WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.639 --> 00:00:05.360 It's business time, baby. You are listening to Solo Monster 2 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:11.119 Sounds all. I love you so mama monster, dude, I 3 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:13.039 want your soul a woman. 4 00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:16.800 You got grown ass rustlers in the back going on Twitter. 5 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:20.559 Come over here is that Pet Patterson? You have legs? 6 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.800 I was ninety nine percent positive it was just chessed up. 7 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:34.880 Now congratulations. Who hasn't beat Daniel Barcia. This is episode 8 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.799 nine thirty eight of The Solemn Monsters Sounds up for Sunday, 9 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:42.880 November sixteenth, twenty twenty five. I am the Solo Monster. 10 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:48.759 Legendary NWA announcer Bob Caudle passed away this morning. News 11 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:52.399 of his passing was revealed by his son Mike, who 12 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.799 noted that he died in his sleep overnight. He was 13 00:00:55.960 --> 00:00:58.960 ninety five years old. God bless him. We should all 14 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:01.920 be so lucky to live that long. Cardle just lost 15 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:05.239 his wife in April, not long after the couple celebrated 16 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:11.040 their seventy sixth wedding anniversary, and they leave behind three children, 17 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:16.120 seven grandchildren, and twelve great grandchildren. It is quite the 18 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:19.920 family there. You know, as someone who grew up watching 19 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:23.519 WWF television in the Northeast as a young fan. I 20 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:26.480 really had no exposure at all to Bob Caudle and 21 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.120 only became familiar with him, you know, later on as 22 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:33.079 I went back and watched old NWA and WCW stuff, 23 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:37.200 And he was a very straight lace, kind of like 24 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.400 broadcast journalist type. You know. He wasn't over the top. 25 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.200 He wasn't like a heel commentator or anything like that, 26 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:47.519 didn't make himself, you know, the center of attention. He 27 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.200 was that guy with credibility that you would tune in 28 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:52.599 every single week. Oh it's Bob Caudle. Probably the way 29 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:55.719 that people who were watching WWF would look at, you know, 30 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:59.200 like a Gorilla Monsoon or someone like that, and he 31 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:01.640 wasn't even like gorilla, and that gorilla could be over 32 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:03.920 the top sometimes. So yeah, there were a lot of 33 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:05.760 fans who grew up for years and years and they 34 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:07.840 would tune in and watch their wrestling in the morning 35 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:11.560 mid Atlantic or whatever it might have been, and Bob 36 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:14.840 Caudle was the voice, you know, of their childhood. And 37 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:18.719 it's very sad to hear that he's passed away. His 38 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.199 go to line on all those old the mid Atlantic 39 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:24.800 Championship Wrestling shows at the very end, his sign off 40 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:28.439 was so long for now, so I will say that 41 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:32.560 about Bob Caudle. So long for now. I've got news 42 00:02:32.599 --> 00:02:37.280 to get into on the location for Elimination Chamber, why 43 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:42.919 it's a big deal SmackDown moving back to three hours 44 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:48.319 that sounds you Here is my soul dying on the inside. 45 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:51.800 Got news on John Cena's final raw match tomorrow and 46 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.919 last match ever next month. With this tournament, the lineups 47 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:00.520 for war games have mostly been completed, not total, but 48 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:07.240 we're just about there lol. TNA lives, blooding, guts, thoughts, 49 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:11.319 full gear predictions, including thoughts on MVP's latest comments about 50 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:15.240 one Paul Leveck. Well he really does not like that man. 51 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:18.560 And p WI just dropped its list of the top 52 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:21.759 two hundred and fifty women's wrestlers in the world, and 53 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:24.400 I've got thoughts to share on the top ten. That'll 54 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:26.159 be part of the mail bag a little bit later on. 55 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:29.080 If you would like to support the podcast, now running 56 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.439 eighteen years strong, you may do so on the Solomonster 57 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:34.360 dot com. You'll see the PayPal link at the top 58 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:36.719 of the page. Ten dollars and more. We'll get you 59 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:39.800 a nickname and a special shout out here on this show. 60 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:43.479 I want to say thank you to Big B Bryant Becea, 61 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:48.360 the Portland pop Star, Paul Hamilton, Diamond Dallas Dance Machine himself, 62 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:54.319 Harrison Soap, Velvet Revolver, Robert Murray, the Cape Cod Crusader, 63 00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:00.639 Chris Setterland, Josh Bad Medicine, Medina Tough Guy, Temjin Zephyr, 64 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:04.319 the Chicago Slayer, Willie Iicherd. Maybe I'll see you and 65 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:08.560 Mama Ikered on Friday. I Hope the Wichita Workhorse, Clayton 66 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:14.039 Nettleton yeeha. Indeed, Russell the Mussel, thank you, He's been 67 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:17.639 here with me since day one. Night Stalker and if 68 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:24.360 Alsafar killshot, Keith Hart, Jason the Boner Ventura, that is 69 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:26.839 his name. And also I want to give a shout 70 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:32.000 out to the Boner's girlfriend, Queen Mallory Twinter. They have 71 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:34.879 been dating for four years now and she has supported 72 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:38.439 him through a lot over those four years, So congrats 73 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:40.639 to the two of them. Jason does a monthly reading 74 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:44.639 at the local daycare near his library, and typically he 75 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:48.480 says he reads Marvel or Disney stuff, but he tested 76 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:52.040 out my mom's children's book, The Adventure of Hardy the 77 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:55.839 Horse which you can buy right now on Amazon cheap plug. 78 00:04:56.600 --> 00:04:59.000 He's done six readings so far and the book has 79 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:02.319 been a big hit apparently, so I love hearing that. 80 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:05.480 It's like I told him, I started doing readings myself 81 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:08.879 to kids right before COVID shut everything down, and I 82 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:11.600 really wish I could have done more. So this is 83 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:16.199 very cool to see. This Tuesday, Brett Hart's book, which 84 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:17.879 has been out for a number of years and is 85 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.240 probably the best, certainly one of the best wrestling books 86 00:05:20.279 --> 00:05:24.680 ever written, one of the biggest ones, is coming to Audible. Officially, 87 00:05:24.759 --> 00:05:27.120 it's been available for pre order. It still is available 88 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:29.639 for pre order right now as we speak, but the 89 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:33.560 audiobook drops on Tuesday, with twenty five hours worth of 90 00:05:33.680 --> 00:05:37.120 narration from the Hitman himself. You can wait if you 91 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.600 want to until Tuesday and use our Audible link here 92 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:42.279 to buy the book, or you can pre order the 93 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:45.639 book right now for free when you use the link 94 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:51.879 audibletrial dot com slash Solo Monster. So whether it's today, tomorrow, Tuesday, 95 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:53.639 make sure you jump on that deal it may not 96 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:57.759 always be there, and get yourself a free audio version 97 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:01.040 of arguably the best wrestling book ever written. And don't 98 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.079 sleep on that Natty book either n Italia's Memoirs out. 99 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:06.759 The audio version is also on Audible, So if you're 100 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:09.759 an Amazon Prime customer, use my link and you can 101 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:12.560 get two free books instead of just one. And if 102 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:13.839 you can get two instead of one, I don't know 103 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:16.800 why you wouldn't take advantage of that. So audibletrial dot 104 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:22.800 Com slash Solo Monster. Last night, House of Glory presented 105 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:28.920 its super Clash show from Brentwood, New York, in conjunction 106 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.199 and collaboration with the Big Event Expo for the first 107 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:34.480 time ever. The Big Event is the biggest autograph expo 108 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:37.000 to hit New York each year, usually twice a year, 109 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:39.600 and this is our first time partnering with them. It 110 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:41.720 was a huge success. We had a sold out event 111 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.199 last night, well over one thousand fans. I met many 112 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.399 of you there who either were at the event or 113 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:51.000 at least the convention, so that was very cool. Great 114 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:53.839 to catch up in person with Chris van Vliet as well, 115 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:58.399 so that was nice. Now I arrived pretty early in 116 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:01.399 the day, but the convention itself started at ten, so 117 00:07:01.439 --> 00:07:03.759 the convention went from ten to four, then they cleared 118 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:06.680 everybody out and then hour events started officially at eight 119 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:11.360 and I got there probably midway, a little past the 120 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:14.680 midway point of the convention, so I did not bear 121 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:17.680 witness to any of this, but I know that Bill 122 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:20.959 Goldberg was there. Brett Hart was supposed to be there, 123 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.079 but he had to pull out of some East Coast 124 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:25.759 conventions a few weeks ago. This was one of them 125 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:29.120 that would have been very interesting. But you know, Sting 126 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.639 was there, Great Muda was there. This is probably one 127 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:34.680 of the last conventions Sting will be doing in the 128 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:36.480 face paint because he said he's going to stop doing 129 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:38.759 that at the end of the year. But Bill Goldberg 130 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:43.120 was there and K and S wrestle Fest shared on 131 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.240 social media. Now they have since taken this Facebook post down, 132 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.839 but they did post on social media that Goldberg did 133 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:54.759 not participate in a previously scheduled private autographs signing that 134 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:56.839 they had agreed to and that they had set up 135 00:07:56.839 --> 00:08:01.360 for him. This is what they said. Unfortunately, Goldberg private 136 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:04.439 signing did not happen. We had all of our items 137 00:08:04.519 --> 00:08:07.560 laid out ready to sign as Goldberg was doing another 138 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:11.759 private for another vendor. After he was done, he got 139 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:14.959 up and said he was done. He walked out right 140 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:18.639 past our stuff and he left. We were all super 141 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:23.839 disappointed and frustrated. My apologies to all. And he was 142 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:26.839 apparently he was at the Big event as far as 143 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:29.639 you know, the pictures of him chatting, would sting and 144 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:35.960 signing autographs and taking pictures. But evidently this other private signing, 145 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.000 he just walked right past these guys and right out 146 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:42.039 the door. So there you go. That was the Goldberg 147 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:45.320 controversy coming out of the Big Event. But as for 148 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.440 the event itself, a lot of great matches in the card, 149 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:50.159 of course, the one that got the most attention and 150 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:57.799 actually had hog trending on social media number two behind UFC. 151 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:03.720 It was Mercedes Monette challenging for title number thirteen in 152 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:09.480 the main event against nor Phoenix Diana out of Malaysia. 153 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.200 She has been the APAC Wrestling Women's Champion for well 154 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:15.200 or had been now for over seven hundred days. She 155 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:17.799 had made it very clear it was a dream of 156 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.080 hers to get a match with Mercedes. Mercedes as the 157 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.519 one many years ago, ten years ago who inspired her 158 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:26.320 to take a shot at wrestling in the first place, 159 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:29.480 so this was a big match for her and she 160 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:31.360 traveled all the way to the States. This was only 161 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.039 the second time that she has defended that title on 162 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:40.279 US soil, and Mercedes Monette goes from Mercedes twelve belts 163 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:45.679 to now Mercedes thirteen belts. She is victorious. It's thirteen 164 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:49.480 her unlucky number. Or does she make it number fourteen 165 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:53.279 next weekend against Chris Statlander. We shall see, but it 166 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:55.279 was very cool to be on the call for that one. 167 00:09:55.279 --> 00:09:57.120 You could probably hear it in my voice right now. 168 00:09:57.519 --> 00:10:00.360 We're not done yet, because House of Glory is coming 169 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:04.840 right back this Friday with our return to the Windy 170 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:09.399 City November twenty. First, we are already sold out in Chicago, 171 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:11.440 so this is going to be back to back sold 172 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.480 out shows for US in less than a week, which 173 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:17.200 is the first time we've done that. Amazing Red Battles 174 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:21.360 Tyler Breeze for the first time ever the Rascals Desmond 175 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:23.600 Xavier and Zachary Wentz. They're going to be taking on 176 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:26.840 Jay Lion and Midas Black of main event, with the 177 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.279 winners getting a shot at Matt and Jeff Hardy next 178 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:32.519 month back here in New York for the hog Tag 179 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:36.200 team titles. We've got Mustafa a Lee of course, he 180 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:40.799 a Chicago native, taking on Marcus Mathers, Indie Heartwell Defenser 181 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:46.159 HG Women's Championship again, Shatzi, who tagged with Scarlett Bordeaux 182 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:50.240 last night, Charles Mason defends his Hog World championship on 183 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:53.200 the show as well, and more yet to be announced. 184 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:55.519 I will be on the call yet again on Triller 185 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:58.120 TV plus if my voice holds out, hopefully it will. 186 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:00.480 We'll see, but hopefully I will get to see some 187 00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:02.840 of you in Chicago. It's always a fun time there, 188 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:05.600 especially when we're packed in and sold out at Logan 189 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:08.919 Square Auditorium. So given that that is where I'm going 190 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:11.679 to be on Friday, you could surmise from that that 191 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:14.360 there will be no SmackDown live stream, so just be 192 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:17.480 aware of that. Let's get into the news of the 193 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:22.039 week here, and we'll start with this. WWE announced that 194 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.200 next year's Elimination Chamber, while they still have an Elimination 195 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:29.879 Chamber until Mark Shapiro decides to kill it, will be 196 00:11:29.960 --> 00:11:34.200 held at the United Center in Chicago. There you go, Chicago, man, 197 00:11:34.200 --> 00:11:37.519 I'm telling you, Chicago's a big hub for wrestling. Chicago. 198 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.519 And I say this as a as a native New 199 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:42.879 Yorker my entire life. I can sit here and say 200 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:46.559 that I do believe Chicago. If you had to pick 201 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:49.919 one city that has the best wrestling crowds, it would 202 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:53.639 be Chicago. Right. New York is great, there are cities 203 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:56.279 in Canada like Toronto that are great in the UK, 204 00:11:56.519 --> 00:12:00.200 but Chicago has got to be number one. So they 205 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:02.600 are going to bring the Elimination Chamber to Chicago, the 206 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:07.320 home of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks, on Saturday, 207 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:12.120 February twenty eighth. That's big because WWE has not run 208 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:16.000 a show of any kind at the United Center in 209 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:19.480 nearly eight years, and they have not run a major 210 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:24.320 show there since SummerSlam in nineteen ninety four. That was 211 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:28.639 the very first event that that arena ever hosted. And 212 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:32.120 I especially like this. This is a Today in Chicago 213 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:36.000 History item that I found from the Chicago Tribune site 214 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:40.159 from just a few months ago. Breaking the seal on 215 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:43.679 this dulled up barn was not the Rolling Stones as 216 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:48.240 originally rumored, but rather the sophisticated artistry of the World 217 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:53.120 Wrestling Federation's SummerSlam ninety four and with the three tenors 218 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:57.600 already booked through the upcoming millennium, Brett Hitman, Heart Lex 219 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:01.480 Luger and the Undertakers seem like the next logical lineup. 