<v Speaker 1>It's business time. Baby. You are listening to Solo Monster

<v Speaker 1>Sounds Off. I love you so, Mama monster, dude, I

<v Speaker 1>want your soul. Woman. You got grown ass wrestlers in

<v Speaker 1>the back going on Twitter. Come over here is that

<v Speaker 1>Pet Patterson? You have legs? I was ninety nine percent

<v Speaker 1>positive it was just chessed up. Now, congratulations. Who hasn't

<v Speaker 1>beat Daniel Garcia. Welcome to episode nine to twenty four

<v Speaker 1>of The Solo Monster Sounds Off for Sunday, August tenth,

<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five. I am the Solo Monster. A week

<v Speaker 1>removed from Summer Slam. I can honestly say the best

<v Speaker 1>thing I saw all week wasn't any of the wrestling

<v Speaker 1>shows that I watched, and it definitely wasn't the Mets.

<v Speaker 1>It was the New Fantastic Four movie. I enjoyed it.

<v Speaker 1>Galactus was awesome. See that takes me back. I used

<v Speaker 1>to collect all the cards, all the comics and stuff

<v Speaker 1>Galactus Silver Surfer like that's part of my childhood. You know,

<v Speaker 1>I haven't seen a Marvel movie since the first Guardians

<v Speaker 1>of the Galaxy came out. That's how long it's been.

<v Speaker 1>But it also goes to show this was not one

<v Speaker 1>of the strongest weeks of wrestling on TV. It was

<v Speaker 1>a very newsworthy week though, with the news of WWE

<v Speaker 1>and ESPN reaching a deal for all of their plees,

<v Speaker 1>and there has been a lot of confusion about what

<v Speaker 1>it all means, so I'm going to break it down

<v Speaker 1>for you. This week we also had the return of

<v Speaker 1>brock Lesner at SummerSlam after a two year layoff, why

<v Speaker 1>some people are upset and what it does and does

<v Speaker 1>not mean for the Janelle Grant sex trafficking lawsuit. I'll

<v Speaker 1>talk about that backstage heat in aw on MVP and

<v Speaker 1>the Hurt Syndicate. More Hogan family drama coming out of

<v Speaker 1>Hulk Hogan's funeral this week, and Brett Hart has chimed

<v Speaker 1>in with a heartwarming eulogy for the Hulkster as only

<v Speaker 1>the Hitman can. So let's get into it. If you

<v Speaker 1>want to make a PayPal donation, you may do so

<v Speaker 1>on Thesolomonster dot com. Ten dollars from more will get

<v Speaker 1>you a nickname and a shout out. I want to

<v Speaker 1>say thank you to the Portland pop star Paul Hamilton. Paul,

<v Speaker 1>thank you, Ms Madness, Michelle Mills, Michelle, thank you very much.

<v Speaker 1>Big B, Bryan Pisera, The Diamond, Dallas Dance Machine, Harrison's Soap,

<v Speaker 1>Velvet Revolver, Robert Murray, Fast Blast, Tim Banks, Daredevil, Doug Lippert,

<v Speaker 1>Night Stalker, I f Alsaphar, The Chicago Slayer, Willie Iichord Killshot,

<v Speaker 1>Keith Hart Best in the Game, Trey Porter, the Wichita Workhorse,

<v Speaker 1>Clayton Nettleton, who says he turned off SmackDown this week.

<v Speaker 1>I wish I would have done the same. Simon Costello,

<v Speaker 1>Simon nick is Nick con is always in the front

<v Speaker 1>row for those big shows, and no, I don't think

<v Speaker 1>he becomes an on air personality, nor do I want

<v Speaker 1>him to become an on air personality. Shout out to

<v Speaker 1>Big Bad Ben Beckett, who has a GoFundMe set up

<v Speaker 1>for his band, the ben Jammers. They're a Fokish band

<v Speaker 1>from Melbourne, Australia, hoping to record their debut album. They've

<v Speaker 1>got seven songs they're very proud of, but now they

<v Speaker 1>need the funds to help make it a reality. So

<v Speaker 1>if you're interested in helping out, just search for the

<v Speaker 1>ben Jammers on gofundb and the campaign should come right up.

<v Speaker 1>And Tyler from England whose brother runs a YouTube channel.

<v Speaker 1>Both of them have been fans of the podcast for

<v Speaker 1>over a decade, but his brother plays versions of the

<v Speaker 1>Total Extreme Wrestling Emulator Emulator Simulator. I used to be

<v Speaker 1>into all that stuff EWR and all that stuff, but

<v Speaker 1>this is TEW And he's got a series up there

<v Speaker 1>on his YouTube channel called a Challenge Run where he

<v Speaker 1>books was but every so often he has to take

<v Speaker 1>challenge requests from the comments section, and once a list

<v Speaker 1>of challenges has been curated, he has a specified timeline

<v Speaker 1>to try to make sure the challenge is met or

<v Speaker 1>he will give himself an in game punishment. And he

<v Speaker 1>just wrapped up his WrestleMania forty one show. He created

<v Speaker 1>five hours of content around it. Sounds like he puts

<v Speaker 1>more effort into it than Triple H does with the

<v Speaker 1>creative these days. So if you're looking for more variety

<v Speaker 1>in your wrestling content, or you just want to see

<v Speaker 1>an alternate WWE timeline, go subscribe to his channel. It's

<v Speaker 1>called Connell tw that's co n N E L tew

<v Speaker 1>All one word. Now's a good time to join too,

<v Speaker 1>because WrestleMania acts as his season finale and he'll be

<v Speaker 1>doing a state of the Universe video soon catching everybody

<v Speaker 1>up on everything they may have missed, so again, just

<v Speaker 1>search for Connell tw on YouTube. The big news of

<v Speaker 1>the week came on the media rights front, as WWE

<v Speaker 1>and ESPN reached a deal for one point six billion

<v Speaker 1>dollars over five years, which works out to three hundred

<v Speaker 1>and twenty five million dollars per year to air WWE's

<v Speaker 1>premium live events as part of ESPN's new streaming service

<v Speaker 1>that is launching on August twenty first, which is called

<v Speaker 1>How's this for an original name? ESPN? And now this

<v Speaker 1>only affects the US market, All of the plees will

<v Speaker 1>continue to air internationally on Netflix even though this deal

<v Speaker 1>wouldn't kick in until next year. They have not announced

<v Speaker 1>when it will kick off, but the Peacock deal I

<v Speaker 1>believe is through March, which means this would start with WrestleMania.

<v Speaker 1>That three hundred and twenty five million dollars a year

<v Speaker 1>would mean they nearly doubled what they are currently getting

<v Speaker 1>from Peacock. NBC Universal had the right of first refusal,

<v Speaker 1>so they had the chance to match ESPN's offer, they

<v Speaker 1>obviously did not. ESPN will also simulcan what they are

<v Speaker 1>calling select events on ESPN's linear networks. By the way,

<v Speaker 1>that could very well include ABC, which is also owned

<v Speaker 1>by Disney. They could brand these events under the ESPN

<v Speaker 1>on ABC banner and actually air something like WrestleMania Live

<v Speaker 1>on ABC, which is a broadcast network, and that's never

<v Speaker 1>been done before. I'm not saying they will, but it's

<v Speaker 1>at least possible now it's at least plausible that they

<v Speaker 1>would show a portion of it. But if you would

<v Speaker 1>have told nineteen ninety nine meters that one day WrestleMania

<v Speaker 1>would air on ESPN like that would have been unbelievable.

<v Speaker 1>If you would have told me that pro wrestling would

<v Speaker 1>even be covered on ESPN or on Sports Center, that

<v Speaker 1>would have been unbelievable. But that's been going on for

<v Speaker 1>a few years now. Imagine what that integration is going

<v Speaker 1>to look like now, like live SportsCenter covered from the

<v Speaker 1>actual venues for each event. They're going to treat it

<v Speaker 1>like a real sport. ESPN may also be streaming the

<v Speaker 1>pre post shows for all the ples, although WWE is

<v Speaker 1>going to continue to produce them themselves, so they're not

<v Speaker 1>outsourcing that to ESPN. WWE president Nick Cohn has clarified

<v Speaker 1>that while the number of shows can always grow, the

<v Speaker 1>current deal is for ten plees held over twelve nights,

<v Speaker 1>since WrestleMania and Summer Slim next year are going to

<v Speaker 1>remain two nights because Summer Slim next year was already

<v Speaker 1>scheduled for two nights. They're going to be in Minneapolis,

<v Speaker 1>so I mean that's not a surprise. And I mean

<v Speaker 1>they just sold one hundred and thirteen thousand tickets for

<v Speaker 1>two nights of Summer Slim at MetLife Stadium, right, So

<v Speaker 1>those two nights are here to stay. But just because

<v Speaker 1>those are the terms of the current deal does not

<v Speaker 1>mean that they can't expand the Royal Rumble and other

<v Speaker 1>events to two nights at some point. I fully expect

<v Speaker 1>that to happen. I mean I would be shocked if

<v Speaker 1>it didn't happen as early as twenty twenty seven. Now,

<v Speaker 1>this new ESPN streaming service that launches later this month,

<v Speaker 1>again on the twenty first, It will be priced at

<v Speaker 1>twenty nine to ninety nine per month or three hundred

<v Speaker 1>dollars annually. But the key is that if you are

<v Speaker 1>someone who already has ESPN as part of your cable

<v Speaker 1>package or your satellite package, you would not need to

<v Speaker 1>pay extra for the streaming service. You would already have

<v Speaker 1>access to it. You'll just need to go through there.

<v Speaker 1>There's gonna be an authentication process, so you'll have to

<v Speaker 1>just log in whatever your cable or satellite log in is.

<v Speaker 1>You put that information in, and then you'll be able

<v Speaker 1>to access the service for free. Existing ESPN Plus subscribers

<v Speaker 1>will automatically be enrolled as subscribers to the new service.

<v Speaker 1>It's basically being absorbed into this new service, and after

<v Speaker 1>a period of time, ESPN Plus will be completely phased

<v Speaker 1>out in favor of this new one. Now. Alex Sherman

<v Speaker 1>of CNBC explained how everything is going to work. This

<v Speaker 1>is how he explains it. Anyone who currently pays for

<v Speaker 1>a bundle of TV networks that includes ESPN will eventually

<v Speaker 1>get ESPN's direct to consumer service for no extra charge.

<v Speaker 1>You'll download or click on the ESPN app on your

<v Speaker 1>mobile device or you're smart TV. There will be a

<v Speaker 1>login screen that asks you if you are a PayTV subscriber.

<v Speaker 1>You will then be able to authenticate that you do

<v Speaker 1>in fact pay for traditional PayTV and get ESPN in

<v Speaker 1>your bundle. Once you authenticate, you'll get access to the

<v Speaker 1>new service with everything in it. That means that's starting

<v Speaker 1>in twenty twenty six. You'll get access to all the

<v Speaker 1>WWE premium live events as well as everything else that

<v Speaker 1>is on ESPN Monday Night Football, NBA games, etc. You

<v Speaker 1>won't get NFL network yet, that deal needs to close first,

<v Speaker 1>but once it does, the NFL networking games at air

<v Speaker 1>on it will be integrated into the service as well.

<v Speaker 1>The WWE live events will not be available on ESPN Plus.

<v Speaker 1>You'll need to upgrade to the twenty nine to ninety

<v Speaker 1>nine ESPN product. But again, just to be clear, if

<v Speaker 1>you're a cable subscriber that gets ESPN, you will get

<v Speaker 1>it for no extra charge and ESPN will not charge

<v Speaker 1>an additional fee for the live events, so there's no

<v Speaker 1>return to pay per view here, like ESPN has done

<v Speaker 1>with some UFC events on ESPN Plus. And that's an

<v Speaker 1>important point because some people were worried that you would

<v Speaker 1>have to pay a fee on top of a fee,

<v Speaker 1>so you pay for the ESPN service and then pay

<v Speaker 1>an actual pay per view fee on top of that,

<v Speaker 1>like you do for some of the UFC events, But

<v Speaker 1>that is not the case here. That there's been a

<v Speaker 1>lot of confusion about this. I mean I was confused

<v Speaker 1>the day that this news broke. Everyone was confused. The

<v Speaker 1>rollout has just been very confusing. It has not been great,

<v Speaker 1>and people wondering how is this all going to work?

<v Speaker 1>So a few important points to make. For one, not

<v Speaker 1>everyone who gets ESPN will necessarily have access to this

<v Speaker 1>for free. Now take me, for example, I'm on YouTube

<v Speaker 1>tv and that is one of the services that they

<v Speaker 1>have not reached a deal with yet. YouTube tv does

<v Speaker 1>not even offer SNY anymore. Okay, Sportsnet New York they

<v Speaker 1>used to, but they don't anymore. SNY is the network

<v Speaker 1>that airs in New York Mets games. We have not

<v Speaker 1>had access to SNY for the last two years, which

<v Speaker 1>is ridiculous. You know, my brother has a subscription through

<v Speaker 1>the MLB Network app, so we can watch the games

<v Speaker 1>through there. But they took SNY away from US and

<v Speaker 1>MLB Network as well two years ago, and they still

<v Speaker 1>have not reached any kind of agreement to bring them back.

<v Speaker 1>It's been two years, but the subscription price sure keeps

<v Speaker 1>going up. We get less content than we did before,

<v Speaker 1>yet we pay more. I mean, I do like the service,

<v Speaker 1>and I really don't have any interest in ever going

<v Speaker 1>back to cable. I would just as soon toss my

<v Speaker 1>television out the window then ever go back to cable.

<v Speaker 1>I cut the cord five years ago and I have

<v Speaker 1>never looked back. Now, if you have Spectrum, if you

<v Speaker 1>have Direct TV, Fubo TV, Hulu Live TV, or Verizon FiOS,

<v Speaker 1>you're good to go. You'll have access. But if you

<v Speaker 1>have Exfinity, which is Comcast, YouTube TV, Dish TV, or Sling,

<v Speaker 1>you will not have free access to the service. You

<v Speaker 1>will have to pay the twenty nine to ninety nine

<v Speaker 1>a month for now, that could change before WWE even

<v Speaker 1>migrates over there. They seem to believe that it will

<v Speaker 1>that this will all be taken care of in time.

<v Speaker 1>They'll have everybody on board by the end of the year.

<v Speaker 1>It'll all be worked out, and if it is, then

<v Speaker 1>you'll be able to get access to the service for

<v Speaker 1>free like everybody else. But they have to come to

<v Speaker 1>terms with those platforms first. Now, another important point is

<v Speaker 1>that ESPN is going to be simulcasting select events on

<v Speaker 1>their linear networks like ESPN, and it's a little confusing

<v Speaker 1>because apparently that's what they're also calling their new streaming service,

<v Speaker 1>ESPN but again, I'm talking about the actual ESPN network,

<v Speaker 1>and so if the pls are airing on there so

<v Speaker 1>some of them, does this mean that we are going

<v Speaker 1>to start getting commercials mid match during ples. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>we're already getting tons of ads on the ples anyway.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's fucking twenty five minutes in between matches.

<v Speaker 1>But the idea of hearing Michael Cole in the middle

<v Speaker 1>of the Wrestlemaniam main event telling us Cody Rhodes is

<v Speaker 1>down on the outside Wrestle Matias Sunday rolls on, and

<v Speaker 1>then cutting to a Snicker's commercial like Picture and Picture

<v Speaker 1>is absolutely nauseating to even think of, right just the

<v Speaker 1>thought of it, and for everyone else streaming it. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>they could just fade out and fade right back into

<v Speaker 1>the match while the ad plays for all the other

<v Speaker 1>people who are watching. I don't know. I'm not saying

<v Speaker 1>that's what's gonna happen, but again, there's still a lot

<v Speaker 1>of questions that have to be answered. It's at least

<v Speaker 1>plausible that they could start doing that on some of

<v Speaker 1>these ples, So I don't know if that's what we're

<v Speaker 1>in for. Maybe it'll be limited to in match advertising,

<v Speaker 1>in other ways that don't don't, you know, disrupt the

<v Speaker 1>actual matches too much. But rest assured like they will

<v Speaker 1>find a way to integrate more advertising and more sponsorships

<v Speaker 1>into those pls. You can set your watch to that now. Also,

<v Speaker 1>we don't yet know if the full plees will be

<v Speaker 1>simulcast on those linear networks. Mark Shapiro of TKO said

<v Speaker 1>that for some events, ESPN may only air the first

<v Speaker 1>hour or two and then you would be forced to

<v Speaker 1>switch over to the new service. So honestly, you're better

<v Speaker 1>off just streaming them and not even watching them on

<v Speaker 1>basic cable, because that sounds like a pain in the ass.

<v Speaker 1>Another important point is that this package that ESPN is

<v Speaker 1>paying WWE for does not include NXT events or any

<v Speaker 1>of the library content, because I've been getting a lot

<v Speaker 1>of tweets and emails about what happens to the library,

<v Speaker 1>what happens to the classic content. Even Netflix hasn't had

<v Speaker 1>the full raw episodes months, which is true, and so

<v Speaker 1>there's been a lot of concern about that. If you

<v Speaker 1>are a fan of the classic content on Peacock right now,

<v Speaker 1>and Peacock doesn't even have again the classic raw episodes anymore,

<v Speaker 1>I mean at least not all of them. If you

<v Speaker 1>are a fan of that stuff, they are very likely

<v Speaker 1>going to make a deal with another streaming service completely

<v Speaker 1>separate from this one for that content. I mean, they're

<v Speaker 1>going to slice and dice and carve this shit up

<v Speaker 1>to squeeze every last penny out of it that they can.

