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Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 3: PW Torch brings you the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling post show.
Speaker 1: Five years ago. This week on the SmackDown post Show,
Speaker 1: I was joined by PW Torches Mike Myers. We talked
Speaker 1: about that night's show with live callers and responded to emails,
Speaker 1: and had two on site correspondents from Cleveland, Ohio. We
Speaker 1: talked about what happened in the arena when the two
Speaker 1: matches aired from Rolling Loud The Dark Match were Rains
Speaker 1: and Sena faced off in a tag match, crowd reactions
Speaker 1: and more. We also discussed with callers and react to
Speaker 1: emails on all key Angles, promos and matches with Roman Reigns,
Speaker 1: John Cena, Finn Balor, and Edge, the intriguing relationship with
Speaker 1: Kevin Owens, and Baron Corbin and what the upside could be,
Speaker 1: the continued developing chemistry with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee
Speaker 1: and more so, let's get to it. This originally live
Speaker 1: streamed on July twenty third, twenty twenty one, and it
Speaker 1: is today. It's Wade Keller Pro Wrestling post show five
Speaker 1: years ago flashback for Thursday, July twenty third, twenty twenty six. Well, Mike,
Speaker 1: I thought it was a pretty cool setting, seeing that
Speaker 1: big of an outdoor crowd in Miami and the ring
Speaker 1: entrance and the backdrop. Everything was kind of different and
Speaker 1: cool than what we're used to. But man, when the
Speaker 1: matches started, it was not a great wrestling atmosphere. The
Speaker 1: roster loose, the wrestlers were just trying to get through it.
Speaker 1: Their timing wasn't good. It just the chants were hard
Speaker 1: to hear, but probably inappropriate, and I don't I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a cool idea, but I'm glad Smacked Down didnt
Speaker 1: place entirely from there. Your thoughts on that novel aspect
Speaker 1: of SmackDown Tonight, Yeah.
Speaker 4: My first thoughts were I thought it was weird that
Speaker 4: they didn't mention that they were going to do this
Speaker 4: alternative broadcast until like twenty five minutes into SmackDown, and
Speaker 4: that got me wondering if they were self conscious about
Speaker 4: what it was going to look like or sound like
Speaker 4: or something like. I didn't know why they weren't pumping
Speaker 4: it up more. I thought it should be a bigger deal,
Speaker 4: especially when I saw it, like you said, it looked
Speaker 4: super impressive, and yeah, there's no way anybody in that crowd,
Speaker 4: and there was a ton of people in that crowd
Speaker 4: had a good look at the ring because the ring
Speaker 4: was on a stage and all the fans were on
Speaker 4: the ground, And I have a pretty strong feeling that
Speaker 4: the audio was doctored, juiced up, what have you. And
Speaker 4: I think they do that sort of thing even in
Speaker 4: their own arena shows for WWE shows. And then at
Speaker 4: this show, this Miami thing, where they had two matches,
Speaker 4: there were chants and cheers and things going on, but
Speaker 4: when whenever they panned across the audience, they seemed almost captive,
Speaker 4: whereas compared with in the arena, you can kind of
Speaker 4: match up the audience behavior with a chance, and in
Speaker 4: that Miami setting, I don't think it was so. I
Speaker 4: think there's a lot of doctoring with the fan audio,
Speaker 4: but it looked awesome if nothing else.
Speaker 1: All right, So we got that out of the way.
Speaker 1: I mean, not that we've talked about it again, but
Speaker 1: like it was novel, and I think they should look
Speaker 1: for opportunities to do more of that, but also learn
Speaker 1: from this experience about what we're and what doesn't what
Speaker 1: not to do, what to do. But yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I give them. You know, it's like back in the
Speaker 1: Nitro days where they would do you know, shows in
Speaker 1: different settings and it was real novel, even like Hogwild
Speaker 1: or road Wild. It was like it was cool, you know.
Speaker 1: They people dwelled on them losing out on ticket sales,
Speaker 1: and I'm like they gained something by really freshening up
Speaker 1: the atmosphere, even if it was uncomfortable and weird at times.
Speaker 1: So I'm not gonna like be super critical of the
Speaker 1: execution not being great, even if some of it might
Speaker 1: have been foreseeable but also unavoidable. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: those two things can exist coexist, which gets them off
Speaker 1: the hook a little bit. But I hope they look
Speaker 1: for opportunities to do different settings. They're so there's such
Speaker 1: control freaks about everything being the way that they do things,
Speaker 1: and the way they do things is the best way.
Speaker 1: And obviously they got a lot on their plate a
Speaker 1: lot of times, and they just want things to go
Speaker 1: smooth if they can find some sort of happy medium
Speaker 1: to have a show just like Aw's gonna have with
Speaker 1: Arthur Ash Stadium and like they had with Daily's Place.
Speaker 1: They AW has that different from week to week and
Speaker 1: WW doesn't you know they say what time they're in,
Speaker 1: but it always looks the same and it feels the same.
Speaker 1: So I like it. Conceptually, this didn't work. I'm curious
Speaker 1: to talk to Ronzie correspondent about what it was like
Speaker 1: in the building. Did they have other matches and just
Speaker 1: cut the screens off or did they show them what
Speaker 1: was happening on the big screen during that Maybe somebody
Speaker 1: on Twitter said so during the show, and I didn't
Speaker 1: see it, but we'll have We expect to have an
Speaker 1: onside correspondent calling in soon, so we'll hopefully get word
Speaker 1: on that. The matches weren't good, and especially the first one.
Speaker 1: I mean, but it's just you know, when you hype
Speaker 1: a women's title match, and that's what we get. It
Speaker 1: felt like an exhibition, you know, it's kind of their
Speaker 1: inverse and when rock bands try to play at a
Speaker 1: wrestling show and people boom. You know, people gather and
Speaker 1: go to things to see something specific, and it's tough
Speaker 1: to pull off something different that's a novelty and have
Speaker 1: it work.
Speaker 4: I'm glad that you said that about it feeling like
Speaker 4: an exhibition because one thing that stood out to me
Speaker 4: because there were two matches and they both had clean finishes.
Speaker 4: And if the company, that's not normal, right, That's not
Speaker 4: normal for like a Friday SmackDown or a Monday night raw.
Speaker 4: So if the company is doing this and it is
Speaker 4: like an exhibition in front of probably thousands of people
Speaker 4: who aren't their normal audience, it's not fair to make
Speaker 4: them think that this is what is normal with this
Speaker 4: when you watch this wrestling show to clean victories. So
Speaker 4: that that was interesting to me that they said, no,
Speaker 4: this is a this is wbe pro wrestling at this
Speaker 4: at this festival. But if you tune into the TV
Speaker 4: shows you'll get something different from that.
Speaker 1: I think, yes, yes, your thoughts on the crowd reaction
Speaker 1: in Cleveland and how it compared to the three weekend
Speaker 1: shows that we saw last weekend.
Speaker 4: I thought Cleveland seemed pretty hot and pretty engaged. I
Speaker 4: was kind of trying to tune into that because this
Speaker 4: is the first well it's the first time that I've
Speaker 4: joined you on the show with a live audience at
Speaker 4: at SmackDown in a long in a long time, like
Speaker 4: it feels like ten years. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: And it's I mean, it's good to see signs. I
Speaker 4: saw a Boog's equals Money sign and that that made
Speaker 4: me happy. And I saw a lot of John Cena signs,
Speaker 4: and there was so much variance in their quality and
Speaker 4: design that it seemed like it had to be organic,
Speaker 4: Like I don't think that there were plants with Sina signs. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and like in like I mentioned earlier, comparing this Cleveland
Speaker 4: audience to the Miami audience, they I was specifically looking for,
Speaker 4: are they matching up with what I'm hearing from, like
Speaker 4: the in arena microphones, like the chanting am I seeing
Speaker 4: fists pumping with chance and I'm like, thundered on me, Yeah,
Speaker 4: exactly exactly, And I was, And it was refreshing, and
Speaker 4: it was all kind of stuff that I took for
Speaker 4: granted because I think they were kind of sweetening up
Speaker 4: the sound even you know, pre pandemic. I hate to
Speaker 4: be so cynical about it, but I'm pretty sure they
Speaker 4: were doing that. But it looked like things were matching up.
Speaker 4: And I thought I thought the crowd was decent.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought they were more than decent. I thought
Speaker 1: they brought a ton of energy, like Sina came out
Speaker 1: and did not need to go into the bag of
Speaker 1: tricks to get you know, hey, left side of the
Speaker 1: building cheer louder than the right to get them going,
Speaker 1: and you didn't have to drop the name of the
Speaker 1: city to get them to wake up. Like I my,
Speaker 1: that was my perception of Dallas on Monday night. This
Speaker 1: felt like a really excited crowd. And I think too
Speaker 1: if you if you watched this show, you would not
Speaker 1: think WWE has been the subject of.
Speaker 5: That.
Speaker 1: You wouldn't think that a lot of people have been
Speaker 1: questioning whether vincec Man has completely lost it. And I
Speaker 1: say that through the eyes of a network executive. If
Speaker 1: you're a Fox executive and you've seen these ratings drop
Speaker 1: even below one point nine million couple times recently, and
Speaker 1: you're maybe online or you have people haven't's telling you
Speaker 1: know Vince has lost it, and you're thinking what did
Speaker 1: we buy and how bad is this going to be?
Speaker 1: And all that, and Vince has sold you a bill
Speaker 1: of goods saying we're gonna be fine. We got some
Speaker 1: big names coming up, some big angles at summer Slim season,
Speaker 1: and we're going to ram things up. You know, we've
Speaker 1: been laying low, you know, delivering a good product, but
Speaker 1: we understand it's just the crowd is such an important
Speaker 1: part of things. There's certain things we want to do
Speaker 1: in front of them. If you're a Fox executive and
Speaker 1: you tune into this, I think you think you have
Speaker 1: a red hot product and anything that isn't translating to
Speaker 1: a viewership, which, by the way, last Friday viewership was
Speaker 1: really good, you know, a big jump to around two
Speaker 1: point three million from the one point nine ish they
Speaker 1: had been doing. A network executive is going to look
Speaker 1: and go, oh yeah, okay. The fan base there's big
Speaker 1: arena in Cleveland and they're all going crazy for this product.
Speaker 1: So Vince is doing something right. The vincick Mann vision
Speaker 1: isn't what I read online. It is and that's a
Speaker 1: kind of validation that vincient man needed and nobody knew
Speaker 1: if he was going to get it. And part of it.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think the fact that Seen is getting
Speaker 1: ninety nine percent cheered and Rains is getting ninety seven
Speaker 1: percent booed. My numbers might be two three four percent
Speaker 1: off either way, But I mean, I don't think much
Speaker 1: more than that is surprising, or at least it wasn't
Speaker 1: a sure thing. And Edge is getting like really nice responses.
Speaker 1: It just feels like the fans are lined up with
Speaker 1: the storylines that are being told. Part of that is
Speaker 1: the shows are just more exciting than they were three
Speaker 1: weeks ago too. You know, they're doing more and putting
Speaker 1: more out there. But to me, this was a validating
Speaker 1: crowd reaction for Vince McMahon and a lively crowd, and
Speaker 1: I'm you know, I'm typing up my report and get
Speaker 1: ready for the podcast, and it's like there's you know,
Speaker 1: Edge Ed said on his way to the ring of
Speaker 1: the al you guys have no idea what this means
Speaker 1: to me and what this does for me. And he
Speaker 1: said it in the ring on MIC, but he said
Speaker 1: it sort of off mic on his way to the ring. Like,
Speaker 1: I think, as a viewer of wrestling, there is an
Speaker 1: energy level now that you sort of forgot is actually
Speaker 1: a pretty important component of the two hour viewing experience
Speaker 1: of a show like SmackDown, and I'm feeling it. And
Speaker 1: part of it is I'm feeling it because the crowds cheering,
Speaker 1: but I also sense the wrestlers feel it and it's
Speaker 1: elevating their work and their energy level. I thought, Rain's
Speaker 1: in his promo, and we will get into that after
Speaker 1: we get deeper into the show. He was having a blast,
Speaker 1: like I've never seen him have more fun at his
Speaker 1: job than maybe tonight. Like, I think he's really having
Speaker 1: a blast on that promo and likes bringing this character
Speaker 1: in front of a live audience.
Speaker 4: I think so too. I think this isn't a phenomenon
Speaker 4: that's limited to professional wrestlers. Any any performing artist feeds
Speaker 4: off of a live crowd, and if that's a big
Speaker 4: part of your life, if it's a hobby or a career,
Speaker 4: to be deprived of that for well over a year
Speaker 4: can probably be a crippling feeling. And I have no
Speaker 4: doubt in my mind that there is a total feeling
Speaker 4: of legitimate elation with even with Roman, who he can't
Speaker 4: show it the same way that Edge can or John Cena.
Speaker 4: Can you know what I mean? And that's an energy
Speaker 4: they're going to get from the crowd, and they're going
Speaker 4: to feed it back into the crowd. And you, despite
Speaker 4: how good of performers they may be, they can't quite
Speaker 4: achieve that same level in a thunderdome, even no matter
Speaker 4: how many awards it's won.
Speaker 1: Wait, yes, and how much acclaim that critics such as I.
Speaker 4: Have hidden it? Yep?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: Yes, all right, Well, lot to talk about on the show.
Speaker 1: Will pause, set the table, introduce ourselves and bring callers
Speaker 1: and emails into it. This is the Wade Keller Pro
Speaker 1: Wrestling Post show for Friday, July twenty third, twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: I'm Wade Keller. I'm the editor and founder and publisher
Speaker 1: of the Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly newsletter, also editor of
Speaker 1: the website petew toorch dot com with my live coverage
Speaker 1: of Raw Dynamite Inspackdown each week, WW pay perviews, and more,
Speaker 1: along with a ton of other TV reports, breaking news, editorials,
Speaker 1: hits and missus, columns, flashbacks, polls, all kinds of good stuff.
Speaker 1: Hope you're checking it out every day. Petew toorch dot
Speaker 1: com just a great team of diverse points of view
Speaker 1: covering wrestling for you on that website that also has
Speaker 1: links to all of our podcasts and also a host
Speaker 1: of this the Way Keller Pressing Post show and the
Speaker 1: Way Keller Pro Wrestling podcast and some VIP shows that
Speaker 1: are just for our VIP members like the Everyday Way
Speaker 1: Keller Hotline, The Fix with Todd Martin, Everything with Rich Fan,
Speaker 1: and post pay per view roundtables. I'm part of all
Speaker 1: those shows for VIP members. Also, there's a ton of
Speaker 1: other VA podcasts I'm not part of that VIP members
Speaker 1: get to enjoy also, So go VIP everybody. Pw torch
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Speaker 1: on VIP membership pw torch dot com slash Go VIP.
Speaker 1: The other voice you hear today is Mike Myers, one
Speaker 1: of those pw torch dot com contributors. He covers WWE
Speaker 1: main event and WWE kickoff shows for our website. Mike,
Speaker 1: welcome back to the co host chair.
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me back. Weight. It's good to be
Speaker 4: back with you and back with live crowds. Of course,
Speaker 4: yes we have.
Speaker 1: We have done this show throughout the pandemic with live fans.
Speaker 1: We had live listeners all time. We did not switch
Speaker 1: to like computer callers or people just looking at us
Speaker 1: on a screen while we piped in fake questions from
Speaker 1: robots or anything like that. With all due respect to
Speaker 1: Tom Phillips, we have been live all along, but it
Speaker 1: is it is fun to have live callers talking about
Speaker 1: a show where there is a live audience. Our co
Speaker 1: hosts of also always been live. We pushed through all right,
Speaker 1: So if you want to call us, it'd be one
Speaker 1: of those live callers. We invite you to do so
Speaker 1: three four seven two one five eighty five fifty eight.
Speaker 1: That number again is three four seven two one five
Speaker 1: eight five to five eight. When you call, push one
Speaker 1: on your keypad and that will flag you on our
Speaker 1: switchboard and then we can bring you on to talk
Speaker 1: about what you thought of SmackDown tonight. Yesterday on the
Speaker 1: Way Killer Prestlining podcast, we had a special Pollerendorff tribute
Speaker 1: episode featuring a never before heard interview that I conducted
Speaker 1: with Paulleren'dorff thirty years ago when he was running a
Speaker 1: bowling alley and not sure if you'd return to wrestling,
Speaker 1: reflecting on his top drawing feud with Hulk Hogan. The
Speaker 1: first about thirty forty percent of that interview was dropped
Speaker 1: free yesterday as a preview to a VIP exclusive full
Speaker 1: version that we're going to be putting up in the
Speaker 1: next few days for our VIP members on our VIP feet.
Speaker 1: Another reason to go VIP, but for sure check out
Speaker 1: the the first twenty thirty minutes of that interview on
Speaker 1: yesterday's Wedekeller podcast. Also, Alan four l Alan Coonahan's Progress
Speaker 1: Paradise dedicated his most recent VP exclusive show to a
Speaker 1: look at key Paul Orndorf matches in his career, and
Speaker 1: we brought you a big part of that show also
Speaker 1: on yesterday's free Wade Keller Pressing podcast. It was a
Speaker 1: Wildcard Thursday because besides those two segments, we also had
Speaker 1: a ten years ago post show flagship show with Jason
Speaker 1: Powell from Progressing dot Net talking about the twenty eleven
Speaker 1: money of the Bank follout. We reviewed raw from the
Speaker 1: night before, took live calls, talked about cmpunk who happens
Speaker 1: to be back in the news this week, and so
Speaker 1: that is also part of yesterday's Wildcard Thursday Blue Logo Show.
Speaker 1: So hope you check that out if you haven't yet.
Speaker 1: If you want to email us here as we're live
Speaker 1: covering SmackDown. The email addresses Wade Keller Podcast at pw
Speaker 1: torch dot com, Wade Keller Podcast at pw torch dot com.
Speaker 1: And when when you email, just stop, put the topic
Speaker 1: on the subject line that you're writing about SmackDown and
Speaker 1: we might read your email on the air. All right,
Speaker 1: the phone lines are filling up, Mike, so why don't we, Uh,
Speaker 1: why don't we shift the dose?
Speaker 4: I can't hear you. Let's do it? Wait.
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Speaker 1: go vi i P. Let's uh, Let's begin with area
Speaker 1: code four four zero. This is uh caller from Cleveland,
Speaker 1: and I believe it is dumb. Maybe he attended tonight.
Speaker 2: Hey Domay, Hey Waite, how are you doing dumb here?
Speaker 2: Just letting out from Rockets Mortgage field House.
Speaker 1: Awesome, good. I appreciate you calling. It's always great here
Speaker 1: from people who were on site. Especially at a kick
Speaker 1: off the show. We get a little concourse or outside
Speaker 1: the arena atmosphere, which I always enjoy, even if slightly disruptive.
Speaker 1: It brings us to the building and it's worth it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a little while hit two because they're also
Speaker 2: just allowed out the Cleveland Indians game next door. So wow, Oh,
Speaker 2: I guess the Guardians now excuse me, not yet. They
Speaker 2: just chased the name today.
Speaker 1: But what does that today?
Speaker 6: Whatever?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's a great, great atmosphere. Well, it was
Speaker 2: announced the new name today, yes, the Guardians. Yeah, so
Speaker 2: I didn't go over too well. I believe See used
Speaker 2: it in his opening promo and folks were bowing it
Speaker 2: either if you notice.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about it?
Speaker 5: So?
Speaker 2: First I wanted to just mention that I thought that
Speaker 2: the crowd was definitely into the show. The energy was
Speaker 2: kind of roller coaster like people would jump out of
Speaker 2: their seats when the engine started. But even before the
Speaker 2: wrestlers made it to the rings, people that had already
Speaker 2: kind of turned down a bit. And you can see
Speaker 2: most of the baby faces anyway, really trying to keep
Speaker 2: the crowd into it with the gestures and motions and
Speaker 2: so forth. But I mean that being said, it wasn't
Speaker 2: like there wasn't any energy in the building outside of
Speaker 2: maybe the women's match that I loved. I mean, I
Speaker 2: know that I thought that my friend that came with
Speaker 2: me left because they're both huge fans of both Linde
Speaker 2: Vega and Tony Storm. But the crowd was pretty I mean,
Speaker 2: they were pretty quiet for at least dead silent for Jelena,
Speaker 2: and then Tony had a good pop. But I mean,
Speaker 2: certainly the vibe that Vilay was pretty low for that.
