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 Off. I love you so, Mama, monster, dude, I 3 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:15.240 want your soul. Woman, you got grown ass wrestlers in 4 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:18.160 the back going on Twitter. Come over here, he may 5 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:23.199 is that pet patison you have legs? Week I was 6 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:26.199 ninety nine percent positive it was just chessed up. Now 7 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.440 I want out of my contract if I don't care 8 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:35.240 what I want. This is episode nine to ten of 9 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:39.359 the Solemn Monster Sounds Off for Easter Sunday, April twentieth, 10 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:42.399 twenty twenty five. I want to wish you very happy 11 00:00:42.439 --> 00:00:45.640 Easter to all celebrating It also happens to be night 12 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:50.200 two of WrestleMania forty one. We are now halfway through WrestleMania. 13 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:53.200 I am a very sleepy Solemn Monster coming off of 14 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:57.240 a very late night one review and we killed it 15 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:00.000 last night. Hopefully we'll do the same tonight. But I'm 16 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.399 I am going to have some thoughts on WrestleMania Night one, 17 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:06.400 which was the big news of the weekend, but hardly 18 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:09.120 the only news. Hardly the only big news of the weekend. 19 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.000 There was actually a huge news story that broke yesterday 20 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:14.959 involving WWE that I'm going to get into here at 21 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:16.560 a few minutes. We got a lot of stuff to 22 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:18.280 get into. There's a lot of other news and notes. 23 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:21.120 I got news and notes on aw as well as 24 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:24.200 New Japan, which had some big news of its own, 25 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:25.959 and then a little bit later on, probably at the 26 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:28.760 very end of the review, I'm going to be including 27 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:34.599 my full WrestleMania nine documentary review, Becoming a Spectacle WrestleMania 28 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:37.799 and nine, the making of is now on Peacock. I 29 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:40.159 did watch it, I did review it on YouTube. It 30 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.319 went up during the week. Not everybody is on YouTube, 31 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:45.799 and I didn't have a chance to include it in 32 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:48.200 the podcast last weekend, so you're going to get it 33 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:51.200 this week, and so the full review will be up 34 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:53.280 towards the end of the show for those of you 35 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:55.439 who want to tune into that. I got some great 36 00:01:55.480 --> 00:01:58.599 feedback on that and hopefully you will enjoy it. But yeah, 37 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:02.680 a lot to get into here on a very busy weekend, 38 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.959 and I thank you for joining me for your WrestleMania coverage. 39 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:08.719 If you would like to make a PayPal donation, as 40 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:10.599 many of you did this week, you guys blew me 41 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.800 away the Solomonster dot com. It never changes. That's the 42 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:16.479 place to go. You'll see the link at the top 43 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:18.800 of the page. Ten dollars or more will get you 44 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.719 a nickname and a shout out like these fine folks. 45 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:27.759 Gravedigger Brandon de Blanc Brandon, thank you very much, the 46 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:32.080 Portland pop Star Paul Hamilton. Hey, seven is my lucky number, 47 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:36.000 so thank you. Brother Big b Bryant Bessera, the Diamond 48 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:40.560 Dallas Dance Machine, Harrison Soapp, Velvet Revolver, Robert Murray, the 49 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:45.319 five tool Player, Adam Bartolo, number one in the division, 50 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:50.800 Brother Fast Blast, Tim Banks, Tough Guy, Tim gen Zephyr, 51 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.759 congrats on the new job. Only good things from here 52 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.599 on out. Tem Gin the Chicago Slayer, Willie Eicherd Knight 53 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:01.639 Stalker and if Al Safar the Which It's Clayton Nettleton, 54 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:08.479 The Georgia Nightmare, Timothy Tillis, Best Ending Game, Trey Porter, Kilshot, 55 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:13.639 Keith Hart Nemesis, Nathan Moyers, who says that John Cena 56 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.759 is going to tap out tonight. A bold prediction there 57 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:22.000 from Nathan. I don't know about tapping out. What would 58 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.960 he tap out to? Cody is not known as a 59 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:29.680 submission specialist and CPIA Prince, thank you very much for 60 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:33.479 the nice words. Thank you all. It was very very 61 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:35.840 nice to see all of the support this week, not 62 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:38.000 only on YouTube, but here for the main show as well. 63 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:43.960 This Friday, House of Glory presents Isolation at the NYC 64 00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:48.479 Arena with Kenoski Takeshta making his Hog debut. He's going 65 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:52.360 to be taking on our world champion Mike Santana and 66 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:57.120 the TNA Knockouts Champion Masha Slamovich makes her Hog return 67 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:01.240 as well. Bell time is eight pm. Tickets are available 68 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:04.639 at Hog Wrestling dot Net or you can stream the 69 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:07.840 show live on Triller TV. Plus. I will not be there. 70 00:04:08.680 --> 00:04:12.080 I'm flying to Chicago for a wedding, and so there 71 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:14.280 will be no SmackDown review. I mean, there wouldn't be 72 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:15.759 anyway I would be at the Hog show if I 73 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.199 was here. But there will be no SmackDown review this Friday, 74 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:20.040 which sucks because I know it's going to be the 75 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.319 biggest smacked out of the year coming out of WrestleMania. 76 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.040 But just be aware of that. There will be no 77 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:27.399 SmackDown review on Friday night. There will be no new 78 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:30.839 SoundOff next Sunday. So I just want to make everybody 79 00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:32.480 aware of that. That means I'll be back here in 80 00:04:32.519 --> 00:04:36.560 two weeks with episode nine to eleven. If you send 81 00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:40.000 in any paypals this week for Roll Call, send them 82 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.720 on in and I will include them on the next show, 83 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.000 So there's no worries there. I got to start with 84 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.240 the bombshell announcement yesterday that was made on the WrestleMania 85 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:55.319 kickoff show that WWE has purchased one of the two 86 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:00.279 biggest Lucha libreate promotions in Mexico, Triple A, which was 87 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:03.439 founded in nineteen ninety two. When Antonio Pena, who was 88 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:08.120 the booker for CMLL, split with them, he took Conan 89 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:10.199 with him. He took a lot of the young CMLL 90 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:13.040 talent with him. I talked about this once before, I 91 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:17.079 think in this Week in History segment, CMLL being the 92 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:20.319 biggest promotion in Mexico and the one that happens to 93 00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:24.040 work with AW right now. In fact, AW just announced 94 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:27.079 their first show ever in Mexico just this week, is 95 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:29.959 going to be held at Arena Mexico. It's going to 96 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:33.360 be an episode of Dynamite on June eighteen. But that 97 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.560 news has been completely overshadowed by the announcement that Triple 98 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:41.439 A is now under TKO ownership Triple H and Michael Cole. 99 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:44.240 They were joined on set on the pre show by 100 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:48.000 Triple A President Mariceella Penya her Son, Triple A General 101 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:52.600 Manager Dorian Rodan Pena Triple A star Vikingo was there, 102 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:57.920 which was wild to see Triple H introducing Vikingo, Raymis Stereo, 103 00:05:58.040 --> 00:06:02.160 Dragon Lee, Joachim Wilde, Cruis del Toro, Penta, Ray Phoenix, 104 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:08.000 Santos Escobar, Angel and Berdo Andrade and Stephanie Viquier. We're 105 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:11.920 all flanking Triple H and Michael Cole and all of 106 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.199 the executives on set. Triple A is where Raymisterio got 107 00:06:15.240 --> 00:06:17.199 his first break in Wrestlingum he goes back to the 108 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:20.319 very first year and he was on that first World's 109 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:22.759 Collide pay per view in nineteen ninety four that Triple 110 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:26.959 A produced with WCW. And on that note, the other 111 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:30.639 part of their announcement was the return of World's Collide, 112 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:33.480 which will be a cross promotional event with WWE and 113 00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:37.439 Triple A or NXT and Triple A. But I'm sure 114 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.600 they'll have main roster talent on the show since they 115 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.399 were present for the announcement, and I think all three 116 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:45.480 logos are in the I think it's WWE, NXT and 117 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:49.199 Triple A. I believe all the logos are represented in 118 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:54.000 the poster. Saturday, June seventh, at three pm Eastern time, 119 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:58.519 that's noon local time, from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, 120 00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:01.839 which is a big building. So they're definitely using main 121 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.920 roster names on that show. They shot an angle last 122 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:08.360 night at WrestleMania to set up Vikingo against Algreande Americano 123 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:11.480 if they want to do it. Not saying they will, 124 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.160 but they They certainly did something on the show last 125 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.480 night that would be very easy to put that match 126 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.759 together if they wanted to do so. I'm guessing a 127 00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:23.240 three pm start time, which is noon local time, because 128 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:26.639 June seventh has been rumored as the date for Money 129 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:30.839 in the Bank, also in Los Angeles, which makes more sense. Now. 130 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.720 We have no details beyond that. As I sit here 131 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:36.720 right now, we do not know anything as far as 132 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:39.560 what kind of money is involved. We don't know how 133 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:42.199 they intend to run the promotion going forward, how much 134 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:45.639 influence they're going to have over creative if they're going 135 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:48.600 to be cutting people, you know, Alberto del Rio works 136 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:51.680 for Triple A, even though he got suspended recently for 137 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:55.560 six months. I think it was only in Tijuana, but 138 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:58.120 he was suspended for getting into a fight in the 139 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.959 crowd at a show. So Dell dipshit still doing Dell 140 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:04.639 dipshit things. You know, what does that mean for his 141 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:08.399 future there? I don't know. I believe Marty Scull still 142 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:11.360 works for Triple A. We don't know. The answer is 143 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:15.079 we don't know right now. You know, when WWE bought WCW, 144 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.879 you remember they grabbed the IP and the tape library 145 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.639 and a handful of contracts, not a lot of big names, 146 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:24.439 and they chose not to run it as a separate entity, 147 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.720 even though that was the original plan. They bought Evolve 148 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:31.120 about five or six years ago from Gabe Sapolski, but 149 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.519 same thing. It was just the name in the library, 150 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:35.960 and now they're using the Evolved name for one of 151 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.559 their developmental shows. I don't think they're closing down Triple A, 152 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:43.919 but how it's going to be run going forward will 153 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:47.039 be very interesting to see. You know. At the post 154 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:49.960 show scrum last night, Triple H said he's looking to 155 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:54.960 keep quote traditional lucha libre as traditional lucha libre and 156 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:59.080 help it grow. And I saw Luca blog made a 157 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:02.480 great point. The problem is that Triple A never was 158 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.360 traditional lucha libra. It was founded on the idea that 159 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:09.279 lucha libre needed to change. And it's like they're trying 160 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:11.440 to say the right things, but they seem to know 161 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:15.440 very little about what they're actually talking about. I've heard 162 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:18.159 people say that as far back as the nineties, you know, 163 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:20.440 Triple A was trying to be more like WWE or 164 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:25.360 WCW than they were so called traditional lucia libre. They 165 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:28.600 do a lot of wacky stuff. So if you're a 166 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.120 fan of the current Triple A product, and I don't 167 00:09:31.159 --> 00:09:33.519 know how many people are anymore, because Triple A has 168 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:37.200 not been doing great, I mean they're not CMLL CMLL 169 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.159 is the top lucha promotion in the certainly in that country, 170 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:42.759 if not the world. Yeah, there's been talk of money 171 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:47.720 issues with Triple A, issues with Conan's booking. They sound 172 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:49.840 like a company that's been looking to make a deal 173 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:54.919 for a while. And what it does is it gives 174 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.679 WWE a huge presence now in a market that they 175 00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:02.200 did not traditionally have a big presence in. This is 176 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:05.600 part of their global expansion. I've talked about this before. 177 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:09.000 Remember that map that Triple H showed at some conference. 178 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:10.639 I don't remember what the event was, but there was 179 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:14.879 this giant map many years ago with all the different 180 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.720 places they wanted to expand NXT. It was their plans 181 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:22.639 for a global territory system. It was their plan for 182 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:25.960 world domination. This was actually was twenty eighteen. It was 183 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.240 a couple of years before Triple H had his heart issue. 184 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.360 You know NXT Europe, which never got off the ground. 185 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:37.120 But this is what the vision was. And now they 186 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:39.480 have a pipeline to a ton of lucha talent, which 187 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.159 gives them a competitive advantage over everybody else, just like 188 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:47.159 the WWEID program gives them a competitive advantage when it 189 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.919 comes to recruiting indie talent. Right They've got first dibbs 190 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:53.600 now early on the people they might want to bring in. 191 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:58.399 Trust me, this has more to do with benefiting WWE 192 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:02.360 than it does benefit lucha libre. Okay, if you think 193 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:06.080 they give a shit about traditional lucha libre, you've got 194 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.600 a lot to learn. But what it also does is 195 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:14.879 it puts WWE now in direct competition with CML, which 196 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:18.039 is the oldest promotion in the world. This is basically 197 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:22.919 a declaration of war on CMLL, Triple A and CML. 198 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:25.320 They already didn't get along, but this takes it to 199 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:28.200 a whole new level, and it makes more sense now 200 00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:32.200 why CMLL would want a partner with AW. But this 201 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:34.320 is only just the beginning. We're going to see more 202 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:36.279 of this as the months and years go on. They're 203 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.879 going to go from partnership mode to acquisition mode when 204 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:42.960 it suits their needs. So right now they have a 205 00:11:43.039 --> 00:11:46.960 multi year partnership with TNA, and I think that works 206 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:48.480 for them. I really don't see the need for them 207 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.399 to acquire TNA right now, but it could be a 208 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:54.840 precursor to them doing just that at some point. Same 209 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:58.240 with Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan, right they have a 210 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:03.519 partnership with them, has the partnership with New Japan. AW 211 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:07.759 has worked with Stardom, So WWE goes and works with Marigold. 212 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:14.279 It's all very interesting, isn't it. That's not a coincidence. Now, 213 00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:17.960 it was WrestleMania Week, so there have been tons of 214 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:23.240 WWE names out doing press and giving interviews to various outlets, 215 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.480 and what a shit show it turned into talking about 216 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.679 politics and Vince McMahon and aew, these people have spent 217 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:37.840 more time talking about Tony Kahn than they have WrestleMania yet. 218 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:41.840 John Cena speaking with The New York Times, doubling down 219 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.120 on his love and affection for Vince McMahon, which is 220 00:12:45.159 --> 00:12:47.320 nothing new. I mean, he already did this once before 221 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.440 on the Howard Stern Show. We know how he feels, 222 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.120 and you know, if he wants to publicly profess his 223 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:57.519 love for Vince, he's certainly entitled to do so, just 224 00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:01.039 as people are entitled to be repulsed by it. And 225 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.600 he chose to say what he said. He wasn't prodded on, 226 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:06.000 like how do you feel about Vince McMahon. The question 227 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:07.600 was how does it feel to be at the end 228 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.360 of your career without Vince being around for it? And 229 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:13.200 he went out of his way to profess his love 230 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:16.919 for the men because that's how he really feels, and 231 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:21.240 of course he does. He was homeless at one point. 232 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.200 He was sleeping in his Lincoln town car when he 233 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:25.639 first drove out to la to make it big. He 234 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:29.240 went from being homeless and sleeping in his car to 235 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:32.559 being a multi millionaire because Vince McMahon chose him to 236 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:35.240 be the face of his company. Now he's a big 237 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.360 movie star, he's making more money than he'll ever be 238 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:40.519 able to spend. Of course he's going to love that man. 239 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:44.840 But I have far more respect for people like Seth 240 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:49.799 Rollins and Kevin Owens and Brett Hart who also made 241 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:53.000 millions working for Vince McMahon and have had the decency 242 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.399 to say, you know what, if the allegations are true, 243 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.399 it's disgusting and the people involved should get what's coming 244 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:02.639 to them. I think that was what Seth said. That's it. 245 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:06.480 That's really all that needs to be said. And the 246 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:08.720 fact that some people are not able to bring themselves 247 00:14:08.759 --> 00:14:14.320 to do that is disappointing, but it's not surprising. Now. 248 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.600 Nick Con was a guest on the Bill Simmons podcast, 249 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:23.320 and Simmons asked him whether he feels WWE has a rival, 250 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.759 and specifically citing AW when he says that, you know, 251 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:29.200 he feels their moment came and went and they're firmly 252 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:34.480 number two now, to which Con responded like this, We're 253 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:40.679 always the underdog at WWE. We always feel that people 254 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:44.360 underestimate us, that we are looked down upon, and we 255 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:47.120 like it that way. Bet against us. We prefer that 256 00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:49.480 and allow us to show you what we can do. 257 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.080 If you look at the stock price now, it's far 258 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:54.039 in excess of what it was when we all started 259 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.799 together five years ago, and we're quite proud of that. 260 00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:58.879 At the same time, we have to keep re earning 261 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:02.000 our keep on a daily basis here, so we feel 262 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:03.759 like it's a good moment, but we feel like there 263 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:06.960 is a lot of room for growth. You know. It's 264 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.879 one thing to say that there's room for growth. It's 265 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:13.159 another to frame yourself as the underdog, which of course 266 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:17.360 is laughable, he said, in terms of the other wrestling 267 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:21.360 promotional company, which is certainly one way of putting it. 268 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.639 They have a lot of talented wrestlers, and we're happy 269 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.000 about that. When contractually they're able to be talked to 270 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:31.519 and have conversations with. Assume a number of them will 271 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:35.320 come over, and nothing but respect for the father who 272 00:15:35.399 --> 00:15:38.519 finances it and owns the Jaguars and all of those 273 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:44.159 other things. Wow, if you want to know how little 274 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:49.840 respect they have for Tony Kahan, just the contempt that 275 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:52.480 they have for him and for what he has done 276 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.720 with aw there it is. I mean, it's all laid 277 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:59.519 bare right there in that quote, like even the stuff 278 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:03.240 would not inducting Lex Luger into the Hall of Fame 279 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.159 this week, Like they could have made the first contact 280 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:07.879 and reached out to Tony to see if he would 281 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.759 allow Sting to do it. You know, Luger was very 282 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.480 public and said he told the company he specifically asked 283 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:16.600 for Sting he was his first choice to be his inductor. 