Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, making her wait till the mic
Speaker 1: they started dimming the lights. You started feeling all right
Speaker 1: from Birmingham home with the teddy lungs and the room
Speaker 1: and studies more. Once you discovered or rather the lovers,
Speaker 1: Whitney Houston and Roman Reigns all of the lovers, and
Speaker 1: Mickey James and Mark j all of the lovers. It's
Speaker 1: Asa Banks, You're number day silk signing your page. Allow
Speaker 1: me to say, look, I just trying to bless sweet escape.
Speaker 1: Every one of the buzz I was kind of laxed.
Speaker 1: I just made it up the struggle blood walking by
Speaker 1: the face because I know it's right in front of us.
Speaker 1: I ain't with the hay. You gotta focus someone's grass,
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, and steph Hardy is on the air.
Speaker 1: Had to drop a couple of bars just to make
Speaker 1: you all aware. So sit back, relax, enjoy the show.
Speaker 1: You know why go by Joe Well the wrestle.
Speaker 2: You jeez, hey, y'all, I've made press too many buttons. Y'all.
Speaker 2: Welcome to a new episode of The Hardy Wrestling Podcast
Speaker 2: Extra with your Girl Stephanie Hardy, hosting creator of this
Speaker 2: fabulous platform, writer for Daily DDT and color commentator book
Speaker 2: Your Girl All twenty twenty five. But I am not
Speaker 2: alone on this special episode of HWP Extra. I am
Speaker 2: here with a fellow sister of mine in wrestling media.
Speaker 2: She is the hosting creator of a Wrestling Gal please
Speaker 2: listen to that show you have not already, And she's
Speaker 2: a writer for Russell Zone and Wressell Inc. As well
Speaker 2: as Instinct Culture with Denis Salcedo. And she is just
Speaker 2: a really great friend who I have had the pleasure
Speaker 2: of watching grow over these past couple of years. It's
Speaker 2: Ella j what's up? Ella Hello?
Speaker 3: I think we go back five years now, Steph, like
Speaker 3: I think it was. I think it was twenty twenty, So, yeah,
Speaker 3: I am. It's been a hot minute since we The
Speaker 3: last time I saw you was Survivor Series Weekend in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty three, so it's been like fourteen months. It's
Speaker 3: been a hot minute. But I'm so happy to see
Speaker 3: your beautiful face again and talk about my favorite pay
Speaker 3: per view of course, or premium live event as they
Speaker 3: call it now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we go way back, and I am just so happy,
Speaker 2: you know, to have met you. There are so many
Speaker 2: people I'm so thrilled to admit, and you're definitely one
Speaker 2: of them. We have Astrad in the comments on YouTube.
Speaker 2: Hey Astra, thank you so much for watching, and of
Speaker 2: course think all of you guys for watching live. If
Speaker 2: you're watching right now on any one of the platforms,
Speaker 2: and of course if you're watching on x Slash, Twitter
Speaker 2: or anywhere else, just share, retweeting all the things. And
Speaker 2: of course you will be able to listen to this
Speaker 2: later as the audio will be posted everywhere. The Hardy
Speaker 2: Wrestling Podcast is so as Ella did just allude to,
Speaker 2: we are here to talk about the Royal Rumble, which
Speaker 2: is such a huge pay per view that is coming up,
Speaker 2: Oh my god next week. I cannot believe it. It's
Speaker 2: one of the big four pay per views that started
Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty eight, before the both of us were
Speaker 2: both born. But either way, it's a very significant pay
Speaker 2: per view that starts the year off right in terms
Speaker 2: of WWE and the road to WrestleMania, and of course
Speaker 2: if you're new to the WWE world or the wrestling world,
Speaker 2: the Royal Rumble is this amazing match where it's a
Speaker 2: battle we're out where you have to throw a number
Speaker 2: of people off of the top rope in order to
Speaker 2: solidify yourself to win a championship opportunity at WrestleMania for
Speaker 2: the championship of your choice. And of course it's had
Speaker 2: different iterations throughout the years and different formations in terms
Speaker 2: of people and who they chose to go after in
Speaker 2: terms of world titles. But yeah, that's a little bit
Speaker 2: of the history of it. So, Ella, you did mention
Speaker 2: that this is your favorite pay per view, So why
Speaker 2: don't you tell us a little bit about why it's
Speaker 2: your favorite and what is your favorite thing about it
Speaker 2: that just, you know, just makes you feel at home
Speaker 2: with it.
Speaker 3: I think for firstly sentimental reasons, because so I started
Speaker 3: watching wrestling in the summer of nine, I only watched SmackDown,
Speaker 3: didn't really know that raw was a thing or like
Speaker 3: premium live events or pay per view. So the twenty
Speaker 3: ten Royal Rumble was the first pay perview ever watched,
Speaker 3: like period for wrestling, and that's when Edge came back.
Speaker 3: There is this huge surprise and like what is this match?
Speaker 3: So it's sentimental reasons, but also like the surprises, it's
Speaker 3: so fun to fantasy book this because it's genuinely a
Speaker 3: lot of wrestling nowadays, I feel like is very predictable.
Speaker 3: The Royal Rumble is typically not like you can't predict
Speaker 3: every single layer, like who's gonna come in at what number?
Speaker 3: You could have legends, you could have NXT people, you
Speaker 3: could have Hall of Famers, you could have free agents
Speaker 3: showing up, you could have people from other promotions showing up.
Speaker 3: It is one of the few things in wrestling that
Speaker 3: I think is truly like unpredictable. Even if the winner
Speaker 3: might seem a little bit predictable, there's so many surprises
Speaker 3: and like who's gonna come out at number one and two?
Speaker 3: Who's gonna have the most eliminations? Is our truth going
Speaker 3: to accidentally enter the women's Royal Rumble?
Speaker 2: Again?
Speaker 3: Is it is a woman going to enter the men's
Speaker 3: like Nya Jacks. You know, there's so many unpredictable, unexpected
Speaker 3: elements that like, how can you not love it? It's
Speaker 3: one of the few things I feel like is truly
Speaker 3: unpredictable and unexpected. And it's just so fun to like
Speaker 3: make bets who's gonna come in at number one and two?
Speaker 3: You can fantasy book all these things. So I think
Speaker 3: just the excitement of it and the unpredictability of it
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, it is very exciting and over the years
Speaker 2: it's giving us such amazing moments to look back on.
