<v Speaker 1>It's business time, baby. You are listening to Solo Monsters

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

<v Speaker 1>want your soul. Mind a woman. You got grown ass

<v Speaker 1>wrestlers in the back going on Twitter. Come over here, party?

<v Speaker 1>Is that hot Patterson? You have legs? Weekend? I was

<v Speaker 1>ninety nine percent positive it was just chested up. Now

<v Speaker 1>I have been begging him for a job on every

<v Speaker 1>every platform I can, and I would have know the

<v Speaker 1>reason why you won't park. Welcome to episode nine eight

<v Speaker 1>of The Solo Monster Sounds Off here on a very

<v Speaker 1>snowy Sunday, January twenty fifth, twenty twenty six. It is

<v Speaker 1>a mess across multiple states. I know a lot of

<v Speaker 1>people are kind of blanketed in snow to varying degrees

<v Speaker 1>across the country. So wherever you may be, hopefully you

<v Speaker 1>guys are staying safe, staying indoors if you can, and

<v Speaker 1>listening to the SoundOff. Because we got a lot to

<v Speaker 1>talk about here this week, including some fallout from Saturday

<v Speaker 1>Night's made event last night in Montreal. We have a

<v Speaker 1>Royal Rumble preview and predictions as well for this coming weekend.

<v Speaker 1>News on the new planned WWE Championship match for WrestleMania.

<v Speaker 1>News on Powerhouse Hobbs or what used to be Powerhouse Hobbs.

<v Speaker 1>I've got thoughts on TNA on AMC episode two, which

<v Speaker 1>I did watch on Thursday. We're going to talk about

<v Speaker 1>the tre Migael situation. I'm going to give you my

<v Speaker 1>full thoughts on that, so I'm a real talk there

<v Speaker 1>and a lot more. I am almost done with WWE

<v Speaker 1>Unreal Season two. I got half of the last episode

<v Speaker 1>left to finish, and once I'm done with it, I'll

<v Speaker 1>give my thoughts on the season overall. So I'm probably

<v Speaker 1>not going to really touch on it this week, but

<v Speaker 1>I do want to say thank you for ninety thousand

<v Speaker 1>subscribers on YouTube. We hit that milestone earlier in the

<v Speaker 1>week and we are already marching towards ninety one thousands.

<v Speaker 1>A hearty thank you to all of you. And also

<v Speaker 1>one quick reminder here, House of Glory This coming Friday,

<v Speaker 1>City of Angels at the Legendary Globe Theater. It is

<v Speaker 1>our Los Angeles debut with androde Ldelo against the Amazing

<v Speaker 1>Red for the first time ever, and WWE Hall of

<v Speaker 1>Famer Kurt Angle will be in attendance. Doing a meet

<v Speaker 1>and greet as well. There are very limited balcony seats

<v Speaker 1>that are still available at hog Wrestling dot Net. I

<v Speaker 1>will not be there in LA this weekend. I had

<v Speaker 1>to hang back, especially with the Royal Rumble on Saturday

<v Speaker 1>being so much earlier in the day. But I will

<v Speaker 1>be back on the call for our New York return

<v Speaker 1>coming up on February twentieth, and we're gonna have some

<v Speaker 1>exciting news about that very soon. I don't want to

<v Speaker 1>let the cat out of the bag yet, but we

<v Speaker 1>got big things bruined. So go ahead and pick up

<v Speaker 1>those tickets. If you are out in LA and you

<v Speaker 1>are looking to check out House of Glory for the

<v Speaker 1>first time, I know you're gonna have a good time.

<v Speaker 1>It's gonna be a good show. I also want to

<v Speaker 1>say thank you to all of our PayPal producers for

<v Speaker 1>this week ten dollars for more we'll get your nickname

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

<v Speaker 1>to these fine folks here, including big time Boris Vainman.

<v Speaker 1>He's a long time first time We have a lot

<v Speaker 1>of those here. It's always good to I hear from

<v Speaker 1>someone every now and then. Link with a mailbag question

<v Speaker 1>or something I've been lurking. I've been listening for ten years,

<v Speaker 1>fifteen years, and then finally they pop their head above ground.

<v Speaker 1>It's good to hear from you. Don't be a stranger.

<v Speaker 1>The Portland pop Star, Paul Hamilton, Big b Bryant, Besera,

<v Speaker 1>The Diamond Dallas Dance Machine, Harrison Soapp, night Stalker, Ni

<v Speaker 1>f Alsafar, Thank you for the double drop, Velvet Revolver,

<v Speaker 1>Robert Murray, the Iowan corn Farmer, Jesse Lambfear, What's going on? Jesse,

<v Speaker 1>the Wichita Workhorse, Clayton Nettleton, thank you for that proof

<v Speaker 1>of life, The Georgia Nightmare, Timothy Tillis Shooting Star, Cynthia Taylor,

<v Speaker 1>The Chicago Slayer, Willie Iichord, Fast Blast, Tim Banks Kill Shot,

<v Speaker 1>Keith Hart and DJ password Reset. Thank you guys so much,

<v Speaker 1>and do not forget with the Royal Rumble coming up

<v Speaker 1>next weekend. We have our Royal Rumble pool going on

<v Speaker 1>in the private group on Facebook. We have over nine

<v Speaker 1>hundred and twenty entrants and counting. The deadline to enter

<v Speaker 1>is this Thursday, January twenty ninth, at one pm Eastern time.

<v Speaker 1>It is being hosted by Julian cannon and to enter,

<v Speaker 1>it's free, free to play. All you got to do

<v Speaker 1>is find the pin post at the top of the group.

<v Speaker 1>It is a private group, so if you are not

<v Speaker 1>in there, you will have to apply for membership to

<v Speaker 1>try to be approved. But if you're in the group,

<v Speaker 1>go find that pin post on top. All you gotta

<v Speaker 1>do is hit the like button and if you like

<v Speaker 1>the post, you will officially be entered. Later in the week,

<v Speaker 1>I think on Friday, Julian is going to be issuing

<v Speaker 1>random numbers to everybody and depending on what number you draw.

<v Speaker 1>Let's just say hypothetically you draw number fifteen, that is

<v Speaker 1>your number for both the Men's Rumble and the Women's Rumble,

<v Speaker 1>which means if anybody wins either rumble from the number

<v Speaker 1>fifteen spot, you would win your pool, which was more

<v Speaker 1>for just bragging rights. But then everybody's names are going

<v Speaker 1>to be entered into a couple of ultimate rumble pools.

<v Speaker 1>Have to clarify with Julian again, I believe we're picking

<v Speaker 1>two different winners and I'll pick them at random on

<v Speaker 1>one of the upcoming live streams. There's prizes involved. It's

<v Speaker 1>a fun time, so go ahead because time is ticking down.

<v Speaker 1>We have to start with some sad news. Bobby Duncom's senior,

<v Speaker 1>who was a top heel in the nineteen seventies and

<v Speaker 1>early eighties and played briefly in the NFL before that.

<v Speaker 1>He played I think like a whopping four games, but

<v Speaker 1>he did play. He died on Wednesday at the age

<v Speaker 1>of eighty one. WWE posted the following announcement. WWE is

<v Speaker 1>saddened to learn that Bobby Duncan's senior has passed away.

<v Speaker 1>One of the most feared villains of the territories, the

<v Speaker 1>rugged cowboy from Austin, Texas, was as tough as they came.

<v Speaker 1>A graduate of West Texas State University, the same institution

<v Speaker 1>that produced Dusty Rhoades, the Funk Brothers, and many other icons,

<v Speaker 1>Duncan was selected by the Saint Louis Cardinals in the

<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty seven NFL Draft and played four pro games.

<v Speaker 1>In nineteen sixty eight, carrying on the great tradition of

<v Speaker 1>Texas football stars turn pro wrestlers, Duncan entered the ring

<v Speaker 1>and became infamous for his wild street fights and brutal

<v Speaker 1>battles against legends like Bruno Sammartino, and Bob Backland. He

<v Speaker 1>was also a member of the iconic Heenan family, led

<v Speaker 1>by WWE Hall of Famer Bobby the Brain Heenan in

<v Speaker 1>the AWA. If you think that Don Kallis family has

<v Speaker 1>a lot of members, you never saw the Heenan family,

<v Speaker 1>at least with the Heenan family though it ran across

<v Speaker 1>multiple promotions and Bobby was actually out there taking bumps.

<v Speaker 1>But you know, Duncan worked everywhere. He worked most of

<v Speaker 1>the big names of that era, not just Sam Martino

<v Speaker 1>in Backland, worked a lot of the NWAS territories, the

<v Speaker 1>AWA where he held the tag team titles with Blackjack Lanza.

<v Speaker 1>They held them for almost a year. He actually tagged

<v Speaker 1>with a young Kurt Hennig who years later, and this

<v Speaker 1>was in the New Japan Tag League in nineteen eighty three.

<v Speaker 1>But this is the same Kurt Hennig who years later

<v Speaker 1>in WCW was part of a little crew you may

<v Speaker 1>remember called the West Texas Rednecks I hate Rap, but

<v Speaker 1>it was a group that also included Bobby Duncan Junior,

<v Speaker 1>his son, and unfortunately, in two thousand, Dunkham Junior died

<v Speaker 1>of a fentanyl overdose. But you go back to the seventies,

<v Speaker 1>you know, he was challenging Brunos, Sam Martino and Bob

<v Speaker 1>Backland on the regular, you know, for what was then

<v Speaker 1>the WWWF Championship. And he's also part of an interesting

<v Speaker 1>period in wrestling history, and I talked about this on

<v Speaker 1>the Sound of many years ago. On November thirtieth, nineteen

<v Speaker 1>seventy nine, Antonio Minoki beat Bob Backland in a match

<v Speaker 1>in Japan to win the WWF Championship, which it was

<v Speaker 1>a reign that WWE never officially recognized. Even when they

<v Speaker 1>inducted Enoch into their Hall of Fame in twenty ten,

<v Speaker 1>they never mentioned that he got a win over Backland

<v Speaker 1>and technically won the title, because then they would be

<v Speaker 1>forced to admit that Backland really did not hold the

<v Speaker 1>championship uninterrupted for whatever it was, five straight years, five

<v Speaker 1>and a half years. It would ruin their version of history.

<v Speaker 1>But it was the first day of Backland's tour in Japan,

<v Speaker 1>and so a week later they had a rematch in

<v Speaker 1>Tokyo that Backland won, but it was not without controversy

<v Speaker 1>because it looked like the referee reversed his decision and

<v Speaker 1>he handed the belt back to Anoki, who ended up

<v Speaker 1>vacating the title immediately after. So eight days later Madison

<v Speaker 1>Square Garden, Backland beats Bobby Duncan in a Texas deathmatch

<v Speaker 1>to win back What people in the arena did not

<v Speaker 1>realize was a vacant title because they never told the

<v Speaker 1>fans that the championship was vacant, and they had no

<v Speaker 1>idea that this happened, because at the time, what would

<v Speaker 1>they know, A right, I'm sure very few people in

<v Speaker 1>the building that night would have known. But in his book,

<v Speaker 1>Backland said the reason they did the title change in

<v Speaker 1>the first place was really as a favor to Anochie

<v Speaker 1>to keep him on the same level with gian Baba,

<v Speaker 1>who had a few runs with the NWA world titles.

<v Speaker 1>So really it was all just to satiate his ego

<v Speaker 1>more than anything else. So the fans in the garden

<v Speaker 1>that night had no clue that Backland wasn't the champion

<v Speaker 1>when he walked out to the ring. But other than

<v Speaker 1>him not having the title, you know with him when

<v Speaker 1>he came out, it was like any other Bob Backland

<v Speaker 1>title match, you know in Madison Square Garden. But I

<v Speaker 1>think my favorite Bobby Duncan's story is when he wrestled

<v Speaker 1>as an I shit you not. He wrestled as the

<v Speaker 1>Mummy for a very short period of time in the

<v Speaker 1>early eighties. It was It's a gimmicked wrestling as old

<v Speaker 1>as time, dating back to the I think the sixties.

<v Speaker 1>There have been many Mummies over the years and it

<v Speaker 1>never fucking works, but they do it anyway. Of course,

<v Speaker 1>we all remember the Yetay got the Yetay in WCW,

<v Speaker 1>but as the Mummy he feuded with Bruiser Brody and

<v Speaker 1>built to a cage match between the two of them.

<v Speaker 1>I don't think he wrestled for much longer after that,

<v Speaker 1>maybe a year or two and that was it. He

<v Speaker 1>was done. But hey, you know, when you get to

<v Speaker 1>the end of your career, if the money is decent enough,

<v Speaker 1>I guess you'll do almost anything. At least he was

<v Speaker 1>all wrapped up. I doubt the fans even knew who

<v Speaker 1>he was. WWE held its sixth Saturday Nights Made event

<v Speaker 1>last night since relaunching the show in twenty twenty four,

<v Speaker 1>and out of all six top to bottom, it was

<v Speaker 1>the best one that they've produced, with three matches. It

<v Speaker 1>was supposed to be four, but Cody Rhads and Jacob

<v Speaker 1>fought too. They brawled all over the building before Drew

<v Speaker 1>McIntyre took them both out, So we never actually got

<v Speaker 1>that fourth match that was advertised technically. But it was

<v Speaker 1>a very good show. And on the subject of Cody

<v Speaker 1>and faugh two, I had nothing but praise for the

<v Speaker 1>segment with them on SmackDown Friday night, and I did

<v Speaker 1>not have a whole lot to praise when it came

<v Speaker 1>to that SmackDown show. That show was largely just boring

<v Speaker 1>as shit. But the best thing on that show was

<v Speaker 1>the And it was pre produced that was supposed to

<v Speaker 1>be a sit down interview earlier in the day with

<v Speaker 1>Cody Rhoades and Michael Cole, and it didn't go very

<v Speaker 1>long before it Fatu walked in surrounded by officials and

<v Speaker 1>Nick all this just trying to make sure that things

<v Speaker 1>didn't get out of hand. But then they just went

<v Speaker 1>face to face and to you know, put some real

<v Speaker 1>heat on their match heading into the show last night,

<v Speaker 1>and it was fantastic. You know, you you got a

<v Speaker 1>real sense, more so in that segment than I think

<v Speaker 1>anything else he has done so far on the microphone

<v Speaker 1>of what Jacob Fatu can do on them. It was

<v Speaker 1>the best promo segment that he's been involved in since

<v Speaker 1>coming to the company. And the word I kept throwing

<v Speaker 1>around on Friday night when I was talking about this

<v Speaker 1>was authenticity. He's authentic, He's genuine. You don't get the

<v Speaker 1>sense when you're listening to him that he is being

<v Speaker 1>something that he is not. He's being himself. Obviously it's

<v Speaker 1>amped up, right, but that's the way it should be, right.

<v Speaker 1>That's what the Stone Cold used to talk about that,

<v Speaker 1>Oh it's just me, but you know what, the volume

<v Speaker 1>turned up and you know we saw remember when he

<v Speaker 1>first came in, he was not saying a whole lot

<v Speaker 1>and then he would grunt or whatever. So like now

<v Speaker 1>to be able to actually, you know, hear him cut

<v Speaker 1>real promos and to have him in the position that

<v Speaker 1>he is in now where he's mixing it up with

<v Speaker 1>top guys on the brand. Right, they don't get no

<v Speaker 1>bigger on SmackDown than Cody Rhoades. I know he's not

<v Speaker 1>the champion anymore, but he's still the face of that company,

<v Speaker 1>and so it's a great spot for him to be in.

<v Speaker 1>It's a time where I think SmackDown they really need

<v Speaker 1>guys like this to step up and be the top,

<v Speaker 1>you know, heels and babyfaces, because it's pretty thin on

<v Speaker 1>top on SmackDown, especially on the heel side, and Fat

<v Speaker 1>is not really a heel. I mean, the fans still

<v Speaker 1>largely cheer for him. I consider him more of a

<v Speaker 1>tweener right now. But I love that segment. I just

<v Speaker 1>thought it was great. And Cody was kind of throwing

<v Speaker 1>his background at him. You know, he used to be

<v Speaker 1>locked up. You cost me my championship because you weren't

<v Speaker 1>using your heads. You weren't thinking, just like you weren't

<v Speaker 1>thinking when you got thrown in prison. And you know,

<v Speaker 1>Jacob went into that for a little bit. So I

<v Speaker 1>thought that stuff was great and then we got to

<v Speaker 1>the match. Now, this match was put together on short notice, right,

<v Speaker 1>They didn't have a whole lot of time to promote it.

<v Speaker 1>But I was looking forward to it. But I said,

<v Speaker 1>coming into the show, right, what did I say on

<v Speaker 1>the podcast last week? I said, I did the predictions.

<v Speaker 1>I said, I'm not predicting either men to win this

<v Speaker 1>match because I cannot see WWE wanting to beat either

<v Speaker 1>one of these men, especially Cody coming off he already

<v Speaker 1>lost to Drew in three stages a hell and so

<v Speaker 1>sure enough. If I mean the bell never even rang,

<v Speaker 1>Fatu attacked him, you know, before the bell could even ring,

<v Speaker 1>in the middle of his entrance, and they ended up

<v Speaker 1>brawling all over ringside. They brawled into the crowd, they

<v Speaker 1>brawled up the stairs, they brawled onto the concourse over

<v Speaker 1>where the concessions are, back into the arena, until finally

<v Speaker 1>Drew and nobody could stop them. All these security geeks

<v Speaker 1>are trying to put a stop to it. They're getting

<v Speaker 1>beaten up left and right. And it took Drew McIntyre

<v Speaker 1>to finally put an end to things, you know, sending

<v Speaker 1>fought to flying through a table, and then he jackknife

<v Speaker 1>power bombs Cody through a table, and then finally it

<v Speaker 1>was over. But it was a very hot start to

<v Speaker 1>the show. It was wild, it was chaotic. The fans

<v Speaker 1>were going nuts for it. The fans were I mean

<v Speaker 1>literally in the middle of it. Of course they're going

<v Speaker 1>nuts for it. And I felt like it went long enough.

<v Speaker 1>It wasn't short, it went long enough where I didn't

<v Speaker 1>feel like I was cheated out of something. I mean, yes,

<v Speaker 1>there was no official match, but it went long enough

<v Speaker 1>where I felt like, Okay, this was good, right, this

<v Speaker 1>was a hot way to start the show, and it

<v Speaker 1>accomplished what they wanted to because it put more heat

<v Speaker 1>on Drew Right for putting an end to it. But

<v Speaker 1>also it protected both men. And I'm one of these

<v Speaker 1>people who believe the WWE goes way overboard on protecting people.

<v Speaker 1>You don't always I'm not saying everybody needs to beat,

<v Speaker 1>but I'm saying you don't always have to protect every

<v Speaker 1>top star that you have, and they do this way

<v Speaker 1>too often where it's like, you know what, every now

<v Speaker 1>and then, like a clean loss, a pinfall, it's not

<v Speaker 1>going to kill them. But I knew, I just knew

<v Speaker 1>they didn't want to beat either one of these guys,

<v Speaker 1>and so we ended up with not even a no contest.

<v Speaker 1>It just it never got started. But they protected both

<v Speaker 1>men in the process. And so now you come out

<v Speaker 1>of this and you look at this and you say, well,

<v Speaker 1>this looks like it's setting up a triple threat match. Yeah,

<v Speaker 1>it should. I'll talk more about that later, but that

<v Speaker 1>was the impression you get from this segment. At the

<v Speaker 1>end of it, we had Ria Ripley and Eosky. They

<v Speaker 1>retained their women's tag team titles over Live. Morgan and

<v Speaker 1>Roxane Perez and really outside of that one moment in

<v Speaker 1>the match where Rio was clearly late in breaking up

<v Speaker 1>a pin on Eo and the referee had to hold

<v Speaker 1>up their count and that did not look good. But

<v Speaker 1>outside of that little q there, I thought there was

<v Speaker 1>a very strong match. It was never boring, it was

<v Speaker 1>never slow. That was my big critique of the match.

