WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.639 --> 00:00:02.520 It's business time. 2 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:02.919 Baby. 3 00:00:03.319 --> 00:00:07.280 You are listening to Solo Monster Sounds Off. I love 4 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:13.039 you so mama monster dude, I want your soulier a woman. 5 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:16.800 You got grown ass wrestlers in the back going on Twitter. 6 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.920 Come over here. I have the best move set. You 7 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:23.480 have legs. They've made Solo a monster. I was ninety 8 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:26.120 nine percent positive it was just chessed up. Now I 9 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.320 want out of my contract if I don't care what 10 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:36.240 I want. This is episode nine oh two of the 11 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:40.399 Solemn Monster Sounds Off. It is Sunday, February twenty third, 12 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.840 twenty and twenty five. I am the Solen Monster. You 13 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:49.600 know it's WrestleMania season. Because the Rock has decided to 14 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:54.240 descend from Rock Mountain. He has come down to grace 15 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:56.320 us with his presence yet again here on the road 16 00:00:56.359 --> 00:00:57.960 to wrestle Media. We got a lot to get into 17 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:00.520 this week, not just with the Rock, about a lot 18 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.240 of other things as well. If you would like to 19 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:05.599 support via PayPal, as you well know, you can always 20 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:08.840 do so Ontosolomonster dot com ten dollars or more, we'll 21 00:01:08.840 --> 00:01:11.000 get you a nickname. In a shout out, I want 22 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:14.040 to say thank you to Big Bee Brian Pisera, The 23 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:19.000 Diamond Dallas Dance Machine, Harrison's Soep, Velvet Revolver, Robert Murray, 24 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:23.480 the Portland pop Star, Paul Hamilton, the Man Himself, The 25 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:28.239 Chicago Slayer, Willie Eicherd, Knight Stalker, and if Alsaphar Killshot, 26 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:33.439 Keith Hart, Robert Loverboy Lopez. It has been a while. 27 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:38.480 Thank you, man, Carlos, Man of Steel, Manuel Big Homie, 28 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.239 Jonathan Burton, Thank you for the note, Jonathan, I appreciate it. 29 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:47.000 Peacemaker Steve Cliff, who is recovering from his second knee 30 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.760 surgery on the same knee, but he is enjoying the 31 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:53.760 sound off as he convalesces. Steve. Get well soon and 32 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:57.719 shout out to Nathan from Wressell Addict Radio, Brace for 33 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:01.920 Impact and The Game Changer podcast. His colleagues are celebrating 34 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:05.920 four hundred episodes. They are The Kings of the Ring 35 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:10.680 podcast hosted by King Ricky Rose, Queen B. K. Murphy. 36 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.599 I hope it's k I was gonna say, Kai. I 37 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:18.240 hope it's k IF not I apology. I apologize to 38 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:20.759 the Queen, but we have we have the Queen and 39 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:24.080 we have Willie t So Congrats to the crew. You 40 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:27.800 could check out their four hundredth episode this Tuesday. Again. 41 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:33.120 That is the Kings of the Ring podcast. It's WrestleMania season, 42 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:35.520 which means that it is time for The Rock to 43 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:37.719 show up two months before the show to take things 44 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:41.759 in a completely different direction, for better or worse. This 45 00:02:41.879 --> 00:02:43.560 is now the second year in a row that this 46 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.039 has happened. Last year, it all worked out in the end. 47 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:49.560 It gave us some much more exciting WrestleMania. I'm hoping 48 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:52.280 for the same this year, especially since I mean I 49 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:54.759 was be honest. I know we still have eight weeks, 50 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.319 but the road to Mania has been pretty dull so far. 51 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:02.199 But that segment I'm Friday with The Rock and Cody 52 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:06.039 Rhodes was honestly one of the weirdest segments that I 53 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:08.719 have ever seen in all my years of watching wrestling. 54 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:13.120 Like I've seen great promos, a lot of them from 55 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:18.800 The Rock, I've seen bad promos. This was just fucking bizarre. 56 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.080 And it wasn't the first time that Rock and Cody 57 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:25.400 have shared the ring and it evolved into something very awkward. 58 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.319 This was actually the second time that this has happened, 59 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.400 but it was the only real interesting thing that happened 60 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.439 on SmackDown. I thought the main event was solid, and 61 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:36.680 there was a Kevin Owens video that was good. It 62 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:39.759 was brief, but it was good. But outside of that, 63 00:03:40.039 --> 00:03:42.879 this was one of the worst Smackdowns that I have 64 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:47.800 seen in years. Even with Rock on the show, SmackDown 65 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:53.560 has been awful. And so it was with great curiosity 66 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:57.039 and excitement that I saw on Thursday the breaking news 67 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:00.000 that The Rock would be appearing on Friday's episode from 68 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:02.240 New Orleans. And when I realized where the show was 69 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.039 taking place, I thought, well, this is probably tied into 70 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:09.400 the announcement of next year's WrestleMania, because the chatter has 71 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:11.759 been that media was coming back to the Big Easy. 72 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:14.599 You know, there were rumors of there being another kickoff 73 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:16.399 event very similar to the one they did in Las 74 00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:19.839 Vegas last year, and then that never happened. Rock said, 75 00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:21.720 originally they were going to make the announcement at the 76 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:24.480 Super Bowl, but there were a few hiccups and it 77 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:28.839 ended up not happening. He didn't say what those hiccups were. Yeah, 78 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:31.399 the NFL said, you're not taking the shine away from 79 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:34.759 our end. You could take that wrestling shit somewhere else. 80 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:38.160 That's what happened, so it only made sense that they 81 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:41.199 would announce that, and they did. Rock said the WrestleMania 82 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:43.759 forty two in twenty twenty six will be returning to 83 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:47.680 the Superdome in New Orleans, the same Superdome where brock 84 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:52.600 Lesner ended the Undertaker streak, the same Superdome where Charlotte 85 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:57.360 Flair ended Osca's undefeated streak, and the same Superdome where 86 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.240 braun Stroman won the tag team titles with a nine 87 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.000 old Boy. A lot of history in that building. Now, 88 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.399 I love New Orleans. I love that they're coming back there. 89 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:09.839 I hope to be back there myself. Saturday April eleventh, 90 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.959 Sunday April twelfth, those are the dates. At least next 91 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:14.920 year it won't fall on Easter Sunday like it does 92 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:17.639 this year. But that wasn't the only reason that the 93 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.600 Rock was there. Now, I said that this was not 94 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:22.639 the first time that Rock and Cody shared the ring 95 00:05:22.759 --> 00:05:25.439 for a very weird segment, Let's go back to the 96 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.920 night after WrestleMania last year. Cody finished his story, the 97 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:32.079 Rock joins him in the ring on raw. He's got 98 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:36.319 his Brahma Bull belt over his shoulder, and Rock asked Cody, 99 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:40.120 can I hold your title? I would like to hold 100 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:45.519 your title, the WWE title, And Cody is weirded out 101 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.800 by this and says, basically, I'll let you hold mine 102 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:52.040 if you let me hold yours. And people think there's 103 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.879 something wrong with me that I said the other night 104 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:57.959 that there were sexual undertones to that segment on Friday, 105 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:02.399 and so they swap belts, and the crowd that night 106 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:06.920 breaks that into a chant of this is awkward. Yes, 107 00:06:08.199 --> 00:06:12.360 yes it was awkward. But Rock told Cody, your story 108 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:16.600 with Roman Reigns is over, but our story has just begun. 109 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:19.519 And everybody cheered because they assumed that we would be 110 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.399 getting a match between them, probably at this year's WrestleMania 111 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:26.000 and Cody that night he told him, you're my boss, right, 112 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.439 you're on the board of TKO, You're my literal boss. 113 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:35.000 But just remember I'm the champion, which means I'm your champion, 114 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:38.360 which is very interesting given what Rock said on Friday 115 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:41.319 about wanting Cody to be his champion. They already established 116 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:45.199 last year that Cody is Rocks champion. Rock said, you 117 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.759 are my champion, and there's one more thing, and he 118 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.680 pulled out a Rolex watch that Cody had gifted him 119 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:53.120 before their WrestleMania match, and he handed it back to 120 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:56.920 Cody and he said, don't you ever break my heart again. 121 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:00.680 That was the last time that the these two men 122 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:05.040 shared a ring together. Okay, fast forward six months. The 123 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:08.319 Rock returns. After Cody and Romans match against the Bloodline 124 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:11.879 at Bad Blood, he stands on stage, he flashes the 125 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:16.120 one two three, he does the throat slash, and that's it. 126 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:22.000 No follow up, no nothing, completely pointless outside of getting 127 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:24.000 people talking, which I guess was the point, but it 128 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.040 led to nothing. He wasn't seen again until New Year's 129 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:32.240 Day Raw debuts on Netflix. We get the Rock, but 130 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.240 we get corporate Rock. We got Dwayne the board member 131 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.439 who's breaking the fourth wall, and he's talking about how 132 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:40.839 great business is and what a great relationship they have 133 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:44.240 with Netflix and Cody my god looks over at Cody 134 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:46.120 in the front row. Cody's standing in the front row 135 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:48.480 like he's a fucking fan, and he looks over at him, 136 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:50.279 and he's talking about what a great champion he is 137 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:52.959 and what a great friendship the two of them have 138 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:56.279 been able to forge. He's given the man his flowers. 139 00:07:57.480 --> 00:07:59.800 He even shared some Tereremana with him in the back. 140 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:02.120 People flipped out over that because it felt like they 141 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:04.759 were killing dead any potential match between the two of them. 142 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:10.560 Fast forward to SmackDown, Rock invites Cody Rhodes out to 143 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:14.120 the ring. Rock gives him a hug, and he gives 144 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:17.720 him a kiss, and again he lavishes praise on this man. 145 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:19.720 He talks about what a great champion he's been and 146 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:22.079 how they've become great friends over the past year. Even 147 00:08:22.120 --> 00:08:25.120 our mothers have become friends. Right, It's just one big 148 00:08:25.160 --> 00:08:28.720 love fest. But then he reminds Cody that he's a 149 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:34.159 director on the board of TKO. TKO happens to own WWE, 150 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:37.159 and that makes him the most powerful man in WWE, 151 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:40.039 which of course is not true, but that's the story 152 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.879 they're telling. And he says Cody is a great champion, 153 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:44.960 but he wants him to be more than a great champion. 154 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.799 He wants him to be his champion, which Rock already 155 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:52.679 acknowledged last year on that Postmania Raw that Cody was 156 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:54.919 his champion. So I'm not sure what changed from then 157 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.440 to now. A Rock said he was talking about something 158 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.320 bigger than just the WWEE title, and then he started 159 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:05.519 comparing Cody's Instagram followers to the number of followers that 160 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.120 he has. You know, you've got all these many millions 161 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:10.720 of followers, but I've got half a billion. And that's 162 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.600 what I want for you. And if Cody agrees to 163 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:16.200 be his champion, he can make all of Cody's dreams 164 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:20.679 come true. Even though Cody's dream already came true last 165 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.559 year he finished his story, he won the title that 166 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:28.399 was taken away from Dusty. But Rock said he needs 167 00:09:28.440 --> 00:09:32.600 Cody to be his champion. He doesn't offer any good 168 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:35.960 reason why he needs Cody to be his champion when 169 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.440 he already established last year that Cody is in fact 170 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:40.879 his champion, and he acknowledges how great of a job 171 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:46.240 he's done, like he checks all the boxes, talks about 172 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:49.559 WWE's business has been booming under cody five billion dollar 173 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:52.000 Netflix deal, right, they got fucking new Gate records being 174 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:55.600 set every month, sellout crowds. But for some reason, he 175 00:09:55.720 --> 00:10:00.360 desperately needs this man to be his champion. He said 176 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.519 Cody could be the one thing that Rock never had, 177 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:06.200 his brother, and that last year it was supposed to 178 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:08.639 be Rock and Roman for the title, and Cody fucked 179 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:10.559 it all. Up and then he ended up slapping the 180 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:13.320 Rock on that road to WrestleMania. And so for all 181 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:18.200 those reasons he needs Cody to be his champion. None 182 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:21.320 of that really makes any sense, but that's how he 183 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.000 tried to explain it as far as why he needs 184 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:26.200 him to be his champion. And he gave Cody until 185 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:29.600 the elimination Chamber in Toronto next weekend to give him 186 00:10:29.639 --> 00:10:33.159 his answer. Go home, talk it over with your wife, 187 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:36.080 and you give me your answer. Like they're running for 188 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.960 office together, and he wants Cody to be his vice president. 189 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.399 He wants him to be his running mate. You know 190 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:44.039 what's scary about it, though, honestly, one day I could 191 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:47.320 see that when Cody is done in the ring. I mean, 192 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:50.919 I could easily see Cody getting into politics. Rock of course, 193 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:52.720 has said I don't want to run for president. I 194 00:10:52.759 --> 00:10:55.200 got too many skeletons in my closet. But you know, 195 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:57.480 people still talk about Rock, but one day he might 196 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:01.799 run for president. It's scary, but I can envision a 197 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:05.879 ticket one day of the Rock and Cody Roads legitimately 198 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:07.679 running for off. That's what this felt like here. It 199 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:09.879 felt like he was making the pitch to Cody. To 200 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:14.120 do just that, Go home, talk it over with your wife. Yes, 201 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:17.480 because it's such a big life change from Cody. You 202 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:19.639 know what he's already been doing on the road every 203 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:22.559 single week, wrestling and doing media and make a wish 204 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:24.840 and meet and greets and everything else that this guy does. 205 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:28.559 Rock says, the thing that he wants more than anything 206 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:30.879 else in this world is that. And he's pointing at 207 00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:34.240 the WWE title over Cody's shoulder, and Cody's like, is 208 00:11:34.279 --> 00:11:35.879 that what this is all about? He goes, no, no, no, no, 209 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.600 it's not about that. That's not what I want, Cody. 210 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:43.559 I want your soul. There was a lot of mixed 211 00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:47.799 opinion online about this segment. Some people thought it sucked. 212 00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:52.519 Other people were throwing around the usual words like cook 213 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:58.600 and cinema. That segment was cinema because you know, of 214 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.000 all the things that it could potentially lead to, which 215 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:02.759 I'll get into and it could end up going in 216 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:07.200 a very interesting direction. But no, this segment did not cook. 217 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:11.200 And anyone who thinks that this was cinema has never 218 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.879 seen a fucking movie in their entire life. If you 219 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:17.360 took this scene in context or not, and you put 220 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:22.120 this in a movie, it would be battlefield Earth level bad. Okay, 221 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:25.799 the wrestling bubble is real, folks, Okay, it is a 222 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:28.919 very real thing. I'm in it too because I have 223 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:30.960 to be, but I still try to keep my head 224 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:33.200 outside of it a little bit so I can still 225 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:38.080 get some you know, oxygen to my brain. Rock was 226 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.639 trying to manipulate this man here in this segment, right. 227 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:43.720 He reminded him about the power that he has. He's 228 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.120 the board, and he's on the board, he's the director, 229 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:48.759 all to try to get him to be, you know, 230 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:52.960 his champion, whatever the hell that means, to attain a 231 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.840 level of fame and fortune that one would think Cody 232 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:59.399 already has. Right, Yes, he's not you know what Rock 233 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:01.600 is in Holly would but he is the top guy 234 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:04.840 in the company. He's the WWE Champion. I guess that's 235 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.480 not enough because you know, it's the Rock, and so 236 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.480 the Rock. Nothing is bigger than the Rock, as we 237 00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:14.440 all know. The segment itself was not good, Okay, it 238 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:18.240 was It was meandering. Rock was out there repeating himself 239 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:19.919 over and over again, which is a thing that he 240 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:23.000 does in all of his promos now, and the crowd 241 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:25.559 in New Orleans did not react all that much to 242 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:28.000 any of this. Once he got the Superdome announcement out 243 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.639 of the way, they were very excited for that. When 244 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:33.519 Cody came out, they were loud. They liked Cody, They 245 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.200 obviously like Rock and you know, him being back on 246 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:39.000 the show. But they sounded after a while, they sounded 247 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.799 bored and confused by a lot of this the longer 248 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.799 it went. You know, one thing that it did do 249 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:48.799 is it added a big hook to the elimination chamber 250 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.399 by letting you know that Rock is going to be 251 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:52.200 on that show and Cody is going to be on 252 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.120 that show. Adding Rock to the show is smart, right, 253 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.519 It'll drum up even more interest in it. It should 254 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:00.159 sell more tickets. Right now, they've got around twenty seven 255 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.159 thousand tickets out in the Rogers Center. Okay, that's the 256 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:06.399 old skydough. That building fits a hell of a lot 257 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:10.960 more than twenty seven thousand, So this should help goose 258 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:14.320 ticket sales a little bit. Where I think the story 259 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:19.279 is going is Rock wanting Cody to be his corporate champion. 