Speaker 2: And it also and I feel like in more recent years,
Speaker 2: it also sort of paid a picture as to who
Speaker 2: is going to be on top as the year continues
Speaker 2: to progress, and that's something that I definitely enjoy about
Speaker 2: it as well. But also for me it's very sentimental
Speaker 2: as well. When I saw you talking about it online,
Speaker 2: I was just like, you know, she's the perfect person
Speaker 2: to talk to you about this because for me, and
Speaker 2: I've discussed this on HWP before, the Royal Rumble is
Speaker 2: sentimental for me because on the very first episode of
Speaker 2: the Hearty Wrestling Podcast, I talked about the Royal Rumble
Speaker 2: twenty twenty and everything that happened afterwards during that whole week,
Speaker 2: which set the precedent for the formation of HWP as
Speaker 2: you know it with the news and with the recaps
Speaker 2: and everything else. So the idea that you know, it's
Speaker 2: beginning to mean so much more even now is just
Speaker 2: very emotional for me because twenty twenty was a pretty
Speaker 2: astounding year in terms of wrestling, and then even though
Speaker 2: at that time we had no clue all the changes
Speaker 2: going to happen, but either way, it was just really
Speaker 2: amazing to see, you know, how everything played out. But
Speaker 2: we'll talk about that later. Because you did share with
Speaker 2: me some of your favorite Royal Rumble moments, and of course,
Speaker 2: since this is HWP and I start with the women first,
Speaker 2: we have to talk about the Women's Roald Rumble of
Speaker 2: twenty eighteen because you mentioned that that was one of
Speaker 2: your favorites, and this is, of course the first women's
Speaker 2: World Rumble to ever happen in WWE history, so it
Speaker 2: means a whole lot to women's wrestling history and the
Speaker 2: fandom of it, and just to talk about some moments
Speaker 2: from it in some highlights, Sasha Mercedes Money but known
Speaker 2: as Slasha Banks at the time was the number one
Speaker 2: entrant and number two was Becky Lynch, who we now
Speaker 2: know is the man. And it's really amazing to see
Speaker 2: these two started off, considering they had such a heated
Speaker 2: rivalry in NXT and they had a little bit of
Speaker 2: a rivalry on the main roster, but anytime these two
Speaker 2: come together, they just make magic, and I just loved
Speaker 2: watching them in this match. So Ella is everything you
Speaker 2: want to put into this seeing as this is one
Speaker 2: of your favorites.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this I still think is also the best women's
Speaker 3: rail rumble like ever. Still, maybe twenty twenty five will
Speaker 3: show up and show up, but to me this nothing
Speaker 3: has beaten it thus far. Sasha Banks also set the
Speaker 3: record at the time. It's since been taken over by Bailey,
Speaker 3: but fifty four minutes. I think it was she went
Speaker 3: the gauntlet, she made it to the final four. I
Speaker 3: believe she eliminated Trish stratas like that was a based
Speaker 3: off that a lot of people were wanting, so we
Speaker 3: had that in there. We also had the moments between
Speaker 3: Nicky James and Tris Stratus, which was also so much fun.
Speaker 3: You had the return of the Bela Twins. I think
Speaker 3: this was where Nicki eliminated Bree as well, so that
Speaker 3: there was a lot of twists and turns, and we
Speaker 3: had a lot of legends in their Leada coming out
Speaker 3: at number five, the first legend to ever enter the
Speaker 3: Royal Room the Women's Rumble. Like you said, Tris Stratus
Speaker 3: and Sasha Banks, we had like Michelle McCool in there.
Speaker 3: She eliminated five people at the time, it was the record. Yeah,
Speaker 3: Nicki and Osca. That was a great final too. A
Speaker 3: part of me was like rooting for Nicki. I'm like girl.
Speaker 3: But then also at this time, Oscar still had her
Speaker 3: on defeated streak, so it made sense why she won.
Speaker 3: But again, like just so many moments in the first
Speaker 3: one of bringing together the present and the past with
Speaker 3: legends like like Nicki at this time wasn't as active
Speaker 3: in WWE. Going to other against someone like Osca was
Speaker 3: such a great final too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really was. I remember watching this. I was
Speaker 2: on my way home from work and just watching it
Speaker 2: on my phone, but just feeling all the emotions from
Speaker 2: the build up to it, and how you know, when
Speaker 2: how excited I was when Stephanie McMahon, who was on
Speaker 2: commentary for this match, made the announcement that it was happening.
Speaker 2: I just could not believe, how, you know, how much
Speaker 2: history was just in this match. It felt like a
Speaker 2: deep love letter to women's wrestling at that time, and
Speaker 2: just the idea of Osca winning. I was just so
Speaker 2: thrilled for her because in NXC she was just the boss. Yeah,
Speaker 2: not like the Rock, but of course you know, in
Speaker 2: her way as the Empress of Tomorrow, she was it
Speaker 2: so for her to go on and win after lasting
Speaker 2: so very long against so many women who could have
Speaker 2: very well wonted, it was just insane. Then, of course
Speaker 2: you have the standoff that she had with Charlotte Flay,
Speaker 2: who was the SmackDown Women's champion at the time, and
Speaker 2: Alexa Bliss, who was the Raw Women's champion. Then you
Speaker 2: had the debut of Miss Ronda Rowsey. Like it was
Speaker 2: just all just a huge collection of superpowers in this
Speaker 2: one night. But it was still just an amazing moment
Speaker 2: for sure.
Speaker 3: I agree. I feel like Ron I still have a
Speaker 3: little bit of a gripe with I feel like Ronda
Speaker 3: coming like, I get it, you know, she's joining At
Speaker 3: the time, it was huge, but I feel like a
Speaker 3: little bit overshadowed Oscar's moment, Like this is a historic moment,
Speaker 3: you know, the first ever women's rumbel. Oscar's the first
Speaker 3: ever winner. Who's she gonna face Alexa or Charlotte? Three
Speaker 3: superpowers in the ring right there. I get what they
Speaker 3: wanted to do with Ronda. You know, she was coming
Speaker 3: in like she's gonna uplift the women's division at the time.
Speaker 3: I feel like it took a little bit away from
Speaker 3: Oscar's moment, but I understand it. I feel like Ronda
Speaker 3: could have showed up maybe at the raw after or something.
Speaker 3: I feel like that maybe would have been more effective. Personally,
Speaker 3: I'm not mad at it, but I'm still a little
Speaker 3: bit like could have done it a little bit differently.
Speaker 3: But a historic first and still to me, the best
Speaker 3: women's rumble yet.
Speaker 2: So yeah, absolutely, I definitely agree with you there looking
Speaker 2: back at it. You know, in the moment, I was
Speaker 2: excited because I knew because I had been following Ronda
Speaker 2: Rousi in her UFC career, so to see her and
Speaker 2: well to watch all her interviews where she talked about wrestling,
Speaker 2: and then boom, here she is in our world. It
Speaker 2: was just like, uh, snap, here she is. But you know,
Speaker 2: in the moment, when you think about it, I feel
Speaker 2: that that moment did kind of overshadow Osca being the
Speaker 2: first woman to win like that deserved, you know, the
Speaker 2: praise and the adulation that it should have had, you know,
Speaker 2: and it was just really weird to see that moment
Speaker 2: sort of be overshadowed by Ronda Rousi, who was just
Speaker 2: the baddest woman on the planet at that time. So
Speaker 2: you know, all eyes were going to be on her
Speaker 2: at that point, so yeah, that was a little bit
Speaker 2: you know, weird that maybe they should have put it
Speaker 2: somewhere else. But either way, I am very thrilled that
Speaker 2: that was one of your favorite ones, and I do,
Speaker 2: you know, agreed to a degree that it could that
Speaker 2: it could have been one of the best ones. But
Speaker 2: of course we do have other ones to discuss, because
Speaker 2: you did say that there is another one that you loved,
Speaker 2: which was the twenty twenty.
Speaker 3: Three I was there alive for this one.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, you're so lucky.
Speaker 4: Yeah, besides the botch at the end where they played
Speaker 4: Naya Jackson's music before the counter like was even done,
Speaker 4: they started playing her music at like the count of five,
Speaker 4: like you know, down ten to one.
Speaker 3: Besides them prematurely playing her music, I must say, like
Speaker 3: the twenty twenty three Rumble, you have number one and
Speaker 3: two going the whole entire way, Osca coming. I think
Speaker 3: this was a return for Osca to her going all
Speaker 3: the way to the final three. This was a really
Speaker 3: fun one to see live, and this was my first
Speaker 3: attending the Royal Rumble live ever, so it was a
Speaker 3: different perspective and I've gone back and watched it, I
Speaker 3: feel like it's also sentimental to me, but also like
Speaker 3: the first time, I think Ria Ripley was the first
Speaker 3: woman to go the entire way number one, you know,
Speaker 3: and then Live Morgan obviously going to all the way
Speaker 3: as well, and also like you saw the rivalries in there,
Speaker 3: so that, Yeah, twenty twenty three is very sentimental to
Speaker 3: me as well. And then obviously you know, it's another
Speaker 3: layer in their history between Live and Ria as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really nuts, Like when I looked up the
Speaker 2: information in terms of my research to see that these
Speaker 2: were number one and number two in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 2: only for them to go on in their history to
Speaker 2: beef with each other for the entire for the entirety
Speaker 2: almost of last year. Yeah, it was just really funny,
Speaker 2: you know, and now it's ended. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: I just love That's just one of my favorite parts
Speaker 2: of the Rubble is that sometimes it feeds into longer
Speaker 2: storylines in terms of rivalries that could very well happen.
