WEBVTT 1 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:32.719 Got her again. It's business time, baby. You are listening 2 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:36.920 to Solo Monster Sounds of I love you so Mama 3 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:42.640 Monster con dude, I want your souldier. You got grown 4 00:00:42.679 --> 00:00:45.920 ass wrestlers in the back going on Twitter. Come over here? 5 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:52.200 Is that Pet Patterson? You have legs? I was ninety 6 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.880 nine percent positive it was just chested up. Now, congratulations. 7 00:00:56.119 --> 00:01:03.640 Who hasn't beat Daniel Garcia. Welcome to episode nine three 8 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:06.840 of the Solo Monster Sounds Off for Sunday, December twenty one, 9 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:11.840 twenty twenty five. Santa Solomonster is back. He comes bearing 10 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:15.400 the gift of wrestling news and opinion. He does this 11 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:17.799 every week, but it just so happens. He's a little 12 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:20.879 more festive about it this week and a busy week. 13 00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:23.000 It was much love to the folks of Good Morning 14 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:26.200 Football for having myself and some of the students from 15 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:29.599 House of Glory on the show Tuesday Morning Live on 16 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:32.120 the NFL Network. Imagine the surprise when some of you 17 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:35.680 were watching NFL Network and saw my face on there 18 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:39.000 freezing outside on a rooftop in New York City in 19 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:42.000 twenty degree weather. It's too bad that wasn't one of 20 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.000 the day seth rollins. Was there hosting the show. I 21 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:47.400 think I want to say he does Thursdays. Maybe that 22 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:50.120 would have been interesting, but it was all worth it. 23 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:53.599 Kyle Brandt, he does his Angry Run segment on there, 24 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:56.239 which I know is very popular. It was cool to 25 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.879 be a part of that and get to promote our 26 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:02.120 Winter Warfare show, which took place Friday night with a 27 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:05.000 sold out crowd to close out twenty twenty five. That's 28 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:07.400 how you always want to do it, and it was 29 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:13.120 a very newsworthy show, with Andrade making a surprise appearance 30 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:16.599 at the very end to confront our World Champion Charles 31 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:22.199 Mason after his win over Mustafa Ali. Yes, Andrade, who 32 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:26.599 has been barred from appearing anywhere by WWE, shows up 33 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:29.599 at the NYC Arena and stakes his claim to the 34 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:34.719 Hog World championship. So that'll be a story for Andrade 35 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:37.719 to tell as far as his status goes. But this, 36 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:39.800 I will tell you, this was something that came together 37 00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:44.240 relatively recently, and beyond that, I don't really want to 38 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:46.439 say too much more. We're very happy to have him. 39 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:48.919 He will be in action at our next New York 40 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.520 City show, which is scheduled for Friday night, February twentieth. 41 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:56.840 We had Matt and Jeff Hardy on Friday successful in 42 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:00.680 their first defense of their hog tag team titles over 43 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:04.319 the first time ever team of Zillafat two, who was 44 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:08.639 already our Crown Jewel Champion and his cousin, his fellow 45 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:13.039 Bloodline member Lance on Hawaii. With Lance turning on him 46 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.120 right when it looked like they might bring home the gold, 47 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:16.960 he kicks his cousin right in the face and then 48 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.199 spears him out of his boots. That came out of nowhere. 49 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:23.400 I'm sure that will not go unpunished. Amazing Red and 50 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:26.599 Darren Richardson, they stole the show in my opinion. I 51 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:29.599 thought their match was fantastic, not so fantastic when Darren 52 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:32.280 put his hands on me. You know, at some point, 53 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:34.680 when someone pushes you around, you got to push back. 54 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.000 It's just the way it is. I lost myself there 55 00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:40.560 for a second, turned it into a notice qualification match, 56 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.680 and it just got crazier from there. And shout out 57 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:45.719 to Marcus Mathers, you know, for stepping up at the 58 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:49.199 last minute. Matt Cardona was scheduled for a match with 59 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:53.000 Ken Broadway. He could not make it due to travel issues, 60 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:55.960 so we reached out to Mathers on God, what was 61 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:59.080 it three or four hours notice? Maybe because he was 62 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:01.479 in the opener that was going to be the opening 63 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:05.120 match and he was able to step in. So thank 64 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:07.319 you to everyone I met on Friday. Our first show 65 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:11.159 of twenty twenty six will be our Los Angeles debut. 66 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:13.360 That's going to be from the Globe Theater, which is 67 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:17.279 an iconic venue. That's on Friday night, January thirtieth, the 68 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:20.240 night before the Royal Rumble. And we got a lot 69 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.600 of other big plans coming up for next year. Meanwhile, 70 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.319 Triple A had a show last night that aired on 71 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:30.720 WWE's YouTube channel. Laparca brought a child into the ring 72 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:33.879 after the opening match who was wearing his mask, and 73 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:36.279 when he put the kid back over the guardrail into 74 00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:39.720 the front row, I don't mean he clotheslined the kid 75 00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:42.639 over the railing. He picked him up, placed him back over. 76 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.199 Just to clarify. The kid's father was also wearing a 77 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.279 Laparka mask. He took the mask off to reveal Canelo Alvarez, 78 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:52.800 which got a big pop as you would expect from 79 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.439 the crowd. Yeah, first we had Bad Bunny under a 80 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:58.360 mask at the CMLL show. Watching in the front row. 81 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:01.120 Now Canelo Alvarez is just really watching with his kid 82 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:05.279 under a mask. We had Laredo kid beating Javon Evans 83 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:09.120 and Jack Cartwheel. That was a Cruiserweight title match, and 84 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:15.000 man javan Is is everywhere, isn't he? Ross SmackDown NXT 85 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:19.079 Triple A the Wyatt Six they wrestled on the show 86 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:23.319 and lost to the Psycho Circus. One might say the 87 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:25.879 Wyatt six is a psycho circus, but this is the 88 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:30.800 Mexican psycho circus. L e Hodel Vikingo pinned Dragon Lee 89 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:35.639 after five business days? Can we talk about Booker t 90 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.160 at WrestleMania in nineteen being pinned by Triple H after 91 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:41.360 one pedigree and it took you know how many freaking 92 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:43.920 hours for the referee to come over and make the cover, 93 00:05:44.519 --> 00:05:47.319 and of course he didn't kick out, so here it 94 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:49.879 felt like five business days. This was following a ref 95 00:05:49.959 --> 00:05:56.120 bump and an assist from Omas So almost sapiens rise. 96 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.240 Omas is back in Triple A. He came down to 97 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:00.720 the ring in the middle of this match. He gave 98 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:05.040 Dragon Lee a last ride power bomb, which coming from 99 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:08.399 Omas probably felt like his last ride. I'm surprised he 100 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:11.680 didn't get a fucking nosebleed from up there. Then Vi 101 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.120 Kingo hit a six thirty cent on and he covered 102 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:18.319 dragon Lee. But Omas had to then leave the ring. 103 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:20.600 He was on the wrong side, so we had to 104 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:22.759 then walk all the way around to the other side 105 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.000 where the referee was laying, and he put the referee 106 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:28.279 back in the ring, and then Vi king Goo got 107 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.639 the pin. In this entire time, he was just covering Dragonly. 108 00:06:32.680 --> 00:06:35.240 So Omas is now aligned with Viking Go. I mean, 109 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.160 the size difference with them next to one another is comical. 110 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.079 I'm really digging heel Vikingo. You know what glimpses of 111 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:45.120 it I've seen on these Triple A shows. He's embraced it, 112 00:06:45.879 --> 00:06:48.040 you know. Wwe made a mistake in pushing him like 113 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:50.920 they did when they acquired the company, but it's it 114 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.279 has unintentionally turned him into a huge heel and it 115 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:57.600 just works. Penta was there. This was the show where 116 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:00.000 originally we were going to get a Lucha Brothers reunion 117 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:02.319 and it was going to be Penta and Ray Phoenix 118 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:07.959 taking on Dominic Mysterio and El Grande Americano. Penta seemingly 119 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:11.519 is moving along well in his shoulder rehab. I don't 120 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:14.319 expect him to be out for too much longer, but 121 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.399 he wasn't medically cleared, so we didn't get a Lucha 122 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:20.959 Brothers reunion. In this match, raymis Stereo took Penti's place, 123 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:25.199 tagging with Ray Phoenix, and they won with an assist 124 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:27.480 from Penta, who came out late in the match. But 125 00:07:27.639 --> 00:07:31.120 there may have been a casualty because I'm watching this 126 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:36.279 match and Dominic absolutely looked like he got hurt. He 127 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:38.399 absolutely looked like he got injured. It was on a 128 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:43.079 DDT spot from his deadbeat dad. He landed hard on 129 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.759 his right shoulder, and from that moment on he kept 130 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:50.040 grabbing at that shoulder, his shoulder collar bone area for 131 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:52.759 the rest of the match. Now, the match continued only 132 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:54.879 for a few more minutes, so he did other stuff. 133 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.040 It's not like that instantly took him out of the match. 134 00:07:58.120 --> 00:08:01.319 He was okay enough to do all of his remaining spots. 135 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:03.680 But you could see there was a lot of talking 136 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:06.720 going on after that with him and the referee and Ray. 137 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:10.800 He was making an effort to not use the right arm, 138 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.000 and when he left, he left with the Triple A 139 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:18.160 title over his left shoulder. But holding the Intercontinental title 140 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:21.639 in the right, you know, the right hand. So he 141 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:26.639 had given Kaiser Kaiser Americano a shove before he left 142 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:28.759 the ring to go collect his belt, so those two 143 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:31.759 may be on the outs. And then El Grande actually 144 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.000 shook hands with Ray Maisterio and Rape Phoenix. So I mean, 145 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:38.720 the guy's already a babyface in Mexico, may as well 146 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:40.440 tournament at least down there. He could be a heel 147 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:42.480 in the States. He could be a baby face in Mexico. 148 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.720 It's like Brett being a babyface everywhere else in the 149 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:49.279 world and a heel in the US. But yea, as 150 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.759 far as Dom is concerned, man, I mean, they just 151 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.799 got Live Morgan back from a shoulder injury. She was 152 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:57.519 gone for months. The last thing they need is for 153 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.600 Dom to dip out with a shoulder injury. And the 154 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:04.559 guy's got two belts. We're heading into WrestleMania season and 155 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.279 the guy's got two belts and he's part of all 156 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:12.080 this storytelling that's involved with the judgment day. So anyway, 157 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:14.519 that'll be something to watch for. Hopefully it's not anything 158 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:18.279 too serious. Everything is already taped as far as television 159 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:20.639 this week, so it wouldn't affect any of those shows, 160 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.840 but I don't know. I don't know when we're going 161 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:26.799 to see him back in the ring after this. If 162 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:28.759 you want to make a PayPal donation and support the 163 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.600 show as we wind down this year, If you want 164 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:34.240 to drop some holiday cheer on my ass, you may 165 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:36.879 do so the Solomn Monster at gmail dot com. I 166 00:09:36.919 --> 00:09:42.039 sure do appreciate it. You can also get yourself a 167 00:09:42.279 --> 00:09:45.039 wrestling nickname if you don't already have one, ten dollars 168 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:46.840 or more. I want to say thank you to the 169 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.080 Portland pop star Paul Hamilton, wishing him and everybody a 170 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:55.519 very merry Christmas, Big b Bryant, Visera, the Diamond, Dallas 171 00:09:55.639 --> 00:10:01.159 Dance Machine, Harrison's Soep, Velvet Revolver, Robert Murray, the Chicago Slayer, 172 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:05.559 Willie Eichord, night Stalker and if Alsa Far The Georgia Nightmare, 173 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:11.360 Timothy Tillis, Shooting Star Cynthia Taylor, and killshot Keith Hart. 174 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:14.279 I want to wish all of you a very happy 175 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.480 holiday and into your new year. We still have another 176 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:20.840 show left before we're done this year, but I appreciate you. 177 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:23.519 Now there's a lot I'm going to be getting into 178 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:25.720 on the show. Here. This are a lot of stuff 179 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:28.200 I'm getting into this week and a little bit later 180 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.799 on because it is that time of year. I'm just 181 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.600 going to be running through the top stories, the key 182 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:38.639 stories that went down here in twenty twenty five, and 183 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.320 then I will chime in with my awards for this year, 184 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.840 and I'm going to tie it into the Sports Illustrated 185 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.919 Awards that came out this past week and will compare 186 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.360 and contrast because there was a lot of controversy it 187 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:52.159 appears on social media around these awards that I think, 188 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:55.120 frankly is unfounded and is just fucking embarrassing. But we 189 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.600 will talk about all of that later on, But first 190 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:02.000 I have to say we had some of the best 191 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:06.000 debate in all one hundred and twenty five episodes of 192 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.600 Tuesday Night Titans this week with JD and I over 193 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.279 the finish to the John Cena Gunther match at Saturday 194 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:14.960 Night's main event. I got a ton of great feedback 195 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.360 to that, so thank you. SENA spent two hours talking 196 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:23.159 to Cody Rhodes on his podcast this week. They actually 197 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:26.080 recorded it the Monday after the match, and they talked 198 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.279 about a lot of things, but one thing that Sina 199 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:32.360 talked about was the finish and what he was trying 200 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:35.759 to go for with it, as he said in the interview, 201 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:39.720 as the artist, what it meant to him, and what 202 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:42.519 he was trying to convey. You know, once he puts 203 00:11:42.600 --> 00:11:45.960 it out there, it's going to mean different things to 204 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:49.000 different people. And as he said, it's no longer my 205 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:51.519 art when I share it with everybody, It's no longer 206 00:11:51.559 --> 00:11:54.039 my He's just he's so weird, but like, it's no 207 00:11:54.120 --> 00:11:56.200 longer my art when I share it with other people. 208 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:59.639 Hence the negative reaction to it in the building that night. 209 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:02.960 But this is that's how he summed it up for 210 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:06.120 the last five minutes. Everything I preach about story and 211 00:12:06.200 --> 00:12:09.480 drama and having a conversation with the audience. The ones 212 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:11.360 I love are in the front row. I know my 213 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:14.120 colleagues are watching on the monitor back there. We're just 214 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:17.120 in a sleeper hole, man, But we're having that conversation 215 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:20.279 with the audience as I essentially take my last breath. 216 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:24.080 I have struggled. If you think of somebody, the natural causes, scenario, 217 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:26.960 or however we picture loss in our life, all of 218 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.879 us have been through it. They struggle, They hang on 219 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:31.840 just long enough to make sure to say goodbye to 220 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:36.000 everybody that's been meaningful in their lives. And the whole 221 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:40.440 day rather was so many unbelievable, vulnerable, meaningful conversations. Then 222 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.799 you realize I've connected with everybody I love. Physically, I 223 00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:46.799 feel great. I think it's time to take that last breath. 224 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.679 And that's that. I hate to keep going back morbidly 225 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:54.440 to obituaries, but like this person died peacefully knowing that, 226 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:56.639 like man, we are in a good place. We're going 227 00:12:56.679 --> 00:12:59.480 to be great going forward. The bottom of the T 228 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:02.879 shirts as I gave everything, thank you for everything, and 229 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:08.399 in that one moment, that was that going peacefully again. 230 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:11.720 My issue with it isn't that Gunther won and John 231 00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:14.679 Cena lost. It's how it was done. He got the 232 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.120 tap out. But for me, I think Sena can convey 233 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.879 that same type of story by going peacefully in the 234 00:13:19.960 --> 00:13:23.440 hold without tapping out. You know when he threw up 235 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.200 the okay hand signal after the arm dropped twice, you 236 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:29.120 do that, You flash that smile and you drop that 237 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.639 arm slowly, staying true to your never give up mantra 238 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.320 right right up until the very end. But you still 239 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.679 accept your fate. You know you are essentially you know, 240 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:42.559 in effact you are sort of taking a step back 241 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.080 and no longer fighting as hard as you were before. 242 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:47.879 But you can again, you could still do it without 243 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:50.559 just completely throwing in the towel. To me, the way 244 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:53.480 he did it, it felt like it wasn't earned. That's 245 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:54.960 what it felt like. It felt like. You know, Gunther 246 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:57.600 got the win, and he can go around and gloat 247 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.600 that he's the guy who made John Cena give up, 248 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:02.440 but it just didn't feel like it was fully earned. 249 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.159 So yeah, he'll go around and talk about how he 250 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:08.840 made Scena tap out like a little bitch. But if 251 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.240 Sena chose to tap out with a smile on his face, 252 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:14.200 you know what, it wasn't really earned the way that 253 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:16.840 it could have been. It's an empty brag. He'll still 254 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:19.399 get plenty of heat for beating John Cena regardless as 255 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.960 he did on Monday. You know, get that heat, Get 256 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.639 that heat and make some money off of it. But 257 00:14:24.679 --> 00:14:27.200 no matter how many movie analogies people come up with 258 00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:30.440 to try to justify it and to explain it away, 259 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.200 I did not like the finish, and the people who 260 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:36.399 didn't like it are plenty justified and feeling that way, 261 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.919 you know, Sena could have gotten his closure while also 262 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.639 giving the fans some closure, you know, and giving them 263 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:47.360 something to feel good about through whatever sadness or disappointment 264 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:50.840 that they may have had given that he lost. I 265 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.000 think that that tells a great story too, And it 266 00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:56.639 doesn't radically alter the level of heat that Gunther has 267 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.200 coming out of this, and he did have a lot 268 00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:02.200 of it on Monday. You know, it wasn't Roman Rains 269 00:15:02.279 --> 00:15:04.559 levels of heat the way that he had after WrestleMania 270 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:06.840 when he beat the Undertaker, but you know, he still 271 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.320 got plenty of it, and they even did a tease 272 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.799 for a future match with Gunther and aj Styles. When 273 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:14.720 he left the building, everybody was giving him the stink 274 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:17.200 eye right he came out, did his his stick, his 275 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:19.360 promo in the ring. He wasn't out there for very long. 276 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:22.720 And he's leaving. He's going through the back and everybody's 277 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.600 staring at him and giving him the side eye. And 278 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:27.559 Adam Pierce comes up to him, I hope you're happy 279 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:30.840 with yourself. You can leave now. So he's leaving the 280 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:36.799 building and AJ Styles is leaning up against Gunther's rental car, 281 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:39.600 so he got a little stare down before Gunther got 282 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:41.559 in the car and he drove off, but not before 283 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.120 rolling down his window to do that. You can't see 284 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:48.120 me gesture and he's laughing like a cartoon villain, and 285 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:51.519 then he drove off. That was great. I don't know 286 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.000 if AJ is planning to work the whole year next year. 287 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:56.000 He may need to extend his contract if he's going 288 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.279 to do that, or if he's only working through WrestleMania 289 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:01.919 and then hanging up the boots. But Gunther against AJ 290 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.799 is the natural match, so they can give him another 291 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.720 big name to brag about retiring. But I just want 292 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:10.120 to see the match. You know. It's the match that 293 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:14.799 they haven't done. Where I don't think he needs it 294 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:16.879 is when you get into a name like Brock Lesnar. 