<v Speaker 1>I spoke to my lawyer from Leatham. Just FYI. Everybody

<v Speaker 1>at the DJ is former Leatham lawyers, so on that

<v Speaker 1>that side will be helpful.

<v Speaker 2>SEC.

<v Speaker 1>Of course it's SEC. But that's just a penalty as

<v Speaker 1>it relates to everything else. Yes, we can indemnify you,

<v Speaker 1>and we will. If it's criminal. Of course, you can't

<v Speaker 1>stop criminal. But this is not criminal. Call me when

<v Speaker 1>you get a chance.

<v Speaker 2>Hey, Jeff.

<v Speaker 3>Then it's ten thirteen. A very good meeting with Ari

<v Speaker 3>and company, and I think it probably is the best

<v Speaker 3>thing to go forward with the deal with Ari. It

<v Speaker 3>solves a lot of problems I got, you know, again, together,

<v Speaker 3>I think it's a stronger situation than I had one

<v Speaker 3>of us on our own. But I'm pretty sure that's

<v Speaker 3>the way I want to go now. It's easier, faster,

<v Speaker 3>and all that other kind of stuff. So let's talk

<v Speaker 3>in the morning and uh, and I didn't commit to Ari,

<v Speaker 3>but let's talk in the morning and h and go. Jeff,

<v Speaker 3>thank you so much, sorry calling you so late. We

<v Speaker 3>just broke up what I just broke up with or

<v Speaker 3>he was like an hour ago he left or something.

<v Speaker 3>And Linda, brother, Stephanie and I and Nick we're talking,

<v Speaker 3>So we just broke that up, so we'll talk in

<v Speaker 3>the morning. Thanks.

<v Speaker 2>It's business time, baby you. I'm listening to solo monster sounds.

<v Speaker 2>I love your mama monster dude. I want your souldier.

<v Speaker 3>You got grown ass rustlers in the back going on Twitter?

<v Speaker 2>Come over here? Is that hot Madison? You have legs?

<v Speaker 2>I was ninety nine percent positive it was just chessed up.

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

<v Speaker 1>every every platform I can, and I want to know

<v Speaker 1>the reason.

<v Speaker 3>Why do you want to party?

<v Speaker 2>What you heard? There were some of the voice recordings

<v Speaker 2>that we have heard so much about as part of

<v Speaker 2>the WWE shareholder's lawsuit, which has since been settled. But

<v Speaker 2>just because it's been settled and is not going to

<v Speaker 2>trial after all, does not mean that the speculation stops

<v Speaker 2>around whether Vince McMahon sold the company to Endeavor as

<v Speaker 2>a way to get out of some legal problems and

<v Speaker 2>sell it to somebody with whom he had a favorable relationship.

<v Speaker 2>That seems very likely. But Brandon Thurston posted a story

<v Speaker 2>on Post Wrestling with the audio recordings, which WWE had

<v Speaker 2>tried to block from being released. Thurston credits to other reporters,

<v Speaker 2>one from the News Journal and one from Bloomberg Law,

<v Speaker 2>for coordinating to get these released publicly, because getting the

<v Speaker 2>files required them to go to the courthouse in Wilmington,

<v Speaker 2>Delaware in person. We already had the transcripts of these

<v Speaker 2>voice messages, but to actually hear them, to hear their voices,

<v Speaker 2>it certainly doesn't do anything to make me think the

<v Speaker 2>shareholders did not have a strong case to convince a

<v Speaker 2>jury that the whole sales process was a sham, one

<v Speaker 2>that was rigged from the start to make sure that

<v Speaker 2>Endeavor got their hands on it. That first voice that

<v Speaker 2>you hear is Ari Emmanuel in twenty twenty two, assuring

<v Speaker 2>Vince McMahon that they would indemnify him if need be

<v Speaker 2>from certain legal issues, even though a deposition happened later

<v Speaker 2>on where Ari denied that Vince was ever indemnified by

<v Speaker 2>himself or Endeavor. The other voice you hear is Vince himself,

<v Speaker 2>leaving word for his banking advisor that he wants to

<v Speaker 2>move ahead with the Ari deal because it quote solves

<v Speaker 2>a lot of problems. I mean, this is all moot

<v Speaker 2>now that the case is settled or is in the

<v Speaker 2>process of being settled, but it is interesting to be

<v Speaker 2>able to hear the actual recordings and not just read

<v Speaker 2>a transcript. This is episode nine to seventy of The

<v Speaker 2>Solemn Monster Sounds Off for Sunday, July fifth, twenty twenty six,

<v Speaker 2>after a weekend where Jeff Jarrett's former babysitter tied the

<v Speaker 2>knot with Travis Kelcey at Madison Square Garden and that

<v Speaker 2>is still only the second most famus his wedding at MSG,

<v Speaker 2>after Randy Savage and Elizabeth at Summerslim. I don't think

<v Speaker 2>any snakes popped out of any gift boxes though at

<v Speaker 2>the wedding reception on Friday or the Swifties, they would

<v Speaker 2>have been out for blood. I hope you all had

<v Speaker 2>a happy Fourth of July. You know who did not

<v Speaker 2>have a happy Fourth was a Rajah Jackson. He spent

<v Speaker 2>his behind bars after finally being booked into La County

<v Speaker 2>Jail on Thursday for his attack on Psycho Stu almost

<v Speaker 2>a year ago now at the Knox Pro event in May,

<v Speaker 2>Jackson agreed to plead no contest to battery for what

<v Speaker 2>he did to Psycho Stew real name Stuart Smith. Under

<v Speaker 2>the terms of the plea deal, Jackson has to serve

<v Speaker 2>ninety days in jail, two years on probation, and pay

<v Speaker 2>eighty one thousand dollars in restitution to Psycho Stu, and

<v Speaker 2>he'll likely end up being released at his next hearing,

<v Speaker 2>which is in late September, so he may not even

<v Speaker 2>serve the full ninety days the benefit of being a

<v Speaker 2>first offender. Smith was at the hearing on Thursday, and

<v Speaker 2>he did speak. He said, what happened affecting me deeply,

<v Speaker 2>and I do not minimize the seriousness of it. The

<v Speaker 2>injuries I suffered led to a long and difficult recovery

<v Speaker 2>that I am still trying to recover from, including treatment

<v Speaker 2>for a severe traumatic brain injury, a shattered maxilla, and

<v Speaker 2>a bone graph procedure. He said he suffered memory loss

<v Speaker 2>and reduced cognitive function and has not been able to

<v Speaker 2>work for almost a year. But he said, I do

<v Speaker 2>not stand here with hatred for or desire for revenge.

<v Speaker 2>I hold no grudges against mister Jackson. People can make

<v Speaker 2>terrible decisions in difficult moments. Reduced cognitive function and unable

<v Speaker 2>to work for a year, He's a very forgiving man.

<v Speaker 2>Is psychoste If you would like to make a PayPal

<v Speaker 2>donation and support the podcast. You may do so on

<v Speaker 2>the Solo monster dot com ten dollars in more, we'll

<v Speaker 2>get you nickname and a shout out. You guys brought

<v Speaker 2>the heat on YouTube this week on all the streams.

<v Speaker 2>You got things started for July in a big way,

<v Speaker 2>and we got some big TVs coming up this week

<v Speaker 2>for WWE and AEW, so let's keep it going. I

<v Speaker 2>want to say thank you to Rachel from the Badger State.

<v Speaker 2>It says go Brewers. Hey, yeah, sure, go Brewers, Go Brewers.

<v Speaker 2>Why not? Maybe maybe I should switch teams at this

<v Speaker 2>point it's embarrassing. The Portland Pop Star, Paul Hamilton, Big

<v Speaker 2>B Brian Besserra, James Hollywood Herrera, Happy Fourth Bro, The Diamond,

<v Speaker 2>Dallas Dance Machine, Harrison Soep, Velvet Revolver, Robert Murray, Big Time,

<v Speaker 2>Boris Weinman, The Chicago Slayer, Willie Aichord, Tough Guy, Temjen Zephyr.

<v Speaker 2>I'm glad you enjoyed the movie que the Destroyer, Night Stalker,

<v Speaker 2>n f Alsafar, and Killshot Keith Hart. Before I go

<v Speaker 2>any further, you know, as wrestling fans, we all love

<v Speaker 2>to fantasy book things in our own minds. Right, I'm

<v Speaker 2>as guilty of it as anybody. We do it on

<v Speaker 2>a weekly basis. What kind of promotion would we run

<v Speaker 2>if we had full control over everything? Well, it doesn't

<v Speaker 2>have to be a fantasy anymore. Now there's an app

<v Speaker 2>for that. Actually, it's a mobile game. It's called Eras

<v Speaker 2>of Wrestling, and it is set in a world with

<v Speaker 2>hundreds of original characters, each with their own lore. You

<v Speaker 2>play as the general manager running your own wrestling promotion

<v Speaker 2>and you collect cards for wrestlers, managers, match types, venues, promos,

<v Speaker 2>you name it, then you use them to run the shows.

<v Speaker 2>You can customize things like teams and title belts. You

<v Speaker 2>can unlock feuds and merch all while you build your

<v Speaker 2>promotion's history across five different eras of Wrestling, each with

<v Speaker 2>its own style. The game comes from the studio behind

<v Speaker 2>Eighties Mania Wrestling and Modern Mania Wrestling. It's got incredible artwork,

<v Speaker 2>some really slick comic book presentation, plays great in five

<v Speaker 2>minutes or if you want to have a marathon session,

<v Speaker 2>and the best part is that it's free with regular updates.

<v Speaker 2>To trust me, this thing is a hidden gem. I

<v Speaker 2>think more people should be playing it. Now you can

<v Speaker 2>just search eras of Wrestling in the app Store or

<v Speaker 2>Google Play that's eras of wrestling and go gm the

<v Speaker 2>promotion that you've always dreamed of. I'll put the links

<v Speaker 2>to the app in the episode notes to make it

<v Speaker 2>a little bit easier for you guys to get there.

<v Speaker 2>The Great American Bash last weekend was the first NXT

<v Speaker 2>pl t air on the CW network, and it crashed

<v Speaker 2>and burned up against Forbidden Door, just three hundred and

<v Speaker 2>ninety four thousand viewers and a lot less than that,

<v Speaker 2>around one hundred thousand in the key demo, making it

<v Speaker 2>the least watched show in NXT history, at least since

<v Speaker 2>it went to TV after the WWE network days. I

<v Speaker 2>think it's a real slap in the face to the

<v Speaker 2>talent in NX, not even just the talent there, but

<v Speaker 2>everybody really who puts those shows together, that they continue

<v Speaker 2>to use NXT as the sacrificial lamb in these head

<v Speaker 2>to head situations, knowing that this is going to be

<v Speaker 2>the end result and just not giving a shit. I mean,

<v Speaker 2>it's not like they didn't know that this was going

<v Speaker 2>to happen. I mean it may have done more viewers

<v Speaker 2>because it was on free TV than Forbidden Door did.

<v Speaker 2>Forbidden Door was on pay per view. I don't know

<v Speaker 2>what the buy rate was. Meltzer is saying that it's

<v Speaker 2>tracking less than their recent shows, which where I want

<v Speaker 2>to say, around one hundred and forty five thousand buys.

<v Speaker 2>But by doing this, I mean they're sacrificing viewers for

<v Speaker 2>their own show and for what forgetting people to talk

<v Speaker 2>about NXT on social media so that the focus is

<v Speaker 2>not on AW. Are they afraid that if an NXT

<v Speaker 2>fan sees everybody talking about AW, that they're going to

<v Speaker 2>sample the product and like what they see. That would

<v Speaker 2>be the only potential upside for them would be to

<v Speaker 2>try to stop that from happening. And even then I

<v Speaker 2>think that's a reach. And they're doing it again next month,

<v Speaker 2>only this time it's a doubleheader. They have a Triple

<v Speaker 2>A show at noon Eastern and an NXT heat Wave

<v Speaker 2>show at three pm, all on the same day, all

<v Speaker 2>on the same venue, one right after the other. It's

<v Speaker 2>the same day. Is all in from Wembley Stadium, single admission,

<v Speaker 2>so if you buy a ticket to one, you get

<v Speaker 2>to see both. To buy one, get one free. Basically,

<v Speaker 2>the Triple A show is going to air on YouTube.

<v Speaker 2>The NXT show will air on the CW and this

<v Speaker 2>is against aw's biggest show of the year, which Forbidden

<v Speaker 2>Door is not. And look at how the NXT show

<v Speaker 2>did this time. You know, we'll know they're taking this

<v Speaker 2>seriously if they had some Raw and SmackDown names that

<v Speaker 2>they add to those shows. But they may not care.

<v Speaker 2>They may not care. Look, we had Damian Priest make

<v Speaker 2>his Triple A debut on the on the show last night,

<v Speaker 2>which has been rumored for a while that he was

<v Speaker 2>gonna end up doing some matches there. I mean, you

<v Speaker 2>watch SmackDown, and he has promised the war Raiders he

<v Speaker 2>doesn't know when and he says it has to be

<v Speaker 2>on SmackDown what it happens, But he agreed to their

<v Speaker 2>challenge to a double tag team title match because the

<v Speaker 2>war Raiders are going to put their Triple A tag

<v Speaker 2>team titles on the line. Priest and our Truth they're

<v Speaker 2>going to put their WWE tag team titles on the line,

<v Speaker 2>and they're going to have a title for title match

<v Speaker 2>at some point in the next several weeks on SmackDown

<v Speaker 2>that Priest and Truth are probably going to win. If

<v Speaker 2>you want to send Damian Priest down to Triple A

<v Speaker 2>to do some single shots. That's fine. I think the

<v Speaker 2>Undertaker would love to get his hands on Damian Priest

<v Speaker 2>and book him for a little bit. You probably see

<v Speaker 2>some of himself in Damian Priest. He was out there

<v Speaker 2>on the Triple A show last night looking like, you know,

<v Speaker 2>the American badass Undertaker when he used to come out

<v Speaker 2>with the vest and everything. And that's fine, but like

<v Speaker 2>this whole idea that they may actually put the Triple

<v Speaker 2>A Tag Team titles on them and have them carry

<v Speaker 2>both sets of tag belts is just so ludicrous to me.

<v Speaker 2>Damian Priest, though, is somebody who I could see as

<v Speaker 2>being a part of that Triple A show. I wouldn't

<v Speaker 2>be surprised if this is in preparation for that, And

<v Speaker 2>again we'll see if they add other main roster names here.

<v Speaker 2>But it's just it's just one of those things where

<v Speaker 2>I just don't see what's gained by continuously doing this.

<v Speaker 2>But the CW Network they posted every single match in

<v Speaker 2>full from the Great American Bash to its YouTube channel,

<v Speaker 2>as they do with their weekly shows. So if you

<v Speaker 2>want to see any of those matches and you didn't,

<v Speaker 2>and that main event with Kendall Gray against Lola Weis

<v Speaker 2>was great. You can watch them all there. Actually shout

<v Speaker 2>out to Zaria and Tatum Pasley as well. I went

<v Speaker 2>back and I watched their match that was also very good.

<v Speaker 2>It actually has more views last I checked. Anyway, it

<v Speaker 2>has more views than the Kendall Gray match does. I

<v Speaker 2>think the Tsaria Paxley match has like thirty four thousand,

<v Speaker 2>thirty five thousand views and the main event had around

<v Speaker 2>thirty one thousand. So here we are a week after

<v Speaker 2>Night of Champions where Wressel Vodes is reporting it was

<v Speaker 2>ESPN's idea to have six matches instead of the usual

<v Speaker 2>five that Triple H loves doing on these shows, their

<v Speaker 2>idea being that they wanted to make sure the paid

<v Speaker 2>portion of the event was stronger after the first hour

<v Speaker 2>aired for free on ESPN. Of course, last year's show

<v Speaker 2>also had six matches, which is before the ESPN partnership

<v Speaker 2>even started, So this really wasn't that much of a change.

<v Speaker 2>And the Summer Slam card is coming together. The big

<v Speaker 2>question I guess, other than whether or not Rhea Ripley

<v Speaker 2>is going to be healthy enough to wrestle, and what

<v Speaker 2>they're going to do with her championship is whether Sammy

<v Speaker 2>Zain makes it to Minneapolis with that WWE championship. It's

<v Speaker 2>not looking good. It's not looking good at all, guys,

<v Speaker 2>and a lot of people are going to be very

<v Speaker 2>happy about that. They've been giving Sammy shit all week,

<v Speaker 2>saying he's not deserving of being a world champion, and

<v Speaker 2>I think I put that shit to bed pretty well

<v Speaker 2>on TNT on Tuesday Night, my little rant. I'm not

<v Speaker 2>going to get into that again, but these are likely

<v Speaker 2>the same people that shit on the idea of Daniel

<v Speaker 2>Bryan as WWE champion and said always too small. He

<v Speaker 2>doesn't look the part. He looks like a fan, he's

<v Speaker 2>not a wrestler. He's too short. And they ended up

<v Speaker 2>with a great story where the fans rallied behind him

<v Speaker 2>and he gave us one of the great all time

<v Speaker 2>WrestleMania moments. For every Daniel Bryan is champion, we had

<v Speaker 2>a guy three times his size, like the great colleague

<v Speaker 2>who absolutely sucked Jinder Mahal who took his vitamins and

<v Speaker 2>got the eye of Vince McMahon and won the belt.

<v Speaker 2>That rain sucked. That rain also lasted six months. So

<v Speaker 2>if you can suffer through that. You'll live having Sammy

<v Speaker 2>zayin as WWE champion for a week or a month,

<v Speaker 2>whatever it turns out to be. No one really deserves it. Oh,

<v Speaker 2>he deserves to be the champion. No one deserves it.