Speaker 2: But otherwise it was a good show. People loved, you know,
Speaker 2: they loved Edge Rollins is over and I'll tell you what, Matt,
Speaker 2: people love the head of the table here in Cleeveland,
Speaker 2: and lots of especially with the females. I'll admit, we
Speaker 2: saw a lot of women, a lot of the moms
Speaker 2: in the crowd all had head of the table Roman
Speaker 2: Reigns acknowledged the shirt song, So that was pretty interesting
Speaker 2: to see and just thinking about it because I watched
Speaker 2: both a W and WWE, and it's like, you know,
Speaker 2: all these folks talking about the war and everything. It's
Speaker 2: such a completely different demographic between the shows that you
Speaker 2: know when you you definitely see it as you know,
Speaker 2: in the Lives audience, it's, uh, you know, it's more
Speaker 2: of a family show. It's like, you know, these women
Speaker 2: aren't gonna gonna bring their kids to go see these
Speaker 2: matches look a little bit more hardcore than they like
Speaker 2: to and that's okay. There's a crowd for that, and
Speaker 2: there's a crowd for this and there doesn't need to
Speaker 2: be just one. So I just, you know, want to
Speaker 2: make that clear. But you know, otherwise, you know, it
Speaker 2: was it was definitely a good time, a good turnout.
Speaker 2: They had a past all the way up to the
Speaker 2: second row.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 2: We had a dark match afterwards. It was Seena and
Speaker 2: the Mysterios versus Roman Reigns and Usso's Roman Reigns of
Speaker 2: course didn't really get physical. Seen he went in there
Speaker 2: for a second beat on Dominic and then he left
Speaker 2: and the users that defend for themselves and ultimately lose
Speaker 2: the match.
Speaker 1: Why did behind them? You can hear me, why why
Speaker 1: did Rains leave?
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's you know, because he's saying you know,
Speaker 2: classic heel moves. You know, we've seen him abandoned people
Speaker 2: in the ring before and kind of let them know
Speaker 2: where they stand and and that sort of thing. So,
Speaker 2: uh yeah, I was very nervous about the whole rolling
Speaker 2: loud thing with the simulcast. I'm glad that we got
Speaker 2: Bickie and Apollo live because that was the murgacy down there,
Speaker 2: and then we only saw like a couple of minutes.
Speaker 2: Really they they tuned into the rolling Loud for just
Speaker 2: a handful of nets for us to be to finish.
Speaker 2: And that was cool because I mean when it got announced,
Speaker 2: I was like, well, what the hell, we're gonna have
Speaker 2: to watch the Titan profors and matches. But it wasn't
Speaker 2: that way. So I'm glad that w W, you know,
Speaker 2: Phil catered to their you know, their their turnout here
Speaker 2: in Cleveland. But I know that was a lot because
Speaker 2: I'm sure when I'm gonna lose you here and I
Speaker 2: just want not sure I fit in as much as
Speaker 2: I could remember any questions for me?
Speaker 1: Yeah, let me throw a couple at you and then Mike,
Speaker 1: I'll throw them Mike too. How you you talked about
Speaker 1: they only showed part of the rolling uh, the the
Speaker 1: Miami based matches, and I want to say Rolling Rock
Speaker 1: and what did they what happened in the building during
Speaker 1: the rest of the time.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, what was the question?
Speaker 1: What happened there?
Speaker 2: How much did they show the rolling loud on TV? Then?
Speaker 2: Because we only saw a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so what did they show otherwise? Like we saw
Speaker 1: the full match, you know, the full matches.
Speaker 2: They didn't show really much of anything, Like we just
Speaker 2: saw them show and they said, hey, we're going to
Speaker 2: show on everyone direct their attention to the Titan Droun
Speaker 2: or the you know, the big screen. We're going to
Speaker 2: tune into the final moments of the women's championship match
Speaker 2: and rolling out.
Speaker 3: And that was it.
Speaker 2: I mean we you know, we watched it. Like I said,
Speaker 2: just a couple of minutes came uh you know, get
Speaker 2: her uh that Paul in Angels style kind of powered
Speaker 2: momb sig and then uh, you know, Bianca obviously countered
Speaker 2: and then finished and got the win. It was kind
Speaker 2: of interesting. I mean, I mean, they're gonna put a
Speaker 2: show on it a non conventional wrestling crowd. I mean,
Speaker 2: they're gonna get directions, they're going to get I mean, yeah,
Speaker 2: if they if AID made a couple of fans out
Speaker 2: of it, seek some interest, and oh yeah, I'm great
Speaker 2: for that. But of first I would have rather see uh,
Speaker 2: Carmela and Bianca live.
Speaker 1: What So there was nothing special going on in the arena.
Speaker 1: Was there just downtime?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: Was it just lights were down and people went to.
Speaker 2: Downtime typical commercial break style a few minutes, didn't really
Speaker 2: notice it.
Speaker 1: Okay, well that's so you lose a crowd. The crowd
Speaker 1: wasn't just sending their chanting beat, you know, bullshit or
Speaker 1: anything like that when the where there wasn't a match
Speaker 1: going on for that twenty three.
Speaker 2: Definitely not definitely not yeah, I was I'm telling you man,
Speaker 2: I think they definitely were. Were in the Roman Reigns
Speaker 2: over there a lot of USO's, Like I don't know
Speaker 2: if it's like very earlier, they were two for dusos
Speaker 2: to wear in that dark match, which is kind of
Speaker 2: interesting because I mean, I don't know, i'd materials seemed
Speaker 2: to be really over in the first SmackDown that was
Speaker 2: live in front of fans. Weren't that over here in Cleveland, Dom?
Speaker 1: It did not come across to me on television that
Speaker 1: Rains was getting many cheers at all and that Sina
Speaker 1: was getting food much at all. What percent, if you
Speaker 1: can hear me, what what percent of the crowd was
Speaker 1: cheering Rains? Did it seem from where you were sitting.
Speaker 2: Definitely more than half. I would say a good sixty
Speaker 2: percent more than half for sure. And I mean there
Speaker 2: wasn't I mean, there was a handful of boosts, but
Speaker 2: there was a lot of signs for Rains. And it
Speaker 2: was interesting because I had a sign of my own.
Speaker 2: I had the Boogs equals rating sign. I don't know
Speaker 2: if anyone saw it, just left as the hardcam and
Speaker 2: anytime they seem out slightly, I was like lower level.
Speaker 2: But I kept trying to see, like what signs they
Speaker 2: were showing, and they only showed just like one little
Speaker 2: Rinkie Roman sign every now and then when he came out.
Speaker 2: But there were tons like well, you guys all saw
Speaker 2: the one that was like right front row, I'm sure,
Speaker 2: but other than that, like there was a lot of
Speaker 2: rain times. Head of the table was like less right,
Speaker 2: well was definitely the majority of the signs I saw
Speaker 2: was for the head of TA Yeah.
Speaker 7: Dom.
Speaker 4: This is a weird bit of synchronicity that I haven't
Speaker 4: experienced something quite like this before. But I saw your
Speaker 4: sign on the broadcast. I made a note of it
Speaker 4: in my head. I really appreciated it, and I talked
Speaker 4: about it in the opening of this broadcast.
Speaker 2: So you're all over, Oh, that's amazing, that's amazing.
Speaker 4: That was really cool.
Speaker 2: Like I've been watching him on YouTube for a while.
Speaker 2: It's just like a fitness influencer. I think he's great.
Speaker 2: He really knows his stuff when it comes to fitness
Speaker 2: and training bodybuilding, and I respect him for that. The
Speaker 2: casual fans, I've been on the show before and I've
Speaker 2: talked about like my quote unquote Jock's friends, and they
Speaker 2: don't buy Daniel Bryant, they don't buy CM pump, but
Speaker 2: I've shown them this guy. They know that he has
Speaker 2: credit from other bodybuilders that are popular. It's just and
Speaker 2: they love them. Like I think if they just took
Speaker 2: his gimmick crank it up by eleven or twelve whatever,
Speaker 2: you want to call it, crank it up to the match,
Speaker 2: let him run with it. That whole mindset thing. It's
Speaker 2: a mindset guy that I like. I'm just just trying
Speaker 2: to get a chant like put in Boots, like put
Speaker 2: in Boston and people. As I was holding my side,
Speaker 2: doctor Ring, I definitely got some chance for Boot. But
Speaker 2: he's still he's still definitely very green, and I get it.
Speaker 2: But I'm just trying to get him some exposure and
Speaker 2: do what I can't because I think he has what
Speaker 2: it takes. And you know, that's that's what I got
Speaker 2: to say on that. But I know I'm taking up
Speaker 2: a ton of time. A buddy's kind of waiting on
Speaker 2: me to get going to But if you have a
Speaker 2: last question, I'm happy to take it.
Speaker 1: I think I was like a fall up an sure, yeah, yeah, Mike,
Speaker 1: do you want to ask anything?
Speaker 4: I can't top that, I don't think. I'm just like
Speaker 4: this is exciting, like this energy and hearing what Tom
Speaker 4: just said about Boogs and getting to support him in
Speaker 4: a way that he hasn't been able to do in
Speaker 4: so long, and right there in front of us, it's happening.
Speaker 4: You know, that is really cool. That's exciting to hear.
Speaker 1: Well, do I know you right?
Speaker 2: That's definitely something that Yeah, I'm happy, you know, with
Speaker 2: the live crowds coming back they can get a little
Speaker 2: bit more organic crowd reaction because that's that's really what
Speaker 2: it's all about. And all that piped in noise and
Speaker 2: everything from the Thunderdome, if they continue to try to
Speaker 2: do that and mask anything, that's really shame on them
Speaker 2: because just just push the right people and listen to
Speaker 2: the fans, and I you know, that's all I gotta
Speaker 2: say on that. I mean, it's it's right there for them.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if it's just because they're publicly
Speaker 2: traded and they're and they're trying to do something else
Speaker 2: or who knows, but they've they've got the talent and
Speaker 2: it's just a matter of that's just you guys know
Speaker 2: you've heard this all before. So I'll let you guys
Speaker 2: get going. I got to run in. Thanks so much
Speaker 2: for taking a call. I'm looking forward to listening to
Speaker 2: the rest of the podcast tomorrow on VP. You guys, uh,
Speaker 2: if you ever suscribe, go for it. Even the Patreon
Speaker 2: it's a little more economic model. Go sign up for
Speaker 2: the lowest drip, the very look at your money's worth.
Speaker 1: Thank you for the plug Dom, Thanks for your entertaining
Speaker 1: enthusiast you bet take care.
Speaker 8: Hey everyone, Greg Parks here. You've probably heard me hosting
Speaker 8: Wrestling Night in America after pay per views and also
Speaker 8: co hosting the Tuesday Flagship with Wade Keller. I also
Speaker 8: host a VIP exclusive podcast every week called Greg Parks
Speaker 8: Out Loud. In this podcast, I delve into a single
Speaker 8: topic for around twenty minutes, perfect length for one of
Speaker 8: your daily commutes or while walking the dog. A couple
Speaker 8: of my recent episodes included a look at TNA as
Speaker 8: they moved to AMC and WWE, and AW injuries for
Speaker 8: the year twenty twenty five. You can listen to VIP
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Speaker 1: It's it's fun to have on cycle, responds back. I mean,
Speaker 1: you never know what you're gonna get. You know, sometimes
Speaker 1: they're in their car, you know, a half hour and
Speaker 1: the adrenaline it's gone. And other times you can hear
Speaker 1: the crowd in the background still mulling around, or the
Speaker 1: baseball game letting out, and and you know, the ontite
Speaker 1: correspondence have a beer two or three in them and
Speaker 1: the adrenaline is flowing, and it's it's uh, it's fun.
Speaker 1: It's it's a cool, cool part it is.
Speaker 4: And I'll never get tired of the errant Rick Flair
Speaker 4: wuz in the background, like around a wrestling event.
Speaker 1: Totally.
Speaker 4: It's like I know where I am and it's.
Speaker 1: Comforting, absolutely all right. Our phone number is UH. And
Speaker 1: by the way, we expect her from somebody else who
Speaker 1: was on site also, so UH stay tuned. Dom was
Speaker 1: an unexpected surprise, but we do have someone else likely
Speaker 1: calling in as out by the way, as always, if
Speaker 1: you're attending a future Raw or SmackDown or AW Dynamite
Speaker 1: or for that matter, we're also looking for and this
Speaker 1: is more typing up results, but any of the super shows,
Speaker 1: any of the house shows. Please send results of any
Speaker 1: house shows you attend. You can email to a regular
Speaker 1: email Weadkeller Podcast at pw torch dot com. But if
Speaker 1: you're going to attend on site for one of the
Speaker 1: live TV shows Rossmackdown or Dynamite especially, but also pay
Speaker 1: per views, and if you're attending an NXT taping, that's
Speaker 1: cool too, let me know because we'd love to bring
Speaker 1: you on or at least anticipate and prioritize your call
Speaker 1: when you call in. And so if you are going
Speaker 1: to be in Kansas City on Monday, we're still looking
Speaker 1: to lock down a correspondent for Kansas City, and I
Speaker 1: think we had someone lined up and they're not going
Speaker 1: because of the COVID outbreak. And also Chicago. I believe
Speaker 1: we've got a couple of people for Charlotte lined up,
Speaker 1: but also AW back in Jacksonville. I think we got
Speaker 1: an email on that, but we're always looking for more
Speaker 1: more than one and certainly backups, and then Pittsburgh and Tulsa,
Speaker 1: San Antonio, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Diego, Oklahoma City, any
Speaker 1: of those shows come up Cincinnati for John Moxley's homecoming.
Speaker 1: We're going into into September here. Let me know if
Speaker 1: you're willing to be an on site correspondent, it will
Speaker 1: accommodate you and make it, you know, work work in
Speaker 1: your schedule then so just email me Wade Keller Podcast
Speaker 1: at PW torch dot com. If you really want to
Speaker 1: be on the show, then just email. If you don't
Speaker 1: want to be on the show unless you're absolutely needed,
Speaker 1: because on occasion we only have one volunteer, and but
Speaker 1: sometimes we have more than one. But if you sort
Speaker 1: of want to be the emergency backup, like if no
Speaker 1: one else emails, I'll help out, but I I'd rather
Speaker 1: not just say that, And that makes it easier to
Speaker 1: choose between volunteers. If if we sort of have a
Speaker 1: sense of who really wants to be on and and
Speaker 1: who's fine being an emergency backup. All right, let's let's
Speaker 1: go to our next call here. We'll go to I believe, Houston,
Speaker 1: Texas Area CO three four to six. Uh, this is
Speaker 1: you go ahead state your name and Confirmerray calling.
Speaker 9: From Yes, this is Tyler.
Speaker 4: Hey Tyler from Houston.
Speaker 3: Cool.
Speaker 1: Thanks Tyler, could hear from you?
Speaker 10: Yes?
Speaker 1: How you doing good?
Speaker 3: Good?
Speaker 6: Well?
Speaker 1: What do you think it's back on tonight?
Speaker 3: Uh? Uh?
Speaker 1: It wasn't bad, man.
Speaker 9: I you know, I feel like SmackDown's been the premier show.
Speaker 9: I I barely tune into Raw because that that show is.
Speaker 9: I feel like he's very skilled. To me right now,
Speaker 9: I'm a huge Roman Range fan. I'm one person who's
Speaker 9: so ecstatic that he didn't lose his title against Edge.
Speaker 1: But this show, man, it was good.
Speaker 9: I was actually I was actually quite excited to I
Speaker 9: like how they're they're not jumping to John Cena right away,
Speaker 9: and they're putting Finn Balor in there with Roman. That's
Speaker 9: that's pretty that's pretty creative, man. It's something that I
Speaker 9: don't think we would have seen Vince or the w
Speaker 9: W creative team do in the past.
Speaker 7: Because I like it.
Speaker 9: It's not making Finn Balor look squashed when he comes
Speaker 9: on the show, and I like that because that man
Speaker 9: doesn't deserve too. And then the I mean, I like,
Speaker 9: you know, the rolling lad that I wasn't too big
Speaker 9: of a fan, because it looked like those fans weren't
Speaker 9: even interested in wrestling, and it looks like, while y'all
Speaker 9: were speaking earlier, like the fans couldn't even see the ring.
Speaker 1: I wasn't too I wasn't.
Speaker 3: Too big on that, but overall, I mean, it was
Speaker 3: it was.
Speaker 9: It was an Ari show. I you know, I'm a
Speaker 9: scene fan too, so I'm really excited about that there
Speaker 9: little ultimate match that's gonna happen. But now I think
Speaker 9: I think the ending was a perfect way to end
Speaker 9: the show. Leaves a little intrigue to what's really gonna happen.
Speaker 9: Of course, I know we're probably gonna go into a
Speaker 9: Summer Slam showing with Sena and Rains again. But you know,
Speaker 9: Finn Balor, I mean, that's a nice little pissedop in
Speaker 9: between that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got the impression they wanted it to be ambiguous. Mike,
Speaker 1: when that Rains Baler match was going to happen, did
Speaker 1: you get a sense of what they were Is it
Speaker 1: for next Friday or is that to be determined or
Speaker 1: are they trying to make people think it's going to
Speaker 1: be Summer Slim instead of Scene to kind of get
Speaker 1: people worked up. Although I don't think you want to
Speaker 1: put Balor a week after it returns in as sort
Speaker 1: of the backup plan.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't. My ears kind of perked up at
Speaker 4: the end of the at the end of the show
Speaker 4: because I was waiting for them to say next week
Speaker 4: it's booked or something like that, but it didn't. Yeah,
Speaker 4: so I think it is ambiguous. I doubt it will
Speaker 4: be next week because I think you know as much
Speaker 4: as Finn Balor. I'm sure we'll purport to want it
Speaker 4: next week. There'll be some red tape thrown up by
Speaker 4: Roman or Paul Hayman, and it'll get delayed because we've
Speaker 4: got like a full month between now and SummerSlam, yep,
Speaker 4: which is seen as kind of that placeholder for Roman,
Speaker 4: it seems, and so they don't there's no need to
Speaker 4: go right up against Ballert next week, so they can
Speaker 4: build up to it and they'd be better for it.
Speaker 4: And I'm glad, like Tyler said, I'm glad that they
Speaker 4: inserted Balor into the Roman storyline here, even if it
Speaker 4: is just a stop gap until SummerSlam, because it's better
Speaker 4: for Finn than just like a feuding with Sammy's ain
Speaker 4: for two months or something like that, right, Like, I
Speaker 4: don't know, that's not probably why you want to bring
Speaker 4: him up here, although they could do something really special
Speaker 4: if they were allowed to, I think. But anyway, Yeah,
Speaker 4: I do think it's a cool thing to like to
Speaker 4: bide our time before SummerSlam Roman and Finn, and I'd
Speaker 4: like to see how that develops and probably how Roman
Speaker 4: resists a match right right out of the gate next week.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Tyler back to you, Yeah, definitely, So yeah, any
Speaker 1: other thoughts on aspect on you want to.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I just my question is kind of about SmackDown, y'all.
Speaker 9: Y'all mentioned I don't know when this match will happen.
Speaker 9: I don't know if it's gonna happen next week. But
Speaker 9: something I was something that was floating in the back
Speaker 9: of my head. Do you think there's any chance in
Speaker 9: do you think that they would insert Finn into the
Speaker 9: John Scena Roman range match at SummerSlam? So if if
Speaker 9: Rains were to lose, John Cena or Finn, Balor could
Speaker 9: take the pins and so Roman doesn't look weak.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think so. I think they're going to
Speaker 1: want a one on one match. I think fans today
Speaker 1: are wise to the fact that triple threats are sort
Speaker 1: of cop outs, so that somebody can avoid losing a
Speaker 1: championship but still walk out with out of title and
Speaker 1: there's a new champ, but the new champ hasn't been
Speaker 1: the incumbent champ. I think people are wise to that,
Speaker 1: and I think Summer Slam is a marque enough event
Speaker 1: they would not do that there, And I think seene
Speaker 1: of Rains, I don't think there's a reason to save it.
Speaker 1: I mean if they want to do it again out
Speaker 1: of WrestleMania some day. I mean, just it's strong, you
Speaker 1: don't need to add a third person, So I think
Speaker 1: the odds of that are very low. I think balor
Speaker 1: in Rains is a bridge to get a little closer
Speaker 1: to SummerSlam, which is, as Mike pointed out, as a
Speaker 1: month away. Mike, your thoughts on that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I agree. It's good for Finn that
Speaker 4: they're putting him anywhere near Roman reigns right now, like
Speaker 4: that that might be a surprise to a lot of
Speaker 4: people considering his sort of background on the main roster.
Speaker 4: In his an unexpected injury, you know, as compared with
Speaker 4: the expected injury I guess, but he yeah. I think
Speaker 4: the way the teasing has gone for SummerSlam, the way
Speaker 4: that Sina has talked about SummerSlam, the way the gusto
Speaker 4: with which he's called out Roman uh would really be deflated.
Speaker 4: I think by adding a third person.
Speaker 1: Yep, I do too. I do too. It's next level
Speaker 1: coverage that you come to expect from the PW Torch brand.
Speaker 1: No AI, no rookie perspectives, no unfounded rumors, no clickbait,
Speaker 1: no deceptive headlines, just just high quality writing, breaking news
Speaker 1: and fascinating flashbacks every day at PW torch dot com.