284 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.120 But they never did because they cannot even bring themselves 285 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:23.440 to pick up the phone and reach out. They have 286 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:28.039 such a disdain for them. I mean, it just jumps 287 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:31.399 off the page, and hey, fair play. It's not like 288 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:34.279 Tony Khan hasn't taken shot to them before, you know, 289 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.759 calling them the Harvey Weinstein of pro wrestling and all that. 290 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:41.679 But there's a lot of bitterness and pettiness on both 291 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:44.879 sides of the coin. Him saying he respects the father 292 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.080 who finances it implies that he has no respect for 293 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:52.840 the son who is only using daddy's money. You know, 294 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:54.720 as if Tony was just laying on the couch eating 295 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:57.200 Cheetos and watching reruns of Beavis and butt Head when 296 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.759 he got the idea to start aaw I mean, this 297 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.960 is right out of the Vince McMahon playbook. Vince did 298 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.759 the same thing in the nineties, only back then it 299 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:10.640 was Eric Bischoff spending Ted Turner's money and throwing shade 300 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:14.200 at them for that. You know, maybe they're upset that 301 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:16.160 they have to pay their talent a lot more now 302 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.240 than they used to, because guess what, that's what competition does. 303 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:22.359 That's why I've always said competition is a great thing. 304 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:25.519 You don't even have to watch AW. Just be happy 305 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:29.000 that competition exists. You don't have to watch a single 306 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:32.640 second of Dynamite to be able to appreciate the fact that, 307 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:34.640 you know what, it's a good thing that there is 308 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:38.920 at least one other promotion with a national presence or 309 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:42.720 a global presence that can compete on some level, even 310 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:47.640 if only for talent, that can compete with WWE. And 311 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:52.279 maybe that's what they're ultimately really upset about, because Tony 312 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:54.279 has the money to throw around to compete for the 313 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:57.279 same talent. Because remember, whatever you think about WWE being 314 00:17:57.319 --> 00:18:00.839 so much bigger and stronger than AW, they're both competing 315 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:04.240 for talent from the same talent pool. You know, WWE 316 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:08.240 is competing with AW every single day for the same talent. 317 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:12.119 You saw some of those talents on the WrestleMania card 318 00:18:12.119 --> 00:18:16.519 this year. You saw some last night. You had Ricky 319 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:22.680 Starks at stand and Deliver Ray Phoenix on WrestleMania. And 320 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:25.440 when you have a competitor with money to throw around, 321 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:28.559 what it does is it forces you to spend more 322 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:30.920 money even when you don't want to. That's why you 323 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:33.359 heard the reports about WWE allegedly, and I have to 324 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:36.680 stress allegedly this wasn't something that was said publicly, but 325 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:39.839 there were reports last year. You know, they were throwing 326 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:43.440 shade at Swerved Strickland getting so much money from AW 327 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:46.759 on his new contract when he resigned with them last year. 328 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.160 How they're paying him so much more above market value 329 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:51.599 and so much more than what he's worth. It's going 330 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:53.440 to force them to have to do the same thing. 331 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.279 I'm sure that's part of it. I'm sure that's part 332 00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:00.720 of the disdain they have for this man. You know, 333 00:19:00.759 --> 00:19:03.039 you had Stephanie Viccaier on a radio show this week 334 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.440 talking about how she turned down more money from AW 335 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:10.759 to sign with WWE, and when WWE found out, they 336 00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:12.960 told her to go sign with them, like they weren't 337 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.599 going to be able to match what Tony was offering, 338 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.039 but it was Shawn Michaels who convinced her not to 339 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:23.000 do it. Is her going out there and saying that 340 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:27.559 part of a concerted effort on WWE's part to put 341 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:30.680 stories like that out there, to tell people, Hey, the 342 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.519 grass isn't always greener on the other side. We may 343 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:35.680 not offer you the same amount of money those guys are, 344 00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.680 but look at what we've done with Stephanie. Look at 345 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.519 all the success that she's had so far, Look at 346 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:46.200 what we can do for you. Maybe maybe it is. 347 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.160 But even if it's not part of some concerted effort, 348 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.039 I'm sure they love her putting that story out there. 349 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:58.599 So when Simmons then warned nick Con about signing too 350 00:19:58.599 --> 00:20:00.799 many people to the point where others in the roster 351 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:02.839 may end up sitting in the back and not being used. 352 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:05.319 You know, you only have so many spots to go around, 353 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:10.119 this was nick CON's response, Look, that's something we won't do. 354 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.920 We won't sign and bench people. We sign people who 355 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.880 we want to use. And when Simmons pointed out that 356 00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:21.200 that's happened in the past in WWE, maybe before CON's time, 357 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.440 he said, perhaps, but in terms of the other wrestling 358 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:29.759 promotional company. If another entity signs and benches people, that 359 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:33.400 is not something that we would do. So two things 360 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:36.799 on that. First of all, he's being disingenuous when he 361 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:39.519 says that we don't sign people just to bench them 362 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:43.079 like AW does. He's obviously referring to people like Ricky 363 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:46.200 Starks and Phoenix and Miro, all of whom are now 364 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:49.359 with WWE. Bigie the other day let the cat out 365 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:51.160 of the bag and he flat out said that Russev 366 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:54.160 was back with the company, even though nothing's been announced. 367 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:58.079 We may see him tonight. It's not like Tony Kahn 368 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.559 literally signed all of those people and then never used 369 00:21:00.599 --> 00:21:04.279 them like you can throw Camille in there too. All 370 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:06.279 of them were used at one time or another, but 371 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.839 then yes, they ended up on the bench and they 372 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:11.359 were never heard from again. The Camille thing is still 373 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:14.799 something I don't understand. I mean, they even went out 374 00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:16.599 of their way to not talk about her when they 375 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:20.279 were promoting Queen of the Ring, which she started had 376 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:24.359 a pretty significant role in, but they used her for 377 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.000 a few months and then they took her off TV. 378 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:30.039 Ricky Starks, he won the FTW title, He won the 379 00:21:30.039 --> 00:21:32.960 owen Hart Tournament, he even got a win over Cmpunk, 380 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.599 who just headlined WrestleMania last night. He was one half 381 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:40.200 of their tag team champions, and then he got benched 382 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:42.599 when Tony realized that he wanted to leave and go 383 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:46.200 to WWE. Same thing with Ray Phoenix. And there's no 384 00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:50.039 excuse for keeping people on ice for months on end 385 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:52.640 just because you think, oh, they want to leave, you know. 386 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.440 And I'm glad he ended up giving them all an 387 00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:57.079 early release from their contracts. They would still be sitting 388 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:58.799 at home right now if he had not done that. 389 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.400 So he's being somewhat disingenuous when he says that in 390 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:06.400 the way that he does, but he's also a hypocrite. 391 00:22:06.519 --> 00:22:08.880 That was the most hypocritical part of the entire interview 392 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:12.640 when you have someone like Omas being called back from 393 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:15.480 Japan so urgently, he had to vacate his half of 394 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:18.960 the GHC tag team titles right just to come home 395 00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:24.240 and do what exactly nothing. They've done nothing with him 396 00:22:24.279 --> 00:22:27.640 on TV, and even before that they were doing nothing 397 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:31.440 with him then, like legitimately, the last time he competed 398 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:34.799 in a WWE ring was last year's Andre the Giant 399 00:22:34.839 --> 00:22:38.599 Battle Royal, And I know Muda had said he wanted 400 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:42.240 him there in Noah, but I wouldn't be surprised if 401 00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:44.839 that was something that Omas himself lobbied for to go 402 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:47.039 over there. You know, send me to Japan. If you're 403 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:49.039 not going to use me, this guy wants to use me, 404 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:52.559 Send me to Japan. I can improve, I can learn. 405 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:56.160 It's not like they have him working house shows, which 406 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:59.039 for him is something he could probably benefit from. They 407 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:03.920 hardly even do how shows anymore. Fucking Alexa Bliss comes 408 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:05.720 back at the Royal Rumble, gets one of the biggest 409 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:09.000 reactions of anybody on the entire show. Then she works 410 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.480 the elimination chamber, and then she hasn't been seen since, 411 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:15.960 and all because why one member of the Wyat six 412 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.400 got hurt sucks to be the other four people in 413 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:23.119 the group. They haven't been seen or heard from either. 414 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.400 Maybe they will this week coming out of WrestleMania, right, Hicculeo. 415 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:30.519 What the fuck ever happened to Hicculeo? He got signed 416 00:23:30.599 --> 00:23:32.640 last year, he hasn't been seen or heard from since. 417 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:35.640 Did he get lost on his way to the PC? 418 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:38.200 Did he get kidnapped in the NXT parking lot? And 419 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:40.319 nobody bothered to send a search party to find him. 420 00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:45.160 You know, I saw seandros Sap. He had a great idea. 421 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:48.440 These wrestlers need to start working with their agents to 422 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.160 get inactivity clauses included in their contracts. I think that's 423 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:54.759 a great idea. I don't know what the language would 424 00:23:54.759 --> 00:23:56.400 have to be on that, but I think that's something 425 00:23:56.440 --> 00:24:00.359 that should be explored in both companies. At least in 426 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:02.640 AAW though, you do have the ability to get yourself 427 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:05.640 booked on the indies, so you can still work somewhere. 428 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:08.440 If let's say Tony isn't using you, you could still 429 00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:12.759 technically work somewhere else. In WWE. That's very rare, but 430 00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:14.920 I think that's a great idea, honestly, that should be 431 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:18.960 explored with both companies. It is interesting, though, you know 432 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:21.839 how things have flipped from four or five years ago 433 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:25.519 when people were fleeing WWE to come to AAW and 434 00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:29.440 now it's the reverse. And as was the case with AW, 435 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:32.519 if WWE is not careful, they're going to sign so 436 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:34.519 many people that they will have no choice but to 437 00:24:34.519 --> 00:24:37.480 make roster cuts. I think that's exactly what's going to 438 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.319 end up happening, possibly as soon as post WrestleMania. I mean, 439 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:43.720 they do cuts periodically anyway, but you're going to see 440 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:47.680 a wave of them if this keeps up. And then 441 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:52.319 you had Triple H mister Hall of Fame being interviewed 442 00:24:52.359 --> 00:24:57.839 by Peter Rosenberg and going off on fans who criticize 443 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:01.519 the product. I always love this. He also talked about 444 00:25:01.559 --> 00:25:04.160 websites that leaks surprises and how they ruin it for 445 00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:07.920 everybody else. See that I can understand, but he specifically 446 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.279 popped off on websites and on podcasts like this one 447 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:16.440 and people who consider themselves critics. He wishes he could 448 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:20.559 tell all of the critics to fuck off with being 449 00:25:20.599 --> 00:25:24.200 a critic and just be a fan. Just watch the 450 00:25:24.279 --> 00:25:27.319 product and be a fan. Just shut up and enjoy 451 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:31.720 the ride, basically, and then he used this terrible movie 452 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.319 analogy to try to make his point. I'm sure he 453 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:37.480 thought it sounded good when he came up with. It 454 00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:40.880 sounds to me like someone isn't getting the glowing praise 455 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:44.480 that he got last year for the WrestleMania build, and 456 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:47.960 it's gotten under his skin because I didn't hear this 457 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:52.799 out of his mouth last year. Only now after he's 458 00:25:52.839 --> 00:25:55.079 been taking it on the chin for the bill to 459 00:25:55.119 --> 00:26:00.720 this year's show, he sounded awfully defensive this week. There 460 00:26:00.759 --> 00:26:04.319 are critics and then there are so called critics who 461 00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:07.440 deal in bad faith. Okay, you have those two. I 462 00:26:07.480 --> 00:26:09.759 think you have way more of those with AAW than 463 00:26:09.799 --> 00:26:12.680 you do the WWE product, Because for all the things 464 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:16.039 that I could criticize AW for and I have, there 465 00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:18.279 are people who will literally shit on the product no 466 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:21.559 matter what, like without even watching it. It's just very 467 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:26.039 bizarro behavior. So I just find that to be pathetic. 468 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.440 But there's nothing wrong with being a critic, Like just 469 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:32.200 speaking for myself, I'm not someone who's critical for the 470 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:34.519 sake of being critical. I will criticize something when it 471 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:36.960 deserves to be criticized, and I will praise it when 472 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:39.960 it deserves praise. You know. I don't come on these 473 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:43.680 shows and feel obligated to criticize something. If there's something 474 00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:46.680 let's say, if there's a show that I absolutely just 475 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:50.119 unabashedly love from top to bottom, which was not Night 476 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:52.839 one of WrestleMania last night, but let's say there is, 477 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:56.599 And I think, man, if I don't find something to hate, 478 00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:59.960 they're gonna skewer me for being a dick rider, right. 479 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.920 I don't think like that if I like the show, 480 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:04.160 I love the show. I'm going to tell you I 481 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:06.400 love the show, and if that's what they want to say, 482 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:09.519 then so be it. I get it the other way too, 483 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:11.160 where there'll be a show that I hate and then 484 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:14.359 I'm oh, you're just a hater. You just hate on everything. 485 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.039 You just hate for the sake of hating, right. I 486 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:18.359 always say when I get it from both sides, I 487 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:22.200 know I'm doing something right, but I'm just giving my opinions. 488 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:25.039 You could agree with them, you can disagree with them, 489 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:27.960 but that's what I do. No different than sports talk radio, 490 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:31.759 or movie critics or literally every other fucking form of 491 00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:35.519 entertainment on the planet. I don't know why Crado's over 492 00:27:35.559 --> 00:27:38.400 here things wrestling should be any different. Like I get it. 493 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:41.119 He wishes Kfae was alive and well and that we 494 00:27:41.160 --> 00:27:43.000 could go back to the Stone Age where there was 495 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:45.759 no internet. I would also love to go back to 496 00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:48.799 when I was seven watching wrestling and didn't know that 497 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:51.359 half the roster was made up of absolute fucking brain 498 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:54.839 dead idiots in real life. But that's not how life works. 499 00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:59.960 This week's episode is sponsored by Express VPN. When you're 500 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:01.880 you're hungry and you want to go out to dinner. 501 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:04.440 You want to have options, right, Maybe you're in the 502 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:09.039 mood for Chinese or Italian, maybe Japanese food or Indian food, 503 00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:12.519 whatever it may be. You have options. 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They have servers in 513 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:46.519 over one hundred countries, so you can access thousands of 514 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:49.119 new shows and movies and never run out of stuff 515 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.519 to watch. And it doesn't just work with Netflix, it 516 00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:55.880 works with other streaming services too, like Disney Plus. ExpressVPN 517 00:28:56.039 --> 00:28:58.599 is the best VPN because not only as it secure, 518 00:28:58.920 --> 00:29:01.920 it's easy to use. Just tap the app and click 519 00:29:01.960 --> 00:29:05.200 one button to change your location. It also works on 520 00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:08.960 all of your devices, including phones, laptops, tablets, and smart TVs. 521 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:12.440 You get super fast speed so you can stream INHD 522 00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:15.559 without buffering, like you're watching something in three point sixty P. 523 00:29:16.559 --> 00:29:19.160 We've all been there before. I don't want to sit 524 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:23.319 here watching a pixelated image. There's a reason why ExpressVPN 525 00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:25.759 is ranked number one by top tech reviewers like c 526 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:29.359 neet and The Verge, because it just works. I'll give 527 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:32.880 you an example of something I watched or rewatched recently 528 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:34.880 because it came up on one of my live streams. 