Speaker 1: The views expressed in the following program are those of
Speaker 1: the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of
Speaker 1: Saga nine sixty AM or its management.
Speaker 2: It's Wednesday afternoon and you know what that means. A
Speaker 2: Ringside Heat is on the Era of news Talk Saga
Speaker 2: nine sixty AM. Ladies and gentlemen. My name is Lextan,
Speaker 2: hosted producer of the show, and you can follow me
Speaker 2: at Lextan Media. You can follow the show at Ringside
Speaker 2: Underscore Heat. It is a solo episode here today. It's
Speaker 2: just gonna meet me flapping my gums, as Stone Colt
Speaker 2: Steve Austin would say it for the next forty five
Speaker 2: to fifty minutes on the air here on Sago nine
Speaker 2: sixty AM. So oh for gonna be a lot of
Speaker 2: fun for me. I'm hoping it's gonna be a lot
Speaker 2: of fun for you, because hey, you know what does that?
Speaker 2: That's what they tell us in radio school. If it's
Speaker 2: fun for me, hopefully someone will find it fun as well.
Speaker 2: And you can also follow us on social media at
Speaker 2: Ringside Underscore Heat, on Instagram, x, Facebook, TikTok, threads, and
Speaker 2: on YouTube. If I do start putting these episodes up
Speaker 2: on YouTube as well. Maybe one day, maybe this one
Speaker 2: I'll start or I'll start doing it. But you know what,
Speaker 2: also something that would be happening for YouTube as well.
Speaker 2: I'm actually thinking about going live on stream on the
Speaker 2: live stream on for Saturday Night's main event, because that's
Speaker 2: coming up this coming Saturday, July the eighteenth, and it's
Speaker 2: gonna be here in Canada. It's gonna be broadcast live
Speaker 2: on YouTube. So we get to watch that along together,
Speaker 2: at least hopefully we get to watch it along together.
Speaker 2: And and I want to. I want to do that because,
Speaker 2: you know, I find some pretty cool connections and some
Speaker 2: pretty cool callbacks to twenty ninth when the Toronto Raptors
Speaker 2: won the NBA Championship and the first big WWE event
Speaker 2: since the NBA Championship of the Toronto Raptors in twenty
Speaker 2: nineteen was SummerSlam, and well the SummerSlam weekend, you had NXT,
Speaker 2: a lot of the superstars from NXT and from the
Speaker 2: brand and from both brands UH in WWE coming out
Speaker 2: to the ring in Raptors themed merch they've made. They
Speaker 2: they created a lot of good will for UH within
Speaker 2: Toronto and Toronto's a wrestling town. Let's not let's let's not,
Speaker 2: let's not mince words over here. Toronto is one of
Speaker 2: the best wrestling towns in the world. And and uh,
Speaker 2: you know, I would say the only other places I
Speaker 2: would love to go and watch wrestling outside of Toronto
Speaker 2: would probably be New York City. It could be Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: It could even be in France, because my goodness, gracious,
Speaker 2: France is amazing. Puerto Rico, I would love to go
Speaker 2: and watch wrestling in Puerto Rico. And if there's anything
Speaker 2: as well too that shows that you know, wrestling and
Speaker 2: ww wrestling and well tripla A really is just just
Speaker 2: gonna be a great environmental watch wrestling. It's got to
Speaker 2: be Mexico City, because that El Grande Americano match, I'm
Speaker 2: still not over it yet. I'm still not over all
Speaker 2: Grande Americano and uh an og of Grande Americano and
Speaker 2: the lead up the match and everything. We'll talk a
Speaker 2: little bit about that, the aftermath of that and later
Speaker 2: on in the show. But I want to do this
Speaker 2: episode over here, and I'm gonna start this episode with
Speaker 2: the lead up to Summer Slam and also a little
Speaker 2: bit of a lead up to Saturday Night's main event.
Speaker 2: But we're gonna start off by naming the episode here today.
Speaker 2: It's contracts, characters and chaos. That's exactly what we are
Speaker 2: gonna be talking about here today. And we're gonna start
Speaker 2: it off here with one of the rate, sacredly stupid
Speaker 2: traditions in professional wrestling, the championship match contract signing. So
Speaker 2: championship contract signings are supposed to be simple to your competitors,
Speaker 2: sit down, the authority figure stands nearby, pretending this will
Speaker 2: remain civilized. And sometimes it is the general manager of
Speaker 2: the brand that you are representing, or it's the actual
Speaker 2: promoter of the company. I mean, hey, I think Vince McMahon,
Speaker 2: if my memory serves me correctly, Vice McMahon was the
Speaker 2: guy that looked over the contract signing for the CMPUNK
Speaker 2: John Cena Money in the Bay Championship match from twenty
Speaker 2: eleven July twenty eleven, and I just can't believe that
Speaker 2: was what sixteen years ago. How in the world was
Speaker 2: one of the greatest matches that Money in the Bank
Speaker 2: ever created? Then the pipe bomb, for that matter, the
Speaker 2: pipe bomb was sixteen years ago. The pipe bomb can
Speaker 2: officially apply for a g one driver's license, goodness, gracious,
Speaker 2: anyway to competitors sit down. The authority figure stands stands nearby,
Speaker 2: pretending this will remain civilized. Both wrestlers signed the document.
Speaker 2: Everybody goes home peacefully, except that never happens, especially everybody
Speaker 2: going home peacefully. It never happens that way, because in wrestling,
Speaker 2: a contract signing is not illegal proceeding. It is a
Speaker 2: controlled explosion with furniture. So let's talk about some of
Speaker 2: the tropes that we've seen over the years with WWE,
Speaker 2: with aw with TNA, wrestling with wherever wrestling company that
Speaker 2: ever employs the trope of the championship match contract signing.
Speaker 2: Number one, someone may flip a table. Number two, someone
Speaker 2: refuses to sign it at first, and then number three
Speaker 2: someone signs dramatically and then attacks the other. Number four,
Speaker 2: the champion raises the title. Number five the champion the
Speaker 2: challenger rather points at title like it owes them money.
