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

<v Speaker 1>Sounds Off. I love you, Solo! Mama Monster! Concord! My home!

<v Speaker 1>I want your soul. You've got grown-ass wrestlers in the

<v Speaker 1>back going on Twitter. You have legs. I was 99%

<v Speaker 1>positive it was just chest up. I have been begging

<v Speaker 1>him for a job on every platform I can, and

<v Speaker 1>I want to know the reason why he won't hire me.

<v Speaker 1>This is episode 983 of the Solid Monster Sounds Off

<v Speaker 1>for Sunday, October 4th, 2026. I am the Solid Monster.

<v Speaker 1>Only a few hours after this podcast dropped last week,

<v Speaker 1>we got hit with about the worst news imaginable about PAC.

<v Speaker 1>It's been a very sad week because of that, coming

<v Speaker 1>so soon after the death of the Butcher. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>that AEW roster has been through hell this past month.

<v Speaker 1>And I've got more to say about the Pac stuff

<v Speaker 1>and the tribute show that AEW hosted for him on

<v Speaker 1>Wednesday night. But, I mean, I don't know what's going

<v Speaker 1>on lately. I mean, first it was Pac on Sunday.

<v Speaker 1>Then SoCal Crazy on Wednesday, we heard, passed away. Then

<v Speaker 1>it was Eddie Osborne. I saw Ethan Page paying tribute

<v Speaker 1>to him. I don't think that was even 24 hours later.

<v Speaker 1>Then veteran wrestler The Metal Maniac passed away. And now

<v Speaker 1>I see an indie wrestler named Charlie King, who called

<v Speaker 1>himself Chicken Finger, mostly wrestled for Rocket City Wrestling out

<v Speaker 1>of Alabama, only 25 years old. He just passed away

<v Speaker 1>as well. What in the hell is going on lately?

<v Speaker 1>Money in the Bank is coming up this Saturday. I'm

<v Speaker 1>going to have my predictions for that. And this Keanu

<v Speaker 1>Carver story is just wild. I don't think we're going

<v Speaker 1>to be seeing him again on WWE television. So I'll

<v Speaker 1>talk about that. But October is finally here, my favorite

<v Speaker 1>month of the year. And not just because it's another

<v Speaker 1>trip around the sun for me this week, but it's

<v Speaker 1>Halloween season, the best season. I'm seeing that movie Other Mommy,

<v Speaker 1>that new Jessica Chastain movie this week. And then in

<v Speaker 1>a few weeks, we got Clayface coming out. I've been

<v Speaker 1>looking forward to that for a while. I'm also looking

<v Speaker 1>forward to this Friday. House of Glory is back at

<v Speaker 1>the NYC Arena in Queens for Salvation. The Psycho Killer,

<v Speaker 1>Tommaso Ciampa, makes his House of Glory debut against another Psycho,

<v Speaker 1>Charles Mason. What are those two going to do to

<v Speaker 1>each other? I don't know, but it's going to be

<v Speaker 1>fun to watch. We got Tommy End, the former Malachi Black,

<v Speaker 1>making his HOG return for the first time in four years.

<v Speaker 1>He's going to be teaming with his wife, Zelina. First

<v Speaker 1>time ever against the very bizarre duo of Leo Rush,

<v Speaker 1>who is the HOG Cruiserweight Champion, and Shotzi Blackheart, the

<v Speaker 1>HOG Women's Champion. Plus, the Motor City Machine Guns will

<v Speaker 1>be in action. Tickets are on sale right now, HOGRestling.net.

<v Speaker 1>And we should be streaming the show live and free

<v Speaker 1>on YouTube again, as we've been doing. We had a

<v Speaker 1>great turnout for the last stream in Chicago, and hopefully

<v Speaker 1>I'll see some of you in the live chat again,

<v Speaker 1>if not at the venue on Friday night. If you

<v Speaker 1>would like to make a PayPal donation to the podcast,

<v Speaker 1>you may do so at thesolidmonster at gmail.com. I want

<v Speaker 1>to say thank you to Rachel from the Badger State.

<v Speaker 1>Thank you very much. The Portland Pop Star, Paul Hamilton.

<v Speaker 1>Big B, Bryant Becerra. The Diamond Dallas Dance Machine, Harrison Soep.

<v Speaker 1>Velvet Revolver, Robert Murray. The Chicago Slayer, Willie Eichard. Big Time,

<v Speaker 1>Boris Vainman. Dirty Dirk McCullough. Recon Russell Boulware, Killshot Keith Hart,

<v Speaker 1>and Sweet Sapphire Sarah Kittleson. Thank you very much for

<v Speaker 1>the birthday love. I appreciate it. I appreciate all of you.

<v Speaker 1>But we gotta talk about this. We're gonna start with

<v Speaker 1>AEW because there is a lot to unpack here, no

<v Speaker 1>pun intended. But we are gonna talk about the death

<v Speaker 1>of Pac, Ben Satterly. The man that Gravity forgot, the

<v Speaker 1>bastard in AEW, a man of many names. He actually

<v Speaker 1>got the name pack from his dad, who used to

<v Speaker 1>call him Six Pack when he was just a boy,

<v Speaker 1>because even then, I guess, he had abs. That's according

<v Speaker 1>to Chris Hero. So if you've been saying Pac for

<v Speaker 1>all these years, even friends of his, even friends of his,

<v Speaker 1>even during their tributes during the A.W. show on Wednesday,

<v Speaker 1>some were calling him Pac. You've been saying it wrong, apparently.

