever will never know all the damage that could have been all at
the altar of Roman Reigns ticking off day after day after day and then not
showing up more and more and more. So I don't even know what your
original question was, but that's how I feel. No, it was just
like, you know, we're getting up against the time wise, but it
just really kind of feels that it's it's at the point and I always said
this last week and probably the week before that, but like the point of
diminishing returns. With the longer they go with this, it just dilutes it.
And I feel like, I want to say since WrestleMania, but they
did have this Civil War stuff that had it had a shelf life and a
short one at that, but it was fun. But it feels like,
really since that Sammisan defeat at Elimination Chamber, and not just because I was
there, but it feels like it's been a slow descent into darkness. But
just like breathing, the time, run the farther you get. And as
soon as they passed a thousand days, I feel like that's like the clock's
been ticking here. And I know they've referenced the two runs that he's coming
up on Hulk Hogan and what's the other one that Bruno Sammartino. Sammartino is
too runs in the top three, So look, I can imagine they could
bring this past WrestleMania Hango. I said this last week, but you know,
I'm no Cody Rhodes guy, but I'd rather him face Cody Roads at
this point than The Rock or anyone else, just because I think Cody Rhoads
put in the same position, would win the championship and I just need to
see someone else hold that title. And if you want to position the Roman
Rains is the new Pleasant, that's all fine and dandy, but you can
have him hold the most important title hostage for three plus years. So it's
unfortunate because I still really do like Roman Reigns, and when he's on the
television, he captivates me. And there's a reason why they've pushed him to
this particular spot, especially in his character, but his schedule has just made
it they can't do it anymore. And you know, when we get to
wrestling season, it will be two years that he's on this part time schedule
and enough is enough at this point, right, And to kind of put
a closing exclamation point on that, it's he's not gaining anything by getting more
days. All that's happening is our guys are losing by him gaining more days.
There's there's nothing to be gained anymore outside of a stat that they want
to get to that they feel is going to you know, define Roman's career.
That that, to me is what they are thinking. And it's all
at the sacrifice of other guys on the roster who are like, what the
hell is going on here? And that's who I feel bad for, and
the fans of course, as fans, it's just so frustrating. It's it's
heat on the company, not heat on Roman. Good for him, good
for all of his you know money, he's collected, all of his schedule
and all the time off. Good for him. Seriously, it's just there's
nothing left to be gained. I don't care even if he ends up beating
becomes the number one longest raigning champion of all time. I don't care.
That doesn't matter to me more or fans I think anymore. I think fans
are just like, can we just move on? It's all like w w's
doing this selfishly so they can anoint Roman in while they're in power and while
they in management, while the creative has the opportunity. They're saying, we're
not gonna be able to do this again, this is a hell of a
run in our in our lifetimes. We may I'll be able to do this.
Let's just go all the way with it. So it's almost a selfish
milestone that they're trying to achieve with Roman and saying, well, the fans
will deal with the you know, they'll complain they got seth over there on
raw. They'll be fine. I think it's it's beyond its shelf life.
I understand some of the bloodline stuff, and a lot of it was very
good, but Roman doesn't need to be champion anymore to be entertaining. He
has beyond. He's beyond the championship. He can be entertaining without it,
and there's a whole baby face around to be had with him without the belt.
So that's how I feel. It's so true, right, and like
if you're making him into the new bral Klesner, which feels like that's what
how they're positioning him, that's fine, and brockla The only thing is is
that Braklesner had a legitimacy about him that made you believe that, oh yeah,
this guy could go back to m a man at any pointer, go
back to his farm in Saskatchewan. Like he doesn't need the WWE as much,
which is they've done a good job building Roman Reigns to feel bigger than
w WE. He just isn't. Like that's just the fact of the matter.
He's not a Hollywood star, He's on a MMA star. He didn't
come close to making the NFL like Brock bad, like like Roman Rains doesn't
have that same cachet. And it was Brock's thing to just do what Brock
wants. When I get it, I understand if it's Hash Paul Haim into
Roman Reigns. Get I get the story they're trying to tell, but they've
pushed it so far, and even peak brock Lesner was was not this absence,
Like, for God's sakes, brock Lesner had a match against Smooja a
Great Balls of Fire. That's the most B level pay per view that you
could find. So even peak Brocklesner was not as part time as Roman reigns.
Boy, what an underrated match, an underrated program that I think could
have. I think what really hurts that program is that it was on a
pay per view called Great Balls of Fire because this idea was that just I
don't know, but it hurt everything on that show because I'm just like,
what the name of this thing? I mean, you have a matchup that
I mean, I remember that. I'm not trying to get into this,
but it was a matchup that I was really looking forward to. I loved
it. I think they could have done more. And I'm like, oh,
but it's under that Great Balls a Fire pay review. I'm like,
can they name it anything else? Anything? And yeah, So all right,
Well, any final thoughts here, comments, We're gonna wrap it up.
I guess my only thing would be is that I am excited for Survivor
series in a weird way, but the fact that there's no significant titles on
the line on the men's side of things has really kind of got me let
down in some way. Agreed, and maybe that'll be our topic next week,
is like how Survivor series doesn't feel like the Big Four anymore on paper?
I think it does on paper, we're told it does, but it's
been so gimmicked up over the last ten years or so that it's like,
I don't know if I really feel that way anymore with all the brand manufactured
brand rivalries that meant absolutely nothing to now the War Games match, which has
it's good and bad to it. But yeah, maybe that'll be our topic
next week. Yeah, well, as soon as it's coming fast, right,
Like we go through weird to stretches where there's no pay per views like
there will be in December, but then somewhere it's NonStop, like it's felt
like it's been since the beginning of October exactly, right. So all right,
Well, everybody check out the brand new after Dark show that Anthony dropped
on Friday. It's Johnsena and the Future of the US title And I hope
you guys check that out. If you're on the NXT Plus or Smackdowns here
and hire, you'll be able to listen to that. And I hope you
guys check that out. It's gonna be h. It's a good listening experience,
especially very relevant to the US title conversation that we had tonight. So
Anthony say, thanks so much for joining me tonight and I will be chatting
with you next week. Yeah, man, looking forward to it. What
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