Speaker 2: Number six. I think we're at number six. Yeah, six,
Speaker 2: security is present, but somehow useless. The authority figure says
Speaker 2: no physicality, which obviously guarantees physicality. Number seven, eight one, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think we're at eight right now. Somebody gets put
Speaker 2: through something. Hey, as Chico would probably smack me down
Speaker 2: for I never was really really good at math, and
Speaker 2: I know that goes against all the stereotypes of Asian
Speaker 2: dudes being good at math. I am not one of
Speaker 2: those stereotypes anyway. The segment ends with one wrestler standing tall,
Speaker 2: usually while commentary screams that we are out of time,
Speaker 2: thank you for tuning in, and we'll see you at
Speaker 2: the next show. And wrestling, the contract signing is basically
Speaker 2: Chekhov's table. If there's a table of the ring and
Speaker 2: act one, somebody is going through it by Act three usually,
Speaker 2: but even with all the cliches, the contract signings still
Speaker 2: were when the history is real because paper is not
Speaker 2: the point. The signature is not the point. The point
Speaker 2: is the wound. The contract just gives the wound a date,
Speaker 2: a location, and a pay per view logo or pl logo.
Speaker 2: In WWE, SummerSlam has two championship matches that have been
Speaker 2: building for years, and that is what makes this year
Speaker 2: SummerSlam build so interesting. We're not just watching two tunnel
Speaker 2: matches get announced. We're watching two long delayed confrontations finally arrived.
Speaker 2: So let's start off with SmackDown. What we saw smack
Speaker 2: down was Friday the WWE Undisputed Championship between Cody Rhads
Speaker 2: and Cmpunk. And of course there's also which we'll get
Speaker 2: into a little bit later when we tackle when we
Speaker 2: tackle Saturday Nights of an event, the complications of Gunter
Speaker 2: wanting Nick Alldas to make the correction and for Sammy's
Speaker 2: ain who who apparently has been looked over for his
Speaker 2: legal his I guess you could say his legally ensured
Speaker 2: rematch for the w W into speed A Championship.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: And we've also got seth Rollins versus Roman reigns to
Speaker 2: the two original Shield members still in WWE, because John
Speaker 2: Moxley Slash said, I can't even remember his I can't
Speaker 2: even remember his name in WWE because he's John Moxley Jonathan.
Speaker 2: John Moxley is in ae W and has been one
Speaker 2: of the great champions of that company and has really
Speaker 2: been one of those mainstays of the company. So all
Speaker 2: three Shield members, great careers for all of them, thanks
Speaker 2: to because thanks to WWE giving them that Shield gimmick
Speaker 2: and that Shield persona and look at them now anyway,
Speaker 2: both matches feel like stories ww could have told before,
Speaker 2: wanted to tell before, or circled around for years. But
Speaker 2: now they're happening with more age, with more scars, and
Speaker 2: more mythology attached. These are not fresh fruits feuds. Rather,
Speaker 2: in the shallow sense, these are delayed collisions. They feel
Speaker 2: like matches that have been sitting somewhere in the back
Speaker 2: of wrestling's mind waiting for the right version of each
Speaker 2: man to finally show up. So let's start with Cody
Speaker 2: Roads and see them Punk first. The promo was good.
Speaker 2: Not gonna take away anything from the promo. Promos good.
Speaker 2: You have Cody Roads, you have CM Punk, two great
Speaker 2: men on the microphone and tut men who know how
Speaker 2: to improvise all the spot. And that's something that you know,
Speaker 2: that you know is something that's great about the generation
Speaker 2: of wrestlers that have come from the Attitude era all
Speaker 2: the way to this present day. They have their bullet points,
Speaker 2: they have their motivations, they have their character. All they
Speaker 2: need to do just get out there, turn their volume
Speaker 2: up to eleven, as the Rock would say, and just go.
Speaker 2: That's all they need to do. And so Cody Rhodes
Speaker 2: and c M Punk. Great promo, good promo, both men
Speaker 2: were sharp. Both men understood their assignments. The most interesting
Speaker 2: part was not what they said, it was what their
Speaker 2: words suggested. And you know, one of the things that
Speaker 2: was said that they've been putting it off for a
Speaker 2: long time in WWE. This is the first major, this
Speaker 2: is a major, first time championship collision between to the
Speaker 2: company's most important modern names. Even at the tail end,
Speaker 2: even in the twilight of Cmpunk's career, he's nearly fifty
Speaker 2: years old, if he hasn't reached fifty already, but he
Speaker 2: is still one of the top performers, not just in sales,
Speaker 2: but also in the ring and also on the microphone.
Speaker 2: And then we've also got Cody Rhodes. He's basically he's
Speaker 2: basically this generation's crossover star that John Cena was for
Speaker 2: the previous generation and for I guess for those of
Speaker 2: a certain vintage. It's weird to say that right now
Speaker 2: because John Cena has always in the guy for the kids,
Speaker 2: and he still is, but of a certain vintage. Now,
Speaker 2: the thing is kids still love him. It's great, it's great,
Speaker 2: good job ww I mean, there is wisdom. There is
Speaker 2: a wisdom for having your Hulk Hogan and you see
Speaker 2: that with John Cena, and you see that with Cody Rhodes.
Speaker 2: But for deeper wrestling fans, this can match up also
Speaker 2: echoes a match that never happened in AEW, and I
Speaker 2: would argue that I think that others like me would
Speaker 2: have liked to see that in AW had the timelines meshed.
Speaker 2: Cody and Punk's AW timelines did not really overlap in
Speaker 2: the ring the way the fans would have needed for
Speaker 2: a proper rivalry, but the idea is fascinating. Cody Rhodes
Speaker 2: the EVP, the builder, the company man, the polished legacy figure,
Speaker 2: CM Punk, the returning rebel, the disruptor, the man whose
Speaker 2: very presence alters the gravity of the locker room, not
Speaker 2: just not just not just in front of the camera
Speaker 2: in k fabe. But boy, we see how he also
Speaker 2: altered the gravity of the locker room in AEW as
Speaker 2: well too. Shoot Wise shoot and that's more of an
Speaker 2: explortive shoot rather than the wrestling term. But Cody and
Speaker 2: Punk and AW would have been fascinating because it would
Speaker 2: not just have been in wrestler versus wrestler. It would
Speaker 2: have been philosophy versus philosophy, the builder versus the bomb thrower,
Speaker 2: the prince of the revolution versus the man who walked
Speaker 2: in and made the revolution nervous. Now, let's compare that
Speaker 2: to the Bloodline that was happening at the same time
Speaker 2: that they were, you know, in and out of the
Speaker 2: company ish by twenty twenty two. But the Bloodline story
Speaker 2: is firing on all cylinders in WWE. Cody and Punk. Yes,
Speaker 2: had they had they crossed rather paths properly in AW
Speaker 2: could have given a story a real uh. They could
Speaker 2: have given the Bloodline story rather a real run in
Speaker 2: terms of intrigue, star power, and fan discourse. It may
Speaker 2: not have been necessarily bigger, but it would have been loud.