220 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:06.159 And in the steel cage match, Hart defeated Owen Hart 221 00:13:06.840 --> 00:13:11.320 and the Undertaker defeated himself. I don't know why that 222 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:13.399 made me laugh so much when I read that for 223 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:16.919 the first time. It just sounds so ridiculous, but I 224 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.519 mean it's classier I guess to say that the Undertaker 225 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:25.480 defeated himself than to say the Undertaker beat himself. But 226 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:27.600 what better way to break in the new arena than 227 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:36.399 having the Undertaker beat himself in the main event. I oh, man, 228 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:39.279 I'm five years old. You know the bigger story here 229 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:43.559 from the original newspaper article is this. This is legitimately 230 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:48.200 from an article that was done after this original Furst 231 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:53.039 Ever event at the United Center. Other Virgin customers who 232 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:56.360 dared to venture out of their seats meander throughout the 233 00:13:56.440 --> 00:14:01.720 boundless confines, trying to find restrooms, exits, and mustard. It 234 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:05.000 took me almost fifteen minutes to get two Italian sausages, 235 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:09.200 said a visibly distressed Audrey Doneldson. Then they told me 236 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:12.159 they have no mustard. You expect the high prices, but 237 00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:16.559 not bad service. Her son Brandon chimed in tell them 238 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:19.000 to get mustard packets so you can fix your food 239 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:23.000 at your seat before it gets cold. You know, it's 240 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:27.000 been thirty years. Hopefully they've addressed the mustard situation by now. 241 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:29.639 But that's one of my favorite matches of all time 242 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.360 from that Summer Slam show, the brett Owen Cage match. 243 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:35.759 I don't know that anything on this Elimination Chamber show 244 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:39.279 could possibly top it, but they'll have their chance now. 245 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:40.840 I said that it was the first event of any 246 00:14:40.919 --> 00:14:45.120 kind there in several years. In twenty eighteen, they ran 247 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:47.799 a house show there because the All State Arena where 248 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.840 they usually run was already booked, and that show had 249 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:55.799 a main event of Roman Reigns beating John Cena. That's 250 00:14:55.799 --> 00:14:58.120 actually the reason they're running the United Center this time 251 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.200 instead of the All State Arena, because they already have 252 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:04.679 a Monster Jam Freestyle event booked that day. The United 253 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.559 Center is the largest indoor arena in the United States 254 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:11.279 for concerts. It has a capacity of over twenty three thousand. 255 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:13.159 This is going to be less than that if you 256 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:15.559 account for the staging. But you know, the way that 257 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:17.799 TKO has been doing things over the last couple of years, 258 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:22.600 and if they run a very minimalist stage, they could probably 259 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.600 fit pretty close to twenty k in that building. And 260 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:28.440 as you would imagine, CM Punk is front and center 261 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:30.840 in the graphic for the show. If he is not 262 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.559 defending his World Heavyweight title on that show, he will 263 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:36.320 surely be in the elimination chamber. I could see him 264 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.200 winning the elimination Chamber. I don't see him winning the Rumble, 265 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:42.120 but if he was to lose the championship between now 266 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:44.639 and then, I much better chance I see him winning 267 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:48.200 the chamber. Punk has a very unique connection to that 268 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:51.240 arena because it is the place where he returned to 269 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.279 wrestling in twenty twenty one and made his aw debut, 270 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:57.320 which is still one of the loudest reactions that I 271 00:15:57.320 --> 00:15:59.799 have ever heard on a wrestling show. And that is 272 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.360 I mean from someone who lived through all of those 273 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:05.919 Austin reactions during the Attitude era. Okay, that Punk return 274 00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:08.559 in twenty twenty one was up there in that category. 275 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:12.279 And I have sometimes gotten questions over the years about 276 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:15.440 why WWE always runs All State and they never run 277 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:18.159 the United Center. Now, I think it has mostly to 278 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.399 do with costs. One of the reasons they don't run 279 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.879 Madison Square Garden as often as they used to, and 280 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.840 they tend to run the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. You know, 281 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:28.960 it's very expensive to run the United Center relative to 282 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:32.200 whatever the deal is they have with the All State Arena. 283 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:35.960 But also they don't have conflicts with All State to 284 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:37.960 worry about like they do with the United Center. They 285 00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:39.879 don't have to compete with Bulls games, they don't have 286 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:42.600 to compete with Blackhawks games, and whatever the schedule is. 287 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.080 And then there's another aspect to this, and this is 288 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.960 from what I've been told by some of my Chicago listeners, 289 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:52.000 which is that All State is a lot closer to 290 00:16:52.039 --> 00:16:54.720 the major airport there than the United Center is. It's 291 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:57.639 only like three miles away, So it's just the more 292 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.440 convenient options. So if you've ever wondered how come they 293 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:03.399 don't run the United Center anymore, I think it's a 294 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:06.000 combination of those three things, and when you think about it, 295 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:09.759 it makes a lot of sense. But then came this 296 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:15.079 piece of tragic news from wrestle Votes on Friday. I'll 297 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.079 be sitting shiva for the rest of the week because 298 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:23.359 SmackDown is moving from two hours back to three hours again. 299 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:28.960 Starting with the January second episode from Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, 300 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.160 New York. I wonder if a West Side Gun will 301 00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:34.160 try to attend. They said that this was a joint 302 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:39.759 decision between WWE and USA Network. And this comes after 303 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:43.119 I threw a party on July fourth when they finally 304 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.000 moved the show back to two hours. We celebrated our 305 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:52.039 nation's independence and our independence from three hour smackdowns. I 306 00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:54.680 just don't believe it. At a time when the show 307 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:58.440 has not been this bad in years, their answer is 308 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.400 to expand it, make it longer. It's to give us 309 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.240 another hour. And of course the defenders are out there 310 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:07.599 in full force. Who will defend anything this company does 311 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:10.279 to their dying breath. They're already out with the excuses, well, 312 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:14.039 you know, Solemn Monster. Now they'll have more time for 313 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:17.079 women like Julia and some of the undercard people, and 314 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:20.000 more time for the Tag Team Division, and at Tag 315 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:22.359 Team Division, by the way, that's gone from hot to cold, 316 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:26.039 not because they're not featured enough, but because it's the 317 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:29.599 same teams every week on TV and they have nothing 318 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:33.759 interesting for them to do. Three hours is going to 319 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:35.920 do nothing to solve this in and of itself. But 320 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:37.799 evidently they think three hours is going to be the 321 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:42.640 magic pill that this show needs. You do realize that 322 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.839 this means that it will be an extra hour for 323 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:48.039 them to squeeze in another match with the MFTs each week. 324 00:18:49.039 --> 00:18:51.440 You do realize it's another hour for them to squeeze 325 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.799 in a whole bunch of commercials. The problem with SmackDown 326 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:57.960 is not that the matches are too short, although some 327 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:01.119 of them are, the problem with that the show is 328 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:04.480 just as an interesting The problem with SmackDown is that 329 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:07.359 they haven't even bothered to truly shake up the roster 330 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.440 in over a year. The problem with SmackDown is that 331 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:15.200 certain top names vanish for months on end. So you 332 00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:17.079 tell me, how does adding a third hour to this 333 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:19.640 show do anything to solve any of those problems that 334 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:24.480 I just mentioned. It doesn't. But if they insist on 335 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.880 expanding the show back to three hours, and I stand 336 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.440 firm in my belief that there is no weekly wrestling 337 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.640 show that needs to be three hours long, I don't 338 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.079 give a shit what company it is. I don't care 339 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.240 how good the show is. I don't care how bad 340 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.799 the show is. You feel it more when the show sucks. 341 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.079 But I absolutely hate this belief that some fans have, 342 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.240 and probably because it's what they grew up with as 343 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:49.119 a wrestling fan, that the shows need to be three 344 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.240 hours long. This is the norm. It has to be 345 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:53.440 three hours long so you can get everybody on the 346 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:55.680 show every single week and you can tell stories the 347 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.440 right way. Motherfucker. If you can't write a good, compelling 348 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.079 television show in two hours and you feel the need 349 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:04.480 to have three hours in order to do that, then 350 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:09.039 you are doing it wrong. Because last night checked they 351 00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:13.000 had a brand split, so their giant roster is split 352 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.480 in half between Mondays and Fridays, and I know there's 353 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:17.559 a lot of overlap and they ignore their own rules, 354 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:20.519 but still there is a brand split in place, and 355 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.720 two hours should be plenty of time to feature all 356 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:25.519 of the people that you need to feature, even if 357 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:27.440 that means not everybody can be on the show every 358 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:31.519 single week, that's okay. It's okay if you skip a 359 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:33.559 week here and there. Not everybody has to be on 360 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:37.519 the show every single week. But I watched wrestling for 361 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:40.039 years and years, and I saw lots of good wrestling 362 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:41.720 shows that were a hell of a lot less than 363 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.759 three hours long. The length of time is not the 364 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.839 I mean, it is an issue when it's too long, 365 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:49.640 but the length of time is not the issue here. 366 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:51.960 The issue is with the writing of these shows and 367 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.000 the booking of the talent on these shows, the way 368 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:57.400 they utilize some of the talent on these shows. Let's 369 00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:01.000 just say it isn't always up to par. Adding another 370 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:03.359 hour to the show does not make the show better. 371 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:06.640 All you're doing is adding another hour of shit. But 372 00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:09.079 if they insist on doing this, there are moves that 373 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:11.000 are gonna have to be made. Now. I'm sure that 374 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:13.599 they are doing this for WrestleMania season right now. TC 375 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:16.359 from wrestle Votes says the move to three hours is 376 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:20.319 at least through June. So it's not gonna go, you know, 377 00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:22.119 three months, four months and then go back to the 378 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:24.920 way it was. It's gonna go beyond WrestleMania. That's what 379 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:26.920 happened this year. It didn't go back to two hours 380 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:31.119 until the beginning of July. But I'm sure Mania season 381 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:33.240 is the impetus for this, right that, and they love 382 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:36.880 torturing me, but there are serious changes that are gonna 383 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:38.440 have to be made to that show, whether it goes 384 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:40.440 three hours or they keep it at two hours. So 385 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.880 now we're getting into a discussion here about SmackDown in general. 386 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.920 This actually doesn't even necessarily have anything to do with 387 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:49.160 three hours. There are serious changes that need to be 388 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.440 made to this show. Getting Jacob fought Too back will help. 389 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:57.720 Getting Bianca bell airback eventually will help. And Randy Orton. 390 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:01.720 But they need to swap certain people out and swap 391 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:04.279 other people in. And they need to make some roster moves. 392 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:07.680 That's number one. Number two, they need to continue calling 393 00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:10.799 up new faces from NXT lash legend is not enough. 394 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.440 Number three. If they continue with this MFT stuff, I'm 395 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:18.200 gonna need a reason to care about these men right now. 396 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:21.599 I have none. And you want to know what would 397 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:24.759 get the MFTs over. You know, I watched Ray Phoenix 398 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.440 splat on the ground outside on Friday. When he did 399 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:30.359 that corkscrew dive out onto the floor onto the MFTs, 400 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:33.440 nobody caught him. Tongala was standing right there, he didn't 401 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:37.359 catch them. We have seen Solo Socoa acting goofy. Sometimes 402 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.680 he's a funny guy. He's got personality. Sometimes he shows it. 403 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.119 Sometimes they force him to try to be serious and 404 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:46.359 it just doesn't work. I just want it to be entertaining. 405 00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:50.400 I have nothing against any of these men personally. It's 406 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:52.640 their presentation and the characters and the way that they 407 00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:56.000 are utilized and presented on television. It is not entertaining. 408 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:58.519 I just want it to be entertaining. I will never 409 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.599 take these guys seriously in there current incarnation. I cannot 410 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:05.000 do it. But if they lean into them as the 411 00:23:05.039 --> 00:23:07.599 gang that can't shoot straight, if they lean into them 412 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:10.880 like like a bunch of tryhards, but they fall flat 413 00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:13.759 on their faces each time, and Solo has a meltdown, right, 414 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:17.519 that would be funny. That would be entertaining, and they 415 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:19.680 would still be heels. But if you do that for 416 00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:22.079 a few months, and you inject some humor into it 417 00:23:22.119 --> 00:23:24.799 and give us more interactions between the members. Or maybe 418 00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:27.680 it's Tangala who always screws things up and they clown 419 00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:30.920 on him for it. Tamatanga, though acts all protective since 420 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:34.880 it's his brother. Talatanga becomes the giant with a big heart, 421 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:38.000 you know, who can't control his temper and just smashes 422 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:41.279 people and sticks up for his family. Like they each 423 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:45.759 develop a personality of their own. I guarantee you, if 424 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:48.119 you play this right, within a few months, they are 425 00:23:48.119 --> 00:23:51.519 going to be super over as babyfaces, I promise you, 426 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.160 And it sounds counterintuitive, but I think to get people 427 00:23:56.200 --> 00:23:59.160 to take these guys more seriously and invest in them, 428 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:00.960 you have to go all the way and turn them 429 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:04.240 into a complete joke. If you play it right, I 430 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.920 think it pays off with an act that's actually over 431 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:09.039 and you'll get more out of them on the back 432 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:12.640 end as fan favorites than you will as heels. But 433 00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:16.000 use that extra time to really develop some of these characters, 434 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:18.559 and not just the MFTs. I mean this applies to 435 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:21.599 everybody on the roster, top to bottom. You'll learn from 436 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:24.319 what made SmackDown the a show there a few years ago. 437 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:26.799 Kicking the can down the road and giving us more 438 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:29.960 of the same is not the answer. They're lucky they 439 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:32.400 have the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania coming up, because that 440 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:34.920 tends to get people more excited. It's the most exciting 441 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:38.160 time of year for the WWE product, although the build 442 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:41.079 to WrestleMania this year tells us that's not always a 443 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:46.160 good thing. But SmackDown has been low effort, boring television 444 00:24:46.359 --> 00:24:48.400 and that needs to change, especially if you're gonna give 445 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.960 us more of it. Three hours of the show in 446 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:55.640 its current state benefits no one, No one except USA Network, 447 00:24:55.640 --> 00:24:59.240 which gets an extra hour of content. It benefits no 448 00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:02.960 one else. Changes aren't made, and really what they're getting 449 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:05.680 is an extra thirty minutes or so, because the rest 450 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.480 of it is going to be commercials. But take those 451 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:13.200 extra thirty minutes and make the most of it. John 452 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:16.119 Cena got his Boston farewell on Raw Monday Night with 453 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:20.039 a match against Dominic Mysterio, who interrupted the opening segment 454 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:22.480 and talked his way right into what he did not want, 455 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:25.680 which was an Intercontinental title match. And they had a 456 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:28.720 very basic match, but it was exactly what it needed 457 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:31.279 to be. They didn't have to do much. They had 458 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:34.480 that crowd eating up everything they did, and it was 459 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:36.680 a huge spot for dom to be and even in 460 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:39.240 the promo, like he just looked cool as a cucumber, 461 00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:41.839 like he knew he belonged in that spot. And then 462 00:25:41.880 --> 00:25:43.680 he got to wrestle John Cena in one of his 463 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:48.279 last matches and he lost, and that's okay. I think 464 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:50.319 some people are making too big of a deal about 465 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:53.079 the fact that he lost this match. It was about 466 00:25:53.079 --> 00:25:56.359 the moment, you know, people wanted to see John Cena 467 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.519 win the Grand Slam. The Intercontinental title was the only 468 00:25:59.559 --> 00:26:01.279 one that he'd did not have and now he does, 469 00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:05.200 and so John Cena is the new Intercontinental Champion. He 470 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:08.519 also announced that one request that he made, and he 471 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:12.440 doesn't usually make requests, but he requested that they host 472 00:26:12.519 --> 00:26:17.400 a series of WWE versus NXT exhibitions as he called them, 473 00:26:17.559 --> 00:26:20.359 as part of his final night on Saturday Night's main event. 