260 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.960 I talked a little bit about this on Friday night 261 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:24.279 in the review. Rock wants Cody to be his you know, 262 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:28.519 quote unquote corporate champion. It doesn't make a lot of sense. 263 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:32.440 It really doesn't. They did this story years ago with 264 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:37.320 Rock himself becoming the corporate Champion, but that made sense 265 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:41.600 because you know, Vince McMahon hated Stone Cold Steve Austin. 266 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:45.600 Austin was the antithesis of what he wanted in his champion, right, 267 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:49.480 Southern redneck, drinking beer, cussing, thumbing his nose at authority. 268 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.600 He wanted that title off of him and onto somebody 269 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:54.519 who would better reflect what he was looking for in 270 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:59.360 his champion. The Authority right didn't want Daniel Bryan as 271 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:01.720 their champion. He was a B plus player. He looked 272 00:15:01.720 --> 00:15:06.279 like a goat. He wasn't what they saw as championship material. 273 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:09.320 So he won the title anyway. But a few months later, 274 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.200 seth Rollins joins the authority. He was more in line 275 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.240 with what they were looking for. They groomed him for 276 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:20.559 that spot. Cody carries himself already like the quintessential corporate champion. 277 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:24.120 He looks the part, he sounds the part. He's the 278 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:26.399 first one to the buildings, the last one to leave. 279 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.600 He does all the media, all the charity stuff. He 280 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:33.080 is that guy. So I'm gonna need a little more 281 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.879 explanation coming out, and now this was only the first segment. Yes, 282 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:37.919 but I'm gonna need a little more explanation as to 283 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:40.919 why he wants Cody, of all people, to be his 284 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.679 champion after already acknowledging previously that yes, you are my champion, 285 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:47.960 if he still had heat with Cody, if he didn't 286 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:50.559 want Cody to be the champion. You stole my match 287 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:53.120 with Roman Reigns, you blew up the biggest WrestleMania match 288 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:55.600 of all time. Then you beat my cousin, and you 289 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:59.159 took the title away from my family. And he enlisted 290 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:04.559 someone else to be his champion or his corporate stooge. 291 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.080 That would make more sense to me, And that may 292 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.600 be where things end up going when Cody ultimately gives 293 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:14.200 his answer and says no, I won't be your champion, 294 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.919 it may be somebody else in that spot. And that's 295 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.200 where I think this story could get very interesting. So 296 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:22.320 I'm not saying this can't wind up being a really 297 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:26.399 fun story, but this being you know, chapter one, let's 298 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:29.080 call it, or maybe chapter two if you consider last 299 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:32.360 year chapter one. Right now, I could only judge it 300 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:35.080 by what we saw and what we saw on Friday 301 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:37.960 was not the home run that some people said it was, 302 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:41.840 but it can be eventually. It can be that now. 303 00:16:41.879 --> 00:16:44.240 They actually held a post show press conference on Friday 304 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:47.720 after SmackDown, the way they do for their plees, and 305 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.519 it was Rock sipping his tequila and killing k fab 306 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.120 as he answered questions about the storyline, saying that it 307 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.600 doesn't even necessarily need to lead to a match between 308 00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:59.799 him and Cody. He said, in the world of pro wrestling, 309 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.519 as we all know, everything will culminate in a match. 310 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:05.559 Whatever happens, it'll end up being in the ring. What 311 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:07.960 I really love about this rare air space that we 312 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:10.920 have gotten to with this character of the Final Boss. 313 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.680 It's like this white whale unicorn in that with the 314 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:18.039 Final Boss and Cody Rhodes, it's not about the WWE title, 315 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.640 it's not about having a match. It never has to 316 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:23.880 culminate in a match. That's a really special place to be. 317 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:26.720 I think creatively, and just think character wise and how 318 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:29.160 much fun you can have to be able to have 319 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.799 a storyline and two characters who are very popular to 320 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.920 never have to get into the ring for a match, 321 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:38.799 but yet still hold this really unique, compelling off putting 322 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:41.559 kind of weird. He wants his soul. What does that mean? 323 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:45.880 I love it? And then he said that he and 324 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:49.519 Cody had a few tequilas after their segment. That's nice. 325 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.440 He got to plug his tequila and his movie during 326 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.799 that segment. By the way, on Friday, you can't rule 327 00:17:57.799 --> 00:17:59.960 out Rock against Cody down the right, Yes, he said, 328 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:01.960 it doesn't have to culminate in a match. That doesn't 329 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:04.119 mean Rock and Cody is not gonna happen. At some point. 330 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:07.039 It could very well still happen, but it's not happening 331 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:09.039 this year. I don't think it is happening this year. 332 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:13.000 It's not happening because we have an elimination Chamber match 333 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.200 coming up this Saturday, which was kind of lost in 334 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:18.319 all the noise of this. John Cena is trying to 335 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:22.359 get to WrestleMania to win his seventeenth World Championship. Seeampunk 336 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:24.759 is trying to get his very first WrestleMania main event. 337 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.640 Drew McIntyre is in it, seth Rollins is in it, 338 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:31.039 Damian Priest is in it. Logan Paul is there. One 339 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:33.559 of those six men will be challenging Cody for the 340 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.559 title of WrestleMania so let's take this one by one. Okay, 341 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:40.759 is Cody Rhoades going to take the rock up on 342 00:18:40.839 --> 00:18:44.799 his offer? I don't see it. I know people are 343 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:48.319 infatuated with this idea that Cody is gonna turn heel 344 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:51.960 and we're gonna get heal. Cody, Cody is the man 345 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:56.160 right now. It would be foolish to turn him heal. 346 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:00.359 This isn't a John Cena situation where he's getting mixed 347 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.759 reactions and they're sick of him being on top and 348 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:06.079 being babyfaced for so many years. Right, you got to 349 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:09.839 turn heel? Right The fans have stuck with Cody, you know, 350 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:12.480 and he's only been back for two years. The fans 351 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.880 have stuck with this guy. They have not soured on him. 352 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:18.720 They believe in him, they like him. There's no need 353 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:21.880 to turn Cody roadse heel right now. And frankly, there 354 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:23.960 are more compelling stories that you could tell with some 355 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:27.599 of the names in the chamber ending up his rocks again. 356 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:30.400 I'll call him corporate champion however they want to describe it. 357 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:34.680 But there's a lot more compelling names. John Cena. Now, 358 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:37.119 I dismissed the idea in my review on Friday, but 359 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.160 as I went back and forth with people later on 360 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.279 in the stream that night. Somebody pointed out that promo 361 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:45.920 that he cut after the Royal Rumble where he declared 362 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:48.160 for the Elimination Chamber because he didn't have to qualify. 363 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.000 He said, I'd like to think, with all my equity 364 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:52.359 and you know, me being who I am, I could 365 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.480 just declare for the match. And I thought it was 366 00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:58.799 very odd how Sena argued in that speech that he gave, 367 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:01.400 like what's best for business is for him to go 368 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:05.319 to WrestleMania. It'll win his seventeenth world title. Sounded very 369 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:08.960 self serving, which is out of character for the John 370 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:13.000 Cena persona that we see on TV. But I've also 371 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.759 pointed out to you how long this losing streak is 372 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.559 that Sena has been on. The man has not won 373 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:21.440 a singles match in like seven years. He went to 374 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:25.599 the Royal Rumble and he lost. He sees the chance 375 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:30.039 to win number seventeen slipping away. If he's feeling desperate enough, 376 00:20:31.160 --> 00:20:34.079 maybe we get Heal Sena siding with his old rival 377 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:36.599 for one last run before dropping the title back to 378 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:41.160 Cody at SummerSlam. I still think it's unlikely that we 379 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:43.640 get Heal Sena during his retirement tour. But you can 380 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:45.319 at least try to make sense out of it. It's 381 00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:49.559 basically the Steve Austin He'll turn at WrestleMania seventeen, which 382 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:52.599 didn't turn out too well for the company. Even Austin 383 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:55.240 admits it was a mistake. But you wouldn't have that 384 00:20:55.319 --> 00:20:58.240 problem now really, because Sena is not the guy anymore. Right, 385 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:01.039 Austin was the guy he was It was him and Rock, 386 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:04.799 But Austin was the guy back then, right, full time, 387 00:21:04.920 --> 00:21:08.359 most popular babyface on the roster. John Cena, this is it, 388 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:10.519 This is it. This is a retirement tour. I can't 389 00:21:10.519 --> 00:21:14.279 even call him part time. He's less than part time, right, 390 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:16.440 I mean, soon he may be part time, But so far, 391 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:18.599 I mean, how many times you can count on fucking 392 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.440 one hand in the last three years how many times 393 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:23.960 you've actually seen him. So you can pretty much do 394 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:25.599 anything you want with him. It's not like it's going 395 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:27.839 to have a major impact on the roster or a 396 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:30.960 major impact on business. If anything, you know, business would 397 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:35.720 probably boom for a short John Cena, he'll turn. He's 398 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:38.799 no longer their lone top babyface like he used to be, 399 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:43.240 or everything Vince McMahon built everything around this guy, many 400 00:21:43.319 --> 00:21:45.519 many times at the expense of others who could have 401 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:47.799 gotten over and potentially ended up in a spot like that. 402 00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:51.519 It was all about John Cena. They actually turned, by 403 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:54.240 the way they turned Steve Austin at the same time 404 00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:57.480 that Rock was leaving to go film a movie, which 405 00:21:57.559 --> 00:22:01.960 left them with the Undertaker and Cane as their top babyfaces. 406 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:04.000 I don't think there was a lot of forethought put 407 00:22:04.039 --> 00:22:06.319 into that, Like, there's a lot of reasons why that 408 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:08.920 was a bad idea. But again with Sena, that's not 409 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:10.680 going to be an issue. They have other baby faces 410 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:14.359 they can plug in there to fight him, Cody Roman, Punk, 411 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.599 Orton aj Styles, right, they have lots of options there. 412 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.319 Then there's cm Punk And this is another one that 413 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:26.880 I dismissed the other night. But you talk about blowing 414 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:31.680 things up, this would blow a whole wide open into things, 415 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:34.720 and it wouldn't really fit for Punk to cozy up 416 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:36.640 to the Rock of all people, or for Punk to 417 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.920 go corporate. But if he's desperate enough to get that 418 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.680 Wrestlemanium main event, and if he's desperate enough to win 419 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.440 that championship, and he sees that window closing. You know, 420 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:50.240 it can make people do crazy things, or it would 421 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.960 just prove that Seth Rollins was right in what he 422 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:56.359 said about this guy all along. Andrew McIntyre was right 423 00:22:56.400 --> 00:23:00.240 and what he said Punk said it when when he 424 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:04.240 first came back, he's here to make money, not friends. 425 00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:07.400 That last promo he did with Cody that was great TV. 426 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:09.920 That was right before the rumble. I would love to 427 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:12.519 see Punk against Cody at WrestleMania more than I would 428 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:16.279 Sena against Cody. This would add a wrinkle to things 429 00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:18.359 that nobody would see coming. Punk would just have to 430 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:22.559 explain the why because remember he still got that favor 431 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:26.079 from Paul Hayman that he hasn't cashed in yet. But 432 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:28.599 the idea of Punk winning the title and going heal, 433 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:31.039 it's not like he wouldn't have, you know, he wouldn't 434 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.920 have enough people to work with. Yeah, it's funny. Years ago. 435 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:37.519 I pitched the idea of having Sena go corporate in 436 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:41.319 like early twenty twelve, after the whole summer of Punk, 437 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:47.119 flip the entire dynamic and have Babyface anti authority. See 438 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:50.400 I'm Punk trying to take the title from Heel corporate Sena, 439 00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:55.680 and here we are talking about just the opposite possibly happening. 440 00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:59.319 But I'm intrigued. You know, if they focus on the 441 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:01.599 whole I'm here to make money, not friends. I'm here 442 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:04.599 to do business. To me, that's really the only way 443 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:08.519 you can make this work without completely betraying everything about 444 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:10.720 the CM Punk character that we've come to know over 445 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:14.119 the years. And then you can build to a John 446 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:16.799 Cena CM Punk match one last time. Maybe Punk is 447 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:19.559 the one that's seen a beats to win number seventeen. 448 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:23.480 Maybe it's not Cody just getting his belt back. Or 449 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.279 SummerSlam is where you do Punk against Roman Reigns with 450 00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:30.240 Paul Hayman caught in the middle, right, You've got a 451 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.279 couple of different options there. The only thing is if 452 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:38.079 Punk doesn't cash in that favor with Hayman to headline 453 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:41.640 WrestleMania and win the title, I don't know what else 454 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:44.599 the favor could even be. Like once he does that, 455 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:51.240 what's left that he would even want? But I look 456 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:54.000 at the makeup of this elimination Chamber match, it is 457 00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:57.079 easier to envision some of the other names in the 458 00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:59.920 chamber ending up in the spot of Rocks Corporate Champion 459 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:02.160 Drew McIntyre would actually make a lot of sense, even 460 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:05.440 though he hates the bloodline. It was Rock who announced 461 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:07.680 that Drew had signed his new contract. Remember he gifted 462 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:11.279 him that sword all those years ago, right, anointed as 463 00:25:11.319 --> 00:25:15.759 the chosen one. Now he truly would be the chosen one. 464 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.400 I just don't think it packs the same punch if 465 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:21.079 you do it with an existing heel. Right, If they 466 00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:23.279 want that shock factor, it has to be a babyface 467 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:26.960 seth Rollins could work, obviously, we know the history with 468 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:30.400 him and Cody, but John Cena is winning number seventeen 469 00:25:30.440 --> 00:25:33.079 this year. I don't think it needs to happen at WrestleMania. 470 00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:37.319 If he's going heel, then it almost has to so 471 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:39.240 that he can drop it in time to turn back 472 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:42.079 and then get a proper send off. With Punk, you 473 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:45.279 don't have those issues, right. Either one of them would 474 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:48.039 make for some compelling TV so long as they're actually 475 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:50.440 on TV. Right, that's not going to be an issue 476 00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:52.920 with Punk as much as it might be for Sina. 477 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.440 Cody going heel though you know to do it right now, 478 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.079 I think that would be a big mistake, and it 479 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:02.960 takes us into this weekend elimination Chamber at the Rogers 480 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:06.119 Center in Toronto, where things will become a lot clearer 481 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:10.119 as WrestleMania directions go. We already know Jay Usso is 482 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:14.359 challenging Gunther and Charlotte Flair is challenging Tiffety Stratton at WrestleMania. 