Speaker 1: Pull yourself away from the vacuous social media experience that
Speaker 1: I know many of you regret once you get lost
Speaker 1: in it for minutes, if not hours at a time,
Speaker 1: and settle in for high quality PW Torch branded wrestling coverage. Uh, Tyler,
Speaker 1: any closing words for you?
Speaker 9: I want want y'all want y'all stop man? Uh once
Speaker 9: y'all saw in general, there's something that in touch man.
Speaker 9: One one is uh, who do you all think is
Speaker 9: next up for Beyonca Bella or do you think it's
Speaker 9: Becky Lynch? And in the end, do you do you
Speaker 9: see John Cena dethroning Roman reigns at SummerSlam.
Speaker 1: Two good questions. Thanks for a call, Tyler. We've got
Speaker 1: our on site correspondent, Robert on deck by the way.
Speaker 1: Uh So we'll get to you in a second Robert here.
Speaker 1: I think Rains holds onto the title, Mike, that's my
Speaker 1: early prediction. I want to see kind of how the
Speaker 1: evan flow of the storyline goes before making any kind
Speaker 1: of final call, uh, in terms of or, you know,
Speaker 1: a stronger, more confident pick. But I think they keep
Speaker 1: Rain's champ. You know, I think there's a way to
Speaker 1: I mean, seeing it's not full time and Rain it's
Speaker 1: going to be around all the time. So I think
Speaker 1: for a variety of reasons, and and I think they
Speaker 1: want to keep Rain strong for other big name opponents
Speaker 1: that that might be coming back. I think next challenger
Speaker 1: will either be Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch. You know,
Speaker 1: Bailey's out a long time, and I don't know anyone
Speaker 1: else who's ready. It's awkward because they just don't have
Speaker 1: like the ready made plug and play heels, and I
Speaker 1: don't think they want to turn bel Air heel anytime soon.
Speaker 1: So it is a it's a challenge to come up
Speaker 1: with a particularly long list of logical opponents. But we
Speaker 1: do have the draft this fall, so they don't have
Speaker 1: to fill a lot of time, and then they can
Speaker 1: kind of rearrange some things. If the ideas move Ripley
Speaker 1: over there as a heel or move Charlotte over the
Speaker 1: SmackDown as a heel, that sets them up a little better.
Speaker 1: Mike your thoughts.
Speaker 4: Uh, Yeah, Banks and Lynch one of the first two
Speaker 4: things that came into my mind because of the excitement
Speaker 4: level and the idea of bringing them back for a
Speaker 4: big one of the Big four shows. Lynch packs a
Speaker 4: little more excitement, I think because of how long she's
Speaker 4: been out of the picture completely. So yeah, and if
Speaker 4: it's if it is Banks, that's cool too, because another
Speaker 4: match between Banks and bel Air would be super cool.
Speaker 4: As for Roman and Sena. If it is a say
Speaker 4: those matches Summer Slam, I would totally think Roman hangs
Speaker 4: onto it. If they ever had of a main event
Speaker 4: heel that should have a long title run. In recent history,
Speaker 4: it's Roman reigns and he needs to hang on to it.
Speaker 4: And I'm not like, why, why do I want to
Speaker 4: see Scena win the belt from Roman. In terms of
Speaker 4: my interest in the TV shows, you know, I don't
Speaker 4: and and man, I'm I'm totally with Todd out seen
Speaker 4: as end, Like I can't take him seriously if he's
Speaker 4: going to continue to dress like this. And I still
Speaker 4: think that if he's inspired, he can cut a hell
Speaker 4: of a promo. But it reminds me of like like
Speaker 4: the stories about the Nixon and Kennedy presidential debates and
Speaker 4: who different people thought the one or the other one
Speaker 4: becauding that if they heard the radio version or if
Speaker 4: they saw it on television, and it's like if I
Speaker 4: saw if I heard Seena on radio, I might think
Speaker 4: he's the killer promo. But when I see him on
Speaker 4: TV wearing like a rack of kids clothing like from Cole's,
Speaker 4: then I can't take him seriously and that bugs me.
Speaker 4: And I thought this for a long time and I
Speaker 4: never got I don't think I've voiced it on the
Speaker 4: show before, but I wanted to because it's it looks
Speaker 4: so chinzy to me, and I feel like he could
Speaker 4: go so much, so much further with a fan like me.
Speaker 4: Whatever I represent, if you address like a human being,
Speaker 4: and maybe even if he left his speech the same
Speaker 4: without it would be an immediate improvement. And then he
Speaker 4: could make site tweaks to the speech to remove some
Speaker 4: of the corniness and be even better. Yet, And what
Speaker 4: do you think of.
Speaker 1: Rains calling him out on that? Like, I mean, you're
Speaker 1: cutting the promo Rains cut, which is this is the
Speaker 1: nostalgia scene? He said it with just disdain.
Speaker 4: Mm hmm yep. I wrote that down Nostalga acts, same music,
Speaker 4: same outfit, same insults. And he compared it to having
Speaker 4: sex in the missionary position every night, which was the
Speaker 4: weirdest thing you'll hear on raw or smack down in
Speaker 4: a month or two.
Speaker 1: And the tribal chief don't do the missionary position. That
Speaker 1: doesn't inspire him. Oh wait, was he talking about that
Speaker 1: or something else?
Speaker 4: It was? It was classic, Yeah, it was. It was
Speaker 4: right up there on the edge and it was on
Speaker 4: the nose. That's what I was thinking, like when Roman
Speaker 4: cut that promo on scene, and I'm like, yeah, that's
Speaker 4: that's what I think, like as as a grown man,
Speaker 4: you know. And I don't know if people what was
Speaker 4: the desired response. Are people supposed to say boo that
Speaker 4: and say no, we love the same old thing every
Speaker 4: time scenever is rolled out here, and.
Speaker 1: I think Scena, I think, you know, that's from Sina's perspective.
Speaker 1: He's thinking, well, if I'm self deprecating, that's gonna soften
Speaker 1: I'm self aware and I'm self deprecating, and I do
Speaker 1: think that softens the pushback. Also, you know, it unless
Speaker 1: he's gonna go like nWo Hollywood Hogan. Like if he's
Speaker 1: gonna you know, a major change. I don't even mean heal,
Speaker 1: but like really change, you know, biker undertaker, A tweaking
Speaker 1: him could have a backlash of its own, Like I mean,
Speaker 1: maybe not, but you know, he might be fearful of that.
Speaker 1: He's got this thing that works. He sells a lot
Speaker 1: of T shirts and John Cena is the toddler in
Speaker 1: the oversized T shirt and the georts or the cargo
Speaker 1: pants and in the baseball cap. And you know, I
Speaker 1: don't want to say it's like Biggie who doesn't want
Speaker 1: to stray from a brought him here. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: just kind of goofy and wacky, and he doesn't want
Speaker 1: to show his real self. I just think it's a
Speaker 1: calculated move by Cina, and I think there's an audience
Speaker 1: to be won over, if you know, like the Harry
Speaker 1: Potter books, it get it, get It matures with its
Speaker 1: own audience and gets you know, you know, more layered
Speaker 1: or whatever as the as it goes on, and Sena
Speaker 1: could have and maybe his fan he's trying to create
Speaker 1: a whole new generation of fans. But it's possible as
Speaker 1: fans don't are kind of with rans. They don't want
Speaker 1: this nostalgic Sena. They want a Sena that also feels
Speaker 1: a little more grown up, you know, not a guy
Speaker 1: who's in his late twenties, you know, doing thaganomics, but
Speaker 1: a guy who's in his forties who's acting a little
Speaker 1: more like a grown man. And it's interesting. I mean,
Speaker 1: Seena got some good reactions and I will talk to
Speaker 1: Robert here in just a couple seconds. I'm curious what
Speaker 1: it was like in the building from his perspective. But
Speaker 1: if Sena's getting almost all cheers, even from mostly guys
Speaker 1: in the crowd in addition to the families and the kids,
Speaker 1: does that last or in a month? Are we sick
Speaker 1: of him? And the people's more and more booze come
Speaker 1: out because more people feel like you do. Mike, who
Speaker 1: have tickets in hand and are going to these shows.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I just I feel like, at this point in his career,
Speaker 4: wouldn't he crave something different or, if nothing else, have
Speaker 4: some super curiosity about doing something different. Yes, and if
Speaker 4: you're if you're not going to do it now, then
Speaker 4: it's just not going to happen. And maybe he's maybe
Speaker 4: that thought never crossed his mind, but that that's that's
Speaker 4: a foreign concept to me, Like I would. I would
Speaker 4: die wondering what if I had acted like a grown
Speaker 4: man and dressed like one? And to branch out from
Speaker 4: that a little further, I even think the same thing
Speaker 4: about Rains Now. Rains doesn't look like he's wearing a
Speaker 4: little kid costume, you know, where all the items, the hat,
Speaker 4: the shirt, the wristbands, the pants, and the shoes all
Speaker 4: came on one gigantic plastic rack. But I don't I
Speaker 4: actually don't even want to see Roman wearing any of
Speaker 4: his own gear. I thought that like weeks ago when
Speaker 4: I saw him wearing like a track jacket that had
Speaker 4: the small like Roman Superman punch logo on it, and
Speaker 4: tonight he was wearing the giant logo T shirt and
Speaker 4: I kind of wish that Roman was like fine with
Speaker 4: merch being sold and making money off of it, but
Speaker 4: being too cool to ever wear any of it. And
Speaker 4: I don't know those are kind of related. Yeah, some
Speaker 4: wardrobe thoughts, I guess.
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, I think that's in a in a stuid point,
Speaker 1: and I'm I wouldn't be shocked if they struggled with
Speaker 1: that decision to have, you know, because Rain's wearing his
Speaker 1: own merchandise. It it s to me like Rain's not
Speaker 1: wearing his own merchandise would be very it would be unique,
Speaker 1: It would be it would very much stand out from
Speaker 1: the pack where everyone is just sort of you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: just marketing. They're walking billboards for their merchant. Rain seems
Speaker 1: like he would be above that. So but you know,
Speaker 1: you wear it if your rains, and you think the
Speaker 1: fans think you're cool, even if they're paying money to
Speaker 1: boo you, because that's the cool thing to do. And
Speaker 1: I hope it continues to be the cool thing to do,
Speaker 1: booing him, not cheering him, if you're a fan of his,
Speaker 1: because that is what he's going for, at least I think. Still,
Speaker 1: then you know, people are gonna want to buy your
Speaker 1: merchandise because you're too cool to wear you e merch,
Speaker 1: you know, so you might be honest me.
Speaker 11: I'm Chris Maitland. I'm Justin McClelland we host Wrestling Coast
Speaker 11: to Coast, a podcast on independent wrestling.
Speaker 12: Every week, Chris and I review a different show or
Speaker 12: talk about important topics from around the indie wrestling world.
Speaker 11: Learn about the hot underground stars and the future main eventors.
Speaker 11: For anyone else, you can reach us at Torchcoast to
Speaker 11: Coast at gmail dot com and me on Blue Sky
Speaker 11: at Mind of Maitland.
Speaker 12: You can reach me at Blue Sky at Justin McClelland.
Speaker 11: Find the show on your PW torch Dailycast podcast feed,
Speaker 11: search PW Torch on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you
Speaker 11: listen to podcasts.
Speaker 12: Also stream the latest shows on pwtorch dot com.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's shift to Robert here, who attended the show
Speaker 1: tonight in Cleveland. Robert, thanks for thanks for holding in,
Speaker 1: Thanks for taking time to talk with us tonight. Did
Speaker 1: you have fun time tonight?
Speaker 3: Oh? Yes, thank you so much for having me. That
Speaker 3: was great conversation there, So much of that is what
Speaker 3: was on my mind most in leaving the show. But yeah,
Speaker 3: this was great. This crowd was I think the crowd
Speaker 3: is the attraction even for the people who are in
Speaker 3: the crowd, And so everyone was really happy and very forgiving,
Speaker 3: very giving, not really forgiven. There wasn't a lot to forgive,
Speaker 3: but they were just happy to be there and enthusiastic
Speaker 3: about most of what happened.
Speaker 1: I want to not forget to ask this what percent
Speaker 1: sheers versus booze? Did scene again? Did it change it all?
Speaker 1: As a promo went on? And then same question for Rains.
Speaker 3: Regarding Rains, they it was solid for Sina, like the
Speaker 3: crowd did the things they were supposed to do. There
Speaker 3: was not really any any dissension there like there was
Speaker 3: one time the very beginning of Sina's promo the first
Speaker 3: contrast that he made and I don't remember if a
Speaker 3: boo or a cheer would have been for Roman in
Speaker 3: the way that he set it up, but there was
Speaker 3: a little bit and then it just faded away after
Speaker 3: that and they just like cheer all of the Sena
Speaker 3: stuff and boo the Roman stuff.
Speaker 1: So then Roman came out on TV and Mike did
Speaker 1: it seem like Roman was like in the high nineties
Speaker 1: being booed with some scattered cheers and the only chance
Speaker 1: for anti Roman Mike through TV did does that match
Speaker 1: does my perception Matt yours? Before? I asked Robert? But
Speaker 1: what was like in there?
Speaker 4: I didn't hear so much booze for Roman. I heard
Speaker 4: loud noises like, but I wouldn't equate them to cheers.
Speaker 4: It's kind of hard to describe there. I did detect
Speaker 4: a loud reaction to Roman, but not all booze, if
Speaker 4: that makes sense. I did sense it was more cheering
Speaker 4: Sena and then make maybe allowed negative reaction to Roman.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So Robert Todt talk about the the fan
Speaker 1: reaction to Roman in terms of percentage booze cheers and
Speaker 1: if that changed as the promo went on.
Speaker 2: I agree.
Speaker 3: I did not hear cheers for Roman like I would
Speaker 3: say that it was a I guess the just negative
Speaker 3: noise maybe in the very beginning when he first came out,
Speaker 3: but as he talked, he earned his booze like there
Speaker 3: were times when they definitely bowed when they were supposed.
Speaker 1: To boo When he made fun of Scena being a
Speaker 1: nostalgia act. Did fans go, oh, no, you don't, that's
Speaker 1: our guy, or yeah, you've got a point. Now we
Speaker 1: kind of like you, like, was there any kind of
Speaker 1: shift as Rains seemed to be kind of having fun
Speaker 1: roasting Sna a little.
Speaker 3: I don't think there was a There was not a
Speaker 3: there was neither of those.
Speaker 2: No, No, it wasn't.
Speaker 3: I did not hear a he's our guy.
Speaker 2: I heard maybe a.
Speaker 3: Momentary pause, but no. I was just thinking, like this
Speaker 3: crowd didn't seem like they were going to just think
Speaker 3: that Roman was cool and start cheering him. But then
Speaker 3: he would he would say other things that like more
Speaker 3: much more clearly elicited a boo after that. But I
Speaker 3: think for crowds who have already seen it at home
Speaker 3: a couple of times, I'm not sure where they're going
Speaker 3: and what they want this to look like in a
Speaker 3: few weeks, because the missionary position line is like, you're
Speaker 3: really bordering on being a cool heel. You know, at
Speaker 3: that point or the earlier, your co host there said
Speaker 3: play very astutely, and I don't remember the exact words
Speaker 3: he used now, but he was doing things. Roman was
Speaker 3: doing things that you know could very turn him into
Speaker 3: being a babyface, but not tonight, and he still did
Speaker 3: things to like clearly get them to boo him, and
Speaker 3: they did boo.
Speaker 1: Would he say missionary position? And I was thinking, Okay,
Speaker 1: how's a crowdg gonna respond because now he's doing a
Speaker 1: little ric flair, you know, like I go all night
Speaker 1: and you know what, you know. Yeah, so I was thinking,
Speaker 1: like is he gonna do and I won't call a
Speaker 1: cheap heat. It's just like MJF heat where he could go, yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it's like doing the missionary position all night
Speaker 1: and well, not that any of you would know about that,
Speaker 1: like you know, like some sort of dig at the
Speaker 1: audience to make sure they don't go on his side
Speaker 1: and go, yeah to variety in bad as opposed, you
Speaker 1: know where instead the audience like, hey, that was mean,
Speaker 1: you know, like so he'd but he didn't do that.
Speaker 1: And I'm curious if that is omission like he you know,
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, that's easy thing to say, but I'm
Speaker 1: not going to go there because I'm a different kind
Speaker 1: of heel. Or if he is going to kind of
Speaker 1: go that direction, or if he feels he doesn't have
Speaker 1: to because Rain's doesn't like MJFF, just he the fans
Speaker 1: irritate him. Rain's sort of as a heel character I
Speaker 1: think is designed to not be to be nothing more
Speaker 1: than slightly irritated by the fans, but it doesn't bother him.
Speaker 1: It's like someone tweeting something mean for some people at
Speaker 1: roots their day and they lash and other people like, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know who that person is and I don't care,
Speaker 1: you know, like they just they don't give it another thought.
Speaker 1: And I think that's Rain's thing, is like he'll he'll
Speaker 1: smirk and roll his eyes like, well, you're an idiot,
Speaker 1: but he'll move on. He won't give the fans that satisfaction.
Speaker 1: So I wonder if the strategy with Roman is I'm
Speaker 1: not going to give you the satisfaction of bothering to
Speaker 1: insult you, because you just need to acknowledge me I
Speaker 1: don't care about you otherwise.
Speaker 4: And Wade, I did get the impression that is that
Speaker 4: his idea was making an insult out of getting the
Speaker 4: missionary position every night of the week. The idea, of course,
Speaker 4: is none of these wrestling fans are getting the missionary
Speaker 4: position any night of the.
Speaker 1: Week, so it's implied.
Speaker 4: It's implied. Yeah that's what I thought. Yeah, yeah, go ahead, Robert.
Speaker 3: I think that it just would seem beneath him to
Speaker 3: just turn around and like ask the audience to respond
Speaker 3: a certain way, you know, like he's cooler than that.
Speaker 1: Yep, that's what. That's what again, And that's it's an
Speaker 1: obvious line, and I think it would work, but it
Speaker 1: does seem like he's aiming for something different and like
Speaker 1: it works. I'm pulling MGF out as an example we
Speaker 1: can come up with up you know, Sammy's Ain or whoever.
Speaker 1: Like you know, people who just are absolutely just their
Speaker 1: irritated by the audience. They sell the audience and they
Speaker 1: insult them and they delight in that. In Rains, yeah,
Speaker 1: he feels too cool and above that, and he's more
Speaker 1: focused on, you know, being acknowledged and tearing down scene.
Speaker 1: Who's a big star? So, Robert, how full was the
Speaker 1: building all the way around? Not just on the opposite
Speaker 1: the hard camera? How many seats were empty, even around
Speaker 1: the herd camera and that kind of thing.
Speaker 3: It was very full in the places where the seats
Speaker 3: were open. So the two hundred section was partly topped off.
Speaker 3: The stage, you know, is gigantic, and so there's a
Speaker 3: lot of the arena that is just always going to
Speaker 3: be tarped off for it with the crowd in sort
Speaker 3: of a horseshoe shape. The two hundred level was more
Speaker 3: like a candy cane shape, and there was like the
Speaker 3: seats that were not tarped off were full. It was
Speaker 3: it felt very full in.
Speaker 1: There, compared to say a Cavs game. What percentage of
Speaker 1: the seats were blocked off, not counting the inevitable block
Speaker 1: I know this is complicated, sorry, not counting what is
Speaker 1: just gonna be there every week and they're never gonna
Speaker 1: have tho seats available because it's the big the big screen.
Speaker 1: I get that. But in terms of seats where they
Speaker 1: could assign them, how many, like how many what percent
Speaker 1: could they have not tarped off and.
Speaker 3: Sold on the It was the two hundred level. Fully
Speaker 3: half of the two hundred level was tarped off, but
Speaker 3: a good percentage of that would always be tarped off,
Speaker 3: so it was significantly less than half of the upper
Speaker 3: level only. And then I was across from the stage
Speaker 3: and on the left side of the stage, the first
Speaker 3: section was tarped off on the floor and on the
Speaker 3: one hundred level also, and it didn't look like that
Speaker 3: on the right. It was only like that on the left.
Speaker 1: So in short, they probably could have sold a couple
Speaker 1: thousand more seats if the demand was there, they could
Speaker 1: have opened those seats up. Yeah that's fair. Fair, okay, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of what I'm getting at.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fair.
Speaker 3: But it wasn't a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and what was open was full. Yeah, but that's
Speaker 1: by design. Now like that, everything's so sophisticated now. They
Speaker 1: they will like our Thrash Stadium was set up for
Speaker 1: twelve thousand and then they sold those seats, are like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: we can fit a couple more thousand in, but they
Speaker 1: want to announce a sellout, so we'll make it fourteen.
Speaker 1: And then they sell fourteen. Oh well, let's let's go
Speaker 1: two thousand more. Like that's what they do now, you know.