Speaker 2: So to see that come full circle in that way
Speaker 2: was just really interesting for me. And then you have Roxanne.
Speaker 3: Her debut, Yeah, yeah, you have.
Speaker 2: You know, NXT stars who make their debut on the
Speaker 2: main roster. In this match, you have Roxanne, who was
Speaker 2: NX champion in her first reign at the time, and
Speaker 2: you had Indy Hartwell do that as well. It was
Speaker 2: just like wow, like it. I love it when they
Speaker 2: incorporate people from NXC in that match. And then you
Speaker 2: had the debut of Chelsea Green her return to WWE.
Speaker 2: I was so excited for her because I just loved her,
Speaker 2: you know, so much and still do. And then she
Speaker 2: had she broke the record for the quickest time in
Speaker 2: the match and she was eliminated in five seconds and
Speaker 2: to see her have this moment and see her be
Speaker 2: as dramatic and crying about it, which sort of fed
Speaker 2: into her Karen like behavior on Raw and to lead
Speaker 2: to where she is now as the first ever women's
Speaker 2: United States Champion. It's just so she'll always be famous
Speaker 2: because she's just so funny and she just makes the
Speaker 2: most of her screen time. But I wanted her to
Speaker 2: go to distance because I was just like, go goo no,
Speaker 2: And then she gets eliminated and.
Speaker 3: I'm like, no, we got to see luckily last year,
Speaker 3: I think she lasted like seventeen minutes so we got
Speaker 3: to see a lot more last year, her and Piper
Speaker 3: saving her from being eliminated last year. I hope that
Speaker 3: she's an iron woman this year. I think it like
Speaker 3: if she because you know, you don't have to be
Speaker 3: in the ring the whole time. I could see her
Speaker 3: absolutely like pulling a Santino and like leaving the ring
Speaker 3: for a while and then people think somebody else is one,
Speaker 3: but then Chelsea comes in at the last minute then
Speaker 3: almost wins, So like I would love to see that.
Speaker 3: That's that would be a Chelsea thing to absolutely do
Speaker 3: with this year's But yeah, this was a really you know,
Speaker 3: if she wasn't going to go the distance, she is
Speaker 3: happy that, she said a record is still a record.
Speaker 3: As she said this, I feel like was a great
Speaker 3: way to get her back and very on par for
Speaker 3: her character. But I hope she goes a distance this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Ella, This actually leads me to asking a question
Speaker 2: of you do you believe that current champions should be
Speaker 2: in the row rumble? Hmmm, because I know that could
Speaker 2: be very divisive for certain fans.
Speaker 3: Charlotte entered the twenty twenty two Women's Rumble. It's possible
Speaker 3: right now, though, I don't think so. I feel like
Speaker 3: the women's roster is so expansive, like and you have
Speaker 3: NXT people coming in, you have TNA people who could
Speaker 3: potentially coming in the rumble, So just for numbers wise,
Speaker 3: I don't think that they should be taking up like
Speaker 3: one or two spots in the rumble because the problem
Speaker 3: used to be is that we didn't have enough women
Speaker 3: so they would have to call back like Legends and stuff.
Speaker 3: We don't have that problem anymore with them in between
Speaker 3: the main roster and NXT people, Legends potentially TNA. So no,
Speaker 3: I don't think so, because now it's a good thing
Speaker 3: to say there's a limited number of spots for the women,
Speaker 3: So I know, I don't think so unless it's like NXT,
Speaker 3: unless it's Julia. But main roster, well, okay, so do
Speaker 3: we count like because Chelsea's technically a champion right now,
Speaker 3: so is Lyra. I think it'd be fine if they
Speaker 3: were to enter, because then they can go potentially go
Speaker 3: after a world title. But if we're talking Ria Ripley
Speaker 3: and Tiffany Stratton, the no the world champs that the
Speaker 3: winner would be going after the no, Julia, fine, you
Speaker 3: know she could. I don't think she would win, she
Speaker 3: would get a big pop. But if it's like a
Speaker 3: Chelsea or a Lyra, sure, because they could theoretically go
Speaker 3: after the world title.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but then you also think about the fact that
Speaker 2: if Julia were to enter, you know, that would be funny.
Speaker 2: But then that would be fun in a good way.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, whoever wins the World Rumble
Speaker 2: match could very well choose to go after her, just
Speaker 2: like Charlotte did in twenty twenty when she went after Rio. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it would just be really interesting if that happened.
Speaker 2: But I know that I just had to ask you
Speaker 2: that because there are some I know there are some
Speaker 2: people in the wrestling fandom who feel that champions either
Speaker 2: should sit it out because they because the champions are
Speaker 2: the goal, or you have certain fans who wouldn't mind it.
Speaker 2: So I just had to ask you, Thatt, like, hmmm.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think Ria and Tiffany should sit out because
Speaker 3: they're like the world champions, I'm the main roster. But
Speaker 3: if it's like a Chelsea or a Lyra, no, because
Speaker 3: they can still go after a bigger prize if they
Speaker 3: theoretically win, you know.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: And just to talk more about you know, the winner
Speaker 2: you had Ria, who want this one this year? In
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, and she went on to face off
Speaker 2: against Charlarlette Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship, which then
Speaker 2: turned into the Women's World Championship that she held for
Speaker 2: a long time. And I'm very grateful and very blessed
Speaker 2: I got to witness that match at Russellmington.
Speaker 3: I'm jealous.
Speaker 2: That match left me breathless, Like they're so like. That match,
Speaker 2: I feel like is really what women's wrestling is all about.
Speaker 2: Because to see those women go as hard as they did,
Speaker 2: knowing for well that they probably could have been in
Speaker 2: the main event for Nfeline was just unbelievable. And to
Speaker 2: see Ria get her lick back after you know, losing
Speaker 2: the NXT Women's title to Charlotte in twenty twenty which
Speaker 2: is such an amazing journey. I loved it so And yeah,
Speaker 2: Ria just you know, was just really on fire at
Speaker 2: this time and she still is at this point. So yeah,
Speaker 2: nothing is ever going to slow this woman down ever.
Speaker 2: She's eradicator, Mommy's back on top now. Yes, we love
Speaker 2: her so so much. So yeah, and just another moment
Speaker 2: just for me. I just had to mention Selena, yeah,
Speaker 2: being in this match dressed as Jury from Street Fighter,
Speaker 2: and she was also a commentator on the Street Fighter
Speaker 2: game as well, So this was really cool. And I'm
Speaker 2: just still holding out hope that one day, you know,
Speaker 2: she will be a champion this year. So we're just
Speaker 2: hanging on, hanging on, hanging on. But yeah, this was
Speaker 2: a really cool moment to see her do the Jury
Speaker 2: kick onto Ziolee, even though I know that's not her
Speaker 2: name now, no disrespect, but yeah, this was really amazing.
Speaker 2: Royal Rumble, I liked it a lot. So yeah, you
Speaker 2: also mentioned that in terms of the men, that the
Speaker 2: Royal Rumble two thousand and eight was one of your favorites,
Speaker 2: and this one took place in New York City at
Speaker 2: Madison Square Garden. And this was just a very funny
Speaker 2: poster because you have all the men fighting each other
Speaker 2: in the subway, which seems like pretty on par behavior
Speaker 2: in the subway at New York. But I know when
Speaker 2: I was there that this type of shenanigus wasn't going on.