483 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:17.680 But after this, all of the key championship matches will 484 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:20.400 be set. So let's run through the card and give 485 00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:24.039 some predictions. It's a four match card, plus Cody Rhodes 486 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:27.799 gives his answer to The Rock. Will he surrender his soul? 487 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.640 Will he sell his soul to the final Boss? I'm 488 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:35.160 gonna say no, and The Rock will find himself a 489 00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:39.720 different corporate champion by WrestleMania. I don't know that they 490 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:44.240 would shoot the angle on this show where let's say, 491 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:47.240 by the end of the Chamber match, somebody goes heel 492 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:50.160 and Rock has his guy and it's not Cody. I 493 00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:52.680 almost feel like they would want to say that as 494 00:26:52.759 --> 00:26:55.200 like a shocking moment in the main event at WrestleMania. 495 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:57.960 So I don't know exactly what else is going to 496 00:26:58.039 --> 00:27:00.440 happen in this segment other than Cody saying yes or no, 497 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:03.440 you know, yay or nay, But I do think his 498 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.680 answer will be known. We have the women's elimination Chamber match, 499 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:11.079 with the winner challenging Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania for the 500 00:27:11.079 --> 00:27:14.400 Women's World Championship, with liv Morgan, who is very familiar 501 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:19.720 with Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Bailey, Bianca, Bela Air, Naomi, 502 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:24.559 and Roxanne Perez competing in her very first chamber. This 503 00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:28.119 is a tough one because I think it's Live or Bianca, 504 00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:30.680 and I've gone back and forth here and Bianca is 505 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:32.720 more my personal pick. I would love to see Aria 506 00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:35.839 Bianca match of WrestleMania, but so much of this comes 507 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:37.920 down to what happens in that tag team title match 508 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:41.440 on Monday Night when Bianca and Naomi defend their titles 509 00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.400 against Live and Raquel. Naomi is not winning this, okay, 510 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:48.240 neither is Roxanne, who I think is I think might 511 00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:51.680 be wrestling Bailey at WrestleMania, so if so, they would 512 00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:56.680 cancel each other out. Alexa was just moved to SmackDown, 513 00:27:57.079 --> 00:28:00.440 so her challenging for a Raw championship doesn't really even 514 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:04.160 makes sense. So that leaves Bianca, bell Air and Live Morgan. 515 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:08.039 I'm gonna go at Live Morgan to win the chamber, 516 00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:11.279 but with a little Star next to it, depending on 517 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:13.680 what happens tomorrow night. If Livi and Raquel win the 518 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:17.240 tag team titles, then I think Bianca wins. Otherwise I'm 519 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.440 going with Live Morgan. I think the title match between 520 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:22.920 Ria Ripley and Eosky on next week's Raw ends without 521 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:26.839 a winner, and maybe Living Raquel get involved. We end 522 00:28:26.920 --> 00:28:29.000 up with a triple threat match of WrestleMania. It's gonna 523 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:32.799 be Rea Ripley defending her title against liv Morgan and Eosky. 524 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:38.079 We have Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratis taking on Naya 525 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:44.279 Jackson Candace Lay and I don't see this as anything 526 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:48.279 other than Trish and Tiffany getting the win in Toronto. 527 00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:51.119 Trish gets the fall on Candace as a way to 528 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:54.279 protect Naya because she's gonna have one more title match 529 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:57.039 on TV with Tiffany. We still got time between now 530 00:28:57.039 --> 00:28:59.839 in WrestleMania, and Naya is still talking like I'm going 531 00:28:59.880 --> 00:29:01.680 to take that title from you, so we're gonna get 532 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:04.680 another championship match on TV at some point soon between them. 533 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:07.680 I don't see Naya, even if her team loses, taking 534 00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:11.000 the losing fall her match with Tiffany last week for 535 00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:14.079 the title ended on a DQ But I think the 536 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:17.079 baby Faces go over here. I think Trish in Toronto 537 00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:22.839 getting the win makes sense. Sammy Zain takes on Kevin 538 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:27.039 Owens in an unsanctioned match. A lot of history between 539 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:29.480 these two. You don't need me to tell you that 540 00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:34.000 this taking place in Canada. It feels very appropriate. The 541 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:37.160 only question is is this unsanctioned because we're gonna have 542 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:40.000 a proper match between them at WrestleMania, or is this 543 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:42.759 happening now to pave the way for the return of 544 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:46.599 Randy Orton. Owens and Orton go off and do their thing. 545 00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:49.680 Sammy z Ain ends up, you know, working with Carrion 546 00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:52.440 Cross because Carrion Cross is still cutting promos on him 547 00:29:52.440 --> 00:29:54.400 and calling them out. They're gonna have a match at 548 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:57.079 some point. I just don't know if that's gonna be 549 00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:59.200 a television match or if that's gonna be a WrestleMania 550 00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:01.240 match as a way to try try to heat up 551 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:04.720 carrying Cross. So we'll find out what they do here. 552 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:07.200 I think because I'm looking at this and thinking this 553 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:10.640 is the perfect place in the time for Randy Orton return, 554 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:14.480 and it's unsanctioned, so anything goes and if Randy Orton 555 00:30:14.519 --> 00:30:16.720 wants to drop Kevin Owens with an RKO, if he 556 00:30:16.759 --> 00:30:18.960 wants to punk kick him into oblivion, if he wants 557 00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:20.839 to hit a pile driver on him the way that 558 00:30:21.160 --> 00:30:24.880 Owens did to Randy, he can do it and it's 559 00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:29.240 all legal because it's unsanctioned. I'm going with Sammy Zain 560 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:31.839 to get the win with an assist from a returning 561 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:34.279 Randy Orton. I think it might even be a case 562 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:37.519 where Orton. I don't think that if Orton gets involved 563 00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.279 and attacks Kevin Owens, it's going to get him heat 564 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:43.079 just because they're in Canada and people are gonna love 565 00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:46.039 Kevin Owens. But I think you know one way to 566 00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:49.480 try to avoid anything like that happening. Because I said 567 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:52.880 that back in November, because Cody and Ko were not 568 00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:56.440 at Survivor Series, and Survivor Series was in Canada, and 569 00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:58.680 I'm like, I wonder if they are not doing the 570 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:02.039 match on that show because they may be worried that 571 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:04.799 in a match in Canada between Cody and Ko, Owens 572 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:07.480 might get more cheers or Cody might get some booze. Right. 573 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:11.240 I wonder if that was the logic behind holding off 574 00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:14.240 On like a proper match until Saturday Night's main event. 575 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:18.240 But if you want to avoid any risk of that, 576 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:20.759 not that I think there is much, but you have 577 00:31:20.839 --> 00:31:23.359 him save Sammy from a package pile driver. Owens is 578 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:26.559 about to murder Sammy's a He's about to drop him 579 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:28.519 on his head, maybe on the announced desk or something 580 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:31.640 with a package pile driver. Here comes Randy Orton to 581 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:35.799 save the day. Big Pop gets his revenge or a 582 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:40.519 measure of revenge. Sammy wins Orton and Ko. They go 583 00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:43.240 off to continue their story and they have a match 584 00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:48.079 at WrestleMania and in the men's Elimination Chamber match for 585 00:31:48.119 --> 00:31:52.559 a shot at Cody Rhodes and his Soul and the 586 00:31:52.640 --> 00:31:57.880 WWE Championship. At WrestleMania, we have John Cena, CM Punk, 587 00:31:58.359 --> 00:32:04.160 Drew McIntyre, seth Rolls, Damian Priest, and Logan Paul. Like 588 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:08.240 the women's match, I'm torn between two names. I'm torn 589 00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:12.720 between John Cena and c I'm Punk, Damian Priest and 590 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:15.799 Drew McIntyre. They are likely gonna end up having that 591 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:18.200 match a WrestleMania. I don't know that they're gonna deviate 592 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:21.559 from that plan. There's history between them going back to 593 00:32:21.640 --> 00:32:27.319 last year's WrestleMania priest eliminated McIntyre. Priest is still insulting 594 00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:29.880 MacIntyre and some of his promos, like calling him a 595 00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:32.079 cry baby and stuff like that's gonna come back around 596 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:34.960 on him. So I think that those two were going 597 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:37.960 to Mania, so they'll kind of cancel each other out here. 598 00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:42.279 You know, I was thinking when I was going back 599 00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:45.319 and forth, like if it's not Sena who wins, right, 600 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:49.759 you have Logan Paul eliminate John Cena after Sena eliminated 601 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:52.920 him at the Rumble, and we get that over exaggerated 602 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:56.119 expression on John Cena's face of shock and dismay and 603 00:32:56.200 --> 00:32:57.920 oh my god, what am I gonna do? That's it 604 00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:02.440 Number seventeen down down the toilet, And I could envision 605 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:05.640 a final two of CM Punk, who was actually dumped 606 00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:08.640 out of the Rumble by Logan, and this time it's 607 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:11.480 Punk who puts Logan down. That's kind of what I 608 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:15.519 was starting to think before, But I keep coming back 609 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.920 to this damn favor. It's like I said before, if 610 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:21.880 Punk has that favor from Paul Hayman, I don't know 611 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.119 what else it would be if not him using it 612 00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:27.319 to get a main event spot. At WrestleMania or get 613 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:31.640 a shot at the championship at some point. And if 614 00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:34.759 he wins the chamber and he gets that on his own, 615 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:38.279 I feel like it basically negates the need for the favor. 616 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:44.279 So Sena could win. Punk could get Hayman to use 617 00:33:44.359 --> 00:33:47.480 whatever influence he has with the Rock, him being so 618 00:33:47.599 --> 00:33:50.279 close to the family at all, to get Rock to 619 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:52.599 add CM Punk to the match at WrestleMania to make 620 00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:55.920 it a three way. That's how he gets in. He 621 00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:58.359 doesn't win the chamber to get in, but Punk Cash 622 00:33:58.440 --> 00:34:00.200 is in that favor. He gets added to the mat. 623 00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:03.160 And if Punk is going heel you do the turn 624 00:34:03.240 --> 00:34:06.759 there and you keep the fans guessing who's going to 625 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:09.519 the dark side right by the time that match is over. 626 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:12.840 Is it John Cena, Is it CM Punk Or maybe 627 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:17.639 it's Cody and then boom, it's CM Punk and it's 628 00:34:17.639 --> 00:34:21.880 wrestle Maybe he is seventeen all over again. It's fun 629 00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:24.960 to think about and play out all the different scenarios. 630 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:28.639 I'm going with John Cena. He was my original pick 631 00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:30.880 after he lost the Royal Rumble. I'm gonna stick with that. 632 00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:34.079 I think John Cena wins the elimination chamber, and then 633 00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:36.719 I think Punk uses the favor from Hayman to work 634 00:34:36.760 --> 00:34:41.280 his way into things. Desperate times call for desperate measures. 635 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:45.800 Today's episode is sponsored by HelloFresh. If you're tired of 636 00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:48.400 trying to figure out what you're eating for dinner every night, 637 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:51.920 I know that frustration personally. All Right, what do I want? 638 00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:54.199 I don't have enough time to spend a couple of 639 00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:56.880 hours cooking up something good, but I'm tired of the 640 00:34:56.920 --> 00:34:59.480 same old stuff all the time. Well, you don't need 641 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:02.239 to be tired of it anymore, because HelloFresh is here 642 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:04.559 to make things a hell of a lot easier. That's 643 00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:09.119 why HelloFresh is America's number one meal kit. Now you 644 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:11.360 don't even need to make a trip to the grocery 645 00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:15.119 store to grab what you need. HelloFresh makes home cooking easy, fun, 646 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:18.840 and affordable. 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And if you ever need to cancel 657 00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:55.280 or change meals or skip a week, they've got you covered. 658 00:35:55.800 --> 00:35:58.400 Now I can tell you, well, look, I got a 659 00:35:58.400 --> 00:36:00.920 bunch of meals recently. They hpped him to my house, 660 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:03.239 packed him in, packed him in real good too, with 661 00:36:03.320 --> 00:36:05.920 the dry ice and everything, the whole deal, to make 662 00:36:05.960 --> 00:36:07.800 sure that everything was fresh before I put it in 663 00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:10.960 my fridge. And there was one meal that I had 664 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:14.199 in particular. Yeah, I stay away from anything cheesy or 665 00:36:14.320 --> 00:36:17.440 creamy because I just can't have it. But they had 666 00:36:18.320 --> 00:36:22.280 chicken ramen in a shaw U style broth on the 667 00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:25.639 menu that week, with mushrooms and crispy onions, and it 668 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:29.599 was so good, so good. And they sent me the 669 00:36:29.639 --> 00:36:32.639 box with all the ingredients already inside and a giant 670 00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:35.679 card listing everything out step by step. Here's what to do, 671 00:36:35.800 --> 00:36:38.760 here's when to put this in, which is perfect for 672 00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:40.840 an idiot like me, because I'm sure I would screw 673 00:36:40.920 --> 00:36:44.239 something up without it, but it's all right there for you, 674 00:36:44.280 --> 00:36:46.400 and there was enough there for two people, so you 675 00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:48.639 could even share it with someone else, or maybe there's 676 00:36:48.679 --> 00:36:51.639 maybe there's some leftover even right, I mean, I certainly 677 00:36:51.719 --> 00:36:55.639 was not left wanting. More like if you're hungry and 678 00:36:55.679 --> 00:36:58.760 you're worried that you'll still be hungry. I certainly wasn't. 679 00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:01.880 And the whole experience was super easy, and it probably 680 00:37:01.920 --> 00:37:05.679 took me around I would say forty minutes or so. 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There was some news this 690 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:46.239 week on mounting frustration in the WWE women's locker room, 691 00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:48.360 at least with some talents, maybe not all of them, 692 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:52.519 but certainly some of them. Speaking on Fightful's YouTube channel 693 00:37:52.559 --> 00:37:55.519 on Wednesday, Sean ross Sapp stated that he has spoken 694 00:37:55.559 --> 00:37:58.519 with many women in WWE who were frustrated with how 695 00:37:58.519 --> 00:38:02.119 the women's division was being booked. He said, somebody asked 696 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:04.599 me about women's booking, and I said, yes, I have 697 00:38:04.679 --> 00:38:07.880 spoken with plenty of women in WWE who were frustrated 698 00:38:07.880 --> 00:38:10.280 with how the women's division is booked. This isn't a 699 00:38:10.320 --> 00:38:13.320 new issue, but it's nowhere near the level of frustrations 700 00:38:13.360 --> 00:38:16.920 seen around the Royal Rumble in twenty twenty two. Royal 701 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:19.679 Rumble twenty twenty two was so bad that I developed 702 00:38:19.880 --> 00:38:22.599 sources because of how bad it was booked. This is 703 00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:27.000 nowhere near that now. The twenty twenty two Rumble, for 704 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:29.360 those of you who may have forgotten, is the one 705 00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:32.920 where Sasha Banks came out at number one, dressed the 706 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:35.360 Sailor Moon. She had been gone for like a month, 707 00:38:36.119 --> 00:38:38.960 so this was like her return, and then she was 708 00:38:38.960 --> 00:38:43.199 eliminated ten minutes into the match by Zelena Vega. Tamina 709 00:38:43.519 --> 00:38:47.039 lasted longer than Sasha Banks did. It was fucking ridiculous. 710 00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:51.199 So Sean said that one of the Vince McMahon pitches 711 00:38:51.239 --> 00:38:54.599 for that Royal Rumble was to have Ronda Rousey come 712 00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:00.599 back and eliminate the entire field all by herself. Thankfully 713 00:39:00.679 --> 00:39:03.880 that did not happen. She did win the Rumble that year, 714 00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:07.559 but she entered at number twenty eight. I don't need 715 00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:11.519 any convincing, but because some people do, it's nice to 716 00:39:11.760 --> 00:39:13.880 be reminded every now and then why that company is 717 00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:17.079 better off not having Vince McMahon running creative anymore. When 718 00:39:17.079 --> 00:39:20.639 we hear about shit like this, can you imagine Ronda 719 00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:23.679 Rousey coming back and eliminating twenty nine other women to 720 00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:27.599 win the Royal Rumble as awful as that second run 721 00:39:27.760 --> 00:39:29.880 was when she came back, That's how it kicks off. 722 00:39:31.400 --> 00:39:33.280 The fact that it was even pitched in the first 723 00:39:33.320 --> 00:39:35.480 place should have gotten him barred from the building at 724 00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:38.039 Titan Tower. They should have revoked his key card for that. 725 00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:43.559 Sap continued, though, he said there was a situation where 726 00:39:43.599 --> 00:39:46.639 one Women's WWE performer reached out to me and said, dude, 727 00:39:46.679 --> 00:39:48.840 can you find out if I'm listed internally as a 728 00:39:48.840 --> 00:39:52.400 heel or a babyface? And I was like, damn, okay. 729 00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:55.679 I also that's what I was wondering on Monday when 730 00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:59.519 Roxanne wrestled Riquel, I wouldn't be surprised if it was her. 731 00:40:00.119 --> 00:40:01.840 I was like, wait a minute, rox Emperez is a 732 00:40:01.840 --> 00:40:04.559 heel in NXT, and yet in that match with Raquel, 733 00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:07.280 you know, especially the way they were talking about her 734 00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:09.559 on commentary, you would think that she was a babyface. 735 00:40:10.920 --> 00:40:13.199 He says. I also know that there have been wrestledmany 736 00:40:13.239 --> 00:40:16.559 of pitches that were rejected because some talents don't want 737 00:40:16.599 --> 00:40:20.199 to be just in a token tag match. They want 738 00:40:20.199 --> 00:40:22.840 things put on a more even plane. In the women's division, 739 00:40:23.039 --> 00:40:26.320 contracts are going up, viewership is adjusted accordingly for when 740 00:40:26.360 --> 00:40:30.559 women are on screen. You're adding more titles, add more matches, 741 00:40:30.639 --> 00:40:33.599 all that stuff. There's not that element of where a 742 00:40:33.599 --> 00:40:35.719 lot of the men not only have one thing going on, 743 00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:38.079 they have a lot of different things going on. And 744 00:40:38.119 --> 00:40:39.800 that's just not the way it's been for the women. 745 00:40:40.239 --> 00:40:42.360 And I don't know if that's a triple H thing 746 00:40:42.559 --> 00:40:45.760 or what says. There's a lot of people that have 747 00:40:45.840 --> 00:40:49.199 been parked. For example, I'm not going to say Natalia 748 00:40:49.280 --> 00:40:52.719 is frustrated, but they signed Natalia, they wanted to keep Natalia. 