<v Speaker 1>We saw on Friday night, they had a number one

<v Speaker 1>Contenders triple threat match for the women's tag belts, and

<v Speaker 1>I just I watched this match and I'm like, it

<v Speaker 1>looks like they're they're wrestling in quicksand it's like this

<v Speaker 1>is there's no urgency here. Yeah, there's something tangible on

<v Speaker 1>the line in this match, and there's no urgency and

<v Speaker 1>there was, you know, some sloppiness here, and I'm like,

<v Speaker 1>what's going on here? Because I had just watched a

<v Speaker 1>similar match, only it was for a shot at the

<v Speaker 1>TNA Knockouts Tag team titles on NXT on Tuesday night,

<v Speaker 1>which sold Ruka and Zaria one, and that was a

<v Speaker 1>much better match than the one we got on Friday

<v Speaker 1>here on the main roster. And that's not the first

<v Speaker 1>time that I felt that way about one of these

<v Speaker 1>women's tag matches on SmackDown. So I don't know what's

<v Speaker 1>going on there, but this was very good. No big

<v Speaker 1>surprise that Rhea and EO retained. We had Stephanie Vaquier

<v Speaker 1>making a cameo here she is back, which is great

<v Speaker 1>to say. She came out to fight off the interference

<v Speaker 1>of Raquel Rodriguez and Ria and EO now will defend

<v Speaker 1>the tag team titles at some point, I assume on

<v Speaker 1>an episode of SmackDown, if not this week, maybe next

<v Speaker 1>week against Julia and Keana James, who won that tag

<v Speaker 1>match I referenced from Friday Night, So that match is

<v Speaker 1>going to be coming up soon. But you know, with

<v Speaker 1>each passing week, Ria and EO, you know there's still

<v Speaker 1>the tag team champions. Are they going to take those

<v Speaker 1>titles into WrestleMania. I still don't think so. I still

<v Speaker 1>feel like they're going to drop them before Mania. Maybe

<v Speaker 1>we'll get Ria against EO. Because I'm still in my

<v Speaker 1>mind trying to figure out what do you do with

<v Speaker 1>these two, Like they're two of the most popular stars

<v Speaker 1>on the roster. You gotta have them in a meaningful match.

<v Speaker 1>You can't just keep them in tag team hell for

<v Speaker 1>the next three or four months. I mean, I know

<v Speaker 1>they've been trying to heat up the women's tag division,

<v Speaker 1>but just they're bigger than that. And even if there

<v Speaker 1>was nothing on the line, because if they do Rea

<v Speaker 1>against EO, maybe with the idea that Rhea finally gets

<v Speaker 1>that elusive win right over Eo Sky, that's big enough.

<v Speaker 1>You don't need a championship on the line in that match.

<v Speaker 1>That's a solid mid card WrestleMania level match that you

<v Speaker 1>can do on that show, even if there's no title involved.

<v Speaker 1>We also had one last battle between AJ Styles and

<v Speaker 1>Shinsky Knackhemore. This match was literally set up on twenty

<v Speaker 1>four hours notice and they went out there and they

<v Speaker 1>had the kind of match that was very cool to

<v Speaker 1>be able to see them have considering some of the

<v Speaker 1>past matches they've had. Now AJ had the chance to

<v Speaker 1>go out there in October and have one more classic

<v Speaker 1>with John Cena and they always had great matches together,

<v Speaker 1>but that was I was happy that we were able

<v Speaker 1>to see that match on the Sena retirement tour, right

<v Speaker 1>because there was a lot of shit that we had

<v Speaker 1>to sit through during that retirement tour. That one of

<v Speaker 1>the highlights of the entire tour. As far as AJ

<v Speaker 1>and Aackimore, there were very high expectations for their WrestleMania

<v Speaker 1>match in twenty eighteen, coming off the match they had

<v Speaker 1>two years earlier in New Japan or Wrestle Kingdom, which

<v Speaker 1>was a fantastic match, And maybe the expectations were too high.

<v Speaker 1>I don't know, but still, I mean, it wasn't like

<v Speaker 1>they had that match five years earlier. It was only

<v Speaker 1>two years earlier. And those guys could still I mean,

<v Speaker 1>they could still go now. But you know, physically, you know,

<v Speaker 1>there was no reason to think that they were past

<v Speaker 1>their prime or anything like that. It's the WrestleMania stage

<v Speaker 1>and so you think, man, these guys are going to

<v Speaker 1>go out there and they're gonna steal the show, right,

<v Speaker 1>They're gonna tear it up. And they didn't do that,

<v Speaker 1>and it was unfortunate because it's still talked about to

<v Speaker 1>this day, the disappointment of that match. So they went

<v Speaker 1>out there last night and they had if and I

<v Speaker 1>said this last night, if it was not the best

<v Speaker 1>match that they've had together in WWE, it was the

<v Speaker 1>second best match. Because I don't think that money in

<v Speaker 1>the Bank match gets enough love. It's funny I mentioned

<v Speaker 1>that on the review last night. I specifically mentioned Money

<v Speaker 1>in the Bank twenty eighteen because and I'm going to

<v Speaker 1>talk about what Knackamora posted last night which has caused

<v Speaker 1>some controversy. But he posted like a blog entry online

<v Speaker 1>talking about his relationship and his feud with AJ Styles,

<v Speaker 1>and in that post he actually singled out the Money

<v Speaker 1>in the Bank match from twenty eighteen and said that

<v Speaker 1>is his favorite match, or maybe in WWE, but that's

<v Speaker 1>his favorite match. And I'm like, see, no, I'm not crazy.

<v Speaker 1>So again, maybe this wasn't number one, but if this

<v Speaker 1>wasn't number one, then this is right behind it in

<v Speaker 1>number two. This was an excellent match they had last night.

<v Speaker 1>Look if this match happened in the Tokyo Dome, I

<v Speaker 1>don't think anybody would would be looking at it any

<v Speaker 1>differently than a great Tokyo Dome match. I mean, it

<v Speaker 1>was a back and forth battle all the way through.

<v Speaker 1>It was Nakamura's best match in a very long time,

<v Speaker 1>and in the end, aj Style, predictably, of course, gets

<v Speaker 1>the win. I loved the reenactment of the fist bump

<v Speaker 1>from Wrussell Kingdom. Both met on their knees fist bumping

<v Speaker 1>each other. I thought that was a great callback. So

<v Speaker 1>I loved everything about this. This was just it was

<v Speaker 1>just a great match. And I'm gonna have a lot

<v Speaker 1>more to say about aj here in a little bit.

<v Speaker 1>But in the main event, we had Sammy's Ain becoming

<v Speaker 1>number one contender for the WWE Championship. He will wrestle,

<v Speaker 1>he will challenge Drew McIntyre at the Royal Rumble. He

<v Speaker 1>got the win here over Damian Priest, Randy Orton and

<v Speaker 1>Trick Williams, and it was a good match. The outcome

<v Speaker 1>was exactly what I expected it to be, except for

<v Speaker 1>one small detail. I was actually quite surprised that Sammy

<v Speaker 1>got the pin on Damian Priest and not on Trick Williams,

<v Speaker 1>because I thought this was setting up for Trick to

<v Speaker 1>take that first loss, and it wouldn't have hurt him

<v Speaker 1>because he's in there with Randy Orton and Sammy's Ain,

<v Speaker 1>so he gets to beat in a fatal four way.

<v Speaker 1>It's not the end of the world. I think he's

<v Speaker 1>been kept very strong so far. He's only been on

<v Speaker 1>the main roster for all of a month. He's already

<v Speaker 1>he already feels like a superstar on SmackDown, but they

<v Speaker 1>protected him and they had and Damian Priest, let's be honest,

<v Speaker 1>is not really protected in the way that some of

<v Speaker 1>the top top guys are protected. So he was the

<v Speaker 1>one who ate the pin in that match. And again

<v Speaker 1>it was good. It was good. Everybody had a chance

<v Speaker 1>to shine here and there and kind of get their

<v Speaker 1>shit in predictable finish, but the correct one, and when

<v Speaker 1>the show is over, I just felt, you know what,

<v Speaker 1>it was an easy two hours to watch and top

<v Speaker 1>to bottom the best Saturday Nights of main event that

<v Speaker 1>they've done so far since the reboot, so I don't

<v Speaker 1>really have too many complaints about it. It was obviously

<v Speaker 1>setting up for the bigger show, which is what we'll

<v Speaker 1>talk about now, because with Saturday night's main event out

<v Speaker 1>of the way, the Royal Rumble, usually my favorite event

<v Speaker 1>of the year is this Saturday from RIODD Saudi Arabia,

<v Speaker 1>with an earlier start time of two pm Eastern. The

<v Speaker 1>outdoor stadium that they have been building from scratch, it's

<v Speaker 1>either done or just about done. I saw the photos

<v Speaker 1>of what it looks like, and compared to what it

<v Speaker 1>looked like three weeks ago, it's pretty incredible. What they

<v Speaker 1>were able to do in such a short period of time.

<v Speaker 1>I think it's supposed to fit somewhere around thirty thousand people,

<v Speaker 1>so there'll be a lot of people there. I'm sure

<v Speaker 1>WWE is being paid a hefty sum for the show,

<v Speaker 1>and maybe that's why this has been the worst promoted

<v Speaker 1>Royal Rumble in decades, really since the first couple they did,

<v Speaker 1>which had virtually no promotion whatsoever. And the first one

<v Speaker 1>wasn't even on pay per view. It was a TV

<v Speaker 1>special that they created to counter program a Crocket pay

<v Speaker 1>per view. But the promotion for this show has been

<v Speaker 1>virtually non existent. It's just been awful. You know. We

<v Speaker 1>didn't even get anyone declaring for or talking about the

<v Speaker 1>Royal Rumble matches until Cody finally spoke up last week,

<v Speaker 1>and then that opened the floodgates for another I don't

<v Speaker 1>know ten or twelve people to declare on Raw Monday night.

<v Speaker 1>And as has been the case with the Rumble the

<v Speaker 1>last couple of years, we've got four matches announced. So

<v Speaker 1>let's run through them here and I'll give my quick

<v Speaker 1>predictions as we go along. It's always a dangerous thing

<v Speaker 1>to do, given we still have one Raw and one

<v Speaker 1>SmackDown left to go. But what the hell, We'll start

<v Speaker 1>with the thirty woman Royal Rumble match. They're gonna have

<v Speaker 1>to get creative with the full body suits so they

<v Speaker 1>don't all come out looking the same. It's gonna be

<v Speaker 1>hard to tell them apart out there otherwise. The names

<v Speaker 1>that have declared so far, and I am recording this

<v Speaker 1>on Sunday, here are the names that have declared so far.

<v Speaker 1>Ria Ripley, Eo Sky Live, Morgan, Roxane Perez, Raquel Rodriguez,

<v Speaker 1>Bailey Lyra, Valkyria, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Naya Jacks, Lash, Legend,

<v Speaker 1>Chelsea Green, Jordan Grace, Julia Osca, and Kyrie, who says

<v Speaker 1>that she will do everything in her power to make

<v Speaker 1>sure that Oscar wins. So I'm assuming Kyrie is in

<v Speaker 1>and not just gonna be out there in her corner.

<v Speaker 1>I believe Kyrie is actually in the rumble itself. Becky

<v Speaker 1>Lynch has not entered yet, but I'm assuming she will.

<v Speaker 1>I think we get aj Lee as a surprise in

<v Speaker 1>the Rumble for sure. Maybe she eliminates Becky. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>she's so tiny it's hard for me to envision aj

<v Speaker 1>Lee eliminating anyone. But I mean, that's got to be

<v Speaker 1>the WrestleMania match, so it makes sense to get back

<v Speaker 1>to it here now aa Hail, Tatum, Pasley, and Lola

<v Speaker 1>Wes from NXT. They're all featured on the billboard outside

<v Speaker 1>the venue in Saudi, So maybe it means nothing, but

<v Speaker 1>we'll see. Just keep those names in mind because they

<v Speaker 1>could potentially pop up as NXT surprises. I would have

<v Speaker 1>expected names like Blake Monroe and sol Ruka to be

<v Speaker 1>surprise entrance. I'm still I'm still kind of expecting Soul

<v Speaker 1>Ruka to be in there. But I feel like we

<v Speaker 1>live in Roxanne and Raquel. There's gonna be something that

<v Speaker 1>goes wrong, more so at Live in Raquel that leads

<v Speaker 1>to one of them eliminating the other. Because what would

<v Speaker 1>this world be without more drama within the judgment day? Right?

<v Speaker 1>There always has to be drama within the judgment day.

<v Speaker 1>But I've got four names that I've settled on as

<v Speaker 1>the favorites to win. Jordan Grace is on my short list.

<v Speaker 1>She's not my pick to win, but she is in

<v Speaker 1>that top mix. I'd say that top three or four

<v Speaker 1>potential names to win. She has been heavily teased for

<v Speaker 1>an upcoming WWE Championship match with Jade car Gill, so

<v Speaker 1>much so that I think it'll happen before WrestleMania. But

<v Speaker 1>it's entirely possible that she could win the Rumble and

<v Speaker 1>then you call her shot against Jade at WrestleMania if

<v Speaker 1>let's say certain other people who they want to put

<v Speaker 1>in there with Jade are not ready to come back.

<v Speaker 1>It's at least a possibility. So she's on my short list,

<v Speaker 1>as are Live Morgan Rea Ripley, and probably Live Morgan

<v Speaker 1>even more so now that she lost last night. Butlive

<v Speaker 1>Morgan Rea Ripley has to be in that mix. Woman

<v Speaker 1>who I think will return and win in the Royal Rumble,

<v Speaker 1>and that is Bianca Belair. She has been sorely missed,

<v Speaker 1>especially on that SmackDown side in that women's division. Oh boy, boy,

<v Speaker 1>could they use her back. And it's hard to believe

<v Speaker 1>it's been almost a year with the with the finger,

<v Speaker 1>with the broken knuckle that she has been out for.

<v Speaker 1>After that fucking great match, you know, match of the

<v Speaker 1>Year that that WrestleMania that those three went out there

<v Speaker 1>and had. This would be a great place for her

<v Speaker 1>to come back, pick up a big win, and then

<v Speaker 1>do the Bianca in Jade match at WrestleMania, which I'm

<v Speaker 1>sure you know, if they had their way, that would

<v Speaker 1>be the match. Now, for some reason, Bianca, you know,

<v Speaker 1>is not going to be back in time. There is

<v Speaker 1>still another big match, and they they've kind of teased

<v Speaker 1>it a couple of times before, but they still haven't

<v Speaker 1>done it. They've been saving it, and it does make

<v Speaker 1>me wonder if they're saving it potentially for WrestleMania in

<v Speaker 1>the event that Bianca is not cleared in time, and

<v Speaker 1>that's Charlotte Flair, because we're definitely going to get that match.

<v Speaker 1>I think it's point I see, Charlotte really is the

<v Speaker 1>backup name if Bianca can't come back, and then if

<v Speaker 1>you need to figure out a way to get Charlotte,

<v Speaker 1>you know, that title match she could always win, you know,

<v Speaker 1>the elimination Chambers, Like, she doesn't have to win the

<v Speaker 1>Royal Rumble to do it. I don't want her to

<v Speaker 1>win the Royal Rumble. She just won the Rumble last year.

<v Speaker 1>This would be what this would be her third Rumble.

<v Speaker 1>I think if she won, yeah, we don't need to

<v Speaker 1>see that, but I'm picking Bianca Belair. I'm hopeful she'll

<v Speaker 1>be there, and if she is, then she's definitely gonna win.

<v Speaker 1>AJ Styles he puts his career on the line against

<v Speaker 1>the ring general Gunther, looking to collect his third Infinity

<v Speaker 1>Stone after beating Goldberg and John Cena in their respective

<v Speaker 1>final matches. He is looking to make this AJ Styles'

<v Speaker 1>final match. They did an angle on Monday night where

<v Speaker 1>aj wanted a rematch with Gunther after the controversy at

<v Speaker 1>the end of their first match, and Gunther really had

<v Speaker 1>no interest in it. He said, there's no incentive for

<v Speaker 1>me to say yes. But then he had a thought.

<v Speaker 1>He said, actually, that's not true. I will give you

<v Speaker 1>the rematch that you want, but you're going to have

<v Speaker 1>to put something on the line, and what you're going

<v Speaker 1>to have to put on the line is your career.

<v Speaker 1>The idea that I've been telling you guys about this

<v Speaker 1>is how I was hoping it would go. Only in

<v Speaker 1>my head they would be doing this for WrestleMania. So

<v Speaker 1>when I saw they were shooting this angle on Monday

<v Speaker 1>for the potentially the Royal Rumble, I said, boy, that's odd.

<v Speaker 1>Why are they going to this so quickly? And it

<v Speaker 1>was like a show long storyline. AJ had to think

<v Speaker 1>about it, he had to call his wife, and he

<v Speaker 1>told Adam Pierce. Towards the end of the show, he goes,

<v Speaker 1>I'm going to do it. I want the match, so

<v Speaker 1>it's official now. I saw that the Styles he tagged

<v Speaker 1>that would see m Punk in Brussels on one of

<v Speaker 1>the live events, and there was an image of them

<v Speaker 1>floating around online together in the ring, and I saw

<v Speaker 1>that picture, I'm like, man, it would be a sin

<v Speaker 1>not to get a CM Punk AJ Styles singles match

<v Speaker 1>this year before AJ hangs it up like we got

<v Speaker 1>that one last match with Punk and Sena last year.

<v Speaker 1>Punk and Aj. I can't remember if they if they

<v Speaker 1>did do it on TV at one point. I don't

<v Speaker 1>think they did, but I'm talking like it like a

<v Speaker 1>big match. It would be a sin not to get it.

<v Speaker 1>I would not even mind if it was a WrestleMania

<v Speaker 1>main event this year. Now. It may not be a

<v Speaker 1>match that would build towards the future or any story

<v Speaker 1>at all really beyond WrestleMania itself, but it would definitely

<v Speaker 1>be a WrestleMania caliber match, especially if Styles. Let's say

<v Speaker 1>AJ just kept putting his career up in multiple matches,

<v Speaker 1>kind of like what Rick Flair did in two thousand

<v Speaker 1>and eight. But it doesn't even have to be a

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania match. I mean, they could do it in Chicago

<v Speaker 1>with the Elimination Chamber, right unless Punk is defending his

<v Speaker 1>title inside the chamber this year, aj winning the Rumble

<v Speaker 1>itself should he end up in there. To me, that

<v Speaker 1>doesn't make much sense because he either loses and retires

<v Speaker 1>or he beats Gunther, And if he beats Gunther, he's

<v Speaker 1>not coming back out of winning the Royal Rumble too.

<v Speaker 1>If anything, Gunther losing to aj Styles would make it

<v Speaker 1>a lot more likely that Gunther would be coming back

<v Speaker 1>out and winning the Royal Rumble. That would be the

<v Speaker 1>best way for him to get his heat back right away.

<v Speaker 1>But I don't think that's happening. I don't think Gunther

<v Speaker 1>is winning the Royal Rumble. But we got a potentially

<v Speaker 1>massive spoiler on this from of all people, Shinsky Nakamora,

<v Speaker 1>who I would like to think was like in the corner,

<v Speaker 1>you know, like deceptively going I'll get them back. I'll

<v Speaker 1>get them back for not allowing me to go to

<v Speaker 1>Tanahashi's last match. But I don't think this is something

<v Speaker 1>he would do, you know, intentionally to in any way

<v Speaker 1>harm AJ styles. But following their match last night, Knakamura

<v Speaker 1>posted a statement to Instagram about Aj and in that post,

<v Speaker 1>and it was a long post, and I encourage you.

<v Speaker 1>It's already been taken down, but you can find you

<v Speaker 1>know what he wrote and read it. But this was

<v Speaker 1>a passage in that post. During last year's Australia tour,

<v Speaker 1>at a house show in Melbourne, AJ gave a speech

<v Speaker 1>after the match. Listening to it, it was clear he

<v Speaker 1>was thinking, or thinking rather the fans, but somehow it

<v Speaker 1>also felt like he was hinting that retirement might not

<v Speaker 1>be that far off. The tour continued to Japan, and

<v Speaker 1>before the show's there, I asked him something. We were

<v Speaker 1>in a van on the way to the meet and greet,

<v Speaker 1>and I asked him, when are you going to retire?