295 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:20.320 Cause Sina hinted recently that Lesner may be retiring in Minnesota, 296 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.799 and Minnesota is where Summerslim is next year. You know, 297 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:27.120 if Brock even has a proper retirement match, I mean, Sena, 298 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:32.080 I absolutely believe John Cena will never wrestle again. Brock Lesner, 299 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:34.840 I am a lot less sure of. I think if 300 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:37.320 the payday is big enough and they wanted him to work, 301 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:39.639 let's say a Mania match or a Saudi Arabia match, 302 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:42.600 he would do it. I don't get the impression that 303 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:44.919 Brock is big on Oh I need my closure. I 304 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:46.759 got to have a retirement tour. I gotta have a 305 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.679 retirement match, and they're going to have a whole like 306 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:51.759 celebrate like you're not going to get that. I don't 307 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:53.720 think with Brock Lesner, I don't think he gives a shit. 308 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:57.720 He's all about the payday. He's all about business. If 309 00:16:57.720 --> 00:16:59.879 there's business to be done and physically he feels like 310 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:01.200 he can do it, then what the fuck is he 311 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:05.240 going to retire for? He already missed two years. He 312 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:08.400 got paid the entire time, by the way, but he 313 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:10.400 already missed two years. They just brought him back. You 314 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:13.839 think he's itching to leave, But let's say he does. 315 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:16.079 Let's say he wrestles one last match at Summer Slim 316 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:19.160 next year. Gunther does not need to be the man 317 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:22.960 to retire him. Do the match next year if you 318 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:25.319 want to, you know you want to do Gunther in Brock, fine, 319 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:28.160 do it at media, but when it comes time for 320 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:31.480 Brock to lose, it would be much more valuable to 321 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:34.799 give that honor to someone like Bron breaker or Oba. 322 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.480 Femi Oba would have to already be on the main 323 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:42.039 roster and at least semi established, and that hasn't happened yet, 324 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:45.480 but it should be. One of those two doesn't need 325 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:48.480 to be Gunther now. For Gunther, it's on them now 326 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:50.920 to treat him the way they treat Brock. He needs 327 00:17:50.920 --> 00:17:54.400 to be leveled up so that you know he retired Sena. 328 00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:56.480 He's got to be used as more of a special 329 00:17:56.480 --> 00:17:58.640 attraction when he's on the show. He shouldn't be on 330 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:00.680 the show every week or anything, say make him a 331 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:02.799 part timer, but they need to book him in a 332 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:05.920 way where people see him similar to how they saw 333 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:10.359 Brock for the last decade. And when he finally loses again, 334 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:12.799 and maybe he doesn't even lose next year, but when 335 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.440 he finally loses again, it should really mean something because, 336 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:17.119 I mean, this is a guy who lost to Sammy's 337 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:20.240 Ain't at WrestleMania, he lost to Cody Rhodes, he tapped 338 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.279 out to fucking Jay usso who's back in the tag 339 00:18:23.319 --> 00:18:26.160 team division. Now he got beat by Siam Punk at 340 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:30.279 Summer Slim. It should be a long while yet before 341 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:36.319 Gunther loses another match. Meanwhile, you got one fan and 342 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:39.920 I put that in quotation. Marks here fan who tried 343 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:42.839 to cash in on seeing his retirement with a very 344 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:46.559 unusual item. On eBay this week, there was a listing 345 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:49.079 that popped up, and it wasn't up for very long 346 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:52.759 it was. It was pulled very shortly thereafter, but there 347 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:55.839 was a listing from a user named Robbie Thompson, who 348 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.680 does have a one hundred percent positive cellar rating on 349 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:03.960 even But it was featuring a photo of a plastic 350 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:09.200 ziplock bag with the label crisp air from John Cena's 351 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:14.279 last match at WWE Saturday Night's main event. Yes, they 352 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:18.240 were selling air from the show and the asking price 353 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:23.680 a mere seventeen hundred dollars, and the person included two 354 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:26.480 photos to verify its authenticity that it was in fact 355 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:29.759 air collected from the Capitol One Arena in Washington, DC. 356 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:32.720 I thought it was bad when someone bought a piece 357 00:19:32.759 --> 00:19:36.119 of chewed gum from Britney Spears for fourteen thousand dollars 358 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:40.119 seventeen hundred dollars for the stench of defeat and the 359 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:43.240 stench of nineteen thousand wrestling fans. I think that tops that. 360 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.359 I think it clears the Bar. I mean, look, I 361 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:49.039 know there are a lot of fans out there that 362 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:52.279 are oxygen deprived. I've seen them on social media. They 363 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:54.480 could use the air, but it's gonna take a lot 364 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.640 more than what's in that plastic bag to help those people. 365 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:00.400 What else did Sena talk about in the interview with Cody. 366 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:03.480 He confirm what I've been telling you all along. The 367 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:06.480 heel turn at Elimination Chamber was just done for a 368 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:10.240 viral moment. There was never any real story attached to it. 369 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:12.119 I mean, you could see it with your own two 370 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:14.240 eyes if you just watch the product this year. But 371 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:16.319 I know a lot of you have tuned out of 372 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:19.119 the product. This is what he said in February. They 373 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:21.519 just wanted to make a moment. I get it. The 374 00:20:21.559 --> 00:20:24.880 business is about making moments. There's nothing wrong with that. 375 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:27.680 You don't always have to have a nine month trajectory. 376 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:30.640 You can understand that, Like, Yo, we've got a ton 377 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:34.480 of eyes on us tonight. Let's do something impactful and 378 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:37.000 then you as artists can run through the maize and 379 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:44.279 figure it out. So basically, shoot first, ask questions later. 380 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:48.839 That usually doesn't work out too well. He makes it 381 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:52.279 almost sound like this is just any other storyline, any 382 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.720 other star. Sure, there are times where you may want 383 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:58.319 to pivot, you may have this great idea that pops 384 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:01.039 into your head or something. Though was again, this was 385 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:03.559 a little bit different. This is something that they knew 386 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:06.759 was coming for months, and they had one shot to 387 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:09.480 make it right. And it's as if they treated it 388 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:14.039 like any weekly storyline, Like you can't compare this to 389 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:18.680 any typical wrestling story on a wrestling show, he said. 390 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.279 He told the WWE creative team, I'll do whatever the 391 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:24.480 fuck you guys want. Just stay on the face longer 392 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:28.799 than you think it's gonna feel weird. Just stay. That's 393 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:31.200 in reference to them keeping the camera on his face 394 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:34.440 so that he could sell the turn an elimination chamber 395 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.400 without having to say a word. But there you have it. 396 00:21:37.440 --> 00:21:39.079 One of the biggest stars in the history of the 397 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:42.519 business and certainly in the company, in the middle of 398 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:45.240 his farewell tour, and they decide to blow the whole 399 00:21:45.240 --> 00:21:49.599 thing up because Ari Emanuel called Dwayne and said, hey, 400 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:53.160 we need you. These tickets aren't selling as quickly as 401 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:57.119 we'd like. You know, if Ari doesn't make that phone call, 402 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:00.319 it's crazy to think. We probably don't get that heel turn. 403 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:03.400 I mean, we can't say for sure one hundred percent, 404 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:05.559 but it's very likely. You know, the wheels are not 405 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:08.119 set in motion for Rock and Triple Ah and all 406 00:22:08.119 --> 00:22:11.000 of them to embrace this whole idea to begin with. 407 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.440 For a company that loves to talk about story, they 408 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:18.599 talk about story a lot. They seem to be more 409 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.160 in love with the moments than the story itself. They 410 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:24.160 seem to be more in favor of the moments, even 411 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:28.519 sometimes at the expense of the story. Tell the right 412 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:31.359 stories with the right people, and the moments will come naturally. 413 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:34.839 But if there was one person I would have thought 414 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:37.839 would be immune to this knee jerk shit, it would 415 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:41.640 have been seen. But apparently not. So. He added this 416 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:46.279 when it came to fans being critical of the retirement 417 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:49.200 tour because of the Rock and Travis Scott not being 418 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:51.599 around for the follow up of the Turn. Now, mind you, 419 00:22:51.640 --> 00:22:53.759 I couldn't care less about Travis Scott being there for 420 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:55.279 the follow up. He never should have been there to 421 00:22:55.319 --> 00:22:57.720 begin with. And I say that as someone who didn't 422 00:22:57.720 --> 00:22:59.440 even mind him being in the ring that night when 423 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:02.279 it happened. You know, he's a big star. They wanted 424 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:04.039 a celebrity to be in the ring with them for 425 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:07.720 it in the background. Fine, I had little need to 426 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:11.319 see Travis Scott actually wrestling. But it wasn't about him. 427 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:14.599 It was about the Rock. It was about Rock attaching 428 00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:17.240 himself to the story with the soul stuff and doing 429 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:20.440 something with Cina, you know. So he decided here in 430 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:23.480 this interview to take a walk down what he called 431 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:28.519 hypothetical street. He told Cody, let's say everyone who showed 432 00:23:28.599 --> 00:23:32.319 up at the Chamber is active until August. That robs 433 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.759 us of John Cena, Randy Orton, That robs us of 434 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:40.599 John Cena, cm Punk, John Cena, Ron Cena, John Cena, 435 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:43.960 AJ Styles, John Cena, Logan, Paul Me and you for 436 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.359 the last one, Mono Amano. So yes, the story that 437 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:50.960 might have been might have had star power and gravity 438 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:53.519 and who knows what. But what we got by just 439 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:56.720 being like these are the pieces left. What we got 440 00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:00.000 for me personally was beautiful. I'm not trying to change anybody, 441 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:02.880 but he's mind. I've released art into the world. They 442 00:24:02.920 --> 00:24:04.839 can think what they want about it. I'm just also 443 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:08.039 saying that, like, is it a wise investment in time? 444 00:24:08.119 --> 00:24:11.599 And what I've learned about like credible wrestling critiques. Of 445 00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:14.680 course it is because you want chatter and clickbait. But 446 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:16.960 let's analyze what happened. I was in the ring with you, 447 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:19.599 I was in the ring with Randy and Punk and 448 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:23.319 Ron Sena Logan, Paul aj Styles. It was really loud. 449 00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:26.839 So judging by the wise man Sean Michaels, does that 450 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:30.400 mean we did okay? Sometimes all these hypothetical things, let's 451 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:32.559 just figure out what it is, why we're doing it, 452 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:35.319 and climb that hill in front of you, because it's 453 00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:38.839 going to change. I have no idea what he's talking 454 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.640 about when he's saying that. You know, if these guys 455 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:44.599 are around, we're not getting all of these different matches. 456 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:46.799 If Rock and Travis Scott are active in this story 457 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:50.279 through SummerSlam, why does that have to rob us of 458 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:54.319 getting John Cena against Randy Orton, or John Cena against 459 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:59.160 CM Punk or AJ Styles or the rematch with Cody, which, 460 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:02.680 of course that was always going to happen. You know, 461 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:05.640 is it possible if one of those guys sticks around, 462 00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:07.960 one of maybe one of those matches ends up not 463 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:10.480 happening and they go a different way. It's sure. I 464 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:14.480 suppose it's possible. But do you honestly believe that even 465 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:16.839 if those guys were around, we were not going to 466 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:20.240 get one last John Seena Randy Orton match, that we 467 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.599 were not going to get one last John Cena CM 468 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:27.799 punk match. If Rock was actually around for some TV appearances, 469 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.759 it would have enhanced it because think about what Rock 470 00:25:30.839 --> 00:25:33.839 said or Punk rather coming out of WrestleMania looking into 471 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:37.799 the camera calling Dwayne a bald fraud like. If anything, 472 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:40.319 it would have enhanced the build up to the fucking match. 473 00:25:40.880 --> 00:25:42.319 I don't know why he thinks that, Well, you know, 474 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:44.319 if these guys were around, we would have been robbed 475 00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:48.079 of all of these matches. No, we wouldn't have. I mean, 476 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:51.400 he's doing a lot of heavy lifting with that quote. 477 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:53.599 But you know, again, this is Scena being seen, that 478 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:55.759 this is seen of being as diplomatic about the whole 479 00:25:55.759 --> 00:25:59.000 thing as he can possibly be. I don't believe that 480 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:03.839 he believed that. I don't. I think there's a lot 481 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:06.759 of good stuff from this interview with Cody, a lot 482 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:09.799 of knowledge being dropped in cool little anecdotes that they shared. 483 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:13.319 But I also don't believe that he believes some of 484 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:15.160 the stuff that comes out of his mouth when he 485 00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:18.119 answers these questions. I think he's trying to put lipstick 486 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:21.400 on a pig, and you can do that. But at 487 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:23.160 the end of the day, no matter how much lipstick 488 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.559 you lather on and what color it may be, it's 489 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:29.839 still a pig. You know. Sina may have retired from wrestling, 490 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:31.720 but he's got a new career waiting for him as 491 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:35.599 a contortionist with some of these answers. Of course they 492 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:37.279 were going to do one more match with some of 493 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.240 these people. They were musts. From the minute he announced 494 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:43.240 his retirement and money in the bank, people are like, oh, 495 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:44.680 we got to get Seena and Punk, we got to 496 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.559 get Sena and Norton. He was going to have to 497 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.799 defend his title against someone in those six months. Does 498 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:54.200 he say that he wouldn't have wrestled in those six months. 499 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:57.720 I'm just I'm not following the logic there. Cody also 500 00:26:57.720 --> 00:26:59.440 put him on the spot and asked him about his 501 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.920 favorite match, because Sina used to always say, when he 502 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.880 would be asked that question, what's your favorite match, my 503 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:11.640 next one, which again that's just such a John scene 504 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:14.880 a way of answering that question. So now he's retired 505 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.240 and sa he can hear him asking the question. He 506 00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:21.319 knows where he's going, and he's like, you son of 507 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:24.319 a bitch. Good on Cody for thinking to ask it now, right, 508 00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:27.240 he says, all right, so you're retired now, there is 509 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.039 no more next match. So let's see what his answer is. 510 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:34.440 So first he runs through the highlights that fans would expect. Oh, 511 00:27:34.519 --> 00:27:38.039 I could say winning my first championship. I could say 512 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:42.599 capturing my sixteenth and my seventeenth world titles. I can 513 00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:45.960 mention stepping into the ring with the Rock or the Firefly, 514 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:50.000 funhouse match, all of these things. But no, you would 515 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.079 be wrong, he said, I can't get past Phil Brooks, 516 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:58.759 c I'm Punk, Saudi Arabia. That might be my favorite 517 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:03.559 moment in wrestling. I thought that was going to a 518 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:07.480 totally different place when he mentioned Punk. Then he mentioned Saudi, 519 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:10.559 and I'm thinking, really, I'm like, all right, Well, maybe 520 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.920 for him it was, you know, the experience of being 521 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:15.920 back in the ring with him at all, which a 522 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:18.079 couple of years ago would have seemed impossible. Maybe that 523 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:20.000 is his favorite match, right, Maybe that is one of 524 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:22.359 his favorite moments in wrestling. Standing across the ring one 525 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:25.599 last time from CM Punk and Saudi and they didn't 526 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:28.200 have a bad match, couldn't hold a candle to their 527 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.599 earlier matches, but you know, they still had what I 528 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:33.319 thought was a good match. And Cody is like, oh, okay, 529 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:37.400 you mean the match itself, and Seenas says no, and 530 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:41.880 Cody goes no the promo because they had an n 531 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:44.240 ring promo on Smackdom that was the one where Punk 532 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.440 dressed up as the Doctor of the Doctor of Punkinomics. 533 00:28:47.880 --> 00:28:50.240 But you can see like Cody is like, oh, so 534 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:54.319 you mean the promo and Seena says no. The pre 535 00:28:54.480 --> 00:29:01.319 show and Cody's reaction was like the pre show. I 536 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:04.480 think Cody's reaction was everyone's reaction because the pre show, 537 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:09.720 he said, it wasn't the match in Saudi that stayed 538 00:29:09.720 --> 00:29:12.319 with him. It was the pre show segment where Punk 539 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:16.119 publicly apologized to a Saudi fan in the front row. 540 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:19.559 That was for his tweet to the Miz back in 541 00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:21.960 twenty nineteen where he told him to go suck a 542 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:27.759 blood covered dick in Saudi Arabia, you fucking dork his words. 543 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:31.319 He was also now Punk was also on the show 544 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:33.880 Pardon My Take that year and when they asked him 545 00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:36.960 about working a Saudi show, one day he said, I'm 546 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:39.200 not going to do a single one of those, right, 547 00:29:39.359 --> 00:29:41.799 so we know what his position was six years ago. 548 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:45.960 But then WWE went and they pulled the ultimate rib 549 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:50.480 on Cmpunk. They booked the championship match with him and 550 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:54.640 John Cena for Saudi Arabia at Night of champions and 551 00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:58.079 so on the pre show, he was being booed by 552 00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:02.279 a lot of people, including this one guy, Mohammad, who 553 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:04.480 was up in front. He was very upset with Punk 554 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:08.559 and he apologized and he said that when I said that, 555 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.519 I was just crabby. He goes, I have no issue 556 00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:15.480 with the people of Saudi Arabia, and they all cheered him. 557 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:20.079 It's like a switch got flipped. It was that easy. Apparently, 558 00:30:20.160 --> 00:30:25.640 this moment moved Seena so much that he now considers 559 00:30:25.680 --> 00:30:32.000 it his favorite moment in wrestling of all time. He said, 560 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:34.440 it wasn't the match, it was the pre show promo. 561 00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:36.440 I was lucky enough to have a promo with him 562 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:39.519 that night and a match, So I'm attaching myself to 563 00:30:39.559 --> 00:30:41.240 that moment because I think it's one of the best 564 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:44.400 moments in wrestling. There is no shortage of divide. You 565 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:47.160 had someone who in a moment of frustration and reaction, 566 00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:51.160 said some pretty hateful things about a culture, and then 567 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:53.680 you have that culture being like, fuck you, not in 568 00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:56.720 our house. Then you have a man who's brave enough 569 00:30:56.759 --> 00:30:59.960 to walk into the lions. Then, and in the right moment, 570 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:02.960 Phil was accountable for what he said. He gave a 571 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:06.079 good explanation for the why and what can we do 572 00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:09.720 after that? I'm sorry, and then you leave it. That's 573 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:12.559 all you can do. Forgiveness takes time, but that gentleman 574 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:17.000 forgave him and broke the ice. The forgiveness was infectious. 575 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:20.480 So what I saw was holy shit. Wrestling just brought 576 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:24.920 cultures together. Wrestling just brought people with different ideologies together 577 00:31:25.200 --> 00:31:28.480 in an embrace and excitement. Phil went out there and 578 00:31:28.519 --> 00:31:30.680 they forgave him. I don't know if there's a better 579 00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:35.160 moment than that. I love growth, I love accountability. I'm 580 00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:37.680 an advocate for love and forgiveness. And that hit me 581 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:40.759 in every right place. And that wasn't even a match. 582 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:45.519 That was a segment on a pre show boy that 583 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:49.079 Taiwan flat with China really had an impact on him, 584 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:53.279 didn't it. I mean, look, it is certainly his opinion 585 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.759 and he is entitled to it, but wow, I don't 586 00:31:57.799 --> 00:31:59.920 even know what else to say to that. I just 587 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.880 I think it speaks for itself. That's his answer. Now. 588 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:09.039 One article on Bleacher Report gave seen as retirement toor 589 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:13.599 and F grade. I think that's a little extreme. If 590 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:15.279 we didn't get some of the matches that we did 591 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:17.920 late in his run, after they flipped him back babyface, 592 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:20.519 then I would agree. But yeah, the match with Cody 593 00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:24.279 at SummerSlam, the Crown Jewel match with aj Styles, you know, 594 00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:27.240 even the match with Guntherro up until the finish, I 595 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:30.599 would bump it up to a D. I can't go 596 00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:33.799 higher than that. I wouldn't give it an F, but 597 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:36.759 to me, a D sounds about right. The heel run 598 00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:38.960 really ruined what could have been a great story, you know, 599 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:41.640 had they cared enough to tell a real story throughout 600 00:32:41.640 --> 00:32:44.599 the year instead of just piecing things together as they 601 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:47.880 went along. Like it's not The Invasion or anything from 602 00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:50.200 two thousand and one, but the scene of retirement run 603 00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:54.680 is one of the company's all time creative blunders. Like 604 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:56.759 they won't see it that way because they made a 605 00:32:56.799 --> 00:32:58.720 ton of money on t shirts and they sold a 606 00:32:58.759 --> 00:33:00.759 lot of tickets, which of course they were going to 607 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:05.240 anyway because it's seen as farewell. It's the easiest money 608 00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:08.680 this company will ever make, so business wise it was 609 00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:12.079 a huge success for them. By every other measure, it 610 00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:17.119 was a massive disappointment. Now looking at TV this week, 611 00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:21.480 everything from Friday SmackDown on through this week shows is 612 00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:23.599 tape for the holidays. I'm not going to get into 613 00:33:23.599 --> 00:33:26.880 any spoilers here for those shows, I'll wait to watch 614 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:29.640 them myself. The one thing I do know, I know 615 00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:33.119 the stipulation and the date for the Cody Roach Drew 616 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:37.759 MacIntyre match for the WWE Championship. I will not get 617 00:33:37.799 --> 00:33:39.400 into what it is. I will just say that it 618 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:42.799 is not January twod so we will find out what 619 00:33:42.839 --> 00:33:45.000 that is on the show this upcoming Friday. That's the 620 00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:50.759 day after Christmas. I watched SmackDown on Saturday morning because 621 00:33:50.759 --> 00:33:52.720 I was at the House of Glory show on Friday night. 