<v Speaker 2>He's earned it through his work, even just the last

<v Speaker 2>couple of months on SmackDown, He's earned the right to

<v Speaker 2>hold that title. And it throws a little chaos into

<v Speaker 2>the bill to SummerSlam. But on SmackDown, Adam Pearce, who

<v Speaker 2>is filling in for Nick All This, announced that Sammy

<v Speaker 2>Zain is going to be defending the WWE Championship on

<v Speaker 2>Raw Tomorrow night in Chicago. Is it me or does

<v Speaker 2>it feel like we've had more televised World Championship matches

<v Speaker 2>between WWE and AW this year than any other year

<v Speaker 2>and we're only halfway through the year. This is going

<v Speaker 2>to be at least the fifth WWE title match alone

<v Speaker 2>on television in twenty twenty six, the third in less

<v Speaker 2>than a month. We count those two that Cody and

<v Speaker 2>Gunther had back to back a few weeks ago. That's

<v Speaker 2>not counting the times that Cmpunk defended the World Heavyweight title.

<v Speaker 2>That was at least twice maybe three times, right, once

<v Speaker 2>against bron Breaker and once against Finn Balor, and might

<v Speaker 2>have been just those two. MJF is a about to

<v Speaker 2>have his seventh aw world title defense of the year

<v Speaker 2>on television this Wednesday, and that doesn't include the weekly

<v Speaker 2>title defenses by Darby Allen when he was the champion.

<v Speaker 2>Very likely that we are going to end up with

<v Speaker 2>two world title changes between the two companies within forty

<v Speaker 2>eight hours this week, but that's a lot of title

<v Speaker 2>matches being given away for free. Sammy is going to

<v Speaker 2>defend against Cody Rhodes after Cody beat Jay Usso in

<v Speaker 2>a Number one Contenders match on SmackDown, and you gotta

<v Speaker 2>love it, by the way, you know jay Usso's He's

<v Speaker 2>in the King of the Ring final for a shot

<v Speaker 2>at the World Championship of his choosing at SummerSlam, and

<v Speaker 2>he loses there He is, though, and a Number one

<v Speaker 2>Contenders match for the other belt on SmackDown, a brand

<v Speaker 2>he's not even on, and on Raw Tomorrow. The show

<v Speaker 2>happens to be in Chicago, where CM punk has been

<v Speaker 2>rumored to make his return. It would make all the

<v Speaker 2>sense in the world for him to be on that show. Tomorrow.

<v Speaker 2>When he does, he will likely end up on SmackDown

<v Speaker 2>when he does, meaning when he returns, he will likely

<v Speaker 2>be on SmackDown. And all signs point to him wrestling

<v Speaker 2>Cody Roads on the Summer Slam card. And if that happens,

<v Speaker 2>that leaves Sammy's aim without a match on that show. Now,

<v Speaker 2>I'm a little torn on this. On the one hand,

<v Speaker 2>I would really hate for Sammy to only get nine

<v Speaker 2>days as champion. Others have gotten less, Okay, I've used

<v Speaker 2>the Christian example from twenty eleven. People have been cashed

<v Speaker 2>in on and lost their championship in five minutes. Sammy

<v Speaker 2>has earned more than nine days with the title after

<v Speaker 2>ten years of chasing it. But if the plan is

<v Speaker 2>to do Cody Roads against Cmpunk at SummerSlam, that is

<v Speaker 2>legitimately one of the three biggest matches that this company

<v Speaker 2>can put together right now, if it has enough time

<v Speaker 2>to really get built up properly. Now, do they really

<v Speaker 2>need more than three weeks to tell the story? I

<v Speaker 2>guess that's another question, Like they can probably do a

<v Speaker 2>good enough job on the mic in that time to

<v Speaker 2>do it, or if it's maybe the first match and

<v Speaker 2>they're gonna have a series of matches spread out. Then

<v Speaker 2>that's fine. I mean what else would they do really

<v Speaker 2>to promote this match, you know, outside of a couple

<v Speaker 2>of really strong promos, you know, with two babyfaces, we're

<v Speaker 2>gonna have another tired pull apart brawl, another tired contract signing,

<v Speaker 2>another can they coexist tag team match? Like when you

<v Speaker 2>really stop and think about it, because we talk about

<v Speaker 2>Oh man, I hope they have enough time to build this.

<v Speaker 2>You got to give it time to build. And look,

<v Speaker 2>not everything is going to have the build of a

<v Speaker 2>takeshna Okata which they spread out over a year, right,

<v Speaker 2>a year and a half or whatever else, you know,

<v Speaker 2>whatever other example you want to use the slow burn, right,

<v Speaker 2>not everything needs that much of a burn. But how

<v Speaker 2>much time do they really need to tell a story

<v Speaker 2>with Cody and Punk? Probably not very long, so they

<v Speaker 2>could do it. It would be one of the biggest

<v Speaker 2>matches they could do outside of Rock and Roman or

<v Speaker 2>Roman in Oba. And it's a match that I really

<v Speaker 2>would like to see. You've heard me mention the match

<v Speaker 2>on the podcast before is one that I would love

<v Speaker 2>to see at SummerSlam. I wanted it at WrestleMania, but

<v Speaker 2>to do it at the expense of Sammy's ain. It

<v Speaker 2>just doesn't sit right with me, And so I'm hoping

<v Speaker 2>tomorrow they can do things in such a way that

<v Speaker 2>keeps the belt on Sammy while keeping Cody and Punk involved,

<v Speaker 2>leading to a triple threat scenario. And for Sammy, I

<v Speaker 2>think that's probably gonna be the best he could hope for.

<v Speaker 2>That's going to be his best bet at being on

<v Speaker 2>the Summer Slam card at all, is if they work

<v Speaker 2>him in there and they have him enter as the champion,

<v Speaker 2>and there are ways to do that, you know. Somebody

<v Speaker 2>on the SmackDown stream on Friday night floated the idea

<v Speaker 2>of Punk being on commentary for the main event, and

<v Speaker 2>Sammy gets desperate. Late in the match, he goes after

<v Speaker 2>Punk to goad him into coming after him, and Cody

<v Speaker 2>ends up getting disqualified. Now Cody's got a problem with

<v Speaker 2>Punk because Punk just cost him the WWE title. Now

<v Speaker 2>you have all three men intertwined with one another, and

<v Speaker 2>I like that. You'd have to have Punk come out

<v Speaker 2>then at the beginning of the show as a surprise

<v Speaker 2>and say, hey, I'm going to be out here for

<v Speaker 2>commentary for the main event. Because my thought was and

<v Speaker 2>how I see it playing out. More likely, is Cody

<v Speaker 2>just straight up beat Sammy and he wins the belt

<v Speaker 2>back and after the match, Punk's music hits and he

<v Speaker 2>walks out as a surprise at the end of the

<v Speaker 2>show for the big stare down with Cody, right to

<v Speaker 2>tease that match, that possible match for SummerSlam, And that's

<v Speaker 2>my feardy, Cody's going to do to Sammy what they

<v Speaker 2>had John Cena do to Raymistereo all those years ago.

<v Speaker 2>And funny enough, what happened after seeing a beat Ray

<v Speaker 2>to win the championship on Raw CM, Punk came out

<v Speaker 2>as a surprise at the end of the show for

<v Speaker 2>a stare down with John Cena. That was the first

<v Speaker 2>night actually we heard cult of Personality in WWE. That's

<v Speaker 2>what this feels like to me. I think Sammy Zaying

<v Speaker 2>has got a little over twenty four hours left in

<v Speaker 2>his title run and that sucks. If that happens to

<v Speaker 2>not even have one successful title defense, that would suck.

<v Speaker 2>But the people saying, well, maybe Punk returns and interferes

<v Speaker 2>in the match, right, why would he interfere in the match?

<v Speaker 2>I don't like the people I saw talking about that

<v Speaker 2>this week. I don't know if they really fully thought

<v Speaker 2>that through, Like, what sense would that even make. He's

<v Speaker 2>not just going to interfere in the match. He would

<v Speaker 2>have to be provoked in some way. He's not going

<v Speaker 2>to randomly show up and cost Cody Rhad to the

<v Speaker 2>championship and return as a heel in Chicago. What are

<v Speaker 2>you smoking? That doesn't make any sense. The commentary option though,

<v Speaker 2>to me, that would make the most sense if they

<v Speaker 2>wanted to find a way to keep the belt on Sammy. Otherwise,

<v Speaker 2>I just don't think it's looking good for him. I mean, look,

<v Speaker 2>Cody fatigue is a real thing. I sound like I'm

<v Speaker 2>about to launch into a fucking ad for some new

<v Speaker 2>medical pill that's being sold. Cody fatigue is a real thing.

<v Speaker 2>Ask your doctor if you know the Cody pill is

<v Speaker 2>right for you. That's true, though, Cody fatigue is a

<v Speaker 2>real thing. They need to tread very carefully because if

<v Speaker 2>he just goes in there and takes the belt right

<v Speaker 2>back from Sammy straight up, fans are going to start

<v Speaker 2>to rebel against him. And I'm not saying there aren't

<v Speaker 2>fans already doing that on a smaller scale. You don't

<v Speaker 2>really hear it a lot at the venues He did

<v Speaker 2>get more of a mixed reaction walking out on SmackDown

<v Speaker 2>for that opening segment on Friday, But I mean, we've

<v Speaker 2>been through this before, you know, even with the Randy

<v Speaker 2>Orton stuff earlier this year, were some of these fans

<v Speaker 2>it was kind of fifty to fifty or they were

<v Speaker 2>leaning more into the booze than the cheers for Cody.

<v Speaker 2>But in the end, Cody finds a way to kind

<v Speaker 2>of turn it around and buy and large the fan

<v Speaker 2>reactions to him still largely positive. I think a move

<v Speaker 2>like this, though, this could potentially tip the scales in

<v Speaker 2>the opposite direction, you know, and that could blow up

<v Speaker 2>in their face. So you just have to be careful

<v Speaker 2>with how you approach it. And I mean, if the

<v Speaker 2>idea was to turn Cody heel, then that's fine, But

<v Speaker 2>I don't believe that's the case here. Unless the idea

<v Speaker 2>is if we move Punk to SmackDown, we can turn

<v Speaker 2>Cody heel finally and Punk can be the top babyface

<v Speaker 2>soon to be forty eight year old CM Punk is

<v Speaker 2>your top babyface. That doesn't sound like a wise move

<v Speaker 2>to me. I don't think that's who you replace Cody

<v Speaker 2>Roads with. But on Raw Monday night, we had two

<v Speaker 2>big matches confirmed for Summer Salam. We already had one match.

<v Speaker 2>The only match confirmed heading into Monday was EO Sky

<v Speaker 2>challenging Live Morgan for the Women's World Championship. You can

<v Speaker 2>now add Oba Feme against brock Lesner to the list.

<v Speaker 2>Inside Hell in a Cell and how we arrived at

<v Speaker 2>this was Oba was about to make his choice on

<v Speaker 2>which championship to challenge for at SummerSlam by virtue of

<v Speaker 2>him winning King of the Ring this year, when he

<v Speaker 2>was interrupted by the returning brock Lesner and Paul Hayman.

<v Speaker 2>Brock said, everybody knows I don't watch the shows, lucky guy,

<v Speaker 2>but Paul's been filling him in on what's been going on,

<v Speaker 2>including Oba calling him a coward and a bitch and

<v Speaker 2>questioning his manhood. Talk shit, get hit and he kicked

<v Speaker 2>Oba in the dick before dropping him with an F five.

<v Speaker 2>Oba gets up, it's holding his junk. He's not very happy.

<v Speaker 2>You say I call you names behind your back. Well,

<v Speaker 2>now you're in front of me and you're still a bitch.

<v Speaker 2>Let's settle this once and for all at SummerSlam. Brock accepts,

<v Speaker 2>but under one condition that they do it inside hell

<v Speaker 2>it hisself. It's a big stipulation, big stipulation for a

<v Speaker 2>big blowoff match. I like it first Hell of a

<v Speaker 2>Cell match since Punkin MacIntyre two years ago, and that

<v Speaker 2>one was five stars all the way, Brock's gonna have

<v Speaker 2>to go more than six minutes if they're doing it

<v Speaker 2>inside the cell. The time it takes them to lower

<v Speaker 2>the cage should not be longer than the actual match itself.

<v Speaker 2>Hopefully they give this some more time. And it had

<v Speaker 2>to happen there being at Summer Slam because there was

<v Speaker 2>no other obvious opponent for Brock on that show. I mean,

<v Speaker 2>we could joke about how boy Oba is an idiot.

<v Speaker 2>You had Saturday Nights Made event coming up in Madison

<v Speaker 2>Square Guarden. Why did he throw Summer Slam out there,

<v Speaker 2>knowing he's got a guaranteed title match on that show.

<v Speaker 2>That is very true. You know, it does feel like

<v Speaker 2>a bigger match for a Summer Slam and not for

<v Speaker 2>a Saturday Nights Made event, which, by the way, we

<v Speaker 2>only have two matches that dounce so far. What an

<v Speaker 2>ass card that is for Madison Square Garden. I mean,

<v Speaker 2>we still have a couple of weeks left I would

<v Speaker 2>hope they got a couple of bigger matches, like really

<v Speaker 2>bigger matches planned for that show, because if not as

<v Speaker 2>popular as Dan Housen is going to be a Madison

<v Speaker 2>Square Garden that night. Dan Housen against j D McDonough,

<v Speaker 2>probably with Jalen Brunson in dan Housen's corner, would be

<v Speaker 2>my guess and Page in Briebella defending the tag team

<v Speaker 2>titles against Fatal Influence. That ain't gonna cut it. I

<v Speaker 2>hope they have some good shit planned for that show

<v Speaker 2>because that card is that card is not good, and

<v Speaker 2>boy could really use a match like brock Lesnar against

<v Speaker 2>Olba Femi. It's a legendary historic venue at Madison Square Garden,

<v Speaker 2>so they can make it into a big show. And

<v Speaker 2>it's kind of like, you got to get past me

<v Speaker 2>if you want that title match at Summer Slam, right,

<v Speaker 2>you could have done that, You could have done something

<v Speaker 2>like that. But they were not going to leave brock

<v Speaker 2>Lesner off the Summer Slim Car, especially in Minneapolis. He

<v Speaker 2>was always going to be on that show. If he's

<v Speaker 2>gonna wrestle on that show, there is nobody else that

<v Speaker 2>really makes sense for him to wrestle if not Obafemi.

<v Speaker 2>Now you could try to shoehorn Gunther in there, because

<v Speaker 2>Gunther has just fallen off Right's. He had all the

<v Speaker 2>attention to focus on him for so long and now

<v Speaker 2>he's been relegated to basically just a background player. Now,

<v Speaker 2>coming out of that title match a Knight of Champions,

<v Speaker 2>he'll be wrestling Nick All. This most likely the GM

<v Speaker 2>at SummerSlam, which is a fine little attraction for the card.

<v Speaker 2>But boy again, it's a big drop off from what

<v Speaker 2>Gunther was doing before. You could have I suppose on

<v Speaker 2>a few weeks notice, a few weeks build put together

<v Speaker 2>a match with Brock and Gunther. If maybe coming out

<v Speaker 2>of the OBA thing they wanted to push Brock as

<v Speaker 2>more of a babyface, you could have done that there.

<v Speaker 2>Legitimately is nobody else though that I could think of

<v Speaker 2>that you could put Brock with on short notice for SummerSlam.

<v Speaker 2>So I get why they would want to do the

<v Speaker 2>match with Obah on that show. And here's the other

<v Speaker 2>thing about Brock Lesner and SummerSlam. He's mister SummerSlam. You know,

<v Speaker 2>we hear about mister wrestle man. I'll get questions about

<v Speaker 2>this every now, and then who's mister WrestleMania, Mister Royal, Rumble,

<v Speaker 2>mister this, mister that. And so I've answered those questions before.

<v Speaker 2>Who's mister SummerSlam. You wonder who mister SummerSlam is. I mean,

<v Speaker 2>you might have a couple of different options that you

<v Speaker 2>could go with, but honestly, Brock Lesnar is mister SummerSlam.

<v Speaker 2>If you look at the body of work he's put

<v Speaker 2>together on that show. This is his show. That last

<v Speaker 2>man's standing match, That last match he had with Roman

<v Speaker 2>Reigns was probably their best ever singles match. Funny enough

<v Speaker 2>with the last one they had, the Fatal four Way

<v Speaker 2>in twenty seventeen that Brock was part of with Roman

<v Speaker 2>and Joe and I think Stroman that was great, the

<v Speaker 2>match with Undertaker in twenty fifteen, the squash of John Cena,

<v Speaker 2>the match with Punk in twenty thirteen, that is his

<v Speaker 2>best Summer Slam match. That's one of the best matches

<v Speaker 2>in Summer Slam history. Kurt Angle in two thousand and three,

<v Speaker 2>the Rock in two thousand and two. There's just something

<v Speaker 2>about SummerSlam that brings the best as that of brock Lesner.

<v Speaker 2>And this year the show again into Minneapolis. I'm sure

<v Speaker 2>the two of them are gonna go inside that cell

<v Speaker 2>and they're gonna kill it. So then the question is,

<v Speaker 2>why have Oba win King of the Ring when the

<v Speaker 2>winner is supposed to get a championship match at SummerSlam.

<v Speaker 2>Dave Meltzer says it was always the plan for Oba

<v Speaker 2>to win King of the Ring but then forego his

<v Speaker 2>title match at Summer Slim, because the idea is to

<v Speaker 2>hold off on doing Oba against Roman to make it

<v Speaker 2>a really big deal. I would guess for Saudi Mania

<v Speaker 2>next year if they didn't want Omen I legitimately Obo

<v Speaker 2>said Omen and Robah. If they didn't want Roman and Oba,

<v Speaker 2>that's quite the the switcheroo there to touch. Yet I

<v Speaker 2>understand that, Like, that's understandable if you want to hold

<v Speaker 2>off on that, But to give him the crown without

<v Speaker 2>giving him what was promised by winning the crown is

<v Speaker 2>fuck lazy and it just makes the whole thing feel

<v Speaker 2>so pointless. You know, I had assumed that Oba was

<v Speaker 2>just delaying his title match to a later date. It's

<v Speaker 2>like he told Adam Pierce on on Monday, the title

<v Speaker 2>will always be there. I've got to settle this with

<v Speaker 2>Brock now, but the title will always be there. So

<v Speaker 2>I was like, Okay, well, I guess that means he's

<v Speaker 2>gonna just have his championship match at Wressell Palozo. He's

<v Speaker 2>gonna have his championship match at Wrestle Bay or something

<v Speaker 2>right at a later date. But evidently I don't know

<v Speaker 2>what's going on. But evidently on WWE's own official Raw

<v Speaker 2>Recap podcast, this is their podcast with Sam Roberts and

<v Speaker 2>Megan morand they talked about it, like Oba willingly discarded

<v Speaker 2>his title shot because the title shot was for Summer Slam.