<v Speaker 1>He answered the royal rumble, I've already decided. And again

<v Speaker 1>there was a lot more to the post than just that.

<v Speaker 1>It was a long read just about their rivalry and

<v Speaker 1>their friendship over the years. It has since been deleted.

<v Speaker 1>So did Knakamura have a brain fart or are we

<v Speaker 1>looking at some kind of story they're cooking up for

<v Speaker 1>season three of Unreal. I'm not sure. I don't know

<v Speaker 1>what to think with this company anymore. If he really

<v Speaker 1>was told to take it down, that's a massive fuck

<v Speaker 1>up on his part, and it makes me very sad

<v Speaker 1>because I've been I said it last night. I just

<v Speaker 1>I cannot believe that on what seven days notice or

<v Speaker 1>fort Tech has would be fourteen day whatever it is,

<v Speaker 1>on short notice like this, they would put this whole

<v Speaker 1>angle together where he's going to put his career on

<v Speaker 1>the line. Only a month after John Seena's retirement and

<v Speaker 1>the first pl of the entire year that Aj Styles

<v Speaker 1>would retire in Saudi Arabia at the Royal Rumble. I

<v Speaker 1>just I couldn't see it. I still it's hard for

<v Speaker 1>me to envision that, but it is looking increasingly likely

<v Speaker 1>that he may very well be retiring next weekend, and

<v Speaker 1>I I just can't wrap my head around that. Now.

<v Speaker 1>I know it's ten years to the very event that

<v Speaker 1>he debuted, but we're just we're so close to WrestleMania,

<v Speaker 1>and you would think they would want to put some

<v Speaker 1>distance between what we just saw with John Cena and

<v Speaker 1>then aj stepping away. Because I never really expected AJ

<v Speaker 1>to go the entire year, and I know AJ has

<v Speaker 1>said before he didn't want a John Cena type retirement tour.

<v Speaker 1>I mean I wouldn't either after looking at the way

<v Speaker 1>his tour was booked last year. But I at least

<v Speaker 1>thought they would find a way to get him to

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania if his contract really was up in February, which

<v Speaker 1>is something he mentioned a while back. I'm sure they

<v Speaker 1>could negotiate some sort of extension, get him to Las Vegas,

<v Speaker 1>get him to WrestleMania and give him, you know, a

<v Speaker 1>proper sendoff on a major show like that, and then

<v Speaker 1>he can walk away if he wants. We're just we're

<v Speaker 1>so close, and there's still a few big matches left

<v Speaker 1>for him to have. I mentioned the Punk match and

<v Speaker 1>even those TNA teases a few weeks ago him staring

<v Speaker 1>at the TNA World Heavyweight title, of which they then

<v Speaker 1>took off Frankie Kazarian. Anyway, but like they've dropped a

<v Speaker 1>lot of hints there too, Like I just I want

<v Speaker 1>to believe that, like in their first match, I see

<v Speaker 1>the match playing out, and he's got Gunther on the ropes,

<v Speaker 1>so to speak, Like Gunther is throwing everything at this guy,

<v Speaker 1>and it's just not working. So again he takes the

<v Speaker 1>cheap way out and he does something to get himself

<v Speaker 1>disqualified because he senses that, you know, victory, victory may

<v Speaker 1>not be in the cards for him tonight, so he

<v Speaker 1>gets himself disqualified. So AJ wins. Technically, his career goes on,

<v Speaker 1>and then we can get one more match out of it.

<v Speaker 1>If you still want Gunther to be his last opponent,

<v Speaker 1>I mean, you can still do that. So that's what

<v Speaker 1>I want to believe in my in my brain, and

<v Speaker 1>that's how they get out of this. I'm still picking

<v Speaker 1>AJ Styles to win. It's it's looking more and more

<v Speaker 1>like it may be wishful thinking, but I'm sticking with

<v Speaker 1>AJ to win. I think more so just because I

<v Speaker 1>don't want to see him lose this match. I want

<v Speaker 1>to believe the Knackamorri post was a swerve, but reality

<v Speaker 1>is beginning to set in now that this could very

<v Speaker 1>well be it for the guy. Drew McIntyre. He will

<v Speaker 1>defend the WWE Championship, his first defense of this title

<v Speaker 1>that he took from Cody Rhoades. He'll be defending it

<v Speaker 1>against Sammy Zain, who won the fatal four way last

<v Speaker 1>night on Saturday Night's main event to earn this shot.

<v Speaker 1>They have been heavily teasing this match on television, and

<v Speaker 1>Sammy has gotten back to the story about how I'm

<v Speaker 1>gonna win the Big One. I'm going to become a

<v Speaker 1>world champion this year. You know. Drew McIntyre points out

<v Speaker 1>that Sammy is zero for eleven in matches with Drew

<v Speaker 1>and he's not worried. Why would this be any different.

<v Speaker 1>He tried to ambush him after the Fatal four way

<v Speaker 1>last night, that didn't work. He sent McIntyre out of

<v Speaker 1>the ring. So there's a lot of history here between

<v Speaker 1>these two. And I'm not going to tell you that

<v Speaker 1>it's impossible to conceive that Sammy's ain could win the

<v Speaker 1>championship in Saudi Arabia. But I'm just telling you he's

<v Speaker 1>not win the championship in Saudi Arabia. I do not

<v Speaker 1>see that happening. Drew McIntyre is going to retain. This

<v Speaker 1>is first defense. Drew McIntyre is not losing the title

<v Speaker 1>in his first defense to Sammy's name. This loss will

<v Speaker 1>feed into the larger story. Sammy will eventually win the

<v Speaker 1>Big One. It may be in Saudi, but it won't

<v Speaker 1>be until next year at WrestleMania. I do not think

<v Speaker 1>it is happening on this particular show. He should enjoy

<v Speaker 1>his win last night, because I don't believe that he

<v Speaker 1>will be enjoying any victories next weekend. So this one

<v Speaker 1>seems like it's pretty straightforward. I think Drew retains and

<v Speaker 1>then we have the thirty man Royal Rumble match and declaring.

<v Speaker 1>So far Cody roates Roman Reigns, who sent Actually I

<v Speaker 1>take that back, he didn't send anything in I said

<v Speaker 1>on Friday he could have at least sent in a

<v Speaker 1>video like a social media video declaring for the Royal Rumble.

<v Speaker 1>Didn't even do that. Instead, they put a graphic up

<v Speaker 1>on the screen letting us know that Roman Rains has

<v Speaker 1>declared for the Royal Rumble. Oh g, that's good to know.

<v Speaker 1>So he returned via graphic. So Roman Reigns will be

<v Speaker 1>in the Rumble Gunther. And it's a little unclear because Gunther,

<v Speaker 1>you know, when the promo with AJ on Monday talked

<v Speaker 1>about not wanting to take the match with Styles because

<v Speaker 1>I don't want to pull double duty at the Rumble,

<v Speaker 1>and then he had that change of hearts so is

<v Speaker 1>he still going to pull double duty? I assume so,

<v Speaker 1>but we don't know that for a fact. But Gunther,

<v Speaker 1>Jay Usso, Solo, Socoa, Ramys, Stereo, Dragon Lee, and Penta.

<v Speaker 1>So those are the only men's names that have been

<v Speaker 1>announced officially so far. Again, gun there, I'm fifty to

<v Speaker 1>fifty on now. Of course, you would expect all the

<v Speaker 1>members of the Vision to be in there on Raw

<v Speaker 1>Tomorrow night, Adam Pierce has invited bron Breaker to show

<v Speaker 1>up in Toronto for a chat, even though Pierce recently

<v Speaker 1>suspended him indefinitely. I think that chat is going to

<v Speaker 1>result and him being reinstated, but with a catch. That

<v Speaker 1>catch is that bron Breaker has to enter the Rumble

<v Speaker 1>in the number one spot. I think the Rumble is

<v Speaker 1>also where we get la Night back. We have not

<v Speaker 1>seen him since he got taken out by the Vision.

<v Speaker 1>I think he'll get a measure of revenge on at

<v Speaker 1>least one of them, if not some of them. Here

<v Speaker 1>I think we'll see brock Lesner. I do think that

<v Speaker 1>he'll be back in the Rumble. And we are going

<v Speaker 1>to see Obafemi making his official main roster debut. And

<v Speaker 1>I think Obafemi is going to eliminate Brocklesner to kick

<v Speaker 1>off a program with the two of them for a

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania match. I think if they're going to be debuting

<v Speaker 1>Obafemi now and not waiting until after WrestleMania, you got

<v Speaker 1>to get him a big match of WrestleMania. Realistically, him

<v Speaker 1>winning the Royal Rumble would be a little too extreme

<v Speaker 1>for WWE. That would be a little too bold for WWE.

<v Speaker 1>But I do think you want to give him a

<v Speaker 1>really memorable moment in the Rumble, and I think Oba

<v Speaker 1>eliminating Brock to kick off a program between the two

<v Speaker 1>of them that would be a pretty big deal for him.

<v Speaker 1>So that's my prediction there now. If Breaker enters at

<v Speaker 1>number one, if I'm right about that, especially if he

<v Speaker 1>does not win the Rumble, I think they're going to

<v Speaker 1>give him the elimination record for this year and not Oba.

<v Speaker 1>Oba doesn't have to do much more, honestly than dump

<v Speaker 1>out Brock to really make a statement on this show.

<v Speaker 1>I think we'll see Dominique Masterio back here in the Rumble.

<v Speaker 1>I think we'll see Chad Gable as well, unless we

<v Speaker 1>get him back on Raw Tomorrow night first, but he'll

<v Speaker 1>be in the Rumble. Either way, I'm torn on whether

<v Speaker 1>Chris Jericho returns here or if they hold it off

<v Speaker 1>for TV next week, just because you know, maybe Jericho

<v Speaker 1>wouldn't want to just be one of many. Maybe they

<v Speaker 1>wouldn't want to eliminate him first write his first night

<v Speaker 1>back in, so they save it instead as a surprise,

<v Speaker 1>Like everyone's expecting Chris Jericho to be in the Rumble

<v Speaker 1>and then he's not. But then, like on Monday, they

<v Speaker 1>hit you with it. I know there's some kind of

<v Speaker 1>big elaborate entrance, because this is how Jericho has come

<v Speaker 1>back before, right, these big elaborate entrances, and then he

<v Speaker 1>walks out there. So I could see that. I could

<v Speaker 1>see them wanting to hold him back because they think

<v Speaker 1>it's a little, you know, too predictable. If he doesn't

<v Speaker 1>show up, it doesn't mean he's not coming in. I

<v Speaker 1>absolutely think he's coming in. But you know, I'm gonna

<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna say that he'll probably be in the Rumble,

<v Speaker 1>but if he's not, then I would expect to see

<v Speaker 1>him on TV next week. Now. Look, I floated a

<v Speaker 1>wild idea a few weeks ago where Oba Femi does

<v Speaker 1>debut and win the Royal Rumble and then he goes

<v Speaker 1>on to win the world title of WrestleMania. I don't

<v Speaker 1>realistically think that they would do it now. He has

<v Speaker 1>also been it's also been said that he's going to

<v Speaker 1>be landing on Monday Night Raw, which would mean that

<v Speaker 1>Oba would be challenging CM Punk, where in my mind

<v Speaker 1>Drew McIntyre would make more sense. So I don't see

<v Speaker 1>it happening. I would love to see it, but I

<v Speaker 1>don't see it happening. It would flip everything on its

<v Speaker 1>head and make a new star on day one. But

<v Speaker 1>these are predictions and not hopes and dreams except for

<v Speaker 1>the AJ styles mash a ha. But Oba is one of

<v Speaker 1>seven names that I could see winning this rumble, right.

<v Speaker 1>I had a much shorter list on the women's side.

<v Speaker 1>On the women's side, realistically, to me, it's only four names.

<v Speaker 1>But here I got seven potential names that could win

<v Speaker 1>the rumble, and Oba he's on the list. He's at

<v Speaker 1>the bottom of the list, but he's on the list.

<v Speaker 1>The other ones are And don't laugh when I say this, okay,

<v Speaker 1>I don't want you to have a laughing fit, especially

<v Speaker 1>if you're out in public somewhere La night. I know

<v Speaker 1>you're gonna laugh. There is at least a chance, right,

<v Speaker 1>not a very good chance, but there is at least

<v Speaker 1>a chance that this is actually building to some kind

<v Speaker 1>of big moment for him, and they have kept him

<v Speaker 1>out with the idea that he'll make his grand return

<v Speaker 1>in the Royal Rumble and he'll maybe it'll even come

<v Speaker 1>down to him in bron Breaker, and he'll be able

<v Speaker 1>to get that revenge on the Vision by eliminating them

<v Speaker 1>and winning the Royal Rumble and he can challenge the

<v Speaker 1>champion of his choosing and we get CM Punk against

<v Speaker 1>La Night at WrestleMania. I know it's like a fever dream,

<v Speaker 1>I know, but he's on my short list. He is

<v Speaker 1>on the list of potential winners here Gunther Gun there

<v Speaker 1>is another name. I don't see him winning, but you

<v Speaker 1>gotta have him. In the conversation, Jacob Fatu would love

<v Speaker 1>to see Jacob Fatu win the Royal Rumble. Bron Breaker

<v Speaker 1>has to be a favorite. Cody Rhodes has to be

<v Speaker 1>a favorite. Gonna win three Royal Rumbles in four years?

<v Speaker 1>I don't think so. I don't think so. If Cody

<v Speaker 1>is challenging for any title of WrestleMania, he can get

<v Speaker 1>there by winning the elimination chamber. Cody Roads winning three

<v Speaker 1>Royal Rumbles in four years would be overkilled. It would

<v Speaker 1>be ridiculous. And then we have the man who ultimately

<v Speaker 1>I do believe is going to win the Royal Rumble,

<v Speaker 1>the otc Roman Reigns, And I know that's a very

<v Speaker 1>boring choice, but it's the choice that I'm going with.

<v Speaker 1>So basically, my predictions have not changed from sound Off

<v Speaker 1>nine to forty five. At the beginning of this month

<v Speaker 1>the Prediction Show, I picked Roman Reigns and Bianca bell

<v Speaker 1>Air to win the Royal Rumbles. I'm sticking with those picks.

<v Speaker 1>I think Roman rains wins the Men's Rumble. I think

<v Speaker 1>Bianca bell Air wins the Women's Rumble, which would mean

<v Speaker 1>that we are looking at Roman Reigns challenging Cmpunk or

<v Speaker 1>Drew McIntyre or WrestleMania. What that means for Cody Rhodes,

<v Speaker 1>he could go for whichever title Roman is not chasing.

<v Speaker 1>Because one thing that I do not want to see

<v Speaker 1>at WrestleMania this year is Roman Reigns one on one

<v Speaker 1>with Cody Roads. We'll see that later this year when

<v Speaker 1>the Street Fighter movie comes out. Okay, you'll get your

<v Speaker 1>Cody and Roman match there. And based on what Dave

<v Speaker 1>Meltzer reported last week, Paul Leveck made the call to

<v Speaker 1>blow up plans for WrestleMania and to change plans for

<v Speaker 1>Cody Roman three and instead go with Drew McIntyre as

<v Speaker 1>the ww champion heading into WrestleMania. So anyone who doubts

<v Speaker 1>that plans change and mox melter for it, just watch

<v Speaker 1>WWE Unreal okay with their fucking whiteboards, and you'll know

<v Speaker 1>plans change all the time. They have preliminary plans. Oh,

<v Speaker 1>let's do this, No, let's do that. Of course, plans

<v Speaker 1>change all Is it really all that unbelievable to think

<v Speaker 1>in this company, of all places, especially under Vince But

<v Speaker 1>even now that plans change, Yes, plans change all the time.

<v Speaker 1>This would be one of those situations where I am

<v Speaker 1>very happy to see plans change now. The reason that

<v Speaker 1>levec supposedly made the decision is because he was worried

<v Speaker 1>that the fans would be fatigued from a third Cody

<v Speaker 1>and Roman match in four years. And yet bodyslam dot

<v Speaker 1>Net is reporting that as of this moment, as of

<v Speaker 1>right now, the plan for WrestleMania forty two is to

<v Speaker 1>have Drew McIntyre defend the WWE Championship against Cody Roads.

<v Speaker 1>And this is how you know that the Cody Roman

<v Speaker 1>quote unquote fatigue excuse is just that it is an excuse.

<v Speaker 1>It's not real. It's bullshit. Because if he's so worried

<v Speaker 1>about there being Cody and Roman fatigue, how the fuck

<v Speaker 1>do you justify running Drew McIntyre against Cody Roads for

<v Speaker 1>the fifth time since wressell Palooza. Are you kidding me?

<v Speaker 1>You gotta at least add Jacob fa too and make

<v Speaker 1>it a triple threat. If you're gonna do that, that

<v Speaker 1>I can live with. And that was certainly the impression

<v Speaker 1>coming out of Saturday Night's Made event last night. Now,

<v Speaker 1>there's still a ways to go before we get to

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania triple threat match. Fine, but the idea of doing

<v Speaker 1>Cody and Drew one on one and you just had

<v Speaker 1>a three stages of hell match with these guys with

<v Speaker 1>multiple stipulations in the course of one match. That doesn't work.

<v Speaker 1>And so this again, this whole thing like no, well,

<v Speaker 1>the reason Paul Levec moved away from another Cody and

<v Speaker 1>Roman match of WrestleMania. You wonder why he moved away

<v Speaker 1>from that, It's because neither man wanted to lose to

<v Speaker 1>the other. If that match does not happen at WrestleMania

<v Speaker 1>this year, that is why that match is not happening.

<v Speaker 1>It has nothing to do with this sudden realization that,

<v Speaker 1>oh my god, we might be tiring the fans out

<v Speaker 1>if we give them another Cody and Roman match and

<v Speaker 1>then at the same time you get a book another

<v Speaker 1>Cody and Drew match. Give me a fucking break. Do

<v Speaker 1>not buy that excuse. Now, another surprise that we could

<v Speaker 1>potentially see in the men's Royal Rumble match is Powerhouse Hobbes,

<v Speaker 1>who has officially signed with WWE. Meltzer says that nobody

<v Speaker 1>in aaw had anything negative to say about Hobbes, and

<v Speaker 1>that he made the decision based on what was best

<v Speaker 1>for his family, which would mean that he got more

<v Speaker 1>money to jump because I mean, schedule wise, he'd have

<v Speaker 1>the better schedule working for aw right if time away

<v Speaker 1>from his family was an issue, he would have the

<v Speaker 1>better schedule with AAW So that makes it sound like

<v Speaker 1>it came down to money, and I doubt very seriously,

<v Speaker 1>because look, he was said to have gotten a substantial

<v Speaker 1>offer from AAW to stay, like big money, big big money,

<v Speaker 1>and I doubt WWE was willing to give him more

<v Speaker 1>than what Tony Kah was offering him to stay. That

<v Speaker 1>tells me that he knew that he had hit his

<v Speaker 1>ceiling in AAW and he wanted to try to level

<v Speaker 1>up somewhere else. He probably took a pay cut to leave,

<v Speaker 1>or at least, you know, whatever he took was not

<v Speaker 1>as much as what he was being offered. But I mean,

<v Speaker 1>it's not like he's working for pennies. I'm sure he's

<v Speaker 1>doing very well for himself either way. But the idea

<v Speaker 1>that WWE and TKO they outbid AW if AW made

<v Speaker 1>such a substantial offer to him, like, I don't buy

<v Speaker 1>that for a second. He saw the writing on the wall,

<v Speaker 1>he had gotten as far as he was probably going

<v Speaker 1>to get, and he split. So he's already gotten a

<v Speaker 1>new name. They've already filed for I guess trademark applications.