622 00:33:53.480 --> 00:33:56.599 So just real quick here, Cody cut an impassion promo 623 00:33:56.960 --> 00:33:59.319 in the ring on Friday on General manager Nick All 624 00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:01.720 this reminding all this of who the hell he is, 625 00:34:02.599 --> 00:34:05.240 and he's going through his resume and all of his accomplishments, 626 00:34:05.240 --> 00:34:09.559 and he tells all this, don't forget you work for me. Yeah, 627 00:34:09.599 --> 00:34:11.639 he keeps talking to his boss like that. All this 628 00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:14.320 is liable to screw him out of that championship. In 629 00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:18.840 that match with Drew Alistair Black, he put Damian Prieste 630 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:21.920 through a table with a meteora, not in a match, 631 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:25.360 but Priest was interrupted by Zelena Vega during the opening 632 00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:28.159 segment and then Black attack from behind. So it all 633 00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:31.280 ended with Priest being put through a table and then 634 00:34:31.360 --> 00:34:34.719 he attacked Priest again backstage after a Black mass kick 635 00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:38.960 or with a Black mass kick. So this feud must continue. 636 00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:43.159 Why I don't know, but it must. I mean, where 637 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:45.239 do you go after you do Last man Standing? That's 638 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:47.800 the question I've had this entire time. We got a 639 00:34:47.880 --> 00:34:51.320 Last man Standing match months ago between these two. Where 640 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:54.079 do you go from there? Helen a cell? This feud 641 00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:55.880 is not worthy of a Hell in a Cell match. 642 00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:00.000 If they do a cage match, I mean I guess 643 00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:02.199 they could do is they could just have Priests casually 644 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:04.360 walk through the door again when he leaves, but only 645 00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:07.039 if they get Jesse Ventura back on commentary. That would 646 00:35:07.079 --> 00:35:08.199 make it all worth it. You want to do a 647 00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:10.519 cage match with Damian Priest, make sure you get Jesse 648 00:35:10.639 --> 00:35:13.400 Venturer back on commentary and let him walk through the 649 00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:18.920 door again and watch the magic unfold. Speaking of Damian Priest, 650 00:35:19.519 --> 00:35:22.599 he appeared as a guest on actor Nick Taturo show, 651 00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:28.280 Delivering Happiness. That's what I do on this show every week. 652 00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.039 I deliver happiness to all of you. That was actually 653 00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:33.159 the original name of the sound off before I change it. 654 00:35:33.159 --> 00:35:36.159 I bet you didn't know that. So he shed some 655 00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:38.519 light on why he hasn't made as many appearances in 656 00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:41.320 the ring this year, citing injuries and the company's desire 657 00:35:41.400 --> 00:35:45.199 to protect him from himself. Said, this past year, I've 658 00:35:45.239 --> 00:35:47.719 taken a step back, been banged up a little bit, 659 00:35:47.800 --> 00:35:49.679 kind of giving the bones and the joints and the 660 00:35:49.719 --> 00:35:52.239 ligaments and everything in between a little bit of a break. 661 00:35:53.840 --> 00:35:57.360 Same the company now this year decided let's take it 662 00:35:57.400 --> 00:35:59.880 easy on him because I've been going hard for a while. 663 00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:02.440 Tore my shoulder a couple of times within the last 664 00:36:02.519 --> 00:36:04.599 year and a half, my knees are banged up. My 665 00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:07.239 back is if I need a lot of work done, 666 00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:09.679 but I choose to not because if I don't have to, 667 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:13.000 I won't. I'll just figure it out. Let's do rehab 668 00:36:13.000 --> 00:36:15.000 and just keep me in the game coach type of thing. 669 00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:18.119 This year. I think the company was like, we're happy 670 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:19.880 with you, but we need to make sure that you're 671 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:22.519 going to last year. So they've been forcing me to 672 00:36:22.519 --> 00:36:25.000 take it easy. Let's put it that way. Not the 673 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:26.639 easiest thing to do when you want to just go 674 00:36:26.679 --> 00:36:29.000 out there and perform because you love what you do. 675 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:32.639 He has definitely taken more of a back seat this year. 676 00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:37.000 He wrestled one hundred matches in twenty twenty three. Last year, 677 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:40.519 he works seventy six matches. This year he only wrestled 678 00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:46.119 twenty four times. That is a steep drop off, and 679 00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:48.760 good on WWE for looking out for the guy and 680 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:51.280 forcing him to take a back seat if they feel 681 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:53.639 like it's better for his health in the long run, 682 00:36:54.280 --> 00:36:56.400 better for his hell them, better for WWI to get 683 00:36:56.440 --> 00:36:58.880 a more productive output from him. If he's not as 684 00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:01.599 banged up. That is still the issue, of course, of 685 00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:04.960 him not being over on SmackDown or as over as 686 00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:06.719 he was on raw. That's something that has to be 687 00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:10.480 addressed next year. Whether he works twenty four dates or 688 00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:13.400 two hundred and twenty four dates. You got to get 689 00:37:13.400 --> 00:37:16.880 the creative to back him up that will give him 690 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:20.079 the best chance of getting over at the level that 691 00:37:20.119 --> 00:37:22.320 he was at on Monday Nights. He just hasn't been 692 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:26.519 able to replicate that on SmackDown. Also on the show 693 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:29.880 with him and Nick Tto, the two of them talked 694 00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:32.199 about not knowing they were related to each other until 695 00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:35.719 they attended a New York Yankees game together. Toturo said, 696 00:37:35.719 --> 00:37:38.840 this is actually my nephew. We didn't know. We had 697 00:37:38.840 --> 00:37:41.360 to do some research. That was a good night. The 698 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:44.119 Yankees won that night, we didn't get swept, and then 699 00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:47.880 you had to get on a plane to Saudi Arabia, 700 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.679 you know. Nick Tatero was one of the celebrity guests 701 00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:54.679 at WrestleMania eleven. He did the guest ring announcing for 702 00:37:54.719 --> 00:37:58.559 the title match between Shawn Michaels and Diesel. He played 703 00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:02.199 Officer Martinez on ENDPD Blue. NYPD Blue was big back 704 00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:06.079 in the nineties. Funny enough, I only started watching the 705 00:38:06.119 --> 00:38:09.000 show this year. It was one of those shows, like 706 00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:10.920 The West Wing was another one of those shows I 707 00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:14.159 just never watched it. It got tons of praise and 708 00:38:14.199 --> 00:38:17.440 awards and stuff. I never watched it. So like last year, 709 00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:20.599 I finally got around to watching all the ten seasons 710 00:38:20.599 --> 00:38:23.199 whatever it was, and It's one of the greatest shows 711 00:38:23.239 --> 00:38:25.239 I've ever seen. So I'm like, you know what I 712 00:38:25.239 --> 00:38:27.679 need to watch. I need to start watching NYPD Blue. 713 00:38:27.880 --> 00:38:29.320 I don't know why I never watched it in the 714 00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:32.360 first place, Like I watched Law and Order in the past, 715 00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:35.280 and like The Shield is one of my favorite shows, 716 00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:38.119 and I'm like, how did I miss this one? So 717 00:38:38.199 --> 00:38:41.360 I actually started watching it for the first time. So, 718 00:38:41.920 --> 00:38:43.440 you know, back then, I had no idea who this 719 00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:46.519 guy was. When he came out of WrestleMania, I knew 720 00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:48.920 who Jonathan Taylor Thomas was. He was also at that 721 00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:50.880 wrestle media. I knew him because I used to watch 722 00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:54.039 Home Improvement, but I had no idea who Nick was. 723 00:38:54.079 --> 00:38:55.599 And now I look at him, I go, oh, it's 724 00:38:55.760 --> 00:39:02.320 Officer Martinez. Julia beat Alba Fire in a match between 725 00:39:02.639 --> 00:39:05.840 two heels where the crowd mostly sat on their hands. 726 00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:09.280 It's just, it's said, if I had to sum up 727 00:39:09.280 --> 00:39:12.920 what watching Julia is like on those rare occasions when 728 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:16.679 we see her on SmackDown, said, that's the word I 729 00:39:16.679 --> 00:39:20.559 think of. She's drowning out there. Like the pairing with 730 00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:23.920 Keana James has been an abject failure. It has not 731 00:39:24.039 --> 00:39:26.519 gotten either of them over any more than they already 732 00:39:26.519 --> 00:39:30.239 were before, which wasn't much to begin with. They just 733 00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:33.559 need a hard reset for her, and I've suggested a 734 00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:36.360 move to RAW. I mean, as much as SmackDown needs 735 00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:39.559 more women in that division, not less, I think she 736 00:39:39.639 --> 00:39:41.480 would do better working with some of the women they 737 00:39:41.519 --> 00:39:45.199 have on Mondays, and then to sort of replace her, 738 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:47.719 they should be calling up some women anyway from NXT. 739 00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:49.800 So that's what I would do. I would get Julia 740 00:39:49.880 --> 00:39:53.199 the fuck off this show, move her to Monday, maybe 741 00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:55.000 even pair her up with some of the women there, 742 00:39:55.800 --> 00:39:57.920 you know, as a heel, because eventually she'll end up 743 00:39:57.960 --> 00:39:59.840 as a baby face. But I have no issue with 744 00:39:59.880 --> 00:40:04.039 her being a heal. But she just needs a change 745 00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:08.360 of scenery. She needs a change of something. Joe Henry 746 00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:11.599 is going to be wrestling the Miz on SmackDown this Friday. 747 00:40:11.599 --> 00:40:15.920 If you're upset about this, stop just stop. It's a 748 00:40:15.960 --> 00:40:19.480 fine first feud for Henri. Miss is the gatekeeper for 749 00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:22.360 that show. And if this is a full time call 750 00:40:22.440 --> 00:40:24.000 up for Joe, I don't know if it is. If 751 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:25.960 it is, though, then good for him. You know he's 752 00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:28.760 worked hard to get there. As long as they keep 753 00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:31.320 the feud brief. I don't have an issue with it. Now. 754 00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:34.280 If three months from now Joe Hendry is still working 755 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:37.239 with the Miz, you know, I may have a different opinion, 756 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:42.639 but otherwise I have no issue with this and the 757 00:40:42.639 --> 00:40:47.039 Wyatt Six. They wrestled j C. Matteo and Tongaala of 758 00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:51.480 the MFTs on Friday. That was the main event of 759 00:40:51.599 --> 00:40:53.960 the show. I watched the match on fast forward and 760 00:40:54.000 --> 00:40:58.840 I was still bored. That was SmackDown not much of 761 00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:02.280 a show. Now, going back to Raw last Monday, outside 762 00:41:02.280 --> 00:41:04.760 of the gunther Heat segment that opened things up, and 763 00:41:04.840 --> 00:41:07.639 there was also a great CM Punk promo in there. 764 00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:11.840 Outside of that, there wasn't much else to get excited about. 765 00:41:12.039 --> 00:41:15.400 You know how disposable cameras used to be a big thing. 766 00:41:16.119 --> 00:41:21.840 These are disposable shows. That's how I would describe them. Now. 767 00:41:21.880 --> 00:41:24.039 We did get the Mystery Man reveal at the end 768 00:41:24.039 --> 00:41:25.840 of the show, which surprised me. I figured they were 769 00:41:25.880 --> 00:41:28.079 going to wait on that until January fifth, when Punk 770 00:41:28.079 --> 00:41:31.440 and bron Breaker have their championship match. But on Monday, 771 00:41:31.480 --> 00:41:34.320 the Mystery Man in Black struck again. He helped Logan 772 00:41:34.400 --> 00:41:37.719 Paul beat Ray Mysterio. Then CM Punk ran out with 773 00:41:37.760 --> 00:41:40.480 a chair, and so the mass Man high tailed it 774 00:41:40.519 --> 00:41:44.280 into the crowd before pulling off his mask to reveal Austin. 775 00:41:44.559 --> 00:41:49.480 Theory kind of gives it's me Austin. It was me 776 00:41:49.599 --> 00:41:52.639 all along a different kind of meaning, doesn't it. That's 777 00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:56.760 two angles that sucked the greater Power and the mystery 778 00:41:56.800 --> 00:42:01.480 man Angle. Theory has a shaved head. I mean, otherwise 779 00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:04.400 he looks the same, but the hair is the biggest difference. 780 00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:07.440 He never actually joined with the Vision, so the question 781 00:42:07.559 --> 00:42:09.920 is still, you know, is he with them or is 782 00:42:09.920 --> 00:42:13.519 he just auditioning for a spot with them. There's even 783 00:42:13.559 --> 00:42:16.400 some fan theories out there that maybe he's secretly aligned 784 00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:20.599 with Seth Rollins and he's gonna Screwbreaker out of the 785 00:42:20.679 --> 00:42:24.800 championship when he wrestles Punk on January fifth, which would 786 00:42:24.840 --> 00:42:27.320 ignore the fact that he helped the Vision win War Games, 787 00:42:27.360 --> 00:42:31.119 by the way, So I don't think it's that, But 788 00:42:31.159 --> 00:42:33.639 I also I'm not convinced that he is necessarily the 789 00:42:33.679 --> 00:42:36.360 only mystery Man that gets revealed here. Who's to say 790 00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:38.480 that there can't be somebody else on January fifth who 791 00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:41.639 shows up under a mask, right who says Theory has 792 00:42:41.639 --> 00:42:45.519 to be the only guy so far as far as 793 00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:48.480 theory goes. Look, I hope it all works out. I 794 00:42:48.519 --> 00:42:51.679 said this on Monday. I see this as a last 795 00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:54.079 chance for him. I mean, the man won money in 796 00:42:54.119 --> 00:42:58.000 the bank years ago and cashed in for a lesser 797 00:42:58.079 --> 00:43:03.840 title and lost. He beat John Cena at WrestleMania and 798 00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:06.119 it was rendered meaningless, and then he ended up in 799 00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:09.239 a mid card comedy team. That's three years of his 800 00:43:09.320 --> 00:43:12.280 career that he can never get back. But he's still 801 00:43:12.280 --> 00:43:15.559 only twenty eight years old. That's what's crazy. He's still 802 00:43:15.559 --> 00:43:20.519 a young guy. He can still be redeemed. He just 803 00:43:20.559 --> 00:43:24.519 needs the right creative to back him up. We got 804 00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:28.159 an accidental title change on NXT this week when THEA 805 00:43:28.280 --> 00:43:32.119 Hale pinned Blake Monroe to win the NXT Women's North 806 00:43:32.119 --> 00:43:35.639 American Championship, ending Monroe's run at just fifty one days. 807 00:43:36.480 --> 00:43:40.239 Permike Johnson, a PW insider, THEA Hale winning the NXT 808 00:43:40.360 --> 00:43:43.880 North American Women's title was not the originally planned finish. 809 00:43:44.079 --> 00:43:47.599 PW Insider can confirm based on those we have spoken with. 810 00:43:47.679 --> 00:43:49.960 Monroe had the wind knocked out of her when Hale 811 00:43:50.039 --> 00:43:52.719 came off the ropes and tried to recover to get 812 00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:55.119 her shoulder up, but wasn't able to do so in time. 813 00:43:55.440 --> 00:43:57.599 Since Hale is so young, we are told she likely 814 00:43:57.639 --> 00:43:59.519 did not realize that she needed to give Blake a 815 00:43:59.559 --> 00:44:02.320 moment to catch her wind and went right for the pin. 816 00:44:02.920 --> 00:44:05.639 Since referees are instructed to call pinfalls as if they 817 00:44:05.679 --> 00:44:08.480 are legitimate, the referee had no choice but to count 818 00:44:08.519 --> 00:44:10.960 the three. Monroe did try to get her shoulder up, 819 00:44:10.960 --> 00:44:14.519 which WWE later used as a storyline point. The plan 820 00:44:14.639 --> 00:44:18.079 going in was for Monroe to win. WWE played her 821 00:44:18.199 --> 00:44:20.440 music at the finish since she was planned to win, 822 00:44:20.519 --> 00:44:24.480 and then stopped it and played Hale's music. Fightful Select 823 00:44:24.519 --> 00:44:28.000 added this. The title change caused a backstage scramble. It 824 00:44:28.039 --> 00:44:30.920 also caused issues because there were creative plans in place 825 00:44:30.920 --> 00:44:33.599 with hal not winning the championship, which is now being 826 00:44:33.599 --> 00:44:37.679 immediately changed. The championship win has also affected several people's 827 00:44:37.719 --> 00:44:40.119 creative plans that were set for the next couple of weeks. 828 00:44:40.760 --> 00:44:43.400 One NXT staff member said the botch happened at the 829 00:44:43.440 --> 00:44:46.480 worst possible time, as NXT was finishing up filming so 830 00:44:46.599 --> 00:44:49.719 talent could go home for a Christmas break. Weeks of 831 00:44:49.800 --> 00:44:52.519 creative had already been finalized and filmed, and there was 832 00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:55.039 a frantic rush to correct things that had already been 833 00:44:55.079 --> 00:44:57.800 filmed in order to make sense of them. One NXT 834 00:44:57.960 --> 00:44:59.760 higher up said this was going to cause some heavy 835 00:44:59.760 --> 00:45:03.599 shit in policy among talent, with wrestler's book being required 836 00:45:03.599 --> 00:45:07.360 to stay until the end of the tapings moving forward, 837 00:45:08.440 --> 00:45:12.039 I believe Hale left the taping early and jumped right 838 00:45:12.079 --> 00:45:14.360 on her Twitch channel to celebrate with the belt. I 839 00:45:14.440 --> 00:45:16.400 saw part of her Twitch streams she had the belt 840 00:45:16.400 --> 00:45:19.159 around her neck. I don't know who the guy was 841 00:45:19.239 --> 00:45:21.079 that was their boyfriend. I don't know who was, but 842 00:45:21.840 --> 00:45:23.880 she's got a Twitch channel and I guess she jumped 843 00:45:23.960 --> 00:45:26.679 right on there. Sean ross Sapp says that policy was 844 00:45:26.679 --> 00:45:29.760 not added because she left, but I mean it's hard 845 00:45:29.800 --> 00:45:32.280 not to put two and two together. I mean, not 846 00:45:32.360 --> 00:45:34.519 that she's got heat or anything for it, but there 847 00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:37.960 was no policy in place already for such a thing beforehand, 848 00:45:38.880 --> 00:45:41.000 right and then in light of what happened, now there is, 849 00:45:42.119 --> 00:45:44.679 so you know, that way, if something like this should 850 00:45:44.679 --> 00:45:47.119 ever happen again, they want to make sure everybody sticks 851 00:45:47.159 --> 00:45:49.280 around in case they need to rectify it. To me, 852 00:45:49.360 --> 00:45:51.559 that makes sense. I don't know why they're not required 853 00:45:51.599 --> 00:45:55.280 to stay regardless until the show is over. I mean, 854 00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:58.800 I think that should be required anyway. But it's clear 855 00:45:58.840 --> 00:46:00.639 if you watch it that Blake got the wind knocked 856 00:46:00.639 --> 00:46:02.119 out of her on the landing. I mean, if theya 857 00:46:02.119 --> 00:46:04.639 basically gave her a springboard sentin and came down on 858 00:46:04.679 --> 00:46:07.039 top of her with all of her weight. I mean, 859 00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:10.039 I know that Hail is not the biggest person, but 860 00:46:10.679 --> 00:46:13.000 it's still all of her weight coming down on someone's 861 00:46:13.079 --> 00:46:16.079 chest and she got the wind knocked out of her 862 00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:19.159 for a few seconds. Now, if you look really close, 863 00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:22.000 it looks like Blake got her shoulder up off the 864 00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:25.639 mat a little bit before the three count. But I mean, 865 00:46:25.679 --> 00:46:28.239 it wasn't overly noticeable. I don't blame the referee for 866 00:46:28.320 --> 00:46:31.039 counting three. That's that's what he should do, right. If 867 00:46:31.039 --> 00:46:32.920 someone is supposed to kick out and they don't, that's 868 00:46:32.920 --> 00:46:37.239 on them. This one, you know, it was it was debatable. 869 00:46:38.119 --> 00:46:40.639 You know, he could have stopped the count and slid 870 00:46:40.639 --> 00:46:42.960 his hand under her shoulder to kind of give her 871 00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:45.119 the out, like, oh, her shoulder came up off the mat, 872 00:46:45.159 --> 00:46:48.000 But he called it the way he saw it. I 873 00:46:48.039 --> 00:46:51.519 can't fault the guy for that. And look it happens. 874 00:46:52.159 --> 00:46:53.960 This is not the first time that there has been 875 00:46:53.960 --> 00:46:59.239 an accidental title change. Hardcore Holly, he was not supposed 876 00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:02.000 to win the Hard Corps title from Crash at WrestleMania 877 00:47:02.039 --> 00:47:05.519 two thousand. They had that Hardcore Battle Royal and he 878 00:47:05.639 --> 00:47:07.800 dropped it right back to him. On Raw the next night, 879 00:47:09.039 --> 00:47:13.400 Mickey James, she won the Women's Championship against Molina and Victoria. 880 00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:15.320 It was a triple threat match on a house show 881 00:47:15.880 --> 00:47:18.400 when Victoria was late in kicking out. That was actually 882 00:47:18.440 --> 00:47:20.559 the night after that Raw match in London where Shawn 883 00:47:20.559 --> 00:47:24.639 Michaels beat John Cena. They were on an international tour somewhere, 884 00:47:25.239 --> 00:47:27.360 so what did they do. They booked an impromptu match 885 00:47:27.440 --> 00:47:30.039 later that same night and Molina won the belt back 886 00:47:31.199 --> 00:47:34.079 all right. Kevin Owens, he was not supposed to win 887 00:47:34.119 --> 00:47:36.800 the US title from AJ Styles at that Battleground pay 888 00:47:36.840 --> 00:47:40.280 per view in twenty seventeen, but he did, and they 889 00:47:40.280 --> 00:47:42.559 switched the belt back to AJ a few days later. 890 00:47:43.800 --> 00:47:46.960 Our Truth. He wasn't supposed to win the US title 891 00:47:46.960 --> 00:47:51.280 from Shinske Nakamora on SmackDown in twenty nineteen, but he did. 892 00:47:51.639 --> 00:47:54.400 Mike Keyota actually tells a great story. About that, so 893 00:47:55.519 --> 00:47:57.320 truth ended up getting a little run out of it 894 00:47:57.360 --> 00:48:01.079 for a few weeks so again, and there's probably been 895 00:48:01.119 --> 00:48:04.239 other examples too. But now they're going to run it 896 00:48:04.280 --> 00:48:08.079 back at New Year's Evil on January sixth, and my 897 00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:10.280 guess is they will probably put the belt right back 898 00:48:10.280 --> 00:48:13.400 on Blake. Honestly though, you know what, she's been there 899 00:48:13.400 --> 00:48:16.679 for six months. May as well just leave the belt 900 00:48:16.719 --> 00:48:19.119 on THEA and call Blake up to the main roster, 901 00:48:19.960 --> 00:48:22.119 especially if they're not going to call up Jordan Grace, 902 00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:27.480 then get her up there. In the never ending saga 903 00:48:27.559 --> 00:48:31.719 of who wants Warner Brothers Discovery, on Wednesday, the company's 904 00:48:31.719 --> 00:48:36.719 board of directors unanimously recommended that shareholders reject the hostile 905 00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:39.960 bid proposed by Paramount Skydance, who are being a bunch 906 00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:43.440 of whiny little cry babies about the whole thing. As 907 00:48:43.480 --> 00:48:46.199 we know, they already announced the deal with Netflix worth 908 00:48:46.239 --> 00:48:49.920 more than seventy billion dollars for Netflix to acquire its 909 00:48:49.960 --> 00:48:53.280 movie and TV studios and all of the IP that 910 00:48:53.320 --> 00:48:56.039 comes with it. Netflix would not be acquiring the television 911 00:48:56.079 --> 00:49:00.760 networks like CNN, TBSTNT. Those will be off into a 912 00:49:00.800 --> 00:49:04.519 separate company which has been the plan all along, whereas 913 00:49:04.559 --> 00:49:07.440 Paramount would buy the entire thing. So they are urging 914 00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:12.159 shareholders to reject Paramount's one hundred and eight billion dollar bid, 915 00:49:12.280 --> 00:49:15.559 arguing that it creates significant risk and costs for the 916 00:49:15.599 --> 00:49:20.480 company and that Netflix's offer, while lower, provides better value. 917 00:49:20.599 --> 00:49:24.280 Paramount's CEO, David Ellison, has said that combining the assets 918 00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:27.960 of Warner Brothers Discovery with Paramount Skuiddance would face an 919 00:49:28.000 --> 00:49:32.800 easier path through the government regulatory process. Warner Brothers Discovery 920 00:49:32.840 --> 00:49:35.480 said its board concluded that the two offers pose an 921 00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:39.360 equal regulatory risk. It also said that its analysis found 922 00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:44.280 that Netflix's offer, which includes cash and Netflix stock, is superior. 923 00:49:44.880 --> 00:49:49.199 It raised concerns about Paramount Skuyddance's forty billion dollar equity commitment, 924 00:49:49.719 --> 00:49:52.679 for which Warner Brothers Discovery said there is no Ellison 925 00:49:52.760 --> 00:49:58.039 family commitment of any kind. Wbd's recommendation comes shortly after 926 00:49:58.119 --> 00:50:01.880 one of Paramount's Guiddance's financial partners in the deal, Affinity Partners, 927 00:50:02.440 --> 00:50:04.960 said that it had dropped out of the hostile bid. 928 00:50:05.519 --> 00:50:09.280 Affinity is the private equity firm founded by President Trump's 929 00:50:09.280 --> 00:50:13.079 son in lawge Aared Kushner. An Affinity spokesperson told CBS 930 00:50:13.119 --> 00:50:16.039 News that while it continued to believe in the strong 931 00:50:16.119 --> 00:50:21.280 strategic rationale for Paramount Skuydance's offer, it had decided to 932 00:50:21.280 --> 00:50:24.559 pull back because the dynamics of the investment have changed 933 00:50:24.679 --> 00:50:29.480 significantly since we initially became involved in October. In a 934 00:50:29.519 --> 00:50:32.519 letter sent to shareholders, Warner Brothers Discoveries Board said it 935 00:50:32.519 --> 00:50:36.599 believed Netflix's finances are also in better shape with a 936 00:50:36.639 --> 00:50:41.000 stronger credit rating and a larger market capitalization. The Netflix 937 00:50:41.039 --> 00:50:43.360 merger is fully backed by a public company with a 938 00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:47.239 market cap in excess of four hundred billion dollars with 939 00:50:47.360 --> 00:50:51.840 an investment grade balance sheet. The letter stated, Paramount Skuiddance's 940 00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:54.719 credit rating is at or only a notch above junk 941 00:50:54.760 --> 00:50:58.880 status from the two leading ratings agencies, while its market 942 00:50:58.960 --> 00:51:02.719 valuation stands at fifteen billion dollars. And then there's this 943 00:51:03.679 --> 00:51:09.079 from Collider dot com. Kkoplovitz, the founder of USA Network, 944 00:51:09.119 --> 00:51:12.039 recently sat down with Yahoo Finance to discuss who had 945 00:51:12.079 --> 00:51:15.599 the upper hand in the Netflix paramount battle. During the discussion, 946 00:51:15.679 --> 00:51:18.880 Koplovits revealed that she believes more bidders will come to 947 00:51:19.000 --> 00:51:22.559 challenge Netflix and Paramount for ownership of Warner Brothers Discovery. 948 00:51:23.159 --> 00:51:25.360 I don't think it's just Netflix and Paramount, she said. 949 00:51:25.360 --> 00:51:27.599 I believe other companies are going to be in the mix. 950 00:51:28.519 --> 00:51:31.519 The reason why other companies would enter the game lies 951 00:51:31.639 --> 00:51:35.239 in an asset that Netflix and Paramount are overlooking the 952 00:51:35.320 --> 00:51:41.599 cable companies. So look where this ends. Nobody knows. I 953 00:51:41.599 --> 00:51:43.719 mean by the way that that's a quote from somebody 954 00:51:43.719 --> 00:51:47.800 who founded, you know, USA Network, which is a cable channel. 955 00:51:48.239 --> 00:51:51.719 So she certainly has her own perspective on this. But 956 00:51:51.760 --> 00:51:54.440 where this ends nobody knows. What we do know is 957 00:51:54.480 --> 00:51:56.599 that this is not going to be resolved anytime soon. 958 00:51:56.760 --> 00:51:59.840 So as far as AW is concerned, in twenty twenty six, 959 00:52:00.840 --> 00:52:06.239 for the foreseeable future, they have nothing to worry about MVP. 960 00:52:07.119 --> 00:52:11.199 He announced last week that Bobby Lashley was injured. Although 961 00:52:11.239 --> 00:52:13.079 he did not reveal the nature of the injury, he 962 00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:15.360 did not reveal how long Lashley is expected to be 963 00:52:15.440 --> 00:52:18.960 out for fight Ful Select later posted an update stating 964 00:52:18.960 --> 00:52:21.559 that while they were told they were not told the 965 00:52:21.760 --> 00:52:24.880 specifics of the injury, they had heard that Lashley is 966 00:52:24.920 --> 00:52:29.519 expected to miss quite a bit of time. So that 967 00:52:29.559 --> 00:52:32.440 effectively ends the Hurt syndicate unless they add a new 968 00:52:32.480 --> 00:52:36.519 member without lashly, there is no hurt syndicate, and the 969 00:52:36.559 --> 00:52:39.400 last time he wrestled was the Casino Gauntlet match at 970 00:52:39.519 --> 00:52:42.440 full gear, so that would have to be when he 971 00:52:42.480 --> 00:52:43.920 got I mean, I guess he could have been hurt 972 00:52:43.920 --> 00:52:46.119 in training or something, but my guess is that's where 973 00:52:46.159 --> 00:52:48.320 he was hurt. What it is, I mean, look, if 974 00:52:48.320 --> 00:52:50.800 he's going to miss significant time, that sounds like surgery 975 00:52:50.840 --> 00:52:53.480 to me. You know, he may have torn something. I mean, 976 00:52:53.920 --> 00:52:57.320 who knows, but he's gone. And so now Shelton is 977 00:52:57.320 --> 00:52:59.639 on his own. He's got MVP with him and that's 978 00:52:59.639 --> 00:53:01.840 about it again unless they add new members that hurt 979 00:53:01.880 --> 00:53:06.360 syndicates on ice. Now, MVP also cannot get Triple H's 980 00:53:06.440 --> 00:53:08.800 name out of his mouth. He really hates this guy. 981 00:53:08.880 --> 00:53:12.760 He really hates this guy. I'm starting to wonder, does 982 00:53:13.519 --> 00:53:17.039 Jim Cornett hate Vince Russo more than MVP hes Triple eight. 983 00:53:17.119 --> 00:53:19.239 I think the answer is yes, But like it's it's 984 00:53:19.360 --> 00:53:22.239 kind of creeping up into that territory. So in an 985 00:53:22.239 --> 00:53:25.960 interview with Q one oh one, MVP discussed the differences 986 00:53:26.000 --> 00:53:29.679 between working for Tony Kahan and working for Paul Levec. 