<v Speaker 2>I assume this is their logic, and so he chose

<v Speaker 2>to wrestle brock Lesner at SummerSlam. So therefore he gets

<v Speaker 2>no guaranteed title shot because this isn't money in the

<v Speaker 2>fucking bank where you can just the time and place

<v Speaker 2>to cash in. So until WWE clarifies this, I have

<v Speaker 2>to assume the title shot is gone. I mean, he's honestly,

<v Speaker 2>he should win the Royal Rumble anyway. The Rumble means

<v Speaker 2>more than King of the Ring does. He can just

<v Speaker 2>win the Rumble and choose Roman and just forget about

<v Speaker 2>all of this. I wouldn't be surprised if this title

<v Speaker 2>shot is discarded and they just forget about it. But

<v Speaker 2>the fact that this was the plan from the start,

<v Speaker 2>if we are to believe that that this was the

<v Speaker 2>plan from the start, this is what they intended to do,

<v Speaker 2>and this was not some sort of late decision or

<v Speaker 2>pivot or anything like that, then he didn't need to

<v Speaker 2>be in the tournament to begin with. It's all very stupid,

<v Speaker 2>very very dumb. But you want to know why they

<v Speaker 2>did it. There is a method to the madness here,

<v Speaker 2>I think in their view, here's why they did it,

<v Speaker 2>okay in my opinion, And we don't have to like it.

<v Speaker 2>We don't have to think it makes any sense. But

<v Speaker 2>for the people asking, well, why not just have Seth

<v Speaker 2>Rollins and bron Breaker go to the finals and do

<v Speaker 2>their match there would have made so much sense, right

<v Speaker 2>since Rollins is getting a title match for Roman reigns anyway,

<v Speaker 2>and just leave Oba out of the tournament, or have

<v Speaker 2>Brock interfere and screw him in the opening round, which

<v Speaker 2>was a fatal four way by the way, so you

<v Speaker 2>can actually beat Oba without him taking a pinfall loss.

<v Speaker 2>Why not just do it that way? Here's why It's

<v Speaker 2>very simple. Besides the obvious, which is that they wanted

<v Speaker 2>Oba to have King of the Ring on his resume. Right,

<v Speaker 2>he's the ruler and now he can call himself the king.

<v Speaker 2>Ask yourself, why was jay Uso in the I mean

<v Speaker 2>outside of the obvious reason, why was jay Uso in

<v Speaker 2>the finals or the King of the Ring? Because they

<v Speaker 2>wanted to have him on that Night of championshow they

<v Speaker 2>wanted the entrance. They wanted the fans to be able

<v Speaker 2>to yeat with him on his way down to the ring.

<v Speaker 2>That's the real attraction of jay Uso, because it's definitely

<v Speaker 2>not when the bell rings. When the bell rings, it's

<v Speaker 2>as basic as it gets. It's the music, it's the entrance,

<v Speaker 2>it's the yeating, it's the crowd participation. It's fun for

<v Speaker 2>the people who are in that building. They wanted him

<v Speaker 2>on that show, so they sent him to the finals.

<v Speaker 2>Why was Obafemi and the King of the Ring? Because

<v Speaker 2>if he wasn't or Brock bounced him out of the

<v Speaker 2>first round, what does he do at Night of Champions

<v Speaker 2>If Brock is not wrestling at Knight of Champions and

<v Speaker 2>what does Obafemi do? He probably is not on the

<v Speaker 2>show because he's busy getting ready to kill Brock Lesner

<v Speaker 2>for killing his chances of winning King of the Ring.

<v Speaker 2>It doesn't make sense for him to wrestle somebody else

<v Speaker 2>in the meantime, right, Brock clearly was not committed to

<v Speaker 2>this date in Saudi, So let's assume he's not working

<v Speaker 2>the show or they want to save that match for summer.

<v Speaker 2>So London, what does he do. He's not on Night

<v Speaker 2>of Champions. They wanted him on that show too. They

<v Speaker 2>wanted Obafemi on that show. They wanted him to struck

<v Speaker 2>down to the ring. He was a big attraction on

<v Speaker 2>that show. So if Oba's not in the tournament, he's

<v Speaker 2>not on the show. This was their way of making

<v Speaker 2>sure he had something to do in Riat. By keeping

<v Speaker 2>Rollins and Breakers separate in a cage match, it gave

<v Speaker 2>them an extra match to do on the show since

<v Speaker 2>ESPN wanted six instead of five, so they separated them out.

<v Speaker 2>I'm not saying any of this makes it right or

<v Speaker 2>that it isn't silly when there was an easier way

<v Speaker 2>to go about doing this. I'm just telling you why

<v Speaker 2>these decisions were made, why they do things the way

<v Speaker 2>they do them. Seth Rawlins confronted Roman reigns. At the

<v Speaker 2>end of Raw, he cut one hell of a promo

<v Speaker 2>on him, talking about their fourteen years of shared history

<v Speaker 2>dating back to the formation of the Shield, and how

<v Speaker 2>Roman has never been able to beat Rollins on the

<v Speaker 2>big stage when it matters most. He's the itch that

<v Speaker 2>he can't scratch. He's the ghost that he can't chase away.

<v Speaker 2>And this may well be their last chance to dance

<v Speaker 2>together because they're not getting any younger and the new

<v Speaker 2>generation is nipping at their heels right waiting to take

<v Speaker 2>their spots. So Roman accepted there's a lot of history

<v Speaker 2>there to draw from, and it is true. Roman has

<v Speaker 2>never beaten Seth when it matters. Seth never did lose

<v Speaker 2>the championship, so it makes sense that he would want

<v Speaker 2>to get it back right now that he's vanquished bron

<v Speaker 2>Breaker and he's vanquished the Vision, what else would he

<v Speaker 2>do other than go for the championship that he never lost.

<v Speaker 2>It's not the match that I would have preferred to see,

<v Speaker 2>but it's the match that we're getting, and I'm sure

<v Speaker 2>it'll be great. They're looking at the most marquee matches

<v Speaker 2>that they can do. Roman and Seth, Brock and Ova

<v Speaker 2>Cody and Punk. Maybe they work Sammy in there, maybe

<v Speaker 2>they don't, but they're looking at the most marquee matches

<v Speaker 2>because they still have a lot of tickets to sell.

<v Speaker 2>They've got a two night Summer Slam in a stadium.

<v Speaker 2>Last year, they announced fifty three thousand for Night one

<v Speaker 2>of Summer Slam. They announced over sixty thousand for Night two,

<v Speaker 2>which was probably bullshit, but not too far off from

<v Speaker 2>what the actual legitimate number was. Night two was also

<v Speaker 2>the night that they had John Cena in the main event.

<v Speaker 2>I'm seeing to help them sell a lot of tickets

<v Speaker 2>last year so far this year and we're less than

<v Speaker 2>a month out from the show. Although this was before

<v Speaker 2>the twenty five percent off sale that they just started

<v Speaker 2>as part of this whole America two fifty thing. They

<v Speaker 2>had twenty three thousand, six hundred tickets out for Night

<v Speaker 2>one of SummerSlam this year and twenty three thousand, two

<v Speaker 2>hundred actually less for Night two. Now. US Bank Stadium

<v Speaker 2>is smaller than MetLife Stadium, but it ain't that much smaller.

<v Speaker 2>That's a big drop off from where they were last year.

<v Speaker 2>You had over fifty thousand, sixty thousand tickets sold for

<v Speaker 2>both nights. I mean they're literally at half that right now.

<v Speaker 2>So they're trying to come up with what big matches,

<v Speaker 2>what attractions can we sign? Can we start promoting for

<v Speaker 2>this show to try to help move tickets, and now

<v Speaker 2>ticket prices being as elevated as they are, don't help.

<v Speaker 2>I would have to think as we get closer those tickets,

<v Speaker 2>you know, those prices will start to drop. I'll have

<v Speaker 2>a lot of people in the building. But again, you

<v Speaker 2>see where they are now compared to where they were

<v Speaker 2>a year ago, that's a big drop off. So I

<v Speaker 2>mentioned Gunther against nick All. This nothing is official. If ever,

<v Speaker 2>there was going to be a time for nick All

<v Speaker 2>this to put the tights back on and get back

<v Speaker 2>in the ring. This is as close as we have

<v Speaker 2>ever felt to it. The two of them were sent

<v Speaker 2>home after they had their little pull apart angle after

<v Speaker 2>Night of Champions last weekend. We were told nick All

<v Speaker 2>this is on administrative leave, which is why Adam Pierce

<v Speaker 2>has assumed his role is GM on SmackDown for the

<v Speaker 2>time being. The only thing that makes sense is now

<v Speaker 2>that he's on administrative leave, he's technically not the GM anymore,

<v Speaker 2>so there's no conflict of interest, and you put him

<v Speaker 2>in the ring and he says, you know, he'll fight

<v Speaker 2>gun Through at SummerSlam. And look, I'm sure he's been

<v Speaker 2>itching to get back in the ring ever since he

<v Speaker 2>signed with this company. Like I know for a fact

<v Speaker 2>that this man wanted to sign with WWE years ago,

<v Speaker 2>years ago, and for reasons, and there may have been

<v Speaker 2>somebody who was not fond of him. It didn't happen.

<v Speaker 2>Finally he ended up working in this company. They brought

<v Speaker 2>him in as a general manager, and I think he's

<v Speaker 2>done a very capable job in that role. But I

<v Speaker 2>am sure there is a large part of him that

<v Speaker 2>has been dying to get back in the ring, even

<v Speaker 2>just once, to get back in the ring because he's

<v Speaker 2>never had a match in WWE. This would be his

<v Speaker 2>first ever match in WWI, and who knows where it

<v Speaker 2>may lead. I expect him to go right back to

<v Speaker 2>being the GM, but who knows. One match could be

<v Speaker 2>get two, two could be get four. Maybe he ends

<v Speaker 2>up wrestling a handful of times each year. Who knows.

<v Speaker 2>And it's it's a fine attraction to do on the show.

<v Speaker 2>But again, Gunther from where he was before, where he

<v Speaker 2>was being positioned, to where he is now if he's

<v Speaker 2>going to end up wrestling Nick all This on the

<v Speaker 2>undercard at Summerslim. I just talked about the ticket drop

<v Speaker 2>off for Summer Slim. That's a big drop off. But

<v Speaker 2>if you're Nick all This, I can't think of a

<v Speaker 2>better opponent that you would want to be getting into

<v Speaker 2>the ring with than Gunther. You know, he's one of

<v Speaker 2>the best in the world. Meltzer report ordered in this

<v Speaker 2>week's Observer that Royce Keys was at one point the

<v Speaker 2>planned opponent for Gunther, but that obviously has changed. It

<v Speaker 2>looks to me now what we're probably looking at, based

<v Speaker 2>on what we've been seeing on TV, is a six

<v Speaker 2>man tag team match at SummerSlam, Jacob Fatu and the

<v Speaker 2>Ussos against Solo Socoa, La Knight and Royce Keys all

<v Speaker 2>on the same team. That would seem to make sense.

<v Speaker 2>They finally come around to the idea of linking up

<v Speaker 2>with Solo and we get that as a match. And

<v Speaker 2>we're also looking at Charlotte Flair, most likely against Jade Cargill,

<v Speaker 2>hopefully Chad Gable challenging for the Intercontinental title in his hometown,

<v Speaker 2>whether it's a multiman match or a singles match with

<v Speaker 2>Penta that should be the plan. Paul Hayman I mentioned though,

<v Speaker 2>he was back on Raw, first time we've seen him

<v Speaker 2>in weeks since bron Breaker accidentally speared him through the barricade.

<v Speaker 2>He was back on Raw, not with the Vision or

<v Speaker 2>what's left of the Vision, because Breaker wasn't even on

<v Speaker 2>the show. Neither was low Paul, neither was Bronson Reid.

<v Speaker 2>It was basically down to just Austin Theory. Austin Theory

<v Speaker 2>was as surprised as anybody to see Paul Hayman on

<v Speaker 2>the show. He had no idea Paul was even gonna

<v Speaker 2>be there. And when he said this to Paul, Paul

<v Speaker 2>looked at him and said, well, now you know, and

<v Speaker 2>he walked off. He looked annoyed that the fall guy

<v Speaker 2>was giving him grief. Well, now it sounds like the

<v Speaker 2>Vision may well be coming to an end. Surprise, surprise.

<v Speaker 2>This should have happened a while ago. But according to

<v Speaker 2>a report from Wressel Votes Radio on Thursday, there is

<v Speaker 2>said to be a split opinion regarding the future of

<v Speaker 2>the Vision. The report notes that some within WWE feel

<v Speaker 2>the Vision should continue, but only if the group is reimagined,

<v Speaker 2>including changes to the factions lineup. Others in WWE, however,

<v Speaker 2>feel the group has run its course, which it absolutely has,

<v Speaker 2>and that it's time to let the pieces fall where

<v Speaker 2>they may. The report continues to state that regardless of

<v Speaker 2>what happens with the Vision, Paul Hayman is still expected

<v Speaker 2>to remain paired with Bron Breaker, with Hayman viewed as

<v Speaker 2>an important part of Breaker's presentation on Raw this week,

<v Speaker 2>Austin Theory approached Hayman backstage and said Hayman had not

<v Speaker 2>been returning his calls, and if Hayman is not returning

<v Speaker 2>your calls, that's probably a pretty bad sign for the

<v Speaker 2>the future of the vision. Look, the Vision is no

<v Speaker 2>longer needed the vision. Here's what the vision should have been.

<v Speaker 2>The vision should have been when seth Rollins got injured.

<v Speaker 2>But even before seth Rollins got injured, I think the

<v Speaker 2>long term vision no pun intended for this group. One

<v Speaker 2>goal elevate Bron Breaker to main event babyface status. That

<v Speaker 2>should have been the singular goal of the vision, not

<v Speaker 2>unlike when Evolution was formed many years ago, Triple H

<v Speaker 2>was the leader, Rick Flair was the veteran, but clearly

<v Speaker 2>the idea was to elevate Batista and especially Randy Orton.

<v Speaker 2>That was the long term goal. And Randy Orton, Look,

<v Speaker 2>I'm not saying Randy Orton didn't benefit from being in Evolution.

<v Speaker 2>They did stuff with him that really bungled his career

<v Speaker 2>there for a little bit. It was more Batista who

<v Speaker 2>was the more immediate beneficiary of being a part of

<v Speaker 2>that group. Orton ended up being okay, but that was

<v Speaker 2>the goal there. The goal here should have been Bron Breaker.

<v Speaker 2>Elevate him to being, if not our top guy, one

<v Speaker 2>of our top two or three guys. This is the

<v Speaker 2>guy that we want to be way up here right

<v Speaker 2>for years to come. And he's kind of taken a

<v Speaker 2>back seat recently to Obafemi. Doesn't mean that they've given

<v Speaker 2>up on him, but he's not the you know, he's

<v Speaker 2>not the shiny new toy anymore. When Seth Rollins got hurt,

<v Speaker 2>the move to make with the vision was to essentially

<v Speaker 2>make Bron Breaker the lead force in the group, and

<v Speaker 2>I thought that's what they were going to do. If

<v Speaker 2>you remember when Breaker turned on Rollins, he was scary

<v Speaker 2>that night. Walked up to Bronson reed basically, you're with

<v Speaker 2>me or you're against me. Went up to Hayman, you're

<v Speaker 2>with me or you're against me. But he was the

<v Speaker 2>one calling the shots, and I'm like, okay, we're getting

<v Speaker 2>to this a little bit quicker than I thought, but okay,

<v Speaker 2>strap the rocket and let's go right fucking LFG. Let's

<v Speaker 2>do this. And then the very next week he was

<v Speaker 2>right back to being bron Breaker, like the lap dog

<v Speaker 2>falling in line. Paul Hayman was now the de facto

<v Speaker 2>leader of the Vision and not just the Oracle or

<v Speaker 2>whatever he was calling himself at the time. The Advisor

<v Speaker 2>and bron Breaker like they had opportunity there and they

<v Speaker 2>squandered it. They squandered it. That was the first time

<v Speaker 2>they fucked it up. And then as the munch dragged on,

<v Speaker 2>obviously Breaker got hurt, so he had to go wait

<v Speaker 2>for a while, it just was like, what are we

<v Speaker 2>doing here? What is the purpose? What are the points

<v Speaker 2>of this group? Bronson Reid got hurt, everybody was getting hurt.

<v Speaker 2>This group is cursed logan. Paul gets hurt. So we're

<v Speaker 2>down to Austin theory. The only reason theory was even

<v Speaker 2>added to the group, as I've been saying from day one,

<v Speaker 2>was to be the fall guy. When the Vision has

<v Speaker 2>to lose. We'll have Austin Theory. We go in there

<v Speaker 2>and take the losing fall because we don't want to

<v Speaker 2>beat Logan Paul too much. We don't want to beat

<v Speaker 2>bron Breaker too much. Although he did lose this fucking

<v Speaker 2>feud to seth Rawlins, Bronson Reid went away. So but

<v Speaker 2>even if Bronson Reid didn't get hurt, you wouldn't want

<v Speaker 2>to beating him all the time. So let's get somebody

<v Speaker 2>in there who could take the l's. Hey, Austin, come

<v Speaker 2>on over. I mean, at least he's been in a

<v Speaker 2>better position than he was when he was just hanging

<v Speaker 2>out with Grayson Waller and couldn't even get on the show.