474 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:24.000 This was legitimately a John Cena call. It's something that 475 00:26:24.039 --> 00:26:26.799 he wanted on his final show. He wanted to do, 476 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.680 you know something where the show would double as a 477 00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:33.960 showcase for NXT talent because he's paid a few visits 478 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:36.440 recently to the performance Center and he was very impressed 479 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:40.319 by what he saw. He was also spotted visiting the 480 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.519 Dungeon with Natty and TJ Wilson and all of their students. 481 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:46.839 The guy wants to give back and this is his 482 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:49.200 way of doing so. I don't know what the matches 483 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:51.480 are going to be, but I think you want to 484 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:53.799 showcase your best names from that brand. You know, we 485 00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:56.039 know Oba Femi is not going to be in this 486 00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:58.400 Last Time Is Now tournament unless he ends up as 487 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:01.400 the mystery entrant on Raw tomorrow. Night, which I don't 488 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.359 think he will be. Let's assume he's not going to 489 00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:06.640 be in this tournament. He also just returned at the 490 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:10.039 very end of Tuesday's NXT episode, so he is not 491 00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:14.319 done with Ricky Saints yet. Obafemi should absolutely get a 492 00:27:14.359 --> 00:27:18.240 match or spotlight of some kind on that show. He's 493 00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:20.319 going to be a major player for them in twenty 494 00:27:20.359 --> 00:27:23.319 twenty six on the main roster. Ricky Saints is the 495 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:25.880 NXT champion. He needs to have a match on that show, 496 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:31.119 and hell, why not Cody Rhodes Champion against champion. They're 497 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:33.640 good friends. I'm sure Cody would love to work with Ricky. 498 00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:38.200 He would give him a lot. Ricky loses that fight, absolutely, 499 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:40.559 but losing to the top guy in the company is 500 00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:42.200 not a bad thing if you go out there and 501 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:46.279 have a competitive match with him or Cmpunk, Right, Ricky 502 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:48.039 is tight with both those guys. Either one of those 503 00:27:48.079 --> 00:27:52.039 matches would be a good option. Trick Williams, Javon Evans, 504 00:27:52.160 --> 00:27:57.480 Blake Monroe, Kendall Gray. Kendall Gray is the Evolved Women's Champion, 505 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.400 but they're said to be very high on her potential. 506 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:03.680 Why not show her in a spot on that show? Now? 507 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:05.839 As far as the tournament is concerned, and seen his 508 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:09.440 final opponent, Gunther still looks to be the favorite. They 509 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:12.839 announced that he will be back on Raw Tomorrow night 510 00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:17.039 from Madison Square Garden against Javon Evans. And that is 511 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:19.279 the thing that I am most looking forward to about 512 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:21.640 any of the shows this week. That is the match 513 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:24.039 that I pitched as the final of this tournament a 514 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:25.880 few weeks ago, and we're getting it in the opening 515 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:28.200 round instead, And that's okay. I'm just happy that we're 516 00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:30.200 getting it at all, because I think that match is 517 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:32.359 gonna kick ass. Now. If they want to book the 518 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:35.720 biggest upset since Razor and the Kid back in ninety three, 519 00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:38.359 it's right there, but I don't think they have the 520 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:42.920 guts to do it. Rusev, Seamus, jay Usso, La Night, 521 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:46.079 they have all advanced to the next round, although without 522 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:49.000 a bracket we still don't know who who's facing who 523 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:53.160 yet Russev against Seamus and La Night against jay Usso. 524 00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:56.519 It would all make sense, but we've already seen those matches. 525 00:28:57.319 --> 00:29:01.359 We're not done yet, though, because Tomorrow night, in addition 526 00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:06.799 to Gunther against Javon Evans, Solo's Sokoa faces a mystery opponent, 527 00:29:08.039 --> 00:29:11.519 and on SmackDown this Friday, it's Carmelo Hayes against Big 528 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:15.759 Bronson Reed and Finn Balor takes some penta and that's it. 529 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:19.200 That's the entire first round. La Night beat Zach Ryder 530 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:22.200 on Friday Night under that name. He was Matt Cardona 531 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:24.559 on NXT a few weeks ago, but here he's back 532 00:29:24.599 --> 00:29:27.359 to Zack Ryder, even though he has said in the 533 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:30.240 past Zach Ryder is dead and if it were up 534 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:32.559 to him and he went back to WWE, he would 535 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:35.440 be Matt Cardona. Evidently it was not up to him, 536 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:38.359 and I guess they wanted him back to Zack Ryder 537 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:41.440 because Zach Ryder is the one who has history with 538 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.480 John Cena. But it's still silly to go from one 539 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:47.680 name and one gimmick on your television show to a 540 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:50.680 completely different one a few weeks later. But you know what, 541 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:54.039 good for him. Cardona has been killing it on the 542 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:57.240 indies for years. I know that he has been waiting 543 00:29:57.240 --> 00:29:59.799 for that phone call to go back there. This does 544 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:02.119 not mean that he is back full time. This does 545 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:05.119 not mean he has signed a contract with them. For now, 546 00:30:05.160 --> 00:30:07.640 it is just a one off appearance now they do 547 00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:11.400 have Zach Ryder merchandise back up on WWE shop, and 548 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:13.920 Fightful is saying that's because he signed a merch deal 549 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:16.920 with them, but that's the only thing that he has signed. 550 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:21.400 Under no circumstance though, should he have been beating La 551 00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:24.000 Knight in this tournament. So that was the right call, 552 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:26.519 and it's sad that we've gotten to a point where 553 00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:28.759 when La Knight wins a match like this, I'm actually 554 00:30:28.839 --> 00:30:34.680 pleasantly surprised. That's sad. And the final surprise will come 555 00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:37.880 at MSG tomorrow and it is very likely going to 556 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:42.240 be Joe Hendry. Joe Hendry is officially a WWE superstar 557 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.200 per Fightful Select. He has reportedly signed a full time 558 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:48.839 contract with the company, which I think most people predicted 559 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:52.000 was going to be the case. But this is even 560 00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:54.400 though his TNA deal was not set to expire for 561 00:30:54.440 --> 00:30:57.000 a little bit. PW insiders said the end of December 562 00:30:58.039 --> 00:31:02.480 he used representation to move forward with WWE. Now, if 563 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:06.000 I'm TNA, I know we have this partnership with the company. 564 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:08.920 It really it's more of an NXT partnership than anything else. 565 00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:11.480 But you know, we saw Joe Hendry and the rumble 566 00:31:11.559 --> 00:31:14.079 we saw Joe Hendry get that spot against Randy Orton 567 00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:17.079 at WrestleMania when Kevin Owens had to be pulled because 568 00:31:17.079 --> 00:31:21.880 of the neck injury. If i'm TNA, I'm asking for 569 00:31:22.519 --> 00:31:27.319 one thing in return for allowing you to sign this 570 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:30.000 man early, even though he was still under contract to 571 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:34.079 our company, and I am requesting an aj Styles match 572 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.640 in return for letting Joe out of his deal. I 573 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.039 think it's only fair. Styles doesn't seem to think another 574 00:31:41.079 --> 00:31:42.799 match in TNA is going to happen. He said that 575 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:46.519 this week. But that's what I would have asked for. Right, 576 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:48.759 we'll let you have him early. Just commit to letting 577 00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:51.400 us use Styles for one match at some point next year. 578 00:31:51.480 --> 00:31:54.359 I don't think that's too much to ask, Or maybe 579 00:31:54.359 --> 00:31:57.400 they didn't they were rejected, but that's what I would 580 00:31:57.400 --> 00:32:00.920 have asked for. Henry has been trying to manifest a 581 00:32:01.079 --> 00:32:03.759 match with John Cena all year. He said he spoke 582 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:05.640 to Sena about it back at the Royal Rumble and 583 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:07.519 Seena's answer to him was very simple. He said, if 584 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:09.640 you can manifest it and make it happen, then do it. 585 00:32:10.039 --> 00:32:12.720 I would love it, but Sina wasn't going to lobby 586 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:15.079 for it or anything like that, And then the last 587 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:18.000 few months, no one was really talking about it. You know, 588 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:20.559 it kind of felt like that idea had had grown cold. 589 00:32:20.640 --> 00:32:23.160 But now if he ends up in this tournament, he 590 00:32:23.160 --> 00:32:25.920 at least has a shot. I cannot see him in 591 00:32:26.359 --> 00:32:29.319 a tournament that has Gunther in it and Joe Hendry 592 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:32.480 winning over Gunther. I just I don't see that. I 593 00:32:32.519 --> 00:32:34.680 actually think he's got a much better shot at getting 594 00:32:34.680 --> 00:32:37.519 a match with John Cena, and this is my idea 595 00:32:37.559 --> 00:32:40.559 for how they could go with it. He's gonna be 596 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:43.759 on the NXT roster from what we are reading, So 597 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:46.400 this may be pie in the sky. But John Cena 598 00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:48.720 has confirmed that he will be wrestling tomorrow night. That's 599 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:52.160 gonna be his last Raw match ever, five hundred and 600 00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:55.160 forty four matches on Raw, the most in history. He says, 601 00:32:56.400 --> 00:32:59.720 I'm not so sure that that is entirely accurate. Randy 602 00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:02.359 or teased him about it on X. It may be 603 00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:05.519 Randy Orton, I don't know. Randy Orton, by the way, 604 00:33:05.640 --> 00:33:09.160 is being advertised for the December fifth episode of SmackDown 605 00:33:09.559 --> 00:33:12.240 in Austin, Texas, so he is finally on his way 606 00:33:12.279 --> 00:33:16.079 back soon. But it is not that hard to envision 607 00:33:16.119 --> 00:33:18.359 John Sena coming out tomorrow night and saying, you know, 608 00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:21.160 in the spirit of the open challenges that I started 609 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:23.799 when I was the United States Champion ten years ago, 610 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:26.880 I would like to do the same with the Intercontinental 611 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:30.880 title with the limited time that I have left. Because 612 00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:33.799 he's all about opportunity, right, That's all he talks about is, 613 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:36.279 you know, paying it forward and giving opportunities to the 614 00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:40.160 next generation. So in his final match of Madison Square Garden, 615 00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:45.359 We're going to have the Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge, and 616 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:48.799 that's when they hit the music and outcomes Joe Hendry 617 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:53.319 making his MSG debut to challenge John Cena for the title. 618 00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:56.519 And if he wins it, what a debut for him, 619 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:58.720 and you start him on the main roster. If he 620 00:33:58.759 --> 00:34:02.680 doesn't win it, still what a debut for him, and 621 00:34:02.720 --> 00:34:05.839 then you can keep him in NXT. He's actually wrestling 622 00:34:05.880 --> 00:34:08.800 the following night at the theater at Madison Square Garden 623 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:11.519 on the NXT Gold Rush Show. He's teaming with Thea 624 00:34:11.599 --> 00:34:14.519 Hale against Ethan Page and Chelsea Green for the Triple 625 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:20.440 A Mixtag Team titles. But if Gunther is winning that tournament, 626 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:22.920 then John Cena does not need to be the champion 627 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:26.920 heading into December thirteenth. If he does not drop it tomorrow, 628 00:34:27.880 --> 00:34:30.599 let him do another open challenge at Survivor Series and 629 00:34:30.679 --> 00:34:34.599 drop it to somebody in San Diego. Right, But Sena 630 00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:37.480 just won this title, right, and we know he's wrestling 631 00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:40.320 on the show tomorrow. An open challenge would make sense 632 00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:44.199 unless they just have Dominic come out to accept the 633 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:47.440 open challenge and he wins the belt back, which you know, 634 00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:49.920 I mean that works too, you know, and dom gets 635 00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:51.880 his win back, he gets his belt back, and the 636 00:34:51.920 --> 00:34:53.679 only reason they did what they did this week with 637 00:34:53.800 --> 00:34:56.480 John Cena was to give the fans in Boston a 638 00:34:56.480 --> 00:34:59.119 big moment and to give him the Grand Slam, and 639 00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:01.480 then the belt goes right back to dom I kind 640 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:03.360 of feel like in his final Raw match, though, that 641 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:07.039 would be a little underwhelming, especially when you know that, 642 00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:10.039 you know, he's not gonna win the belt back without 643 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:13.760 the judgment day or El Grande Americano getting involved in 644 00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:17.639 helping him with some bullshit like that. But that's tomorrow night. 645 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:22.280 For Friday, let me talk about this real quick. You know, 646 00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:26.000 people are gonna laugh at the idea of Carmelo Hayes 647 00:35:26.119 --> 00:35:29.719 beating Bronson Reid. I actually think he's got a really 648 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:31.960 good chance of advancing in this tournament, just because of 649 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:33.960 the way the show ended. On Friday, they had a 650 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:39.119 WWE Championship match between Cody Roads and Bronson Reid. Paul 651 00:35:39.159 --> 00:35:42.280 Haman set the trap earlier in the show. Cody took 652 00:35:42.320 --> 00:35:45.039 the bait and he convinced him to make it a 653 00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:48.840 title match, and for some reason, Paul Hayman didn't seem 654 00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:51.199 to be too bothered when bron Breaker and Logan Paul 655 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:54.719 ran in to cause the disqualification and ruin their chances 656 00:35:54.719 --> 00:36:00.159 of winning the WWE Championship that he asked for. He's 657 00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:02.519 the one who pitched the idea of Hey, why don't 658 00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:04.280 you make this a title match? And Cody was like, 659 00:36:04.360 --> 00:36:07.519 WOOKI that's a great idea, Nick, make the match, and 660 00:36:07.519 --> 00:36:09.920 that's how we ended up with a w W Championship match. 661 00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:12.559 Paul him it didn't seem too bothered by it. Bronson 662 00:36:12.559 --> 00:36:15.440 Reid didn't seem too bothered by it either. None of 663 00:36:15.480 --> 00:36:18.199 that made any sense, but what happened at the end 664 00:36:18.199 --> 00:36:21.480 of the show was Reid squash Cody with a tsunami splash. 665 00:36:21.960 --> 00:36:24.440 So I think it's very likely that Bronson Reid is 666 00:36:24.480 --> 00:36:26.840 going to get bounced. He's going to get his come 667 00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:30.920 up and and that may be the big upset of 668 00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:34.599 the tournament. You gotta have at least one. You have 669 00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:38.519 to have at least one upset. If Javon Evans is 670 00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:42.199 not upsetting Gunther tomorrow night, then I think you have 671 00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:44.960 Carmelo Hayes eke out a win over Bronson Reed. Now 672 00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:47.119 he's not gonna look very strong at all if Bronson 673 00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:49.920 Reed just dominates him for ten minutes and then he 674 00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:53.960 only wins the match because Cody gets involved. But a 675 00:36:54.000 --> 00:36:55.920 win is a win, and he would advance to the 676 00:36:55.920 --> 00:36:59.559 next round. And then with Balor and Penta, there's a 677 00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:02.840 reason that I call him pin Balor. I don't see 678 00:37:02.840 --> 00:37:04.960 why this would be any different. I think that should 679 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:08.199 be a win for Penta. We had a lot of 680 00:37:08.199 --> 00:37:10.639 developments this week on the war games front for the 681 00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:13.480 men's and women's teams. It will be five on five. 682 00:37:13.559 --> 00:37:16.159 In case anybody was wondering if they might shoot for 683 00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:18.880 four on four this year, the answer is no. Cody 684 00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:21.639 Rhodes will be in wargames. And if Cody is in 685 00:37:21.719 --> 00:37:24.320 war games, then it only makes sense that Drew McIntyre 686 00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:27.800 is in War Games as well. Right now, it is Cmpunk, 687 00:37:28.039 --> 00:37:30.960 Cody Rhodes and the ussos. They are all official. On 688 00:37:31.000 --> 00:37:34.239 the baby face side, Roman Reigns said that he did 689 00:37:34.239 --> 00:37:37.599 not want to see his cousins until Christmas. But I 690 00:37:37.639 --> 00:37:41.000 think he's showing up in Madison Square Garden tomorrow. And 691 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:43.280 you know, I was talking to Noah Mark, our old 692 00:37:43.280 --> 00:37:48.039 pal Noah, and he pointed out that Roman had a 693 00:37:48.039 --> 00:37:51.360 total of six matches last year and he has had 694 00:37:51.360 --> 00:37:55.119 a total of six matches so far this year. And 695 00:37:55.239 --> 00:37:57.199 him telling the USOS that he doesn't want to see 696 00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:00.639 them until Christmas. You know, he was and that maybe 697 00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:04.880 he's contracted to a specific number of matches each year, right, 698 00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:07.480 as is the case I'm sure with brock lesnar probably 699 00:38:08.440 --> 00:38:10.639 so he won't be at Survivor Series and we won't 700 00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:13.039 see him in the ring again probably until the Royal Rumble. 701 00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:17.719 And it's an interesting theory. So I can't say that 702 00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:21.519 it would be impossible to conceive that Roman is contracted 703 00:38:21.559 --> 00:38:23.800 to a specific number of matches each year. Maybe he 704 00:38:23.840 --> 00:38:25.559 has hit his quota and that's it for him in 705 00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:28.840 twenty twenty five, I still say he shows up tomorrow night. 