Speaker 2: It would have been very loud, and it would have
Speaker 2: I'd say it would have. I'd say it would have.
Speaker 2: Personally speaking, I would say that those two could have
Speaker 2: rivaled the Bloodline. May not have taken it over, but
Speaker 2: it arrivaled it. But my main point over here Cmpunk
Speaker 2: and Cody road a SummerSlam feels like WWE finally catching
Speaker 2: in on a conversation that wrestling fans have been having
Speaker 2: in their heads for years at least me at least
Speaker 2: me as a wrestling fan. And this is the match
Speaker 2: that feels like it was less like it was booked
Speaker 2: and more like it escaped from a wrestling forum that
Speaker 2: finally learned how to manifest itself. Ring said he had
Speaker 2: a news stalk song nine sixty am. This is episode
Speaker 2: two twenty two, Contracts, characters and chaos and what I'm
Speaker 2: going to continue on over here with a pivot. I
Speaker 2: would say that Roman Reigns and seth Rawlins just hit
Speaker 2: differently because as much as Cody Rhodes and Seampunk gave
Speaker 2: us a strong promo, the segment that stayed with me,
Speaker 2: the one that had teeth, blood, memory, and a chair
Speaker 2: shot echoing through history, was Roman Reigns, acknowledge Him and
Speaker 2: seth Rawlins. Michael Cole had a line, he said something,
Speaker 2: and he was right. It really does hit different. When
Speaker 2: Roman Reigns holds the gold, Roman with a championship does
Speaker 2: not just feel like a champion. He feels like a
Speaker 2: boss again. Maybe you could actually say that he's the
Speaker 2: real final boss. Sorry, Rock, I love your Rock, but
Speaker 2: I'm still not over. I'm still not over you ducking
Speaker 2: yourself out when you could have really made the Johnson
Speaker 2: the Heel turn even bigger than it could have been.
Speaker 2: But and you know, we all have already discussed how
Speaker 2: the storylines and everything have all just gotten screwed up
Speaker 2: there because now because Rock was heal and then all
Speaker 2: of a sudden he broke the k fabe and whatever.
Speaker 2: We've said this many many times, and I'm sure you
Speaker 2: have the same grapes as well too with the Rock
Speaker 2: if you're thinking about good storytelling, like the Bloodline storytelling.
Speaker 2: But anyway, as they said, Roman with a championship does
Speaker 2: not feel like it does not just feel like a champion.
Speaker 2: He feels like a boss and maybe the real final boss.
Speaker 2: He feels like gravity has changed when he's there. He
Speaker 2: feels like every other wrestler suddenly has to explain why
Speaker 2: they deserve to breathe the same air as your tribal chief.
Speaker 2: You're otc your original tribal chief. Roman reigns holding the
Speaker 2: gold is not just presentation, It is atmosphere. The entire
Speaker 2: show starts orbiting him. And as I said before, as
Speaker 2: we've all complained about as many many have complained about,
Speaker 2: Death Rebel not the greatest WWE theme music writers, but
Speaker 2: when they hit something, it really hits. And Roman Reins'
Speaker 2: original Bloodline theme written by death rebel by death, not
Speaker 2: death rebel death, rebel that hits differently, that hits, or
Speaker 2: that that just hit that hits differently as well. So
Speaker 2: this is a match Roman versus Rolins put off since
Speaker 2: the Bloodline rules war now the match can be traced
Speaker 2: all the way back obviously to the Shield days when
Speaker 2: when Seth Rawlins broke up basically broke the Shield up
Speaker 2: by or kicking or kicking Roman reigns out of the
Speaker 2: Shield with that chair shot, but it also can be
Speaker 2: traced back to Cody Rose versus Roman Reigns under the
Speaker 2: Bloodline rules for the undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Championship at
Speaker 2: WrestleMania forty, which I was so blessed and I'm still
Speaker 2: not over it. I'm still not over it. I was
Speaker 2: so blessed to attend, and I love Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: I love WrestleMania. Who anyway, Seth Rowlins stood with Cody
Speaker 2: suck Rawlins entered Roman's battlefield wearing the memory of the
Speaker 2: Shield like a weapon, and Roman responded with a chair
Speaker 2: shot that mirrored the original betrayal the night that Seth
Speaker 2: Rowlins destroyed the Shield. Roman did just not hit Seth
Speaker 2: Roman hit the ghost of twenty fourteen. He hit the betrayal.
Speaker 2: He hit the wound that made Roman Reigns what he became.
Speaker 2: When Roman put that chair into sets back, he was
Speaker 2: not just helping himself against Cody Rhodes. He was answering
Speaker 2: a question ten years old. He was saying, I remember,
Speaker 2: and that I remember is the reason why Cody Rhoades
Speaker 2: got the upper hand on the tribal chief. Now, the
Speaker 2: promo it self, nobody, absolutely nobody pulled punches here. Seth
Speaker 2: shot at Roman. I'll see you next time you decide
Speaker 2: to show up for work. He goes, and it's too easy.
Speaker 2: He goes down, head on his shoulders, head up high.
Speaker 2: It's too easy. It's the classic criticism of modern Roman Reigns,
Speaker 2: the part time schedule, special attraction status champion as final boss,
Speaker 2: not the weekly workhorse. It's the same trope that's worked.
Speaker 2: It worked with John Cena, it worked with the Rock,
Speaker 2: it worked with Hulk Cogen. I guess hal Cogan, or
Speaker 2: it worked with brock Lessner. Sorry I'm conflating brock Lesson
Speaker 2: and hault Cogan over here, but brock Lesner in the
Speaker 2: twenty tens again, all of those things. Rollins attacked the
Speaker 2: gap between Romans aura and Roman's availability, but Roman fires
Speaker 2: back by Colin by Colin, Seth freaking Rowlands injury prone.