<v Speaker 2>For fucking Waller. He can't get on the show these

<v Speaker 2>days to save his life. So least Theory is getting

<v Speaker 2>TV time. But who is this really benefiting at this point?

<v Speaker 2>This is not the judgment day where you can just

<v Speaker 2>have a turnover on the roster. Well, we'll just turn

<v Speaker 2>these guys out, We'll bring three or four new guys in,

<v Speaker 2>just blow up the whole fucking group, disband the faction.

<v Speaker 2>Whatever purpose it was intended to serve, or it did serve,

<v Speaker 2>it no longer is serving. It is a waste of time.

<v Speaker 2>It brings down Paul Hayman the more people you stick

<v Speaker 2>with him, and it doesn't really work out bron Breaker

<v Speaker 2>and Paul haym And I get that you want to

<v Speaker 2>keep the two of them together, Fine, that's you want

<v Speaker 2>to keep him as a Hayman guy, That's fine. I

<v Speaker 2>still feel like, coming out of this loss to seth

<v Speaker 2>Rolins at the end of this program, that the role

<v Speaker 2>for bron Breaker is going to be as just this

<v Speaker 2>badass kick ass babyface. I don't mean like Smiley babyface,

<v Speaker 2>you know what I mean, the ass kicker babyface. And

<v Speaker 2>I don't know why then he would necessarily need Paul

<v Speaker 2>Hayman with him for that. Like we're getting a tag

<v Speaker 2>team championship rematch tomorrow night. Austin Theory and bron Breaker

<v Speaker 2>are getting Challenge of the Street Profits for the world

<v Speaker 2>tag team titles, and I'm gonna be very disappointed if

<v Speaker 2>this match ends any other way but them losing again

<v Speaker 2>and then bron Breaker fucking destroying Austin Theory, like cutting

<v Speaker 2>him in half with a spear, and let that be

<v Speaker 2>the end of the vision. Let them officially kill the Vision.

<v Speaker 2>Tomorrow when Bronson Reid comes back, if you want to

<v Speaker 2>have him target bron Breaker, you could do that. You

<v Speaker 2>could actually feud them. If we had a healthy tag

<v Speaker 2>team division in this company, I actually would not be

<v Speaker 2>against the idea of putting Breaker and read Back together

<v Speaker 2>as kind of like a full time tag team for

<v Speaker 2>a while. But they don't. The reality is they do

<v Speaker 2>not have a strong tag team division, and bron Breaker

<v Speaker 2>being involved in that is a complete waste of bron Breakers.

<v Speaker 2>So that's not really much of an option. But to

<v Speaker 2>answer the original question, should the Vision be kept together

<v Speaker 2>or split up? The Vision should be blown up by dynamite.

<v Speaker 2>And I'm not talking about the aaw kind. Speaking of

<v Speaker 2>bron Breaker, this became a story this week. This is

<v Speaker 2>just so ridiculous. So at Night of Champions he had

<v Speaker 2>the cage match with Seth Rollins. During the course of

<v Speaker 2>the cage match, and I believe it was on the

<v Speaker 2>superplex spot from the top of the cage through the

<v Speaker 2>table down below, Breaker got cut open on his face.

<v Speaker 2>Half his face ended up being just covered in blood

<v Speaker 2>and it was a great visual. I really think it

<v Speaker 2>added to the match. We don't see that very often

<v Speaker 2>in WWE. After the event, fans started reporting that on Netflix,

<v Speaker 2>which is you know where the show airs internationally, his

<v Speaker 2>entire face was being blurred out after he was busted open.

<v Speaker 2>It wasn't just like they turned the screen black and white,

<v Speaker 2>where they tried something where they covered up like a

<v Speaker 2>part of his face, which I guess would have been

<v Speaker 2>tough to do. They literally blurred the man's entire He

<v Speaker 2>looked like some sort of entity out of a horror movie.

<v Speaker 2>They just put a blur over the man's face for

<v Speaker 2>the remainder of the match, and according to PW Insider,

<v Speaker 2>blurring a Breaker's head was done by WWE itself. The

<v Speaker 2>report notes that in addition to blurring his face, some

<v Speaker 2>camera angles used during the live broadcast were replaced with

<v Speaker 2>alternate shots on the Netflix replay, and in what was

<v Speaker 2>described as a common practice for WWE replays on Netflix,

<v Speaker 2>they also noted that the holy shit chance after Rollins

<v Speaker 2>put Breaker through the table were replaced with this is

<v Speaker 2>awesome chance. Boy, Ye, net Flix is really they're really

<v Speaker 2>dropping the hammer on this, aren't they? And I could

<v Speaker 2>I could still remember when WWE moved to Netflix. Oh boy,

<v Speaker 2>it's going to be so much more risque. On the show.

<v Speaker 2>Now they're on Netflix. They're not on broadcast cable anymore.

<v Speaker 2>I should point out these edits are not on the

<v Speaker 2>ESPN Unlimited version, So even if it's WWE making the

<v Speaker 2>actual edits, this sounds like a Netflix thing that WWE

<v Speaker 2>was asked to make the edits, because it makes no

<v Speaker 2>sense otherwise why they wouldn't you know, they wouldn't do

<v Speaker 2>it on ESPN. If they're doing it on Netflix, this

<v Speaker 2>sounds like a Netflix thing, and I can't understand why.

<v Speaker 2>A one more note here from TV this week. You

<v Speaker 2>saw SmackDown on Friday, which was taped on Monday after Raw.

<v Speaker 2>There was a Triple A Cruiserweight Championship. Mat Ray Phoenix

<v Speaker 2>defended his championship successfully against the Triple A Latin American

<v Speaker 2>champion l e Hodel Vikingo. This may have been vi

<v Speaker 2>Kingo's SmackDown debut. I can't remember if he's ever appeared

<v Speaker 2>on the show. I don't believe he has had a match.

<v Speaker 2>It was about eight minutes of which we saw half

<v Speaker 2>because there was a commercial in the middle of it,

<v Speaker 2>so it was a for all intents and purposes, a

<v Speaker 2>four minute match, about as good as a four minute match.

<v Speaker 2>As you'll see, Vikingo is the only Triple A start

<v Speaker 2>to be signed to an actual WWE contract, and they

<v Speaker 2>looked to him as being one of the faces of

<v Speaker 2>that brand really when they first launched the brand and

<v Speaker 2>took it over. I mean, they're not one hundred percent owners,

<v Speaker 2>but they're obviously a partial owner of Triple A, and

<v Speaker 2>they wanted vi Kingo to be the guy. And then

<v Speaker 2>ultimately they turned him heel because the fans had turned

<v Speaker 2>against him, and I think he's from what I've seen

<v Speaker 2>of him in the heel role, he's taken to it.

<v Speaker 2>He's been doing well in that role. Unfortunately, he is

<v Speaker 2>now said to be injured. According to Corey Hayes of

<v Speaker 2>False Finish, the Kingo was injured earlier in the day

<v Speaker 2>on Tuesday going over his scheduled match on NXT with

<v Speaker 2>e K Prosper and he later reported that the injury

<v Speaker 2>is to Vikingo's left knee, which has swollen pretty badly,

<v Speaker 2>so they're waiting on an MRI to determine the severity

<v Speaker 2>of the injury. Right now, his leg is in a

<v Speaker 2>brace and so instead on Tuesday's NXT show, Keanu Carver

<v Speaker 2>attacked Viking go backstage. We didn't see the attack. We

<v Speaker 2>just saw him standing over and injured Viking Goo and

<v Speaker 2>so they just I guess they ended up doing Keanu

<v Speaker 2>Carver against ek Prosper instead on the show. So I

<v Speaker 2>VI Kingo was fine coming out of the match with

<v Speaker 2>Phoenix on SmackDown, which again was taped on Monday and

<v Speaker 2>then on Tuesday. I'm guessing what ended up happening is

<v Speaker 2>he was probably going over spots earlier in the day

<v Speaker 2>for his match and he hurt his knee. I mean,

<v Speaker 2>unless he went to go, you know, take a shit,

<v Speaker 2>and as he was standing up he tore his knee up.

<v Speaker 2>I can't imagine that's what happened. He was probably in

<v Speaker 2>the ring working out spots with E K Prosper and

<v Speaker 2>he got hurt in the middle of like rehearsals before

<v Speaker 2>the show even went on the air on Tuesday. So

<v Speaker 2>that sucks, and so we'll wait to see what the

<v Speaker 2>severity is. Maybe it's not as severe as they fear,

<v Speaker 2>but the fact that the knee is badly swollen and

<v Speaker 2>they need to send him for an MRI and he

<v Speaker 2>has a history of knee issues is not good. It

<v Speaker 2>sounds like there are three names on their way to WWE.

<v Speaker 2>First Mike Santana. This is the least surprising name of all.

<v Speaker 2>He lost his TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Nick Neamath

<v Speaker 2>last weekend It's Lammiversary after reports that his TNA deal

<v Speaker 2>was expiring this month. Pw Insider is reporting that he

<v Speaker 2>finished up with TNA at the pay per view and

<v Speaker 2>he was not scheduled to appear at their TV tapings

<v Speaker 2>this past week, which he did not. They say the

<v Speaker 2>expectation is that his deal will officially be up sometime

<v Speaker 2>in mid July. I would be stunned if he lands

<v Speaker 2>anywhere else with WWE. He didn't exactly leave aw on

<v Speaker 2>the I don't want to say the best of terms,

<v Speaker 2>but he didn't leave with the best feelings, all right.

<v Speaker 2>Not that he burned it bridges there or anything like that,

<v Speaker 2>but he he was very unhappy with how he was

<v Speaker 2>being utilized, and there's no reason to believe that he

<v Speaker 2>would be used any differently if he went back there.

<v Speaker 3>Now.

<v Speaker 2>WWE has used him on NXT before, they clearly have

<v Speaker 2>an interest in him. I think NXT could be where

<v Speaker 2>he lands initially. Most people do, but not everybody, but

<v Speaker 2>most people do. I think they could do with him

<v Speaker 2>what they did with Joe Hendry, where they give him

<v Speaker 2>a run there FIRSUS NXT champion to lead the brand

<v Speaker 2>for at least a few months before calling him up

<v Speaker 2>to the main roster. But yeah, make no mistake, he's

<v Speaker 2>main roster ready right now. It's just a matter of

<v Speaker 2>is there a spot for him. If there isn't, then

<v Speaker 2>start him in NXT and wait until there is. Don't

<v Speaker 2>put him on the main roster and do to him

<v Speaker 2>what they've been doing to people like Joe Hendry, Jordan

<v Speaker 2>Grace who were basically MIA at this point. I don't

<v Speaker 2>know if a WWE championship is in his future. I

<v Speaker 2>don't know if a World Heavyweight Championship is in his future.

<v Speaker 2>What I do know is that his story is a

<v Speaker 2>great one of some one who started out in a

<v Speaker 2>tag team. He wanted more, He ended up getting hurt.

<v Speaker 2>He went through the rehab process for over a year.

<v Speaker 2>He got himself into the best shape of his life.

<v Speaker 2>He climbed out of a very dark hole in his

<v Speaker 2>personal life. He's been sober now for over three years.

<v Speaker 2>He reinvented himself. He showed proof of concept that he

<v Speaker 2>can be a singles player. How high he ascends is

<v Speaker 2>really up to WWE and how they see him. But

<v Speaker 2>he has earned this opportunity. He's put the work in,

<v Speaker 2>and if he does sign with them, I could not

<v Speaker 2>be happier for the man. And they're getting someone who

<v Speaker 2>I think can be a real asset to them on

<v Speaker 2>their roster. Eric Young is also gone from TNA. This

<v Speaker 2>one did surprise me because he felt like a TNA

<v Speaker 2>lifer at this point, but I guess there's no such

<v Speaker 2>thing as a TNA lifer. He did leave TNA many

<v Speaker 2>years ago. He signed with WWE. He had a run

<v Speaker 2>as the leader of Sanity in NXT in the Black

<v Speaker 2>and Gold days, and then I'm the main roster where

<v Speaker 2>Vince McMahon was clearly not a fan of theirs. Vince

<v Speaker 2>McMahon was clearly not a fan of Sanity boys, that

<v Speaker 2>is that true. Even after that on Raw they kind

<v Speaker 2>of had him in a singles role there for a while.

<v Speaker 2>I would say if Eric Young worked half a dozen

<v Speaker 2>matches on Raw in his life, I would be stunned.

<v Speaker 2>And then he was let go as part of their

<v Speaker 2>COVID cuts in twenty twenty. Now he came back to

<v Speaker 2>WWE in twenty twenty two after Vince McMahon left the company,

<v Speaker 2>but never actually wrestled for them. He never even left

<v Speaker 2>his house. He signed with them, he was officially under

<v Speaker 2>contract with them, but if you go look up what

<v Speaker 2>Eric Young matches did we see in twenty twenty two,

<v Speaker 2>You're not gonna find any. He was supposed to work

<v Speaker 2>with Bray Wyatt and the idea was to be I

<v Speaker 2>think bray Bow and Ewy as a trio. That's what

<v Speaker 2>Triple H sold it to him as this is what

<v Speaker 2>we're going to do, this is the plan, but it

<v Speaker 2>never happened. Then of course Vince McMahon forced his way

<v Speaker 2>back into the company and onto the board, and he

<v Speaker 2>didn't want to work for Vince, so he requested his

<v Speaker 2>release and he had to sign an NDA before they

<v Speaker 2>would give it to him. Add that to the pile

<v Speaker 2>of NDAs with this company, I guess. But this was

<v Speaker 2>even before the Janelle Grant stuff came out. He said

<v Speaker 2>he couldn't work for someone like that morally. Morally, he

<v Speaker 2>said he could not work for a human being like that.

<v Speaker 2>And kudos to him for standing on his beliefs. You know,

<v Speaker 2>him and mcfoley. They gave up guaranteed money when they

<v Speaker 2>didn't have to because they felt a certain way. It

<v Speaker 2>wasn't just lip service with those guys, so respect for that.

<v Speaker 2>Fightful is reporting that Eric Young requested his release from TNA,

<v Speaker 2>and WWE sources expect him to return, as he has

<v Speaker 2>long had a good relationship with Triple H and the

<v Speaker 2>door has always been opened for him to come back. Now,

<v Speaker 2>if you're wondering what Young thinks of Triple H, he

<v Speaker 2>once said that he would help him hide a dead

<v Speaker 2>body if he asked him to. No wonder Triple H

<v Speaker 2>wants him back. See those types of ride or die

<v Speaker 2>are hard to find. You know, when he worked as

<v Speaker 2>a producer for them last time, it was only because

<v Speaker 2>Triple H asked him to. He did that for I

<v Speaker 2>think what he says, sixteen weeks, and they wanted him

<v Speaker 2>to do it full time. He turned it down because

<v Speaker 2>he still wants it to wrestle, and they told him

<v Speaker 2>if you want the job at any point, just say

<v Speaker 2>the word it's yours. This doesn't sound like a producer

<v Speaker 2>role per se, but per Brian Alvarez, he's expected to

<v Speaker 2>work in NXT as a player coach, although he is

<v Speaker 2>not expected to start with them right away, not until September,

<v Speaker 2>is what Meltzer is saying. Young posted on x amid

<v Speaker 2>all the rumors this week, he said, the internet is

<v Speaker 2>e f and wild. Three things to know about the

<v Speaker 2>news today. Number One, I asked for my release and

<v Speaker 2>they granted it. Number Two, I was never on a

<v Speaker 2>handshake deal. I've had a binding contract the entire time.

<v Speaker 2>And number three, I will work where I want, how

<v Speaker 2>I want, and for whom I want. My track record, resume, accolades,

<v Speaker 2>and reputation are proof of that. See you soon. Speaking

<v Speaker 2>of TNA roade dog Brian James, he was backstage at

<v Speaker 2>Slammiversary last week, and he was not present at their

<v Speaker 2>television tapings in all but in New York on Wednesday

<v Speaker 2>or Thursday. The two size are said to still be

<v Speaker 2>working out a deal for him to join the creative team,

<v Speaker 2>which he is still expected to join. That is still

<v Speaker 2>expected to happen, It just hasn't happened yet. Just working

<v Speaker 2>out all the fine details. I guess of the kibbles

<v Speaker 2>and bits that they're going to be paying him. Their

<v Speaker 2>next tapings are in Philly July thirtieth and thirty first,

<v Speaker 2>which will build to their Lockdown pay per view on

<v Speaker 2>August twenty third, So you would think that they would

<v Speaker 2>want to have a deal done before those tapings to

<v Speaker 2>make sure that he could have a hand in those shows. Otherwise,

<v Speaker 2>we're not really going to get a sense of what

<v Speaker 2>a dreamerless TNA is going to look like until the

<v Speaker 2>end of next month. And Big Bill given notice that

<v Speaker 2>he will be leaving AW at the end of his deal,

<v Speaker 2>which if that has not already happened, it will be

<v Speaker 2>happening very shortly. It will over the next week or so.

<v Speaker 2>If he's not already gone, he will be gone. And

<v Speaker 2>that comes per Fightful, which says that WWE is expected

<v Speaker 2>to pick up both he and Enzo Amore for a reunion.

<v Speaker 2>As of mid June, Enzo had still not yet signed

<v Speaker 2>with WWE because the company was waiting for Bill to

<v Speaker 2>be free and clear, which I love just tread translated,

<v Speaker 2>it means they had no interest in Enzo Amore without

<v Speaker 2>being able to put the two of them back together,

<v Speaker 2>which I don't. I mean, hey, that makes sense to me.

<v Speaker 2>That was when he was at his most over. I

<v Speaker 2>still feel like a long term the better play here

<v Speaker 2>is not Enzo as a wrestler, The better play here

<v Speaker 2>is Enzo as a manager for Big Bill, not his

<v Speaker 2>tag team partner. I understand them wanting to bring them

<v Speaker 2>back initially as a team, because that's what they were before,

<v Speaker 2>and they're going to be super over at the very beginning.