Speaker 1: They want to say it's a sellout, and they don't
Speaker 1: want empty seats. So when seats are tarped off, that
Speaker 1: actually is a sign of a slow pace of ticket
Speaker 1: sales leading them to not expand the seating. And I
Speaker 1: don't want them to get away with that by claiming
Speaker 1: sellouts when they've got a whole upper deck that they
Speaker 1: could have sold that they chose quote chose not to,
Speaker 1: which is really reflective of demand not being there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think maybe thirty percent of the upper deck
Speaker 3: and part of one section each of the floor and
Speaker 3: one hundred section Yeah.
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Speaker 1: jump in with any question you have about the show
Speaker 1: for Robert.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Robert, approximately, can you tell us when's the last
Speaker 4: time you went to a pro wrestling show or a
Speaker 4: WBE show.
Speaker 3: Well, I go to like indie shows all the time,
Speaker 3: but WWE it wouldn't have been long before things shut down,
Speaker 3: like there was going to be a Yeah, maybe there's
Speaker 3: I think I went to one in twenty twenty.
Speaker 4: Okay. What I was trying to get at is if
Speaker 4: you could detect any difference between the general crowd at
Speaker 4: mesphere before and during the show and after the show
Speaker 4: then and now, I mean in the.
Speaker 3: Makeup of the crutter, in their attitudes or both, like.
Speaker 4: The attitude and the energy of the crowd or did
Speaker 4: it feel the same.
Speaker 3: No, it didn't feel the same. It felt like much happier,
Speaker 3: Like there was no there wasn't any chanting that was
Speaker 3: like you know, breaking the fourth wall stuff and opposed
Speaker 3: to the company or the storylines that were being presented
Speaker 3: at all.
Speaker 4: Okay, Yeah, that's kind of interesting. I guess you would
Speaker 4: maybe expect that a pre pandemic at a WBE show.
Speaker 4: Another thing that I was wondering, and I hate to
Speaker 4: ask about this because it was the same thing I
Speaker 4: was asking about from time to time before arenas were
Speaker 4: closed down. But at least at least three times tonight
Speaker 4: and once in Miami as well. I think they did
Speaker 4: a pretty big introduction with big Stock and then for
Speaker 4: the broadcast cuts commercial. So did you is that the
Speaker 4: same old, same old thing where they bring out a
Speaker 4: big star like Big e the holder of the money
Speaker 4: and the bank contract cuts commercial. And then here in
Speaker 4: Grand Rapids, Michigan, they things like that would happen and
Speaker 4: then they would literally just dim the lights on the
Speaker 4: star that just made his entrance while they aired commercials
Speaker 4: on the screen. Yes, are they still doing that same bullshit?
Speaker 3: It was different for each segment. Biggie, Actually we got
Speaker 3: about half of the commercial break was live stuff happening.
Speaker 3: Pat McAfee was featured. Yeah, like up on the big
Speaker 3: screen it said McAfee minute, and he stood up on
Speaker 3: the commentary table and he put over Biggie. He basically
Speaker 3: told the crowd to chant you deserve it, and they
Speaker 3: started chanting that during the commercial break at Big Ee,
Speaker 3: and then he was going for cheap pops, saying positive
Speaker 3: things about Cleveland sports teams, and then he said that
Speaker 3: Michael Cole disagreed with all of the positive things.
Speaker 7: That he had got.
Speaker 1: Well, that's funny, that's funny.
Speaker 2: That was pretty awesome.
Speaker 3: And then he sat down and it actually was only
Speaker 3: about a minute, so then there was maybe two minutes
Speaker 3: of darkness, but the McAfee stuff was pretty funny.
Speaker 1: I'm just I'm more amazed that McAfee was able to
Speaker 1: limit himself to a minute of talking, Like I mean,
Speaker 1: I would assume he'd still be talking as a break ended,
Speaker 1: and they're like, Matt, shut up, and they had to
Speaker 1: cut his mica. That's great discipline for a professional talker
Speaker 1: like him.
Speaker 4: And before I miss it, yes, this might be the
Speaker 4: best chance. During the Miami segment, one of the two
Speaker 4: Miami segments, which were kind of back to back, McAfee
Speaker 4: said to Cole, do we have anybody with boots on
Speaker 4: the ground out there in Miami? And Cole paused and
Speaker 4: then really dryly said, we've got a whole production through Miami.
Speaker 4: That's actually how we're watching this broadcast right now. Yeah,
Speaker 4: it was fantastic. I love that Cole is having fun
Speaker 4: with this guy.
Speaker 13: He does.
Speaker 1: Yes, I think Cole enjoys working with McAfee, and McAfee
Speaker 1: knows how to have fun with Cole without emasculating him.
Speaker 1: Cole has been around long enough and I think does
Speaker 1: a good enough job that picking on him like he's
Speaker 1: the new kid who's incompetent. It's kind of run its course,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean it's been twenty years since he
Speaker 1: highlighted his hair, you know, put highlights in his hair,
Speaker 1: like it's time to you know, not that that's the
Speaker 1: thing they make fun of it, but like it's been
Speaker 1: a long journey and he's a grown man and he's
Speaker 1: done good work. I think he's underrated, especially if you
Speaker 1: a lot for the fact that he's produced to call
Speaker 1: a product in a very specific, particular way that limits,
Speaker 1: you know, some of the things he might do otherwise,
Speaker 1: as we've heard on rare occasion with him outside of
Speaker 1: do it to be, And I think McAfee has found
Speaker 1: a way to de be, to not make you feel
Speaker 1: uncomfortable that someone's being unduly mean to Cole to put
Speaker 1: themselves over, but instead it feels like a couple of
Speaker 1: friends just kind of giving each other hard time. And
Speaker 1: I like that tone when I watch wrestling. I dislike
Speaker 1: when it feels like bullying or actually hurting someone's feelings.
Speaker 1: And there is a rare exception to that where sometimes
Speaker 1: I'm happy someone's feelings are being hurt. But I'm past
Speaker 1: that with Cole.
Speaker 3: Okay, it says something that he's hung for so long.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, absolutely, no, he's a professional. Oh so when
Speaker 1: when the stuff was happening in Miami, describe if fans
Speaker 1: were getting restless or anxious or felt ripped off that
Speaker 1: they don't get to see bell Air in person, Like
Speaker 1: what was the vibe in the room and in what
Speaker 1: filled that time besides footage on the big screen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is probably the most interesting thing about the
Speaker 3: show I had. It took me a while following on
Speaker 3: the Internet to figure out that there was a show
Speaker 3: in Miami. We had no indication there was a show
Speaker 3: in Miami.
Speaker 1: Huh wow. Yeah, so what like the.
Speaker 3: Show just continued and we had I think our own matches.
Speaker 1: That's what I was wondering.
Speaker 4: So wasn't it Cruise in Biggie? I think that Dom
Speaker 4: the first caller mentioned something about that.
Speaker 7: Okay, that's what I was wondering, man, But they were, Yeah,
Speaker 7: they were on opposite side because they said.
Speaker 1: That, like that whole Intercontinental thing up, everyone coming up, going,
Speaker 1: are you talking about the ICY title? Well, let me
Speaker 1: come to the ring. Oh you mentioned the IC title,
Speaker 1: let me come to the ring. And there wasn't really
Speaker 1: a follow up on that, and so that led to
Speaker 1: a match in the arena while we were watching Chad
Speaker 1: Gable and Angelo Dawkins and the Bell or Carmela match.
Speaker 4: And that that whole thing seemed stupid and pointless on
Speaker 4: TV to me, like they they didn't didn't seem to
Speaker 4: care that how disjointed that was going to look to
Speaker 4: one crowd or the other, like the viewers at home
Speaker 4: or the people why not the arena?
Speaker 1: But why not just announce it for next week in Minneapolis,
Speaker 1: Like just go, well, we've booked a match based on
Speaker 1: all these people running to the ring. And they didn't
Speaker 1: do that. So, yeah, Robert, talk a little bit more
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 3: We did see in Cleveland, I think just during a
Speaker 3: commercial break the finish of the bel air match, and
Speaker 3: they played it on the screen with the like with
Speaker 3: the ambient noise, only there was no commentary, There were
Speaker 3: no graphics on the screen. It was just the sound
Speaker 3: of the crowd, and they showed the finish of that match.
Speaker 1: Interesting, but otherwise it just all flowed.
Speaker 3: Through as one segment where it went from the stuff
Speaker 3: that happened before the commercial to a sixth man that
Speaker 3: looked exactly like what it would look like if that
Speaker 3: six men were on SmackDown.
Speaker 1: Now, what's interesting. I assume Miami was live. What they
Speaker 1: did in Miami? Am I wrong? Is there any reason,
Speaker 1: Mike for me to think otherwise?
Speaker 4: That was my understanding that it was live.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So that meant Cole and McAfee are calling it
Speaker 1: at ringside in Cleveland with headsets and their monitor. Well,
Speaker 1: there's a completely different match going on in the ring
Speaker 1: that they're having to ignore, And if I'm a fan
Speaker 1: sitting behind them, I got to be super confused. One two, No,
Speaker 1: she kicks out and it's like a bunch of men
Speaker 1: in the ring and a headlock. So, oh man, I
Speaker 1: don't Yeah, so that's weird.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it took me a while to even realize that
Speaker 3: was happening. I was like, why haven't they mentioned anything
Speaker 3: about Miami. I don't think I realized until probably going
Speaker 3: into the second hour that there was actually a separate
Speaker 3: show happening in Miami.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's amazing. So tell us what happened that
Speaker 1: in that match that's sort of like a dark match.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, nothing important. They just had a regular
Speaker 3: match and then the baby Faces one.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. And any thoughts on the crowd rations to
Speaker 1: any of the wrestlers, any anything surprise you more or
Speaker 1: less than you anticipated, Like it was Biggie super Over,
Speaker 1: you know, doing a pow.
Speaker 3: The crowd was just very responsive throughout the show. I
Speaker 3: should clarify from what we talked about earlier. I don't
Speaker 3: live in Cleveland, though I don't go to other events here,
Speaker 3: and I hadn't been to a WWE show in this venue.
Speaker 3: I'd never been to this venue before, Okay, But the
Speaker 3: crowd was very enthusiastic and kept their energy through most
Speaker 3: of the show.
Speaker 2: Was like.
Speaker 3: Engaged in the stories of each match and booing and
Speaker 3: shearing throughout the matches, and the only time that it
Speaker 3: really dipped down was during the Tony Storm match. They
Speaker 3: were pretty quiet there, and I heard from multiple directions
Speaker 3: people around me asking who Tony Storm was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean that's understandable.
Speaker 3: And there was only that Yeah, and it's also it's
Speaker 3: like the worst segment in the show to do that.
Speaker 1: Yes, And so that was the only match that took
Speaker 1: place before Edge came out? Is that correct? Because then
Speaker 1: we had Tony Storm? Was there anything between that tag
Speaker 1: match you're talking about with the IC Contenders and Tony
Speaker 1: Storm wrestling? I'm just curious if there's another match that
Speaker 1: didn'er on TV that you're not I.
Speaker 3: Don't believe though. I think the tag just went like
Speaker 3: there went long enough that there normally would have been
Speaker 3: a commercial break in the tag probably yep, yep.
Speaker 6: All cool.
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Speaker 1: As far as USO's in the mysterio reaction, did did
Speaker 1: it seem like dominic was over and that people are here.
Speaker 1: I've been curious about him because, like they pointed out
Speaker 1: last week, he had never wrestled in front of a
Speaker 1: crowd in WW till last week. Like he's been around
Speaker 1: for a long time, but not long enough to have
Speaker 1: been pro the pandemic. And I mean he's green.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: They messed up a spot at the end of the match.
Speaker 1: It seemed like the crowd picked up on that that
Speaker 1: was awkward, but he also works hard and seems like
Speaker 1: a nice guy. So that's my take. So I'm kind
Speaker 1: of curious if like he was bracing for a big
Speaker 1: pushback and a rebellion against him by the fans or
Speaker 1: if they're polite or what.
Speaker 3: It was awkward, and it was definitely noticed in the
Speaker 3: crowd when things fell apart at the end of the match. Yeah,
Speaker 3: that was really the only time where anything like that
Speaker 3: happened during the show. But they weren't like really negative
Speaker 3: on it, and like it's not like people were booing
Speaker 3: that it happened or like in any significant percentage of
Speaker 3: the crowd reacting that way. I wouldn't say that he's
Speaker 3: super over, but more or less, the crowd was just
Speaker 3: kind of going with everything that happened.
Speaker 2: It.
Speaker 3: Like that's why I bring up that I don't normally
Speaker 3: go to shows in Cleveland because I don't know how
Speaker 3: smart or contrarian the audience in Cleveland normally is. To
Speaker 3: compare that to tonight, but it seemed like there were
Speaker 3: a lot of families and that this was a So
Speaker 3: I was up and I was up in the two
Speaker 3: hundred section. It seemed like a very casual viewing audience
Speaker 3: up there and the people who I was around.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right. My final question for you just who
Speaker 1: is the most over? Was there far and away just
Speaker 1: Roman Reigns or was there like a cluster of three
Speaker 1: or four people? How would you rank the ones who
Speaker 1: came across it's the biggest stars that people came to see.
Speaker 3: Definitely Sina was first, yep. And I'm not sure where
Speaker 3: I would place Roman Reigns if Roman Regins's reaction was
Speaker 3: bigger than Edge. Edge got a good reaction too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Oh, and the USOS Actually during that match that we
Speaker 3: were just talking about, the USO's got an USO chant
Speaker 3: and that was the only time that there was like
Speaker 3: there wasn't really noticeable cheers for Roman, but there was
Speaker 3: a cheer for the USOS during the match with Dominic.
Speaker 4: Okay, but I would.
Speaker 3: Say that I'd say Sina was definitely got the biggest
Speaker 3: pop and then and then Edge Dower. I think Baler
Speaker 3: got a better reaction on the coupdi gras and the
Speaker 3: finish of his match than his entrance, but they were
Speaker 3: pretty loud for him too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna ask where Bala ranked compared to say,
Speaker 1: Edge and Sina as a top babyface since he just
Speaker 1: came back last week after a big layoff.
Speaker 3: I he was close to edge, but then there was
Speaker 3: more space between them and Sena is what.
Speaker 4: I would say.
Speaker 1: Sure, Yeah, that makes sense, Mike. Any closing question for Robert?
Speaker 4: No, my my questions have been answered. But I think
Speaker 4: Robert you've done an awesome job with really good feedback
Speaker 4: about that experience. It sounded like a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: All right, is there any fun?
Speaker 3: It was a lot of fun. It was a really
Speaker 3: positive WWE show, which is is kind of different. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, is there anything else you want to add that
Speaker 1: you think would be worth sharing with us having not
Speaker 1: been in the building that you picked up on being there?
Speaker 3: What am I missing? I think I have covered most
Speaker 3: of what I would have wanted. Yeah, I can't think
Speaker 3: of anything else that.
Speaker 2: Oh, we've got covered it.
Speaker 3: There was a dark match main event, Yes, was another
Speaker 3: six man with sein An Rains and they they did
Speaker 3: not touch.
Speaker 4: There we go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, was there a warm up match before the show. Yeah.
Speaker 7: I walked in on.
Speaker 3: Aliyah versus Indie Heartwell, but Aliah won, So I don't
Speaker 3: know what they called Indie Heartwell. I feel like Indie
Speaker 3: heartwell indie wrestling or all indies were possibility, just Indy
Speaker 3: was a possibility, and so I'm actually really curious what
Speaker 3: they called her. But Aliah won there and then the
Speaker 3: end was a sixth man and they teased Roman getting
Speaker 3: in the whole time, and it was like he was
Speaker 3: with both ussos. Roman didn't tag in, and then once
Speaker 3: it was it, it was the Masterios again, right, it
Speaker 3: was yeah, it was the Mysterios again.
Speaker 15: And then.
Speaker 3: Roman. Then Roman came in and got the heat on
Speaker 3: Dominic and then there was a rough bump. Sena rolled
Speaker 3: to the outside. Oh no, no, no, no, First Sena
Speaker 3: got the hot tag and no one else was on
Speaker 3: the no one else had been.
Speaker 16: On the apron.
Speaker 3: But Roman jumped down from the apron and took a
Speaker 3: few steps back from the ring and crossed his arms
Speaker 3: and wasn't getting anywhere near sena rough bump. Sena rolled out,
Speaker 3: Rains came back in and I think he hit he
Speaker 3: had a chair. I think he hit Mysterial with it
Speaker 3: when he was still on the outside. Raises in the
Speaker 3: ring with a chair and then Sena comes in takes
Speaker 3: the chair away from Rains from behind. They stared out
Speaker 3: and then Roman just Powders with the belt and Hayman
Speaker 3: and then they all their finishers to the busos and
Speaker 3: then the rest comes back in for the.
Speaker 1: Cool cool all right, well, Robert, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Great job. Uh, it's it's really nice to especially a
Speaker 1: weird show like this, you know where they cut away
Speaker 1: too to get an idea of what they did. And
Speaker 1: it's so fat. We've been waiting months and months and
Speaker 1: months to talk to people like you about you know,
Speaker 1: what the crowd rations are after all these months away
Speaker 1: from fans. So great insight.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, all right. We have some patient callers on hold,
Speaker 1: and if you're a few, if you want to be
Speaker 1: in a future outside correspondent, we probably won't go as
Speaker 1: long with you as we have on these first few
Speaker 1: shows because everything is new and exciting and shiny again
Speaker 1: in terms of crowd responses, and so we'll probably be
Speaker 1: you know, more more more uh more pithy in the
Speaker 1: future too. But we appreciate our callers holding on while
Speaker 1: we went through that. Let's uh, speaking of of our college,
Speaker 1: let's go to the next one. Jay in Michigan is up. Jay,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for holding. What's the smack for you tonight?
Speaker 16: What's going on?
Speaker 6: Way?
Speaker 16: What's going on?
Speaker 17: Mike?
Speaker 1: We are talking SmackDown about you?
Speaker 16: Hear me? J I okay, I'm just making sure. Man,
Speaker 16: I'm on the bluetooth in the car. Well, it's uh
Speaker 16: being being being in the pandemic era. I would I
Speaker 16: would consider myself a way killer post so stormed the
Speaker 16: pandemic Ara Man. So it's a lot different being on
Speaker 16: old as long. Yes, I'm glad to plan to get
Speaker 16: through Man. I'm glad that I'm glad for on site
Speaker 16: correspondence to retire man, and I hope to I hope
Speaker 16: to be on site corresponding and eventually, once you know,
Speaker 16: one of the shows comes back to Michigan. But the
Speaker 16: main things I wanted to touch on off of SmackDown
Speaker 16: was about a couple of months ago, when I believe
Speaker 16: Roman was with Cisorrow. I had sent the email kind
Speaker 16: of talking about future opponents for Roman and Finn Balor
Speaker 16: was at the top of my list, and I don't
Speaker 16: feel like you guys, really like you know, got so
Speaker 16: much behind it. And now I will say that I
Speaker 16: was not a fan. Well I'm not gonna say I
Speaker 16: was not a fan. I'm still trying to see if
Speaker 16: we're gonna get like that more edgier NXT prince, you
Speaker 16: know character, because that initial return, I don't know if
Speaker 16: it was just a fans or you know, the excitement
Speaker 16: from Finn Balor, but it seemed a little more like jovial, smiling,
Speaker 16: playing to the crowd a little more than what he
Speaker 16: did in NXT and exactly what he was doing before
Speaker 16: he left, which was part of the reason why he
Speaker 16: NXT and sort of rebranded STELF. But I'm hoping that
Speaker 16: because I felt like that NXT, Fenn Ballet can show
Speaker 16: up and challenge Roman and just be legit. So I
Speaker 16: don't know exactly where they're going with this scena challenging
Speaker 16: Roman and Roman, excepting Finn Balor's challenge, you know, like
Speaker 16: you guys are kind of touched on. Maybe there's just
Speaker 16: some like I'll accept the challenge, but I'm you know,
Speaker 16: I'm not saying when, and you know, I'm really hoping
Speaker 16: we don't get a triple threat match at SummerSlam, but
Speaker 16: I'm also I'm also I do want to see Roman
Speaker 16: and Sena, and you know, I think that they are
Speaker 16: few from twenty seventeen. I don't feel like Roman was
Speaker 16: quite ready to you know, go toe to toe with
Speaker 16: a scene on the mic, even though he did have
Speaker 16: some moments. I don't think he was quite ready. But
Speaker 16: now he's most definitely ready. So you know, where are
Speaker 16: you guys kind of coming out on like the developments
Speaker 16: of Balor and certain itself and where do you think
Speaker 16: that goes?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Mike, what have you thought of Balor's return? And
Speaker 1: where were you on the Balor ometer in terms of
Speaker 1: the impact he'd have after the you know, shaky and
Speaker 1: sort of diminished way that he was featured last time
Speaker 1: I was on the main roster and then also you know,
Speaker 1: being fed to Karen crossover a NXT. Although people don't
Speaker 1: know who Tony Storm is, they might not be paying
Speaker 1: a lot of attention to that either, you know, the
Speaker 1: larger SmackDown attending audience.