529 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.880 I was interacting with some folks in the chat and 530 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:41.240 the Shawshank Redemption came up. One of the greatest films 531 00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:44.319 ever made. And it's not even available on Netflix in 532 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:46.839 the US right now, but you know where you can 533 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:50.839 stream it on Netflix right now in Australia and Italy 534 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:55.400 and Japan. So guess what I did. I traveled sort 535 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:58.240 of to Japan for the first time by connecting to 536 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:01.119 a server in Tokyo, and I was able to watch 537 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:04.519 the movie glitch free, no issues at all. It was 538 00:30:04.559 --> 00:30:06.559 a show I recently watched. I only got through a 539 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:08.680 couple of episodes. I may go back to it, but 540 00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:11.839 it was a TV series called Hannibal with Laurence Fishburne 541 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:15.000 about Hannibal lecter and his relationship with a profiler who 542 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:18.759 works for the FBI. Interesting stuff. Didn't even know about it. 543 00:30:18.759 --> 00:30:22.680 It's from like twenty thirteen. It's not on us Netflix, 544 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:25.519 so I had to connect to a UK server to 545 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:28.279 be able to see it again. It's very simple. I 546 00:30:28.359 --> 00:30:31.720 just opened the ExpressVPN app, selected the country I wanted, 547 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:35.359 tap one button. You have to refresh Netflix. But after 548 00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:38.240 you do that, there it is. It's just there. I 549 00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:42.279 love it. So be smart. Stop paying full price for 550 00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:45.119 streaming services and only getting access to a fraction of 551 00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:49.400 their content. Get your money's worth at ExpressVPN dot com 552 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.640 slash solom Monster. Don't forget to use my link at 553 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:56.640 express vpn dot com slash solom monster to get an 554 00:30:56.680 --> 00:31:03.799 extra four months of ExpressVPN free. Last night was WrestleManias Saturday, 555 00:31:04.039 --> 00:31:07.440 which was a very middle of the road show capped 556 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:10.119 off by an excellent main event with Seth Rollins beating 557 00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:14.359 Roman Reigns and CM Punk and pinning Roman Reigns after 558 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:19.000 a triple cross by Paul Haman, who leaves with Seth 559 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:22.000 Rollins at the end of the night. He didn't just 560 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:25.400 double cross Punk, he double crossed his tribal chief as well, 561 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:30.680 which ends a five year partnership that completely transformed Roman's career. 562 00:31:31.559 --> 00:31:33.440 It was the beginning of the Tribal Chief and the 563 00:31:33.480 --> 00:31:35.519 death of the Big Dog when they linked him with 564 00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:37.720 Haman for the first time, and they got more mileage 565 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:39.680 out of it than I thought they would. I mean, 566 00:31:39.720 --> 00:31:42.400 they lasted together about as long as The Undertaker and 567 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:46.480 Paul Behar did five years right before Paul Bhar turned 568 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:50.960 on him, something about people named Paul you can't trust them. 569 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:55.799 But CM Punk finally got his WrestleMania main event, and 570 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:57.839 it's up there with his Hell and a Cell match 571 00:31:57.839 --> 00:31:59.839 with Drew McIntyre as one of the best matches he's 572 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:02.160 had since coming back to the company. I still put 573 00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:04.680 the Hell at a Cell match above this one, but 574 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:07.759 it's right behind that one. Punk was on the mass 575 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:10.200 Man Show this week. He said WWE is trying to 576 00:32:10.200 --> 00:32:12.960 get him to side a five year deal and he's 577 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.440 not sure. I don't know if he's got five more 578 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:18.279 years of matches like this one in him, but this 579 00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:20.839 one was great. And he also said that if he 580 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:24.039 was in TRIPLEHS spot, he would have had Rhea Ripley, 581 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:27.920 Bianca Belair and Eo Sky main event WrestleMania, although he 582 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:30.440 didn't say which night. Obviously he's referring to his spot 583 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:33.359 in Night one because Cody and John Cena were always 584 00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:35.880 going to get Night two. But it's funny, you know what, 585 00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:39.599 the whole narrative of him wanting to headline WrestleMania. He 586 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:43.319 did want to headline WrestleMania twelve years ago, and he 587 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:45.519 said the reason he wanted to main event wrestle Media 588 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:48.200 was because when you main evented, you got paid more money. 589 00:32:48.920 --> 00:32:51.559 Today you don't have that issue, you know, And he's 590 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:53.240 making a lot more money now that he was back 591 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:55.799 then anyway, But you don't get a big bonus, you know, 592 00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:59.319 for main eventing WrestleMania, I don't think. And he makes 593 00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:02.680 plenty of money as it is, so he really legitimately 594 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:05.359 does not give a shit whether he made events WrestleMania 595 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:08.359 or not. That's just the storyline. But it was the 596 00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:13.240 highlight of an otherwise very mid show. The match itself had. 597 00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:16.079 It was a lot of dramatic near falls, a lot 598 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:19.960 of finishers spam. Some people like that, some people don't. 599 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:23.200 It doesn't always bother me. There are times it really 600 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:25.039 just depends on the match. It's kind of a case 601 00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:28.200 by case thing with me. If they structure the match 602 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:31.519 in a certain way, they tell a certain story, I 603 00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:36.480 can overlook it. Did they go overboard with the near falls? Yeah? Probably, 604 00:33:37.559 --> 00:33:40.079 But like the Osprey and takeshta match from Dynamite this 605 00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:42.960 week where you had that same issue, Like, I loved 606 00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:45.000 it and it didn't really it didn't take me out 607 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:46.839 of the match. It didn't bother me. The fans certainly 608 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:50.240 didn't seem to mind. They were hanging onto every near fall, 609 00:33:50.240 --> 00:33:54.480 but really all built to Paul Hayman's involvement. What was 610 00:33:54.519 --> 00:33:58.039 Paul Hayman going to do at the end of this match? 611 00:33:58.680 --> 00:34:02.519 And sure enough a chair and Roman is on the 612 00:34:02.519 --> 00:34:04.839 mat and he's looking out at Hayman. Punk's on the mat. 613 00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:07.640 He's looking at at Hayman and they both want Hayman 614 00:34:07.640 --> 00:34:10.719 to hand him the chair. What is he going to do? 615 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:13.800 And he slides the chair to Punk and it looks 616 00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:16.320 like he's made his choice, and then he climbs into 617 00:34:16.360 --> 00:34:20.360 the ring, so that right there, screamed angle alert, something's 618 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:22.760 about to go down because why is he getting into 619 00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:26.800 the ring. And Punk is limping over towards Roman who's 620 00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.320 on the mat. He's going to hit him with this chair, 621 00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:31.880 and then Hayman drops to his knee and he delivers 622 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:36.119 a low blow to CM Punk, which I don't believe 623 00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:39.079 is the first time that that's happened. I know he 624 00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:40.880 hit him in the head with the latter once at 625 00:34:41.119 --> 00:34:43.159 one of the Money in the Bank shows. I want 626 00:34:43.159 --> 00:34:44.639 to say he gave him a low blow too, but 627 00:34:44.679 --> 00:34:47.320 I don't remember. But you would think this guy would learn. 628 00:34:47.760 --> 00:34:50.159 So this is the second time now that Paul Hayman 629 00:34:50.559 --> 00:34:53.119 in his career has turned on CM Punk. And it 630 00:34:53.159 --> 00:34:55.360 looked like he was going to hand the chair off 631 00:34:55.400 --> 00:34:57.920 to Roman Reins, which he did, and he was just 632 00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:00.880 going to be back with Roman, and Roman really laid 633 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:02.920 into Punk with that chair, and then Hayman looked over 634 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:07.239 and saw Seth Rollins pulling himself back up to his feet, 635 00:35:07.480 --> 00:35:10.519 and he starts telling Roman, my tribal chief, look, look 636 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:13.760 the shield. The shield right, because Seth was in the 637 00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:17.000 same position that Roman was in years ago with his 638 00:35:17.159 --> 00:35:20.119 back turned. And now Roman can dish out the same 639 00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:22.880 thing to Seth as Seth did to him when he 640 00:35:22.920 --> 00:35:26.800 broke up the shield, and he's getting ready to do so. 641 00:35:26.840 --> 00:35:29.559 And that's when Paul Hayman he lowers the boom, and 642 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:32.400 boy did he ever on Roman Reins. He gave him 643 00:35:32.440 --> 00:35:34.159 a low blow the likes of which I have not 644 00:35:34.320 --> 00:35:37.239 seed it a very long time. He got all up 645 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:39.840 in Roman's business. I mean he got all of it. 646 00:35:41.159 --> 00:35:44.599 I mean he was going back and forth. And so 647 00:35:44.840 --> 00:35:47.639 Roman Reigns now goes down to the mat and this 648 00:35:47.719 --> 00:35:50.239 all leads to seth Rolins pinning Roman Reigns and winning 649 00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:54.000 the triple Threat match, and Paul Hayman had a big 650 00:35:54.039 --> 00:35:57.639 fat smile on his face. He had made his decision. 651 00:35:57.719 --> 00:35:59.679 We don't know how long it advanced, but he made 652 00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:03.719 his vision clearly long ago, it looks like. And the 653 00:36:03.719 --> 00:36:06.559 two of them left together. So I thought the way 654 00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:10.960 that they executed it was was flawless. It came across 655 00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:14.320 just great. What are the all time like WrestleMania's shocking moments? 656 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:17.079 Even if you saw it coming, it was just executed 657 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:20.880 very well. And with nothing on the line coming into 658 00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:23.079 the match, you kind of felt like something big has 659 00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:24.880 to go down here at the end, and they did. 660 00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:27.800 They gave you the biggest possible thing they could do 661 00:36:27.880 --> 00:36:31.800 with no title on the line. So now where to next? 662 00:36:32.519 --> 00:36:34.760 Is this going to be tied into tonight's main event, 663 00:36:34.840 --> 00:36:37.559 because we got John Cena and Cody Rhodes yet to 664 00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.599 come tonight. It's only hours away from now, and I 665 00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:43.440 was left last night with the impression that this may 666 00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:45.400 tie into that in some way. I'm trying to connect 667 00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:48.639 the dots here, and maybe I'm connecting dots that aren't there, 668 00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:50.800 but I just feel like this is going to play 669 00:36:50.840 --> 00:36:53.079 into the main event tonight in some way. Are we 670 00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:56.679 looking at Seth Rollins assisting John Cena in winning Number 671 00:36:56.679 --> 00:37:01.320 seventeen tonight and an alliance of Sina Rollins and Hayman? 672 00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:03.880 So I do think Rock is going to be on 673 00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:06.679 the show, you know? Is that what we're looking at? 674 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:09.320 Are we looking at some kind of new unholy alliance here? 675 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:12.199 Is this going to force Roman Reigns and see I'm 676 00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:15.480 Punk and Cody Rhodes to put all of their differences 677 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:19.719 aside and come together to fight them off. And I 678 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:21.480 got to give a shout out to the Wickerman on 679 00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:23.800 Twitter who wrote me with the idea that, you know, 680 00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:27.480 if Roman and Punk do team up eventually to fight Rollins, 681 00:37:28.440 --> 00:37:32.639 if he needs a partner, maybe Drew McIntyre can fill 682 00:37:32.679 --> 00:37:36.599 that spot, because who hates Roman and Punk? As much 683 00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:40.760 as he does. So there's a lot of fun possibilities 684 00:37:40.760 --> 00:37:43.599 here if they explore them. I'm approaching this with great 685 00:37:43.639 --> 00:37:46.599 caution because what we got coming out of See is 686 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:49.920 He'll turn an elimination chamber was anything but fun. It 687 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.119 was very underwhelming, That's what that was. But the potential 688 00:37:54.159 --> 00:37:55.920 is there for them to do some fun stuff coming 689 00:37:55.960 --> 00:37:59.000 out of this. Now. We also had three title changes 690 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:01.960 on the showuz So is the new World Heavyweight Champion 691 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:04.159 with a win over Gnther. Not only did he beat 692 00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:07.320 Guther and win the title, he tapped him out a 693 00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:12.480 little too quickly. Gunther tapped out almost immediately in the sleeperhold. 694 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:15.719 So that was my one thing I didn't like about it. 695 00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:18.840 But jay Uso is now the new world champion, and 696 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:23.039 so with Rollins going heel with Hayman, and Rollins is 697 00:38:23.079 --> 00:38:25.519 a raw guy, he should be the one to take 698 00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:28.039 that title away from jay I don't see jay Uso 699 00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:30.079 having that title for very long. In fact, I think 700 00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.400 he may have just wound up with the championship to 701 00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:35.079 be a transitional champion just to get the belt onto 702 00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:38.159 South because you need a babyface to do that, which 703 00:38:38.199 --> 00:38:42.679 is why Gunther losing it makes sense that and for 704 00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:44.960 the story they told with Jay, Gunther had to lose. 705 00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:47.079 I know that upsets a lot of people because they 706 00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:49.360 didn't want to see Gunther lose to this guy. They 707 00:38:49.400 --> 00:38:51.239 didn't want to see him lose to the yeat Man. 708 00:38:51.840 --> 00:38:53.920 It's a day of mourning for all the Gunther fans 709 00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:56.199 out there. But he had to with the story they 710 00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:58.519 were telling, he had to lose. If Jay went in 711 00:38:58.559 --> 00:39:01.639 there last night zero for three and lost again, he 712 00:39:01.800 --> 00:39:04.079 was done for as a top guy that anybody could 713 00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:07.039 take seriously. At that point, he really does just become 714 00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:10.440 the yeat Man and nothing more. Like he had to 715 00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:12.320 go in there's like the Rocky story. He had to 716 00:39:12.320 --> 00:39:14.480 go in there and get his redemption and finally win 717 00:39:14.920 --> 00:39:18.559 and prove that he could hang. And that's what they did. 718 00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:21.840 But yeah, I said this in my review last night 719 00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:25.440 and again the full review where I get into more 720 00:39:25.840 --> 00:39:27.559 in the weeds on this that's up right now on 721 00:39:27.880 --> 00:39:31.079 the YouTube channel. I'll put the audio out separately. But 722 00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:33.440 you know what I said was this, to me, the 723 00:39:33.480 --> 00:39:37.480 whole Jay Uso thing was more about the moment. It 724 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:41.239 was more about the payoff. It's the dog catching the 725 00:39:41.280 --> 00:39:44.920 car and then once the dog catches the car. It's 726 00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:46.840 like the dog doesn't know what to do because he 727 00:39:46.920 --> 00:39:49.599 got the car, Like you already saw the best part. 728 00:39:49.960 --> 00:39:51.719 That's how I look at this Jay Usa thing. I 729 00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:54.119 look at it as a situation where he's not meant 730 00:39:54.159 --> 00:39:56.679 to have any sort of lengthy title run. We already 731 00:39:56.679 --> 00:39:59.960 saw the peak. The peak was last night, that great moment, 732 00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:02.039 been in front of you know, sixty thousand people. His 733 00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:04.039 brother comes out and embraces him at the end of 734 00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:07.960 the match. It's very much like Kofe Mania in twenty nineteen. 735 00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:11.519 Kofe Mania took the world by storm and they leaned 736 00:40:11.559 --> 00:40:13.840 into it, and he had this match with Daniel Bryan 737 00:40:13.880 --> 00:40:16.599 at WrestleMania thirty five, and it was this great moment 738 00:40:17.159 --> 00:40:19.280 when he beat Brian and won the championship. You have 739 00:40:19.320 --> 00:40:22.039 people in the crowd crying, and Kofe's family's in the 740 00:40:22.079 --> 00:40:23.639 ring with him. His son is in the ring. The 741 00:40:23.719 --> 00:40:26.079 New Day guys are in there, and Kofe had been 742 00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:28.400 even then. He was kind of like the elder Statesman. 743 00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:30.239 He had been there for so long. So it was 744 00:40:30.280 --> 00:40:33.719 this great moment. But I don't know that anybody honestly 745 00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:36.119 expected Kofe Kingston to go on and have some kind 746 00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:43.760 of tremendously successful, long, historic, memorable championship run. It was 747 00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:47.360 all about the moment. They capitalized on the emotion of 748 00:40:47.400 --> 00:40:49.559 the moment. They didn't have some kind of long term 749 00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:51.599 plan for him as the champion. Now he had the 750 00:40:51.639 --> 00:40:55.760 title for six months. It was a very uneventful six months, 751 00:40:56.679 --> 00:40:58.440 but he held it for six months, and then of 752 00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:00.639 course they did him dirty with the way he lost it. 753 00:41:01.639 --> 00:41:03.719 But that's really all it was going to be. It 754 00:41:03.760 --> 00:41:06.599 was about the moment, and it's the same thing I 755 00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:08.679 feel with jay Uso. It's about the moment. And now 756 00:41:08.679 --> 00:41:11.719 it's just a matter of when how soon do they 757 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:13.639 take that title off of him and put it, most 758 00:41:13.679 --> 00:41:17.000 likely on seth Rollins. I give it until summerslim of 759 00:41:17.079 --> 00:41:19.440 the absolute latest. I'm not even sure he'll make it there. 760 00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:24.719 I feel like backlash would be too soon. But he's 761 00:41:24.760 --> 00:41:26.719 not going to have that title for very long. The 762 00:41:26.800 --> 00:41:30.039 jay Uso story arc, though, from five years ago to now, 763 00:41:30.920 --> 00:41:33.239 has been pretty fun to see because you remember those 764 00:41:33.280 --> 00:41:35.800 empty arena shows they were doing when the Bloodline story 765 00:41:35.840 --> 00:41:38.679 really began, and it was all about you know, Jimmy 766 00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:42.119 Usso he got hurt at WrestleMania thirty six, wrestling in 767 00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:45.960 that empty building and he tore his ACL. And so 768 00:41:46.039 --> 00:41:48.679 many times with these tag teams, one guy gets hurt, 769 00:41:48.679 --> 00:41:51.719 the other guys fucked, the other guy's just sitting on 770 00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:55.079 the shelf until his partner is ready to come back. 771 00:41:55.920 --> 00:41:57.599 And in this case, and I'm sure you know Jay 772 00:41:57.599 --> 00:42:00.320 being part of that family, you know Roman, you know 773 00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:03.360 he had family going to bat for him. Not everybody 774 00:42:03.440 --> 00:42:07.320 has that, but they kept him on TV and they 775 00:42:07.360 --> 00:42:10.400 incorporated him into this bloodline story and that's where we 776 00:42:10.519 --> 00:42:13.800 first got to see this character development in jay Uso, 777 00:42:13.880 --> 00:42:16.679 which is something I never expected because I never saw 778 00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:19.119 jay Usso doing more than what he was doing. But 779 00:42:19.159 --> 00:42:21.760 to go from that to where he is now winning 780 00:42:21.760 --> 00:42:25.039 a world championship at WrestleMania five years later is pretty 781 00:42:25.079 --> 00:42:27.599 cool stuff. You know, whatever you think of him as 782 00:42:27.599 --> 00:42:30.119 a wrestler. And if Jimmy doesn't tear his ACL at 783 00:42:30.119 --> 00:42:32.639 WrestleMania that year, I don't think any of this happens. 784 00:42:33.840 --> 00:42:36.000 But we had three title changes. That was one. The 785 00:42:36.039 --> 00:42:38.519 other one was the New Day beating the war Raiders 786 00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:41.679 to win the World tag team titles, a very very 787 00:42:41.719 --> 00:42:46.480 basic match, really nothing out of the ordinary. About it. 788 00:42:46.519 --> 00:42:49.239 Nothing overly special about it. The other tag team title match, 789 00:42:49.480 --> 00:42:52.199 they're doing that on TV on Friday. They're doing a 790 00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:56.079 TLC match for the WWE tag team titles that did 791 00:42:56.079 --> 00:42:58.880 not get the WrestleMania treatment that is going to be 792 00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:02.159 on SmackDown this Friday. This match was chosen for the 793 00:43:02.159 --> 00:43:06.840 WrestleMania card instead. It was what it was. Jacob thought 794 00:43:06.880 --> 00:43:09.280 to the new United States Champion with a win over 795 00:43:09.400 --> 00:43:11.920 La Night. They had the second best match I thought 796 00:43:11.960 --> 00:43:14.960 on the entire show, the first of many titles to 797 00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:18.239 come for Jacob. And then there was Charlotte and Tiffany. 798 00:43:18.280 --> 00:43:22.039 Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women's Championship. 799 00:43:22.480 --> 00:43:25.039 I was very curious to see how these two would 800 00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:28.480 work together. And there's gonna be a lot of differing 801 00:43:28.519 --> 00:43:32.159 opinions on this match, whether or not Charlotte was taking 802 00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:35.239 liberties with Tiffany, Tiffany was taking liberties with Charlotte. One 803 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:37.000 thing I will say is when this match was over, 804 00:43:37.159 --> 00:43:39.639 Tiffany more than Charlotte looked like she was in a fight. 805 00:43:40.239 --> 00:43:43.000 She had a bruise on her forehead, it looked like 806 00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:45.199 she may have chipped a few teeth. Apparently her teeth 807 00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:47.199 were fine. I guess maybe it was lipstick that rubbed 808 00:43:47.239 --> 00:43:49.760 off on her teeth, but she just when they put 809 00:43:49.760 --> 00:43:53.000 her on camera, she just looked like, Okay, this woman 810 00:43:53.079 --> 00:43:56.079 was in a real struggle here in this match. But 811 00:43:56.199 --> 00:43:59.840 she won, and Tiffany Stratton is still the women's champion, 812 00:43:59.880 --> 00:44:02.079 and she got a clean pinfall win in the middle 813 00:44:02.119 --> 00:44:06.239 of the ring over Charlotte Flair, which was refreshing to see, 814 00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:08.519 and it was the right finish. It was not the 815 00:44:08.519 --> 00:44:11.039 finish I was expecting at all, so it was a 816 00:44:11.079 --> 00:44:14.760 pleasant surprise for me. But I already see the comments 817 00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:18.320 that you know, they were shooting on each other or 818 00:44:18.519 --> 00:44:22.760 Charlotte was sandbagging her. I didn't get the impression that 819 00:44:23.199 --> 00:44:26.800 anybody was taking liberties with anybody else. They definitely worked 820 00:44:26.800 --> 00:44:31.719 a very snug match. It felt very gritty. I also 821 00:44:31.800 --> 00:44:34.400 didn't think it was all that great. I see some 822 00:44:34.440 --> 00:44:36.239 people saying, oh, this was the match of the night 823 00:44:36.320 --> 00:44:38.239 or the second match of the night after the main event. 