<v Speaker 1>He passed away last Sunday at the age of 40,

<v Speaker 1>almost to the minute that I finished recording last week's

<v Speaker 1>sound off. and less than 24 hours after having just

<v Speaker 1>wrestled Andrade El Idolo at All Out. And I was

<v Speaker 1>as stunned as all of you were. Not only did

<v Speaker 1>he wrestle Andrade in the opener the night before, he

<v Speaker 1>even came back out during the main event to give

<v Speaker 1>Jon Moxley the assist against Will Ospreay. And he looked fine. Now,

<v Speaker 1>there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, physically, outwardly.

<v Speaker 1>It'll be a while before we know exactly what happened here.

<v Speaker 1>It will come out eventually. What we know is that,

<v Speaker 1>per the Daily Herald in Chicago, is that he was

<v Speaker 1>found dead around 4 p.m. last Sunday, according to the

<v Speaker 1>Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. His body was spotted by

<v Speaker 1>a passerby in a rental car, who then called 911.

<v Speaker 1>Satterley was alone when he was found. There were no

<v Speaker 1>indications of foul play or trauma, and his death did

<v Speaker 1>not appear suspicious. Dave Meltzer said, And the observer said

<v Speaker 1>that he was driving to O'Hare Airport and evidently something

<v Speaker 1>was wrong. He pulled off the road. He parked in

<v Speaker 1>the parking lot of a restaurant about a mile from

<v Speaker 1>the airport, right across the street from the Allstate Arena,

<v Speaker 1>where WWE held its World's Collide show the night before.

<v Speaker 1>And according to what he wrote, he collapsed after parking. Now,

<v Speaker 1>TMZ reported that first responders were told they had a, quote,

<v Speaker 1>slumper in a car and could not confirm whether the

<v Speaker 1>40-year-old was still breathing. A witness told the outlet that

<v Speaker 1>customers spotted Pack passed out inside the vehicle and called 911,

<v Speaker 1>with some even searching the restaurant for medical equipment before

<v Speaker 1>paramedics arrived. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office says Pack

<v Speaker 1>was pronounced dead at 4.08 p.m. An autopsy was performed,

<v Speaker 1>and the medical examiner told TMZ, cause and manner of

<v Speaker 1>death are pending additional testing, which could take several weeks. Now,

<v Speaker 1>Meltzer says the belief among many was that Pack was

<v Speaker 1>headed to the airport to fly to Buffalo for the

<v Speaker 1>memorial service that was being held that night for the butcher,

<v Speaker 1>Andy Williams, who died back on September 5th. But he

<v Speaker 1>also says that Pack may have just been heading home

<v Speaker 1>as he had already attended an earlier service for Williams,

<v Speaker 1>who he was close with. I mean, his last tweet,

<v Speaker 1>Pack's last tweet was a photo of him and the

<v Speaker 1>butcher backstage at an A.W. show. So basically, Dave doesn't know.

<v Speaker 1>But it's sad either way, because a lot of wrestlers

<v Speaker 1>and people in the business, they did attend the Butcher's

<v Speaker 1>service last Sunday, including Bryce Remsburg, who was also very

<v Speaker 1>close with Pac. And so they were at the service

<v Speaker 1>mourning the Butcher's death and celebrating his life, I guess,

<v Speaker 1>when they got the news that Pac was found dead.

<v Speaker 1>And I can't even imagine what was going through their

<v Speaker 1>minds as word began to spread in that room. And look,

<v Speaker 1>I mean, people die every day. but they're not supposed

<v Speaker 1>to die at 40 years old. That just should not happen.

<v Speaker 1>And it does. It happens in wrestling. It happens in life.

<v Speaker 1>And it sucks. And he was one of the most

<v Speaker 1>talented wrestlers I've ever seen in terms of what he

<v Speaker 1>was able to do in the ring. He was smaller

<v Speaker 1>in stature, but he hit hard. Everything was crisp. The

<v Speaker 1>Black Arrow, one of the all-time great finishing moves. He

<v Speaker 1>carried himself. in AEW and even the tail end of

<v Speaker 1>his WWE run when he was a heel he carried

<v Speaker 1>himself like he was always just pissed off all the

<v Speaker 1>time right it's why they called him the bastard it's

<v Speaker 1>how he got that nickname but when the camera was

<v Speaker 1>off he was anything but as a heel though I

<v Speaker 1>mean like if a little kid came up to him

<v Speaker 1>I forgot who said it this week but if a

<v Speaker 1>little kid came up to him at the airport wanting

<v Speaker 1>an autograph he would say no scram right not because

<v Speaker 1>he was a dick but because he was maybe one

<v Speaker 1>of the few left who tried to maintain kayfabe. You know,

<v Speaker 1>when he was in that mode, he was in that mode.