Speaker 2: I was safe rides in the subway.
Speaker 3: Luckily, I would not want to see a men'sroel rumble
Speaker 3: taking place in the subway. I do not want to see.
Speaker 2: That, But wouldn't that be amazing?
Speaker 3: Though it would it would you'd probably have some damages
Speaker 3: along the way.
Speaker 2: Though, Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that the Transportation Association
Speaker 2: would be like, why why are we doing this? But yeah,
Speaker 2: this is where it took place in Madison Square Garden.
Speaker 2: It was the first pay per view at the time
Speaker 2: to be broadcast in high definition. You remember w w HD.
Speaker 2: It's so crazy to think about and the men's reel rumble.
Speaker 2: Michael Buffer was a special guest ring announcer. He is
Speaker 2: perhaps one of the greatest ring announcers of all time
Speaker 2: in the WCW days, and number one was the Undertaker
Speaker 2: and number two was Sean Michaels, which feeds into their
Speaker 2: rivalry there, I'll let you go ahead and take over
Speaker 2: for that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the prelude to their rivalry at the succeeding WrestleManias
Speaker 3: in two thousand and nine and twenty ten. What a
Speaker 3: hell of a number one and two. I just have
Speaker 3: to say, like, you can't get much better than that.
Speaker 3: But I feel like, honestly, the reason like this is
Speaker 3: so high up is for what was he number thirty,
Speaker 3: John Cena also number twenty nine and thirty Triple H
Speaker 3: and John Cena. That's a heck of a first two
Speaker 3: in a final two. I just have to say that
Speaker 3: I feel like the big thing. Granted this was before
Speaker 3: I started watching wrestling, but like to come back so
Speaker 3: early from an injury, again, a lot of things are
Speaker 3: spoiled in wrestling. I don't think anybody like that was
Speaker 3: a safely guarded secret, like John coming back early from
Speaker 3: his injury and then coming in at number thirty and
Speaker 3: then he just has that iconic pose and he's like
Speaker 3: mm hmm, I'm back. And then him coming in and
Speaker 3: eventually eliminated Triple H for the win. I feel like
Speaker 3: was a big shock. So, I mean, how can you
Speaker 3: hate the two thousand and eight Royal Rumbull like and
Speaker 3: the winner Like, I feel like it was overall top
Speaker 3: to bottom a really fun one.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And then you had the likes of Batista Ina,
Speaker 2: who I believe made it to the final four if
Speaker 2: I'm not mistaken. Yeah, he.
Speaker 3: Triple H in the final three ye Yeah.
Speaker 2: And Triple H was definitely hauling all kinds of behind. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then you had og legends in this one as well.
Speaker 2: You had Roddy Piper and Jimmy Smitha in it as well.
Speaker 2: So and you also had Big Daddy Viscera in it
Speaker 2: as well. Oh my god, yeah all of those people.
Speaker 2: But yeah, Triple H was hauling all kinds of but
Speaker 2: he had six eliminations in this match, and I remember
Speaker 2: my dad wanting him to win this match so bad
Speaker 2: because my dad is a Triple H stand and there's
Speaker 2: any wrestler that my dad will slide for, it's Triple H,
Speaker 2: like he is gonna slide for you an all things.
Speaker 2: So he wanted him to win so bad. But then
Speaker 2: you have this famous look at a Chaz on his
Speaker 2: face when John Cena pops up as number thirty. Then
Speaker 2: on top of that, like what, And then on top
Speaker 2: of that, you have Jr. Who was on commentary with
Speaker 2: Jerry the King Lawler, making one of the best calls
Speaker 2: of his career with John Cena's return, and I was
Speaker 2: so thrilled. So this was before just to paint the
Speaker 2: picture for my wrestling phantom. This is before I was
Speaker 2: watching pay per views like that because here again, this
Speaker 2: was where you had to pay like a huge amount
Speaker 2: of money, you know, to get that so I didn't
Speaker 2: see this until the Raw after So watching watching John
Speaker 2: Cena come back on that Sunday and then see it
Speaker 2: on Raw, I was so surprised. I was like, I
Speaker 2: was so excited because that injury looked like it was
Speaker 2: really rough, but you know, he came down to Birmingham,
Speaker 2: came down here, got fixed up, rehabbed, and came back
Speaker 2: and won the whole thing one the whole thing and
Speaker 2: beat brock Lesnar's time by being in the match for
Speaker 2: thirty one seconds and eliminating a lot of people in
Speaker 2: order to win this year.
Speaker 3: So it was nuts, agreed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and now we fast forward to now where he's
Speaker 2: going to be in his final one.
Speaker 3: Oh no, it's so it's so sad. Like the one
Speaker 3: thing that I wanted to do this year, I was like,
Speaker 3: I have to see John Cena, so I'll be an
Speaker 3: elimination chamber. John Cena is confirmed for there all, like
Speaker 3: like if nothing else, I just want to see John
Speaker 3: Cena one more time this year, and you're getting to
Speaker 3: do that. You'll be at the Rumble. I will get
Speaker 3: to do that a month later. So that's all I
Speaker 3: wanted this year. I just want to see Sina one
Speaker 3: more time.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Like seeing John Cena this year is
Speaker 2: just really like emotional because because last year I was
Speaker 2: at money in the bank when he made his announcement.
Speaker 2: So the idea. So first of all, I just want
Speaker 2: to say, please joy Canada, like Toronto is amazing. I
Speaker 2: love it. Yeah. But you know, being there when he
Speaker 2: made that announcement of him retiring, it was almost like
Speaker 2: my heart just fell on the floor.
Speaker 3: Towel that said the last time is now? I started
Speaker 3: crying stuff. Oh so like I know, if whenever he
Speaker 3: like whenever he every time he comes out and he
Speaker 3: holds up the last time is now towel or he
Speaker 3: has the shirt on, a part of me is going
Speaker 3: to die inside.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Oh my god, I want to die inside too,
Speaker 2: because it's just it's almost like when you grew up
Speaker 2: with a person and you watched their career grow and
Speaker 2: then you're watching it end. But the thing that I
Speaker 2: am grateful for is the fact that you know, it's
Speaker 2: not his body telling him that he has to stop
Speaker 2: immediately or anything. Yeah, it's his own terms. And I'm
Speaker 2: really grateful for that because there are so many people
Speaker 2: who did not have it that way. Yeah, And so
Speaker 2: the idea that he's ending in on our terms and
Speaker 2: we get to enjoy him and bask in it for
Speaker 2: this entire year. It's just an amazing thing. He's you know,
Speaker 2: he's doing the Kobe Bryant thing, and I'm just really
Speaker 2: happy about that. So getting to see him at this
Speaker 2: point in time is just really great and I'm just
Speaker 2: really grateful for that. And we'll never stop seeing him
Speaker 2: on the outside because you had the McDonald's deal. Now
Speaker 2: you got to drive through there he is on the screen.
Speaker 3: I saw the commercial last week during Raw for the
Speaker 3: first time, like, now I want McDonald's John.
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, it's funny. So we'll never stop having him.