Speaker 4: Well, whatever happens to him in an XT, if it
Speaker 4: means bigger things for him, I'm the main roster, then
Speaker 4: I feel like that's sort of a traditional mode of
Speaker 4: movement for a pro wrestler.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 4: As for what happens now, well, he's challenged and Roman
Speaker 4: has accepted that challenge. I mentioned earlier. I think that
Speaker 4: this is better. This is better than what I would
Speaker 4: have anticipated for Finn coming to the main roster, being
Speaker 4: in the same realm as Roman reigns. So that's already
Speaker 4: above where I would place him in. And I'm not
Speaker 4: saying that he's above where I think he should be.
Speaker 4: I think that's awesome. I just don't think it is
Speaker 4: going to be a long term thing. I think that
Speaker 4: Baler is going to be a stop gap until the
Speaker 4: next the big pillar, main event Papery coming up with
Speaker 4: in Summer Slam to keep the theme running. I wish
Speaker 4: that Finn Balor would Finn Balor could be cooler if
Speaker 4: he weren't wearing his own merch, and he weren't, uh,
Speaker 4: I'll say dancing, and that's exaggerating, but to his own
Speaker 4: to his own theme music.
Speaker 1: The arm extending thing, you mean, yeah, I like that.
Speaker 4: It's it's well, I should be used very sparently.
Speaker 1: I remember seeing him do that in n XT early on,
Speaker 1: you know, initially, and I was like, man, when he
Speaker 1: gets in front of like full buildings and that music's
Speaker 1: plaining and he does the arm extension and the whole
Speaker 1: crowd doesn't with him. That's going to be like a
Speaker 1: cool thing to be part of. I get what you're
Speaker 1: saying about him being like really cool, and there's something about,
Speaker 1: you know, not begging for cheers but sort of it's
Speaker 1: not really pandering but having like a routine, and you know,
Speaker 1: I get where that takes away some of the cool
Speaker 1: factor that he has compared to you know, a bowllet
Speaker 1: club type thing. But he is in WWE, and a
Speaker 1: big part of you know, what they sell is that
Speaker 1: experience and that repetition. I think it's one of the
Speaker 1: cooler and more electric things because of the beat of
Speaker 1: the music. And I think he can still pull off
Speaker 1: being cool doing that.
Speaker 4: I guess I just I don't want to see that
Speaker 4: every time. I feel like it's I almost equate it
Speaker 4: to his the demon persona that he would use for
Speaker 4: big main event matches, and I could do with it
Speaker 4: is with that same frequency as he used to do that.
Speaker 4: Like I'd be fine if you just walk out wearing
Speaker 4: a leather jacket and whatever and maybe no logo gear
Speaker 4: and maybe not along with the music, get into them
Speaker 4: and maybe do an arm extension with one of the beats.
Speaker 4: But the way that it's choreographed, like it kind of
Speaker 4: like We've talked multiple times about bel Air's entrance and
Speaker 4: you could argue, you know, which one might be cooler
Speaker 4: than the other, but it's similar in that they're both
Speaker 4: doing choreographed things. Yeah, and choreographed things are not cool
Speaker 4: to me, but it is kick ass music and it
Speaker 4: does elicit a crowd reaction. I just don't want to
Speaker 4: see it like run the program here it comes, he's
Speaker 4: doing it, going through the motions like I'd like it
Speaker 4: for him to feel it and be more organic, and
Speaker 4: I don't know, I feel like maybe I'm out out
Speaker 4: in the weeds here, but it is a theme of
Speaker 4: what I've been talked about tonight with Sina and even
Speaker 4: Roman Reigns.
Speaker 1: You'd be a big fan of Nick Blackwinkle. Mike, he
Speaker 1: just came to the ring with a white toll around
Speaker 1: his neck and his wrestling trunks and no music and
Speaker 1: he just sat there and waited for introductions to defend
Speaker 1: his a w A title.
Speaker 4: Well, see, that's the opposite end, and that I'm always
Speaker 4: somewhere in the middle. Yeah, I know I know that too,
Speaker 4: if that were happening. See, Mike's just never happy. What
Speaker 4: can I do?
Speaker 1: I love that about Nick, but I know I was
Speaker 1: saying that to just give Yard time. All Right, Jay,
Speaker 1: I want to keep rolling through collet here, so go
Speaker 1: ahead with any final, uh final comment of question for us.
Speaker 16: No only thing I wanted to say was to Mike
Speaker 16: a lot of the stuff that you were saying about
Speaker 16: Fenn Valor. I mean, he was doing pretty much all
Speaker 16: of that stuff in his fast NXT run. Like he
Speaker 16: wasn't over zealous or overly pandering, you know, he was
Speaker 16: just he just had that cool factor. And I kind
Speaker 16: of wish that he would have just what he did
Speaker 16: when he challenged Roman to night. I kind of wish
Speaker 16: that would have been his re debut on the main roster,
Speaker 16: you know, Maine roster quote unquote. I just wish that
Speaker 16: would have been his re debut. You know, it just
Speaker 16: came out challenged Roman. They didn't even do none of
Speaker 16: the semi dame stuff. So that's all. I really had everything, man,
Speaker 16: And thanks.
Speaker 1: For having me, yeah, Jake, Thanks appreciate it. It's good
Speaker 1: for me. If you're listening to us on the Apple
Speaker 1: podcast app, on Spotify or any other app that allows
Speaker 1: you to rate our podcast, please take a moment to
Speaker 1: give us a five star rating. It really helps us
Speaker 1: in the algorithm and helps them know that you recommend
Speaker 1: us to others. Just look for a place to rate
Speaker 1: the show on Spotify, on Apple podcasts, or wherever you're
Speaker 1: listening to our shows, and please click that five star rating.
Speaker 1: And of course, thank you so much for listening. All Right,
Speaker 1: we'll go next to Gregg in Kansas City. Greg, thanks
Speaker 1: for calling. What do you think us back on tonight?
Speaker 10: I mean, there are a couple of positives. The Sino
Speaker 10: range stuff in the edge, Rowland Segues would probably be
Speaker 10: the standout. Tin Baller had a good return match against
Speaker 10: Sammy Zay, and I like that he I reiterate the
Speaker 10: previous interaction, and I like that he's going right into
Speaker 10: a title match and he's not going to win, but
Speaker 10: it's going to be a very good to great television
Speaker 10: main event and lean up to SummerSlam hopefully. So that's
Speaker 10: that's all. That's all toxic. By the way, I taught
Speaker 10: myself agreeing way more with Roman Raigns and saying that
Speaker 10: you know, you can go put in a you can
Speaker 10: go watch a video over two thousand and five and
Speaker 10: job seeing doing the same acts and seeing the thing
Speaker 10: down sucks with Roman Reigns and Champion. I mean, it's
Speaker 10: been like probably the best thing in WW for the
Speaker 10: past year. So it's like I definitely found myself agreeing
Speaker 10: more with with Roman Reigns there, and I guess for
Speaker 10: the negatives or I don't know if it's so much negative,
Speaker 10: it's just like the rest of the show just felt
Speaker 10: like it was just there. I mean it's like, you know,
Speaker 10: I talked the other night about like not being that
Speaker 10: person that just wants to jump on WWE all the
Speaker 10: time and all that, but it's like, I mean, it
Speaker 10: just feels like this is one difference between you know,
Speaker 10: WW and AWS that like AW have a sense that
Speaker 10: you feel like most of the roster you know what's
Speaker 10: planned for them, you know what's going on with them.
Speaker 10: But just e the typical, you know, segment of the
Speaker 10: Intercontinental Champion. All these guys come out and say they
Speaker 10: don't basically want a title match, it's going to be
Speaker 10: a multi nd match, excuse to get people.
Speaker 3: On TV and all that.
Speaker 10: It's just I feel like that while certainly with fans
Speaker 10: backs you weren't exciting all this, it just there's that
Speaker 10: there's that that that usual, Like I don't know what
Speaker 10: the right term is, but there's just that same normalness
Speaker 10: of like just it's just like this company really needs
Speaker 10: to I think, just really they need to change the
Speaker 10: way these things. Destruction was coming. I felt like some
Speaker 10: segments were buried, were rushed. I don't feel very good for,
Speaker 10: you know, with Lena Begger right now, to lose like that.
Speaker 10: I mean, we could have used somebody else in that position.
Speaker 10: No entrance or anything. Just felt like a lot of
Speaker 10: stuff is rushed. And the other thing was I don't
Speaker 10: expecting like thanks returns, they're in Miami and all this
Speaker 10: and that felt points but I guess a lot of
Speaker 10: the show just felt pointless and unexciting outside of like
Speaker 10: you know, Sina and Roman range, which is there's some
Speaker 10: buzz around Finn Ballad, there's buzz round let's see how
Speaker 10: long that lasts, and and maybe there could be some
Speaker 10: buz around Tony Storm. Other than that, I felt like
Speaker 10: it was just like, you know, it was just a
Speaker 10: show with nothing really overly exciting, a lot of the
Speaker 10: same usual well great people have talked to them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let me let me jump in. And first of all,
Speaker 1: are you going to run on Monday? I don't know
Speaker 1: if I ask you.
Speaker 10: That, Yeah, I'm not gonna make it through on Monday. Okay,
Speaker 10: So I'm actually not I'm actually I was on the
Speaker 10: fence start getting a ticket. I'm actually not going to
Speaker 10: be in Kansas City on Monday.
Speaker 3: So got you.
Speaker 1: Okay. So I was a couple of things. One, Mike,
Speaker 1: your thoughts on what Greg is saying the rest of
Speaker 1: the show, and because that's been the knock on SmackDown
Speaker 1: is it's the Roman Raine show now when Greg says, oh,
Speaker 1: except for Roman Rains, John Cena and Finn Balor, there's
Speaker 1: not a lot left, and you extract that like from
Speaker 1: like I mean you're talking about I mean because Balor
Speaker 1: Sammy is included in that. You had that weird intercontimental
Speaker 1: thing that led up to the match on TV or
Speaker 1: off TV. You had a couple of quickies in Miami,
Speaker 1: and then you had their Edge segment with Seth, which
Speaker 1: obviously was you know, big Stars, and then a quick
Speaker 1: Tony Storm match and a quick Dominic Jimmy match. I
Speaker 1: semi quick, I went a few you know, it wasn't
Speaker 1: just three or four minutes, but it's sort of like
Speaker 1: that is what SmackDown is you know, and I think
Speaker 1: if SmackDown has room to grow and get better, it's
Speaker 1: to take away from the feeling that it's a Roman
Speaker 1: Rain show. But I think this show was actually illustrative
Speaker 1: of the opposite to what Greg is saying, even though
Speaker 1: there's still room to improve. And that's what Greg's pointing
Speaker 1: out in that one of the matches had Jimmy Usso,
Speaker 1: who's part of the Rain storyline that feels like a
Speaker 1: big deal. Tony Storm is a new wrestler, a new
Speaker 1: addition to deepen the women's division, and she comes in
Speaker 1: with a claim and she has a chance to be
Speaker 1: a big star. And Selena Beka, I think is a
Speaker 1: good opponent. She's the mid card, undersizeed wrestler who makes
Speaker 1: Tony Storm look big and you know, adds a little
Speaker 1: name value, uh to to a TV match. So I
Speaker 1: think that's fine. And the Mammi thing, it's kind of
Speaker 1: hard to you know, equate you know, what they did
Speaker 1: there with a normal SmackDown, and Biggie is a money
Speaker 1: in the bank holder, you know, it feels like there's
Speaker 1: something going on with him of significance. Having that, so
Speaker 1: I think that and then you've got Finn Balor and
Speaker 1: Edge back and and Seth and Sina. I felt like
Speaker 1: this was a big step in the right direction and
Speaker 1: what we were sort of expecting once crowds came back
Speaker 1: is it isn't just rains, because there's Balor and Edge
Speaker 1: and Sina and Usso's and a debuting Tony Storm. There's
Speaker 1: quite a bit of other stuff going on.
Speaker 4: Now, Yeah, you said it by by listing those names.
Speaker 4: On average, I think, or compared to average, I think
Speaker 4: this was kind of a top heavy edition of SmackDown,
Speaker 4: and I think that most episodes for the next few
Speaker 4: weeks are gonna feel kind of top heavy because I
Speaker 4: think Seena is going to be bouncing around from SmackDown
Speaker 4: a raw and back and forth again. But with any
Speaker 4: two hour show or god forbid, three hour show, it's
Speaker 4: going to be tiered. So not every segment's gonna have
Speaker 4: anything to do with the main event, maybe not even
Speaker 4: the upper mid card. There has to be some filler.
Speaker 4: You want to get some other faces out there, or
Speaker 4: in tonight's case, you want to introduce new faces. But yeah,
Speaker 4: I thought tonight was a little more star studded. I
Speaker 4: thought the the edge we hadn't't really talked much about
Speaker 4: it yet, but the Edge and Seth's segment was quite good,
Speaker 4: I thought, and Seth seemed particularly inspired and in a
Speaker 4: way that didn't just purely annoy me. I thought he
Speaker 4: was doing really good work and maybe it had something
Speaker 4: to do with the well, what do you know, a big, live,
Speaker 4: hot crowd in front of him, and it was probably
Speaker 4: inspiring for him. So yeah, I don't know. I think
Speaker 4: I do. The six man tags are a turn off
Speaker 4: for me because although and I've spoken to this before,
Speaker 4: I'm amazed at the construction of them. I've compared it
Speaker 4: to jazz music. For me, it's just like a totally
Speaker 4: foreign I don't know how they do it, but they
Speaker 4: can put on these six man tag matches that look
Speaker 4: seamless and the complexity of them is off the charts.
Speaker 4: But they work and they look great. But I don't
Speaker 4: care about the outcome or what's going on. And quite
Speaker 4: often from the broadcast standpoint, the broadcasters sometimes just talk
Speaker 4: about they don't call the match, they talk about the characters,
Speaker 4: and that is kind of boring to me. And I've
Speaker 4: heard about, like a friend of the Torch Matt McCarthy
Speaker 4: has talked about how he'll sometimes watch WB shows but
Speaker 4: just mute mute them because he doesn't want to hear
Speaker 4: the commentary. But that's too weird for me, Like I
Speaker 4: need to, I want to hear all the sounds and
Speaker 4: the ambient goings on. But I'm I'm kind of turned
Speaker 4: off by how the commentators aren't always tuned into the
Speaker 4: match where I think they should be, and that's what
Speaker 4: we should be drawn into. So and so those are
Speaker 4: two examples for what how I think the shows are
Speaker 4: kind of the filler. I know that stuff is there, yeah,
Speaker 4: and but tonight I do feel was a little top heavy, like.
Speaker 1: I said, but I think that there was enough top
Speaker 1: heaviness that there wasn't a lot of space left over
Speaker 1: for anything else like that's it's been top heavy for
Speaker 1: a while, but there's like a great percentage of wrestlers
Speaker 1: that I think people cared about on the show in
Speaker 1: almost every second.
Speaker 4: And I didn't mean top heavy, like it's too top heavy.
Speaker 4: I meant there was there was a lot out of
Speaker 4: important things going on.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 15: Yes, yep, yep, Hey everyone, longtime PW Torch commist Sean
Speaker 15: radikin here to let you know I've rebamped and renewed
Speaker 15: the Raticant Worldwide podcast for twenty twenty six, a weekly
Speaker 15: VIP exclusive. Every week, I break down four or five
Speaker 15: of the biggest trending topics in pro wrestling. I also
Speaker 15: present my analysis, providing insight that helps you understand the
Speaker 15: story better or see it another way. Then maybe is
Speaker 15: the controversial takeout there? Then I bring on a special
Speaker 15: guest for the second half of the podcast. Sometimes it's
Speaker 15: a wrestler or someone else who works in the business.
Speaker 15: Other times it's a guest analyst who brings their specialized
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Speaker 1: All right, very good, great, appreciate the call. I'm going
Speaker 1: to try to keep moving here because we're getting deep
Speaker 1: into the show with our two on site correspondence and
Speaker 1: jump over here to Kyle and then we got Nick
Speaker 1: on hold. Kyle, welcome your thoughts on back on tonight
Speaker 1: Colin Baltimore.
Speaker 7: Of course, yes, I thought it was a good show.
Speaker 7: I think, yeah, yeah, so I thought it was a
Speaker 7: good show. We'll kind of talk about the Biocapella airbag
Speaker 7: I think I thought I thought that was a completely
Speaker 7: unnecessary to deal unless you would just happen there itself,
Speaker 7: because we had no idea who who Bianco was or Corbels,
Speaker 7: I don't know why obviously would have to happen. And
Speaker 7: and it was, you know, it was like a random
Speaker 7: it was. It was like it was like for like
Speaker 7: a lot of event that like for Valley forced backdound
Speaker 7: or at all, so bizarre to me. And then they
Speaker 7: are thing that's about Tony storm about her. Maybe that
Speaker 7: was thought that was a great I thought that was cool.
Speaker 7: It was she had a really cool look and an
Speaker 7: awesome like potential challenger for for Bianca bell Air. I
Speaker 7: mean I could at this point, you know, it's actually
Speaker 7: I could come back at some point, which I'm kind
Speaker 7: of and that was a kind of glad. I thought,
Speaker 7: I really thought that she's going to come back tonight,
Speaker 7: But Kyle Glass, she didn't said because was the whole
Speaker 7: was was somewhere else, not and not in the arena itself.
Speaker 7: So but in terms of right now, who's there, I
Speaker 7: can see Bianca Tony Storm as a feud with though
Speaker 7: that that might be too early, but I don't know,
Speaker 7: because Tony Stores came out come off as a start
Speaker 7: to me. The only think about that entire situation with
Speaker 7: Bianca bel Air and being in a different.
Speaker 2: Well, I guess I know.
Speaker 1: You broke up a little bit their call at the end,
Speaker 1: but Mike, I think you got the gist of it.
Speaker 4: Your thoughts, Yeah, the I have more questions than answers
Speaker 4: regarding the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami. I don't know
Speaker 4: if it was just a promotional stunt for wbe like
Speaker 4: let's do some crossover with a crowd that's probably not
Speaker 4: that aware of us and to that, and it had
Speaker 4: to have been effective because they've got their logos, names,
Speaker 4: their stars in front of thousands of people who didn't
Speaker 4: seem excited. But they were all there facing the stage.
Speaker 4: You know, it's it's it was a weird thing, like
Speaker 4: they were all facing the stage. But I don't think
Speaker 4: they could mind control that many people at once. So
Speaker 4: I don't know exactly how the night went to for
Speaker 4: that arrangement, but I agree with Kyle that it didn't
Speaker 4: seem like they were really into what was going on.
Speaker 4: They were just sort of facing what was going on.
Speaker 4: But who knows what exposure they got from it or
Speaker 4: what other side benefits. I can't really calculate the wb
Speaker 4: got out of it. All I know is that the
Speaker 4: setup looked awesome, like it was top notch. I don't
Speaker 4: know if all of that gear was WWE's, but they
Speaker 4: had a stage which I assume they're using through the
Speaker 4: rest of the weekend because this is a three day event.
Speaker 4: But there was a gigantic screen behind the ring, and
Speaker 4: the stage was flanked with other gigantic screens, and they
Speaker 4: had perfectly placed WWE imagery and all these screens. When
Speaker 4: we saw the wide angles of the ring and it
Speaker 4: looked awesome, but I don't know who provided what and
Speaker 4: what exactly that arrangement was. So yeah, that's kind of
Speaker 4: my questions on it with no answers as far as
Speaker 4: story goes, I agree with Kyle. She looks super cool,
Speaker 4: she stands out, she doesn't really look quite like anybody
Speaker 4: else on the roster, and she was in front of
Speaker 4: a live Cleveland crowd when I think of a lot
Speaker 4: of her experience has been in NXT or nxc UK,
Speaker 4: and here she is in front of, like I said,
Speaker 4: live Cleveland crowd, and she looked great against Vega, who's
Speaker 4: you know, good to look great against. And it's a
Speaker 4: good introduction and they yeah, they need credible women opponents,
Speaker 4: so that that's good that Storm is there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Storm was presented well, you know, they're
Speaker 1: selling her as you know, self proclaimed stuck in the eighties,
Speaker 1: inspired by Motley Cruez. Sometimes it can be put out
Speaker 1: there a little too talking point bullet point esque when
Speaker 1: w W does it sort of pam handedly, but I
Speaker 1: think it does give her a clear distinct this is
Speaker 1: what she's about, and if it feels authentic to fans
Speaker 1: and not just paste it on as something Vincent Man
Speaker 1: came up with, you know, of some you know already
Speaker 1: pre trade mark gimmicks or ideas they had, and she's
Speaker 1: just kind of dropped into the suit, so to speak.