Speaker 2: If you beat me, are you gonna hold it for
Speaker 2: a couple of months and get injured again? That's what
Speaker 2: happens every single time, quoting Roman reigns. Then Roman sharpens
Speaker 2: the blade. Some people just can't handle the burden of
Speaker 2: being the top guy around here. And of course the crowd, Oh,
Speaker 2: that line is cruel. It attacks Seth's identity. Seth has
Speaker 2: always wanted to be seen as the guy, not just
Speaker 2: a guy, not just the workhorse, not just the great
Speaker 2: match machine. The guy. Roman is saying, you cannot carry
Speaker 2: what I carried. And as I mentioned earlier, John Cena, Roman,
Speaker 2: it's been ten years and I can't believe it's been
Speaker 2: ten years since Roman got humiliated live on TV by
Speaker 2: John Cena and eventually became dangerous. John Cena undressed, Roman
Speaker 2: reigns on the microphone in front of the entire world.
Speaker 2: Sena calls him out forgetting his lines. He told Roman
Speaker 2: that he was he was not the guy, just a guy.
Speaker 2: I didn't seen it delivered the dagger I could do
Speaker 2: this part time better than you could ever do this
Speaker 2: full time. That was one of the best things that
Speaker 2: ever happened to Roman. Reigns not immediately. Roman did not
Speaker 2: suddenly just become the tribal chief overnight. It took years.
Speaker 2: It took failure, it took rejection, It took the audience
Speaker 2: refusing the version of Roman that they were being handed.
Speaker 2: But eventually Roman found the bloodline story, and once he
Speaker 2: found that, he stopped trying to be the guy that
Speaker 2: WWE told us he was. He became the guy we
Speaker 2: feared he may be. Sena embarrassed Roman on the world stage,
Speaker 2: and in hindsight, that embarrassment became fertilizer. It took three years,
Speaker 2: but something dangerous grew from it. Ringsideed a new Stok
Speaker 2: Saga nine sixty AM, Episode two twenty two, Contracts, Characters
Speaker 2: and Chaos. This is Lex Tan and we are going
Speaker 2: to take a short break here on the radio. When
Speaker 2: we come back, I'm going to talk about a little
Speaker 2: bit more about Roman raids of Seth Browns, why all
Speaker 2: of this connects to Seth, and why this is one
Speaker 2: of the most scathing promos that Roman has ever ever
Speaker 2: cut on WWETV. Back after these promotional considerations. Wait, this
Speaker 2: is the riddle and you're listening to Springside.
Speaker 1: He pastream Us Live at Saga nine sixty am.
Speaker 2: Dot Ca Yo Bro.
Speaker 4: It is Vince Russo Man and you are listening to
Speaker 4: Ringside Heat bro A News Talk Saga nine sixty am.
Speaker 2: And welcome back to Ringside heat A News Talk Saga
Speaker 2: nine sixty am. Lextand at Lextan Media, Ringside Heat at
Speaker 2: Ringside Underscore He Episode two twenty two, Contracts, Characters and Chaos.
Speaker 2: It is a solo episode. It's just me. As I
Speaker 2: said earlier, Flapama gums a stone cold. Steve Austin would
Speaker 2: say about this week the things that spoke to me
Speaker 2: this week in professional wrestling, and let's go back into
Speaker 2: Seth Rawlins Seth Freaking Rawlins versus Roman Reigns. As I
Speaker 2: mentioned sena embarrassed Roman on the world stage and in hindsight,
Speaker 2: that embarrassment became the fertilizer that took three years to germinate,
Speaker 2: but something dangerous grew from it. The Blood Lives story,
Speaker 2: the OTC, the tribal chief Roman reigns and why this
Speaker 2: connects to Seth. Roman is now doing to Seth what
Speaker 2: Sina wants done to him. He's questioning whether Seth can
Speaker 2: truly be the top guy. Now, Seth didn't forget his
Speaker 2: lines or anything like that like Roman did, Oh boy,
Speaker 2: oh boy, when Kurt if you remember Kurt Angle's face
Speaker 2: when Roman did that to him, or when Roman just
Speaker 2: got cooked by John Cena who Anyway, Roman is questioning,
Speaker 2: just like Johnsena questioned him, whether Seth can truly be
Speaker 2: the top guy. He is forcing Seth rawmins to answer
Speaker 2: the question Roman once had to answer, are you really him?
Speaker 2: And so this leads into roman scathing promo. Roman calls
Speaker 2: Seth number two. It's not just and no one I heard.
Speaker 2: I want to hear number two. Hey, everybody, I'm number one.
Speaker 2: That was doctor Evil. And there comes number two from
Speaker 2: the Austin Powers franchise. Hello, I'm number two. Pleased to
Speaker 2: meet you number two. Anyway, Roman tells Rowlinds that he
Speaker 2: is the number two. Why because Seth needed money in
Speaker 2: the bank, because Seth faked an injury to cash in
Speaker 2: money in the bank, because Seth has triple h his
Speaker 2: work daddy running the show. Because according to Roman, wwe
Speaker 2: gave set all of Roman stuff and Seth still couldn't
Speaker 2: live up to Roman. Hell Triple H even gave him
Speaker 2: the pedigree. We saw Seth Rawlins give Roman Reigns the
Speaker 2: pedigree at the end of the segment. Unfortunately the table
Speaker 2: didn't break, but noell, I mean the table wasn't used. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: but either way Roman gave Wwe gave set all of
Speaker 2: Roman stuff. It's set according to Roman, still couldn't live
Speaker 2: up to Roman. It's brutal because Roman is not just
Speaker 2: mocking Seth's career, He's be framing it as imitation. He's saying,
Speaker 2: you have the machine, you got the opportunities, you have
Speaker 2: the presentation, you have the support woo, you have the title,
Speaker 2: and you were still not me. This was not Roman
Speaker 2: throwing shade. This was Roman Reigns pulling the curtain down
Speaker 2: and saying, look at the architecture. This whole house was
Speaker 2: built to make you look like me, and you still
Speaker 2: came up short. Now for Seth Rowlins response, I was
Speaker 2: very very surprised. It was surprisingly babyface. It was surprisingly
Speaker 2: strong too. Rowlins comes back into the ring after nearly
Speaker 2: after exiting, nearly exiting the arena via the ramp. He
Speaker 2: dares Roman to say what he needs to say. Roman
Speaker 2: says it. Seth does not crumble. Seth's babyface turned in
Speaker 2: the promo. Seth responds, not that by trying to out
Speaker 2: evil Roman by by planting his feet. He's proud of
Speaker 2: who he is. He's proud of what he fights for.