Speaker 2: We'll just stop having him in this regard. But you know,
Speaker 2: we get to bask in that and it's just such
Speaker 2: a beautiful, beautiful thing. He's given us so much, so
Speaker 2: we get to give him our love and return. So
Speaker 2: I'm happy about that. So in the midst of everything,
Speaker 2: I'm going to talk about some of my favorite real
Speaker 2: Rumble moments, and that's definitely twenty twenty. Like I mentioned before,
Speaker 2: the women's match in twenty twenty was pretty awesome because
Speaker 2: you had the main roster debut of Bianca bell Air
Speaker 2: in her beautiful black and gold gear, which I love,
Speaker 2: and her and Alexa Blizz had a moment. And then
Speaker 2: a few years later, when Bianco was Raw Women's Champion,
Speaker 2: they went on to have a match at the Royal
Speaker 2: Rumble two. So seeing her and her debut just had
Speaker 2: me so excited. And she had a lot of eliminations
Speaker 2: that year as well, so it was just really insane
Speaker 2: for me. Then at the time, she was beefing with
Speaker 2: Ria Ripley for the NXT Women's Championship two. So this
Speaker 2: was just a fun time to be a Bianca bell
Speaker 2: Air fan. At this point, you also had Mighty Molly
Speaker 2: come back. And let me just say, at this point
Speaker 2: in time, I did not know that Mighty Molly was
Speaker 2: a character, because the first time I saw Mollie, you know,
Speaker 2: she was Molly Holly and she was just standing on
Speaker 2: her own by herself, you know, beefing with everybody else.
Speaker 2: So seeing her as Mighty Molly was just a switch
Speaker 2: for me. So I had to go back and do
Speaker 2: my research and seeing that she did hang out with
Speaker 2: the Hurricane, who was one of my favorites back in
Speaker 2: the day. So yeah, this was just really amazing here
Speaker 2: and watching her, you know, fight with the other women,
Speaker 2: and then you had Naomi pop up with her natural hair,
Speaker 2: which gave me life and gave every other black woman
Speaker 2: in life who stopped watching wrestling. But then they saw
Speaker 2: her pop up with this look and they were just like,
Speaker 2: hold up, let me get back into the swing of things.
Speaker 2: It was so amazing to see that, you know. And
Speaker 2: since I've been I've had my hair natural for a
Speaker 2: number of years now, to see it, to see Naomi
Speaker 2: have her hair full out like this, it was just
Speaker 2: so beautiful and I just I felt seen and it
Speaker 2: was just very heartfelt. So it was just a very
Speaker 2: beautiful moment here. And of course she had her Kofee
Speaker 2: moment where she climbed up on the barricade and kept
Speaker 2: herself from getting eliminated, jumped right back onto the steps,
Speaker 2: you know, and even.
Speaker 3: Nice the next thrower out.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, Naya Jackson knows how to hurt our
Speaker 2: feelings and shit, girl, she knows how to break our
Speaker 2: hearts and not care about it. But in the end,
Speaker 2: Charlotte wound up winning the Royal Rumble, and like I
Speaker 2: said earlier, went on to challenge Ria Ripley for the
Speaker 2: NXT Women's title. This, as Charlotte does, splits people down
Speaker 2: the middle because a lot of people were really happy
Speaker 2: about it. A lot of people weren't happy about it.
Speaker 2: They were just like, why does Charlotte have to win?
Speaker 2: Blase blah. But I was just kind of thrilled for
Speaker 2: it because I was just like, Okay, Charlotte Flair, this
Speaker 2: is yet another accomplishment you can take off, you know.
Speaker 2: So this was really great for me. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: I loved watching her win on this day. I loved
Speaker 2: her gear because it reminded me of an of Washington apples.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I just loved watching her win in this regard.
Speaker 2: It was really cool. So yeah, big up to Charlotte.
Speaker 2: Do you think there's a possibility that she could win
Speaker 2: this year?
Speaker 1: Ella?
Speaker 3: She is my winner pick?
Speaker 2: So yes, Oh, expound upon that, talk about more about
Speaker 2: how you feel like she could be.
Speaker 3: So for me, there's only one. I mean, for me,
Speaker 3: there's one of three people who could win the Women's
Speaker 3: Royal Rumble this year, one of them being Charlotte. So
Speaker 3: right now, the people think that the plan is Charlotte
Speaker 3: and Tiffany EO and Rhea and then maybe something else.
Speaker 3: So if you go by that logic, you would either
Speaker 3: have EO or Charlotte win the Royal Rumble, right, and
Speaker 3: then whoever else win elimination chamber. I think that they
Speaker 3: would want WWE. I think they would want EO in
Speaker 3: elimination chamber because she can do all the high flying
Speaker 3: spots we've seen her inside wargames. That to me, I
Speaker 3: feel like, and I love Charlotte, I'm a big fan
Speaker 3: of hers. I feel like EO is more entertaining though
Speaker 3: inside cages. So I would put EO in elimination chamber
Speaker 3: and have her win. So then by default, I think
Speaker 3: one Charlotte not only returns at the Royal Rumble, but
Speaker 3: I think she becomes the first ever two time Women's
Speaker 3: Royal Rumble winner, punches her ticket to WrestleMania and faces
Speaker 3: Tiffany Stratton. But there is somebody who I think is
Speaker 3: a dark horse. We have not had anybody from NXT
Speaker 3: or a call up, somebody in their official call up
Speaker 3: win the Royal Rumble. Rock san Perez is the perfect
Speaker 3: person to do that, and she has history with both
Speaker 3: the current women's champions, that being Ria Ripley and Tiffany Stratton.
Speaker 3: She's faced both of them, so I feel like that
Speaker 3: would be a dark horse winner. If you want to
Speaker 3: do something new, like a first like the first NXT
Speaker 3: call up to win the Royal Rumble, I think would
Speaker 3: be really exciting. But I think logically like Charlotte makes
Speaker 3: more sense and I would love to see. I'd rather
Speaker 3: Seeeo win Elimination Chamber than the Royal Rumble. I'd be
Speaker 3: happy with all three though, honestly because I love them
Speaker 3: so much, but Charlotte. Charlotte is my winner pick for
Speaker 3: the Women's Real Rumble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that is a really solid pick because she has
Speaker 2: been gone for so long and she's someone that I
Speaker 2: hear so much. I miss her a lot too, so
Speaker 2: so her coming back in such a big way that
Speaker 2: would be a huge, huge way to come back and
Speaker 2: to stamp your name in history, like, oh, so y'all
Speaker 2: miss me here, I go boom.
Speaker 3: One two time Women's Real Rumble winner. People are saying
Speaker 3: like Becky Lynch could also do it, but yeah, they're
Speaker 3: Alexa Bliss could be coming back, Oscar could could be
Speaker 3: coming back, but I think like you could come back. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I think right now the plans seem to be Tiffany
Speaker 3: and Charlotte though, so then by default, like Charlotte either
Speaker 3: wins Chamber or the Royal Rumble, I think EO is
Speaker 3: more entertaining and enticing to win Chamber. Granted, though, Charlotte
Speaker 3: has not won an elimination chamber, so that would be
Speaker 3: another tick in her you know, career, so that could
Speaker 3: but I think the Queen is gonna claim the throne
Speaker 3: of the first time, first two time Women's Real Rumble winner. Personally,
Speaker 3: who you.