749 00:40:52.920 --> 00:40:57.519 They had creative plans for Natalia. What has Natalia done since, 750 00:40:58.400 --> 00:41:03.840 hasn't been on NXT, hasn't been doing anything. Now, whether 751 00:41:03.920 --> 00:41:07.199 or not you're a n Italia fan, you can understand 752 00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:10.000 why she or anyone else would be frustrated, right, It's 753 00:41:10.039 --> 00:41:14.320 not hard to see why if she is. You know, 754 00:41:14.400 --> 00:41:16.760 he's not outing her as a source, he's just using 755 00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:19.000 her as an example. Here. They threw a lot of 756 00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:22.000 money at her to resign her. She obviously wants to 757 00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:25.039 keep wrestling. I can see her being a very important 758 00:41:25.039 --> 00:41:28.000 part of training future female stars, maybe ending up with 759 00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:31.039 a coaching role at the performance Center or with NXT 760 00:41:31.159 --> 00:41:34.159 at some point. But she wants to wrestle. And so 761 00:41:34.280 --> 00:41:37.480 if they resigned you with the understanding that you would 762 00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:39.760 still be wrestling, and you're not wrestling, then yes, that 763 00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:43.760 would be pretty frustrating as an example. And by the way, 764 00:41:43.800 --> 00:41:45.199 you know, when Sean says, I don't know if that's 765 00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:48.719 a Triple H thing or what, I can't imagine that 766 00:41:48.719 --> 00:41:52.159 there was some edict from Ari Emanuel and the people 767 00:41:52.159 --> 00:41:54.119 above Triple H and Nick con that said, hey, we 768 00:41:54.159 --> 00:41:57.000 want less women's wrestling on the show, or you can 769 00:41:57.039 --> 00:41:59.880 feature it, but don't feature it as as cohesively as 770 00:41:59.880 --> 00:42:02.280 you do the man like. No, when we're talking about 771 00:42:02.320 --> 00:42:05.159 creative issues like this, you could say it it's okay 772 00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:08.280 to say it's a triple H thing now or whether 773 00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:09.960 or not there's a method to the madness or not, 774 00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:12.840 I don't see what it is. But when you're the 775 00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:15.400 head of creative and you're the chief content officer, I'm 776 00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:18.239 sorry for all the people, myself included, who would lay 777 00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:21.199 all the shit at Vince McMahon's feet when he was 778 00:42:21.239 --> 00:42:23.480 in charge of creative right, and he was in charge 779 00:42:23.480 --> 00:42:25.519 of everything right. It was his company and he had 780 00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:29.679 his hands in everything, good, bad or indifferent. It starts 781 00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:33.360 and stops with whoever is in charge of creative in 782 00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:35.960 that case, for many, many, many years it was Vince McMahon. 783 00:42:36.519 --> 00:42:38.639 There would be good stuff and it's like, okay, even 784 00:42:38.639 --> 00:42:40.760 if he didn't come up with it himself, he green 785 00:42:40.840 --> 00:42:42.920 lit it, he allowed it on TV, so you can 786 00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:45.480 give him credit for that. But for the bad shit 787 00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:48.000 that we saw, whether he came up with it himself 788 00:42:48.079 --> 00:42:50.280 or he okayed the idea from somebody who thought that 789 00:42:50.320 --> 00:42:53.440 he would like it, that's his responsibility. That's on him. 790 00:42:53.519 --> 00:42:55.960 You want to blame Vince, go ahead. It's no different 791 00:42:55.960 --> 00:42:58.280 with Triple H. I don't know why some people, you know, 792 00:42:58.599 --> 00:43:01.159 and I'm not saying Sean is doing but I definitely 793 00:43:01.159 --> 00:43:03.800 see people who will treat him with kid glove. People 794 00:43:03.800 --> 00:43:05.840 accuse me of doing that and I just laugh, like, 795 00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:09.559 I can't take you seriously if if you say something 796 00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:13.280 like that, because numerous times I've called Triple H out 797 00:43:13.320 --> 00:43:15.920 for things I don't like or things that I do like. Right, 798 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:17.840 there are things he does that I do like and 799 00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:20.599 I think are great. But there are people out there 800 00:43:20.599 --> 00:43:22.440 and it goes back to the tribalism where if you 801 00:43:22.480 --> 00:43:24.960 say anything bad or anything negative about the company, about 802 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.639 Triple H, about Tony Kahn, about aaw they can't handle it. 803 00:43:29.320 --> 00:43:34.159 They can't and they leap into defense mode. But it's 804 00:43:34.199 --> 00:43:36.719 okay to say that Triple H. He's not infallible. There 805 00:43:36.719 --> 00:43:40.440 are things he does that are not good or that 806 00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:42.880 the women's division or the tag division. There are certain 807 00:43:42.920 --> 00:43:46.039 aspects of the show and of the roster where improvements 808 00:43:46.039 --> 00:43:50.440 can absolutely be made. He is the head of creative, 809 00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:54.679 He is the chief content officer. If you have issues 810 00:43:54.719 --> 00:43:57.400 with that, then you lay it at his feet. So, yes, 811 00:43:57.440 --> 00:44:02.559 it is his responsibility. Now, Fightful Select had additional details 812 00:44:02.599 --> 00:44:05.599 about this Kashawn. Initially he brought this up. It was 813 00:44:05.679 --> 00:44:07.639 during a show that he was doing. It might have 814 00:44:07.639 --> 00:44:11.039 been a super chat or something that came in. So 815 00:44:11.159 --> 00:44:14.360 now they had a formal report about this whole thing, 816 00:44:14.400 --> 00:44:16.760 and he said, we were asked to expand on some 817 00:44:16.840 --> 00:44:20.360 of the frustrations of the women's division. It's important to 818 00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:22.760 note that it does not reflect the entirety of the division, 819 00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:26.000 but was echoed by numerous talent. Several women on the 820 00:44:26.079 --> 00:44:28.840 WWE roster spoke with Fightful and noted the lack of 821 00:44:28.920 --> 00:44:33.280 focus on developing contenders the tag team division and screen 822 00:44:33.320 --> 00:44:35.639 time for women outside of the top of the division. 823 00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:39.039 This was said to be specifically in comparison to NXT, 824 00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:43.920 where main roster women's talent have noticed how much screen 825 00:44:43.960 --> 00:44:47.039 time and focused those talents get and how emotional investment 826 00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:50.679 then follows. It was also a point of redundant storylines, 827 00:44:50.719 --> 00:44:53.000 with the same talent not only being featured at the 828 00:44:53.000 --> 00:44:54.679 top of the card, but even in the mid card 829 00:44:54.679 --> 00:44:57.519 title scene. Those that we spoke to were happy for 830 00:44:57.519 --> 00:44:59.320 those who get that screen time and said that it 831 00:44:59.360 --> 00:45:02.559 shouldn't be a they're getting too much time conversation. It 832 00:45:02.599 --> 00:45:06.519 should be give other people more time. In addition to them, conversation, 833 00:45:07.360 --> 00:45:10.559 those that Fightful spoke with pointed to Sonya Deville effectively 834 00:45:10.599 --> 00:45:13.119 being cut while negotiating a new deal is something that 835 00:45:13.159 --> 00:45:16.360 didn't instill confidence when they are not being used by 836 00:45:16.400 --> 00:45:19.039 the company. We're told that Deville had been told as 837 00:45:19.079 --> 00:45:21.719 recently as four days prior to her release that the 838 00:45:21.719 --> 00:45:25.079 company was looking to keep her. Several who have inquired 839 00:45:25.119 --> 00:45:27.599 about their creative plans were told that their time would 840 00:45:27.599 --> 00:45:31.679 be coming, and they were asked to be patient. I 841 00:45:31.800 --> 00:45:34.360 understand not all of the women can be featured in 842 00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:36.400 prominent roles at the same time. Some of them are 843 00:45:36.440 --> 00:45:38.599 going to have to wait. And if they have ideas 844 00:45:38.599 --> 00:45:40.639 for them and they're just waiting for one story to 845 00:45:40.760 --> 00:45:44.679 end and then theirs begins, I totally understand that. So 846 00:45:44.800 --> 00:45:46.920 is it a case or triple h or whoever you 847 00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:50.000 Are they being honest when they say that, or are 848 00:45:50.039 --> 00:45:51.960 they just trying to get them off their backs? I 849 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:55.519 don't know. There are only so many segments on one show, 850 00:45:56.679 --> 00:45:59.280 and you're sharing time with the men as well, and 851 00:45:59.320 --> 00:46:01.880 the men's ross are on Raw, the men's roster on SmackDown. 852 00:46:01.880 --> 00:46:04.960 It's bigger than the women's but this is not a 853 00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:08.239 new problem. This has been an ongoing problem now for 854 00:46:08.280 --> 00:46:11.599 a while. The lack of focus on the tag team 855 00:46:11.639 --> 00:46:15.599 division since they insist on keeping those titles, the lack 856 00:46:15.639 --> 00:46:18.920 of attention to stories outside of the top handful of 857 00:46:18.960 --> 00:46:22.199 women in the division, Rhea Ripley, Live, Morgan Nya, Jack's 858 00:46:22.360 --> 00:46:25.440 Charlotte Flair now that she's back, Tiffty Stratton, Right, they 859 00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:28.599 get all the attention. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but 860 00:46:28.719 --> 00:46:31.239 you know, or at least in most cases, but they 861 00:46:31.239 --> 00:46:34.480 get all the attention. But now you have mid card titles, 862 00:46:34.920 --> 00:46:39.760 two of them that you just introduced, and nobody cares. 863 00:46:40.119 --> 00:46:43.880 Nobody cares. Triple H has done a terrible job of this. 864 00:46:44.920 --> 00:46:48.960 Look at fucking Ivy Nile. Ivy Nile has been talking 865 00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:53.760 about challenging Lyra Valkyria for the Intercontinental title, then has 866 00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:55.840 a match on Monday with Dakota Kai to determine a 867 00:46:55.880 --> 00:46:59.760 number one contender. You would think that Tomaso Champa snuck 868 00:46:59.760 --> 00:47:02.199 out there and asked for a moment of silence. It 869 00:47:02.280 --> 00:47:07.000 was so quiet in that building. Nobody cared. Why should 870 00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:10.679 they to number one contenders match for a title that 871 00:47:10.719 --> 00:47:14.400 nobody gives a shit? About because they haven't been given 872 00:47:14.480 --> 00:47:17.239 a reason to care. And this is not a problem 873 00:47:17.320 --> 00:47:18.880 unique to the women, by the way, It's the same 874 00:47:18.920 --> 00:47:21.519 reason the men's I see and the men's US titles 875 00:47:21.719 --> 00:47:25.000 were in the doldrums for so long. You know, Gunther's 876 00:47:25.079 --> 00:47:27.119 run in the way that they protected him, that really 877 00:47:27.159 --> 00:47:29.800 elevated that Intercontinental title to a place that it had 878 00:47:29.840 --> 00:47:32.920 not been in many years. I would argue it hadn't 879 00:47:32.920 --> 00:47:35.519 been there since Miz had that run back in twenty seventeen, 880 00:47:36.360 --> 00:47:38.400 and before that. I couldn't even fucking tell you the 881 00:47:38.440 --> 00:47:43.320 last time the Intercomminental Championship meant a damn thing. Shinsky Nakamora. 882 00:47:43.360 --> 00:47:45.599 He won the US title from La Night. He spends 883 00:47:45.679 --> 00:47:48.840 most of his time now stalking people backstage like Japanese 884 00:47:48.920 --> 00:47:54.159 Jason Vorhees right, I mean Lyra beat Dakota to win 885 00:47:54.239 --> 00:47:57.000 the title on January thirteenth. It took them an entire 886 00:47:57.119 --> 00:48:00.880 month to get her a match, and when they did, 887 00:48:00.920 --> 00:48:04.960 what happened. She lost non title. It was a qualifying match, 888 00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:08.400 but she lost in the same week that their other champion, 889 00:48:08.480 --> 00:48:13.119 Chelsea Green, also lost. Yet Ivy Nile is talking about 890 00:48:13.159 --> 00:48:15.679 challenging Lyra for her title and then she goes out 891 00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:18.679 there and loses to Dakota on Monday, So Dakota is 892 00:48:18.800 --> 00:48:23.320 challenging for the title tomorrow night. But forget that. What 893 00:48:23.480 --> 00:48:27.000 have they done with Ivy Nile on TV to warrant 894 00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:30.079 her getting a championship match or to get people to 895 00:48:30.280 --> 00:48:32.719 really invest in her? When Ivy is out there, people 896 00:48:32.760 --> 00:48:35.840 are silent because they haven't taken the time to let 897 00:48:35.920 --> 00:48:40.480 people know who she is or care about her interviews, 898 00:48:40.559 --> 00:48:43.000 backstage segment, I mean the backstage segment that she's in. 899 00:48:43.679 --> 00:48:50.400 They're useless. Backstage segments, interviews, video packages, matches, whatever. You 900 00:48:50.440 --> 00:48:52.599 can't just give her a token segment here and there 901 00:48:52.599 --> 00:48:55.159 and expect people to care. So she's going to continue 902 00:48:55.199 --> 00:48:58.199 to wrestle to crickets and then she'll be cast aside 903 00:48:58.239 --> 00:49:00.159 for the next challenger and they won't do anything with 904 00:49:00.159 --> 00:49:03.199 her because, oh, she's not over. Gee, I wonder why 905 00:49:03.239 --> 00:49:08.239 that is. I understand the talent. They have to get 906 00:49:08.280 --> 00:49:10.519 themselves over, Yes, that is true, but they need to 907 00:49:10.519 --> 00:49:13.000 be put in a position to succeed. In order for 908 00:49:13.079 --> 00:49:16.360 that to happen, they need the support. And if they 909 00:49:16.400 --> 00:49:18.960 fall flat on their face, then they fall flat on 910 00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:20.480 their face and you move on to the next but 911 00:49:20.480 --> 00:49:23.800 they're not being given anything in a lot of cases. 912 00:49:24.679 --> 00:49:27.360 Zelina Vegas, she got a video package on Friday Night 913 00:49:27.400 --> 00:49:30.079 on SmackDown. Good. That's a step in the right direction. 914 00:49:30.159 --> 00:49:31.559 But what else are they going to do to get 915 00:49:31.559 --> 00:49:34.639 people to care about her challenging Chelsea for the US 916 00:49:34.679 --> 00:49:38.519 title when that day comes? They point to the ladies 917 00:49:38.519 --> 00:49:41.280 on NXT and how they're being used as a point 918 00:49:41.280 --> 00:49:44.000 of frustration. Why they're not doing something like that with 919 00:49:44.119 --> 00:49:47.000 them on the main roster. The NXT women's division right 920 00:49:47.039 --> 00:49:49.559 now is stacked with talent, right you hear that word 921 00:49:49.639 --> 00:49:52.280 thrown around a lot man. Look how stacked the division is, right, 922 00:49:52.280 --> 00:49:55.280 guess what so is the main roster. People don't talk 923 00:49:55.320 --> 00:49:58.840 about that so much, but look at the main roster. 924 00:50:00.280 --> 00:50:02.719 I know people love to rave about Julia and Stephanie 925 00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:05.400 Vicaire and Jordan Grace now is there and oh my god, 926 00:50:05.480 --> 00:50:07.639 soul Ruka, she's such an athlete, She's going to be 927 00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:10.760 such a big star. Zaria is great. Yes, so are 928 00:50:10.800 --> 00:50:15.159 Eo Sky and Rhea Ripley and Tiffany Stratton and Bianca 929 00:50:15.199 --> 00:50:17.280 bell Air and on and on and on. They've got 930 00:50:17.320 --> 00:50:19.800 plenty of great talent too. But look at what Sean 931 00:50:19.880 --> 00:50:22.360 Michaels is doing with them on NXT, and look at 932 00:50:22.360 --> 00:50:25.719 what Triple H is doing. Yeah, I went because I 933 00:50:25.719 --> 00:50:27.159 watched the show this week, and I went back and 934 00:50:27.199 --> 00:50:30.400 I counted it out. This week's episode of NXT featured 935 00:50:30.440 --> 00:50:34.199 thirteen different women in matches on a two hour show. 936 00:50:35.559 --> 00:50:39.000 You're lucky to get half that on Raw or smack 937 00:50:39.039 --> 00:50:43.239 Down any given week. NXT is the closest thing, honestly 938 00:50:43.280 --> 00:50:45.679 to an all women show that WWE has ever had. 939 00:50:46.440 --> 00:50:50.039 The first two matches this week were women's matches, and 940 00:50:50.079 --> 00:50:52.880 they shot an angle with Julia, Stephanie, and Jordan making 941 00:50:52.920 --> 00:50:57.280 the save for Carmen Petrovic and fighting off fatal influence 942 00:50:57.320 --> 00:50:59.280 that set up the six women tag that we had 943 00:50:59.320 --> 00:51:03.360 in the main event of the show. And evidently the 944 00:51:03.440 --> 00:51:07.320 ratings for the women's segments generally do well on Tuesdays. 945 00:51:09.199 --> 00:51:11.840 I'm not saying that it has to be even Stephen 946 00:51:12.239 --> 00:51:15.119 do on the main roster exactly what they're doing in NXT, 947 00:51:16.199 --> 00:51:18.920 but they can learn from what NXT is doing. Right. 948 00:51:19.679 --> 00:51:22.159 They do a better job of fleshing out their characters. 949 00:51:22.199 --> 00:51:25.360 It's not always good. I'll tune in sometimes and I'll 950 00:51:25.360 --> 00:51:29.079 see these backstage segments that belong on fucking public access TV, 951 00:51:29.239 --> 00:51:32.079 not the CW network. But they take the time to 952 00:51:32.119 --> 00:51:34.960 develop their characters, not just at the top level, up 953 00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:37.719 and down the show. Some of the stories I just 954 00:51:37.719 --> 00:51:39.880 can't get into, but at least they're taking that's what 955 00:51:39.920 --> 00:51:44.320 developmental should be for. They're taking the time to develop them. 956 00:51:44.559 --> 00:51:47.280 There are lessons to be learned from what Shawn Michaels 957 00:51:47.320 --> 00:51:51.159 is doing down there. But if these anonymous women are 958 00:51:51.199 --> 00:51:53.079 worried about a lack of equity when it comes to 959 00:51:53.119 --> 00:51:55.679 TV time, or if they're worried about the company focusing 960 00:51:55.719 --> 00:51:58.400 on the same ones over and over and over again, boy, 961 00:51:58.800 --> 00:52:00.679 it ain't going to get any better for them. Once 962 00:52:00.719 --> 00:52:03.880 Becky comes back, and when Julia eventually gets called up 963 00:52:03.880 --> 00:52:06.559 and Stephanie gets called up and Jordan gets called up. 964 00:52:07.599 --> 00:52:09.840 I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to 965 00:52:09.880 --> 00:52:11.679 be great to see those women mixing it up with 966 00:52:11.719 --> 00:52:14.039 all the big names on Ron's backdown, But I don't 967 00:52:14.039 --> 00:52:17.960 see it getting any better for the women underneath. Now. 968 00:52:18.000 --> 00:52:21.920 Speaking of NXT, I did catch the episode this week. 969 00:52:21.960 --> 00:52:24.000 I'm not going to do a full review, but I 970 00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:28.880 wanted to especially see the contracts signing with Ricky Stocks 971 00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:32.159 who came into this show with no name this week, 972 00:52:32.159 --> 00:52:33.880 but he was signing his contract. But there were a 973 00:52:33.920 --> 00:52:36.920 lot of things that happened on this show. They had 974 00:52:36.960 --> 00:52:40.239 Oba Feme coming off of his win over Waller in 975 00:52:40.320 --> 00:52:43.199 Theory at Vengeance Day, the NXT champion. He comes out 976 00:52:43.239 --> 00:52:46.920 for a promo and he said, those four fools who 977 00:52:46.960 --> 00:52:50.039 attacked him after his match, that was the new Retribution 978 00:52:50.159 --> 00:52:53.960 group whatever they're going to be calling themselves. I hope 979 00:52:53.960 --> 00:52:56.039 it works out a lot better for them than that did. 980 00:52:57.199 --> 00:52:59.360 But he said, those four fools who attacked him after 981 00:52:59.360 --> 00:53:02.519 his match made one very big mistake. They didn't finish 982 00:53:02.559 --> 00:53:05.000 the job. And he told them, get your ass out 983 00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:07.280 to the ring and finish what you started. And the 984 00:53:07.360 --> 00:53:10.880 lights went out, and who should show up? It wasn't 985 00:53:11.320 --> 00:53:15.960 you know Retribution two point zero. It was Moose from TNA, 986 00:53:17.079 --> 00:53:20.000 and the place went nuts once they recognize who it was. 987 00:53:20.079 --> 00:53:23.840 This was his debut and they circle each other in 988 00:53:23.880 --> 00:53:25.679 the ring. That had a big stare down and Moose 989 00:53:25.719 --> 00:53:29.559 said that he just burst Oba's bubble because he was 990 00:53:29.599 --> 00:53:32.960 the one man that Oba could not rule over. And 991 00:53:33.000 --> 00:53:35.880 Oba said that that place where you're the man that's 992 00:53:35.920 --> 00:53:39.840 your bubble here. I'm inevitable and Moose said that this 993 00:53:39.920 --> 00:53:43.840 had to happen Oba Femi against Moose, and Oba said, 994 00:53:43.880 --> 00:53:47.159 don't worry it will. I love the idea, by the way, 995 00:53:47.199 --> 00:53:50.599 that like that place where you're the man completely ignoring 996 00:53:50.679 --> 00:53:53.599 who the raining TAA World Heavyweight Champion is. I understand 997 00:53:53.639 --> 00:53:56.679 that Moose, I guess, you know, ex division champion, but 998 00:53:57.079 --> 00:53:59.360 it's you would watch this segment and really think that 999 00:53:59.400 --> 00:54:01.960 Moose was the like, he's their world champion, He's their 1000 00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:06.360 top guy. Oba's enxt's top guy. Poor Joe Hendry. I mean, 1001 00:54:06.400 --> 00:54:09.519 he's just relegated to concerts on Thursday and he's not part. 1002 00:54:09.639 --> 00:54:11.679 He's not part of what's going on here. He's still 1003 00:54:11.679 --> 00:54:13.880 busy challenging John Cena to a match that may or 1004 00:54:13.960 --> 00:54:17.400 may not happen. So this was interesting. This was a 1005 00:54:17.440 --> 00:54:20.519 nice surprise. The fans reacted well to it. Later in 1006 00:54:20.559 --> 00:54:24.039 the show, we found out there was a backstage segment. 1007 00:54:24.079 --> 00:54:26.599 It was actually the way it was done was kind 1008 00:54:26.599 --> 00:54:30.079 of very underwhelming, but they had the no quarter catch 1009 00:54:30.119 --> 00:54:33.760 crew backstage and in the middle of this promo segment, 1010 00:54:33.800 --> 00:54:35.639 they turned to the camera because they have a challenge. 1011 00:54:35.639 --> 00:54:38.119 They want to issue and it's Miles Bourne and Tavian 1012 00:54:38.159 --> 00:54:43.079 Heights and they issue a challenge to Matt and Jeff Hardy, 1013 00:54:44.039 --> 00:54:47.960 who are currently the TNA World Tag Team Champions. So 1014 00:54:48.000 --> 00:54:50.639 then later in the show we have a promo that 1015 00:54:50.960 --> 00:54:54.239 was inserted into the show because we have a response 1016 00:54:55.039 --> 00:54:59.280 from Matt and Jeff and they accepted their challenge. And 1017 00:54:59.320 --> 00:55:01.559 on Matt's pot cast, he said that video that aired 1018 00:55:01.599 --> 00:55:03.960 on NXT that was a last minute thing. It was 1019 00:55:04.000 --> 00:55:07.760 not even made until like an hour or so before 1020 00:55:07.800 --> 00:55:11.400 it was posted. So now we got the hearties are 1021 00:55:11.440 --> 00:55:15.840 on NXT. But also on this show, we had the 1022 00:55:15.880 --> 00:55:20.960 contract signing and Ava was in the ring for Ricky 1023 00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:25.800 Starks still not identified the man with no name. She 1024 00:55:25.920 --> 00:55:27.920 said that she was in the ring with the hottest 1025 00:55:27.920 --> 00:55:31.239 free agent in wrestling. Ricky said that there were some 1026 00:55:31.320 --> 00:55:33.719 things he wanted to get off his chest. He wanted 1027 00:55:33.719 --> 00:55:37.440 to main event every NXT pl e and become the 1028 00:55:37.559 --> 00:55:40.920 NXT champion. I'm the man here. He said he was 1029 00:55:40.960 --> 00:55:43.199 going to do what he always did, which would show 1030 00:55:43.280 --> 00:55:47.760 up and show out because the revolution was beginning, and 1031 00:55:47.800 --> 00:55:52.760 he was interrupted by Ethan Page and so Ethan was basically, 1032 00:55:52.840 --> 00:55:56.239 you know, cutting a heel promo here and let me 1033 00:55:56.280 --> 00:55:59.440 guess you're in here to sign your new deal. And 1034 00:55:59.480 --> 00:56:01.679 in that d it says that your first match you're 1035 00:56:01.719 --> 00:56:04.719 going to be challenging for a championship. And he says, 1036 00:56:04.719 --> 00:56:08.400 you're a genius. You're following the Ethan Page playbook to 1037 00:56:08.519 --> 00:56:11.320 a t. But I want to tell you as a friend, 1038 00:56:11.360 --> 00:56:15.119 there's only one Ethan Page. And Ricky told him you're 1039 00:56:15.119 --> 00:56:18.239 wearing your insecurity as tight as you have that jacket 1040 00:56:18.280 --> 00:56:21.159 on right now. And you should know that I walked 1041 00:56:21.199 --> 00:56:23.000 the walk and I talked to talk and I'm here 1042 00:56:23.039 --> 00:56:26.159 to take this place to a different level. And Page 1043 00:56:26.199 --> 00:56:28.159 said that you'll never reach the bar that I set. 1044 00:56:28.199 --> 00:56:30.880 And Ricky said, let's not do this right now. Let's celebrate. 1045 00:56:30.920 --> 00:56:33.800 I'm signing with NXT. You just beat Javon Evans a 1046 00:56:33.920 --> 00:56:38.480 vengeance day. But remember people like Javon, they always come 1047 00:56:38.519 --> 00:56:41.960 back around to whip that ass. And wouldn't you know, 1048 00:56:42.039 --> 00:56:45.079 Javon Evans suddenly hit the ring, he brawled with Ethan 1049 00:56:45.119 --> 00:56:47.760 into the crowd. Ricky was finally about to sign the 1050 00:56:47.760 --> 00:56:51.559 contract and then he was interrupted by Wesley Now in 1051 00:56:51.599 --> 00:56:54.519 the back. There was a segment earlier where Wesley was 1052 00:56:54.559 --> 00:56:59.280 being interviewed, and when the interviewer spotted Ricky walking by, 1053 00:56:59.360 --> 00:57:02.239 she basically said, Okay, I'm done with you. I want 1054 00:57:02.239 --> 00:57:05.000 to go talk to Ricky. So I guess this offended Wesley. 1055 00:57:06.079 --> 00:57:07.960 He says, look, I know who you are, but you're 1056 00:57:07.960 --> 00:57:10.679 new around here, and there are rules, and the number 1057 00:57:10.679 --> 00:57:15.199 one rule is you don't disrespect Wesley Ava If he 1058 00:57:15.280 --> 00:57:17.440 signs that contract, I want to show him the ropes 1059 00:57:17.440 --> 00:57:18.880 and I want to be the one to welcome him 1060 00:57:18.880 --> 00:57:22.599 to NXT. And Ricky said, why is everybody so angry 1061 00:57:22.639 --> 00:57:25.280 all the time? Said next week, you and I in 1062 00:57:25.320 --> 00:57:30.039 the ring. No problem. So he goes to sign the contract. 