824 00:44:38.360 --> 00:44:41.440 I hey, to each their own. I really didn't like 825 00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:44.079 this match. I think it was a good match for 826 00:44:44.159 --> 00:44:46.159 Tiffany as far as her being able to say that 827 00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:49.199 she beat Charlotte that's a nice feather in her cap. 828 00:44:50.440 --> 00:44:52.840 But I was kind of bored watching the match. This 829 00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:55.360 is not a match that will have any replay value 830 00:44:55.400 --> 00:44:58.599 for me whatsoever. And whether or not this was one 831 00:44:58.639 --> 00:45:00.960 and done and they're going to kind of separate these two, 832 00:45:01.039 --> 00:45:02.519 or if this is the first in a series of 833 00:45:02.519 --> 00:45:05.320 matches they're going to have, we'll find out. On Friday, 834 00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:08.760 I was not a fan of this, and they had 835 00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:13.119 Ray Phoenix subbing for Raymistereo, trading one Ray for another 836 00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:19.480 against Elgonde Americano because Raymisterio got hurt on SmackDown on 837 00:45:19.519 --> 00:45:23.800 Friday night. Apparently he tore his groin, which sounds very painful, 838 00:45:24.119 --> 00:45:26.679 and so he was out and about. He was on 839 00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:28.159 the pre show and everything. He was part of the 840 00:45:28.199 --> 00:45:31.760 Triple A announcement on the pre show set on Saturday. 841 00:45:31.920 --> 00:45:34.960 It's not like he's hobbling around on crutches or anything, 842 00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:38.039 but he was not medically cleared. So instead they put 843 00:45:38.119 --> 00:45:40.320 Ray Phoenix in there, and so here he goes into this. 844 00:45:40.400 --> 00:45:43.199 Ray Phoenix just debuted two weeks ago. He was in 845 00:45:43.320 --> 00:45:47.239 purgatory for months in aaw he got his early release 846 00:45:48.440 --> 00:45:51.039 that sounded like he was released from prison. He got 847 00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:54.239 paroled and so he ends up in WWE. He only 848 00:45:54.239 --> 00:45:58.639 debuted in Chicago two weeks ago, and on less than 849 00:45:58.639 --> 00:46:01.920 twenty four hours notice. He goes from not having a 850 00:46:01.960 --> 00:46:04.679 match at WrestleMania to being in a singles match on 851 00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:07.280 the WrestleMania card for the very first time. And it's 852 00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:09.800 very cool that both him and his brother are going 853 00:46:09.840 --> 00:46:13.320 to have their debut WrestleMania matches in the same year. 854 00:46:14.400 --> 00:46:16.880 Penta will make his debut tonight, so that's very cool. 855 00:46:17.400 --> 00:46:19.679 But it was on short notice because you know, Mysterio 856 00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:23.320 couldn't go. Phoenix and El Gdandi. They went out there, 857 00:46:23.320 --> 00:46:26.800 they had a good match. I probably I would have 858 00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:30.480 that behind the main event and behind the US title match. 859 00:46:30.559 --> 00:46:33.079 I thought this was the third best match on the show. 860 00:46:33.199 --> 00:46:36.119 I wish it had more time. It got barely ten minutes, 861 00:46:36.119 --> 00:46:39.239 if even that. I think some of the matches got 862 00:46:39.239 --> 00:46:41.559 short changed here. This was one of them. But you know, 863 00:46:41.599 --> 00:46:43.119 they had a good match for what it was. They 864 00:46:43.119 --> 00:46:45.800 did the plate gimmick, the metal plate under the mask, 865 00:46:46.719 --> 00:46:50.079 and Elgonde Americano wins, which he had to. So yeah, 866 00:46:50.119 --> 00:46:52.400 it's not ideal that Ray Phoenix went in there and lost, 867 00:46:52.440 --> 00:46:55.639 but again, it's fine. Because Ray Phoenix was not even 868 00:46:55.639 --> 00:46:58.000 supposed to be on the Wrestle Media card. I am 869 00:46:58.000 --> 00:47:00.480 sure nobody is happier about the fact that he was 870 00:47:00.519 --> 00:47:03.000 able to get onto this card. I'm sure he feels 871 00:47:03.000 --> 00:47:05.679 badly for Raymysterio, but believe me, nobody is happier that 872 00:47:05.719 --> 00:47:09.599 he got his WrestleMania moment than Ray Phoenix. I don't 873 00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:12.320 think he gives a shit that he lost this match 874 00:47:12.679 --> 00:47:14.679 because he wasn't even supposed to be in the match, 875 00:47:16.360 --> 00:47:20.159 and Elgreande Americano had to win. It's part of his 876 00:47:20.199 --> 00:47:24.000 whole gimmick. He's using the loaded mask. Eventually, they will 877 00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:26.719 do a mask versus mask match, whether it's him in Phoenix, 878 00:47:27.119 --> 00:47:31.760 whether it's him and Raymisterio or the Kingo or whoever 879 00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:33.840 it ends up being, and he will lose the mask. 880 00:47:34.280 --> 00:47:37.800 This was not the time for him to lose, so 881 00:47:37.920 --> 00:47:39.679 I don't have any issue with what they did here. 882 00:47:39.960 --> 00:47:42.920 They had to come up with a plan B, slotting 883 00:47:42.920 --> 00:47:45.079 in Ray Phoenix or Dragon Lee that would have made 884 00:47:45.119 --> 00:47:47.480 the most sense. They decided to go with Ray Phoenix. 885 00:47:48.480 --> 00:47:51.920 I have no issue with it now. Tonight is Night 886 00:47:51.960 --> 00:47:55.360 Too of WrestleMania, which on paper looks like the stronger 887 00:47:55.400 --> 00:47:57.079 of the two nights, and I certainly hope it ends 888 00:47:57.159 --> 00:48:00.519 up being the better night. Overall. What we have here 889 00:48:00.639 --> 00:48:03.239 is Randy Orton is going to have an open challenge. 890 00:48:03.280 --> 00:48:05.599 Here's another plan B. We were supposed to get Randy 891 00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:07.800 Orton and Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens went down with a 892 00:48:07.840 --> 00:48:11.400 neck injury. I did see him. I saw him in 893 00:48:11.400 --> 00:48:13.159 the crowd of the Hall of Fame. So he's there, 894 00:48:14.239 --> 00:48:16.679 has not had his surgery yet. Supposedly he was getting 895 00:48:16.679 --> 00:48:19.920 a second opinion from another doctor that Randy Orton recommended. 896 00:48:20.960 --> 00:48:23.400 But he's out. And no, I don't think it's an 897 00:48:23.440 --> 00:48:26.199 angle and Owens is going to show what would even 898 00:48:26.239 --> 00:48:29.119 be the fucking point of that. But who is going 899 00:48:29.159 --> 00:48:32.599 to be the mystery opponent answering the open challenge? It 900 00:48:32.599 --> 00:48:34.360 doesn't look like it's going to be Nick all this. 901 00:48:34.480 --> 00:48:35.920 I feel like if it was going to be all this, 902 00:48:36.039 --> 00:48:38.239 there would have been some kind of hint towards that 903 00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:42.840 on Friday, and there really wasn't. It's not impossible, but 904 00:48:42.920 --> 00:48:46.119 I'm not expecting it. Solo Sokoa. I don't think it's 905 00:48:46.119 --> 00:48:47.679 going to be him. They kind of got away from 906 00:48:47.679 --> 00:48:50.960 that this week. So who does that leave Alistair Black. 907 00:48:51.039 --> 00:48:53.119 It looks like is going to be returning on SmackDown 908 00:48:53.159 --> 00:48:56.159 this Friday. We actually got a date in the latest 909 00:48:56.199 --> 00:49:00.719 vignette for this mystery person, whoever it is. The Smoky 910 00:49:00.800 --> 00:49:03.519 vignettes that have been airing now for weeks, so it 911 00:49:03.519 --> 00:49:05.840 looks like they're saving his debut for Friday, which I 912 00:49:05.840 --> 00:49:10.000 think is absolutely appropriate. You know, you just wait until 913 00:49:10.039 --> 00:49:12.920 those post rawn SmackDown shows. You could debut somebody new. 914 00:49:13.840 --> 00:49:18.159 That's perfect who ends up in this spot though you're 915 00:49:18.159 --> 00:49:22.280 doing an open challenge, it needs to be somebody either 916 00:49:22.320 --> 00:49:25.599 a big name or it needs to be someone who 917 00:49:25.679 --> 00:49:30.039 is returning or debuting, but someone the people will know, 918 00:49:30.880 --> 00:49:33.119 somebody that will get a reaction when they come out 919 00:49:33.239 --> 00:49:36.719 or when they're music hits. And I think Russev fits 920 00:49:36.719 --> 00:49:39.840 the bill. We know Rusev is back, he's back under contract. 921 00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:42.559 It's only a matter of how do they re debut him. 922 00:49:43.480 --> 00:49:46.960 I think Russev gets the spot, so yeah, he will 923 00:49:47.039 --> 00:49:49.559 go in there and likely lose, because I don't think 924 00:49:49.639 --> 00:49:53.199 Randy Orton should be losing. I think whoever answers this 925 00:49:53.239 --> 00:49:57.079 open challenge is going to lose. But I don't have 926 00:49:57.119 --> 00:49:59.079 an issue with Rusev. Losing as much as I would 927 00:49:59.079 --> 00:50:01.199 if it was Black. I just feel like Black has 928 00:50:01.199 --> 00:50:04.079 the higher ceiling. I wouldn't be beating him in his 929 00:50:04.079 --> 00:50:06.519 first match. If riceb goes in there and has a 930 00:50:06.519 --> 00:50:09.239 competitive match and loses to Randy Orton, you know, off 931 00:50:09.239 --> 00:50:13.119 An RKO, who cares like it's not going to kill him, 932 00:50:13.119 --> 00:50:17.760 It's fine, It's really not a big deal. He's my pick. 933 00:50:17.800 --> 00:50:20.280 I think it's going to be him AJ Styles against 934 00:50:20.320 --> 00:50:24.480 Logan Paul. I've got aj winning in that match. Then 935 00:50:24.480 --> 00:50:28.280 we have Live and Raquel defending the women's tag team titles. 936 00:50:28.280 --> 00:50:30.920 They were supposed to defend the titles against Bailey and 937 00:50:31.039 --> 00:50:35.000 Lyra Valkyria, who won a gauntlet match on SmackDown last week. 938 00:50:36.039 --> 00:50:39.119 They survived the entire gauntlet. They wrestled like five other 939 00:50:39.199 --> 00:50:43.639 teams and they won. And Bailey they shot an angle 940 00:50:43.719 --> 00:50:47.920 yesterday where she was attacked by a mystery attacker backstage. 941 00:50:48.559 --> 00:50:50.840 She was laid out on the ground holding her shoulder 942 00:50:51.679 --> 00:50:53.199 and it didn't look like she was going to be 943 00:50:53.239 --> 00:50:56.480 medically cleared. And by the way, it was so ridiculous 944 00:50:56.519 --> 00:50:58.760 the way they did this, because they cut to the 945 00:50:58.800 --> 00:51:00.519 back and Bailey is on the ground and then Lyra 946 00:51:00.639 --> 00:51:03.880 shows up, Oh my god, what happened? And Adam Pierce 947 00:51:03.960 --> 00:51:07.760 comes in and immediately they're talking about how okay, you've 948 00:51:07.800 --> 00:51:10.239 got twenty four hours to find her replacement, Like, she 949 00:51:10.320 --> 00:51:13.760 hasn't even been diagnosed. How do they know that Bailey 950 00:51:13.800 --> 00:51:17.559 can't go? No doctor has seen her yet, They've already 951 00:51:17.639 --> 00:51:20.760 eliminated her from this match. So she got double fucked 952 00:51:21.400 --> 00:51:24.519 in this angle. And so now Lyra is going into 953 00:51:24.559 --> 00:51:27.719 WrestleMania with no partner, and Adam Pierce has given her 954 00:51:27.760 --> 00:51:29.880 twenty four hours to find someone. Gee, I wonder who 955 00:51:29.920 --> 00:51:33.159 that will be, especially with all the talk in the 956 00:51:33.199 --> 00:51:35.280 last few days about Becky Lynch being on her way 957 00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:38.280 back soon. Gee, I wonder who it will be. The 958 00:51:38.360 --> 00:51:40.719 last time we saw Becky on TV, she was buddying 959 00:51:40.800 --> 00:51:43.760 up with Lyra Valkyria. In fact, the last time we 960 00:51:43.760 --> 00:51:46.880 saw Becky in a match was against liv Morgan when 961 00:51:46.920 --> 00:51:48.559 Live beat her in the cage and then Live was 962 00:51:48.599 --> 00:51:52.000 gloating that she retired. Becky Lynch makes all the sense 963 00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:53.559 in the world. This is how they're going to re 964 00:51:53.679 --> 00:51:58.039 debut Becky Lynch. This is how she returns. They're going 965 00:51:58.079 --> 00:52:01.440 to challenge for the tag team titles as far as 966 00:52:01.480 --> 00:52:05.119 what they're gonna do here, I didn't think that they 967 00:52:05.159 --> 00:52:07.920 would bring Becky back just to have her lose in 968 00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:11.320 this situation. But there was somebody and I forgot who 969 00:52:11.320 --> 00:52:13.639 it was last night, who pitched an idea, and I 970 00:52:13.679 --> 00:52:16.559 actually the more I think about it, the more not 971 00:52:16.599 --> 00:52:18.360 only do I like it, but I think there's a 972 00:52:18.440 --> 00:52:22.039 very good chance we see it, which is that Becky returns. 973 00:52:23.159 --> 00:52:25.719 We come to find out that it was Becky who 974 00:52:25.760 --> 00:52:30.000 attacked Bailey, and Becky ends up going heel on Lyra 975 00:52:31.559 --> 00:52:34.280 and then Livin Raquel would retain the tag team titles. 976 00:52:34.639 --> 00:52:36.920 And what it does is it sets up a program now, 977 00:52:36.920 --> 00:52:40.079 an actual proper program, which is something that Lyra has 978 00:52:40.119 --> 00:52:44.840 not had since winning the championship for the Intercontinental title, 979 00:52:45.519 --> 00:52:47.239 because I don't need to see Becky lynn shed A 980 00:52:47.239 --> 00:52:49.239 wrestling for the world title right out of the gate, 981 00:52:49.880 --> 00:52:53.960 but her working with Lyra, and even if she wins 982 00:52:54.000 --> 00:52:57.039 the Intercontinental Championship, I don't think that would be a 983 00:52:57.079 --> 00:53:00.599 bad idea. Put the title on somebody that has big name, 984 00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:03.320 and at the end of it, she puts Lyra over 985 00:53:03.880 --> 00:53:06.840 in the biggest way possible. What a win that would 986 00:53:06.880 --> 00:53:09.880 be for Lyra. You could do a whole proper program 987 00:53:10.119 --> 00:53:13.039 with the two of them. I could see that happening. 988 00:53:13.039 --> 00:53:15.039 Now where that leaves Bailey, I have no idea. I 989 00:53:15.039 --> 00:53:17.440 do feel bad for her now, Bailey is not hurt. 990 00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:20.000 This is not a cover for a real injury. Apparently 991 00:53:20.039 --> 00:53:24.039 they've had this idea in mind for weeks. So I 992 00:53:24.079 --> 00:53:26.159 assume Bailey must have known that she was not really 993 00:53:26.159 --> 00:53:28.280 going to be wrestling a WrestleMania but even so, she 994 00:53:28.400 --> 00:53:31.039 was announced, you know, for a WrestleMania match. I'm sure 995 00:53:31.039 --> 00:53:34.800 it's very shitty for her. There's no defense of it. 996 00:53:34.840 --> 00:53:37.719 I mean, it's a shitty situation for her, But they 997 00:53:37.760 --> 00:53:39.920 have their idea. We'll see how it plays out tonight. 998 00:53:40.239 --> 00:53:42.039 I don't know if Bailey will be there. She'll have 999 00:53:42.079 --> 00:53:43.559 her arm in a sling. If she's not going to 1000 00:53:43.599 --> 00:53:45.159 be on the show at all, I have no idea, 1001 00:53:46.199 --> 00:53:49.400 but it's going to be Becky. Do they have Becky 1002 00:53:49.440 --> 00:53:51.039 as a heel or a face? I don't know, But 1003 00:53:51.079 --> 00:53:53.679 I like that idea about her going heel and then 1004 00:53:53.719 --> 00:53:56.039 being revealed as the attacker, and that way when Bailey, 1005 00:53:56.880 --> 00:53:59.239 you know, heels up and is ready to come back, 1006 00:53:59.679 --> 00:54:02.880 you know she can work with Becky as well, we 1007 00:54:02.920 --> 00:54:05.719 have Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest in a Sin City 1008 00:54:05.920 --> 00:54:09.159 street fight. This could be a sleeper match on the 1009 00:54:09.159 --> 00:54:11.760 show tonight, and I feel like these two were going 1010 00:54:11.840 --> 00:54:14.360 to have something to prove going out there. It's just, 1011 00:54:14.440 --> 00:54:16.480 you know, it's a mid card match on the show. 1012 00:54:17.960 --> 00:54:20.039 How happy they are about being in the spot they're 1013 00:54:20.039 --> 00:54:22.000 in where it kind of feels like, Hey, we didn't 1014 00:54:22.000 --> 00:54:23.679 have anything for these guys to do, so we'll just 1015 00:54:23.719 --> 00:54:27.199 sort of put them together. You know. I don't know, 1016 00:54:27.280 --> 00:54:28.559 but I kind of feel like they're going to have 1017 00:54:28.599 --> 00:54:31.079 something to prove going out there, and this should be 1018 00:54:31.079 --> 00:54:35.280 a Drew McIntyre win. Bron Breaker defends the intercom Meental 1019 00:54:35.360 --> 00:54:38.159 Championship in a four way match against Penta in his 1020 00:54:38.199 --> 00:54:43.000 first WrestleMania Dominic Mysterio and Finn Balor. I'm going with 1021 00:54:43.079 --> 00:54:46.079 Dirty dom to win the title. I think he steals 1022 00:54:46.079 --> 00:54:49.159 the pin on Balor to do it continues their story 1023 00:54:49.679 --> 00:54:51.960 gets the title off Breaker without him having to be 1024 00:54:52.000 --> 00:54:57.280 pinned Penta. He'll be fine. I think Dominic Mysterio wins 1025 00:54:57.320 --> 00:55:02.360 the title. Eo Scott defends the Women's World Championship at 1026 00:55:02.400 --> 00:55:06.000 a triple threat match against Rhea Ripley and Bianca bel Air. 1027 00:55:07.400 --> 00:55:10.199 I got EO walking out with the championship, she's walking 1028 00:55:10.239 --> 00:55:12.400 in the champion. I think she's walking out the champion. 1029 00:55:12.679 --> 00:55:15.079 I don't see Bianca bell Air going on Monday Night Raw. 1030 00:55:15.599 --> 00:55:18.360 In fact, I think Bianca is going to be thrust 1031 00:55:18.519 --> 00:55:21.960 right back into this whole story with Naomi and Jade 1032 00:55:22.320 --> 00:55:26.000 on SmackDown. In fact, I think Naomi will be making 1033 00:55:26.039 --> 00:55:28.679 her presence felt in this match, and that will be 1034 00:55:28.719 --> 00:55:31.760 part of what costs Bianca. So I fully expect to 1035 00:55:31.760 --> 00:55:35.320 see Naomi and EO is going to retain the championship. 1036 00:55:36.000 --> 00:55:38.639 And in the main event, John Cena goes for number 1037 00:55:38.639 --> 00:55:43.079 seventeen in his very last WrestleMania match against Cody Rhoades, 1038 00:55:43.079 --> 00:55:45.119 And you would think for somebody who has been in 1039 00:55:45.199 --> 00:55:47.960 this company as long as he has and has had 1040 00:55:47.960 --> 00:55:51.639 as many WrestleMania matches in WrestleMania main events as he 1041 00:55:51.679 --> 00:55:54.239 has had, that he would have some more you know, 1042 00:55:54.320 --> 00:55:56.679 classics to his name, But he doesn't have as many 1043 00:55:56.719 --> 00:55:59.559 as you would think. So this is his last chance 1044 00:55:59.599 --> 00:56:03.280 to go out there at forty six or seven or 1045 00:56:03.320 --> 00:56:05.599 whatever he is and try to have one of the 1046 00:56:05.639 --> 00:56:10.039 better wrestle Media matches from like a match quality standpoint 1047 00:56:10.400 --> 00:56:12.239 that he's ever had, because I mean, he's had big 1048 00:56:12.239 --> 00:56:15.320 matches before. You know, he's wrestled The Rock and you 1049 00:56:15.360 --> 00:56:17.920 know he's had big wrestle media matches, but he hasn't 1050 00:56:17.920 --> 00:56:21.519 had that many great ones. He really hasn't. And Sena 1051 00:56:21.559 --> 00:56:24.400 as an in ring performer is not what he used 1052 00:56:24.440 --> 00:56:28.400 to be. He's not. I can't remember the last truly 1053 00:56:28.960 --> 00:56:31.639 great John Cena match that I saw. It's been many, 1054 00:56:31.639 --> 00:56:34.760 many years. I think he's got a great opponent in there, 1055 00:56:34.800 --> 00:56:37.880 and Cody Rhodes, I think you have enough smoking mirrors. 1056 00:56:37.960 --> 00:56:39.440 Is the Rock going to be there? Is the Rock 1057 00:56:39.440 --> 00:56:41.800 going to get involved? Is Seth Rollins or anybody else 1058 00:56:41.840 --> 00:56:44.960 gonna get involved? This could end up being a great match, 1059 00:56:45.079 --> 00:56:47.199 or this could end up being a disappointment. I don't 1060 00:56:47.239 --> 00:56:49.920 think it's going to be a disappointment, but we'll see. 1061 00:56:49.960 --> 00:56:52.599 I just I remember watching his match with Austin Theory 1062 00:56:52.599 --> 00:56:57.559 and thinking, man, that sucked, right, So we don't know 1063 00:56:57.559 --> 00:56:59.840 what we're gonna get out of Sena at this point. 1064 00:57:00.119 --> 00:57:02.159 Singles match. It's not a tag match, it's not a 1065 00:57:02.239 --> 00:57:04.800 chamber match, it's not a royal rumble like he looked 1066 00:57:04.800 --> 00:57:07.440 fine in the elimination chamber, you know, but he was 1067 00:57:07.440 --> 00:57:11.760 one of six guys, and he was either the last 1068 00:57:11.760 --> 00:57:14.360 guy or one of the last guys out of the pods. 1069 00:57:14.400 --> 00:57:16.800 So you can't judge that in the same way that 1070 00:57:16.840 --> 00:57:20.199 you would judge a singles match. So this is gonna 1071 00:57:20.239 --> 00:57:23.199 be a test to see what kind of John Cena 1072 00:57:23.199 --> 00:57:26.039 are we gonna get in a big, main event singles 1073 00:57:26.079 --> 00:57:29.360 match like this. I hope it's the best John Cena 1074 00:57:29.360 --> 00:57:31.280 that we've gotten in a long time, because I have 1075 00:57:31.440 --> 00:57:38.079 him winning number seventeen, making history and leaving as the 1076 00:57:38.159 --> 00:57:41.599 WWE Champion. There's gonna be some kind of big angle 1077 00:57:41.639 --> 00:57:43.360 they shoot at the end of this show. I would 1078 00:57:43.440 --> 00:57:46.039 be shocked if the Rock is not there. Fucking Travis 1079 00:57:46.039 --> 00:57:49.599 Scott may be there. I'm still trying to connect the 1080 00:57:49.599 --> 00:57:51.840 dots and thinking that we're gonna have some kind of 1081 00:57:51.920 --> 00:57:55.639 tie in to last night's main event with this one. 1082 00:57:55.760 --> 00:57:58.400 There's gonna be some kind of big angle they shoot here. 1083 00:57:58.920 --> 00:58:01.599 Whatever it is, I think Sena stands tall in wins 1084 00:58:01.679 --> 00:58:04.320 number seventeen, and we won't have to wait very long 1085 00:58:04.320 --> 00:58:06.239 because we're only a matter of hours away here as 1086 00:58:06.280 --> 00:58:08.000 I am recording this, So I hope you will join 1087 00:58:08.039 --> 00:58:11.199 me live on YouTube immediately after night two is over. 1088 00:58:11.880 --> 00:58:15.400 We had upwards of forty three hundred people live last 1089 00:58:15.480 --> 00:58:18.559 night on YouTube. Let's see if we can top that tonight. 1090 00:58:19.840 --> 00:58:23.280 And I did watch NXT Stand and Deliver. I didn't 1091 00:58:23.280 --> 00:58:25.639 take any notes. I was doing work while I was 1092 00:58:25.679 --> 00:58:28.239 watching it, trying to get all prep for the show. 1093 00:58:29.000 --> 00:58:31.039 But I did see it. I enjoyed it. I thought 1094 00:58:31.039 --> 00:58:32.840 it was an excellent show. In fact, I think NXT 1095 00:58:32.960 --> 00:58:35.119 Stand and Deliver top to bottom is a show was 1096 00:58:35.159 --> 00:58:38.039 better than Wrestlemni a night one that was a great 1097 00:58:38.039 --> 00:58:41.519 main event. Oba Femei retaining the NXT championship over Trick 1098 00:58:41.559 --> 00:58:44.800 Williams and Javon Evans. I love the women's four way. 1099 00:58:44.840 --> 00:58:47.719 Stephanie Vaquier still the NXT Women's champion with a win 1100 00:58:47.760 --> 00:58:52.199 over Julia, Jada Parker, and Jordan Grace, all of whom 1101 00:58:52.519 --> 00:58:54.880 when the time comes, I think are gonna do very 1102 00:58:54.880 --> 00:58:57.079 well on the main roster. I think Jada Parker needs 1103 00:58:57.079 --> 00:59:00.960 some more time and some more seasoning in NXT. But 1104 00:59:01.000 --> 00:59:03.639 I mean they could call Stephanie, Julia, and Jordan up 1105 00:59:03.679 --> 00:59:07.360 tomorrow and they would fit right in in either women's 1106 00:59:07.360 --> 00:59:09.360 division on Raw or SmackDown and they would kill it. 1107 00:59:10.159 --> 00:59:12.800 So that was a great match. Ricky Saints still the 1108 00:59:12.920 --> 00:59:15.599 NXT North American Champion with a win over Ethan Page. 1109 00:59:15.599 --> 00:59:17.840 I thought they had a good match, and they had 1110 00:59:17.840 --> 00:59:20.960 a ladder match to Cranny brand new NXT Women's North 1111 00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:24.519 American Champion. As ladder matches go, I thought this was 1112 00:59:24.960 --> 00:59:29.199 a good one. Again, it's hard to differentiate yourself because 1113 00:59:29.679 --> 00:59:31.840 I were just so numb to seeing these types of 1114 00:59:31.840 --> 00:59:35.000 matches and all the big spots and hoping they don't 1115 00:59:35.039 --> 00:59:37.880 kill each other. Soul Ruca though, was the winner. She's 1116 00:59:37.880 --> 00:59:41.079 the new champion. Sol Ruka is awesome. That's soul Snad. 1117 00:59:41.079 --> 00:59:44.079 I love that soul Snatcher. She's another one. When the 1118 00:59:44.079 --> 00:59:46.639 time comes, she's gonna be a big, big player on 1119 00:59:46.760 --> 00:59:50.880 that main roster. And Nathan Fraser and Axiom are no 1120 00:59:50.960 --> 00:59:54.719 longer the NXT Tag Team Champions, losing the titles to 1121 00:59:55.480 --> 00:59:58.679 Hank and Tank. See this surprised me. I was not 1122 00:59:58.719 --> 01:00:01.920 expecting a title change here. What I saw here from 1123 01:00:01.960 --> 01:00:05.519 Hank and Tank though very impressive. They're a fun, big 1124 01:00:05.559 --> 01:00:08.719 man team and they are the new tag team champions. 1125 01:00:09.280 --> 01:00:12.880 And then they had the DiAngelo Family against their new 1126 01:00:13.079 --> 01:00:19.119 Dark State group, and you had stacks turning on Tony 1127 01:00:19.199 --> 01:00:23.400 d I mean whatever, I'm not fully into the whole 1128 01:00:23.599 --> 01:00:27.280 di Angelo family drama here. I've seen bits and pieces 1129 01:00:27.280 --> 01:00:29.880 of it, but I'm not as invested in the story 1130 01:00:29.880 --> 01:00:32.239 as maybe some of you are. But again, what I 1131 01:00:32.280 --> 01:00:34.199 saw of the show, everything was at least good, if 1132 01:00:34.239 --> 01:00:37.559 not great, and as a show collectively it was better 1133 01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:41.559 than Wrestlemani at Night One. 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That's hims dot 1162 01:02:12.360 --> 01:02:17.000 com slash solom monster for your personalized hair loss treatment options. 1163 01:02:17.280 --> 01:02:22.000 Hymns dot com slash solom monster. Results vary based on 1164 01:02:22.039 --> 01:02:25.920 studies of topical and oral and monoxidil and Finasteride. Prescription 1165 01:02:26.000 --> 01:02:29.400 products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who 1166 01:02:29.400 --> 01:02:32.840 will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See 1167 01:02:32.840 --> 01:02:37.159 website for full details and important safety information. I was 1168 01:02:37.199 --> 01:02:40.320 actually gonna start the show with some big New Japan news, 1169 01:02:40.400 --> 01:02:43.440 but then the WWE Triple A news broke. But there 1170 01:02:43.559 --> 01:02:46.079 was big New Japan news because in just the last 1171 01:02:46.079 --> 01:02:49.159 week we got the news that three names are headed 1172 01:02:49.199 --> 01:02:51.519 for the exits, including one of the biggest stars in 1173 01:02:51.559 --> 01:02:57.119 the promotion. Tetsuyaito, Boushi and Jeff Cobb are all leaving 1174 01:02:57.119 --> 01:03:00.679 New Japan Pro Wrestling. Cobb was not a huge surprise 1175 01:03:00.800 --> 01:03:02.639 because there was a talk last month that he was 1176 01:03:02.679 --> 01:03:06.480 possibly leaving. But Nito, I mean, that's a different story. 1177 01:03:06.559 --> 01:03:09.760 Nitto was a huge shock. New Japan announced on Wednesday 1178 01:03:09.800 --> 01:03:11.400 that they were unable to come to terms on a 1179 01:03:11.440 --> 01:03:15.679 new contract with the former five time IWGP champion, six 1180 01:03:15.840 --> 01:03:20.599 time Intercontinental Champion, three time G One Climax winner. He 1181 01:03:20.639 --> 01:03:24.239 will continue to make appearances through their May fourth Wrestling 1182 01:03:24.320 --> 01:03:29.079 Duntaku show in Fukuoka. Their statement reads as follows. In 1183 01:03:29.119 --> 01:03:32.360 recent weeks, conversations have been ongoing between New Japan Pro 1184 01:03:32.400 --> 01:03:36.960 Wrestling and Tetsua Nito regarding Nito's future wrestling activities. As 1185 01:03:36.960 --> 01:03:40.039 a result of those conversations, both parties have mutually agreed 1186 01:03:40.119 --> 01:03:43.199 not to renew Nito's contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling. 1187 01:03:43.679 --> 01:03:46.679 Both parties have arrived at this decision after careful consideration 1188 01:03:46.840 --> 01:03:51.840 and lengthy conversation. Nito's contract ends on the best possible 1189 01:03:51.920 --> 01:03:55.559 terms with NJPW, which joins fans in wishing him further 1190 01:03:55.679 --> 01:04:00.840 success in any and all future endeavors. They call it 1191 01:04:00.880 --> 01:04:05.159 a failure to reach a contract extension, while Meltzer and 1192 01:04:05.280 --> 01:04:07.880 Sean Ross sap they claimed Nito has been working without 1193 01:04:07.920 --> 01:04:11.639 a contract recently. Brian Alvarez says the impression he got 1194 01:04:11.719 --> 01:04:14.400 was that he simply wanted a lot more money than 1195 01:04:14.400 --> 01:04:17.320 they were willing to pay him and fight full Select 1196 01:04:17.320 --> 01:04:19.920 reports that Nito had been exploring his options over the 1197 01:04:19.960 --> 01:04:22.519 past month or so and he is not expected to 1198 01:04:22.599 --> 01:04:28.599 join AW. I can't imagine WWE having any interest in 1199 01:04:28.679 --> 01:04:31.000 him at this stage. I mean, they did in twenty eighteen, 1200 01:04:31.039 --> 01:04:33.440 and supposedly they made him an offer that he turned down, 1201 01:04:33.519 --> 01:04:35.719 but I mean that was seven years ago, and he 1202 01:04:35.840 --> 01:04:39.880 was he was pretty washed even then. Now imagine him now. 1203 01:04:39.880 --> 01:04:42.679 I mean he's still a big name, but to their audience, 1204 01:04:42.880 --> 01:04:45.440 you know, the WWE audience, he's not going to mean anything. 