706 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:31.880 But it's an interesting theory. Now if it is not Roman, 707 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:35.960 it could still be John Cena or someone else like 708 00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:38.039 La Knight. And then they do the idea that I 709 00:38:38.119 --> 00:38:41.239 pitched a few weeks ago where Jimmy or or La 710 00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:44.239 Knight gets taken out the week before it's like, oh 711 00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:46.039 my god, who's going to be the fifth man, and 712 00:38:46.079 --> 00:38:48.239 that it ends up being John Cena as a surprise. 713 00:38:48.320 --> 00:38:50.440 Because we know Sina will be at Survivor's series, we 714 00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:53.199 just don't know what he's doing yet. Sena being in 715 00:38:53.239 --> 00:38:55.199 there actually kind of makes sense if Brock Lesner is 716 00:38:55.239 --> 00:38:57.400 going to round out the heel side. The only thing 717 00:38:57.440 --> 00:38:59.559 with that idea is that if they're right now, they're 718 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:02.800 doing the exact same angle with the women after Charlotte 719 00:39:02.800 --> 00:39:05.599 Flair refused to team with Rhea Ripley and she walked 720 00:39:05.599 --> 00:39:07.960 out of SmackDown on Friday, so I don't know about 721 00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:11.719 running the same angle in both matches. The heel side 722 00:39:11.800 --> 00:39:16.079 now has bron Breaker, Bronson, Reid Logan, Paul and Drew McIntyre, 723 00:39:16.719 --> 00:39:20.639 with one spot left open that should be the Brock spot. 724 00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:24.800 McIntyre returned on Friday night. Nick Aldis was not happy 725 00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:27.559 about this the reason he was back one week after 726 00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:31.760 being suspended by All. This was because in the Wargames contract, 727 00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:35.679 Paul Hayman pointed out earlier in the show, I could 728 00:39:35.719 --> 00:39:39.480 sign anyone from any brand to join our team, even 729 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:43.239 a SmackDown Star. That SmackDown star turned out to be 730 00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:47.119 Drew McIntyre. So that's their way of circumventing the suspension, 731 00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:50.239 which honestly, you would think would resume after Wargames. I mean, 732 00:39:50.280 --> 00:39:54.280 why would Nick All does not continue the suspension, suspension 733 00:39:54.320 --> 00:39:56.960 of disbelief. That's why they want you to check your 734 00:39:57.000 --> 00:40:00.960 brain at the door with this stuff. The Kabooki Warriors, 735 00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:03.360 they won the women's tag team titles from Charlotte Flair 736 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:06.239 and Alexa Bliss on Monday Night. Then Rhea Ripley and 737 00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:08.639 Eosky came out to make the save after the match. 738 00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:13.039 So it looked to be Ria EO, Charlotte, Alexa and 739 00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:16.480 a fifth woman on the babyface side until they all 740 00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:18.960 got in the ring together on Friday and Charlotte said, 741 00:40:19.159 --> 00:40:22.159 I can't do this anymore. He said, Ria, I don't 742 00:40:22.239 --> 00:40:25.840 like you, I don't trust you. You're a snake. I 743 00:40:25.920 --> 00:40:29.960 can't forget the history that we have together and she said, Alexi, 744 00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:33.000 you can do this if you want, but I'm out 745 00:40:33.159 --> 00:40:36.519 and she left. So they're building drama because now the 746 00:40:36.559 --> 00:40:39.159 Babyfaces are two women short, right, what are they going 747 00:40:39.239 --> 00:40:43.960 to do? The heels have Oscar Kyrie, Naya Jack Slash Legend. 748 00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:47.599 My guess is Becky Lynch rounds out the five and 749 00:40:47.760 --> 00:40:50.480 on the other side, Charlotte eventually has a change of 750 00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:53.880 heart and rejoins them, and the fifth spot goes to 751 00:40:54.360 --> 00:40:57.719 aj Lee, who I think shows up to Madison Square 752 00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:00.440 Garden tomorrow night. We know AJ's in New York because 753 00:41:00.440 --> 00:41:03.440 she was at the Big Event yesterday. Boy, she had 754 00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:06.440 the longest line of anybody at the Big Event. Long 755 00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:08.280 after the event was supposed to be over, there was 756 00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:10.880 still a long ass line for aj Lee. So I 757 00:41:10.880 --> 00:41:13.039 don't know if she flew right back to Chicago or not, 758 00:41:13.239 --> 00:41:15.280 but at least as of yesterday, we know she's in 759 00:41:15.320 --> 00:41:18.440 New York. I'm just saying that makes it a little 760 00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:20.920 easier to believe that she may be at Madison Square 761 00:41:20.960 --> 00:41:24.079 Garden tomorrow. But Becky on that show tomorrow is defending 762 00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:28.320 her Intercontinental title against Maxine Duprix. Having Maxine in the 763 00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:31.920 Wargames match, you know it doesn't pack quite the same 764 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:36.320 punch as aj being in there. I don't think any 765 00:41:36.360 --> 00:41:38.760 of this is leading to a Charlotte heel turn, by 766 00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:41.480 the way, just because they need Charlotte as a baby 767 00:41:41.519 --> 00:41:45.119 face to work with Jade Cargill like Jade needs challengers, 768 00:41:45.920 --> 00:41:48.639 Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair are two people for her 769 00:41:48.679 --> 00:41:50.559 to work with, especially now they don't have those tag 770 00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:53.480 team titles anymore. You have to keep them baby face 771 00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:57.320 at least for a few more months. Bailey and Lyra 772 00:41:57.760 --> 00:42:00.000 they drew the short stick here because they've had their 773 00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:02.760 issues with Oscar and Kyrie and they have no spot 774 00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:06.360 in war games unless Charlotte really is out, and then 775 00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:09.000 the last two spots go to Bailey and Lyra. But 776 00:42:09.039 --> 00:42:12.559 if Becky is joining the heel side, it really has 777 00:42:12.599 --> 00:42:14.800 to be someone on the opposing side that she's been 778 00:42:15.639 --> 00:42:19.199 beefing with recently, and her feud with Bailey and Lyra 779 00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:23.679 that's months old at this point. But we're actually getting 780 00:42:23.719 --> 00:42:27.440 a traditional Survivor Series elimination style match this year. We 781 00:42:27.480 --> 00:42:31.000 haven't had one in a while. We have the MFTs 782 00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:36.039 against Sammy Zain, Ray Phoenix, Shinsky, Nakhamora and the MotorCity 783 00:42:36.119 --> 00:42:42.440 machine Guns on SmackDown. Yes, the night before Survivor Series. 784 00:42:42.480 --> 00:42:46.800 We are getting a traditional Survivor Series elimination match. Yeah. 785 00:42:46.840 --> 00:42:49.000 I can't be too upset that they're doing it on 786 00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:51.920 TV instead of on the pl because it's the MFTs, 787 00:42:52.199 --> 00:42:54.079 so I'm not going to be sad they're not on 788 00:42:54.159 --> 00:42:57.440 the big show. But at least we're getting an elimination 789 00:42:57.559 --> 00:42:59.119 match this year. I think they should shoot to do 790 00:42:59.199 --> 00:43:02.920 one every year. The only thing is we are going 791 00:43:02.960 --> 00:43:05.840 to have to deal with three or four commercial breaks 792 00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.079 during the match. That's the thing that sucks about it 793 00:43:08.119 --> 00:43:11.679 being on TV, unless, of course, you're using your Express 794 00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:14.639 VPN like this guy here, then you don't have to 795 00:43:14.679 --> 00:43:20.840 worry about that. Now. On the TNA front, we had 796 00:43:21.199 --> 00:43:27.119 another example this week of lol TNA, which has lived 797 00:43:27.159 --> 00:43:29.280 on really for the entire eighteen years that I've been 798 00:43:29.280 --> 00:43:32.320 doing this podcast. You can find plenty of LOLTNA moments 799 00:43:32.360 --> 00:43:35.519 over the years, and as TNA has evolved and changed 800 00:43:35.559 --> 00:43:38.639 and come under new ownership, and they've even created some 801 00:43:38.719 --> 00:43:41.119 buzz around the product in recent months. We're still waiting 802 00:43:41.159 --> 00:43:43.079 for word on what this new TV deal is going 803 00:43:43.119 --> 00:43:46.639 to be. It's almost December already, Carlos Silva said that 804 00:43:47.239 --> 00:43:48.559 it was going to have to be a deal that 805 00:43:48.679 --> 00:43:50.840 kicked off at the beginning of twenty twenty six, so 806 00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:53.280 we're still waiting on that. But for all of that, 807 00:43:54.320 --> 00:43:57.760 one thing remains consistent, one thing we'll live on forever, 808 00:43:58.079 --> 00:44:02.079 and that is LOLTNA. Because this week, Mike Santana, who 809 00:44:02.280 --> 00:44:06.199 just had his big crowning moment at Bound for Glory 810 00:44:06.599 --> 00:44:09.760 right less than a month ago and became the TNA 811 00:44:09.840 --> 00:44:13.480 World Heavyweight Champion after a struggle that lasted most of 812 00:44:13.519 --> 00:44:18.480 this year, Mike Santana is no longer the TNA World 813 00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:25.119 Heavyweight Champion because Frankie Kazarian during Thursday night's Live Impact 814 00:44:25.159 --> 00:44:29.880 episode defeated Santana by cashing in his Call Your Shot 815 00:44:29.920 --> 00:44:33.960 Gauntlet trophy that he won actually co won with Nicknameth. 816 00:44:34.639 --> 00:44:38.719 At Bound for Glory, Santana made his one and only 817 00:44:38.760 --> 00:44:41.679 defense of the TNA World Championship on Thursday's episode. He 818 00:44:41.719 --> 00:44:44.519 beat Ryan Nemeth. It was some kind of I don't know, 819 00:44:44.719 --> 00:44:49.119 no contest or DQ whatever it was when a group 820 00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:52.679 of NXT stars and I used that word loosely, ran 821 00:44:52.760 --> 00:44:56.000 in and attacked Santana during the match and they went 822 00:44:56.039 --> 00:45:01.159 after the arm, and after the ring cleared, Kazarian cashed 823 00:45:01.199 --> 00:45:05.800 in his trophy and became the sixth Grand Slam champion 824 00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:08.079 in TNA history. Boy, we had a lot of Grand 825 00:45:08.159 --> 00:45:11.960 Slam history made this week, didn't we? In wrestling? So 826 00:45:12.000 --> 00:45:15.639 they took a month off. TNA had no shows, okay, 827 00:45:15.679 --> 00:45:17.960 for an entire month, and they came back with this 828 00:45:18.079 --> 00:45:22.639 TV taping They actually taped at Full Sale University on Thursday. 829 00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:28.559 And you have Lexus King, and you have Charlie Dempsey 830 00:45:28.639 --> 00:45:34.119 and Robert Stone, and you have Stacks and Brooks Jensen 831 00:45:34.360 --> 00:45:38.239 from nxt the NXT B team run into attack Mike 832 00:45:38.320 --> 00:45:43.760 Santana and injure him. This this was LOLTNA in every 833 00:45:43.760 --> 00:45:47.480 way because even the way he lost, Santana lost the 834 00:45:47.559 --> 00:45:52.800 championship in the worst possible way. After the company takes 835 00:45:52.840 --> 00:45:55.599 a month off, the first night he defends that championship, 836 00:45:55.920 --> 00:45:58.519 he gets attacked by these guys. They stomp on the arm, 837 00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:03.400 Kazarian cashes in. Santana go in the second match here 838 00:46:03.440 --> 00:46:06.599 after you know, Kazarian kesht and Santana's going for the 839 00:46:06.639 --> 00:46:10.840 spin the block lariat, but he stops. He gets a 840 00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:16.320 cramp in his arm and he gets rolled up. That 841 00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:18.239 is how he lost the title. And you can call 842 00:46:18.280 --> 00:46:20.599 it well it was arm pain. I'm gonna call it 843 00:46:20.599 --> 00:46:24.239 a cramp. He lost his championship on account of a 844 00:46:24.360 --> 00:46:29.679 cramp and Mike Santana's rain. Think about this as TNA 845 00:46:29.800 --> 00:46:33.280 World Champion, his first reign ends with his only other 846 00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:37.280 television appearance being a match with Cedric Alexander a few 847 00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:39.920 weeks ago, where he did not even bring the belt 848 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:42.840 out with him to the ring because the match was 849 00:46:42.920 --> 00:46:46.480 taped the month before he won the belt. And now 850 00:46:46.480 --> 00:46:48.800 they're trying to build drama around this, and this is 851 00:46:48.840 --> 00:46:52.559 only making the situation worse because per pw Insider on Friday, 852 00:46:53.000 --> 00:46:54.880 this was quite the drama over the course of the 853 00:46:54.960 --> 00:46:57.599 day because they said, as of two pm Eastern this afternoon, 854 00:46:57.599 --> 00:47:01.119 Mike Santana has not arrived at tonight's TNA Turning Point 855 00:47:01.159 --> 00:47:05.599 pay per view. Call time for Talent was one pm Eastern. Santana, 856 00:47:05.599 --> 00:47:08.400 who dropped the title last night to Frankie Kazarian, did 857 00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:11.519 not appear for his scheduled meet and greet after the taping. 858 00:47:12.039 --> 00:47:14.960 The word making the way around Talent says that Santana 859 00:47:15.039 --> 00:47:19.079 has not returned the company's phone calls or texts. TNA 860 00:47:19.159 --> 00:47:22.360 officials did not return a request for comment, and they 861 00:47:22.400 --> 00:47:24.960 said Santana is slated to work tonight's pay per view 862 00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:28.599 main event, teaming with Steve Macklin against Kazarian and Nick Nemath, 863 00:47:28.639 --> 00:47:32.440 and then later in the day on Friday, PW Insider 864 00:47:32.519 --> 00:47:35.280 follows up and says Santana's current TNA deal is up 865 00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:37.079 at the end of the year. The belief is that 866 00:47:37.119 --> 00:47:39.239 he has an offer on the table from TNA for 867 00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:43.199 an extension. There has been WWE interest in Santana dating 868 00:47:43.239 --> 00:47:45.880 back months, but obviously the two sides work together, and 869 00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:48.639 it's entirely conceivable that they will work together as they 870 00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:51.639 did with Joe Hendry. There has been an assumption from 871 00:47:51.679 --> 00:47:54.719 some that last night's angle with Santana losing the title 872 00:47:54.880 --> 00:47:59.000 was to facilitate him leaving for NXT, but no one 873 00:47:59.079 --> 00:48:02.079 on the WWE SCA side has confirmed that that was 874 00:48:02.159 --> 00:48:06.760 the case. Then came Seawn ross Sap later on, who tweeted, 875 00:48:06.920 --> 00:48:10.639 the Santana thing is a work. Don't know how else 876 00:48:10.679 --> 00:48:13.960 to put it. TNA should have probably just posted that 877 00:48:14.119 --> 00:48:16.519 on their Twitter instead of feeding it to media like 878 00:48:16.599 --> 00:48:20.000 it was real. That's a no go for me. First 879 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:23.079 time an official in any company has done that with us. 880 00:48:24.440 --> 00:48:26.280 So they tried to pass this thing off as a 881 00:48:26.320 --> 00:48:30.079 shoot where oh, he's been unreachable and he's ignoring the 882 00:48:30.119 --> 00:48:33.719 company's phone calls and texts and Santana is angry and 883 00:48:33.880 --> 00:48:36.639 this is all very very dumb. If this is all 884 00:48:36.679 --> 00:48:38.880 some angle, this is all some kind of work, This 885 00:48:39.079 --> 00:48:43.280 is so stupid. So like in storyline, why would Mike 886 00:48:43.360 --> 00:48:48.440 Santana be mad at TNA management and ghost them because 887 00:48:48.440 --> 00:48:50.840 they let Kazarian cash in on him after he was 888 00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:54.880 attacked by the B team. That's what the call your 889 00:48:54.920 --> 00:48:57.199 shot trophy is for. It's their version of money in 890 00:48:57.239 --> 00:49:01.639 the bank right played out as it is. Why would 891 00:49:01.639 --> 00:49:03.559 he be mad at them for that? Like everything about 892 00:49:03.559 --> 00:49:06.360 this is just so fucking dumb. And I'll tell you what, Like, 893 00:49:06.559 --> 00:49:09.599 my guess is that Santana is probably gonna stick around 894 00:49:09.599 --> 00:49:12.760 for a while longer with TNA. You know, he knows. 895 00:49:12.840 --> 00:49:14.960 I'm sure that he can appear on NXT if they 896 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:18.000 call upon him. It's good they have that partnership. Mike 897 00:49:18.079 --> 00:49:21.599 Santana absolutely belongs in NXT. If NXT is the kind 898 00:49:21.639 --> 00:49:24.199 of the first you know, entry point for him to 899 00:49:24.239 --> 00:49:26.760 eventually get to the main roster. He is more than 900 00:49:26.800 --> 00:49:30.320 ready to be on Raar SmackDown, But Mike Santana belongs 901 00:49:30.320 --> 00:49:32.559 in NXT. You know, he should be in there wrestling 902 00:49:32.559 --> 00:49:35.239 guys like Ricky Saints and Oba Femi in a regular basis. 903 00:49:36.039 --> 00:49:38.719 If he wants to stay with TNA, that's that's his 904 00:49:38.840 --> 00:49:41.679 decision to make. But I just think ending his first 905 00:49:41.760 --> 00:49:45.840 championship run and he'll likely win it back and everybody 906 00:49:45.840 --> 00:49:48.079 will be like, oh see, you know he won it back. Yeah, 907 00:49:48.079 --> 00:49:50.599 that's not the point though. For him to go in 908 00:49:50.639 --> 00:49:52.679 there after all these months and win the championship and 909 00:49:52.719 --> 00:49:55.079 to take it from him in the most anti climactic, 910 00:49:55.320 --> 00:49:59.159 just like Bush League way possible, is just incredibly stupid, 911 00:49:59.199 --> 00:50:01.840 where they're trying to work some kind of weird workshoot 912 00:50:01.920 --> 00:50:05.039 angle that really is not entertaining and it's not going 913 00:50:05.119 --> 00:50:07.519 to generate any new interest in the product or bring 914 00:50:07.559 --> 00:50:09.840 in any new fans. It's just going to piss off 915 00:50:09.840 --> 00:50:13.679 and alienate the people who already watched the product or cover. 916 00:50:13.760 --> 00:50:17.519 The product. Doesn't do anything for Mike Santana, doesn't do 917 00:50:17.559 --> 00:50:20.559 anything for Frankie Kazari, and it doesn't do anything for TNA. 918 00:50:21.239 --> 00:50:22.320 Just stupid. 919 00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:26.519 Who are these mystery opponents in the last time is 920 00:50:26.519 --> 00:50:28.880 now John Cena Tournament. Hey, it's Chris fan Fleet and 921 00:50:28.920 --> 00:50:31.960 I'm breaking that down on my podcast Insight. 922 00:50:31.679 --> 00:50:32.960 With Chris fan Fleet this week. 923 00:50:33.199 --> 00:50:35.440 I also just had one of my favorite interviews of 924 00:50:35.440 --> 00:50:40.039 the year with the legend himself, Mick Foley. Some other 925 00:50:40.079 --> 00:50:45.679 recent guests include EO Sky, Stephanie Vicaire, Joe Hendry, Shawn Michaels, 926 00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:49.559 Rhea Ripley, Samoa Joe, and many others. You can find 927 00:50:49.599 --> 00:50:52.760 Insight with Chris van Fleet on Spotify or Apple or 928 00:50:52.800 --> 00:50:55.800 wherever you're listening to this right now, or just search 929 00:50:55.960 --> 00:50:56.639 for Chris. 930 00:50:56.440 --> 00:51:00.159 Fan Fleet on YouTube. Again. It was good to see 931 00:51:00.239 --> 00:51:03.760 Chris at the Big event yesterday. And yeah, you see 932 00:51:03.800 --> 00:51:06.519 a lot of his content on YouTube, a lot of 933 00:51:06.559 --> 00:51:10.119 the full video interviews and the clips, but some people 934 00:51:10.119 --> 00:51:13.639 don't realize that the audio versions are available as well. 935 00:51:13.719 --> 00:51:16.880 He's got audio shows, so definitely go ahead and give 936 00:51:16.880 --> 00:51:19.760 those a listen and drop them a note, drop them 937 00:51:19.800 --> 00:51:21.320 a tweet, and let him know that you heard about 938 00:51:21.360 --> 00:51:25.400 the shows here on the SoundOff. On his recent episode 939 00:51:25.440 --> 00:51:28.519 of Talk Is Jericho, Chris Jericho made a comment that 940 00:51:28.599 --> 00:51:32.079 got a lot of people talking, and he had an 941 00:51:32.079 --> 00:51:35.639 episode with the Hardy's and the Dudleys discussing their match 942 00:51:35.679 --> 00:51:39.119 from TNA Bound for Glory this year, and Jericho is 943 00:51:39.199 --> 00:51:42.039 praising the match and the presentation really of the entire 944 00:51:42.079 --> 00:51:46.400 pay per view, saying that TNA looked like the second 945 00:51:46.440 --> 00:51:51.960 biggest company in the world that night. Yes said, I 946 00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:55.440 don't think I've watched an Impact sorry, a TNA match 947 00:51:55.559 --> 00:51:58.599 in ages, if not this decade at all. I was 948 00:51:58.639 --> 00:52:02.400 so impressed. Jericho said, Well, first of all, you guys 949 00:52:02.400 --> 00:52:05.880 had a match. Yeah, no, shit, I didn't even It 950 00:52:05.960 --> 00:52:08.280 wasn't even the match. It was the beginning part, before 951 00:52:08.320 --> 00:52:10.880 you guys even locked up. It was the end part 952 00:52:10.920 --> 00:52:13.920 after it happened like that. I'm getting a little goosebumps. 953 00:52:14.519 --> 00:52:17.920 That's pro wrestling in its ultimate form. That's all that matters, 954 00:52:18.000 --> 00:52:21.880 is that emotion and that reaction. That was one thing too. 955 00:52:22.519 --> 00:52:26.440 That fucking crowd looked huge. It looked huge. It was 956 00:52:26.480 --> 00:52:30.199 like a WWE level crowd. The place was packed. I 957 00:52:30.320 --> 00:52:33.559 was watching this and not saying anything out of school here, 958 00:52:33.599 --> 00:52:36.119 but comparing it to watching Dynamite when they were at 959 00:52:36.119 --> 00:52:39.480 the ECW Arena, which looked like a Tony Condello taping. 960 00:52:40.159 --> 00:52:44.280 Sorry it did. TNA looked like the second biggest company 961 00:52:44.360 --> 00:52:47.679 in the world, and that was amazing and the presentation 962 00:52:48.119 --> 00:52:54.159 was amazing. Yeah, he's gone, I mean we are. I 963 00:52:54.159 --> 00:52:57.199 think most people probably assumed he was gone anyway. I 964 00:52:57.239 --> 00:52:59.760 don't think that he's taken most of this year off, right, 965 00:52:59.800 --> 00:53:01.960 he's I mean off television since what April. I don't 966 00:53:01.960 --> 00:53:03.599 think he's taken most of this year off just to 967 00:53:03.639 --> 00:53:06.599 go right back to aaw But if you didn't believe 968 00:53:06.639 --> 00:53:08.920 it before, you can believe it now. That Chris Jericho 969 00:53:09.239 --> 00:53:13.360 is just preparing for that Royal Rumble return, I am sure, 970 00:53:13.639 --> 00:53:16.039 but I expect him back in WWE in the next 971 00:53:16.079 --> 00:53:20.199 few months. AJ Styles was on a podcast, not Chris 972 00:53:20.320 --> 00:53:22.800 Jericho's podcast, although he may well be wrestling him at 973 00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:26.280 some point next year. But AJ Styles was on a podcast, 974 00:53:26.280 --> 00:53:31.199 the No Contest Wrestling Podcast, talking about the lack of 975 00:53:31.400 --> 00:53:35.800 quality selling in wrestling today. He said he would like 976 00:53:35.840 --> 00:53:37.960 to see the industry return to way less is more 977 00:53:38.239 --> 00:53:40.519 type of approach. He said, I can tell you one 978 00:53:40.559 --> 00:53:42.599 thing that's missing, and I still to this day. I 979 00:53:42.639 --> 00:53:45.480 will go over to my buddy's house before we work 980 00:53:45.480 --> 00:53:49.079 out and we'll watch old school wrestling. It's what we do. 981 00:53:49.880 --> 00:53:52.599 That's kind of our thing. And the one thing I 982 00:53:52.760 --> 00:53:56.119 think is missing the most is selling. When he was 983 00:53:56.159 --> 00:53:58.440 asked to respond to name one thing that is missing 984 00:53:58.519 --> 00:54:01.559 in the modern wrestling era, he said, the way they 985 00:54:01.679 --> 00:54:04.199 used to sell back in the day, Man, they really 986 00:54:04.239 --> 00:54:07.559 made you believe that this hurt, that this guy's in pain. 987 00:54:08.239 --> 00:54:10.199 And I just feel like we've gotten away from that. 988 00:54:10.320 --> 00:54:13.000 And I'm just as guilty as anybody. But if we 989 00:54:13.000 --> 00:54:15.360 could take it back and make it a less as 990 00:54:15.440 --> 00:54:18.039 more kind of thing, I think that would be best 991 00:54:18.159 --> 00:54:21.639 for everybody. And naturally, he's going to say that the 992 00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:24.119 man is forty eight years old who wrestled a very 993 00:54:24.199 --> 00:54:29.159 high risk aerial style for a large swath of his career, 994 00:54:29.599 --> 00:54:32.320 and I'm sure he's feeling pretty beat up, and I'm 995 00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:36.519 sure he recognizes that as you get older as someone 996 00:54:36.519 --> 00:54:38.519 who is, you know, the crusty old veteran now in 997 00:54:38.559 --> 00:54:41.559 the wrestling business, that you know what, maybe it's not 998 00:54:41.639 --> 00:54:43.760 always the smartest thing to go out there, balls to 999 00:54:43.800 --> 00:54:46.639 the wall and do all of this risky, crazy, dangerous stuff. 