1063 00:57:30.079 --> 00:57:33.239 West tried to take a shot at him. Ricky clotheslined 1064 00:57:33.280 --> 00:57:35.559 him out of the ring. He finally signs the contract, 1065 00:57:35.559 --> 00:57:38.440 he strikes a pose and the cameraman then zooms in 1066 00:57:38.519 --> 00:57:41.440 on the on the contract which is sitting on the table, 1067 00:57:42.280 --> 00:57:44.679 and the name and giant letters on the contract it 1068 00:57:44.679 --> 00:57:50.719 ain't Ricky Starks, It's Ricky Saints, And finally the announcers 1069 00:57:50.760 --> 00:57:55.639 acknowledged Ricky Saint says, come to NXT now. Ricky went 1070 00:57:55.679 --> 00:57:58.440 on Busted Open Radio after the show went off the air, 1071 00:57:58.599 --> 00:58:01.159 and he talked to the new name. This is what 1072 00:58:01.239 --> 00:58:04.320 he said. He said, it's as close as you're going 1073 00:58:04.400 --> 00:58:07.079 to get to Starks. I like the name. I know 1074 00:58:07.119 --> 00:58:08.679 a lot of people are going to be, Oh, it's 1075 00:58:08.679 --> 00:58:10.400 going to take time for them to get used to it. 1076 00:58:10.760 --> 00:58:13.239 I respect that they care so deeply about me that 1077 00:58:13.280 --> 00:58:15.960 they rebel against any name change. But at the same time, 1078 00:58:16.039 --> 00:58:18.880 I am a product of New Orleans first and foremost, 1079 00:58:19.559 --> 00:58:21.480 and I want to pay respect to that as well. 1080 00:58:22.079 --> 00:58:23.960 I think this is the best of both worlds, and 1081 00:58:24.000 --> 00:58:26.199 that means a lot to me. Obviously. I think it's 1082 00:58:26.199 --> 00:58:28.960 cool to have a piece of home with me and 1083 00:58:29.079 --> 00:58:31.920 the person doesn't change. I'm still that guy, and so 1084 00:58:32.199 --> 00:58:35.519 it is what it is. And I thought that last 1085 00:58:36.280 --> 00:58:38.519 it is what it is line was maybe the most 1086 00:58:38.559 --> 00:58:40.440 telling of the entire thing, because there is some people, 1087 00:58:40.480 --> 00:58:43.159 I think, who just assumed that this whole thing was 1088 00:58:43.159 --> 00:58:44.880 his idea, Like they were going to let him keep 1089 00:58:44.880 --> 00:58:46.400 the name, or he could have kept the name, but 1090 00:58:46.440 --> 00:58:47.920 he was like, you know what, I want to change 1091 00:58:47.920 --> 00:58:49.639 my name. I don't think that's what's going on here. 1092 00:58:50.760 --> 00:58:53.559 You know, bron Breaker opted to change his name because 1093 00:58:53.559 --> 00:58:55.840 he wanted to blaze his own path without the Steiner 1094 00:58:55.920 --> 00:59:00.159 name Brian Pillman Junior. He went with Lexus King to 1095 00:59:00.199 --> 00:59:02.280 do the same thing and get away from his dad's name. 1096 00:59:03.000 --> 00:59:05.079 I don't think Ricky Stark sat at home for a 1097 00:59:05.199 --> 00:59:09.119 year waiting to come to WWE, thinking, first thing I'm 1098 00:59:09.119 --> 00:59:11.039 gonna do, I'm going to change my name when I 1099 00:59:11.079 --> 00:59:14.199 get there. So I don't know what the reason is. 1100 00:59:14.320 --> 00:59:16.519 I assume he just didn't want to surrender the rights 1101 00:59:16.559 --> 00:59:19.519 to his name because he's one of the very few 1102 00:59:19.559 --> 00:59:21.679 that had to change it. There's been so many people 1103 00:59:21.719 --> 00:59:25.360 that have come in from other places, including aw and 1104 00:59:25.400 --> 00:59:27.760 they're they're using the same name that they were using before. 1105 00:59:29.719 --> 00:59:33.679 So he chose to come up with a name that 1106 00:59:33.920 --> 00:59:37.800 sounded similar as similar as possible to Ricky Starks, same initials, 1107 00:59:38.519 --> 00:59:41.119 but just incorporate a little piece of himself into it. 1108 00:59:42.199 --> 00:59:44.480 What do I think of the name. It's fine, It's 1109 00:59:44.519 --> 00:59:46.519 not a bad name. I mean again, I've seen some 1110 00:59:46.599 --> 00:59:49.519 of these fucking names they've been trademarking left and right recently. 1111 00:59:49.559 --> 00:59:51.360 Some of them are not that terrible. Some of them 1112 00:59:51.400 --> 00:59:54.239 are fucking awful. It could have been a lot worse, 1113 00:59:54.320 --> 00:59:56.159 especially if they came to him and said, hey, we 1114 00:59:56.199 --> 00:59:58.360 have a name, we want you to use. At least 1115 00:59:58.400 --> 01:00:02.159 he had input into it. It's not dramatically different from 1116 01:00:02.159 --> 01:00:07.159 the name he was using before. Ricky, you know, thank god. 1117 01:00:07.199 --> 01:00:08.400 I mean it could have been worse. He could have 1118 01:00:08.440 --> 01:00:12.079 been born in Tampa Bay. Okay, Ricky Buccaneers doesn't have 1119 01:00:12.159 --> 01:00:14.679 quite the same ring to it. So Ricky Saints is fine. 1120 01:00:15.840 --> 01:00:18.119 Bully ray On busted up and then gave him the 1121 01:00:18.119 --> 01:00:20.639 floor to talk a little bit about his departure from 1122 01:00:20.679 --> 01:00:24.239 AAW So he talked about that. He said, I don't 1123 01:00:24.280 --> 01:00:27.280 know the specifics of what it was. Some people you 1124 01:00:27.320 --> 01:00:29.360 asked the internet it was because you were at the 1125 01:00:29.480 --> 01:00:33.719 Royal Rumble. Screw you. The footage got leaked from me 1126 01:00:33.840 --> 01:00:36.679 being at the Rumble. I wasn't backstage. I left after 1127 01:00:36.719 --> 01:00:39.400 the first match. Some could say, well, you were at 1128 01:00:39.440 --> 01:00:42.679 WrestleMania last year in a suite and you got on 1129 01:00:42.760 --> 01:00:46.239 camera you were cheering. Screw you. You're an idiot with 1130 01:00:46.280 --> 01:00:48.480 no friends and no passion in life. If you think 1131 01:00:49.000 --> 01:00:52.199 the damnedest thing that I've done is cheering somebody on 1132 01:00:52.400 --> 01:00:55.599 in another company. My boss was okay with it. I 1133 01:00:55.599 --> 01:00:58.760 can't tell you exactly what the moment was. You could 1134 01:00:58.800 --> 01:01:02.519 say it was punk leaving and things kind of fell apart. Absolutely, 1135 01:01:02.559 --> 01:01:04.920 I probably agree with you on that, all right. Or 1136 01:01:05.039 --> 01:01:08.239 you could say that Ricky didn't play the politics well enough, 1137 01:01:08.639 --> 01:01:11.920 all right, for sure. There's so many things you can say. 1138 01:01:12.239 --> 01:01:14.239 What I can say for myself is that when I 1139 01:01:14.280 --> 01:01:17.519 got hurt in March, that was it. I never came back, 1140 01:01:18.239 --> 01:01:21.119 and even then I wasn't hurt. It was a precautionary 1141 01:01:21.159 --> 01:01:23.320 thing where I got scared because I had a stinger. 1142 01:01:24.159 --> 01:01:27.639 Then I was fine after that, no dice, no communication, 1143 01:01:27.800 --> 01:01:30.119 no nothing. And that's okay because I ended up here 1144 01:01:30.480 --> 01:01:34.519 and it's fine. Everything worked out. I don't know explicitly 1145 01:01:34.559 --> 01:01:36.800 where it went wrong. I can't point to one thing. 1146 01:01:36.880 --> 01:01:39.440 I can say. It was a storm of things. Probably 1147 01:01:40.000 --> 01:01:42.920 did I do something that may have, you know, tipped 1148 01:01:42.920 --> 01:01:47.440 them off, Sure, asking for my release whenever, this past whatever, 1149 01:01:48.199 --> 01:01:50.679 that could have been it. But never once was I 1150 01:01:51.000 --> 01:01:55.360 not willing to do something. Never once was I sabotaging anything. 1151 01:01:56.519 --> 01:01:58.119 And Bully asked him if he felt that it was 1152 01:01:58.159 --> 01:02:00.639 a personal or a professional reason for the release, and 1153 01:02:00.679 --> 01:02:04.039 Start said that it was probably personal, because if it 1154 01:02:04.119 --> 01:02:07.639 was professional, his departure would would not have happened. This way, 1155 01:02:08.000 --> 01:02:10.119 he says, I'll say this. There are some people who 1156 01:02:10.679 --> 01:02:13.400 stuck their nose in my creative business that should not 1157 01:02:13.480 --> 01:02:17.320 have happened veterans, and that's it. I'll leave it at that. 1158 01:02:17.639 --> 01:02:19.320 And if they got a problem with me, they got 1159 01:02:19.360 --> 01:02:22.000 my number, they could text me about it. I think 1160 01:02:22.039 --> 01:02:24.800 what it was is that if it didn't work for 1161 01:02:24.880 --> 01:02:28.119 their creative then someone had to get the boot. That's 1162 01:02:28.119 --> 01:02:29.679 how I see it. But I'm not trying to be 1163 01:02:29.719 --> 01:02:31.960 negative in my thought process. If you want to step 1164 01:02:32.000 --> 01:02:35.079 on me to get ahead in your illustrious career, everyone 1165 01:02:35.159 --> 01:02:38.599 has an illustrious career. Everyone should have an illustrious career. 1166 01:02:38.960 --> 01:02:42.559 That's perfectly fine. But at the same time, I'm not 1167 01:02:42.679 --> 01:02:47.360 wet behind my ears. So that was a lot to 1168 01:02:47.760 --> 01:02:49.440 say that. At the end of the day, he doesn't 1169 01:02:49.559 --> 01:02:52.519 know exactly what it was. As far as why Tony 1170 01:02:52.599 --> 01:02:54.960 Khan wouldn't bring him back and wouldn't have him back 1171 01:02:55.000 --> 01:02:58.360 on TV working, It could be as simple as Tony 1172 01:02:58.440 --> 01:03:00.760 Khan really did just think he's going to WWE and 1173 01:03:00.800 --> 01:03:02.760 it doesn't matter what we do with him, so fuck him. 1174 01:03:02.760 --> 01:03:05.519 I don't want him on my television show. Could have 1175 01:03:05.559 --> 01:03:08.079 been as simple as that could have been backstage politics. 1176 01:03:08.239 --> 01:03:10.920 We don't know because we were in backstage with politicking, 1177 01:03:11.039 --> 01:03:12.800 So who knows. I know a lot of people have 1178 01:03:12.880 --> 01:03:15.239 been floating the segment from Collision. I think it was 1179 01:03:15.320 --> 01:03:18.920 not long after Adam Copeland joined the company and there 1180 01:03:18.960 --> 01:03:21.159 was a promo segment and Ricky got some shots in 1181 01:03:21.239 --> 01:03:25.559 and then clearly he rattled Copeland, and honestly, in that segment, 1182 01:03:25.639 --> 01:03:29.199 Copeland did not come off well at all. Some people 1183 01:03:29.199 --> 01:03:31.480 are like, oh, Ricky got cooked. No he didn't. Adam 1184 01:03:31.519 --> 01:03:35.280 Copeland looked very insecure and very kind of knocked off 1185 01:03:35.280 --> 01:03:36.920 his game. In that segment. He went to the old 1186 01:03:36.960 --> 01:03:41.480 vanilla midget thing, which is fucking low hanging fruit. It's like, really, dude, 1187 01:03:41.880 --> 01:03:45.320 that's the best you can come up with. So he 1188 01:03:45.960 --> 01:03:49.320 clearly was not happy with Ricky. Did he say something 1189 01:03:49.400 --> 01:03:52.159 backstage to Tony Kahn? Did he say something that would 1190 01:03:52.239 --> 01:03:56.079 have negatively impacted Ricky's push? Yeah, because Ricky was still 1191 01:03:56.119 --> 01:03:59.039 on TV after that for a few more months. I 1192 01:03:59.079 --> 01:04:01.599 don't know. I don't know. People are throwing names around 1193 01:04:01.679 --> 01:04:05.639 Ricky or not Ricky, you know, Copeland and Jericho, who knows? 1194 01:04:06.119 --> 01:04:09.440 Who knows? All that matters is that he's gone. He 1195 01:04:09.519 --> 01:04:11.119 wanted out of there. He got out of there and 1196 01:04:11.159 --> 01:04:15.000 now he's where he has always wanted to be, and 1197 01:04:15.079 --> 01:04:17.559 hopefully he will have a great run down there that 1198 01:04:17.639 --> 01:04:20.480 isn't too long, and then eventually he'll end up on 1199 01:04:20.599 --> 01:04:23.559 Raw or SmackDown, and you know, as popular as he 1200 01:04:23.639 --> 01:04:26.920 is right now, I see Ricky really shining when he 1201 01:04:26.960 --> 01:04:29.880 has a good heel run. I think when the heel 1202 01:04:30.000 --> 01:04:33.920 run comes, that's where he'll really shine. But we have 1203 01:04:34.239 --> 01:04:36.400 coming up on NXT this week. They announced a bunch 1204 01:04:36.440 --> 01:04:40.599 of matches. Stephanie Vequier will defend her Women's North American 1205 01:04:40.679 --> 01:04:45.639 championship against Carmen Petrovic. Moose, the TNA X Division champion, 1206 01:04:45.679 --> 01:04:51.039 we'll defend his title against Lexus King. The Hardys are 1207 01:04:51.039 --> 01:04:53.199 going to defend Actually I don't think they are defending. 1208 01:04:53.239 --> 01:04:54.760 I don't think they said it's a title match, but 1209 01:04:55.360 --> 01:04:57.280 they are the TNA Tag Team champions. They're going to 1210 01:04:57.360 --> 01:05:00.760 be facing the note Quoder Catch Crew. Ricky Say will 1211 01:05:00.760 --> 01:05:03.800 have his first match tagging with Javon Evans against Wesley 1212 01:05:04.079 --> 01:05:07.960 and Ethan Page, and they're gonna be in Cincinnati on Tuesday. 1213 01:05:07.960 --> 01:05:10.599 They're gonna beat the same music venue where AW did 1214 01:05:10.599 --> 01:05:12.920 a show last month. That was the night that John 1215 01:05:12.960 --> 01:05:16.079 Moxley defended the aw title against Powerhouse Hobbs. I love 1216 01:05:16.119 --> 01:05:18.639 the look of that place, so I'm assuming it'll be 1217 01:05:18.679 --> 01:05:20.280 set up more or less the same way. I think 1218 01:05:20.320 --> 01:05:23.960 that's gonna be a great venue for that show. TNA. 1219 01:05:24.159 --> 01:05:27.000 They had back to back shows this week from Full 1220 01:05:27.039 --> 01:05:29.360 Sale University. They actually had a live show there on 1221 01:05:29.440 --> 01:05:34.320 Thursday and then tapings on Friday, and Obafemi, the NXT Champion, 1222 01:05:34.360 --> 01:05:39.360 made a surprise appearance on Thursday's Live Impact alongside Matt 1223 01:05:39.400 --> 01:05:43.280 and Jeff Hardy came to the aid of Leon Slater 1224 01:05:43.400 --> 01:05:46.280 from a beatdown at the hands of Moose and his 1225 01:05:47.079 --> 01:05:51.639 faction the System, Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards, and they 1226 01:05:51.679 --> 01:05:54.000 made a six man tag team match. It's gonna be Oba, 1227 01:05:54.079 --> 01:05:58.400 Femi and the Hardy's taking on Moose, Myers and Edwards 1228 01:05:59.199 --> 01:06:02.639 on Impact this coming Thursday, which has already been taped, 1229 01:06:02.719 --> 01:06:05.599 so there's spoilers that are out on that already. Just 1230 01:06:05.639 --> 01:06:09.079 be aware of that. Also, the date and place of 1231 01:06:09.119 --> 01:06:13.239 the match with Oba and Moose has been set, so 1232 01:06:13.440 --> 01:06:16.199 for any Impact watchers who don't want to know, I'm 1233 01:06:16.199 --> 01:06:17.920 not going to mention it. It's not hard to find 1234 01:06:17.960 --> 01:06:21.360 if you want to look it up. But they all 1235 01:06:21.400 --> 01:06:23.599 but said that they're going to have a match, right. 1236 01:06:23.639 --> 01:06:26.199 They said that on Tuesday, So that's not really a surprise, 1237 01:06:26.840 --> 01:06:29.119 but as far as the win and where that is 1238 01:06:29.119 --> 01:06:32.519 floating around out there, to just be aware. Speaking of TNA, 1239 01:06:32.639 --> 01:06:37.760 one quick note here. TNA star Jake Something launched a 1240 01:06:37.840 --> 01:06:40.719 GoFundMe this week to help with his medical expenses after 1241 01:06:40.800 --> 01:06:44.599 undergoing surgery recently for a torn biceps, and he said, 1242 01:06:44.599 --> 01:06:48.559 being uninsured, the medical bills are crippling. Add to that, 1243 01:06:48.679 --> 01:06:51.239 his dog Leah had to get surgery the same day 1244 01:06:51.280 --> 01:06:53.960 that he did, so he's got bills from that as well. 1245 01:06:54.480 --> 01:06:57.599 And I know recently he had to vacate a couple 1246 01:06:57.599 --> 01:07:01.960 of independent titles that he held, and he specifically thanked 1247 01:07:02.000 --> 01:07:05.800 I think it was Deadlock Pro for their help when 1248 01:07:05.800 --> 01:07:08.159 he first made the announcement. He really put them over. 1249 01:07:08.760 --> 01:07:10.519 So I'm not sure if he got hurt in their 1250 01:07:10.599 --> 01:07:13.800 ring or not. His last three matches were all in 1251 01:07:14.039 --> 01:07:18.320 a TNA ring, his last match coming against Joe Hendry 1252 01:07:18.559 --> 01:07:22.119 on the January twenty fourth episode of Impact. It's possible 1253 01:07:22.159 --> 01:07:24.360 he wrestled those matches he was already hurt. Maybe he 1254 01:07:24.400 --> 01:07:26.119 wrapped it up. He did the matches and then he 1255 01:07:26.159 --> 01:07:28.599 went off to have surgery. If he was hurt on 1256 01:07:28.639 --> 01:07:31.599 TNA's watch in their ring, then I don't understand why 1257 01:07:31.599 --> 01:07:34.960 they're not covering his medical expenses. I know they've taken 1258 01:07:35.000 --> 01:07:37.360 good care of Chris Bay after he got hurt in 1259 01:07:37.400 --> 01:07:39.440 their ring. They should be taking care of Jake two. 1260 01:07:40.119 --> 01:07:43.199 Unless he got hurt in someone else's ring, then I 1261 01:07:43.239 --> 01:07:48.000 can understand it. Still shitty, but I can understand it. Hey, 1262 01:07:48.039 --> 01:07:49.000 it's Chris van Fleet. 1263 01:07:49.000 --> 01:07:50.920 Big thank you to Sola Monster for letting me hop 1264 01:07:50.920 --> 01:07:53.719 in here for a minute, since you clearly like great 1265 01:07:53.760 --> 01:07:54.880 wrestling podcasts. 1266 01:07:54.960 --> 01:07:57.079 When this one's done, go check out mine. It's called 1267 01:07:57.159 --> 01:07:58.760 Insight with Chris Van Fleet. 1268 01:07:59.039 --> 01:08:00.880 All of my interviews that you may have seen clips 1269 01:08:00.920 --> 01:08:04.360 of on social media or on YouTube, they're all available 1270 01:08:04.480 --> 01:08:07.800 in podcast form. Ludwig Kaiser just did his first podcast 1271 01:08:07.840 --> 01:08:11.440 interview that's on the show. Some other recent interviews are 1272 01:08:11.559 --> 01:08:16.640 seth Rawlins, Jordan Grace, Kurt Angle, Otis, Chad Gable, Baron Corbyn, 1273 01:08:16.920 --> 01:08:19.880 and lots more. Go check out Insight with Chris Van 1274 01:08:19.960 --> 01:08:23.199 Vleet on Spotify or Apple or wherever you're listening to 1275 01:08:23.239 --> 01:08:26.199 this right now, or look for those interviews on YouTube, 1276 01:08:26.199 --> 01:08:26.840 as well. 1277 01:08:28.439 --> 01:08:32.159 Some other news and notes. Carmela is no longer with WWE. 1278 01:08:32.720 --> 01:08:36.279 Masked j of pw Nexus on Twitter and Sean Ross 1279 01:08:36.279 --> 01:08:41.720 Sappa Fightful both reported that her contract recently expired and 1280 01:08:41.760 --> 01:08:43.880 she is no longer with the company. She was also 1281 01:08:44.000 --> 01:08:47.399 moved to the alumni section on WWE dot Com. She's 1282 01:08:47.439 --> 01:08:49.279 been out for a while. You know, we talked about 1283 01:08:49.279 --> 01:08:51.439 Alexa Bliss coming back at the Royal Rumbles. She was 1284 01:08:51.479 --> 01:08:54.279 out for two years, and Carmela has also been out 1285 01:08:54.279 --> 01:08:56.960 for two years. She's been out since early twenty twenty three. 1286 01:08:57.640 --> 01:09:00.720 She had her first child with Corey Graves later that year, 1287 01:09:01.079 --> 01:09:04.000 but she ended up suffering from drop foot, which is 1288 01:09:04.000 --> 01:09:06.880 a nerve condition that could be caused by childbirth, basically 1289 01:09:07.600 --> 01:09:10.880 nerve damage. It can paralyze the foot or part of 1290 01:09:10.880 --> 01:09:13.000 the foot, which can make it hard to lift the 1291 01:09:13.000 --> 01:09:15.960 front part of the foot. Scott Steiners had drop foot 1292 01:09:16.000 --> 01:09:18.520 for over twenty years. You know, he can barely stand 1293 01:09:18.560 --> 01:09:20.920 watching any of his WWE stuff back when he came 1294 01:09:20.960 --> 01:09:22.760 back to the company in two thousand and two because 1295 01:09:22.800 --> 01:09:26.439 of it, because he had some really bad matches. The 1296 01:09:26.479 --> 01:09:28.239 only reason he was able to work with it is 1297 01:09:28.239 --> 01:09:30.520 because he would tape it up. It was almost like 1298 01:09:30.520 --> 01:09:33.319 a cast, and he would just hope that he didn't 1299 01:09:33.359 --> 01:09:36.560 fall or get hurt. He was unbusted open just recently 1300 01:09:37.239 --> 01:09:39.520 and said that he stumbles at least twice a day, 1301 01:09:40.439 --> 01:09:44.039 you know, like he won't fall, but like he'll trip 1302 01:09:44.399 --> 01:09:47.479 because his foot doesn't come all the way up. But 1303 01:09:47.720 --> 01:09:51.159 she said she wrestled for eleven years and outside of 1304 01:09:51.199 --> 01:09:54.520 some concussions, she never had a major injury until she 1305 01:09:54.640 --> 01:09:58.279 delivered her son, and then she had her first major injury. 1306 01:09:59.119 --> 01:10:01.119 And it wasn't a case where she got hurt in 1307 01:10:01.159 --> 01:10:04.239 the ring and they released her like they did Carl Anderson, 1308 01:10:05.159 --> 01:10:07.920 but they just let her contract expire. They did the 1309 01:10:07.960 --> 01:10:10.079 same thing with Sonya Deville. Her deal runs out at 1310 01:10:10.079 --> 01:10:12.439 the end of the month. I don't know if she's 1311 01:10:12.479 --> 01:10:14.880 ever going to wrestle again. It sounds like she wants to, 1312 01:10:15.239 --> 01:10:17.880 so I hope she can somewhere. But if she never 1313 01:10:17.920 --> 01:10:21.960 works another match for WWE again, she had a respectable run. 1314 01:10:22.439 --> 01:10:25.479 I would say, SmackDown Women's Champion, tag Team Champion, first 1315 01:10:25.560 --> 01:10:28.920 ever Women's Money in the Bank winner. You know she'll 1316 01:10:28.920 --> 01:10:33.119 be getting that Hall of Fame induction one day. It 1317 01:10:33.159 --> 01:10:37.279 looks like Goulberg, will not be haunting wrestle Mania this year. 1318 01:10:37.880 --> 01:10:41.199 On his weekly car Cast podcast, Bill Goldberg said that 1319 01:10:41.239 --> 01:10:42.880 he expects to be back in the ring for his 1320 01:10:42.960 --> 01:10:47.640 retirement match sometime this summer. Says, I don't know exactly 1321 01:10:47.720 --> 01:10:49.319 when it is, but I know it's coming up, and 1322 01:10:49.359 --> 01:10:51.039 I know, at fifty eight years old, I have to 1323 01:10:51.039 --> 01:10:53.039 be in my underwear in front of everybody, and I 1324 01:10:53.079 --> 01:10:56.800 hold a very high standard for myself. I do too, 1325 01:10:56.840 --> 01:10:59.279 by the way. You know, I'll look at myself in 1326 01:10:59.319 --> 01:11:01.319 the mirror in my own to where sometimes and my 1327 01:11:01.439 --> 01:11:04.520 standards are very low. But he says, I need to 1328 01:11:04.520 --> 01:11:07.000 get to work yesterday, But the long term benefit and 1329 01:11:07.039 --> 01:11:09.479 the benefit for me in the ring will be much 1330 01:11:09.520 --> 01:11:12.880 more if I just calmed my ass down. So this 1331 01:11:12.920 --> 01:11:15.039 all came up as part of a discussion about stem 1332 01:11:15.079 --> 01:11:19.119 cell therapy injections, which he recently received in Columbia, where 1333 01:11:19.159 --> 01:11:21.720 a lot of wrestlers have gone to get similar treatment. 1334 01:11:22.279 --> 01:11:25.199 Kevin Nash is always talking about that bio accelerator. He 1335 01:11:25.279 --> 01:11:27.439 swears by them. He goes down there maybe a couple 1336 01:11:27.439 --> 01:11:30.039 of times a year, because they only last for so 1337 01:11:30.199 --> 01:11:33.920 long and you have to constantly go back, not every month, 1338 01:11:33.960 --> 01:11:35.880 but you have to go back and get more injections. 1339 01:11:36.960 --> 01:11:40.760 But he swears by it, you know, raymisterio, He's gotten 1340 01:11:40.800 --> 01:11:43.279 it for his knees especially. It's probably added years to 1341 01:11:43.319 --> 01:11:45.159 his career if you look at it, Ray fifty years 1342 01:11:45.199 --> 01:11:46.920 old and wondering how the fuck is this guy still 1343 01:11:46.960 --> 01:11:50.439 flying around the ring and doing what he does when 1344 01:11:51.000 --> 01:11:54.560 I mean, my god, like legitimately, like twelve or thirteen 1345 01:11:54.640 --> 01:11:56.399 years ago, I thought he was washed. I thought he 1346 01:11:56.479 --> 01:11:59.279 was done. Yeah, it was like every other month we 1347 01:11:59.279 --> 01:12:01.720 were hearing about n injuries with him, and so he 1348 01:12:01.760 --> 01:12:04.439 had all of this time basically that he added onto 1349 01:12:04.479 --> 01:12:07.359 his career. And I'm sure the stem cell therapy is 1350 01:12:07.359 --> 01:12:10.960 a big part of why. So Goldberg apparently is going 1351 01:12:11.039 --> 01:12:14.159 the same route. So a summertime match could be Summer Slam, 1352 01:12:14.680 --> 01:12:18.479 not necessarily Summer Slam, although they've added the extra night, 1353 01:12:18.640 --> 01:12:20.159 so it's gonna be a big one this year. They're 1354 01:12:20.159 --> 01:12:24.000 gonna be back to back nights in MetLife Stadium, so 1355 01:12:24.039 --> 01:12:26.039 they're gonna have some tickets to sell for that one. 1356 01:12:26.079 --> 01:12:28.279 That would be an attraction. I guess that they could 1357 01:12:28.319 --> 01:12:30.239 add to that, but it could just as easily be 1358 01:12:30.319 --> 01:12:33.720 their next Saudi Arabia show, which is said to be 1359 01:12:33.760 --> 01:12:37.319 taking place sometime in June, so long as he doesn't 1360 01:12:37.359 --> 01:12:42.680 headbut his locker again and knock himself silly. And Michael 1361 01:12:42.800 --> 01:12:47.359 Cole appeared on Logan Paul's Impulsive Podcasts for an hour 1362 01:12:47.439 --> 01:12:50.239 long interview. I watched the entire thing. I thought it 1363 01:12:50.279 --> 01:12:52.800 was very good. You could tell he's having a lot 1364 01:12:52.840 --> 01:12:54.680 more fun with his job now that he did in 1365 01:12:54.720 --> 01:12:58.960 his first twenty five years there. I know that he 1366 01:12:59.239 --> 01:13:02.199 re signed with the company last year, but he revealed 1367 01:13:02.199 --> 01:13:06.199 that his new contract will take him to retirement age. 1368 01:13:06.239 --> 01:13:09.720 He's fifty eight now, and later in the interview he 1369 01:13:09.800 --> 01:13:13.079 clarified that he's got eight years left on his deal. 1370 01:13:14.319 --> 01:13:16.760 He said, the company really made me feel for the 1371 01:13:16.800 --> 01:13:20.880 first time like I was really important to this place. So, 1372 01:13:21.279 --> 01:13:25.520 you know, from contemplating retirement to signing a new contract 1373 01:13:25.600 --> 01:13:28.720 for ten years. I assume it was around ten years 1374 01:13:28.760 --> 01:13:30.840 when he signed it. If he's got eight left, it 1375 01:13:30.840 --> 01:13:33.560 would be weird to sign a fucking nine year deal. 1376 01:13:34.600 --> 01:13:36.680 But yes, he was thinking about quitting when Vince was 1377 01:13:36.720 --> 01:13:39.119 still in charge. To go from that to like, yeah, 1378 01:13:39.399 --> 01:13:43.760 I'll sign a new freaking decade long contract. Sure, So 1379 01:13:43.880 --> 01:13:45.800 he was asked what about the deal made him feel 1380 01:13:45.800 --> 01:13:47.600 that way, and he said, the paycheck is part of it, 1381 01:13:47.640 --> 01:13:49.479 but the new regime had a lot to do with it. 1382 01:13:49.680 --> 01:13:51.479 When I went to sign the new deal, I sat 1383 01:13:51.520 --> 01:13:54.479 down with my wife and I'm fifty eight years old now, 1384 01:13:54.479 --> 01:13:58.000 and I'm like, they want to get me to retirement age. 1385 01:13:58.119 --> 01:14:00.119 And this is because we had talked about me getting 1386 01:14:00.159 --> 01:14:03.279 off this out of this for a long time now 1387 01:14:03.319 --> 01:14:07.000 because of the travel and everything else. Yeah, I think 1388 01:14:07.039 --> 01:14:09.680 it's the everything else that's the key here. And she 1389 01:14:09.880 --> 01:14:12.239 was like, you gotta do it. This is your legacy. 