1205 01:04:45.760 --> 01:04:49.960 You know, physically, he's just completely washed. His knees are shot. 1206 01:04:50.039 --> 01:04:53.400 He's had the eye issues. He's had three surgeries on 1207 01:04:53.440 --> 01:04:55.360 his right eye, and I think he's had one on 1208 01:04:55.440 --> 01:04:59.599 his left. And he admitted to Tokyo Sports in December 1209 01:04:59.639 --> 01:05:02.039 that people talk about his knees, but it's his eyes, 1210 01:05:02.440 --> 01:05:04.800 you know. That of the biggest issue. I've talked about 1211 01:05:04.840 --> 01:05:07.800 this before. He was having issues with triple vision. You know, 1212 01:05:07.840 --> 01:05:10.159 when he looks down, he sees a flat surface and 1213 01:05:10.199 --> 01:05:12.519 he sees a slanted one. So working in the ring, 1214 01:05:12.639 --> 01:05:16.039 especially when he tries to run, it's a challenge for him. 1215 01:05:16.320 --> 01:05:19.039 He can't trust his footing in there. And so he 1216 01:05:19.079 --> 01:05:21.480 had surgery on his left eye because of the macular 1217 01:05:21.559 --> 01:05:24.119 degeneration he has in the right one, and he could 1218 01:05:24.119 --> 01:05:26.719 only see straight if he shut one eye because they 1219 01:05:26.800 --> 01:05:30.079 were imbalanced, so that most recent surgery was to try 1220 01:05:30.119 --> 01:05:32.559 to balance them out. So he had surgery to make 1221 01:05:32.599 --> 01:05:36.239 the healthy eye worse just so the two would match up. 1222 01:05:37.280 --> 01:05:39.519 But there are limits on the number of surgeries that 1223 01:05:39.559 --> 01:05:41.519 he could have on the right eye, and he's already 1224 01:05:41.559 --> 01:05:45.000 hit that limit. He can't have any more. But this 1225 01:05:45.119 --> 01:05:48.239 is very different than when WWE brought in Shinsky Nakamora. 1226 01:05:48.280 --> 01:05:51.960 You know, I just I don't know what Nito adds. 1227 01:05:52.440 --> 01:05:54.800 If let's say they were to bring him in in 1228 01:05:54.880 --> 01:05:58.000 Knew Japan. He's a legend and he sells a ton 1229 01:05:58.079 --> 01:06:01.920 of merchandise, all that Llied Jane merch which is why 1230 01:06:01.960 --> 01:06:04.599 this is a big blow to New Japan. But if 1231 01:06:04.639 --> 01:06:06.920 the issue was money, you know, whatever New Japan was 1232 01:06:06.960 --> 01:06:08.599 offering him, I don't know that he's going to get 1233 01:06:08.599 --> 01:06:11.159 that from any other Japanese promotion, Like what other promotion 1234 01:06:11.239 --> 01:06:12.800 is going to be able to pay him what he's 1235 01:06:12.800 --> 01:06:16.360 looking for? Where else is there for him to go? 1236 01:06:17.840 --> 01:06:20.199 You know, he could freelance over there if he wants to, 1237 01:06:20.320 --> 01:06:24.320 Like Minora Suzuki does. Suzuki freelance is there? He does? 1238 01:06:24.360 --> 01:06:27.440 Indis over here. I saw Minora Suzuki had a match 1239 01:06:27.480 --> 01:06:30.639 with Yoshihiko the blow up doll the other night. Yeah, 1240 01:06:30.760 --> 01:06:34.159 she made the doll bleed. I didn't see how it happened, 1241 01:06:34.199 --> 01:06:36.599 but I saw the doll had blood on it, which 1242 01:06:36.679 --> 01:06:40.239 figures when you're in there with Suzuki Nito could do 1243 01:06:40.280 --> 01:06:42.639 something like that. You know, who's to say he still 1244 01:06:42.639 --> 01:06:45.360 doesn't work shots here and there with New Japan, right, 1245 01:06:45.400 --> 01:06:48.000 that's certainly possible. It doesn't have to be a permanent break. 1246 01:06:49.280 --> 01:06:51.519 But I mean if this was like five, six, seven 1247 01:06:51.599 --> 01:06:54.880 years ago and Naito became a free agent, he would 1248 01:06:54.880 --> 01:06:57.320 be getting big offers to go elsewhere today. With his 1249 01:06:57.400 --> 01:06:59.599 body in the shape it's in, I mean, he could 1250 01:06:59.599 --> 01:07:02.320 work in He's gonna make a killing, But as far 1251 01:07:02.360 --> 01:07:06.000 as big money from a major promotion outside of Japan, 1252 01:07:07.199 --> 01:07:10.199 I just don't know where he's gonna go. You know, 1253 01:07:10.280 --> 01:07:12.559 that match he had with John Moxley at Forbidden Door 1254 01:07:12.639 --> 01:07:14.480 last year was the worst thing on the entire show. 1255 01:07:14.960 --> 01:07:19.159 It was sad watching that. His match with Hromu Takahashi 1256 01:07:19.239 --> 01:07:21.440 at the Tokyo Dome this year that was not good either. 1257 01:07:22.800 --> 01:07:26.519 I mean I was just bored watching it. He just 1258 01:07:26.599 --> 01:07:29.400 can't go at a high level anymore. It's sad watching 1259 01:07:29.440 --> 01:07:33.159 the old guard age out or leave. You know, Okata 1260 01:07:33.199 --> 01:07:36.920 was a gigantic loss for them. Tanahashi is retiring at 1261 01:07:36.960 --> 01:07:39.159 the Dome next year, and he's not the same performer 1262 01:07:39.199 --> 01:07:42.440 either that he used to be. Nitho's been falling apart 1263 01:07:42.480 --> 01:07:46.000 for years now. He's out the door. Nakamora, I mean 1264 01:07:46.039 --> 01:07:49.880 they lost him years ago, and Shabata. Then you have 1265 01:07:49.960 --> 01:07:53.039 the foreign talent. They've lost will Ospray and Jay White. 1266 01:07:53.760 --> 01:07:58.760 It's sad to see. And meanwhile, his fellow LIJ member 1267 01:07:58.800 --> 01:08:01.480 Bushi is also so finishing up with New Japan on 1268 01:08:01.559 --> 01:08:03.800 May fourth. He's been with the company since twenty twelve. 1269 01:08:03.840 --> 01:08:07.840 He is said to be leaving, possibly strictly out of 1270 01:08:07.880 --> 01:08:12.440 loyalty Tonito. Bushi is not a star at Nito's level, 1271 01:08:12.480 --> 01:08:14.920 but he's been with the company for a long time, 1272 01:08:15.159 --> 01:08:17.279 and he had been announced for the upcoming Best of 1273 01:08:17.319 --> 01:08:20.399 the Super Juniors, which I assume now is not going 1274 01:08:20.439 --> 01:08:24.880 to happen. Jeff Cobb is also leaving, and that news 1275 01:08:24.920 --> 01:08:28.079 comes barely a week after he won the IWGP Tag 1276 01:08:28.119 --> 01:08:31.439 team titles as part of United Empire. New Japan wrote 1277 01:08:31.439 --> 01:08:34.319 this on its website. New Japan Pro Wrestling has come 1278 01:08:34.359 --> 01:08:37.359 to terms with the departure of Jeff Cobb at his request. 1279 01:08:37.640 --> 01:08:40.520 With Cobb one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions, 1280 01:08:40.760 --> 01:08:43.960 those titles have now been vacated. Cobb's final match in 1281 01:08:44.000 --> 01:08:47.359 New Japan will take place in Corkinhall on April nineteenth 1282 01:08:47.399 --> 01:08:51.840 against Hiroshi Tanahashi. New Japan Pro Wrestling profoundly apologizes for 1283 01:08:51.880 --> 01:08:54.680 the sudden nature of this news and joins fans in 1284 01:08:54.760 --> 01:08:57.680 wishing Cobb the best in all of his future endeavors. 1285 01:08:59.000 --> 01:09:05.159 And he did wrestle Tanahashi yesterday and lost, so the 1286 01:09:05.199 --> 01:09:08.800 suddenness of it clearly caught them by surprise. Although there 1287 01:09:08.840 --> 01:09:11.359 have been reports that New Japan knew he was leaving 1288 01:09:11.359 --> 01:09:13.920 and going to WWE even before they put the tag 1289 01:09:13.960 --> 01:09:15.479 belts on him, they just may not have known that 1290 01:09:15.520 --> 01:09:17.560 they were going to pull the trigger and pull him 1291 01:09:17.560 --> 01:09:21.079 as quickly as they did, so they appeared to have 1292 01:09:21.159 --> 01:09:24.479 been caught off guard by this. Otherwise, I don't really 1293 01:09:24.479 --> 01:09:26.520 know why they would have put the championship on him, 1294 01:09:27.560 --> 01:09:30.960 and supposedly he was scheduled to challenge Hiroki Goto for 1295 01:09:31.000 --> 01:09:35.039 the IWGP title on May fourth, and that is obviously 1296 01:09:35.079 --> 01:09:37.760 not happening now. Cobb is a very good wrestler. He 1297 01:09:37.800 --> 01:09:40.239 has been with New Japan for many years. He lives 1298 01:09:40.239 --> 01:09:43.479 in Japan, but he's also turning forty three in July, 1299 01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:47.279 and he probably realized, Hey, this could be my last 1300 01:09:47.359 --> 01:09:49.159 chance to make some big money working for one of 1301 01:09:49.159 --> 01:09:52.760 the two major promotions in the States, so he is 1302 01:09:52.800 --> 01:09:56.359 said to be WWE bound. He worked his final match 1303 01:09:57.000 --> 01:10:00.319 last night, so I would assume he's freeing clear to 1304 01:10:00.359 --> 01:10:03.600 appear in WWE as soon as tonight. But that doesn't 1305 01:10:03.600 --> 01:10:05.199 mean he's going to be at WrestleMania. I don't think 1306 01:10:05.199 --> 01:10:08.359 he's going to be at WrestleMania. Maybe the Raw after 1307 01:10:08.439 --> 01:10:12.239 MANI or the SmackDown after Many, assuming he goes straight 1308 01:10:12.279 --> 01:10:15.439 to the main roster. Very interesting that he would choose 1309 01:10:15.520 --> 01:10:18.520 WWE over AAW given that he has worked matches for 1310 01:10:18.560 --> 01:10:21.920 AW before. But it could be just as simple as Hey, 1311 01:10:21.920 --> 01:10:23.760 you know what, this is a challenge that I would 1312 01:10:23.800 --> 01:10:26.479 like to try. They want me. I can make good 1313 01:10:26.479 --> 01:10:29.720 money there. I've never worked there before. I've already done 1314 01:10:30.039 --> 01:10:33.840 this other place. Could be as simple as that. This is, also, 1315 01:10:33.880 --> 01:10:36.000 by the way, the third time in recent months that 1316 01:10:36.119 --> 01:10:39.199 WWE has signed someone quick enough that it forced that 1317 01:10:39.279 --> 01:10:41.920 person to have to surrender a championship that they held 1318 01:10:41.920 --> 01:10:45.960 for another promotion. Okay, look at Stephanie Vecaierre. Last summer, 1319 01:10:46.000 --> 01:10:49.159 she was a double champion. She held the CMLL women's 1320 01:10:49.199 --> 01:10:52.079 title and women's tag team title when WWE signed her 1321 01:10:52.079 --> 01:10:55.119 and they booked her. They booked her debut in Mexico 1322 01:10:55.880 --> 01:10:59.319 on the same night that CMLL wanted her to drop 1323 01:10:59.319 --> 01:11:01.560 at least one of those titles and do business on 1324 01:11:01.600 --> 01:11:03.960 her way out. WWE, if they wanted to, they could 1325 01:11:04.000 --> 01:11:06.359 have allowed that to happen. They don't give a shit. 1326 01:11:07.600 --> 01:11:10.640 They don't. Not only do they not give a shit, 1327 01:11:11.640 --> 01:11:15.520 they booked her for a show in Mexico that very 1328 01:11:15.560 --> 01:11:20.319 same night. So instead of dropping the titles, she was stripped. 1329 01:11:21.600 --> 01:11:24.640 Omas I mentioned him earlier. Omas. They sent him to 1330 01:11:24.720 --> 01:11:27.000 Japan to work for Pro Wrestling Noah. He became one 1331 01:11:27.000 --> 01:11:29.720 half of the GHC Tag Team Champions. He was booked 1332 01:11:29.720 --> 01:11:34.239 like a monster. He destroyed everybody he worked with, only 1333 01:11:34.279 --> 01:11:36.760 for WWE to call him back before he had the 1334 01:11:36.840 --> 01:11:38.880 chance to drop the titles. So what happened? They had 1335 01:11:38.880 --> 01:11:42.640 to be vacated and what was so urgent that WWE 1336 01:11:42.760 --> 01:11:46.640 needed him back? They have not used him since. I mean, 1337 01:11:46.680 --> 01:11:49.319 by all accounts, he was enjoying his time there. I 1338 01:11:49.319 --> 01:11:51.079 don't think it was a case where he was dying 1339 01:11:51.079 --> 01:11:54.439 to come back, and if it was so, what they 1340 01:11:54.479 --> 01:11:56.279 would have had him drop the belts on the way out. 1341 01:11:56.279 --> 01:11:58.399 But again WWE, they don't care. They don't give a 1342 01:11:58.439 --> 01:12:02.000 shit Noah. Noah is not going to say anything because 1343 01:12:02.199 --> 01:12:04.119 they're just happy that they could have any kind of 1344 01:12:04.159 --> 01:12:10.039 working relationship with WWE. Ricky Starks the day after the 1345 01:12:10.079 --> 01:12:12.840 news broke that he finally got his aw release, he 1346 01:12:12.920 --> 01:12:15.640 showed up on NXT television. This was just after he 1347 01:12:15.680 --> 01:12:18.560 had won the DeFi Wrestling title. He ended kent To's 1348 01:12:18.600 --> 01:12:22.800 six hundred and twenty six day reign as the DeFi Champion. 1349 01:12:23.560 --> 01:12:27.239 Three weeks later, the title had to be vacated because 1350 01:12:27.359 --> 01:12:31.000 WWE would not let him drop it. Now here we 1351 01:12:31.079 --> 01:12:34.600 have Jeff Cobb having to vacate the IWGP Tech Team title. 1352 01:12:36.319 --> 01:12:38.760 If Cobb was working without a contract, or even if 1353 01:12:38.800 --> 01:12:42.439 he was and it was about to expire with all 1354 01:12:42.479 --> 01:12:45.520 the talk about him possibly leaving, then it was very 1355 01:12:45.520 --> 01:12:47.840 stupid of New Japan to put a title on him 1356 01:12:47.880 --> 01:12:50.279 in the first place. They kind of set themselves up 1357 01:12:50.319 --> 01:12:53.760 for that. But again, it just illustrates how little regard 1358 01:12:53.920 --> 01:12:56.800 WWE has for other promotions. You know, when it comes 1359 01:12:56.800 --> 01:12:59.720 to this stuff, when it comes to doing quote unquote business, 1360 01:13:00.520 --> 01:13:04.239 the only business they care about is their own and 1361 01:13:04.279 --> 01:13:06.279 how it affects them. And I think it's very important 1362 01:13:06.279 --> 01:13:08.319 when you hear about these stories or even the Triple 1363 01:13:08.359 --> 01:13:10.520 A stuff, and we don't know how that's all going 1364 01:13:10.560 --> 01:13:12.159 to work out or what their plans are, but I 1365 01:13:12.159 --> 01:13:14.840 think it's very it's very important to look at that 1366 01:13:14.960 --> 01:13:19.479 from that perspective. How can this benefit WWE. That is 1367 01:13:19.560 --> 01:13:22.319 the number one priority that they have, and they should be. 1368 01:13:22.640 --> 01:13:24.640 They should be concerned about how this is going to 1369 01:13:24.920 --> 01:13:27.119 benefit their own company, But at the end of the day, 1370 01:13:27.880 --> 01:13:31.920 that's really all they care about. Now, let's talk about 1371 01:13:32.079 --> 01:13:35.359 some AW here, because there are some AW news and 1372 01:13:35.399 --> 01:13:37.399 notes I need to get to. It looks like a 1373 01:13:37.439 --> 01:13:41.760 former AW Women's World Champion may soon be leaving the 1374 01:13:41.800 --> 01:13:48.199 company and headed to WWE, as in Mariah May Dave 1375 01:13:48.239 --> 01:13:51.279 Meltzer and Brian Alvarez first reported this week that Mariah, 1376 01:13:51.359 --> 01:13:53.600 who has not worked a match since forre loss to 1377 01:13:53.640 --> 01:13:57.920 Tony Storm at Revolution, wants to go to WWE, and 1378 01:13:58.000 --> 01:14:00.560 the belief is that her contract is up sometimes this summer. 1379 01:14:01.319 --> 01:14:03.560 Alvarez said he's of the impression that she signed a 1380 01:14:03.600 --> 01:14:06.640 two year deal and that even within AW the belief 1381 01:14:06.680 --> 01:14:08.920 is that she is headed to WWE as soon as 1382 01:14:08.960 --> 01:14:12.640 she becomes available. For his part, Mike Johnson on PW 1383 01:14:12.720 --> 01:14:16.800 insiders said that Mariah still has significant time left on 1384 01:14:16.880 --> 01:14:19.600 her deal, with one source believing her deal could run 1385 01:14:19.640 --> 01:14:22.560 through November of this year, while another believe there may 1386 01:14:22.560 --> 01:14:25.960 be additional time beyond that. And he also noted that 1387 01:14:25.960 --> 01:14:29.399 there was a rumor making the round within days of 1388 01:14:29.520 --> 01:14:33.159 her program with Tony Storm, ending that she had requested 1389 01:14:33.199 --> 01:14:37.640 her release from her AW deal, but he just wasn't 1390 01:14:37.680 --> 01:14:40.039 able to confirm the accuracy of that rumor, so he 1391 01:14:40.079 --> 01:14:43.199 didn't run with it, and she obviously hasn't gotten her 1392 01:14:43.199 --> 01:14:46.680 release yet even if she did ask for it. Then 1393 01:14:46.680 --> 01:14:50.039 there's Fightful Select, which had a report saying that even 1394 01:14:50.079 --> 01:14:53.079 though Mariah did not make her AW debut until November 1395 01:14:53.079 --> 01:14:55.800 of twenty twenty three, she was actually signed in August 1396 01:14:55.840 --> 01:14:58.319 of that year, and it was indeed a two year deal, 1397 01:14:58.359 --> 01:15:00.720 which means she could potentially be a free agent in 1398 01:15:00.800 --> 01:15:04.279 less than four months unless they either reach a new 1399 01:15:04.319 --> 01:15:07.479 deal or they extend her I guess like an option 1400 01:15:07.640 --> 01:15:10.720 year because she hasn't missed any time due to injury 1401 01:15:10.720 --> 01:15:13.600 that I'm aware of, so they couldn't tack on any 1402 01:15:13.640 --> 01:15:16.840 injury time. You know, usually you hear about three year deals, 1403 01:15:16.840 --> 01:15:20.520 five year deals with AW or even WWE. I mentioned 1404 01:15:20.560 --> 01:15:22.560 before Cmpunk said that they want to sign him to 1405 01:15:22.560 --> 01:15:26.079 a five year contract. I wonder if Mariah asked for 1406 01:15:26.119 --> 01:15:28.439 a two year deal on purpose for this very reason. 1407 01:15:28.920 --> 01:15:30.920 You know, she grew up a wrestling fan. She grew 1408 01:15:30.960 --> 01:15:33.800 up a WWE fan. You know, back then there was 1409 01:15:33.840 --> 01:15:37.520 no AAW and this is one of the competitive advantages 1410 01:15:37.560 --> 01:15:41.800 that WWE has over aw just their mere existence. You know, 1411 01:15:41.840 --> 01:15:43.520 for so long, you have a lot of guys and 1412 01:15:43.560 --> 01:15:47.479 girls who grew up wanting to be a superstar in WWE. 1413 01:15:47.479 --> 01:15:48.640 What do you want to do when you grow up. 1414 01:15:48.640 --> 01:15:51.600 I want to be a WWE superstar because that's what 1415 01:15:51.640 --> 01:15:56.119 they watched on TV and they want to be at WrestleMania. 1416 01:15:56.279 --> 01:15:58.560 There's a photo of Mariah in the parking lot outside 1417 01:15:58.560 --> 01:16:02.399 WrestleMania when the show came to Dallas, the year that 1418 01:16:02.479 --> 01:16:05.159 Steve Austin came out of retirement to wrestle Kevin Owens. 1419 01:16:05.720 --> 01:16:08.840 She was there. That was the year before she signed 1420 01:16:08.880 --> 01:16:13.520 with AAW. And if it's her dream to work for WWE, 1421 01:16:13.800 --> 01:16:16.720 and look, she'd knows she's gonna get paid either way, 1422 01:16:17.680 --> 01:16:19.640 then it may not matter what Tony Kan offers her. 1423 01:16:19.640 --> 01:16:21.920 If her heart is set on going there, then that's 1424 01:16:21.920 --> 01:16:25.399 where she's going to go. It doesn't mean that Tony shouldn't, 1425 01:16:25.479 --> 01:16:27.039 you know, she just lay down and let her go 1426 01:16:27.159 --> 01:16:29.159 without making an offer and give her a nice pay 1427 01:16:29.239 --> 01:16:31.880 raise or something. But you know, money is not the 1428 01:16:31.960 --> 01:16:35.359 end all be all for some people. Look at Jade Cargill, 1429 01:16:36.439 --> 01:16:39.119 Tony wanted to keep her. They were negotiating, and she 1430 01:16:39.199 --> 01:16:41.760 wanted a bigger offer. So what did he do. He 1431 01:16:41.960 --> 01:16:44.720 increased his offer. He actually came up to a number 1432 01:16:44.760 --> 01:16:48.119 that was higher than what she originally asked for, and 1433 01:16:48.199 --> 01:16:52.920 she still left and went to WWE. There's only so 1434 01:16:53.039 --> 01:16:54.800 much you can do. I'm sure Tony is going to 1435 01:16:54.840 --> 01:16:57.600 make her a great offer to keep her if he 1436 01:16:57.640 --> 01:17:01.880 hasn't already. But if she wants to, then she's going 1437 01:17:01.960 --> 01:17:04.880 to leave now. There's also the possibility that she's really, 1438 01:17:04.920 --> 01:17:07.880 really smart and she's using this to leverage a better 1439 01:17:07.920 --> 01:17:13.279 deal and she ends up staying in aw That's also possible. Yeah, 1440 01:17:13.319 --> 01:17:15.399 she's only twenty six years old. It's not like she 1441 01:17:15.800 --> 01:17:18.319 isn't going to end up in WWE at some point. 1442 01:17:18.439 --> 01:17:21.199 It doesn't have to be right now. But the fact 1443 01:17:21.199 --> 01:17:23.199 that she hasn't been featured on TV at all in 1444 01:17:23.279 --> 01:17:26.000 six weeks. Since she wasn't included in the owen Hart Tournament, 1445 01:17:26.039 --> 01:17:28.880 which she won last year, that should have been a 1446 01:17:28.920 --> 01:17:31.920 sign that something was going on. You know, Tony has 1447 01:17:31.920 --> 01:17:35.079 demonstrated that when someone wants out or he thinks they 1448 01:17:35.079 --> 01:17:37.680 want to go to WWE, he will not hesitate to 1449 01:17:37.720 --> 01:17:40.840 pull them off television and bench them until their contract 1450 01:17:40.920 --> 01:17:43.159 is up. He did it with Ricky Starks, he did 1451 01:17:43.199 --> 01:17:46.520 it with Penta, he did it with Ray Phoenix, and 1452 01:17:46.560 --> 01:17:50.359 they all ended up in WWE. If he loses her, 1453 01:17:50.720 --> 01:17:53.279 that is a big loss for that AW women's division 1454 01:17:53.359 --> 01:17:57.079 because Mariah is I think she's fantastic. She's not afraid 1455 01:17:57.119 --> 01:17:58.880 to get down and dirty in the ring. I mean 1456 01:17:58.880 --> 01:18:01.279 this woman taped her fits then dipped it in glass 1457 01:18:01.960 --> 01:18:04.520 in her last match. Okay, she can do that stuff. 1458 01:18:05.000 --> 01:18:07.119 She's not afraid to get hardcore. But she's also just 1459 01:18:07.159 --> 01:18:11.560 a really good wrestler. She's got incredible sex appeal, she's 1460 01:18:11.600 --> 01:18:15.239 got incredible charisma, she's a great heel. I mean, this 1461 01:18:15.279 --> 01:18:17.920 woman slapped her own mother across the face at Wembley 1462 01:18:18.000 --> 01:18:20.560 last year. She's part of one of the best storylines 1463 01:18:20.560 --> 01:18:24.119 in AW history with Tony Storm. They played that out 1464 01:18:24.159 --> 01:18:28.359 for months before that savage attack on Tony one of 1465 01:18:28.399 --> 01:18:32.479 the best dynamite endings you'll ever see. If I'm surprised 1466 01:18:32.520 --> 01:18:36.439 about anything, it's that her friend Mina Mina Shirakawa, she 1467 01:18:36.640 --> 01:18:39.119 just announced that she's leaving New Japan or New Japan. 1468 01:18:39.319 --> 01:18:43.560 She's leaving Japan to sign with AW, and now Mariah 1469 01:18:43.600 --> 01:18:46.079 may be leaving, so they'll be like two ships passing 1470 01:18:46.079 --> 01:18:49.119 in the night. But if Mariah does go to WWE, 1471 01:18:49.159 --> 01:18:52.079 she'll do very well and it'll be a blow to AW. 1472 01:18:52.239 --> 01:18:53.560 But it's not as if they don't have a lot 1473 01:18:53.560 --> 01:18:57.079 of other talent in that division, with Tony Storm and 1474 01:18:57.159 --> 01:19:01.720 Mercedes and Athena and Chris Statlander and Jamie Hayter and 1475 01:19:01.760 --> 01:19:06.880 Willow Nightingale, Megan Bain, Billy Starks. She's a star on 1476 01:19:06.920 --> 01:19:11.119 the rise, Harley Cameron. I'd say Deanna Pirazzo, but they 1477 01:19:11.119 --> 01:19:15.319 barely use her, So I mean they're gonna be fine. Yeah, 1478 01:19:15.359 --> 01:19:17.319 But Mariah is the kind of talent that you could 1479 01:19:17.359 --> 01:19:20.159 build around in that division. There is something to be 1480 01:19:20.199 --> 01:19:22.319 said for too much too soon, you know. Less than 1481 01:19:22.319 --> 01:19:24.760 a year after she debuted, she won the world title, 1482 01:19:25.720 --> 01:19:29.359 not even the TBS title, the world title, and she 1483 01:19:29.399 --> 01:19:31.479 had the great story with Tony. After that, it's like 1484 01:19:32.159 --> 01:19:34.960 where is there to go? Really, everything else just feels 1485 01:19:35.039 --> 01:19:38.680 like a lateral move. Megan Bain is another example, only 1486 01:19:38.760 --> 01:19:41.119 you know Meghan Baine didn't win the title, but she 1487 01:19:41.199 --> 01:19:43.840 got a shot at Tony pretty damn quick. So if 1488 01:19:43.840 --> 01:19:46.800 there's a story that makes sense, then I say do it. 1489 01:19:46.840 --> 01:19:49.239 But I do think it will give Tony Khan pause 1490 01:19:49.319 --> 01:19:51.560 the next time somebody comes in how quickly they get 1491 01:19:51.600 --> 01:19:53.840 pushed to the top, for fear that if you give 1492 01:19:53.840 --> 01:19:56.840 them everything, they may feel like they have nothing left 1493 01:19:56.840 --> 01:20:01.920 to really achieve. A this week announced its first ever 1494 01:20:01.960 --> 01:20:06.039 show in Mexico, So then, of course WWE goes and 1495 01:20:06.039 --> 01:20:10.199 buys a Mexican promotion. You can't make this shit up. 1496 01:20:10.560 --> 01:20:13.399 You just can't make this shit up. But they announced 1497 01:20:13.439 --> 01:20:15.880 their first show in Mexico, and where it is taking 1498 01:20:15.920 --> 01:20:17.880 places I think is actually very cool. They're going to 1499 01:20:17.920 --> 01:20:21.560 be running a live episode of Dynamite from Arena Mexico, 1500 01:20:21.640 --> 01:20:24.399 which is owned by CMLL and is one of the 1501 01:20:24.399 --> 01:20:28.479 more legendary wrestling venues in the world. No US promotion 1502 01:20:28.640 --> 01:20:31.840 has ever run a show like this at Arena Mexico before. 1503 01:20:32.920 --> 01:20:35.760 CMLL has rented the building out to other promotions in 1504 01:20:35.800 --> 01:20:38.439 the past, but for a US company, this is a first. 1505 01:20:39.039 --> 01:20:44.039 It'll be AW Grand Slam Mexico on Wednesday, June eighteenth. 1506 01:20:44.079 --> 01:20:47.680 Tickets go on sale April twenty sixth. They're not running 1507 01:20:47.680 --> 01:20:49.640 any pay per views in June. It was the same 1508 01:20:49.680 --> 01:20:52.920 thing in February. They ran Grand Slam Australia instead, and 1509 01:20:52.960 --> 01:20:55.920 so this time it's Grand Slam Mexico. And I am 1510 01:20:55.960 --> 01:20:59.119 sure it will include talent from CMLL because on the 1511 01:20:59.119 --> 01:21:03.880 poster they show me Mystico and Masacadrata. They also show 1512 01:21:03.960 --> 01:21:09.359 Hologram Commander, Kenny Omega and will Osprey. They also confirmed 1513 01:21:09.359 --> 01:21:11.800 the location for this year's Forbidden Door pay per view 1514 01:21:11.800 --> 01:21:14.279 on Sunday, August twenty fourth. We already had the date, 1515 01:21:15.199 --> 01:21:17.600 so we knew the show was taking place on the 1516 01:21:17.680 --> 01:21:20.840 twenty fourth in London, we just didn't know where it 1517 01:21:20.880 --> 01:21:24.119 will be. Emanating from the Two Arena featuring talent from 1518 01:21:24.199 --> 01:21:28.880 AW New Japan and CMLL and the O two was expected, 1519 01:21:28.880 --> 01:21:31.880 but apparently because WWE already had a contract with the 1520 01:21:31.920 --> 01:21:34.680 arena for shows last month that was during its European tour. 1521 01:21:35.399 --> 01:21:38.479 In the contract, it stipulated that no other wrestling promotion 1522 01:21:38.560 --> 01:21:41.039 could announce a date in the building for two weeks 1523 01:21:41.079 --> 01:21:44.600 after their last show, so AW wasn't allowed to make 1524 01:21:44.640 --> 01:21:48.760 any announcement until this week. But with that we also 1525 01:21:48.800 --> 01:21:52.479 got some terrible what I think is terrible news. AW 1526 01:21:52.560 --> 01:21:56.000 is running back to back weeks with a four hour 1527 01:21:56.159 --> 01:22:01.800 block of programming Kill me now. Actually, they already announced 1528 01:22:01.840 --> 01:22:04.039 the first four hour block two weeks ago, but I 1529 01:22:04.079 --> 01:22:07.319 missed it. But when they announced the second one this week, 1530 01:22:07.960 --> 01:22:10.439 I noticed that there was another one schedule for the 1531 01:22:10.439 --> 01:22:14.079 week before. So on Wednesday, June fourth, they're going to 1532 01:22:14.119 --> 01:22:19.359 be airing four straight hours I assume on TBS, basically 1533 01:22:19.439 --> 01:22:23.119 with Dynamite and Collision back to back from Denver, Colorado. 