Speaker 2: He is a visionary, he is a revolutionary, and he
Speaker 2: is glad that he is not Roman. And that surprised
Speaker 2: me because Rolins could have gone snake for snake with Roman.
Speaker 2: There is no question about that. We know that he can.
Speaker 2: He went human this time, and that seems to be
Speaker 2: a little bit more of an intriguing choice, even though
Speaker 2: Roman did win that promo. In my mind, going a
Speaker 2: human Rollin's going a human may be a better choice.
Speaker 2: Roman's greatest weapon is superiority, because you know, he asks
Speaker 2: us to acknowledge him or not he asks us he
Speaker 2: demands that we acknowledge him. But hey, he demands, but
Speaker 2: we freely choose to acknowledge him. Ha. Anyway, Seth's counter
Speaker 2: is not to pretend that he's above Roman. It's to
Speaker 2: say I know who I am, I know what I carry,
Speaker 2: and I would rather be mean than become you. This
Speaker 2: was the first time in the segment that Rosette did
Speaker 2: not sound like a man trying to beat Roman at
Speaker 2: Roman's game. He sounded like a man refusing to worship
Speaker 2: Roman's altar. And of course, the mandatory contract signing violence
Speaker 2: as usual. The contract signing eventually became physical back and
Speaker 2: forth tension boils over Rowins gets the upper hand. It
Speaker 2: did not feel like violence for the sake of checking
Speaker 2: a trope box. It felt earned because the words had
Speaker 2: already been punches, and by the time they came to blows,
Speaker 2: the fight had already started. The physical altercation was almost secondary,
Speaker 2: but Roman and Seth had already hit each other in
Speaker 2: the soul. The fists were just punctuation. So SummerSlam has
Speaker 2: two big stories. The Shield, however, started with fire. So far,
Speaker 2: summerslams has two compelling championship stories, Cody versus c and Punk.
Speaker 2: It feels like a long delay dream match with ghosts
Speaker 2: of a EWWWE and modern wrestling discourse behind it. Roman
Speaker 2: versus Seth Rawlins feels like a blood feud disguised as
Speaker 2: a title match. But in my mind, the Shield story
Speaker 2: hit harder. This week. Cody and Punk gave us intrigue.
Speaker 2: Roman and Seth gave us history with a knife in
Speaker 2: its hand. And if this was just the beginning, then
Speaker 2: SummerSlam is not being built gently if it is being
Speaker 2: signed in ink, sealed in violence, and haunted by the
Speaker 2: sound of a steel chair from ten years ago. Two
Speaker 2: championship matches, four world class performers, and possibly more years
Speaker 2: of history. But this week I say the Shield Boys
Speaker 2: lit the match for Summer Slam. We'll be back after
Speaker 2: these promotional considerations. But when we return, I want to
Speaker 2: talk about character development in wrestling, and we can see
Speaker 2: that with y Alfa Academy as well as teeing up
Speaker 2: Saturday Night's main event this coming Saturday, July the eighteenth.
Speaker 2: This is Ringside Heat again, back after these promotional considerations.
Speaker 3: Hello everyone, this is former Pro Wrestling Slash Sports Entertainment
Speaker 3: referee Jimmy Corderos, and you're listening to the new voice
Speaker 3: of Pro wrestling Slash Sports Entertainment in the GTA, Ringside
Speaker 3: Heat right here on News Talk SAGA nine sixty.
Speaker 1: Am, No Radio, No Problem. Stream is live on SAGA
Speaker 1: nine sixty am dot CAA. Hey guys, I'm Sean Spears
Speaker 1: and you're listening to Ringside Heat.
Speaker 2: And welcome back to Ringside Heat on New Stocks Saga
Speaker 2: nine sixty am ten at Lextan Media, Ringside Heat at Ringside,
Speaker 2: Underscore Heat at Instagram x, Facebook, TikTok threads. Kind of
Speaker 2: forgot where where we put up stuff either way, and
Speaker 2: this is episode two twenty two. Contracts, characters and chaos.
Speaker 2: We still have quite a bit of show to talk
Speaker 2: about over here. That's a little bit of airtime that
Speaker 2: we have since I did cut that last segment short.
Speaker 2: But we're gonna have you know, a tee up for Saturday.
Speaker 2: It's an event later on the segment, but I want
Speaker 2: to talk about character development, why and why that matters.
Speaker 2: It is a solo episode over here, so it's just
Speaker 2: me again. Slap of my gums. Now, let's go back
Speaker 2: to Friday Night SmackDown Strong Show. But this week I
Speaker 2: want to stay with Monday Night Raw for a moment
Speaker 2: because Raw gave us two very different example character development,
Speaker 2: one bit and one beautiful. Wrestling fans talk a lot
Speaker 2: about pushes, belts, match ratings, and booking. I'm looking at
Speaker 2: you match ratings people, but the thing that really makes
Speaker 2: people invest and makes me invest personally is character movement,
Speaker 2: not just who wins, but who changed, who betrayed someone,
Speaker 2: who finally said what they meant, who revealed what they
Speaker 2: wanted all along, who got exposed, and who became undeniable.
Speaker 2: A wrestling match can make you clap, a character arc
Speaker 2: makes you remember why you cared in the first place.
Speaker 2: And we're gonna frame all of this with the Alpha
Speaker 2: Academy fallout, a family that finally broke Number one after
Speaker 2: the El Grandie Americano match between og Elgrande Americano unmasked
Speaker 2: to be Chad Gable and Elveni Aricano as like as
Speaker 2: a Chico, and I would like to call him El
Speaker 2: Venti Americano. Obviously we know break the kfee it is
Speaker 2: loudvig Kaiser, but hey, kudos to the livid Kaiser again
Speaker 2: for be able to learn Spanish and become fluent in
Speaker 2: Spanish that he could cut promos and get into the
Speaker 2: hearts and the minds of the Mexican wrestling fans. And hey,
Speaker 2: I loved it. I loved it, and I cheer along
Speaker 2: with the Mexican wrestling fans over there. I wanted to
Speaker 2: see El Venti Americano be the Elgrandi Americano and uh
Speaker 2: and and uh, but you know, we will talk about
Speaker 2: how Chad Gable created such goodwill, did his did his
Speaker 2: duty so amazingly well that he as Chad Gable, has
Speaker 2: now become a universally cheered wrestler in w w A.