<v Speaker 1>But his work in the early black and gold days

<v Speaker 1>of NXT was top-notch, former NXT champion, who was part

<v Speaker 1>of one of the greatest matches in NXT history when

<v Speaker 1>he lost that title to Sami Zayn. A few months later,

<v Speaker 1>I attended my first NXT show, WrestleMania Weekend. It was

<v Speaker 1>at San Jose University. And they never aired this show.

<v Speaker 1>They never streamed it anywhere until sometime in the last

<v Speaker 1>year or so. They finally posted the entire show to

<v Speaker 1>their vault channel on YouTube. And there's a few things

<v Speaker 1>I remember from that night. I remember the pop that

<v Speaker 1>Kenta got when he hit Tyler Breeze with the go

<v Speaker 1>to sleep in the opening match. Because that was the

<v Speaker 1>first time he ever used that move in WWE. Or

<v Speaker 1>that anybody did since CM Punk had left the company.

<v Speaker 1>He reclaimed his move. I don't think he even used

<v Speaker 1>it on TV until the following year. So I remember that.

<v Speaker 1>I remember there being a match with Sasha Banks and

<v Speaker 1>Charlotte Flair. And I remember the main event. I remember

<v Speaker 1>Finn Balor coming out in the demon paint for the

<v Speaker 1>main event against Adrian Neville. And they had a banger,

<v Speaker 1>because of course they did. But you know what he

<v Speaker 1>did on the main roster? I don't need to get

<v Speaker 1>into all that. Still one of my favorite false finishes

<v Speaker 1>of all time in the title match he had on

<v Speaker 1>Raw with Seth Rollins. the King of the Cruiserweights stuff

<v Speaker 1>when they turned him heel. And then he walked out

<v Speaker 1>because he was unhappy with Creative. And he still had

<v Speaker 1>quite a bit of time left on his contract. They

<v Speaker 1>wouldn't let him out of it. So he was on

<v Speaker 1>ice for a good while. while. It was like a year,

<v Speaker 1>maybe a little more. But then he was one of

<v Speaker 1>the very first signings when AEW formed. You know, he

<v Speaker 1>was there at the opening press conference in full gear,

<v Speaker 1>even though he wasn't wrestling. That's where the full gear

<v Speaker 1>running joke came from with Hangman Page on being the elite,

<v Speaker 1>which is where the pay-per-view name came from. The two

<v Speaker 1>of them actually wrestled each other on that first full

<v Speaker 1>year show in 2019. And he had some fantastic matches

<v Speaker 1>there in that company. Not only against Hangman, but against

<v Speaker 1>Kenny Omega, against Okada, against Will Ospreay, and a bunch

<v Speaker 1>of others as part of the Death Triangle with Penta

<v Speaker 1>and Ray Phoenix. And what I remember being a very

<v Speaker 1>good blood and guts match about three years ago as

<v Speaker 1>part of the Death Riders. Tony Khan, he could barely

<v Speaker 1>get through his speech at the Ring of Honor tapings

<v Speaker 1>on Monday talking about Pac. It just killed me watching that.

<v Speaker 1>You could just see how sad he was. So I

<v Speaker 1>knew that tribute show on Wednesday was going to be

<v Speaker 1>impossible to get through without just being a mess. And

<v Speaker 1>more than a few times that happened. It sucks that

<v Speaker 1>AEW has had to do this now, what, three different

<v Speaker 1>times in the seven years that company has been in existence? Like,

<v Speaker 1>full-blown tribute shows right two of which came in the

<v Speaker 1>last month for the butcher on collision and now this

<v Speaker 1>but each time they've handled it with class and respect

<v Speaker 1>all the way through and as great as it was

<v Speaker 1>in some ways i hope i never have to see

<v Speaker 1>it ever again there should be no hey these guys

<v Speaker 1>are good at tribute shows or hey that show got

<v Speaker 1>a a 10 out of 10 rating on cage match

<v Speaker 1>or How does this one rank against all the other ones?

<v Speaker 1>That's just fucking ghoulish. There's no rating these shows. You

<v Speaker 1>don't rate a tribute show. You don't criticize the matches

<v Speaker 1>because somebody botched a move or it went too long

<v Speaker 1>or why did this person win? How come they beat

<v Speaker 1>that guy? Where's the story? That's not what Wednesday was about.

<v Speaker 1>You had a roster full of men and women who

<v Speaker 1>were grieving in front of hundreds of thousands of people

<v Speaker 1>watching live on TV. That cannot be an easy thing

<v Speaker 1>to do, right? To be that vulnerable like that. The

<v Speaker 1>star of the show outside of PAC, of course, was

<v Speaker 1>Jon Moxley. And what I mean by that is he

<v Speaker 1>was very clearly the glue that held it all together.

<v Speaker 1>And he was all over that show. He wrestled. He

<v Speaker 1>played corner man. He did commentary for the main event.

<v Speaker 1>They aired a promo at the top of the show.

<v Speaker 1>And then he cut a live promo after the show

<v Speaker 1>for the crowd. And through it all, he held it together.

<v Speaker 1>He was the emotional anchor of that show. And so

<v Speaker 1>was Tony Schiavone in many ways. When Excalibur was barely

<v Speaker 1>able to speak at times, Tony was there to cover

<v Speaker 1>for him. And he even said on his podcast with

<v Speaker 1>Conrad the day before the show that Excalibur is a

<v Speaker 1>very emotional guy. And he knew it would be hard

<v Speaker 1>for him. And Tony doesn't really show emotion like that.