987 00:53:30.079 --> 00:53:33.639 This is what he said, Tony, he has his vision 988 00:53:33.840 --> 00:53:36.159 of what he wants, and he works with the talent 989 00:53:36.239 --> 00:53:38.440 and he allows a lot more input from the talent 990 00:53:38.480 --> 00:53:41.920 and to what creative path is going to happen. Whereas 991 00:53:42.039 --> 00:53:45.199 the nose that being a triple H, he is a 992 00:53:45.199 --> 00:53:49.639 little bit more dictatorial. Emphasis on Dick, it's this is 993 00:53:49.679 --> 00:53:51.880 what we're doing, this is how it's going to be, 994 00:53:52.119 --> 00:53:55.360 and this is what I want. Whereas Tony could say, well, 995 00:53:55.440 --> 00:53:58.039 this is what I want, and you can say, okay, Tony, 996 00:53:58.079 --> 00:54:00.440 but what about if we put this on it and 997 00:54:00.519 --> 00:54:04.320 Tony invites the input. With that guy, there's only a 998 00:54:04.360 --> 00:54:06.480 handful of people that I would say are allowed to 999 00:54:06.519 --> 00:54:09.199 have that kind of input. I think Tony, I'm just 1000 00:54:09.280 --> 00:54:11.960 going to be blunt, is a better human being, a 1001 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:15.159 better person all around than this guy. So it's definitely 1002 00:54:15.199 --> 00:54:17.119 a better person to work for in a much better 1003 00:54:17.159 --> 00:54:19.679 working environment. When I was in WWE, you did have 1004 00:54:19.719 --> 00:54:21.639 a lot of people who were really concerned about their 1005 00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:24.039 future because at any given time you were gone on 1006 00:54:24.079 --> 00:54:26.599 a whim and we saw it happen all the time. 1007 00:54:27.159 --> 00:54:31.519 Tony doesn't operate that way. In addressing the rumor that 1008 00:54:31.559 --> 00:54:34.679 he doesn't like speedball, Mike Bailey, he called that whole 1009 00:54:34.719 --> 00:54:37.519 thing preposterous. He says, I don't have a problem with Mike. 1010 00:54:37.559 --> 00:54:39.400 He's one of the nicest guys around. I don't know 1011 00:54:39.440 --> 00:54:43.079 where that came from. And he also addressed rumors that 1012 00:54:43.119 --> 00:54:45.880 the Hurt Synda Kid has refused to lose to certain 1013 00:54:45.880 --> 00:54:50.119 teams in the aw Tag Team Division. He disputed that claim, 1014 00:54:50.639 --> 00:54:54.280 but said matches involving Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin should 1015 00:54:54.320 --> 00:54:57.039 not be fifty to fifty. He said Bobby and Shelton 1016 00:54:57.039 --> 00:54:59.920 could destroy everybody in terms of how we approach him 1017 00:55:00.280 --> 00:55:02.440 when you have smaller guys. I just try to explain 1018 00:55:02.480 --> 00:55:05.519 to certain people that there's psychology. You should be chopping 1019 00:55:05.519 --> 00:55:08.880 down the tree. It's not a fifty to fifty match. Somehow, 1020 00:55:08.960 --> 00:55:11.639 somebody got this idea that the Hurt Syndicate don't want 1021 00:55:11.639 --> 00:55:14.159 to lose to anybody, which is bullshit because we've lost 1022 00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:17.079 to people. But there's psychology, there's a way to do it, 1023 00:55:17.400 --> 00:55:20.039 and we had great matches with Jet Speed and Speedball. 1024 00:55:20.079 --> 00:55:22.039 I got a lot of respect for the guy. He's 1025 00:55:22.039 --> 00:55:24.519 a tremendous athlete and loves what he does. That's what 1026 00:55:24.599 --> 00:55:27.159 he said of Mike Bailey boy, he's really going out 1027 00:55:27.159 --> 00:55:30.639 of his way to try to extinguish the speedball stuff. 1028 00:55:32.199 --> 00:55:35.840 For the record, when he says somehow people got the 1029 00:55:35.880 --> 00:55:39.480 idea that the Hurt Syndicate refuses to lose, he says, oh, 1030 00:55:39.519 --> 00:55:43.119 we've lost the people the Hurt Syndicate as a team, 1031 00:55:43.760 --> 00:55:47.519 and really, Bobby Lashley in general had never lost a 1032 00:55:47.559 --> 00:55:51.360 match in aaw never, not one. Shelton lost as a 1033 00:55:51.440 --> 00:55:54.360 singles Shelton Benjamin got beat a few times in the 1034 00:55:54.400 --> 00:55:58.039 Continental Classic last year, but Lashly and Benjamin had not 1035 00:55:58.239 --> 00:56:02.119 lost a match until they dropped the belts to Bandido 1036 00:56:03.199 --> 00:56:06.440 or Brodido in that three way at Forbidden Door, which 1037 00:56:06.519 --> 00:56:11.599 took place a few weeks after that report initially surfaced. So, yes, 1038 00:56:11.679 --> 00:56:14.880 they've lost, and since then they've lost to the demand. Right, 1039 00:56:14.880 --> 00:56:17.079 They've had a few losses, but all of their losses 1040 00:56:17.119 --> 00:56:20.840 came only after that report leaked. I'm not saying it's true, 1041 00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:23.480 but he makes it sound like, oh, it's bullshit. Of 1042 00:56:23.519 --> 00:56:26.800 course we've lost matches. Yes, after you were accused of 1043 00:56:26.800 --> 00:56:29.679 not losing matches, then they suddenly started losing some matches. 1044 00:56:30.360 --> 00:56:33.880 Does that mean that they refused I don't know, but 1045 00:56:34.360 --> 00:56:36.599 he's not wrong when he talks about there being a 1046 00:56:36.599 --> 00:56:39.679 certain psychology to smaller guys wrestling bigger guys. He says 1047 00:56:39.719 --> 00:56:42.320 it shouldn't be fifty to fifty. I agree with that, 1048 00:56:42.679 --> 00:56:45.079 you know, generally, but I think it depends on who 1049 00:56:45.199 --> 00:56:48.440 they're in the ring with, right, how much credibility does 1050 00:56:48.440 --> 00:56:52.280 that team have, How protected are those guys regardless of 1051 00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:55.199 their size. I think there are exceptions to the rule, 1052 00:56:55.280 --> 00:56:57.880 but as a general rule, I understand what he's saying 1053 00:56:57.920 --> 00:57:02.599 and I don't disagree with it. Now, the Continental Classic 1054 00:57:02.800 --> 00:57:05.760 is going to be coming to a close next weekend. 1055 00:57:06.679 --> 00:57:09.280 Before I get into a discussion about that, I do 1056 00:57:09.360 --> 00:57:11.320 have to mention the one big thing that happened on 1057 00:57:11.400 --> 00:57:14.599 Dynamite this week, and then I'll get into some World's 1058 00:57:14.679 --> 00:57:17.199 End predictions. And this actually ties in directly to the 1059 00:57:17.199 --> 00:57:20.960 World's End main event. We have the return of MJF. 1060 00:57:21.559 --> 00:57:23.639 And boy did that story go nowhere this year with 1061 00:57:23.760 --> 00:57:27.159 MJF and Bobby Lashley talk about a dropped story there. 1062 00:57:27.559 --> 00:57:29.480 But MJF was back. We haven't seen him in a 1063 00:57:29.519 --> 00:57:35.480 few months, and he cashed in his world title contract 1064 00:57:35.519 --> 00:57:38.440 that he won in the Casino Gauntlet match. Right that 1065 00:57:38.559 --> 00:57:41.039 was back in Texas, and he's been carrying this thing 1066 00:57:41.079 --> 00:57:44.440 around now for months, and he decided to cash it in. Now, 1067 00:57:44.480 --> 00:57:46.199 now you can't. You got to give at least a 1068 00:57:46.280 --> 00:57:48.760 week's notice. There's not money in the bank rules anymore. 1069 00:57:49.679 --> 00:57:51.480 But he's like, I'm cashing it in and I'm going 1070 00:57:51.559 --> 00:57:55.440 to be added to the triple threat match. I'm inserting 1071 00:57:55.480 --> 00:57:59.199 myself into the main event at World's End on December 1072 00:57:59.239 --> 00:58:03.400 twenty seventh. Now it is a fatal four way. Now, 1073 00:58:03.639 --> 00:58:05.360 somebody would have said that to me, and I didn't 1074 00:58:05.400 --> 00:58:08.480 watch the show on Wednesday, of course my reaction would 1075 00:58:08.480 --> 00:58:12.880 have been like, well the fuck would he do that? Right? MJF. 1076 00:58:12.880 --> 00:58:15.840 He's a heel. Last time we saw him, he comes back. 1077 00:58:16.199 --> 00:58:17.679 You know what I think I'll do. I've got this 1078 00:58:17.800 --> 00:58:20.360 guaranteed contract I've been walking around with and it's still 1079 00:58:20.440 --> 00:58:22.400 valid into next year. But you know what I think 1080 00:58:22.440 --> 00:58:25.679 I'm gonna do. Instead of wrestling one man for the championship, 1081 00:58:25.719 --> 00:58:28.960 why don't I wrestle three? Right? Why would he do this? 1082 00:58:30.119 --> 00:58:31.960 But in the promo, if you listen to what he 1083 00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:34.719 said on Wednesday, they at least took the time to 1084 00:58:35.159 --> 00:58:37.079 have him explain why he would do this, and he 1085 00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:39.440 pointed out that Hangman has called him a coward, and 1086 00:58:39.480 --> 00:58:42.280 people have called him names and they think, basically, in 1087 00:58:42.360 --> 00:58:45.400 so many words, he's a giant pussy And so this 1088 00:58:45.559 --> 00:58:47.280 is his way of throwing it back in their face 1089 00:58:47.280 --> 00:58:49.679 by saying, Okay, I'm going to put myself in this match, 1090 00:58:50.000 --> 00:58:52.159 and I'm willing to put my shot on the line 1091 00:58:52.159 --> 00:58:54.480 here and when I beat you, when I beat all 1092 00:58:54.519 --> 00:58:57.320 of you, then I'm going to be able to throw 1093 00:58:57.320 --> 00:58:58.679 it back in your face and you're not going to 1094 00:58:58.719 --> 00:59:01.840 have a word to say back to me. He almost 1095 00:59:01.880 --> 00:59:04.960 came off more like a babyface, honestly in that promo 1096 00:59:05.239 --> 00:59:08.639 than anything else. But this is him showing that he's 1097 00:59:08.679 --> 00:59:10.639 got a set of nuts on him and that you 1098 00:59:10.679 --> 00:59:13.639 know what you say that I need shortcuts and I 1099 00:59:13.679 --> 00:59:15.400 need to cheat, and I need to take this and 1100 00:59:15.400 --> 00:59:18.039 that way out, Like no, I'm gonna be in this 1101 00:59:18.079 --> 00:59:19.880 match too, and I'm gonna beat all the your asses. 1102 00:59:20.639 --> 00:59:22.760 So at least they took the time to try to 1103 00:59:22.800 --> 00:59:24.960 explain it. You could still say that man, he's stupid 1104 00:59:25.039 --> 00:59:28.000 for doing it, and I don't disagree, but they at 1105 00:59:28.079 --> 00:59:32.920 least explained it. Now. The Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal that 1106 00:59:32.960 --> 00:59:37.000 they did on Wednesday came down to ricochet and Bandido 1107 00:59:37.519 --> 00:59:39.840 MJF was not in the Battle Royal. He's had that 1108 00:59:39.960 --> 00:59:43.760 ring every year for the last six years, So it 1109 00:59:43.800 --> 00:59:45.840 came down to the two of them and the fans 1110 00:59:45.880 --> 00:59:47.960 there in Manchester. They had ten thousand people on the 1111 00:59:47.960 --> 00:59:50.199 building of Manchester. By the way, I don't think they 1112 00:59:50.239 --> 00:59:54.000 focused enough on that. You don't see dynamite crowds of 1113 00:59:54.039 --> 00:59:58.559 ten thousand people anymore, Okay, it's very rare. That's very 1114 00:59:58.679 --> 01:00:01.079 very rare, and I just think that they should have 1115 01:00:01.480 --> 01:00:03.400 done a better job, especially when they came on the 1116 01:00:03.440 --> 01:00:06.119 air really showing the venue and talking about how many 1117 01:00:06.159 --> 01:00:08.320 people were there. I mean the way that they opened 1118 01:00:08.320 --> 01:00:10.599 the show on Wednesday, it was literally like they're already 1119 01:00:10.639 --> 01:00:13.920 in the ring, ding ding ding, right into action. It's like, man, 1120 01:00:13.960 --> 01:00:16.480 you got three hours tonight, and it's almost like they 1121 01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:18.360 were rushing from the start, and I'm like, why don't 1122 01:00:18.400 --> 01:00:20.400 you take the time to show people where you are? 1123 01:00:20.880 --> 01:00:23.360 You know what I mean? Like, it's so rare. They're 1124 01:00:23.360 --> 01:00:26.840 always in these smaller intimate venues, so I just think, man, 1125 01:00:26.960 --> 01:00:30.639 that was a drop ball there. But the fans in 1126 01:00:30.679 --> 01:00:34.679 the building, they were upset because they just didn't realize 1127 01:00:34.760 --> 01:00:36.840 that the way this works is that the last two 1128 01:00:36.960 --> 01:00:40.199 men will then go on the following week to have 1129 01:00:40.239 --> 01:00:43.519 a singles match. Now they are in the middle of 1130 01:00:43.599 --> 01:00:47.159 taping television at the Hammerstein Ballroom this weekend here in 1131 01:00:47.199 --> 01:00:50.039 New York City. They taped television yesterday. I think they 1132 01:00:50.119 --> 01:00:51.880 might be in the middle of taping as I speak, 1133 01:00:51.960 --> 01:00:54.719 or they will be in a few hours, because again, 1134 01:00:54.760 --> 01:00:57.880 all these shows this week coming up, I think for everybody, 1135 01:00:57.880 --> 01:01:01.840 it's all taped. I did not read the spoilers, but 1136 01:01:01.960 --> 01:01:06.559 I had figured, just you know, watching who the last 1137 01:01:06.599 --> 01:01:11.119 two men were, that Ricochet would win the ring because 1138 01:01:11.119 --> 01:01:14.400 the gimmick would just fit him so well. But then 1139 01:01:14.440 --> 01:01:17.960 I think, Okay, if MJF is winning the belt back, 1140 01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:21.960 and I think that he probably is the winner of 1141 01:01:22.000 --> 01:01:25.360 the Diamond Ring gets a guaranteed shot at the AW 1142 01:01:25.360 --> 01:01:28.679 World Championship on the Maximum Carnage episode of Dynamite that's 1143 01:01:28.719 --> 01:01:34.159 on January fourteenth. I could envision a scenario where MJF 1144 01:01:34.320 --> 01:01:37.760 forces Bandido if he was to win, because it would 1145 01:01:37.760 --> 01:01:39.960 make more sense than for a babyface to win the ring. 1146 01:01:40.599 --> 01:01:44.679 I could see a scenario where MJF forces Bandido to 1147 01:01:44.719 --> 01:01:48.840 put his ring up and make it title versus ring 1148 01:01:50.119 --> 01:01:53.599 and that's how MJF backdoors his way to another diamond 1149 01:01:53.679 --> 01:01:56.440 ring for the empteenth time. Because it was kind of weird, 1150 01:01:56.519 --> 01:01:58.920 like he came back on television this week on the 1151 01:01:59.079 --> 01:02:01.039 very night where they were having a battle royal for 1152 01:02:01.119 --> 01:02:04.000 this fucking ring that I think he was wearing on 1153 01:02:04.079 --> 01:02:06.400 his finger even I think he might have actually been 1154 01:02:06.440 --> 01:02:09.000 wearing it during the promo, but there was no mention 1155 01:02:09.079 --> 01:02:11.000 made of him having anything to do with the ring stuff. 1156 01:02:11.000 --> 01:02:14.239 And I'm like, okay, which is fine. I mean, he's 1157 01:02:14.320 --> 01:02:17.760 kind of moved beyond that, but now I'm like, okay, 1158 01:02:17.840 --> 01:02:20.000 So wait a minute here. If he wins the belt, 1159 01:02:20.039 --> 01:02:22.800 he's gonna be defending it against the winner of the ring. 1160 01:02:23.320 --> 01:02:25.599 They're gonna turn this into a fucking ring for belt, 1161 01:02:25.679 --> 01:02:27.320 aren't they. And they're gonna have him with the diamond 1162 01:02:27.400 --> 01:02:31.800 ring anyway. So if band if Bandido should win that match, 1163 01:02:32.440 --> 01:02:34.320 and we'll see on Wednesday, but if you should win 1164 01:02:34.360 --> 01:02:36.360 that match, I don't think he's going to have that 1165 01:02:36.480 --> 01:02:39.519 ring for very long. So anyway, as far as the 1166 01:02:39.559 --> 01:02:43.199 Continental Classic goes, here is where things stand. After collision 1167 01:02:43.280 --> 01:02:47.800 last night, Okata, Speedball, Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher, and Pack. 1168 01:02:48.000 --> 01:02:50.039 They are all tied up at six points each in 1169 01:02:50.079 --> 01:02:53.480 the Gold League, so we got a five way tie. 1170 01:02:53.719 --> 01:02:57.360 I don't think that's ever happened before. In the Blue League, 1171 01:02:57.559 --> 01:03:00.639 Claudio and Taqusta they lead the charge with seven point each. 1172 01:03:00.880 --> 01:03:04.119 John Moxley has six, so he's only one behind Claudio. 1173 01:03:05.000 --> 01:03:08.119 On Collision last night, Kevin Knight or I guess yesterday 1174 01:03:08.119 --> 01:03:11.440 afternoon is when it aired. But on Collision yesterday, Kevin 1175 01:03:11.480 --> 01:03:17.800 Knight pinned Kazuchka Okada. I was not expecting that. And 1176 01:03:17.840 --> 01:03:19.519 look at Kevin Knight. All of a sudden, this man 1177 01:03:19.559 --> 01:03:21.440 has not even been on the roster for a full 1178 01:03:21.559 --> 01:03:24.920 year yet, and he has clean wins over Okata and 1179 01:03:25.039 --> 01:03:28.800 Darby Allen, and he got to wrestle Will Osprey on 1180 01:03:28.840 --> 01:03:32.719 pay per view earlier this year. But Okata has not 1181 01:03:32.800 --> 01:03:35.760 lost very many singles matches since signing with AW. He 1182 01:03:35.840 --> 01:03:39.519 lost to Brian Danielson on Dynamite. He lost twice in 1183 01:03:39.559 --> 01:03:42.559 the Continental Classic to Kyle Fletcher, once last year and 1184 01:03:42.599 --> 01:03:45.239 once this year, and now to Kevin Knight. And that's 1185 01:03:45.280 --> 01:03:48.360 it now. Kevin Knight is not winning this tournament. But 1186 01:03:48.400 --> 01:03:50.599 Tony better have something real good in mind for him 1187 01:03:50.599 --> 01:03:52.599 coming out of this thing, because this is this is 1188 01:03:52.599 --> 01:03:54.920 not the sort of thing that you should squander like 1189 01:03:55.000 --> 01:03:56.920 you could use this tournament as a way as like 1190 01:03:56.960 --> 01:04:01.079 a launching pad for one or two people. So Kevin 1191 01:04:01.159 --> 01:04:03.559 Knight is in prime position for that. A lot of 1192 01:04:03.559 --> 01:04:05.559 it just depends on what happens coming out of this. 1193 01:04:06.679 --> 01:04:08.119 You know, is he going to be the next Action 1194 01:04:08.239 --> 01:04:10.519 Andretti or is he going to be the next Kyle Fletcher. 1195 01:04:11.840 --> 01:04:16.960 Right choice is up to Tony Fletcher beat Okada in 1196 01:04:17.000 --> 01:04:19.199 the tournament last year. He went on to have a 1197 01:04:19.199 --> 01:04:22.519 breakout year for himself in twenty twenty five. That should 1198 01:04:22.519 --> 01:04:25.800 be Kevin Knight in twenty twenty six. So here is 1199 01:04:25.840 --> 01:04:29.119 what we got left. The matches that are coming up 1200 01:04:29.159 --> 01:04:32.840 on Wednesday. We got two Blue League in one Gold League. 1201 01:04:32.840 --> 01:04:36.119 In the Blue League we have Kenoski Takeshta against Orange Cassidy, 1202 01:04:36.599 --> 01:04:39.880 so I'm guessing Takeshta wins. That. We have Roderick Strong 1203 01:04:39.880 --> 01:04:42.559 against Mascariderrada. This, I mean, who gives a shit? I 1204 01:04:42.559 --> 01:04:46.559 mean they've both been mathematically eliminated anyway. I know Roddy 1205 01:04:46.599 --> 01:04:49.760 has at least and Jack Perry, who's been biting people. 1206 01:04:49.840 --> 01:04:53.880 He bit Okata on the dick the other Nights when 1207 01:04:53.880 --> 01:04:57.599 he was upside down at a tombstone position fucking sixty 1208 01:04:57.679 --> 01:04:59.320 nine over here. So he bit him on the dick, 1209 01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:03.320 and I saw he bit Speedball on the foot. He 1210 01:05:03.360 --> 01:05:05.920 had his fricking toes in his mouth on televisions. I mean, 1211 01:05:05.920 --> 01:05:08.239 I don't know what's going on with this guy. But anyway, 1212 01:05:08.320 --> 01:05:11.800 Jack Perry is wrestling Pack, and I have Jack Perry 1213 01:05:11.800 --> 01:05:15.400 beating Pack. So those matches are coming up on Wednesday. 1214 01:05:15.480 --> 01:05:18.519 So then on Thursday, these are all the remaining matches. 1215 01:05:18.519 --> 01:05:22.320 There's a whole bunch of them. John Moxley against Orange Cassidy. 1216 01:05:23.199 --> 01:05:26.920 I got Moxley winning that one. We have Masceror Dorada 1217 01:05:26.920 --> 01:05:30.599 wrestling Kenoski Takeshda and I got Ta Keshda winning that. 1218 01:05:31.480 --> 01:05:36.719 There's a match between Claudio who is the CMLL Heavyweight Champion. 1219 01:05:36.760 --> 01:05:40.760 He is wrestling Roderick Strong who has zero points. I'm 1220 01:05:40.800 --> 01:05:43.679 gonna say that these two go to a draw. That's 1221 01:05:43.719 --> 01:05:45.920 my prediction there. They go to a time limit draw. 1222 01:05:45.960 --> 01:05:50.079 That way, nobody wins, nobody loses. We have Olkata taking 1223 01:05:50.119 --> 01:05:52.440 on Mike Bailey, that should be a win for Okada. 1224 01:05:52.639 --> 01:05:56.320 Pack takes on Kevin Knight. I'm gonna say Kevin Knight 1225 01:05:56.880 --> 01:06:01.119 wins that match, and then Jack Perry wrestles Kyle Fletcher, 1226 01:06:01.519 --> 01:06:05.639 and I'm undecided on how that's going to go. I 1227 01:06:05.679 --> 01:06:07.920 was thinking maybe another draw. I don't know that they 1228 01:06:08.000 --> 01:06:11.519 want to do two draws like that so close together. 1229 01:06:11.559 --> 01:06:13.320 There's only been one other one, I think so far 1230 01:06:13.400 --> 01:06:17.000 in this tournament, so I don't know. I don't know 1231 01:06:17.000 --> 01:06:18.960 how that goes. But I will say this though, it 1232 01:06:19.000 --> 01:06:23.239 is nice having a tournament with some unpredictability for a change. 1233 01:06:23.320 --> 01:06:26.519 We've definitely had some unpredictable finishes in some of these matches. 1234 01:06:27.760 --> 01:06:30.559 So this now leads into the World's End card. This 1235 01:06:30.599 --> 01:06:32.960 is what we know so far. World's End is next Saturday. 1236 01:06:32.960 --> 01:06:35.519 That is the final pay per view of the year. 1237 01:06:36.519 --> 01:06:40.639 We have the aw Women's Tag team champions, Willow Nightingale 1238 01:06:40.920 --> 01:06:45.639 and Harley Cameron defending their titles against Mercedes Monet and Athena, 1239 01:06:47.119 --> 01:06:50.639 and this I predict will be and should be a 1240 01:06:50.719 --> 01:06:54.280 win for Willow and Harley who just won the belts. 1241 01:06:55.079 --> 01:06:57.639 And certainly the last thing Mercedes needs right now, as 1242 01:06:57.639 --> 01:06:59.719 she is in the process of losing belts is to 1243 01:06:59.760 --> 01:07:02.559 win another one. So I got Willow and Harley getting 1244 01:07:02.599 --> 01:07:06.000 the win here now, speaking of Mercedes and her titles, 1245 01:07:06.360 --> 01:07:12.760 she lost her rev Pro British was undisputed British Women's Championship. 1246 01:07:13.199 --> 01:07:17.480 She defended it on the Holiday Bash edition of Collision 1247 01:07:17.880 --> 01:07:22.320 yesterday she lost it to Alex Windsor, so that ends 1248 01:07:22.360 --> 01:07:24.679 her reign with that title at just under a year. 1249 01:07:25.400 --> 01:07:28.639 She actually won it from Mina Shirakawa at the Tokyo 1250 01:07:28.679 --> 01:07:31.880 Dome at Wresselled Dynasty earlier this year. So now this 1251 01:07:32.000 --> 01:07:35.119 is the second championship that she has lost. Technically I 1252 01:07:35.119 --> 01:07:37.960 think it's two belts, but this is coming off of 1253 01:07:38.000 --> 01:07:40.679 her losing the Ring of Honor Women's television title to 1254 01:07:40.800 --> 01:07:44.199 Red Velvet at Final Battle a few weeks ago. So 1255 01:07:44.239 --> 01:07:47.639 then Mercedes, she went on X and she asked Groc. 1256 01:07:48.400 --> 01:07:51.800 She goes, what the hell happened? And Grok responded to 1257 01:07:51.880 --> 01:07:56.440 Mercedes and Grox said, on Holiday Bash, Alex Windsor defeated 1258 01:07:56.480 --> 01:07:58.840 you in a title match with a pinfall after a 1259 01:07:58.880 --> 01:08:03.119 series of suplexes encounters, claiming the rev Pro Undisputed British 1260 01:08:03.119 --> 01:08:07.519 Women's Championship. Congrats to the new champ. Tough loss, but 1261 01:08:07.719 --> 01:08:12.039 epic bout some Mercedes responded and says, can you take 1262 01:08:12.079 --> 01:08:15.159 back her congratulations because, as I said last week, I 1263 01:08:15.199 --> 01:08:19.359 wanted to face a local from Manchester and she tagged 1264 01:08:19.399 --> 01:08:23.600 Grock and she said where is Alex Windsor from? And 1265 01:08:23.680 --> 01:08:28.119 Grok responded and said, Alex Windsor is from Happisburg, Norfolk, England, 1266 01:08:28.479 --> 01:08:34.920 not Manchester. Fairpoint, CEO, consider those congrats retracted epic clash 1267 01:08:35.039 --> 01:08:39.359 Either way, what's your next move? This is where we 1268 01:08:39.399 --> 01:08:42.239 are in the world right now. We are having conversations 1269 01:08:42.279 --> 01:08:47.520 with artificial intelligence. It's only gonna get worse. It's only 1270 01:08:47.520 --> 01:08:51.279 gonna get worse from here. The two league finals and 1271 01:08:51.399 --> 01:08:55.239 the finals of the Continental Classic will take place on 1272 01:08:55.279 --> 01:08:58.920 this show next Saturday. Now. Last year, if you remember, 1273 01:08:59.359 --> 01:09:02.720 there was a format change where the Gold League winner 1274 01:09:02.760 --> 01:09:05.319 would face the runner up from the Blue League. That 1275 01:09:05.359 --> 01:09:08.680 would be one semifinal, and the Blue League winner would 1276 01:09:08.680 --> 01:09:11.640 wrestle the Gold League runner up in the other semifinal. 1277 01:09:11.720 --> 01:09:14.520 I don't know if they're following that same change that 1278 01:09:14.600 --> 01:09:17.720 same format again this year. I'm going to assume that 1279 01:09:17.800 --> 01:09:22.840 they are. If so, we could potentially get Okada against 1280 01:09:22.840 --> 01:09:26.680 Takesha in the semi finals and not the finals, but 1281 01:09:26.800 --> 01:09:30.239 only if the idea, I would say is for Takeshta 1282 01:09:30.319 --> 01:09:33.159 to lose to then build up to a bigger match 1283 01:09:33.199 --> 01:09:36.000 between them, maybe at Revolution in March. But I don't 1284 01:09:36.039 --> 01:09:38.960 think they want to beat the IWGP champion, not in 1285 01:09:39.000 --> 01:09:42.680 the semi finals of this thing. Everything has been building 1286 01:09:42.720 --> 01:09:47.000 to Okada against Takeshta, and if it happens, I mean 1287 01:09:47.039 --> 01:09:49.239 it has to be in the finals. There's no bigger 1288 01:09:49.279 --> 01:09:54.119 match they could do in this tournament that Okada against Takeshta. 1289 01:09:54.199 --> 01:09:57.079 So by those rules, I feel like Okada wins the 1290 01:09:57.119 --> 01:10:01.159 Gold League and he wrestles Orange cast who comes into 1291 01:10:01.199 --> 01:10:04.680 the runner up in the Blue League after beating John Moxley. 1292 01:10:04.760 --> 01:10:08.359 So none of the Death Riders make it to the 1293 01:10:08.399 --> 01:10:11.680 semi finals. That's where I think this is going. I 1294 01:10:11.720 --> 01:10:14.319 said before, I think John Moxley beats Orange Cassidy. But 1295 01:10:15.399 --> 01:10:18.880 I'm just I'm looking at these rules here I actually think, Man, 1296 01:10:19.239 --> 01:10:21.159 I'm thinking the Death Riders just don't make it. They 1297 01:10:21.199 --> 01:10:23.520 just don't even make it into the semis, is what 1298 01:10:23.560 --> 01:10:28.880 I'm thinking. Takeshta wins the Blue League and then beats 1299 01:10:29.199 --> 01:10:31.800 Kevin Knight, who comes in as runner up in the 1300 01:10:31.800 --> 01:10:34.560 Gold League. Right, he's the one who's been racking up 1301 01:10:34.640 --> 01:10:37.680 upsets in this tournament. He just beat Okada, right, Canny 1302 01:10:37.680 --> 01:10:41.000 beat Takeshta as well, and then he loses, and that's 1303 01:10:41.000 --> 01:10:44.119 how we end up with Okada against Takeshta in the finals, 1304 01:10:45.239 --> 01:10:49.920 and man, that could go either way. You know, Takeshta 1305 01:10:50.039 --> 01:10:53.399 should triumph ultimately over Okada, but that doesn't mean that 1306 01:10:53.439 --> 01:10:55.319 it has to happen in their first match, Like they 1307 01:10:55.319 --> 01:10:58.000 could definitely stretch this out to another match of Revolution 1308 01:10:58.840 --> 01:11:03.039 if Takeshta wins. Think about it, right, there's not much 1309 01:11:03.039 --> 01:11:06.880 of a reason to do that. So I am actually 1310 01:11:06.880 --> 01:11:10.680 going to pick Kazuchka Okada to win the entire thing 1311 01:11:10.720 --> 01:11:13.399 for the second straight year. I think Okada wins the 1312 01:11:13.439 --> 01:11:15.800 Continental Classic, and I think that they hold off on 1313 01:11:16.720 --> 01:11:20.199 the ultimate match between them, where Takeshta wins the championship 1314 01:11:20.199 --> 01:11:23.560 from him. They hold off on that until Revolution. That's 1315 01:11:23.600 --> 01:11:27.640 my prediction. We have Chris Statlander defending the aw Women's 1316 01:11:27.680 --> 01:11:31.600 World Championship against Jamie Hayter. It should be a really 1317 01:11:31.640 --> 01:11:34.840 good match here. It doesn't feel to me like it's 1318 01:11:34.880 --> 01:11:37.399 time yet for Statlander to drop that belt. I still 1319 01:11:37.399 --> 01:11:41.359 don't think Jamie Hater has been properly sort of built 1320 01:11:41.439 --> 01:11:43.920 up to win the Championship. That could be something that 1321 01:11:43.960 --> 01:11:46.640 happens next year. So I think Statlander gets the win 1322 01:11:47.720 --> 01:11:50.479 and then the AW World Championship is on the line 1323 01:11:50.640 --> 01:11:54.560 in a four way match, Samoa Joe defends against Swerve, Strickland, Hangman, 1324 01:11:54.680 --> 01:11:59.359 Adam Page and MJF. And I'm going with MJF. I 1325 01:11:59.359 --> 01:12:01.880 think he is going to close out the year as 1326 01:12:01.920 --> 01:12:04.359 the AW World Champion. I think he's going to get 1327 01:12:04.399 --> 01:12:08.159 his own measure of redemption and revenge for what happened 1328 01:12:08.199 --> 01:12:10.399 at World's End two years ago when Joe beat him 1329 01:12:10.439 --> 01:12:13.159 to win the title and we got the Devil reveal 1330 01:12:13.239 --> 01:12:16.760 with Adam Cole. I think MJF wins the championship and 1331 01:12:16.800 --> 01:12:20.239 then goes on to defend against the winner of the 1332 01:12:20.279 --> 01:12:25.000 Diamond Ring on January fourteenth. So that's six matches so far, 1333 01:12:25.079 --> 01:12:28.399 which is like half an AW pay per view, So 1334 01:12:28.479 --> 01:12:30.039 you know there's going to be a lot more added, 1335 01:12:30.079 --> 01:12:31.800 including with some of the people that end up being 1336 01:12:31.880 --> 01:12:35.199 eliminated from the C two. But those are my predictions 1337 01:12:35.239 --> 01:12:39.600 so far for the matches that we know. Speaking of 1338 01:12:39.600 --> 01:12:43.479 big events, you know, if AW is closing the year 1339 01:12:43.520 --> 01:12:46.640 with a big show, New Japan is opening the new 1340 01:12:46.720 --> 01:12:50.920 year with one that is Wrestle Kingdom twenty on January 1341 01:12:51.000 --> 01:12:54.800 fourth at the Tokyo Dome with fifty thousand people expected, 1342 01:12:55.600 --> 01:12:58.399 making it the largest craft for a wrestling show anywhere 1343 01:12:58.439 --> 01:13:02.279 in Japan since Antonio Poki's retirement in nineteen ninety eight. 1344 01:13:03.279 --> 01:13:05.439 It is a show that is built around the retirement 1345 01:13:05.479 --> 01:13:09.359 of one person, Hiroshi Tanahashi, one of the greatest wrestlers 1346 01:13:09.359 --> 01:13:12.279 of all time, and this is all coming just weeks 1347 01:13:12.319 --> 01:13:18.640 after John Cena wrestled his retirement match where WWE positioned 1348 01:13:18.720 --> 01:13:23.039 him as the greatest of all time. Tanahashi is truly 1349 01:13:23.079 --> 01:13:27.039 one of the goats, and in Japan you could argue, 1350 01:13:27.800 --> 01:13:30.600 you know, the greatest. But then you get into a 1351 01:13:30.640 --> 01:13:37.600 discussion about Kobashi and Masawa, Liiger Mudha, some people may 1352 01:13:37.640 --> 01:13:39.840 say Anoki. I mean, he's up there in that mix. 1353 01:13:39.920 --> 01:13:42.840 Though for sure. I don't want to say that he 1354 01:13:43.000 --> 01:13:45.880 alone saved New Japan Pro Wrestling, but he more or 1355 01:13:45.960 --> 01:13:49.720 less did. After the fiasco of you know, the the 1356 01:13:49.760 --> 01:13:52.359 Anoki tenure in the mid two thousands, that company was 1357 01:13:52.399 --> 01:13:56.479 close to bankruptcy, and Tanahashi's work on top brought back 1358 01:13:56.520 --> 01:13:58.000 a lot of fans. He brought in a lot of 1359 01:13:58.000 --> 01:13:59.960 new ones, too, which led to the business boom that 1360 01:14:00.079 --> 01:14:04.079 New Japan experience in the twenty tens. Then Okata came 1361 01:14:04.079 --> 01:14:07.159 back from Excursion in TNA as the rain maker and 1362 01:14:07.199 --> 01:14:09.039 he got over as a main event player, and so 1363 01:14:09.119 --> 01:14:12.359 you had Tanahashi and Okada as the two top draws 1364 01:14:12.479 --> 01:14:14.600 right the Austin and Rock in many ways of that 1365 01:14:14.680 --> 01:14:18.800 New Japan era. Now he's also the president of the company, 1366 01:14:19.720 --> 01:14:22.079 so it is hard to overstate how important to figure 1367 01:14:22.119 --> 01:14:25.479 Tanahashi is to the history of New Japan. That is 1368 01:14:25.520 --> 01:14:29.199 why they have sold fifty thousand tickets for this show. Now, 1369 01:14:29.239 --> 01:14:32.399 Aaron Wolfe, who was a gold medalist in judo in 1370 01:14:32.439 --> 01:14:34.960 the Olympics a few years ago, he is making his 1371 01:14:35.000 --> 01:14:38.119 in ring debut. That is the reason why the show 1372 01:14:38.199 --> 01:14:40.560 is airing on network television over there for the first 1373 01:14:40.600 --> 01:14:43.520 time in twenty years. But it is also likely the 1374 01:14:43.560 --> 01:14:45.960 reason why the show feels so truncated when you look 1375 01:14:45.960 --> 01:14:49.479 at the card as compared to previous Wrestle Kingdoms. Even 1376 01:14:49.520 --> 01:14:52.079 though the show is not airing live on TV right 1377 01:14:52.079 --> 01:14:55.840 it's airing on TV Asahi. I believe it's airing on 1378 01:14:55.880 --> 01:14:58.560 a delay, and I don't even think they're airing the 1379 01:14:58.600 --> 01:15:00.640 whole show. They're airing less than two hours of it, 1380 01:15:00.840 --> 01:15:03.720 just the top matches, but I guess they need to 1381 01:15:03.760 --> 01:15:06.680 make sure they get those matches over and done with 1382 01:15:06.760 --> 01:15:08.560 in time for them to then air the ones they 1383 01:15:08.600 --> 01:15:12.199 want to air during the allotted time. So it is affecting. 