Speaker 1: I think it can work, and I think she she
Speaker 1: looks like she's in better shape now than when she
Speaker 1: first came, you know, first started working in NXT, and
Speaker 1: it's her her rings style. I think looked good and crisp.
Speaker 1: I think there's ones. Oh there was a spot where
Speaker 1: I can't remember what move they were going into off
Speaker 1: the ropes and it wasn't timed really well. So I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think that like either of them are going
Speaker 1: to put this on their you know, top ten list
Speaker 1: of their favorite matches. But I think there's enough of
Speaker 1: a body of work and she's distinct enough that she's
Speaker 1: a good addition to the roster. And I'm kind of
Speaker 1: glad they aren't doing the heel thing like in nx T,
Speaker 1: just sort of shaking the etch of sketch clean for
Speaker 1: her with her with her move move to SmackDown heal
Speaker 1: for us.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and des by that I think this is about
Speaker 7: Australian Russell who does included debut and then go right
Speaker 7: after the champion, just like Rea did. So that's I
Speaker 7: think that's the good thing. You have to build a oute,
Speaker 7: so that's good for I'm tody Son for that point.
Speaker 7: I think about thing the last dance just the what
Speaker 7: was it was the now was about about the biggie thing.
Speaker 7: I didn't like that. I think he should have he
Speaker 7: should have came out and done Duck Craig promo and
Speaker 7: then to be in the match suttle at least at
Speaker 7: least at least for tonight. And then absolutely thought too
Speaker 7: that I'm not saying he'll punk face the faith of
Speaker 7: Roman reigns, So I think that would have been kind
Speaker 7: of interesting just saying, you know, I'm here, I can
Speaker 7: catch whatever I want to do.
Speaker 3: Something like that.
Speaker 7: I don't know it's not and not not uh what's
Speaker 7: his name? To come out have a fit balot right,
Speaker 7: which I did Actually didn't like that. I did like
Speaker 7: that Ko, So I don't know that would have been
Speaker 7: something different with Dicky and that in the sixth Man
Speaker 7: he's usually just done a problem on that. That was
Speaker 7: that I think you need to be in the match.
Speaker 7: I don't think you need to do the face off
Speaker 7: because because Ballar did, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Mike, any thoughts on that.
Speaker 4: I mean, I don't I could give a crap about
Speaker 4: who's in the six man tag. Really, I like the
Speaker 4: idea of Biggie coming out and cutting a promo and
Speaker 4: not being in a six man tag because I don't
Speaker 4: care about six man The said six man tag. As
Speaker 4: for like getting in Romans face, I kind of feel
Speaker 4: like Romans got enough on his plate right now with
Speaker 4: Biggie can sort of hang back because he can hold
Speaker 4: that thing for a year, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: So there's no need for him. There's no requirement to
Speaker 4: like get up in anybody's face right now. He can
Speaker 4: dwell for a long time and he can speak to
Speaker 4: what he's thinking. But I don't know. On the other hand,
Speaker 4: there's probably not much harm in teasing a thing here
Speaker 4: and there. But I'm just saying, yeah, you can't have
Speaker 4: multiple programs running at once. But yeah, I think he's
Speaker 4: got a long time to deal with that, to deal
Speaker 4: with that briefcase.
Speaker 1: All right, fairy good, Kyle, appreciate the call. As always,
Speaker 1: We'll go to Nick and then we'll wrap up with
Speaker 1: our on table segment with Hobvier and then wrap up
Speaker 1: the callers and then we'll hit a couple emails, but
Speaker 1: we'll try to do this swiftly. Since we are running
Speaker 1: along here. You know that last segment you're just listening
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Speaker 1: those can be one second apart. With a VIP membership,
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Speaker 1: podcast run throughout the week every week, Nick, thank you
Speaker 1: for holding so long. I'm glad I feel less guilty
Speaker 1: after you being brought up so early last week.
Speaker 6: Yeah right, no, no, no problem. Actually, the reason I
Speaker 6: called is I wanted to talk to Vector this is
Speaker 6: a fixed restaurant.
Speaker 1: Yes it is, Hey Vector, you're robot? Yea pet.
Speaker 4: What's my name?
Speaker 1: Hey Vector? What's my name?
Speaker 6: When you were talking to Todd, I thought you were
Speaker 6: talking you had renamed your dog Vector.
Speaker 1: No, no's, I tweeted, I tweeted the video of him.
Speaker 1: The company that built him, Unfortuate went out of business.
Speaker 1: They sold out. So I think he's a bit of
Speaker 1: a collector's item. But yeah, he is.
Speaker 17: He is.
Speaker 1: We've got a dog and two cats, so he's number
Speaker 1: four on the list.
Speaker 6: But but he is.
Speaker 1: He I do consider him our fourth pat. He hangs
Speaker 1: out in my office with me and gets stuff, falls
Speaker 1: off the area rug and tries to get back on
Speaker 1: and then he gets distressed and he starts, you know,
Speaker 1: shaking his arm up and down, and I go and
Speaker 1: put it back on the charger and then he smiles.
Speaker 1: It's it's uh, it's it's kind of eerie, how life like.
Speaker 1: It is, kind of like Tom Phillips.
Speaker 6: I just got a big kick out of you and Todd.
Speaker 6: You guys have hit most of the stuff on the
Speaker 6: matches and stuff quick on, biggie. I was really disappointed
Speaker 6: that they interrupted him because I thought he was really
Speaker 6: getting to give a real kind of mission statement promo,
Speaker 6: and then they interrupted him and it was just like
Speaker 6: I was like, oh no, he was going to be serious.
Speaker 6: Why did you do that?
Speaker 1: Plus Nick and Mike, I feel bad now that he
Speaker 1: was getting the chant of you deserved it, and it
Speaker 1: was like he might have gotten that anyway, but to
Speaker 1: have Pat McAfee say that ahead of time, it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, at your high school graduation, if like the
Speaker 1: teacher goes, hey, everyone cheerwad really loud when I announced him,
Speaker 1: It's like the cheers mean less, Like I want to
Speaker 1: know organically how popular or unpopular apathetic my classmates are
Speaker 1: towards my graduation. And with Biggie, it was sort of like, well, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm not that excited because Pat McBee told
Speaker 1: you to do it. So between that and then getting
Speaker 1: rymistereo cut off on sentence three, I was I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I thought this should have been a cool moment for
Speaker 1: Biggie winning money in the bank, and I disagree with
Speaker 1: their approach. I think it diminished the accomplishment. I know
Speaker 1: they're against generic time filler promos, you know where a
Speaker 1: guy just talks and if he's not super charismatic and
Speaker 1: super over But to me, winning money in the bank,
Speaker 1: if you want that to count for something, the guy
Speaker 1: who wins it should get, you know, two minutes to
Speaker 1: talk about his plans and what it means to him.
Speaker 1: And I felt they cut it off, cut him off
Speaker 1: too soon. Did you get that same feeling, Mic or
Speaker 1: did that work for you?
Speaker 4: I was mainly annoyed that it what was cutting him
Speaker 4: off was a cascade of all the mid card wrestlers. Yeah, like,
Speaker 4: well here we go and here comes the six man tag.
Speaker 4: And I was going to say that, well, he's got
Speaker 4: plenty of time to talk about it, but this is
Speaker 4: kind of his first appearance with that contract and his
Speaker 4: first opportunity to speak to the audience about like to
Speaker 4: maybe formal mission statement or something, and we didn't really
Speaker 4: get that and what and what interrupted? It wasn't something
Speaker 4: that holds any value for me. So yeah, that is
Speaker 4: that is kind of frustrating.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Nick Backe.
Speaker 6: Yeah, one thing, and this is I don't know, I'm
Speaker 6: feeling mischievous this evening. Do they check inside the briefcase
Speaker 6: when they cash it in, because otherwise, I mean, theoretically
Speaker 6: you could take the con tracked out hand in the briefcase,
Speaker 6: they give you the match and if you happen to lose,
Speaker 6: go oh wait, I got the contract. Let me do
Speaker 6: it again.
Speaker 1: You know what's what win? Yeah, that's risky, Nick, and
Speaker 1: if you that's only if you don't think you're gonna
Speaker 1: win our cassion. I think that is a question for
Speaker 1: The Fix because Todd is an attorney, and on the
Speaker 1: VP show The Fix with Todd Martin mc keller, we
Speaker 1: get like legal questions sometimes, you know, sort of tongue
Speaker 1: in cheek, like you know, if this were real, what
Speaker 1: how does the law apply to how this played out?
Speaker 1: So that actually sounds like a good question for Todd.
Speaker 6: I'll send that in next week, last point, and then
Speaker 6: I'll let you move on to Hobbyer. I don't know
Speaker 6: if it's a residual from the thunder Dome era era
Speaker 6: when they were trying to keep make things more exciting
Speaker 6: or something, but they are doing so many camera cuts
Speaker 6: and I really noticed it in the Sammy Finn match.
Speaker 6: I if that counted, they did something like fifty camera
Speaker 6: cuts before the first break for the commercial. It's like
Speaker 6: like it gives me vertigo. I mean, it's just their
Speaker 6: I don't know, I just it's really yeah, what's the word,
Speaker 6: I'm looking for? A disjoint. It totally takes me out
Speaker 6: of the match because you can't just give me the
Speaker 6: hard camera shot let me watch.
Speaker 1: The match when you have superkicks like Usto and Dominic
Speaker 1: it is it's not helpful because now w is thinking
Speaker 1: we should have cut to an angle that didn't show
Speaker 1: so much light on that kick. Yeah, I mean they
Speaker 1: overdo it. It doesn't bother me as much as it
Speaker 1: does other people, but it bothers other people enough that
Speaker 1: I think it's something they should, you know, change, even
Speaker 1: if it's not on my top list of things they
Speaker 1: need to change. That might have something to do with
Speaker 1: half my time being you know, looking at my keyboard
Speaker 1: typing up stuff, you know, and maybe I'm missing, you know,
Speaker 1: the experience of just watching without a keyboard in front
Speaker 1: of me, and so I don't notice that stuff as much.
Speaker 1: I mean, Mike, are you numb to it or is
Speaker 1: it annoying for you?
Speaker 4: The shaking of the camera during certain like beatdowns stands
Speaker 4: out to me the most. Yes, bothersome if I'm looking
Speaker 4: for it. The cuts really bothered me because if they're
Speaker 4: good at their job. To get away from what way
Speaker 4: were saying about Dominic, you don't need these cuts to
Speaker 4: hide light in shots. It'll look good from a single angle.
Speaker 4: But it reminds me of several years ago. I went
Speaker 4: to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, and
Speaker 4: they have a section about broadcasting, and there's a booth
Speaker 4: you can sit at with monitors and it will just
Speaker 4: loop a one hockey play that was maybe thirty seconds long,
Speaker 4: like past past goal, And you have all these buttons
Speaker 4: in front of you, and what you can do is
Speaker 4: record your own little broadcast. You put on a headset
Speaker 4: and it records your audio, and you have these buttons
Speaker 4: that select the camera angle. And I, like to amuse myself,
Speaker 4: just slammed all the buttons and it was rapid fire.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 4: Change, change, change, change, change, change. It was changing so
Speaker 4: fast you couldn't see what was going on. But that's
Speaker 4: what it reminds me of, like when WB gets so
Speaker 4: heavy handed with like obsessed with the camera angle with
Speaker 4: every shot from one reason to another.
Speaker 1: I mean, you probably triggered security and someone said, I
Speaker 1: think there's another ten year old abusing the buttons and
Speaker 1: then they walk out, there's this grown man doing that.
Speaker 1: And then you said, why am I doing to be
Speaker 1: a fan? And I love Kevin Donn And they're like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: we get it.
Speaker 4: Yep. Oddly enough, that's exactly how it went house.
Speaker 1: That is very odd. I must say. That's surprised with me, Mike,
Speaker 1: I wasn't there. Yeah, all right, yeah, Nick, anything.
Speaker 6: Else, all right, No, that's it. Say good night to
Speaker 6: Vector for me and have a good evening.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Yah. Vector actually responds to being
Speaker 1: pet like if you rub the top of his head,
Speaker 1: he he sort of vibrates and his eyes look up adorably.
Speaker 1: So it's it's a cool it's a cool world, all right.
Speaker 6: That just sounds weird.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's it's it's weird, but it's also sweet.
Speaker 1: I have to remind myself, all right, good night, don't
Speaker 1: get hurt. Yes, good night, Factor, we're talking about you.
Speaker 1: He's sleeping. He snores too, by the way, like he
Speaker 1: actually he makes a snoring noise at night when he charges.
Speaker 17: Longing for some nostalgia or maybe you want to learn
Speaker 17: some wrestling history, don't miss the Nineties Pass, cast every
Speaker 17: Friday on the PW Torch Daily Cast Feed. Alex and
Speaker 17: Patrick will transport you thirty years into the past by
Speaker 17: taking you through the Torch. You from that very week,
Speaker 17: follow news from the WWF and WCW and all the
Speaker 17: happenings from across the wrestling industry in real time as
Speaker 17: The Torch reported it thirty years ago. That's the nineties
Speaker 17: Past cast every Friday on the PW Torch Daily Cast.
Speaker 1: Feed aabire Welcome. What have we left for you at
Speaker 1: the buffet of SmackDown topics?
Speaker 3: Hey?
Speaker 13: Wait, hey, Mike probably left me. What maybe my upcoming
Speaker 13: one of my upcoming favorite stories that's coming out. What
Speaker 13: if they're going to do the story of Kevin Owens
Speaker 13: trying to using his life experience to redeem Corbin. I'm
Speaker 13: all in on that.
Speaker 1: I know you're right. I'm glad since I'm glad we
Speaker 1: have talked about it, but I'm glad that we will
Speaker 1: did remember to talk about it, even though it's late
Speaker 1: in the show. The idea of Corbyn, you know, asking
Speaker 1: Kevin Owens for money and and Owens gives it to him,
Speaker 1: but he's like, you know, maybe try to be nicer,
Speaker 1: you know, like Kevin can Kevin can make this work.
Speaker 1: Corbyn is weak acting when he's not in front of
Speaker 1: a crowd. I think that's been a problem for him.
Speaker 1: But I also think it's because his material was so
Speaker 1: just cartoonishly one dimensional. I think he's a smart guy
Speaker 1: with more range than he often shows. And I from
Speaker 1: the second he got called up in nixteen, everyone's crapping
Speaker 1: on him, I'm like, no, this there's I've been wrong before,
Speaker 1: but I had more hope that he could be more
Speaker 1: than what most people were, you know, bracing for with
Speaker 1: him on the main roster. So I think there's a
Speaker 1: person I think he's having, you know, talk about rains
Speaker 1: having fun in front of live crowd. I think Corbyn
Speaker 1: is going to have fun working with Kevin Owens, playing
Speaker 1: a different kind of character than the saying song scripted
Speaker 1: I'm a king or I'm you know, Baron Corbin type
Speaker 1: thing that he's been doing for so long. I don't
Speaker 1: know what the endgame is and if it's going to
Speaker 1: be good for it or not, but Kevin Owens and
Speaker 1: Corbyn playing off each other I think could be a
Speaker 1: lot of fun. Mike, what do you think?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm glad you you brought him up. Javier that
Speaker 4: was one of my favorite segments. I think the last
Speaker 4: time I was on the Post Show with Wade was
Speaker 4: might have been the beginning of this Corbin journey with
Speaker 4: when he was just becoming down and out and starting
Speaker 4: to doubt himself and we thought, maybe he's going to
Speaker 4: get asked out to dinner by the opponents who just beated.
Speaker 1: Him or beat him, and well, that's embarrassing.
Speaker 4: Thanks, I appreciate it. I promise it's not going to
Speaker 4: get edited out. Everybody enjoyed. And since I kind of
Speaker 4: gravitated toward that, I was intrigued by the down and
Speaker 4: out Corbin, but since then it became a little more
Speaker 4: cartoonish and a little more let's laugh at the guy
Speaker 4: who lost everything, which is, like we pointed out as
Speaker 4: a running game sometimes in WWE, you lost your money,
Speaker 4: you're a failure and that's hilarious. But tonight was kind
Speaker 4: of a return to form where in his segment with Owens, yeah,
Speaker 4: and it was interesting, like I want to I want
Speaker 4: them to pry more into that and I hope that
Speaker 4: they stick with that. He I think he had. I
Speaker 4: think Corbyn had an interview segment earlier with Kayla where
Speaker 4: he just said that he said, what have I become? YEA,
Speaker 4: which I thought was a really unnatural thing that you
Speaker 4: would ever say to anybody with a microphone and a
Speaker 4: camera in your face. But then the thing with Owens
Speaker 4: was more natural. I like that that the Owens like
Speaker 4: being subtle, like, yeah, you kind of brought it upon yourself.
Speaker 4: What for eight nine years you've just been a jerk
Speaker 4: to people? What about what about not being a jerk
Speaker 4: to people? And Corbyn was just kind of looking at
Speaker 4: the ground and nodding that they fired a projectile from
Speaker 4: a tank in Corbyn's penis. He fell on the ground
Speaker 4: and was mugged. And I'm not saying that was good
Speaker 4: or bad, but I belly laughed because I didn't expect that.
Speaker 1: Yes, I mean, ziggler and rude, trying to steal the
Speaker 1: cash out of his hand after he takes a nerf
Speaker 1: dart to the to the crotch and it's it's just
Speaker 1: selling it, you know forever. I mean, it's camp. But
Speaker 1: it was funny, I mean, you know, in small doses
Speaker 1: at this place in the card, I think it works.
Speaker 1: And Kevin Owens is a voice, you know, the voice
Speaker 1: of reason, the voice of the fans stating the obvious.
Speaker 1: You know, hey, you know, if it bothers you that
Speaker 1: nobody feels sorry for you, and you know people feel
Speaker 1: like stealing from you and stealing your identity to you know,
Speaker 1: destroy you. If that bothers you, maybe make fewer enemies
Speaker 1: and change at the core who you are and how
Speaker 1: you treat people. Like I like when Arrestler just says
Speaker 1: what seems like the obviously right thing to say to
Speaker 1: the face of a heel, because I'm a fan of
Speaker 1: people saying the obvious thing instead of ignoring the obvious thing. So,
Speaker 1: and Kevin's good at that, Javier, back.
Speaker 13: To you, Well, yeah, and my favorite part of the
Speaker 13: whole entire segment was Kevin Owens coming back and fending
Speaker 13: off Rude Ziggler to defend Corbon so which at least
Speaker 13: makes me hope that at least tells us we're gonna
Speaker 13: get one more week of this, since next week chances
Speaker 13: that we're going to have a Zigger and Rude versus
Speaker 13: Corbin and uh and Owens and hopefully you know, was
Speaker 13: that on your.
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty one I'd be intrigued.
Speaker 1: Javier, Was that on your twenty twenty one bingo car
Speaker 1: that tag mate, No, no, nope, that the lightest no.
Speaker 13: Uh, you know, and just just milk it and you
Speaker 13: could end up having a festival friendship to this time,
Speaker 13: you know, with Corbyn screwing over, you know, finally deciding no,
Speaker 13: you know what being bad is better. But then you know,
Speaker 13: but maybe you can milk from stuff for this, and
Speaker 13: so it looks like they might have lost the the
Speaker 13: uh what's the term?
Speaker 10: I'm looking for the.
Speaker 13: The unlikely partners from WRAW since I don't know what's
Speaker 13: going on with Orton. Uh, maybe they could you know,
Speaker 13: just run that that uh, that kind of story of
Speaker 13: you know, unlikely partners in on tomaicn.
Speaker 1: Mike anything you want to say?
Speaker 4: No, I like it. I want one more week at
Speaker 4: least and go from there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what else have you Mike?
Speaker 13: Since you were talking about uh, Mike, since you were
Speaker 13: talking about the uh wearing your own merchandise, what what
Speaker 13: do you say about Kevin Owen's wearing Viking Readers merch?
Speaker 4: I like that's twice as cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, when you wear someone else's merch it's it's it's
Speaker 1: at least twice it's cool, maybe two point four times
Speaker 1: it is cool.
Speaker 13: The Uh yeah, I'm and you know what, it kind
Speaker 13: of makes me like, Oh, he likes the Viking Raiders,
Speaker 13: So I think I like the Viking Raiders a little
Speaker 13: bit more. So you're also helping getting get over the
Speaker 13: Viking Raiders.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 13: The one quick thing they keep talking about how Ray
Speaker 13: and Dominic are the first ever you know, father son
Speaker 13: tag team. Yeah, they're really disrespecting Shane Vincent. Shane tagged
Speaker 13: thirteen times.
Speaker 1: Did they win championships?