<v Speaker 2>You put Bill in a tag team, though, you're putting

<v Speaker 2>a ceiling on him before he even starts. It's going

<v Speaker 2>to be the learning tree all over again, only more

<v Speaker 2>over him and Brian Keith. They were stuck in a

<v Speaker 2>tag team in aw because Tony Kahn didn't have any

<v Speaker 2>other ideas on what to do with Big Bill. A

<v Speaker 2>cast In Enzo reunion will be a big hit for

<v Speaker 2>a little while, but the reality then will set in

<v Speaker 2>very quickly that they're in a dead end spot in

<v Speaker 2>a dead end division. Unless WWE had a genuine plan

<v Speaker 2>to revamp its tag team division. And I don't just

<v Speaker 2>mean adding one team or two teams. Oh look, we

<v Speaker 2>got casts An Enzo back. Oh my goodness, this is

<v Speaker 2>amazing tag team rebirth and WWE no adding one or

<v Speaker 2>two new teams is not going to be enough. That

<v Speaker 2>entire division needs to be gutted and renovated from the

<v Speaker 2>inside out. Failing that, this is not going to last,

<v Speaker 2>and I think it limits Bill's potential as a single

<v Speaker 2>start for them if this is all that they plan

<v Speaker 2>on doing with him. Had my forbidden door review on

<v Speaker 2>last week's Uncrowned Wrestling show, and thank god I did.

<v Speaker 2>I was so happy to just wrap up my notes

<v Speaker 2>on Sunday night slash Monday morning and just go to

<v Speaker 2>bed when that pay per view finally ended. The best

<v Speaker 2>decision I could have made. And Tony Kahan finally heard

<v Speaker 2>the pleas of their East Coast fans as he announced

<v Speaker 2>that he has moved the start time for their next

<v Speaker 2>pay per view redemption on the twenty sixth, up by

<v Speaker 2>an hour, from eight pm Eastern to seven pm. All

<v Speaker 2>In We're not going to have that problem because they're

<v Speaker 2>going to be in the UK, so that show probably

<v Speaker 2>starts around noon Eastern noon or one pm Eastern, which

<v Speaker 2>is fine. Then we'll see if he sticks with the

<v Speaker 2>seven pm start time for all Out or if he

<v Speaker 2>just goes right back to doing it the old way again.

<v Speaker 2>If he insists on keeping these shows in the evenings,

<v Speaker 2>then he should keep them at seven or even six,

<v Speaker 2>even six pm with a five pm start for the

<v Speaker 2>pre show, but seven o'clock look, I want to look

<v Speaker 2>at gift Horse in the mouth. If it's seven o'clock,

<v Speaker 2>seven o'clock is better than eight. But I mean to

<v Speaker 2>start the main card at eight pm and go to

<v Speaker 2>twelve thirty or one o'clock in the morning. When you

<v Speaker 2>send your main event out to the ring and it's

<v Speaker 2>twelve fifteen in the morning, it's just obnoxious. I don't

<v Speaker 2>give a shit what time zone you live in. He's

<v Speaker 2>got to tighten this shit up. Very good show, not

<v Speaker 2>nearly as good as double or nothing, But those last

<v Speaker 2>three matches were all great. Will Osprey and Mercedes Monette,

<v Speaker 2>they win the owen Hart tournaments, and Team Briscoe wins

<v Speaker 2>the cage match over MJF and the don Kallis family,

<v Speaker 2>which is one member smaller now with Andrade going full babyface.

<v Speaker 2>So now the only question is is he wrestling MJF

<v Speaker 2>at Arena Mexico next month or is he wrestling Kenny

<v Speaker 2>Omega for the aw World title. Whoever the world champion

<v Speaker 2>is come. What is it August fifth? I believe is

<v Speaker 2>when they're doing Grand Slam Mexico. That's the only place

<v Speaker 2>where Androde should get that title match. But because Team

<v Speaker 2>Briscoe picked up the win. Mark Briscoe earned his World

<v Speaker 2>Championship shot against MJF on Dynamite this past Wednesday, and

<v Speaker 2>he lost. Of course he did. Now we can get

<v Speaker 2>that out of the way and we can get to

<v Speaker 2>the title matches that people are actually waiting to see.

<v Speaker 2>But it sounds like he was injured in the process.

<v Speaker 2>There was a backstage promo on Collision with the Conglomeration,

<v Speaker 2>which Briscoe was not present for. Kyle O'Reilly said because

<v Speaker 2>of Briscoe's injuries, they don't know when they're going to

<v Speaker 2>see him again, and Brian Alvarez is reporting that whatever

<v Speaker 2>the injury is, it is said to be legit and

<v Speaker 2>not storyline, So we don't know what the injury is.

<v Speaker 2>We don't know how serious. It is serious enough that

<v Speaker 2>based on how they scripted that segment on Thursday, it

<v Speaker 2>sounds like we may not see brisco for a bit.

<v Speaker 2>They have since announced that Kenny Omega is going to

<v Speaker 2>challenge MJF for the AW World Championship, not at their

<v Speaker 2>Redemption pay per view, but this Wednesday on the Beach

<v Speaker 2>Break episode of Dynamite, which Tony Kahan is really loading up.

<v Speaker 2>It's like a mini pay per view. It's going to

<v Speaker 2>take everything that Tony has within him not to a

<v Speaker 2>five hour show. Now that I've said the magic acronym there, PPV.

<v Speaker 2>Don't do it, Tony. They're doing it on Dynamite, which

<v Speaker 2>doesn't make a lot of sense to me that they're

<v Speaker 2>not waiting for Redemption. Dave Meltzer says the match was

<v Speaker 2>not originally scheduled to take place on Dynamite. The original

<v Speaker 2>plan was for it to happen in Montreal at Redemption,

<v Speaker 2>but for whatever reason, the decision was made to do

<v Speaker 2>it this week. Now, maybe it'll become more clear why

<v Speaker 2>that is after this show on Wednesday. I was thinking

<v Speaker 2>maybe it has to do with mjf's leg, which was

<v Speaker 2>still heavily wrapped on TV. But yeah, he worked the

<v Speaker 2>cage match on the pay per view. He came back

<v Speaker 2>and worked a singles match on Wednesday, and he looked fine.

<v Speaker 2>He was in at least four different segments on that

<v Speaker 2>Dynamite show alone, maybe five, teasing multiple matches, So I mean,

<v Speaker 2>it didn't feel like he's hurt and he's got to

<v Speaker 2>drop the belt early because he has to go away.

<v Speaker 2>These two they already wrestled in April on pay per view.

<v Speaker 2>I don't like the idea of them wrestling here. They're

<v Speaker 2>just gonna run it back again at Redemption. Just do

<v Speaker 2>it at Redemption. If they're not gonna do it at

<v Speaker 2>Redemption for some reason, then okay, I guess we're gonna

<v Speaker 2>get it on Wednesday. But again, if the idea is

<v Speaker 2>we're gonna do it here and then we're gonna do

<v Speaker 2>it again, that I don't like. I think that's that's unnecessary,

<v Speaker 2>especially with the big stipulation. I haven't even mentioned that yet.

<v Speaker 2>They're not just wrestling for the World Championship on Wednesday.

<v Speaker 2>The stipulation is the stipulation that MJF shows for his

<v Speaker 2>last match, the Texas Death Match with Hangman Adam Page.

<v Speaker 2>If MJF wins, and that's what he said, if he wins,

<v Speaker 2>not if Kenny fails to win the title. Just if

<v Speaker 2>MJF wins and Kenny Omega loses, just like his old

<v Speaker 2>pal Hangman Adam Page, Omega can never again challenge for

<v Speaker 2>the aw World Championship. He will fall to the same

<v Speaker 2>stipulation that locked out Cody Rhodes and locked out Hangman

<v Speaker 2>Page from ever again challenging for that belt. So they're

<v Speaker 2>running back the same stipulation they did only a few

<v Speaker 2>months ago. But that's sort of been mjf's gimmick in

<v Speaker 2>the past. Remember when he used to have guys run

<v Speaker 2>through the labors. I know, we had the Five Labors

<v Speaker 2>of Jericho and then I'm I'm almost positive he did

<v Speaker 2>that gimmick at least one more time with somebody else.

<v Speaker 2>I can't remember if it was Punk or or who

<v Speaker 2>it was, but this is what he does. And I

<v Speaker 2>was thinking, like, Okay, how do they get out of

<v Speaker 2>this without just having Omega win the belt. One way

<v Speaker 2>would be for there to be no winner. Then the

<v Speaker 2>stipulation wouldn't apply, so that could be a double disqualification.

<v Speaker 2>That could be a time limit draw, which would mean

<v Speaker 2>they go the full sixty minutes. That would be one

<v Speaker 2>way out of that. But what's the point, Like, let's

<v Speaker 2>say they do that, they do a double DQ, they

<v Speaker 2>do a sixty minute draw. Why what is the point

<v Speaker 2>of doing that to kill the stipulation and just run

<v Speaker 2>the match back again three weeks later without it? It

<v Speaker 2>just doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe this is

<v Speaker 2>a way of bringing back Hangman to help Omega win

<v Speaker 2>the belt and Kenny goes into Redemption as the champion,

<v Speaker 2>but why give Kenny his redemption three weeks before Redemption?

<v Speaker 2>That's my issue with this. I'm hoping it makes more

<v Speaker 2>sense after the show on Wednesday, because right now this

<v Speaker 2>seems just very weird to me. It's a big main

<v Speaker 2>event though. I mean, look, it's a big main event

<v Speaker 2>for them to promote for this show second straight week

<v Speaker 2>that MJF is defending the World Championship on TV. In

<v Speaker 2>addition to this, they've announced Kenoski Takeshta will defend his

<v Speaker 2>international title at Beach Break against Kyle Fletcher. And this

<v Speaker 2>is another match where it's like, why not do it

<v Speaker 2>at Redemption? Why not do it at Wembley. This at

<v Speaker 2>least makes sense if they're going to take the title

<v Speaker 2>off of Takesha, which I feel like they are. It

<v Speaker 2>makes sense because Takesha is in the G One again

<v Speaker 2>this year. You know, he won the G One Climax

<v Speaker 2>last year. He's in this year's tournament as well, which

<v Speaker 2>kicks off on July eleven, which means he's going to

<v Speaker 2>be in Japan for the next month. He's not going

<v Speaker 2>to be here for Redemption. He won't be back until

<v Speaker 2>two weeks before Wembley, so it would make sense to

<v Speaker 2>have Fletcher win the belt here and then Takeshta Getz

<v Speaker 2>his rematch in London. Maybe they could do a three

<v Speaker 2>way with Okata involved, Chris Jericho and Tamaso Champa. They're

<v Speaker 2>gonna have their match on Wednesday, and they're doing a

<v Speaker 2>women's casino Gauntlet match for a shot at Tekla's aw

<v Speaker 2>Women's World Championship at Redemption. Athena. We know will enter

<v Speaker 2>the gauntlet at number one, Maya World will enter at

<v Speaker 2>number two. Teacher and student. I don't think either one

<v Speaker 2>of them are winning. I think we get the return

<v Speaker 2>of Willow Nightingale in the Gauntlet to win the entire thing.

<v Speaker 2>I think she's gonna be wrestling Tecla, and if I'm

<v Speaker 2>right and she does, I think Willow wins the Women's

<v Speaker 2>World Championship at Redemption and then she defends against Mercedes

<v Speaker 2>Monet at all In. Willow is on her way back.

<v Speaker 2>And they only this week crowned a new TBS champion

<v Speaker 2>because he wanted to do one of these Survival of

<v Speaker 2>the Fittest matches. They've had qualifying matches on TV now

<v Speaker 2>for a few weeks so even though Willow she vacated,

<v Speaker 2>she forfeited the title in May. We only got a

<v Speaker 2>new TBS champion this week and she's already on her

<v Speaker 2>way back. She may be back on TV this week,

<v Speaker 2>but we do have a new TBS champion. Her name

<v Speaker 2>is Hikarushida, which eh, not a fan of that move.

<v Speaker 2>Persephonie was right there. Queen Aminado was right there, not

<v Speaker 2>a fan of that. Darby Allen got married last weekend

<v Speaker 2>in Seattle to a lady named Sarah, who he first

<v Speaker 2>met on the school bus as they went to the

<v Speaker 2>same high school. It was very much a Darby esque

<v Speaker 2>wedding with mechanical bulls. Brody King was there chopping Darby's

<v Speaker 2>father and Darby's mom body slammed him onto a pile

<v Speaker 2>of thumbtacks. His wife also works as an ICU nurse,

<v Speaker 2>which is gonna come in very hat being married to

<v Speaker 2>Darby Allen. But he spoke to John Alba of Sports

<v Speaker 2>Illustrated after McK foley named Darby earlier in the week

<v Speaker 2>as a dream opponent of his, and Darby told John

<v Speaker 2>Alba he has absolutely no interest in wrestling McK foley.

<v Speaker 2>He said, I would never wrestle Mick. I would never

<v Speaker 2>wrestle against Mick what I team with him? Absolutely. I

<v Speaker 2>would team with him in a heartbeat, just like I

<v Speaker 2>would never wrestle Sting. I would love the team with him.

<v Speaker 2>But that's the thing for Mick to answer. What does

<v Speaker 2>he feel in his career that if he would even

<v Speaker 2>need that, If there's any questions unanswered. I don't feel

<v Speaker 2>like I would get out of it what we want.

<v Speaker 2>I feel like there's a lot more meat on the

<v Speaker 2>bone with me teaming with him. I just don't think

<v Speaker 2>I would get out of it what I would think

<v Speaker 2>I would. I wouldn't want to go out there and

<v Speaker 2>have that with somebody like Mick that a lot of

<v Speaker 2>people are saying he doesn't need to be in the ring.

<v Speaker 2>If he's going to be in the ring, I want

<v Speaker 2>to do everything to help him, like by his side.

<v Speaker 2>It's just not something that interests me. Though he's referring

<v Speaker 2>to a singles match, it sounds like he doesn't want

<v Speaker 2>to do the crazy stuff he usually does. To a

<v Speaker 2>sixty year old man that he looks up to with

<v Speaker 2>more concussions than there are stars in the sky, it's

<v Speaker 2>a lot easier for him to do that to a

<v Speaker 2>younger guy that he doesn't have that emotional attachment to.

<v Speaker 2>So that's what I get out of it, And also

<v Speaker 2>just him wanting to help Mick if Mick is going

<v Speaker 2>to come back. He understands that Mick is going to

<v Speaker 2>have limitations. He hasn't been a full time wrestler. He

<v Speaker 2>has a wrestled like a real full match in years.

<v Speaker 2>He's sixty ish years old, right whatever, he is now

<v Speaker 2>sixty sixty one, He's had a litany of injuries and

<v Speaker 2>hip replacements or knee replacements, and so he wants to

<v Speaker 2>be in a role that will help make Mick look

<v Speaker 2>the best that he can be. It makes sense. It's

<v Speaker 2>the same thing he did with Sting. He understood Sting's limitations.

<v Speaker 2>Sting's an older guy. There's stuff he can do, there's

<v Speaker 2>stuff he can't do. He probably grew up watching Sting

<v Speaker 2>and loving Sting. What can I do to help make

<v Speaker 2>Sting look like a badass? Right? And it was such

<v Speaker 2>a smart thing that Tony Kahn did, One of the

<v Speaker 2>smartest things he ever did. When you look back on

<v Speaker 2>different creative decisions and all kinds of decisions that have

<v Speaker 2>been made in aw was the pairing of Sting and

<v Speaker 2>Darby Allen. It was a way of protecting Sting. So

<v Speaker 2>that's what Darby would like to do to make if

<v Speaker 2>Mick is insistent on getting back into the ring, which

<v Speaker 2>he will, and I don't think it's going to be

<v Speaker 2>just for a tag team match, although a tag team

<v Speaker 2>match would be the better way to go frankly if

<v Speaker 2>Mick wanted to get back in the ring, but I

<v Speaker 2>don't think him and MJF are going to let that

<v Speaker 2>match slide. I think the two of them probably want

<v Speaker 2>to work together at some point, but doing the tag

<v Speaker 2>team thing, honestly, would make a lot more sense. So

<v Speaker 2>that's the main news. There's a couple of other news

<v Speaker 2>in notes, so I'm going to weave them into the

<v Speaker 2>mail bag here. We got a bunch of questions, so

<v Speaker 2>we'll just dive right into it. If you have questions

<v Speaker 2>for the mail bag, you can always email me the

<v Speaker 2>Solemn Monster at gmail dot com. Please include your name

<v Speaker 2>and where you are writing in. From Andrea from Saint Paul, Minnesota.

<v Speaker 2>Thank you for reading my email on the sound off

<v Speaker 2>a few weeks ago. That's never happened to me before

<v Speaker 2>on any podcast that I listened to regularly. Well, that's

<v Speaker 2>why this is the best one. I try to make

<v Speaker 2>it interactive. I was listening to what Triple H had

<v Speaker 2>to say about WWE on Stephen A. Smith's podcast. For

<v Speaker 2>him to place blame on fans and say that the

<v Speaker 2>product is supposed to just be fun and that people

<v Speaker 2>can sometimes take it too seriously makes me laugh. Can

<v Speaker 2>you imagine if David Stearns or Steve Cohen said that

<v Speaker 2>about the Mets. Well, they can't say that because there's

<v Speaker 2>nothing fun about the Mets right now. So I didn't

<v Speaker 2>get a chance to talk about this last week. Triple

<v Speaker 2>H was recently on the Stephen A. Smith Show and

<v Speaker 2>he was asked if he had a message for fans

<v Speaker 2>about the WWE product, and I lifted the quote, So

<v Speaker 2>this is what he had to say. I think that

<v Speaker 2>we bring an event to you that is always going

<v Speaker 2>to be exciting, that is always going to surprise and

<v Speaker 2>delight you, and we bring a little bit of something

<v Speaker 2>for everybody. So there's the entertainment component of a Dan Hausen.