<v Speaker 1>Maybe they make a new deal with Peacock for that,

<v Speaker 1>maybe it moves to Netflix, maybe it moves to another streamer,

<v Speaker 1>but that will not be part of the ESPN deal.

<v Speaker 1>They're going to have to make a deal soon for

<v Speaker 1>the nxtpls, right, they can't wait until next year to

<v Speaker 1>make that deal. But if the classics are not included,

<v Speaker 1>that stuff may be in limbo for a while. And

<v Speaker 1>the reality is like that content, I hate to say it,

<v Speaker 1>but that content doesn't move the needle for them because

<v Speaker 1>I don't even need to look at the numbers. I

<v Speaker 1>don't have any inside track of what the viewership numbers

<v Speaker 1>are for all the classic library content, all the archival content.

<v Speaker 1>Like if it did good numbers, more people would be

<v Speaker 1>watching it, And viewership for the classic stuff clearly is

<v Speaker 1>not great, where they would be doing a better job

<v Speaker 1>of updating it more frequently. The fact that they're not

<v Speaker 1>tells everything you need to know. There's no focus on it.

<v Speaker 1>They don't mention it, they don't advertise it. Like the

<v Speaker 1>pace of updates has slowed, if not just completely been halted.

<v Speaker 1>I mean they don't really post anything new as far

<v Speaker 1>as like the classic stuff, and it's not like everything

<v Speaker 1>is up there. It's just not a priority for them. Thankfully,

<v Speaker 1>we have the Vault channels on YouTube, which I love.

<v Speaker 1>I think the Vault channels all of them because they

<v Speaker 1>have multiple vaults. The WWE Vault is my personal favorite,

<v Speaker 1>but I think the Vault is awesome. They have one

<v Speaker 1>for WCW, they have one for NXT, probably very soon

<v Speaker 1>for E. But it would be nice to have one

<v Speaker 1>centralized place with everything archived and know where everything is.

<v Speaker 1>And that's why I tweeted this week. I was not

<v Speaker 1>even really joking. I mean, it's true, you really don't

<v Speaker 1>know what you have until it's gone. And the original

<v Speaker 1>WWE network was fucking awesome because you had and we

<v Speaker 1>didn't have all of the library fully digitized and uploaded

<v Speaker 1>at that point, but there was a ton of classic content.

<v Speaker 1>It was easy to access. You had access to the

<v Speaker 1>pay per views, you paid nine to ninety nine. You

<v Speaker 1>got everything you needed, and they had original content as well.

<v Speaker 1>They had the Edging Christian Show, they had what was

<v Speaker 1>that show Camp WWE, they had some other stuff and

<v Speaker 1>it was a bargain. And it's not even that I

<v Speaker 1>necessarily took it for granted. I mean I remember talking

<v Speaker 1>about it on the podcast at the time and talking

<v Speaker 1>about what a steel it was for all the content

<v Speaker 1>you were getting and the just the search function and

<v Speaker 1>the kind of the chapters. When you would go to

<v Speaker 1>like a pay per view, they would have them divided

<v Speaker 1>by match, you know, so you can go to the

<v Speaker 1>match that you wanted. It was incredible and then they

<v Speaker 1>migrated over to Peacock and it all went to shit

<v Speaker 1>and it's only gotten marginally better still. I still hate

<v Speaker 1>the search function on Peacock. Now we're talking about, you know,

<v Speaker 1>not even knowing if we're going to have access to

<v Speaker 1>all the classic stuff and where it's gonna go. Is

<v Speaker 1>it going to be better, is it going to be worse?

<v Speaker 1>And it makes me long for those days of the

<v Speaker 1>original WWE network. They really were, you know, ahead of

<v Speaker 1>the curve on that, and I long for those days. Man,

<v Speaker 1>nine ninety nine is all you needed to pay. That's it.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, they advertised their shit out of that. They

<v Speaker 1>had T shirts, they had T shirts made with nine

<v Speaker 1>ninety nine on it. One thing they're very good at,

<v Speaker 1>They've always been very good, is at marketing. Even that

<v Speaker 1>fucking Cane movie that came out See No Evil right

<v Speaker 1>May nineteen. What year was that? What year did that

<v Speaker 1>movie come out? It had to be two thousand and six,

<v Speaker 1>right somewhere around then. We're talking twenty years and still

<v Speaker 1>I remember it. I still choke. People still joke about

<v Speaker 1>May nineteenth every year. So they're very good at that.

<v Speaker 1>But I do miss those days. So it would be

<v Speaker 1>very nice to have one centralized place where everything is housed.

<v Speaker 1>Now on the YouTube channels, they do have playlists on

<v Speaker 1>the vault channels and that does help, but it can

<v Speaker 1>still be tough, you know, to find stuff that you

<v Speaker 1>may be looking for. So if YouTube ended up being

<v Speaker 1>the place for all that content, you know what, I

<v Speaker 1>wouldn't mind it. I'm sure they can rake in plenty

<v Speaker 1>of ad money on there. I'm sure they are raking

<v Speaker 1>in plenty of ad money. They have well over two

<v Speaker 1>million subscribers already on the WWE Vault channel I think

<v Speaker 1>the WCW one has like three hundred thousand, but again

<v Speaker 1>it's not like they're really advertising them or promoting them.

<v Speaker 1>I ever ever said a word about it on TV.

<v Speaker 1>So right now they're airing the big Triple A shows

<v Speaker 1>on YouTube as well on their main channel. Would future

<v Speaker 1>Triple A events be part of any streaming deal that

<v Speaker 1>they make, Maybe for an XT It's possible maybe the

<v Speaker 1>Triple A shows end up on a streaming service. SmackDown

<v Speaker 1>is going to remain on USA networking on Peacock. That

<v Speaker 1>deal runs through twenty twenty nine, so that is unaffected

<v Speaker 1>by the ESPN stuff. Alex Sherman also reports that he

<v Speaker 1>was told by his source that there was another bidder

<v Speaker 1>that bid slightly higher for the wwepls than ESPN did,

<v Speaker 1>but ultimately WWE opted to go with ESPN anyway, And

<v Speaker 1>it makes sense when you consider all of the exposure

<v Speaker 1>that WWE is going to get on the ESPN networks

<v Speaker 1>over these next five years plus the advertising ESPN is

<v Speaker 1>going to be doing for all of those WWE shows

<v Speaker 1>during big events like Monday Night Football, right they're going

<v Speaker 1>to be plugging the shit out a WWE, not unlike

<v Speaker 1>the way Warner Brothers. Discovery promoted aw during the NBA playoffs, right,

<v Speaker 1>that was huge for them, and this will be even

<v Speaker 1>bigger for WWE. I don't know who the other bidder was,

<v Speaker 1>but Amazon can't do that, right, They can't provide WWE

<v Speaker 1>with what ESPN is going to give them. Netflix can't

<v Speaker 1>do that. Hulu can't do that. Hulu isn't even going

<v Speaker 1>to be around much longer. That was also in the

<v Speaker 1>news this week. Disney is shutting down Hulu next year

<v Speaker 1>and they're going to just integrate it and absorb it

<v Speaker 1>into Disney Plus. Brian alvarezs Peacock made a bid to

<v Speaker 1>keep WWE for somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred

<v Speaker 1>and seventy five million dollars a year, although he doesn't

<v Speaker 1>know if that was for five years or if that

<v Speaker 1>would have also included the video library like they currently have.

<v Speaker 1>But WWE got fifty million a year more from ESPN

<v Speaker 1>for less content. Now they can just sell off the

<v Speaker 1>rest to someone else like Peacock if they still want it. So,

<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's a lot to digest. It's a lot

<v Speaker 1>of moving parts here, and frankly, not all of it.

<v Speaker 1>I think has been completely ironed out. Yet, if you

<v Speaker 1>are WWE, this is a great deal that is gonna

<v Speaker 1>net them a ton of money for business. It's great

<v Speaker 1>for the consumer. A lot of it depends on your

<v Speaker 1>individual situation and whether you already have ESPN. If you

<v Speaker 1>already have ESPN, theoretically you will be able to see

<v Speaker 1>all of the pls now for free. And if you

<v Speaker 1>are paying for Peacock just for that. If you have

<v Speaker 1>no other need for Peacock, if you're not watching the Office,

<v Speaker 1>so whatever the fuck else they have on Peacock and

<v Speaker 1>you just have it for the WWE shows, you could

<v Speaker 1>ditch Peacock and just pay nothing extra. So if you

<v Speaker 1>fall into that category, it's actually not a bad deal.

<v Speaker 1>I say that without knowing it. Where they apes and

<v Speaker 1>the classic content is going to end up, you'll have

<v Speaker 1>to pay for those. But if you're a hardcore sports fan,

<v Speaker 1>you're going to have access to a ton of other

<v Speaker 1>sports through the ESPN app. Now, if you're not a

<v Speaker 1>big sports fan, or if you don't have ESPN right

<v Speaker 1>now and you need to pay the twenty nine to

<v Speaker 1>ninety nine a month, then it's not such a great deal,

<v Speaker 1>and you have every right not to be happy about it.

<v Speaker 1>Not that WWE gives a shit, but if it bothers you,

<v Speaker 1>then it's completely understandable, especially if you're already subscribed to

<v Speaker 1>lots of other services. And I'm not just talking video services.

<v Speaker 1>We're not just talking about Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Prime.

<v Speaker 1>There's audio streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music. Maybe you

<v Speaker 1>have a serious XM subscription. Right, All of that costs money.

<v Speaker 1>There are so many streaming services these days, I mean,

<v Speaker 1>it's impossible to keep up, and costs are rising us.

<v Speaker 1>They're not going down anytime soon. When was the last

<v Speaker 1>time you got a notification from one of your streaming

<v Speaker 1>services saying, great news, your subscription fee is going down

<v Speaker 1>next month. Right, Yeah, that just doesn't happen. It doesn't happen.

<v Speaker 1>It's going up. It's going to continue to go up.

<v Speaker 1>Especially as we see more of this type of consolidation

<v Speaker 1>and there are fewer options, prices are going to rise.

<v Speaker 1>Look at Peacock, they're increasing their prices again. Peacock Premium

<v Speaker 1>is going from seven ninety nine to ten ninety nine

<v Speaker 1>a month, Premium plus is going from thirteen ninety nine

<v Speaker 1>to sixteen ninety nine, and so on. Their annual packages

<v Speaker 1>are also going up. You know, at what point do

<v Speaker 1>people tap out? At what point do people have to

<v Speaker 1>make a list and say, Okay, I'm subscribed to these

<v Speaker 1>six services, and I've got to cut them in half.

<v Speaker 1>Which ones stay and which ones go? What's important to

<v Speaker 1>me and what's not important to me? I mean, for

<v Speaker 1>a content creator like me, that could be a good thing,

<v Speaker 1>because there may be people who give up on watching

<v Speaker 1>the shows altogether and they just tune into shows like

<v Speaker 1>this to keep up with what's going on. There's already

<v Speaker 1>a lot of people doing that. Nick Cohn believes that

<v Speaker 1>the WWE audience is loyal and will follow them wherever

<v Speaker 1>they go. They will follow them to the ends of

<v Speaker 1>the earth and gladly pay the toll at each end.

<v Speaker 1>He claims that ninety six percent of the USA Network

<v Speaker 1>audience moved with them to Sci Fi when they were

<v Speaker 1>shifted there on short notice during the Olympics. He claims

<v Speaker 1>every WWE network subscriber, every single one, shifted over to Peacock,

<v Speaker 1>so he is confident that all of their fans will

<v Speaker 1>be there when they move to ESPN. In a challenging economy.

<v Speaker 1>If it gets worse, that theory is going to be

<v Speaker 1>put to the test. But you know what, he's not wrong.

<v Speaker 1>For all of the moaning and all of the bitching

<v Speaker 1>about having to spend thirty bucks a month to watch

<v Speaker 1>these pls, the vast majority of those people will end

<v Speaker 1>up paying the money. Like I've said this before, and

<v Speaker 1>in light of this news, I think it's actually truer

<v Speaker 1>now more than ever. You know, Nick Khn is Vince

<v Speaker 1>McMahon's greatest signing after Hulk Hogan. Nick Con has made

<v Speaker 1>this company more money than Hogan ever did. But without

<v Speaker 1>Hogan as the face of their national expansion, they may

<v Speaker 1>not even be in a position to be making these

<v Speaker 1>types of deals. So I can't rank him above a Hulk,

<v Speaker 1>But when it comes to talent, when it comes to

<v Speaker 1>the executive end, nick Con is his greatest acquisition. I

<v Speaker 1>don't think this deal happens without his relationships and his

<v Speaker 1>contacts at ESPN. The last set of television rights negotiations,

<v Speaker 1>he led the charge on those two. All these billion

<v Speaker 1>dollar deals, he led the charge on those. If you're

<v Speaker 1>a WWE shareholder, you're loving this. As a viewer, There's

<v Speaker 1>a lot that I dislike about the current WWE product

<v Speaker 1>and how overly corporate. It has gotten, but I accept

<v Speaker 1>that it's the way of the world. Now. You know,

<v Speaker 1>you got to get that money before the well drives up.

<v Speaker 1>All these media rights deals, these astronomical fees that are

<v Speaker 1>being paid to WWE and NASCAR and MLB and NBA

<v Speaker 1>and NFL and all these different organizations. Like that money

<v Speaker 1>is not always going to be there. It's not always

<v Speaker 1>going to be that way, right, You got to get

<v Speaker 1>it while the going is hot. And as a publicly

<v Speaker 1>traded company, they have people to answer to, and those people,

<v Speaker 1>more so than even the fans themselves, will always come first.

<v Speaker 1>You know, does WWE give a shit that you have

<v Speaker 1>to pay for three or four different services now if

<v Speaker 1>you want to watch all of their content now, they

<v Speaker 1>don't give a fuck because, as Nick con said, he

<v Speaker 1>knows that you're going to pay for it regardless. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>look at their ticket prices. Their ticket prices have increased astronomically.

<v Speaker 1>They have priced a lot of people out, a lot

<v Speaker 1>of families out of attending WWE events. Or maybe they

<v Speaker 1>still go, but they don't go to as many as

<v Speaker 1>they used to, or they sit in the cheap seats

<v Speaker 1>now instead of sitting closer to the I mean, I

<v Speaker 1>say cheap seats. I'm not sure those even exist anymore

<v Speaker 1>at these shows. You know, over time, I think their

<v Speaker 1>audience is going to change. I think the audience already has.

<v Speaker 1>You know, they don't care so much about the matches

<v Speaker 1>as much as they do the moments, right, It's what

<v Speaker 1>they've been conditioned to expect. They wait for the moments

<v Speaker 1>so that they can react. Maybe they get their face

<v Speaker 1>on TV with their phony reaction. But as you price

<v Speaker 1>certain people out, it's inevitable that the makeup of their

<v Speaker 1>audience is going to change to some extent. The demographics

<v Speaker 1>of their audience are going to change to some extent.

<v Speaker 1>What will be very interesting is, you know, that first

<v Speaker 1>turn down in business whenever it comes, and it is

<v Speaker 1>going to happen. I mean it may take years, but

<v Speaker 1>it will happen when it does. How loyal are those

<v Speaker 1>new fans going to be? Right? Are they going to

<v Speaker 1>be as loyal as the diehards right now? Are they

<v Speaker 1>going to stick with WWE the way those other fans would,

<v Speaker 1>the ones that they priced out. That's an interesting question

<v Speaker 1>that I don't know the answer to. And another question

<v Speaker 1>I don't know the answer to is when we see

<v Speaker 1>the day that comes where that business turned down happens.

<v Speaker 1>Who's going to be the first scapegoat? Right, is going

<v Speaker 1>to be Triple h. He sure has positioned himself as

<v Speaker 1>the face of this brand. But that's a whole other question.

<v Speaker 1>But whether you can afford to go to their events

<v Speaker 1>is really of no concern to them because those tickets

<v Speaker 1>are still selling. They just put tickets on sale for

<v Speaker 1>Survivor Series at Petco Park and already they move twenty

<v Speaker 1>five thousand seats. This event is not until the end

<v Speaker 1>of November, it's after Thanksgiving. The building fits forty seven

<v Speaker 1>thousand people. They've already sold over twenty five thousand tickets

<v Speaker 1>and they may well come close to that forty seven

<v Speaker 1>thousand before all of said and done. So you're looking

<v Speaker 1>at even more stadium shows in the future. Stadiums for

<v Speaker 1>Survivor Series is going to become the norm, just like

<v Speaker 1>they have for SummerSlam. So long as the demand is

<v Speaker 1>there and people are willing to pay those prices, they

<v Speaker 1>have no incentive to lower them. Why would they. So

<v Speaker 1>if you don't like this ESPN deal, WWE has one

<v Speaker 1>point six billion reasons not to care because I've gotten

<v Speaker 1>those tweets too this week. You know, Well, I guess

<v Speaker 1>I'm done with WWE. No more WWE for me. I'll

<v Speaker 1>stick to the news sites and podcasts for my Phil. Well,

<v Speaker 1>see you. For every fan that sticks to their guns

<v Speaker 1>and leaves, they'll just replace them with five more. You know.