1384 01:15:12.479 --> 01:15:14.800 It is very likely affecting how many matches they have 1385 01:15:14.840 --> 01:15:17.800 on this show, because usually these wrestle kingdoms have so 1386 01:15:17.920 --> 01:15:20.840 many matches. They're five and a half hours and it's 1387 01:15:20.840 --> 01:15:23.079 a long show. But you know, it's not like it's 1388 01:15:23.119 --> 01:15:26.159 not like aw where they do that literally every other month. 1389 01:15:26.199 --> 01:15:28.880 It feels like, yeah, you get your one big dome 1390 01:15:28.960 --> 01:15:31.800 show every year that goes five hours, and you know, 1391 01:15:32.119 --> 01:15:34.960 sometimes it could feel epic depending on what the matches are, 1392 01:15:35.840 --> 01:15:38.880 it doesn't really feel that way this time. New Japan 1393 01:15:38.880 --> 01:15:42.800 announced the full card and match order this week, and honestly, 1394 01:15:42.880 --> 01:15:46.039 outside of the top two matches, the card looks like 1395 01:15:46.079 --> 01:15:49.319 shit for a show this big. I'm sorry. I mean 1396 01:15:49.800 --> 01:15:52.760 the women's match will be good, probably not great, because 1397 01:15:52.760 --> 01:15:55.079 I doubt they get a lot of time. They usually 1398 01:15:55.079 --> 01:15:57.079 get the short end of the stick on these shows. 1399 01:15:58.479 --> 01:16:01.439 You know, Mayui Watani and they got like eight minutes 1400 01:16:01.520 --> 01:16:03.920 last year. I think back a few years ago twenty 1401 01:16:03.920 --> 01:16:07.039 twenty three, Kyrie saying she wrestled tam Nakano and they 1402 01:16:07.079 --> 01:16:10.600 got like five minutes. So I don't think these women 1403 01:16:10.640 --> 01:16:11.880 are going to get a whole lot of time for 1404 01:16:11.920 --> 01:16:14.479 their match. Otherwise, sure it could be great, but I'm 1405 01:16:14.479 --> 01:16:17.760 not expecting it to be. Tanahashi and Okada. They're going 1406 01:16:17.800 --> 01:16:21.960 on last, as they should. There won't be any Rock 1407 01:16:22.000 --> 01:16:24.840 Hogan here in the middle of the show. But the 1408 01:16:24.920 --> 01:16:28.439 card looks very weak. You know, for fifty thousand fans 1409 01:16:28.439 --> 01:16:32.600 at the Dome, they've got seven matches with the new 1410 01:16:32.720 --> 01:16:35.960 Japan Rambo on the main card, where it usually takes 1411 01:16:36.000 --> 01:16:37.920 place on the pre show. This time there will be 1412 01:16:37.920 --> 01:16:41.800 no pre show. The Rambo usually goes thirty minutes or more, 1413 01:16:42.560 --> 01:16:44.399 so that's gonna take time away from some of the 1414 01:16:44.399 --> 01:16:47.039 other matches. But Tanahashi and Okada they're gonna get all 1415 01:16:47.119 --> 01:16:49.680 the time they need. And I'm sure there will be 1416 01:16:49.720 --> 01:16:54.439 some sort of ceremony or speech from Tanahashi after. You know, 1417 01:16:54.479 --> 01:16:57.439 we got no speech from John Cena after his final match. 1418 01:16:58.319 --> 01:17:00.560 I mean, even Bill Goldberg got to say a few 1419 01:17:00.560 --> 01:17:04.479 words before NBC cut him off. Sina just chose to 1420 01:17:04.479 --> 01:17:07.880 say nothing. Took his clothes off and he just marched 1421 01:17:07.920 --> 01:17:11.119 to the back. That will not be the case with Tanahashi. 1422 01:17:11.920 --> 01:17:14.319 He'll be air guitaring his way all the way to 1423 01:17:14.359 --> 01:17:17.800 the back. But I don't understand how this card was 1424 01:17:17.840 --> 01:17:20.119 put together with that an eye towards the future. There's 1425 01:17:20.279 --> 01:17:24.760 there's so many names missing from this who should be 1426 01:17:24.800 --> 01:17:27.680 showcase with that many eyeballs on the show? And I 1427 01:17:27.720 --> 01:17:30.239 say missing, I mean some of them are in multiman matches, 1428 01:17:30.800 --> 01:17:33.920 some of them may be in the rambo. But outside 1429 01:17:33.920 --> 01:17:38.640 of Yotasuji, who's challenging Kenoski Takeshta for the IWGP title, 1430 01:17:38.680 --> 01:17:42.279 there's no one else outside of Tanahashi and Aaron Wolf 1431 01:17:42.399 --> 01:17:46.199 really getting the spotlight here. And we don't even know 1432 01:17:46.279 --> 01:17:47.960 how good Aaron Wolf is gonna be. It's his first 1433 01:17:48.000 --> 01:17:53.159 fucking match. Shota Umino was literally in the main event 1434 01:17:53.760 --> 01:17:56.319 of last year's show. He headlined the Tokyo Dome. He 1435 01:17:56.359 --> 01:17:58.800 won forty five minutes with Zach Saber Junior. He isn't 1436 01:17:58.840 --> 01:18:03.920 even on the card, at least not yet. Meanwhile, Saber 1437 01:18:04.039 --> 01:18:05.920 is not listed for the show either. He just won 1438 01:18:05.960 --> 01:18:07.960 the World Tag League. He's going to be headlining their 1439 01:18:07.960 --> 01:18:11.560 New Year Dash show that's the night after the Tokyo Dome, 1440 01:18:13.000 --> 01:18:15.520 whereas normally the winners of the Tag League would be 1441 01:18:15.600 --> 01:18:19.760 challenging for the tag team titles at the Dome. It's 1442 01:18:19.840 --> 01:18:21.760 just it's all very strange to me. It has to 1443 01:18:21.800 --> 01:18:25.439 do with the time limitations. It just there's nothing else 1444 01:18:25.479 --> 01:18:29.079 that makes sense. I just don't know why you would 1445 01:18:29.119 --> 01:18:30.920 not want to take full advantage to put some of 1446 01:18:31.159 --> 01:18:33.720 these other guys front and center who you want to 1447 01:18:33.720 --> 01:18:36.600 build this promotion around going forward, and feature them in 1448 01:18:36.680 --> 01:18:41.960 something meaningful on this card. On the undercard. You know, 1449 01:18:42.000 --> 01:18:45.359 the Golden Age of New Japan is dead. It's over. 1450 01:18:46.399 --> 01:18:50.479 Tanahashi is the last remnant of it, right, they got 1451 01:18:50.479 --> 01:18:53.119 to go full bore with the New Guard. They have 1452 01:18:53.159 --> 01:18:55.840 a four way match to decide the number one contender 1453 01:18:56.359 --> 01:18:59.520 for the Junior Heavyweight title, but no actual junior heavyweight 1454 01:18:59.560 --> 01:19:01.960 title match on this show. They have a number one 1455 01:19:02.000 --> 01:19:07.000 contenders match at the Tokyo Dome after Dokie. He got 1456 01:19:07.039 --> 01:19:08.880 injured at the Dome last year in his match with 1457 01:19:08.920 --> 01:19:11.199 El Desperado. He doesn't even have a spot on the card, 1458 01:19:11.560 --> 01:19:16.000 and he's the champion unless he's injured again. But I mean, 1459 01:19:16.239 --> 01:19:19.000 I haven't seen anything about that. But here's the full 1460 01:19:19.079 --> 01:19:21.560 card with some of my predictions. I'm not doing them 1461 01:19:21.600 --> 01:19:24.399 for every match, but my predictions tossed in for the 1462 01:19:24.479 --> 01:19:27.279 key matches here. So this is the match order. They're 1463 01:19:27.319 --> 01:19:30.920 opening with the first ever Tornado Rambo match with the 1464 01:19:30.960 --> 01:19:33.720 never openweight six man tag team titles on the line. 1465 01:19:34.199 --> 01:19:39.680 Toryano Yo and Master Wato are defending their titles. Teams 1466 01:19:39.720 --> 01:19:43.359 will enter one minute intervals, and if one member is pinned, submitted, 1467 01:19:43.439 --> 01:19:46.840 or thrown over the top rope, that team is eliminated. 1468 01:19:47.560 --> 01:19:50.039 And Tomohiro e Shi will have a spot on the 1469 01:19:50.079 --> 01:19:52.079 card in here. They just announced him for the match. 1470 01:19:52.560 --> 01:19:55.119 He's been out with a dislocated shoulder that he suffered 1471 01:19:55.159 --> 01:20:00.720 working for AEW in October. Second from the bottom is 1472 01:20:00.880 --> 01:20:05.560 a double title match with the IWGP Women's champion, Shuri 1473 01:20:06.319 --> 01:20:11.880 defending against Saya Kamatani defending her new Japan Strong women's title. 1474 01:20:12.880 --> 01:20:15.399 I will go with Kamatani here. I see a lot 1475 01:20:15.439 --> 01:20:17.399 of praise for her work. I have not seen much 1476 01:20:17.439 --> 01:20:20.359 of it. I know that she won the voting for 1477 01:20:20.680 --> 01:20:23.840 most Valuable Player in the Tokyo Sports Awards for twenty 1478 01:20:23.920 --> 01:20:27.199 twenty five. That's basically their Wrestler of the Year Award. 1479 01:20:27.520 --> 01:20:29.760 It's the first time a woman has ever won the award. 1480 01:20:29.760 --> 01:20:33.880 Even Kenta Kobashi said that he voted for and Tanahashi 1481 01:20:34.000 --> 01:20:36.560 came in second. So I'm going with Kamatani for the win. 1482 01:20:36.840 --> 01:20:38.840 I just hope they get some some real time here. 1483 01:20:40.319 --> 01:20:43.439 Then we have a Tony Khan special on this New 1484 01:20:43.520 --> 01:20:45.880 Japan show. It's basically an all star ten man tag 1485 01:20:45.920 --> 01:20:50.439 team match with Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, David Finley, Gabe Kid, 1486 01:20:50.439 --> 01:20:55.520 and Drilla Maloney taking on Great o' Kan, Kalum Newman, Henare, 1487 01:20:56.359 --> 01:20:58.439 who has been out for a year with a knee injury, 1488 01:20:59.199 --> 01:21:04.279 and two mist partners representing United Empire. Callum Newman is 1489 01:21:04.479 --> 01:21:06.880 a star on the rise. He's the youngest man to 1490 01:21:06.920 --> 01:21:11.199 ever win an IWGP title, It's only twenty three years old. 1491 01:21:11.640 --> 01:21:14.359 He's also the youngest to ever challenge for the IWGP 1492 01:21:14.560 --> 01:21:19.520 World title. We have a four way number one contenders 1493 01:21:19.560 --> 01:21:24.680 match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title with l Desperado, Kose, Fujita, 1494 01:21:25.039 --> 01:21:30.119 Taiji Ishimuri, and Show Dokie is the champion and actually 1495 01:21:30.239 --> 01:21:32.960 has two titles right now, including one half of the 1496 01:21:33.039 --> 01:21:35.439 junior heavyweight tag team titles, and he is not even 1497 01:21:35.479 --> 01:21:39.279 on the Damn Show, the first time since twenty twelve 1498 01:21:39.359 --> 01:21:41.960 that the junior title is not being defended on a 1499 01:21:42.000 --> 01:21:46.600 Tokyo Domb show. Desperado. He's had that title how many 1500 01:21:46.640 --> 01:21:52.640 times now? And an Ishimuri too. I would go Fujita 1501 01:21:52.800 --> 01:21:55.359 or show for the win. Here, I'll say Fujita wins. 1502 01:21:57.600 --> 01:22:01.199 Now we have Aaron Wolf in his very first professional 1503 01:22:01.199 --> 01:22:05.039 wrestling match seen by the entire world on their biggest 1504 01:22:05.039 --> 01:22:08.359 show of the year, challenging Evil for the never open 1505 01:22:08.399 --> 01:22:12.640 Weight Championship. Get ready for tons of interference from the 1506 01:22:12.720 --> 01:22:16.479 House of Torture. Maybe he needs it, though I don't 1507 01:22:16.560 --> 01:22:18.720 know how ready he is. He's only had a few 1508 01:22:18.720 --> 01:22:21.840 months of training. I know he's an Olympic gold medalist 1509 01:22:21.840 --> 01:22:24.920 in judo, but I mean that doesn't make you a 1510 01:22:24.960 --> 01:22:28.279 great pro wrestler, you know. Does he have the instincts 1511 01:22:28.319 --> 01:22:31.239 for this? Does he have the charisma to help carry 1512 01:22:31.319 --> 01:22:33.720 him right? I haven't seen him, so I don't know. 1513 01:22:34.119 --> 01:22:36.199 But there's an awful lot of hype around this guy, 1514 01:22:36.720 --> 01:22:40.680 maybe an unfair amount of hype. But if he shows 1515 01:22:40.680 --> 01:22:44.560 something here, they make an instant star on day one, 1516 01:22:44.600 --> 01:22:47.000 and if he doesn't, he may end up as one 1517 01:22:47.000 --> 01:22:50.560 of the biggest flops of all time. I wouldn't be 1518 01:22:50.560 --> 01:22:52.119 beating him in his first match in front of a 1519 01:22:52.159 --> 01:22:54.680 mainstream audience that's there to see him. So I'm gonna 1520 01:22:54.680 --> 01:22:58.800 say that Aaron Wolf wins the Never title. In the 1521 01:22:58.920 --> 01:23:02.600 second double tie match on this show, the IWGP Global 1522 01:23:02.680 --> 01:23:07.600 Champion Yotasuji takes on the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and 1523 01:23:07.680 --> 01:23:11.880 the winner of this year's G One Climax. Can you 1524 01:23:11.920 --> 01:23:14.760 imagine if he wins the G One and the Continental 1525 01:23:14.800 --> 01:23:19.119 Classic in the same year, And if he does, it 1526 01:23:19.159 --> 01:23:23.279 would be just eight days before this match. Kenoski Takeshta 1527 01:23:24.359 --> 01:23:27.800 I mentioned those Tokyo Sports Year end awards before. In 1528 01:23:27.920 --> 01:23:30.840 the voting for Wrestler of the Year Most Valuable Player, 1529 01:23:32.199 --> 01:23:39.399 Takeshta came in dead last with zero votes. Zero in 1530 01:23:39.479 --> 01:23:41.840 a year where he won the G One and the 1531 01:23:41.880 --> 01:23:46.680 IWGP World title and had some incredible matches. Zero votes, 1532 01:23:48.159 --> 01:23:50.920 and you ask yourself, why, you know, how does he 1533 01:23:50.960 --> 01:23:55.399 get not one single vote here? You gotta remember, also, 1534 01:23:55.520 --> 01:23:58.359 he's not full time in New Japan, right, He's splitting. 1535 01:23:58.399 --> 01:24:01.640 He's got three different contracts and he is splitting his 1536 01:24:01.720 --> 01:24:04.560 time between AAW and New Japan and DDT as well, 1537 01:24:04.600 --> 01:24:08.920 but between AW mainly in New Japan and AW always 1538 01:24:09.000 --> 01:24:12.399 has first priority. I would think that has something to 1539 01:24:12.439 --> 01:24:15.520 do with it. I can't speak to the mindset of 1540 01:24:15.560 --> 01:24:18.960 the Japanese wrestling fan. I can't speak to what it 1541 01:24:19.000 --> 01:24:21.960 is about this guy where they just have not fully 1542 01:24:22.359 --> 01:24:26.520 made that connection with him. Yet He's never going to 1543 01:24:26.560 --> 01:24:28.760 be He's an AW guy. He's never going to be 1544 01:24:28.840 --> 01:24:32.039 full time with New Japan because you know, the yen 1545 01:24:32.319 --> 01:24:34.239 is very weak right now and there's no way he 1546 01:24:34.239 --> 01:24:36.760 would make anywhere close to what Tony kannam sure is 1547 01:24:36.760 --> 01:24:38.760 paying him. Right if you were to go work for 1548 01:24:38.840 --> 01:24:42.279 New Japan full time, why do you think Okada left? 1549 01:24:42.479 --> 01:24:46.199 So maybe it's just the AW affiliation and they see 1550 01:24:46.239 --> 01:24:49.640 him as an outsider and that works against him. But 1551 01:24:49.880 --> 01:24:52.000 you know, I will also say, for as great as 1552 01:24:52.039 --> 01:24:54.960 Takeshta is and I sing his praises all the time, 1553 01:24:55.000 --> 01:24:59.479 he doesn't have the charisma that some of these other 1554 01:24:59.520 --> 01:25:03.119 big names have. There's not a lot of depth there 1555 01:25:03.399 --> 01:25:05.920 beneath him going out and having a good look and 1556 01:25:05.960 --> 01:25:09.399 having great wrestling matches. One thing I know is that 1557 01:25:09.439 --> 01:25:11.960 they are closing this show with back to back matches 1558 01:25:12.079 --> 01:25:15.640 with an AAW star in it, and under no circumstances 1559 01:25:15.640 --> 01:25:18.479 should both AW stars be winning their matches. I mean, 1560 01:25:18.520 --> 01:25:21.159 at least one of them has to lose, and it 1561 01:25:21.239 --> 01:25:24.399 is more important that Takeshta put Yotasuji over here and 1562 01:25:24.439 --> 01:25:28.640 crown him his world champion and level him up because 1563 01:25:28.640 --> 01:25:30.479 Suji is one of the younger guys. They should be 1564 01:25:30.479 --> 01:25:33.880 building this company around in twenty twenty six. Now is 1565 01:25:33.880 --> 01:25:37.760 it going to work? They tried with Sonata, it didn't work. 1566 01:25:38.880 --> 01:25:40.520 Is it going to work with Suji? Is he going 1567 01:25:40.560 --> 01:25:42.600 to be the draw the way that guys like Tanahashi 1568 01:25:42.640 --> 01:25:46.439 and Okada and Naito were before. I don't know, but 1569 01:25:46.600 --> 01:25:48.720 the old guard has been phased out. They have no 1570 01:25:48.880 --> 01:25:52.239 choice but to try. They have already waited too long. 1571 01:25:53.560 --> 01:25:56.000 I think Takeshta winning this match would be very damaging. 1572 01:25:57.199 --> 01:26:01.239 But Yotasuji has said that if if he wins, he 1573 01:26:01.319 --> 01:26:04.000 wants to bring back the old V four version of 1574 01:26:04.039 --> 01:26:06.720 the IWGP belt, which is still the best version. It 1575 01:26:06.760 --> 01:26:08.800 never should have been retired to begin with. I don't 1576 01:26:08.800 --> 01:26:11.560 know what they were thinking, and also he wants the 1577 01:26:11.560 --> 01:26:15.119 lineage of the current championship merged with the lineage of 1578 01:26:15.159 --> 01:26:17.760 the previous title, because they started a whole new lineage 1579 01:26:17.800 --> 01:26:19.920 when they merged it. I think was he Boushi who 1580 01:26:20.000 --> 01:26:23.159 was the first one to kind of merge together what 1581 01:26:23.279 --> 01:26:26.800 was the intercontinental title with the IWGP title, and then 1582 01:26:26.840 --> 01:26:30.479 that's how we got the IWGP World Heavyweight title. So 1583 01:26:30.960 --> 01:26:34.119 everything's kind of all muddied up now. So he wants 1584 01:26:34.159 --> 01:26:39.319 to merge the lineage or lineages I guess of the championships. 1585 01:26:39.520 --> 01:26:41.520 But the fact that he is claiming that he is 1586 01:26:41.560 --> 01:26:43.880 going to do all of these things when he wins 1587 01:26:44.680 --> 01:26:48.239 makes me think he's not winning because I don't see 1588 01:26:48.239 --> 01:26:51.880 them bringing the old belt back. So they're gonna fucking 1589 01:26:51.960 --> 01:26:55.359 beat them, aren't they. They are gonna beat this man. 1590 01:26:56.159 --> 01:26:58.520 I'm picking to Kesha to win, right if I have 1591 01:26:58.600 --> 01:27:02.319 to predict, I'm predicting a to Kesha win here, which 1592 01:27:02.359 --> 01:27:05.720 I would not do. See if he would have just 1593 01:27:05.800 --> 01:27:08.520 kept his mouth shut, I would have gone Yotasuji, But 1594 01:27:08.560 --> 01:27:13.720 I have to kesht your retaining and in the main event, 1595 01:27:14.239 --> 01:27:16.479 the real reason for the fifty thousand fans that they 1596 01:27:16.479 --> 01:27:18.640 are going to have in that building, it is the 1597 01:27:18.680 --> 01:27:22.680 final match in the career of the ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi 1598 01:27:22.840 --> 01:27:27.000 against his greatest rival, the former IWGP champion in reigning 1599 01:27:27.520 --> 01:27:32.359 AEW unified champion. I mean, is he still technically the 1600 01:27:32.479 --> 01:27:35.359 unified champion or is he just the international champ? I 1601 01:27:35.359 --> 01:27:39.600 don't even know anymore. Kazushka Okada, who has not wrestled 1602 01:27:39.640 --> 01:27:43.039 in a New Japan ring in nearly two years. It 1603 01:27:43.119 --> 01:27:45.920 is the end of an era. Tanahashi has been on 1604 01:27:46.039 --> 01:27:50.359 rubber legs or knees for a while now. It's painful 1605 01:27:50.359 --> 01:27:52.319 to watch him when he's walking out there, But when 1606 01:27:52.359 --> 01:27:54.159 the man wants to, he can still put on a 1607 01:27:54.159 --> 01:27:56.319 great professional wrestling match, and I think he's going to 1608 01:27:56.359 --> 01:27:59.079 go all out here as much as his body will allow. 1609 01:28:00.319 --> 01:28:03.800 And John Cena both they went on retirement tours this year, 1610 01:28:04.880 --> 01:28:07.760 and you know, it's hard to judge which one was better, 1611 01:28:07.840 --> 01:28:09.840 because I've had a couple of people ask me right 1612 01:28:09.880 --> 01:28:11.920 now that we're at the end of the year, who 1613 01:28:12.000 --> 01:28:16.239 had the better retirement tour. It's an impossible question to 1614 01:28:16.279 --> 01:28:20.600 answer because they were so different. You know, Tanahashi will 1615 01:28:20.640 --> 01:28:23.079 have wrestled over one hundred and forty matches this year 1616 01:28:23.119 --> 01:28:26.720 by the time this show rolls around. Sina wrestled eighteen. 1617 01:28:28.680 --> 01:28:33.000 That's a big difference. Tanahashi did it with a lot 1618 01:28:33.079 --> 01:28:37.000 less fanfare than Sina. Sina had more moments, Tanahashi had 1619 01:28:37.000 --> 01:28:42.399 more matches and output as far as that goes. And Tanahashi, again, 1620 01:28:42.439 --> 01:28:44.600 he did it with a lot less fanfare and most 1621 01:28:44.640 --> 01:28:46.439 of his matches, by the way, we're not even the 1622 01:28:46.479 --> 01:28:48.520 main event on those shows. There were a lot of 1623 01:28:48.520 --> 01:28:50.399 shows where his match was like in the mid card, 1624 01:28:51.479 --> 01:28:55.239 but their importance to their respective companies puts them in 1625 01:28:55.279 --> 01:28:58.199 the same category. But Tanahashi was far more important to 1626 01:28:58.239 --> 01:29:01.199 the health of New Japan than Sena was to WWA. 1627 01:29:01.319 --> 01:29:03.840 If Tanahashi does not get hot when he did and 1628 01:29:03.880 --> 01:29:07.119 carry the company into a new era, who knows where 1629 01:29:07.119 --> 01:29:09.880 New Japan is right now? Who knows if they're around 1630 01:29:09.960 --> 01:29:14.319 right now. That's how bleak things were without Sena. It's 1631 01:29:14.319 --> 01:29:16.840 not as if WWE was in jeopardy of going under. 1632 01:29:17.960 --> 01:29:21.399 There's no championships on the line here in this match, 1633 01:29:21.560 --> 01:29:23.920 just two old rivals going at it one last time. 1634 01:29:24.479 --> 01:29:27.319 They've had this legendary rivalry for so many years. This 1635 01:29:27.359 --> 01:29:30.720 will be their fourth Tokyo Domain event together. Tanahashi has 1636 01:29:30.760 --> 01:29:33.520 him beat two to one. Right now, although Okada has 1637 01:29:33.520 --> 01:29:35.840 more wins over him overall, I think it's like nine 1638 01:29:35.840 --> 01:29:40.439 to five. Who wins here doesn't really matter as much 1639 01:29:40.439 --> 01:29:42.880 as Tanahashi being able to go out with a great match. 1640 01:29:42.960 --> 01:29:45.119 That's why he chose Okada to be his opponent. He 1641 01:29:45.159 --> 01:29:48.119 wanted Shinsky Nakamora, but politically that was never going to happen. 1642 01:29:48.760 --> 01:29:52.399 Okada is the better opponent for him anyway. Really, how 1643 01:29:52.399 --> 01:29:54.319 could it have been anybody else? Right? I mean, the 1644 01:29:54.319 --> 01:29:56.760 difference between this and John Sena's last match is that 1645 01:29:56.880 --> 01:29:59.720 Sena lost with the idea of putting over Gunther for 1646 01:29:59.720 --> 01:30:03.359 Busy and making him the biggest heel in the entire company. Here, 1647 01:30:03.720 --> 01:30:06.279 he's wrestling someone who does not even work for New 1648 01:30:06.359 --> 01:30:11.720 Japan anymore. He's an aw guy. So to me, the 1649 01:30:11.760 --> 01:30:14.479 old school mentality of you always go out on your 1650 01:30:14.520 --> 01:30:19.199 back and your retirement match doesn't really apply here. Okada 1651 01:30:19.239 --> 01:30:21.720 winning does nothing for New Japan, not a fucking thing. 1652 01:30:22.720 --> 01:30:26.600 He may want to lose to Okada, but I think 1653 01:30:26.640 --> 01:30:29.479 Takesha is retaining, and if Takesha is retaining, then that 1654 01:30:29.560 --> 01:30:31.720 paves the way I think for Okada to lose here, 1655 01:30:31.760 --> 01:30:34.199 because if i'm New Japan, I'm not putting both AW 1656 01:30:34.319 --> 01:30:36.439 guys over in the two biggest matches on my show. 1657 01:30:36.800 --> 01:30:39.479 One of them, sure, but not both of them, let 1658 01:30:39.520 --> 01:30:42.359 alone back to back like that. That would just be ridiculous. 1659 01:30:43.720 --> 01:30:46.600 That's the only reason I say that. Otherwise, yes, I 1660 01:30:46.640 --> 01:30:49.840 would say Tanahashi loses, But if I'm right on the 1661 01:30:49.880 --> 01:30:53.800 other match, then Tanahashi should win this one. And if 1662 01:30:53.840 --> 01:30:57.159 Takeshta does lose the championship, then I think it's okay 1663 01:30:57.199 --> 01:31:00.720 for Okata to win. And actually, if anything, it allows 1664 01:31:00.800 --> 01:31:03.000 him to then go out on AW television in the 1665 01:31:03.000 --> 01:31:07.199 weeks that follow the Dome show and gloat and rub 1666 01:31:07.239 --> 01:31:09.520 it in tanahat or rub it in to cash his 1667 01:31:09.560 --> 01:31:12.279 face rather that you know, he lost and I won 1668 01:31:13.079 --> 01:31:16.119 and you lost your championship, right, and then just build 1669 01:31:16.279 --> 01:31:18.760 and build and build even more to the match of Revolutions. 1670 01:31:18.800 --> 01:31:23.239 So I actually think that works better. As we get 1671 01:31:23.279 --> 01:31:27.000 ready to close out twenty twenty five, let us look 1672 01:31:27.039 --> 01:31:29.600 back at the key stories from the year. The year 1673 01:31:29.640 --> 01:31:31.680 that was in the world of wrestling. You know, I 1674 01:31:31.720 --> 01:31:37.079 came across this tweet from Elite Rockers, which has a 1675 01:31:37.079 --> 01:31:41.079 lot of followers. This was from September nineteenth, twenty twenty four. 1676 01:31:42.319 --> 01:31:45.199 WWE in twenty twenty five is going to be in 1677 01:31:45.359 --> 01:31:49.439 god mode. Raw on Netflix is going to be uncensored, 1678 01:31:49.479 --> 01:31:53.600 and Edgier SmackDown is going to be three hours, a 1679 01:31:53.760 --> 01:31:58.439 megastar loaded Men's Royal Rumble match, John Cena possibly winning 1680 01:31:58.439 --> 01:32:02.960 his seventeenth world title, the Rock and Roman Range Dream Feud. 1681 01:32:03.640 --> 01:32:09.960 I'm so excited god mode, he said. If this year 1682 01:32:10.119 --> 01:32:13.079 was god mode, then that term has lost all meaning. 1683 01:32:14.159 --> 01:32:17.159 This year was supposed to be the retirement tour for 1684 01:32:17.479 --> 01:32:21.000 John Cena, Hiroshi Tanahashi, which of course is culminating at 1685 01:32:21.039 --> 01:32:24.119 the Tokyo Dome on January fourth, And if you remember 1686 01:32:24.199 --> 01:32:28.840 at the beginning of the year, Jeff Jarrett, now you know, 1687 01:32:29.199 --> 01:32:31.800 it's rare that we see someone get an entire year 1688 01:32:32.159 --> 01:32:35.199 to say goodbye in wrestling. If anything, it's a match, right, 1689 01:32:35.199 --> 01:32:37.199 And even that's rare. A lot of wrestlers never get 1690 01:32:37.239 --> 01:32:40.079 to have a proper retirement match. A lot of wrestlers 1691 01:32:40.560 --> 01:32:44.199 they never actually retire. This year we had two of them, 1692 01:32:44.279 --> 01:32:47.760 two major stars who announced their retirement in advance, and 1693 01:32:47.800 --> 01:32:50.800 they got a year long tour. And regardless of what 1694 01:32:50.840 --> 01:32:53.399 you thought of those tours, good for them that they 1695 01:32:53.399 --> 01:32:55.800 got the chance to at least go out on their 1696 01:32:55.880 --> 01:32:58.880 own terms or somewhat on their own terms. The Sena 1697 01:32:58.920 --> 01:33:01.800 and a Tanahashi retire Ironman Tours again, they could not 1698 01:33:01.840 --> 01:33:03.680 have been any more different for all the reasons that 1699 01:33:03.760 --> 01:33:07.000 I mentioned earlier in the podcast. Tanahashi he wrestled over 1700 01:33:07.039 --> 01:33:09.840 one hundred and forty matches this year. Seena wrestled in 1701 01:33:09.880 --> 01:33:13.600 eighteen matches. Most of those Tanahashi matches were not even 1702 01:33:13.920 --> 01:33:16.399 main events on those shows, but still two of the 1703 01:33:16.399 --> 01:33:20.039 biggest stars in the history of the business seen his 1704 01:33:20.159 --> 01:33:25.359 tour very disappointing. Double j though. If you remember the 1705 01:33:25.399 --> 01:33:27.880 beginning of the year, he started by announcing that he 1706 01:33:27.920 --> 01:33:31.199 had signed a new one year deal with AW, which 1707 01:33:31.279 --> 01:33:34.760 was going to be his final contract as an active 1708 01:33:34.840 --> 01:33:38.600 professional wrestler. This was to have been his final year 1709 01:33:38.680 --> 01:33:41.640 in the ring, and he made his intentions very clear 1710 01:33:41.640 --> 01:33:45.479 that he wanted to win the AEW World Championship, and 1711 01:33:45.520 --> 01:33:48.520 he started a feud with MJF that was quickly dropped 1712 01:33:48.720 --> 01:33:51.840 I'm sure because Tony Khan saw the online backlash and 1713 01:33:51.960 --> 01:33:56.239 Hee panicked, I mean, those are his people, and so 1714 01:33:56.399 --> 01:33:58.720 the story was dropped and it was never mentioned again, 1715 01:33:59.000 --> 01:34:03.079 which was for the better. Now Jared is talking about 1716 01:34:03.079 --> 01:34:06.279 his upcoming fortieth anniversary in the business, which is coming 1717 01:34:06.319 --> 01:34:09.680 up in April, and he says he still has certain 1718 01:34:09.720 --> 01:34:12.520 in ring goals that he has left to fulfill, so 1719 01:34:12.680 --> 01:34:15.479 evidently this will not be Jeff Jared's final year in 1720 01:34:15.520 --> 01:34:19.840 the ring. A pro wrestler lying about his retirement, I've 1721 01:34:19.840 --> 01:34:22.239 never heard of such a thing. But let us not 1722 01:34:22.319 --> 01:34:24.840 forget the one retirement tour that never was but was 1723 01:34:24.880 --> 01:34:28.279 supposed to be this year in double j Jeff Jarrett. 1724 01:34:28.880 --> 01:34:31.479 We had Kenny Omega returning at the Tokyo Dome at 1725 01:34:31.520 --> 01:34:36.479 wrestled Dynasty and stealing the show back on January fifth. 1726 01:34:36.520 --> 01:34:39.520 That was against Gabe Kid. Now I want you to 1727 01:34:39.560 --> 01:34:43.880 think about this. Omega almost died. I mean, that's how 1728 01:34:43.920 --> 01:34:46.319 serious of a health situation he was in with the 1729 01:34:47.560 --> 01:34:50.199 you know, with a diverticulitis and the surgery that he had, 1730 01:34:50.960 --> 01:34:53.399 and it was a slow recovery. He was out of 1731 01:34:53.439 --> 01:34:56.560 the ring for over a year. He opened the year 1732 01:34:57.079 --> 01:34:59.600 against Gabe Kid with the kind of match that they had, 1733 01:35:00.119 --> 01:35:01.640 which if you were to tell me that that was 1734 01:35:01.680 --> 01:35:04.640 your match of the year, and this was on January fifth, 1735 01:35:05.279 --> 01:35:06.680 If you were to tell me that was your match 1736 01:35:06.680 --> 01:35:09.039 of the year. I wouldn't argue with you, that's how 1737 01:35:09.039 --> 01:35:11.840 great that match was. He opened the year with that, 1738 01:35:12.039 --> 01:35:15.680 and then the matches with Takeshta Revolution and Speedball and 1739 01:35:15.800 --> 01:35:19.159 Ricochet at Dynasty, Anarchy in the Arena that he was 1740 01:35:19.199 --> 01:35:22.960 a part of Okada at all in Texas. You know, 1741 01:35:23.039 --> 01:35:25.199 he's been more downplayed and hasn't had a lot of 1742 01:35:25.199 --> 01:35:28.520 big singles matches in recent months. But you know, his 1743 01:35:28.600 --> 01:35:30.920 return at wrestled Dynasty was a big deal after being 1744 01:35:30.920 --> 01:35:34.359 gone for so long. We had Monday Night Raw this year, 1745 01:35:34.439 --> 01:35:37.479 premiering on Netflix. Right, that was the big what was 1746 01:35:37.479 --> 01:35:40.600 it five billion dollar deal? Five billion, ten billion? What's 1747 01:35:40.600 --> 01:35:43.760 another five billion? I think it was five billion. But 1748 01:35:43.800 --> 01:35:46.560 we had the premiere on Netflix, which was the start 1749 01:35:46.600 --> 01:35:48.439 of a new era for this show. Right. It had 1750 01:35:48.479 --> 01:35:51.600 been on cable television ever since the show premiered in 1751 01:35:51.680 --> 01:35:54.039 nineteen ninety three, and for the first time now it 1752 01:35:54.159 --> 01:35:57.680 was on a streaming service. It's very different, right, the 1753 01:35:57.680 --> 01:36:00.439 world is changing. But on that night we had the 1754 01:36:00.479 --> 01:36:02.880 return of the Rock, who really wasn't the Rock. It 1755 01:36:03.000 --> 01:36:05.680 was more Dwayne the board member, and he was praising 1756 01:36:05.720 --> 01:36:07.840 and putting over Cody Rhodes, the man that he was 1757 01:36:07.880 --> 01:36:11.239 feuding with the year before that was weird sharing tequila 1758 01:36:11.319 --> 01:36:14.000 with him. Hulk Hogan came out that night. He got 1759 01:36:14.079 --> 01:36:17.800 booed by the crowd, even though he was there to 1760 01:36:17.840 --> 01:36:20.920 promote his beer and he he was, you know, out 1761 01:36:20.920 --> 01:36:23.399 there with Jimmy Hart waving the flag around, and man, 1762 01:36:23.520 --> 01:36:25.840 he got booed out of the building. And how sad 1763 01:36:25.880 --> 01:36:28.119 it is that will be the final appearance that people 1764 01:36:28.239 --> 01:36:31.760 remember him for on WWE television. Why they even thought 1765 01:36:31.920 --> 01:36:34.039 trotting him out there would be a good idea, I 1766 01:36:34.079 --> 01:36:37.760 will never know, but that probably was the most memorable 1767 01:36:37.760 --> 01:36:41.239 moment from that Raw premiere on Netflix. We had the 1768 01:36:41.279 --> 01:36:45.680 debut of Penta debuted on Raw January thirteenth against Chad 1769 01:36:45.720 --> 01:36:49.279 Gable and he got off to a hot start. I 1770 01:36:49.319 --> 01:36:52.479 feel like in recent months they've definitely lost their way 1771 01:36:53.079 --> 01:36:56.560 with Penta, but you know, he's still in a place 1772 01:36:56.600 --> 01:37:00.159 where I think twenty twenty six, he should do better, right, 1773 01:37:00.199 --> 01:37:02.079 It's kind of hard for me to believe that they 1774 01:37:02.159 --> 01:37:05.279 won't find something worthy for Penta to do, or put 1775 01:37:05.279 --> 01:37:07.960 a championship on him at some point next year. He's 1776 01:37:07.960 --> 01:37:11.159 super popular. The way he got over almost instantly with 1777 01:37:11.199 --> 01:37:15.600 the WWE audience was very cool to see and hopefully 1778 01:37:15.640 --> 01:37:17.399 they have bigger things in my for him in twenty 1779 01:37:17.399 --> 01:37:20.279 twenty six. I feel like he I forget the injury recently. 