1000 00:54:46.719 --> 00:54:49.719 Maybe sometimes you could just slow things down a little bit. 1001 00:54:50.119 --> 00:54:51.920 You do a little bit less, but you get more 1002 00:54:51.960 --> 00:54:55.119 out of it, and that probably is something that comes 1003 00:54:55.159 --> 00:54:58.000 with just experience and time, because when you're young, like 1004 00:54:58.039 --> 00:55:00.599 some of these guys in NXT, you know you're a 1005 00:55:00.679 --> 00:55:03.199 Leon Slater and TNA or a Javon Evans going out 1006 00:55:03.199 --> 00:55:05.800 there twenty years old, twenty one years old. You use 1007 00:55:05.840 --> 00:55:08.199 the tools that you have, right, Javon Evans is not 1008 00:55:08.239 --> 00:55:09.840 a big guy. He's not gonna go out there and 1009 00:55:09.880 --> 00:55:14.159 work a big man match. He's a lightweight, right, He's 1010 00:55:14.559 --> 00:55:17.920 not exactly muscled up or anything like that. So he's 1011 00:55:17.920 --> 00:55:19.840 going to use that to his advantage. He's gonna fly, 1012 00:55:20.039 --> 00:55:22.239 he's gonna do things that dazzle you and make you go, 1013 00:55:22.320 --> 00:55:25.000 holy shit, I can't believe you just did that. That's 1014 00:55:25.039 --> 00:55:26.840 what made the match with him and Leon Slaters so 1015 00:55:26.960 --> 00:55:29.920 much fun to watch because their styles so similar, their 1016 00:55:29.920 --> 00:55:32.559 body types are so similar, and two of the best 1017 00:55:32.559 --> 00:55:34.440 in the world of what they do right now. So 1018 00:55:34.480 --> 00:55:36.840 they went out there and had this great match. But 1019 00:55:36.960 --> 00:55:39.360 you do all of these moves and these dives, and 1020 00:55:39.400 --> 00:55:42.639 you take these incredible risks, and at what point do 1021 00:55:42.679 --> 00:55:44.639 you just go how do you top this? Like, where 1022 00:55:44.639 --> 00:55:48.400 do you go from here? It's just the natural question 1023 00:55:48.519 --> 00:55:50.039 to ask, and this has been the age old question 1024 00:55:50.079 --> 00:55:52.039 of wrestling. This is not like a new phenomenon here. 1025 00:55:52.320 --> 00:55:56.159 I'm just using them as an example. But I one 1026 00:55:56.199 --> 00:55:58.480 hundred percent as a fan watching the shows, I one 1027 00:55:58.599 --> 00:56:02.719 hundred percent of agree with AJ styles. Although I will say, 1028 00:56:02.760 --> 00:56:05.559 you watch SmackDown each week, You've got Ilia Dragonov out 1029 00:56:05.599 --> 00:56:08.519 there every week selling his ass off like he's on 1030 00:56:08.559 --> 00:56:12.000 the verge of death in every match. Sometimes he may 1031 00:56:12.000 --> 00:56:13.559 go a little over the top with it, but I 1032 00:56:13.599 --> 00:56:16.800 appreciate the way that he sells in his matches. Dragonov 1033 00:56:16.880 --> 00:56:18.840 is one of the few, honestly in wrestling today who 1034 00:56:18.880 --> 00:56:21.559 can still sell in a way that is similar to 1035 00:56:21.599 --> 00:56:24.719 a Brett Hart. And to me, Brett Hart will always 1036 00:56:24.719 --> 00:56:26.480 be the master at it. There's a reason why Guerrilla 1037 00:56:26.519 --> 00:56:30.239 Mond soon started calling him the excellence of execution. Brett 1038 00:56:30.239 --> 00:56:33.400 Hart was the best when it came to selling a 1039 00:56:33.440 --> 00:56:35.960 beating in a wrestling match and making it look as 1040 00:56:36.000 --> 00:56:38.760 realistic as possible. When he was in there and he 1041 00:56:38.960 --> 00:56:42.559 was down on the mat, thrown into the turnbuckles, taking 1042 00:56:42.599 --> 00:56:44.519 that chest bump in the corner when the heel was 1043 00:56:44.559 --> 00:56:47.039 working him over, you felt like this was a battle, 1044 00:56:47.119 --> 00:56:49.239 This was a struggle for him. He was fighting for 1045 00:56:49.280 --> 00:56:52.400 his life in there, and that type of selling is 1046 00:56:52.920 --> 00:56:56.679 virtually non existent in wrestling these days. And I'll throw 1047 00:56:56.719 --> 00:56:58.559 one more thing in there. And AJ didn't mention this, 1048 00:56:58.639 --> 00:57:01.079 but I've brought this up before. I don't understand why 1049 00:57:01.159 --> 00:57:03.840 we don't have that many wrestlers in wrestling today. It 1050 00:57:03.920 --> 00:57:06.559 just feels like to me, who know how to throw 1051 00:57:06.599 --> 00:57:08.639 a punch like those guys did back in the day. 1052 00:57:09.599 --> 00:57:11.679 I can list off of and Brett's one of those guys, 1053 00:57:11.679 --> 00:57:14.719 but Steve Austin and Scott Hall and Jeff Jarrett and 1054 00:57:14.800 --> 00:57:18.000 Jerry Lawler. There are certain people who when they would 1055 00:57:18.039 --> 00:57:20.880 throw like a closed fist and they would throw a 1056 00:57:20.920 --> 00:57:25.159 work punch in a wrestling match, it looked devastating. It 1057 00:57:25.199 --> 00:57:27.480 looked like they were really punching the guy in the 1058 00:57:27.519 --> 00:57:31.199 fucking face. And I just feel like we don't have 1059 00:57:31.280 --> 00:57:33.079 as much of that in wrestling now. And part of 1060 00:57:33.079 --> 00:57:34.480 it is the fact that a lot of guys will 1061 00:57:34.519 --> 00:57:36.880 throw forearms, which I think is something that I first 1062 00:57:36.920 --> 00:57:39.199 started noticing that watching New Japan. I think it's a 1063 00:57:39.280 --> 00:57:42.440 Japanese thing, you know, a strong style. I guess the 1064 00:57:43.119 --> 00:57:45.320 logic behind it is, well, you don't want to break 1065 00:57:45.320 --> 00:57:48.960 your hand so you throw a forearms so you can 1066 00:57:49.199 --> 00:57:51.960 you could explain it in that fashion, but there's a 1067 00:57:52.000 --> 00:57:53.760 lot of wrestlers who will do that. Now we have 1068 00:57:53.840 --> 00:57:57.519 these forearm battles and these chop battles, yay boo, all 1069 00:57:57.519 --> 00:58:00.360 this stuff, But just throwing a simple punch I think 1070 00:58:00.480 --> 00:58:03.679 is a lost art. It really is. But the art 1071 00:58:03.719 --> 00:58:05.519 of selling is so important in the course of a 1072 00:58:05.519 --> 00:58:08.960 wrestling match. That's how you tell a story. You tell 1073 00:58:08.960 --> 00:58:11.360 a story through the way that you are selling in 1074 00:58:11.400 --> 00:58:12.800 the course of the match. And if you're going to 1075 00:58:12.840 --> 00:58:15.119 make a big heroic comeback, that's part of the story 1076 00:58:15.159 --> 00:58:17.519 that you're telling. So AJ is one hundred percent bang 1077 00:58:17.639 --> 00:58:20.320 on in that. I think part of it. I don't 1078 00:58:20.320 --> 00:58:22.400 want to excuse the talent, you know, the talent is 1079 00:58:22.400 --> 00:58:25.360 guilty of it. AJ himself said, I'm guilty of it. 1080 00:58:26.199 --> 00:58:29.639 But also it's I think just the nature of wrestling 1081 00:58:29.679 --> 00:58:32.400 television now where everything is just there's this sense of 1082 00:58:32.519 --> 00:58:35.400 urgency and the pace has been picked up so much 1083 00:58:36.400 --> 00:58:38.199 and you've got to go from one to the other 1084 00:58:38.239 --> 00:58:40.480 to the other, and the way these matches are constructed, 1085 00:58:41.119 --> 00:58:43.480 and I see it a lot watching aw where it's 1086 00:58:43.519 --> 00:58:45.599 just spot spots, spotspot spot, Right, we got to go 1087 00:58:45.599 --> 00:58:47.039 from one big spot to the next thing. You don't 1088 00:58:47.079 --> 00:58:49.519 leave any time for selling, and it's not just an 1089 00:58:49.559 --> 00:58:53.039 aw thing, but I notice it a lot watching Dynamite 1090 00:58:53.039 --> 00:58:56.280 week to week or the pay per views, and you 1091 00:58:56.360 --> 00:58:58.079 just do this big spot. But I'll tell you what. 1092 00:58:58.119 --> 00:59:01.280 I'll give you a WWE example, and I'll use Ilia 1093 00:59:01.360 --> 00:59:04.519 Dragonov and the match that he just had with Axiom. 1094 00:59:04.960 --> 00:59:07.679 So they just had this United States Championship Open Challenge 1095 00:59:07.679 --> 00:59:14.400 on Friday, and Axiom did this great move where he 1096 00:59:14.480 --> 00:59:16.960 did a backflip off the ropes while he was holding 1097 00:59:17.039 --> 00:59:20.079 Dragonov's arm, and he caught Dragonov on the way down 1098 00:59:20.199 --> 00:59:23.079 with this spike DDT and it looked fantastic, right, this 1099 00:59:23.159 --> 00:59:25.599 great fucking move, And of course you know he didn't 1100 00:59:25.599 --> 00:59:28.000 win the match with it, but shortly thereafter we had 1101 00:59:28.000 --> 00:59:31.199 a top rope Spanish fly spot an Axiom hit a 1102 00:59:31.239 --> 00:59:37.119 top rope Spanish fly and went Immediately after that, he 1103 00:59:37.199 --> 00:59:38.920 went to go set it for his finisher, which was 1104 00:59:38.960 --> 00:59:43.360 the Golden Ratio, and Dragonov caught him with a torpedo 1105 00:59:43.440 --> 00:59:45.559 moscow coming out of the corner and head butted him 1106 00:59:45.599 --> 00:59:48.760 right in the fucking face or chest or whatever it was, 1107 00:59:49.760 --> 00:59:51.800 and it looked great. It was a great closing sequence 1108 00:59:51.840 --> 00:59:53.559 and it got the fans into it. But you know what, 1109 00:59:53.679 --> 00:59:56.920 I'm watching this and I said this on Friday, I'm like, boy, 1110 00:59:57.320 --> 01:00:00.280 the top rope Spanish fly really doesn't mean what it 1111 01:00:00.400 --> 01:00:04.119 used to. That's just one example of these big moves 1112 01:00:05.440 --> 01:00:08.320 that these guys do, and it just it's a setup 1113 01:00:08.360 --> 01:00:10.519 move or it sets up a near fall and the 1114 01:00:10.559 --> 01:00:14.320 match just keeps going. That's why I love how Penta 1115 01:00:14.400 --> 01:00:18.199 when he left AW and came to WWE, they at 1116 01:00:18.280 --> 01:00:21.880 least have really taken great pains to make the destroyer 1117 01:00:22.159 --> 01:00:25.519 a finishing move. It is no longer just a setup move. 1118 01:00:25.559 --> 01:00:27.920 It's not just another move. It's a move he actually 1119 01:00:27.960 --> 01:00:31.400 wins matches with. And I appreciate that, but it just 1120 01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:34.000 goes to this problem that I've noticed in wrestling today. 1121 01:00:34.000 --> 01:00:35.719 And maybe if you're a newer fan, you don't see 1122 01:00:35.760 --> 01:00:38.119 it as a problem because you have no concept of 1123 01:00:38.159 --> 01:00:40.719 what wrestling used to be like. To you, this is 1124 01:00:40.760 --> 01:00:43.960 what wrestling is. It's balls to the wall, NonStop, boom boom, boom, 1125 01:00:44.000 --> 01:00:48.159 spotspot spot, and anything else is boring. All this guy, 1126 01:00:48.320 --> 01:00:50.599 he's why is he on the mat? He's just laying there, 1127 01:00:50.599 --> 01:00:54.639 he's making faces. Fucking boring. Some people don't like that, 1128 01:00:56.119 --> 01:00:58.039 but I'm with aj on this one. I think it's 1129 01:00:58.360 --> 01:01:01.920 It's definitely something that has become a lost art because 1130 01:01:01.920 --> 01:01:04.480 I feel like wrestlers are too afraid to slow the 1131 01:01:04.519 --> 01:01:07.559 pace of the match down. I think they're too afraid 1132 01:01:07.559 --> 01:01:08.960 to slow the pace of the match in. I think 1133 01:01:08.960 --> 01:01:12.079 there are definitely absolutely some wrestlers out there who pay 1134 01:01:12.079 --> 01:01:15.280 too much attention to social media and social media comments 1135 01:01:15.840 --> 01:01:17.920 and they don't want to log on and scroll through 1136 01:01:17.960 --> 01:01:20.320 their timeline and see all this match sucked. This match 1137 01:01:20.400 --> 01:01:22.599 was boring, This match was slow, This match was dull, 1138 01:01:23.280 --> 01:01:25.440 And there are matches that are just a little too 1139 01:01:25.480 --> 01:01:28.559 slow paced, right. You just got to find that happy medium. 1140 01:01:29.079 --> 01:01:31.360 But I think that's part of the problem. And there's 1141 01:01:31.440 --> 01:01:35.920 just just this constant need to Okay, we got to 1142 01:01:36.000 --> 01:01:38.519 keep things moving here, We got to do another big 1143 01:01:38.559 --> 01:01:40.400 move because we don't want to lose the crowd and 1144 01:01:40.440 --> 01:01:42.239 we want to get those chants. We don't want them 1145 01:01:42.280 --> 01:01:46.480 to lose interest in what we're doing here. And it's 1146 01:01:46.599 --> 01:01:48.840 just a different way of doing things, you know, than 1147 01:01:48.880 --> 01:01:51.679 it was back in the day. You can borrow from 1148 01:01:51.880 --> 01:01:56.000 the old school on certain things. Not everything has to 1149 01:01:56.000 --> 01:02:00.639 be old school. Things change, things evolve, but there is 1150 01:02:00.679 --> 01:02:03.480 a lot from the old school that I think if 1151 01:02:03.480 --> 01:02:07.400 you were to educate and condition the current audience that 1152 01:02:07.480 --> 01:02:09.480 this is the way it should be, they would buy 1153 01:02:09.480 --> 01:02:11.199 into it, and I think it would really help the 1154 01:02:11.239 --> 01:02:15.280 product a lot. Today's episode is sponsored by Better Help. 1155 01:02:15.599 --> 01:02:18.760 One thing I hate about the fall season is how 1156 01:02:18.760 --> 01:02:22.199 it gets darker earlier. Makes me feel like I somehow 1157 01:02:22.280 --> 01:02:24.519 have fewer hours in the day to get stuff done. 1158 01:02:25.159 --> 01:02:27.400 And honestly, I just find it to be depressing when 1159 01:02:27.400 --> 01:02:29.119 I look out the window of four o'clock in the 1160 01:02:29.199 --> 01:02:32.400 afternoon and it's pitch black outside. But it really can 1161 01:02:32.519 --> 01:02:35.039 have a negative effect on your mental state. That's why 1162 01:02:35.119 --> 01:02:38.719 all November long, Better Help is encouraging you to reach out, 1163 01:02:38.800 --> 01:02:41.519 whether it be to reconnect with an old friend that 1164 01:02:41.559 --> 01:02:44.280 you haven't spoken to in forever, or to check in 1165 01:02:44.320 --> 01:02:46.840 on a family member, to remind the people in your 1166 01:02:46.880 --> 01:02:49.960 life that you're there and they're not alone. And just 1167 01:02:50.039 --> 01:02:52.400 like it takes courage to send that message or make 1168 01:02:52.440 --> 01:02:55.159 that phone call, seeking out help in the form of 1169 01:02:55.199 --> 01:02:58.480 therapy can feel intimidating also, but it's worth it. You'll 1170 01:02:58.519 --> 01:03:00.920 be asking yourself, man, how come I didn't do this sooner? 1171 01:03:01.719 --> 01:03:05.000 Finding the right therapist can be life changing, and better 1172 01:03:05.039 --> 01:03:07.920 Help makes that process simple. They do the initial matching 1173 01:03:07.960 --> 01:03:09.880 work for you so that you can focus on your 1174 01:03:09.880 --> 01:03:12.760 therapy goals. All you do is fill out a short 1175 01:03:12.840 --> 01:03:16.320 questionnaire which helps identify your needs and preferences. In their 1176 01:03:16.360 --> 01:03:20.400 twelve plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment 1177 01:03:20.480 --> 01:03:23.559 rate mean they usually get it right the first time, 1178 01:03:24.280 --> 01:03:27.000 but if for any reason you're not happy with your match, 1179 01:03:27.440 --> 01:03:29.800 you can switch to a different therapist at any time. 1180 01:03:30.400 --> 01:03:33.639 And all Better Help therapists are fully licensed in the US, 1181 01:03:34.039 --> 01:03:36.800 adhering to a strict code of conduct in all the 1182 01:03:36.840 --> 01:03:41.000 work they do. As the world's largest online therapy platform 1183 01:03:41.039 --> 01:03:44.920 with over thirty thousand therapists, Better Help has an average 1184 01:03:45.000 --> 01:03:47.199 rating of four point nine out of five for a 1185 01:03:47.239 --> 01:03:50.119 live session based on more than one point seven million 1186 01:03:50.199 --> 01:03:55.159 client reviews. The numbers speak for themselves. This month, don't 1187 01:03:55.199 --> 01:03:57.880 wait to reach out. Whether you're checking in on a 1188 01:03:57.920 --> 01:04:01.360 friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself, Better Help 1189 01:04:01.440 --> 01:04:04.800 makes it easier to take that first step. Solo Monster 1190 01:04:04.920 --> 01:04:08.199 listeners get ten percent off their first month at betterhelp 1191 01:04:08.320 --> 01:04:13.639 dot com slash solom Monster. That's better h elp dot 1192 01:04:13.679 --> 01:04:19.239 com slash solo Monster. Wednesday night was aw's big Blooding 1193 01:04:19.280 --> 01:04:22.800 Gut show from Greensboro, which shot up to six hundred 1194 01:04:22.880 --> 01:04:26.400 thousand viewers on TBS. That's up almost twenty one percent 1195 01:04:26.440 --> 01:04:29.480 from the previous week. It's the first time they've touched 1196 01:04:29.559 --> 01:04:32.679 six hundred k since September, and that was under the 1197 01:04:32.719 --> 01:04:35.760 old Nielsen system. The numbers for wrestling across the board 1198 01:04:35.760 --> 01:04:39.039 have been down under the new methodology, so there was 1199 01:04:39.079 --> 01:04:42.639 definitely interest in this show. Ricky the Dragon Steamboat made 1200 01:04:42.639 --> 01:04:45.159 a cameo on the show with his history in Greensboro, 1201 01:04:45.480 --> 01:04:47.719 and he shot an angle with FTR where they roughed 1202 01:04:47.760 --> 01:04:50.679 him up a little bit until Brodido came out to 1203 01:04:50.719 --> 01:04:53.519 make the save and Ricky tagged them with a few 1204 01:04:53.519 --> 01:04:58.599 shots of his own. Not bad for seventy two. Rick Flair, 1205 01:04:58.639 --> 01:05:00.239 on the other hand, did not make it on to 1206 01:05:00.360 --> 01:05:02.800 TV even though he was there. Tony Kahan brought him 1207 01:05:02.840 --> 01:05:05.679 out before the show to address the live crowd, but 1208 01:05:05.800 --> 01:05:07.840 he left right after as he was said to be 1209 01:05:07.880 --> 01:05:10.880 in a ton of pain from a rotator cuff. Tear 1210 01:05:11.880 --> 01:05:15.320 I said watching that segment this feels like Flair was 1211 01:05:15.360 --> 01:05:17.039 supposed to be out there. It felt like it was 1212 01:05:17.039 --> 01:05:19.599 planned for both of them. So it was strange that, 1213 01:05:20.199 --> 01:05:21.880 you know, he didn't make an appearance. I mean, I 1214 01:05:23.000 --> 01:05:24.840 not that I needed him on the show, but it 1215 01:05:24.960 --> 01:05:27.559 just felt like this show was, this segment was designed 1216 01:05:27.599 --> 01:05:28.760 for him to be there, and then all of a 1217 01:05:28.800 --> 01:05:33.159 sudden he wasn't. You know, if you wanted blood, you 1218 01:05:33.280 --> 01:05:35.440 got plenty of blood on the show. One thing you 1219 01:05:35.480 --> 01:05:39.679 cannot say is that when AW does this stipulation, they 1220 01:05:39.719 --> 01:05:43.039 don't go far enough, right. Why don't they go all 1221 01:05:43.039 --> 01:05:45.239 the way with it? Why don't they take full advantage 1222 01:05:45.239 --> 01:05:47.840 of it. When you have a blood and gut show, 1223 01:05:47.960 --> 01:05:51.800 AW will give you more than enough blood. So you 1224 01:05:51.880 --> 01:05:54.760 definitely got that, But there was a lot. My biggest 1225 01:05:54.760 --> 01:05:57.880 criticism honestly, of these matches, if I had to boil 1226 01:05:57.920 --> 01:06:00.719 it down to one, and it was more of an 1227 01:06:00.719 --> 01:06:03.320 issue in the men's match. But my issue is that 1228 01:06:03.400 --> 01:06:07.519 you have this cage that is covering these two rings, 1229 01:06:07.559 --> 01:06:09.280 and the idea of blood and Guts is that you're 1230 01:06:09.280 --> 01:06:11.519 trapped inside the cage and you just go in there 1231 01:06:11.559 --> 01:06:14.880 and kill each other. And you know, and we've seen 1232 01:06:14.920 --> 01:06:18.039 it in past Blood and Guts matches and you know 1233 01:06:18.199 --> 01:06:22.360 other maybe war games matches sometimes where people will end 1234 01:06:22.440 --> 01:06:26.000 up brawling outside the cage. But this was just out 1235 01:06:26.039 --> 01:06:28.880 of control on Wednesday. Now, there was so much shit 1236 01:06:28.960 --> 01:06:32.039 going on outside the cage that it was just it 1237 01:06:32.159 --> 01:06:34.960 was very dumb. I think they overdid it on all 1238 01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:37.280 of the action that took place outside the actual cage, 1239 01:06:37.280 --> 01:06:39.519 which to me defeats the entire purpose of what Blood 1240 01:06:39.519 --> 01:06:41.719 and Guts is supposed to be, So that would be 1241 01:06:41.719 --> 01:06:44.199 my biggest criticism of it. But otherwise, I think the 1242 01:06:44.199 --> 01:06:46.719 two matches delivered exactly what you were looking for. If 1243 01:06:46.760 --> 01:06:49.840 this was something that you were looking forward to seeing. 1244 01:06:49.880 --> 01:06:51.679 If you were looking forward to Blood and Guts and 1245 01:06:51.719 --> 01:06:54.880 you wanted hardcore violence and weapons and all kinds of 1246 01:06:54.880 --> 01:06:57.480 crazy insanity, you got it. You know you got it. 1247 01:06:57.519 --> 01:07:00.480 On the show, we had the first ever women's Blood 1248 01:07:00.480 --> 01:07:03.000 and Guts match. They went forty five minutes, and they 1249 01:07:03.000 --> 01:07:06.000 clearly went out there with something to prove. Every woman, 1250 01:07:06.000 --> 01:07:07.880 I thought, at one point or another in this match 1251 01:07:07.920 --> 01:07:09.760 had a chance to shine. They had some kind of 1252 01:07:09.800 --> 01:07:12.719 moment or spot or something, you know, to try to 1253 01:07:12.800 --> 01:07:15.239 let them stand out. You had a lot of blood, 1254 01:07:15.519 --> 01:07:18.639 you had a lot of broken glass, which is really 1255 01:07:18.679 --> 01:07:23.400 just another Wednesday in aw Sky Blue was in there first. 1256 01:07:23.400 --> 01:07:24.880 She was one of the first people in the match, 1257 01:07:24.920 --> 01:07:27.920 and in the first probably four minutes of the match, 1258 01:07:28.639 --> 01:07:33.320 if that she was bleeding. When I say she was bleeding, 1259 01:07:33.400 --> 01:07:36.400 she was bleeding, like the blood was gushing out of 1260 01:07:36.440 --> 01:07:40.199 the top of her head. And what happened to cause 1261 01:07:40.239 --> 01:07:44.239 that was just so lame. I mean she I think 1262 01:07:44.239 --> 01:07:46.440 it was Willow, but she had her up in a 1263 01:07:46.440 --> 01:07:49.079 power bomb position and basically kind of threw her backwards, 1264 01:07:49.159 --> 01:07:52.280 face first into the steel. And look, I'm not saying 1265 01:07:52.280 --> 01:07:54.639 that it's fun to have your face thrown into a 1266 01:07:54.719 --> 01:07:56.840 chain link fence, but of all the things that these 1267 01:07:56.880 --> 01:07:59.880 women did to each other in this match, that that's 1268 01:08:00.079 --> 01:08:03.320 simple spot would cause that type of blood loss. And 1269 01:08:03.400 --> 01:08:06.519 in the first five minutes of the match it was like, okay, 1270 01:08:06.599 --> 01:08:08.599 I think we went from zero to one hundred a 1271 01:08:08.599 --> 01:08:10.880 little too quick here. That was a little ridiculous. So 1272 01:08:10.960 --> 01:08:14.079 she stood out for that though, because by the she 1273 01:08:14.119 --> 01:08:15.760 was in there for so long bleeding that by the 1274 01:08:15.800 --> 01:08:17.439 time the match was over, a lot of the blood 1275 01:08:17.479 --> 01:08:20.199 was gone and dried up. But for a good portion 1276 01:08:20.359 --> 01:08:22.840 of the match she was just covered in blood and 1277 01:08:22.880 --> 01:08:24.960 then caked in blood. So Sky Blue stood out for 1278 01:08:25.000 --> 01:08:27.119 that reason. To me, though, the real standouts in this 1279 01:08:27.199 --> 01:08:31.680 match honestly were Megan Bain and Marina Shaffir. Those are 1280 01:08:31.680 --> 01:08:33.439 the two women who stood out the most to me. 1281 01:08:34.439 --> 01:08:38.359 I like the way they did the finish that closing sequence. 1282 01:08:38.399 --> 01:08:40.720 It made sense. They had Tony Storm was in there 1283 01:08:40.760 --> 01:08:43.279 and Mina Shirakawa was in there as well, and their 1284 01:08:43.279 --> 01:08:45.920 tag team partners in this women's tag team title tournament, 1285 01:08:46.399 --> 01:08:49.600 and they're like best friends now, and you had the Heels, 1286 01:08:49.600 --> 01:08:53.880 you had the triangle of madness holding down Tony Storms. 1287 01:08:53.920 --> 01:08:57.039 So all she could do was watch as Marina Shaffir 1288 01:08:57.159 --> 01:09:02.800 locked in this choke on Mina and Megan Bain was 1289 01:09:02.880 --> 01:09:07.319 just brutalizing her with it might have been Mercedes TBS Championship, 1290 01:09:07.319 --> 01:09:10.079 but she had one of the championship belts, and she's 1291 01:09:10.079 --> 01:09:13.479 whipping her hard right across the back, over and over 1292 01:09:13.560 --> 01:09:15.840 and over and over again, and right in front of 1293 01:09:15.840 --> 01:09:17.680 Tony Storm, and all she could do is watch, and 1294 01:09:17.720 --> 01:09:22.079 then finally she surrenders to save her friend and to 1295 01:09:22.119 --> 01:09:25.199 save her partner, and the Heels win blood and guts, 1296 01:09:25.239 --> 01:09:28.800 and it made sense in terms of the storytelling, because 1297 01:09:28.800 --> 01:09:31.560 it's pretty clear that it's not official yet, but Tony 1298 01:09:31.600 --> 01:09:34.640 and Mina they're gonna wrestle Megan Bane and Marina Shafir 1299 01:09:34.680 --> 01:09:37.880 in the next round. So this really of that tag 1300 01:09:37.920 --> 01:09:40.319 team title tournament. So this really puts some heat on 1301 01:09:40.520 --> 01:09:43.760 a match that otherwise wouldn't have had any you know 1302 01:09:43.880 --> 01:09:46.720 going into it. That's the story they told with that finish, 1303 01:09:46.840 --> 01:09:50.399 it will play into this tournament. And can I also 1304 01:09:50.479 --> 01:09:53.840 just say, like, what a beast Megan Bain is? Like? 1305 01:09:53.920 --> 01:09:58.520 This woman shows up in Japan to work the Goddesses 1306 01:09:58.600 --> 01:10:02.399 of Stardom Tag Team League tournament on Friday, the Tag 1307 01:10:02.479 --> 01:10:06.760 League that would have been on the seventh, right, November seventh. 