Speaker 2: But not to one woman, Maxine Dupree. A few weeks ago,
Speaker 2: Chad Gable was denied forgiveness when he wanted to get
Speaker 2: back and be with the Alpha Academy again. Chad came
Speaker 2: looking for forgiveness, Maxine dupre denied him, even though Otis
Speaker 2: and Tazawa wanted to welcome him back. Maxine told him
Speaker 2: that he was not welcomed back and told Otis and
Speaker 2: Tazawa as well. And at the time this looks like
Speaker 2: Maxine drawing a boundary, and that made sense. Forgiveness does
Speaker 2: not always mean immediate restoration. Someone can forgive you and
Speaker 2: still say you cannot come back in the same role.
Speaker 2: You do not get the same access. Trust has to
Speaker 2: be rebuilt. Repentance is not a magic key that unlocks
Speaker 2: every door that you damaged. Forgiveness is not pretending the
Speaker 2: wound never happened. Sometimes forgiveness says I release you from revenge,
Speaker 2: but I do not hand you the keys again. And
Speaker 2: now this past week on Monday Night Raw, Maxine turns heel.
Speaker 2: Is it boundary or bitterness now Maxine? Or at least
Speaker 2: two weeks ago, two raws ago, Maxine helps the Vision
Speaker 2: win the tag titles. This is a pivot to the twist.
Speaker 2: Maxine helps the Vision win the tag team titles. She
Speaker 2: does it via a low blow to Angela Dawkins, and
Speaker 2: suddenly her I'm done with Chad stance becomes a little
Speaker 2: bit more complicated. Was she protecting herself? Was she out
Speaker 2: growing the Alpha Academy? Or was she simply looking for
Speaker 2: a new power structure. First Maxine looked like a woman
Speaker 2: setting boundaries. Now she looks like a woman choosing ambition
Speaker 2: with brass knuckles and doing it via a power couple
Speaker 2: romance with one Austin Theory. And I mentioned before that
Speaker 2: I like this pairing. I like this. When a romantic
Speaker 2: storyline goes heal, it can go very well, it can
Speaker 2: go badly. But one way it has gone so well
Speaker 2: is with Dirty Dom and Rio Ripley. Look what happened
Speaker 2: with her? She is now from Australia. She's from Australia
Speaker 2: and she is known worldwide as Mommy. And now we've
Speaker 2: also got that same thing happening we Live Morgan and
Speaker 2: Dirty Dom, and that pairing has lasted and has been
Speaker 2: entertaining and has prevailed Living Dirty Dom works because Dom
Speaker 2: became more than Ray's Brady's son, and that because and
Speaker 2: that was also the case with Riha Ripley, but would
Speaker 2: Live Morgan it was more pronounced Live Morgan gained sharper
Speaker 2: heat and clearer identity and say what you want about
Speaker 2: say what you want about her theme song, Eh, you
Speaker 2: know she still has a clearer identity about her character.
Speaker 2: The chemistry between Dom and Live, even though they don't
Speaker 2: make out because you know, Dom is a married man
Speaker 2: and I'm sure they all respect that. They just do
Speaker 2: eskimo kisses and jumping in each other into each other's arms,
Speaker 2: things like that. The chemistry between them strengthened the faction
Speaker 2: of the Judgment Day and their act became bigger than
Speaker 2: either character alone. Maxine and Austin Theory have the potential
Speaker 2: to do something similar for the Vision. The right pairing
Speaker 2: and wrestling is alchemy. Two characters touch and suddenly both
Speaker 2: of them have a reason to exist louder and It's
Speaker 2: and It's not just what the romantic storylines. It is
Speaker 2: also something that you see with the best rivalries in wrestling.
Speaker 2: Now why this could work for Maxine In Austin Theory,
Speaker 2: Maxine oct to her credit, has improved her acting's better,
Speaker 2: her time better. She carries herself in more confidence. A
Speaker 2: heel turn just gives her the sharper edges. She's no
Speaker 2: longer the woman learning wrestling beside Otis and Tazawa or
Speaker 2: Otis back in the day. She now has agency, cruelty,
Speaker 2: and direction. Maxine is no longer just reacting. She is
Speaker 2: freely choosing, and the moment a character starts freely choosing,
Speaker 2: the audience starts watching differently. Austin Theory needed this. Austin
Speaker 2: Theory has talent, He has the look, he has the physique,
Speaker 2: he has the presence, but compared to Logan, Paul and
Speaker 2: Brown Breaker, he lacked a distinct spark and in the
Speaker 2: vision he risked feeling like the group's Marty Janetti. Maxine's
Speaker 2: involvement gives him a personal angle. It gives the people
Speaker 2: the reason to boo him beyond he smug. Austin Theory
Speaker 2: has always had the ingredients. What he needed was the seasoning.
Speaker 2: Maxine might be the salt, the pepper, and a little
Speaker 2: dash a poison. Now the confort between Tozawa and Otis.
Speaker 2: The real wound was with Otis. Tazawa's question you expected
Speaker 2: to Otis to demand an explanation. Of course, Tazawa, being
Speaker 2: a good friend, he says, Austin's not a good guy,
Speaker 2: why are you with him? He wasn't looking for backstage gossip.
Speaker 2: He was asking the question every friend asking when someone
Speaker 2: they love chooses a bad road? Why him? But the
Speaker 2: Maximum Male Models payoff? This is where Otis. The Otis
Speaker 2: piece hits Otis and Maxine floating around for years from
Speaker 2: Maximum Male Models, there was always this little comedic, awkward,
Speaker 2: wishful film. A dynamic. Otis gets over because he's charismatic.
Speaker 2: He moves incredibly well for his size, he has real personality.