1780 01:37:20.279 --> 01:37:23.600 I feel like he's definitely been you know, phased down 1781 01:37:23.800 --> 01:37:26.720 in recent months to a level where he should be 1782 01:37:26.720 --> 01:37:30.199 a little higher up on the card. There was some 1783 01:37:30.239 --> 01:37:33.560 announcer drama earlier this year, if you remember, with Corey Graves, 1784 01:37:34.079 --> 01:37:37.920 after he was demoted to NXT. He did not really 1785 01:37:38.279 --> 01:37:41.279 react very well to that, and then he disappeared for 1786 01:37:41.319 --> 01:37:44.319 a little bit. But in the end everything got smoothed over. 1787 01:37:44.439 --> 01:37:48.199 And I just heard him last night on the Triple 1788 01:37:48.199 --> 01:37:50.479 A show that was streaming on YouTube. He's doing that, 1789 01:37:50.560 --> 01:37:54.680 He's doing you know, the stuff with Michael Cole working 1790 01:37:54.680 --> 01:37:57.720 together again. So Corey is great. I'm glad everything got 1791 01:37:57.760 --> 01:38:04.159 smoothed over. We had the announcement January sixteenth, WWE and 1792 01:38:04.239 --> 01:38:08.239 TNA forming a multi year partnership. We got a press 1793 01:38:08.279 --> 01:38:11.880 release and everything just to make it official. And boy 1794 01:38:11.920 --> 01:38:15.119 has that been a big deal for TNA, more so 1795 01:38:15.239 --> 01:38:19.359 TNA than for WWE. Although WWE has benefited from this 1796 01:38:19.479 --> 01:38:22.840 arrangement as well. This is something that even a few 1797 01:38:22.920 --> 01:38:25.359 years ago, let alone ten or fifteen years ago, when 1798 01:38:25.439 --> 01:38:29.680 Vince McMahon was in charge, would have been unthinkable, like 1799 01:38:29.880 --> 01:38:33.079 absolutely unthinkable. I remember that dumb match they did on RAW. 1800 01:38:33.159 --> 01:38:35.520 I don't know what year it was, but it was 1801 01:38:35.600 --> 01:38:38.560 like they had a fake Trump and a fake Rosie 1802 01:38:38.560 --> 01:38:41.279 O'Donnell having some dumb match on Raw. Vince McMahon was 1803 01:38:41.279 --> 01:38:46.399 sitting at ringside and the crowd is chanting TNA. And 1804 01:38:46.439 --> 01:38:48.960 I remember reading about how like angry Vince was, and 1805 01:38:49.000 --> 01:38:52.079 I'm like, good, because when you put out shit, that's 1806 01:38:52.119 --> 01:38:53.920 the sort of thing that they should be be giving 1807 01:38:53.960 --> 01:38:56.479 back to you. But there was a period of time 1808 01:38:56.520 --> 01:39:00.560 where you know, you would hear those initials occasionally chanting right, 1809 01:39:00.720 --> 01:39:03.359 and people backstage would not respond. Well. It would be 1810 01:39:03.399 --> 01:39:06.199 the equivalent if like a WWE crowd suddenly broke out 1811 01:39:06.239 --> 01:39:08.479 in an aw chen. Right, I'm sure Triple H would 1812 01:39:08.479 --> 01:39:12.199 be back there smarting about it. Right. They were not 1813 01:39:12.319 --> 01:39:16.000 on friendly terms with TNA, is the point I'm making. 1814 01:39:16.359 --> 01:39:18.199 And so the idea that now not only are they 1815 01:39:18.239 --> 01:39:20.319 working together and they have a talent exchange, but they 1816 01:39:20.319 --> 01:39:23.680 have formalized it. They had a press release out for it, 1817 01:39:24.199 --> 01:39:27.159 and there's a multi year partnership between these two companies, 1818 01:39:27.520 --> 01:39:31.640 and we have TNA talents on fucking WrestleMania, you know, 1819 01:39:31.760 --> 01:39:35.560 I mean it's it's and with their championships, and it's 1820 01:39:35.760 --> 01:39:39.640 really been kind of lopsided in terms of the talents 1821 01:39:39.760 --> 01:39:42.680 WWE has been able to feature. It's not like TNA's 1822 01:39:42.680 --> 01:39:47.199 getting a lot of kind of upper level elite WWE 1823 01:39:47.279 --> 01:39:49.560 names pop it up in wrestling matches on their shows. 1824 01:39:50.279 --> 01:39:52.920 The closest thing they got was aj Styles, who just 1825 01:39:53.079 --> 01:39:55.520 did a quick you know, a quick dip in and 1826 01:39:55.520 --> 01:40:00.800 a quick dip out back at Slammiversary. But again, something 1827 01:40:00.800 --> 01:40:03.319 that would have been absolutely unthinkable just a few years 1828 01:40:03.319 --> 01:40:07.680 ago actually became a reality here in twenty twenty five. 1829 01:40:08.520 --> 01:40:11.560 Joe Hendry appearing as the TNA World Champion in the 1830 01:40:11.640 --> 01:40:15.119 Royal Rumble match this year on February first, Case in Point, 1831 01:40:15.600 --> 01:40:20.000 Jay Usso winning the Men's Royal Rumble a very polarizing decision, 1832 01:40:20.039 --> 01:40:22.359 but boy, it led to a lot of other shit 1833 01:40:22.479 --> 01:40:24.279 in the months that followed. When it came to Jay 1834 01:40:24.279 --> 01:40:28.159 in the World Heavyweight Championship. Some may like it, some 1835 01:40:28.239 --> 01:40:30.439 may not, but that was one of the big stories 1836 01:40:30.479 --> 01:40:34.000 of this year, was the Jay Usso push. We had 1837 01:40:34.079 --> 01:40:39.760 Ricky Starks now Ricky Saints making his surprise debut on 1838 01:40:39.880 --> 01:40:44.720 the February eleventh episode of NXT. The only surprise about 1839 01:40:44.760 --> 01:40:46.560 it was how quickly it happened, because we had only 1840 01:40:46.640 --> 01:40:50.239 learned it was only reported the day before. I think 1841 01:40:50.279 --> 01:40:52.880 that he had gotten an early release from Tony Kahn, 1842 01:40:52.960 --> 01:40:55.079 and then boom, He's on NXT the very next night. 1843 01:40:56.880 --> 01:41:00.159 And now, of course he's a former NXT champion in 1844 01:41:00.159 --> 01:41:02.640 the upper mix for that title, and I have every 1845 01:41:02.680 --> 01:41:05.239 expectation that we will see him on Raw or Smacked 1846 01:41:05.239 --> 01:41:09.840 Down by the middle of twenty twenty six. Hiroki Goto 1847 01:41:10.199 --> 01:41:13.399 finally winning the IWGP Championships, something I don't think a 1848 01:41:13.439 --> 01:41:16.600 lot of people ever expected to happen at nearly forty 1849 01:41:16.640 --> 01:41:19.640 six years of age, beating Zach Saber Junior back on 1850 01:41:19.720 --> 01:41:22.760 February eleventh. He held that title for one hundred and 1851 01:41:22.840 --> 01:41:25.760 thirty eight days. And now look at him. He's playing 1852 01:41:25.960 --> 01:41:28.680 I Honda in the New Street Fighter movie coming out 1853 01:41:28.720 --> 01:41:30.720 next year. You got Cody Rhodes in the movie, you 1854 01:41:30.800 --> 01:41:34.000 got Roman Reigns in the movie, and now you got 1855 01:41:34.199 --> 01:41:39.880 Hiroki Goto. The Rock was brought back to television. Remember 1856 01:41:39.880 --> 01:41:43.000 when The Rock was on SmackDown on February twenty first, 1857 01:41:43.840 --> 01:41:46.119 they were in New Orleans that night and they brought 1858 01:41:46.119 --> 01:41:49.560 the Rock back to make the big announcement that Wresselmania 1859 01:41:49.720 --> 01:41:54.279 forty two is coming back to New Orleans. And that 1860 01:41:54.399 --> 01:41:56.560 was the same night where he said he also wanted 1861 01:41:56.600 --> 01:42:01.760 Cody Soul and that whole fiasco again. But yes, they 1862 01:42:01.800 --> 01:42:03.960 trotted the Rock out there to announce that they were 1863 01:42:04.000 --> 01:42:08.000 bringing WrestleMania next year to the Big Easy, only to 1864 01:42:08.079 --> 01:42:12.720 turn around what was it, two months, three months later, 1865 01:42:12.800 --> 01:42:17.479 whatever it was, and say, psich, not so fast, New Orleans, 1866 01:42:17.600 --> 01:42:21.760 We're coming back to Vegas. Unbelievable. And then, like I said, 1867 01:42:21.800 --> 01:42:26.560 the Cody Sole nonsense. We had the elimination Chamber on 1868 01:42:26.720 --> 01:42:30.039 March first. John Cena not only wins the chamber, but 1869 01:42:30.159 --> 01:42:35.239 he does the unthinkable and turns heel in his retirement year. 1870 01:42:36.319 --> 01:42:39.359 Years after people wanted to see him turn heel. They 1871 01:42:39.359 --> 01:42:42.359 had accepted him. It had been years since he was 1872 01:42:42.399 --> 01:42:45.279 being booed by the crowds and we were hearing let's 1873 01:42:45.319 --> 01:42:49.479 go seea Sena sucks. Now they turn him heel and 1874 01:42:49.520 --> 01:42:52.880 he sells his soul to the Rock after he had 1875 01:42:52.880 --> 01:42:55.760 already won the chamber and guaranteed himself a World Championship 1876 01:42:55.760 --> 01:42:58.920 match of WrestleMania. So you could also look at that 1877 01:42:58.960 --> 01:43:01.159 and go, well, that doesn't really make sense. He already 1878 01:43:01.199 --> 01:43:04.079 got his title shot. It would have actually hit a 1879 01:43:04.119 --> 01:43:06.159 lot better if they would have waited, if they insisted 1880 01:43:06.199 --> 01:43:09.520 on doing the heel turn to incorporate it into the 1881 01:43:09.520 --> 01:43:12.520 finish of the match at WrestleMania right, very much like 1882 01:43:12.560 --> 01:43:15.880 what they did with Austin and WrestleMania seventeen. It's not 1883 01:43:15.920 --> 01:43:17.680 like they had It would be the equivalent of Steve 1884 01:43:17.720 --> 01:43:21.119 Austin outlasting twenty nine other men and winning the Royal 1885 01:43:21.199 --> 01:43:24.840 Rumble that year and then turning heel and then going 1886 01:43:24.880 --> 01:43:27.159 to WrestleMania to wrestle the Rockets, Like, dude, you won 1887 01:43:27.199 --> 01:43:29.880 the Rumble, you got your shot. You know, you didn't 1888 01:43:29.880 --> 01:43:32.680 have to do the heel turn beforehand. Now they did 1889 01:43:32.720 --> 01:43:35.560 it at the end of the match, and in hindsight, 1890 01:43:35.600 --> 01:43:39.319 it was an absolutely terrible business decision, which Austin admits 1891 01:43:39.479 --> 01:43:42.840 to this very day. He made a mistake. I mean, 1892 01:43:42.920 --> 01:43:45.079 there's a lot of things along this, said John Cena 1893 01:43:45.159 --> 01:43:46.520 tour that week and look at and say it was 1894 01:43:46.520 --> 01:43:49.640 a mistake. This was one of them. But in the 1895 01:43:49.720 --> 01:43:53.039 moment It was one of the greatest things that they 1896 01:43:53.079 --> 01:43:56.439 had ever done, right in and of itself, in a vacuum, 1897 01:43:56.920 --> 01:44:02.319 the second best heel turn as a turn in wrestling history. 1898 01:44:02.760 --> 01:44:04.840 Hogan will always be number one. Hogan the Red and 1899 01:44:04.960 --> 01:44:07.720 Yellow going to the dark Side, joining and forming the nWo. 1900 01:44:08.000 --> 01:44:10.880 That will always be number one. But they had it, 1901 01:44:11.720 --> 01:44:14.279 they had something special. They had people buzzing in a 1902 01:44:14.279 --> 01:44:18.000 way that people had not been buzzing in years, and 1903 01:44:18.079 --> 01:44:21.880 it all got pissed away. We also had the announcement 1904 01:44:21.920 --> 01:44:25.319 on April nineteenth that WWE was acquiring Triple A Wrestling 1905 01:44:25.560 --> 01:44:30.119 in Mexico, a product that was already trying very hard 1906 01:44:30.159 --> 01:44:34.000 to be like WWE for many years. All the Lucha 1907 01:44:34.079 --> 01:44:39.319 Libre traditionalists who have talked about how worried they are 1908 01:44:39.399 --> 01:44:42.239 about how WWE might change the product into more of 1909 01:44:42.279 --> 01:44:45.680 a WWE type of product. The people that watch Triple 1910 01:44:45.720 --> 01:44:47.920 A and No Triple A have said that they basically 1911 01:44:47.920 --> 01:44:51.800 have been trying to be like WWE for decades. What 1912 01:44:51.960 --> 01:44:54.800 WWE was able to do coming in right, they have 1913 01:44:54.960 --> 01:44:58.600 upped the production values. It has provided more exposure for 1914 01:44:58.640 --> 01:45:03.880 Triple A talents Mister Iguana on WWE shows, but also 1915 01:45:04.039 --> 01:45:07.640 exposure for WWE and NXT talents in Triple A like 1916 01:45:07.720 --> 01:45:11.439 Dominic Mysterio who headlined last night's show, El Grande Americano 1917 01:45:11.520 --> 01:45:16.119 who headlined last night's show, Javon Evans Ethan Page right 1918 01:45:16.199 --> 01:45:21.079 Lolavice who basically is on excursion down there. So those 1919 01:45:21.119 --> 01:45:25.039 have all been positives. Now there are other changes that 1920 01:45:25.199 --> 01:45:28.439 I'm sure could potentially be made or have been made, 1921 01:45:28.520 --> 01:45:31.560 maybe behind the scenes, and maybe little minor things that 1922 01:45:32.279 --> 01:45:34.920 change the product that go against the culture or something 1923 01:45:34.920 --> 01:45:37.680 that people don't like. They were always going to come 1924 01:45:37.680 --> 01:45:40.479 in and make certain changes. The question is, like, in 1925 01:45:40.520 --> 01:45:42.640 the long run, what does this look like. It's still 1926 01:45:42.680 --> 01:45:44.359 too early to know. We're not even out of the 1927 01:45:44.439 --> 01:45:48.039 year yet, Like, is this effectively five years from now 1928 01:45:48.079 --> 01:45:51.159 going to just be you know, NXT Mexico or are 1929 01:45:51.199 --> 01:45:53.159 they truly going to try to keep it as independent 1930 01:45:53.199 --> 01:45:55.920 as possible and continue running it the way they're running 1931 01:45:55.960 --> 01:45:57.399 it now. We don't know the answer to that. What 1932 01:45:57.479 --> 01:45:59.920 we do know is that WWE recently secured a Tell 1933 01:46:00.000 --> 01:46:05.039 Division deal with Fox to air Triple A events, including 1934 01:46:05.079 --> 01:46:09.560 Triple Mania, on Fox in Mexico, and there is talk 1935 01:46:09.920 --> 01:46:12.399 that they may be closed to making an announcement about 1936 01:46:12.439 --> 01:46:16.920 a TV deal for Triple A here in the US. Now, 1937 01:46:17.239 --> 01:46:19.960 this stuff with Triple A has not in any way 1938 01:46:20.079 --> 01:46:23.079 affected the year that CMLL has had. They just sold 1939 01:46:23.079 --> 01:46:27.960 their one millionth ticket to Arena Mexico this year alone. 1940 01:46:28.079 --> 01:46:30.439 You know, WWE may make more money this year than 1941 01:46:30.439 --> 01:46:33.880 any other promotion in the world, but the hottest pro 1942 01:46:33.920 --> 01:46:36.239 wrestling company in the world this year may well have 1943 01:46:36.319 --> 01:46:40.439 been CMLL. When you can put fifteen or sixteen thousand 1944 01:46:40.479 --> 01:46:44.479 people in the same venue every Friday night, week after week, 1945 01:46:45.840 --> 01:46:49.199 and you're pulling in foreigners too, not just Mexican wrestling 1946 01:46:49.239 --> 01:46:52.960 fans who show up to these shows, and they run 1947 01:46:53.000 --> 01:46:55.600 three times a week in that building, just that one building. 1948 01:46:56.239 --> 01:46:57.960 Not that they don't run other places. I'm just saying 1949 01:46:57.960 --> 01:47:00.279 in that one building alone, they're running multiple sh shows 1950 01:47:00.319 --> 01:47:02.119 a week and they're still putting all of these people 1951 01:47:02.159 --> 01:47:05.079 in their week after week. They keep coming back. It's 1952 01:47:05.159 --> 01:47:07.159 pretty incredible the run that they've been on this year. 1953 01:47:09.439 --> 01:47:13.479 We have Paul Hayman betraying cmpunk and Roman Reigns to 1954 01:47:13.520 --> 01:47:17.479 align with seth Rollins or WrestleMania that was on April nineteenth. 1955 01:47:17.720 --> 01:47:20.399 Paul Hayman is not someone to be trusted I mean, 1956 01:47:20.399 --> 01:47:22.760 that's the one thing we've learned about him over the years. 1957 01:47:22.479 --> 01:47:25.920 He's turned on more people than Pamela Anderson did back 1958 01:47:25.920 --> 01:47:29.000 in the nineties. And I don't know why these wrestlers 1959 01:47:29.000 --> 01:47:31.560 haven't figured that out yet. Seth Rolins just found out 1960 01:47:31.640 --> 01:47:35.359 right a couple months ago. But Paul Hayman turning on 1961 01:47:35.439 --> 01:47:37.960 his best friend and turning on his tribal chief to 1962 01:47:38.039 --> 01:47:40.159 align with Seth Rollins. And this was the beginning of 1963 01:47:40.199 --> 01:47:43.560 the vision. And I can't say that this has been 1964 01:47:43.600 --> 01:47:47.439 any great shakes, but that was the big storyline development 1965 01:47:47.479 --> 01:47:50.800 coming out of WrestleMania. We had John Cena at that 1966 01:47:50.840 --> 01:47:54.960 same WrestleMania the very next night, April twentieth, winning his 1967 01:47:55.159 --> 01:48:01.640 record breaking seventeenth world championship in the world worst possible way. 1968 01:48:01.720 --> 01:48:05.359 I don't think if you would pull fifty different wrestling 1969 01:48:05.439 --> 01:48:09.000 fans going back six months, not six months, but like 1970 01:48:09.039 --> 01:48:12.399 a year, two years, three years, and said, hey, you 1971 01:48:12.520 --> 01:48:15.199 had the ability, you had the pen, You're gonna script out. 1972 01:48:15.319 --> 01:48:18.600 John seen his big seventeenth record breaking world title wing 1973 01:48:18.600 --> 01:48:21.159 at WrestleMania. How does it look, how does it go down? 1974 01:48:21.560 --> 01:48:23.800 How do you build to it? What's the story you tell? 1975 01:48:24.520 --> 01:48:26.920 I don't know that any of those fifty people would 1976 01:48:26.960 --> 01:48:28.800 have done it the way the WWE did. It's like 1977 01:48:28.840 --> 01:48:32.439 they did it in the worst possible way, Like even 1978 01:48:32.439 --> 01:48:33.920 if you take Travis Scott out of it, and that 1979 01:48:34.000 --> 01:48:36.720 was bad enough having him out there, even remove him 1980 01:48:36.760 --> 01:48:40.520 from the equation to turn seeing a heel and have 1981 01:48:40.720 --> 01:48:44.159 him win the seventeenth World Championship with a kick to 1982 01:48:44.199 --> 01:48:47.600 the dick in a belt shot. I mean, could they 1983 01:48:47.600 --> 01:48:53.880 have botched this any worse than they did? On May second, 1984 01:48:54.359 --> 01:48:58.079 there was a wave of talent releases seventeen in total 1985 01:48:58.199 --> 01:49:01.720 from the WWE and n T rosters, including names like 1986 01:49:01.760 --> 01:49:08.600 Braun Stroman, Dakota Kai, Shana Basler, Kora, jade Gg Dolan, 1987 01:49:09.000 --> 01:49:13.279 Jakara Jackson who's now marishad Day in TNA, and others 1988 01:49:13.279 --> 01:49:18.039 as well. Trick Williams, he beat Joe Hendry to become 1989 01:49:18.079 --> 01:49:20.720 the first WWE star to ever win a TNA title. 1990 01:49:20.760 --> 01:49:23.680 That was on May twenty fifth. Trick Williams, by the way, 1991 01:49:23.760 --> 01:49:27.039 get ready, he's main roster bound. I don't know what 1992 01:49:27.119 --> 01:49:29.239 brand it'll be. I'm sure it'll be smacked down because 1993 01:49:29.239 --> 01:49:31.960 that's where lash legend is. But he is going to 1994 01:49:32.039 --> 01:49:34.479 be on the main roster. Starting at the beginning of 1995 01:49:34.520 --> 01:49:39.800 twenty twenty six, we had WWE choosing not to renew 1996 01:49:39.840 --> 01:49:43.600 Our Truth's contract, only to then bring him right back 1997 01:49:43.680 --> 01:49:46.680 weeks later after the backlash not just from fans but 1998 01:49:46.720 --> 01:49:50.439 also apparently from talent. Behind the scenes, they were very unhappy. 1999 01:49:50.520 --> 01:49:53.560 Our Truth was like, he was an institution in this company, 2000 01:49:53.560 --> 01:49:55.359 and I know, you watch him on television, he looks 2001 01:49:55.399 --> 01:49:57.960 like he belongs in an institution. But he was an 2002 01:49:57.960 --> 01:50:01.359 institution there for so long and so well life, just 2003 01:50:01.680 --> 01:50:04.560 maybe the most well like member of that locker room. 2004 01:50:05.279 --> 01:50:07.760 And it blindsided a lot of people when they saw 2005 01:50:07.760 --> 01:50:11.520 that his name had been cut, because people thought man, 2006 01:50:11.600 --> 01:50:16.239 not Truth. But yeah, now some people believe that it 2007 01:50:16.319 --> 01:50:19.359 was never really you know, a reality, that he was 2008 01:50:19.399 --> 01:50:21.560 actually released and it was something that they were just 2009 01:50:22.000 --> 01:50:25.680 filming for WWE Unreal. I believe it is going to 2010 01:50:25.680 --> 01:50:28.279 be a part of the Unreal season that's debuting. I 2011 01:50:28.279 --> 01:50:31.840 think on January twentieth, I believe the new season drops 2012 01:50:31.840 --> 01:50:35.199 on Netflix. I think it was absolutely real. I don't 2013 01:50:35.239 --> 01:50:38.600 think that it was something that was manufactured just for Unreal. 2014 01:50:38.920 --> 01:50:41.119 I think it's a real situation that happened. And of 2015 01:50:41.119 --> 01:50:44.119 course now they're going to do an entire episode on it. 2016 01:50:45.159 --> 01:50:48.680 But that happened in May, right, that had to be 2017 01:50:48.680 --> 01:50:51.920 in May, and then it was only God maybe it 2018 01:50:51.960 --> 01:50:54.840 wasn't even a matter of weeks. It was very soon thereafter, 2019 01:50:54.880 --> 01:50:56.800 because I think when he showed up it was money 2020 01:50:56.800 --> 01:50:59.800 in the bank. I believe when he ran into the ring, 2021 01:50:59.880 --> 01:51:01.880 he was dressed up as the mystery man, pulled the 2022 01:51:01.920 --> 01:51:05.960 mask off. Everybody cheered. We had Mariah May making her 2023 01:51:06.000 --> 01:51:10.399 debut on NXT as Blake Monroe. It was on June third. 2024 01:51:10.520 --> 01:51:14.439 I'm a big Mariah May fan. I don't know that 2025 01:51:14.520 --> 01:51:17.000 she really needs to spend much more time down in NXT. 2026 01:51:17.760 --> 01:51:20.680 She could definitely make some waves on the main roster 2027 01:51:20.840 --> 01:51:23.800 right now. SmackDown can certainly use her. I don't know 2028 01:51:23.840 --> 01:51:25.439 if I would have her on the same roster with 2029 01:51:25.479 --> 01:51:29.359 Tiffany Stratton. I might want to separate those two out 2030 01:51:29.560 --> 01:51:32.680 knowing them, they'll make them a tag team. But Mariah 2031 01:51:32.720 --> 01:51:35.239 May is going to do big things in WWE. I 2032 01:51:35.239 --> 01:51:41.520 think she's fantastic. Goldberg return to challenge Gunther in his 2033 01:51:41.600 --> 01:51:45.600 retirement match at Saturday Night's main event. This was the 2034 01:51:45.600 --> 01:51:50.000 same weekend as all in Texas. It was like the 2035 01:51:50.039 --> 01:51:54.479 battle between WWE and AW on the same night, and 2036 01:51:54.520 --> 01:51:57.279 Goldberg went out there, and you know what, it was 2037 01:51:57.359 --> 01:51:59.680 not a quick, like three minute thing. I think it 2038 01:51:59.720 --> 01:52:02.000 was like a thirteen or fourteen minute match. It was 2039 01:52:02.039 --> 01:52:05.359 not a bad match, certainly, not by Goldberg standards. By 2040 01:52:05.720 --> 01:52:08.760 Gunther standards. Yes, it was probably one of the worst 2041 01:52:08.800 --> 01:52:10.359 matches he had all year, but it was still a 2042 01:52:10.359 --> 01:52:15.439 good match. And Goldberg he did the honors on his 2043 01:52:15.479 --> 01:52:17.159 way out, and then he was going to cut this 2044 01:52:17.279 --> 01:52:20.760 heartfelt speech which was actually a good speech, but we 2045 01:52:20.800 --> 01:52:22.840 only got to see maybe ten seconds of it before 2046 01:52:22.920 --> 01:52:26.479 NBC cut the feed, and Goldberg was not happy about that. 2047 01:52:27.439 --> 01:52:30.479 Goldberg was not happy about any of this. And you know, 2048 01:52:30.520 --> 01:52:32.800 he did that podcast interview where it might have been 2049 01:52:32.840 --> 01:52:36.399 with Ariel Helwani and teased that, you know, in two 2050 01:52:36.399 --> 01:52:39.439 weeks I'll be able to say more. And two weeks 2051 01:52:39.479 --> 01:52:42.039 went by and we never heard from Goldberg, And in fact, 2052 01:52:42.079 --> 01:52:43.960 that was a hell of a lot longer than two 2053 01:52:44.000 --> 01:52:47.399 weeks ago, and he's been silent on that ever since. 2054 01:52:47.439 --> 01:52:50.760 I think he might have been gotten to by somebody. 2055 01:52:51.560 --> 01:52:57.439 Ciampunk wrestled John Cena in Saudi Arabia and apologized to 2056 01:52:57.520 --> 01:53:00.600 the fans in Saudi for comments that he had made 2057 01:53:00.680 --> 01:53:03.640 years before. This is what John Cena has cited as 2058 01:53:03.680 --> 01:53:08.359 his favorite all time wrestling moment CM Punk apologizing to 2059 01:53:08.399 --> 01:53:14.520 the Saudi fans. On the pre show, Adam cole vacated 2060 01:53:14.520 --> 01:53:18.000 the TNT Championship and delivered what may well end up 2061 01:53:18.000 --> 01:53:22.680 being his retirement speech at all in Texas. His situation 2062 01:53:22.840 --> 01:53:26.159 is very sad. He has just been plagued by injuries 2063 01:53:26.600 --> 01:53:29.439 these last few years that have really derailed his career. 2064 01:53:29.479 --> 01:53:30.880 I don't know that we're ever going to see him 2065 01:53:30.880 --> 01:53:33.159 back in the ring again, and the only thing I 2066 01:53:33.199 --> 01:53:36.359 hope for his sake is that you know, he can 2067 01:53:36.479 --> 01:53:40.479 because he's still dealing apparently with some pretty bad symptoms 2068 01:53:40.520 --> 01:53:43.760 I guess of this concussion that he sustained, and he's 2069 01:53:43.800 --> 01:53:45.760 had some bad ones before. I don't even think he 2070 01:53:45.800 --> 01:53:49.479 can fly still, you know, and this was in July. 2071 01:53:51.079 --> 01:53:53.199 So my hope is that he can recover enough to 2072 01:53:53.199 --> 01:53:56.079 where he can live, you know, a normal, healthy life. 2073 01:53:56.079 --> 01:53:58.439 If that means he never gets back in the ring again, 2074 01:53:58.479 --> 01:54:00.439 then so be it. You know, he doesn't have anything 2075 01:54:00.439 --> 01:54:03.600 to prove to anybody, and I think, honestly, even if 2076 01:54:03.640 --> 01:54:06.720 he never wrestles, again, He'll have a job for life 2077 01:54:06.880 --> 01:54:09.600 with AW. They will find other things for him to 2078 01:54:09.640 --> 01:54:13.880 do again. He is beloved, He's well liked by everybody. 2079 01:54:13.920 --> 01:54:17.279 He's just the nicest guy. And there's any number of 2080 01:54:17.319 --> 01:54:19.920 things that he could be doing beyond just training. If 2081 01:54:19.960 --> 01:54:22.880 he wanted to start training people. You can have him 2082 01:54:23.000 --> 01:54:25.760 as an announcer, you can have him as some sort 2083 01:54:25.800 --> 01:54:27.520 of figure on the show if you wanted him to 2084 01:54:27.560 --> 01:54:30.640 be in that role. I just hope, you know, whatever 2085 01:54:30.680 --> 01:54:32.359 it is that he does, I hope he can get 2086 01:54:32.399 --> 01:54:35.479 back physically to as close to one hundred percent as 2087 01:54:35.520 --> 01:54:39.000 he was before. But the whole situation is just incredibly 2088 01:54:39.039 --> 01:54:44.039 sad Aj Styles returned to TNA for the first time 2089 01:54:44.079 --> 01:54:48.039 since twenty thirteen at Slammiversary, which was very cool to see. 2090 01:54:48.079 --> 01:54:49.760 It would have been nicer to see him in a match. 2091 01:54:50.520 --> 01:54:52.960 I don't know if that'll ever happen, but that was 2092 01:54:52.960 --> 01:54:56.359 a big homecoming for him and big rub for Leon Slater. 2093 01:54:56.479 --> 01:54:58.000 You know the way that Aj put him over on 2094 01:54:58.039 --> 01:55:03.880 the mic. On July twenty fourth, Hulk Hogan Terry Bullay 2095 01:55:03.920 --> 01:55:07.640 had passed away the age of seventy one. This ride here, 2096 01:55:07.960 --> 01:55:11.199 in my opinion, as far as wrestling stories, of the year. 2097 01:55:11.279 --> 01:55:15.359 This was the biggest story. Hulk Hogan dying this year 2098 01:55:16.239 --> 01:55:19.079 was the biggest story because Hogan will go down as 2099 01:55:19.560 --> 01:55:22.760 obviously one of the biggest and most popular, well known 2100 01:55:23.760 --> 01:55:26.560 professional wrestlers of all time. He will be number one 2101 01:55:26.760 --> 01:55:29.560 on many people's lists. He's on all the Mount Rushmore's, 2102 01:55:30.520 --> 01:55:32.600 well maybe not all of them, but I mean a 2103 01:55:32.640 --> 01:55:34.640 lot of people will have him on the Mount Rushmore. 2104 01:55:34.680 --> 01:55:37.680 They know and understand his place in history. You didn't 2105 01:55:37.720 --> 01:55:40.239 have to be a Hull Hogan fan growing up. In fact, 2106 01:55:40.239 --> 01:55:42.439 you could have hated Hulk Hogan and wanted to see 2107 01:55:42.479 --> 01:55:46.479 him lose, but you cannot deny his place and history 2108 01:55:46.520 --> 01:55:49.600 and the impact and influence that he had on that 2109 01:55:49.720 --> 01:55:52.720 company when they went national. He was the right guy 2110 01:55:52.880 --> 01:55:55.800 in the right place at the right time, and him 2111 01:55:55.840 --> 01:55:59.760 and Vince they made the perfect combo and it took 2112 01:55:59.760 --> 01:56:03.800 Hogan in the heights that vern Ganja could never imagine. 2113 01:56:03.960 --> 01:56:08.760 And Hogan passing away was a surprise. It was major 2114 01:56:08.840 --> 01:56:12.439 media headline news all over the world, and it was 2115 01:56:12.479 --> 01:56:15.479 a very weird situation even to this day as far 2116 01:56:15.520 --> 01:56:18.560 as exactly what happened and how it happened, and the 2117 01:56:18.600 --> 01:56:22.159 surgery and the frantic nerve that we heard about being 2118 01:56:22.199 --> 01:56:24.640 cut by accident and there might be a malpractice suit. 2119 01:56:24.680 --> 01:56:27.640 We haven't heard anything about it since. But he was 2120 01:56:27.720 --> 01:56:31.159 just getting started to be the figurehead, commissioner, the face 2121 01:56:31.199 --> 01:56:35.479 of this new real American freestyle project that he and 2122 01:56:35.600 --> 01:56:39.199 Eric Bischoff were a part of. And now it's just Bischoff. 2123 01:56:39.920 --> 01:56:42.520 But that was what Hogan was about to embark on 2124 01:56:42.560 --> 01:56:45.720 before he passed away. We had the return to brock 2125 01:56:45.840 --> 01:56:50.239 Lesner returning to WWE at SummerSlam, which was a surprise 2126 01:56:50.279 --> 01:56:53.680 to a lot of people. As the Janelle Grant lawsuit 2127 01:56:53.840 --> 01:56:57.359 is still, of course raging on. It has not been settled, 2128 01:56:57.359 --> 01:56:59.520 it has been has not gone to trial. We don't 2129 01:56:59.520 --> 01:57:00.920 even know if it's going to go to trial or 2130 01:57:00.920 --> 01:57:03.920 if it's going to go to arbitration. And again, he 2131 01:57:03.960 --> 01:57:06.760 hasn't been accused of anything, but just his name being 2132 01:57:06.800 --> 01:57:10.399 attached to it, and his name being attached to text 2133 01:57:10.399 --> 01:57:12.840 messages in the suit that don't paint him in a 2134 01:57:12.920 --> 01:57:15.239 very good light. That is the reason why WWE has 2135 01:57:15.279 --> 01:57:18.159 had him on ice for two years now and with 2136 01:57:18.319 --> 01:57:21.319 no movement really in the case. It was surprising that 2137 01:57:21.680 --> 01:57:24.119 you know, there he is at the end of SummerSlam, 2138 01:57:24.199 --> 01:57:27.119 They've decided to bring him back, and he gave John 2139 01:57:27.199 --> 01:57:29.119 Cena an F five and then they went on to 2140 01:57:29.159 --> 01:57:33.960 have a completely pointless, terrible match. At Wressell Palooza, we 2141 01:57:34.000 --> 01:57:36.520 had WWE announcing a deal to move their main roster 2142 01:57:36.640 --> 01:57:41.079 pls from Peacock to ESPN, multi billion dollar deal. That 2143 01:57:41.199 --> 01:57:45.359 was a big deal up pun intended, and that led into, 2144 01:57:45.399 --> 01:57:51.760 of course Wressell Palooza being announced, and Wressell Palooza was 2145 01:57:51.800 --> 01:57:56.399 programmed up against aw all Out, so Tony Kahn said, 2146 01:57:56.399 --> 01:57:58.159 you know what, I'm going to move the start time up, 2147 01:57:58.840 --> 01:58:01.720 and as a viewer, I'm great he did that, but 2148 01:58:01.800 --> 01:58:05.119 that was some big competition. That weekend. We had the 2149 01:58:05.159 --> 01:58:07.159 moment I put this on my list because I just 2150 01:58:07.199 --> 01:58:10.600 thought this was fantastic, just the visual of it. It 2151 01:58:10.600 --> 01:58:12.920 didn't go anywhere, it didn't lead to anything in particular, 2152 01:58:12.960 --> 01:58:17.279 but the visual of Omas and Microman from Triple Mania 2153 01:58:17.640 --> 01:58:21.640 on August sixteenth, that to be I mean, that's pro 2154 01:58:21.680 --> 01:58:24.000 wrestling is what that is. That is what that is. 2155 01:58:25.640 --> 01:58:29.159 We had Naomi, who had quite the comeback year in 2156 01:58:29.239 --> 01:58:32.159 terms of her character and her persona, announcing that she 2157 01:58:32.439 --> 01:58:35.760 was pregnant and therefore had to vacate the Women's World 2158 01:58:35.840 --> 01:58:38.319 Championship that she successfully cashed in her money in the 2159 01:58:38.359 --> 01:58:41.239 bank for at Evolution, it just felt like, man, she's 2160 01:58:41.279 --> 01:58:44.239 finally really settling into this heel turn and this character 2161 01:58:44.720 --> 01:58:48.000 and she's getting going. And then Jimmy just did not 2162 01:58:48.119 --> 01:58:50.439 proceed with caution, and so now we're not going to 2163 01:58:50.479 --> 01:58:53.119 see Naomi for a while. But she was doing some 2164 01:58:53.159 --> 01:58:55.680 of the best work of her career up until that point, 2165 01:58:55.880 --> 01:58:58.359 but she announced her pregnancy and vacated the title back 2166 01:58:58.399 --> 01:59:04.800 on August eighteenth. On August twenty third, Rajah Jackson, the 2167 01:59:04.840 --> 01:59:09.319 son of Quentin Rampage Jackson, nearly beat Psycho Stu to death. 2168 01:59:09.920 --> 01:59:13.079 That was at a Knox pro show. The fact that 2169 01:59:13.119 --> 01:59:15.920 he is still out and about is a disgrace. But 2170 01:59:16.039 --> 01:59:18.760 he has since been charged with one felony and one 2171 01:59:18.800 --> 01:59:22.720 misdemeanor count of battery and he is facing potentially up 2172 01:59:22.800 --> 01:59:25.239 to seven years in prison. I don't know that he'll 2173 01:59:25.319 --> 01:59:28.800 serve a single year, you know, Psycho Stu. There was 2174 01:59:28.840 --> 01:59:31.239 talked that he may not want to cooperate with prosecutors, 2175 01:59:31.720 --> 01:59:33.880 which could be no action is taken, although you would 2176 01:59:33.880 --> 01:59:37.119 think they have plenty of video evidence, you know, how 2177 01:59:37.199 --> 01:59:38.680 is this guy going to get off without any kind 2178 01:59:38.680 --> 01:59:41.159 of punishment. But we're still waiting to find out how 2179 01:59:41.159 --> 01:59:45.720 this is all going to shake out. Aj Lee made 2180 01:59:45.800 --> 01:59:48.840 her return to the ring after ten years in Chicago 2181 01:59:48.960 --> 01:59:52.199 on SmackDown that was back on September fifth, something that 2182 01:59:53.079 --> 01:59:55.680 I wasn't sure honestly was ever going to happen. That 2183 01:59:55.840 --> 01:59:59.760 was a surprise even to me. Wressell Madia forty three 2184 01:59:59.880 --> 02:00:03.439 was announced in twenty twenty seven for ri OD Saudi Arabia. 