<v Speaker 1>He doesn't wear his emotion on his sleeve. Moxley is

<v Speaker 1>the same way. And it's good to have a presence

<v Speaker 1>like that on the show when everybody else is having

<v Speaker 1>a tough time. You need people like that to sort

<v Speaker 1>of steady the ship. But that Moxley promo that aired

<v Speaker 1>at the beginning of the show was unbelievable because it

<v Speaker 1>was recorded on Saturday after All Out before Pac passed away.

<v Speaker 1>In fact, Pac was standing right there next to him

<v Speaker 1>along with the rest of the Death Riders. As Moxley

<v Speaker 1>sat on the ground, he was talking about how he

<v Speaker 1>gave it everything he had against Will Ospreay and he

<v Speaker 1>had no regrets. He said, it's part of the game

<v Speaker 1>you're going to lose. You're going to lose in wrestling.

<v Speaker 1>You're going to lose in life. You're going to lose people.

<v Speaker 1>You won't get what you deserve. You won't get what

<v Speaker 1>you earned. Things aren't always going to go your way.

<v Speaker 1>What are you going to do? You're going to smile

<v Speaker 1>and get up tomorrow and do it again. And give

<v Speaker 1>it your best every single day because every single day

<v Speaker 1>is a gift. Tonight, Will, you're the best in the ring. Congratulations.

<v Speaker 1>But all you've earned is more hard work. He said,

<v Speaker 1>there are two types of eulogies at funerals. One is,

<v Speaker 1>this is what that guy did. The other is, this

<v Speaker 1>is who this guy was. When I'm dead and burned up,

<v Speaker 1>I know what eulogy I want to have. I know

<v Speaker 1>what I want people to say about me at my funeral.

<v Speaker 1>And I know what I expect from you, Will. After

<v Speaker 1>a few years, I think people still don't see what

<v Speaker 1>we have, what this place can be, what we've been gifted,

<v Speaker 1>what's at stake, the future of pro wrestling, our craft,

<v Speaker 1>what we grew up dreaming of doing. We have the

<v Speaker 1>future of pro wrestling in the palm of our hands.

<v Speaker 1>It's going to be what we make of it. All

<v Speaker 1>of us, you and anyone else who has the guts

<v Speaker 1>to do what it takes to be great, to really

<v Speaker 1>be great, to really grab life by the balls, to

<v Speaker 1>take this opportunity, to take this gift, do something with it.

<v Speaker 1>And at that point, he stormed off and the other

<v Speaker 1>Death Riders left one by one and Pac was the

<v Speaker 1>last to leave. He was the last face that we

<v Speaker 1>saw as he walked off. First of all, just as

<v Speaker 1>a promo, I thought it was fucking fantastic. Maybe the

<v Speaker 1>best I've seen all year, but given what happened the

<v Speaker 1>next day, it takes on an entirely different meaning when

<v Speaker 1>you hear him talking about losing people, and funerals, and dying.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, his promo ended up being a eulogy for

<v Speaker 1>someone who wasn't even dead yet, but was standing right

<v Speaker 1>next to him, and he didn't even know it. You

<v Speaker 1>know what it reminded me of? It reminded me a

<v Speaker 1>lot of that last promo... that the Ultimate Warrior cut

<v Speaker 1>on Raw after WrestleMania, the night before he died. And

<v Speaker 1>just how hauntingly prophetic so much of what he said

<v Speaker 1>turned out to be. Like, he knew he was on

<v Speaker 1>borrowed time and was giving his own eulogy, talking about

<v Speaker 1>breathing his last breath and whatnot. Like, if you didn't

<v Speaker 1>know any better, you would have thought he cut this

<v Speaker 1>promo after Pac passed away. Until the very end, when

<v Speaker 1>the camera panned up and then you saw him standing there.

<v Speaker 1>And I get that Mox... very likely had The Butcher

<v Speaker 1>on his mind. I'm sure that's why he was talking

<v Speaker 1>about all the things he talked about. You know, that

<v Speaker 1>memorial for The Butcher was taking place 24 hours later.

<v Speaker 1>So I'm sure he had Andy on his mind, but

<v Speaker 1>how eerie it was to just sit there and listen

<v Speaker 1>to him say those things, knowing that this was a

<v Speaker 1>tribute show to Pac. I've never seen anything like that before.

<v Speaker 1>Then he beat Orange Cassidy in a match where Cassidy

<v Speaker 1>looked like he was barely holding it together. Only for

<v Speaker 1>Bryan Danielson to make a surprise cameo after. And then

<v Speaker 1>Cassidy was no longer the saddest man in Pittsburgh. It

<v Speaker 1>was Bryan Danielson. Tears in his eyes. He gets in

<v Speaker 1>the ring. He and Moxley embrace. And the way they

<v Speaker 1>shot this with Pac, who was all over the screens

<v Speaker 1>in the background. Like a collage of Pac images. And

<v Speaker 1>you see him behind them. He was looking at this

<v Speaker 1>embrace and was disgusted. Just watching Moxley actually hugging this

<v Speaker 1>man who he once tried to kill. As if he

<v Speaker 1>was saying, what are you doing? Don't hug that man.