<v Speaker 1>The name that he is going to be debuting with

<v Speaker 1>is rumored to be Royce Keys. Now I don't know

<v Speaker 1>where the Keys is from, but Royce is the name

<v Speaker 1>of his young son, so very much a Kevin Owens

<v Speaker 1>type of deal there. As far as the name, I

<v Speaker 1>think Royce Hobbs would have been a better name. But

<v Speaker 1>you know, if he debuts as Royce Keys, you know

<v Speaker 1>it's not a terrible name. Within a few weeks, nobody

<v Speaker 1>will even be talking about it. I could see him

<v Speaker 1>showing up in the rumble. There was someone on the

<v Speaker 1>SmackDown stream the other night who floated what I thought

<v Speaker 1>was an interesting idea and I don't hate it, which

<v Speaker 1>was to pair him up with Trick Williams as Trick's bodyguard.

<v Speaker 1>I like it. I like it because then you, I mean,

<v Speaker 1>you always have the eventual split and he turns into

<v Speaker 1>a monster babyface. And Trick is already a big deal

<v Speaker 1>on SmackDown, so you put even more heat on the

<v Speaker 1>guy by having him walking around. Having a bodyguard kind

<v Speaker 1>of makes him feel like a bigger deal too. But

<v Speaker 1>I told you last week, I said SmackDown has a

<v Speaker 1>may depth issue when it comes to top heels. They

<v Speaker 1>don't really have any outside of Drew McIntyre. Like, Trick

<v Speaker 1>is still very new. I mean, I guess Hobbs would

<v Speaker 1>be too, but Trick is still very new. Alistair Black

<v Speaker 1>hasn't really taken as a top heel yet and Solo Socoa.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, no one is taking him seriously as a

<v Speaker 1>top heel on that show, not when he's running around

<v Speaker 1>stealing people's lanterns. Hobbs. Coming to SmackDown as a heel

<v Speaker 1>on his own could really help that show, especially if

<v Speaker 1>they're going to be sending Oba to Raw. So that's

<v Speaker 1>the only thing. Like, I just feel like he would

<v Speaker 1>be more useful to smack Down if they introduced him

<v Speaker 1>straight away as a heel and really built him up

<v Speaker 1>as a major force on that show. But I don't

<v Speaker 1>hate the idea. If they wanted to introduce him as

<v Speaker 1>a heavy for someone, I think Trick would be the

<v Speaker 1>perfect person for that. So I'll be live next Saturday,

<v Speaker 1>not immediately after the Rumble. The Rumble's gonna be starting

<v Speaker 1>at two pm Eastern. I may not even be home

<v Speaker 1>in time to start the Rumble right at two o'clock.

<v Speaker 1>I have a funeral to go to that morning. I'm

<v Speaker 1>going to race home, I'm gonna watch the Rumble, I'm

<v Speaker 1>gonna eat dinner, shower up for you people, and then

<v Speaker 1>go live. So probably looking at maybe a nine pm

<v Speaker 1>start Eastern, So prepare accordingly, I expect to see you

<v Speaker 1>seated and ready. I don't want to be talking to

<v Speaker 1>myself for three hours. Tamaso Champa confirmed what was originally

<v Speaker 1>reported a few weeks ago, which is that his contract

<v Speaker 1>with WWE is coming to an end and he will

<v Speaker 1>not be renewing with them. On Wednesday, he posted the

<v Speaker 1>following statement on Instagram. In the very near future, my

<v Speaker 1>contract with the WWE will officially come to an end.

<v Speaker 1>I would like to thank every single person who contributed

<v Speaker 1>to the last ten years of this incredible journey. Camera crew,

<v Speaker 1>ring crew, hair and makeup, seamstresses, referees, creative producers, catering commentators,

<v Speaker 1>ring announcers, travel department, medical team, talent reps, and anybody

<v Speaker 1>that I may have missed. A very special thank you

<v Speaker 1>to all of the men and women who I have

<v Speaker 1>shared a Ringland locker room with nothing but love and respect.

<v Speaker 1>As I would be remiss not to give a special

<v Speaker 1>thank you to my Black and Gold family. You will

<v Speaker 1>forever hold an incredibly special place in my heart. To

<v Speaker 1>the fans who have shown love and support over the

<v Speaker 1>last two decades, Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

<v Speaker 1>To my wife and daughter, you are my rock and

<v Speaker 1>my Forever Why I love you More. I spent the

<v Speaker 1>first decade of my career traveling the world on the

<v Speaker 1>independent scene. I spent the second decade of my career

<v Speaker 1>traveling the world with WWE. I have one decade remaining,

<v Speaker 1>and I'm beyond excited for whatever challenges lie ahead. I'm

<v Speaker 1>an incredibly lucky person, one of the few who has

<v Speaker 1>spent his entire adult life living out his childhood dream,

<v Speaker 1>and while that dream continues to evolve, I will continue

<v Speaker 1>to chase it. With that said, for the first time

<v Speaker 1>in over ten years, I am available for all appearances, signings,

<v Speaker 1>photo ops, seminars, movies, TV appearances, fitness collaborations, sponsorships, and

<v Speaker 1>so forth. Please email any inquiries to book Champa at

<v Speaker 1>gmail dot com. Oh, I assure you people are already

<v Speaker 1>reaching out to him. That man is going to do

<v Speaker 1>well on the independent scene, however much he chooses to work,

<v Speaker 1>and he's already filed to trademark the names Psychokiller and

<v Speaker 1>Psycho King. Psychokiller was the nickname he used on the

<v Speaker 1>indie scene before joining NXTA, and he used to come

<v Speaker 1>out to the song of the same name by The

<v Speaker 1>Talking Heads. Whether he signs a contract somewhere else like

<v Speaker 1>AW or TNA. I mean, I guess it all comes

<v Speaker 1>down to whether he wants to be tied down to

<v Speaker 1>another contract or how much freedom he's looking for to

<v Speaker 1>do other things like everything he just described there in

<v Speaker 1>his post. I just know, you know I can't handle

<v Speaker 1>another member of the don Kallis family. Please, for the

<v Speaker 1>love of God, do not go down that road. Now.

<v Speaker 1>Meltzer is saying that he is actually looking to work

<v Speaker 1>with New Japan. And look, they've been using or losing

<v Speaker 1>rather some people lately, like Evil Sonata. Evil reportedly gave

<v Speaker 1>notice and is not scheduled for any further dates. The

<v Speaker 1>belief is that Evil may be wwe bound. Sanada is

<v Speaker 1>taking an indefinite leave, and now there's talk that Hiromu

<v Speaker 1>Takahashi could be on his way out. And that's to

<v Speaker 1>say nothing of people like David Finley and Gabe Kid

<v Speaker 1>and Clark Connor's all right, we don't know where they're

<v Speaker 1>gonna end up yet. This would actually be a very

<v Speaker 1>good time for him to pick up some New Japan work.

<v Speaker 1>But I said on sound Off ninety five three weeks ago.

<v Speaker 1>I said this on nine forty five that I think

<v Speaker 1>TNA would be a good landing spot for him with them.

<v Speaker 1>They just debuted on AMC. They could absolutely use some

<v Speaker 1>more talent right now. He'd be a bigger fish in

<v Speaker 1>a smaller pond, and he would still have the freedom

<v Speaker 1>to work outside shots if he wants to. Right maybe

<v Speaker 1>not New Japan given their relationship with AAW, but still

<v Speaker 1>it may be an easier schedule if that's something he's

<v Speaker 1>looking for. I mean, WWE is not running many house

<v Speaker 1>shows anymore, so I don't really know that it would

<v Speaker 1>be all that different from his WWE schedule, but I

<v Speaker 1>do think TNA would be a good fit now. He's

<v Speaker 1>had injury issues in the past, including a next fusion

<v Speaker 1>that means he's on borrow time as far as his

<v Speaker 1>in ring career is concerned. But he's coming off a

<v Speaker 1>year where he had his two best matches on the

<v Speaker 1>main roster, those two TLC matches that he was a

<v Speaker 1>part of. The guy is a great wrestler. He can

<v Speaker 1>still very much go, but he clearly hit his ceiling

<v Speaker 1>in WWE. You know, in NXT he was the face

<v Speaker 1>of that Black and Gold brand. Triple h used him

<v Speaker 1>down there the way that he uses Cody Rhodes and

<v Speaker 1>Roman Reigns on the main roster, but he was never

<v Speaker 1>going to be pushed in any significant way. He was

<v Speaker 1>very clear. I don't think you know he would if

<v Speaker 1>he went to AW either. I should say that in

<v Speaker 1>TNA he would have a much better shot. But it

<v Speaker 1>all comes down to what he wants out of his

<v Speaker 1>career at this point and what he's looking for. Is

<v Speaker 1>he leaving because he wants to be higher up somewhere else,

<v Speaker 1>you know, wrestling for the World Championship. Is he leaving

<v Speaker 1>because he wants to dial things back a little bit

<v Speaker 1>and try other things before it's too late. I don't know,

<v Speaker 1>but the body of work that he put together in

<v Speaker 1>those Black and Gold days is among the best of

<v Speaker 1>anyone to ever come out of that brand. Like, if

<v Speaker 1>there's ever an NXT Hall of Fame, he's a first

<v Speaker 1>ballot entry for sure. Russell Votes is also reporting that

<v Speaker 1>there have been internal discussions within WWE about Stone Cold

<v Speaker 1>Steve Austin making an appearance in the near future. That's

<v Speaker 1>not a done deal, but they note that Austin's name

<v Speaker 1>has been circulating across multiple departments. I'm sure it is

<v Speaker 1>his merchandise still routinely cracks the top ten on WWE Shop.

<v Speaker 1>I'm sure his name is circulating pretty frequently in the

<v Speaker 1>merch department, but they're not saying what his role would

<v Speaker 1>be or whether this would be a one off. Now,

<v Speaker 1>they do have a Monday Night Raw emanating from San Antonio,

<v Speaker 1>Texas on March sixteenth, That is three sixteen day, so

<v Speaker 1>it's more likely this is a one off appearance for

<v Speaker 1>Raw that night. But they are, you know, bringing Wressellmania

<v Speaker 1>back to Las Vegas again this year. He was at

<v Speaker 1>last year's show because it's only a four hour drive

<v Speaker 1>from the Broken Skull Ranch where he lives. So cause

<v Speaker 1>he's in Nevada now, he's not in Texas anymore, so

<v Speaker 1>it's entirely possible they get him out for the show

<v Speaker 1>again this year. But I don't see him playing any

<v Speaker 1>kind of major role. I only hope this year he

<v Speaker 1>doesn't run anybody over with an ATV like he almost

<v Speaker 1>did last year. That could have been so much worse.

<v Speaker 1>But look, I'm look, I'm pretty pessimistic on the Austin

<v Speaker 1>stuff being anything more than that. Like in Ring he

<v Speaker 1>had a great sendoff against Kevin Owens in Dallas and

<v Speaker 1>you know, people still get their hopes up. He's going

<v Speaker 1>to come back again and wrestle Punk or wrestle this

<v Speaker 1>person or that person. And look, I mean, appearance wise,

<v Speaker 1>it's always fun to have him there and hear that

<v Speaker 1>glass shatter. But it just it was such a missed opportunity.

<v Speaker 1>It was just such a punch to the gut when

<v Speaker 1>that glass didn't shatter and he didn't give Rock that

<v Speaker 1>stunter in Philadelphia. And so now I'm just like, you know, whatever,

<v Speaker 1>if he shows up, he shows up. If he doesn't,

<v Speaker 1>he doesn't. They are promoting an Attitude Era edition of

<v Speaker 1>WWE two K twenty six and pre orders start January thirtieth.

<v Speaker 1>There is no release date yet. Typically though they released

<v Speaker 1>these games early March, like first or second week in March,

<v Speaker 1>and again three sixteen day, it lines up right around

<v Speaker 1>that time. So that would be my guess as to

<v Speaker 1>what this is. It could still be at Mania making

<v Speaker 1>an appearance of some kind. But I think your Stone

<v Speaker 1>Cold appearance is going to be March sixteenth, and I

<v Speaker 1>think they're going to tie it into the video game.

<v Speaker 1>I would not get my hopes up for much more

<v Speaker 1>than that. The ratings are in for the first episode

<v Speaker 1>of TNA Impact on AMC, and it's not great, but

<v Speaker 1>it's also not a disaster, unlike the show, which wasn't

<v Speaker 1>great and it was a disaster. Pro Wrestling Torch had

<v Speaker 1>the numbers. First viewership on AMC was one hundred and

<v Speaker 1>seventy three thousand, with the eighteen to forty nine demo

<v Speaker 1>number coming in at zero point four, which is not

<v Speaker 1>terrible in terms of viewership. Wayde Keller says that the

<v Speaker 1>show typically did around eighty thousand, sometimes more, sometimes less

<v Speaker 1>on Access TV, so one hundred and seventy three thousand

<v Speaker 1>would mean that they more than doubled what they were

<v Speaker 1>doing on Access, which is why I've always said there

<v Speaker 1>can be no growth so long as they are on

<v Speaker 1>Access TV, and they had to get on a bigger network. Now.

<v Speaker 1>This would not be inclusive of anyone who watched on

<v Speaker 1>AMC Plus or the TNA Plus streaming service, which had

<v Speaker 1>lots of issues that night and actually cut out. I

<v Speaker 1>think for most, if not everyone, early in the show,

<v Speaker 1>as the Hardys were on their way to the ring

<v Speaker 1>and it didn't get resolved until like the very end,

<v Speaker 1>I don't think there were many people who actually saw

<v Speaker 1>that show on TNA plus that night. The good news

<v Speaker 1>this is that they doubled what they were doing before.

<v Speaker 1>The bad news is that it was still lower than

<v Speaker 1>most people were thinking it would be, and it wasn't

<v Speaker 1>a good show. So whatever the drop off would have

<v Speaker 1>been for week two, I mean, we'll find out, but

<v Speaker 1>it may be even higher. If people didn't like what

<v Speaker 1>they saw, they should be thankful that more people didn't

<v Speaker 1>watch that show. But let's see how it's doing in

<v Speaker 1>a few weeks and that'll give us a better sense

<v Speaker 1>of what to expect. Tramie Gel is back in TNA,

<v Speaker 1>and it's like he never even left. Tramie Gell may

<v Speaker 1>have set the record this past week for the fastest

<v Speaker 1>hiring and firing in wrestling history, definitely in AW history.

<v Speaker 1>And I just find the whole thing to be really

<v Speaker 1>sad more than anything. So, as you know, all four

<v Speaker 1>members of the Rascals they left TNA. They sided with

<v Speaker 1>AW last week, Desmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, Myron Reid, and

<v Speaker 1>tray me Gel. Two of the members saw their contracts expire.

<v Speaker 1>Two others and I believe Miguel may have been one

<v Speaker 1>of them. We're not even working with contracts again, I

<v Speaker 1>could have that wrong, but they left and they signed

<v Speaker 1>with AW So Tony Khan swooped in and he signed

<v Speaker 1>all four and then on Dynamite last week they even

<v Speaker 1>got a graphic saying the Rascals are coming right. And

<v Speaker 1>then on Collision they aired a backstage segment where three

<v Speaker 1>of the Rascals they popped out of their dressing room

<v Speaker 1>and smoke came billowing out. You can imagine what they

<v Speaker 1>were doing in there. But Tray Miguel was not with them,

<v Speaker 1>and I thought, well, that's a little odd. I thought

<v Speaker 1>maybe he had travel issues or something, because the word

<v Speaker 1>was that all four of them were signed, and they

<v Speaker 1>were until they weren't. As it turns out, Miguel was

<v Speaker 1>signed and then he was promptly released. Dave Meltzer and

<v Speaker 1>Brian Alvarez they chimed in first, saying the decision to

<v Speaker 1>release Tray Miguel came from above, like God Almighty himself

<v Speaker 1>descended from the heavens to render his decision and then

<v Speaker 1>slowly ascended back up into the clouds. And at that

<v Speaker 1>point rumors began circulating that it had to do with

<v Speaker 1>homophobic comments that he made on Facebook five years ago

<v Speaker 1>in response to a troll, and I'm not going to

<v Speaker 1>repeat the comments, but in so many words he equated

<v Speaker 1>being unattractive to being gay, and that he called the

<v Speaker 1>guy an ugly bitch, and it was clear the guy's

<v Speaker 1>intent was to troll Miguel with whatever he said. He

<v Speaker 1>had a lot of profane shit on his own profile,

<v Speaker 1>but that doesn't excuse the comments that he made. See

<v Speaker 1>this is why it's best to not take the bait

<v Speaker 1>and engage with the trolls, because in a flame war,

<v Speaker 1>everyone gets burned and no one wins. Now. He apologized

<v Speaker 1>that same day and said, I am not anti LGBTQ. Plus,

<v Speaker 1>I made some very mean comments to a member of

<v Speaker 1>the community in regards to why they were a member,

<v Speaker 1>and it wasn't right or tasteful. Regardless of the comments

<v Speaker 1>made to get me to such an ugly place, I

<v Speaker 1>was wrong, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Two

<v Speaker 1>of my very best friends are members have said community,

<v Speaker 1>and I would take a bullet for either of them.

<v Speaker 1>I won't try to justify anything I said, but I

<v Speaker 1>will apologize like a man. If I offended you, then

<v Speaker 1>I am genuinely sorry. Please find it in your hearts

<v Speaker 1>to forgive me. If you can't forgive me, I do

<v Speaker 1>not blame you, but this world needs more love than hate,

<v Speaker 1>and I am sorry for contributing to the less desired

<v Speaker 1>of the two. So that came later that same day,

<v Speaker 1>and you hope that you know he's being sincere and

<v Speaker 1>what he said. And he did go on to find

<v Speaker 1>success in TNA, two time X Division Champion, tag Team Champion.

<v Speaker 1>He even made a few appearances in NXT with this

<v Speaker 1>whole NXT TNA partnership, and at no point were his

<v Speaker 1>past comments an issue for TNA featuring him or for

<v Speaker 1>WWE right putting him on their television. But it wasn't

<v Speaker 1>even the first time that he got himself in hot

<v Speaker 1>water for making offensive comments. The year before that, in

<v Speaker 1>twenty nineteen, he lashed out at a popular independent wrestler

<v Speaker 1>at the time named David Starr. If you remember that guy,

<v Speaker 1>he turned out to be quite the piece of shit.

<v Speaker 1>He was the one who sparked the whole speaking out movement.

<v Speaker 1>Six years ago in wrestling, he was accused of sexual

<v Speaker 1>assault by his former girlfriend. Multiple women, in fact, came

<v Speaker 1>forward with various allegations against him. He denied the assault,

<v Speaker 1>but he admitted to being a shitty partner to all

<v Speaker 1>of them and a cheater and a gas lighter, and

<v Speaker 1>then he retired from wrestling when nobody wanted to work

<v Speaker 1>with him anymore, and then claimed that he went to

<v Speaker 1>therapy for sex addiction and whatever else he claimed he

<v Speaker 1>was seeking help. For. The point is this was the

<v Speaker 1>year before all of that other stuff happened, and in

<v Speaker 1>this instance, Trey Migel made anti Semitic comments towards Starr

<v Speaker 1>and also threat It wasn't just the comments he made,

<v Speaker 1>he threatened to repost a revenge porn video of him,

<v Speaker 1>which is pretty fucking bad. And I mean, I know

<v Speaker 1>it's David Starr, but still there's no justification for that.