2185 02:00:03.479 --> 02:00:06.520 They made that announcement back on September twelfth. We had 2186 02:00:06.560 --> 02:00:10.840 Andrade debuting on AW Dynamite and attacking Kenny Omega back 2187 02:00:10.880 --> 02:00:14.800 on October first, only to then find out that WWE 2188 02:00:14.840 --> 02:00:18.239 was executing a twelve month noncompete that apparently he was 2189 02:00:18.319 --> 02:00:20.680 under and didn't even realize it. So therefore, he has 2190 02:00:20.760 --> 02:00:24.920 not been seen on AW television ever since he came in. 2191 02:00:25.760 --> 02:00:28.359 He laid out one of their top stars and he 2192 02:00:28.439 --> 02:00:33.079 left like a boss. But now it sounds like Androde 2193 02:00:33.159 --> 02:00:35.640 may be on the road to some sort of resolution 2194 02:00:35.720 --> 02:00:38.720 with WWE. Hopefully that is the case, and I fully 2195 02:00:38.760 --> 02:00:40.760 expect to see him back on television within the next 2196 02:00:40.800 --> 02:00:46.680 few months. Kanelski Takeshta won the IWGP World Championship after 2197 02:00:46.720 --> 02:00:48.840 winning the g One Climax. But he won the title. 2198 02:00:48.840 --> 02:00:50.800 He said, I'm not waiting until the Tokyo dumb. I 2199 02:00:50.800 --> 02:00:53.439 want my shot now, and he got it and he 2200 02:00:53.479 --> 02:00:56.439 won the title. And that was back on October thirteenth. 2201 02:00:56.680 --> 02:01:00.560 We had Mercedes Monet collecting even more champion chips and 2202 02:01:00.640 --> 02:01:05.960 breaking Ultimo Dragon's record with eleven plus concurrent title reigns 2203 02:01:06.000 --> 02:01:08.079 this year. That was a record that stood since nineteen 2204 02:01:08.159 --> 02:01:12.439 ninety seven and it fell this year. And now Mercedes 2205 02:01:12.520 --> 02:01:15.920 is falling. She's the beginning of her downfall. We had 2206 02:01:16.000 --> 02:01:18.720 John Cena winning the Intercontinental title for the very first 2207 02:01:18.760 --> 02:01:21.199 time and getting the Grand Slam. That was on Raw 2208 02:01:21.239 --> 02:01:24.239 from Boston on November tenth. We had the first ever 2209 02:01:24.359 --> 02:01:27.840 women's blooding Guts match in aw That was on November twelfth. 2210 02:01:28.520 --> 02:01:32.319 TNA announced a new television deal with AMC Network starting 2211 02:01:32.359 --> 02:01:35.479 in twenty twenty six. That announcement came down on December second, 2212 02:01:35.960 --> 02:01:39.760 and honestly is the biggest announcement that company has made 2213 02:01:39.840 --> 02:01:43.279 outside of the partnership with WWE. Their biggest announcement in years. 2214 02:01:43.319 --> 02:01:44.880 It will be the first time they are on a 2215 02:01:45.039 --> 02:01:50.359 real network that has actual viewers since the days of 2216 02:01:50.399 --> 02:01:52.880 Spike TV, which was eleven years ago. So that will 2217 02:01:52.920 --> 02:01:55.560 be a big, big way for TNA to kick off 2218 02:01:55.600 --> 02:01:59.399 the new year. And last, but not least, John Cena 2219 02:01:59.600 --> 02:02:02.239 closing out his retirement tour in a loss to Gunther 2220 02:02:02.439 --> 02:02:06.119 and tapping out in his final match on Saturday Night's 2221 02:02:06.119 --> 02:02:09.239 main event on December thirteenth. It will be a decision 2222 02:02:10.279 --> 02:02:12.760 as it has been since it happened, that will be 2223 02:02:12.840 --> 02:02:16.000 debated and argued whether it was good or bad. At 2224 02:02:16.000 --> 02:02:18.079 the end of the day, John Cena he thought it 2225 02:02:18.119 --> 02:02:20.840 was great, So to him, that's all the matters. Everybody 2226 02:02:20.920 --> 02:02:25.239 else they can quibble and debate about it, but it 2227 02:02:25.359 --> 02:02:27.119 was the end of an era. It was the end 2228 02:02:27.159 --> 02:02:30.800 of one chapter in WWE. I do believe we will 2229 02:02:30.840 --> 02:02:33.319 never again see John Cena back in the ring. And 2230 02:02:33.359 --> 02:02:36.640 for all this talk about his retirement tour, that is 2231 02:02:36.680 --> 02:02:41.800 how they closed it out with a loss to Gunther. Now, 2232 02:02:41.840 --> 02:02:44.640 there were also a number of notable wrestling related deaths 2233 02:02:45.239 --> 02:02:47.479 in twenty twenty five, and I wanted to make note 2234 02:02:47.520 --> 02:02:49.800 of them here. The first one and this is not 2235 02:02:50.600 --> 02:02:52.560 I'm sure I'm missing some names here, but these are 2236 02:02:53.199 --> 02:02:54.800 some of the key names that I have kept track 2237 02:02:54.880 --> 02:02:56.520 of throughout the year, the first was a name from 2238 02:02:56.560 --> 02:02:59.920 the Old Territory days. He also worked for both ww 2239 02:03:00.079 --> 02:03:04.199 U and WCW. Black Bart died on January ninth, at 2240 02:03:04.199 --> 02:03:06.920 the age of seventy six after battling stage four colon 2241 02:03:06.960 --> 02:03:10.920 cancer that had spread to his liver. Mister Baseball Bob Yucker, 2242 02:03:11.039 --> 02:03:13.720 a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, died on 2243 02:03:13.840 --> 02:03:17.119 January sixteenth, ten days shy of his ninety first birthday, 2244 02:03:17.159 --> 02:03:20.079 after battling lung cancer for the past couple of years. 2245 02:03:20.680 --> 02:03:23.479 He won a World Series with the Saint Louis Cardinals 2246 02:03:23.479 --> 02:03:27.520 in nineteen sixty four. He spent fifty four seasons as 2247 02:03:27.560 --> 02:03:30.439 the play by play radio voice for the Milwaukee Brewers, 2248 02:03:31.159 --> 02:03:34.119 and he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame 2249 02:03:34.520 --> 02:03:38.359 in twenty ten after appearing in two different WrestleMania WrestleMania 2250 02:03:38.439 --> 02:03:41.880 three as the guest ring announcer for the biggest match 2251 02:03:41.880 --> 02:03:45.920 in WrestleMania history between Hulkogan and Andre the Giant, and 2252 02:03:46.199 --> 02:03:50.800 again at WrestleMania four Colonel de Beers, who gained fame 2253 02:03:50.840 --> 02:03:53.119 in the dying days of the AWA. He died on 2254 02:03:53.199 --> 02:03:57.560 January twenty second at the age of eighty. Grand Hamada 2255 02:03:58.000 --> 02:04:00.960 passed away on February fifteenth at the age of seventy four. 2256 02:04:01.159 --> 02:04:03.520 One of the first men to be trained at the 2257 02:04:03.520 --> 02:04:08.279 new Japan Dojo and first on excursion, which is how 2258 02:04:08.359 --> 02:04:11.520 he became very proficient in Lucha libre, which he then 2259 02:04:11.560 --> 02:04:14.720 brought back to Japan. He may well have been the 2260 02:04:14.760 --> 02:04:18.000 first to bring it there, and he also held the 2261 02:04:18.159 --> 02:04:21.920 WWF Light Heavyweight title on two occasions. This was through 2262 02:04:22.199 --> 02:04:27.039 WWF's working relationship with the UWA. Paro Aguayo was actually 2263 02:04:27.079 --> 02:04:30.840 the first champion, but I don't think WWE acknowledges him 2264 02:04:31.039 --> 02:04:34.560 as the first champion. I think they considered Taka Michinoku 2265 02:04:34.640 --> 02:04:36.479 the first when they brought the belt back in nineteen 2266 02:04:36.520 --> 02:04:39.840 ninety seven. But he was also the first and only 2267 02:04:40.239 --> 02:04:45.960 WWF Intercontinental tag team champion alongside Pero Aguayo in nineteen 2268 02:04:46.000 --> 02:04:48.319 ninety one. I'll bet you didn't even know those existed. 2269 02:04:49.439 --> 02:04:53.399 That was until WWF severed ties with the promotion a 2270 02:04:53.439 --> 02:04:58.479 few months later. I think the titles stuck around, but 2271 02:04:58.520 --> 02:05:01.560 they no longer had the WWFA initials attached to them. 2272 02:05:03.680 --> 02:05:07.720 Osamu Nishimura passed away on February twenty eighth, at just 2273 02:05:07.760 --> 02:05:12.159 fifty three years old, after battling stage four aesophageal cancer 2274 02:05:12.239 --> 02:05:15.880 for some time. Despite his cancer, he was still wrestling 2275 02:05:15.920 --> 02:05:17.960 almost right up until the very end. He tagged with 2276 02:05:18.000 --> 02:05:22.760 Dori Funk Junior last year in a double hell current 2277 02:05:22.920 --> 02:05:28.600 Blast death match. Oh man's a little shiver going up 2278 02:05:28.640 --> 02:05:32.359 Tony Kahan's spine. He's he's writing this down. And also 2279 02:05:32.439 --> 02:05:36.800 wrestled a no ropes, barbed wire and giant electric explosive 2280 02:05:36.960 --> 02:05:40.399 bat match. Okay, now that one, I think I have 2281 02:05:40.479 --> 02:05:42.800 to add as a new stipulation for our be the 2282 02:05:42.800 --> 02:05:48.520 booker segment on the streams no robes, barbed wire and 2283 02:05:48.720 --> 02:05:55.880 giant electric explosive bat match. Wow. And he did it 2284 02:05:55.920 --> 02:05:59.079 while he was sick. He had a first sign waivers 2285 02:05:59.119 --> 02:06:01.560 allowing him to wrest and he had doctors stationed at 2286 02:06:01.600 --> 02:06:04.640 ringside just in case. I guess you would have to though, 2287 02:06:04.800 --> 02:06:07.319 whether you're sick or not, you'd have to have doctors 2288 02:06:07.359 --> 02:06:09.199 somewhere in the vicinity if you're going to have a 2289 02:06:09.319 --> 02:06:15.520 no robes, barbed wire, giant electric explosive batmtch Bill Mercer, 2290 02:06:15.800 --> 02:06:18.560 the voice of World Class Championship Wrestling in the eighties. 2291 02:06:18.600 --> 02:06:20.279 He made it all the way to the age of 2292 02:06:20.399 --> 02:06:24.680 ninety nine before he died on March twenty third. Legendary 2293 02:06:24.880 --> 02:06:29.000 newscaster really all around, not just in wrestling, but he 2294 02:06:29.039 --> 02:06:33.439 even covered the jfk assassination as a Dallas TV reporter. 2295 02:06:34.920 --> 02:06:37.479 While he may not have been a wrestler or a 2296 02:06:37.520 --> 02:06:39.680 celebrity like some of the other folks on this list, 2297 02:06:39.720 --> 02:06:43.560 On April seventh, we lost a friend and a fellow 2298 02:06:43.640 --> 02:06:50.239 podcaster in Kevin Scondado, better known as Kevin Castle of 2299 02:06:50.319 --> 02:06:53.520 the Don Toni and Kevin Castle Show, among the other 2300 02:06:53.560 --> 02:06:56.600 shows that he did. That wasn't the only one, but 2301 02:06:56.640 --> 02:06:59.239 he was only fifty six years old, and he had 2302 02:06:59.239 --> 02:07:01.600 been dealing with health issues that were a lot more 2303 02:07:01.640 --> 02:07:06.399 serious than a lot of people knew, myself included. I 2304 02:07:06.439 --> 02:07:10.560 always enjoyed my interactions with keV and really wish that 2305 02:07:10.600 --> 02:07:12.920 we could have met up, you know, once, just to 2306 02:07:12.920 --> 02:07:15.880 shoot the shit in person, because I've had the chance 2307 02:07:15.880 --> 02:07:18.800 to meet his brother John, and you know, DT and 2308 02:07:18.880 --> 02:07:21.560 Mish and Joey and so many other people in this space. 2309 02:07:22.800 --> 02:07:25.520 But keV was always kind of an island une to himself, right, 2310 02:07:25.560 --> 02:07:27.640 always working at the club. He was, you know, the 2311 02:07:27.640 --> 02:07:31.600 one responsible for booking the bands, but his death was 2312 02:07:31.760 --> 02:07:35.319 just a shock to everyone and truly one of the 2313 02:07:35.319 --> 02:07:40.800 ogs of the podcasting space. He has still missed even today. 2314 02:07:41.520 --> 02:07:45.720 Hissashi Shinma, the former president quote unquote of the World 2315 02:07:45.760 --> 02:07:48.399 Wrestling Federation. He passed away on April twenty first at 2316 02:07:48.439 --> 02:07:51.560 the age of ninety. He was the on screen president 2317 02:07:51.600 --> 02:07:53.680 of the company in the same vein as Jack Tunney 2318 02:07:53.680 --> 02:07:56.880 and Guerrilla Mond soon after him, through part of the 2319 02:07:56.920 --> 02:08:00.079 seventies and into the early eighties, so basically right before Tonny. 2320 02:08:01.039 --> 02:08:03.840 More importantly, though, he was Antonio Minoki's right hand man 2321 02:08:03.880 --> 02:08:06.399 behind the scenes in New Japan, and he was the 2322 02:08:06.439 --> 02:08:09.840 booker there, and he was inducted into the WWE Hall 2323 02:08:09.880 --> 02:08:14.359 of Fame as a legacy inductee in twenty nineteen. The 2324 02:08:14.359 --> 02:08:17.840 World lost Mango Steve Mongo McMichael on April twenty third, 2325 02:08:17.840 --> 02:08:20.520 at sixty seven years old after a battle with als. 2326 02:08:21.239 --> 02:08:24.039 He spent most of his football career with the Chicago Bears. 2327 02:08:24.039 --> 02:08:25.800 He won a Super Bowl there, but he was also 2328 02:08:25.880 --> 02:08:28.840 a member of the Four Horsemen in WCW and he 2329 02:08:28.880 --> 02:08:31.159 even had a short run as the United States champion. 2330 02:08:32.439 --> 02:08:37.000 From Mongo to Ilyya Dragonov. At least the one thing 2331 02:08:37.079 --> 02:08:39.880 they have in common is that they hit hard, because 2332 02:08:39.920 --> 02:08:43.119 after that there ain't much else in common between those two. 2333 02:08:44.840 --> 02:08:47.199 Saboo passed away on May eleventh at the age of 2334 02:08:47.239 --> 02:08:49.960 sixty one. That's according to Rob van Dam, who would 2335 02:08:50.000 --> 02:08:53.960 know better than probably anyone else, including Wikipedia. He was 2336 02:08:54.000 --> 02:08:56.720 sixty one years old. One of the more influential wrestlers 2337 02:08:56.760 --> 02:08:59.640 of all time, one of the greatest stars in ECW history. 2338 02:09:00.439 --> 02:09:04.920 He worked for every major promotion in the world ECWWCWWWEE, 2339 02:09:05.039 --> 02:09:11.479 New Japan, All Japan, AWTNA, TRIPLEA, CMLL, I mean, you 2340 02:09:11.560 --> 02:09:14.560 name it, he worked there. And he had just wrestled 2341 02:09:14.560 --> 02:09:18.239 his last match over WrestleMania Weekend against Joey Janella, and 2342 02:09:18.479 --> 02:09:22.960 what a disaster that was. Rick Darringer died on Memorial 2343 02:09:23.039 --> 02:09:25.800 Day May twenty sixth at the age of seventy seven. 2344 02:09:26.840 --> 02:09:29.119 Died on Memorial Day and was the man who co 2345 02:09:29.159 --> 02:09:32.760 wrote Hulk Hogan's Real American theme, which was not even 2346 02:09:32.760 --> 02:09:37.000 originally intended for Hogan. He's also the man responsible for 2347 02:09:37.119 --> 02:09:40.359 a Demolition's theme, two of the most iconic wrestling theme 2348 02:09:40.399 --> 02:09:43.840 songs of the eighties. After that, it was WWE Hall 2349 02:09:43.880 --> 02:09:46.680 of famer Ozzy Osbourne on July twenty second, who died 2350 02:09:46.720 --> 02:09:51.439 at seventy six, the frontman for Black Sabbath for many years, 2351 02:09:51.439 --> 02:09:54.720 who had just performed his farewell concert. Just three weeks 2352 02:09:54.720 --> 02:09:58.319 before he died. He made an appearance of WrestleMania two. 2353 02:09:58.479 --> 02:10:00.520 He guest hosted an episode of We're aw in two 2354 02:10:00.560 --> 02:10:04.640 thousand and nine, and then two days later came the 2355 02:10:04.640 --> 02:10:09.520 death of Hulk Hogan Terry Boleet. That was July twenty fourth, 2356 02:10:09.520 --> 02:10:13.119 at the age of seventy one. As big a wrestling 2357 02:10:13.319 --> 02:10:16.920 death as I have ever covered here on this show. 2358 02:10:17.079 --> 02:10:20.600 One of the biggest names in the history of the 2359 02:10:20.640 --> 02:10:24.239 business and the most famous pro wrestler of all time, 2360 02:10:24.720 --> 02:10:26.640 you know, at least when you consider the amount of 2361 02:10:26.680 --> 02:10:30.520 news coverage that his death generated. I know, yeah, not 2362 02:10:30.560 --> 02:10:33.880 taking anything away from El Santo, and you can look 2363 02:10:33.880 --> 02:10:36.399 at Japan and Ricky. I mean, there's so many different 2364 02:10:37.159 --> 02:10:40.680 legendary names that had huge mainstream followings and other parts 2365 02:10:40.680 --> 02:10:43.439 of the world. But I just I can't think of 2366 02:10:43.479 --> 02:10:46.000 another pro wrestler that has generated the kind of national 2367 02:10:46.039 --> 02:10:50.520 and global headlines that his death did when he passed away. 2368 02:10:51.520 --> 02:10:55.359 Jerry Morrow passed away on July twenty eighth at the 2369 02:10:55.399 --> 02:10:59.239 age of seventy five, a staple of Stampede Wrestling as 2370 02:10:59.239 --> 02:11:04.600 well as New Japan and All Japan. Jonathan Ekivaria aka Jacka, 2371 02:11:05.039 --> 02:11:07.279 as he was known on the independence scene for so 2372 02:11:07.399 --> 02:11:11.039 many years, he passed away on September seventh, suffered a 2373 02:11:11.039 --> 02:11:13.439 heart attack after a match. He was only thirty nine 2374 02:11:13.560 --> 02:11:18.159 years old. On October nineteenth, it was Bobby Horn aka 2375 02:11:18.319 --> 02:11:20.640 Mo of Men on a Mission who died at the 2376 02:11:20.680 --> 02:11:24.880 age of fifty eight. Legendary announcer Bob Caudle, he died 2377 02:11:24.920 --> 02:11:28.680 on November sixteenth at the age of ninety five. And 2378 02:11:28.800 --> 02:11:32.960 rounding out the list is Larry the Dog, who died 2379 02:11:33.239 --> 02:11:38.079 sometime shortly before Survivor Series last month. Cmpunk and aj Lee. 2380 02:11:38.119 --> 02:11:41.319 They rescued him eleven years ago and he became world famous, 2381 02:11:41.640 --> 02:11:46.319 especially after the brawl out fiasco in aaw And I'll 2382 02:11:46.359 --> 02:11:51.399 close with this my annual year end Awards. Now. I 2383 02:11:51.479 --> 02:11:54.079 know that there was a lot of drama around Sports 2384 02:11:54.119 --> 02:11:58.039 Illustrated this week and their year end Awards. They had 2385 02:11:58.079 --> 02:12:01.479 fourteen categories this year, with a panel of nine writers 2386 02:12:01.640 --> 02:12:04.560 voting on the various categories, with an evaluation period of 2387 02:12:04.600 --> 02:12:09.920 December sixteen, twenty twenty four to December thirteen, twenty twenty five. 2388 02:12:11.039 --> 02:12:15.760 Last year, their awards heavily skewed in favor of WWE. 2389 02:12:16.479 --> 02:12:20.199 Aw only took home two awards and WWE one for 2390 02:12:20.279 --> 02:12:22.920 Promotion of the Year. A lot of that had to 2391 02:12:22.920 --> 02:12:25.640 do with Cody Rhodes finishing his story at WrestleMania and 2392 02:12:25.680 --> 02:12:28.840 the Cmpunk Drew McIntyre feud that culminated in their Hell 2393 02:12:28.840 --> 02:12:32.199 in a Cell match was it was well deserved. This year, 2394 02:12:32.800 --> 02:12:38.039 their awards heavily skewed in favor of aw and of 2395 02:12:38.079 --> 02:12:42.159 course it's gotten the expected reaction from various parts of 2396 02:12:42.399 --> 02:12:45.479 the Internet and social media. And so for the people 2397 02:12:45.560 --> 02:12:49.039 pissing and moaning about it, let's take this step by 2398 02:12:49.119 --> 02:12:52.479 step and show you why it is not as ridiculous 2399 02:12:52.520 --> 02:12:54.600 as they make it out to be. So what I'm 2400 02:12:54.600 --> 02:12:56.399 going to do here, I'm going to go category by 2401 02:12:56.439 --> 02:12:58.560 category based on SI And let me just say that 2402 02:12:58.600 --> 02:13:03.000 Sports Illustrated is but one outlet, right, I mean, there's 2403 02:13:03.079 --> 02:13:05.439 a small paddle of people that work for the publication 2404 02:13:05.560 --> 02:13:08.479 that put out these awards, and you're gonna have other 2405 02:13:08.520 --> 02:13:11.520 websites and other publications and other podcasts that are gonna 2406 02:13:11.560 --> 02:13:13.359 do the same thing. One does not have any more 2407 02:13:13.359 --> 02:13:15.479 weight than the other. If Melter does it in the Observer, 2408 02:13:15.560 --> 02:13:17.399 it does not have any more weight to me than 2409 02:13:17.720 --> 02:13:20.479 the next one after it. And the same goes for 2410 02:13:20.560 --> 02:13:22.600 me and my thoughts and opinions on who I would 2411 02:13:22.600 --> 02:13:25.720 give various awards to. And so people do not need 2412 02:13:25.760 --> 02:13:27.840 to get upset about this. It is not worth getting 2413 02:13:27.880 --> 02:13:29.880 upset over. I don't know why people will get upset 2414 02:13:29.920 --> 02:13:32.199 over this, but it will make for an interesting discussion here. 2415 02:13:32.239 --> 02:13:36.319 So let me go category by category per SI, and 2416 02:13:36.359 --> 02:13:38.119 I will chime in with my own thoughts in my 2417 02:13:38.199 --> 02:13:41.199 own awards as we go along. Now, they had as 2418 02:13:41.279 --> 02:13:46.279 the storyline of the year Hangman Adam Page's Redemption arc. 2419 02:13:47.560 --> 02:13:51.039 Now they also listed as their runners up for this award, 2420 02:13:51.600 --> 02:13:57.359 John seen Is retirement and the Downfall of the Death Writers. Okay, 2421 02:13:57.439 --> 02:13:59.840 these are the runners up for best Stories of two 2422 02:14:00.399 --> 02:14:04.640 twenty five, which shows you just how thin the stories 2423 02:14:04.640 --> 02:14:08.039 were this year. If you have got John Cena's retirement 2424 02:14:08.079 --> 02:14:11.239 tour and the Fall of the Death Riders in the 2425 02:14:11.239 --> 02:14:14.119 top three for stories of the year, I'm still waiting 2426 02:14:14.119 --> 02:14:16.560 for the actual fall of the Death Riders, by the way, 2427 02:14:16.600 --> 02:14:20.520 like the full on fall seen as retirement only wins 2428 02:14:20.520 --> 02:14:23.479 for second place. If there are exactly two stories in 2429 02:14:23.560 --> 02:14:26.880 all of wrestling for the entire year, then yes, John 2430 02:14:26.920 --> 02:14:30.439 Cen's retirement could be the runner up. That's the only 2431 02:14:30.479 --> 02:14:35.119 way that that wins. This was not a great year creatively, 2432 02:14:35.199 --> 02:14:39.960 especially for WWE. The stuff with Cody Rhoades and Kevin 2433 02:14:39.960 --> 02:14:41.560 Owens that he was doing at the beginning of the 2434 02:14:41.640 --> 02:14:44.920 year that was good, But that story really dates back 2435 02:14:44.960 --> 02:14:47.479 to their first match of Bash and Berlin, and that 2436 02:14:47.560 --> 02:14:50.840 was in August of last year. Right, the evaluation period 2437 02:14:50.840 --> 02:14:52.760 would only cover the tail end of what they did. 2438 02:14:53.840 --> 02:14:56.680 What other major stories did WWE tell this year that 2439 02:14:56.760 --> 02:15:00.520 would make them worthy of Storyline of the Year. John 2440 02:15:00.560 --> 02:15:02.680 Cena should have won for Story of the Year had 2441 02:15:02.680 --> 02:15:05.560 the heel turned never happened, and had they told the 2442 02:15:05.680 --> 02:15:10.319 correct story with him. They didn't do that. John Cena's 2443 02:15:10.319 --> 02:15:13.760 retirement tour wins the award for Biggest Blunder of twenty 2444 02:15:13.840 --> 02:15:17.479 twenty five. But is it really that far fetch that 2445 02:15:17.520 --> 02:15:20.199 Hangman's Redemption arc would win for best storyline in a 2446 02:15:20.319 --> 02:15:22.520 year that wasn't so strong on them to begin with. 2447 02:15:23.520 --> 02:15:25.560 I honestly don't have an issue with them choosing that 2448 02:15:26.840 --> 02:15:30.279 Hangman is the main character of aaw has been since 2449 02:15:30.319 --> 02:15:34.479 day one. He went from being a crazed heel right 2450 02:15:34.520 --> 02:15:37.520 spurred on by Swerve Strickland, back to being a babyface 2451 02:15:37.560 --> 02:15:40.279 once he realized the error of his ways. And even 2452 02:15:40.279 --> 02:15:44.399 if it wasn't Tony Kahn's first choice for Hangman to 2453 02:15:44.439 --> 02:15:47.680 win the owen and get the shot at all in Texas, right, 2454 02:15:47.800 --> 02:15:51.960 think about this, Daniel Bryan was not Vince McMahon's first 2455 02:15:52.079 --> 02:15:54.279 choice to go to the main event of WrestleMania thirty 2456 02:15:54.520 --> 02:15:56.960 and win the world title. But that's what ended up happening. 2457 02:15:57.319 --> 02:16:00.640 And you can't tell me that Brian overcoming the authority 2458 02:16:00.680 --> 02:16:03.319 to win the championship at WrestleMania was not the story 2459 02:16:03.359 --> 02:16:08.319 of the year that year. Of course, it was the 2460 02:16:08.359 --> 02:16:10.760 fact that it wasn't the original plan does not take 2461 02:16:10.800 --> 02:16:15.840 away from the end result. Jay Usso's journey to the 2462 02:16:15.880 --> 02:16:18.239 world title is not the story of the year. John 2463 02:16:18.319 --> 02:16:20.920 cens heel turned and return to redemption is not the 2464 02:16:20.960 --> 02:16:23.279 story of the year. There is no road to redemption 2465 02:16:23.760 --> 02:16:26.319 when you push a button and in one night you 2466 02:16:26.359 --> 02:16:28.520 flip the guy back to being a babyface because you 2467 02:16:28.640 --> 02:16:32.520 realize you'd done fucked up. They could have told that story, 2468 02:16:32.559 --> 02:16:37.000 but they didn't. The drama with Paul Hayman turning on 2469 02:16:37.079 --> 02:16:39.920 multiple people and ending up with seth rollins, that is 2470 02:16:39.959 --> 02:16:42.920 not the story of the year. Riar Ripley and EO 2471 02:16:43.040 --> 02:16:46.600 Sky against the Kabuki Warriors and all of the soap 2472 02:16:46.639 --> 02:16:48.840 opera shit that's been playing out on television with them 2473 02:16:48.879 --> 02:16:50.680 for months now, that is not the story of the year. 2474 02:16:50.959 --> 02:16:53.040 This Cody and Drew stuff is not the story of 2475 02:16:53.079 --> 02:16:57.680 the year. So please tell me what from WWE would 2476 02:16:57.719 --> 02:17:01.399 you consider to be the story of the year. The 2477 02:17:01.479 --> 02:17:05.159 Hangman pick is the correct one. He is a character 2478 02:17:05.200 --> 02:17:08.959 the fans are emotionally invested in. Their fans are. He 2479 02:17:09.040 --> 02:17:11.239 went off the deep end coming out of the Swerve feud. 2480 02:17:11.280 --> 02:17:13.159 He lost his way, but he found his way back 2481 02:17:13.159 --> 02:17:16.239 in time to rescue the company and the championship from 2482 02:17:16.280 --> 02:17:18.319 a group that had an iron grip on it for 2483 02:17:18.360 --> 02:17:21.520 the entire year up to the point that Moxley tapped 2484 02:17:21.559 --> 02:17:24.000 out and the belt finally came out of that briefcase. 2485 02:17:25.239 --> 02:17:27.360 That match and I said this going into it, that 2486 02:17:27.399 --> 02:17:29.559 match is going to be their Avengers endgame match. The 2487 02:17:29.600 --> 02:17:32.000 way that Cody and Roman was a WrestleMania forty with 2488 02:17:32.040 --> 02:17:33.959 all the baby faces coming out to fight off the 2489 02:17:34.000 --> 02:17:36.239 death Riders and to give Hangman a clear path to 2490 02:17:36.280 --> 02:17:41.360 the title. Me personally, my close runner up would have 2491 02:17:41.399 --> 02:17:45.120 been the heat between Takeshta and Okada, and it is 2492 02:17:45.200 --> 02:17:48.399 nothing too deep, like we haven't even gotten a match 2493 02:17:48.440 --> 02:17:50.879 between them yet. We haven't had a single fucking match 2494 02:17:51.000 --> 02:17:54.479 between takesha and Okada, right, we haven't gotten any cinema 2495 02:17:54.840 --> 02:17:59.239 out of it, no long promos, and yet it's been 2496 02:17:59.239 --> 02:18:02.639 a very simple star or a very simple storytelling, but 2497 02:18:02.719 --> 02:18:06.360 it's been very effective in building interest in their eventual match, 2498 02:18:06.440 --> 02:18:10.520 which hopefully we will get next weekend. In a year 2499 02:18:10.760 --> 02:18:14.239 week on big stories, it's the one that I have 2500 02:18:14.360 --> 02:18:17.200 had the most fun with, albeit in the second half 2501 02:18:17.239 --> 02:18:19.040 of the year, but it's the one that I have 2502 02:18:19.079 --> 02:18:21.760 had the most fun with. So I'm fine with the 2503 02:18:21.799 --> 02:18:24.479 Hangman pick. But if I wasn't going to go with that, 2504 02:18:25.200 --> 02:18:27.760 I would go with Takeshia and Okada and the very 2505 02:18:27.799 --> 02:18:30.239 simple story that they have been playing out between these 2506 02:18:30.280 --> 02:18:32.479 two and callous and the heat between them, and then 2507 02:18:32.559 --> 02:18:35.959 the segments where Okada will just make these comments or 2508 02:18:36.000 --> 02:18:38.799 he'll turn the TV or whatever it might be if 2509 02:18:38.799 --> 02:18:42.479 not the Hangman stuff, that would get my vote for 2510 02:18:42.639 --> 02:18:45.799 Rivalry of the Year. They went with Hangman, Adam Page 2511 02:18:45.799 --> 02:18:50.200 and John Moxley. Now, last year was an easy choice 2512 02:18:50.360 --> 02:18:53.399 with See I'm Punk and Drew McIntyre, it's a no brainer. 2513 02:18:54.360 --> 02:18:56.479 This year, it's not as cut and dry. I don't 2514 02:18:56.520 --> 02:18:59.479 think that there have been any rivalries in wrestling that 2515 02:18:59.520 --> 02:19:01.520 have matched that one. It's been a down year for 2516 02:19:01.639 --> 02:19:06.200 great rivalries, all right. Where where's the punkin Drew or 2517 02:19:06.360 --> 02:19:10.840 the Hangman in Swerve of twenty twenty five? There is none? 2518 02:19:12.159 --> 02:19:14.760 See I'm punkin Seth Rollins would be the closest thing, 2519 02:19:14.760 --> 02:19:17.000 and that I can't say that excited me nearly as 2520 02:19:17.079 --> 02:19:20.959 much as those other ones did. Neither did the actual 2521 02:19:21.040 --> 02:19:25.719 feud with the Hangman in Moxley. I would give the 2522 02:19:25.840 --> 02:19:28.360 edge to Punkin Rollins in this category, although Hangman and 2523 02:19:28.360 --> 02:19:33.879 Moxley it had the better payoff. He'll Turn of the 2524 02:19:34.000 --> 02:19:38.680 Year they went with a Naomi She won the voting. Now, 2525 02:19:38.680 --> 02:19:41.280 some people are gonna look at this and go, what 2526 02:19:41.319 --> 02:19:43.520 the fuck heal Turn of the Year. How are you 2527 02:19:43.520 --> 02:19:46.159 gonna have you gonna go with anything other than John Cena. 2528 02:19:46.280 --> 02:19:48.520 I actually don't disagree with this pick, and I'm gonna 2529 02:19:48.520 --> 02:19:51.840 tell you why. If we are talking about the actual 2530 02:19:51.920 --> 02:19:55.559 turn itself in the moment, the answer is John Cena 2531 02:19:55.719 --> 02:19:58.280 unequivocally second best heel turn of all time if you 2532 02:19:58.399 --> 02:19:59.879 just look at it for what it was on that 2533 02:20:00.120 --> 02:20:03.040 night with the players involved. But if when you say 2534 02:20:03.079 --> 02:20:06.079 heal turn, best heel turn of the year, and you 2535 02:20:06.159 --> 02:20:10.479 include the story leading up to it, any character developments, 2536 02:20:10.600 --> 02:20:15.040 what followed it, right, the evolution of the character by 2537 02:20:15.079 --> 02:20:17.879 that criteria, then I believe yes, the answer is Naomi. 2538 02:20:19.200 --> 02:20:21.639 So it really all depends on your definition of heal 2539 02:20:21.719 --> 02:20:24.040 turn of the year. We're talking about a single moment 2540 02:20:24.079 --> 02:20:26.440 where this person turned heel or are we talking about 2541 02:20:26.479 --> 02:20:29.559 sort of the entire body of work that led up 2542 02:20:29.559 --> 02:20:32.200 to it and what came out of it. Because what 2543 02:20:32.360 --> 02:20:34.840 came out of the John Cena turn was absolute fucking 2544 02:20:34.959 --> 02:20:39.319 garbage and there was nothing that led up to it. Nothing. 2545 02:20:39.639 --> 02:20:42.079 It was a moment. As John Cena himself said in 2546 02:20:42.120 --> 02:20:45.280 the interview with Cody Rhodes, they did it for a moment. 2547 02:20:45.680 --> 02:20:48.879 There was no story involved, there was no hint of anything. 2548 02:20:48.959 --> 02:20:52.239 There was nothing. There was a phone call from the 2549 02:20:52.280 --> 02:20:55.040 head of Endeavor to the rock saying save us, we 2550 02:20:55.079 --> 02:21:01.239 need help for the elimination chamber. But Naomi, she really did. 2551 02:21:01.280 --> 02:21:03.719 She evolved that character, and they were playing stuff out 2552 02:21:03.760 --> 02:21:05.799 on TV where it was kind of like, she looks 2553 02:21:05.840 --> 02:21:08.319 like she's probably gonna turn, but I don't know, maybe 2554 02:21:08.319 --> 02:21:10.639 she won't, maybe they'll swerve us and go with somebody else. 2555 02:21:11.280 --> 02:21:13.600 But then she did, and it was again the best 2556 02:21:13.639 --> 02:21:15.280 thing that could have happened to her. And I think 2557 02:21:15.319 --> 02:21:17.799 she would have gone on this great run had she 2558 02:21:17.879 --> 02:21:20.040 not have had to vacate the championship when she did. 2559 02:21:20.079 --> 02:21:22.479 I think her best work was yet to come. But 2560 02:21:22.600 --> 02:21:25.000 what we did get of it, I don't argue with this. 2561 02:21:25.120 --> 02:21:27.440 I would say, yes, he'll turn to the year. I'll 2562 02:21:27.440 --> 02:21:32.280 give it to Naomi Best on the Mic. They gave 2563 02:21:32.280 --> 02:21:38.000 the award to timeless Tony Storm. I disagree. I like 2564 02:21:38.079 --> 02:21:40.920 Tony Storm. I think Tony she's very quick witted. She's 2565 02:21:40.959 --> 02:21:44.079 certainly great on the microphone. I got to give this 2566 02:21:44.079 --> 02:21:48.000 to CM Punk. I give this Best on the Mic 2567 02:21:48.079 --> 02:21:51.959 award to Punk from the bald Fraud rant after WrestleMania, 2568 02:21:52.120 --> 02:21:54.920 to his promo in the ring with John Cena, to 2569 02:21:54.959 --> 02:21:57.079 the angry Punk that we got in the ring last 2570 02:21:57.120 --> 02:22:01.239 Monday talking about bron Breaker. When Punk is especially when 2571 02:22:01.239 --> 02:22:03.600 we get angry Punk on the mic, there is still 2572 02:22:03.639 --> 02:22:05.799 nobody better with a live mic in wrestling, with a 2573 02:22:05.840 --> 02:22:09.520 live mic in their hand than CM Punk. And we 2574 02:22:09.600 --> 02:22:11.719 may not get that version of Punk on television every 2575 02:22:11.760 --> 02:22:14.440 single week, but we're not exactly getting you know, legendary 2576 02:22:14.479 --> 02:22:17.440 Tony Storm promos weekly either. Right, she has her moments, 2577 02:22:17.440 --> 02:22:20.600 Punk has his. I think Punk's moments were stronger than hers. 2578 02:22:20.879 --> 02:22:24.559 I give him the award Best in the Ring. They 2579 02:22:24.600 --> 02:22:29.680 gave it to will Osprey. I certainly have voted similarly 2580 02:22:29.719 --> 02:22:33.600 in the past. For me, it's close. I would give 2581 02:22:33.600 --> 02:22:36.920 this to Kenoski Takeshda. I think Takeshta just clears him 2582 02:22:36.959 --> 02:22:39.000 this year, in part because of the injury and so 2583 02:22:39.120 --> 02:22:42.040 Osprey has missed a lot of time this year that 2584 02:22:42.079 --> 02:22:44.760 Takeshta has only gotten stronger. Right, he won the g One, 2585 02:22:44.840 --> 02:22:47.360 he won the IWGP title, He's got this stuff going 2586 02:22:47.399 --> 02:22:50.040 on with Okada, He's having these weekly matches in the 2587 02:22:50.040 --> 02:22:53.920 Continental Classic that are very good his body of work. 2588 02:22:53.959 --> 02:22:55.959 I just think overall this year will end up being 2589 02:22:56.040 --> 02:22:59.120 stronger and you can't go wrong with will Osprey. But 2590 02:22:59.239 --> 02:23:03.000 I got to give the to catch Don this breakout 2591 02:23:03.000 --> 02:23:06.239 Wrestler of the Year, Sports Illustrated went with Kyle Fletcher. 