<v Speaker 1>Kick his ass. But what a moment that was. And

<v Speaker 1>speaking of Pittsburgh, that was the same city, actually, where

<v Speaker 1>Pac broke his ankle in a match on Raw against

<v Speaker 1>Chris Jericho. And I do remember that. He did a

<v Speaker 1>baseball slide through Jericho's legs, and he caught his ankle

<v Speaker 1>on the mat, and he fractured it. And he kept

<v Speaker 1>going for another minute or so. I think he even

<v Speaker 1>did a standing Hurricanrana. It was very clear, though, he

<v Speaker 1>was hurt. And Jericho called an audible to end it,

<v Speaker 1>and he got into a shoving match with Charles Robinson

<v Speaker 1>over it. But what I remember the most about that

<v Speaker 1>was the video they posted on YouTube. After, in the back,

<v Speaker 1>the doctor was checking on Pac's ankle. Or Neville, I guess,

<v Speaker 1>at the time. And Neville, he saw them holding a

<v Speaker 1>pair of scissors. And he starts pleading with them, please

<v Speaker 1>don't cut it, please don't cut it. He didn't want

<v Speaker 1>them to cut his boots. I don't know if it

<v Speaker 1>was the boot itself they were going to cut, or

<v Speaker 1>just the laces on the boot. Maybe they were a

<v Speaker 1>new pair that he just bought. I don't know. But

<v Speaker 1>he got all panicked and the trainer was like, look,

<v Speaker 1>we'll get the seamstress to sew it. Don't worry. And

<v Speaker 1>as they're asking him to move his foot around, he

<v Speaker 1>asked them, is it broken? And as soon as the

<v Speaker 1>doctor said, yeah, just the way he slumped back on

<v Speaker 1>the stretcher, head in his hands, like his whole world

<v Speaker 1>was just shattered by that one answer. I just felt

<v Speaker 1>so bad for the guy. But that was in Pittsburgh

<v Speaker 1>where that happened. We got an elite reunion with Kenny Omega,

<v Speaker 1>Hangman Page, and the Young Bucks, beating the Don Callis family.

<v Speaker 1>I know Omega was just in Japan. I don't know

<v Speaker 1>if he was already back. I assume he wasn't, so

<v Speaker 1>he may have flown back from Japan to the States

<v Speaker 1>just to work this show. Swerve, Kofi, Creed, they came

<v Speaker 1>out to lay their trios belts down on the mat

<v Speaker 1>belts that Pac had held before, with a Pac flag

<v Speaker 1>draped over them. Creed just looked inconsolable. You know, a

<v Speaker 1>man who's always so happy. I've never seen him so sad.

<v Speaker 1>Then we got Will Ospreay against Ricochet, two men who

<v Speaker 1>knew Pac very well. Had great matches with the man.

<v Speaker 1>It felt very appropriate seeing them out there wrestling on

<v Speaker 1>a Pac tribute show. And it all built to Ospreay

<v Speaker 1>at the very end after a hidden blade. He looked

<v Speaker 1>over at the top turnbuckle. And you start to realize

<v Speaker 1>what's about to happen. And then he glances up very

<v Speaker 1>quickly at the sky before heading to the top. And

<v Speaker 1>he hits a picture-perfect black arrow to win the match.

<v Speaker 1>Not the first time he's done that move, but the

<v Speaker 1>first time in eight years. And there's video of him

<v Speaker 1>practicing the move on a crash pad from a standing

<v Speaker 1>position before the show. And he nailed it perfectly. I

<v Speaker 1>don't know how many times he may have practiced it

<v Speaker 1>that day off the top rope. But I'm sure he

<v Speaker 1>was a nervous wreck going up there, not wanting to

<v Speaker 1>fuck it up. But I thought it was the perfect tribute.

<v Speaker 1>And I know Tony Schiavone on his podcast earlier in

<v Speaker 1>the week said that he thinks the black arrow should

<v Speaker 1>be retired as a move in Pac's honor. I don't

<v Speaker 1>think it needs to be retired. I mean, I'm not

<v Speaker 1>sure Pac would even want the move to be retired.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, I don't know. He knew him better than

<v Speaker 1>I did, but I do think when it does get used,

<v Speaker 1>it should be a real finishing move and nobody should

<v Speaker 1>ever kick out of it. Like to me, for the

<v Speaker 1>few people who could even pull that move off, that

<v Speaker 1>would be the ultimate tribute. that when they do bust

<v Speaker 1>it out and they do use it, you know the

<v Speaker 1>match is over and nobody is kicking out of it. Like,

<v Speaker 1>I felt the same way about the J-Driller after Jay

<v Speaker 1>Briscoe died. Yeah, but then MJF kicked out of it

<v Speaker 1>when he wrestled Mark a few months ago. That was

<v Speaker 1>actually the last time that we saw Mark in the ring.