<v Speaker 1>So Miguel has definitely used bad judgment in the past,

<v Speaker 1>there's no denying that. And you hope, if that's the

<v Speaker 1>worst of it, that he's learned from it. But that

<v Speaker 1>shit follows you around. It's like an odor. It's hard

<v Speaker 1>to wash off. Some people are able to forgive, others

<v Speaker 1>are not as forgiving. And again, it didn't impact his

<v Speaker 1>employment with TNA, it didn't stop WWE from using him,

<v Speaker 1>but it came back to bite him on the ass

<v Speaker 1>with aaw The first thing he posted in response to

<v Speaker 1>no longer being under contract with them was this taking

<v Speaker 1>a break from wrestling. Please respect my space and don't

<v Speaker 1>tag me in any posts or comments. Go support the

<v Speaker 1>rascals still. Then, as people began to speculate as to

<v Speaker 1>the reason why he was no longer with them, he said,

<v Speaker 1>I've made a lot of mistakes in my time. I've

<v Speaker 1>always apologized and did my best to put a better

<v Speaker 1>foot forward after. I don't preach hate, and I don't

<v Speaker 1>take any pride in being hateful. I'm a man of faith,

<v Speaker 1>I believe in forgiveness and only ever preach that I'm

<v Speaker 1>a different man today, Fightful Select said. The following tray,

<v Speaker 1>Miguel's AW release was implied to be a Warner Brothers

<v Speaker 1>Discovery decision in relation to a twenty twenty post that

<v Speaker 1>was homophobic in nature. The reaction in AW was one

<v Speaker 1>of frustration. A number of wrestlers felt like there were

<v Speaker 1>standards applied to AW talent that don't apply to other

<v Speaker 1>Feature WBD names who had made controversial comments. When Fightful

<v Speaker 1>Select reached out to Miguel's ex promotion TNA, it was

<v Speaker 1>clarified that they never had any problems with him, nor

<v Speaker 1>has Fightfull found any contacts in aw in favor of

<v Speaker 1>the release. Fightful had reached out to multiple WBD contacts

<v Speaker 1>for comment, when one of them replied that they cannot

<v Speaker 1>confirm the validity of the rumors. If it were an

<v Speaker 1>unhealthy pattern of behavior, that's cause for alarm, but that

<v Speaker 1>does not seem to be the case here. Well, there

<v Speaker 1>was no pattern of behavior with Jay Briscoe either. When

<v Speaker 1>he made homophobic comments in the past. It was after

<v Speaker 1>the Delaware States Senate passed the bill allowing same sex marriage.

<v Speaker 1>He wrote, try to teach my kids there's nothing wrong

<v Speaker 1>with that, and I'll fucking shoot you. That was a

<v Speaker 1>very dumb thing to say, even dumber when you're working

<v Speaker 1>for a company and hoping to get hired by other

<v Speaker 1>companies in the future. But he apologized for those remarks,

<v Speaker 1>and every time he would talk about it years later,

<v Speaker 1>he seemed genuinely remorseful for saying what he said. Now,

<v Speaker 1>you can believe what you want to believe, but to

<v Speaker 1>tell people that you're gonna shoot them over it is

<v Speaker 1>pretty fucking stupid, especially if you're a celebrity, whether you're

<v Speaker 1>an actor, an athlete, you're someone kids look up to right.

<v Speaker 1>It shouldn't happen, and he paid a price for it.

<v Speaker 1>They both did him and his brother. His brother was

<v Speaker 1>more collateral damage than anything else. You know, if Mark

<v Speaker 1>shared those same views, he was smart enough to keep

<v Speaker 1>that shit to himself. I have no doubt they would

<v Speaker 1>have been hired by WWE worry not for those comments,

<v Speaker 1>But anybody who knew Jay Briscoe and interacted with him

<v Speaker 1>in the years that followed will tell you that was

<v Speaker 1>a man that had deep regrets over what he said.

<v Speaker 1>And it's not the way that he conducted himself in

<v Speaker 1>his everyday life. But words matter, even when you think

<v Speaker 1>they shouldn't, or that enough time has gone by, or

<v Speaker 1>that people can change and they can grow and they

<v Speaker 1>can mature. Companies don't always see it that way. Television

<v Speaker 1>executives don't always see it that way, not when they

<v Speaker 1>have sponsors to answer to. I think it's less about

<v Speaker 1>their moral high ground and more about the almighty dollar

<v Speaker 1>is what really motivates them, and not wanting to do

<v Speaker 1>anything to jeopardize that. So the Briscoes were not allowed

<v Speaker 1>to appear on TBS or TNT, even as Tony kh

<v Speaker 1>used them in ring of honor right. He didn't sign

<v Speaker 1>them and fire them. He kept using them in ring

<v Speaker 1>of honor. He just couldn't use them on TV, and

<v Speaker 1>he tried everything that he could to get them on TV.

<v Speaker 1>There was someone at Warner Brothers Discovery who did not

<v Speaker 1>want the Briscoes on TV. An executive who told said

<v Speaker 1>at the Full Gear Scrum only a few months ago,

<v Speaker 1>after Mark won the TNT title, he said that person

<v Speaker 1>no longer works there. And then Jay Briscoe died, and

<v Speaker 1>the very next show, there is Mark Briscow tears in

<v Speaker 1>his eyes, He's trying to hold it together. He's wrestling

<v Speaker 1>Jay lethal and Tony Kahan put on this tremendous tribute

<v Speaker 1>to the life of Jay Briscoe's like a celebration of

<v Speaker 1>life a man who never made a single appearance on

<v Speaker 1>his television show. And I don't doubt that there is

<v Speaker 1>not a day that goes by where Tony doesn't look

<v Speaker 1>at Mark Briscoe when he comes to work and think, fuck,

<v Speaker 1>I really wish I could have had the Briscos together

<v Speaker 1>on my TV show. So can I believe that it

<v Speaker 1>came from someone above Tony Kahan's head? Sure? I can

<v Speaker 1>believe that because we've already seen it before. Do I

<v Speaker 1>think that's what actually happened here? I'm not as sure

<v Speaker 1>as I was earlier in the week when all of

<v Speaker 1>this first broke. According to Fightful, it's been chalked up

<v Speaker 1>specifically to the homophobic comments he made in twenty twenty,

<v Speaker 1>not the other comments. But if Tony Kahn did not

<v Speaker 1>want train Meegel in AAW, he would not have hired

<v Speaker 1>Trainmegel in the first place. He signed him because he

<v Speaker 1>wanted all four rascals. And what I believe happened is

<v Speaker 1>someone in AAW And there's all kinds of speculation as

<v Speaker 1>to who that person may be. We don't know. But

<v Speaker 1>someone in that company, be it a talent or someone

<v Speaker 1>who works behind the scenes, had it out for train

<v Speaker 1>Miguel and did not want him working there. Like I

<v Speaker 1>said before, even the Briscoes worked for Tony Kahan. He

<v Speaker 1>just kept them in ring of honor. He could not

<v Speaker 1>use them on TV, but he kept them employed. So

<v Speaker 1>someone there did not want train Megel working in that company.

<v Speaker 1>Did that then make it up to someone in Warner

<v Speaker 1>Brothers Discovery? Maybe I know That's what Sapp says. He

<v Speaker 1>says he asked everybody involved, and everyone got the same

<v Speaker 1>answer WBD, WBD. But Tony Khan the one with the

<v Speaker 1>relationship with those executives, not the talent, not the agents.

<v Speaker 1>Kenny Omega does not have David Zaslov's cell phone number,

<v Speaker 1>MJF does not have David Zaslov's personal email address. Right,

<v Speaker 1>eat shit, paramount and die forty one to eighty one

<v Speaker 1>at hotmail dot com. It certainly wasn't Tony Khan who

<v Speaker 1>told them, So we're left with two theories here. Either

<v Speaker 1>you believe that Warner Brothers Discovery did a background check

<v Speaker 1>on the Rascals and specifically singled out Trey Miguel right

<v Speaker 1>without flagging Zachary Wentz for the hot water that he

<v Speaker 1>got into a few years ago which got him canned

<v Speaker 1>from NXT. Or this stuff about the decision coming from

<v Speaker 1>above is a bullshit cover for someone getting in Tony's

<v Speaker 1>ear and telling him, Hey, you got to get rid

<v Speaker 1>of this guy. So Tony did a one tot eighty

<v Speaker 1>and he fired him. Under the guys that it came

<v Speaker 1>from above, And if that's their narrative that they're putting

<v Speaker 1>out there, I don't see how that does them any favors.

<v Speaker 1>To make Warner Brothers Discovery out to look like the

<v Speaker 1>bad guys here. I don't know for a fact which

<v Speaker 1>theory is correct. No one does, even if they tell

<v Speaker 1>you they do. No one does. No one knows. And

<v Speaker 1>I'm sure Tony Kahan will do his best Buddhist monk

<v Speaker 1>impression and he'll take a vow of silence like he

<v Speaker 1>does with everything else. I believe someone had it out

<v Speaker 1>for Trey Miguel and made sure those past comments killed

<v Speaker 1>any chance of him working for AAW. And that is

<v Speaker 1>very shitty now. So were the things that he said.

<v Speaker 1>I'm not excusing them, they were deplorable. If the decision

<v Speaker 1>really did come from someone at WBD, right, the ones

<v Speaker 1>paying AW hundreds of millions of dollars in media rights

<v Speaker 1>fees that they do not want this man on their TV.

<v Speaker 1>Tony could try to fight it, you know, he can

<v Speaker 1>ask why is there anything that can be done? Is

<v Speaker 1>there any sort of compromise here? But I mean, realistically,

<v Speaker 1>what else can he do, especially at a time when

<v Speaker 1>there's all of this uncertainty around the future of Warner

<v Speaker 1>Brothers Discovery and what might happen with AAW at the

<v Speaker 1>end of their deal. The last thing he wants to

<v Speaker 1>do is rock the boat and go to bat for

<v Speaker 1>fucking Tray Miguel, Like, is that really a hill he

<v Speaker 1>wants to die on? So it's at least plausible because

<v Speaker 1>we have seen this scenario play out before, And if

<v Speaker 1>it did come from above, what does that say about

<v Speaker 1>Aw's hiring practices? Like? Should he not be running these

<v Speaker 1>names pasted WBD first before he actually puts pen to

<v Speaker 1>paper and puts these people on his television to make

<v Speaker 1>sure they pass whatever kind of checks they need to do.

<v Speaker 1>Shouldn't there be a system in place for this? I mean,

<v Speaker 1>evidently not. You think he would have learned his lesson

<v Speaker 1>after the whole Andrade fiasco putting him on television and

<v Speaker 1>having him beat up Kenny Omega when he was still

<v Speaker 1>technically under contract to WWE. He hires all four of

<v Speaker 1>these guys and he starts promoting the group on TV.

<v Speaker 1>Did Tony not know about those past comments? I find

<v Speaker 1>that very hard to believe. If he did, why wouldn't

<v Speaker 1>he run this by them first to make sure that

<v Speaker 1>they're comfortable with it before signing them. That's what makes

<v Speaker 1>me very suspicious about this entire thing. So I think

<v Speaker 1>people absolutely have good reason to be skeptical about the

<v Speaker 1>excuse that's being given here. I just I don't think

<v Speaker 1>you can be speaking in absolutes about it. You can't

<v Speaker 1>because you don't know. But if it was Tony who

<v Speaker 1>made the call because someone who works for him got

<v Speaker 1>a you know, a bug up their ass and wanted

<v Speaker 1>this guy gone, then he should have stood his ground.

<v Speaker 1>I don't think the man should have lost his job

<v Speaker 1>over it. I don't. And it's shitty for him to

<v Speaker 1>have to see his friends all go to aw thinking, Hey,

<v Speaker 1>I'm going with them and they're all going to make

<v Speaker 1>more money, only to be the odd man out at

<v Speaker 1>the very last minute and have to go crawling back

<v Speaker 1>to the company. They did not want him in the

<v Speaker 1>first place, or at least they didn't want him enough

<v Speaker 1>to fight to resign him. Because Tray Miguel is already

<v Speaker 1>back in TNA. He showed up on Impact Thursday night

<v Speaker 1>as a surprise entrant in the Feast or Fired match.

<v Speaker 1>Evidently AMC has a different set of standards than Warner

<v Speaker 1>Brothers Discovery does. Tom Hannifin said that Miguel has re

<v Speaker 1>signed with the company, and he proceeded to pull down

<v Speaker 1>one of the four briefcases, which has either a shot

<v Speaker 1>at the TNA World title. Well, I mean, we know

<v Speaker 1>it's not that, because they already they already went and

<v Speaker 1>spoiled that for their own fans. I'll talk about that

<v Speaker 1>in a minute. But it could be a shot at

<v Speaker 1>the TNA International title, the TNA Tag team titles, or

<v Speaker 1>it could be a pink slip to be fired. And

<v Speaker 1>that fucking guy is going to be on suicide watch

<v Speaker 1>if he opens that briefcase and there's a pink slip

<v Speaker 1>in there after the week that he just had. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>can you even imagine he opens the briefcase up this

<v Speaker 1>Thursday only to find out he's been fired again. Hopefully

<v Speaker 1>he got himself a decent deal to re sign with them.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, the way people have been leaving that company lately,

<v Speaker 1>I'm not so sure. But whatever they re signed him for,

<v Speaker 1>I'm sure it's not what he would have been making

<v Speaker 1>in aw So. I mean, that's got a sting. So

<v Speaker 1>his break from wrestling did not last very long, and

<v Speaker 1>I'm glad he's at least gainfully employed again. Now, this

<v Speaker 1>is what he posted in the aftermath of all this.

<v Speaker 1>I planned it to step away from wrestling. After the

<v Speaker 1>week I went through, it was really hard on me

<v Speaker 1>mentally and emotionally. I didn't think I could do it anymore.

<v Speaker 1>Thank you to everyone who had my back, especially TNA.

<v Speaker 1>I came very close to quitting. My heart was broken.

<v Speaker 1>I felt like wrestling hated me. To be quite honest,

<v Speaker 1>I hadn't felt a hurt or a loss like that

<v Speaker 1>in a very long time. I didn't answer calls or texts,

<v Speaker 1>and I spent a little over a week contemplating what's next.

<v Speaker 1>I felt like my dream died as quickly as it

<v Speaker 1>was realized. But it's in moments like this that God

<v Speaker 1>will show you how strong you actually are. But if

<v Speaker 1>it weren't for the support system that God has blessed

<v Speaker 1>me with, I don't know if I would have been

<v Speaker 1>able to turn that decision around. I'm not everyone's favorite wrestler.

<v Speaker 1>I don't strive to be. I strived to make a

<v Speaker 1>kid's dreams come true who had a very hard childhood

<v Speaker 1>and only ever wanted to be one thing, a pro wrestler.

<v Speaker 1>Words can't describe how eternally grateful I am for saving

<v Speaker 1>this dream for me and to the ones who encourage

<v Speaker 1>me to stick it out. I will forever be in

<v Speaker 1>debt to If you supported me through this, I love you.

<v Speaker 1>If you didn't, I still love you. There's no room

<v Speaker 1>in my heart for hate. Now with that being said,

<v Speaker 1>i have to show the world what I am made of,

<v Speaker 1>and I'm just thankful to still have that opportunity. Whether

<v Speaker 1>you have hate in your heart or just hate for

<v Speaker 1>one person online and you want to zing them back,

<v Speaker 1>you may post things and you go too far or worse,

<v Speaker 1>you show yourself for who you really are, right God knows.

<v Speaker 1>I've been disappointed by a lot of shit that wrestlers

<v Speaker 1>have done and said over the years, especially once I

<v Speaker 1>used to watch as a kid. I'm not sure which

<v Speaker 1>side of the fench train Miguel falls on. I don't

<v Speaker 1>know him well enough to say I take him at

<v Speaker 1>phase value that it's not a reflection of who he

<v Speaker 1>really is. But not everyone is going to be so forgiving,

<v Speaker 1>and comments like that may come back to haunt you

<v Speaker 1>and cost you a lot of money. So I did

<v Speaker 1>watch episode two of Impact on AMC and it was

<v Speaker 1>definitely an improvement from the first episode. But I mean,

<v Speaker 1>I think a test pattern would have been an improvement

<v Speaker 1>over that first show. Production wise, I thought it looked better.

<v Speaker 1>They opened with a little bit of a different shot.

<v Speaker 1>Tom Hanifin or Matt Raywall were standing ringside with the

<v Speaker 1>ring in the aisle right behind them, and they introduced

<v Speaker 1>TNA President Carlos Silva, only for Hanafin to ask him

<v Speaker 1>if he was proud of last week's debut on AMC,

<v Speaker 1>which had to be a rib on Silva, you know,

<v Speaker 1>forcing him to lie like that on camera. Then they

<v Speaker 1>opened with Cedric Alexander pinning Moose in what I thought

<v Speaker 1>was a good match, probably the biggest win of Alexander's

<v Speaker 1>TNA career so far, you know, looking at how they

<v Speaker 1>ended the show, this all tied into the big show

<v Speaker 1>closing angle, which I liked. Even if you don't love

<v Speaker 1>the angle that they did, I liked that they can

<v Speaker 1>at least tie things together like that. I liked the

<v Speaker 1>Mike Santana promo in the ring. It was something we

<v Speaker 1>didn't get to see on the premiere last week, was

<v Speaker 1>the Champion addressing his people. He's a great representative for

<v Speaker 1>that company and for that title. The elegance brand stuff

<v Speaker 1>is a drag on the show. Although it was better

<v Speaker 1>than what they did last week, and even better no

<v Speaker 1>Perez Hilton this week. Ash by Elegance had to vacate

<v Speaker 1>her title and step away from the ring a few

<v Speaker 1>months ago, if you remember, and it all sounded very bleak,

<v Speaker 1>like there was some sort of major medical issue that

<v Speaker 1>maybe forced her into an early retirement. But they shot

<v Speaker 1>an angle after Indy Hartwell's win over m By Elegance

<v Speaker 1>where it looked like Ash was about to split away

<v Speaker 1>from them. They were beating her up after the match

<v Speaker 1>Indy and Ash was trying to stop them and you know,

<v Speaker 1>baby face them, but it was all a swerve. And

<v Speaker 1>when the knockouts champion Lee Ying Lee ran out with

<v Speaker 1>Zia Brookside to even the odds, Ash attacked Lee and

<v Speaker 1>they're all still together. But the fact that she got

<v Speaker 1>physical and then she said she's back, she's like saying

<v Speaker 1>I'm back, I'm back. I take that to mean that

<v Speaker 1>she's cleared and whatever the issue was has been resolved.

<v Speaker 1>So that's nice to see. I don't want to ever

<v Speaker 1>see someone's career end that way. Then they had a

<v Speaker 1>Feast or Fired match, which is a TNA special. Now, look,

<v Speaker 1>I'm not a fan of it, it's a ridiculous concept,

<v Speaker 1>but I said last week. This show needs more TNA

<v Speaker 1>centric attractions, whether it's Ultimate X or whatever, something unique

<v Speaker 1>that they can do than nobody else does. Because it

<v Speaker 1>didn't feel like a TNA show last week. I said

<v Speaker 1>they have an identity issue. So they had the trusses

<v Speaker 1>with the four briefcases hanging in each corner. This is

<v Speaker 1>the match where Trey Miguel returned, Miguel, Eric Young, Steve Macklin,

<v Speaker 1>and Eddie Edwards. They all got briefcases. Now we wait

<v Speaker 1>until Thursday to find out what's inside those briefcases. Do

<v Speaker 1>they get a title shot of some kind or do

<v Speaker 1>they get fired. Trey Miguel is sweating bullets right now.

<v Speaker 1>I'll have more on this in a minute. They had

<v Speaker 1>some backstage segments. There was one in particular where this

<v Speaker 1>was really noticeable where Nick Nemeth was yelling at some

<v Speaker 1>guys for being marked and playing video game. One of

<v Speaker 1>the marks was Bde, who was a YouTuber turned wrestler

<v Speaker 1>that they recently signed. They never identified who the other

<v Speaker 1>guys were. They were just a bunch of random dudes.

<v Speaker 1>But Bde got up in Nema's face and the two

<v Speaker 1>of them are gonna end up having a match on

<v Speaker 1>TV this week, but it was hard to hear some

<v Speaker 1>of what they were saying because they had crowd noise.

<v Speaker 1>The crowd noise was up louder than the audio from

<v Speaker 1>inside the dressing room, so that's another production thing they

<v Speaker 1>need to fix, either eliminate the crowd noise from these

<v Speaker 1>segments altogether, or at least minimize it so that we

<v Speaker 1>can actually hear what's being said more clearly. Right, there

<v Speaker 1>was a similar issue. There was a promo in the

<v Speaker 1>back later from the Righteous after the main event where

<v Speaker 1>there was kind of a similar issue. Elena Black, the

<v Speaker 1>former Korra Jade, who debuted here last week. She did

<v Speaker 1>a short promo from the stage, and not a bad one,

<v Speaker 1>you know, as heel promos go. She gloated about being

<v Speaker 1>the only woman in the Knockouts division that matters because

<v Speaker 1>she got a million views in twenty four hours on

<v Speaker 1>Quote Socials. She's only on a one year deal with them.