Speaker 2: Fans like seeing the big, lovable guy. Tweetdaking matters, and
Speaker 2: to tease, the fiction between him and Maxine gave audiences
Speaker 2: something sweet to root for. Otis got over because he
Speaker 2: was not just big, He was open hearted. He was
Speaker 2: the guy that made fans think, maybe the sweet dude
Speaker 2: gets it this time, Maybe the sweet dude is seen,
Speaker 2: but the cruelty of the turn Otis just gets mocked.
Speaker 2: He tries to get his feelings out. For character like Otis,
Speaker 2: vulnerability is the high spot. It's not the big slams,
Speaker 2: it's not the caterpillar, it's his heart. The dangerous move
Speaker 2: was not a dive off the top rope. It was
Speaker 2: trying to say what he felt. He stuttered through it.
Speaker 2: Theory mocked Otis. That's expected heel work. It works because
Speaker 2: it pokes the audience's protective instinct. They don't boot theory
Speaker 2: because he is arrogant. They boo because he is humiliating
Speaker 2: someone who dared to be sincere. The fastest way to
Speaker 2: turn a crown against you is to mock sincerity. People
Speaker 2: can forgive arrogance, they hate cruelty. Maxine intervenes just when
Speaker 2: Otis might overpower theory. She talks Otis down and then
Speaker 2: classic heel theory, hitting the low blow during this, and
Speaker 2: then Maxine rides Otis for thinking that he ever had
Speaker 2: a chance with her brutal It weaponizes the very thing
Speaker 2: that helped Otis get over. They took the wish fulfillment
Speaker 2: and shattered it in front of the audience, and whether
Speaker 2: you like it or hate it. That is effective here work,
Speaker 2: but it was never likely that WWE obviously would pair
Speaker 2: Otis at Maxine romantically in a long term serious way.
Speaker 2: Wrestling works because the emotional possibility remains. We know wrestling
Speaker 2: is constructed, we know archetypes exist, we know presentation matters,
Speaker 2: but emotions still land Otis being rejected hurts because the
Speaker 2: audience remembers being laughed at, underestimated, friend zone, dismissed, or
Speaker 2: treated as impossible. Wrestling is not real except for all
Speaker 2: the ways it absolutely is. I'd say that again, wrestling
Speaker 2: is not real except for all the ways it absolutely is.
Speaker 2: So going forward, Maxine is a heel. She has clear direction,
Speaker 2: She is not confused. She has not merely hurt. She's
Speaker 2: choosing power, status, cruelty, and romance. Austin theory has his
Speaker 2: heat that people can care about. Austin Theory is not
Speaker 2: just arrogant. He took advantage of Maxine's turn and humiliated Otis.
Speaker 2: That gives people to want him punched in the face.
Speaker 2: It's excellent wrestling economy, beautiful, Alpha Academy effectively gone, Chad
Speaker 2: is gone, Maxine turns, all Otis and Tazawa are left behind.
Speaker 2: They become the good hands again, unless WW gives him
Speaker 2: the next chapter. Alpha Academy did not explode all at once,
Speaker 2: and sometimes that is sadder. Now, just a little side
Speaker 2: note here. If Maxine had a brother around to tell
Speaker 2: her to make better choices, then maybe he could have
Speaker 2: talked some sense in her. But na, nah, we don't
Speaker 2: talk about that anymore, though I will say he does
Speaker 2: look like a certain megastar. Yeah. Now over to Chad Gable.
Speaker 2: As I mentioned earlier, and I then mentioned the last
Speaker 2: couple of weeks El Grande Americano that saved him. The
Speaker 2: storyline gave Chad Gable something rare, comedy, absurdity, technical excellence,
Speaker 2: Luca respect, Heath catharsis a second life. The Elgrande Americano
Speaker 2: story should have been the kind of thing that gets
Speaker 2: a man laughed out of relevance. Instead, Chad Gable wrestled
Speaker 2: it into a career resurrection. Mexico booed o g l Grande,
Speaker 2: but respected the man Chad Gable. That's a beautiful paradox
Speaker 2: outside the mask, fans respect the Chad's role in making
Speaker 2: the current El Grande, or as a column, as Chico
Speaker 2: calls him, El Venti Americano played by Ludvik Kaiser, such
Speaker 2: a beloved character. They booed the mask, but they applauded
Speaker 2: the craftsman beneath it, and that is where the money
Speaker 2: is for the WWE. For triplet Ah, the goodwill carries worldwide.
Speaker 2: Respect did not stay in Mexico. It followed him. Fans
Speaker 2: around the world started recognizing how hard he committed to
Speaker 2: the bit, how good the matches actually were, how much
Speaker 2: he elevated the story, how selfless his work had actually become.
Speaker 2: Even though he was the original El Grande. He gave
Speaker 2: it up for Ludvig Kaiser to be the real El
Speaker 2: Grande or to be the dominant El Grande, and showed
Speaker 2: how valuable he is to WWE and to the entire
Speaker 2: wrestling industry. Sometimes the crowd does not just reward the character,
Speaker 2: but sometimes they reward the worker behind the character, making
Speaker 2: decisions for making the ridiculous feel real. And so he
Speaker 2: has been rewarded with an INCHA Continental title match against
Speaker 2: Penta at SummerSlam. He earned it and Penta is the
Speaker 2: perfect opponent here. The Icy title works because it's the
Speaker 2: worker's crown. The match can blood technical wrestling Luca influence
Speaker 2: and character stakes. It couldn't happen to a better guy.
Speaker 2: The Icy title has always been the belt for the
Speaker 2: wrestlers who make wrestling feel like craft, and Chad Gable
Speaker 2: belongs in that conversation characters develop. The character development is
Speaker 2: winning with WWE, with AEG the larger industry all putting
Speaker 2: up strong material. It is hard for one company to
Speaker 2: dominate the conversation every week, but that's a great sign
Speaker 2: for the industry and the whole because the business is
Speaker 2: healthier when companies have to fight for attention through better stories,
Speaker 2: better characters, and better execution. When everybody is producing good wrestling,
Speaker 2: you cannot coast on brand power. You have to make
Speaker 2: people care. And right now the industry is remembering the
Speaker 2: character is not decoration. Character is the engine. Maxine's heel
Speaker 2: turned shows what happens when hurt, ambition, or status becomes
Speaker 2: a weapon. In Catholic terms, because I'm Catholic, the human
Speaker 2: person is never tooled. So when Maxine uses Otis's vulnerability
Speaker 2: to humiliate him, that is moral ugliness that she rejected him.