<v Speaker 1>He's been out injured ever since. Mercedes Monet, who was

<v Speaker 1>not cleared to wrestle last weekend because her nose is

<v Speaker 1>still broken... She wanted to wrestle on this show in

<v Speaker 1>honor of Pac, so they put her in a trios

<v Speaker 1>match with Britt Baker and Persephone against Thunder Rosa, Haiyan,

<v Speaker 1>and Marina Shafir. Pittsburgh's own Britt Baker, who lost the

<v Speaker 1>match in her hometown by tap-out, no less, to Marina.

<v Speaker 1>When is the last time that Britt lost a match

<v Speaker 1>in Pittsburgh? I don't know that she ever has. Not

<v Speaker 1>in AEW, she hasn't. But she did on this night.

<v Speaker 1>And the main event was a 10-man tag with the

<v Speaker 1>Death Riders against the Don Callis family, which has plenty

<v Speaker 1>of members to choose from. So they were able to

<v Speaker 1>field a team for an 8-man tag and a 10-man

<v Speaker 1>tag on this show. But Moxley took a seat at

<v Speaker 1>the announce desk, which left the Death Riders shorthanded until

<v Speaker 1>Bryan Danielson's music hit. And out comes the American Dragon

<v Speaker 1>in his gear. Always bring your gear. You never know

<v Speaker 1>when you may need it. But this was Bryan's first

<v Speaker 1>match in two years. The man was retired. He hardly

<v Speaker 1>even travels to the East Coast anymore or does commentary

<v Speaker 1>as much as he used to because his neck hurts

<v Speaker 1>him so much. But he wanted to be part of this.

<v Speaker 1>And I think it speaks volumes about PAC and how

<v Speaker 1>much he was loved by the people he worked with,

<v Speaker 1>that Omega flew back from Japan to be a part

<v Speaker 1>of this, Mercedes wrestled with a broken nose, and Bryan

<v Speaker 1>Danielson came out of retirement to pay tribute to this man.

<v Speaker 1>And Wardlow, he also made his return to the ring here.

<v Speaker 1>We got the return vignette for him at All Out.

<v Speaker 1>I don't know what the original plan was as far

<v Speaker 1>as when he was going to be back in the ring.

<v Speaker 1>We didn't get a date for a return or anything

<v Speaker 1>like that, but there he was after 932 days, two

<v Speaker 1>and a half years out of the ring and with

<v Speaker 1>two giant knee braces. There he was back in the ring.

<v Speaker 1>He called it a bittersweet night. which of course it was.

<v Speaker 1>I mean, this is his big return after a two

<v Speaker 1>and a half year layoff. And he recognizes that it

<v Speaker 1>wasn't about him. And again, maybe he requested that he

<v Speaker 1>return on this show and he wanted to be a

<v Speaker 1>part of the show. Or maybe he was always going

<v Speaker 1>to come back on that post-pay-per-view Dynamite. I don't know.

<v Speaker 1>But of course, the Death Riders got the win. And

<v Speaker 1>then after, with all of them standing in the ring

<v Speaker 1>watching on, Jon Moxley and Claudio and Garcia and Yuta

<v Speaker 1>and Marina and Gabe Kidd, they're all in there. They're

<v Speaker 1>watching as they play this beautiful tribute video to pack

<v Speaker 1>on the big screen. Before they then, at the end

<v Speaker 1>of it, they cut back to the ring and we

<v Speaker 1>see the empty chair in the ring with the towel

<v Speaker 1>on it, surrounded by the Death Riders. The chair that

<v Speaker 1>he used to sit in in the crowd before he

<v Speaker 1>would make his entrance. The chair now empty. And then

<v Speaker 1>you get, again, that shot of all of his Comrades

<v Speaker 1>standing around it in the darkness with only the spotlight

<v Speaker 1>on the chair as they faded out. What a shot.

<v Speaker 1>And what a show. As beautiful a tribute as you

<v Speaker 1>will ever see. No promotion for WrestleDream, no promotion for

<v Speaker 1>Collision last night. This was about honoring someone they cared

<v Speaker 1>about very much. I think that came across pretty well

<v Speaker 1>on Wednesday. And on a less important note, I don't

<v Speaker 1>see how you ever break up the Death Riders after this.

<v Speaker 1>I think at some point maybe they all go their

<v Speaker 1>separate ways, but there's no breakup. There's no kicking Moxley

<v Speaker 1>out of the group or anything like that that we've

<v Speaker 1>kind of been pondering and fantasy booking now for a while.

<v Speaker 1>Where is this Death Riders thing going to go? I

<v Speaker 1>don't see any of that now. After going through something

<v Speaker 1>like this, how do you break this crew up? The

<v Speaker 1>emotion you saw on TV was real. They're a close-knit unit.

<v Speaker 1>How do you break that up? How do you even

<v Speaker 1>book them as heels again after this? You don't. I mean,

<v Speaker 1>Gabe Kidd, he was born a heel. I mean, he

<v Speaker 1>could still be a heel on his own, I guess.

<v Speaker 1>But I just don't see how you can do it

<v Speaker 1>now with the rest of them. Like, they're babyfaces for

<v Speaker 1>life after that. At least to me, they are. They

<v Speaker 1>were seemingly building to the Death Riders against Will Ospreay's

<v Speaker 1>United Empire crew of blood and guts in November. I

<v Speaker 1>don't know if that's still the plan or if they

<v Speaker 1>pivot to something else now. It also felt to me

<v Speaker 1>like we might... be headed towards the death riders and,

<v Speaker 1>and pack specifically turning against John Moxley and kicking him

<v Speaker 1>out for being weak, right? Now pack is gone. And

<v Speaker 1>if there was a story there, that story is now

<v Speaker 1>gone too. I don't know what they're going to do.