<v Speaker 1>Daria Array, the former Sonya Deville, she revealed on Busted

<v Speaker 1>Open Radio that she's only got a six month deal

<v Speaker 1>with the company. So either talents don't want to commit

<v Speaker 1>long term to TNA with the hope of ending up

<v Speaker 1>in WWE, or aw or TNA is offering people short

<v Speaker 1>term deals to keep costs down. I feel like there's

<v Speaker 1>a little bit of both going on here. Mustapha Ali,

<v Speaker 1>he lost to Jeff Hardy in the main event. They

<v Speaker 1>had a good match. I get that Jeff is one

<v Speaker 1>of their two biggest stars. He and Matt are are

<v Speaker 1>the tag team champions, but I don't think he needed

<v Speaker 1>to be beating Ali. Yeah, Mustapha Ali is the best

<v Speaker 1>n ring performer on their roster. He's just the total

<v Speaker 1>package in terms of not only his work but his selling.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, he's the best they have. Losing to Jeff

<v Speaker 1>Hardy is not a killer, but I would want to

<v Speaker 1>protect him a little bit more. You know, he and

<v Speaker 1>his crew they lost on last week's show too, So

<v Speaker 1>then he come out here and he loses to Jeff

<v Speaker 1>Hardy and they actually close, not with the match that

<v Speaker 1>wasn't the true main event. They closed with an angle

<v Speaker 1>the reveal of the newest member of the System to

<v Speaker 1>replace the now retired JDC, who was there in the

<v Speaker 1>ring with them to introduce his replacement, Bear Bronson, as

<v Speaker 1>the newest member of the System. That Bear Bronson is

<v Speaker 1>hardly a major name to say for a big reveal

<v Speaker 1>like this in the show closing segment. I think he's

<v Speaker 1>had all of maybe two matches ever in TNA. His

<v Speaker 1>last match was a losing effort to Frankie Kazarian for

<v Speaker 1>the championship on Impact last month. I like Bear Bronson,

<v Speaker 1>He's a solid addition for the roster there. He came out,

<v Speaker 1>everybody hugged and then Eddie Edwards dropped and gave JDC

<v Speaker 1>a low blow, and Bear Bronson and Brian Myers they

<v Speaker 1>jumped Moose, Cedric Alexander, who beat Moose in the opener.

<v Speaker 1>He went out with a chair to fend them off,

<v Speaker 1>or so we thought. Actually nobody really thought that. He

<v Speaker 1>did exactly what most people probably thought he was here

<v Speaker 1>to do, which was hit Moose with a chair and

<v Speaker 1>turn heel. I don't know why you would shoot the

<v Speaker 1>same basic angle twice on the same show. We just

<v Speaker 1>saw the same thing earlier with Ashby Elegance, so I

<v Speaker 1>don't know why you would do that. But JDC and

<v Speaker 1>Moose they got beat up in all this, and there's

<v Speaker 1>a new system now with Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers, Bear

<v Speaker 1>Bronson and Cedric Alexander. It's not going to light the

<v Speaker 1>World on fire. But at least it's a big angle

<v Speaker 1>to close the show. It was a step up from

<v Speaker 1>last week. There's still work to be done, but it

<v Speaker 1>wouldn't be a TNA show without at least one lol

<v Speaker 1>TNA moment. People who were watching the show on the

<v Speaker 1>TNA Plus service, they got a little surprise, a little

<v Speaker 1>something extra when the show was over. Now, I don't

<v Speaker 1>think Impact is live again until March fifth. So on Thursday,

<v Speaker 1>they taped stuff for the next two weeks of TV

<v Speaker 1>and then they have an Impact taping I think on

<v Speaker 1>Valentine's Day, which is a Saturday, So they'll probably take

<v Speaker 1>two more weeks of television there and then that'll get

<v Speaker 1>them to March fifth. But when the live show was

<v Speaker 1>over on Thursday, the audio feed continued on TNA Plus,

<v Speaker 1>so you could hear the audio, you could hear the commentary,

<v Speaker 1>you just couldn't see anything. And this happened. This was

<v Speaker 1>a good fifteen minutes after Impact went off the air,

<v Speaker 1>and we got some spoilers, So if you don't want

<v Speaker 1>any spoilers, you can skip ahead a few minutes. They

<v Speaker 1>announced the main event for their No Surrender pay per

<v Speaker 1>view on February thirteenth is going to be Mike Santana

<v Speaker 1>and Leon Slater taking on Nick Nemmath and Eddie Edwards,

<v Speaker 1>and it was revealed that Eddie Edwards is the one

<v Speaker 1>who pulled down the briefcase and feast Or Fired for

<v Speaker 1>a World Championship match. Now, there's also a storyline where

<v Speaker 1>dari Array encouraged Leon Slater to exchange his his X

<v Speaker 1>Division title for a world title shot the old option

<v Speaker 1>CE remember Options C that was introduced by Austin Airies

<v Speaker 1>many years ago. So the story is that everyone in

<v Speaker 1>that tag match on the thirteenth is going to be

<v Speaker 1>gunning for Mike Santana. I don't know if Leon Slater

<v Speaker 1>is actually going to go through with exchanging his title

<v Speaker 1>for a shot. He probably won't, but that's the story

<v Speaker 1>they're telling. After about fifteen minutes, someone realized, oh shit,

<v Speaker 1>the audio's going out, and they finally cut it off. Loltna, then,

<v Speaker 1>now and forever. So the world title briefcase is off

<v Speaker 1>the table as far as feast or Fire is concerned.

<v Speaker 1>If I had to venture a guess as to the

<v Speaker 1>other three, I'm gonna say tray me Gal gets an

<v Speaker 1>X Division title shot. Steve Macklin gets an international title

<v Speaker 1>shot and Eric Young gets fired. Those would be Mike Gaes.

<v Speaker 1>I don't know what the spoiler. I didn't read, if

<v Speaker 1>there were any other spoilers, I didn't even see them

<v Speaker 1>post it anywhere, so I don't know. I don't know

<v Speaker 1>anything else, but that would be my guess as to

<v Speaker 1>where those briefcases are going to end up. Tony Maglio

<v Speaker 1>had a story this week in The Hollywood Reporter titled

<v Speaker 1>aw not going to Netflix and Warner Brothers deal. I'm

<v Speaker 1>not aware of anyone actually thinking they were going to Netflix.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, that'd be like me saying, solo Monster not

<v Speaker 1>managing the New York Mets next season. Yeah, no, shit,

<v Speaker 1>not that i'd want the job. But I don't think

<v Speaker 1>anyone even had that as a thought in their head.

<v Speaker 1>But this is what the story says. In the early

<v Speaker 1>hours of Tuesday, January twentieth, Netflix and Warner Brothers Discovery

<v Speaker 1>jointly filed a five hundred and nineteen page proxy statement

<v Speaker 1>with the latest update to their Hollywood Shaking deal. Basically,

<v Speaker 1>Netflix revised its offer for Warner Brothers Studios streaming in

<v Speaker 1>linear HBO to an all cash arrangement, just like rival

<v Speaker 1>paramounts losing proposition. Buried in the lengthy filing were some

<v Speaker 1>random nuggets about the landing spot for certain secondary WB rights,

<v Speaker 1>like the destination for Turner Classic movies. Sports rights will

<v Speaker 1>be especially mobile, and you can double that generalization for

<v Speaker 1>international markets. Though neither the phrase All Elite Wrestling nor

<v Speaker 1>the acronym AEW appeared once in the proxy, page fifty

<v Speaker 1>three foretold the future of the WWE competitor, Really, it

<v Speaker 1>was the absence of the words in the letters that

<v Speaker 1>informed some of this reporting. Following the close the clothes

<v Speaker 1>rather of the Netflix WB deal, All Elite Wrestling rights

<v Speaker 1>will extensibly remain with a Discovery aka the Global Linear

<v Speaker 1>Networks Company, though the league's weekly series and pay per

<v Speaker 1>view events are expected to continue streaming on HBO Max

<v Speaker 1>throughout the remainder of aw's current contract. AW'STV deal is

<v Speaker 1>tied to the basic cable channels TNT and TBS and

<v Speaker 1>expires at the end of twenty twenty seven or twenty

<v Speaker 1>twenty eight, depending on what becomes of the contract's fourth

<v Speaker 1>year option. At that time, AAW programming is likely to

<v Speaker 1>leave HBO Max and enjoining the upcoming Turner Sports streaming app.

<v Speaker 1>Of course, two or three years is an eternity in

<v Speaker 1>the current media landscape, and so much can change within

<v Speaker 1>that timeframe. There's even the possibility of a non exclusive

<v Speaker 1>arrangement in which both HBO Max and Turner Sports stream

<v Speaker 1>AW events. Perhaps the former gets the pay per views

<v Speaker 1>and maybe the latter gets the episodic TV shows, though

<v Speaker 1>WBD and AW will never say this out loud because

<v Speaker 1>at a less than ten percent stake, they don't legally

<v Speaker 1>have to. WBD owns a minority position in the ladder.

<v Speaker 1>That position will remain with the Global Linear Networks piece

<v Speaker 1>following the split and the close of the Warner Brothers

<v Speaker 1>sale to Netflix. All ELI Wrestling is majority owned by

<v Speaker 1>Tony Kahn, the son of Jacksonville Jaguars billionaire owner Shad Khan.

<v Speaker 1>Complicating matters further, AW is not tech chnically on the

<v Speaker 1>sports side of Warner Brothers Discovery. It has always been

<v Speaker 1>considered a piece of wbd's entertainment division, save its PR servicing,

<v Speaker 1>which is handled by Turner's sports communications team. Assuming HBO

<v Speaker 1>Max still exists as a standalone service and is not

<v Speaker 1>fully integrated into the Netflix app. At the expiration of

<v Speaker 1>Turner's AW deal, it likely won't put up much of

<v Speaker 1>a fight to keep AW. It stands to reason that Netflix,

<v Speaker 1>the home of WWE's Monday Night Raw in the US

<v Speaker 1>and the promotion's premium live events outside the US, has

<v Speaker 1>little need for AW, and should Netflix integrate HBO Max

<v Speaker 1>into its own service, it may not even be able

<v Speaker 1>to carry AW programming. Though unconfirmed, it is believed that

<v Speaker 1>WWE's parent company TKO incorporated a noncompete clause in its

<v Speaker 1>deal with Netflix. So on the point about Warner Brothers

<v Speaker 1>Discovery owning a minority steak in the company, this is

<v Speaker 1>not the first time that we've heard that. That has

<v Speaker 1>been rumored for years. It's just never been confirmed. In

<v Speaker 1>October of twenty twenty four, right, this is right after

<v Speaker 1>AAW renewed its media rightes deal with them, the Sports

<v Speaker 1>Business Journal said the same thing, that Warner had an

<v Speaker 1>ownership steak in AAW and when asked about it in

<v Speaker 1>the past, Tony Kahan has neither confirmed nor denied it,

<v Speaker 1>which he could easily do. I mean, if there was

<v Speaker 1>no truth to it whatsoever, he could simply deny it

<v Speaker 1>and say it's fake news. Right, that it's not true,

<v Speaker 1>And he's never done that. Instead, he declared that I

<v Speaker 1>am the controlling owner with one hundred percent voting power.

<v Speaker 1>So that tells me they've got a minority steak in

<v Speaker 1>AAW and it being less than ten percent makes sense

<v Speaker 1>because then they don't need to report it publicly. So

<v Speaker 1>I believe that I believe that part is true. The

<v Speaker 1>rest of this doesn't really tell us anything that we

<v Speaker 1>didn't already know or suspect, even though some people online

<v Speaker 1>we're making this out to be like some groundbreaking piece

<v Speaker 1>of investigative journalism. The situation is this AW is locked

<v Speaker 1>into its media rights deal through twenty twenty seven, with

<v Speaker 1>the option for WBD to pick them up for another

<v Speaker 1>year after that, and during that time they're going to

<v Speaker 1>be staying on HBO Max because of existing contracts. Now,

<v Speaker 1>at that point, AW could shift over to the new

<v Speaker 1>Turner sports streaming app it's going to be launching next

<v Speaker 1>year after Discovery splits off from WBD. Right now, like

<v Speaker 1>I watch Dynamite each week on HBO Max and it

<v Speaker 1>like to find Dynamite, I need to go to the

<v Speaker 1>sports tab. It's not even on the main page anymore.

<v Speaker 1>It used to be I have to I used to

<v Speaker 1>have to scroll down the main page. It's not even

<v Speaker 1>there anymore. I got to click on the sports tab

<v Speaker 1>and then boom, it says live, and I click it

<v Speaker 1>and I can watch. So whatever they consider them internally

<v Speaker 1>on HBO Max, they consider them sports because that's where

<v Speaker 1>the show is. Low Cad. Now in the article here

<v Speaker 1>you got Maglio. He surmises that should Netflix at some

<v Speaker 1>point shoot to integrate HBO Max into its own service,

<v Speaker 1>AW would be without a streaming home because again, there's

<v Speaker 1>little chance of Netflix picking them up, especially if there's

<v Speaker 1>an exclusivity clause with WWE. So at that point, Tony

<v Speaker 1>Kam would need to find a new streaming partner. Amazon

<v Speaker 1>could very well be a landing spot for them. I

<v Speaker 1>think there's a very good chance of that. WWE and

<v Speaker 1>TKO Obviously they're doing business with most everybody else, which

<v Speaker 1>you know, may limit their options. But it's not as

<v Speaker 1>if they don't have any options. But again, these are

<v Speaker 1>all things that we've already known. We've already been talking

<v Speaker 1>about this really since the news broke that Warner was

<v Speaker 1>looking to sell. So where are we. We're exactly where

<v Speaker 1>we were a week ago before this article got published.

<v Speaker 1>AW is safe for a while longer, and we just

<v Speaker 1>have to see how things shake out with Netflix and

<v Speaker 1>Warner Brothers Discovery. And of course you still have the

<v Speaker 1>embarrassment that is Paramount Paramount sky Dance, which is not

<v Speaker 1>giving up yet on the idea that the Netflix deal

<v Speaker 1>will either fall apart or it won't be approved. They

<v Speaker 1>seem to think that European regulators are going to block

<v Speaker 1>the deal, given how strict they've been about big tech consolidation.

<v Speaker 1>If they think the Europeans are going to block the

<v Speaker 1>Netflix deal, I don't know what makes them think that

<v Speaker 1>they would allow a Paramount deal. This is probably an't

<v Speaker 1>even bigger chance of them blocking them from making a deal.

<v Speaker 1>I think the Netflix deal goes through, but you know,

<v Speaker 1>they may have to make some concessions to get them

<v Speaker 1>to approve it. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers Discovery this week said

<v Speaker 1>ninety three percent of its shareholders have rejected Quote Paramount's

<v Speaker 1>inferior scheme. Their board has already rejected Paramount's offers eight times,

<v Speaker 1>and they still refuse to increase their offer. Unless they

<v Speaker 1>do that, this is going nowhere for them. If they

<v Speaker 1>increase their offer, then things might get a little more interesting.

<v Speaker 1>But it's the same fucking offer. Imagine being rejected eight times.

<v Speaker 1>You go up to the same girl and you ask

<v Speaker 1>her out on a date, and she rejects you, and

<v Speaker 1>you go back up to her seven more times, hoping

<v Speaker 1>that her answer is going to be different. What makes

<v Speaker 1>you expect that her answer is going to be any

<v Speaker 1>different than it was the first time. But that's it.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's the extent of the aw news this week,

<v Speaker 1>that the Tray Miguel stuff. I wish I had more

<v Speaker 1>for you, But when you get a show like the

<v Speaker 1>one we had on Wednesday, where it's, you know, a

<v Speaker 1>bunch of matches and not a lot of story progression,

<v Speaker 1>there's not a whole lot to really talk about that

<v Speaker 1>I didn't already cover in the Wednesday review. I thought

<v Speaker 1>Kevin Knight looked great in the main event against Wart Strickland,

<v Speaker 1>but he lost and so did Speedball. So two thirds

<v Speaker 1>of the brand new trios champions were booked to lose

<v Speaker 1>on Wednesday. That should not happen, and Brody King was

<v Speaker 1>picking a fight with MJF who was out there scouting

<v Speaker 1>all the opposition all night long for his title, which

<v Speaker 1>I've already discussed this. I like the fact that They've

<v Speaker 1>set up multiple challengers for him. But you know, we

<v Speaker 1>already know Hangman is coming for the Bell, We know

<v Speaker 1>Swerve is coming for him, we know Samoa Joe and

<v Speaker 1>Kenny Omega are coming for him, you know. But nothing

<v Speaker 1>else really happened on Wednesday. They need to find a

<v Speaker 1>better balance this week with the in ring and the

<v Speaker 1>out of the ring stuff. Otherwise it's just a bunch

<v Speaker 1>of moves and barbed wire boards. Dow on TV this Wednesday,

<v Speaker 1>they're doing Swerve Strickland against Andrade. Chris Statlander is defending

<v Speaker 1>her AW Women's World title against tecla. FTR is putting

<v Speaker 1>their tag team titles on the line against Jake Doyle

<v Speaker 1>and Mark Davis of the Kallis Family, and Mark Briscoe,

<v Speaker 1>who was supposed to defend his TNT championship on Collision

<v Speaker 1>last night, but they had to cancel that taping in

<v Speaker 1>Texas due to bad weather, so they taped Collision after

<v Speaker 1>Dynamite instead, But I guess they left this match out.

<v Speaker 1>So on Wednesday we're getting Mark brisco defending the TNT

<v Speaker 1>title on TBS against l Clone. So those are the

<v Speaker 1>matches that are set up for Dynamite on Wednesday and

<v Speaker 1>some other news and notes real quick here. Former WWE

<v Speaker 1>star wild Man, Mark Merrow or Johnny B. Bad in

<v Speaker 1>WCW if that's more in your lane, tweeted out the

<v Speaker 1>following on Wednesday. I thought was kind of interesting. He

<v Speaker 1>tweeted this out along with an old royalty statement that

<v Speaker 1>he received from WWE in December of twenty nineteen. He

<v Speaker 1>basically he's been going through old wrestling memorabilia that he's

<v Speaker 1>looking to sell. I know. He posted a copy of

<v Speaker 1>the guaranteed contract he signed with WWE in nineteen ninety

<v Speaker 1>six and a copy of the letter from Linda McMahon

<v Speaker 1>talking about his fifty thousand dollars signing bonus. So, I mean,

<v Speaker 1>if you're interested in buying any of this stuff, you

<v Speaker 1>could just email him directly. Merrow Mark. That's Mark with

<v Speaker 1>a C. Merrow mark at yahoo dot com. But with

<v Speaker 1>his royalty statement, he posted this. He said, I've been

<v Speaker 1>asked many times what wrestlers actually make in royalties from

<v Speaker 1>the WWE, So let me give you a real example.

<v Speaker 1>I left the WWE years ago, and more than twenty

<v Speaker 1>years later, in twenty nineteen, I came across an old

<v Speaker 1>royalty statement when you look at how much money many

<v Speaker 1>wrestlers helped generate versus how little they are actually paid.

<v Speaker 1>It's honestly hard to believe on this statement, Even after

<v Speaker 1>being out of wrestling for over two decades, I was

<v Speaker 1>still partly responsible for thirty nine thousand, five hundred and

<v Speaker 1>ninety dollars and eighty one cents in revenue. My royalty

<v Speaker 1>payment for that seventy one dollars and forty seven cents.

<v Speaker 1>That's the reality for a lot of wrestlers. We helped

<v Speaker 1>build the brand, the characters, and the moments that fans

<v Speaker 1>still watch today, yet the compensation rarely reflects the value

<v Speaker 1>that was created. Now, that statement includes a breakdown of

<v Speaker 1>all of the DBDs that he would have been included in,

<v Speaker 1>as like an Owen Hart DVD's listed on there and

<v Speaker 1>a bunch of other ones, and he could be on there.