Speaker 2: Got, oh Jesus, I feel like like you, I'm sort
Speaker 2: of going with Charlotte as well. But also my second
Speaker 2: choice would be Naomi simply because she's just never won
Speaker 2: one before and I just feel like, on a huge level,
Speaker 2: I feel like, outside of her being Tag Team Championship,
Speaker 2: she's just lost so much, so many opportunities at the
Speaker 2: Women's Championship. So for me, I feel like she has
Speaker 2: the biggest chip on her shoulder in that regard. So
Speaker 2: if Naomi were to win, I would definitely love it
Speaker 2: in terms of that form of storytelling, even though I
Speaker 2: feel like they are going somewhere else which is going
Speaker 2: to be entertaining nonetheless, but I would really love it
Speaker 2: if Naomi won, but I feel like Charlotte is definitely
Speaker 2: my larger pick because because she's been gone for so
Speaker 2: long and she might want to, you know, reclaim her
Speaker 2: dominance in that way, so it would be huge. But
Speaker 2: those are my two predictions for that. So yeah, that
Speaker 2: we are in for a time. But just to go
Speaker 2: into more of my favorite moments is definitely twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: That is one of my favorite women's realm rumbles simply
Speaker 2: because like I keep harping on in storytelling, and this,
Speaker 2: this final three right now hit for me in a
Speaker 2: very personal manner because we keep talking about Riha and Charlotte,
Speaker 2: you know, and how they had their beef with each
Speaker 2: other of the NXT Women's title in twenty twenty. But
Speaker 2: then Bianca was sort of the one who was thrown
Speaker 2: off to the side literally by Charlotte in the midst
Speaker 2: of that. And this had a huge part of the
Speaker 2: fandom upset because they wanted Bianca to be an NX
Speaker 2: Women's Champion because of how talented she was, because she
Speaker 2: had the charisma and all of the things that have
Speaker 2: propelled her to success now, so because we saw it,
Speaker 2: we were like, look, how come she can't beat Ria?
Speaker 2: Why does it have to be Charlotte and all this
Speaker 2: other stuff. So to fast forward into the next year
Speaker 2: and have these three be the final three just did
Speaker 2: something for me and it just hit super super hard
Speaker 2: in terms of storytelling, and I just loved it because Yo,
Speaker 2: what do you mean? And it was just so beautiful.
Speaker 2: And then the fact that Ria, you know, the fact
Speaker 2: that Ria and Bianca, the two Stars of the Future,
Speaker 2: eliminated a four horse woman in Charlotte, and Charlotte couldn't
Speaker 2: do anything but laugh after it was over, Like it
Speaker 2: was just so funny for me, and I was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: Ria and Bianca, let's go. So it was just really
Speaker 2: cool for me. Then you had Naomi in it, and
Speaker 2: the moment that I love the most from this world
Speaker 2: rumble was they helped each other almost but they each
Speaker 2: other stay in the match, and in terms of unity
Speaker 2: for black women, that meant everything for me. I was
Speaker 2: just like, yes, help each other's sisters. Yes, And that
Speaker 2: just and I don't know if that was something they
Speaker 2: did on purpose or if that was just something they
Speaker 2: just thought of at the last minute, but that just
Speaker 2: blessed my soul. And then after Beyonca one, they shared
Speaker 2: a black and white picture of each other, you know,
Speaker 2: hugging each other, because Naomi was essentially one of the
Speaker 2: inspirations for Bianca to start her wrestling career in terms
Speaker 2: of representation. So that moment, you know, just lives in
Speaker 2: my head rent free. And then you also have, you know,
Speaker 2: the legends that came back, and one of them being Victoria,
Speaker 2: who we did just see like last week. So the
Speaker 2: idea of legends coming back always hits different. And I
Speaker 2: remember watching this with my boyfriend and his family, and
Speaker 2: I remember being the only one who knew who Victoria
Speaker 2: was in that moment because at the time they weren't watching,
Speaker 2: so they didn't know immediately who Victoria was. But I
Speaker 2: see a boom, No, that's my girl, and I was
Speaker 2: just so pumped for that. So to see her back
Speaker 2: in the thick of things, I was just like, Victoria,
Speaker 2: give give her all the things now. But you know
Speaker 2: she's she's hopefully set to get all of her things
Speaker 2: at some point, probably this year. Hall of Fame.
Speaker 3: You never know, fingers crossed.
Speaker 2: Fingers cross, honey. But I wouldn't be mad if she
Speaker 2: showed up in the Royal Rumber this year either. So
Speaker 2: this was fantastic and then in this picture you see
Speaker 2: the iconic slash the inspiration. H maybe we'll see them
Speaker 2: again in the thick of things.
Speaker 3: You never know.
Speaker 2: But yeah, in the end, Bianca wound up winning, and
Speaker 2: she became the second ever black person to ever win
Speaker 2: a World Rumble in the first black woman to ever
Speaker 2: do that. And she would go on to make more
Speaker 2: black history by challenging Mercedes Moee for the SmackDown Women's title,
Speaker 2: and they would go on to be the first black
Speaker 2: women to ever remain event WrestleMania, and that of course
Speaker 2: means the world to me too, So that real Rumble
Speaker 2: for me just means a lot. And I was just
Speaker 2: screaming at the television when she won. I almost lost
Speaker 2: my voice, but I didn't care. Was worth it.
Speaker 3: That was a great one too for me personally because
Speaker 3: I got a user of one of my dream matches,
Speaker 3: being Mickey and Charlotte, and that was the closest I
Speaker 3: after they had they were chopping each other and going whoa.
Speaker 3: That was the closest I ever got to my dream match.
Speaker 3: So that is also I love that one as well.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, yes, that sounds like an amazing match.
Speaker 2: I would die. I would die. So Another one of
Speaker 2: my favorites is the twenty twenty four, the one from
Speaker 2: last year, where you had a number of superstars come in.
Speaker 2: You have Katana Chance down there, Candles Ray Bailey who
Speaker 2: will go on to win, Bianca hitting her backflip right there,
Speaker 2: and then you had to debut of Jet Jet Carco,
Speaker 2: the most incredible, most beautiful, most god goddess like woman
Speaker 2: ever pop up at the Royal Rumble. I was not
Speaker 2: expecting this at all, Like a part of me felt
Speaker 2: like maybe if she was like if she was going
Speaker 2: to debut, I thought maybe she would debut an NXC
Speaker 2: and that would have been cool. But when she popped
Speaker 2: up at the Royal Rumble, I was so excited. I
Speaker 2: was like, look at her shine.
Speaker 3: Here's my winter pick last year for the women. She
Speaker 3: made it pretty far and she had a couple emanations
Speaker 3: she didn't win. She was my winter pick last year.
Speaker 2: That's a really solid pick. And there's just so much here. Again,
Speaker 2: this is another Royal Rumble that just fed into my
Speaker 2: whole story thing. And then you had this moment here
Speaker 2: where you had these two staring at each other and
Speaker 2: it was just like, oh my god, are they going
Speaker 2: to fight. I was so scared. I was just like,
Speaker 2: are they going to fight each other? Are we getting
Speaker 2: this now? And I was just so hump for this
Speaker 2: in this picture fed into one of my first articles
Speaker 2: that I wrote for Daily DDT about who Jade's first
Speaker 2: opponents could be and Bianca was the last one because
Speaker 2: I had to save the best for last and that
Speaker 2: because this as a match just just it screams WrestleMania, man,
Speaker 2: it just does. But of course you know this, they
Speaker 2: actually wound up having a partnership, and I wasn't too
Speaker 2: angry about that either, because I mean, these are two
Speaker 2: powerful women, what do you mean Like, I was very
Speaker 2: happy to see them unite their powers and become two
Speaker 2: time you know, tag team champions, and I can't wait
Speaker 2: for Jade to come back and bless us with her
Speaker 2: presence again. So in the midst of all of this, though,
Speaker 2: you have a lot of these women who were in
Speaker 2: the final few of this match, who are involved, who
Speaker 2: are basically involved in great stories even now and held championships.
Speaker 2: You had lived who was the last woman to come
Speaker 2: in in that match, and then she would go on
Speaker 2: to be champion. You had Tiffany Stratton who was in
Speaker 2: that match, and then she went on to become Miss
Speaker 2: Money in the Bank and went on to be champion.