1534 01:22:23.920 --> 01:22:26.359 That will be their fighter Fest special, which would be 1535 01:22:26.399 --> 01:22:29.439 the first one they've done in two years. Again, they 1536 01:22:29.479 --> 01:22:32.279 have no pay per view in June, so we're getting 1537 01:22:32.319 --> 01:22:35.399 fighter Fest and then we have Grand Slam Mexico two 1538 01:22:35.399 --> 01:22:40.680 weeks later. But in between those two, on Wednesday, June eleventh, 1539 01:22:41.359 --> 01:22:45.000 is another four hour block of television just announced. They're 1540 01:22:45.039 --> 01:22:51.520 calling it Summer Blockbuster from Portland, Oregon, so another back 1541 01:22:51.560 --> 01:22:56.319 to back Dynamite and Collision in the same night. The 1542 01:22:56.399 --> 01:22:58.359 reason for this is that Collision is not going to 1543 01:22:58.359 --> 01:23:01.800 be airing on a Saturday from May twenty fourth to 1544 01:23:02.159 --> 01:23:04.199 June twenty first. I assume it has to do with 1545 01:23:04.239 --> 01:23:08.319 sports programming airing on TNT. They've got the NBA and 1546 01:23:08.359 --> 01:23:13.000 the NHL Playoffs coming up. Whatever the reason, they're experimenting, 1547 01:23:13.640 --> 01:23:17.079 and I don't like this experiment. I don't like this 1548 01:23:17.119 --> 01:23:21.000 one bit. You know what I did like, though, I 1549 01:23:21.039 --> 01:23:24.640 actually really liked Dynamite. On Wednesday night, they had their 1550 01:23:24.720 --> 01:23:28.159 Dynamite Spring Breakthrough show, which was one of the best 1551 01:23:28.159 --> 01:23:31.439 episodes of aw television that they have ever produced. It 1552 01:23:31.560 --> 01:23:33.760 wasn't just the best Dynamite of the year, it is 1553 01:23:33.800 --> 01:23:35.640 one of the best episodes of Dynamite that they have 1554 01:23:35.720 --> 01:23:38.960 ever done. And it emanated from the MGM Music Hall 1555 01:23:39.079 --> 01:23:42.000 at Fenway in Boston, which was a very cool, very 1556 01:23:42.000 --> 01:23:45.520 intimate venue. We have new Trios champions, the Death Riders 1557 01:23:45.560 --> 01:23:49.279 have been dethroned and in the place of Hook, who 1558 01:23:49.319 --> 01:23:52.199 was not medically cleared. And the last we saw Hook, 1559 01:23:52.239 --> 01:23:54.720 he was in the main event the week before vomiting 1560 01:23:54.760 --> 01:23:57.359 in the middle of the ring. So whether it was 1561 01:23:57.359 --> 01:24:02.039 a concussion or something else, he was not medically cleared 1562 01:24:02.079 --> 01:24:04.880 for a reason, and so in his place, teaming with 1563 01:24:04.920 --> 01:24:08.640 Samoa Joe and Katiori Shabata was Powerhouse Hobbs, who is 1564 01:24:08.680 --> 01:24:12.039 now I guess he's the newest member of the Ops 1565 01:24:12.600 --> 01:24:15.560 because he is now one third of the Trioch champions. 1566 01:24:15.640 --> 01:24:18.520 And they did this finish in a way. It was 1567 01:24:18.840 --> 01:24:21.439 very much and I said this in the review on Wednesday, 1568 01:24:21.479 --> 01:24:25.640 it was very much patterned after Lex Luger beating Hollywood 1569 01:24:25.640 --> 01:24:28.960 Hogan on the one hundredth episode of Nitro. This this, 1570 01:24:29.000 --> 01:24:31.720 by the way, was a milestone episode for them, just 1571 01:24:31.760 --> 01:24:35.399 like Nitro was that night. This was the two hundred 1572 01:24:35.399 --> 01:24:39.479 and eighty ninth episode of Dynamite, which officially surpassed WCW 1573 01:24:39.520 --> 01:24:43.560 Monday Nitro's two hundred and eighty eight episodes. But on 1574 01:24:43.600 --> 01:24:46.319 that one hundredth episode of Nitro back in ninety seven, 1575 01:24:47.479 --> 01:24:51.359 Luger submitted Hogan with the torture rack and won the championship. 1576 01:24:51.359 --> 01:24:53.199 It's one of the all time great moments on Nitro. 1577 01:24:53.279 --> 01:24:55.560 And I mean the place just erupted. I think they 1578 01:24:55.560 --> 01:24:59.760 were in Detroit. The Roster came out to celebrate with him, 1579 01:25:00.439 --> 01:25:04.439 and finally someone had gotten one over on the nWo, 1580 01:25:04.680 --> 01:25:06.760 even though we all knew the direction was still Hogan 1581 01:25:06.800 --> 01:25:10.319 against Sting, So a lot of people probably weren't expecting 1582 01:25:10.359 --> 01:25:11.960 there to be a title change on that show, but 1583 01:25:12.000 --> 01:25:15.319 it was just this great celebratory moment, right and like 1584 01:25:15.399 --> 01:25:17.760 here we know the ultimate direction here is not Samoa, 1585 01:25:17.840 --> 01:25:21.720 Joe and John Moxley in Texas at all. In but 1586 01:25:21.880 --> 01:25:24.439 you could absolutely do that match a double or nothing. 1587 01:25:25.199 --> 01:25:27.159 You could do that match on TV between now and 1588 01:25:27.199 --> 01:25:30.760 then with Joe as sort of a lame duck challenger. 1589 01:25:31.479 --> 01:25:33.079 That's what it felt like to me. When the show 1590 01:25:33.119 --> 01:25:35.079 was over, and then on Collision the next night they 1591 01:25:35.119 --> 01:25:38.159 had a live Thursday Collision in the same venue, Moxley 1592 01:25:38.279 --> 01:25:41.760 challenged Joe to a match. The champion issued the challenge 1593 01:25:41.880 --> 01:25:45.119 to the challenger, which at least here makes sense since 1594 01:25:45.159 --> 01:25:47.760 Moxley is pissed off and embarrassed that he got Not 1595 01:25:47.800 --> 01:25:51.039 only did he get beaten by this man, he got submitted. 1596 01:25:52.000 --> 01:25:54.800 Joe put him to sleep. That's how they won the 1597 01:25:54.800 --> 01:25:57.840 trios titles. So now he wants to get Joe back 1598 01:25:57.880 --> 01:25:59.600 in the ring, and he said he would even put 1599 01:25:59.640 --> 01:26:01.399 the a to be a world title on the line. 1600 01:26:02.600 --> 01:26:04.960 So when this match happens, it will only be the 1601 01:26:05.000 --> 01:26:07.000 second match these two have ever had. The only other 1602 01:26:07.000 --> 01:26:09.560 match they had was on Raw back in twenty seventeen, 1603 01:26:09.600 --> 01:26:13.359 and that was a match that Joe won. There's so 1604 01:26:13.479 --> 01:26:15.960 much time though, between now and double or nothing. I 1605 01:26:16.279 --> 01:26:19.960 could see this being a television match and then Moxley 1606 01:26:20.039 --> 01:26:22.000 ends up being a part of anarchy in the arena 1607 01:26:22.279 --> 01:26:25.279 at the pay per view instead, and maybe Joe too. 1608 01:26:25.319 --> 01:26:28.119 Maybe Joe will be on the baby Face team. But 1609 01:26:28.359 --> 01:26:31.079 they're definitely having a championship match. We just don't have 1610 01:26:31.079 --> 01:26:33.279 a date on that yet. But the way they structured 1611 01:26:33.319 --> 01:26:35.439 that main event and everything, it was very well done. 1612 01:26:35.640 --> 01:26:38.399 And they had the roster just like Nitro in ninety seven. 1613 01:26:38.439 --> 01:26:40.359 They had members of the roster come out and they 1614 01:26:40.359 --> 01:26:43.239 were popping bottles and celebrating, and Joe did a promo 1615 01:26:43.279 --> 01:26:45.520 when the show went off the air, and so it 1616 01:26:45.560 --> 01:26:48.279 was this great moment for the people in the venue. 1617 01:26:48.520 --> 01:26:50.840 If they wanted to turn hook Heel right, because I'm 1618 01:26:50.840 --> 01:26:52.960 thinking about Hook now and we don't know when Hook 1619 01:26:53.000 --> 01:26:54.520 is going to be back. He could be back this week. 1620 01:26:55.399 --> 01:26:58.000 If they wanted to turn Hook Heel out of this 1621 01:26:58.960 --> 01:27:02.600 him being the one to Joe after feeling betrayed by 1622 01:27:02.640 --> 01:27:04.960 Hobbs taking his spot, that could be one way to 1623 01:27:05.000 --> 01:27:08.680 go or hook could just simply come back and now 1624 01:27:08.720 --> 01:27:10.760 they have four members of the Ops instead of three. 1625 01:27:11.880 --> 01:27:13.680 But I'm just saying if they wanted to turn him 1626 01:27:13.720 --> 01:27:15.720 heel out of this, that would be, I think, the 1627 01:27:15.760 --> 01:27:18.560 way to do it. They also had a bunch of 1628 01:27:18.600 --> 01:27:21.600 owen Hart Foundation Tournament matches and we had for the 1629 01:27:21.680 --> 01:27:25.600 very first time Mercedes Monette and Athena one on one, 1630 01:27:26.880 --> 01:27:30.199 and they had an excellent match. I did not realize 1631 01:27:30.279 --> 01:27:33.039 until later. I didn't mention it during the review because 1632 01:27:33.039 --> 01:27:35.760 I just didn't realize it that they took that finish, 1633 01:27:35.920 --> 01:27:37.960 that roll up finish that they did right out of 1634 01:27:37.960 --> 01:27:41.039 the match where owen Hart pinned the Rock to win 1635 01:27:41.119 --> 01:27:44.279 his first Intercontinental title, or at least it wasn't exact, 1636 01:27:44.279 --> 01:27:47.039 but it was a very similar finish, and I'm sure 1637 01:27:47.079 --> 01:27:50.239 that wasn't unintentional given this as the owen Hart Tournament, 1638 01:27:50.680 --> 01:27:52.279 So that was very cool. But this is one of 1639 01:27:52.319 --> 01:27:55.159 the best matches Mercedes has had yet in AW. I 1640 01:27:55.560 --> 01:27:59.000 don't know if I would rank it above her last 1641 01:27:59.000 --> 01:28:02.079 match with Chris Statlin, but it's up there as one 1642 01:28:02.079 --> 01:28:05.840 of the best matches that she's had, so even in 1643 01:28:05.920 --> 01:28:09.000 their first match where you know, they weren't given everything away. 1644 01:28:09.560 --> 01:28:11.680 They still went out there and had a great match, 1645 01:28:11.760 --> 01:28:13.640 which is why I hope they turned this into a 1646 01:28:13.680 --> 01:28:15.960 series with at least one more match, if not two 1647 01:28:15.960 --> 01:28:18.079 more matches, because I know they got even better matches 1648 01:28:18.079 --> 01:28:21.760 in them. I know there's a story there to tell. Instead, 1649 01:28:21.760 --> 01:28:24.000 when the match was over, they were teasing that Mercedes 1650 01:28:24.199 --> 01:28:26.600 would be wrestling Tony Storm. Tony Storm was up in 1651 01:28:26.640 --> 01:28:29.920 the crowd. They were looking at each other, very heavily 1652 01:28:30.000 --> 01:28:32.520 teasing that match. Because the winner of this tournament will 1653 01:28:32.600 --> 01:28:37.079 challenge Tony for the title in Texas. Tony for the 1654 01:28:37.119 --> 01:28:39.800 title in Texas. That's a lot of teas. But that's 1655 01:28:39.800 --> 01:28:42.399 what they're going to be doing at all in and 1656 01:28:43.159 --> 01:28:45.359 they may have teased it, but I'm still hopeful that's 1657 01:28:45.399 --> 01:28:47.720 not what they're going to do. I just don't think 1658 01:28:47.720 --> 01:28:50.720 that's the right move to make. I think the right 1659 01:28:50.760 --> 01:28:52.520 move to make would be to run things back with 1660 01:28:52.560 --> 01:28:56.000 Mercedes and Athena, and you could save Tony for someone else, 1661 01:28:56.439 --> 01:28:59.000 like a Jamie Hayter. I would have Jamie Hater win 1662 01:28:59.039 --> 01:29:02.319 this tournament and set that matchup for Texas, and there's 1663 01:29:02.399 --> 01:29:07.520 history there between those two. Maybe Athena gets involved in 1664 01:29:07.560 --> 01:29:10.800 the finals and cost Mercedes the Cup. I mean, it's possible. 1665 01:29:10.880 --> 01:29:14.000 I didn't really catch it right away, Mercedes grabbing her 1666 01:29:14.039 --> 01:29:16.319 tights on the roll up at the end of their match. 1667 01:29:18.079 --> 01:29:20.239 It almost looked like she was just grabbing her ass. 1668 01:29:20.279 --> 01:29:23.319 To me, I didn't necessarily look at it as oh, 1669 01:29:23.399 --> 01:29:25.680 she's got the tights, because when the match was over, 1670 01:29:25.720 --> 01:29:27.800 the announcers didn't even mention it. They didn't even really 1671 01:29:27.800 --> 01:29:29.800 focus on it, like she cheated or anything. They just 1672 01:29:29.840 --> 01:29:32.680 quickly pivoted to Tony Storm in the crowd, and they 1673 01:29:32.720 --> 01:29:35.920 really didn't say anything about it. But I mean, I 1674 01:29:35.960 --> 01:29:38.279 suppose Athena could have an issue with how that all 1675 01:29:38.319 --> 01:29:41.760 went down and could end up getting involved. We had 1676 01:29:41.800 --> 01:29:45.680 will Ospray and Knoski Takeshta on the men's side of things, 1677 01:29:45.720 --> 01:29:48.319 and they absolutely tore the house down. They found a 1678 01:29:48.319 --> 01:29:50.800 way somehow to top their match from Revolution last year, 1679 01:29:50.800 --> 01:29:53.159 which was one of the best matches all year. These 1680 01:29:53.159 --> 01:29:55.680 two went out there, they just fucking killed it. It 1681 01:29:55.760 --> 01:29:58.920 was great Osprey advance as he goes to the finals. 1682 01:29:59.159 --> 01:30:01.720 We had the debut of Josh Alexander. He was the 1683 01:30:01.760 --> 01:30:05.159 wild card against Hangman Adam Page. He lost, even though 1684 01:30:05.159 --> 01:30:07.840 it was his first match. But what I do like 1685 01:30:08.159 --> 01:30:10.960 is that he joined the don Kallis family, and I 1686 01:30:11.000 --> 01:30:12.960 just think that's gonna be a good move for him. 1687 01:30:13.520 --> 01:30:15.960 Ospray against Hangman in the finals, I think that's the 1688 01:30:15.960 --> 01:30:19.359 way it's shaping up. I could see Hangman being involved 1689 01:30:19.399 --> 01:30:22.720 in anarchy in the arena though at double or Nothing, 1690 01:30:23.760 --> 01:30:27.199 and they run back Ospray and Fletcher on that show 1691 01:30:27.239 --> 01:30:30.520 instead in the finals one more time. But what good 1692 01:30:30.560 --> 01:30:32.520 would it do for Fletcher to just go out there 1693 01:30:32.520 --> 01:30:37.119 and lose again to Ospray. Also with Ospray against Hangman, 1694 01:30:38.399 --> 01:30:40.760 you have the drama of not being sure who's winning, 1695 01:30:41.239 --> 01:30:43.920 because I could plausibly see either man challenging for the 1696 01:30:43.920 --> 01:30:47.279 title in Texas. I still think it's going to be 1697 01:30:47.319 --> 01:30:51.119 well Ospray, but you can make an argument that Hangman 1698 01:30:51.199 --> 01:30:54.119 wins and the Cowboy rolls into Texas to challenge for 1699 01:30:54.159 --> 01:30:56.039 the championship and try to be the savior of the 1700 01:30:56.159 --> 01:31:00.800 entire company. It could go either way. Spray wins though, 1701 01:31:01.319 --> 01:31:03.600 and we get Swerve and Hangman in a tag team 1702 01:31:03.640 --> 01:31:07.000 against the Young Bucks. But there's just more drama and 1703 01:31:07.119 --> 01:31:10.359 unpredictability if it's Ospray against Hangman than there is if 1704 01:31:10.359 --> 01:31:15.000 we get Ospray against Fletcher again and the Hurt Syndicate. 1705 01:31:15.039 --> 01:31:16.840 They had a tag team title defense on the show 1706 01:31:16.840 --> 01:31:19.520 against the Gates of Agony. We had a segment with 1707 01:31:19.560 --> 01:31:23.840 them in MJF who continues to court them and is 1708 01:31:23.880 --> 01:31:27.079 trying to become a member of the Hurt Syndicate. Is 1709 01:31:27.119 --> 01:31:32.680 this leading to a Pinnacle reunion or actually somebody suggested 1710 01:31:32.720 --> 01:31:37.039 a Dynasty reunion from the MLW days with Richard Holiday 1711 01:31:37.079 --> 01:31:41.640 and Alexander Hammerstone. The thing is Hammerstone recently returned to MLW, 1712 01:31:41.880 --> 01:31:45.319 so I'm not sure how likely that is. His contract 1713 01:31:45.319 --> 01:31:47.479 with TNA ended a couple of months ago, he went 1714 01:31:47.560 --> 01:31:49.600 right back to MLW. I mean, I guess that doesn't 1715 01:31:49.640 --> 01:31:52.319 mean he's signed there. He could be on a per 1716 01:31:52.359 --> 01:31:55.800 appearance deal. But ultimately, I don't know where this is going. 1717 01:31:55.840 --> 01:31:57.680 It feels to me like MJF is going to end 1718 01:31:57.760 --> 01:32:00.359 up with his own group to go up against the 1719 01:32:00.399 --> 01:32:04.239 Hurt Syndicate. It's been an interesting story. I don't know 1720 01:32:04.279 --> 01:32:08.000 where it's going, but I like the element that Bobby 1721 01:32:08.079 --> 01:32:11.359 Lashley just doesn't trust this guy at all, and it's 1722 01:32:11.600 --> 01:32:15.119 MVPUS trying to talk him into it. Like, look, look, 1723 01:32:15.159 --> 01:32:18.920 I agree with you, but if there's anything amiss, then 1724 01:32:18.960 --> 01:32:21.920 we'll put a beating on him. And so Lashley now 1725 01:32:21.960 --> 01:32:24.239 is starting to warm up to it. But that's what happens, right, 1726 01:32:24.279 --> 01:32:26.600 He starts to warm up to it, and that's when 1727 01:32:26.640 --> 01:32:29.479 he gets fucked over, and then we end up with 1728 01:32:29.520 --> 01:32:31.399 whatever the feud is going to be. But from from 1729 01:32:31.439 --> 01:32:34.520 top to bottom again, this was an excellent episode of Dynamite. 1730 01:32:34.640 --> 01:32:37.600 It was better than any of the WWETV shows this week. 1731 01:32:38.000 --> 01:32:41.800 Dynamite was a clear and easy number one. And if 1732 01:32:41.800 --> 01:32:43.760 we get more Dynamites like that, if we can get 1733 01:32:44.000 --> 01:32:47.079 shows like that on a more consistent basis, and if 1734 01:32:47.079 --> 01:32:48.920 they're fortunate enough to end up in front of a 1735 01:32:48.960 --> 01:32:51.439 crowd like the one we had on Wednesday, you know, 1736 01:32:51.479 --> 01:32:55.079 people talk about restoring the feeling with Dynamite, that would 1737 01:32:55.119 --> 01:32:58.119 go a long way towards restoring that feeling. I mean, 1738 01:32:58.119 --> 01:33:01.239 not every week can be a Grand Slam Home, but 1739 01:33:01.319 --> 01:33:03.039 I would like to see more shows like that because 1740 01:33:03.079 --> 01:33:07.159 that show is fucking great. All right, So again, tonight 1741 01:33:07.279 --> 01:33:10.279 is WrestleMania Night too, and I'm gonna be live on 1742 01:33:10.359 --> 01:33:13.960 YouTube with the full recapt talking about the entire show 1743 01:33:13.960 --> 01:33:16.520 and all the happenings and what goes down in the 1744 01:33:16.560 --> 01:33:18.319 main event. I hope you'll be able to join me. 1745 01:33:18.640 --> 01:33:20.640 We had a late night last night, but it was 1746 01:33:20.680 --> 01:33:22.720 a fun night again. We had upwards of forty three 1747 01:33:22.800 --> 01:33:26.039 hundred people at the peak. Hopefully we can top that tonight. 1748 01:33:26.600 --> 01:33:29.079 I will be back with you live tomorrow night as 1749 01:33:29.079 --> 01:33:32.359 well for the Raw post show, the Big Raw after WrestleMania, 1750 01:33:32.640 --> 01:33:35.600 and for Dynamite on Wednesday. There will be no SmackDown 1751 01:33:35.640 --> 01:33:38.800 review this Friday. More importantly, there will be no podcast 1752 01:33:39.000 --> 01:33:43.000 next Sunday, so expect to get a new podcast episode 1753 01:33:43.079 --> 01:33:46.159 nine to eleven in two weeks because I will be 1754 01:33:46.199 --> 01:33:50.079 away in Chicago next weekend. If anything changes on that front, 1755 01:33:50.159 --> 01:33:52.279 I will be sure to let you guys know on 1756 01:33:52.560 --> 01:33:55.039 X what I'm gonna do right now is I'm going 1757 01:33:55.079 --> 01:33:59.840 to include my WrestleMania nine documentary review, which went up 1758 01:33:59.880 --> 01:34:03.439 on YouTube several days ago, but I wanted to include 1759 01:34:03.439 --> 01:34:05.000 it here as well. I know a lot of people 1760 01:34:05.399 --> 01:34:07.920 wanted to know my thoughts on the documentary. They enjoyed 1761 01:34:07.920 --> 01:34:11.079 the documentary. I did two but I did have a 1762 01:34:11.119 --> 01:34:12.880 lot to say about it, and so right now We're 1763 01:34:12.880 --> 01:34:16.520 gonna end this week's show with my full review. The 1764 01:34:16.560 --> 01:34:19.960 making of WrestleMania nine and I will see you live 1765 01:34:20.000 --> 01:34:24.119 tonight on YouTube for Night two of the WrestleMania Review. 1766 01:34:26.199 --> 01:34:28.920 When I heard that WWE was releasing a documentary on 1767 01:34:28.960 --> 01:34:32.800 WrestleMania nine, I geeked out because this is the kind 1768 01:34:32.800 --> 01:34:35.560 of stuff that speaks to me. This is the kind 1769 01:34:35.600 --> 01:34:37.960 of thing I wanted out of the WWE network when 1770 01:34:37.960 --> 01:34:41.439 it launched. A lot of people call WrestleMania nine the 1771 01:34:41.520 --> 01:34:44.640 worst or one of the worst of all time. Eleven 1772 01:34:44.720 --> 01:34:48.479 is the worst, twenty seven was bad, twenty nine was 1773 01:34:48.560 --> 01:34:52.880 abysmal outside of the Undertaker see on punk match nine 1774 01:34:53.079 --> 01:34:55.399 is among the worst, for sure, but I can't call 1775 01:34:55.439 --> 01:34:57.840 it the worst. It's got a certain charm to it, 1776 01:34:57.880 --> 01:35:01.000 even though most of the match is sucked. It didn't 1777 01:35:01.039 --> 01:35:03.880 feel like a WrestleMania, but it's got its own unique 1778 01:35:03.920 --> 01:35:06.880 identity that no other WrestleMania has outside of I guess 1779 01:35:06.960 --> 01:35:09.359 the empty Arena one they were forced to do for 1780 01:35:09.399 --> 01:35:13.880 thirty six, Peacock dropped a nearly two hour documentary called 1781 01:35:13.960 --> 01:35:18.279 WrestleMania nine Becoming a Spectacle, and I really enjoyed it 1782 01:35:18.640 --> 01:35:21.079 for all of the unseen footage, mostly, you know, more 1783 01:35:21.119 --> 01:35:23.039 than anything else. We even got a shot of a 1784 01:35:23.039 --> 01:35:26.560 young Nick Kahn, who now runs the entire company. He 1785 01:35:26.680 --> 01:35:29.119 was working for Caesars as an usher for the show, 1786 01:35:29.479 --> 01:35:31.199 and I know he's talked about it before, but I've 1787 01:35:31.239 --> 01:35:34.119 never actually seen a freeze frame of him working the show. 1788 01:35:34.159 --> 01:35:37.399 But there he was. They had a camera following people 1789 01:35:37.399 --> 01:35:39.920 around in the days leading up to the show as 1790 01:35:39.960 --> 01:35:43.159 they constructed a small arena. Really is what they did 1791 01:35:43.199 --> 01:35:47.520 in the parking lot of Caesar's Palace. That's where they 1792 01:35:47.520 --> 01:35:52.039 did WrestleMania nine in the parking lot. And these thirty 1793 01:35:52.079 --> 01:35:56.279 tapes have been sitting in their vault since nineteen ninety three, 1794 01:35:56.880 --> 01:35:59.199 a vault that has over five hundred and seventy five 1795 01:35:59.319 --> 01:36:02.760 thousand hours of footage. Like, my god, the fun I 1796 01:36:02.760 --> 01:36:05.079 could have spending a week in that vault just going 1797 01:36:05.119 --> 01:36:08.560 through just random tapes. But the real stars of the 1798 01:36:08.600 --> 01:36:10.600 show aren't even the talent so much. It's all of 1799 01:36:10.600 --> 01:36:13.520 the crew and the production members responsible for putting on 1800 01:36:13.560 --> 01:36:16.520 the show. These are sort of the unsung heroes of 1801 01:36:16.680 --> 01:36:20.199 WWE who don't get the credit. Like literally, they didn't 1802 01:36:20.239 --> 01:36:22.560 even get any on screen credits back then, the way 1803 01:36:22.920 --> 01:36:25.159 Paul Levec and leaf Fitting do now. At the end 1804 01:36:25.199 --> 01:36:28.119 of every raw and smackdout episode. They're the ones who 1805 01:36:28.159 --> 01:36:30.640 made everything happen and brought that show to life, and 1806 01:36:30.640 --> 01:36:32.479 we get the chance to hear from them and see 1807 01:36:32.479 --> 01:36:35.439 them in action and in the planning stages of the show, 1808 01:36:35.479 --> 01:36:39.880 which is fascinating to watch. I also love that George 1809 01:36:39.920 --> 01:36:44.319 and Adam still work for WWE after all these years. 1810 01:36:44.319 --> 01:36:47.399 If you were watching WWE television in the I'd say 1811 01:36:47.399 --> 01:36:52.279 mid nineties, George and Adam were the two like obsessed 1812 01:36:52.560 --> 01:36:56.119 WWE super fans that they would show. Sometimes they would 1813 01:36:56.119 --> 01:36:59.760 feature them in commercials. I think they even presented at 1814 01:36:59.760 --> 01:37:03.720 the the Slammy Awards Once. They weren't paid actors, they 1815 01:37:03.760 --> 01:37:05.760 actually worked for the company. It was either on the 1816 01:37:05.760 --> 01:37:09.079 production end or their home video department. I know Adam 1817 01:37:09.119 --> 01:37:11.279 at one point was responsible for some of the promo 1818 01:37:11.359 --> 01:37:13.880 packages that we would see because Shawn Michaels thanked him 1819 01:37:13.880 --> 01:37:17.520 by name once for always making him look good. George 1820 01:37:17.560 --> 01:37:22.119 Germanacos and Adam Panucci. George is featured in this documentary 1821 01:37:22.680 --> 01:37:25.119 right from the get go. He's the one playing the tapes. 1822 01:37:25.159 --> 01:37:27.960 He's the one sitting in the archives playing the tapes 1823 01:37:28.000 --> 01:37:30.880 for us and giving us a little intro before each 1824 01:37:30.920 --> 01:37:32.920 one to let us know what we're about to see. 1825 01:37:33.039 --> 01:37:35.479 He works in the archives for WWE. He's got the 1826 01:37:35.479 --> 01:37:39.000 best job. Adam Panucci is not featured in this documentary, 1827 01:37:39.000 --> 01:37:41.359 but when I saw George, I immediately thought of Adam, 1828 01:37:42.039 --> 01:37:45.319 who is currently their head of global production. You know, 1829 01:37:46.000 --> 01:37:49.239 ninety three is an interesting time. Business was in the 1830 01:37:49.279 --> 01:37:54.119 shitter really for both companies that year, WWEN, WCW It 1831 01:37:54.199 --> 01:37:57.119 was really ninety two and ninety three. But there was 1832 01:37:57.159 --> 01:37:59.239 a lot of good stuff from those years. You know, 1833 01:37:59.239 --> 01:38:03.199 even in WCD, Vader as the champion. His matches would Sting. 1834 01:38:03.600 --> 01:38:06.000 They had that great War Games match of Wrestle War 1835 01:38:06.039 --> 01:38:09.319 with Sting Squadron against the Dangerous Alliance, which I still 1836 01:38:09.359 --> 01:38:11.439 say is the greatest War Games match of all time. 1837 01:38:12.399 --> 01:38:15.319 Rick Rude, after he left WWE, had a really good 1838 01:38:15.359 --> 01:38:18.159 run there, and then you look at WWE. You know, 1839 01:38:18.319 --> 01:38:22.119 ninety two is Rick Flair's first full year, really his 1840 01:38:22.199 --> 01:38:25.279 only full year. During that initial run, we got the 1841 01:38:25.279 --> 01:38:29.279 greatest Royal Rumble of all time. I really liked WrestleMania eight. 1842 01:38:29.520 --> 01:38:32.760 It's one of my favorite manias. He had SummerSlam at 1843 01:38:32.800 --> 01:38:36.600 Wembley Stadium, eighty thousand fans. They couldn't do that kind 1844 01:38:36.640 --> 01:38:38.680 of business in the States, but they were still very 1845 01:38:38.680 --> 01:38:42.920 popular overseas. You know, the buildings were not full during 1846 01:38:42.960 --> 01:38:45.760 that period. It was the land of a thousand gimmicks. 1847 01:38:45.760 --> 01:38:48.439 Everybody had to have a gimmick, and it felt like 1848 01:38:48.479 --> 01:38:50.960 they were in a period of transition, especially from ninety 1849 01:38:50.960 --> 01:38:53.279 two into ninety three, and a lot of that was 1850 01:38:53.279 --> 01:38:56.079 out of necessity. You know, Vince McMahon had the federal 1851 01:38:56.119 --> 01:38:59.560 government breathing down his neck. The steroid stuff. A lot 1852 01:38:59.560 --> 01:39:03.840 of those giant physiques magically started to shrink or people 1853 01:39:03.920 --> 01:39:08.319 just disappeared altogether. The era of Hulkamania was over. It 1854 01:39:08.359 --> 01:39:11.159 felt like it was over, and they were ushering in 1855 01:39:11.199 --> 01:39:14.239 a new era with guys like Bret Hart and Sean Michaels, 1856 01:39:14.279 --> 01:39:17.920 and they brought in Raised Ramone into Tanka. It just 1857 01:39:17.960 --> 01:39:21.479 felt different. And that's the thing about this documentary. It 1858 01:39:21.520 --> 01:39:25.760 feels like they're stuck between these two eras and they're 1859 01:39:25.800 --> 01:39:28.560 not quite sure yet what they want to be. Because 1860 01:39:28.600 --> 01:39:31.279 for all the new faces, by the time WrestleMania is over, 1861 01:39:32.119 --> 01:39:35.000 they're back to the oldest face of all and it 1862 01:39:35.000 --> 01:39:37.279 feels like they're taking a step backwards. When they were 1863 01:39:37.279 --> 01:39:40.840 trying to move forward, But there are times watching this 1864 01:39:41.000 --> 01:39:44.600 where they go way over the top talking about the 1865 01:39:44.640 --> 01:39:48.840 significance of WrestleMania nine. You know how without WrestleMania nine, 1866 01:39:49.720 --> 01:39:53.159 Mania as it is today doesn't exist, which is completely laughable. 1867 01:39:53.840 --> 01:39:58.640 If WrestleMania and nine never happened, WrestleMania exists today exactly 1868 01:39:58.640 --> 01:40:00.439 the way that it does, with all the bells and 1869 01:40:00.479 --> 01:40:05.319 whistles and pageantry and everything that comes with it. What 1870 01:40:05.359 --> 01:40:08.039 it was was the first WrestleMania they did that had 1871 01:40:08.079 --> 01:40:11.319 a specific theme. You know. They billed it as the 1872 01:40:11.359 --> 01:40:15.239 world's largest toga party. So they created this venue and 1873 01:40:15.279 --> 01:40:17.239 they kind of did it up like something out of 1874 01:40:17.279 --> 01:40:21.640 ancient Roman times. They had Caesar and Cleopatra. They had elephants, 1875 01:40:21.680 --> 01:40:24.680 and they had vultures and all kinds of animals. It 1876 01:40:24.720 --> 01:40:29.319 was the first WrestleMania with a custom set. That is true. 1877 01:40:30.319 --> 01:40:32.600 A lot of the WrestleManias that came before it had 1878 01:40:32.760 --> 01:40:35.520 much bigger crowds because they hosted it in much larger 1879 01:40:35.600 --> 01:40:40.119 venues in WrestleMania three, WrestleMania six, WrestleMania eight, even the 1880 01:40:40.199 --> 01:40:43.000 year before. But for the most part, they all looked 1881 01:40:43.000 --> 01:40:45.720 the same. I mean, the ones from Trump Plaza. They 1882 01:40:45.760 --> 01:40:47.520 had a different look to them because that was a 1883 01:40:47.640 --> 01:40:51.359 very unique venue, But a lot of the other WrestleMania 1884 01:40:51.399 --> 01:40:54.520 is they all just looked the same. WrestleMania eight the 1885 01:40:54.600 --> 01:40:58.239 year before, had sixty thousand people in the Hoosier Dome, 1886 01:40:58.760 --> 01:41:00.840 even though it was it was he papered. I mean, 1887 01:41:01.640 --> 01:41:03.680 a lot of those sixty thousand didn't pay to get in, 1888 01:41:04.720 --> 01:41:06.720 a lot of freebies given out. But as for the 1889 01:41:06.720 --> 01:41:09.279 look in the feel of the show, it was very bland. 