<v Speaker 1>I mean it could be a single match, it could

<v Speaker 1>be I mean, he could be featured on there for

<v Speaker 1>ten seconds, you know, on a single DVD. I'm not

<v Speaker 1>sure what the formula is that they used to break

<v Speaker 1>these things down, but I mean, and look, I'm not

<v Speaker 1>trying to be a dick here, but seventy one dollars

<v Speaker 1>sounds about right. I mean for what wild Man Mark

<v Speaker 1>Merrow should probably be paid for the one match he

<v Speaker 1>may have, you know, showed up in thirty years ago.

<v Speaker 1>You know. Now, a few months ago, Kevin Nash on

<v Speaker 1>his podcast talked about getting a royalty check that was

<v Speaker 1>half of what it should have been. The first thing

<v Speaker 1>he did was he picked up the phone and called

<v Speaker 1>up Sean Waltman and he didn't even say anything. As

<v Speaker 1>soon as Waltman got the call, he just said to Nash,

<v Speaker 1>you got your royalty check, huh, because he was pissed.

<v Speaker 1>And Nash said, the statements used to be itemized, which

<v Speaker 1>is probably the way it was in the Marrow one

<v Speaker 1>and the Marrow one. It's all itemized as far as

<v Speaker 1>you know what makes you know this much money and

<v Speaker 1>that much money. But that was in twenty nineteen, so

<v Speaker 1>they're under new ownership now now it's TKO crunching those

<v Speaker 1>numbers and sending those statements out. So if there's no

<v Speaker 1>more itemized breakdowns, then you don't know what earned what.

<v Speaker 1>You're just taking things at face value that you're being

<v Speaker 1>compensated appropriately. But Nash said that you know, Paul Paul

<v Speaker 1>is his buddy, and he's not gonna he's not gonna

<v Speaker 1>make any waves so long as his buddy is in charge,

<v Speaker 1>so he just rolls with it. But I mean, if

<v Speaker 1>these guys aren't getting itemized breakdowns anymore, I would want

<v Speaker 1>to know how they're coming to those calculations. I would

<v Speaker 1>at least pick up the phone and try to talk

<v Speaker 1>to somebody there. I would imagine, though, that Kevin Nash

<v Speaker 1>is getting more in royalties than wild Man Mark Merrow is,

<v Speaker 1>as he should. All right, let's take some mailbag questions.

<v Speaker 1>Says the snow. It's my air conditioner out something. It's

<v Speaker 1>really coming down. I haven't even looked out the window

<v Speaker 1>in the last few hours. I don't even I don't

<v Speaker 1>even want to see what it looks like outside. It's

<v Speaker 1>gonna be so bad. It's gonna be so bad. But

<v Speaker 1>you can email me the Solamaster at gmail dot com.

<v Speaker 1>Please include your name of where you are from. We'll

<v Speaker 1>start with Kine from Indiana, who was actually our pale

<v Speaker 1>Ragnarok from YouTube. I've always been a fan of horror

<v Speaker 1>and occult themes in my media, from games, books, and movies.

<v Speaker 1>When I first got into wrestling as a kid, the

<v Speaker 1>Undertaker and Kane were my favorites. I enjoyed the teleportation

<v Speaker 1>in and out of the ring by cutting the lights off,

<v Speaker 1>a trend that continued with Bray White and the Wyatt

<v Speaker 1>family and the House of Black. I was also a

<v Speaker 1>big fan of the Firefly Funhouse segments and the stuff

<v Speaker 1>that Bray was doing with the puppets at the time. However,

<v Speaker 1>one incident with Bray's character did not gel with me,

<v Speaker 1>and that was him stealing the powers from Cain and

<v Speaker 1>the Undertaker and using them to conjure lightning. Call it

<v Speaker 1>getting older, call it a bridge too far, but it

<v Speaker 1>seemed a bit hokey to me. That seemed a bit hokey. Tea.

<v Speaker 1>Not everything else you just described that seemed hokey to you,

<v Speaker 1>he said, with the Wyatt Six being a more grounded

<v Speaker 1>and realistic take on the whys of the Wyatt mythos,

<v Speaker 1>less teleportation and being possessed by cult leaders and more

<v Speaker 1>just outcasts and asylum patients running a muck. My question

<v Speaker 1>is do you believe there is a place in wrestling

<v Speaker 1>in the modern day for the supernatural gimmicks and characters

<v Speaker 1>when presented a certain way, or is that a production

<v Speaker 1>product rather of a bygone era. Well, I think the

<v Speaker 1>keywords there are presented in a certain way. I do

<v Speaker 1>think that there's room for some of that, but I

<v Speaker 1>think it needs to be kept to a minimum. I

<v Speaker 1>don't think it's something that should be exploited where we

<v Speaker 1>have multiple characters turning lights off and shooting fireballs out

<v Speaker 1>of their fingertips and stuff like that. I think it's doable,

<v Speaker 1>but you got to have the right character. You really

<v Speaker 1>need the right person for it. But you know, look,

<v Speaker 1>it's not thirty years ago, it's not forty years ago

<v Speaker 1>where that stuff was kind of novel, you know, like

<v Speaker 1>in WWE, And so I don't think this is more

<v Speaker 1>of a reality based there. I don't think that it's

<v Speaker 1>something that should be done but for maybe one person,

<v Speaker 1>you know. And then you look at the y at

<v Speaker 1>six right now, Yeah, I mean they're more grounded in reality.

<v Speaker 1>But they're not exactly light in the world on fire either,

<v Speaker 1>So I mean you could be more reality based and

<v Speaker 1>grounded in reality. That doesn't mean it's going to necessarily

<v Speaker 1>be presented in a great way. But yeah, I think

<v Speaker 1>with the right person it could work. It could work.

<v Speaker 1>That person can get over and George from Japan, our

<v Speaker 1>friend number one almost Sapien from YouTube. Right, So, how

<v Speaker 1>do you think Finn Balor's career would have been different

<v Speaker 1>if he had not been injured by Seth Rollins and

<v Speaker 1>kept the undisputed time. Well, it was the Universal time,

<v Speaker 1>just to be just to be a nerd here, it

<v Speaker 1>was actually the union. He was the first ever Universal champion,

<v Speaker 1>he said. Would he have been able to have the

<v Speaker 1>same level of success as Seth Rollins or would he

<v Speaker 1>have been fed to Goldberg like Kevin O was and

<v Speaker 1>never gotten near the main events scene. Ever, again, I

<v Speaker 1>don't think his career would have been radically different than

<v Speaker 1>the way it ended up. Honestly, he was never especially

<v Speaker 1>under Vince McMahon. He was never going to be booked

<v Speaker 1>as a top guy. That was not gonna happen. It

<v Speaker 1>would have been Roman Reigns, it would have been brock Lesnar,

<v Speaker 1>it would have been Bill Goldberg, it would have been

<v Speaker 1>Seth Rollins, it would have been braun stroman like. It

<v Speaker 1>would have been guys like that. Balor would not have

<v Speaker 1>been the Universal Champion long enough for Bill Goldberg to

<v Speaker 1>beat him. I think they would have transitioned that title

<v Speaker 1>from him to a heel for that heel to then

<v Speaker 1>drop it to Goldberg if they wanted Goldberg going into

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania as the champion, I don't think they would have

<v Speaker 1>had Goldberg beating Finn Balor for it like as as

<v Speaker 1>upset as people were that he beat Owens for it

<v Speaker 1>in like twenty seconds. Owens was still a heel and

<v Speaker 1>it got a pop when he won the belt. Having

<v Speaker 1>him beat Balor for it as a babyface that would

<v Speaker 1>have backfired on them, So I don't think they would

<v Speaker 1>have done that, But I think Baaler would mo Us

<v Speaker 1>be in the same Spoties and now Sean from Wollongong, Australia.

<v Speaker 1>I've been rewatching a lot of Royal Rumbles and noticed

<v Speaker 1>how the newer stages use much longer ramps. By the time,

<v Speaker 1>well yeah, because they're doing mostly baseball stadiums. Now By

<v Speaker 1>the time some wrestlers reach the ring, it's almost time

<v Speaker 1>for the next entrant, which really hurts the flow. Shorter

<v Speaker 1>ramps like two thousand and eight and twenty ten worked

<v Speaker 1>much better. Faster entrances meant the wrestler who just entered

<v Speaker 1>actually had time to make an impact hit a few moves,

<v Speaker 1>have a quick showdown, create a moment, more action, less

<v Speaker 1>dead time. Curious what your take is on the modern

<v Speaker 1>long rams and whether they take away from what makes

<v Speaker 1>the rumble fun. Yeah, I mean, I see your point.

<v Speaker 1>I don't think they take away from the fun of

<v Speaker 1>the rumble. You're still gonna get those moments you'll notice,

<v Speaker 1>and I like, I think back to last year, they

<v Speaker 1>run to the ring now because the ramps or the

<v Speaker 1>aisles they are so long. They just run, so it's

<v Speaker 1>not like everyone is taking their sweet time coming down

<v Speaker 1>to the ring. They may walk out, but then they

<v Speaker 1>end up running to the ring anyway, So I don't

<v Speaker 1>think it makes that much of a difference. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>I see your point. I missed that short aisle in

<v Speaker 1>Madison Square Garden that's not there anymore, by the way,

<v Speaker 1>they got rid of it. But yeah, I mean, it

<v Speaker 1>doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the Rumbles. Christian from

<v Speaker 1>Orange County, California. I'm a huge fan of the show.

<v Speaker 1>I've been listening to it every week for over ten

<v Speaker 1>plus years. What are your thoughts or personal experiences with

<v Speaker 1>watching nineties All Japan Pro Wrestling and two thousands Pro wrestling. Noah,

<v Speaker 1>I recently have been watching a ton of their Triple

<v Speaker 1>Crown title matches with Misawa, Kobashi, Kawata, Vader, Stan Hansen, etc.

<v Speaker 1>And also watching a ton of GHC Championship matches from

<v Speaker 1>Pro Wrestling Noah. In terms of match quality, I truly

<v Speaker 1>believe this era has had the most incredible matches in

<v Speaker 1>the history of professional wrestling that every fan should watch

<v Speaker 1>one day. Well, I'll tell you this. I mean, those

<v Speaker 1>Kolbashi and Misawa matches are legendary. I didn't see them

<v Speaker 1>until I was much older because I had no exposure

<v Speaker 1>to any of that stuff when I was younger. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>I wasn't tape trading for all the All Japan stuff

<v Speaker 1>or the Noah stuff. It's you know, it's that Japanese

<v Speaker 1>strong style. It's a matter of personal taste. Some people

<v Speaker 1>don't like it. They think it's too stiff. They prefer

<v Speaker 1>a little more finesse in their wrestling, or more story

<v Speaker 1>based stuff like they would see on WWF for WCW.

<v Speaker 1>Because I grew up watching the weekly shows, right, I

<v Speaker 1>don't think there were weekly All Japan shows or weekly

<v Speaker 1>Pro Wrestling Noah shows. You know, there's nothing episodic. It's

<v Speaker 1>just a completely different type of wrestling, but I liked it.

<v Speaker 1>I mean Vader. You mentioned Vader. Vader had a nice

<v Speaker 1>career resurgence in Japan after he left WWE in ninety eight,

<v Speaker 1>and it was nice to see after the terrible that

<v Speaker 1>his run ended there, the way they treated him. They

<v Speaker 1>treated him like fucking garbage on his way out, and

<v Speaker 1>he went out on pay per view ones and literally

<v Speaker 1>called himself a fat piece of shit on camera, and

<v Speaker 1>they turned him into a jobber. He went from jobber

<v Speaker 1>to triple Crown champion in the span I think of

<v Speaker 1>less than a year. Like if you only watched WWF

<v Speaker 1>Vader and never saw Japan Vader, do yourself a favor.

<v Speaker 1>Go find some of those matches. David from Allantown, My

<v Speaker 1>question is about Razor Ramone. I've been a wrestling fan

<v Speaker 1>since the eighties, and honestly, Razor Ramone was the first

<v Speaker 1>truly cool wrestler I ever saw. Before him, babyfaces felt

<v Speaker 1>cheesy and pandering, and heels were over the top movie villains.

<v Speaker 1>Razor was different. He didn't pander, he wasn't trying to

<v Speaker 1>be liked. He was just cool. The music, the gear,

<v Speaker 1>the chains, the toothpick, the swagger. He was a bad guy,

<v Speaker 1>but the crowd loved him anyway. To me, he felt

<v Speaker 1>more authentic than anyone else at the time. Even when

<v Speaker 1>Brett Sean and Diesel were on top, Razor still got

<v Speaker 1>massive reactions, sometimes the biggest of the night. I've heard

<v Speaker 1>over the years that Razor was supposed to be WWF

<v Speaker 1>champion at one point, possibly even over Diesel, but that

<v Speaker 1>he wasn't ready, or that Vince didn't trust him enough.

<v Speaker 1>Can you explain the real story behind that? Why did

<v Speaker 1>Razor never win the world title despite being one of

<v Speaker 1>the most over characters of that era. I've never seen

<v Speaker 1>it confirmed by any legitimate source, So I've never heard

<v Speaker 1>that story that he was supposed to win the WWF title.

<v Speaker 1>I don't believe that to be true. But I mean,

<v Speaker 1>Razor Ramon was cool. You're right on that. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>people these days they talk about aura. Oh, this guy

<v Speaker 1>has aura. He's aura farming when he comes out, right,

<v Speaker 1>this guy he had aura when he would walk out

<v Speaker 1>that Could he have held the world title and gotten

<v Speaker 1>a run with it, sure, but I think it was

<v Speaker 1>a combination of two things. For one, Vince already had

<v Speaker 1>his world champion. He had that belt on Diesel for

<v Speaker 1>a year, and then he had Brett Hart and he

<v Speaker 1>wanted to get the belt onto Sean Michaels, right, he

<v Speaker 1>was next in line. By the time Sean got the belt,

<v Speaker 1>Razor was already out the door to WCW, like the

<v Speaker 1>decision had already been made that he was leaving. So

<v Speaker 1>if the circumstances were different, if one or two of

<v Speaker 1>them went down with an injury or something like that,

<v Speaker 1>I think next up on the list would have been

<v Speaker 1>Undertaker and then Razor Ramone. Now the other thing is,

<v Speaker 1>by all accounts, Scott Hall. He liked to have a

<v Speaker 1>little too much fun outside the ring, so did Shawn

<v Speaker 1>Michaels back then, but he got away with it. Brett

<v Speaker 1>Hart would be very happy to tell you why he

<v Speaker 1>thinks that is. But as the years went on before

<v Speaker 1>he left for WCW, they probably didn't see him as

<v Speaker 1>someone who was reliable enough to put their world title on.

<v Speaker 1>I'm sure that was part of it. Jesse from Dallas, Texas,

<v Speaker 1>another favorite podcaster of mine, good mic work. Shout out

<v Speaker 1>to Greg was asked was asked this on his WrestleMania

<v Speaker 1>Q and A a few years ago. But what do

<v Speaker 1>you think is the best overall WrestleMania, meaning not your

<v Speaker 1>personal favorite, but what you think is the best Mania

<v Speaker 1>in terms of star power, build, presentation, and quality. Also

<v Speaker 1>buy or sell on these two grunge albums from the nineties,

<v Speaker 1>Facelift by Alison Chains or Nirvana's never Mind never Mind

<v Speaker 1>by on Nevermind in the Cell on Facelift. In terms

<v Speaker 1>of Mania, I mean, if you're going off star power,

<v Speaker 1>I mean, look, there's a case to be made for

<v Speaker 1>the first one. Honestly. I mean, you got Muhammad Ali

<v Speaker 1>on that fucking show. You got Muhammad Ali, mister T

<v Speaker 1>and Cindi Lauper, and then you got Hulk Hogan, you

<v Speaker 1>got Roddy Piper, you got Andre the Giant Bruno. Sam

<v Speaker 1>Martino was there in his son's corner, and for that

<v Speaker 1>time period, they really made it feel like a happening

<v Speaker 1>that night, like it wasn't just another Madison Square Garden show,

<v Speaker 1>because back then they were running Madison Square Garden basically

<v Speaker 1>every month. So I'm just saying you can make an

<v Speaker 1>argument for the first one. For me, nineteen was probably

<v Speaker 1>the one that had the most names. I mean, look

<v Speaker 1>who was on that card, Shawn Michaels, It was his

<v Speaker 1>first match back at WrestleMania in five years against Chris Jericho.

<v Speaker 1>He had Hulk Hogan against Vince McMahon. He had Stone

<v Speaker 1>Cold against the Rock for the final time. You had

<v Speaker 1>Kurt Angle against Brock Lesner, which was a match that

<v Speaker 1>I was really looking forward to. Plus he had names

<v Speaker 1>there like Flair right, Rick Flair, he was in Triple

<v Speaker 1>H's corner, Roddy Piper showed up during the Hogan Vince match.

<v Speaker 1>He had all those names, and you had all those

<v Speaker 1>big matches, and it's amazing to see the by Ray

<v Speaker 1>dip the way that it did, like as high as

<v Speaker 1>it was for WrestleMania seventeen and WrestleMania eighteen. There's this

<v Speaker 1>massive dip for nineteen and then it just shoots right

<v Speaker 1>back up for twenty. But that could be what happens

<v Speaker 1>when you mostly build the show around two old guys

<v Speaker 1>and Hogan and Vince, and Vince wasn't even a wrestler.

<v Speaker 1>But as far as my answer, here's my answer. My answer,

<v Speaker 1>seventeen would be the best top to bottom WrestleMania in

<v Speaker 1>terms though of what you asked me, and a lot

<v Speaker 1>of people may disagree with this. I think for me personally. Now,

<v Speaker 1>I know you said it's not my personal favorite WrestleMania,

<v Speaker 1>but just for me, I'm going with WrestleMania eight. I

<v Speaker 1>know we got deprived of Hogan and Flair on that show,

<v Speaker 1>but I loved the build. I thought the build was

<v Speaker 1>very strong for that show, especially for the Savage and

<v Speaker 1>Flair match once they made the switch. But you know

<v Speaker 1>the fallout from the ninety two Royal Rumble, the press

<v Speaker 1>conference to announce Hogan is the challenger and then Sid

<v Speaker 1>goes Heal, it gets Swing which Flare Imperfect and Bobby

<v Speaker 1>Heen and they were all teasing this big centerfold of

<v Speaker 1>reveal for Elizabeth at the show and how personal it

<v Speaker 1>got with Savage and Flair. You had the build to

<v Speaker 1>Undertaker and Jake the Snake with Undertaker going babyface and

<v Speaker 1>the funeral parlor segment where Jake slammed the lid of

<v Speaker 1>the casket on his hand. Bret Hart and Roddy Piper

<v Speaker 1>I love that show. And they were in the Hoosier Dome,

<v Speaker 1>so they had a big setting for it, right. It

<v Speaker 1>was the first Dome show since WrestleMania six, and they

<v Speaker 1>had now it was a heavily papered crowd. They claimed

<v Speaker 1>sixty two thousand people. I don't doubt they had sixty

<v Speaker 1>thousand people there. How many of those sixty thousand paid

<v Speaker 1>to get in, that's the question. But you know it

<v Speaker 1>was it felt like a big deal because they were

<v Speaker 1>back in a big building. But you had all these names.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, look at the roster. Look at the roster,

<v Speaker 1>Hulk Hogan, Rick Flair, Randy Savage, Sid Justice, the Undertaker,

<v Speaker 1>of course Ultimate Warrior also return that night, Jake the Snake,

<v Speaker 1>Brett Hart, Roddy Piper, Ted d Biassi, Sean Michaels finally

<v Speaker 1>starting his singles push. It didn't have the celebrities, didn't

<v Speaker 1>have the mainstream promotion right that some of those other

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania's had. But I always loved that show, and I

<v Speaker 1>loved all the big names of that era. Like just

<v Speaker 1>when I look at that show in terms of star power,

<v Speaker 1>for me, I got a show. Love to WrestleMania eight v.