<v Speaker 2>There's the serious component of a brock Lesner and a

<v Speaker 2>Roman Reigns and a Cody Rhodes, a Rhea Ripley and

<v Speaker 2>a Becky Lynch and a Jade Cargill, where there's that

<v Speaker 2>serious nature of it, but the storylines keep you hooked. Well,

<v Speaker 2>I mean that's debatable, and if you haven't watched in

<v Speaker 2>a bit, always tune in because the one thing about

<v Speaker 2>WWE is the story never ends. So when you come

<v Speaker 2>to the end of the Knicks winning the big game

<v Speaker 2>in our world, the next night it starts all over again,

<v Speaker 2>and there's always fresh. There's always new. There's I got

<v Speaker 2>to stop there. Oh my goodness, always fresh and always new.

<v Speaker 2>I have to compose myself here before I move on.

<v Speaker 2>There's always something big happening, So even if you've missed

<v Speaker 2>out for a bit, you can jump right back in

<v Speaker 2>be a part of those stories and be a part

<v Speaker 2>of those epic moments. So there's something for everybody, and

<v Speaker 2>that's our goal. That's what we try to do, is

<v Speaker 2>be a little bit of something for everybody. The other

<v Speaker 2>aspect of that is I think that people lose perspective

<v Speaker 2>of sometimes is we're just fun and sometimes people take

<v Speaker 2>it too seriously. Sometimes people get too caught up in it.

<v Speaker 2>But it's there to entertain. Man, there's a lot of

<v Speaker 2>stuff going on in the world. If you just want

<v Speaker 2>to turn off for a couple of hours and tune

<v Speaker 2>into something cool that you can just lose yourself in

<v Speaker 2>and have a good time. WWE is the place to

<v Speaker 2>do it. And if you've never seen it live, I'm

<v Speaker 2>telling you, come to a live event, come to one

<v Speaker 2>of our ples, come to a TV. There's nothing like

<v Speaker 2>it in entertainment. And I know that this angered a

<v Speaker 2>lot of fans because it sounds very similar to what

<v Speaker 2>he said to Peter Rosenberg. How about what we just

<v Speaker 2>got from Sammy Z. Sorry Pete, you're never going to

<v Speaker 2>live that one down. But in that interview with Rosenberg

<v Speaker 2>before WrestleMania last year, TRIPLEH famously opened his answer with

<v Speaker 2>this is gonna sound defensive, which when you open the

<v Speaker 2>line with this is gonna sound defensive, it's because you're

<v Speaker 2>being defensive. And then he said, I wish I could

<v Speaker 2>tell people to fuck off being a critic, be a fan.

<v Speaker 2>Go watch this and be a fan, which only diminishes

<v Speaker 2>legitimate criticism of the product when you lump everyone together

<v Speaker 2>like that, like him having an axe to grind with

<v Speaker 2>the Meltzers and the fight full types spoiling surprises, which

<v Speaker 2>is something he also addressed in that interview that sort

<v Speaker 2>of thing, like, I can totally understand his frustration with that,

<v Speaker 2>but that's been a part of the wrestling business literally

<v Speaker 2>for decades. Okay, there just wasn't any real social media

<v Speaker 2>platform outside of RSPW and message boards in those early days.

<v Speaker 2>But for as long as Meltzer and Wade Keller have

<v Speaker 2>been around for there have been spoilers behind the scenes,

<v Speaker 2>news has been reported on for those who wanted to

<v Speaker 2>seek it out. It's just a lot more ubiquitous now

<v Speaker 2>than it was back then. It's one thing to be

<v Speaker 2>upset about that, but to say fuck off being a

<v Speaker 2>critic makes him sound thin skinned and insecure because everybody

<v Speaker 2>who was glazing him when he first took the job

<v Speaker 2>from Vince right, he went through this honeymoon phase until

<v Speaker 2>people started realizing that this shit's not as good as

<v Speaker 2>it was before, and he didn't like hearing that, And

<v Speaker 2>part of that was Vince being gone. People were happy

<v Speaker 2>to get someone different in the position of head of creatives,

<v Speaker 2>someone who had praise heaped upon him for NXT Black

<v Speaker 2>and Gold. There was a lot of optimism here. Oh,

<v Speaker 2>he's going to bring that to the main roster. This

<v Speaker 2>is going to be great. But as time went on,

<v Speaker 2>people started to sour again on the product. Could part

<v Speaker 2>of it be that he has different masters to serve

<v Speaker 2>and TKO sticks their noses in it doesn't belong. Sure

<v Speaker 2>could be. But at the end of the day, the

<v Speaker 2>buck stops with him as the chief content officer, as

<v Speaker 2>the head of creative and when people are bored with

<v Speaker 2>the product, or they do something that people don't like,

<v Speaker 2>you're gonna hear about it. And we hear him say

<v Speaker 2>it all the time. Him and Nick con right, We

<v Speaker 2>don't pay attention to social media. Social media is just

<v Speaker 2>a vocal minority of the fan base. And I say

<v Speaker 2>it all the time. For the people who love to

<v Speaker 2>say that, they sure do spend a lot of time

<v Speaker 2>talking about something that they claim has no real measurable

<v Speaker 2>impact on the product, except when it does, because they

<v Speaker 2>absolutely pay attention to what's being said on social media.

<v Speaker 2>When he tells Stephen A. Smith, oh, sometimes people take

<v Speaker 2>this stuff too seriously, He's not wrong. We do. I

<v Speaker 2>admit it. I care way more about this shit than

<v Speaker 2>I should and about things not making sense. Now everything

<v Speaker 2>is going to make sense at all times. It's pro wrestling, right,

<v Speaker 2>it's not astrophysics. But I also think it's lazy to

<v Speaker 2>use it as a catch all for all criticism right

<v Speaker 2>of anything on the show. Oh, it's supposed to be fun.

<v Speaker 2>Just watch it and have fun. Just be a fan. Well,

<v Speaker 2>being a fan means different things to different people, genius.

<v Speaker 2>We all consume the product differently. Some people can watch

<v Speaker 2>it the way that they did when they were twelve, right,

<v Speaker 2>take it at phase value, Maybe watch it with their

<v Speaker 2>own kids. Don't pay attention to all the online shatter.

<v Speaker 2>You go ahead and yeat with jay Usso when he

<v Speaker 2>comes out sing Roman reigns to the ring and go

<v Speaker 2>about their day. Other people like analyzing things and dissecting things,

<v Speaker 2>or debating things with their friends, or listening to podcasts

<v Speaker 2>and watching YouTube shows that talk about wrestling. Maybe they

<v Speaker 2>were in the sports bubble and so they do that

<v Speaker 2>with the NBA and MLB. They love the analysis, right,

<v Speaker 2>they love talking about it. That's fun for them, even

<v Speaker 2>when the shows themselves are not fun. You know how

<v Speaker 2>many people I have who watched the streams when I

<v Speaker 2>do them on you U Tube, who tell me I

<v Speaker 2>don't even watch these shows anymore. I gave up on

<v Speaker 2>SmackDown or I gave up on Raw, I gave up

<v Speaker 2>on Dynamite. I don't even watch the show's week to week,

<v Speaker 2>but I tune into your reviews because they're more fun.

<v Speaker 2>I hear it every fucking week. You don't have to

<v Speaker 2>take my word for it. You guys see it if

<v Speaker 2>you're there. You see it in the chat, you see

<v Speaker 2>it in the super chest that come in. I get

<v Speaker 2>that every single week. For some people, that's where they

<v Speaker 2>find their fun. They don't want to completely stop watching wrestling.

<v Speaker 2>They don't want to completely divorce themselves from wrestling because

<v Speaker 2>they still like it or they still love it. They

<v Speaker 2>may not love it that week, or they may not

<v Speaker 2>love what it's become, but they don't want to completely

<v Speaker 2>cut themselves off from it. So maybe this is their

<v Speaker 2>way of kind of staying in tune with what's going on. Right,

<v Speaker 2>they can find their fun some other way, like watching

<v Speaker 2>people reviewing the shows, or chatting with other people on

<v Speaker 2>social media on x on Reddit, on discord, whatever it

<v Speaker 2>may be. Just because people consume the product in different

<v Speaker 2>ways does not mean that you only cater to one

<v Speaker 2>segment of the audience and tell everybody else to fuck off.

<v Speaker 2>By his own logic. Movies and TV shows are entertainment, right.

<v Speaker 2>They're meant to be fun, so you shouldn't spend your

<v Speaker 2>time criticizing them or analyzing them or rating them. Just

<v Speaker 2>watch them and have fun. Do you know how dumb

<v Speaker 2>that sounds. People have been dissecting and debating TV shows

<v Speaker 2>and movies for years. This is not something unique to

<v Speaker 2>the wrestling business. The next time Triple H goes on

<v Speaker 2>one of these ESPN shows when they're promoting one of

<v Speaker 2>their upcoming plees for the fucking app, I would love

<v Speaker 2>for him to go on there and look at some

<v Speaker 2>of the people that are on set with him, who

<v Speaker 2>are part of other debate shows on ESPN every day

<v Speaker 2>where they talk about different sports and they talk about

<v Speaker 2>different players and trades and games from the night before,

<v Speaker 2>and they criticize and they pick them apart, And I

<v Speaker 2>want him to look them dead in the eye and say, hey,

<v Speaker 2>why don't you just have fun? Why don't you fuck

<v Speaker 2>off and just be a fan and see what their

<v Speaker 2>reaction is. Steven A. Smith is one of the biggest

<v Speaker 2>offenders when it comes to that. Right in Triple H's eyes,

<v Speaker 2>Why doesn't he look at Stephen A. Smith and say Hey, Stephen,

<v Speaker 2>I got some advice for you. Why don't you fuck

<v Speaker 2>off and be a fan. WWE right now is charging

<v Speaker 2>the highest ticket prices that they have ever charged in

<v Speaker 2>the history of that company. Are you telling me that

<v Speaker 2>those fans don't have a right to voice their opinion

<v Speaker 2>if they thought the show sucked or something didn't make

<v Speaker 2>any sense. Is he gonna tell those people to fuck

<v Speaker 2>off too and be a fan? So I think we

<v Speaker 2>can all admit, like, sometimes we may take this stuff

<v Speaker 2>too seriously, but we do it because we are fans,

<v Speaker 2>even when we may not be fans of what they're

<v Speaker 2>actually doing at the time. Because if I didn't care

<v Speaker 2>about pro wrestling, I would have given up on it

<v Speaker 2>a long time ago, long before I started doing this

<v Speaker 2>show or making a living at it. Do you know

<v Speaker 2>how bad those shows were? If you go back all

<v Speaker 2>those years when I wasn't making hardly anything, but I

<v Speaker 2>was doing it because it was fun. I was building

<v Speaker 2>the channel, I was doing the weekly show. My god,

<v Speaker 2>there was some terrible shit. It's a miracle I didn't

<v Speaker 2>give up on it back then. Look At how fucking

<v Speaker 2>terrible the Mets are right now, right They're an embarrassment

<v Speaker 2>of a baseball team. They haven't won a championship since

<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty six. I can sit here and tell you

<v Speaker 2>this team is an embarrassment and still be a fan

<v Speaker 2>because I want to see them get better and not

<v Speaker 2>be a punchline anymore. Sports talk radio is filled with

<v Speaker 2>people bitching and moaning every day about their favorite teams.

<v Speaker 2>I've never heard one general manager or team owner come

<v Speaker 2>out publicly and tell their fans to fuck off being

<v Speaker 2>a critic. Just smile and enjoy. If the man sounds defensive,

<v Speaker 2>it's because he is defensive, because he wouldn't be saying

<v Speaker 2>this sort of thing if everybody was kissing his ass

<v Speaker 2>about how great everything is. So while there may be

<v Speaker 2>elements of truth in what he is saying, he still

<v Speaker 2>sounds ridiculous saying it. Dak also from Saint Paul, Minnesota.

<v Speaker 2>We got a lot of sound off fens in Saint Paul.

<v Speaker 2>On last week's SoundOff and Uncrowned, you talked about what

<v Speaker 2>WWE should be doing with bron Breaker going forward, and

<v Speaker 2>you suggested a baby face turn. This got me thinking

<v Speaker 2>about what WWE has done with him recently. In hindsight,

<v Speaker 2>do you think WWE made a huge mistake by not

<v Speaker 2>putting the title on him after Set's injury. The cards

<v Speaker 2>were laid out for that to be the logical move,

<v Speaker 2>but instead they went with a five and a half

<v Speaker 2>month Punk rain. Do you think that maybe Broun should

<v Speaker 2>have defeated Punk shortly into his reign, well, when they

<v Speaker 2>had that Saturday Night's main event show and they did

<v Speaker 2>Punk and jay Uso last year. Instead of doing that,

<v Speaker 2>my recommendation was to just scrap the Rocket to Braun

<v Speaker 2>and launch him. Now I could look back on the

<v Speaker 2>Punk thing. He had this great match with Roman Reigns

<v Speaker 2>or WrestleMania right it was fantastic and it was a

<v Speaker 2>lot bigger, admittedly than anything they could have been doing

<v Speaker 2>with bron Breaker. But right now they should be launching,

<v Speaker 2>you know, these young guys up as much as possible,

<v Speaker 2>and not just Olba Femi Olba Femi, Jacob Fatu bron Breaker.

<v Speaker 2>These guys should be built right now as the future

<v Speaker 2>core of this company. Yes, I would have put the

<v Speaker 2>championship on bron Breaker. For all the people saying, oh,

<v Speaker 2>it's too soon, well, sometimes circumstances dictate that maybe right

<v Speaker 2>now is the time. Maybe it is the time, Maybe

<v Speaker 2>not everybody needs that slow burn right that they give

<v Speaker 2>to a lot of people, which is great, but that

<v Speaker 2>doesn't necessarily mean you need to do it with everybody.

<v Speaker 2>Would I put the belt on bron Breaker instead of

<v Speaker 2>CM Punk, Yes, I would have. I think that was

<v Speaker 2>the move to make at that time, and I think

<v Speaker 2>that would have gone hand in hand with really portraying

<v Speaker 2>him as this kind of badass leader enforcer type for

<v Speaker 2>the Vision because he goes out wins the championship. Right now,

<v Speaker 2>he's the fucking man instead of just being relegated to

<v Speaker 2>a background player like he was before. Derek from Arkansas,

<v Speaker 2>I was listening to you and JD on TNT talk

<v Speaker 2>about jay Usso and why they put him in the

<v Speaker 2>positions that they do on the show. JD even mentioned

<v Speaker 2>why not do Oba and Javon in the finals. But

<v Speaker 2>listening to Paul Hayman's interview and him talking about Triple

<v Speaker 2>H is not just booking for the show anymore. He's

<v Speaker 2>booking for sponsors in the algorithm, and it finally clicked

<v Speaker 2>for me. I'm convinced that they put jay Usso in

<v Speaker 2>these spots for the lone reason that they know it's

<v Speaker 2>going to drive engagement to their social media. They know

<v Speaker 2>it's going to piss people off and they're going to

<v Speaker 2>go into their comments and complain. I one hundred percent

<v Speaker 2>believe they are booking for online engagement over a better

<v Speaker 2>show and it is a damn shame. So I explained

<v Speaker 2>this earlier in the podcast, as I did to JD

<v Speaker 2>on TNT on Tuesday. Why we did not get Obafemi

<v Speaker 2>and Javon Evans in the King of the Ring finals,

<v Speaker 2>why jay Usso was in the finals, why they didn't

<v Speaker 2>do rollins against bron Breaker in the finals. They have

<v Speaker 2>their reasons for why these things were done or not done.

<v Speaker 2>Whether we agree with it or not, there are people

<v Speaker 2>that they want to make sure get a spot on

<v Speaker 2>these shows, and I agree with you, it's not about

<v Speaker 2>what makes for the best wrestling matches. It is about

<v Speaker 2>online engagement. They book for engagement, they booked for moments,

<v Speaker 2>they booked for viral moments. It's a very different way

<v Speaker 2>of doing things than twenty years ago or thirty years ago.

<v Speaker 2>But the world has also changed in those thirty years.

<v Speaker 2>You know, technology has changed, the way fans engage with

<v Speaker 2>the product has changed. That's going to affect the way

<v Speaker 2>they book their shows like gone are the days of

<v Speaker 2>Vince McMahon having Pat Patterson and Bruce Pritchard over to

<v Speaker 2>his house to sit by the pool and book out

<v Speaker 2>the next six to twelve months of TV based on

<v Speaker 2>which stars they want to push, who they want in

<v Speaker 2>those spots, what those stories are going to look like.

<v Speaker 2>You know, Hayman mentioned the algorithm, this mythical algorithm that's

<v Speaker 2>always changing. It absolutely influences everything they do. It may

<v Speaker 2>work for their engagement, but it doesn't always make for

<v Speaker 2>a very interesting television show. But this was Hayman's quote

<v Speaker 2>from that Chris Van Vliet interview. By the way, I

<v Speaker 2>pulled it to give some content for the people who

<v Speaker 2>may not have watched it. This is what he said.

<v Speaker 2>Paul Avec is not the chief creative officer in WWE.

<v Speaker 2>He's the chief content officer and that designation, I think

<v Speaker 2>is the tell all moment as to his approach to

<v Speaker 2>the responsibility and accountabilities that go with the job. He

<v Speaker 2>is the chief content officer in erra where technology rules

<v Speaker 2>the algorithm and the algorithm dictates creativity. Think about that.

<v Speaker 2>By the way the algorithm dictates creativity, that's not good.

<v Speaker 2>It can be the most creative and the most innovative

<v Speaker 2>booking you've ever seen. But if it doesn't feed the algorithm,

<v Speaker 2>no one is going to see it. You have to

<v Speaker 2>please Netflix, you have to please NBC Universal, you have

<v Speaker 2>to please Disney and ESPN. You have to please the

<v Speaker 2>purchasing audience. You have to please the talent. It's true.

<v Speaker 2>They have many masters that they have to serve. It's

<v Speaker 2>not like it used to be, when it was what

<v Speaker 2>Vince wanted and then they had to deal with USA

<v Speaker 2>Network and that was it. Now it's NBCU for USA

<v Speaker 2>and Peacock, it's Netflix, it's ESPN, it's the CW network.