<v Speaker 1>They get to be in bed with Disney at ESPN. Now.

<v Speaker 1>It's always been about status with this company. That was

<v Speaker 1>always the story with Vince McMahon. He was always upset

<v Speaker 1>that there were no car companies who wanted to advertise

<v Speaker 1>with them and sponsor their shows. Instead of seeing Audi

<v Speaker 1>commercials during raw or hearing John Cena's voice on those

<v Speaker 1>Honda commercials, it would be Burger King and Snickers like

<v Speaker 1>those were the types of ads that you would see

<v Speaker 1>on their shows over and over and over again. Only

<v Speaker 1>in recent years has that really changed, Right, They're a

<v Speaker 1>lot more accepted now in the mainstream and they're pretty

<v Speaker 1>much covered in every realm of media. Right. They don't

<v Speaker 1>have It's not like they have only cable shows, right.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, they have the linear aspect of the deal

<v Speaker 1>on lock, they have NXT on the ECW network, and

<v Speaker 1>they have smacked down on USA network right, So they

<v Speaker 1>have the basic cable aspect covered, and they've got the

<v Speaker 1>streaming aspect covered. They've got their hand in everything instead

<v Speaker 1>of just limiting themselves to one thing, which is smart.

<v Speaker 1>You know, they've got guaranteed money coming in now more

<v Speaker 1>than ever before. Even if you think the product is boring, like,

<v Speaker 1>it doesn't matter. They're getting paid either way. You might say, well,

<v Speaker 1>you know they're getting paid, but the shows are very bland. Okay, sure, yeah,

<v Speaker 1>they're getting paid for mediocrity, but they're getting paid. But

<v Speaker 1>if you have ESPN already and you have free access

<v Speaker 1>to the streaming service after it launches the WWE shows,

<v Speaker 1>they're not going to cost you a thing. So a

<v Speaker 1>lot of fans are actually going to save money on

<v Speaker 1>this deal. If they ditch Peacock. Unless you want to

<v Speaker 1>watch the nxtpl s wherever they land, then you may

<v Speaker 1>not be so lucky. And international fans don't have to

<v Speaker 1>worry because nothing is changing for them. And to that point,

<v Speaker 1>you know, WWE airs a lot of its content outside

<v Speaker 1>the US on Netflix, And if you are worried about

<v Speaker 1>having to pay more for another service, you do always

<v Speaker 1>have the option of using a VPN, right, I mean

<v Speaker 1>until unless Netflix builds in a mechanism to stop people

<v Speaker 1>from doing so, you have the ability to use a VPN.

<v Speaker 1>It is always an option. You just select a different country,

<v Speaker 1>you connect, and then you refresh your Netflix and that's it,

<v Speaker 1>so long as you already have an account with them,

<v Speaker 1>you know. I mean, it'll cost you money, it's not free,

<v Speaker 1>but I talk about Express VPN. Obviously they're a sponsor

<v Speaker 1>for the show, but I pay for it. I use it.

<v Speaker 1>It comes in very handy for me. And I've got

<v Speaker 1>that offer where you could get an extra four months free.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, I'm promoting it, but I mean, I'm serious

<v Speaker 1>like this, This is the time to look into it.

<v Speaker 1>If it's something you've never done before. And even if

<v Speaker 1>you don't go with that one, you know, because there

<v Speaker 1>are other ones out there. But it's going to be

<v Speaker 1>an option that a lot of people are going to

<v Speaker 1>flock to now, you know. But I've been mentioning it

<v Speaker 1>a lot recently because of this European tour the WWE

<v Speaker 1>is going to be going on this month leading up

<v Speaker 1>to Clash in Paris. They're going to be doublin for

<v Speaker 1>SmackDown on the twenty second. That's the first time ever

<v Speaker 1>that they've done TV from Ireland. Then they have a

<v Speaker 1>bunch of UK dates, mostly live events, but there is

<v Speaker 1>a live RAW they're doing from Birmingham and then SmackDown

<v Speaker 1>from Leon, France, and then Paris, France for RAW on

<v Speaker 1>September first, And for at least some of those shows,

<v Speaker 1>I'm probably gonna be watching them earlier using the VPN.

<v Speaker 1>That way I can do earlier reviews, just like I

<v Speaker 1>did back in March before WrestleMania. Speaking of big events,

<v Speaker 1>I should mention this here. The chairman of the General

<v Speaker 1>Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia Turkey, Al al Shehic, tweeted

<v Speaker 1>this week that he just signed a deal to bring

<v Speaker 1>a giant entertainment event to Saudi Arabia in twenty twenty seven,

<v Speaker 1>a big surprise, he says, to be announced soon. That

<v Speaker 1>he did not say WrestleMania, but when someone replied and

<v Speaker 1>asked if it was WrestleMania, he responded with an upside

<v Speaker 1>down smiley face and is smiley with shades on. They're

<v Speaker 1>getting WrestleMania before London, aren't they. Oh, that's going to

<v Speaker 1>make a lot of people mad. That's going to make

<v Speaker 1>a lot of people of the UK very angry, but

<v Speaker 1>you know what they're willing to pay for it is

<v Speaker 1>far more than what the UK or anybody else is.

<v Speaker 1>It'll be more money than anybody has ever paid for

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania in the history of WrestleMania. Dave Meltzer says he

<v Speaker 1>knows people in the country who believe that it is

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania and that they are pushing for the rock to

<v Speaker 1>headline the show. He also says there's been talk of

<v Speaker 1>having two WrestleManias in one year, so maybe they don't

<v Speaker 1>get WrestleMania proper. Maybe we have WrestleMania here and then

<v Speaker 1>a few months later they get the Greatest WrestleMania, just

<v Speaker 1>like they got the Greatest Royal Rumble. Or maybe they

<v Speaker 1>get Super WrestleMania. It's a great game, by the way,

<v Speaker 1>I had it on my Super Nintendo. To WrestleManias in

<v Speaker 1>one year is honestly the perfect way to highlight what

<v Speaker 1>TKO is all about. More than anything I could ever

<v Speaker 1>put into words, it is all just so ridiculous. Today's

<v Speaker 1>episode is sponsored by Better Help. These days, it feels

<v Speaker 1>like there's advice for everything. Eat this, don't eat that,

<v Speaker 1>try a cold plunge in the morning. It'll make you

<v Speaker 1>feel good. Try this sleep technique, on and on and

<v Speaker 1>on and on. But how do you know what actually

<v Speaker 1>works for you? When it comes to your mental health

<v Speaker 1>and wellness and all the information that we're overwhelmed with

<v Speaker 1>just on social media alone, it can be tough to

<v Speaker 1>separate fact from fiction with this stuff and what to do.

<v Speaker 1>That's why it's so important to stick with trusted resources

<v Speaker 1>like talking to live therapists who can give you personalized

<v Speaker 1>recommendations and help you break through all the noise. That's

<v Speaker 1>where better Help online therapy can be a game changer.

<v Speaker 1>Therapy off there is a ton of benefits for your

<v Speaker 1>mental health, coping skills to stress management, to tips for

<v Speaker 1>strengthening your relationships and how to remove barriers to forming

<v Speaker 1>new ones. It can also help you cope with and

<v Speaker 1>overcome issues stemming from past traumas in your life, no

<v Speaker 1>matter how big or small. With over thirty thousand therapists,

<v Speaker 1>better Help is the world's largest online therapy platform, having

<v Speaker 1>served over five million people across the globe, and many

<v Speaker 1>of those people can attest to how much it's worked

<v Speaker 1>for them, which is why Betterhelp has an app store

<v Speaker 1>rating of four point nine out of five based on

<v Speaker 1>over one point seven million client reviews. It's also convenient.

<v Speaker 1>You can join a session with a therapist with the

<v Speaker 1>click of a button, and you can switch therapists at

<v Speaker 1>any time. Better Help makes it all very simple. Better

<v Speaker 1>Help is that trusted resource that you need in your

<v Speaker 1>life right now, especially if any of this is resonating

<v Speaker 1>with you. We all have issues that we deal with

<v Speaker 1>on a daily basis, but for some people it's more

<v Speaker 1>serious than others. It could be affecting your quality of life.

<v Speaker 1>Now you have the power to do something about it.

<v Speaker 1>As the largest online therapy provider in the world, Better

<v Speaker 1>Help can provide access to mental health professionals with a

<v Speaker 1>diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with better Help.

<v Speaker 1>Sound off listeners get ten percent off their first month

<v Speaker 1>at betterhelp dot com slash Solomonster. That's better Help h

<v Speaker 1>e lp dot com slash solom Monster. Brock Lesner returned

<v Speaker 1>to WWE last Sunday at SummerSlam in the big surprise

<v Speaker 1>of the weekend, more so than even the seth Rollins

<v Speaker 1>cash in the night before. Because I figured he would

<v Speaker 1>be cashing in a lot of people did but I

<v Speaker 1>didn't hear anyone mentioning Lesner even as a possibility for

<v Speaker 1>the show. The Rock, yes, but not Brock. Brock had

<v Speaker 1>not been seen since his loss to Cody Roads at

<v Speaker 1>SummerSlam two years ago, and there were plans for him

<v Speaker 1>to be in the Royal Rumble last year. I remember

<v Speaker 1>there was talk about him being dumped by Dominic Mysterio

<v Speaker 1>of all people, which would lead to a match, a

<v Speaker 1>squash match, I mean, what else would it be at

<v Speaker 1>Elimination Chamber and then from there he would wrestle gun

<v Speaker 1>through at wrestle Mania. And then the week of the

<v Speaker 1>Rumble is when the Janelle Grant sex trafficking lawsuit was filed,

<v Speaker 1>and it was like a bomb went off and Vince McMahon,

<v Speaker 1>you know, he might still be running the show had

<v Speaker 1>Slim Jim not threatened to pull their sponsorship. They had

<v Speaker 1>just announced a new sponsorship with Slimjim, very lucrative one,

<v Speaker 1>and then this happened, and if you remember, they announced,

<v Speaker 1>they put a statement out that they were putting a

<v Speaker 1>pause on their partnership. And that's when Ari Emmanuel got

<v Speaker 1>on the phone with Vince McMahon and convinced him that

<v Speaker 1>it's best to step aside, because Slim Jim would probably

<v Speaker 1>just be the first in a very long line of

<v Speaker 1>sponsors to fall if he didn't. And so Vince left.

<v Speaker 1>So thank you, Slim Jim. I will never make fun

<v Speaker 1>of your stupid tables ever again. Actually I probably will,

<v Speaker 1>but thanks anyway. And so they pulled Brock as well.

<v Speaker 1>They replaced him with bron Breaker in that rumble, and

<v Speaker 1>Dominic eliminated him instead, and Gunther went on to lose

<v Speaker 1>his Intercontinental title to Sammy's Ain Or WrestleMania. So they

<v Speaker 1>pulled Lesner from the video game like he was. He

<v Speaker 1>was gone. It looked like he was just on ice indefinitely,

<v Speaker 1>at least until the lawsuit was resolved in some way.

<v Speaker 1>There's a reason that he was gone for two years. Okay,

<v Speaker 1>that wasn't by accident. And then there he is at

<v Speaker 1>MetLife Stadium last weekend. And when I heard the music

<v Speaker 1>and I saw him come out, you know, there he is,

<v Speaker 1>there's Cowboy Brock. I felt nothing seeing him out there,

<v Speaker 1>like no excitement. It was just more like, this is

<v Speaker 1>a man that is named forty four times in a

<v Speaker 1>sex trafficking lawsuit. Sena not Roman reigns, not seth Rollins.

<v Speaker 1>Brock Lesner is, though he is not accused of committing

<v Speaker 1>a crime, nor is he named as a defendant in

<v Speaker 1>the lawsuit. Vince McMahon is, WWE is John Laurinidis was

<v Speaker 1>before he cut that deal that he be dropped as

<v Speaker 1>a defendant in exchange for providing evidence against McMahon, and WWE.

<v Speaker 1>Brock Lesner is not. And that is an important distinction

<v Speaker 1>to make. But his name is all over this thing,

<v Speaker 1>and it's pretty disgusting stuff. And so to clear up

<v Speaker 1>any confusion as to what he is alleged to have

<v Speaker 1>done or not have done, and why his name is

<v Speaker 1>listed forty four times in this suit, let's just run

<v Speaker 1>through it here once and for all. Janelle Grant alleges

<v Speaker 1>that Vince McMahon recruited Brock for a sexual encounter with

<v Speaker 1>her to be her next playmate, as he put it,

<v Speaker 1>or as she puts it in the lawsuit. Supposedly that's

<v Speaker 1>how Vince put it at a time when Vince McMahon

<v Speaker 1>allegedly told her that he was trying to sign Brock

<v Speaker 1>to a new contract. So if she quote helped him out,

<v Speaker 1>it would be really helpful to him, so he had

<v Speaker 1>her create sexual content for Brock that Vince could then

<v Speaker 1>send to Brock, which she did. She produced the content,

<v Speaker 1>she sent it over, and Brock likes what he sees, right,

<v Speaker 1>or at least that's what Vince told her. Brock likes

<v Speaker 1>what he sees. I don't know that she ever actually

<v Speaker 1>met with Brock, although there's a passage in the suit

<v Speaker 1>that makes mention of Vince flying him into Connecticut and

<v Speaker 1>Brock stopping by her building for a visit, but that

<v Speaker 1>he didn't return because he was too intoxicated and he

<v Speaker 1>was taken back to the plane. So that almost makes

<v Speaker 1>it sound like they did initially meet, but they just

<v Speaker 1>didn't have sex. But again I'm a little questionable on that.

<v Speaker 1>But she alleges that Vince gave Brock her cell phone number,

<v Speaker 1>and so there would have been text messages between Lesnar

<v Speaker 1>and Grant. I don't recall seeing any of those screenshots

<v Speaker 1>in the lawsuit, only the phone messages between her and Vents.

<v Speaker 1>Those are in there. But that's where she claims that

<v Speaker 1>Brock requested that she send him a video of her urinating,

<v Speaker 1>and then later she claims Brock wanted to have sex

<v Speaker 1>with her and they allegedly sent her the address of

<v Speaker 1>the hotel that he was staying at in Connecticut because

<v Speaker 1>ww we had a show at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

<v Speaker 1>That's the meeting that ended up not happening because there

<v Speaker 1>was a snowstorm it changed his travel plans. And then

<v Speaker 1>she also claimed that she had COVID anyway just as

<v Speaker 1>an excuse to back out. And there's more in the suit.

<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to get into every single detail. I

<v Speaker 1>think we could leave it there, but for all the

<v Speaker 1>people asking like, what did brock do? What did Brock do?

<v Speaker 1>I genuinely don't know what he did. That's what she

<v Speaker 1>alleges in the lawsuit. The point is, if this indeed happened,

<v Speaker 1>she was being trafficked to other people for sex and

<v Speaker 1>sex related acts by her boss. It's an issue of

<v Speaker 1>power and exploitation. That's the real crux of the lawsuit.

<v Speaker 1>Exploitation that brock Lesner may have potentially benefited from. Had

<v Speaker 1>Vince McMahon paid her the money that he was supposed

<v Speaker 1>to as part of the non disclosure agreement they signed,

<v Speaker 1>we wouldn't be talking about this right now. We never

<v Speaker 1>would have known about any of this. That's true. I've

<v Speaker 1>seen people mention that that's true, because I see people

<v Speaker 1>using that as an excuse to bash the woman and

<v Speaker 1>call her all kinds of names. But if this happened

<v Speaker 1>in the way that she describes, it's still wrong and

<v Speaker 1>it's still disgusting all the same, and Vince McMahon should

<v Speaker 1>never be allowed back into that company ever again. He

<v Speaker 1>should never be in a position of power ever again.

<v Speaker 1>Though I fully believe that if they were to hit

<v Speaker 1>No Chance in Hell one day and he walked out

<v Speaker 1>on TV, you would have thousands of idiots in the

<v Speaker 1>crowd bowing to the man. You know, It's true. Brock

<v Speaker 1>at worst was a willing party to all of this,

<v Speaker 1>and that he's named forty four times in the complaint,

<v Speaker 1>you would think since nothing has changed on the lawsuit front,

<v Speaker 1>it would give them pause to use him again until

<v Speaker 1>the case is resolved. Depending on what the outcome is.