<v Speaker 1>Brown from Chester, PA. Last year, I really was frustrated

<v Speaker 1>with the fan reactions to Jay Usso's rise, especially the

<v Speaker 1>constant talk about him being just a mid carter, that

<v Speaker 1>his brother was better, and that he didn't belong in

<v Speaker 1>the main event. The same thing happened the year before

<v Speaker 1>with Cody Rhodes when people were saying that he shouldn't

<v Speaker 1>be world champion and that he was still a mid

<v Speaker 1>card guy. Who the hell was saying that. I've always

<v Speaker 1>argued that in WWE, if you're a draw, selling merch

<v Speaker 1>and getting real reactions from the fans, should be pushed.

<v Speaker 1>Whether you're seth rollins in the ring, or even someone

<v Speaker 1>like oh Mos, crowd response should matter. But it seems

<v Speaker 1>like a lot of wrestling fans believe that if you

<v Speaker 1>were never world champion in WWE, you're permanently labeled a

<v Speaker 1>jobber or a mid carter. No matter how successful you

<v Speaker 1>became or become elsewhere, that label sticks forever. What truly

<v Speaker 1>makes someone a main event star. You've said before that

<v Speaker 1>you always saw Brian Danielson as a star, and I'll

<v Speaker 1>be honest, I didn't fully see him that way until

<v Speaker 1>his AW run showed just how much of an all

<v Speaker 1>time great he really is. That changed my perspective completely.

<v Speaker 1>So in your view, what separates a true main event

<v Speaker 1>player from someone fans refused to let escape that mid

<v Speaker 1>card label. I think it's not just your ability to

<v Speaker 1>do any one thing. You need to be able to

<v Speaker 1>do it all. You need to be a five tool player,

<v Speaker 1>as they say in baseball. You can't just be a

<v Speaker 1>great wrestler. It's not enough. Like there are hundreds of

<v Speaker 1>great wrestlers, very few of them will ever be a

<v Speaker 1>world champion, right. Even more so in the old days

<v Speaker 1>where they didn't have a gazillion titles, like you had

<v Speaker 1>one world champion in each territory, you had one world

<v Speaker 1>champion in each promotion, none of this two belt bullshit.

<v Speaker 1>It was very different back then. Just being a great

<v Speaker 1>wrestler is not enough. You need to be able to work.

<v Speaker 1>You need to be able to talk. You need to

<v Speaker 1>be able to communicate with the audience, to connect with

<v Speaker 1>them in some way. You need to be able to

<v Speaker 1>sell tickets. You need to be able to handle all

<v Speaker 1>the other responsibilities that come with being a main event player, right,

<v Speaker 1>and you need to do it consistently. How many guys

<v Speaker 1>over the years, let me ask you this, how many

<v Speaker 1>guys over the years have been given the chance to

<v Speaker 1>be champion or to be in the main event and

<v Speaker 1>then they fell right back down to the mid card. Now,

<v Speaker 1>sometimes politics might be involved, it might not be their fault, right,

<v Speaker 1>because for the longest time, like with Vince Career, was

<v Speaker 1>at the whims of one man, and if that one

<v Speaker 1>man didn't like you, that's it. You're done. But like

<v Speaker 1>I'll use Rakishi as an example because you mentioned jey

<v Speaker 1>Uso and I just talked about Rakishi last week. I

<v Speaker 1>was talking about the comments he made about WWE ticket prices.

<v Speaker 1>Rakishi has been around forever, right, He was a good

<v Speaker 1>talent in the Attitude era. He got over by dancing

<v Speaker 1>and shaking his ass, okay, wearing a thong on TV.

<v Speaker 1>That's how he got over. And in the Attitude era,

<v Speaker 1>they tried to push him as a top guy. It

<v Speaker 1>didn't work. Like within a few months he was right

<v Speaker 1>back to where he was in a company that had

<v Speaker 1>Stone Cold in the Rock and Kurt Angle and the Undertaker,

<v Speaker 1>all those guys. Rakishi didn't fit. He didn't stick, not

<v Speaker 1>as a top guy. Look at Alberto del Rio, he

<v Speaker 1>found great success in recent years as a top guy

<v Speaker 1>in Triple A. In WWE, they pushed him like a

<v Speaker 1>top guy. I never saw him as being on that

<v Speaker 1>same level as the very top guys in that company.

<v Speaker 1>Jack Swagger, He's another one they tried to push him

<v Speaker 1>as a world champion. It didn't work, Jinder Mahal. I

<v Speaker 1>mean there's tons of examples. We'd be here forever. Jay

<v Speaker 1>Uso sells a lot of merch and his entrance is

<v Speaker 1>very popular. People love to yeat okay, but then the

<v Speaker 1>bell rings and I'm sorry. He's not a main event guy.

<v Speaker 1>He had this great story that they told of a

<v Speaker 1>guy who was being told constantly, you can't be a

<v Speaker 1>world champion. You can't be a world champion. Right. The

<v Speaker 1>stuff with him in Roman in those early days of

<v Speaker 1>the blood Line that was fantastic. He had his story arc,

<v Speaker 1>but he was never gonna stick as a consistent headliner

<v Speaker 1>because there's just certain intangibles that he doesn't have that

<v Speaker 1>other guys do. It's the ability to go out there

<v Speaker 1>and deliver something above and beyond what anybody else on

<v Speaker 1>the show was doing night in and night out. That's

<v Speaker 1>not jay Uso. He has his role on the show,

<v Speaker 1>but there's only a finite number of spots at the top.

<v Speaker 1>Very hard to get there and to stay there. If

<v Speaker 1>they saw numbers that led them to believe that jay

<v Speaker 1>Usso should stay in the main event, he would still

<v Speaker 1>be in the main event. Merch numbers are not enough.

<v Speaker 1>Merch numbers are just a part of it. Like you

<v Speaker 1>could still sell a shitload of merch from the middle

<v Speaker 1>of the card, but you need more than that. All

<v Speaker 1>of those things. It's not just any one attribute. But

<v Speaker 1>it's a lot harder to stay there. Like you can

<v Speaker 1>get there, but it's a lot harder to stay there.

<v Speaker 1>You have to have certain qualities that you know the

<v Speaker 1>company looks at you and goes, Okay, this is where

<v Speaker 1>we see him now, this is where he or she right,

<v Speaker 1>this is where we see them. Not everybody is going

<v Speaker 1>to fit that criteria. It's a very small group, like

<v Speaker 1>a very elite group of people at the very top.

<v Speaker 1>Joseph from salesby Texas. Have there ever been any transitional

<v Speaker 1>champions in history that you wish should have been champion

<v Speaker 1>longer than they were? For me? The first two reigns

<v Speaker 1>I think of are edges first title rain and Batista's

<v Speaker 1>reign in twenty ten. Well, I mean, first of all,

<v Speaker 1>neither of those were transitional title runs. With Edges first

<v Speaker 1>World title, he won it off John Cena and he

<v Speaker 1>lost it back to John Cena. So for it to

<v Speaker 1>be a transitional rain, he would have to lose it

<v Speaker 1>to someone different, right, Hence the word transition. You're the

<v Speaker 1>bridge between two people. You are transitioning the title from

<v Speaker 1>one person to another. So it's the same thing with

<v Speaker 1>Batista in twenty ten. He beat John Cena for the

<v Speaker 1>belt and then he lost it back to John Cena.

<v Speaker 1>But I agree, Hollywood, Dave should have had a longer

<v Speaker 1>run with it. Same for Edge, like they were the

<v Speaker 1>ratings were reflecting that people were excited to see someone new.

<v Speaker 1>They were excited to see Edge and Lida and have

<v Speaker 1>Edge with the championship, and they put the belt back

<v Speaker 1>on Sena anyway, and I know that really upset Edge.

<v Speaker 1>But like, same thing with the Undertaker in ninety one,

<v Speaker 1>Like it wouldn't count as him being a transitional champion

<v Speaker 1>because he won it off of Hulk Hogan and then

<v Speaker 1>he lost it right back to Hulk Hogan like a

<v Speaker 1>week later. But one of them, for me, one of

<v Speaker 1>the to your point, one of them would be Bob

<v Speaker 1>Backland in ninety four when he won the belt from Brett,

<v Speaker 1>Like once he started doing the crazy Bob stuff. I

<v Speaker 1>wasn't a fan of his matches. I thought his matches

<v Speaker 1>actually sucked honestly, I thought they were very boring. Crazy Bob, though,

<v Speaker 1>was a great gimmick, and I thought he deserved more

<v Speaker 1>than just three days with the championship before he lost

<v Speaker 1>it to Diesel. So that would be one example. Bray

<v Speaker 1>Wyatt in twenty seventeen, he should have held that title

<v Speaker 1>longer than he did. Ricky Steamboat with the Intercontinental title,

<v Speaker 1>he won it off of Randy Savage, he lost it

<v Speaker 1>to the Honky Tonk Man. He only had it for

<v Speaker 1>three months. That was far too short. Like the story

<v Speaker 1>has always been, he went to Vince his wife was

<v Speaker 1>about to give birth. He wanted some time off to

<v Speaker 1>be with her and to be with his son. I

<v Speaker 1>never got the impression he was asking for like six

<v Speaker 1>months or a year or anything like that, But he

<v Speaker 1>just wanted off for the birth of his son. I

<v Speaker 1>don't see why they had to take the belt off

<v Speaker 1>of him, but that's just how things were back then, right,

<v Speaker 1>And I guess at that time, if they were running

<v Speaker 1>house shows with like an A crew, a B crew,

<v Speaker 1>a sea crew, I mean they could be running three

<v Speaker 1>or four different towns any given night. They were headlining

<v Speaker 1>some of those shows with icy title matches. So I

<v Speaker 1>guess Vince just fell. Well, if you're not fully committed

<v Speaker 1>to this pal, I got to take the strap off you.

<v Speaker 1>So anyway, it went from Savage to Steamboat and then

<v Speaker 1>from Steamboat to the Hockey TNK Man. But one example

<v Speaker 1>of a good transitional champion is The Rock. The Rock

<v Speaker 1>won the undisputed title in two thousand and two great

<v Speaker 1>triple threat match against Kurt Angle and the Undertaker Undertaker

<v Speaker 1>was the champion, so technically he beat the Undertaker to

<v Speaker 1>win the title, and then a month later at Summerslim

<v Speaker 1>he dropped the belt to Brock Lesner And it was

<v Speaker 1>a much bigger deal for Brock to beat The Rock

<v Speaker 1>than it would have been for him to beat the Undertaker.

<v Speaker 1>So that's that's an example of what I see as

<v Speaker 1>a positive transitional rain Steve from Virginia buyer sell on

<v Speaker 1>who had the better matches. Steve Austin is a technical wrestler,

<v Speaker 1>or Steve Austin as a brawler. He was basically a

<v Speaker 1>brawler all throughout his WWE run, even in ninety six

<v Speaker 1>before he got hurt. I mean, seriously, think back to

<v Speaker 1>those Steve Austin matches in nineteen ninety six or early

<v Speaker 1>ninety seven, he was working more of a brawling style.

<v Speaker 1>So I'm going to buy on Austin the Brawler, the

<v Speaker 1>matches with Brett Hart, the Final four match at In

<v Speaker 1>Your House, the ten Man Tag at Canadian Stampede, the match,

<v Speaker 1>but the Rock, especially their X seven match, three Stages

<v Speaker 1>of Hell with Triple H and one over the Edge

<v Speaker 1>with Due Love, like these matches, Kurt Angle, the matches

<v Speaker 1>with Kurt Angle, all of those matches, those were his

<v Speaker 1>greatest matches. Those all came when he was a brawler.

<v Speaker 1>And actually most of the matches I just mentioned actually

<v Speaker 1>came after the neck injury. So I got to buy

<v Speaker 1>on the brawler Jason from the Bronx. We know Triple

<v Speaker 1>H can never step back into the ring because of

<v Speaker 1>his heart condition, But hypothetically, if he could wrestle one

<v Speaker 1>more feud in today's WWE, who would you put him against?

<v Speaker 1>And why? From a storytelling and a business standpoint, who

<v Speaker 1>makes the most sense. Well, I would have less than

<v Speaker 1>zero interest in even seeing a healthy Triple H back

<v Speaker 1>in the ring at this stage. Those last few matches

<v Speaker 1>he had were just not great. If he did come back, Honestly,

<v Speaker 1>story wine, business wise, the answer is cmpunk. There's unfinished

<v Speaker 1>business there, except WWE unreal kills it by showing you

<v Speaker 1>how lovey dove they are now behind the scenes. But

<v Speaker 1>in a perfect world it would be CM Punk. If

<v Speaker 1>not CM Punk, then Cody Rhodes. There's definitely a story

<v Speaker 1>to tell there and AJ Styles. Any of those three

<v Speaker 1>would work. Neil from North Carolina. I heard you say,

<v Speaker 1>WrestleMania at ten's main event should have been a triple

<v Speaker 1>threat match by Rent Cell on these nineties triple threats

<v Speaker 1>that we never got. Hul Cogan against the Ultimate Warrior

<v Speaker 1>against the Macho King in nineteen ninety, Demolition against the

<v Speaker 1>Heart Foundation against the Rockers in nineteen ninety, Steve Austin,

<v Speaker 1>Brett Hart and Shawn Michaels in nineteen ninety seven. Actually,

<v Speaker 1>I'll I'll throw one at you and I'm gonna buy

<v Speaker 1>on this one. Steve Austin, Brett Hard and Shawn Michaels

<v Speaker 1>in nineteen ninety eight at Wrestle Media at fourteen. Because

<v Speaker 1>I've always believed that Brett never left. He would have

<v Speaker 1>done the honors. Finally, for Steve, Austin dropped the belt

<v Speaker 1>to him a WrestleMania in Boston, but then the question

<v Speaker 1>people always follow up with is, well, then what do

<v Speaker 1>you do with Shawn Michaels, And I'm like, I don't

<v Speaker 1>give a fuck, Like that should have been the match. Yeah,

<v Speaker 1>I mean, he wouldn't have had a match I guess

<v Speaker 1>listed for the card really because you would have done

<v Speaker 1>bretton Austin and Undertaker was already occupied with Cain, So

<v Speaker 1>I mean, I guess. I mean, they could have done

<v Speaker 1>Sean and Owen Hard. But can you imagine Sean Michaels

<v Speaker 1>being relegated to a mid card wrestle media matching? Is

<v Speaker 1>Owen Hart the uh the fit that he would have

<v Speaker 1>pitched if that was going to be his match. No,

<v Speaker 1>Ideally it would have been Brett, Sean and Stone Cold

<v Speaker 1>in a triple threat, and I think if Seawan didn't

<v Speaker 1>have the bad back, that would have been a hell

<v Speaker 1>of a fucking match. So you would have had the

<v Speaker 1>heat of having Brett and Sean and the promos they

<v Speaker 1>would have been cutting on each other because they don't

<v Speaker 1>like each other, and then you drop stone Cold in there,

<v Speaker 1>and obviously he has his history with Brett, but he's

<v Speaker 1>also got history with Sean from when they were tag

<v Speaker 1>team partners. That would have been a great one. I

<v Speaker 1>gotta buy on that. I would rent looking at these

<v Speaker 1>other two here, they're both from nineteen ninety. Huh, I man,

<v Speaker 1>I don't Hogan Warrior and Savage in the same match.

<v Speaker 1>That would have been big. That would have been big.

<v Speaker 1>But I'm gonna rent on Demolition Heart Foundation of Rockers,

<v Speaker 1>and I'm gonna sell on Hogan Warrior and Macho King

<v Speaker 1>and Joey from a story of Queen's not a wrestling question.

<v Speaker 1>He actually has a question about my Mets. So what

<v Speaker 1>do you think of the moves the Mets have made

<v Speaker 1>so far this offseason after losing so many players. I

<v Speaker 1>think they've recovered nicely and am optimistic about the season.

<v Speaker 1>I will say they have made some good moves. They

<v Speaker 1>have quelled a lot of the fears that people had

<v Speaker 1>about this season and if they would really be able

<v Speaker 1>to compete, because it was looking very bad there for

<v Speaker 1>a while. They've actually had a really good offseason though.

<v Speaker 1>They just added the starting pitcher that they needed right

<v Speaker 1>with the Freddie Perrault to trade. They added a big

<v Speaker 1>bat with Boba Schatt. I mean that guy can hit

<v Speaker 1>Luis Robert Jr. He's the center fielder. We still need

<v Speaker 1>a left fielder. I mean, what are they gonna They're

<v Speaker 1>gonna probably put what Baby Beaty is gonna be in

<v Speaker 1>left right. We need a left fielder. But we do

<v Speaker 1>have someone at third base who's never played third base,

<v Speaker 1>and we have a first baseman who's never played first base.

<v Speaker 1>So we'll see how that goes. We'll see how that goes.

<v Speaker 1>But I am more hopeful now than I was six

<v Speaker 1>weeks ago for sure. Anyway, good stuff. I'm gonna wrap

<v Speaker 1>this up here. If you have questions for the mail bag,

<v Speaker 1>you know how to reach me, the Solemn Monster at

<v Speaker 1>gmail dot com here on this snowy Sunday. Hopefully it's

<v Speaker 1>not too terrible where you are, but it's pretty fricking

<v Speaker 1>terrible outside right now. I'm happy I'm inside and I

<v Speaker 1>will be with you live tomorrow night for the Raw

<v Speaker 1>Post show. That's the go home raw before the Royal Rumble.

<v Speaker 1>We have Dynamite on Wednesday night and then SmackDown on Friday,

<v Speaker 1>so you can catch me live on all the YouTube streams.

<v Speaker 1>Of course, this Tuesday will be a brand new episode

<v Speaker 1>of Tuesday Night Titans, so it's gonna be a lot

<v Speaker 1>of content and then next Saturday, you're getting two podcasts

<v Speaker 1>because I'm gonna be live after the Royal Rumble, not

<v Speaker 1>immediately after, but probably around nine pm Eastern, So that's

<v Speaker 1>what we're planning for. That'll be next Saturday, and then

<v Speaker 1>next Sunday, I guess is the first day of February.

<v Speaker 1>We're kicking off a brand new month with episode nine.

<v Speaker 1>Nine brand new SoundOff coming your way in just a

<v Speaker 1>week's time. So I want to thank you for all

<v Speaker 1>the love, thank you for all the messages about ninety

<v Speaker 1>k to thank you for all the PayPal support. You

<v Speaker 1>guys are awesome. Be well, stay safe and I'll see

<v Speaker 1>you back here for the Rumble and nine and a

<v Speaker 1>brand new month next weekend. Until then, take care, guys.

<v Speaker 1>The solemn Monster sounds I said, you know, boy, it's

<v Speaker 1>a good thing that EO is one of the best

<v Speaker 1>wrestlers in the world, which she is, because Hollywood is

<v Speaker 1>definitely not in her future. People really didn't like that.

<v Speaker 1>I said this on Twitter. Go watch aw we're the

<v Speaker 1>best storytelling and matches are where it's at. I was

<v Speaker 1>told this by someone with the name baby Oose says,

<v Speaker 1>proceed with caution now, as I told this person directly.

<v Speaker 1>I've screenshoted this for their therapist because they're going to

<v Speaker 1>need to add this to this guy's file. I was

<v Speaker 1>called a nerd by someone with Eosky fan account in

<v Speaker 1>their bio and a photo of eo as their avatar.

<v Speaker 1>This person said, you're such a nerd. If you want

<v Speaker 1>to see acting, go watch a movie. How dare you

<v Speaker 1>talk about acting on a television show? Fucking freak, But

<v Speaker 1>evidently you're not allowed to give your opinion here on

<v Speaker 1>social media unless you're willing to bathe in this woman's bathwater.

<v Speaker 1>The IWC folks truly the dumbest collection of characters on

<v Speaker 1>the face of the planet. The Solo Monster sounds off

<v Speaker 1>bringing you the good, the bad, and the ugly. Check

<v Speaker 1>out the weekly live streams bonus content for subscribers, and

<v Speaker 1>follow The Solo Monster on Facebook, Instagram, and x The

<v Speaker 1>Solo Monster I love you so long.