<v Speaker 1>I just, I don't know, but I, I just can't

<v Speaker 1>see these guys being heels again, at least not anytime soon.

<v Speaker 1>And then one last thing here about all of this.

<v Speaker 1>And I think that it is ridiculous that this even

<v Speaker 1>became news this week because because it is just so

<v Speaker 1>preposterous to me. But for all of the tributes that

<v Speaker 1>came pouring out from different parts of the wrestling world

<v Speaker 1>this week, people who worked with Pac, were friends with him,

<v Speaker 1>who roomed with him, who trained with him, and just

<v Speaker 1>knew him well. The Rock chimed in on Instagram, and

<v Speaker 1>really on, I think, all of his social media accounts.

<v Speaker 1>He was in his gym, and he posted a selfie video,

<v Speaker 1>a very quick tribute to Pac. Now, I'm not going

<v Speaker 1>to read a transcript of everything that he said but

<v Speaker 1>as part of what he said he said as global

<v Speaker 1>as professional wrestling is as global as wwe is as

<v Speaker 1>much as aew is growing into this phenomenal wrestling company

<v Speaker 1>and wherever you're wrestling at around the world we are

<v Speaker 1>still a very tight-knit unit and a tight-knit group because

<v Speaker 1>we all share the same dna but when we lose

<v Speaker 1>one of our own it hurts and when they're young

<v Speaker 1>and so insanely talented it really fucking hurts And that

<v Speaker 1>was kind of the gist of Rock's message. He was

<v Speaker 1>sending his condolences out to Pac's family and friends. And

<v Speaker 1>it was a very, very classy message for him to post.

<v Speaker 1>And then Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio was talking

<v Speaker 1>about how Rock and Nick Khan are close. And he

<v Speaker 1>doesn't think that's changed. But he said, you know, were

<v Speaker 1>there people in WWE who were very surprised at Rock's wording?

<v Speaker 1>And what he said, especially with him being on the

<v Speaker 1>TKO board of directors. Yes, they were very surprised. Nick

<v Speaker 1>may not have been. He may have told Nick ahead

<v Speaker 1>of time. Maybe he didn't. He can do whatever he wants.

<v Speaker 1>Not that he did the video, but the wording in

<v Speaker 1>the video where he praised them, them being AEW, and

<v Speaker 1>essentially gave them the stamp of, yeah, you guys are

<v Speaker 1>good for business and work hard and you're helping make wrestling.

<v Speaker 1>That's not the message I think the company wants out.

<v Speaker 1>No one is going to be mad at him doing

<v Speaker 1>the video, but the wording, people brought it up to me,

<v Speaker 1>he claims. Right, so one breath he says, that's not

<v Speaker 1>the message that I think the company wants out. But then,

<v Speaker 1>you know, in the next breath, well, people told me.

<v Speaker 1>They were very surprised by what he said in this video. And, like,

<v Speaker 1>I read this and then had to, like, listen to

<v Speaker 1>it to confirm it all. And I'm like, what are

<v Speaker 1>we doing here? You know, like, why even bring that up?

<v Speaker 1>Because I see people are arguing all the time about

<v Speaker 1>the tribalism and everything, and Meltzer is on Twitter. He's

<v Speaker 1>going after Twitter trolls and responding to people and talking

<v Speaker 1>about the tribalism in wrestling. Does he not understand that

<v Speaker 1>shit like that is what feeds into it? Whether you

<v Speaker 1>believe that he was actually told this by people in

<v Speaker 1>WWE or he's just making it up, whatever you may believe,

<v Speaker 1>he has to understand that by even saying something like this,

<v Speaker 1>instead of just acknowledging that Rock did this, you know,

<v Speaker 1>very nice little tribute video to Pac, and this is

<v Speaker 1>what he said, to get into the whole, well, you know,

<v Speaker 1>I talked to people in WWE, and they were very

<v Speaker 1>surprised by this, and, you know, they don't think that

<v Speaker 1>Rock had to ask for permission. Like, who gives a shit?

<v Speaker 1>Ask for permission to do what? To do what? To

<v Speaker 1>post a video eulogizing and paying tribute to a wrestler

<v Speaker 1>who passed away, who happened to work for a different company?

<v Speaker 1>Who gives a fuck? Like, I don't understand how this

<v Speaker 1>blows up into something so big over the last few

<v Speaker 1>days on social media. And then in response to a

<v Speaker 1>video that the Clutch Wrestling account posted on IG, The

<v Speaker 1>Rock responded. He posted a comment from his official account,

<v Speaker 1>and he said, You're right, brother, and humanity matters to me.

<v Speaker 1>I was born into this business, and I've seen it all.

<v Speaker 1>But when one of our own passes away, I don't care,

<v Speaker 1>nor do I see, quote, our competition. I care about

<v Speaker 1>the wrestlers and how it affects them. I've been there.