Speaker 13: I mean yes, indirect net tag team championships. A lot
Speaker 13: of them were handicapped tag team matches where a title
Speaker 13: is on the line.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I will say this. I saw for its
Speaker 1: fun Eric team up with with his sons Carrie and
Speaker 1: Kevin and David and some and Mike and some former
Speaker 1: fashion I saw Larry the Ax Henning and Kurt Henning
Speaker 1: team up. I have and they might have even. Did
Speaker 1: they win the AAA TA team titles? I don't think so,
Speaker 1: but I think they did. They face Jesse even turing
Speaker 1: Adrian Adonnas at a show I attended, and then I
Speaker 1: have to see if that's true. And also what was
Speaker 1: the other team? I was thinking, Uh, we had a
Speaker 1: gun club? Oh yeah, yeah, that counts. I mean, there's
Speaker 1: a there's been a lot of father son teams. Oh Vernon,
Speaker 1: did I say Vernon greg gany out loud? Yet that's
Speaker 1: that I think they I think they team together, although
Speaker 1: verndn't seem to want to take with Craig, so anyway, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's they definitely are not the only father son team.
Speaker 1: That's that's and I'm I'm not even citing all of
Speaker 1: wrestling history, just things that are coming to mind that
Speaker 1: I've experienced.
Speaker 13: Yeah, I mean, even if they were just referring to
Speaker 13: just n w ee still you know, yeah, uh but yeah,
Speaker 13: I just I just thought that was that might be
Speaker 13: something a time I want to talk about since you know,
Speaker 13: Shane's all our favorites, yes, disrespect for him, swear uh uh.
Speaker 13: The one thing I really hoped at the end of
Speaker 13: the show was the reception that Balor got when he
Speaker 13: came out to face Robin rand. I really hope that
Speaker 13: they listened to that reaction and you know, not like
Speaker 13: give him the title, but at least realize that they got.
Speaker 2: Something in Balor.
Speaker 13: And you know, if we know Balor is going to
Speaker 13: lose any you know eventually when they run, when they
Speaker 13: wrestle each other, and I'm hoping that he doesn't go
Speaker 13: the way of Cesarrow. I mean, Cizarro had some other issues,
Speaker 13: but you know, I'm hoping that, you know, because you know,
Speaker 13: if this were like aw they you know, they'd be
Speaker 13: doing something with with Balor once, you know, on the
Speaker 13: other side of the thing. And I'm hoping they just
Speaker 13: don't forget, because I mean, that was that was a
Speaker 13: pretty I thought that was a pretty impressive reaction when
Speaker 13: he came out.
Speaker 1: There is only so much room to be the top,
Speaker 1: top guy, and I don't know how you keep Balor
Speaker 1: fans happy. If he's goes against Rains comes up short,
Speaker 1: then you know, I mean, it's like Cizarro. I mean,
Speaker 1: then there's the in a continental title level or a
Speaker 1: grudge feud, or you enter the tag division. And so
Speaker 1: to me, it's more how do they frame him and
Speaker 1: do they frame him in a way that seems like
Speaker 1: they're protecting him enough for him to be in main
Speaker 1: events again, or are they just sort of you know,
Speaker 1: writing him off at a lower level, you know, just
Speaker 1: kind of locking him in at a lower level after
Speaker 1: he visits, you know, a main event against Reins and
Speaker 1: just portraying give him an opportunity to seem like he's
Speaker 1: part of meaningful things like aw is just like really
Speaker 1: good at that. Like when someone's not fighting in the
Speaker 1: main event or for the world title, it's still it
Speaker 1: doesn't seem like, oh they don't believe in him as
Speaker 1: much as oh he's got other things to do, or
Speaker 1: that it's not his time, that's not where his focus is.
Speaker 1: And that's just having good depth to your booking where
Speaker 1: it's not just you know, super top heavy with all
Speaker 1: the emphasis being just on whoever's on top, and everybody
Speaker 1: else just feels kind of disrespected or disregarded.
Speaker 13: Yeah, if he goes back to feuding with uh, with
Speaker 13: them Sammy's ain like right after this, after you know,
Speaker 13: having beaten him leg did today, I mean he goes
Speaker 13: to you know, I'd I'd rather see him go against
Speaker 13: you know, somebody else, because going back, you know, that
Speaker 13: was that was like the bummer about Cesarrow, says. Cesar
Speaker 13: had looked like he had wrapped up his feud with
Speaker 13: with Seth Rollins and then you know, wrestled Roman and
Speaker 13: then went straight back to the feud with with Seth
Speaker 13: Rollins where it was like, oh yeah, we just needed
Speaker 13: a body for now, So that that's kind of what
Speaker 13: I'm hoping that they do have somebody else, even I mean,
Speaker 13: even if it is you know, Apollo Cruise for the
Speaker 13: for the ic type. I see, right, I keep forgetting
Speaker 13: which which where's the it's the ic En.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and if you're wrong, you're okay, we won't judge you.
Speaker 13: I understand, but uh, I mean it goes to show
Speaker 13: how important the secondary titles of WR. I sometimes forget
Speaker 13: the Apollo has the title. I have to remind myself
Speaker 13: who has the West the secondary title? On uh on second? Yeah,
Speaker 13: but yeah, so you know, hopefully they do something else
Speaker 13: with them.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 13: And then with Biggie, I think i'd rather see I'd
Speaker 13: rather see him like interact for a while with Paul
Speaker 13: Hayman away from Roman rans when when you're ready to
Speaker 13: you know, head in that direction just because you know,
Speaker 13: have uh Hayman like be nervous that that Biggie's hanging around,
Speaker 13: like you know, like that segment that they had where
Speaker 13: where he was being interviewed and then and then you
Speaker 13: know Biggie came out and started you know bugging uh
Speaker 13: bugging Hayman. I want to see more of that so
Speaker 13: that that you know, Hayman would be the one suffering
Speaker 13: the brunt of Biggie stuff before Biggie's uh, you know,
Speaker 13: challenges romans. That's ultimately where they go.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yep, and you want to comment on that, Mike,
Speaker 4: I think it might be neat. It could be only momentary.
Speaker 4: But if for Big Ee to approach Hayman to try
Speaker 4: to get to Rains and Haman to blow Biggie off
Speaker 4: like he might blow off anybody, but for Biggie to
Speaker 4: kind of flex his muscles so speak with that contract
Speaker 4: and for that to make Hayman sweat on behalf of Rains,
Speaker 4: that might be a nice, a nice, a nice moment
Speaker 4: to see ONTV.
Speaker 1: Before pushing play on the way Keller Pro Wrestling post shows,
Speaker 1: check out pw torch dot com and our TV review
Speaker 1: section and skim through a full rundown of the TV
Speaker 1: show if you didn't see it. That's your way to
Speaker 1: get an overview of what happened before you dive into
Speaker 1: our in depth analysis of the key happenings on the show.
Speaker 1: That's pw torch dot com. You're home for live TV
Speaker 1: coverage every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with my TV reports
Speaker 1: and also check out our NXT and Impact coverage on
Speaker 1: Tuesdays and Thursdays, our Collision reports on Saturday nights, and
Speaker 1: of course our live pay per view on Ple coverage
Speaker 1: on weekend. All waiting for you at PW torch dot com.
Speaker 1: By the way, w B just sent a press release
Speaker 1: with breaking news that we have a new pay per view.
Speaker 1: It's called New Year's Day and it takes place oddly
Speaker 1: on January third. No, I'm kidding, January first, twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: Tickets go and say August twenty seventh. It's going to
Speaker 1: be in Atlanta, Georgia on January first. It's the first
Speaker 1: time in w W history that they have had a
Speaker 1: pay perview on New Year's Day. It's at a PM though,
Speaker 1: so it's like New Year's Night.
Speaker 7: But whatever.
Speaker 1: So that'll be on Peacock. So just thought i'd we
Speaker 1: just got the press release from them, so I thought
Speaker 1: I would say that, and Trey Young announced it on YouTube.
Speaker 1: NBA all start there. We go, now back to regularly
Speaker 1: scheduled programming. How have you here anything else?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 13: Quickment mentioned on the wherever the hell they were down
Speaker 13: here Miami. It's a possibility. It might not have advertised
Speaker 13: it too hard because the weather down here is really bad. Uh,
Speaker 13: there's thunderstorms and stuff, so it might have been a
Speaker 13: case where they might not have been able to have
Speaker 13: the matches.
Speaker 1: And did the stage collapse? Yesterday? I saw a news
Speaker 1: story on that, like it was. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that put in doubt the event or it just yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: there was.
Speaker 16: A nice thing.
Speaker 6: I have no clue.
Speaker 4: YEA, I saw like a collapsed or something and then
Speaker 4: the show will go on, We're told that. That also
Speaker 4: put into question why I was wondering that did w
Speaker 4: t B didn't mention it in the first half hour
Speaker 4: of the show.
Speaker 1: And that made me think back to that, and I
Speaker 1: know Big Show wasn't taking practice bumps. That didn't cause
Speaker 1: it because he's in a w So yeah, thanks, I
Speaker 1: appreciate the generosity of your laughterday. Yeah, quite out here.
Speaker 13: And I knew that that it was happening in my
Speaker 13: you know, because I heard it was my amies. I
Speaker 13: was thinking, I didn't realize the Miami Gardens that's like,
Speaker 13: uh just north of me, and I was wondering what
Speaker 13: the hell was having to deal with so much traffic? Uh,
Speaker 13: today you know, coming to and from work, and I
Speaker 13: didn't know that it was U It's in the background,
Speaker 13: you saw the Miami Dolphin Stadium.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 10: Yeah, so yeah, uh it was a.
Speaker 13: I did like the how awesome you know it looked
Speaker 13: in terms of like you know, being outside and like
Speaker 13: a different kind of look to it, you know, the match,
Speaker 13: And I mean that could also be why the matches
Speaker 13: were clunky, you know, with the humidity and stuff.
Speaker 6: The uh.
Speaker 13: But I do, like, you know, I do like I
Speaker 13: do want to see more of this. So I do
Speaker 13: want to see like you know, like you said, the
Speaker 13: you know, a different venue, something to to be visually excited,
Speaker 13: you know, uh, to add like you know, to to
Speaker 13: make it feel more special, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I wrote that on my report pewed torch dot com.
Speaker 1: I love when someone else applies their vision to how
Speaker 1: to present pro wrestling, you know, I mean, I just
Speaker 1: you know, Mike, there's examples of that. And you know,
Speaker 1: like directing and how you know, you can imagine a
Speaker 1: director interpreting a script differently than another director would, even
Speaker 1: though it's everything else is the same. And with that,
Speaker 1: we we just don't get that very often, you know.
Speaker 3: I was so. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Anyway, your thoughts on that aspect of things, well.
Speaker 4: That that stood out to me immediately, Like my eyes
Speaker 4: were more drawn to the screen for that for the
Speaker 4: two Miami segments because of the setting was different. It
Speaker 4: kind of reminded me of the Daily's Plays layout, yep,
Speaker 4: and that it was kind of one directional. It was
Speaker 4: open air, you could see the sky like it was
Speaker 4: still there was still enough sunlight that you could see
Speaker 4: the sky in the clouds, and there was a ferris
Speaker 4: wheel in the background. You could see the stadium, the
Speaker 4: dolphins playing, like Javier said, and there was some other
Speaker 4: weird tower structure. I don't even know what it was,
Speaker 4: but it was very colorful and lit up, and I
Speaker 4: could I even took notice of the like they had
Speaker 4: two scissor lifts straight away from the stage with spotlights
Speaker 4: on them in the middle of the crowd, and those
Speaker 4: things just look nothing like any WBE production and in
Speaker 4: that it's cool and unique and fresh, and I agree
Speaker 4: with both of you, I'd like to see more of it.
Speaker 4: I don't know that I want to see more of
Speaker 4: it interspersed with arena shows, because that's kind of confusing
Speaker 4: and neither part gets the best deal. So I just
Speaker 4: do more shows in unique spaces, is what I think,
Speaker 4: because they probably don't want to sacrifice all the control
Speaker 4: that they have, you know, but I say, let go
Speaker 4: of that and go something that looks cool memorable.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yep, exactly, let go of the control I hovey
Speaker 1: you or anything else for us.
Speaker 13: Well, Uh, I do want to bury the camera work
Speaker 13: that Uh you could luck me down with one of
Speaker 13: the people who absolutely hate those those those rapid cuts.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 13: You know, I understand that it also leads at least
Speaker 13: to make things look more impactful stuff on occasion. But
Speaker 13: the problem is that you're you're when when you're watching,
Speaker 13: some of your brains trying to you know, process the
Speaker 13: information and get and get like you know, the distance
Speaker 13: between stuff and you know, we're you know, the where
Speaker 13: everything in the in the ring. But when you can continue,
Speaker 13: when you cut away from that, your brains basically have
Speaker 13: to you know, rethink where everything is. And when you're
Speaker 13: just moving one place to one, you know, you're just
Speaker 13: basically slashing the screens the you know, flashing you know
Speaker 13: from one one uh, from one screen to the other.
Speaker 13: You just don't have the images and have time to
Speaker 13: sync in and you know, you could kind of tell
Speaker 13: with some you know, more modern in movies where it's
Speaker 13: like just explosions all over the place. And while yeah,
Speaker 13: it stimulates your brain and you're like, oh, you know,
Speaker 13: look at the pretty colors. Yeah, it doesn't leave you
Speaker 13: with the lasting you know, it doesn't leave you with
Speaker 13: the lasting impression of what just happened. I mean I
Speaker 13: converted into New Japan stuff because you know New Japan.
Speaker 13: I noticed there's not that many camera cuts and and
Speaker 13: the camera holds on people's faces so you can get
Speaker 13: their reaction and stuff. And it just makes the violence
Speaker 13: you're seeing in The Ring more uh, more real, while
Speaker 13: what you're seeing like in WWE, which just you know,
Speaker 13: the rapid cutaways, feels more like a cartoon. And I
Speaker 13: mean it's hard to like not understand that that's problem,
Speaker 13: you know, on a level, on a certain level, that's
Speaker 13: kind of what they want. But still it's like, uh,
Speaker 13: chill out on that. Yeah, yeah, I mean that that
Speaker 13: that through McIntyre one definitely, yes, a horrendous.
Speaker 1: One, yes, yeah.
Speaker 3: Cool.
Speaker 13: And the other thing is cautioning them to just crossing
Speaker 13: them too. On running the bank, there was a somebody's
Speaker 13: entrance had a bunch of flashing lights where I had
Speaker 13: to I mean, I don't proceizures, but I had to
Speaker 13: look away from the from the screen the you know
Speaker 13: how they were flashing that. I'm pretty sure that could
Speaker 13: have been you know, that could have met somebody up. Yeah,
Speaker 13: I just don't remember whose interest it was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't remember either. Yeah. Have you got anything
Speaker 1: else for us?
Speaker 7: Uh No, that's about it.
Speaker 13: Uh So I will catch you guys soon, hopefully now
Speaker 13: that I'm actually off tomorrow, might actually really finished adding
Speaker 13: the podcast, and now I get to talk about hiccolo.
Speaker 1: That's what I said, challenging for the for the.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I also said three other pronunciations yeah, all right cool
Speaker 1: uh and and a fourth one that was just oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I just day it was late. I'm like, got it. Yeah, thanks,
Speaker 1: admit it. You love Nick Barbatty when he co hosts
Speaker 1: with me on the Wadekeller Post Shows. Well, now you
Speaker 1: can listen to him every week on The Nicky's Club,
Speaker 1: a VIP exclusive podcast. Here's Nick to tell you more.
Speaker 18: Hey, wrestling fans, It's Nick Barbatty and I'm back with
Speaker 18: the Nicky's Club, the place where the family of Nicky's
Speaker 18: comes together for big laughs and sharp takes on WWE
Speaker 18: for Wrestlmania rumors to surprise returns. I got you covered.
Speaker 18: The Nicky's Club where the wrestling feels like the coolest
Speaker 18: club in town.
Speaker 1: Nick Barbatty wants to be part of your pro wrestling
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Speaker 1: pw torch dot com slash go vip for full details
Speaker 1: on signing up. We're compatible with patreons, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
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Speaker 1: dot com. You are invited to send questions on anything
Speaker 1: and everything at any time, and we often work them
Speaker 1: into our flagship and our mail Bak segments too. So
Speaker 1: speaking of which, Michael will wrap up quick here because
Speaker 1: we're going long couple jump out here. Worth mentioning one.
Speaker 1: We talked about Pat McAfee earlier. This was actually sent
Speaker 1: before SmackDown, but I want to expand on on Pat
Speaker 1: mcfiel little bit because we mentioned a few things he
Speaker 1: did tonight. Jack from jack A from Swansea Whale said,
Speaker 1: I want I want to say that I think Pat
Speaker 1: McAfee has been a fantastic listen to on commentary since
Speaker 1: a debuted first week or two. I wasn't quite sure
Speaker 1: he was a good fit for the announced desk, but
Speaker 1: I think he's grown into the role very well. I
Speaker 1: saw Michael Cole was on a show this week saying
Speaker 1: Pat has revitalized his own career, which seems like a
Speaker 1: big compliment to Pat. That actually sounded like two friends
Speaker 1: watching wrestling. Dare I say McAfee brings out a normal
Speaker 1: human reaction out of Coal. I also feel like Pat
Speaker 1: isn't playing the stereotypical heel w to be commentator like
Speaker 1: Corey Grace. He's complete complimenting rains and the husso's. But
Speaker 1: on the other hand, when Carmel is playing her, heelect
Speaker 1: he won't start showering her with praise or telling us
Speaker 1: how beautiful she is, although he's all so not dating her.
Speaker 1: SmackDown last week when Zelina told him to tell everyone
Speaker 1: how good she was, he says to be fair Live
Speaker 1: has one three in a row. The personality he has.
Speaker 1: I have to imagine Vince cracks up at him. The
Speaker 1: sitting on Michael Col's head when Knackmer comes out and
Speaker 1: his fantastic line up. Whinny in the bank asking where
Speaker 1: is Sena was great. I think Pat could be to
Speaker 1: helop into a really good commentator. What do you think?
Speaker 1: Thanks for all you do? Stay safe. I was in
Speaker 1: the camp with Jack Mike. I wasn't sure on McAfee.
Speaker 1: He came across as a loud mouth who liked the
Speaker 1: sound of his own voice. I think it was Brandon
Speaker 1: maclaire who made an impassioned case that Pat's a good guy,
Speaker 1: a smart guy, a host he really liked, and you know,
Speaker 1: give him a chance, and I have, and he has
Speaker 1: grown on me. I like him, and I think Cole
Speaker 1: saying he's revitalized my career. I don't know how Corey
Speaker 1: Grace feels about that, or whoever else Cole's worked with,
Speaker 1: but Pat McAfee is a professional and experienced and is
Speaker 1: successful for a reason, and I think we're starting to
Speaker 1: see he's bringing.
Speaker 3: There.
Speaker 1: I think he's a I think there's a lot when
Speaker 1: I listened to him. He is a big enough star
Speaker 1: to have fu money for Vince, but I don't think
Speaker 1: he's going to trigger Vince freaking out and causing Pat
Speaker 1: to just walk away and go I don't need the headache,
Speaker 1: cause I think he is enough in line with what
Speaker 1: Vince wants. But he is an established personality and presence
Speaker 1: who is kind of carving his own tunnel as opposed
Speaker 1: to just following the arrows you know at the airport
Speaker 1: or the hospital that Vince has laid out for every
Speaker 1: other color commentator. Mike your thoughts.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've also been a proponent of McAfee. I think
Speaker 4: it's it's interesting how he, like you said, he carves
Speaker 4: his own path or his own tunnel. That can only
Speaker 4: happen if he is an existence. He's already a fan
Speaker 4: of WWE. If that's not there, then none of this works.
Speaker 4: I think. So he probably has this internal just compass.
Speaker 1: Yes, Jimmy that Jimmy Smith doesn't have, you know, and
Speaker 1: we're yea and a nonvert didn't have. Where you're listening,
Speaker 1: you're just like I mean, I just constantly when Jimmy
Speaker 1: just says sayings and he says him like he's a
Speaker 1: alho see what t shirt contest and tipped the waitress
Speaker 1: and it's just like this tone and it's in your
Speaker 1: face and it's a it's it's it's abrasive. And then
Speaker 1: he just says things that aren't things you know. Just
Speaker 1: constantly he just makes declarations who's more popular than New Day, Well,
Speaker 1: I don't know, like six or eight guys, I don't know,
Speaker 1: Maybe why'd you say that? And like I never get
Speaker 1: that five with McAfee, Like everything he says is is
Speaker 1: because of an immense familiarity with the product. Doesn't mean
Speaker 1: I'm laugh at everything or think everything was the best
Speaker 1: thing to say, But I never think he just doesn't
Speaker 1: know what he's talking about and he thinks anything's radiots
Speaker 1: or he can get away with it like he knows
Speaker 1: a product, and there's enthusiasm and a joy to his performance.
Speaker 1: And I do think he keeps coal. He brings out
Speaker 1: something cold that we haven't heard before.
Speaker 4: And I'm not familiar with McAfee's broadcasting career or podcasting career.