1390 01:14:12.359 --> 01:14:14.640 Like you're going to be miserable if you don't finish 1391 01:14:14.640 --> 01:14:16.359 this up the way that you want to finish it up. 1392 01:14:16.680 --> 01:14:18.840 And she was great about it. So she was one 1393 01:14:18.880 --> 01:14:21.279 hundred percent on board with it, and so I'm here 1394 01:14:21.319 --> 01:14:24.680 for a while. He was asked about the Corey Grave 1395 01:14:24.800 --> 01:14:28.279 situation and had this to say about it. I still 1396 01:14:28.279 --> 01:14:30.600 don't understand all the dynamics of it. I know that 1397 01:14:30.640 --> 01:14:32.760 he sent something out on social media that was pretty 1398 01:14:32.800 --> 01:14:35.640 critical of the company. He tried to explain to everyone 1399 01:14:35.680 --> 01:14:37.800 that he was trying to generate some interest in maybe 1400 01:14:37.840 --> 01:14:40.840 a type of storyline. I don't think the company saw 1401 01:14:40.840 --> 01:14:42.840 it that way. I think he and the company are 1402 01:14:42.840 --> 01:14:45.680 working that out. I love Corey to death. He's an 1403 01:14:45.800 --> 01:14:49.760 unbelievable commentator. Besides McAfee, he's probably the best partner I've 1404 01:14:49.800 --> 01:14:53.760 ever had. Oh. I think there was some very real 1405 01:14:53.840 --> 01:14:57.560 frustration behind that tweet that he deleted, and I think 1406 01:14:57.600 --> 01:14:59.680 it's very telling that they did not call on Corey 1407 01:14:59.720 --> 01:15:01.640 to fill in for Joe testeditour a couple of weeks 1408 01:15:01.640 --> 01:15:05.920 ago when he missed SmackDown. They called on Vic Joseph, 1409 01:15:05.960 --> 01:15:08.399 as they did last week when Jackie Redman missed Row 1410 01:15:08.479 --> 01:15:10.800 for the NHL Nations game. They had Vic Joseph doing 1411 01:15:10.800 --> 01:15:13.399 interviews with the wrestlers up on the concourse throughout the 1412 01:15:13.560 --> 01:15:16.199 entire show. It may have just been during the ad breaks, 1413 01:15:16.840 --> 01:15:19.359 but Vic filling in for Joe and not Corey, I 1414 01:15:19.399 --> 01:15:23.600 think was very telling. He also spoke about Vince McMahon 1415 01:15:24.279 --> 01:15:27.000 and how things in the company have been since his departure, 1416 01:15:27.319 --> 01:15:29.520 and he also admitted that he was a puppet for 1417 01:15:29.640 --> 01:15:31.960 Vince for many years and that's how the fans looked 1418 01:15:32.000 --> 01:15:35.359 at him. But he said, listen, I will never ever 1419 01:15:35.479 --> 01:15:39.720 disparage Vince McMahon. He's got his personal issues and what not. 1420 01:15:40.600 --> 01:15:43.840 From a professional standpoint, I will never disparage the man. 1421 01:15:44.159 --> 01:15:46.159 I would not be where I am today without Vince. 1422 01:15:46.199 --> 01:15:49.119 He gave me everything. I'll never disparage the man. But 1423 01:15:49.199 --> 01:15:52.920 Vince was very heavy handed. It was his company, his sandbox, 1424 01:15:53.000 --> 01:15:55.600 whatever he wanted, so I was never really able to 1425 01:15:55.600 --> 01:15:57.760 break out and be myself, with the exception of a 1426 01:15:57.760 --> 01:15:59.359 little bit of a heel run that I had over 1427 01:15:59.399 --> 01:16:02.439 a decade ago. But when Vince left and Paul came 1428 01:16:02.479 --> 01:16:05.960 in and was in charge Triple H, he really changed things. 1429 01:16:06.399 --> 01:16:09.000 Then we brought in Lee Fitting, who came from ESPN. 1430 01:16:09.159 --> 01:16:12.159 Lee coming from ESPN where the talent is the announcer, 1431 01:16:12.640 --> 01:16:14.800 he came here and said, I don't understand why our 1432 01:16:14.840 --> 01:16:17.039 guys at the desk are not bigger and have bigger 1433 01:16:17.079 --> 01:16:20.199 personas and are as respected as the people in the ring. 1434 01:16:21.279 --> 01:16:23.439 What Lee and Paul have allowed us to do is 1435 01:16:23.520 --> 01:16:26.680 bring our personalities out, and you're seeing the real Michael 1436 01:16:26.760 --> 01:16:32.039 Cole now. Professionally, sure, Vince did a lot for him, 1437 01:16:32.039 --> 01:16:34.880 so I'm not surprised by his answer, but he went 1438 01:16:34.920 --> 01:16:37.279 out of his way to make sure that he said professionally, 1439 01:16:38.199 --> 01:16:40.720 I will never disparage Vince McMahon and here's why, and 1440 01:16:40.720 --> 01:16:42.800 this is why things are different now. You know, his 1441 01:16:42.840 --> 01:16:45.880 way of saying that Vince micro managed everything was saying 1442 01:16:45.920 --> 01:16:50.479 that he was very heavy handed, which we already knew, right. 1443 01:16:50.520 --> 01:16:52.840 People have said that, people that have done commentary have 1444 01:16:52.920 --> 01:16:55.840 said that. I mean, there's videos. I don't know where 1445 01:16:55.880 --> 01:16:59.079 they are now, but like over the years, I'm going 1446 01:16:59.119 --> 01:17:01.239 back to like small down in two thousand and three, 1447 01:17:01.520 --> 01:17:05.439 for example, and you would get these satellite videos that 1448 01:17:05.479 --> 01:17:08.560 would pop up from the satellite feed didn't err on TV, 1449 01:17:09.279 --> 01:17:11.640 and you would hear you couldn't hear Vince, you couldn't 1450 01:17:11.680 --> 01:17:13.239 hear who was in his ear, but you would hear 1451 01:17:13.319 --> 01:17:17.479 Cole on commentary. And I can't remember what the circumstances were. 1452 01:17:17.520 --> 01:17:21.159 There was one video Vince was lacing into him about 1453 01:17:21.239 --> 01:17:24.279 something and JBL has been filling in for Bruce Pritchard 1454 01:17:24.319 --> 01:17:27.039 on his podcast now for several months, and there was 1455 01:17:27.159 --> 01:17:29.800 a clip going around recently where he was talking about 1456 01:17:29.800 --> 01:17:32.199 Cole and how Vince McMahon went off on him one 1457 01:17:32.359 --> 01:17:36.199 like there's so many stories about that, and it's amazing 1458 01:17:36.239 --> 01:17:38.319 he lasted as long as he did, either because he 1459 01:17:38.319 --> 01:17:41.359 didn't get run off or that Vince didn't get tired 1460 01:17:41.399 --> 01:17:44.039 of him. I mean, the turnover with so many people 1461 01:17:44.439 --> 01:17:49.359 in this company, announcers, writers, is astronomical over the years. 1462 01:17:49.640 --> 01:17:52.119 How Michael Cole survived in that spot for so long 1463 01:17:52.239 --> 01:17:55.119 is a credit to him. Obviously, Vince saw something in 1464 01:17:55.239 --> 01:17:58.920 him that he didn't with other people, and he survived 1465 01:17:58.920 --> 01:18:00.560 a hell of a lot longer than people I think 1466 01:18:00.600 --> 01:18:02.520 thought he would when he first came into the company. 1467 01:18:03.840 --> 01:18:07.199 But he also talked about the evolution of WWE and 1468 01:18:07.239 --> 01:18:09.800 he said something that and I take issue with this, 1469 01:18:10.000 --> 01:18:12.000 and this just made me shake my head. He's not 1470 01:18:12.079 --> 01:18:14.000 wrong in a lot of what he's saying here, but 1471 01:18:14.039 --> 01:18:16.560 there's one part in particular that really got on my nerves. 1472 01:18:17.680 --> 01:18:22.479 He said, we're a storytelling entity. First, we're not professional 1473 01:18:22.520 --> 01:18:26.399 wrestling anymore, we haven't been for many years. We are 1474 01:18:26.399 --> 01:18:29.920 an entertainment product, and we need stories so our fans 1475 01:18:29.920 --> 01:18:34.279 can emotionally invest in our characters. They also said, you know, 1476 01:18:34.359 --> 01:18:37.520 Jim Ross came to WWE already a wrestling guy, and 1477 01:18:37.600 --> 01:18:39.399 I think me, being new and fresh and not a 1478 01:18:39.439 --> 01:18:41.920 wrestling guy, Vince was able to mold me how he 1479 01:18:42.000 --> 01:18:44.479 wanted me to be an announcer. I think people are 1480 01:18:44.520 --> 01:18:47.319 beginning to understand now that, yeah, you know what, you 1481 01:18:47.359 --> 01:18:50.159 don't have to call every single move in a wrestling match. 1482 01:18:50.600 --> 01:18:53.479 You make sure you call the big spots, the big moments. 1483 01:18:54.000 --> 01:18:56.039 But it's more important for me to explain to our 1484 01:18:56.079 --> 01:19:01.159 audience who you guys are first. Let me just say 1485 01:19:01.199 --> 01:19:02.960 a lot of what he said there is one hundred 1486 01:19:03.000 --> 01:19:08.279 percent true. They are a storytelling entity, and you absolutely 1487 01:19:08.319 --> 01:19:11.600 need to tell those stories to get people to emotionally 1488 01:19:11.640 --> 01:19:16.319 invest in your characters. Oka story is so important, and 1489 01:19:16.359 --> 01:19:18.600 you don't have to call the name of every single move. 1490 01:19:18.720 --> 01:19:22.199 Jim Ross said at once, like it's not radio, it's TV. 1491 01:19:22.760 --> 01:19:24.880 People can see what's going on. It's a little bit 1492 01:19:24.920 --> 01:19:27.399 different if you're a radio announcer, right, you have to 1493 01:19:27.439 --> 01:19:30.800 give these details. People can't see what's going on on television. 1494 01:19:30.840 --> 01:19:32.760 It's different. You don't have to go all in on that. 1495 01:19:34.079 --> 01:19:38.760 But Michael Cole is clearly still Vince pilled Vince McMahon. 1496 01:19:38.760 --> 01:19:41.000 For as much as he grew up around the wrestling business, 1497 01:19:41.039 --> 01:19:43.560 and he will go down as the most successful pro 1498 01:19:43.600 --> 01:19:47.319 wrestling promoter of all time. It has to aggravate the 1499 01:19:47.439 --> 01:19:50.279 shit out of him that people would still call him 1500 01:19:50.319 --> 01:19:54.479 that a professional wrestling promoter. Right. I'm sure he just 1501 01:19:54.560 --> 01:19:57.960 must hate that because he has spent his entire adult 1502 01:19:58.000 --> 01:20:00.399 life outside of trying to fuck anything in his s art, 1503 01:20:00.680 --> 01:20:03.720 he has spent his entire adult life trying to differentiate 1504 01:20:04.119 --> 01:20:08.680 his product from everyone else's because he didn't think pro 1505 01:20:08.720 --> 01:20:12.479 wrestling would sell tickets to the masses, right, and pay 1506 01:20:12.479 --> 01:20:16.079 per views and sell merchandise. It's like wrestling became a 1507 01:20:16.119 --> 01:20:17.720 dirty word to him, even though it was in the 1508 01:20:17.800 --> 01:20:21.079 name of the company. Still they shied away from it 1509 01:20:21.399 --> 01:20:25.560 so much. And I'm not even saying he's totally wrong, Like, 1510 01:20:25.640 --> 01:20:28.399 if you wanted to bring wrestling more into the mainstream, right, 1511 01:20:28.520 --> 01:20:30.720 you focus more on some stuff, you focus less on 1512 01:20:30.760 --> 01:20:34.479 other stuff. Play stuff up, play stuff down. Where I 1513 01:20:34.560 --> 01:20:38.840 take issue with this is that pro wrestling we don't 1514 01:20:38.840 --> 01:20:42.199 do pro wrestling anymore. We're not a pro wrestling company anymore. 1515 01:20:42.239 --> 01:20:46.159 Pro wrestling has always been about the personalities and the stories. 1516 01:20:47.199 --> 01:20:48.680 You could take it all the way back to the 1517 01:20:48.720 --> 01:20:52.159 advent of TV and Gorgeous George right, that man was 1518 01:20:52.199 --> 01:20:56.199 ahead of his time. Go to the seventies, Dusty Rhodes 1519 01:20:56.199 --> 01:21:00.000 and Superstar Billy Graham, other territories into the eighties outside 1520 01:21:00.119 --> 01:21:03.279 of his own, the Road Warriors, the Four Horsemen staying, 1521 01:21:03.319 --> 01:21:05.760 the evil Russians right, the stories they were doing in 1522 01:21:05.800 --> 01:21:09.279 Mid South, Jyd being blinded and not being able to 1523 01:21:09.279 --> 01:21:12.720 see his baby girl, you know, the Freebirds and the 1524 01:21:12.800 --> 01:21:16.279 von Eerics. Like, I hate this idea that we're not 1525 01:21:16.520 --> 01:21:20.279 professional wrestling anymore. We're a storytelling company, as if they 1526 01:21:20.279 --> 01:21:24.319 were never a storytelling company, as if they weren't telling 1527 01:21:24.359 --> 01:21:27.199 stories on their shows twenty five years ago, thirty years ago. 1528 01:21:28.279 --> 01:21:30.159 Like this is some kind of new era that they 1529 01:21:30.239 --> 01:21:33.600 ushered in with the Bloodline. I mean, they may be 1530 01:21:33.720 --> 01:21:37.560 more cinematic in the way they present things, but they are, 1531 01:21:37.760 --> 01:21:41.720 and always have been, and always will be, first and 1532 01:21:41.760 --> 01:21:47.399 foremost above all else, a professional wrestling company. But Vince 1533 01:21:47.439 --> 01:21:50.079 was so worried about the stigma around that word that 1534 01:21:50.239 --> 01:21:53.600 he managed to convince these people that everyone looks at 1535 01:21:53.640 --> 01:21:56.199 wrestling the same way, and so you know, what we're 1536 01:21:56.199 --> 01:21:59.680 going to do was something innovative and completely different from 1537 01:21:59.680 --> 01:22:04.359 what is anyone else is doing. It's not it's really 1538 01:22:04.439 --> 01:22:07.880 not like it's not that deep. You're a pro wrestling company, dude, 1539 01:22:09.199 --> 01:22:11.520 Like no father is telling their son, hey, let's go 1540 01:22:11.520 --> 01:22:16.039 to the entertaining show. Tonight, Hey Winston, they're telling stories 1541 01:22:16.079 --> 01:22:20.560 tonight at the Barclay Center. Want to go? You don't 1542 01:22:20.560 --> 01:22:22.399 want to do matches just for the sake of doing 1543 01:22:22.439 --> 01:22:25.159 matches with no story? I agree with that, right, unless 1544 01:22:25.159 --> 01:22:27.840 there's squash matches, right, you're just trying to get somebody 1545 01:22:27.840 --> 01:22:30.760 new over, that's fine. But this idea that like we 1546 01:22:30.840 --> 01:22:35.239 tell stories and other companies don't like it's something trademarked 1547 01:22:35.279 --> 01:22:38.720 and patented by WWE. It's just so fucking laughable to me. 1548 01:22:39.720 --> 01:22:44.000 Pro wrestling is storytelling. It has been for a lot 1549 01:22:44.079 --> 01:22:47.880 longer than Michael Cole has been around. It's the story 1550 01:22:47.920 --> 01:22:51.239 of good versus evil, right with larger than life personalities. 1551 01:22:51.520 --> 01:22:55.279 That's what pro wrestling is. That's what WWE is. You 1552 01:22:55.359 --> 01:22:59.880 are a pro wrestling company. Over on the aew C 1553 01:23:00.239 --> 01:23:04.039 per pw Insider Max will be adding AW pay per 1554 01:23:04.159 --> 01:23:08.479 views from twenty twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, 1555 01:23:08.600 --> 01:23:12.840 and twenty four to their streaming service on March first. 1556 01:23:13.079 --> 01:23:15.960 They already have all the big events from twenty nineteen. 1557 01:23:16.520 --> 01:23:19.079 Once those are added, Max would have every pay per 1558 01:23:19.199 --> 01:23:23.399 view and special event in AW history available for their subscribers, 1559 01:23:23.920 --> 01:23:27.840 so just be aware of that. According to Programming Insider, 1560 01:23:28.640 --> 01:23:32.319 this week's edition of NXT drew six hundred and eighty 1561 01:23:32.399 --> 01:23:35.199 nine thousand viewers, which is a big drop from the 1562 01:23:35.279 --> 01:23:37.720 eight hundred and one thousand that it did the week before. 1563 01:23:38.279 --> 01:23:41.199 The eighteen to forty nine demo also dropped from point 1564 01:23:41.199 --> 01:23:44.239 one eight to point one seven, and that's coming out 1565 01:23:44.279 --> 01:23:48.159 of Vengeance Day and they had a Ricky Starks contract signing. Meanwhile, 1566 01:23:48.199 --> 01:23:51.880 per Wressel, namiks Aw Dynamite drew five hundred and sixty 1567 01:23:51.920 --> 01:23:55.840 three thousand viewers on TBS, which is a decrease from 1568 01:23:55.920 --> 01:23:59.520 last week's five hundred and seventy nine thousand, but eighteen 1569 01:23:59.560 --> 01:24:02.039 to forty one nine improved slightly. It was up a 1570 01:24:02.039 --> 01:24:04.439 little bit from point one six to point one seven, 1571 01:24:04.600 --> 01:24:08.880 tying what NXT did this week. And this doesn't account 1572 01:24:08.880 --> 01:24:11.479 for whatever audience now watches the show on Max. I 1573 01:24:11.560 --> 01:24:13.840 happen to be one of those people, and no, I 1574 01:24:13.840 --> 01:24:16.079 don't think it's anywhere near the number they do on TV. 1575 01:24:17.560 --> 01:24:20.119 I see people online they're like sometimes they're like, they 1576 01:24:20.159 --> 01:24:23.039 could have a million more viewers watching on Max. You 1577 01:24:23.079 --> 01:24:26.159 don't know, Like, yeah, sure they could, they could. And 1578 01:24:26.199 --> 01:24:29.319 if my aunt had balls, should be my uncle that's 1579 01:24:29.319 --> 01:24:31.560 possible too. As far as I know, my aunt doesn't 1580 01:24:31.560 --> 01:24:33.119 have any balls. That would be news to all of 1581 01:24:33.199 --> 01:24:35.119 us if that was the case. I don't think that's 1582 01:24:35.159 --> 01:24:38.319 the case, but one can't ever really fully be sure. 1583 01:24:38.359 --> 01:24:42.399 I guess, but I don't even get into the ratings 1584 01:24:42.439 --> 01:24:46.680 discourse anymore really on these shows, because especially once they 1585 01:24:46.720 --> 01:24:51.399 started simulcasting on Max, because without having access to those numbers, 1586 01:24:51.399 --> 01:24:54.720 it's all kind of pointless. But the usual bad faith 1587 01:24:54.760 --> 01:24:57.520 merchants on social media, they were tripping over themselves this 1588 01:24:57.560 --> 01:25:00.319 week to point out that Dynamite dropped coming out of 1589 01:25:00.359 --> 01:25:02.399 Grand Slam. Oh, look at the drop. You know they 1590 01:25:02.479 --> 01:25:05.840 dropped for Hangman at MJF. That's their big storyline. So 1591 01:25:05.920 --> 01:25:07.600 I thought it was only fair to point out that 1592 01:25:07.760 --> 01:25:11.039 NXT also dropped, even though they had more viewers and 1593 01:25:11.119 --> 01:25:15.199 even steeper drop coming out of Vengeance Day. So it 1594 01:25:15.279 --> 01:25:17.760 wasn't really a good week for either show in that regard, 1595 01:25:17.880 --> 01:25:20.640 and to twist it any other way really exposes you. 1596 01:25:21.199 --> 01:25:25.640 So don't be one of those people. While speaking on 1597 01:25:25.720 --> 01:25:29.079 the Coach and Bro Show, which is typically hosted by 1598 01:25:29.119 --> 01:25:34.479 Jonathan Coachman and Vince Russo, Bro the Bro was out 1599 01:25:34.479 --> 01:25:37.279 this week, I saw that JD was co hosting the 1600 01:25:37.319 --> 01:25:41.399 show with Coach on Thursday. But Coachman mentioned how people 1601 01:25:41.399 --> 01:25:45.239 started talking when that picture was floating around last year 1602 01:25:45.279 --> 01:25:48.439 of Shane McMahon and Tony Kahan meeting at the airport 1603 01:25:48.479 --> 01:25:52.800 in Arlington. They had rumors about Shane possibly joining AW 1604 01:25:52.960 --> 01:25:55.039 and then all of that talk, all of a sudden 1605 01:25:55.079 --> 01:25:58.640 stopped and there's been no indication that any progress was 1606 01:25:58.640 --> 01:26:01.479 made between the two sides. And if you remember, Shane 1607 01:26:01.520 --> 01:26:03.399 even put a statement out in the days after the 1608 01:26:03.439 --> 01:26:05.800 meeting that the statement said Tony and I were connected 1609 01:26:05.800 --> 01:26:08.279 through a mutual friend and we had a great meeting. 1610 01:26:08.319 --> 01:26:10.720 We talked about many things, but mostly about our shared 1611 01:26:10.760 --> 01:26:13.079 love for the business and the rewards and challenges of 1612 01:26:13.119 --> 01:26:16.359 working with family. I congratulated him on the five year 1613 01:26:16.399 --> 01:26:18.760 anniversary of AAW and I look forward to how he 1614 01:26:18.840 --> 01:26:24.039 evolved the business going forward. And that was that well. 1615 01:26:24.039 --> 01:26:29.319 According to coach Shane asked for a significant deal, including 1616 01:26:29.359 --> 01:26:32.119 equity in the company and control over the entire show. 1617 01:26:32.960 --> 01:26:36.640 Tony Kahan ultimately ghosted Shane, not the other way around. 1618 01:26:36.720 --> 01:26:39.239 This is what Coach said. I remember the picture that 1619 01:26:39.359 --> 01:26:43.560 surface with Shane and Tony in their meeting and there 1620 01:26:43.600 --> 01:26:46.199 was all this speculation that he wanted to come into AAW. 1621 01:26:46.319 --> 01:26:48.359 Then all of a sudden that talk disappeared. Well, I 1622 01:26:48.399 --> 01:26:51.439 have it on good authority that Shane McMahon asked for 1623 01:26:51.479 --> 01:26:54.560 the world. He wanted equity in the company. He wanted 1624 01:26:54.600 --> 01:26:57.720 to come in and run the entire show. And honestly, 1625 01:26:57.800 --> 01:27:00.600 it was probably the first time that I said to myself, 1626 01:27:00.600 --> 01:27:03.359 I actually agree with Tony Kahn ghosting it. Because Tony 1627 01:27:03.399 --> 01:27:07.720 ghosted Shane. It wasn't the other way around. So fightful 1628 01:27:07.760 --> 01:27:11.119 Select followed up on this and reported that a source 1629 01:27:11.239 --> 01:27:14.319 close to Shane confirmed that Tony Khan made no effort 1630 01:27:14.359 --> 01:27:17.920 to continue discussions after their private meeting near Arlington Airport. 1631 01:27:18.600 --> 01:27:21.439 While rumors swirled that McMahon had asked for equity in 1632 01:27:21.479 --> 01:27:24.479 the company, the source could not confirm that, but did 1633 01:27:24.520 --> 01:27:27.880 acknowledge that Shane wanted to run things. It seemed like 1634 01:27:28.039 --> 01:27:31.279 KHN almost thought Shane was joking when he mentioned the 1635 01:27:31.319 --> 01:27:35.479 possibility of running everything, the source said. Despite AAW's lack 1636 01:27:35.520 --> 01:27:38.560 of respond Shane apparently didn't take it personally and understood 1637 01:27:38.560 --> 01:27:41.039 that nothing was going to come from the talks from 1638 01:27:41.079 --> 01:27:44.159 AAW side. Sources stated that Tony Kahan never talked much 1639 01:27:44.159 --> 01:27:46.520 about the meeting, only mentioning that the two sides had 1640 01:27:46.560 --> 01:27:49.600 met and that nothing was in the works. Those we've 1641 01:27:49.600 --> 01:27:52.560 spoken to and AAW say that Tony hadn't spoken about 1642 01:27:52.600 --> 01:27:56.039 it extensively outside of noting that the two met and 1643 01:27:56.119 --> 01:27:58.720 are not working together. The source close to McMahon that 1644 01:27:58.760 --> 01:28:00.720 we talked to claimed that they would not rule out 1645 01:28:00.720 --> 01:28:03.039 a cameo appearance, but did not think that they would 1646 01:28:03.079 --> 01:28:09.079 extensively do business together at this stage, to which I say, yeah, 1647 01:28:09.119 --> 01:28:11.039 no shit. I would have done the same thing that 1648 01:28:11.119 --> 01:28:14.279 Tony did. Somebody walked in and said, I want everything. 1649 01:28:15.239 --> 01:28:17.399 I want to run everything, I want equity, I want this, 1650 01:28:17.439 --> 01:28:18.720 I want that. I would have said, you know what, 1651 01:28:18.760 --> 01:28:21.479 it's nice meeting you. We'll talk soon. And I would 1652 01:28:21.479 --> 01:28:23.800 have ghosted him too. I don't blame Tony for that. 1653 01:28:24.680 --> 01:28:28.359 Why would Tony Kahan surrender basically control of his company 1654 01:28:28.399 --> 01:28:32.800 to a McMahon. That sounds like a very bad idea. 1655 01:28:34.079 --> 01:28:36.199 You know, at least when Paul Hayman met with Dixie 1656 01:28:36.279 --> 01:28:38.079 Carter and told her what it would take to bring 1657 01:28:38.159 --> 01:28:41.159 him into TNA. Hayman, you know, he had a track 1658 01:28:41.199 --> 01:28:44.920 record creatively where you could say We could really use 1659 01:28:44.960 --> 01:28:47.600 a guy like this, right, we could use his brain. 1660 01:28:48.640 --> 01:28:51.039 Maybe I handle the business end of things, but we'll 1661 01:28:51.079 --> 01:28:53.760 let him run wild with Creative. Right, this could be 1662 01:28:53.840 --> 01:28:57.560 exactly what we need to turn this company around with Shane. 1663 01:28:57.680 --> 01:28:59.680 This is what I said when this story first came out. 1664 01:28:59.720 --> 01:29:02.960 Where is the track record? There is no track record. 