<v Speaker 2>It's TKO who want Pat McAfee to be part of

<v Speaker 2>the WrestleMania main event, and it ruins the product. It

<v Speaker 2>just sucks the fun out of it. And by the way,

<v Speaker 2>this is as good of a place as any to

<v Speaker 2>talk about that Hayman interview, just a couple of other

<v Speaker 2>things since I didn't have time to get into it

<v Speaker 2>last week. He mentioned in the interview that Vince McMahon

<v Speaker 2>initially rejected the Tribal Chief name because he really wanted

<v Speaker 2>to keep Roman reigns. When he came back as the

<v Speaker 2>big Dog he said, the first time I came up

<v Speaker 2>with tribal chief. Vince said, really, you want to call

<v Speaker 2>him the tribal chief. Vince wanted to call him the

<v Speaker 2>big dog. Roman reigns with his advocate Paul Haman. I said, well,

<v Speaker 2>I can't be his advocate. As brock Lesner's advocate. We

<v Speaker 2>have to have something different to Roman reigns, and Roman

<v Speaker 2>reigns has to be different. You have to pull the

<v Speaker 2>trigger on this. This has to be as much of

<v Speaker 2>a seismic shift as the Dead Men becoming the American Badass.

<v Speaker 2>This is a whole new character. This is a whole

<v Speaker 2>new persona. And he could not have played this persona

<v Speaker 2>earlier because he was too young to do it. He

<v Speaker 2>needed to weather the storms to become the tribal chief.

<v Speaker 2>We grew up with him almost like he was a

<v Speaker 2>child star, and that we saw him from his young

<v Speaker 2>days fresh out of college, and he grew up into

<v Speaker 2>this tribal chief. You know, it was Roman's idea to

<v Speaker 2>come back as a heel in twenty twenty, It was

<v Speaker 2>not Vince McMahon's idea. And if he did not allow

<v Speaker 2>Roman to come back as a heel the way that

<v Speaker 2>he wanted to. Roman Reigns was ready to retire and

<v Speaker 2>not come back at all, like he and Hyman told

<v Speaker 2>ESPN that a few years ago he had newborn twins.

<v Speaker 2>At the time, they had just moved into a new home.

<v Speaker 2>He had millions of dollars already in the bank. He

<v Speaker 2>had headlined WrestleMania like four times already. By that point,

<v Speaker 2>he had just come off his second bout with leukemia.

<v Speaker 2>Right he was coming off that got off feud with

<v Speaker 2>Baron Corbin and the dog food angle right before the pandemic.

<v Speaker 2>He didn't need to come back. So finally Vince relented

<v Speaker 2>and we got healed Roman and they let him be

<v Speaker 2>the tribal chief and the rest is history. But if

<v Speaker 2>Vince McMahon had his way, we wouldn't have had any

<v Speaker 2>of that. He would have been back as the baby face,

<v Speaker 2>big dog. Roman Reigns on why things didn't work out

<v Speaker 2>with Csorrow and with Curtis Axel as Paul Haman Guys.

<v Speaker 2>Hayman was very critical of WWE's handling of Claudio Castigdoli.

<v Speaker 2>He said, you look at Cisorrow and he checked, especially

<v Speaker 2>at that moment in time, he checked every box to

<v Speaker 2>become a top star. Everyone who got in the ring

<v Speaker 2>with him came back into guerrilla saying give me him everyone.

<v Speaker 2>I remember John Cena worked with him on TV, and

<v Speaker 2>he came back and looked to Vince and said, I

<v Speaker 2>could main event WrestleMania with him, and probably could have

<v Speaker 2>and should have. Cisorrow was placed in that position the

<v Speaker 2>day after brock Lesner conquered the streak, so that when

<v Speaker 2>Brock took his hiatus, I had an excuse to be

<v Speaker 2>on television to say my client, brock Lesner conquered the

<v Speaker 2>Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania, and you needed an excuse

<v Speaker 2>to have me out there on TV. If you put

<v Speaker 2>me on commentary, I can't say it for two or

<v Speaker 2>three hours. I have to say it with him once

<v Speaker 2>a week. Just drill that into your head. Reinforcement, repetition,

<v Speaker 2>and so Csorrow became the excuse to see me say

<v Speaker 2>that line. So I think Cesorrow could have been a

<v Speaker 2>fascinating promo if he was given a chance to do

<v Speaker 2>that in WWE. He wasn't, And that's our fall. That

<v Speaker 2>is a major fumble. That was a crime that was

<v Speaker 2>committed against the career of Cesorrow, and a crime that

<v Speaker 2>was committed against the audience for not allowing this gifted

<v Speaker 2>performer to do what at the time certainly he could

<v Speaker 2>do better than most anybody else on the face of

<v Speaker 2>the planet when you realize what he's capable of. What

<v Speaker 2>an opponent he could have been for brock Lesner had

<v Speaker 2>I turned on Cesorrow when we built him up to

<v Speaker 2>be a threat to Brock, the matches the two of

<v Speaker 2>them could have had or mind boggling a tremendously wasted opportunity,

<v Speaker 2>and no one for us to blame but ourselves, including me.

<v Speaker 2>I've been saying that for years. I mentioned that a

<v Speaker 2>few years ago, actually because Hayman had done one of

<v Speaker 2>those inside the Ropes one Man shows in the UK

<v Speaker 2>years ago, and that was the first time I heard

<v Speaker 2>him say that, where they asked him like what happened

<v Speaker 2>with Cesorrow? And he said, do you want to know

<v Speaker 2>why they put me with Csorrow? It was never about

<v Speaker 2>pushing Cesorrow. They wanted me to have a reason to

<v Speaker 2>show up on TV when Brock wasn't there for three

<v Speaker 2>four five months, so I could continuously drill it into

<v Speaker 2>your head that he conquered the streak. He conquered the

<v Speaker 2>streak he conquered the streak. They never had any intention

<v Speaker 2>of pushing Cesorrow as any sort of serious threat on

<v Speaker 2>the main roster. And it drives me nuts every time

<v Speaker 2>I'm reminded of this and I go back and I

<v Speaker 2>think about it, because at the time, my whole thing

<v Speaker 2>was when I thought that naively they were trying to

<v Speaker 2>push this guy because look how fucking over he was

<v Speaker 2>when he bodies Slam, big show out of the ring

<v Speaker 2>in that Andre battle Royal WrestleMania. Then he showed up

<v Speaker 2>on Raw the next night, and when it became clear

<v Speaker 2>that Hayman was with him, people were going nuts for it.

<v Speaker 2>This is back when those posts WrestleMania crowds actually had

<v Speaker 2>a pulse and they had some life to them, and

<v Speaker 2>it's like, man, this is great. This is gonna be

<v Speaker 2>the biggest opportunity of this guy's career. And when Brock

<v Speaker 2>eventually comes back. My thing is like Hayman going out

<v Speaker 2>there every week and constantly putting over brock Lesnar, even

<v Speaker 2>though he's standing next to Cesaro. That's got to get

<v Speaker 2>to Csorro, right, It's got to get under his skin

<v Speaker 2>at some point, and so eventually Brock's going to be

<v Speaker 2>back and maybe Csorrow will be out there with them

<v Speaker 2>and he's going to feel overlooked and it's gonna all

<v Speaker 2>blow up and then you can get a match out

<v Speaker 2>of it. At some point, just one match, one pay

<v Speaker 2>per view match is all you need. And I said, like,

<v Speaker 2>do it at the Rumble. Build it for the Royal Rumble.

<v Speaker 2>You do a title match at the Rumble. The title

<v Speaker 2>match of the Rumble is hardly ever the emphasis of

<v Speaker 2>the show, very rarely. So if you don't really look

<v Speaker 2>at it as I don't know about that as a

<v Speaker 2>pay per view main event, then do it at the

<v Speaker 2>Rumble and maybe it's a one off. But like Sosorrow,

<v Speaker 2>this guy he's in there, he's deceptively strong, Like imagine

<v Speaker 2>him in the ring with Brock Lesnar and he's Brock's

<v Speaker 2>throwing him around. But he's throwing Brock around and people

<v Speaker 2>are going nuts. And then of course you know, he

<v Speaker 2>eats an F five or two and he gets beat

<v Speaker 2>But my god, like, how do you not do that

<v Speaker 2>fucking match? Well that's why, because they never had any

<v Speaker 2>intention of doing it. It was never about doing that match.

<v Speaker 2>It was just about we got to just remind people

<v Speaker 2>the Brock is the one who broke the streak, and

<v Speaker 2>when he comes back right, business will pick up again

<v Speaker 2>and Csorrow will be forgotten. Kind of like the way

<v Speaker 2>they broke up him and him and they literally just

<v Speaker 2>went their separate ways. There was no turn, there was

<v Speaker 2>no big angle, there was no falling out like I

<v Speaker 2>vaguely remember a backstage segment, and they just very politely

<v Speaker 2>went their separate ways. And I'm like, they had no

<v Speaker 2>plans for this guy, Like, how does that happen? How

<v Speaker 2>does that happen? And so what Hayman is saying there

<v Speaker 2>was one hundred percent true is it was a fumble

<v Speaker 2>on their part. He talks about how if Cesorrow had

<v Speaker 2>the chance to go out there and cut promos because

<v Speaker 2>he knew five different languages, and that's very impressive. I mean,

<v Speaker 2>Sosorrow has never been a really strong promo. What Hayman

<v Speaker 2>is saying may well be true. Maybe if he had

<v Speaker 2>the chance to go out there and cut promos in

<v Speaker 2>a different way, maybe they would have resonated. I'm not

<v Speaker 2>going to sit here and pretend, as a big fan

<v Speaker 2>of his that his promos were so great. They weren't.

<v Speaker 2>It was his weakness. I still think it's his weakness.

<v Speaker 2>But again, like to not even to not even consider

<v Speaker 2>building to a match like that is insane to me.

<v Speaker 2>As far as Curtis Axel goes, I mean, his answer

<v Speaker 2>was pretty similar, where in the case of Axel, you know,

<v Speaker 2>he filled the need for there to be people around

<v Speaker 2>Hayman to feed to cmpunk because Hayman was feeding with cmpunk.

<v Speaker 2>This would have been twenty thirteen, I believe, And so

<v Speaker 2>it's a very similar thing where they never really intended

<v Speaker 2>to push Axel. He was just sort of a Nerrick

<v Speaker 2>Paul Hayman guy. He does say that when he has

<v Speaker 2>Vince one day, like what is the what's the plan

<v Speaker 2>here with me and Axel? He says Vince's answer was

<v Speaker 2>going all the way to the top, But he thinks

<v Speaker 2>that's bullshit, you know, and Vince never really saw him

<v Speaker 2>as a top guy. I mean I didn't see him

<v Speaker 2>as a top guy either. Could they have done more

<v Speaker 2>with him? Sure, of course. There's so many guys you

<v Speaker 2>could say that about that they gave up on, or

<v Speaker 2>that it became clear they didn't really have any plans

<v Speaker 2>for and maybe eight out of ten times or nine

<v Speaker 2>out of ten times, yes, those guys are not that

<v Speaker 2>good to be in the main events scene. That's a

<v Speaker 2>very elite group, and not everybody is going to be

<v Speaker 2>a main evenor or they'll be a main evenor once

<v Speaker 2>and it's not gonna stick, you know. Like there are

<v Speaker 2>guys that are in the main events scene for their

<v Speaker 2>entire career. There are guys that are trading championships back

<v Speaker 2>and forth for five ten years, and guys like Cisaro

<v Speaker 2>and Curtis Axel are not necessarily going to be in

<v Speaker 2>that category. But to either give up on them or

<v Speaker 2>just not even have a plan for what to do

<v Speaker 2>with them, to see if they can see what they

<v Speaker 2>can really do, it's really it's disrespectful to them, you

<v Speaker 2>know what I mean. Like you've got these guys under contract,

<v Speaker 2>you want to make the most of them, you want

<v Speaker 2>to make money with them, and in some cases they

<v Speaker 2>cut their legs off before they even give them a

<v Speaker 2>chance to walk. And so that was the case with

<v Speaker 2>those two. The only other thing I wanted to comment

<v Speaker 2>on here is very briefly, and again something Hayman has

<v Speaker 2>talked about before, how close he came to joining TNA.

<v Speaker 2>This was around two thousand and nine, two thousand and nine,

<v Speaker 2>twenty ten, he did have a meeting with them. He

<v Speaker 2>had a meeting with Dixie Carter, and he he wanted

<v Speaker 2>to get rid of all of the legends except for

<v Speaker 2>Kurt Angle. That was one of his key points in

<v Speaker 2>his plan on what to do with TNA if he

<v Speaker 2>took over the company. So the guys like Hogan and Flair,

<v Speaker 2>all the old guys, Hogan and Flair and Nash and Steiner,

<v Speaker 2>he was going to get rid of all of them.

<v Speaker 2>He was going to keep Kurt Angle, and he was

<v Speaker 2>going to build it around younger, hungrier guys, and that

<v Speaker 2>was going to be what TNA would look like from

<v Speaker 2>that point forward. He would put a focus on that

<v Speaker 2>youth and the idea would be that after thirty six

<v Speaker 2>months he would take the company public. He wanted a

<v Speaker 2>piece of the company, and then after three years they

<v Speaker 2>would take the company public. That sounds very ambitious when

<v Speaker 2>it comes to the business side of things. I don't

<v Speaker 2>know that Paul Hahman's plan necessarily would have come to fruition.

<v Speaker 2>But in terms of Paul Haman being there as a booker,

<v Speaker 2>as a leader in a creative capacity, would that have

<v Speaker 2>been beneficial to TNA? Would that have helped TNA grow

<v Speaker 2>more than it did, I believe one hundred percent. Yes,

<v Speaker 2>we'll never know, And I can understand Dixie Carter the

<v Speaker 2>allure of bringing in a Hulk Hogan. You know, Hogan

<v Speaker 2>and Bischoff came in, and Hogan most popular wrestler in

<v Speaker 2>the history of the business. Right, everybody knows who hul

<v Speaker 2>Cogan is. So of course, why wouldn't you want Hulkgan

<v Speaker 2>to be attached to your company? And why wouldn't you

<v Speaker 2>want Hulkogan to go out there and do all this

<v Speaker 2>publicity for TNA, which he really ended up not doing.

<v Speaker 2>Bringing in Hogan and Bischoff was more way more of

<v Speaker 2>a negative than a positive to TNA. Bringing in Hayman

<v Speaker 2>I think would have been more of a positive than

<v Speaker 2>a negative, But it's impossible to say, you know, would

<v Speaker 2>they have grown to heights never seen before, and would

<v Speaker 2>they be so much stronger today than they are? And

<v Speaker 2>would they have gone public? They would have gone public,

<v Speaker 2>But I think the company would have been a lot

<v Speaker 2>better off had they followed his vision instead of the

<v Speaker 2>one that they did. Ryan Egler from Daytona Beach, Florida.

<v Speaker 2>I watched Brian Zain's video talking about the rise quote

<v Speaker 2>unquote and great fall of Ahmed Johnson. After listening to

<v Speaker 2>episode nine sixty nine and hearing about the pettiness of

<v Speaker 2>Piper Niven regarding Jade Cargill, it got me thinking, do

<v Speaker 2>you think Jade is similar to Ahmed? Both had or

<v Speaker 2>have the look, and both are below average to average

<v Speaker 2>it best on the mic. Both received a decent push

<v Speaker 2>based off of their appearance, and both have been accused

<v Speaker 2>of being rough with their colleagues, making them disliked backstage.

<v Speaker 2>Jade hasn't gotten worse, but it feels like she hasn't

<v Speaker 2>gotten much better either. Is Cargill this generation's Ahmed Johnson? Wow,

<v Speaker 2>it's quite the comparison there. Well, Ahmed was actually more

<v Speaker 2>more over and more popular with the fans than Jade is.

<v Speaker 2>That's number one. People forget like Ahmed Johnson for a while.

<v Speaker 2>There was super over for a while. But yes, I

<v Speaker 2>guess I can see the similarities. Like bo, both looked

<v Speaker 2>the part. If they just could have matched their in

<v Speaker 2>ring with with that with their look, then they would

<v Speaker 2>have been made. Ahmed's promos were intense, but I could

<v Speaker 2>barely understand what he was saying half the time. Jade,

<v Speaker 2>I can understand just fine, but she doesn't ever have

<v Speaker 2>anything interesting to say, right, I mean, promos these days

<v Speaker 2>in wrestling in general, are especially in WWE, are just

<v Speaker 2>much worse than they used to be. Everything now sounds

<v Speaker 2>like a cut scene from a video game, written by

<v Speaker 2>people who have no idea what these characters are supposed

<v Speaker 2>to be. Backstage interaction like, it's awful, It's absolutely dreadful.

<v Speaker 2>Like That's why I'm grateful when we have these people

<v Speaker 2>out there cutting promos, like a Drew MacIntyre or a

<v Speaker 2>Cmpunk or Kevin Owens, Like, there are certain people who

<v Speaker 2>have a knack for it. They have there's an authenticity

<v Speaker 2>to what they say, legitimacy to what they say. They

<v Speaker 2>sound like real fucking people, and they tend to have

<v Speaker 2>interesting things to say. I cannot say that about ninety

<v Speaker 2>percent plus of the people on this show, and it

<v Speaker 2>isn't necessarily their fault. This is the position that they've

<v Speaker 2>been placed in, and not everybody is going to be

<v Speaker 2>a great promo. But promos and wrestling today generally speaking, suck.

<v Speaker 2>They're fucking terrible. Back then, even the bad promos were

<v Speaker 2>so much more entertaining than what we get today on TV. Ahmed, though,

<v Speaker 2>you know he was hurting people, he was hurting himself.