1308 01:10:07.720 --> 01:10:11.800 Three straight nights she worked, then she flew back to 1309 01:10:11.840 --> 01:10:16.159 the United States for blooding guts of all matches, right 1310 01:10:16.239 --> 01:10:19.520 bleeding with tax sticking out of her body. Then she 1311 01:10:19.600 --> 01:10:22.439 flew right back to Japan to continue in the tournament. 1312 01:10:23.239 --> 01:10:25.920 Then she flies back to the States for Full Gear 1313 01:10:26.840 --> 01:10:29.720 just coming up next weekend. For whatever they may have 1314 01:10:29.840 --> 01:10:31.520 her doing on that show. At least I think that 1315 01:10:31.640 --> 01:10:32.920 was the plan for her to be a part of 1316 01:10:32.920 --> 01:10:35.239 Full Gear in some way, only to then fly right 1317 01:10:35.279 --> 01:10:39.880 back to Japan to finish the tournament, back and forth 1318 01:10:39.960 --> 01:10:43.319 multiple times in the span of three weeks. You talk 1319 01:10:43.319 --> 01:10:46.920 about jet lag. She's gonna end up topping Hogan's record 1320 01:10:46.920 --> 01:10:49.000 of wrestling four hundred days in a year with that 1321 01:10:49.039 --> 01:10:53.560 time zone difference. Then we had the men's blooding guts match. 1322 01:10:54.119 --> 01:10:56.479 The women's one went forty five minutes. This one went 1323 01:10:56.560 --> 01:10:59.520 almost an hour. This one went fifty four minutes, which 1324 01:10:59.560 --> 01:11:02.760 it did not need to go fifty four minutes. And 1325 01:11:02.800 --> 01:11:04.920 again you had people freely going in and out of 1326 01:11:04.920 --> 01:11:08.159 the cage throughout the match. I gotta tell you, I 1327 01:11:08.279 --> 01:11:10.880 was pretty bored through the first half of this match. 1328 01:11:11.279 --> 01:11:13.840 There's not a lot of heat. It was a lot 1329 01:11:13.880 --> 01:11:15.840 of the same rinse repeat stuff we had already seen 1330 01:11:15.840 --> 01:11:18.960 in the opening match. It picked up nicely though in 1331 01:11:19.000 --> 01:11:22.000 the closing stretch. There was nothing crazy off the top 1332 01:11:22.039 --> 01:11:24.399 of the cage. Mark Briscoe, who they did this angle 1333 01:11:24.399 --> 01:11:26.279 where Briscoe was taken out in the back by the 1334 01:11:26.319 --> 01:11:30.800 don Kallis family. So now the conglomeration in Darby Allen, 1335 01:11:31.119 --> 01:11:33.319 they're a man down. Oh my god, what are they 1336 01:11:33.359 --> 01:11:35.239 going to do? And of course Mark Briscow ends up 1337 01:11:35.239 --> 01:11:38.079 coming out anyway, so he did wrestle in the match, 1338 01:11:38.640 --> 01:11:41.680 he ended up on top of the cage with Wheeler Dah. 1339 01:11:41.920 --> 01:11:44.800 He actually gave Wheelerda Jade railler on top of the cage, 1340 01:11:44.800 --> 01:11:46.840 but then they climbed down, so there was no big 1341 01:11:46.920 --> 01:11:49.560 crazy stunt bump off the top of the cage this year, 1342 01:11:49.960 --> 01:11:53.479 which is fine. The big crazy spot belonged to Darby 1343 01:11:53.520 --> 01:11:57.560 Allen surprise, surprise, and because there was so much fighting 1344 01:11:57.560 --> 01:12:00.720 and brawling happening outside the cage, they ended up on 1345 01:12:00.800 --> 01:12:04.640 top of one of the entrance tunnels. Gabe Kidd had 1346 01:12:04.720 --> 01:12:07.479 run out to also assist the Death Riders, even though 1347 01:12:07.520 --> 01:12:10.479 he wasn't supposed to be in the match, but they 1348 01:12:10.520 --> 01:12:14.199 had tables set up next to the stage next to 1349 01:12:14.239 --> 01:12:16.039 one of the tunnels, and on top of the tunnel 1350 01:12:16.760 --> 01:12:21.560 pack Gorilla presses Darby over his head and he dumps 1351 01:12:21.600 --> 01:12:23.880 them all the way down. After Gabe Kids set those 1352 01:12:24.119 --> 01:12:28.880 tables down below a blaze and Darby crashes through the 1353 01:12:28.920 --> 01:12:31.800 tables and he is engulfed in flames. He's like a 1354 01:12:31.840 --> 01:12:35.399 ball of flames, and you could even see where his 1355 01:12:35.600 --> 01:12:38.520 back was on fire for a few seconds even after 1356 01:12:38.560 --> 01:12:41.439 he took the bump, like the flames didn't extinguish right away, 1357 01:12:41.840 --> 01:12:43.800 and because when he rolled over you could see that 1358 01:12:43.840 --> 01:12:46.439 there were spots on his back where he was on fire. 1359 01:12:47.600 --> 01:12:50.359 And that was the last we saw of Darby Allen 1360 01:12:50.399 --> 01:12:53.680 in this match, and that led into the finish, which 1361 01:12:53.680 --> 01:12:57.960 I thought was great. Kyle O'Reilly was also everyone was bleeding, 1362 01:12:57.960 --> 01:13:01.359 but Kyle O'Reilly is just bleeding profusely. They gave the 1363 01:13:01.399 --> 01:13:05.000 win to Kyle O'Reilly. He was the MVP. He won 1364 01:13:05.079 --> 01:13:07.880 it for the Conglomeration. It was the biggest win of 1365 01:13:07.880 --> 01:13:12.720 his aw career by far. But it made sense because 1366 01:13:12.720 --> 01:13:15.399 they had a couple of matches recently on TV where 1367 01:13:15.399 --> 01:13:18.840 Moxley was doing everything in his power to avoid being 1368 01:13:18.880 --> 01:13:21.720 trapped in a submission and tapping out, which is what 1369 01:13:21.800 --> 01:13:24.479 he did against Darby at Wrestle Dream when he was 1370 01:13:24.520 --> 01:13:26.800 locked in the Scorpion deathlock. He did not want to 1371 01:13:26.840 --> 01:13:29.680 go through that again, so he did everything in those 1372 01:13:29.720 --> 01:13:32.760 matches to avoid tapping out. Only here in blood and 1373 01:13:32.840 --> 01:13:36.920 Guts to finally tap out and the crowd went crazy 1374 01:13:36.960 --> 01:13:39.840 for the finish. So I liked the storytelling here. I 1375 01:13:39.840 --> 01:13:41.720 like the storytelling at the end of the women's match. 1376 01:13:41.760 --> 01:13:43.640 I like the storytelling at the end of the men's match. 1377 01:13:44.000 --> 01:13:46.239 Me personally, I'm not a huge fan of some of 1378 01:13:46.279 --> 01:13:50.920 the excess violence and stunt bumps and all the blood 1379 01:13:50.960 --> 01:13:53.199 is fine, but then you just kind of go overboard 1380 01:13:53.199 --> 01:13:57.359 with it, so that's that's not my thing necessarily. But 1381 01:13:58.159 --> 01:14:00.680 I love the finishes of the matches. I was a 1382 01:14:00.680 --> 01:14:04.800 fan of that and so much for this leading to 1383 01:14:04.840 --> 01:14:07.159 anything with Moxley and the Death Riders. This was the 1384 01:14:07.199 --> 01:14:09.239 finish that I pitched, and I was happy they did it. 1385 01:14:09.279 --> 01:14:11.439 I said, it has to be Moxley. Moxley has to 1386 01:14:11.479 --> 01:14:15.880 be the one who surrenders in this match, and that 1387 01:14:15.920 --> 01:14:18.760 could be the beginning of the end of the Death Riders. 1388 01:14:19.079 --> 01:14:22.079 I wasn't necessarily expecting them to gang up on him 1389 01:14:22.119 --> 01:14:24.680 on Wednesday and beat the shit out of him. Maybe 1390 01:14:24.680 --> 01:14:28.119 this coming Wednesday. But then, you know, I caught up 1391 01:14:28.159 --> 01:14:30.199 with what I needed to catch up with this morning 1392 01:14:30.199 --> 01:14:33.600 from Collision last night, and I see that the Death 1393 01:14:33.680 --> 01:14:35.600 Riders were on the show, and I see that John 1394 01:14:35.640 --> 01:14:39.119 Moxley was on commentary for the opening match on the show, 1395 01:14:40.239 --> 01:14:43.399 and he's brushing off their loss in blood and guts. 1396 01:14:43.399 --> 01:14:46.479 He's preaching about I just want to bring positivity into 1397 01:14:46.520 --> 01:14:50.479 this world, which was fucking hilarious. So I don't know 1398 01:14:51.399 --> 01:14:54.600 if the idea is that he is just completely you know, 1399 01:14:54.720 --> 01:15:00.119 out to lunch and he is completely delusional about all 1400 01:15:00.159 --> 01:15:03.239 these losses that he has incurred for his crew, because 1401 01:15:03.279 --> 01:15:06.439 this is now the third big loss since all in 1402 01:15:07.119 --> 01:15:10.479 that John Moxley has suffered to embarrass the Death Riders, 1403 01:15:10.520 --> 01:15:13.800 including losing the championship to Hangman Page. But there was 1404 01:15:13.880 --> 01:15:18.279 no hint. There was no indication of anything with Moxley 1405 01:15:18.279 --> 01:15:20.359 and the Death Riders or him being on the outs 1406 01:15:20.920 --> 01:15:24.159 or anything like that. And maybe it'll happen, but if 1407 01:15:24.199 --> 01:15:27.079 it is, there was no fucking sign of it on 1408 01:15:27.119 --> 01:15:31.840 Collision last night, which I think is ridiculous. Now AW 1409 01:15:32.039 --> 01:15:35.119 presents its Full Gear pay per view this coming Saturday 1410 01:15:35.159 --> 01:15:37.680 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with a 1411 01:15:37.720 --> 01:15:41.119 seven o'clock start time for their Tailgate Brawl pre show 1412 01:15:41.880 --> 01:15:45.399 eight pm start time for the main card. They're doing 1413 01:15:45.479 --> 01:15:48.560 a tag team match on the pre show with Big 1414 01:15:48.600 --> 01:15:54.600 Boom aj of the Costco guys teaming up with Q T. Marshall. Yes, 1415 01:15:54.640 --> 01:15:57.600 they're on the same side now. They set this up 1416 01:15:57.600 --> 01:16:00.279 on Ring of Honor Television. They share an I'm an 1417 01:16:00.359 --> 01:16:03.399 enemy in the don Kallis Family. They take on Trent 1418 01:16:03.439 --> 01:16:08.840 Burretta and Rocky Romero. You know, keeping the Costco guys 1419 01:16:08.880 --> 01:16:12.000 stuff to the pre show is where it belongs. I 1420 01:16:12.039 --> 01:16:14.439 can't believe the Costco guy stuff is still going on here, 1421 01:16:14.520 --> 01:16:17.720 but keep it to the pre show. Fine. He has 1422 01:16:17.760 --> 01:16:19.920 no business being on the main card when they already 1423 01:16:19.920 --> 01:16:21.760 have a ton of matches on their main cards, So 1424 01:16:22.199 --> 01:16:24.119 keep it on the pre show. That's fine. If I'm 1425 01:16:24.159 --> 01:16:27.279 aj I'd be watching some old sting Rick Flair Horseman 1426 01:16:27.319 --> 01:16:30.079 tapes to prepare myself for what's probably about to happen 1427 01:16:30.119 --> 01:16:34.359 to him. Also, they've added a two hundred thousand dollars 1428 01:16:34.359 --> 01:16:36.680 tag team match. Boy Tony Khan has a little too 1429 01:16:36.760 --> 01:16:39.800 much money to throw around two hundred thousand dollars with 1430 01:16:39.880 --> 01:16:42.239 the Acclaimed who don't want to have anything to do 1431 01:16:42.319 --> 01:16:44.960 with each other, but they're being forced back together slowly 1432 01:16:45.039 --> 01:16:49.159 week by week. The Bang Bang Gang, Big Bill and 1433 01:16:49.199 --> 01:16:54.279 Brian Keith and the Outrunners winner gets two hundred thousand dollars. 1434 01:16:55.000 --> 01:16:57.520 It would be more entertaining to see the Outrunners win 1435 01:16:57.560 --> 01:16:59.960 the fake money, but they don't do anything with the Outrunners, 1436 01:17:00.560 --> 01:17:03.319 so it'll probably be Castor and Bowen's winning the money. 1437 01:17:04.439 --> 01:17:07.119 On the main card, They're gonna crown the first ever 1438 01:17:07.279 --> 01:17:12.239 aw National champion with a casino gauntlet match. I already 1439 01:17:12.279 --> 01:17:16.359 talked about the national title last week, which is completely unnecessary. 1440 01:17:16.520 --> 01:17:19.399 All we know so far is that Bobby Lashley, Shelton, 1441 01:17:19.439 --> 01:17:22.399 Benjamin Ricochet, the Gates of Agony, and Jet Speed have 1442 01:17:22.479 --> 01:17:25.479 all declared for the match, and without knowing who else 1443 01:17:25.560 --> 01:17:27.239 is in the damn thing, it's hard to predict a 1444 01:17:27.279 --> 01:17:30.000 new champion, but I'll toss one name out there and 1445 01:17:30.399 --> 01:17:33.880 say that we get the return of Switchblade Jay White. 1446 01:17:35.119 --> 01:17:39.279 Jay White walks out as the new national champion. I 1447 01:17:39.319 --> 01:17:42.960 still think adding this title is completely unnecessary and dilutes 1448 01:17:43.000 --> 01:17:47.680 their other belts. MVP's boys are in he is not, 1449 01:17:48.319 --> 01:17:50.680 but I do have some news on MVP. He spoke 1450 01:17:50.720 --> 01:17:54.880 with the website Adventuregamers dot Com and he revealed that 1451 01:17:54.920 --> 01:17:59.159 he just signed a contract extension with aw saying I'll 1452 01:17:59.199 --> 01:18:01.399 be with AWE for quite a while in my current 1453 01:18:01.399 --> 01:18:04.960 capacity and hopefully beyond in a managerial capacity and to 1454 01:18:05.039 --> 01:18:09.239 whatever extent, possibly behind the scenes. But he talked about 1455 01:18:09.239 --> 01:18:13.359 other stuff too, and in comparing Tony Khan to Paul 1456 01:18:13.439 --> 01:18:17.279 Levek and Vince McMahon. He said, it's very different because 1457 01:18:17.279 --> 01:18:20.279 Tony Khan is a completely different human being with a 1458 01:18:20.319 --> 01:18:23.840 completely different personality. He's just a nice guy and a 1459 01:18:23.880 --> 01:18:26.720 good person. I've never had any kind of relationship with 1460 01:18:26.760 --> 01:18:29.600 Triple H Vince. I was able to work with and 1461 01:18:29.640 --> 01:18:31.960 with Vince. Vince knows exactly what he wants, how he 1462 01:18:32.000 --> 01:18:34.680 wants to do it, and if you can present something 1463 01:18:34.720 --> 01:18:37.600 that is better, sometimes Vince will listen. But when Vince 1464 01:18:37.640 --> 01:18:40.560 has a vision, that's it. You go with it. There's 1465 01:18:40.600 --> 01:18:43.079 no second guessing it. Tony Khan is a lot more 1466 01:18:43.079 --> 01:18:45.399 interactive and he will take in a lot more ideas. 1467 01:18:45.399 --> 01:18:47.600 He's more willing to be pliable when it comes to 1468 01:18:47.640 --> 01:18:50.439 his vision and how he wants to present it and 1469 01:18:50.479 --> 01:18:52.760 what he's willing to do or add or change it. 1470 01:18:53.680 --> 01:18:57.279 He's just a nice guy. It's funny like his energy level. 1471 01:18:57.319 --> 01:18:59.479 He's always happy and I've never seen him be mean 1472 01:18:59.560 --> 01:19:03.159 to somebody. It's a much different environment where WWE was 1473 01:19:03.279 --> 01:19:06.760 very corporate, very tight laced for some people, even uncomfortable, 1474 01:19:06.800 --> 01:19:09.760 and they're made to feel like they're walking on eggshells 1475 01:19:09.840 --> 01:19:13.279 and people are scared of getting fired. That environment doesn't 1476 01:19:13.319 --> 01:19:16.840 exist in aw, it's way more relaxed. No one's walking 1477 01:19:16.840 --> 01:19:19.560 on eggshells. The boss has time for everybody and it's 1478 01:19:19.560 --> 01:19:24.159 super fun. No stress on Bret Hart and others who 1479 01:19:24.159 --> 01:19:27.800 have criticized Paul Levec, who he is no fan of. 1480 01:19:27.840 --> 01:19:30.720 He's made that very clear. MVP was very blunt, he said, 1481 01:19:30.800 --> 01:19:33.600 I've said before, I call him a coward and a liar. 1482 01:19:34.560 --> 01:19:37.359 Let's put it like this. If you really want to, 1483 01:19:37.479 --> 01:19:39.279 you can go to YouTube and you can look up 1484 01:19:39.319 --> 01:19:41.800 the interviews of various wrestlers through the years of what 1485 01:19:41.840 --> 01:19:44.640 their opinion is of the man, interviews of guys that 1486 01:19:44.720 --> 01:19:47.520 were his friends, what they had to say about the guy. 1487 01:19:47.640 --> 01:19:49.880 I can think of more guys that dislike him than 1488 01:19:49.920 --> 01:19:52.119 I can think of ones that do like him, and 1489 01:19:52.159 --> 01:19:56.319 people say MVP's salty or he's bitter like no. I 1490 01:19:56.399 --> 01:19:59.520 have personal issues with the dudes, stemming from professional stuff, 1491 01:19:59.520 --> 01:20:02.119 but just the things that he does, how he carries himself. 1492 01:20:02.159 --> 01:20:04.760 I just don't have respect for the guy. The newer 1493 01:20:04.800 --> 01:20:07.760 generation they don't know that guy yet. So the ones 1494 01:20:07.800 --> 01:20:10.800 that came up underneath him in NXT, they think he's 1495 01:20:10.840 --> 01:20:13.119 brilliant and a lot of them should. For the hand 1496 01:20:13.119 --> 01:20:14.960 that he's had in their career. But the guys that 1497 01:20:15.000 --> 01:20:16.680 had to work with him back in the day will 1498 01:20:16.720 --> 01:20:20.399 tell you a different story, almost overwhelmingly. And so it's 1499 01:20:20.399 --> 01:20:23.640 not just me saying it. It's Sports Illustrated saying it. 1500 01:20:23.640 --> 01:20:25.560 It's the Bleacher Report. Oh no, I'm sorry. I just 1501 01:20:25.960 --> 01:20:29.199 I'm thinking of a different promo here, he said. So 1502 01:20:29.279 --> 01:20:31.319 it's not just me saying it. There's guys who are 1503 01:20:31.399 --> 01:20:33.800 way up the totem pole than me that are telling 1504 01:20:33.840 --> 01:20:39.079 you that this guy's no bueno. I don't know where 1505 01:20:39.119 --> 01:20:41.600 the heat stems from. I mean, it stems from the 1506 01:20:41.720 --> 01:20:44.840 MVP side at the very least, but what caused it, 1507 01:20:44.840 --> 01:20:48.039 we don't know. He's never pointed, to my knowledge, he's 1508 01:20:48.079 --> 01:20:52.920 never pointed to any one specific incident, although supposedly it 1509 01:20:53.560 --> 01:20:55.880 may go back to when he was first on SmackDown 1510 01:20:56.119 --> 01:20:59.079 years ago as a wrestler. So now we're going back 1511 01:20:59.119 --> 01:21:01.840 to like the mid to late two thousands. So this 1512 01:21:01.960 --> 01:21:05.039 is not just a recent thing, because he knew Triple 1513 01:21:05.159 --> 01:21:07.359 H from the days you know of him as an 1514 01:21:07.359 --> 01:21:10.600 inn ring performer, when Triple H cared about Triple H 1515 01:21:11.239 --> 01:21:15.079 and nothing else, right, not the Papa H crap that 1516 01:21:15.119 --> 01:21:17.479 people talk about now, which is creepy as hell, by 1517 01:21:17.479 --> 01:21:20.760 the way, when people call him that, So I can't 1518 01:21:20.800 --> 01:21:24.800 speak to his personal experiences with the man. Clearly, something 1519 01:21:24.840 --> 01:21:28.119 he said or the way he carried himself when dealing 1520 01:21:28.159 --> 01:21:30.560 with him rubbed MVP the wrong way and it gave 1521 01:21:30.640 --> 01:21:32.800 him an impression of Triple H that really made him 1522 01:21:32.800 --> 01:21:35.880 lose all respect for the man. The stories about Triple 1523 01:21:36.079 --> 01:21:39.159 H have been out there for years, right going back 1524 01:21:39.159 --> 01:21:43.479 over twenty years, about how self absorbed he was, you know, 1525 01:21:43.560 --> 01:21:48.319 trying to protect his spot, making comment which, by the way, 1526 01:21:48.520 --> 01:21:51.079 a lot of top guys have done in wrestling over 1527 01:21:51.119 --> 01:21:54.079 the decades, but most, if not all, of those top 1528 01:21:54.119 --> 01:21:58.479 guys did not have the power and position that Triple 1529 01:21:58.640 --> 01:22:01.560 H found himself in in WWE. Not all of them 1530 01:22:01.600 --> 01:22:04.319 can be part of that inner circle and those production 1531 01:22:04.439 --> 01:22:06.199 meetings and the way the Triple H was when he 1532 01:22:06.239 --> 01:22:10.319 was still a performer. That's the big difference here. But 1533 01:22:10.399 --> 01:22:12.880 he's very protective of his spot. He would make comments 1534 01:22:13.079 --> 01:22:16.079 about guys behind their back that you know, may well 1535 01:22:16.119 --> 01:22:18.600 have affected their career in some cases, depending on what 1536 01:22:18.680 --> 01:22:21.760 he's saying in these meetings to a Vince McMahon or 1537 01:22:21.800 --> 01:22:24.319 a Bruce Pritchard or a Pat Patterson or whoever would 1538 01:22:24.439 --> 01:22:27.319 have had some level of power and influence at the time, 1539 01:22:27.399 --> 01:22:29.079 like oh, hey, this guy doesn't have it, or hey, 1540 01:22:29.119 --> 01:22:30.760 this guy did this, or hey this guy did that, 1541 01:22:30.880 --> 01:22:33.159 or he's too small, you know, whatever the comments were 1542 01:22:33.199 --> 01:22:37.520 that could have a profound effect on someone's career. Now, 1543 01:22:37.560 --> 01:22:40.239 are we to believe that, as he's gotten older and 1544 01:22:40.399 --> 01:22:44.560 his priorities and his responsibilities have changed to where it's 1545 01:22:44.560 --> 01:22:48.640 not all about him anymore, that he's a change man? Right? 1546 01:22:48.680 --> 01:22:50.600 I'm not around him. I don't work for him. I 1547 01:22:50.640 --> 01:22:53.520 can't say for sure. And also keep in mind that, 1548 01:22:53.560 --> 01:22:56.000 you know, Triple H almost died a few years ago, 1549 01:22:56.239 --> 01:23:00.439 so that could change your worldview real quick. As of viewer, 1550 01:23:01.439 --> 01:23:03.720 what I see on TV and what I see from 1551 01:23:03.760 --> 01:23:06.680 all of the interviews and podcasts and Ted Talks and 1552 01:23:06.720 --> 01:23:09.239 whatever else this guy's been doing is that he still 1553 01:23:09.239 --> 01:23:13.199 has a very, very healthy ego and he likes to 1554 01:23:13.199 --> 01:23:16.760 make things about himself. That hasn't changed. I don't think 1555 01:23:16.760 --> 01:23:19.680 that part of Triple Ah has changed, And I joked 1556 01:23:19.720 --> 01:23:21.279 about it when I saw him in the ring on 1557 01:23:21.359 --> 01:23:23.960 Monday in Boston. The first person we saw on the 1558 01:23:24.000 --> 01:23:26.039 show on what should have been a segment all about 1559 01:23:26.119 --> 01:23:29.600 John Cena. He had to be there front and center, 1560 01:23:29.920 --> 01:23:32.760 knowing the house was sold out, to make sure that 1561 01:23:32.840 --> 01:23:35.640 he was involved when he really was not needed right, 1562 01:23:36.039 --> 01:23:38.319 not when raw was already they already have a general 1563 01:23:38.359 --> 01:23:42.760 manager on the show. Yet there he was, right the 1564 01:23:42.800 --> 01:23:45.359 credits at the end of the shows, which we never 1565 01:23:45.439 --> 01:23:47.960 had before, all of a sudden the last couple of years. 1566 01:23:48.000 --> 01:23:51.279 Now we do to make sure that Paul Levec is 1567 01:23:51.319 --> 01:23:53.000 the first name that we see at the end of 1568 01:23:53.039 --> 01:23:57.319 every show WrestleMania in Vegas next year. When the first 1569 01:23:57.359 --> 01:23:59.640 commercial dropped a few weeks ago, who was the first 1570 01:23:59.640 --> 01:24:04.439 face that we saw in the ad? Paulovec the signature 1571 01:24:04.439 --> 01:24:06.640 that opens every show. He made sure to add his 1572 01:24:06.760 --> 01:24:09.399 voice to it, so it's the first thing we hear 1573 01:24:09.479 --> 01:24:12.960 on every show. He is enjoying his new position. That 1574 01:24:13.079 --> 01:24:15.760 much is clear. The ego is still there. Beyond that, 1575 01:24:15.840 --> 01:24:18.840 when it comes to the way he treats people, MVP 1576 01:24:18.960 --> 01:24:21.439 would know better than I would. But it is an 1577 01:24:21.479 --> 01:24:24.159 interesting point that he makes about how different the perspective 1578 01:24:24.239 --> 01:24:26.439 might be for someone coming up in that system in 1579 01:24:26.479 --> 01:24:29.880 the last decade. Let's say, who would have worked with 1580 01:24:29.960 --> 01:24:32.000 him in NXT and now on the main roster. They're 1581 01:24:32.039 --> 01:24:34.279 working with him there too, as compared to the people 1582 01:24:34.279 --> 01:24:37.520 who worked with him fifteen years ago, twenty years ago, 1583 01:24:38.399 --> 01:24:41.439 and they saw a very different side of Triple H. 1584 01:24:43.119 --> 01:24:46.720 You look at Shawn Michaels, he's mister NXT right now 1585 01:24:46.760 --> 01:24:49.520 and people glow about Shawn Michaels. That wasn't the case 1586 01:24:49.560 --> 01:24:52.800 thirty years ago. But how much of that was also 1587 01:24:52.920 --> 01:24:55.479 him being hopped up on god knows what. He may 1588 01:24:55.479 --> 01:24:57.319 have been an asshole anyway, but I'm sure that that 1589 01:24:57.359 --> 01:25:02.000 didn't help. Every now and then a story will leak 1590 01:25:02.039 --> 01:25:04.720 out about an interaction that someone had with him after 1591 01:25:04.800 --> 01:25:07.239 he came back to the company and he became born again. 1592 01:25:08.119 --> 01:25:10.439 That doesn't really paint him in the best light, right. 1593 01:25:10.479 --> 01:25:13.800 Shane Helms had one of those stories many years ago, 1594 01:25:14.439 --> 01:25:18.800 Dax Harwood, Stevie Richards. Just to remind you that the 1595 01:25:18.840 --> 01:25:22.479 old Shawn Michaels is still there, like buried beneath the surface. 1596 01:25:23.199 --> 01:25:25.880 But I bring him up because by and large, people 1597 01:25:25.920 --> 01:25:29.199 are very complimentary of him today, and how much you 1598 01:25:29.199 --> 01:25:32.039 know he is a pleasure to work with and how 1599 01:25:32.119 --> 01:25:35.399 great of a boss he is to work for. People 1600 01:25:35.399 --> 01:25:38.800 can change. I'm not so sure that's the case with 1601 01:25:38.880 --> 01:25:44.199 Triple h but people can change, but back to full gear. 1602 01:25:44.800 --> 01:25:47.880 In the first ever million dollar trios match, More Money, 1603 01:25:48.439 --> 01:25:52.079 Kenny Omega and Jurassic Express they take on Josh Alexander 1604 01:25:52.119 --> 01:25:55.520 and the Young Bucks. I'm going with Josh Alexander and 1605 01:25:55.560 --> 01:25:59.359 the Young Bucks for the win. Mark Briscoe challenges Kyle 1606 01:25:59.399 --> 01:26:04.039 Fletcher for the TNT Championship no disqualification, and if Briscoe loses, 1607 01:26:04.119 --> 01:26:08.439 he must join the don Kallis family. Because if there's 1608 01:26:08.479 --> 01:26:11.520 one thing we need, actually two things, if there's two 1609 01:26:11.520 --> 01:26:15.359 things we need in this company, it's more belts and 1610 01:26:15.439 --> 01:26:19.680 more members of the don Kallis Family. Mark Briscoe failed 1611 01:26:19.680 --> 01:26:22.319 in his first attempt. I think he wins the title. Here. 1612 01:26:22.359 --> 01:26:26.520 We have a new TNT champion, Brody King and Bendido. 