1665 01:29:04.079 --> 01:29:07.359 You're bringing a McMahon into your company and giving him 1666 01:29:07.399 --> 01:29:10.800 full control to do what he wants with it. Why 1667 01:29:12.159 --> 01:29:16.279 what warrants that outside of the name, Why would you 1668 01:29:16.359 --> 01:29:19.640 do that? If somebody said to me, you know, when 1669 01:29:19.640 --> 01:29:23.119 Scott Demore got fired from TNA last year, and obviously 1670 01:29:23.199 --> 01:29:25.159 he was under a non compete and so he couldn't 1671 01:29:25.199 --> 01:29:28.119 do anything. Now he's running his own company. But let's 1672 01:29:28.119 --> 01:29:31.520 say none of that existed, right, they like WWE is 1673 01:29:31.560 --> 01:29:34.479 doing now. They let his contract lapse. Right now, Scott 1674 01:29:34.520 --> 01:29:36.319 de Moore is a free agent. If you would have 1675 01:29:36.359 --> 01:29:38.239 said to me, Scott de moorehead a meeting with Tony 1676 01:29:38.319 --> 01:29:39.840 kan and said, look, if you want to bring me 1677 01:29:39.880 --> 01:29:42.600 in like as far as working together, or bring me 1678 01:29:42.640 --> 01:29:44.279 in in some kind of a role, I want full 1679 01:29:44.319 --> 01:29:47.840 control over Creative. I want you to let me. You know, 1680 01:29:48.079 --> 01:29:49.880 you let me run this the way that I want 1681 01:29:49.920 --> 01:29:52.199 to run this. I don't want meddling or anything like that. 1682 01:29:52.279 --> 01:29:56.039 I don't want to be co writer with anybody. Even then, 1683 01:29:56.079 --> 01:29:58.399 I can understand Tony being hesitant, but at least with 1684 01:29:58.439 --> 01:30:00.479 Scott de Moore, like, Okay, you could point to his 1685 01:30:00.520 --> 01:30:03.760 record and say it's it's a great record or it's 1686 01:30:04.239 --> 01:30:07.800 spotty record. He has success doing this or maybe you know, 1687 01:30:07.880 --> 01:30:10.720 not doing that. You have a record to draw from, 1688 01:30:10.720 --> 01:30:13.119 And frankly, I think Scott Demore would have actually brought 1689 01:30:13.159 --> 01:30:15.640 a lot to the table in that company. What Shane 1690 01:30:15.720 --> 01:30:18.359 McMahon you don't have that? People were so in love 1691 01:30:18.399 --> 01:30:20.279 with the idea. Oh my god, Shane. He's like the 1692 01:30:20.279 --> 01:30:22.680 one McMahon that I like, yeah, or he's like the 1693 01:30:22.720 --> 01:30:26.520 one McMahon that didn't get on my nerves or was overexposed. Right, 1694 01:30:27.000 --> 01:30:29.039 let's bring in sh Shane seems like a nice guy. 1695 01:30:29.079 --> 01:30:32.479 He's got a good head on his shoulders. We heard 1696 01:30:32.479 --> 01:30:34.760 stories about him helping out behind the scenes. I'm sure 1697 01:30:34.800 --> 01:30:36.880 he could do this stuff. Yeah, let's just give Shane 1698 01:30:36.880 --> 01:30:42.319 control of the show. That would be fucking dumb bringing 1699 01:30:42.319 --> 01:30:44.520 a McMahon into your company and giving him full control 1700 01:30:44.560 --> 01:30:46.039 to do what he wants with it. I don't blame 1701 01:30:46.119 --> 01:30:48.760 Tony for being reluctant to do that. And I was 1702 01:30:48.800 --> 01:30:51.760 reminded as I was talking about, like Paul Hayman and 1703 01:30:51.800 --> 01:30:53.399 the stuff from all those years ago. I want to 1704 01:30:53.399 --> 01:30:57.640 say it was two thousand and ten, twenty eleven. I 1705 01:30:57.640 --> 01:31:00.000 don't remember what year that would have been. Maybe oh nine, 1706 01:31:00.000 --> 01:31:02.479 maybe it was like oh nine, twenty ten it was. 1707 01:31:02.680 --> 01:31:05.800 It was probably before Hogan came in. But that was 1708 01:31:05.840 --> 01:31:07.960 a real thing that happened. But I was reminded that 1709 01:31:09.119 --> 01:31:12.399 Billy Corgan, he did an interview on Kurt Angle's podcast 1710 01:31:12.439 --> 01:31:14.920 back in twenty twenty three. So I went to go 1711 01:31:14.960 --> 01:31:16.800 find the exact quote. This is what he said about 1712 01:31:16.840 --> 01:31:20.439 that whole situation because he I think he had equity 1713 01:31:20.479 --> 01:31:22.520 in the company. This is before he had his whole 1714 01:31:22.520 --> 01:31:26.039 big falling out with Dixie. And this is what he 1715 01:31:26.079 --> 01:31:29.600 said about that whole situation because he tried, he tried 1716 01:31:29.600 --> 01:31:32.079 to convince her give it to him whatever Hayman wants, 1717 01:31:32.119 --> 01:31:34.640 give it to him. He said, I'm sitting at a 1718 01:31:34.640 --> 01:31:37.640 table and she says, if you were me, would you 1719 01:31:37.720 --> 01:31:41.479 hire Paul Hayman? And I said, give him whatever he wants. 1720 01:31:41.920 --> 01:31:44.159 She told me what he wanted. He was a big 1721 01:31:44.199 --> 01:31:47.560 pile of money, and he wanted absolute total control. He 1722 01:31:47.600 --> 01:31:51.560 gave one interview Hayman did where he later said after 1723 01:31:51.600 --> 01:31:54.760 the whole thing didn't happen and he was back with WWE. 1724 01:31:54.760 --> 01:31:56.640 He said what he would have done, and he said 1725 01:31:56.680 --> 01:31:59.439 that he would have cleaned everybody at every veteran out 1726 01:31:59.560 --> 01:32:02.840 except for one that being Kurt Angle. He would have 1727 01:32:03.000 --> 01:32:05.800 kept Kurt. He would have gone younger, and he would 1728 01:32:05.800 --> 01:32:09.319 have went more Mma shooter style. He says, it was 1729 01:32:09.439 --> 01:32:13.119 very interesting. I said, please give him whatever he wants. Well, 1730 01:32:13.159 --> 01:32:15.640 he wants this, and he wants that. He wants total 1731 01:32:15.640 --> 01:32:18.960 control of my company. And I said, please give it 1732 01:32:19.000 --> 01:32:22.319 to him. Number one, your ratings will double overnight. Number two, 1733 01:32:22.359 --> 01:32:24.840 you'll get all the smart marks off your back instantly. 1734 01:32:25.319 --> 01:32:28.239 Number three, they'll hail you as a genius for bringing 1735 01:32:28.239 --> 01:32:31.159 in Hayman. Number four, the company will be on fire 1736 01:32:31.239 --> 01:32:34.880 within six months. I guarantee it. Just do it. And 1737 01:32:34.920 --> 01:32:38.079 she said, well, what about giving up control? I said, 1738 01:32:38.119 --> 01:32:40.439 I don't care. Just give it to him. I begged her. 1739 01:32:41.439 --> 01:32:44.079 Imagine what that company would have been with that roster 1740 01:32:44.359 --> 01:32:46.840 or whoever he would have brought in. It would have 1741 01:32:46.840 --> 01:32:49.800 been hot fire. I think she was very reluctant to 1742 01:32:49.800 --> 01:32:54.560 give up control, he says this, but also in the interview, 1743 01:32:54.560 --> 01:32:58.600 he then admits, he concedes that as somebody who now 1744 01:32:58.960 --> 01:33:02.720 runs the NWA, he would have to think long and 1745 01:33:02.800 --> 01:33:05.239 hard if he was faced with a similar proposition. And 1746 01:33:05.279 --> 01:33:08.800 that's really the key, right, Unless you're in that position, 1747 01:33:09.479 --> 01:33:11.199 it's easy to sit here and say, oh my god, 1748 01:33:11.319 --> 01:33:14.760 just give of course, Paul Hayman creative genius, right, just 1749 01:33:14.760 --> 01:33:16.479 give it all to him, whatever he wants. Just give 1750 01:33:16.520 --> 01:33:19.079 it to him, give him a blank check and give 1751 01:33:19.159 --> 01:33:22.279 him a contract, and that's it. Let him have at it. 1752 01:33:23.319 --> 01:33:25.520 But if you're Dixie Carter, or if you're Tony Kahn, 1753 01:33:25.560 --> 01:33:27.960 or if you're Billy Corgan and you're running the show, 1754 01:33:28.000 --> 01:33:31.359 it's your baby, it's your company, right, you're the head 1755 01:33:31.359 --> 01:33:35.720 han show, right, you control everything. It's a lot easier 1756 01:33:35.720 --> 01:33:38.119 for somebody on the outside to say give all that up, 1757 01:33:38.479 --> 01:33:40.880 but not if you are that person in that position 1758 01:33:40.960 --> 01:33:42.880 at that moment, the idea that I'm going to give 1759 01:33:42.880 --> 01:33:46.760 all of this up. Why this is my company, And 1760 01:33:46.840 --> 01:33:48.920 if you think you're doing a good job, you're certainly 1761 01:33:48.960 --> 01:33:50.920 not gonna want to give it up. I can remember 1762 01:33:50.920 --> 01:33:53.800 that period though TNA definitely could have used somebody like Hayman. 1763 01:33:55.119 --> 01:33:57.000 It's one of those what if things. How would things 1764 01:33:57.000 --> 01:33:59.119 have turned out? Who the hell knows. I think it 1765 01:33:59.119 --> 01:34:01.920 would have been a big help to them. Years later 1766 01:34:02.000 --> 01:34:04.840 there was a similar story. So actually the Hayman thing 1767 01:34:04.880 --> 01:34:07.479 probably was like nine because I think it was like 1768 01:34:07.479 --> 01:34:09.840 twenty thirteen. Jeff Jarrett was going to buy the company. 1769 01:34:09.840 --> 01:34:11.039 I think it was going to be Jeff Jarrett and 1770 01:34:11.119 --> 01:34:14.960 Toby Keith, and they had plans to buy the company 1771 01:34:14.960 --> 01:34:17.800 away from Dixie, and it all came down to Bob Carter, 1772 01:34:17.920 --> 01:34:23.479 Dixie's father, I guess, the head guy Panda Energy, insisted 1773 01:34:23.520 --> 01:34:27.239 that his daughter would maintain either a role or even 1774 01:34:27.319 --> 01:34:30.119 just like an executive title, you know that she would 1775 01:34:30.119 --> 01:34:34.760 still have that I guess to save face. And Toby 1776 01:34:34.840 --> 01:34:36.760 Keith said no, like he wouldn't agree to it, and 1777 01:34:36.800 --> 01:34:39.920 that caused the entire deal to collapse. That was like 1778 01:34:39.960 --> 01:34:42.680 the one deciding factor in this. He's like, fuck this, 1779 01:34:42.720 --> 01:34:44.560 I'm not going to like. This is either mine or 1780 01:34:44.600 --> 01:34:47.920 it's not, and so he walked away from the entire deal. 1781 01:34:48.039 --> 01:34:51.119 So there have been multiple instances where t Anda could 1782 01:34:51.159 --> 01:34:54.239 have ended up looking very different than it did, had 1783 01:34:54.279 --> 01:34:57.920 Dixie just you know, surrendered control or had they sold 1784 01:34:57.920 --> 01:35:00.680 the company. But yeah, I can understand, like, when you're 1785 01:35:00.720 --> 01:35:02.560 in that situation, you don't want to give that up. 1786 01:35:03.279 --> 01:35:07.279 It's that power. This notion that people are Tony Khan 1787 01:35:07.439 --> 01:35:09.600 sucks and he should just give the company up to 1788 01:35:09.600 --> 01:35:11.600 somebody else, let them run it, like that will never 1789 01:35:11.720 --> 01:35:14.920 ever happen. I don't know why there are some people 1790 01:35:14.920 --> 01:35:18.000 who still talk like that, like it will never happen. 1791 01:35:19.279 --> 01:35:21.439 Vince McMahon, he would still be in the same position 1792 01:35:21.520 --> 01:35:23.199 he was in if all that stuff didn't happen. He 1793 01:35:23.199 --> 01:35:25.680 would still be there because it's all he's ever known 1794 01:35:25.760 --> 01:35:28.359 and it's his baby, it's his company. He built it 1795 01:35:28.399 --> 01:35:30.439 to what it's become. Right, He took it from his father. 1796 01:35:30.520 --> 01:35:32.079 He didn't really build it from the ground up, but 1797 01:35:32.119 --> 01:35:33.720 he took it from his father and built it into 1798 01:35:33.760 --> 01:35:36.800 what it is today. And so Dixie, I'm sure had 1799 01:35:36.840 --> 01:35:39.079 some of that. And Tony Khan feels that way too. 1800 01:35:39.119 --> 01:35:41.640 He built this from the ground up, he bankrolled it, 1801 01:35:41.720 --> 01:35:45.199 he's still bankrolling it. This is his company. Why would 1802 01:35:45.239 --> 01:35:48.079 he give that up? So I would have done the 1803 01:35:48.079 --> 01:35:49.920 same thing, honestly, if I were him, I don't care 1804 01:35:49.960 --> 01:35:53.000 what your opinion is about Tony and his creative abilities. 1805 01:35:53.079 --> 01:35:55.319 And yeah, I know they're on a bit of a 1806 01:35:55.359 --> 01:35:58.720 hot streak recently with some of their shows. Whatever you 1807 01:35:58.720 --> 01:36:01.760 think about that is irrelevant. Like if I'm in his position, yeah, 1808 01:36:01.800 --> 01:36:03.920 I'm not giving everything up. Like why the hell would 1809 01:36:03.960 --> 01:36:07.720 he do that? Doesn't make any sense? And maybe Shane 1810 01:36:07.760 --> 01:36:10.439 didn't really think he would accept the offer. Maybe Shane 1811 01:36:10.479 --> 01:36:12.199 is like, you know what, I'm just gonna shoot my shot. 1812 01:36:12.279 --> 01:36:14.600 He'll probably say no, but fuck it, maybe he'll say yes. 1813 01:36:15.840 --> 01:36:17.920 Maybe he didn't really expect an answer out of him. 1814 01:36:17.960 --> 01:36:20.840 I don't know, but I would have done the exact 1815 01:36:20.880 --> 01:36:23.039 same thing if I were Tony for being honest. And 1816 01:36:23.039 --> 01:36:25.560 this notion about him bringing Shane in in some kind 1817 01:36:25.600 --> 01:36:28.520 of creative role. Who knows, maybe one day Shane does 1818 01:36:28.600 --> 01:36:30.359 end up in that company in some kind of role. 1819 01:36:30.439 --> 01:36:33.000 But again, even just like giving him creative I don't 1820 01:36:33.000 --> 01:36:36.439 know where people were getting this from or what they're 1821 01:36:36.479 --> 01:36:39.199 basing that decision on, Like why would he do that? 1822 01:36:39.319 --> 01:36:41.119 What is the track record? I would love to see 1823 01:36:41.119 --> 01:36:44.279 what his track record is that people think Shane McMahon 1824 01:36:44.279 --> 01:36:46.640 could have been the creative force to turn things around. 1825 01:36:46.680 --> 01:36:49.479 A AAW in a way that Tony Khan couldn't. It 1826 01:36:49.560 --> 01:36:53.880 was all just so ridiculous to me. The card for 1827 01:36:54.000 --> 01:36:58.520 AW Revolution is stacking up pretty nicely. John Moxley, of course, 1828 01:36:58.600 --> 01:37:02.760 is going to defend the AW World Championship against Adam Copeland. 1829 01:37:02.800 --> 01:37:09.000 We have MJF against Hangman. Adam Page is Official or Revolution. 1830 01:37:09.119 --> 01:37:11.520 They had a face to face segment on Dynamite Wednesday 1831 01:37:11.600 --> 01:37:14.399 night that I thought was excellent and I loved how 1832 01:37:14.439 --> 01:37:16.720 they tied it back to the start of the company 1833 01:37:16.720 --> 01:37:19.319 in their match from twenty nineteen, the only match they 1834 01:37:19.359 --> 01:37:22.520 ever had. Yeah, you got two men here who have 1835 01:37:22.640 --> 01:37:25.359 gone on to become world champion, but they took very 1836 01:37:25.359 --> 01:37:29.279 different paths to get there. And I look at Revolution 1837 01:37:29.479 --> 01:37:33.399 as step one or chapter one of their story because 1838 01:37:33.399 --> 01:37:35.680 there's still a lot of time between now and all 1839 01:37:35.680 --> 01:37:39.239 in when they go to that stadium in Texas, which 1840 01:37:39.279 --> 01:37:41.600 I think is where Hangmen. You know, if I had 1841 01:37:41.600 --> 01:37:45.319 the pen where Hangman would win the AW World Championship, 1842 01:37:45.960 --> 01:37:47.880 But there's plenty of time before we get there. You 1843 01:37:47.880 --> 01:37:50.319 can have MJF win the first match of Revolution, you 1844 01:37:50.359 --> 01:37:53.920 get a second match out of it. And I said 1845 01:37:53.920 --> 01:37:55.760 this on Wednesday, and it could even pay it off 1846 01:37:55.760 --> 01:37:59.079 with a third match in the finals of the Owen 1847 01:37:59.119 --> 01:38:00.960 Hart Tournament, which I assume is going to happen in 1848 01:38:01.039 --> 01:38:03.279 June this year since All Out We're All In rather 1849 01:38:03.399 --> 01:38:06.800 is in July. But that would make a lot of sense, 1850 01:38:07.600 --> 01:38:09.720 all right, the rubber matches in the finals of the 1851 01:38:09.720 --> 01:38:12.479 Owen you get another great match between those two with 1852 01:38:12.560 --> 01:38:16.600 real stakes on the line. I like that idea. We 1853 01:38:16.640 --> 01:38:21.279 have Kenoski Takeshta defending the aw International Championship against either 1854 01:38:21.479 --> 01:38:25.520 Kenny Omega or Orange Cassidy. We'll have to wait and see. 1855 01:38:25.560 --> 01:38:29.319 Because Orange Cassidy beat Roderick Strong on Wednesday, he is 1856 01:38:29.359 --> 01:38:32.199 now going to challenge Takesha for the title this Wednesday 1857 01:38:32.239 --> 01:38:34.880 on Dynamite. The winner of that match, whoever the champion is, 1858 01:38:34.920 --> 01:38:39.439 will then defend against Kenny Omega. This entire thing is 1859 01:38:39.520 --> 01:38:43.840 completely asked backwards because we had Kenny Omega in Australia 1860 01:38:43.920 --> 01:38:48.039 last weekend cut a promo and you know, challenge Takeshta 1861 01:38:48.079 --> 01:38:50.199 to an international title match. But it wasn't just about 1862 01:38:50.199 --> 01:38:52.680 the championship. It was about the fact that Takeshta holds 1863 01:38:52.720 --> 01:38:56.279 two wins over Kenny that were never avenged because Kenny 1864 01:38:56.279 --> 01:38:59.279 got hurt and was out for a very long time. 1865 01:39:00.079 --> 01:39:01.960 But there was a six man tag team win where 1866 01:39:01.960 --> 01:39:03.920 he pinned Omega, and there was a singles match. It 1867 01:39:04.000 --> 01:39:07.399 all out a couple of years ago, and so Kenny 1868 01:39:07.479 --> 01:39:08.920 was like, I dare you to do it for a 1869 01:39:08.960 --> 01:39:12.079 third time. So it's not even just about the international title. 1870 01:39:12.119 --> 01:39:14.279 It's about the history between these two men. And so 1871 01:39:14.399 --> 01:39:17.680 then they go ahead and they announce this basically number 1872 01:39:17.720 --> 01:39:21.800 one contenders match that could completely turn everything upside down. 1873 01:39:21.840 --> 01:39:24.680 Now it won't. We're still going to get Omega into Keshti, 1874 01:39:24.720 --> 01:39:28.079 I'm sure, but the idea that it's like these two 1875 01:39:28.159 --> 01:39:31.000 were fighting for the right to wrestle Kenny Omega, that's 1876 01:39:31.039 --> 01:39:34.800 basically what this is. At this point. The whole thing 1877 01:39:34.960 --> 01:39:39.600 is is just completely ass backwards. But the match is 1878 01:39:39.640 --> 01:39:42.279 going to be great. So we'll find out this week 1879 01:39:42.359 --> 01:39:45.840 that it will be Takeshta defending against Kenny Omega. We 1880 01:39:45.920 --> 01:39:49.560 have Tony Storm putting her brand new AW Women's World 1881 01:39:49.640 --> 01:39:52.479 Championship on the line against the former champion, Mariah May. 1882 01:39:53.399 --> 01:39:57.000 They did an angle on Collision last night where Mariah 1883 01:39:57.119 --> 01:40:01.199 ambushed Tony in the back as they were showing people 1884 01:40:01.439 --> 01:40:04.319 arriving at the building. They were showing Harley Cameron arriving, 1885 01:40:04.399 --> 01:40:08.560 and then there's Mariah made an ambush. Tony dragged her 1886 01:40:08.600 --> 01:40:12.039 out by her hair out on stage the top of 1887 01:40:12.079 --> 01:40:16.399 the ramp, demanded that there'd be a spotlight shown on 1888 01:40:16.479 --> 01:40:19.079 the two of them, and she's cradling Tony's head in 1889 01:40:19.159 --> 01:40:23.600 her arms and she's crying and issuing a challenge for Revolution, 1890 01:40:24.960 --> 01:40:28.159 which was made official later on. But she said, you know, 1891 01:40:28.279 --> 01:40:32.920 let's have a Hollywood ending, very appropriate with them being 1892 01:40:33.000 --> 01:40:36.640 in Los Angeles for that pay per view, and so 1893 01:40:36.680 --> 01:40:39.520 they didn't announce a proper stipulation. Even in the match 1894 01:40:39.560 --> 01:40:42.560 graphic it says the Hollywood ending, So we don't know 1895 01:40:42.600 --> 01:40:44.800 what that means. But I'll tell you what you know. 1896 01:40:45.079 --> 01:40:49.479 I wouldn't mind a cinematic Hollywood backlock brawl type of 1897 01:40:49.600 --> 01:40:53.640 match between these two, you know, similar similar to the 1898 01:40:53.680 --> 01:40:56.000 one that Piper and gold Dust had at WrestleMania, but 1899 01:40:56.119 --> 01:40:58.119 you know, cinematic and they can make it their own 1900 01:40:58.199 --> 01:41:01.760 and they can go all over the place. Since we're 1901 01:41:01.800 --> 01:41:05.920 talking about Hollywood and cinematic and Hollywood endings and everything, 1902 01:41:06.800 --> 01:41:08.640 because I was thinking, yay, they could do a last 1903 01:41:08.680 --> 01:41:10.960 woman standing, or they could do a first Blood or 1904 01:41:11.560 --> 01:41:16.760 lights Out, but I would dig a stipulation like that, honestly. 1905 01:41:18.600 --> 01:41:21.439 Will Osprey against Kyle Fletcher is now official. Are going 1906 01:41:21.520 --> 01:41:24.640 to have a steel cage match. Mercedes Monet not confirmed 1907 01:41:24.720 --> 01:41:27.880 yet but very likely defending her TBS title against Momo 1908 01:41:28.119 --> 01:41:33.479 Watanabe on that show. And Big Boom Aj of the 1909 01:41:33.640 --> 01:41:38.399 Costco guys is coming back. AW hasn't said a word 1910 01:41:38.439 --> 01:41:43.600 about it, but last month they told I say, ay, 1911 01:41:44.119 --> 01:41:46.039 I don't know if it was Aj or his son, 1912 01:41:46.119 --> 01:41:51.079 Big Justice, but they told cult to Halick that Aj 1913 01:41:51.239 --> 01:41:53.720 would be recovered from his broken foot by then. They 1914 01:41:53.760 --> 01:41:57.039 were in conversations with AW and it sounded like he 1915 01:41:57.159 --> 01:42:00.399 was going to have another match of Revolution. So zero 1916 01:42:00.560 --> 01:42:03.359 hour would be my guess. That's their pre show. Say 1917 01:42:03.439 --> 01:42:05.960 what she wants to about the Costco crap. But he 1918 01:42:06.079 --> 01:42:07.920 had a fun match with q T Marshall on the 1919 01:42:07.960 --> 01:42:10.640 pre show last time. You know. I was going to 1920 01:42:10.680 --> 01:42:14.479 say he could answer Max Caster's open challenge, but that 1921 01:42:14.640 --> 01:42:17.920 open challenge gimmicks should be building to Anthony Bowen's accepting 1922 01:42:17.960 --> 01:42:21.840 the challenge, not Big Boom Aj. So I'll hold off 1923 01:42:21.960 --> 01:42:23.920 until we get a little bit closer to do predictions. 1924 01:42:23.960 --> 01:42:26.960 I'm sure the card will be fleshed out a little 1925 01:42:26.960 --> 01:42:29.680 bit more, but it's looking like a very strong card 1926 01:42:29.800 --> 01:42:34.600 so far. And finally here. While speaking on TBS's Meal 1927 01:42:34.760 --> 01:42:38.079 and a Match, which is on YouTube. It's co hosted 1928 01:42:38.119 --> 01:42:42.520 by Renee Piquette and RJ City, Mercedes, Monet talked about 1929 01:42:42.520 --> 01:42:45.039 what she loves about Japanese wrestling, saying that it's not 1930 01:42:45.159 --> 01:42:50.039 just about fighting or strength, but entertaining, and she mentioned 1931 01:42:50.079 --> 01:42:53.239 a conversation that she had recently with Rocky Romero about 1932 01:42:53.319 --> 01:42:57.239 doing something fun outside the ring, and she revealed her 1933 01:42:57.359 --> 01:43:01.039 interest in having a match throughout the entire city of 1934 01:43:01.159 --> 01:43:06.039 Tokyo and not just limited to a wrestling ring. She said, 1935 01:43:06.079 --> 01:43:08.439 I think that's the greatest thing about Japanese wrestling. It's 1936 01:43:08.479 --> 01:43:11.079 not just about fighting or the strength. They're so entertaining 1937 01:43:11.159 --> 01:43:13.960 and funny. Yeah. I was just talking to Rocky Romero 1938 01:43:14.119 --> 01:43:16.600 the other day about doing something fun outside the ring, 1939 01:43:16.680 --> 01:43:18.960 and I think having a match throughout the entire city 1940 01:43:19.199 --> 01:43:22.159 of Tokyo would be fun. Doesn't even have to be 1941 01:43:22.199 --> 01:43:24.680 in a wrestling ring. Just get me in a real 1942 01:43:24.760 --> 01:43:27.279 street fight on a train, then get me off of 1943 01:43:27.359 --> 01:43:29.319 it into a taxi and then let's just go all 1944 01:43:29.399 --> 01:43:33.880 around Tokyo. I endorse this idea. I think that would 1945 01:43:33.880 --> 01:43:35.319 be a lot of fun if we can see Minora 1946 01:43:35.399 --> 01:43:40.079 Suzuki wrestling on bullet trains and we can have Mercedes 1947 01:43:40.199 --> 01:43:43.920 having a match all over the city of Tokyo. Let's 1948 01:43:43.960 --> 01:43:46.479 take some mailbag questions, shall we? You can email me 1949 01:43:46.560 --> 01:43:49.199 to Solo Monster at gmail dot com. Please include your 1950 01:43:49.239 --> 01:43:50.840 name of where you are from when you write in. 1951 01:43:51.680 --> 01:43:56.359 Stefan from Washington who is celebrating a birthday today, Happy birthday, dude. 1952 01:43:57.479 --> 01:43:59.119 The Rock made it seem like there may not be 1953 01:43:59.199 --> 01:44:01.560 a match with him in and it was more about 1954 01:44:01.600 --> 01:44:04.199 the story. It feels like we could be seeing someone 1955 01:44:04.239 --> 01:44:07.800 else take the deal and become the corporate champ. What 1956 01:44:07.920 --> 01:44:11.279 if it's Punk. In their last promo together, Punk asked 1957 01:44:11.319 --> 01:44:14.159 Cody if he was all right that all of this 1958 01:44:14.319 --> 01:44:16.439 looked like it was starting to take its toll on him. 1959 01:44:16.520 --> 01:44:18.960 He mentioned how it was about this time in his 1960 01:44:19.119 --> 01:44:21.399 title run that he gave into the pressure and he 1961 01:44:21.520 --> 01:44:24.359 became a bad person. Cody is now faced with a 1962 01:44:24.439 --> 01:44:27.159 deal with the Devil, much like Punk with Hayman, and 1963 01:44:27.399 --> 01:44:29.960 it is likely Cody will turn that deal down and 1964 01:44:30.039 --> 01:44:31.800 show that he is better than that. Punk and then 1965 01:44:31.840 --> 01:44:34.600 take the deal, stab Cody in the front like he 1966 01:44:34.680 --> 01:44:37.840 said he would, and sell his soul to the devil 1967 01:44:37.920 --> 01:44:41.960 to achieve his dream. Once Seena's best rival becomes the 1968 01:44:42.039 --> 01:44:45.439 new scene is Foil feels like great story potential and 1969 01:44:45.520 --> 01:44:48.079 naturally sets up matches for Punk against Roman as well 1970 01:44:48.119 --> 01:44:51.760 as Sina later this year. What say you, Yeah, I 1971 01:44:51.840 --> 01:44:53.600 mean I could get behind it. That's what I talked 1972 01:44:53.640 --> 01:44:57.279 about earlier. I think going back and forth between whether 1973 01:44:57.399 --> 01:44:59.920 or not Sena or Punk would be best in that role. 1974 01:45:00.159 --> 01:45:03.680 I think both of them could be very entertaining and 1975 01:45:03.840 --> 01:45:06.680 they both intrigue me, but I would go at Punk. 1976 01:45:06.960 --> 01:45:09.720 Give me that choice. I think Punk just make between 1977 01:45:09.760 --> 01:45:11.279 the two of them. I think you can make more 1978 01:45:11.359 --> 01:45:13.279 sense of Punk in that role, and I think Punk 1979 01:45:14.000 --> 01:45:15.720 would take it, and I think he would knock it 1980 01:45:15.800 --> 01:45:17.239 out of the park because I think it would be 1981 01:45:18.159 --> 01:45:20.000 right up his alley if he can play the heel 1982 01:45:20.119 --> 01:45:24.239 role again and just a matter of telling the right 1983 01:45:24.319 --> 01:45:29.600 story and getting there. So yes, I think that that 1984 01:45:29.680 --> 01:45:35.079 could work. Chris from Phoenix, Arizona. In recent podcasts and streams, 1985 01:45:35.119 --> 01:45:37.960 you've politely turned down fantasy bookings from people for the 1986 01:45:38.039 --> 01:45:40.760 Death Riders because they are lame finishes to the story, 1987 01:45:41.600 --> 01:45:44.479 But isn't that what this story really deserves? Just pull 1988 01:45:44.560 --> 01:45:47.840 the plug. At Revolution we get another lame interference finish. 1989 01:45:47.960 --> 01:45:52.359 Moxley wins big scrum, Christian cash is in the team 1990 01:45:52.520 --> 01:45:56.640 implodes because who cares. Then we get Edge against Christian 1991 01:45:56.760 --> 01:46:00.399 in a singles feud that runs the AW Championship through 1992 01:46:00.479 --> 01:46:05.560 Dynasty and onto MJF or Hangman, et cetera. Heading into 1993 01:46:05.680 --> 01:46:09.840 all in see you mentioned MJF said that right there 1994 01:46:09.960 --> 01:46:15.239 that intrigues me. Edge against Christian. I mean, yes, you 1995 01:46:15.319 --> 01:46:18.479 could do Edge and Christian on a short term basis, 1996 01:46:19.600 --> 01:46:23.880 Edge versus Christian being your top Like AW Championship feud 1997 01:46:24.279 --> 01:46:27.760 is not the answer, but as a means to get 1998 01:46:27.800 --> 01:46:30.199 the title onto the person that it should be on, 1999 01:46:31.319 --> 01:46:33.439 and if it means the death of the Death Riders, 2000 01:46:33.600 --> 01:46:36.960 I'm on board. But you mentioned MJF. You mentioned Dynasty. 