<v Speaker 1>It's still in this state of suspended animation until a

<v Speaker 1>judge decides whether it should go to private arbitration, which

<v Speaker 1>is what Vincent wwe want, in which case it never

<v Speaker 1>goes to discovery and whatever happens happens behind closed doors

<v Speaker 1>and that's it, or it goes to trial as she wants,

<v Speaker 1>which means discovery, which means things could get even uglier

<v Speaker 1>for Vincent, for WWE, and potentially for Brockeleisner too, if

<v Speaker 1>there is more that we don't know about and if

<v Speaker 1>she has the receipts to prove it. For whatever reason,

<v Speaker 1>WWE decided enough time had gone by that it was

<v Speaker 1>safe to bring Brock back, and on the Summer Slam

<v Speaker 1>post show, Paul Leveck said this about Brock's return. This

<v Speaker 1>is John seen as wish list. It's him writing the

<v Speaker 1>last chapter of his book. And I think people saw

<v Speaker 1>a conversation with us where he said that we'd have

<v Speaker 1>to screw it up pretty badly to ruin his career.

<v Speaker 1>That's yeah, they use that clip on Unreal, But he said,

<v Speaker 1>it's not about that. For me. It's about John being

<v Speaker 1>able to go out the way that he wants to

<v Speaker 1>write his chapter. I know what that's like as a performer.

<v Speaker 1>I know what that's like for everybody to feel that,

<v Speaker 1>and I think for John to be able to do

<v Speaker 1>what he wants to do, one of the very first

<v Speaker 1>things I said to him is who do you want

<v Speaker 1>and how? And we're working through that so you hear that,

<v Speaker 1>and it sounds like he's putting it on John Cena,

<v Speaker 1>that this is something John Cena requested for his retirement tour,

<v Speaker 1>which even if he did so, fucking what like who

<v Speaker 1>gives a shit, doesn't mean you have to say yes,

<v Speaker 1>I don't care who he is, but he's putting it

<v Speaker 1>back on John Cena. Meanwhile, John was asked about Brock's

<v Speaker 1>return and his response was simply, they deal them. I

<v Speaker 1>play him, which implies what he's always said for years,

<v Speaker 1>which is that he does what his boss tells him

<v Speaker 1>to do. He's always said he doesn't lobby for matches,

<v Speaker 1>he doesn't lobby for opponents. Maybe all of a sudden

<v Speaker 1>it's different because he's in the twilight of his career,

<v Speaker 1>but that he has been consistent in that for years.

<v Speaker 1>He comes to work, they pitch an idea to him,

<v Speaker 1>and he says yeah or nay. They laid it all

<v Speaker 1>out on Unreal when they talked about the heel turn.

<v Speaker 1>They came to him and said, hey, what do you

<v Speaker 1>think about turning heel? He's like, I like it, Okay,

<v Speaker 1>let's do it. Like I don't get the sense that

<v Speaker 1>he's actively, you know, showing up at these shows with

<v Speaker 1>a list of ideas. Oh, you know, I want to

<v Speaker 1>do this, and I want to wrestle this guy and

<v Speaker 1>I want to do that. Like he shows up and

<v Speaker 1>he does what they tell him to do, and all

<v Speaker 1>of a sudden, we're supposed to believe that he has

<v Speaker 1>this wish list of opponents. I mean, they've had him

<v Speaker 1>outside of Cody playing the hits with people like Randy

<v Speaker 1>Oh and Cmpunk. It's not surprising they would want to

<v Speaker 1>run him and Brock back one more time. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>the two of them have a lot of history together,

<v Speaker 1>going all the way back to the OVW days. They've

<v Speaker 1>had three classic matches together, Wanted Extreme Rules in twenty

<v Speaker 1>twelve when Brock came back, the SummerSlam Squash in twenty fourteen,

<v Speaker 1>and the Triple Threat match with Seth Rollins at the

<v Speaker 1>Royal Rumble in twenty fifteen. That was ten years ago.

<v Speaker 1>I don't know what a Brock lesnar John Cena match

<v Speaker 1>looks like in twenty twenty five, but I can't say

<v Speaker 1>it's something I was clamoring for. If Sina was then

<v Speaker 1>good for him. He got his wish when Brock walked

<v Speaker 1>out at SummerSlam, the place went nuts for him, right.

<v Speaker 1>I Mean, the reality is most fans aren't going to

<v Speaker 1>care about any of this. A lot of them probably

<v Speaker 1>don't even know from this lawsuit you think they, I mean,

<v Speaker 1>like even know it exists. But even the ones who

<v Speaker 1>know kind of the basics of it, Like, how many

<v Speaker 1>people do you think actually sat there and read through

<v Speaker 1>sixty nine pages of that initial complaint pdf? I mean, really,

<v Speaker 1>they just want to watch the show for the big

<v Speaker 1>moments and be entertained. Brock coming out was a moment.

<v Speaker 1>They talked about the seventy five million social media views

<v Speaker 1>that it generated. That's what they care about. Dave Meltzer

<v Speaker 1>says Lesner was under contract with them this entire time

<v Speaker 1>and was paid his guarantee for the past two years.

<v Speaker 1>Even though he never made a single appearance, he was

<v Speaker 1>still one of the highest paid wrestlers in the entire company.

<v Speaker 1>To sit home, he was never suspended, he was never fired,

<v Speaker 1>and about a month ago WWE's legal department the same

<v Speaker 1>legal department. Funny enough that once employed Jenelle Grant, the

<v Speaker 1>legal department cleared him for a return. Now cleared him

<v Speaker 1>has caused some confusion. Cleared him doesn't mean he was

<v Speaker 1>cleared of any wrongdoing. This is not a legal case,

<v Speaker 1>so like in the legal aspect of things, it just

<v Speaker 1>means that they gave the ok for him to come back.

<v Speaker 1>A spokesperson for Janelle Grant issued his statement regarding Lesner's return,

<v Speaker 1>saying for far too long abuse was allowed to thrive

<v Speaker 1>under WWE's leadership. Instead of writing this wrong, WWE has

<v Speaker 1>done nothing to ensure those responsible are held accountable. This

<v Speaker 1>attempt to sweep misconduct under the rug will backfire. We

<v Speaker 1>look forward to the full set of facts, including those

<v Speaker 1>about mister Lesner, coming out in a court of law

<v Speaker 1>where they belong. But in the meantime, we refer you

<v Speaker 1>back to Janelle Grant's updated complaint, which outlines in detail

<v Speaker 1>the abuse that she endured by McMahon and others while

<v Speaker 1>employed at WWE. Either WWE is confident that this case

<v Speaker 1>is not going to trial, or they simply don't care

<v Speaker 1>and they are willing to take the risk that nothing

<v Speaker 1>else is going to come out. As it relates to

<v Speaker 1>Brock Lesner, maybe they spoke with Brock, maybe he shared

<v Speaker 1>his own TIS messages with their lawyers. We don't know.

<v Speaker 1>You would assume their legal team knows more than we do.

<v Speaker 1>But again, it could just be as simple as we're

<v Speaker 1>paying this man a lot of money and we want

<v Speaker 1>to get a return on our investment. He's not accused

<v Speaker 1>of any crime, so we're going to bring him back.

<v Speaker 1>If her legal team is to be believed, there may

<v Speaker 1>be more that comes out that paints him in a

<v Speaker 1>bad light, but that only happens if the case goes

<v Speaker 1>to discovery. Right now, it's fifty to fifty whether or

<v Speaker 1>not that happens. Wwe clearly believes they have nothing to

<v Speaker 1>worry about. This could also be settled before it ever

<v Speaker 1>goes to trial, with her getting a big fat payday

<v Speaker 1>out of it. Like if the judge rules in favor

<v Speaker 1>of a trial, there's definitely a settlement offer coming. And

<v Speaker 1>if it's high enough, I think she takes the money

<v Speaker 1>and runs and then this all goes away. I just

<v Speaker 1>don't see what's in it for her to do it

<v Speaker 1>any other way. You know, Again, this is a civil case.

<v Speaker 1>No one's going to jail. This is a civil case.

<v Speaker 1>It's not a criminal case. Vince McMahon reneged on money

<v Speaker 1>that she feels was owed to her. It comes down

<v Speaker 1>to money. If the money is high enough, why wouldn't

<v Speaker 1>she settle, Like that's what started this entire thing in

<v Speaker 1>the first place. And no other women have come, at

<v Speaker 1>least publicly. No other women have come forward to kind

<v Speaker 1>of join onto this or support her on this. It's

<v Speaker 1>like this has turned into a gigantic class action lawsuit.

<v Speaker 1>No it hasn't. There was talk at the start that

<v Speaker 1>more women might come forward. I mean, if they have,

<v Speaker 1>they might have done so privately, but they haven't attached

<v Speaker 1>their names to it. That's a tough position to be

<v Speaker 1>in when you're fighting against a billionaire and a multi

<v Speaker 1>billion dollar company. I mean, this woman is not Aaron Brockovich.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, she's not going to take down the evil

<v Speaker 1>empire here. The only thing that really matters to WWE

<v Speaker 1>are their sponsors. You know, even if more bad stuff

<v Speaker 1>comes out, I just don't see it having any appreciable

<v Speaker 1>impact on their business. Unless it's something so bad that

<v Speaker 1>sponsors threatened to pull out. They probably look at it

<v Speaker 1>as more of a nuisance than anything else. And if

<v Speaker 1>they have to crack open the checkbook or Vince does

<v Speaker 1>to make it all go away, then that's what they're

<v Speaker 1>gonna do. Now. Brock was not on SmackDown. This week.

<v Speaker 1>The only mentions of him came in the highlights of

<v Speaker 1>what happened to the end of SummerSlam and a brief

<v Speaker 1>mention by John Cena and his promo about how he

<v Speaker 1>never backs down from a fight and if brock Lesner

<v Speaker 1>wants some, he can come get some. So after that

<v Speaker 1>big angle, that's all they gave us. They want to

<v Speaker 1>stretch this out. I don't even know if the target

<v Speaker 1>is Perth in October. You would think, Okay, they're not

<v Speaker 1>gonna do Paris at the end of the month, and

<v Speaker 1>then you go through all of September and surely by

<v Speaker 1>October in Perth they'll do the match. I'm not totally

<v Speaker 1>convinced of that. I could see Brock being seen his

<v Speaker 1>final opponent at this point in December. Would they actually

<v Speaker 1>drag this out that long? I mean, that would be

<v Speaker 1>disappointing because I'd like to see that spot go to Gunther,

<v Speaker 1>But Brock would certainly be the more marquee match beyond Seno.

<v Speaker 1>We don't even know for sure that Brock is back

<v Speaker 1>for anything more than that. If he is, then you

<v Speaker 1>start thinking of other potential opponents for him heading into

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania season, and Gunther's name is at the top of

<v Speaker 1>that list right because that was the match they were

<v Speaker 1>going to do last year before those plans got scuttled

<v Speaker 1>by the way. Roman Reigns was asked by ESPN who

<v Speaker 1>his favorite all time opponent is, and he named Brock Lesner.

<v Speaker 1>He said everything changed for him once he stepped into

<v Speaker 1>the ring with Brock. And the funny thing about that

<v Speaker 1>is the best matches those two ever had together were

<v Speaker 1>their first and last ones. Like almost almost everything, not everything,

<v Speaker 1>almost everything in between was terrible. I have to say

<v Speaker 1>almost because they were part of that great four way

<v Speaker 1>match at Summerslim in twenty seventeen that was great, but

<v Speaker 1>all the terrible shit in between. They booke ended it

<v Speaker 1>with two excellent matches Wrestle Mannia thirty one and then

<v Speaker 1>the Last Man's Standing match at Summerslim. To go back

<v Speaker 1>to SmackDown for a second, I thought SmackDown was awful

<v Speaker 1>this week, just a chore of a show to sit through.

<v Speaker 1>I enjoyed Dynamite more than I did smack That at

<v Speaker 1>least we got that fun match with the Young Bucks

<v Speaker 1>Brody Kingdom Bandito. But they set up two matches. They

<v Speaker 1>set up two directions here for Clash in Paris one

<v Speaker 1>with John Cena against Logan Paul, which has already been confirmed,

<v Speaker 1>and they shot an angle at the end of the

<v Speaker 1>show with Drew McIntyre delivering a Claymore kick to Cody

<v Speaker 1>Rhodes through the bottom part of the announced desk as

<v Speaker 1>Cody was sitting there propped up against it. He was

<v Speaker 1>laid out dead, So it felt like a way to

<v Speaker 1>write him off TV, maybe to go film for Street Fighter,

<v Speaker 1>but it felt like the setup to a title match

<v Speaker 1>in Paris, and I like that. I think McIntyre makes sense.

<v Speaker 1>Is Cody's first challenger after his match with Logan. John

<v Speaker 1>Cena will have eight dates left on his retirement tour

<v Speaker 1>unless they add more, which is always possible. But you

<v Speaker 1>figure three of those eight are actual matches on the

<v Speaker 1>Plees or special events like Saturday Night's main event, which

<v Speaker 1>is probably where his final match is happening. We know

<v Speaker 1>one of those three, at least one is Brockeleisner, so

<v Speaker 1>unless he's in the Wargames match at Survivor Series, that

<v Speaker 1>leaves as little as two opponents other than Brock left

<v Speaker 1>for John Cena to work with. That's not a lot

<v Speaker 1>That's why I'm hoping Gunther is one of them, and

<v Speaker 1>another one with AJ would be cool. I mean, I

<v Speaker 1>honestly don't think it's going to happen, but I think

<v Speaker 1>Sena in AJ styles, you know, one more time, would

<v Speaker 1>be pretty neat. We also had a brief backstage interaction

<v Speaker 1>with Tiffany Stratton on Friday, her and Jade Cargill, so

<v Speaker 1>that direction is continuing. I'm still thinking we get healed

<v Speaker 1>Jade out of this. There was no hint of that

<v Speaker 1>at all on Friday, but I still feel like that's

<v Speaker 1>probably the direction here, and the rest of the show

<v Speaker 1>on Friday was a waste of time. Now over on

<v Speaker 1>Raw seth Rollins is the new World heavyweight Champion, and

<v Speaker 1>it appears his faction finally has a name, The Vision.

<v Speaker 1>That's the name they trademark last weekend and then on

<v Speaker 1>Monday night it was mentioned in the opening promo, so

<v Speaker 1>we'll see if they stick with it officially. I'm just

<v Speaker 1>glad they actually have a name now. I'm not even

<v Speaker 1>going to comment on whether or not it's a good

<v Speaker 1>name or a bad name. It's not a terrible name.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, I've heard much worse. I'm just glad they

<v Speaker 1>seem to have a name, and Seth put the title

<v Speaker 1>on the line in the main event against La Knight

<v Speaker 1>SmackDown's La Knight. Just like Raw's Sammy's Ain Pin Solo

<v Speaker 1>Socoa the United States Champion on SmackDown, nothing matters anymore.

<v Speaker 1>La Knight belongs on Raw, though, so I'm fine with it.

<v Speaker 1>Their match ended when Cmpunk ran out of the crowd

<v Speaker 1>to attack Seth, so La Knight is not going to

<v Speaker 1>be very happy about that. They've already announced that Punk

<v Speaker 1>is opening Raw tomorrow night. I would expect Night to

<v Speaker 1>crash the party and build tension between the two of them.

<v Speaker 1>They were both laid out by the vision Roman reigns

<v Speaker 1>came out. He also ended up getting destroyed, including three

<v Speaker 1>tsunamis and Bronson Reid stealing his shoes again the tribal thief.

<v Speaker 1>Now like the Cody angle on Friday, this felt like

<v Speaker 1>their way of writing Roman off TV so he can

<v Speaker 1>go film Street Fighter. But the Wells Fargo Center in

<v Speaker 1>Philadelphia just announced that Roman is going to be on

<v Speaker 1>that show on August eighteenth, and he's also been announced

<v Speaker 1>for the August twenty fifth Raw. They're going to be

<v Speaker 1>in Birmingham, England. So according to p W Insider, Roman

<v Speaker 1>is not expected to arrive on set for Street Fighter

<v Speaker 1>filming until September second, and if all goes according to plan,

<v Speaker 1>he'll be on set through September twenty sixth. That'll be

<v Speaker 1>down in Australia. Cody is playing Guile in the same movie,

<v Speaker 1>but he is not expected to be on set for

<v Speaker 1>as long as Roman realistic. It makes no sense for

<v Speaker 1>punk In La Knight to want to be in a

<v Speaker 1>tag team match on that Paris show with Roman if

<v Speaker 1>they were going to do like a six man tag

<v Speaker 1>because they both have a valid claim to being screwed

<v Speaker 1>out of the championship, Like, what the fuck would they

<v Speaker 1>want to have a tag team match for? It should

<v Speaker 1>be a triple threat match, and maybe we get Roman

<v Speaker 1>one on one with Bronson Reid since he keeps stealing

<v Speaker 1>the men's sneakers. If Brett Hard could fight a pirate

<v Speaker 1>to get his jacket back, then Roman can fight Bronton

<v Speaker 1>Reid to get his shoes back. And I really don't

<v Speaker 1>have any interest in a fatal four way just because

<v Speaker 1>if it were me, I would keep Roman in Seth

<v Speaker 1>out of the ring together. But barring a War Games match.

<v Speaker 1>I would keep them out of the ring until you're

<v Speaker 1>ready to do that singles match, and WWE may see

<v Speaker 1>that as a WrestleMania match, but I just think putting

<v Speaker 1>Roman in Seth in a match like a four way

<v Speaker 1>match kind of takes away from doing the eventual singles match. Right.