Speaker 2: And then you had Biaka and Jade who were going
Speaker 2: to be tag champions as well, but ultimately Bailey wound
Speaker 2: up winning. And this was really amazing here because three
Speaker 2: out of the four horse women have won a Roal Rumble.
Speaker 2: Now that Bailey has won one, Becky won one, and
Speaker 2: now Charlotte, now Mercedes, she has to come back MA six,
Speaker 2: Maybe twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven, you never know.
Speaker 3: Actually, now that I'm thinking about where it is next year,
Speaker 3: let's say twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's interesting. Do you believe that? Do you?
Speaker 2: Cause there are a lot of fans who felt a
Speaker 2: way about World Rumbling next year being in Saudi Arabia.
Speaker 2: So do you believe that they would forego a woman's
Speaker 2: or still keep the women's World Rumble.
Speaker 3: If they don't do it, they know that they're gonna
Speaker 3: get a riot, a justified riot. So I think they win.
Speaker 3: I think they have to. It's just obviously the women
Speaker 3: are probably the women. I feel bad for the women
Speaker 3: that are gonna be the iron woman of that match.
Speaker 3: Because they're gonna be sweating their butts off, like they're
Speaker 3: there for an hour to you know, to uh, what's
Speaker 3: the word, abide by the you know, the modesty laws.
Speaker 3: I feel bad for the Iron women of that match
Speaker 3: because they're probably gonna be sweating their butt off. So
Speaker 3: I feel like, WWE, they have to have one or
Speaker 3: else they know they're gonna get a justified riot from us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. I feel there's a part of me
Speaker 2: that feels like they've evolved. Yeah, I feel like they've
Speaker 2: They've helped Saudi Arabia to evolve in that way because
Speaker 2: at one point when they started having Crowndule, there weren't
Speaker 2: any women's watches on there at all. And then when
Speaker 2: you think about how Mercedes and Alexa did their match
Speaker 2: in Abu Dhabi, you know, and how that set the
Speaker 2: precedent for the women's matches to come afterward to even
Speaker 2: even happen. At this point, you know, I feel like
Speaker 2: they will have one, but I'm pretty sure that those
Speaker 2: women are going to have to They're gonna have to
Speaker 2: find a way to keep those women taken care of
Speaker 2: in the midst of it, and that's all that I
Speaker 2: can hope for. I mean, I am happy for that
Speaker 2: audience that they get to experience that because think about it,
Speaker 2: We've had Royal Rumbo since nineteen eighty eight and they've
Speaker 2: all been in the United States, and WWE is really
Speaker 2: taking the world in their name very seriously, and you know,
Speaker 2: the entire world deserves to see you know, stuff like
Speaker 2: that live and not just you know, watch the reruns
Speaker 2: of things or be a behind on certain things like
Speaker 2: they deserve to be, you know, in the know. So
Speaker 2: if there can have that experience, and you know, I'm
Speaker 2: all for the fans getting that experience because we're all
Speaker 2: a big family fan wise, so I just feel like,
Speaker 2: you know, if they have that experience and they have it.
Speaker 2: But you know, as long as the wrestlers are taken
Speaker 2: care of, especially the women, that's all I care about.
Speaker 2: So yeah, absolutely, So it's gonna be different for us.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, it's not all about us.
Speaker 2: We're not the only rest that exists, so you know,
Speaker 2: the others get to have fun in network.
Speaker 3: We get like an eleven AM or Now show airtime,
Speaker 3: so I'm not too mad about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, So it's gonna be fun. I feel like
Speaker 2: it's gonna be all right. So yeah, and my last
Speaker 2: moment I believe I get to talk about is the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty Men's Royal Rumble. I love this one because
Speaker 2: Drew mcin well, actually there's I just rewatched it for
Speaker 2: the first time in a while.
Speaker 3: The Gauntlet in the first half.
Speaker 2: That made me upset.
Speaker 3: You look at the return of like MVP though, which
Speaker 3: I was very happy.
Speaker 2: We did, and he came back in his Killmonger gear
Speaker 2: and that was cool. But I will say though the
Speaker 2: first half of that match he had me very upset
Speaker 2: because I'm sitting here like, why is Brock even in
Speaker 2: this match? Because I want these people who I'm feeling like, look,
Speaker 2: if you're the champion, they're fighting, they're they're fighting for
Speaker 2: the opportunity to fight you. Yeah, like, so why are
Speaker 2: you in? Why?
Speaker 3: What are you Because if he won them then he
Speaker 3: wouldn't have to wrestle wrestle media. Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was really weird. But in the midst of
Speaker 2: it all, we did have a great moment where Ricochet,
Speaker 2: who was a part of the match, who deserves a
Speaker 2: lot more credit for his part in the match, gave
Speaker 2: brock Lesner a low blow and then Drew McIntire and
Speaker 2: focused in on his Claymore kick and eliminated Brock Lesnith.
Speaker 2: So it was a little bit more of a fair
Speaker 2: fight in that regard because Brock had eliminated Koche Kingston,
Speaker 2: he eliminated Big E, he eliminated a who's who at
Speaker 2: that point, and I was just really upset. But you know,
Speaker 2: the fact that these two wound up pulling the shock
Speaker 2: of the century, well one of the shock of the
Speaker 2: centuries in this match, which is really incredible for me,
Speaker 2: and I just feel like Ricoshet deserves a lot more
Speaker 2: credit for his part in that because a lot of people,
Speaker 2: you know, harp On Drew's Claymore, but it was Ricochet's
Speaker 2: low blow that really, you know, solidified that. And then
Speaker 2: Drew wound up winning the Royal Rumble, which was a
Speaker 2: great odyssey for him because he was there and was
Speaker 2: the chosen one at one point, but then he got
Speaker 2: caught up and then he got let go, and then
Speaker 2: he rebuilt himself all around the world in terms of wrestling,
Speaker 2: and it came back to solidify himself as the top
Speaker 2: dog he knew he could be. So you get rid
Speaker 2: a better story than it.
Speaker 5: And you had the return on this day, I said, clearly, experie,
Speaker 5: Oh my god, I was I screamed.
Speaker 3: I remember watching this and screaming when he came back.
Speaker 2: I couldn't believe it. I was in such shock. I
Speaker 2: was just in complete shock when that happened. I was like,
Speaker 2: excuse me. I was like really, and it was just
Speaker 2: so amazing, Like he was definitely my pick to win.
Speaker 2: After that point, I was like, hold on, hold on,
Speaker 2: hold the phone. That means he has to win this thing, right,
Speaker 2: but you know, and I wasn't mad about Drew winning,
Speaker 2: but when Edge popped out there, I was just like,
Speaker 2: hold on, are you serious? Come on? And then, funny enough,
Speaker 2: Roman Reigns entered into the Royal Rumble, even after he
Speaker 2: had a match with Baron Corbin where it was falls
Speaker 2: count anywhere and they were fighting all over the baseball
Speaker 2: fee and because they were even in the dugout, and
Speaker 2: I was just like, oh my god, like this is crazy.
Speaker 2: So for him to come in that match, it was
Speaker 2: just really insane. And then of course this set everybody
Speaker 2: on fire because everybody thought, oh my god, they're going
Speaker 2: to try the Roman Reigns thing again, and it just
Speaker 2: made everybody upset, but drew on, so everybody was chilled.
Speaker 2: And this year, I think.
Speaker 3: This was before this year, this was the last time
Speaker 3: I think Roman was in a royal rumble too.
Speaker 2: It was because they mentioned that, they mentioned that when
Speaker 2: he declared, when Paul declared for him, that he hasn't
Speaker 2: been in one in five years, so this was the
Speaker 2: last one he was ever in. Yeah, that is so
Speaker 2: nuts to think about, but that's what happens when you're
Speaker 2: on top for so long. You just you got to
Speaker 2: work your way back a tribal chief having to fight
Speaker 2: for an opportunity. That's nuts. That's nuts to think about.