Speaker 2: Rejection can be honest. Humiliation is different. The sin of
Speaker 2: that moment was not that Maxine did not return Otis's feelings.
Speaker 2: Nobody owes you romance, nobody does. The ugliness was using
Speaker 2: his heart as a prop beautiful storytelling Otis and human dignity.
Speaker 2: This remains lovable and dignified even when mocked. A per
Speaker 2: person's worth is not measured by desirability, useful as status
Speaker 2: or victory. Otis does not become less worthy because Maxine laughs.
Speaker 2: And that is true in wrestling, and frankly it is
Speaker 2: true in life. And Chad Gable and his redemption through
Speaker 2: his craft. Chad's arc shows that sometimes redemption is not
Speaker 2: a speech. Sometimes redemption is the long obedience of doing
Speaker 2: excellent work. He committed, he elevated others, He made the
Speaker 2: bit matter audience notices. Sometimes redemption looks at a less
Speaker 2: dramatic apology, like showing up doing the work and letting
Speaker 2: your craft become the apology your mouth could not finish.
Speaker 2: Grace does not erase consequences, but grace can turn consequences
Speaker 2: into formation. And if wrestling teaches us anything, it's that
Speaker 2: a man can lose his stable, He could lose his mask,
Speaker 2: He could lose his crowd for a while and still
Speaker 2: find his way back through the work. That's what Rog
Speaker 2: gave us this week. Maxine shows power and became dangerous.
Speaker 2: Austin finally gave some, finally gots rather some he needed heat,
Speaker 2: always got his heart stepped on, but not his dignity erased.
Speaker 2: Tazawa remains the friend asking the honest question, and Chad Gables, somehow,
Speaker 2: through one of the weirdest storylines of the year, may
Speaker 2: have rebuilt himself into the Intercontinental Championship defender and possibly
Speaker 2: the Intercontinental Champion. That is character development, not just wins
Speaker 2: and losses, but we have choices and consequences. Ringside Heat
Speaker 2: on New Stock, Saga nine sixty am. Just a few
Speaker 2: more minutes left here in the show, Episode two twenty
Speaker 2: two context, contracts, characters, and chaos. Let's look at the
Speaker 2: Saturay Night's main event card really quickly. Dan Housen versus
Speaker 2: JD McDonough's notice qualification. JD McDonough with Raymisterio we at
Speaker 2: ringside Shenanigan's guaranteed Dan Housen notice qualification match with dom
Speaker 2: Is nearby is not a stipulation. It is a haunted
Speaker 2: carnival with a referee intel. Now I'd say JD's gonna lose.
Speaker 2: Dan Housen's gonna win this one because it's New York,
Speaker 2: because the NBA Championship in New York next, et cetera,
Speaker 2: et cetera, et cetera. It's gonna be a good will
Speaker 2: match and it's gonna be a fun one to start
Speaker 2: off the show. I believe Paige and Bribella versus the
Speaker 2: field influence this could be. This could be the match
Speaker 2: where Page and Bribella possibly break up, lose the Champ
Speaker 2: Team Championships, possibly when Nikki Bella comes back. But it
Speaker 2: also could be the graduation ceremony for Lanny Reed, Fallon
Speaker 2: Henley and j C. Jane coming up from NXT. So
Speaker 2: I'm hoping to see that something could happen that could
Speaker 2: lead up the SummerSlam between these two teams or more.
Speaker 2: Next match, Bailey versus Lyra Valkyria Ken character developments. Lyra
Speaker 2: Valkyria on Raw not just turned on Bailey, but she deteriorated.
Speaker 2: She came to ringside, as said by Corey Graves, looking
Speaker 2: like the frustration had physically changed her, looking like she
Speaker 2: had not showered in a week and was not just
Speaker 2: and it told the audience this pressure is finally getting
Speaker 2: to her. Larry did not just turn heel, she started unraveling.
Speaker 2: Now here's the thing. I think Bailey's will still win
Speaker 2: this match because of this could be a crowning moment
Speaker 2: for Larra somewhere down the line. And we've also got
Speaker 2: cmpunk versus Cody, Rhoads versus gunther and Sammy Zain. This
Speaker 2: is the main event of setning an intimate event with
Speaker 2: SummerSlam implications. Cody just lost the title. Cmpunk is now
Speaker 2: in line for Cody at SummerSlam. Gunthar has been pressuring
Speaker 2: Nick all this for a title shot. Sammy Zain has
Speaker 2: both won and lost the title in the short span,
Speaker 2: and he's entitled to his title shot. His remax. Rather,
Speaker 2: the undispeated Championship scene is unstable, and isn't that the
Speaker 2: great way to make sure wrestling is unpredictable? Throw in
Speaker 2: some instability. This is the surprising part. It's the ww
Speaker 2: WE undispeated Championship. It is the ping pong title of
Speaker 2: the two major world titles. Here. For years, the world
Speaker 2: title is foot lockdown for long rains, and now the
Speaker 2: undisputed Championship is the one that's volatile. Sammu wins, Sammy loses,
Speaker 2: Cody loses, Punk steps in gunt their precious management. Everyone
Speaker 2: smells the opportunity for the signature title of the WWE
Speaker 2: Saturday Night. It's an event Madison Square Garden. Not just
Speaker 2: to stop on the character. It's a measuring stick. We'll
Speaker 2: find out if Dan House's Crossover Magic is still very nice,
Speaker 2: very evil and very New York. We'll find out if
Speaker 2: Fatal Influence is ready to take the Women's Tank Division
Speaker 2: by the throat. We'll find out Lyra Valkyrias frustration, if
Speaker 2: it cracked her or only pushed her to go too far.
Speaker 2: And we will find out whether Cody roads and see
Speaker 2: him Punk and stand beside each other for one night
Speaker 2: before trying to tear each other apart at SummerSlam. MSG
Speaker 2: will not just post history. It'll sometimes heckle history. I
Speaker 2: tell history gets better. That's all the time we have
Speaker 2: here for you here at Ringside Heat. My name is Lextan.
Speaker 2: Follow me at wexta media fod of the show at
Speaker 2: Ringside Underscore Heat. We remember the things that you probably
Speaker 2: forgot