<v Speaker 1>We already got them in a triple threat at WrestleMania,

<v Speaker 1>so I would just do a triple threat here and

<v Speaker 1>have Punkin Knight challenging Rollins in Paris for the World

<v Speaker 1>Heavyweight title. That there was no carrying cross follow up

<v Speaker 1>on Raw after his loss to Sammy's Ain't at SummerSlam,

<v Speaker 1>so they never bothered to follow through on the stipulation

<v Speaker 1>that if he lost, he would need to admit to

<v Speaker 1>the world that he was wrong about Sammy. Never did

<v Speaker 1>anything with it. He got beat at Summer Slam, nothing happened.

<v Speaker 1>I said, well, maybe they'll save it from Monday night.

<v Speaker 1>He wasn't even in the building. Him and Scarlet were

<v Speaker 1>not even there in Brooklyn on Monday. But the whole

<v Speaker 1>cross story took another turn last night after he and

<v Speaker 1>Scarlet were moved to the alumni section on WWE dot Com,

<v Speaker 1>which is usually a sign that someone's contract has expired

<v Speaker 1>and they're no longer with the company, or they've been released.

<v Speaker 1>That Cross has a new book out. It was just released.

<v Speaker 1>It's called Life Is Fighting, and he's out promoting. It's

<v Speaker 1>a book, by the way, they promoted on TV, which

<v Speaker 1>is telling because they didn't have to do that. But

<v Speaker 1>he's been out promoting it and addressing these rumors online

<v Speaker 1>about his contract status, and the belief has been that

<v Speaker 1>his contract was expiring at the end of this past week.

<v Speaker 1>So supposedly his contract expired as of last night and

<v Speaker 1>WWE had not made any offers to him. Then Dave

<v Speaker 1>Meltzer reports that they did make him in Scarlet a

<v Speaker 1>late offer, possibly as late as this week, but we

<v Speaker 1>don't know if they actually signed it or not. We

<v Speaker 1>don't know if it's been accepted. If Paul Hammond was

<v Speaker 1>on Ariel Helwani show this week and said, the audience

<v Speaker 1>is calling for Cross to be a bigger star, and

<v Speaker 1>if WWE doesn't deliver on that, the audience is just

<v Speaker 1>going to get behind him even more. And then he

<v Speaker 1>compared Cross to Stone Cold, Steve Austin or Daniel Bryan

<v Speaker 1>when it comes to the demand to make him a

<v Speaker 1>bigger star, the idea being that that was organic, right,

<v Speaker 1>Their rises were organic, and so is this. Yes, it's organic,

<v Speaker 1>so are the eggs in my refrigerator. That doesn't mean

<v Speaker 1>it's appropriate to compare them to stone cold Steve Austin

<v Speaker 1>other than his bald head, I guess. I mean he

<v Speaker 1>does bear a striking resemblance to my eggs. But please

<v Speaker 1>do not ever make any comparisons between stone Cold Steve

<v Speaker 1>Austin and Carrying Cross. All right, let's not get crazy here.

<v Speaker 1>I like Cross's character work, I like his social media videos.

<v Speaker 1>I have no idea why they haven't done more with Scarlet.

<v Speaker 1>But Cross had three matches with Sammy's Ain okay, one

<v Speaker 1>of the best wrestlers on the roster, and not a

<v Speaker 1>single one of them stood out as anything remarkable. That's

<v Speaker 1>his achilles heel. That and his age, right, His age

<v Speaker 1>works against him. He's forty years old. Doesn't mean you

<v Speaker 1>don't do anything with him, but they're not going to

<v Speaker 1>necessarily invest in him in the way they might if

<v Speaker 1>he was five years younger. The few opportunities is that

<v Speaker 1>he's actually been given in ring. He has not done

<v Speaker 1>anything to really make himself stand out. So that's a

<v Speaker 1>mark against him, But the fan support is there and

<v Speaker 1>his character work is at least interesting, so I hope

<v Speaker 1>he stays. I think there's room for someone like him

<v Speaker 1>on that roster. He's not going to be headlining shows, right,

<v Speaker 1>not unless the fans dictate that that's where they want him.

<v Speaker 1>That's just not going to happen. But as a player

<v Speaker 1>in the middle of the cards, somewhere, there's room for

<v Speaker 1>someone like him, especially with the fan support that he has.

<v Speaker 1>Even if you just look at him as a mid

<v Speaker 1>card guy. You know what, He's got more fan support

<v Speaker 1>and social media support than most people do in the

<v Speaker 1>mid card, So do something with it, right, You could

<v Speaker 1>still do something with that. There is room for someone

<v Speaker 1>like him on that roster, So I don't know why

<v Speaker 1>you wouldn't make an offer to someone like that. You know,

<v Speaker 1>when Triple H walked out for the SummerSlam post show

<v Speaker 1>on Sunday, they had fans in the parking lot behind

<v Speaker 1>them all chanting, we want Cross, we want Cross, and

<v Speaker 1>Triple H either needs his hearing checked or he was

<v Speaker 1>being disingenuous when he thought they said we want Brock,

<v Speaker 1>we want Brock. He's like, you want Brock. You got him,

<v Speaker 1>You got Brock like he's not hard of hearing. Okay.

<v Speaker 1>He knew exactly what they were saying, and then Cross

<v Speaker 1>tweeted about it and said unreal. They write the scripts,

<v Speaker 1>but the fans write the truth. Thank you, TikTok, and

<v Speaker 1>he was also on the two man Power Trip podcast.

<v Speaker 1>Cross said, I'm still under contract. I saw a bunch

<v Speaker 1>of stuff online. What is today Thursday. I don't know

<v Speaker 1>where it's coming from, and I don't care to speak

<v Speaker 1>to any of it, but I mean, all I can

<v Speaker 1>tell you is the only way you're gonna get the

<v Speaker 1>real story is when you get it from me. That's

<v Speaker 1>all I can tell you. I can't really speak to

<v Speaker 1>any of the legitimacy of anything that is being reported recently,

<v Speaker 1>but I'll tell you right now. Everyone's going to know

<v Speaker 1>exactly what that's going on very soon, so we'll have

<v Speaker 1>our answer soon enough. Here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking

<v Speaker 1>they really did make him an offer late, but he's

<v Speaker 1>already signed, and moving them to the alumni page is

<v Speaker 1>part of their plan to work the sheets and work

<v Speaker 1>the fans. That's what this feels like. I don't think

<v Speaker 1>he's actually going anywhere. Natalia made a rare appearance on

<v Speaker 1>Raw Monday Night, very briefly in a backstage segment confronting

<v Speaker 1>Becky Lynch after her promo on Nicki Bella, we are

<v Speaker 1>getting Becky against Nicky soon. This led to Natty challenging Becky.

<v Speaker 1>Becky said she would fight Maxine Dupre instead tomorrow night,

<v Speaker 1>not Natty. I would imagine that'll be the following week, right,

<v Speaker 1>Becky goes in there, beats Maxine and then we get

<v Speaker 1>Becky and Natty maybe the Monday after. We haven't seen

<v Speaker 1>much of Natty since she signed her new contract last year.

<v Speaker 1>Remember there was all this news going around last spring

<v Speaker 1>last Sun that they were negotiating and Italia's contract was

<v Speaker 1>coming due and wwe really wanted to keep her, and

<v Speaker 1>then ultimately she signed a new deal. So we just

<v Speaker 1>haven't seen much of her at all since signing that

<v Speaker 1>new deal. But she has been announced for Triple Mania

<v Speaker 1>next Saturday in a three way match against Fabe Apache

<v Speaker 1>and Lady Flammer for Flammer's Rena de Rainas Championship. Flammer

<v Speaker 1>has been the champion for two years after beating Tia

<v Speaker 1>Valkyrie for the belt back in twenty twenty three. I

<v Speaker 1>just love how Natty resigned with him, and she has

<v Speaker 1>been wrestling everywhere but WWE. She's wrestled in blood Sport.

<v Speaker 1>She's wrestling in the Triple A. Actually she wrestled there

<v Speaker 1>last month. She's going back again. She's wrestled for the NWA,

<v Speaker 1>She's wrestled for Booker T's Reality of Wrestling promotion. Everywhere

<v Speaker 1>but actually wrestling on WWE television. Speaking of Triplemania, it

<v Speaker 1>is airing live on WWE's YouTube channel next Saturday in

<v Speaker 1>both English and Spanish. The show has already sold out

<v Speaker 1>nineteen thousand fans. In fact, the demand has been so

<v Speaker 1>high there scaling down the size of the stage so

<v Speaker 1>they can open up more sections. See this is the

<v Speaker 1>power of dirty dom. Corey Graves will be handling the

<v Speaker 1>English commentary again. I thought he did a great job

<v Speaker 1>last time. I don't know if Conan will join him

<v Speaker 1>again on color, but Raymisteria will be there to induct

<v Speaker 1>Conan into the Triple A Hall of Fame. Conan is

<v Speaker 1>the one who gave Ray his big break, and he

<v Speaker 1>inducted Ray into the WWE Hall of Fame, so it

<v Speaker 1>only makes sense. In addition, to the natty match. Finn Balor,

<v Speaker 1>JD McDonough and Raquel Rodriguez are wrestling Mister Iguana, Nino

<v Speaker 1>Hamburgesa and Lola Weis. Los Garza Angel Imberto will defend

<v Speaker 1>the Triple A Tag Team titles in a street fight

<v Speaker 1>against Psycho Clown and Pagano and Lijdel Vikingo defends the

<v Speaker 1>Triple A Mega title in a four way against Dominic, Mysterio,

<v Speaker 1>Dragonly and El Grande Americano. I mean, you look at

<v Speaker 1>this card like it basically reads like a WWE card.

<v Speaker 1>That's what it is. This is the future for Triple A,

<v Speaker 1>only a matter of time now before it becomes NXT.

<v Speaker 1>Mexico and Ashanti Viadnis announced on social media this morning

<v Speaker 1>that he is leaving WWE. He was only briefly on

<v Speaker 1>the main roster. He spent most of his time down

<v Speaker 1>in NXT for the past few years. He said, after

<v Speaker 1>six unforgettable years under the WWE lights, the time has

<v Speaker 1>come for me to close that chapter. I'm filled with

<v Speaker 1>nothing but gratitude for every opportunity, the experiences, lessons, and

<v Speaker 1>incredible talent that I've had the chance to work with.

<v Speaker 1>I'm truly excited to show the world what I can

<v Speaker 1>really do. Sometimes you got to get off multiplayer and

<v Speaker 1>progress your story mode. I believe I'm the face of

<v Speaker 1>the future, and the reason your girls stop texting you back? Huh?

<v Speaker 1>Is that why? This is a brand new beginning. I

<v Speaker 1>am becoming the best version of myself. You have only

<v Speaker 1>seen a glimpse of my true potential, and I'm just

<v Speaker 1>scratching the surface. I know that to some this can

<v Speaker 1>be a dark time, but stars can't shine without darkness.

<v Speaker 1>Sounds like his contract was up and they didn't renew

<v Speaker 1>because he's already taking bookings. Who would have thought that

<v Speaker 1>Beefab would be the last remaining member of hit Row

<v Speaker 1>on that roster, But here we are. Today's episode is

<v Speaker 1>sponsored by Hymns. Coming out of SummerSlam last week, there

<v Speaker 1>was a wrestler in the news. I won't say who,

<v Speaker 1>but he was talking about his hair loss and how

<v Speaker 1>much it really affected him and his quality of life,

<v Speaker 1>and how he wished he would have taken steps to

<v Speaker 1>address the issue years ago. And you can understand why.

<v Speaker 1>You know, it's a cosmetic business that they're in. This

<v Speaker 1>person's on TV all the time, very visible, but there

<v Speaker 1>are thousands of men out there going through the exact

<v Speaker 1>same thing who are not public figures, they are not

<v Speaker 1>on television in front of millions of people, but they

<v Speaker 1>can still feel that same shame, and they shouldn't because

<v Speaker 1>there's nothing to be ashamed of. Thinning hair is a

<v Speaker 1>problem that affects lots of people, and if you happen

<v Speaker 1>to be one of those people, you need to know that.

<v Speaker 1>Hymns offers one hundred percent online access to prescription treatments

<v Speaker 1>for regrowing hair in as little as three to six months,

<v Speaker 1>so you could see a fuller head of hair on

<v Speaker 1>your head by fall. Hymns offers access to a range

<v Speaker 1>of prescription hair loss treatments with ingredients that work, including

<v Speaker 1>choose oral medications, serums and sprays. Doctor trusted clinically proven

<v Speaker 1>ingredients like finasteride and monoxidel can stop hair loss and

<v Speaker 1>regrow hair in as little as three to six months.

<v Speaker 1>Hyms brings expert care straight to you, making it super

<v Speaker 1>convenient with one hundred percent online access to personalized treatments

<v Speaker 1>to get to where you need to be. There's no

<v Speaker 1>hidden fees, there's no surprise costs, just real personalized care

<v Speaker 1>on your schedule. Think of Hymns as your digital front

<v Speaker 1>door that gets you back to your old self with

<v Speaker 1>simple access to trusted treatments for real health concerns, all

<v Speaker 1>in one place. For simple online access to personalize and

<v Speaker 1>affordable care for hair loss ed, weight loss, and more,

<v Speaker 1>visit hymns dot com slash Solo Monster. That's hyms dot

<v Speaker 1>com slash Solo Monster if we were a free online

<v Speaker 1>visit hyms dot com slash Solid Monster. Individual results may

<v Speaker 1>vary based on studies of topical and oral monoxidyl and finasteride.

<v Speaker 1>Prescription required. See website for full details, restrictions and important

<v Speaker 1>safety information. I feel like it's been a minute since

<v Speaker 1>we've had a story about backstage drama in AW. I

<v Speaker 1>guess we were due for one, although this is tame

<v Speaker 1>by comparison to some of the ones in the past.

<v Speaker 1>It was reported this week by Fightful that MVP has

<v Speaker 1>rubbed a lot of people the wrong way behind the

<v Speaker 1>scenes in AW, as expressed by a number of talents

<v Speaker 1>on the roster. MVP has supposedly made it well known

<v Speaker 1>that he does not like speedball. Mike Bailey, I don't

<v Speaker 1>know why he doesn't like speedball. That in and of

<v Speaker 1>itself is a nothing burger, because who gives a shit

<v Speaker 1>if MVP likes Speedball or not not everyone on the

<v Speaker 1>roster has to like each other. I'll bet you work

<v Speaker 1>with at least one person that you don't like, right.

<v Speaker 1>Doesn't mean that you're not going to be able to

<v Speaker 1>work together, but it goes beyond that. He apparently did

<v Speaker 1>not want Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin to lose their

<v Speaker 1>tag team titles to Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight. Now

<v Speaker 1>it's not known if Jet Speed was originally going to

<v Speaker 1>beat the Hurt Syndicate to win the tag team titles,

<v Speaker 1>but they never did. The report also states that MVP

<v Speaker 1>turned down pitches for the Hurt Syndicate to drop the

<v Speaker 1>belt to FTR at all in, and if not at

<v Speaker 1>all in, then to do so at Forbidden Door. MVP

<v Speaker 1>reportedly suggested they lose the titles instead to either The

<v Speaker 1>Gates of Agony, the Outrunners, or Private Party, three teams

<v Speaker 1>that they have already beaten this year, and the same

<v Speaker 1>Private Party that they destroyed and took the titles from.

<v Speaker 1>Private Party has not been seen on aw television since.

<v Speaker 1>In fact, the only match that Private Party has had

<v Speaker 1>since losing to the Hurt Syndicate all year Okay it

<v Speaker 1>is August now. The only other match they've had all

<v Speaker 1>year was in House of Glory that was back in March.

<v Speaker 1>That ship has sailed so long as the Hurt Syndicate

<v Speaker 1>have those tag team titles, Private Party won't. And I

<v Speaker 1>mean they made sure that with the way that their

<v Speaker 1>run was treated. After they beat the Young Bucks for

<v Speaker 1>those belts, they beat the brakes off those boys, they

<v Speaker 1>buried them. Tony Kahn and the Hurt Syndicate both buried

<v Speaker 1>those two men six feet under to where they're still

<v Speaker 1>trying to dig their way out for oxygen. Now. There's

<v Speaker 1>also said to be frustration within the AW locker room

<v Speaker 1>that the Hurt Syndicate beats everybody up. They high five

<v Speaker 1>the fans, and they do cool moves when they're supposed

<v Speaker 1>to be heels. And it was also noted the storyline

<v Speaker 1>with MJF was originally planned to run even longer, but

<v Speaker 1>there was a certain member of the group, not MVP,

<v Speaker 1>that wanted it over and done with, and so MJF

<v Speaker 1>is out of the Hurt Syndicate. Although there's not said

<v Speaker 1>to be any heat between MJF and the group only

<v Speaker 1>that this person just wanted him out. If there are

<v Speaker 1>any issues between MVP and Speedball, they did their best

<v Speaker 1>to poke fun at it and diffuse the situation by

<v Speaker 1>posting a It was very short videos, like twenty seconds

<v Speaker 1>on social media. Backstage at Dynamite where Speedball was filming

<v Speaker 1>for his vlog, when the Hurt Syndicate walked up to him,

<v Speaker 1>MVP said fuck you, Speedball, and then Bailey said, with

<v Speaker 1>a smile on his face, well fuck you too, MVP.