2592 02:23:07.000 --> 02:23:09.520 I'm not going to argue it. This absolutely has been 2593 02:23:09.559 --> 02:23:12.520 a breakout year for Kyle Fletcher. He even got his 2594 02:23:12.559 --> 02:23:15.200 first pay per view main events, you know, a shot 2595 02:23:15.200 --> 02:23:18.000 at the World Championship. He won the TNT Championship. He 2596 02:23:18.079 --> 02:23:21.200 is one of the one of the crown jewels of 2597 02:23:21.239 --> 02:23:25.239 that Don Kallis family, and he is someone who in 2598 02:23:25.280 --> 02:23:28.040 the next few years should be an AW World champion 2599 02:23:28.079 --> 02:23:30.239 and they could absolutely build around him as part of 2600 02:23:30.280 --> 02:23:33.440 their core. We used to talk or hear talk about 2601 02:23:33.479 --> 02:23:36.360 the pillars of AAW for so many years, right Darby 2602 02:23:36.399 --> 02:23:39.840 and MJF and Jungle Boy and Sammy Gavara, and I 2603 02:23:39.879 --> 02:23:43.719 feel like the pillars have changed over the years, but 2604 02:23:43.760 --> 02:23:45.639 I could see Kyle Fletcher, if you want to use 2605 02:23:45.680 --> 02:23:47.879 that term, if he isn't already being one of those 2606 02:23:47.920 --> 02:23:51.000 pillars for them in the future, you know where the 2607 02:23:51.000 --> 02:23:53.639 company sort of relies on him as one of their 2608 02:23:53.639 --> 02:23:56.920 biggest stars and I think eventually one of their biggest 2609 02:23:56.920 --> 02:24:00.319 baby faces. But this is the year they we will 2610 02:24:00.360 --> 02:24:02.440 look back on and say, Okay, this is where he 2611 02:24:02.600 --> 02:24:06.840 became that guy that you could see being in that role. 2612 02:24:06.879 --> 02:24:09.120 This is where he took that one giant leap forward. 2613 02:24:09.639 --> 02:24:11.760 And the matches that he has had this year on 2614 02:24:11.879 --> 02:24:15.360 top of all of that have been phenomenal, Even in 2615 02:24:15.399 --> 02:24:19.440 this tournament, even in this Continental Classic, it's been fantastic. 2616 02:24:20.360 --> 02:24:22.559 I would go with a close second. I would go 2617 02:24:22.600 --> 02:24:25.799 with Javon Evans of NXT. I think this has absolutely 2618 02:24:25.799 --> 02:24:28.239 been a huge breakout year for Javon. He's all over 2619 02:24:28.280 --> 02:24:30.639 the place. I mean, Javon is not just in NXT, 2620 02:24:30.840 --> 02:24:33.280 but he's on Raw, he's on SmackDown. They've got him 2621 02:24:33.280 --> 02:24:37.559 in Triple A, they had him in TNA against Leon Slay. 2622 02:24:37.600 --> 02:24:40.920 I mean, he is everywhere and still very very young. 2623 02:24:41.000 --> 02:24:43.200 But as good as he already is, imagine how much 2624 02:24:43.239 --> 02:24:45.520 better he'll be, you know, a few years from now. 2625 02:24:45.559 --> 02:24:48.600 It's scary. Which is not to say that he can't 2626 02:24:48.600 --> 02:24:51.000 be on the main roster right now. You know, he 2627 02:24:51.040 --> 02:24:54.280 absolutely can be. I would put the NXT Championship on him, 2628 02:24:54.280 --> 02:24:57.719 give him a run with it first before we elevate him, 2629 02:24:57.920 --> 02:25:01.440 you know, to that level on a permanent basis. But yeah, 2630 02:25:01.680 --> 02:25:04.680 I have a Gavan as a close second to Kyle Fletcher. 2631 02:25:06.399 --> 02:25:09.760 Then we have Comeback Performer of the Year, and the 2632 02:25:09.799 --> 02:25:14.920 Sports Illustrated voting gave it to Ilya Dragonov. I am 2633 02:25:14.920 --> 02:25:17.040 going to go a different way with this and I'm 2634 02:25:17.079 --> 02:25:22.520 going to give this to Bandido and so Dragonov. You know, 2635 02:25:22.559 --> 02:25:26.639 he missed thirteen months with an ACL tear and he's 2636 02:25:26.680 --> 02:25:29.239 been on a tear ever since he came back, right, 2637 02:25:29.239 --> 02:25:31.200 but he's only been back since October. He hasn't been 2638 02:25:31.200 --> 02:25:34.639 back for that long. He won the United States Championship 2639 02:25:34.680 --> 02:25:37.000 his first night back from Sammy's Ain. He has had 2640 02:25:37.000 --> 02:25:40.319 good to great matches almost every single week ever since. 2641 02:25:41.319 --> 02:25:43.399 But it is still a limited body of wargo. I mean, 2642 02:25:43.440 --> 02:25:47.159 what are we really talking about here? Ten matches and 2643 02:25:47.280 --> 02:25:49.639 it just cannot compare to the body of work that 2644 02:25:49.799 --> 02:25:52.600 Bandido has put together since returning. And it was a 2645 02:25:52.719 --> 02:25:57.440 tough comeback for Bandido. You know, he suffered a broken 2646 02:25:57.479 --> 02:25:59.360 wrist and this is going back maybe a couple of 2647 02:25:59.440 --> 02:26:04.239 years now. Broke his wrist, had surgery, it didn't heal properly, 2648 02:26:04.280 --> 02:26:08.239 he needed a second surgery. Then he finally comes back 2649 02:26:08.280 --> 02:26:10.120 at the very end of last year, and what happens 2650 02:26:10.159 --> 02:26:13.159 his first night back on a Ring of honor, right 2651 02:26:13.200 --> 02:26:15.920 coming out to attack Jericho and the Learning Tree and whatever, 2652 02:26:15.959 --> 02:26:19.680 and he suffers a concussion landed on the back of 2653 02:26:19.719 --> 02:26:21.520 his own head coming off the top rope, and he 2654 02:26:21.559 --> 02:26:25.239 concussed himself and that was his first night back. But 2655 02:26:25.360 --> 02:26:29.040 since then he has been tearing it up in the 2656 02:26:29.120 --> 02:26:34.000 ring Ring of Honor World Champion, an unexpectedly great tag 2657 02:26:34.040 --> 02:26:36.040 team run with Brody King where they won the tag 2658 02:26:36.040 --> 02:26:39.840 team titles, and honestly, he may genuinely be the most 2659 02:26:39.920 --> 02:26:43.319 fun performer to watch in the ring in all of wrestling. 2660 02:26:44.479 --> 02:26:47.639 So I'm going with Bendito for the comeback story of 2661 02:26:47.680 --> 02:26:50.840 the Year. Kenny Omega would be my runner up, just 2662 02:26:50.840 --> 02:26:53.959 for a match with Gabe Kid alone at Wressell Dynasty. 2663 02:26:53.959 --> 02:26:55.920 I mean, this man missed over a year of action, 2664 02:26:56.040 --> 02:26:59.360 almost fucking died, and in his first match back he 2665 02:26:59.399 --> 02:27:03.280 goes out there and does that with Gabe Kid. Are 2666 02:27:03.280 --> 02:27:06.879 you kidding me? After that, you know, you got the 2667 02:27:06.920 --> 02:27:11.000 match with Takeshta a Revolution, the match with Okada and Texas, 2668 02:27:11.040 --> 02:27:13.719 I mean those were just gravy. After that, I just 2669 02:27:13.760 --> 02:27:16.479 wish he was healthy enough to have bigger singles matches 2670 02:27:16.520 --> 02:27:18.559 since then, because since then you could tell they've kept 2671 02:27:18.600 --> 02:27:21.360 him very limited. So that's what I would do. I'd 2672 02:27:21.399 --> 02:27:23.879 give the award to Bandido. I'd have Omega as my 2673 02:27:23.959 --> 02:27:26.920 runner up, and then after Omega, I would have Ilia Dragonov. 2674 02:27:26.920 --> 02:27:30.120 I would have him third. On the list Tag Team 2675 02:27:30.159 --> 02:27:34.120 of the Year, Sports Illustrated gave it to FTR. I 2676 02:27:34.159 --> 02:27:36.840 think that was a mistake. FTR obviously is a great 2677 02:27:36.840 --> 02:27:39.719 tag team and they are the tag team champions right now. 2678 02:27:40.319 --> 02:27:42.600 They were not the Tag team of the Year. I 2679 02:27:42.639 --> 02:27:45.799 believe Brodido was the tag team of the Year. Brody 2680 02:27:45.920 --> 02:27:51.319 King Bandido a makeshift team that got put together legitimately 2681 02:27:51.399 --> 02:27:55.719 because Tony Khan saw them do their gunfinger handshake backstage. 2682 02:27:55.920 --> 02:27:59.040 That is how Brodido became a thing. And they were 2683 02:27:59.079 --> 02:28:01.319 a revelation to team. There's so much fun to watch, 2684 02:28:01.360 --> 02:28:04.639 great chemistry, great matches, and they got a tag team 2685 02:28:04.680 --> 02:28:07.879 title run out of it for a few months. And 2686 02:28:07.959 --> 02:28:11.600 so right behind Brodido, I'm actually gonna go with Matt 2687 02:28:11.600 --> 02:28:15.559 and Jeff Hardy. And here's why. Not only did they 2688 02:28:15.600 --> 02:28:19.719 win tag team titles across multiple promotions including NXT and TNA, 2689 02:28:20.680 --> 02:28:23.520 but I think they were central to TNA getting a 2690 02:28:23.559 --> 02:28:27.719 television deal with AMC. They are arguably the biggest stars 2691 02:28:27.760 --> 02:28:30.879 in the entire promotion, and TNA has featured them. If 2692 02:28:30.879 --> 02:28:33.319 you'll notice, not only has TNA featured them all year 2693 02:28:33.319 --> 02:28:37.079 long without the Hardys. I don't think that they get 2694 02:28:37.079 --> 02:28:40.360 that deal right. They have the WWE partnership, so it 2695 02:28:40.399 --> 02:28:42.479 may have happened anyway. But even if you watch the 2696 02:28:42.520 --> 02:28:45.440 commercials that have been airing on AMC four where they're 2697 02:28:45.479 --> 02:28:49.879 previewing January fifteenth, right impact comes to AMC. Look who's 2698 02:28:49.920 --> 02:28:52.959 in the commercials. Look who is all over the ad 2699 02:28:53.079 --> 02:28:56.639 for the show. It's the Hardys. So they have been 2700 02:28:56.680 --> 02:29:01.600 more important to their home promotion than Brodida. I've just 2701 02:29:01.680 --> 02:29:04.239 had more fun watching Brodido come out of nowhere and 2702 02:29:04.280 --> 02:29:06.559 do what they've been able to do over the past 2703 02:29:06.559 --> 02:29:08.639 several months, and in ring, their body of work is 2704 02:29:08.680 --> 02:29:11.559 much stronger. So I would go Brodido, and then the 2705 02:29:11.600 --> 02:29:16.360 runner up for me would be the Hardys. Match of 2706 02:29:16.360 --> 02:29:21.239 the Year. Sports Illustrated had it as Eo Sky, Rhea 2707 02:29:21.360 --> 02:29:26.280 Ripley and Bianca bel Air at WrestleMania forty one. I'm 2708 02:29:26.319 --> 02:29:28.920 going to reserve my pick for when I do my 2709 02:29:29.000 --> 02:29:32.680 Top Matches of the Year countdown, probably next week, but 2710 02:29:32.799 --> 02:29:37.920 I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with this choice. I 2711 02:29:38.079 --> 02:29:40.360 might have been willing to give it to Javon Evans 2712 02:29:40.360 --> 02:29:43.000 and Leon Slater a TNA bound for glory, had they 2713 02:29:43.040 --> 02:29:46.840 not monumentally fucked up the finish. That match was on 2714 02:29:46.920 --> 02:29:49.520 its way to being an all timer. But I have 2715 02:29:49.639 --> 02:29:53.559 no issue with them picking that as their choice show 2716 02:29:53.680 --> 02:29:58.239 of the year. Sports Illustrated shows aw Double or Nothing 2717 02:29:58.559 --> 02:30:02.719 back in May, I agree with this pick. I would 2718 02:30:02.760 --> 02:30:05.799 go with Double or Nothing top to bottom as the 2719 02:30:05.799 --> 02:30:08.600 best show of the year. For me, it's between Double 2720 02:30:08.680 --> 02:30:14.159 or Nothing and Elimination Chamber. As great as Elimination Chamber was, 2721 02:30:14.239 --> 02:30:17.000 with the heel turn at the end, which again in 2722 02:30:17.040 --> 02:30:20.360 a vacuum, all time great heel turn right number two 2723 02:30:20.399 --> 02:30:24.680 all time, the best women's elimination Chamber match that I 2724 02:30:24.680 --> 02:30:29.079 think they've ever done, a very good men's chamber, and 2725 02:30:29.120 --> 02:30:31.639 it had an excellent Kevin Ohen Sammy's Aim match right 2726 02:30:31.680 --> 02:30:34.360 that non sanction match. At the end of the day, 2727 02:30:34.399 --> 02:30:39.360 it's still a four match show. Four match pes are 2728 02:30:39.520 --> 02:30:41.479 just not going to be able to measure up when 2729 02:30:41.479 --> 02:30:43.360 you put them up against a pay per view with 2730 02:30:43.559 --> 02:30:49.079 say six or seven five star quality wrestling matches, and 2731 02:30:49.120 --> 02:30:51.639 then also a few others that are at least good. 2732 02:30:52.399 --> 02:30:55.360 I just wish the shows weren't so damn long. I 2733 02:30:55.360 --> 02:30:57.840 wish there was more of a happy medium, right. The 2734 02:30:57.879 --> 02:31:01.520 happy medium actually would be Evolution in July, which was 2735 02:31:01.559 --> 02:31:04.040 one of the best shows all year, but quality wise, 2736 02:31:04.920 --> 02:31:06.600 I don't think it measures up to the best that 2737 02:31:06.639 --> 02:31:10.840 Double or Nothing had to offer, or even Revolution, right, 2738 02:31:10.840 --> 02:31:13.040 but that main event ruined it for me with Moxley 2739 02:31:13.040 --> 02:31:16.719 and Copeland. Revolution was a great show until we got 2740 02:31:16.719 --> 02:31:20.799 to the main event. So Elimination Chamber would be my 2741 02:31:20.959 --> 02:31:24.280 WWE show of the year with Evolution right behind it 2742 02:31:24.440 --> 02:31:27.479 nipping at its heels. You know what. For me, it's 2743 02:31:27.520 --> 02:31:31.079 like one A and one B honestly, and for aw 2744 02:31:31.680 --> 02:31:34.360 Double or Nothing would be tops, followed by All in 2745 02:31:34.479 --> 02:31:38.360 Texas and then probably Revolution even with the dog shit 2746 02:31:38.479 --> 02:31:44.159 ending Female Wrestler of the Year, Sports Illustrated went with 2747 02:31:45.159 --> 02:31:50.360 Mercedes Monette. Mercedes had an excellent year with her match 2748 02:31:50.399 --> 02:31:53.520 out put forty eight matches across multiple promotions, not just 2749 02:31:53.600 --> 02:31:59.479 aw Eosky, who I think is just the best. She 2750 02:31:59.680 --> 02:32:02.319 had had a little bit less. She had thirty five matches, 2751 02:32:02.399 --> 02:32:06.000 one of which came against Mayu Ewatani and Marigold, and 2752 02:32:06.079 --> 02:32:09.319 I did watch that, and that was excellent. EO to 2753 02:32:09.399 --> 02:32:12.639 me is just on another level from everyone else in ring. 2754 02:32:13.239 --> 02:32:16.159 And this was her breakout year in WWE, which sounds 2755 02:32:16.200 --> 02:32:19.479 so silly because she's worked there for seven years, but 2756 02:32:19.600 --> 02:32:22.360 it really was. It really felt like a breakout year 2757 02:32:22.360 --> 02:32:24.440 for her. But you need to account for more than 2758 02:32:24.559 --> 02:32:26.879 just who you think is the best in ring talent 2759 02:32:27.360 --> 02:32:30.680 at any given moment. And I set this a few 2760 02:32:30.719 --> 02:32:33.760 weeks ago when the PWI rankings came out with their 2761 02:32:33.760 --> 02:32:36.399 top two hundred and fifty women's wrestlers in the world, 2762 02:32:37.559 --> 02:32:40.760 they had Mercedes in number one, and there's a lot 2763 02:32:40.760 --> 02:32:43.319 of KFE mixed in there with that, but she had 2764 02:32:43.360 --> 02:32:45.719 an impressive year. I don't care so much about which 2765 02:32:45.760 --> 02:32:48.360 title she has. That's kind of irrelevant to me, but 2766 02:32:48.440 --> 02:32:51.000 I can tell you when she's out there challenging for 2767 02:32:51.399 --> 02:32:55.360 or going back and defending those other belts on the 2768 02:32:55.360 --> 02:32:59.200 independent scene, it makes a difference to those promotions, Like 2769 02:32:59.280 --> 02:33:02.360 she moves toickets. You could argue whether or not she 2770 02:33:02.440 --> 02:33:07.719 does an AW, but she moves tickets that cannot be understated. 2771 02:33:08.120 --> 02:33:10.600 You know, her shit goes up after the fact on 2772 02:33:10.639 --> 02:33:12.879 YouTube or whatever, and it's got you know, a couple 2773 02:33:12.920 --> 02:33:15.799 one hundred thousand views within five or six days. It 2774 02:33:15.840 --> 02:33:19.719 cannot be understated. And the story, then, there's the story 2775 02:33:19.719 --> 02:33:21.479 in aw of her not being able to win the 2776 02:33:21.520 --> 02:33:24.399 Big One, because there is a story there. And I 2777 02:33:24.520 --> 02:33:26.479 was telling you as we were going into the match 2778 02:33:26.559 --> 02:33:30.760 with her and Statlander especially, like, Okay, this is what 2779 02:33:30.879 --> 02:33:32.760 I think the story is, and this is where I 2780 02:33:32.760 --> 02:33:35.000 think it is going. She's gonna win all of these 2781 02:33:35.040 --> 02:33:37.639 other championships, and she's gonna gloat, and she's gonna drink 2782 02:33:37.719 --> 02:33:40.559 champagne and have celebrations and eat cavir and all this 2783 02:33:40.600 --> 02:33:42.280 other stuff. But at the end of the day, she's 2784 02:33:42.319 --> 02:33:47.239 overcompensating because she cannot win the big One. She failed 2785 02:33:47.520 --> 02:33:52.600 twice this year alone trying to go after that World championship. 2786 02:33:52.680 --> 02:33:56.959 So if you pay attention, there is a story there. Now, 2787 02:33:57.000 --> 02:34:02.000 as far as promos, EO's promos are not great, but frankly, 2788 02:34:02.040 --> 02:34:04.239 neither are the ones we've gotten from Mercedes, So for me, 2789 02:34:05.000 --> 02:34:07.879 it's a wash. But when I look at their body 2790 02:34:07.920 --> 02:34:09.879 of work this year, EO had two of the best 2791 02:34:09.879 --> 02:34:13.479 matches anywhere this entire year, but her run coming out 2792 02:34:13.479 --> 02:34:17.879 of WrestleMania really hurt her. She didn't do much the 2793 02:34:17.920 --> 02:34:22.120 booking hurt her in that top two fifty ranking. They 2794 02:34:22.159 --> 02:34:24.319 had EO too low, they had her at number six. 2795 02:34:25.079 --> 02:34:27.639 I will concede when you look at her overall body 2796 02:34:27.680 --> 02:34:30.239 of work for the year across multiple promotions, I think 2797 02:34:30.319 --> 02:34:33.760 Mercedes at number one is the correct choice. But I 2798 02:34:33.799 --> 02:34:36.159 could go either way. I could go with her, I 2799 02:34:36.200 --> 02:34:38.760 could go with EO. I would not have any issue 2800 02:34:38.760 --> 02:34:41.159 with somebody saying EO Sky should be number one, But 2801 02:34:41.799 --> 02:34:45.239 I don't see the problem with them having Mercedes at 2802 02:34:45.280 --> 02:34:48.280 number one. Now as far as runners up, Timeless Tony 2803 02:34:48.360 --> 02:34:50.360 Storm and the stuff that she did with Mariah May 2804 02:34:50.399 --> 02:34:52.840 earlier this year, that alone puts her near the top. 2805 02:34:53.159 --> 02:34:55.479 And then Becky Lynch. I was surprised she didn't get 2806 02:34:55.479 --> 02:34:57.319 a mention here, but Becky Lynch did more for that 2807 02:34:57.399 --> 02:35:01.520 Women's Intercontinental title this year then WWE has done for 2808 02:35:01.520 --> 02:35:04.639 the women's United States Championship since the day it was conceived, 2809 02:35:06.079 --> 02:35:08.959 so she at least deserves an honorable mention. She's also 2810 02:35:09.040 --> 02:35:11.200 up there in that top three or four as far 2811 02:35:11.280 --> 02:35:16.719 as the women go for the entire year. Men's Wrestler 2812 02:35:16.719 --> 02:35:23.200 of the Year Sports Illustrated had it as Hangman Adam page. 2813 02:35:23.440 --> 02:35:28.159 If you base it on business and in ring output. 2814 02:35:29.000 --> 02:35:31.680 The answer is probably missed it go for all that 2815 02:35:31.719 --> 02:35:34.760 he has done with CMLL. But I just have not 2816 02:35:34.879 --> 02:35:37.120 seen enough of his work this year outside of a 2817 02:35:37.159 --> 02:35:41.319 handful of matches to just and I don't watch CMLL 2818 02:35:41.360 --> 02:35:43.440 weeks a week or anything. I cannot sit here and 2819 02:35:43.600 --> 02:35:47.719 justify making him my Men's Wrestler of the year. When 2820 02:35:47.719 --> 02:35:50.520 I look at character and I look at in ring 2821 02:35:51.399 --> 02:35:56.040 taken together, I can't really disagree with the hangman pick. 2822 02:35:57.239 --> 02:36:02.040 I really can't know there was an argument to be made. 2823 02:36:02.120 --> 02:36:05.079 I think maybe for Seth Rollins in terms of again 2824 02:36:05.159 --> 02:36:08.159 his in ring work and you know, forming the vision 2825 02:36:08.200 --> 02:36:11.399 and leading the top heel stable on raw. Then he 2826 02:36:11.440 --> 02:36:14.559 got hurt, so it's like, all right, well he got 2827 02:36:14.600 --> 02:36:18.120 hurt at a bad time, and he got hurt closer 2828 02:36:18.159 --> 02:36:20.399 to the end of the year, but he still got 2829 02:36:20.479 --> 02:36:23.040 hurt and he's missing the last couple of months of 2830 02:36:23.079 --> 02:36:27.239 the year. So I look at someone like Rollins and 2831 02:36:27.319 --> 02:36:29.399 I think he's up there. I don't want to say 2832 02:36:29.399 --> 02:36:32.319 he's my number two necessarily, but you know he deserves 2833 02:36:32.639 --> 02:36:36.280 at least, you know, a mention here. But again, is 2834 02:36:36.319 --> 02:36:40.280 it really out that outlandish that they would go with 2835 02:36:40.360 --> 02:36:42.840 Hangman Adam Page as the Male Wrestler of the Year. 2836 02:36:42.879 --> 02:36:44.760 When you take all of these other things, not just 2837 02:36:44.840 --> 02:36:46.600 the in ring, but the inn ring and the story, 2838 02:36:46.639 --> 02:36:49.360 the character, all that stuff, and what they had him 2839 02:36:49.399 --> 02:36:52.719 doing this year into consideration, I know that once he 2840 02:36:52.760 --> 02:36:55.120 won the championship, it kind of fizzled out after that 2841 02:36:56.040 --> 02:36:58.360 because it was almost like it was about the chase, right, 2842 02:36:58.399 --> 02:37:00.360 It's like the dog catching the car. It's like, oh, 2843 02:37:00.440 --> 02:37:04.639 now what. But again, I don't really have an issue 2844 02:37:04.639 --> 02:37:07.159 with them going with Hangman as Male Wrestler of the Year. 2845 02:37:07.200 --> 02:37:09.600 I don't think it's necessarily cut and dry for any 2846 02:37:09.600 --> 02:37:12.760 one person slammed dunk. Oh yeah, absolutely, it's this guy. 2847 02:37:13.840 --> 02:37:16.239 I don't think so. So I don't have a problem 2848 02:37:16.280 --> 02:37:20.520 with that. And then last, but not least, promotion of 2849 02:37:20.559 --> 02:37:23.239 the year. This is the one that I'm sure made 2850 02:37:23.239 --> 02:37:27.120 some people's heads explode. It's actually kind of funny. Last 2851 02:37:27.159 --> 02:37:29.959 year they went with WWE as the promotion of the year, 2852 02:37:30.000 --> 02:37:32.479 and I thought that was well deserved. This year they 2853 02:37:32.520 --> 02:37:35.799 went with All Elite Wrestling as the promotion of the year. 2854 02:37:36.159 --> 02:37:39.440 Here's what I'll say about this. What is even the 2855 02:37:39.520 --> 02:37:43.280 criteria for this? You're gonna have people that look at 2856 02:37:43.280 --> 02:37:45.360 this and go, how can you say that AW was 2857 02:37:45.399 --> 02:37:49.719 the promotion of the year when they are still barely 2858 02:37:49.760 --> 02:37:52.600 filling buildings for some of their weekly television or they're 2859 02:37:52.600 --> 02:37:55.000 filling buildings, but they're running buildings that fit like a 2860 02:37:55.079 --> 02:37:58.559 thousand people. Where are the days of Dynamite when they 2861 02:37:58.559 --> 02:38:01.680 would run bigger venues or NBA venues and they could 2862 02:38:01.719 --> 02:38:04.079 put five or six or seven thousand people any given 2863 02:38:04.120 --> 02:38:06.959 week into building for Dynamite. That is still very much 2864 02:38:07.000 --> 02:38:11.200 a problem for AW heading into twenty twenty six, because 2865 02:38:11.239 --> 02:38:13.399 if they felt confident that they could put that many 2866 02:38:13.440 --> 02:38:15.760 people in a building for an episode of Dynamite, guess 2867 02:38:15.760 --> 02:38:18.479 what they'd be doing it. Clearly they don't have the 2868 02:38:18.479 --> 02:38:21.959 confidence to do so that's an issue. Dynamite used to 2869 02:38:22.040 --> 02:38:24.159 be in a different place than it is now. Forget 2870 02:38:24.200 --> 02:38:26.040 the N Ring stuff. I'm sure everybody would say, oh 2871 02:38:26.079 --> 02:38:28.000 my god, the N Ring is so great. True, but 2872 02:38:29.120 --> 02:38:31.719 if you're looking at it from like a business perspective, 2873 02:38:32.520 --> 02:38:34.719 like do you factor that into your decision? Do you 2874 02:38:34.760 --> 02:38:37.079 just look at it as what promotion gave me the 2875 02:38:37.120 --> 02:38:40.719 best matches and the best stories, right, or do you 2876 02:38:40.799 --> 02:38:43.159 incorporate all these other things? How much money did they make? 2877 02:38:43.200 --> 02:38:46.120 How many tickets did they sell? Right? By that criteria 2878 02:38:46.239 --> 02:38:49.040 I mentioned CMLL before. I don't know that there was 2879 02:38:49.040 --> 02:38:51.559 any other promotion that had the kind of year that 2880 02:38:51.639 --> 02:38:54.239 CML had where they moved over a million tickets in 2881 02:38:54.319 --> 02:38:57.120 one fucking venue for the entire year. Like that is 2882 02:38:57.200 --> 02:39:02.920 unheard of business wise. It would almost have to be WWE, 2883 02:39:03.079 --> 02:39:05.239 or you can make the case for CMLL. But like 2884 02:39:05.959 --> 02:39:08.600 when you take into account all of these other awards 2885 02:39:08.639 --> 02:39:11.079 that I just went through, right, and the majority of 2886 02:39:11.120 --> 02:39:13.719 them from SI went to AW and I think the 2887 02:39:13.719 --> 02:39:16.760 majority of the ones I just gave out went to 2888 02:39:17.200 --> 02:39:20.879 AW as well. When they win that many awards for 2889 02:39:20.959 --> 02:39:25.479 Best Wrestler or the Best Story or whatever whatever I 2890 02:39:25.600 --> 02:39:31.760 just went through here, then yes, the answer would be AW. 2891 02:39:32.079 --> 02:39:35.680 If the majority of the answers came from AW, then 2892 02:39:35.719 --> 02:39:39.680 that would make aw your promotion of the year. If 2893 02:39:39.719 --> 02:39:43.239 most of your awards went to WWE, then your promotion 2894 02:39:43.360 --> 02:39:46.920 of the year would be WWA. If you watch CMLL 2895 02:39:47.040 --> 02:39:49.200 and all you watch is that or Lucha Libra, and 2896 02:39:49.239 --> 02:39:51.520 you know you Mystico is going to be the biggest 2897 02:39:51.559 --> 02:39:54.440 star of the world, and CMLL is in a hot 2898 02:39:54.520 --> 02:39:56.879 period right now, and they would be your promotion of 2899 02:39:56.920 --> 02:40:00.680 the year. It is such a subjective thing, no set 2900 02:40:00.799 --> 02:40:06.239 list of criteria, that it's almost impossible to give an answer. 2901 02:40:06.239 --> 02:40:09.360 It's all subjective anyway, of course, But in this case, 2902 02:40:09.440 --> 02:40:11.680 just looking at all the awards that I just doled out, yeah, 2903 02:40:11.719 --> 02:40:13.280 you know what, I'd have to go with aw And 2904 02:40:13.319 --> 02:40:16.399 I'll tell you the other reason why, because this has 2905 02:40:16.440 --> 02:40:20.120 absolutely I will not sit here and tell you that WWE, 2906 02:40:20.200 --> 02:40:22.399 Oh my god, we're back to the bad old days, right, 2907 02:40:22.520 --> 02:40:25.319 I know what the bad old days are like, We're 2908 02:40:25.319 --> 02:40:27.799 not in the bad old days. But this was by 2909 02:40:27.840 --> 02:40:32.040 no means triple h or WWE's strongest year in the 2910 02:40:32.079 --> 02:40:35.319 last five years. Okay, I don't care what how many 2911 02:40:35.319 --> 02:40:38.040 tickets they sold, how much fucking money they made. I 2912 02:40:38.120 --> 02:40:40.799 watched these shows week to week. As I was sitting 2913 02:40:40.840 --> 02:40:43.879 here going through these different categories, it was a struggle 2914 02:40:44.239 --> 02:40:47.920 to come up with like rock solid WWE choices for 2915 02:40:48.000 --> 02:40:50.280 every category that would win each category. There is a 2916 02:40:50.280 --> 02:40:53.399 reason why a lot of them did not win. This 2917 02:40:53.600 --> 02:40:57.639 was not their strongest year. So if I'm looking at 2918 02:40:57.719 --> 02:41:01.040 WWE and I am struggling to come up with different 2919 02:41:01.120 --> 02:41:03.799 categories to say like, oh yeah, WWE blew them away 2920 02:41:03.799 --> 02:41:06.760 and blew them up. There's obvious winner here, obvious winter there. 2921 02:41:07.120 --> 02:41:10.159 How the fuck can I sit here with confidence and 2922 02:41:10.239 --> 02:41:13.520 tell you that the promotion of the Year is WWE 2923 02:41:13.639 --> 02:41:16.559 when my overall feeling towards this company and the stories 2924 02:41:16.600 --> 02:41:18.920 they've told throughout the entire year and the John Cena 2925 02:41:18.959 --> 02:41:22.559 run and everything in between has largely been apathy. And 2926 02:41:22.639 --> 02:41:24.760 there was a lot of that also with AW this year. 2927 02:41:25.040 --> 02:41:28.559 Believe me, Oh, believe me, there was. But there is 2928 02:41:28.639 --> 02:41:32.760 nothing about this year that WWE had as a fan, 2929 02:41:32.840 --> 02:41:35.079 as a viewer of the show weeks a week that 2930 02:41:35.159 --> 02:41:38.680 makes me go, hey, promotion of the year. I'll sit 2931 02:41:38.719 --> 02:41:40.959 here and give AW Promotion of the Year honors, but 2932 02:41:41.000 --> 02:41:43.319 I won't exactly be sitting here doing it with a 2933 02:41:43.319 --> 02:41:46.600 whole ton of enthusiasm. Frankly, it had more to do 2934 02:41:46.639 --> 02:41:49.399 with just how bad of a year creatively WWE had 2935 02:41:49.440 --> 02:41:52.879 than anything else. But all this nonsense about you know, 2936 02:41:52.920 --> 02:41:56.879 conspiracy theories and Tony you know the check clear the 2937 02:41:56.959 --> 02:41:59.440 checks and the mail and all this other nonsense. You 2938 02:41:59.479 --> 02:42:02.000 know what, at the end today I see all these 2939 02:42:02.000 --> 02:42:03.840 people on social media. It's just a lot of people 2940 02:42:03.840 --> 02:42:07.799 who just cannot accept opinions from other people, and it 2941 02:42:08.000 --> 02:42:10.120 just blows their minds so much that they have to 2942 02:42:10.319 --> 02:42:14.000 justify it and the most ridiculous, insane ways. Well, this 2943 02:42:14.600 --> 02:42:17.920 simply cannot be possible. There's only one explanation for it. Clearly, 2944 02:42:17.959 --> 02:42:22.040 Tony Kahan is grease in some palms here, and people 2945 02:42:22.079 --> 02:42:25.440 take this shit seriously and it's fucking sad. Again. It's 2946 02:42:25.440 --> 02:42:28.639 all subjective. Your awards and your opinions on these are 2947 02:42:28.680 --> 02:42:31.280 probably going to be very different than mine. Mine are 2948 02:42:31.280 --> 02:42:33.079 going to be different from yours, and the next person 2949 02:42:33.079 --> 02:42:35.600 to the next person. I don't see anything on this 2950 02:42:35.680 --> 02:42:38.120 list that is egregiously bad. I told you the ones 2951 02:42:38.159 --> 02:42:41.319 I disagree with. Some of them are different, a lot 2952 02:42:41.360 --> 02:42:43.559 of them I agree with. I don't see anything egregiously 2953 02:42:43.600 --> 02:42:45.760 bad or like, oh my god, what were they thinking 2954 02:42:46.280 --> 02:42:49.520 on this list? But next week we'll talk about what 2955 02:42:49.639 --> 02:42:53.360 the best matches were of twenty twenty five, in addition 2956 02:42:53.399 --> 02:42:54.879 to all of the news of the week. We'll save 2957 02:42:54.920 --> 02:42:58.360 that for next week, probably do the predictions for the 2958 02:42:58.399 --> 02:43:00.319 new year in a couple of weeks. You got to 2959 02:43:00.319 --> 02:43:01.959 spread it out, you got to spread out the love. 2960 02:43:02.000 --> 02:43:05.200 We've already gone almost three hours here on the show, well, look, 2961 02:43:05.239 --> 02:43:07.760 hopefully you enjoyed it. You don't have to agree with 2962 02:43:07.879 --> 02:43:09.639 all of the picks and all of the opinions and 2963 02:43:09.719 --> 02:43:13.120 choices here, but hopefully you can at least you look 2964 02:43:13.159 --> 02:43:15.159 at what I've laid out here. I at least try 2965 02:43:15.159 --> 02:43:20.159 to explain where I'm coming from on this and accept that, Okay, 2966 02:43:20.280 --> 02:43:23.000 you know what, that's where you're coming from on it. 2967 02:43:23.079 --> 02:43:26.440 That's his perspective on things, and at least respect it 2968 02:43:27.639 --> 02:43:30.840 that it ain't bought and paid for. It's coming from 2969 02:43:30.879 --> 02:43:35.000 me and me alone, the way it always is. Email 2970 02:43:35.079 --> 02:43:37.280 me the soolomn Monster at gmail dot com. You can 2971 02:43:37.319 --> 02:43:40.280 follow me on x at solo Monster. Of course, you 2972 02:43:40.280 --> 02:43:43.280 could also subscribe and follow along on the YouTube channel. 2973 02:43:43.280 --> 02:43:46.719 I will be live Monday night, Wednesday night, and Friday 2974 02:43:46.799 --> 02:43:49.000 night this week. Even though there's a lot of taped shows, 2975 02:43:49.680 --> 02:43:53.760 I am still planning on being live if my voice survives. 2976 02:43:53.879 --> 02:43:55.879 I have a very sore throat today. I'm a little worried, 2977 02:43:55.920 --> 02:43:59.000 but hopefully it's just because I've been talking too much. 2978 02:43:59.600 --> 02:44:01.959 We'll see what happens there, but I'll be back next week. 2979 02:44:02.120 --> 02:44:06.799 That'll be episode nine four, the final sound off of 2980 02:44:06.879 --> 02:44:10.120 the year. That'll be next Sunday. Until then, be well, 2981 02:44:10.360 --> 02:44:12.920 stay safe, have yourselves a great rest of your week. 2982 02:44:13.000 --> 02:44:15.079 For those of you celebrating, I wish you all and 2983 02:44:15.120 --> 02:44:18.920 your family a very merry Christmas. Come on back. We'll 2984 02:44:18.920 --> 02:44:21.639 do it one more time this year next Sunday. Until then, 2985 02:44:22.040 --> 02:44:26.920 take care, guys. The Solemn Monster Sounds Off. Lakers Pats, 2986 02:44:26.959 --> 02:44:30.319 did you cry during Shawn Michaels tell me a live video? 2987 02:44:30.399 --> 02:44:32.360 I didn't, But you want to know what I don't 2988 02:44:32.399 --> 02:44:34.600 want to say. It's a little embarrassing, but I didn't 2989 02:44:34.639 --> 02:44:37.719 cry during that video. But I did cry a little 2990 02:44:37.719 --> 02:44:43.319 bit during the Macho Man and Elizabeth wedding song came 2991 02:44:43.399 --> 02:44:59.799 into the large. Oh my God together, I Love Forever. 2992 02:45:00.200 --> 02:45:05.079 The Solo Monster Sounds Off, bringing you the good, the bad, 2993 02:45:05.159 --> 02:45:08.280 and the ugly. Check out the weekly live streams bonus 2994 02:45:08.280 --> 02:45:11.959 content for subscribers, and follow The Solo Monster on Facebook, Instagram, 2995 02:45:12.040 --> 02:45:14.440 and x. The Solo Monster