1890 01:41:10.119 --> 01:41:13.800 You know, this was something unique that they created from scratch, 1891 01:41:13.840 --> 01:41:15.199 and you could tell they had a lot of fun 1892 01:41:15.239 --> 01:41:19.439 making it. Vince McMahon has featured a good amount not 1893 01:41:19.600 --> 01:41:23.479 new footage obviously, but just you can't avoid it, you know, 1894 01:41:23.720 --> 01:41:25.960 you can't really do a documentary like this and show 1895 01:41:26.000 --> 01:41:28.840 all this old footage without using the footage with him 1896 01:41:28.880 --> 01:41:32.119 in it. He was obviously intimately involved in the planning 1897 01:41:32.159 --> 01:41:35.079 of the show, but I do wonder if not having 1898 01:41:35.119 --> 01:41:39.039 access to him today played a part in how little 1899 01:41:39.079 --> 01:41:41.119 time they spent on What I was looking forward to 1900 01:41:41.159 --> 01:41:42.680 the most and what I thought would be the most 1901 01:41:42.720 --> 01:41:46.239 interesting part of the entire documentary, which was the decision 1902 01:41:46.279 --> 01:41:48.720 to go with Hulk Hogan at the very end, getting 1903 01:41:48.720 --> 01:41:52.600 the surprise win over Yoko Zuna and transitioning the title 1904 01:41:52.600 --> 01:41:56.880 over from Brett Hart to Yoko to Hulk. They covered it, 1905 01:41:57.039 --> 01:41:58.800 they didn't avoid it. I mean they covered it, but 1906 01:41:58.840 --> 01:42:03.600 they avoided any real discussion about what went into the decision. 1907 01:42:03.760 --> 01:42:06.840 You know, ultimately it was Vince McMahon's decision. You know, 1908 01:42:06.920 --> 01:42:09.399 Brett has said certain promises were made to him and 1909 01:42:09.439 --> 01:42:13.560 he was backstabbed. You know, that's his story. Hogan has 1910 01:42:13.560 --> 01:42:16.600 his version of events, which it's Hogan. So right off 1911 01:42:16.680 --> 01:42:19.000 the bat, I've been conditioned to not believe anything the 1912 01:42:19.000 --> 01:42:23.079 man says. Because they didn't have Vince sit down for this, 1913 01:42:23.159 --> 01:42:26.000 we couldn't get his perspective on what went into the decision. 1914 01:42:26.079 --> 01:42:27.920 Like of all the people, all the talking heads in 1915 01:42:27.960 --> 01:42:31.720 this documentary, you've got Bruce Pritchard, and you've got Basil DeVito, 1916 01:42:31.800 --> 01:42:33.920 and you've got all these people, these these current and 1917 01:42:33.920 --> 01:42:38.119 former WWE executives and people directly involved in the planning 1918 01:42:38.159 --> 01:42:40.840 of this show. And it was great that they were 1919 01:42:40.880 --> 01:42:43.960 able to get their perspective. But the number one guy, 1920 01:42:44.439 --> 01:42:47.119 you know, if he even remembers a lot of this stuff, 1921 01:42:47.159 --> 01:42:48.720 I mean, who the hell knows he almost eighty years 1922 01:42:48.720 --> 01:42:51.680 old now, but would have been Vince right, because this 1923 01:42:51.800 --> 01:42:55.159 was Vince's show, and so he would have known why 1924 01:42:55.199 --> 01:42:59.039 we did this and why we did that. Obviously, they 1925 01:42:59.039 --> 01:43:00.600 were never going to get him sit down for an 1926 01:43:00.640 --> 01:43:03.479 interview for this for obvious reasons. But we were missing 1927 01:43:03.560 --> 01:43:06.520 that perspective, you know, as far as what went into 1928 01:43:06.560 --> 01:43:09.520 that decision. How far back was the decision actually made. 1929 01:43:10.199 --> 01:43:13.079 Was there ever really a plan in place to do 1930 01:43:13.159 --> 01:43:16.199 Brett Hard against Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam in ninety three, 1931 01:43:16.239 --> 01:43:19.079 Because there's been a lot of conflicting stories on that, 1932 01:43:19.359 --> 01:43:22.520 you know, over the years. It was disappointing that they 1933 01:43:22.520 --> 01:43:25.880 didn't dive deeper into that. Instead we get kind of 1934 01:43:25.920 --> 01:43:29.039 like bits and pieces from different people to basically say 1935 01:43:29.039 --> 01:43:31.359 it came down to business, which I'm sure it did. 1936 01:43:31.399 --> 01:43:33.439 I mean, at the end of the day, that's really 1937 01:43:33.439 --> 01:43:35.600 what it comes down to. So, I mean we could 1938 01:43:35.680 --> 01:43:38.920 kind of piece it together ourselves, you know. Was it 1939 01:43:38.920 --> 01:43:41.520 simply a case of Evin's falling back on his tried 1940 01:43:41.600 --> 01:43:43.520 and true to try to give the business a jolt? 1941 01:43:44.039 --> 01:43:46.520 Was it Hogan playing politics to get the belt back 1942 01:43:46.600 --> 01:43:49.640 or else he wouldn't work the show? You have undertaker 1943 01:43:49.640 --> 01:43:51.640 in this saying there was a lot of politicking going 1944 01:43:51.640 --> 01:43:53.479 on behind the scenes, but we don't get any further 1945 01:43:53.520 --> 01:43:56.199 discussion about it. You know, is that something he was 1946 01:43:56.239 --> 01:43:58.399 aware of or is that something he heard like, we 1947 01:43:58.439 --> 01:44:02.199 don't know. The other thing focus a lot on is 1948 01:44:02.359 --> 01:44:05.520 Hogan's black eye that he showed up sporting the day 1949 01:44:05.560 --> 01:44:09.640 of the show, and how he got that black eye. Now, 1950 01:44:09.800 --> 01:44:13.279 Hogan claims it was a jet ski accident, the urban 1951 01:44:13.359 --> 01:44:15.479 legend has always been that he got punched in the 1952 01:44:15.479 --> 01:44:19.600 face by the macho Man, Randy Savage. Savage and Hogan 1953 01:44:19.640 --> 01:44:22.760 were not friendly during this time period. Savage's marriage to 1954 01:44:22.800 --> 01:44:26.399 Elizabeth had fallen apart the year before, and he blamed 1955 01:44:26.399 --> 01:44:29.479 Hogan and his wife for it. Yeah, because they would 1956 01:44:29.520 --> 01:44:31.479 invite Liz to come stay with them when she wanted 1957 01:44:31.479 --> 01:44:35.600 to get away from Randy, who was an insanely jealous husband. 1958 01:44:35.640 --> 01:44:38.159 I don't know the inner workings of their marriage, but 1959 01:44:38.319 --> 01:44:42.159 you hear enough stories and look, I love the macho man, 1960 01:44:42.279 --> 01:44:45.000 but the guy was a lunatic. You know, he would 1961 01:44:45.079 --> 01:44:46.840 lock her in the dressing room. It shows when he 1962 01:44:46.880 --> 01:44:48.359 had to go do something to make sure that she 1963 01:44:48.439 --> 01:44:51.319 couldn't leave. And none of the other wrestlers could talk 1964 01:44:51.359 --> 01:44:55.840 to her like, this isn't normal behavior. There was nothing 1965 01:44:55.920 --> 01:45:00.479 normal about Randy Savage. Whatever her reasons were, Liz would 1966 01:45:00.560 --> 01:45:02.720 leave and she would go spend days at a time 1967 01:45:02.800 --> 01:45:05.880 with Hulk and his wife, Linda, and wouldn't tell Randy, 1968 01:45:06.359 --> 01:45:08.640 you know, where she was going, and he wouldn't know 1969 01:45:08.640 --> 01:45:12.560 where she was. You take someone who's paranoid as it is, 1970 01:45:13.640 --> 01:45:16.479 and I'm sure it's enough to drive them even crazier. 1971 01:45:16.520 --> 01:45:18.720 You know, Hogan told the story once and it's Hogan, 1972 01:45:19.239 --> 01:45:23.039 so again, take it for what it's worth. But it 1973 01:45:23.039 --> 01:45:26.279 would have been around the time of this show, maybe 1974 01:45:26.720 --> 01:45:30.199 maybe a little before, and she went down to Miami 1975 01:45:30.279 --> 01:45:33.279 with Hulk and his wife. I don't know if they 1976 01:45:33.279 --> 01:45:36.840 were staying at a resort or where they were. Phoned 1977 01:45:36.920 --> 01:45:40.720 Randy Liz did and told him to get a lawyer 1978 01:45:40.800 --> 01:45:44.920 because she wanted a divorce, and he panicked and he 1979 01:45:44.960 --> 01:45:47.680 flew to Miami to go find her. Only, as Hogan tells, 1980 01:45:47.680 --> 01:45:50.000 at the hotel they were staying at, he had seen 1981 01:45:50.039 --> 01:45:54.760 Liz go into her room earlier with another man, a producer, 1982 01:45:54.840 --> 01:45:59.199 guy that Hogan was friends with. Savage shows up looking 1983 01:45:59.199 --> 01:46:01.439 for her, and you can his reaction when he knocks 1984 01:46:01.479 --> 01:46:05.079 on her door and the producer opens the door. Long 1985 01:46:05.119 --> 01:46:07.840 story short, you can see why Savage would have blamed 1986 01:46:07.880 --> 01:46:11.800 Hogan for manipulating his wife into thinking that she could 1987 01:46:11.800 --> 01:46:15.359 do better and that she should leave Randy. Now, is 1988 01:46:15.399 --> 01:46:19.199 it plausible that he would have punched Hogan in the eye. Sure, absolutely, 1989 01:46:19.199 --> 01:46:22.159 it's plausible. The guy was fucking crazy and he didn't 1990 01:46:22.239 --> 01:46:25.560 like Hogan. But I never really bought the story that 1991 01:46:25.600 --> 01:46:28.760 Savage did it. Like, even if you believe that Savage 1992 01:46:28.800 --> 01:46:31.439 did it, and Hogan maybe kept it a secret from 1993 01:46:31.560 --> 01:46:34.439 Vince right and concocted the jet ski story not to 1994 01:46:34.439 --> 01:46:37.920 get Randy in any trouble. You know, boys will be boys, 1995 01:46:38.079 --> 01:46:42.119 don't be a snitch, that sort of thing. There's footage, 1996 01:46:42.159 --> 01:46:44.079 and they didn't show it in the documentary. I thought 1997 01:46:44.079 --> 01:46:47.600 they would, But there is footage of when Wrestlemannie and 1998 01:46:47.680 --> 01:46:51.520 Nine went off the air that night of Savage climbing 1999 01:46:51.520 --> 01:46:53.520 into the ring because he was at ringside doing commentary, 2000 01:46:53.560 --> 01:46:56.600 and he climbs into the ring to raise Hogan's hand. 2001 01:46:57.399 --> 01:46:59.520 And this was after the show went off the air. 2002 01:46:59.560 --> 01:47:01.840 This is not something that aired on TV. This is 2003 01:47:02.000 --> 01:47:04.039 you know, Vince, I want you to go in the 2004 01:47:04.079 --> 01:47:06.000 ring and I want you to celebrate with This was 2005 01:47:06.079 --> 01:47:09.760 Randy just going into the ring and he's raising Hogan's 2006 01:47:09.840 --> 01:47:13.960 arm and he's celebrating with him. I just can't imagine 2007 01:47:13.960 --> 01:47:16.520 Savage doing that. If he was so angry with Hogan 2008 01:47:16.720 --> 01:47:18.760 that he would punch the guy in the face. I mean, 2009 01:47:18.800 --> 01:47:20.760 he wouldn't want to be within ten feet of this guy. 2010 01:47:22.079 --> 01:47:24.720 And if Vince did know what happened, he did know 2011 01:47:24.760 --> 01:47:27.479 the real story. I can't imagine Hogan not telling Vince 2012 01:47:27.520 --> 01:47:30.159 what he got to the venue. Hey, I'm not going 2013 01:47:30.199 --> 01:47:32.479 out there. If he's out there now, I want him 2014 01:47:32.479 --> 01:47:36.439 off commentary from my match. It's not like Hogan wouldn't 2015 01:47:36.439 --> 01:47:39.840 have had the stroke to make it happen. I mean. 2016 01:47:40.000 --> 01:47:42.520 In the documentary, Scott Steiner is one of the people 2017 01:47:42.760 --> 01:47:46.680 interviewed because he wrestled on the show, and Scott Steiner said, well, 2018 01:47:46.720 --> 01:47:48.560 you know, I didn't see it myself, so I can't 2019 01:47:48.560 --> 01:47:51.479 say for sure, but he claimed Randy told him that 2020 01:47:51.520 --> 01:47:54.880 he did it. He punched Hogan, he got Matt Bourne 2021 01:47:55.119 --> 01:47:59.039 Joink the Clown, has said that Randy did it, but 2022 01:47:59.119 --> 01:48:01.560 Matt Bourne also said that Doink was going to be 2023 01:48:01.640 --> 01:48:05.680 Hulk Hogan's original opponent for WrestleMania nine, so Matt Bourne 2024 01:48:05.720 --> 01:48:08.960 may not be the most reliable source on this. Somebody 2025 01:48:08.960 --> 01:48:12.840 asked Eric Bischoff the other day on Twitter about the story, though, 2026 01:48:12.840 --> 01:48:16.159 the whole jetski story, and Bischoff said that it was 2027 01:48:16.319 --> 01:48:19.520 definitely a jet ski accident because he was negotiating with 2028 01:48:19.600 --> 01:48:22.560 Hogan at the time when it happened, and that he 2029 01:48:22.640 --> 01:48:27.640 heard immediate first hand accounts from people who were involved. Now, 2030 01:48:27.720 --> 01:48:30.680 no one is more in love with Hulk Hogan than 2031 01:48:30.800 --> 01:48:34.520 Hulk Hogan himself, but a close number two would be 2032 01:48:34.680 --> 01:48:40.399 Eric Bischoff. Bischoff, on his own podcast two years ago 2033 01:48:40.520 --> 01:48:44.479 said that he first became executive producer for WCW in 2034 01:48:44.520 --> 01:48:48.279 either February or March of ninety three, okay, just before 2035 01:48:48.319 --> 01:48:51.640 WrestleMania nine. And he said, and this was two years ago. 2036 01:48:51.760 --> 01:48:54.199 He said that it wasn't until ninety four that he 2037 01:48:54.319 --> 01:48:58.359 started talking to Hulk Hogan. Now he claims he was 2038 01:48:58.439 --> 01:49:02.920 negotiating with Hogan in ninety three, right before wrestle Mania. 2039 01:49:04.119 --> 01:49:09.159 I don't believe him. I don't believe that man. That 2040 01:49:09.319 --> 01:49:13.560 timeline makes no sense. What do I think happened? I mean, 2041 01:49:13.720 --> 01:49:15.560 hell if I know. I mean, I've never been in 2042 01:49:15.600 --> 01:49:19.079 the camp of Oh Savage definitely punched him. I feel 2043 01:49:19.159 --> 01:49:21.359 like it's a myth that's taken on a life of 2044 01:49:21.399 --> 01:49:23.399 its own over the years. Hogan did claim that his 2045 01:49:23.479 --> 01:49:25.760 eye was so bad he would never be cleared by 2046 01:49:25.800 --> 01:49:28.680 the doctor to wrestle because Nevada was a commission state. 2047 01:49:29.399 --> 01:49:32.079 So he lied to the doctor that day by telling 2048 01:49:32.119 --> 01:49:34.560 him that Savage had punched him as part of a 2049 01:49:34.560 --> 01:49:37.159 storyline that they were starting, and that it was all 2050 01:49:37.239 --> 01:49:40.319 just makeup, and the doctor rolled with it and he 2051 01:49:40.399 --> 01:49:42.439 signed off on the physical, so Holpe was able to 2052 01:49:42.479 --> 01:49:45.600 wrestle that night. I wonder if it's a case where 2053 01:49:45.640 --> 01:49:47.640 he really did tell that story to the doctor and 2054 01:49:47.680 --> 01:49:50.479 maybe some other people, and over time it just became 2055 01:49:50.520 --> 01:49:55.039 accepted as you know, Savage punched him for real. You know, 2056 01:49:55.119 --> 01:49:57.800 I don't know. I don't know, and we're never gonna know. 2057 01:49:58.720 --> 01:50:02.479 None of the people involved in this, trustworthy Savage himself 2058 01:50:02.520 --> 01:50:05.479 obviously is dead. You're not gonna get Vince to talk 2059 01:50:05.479 --> 01:50:08.800 about this, right, they weren't gonna interview him, so and 2060 01:50:08.840 --> 01:50:11.000 everybody else involved here. Again, I don't trust the word 2061 01:50:11.000 --> 01:50:14.159 out of their mouth, but I would like to believe 2062 01:50:14.159 --> 01:50:16.439 that Randy Savage really did haul off and punch him 2063 01:50:16.479 --> 01:50:18.920 in the face. I like that story better than the 2064 01:50:19.000 --> 01:50:22.399 jet ski accident. Like even the way Hogan describes the 2065 01:50:22.479 --> 01:50:26.359 accident here in this documentary, it just sounds so phony, 2066 01:50:26.399 --> 01:50:29.640 like he pushed the wrong button and he got thrown 2067 01:50:29.760 --> 01:50:32.319 over the jet ski and then it came down and 2068 01:50:32.359 --> 01:50:35.079 hit him in the eye. Like he'd be fucking dead 2069 01:50:35.439 --> 01:50:39.399 if that happened. Okay, he was knocked out, he was 2070 01:50:39.439 --> 01:50:43.159 floating unconscious in the water. But when he came to, 2071 01:50:43.359 --> 01:50:47.439 he told Jimmy Hart, I'm not missing WrestleMania, brother, because 2072 01:50:47.479 --> 01:50:49.640 he's from the old school, and you make your towns, 2073 01:50:49.720 --> 01:50:54.640 you don't miss your shots. Give me a break. One 2074 01:50:54.640 --> 01:50:57.640 thing I liked that they did is when they interview 2075 01:50:57.720 --> 01:51:01.039 these people. They interviewed a lot of stars in this, 2076 01:51:01.359 --> 01:51:03.520 you know, most of whom were involved in the actual show, 2077 01:51:03.600 --> 01:51:08.479 so Hogan, Brett Hart, Undertaker, Lex Luger, Shawn Michaels. They 2078 01:51:08.520 --> 01:51:11.359 had an iPad and they would be showing them clips 2079 01:51:11.520 --> 01:51:14.000 that they had never seen before and then getting them 2080 01:51:14.119 --> 01:51:17.000 to comment on it. So that was cool. I like that, 2081 01:51:17.119 --> 01:51:18.920 you know, kind of to see their reaction in real 2082 01:51:18.960 --> 01:51:24.560 time to this stuff. They interviewed Colin Cowherd for this documentary. 2083 01:51:25.119 --> 01:51:28.520 Like what the fuck? That was my reaction as soon 2084 01:51:28.560 --> 01:51:30.479 as I saw him on screen. I'm like, why is 2085 01:51:30.520 --> 01:51:32.520 this guy being interviewed for this? And then I see 2086 01:51:32.520 --> 01:51:34.439 that he used to work as a sports director at 2087 01:51:34.439 --> 01:51:37.319 a TV station in Las Vegas, So I guess there's 2088 01:51:37.359 --> 01:51:41.239 the Vegas connection. That's why Colin Cowherd, the guy who 2089 01:51:41.239 --> 01:51:45.199 once called all wrestling fans booger eating nerds on his show. 2090 01:51:47.000 --> 01:51:49.720 You notice when WWE got back in bed with Fox 2091 01:51:50.039 --> 01:51:53.600 a few years ago and he works for Fox, all 2092 01:51:53.600 --> 01:51:57.079 of a sudden he changed his tune. You ever noticed 2093 01:51:57.119 --> 01:52:00.800 that he became a big wrestling fan. It's funny how 2094 01:52:00.800 --> 01:52:04.840 that works, isn't it. Anyway, he offered nothing of value 2095 01:52:04.880 --> 01:52:08.840 in this documentary. We got to see floor plans for 2096 01:52:08.880 --> 01:52:12.039 the show again. This is one of the cool elements 2097 01:52:12.319 --> 01:52:14.920 to this. I lovec and stuff like that. Their goal 2098 01:52:15.079 --> 01:52:17.319 was to do a million dollar gate, which they did 2099 01:52:18.239 --> 01:52:22.800 with a top ticket price get this of two hundred 2100 01:52:22.880 --> 01:52:27.039 and fifty dollars all the way down to twenty five bucks. 2101 01:52:27.279 --> 01:52:29.039 They said it was very important to keep that twenty 2102 01:52:29.119 --> 01:52:31.439 five dollars price point so that people still felt like 2103 01:52:31.479 --> 01:52:36.479 they could attend the show. That's what's lost with WWE today. Like, 2104 01:52:36.520 --> 01:52:39.319 for two hundred and fifty bucks, you might be able 2105 01:52:39.319 --> 01:52:42.680 to get a seat up in the nosebleeds. And that's 2106 01:52:42.720 --> 01:52:45.239 by the time they add all the taxes and fees. 2107 01:52:46.720 --> 01:52:49.960 They have completely priced people out of going to their shows, 2108 01:52:50.079 --> 01:52:53.199 especially if you have a family, if you have a kid, 2109 01:52:53.199 --> 01:52:57.800 if you have two kids, I forget about it. Yeah, 2110 01:52:57.800 --> 01:53:00.439 obviously some people can afford it. I mean people can 2111 01:53:00.479 --> 01:53:02.239 afford it, But some people look at it and go, 2112 01:53:02.279 --> 01:53:04.039 I'm not going to spend my money on this. Like 2113 01:53:05.439 --> 01:53:07.000 you just get to a point where it's like it's 2114 01:53:07.039 --> 01:53:11.479 not even worth it. It's just very difficult. And they 2115 01:53:11.479 --> 01:53:13.600 can get away with it because the product is hot 2116 01:53:13.680 --> 01:53:16.840 and they can still sell those tickets. So long as 2117 01:53:16.840 --> 01:53:18.800 people are willing to pay those prices, they have no 2118 01:53:18.880 --> 01:53:22.239 incentive to change their strategy. Hey, people want to spend 2119 01:53:22.239 --> 01:53:25.960 five hundred dollars for a shitty seat, then hey, you know, 2120 01:53:26.000 --> 01:53:28.720 we're not going to stand in their way. But when 2121 01:53:28.760 --> 01:53:31.479 I saw that top ticket price for this show, like 2122 01:53:31.560 --> 01:53:34.079 it really drove home just how much things have changed. 2123 01:53:34.880 --> 01:53:37.520 And after eight days of tickets being on sale, Basil 2124 01:53:37.560 --> 01:53:40.720 DeVito sent a memo to Vince McMahon letting him know 2125 01:53:40.760 --> 01:53:43.960 that they had only sold two thousand tickets and he said, 2126 01:53:44.039 --> 01:53:47.880 not bad, but not great either, And that had a 2127 01:53:47.920 --> 01:53:50.399 lot to do with why they went back to hul 2128 01:53:50.479 --> 01:53:53.840 Cogan because Hogan was not advertised for this show. This 2129 01:53:54.000 --> 01:53:57.119 was going to be the first WrestleMania without their biggest star. 2130 01:53:58.840 --> 01:54:02.119 Last time we saw Hogan WrestleMania eight and he had 2131 01:54:02.119 --> 01:54:03.880 to go away, and they didn't talk about why he 2132 01:54:03.920 --> 01:54:06.319 had to go away. They talked about always making TV 2133 01:54:06.399 --> 01:54:09.640 shows and movies and okay, sure, yeah, that's true, but 2134 01:54:10.039 --> 01:54:13.079 they didn't really get into why he had to go away. 2135 01:54:13.199 --> 01:54:15.840 There was a lot of heat on Hogan with the 2136 01:54:15.840 --> 01:54:19.960 steroid stuff, and it was just a bad look, and 2137 01:54:20.039 --> 01:54:21.840 it was agreed upon that it would be best for 2138 01:54:21.920 --> 01:54:25.319 all involved, probably to just let things cool down a 2139 01:54:25.359 --> 01:54:27.640 little bit. Hogan's gonna go off and do his own thing, 2140 01:54:28.479 --> 01:54:30.840 which is what happened, and so he hadn't been seen for, 2141 01:54:31.880 --> 01:54:34.560 you know, a very long time. They were off to 2142 01:54:34.600 --> 01:54:37.880 a very slow start, and so what do you do 2143 01:54:37.920 --> 01:54:41.000 in that situation, right, you go back to your tried 2144 01:54:41.039 --> 01:54:45.319 and true. I loved all the footage of them setting 2145 01:54:45.359 --> 01:54:48.880 up their little Roman colisseum. It's it's pretty wild to 2146 01:54:48.880 --> 01:54:51.600 think that they were. There was a WrestleMania held in 2147 01:54:51.720 --> 01:54:55.439 a parking lot, like the first Indie mud show. WrestleMania 2148 01:54:55.760 --> 01:54:59.720 was WrestleMania nine. They talked about Brett Hart against Yoko 2149 01:54:59.800 --> 01:55:02.199 Zoo being the WrestleMania main event and how they were 2150 01:55:02.439 --> 01:55:07.840 unproven in that spot and there were concerns about that. Yes, 2151 01:55:07.960 --> 01:55:11.039 that's why you go with Brett Hart defending against Randy Savage. 2152 01:55:12.479 --> 01:55:15.279 Savage had just won the world title the previous WrestleMania. 2153 01:55:15.439 --> 01:55:19.640 Now he's sitting at ringside doing commentary. Why not have 2154 01:55:19.720 --> 01:55:22.239 Savage in there? He's been to the dance before. If 2155 01:55:22.279 --> 01:55:24.760 you're worried about these guys being unproven in the main event, 2156 01:55:25.359 --> 01:55:27.600 Savage has been to the main event a few times before. 2157 01:55:28.159 --> 01:55:30.600 Have him put Brett over in a passing of the 2158 01:55:30.600 --> 01:55:34.079 torch moment to give Brett some more credibility, right beating 2159 01:55:34.079 --> 01:55:36.199 one of the big stars of the WrestleMania era, like 2160 01:55:36.239 --> 01:55:38.880 it was right there. How do you not have Randy 2161 01:55:38.880 --> 01:55:43.159 Savage in a match on this show main event or not? Like, 2162 01:55:43.199 --> 01:55:44.680 how do you not have him in a match on 2163 01:55:44.720 --> 01:55:48.359 this show? Especially when you're trying to sell tickets. But 2164 01:55:48.520 --> 01:55:50.600 business is business, and the call was made to go 2165 01:55:50.680 --> 01:55:53.880 back to Hogan. They had sixteen thousand seats to fill. 2166 01:55:54.000 --> 01:55:56.760 Hogan was still a name and a name that had 2167 01:55:56.760 --> 01:55:59.479 been gone for a while, so they can make money 2168 01:55:59.479 --> 01:56:02.880 off the chright, the return of the Hulkster. The other 2169 01:56:02.960 --> 01:56:04.880 side to that is that you have a roster of 2170 01:56:04.920 --> 01:56:07.960 full time guys and new talent that are trying to 2171 01:56:08.039 --> 01:56:11.119 get over and here they're bringing back someone from the past. 2172 01:56:12.039 --> 01:56:15.119 That's exactly what the Undertaker said in this and that's 2173 01:56:15.159 --> 01:56:18.640 pretty rich coming from him, of all people, the guy 2174 01:56:18.680 --> 01:56:20.640 who the last seven or eight years of his career 2175 01:56:20.760 --> 01:56:24.840 was built around coming back once a year for WrestleMania. Like, 2176 01:56:25.119 --> 01:56:27.640 my eyes rolled back in my head almost as far 2177 01:56:27.680 --> 01:56:31.399 as his used to. There was a part where they 2178 01:56:31.479 --> 01:56:37.760 show Howard Finkel in the ring during rehearsals as Finkus Maximus, 2179 01:56:38.720 --> 01:56:43.800 and someone off camera shouts, hey, Howard, Pizza, Pizza, and 2180 01:56:43.960 --> 01:56:47.039 I laughed my ass off Like that was the funniest 2181 01:56:47.039 --> 01:56:49.439 part of the whole documentary for me, Like I got 2182 01:56:49.520 --> 01:56:52.159 the reference. You have to be a certain age to 2183 01:56:52.199 --> 01:56:54.079 get it, but I got you know, I got it 2184 01:56:54.119 --> 01:56:57.479 immediately because they used to have commercials for Little Caesars 2185 01:56:57.680 --> 01:57:00.000 with the little mascot guy that would go Pizza, Pizza 2186 01:57:00.720 --> 01:57:02.439 at the end of every commercial. I don't know why. 2187 01:57:02.680 --> 01:57:04.600 I probably laughed more than I should have, But to me, 2188 01:57:04.640 --> 01:57:08.239 that was the funniest part of the whole documentary, watching 2189 01:57:08.279 --> 01:57:11.319 the camera crew walk around filming guys and yeah, that 2190 01:57:11.800 --> 01:57:15.199 was cool to see the Undertaker just shooting them a 2191 01:57:15.239 --> 01:57:18.119 death glare, Like what the hell is this for? Yeah, 2192 01:57:18.159 --> 01:57:20.399 because he was so protective of the gimmick for so long, 2193 01:57:20.520 --> 01:57:23.680 especially back then, it's weird to see grey Glove Undertaker 2194 01:57:23.720 --> 01:57:26.920 out of character like that. They had footage of his 2195 01:57:27.079 --> 01:57:30.479 entrance rehearsal with the giant Vulture. He said that it's 2196 01:57:30.479 --> 01:57:32.479 all he was thinking about. This bird's gonna shit on me? 2197 01:57:33.039 --> 01:57:35.600 Is this bird gonna shit on me? He was not 2198 01:57:35.720 --> 01:57:39.399 thrilled about this, Like, imagine the bird shitting on him 2199 01:57:39.479 --> 01:57:42.159 during the show, and there's just nothing he could do, 2200 01:57:42.359 --> 01:57:44.640 like he would have to no sell it and there 2201 01:57:44.640 --> 01:57:48.560 it is just like dripping down his shoulder. But they 2202 01:57:48.640 --> 01:57:52.199 also had the brilliant idea to carry Yoko Zuna to 2203 01:57:52.239 --> 01:57:55.319 the ring, and they very quickly realized that this is 2204 01:57:55.359 --> 01:57:58.920 not going to work, so they scratched that idea. They 2205 01:57:58.960 --> 01:58:01.840 showed clips of the dark match the day of the show. 2206 01:58:01.880 --> 01:58:05.760 It was Tito Santana against Papa Shango. Papa Shango. He 2207 01:58:05.840 --> 01:58:08.199 was thrilled about, you know, just being on the show 2208 01:58:08.239 --> 01:58:11.319 because godfather lived in Vegas, so he was just happy 2209 01:58:11.319 --> 01:58:13.479 to get a match and his friends and family were there. 2210 01:58:14.199 --> 01:58:16.600 You know, if you count that match, even though it 2211 01:58:16.600 --> 01:58:19.720 didn't err on TV, if you count it, Hogan is 2212 01:58:19.760 --> 01:58:22.239 not the only one who worked the first nine WrestleManias, 2213 01:58:22.279 --> 01:58:26.760 so did Tito. Jim Ross made his debut on this night. 2214 01:58:26.800 --> 01:58:30.039 He had to wear a toga. Hell of a first impression. 2215 01:58:30.039 --> 01:58:33.399 Here we had Bobby Heenan riding a camel backwards to 2216 01:58:33.439 --> 01:58:37.319 the ring where Bruce Prichard is talking about it. He 2217 01:58:37.359 --> 01:58:39.800 says that was Bobby's idea because Bobby thought it would 2218 01:58:39.800 --> 01:58:43.880 be funnier. And then they went kind of match by match. 2219 01:58:43.880 --> 01:58:46.439 We had some highlights and they talked about the matches 2220 01:58:46.479 --> 01:58:49.159 on the show. What they didn't mention is that Bam 2221 01:58:49.199 --> 01:58:51.960 Bam Bigelow and Kamala were supposed to have a match 2222 01:58:52.000 --> 01:58:55.079 on this show, but it got bumped for time. Sean 2223 01:58:55.159 --> 01:58:59.800 Michaels defended the Intercontinental title against Tatanka, and they didn't 2224 01:58:59.800 --> 01:59:04.439 focus on Luna Vashan in sensational Sherry's involvement in this match. 2225 01:59:04.600 --> 01:59:07.960 This was the last Mania that Sherry ever worked. I 2226 01:59:08.039 --> 01:59:10.399 have this as the best match on that show, even 2227 01:59:10.439 --> 01:59:12.680 with the disappointing shitty finish that we got. They did 2228 01:59:12.680 --> 01:59:16.199 a count out finish here. You know, the best match 2229 01:59:16.239 --> 01:59:19.279 on this show on any other WrestleMania would be right 2230 01:59:19.319 --> 01:59:21.640 in the middle, but on this show, it was the 2231 01:59:21.680 --> 01:59:24.880 best match. The second best match is the tag team 2232 01:59:24.960 --> 01:59:28.319 title match. It was the Headshrinkers and the Steiner Brothers. 