<v Speaker 1>I like to think this is how all these guys

<v Speaker 1>greet each other backstage in aw They keep their distance.

<v Speaker 1>This was all tongue in cheek. It should be noted

<v Speaker 1>that so far, no one has denied any of these rumors. Right,

<v Speaker 1>they're poking fun at it, but no one has actually

<v Speaker 1>said that this is bullshit. It just felt like, hey,

<v Speaker 1>it's out there, so let's try to make fun of

<v Speaker 1>it and just move on. Now. Again, the Bailey stuff

<v Speaker 1>is pretty trivial. I don't see that as any kind

<v Speaker 1>of a big deal. But when it starts to bleed

<v Speaker 1>over into the product, that's when it becomes a problem.

<v Speaker 1>And I was wondering, you know, and I talked about

<v Speaker 1>this on the show. At the time, I was wondering

<v Speaker 1>why the build to that tag team title match in

<v Speaker 1>Texas was so wonky. You know where they ended up

<v Speaker 1>adding the Patriarchy to make it a triple thread. It

<v Speaker 1>was the Patriarchy, Jet Speed and the Hurt Syndicate, and

<v Speaker 1>I said, well, why wouldn't you just add FTR and

<v Speaker 1>make it a four way? I mean, that would have

<v Speaker 1>made more sense to me. That way, the Hurt Syndicate

<v Speaker 1>could have lost the titles it all in without having

<v Speaker 1>to take the losing fall, like FTR could win the belts,

<v Speaker 1>but they're not directly beating lashly In Benjamin to do it. Instead,

<v Speaker 1>FTR worked a match on the pre show and then

<v Speaker 1>did commentary for the title match, which was very weird.

<v Speaker 1>I don't know if MVP has creative control of any

<v Speaker 1>kind as part of his deal, either written or otherwise.

<v Speaker 1>I'm going to assume he does not. Why is he

<v Speaker 1>making decisions about who lashly In Benjamin will or won't

<v Speaker 1>drop the titles to, like, why is that his call

<v Speaker 1>to make. It's not his call to make, it's Tony

<v Speaker 1>Kahan's call. It's his company. He does the creative for

<v Speaker 1>the shows. And if he wants the titles on FTR,

<v Speaker 1>then the title should go to FTR, and if they don't,

<v Speaker 1>then it should be because Tony Kahn says so, not MVP.

<v Speaker 1>It's like the inmates running the Asylum. FTR is wrestling

<v Speaker 1>Brody King and benditdo in the finals of the Tag

<v Speaker 1>Team Eliminator tournament, which means the winner challenges the Hurt

<v Speaker 1>Syndicate in London at Forbidden Door. It should be FTR

<v Speaker 1>in that spot and they should win the tag team titles.

<v Speaker 1>That way they can put the titles on the line

<v Speaker 1>it all out against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage. I

<v Speaker 1>think that's the play to do cope in Christian the

<v Speaker 1>Reunion and then put the belts on them in Toronto.

<v Speaker 1>This idea that AW has to come up with a

<v Speaker 1>workaround or a plan B of some kind is ridiculous.

<v Speaker 1>It's not like they're being asked to drop the belts

<v Speaker 1>to fucking Dan Housen in Orange Cassidy. FTR is one

<v Speaker 1>of the best tag teams in the entire company. They

<v Speaker 1>have plenty of credibility. But even if they didn't, even

<v Speaker 1>if Tony Kahn wanted them to drop the titles to

<v Speaker 1>Dan Housen in Orange Cassidy. My point still stands, it's

<v Speaker 1>not MVP's call to make, or it shouldn't be, or

<v Speaker 1>Bobby Lashley or Shelton Benjamin for that matter. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>given the giving talent creative input is one thing, giving

<v Speaker 1>them creative control is another. Nobody should have control over

<v Speaker 1>things like this other than the promoter. Unless it is

<v Speaker 1>specifically written into someone's contract, then it's fair game if

<v Speaker 1>you're dumb enough to give it to them. If FTR

<v Speaker 1>is what Tony wants, then FTR is it. That's it, period,

<v Speaker 1>end of story. After dropping the TNT Championship to Kyle

<v Speaker 1>Fletcher last week on collision in a very bloody, very

<v Speaker 1>violent Chicago street fight, the same Kyle Fletcher, who Fightful

<v Speaker 1>says signed a new multi year contract in the spring

<v Speaker 1>for big money, Dustin Rhodes announced that he is going

<v Speaker 1>to be undergoing major invasive surgery in the form of

<v Speaker 1>a double knee replacement. He tweeted, knees or both destroyed.

<v Speaker 1>I have to go under the ninthe August twenty. First,

<v Speaker 1>they can't actually fix the damage, so we are getting

<v Speaker 1>two knee replacements. Damn hashtag keeps stepping by the way,

<v Speaker 1>that this is not the end, so he's blaming Kyle

<v Speaker 1>Fletcher for the injury. That part of it is a work.

<v Speaker 1>The surgery is very much not a work. And it

<v Speaker 1>comes at a time when Dustin also holds one half

<v Speaker 1>of the Ring of Honor tag team titles with Sammy

<v Speaker 1>Gavara and one third of the Ring of Honor six

<v Speaker 1>man titles with the Von Eric Boys, which I assume

<v Speaker 1>will all have to be vacated. Now. Even walking out

<v Speaker 1>there for the match with Fletcher, like you could tell

<v Speaker 1>his knees or shot, like it's painful to watch him walk.

<v Speaker 1>So this was inevitable. But to get both knees done

<v Speaker 1>at the same time is going to be a tough recovery,

<v Speaker 1>especially for a guy. I mean, look, he's fifty six

<v Speaker 1>years old. Fifty six in and of itself is not old,

<v Speaker 1>but when you're a professional wrestler with thirty plus years

<v Speaker 1>of wear and tear on your knees and on your body,

<v Speaker 1>fifty six years old, and he's a fifty six year

<v Speaker 1>old man who wants to get back in the ring

<v Speaker 1>after double knee replacement, Like, I'm not saying it's impossible,

<v Speaker 1>but it's going to be tough to come back from that,

<v Speaker 1>he said. It's people telling me to retire that pushes

<v Speaker 1>me even more. I am still at fifty six, one

<v Speaker 1>of the greatest professional wrestlers in the world. Age is

<v Speaker 1>just a number. Sometimes you have to manifest shit and

<v Speaker 1>get it done. I absolutely know my time is nearing

<v Speaker 1>the end, but not yet. Got to get the world title,

<v Speaker 1>as that should be every pro wrestler's goal. Good luck

<v Speaker 1>with that. If that was the last match of his career,

<v Speaker 1>I can think of worse ways to go out. You know,

<v Speaker 1>he finally won a title in aaw He got to

<v Speaker 1>go out on his sword in a brutal street fight,

<v Speaker 1>putting over one of the company's young rising stars. Not

<v Speaker 1>a bad way to go out if that was to

<v Speaker 1>end up being his final match. We already had a

<v Speaker 1>fifty eight year old in Jeff Jarrett earlier this year

<v Speaker 1>claiming this would be his last year in the ring

<v Speaker 1>and that he wanted to win the world title, and

<v Speaker 1>then Tony Kahn was wise enough to abandon that idea

<v Speaker 1>because no one wanted to see that. Dustin can still go.

<v Speaker 1>But I am not clamoring to see that anymore than

<v Speaker 1>I was for Jef Charrett, I've got an injury update

<v Speaker 1>on Buddy Matthews and it's not good. We have not

<v Speaker 1>seen Buddy since his Grand Slam Australia match with Kazushka

<v Speaker 1>Okada back in February. That's where he injured his ankle

<v Speaker 1>during his entrance when he jumped over the top rope

<v Speaker 1>getting into the ring. He rolled it very badly and

<v Speaker 1>then wrestled Okada for thirteen minutes on the ankle, which

<v Speaker 1>I imagine did not do himself any favors. He told Chris

<v Speaker 1>van Vliet back in April that he suffered a partial

<v Speaker 1>ligament tear and cartilage damage and there was no break,

<v Speaker 1>which was good, and he said the doctors told him

<v Speaker 1>they've never seen an ankle roll that much under someone

<v Speaker 1>without completely disintegrating the bones. But that was in April,

<v Speaker 1>and in April he was estimating that he was about

<v Speaker 1>eighty five percent recovered and had his fingers crossed that

<v Speaker 1>he would be back in the ring very soon, possibly

<v Speaker 1>by the end of the month. Fast forward to June,

<v Speaker 1>he sounded less optimistic. He said the ankle was not

<v Speaker 1>healing as well as he thought it would be. There

<v Speaker 1>was no mobility to it and without that mobility, he

<v Speaker 1>can't move properly, and once it hits the three month

<v Speaker 1>mark without healing, it becomes chronic. So that was in June,

<v Speaker 1>and then this week he posted a photo from his

<v Speaker 1>hospital bed after surgery with his wife Rhea Ripley by

<v Speaker 1>his side. So he finally caved and had surgery on

<v Speaker 1>the ankle, which is only going to prolong his recovery

<v Speaker 1>from something he thought he would be back from in April.

<v Speaker 1>I'm frustrated for him and it's not even my ankle.

<v Speaker 1>Now Forbidden Door is coming up in a few weeks,

<v Speaker 1>actually a couple of weekends from now Forbidden Door. It

<v Speaker 1>still is not looking much like a Forbidden Door, but

<v Speaker 1>that doesn't seem to bother the UK fans Aw has

<v Speaker 1>almost fifteen thousand tickets out for the show at The

<v Speaker 1>Two in London for a two and a half million

<v Speaker 1>dollar gait, so the fourth largest in company history. Now

<v Speaker 1>the g one climax ends of the week before the

<v Speaker 1>pay per view. So whatever new Japan involvement there may be,

<v Speaker 1>it looks like those appearances. If they're going to show

<v Speaker 1>up on TV and they're going to make some of

<v Speaker 1>those matches, it may be limited to that last week.

<v Speaker 1>We know Hiroshi Tanahashi has said he will wrestle his

<v Speaker 1>last ever UK match on that show. We just don't

<v Speaker 1>know against who. My theory was maybe they're holding out

<v Speaker 1>hope Will Osprey can work the show and they could

<v Speaker 1>do Tanahashi against Osprey. They also announced on Collision last

<v Speaker 1>night that next week there's going to be a four

<v Speaker 1>way match to determine who challenges Zach Saber Junior at

<v Speaker 1>Forbidden Door for the IWGP title. It'll be Nigel McGinnis Etchesro,

<v Speaker 1>Daniel Garcia and Lee Moriarty. So basically Nigel McGinnis is

<v Speaker 1>wrestling Zach Saber Junior at Forbidden Door. Can't go any

<v Speaker 1>other way now. Not announced yet, but it looks like

<v Speaker 1>Hangman Adam Page is going to be defending the aw

<v Speaker 1>World title, most likely against MJF. That appears to be

<v Speaker 1>the direction for that show. MJF got a win that

<v Speaker 1>was not without controversy over Mark Briscoe on Wednesday, and

<v Speaker 1>they have announced that MJF and Hangman will be having

<v Speaker 1>a face to face this week on Dynamite. Darby Allen

<v Speaker 1>he kidnapped Wheeler Dah on Dynamite and then tried to

<v Speaker 1>run him over with his truck after sticking a sign

<v Speaker 1>to UTA's forehead that John Moxley found that read just

<v Speaker 1>forbidden door. That was the message on the note. So

<v Speaker 1>Moxley against Darby is all but confirmed as an aside.

<v Speaker 1>Darby Allen told Steve O on his podcast that coming

<v Speaker 1>off his Mount Everest climb, I'm literally stopping and smelling

<v Speaker 1>the roses right now. I just want to be focused

<v Speaker 1>on being as grounded as possible. I do want to

<v Speaker 1>go to space, of course he does. I love how

<v Speaker 1>he talks about being grounded and then proceeds to talk

<v Speaker 1>about going to space where he will be anything but grounded.

<v Speaker 1>He'll be the exact opposite of grounded. But I guess

<v Speaker 1>if Jason Vorhees can go to space, then why not

<v Speaker 1>Darby Allen. Tony Khan's ready to fund the expedition just

<v Speaker 1>so Darby can plant the AW flag on the moon.

<v Speaker 1>You know, Darby goes to Space actually sounds like some

<v Speaker 1>direct to DVD animated film back in the day that

<v Speaker 1>you would buy for your kid. That's it sounds like.

<v Speaker 1>So you could also throw in Tony Storm against Athena

<v Speaker 1>for the AW Women's World title. That's confirmed the Hurt

<v Speaker 1>Syndicate against Leo Rush and Action Andretti. Probably if MVP

<v Speaker 1>has his way Okata against Swerve for the unified title

<v Speaker 1>and Mercedes defends her TBS Championship in a four way

<v Speaker 1>match against Alex Windsor representing AW, someone else that will

<v Speaker 1>be representing CMLL, and someone else that will be representing Stardom.

<v Speaker 1>That is the lineup so far. Other news and notes.

<v Speaker 1>Hulk Hogan's funeral took place on Tuesday in Florida, just

<v Speaker 1>south of his mansion in Clearwater. Among those in attendance

<v Speaker 1>were Vince McMahon, who spoke at the service and asked

<v Speaker 1>everyone to give Hogan one last standing ovation. Others included

<v Speaker 1>Linda McMahon, Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Paul McMahon aka Triple H.

<v Speaker 1>John Laurinidis was there. He crawled out of his hole

<v Speaker 1>to attend. Rick Flair, Eric Bischoff, Kevin Nash, Big Show Sting,

<v Speaker 1>Lex Luger, Ted d Bassi, Jeff Jarrett Hacksaw, Jim Duggan,

<v Speaker 1>Brutus Beefcake, Jacques Rougeau, Jimmy Hart, Brian Blair, Dennis Rodman,

<v Speaker 1>Kid Rock, THEO Vaughn and Bam Margera. That is certainly

<v Speaker 1>more people than you hear about for most wrestler funerals.

<v Speaker 1>Hogan would have turned seventy two years old tomorrow. Hulk's

<v Speaker 1>wife Sky, his ex wife Linda, and son Nick were

<v Speaker 1>also there, but noticeably absent was his daughter Brooke, whom

<v Speaker 1>he had been estranged from for the past couple of years.

<v Speaker 1>He never even met his grandkids. On Instagram, Brooke explained

<v Speaker 1>why she was absent because she was getting heat for

<v Speaker 1>not being at her dad's funeral. She said, my father

<v Speaker 1>hated the morbidity of funerals. He didn't want one. And

<v Speaker 1>although i know people grieve in many ways, and I'm

<v Speaker 1>so grateful for all the celebrations and events organized to

<v Speaker 1>honor him. As his daughter, I had to make my

<v Speaker 1>own decision to honor him the best and most genuine

<v Speaker 1>way that I knew, how privately, the way that made

<v Speaker 1>me feel closest to him. The only thing missing today

<v Speaker 1>was him in his pop up lawn chair watching the

<v Speaker 1>waves and the sun set. Says Daddy. We honored you

<v Speaker 1>in the simplest way we could. We took our babies

<v Speaker 1>to the beach and put them in the same salty

<v Speaker 1>waters that you loved. Molly loved the water. I think

<v Speaker 1>she'll be a little fish as you called me. We

<v Speaker 1>love you and honor the things that made you so special.

<v Speaker 1>Every grain of sand and every wave reminded me of

<v Speaker 1>being your beach baby and brought us closer to you.

<v Speaker 1>I pray that you're at peace and know how dearly

<v Speaker 1>I love you. Rest in heaven, Daddy. Brooke was in

<v Speaker 1>the news on Thursday saying that given all the speculation

<v Speaker 1>and all the uncertainty around her father's death, because there

<v Speaker 1>aren't questions that have been raised, she is offering to

<v Speaker 1>pay for an autopsy herself. After Hulk's wife said that

<v Speaker 1>they have not yet cremated. Now they gave him a funeral,

<v Speaker 1>he was in the coffin he is supposed to be cremated.

<v Speaker 1>His wife said they have not cremated him yet, which

<v Speaker 1>is what he wanted. To make sure that every question

<v Speaker 1>about his medical care is answered first. So Brooke stepped

<v Speaker 1>up and said that she would personally cut a check

<v Speaker 1>for any invoice required by the medical examiner to get

<v Speaker 1>an autopsy done. She says, that's what it takes to

<v Speaker 1>get it done. My dad's dignity and legacy deserves it.

<v Speaker 1>She finds aspects of her father's death very fishy, especially

<v Speaker 1>the stuff about him having a history of leukemia, which

<v Speaker 1>was news to her. And she was talking, you know,

<v Speaker 1>she called into Bubba the Love Sponge before that, before

<v Speaker 1>she made this offer, she called into Bubba the Love Sponge.