1613 01:26:26.560 --> 01:26:29.319 They defend their aw World Tag Team titles against the 1614 01:26:29.359 --> 01:26:33.680 former champions FTR Dax in Cash. I think they're taking 1615 01:26:33.720 --> 01:26:36.359 the titles here to set up for the eventual return 1616 01:26:36.359 --> 01:26:40.000 of Adam Copeland and the inevitable Cope and Christian tag 1617 01:26:40.039 --> 01:26:45.920 team match. They've added the Bastard Pack against Darby Allen. 1618 01:26:46.239 --> 01:26:49.239 After Pack preslam Darby through a flaming table and blood 1619 01:26:49.279 --> 01:26:52.680 and guts still with Darby and the Death Riders, we 1620 01:26:52.800 --> 01:26:55.720 are continuing this. This should be a win for Darby, 1621 01:26:56.520 --> 01:27:00.840 the reigning TBS champion now Mercedes thirteen. Else after last 1622 01:27:00.920 --> 01:27:03.600 night's House of Glory show, You're a new Apak Wrestling 1623 01:27:03.640 --> 01:27:08.199 Women's Champion, Mercedes Monette is looking for title number fourteen 1624 01:27:08.840 --> 01:27:13.079 when she challenges Chris Statlander for the aw Women's World Championship. 1625 01:27:13.600 --> 01:27:16.279 A year ago at Full Gear, Monette beat Statlander to 1626 01:27:16.319 --> 01:27:19.199 retain the TBS title, and then she beat her again 1627 01:27:19.680 --> 01:27:23.239 at World's End. Two great matches but two losses. For Statlander. 1628 01:27:24.079 --> 01:27:26.520 She got a measure of revenge in Blood and Guts, 1629 01:27:26.520 --> 01:27:29.479 where she put Mercedes through a table outside the cage 1630 01:27:29.520 --> 01:27:32.680 with a Samoan drop, even though her team did go 1631 01:27:32.720 --> 01:27:35.880 on to lose. This needs to be a Statlander win. 1632 01:27:36.039 --> 01:27:38.439 I think it will be a Chris Statlander win, and 1633 01:27:38.479 --> 01:27:41.239 she will retain her title, not only because she has 1634 01:27:41.279 --> 01:27:44.079 already lost twice to this woman, but because the story 1635 01:27:44.159 --> 01:27:48.880 should be Mercedes cannot win the world championship. This is 1636 01:27:48.880 --> 01:27:51.720 now her second bite at the Apple. The one blemish 1637 01:27:51.720 --> 01:27:53.840 on her record came against Tony Storm at all In 1638 01:27:54.479 --> 01:27:57.319 she didn't get the job done. That will be the 1639 01:27:57.359 --> 01:27:59.479 result here as well. No matter how many belts she 1640 01:27:59.560 --> 01:28:02.760 collects to make herself feel better, she cannot win the 1641 01:28:02.800 --> 01:28:07.119 big one, and maybe thirteen ends up being her unlucky number. 1642 01:28:08.000 --> 01:28:10.279 So she fails again here, and then she starts to 1643 01:28:10.359 --> 01:28:12.600 drop each one of those belts one by one until 1644 01:28:12.640 --> 01:28:16.319 she is left with nothing. And then and only then 1645 01:28:16.359 --> 01:28:19.920 does she finally win the world title. That's the story 1646 01:28:19.960 --> 01:28:22.359 they tell with this, and that's the one that makes 1647 01:28:22.359 --> 01:28:24.640 sense here, because to put your world title on someone 1648 01:28:24.680 --> 01:28:26.399 only for her to then go out and start losing 1649 01:28:26.399 --> 01:28:29.560 a bunch of different independent belts doesn't really make a 1650 01:28:29.560 --> 01:28:33.000 whole lot of sense. You have her do that first, 1651 01:28:34.000 --> 01:28:38.319 then you put the world championship on her. But before 1652 01:28:38.319 --> 01:28:41.800 this match, Mercedes is wrestling Red Velvet in a title 1653 01:28:41.880 --> 01:28:45.399 unification on Dynamite for the Ring of Honor Women's Television title. 1654 01:28:46.119 --> 01:28:48.720 Mercedes has the interim title, Velvet's been out with an 1655 01:28:48.760 --> 01:28:52.840 injury since June. She has the actual belt. I don't 1656 01:28:52.880 --> 01:28:55.640 think this would count as number fourteen because she already 1657 01:28:55.720 --> 01:28:58.079 has the interim version. It would just go from interim 1658 01:28:58.159 --> 01:29:03.119 to official and Hangman Adam Page defends the aw World 1659 01:29:03.199 --> 01:29:08.359 Championship in a steel cage match against Samoa Joe. This 1660 01:29:08.520 --> 01:29:11.479 is to keep Powerhouse Hobbs and Katiori Shabada out of 1661 01:29:11.520 --> 01:29:14.600 the match, and we all know how well these cages 1662 01:29:14.640 --> 01:29:17.760 were to prevent that from happening. By the way, we're 1663 01:29:17.760 --> 01:29:20.840 also coming off two blood and Guts matches and now 1664 01:29:20.840 --> 01:29:25.399 we're getting a standalone cage match, which is just ridiculous. 1665 01:29:26.079 --> 01:29:29.439 Of course, Hangman is retaining, he's not losing the title, 1666 01:29:29.720 --> 01:29:32.119 and I believe we get the return of MJF after 1667 01:29:32.119 --> 01:29:34.119 the match is over. That's the big cliffhanger they go 1668 01:29:34.199 --> 01:29:37.199 off the air with, which leads to him cashing in 1669 01:29:37.239 --> 01:29:41.119 his Casino Gauntlet contract for a championship match at World's end, 1670 01:29:41.640 --> 01:29:43.199 and at that point, I think you're looking at the 1671 01:29:43.199 --> 01:29:46.880 brand new aw World Champion. Now it doesn't look like 1672 01:29:46.920 --> 01:29:48.640 we're going to get the finals of the women's tag 1673 01:29:48.640 --> 01:29:52.079 team title tournament on this show on Dynamite Wednesday, we 1674 01:29:52.199 --> 01:29:55.920 have two quarterfinal round matches. It's Tony Storm and Mina 1675 01:29:55.960 --> 01:29:59.840 Shirakawa taking on Riho and Alex Windsor, and then Taj 1676 01:30:00.479 --> 01:30:03.319 takes on Megan Bain and Marina Shafears. So just time wise, 1677 01:30:03.359 --> 01:30:05.960 I don't think there's any time left to do the 1678 01:30:06.000 --> 01:30:09.119 finals on the pay per view, but that's coming up 1679 01:30:09.159 --> 01:30:14.119 on Wednesday, which, by the way, is a three hour show. 1680 01:30:15.359 --> 01:30:21.840 It is a combined dynamite and collision show three hours. 1681 01:30:22.600 --> 01:30:25.880 The two most evil words in my vocabulary all week. 1682 01:30:27.760 --> 01:30:29.960 It won't be a three hour mail bag. I'll promise 1683 01:30:30.000 --> 01:30:31.960 you that. Let's go through these questions here. You can 1684 01:30:32.039 --> 01:30:35.279 email me the Soolom Monster at gmail dot com. Please 1685 01:30:35.279 --> 01:30:37.039 include your name and where you are from when you 1686 01:30:37.079 --> 01:30:40.560 write in. Dane from Saint Louis did want to mention 1687 01:30:40.640 --> 01:30:46.119 he got notified that Eric Bischoff's book Grateful by Eric 1688 01:30:46.119 --> 01:30:49.680 Bischoff and Guy Evans is either out or coming out 1689 01:30:49.720 --> 01:30:52.159 in the next few weeks on Audible. So again I 1690 01:30:52.199 --> 01:30:55.000 mentioned the Audible link earlier, the Brett book, the Natty Book. 1691 01:30:55.479 --> 01:30:57.319 If you're interested, there's also going to be in a 1692 01:30:57.359 --> 01:30:59.399 new Eric Bischoff book. You could probably pre order it 1693 01:30:59.479 --> 01:31:01.800 right now using our links, So just be aware of that. 1694 01:31:02.960 --> 01:31:07.279 Dak from Saint Paul, Minnesota. The PWI Women's List has 1695 01:31:07.279 --> 01:31:10.840 come out and Mercedes Monet was ranked number one. Naturally, 1696 01:31:10.880 --> 01:31:13.239 people online are losing their minds about this, and it 1697 01:31:13.319 --> 01:31:15.840 still baffles me that it seems so many don't understand 1698 01:31:15.840 --> 01:31:18.520 it's a k FABE list, just wanted to see what 1699 01:31:18.560 --> 01:31:22.479 your thoughts on the women's list were. Overall, it is 1700 01:31:22.520 --> 01:31:25.720 a k fabe list mostly so yes. PWI released its 1701 01:31:25.760 --> 01:31:28.600 list of the top two hundred and fifty women's wrestlers 1702 01:31:28.680 --> 01:31:32.199 of the year, and again it relies heavily on kfabe. 1703 01:31:32.279 --> 01:31:36.640 They consider win loss records and championships, and your influence 1704 01:31:36.640 --> 01:31:39.520 within your chosen company or the industry as a whole, 1705 01:31:40.119 --> 01:31:44.760 among other criteria. The evaluation period for this ran from 1706 01:31:44.800 --> 01:31:48.079 October first of last year through September thirtieth of this year, 1707 01:31:48.680 --> 01:31:51.760 and so with that in mind, Mercedes Monette topped the 1708 01:31:51.800 --> 01:31:54.600 list in number one for the first time in her career. 1709 01:31:54.680 --> 01:31:58.199 She came in second back in twenty sixteen, and she 1710 01:31:58.239 --> 01:32:00.520 didn't rank at all last year because she didn't have 1711 01:32:00.640 --> 01:32:05.600 enough matches and it's well deserved. She had one loss 1712 01:32:05.840 --> 01:32:08.840 all year that was to Tony Storm, who ranked right 1713 01:32:08.880 --> 01:32:11.600 behind her at number two. She was number one in 1714 01:32:11.680 --> 01:32:16.079 last year's rankings, so she went almost undefeated for the 1715 01:32:16.239 --> 01:32:19.800 entire year. She's held onto the TBS Championship for the 1716 01:32:19.960 --> 01:32:23.960 entire evaluation period, and she has won ten or eleven 1717 01:32:24.000 --> 01:32:26.720 other titles in the meantime, some of which she has 1718 01:32:26.760 --> 01:32:30.039 gone back and defended right, and that cannot be understated 1719 01:32:30.079 --> 01:32:32.720 the influence that that has on these independent promotions, the 1720 01:32:32.760 --> 01:32:36.279 tickets that she helped sell for those shows, the exposure 1721 01:32:36.319 --> 01:32:37.920 that she has given to some of these women that 1722 01:32:37.960 --> 01:32:40.800 she's worked with, even if it just gets them on 1723 01:32:41.039 --> 01:32:45.399 WWE's radar or aw's radar, right, then you factor in 1724 01:32:45.439 --> 01:32:49.279 the quality of her matches. Mercedes at number one is 1725 01:32:49.399 --> 01:32:51.279 really a no brainer. And if not number one, then 1726 01:32:51.359 --> 01:32:53.680 number two for sure. So there's really nothing to lose 1727 01:32:53.720 --> 01:32:56.920 your mind over unless you're someone who just doesn't like her, 1728 01:32:57.079 --> 01:32:59.319 or if you're not a fan of her winning all 1729 01:32:59.319 --> 01:33:02.479 these championship, which is fine, and that's perfectly that. It's 1730 01:33:02.520 --> 01:33:04.239 perfectly fine to not be a fan of it and 1731 01:33:04.319 --> 01:33:07.880 think it's too much. But to say, well, well, you know, 1732 01:33:07.920 --> 01:33:10.600 I can't believe she's number one, Like what like, why 1733 01:33:10.640 --> 01:33:14.399 wouldn't she be number one? Why wouldn't she be number 1734 01:33:14.479 --> 01:33:16.359 Just look at the criteria they based the list though, 1735 01:33:16.439 --> 01:33:18.439 of course she's going to be number one. There's nothing 1736 01:33:18.479 --> 01:33:22.279 to argue here. They went with Tony Storm at number two, 1737 01:33:22.840 --> 01:33:25.960 which again I can't argue with that. If I had 1738 01:33:25.960 --> 01:33:29.439 one gripe with the list, Eosky was ranked too low. 1739 01:33:29.800 --> 01:33:32.920 They had her at number six. Eo is one of 1740 01:33:32.960 --> 01:33:35.479 the best in ring performers in the world right now. 1741 01:33:36.560 --> 01:33:39.359 But that period after WrestleMania where she did nothing, I 1742 01:33:39.359 --> 01:33:41.560 think really hurt her. You know, she was the champion, 1743 01:33:41.640 --> 01:33:43.640 but like, can you tell me, can you name me, 1744 01:33:43.720 --> 01:33:47.720 off the top of your head, anything memorable about Eosky's 1745 01:33:47.800 --> 01:33:51.199 run and what she did from post WrestleMania until that 1746 01:33:51.239 --> 01:33:53.319 Evolution match with Rhea Ripley, because I can't think of 1747 01:33:53.359 --> 01:33:56.399 a fucking thing, you know, And I think that really 1748 01:33:56.439 --> 01:33:58.159 hurt her, or else she would have been ranked higher. 1749 01:33:58.199 --> 01:34:01.079 So I guess it's less of a gripe with their 1750 01:34:01.159 --> 01:34:04.079 rankings and just more of a gripe with how she 1751 01:34:04.279 --> 01:34:07.680 was used in that period between WrestleMania and Evolution. But 1752 01:34:07.840 --> 01:34:12.840 she had that great match with Rio Ripley. Saya Katani, 1753 01:34:13.319 --> 01:34:16.640 the reigning New Japan Strong Women's Champion and Stardom Champion, 1754 01:34:16.720 --> 01:34:20.520 ranked number three. I can't speak to her because I 1755 01:34:20.560 --> 01:34:22.560 haven't seen any of the matches that she's had this year. 1756 01:34:22.600 --> 01:34:26.920 I probably should, but she ranked number eighty nine last year. 1757 01:34:27.000 --> 01:34:30.039 She jumped all the way to number three. Number four 1758 01:34:30.199 --> 01:34:33.439 was Tiffany Stratton, who spent most of the year undefeated 1759 01:34:33.479 --> 01:34:37.920 as the women's champion. Stephanie Vaquier was number five. This 1760 01:34:37.960 --> 01:34:40.960 would have included her winner take all win over Julia 1761 01:34:41.279 --> 01:34:44.039 in NXT back in March and winning the Women's World 1762 01:34:44.119 --> 01:34:47.640 Championship at Wressell Palooza, but not her Crown Jewel win 1763 01:34:48.520 --> 01:34:52.199 since that came after the deadline. Number six, as I mentioned, 1764 01:34:52.279 --> 01:34:56.079 was Eo Sky. Number seven was Athena with her one 1765 01:34:56.119 --> 01:34:59.119 thousand plus days as Ring of Honor Women's World Champion, 1766 01:34:59.199 --> 01:35:02.359 but her influence is only going to extend so far 1767 01:35:02.560 --> 01:35:05.439 so long as she's stuck in Ring of Honor. Hell, 1768 01:35:05.760 --> 01:35:08.159 she does own a women's promotion of her own down 1769 01:35:08.199 --> 01:35:12.199 in Texas, so she has influence in that regard. Number 1770 01:35:12.279 --> 01:35:16.920 eight was Surrey. Number nine was Naomi who had a 1771 01:35:16.960 --> 01:35:19.119 breakout year. It's too bad it ended right as she 1772 01:35:19.199 --> 01:35:23.119 was really starting to truly break out. And number ten 1773 01:35:23.920 --> 01:35:27.399 was Rhea Ripley, who ranked number three last year this 1774 01:35:27.479 --> 01:35:31.800 year was down to tenth. That's a pretty damn good list. 1775 01:35:32.600 --> 01:35:34.760 Becky Lynch did not make the list. You need a 1776 01:35:34.800 --> 01:35:38.039 minimum of ten singles matches or six matches in the 1777 01:35:38.079 --> 01:35:41.800 course of six separate months within the review period. Becky 1778 01:35:41.880 --> 01:35:45.640 had nine non tag team matches during the period and 1779 01:35:45.720 --> 01:35:49.359 only wrestled in four different months, so she did not qualify. 1780 01:35:49.439 --> 01:35:52.079 It's the same reason Roman Reigns didn't make the PWI 1781 01:35:52.119 --> 01:35:55.239 Top five hundred last year. He only wrestles six matches 1782 01:35:55.279 --> 01:36:00.920 all year. Adrian from Dallas. Do you see John Cena 1783 01:36:00.960 --> 01:36:04.319 having an open challenge for the Intercontinental title and Shamus 1784 01:36:04.319 --> 01:36:06.640 coming out and saying something to the effect of, I'm 1785 01:36:06.680 --> 01:36:09.600 not waiting for December thirteenth, I want to match tonight 1786 01:36:10.279 --> 01:36:13.199 and having Seamus beat Sena for the championship. This would 1787 01:36:13.199 --> 01:36:15.560 be poetic as how Shamus beat Sena for his first 1788 01:36:15.640 --> 01:36:19.239 WWE championship or seeing is how he beat him for 1789 01:36:19.239 --> 01:36:20.960 his first title and now he beats him for the 1790 01:36:21.000 --> 01:36:25.199 one title that Seamus is seeking. No, I don't see 1791 01:36:25.199 --> 01:36:29.680 that happening, and honestly, it just doesn't feel it doesn't 1792 01:36:29.720 --> 01:36:31.960 feel like the right time for it, because again, Seamus 1793 01:36:32.000 --> 01:36:34.319 is in the tournament, so it would be kind of 1794 01:36:34.359 --> 01:36:36.039 weird for him to be like, well, I'm in the 1795 01:36:36.039 --> 01:36:38.359 middle of this tournament that I just qualified for to 1796 01:36:38.399 --> 01:36:40.039 move on to the next round, but you know, what. 1797 01:36:40.159 --> 01:36:42.239 I don't want to wait, So why don't we just 1798 01:36:42.279 --> 01:36:45.359 wrestle right now? Like, why don't you just tell people 1799 01:36:45.399 --> 01:36:48.359 this Shamus is not winning the tournament. Yeah, it doesn't work. 1800 01:36:48.439 --> 01:36:50.720 If he wasn't in the tournament, I'm totally open to it, 1801 01:36:50.800 --> 01:36:56.039 but now it's just not gonna happen. Curtis from Toronto. 1802 01:36:56.079 --> 01:36:59.039 This week, WWE announced a brand new partnership with Maple 1803 01:36:59.119 --> 01:37:02.079 Leaf Sports and Entertainment centered around a Monday night raw 1804 01:37:02.119 --> 01:37:06.159 show on January twenty sixth of twenty twenty six. This 1805 01:37:06.279 --> 01:37:08.960 partnership will see the show air from the city, with 1806 01:37:09.279 --> 01:37:12.880 NHL players appearing on the air and vice versa, WWE 1807 01:37:12.880 --> 01:37:16.800 stars appearing at the Leafs game later that week. MLSE 1808 01:37:17.159 --> 01:37:20.560 operates Scotiabank Arena, where many of the WWE pay per 1809 01:37:20.640 --> 01:37:22.840 views are held, as well as TV tapings, but also 1810 01:37:22.880 --> 01:37:27.039 the home to a lot of AW events vice versa. 1811 01:37:27.079 --> 01:37:30.119 The Coca Cola Coliseum, where WWE runs house shows and 1812 01:37:30.159 --> 01:37:33.720 AW often run their TV tapings, is under the MLSE 1813 01:37:33.920 --> 01:37:38.079 banner until twenty thirty five and potentially twenty forty five. 1814 01:37:38.199 --> 01:37:42.439 Based on the city's offer for an extension on their agreement. 1815 01:37:43.000 --> 01:37:48.720 Is WWE essentially locking AW out of Toronto and the 1816 01:37:48.760 --> 01:37:53.520 biggest Canadian market. And then bonus question, TNA do their 1817 01:37:53.560 --> 01:37:57.479 TV tapings at Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, which is 1818 01:37:57.520 --> 01:38:01.000 smaller but has spectacular audio video. Do you think that 1819 01:38:01.079 --> 01:38:04.840 space would be a fit for AW. Yeah, I think 1820 01:38:04.880 --> 01:38:07.399 it would be a space for AW, especially if it's 1821 01:38:07.399 --> 01:38:09.439 a smaller venue then they can pack it in and 1822 01:38:09.479 --> 01:38:13.880 make it look good. This new agreement with MLSE, by 1823 01:38:13.920 --> 01:38:17.279 the way, that you asked about in your main question, 1824 01:38:19.079 --> 01:38:22.239 it will not preclude AW from running there because they 1825 01:38:22.239 --> 01:38:25.680 were asked about this and a spokesperson told a reporter 1826 01:38:25.800 --> 01:38:28.840 for TSN that the new agreement with WWE does not 1827 01:38:29.039 --> 01:38:32.600 prevent other events in our venues. So I know there 1828 01:38:32.680 --> 01:38:34.760 was some hey made about this this week and is 1829 01:38:34.960 --> 01:38:37.920 WWE shutting them out of the market. They are not 1830 01:38:38.000 --> 01:38:39.760 shutting them out of the market, and that is straight 1831 01:38:39.840 --> 01:38:46.199 from an MLSE spokesperson. So the answer is no. Chuck 1832 01:38:46.800 --> 01:38:50.199 from the Joker's Voice channel on YouTube, first time emailing 1833 01:38:50.479 --> 01:38:53.399 love your podcast and your channel. You and JD are 1834 01:38:53.479 --> 01:38:57.239 huge inspirations from my own channel. Well, thank you, brother, 1835 01:38:57.439 --> 01:39:00.000 I love hearing that. Again, it's the Joker's Voice channel 1836 01:39:00.399 --> 01:39:03.319 on YouTube. But he says question, you guys talked about 1837 01:39:03.399 --> 01:39:06.399 Julia and the quote unquote burial she got on SmackDown 1838 01:39:06.439 --> 01:39:10.039 against Chelsea Green, saying that she is damaged goods. As 1839 01:39:10.079 --> 01:39:12.960 far as SmackDown goes, would you be opposed to moving 1840 01:39:13.039 --> 01:39:16.880 Julia to raw and grouping her with OSCA and Kyrie 1841 01:39:17.479 --> 01:39:20.479 and using the freebird rule for the tag team Championship. 1842 01:39:20.520 --> 01:39:23.039 My reasoning is that OSCA wanted EO to adhere to 1843 01:39:23.079 --> 01:39:27.600 a master and student relationship. This didn't happen, so OSCA 1844 01:39:27.680 --> 01:39:30.199 is still looking for another student to take under her wing. 1845 01:39:31.000 --> 01:39:34.840 Julia fits that role. Also, Julia being associated with OSCA 1846 01:39:34.840 --> 01:39:37.720 helps rebuild her credibility, as OSCA is pretty much the 1847 01:39:37.760 --> 01:39:41.319 standard of excellence. This way, Julia can also have the 1848 01:39:41.439 --> 01:39:45.560 leash taken off and tap into her more aggressive, ruthless 1849 01:39:45.640 --> 01:39:50.119 in ring style. You could do it, You could do it. 1850 01:39:50.159 --> 01:39:52.560 I think Julia has to It probably has to be 1851 01:39:52.600 --> 01:39:56.159 moved from SmackDown. And I hate saying that because SmackDown. 1852 01:39:56.199 --> 01:39:59.359 The last thing SmackDown needs right now is fewer women 1853 01:39:59.520 --> 01:40:02.520 on the rock. I'm not a proponent of, you know, 1854 01:40:02.840 --> 01:40:05.640 cutting women from that roster. They need more women on 1855 01:40:05.680 --> 01:40:08.600 that roster, but they have done such a horrific job 1856 01:40:08.920 --> 01:40:12.479 with Julia this year that I just think moving her 1857 01:40:12.479 --> 01:40:14.560 to RAW or moving her back to NXT for a 1858 01:40:14.600 --> 01:40:17.159 period of time to rebuild hers is probably the best 1859 01:40:17.279 --> 01:40:19.880 course of action here. You want to move her to 1860 01:40:19.960 --> 01:40:22.520 raw and pair her up with the Kabuki Warriors. I 1861 01:40:22.560 --> 01:40:24.640 mean some people may look at that and go, of course, 1862 01:40:24.840 --> 01:40:28.119 WWE taking all the Japanese girls, taking all as a 1863 01:40:28.199 --> 01:40:31.439 Bill Goldberg would say, taking all the Japanese girls and 1864 01:40:31.479 --> 01:40:34.479 bunching them up, right, let's put all the Joshi wrestlers together. 1865 01:40:34.520 --> 01:40:36.760 But you know what, it may be the best thing 1866 01:40:36.760 --> 01:40:39.479 for Julia. That's what it takes, then, so be it. 1867 01:40:39.520 --> 01:40:41.359 Because the Kabuki Warriors are getting a bit of a 1868 01:40:41.399 --> 01:40:43.800 push right They're on TV, they're featured every single week. 1869 01:40:43.840 --> 01:40:46.520 They just won the women's tag team titles. I'd be 1870 01:40:46.560 --> 01:40:50.760 okay with that. Sean from Byron Illinois been a listener 1871 01:40:50.800 --> 01:40:53.720 for twelve years. Like you, I was a huge fan 1872 01:40:53.760 --> 01:40:56.560 of the black and Gold era of NXT under Triple H. 1873 01:40:56.880 --> 01:40:59.640 I was really excited when he took over WWE. Creative 1874 01:41:00.000 --> 01:41:03.319 fels like the honeymoon phase has worn off, probably starting 1875 01:41:03.359 --> 01:41:06.800 around Elimination Chamber this year with the Rocks involvement. I 1876 01:41:06.840 --> 01:41:10.479 understand that running NXT against Ron Smackdan is a completely 1877 01:41:10.520 --> 01:41:14.000 different challenge, but I often find myself scratching my head 1878 01:41:14.000 --> 01:41:16.119 at some of the creative choices on the main roster. 1879 01:41:16.560 --> 01:41:19.359 Triple H did such an amazing job with guys like 1880 01:41:19.680 --> 01:41:24.000 Tamaso Champa, Johnny Gargano Andrade and others in NXT, yet 1881 01:41:24.039 --> 01:41:26.119 it feels like he hasn't really tried to elevate his 1882 01:41:26.159 --> 01:41:29.880 former NXT talent on the main roster, even to mid 1883 01:41:29.920 --> 01:41:32.520 card title contention, what do you make of the apparent 1884 01:41:32.680 --> 01:41:36.079 downgrade in Triple H's creative direction compared to his NXT 1885 01:41:36.279 --> 01:41:38.720 days in the initial period where he first took over 1886 01:41:39.000 --> 01:41:43.479 creative Also, does Triple H truly have full creative control 1887 01:41:43.600 --> 01:41:45.760 or is it more of a collaborative process where he 1888 01:41:45.840 --> 01:41:48.640 drafts ideas and higher ups like Nick Cohn or Mark 1889 01:41:48.680 --> 01:41:52.359 Shapiro need to approve them. I'm not entirely sure how 1890 01:41:52.399 --> 01:41:56.279 the TKO hierarchy works. Well. I am not in the 1891 01:41:56.279 --> 01:42:01.239 TKO hierarchy, but I would be shocked if Nick Kahn 1892 01:42:01.439 --> 01:42:05.119 and Mark Shapiro had any sort of say or needed 1893 01:42:05.159 --> 01:42:08.000 approval on day to day creative ideas. If it's a 1894 01:42:08.000 --> 01:42:11.399 creative idea relative to someone like the Rock or a 1895 01:42:11.479 --> 01:42:14.199 celebrity that they're going to bring in like Travis Scott 1896 01:42:14.319 --> 01:42:17.600 Been Been Been. Then yes, I'm sure Nick Cohn is involved. 