2233 01:59:28.800 --> 01:59:31.720 They didn't show the spot where Scott Steiner almost died. 2234 01:59:32.359 --> 01:59:34.720 I think the spot was supposed to be a stun gun, 2235 01:59:35.159 --> 01:59:38.239 but he went flying too far and the top rope 2236 01:59:38.279 --> 01:59:41.000 got pulled down, and man, I mean he took a 2237 01:59:41.239 --> 01:59:44.800 header out to the floor. He is a very lucky 2238 01:59:44.840 --> 01:59:48.239 guy because you can't see how he lands. The camera's 2239 01:59:48.279 --> 01:59:51.000 not on that side. You just see him go over 2240 01:59:51.039 --> 01:59:52.920 at an angle that looked like he was about to 2241 01:59:52.960 --> 01:59:56.840 spike himself into the floor. How he didn't get hurt, 2242 01:59:56.880 --> 02:00:00.840 I'll never know. But the Rick Steiner power slam spot 2243 02:00:01.000 --> 02:00:04.199 off of fat two shoulders to Sam mood. That was cool. 2244 02:00:05.039 --> 02:00:08.399 Razor Ramone and Bob Backland. They had a nothing match 2245 02:00:09.159 --> 02:00:14.720 Crush against Doink. I mean, I maintain Evil Doink one 2246 02:00:14.760 --> 02:00:17.920 of the greatest gimmicks they've ever done. The double Doink 2247 02:00:18.000 --> 02:00:20.920 finish was very clever. It was the only good thing 2248 02:00:20.960 --> 02:00:26.399 about this match. Hogan and Beefcake against Money Inc. For 2249 02:00:26.439 --> 02:00:29.239 the tag team titles. They dubbed this one half of 2250 02:00:29.279 --> 02:00:32.119 the double main event, because if Hogan's on the show, 2251 02:00:32.159 --> 02:00:34.199 he's the main event, and if he can't be in 2252 02:00:34.239 --> 02:00:35.640 the main event, then you got to make it a 2253 02:00:35.680 --> 02:00:38.319 double main event. Actually that's what they did the year 2254 02:00:38.359 --> 02:00:41.920 before too. WrestleMania eight had a double main event. Hogan 2255 02:00:41.960 --> 02:00:44.359 actually closed the show and it wasn't the title match, 2256 02:00:44.399 --> 02:00:48.479 but they were billing it as potentially his retirement match. 2257 02:00:49.319 --> 02:00:50.680 So I mean, when you have a star as big 2258 02:00:50.720 --> 02:00:54.119 as Hogan, if it's possibly his last match, then you know, 2259 02:00:54.159 --> 02:00:55.960 I understand it. But this was the second year in 2260 02:00:55.960 --> 02:00:59.920 a row with this double main event stuff and Brutal. 2261 02:01:00.000 --> 02:01:01.720 He says the goal was just to get through the 2262 02:01:01.760 --> 02:01:05.800 match without dying. Hogan had his eye, Brutus had his 2263 02:01:05.880 --> 02:01:10.279 broken face. This had another lame finish with money Ink 2264 02:01:10.359 --> 02:01:14.239 retaining by disqualification. This was an issue up and down 2265 02:01:14.239 --> 02:01:16.560 the card, all the bad finishes. I mean, there were 2266 02:01:16.560 --> 02:01:19.600 so many bad ones. They so they head to the 2267 02:01:19.640 --> 02:01:22.560 back after the match is over, and Jimmy Hart, who 2268 02:01:22.600 --> 02:01:25.800 was also interviewed for this, says that Hogan gave him 2269 02:01:25.800 --> 02:01:28.800 a heads up said, I might be doing something else 2270 02:01:28.880 --> 02:01:34.279 tonight too. Gee, I wonder what that could be. They 2271 02:01:34.279 --> 02:01:37.720 had Lex Luger against Mister Perfect, who could barely speak 2272 02:01:37.760 --> 02:01:40.840 straight in his promo before the match. He was tripping 2273 02:01:40.880 --> 02:01:43.720 all over his words. Lex says, Kurt must have been 2274 02:01:43.800 --> 02:01:47.119 over caffeinated that day. Yeah, that or he was on something, 2275 02:01:47.880 --> 02:01:50.199 because once the bell rang, he grabbed Lex in a 2276 02:01:50.239 --> 02:01:52.640 headlock and he asked him what are we doing? Like 2277 02:01:52.760 --> 02:01:54.680 he forgot the entire match. He had no idea what 2278 02:01:54.680 --> 02:01:57.840 they were supposed to do. So Luger had to be 2279 02:01:57.920 --> 02:02:00.520 the ringleader and lead him through the match. Match and 2280 02:02:00.560 --> 02:02:04.680 it was not a great match, but they got through it. 2281 02:02:04.279 --> 02:02:07.399 It was okay. It was not at the caliber of 2282 02:02:07.399 --> 02:02:09.319 what you would hope a Mister Perfect match would be. 2283 02:02:10.840 --> 02:02:16.039 Then there was the Undertaker against the Giant Gonzales, My God, 2284 02:02:17.199 --> 02:02:22.000 one of the worst matches in WrestleMania. History and yet 2285 02:02:22.039 --> 02:02:25.039 another shitty DQ finish, just so they could run it 2286 02:02:25.079 --> 02:02:29.399 back at Summer Slim and have another shitty match and 2287 02:02:29.479 --> 02:02:31.640 then and that's all I have to say about that. 2288 02:02:32.000 --> 02:02:35.079 The less said about that match, the better Undertaker did 2289 02:02:35.119 --> 02:02:36.920 what he could, but I mean, there's only so much 2290 02:02:36.920 --> 02:02:39.920 you can do. And then came the other half of 2291 02:02:39.960 --> 02:02:43.000 the double main event, Brett the Hitman Heart in his 2292 02:02:43.000 --> 02:02:47.279 first WrestleMania main event, defending the title against Yoko Zuna. 2293 02:02:48.199 --> 02:02:51.000 I like this more than I like their WrestleMania ten match. 2294 02:02:51.520 --> 02:02:54.000 I think that this is the superior of the two matches. 2295 02:02:54.840 --> 02:02:58.399 Brett in the past has blamed Yoko Zuna for cutting 2296 02:02:58.479 --> 02:03:00.800 out or forgetting a bunch of things they were supposed 2297 02:03:00.840 --> 02:03:03.279 to do late in the match, basically all of Brett's 2298 02:03:03.319 --> 02:03:06.840 big comeback spots. He was pissed at Yoko for it, 2299 02:03:07.319 --> 02:03:09.359 like even here in the documentary he said it was 2300 02:03:09.439 --> 02:03:13.039 Yoko getting tired and they hit the ending sooner than 2301 02:03:13.079 --> 02:03:15.520 Brett wanted them to. Even mister Fuji, like when Brett 2302 02:03:15.520 --> 02:03:18.640 has Yoko Zuna in the Sharpshooter, Fuji wasn't ready with 2303 02:03:18.680 --> 02:03:21.039 the salt yet, so Brett felt like he was holding 2304 02:03:21.119 --> 02:03:23.439 him there forever, just waiting for Fuji to pull out 2305 02:03:23.479 --> 02:03:27.239 the salt and throw it in his eyes. Bruce Pritchard 2306 02:03:27.239 --> 02:03:30.319 on his podcast years ago said that Vince McMahon made 2307 02:03:30.359 --> 02:03:33.439 the call mid match to cut their time, and it 2308 02:03:33.520 --> 02:03:35.920 was communicated to the referee while they were in the 2309 02:03:36.000 --> 02:03:39.159 ring wrestling, because they were very worried about running out 2310 02:03:39.159 --> 02:03:40.840 of time, Like if you weren't off the air, I 2311 02:03:40.840 --> 02:03:43.800 think it was like five minutes before the top of 2312 02:03:43.840 --> 02:03:46.039 the hour, the pay per view companies would just cut 2313 02:03:46.119 --> 02:03:48.199 you off and the fans wouldn't be able to see 2314 02:03:48.239 --> 02:03:51.399 the finish. I don't know if Brett knew that, because 2315 02:03:51.439 --> 02:03:55.159 he still blames Yoko for the finish being rushed, but 2316 02:03:55.600 --> 02:03:58.520 he gets hit with the salt. Yoko pins Brett and 2317 02:03:58.560 --> 02:04:02.560 he wins the title. And here comes Hulk Hogan to 2318 02:04:02.720 --> 02:04:05.840 cash in his money in the bank, and how do 2319 02:04:05.960 --> 02:04:09.880 they get there? They get there with mister Fuji challenging 2320 02:04:10.000 --> 02:04:13.119 Hogan to get in the ring and wrestle Yoko Zuna 2321 02:04:13.159 --> 02:04:16.680 the champion. After a hard fought match, wins the title 2322 02:04:16.800 --> 02:04:20.079 and then issues a challenge to the challenger to get 2323 02:04:20.119 --> 02:04:24.279 in the ring and fight him for the championship. Yoko 2324 02:04:24.319 --> 02:04:26.439 should have dumped Fuji right then and there, like a 2325 02:04:26.479 --> 02:04:30.680 bad habit for doing that. And it all sounds so stupid, 2326 02:04:30.680 --> 02:04:33.119 but you can't say the fans in the building didn't 2327 02:04:33.119 --> 02:04:35.279 buy into it, because they went crazy for the finish. 2328 02:04:35.319 --> 02:04:39.399 It was still Hulk Hogan back after a year away, right, 2329 02:04:39.439 --> 02:04:41.600 giving them the happy ending they weren't going to get 2330 02:04:41.960 --> 02:04:43.560 if they would have just gone off the air with 2331 02:04:43.600 --> 02:04:47.119 the Evil Foreigner, you know, stealing the title from the 2332 02:04:48.159 --> 02:04:53.199 not so evil Foreigner. This is the finish that would 2333 02:04:53.199 --> 02:04:56.119 put the smile on everybody's face, right. And I also wonder, 2334 02:04:56.159 --> 02:04:59.840 you know, they were in Vegas and tickets were not 2335 02:05:00.079 --> 02:05:02.880 selling great initially when they were advertising all the other 2336 02:05:02.960 --> 02:05:06.399 stars on the show. Once they advertised that Hogan was 2337 02:05:06.399 --> 02:05:08.520 coming back and Hogan was going to be there, obviously, 2338 02:05:08.600 --> 02:05:12.880 tickets started selling a lot quicker. I do wonder what 2339 02:05:12.920 --> 02:05:16.359 the percentage was of people in the building or in 2340 02:05:16.479 --> 02:05:19.560 you know, the building, in the little makeshift stadium there 2341 02:05:20.479 --> 02:05:25.479 of actual like regular WWF fans or like hardcore WWF 2342 02:05:25.479 --> 02:05:28.680 fans and people who were either casual at best or 2343 02:05:28.720 --> 02:05:30.760 not even wrestling fans so much as they were in 2344 02:05:30.840 --> 02:05:33.840 Vegas and they were looking for something to do and 2345 02:05:33.880 --> 02:05:35.760 they saw that Hulk Hogan was going to be there, 2346 02:05:35.880 --> 02:05:37.960 and they bought tickets. Like there has to be a 2347 02:05:38.039 --> 02:05:40.600 decent number of people that are in the stadium that 2348 02:05:40.720 --> 02:05:44.399 night who really aren't big WWF fans, and they probably 2349 02:05:44.439 --> 02:05:46.880 didn't even know who some of these guys were, but 2350 02:05:46.960 --> 02:05:49.920 everybody would have known who Hogan was, So I'm sure 2351 02:05:49.960 --> 02:05:52.319 there was a little bit of that going on too. 2352 02:05:52.520 --> 02:05:54.920 But yeah, I'll tell you, as a kid, you know, 2353 02:05:54.920 --> 02:05:57.000 and I wasn't super duper young at that point, but 2354 02:05:57.039 --> 02:06:01.199 as a kid, it was an exciting finish. Was it 2355 02:06:01.199 --> 02:06:03.079 a dumb way to get the belt onto him? Yes, 2356 02:06:03.119 --> 02:06:06.319 it was. You know, both of those things can be true. 2357 02:06:06.359 --> 02:06:08.960 It was an exciting moment, and it was very dumb. 2358 02:06:10.119 --> 02:06:11.720 Hogan said, he got a lot of heat for it. 2359 02:06:12.119 --> 02:06:15.359 He said, Savage was pissed, and Savage said, why don't 2360 02:06:15.399 --> 02:06:17.199 you give him the tag belts too? Why don't you 2361 02:06:17.239 --> 02:06:20.239 give him the whole show? You know what. I'm surprised 2362 02:06:20.239 --> 02:06:22.039 he didn't get the tag belts that night. He could 2363 02:06:22.039 --> 02:06:24.600 have been a double champion, but then that just means 2364 02:06:24.600 --> 02:06:26.600 he has to do two jobs instead of one to 2365 02:06:26.680 --> 02:06:31.279 drop them all. Luger says there was some eyebrows raised 2366 02:06:31.279 --> 02:06:34.399 in the back by that finish. Sean Michael says, they 2367 02:06:34.399 --> 02:06:36.960 felt they were moving to a new generation, and Brett 2368 02:06:37.000 --> 02:06:39.119 was very upset that day. He let them all know 2369 02:06:39.199 --> 02:06:41.119 that he was very upset, and they were all in 2370 02:06:41.159 --> 02:06:44.960 agreement with Brett. Undertaker says he sees both sides. He 2371 02:06:45.000 --> 02:06:48.000 sees the drawing power of Hogan, but he also sees 2372 02:06:48.039 --> 02:06:49.760 the side of the guys who are working to be 2373 02:06:49.800 --> 02:06:53.159 the next hul Cogan and Brett said it went against 2374 02:06:53.199 --> 02:06:55.439 everything Vince had told him up to that day. Vince 2375 02:06:55.479 --> 02:06:58.560 told him, Look, it's just a change of direction. Hogan 2376 02:06:58.600 --> 02:07:01.319 says he pitched the idea of Vince, but he notes 2377 02:07:01.359 --> 02:07:03.840 that Vince wanted him to pass the torch to Yoko Zuna. 2378 02:07:03.880 --> 02:07:05.399 So the idea was for him to win it at 2379 02:07:05.399 --> 02:07:07.760 WrestleMania and then drop it back to Yoko at the 2380 02:07:07.800 --> 02:07:11.840 next pay per view. Now, remember that, if what Hogan 2381 02:07:11.880 --> 02:07:15.560 says is true, this was all laid out well in advance, 2382 02:07:15.640 --> 02:07:17.479 right him winning the belt so that he could then 2383 02:07:17.520 --> 02:07:20.239 drop it to Yoko Zuna at the King of the Ring. Okay, 2384 02:07:21.199 --> 02:07:23.840 what they did not get into here is what Brett 2385 02:07:23.840 --> 02:07:26.880 has said happened after the match and he talked about 2386 02:07:26.880 --> 02:07:30.560 this in his book. Brett says, in the back Hogan 2387 02:07:30.640 --> 02:07:32.560 came up to him and he thanked him and he 2388 02:07:32.640 --> 02:07:34.800 told him he's I'm not going to forget it, and 2389 02:07:34.840 --> 02:07:38.079 that he would return the favor. And Brett says, he 2390 02:07:38.079 --> 02:07:39.640 looked him in the eye and he said, I'm going 2391 02:07:39.680 --> 02:07:44.439 to remember that, Terry. Fast forward to the end of May. 2392 02:07:44.760 --> 02:07:47.920 I believe, Brett says, Vince McMahon calls him and tells 2393 02:07:48.000 --> 02:07:49.479 him that he was going to get the belt back 2394 02:07:50.079 --> 02:07:51.760 and Hogan was going to be used more as a 2395 02:07:51.800 --> 02:07:56.680 special attraction. Ten days later, Vince tells Brett that Hogan 2396 02:07:56.800 --> 02:08:00.560 was refusing to put him over and he decided that you, Jokozuna, 2397 02:08:00.560 --> 02:08:03.479 will get the belt back instead, and Brett would work 2398 02:08:03.479 --> 02:08:07.039 with Jerry the King Lawler at SummerSlam. Now that's a 2399 02:08:07.119 --> 02:08:10.720 very different version of events than the one that Hogan gave. 2400 02:08:11.840 --> 02:08:13.840 And Brett says, you know, he showed up at the 2401 02:08:13.920 --> 02:08:15.920 King of the Ring in a very bad mood. He 2402 02:08:16.079 --> 02:08:20.239 drew a cartoon because Brett Brett's actually a very good illustrator, 2403 02:08:21.319 --> 02:08:23.439 and he would do that back then, like in the 2404 02:08:23.479 --> 02:08:26.600 locker room, he would do these drawings and you know, 2405 02:08:26.680 --> 02:08:29.800 leave them up sometimes. So he got to the building 2406 02:08:29.960 --> 02:08:32.920 and he drew a cartoon of Brutus beefcake with his 2407 02:08:33.039 --> 02:08:37.720 face buried in Hogan's ash cheeks, with the caption be careful, Brutus, 2408 02:08:37.800 --> 02:08:40.159 you don't want to loosen the screws in your face 2409 02:08:40.840 --> 02:08:45.199 speaking of screws, and he says he felt bad because 2410 02:08:45.439 --> 02:08:48.840 he was taking his frustrations out on beefcake, which wasn't 2411 02:08:48.880 --> 02:08:52.520 the right thing to do. Hogan did an interview a 2412 02:08:52.600 --> 02:08:56.359 number of years ago with Peter Rosenberg, and in that interview, 2413 02:08:56.399 --> 02:08:58.039 he claimed that he made a deal to drop the 2414 02:08:58.039 --> 02:09:00.600 belt to Yoko Zuna, but Vince told Brett that he 2415 02:09:00.720 --> 02:09:03.760 was getting the belt, and when Brett confronted Hulk, Hogan 2416 02:09:03.800 --> 02:09:06.159 says that he told he told Brett, look, it's not 2417 02:09:06.520 --> 02:09:08.239 that I don't want to drop the belt to you, 2418 02:09:08.319 --> 02:09:10.520 which just not the deal that I made with Vince, 2419 02:09:11.840 --> 02:09:14.319 and he says that they both met with Vince and 2420 02:09:14.439 --> 02:09:18.039 McMahon told Brett this is according to Hogan, Now, McMahon 2421 02:09:18.079 --> 02:09:21.359 told Brett, you getting the belt is what you thought 2422 02:09:21.359 --> 02:09:25.279 you heard, And he said, oh, Vince had asked me 2423 02:09:25.319 --> 02:09:27.439 to drop the belt to Brett, I would have done it, 2424 02:09:28.119 --> 02:09:32.119 you know. No questions asked, but since he asked Hogan 2425 02:09:32.159 --> 02:09:34.479 to drop it to Yoko, Hogan felt, well, that's what 2426 02:09:34.600 --> 02:09:37.560 had to be done. I love it. It's like it 2427 02:09:37.640 --> 02:09:39.880 was some blood oath that he made that just could 2428 02:09:39.920 --> 02:09:44.520 not be changed. Hogan defending against Brett at SummerSlam and 2429 02:09:44.520 --> 02:09:47.960 then passing the torch there. That was the play, especially 2430 02:09:48.039 --> 02:09:51.079 if Hogan was leaving anyway. But there's no way he 2431 02:09:51.159 --> 02:09:53.239 ever would have gone for that, because there's always been 2432 02:09:53.319 --> 02:09:56.960 rumors about there was a photo shoot for I think 2433 02:09:57.000 --> 02:09:59.079 the magazine during that period. It was either in the 2434 02:09:59.119 --> 02:10:02.039 spring or the early summer. They did a photo shoot 2435 02:10:02.079 --> 02:10:04.239 with Brett and Hogan doing a little tug of war 2436 02:10:04.439 --> 02:10:06.359 over the championship. I don't think it ever saw the 2437 02:10:06.439 --> 02:10:10.520 light of day. There may have been solid plans for 2438 02:10:10.600 --> 02:10:12.640 the two of them to work against each other at Summerslim, 2439 02:10:12.680 --> 02:10:14.239 That's what I mean, Like, I wish they would have 2440 02:10:15.359 --> 02:10:17.720 dove a little bit deeper into it, talked to Bruce, 2441 02:10:17.840 --> 02:10:20.159 talked to I don't know other people who may or 2442 02:10:20.159 --> 02:10:22.640 may not have heard things at that time. Again, you 2443 02:10:22.680 --> 02:10:28.159 can't get Vince, so it's tough, but that would have 2444 02:10:28.159 --> 02:10:30.399 been the play, that would have been the biggest match 2445 02:10:30.439 --> 02:10:33.840 that they could do. You know, was Brett the star 2446 02:10:33.920 --> 02:10:36.199 of this new up and coming you know era here 2447 02:10:36.239 --> 02:10:39.800 in the WWF taking on the biggest star of all 2448 02:10:39.880 --> 02:10:43.920 time and the star of the past era. But the 2449 02:10:44.000 --> 02:10:46.000 idea that Hogan would actually go in there and do 2450 02:10:46.039 --> 02:10:48.119 a job for a guy like Brett, like a smaller 2451 02:10:48.159 --> 02:10:52.039 guy like Brett, there's just no way not back then, 2452 02:10:53.800 --> 02:10:56.279 and it honestly would not have hurt Hogan one bit. 2453 02:10:57.359 --> 02:10:59.560 But there's no way he ever would have agreed to that. Like, 2454 02:10:59.600 --> 02:11:02.640 I cannot stand Brett being upset and feeling like he 2455 02:11:02.720 --> 02:11:06.199 was screwed. You know, there's that word again. Brett's been 2456 02:11:06.239 --> 02:11:08.279 screwed so many times. He should have been a light bulb. 2457 02:11:09.239 --> 02:11:11.760 But here's the reality of the situation. Okay, And I 2458 02:11:11.800 --> 02:11:14.720 say this as a Brett Hart fan. He had every 2459 02:11:14.800 --> 02:11:17.880 right to be upset and feel blindsided when Vince told 2460 02:11:17.960 --> 02:11:20.399 him the night before what they were gonna do. You know, 2461 02:11:20.439 --> 02:11:23.439 you get this huge opportunity, all this pressure is, you know, 2462 02:11:23.520 --> 02:11:26.479 put upon your shoulders, and now you just feel like 2463 02:11:26.479 --> 02:11:30.479 a fucking failure. You know, there's like a shame to it. 2464 02:11:31.199 --> 02:11:33.560 I wasn't good enough. That's why you're taking this away 2465 02:11:33.560 --> 02:11:37.239 from me. But you look at every single WrestleMania before 2466 02:11:37.279 --> 02:11:40.720 this one, every single one of them ended with the 2467 02:11:40.760 --> 02:11:46.359 Babyface or babyfaces celebrating. It was a Babyface territory. Vince's 2468 02:11:46.399 --> 02:11:48.680 mindset was, we have to send the fans home happy 2469 02:11:48.720 --> 02:11:51.079 at the end of the show. He didn't want Brett 2470 02:11:51.079 --> 02:11:54.840 beating Yoko, so Yoko had to win. But then how 2471 02:11:54.840 --> 02:11:57.439 do we give the people the happy ending? Right? This 2472 02:11:57.479 --> 02:12:00.680 is what he came up with. Can you add to 2473 02:12:00.720 --> 02:12:03.039 that how business was doing at the time, which was 2474 02:12:03.079 --> 02:12:06.239 not great, Like, I don't think it's fair to lay 2475 02:12:06.279 --> 02:12:07.920 all of this at the feet of Brett Hart just 2476 02:12:07.960 --> 02:12:10.079 because he was the champion, but he was the champion 2477 02:12:10.119 --> 02:12:13.000 at a time when business was down and him on 2478 02:12:13.079 --> 02:12:15.479 top was not doing enough to change that. Vince tried 2479 02:12:15.479 --> 02:12:18.039 to build for the future without Hogan in ninety two 2480 02:12:18.479 --> 02:12:21.680 and it didn't work, and so he felt he needed 2481 02:12:21.720 --> 02:12:23.800 Hogan back or else WrestleMania was going to be a 2482 02:12:23.880 --> 02:12:26.279 dud like a lot of the other pay per views. 2483 02:12:26.279 --> 02:12:28.560 They were not doing as well by rate wise, they 2484 02:12:28.600 --> 02:12:30.760 as they did with Hogan on top, and he was 2485 02:12:30.880 --> 02:12:33.119 very worried that the same thing would happen to WrestleMania. 2486 02:12:33.800 --> 02:12:36.680 You know, they were having trouble moving tickets. Once Hogan 2487 02:12:36.720 --> 02:12:40.239 was announced, tickets started to sell. The buy rate was low, 2488 02:12:40.760 --> 02:12:42.800 but not as low as they expected it might be. 2489 02:12:44.600 --> 02:12:46.319 You know, Hogan may not have been the draw that 2490 02:12:46.359 --> 02:12:48.960 he was in eighty six in eighty seven, but he 2491 02:12:49.039 --> 02:12:51.439 was still a draw and he was still the biggest 2492 02:12:51.520 --> 02:12:54.319 name in wrestling. And Vince made a business decision. You know, 2493 02:12:54.359 --> 02:12:56.680 Brett looks at it like a personal offense to him. 2494 02:12:58.119 --> 02:13:00.600 It wasn't you know. It came to down to dollars 2495 02:13:00.640 --> 02:13:02.600 and cents, like how can we make the most money 2496 02:13:02.600 --> 02:13:05.800 on this thing without losing our shirts. This is different 2497 02:13:05.840 --> 02:13:08.119 from what happened to Montreal, where you know, Brett had 2498 02:13:08.119 --> 02:13:11.560 creative control written into his contract and he was flat 2499 02:13:11.560 --> 02:13:13.279 out told, like even the day of the show, like 2500 02:13:13.319 --> 02:13:14.920 what the finish was going to be, and they double 2501 02:13:14.960 --> 02:13:18.039 crossed him. That's a very different situation. Like Vince never 2502 02:13:18.119 --> 02:13:20.520 told him here that he was going over at WrestleMania nine. 2503 02:13:21.039 --> 02:13:23.399 I mean Brett may have assumed that he was, but 2504 02:13:23.720 --> 02:13:27.760 he was never told that. Brett Hard in nineteen ninety 2505 02:13:27.760 --> 02:13:29.720 three was not the draw that he would go on 2506 02:13:29.800 --> 02:13:32.079 to become, and even the draw that he would go 2507 02:13:32.119 --> 02:13:34.720 on to become. He was never the draw that hul 2508 02:13:34.760 --> 02:13:39.239 Cogan was. And when you're a promoter and business is down, 2509 02:13:39.359 --> 02:13:42.640 you fall back on your top attraction. It may not 2510 02:13:42.720 --> 02:13:45.199 be the most popular move. And I think Hogan is 2511 02:13:45.199 --> 02:13:49.079 a selfish asshole who didn't give a single fuck about 2512 02:13:49.079 --> 02:13:51.600 helping build new stars. He was interested in keeping hul 2513 02:13:51.680 --> 02:13:55.560 Cogan strong. Yeah, he didn't care about what the WWF 2514 02:13:55.680 --> 02:13:57.520 roster was going to look like in the future because 2515 02:13:57.520 --> 02:14:03.239 he was leaving anyway. He wasn't sticking around. But as 2516 02:14:03.239 --> 02:14:06.079 a business move, I understand why they did what they did. 2517 02:14:07.520 --> 02:14:09.600 What really would have been best for business would have 2518 02:14:09.640 --> 02:14:12.079 been to have Hogan put their next big star over clean, 2519 02:14:12.640 --> 02:14:15.600 whether that was Yoko Zuna, whether that was Brett Hart. Yeah, 2520 02:14:15.600 --> 02:14:18.079 he lost to Yoko Zuna. He put him over, but 2521 02:14:18.199 --> 02:14:22.399 only after a camera exploded in his face. That's who 2522 02:14:22.439 --> 02:14:27.520 Hogan is. Had he stayed, the new generation that followed 2523 02:14:27.960 --> 02:14:29.760 never would have been able to climb the mountain the 2524 02:14:29.760 --> 02:14:32.079 way they did with Brett Hart and Sean Michaels and 2525 02:14:32.119 --> 02:14:34.880 Diesel and all of these guys. Hogan never would have 2526 02:14:34.920 --> 02:14:38.520 allowed it. Never. He had to leave so that a 2527 02:14:38.560 --> 02:14:42.680 new era could could thrive, and it didn't happen right away. 2528 02:14:42.720 --> 02:14:45.159 It took several years. There were some lean years there 2529 02:14:45.239 --> 02:14:48.479 during the New Generation period fucking nineteen ninety five, Like, 2530 02:14:48.600 --> 02:14:51.239 there were some tough times. But the best thing that 2531 02:14:51.279 --> 02:14:54.720 ever happened to Vince McMahon during that period, outside of 2532 02:14:54.720 --> 02:14:59.239 being acquitted, was Hogan leaving, which sounds kind of weird, 2533 02:14:59.279 --> 02:15:01.520 but it's true, Like he probably didn't feel that way 2534 02:15:01.560 --> 02:15:04.439 at the time, but look at everything that followed, like 2535 02:15:04.479 --> 02:15:08.319 even Hogan going to WCW, in forming the nWo. All 2536 02:15:08.359 --> 02:15:10.880 of that played a role in the eventual rise of 2537 02:15:10.920 --> 02:15:14.359 stars like Stone Cold and The Rock. They were getting 2538 02:15:14.399 --> 02:15:17.640 their asses handed to them. They had to create new stars. 2539 02:15:17.680 --> 02:15:19.760 They were forced, they had their backs against the wall. 2540 02:15:20.520 --> 02:15:23.119 The company could have gone under. They had to create 2541 02:15:23.199 --> 02:15:26.279 new stars. Imagine if Hogan stuck around, do you have 2542 02:15:26.319 --> 02:15:28.199 people like Austin on the Ascent? Do you think he 2543 02:15:28.239 --> 02:15:30.119 would have allowed Stone Cold to get as big as 2544 02:15:30.119 --> 02:15:34.439 he did. He had to leave. But I enjoyed this 2545 02:15:34.880 --> 02:15:36.680 and if you're into the behind the scenes stuff you 2546 02:15:36.760 --> 02:15:39.680 will too. There's some of the usual fluff, but I 2547 02:15:39.680 --> 02:15:43.079 think they kept it to a minimum. Again, WrestleMania nine 2548 02:15:43.079 --> 02:15:46.399 may be the worst WrestleMania when it comes to match finishes. 2549 02:15:46.439 --> 02:15:48.560 I mean, there's so many terrible finishes on the show, 2550 02:15:49.039 --> 02:15:51.560 but I can't call it the worst WrestleMania of all time. 2551 02:15:52.079 --> 02:15:55.479 Even the bad stuff, it's never boring. There's nothing worse 2552 02:15:55.520 --> 02:15:58.880 than a boring WrestleMania. There's some bad stuff here, but 2553 02:15:58.920 --> 02:16:03.479 it's never boring. The solemn monster sounds of John Moxley, 2554 02:16:03.520 --> 02:16:05.920 in case you couldn't tell, is still the aw World 2555 02:16:05.960 --> 02:16:08.279 Heavyweight champ. That means we have another month of this 2556 02:16:08.439 --> 02:16:11.640 death rider's bullshit and I could barely stomach swarm. Strickland 2557 02:16:11.680 --> 02:16:14.159 is going to Dinas. He will challenge John Boxley for 2558 02:16:14.199 --> 02:16:16.520 that title, and he better fucking win. He's the right 2559 02:16:16.560 --> 02:16:18.800 man for the job. Honestly, anybody would be the right 2560 02:16:18.800 --> 02:16:20.840 man for the job. The Maytag man would be the 2561 02:16:20.920 --> 02:16:23.399 right man for the job. Right now. The Orcan man 2562 02:16:23.720 --> 02:16:25.439 would be the right man for the job. Right now. 2563 02:16:25.520 --> 02:16:27.399 I could walk out my front door, right now, I 2564 02:16:27.399 --> 02:16:29.800 could go five blocks down the street. First fucking guy 2565 02:16:29.840 --> 02:16:31.600 that I see, maybe he's got a bottle of beer 2566 02:16:31.640 --> 02:16:34.200 in a brown paper bag, whatever it is, I'll grab him. 2567 02:16:34.239 --> 02:16:35.840 He would be the man for the job. I would 2568 02:16:35.840 --> 02:16:39.719 have preferred the wristler come out and sign his name 2569 02:16:39.760 --> 02:16:42.239 to that contract and pin John Moxley to win the 2570 02:16:42.280 --> 02:16:45.920 AW World title. I would have taken Big Boom Aj 2571 02:16:46.200 --> 02:16:51.959 as the AAW World Champion. Can you imagine the heads 2572 02:16:52.000 --> 02:16:55.719 that would explode if that happened. Anybody but what they're 2573 02:16:55.760 --> 02:16:58.959 doing now, Anybody but Moxley, anybody but the Death Riders stuff. 2574 02:16:58.959 --> 02:17:01.520 We need to move on from this. The Solo Monster 2575 02:17:01.680 --> 02:17:05.760 sounds off bringing you the good, the bad, and the ugly. 2576 02:17:06.479 --> 02:17:09.360 Check out the weekly live streams bonus content for subscribers, 2577 02:17:09.360 --> 02:17:12.440 and follow The Sola Monster on Facebook, Instagram, and X 2578 02:17:13.399 --> 02:17:16.200 The Solo Monster. I Love you so long.