2001 01:46:37.079 --> 01:46:40.000 Dynasty is their next pay per view after Revolution, So Dynasty, 2002 01:46:40.039 --> 01:46:42.319 I think is on April sixth. I want to say, 2003 01:46:43.560 --> 01:46:47.640 and the idea that MJF beats Hangman to the punch 2004 01:46:49.000 --> 01:46:52.720 and that MJF would win the title because it still 2005 01:46:52.760 --> 01:46:54.560 fits with what I just talked about as far as 2006 01:46:54.640 --> 01:46:56.840 Hangman really should be the one to go to Texas 2007 01:46:56.880 --> 01:46:59.720 in July and win the championship. So if you're going 2008 01:46:59.760 --> 01:47:02.159 to do this first match with MJF and Hangman, I 2009 01:47:02.239 --> 01:47:04.760 said MJF should win the first match. What if MJF 2010 01:47:04.840 --> 01:47:08.319 wins that match ends up winning the aw world title 2011 01:47:08.359 --> 01:47:10.720 of Dynasty the following month, holds onto it until we 2012 01:47:10.800 --> 01:47:14.399 get to all In and we get the rematch. So 2013 01:47:14.479 --> 01:47:17.680 maybe they don't do three of them, but they do 2014 01:47:17.800 --> 01:47:21.239 the rematch, it all in circle back around to MJF 2015 01:47:21.319 --> 01:47:24.880 and Hangman. That's where Hangman gets to win. I like that. 2016 01:47:26.319 --> 01:47:28.159 I'd be on board with that, especially if it kills 2017 01:47:28.239 --> 01:47:32.399 off the death Riders Like you got my attention as 2018 01:47:32.439 --> 01:47:34.800 soon as I saw that, But now that I'm thinking 2019 01:47:34.840 --> 01:47:36.720 about how this might play out, I actually like that. 2020 01:47:38.439 --> 01:47:41.159 Kevin from Chicago, I wanted to get your opinion on 2021 01:47:41.239 --> 01:47:43.840 if you think it's possible the Jade car Gills attacker 2022 01:47:43.920 --> 01:47:48.079 could potentially be NXT's Lash Legend and Shakara Jackson at 2023 01:47:48.079 --> 01:47:51.479 the behest of Naomi, which would lead to them forming 2024 01:47:51.520 --> 01:47:54.079 a stable between the three women. The reason I think 2025 01:47:54.119 --> 01:47:56.000 it could be the case is because they've been building 2026 01:47:56.079 --> 01:47:58.880 Jade to be this monster. So I can't imagine one 2027 01:47:58.960 --> 01:48:03.760 person being responsible for taking her out for months and combined, well, 2028 01:48:03.800 --> 01:48:06.000 I mean, it doesn't take a whole hell of a lot. 2029 01:48:06.039 --> 01:48:08.720 I mean you could take freakin' Raymistereo and have him 2030 01:48:08.720 --> 01:48:12.520 shove Jade off of I mean, if she got shoved 2031 01:48:12.560 --> 01:48:15.199 off a platform of a certain height, fell through a 2032 01:48:15.279 --> 01:48:18.960 car windshield, I mean, it could have been a fucking 2033 01:48:19.119 --> 01:48:22.680 cat that scared her and she fell off. You're falling 2034 01:48:22.720 --> 01:48:25.239 off someplace through a car windshield. I don't know that 2035 01:48:25.319 --> 01:48:29.279 it really matters if it's one person or three, but anyway, 2036 01:48:29.439 --> 01:48:32.079 I can't imagine one person being responsible for taking her 2037 01:48:32.159 --> 01:48:34.279 out for months, and combined with the fact that they're 2038 01:48:34.279 --> 01:48:37.319 already trying to sell us on a tag team being responsible, 2039 01:48:38.000 --> 01:48:40.079 So I think you could easily swap out them for 2040 01:48:40.159 --> 01:48:43.359 two more women who have a similar stature to make 2041 01:48:43.439 --> 01:48:47.159 it work. Naomi could also justify her actions by claiming 2042 01:48:47.239 --> 01:48:49.840 she did it for Bianca, believing Jade was holding her back, 2043 01:48:49.880 --> 01:48:51.880 and this could all be setting up a potential six 2044 01:48:52.000 --> 01:48:56.920 women tag match of Lash, Jakara, and Naomi against Jade 2045 01:48:57.039 --> 01:49:01.159 and Bianca, with bel Air having to go recruit the 2046 01:49:01.239 --> 01:49:05.720 woman that she doesn't trust. Bailey to even the odds 2047 01:49:05.840 --> 01:49:12.359 at WrestleMania. Yeah, I mean that could work. I mean 2048 01:49:12.399 --> 01:49:14.800 they already did the war Games match though, where Bailey 2049 01:49:15.079 --> 01:49:18.199 and Bianca they had to coexist. I know Bianca wasn't 2050 01:49:18.199 --> 01:49:20.479 happy about being her partner, but it all worked out 2051 01:49:21.479 --> 01:49:23.760 and they even started working together in that match. So 2052 01:49:24.920 --> 01:49:27.119 to now go back to Bianca like, oh, I don't 2053 01:49:27.119 --> 01:49:29.239 trust this woman, I mean, you could do it. You 2054 01:49:29.319 --> 01:49:32.520 could do it. I think them already being partners kind 2055 01:49:32.520 --> 01:49:35.880 of softened it a little bit. But yeah, I mean 2056 01:49:35.880 --> 01:49:37.520 you can make it work. I just I kind of 2057 01:49:37.560 --> 01:49:41.000 don't want to see Beyonca relegated to a six woman 2058 01:49:41.119 --> 01:49:45.600 tag match at WrestleMania. But I haven't really been able 2059 01:49:45.640 --> 01:49:47.359 to figure out what to do with Bailey if she's 2060 01:49:47.399 --> 01:49:50.479 not going to be wrestling Roxanne. I mean, there are 2061 01:49:50.560 --> 01:49:52.880 some people who think she'll win the Chamber and she'll Wrestleria, 2062 01:49:52.960 --> 01:49:56.640 which I really I don't see the appeal in that 2063 01:49:56.760 --> 01:50:00.479 match personally. I mean nothing against Bailey, but there's just 2064 01:50:00.640 --> 01:50:03.760 more interesting opponents for me that I would like to 2065 01:50:03.840 --> 01:50:06.359 see in the ring with wherea Ripley at WrestleMania, She's 2066 01:50:06.399 --> 01:50:10.359 not one of them. So outside of a match with Roxanne. 2067 01:50:10.760 --> 01:50:12.359 I don't know what else you would do with Bailey, 2068 01:50:13.640 --> 01:50:17.640 so maybe some variation of this is what ends up happening. 2069 01:50:17.640 --> 01:50:22.359 I don't know. Alvin Fromteville, North Carolina. I was recently 2070 01:50:22.399 --> 01:50:26.119 watching some old WCW matches with Alex Wright. I thought 2071 01:50:26.159 --> 01:50:29.800 this guy had a good look. He say worker had well, 2072 01:50:29.840 --> 01:50:32.800 he was a worker. You didn't say he was a 2073 01:50:32.840 --> 01:50:34.399 good worker. He just said he was a worker. He 2074 01:50:34.479 --> 01:50:38.760 certainly was. He was in the ring. Eddie had charisma. 2075 01:50:39.000 --> 01:50:44.119 When WWE brought he means bought WCW, I was surprised 2076 01:50:44.159 --> 01:50:46.079 they did not bring over Alex Wright. Do you know 2077 01:50:46.199 --> 01:50:48.880 the backstory to why he never came over to WWE. 2078 01:50:50.439 --> 01:50:53.000 He still had a few years left on his contract 2079 01:50:53.079 --> 01:50:57.319 with Turner after w CW close, and I remember him 2080 01:50:57.359 --> 01:50:59.720 saying he didn't like the offer that WWE gave him. 2081 01:51:00.239 --> 01:51:02.479 I guess to buy him out. There were a lot 2082 01:51:02.520 --> 01:51:04.039 of guys who are like, now I'm just gonna sit 2083 01:51:04.079 --> 01:51:06.720 at home and collect my guaranteed money. You know, it 2084 01:51:06.800 --> 01:51:09.880 really was only Booker, T and DDP who gave up 2085 01:51:10.199 --> 01:51:13.760 free money to take a deal for less money with WWE, figuring, 2086 01:51:13.840 --> 01:51:16.119 oh well, I'll come out well on the other end, 2087 01:51:16.159 --> 01:51:19.319 I'll be a bigger star for Booker. It worked out 2088 01:51:19.359 --> 01:51:22.079 well for DDP, not so much as far as him 2089 01:51:22.119 --> 01:51:25.119 being a big deal in WWE. I think Ddp's doing 2090 01:51:25.159 --> 01:51:27.960 stuff now that's far more important than he would have 2091 01:51:28.039 --> 01:51:31.600 done in WWE. So yeah, he was like I guess 2092 01:51:31.680 --> 01:51:34.479 they just in his mind, low balled him on an offer, 2093 01:51:34.520 --> 01:51:36.079 and he just didn't want to take the offer. But 2094 01:51:36.119 --> 01:51:38.000 he also said that he was just very burned out. 2095 01:51:38.960 --> 01:51:41.159 I see interviews with him that pop up on my 2096 01:51:41.439 --> 01:51:44.279 YouTube timeline every now and then. He's talked about how 2097 01:51:44.319 --> 01:51:48.560 with WCW sometimes he would wrestle up to seven matches 2098 01:51:48.760 --> 01:51:53.119 a day, which I know that sounds hogan esque, but 2099 01:51:53.239 --> 01:51:55.279 you got to remember, like those tapings they did at 2100 01:51:55.359 --> 01:51:58.000 Universal for their syndicated shows, like you would have guys 2101 01:51:58.079 --> 01:52:01.840 coming out multiple times in his single taping. I don't 2102 01:52:01.880 --> 01:52:05.479 know about seven times, but it's at least conceivable that 2103 01:52:05.640 --> 01:52:10.640 he did. So he was burned out in the backstage politics. 2104 01:52:10.840 --> 01:52:14.199 I know he didn't like that, so he retired and 2105 01:52:14.279 --> 01:52:16.199 he opened a wrestling school, which I believe he still 2106 01:52:16.279 --> 01:52:19.239 runs to this day. It's crazy to me how he 2107 01:52:19.359 --> 01:52:21.560 never ended up being bigger than he was he was 2108 01:52:21.640 --> 01:52:26.119 only twenty five years old when WCW shut down. I 2109 01:52:26.279 --> 01:52:28.239 never understood when they had him shave his head and 2110 01:52:28.319 --> 01:52:31.800 he did the Berlin gimmick, unless that was his idea. Yeah, 2111 01:52:31.880 --> 01:52:33.760 he did have a look to him and then he 2112 01:52:33.840 --> 01:52:35.359 shaved his head, and it's like, I don't know what 2113 01:52:35.439 --> 01:52:38.479 these fucking people are doing. But he was still only 2114 01:52:38.560 --> 01:52:43.479 twenty five when WCW got sold to WWE, Like he 2115 01:52:43.560 --> 01:52:46.159 could have been a much bigger star for sure, but 2116 01:52:46.279 --> 01:52:47.880 it just sounded like he was sick of it all. 2117 01:52:49.880 --> 01:52:53.840 Aaron from Tulsa, Oklahoma. This year marks fifteen years since 2118 01:52:54.000 --> 01:52:59.560 NXT's debut. Well, kind, I mean he puts it in quotes, 2119 01:52:59.560 --> 01:53:05.079 I assume because you realize NXT as a show started 2120 01:53:05.079 --> 01:53:07.600 in twenty ten, but that was a very different NXT 2121 01:53:07.800 --> 01:53:10.359 than what we ended up getting on the network when 2122 01:53:10.359 --> 01:53:13.960 it debuted. There. What, in your opinion is NXT's best 2123 01:53:14.039 --> 01:53:16.920 matches moments and who were the biggest success stories coming 2124 01:53:16.960 --> 01:53:21.880 out of NXT to the main roster? Oh, I mean 2125 01:53:22.359 --> 01:53:28.560 when you say that Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, I think 2126 01:53:28.720 --> 01:53:32.800 you can put Alexa Bliss on that list. Ria Ripley 2127 01:53:32.840 --> 01:53:35.880 to an extent, But I mean not really, because she 2128 01:53:35.960 --> 01:53:38.960 wrestled on the indie scene in Australia before coming to 2129 01:53:39.039 --> 01:53:42.399 the States, but she started to really find herself in NXT. 2130 01:53:43.359 --> 01:53:45.159 You know. That's the thing. You know, lots of names 2131 01:53:45.199 --> 01:53:47.239 were a part of NXT, but they just kind of 2132 01:53:47.319 --> 01:53:50.720 passed through, you know, guys like Kevin Owens and sammy's 2133 01:53:50.720 --> 01:53:55.840 Ain and Finn balor Seth Rollins. Roman Reigns was more 2134 01:53:55.880 --> 01:54:00.399 a product of FCW, which was under Steve Kern. So 2135 01:54:00.520 --> 01:54:02.319 I don't think it's fair to really call Rome and 2136 01:54:02.399 --> 01:54:04.159 It like as big of a star as he became 2137 01:54:04.319 --> 01:54:08.439 later like the greatest NXT export or a success story 2138 01:54:08.520 --> 01:54:11.600 of all time. Like he doesn't really have a genuine 2139 01:54:11.640 --> 01:54:15.079 connection to the brand, unlike Seth Rollins, who was the 2140 01:54:15.119 --> 01:54:18.239 first ever NXT champion. Like you could definitely make more 2141 01:54:18.279 --> 01:54:20.319 of a case I think for Rollins as the greatest 2142 01:54:20.439 --> 01:54:24.520 NXT success story over Roman Reigns, even though Rains is, 2143 01:54:25.399 --> 01:54:28.359 you know, Rains is definitely the bigger star of the two. 2144 01:54:30.479 --> 01:54:34.600 Bray Wyatt started in FCW also, but when they rebranded 2145 01:54:34.680 --> 01:54:37.840 as NXT, that's when we got bray Wyatt, like the 2146 01:54:37.920 --> 01:54:43.079 bray Wyatt character, but like more recent names, I think 2147 01:54:43.239 --> 01:54:46.880 could end up being their greatest success story. Bron Breaker, 2148 01:54:47.159 --> 01:54:52.039 Tiffany Stratton, Oba Femei. Right, it's still too early to know, 2149 01:54:52.239 --> 01:54:55.359 but I'm looking at those names like five years from now, 2150 01:54:55.399 --> 01:54:57.800 we're going to be talking about, if not all of them, 2151 01:54:58.199 --> 01:55:01.119 some of them I think as the great success story 2152 01:55:01.199 --> 01:55:06.279 in NXT. The best matches, There's too many to name, 2153 01:55:06.399 --> 01:55:08.880 but Sasha Banks against Bailey and Brooklyn that's one of 2154 01:55:08.920 --> 01:55:12.399 the most important matches in NXT history, especially for the women. 2155 01:55:13.479 --> 01:55:18.359 Sammy Zane's underdog rise to the NXT Championship. That was 2156 01:55:18.399 --> 01:55:21.520 a great story. Kevin Owens turning on him that same 2157 01:55:21.640 --> 01:55:26.680 night that he debuted, That's a pretty memorable moment. Shinsky 2158 01:55:26.760 --> 01:55:29.600 Nakamora's debut for the brand coming Over is this huge 2159 01:55:29.640 --> 01:55:32.279 star from New Japan and he ends up in NXT. 2160 01:55:33.560 --> 01:55:36.840 That was a big deal. Oscar's run. Oscar's run is 2161 01:55:36.880 --> 01:55:39.399 the NXT Women's champion. That undefeated run that she went on, 2162 01:55:40.039 --> 01:55:45.560 you know, that was a legendary run. Nathan from Wisconsin. 2163 01:55:45.840 --> 01:55:49.199 I'm getting into the year twenty ten of TNA and 2164 01:55:49.279 --> 01:55:51.880 the outrage fans had going from a six sided ring 2165 01:55:52.000 --> 01:55:54.640 to a four sided one. Yes, it does make them 2166 01:55:54.680 --> 01:55:57.760 traditional but it also does take away the original feel 2167 01:55:57.840 --> 01:56:02.840 that TNA had because no other company used that ring. Well, 2168 01:56:04.079 --> 01:56:08.079 I don't think that's true. Triple A uses this excited ring. 2169 01:56:08.560 --> 01:56:09.920 I don't know if they use it all the time, 2170 01:56:10.039 --> 01:56:12.920 but I know Triple A was and I think still 2171 01:56:12.960 --> 01:56:15.840 does use this excited ring. Add to the fact that 2172 01:56:15.920 --> 01:56:19.720 they brought in Sean Morley, I thought that said Sean Mooney. 2173 01:56:20.920 --> 01:56:23.119 I was like, what did I miss? They brought in 2174 01:56:23.239 --> 01:56:26.840 Sean Morley who beat Daniels and then basically left. Despite 2175 01:56:26.880 --> 01:56:30.560 the CMLL fallout, the Nasty Boys who brought nothing, and 2176 01:56:30.680 --> 01:56:34.560 Bubba the Love Sponge, TNA definitely started losing momentum because 2177 01:56:34.600 --> 01:56:37.239 of bad ideas like this. Other than moving to Mondays 2178 01:56:37.279 --> 01:56:39.279 for that brief period, what do you think was the 2179 01:56:39.359 --> 01:56:44.479 worst decision TNA made that really hurt them as a company. Well, 2180 01:56:44.640 --> 01:56:48.239 especially if we're talking about that period, I got two 2181 01:56:48.359 --> 01:56:52.199 names for you, hul Cogan and Eric Bischoff. There you go. 2182 01:56:53.760 --> 01:56:56.600 I'd say that hurt them pretty good. They made a 2183 01:56:56.640 --> 01:56:58.760 lot of dumb decisions over the years. We'll be here 2184 01:56:58.800 --> 01:57:00.680 all day if I talk about all the stupid shit 2185 01:57:00.760 --> 01:57:03.800 that TNA did over the years. But since you brought 2186 01:57:03.880 --> 01:57:06.640 up that period specifically, and people like the Nasty Boys 2187 01:57:06.720 --> 01:57:08.800 and Morley coming in and the switch from the six 2188 01:57:08.840 --> 01:57:12.720 sided ring. That was all Hogan and Bischoff. Hogan got 2189 01:57:12.760 --> 01:57:15.479 his buddy some jobs. Hogan had his ideas for how 2190 01:57:15.560 --> 01:57:20.319 things should go. That was definitely something that when you 2191 01:57:20.439 --> 01:57:22.640 look at where TNA was before he came in, and 2192 01:57:22.720 --> 01:57:25.439 then where they were at the tail end of it, 2193 01:57:26.520 --> 01:57:29.119 and when he literally on television walked out on Dixie 2194 01:57:29.159 --> 01:57:30.920 Carter and she was hanging on to his leg like 2195 01:57:30.960 --> 01:57:33.800 a little child, I don't see how you can look 2196 01:57:33.800 --> 01:57:35.439 at that and say that TNA was in a much 2197 01:57:35.520 --> 01:57:37.560 better position at the end than they were at the beginning. 2198 01:57:40.960 --> 01:57:46.239 And Christopher from East London says, I am binging all 2199 01:57:46.319 --> 01:57:48.479 of the in your house pay per views on Netflix. 2200 01:57:48.960 --> 01:57:52.119 All of this is before my time. And I found 2201 01:57:52.159 --> 01:57:56.479 Sewn Michael's celebration after defeating Diesel very interesting. He kind 2202 01:57:56.520 --> 01:57:59.359 of mocked Hulk Hogan there hitting his pose and whatnot. 2203 01:58:00.159 --> 01:58:02.079 Was this the case? Was he trying to say that 2204 01:58:02.159 --> 01:58:04.119 he was the number one wrestler in the world or 2205 01:58:04.279 --> 01:58:07.399 was it deeper than that. No, I don't think it 2206 01:58:07.520 --> 01:58:10.399 was any deeper than Hogan was the top star in 2207 01:58:10.520 --> 01:58:13.199 the other promotion. You know, Diesel was on his way 2208 01:58:13.239 --> 01:58:15.880 out to that same company and he was mocking the 2209 01:58:15.960 --> 01:58:18.680 old guy in that other place. You know, Sean had 2210 01:58:18.760 --> 01:58:21.239 just won the title at WrestleMania the month before. I 2211 01:58:21.279 --> 01:58:23.640 don't know if Hogan was champion in April of ninety six. 2212 01:58:23.720 --> 01:58:26.159 It was it was either Hogan or Savage or Flair. 2213 01:58:26.159 --> 01:58:29.079 I'm sure it was one of those three. Maybe the Giant. 2214 01:58:29.119 --> 01:58:30.800 I don't know. The Giant won the title around that 2215 01:58:30.880 --> 01:58:34.479 time too, But you know, Hogan was the guy over there. 2216 01:58:35.000 --> 01:58:36.439 He used to be their guy, but now he was 2217 01:58:36.600 --> 01:58:39.159 w CW's guy. Shawn had just won the title. I'm 2218 01:58:39.159 --> 01:58:42.079 sure there were some people in his mind who you know, 2219 01:58:42.239 --> 01:58:46.039 didn't see him in that role, and that was just 2220 01:58:46.159 --> 01:58:48.840 him taking some shots, you know, with the other guy 2221 01:58:48.920 --> 01:58:51.319 in the other promotion. So no, I don't think he 2222 01:58:51.399 --> 01:58:53.319 needs to look at it any deeper than that. They 2223 01:58:53.399 --> 01:58:56.359 were not fully getting their asses kicked yet by w 2224 01:58:56.479 --> 01:58:59.359 CW because the nWo angle hadn't started up for another 2225 01:58:59.399 --> 01:59:03.239 few months. But that's really all it was. Wait, wait 2226 01:59:03.319 --> 01:59:05.840 until you get to nineteen ninety seven, like you're going 2227 01:59:05.880 --> 01:59:07.880 through all the in your house shows, Wait until you 2228 01:59:07.920 --> 01:59:09.880 get to ninety seven. You should really do a watch 2229 01:59:09.960 --> 01:59:13.920 through of that entire year, at least in WWE, just 2230 01:59:14.000 --> 01:59:16.880 because ninety seven ninety seven is when they had their 2231 01:59:16.960 --> 01:59:19.960 backs against the wall and it ended up being one 2232 01:59:20.000 --> 01:59:24.000 of their best years creatively. But he says, also, who 2233 01:59:24.079 --> 01:59:31.560 would you deem as mister in your House? Ugh? Uh, dude, 2234 01:59:33.359 --> 01:59:36.640 that's a tough one. That's a tough one. It's really 2235 01:59:36.760 --> 01:59:40.239 between two people though, either Brett Hart or Shawn Michaels. 2236 01:59:40.960 --> 01:59:44.239 It's one of those two. But that's tough, you know, 2237 01:59:44.520 --> 01:59:48.880 with Brett. The in your House matches that stand out 2238 01:59:48.880 --> 01:59:53.279 to me with Brett are the Hakushi match, which was 2239 01:59:53.319 --> 01:59:56.640 from the very first one. Later that year, I know, 2240 01:59:56.720 --> 01:59:59.119 he had a match with Pierre when he was doing 2241 01:59:59.199 --> 02:00:04.000 the Pirate Gimmick. They had a very good match. The Hershey, 2242 02:00:04.000 --> 02:00:07.439 Pennsylvania match with the British Bulldog was a great match 2243 02:00:07.520 --> 02:00:09.439 that was better than their Summer Slim match at Wembley 2244 02:00:10.319 --> 02:00:14.960 a lot bloodier too. The final four match for the 2245 02:00:15.039 --> 02:00:18.640 vacant title, which literally just I just watched this on 2246 02:00:18.720 --> 02:00:22.000 their Vault channel yesterday. They posted it several days ago. 2247 02:00:22.000 --> 02:00:25.600 I watched it yesterday. They talked about bloody poor Vader 2248 02:00:25.680 --> 02:00:28.000 he gets his eye busted open five minutes into a 2249 02:00:28.079 --> 02:00:31.560 thirty minute match off a chair shot by the Undertaker, 2250 02:00:32.079 --> 02:00:34.279 and he's got the mask on and like all throughout 2251 02:00:34.319 --> 02:00:37.680 the match he's like repositioning it and stuff. I'm like, dude, 2252 02:00:37.720 --> 02:00:40.359 take it off. And then finally, it was like two 2253 02:00:40.439 --> 02:00:42.920 minutes before he gets eliminated from the match, he finally 2254 02:00:42.960 --> 02:00:45.119 takes the fucking mask off. I'm like, why'd you wait 2255 02:00:45.199 --> 02:00:49.640 so long? He looked like he could barely see. But 2256 02:00:49.760 --> 02:00:53.199 that was a great match, and the ten man tag 2257 02:00:53.359 --> 02:00:56.319 a Canadian stampede. It's a legendary match, one of the 2258 02:00:56.319 --> 02:01:00.520 greatest matches in the history of that company. With Sean, 2259 02:01:02.159 --> 02:01:04.199 first thing I think of is him beating Jeff Jarrett 2260 02:01:04.359 --> 02:01:08.680 in Nashville for the Intercontinental title. He had a really 2261 02:01:08.760 --> 02:01:12.479 good match with Owen Hart. I forget which show. That 2262 02:01:12.800 --> 02:01:16.319 was the match with Diesel that you just mentioned. Good friends, 2263 02:01:16.439 --> 02:01:19.000 Better enemies. That's the best match that Kevin Nash ever had. 2264 02:01:21.039 --> 02:01:25.239 Mind Games against Mankind is an excellent match, even with 2265 02:01:25.359 --> 02:01:30.720 the shitty finish, and the Undertaker matches their ground zero 2266 02:01:30.880 --> 02:01:34.119 match and their Helen is Cell match the following month. 2267 02:01:34.399 --> 02:01:36.880 It's pretty incredible. You know, three of the best matches 2268 02:01:36.920 --> 02:01:40.760 in WWE history all took place in the same year. 2269 02:01:41.119 --> 02:01:45.399 Brett Hart and Steve Austin, Wrestlemani at thirteen Canadian Stampede, 2270 02:01:45.439 --> 02:01:50.279 ten Mantag, and the first Helen of Cell. And really 2271 02:01:50.840 --> 02:01:55.000 it's between Wrestlemanti at thirteen and Helena Cell. If you 2272 02:01:55.399 --> 02:01:57.760 made the argument that either of those two matches were 2273 02:01:57.800 --> 02:02:01.119 the greatest match in company history, I wouldn't argue with you. 2274 02:02:02.119 --> 02:02:04.359 But all of that happened in nineteen ninety seven. See 2275 02:02:04.359 --> 02:02:05.960 that's why I say, make sure you go through all 2276 02:02:06.000 --> 02:02:09.960 the ninety seven stuff. So honestly, it's pretty even between 2277 02:02:10.000 --> 02:02:12.840 the two. I have to go Seawan Michaels, though I 2278 02:02:12.920 --> 02:02:16.840 think Sean Michaels is mister in your house. The mind 2279 02:02:16.880 --> 02:02:18.800 Games match and the Hell in a Cell match, that's 2280 02:02:18.840 --> 02:02:22.199 really what puts it over the top for me. But 2281 02:02:22.319 --> 02:02:24.960 good stuff. Keep emailing me the solom Monster at gmail 2282 02:02:25.000 --> 02:02:28.560 dot com. Make sure you follow me on x That's 2283 02:02:28.840 --> 02:02:32.760 where I'm most active when I am active at solo 2284 02:02:32.840 --> 02:02:35.239 Monster on there. But if you go to the solo 2285 02:02:35.319 --> 02:02:38.520 monster dot com, all of the socials are there. I 2286 02:02:38.680 --> 02:02:40.760 have links to a whole bunch of different the pro 2287 02:02:40.840 --> 02:02:43.640 wrestling tea store. I put a link up to Hardy 2288 02:02:43.720 --> 02:02:46.640 the Horse, my mother's children's books. Sometimes people ask me 2289 02:02:46.720 --> 02:02:48.560 about that. I got the Amazon link up there on 2290 02:02:48.600 --> 02:02:50.880 the bottom of the page as well, so you can 2291 02:02:50.920 --> 02:02:52.920 get all that information there. I will be live on 2292 02:02:53.079 --> 02:02:55.479 YouTube this week coming up as I am every week, 2293 02:02:56.039 --> 02:02:58.000 Live on Monday for the Raw Post Show, live on 2294 02:02:58.079 --> 02:03:03.399 Wednesday after Dynamite, and live on Friday after SmackDown, and 2295 02:03:03.600 --> 02:03:06.279 of course Tuesday night will be another episode of Tuesday 2296 02:03:06.359 --> 02:03:09.119 Night Titans with JD. We've been crushing it with the shows, 2297 02:03:09.840 --> 02:03:12.159 so you could find me over on his channel on Tuesday. 2298 02:03:12.199 --> 02:03:13.920 A lot of good stuff coming up, and of course 2299 02:03:14.039 --> 02:03:18.560 next Sunday that will be episode nine three of this 2300 02:03:18.880 --> 02:03:22.359 very show. Solom Monster sounds off. So thank you for 2301 02:03:22.439 --> 02:03:25.279 all the support, thank you for the questions. Leave a 2302 02:03:25.359 --> 02:03:28.880 comment on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever they accept 2303 02:03:28.920 --> 02:03:31.560 comments and reviews, and I will see you back here 2304 02:03:31.640 --> 02:03:35.560 for a brand new podcast next weekend. Until then, take care, guys. 2305 02:03:36.920 --> 02:03:40.319 The Solom Monster sounds off. Not only did Powerhouse Hogs 2306 02:03:40.680 --> 02:03:43.600 not win the aw World Championship tonight, which is no surprise, 2307 02:03:43.680 --> 02:03:46.720 but they actually destroyed his leg and right after they 2308 02:03:46.880 --> 02:03:49.960 stomped on the fucking share you think you know me? 2309 02:03:50.199 --> 02:03:53.920 And here comes Adam Copeland and FTR who were standing 2310 02:03:54.000 --> 02:03:57.000 there that't the go position, just waiting for their cue, watching, 2311 02:03:57.119 --> 02:03:59.239 I'm sure on a monitor as this man was maimed 2312 02:03:59.439 --> 02:04:01.800 by the death go out there without my music. I'll 2313 02:04:01.840 --> 02:04:04.039 leave my music right now. Come on, as soon as 2314 02:04:04.079 --> 02:04:05.880 they hit the music out they can see now if 2315 02:04:05.880 --> 02:04:08.279 I'm Powerhouse Hobbs when I come back from this in, 2316 02:04:08.439 --> 02:04:11.119 I'm going after Cope and Bald and Hair for not 2317 02:04:11.239 --> 02:04:13.399 coming out and saving me here in this spot, for 2318 02:04:13.520 --> 02:04:17.840 being a couple of selfish, spineless asshole where's the fucking music. 2319 02:04:18.079 --> 02:04:20.399 You can't go anywhere until the music hits, So let's 2320 02:04:20.479 --> 02:04:22.680 let this poor fucker get his leg destroyed first and 2321 02:04:22.760 --> 02:04:25.279 then we'll run out. Please, for the love of fucking God, 2322 02:04:25.359 --> 02:04:27.479 put the music on. That's who Hobbs ought to go after, 2323 02:04:27.840 --> 02:04:32.359 very very stupid. The Solo Monsters Sounds off bringing you 2324 02:04:32.479 --> 02:04:35.119 the good, the bad, and the ugly. Check out the 2325 02:04:35.119 --> 02:04:38.159 weekly live streams bonus content for subscribers, and follow The 2326 02:04:38.239 --> 02:04:42.640 Solo Monster on Facebook, Instagram, and Ax The Solon Monster. 2327 02:04:43.359 --> 02:04:44.479 I love you so young,