1897 01:42:17.600 --> 01:42:20.680 Maybe Ari Emmanuel has some say in the matter, but no, 1898 01:42:20.800 --> 01:42:22.640 I cannot imagine that on the day to day, week 1899 01:42:22.640 --> 01:42:26.560 to week raw and smack down creative ideas. You know, 1900 01:42:26.560 --> 01:42:30.000 we're going into wargames. Now what wargames teams do we want? 1901 01:42:30.119 --> 01:42:33.399 And stuff like that. You know, Mark Shapiro doesn't give 1902 01:42:33.399 --> 01:42:36.079 a shit. You know, Nick con doesn't have any saying that. 1903 01:42:36.079 --> 01:42:38.880 That's Triple H and the people that work underneath him 1904 01:42:38.880 --> 01:42:41.479 as part of the creative team. It's Triple H. It's 1905 01:42:41.520 --> 01:42:45.279 Bruce Pritchard, it's Michael Hayes, it's Road Dug, and it's 1906 01:42:45.319 --> 01:42:47.399 all those people you saw in the writer's room when 1907 01:42:47.439 --> 01:42:50.920 you watch WWE Unreal. So there is a collaboration there, 1908 01:42:50.920 --> 01:42:53.359 but Triple H is the chief content officer. He has 1909 01:42:53.439 --> 01:42:57.000 final say in everything, even if it's not his idea. 1910 01:42:57.039 --> 01:42:58.720 He may say, Okay, it's a great idea, I'll go 1911 01:42:58.800 --> 01:43:01.119 with that, and maybe some of it is his idea. 1912 01:43:01.720 --> 01:43:03.680 And the other thing to consider also is, you know, 1913 01:43:03.720 --> 01:43:06.319 when he was running n XT, Triple H was not 1914 01:43:06.479 --> 01:43:09.640 writing the shows. Like Triple H did not have a 1915 01:43:09.640 --> 01:43:11.600 pen and paper and sit there and write out TV 1916 01:43:11.680 --> 01:43:14.359 each week. He had writers working for him, and I 1917 01:43:14.399 --> 01:43:17.840 think Ryan Katz, and maybe I'm getting the name wrong. 1918 01:43:17.880 --> 01:43:20.720 I think it was Ryan Katz though who I don't 1919 01:43:20.760 --> 01:43:22.600 want to say he was really the one who was 1920 01:43:22.640 --> 01:43:24.840 coming up with all the stories in NXT. But like 1921 01:43:25.399 --> 01:43:28.000 Triple H had his writers and he had his right 1922 01:43:28.039 --> 01:43:32.479 hand men or right hand men down there, but he 1923 01:43:32.840 --> 01:43:36.520 got credit as the face of NXT. We don't know 1924 01:43:36.560 --> 01:43:39.399 how many of those great ideas and great match combinations 1925 01:43:39.439 --> 01:43:41.399 that we saw on those takeovers shows, Like how much 1926 01:43:41.439 --> 01:43:43.399 of that was Triple H's idea, how much of that 1927 01:43:43.439 --> 01:43:47.239 was a Ryan Katz idea or someone else's idea. I 1928 01:43:47.279 --> 01:43:49.119 don't know if William Regal at the time had any 1929 01:43:49.159 --> 01:43:52.560 input into the creative process. So, you know, I think 1930 01:43:52.560 --> 01:43:54.600 it's one of those things where we got to be 1931 01:43:54.600 --> 01:43:56.800 careful not to give him all the credit or all 1932 01:43:56.840 --> 01:43:59.600 the blame, because there's a lot of moving parts here. 1933 01:43:59.600 --> 01:44:02.960 There's a lot of team members. People talk about SmackDown 1934 01:44:03.039 --> 01:44:05.680 right now, road Dog, fire road Dog, Well, you know, yeah, 1935 01:44:05.760 --> 01:44:09.119 road Dog may not be the best there, but it's 1936 01:44:09.159 --> 01:44:12.520 still Triple H' show. And if nothing else, if the 1937 01:44:12.560 --> 01:44:15.960 ideas aren't his, he's putting his stamp of approval on them, 1938 01:44:16.039 --> 01:44:19.399 and that's what we're seeing on television. Main Roster and 1939 01:44:19.520 --> 01:44:23.960 NXT are two totally different beasts. NXT is a much 1940 01:44:24.000 --> 01:44:27.239 smaller roster. NXT is also a very different roster. It's 1941 01:44:27.239 --> 01:44:31.239 a less experienced roster. Ron SmackDown even just in terms 1942 01:44:31.279 --> 01:44:33.960 of the formatting of the shows, you know, is different 1943 01:44:33.960 --> 01:44:38.239 from NXT, and there are other obligations and responsibilities as 1944 01:44:38.239 --> 01:44:41.720 far as things to promote on the shows that goes 1945 01:44:41.760 --> 01:44:44.520 to the formatting of the shows. You have a much 1946 01:44:44.680 --> 01:44:47.039 bigger roster to work with. You have a roster that 1947 01:44:47.079 --> 01:44:49.279 has a lot of older talent on it as compared 1948 01:44:49.319 --> 01:44:51.079 to NXT. I mean, just look at the main events 1949 01:44:51.079 --> 01:44:54.159 scene right now in WWE. Not a lot of what 1950 01:44:54.239 --> 01:44:56.800 I would call young guys in the main event picture. 1951 01:44:57.239 --> 01:45:01.760 So it's two totally different beasts. He's deal with certain 1952 01:45:01.800 --> 01:45:05.640 egos maybe and veteran talents that you know, he wasn't 1953 01:45:05.680 --> 01:45:08.680 necessarily working with in NXT. They were his kids, and 1954 01:45:08.720 --> 01:45:11.680 he was working with a lot of younger talents and 1955 01:45:11.800 --> 01:45:14.399 older talents too. He did bring in some veteran talents 1956 01:45:14.399 --> 01:45:17.520 from the independence scene when he basically rated the independent scene, 1957 01:45:17.560 --> 01:45:20.439 so you know there was a mix. But yeah, of 1958 01:45:20.439 --> 01:45:22.600 course there's a big difference between the two rosters. But 1959 01:45:22.640 --> 01:45:25.880 at the end of the day, creative is creative. You 1960 01:45:25.960 --> 01:45:27.880 either have it or you don't. You either have good 1961 01:45:27.920 --> 01:45:30.600 ideas or you have terrible ideas that are not going 1962 01:45:30.680 --> 01:45:33.560 to hit. And I don't know that there's any one 1963 01:45:33.600 --> 01:45:36.600 explanation for why. Yes, there's a honeymoon period at the beginning. 1964 01:45:36.760 --> 01:45:38.600 I think a lot of it, frankly also is just 1965 01:45:38.640 --> 01:45:42.039 it's not Vince. That's what a lot of it was. 1966 01:45:42.079 --> 01:45:44.960 It's not Vince. Now, there are things that he shares 1967 01:45:45.000 --> 01:45:47.159 in common with Vince McMahon, I think in terms of 1968 01:45:47.159 --> 01:45:50.239 his just overall philosophy, things he learned from his father 1969 01:45:50.319 --> 01:45:52.279 in law over the years. But I think a lot 1970 01:45:52.359 --> 01:45:56.600 of people were just happy, like knowing it's not Vince. Wow, 1971 01:45:56.640 --> 01:45:58.800 And then you hear from talents, you say, wow, we 1972 01:45:58.880 --> 01:46:02.079 have more input now and to creative and the handcuffs 1973 01:46:02.079 --> 01:46:03.880 aren't on and the way they used to be, and 1974 01:46:03.960 --> 01:46:06.239 that's great. There's a lot of positives that came out 1975 01:46:06.279 --> 01:46:09.359 of Vince McMahon no longer being there and no longer 1976 01:46:09.359 --> 01:46:12.840 being the head of creative. However, that doesn't mean that 1977 01:46:12.880 --> 01:46:15.279 there are no issues. That doesn't mean that all of 1978 01:46:15.279 --> 01:46:18.000 a sudden, Creative is great and everything's great and all 1979 01:46:18.039 --> 01:46:21.880 the stories are great. Clearly that's not what it means. 1980 01:46:23.159 --> 01:46:26.159 But I do think the way that they probably operate, like, 1981 01:46:26.199 --> 01:46:28.920 if you're a talent there and you worked under Vince 1982 01:46:28.960 --> 01:46:30.880 McMahon and now you work under Triple H in this 1983 01:46:30.920 --> 01:46:33.960 current regime, probably you're going to look at that and go, yeah, 1984 01:46:33.960 --> 01:46:37.439 it's better now. It's a lot easier to navigate now. 1985 01:46:37.920 --> 01:46:39.680 You know, I feel like I have more of a 1986 01:46:39.760 --> 01:46:41.920 voice in the process, or if I have an idea, 1987 01:46:42.079 --> 01:46:44.560 maybe it's you know, they're more open to allowing me 1988 01:46:44.640 --> 01:46:48.159 to go out there and do something, or go out 1989 01:46:48.159 --> 01:46:51.800 there and maybe not stick to a script. That's all 1990 01:46:51.960 --> 01:46:54.720 a plus, that's all a massive positive if that's the case. 1991 01:46:54.840 --> 01:46:58.399 But creative is creative. You either have great ideas or 1992 01:46:58.399 --> 01:46:59.840 you don't. Right now, there's not a whole lot of 1993 01:46:59.840 --> 01:47:02.840 ideas on WWE television. I think that are really hitting 1994 01:47:03.000 --> 01:47:04.880 in the way that you would want them to. And 1995 01:47:04.920 --> 01:47:07.760 that does fall on Triple h because you get all 1996 01:47:07.760 --> 01:47:10.399 the credit when things are great, but when things are 1997 01:47:10.399 --> 01:47:12.880 not great, you can't deflect other people. You get all 1998 01:47:12.920 --> 01:47:15.800 the credit, you get all the blame. That's how it works. 1999 01:47:17.039 --> 01:47:21.760 Bender from Milwaukee. Two questions about Chris Jericho's potential WWE return, 2000 01:47:21.920 --> 01:47:24.880 One should it happen at the Rumble? And two? Will 2001 01:47:24.920 --> 01:47:28.479 he be Judas theme Jericho or Y two J Jericho. 2002 01:47:31.239 --> 01:47:33.399 I do think that he will probably be back at 2003 01:47:33.399 --> 01:47:37.920 the Rumble. I think that initial return appearance for the 2004 01:47:37.960 --> 01:47:41.079 sake of all the WWE fans who maybe don't watch 2005 01:47:41.119 --> 01:47:43.760 aw and just remember Y two J and oh my god, 2006 01:47:43.760 --> 01:47:46.079 where's he been for six years? It's going to be 2007 01:47:46.079 --> 01:47:48.560 to the Y two J music if you want to. 2008 01:47:48.640 --> 01:47:50.319 If you want an example, just look to what we 2009 01:47:50.399 --> 01:47:53.800 saw on Friday Night with you know, Matt Cardona on 2010 01:47:53.920 --> 01:47:56.239 Smack Dad. He came out not as Matt Cardona, he 2011 01:47:56.279 --> 01:47:58.880 came out as Zach Ryder. I think he comes out 2012 01:47:58.920 --> 01:48:01.560 initially to the Y two I would like to see 2013 01:48:01.640 --> 01:48:05.399 him going forward, though, use the Judas music for his 2014 01:48:05.520 --> 01:48:09.479 last run because I like Judas and I think hearing 2015 01:48:09.520 --> 01:48:12.039 it in WWE would be something different that would be 2016 01:48:12.119 --> 01:48:14.840 kind of cool. I think we're looking at a Rumble return, 2017 01:48:14.920 --> 01:48:17.840 and I think we're looking at a WrestleMania feud in 2018 01:48:17.880 --> 01:48:22.880 match with La Knight justin from Chicago. I know there's 2019 01:48:22.920 --> 01:48:25.720 a lot of speculation about Jay Usso turning heel, but 2020 01:48:25.760 --> 01:48:29.600 what if both USO's turn heel at Survivor Series, Roman 2021 01:48:29.640 --> 01:48:32.199 and Jimmy end up rounding out Team Punk for war 2022 01:48:32.319 --> 01:48:35.119 Games and towards the end of the match, Roman has 2023 01:48:35.159 --> 01:48:38.640 bron Breaker lined up for a spear as he charges him, 2024 01:48:38.680 --> 01:48:42.439 Jimmy hits Roman with a superkick. A stunned Jay and 2025 01:48:42.520 --> 01:48:45.239 CM Punk confront Jimmy, only for Jimmy and Jada lock 2026 01:48:45.359 --> 01:48:48.479 eyes and smile and hit double super kicks on CM Punk. 2027 01:48:49.279 --> 01:48:51.680 Breaker then hits Roman with a spear to win the match, 2028 01:48:51.760 --> 01:48:54.720 further serving as a catalyst for a potential WrestleMania match 2029 01:48:55.279 --> 01:48:58.600 on Raw. The Usso's simply acknowledge it as a business decision, 2030 01:48:58.680 --> 01:49:02.279 citing that brock Lesner and Punk and Roman reigns all 2031 01:49:02.319 --> 01:49:05.079 saw their careers peak under the guidance of Paul Hayman, 2032 01:49:05.319 --> 01:49:07.399 and they also note that they had the longest reign 2033 01:49:07.439 --> 01:49:10.560 in WWE history as champions. While Hayman was the wise 2034 01:49:10.640 --> 01:49:13.079 man for the Bloodline. This could take Jay out of 2035 01:49:13.079 --> 01:49:16.039 the main event scene as a single while also providing 2036 01:49:16.159 --> 01:49:18.560 raws tag team scene with a much needed shot in 2037 01:49:18.600 --> 01:49:21.399 the arm. Maybe you could even get a short program 2038 01:49:21.439 --> 01:49:24.439 with the USO's and an eventual Babyface New Day one 2039 01:49:24.560 --> 01:49:28.720 last time. What are your thoughts. I think that having 2040 01:49:28.760 --> 01:49:30.920 the USOS back in the tag team division to give 2041 01:49:30.960 --> 01:49:33.159 that division a shot in the arm makes sense. And 2042 01:49:33.199 --> 01:49:35.359 I would be fine with Jay being out of the 2043 01:49:35.359 --> 01:49:38.800 main event picture for a while and having him do 2044 01:49:38.880 --> 01:49:41.239 something different, even going hell, even if he stayed single, 2045 01:49:41.279 --> 01:49:44.520 but you know, went heal just again. The fact that 2046 01:49:44.560 --> 01:49:48.439 everything has to revolve around the Bloodline is just I'm 2047 01:49:48.560 --> 01:49:51.800 over it at this point. Another War Games and we're 2048 01:49:51.800 --> 01:49:54.399 gonna have the USSOS turn on Roman and the family 2049 01:49:54.520 --> 01:49:57.960 drama continues. It's been years of this shit, Like, I 2050 01:49:58.000 --> 01:50:00.720 don't know, it's to me, it's just played out. The 2051 01:50:00.760 --> 01:50:02.720 story peaked a couple of years ago, and they're just 2052 01:50:02.760 --> 01:50:04.840 milking it for all it's worth and it just doesn't 2053 01:50:04.880 --> 01:50:07.800 do anything for me at this point. But I mean, 2054 01:50:07.800 --> 01:50:09.479 if you got to do something with these guys that 2055 01:50:09.600 --> 01:50:12.640 I could think of worse ideas. I'm not opposed to 2056 01:50:12.680 --> 01:50:15.359 the idea. One thing I do like, not necessarily this 2057 01:50:15.439 --> 01:50:18.680 idea no offense, but I think the idea that you 2058 01:50:18.800 --> 01:50:21.560 mentioned of bron Breaker being the one to get the 2059 01:50:21.600 --> 01:50:24.960 win if the Heels win and he beats Roman, that 2060 01:50:25.000 --> 01:50:28.319 could be the catalyst to an eventual WrestleMania match in Vegas. 2061 01:50:28.319 --> 01:50:33.039 That idea, I like Daniel from Houston. I don't see 2062 01:50:33.039 --> 01:50:38.039 many people talking about the idea of Dominick turning face, really, 2063 01:50:38.039 --> 01:50:40.640 because that's all people seem to be talking about. You 2064 01:50:40.680 --> 01:50:43.399 could have Ray versus Dominic for the Triple A, Mega Title, 2065 01:50:43.520 --> 01:50:46.479 or just a singles match. At Survivor Series. You saw 2066 01:50:46.520 --> 01:50:50.920 how Dom was upset with the Judgment Day not being 2067 01:50:50.960 --> 01:50:53.800 there for him during his match with John Cena. So 2068 01:50:53.840 --> 01:50:56.119 what if the Judgment Day promised to be in Dom's 2069 01:50:56.119 --> 01:50:59.119 corner for his match, and yet again Dom loses to Ray, 2070 01:50:59.880 --> 01:51:02.560 the Judgment Day turn on Dom after the match. You 2071 01:51:02.600 --> 01:51:04.880 could have Ray at the ramp looking conflicted on what 2072 01:51:04.960 --> 01:51:07.760 to do. They'll be in San Diego, so you can 2073 01:51:07.800 --> 01:51:09.840 imagine just how big of a pop it would be 2074 01:51:09.880 --> 01:51:11.520 for Way to go back into the ring and help 2075 01:51:11.560 --> 01:51:14.760 his son. This then leads to Ray and Dom teaming 2076 01:51:14.840 --> 01:51:19.439 up against Finn and JD McDonough not a bad way 2077 01:51:19.479 --> 01:51:22.119 to do it. The only problem I have with it 2078 01:51:22.159 --> 01:51:25.199 is that I still think it's too soon, especially Live 2079 01:51:25.239 --> 01:51:27.920 Morgan hasn't even come back yet. You can't turn don 2080 01:51:28.000 --> 01:51:31.840 babyface before Live Morgan comes back and rejoins the judgment 2081 01:51:31.920 --> 01:51:34.399 day or we know what she's going to be doing 2082 01:51:34.399 --> 01:51:39.079 when she comes back. So next year maybe, but I 2083 01:51:39.119 --> 01:51:42.000 think it's too soon to turn down now. The fans 2084 01:51:42.039 --> 01:51:44.079 can continue to cheer for him, but I think the 2085 01:51:44.119 --> 01:51:46.279 actual turn I would not be doing it right now. 2086 01:51:47.880 --> 01:51:50.399 Aaron from Indiana. With it being a month away from 2087 01:51:50.520 --> 01:51:53.800 John Cena's retirement match, I was wondering where he would 2088 01:51:53.840 --> 01:51:57.720 fall on your greatest of all time list. This could 2089 01:51:57.760 --> 01:52:01.239 include things like impact on the industry, ticket and merch sales, 2090 01:52:01.319 --> 01:52:08.760 et cetera. So if we're talking about WWE goats, because 2091 01:52:08.760 --> 01:52:11.079 wrestling is more than just WWE, I mean, if you 2092 01:52:11.119 --> 01:52:13.680 were to make a list of all time greats, John 2093 01:52:13.720 --> 01:52:16.680 Cena would not even be in the top ten all right, 2094 01:52:16.800 --> 01:52:19.640 Like wrestling is more than just the United States. You'd 2095 01:52:19.640 --> 01:52:23.560 have El Santo, you'd have Enoki and so on. But 2096 01:52:23.640 --> 01:52:27.439 in terms of WWE, he's not even in my top five. 2097 01:52:28.000 --> 01:52:32.159 Like that's reserved for hul Cogan. And this is in 2098 01:52:32.199 --> 01:52:36.640 no particular order, but Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Steve Austin, 2099 01:52:37.000 --> 01:52:41.399 Brett Hart, and Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle is right there 2100 01:52:41.399 --> 01:52:46.279 with him. And honestly, Savage and Angle are both like 2101 01:52:46.560 --> 01:52:48.840 the complete pro wrestler to me, they had it all, 2102 01:52:48.960 --> 01:52:52.279 they could do anything. So it's tough for me to 2103 01:52:52.319 --> 01:52:54.760 leave Kurt out of the top five. But I'm thinking 2104 01:52:54.800 --> 01:52:56.640 for me, that's my top five. Then you get into 2105 01:52:56.680 --> 01:53:02.920 the Rock and Undertaker and Broccoli. I'm not sure exactly 2106 01:53:02.960 --> 01:53:05.680 where Triple H or John Cena would rank for me. 2107 01:53:05.800 --> 01:53:09.560 Seen him might be top ten, you know. Casting him 2108 01:53:09.560 --> 01:53:12.119 as the generic top babyface for so long it hurt 2109 01:53:12.199 --> 01:53:14.920 him with me when I know there was this great 2110 01:53:15.079 --> 01:53:17.920 heel run in him during that period, And maybe I'd 2111 01:53:17.920 --> 01:53:20.600 feel differently had Vince not been so scared to turn him. 2112 01:53:20.840 --> 01:53:23.600 But he didn't want to give up that sweet merch money, 2113 01:53:24.079 --> 01:53:25.960 you know, when you factor in other things like merch 2114 01:53:26.039 --> 01:53:29.479 sales and his role as an ambassador for the company 2115 01:53:29.479 --> 01:53:31.159 all to make a wish stuff. He was a great 2116 01:53:31.279 --> 01:53:33.680 representative for that company. I would have loved to have 2117 01:53:33.720 --> 01:53:37.399 had Johnson as my top guy because he was probably 2118 01:53:37.520 --> 01:53:40.479 very agreeable to whatever they wanted him to do, and 2119 01:53:40.520 --> 01:53:42.399 you knew that you could rely on him and not 2120 01:53:42.600 --> 01:53:44.279 get him. Yeah, he's not going to get himself into 2121 01:53:44.279 --> 01:53:48.000 any trouble. Of all the names that I mentioned, he 2122 01:53:48.159 --> 01:53:50.399 was probably the one who gave them the least amount 2123 01:53:50.399 --> 01:53:53.920 of headaches. And he just seems like a genuinely good 2124 01:53:53.960 --> 01:53:57.119 human being. I can't always say that for a lot 2125 01:53:57.119 --> 01:53:59.359 of the people I have in my top five, unfortunately. 2126 01:54:00.159 --> 01:54:01.800 But this is not a list of the top five 2127 01:54:01.840 --> 01:54:04.840 greatest human beings in wrestling history. This is my list 2128 01:54:04.840 --> 01:54:08.640 of the top five goats, at least in WWE. My 2129 01:54:08.720 --> 01:54:10.640 list will be different than your list. I don't give 2130 01:54:10.640 --> 01:54:13.520 a shit, right I mean, And again, those guys, I 2131 01:54:13.560 --> 01:54:16.479 may love them as performers, but clearly they all come 2132 01:54:16.560 --> 01:54:21.640 with baggage of varying degrees. But we all have our favorites, 2133 01:54:21.720 --> 01:54:24.119 you know, for one reason or another. But even weighing 2134 01:54:24.159 --> 01:54:28.439 their impact on the company and on the industry, Hogan's 2135 01:54:28.439 --> 01:54:32.199 impact is undeniable. So many people would not be wrestling 2136 01:54:32.199 --> 01:54:36.359 fans today, myself included, very likely were it not for 2137 01:54:36.680 --> 01:54:41.239 hul Cogan, Brett Hart and Shawn Michaels have probably influenced 2138 01:54:41.279 --> 01:54:44.920 more talent on the roster right now than most right 2139 01:54:45.039 --> 01:54:48.239 inspired them to want to become a pro wrestler or 2140 01:54:48.319 --> 01:54:50.840 influence them in some way in there in ring style. 2141 01:54:51.960 --> 01:54:54.920 John Cena is one of the elite talkers in the 2142 01:54:54.960 --> 01:54:57.079 history of the company when he wasn't playing the role 2143 01:54:57.079 --> 01:54:59.960 of narrator on the shows each week for everybody else's storyline. 2144 01:55:00.680 --> 01:55:03.439 You know, he's had more classic matches than some people 2145 01:55:03.439 --> 01:55:05.560 will give him credit for. I defended him on that 2146 01:55:05.640 --> 01:55:08.079 even back then, back in the day on this show. 2147 01:55:08.760 --> 01:55:10.520 You know, he didn't have to be the best wrestler 2148 01:55:10.520 --> 01:55:12.520 to go out there and have great matches. His matches 2149 01:55:12.560 --> 01:55:15.920 with Edge and CM Punk and Sean Michaels and aj 2150 01:55:16.039 --> 01:55:18.399 Styles and brock Lesnar are like. He had tons of 2151 01:55:18.439 --> 01:55:23.159 great matches. Scene is great. Was he over pushed there 2152 01:55:23.159 --> 01:55:25.960 for a while? You bet you're ass he was. He 2153 01:55:26.079 --> 01:55:30.399 was Vince's boy, so was Hogan. Doesn't take away from 2154 01:55:30.399 --> 01:55:33.520 his body of work. He's one of the greatest in 2155 01:55:33.680 --> 01:55:37.680 WWE history, but he's not the greatest. He's not my greatest. 2156 01:55:39.279 --> 01:55:40.800 But you can let me know who you think is 2157 01:55:40.840 --> 01:55:43.840 your greatest. Send in any other questions, or comments you 2158 01:55:43.840 --> 01:55:47.399 have for the mail bag the soolom Monster at gmail 2159 01:55:47.439 --> 01:55:51.000 dot com, follow me on x at solo Monster, and 2160 01:55:51.039 --> 01:55:54.119 of course subscribe on YouTube where I am live multiple 2161 01:55:54.199 --> 01:55:57.079 times throughout the week and you get some bonus content 2162 01:55:57.159 --> 01:56:00.439 as well. Just search for solom Monster Sounds off. We 2163 01:56:00.600 --> 01:56:03.840 just passed eighty nine thousand subscribers, which means the March 2164 01:56:03.880 --> 01:56:06.960 to ninety k has begun, so you can help get 2165 01:56:07.000 --> 01:56:10.159 me there. The next time I am live will be 2166 01:56:10.239 --> 01:56:12.359 on YouTube. It will be Tomorrow night. It's gonna be 2167 01:56:12.359 --> 01:56:15.399 a big raw show. John Cen is final Raw from 2168 01:56:15.439 --> 01:56:18.720 Madison Square Gardens, so join me live for the post 2169 01:56:18.760 --> 01:56:21.159 show as soon as Raw is done. I will be 2170 01:56:21.279 --> 01:56:24.319 live on Tuesday night over on JD's channel for Tuesday 2171 01:56:24.399 --> 01:56:27.920 Night Titans, and then Wednesday for the Go Home three 2172 01:56:28.079 --> 01:56:32.560 hour Dynamite before Full Gear, and then Friday night for 2173 01:56:33.640 --> 01:56:35.319 Actually no, I will not be live Friday night for 2174 01:56:35.359 --> 01:56:37.920 SmackDown because on Friday I will be in Chicago for 2175 01:56:38.000 --> 01:56:40.399 House of Glory. That's where I will be and so 2176 01:56:40.520 --> 01:56:44.119 if you are not watching SmackDown live, I will be 2177 01:56:44.159 --> 01:56:47.399 broadcasting on Triller TV Plus and then back here next 2178 01:56:47.439 --> 01:56:51.399 Sunday for episode nine thirty nine of The Solemn Monster 2179 01:56:51.520 --> 01:56:53.960 Sounds Off. So until then, be well, stay safe, have 2180 01:56:54.039 --> 01:56:56.960 yourselves a great rest of your week. I will see 2181 01:56:57.000 --> 01:57:00.119 some of you in Chicago on Friday and back here 2182 01:56:59.840 --> 01:57:04.880 for more sound Off next Sunday. Until then, take care, guys. 2183 01:57:04.880 --> 01:57:07.560 The Solemn Monster sounds off. So you got Moxley on 2184 01:57:07.560 --> 01:57:10.159 one side, you get Darby on the other. Moxley said, look, 2185 01:57:10.239 --> 01:57:12.520 I did what I could for Danielson, but this is 2186 01:57:12.560 --> 01:57:15.079 a war for the future of the sport and for 2187 01:57:15.239 --> 01:57:17.520 their crazy you know they're running. What is it with 2188 01:57:17.600 --> 01:57:19.920 these Shield guys. You know here on this show, you've 2189 01:57:19.920 --> 01:57:22.800 got John Moxley forming his own faction, coming out every 2190 01:57:22.800 --> 01:57:25.680 week and talking about the future of the industry, the 2191 01:57:25.720 --> 01:57:28.000 future of the company, the future of the sports. You 2192 01:57:28.039 --> 01:57:31.000 got Seth Rollins on the other show, forming his own 2193 01:57:31.039 --> 01:57:33.239 faction and coming out and basically doing the same thing. 2194 01:57:33.279 --> 01:57:35.720 I'm fighting for the future, right everything is so epic, 2195 01:57:35.800 --> 01:57:38.039 like this match that you and I are about to have, Cody, 2196 01:57:38.079 --> 01:57:40.079 It's a fight for the future of this company. Like 2197 01:57:40.159 --> 01:57:42.720 fuck aw, what is this nonsense? I don't recall like 2198 01:57:42.800 --> 01:57:45.359 Stone Cold or The Rock or the Undertaker coming out 2199 01:57:45.399 --> 01:57:48.119 on television every week for John Cito or Randy Orton, 2200 01:57:48.159 --> 01:57:49.600 even if you want to use a different era as 2201 01:57:49.600 --> 01:57:51.920 an exam. Coming out on television and cutting these fucking 2202 01:57:52.000 --> 01:57:54.800 boring promos on television every single week, over and over 2203 01:57:54.840 --> 01:57:57.279 and over again about the same fucking shit. We gotta 2204 01:57:57.359 --> 01:57:59.359 save the future of the company. How about you worry 2205 01:57:59.399 --> 01:58:01.439 about yourself? How about worrying about the here and now 2206 01:58:01.520 --> 01:58:03.399 and not fucking five or ten years from now? What 2207 01:58:03.520 --> 01:58:05.479 is it with these Shield guys? At least Roman Reigns 2208 01:58:05.479 --> 01:58:07.399 doesn't give a fuck about the future he comes out. 2209 01:58:07.439 --> 01:58:10.399 He just cares about himself. I respect that. Fuck everybody else. 2210 01:58:10.680 --> 01:58:15.119 The Solo Monster sounds off bringing you the good, the bad, 2211 01:58:15.199 --> 01:58:18.279 and the ugly. Check out the weekly live streams bonus 2212 01:58:18.279 --> 01:58:22.000 content for subscribers, and follow The Solo Monster on Facebook, Instagram, 2213 01:58:22.039 --> 01:58:24.439 and X The Solo Monster. 2214 01:58:25.159 --> 01:58:26.279 I love you so long.