Speaker 2: And then another thing that's nuts to think about is
Speaker 2: that you had crash out Monday Night Messiah Seth and
Speaker 2: his disciples. Oh yeah, this was nuts, bro.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because this was also a few months after Becky.
Speaker 3: Was this a few months after Becky gave birth too?
Speaker 3: Because no, no, no, Becky left twenty no, Becky left
Speaker 3: twenty nineteen, right.
Speaker 2: No, I think because I was during the pandemic and
Speaker 2: this was before.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right, but yeah, God, the Messiah,
Speaker 3: the Monday Night Messiah.
Speaker 4: Mm hmmm.
Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, what what what in the far cry oh
Speaker 2: my god, he was just he was far. But I
Speaker 2: do appreciate his dedication to this. Of course, there's a
Speaker 2: part of me that feels like we might get another
Speaker 2: iteration of this with his feud against them Punko possible.
Speaker 2: I really feel like this is going to happen and
Speaker 2: manifest itself in some way. But I don't know if
Speaker 2: it's gonna be the same way. But I feel like
Speaker 2: it just might happen and I would love it. But yeah,
Speaker 2: those are a lot of my favorite moments from the
Speaker 2: Royal Rumble. But just to be quick, because we did
Speaker 2: talk about, you know, some of our predictions for the
Speaker 2: Women's rol On Rumble this year. What is your prediction
Speaker 2: for this stacked as heck Men's Royal Rumble? Ella, what
Speaker 2: are we gonna do?
Speaker 3: I think so so the again, like it's just it's
Speaker 3: hard to not listen to the reports of like what
Speaker 3: the possible Mania matches are, and one of them is
Speaker 3: John Cena and Cody Rhodes, who is the undisputed WWE champion.
Speaker 3: So again, if you go to that logic, Sina would
Speaker 3: either win Rumble or Chamber. I don't think they would
Speaker 3: put John Cena, not that he couldn't handle it. But
Speaker 3: I think John would want to be safe during his
Speaker 3: run and not risk an injury by being inside the
Speaker 3: elimination chamber, so I don't think they would put him
Speaker 3: inside the chamber. So for that reason, I have John
Speaker 3: Cena winning the Men's Royal Rumble for the third time,
Speaker 3: the second third time winner. But again, there's a lot
Speaker 3: there's a lot of big names in this. It could
Speaker 3: be CM Punk, he came in, he was the runner
Speaker 3: up last year, but I think Seth Ronalds is going
Speaker 3: to eliminate CM Punk to get his revenge. Roman Reigns,
Speaker 3: who could eliminate him. It could be there's a lot
Speaker 3: of people who don't like Rowan Rains. He has a
Speaker 3: lot of enemies going into this, So I feel like
Speaker 3: Roman Reigns has the most to overcome, honestly because I
Speaker 3: feel like he has the most enemies. So I'm going
Speaker 3: with John Cena.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like the more I felt like last
Speaker 2: week when they made all of the announcements as to
Speaker 2: who was going to be in the Men's Yeah, I
Speaker 2: just felt my I felt my soul leave my body
Speaker 2: because because here again like this is my first time
Speaker 2: ever attending one and I just feel like I'm just
Speaker 2: gonna be overstimulated from all of them.
Speaker 3: You have a phenomenal lineup, girl, from.
Speaker 2: All the people who are gonna be in it, and
Speaker 2: I'm just like, it's just so hard, because what do
Speaker 2: you mean all of these people who have all of
Speaker 2: these intertwining you know, stories and all of these motivations
Speaker 2: are gonna be in the same royal rumble? Are you kidding?
Speaker 2: It's just nuts to me. I just can't even believe
Speaker 2: any of this right now. But like you, I am
Speaker 2: predicting that John Cena is going to win it all
Speaker 2: because here again he has the most to prove during
Speaker 2: his last go round, he definitely has the most to
Speaker 2: prove here. So if he has the chance to go
Speaker 2: up against you know, Cody Rhodes, who is essentially a
Speaker 2: person who has listed John Sena as one of his
Speaker 2: motivations to be to be the top person, I would
Speaker 2: love that. I would really love that. And then that
Speaker 2: one doesn't necessarily even have to main event of WrestleMania
Speaker 2: Night one or Night two, because because even when with
Speaker 2: the way that you mentioned Seth and cm Punk, that
Speaker 2: could still man event if you know, they wanted to
Speaker 2: do it that way, because that would fulfill CM Punk's
Speaker 2: dream that was taken away from him last year of
Speaker 2: main eventing a mania. You know, you still have that.
Speaker 2: And then of course you have Drew, who is the
Speaker 2: wild card in there because you know, he's just crashing
Speaker 2: out and just wants to hurt everybody. I don't know,
Speaker 2: it's just a lot to think about. And then you
Speaker 2: have Roman, who is the tribal chief again but yet
Speaker 2: everybody's gunning for him. Solo is still angry, he could
Speaker 2: enter the mask like he has.
Speaker 3: So many enemies, Like.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's so much. I know, I'm so
Speaker 2: overwhelmed by it, but I'm so very excited about it.
Speaker 2: I'm just so thrilled, and I'm just and i just
Speaker 2: feel very blessed to be, you know, a part of
Speaker 2: this in in this way as a media person and
Speaker 2: just as a fan. I'm just really happy to be
Speaker 2: a part of it and to just be in the
Speaker 2: kick of things in another state that I've never been
Speaker 2: in before. I've never been to Indiana, so I'm very
Speaker 2: excited about that. You know. Yeah, it's just really enthralling stuff.
Speaker 2: So yeah, Ella, thank you so much for coming on
Speaker 2: the hearty wrestling podcast with me and talking Royal Rumble,
Speaker 2: and of course you're welcome anytime you want to come on.
Speaker 2: So just tell everybody where they can find and follow
Speaker 2: you and what you've got going on.
Speaker 3: You can find me, like it says down below there
Speaker 3: at it's LJ on Twitter, Instagram and Blue Sky. I
Speaker 3: am planning on going to Elimination Chamber in Toronto because
Speaker 3: it's only two hours for me. So if you're there
Speaker 3: that weekend, please say hello. And also if you're there
Speaker 3: in Indiana, say hello to Stephanie. I hope, I sincerely
Speaker 3: hope you have a great time like the Royal Rumble,
Speaker 3: like experiencing it in person, and especially like if John
Speaker 3: Cina wins, like that's gonna be a moment you will
Speaker 3: never forget, Stephanie. So I hope you have the best time. Yeah,
Speaker 3: just just stay tuned. I'll be doing a few other
Speaker 3: shows and the lead up to the Royal Rumble because
Speaker 3: it's my favorite pay per view, so how can I not,
Speaker 3: So just follow along on social media to stay updated.
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you so much, and of course y'all know
Speaker 2: you can follow me your girl Stephanie Hardy on Instagram
Speaker 2: and x slash Twitter at Queen step Party on TikTok
Speaker 2: where as long as we still have it, I had
Speaker 2: Stephanie underscore Hardy because this was just a nuts weekend.
Speaker 2: On YouTube at the Harty Wrestling Podcast and on Instagram
Speaker 2: at Harty Wrestling Podcast and on Twitter at Harty Wrestle Pod.
Speaker 2: And yeah, you can listen to this episode in all
Speaker 2: episodes on audio on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere
Speaker 2: else you get your audio based podcast stuff. So yeah,
Speaker 2: thank you guys so much, and of course, enjoy Ron
Speaker 2: and enjoy the rest of your Martin Luther King day
Speaker 2: and until next time, bye y'all.