<v Speaker 1>She was talking about a litany of different things, including

<v Speaker 1>his care. She always used to, you know, basically be

<v Speaker 1>the point person for all of his medical care and

<v Speaker 1>getting his blood checked and all that stuff. Now that

<v Speaker 1>hasn't been the case now for at least a couple

<v Speaker 1>of years, so it's possible that, you know, he was

<v Speaker 1>diagnosed with stuff after the fact. She just finds it

<v Speaker 1>all very fishy. But she called into Bubba the Love

<v Speaker 1>Sponge on Tuesday, which shock Bubba because he used to

<v Speaker 1>be very close with Brooke. Obviously, he was Hulk's best friend.

<v Speaker 1>He knew the family very well, and he had a

<v Speaker 1>very close relationship with Brook. He was like an uncle

<v Speaker 1>to her and the two of them had not spoken

<v Speaker 1>since twenty eleven. So, like he's doing his radio show

<v Speaker 1>and you know, one of his co hosts says, hey,

<v Speaker 1>we got a woman on the line who claims to

<v Speaker 1>be Brooke. It's like Brooke Hogan like, yeah, he got

<v Speaker 1>very nervous, right. He couldn't imagine why she was calling in,

<v Speaker 1>but he assumed it was probably for no great reason.

<v Speaker 1>He thought it was going to be a disaster. But

<v Speaker 1>she put his mind at ease right away and said

<v Speaker 1>that she doesn't blame Bubba for anything. She just wanted

<v Speaker 1>to set the record straight on a few things. One

<v Speaker 1>of the big reveals from the conversation was Brooke admitting

<v Speaker 1>that her father told her that Bubba was not the

<v Speaker 1>one who leaked the sex tape all those years ago,

<v Speaker 1>the one with Hogan on it calling himself a racist

<v Speaker 1>and using the N word. Yeah, that one Hogan was

<v Speaker 1>having sex with Bubba's wife on there. He had asked

<v Speaker 1>his good friend if he could have sex with his

<v Speaker 1>wife because he was down on his luck, his life

<v Speaker 1>was falling apart. He might have been going through his

<v Speaker 1>divorce at that point, and I guess just went to

<v Speaker 1>Bubba and said, Hey, I'd like to have sex with Heather,

<v Speaker 1>and he was like cool. I mean, who among us

<v Speaker 1>has not asked our best friend the same thing? If

<v Speaker 1>I asked my best friend that he wouldn't be my

<v Speaker 1>best friend anymore. But for years people have blamed Bubba

<v Speaker 1>for leaking that tape, so he was very appreciative of

<v Speaker 1>her admitting that he wasn't the one responsible, though he

<v Speaker 1>did say I wish you would have come out years

<v Speaker 1>ago and said this because it kind of ruined my life.

<v Speaker 1>But you know, better late than ever. It was actually

<v Speaker 1>someone who worked for Bubba at the time. I won't

<v Speaker 1>say the person's name because I don't know if it

<v Speaker 1>was ever confirmed to be him, but if you care

<v Speaker 1>enough to know, it's out there now. Another big takeaway

<v Speaker 1>from their conversation, and this one did not make hul

<v Speaker 1>Kogan look great at all. This one's actually pretty despicable.

<v Speaker 1>Bubba said that he wasn't looking to upset her, but

<v Speaker 1>he asked her, do you remember Christmas Day many years

<v Speaker 1>ago getting a letter from her record label terminating her

<v Speaker 1>music contract, and Bubba revealed that he helped her father

<v Speaker 1>write that letter. It did not actually come from her label.

<v Speaker 1>She thought it was a real letter on Christmas, no less,

<v Speaker 1>and that effectively ended her music career, although she did

<v Speaker 1>say that she just signed with the same label again.

<v Speaker 1>She's trying to get back into singing all these years later,

<v Speaker 1>but that letter actually came from her father. Bubba claimed

<v Speaker 1>that Terry did it because he wanted to get her

<v Speaker 1>away from the label and split the sides up, including Stax,

<v Speaker 1>who was the rapper that Brooke was dating at the time.

<v Speaker 1>He was the son of Cecil Barker. Barker was the

<v Speaker 1>owner of the label. Stax is the guy that Hulk

<v Speaker 1>was referring to in the sex tape when he dropped

<v Speaker 1>the N word multiple times and said he was a

<v Speaker 1>little racist, not a lot racist, just a little racist.

<v Speaker 1>But it would be okay if she was dating an

<v Speaker 1>NBA player, that would be okay. Apparently. He said. Brooke

<v Speaker 1>had a two year deal at seven hundred and fifty

<v Speaker 1>thousand dollars per year with the record label, and Bubba

<v Speaker 1>said that Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Jason Hervey wanted Barker

<v Speaker 1>to instead take that money and fund Paul White Big

<v Speaker 1>show as a boxer. He said the idea was that

<v Speaker 1>they would drop Brooks contract and convince the owner of

<v Speaker 1>the label to put up three million dollars for Paul

<v Speaker 1>White to move to Miami. They would buy him a house,

<v Speaker 1>and they would have him trained to be a boxer.

<v Speaker 1>For a year. God, I do remember that Hogan got

<v Speaker 1>this idea in his head that they would make a

<v Speaker 1>fortune backing Big Show as a boxer. This is a well,

<v Speaker 1>it had to be around the time the Big Show

<v Speaker 1>left WWE. I mean physically, he was not in good

<v Speaker 1>shape at all. And it was probably after he lost

<v Speaker 1>the ECW title in that awful December to Dismember match

<v Speaker 1>the Elimination Chamber lost it to Bobby Lashley, and then

<v Speaker 1>Big Show left the company, So that would have been

<v Speaker 1>around that period of time. But yeah, I remember that.

<v Speaker 1>You know, there was a great story on this. I

<v Speaker 1>had to go back and find it. It's still online

<v Speaker 1>from twenty sixteen by David Bixon, spen on SB Nation.

<v Speaker 1>In a deposition in twenty twelve, Paul White said that

<v Speaker 1>Hulk introduced him to Cecil Barker. He said, I know

<v Speaker 1>a guy from Miami that was interested in you, helping

<v Speaker 1>you start a boxing career, and he's also financing my

<v Speaker 1>daughter's singing career. Right. Hulk was really pumping him up.

<v Speaker 1>He was pumping up White, and White only knew of

<v Speaker 1>Barker whatever Hogan told him, and they really gassed him

<v Speaker 1>up by both those guys did Barker and Hogan. So

<v Speaker 1>when Big Show left WWE, he started training to become

<v Speaker 1>a boxer until he got tagged with a left hand

<v Speaker 1>in a sparring session with a real boxer and he

<v Speaker 1>went down and he didn't even remember getting hit and

<v Speaker 1>leaving the gym that day. The only thing he remembers

<v Speaker 1>was waking up with the key in the ignition of

<v Speaker 1>his car, and in the deposition, White said, apparently they

<v Speaker 1>had taken my gloves off called the match, and I

<v Speaker 1>had taken my bag and walked out of the gym

<v Speaker 1>and was sitting in my car with the car running

<v Speaker 1>when I woke up. It scared the shit out of me.

<v Speaker 1>Because he was never knocked out before all of his

<v Speaker 1>years of wrestling. That was the first time he was

<v Speaker 1>truly knocked out. And that's when he realized, you know what,

<v Speaker 1>this ain't for me. And he talked to his wife

<v Speaker 1>and told his wife what happened, and they agreed, this

<v Speaker 1>is not for you, and he quit and Hogan tried

<v Speaker 1>to talk him out of it. He couldn't believe that

<v Speaker 1>he just up and quit, and the two of them

<v Speaker 1>didn't speak much after that. They weren't on speaking terms

<v Speaker 1>for a while. The only reason this information is even

<v Speaker 1>available and that there was a deposition is because the Big

<v Speaker 1>Show was broke at the time, which is probably why

<v Speaker 1>he agreed to do it. And he still owed Cecil

<v Speaker 1>Barker money that Barker had put up for him. And

<v Speaker 1>after you know, Big Show went crawling back to WWE,

<v Speaker 1>Barker sued to stop it and argued that he still

<v Speaker 1>had him under contract. And I know that litigation dragged

<v Speaker 1>on for years and years. I don't remember what the reservoir,

<v Speaker 1>if it was, ever really resolved, but anyway, that showed

<v Speaker 1>what Hogan was most interested in. He didn't give two

<v Speaker 1>shits about the man's health or the fact that Big

<v Speaker 1>Show spoke to his wife and they decided, you know what,

<v Speaker 1>it would be best not to pursue this since you

<v Speaker 1>got knocked out cold. You know, all Hogan was interested

<v Speaker 1>in was, you know, the golden goose here. I stuck

<v Speaker 1>my neck out for you, brother. You gotta go back.

<v Speaker 1>Bubba said that he and Hogan wrote a letter on

<v Speaker 1>the record label Stationary and they forged Barker's signature with

<v Speaker 1>a Christmas gift that Brooke opened when she really believed

<v Speaker 1>that it was a termination letter when she read the letter,

<v Speaker 1>and Hogan later went to Barker and said that Brooke

<v Speaker 1>was out and with the one point five million dollars

<v Speaker 1>in money that Barker would save on her contract, that

<v Speaker 1>he could instead put that money up to fund, you know,

<v Speaker 1>Paul White's boxing career, and Hogan would of course own

<v Speaker 1>points in Whites. But he did this to his own daughter.

<v Speaker 1>He deceived his own daughter, Like, think about that, and

<v Speaker 1>that's not anything that even played a role in their

<v Speaker 1>rift for all those years. That's something that he did

<v Speaker 1>that Brooke didn't even know about until this radio interview

<v Speaker 1>this week. And she also talked about a business partner

<v Speaker 1>that Hogan was close with who was screwing him, and

<v Speaker 1>you know how Hogan didn't see it. She didn't mention

<v Speaker 1>the person's name. But the next day on his show,

<v Speaker 1>Bubba said the name that the two of them were

<v Speaker 1>talking about was Eric Bischoff. He said, I know for

<v Speaker 1>a fact, and Bischoff consume me all he wants. I

<v Speaker 1>know for a fact. It was absolutely Bischoff that she

<v Speaker 1>was speaking of. Bischoff needed Hogan to stay relevant. Well,

<v Speaker 1>there you have it. I've always said if Hulk Hogan

<v Speaker 1>was walking down the street and he stopped short. Bischoff

<v Speaker 1>would have browned all over his nose. Of course, he

<v Speaker 1>felt the need to attach himself to Hogan. I can't

<v Speaker 1>speak to him screwing Hogan on business deals. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>they would know better, but I wouldn't be surprised in

<v Speaker 1>the least. Meanwhile, Brett Hart commented on Hulk Hogan's death

<v Speaker 1>on The Masked Man Show this week. One thing about

<v Speaker 1>Brett he is not afraid to share how he really feels,

<v Speaker 1>even if the person did just pass away. There are

<v Speaker 1>just certain things he cannot let go. He said, you

<v Speaker 1>can never deny what Hulk Hogan did. His footprint in

<v Speaker 1>the wrestling business will always be huge, maybe as big

<v Speaker 1>as it ever was going to get. When Hulk Cogan

<v Speaker 1>left the WWF in nineteen ninety two and wasn't at

<v Speaker 1>SummerSlam ninety two. Was WrestleMania eight when I fought Roddy Piper.

<v Speaker 1>Piper was one of the few guys that reached down

<v Speaker 1>and pulled me up to his level. I want to

<v Speaker 1>wrestle Brett Hart because I want to make him. Roddy

<v Speaker 1>Piper made me and contributed to the next generation. There

<v Speaker 1>were a lot of wrestlers who didn't do that. Hulk

<v Speaker 1>Cogan never did that for anybody, never pulled anyone else up.

<v Speaker 1>Jake Roberts never did anything for anybody else. He only

<v Speaker 1>did for Jake Roberts. I look at Jake Roberts and

<v Speaker 1>Hulk Cogan, that's just two guys. Man, Jake the snake

<v Speaker 1>catching strays. I think Brett's been waiting to unload that one.

<v Speaker 1>Jake's been knocking him for years, saying that Brett didn't

<v Speaker 1>have what it took to be championship material. He would

<v Speaker 1>potato guys when he was younger, because you know, Brett

<v Speaker 1>prides himself on set always saying that he never hurt

<v Speaker 1>another wrestler in the ring his entire career. So, I mean,

<v Speaker 1>that's about the worst thing that you could say to Brett.

<v Speaker 1>Calling Marty McFly chicken in Back to the Future was

<v Speaker 1>the worst thing you could say to Marty McFly. Saying

<v Speaker 1>that Brett Hart hurt people in the ring is basically

<v Speaker 1>the equivalent, Like, it's just he can't let that stand.

<v Speaker 1>So I'm sure that's just him giving Jake a receipt.

<v Speaker 1>But on his experiences of working with Hogan, Brett said

<v Speaker 1>Hulk Hogan. When I got to WWF in nineteen eighty four,

<v Speaker 1>there was a schmorgasboard of bad guys like Piper Orndorf,

<v Speaker 1>Bob Orton, Kamala, Killer Khan, King Kong, Bundy. It was

<v Speaker 1>like a candy box. He had such a lineup of

<v Speaker 1>guys to work with the best villains in wrestling. That

<v Speaker 1>all made Hulk Hogan. Same with Jake Roberts, Ricky Steamboat,

<v Speaker 1>and Macho Man. They never lost. They got their hands raised.

<v Speaker 1>In nineteen ninety two, comes along and they're gonna give

<v Speaker 1>me this big push. There is nobody there and nobody left.

<v Speaker 1>I didn't have anybody to work with when I won

<v Speaker 1>the belt, really, not any monsters anyway. That's what I

<v Speaker 1>always think. Nineteen ninety two, the elevator was falling to

<v Speaker 1>the bottom. Everything was sinking so fast. They were in trouble.

<v Speaker 1>Hogan was off in the steroid scandal, though he said

<v Speaker 1>he never took them. All of that hurt the business.

<v Speaker 1>Hulk Stick was getting tiring at that point. I don't

<v Speaker 1>know how I got picked. I never had any say

<v Speaker 1>when I found out I was gonna be world champion.

<v Speaker 1>I was the first one to find out and it

<v Speaker 1>was a shock. I didn't expect it, but I was

<v Speaker 1>grateful for it. I always felt like things were falling

<v Speaker 1>so bad and Vince had to figure something out stick

<v Speaker 1>it on him. I was a safe bet. I wasn't

<v Speaker 1>a guy who was gonna get busted for having a

<v Speaker 1>couple of ounces of coke in my bag, like Jake Ron,

<v Speaker 1>like Jake Roberts Videm. I wasn't a guy who was

<v Speaker 1>gonna fail my drug test. I was a safe bet.

<v Speaker 1>That's why Vince picked me to be champion. I need

<v Speaker 1>somebody who's not going to drop the ball and have

<v Speaker 1>any scandals. I can't take any more scandals. Stick it

<v Speaker 1>on Brett Hart, so they stuck it on me. I

<v Speaker 1>wasn't expecting it, but I stepped up to the plate.

<v Speaker 1>I always thought that the day I won the belt,

<v Speaker 1>Hulk Hogan would come up and pat me on the

<v Speaker 1>back and tell me how glad he was that I

<v Speaker 1>was the guy they picked to pull the sword out

<v Speaker 1>of the stone for him. Unfortunately, that's not how it was.

<v Speaker 1>The second I won the belt, I was the enemy.

<v Speaker 1>I had what he wanted and we were never really

<v Speaker 1>friends ever. Again. That had nothing to do with me.

<v Speaker 1>I was always honest, Hulk. It was like a little

<v Speaker 1>kid in elementary school. Some kids are bullshitters who tell bullshit,

<v Speaker 1>classic bullshitters. Sometimes you have to kick kids like that.

<v Speaker 1>I think Hulk Hogan was a bullshitter. I will always

<v Speaker 1>shake my head and wonder why he was such a

<v Speaker 1>roadblock for me. He wouldn't do anything for me, and

<v Speaker 1>he made sure and I know this as a fact.

<v Speaker 1>He made sure that when I was in WCW, he

<v Speaker 1>made sure that they didn't do anything with me. Don't

<v Speaker 1>do anything with him, Just leave him, have him sit

<v Speaker 1>on the bench in the dressing room. Brett Hart does

<v Speaker 1>not like Hulk Hogan. If you've paid attention to any

<v Speaker 1>of his interviews over the years, or you read his book,

<v Speaker 1>it is clear that he didn't care for Hulk Hogan.

<v Speaker 1>So no one should expect that just because Hogan died,

<v Speaker 1>his opinion is suddenly going to change. Now. Does Brett

<v Speaker 1>Hart love the smell of his own farts? Sure he does,

<v Speaker 1>but I appreciate his commitment to consistency and Hulk Hogan

<v Speaker 1>was not his only target. In that interview, he also

<v Speaker 1>commented on Gunther and his extreme hatred of chops in wrestling,

<v Speaker 1>something else that he has always been very consistent about

<v Speaker 1>throughout the years. He said, I don't want to sound

<v Speaker 1>like I'm tooting my own horn all the time. Well,

<v Speaker 1>I think that bus has left the bus stop there,

<v Speaker 1>but he goes. The best wrestling has to pretend to

<v Speaker 1>be real. That's what I did. I tried to make

<v Speaker 1>it as real as I could, contrary to that gunther guy,

<v Speaker 1>who seems like a nice enough guy when I met him.