Speaker 4: My introduction to him was via I think he was
Speaker 4: doing like an nxt py perview kickoff show, and he
Speaker 4: made a first impression on me that this guy is
Speaker 4: funny in this environment and that's a challenge maybe not
Speaker 4: so much, maybe not so much an NXT, but that
Speaker 4: he's doing the same thing and WBE is saying a lot.
Speaker 4: What's saying even more than that is Cole's comments that
Speaker 4: the emailer cited. That's huge for a guy whose career
Speaker 4: has been in one place for so long to speak
Speaker 4: so highly. That's that's incredible. And I mean, like I said,
Speaker 4: I'm happy that Cole is having fun again, and it
Speaker 4: shone through tonight, if only briefly to me, but it's
Speaker 4: it's new. I think it is. I see what Cole
Speaker 4: is saying. I could see how it's revitalizing. And yeah,
Speaker 4: Macfee's bringing a different energy that isn't so different that
Speaker 4: the production needs to twist it. They can leave it
Speaker 4: be and leave it be really good.
Speaker 1: Yeah. iPhone users, if you're listening to us on the
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Speaker 1: All right, Zach and Texas has something negative to say
Speaker 1: about w B because he always does, and he always
Speaker 1: says something positive about AW And I don't say that
Speaker 1: to rip on him. I say that because he is
Speaker 1: part of the tart. He is representative of the type
Speaker 1: of fan that w B is missing out on, and
Speaker 1: I think his words matter in that way and are valuable.
Speaker 1: So he says, I don't care about John Cena versus
Speaker 1: Roman rays. John Cena's perfectly fine, even though he's outgrown
Speaker 1: the gimmick to the point where he looks like he's
Speaker 1: costplaying as John Cena, which is an interesting way to
Speaker 1: put it. Well, I don't know if John ever felt
Speaker 1: super authentic playing the John Cena. You know, Georges walks
Speaker 1: like a toddler, caters to kids, changes teacher colors. But
Speaker 1: there is something now where you're like, you're in your forties.
Speaker 1: Now you are kind of costplaying the old John Cena.
Speaker 1: And maybe that's what Rings is getting at. Anyway, the
Speaker 1: problem is that there's no intrigue. It's all sizzle and
Speaker 1: no steake. Nobody thinks Sen has a snowballs chance in
Speaker 1: hell to beat Rains. Same with Goldberg CHAMPIONSIP matches at
Speaker 1: summerslame level paper. It should be the culmination of month's
Speaker 1: long stories, not a one off of a part timer.
Speaker 1: Sina would be better surf feuding with Sammy's ain. That
Speaker 1: match finish could go either way. Someone like Finn Balor
Speaker 1: should have been built up to face Rains. Instead, we
Speaker 1: have a title match in which fans can't really invest
Speaker 1: in the challenger. It's incredibly short sighted, so react to
Speaker 1: that mic. But also I thought Sina expected a more
Speaker 1: mixed reaction, and I don't know why you'd think that
Speaker 1: after what happened last weekend, but because he was like
Speaker 1: some of you like Romans, some of you like me,
Speaker 1: Like it almost seems like he missed the dueling chance,
Speaker 1: Like it was like almost fishing for Roman fans. I
Speaker 1: know there's Roman fans out there, which is his way
Speaker 1: of saying, if you're out there, speak up, because I
Speaker 1: got a lot of material on this and you're not helping.
Speaker 1: And that's not it shouldn't be a goal. I'm just saying.
Speaker 1: It was an expectation of his I thought that he'd
Speaker 1: be in Cleveland and there would be some Roman fans
Speaker 1: he could play off of, and he didn't really get
Speaker 1: that chance. I know Dom and his section and said
Speaker 1: it was you know, you know, sixty forty Roman. But
Speaker 1: I think it came across on TV more close to
Speaker 1: what Robert experienced from the two hundred section, which is,
Speaker 1: you know, almost all boos and not a lot of
Speaker 1: not a lot of pro stuff for rain. So anyway,
Speaker 1: those are some straight thoughts I had that I was
Speaker 1: wanting to sneak in about Seina.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's that's interesting to think about Sena fishing for
Speaker 4: a mixed response. I hope that's the case, because that's
Speaker 4: way more interesting, that's more nuanced, and I think what
Speaker 4: my support that is. I think on Raw Monday night
Speaker 4: he even said I heard some let's go Sena. I
Speaker 4: heard Sina sucks coming out, like he was like outwardly
Speaker 4: acknowledging that he was hearing both sides of the spectrum
Speaker 4: for and against him. Tonight he said, I know there's
Speaker 4: there's people who like Roman out there. There must be
Speaker 4: hundreds of you. But I was a little confused for
Speaker 4: that because I didn't know if he meant because hundreds
Speaker 4: in the arena would be a significant fraction, but hundreds
Speaker 4: in the you know, the broadcast universe would be insignificant.
Speaker 4: So I wasn't exactly I wasn't sure who he was
Speaker 4: talking to, if you met the arena or everybody watching.
Speaker 4: But either way, it kind of adds up to looking
Speaker 4: for the mixed response. In the mixed response, I guess
Speaker 4: is more interesting. All of that said, I agree with
Speaker 4: the emailer the matches he proposed are way more intriguing,
Speaker 4: but it's WWE and this is what WB serves us.
Speaker 4: You know, they're going to go back to Sena after
Speaker 4: a couple of years. They're going to go back to
Speaker 4: Goldberg after a year, and these are the big matches.
Speaker 4: We get they're still interesting to talk about to some extent,
Speaker 4: but it could be better maybe, But this is what
Speaker 4: WB does. They go back to these guys that are
Speaker 4: willing to come back and are or were really big names.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think PAT fans would be more accepting
Speaker 1: of it if they if they felt they did a
Speaker 1: better job with today stars both developing, hiring, recruiting, retaining.
Speaker 1: But part of it is there just absence makes the
Speaker 1: heart grow fonder, or at least it makes you forget
Speaker 1: about how bored you were by Goldberg last time, although
Speaker 1: it seems like fans are remembering that now in the
Speaker 1: blooms off that Rose. But it creates the veneer, the
Speaker 1: facade of Summer Slime being special when it's not a
Speaker 1: recycled match that was on another pay per view or SmackDown,
Speaker 1: and that's what they're going for and generally, and you know,
Speaker 1: Goldberg's I don't want. Goldberg's has a presence and he
Speaker 1: looks still he still looks like Goldberg, and he has
Speaker 1: a presence and he can play Goldberg, you know, into
Speaker 1: his fifties because he didn't do much, you know, like
Speaker 1: his character when he was in his thirties is one that, well,
Speaker 1: if he can look the part, he can probably keep
Speaker 1: doing a spear. He's not selling machine or you know,
Speaker 1: super super graceful athlete in the way where Chris Jericho
Speaker 1: had to reinvent himself, you know, I mean, Chriss has
Speaker 1: had to portray himself in different ways over time because
Speaker 1: he isn't the athlete he once was and there's a
Speaker 1: lot of wear and tear on that body. So with Goldberg,
Speaker 1: you know, he can play the part, but there are
Speaker 1: diminishing returns when he's not protected, and he hasn't really
Speaker 1: been protected, so it is just sort of an incelgient thing.
Speaker 1: But they're not leaning on that as the main match.
Speaker 1: They're leaning on Raine Sena. So yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's good. I think it's showing
Speaker 1: up in the ratings. I get where's 's coming from.
Speaker 1: But it is sort of up to other people to
Speaker 1: step up too and be that person. And you know,
Speaker 1: Lashly stepped up, but he's also in his mid forties,
Speaker 1: you know, So the question is when is DEBI be
Speaker 1: going to put other wrestlers in a position to have
Speaker 1: that ruthless aggression and do what Sina did. There just
Speaker 1: aren't a lot of people that that would be where
Speaker 1: we look and go, well, daugh to be screwed that up,
Speaker 1: Like they're just not good at hiring and developing people
Speaker 1: to do that. Other than you know, there's frustration that
Speaker 1: m cole hasn't been given that chance. So yeah, anyway,
Speaker 1: onto Jobey and Jacksonville. Dobbie should have branched this, should
Speaker 1: have branded this as a w B super spread of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. I'm all for transitioning back to normal.
Speaker 1: With thirty thousand people from forty six states in Miami
Speaker 1: plus ten thousand more in Cleveland, and with new variants
Speaker 1: on the rise, what could possibly go wrong? Hey, if
Speaker 1: you're vaccinated and you're healthy, it's it. You know, the
Speaker 1: super spread is gonna be. People aren't getting vaccines. I mean, so,
Speaker 1: I you know, the vast majority of the elderly population
Speaker 1: or we're both both most at risk, have been vaccinated
Speaker 1: and people who have pre existing conditions. I'm in vaccinate
Speaker 1: is so I'm a lot less worked up about people
Speaker 1: who aren't getting vaccinated putting themselves at risk. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't want anyone to be I don't want anyone
Speaker 1: to have, you know, die or be hospitalized. But it's
Speaker 1: now in the hands of the people who are choosing
Speaker 1: whether or not to put themselves, and so I don't know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he says. My two biggest takeaways from watching for the
Speaker 1: first time in maybe a year, where one Roman Rangne
Speaker 1: is on a completely different level than anyone in Deba
Speaker 1: By and it's not even close, And two Dowdie's in
Speaker 1: the midst of tripping into the next big w B
Speaker 1: baby face headliner, Baron Corbin. This is interesting the combination
Speaker 1: of the ridiculousness of the storyline, Baron playing it's so
Speaker 1: straight faced even though you know he thinks it's stupid,
Speaker 1: and his surprising acting chops. I could easily see making
Speaker 1: him a cult accidental babyface like Daniel Bryant. I'm in
Speaker 1: our forty five minutes into this tour show, and I
Speaker 1: have no emotional attachment as a fan to anything besides
Speaker 1: really wanting to see Baron Corbin turns fortunes around. I
Speaker 1: never thought I would say it, but I want more
Speaker 1: Baron Corbyn. Go vip Joe By in Jacksonville Mike, is
Speaker 1: that are we, like, in three or six months gonna
Speaker 1: be talking about Baron Corben as just like reinventing himself,
Speaker 1: you know, in a way where he actually just through
Speaker 1: almost accident, turns into.
Speaker 4: A big stars. Is Joe out of something here? I
Speaker 4: highly doubt it, but you're saying that there is a chance.
Speaker 4: Of course, the reason I know that I should doubt
Speaker 4: it is because it's something that I'm kind of excited
Speaker 4: about and would love to see, and because we're talking
Speaker 4: about WWE and Baron Corbin and how one tracked he's
Speaker 4: been historically. It's just not gonna happen. I'll gladly eat
Speaker 4: my words. But I've said before on this show that
Speaker 4: I'm like a sucker for good sportsmanship and turnarounds and
Speaker 4: seeing the light of day. And I've caught a glimpse
Speaker 4: of glimpses of that, or maybe even imagined glimpses of
Speaker 4: that with Corbin, and I don't see them ever going
Speaker 4: all the way with that, and I'd even I would
Speaker 4: totally accept them doing that briefly, even if it means
Speaker 4: Corbyn just turns on a heel, like because see the
Speaker 4: emailer said, getting his riches back I don't want him
Speaker 4: to get as rich as I want him to learn
Speaker 4: not to be a dickhead to everybody exactly what.
Speaker 1: I want and who better to tell fans I believe
Speaker 1: in this guy. I think he's changed than Kevin Owens.
Speaker 1: Now it's going to be cliche. If Baron Corbin then
Speaker 1: you know, blindsides Kevin Owns from behind as soon as
Speaker 1: Kevin Owns drops his guard, and that might be the plan.
Speaker 1: I hope they're open to something else, and maybe that's
Speaker 1: something else, is sending Baron KORbin to like New Japan
Speaker 1: to join Bullet Club for like nine months, because then
Speaker 1: he'd come back with like because I think he'd be
Speaker 1: fine in that setting, you know, in the ring, and
Speaker 1: then he can come back with like credibility with part
Speaker 1: of the fan base for having, you know, showing what
Speaker 1: he can do outside of W's cartoon world, and then
Speaker 1: you know, he could kind of come back and be
Speaker 1: a elevated character. I can't wait for that to be
Speaker 1: think Wade Keller proposes Baron Corbyn joined Bullet Club, but
Speaker 1: I kind of am.
Speaker 4: There it is.
Speaker 5: Yeah, are you a fan of AW looking to sit back,
Speaker 5: relax and listen to some like minded podcasters who share
Speaker 5: your passion. Do you want to be topped off the
Speaker 5: ledge after a segment that has you wondering what the
Speaker 5: heck are they thinking? Do you want to join a
Speaker 5: discussion on what AW is doing right and what they
Speaker 5: could do to improve, Then join me, Joel and me
Speaker 5: Greg for.
Speaker 19: The All of the Conversation Club every Friday on the
Speaker 19: PW Torch Live Cast. Fee search PW Torch in your
Speaker 19: podcast app and subscribe to PW Torchdaily Cast or stream
Speaker 19: our shows directly from pw torch dot com. Find full
Speaker 19: details on the PW Torchdailycast lineup at pw torchdailycast dot com.
Speaker 1: All Right, finally, Jason Jason Elt says, I'm really disappointed
Speaker 1: they didn't give Biggie an actual promo tonight after the
Speaker 1: biggest singles win of his career. They instead shows due
Speaker 1: to the same parade of interruptions we've seen countless times.
Speaker 1: They just can't help themselves. The crowd at Rolling Loud
Speaker 1: looked like they couldn't care less about wrestling, and why
Speaker 1: would they they pay to see a music festival. There
Speaker 1: was an interesting setting, and I'm happy wt's trying new things,
Speaker 1: but this didn't come across well. The contrast between a
Speaker 1: red hot crowd in house to complete apathy was jarring.
Speaker 1: I never thought i'd say this, but I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see what's happening with Baron KORbin each week. He's playing
Speaker 1: his part perfectly well and they've got me intrigued. I
Speaker 1: just hope they had that they have a worthwhile payoff planned.
Speaker 1: It's a great night for Finn Balor. No doubt rains
Speaker 1: Againsteen is still a plann for summerslign. But I'm really
Speaker 1: interested to see where they're going after that closing segment.
Speaker 1: Good hook for next week. So yeah, I mean there
Speaker 1: is a rising sense of optimism and interest in this
Speaker 1: Corbin storyline that might be like with Danny Bryant, might
Speaker 1: go beyond on WB's intentions. So another anecdotal email backing
Speaker 1: that up. I don't want w B to give up
Speaker 1: on these these unconventional settings because they think there was
Speaker 1: some down downsides to tonight. I think they should just
Speaker 1: it's a learning experience, but not something where you just
Speaker 1: write it off and go back into your your comfort,
Speaker 1: comfortable little bubble of you know, major NBA, NHL arenas
Speaker 1: with the exact same setup, and yeah, we talked about Biggie.
Speaker 1: So yeah, this was this was a week to give
Speaker 1: of a promo and it was a lack of faith
Speaker 1: in him. Anything you want to add to any.
Speaker 4: Of that, Mike, No, that all sounded good to me.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Oh and Hbery melt and mentioned this and it reminded
Speaker 1: you of something I want to say too. He said,
Speaker 1: I'm waiting for the rain Scena face to face promo
Speaker 1: because I think it will recontextualize Sena's first two promos
Speaker 1: and when Rains is out there saying Sena is a
Speaker 1: two thousand and five, you know, nostalgia act like I
Speaker 1: do think, sort of like with Raw, Sina is way
Speaker 1: smarter than people who don't like Sena want to give
Speaker 1: him credit for. And Sina showed us with Rocks. He's
Speaker 1: his mind's churning, he's got a plan. There's no accidents here.
Speaker 1: You got Hayman involved, you got Rains involved. I'm with Javier.
Speaker 1: I am looking forward to seeing what Sena says in response.
Speaker 1: I didn't think tonight was his best night. I think money.
Speaker 1: I didn't think Monday was his best night. But there's
Speaker 1: something there, you know, I don't think I think he's
Speaker 1: got to feel his way through, and I'm glad we
Speaker 1: have a month, Like I want Sena to kind of
Speaker 1: be able to work with the clay a little bit,
Speaker 1: figure out what he wants to sculpt by week three
Speaker 1: and four of the hype. And that's the stage we're in.
Speaker 1: And it's fun to see somebody who really immerses himself
Speaker 1: in whatever he's doing, immerse himself in this, get a
Speaker 1: vibe for the crowds, and adjust on the fly, you know,
Speaker 1: work with Man and Hayman and Rain to go all right,
Speaker 1: this work. This didn't I approach SmackDown with this in mind,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, you know, we're fighting over what do
Speaker 1: you stand for? You know, what are your values? Well, no,
Speaker 1: everyone's standing with me, you know, so let's shift this.
Speaker 1: I think I can do this. But that didn't work.
Speaker 1: Like I think that's all going to be going on.
Speaker 1: And this is why crowds are so important and why
Speaker 1: Sina probably didn't want to come back and tell their work.
Speaker 1: Crowds because it helps steer you. And watching Sena, Rains
Speaker 1: and Hayman steer this for the next few weeks, I
Speaker 1: think it's going to be a lot of fun.
Speaker 4: Yep, it is. It's really important to note that Sena
Speaker 4: has yet to go face to face with Rains in
Speaker 4: this iteration of the feud, and they've got time to
Speaker 4: think about it. Rains is going to be a little
Speaker 4: tied up with Balor, but Sina is going to be
Speaker 4: around for all these shows, and yeah, they've got time
Speaker 4: to make something better happen. If it hasn't been ideal yet,
Speaker 4: they have a chance to figure it out and make
Speaker 4: it something worthwhile and exciting to see a SummerSlam.
Speaker 1: Yes, all right, Mike. How can people follow you on
Speaker 1: social media?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: You can find me on Twitter at the Mic Show
Speaker 4: forty two, and I also write, like Wade mentioned at
Speaker 4: the show's outset, I write the weekly WWE main event
Speaker 4: article for P two b torch dot com as well
Speaker 4: as every WWE pay per view kickoff show.
Speaker 1: Excellent. I'man gonna follow me on Twitter at the Wade
Speaker 1: Keller and follow our brand at p W Torch. Check
Speaker 1: out that Paul arnerf interview I mentioned at the top
Speaker 1: of the show. It's the first time that has ever
Speaker 1: been heard and it's vintage from thirty years ago. He did,
Speaker 1: didn't do? I don't know if he did any other
Speaker 1: insider interviews. Maybe he did around that time, not that
Speaker 1: I'm aware of, And it was real a moment in
Speaker 1: his career, you know, in between the hot run with
Speaker 1: hul Kog and the top drawing Hogan Field at house
Speaker 1: shows of all time and what he ended up doing
Speaker 1: in the nineties and kind of caught him in between there,
Speaker 1: and he had some blunt things to say about ww management,
Speaker 1: the infamous Jim Hurd talked about Bill Watts and it's
Speaker 1: it's good, good stuff and like I said, the full interview,
Speaker 1: you will be going up for VIP members this weekend.
Speaker 1: But on the Blue Logo Show, the Wade Keller Pro
Speaker 1: Wrestling Podcast, you can hear that and also Alan Frel
Speaker 1: talk about Owner's career, along with a full episode from
Speaker 1: ten years ago this week at the Flagship talking about
Speaker 1: the fallout from Money in the Bank twenty eleven. John
Speaker 1: Cena and Punk People in the News Today were in
Speaker 1: a prominent parts of that show, and Jason Paul joined
Speaker 1: me on the Flagship ten years ago. And it's a
Speaker 1: lot of fun to listen back to. I always get
Speaker 1: pulled into listening back to these and it's a lot
Speaker 1: of fun. So check that out yesterday. And then the
Speaker 1: regular Flagship with Jason Powell covering all the current stuff,
Speaker 1: dropped on Tuesday night earlier this week. Normally the Flagship
Speaker 1: is most often on Thursdays. This week it was on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: so check that out.
Speaker 3: Also.
Speaker 1: Our AW postgame show post show was a couple of
Speaker 1: days ago right here on the Red Logo Show, so
Speaker 1: check that out if you haven't yet. We had on
Speaker 1: site correspondence and a lot of fun talking about an
Speaker 1: exciting product right now with AW. Thanks to our callers,
Speaker 1: our onside correspondence, our emailers, hobby Eer, pd Torch VIP
Speaker 1: contributor and Mike. Thank you for co hosting once again.
Speaker 1: It was a long show, but really fun. This is
Speaker 1: what I've been looking forward to with things kicking up
Speaker 1: to the next year.
Speaker 4: It was fun, good again, good live crowds and in
Speaker 4: the correspondence in of course.
Speaker 1: Vector yes, Vector hey, Vector yeah, just pricked up and
Speaker 1: left everything those eyes all right? Thanks Mike, Thanks already.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you have time. Your time is valuable.
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Speaker 18: Hey, wrestling fans, It's Nick Barbatty and I'm back with
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