<v Speaker 2>He injured himself. I haven't heard of Jade car Gill

<v Speaker 2>injuring anybody to where they had to be taken off

<v Speaker 2>the road. I mean, there's a difference between hurting people

<v Speaker 2>and injuring people. I haven't heard that she's injuring people

<v Speaker 2>like that was the knock on Naya Jacks for so long,

<v Speaker 2>I haven't heard that about Jade Cargill. Jade's gonna have

<v Speaker 2>a lot more longevity in the wrestling business though, than

<v Speaker 2>Ahmed had, because when you look the way that she does,

<v Speaker 2>you're gonna get those opportunities. Like I mean, Jade car

<v Speaker 2>Gills got a better look than ninety nine percent of

<v Speaker 2>the women that have ever set foot in a professional

<v Speaker 2>wrestling ring ever in the history of the business. She

<v Speaker 2>looks like something out of an Avengers movie. So she

<v Speaker 2>is gonna get opportunities, and not just in wrestling, She's

<v Speaker 2>gonna get opportunities outside of wrestling as well. But her longevity,

<v Speaker 2>like she's gonna be around a lot longer than Ahmed

<v Speaker 2>Johnson was. There were a lot of reasons why the

<v Speaker 2>Ahmed Johnson stuff just didn't pan out. There were a

<v Speaker 2>lot of guys in the back that did not like him.

<v Speaker 2>Go listen to Dlo Brown or Godfather or any of

<v Speaker 2>these people talk about Ahmed had a chip on his shoulder,

<v Speaker 2>He had an attitude, He thought very highly of himself.

<v Speaker 2>He would make comments that these guys thought were very disrespectful.

<v Speaker 2>Were There were a lot of reasons why Ahmed Johnson

<v Speaker 2>was not very well liked. Uh Neil from Chicago. How

<v Speaker 2>well do you think surfer Sting would have done in

<v Speaker 2>the WWF in the same time period? What would have

<v Speaker 2>been his ceiling? Do you think Vince would have pushed

<v Speaker 2>him into the WWF title picture or only as an

<v Speaker 2>upper mid carter? What matches would you have liked to

<v Speaker 2>have seen him?

<v Speaker 3>Have? There?

<v Speaker 2>All of them, Sting and Hogan, Stinging, Savage, I mean,

<v Speaker 2>you name it, Stinging, Dbiassi would have been a fun feud.

<v Speaker 2>Sting and Jake, I mean they had a feud in

<v Speaker 2>WCW a few years later, But like Sting and Jake

<v Speaker 2>and eighty nine or ninety, that would have been great.

<v Speaker 2>Imagine Sting in there with Andre. I mean Andre couldn't

<v Speaker 2>do much at that point, but I mean there were

<v Speaker 2>a lot of matches. I would have loved to have

<v Speaker 2>seen him have Do I think he would have been

<v Speaker 2>pushed to the World Championship, I do, I mean a lot.

<v Speaker 2>So much of it depends on who Hogan. Like, are

<v Speaker 2>you asking me this question if it was Sting and

<v Speaker 2>not Hogan in that spot, the answer is unequivocally yes,

<v Speaker 2>one hundred percent. If Hogan was still there, I still

<v Speaker 2>think Sting would have been in that world title picture

<v Speaker 2>his ceiling I think for him, I don't think he

<v Speaker 2>had a ceiling where like he was only going to

<v Speaker 2>be relegated to a certain level. Sting had a great

<v Speaker 2>look physically, he was in great shape, he had the

<v Speaker 2>face paint, he could cut a damn good promo, he

<v Speaker 2>had a lot of fan support physically, Like, I don't

<v Speaker 2>look at Sting and see a small man, right, this

<v Speaker 2>is the big man phase of WWF back then. I

<v Speaker 2>think he would have done just fine whether Hogan was

<v Speaker 2>there or not. But if Hogan wasn't there, then Sting

<v Speaker 2>would have been in the Hogan spot. I didn't even

<v Speaker 2>mention Sting and Warrior. By the way, they have history

<v Speaker 2>together and so if the timelinees matched up, it's like

<v Speaker 2>they both won their first world title in the same year,

<v Speaker 2>nineteen ninety. But if they would have worked for the

<v Speaker 2>same company, then they would have been working together even

<v Speaker 2>though both were babyfaces. They may have been a tag

<v Speaker 2>team again. I could see them doing some tag together,

<v Speaker 2>maybe building to like a Sting heel turn or something,

<v Speaker 2>and then you do Warrior against Sting. I think Vince

<v Speaker 2>would have turned Sting heel before he ever would have

<v Speaker 2>turned Warrior heel Squeaky from Washington. There are a lot

<v Speaker 2>of wrestling conspiracies out there, such as Vince Russo being

<v Speaker 2>sent to WCW as a plant, the Randy Savage and

<v Speaker 2>Stephanie McMahon supposed scandal in the Montreal screwjob being a work. Oh,

<v Speaker 2>don't forget Kevin Sullivan being a Satanist and murdering ben

<v Speaker 2>Wan and his family. Yes, there are people who still

<v Speaker 2>believe this. Out of all the crazy conspiracy theories in wrestling,

<v Speaker 2>is there at least one that you find somewhat believable. Yeah,

<v Speaker 2>that it was some combination of Nick Cohn, Paul levec

<v Speaker 2>and or Stephanie McMahon who leaked those emails to the

<v Speaker 2>Wall Street Journal in twenty twenty two about Vince McMahon.

<v Speaker 2>I do believe that, I just I can't prove it.

<v Speaker 2>I don't believe any of the really popular wrestling conspiracies

<v Speaker 2>like Montreal was a work, No it wasn't. Seamus accidentally

<v Speaker 2>won his first WWE championship, No he didn't. There were

<v Speaker 2>two Ultimate Warriors, No, there weren't. Macho man boned and underage.

<v Speaker 2>Stephanie McMahon, I don't believe he did. I think Vince

<v Speaker 2>would have had him killed. Savage gave Hulk Hogan the

<v Speaker 2>black eye that we all saw him with a WrestleMania nine.

<v Speaker 2>That one is at least plausible, but I still don't

<v Speaker 2>buy it. If you watched that WrestleMania nine documentary that

<v Speaker 2>they put out on Peacock last year, the year before

<v Speaker 2>whenever it was, Hogan says he told that to the

<v Speaker 2>doctor when he got to Caesar's Palace that day with

<v Speaker 2>that black eye and he had to go get checked

<v Speaker 2>out by medical and he claimed that he told that

<v Speaker 2>story to the doctor to sell him on the fact

<v Speaker 2>that it was a wrestling feud, it was a wrestling angle,

<v Speaker 2>and it was a makeup job, so that the doctor

<v Speaker 2>would clear him to work that day. Otherwise, if he

<v Speaker 2>knew that it was a jet ski accident and the

<v Speaker 2>eye was all fucked. He would never have gotten cleared. Now,

<v Speaker 2>mind you, this is Hogan saying this, But I think

<v Speaker 2>it's more likely he did make up that story to

<v Speaker 2>tell the doctor and it got around and people took

<v Speaker 2>it as reel that Savage really did dec him in

<v Speaker 2>the face. If there's one that I could buy into,

<v Speaker 2>kind of it has to do with Sean Michaels and

<v Speaker 2>his back injury. I believe the back injury was very

<v Speaker 2>real and that's what took him out for the rest

<v Speaker 2>of nineteen ninety eight into ninety nine. What I don't

<v Speaker 2>buy is that he lost four years of his career

<v Speaker 2>to that back injury. I think it was maybe a year.

<v Speaker 2>I think if he wanted physically, I think if he

<v Speaker 2>wanted to come back and get cleared within it, within

<v Speaker 2>a year, he could have been back in the ring.

<v Speaker 2>I think the rest of it was him dealing off

<v Speaker 2>and on with his addiction issues, you know, and once

<v Speaker 2>he got past all of that, that made it possible

<v Speaker 2>for him to consider an in ring return. And it's

<v Speaker 2>not like he didn't work a match earlier than that.

<v Speaker 2>I mean, he had his own and he wrestled the

<v Speaker 2>match in two thousand, even though he didn't come back

<v Speaker 2>to WWE in the ring until two thousand and two,

<v Speaker 2>So him being gone for that long, they're a four

<v Speaker 2>and a half year layoff. That wasn't the back injury.

<v Speaker 2>I think he was long over the back injury by then.

<v Speaker 2>That's my theory. It was all that other stuff that

<v Speaker 2>kept him out of the ring, and it's good that

<v Speaker 2>it did because had he gone back there while he

<v Speaker 2>was still all fucked up in the middle of the

<v Speaker 2>Attitude era, he would have been dead a long time ago.

<v Speaker 2>There's no way that Shawn Michaels would still be alive today.

<v Speaker 2>Ronnie from Belgium if the allegations never became public, do

<v Speaker 2>you think Vince McMahon would still have sold WWE. Would

<v Speaker 2>he have sold it when he did, No, would he

<v Speaker 2>have eventually sold it? Yes. Stephanie did not want him

<v Speaker 2>to sell it. She wanted to keep it in the family,

<v Speaker 2>and he sold it anyway, and then when he forced

<v Speaker 2>his way back in, she resigned as the co CEO,

<v Speaker 2>so that's where she stood on the issue. But I

<v Speaker 2>think he would have eventually sold it to someone outside

<v Speaker 2>the family regardless I just don't think he would have

<v Speaker 2>done it in twenty twenty three. Adam Madiac Messoglia, who

<v Speaker 2>I have not heard from in forever. I haven't written

<v Speaker 2>into you in a while. I hope you're doing well.

<v Speaker 2>I don't know if you know about OSW review. Oh,

<v Speaker 2>I do shout out to the OSW crew. But the

<v Speaker 2>guys made themselves something called a boy stable. It consists

<v Speaker 2>of five wrestlers, usually not very popular mid carters from

<v Speaker 2>any era, that have never held a world championship that

<v Speaker 2>they are a big fan of. So I ask you

<v Speaker 2>who is in your boy stable? So I ask you

<v Speaker 2>who is in your boys stable? I mean, this just

<v Speaker 2>sounds so wrong. I have a stable of boys. They're

<v Speaker 2>out in my shed, all right. I'm gonna assume guys

<v Speaker 2>like Owen Hart and mister Perfect and Razor Ramone they

<v Speaker 2>don't count, even though Hennig, I mean Hennig held the

<v Speaker 2>AWA world title, so that he shouldn't count anyway. But

<v Speaker 2>I'm assuming guys like that don't count. I wouldn't really

<v Speaker 2>call those guys mid carters per se. They main evented

<v Speaker 2>at different points in their career. They just never stayed there, right,

<v Speaker 2>or they never held the big one. So I'm gonna

<v Speaker 2>put them on the side because those are the obvious ones.

<v Speaker 2>I would go with Owen Razor, I will go with

<v Speaker 2>will I go with I'm gonna say big boss Man

<v Speaker 2>is one. I always like the boss Man for like

<v Speaker 2>a bigger guy. He always moved around really well. He sold.

<v Speaker 2>It was so funny watching himself sometimes and even when

<v Speaker 2>he came back in ninety eight with the Black Tactical gear,

<v Speaker 2>and sometimes he would come out and it's like, oh God,

<v Speaker 2>here comes. You know, you kind of get tired of

<v Speaker 2>seeing someone after a while. That's kind of how I

<v Speaker 2>felt about him there towards the end. But he had

<v Speaker 2>that fun like hardcore title run and the stuff with

<v Speaker 2>Al Snow and Big Show, which was a horrible match

<v Speaker 2>and he and it was terribly tasteless, but I laughed.

<v Speaker 2>So I'll go big boss men. I will say, uh

<v Speaker 2>bam bam, Bigelow, Steve Blackman, don't fuck with Steve Blackman.

<v Speaker 2>And uh, let's see how many is That's three?

<v Speaker 3>Right?

<v Speaker 2>Dlo Brown, big fan of Dlo. You can't see it,

<v Speaker 2>but I'm moving my head back and forth right now.

<v Speaker 2>And let's see one more, one more, one more, if

<v Speaker 2>you okay, So, if you listen to this podcast back

<v Speaker 2>when I was reviewing NXT week to week when they

<v Speaker 2>were still at full sale, this is in the black

<v Speaker 2>and Gold days, then you know full well that I

<v Speaker 2>was a big fan, a big mark for Tyler Breese

<v Speaker 2>when he initially debuted with that gimmick and the selfie

<v Speaker 2>stick and the music and everything he sang his own song.

<v Speaker 2>I was a big Tyler Breese fan. And then of

<v Speaker 2>course he got called up to the main roster and

<v Speaker 2>he was he talking about mid Carter. That's being generous.

<v Speaker 2>I'll go with Tyler Brees, Big Boss Man Bam Bam, Bigelo,

<v Speaker 2>Steve Blackman, Di Loo Brown and Tyler Brees. There you go.

<v Speaker 2>What a faction these days. Actually, there's two more people

<v Speaker 2>I could put on that list from AW. I would

<v Speaker 2>say Mark Davis and the Blackheart Leo Rush. I'm a

<v Speaker 2>fan of both of them. Maybe I would put them

<v Speaker 2>in there too, is like two backups. Anyway, thank you

<v Speaker 2>guys for the questions. This week coming up is the

<v Speaker 2>return of Dark Side of the Ring season seven. It

<v Speaker 2>premieres on Tuesday night with a double episode nine pm.

<v Speaker 2>Part one of the Jeff Jarrett TNA story says nine PM,

<v Speaker 2>Born into Wrestling, Jeff Jarrett builds total NonStop action from scratch,

<v Speaker 2>battling the WWE through a decade of success and controversy.

<v Speaker 2>And then at ten PM, Part two, as TNA Wrestling grows,

<v Speaker 2>Jeff Jarrett faces internal care power struggles and scandal sounds juicy.

<v Speaker 2>So yes, it's a double episode on Tuesday night. Then

<v Speaker 2>it's one episode every Tuesday. There after there is a

<v Speaker 2>part three, so Part three will be next week. So

<v Speaker 2>I intend to do what I do every season. I'm

<v Speaker 2>gonna watch. I'm gonna find a way. I don't have

<v Speaker 2>Vice TV. I'm gonna find a way to watch the episodes.

<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna I'm gonna review them. The review will be

<v Speaker 2>likely a part of the SoundOff next Sunday. I'm not

<v Speaker 2>doing them like that night or anything, because I don't

<v Speaker 2>even know what I'm gonna be able to watch it.

<v Speaker 2>But next Sunday on the SoundOff, that'll be episode nine

<v Speaker 2>seventy one. I'll probably include my review there and then

<v Speaker 2>they'll go up on YouTube as well as they always do.

<v Speaker 2>So I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it.

<v Speaker 2>The reviews are always fun. People seem to enjoy them,

<v Speaker 2>so that'll start this week. We got some big TV

<v Speaker 2>shows this week. We got a WWE Championship match in

<v Speaker 2>Chicago tomorrow night. Cmpunk rumored to be back on the

<v Speaker 2>show as well. Is this gonna be Sammy Zane's last stand?

<v Speaker 2>Probably that's tomorrow. Wednesday's the Beach Break episode of Dynamite,

<v Speaker 2>and we've got Kenny Omega going for the aw World

<v Speaker 2>title against mjf We've got Takeshta putting the International title

<v Speaker 2>on the line against Kyle Fletcher. We have SmackDown on Friday,

<v Speaker 2>so all of the usual post shows on YouTube again.

<v Speaker 2>We had a big week this week, so hopefully we

<v Speaker 2>can carry that momentum into this week. You guys will

<v Speaker 2>join me there Tuesday, brand new episode of The Uncrowned

<v Speaker 2>Wrestling Show Tuesday Night Live on YouTube on JD's channel

<v Speaker 2>for a brand new Tuesday Night Titans. It's going to

<v Speaker 2>be a big week. Hopefully not as hot, boy as

<v Speaker 2>it sucked here in New York the last few days.

<v Speaker 2>You know it's hot when you're like in the bathroom,

<v Speaker 2>you put your hand on the tile and it's like

<v Speaker 2>the wall is hot to the touch, Like it's like

<v Speaker 2>hell on Earth. Even now, it's not too great in here.

<v Speaker 2>I turned the AC off just because I want total

<v Speaker 2>silence if I can get it when I do these shows,

<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna just have to start running it. And I mean,

<v Speaker 2>it's just I have no choice. It's just ridiculous right now.

<v Speaker 2>But hopefully, wherever you guys are, you're staying safe and cool.

<v Speaker 2>So anyway, that'll be next Sunday, episode nine seventy one. Again,

<v Speaker 2>I hope you guys had a happy fourth until next time,

<v Speaker 2>be well, stay safe, have yourselves a great rest of

<v Speaker 2>you week. Hopefully you will be hanging with me and

<v Speaker 2>we'll do it all over again next Sunday with a

<v Speaker 2>brand new episode of the sound Off. Until then, take care, guys.

<v Speaker 2>The Solemn Monster sounds off. So then it was backstage

<v Speaker 2>two Dan Housen's Layer with the Miz and Kit Wilson's

<v Speaker 2>still sitting there, sitting there. You know, they are sitting

<v Speaker 2>there looking very zombie. Five they may well have I mean,

<v Speaker 2>they were electrocuted, so they may well have lost all

<v Speaker 2>control of their bodily functions. For those keeping score, we

<v Speaker 2>have one mute person on this show every single week

<v Speaker 2>who just flanks and lays there while his wife watches helplessly.

<v Speaker 2>And then we have a couple of dudes, one of

<v Speaker 2>whom I should point out is a former two time

<v Speaker 2>WWE champion and wrestle Mania header who sits there every week.

<v Speaker 2>So mostly mute because these two men were previously electrocuted

<v Speaker 2>weeks ago. The fact that Mas is a two time

<v Speaker 2>WWE champion wrestle media headliner. I don't want to hear

<v Speaker 2>anybody ever complain about fucking Sammy Zane ever again. The

<v Speaker 2>fuck out of here. The Solo Monster sounds off bringing

<v Speaker 2>you the good, the bad, and the ugly. Check out

<v Speaker 2>the weekly live streams bonus content for subscribers, and follow

<v Speaker 2>The Solo Monster on Facebook, Instagram, and X The Solo

<v Speaker 2>Monster Dog Shit