<v Speaker 1>But I hate wrestlers that hurt each other on purpose.

<v Speaker 1>I hate it when you're out there and getting beat

<v Speaker 1>up and hurt by a guy for real, like chops.

<v Speaker 1>Whoever want to fight with a chop? What a waste

<v Speaker 1>of time. Rick Flair is famous for bringing the chops

<v Speaker 1>the way they are now. My dad used to tell

<v Speaker 1>wrestlers at Stampede, nobody ever beat anybody with a chop.

<v Speaker 1>It's true. They hurt and they look like shit. They

<v Speaker 1>make a big slap sound, but they hurt. And you

<v Speaker 1>get chopped by somebody like Rick Flair for a thirty

<v Speaker 1>minute match and he chops you fifteen times. Your whole

<v Speaker 1>chest the next day is bruised. It hurts to put

<v Speaker 1>a shirt on. I used to wrestle Rick Flair and

<v Speaker 1>wake up going why am I hurting so much? Doesn't

<v Speaker 1>Rick Flair know it's a show. It's not supposed to

<v Speaker 1>be real. I'm not supposed to wake up with a

<v Speaker 1>really sore chest. I have no respect for guys that

<v Speaker 1>hurt each other all the time. It's just to me,

<v Speaker 1>lazy shit wrestling. When guys like Gunther and I've told

<v Speaker 1>him this to his face, it's bullshit. When you're hurting

<v Speaker 1>somebody for real, you're unprofessional. I wrestle guys and never

<v Speaker 1>hurt anybody. See I'm telling you. It's like his greatest

<v Speaker 1>point of pride that he never hurt anybody in the

<v Speaker 1>ring that Brett also mentioned wrestlers like Cmpunk and Dax

<v Speaker 1>Harwood when he's not busy tweeting obsessively over podcasters online,

<v Speaker 1>who frequently pay homage to him in their matches. He said,

<v Speaker 1>I take it as a compliment. And whenever I watch

<v Speaker 1>wrestling and I see something that's obviously a salute or

<v Speaker 1>sort of like, hey, that was bretttheart in nineteen eighty

<v Speaker 1>eight or something like that, I take that as a

<v Speaker 1>huge compliment, Especially from the wrestlers today. I think they'd

<v Speaker 1>all be a lot better off if they copied me more. Oh,

<v Speaker 1>I love it. I love it. He's not wrong. They

<v Speaker 1>would be better off if they borrowed from Brett Hart. Look,

<v Speaker 1>the stuff with the chops, right, the stuff with the

<v Speaker 1>chops is what it is with him. This isn't even

<v Speaker 1>the first time he's criticized Gunther for them. Like Brett

<v Speaker 1>was at that first clash at the Castle show in

<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty two when Gunther wrestled Seamus and they had

<v Speaker 1>that awesome match. I loved it. It was one of

<v Speaker 1>my favorite. Actually, I think I had that as my

<v Speaker 1>WWE match of the year. Brett Hard hated it and

<v Speaker 1>said that he thought all the chops made wrestling look

<v Speaker 1>like a charade because he hates chops. Right. I don't

<v Speaker 1>even think he likes pork chops because the word chops

<v Speaker 1>is in it. Brett is very old school in a

<v Speaker 1>lot of ways. Right, It's just how he was brought

<v Speaker 1>up in the dungeon. He's not going to like a

<v Speaker 1>lot about modern wrestling or evidently wrestling from years ago either.

<v Speaker 1>If you chop people, that's his opinion. I think people

<v Speaker 1>can go overboard on the chops, absolutely, but I don't

<v Speaker 1>hate them the way that Brett does. And I also

<v Speaker 1>think it's silly for him to say that. You know,

<v Speaker 1>my dad always said nobody ever beat someone with a chop. Well, yes,

<v Speaker 1>and no one ever gets beat with a side Russian

<v Speaker 1>leg sweep either, But that didn't stop Brett from doing

<v Speaker 1>them in all of his matches. I mean, that's a

<v Speaker 1>pretty silly argument. Like one hundred percent of wrestling matches

<v Speaker 1>are filled with moves that no one ever loses to

<v Speaker 1>or would lose to in a real life fight. That's

<v Speaker 1>every match. I mean, hell, today, finishing moves don't even

<v Speaker 1>beat people. But that doesn't mean that guys should stop

<v Speaker 1>doing them. If they did, all wrestling matches would be

<v Speaker 1>ten seconds long. You know, if I want to watch

<v Speaker 1>a boxing match that could end in ten seconds, I'll

<v Speaker 1>watch a boxing match. If I want to watch an

<v Speaker 1>MMA fight, I'll watch UFC. One thing I do agree

<v Speaker 1>with him on, and I'm not saying I don't enjoy

<v Speaker 1>matches where guys lay their shit in. I mean that's

<v Speaker 1>basically all of Japanese wrestling. But and I think Brett,

<v Speaker 1>it's Brett who once said this. I've always attributed this

<v Speaker 1>quote to him that The real art of wrestling is

<v Speaker 1>making it look like you're hurting your opponent when in

<v Speaker 1>reality you are not harming a single hair on their head.

<v Speaker 1>That's what pro wrestling is supposed to be, in my opinion,

<v Speaker 1>that's the real art of pro wrestling. Anybody can get

<v Speaker 1>into the ring and really hurt someone like that's easy.

<v Speaker 1>It's a lot harder to make your shit look convinced

<v Speaker 1>and make people believe and make people do a double

<v Speaker 1>take like, hey, I know it's a show, but that

<v Speaker 1>looked like it really hurt and in reality it didn't

<v Speaker 1>hurt them at all. They can go backstage and laugh

<v Speaker 1>about it, turned around twenty four hours later, do it

<v Speaker 1>again the next night. That's the art of wrestling. I

<v Speaker 1>agree with Brett on that now. Having said that, when

<v Speaker 1>Gunther and Shamus get in the ring and they start

<v Speaker 1>beating the crap out of each other and Seamus ends

<v Speaker 1>up with these welts all over his body, which is

<v Speaker 1>basically every Shamus match, I love that shit, all right.

<v Speaker 1>I love that too. So. I mean, there's different styles

<v Speaker 1>to pro wrestling. You may not agree with them all,

<v Speaker 1>you may not like them all. I mean, God knows,

<v Speaker 1>there's wrestling out there, especially the ultra violence stuff that

<v Speaker 1>I absolutely hate. But people have different tastes and they're

<v Speaker 1>gonna like what they like. That's always been the case,

<v Speaker 1>from the days of Frank Gotch to Gorgeous George, to

<v Speaker 1>Abdullah the Butcher and what he did to Brett Hart

<v Speaker 1>to Gunther. You need that variety and then you can

<v Speaker 1>pick and choose what you like. This was a very

<v Speaker 1>scary story from the other day. In a social media

<v Speaker 1>post on Thursday night, former Ring of Honor world champion

<v Speaker 1>Jonathan Gresham revealed a very serious situation where he suffered

<v Speaker 1>not one, but two strokes. Said two days ago, I

<v Speaker 1>woke up and couldn't walk or move the left side

<v Speaker 1>of my body. I couldn't see, and I could barely walk.

<v Speaker 1>It took me thirty minutes to dial nine to one one,

<v Speaker 1>but I finally did. I woke up in the hospital,

<v Speaker 1>couldn't remember what had happened. They told me they had

<v Speaker 1>done an MRI and I had two strokes. I had

<v Speaker 1>a lot of tests run, but everything has come back clean.

<v Speaker 1>They're not sure what happened, and the only thing that

<v Speaker 1>they said was it could have been a possible complication

<v Speaker 1>from a bad case of COVID that I had a

<v Speaker 1>couple of weeks ago. They said that we may never

<v Speaker 1>know the exact reason. Needless to say, I will be

<v Speaker 1>taking the next two to four weeks off from wrestling

<v Speaker 1>to recover and get cleared fully by my neurologists. My

<v Speaker 1>wife saw me get carted off from the house on

<v Speaker 1>our ring doorbell camera and somehow flew from Orlando to

<v Speaker 1>Atlanta in time that she was there when I woke up.

<v Speaker 1>I wasn't fully convinced that I had a stroke until

<v Speaker 1>she showed me this photo of how my face looked.

<v Speaker 1>I never thought this would be something for me to

<v Speaker 1>worry about at thirty seven years old. I will be

<v Speaker 1>back soon. Well. Unfortunately, when it comes to strokes and

<v Speaker 1>even heart attacks, age is but a number. There are

<v Speaker 1>a lot of younger people who can and have had

<v Speaker 1>strokes before. And I saw the image. It's kind of grainy,

<v Speaker 1>but again it's from his ring doorbell camera. It shows

<v Speaker 1>the paramedics carrying him out of the house and you

<v Speaker 1>could see like his face is contorted, and it's very scary.

<v Speaker 1>It's very very scary. This is a video. I don't

<v Speaker 1>remember who uploaded it or what organization. It's from but

<v Speaker 1>it's on YouTube. It's kind of like a not commercial,

<v Speaker 1>but it's like a PSA and it shows like how

<v Speaker 1>quickly a stroke can impact somebody. It shows this guy

<v Speaker 1>in his house with his family. In one second, he's fine,

<v Speaker 1>maybe he's eating in the kitchen, and it's from the

<v Speaker 1>perspective I think of his wife and she turns away,

<v Speaker 1>and then when she turns back, his face is like drooping.

<v Speaker 1>And then they're all panicking and they're calling nine one

<v Speaker 1>like it's taking you through like a real life situation.

<v Speaker 1>And I remember the first time I watched that video,

<v Speaker 1>it scared this shit out of me. But you need

<v Speaker 1>to know the signs to watch for. And even scarier,

<v Speaker 1>he was home alone, like you know, Jordan Grace wasn't

<v Speaker 1>even home because again they're married for those who don't know.

<v Speaker 1>So he was home and there was nobody else there,

<v Speaker 1>and it took half an hour for him to even

<v Speaker 1>pick up the phone and call nine to one one

<v Speaker 1>for help. What if he couldn't What if he was

<v Speaker 1>on the floor and couldn't get back up and she

<v Speaker 1>was on the road. I mean, it could have ended

<v Speaker 1>very badly if he didn't get medical intervention when he did,

<v Speaker 1>and one stroke is scary enough, let alone having two

<v Speaker 1>at thirty seven years old. I did kind of laugh

<v Speaker 1>when he was like, I'm going to be taking the

<v Speaker 1>next two to four weeks off and then I'll be

<v Speaker 1>back in the ring hopefully. Like, brother, I think you've

<v Speaker 1>got bigger problems to worry about right now than getting

<v Speaker 1>back in the ring in the next two weeks. Like

<v Speaker 1>my god, I mean, I get it, you want to

<v Speaker 1>go back to work and make money, but shit, like,

<v Speaker 1>take care of yourself. Okay, you may not be able

<v Speaker 1>to get back in the ring in two to four weeks.

<v Speaker 1>Hopefully he'll be able to get back in the ring

<v Speaker 1>sometime soon. But that was a very scary situation to

<v Speaker 1>hear about. And this was also scary, but for a

<v Speaker 1>very different reason. It was scary, And then I laughed.

<v Speaker 1>Joey Ryan, there's a name you may not have heard

<v Speaker 1>in a while, and for good reason. He got swept

<v Speaker 1>up in the me too movement, Not me too, wasn't

<v Speaker 1>me too? Me too? Speaking out whatever whatever hashtag they

<v Speaker 1>attached to it. This was five years ago. He's a

<v Speaker 1>creeper and he was basically expelled from wrestling, and nobody

<v Speaker 1>would work with him and anyway. There was an indie

<v Speaker 1>promotion attempting to revive Portland Wrestling that has canceled its

<v Speaker 1>booking of Joey Ryan after receiving backlash from the fans.

<v Speaker 1>Oh you don't say. The Portland Wrestling Reborn event is

<v Speaker 1>or Or was scheduled for August twenty third in Vancouver, Washington,

<v Speaker 1>and it was announced that Joey Ryan, who has been

<v Speaker 1>out of wrestling since being accused of sexual assault and

<v Speaker 1>harassment during the Speaking Out movement of twenty twenty, would

<v Speaker 1>be making his return at the show. However, that is

<v Speaker 1>no longer happening and the entire event is in jeopardy

<v Speaker 1>of being canceled. I have canceled Joey Ryan's flight. The

<v Speaker 1>promotion announced he will not be appearing at the August

<v Speaker 1>twenty third show. The person behind the Portland Wrestling revival

<v Speaker 1>said that it is highly likely the show will not

<v Speaker 1>take place anymore, blaming another Pacific Northwest wrestling group for

<v Speaker 1>threatening to blackball anyone who is going to work the show.

<v Speaker 1>Prestige Wrestling's promoter threatened to black ball every wrestler, trainer,

<v Speaker 1>and ring crew member who works with me, causing multiple

<v Speaker 1>wrestlers to drop out of the show, and even the

<v Speaker 1>guy I was renting the ring from canceled the rental.

<v Speaker 1>We currently do not have a ring for the show

<v Speaker 1>taking place in less than three weeks. Prestige Wrestling is

<v Speaker 1>holding a show of their own in Portland on August

<v Speaker 1>twenty third, which was announced as a counter to this event.

<v Speaker 1>This was before Joey Ryan was canceled. The Prestige show

<v Speaker 1>is billed as a night of safe space pro wrestling

<v Speaker 1>action for the scene, by the scene that helped cultivate

<v Speaker 1>modern day Portland wrestling. Fans can pay whatever price they

<v Speaker 1>want for tickets, with all profits being donated to charity.

<v Speaker 1>And explaining why he booked Joey Ryan in the first place,

<v Speaker 1>the Portland wrestling promoter wrote, he was very reasonably priced.

<v Speaker 1>Oh well, okay, all right, Well, hey he came cheap.

<v Speaker 1>What a great reason? He said, he was very reasonably priced.

<v Speaker 1>He hadn't worked the area since like twenty fourteen. Local

<v Speaker 1>guys wanted to work with him, and it was an

<v Speaker 1>opportunity for him to move past the mustache gimmick that

<v Speaker 1>I never cared for anyway. Alas other promoters have publicly

<v Speaker 1>threatened to blackball anyone who worked for me and explicitly

<v Speaker 1>stated that they would destroy my show before it even

<v Speaker 1>got off the ground. They were successful at that. Well,

<v Speaker 1>hold on a second. Here, let me strum the world's

<v Speaker 1>smallest violin for this promoter. There you go. I always

<v Speaker 1>have my trusty tiny violin here for just these very occasions.

<v Speaker 1>I love this thing. I may take my act on

<v Speaker 1>the road. At least that'll be one show more than

<v Speaker 1>what Joey Ryan will be working. And on that note,

<v Speaker 1>we will leave it there. I hope you've enjoyed this episode.

<v Speaker 1>A lot of news this week. Hopefully there'll be a

<v Speaker 1>lot of news next week when we come back next

<v Speaker 1>Sunday for episode nine to twenty five of The SoundOff.

<v Speaker 1>Of course you can I meet live on the YouTube

<v Speaker 1>channel Solo Monster Sounds Off all week long, Monday night

<v Speaker 1>for the Raw post show, Wednesday night for the Dynamite

<v Speaker 1>Post Show, and Friday night for the SmackDown Post Show.

<v Speaker 1>And Tuesday night over on JD's channel for another episode

<v Speaker 1>of Tuesday Night Titans, which has been killing it so

<v Speaker 1>far this summer. So it's going to be another busy

<v Speaker 1>week leading into nine to twenty five next weekend. And

<v Speaker 1>at a very busy end of the month with that

<v Speaker 1>European tour coming up, Forbidden Doors coming up, Clash from Paris,

<v Speaker 1>a very international flavor for wrestling for the latter part

<v Speaker 1>of August. Here be well, stay safe, have yourselves a

<v Speaker 1>great week, and I will see you back here next

<v Speaker 1>Sunday for more sound off. Until then, take care, guys.

<v Speaker 1>The Solemn Monster sounds off. Bronzon Reid one on one

<v Speaker 1>against jay Uso. So Usa got back in the ring

<v Speaker 1>and he was looking for another suicide dive. He has

<v Speaker 1>stopped in his tracks because Bronze and read yeat it.

<v Speaker 1>You talk about yeating. He yeaded this fucking chair, this

<v Speaker 1>office chair, right at jay Usso's head, and the referee

<v Speaker 1>falls for the bell for what you would assume is

<v Speaker 1>a disqualification. They called this a no contest. I would

<v Speaker 1>love to know what do you have to do to

<v Speaker 1>get yourself disqualified? If Bronson red shot jay Usso in

<v Speaker 1>the face, would it be a no contest? Like? Where's

<v Speaker 1>the line here? When I saw that on the screen,

<v Speaker 1>I said, you got you gotta be shitting this man

<v Speaker 1>threw a fucking office chair at this man's head. A

<v Speaker 1>no contest? The Solo Monster sounds off, bringing you the good,

<v Speaker 1>the bad, and the ugly. Check out the weekly live

<v Speaker 1>streams bonus content for subscribers, and follow The Sola Monster

<v Speaker 1>on Facebook, Instagram, and X the Solo Monster. I Love

<v Speaker 1>you so long.