<v Speaker 1>To me, humanity matters most. And he's right. And that's it.

<v Speaker 1>I saw it for what it was. The man was

<v Speaker 1>paying tribute, as everybody else was, to a man who

<v Speaker 1>passed away who did work for WWE at one time.

<v Speaker 1>But now he didn't. And so what? If Meltzer did

<v Speaker 1>hear from people in WWE who were surprised, who gives

<v Speaker 1>a fuck? Why would they be surprised? Because he's on

<v Speaker 1>the board of TKO? Who cares? At what point does

<v Speaker 1>something happen in life? Like, what constitutes it being okay

<v Speaker 1>to not consider the us versus them stuff? Where the

<v Speaker 1>tribalism and the competition, it kind of goes away and

<v Speaker 1>it doesn't matter anymore. Because evidently, apparently, when somebody dies,

<v Speaker 1>that's not enough. So where is that line? I do wonder.

<v Speaker 1>That's if you believe that Meltzer actually did hear from

<v Speaker 1>people in WWE who said this and wasn't just hearing

<v Speaker 1>voices in his fucking head. The whole thing is just

<v Speaker 1>preposterous to me. And of course, you know, people aggregate

<v Speaker 1>this and you look at the comments underneath because how

<v Speaker 1>can you not? It's like a fucking car crash and

<v Speaker 1>you see the tribalism coming out. Just the dregs of society.

<v Speaker 1>And he's as guilty of it as anybody because all

<v Speaker 1>he does is feed into it with stuff like this. Meltzer,

<v Speaker 1>I'm talking about. As far as The Rock goes, I

<v Speaker 1>don't think The Rock cares one way or the other.

<v Speaker 1>The Rock, like I said, just wanted to post... A

<v Speaker 1>nice video in tribute to someone who passed away. And

<v Speaker 1>I don't think in situations like this he gives a

<v Speaker 1>shit whether it's posting a video about Pac and name-dropping

<v Speaker 1>AEW or posting a photo on his social media while

<v Speaker 1>he's wearing a New Japan Pro Wrestling t-shirt which got

<v Speaker 1>people into a tizzy. I don't think he cares. I

<v Speaker 1>think Rock is at his core. Say what you want

<v Speaker 1>to about the guy. He is a wrestling fan. He

<v Speaker 1>is a student of the game. He still follows it

<v Speaker 1>and not just WWE. I think he probably watches multiple

<v Speaker 1>different things. you know, when he has the time to

<v Speaker 1>do so. And he posted something that was very nice.

<v Speaker 1>And unfortunately, there's always going to be people who take

<v Speaker 1>that and twist it into something that it's not. One

<v Speaker 1>name that wasn't mentioned on Wednesday was Stephen Borden, who

<v Speaker 1>was injured last weekend at All Out on a spot

<v Speaker 1>with Kevin Knight in their tag team match. They were

<v Speaker 1>doing a coast-to-coast collision. Borden jumped too soon. They kind

<v Speaker 1>of collided, but not really. And upon landing, he smacked

<v Speaker 1>the back of his head on the mat hard enough

<v Speaker 1>that he went into a fencing position with his hands.

<v Speaker 1>And they called the match off. They awarded the win

<v Speaker 1>to Knight and Kyle Fletcher. He was wheeled to the back.

<v Speaker 1>He got taken to the hospital. They did a CT scan.

<v Speaker 1>That came back okay. And he was conscious and he

<v Speaker 1>was talking and there was hope that he would be

<v Speaker 1>able to fly back home last Sunday. Tony Schiavone on

<v Speaker 1>his What Happened When podcast said that he spoke to

<v Speaker 1>Borden on the phone and this is the update that

<v Speaker 1>he gave. I talked to Steven just yesterday on the

<v Speaker 1>phone and he was fine. He had no headaches. He

<v Speaker 1>had no dizziness. As far as a diagnosis is concerned,

<v Speaker 1>that has to come from our doctor because I can't

<v Speaker 1>make that. But I can tell you by talking to him,

<v Speaker 1>he said, I'm fine. He did tell me of all

<v Speaker 1>the years I played football for the University of Kentucky,

<v Speaker 1>I never had a concussion. I never experienced anything like that.

<v Speaker 1>And he was more upset that he thought he ruined

<v Speaker 1>the pay-per-view by what happened. And I said, no, you

<v Speaker 1>didn't because we announced it. And then we announced that

<v Speaker 1>again to the live crowd. So everybody was very happy

<v Speaker 1>that you were okay. So that really lifted everybody's spirits.

<v Speaker 1>How long he's going to be out, I don't know.

<v Speaker 1>I'm sure they have to check on him before he

<v Speaker 1>can get back in there. It was very scary. Now,

<v Speaker 1>Conrad was co-hosting with him, and he noted that Shivani

<v Speaker 1>looked pissed when they showed him on screen after it happened.

<v Speaker 1>And he knows that look. And Shivani agreed, and he

<v Speaker 1>didn't really want to get into why. But it was

<v Speaker 1>very clear, if you watch the clip, it was because

<v Speaker 1>he thought it was a stupid spot for them to

<v Speaker 1>be doing. He just didn't want to say that. He

<v Speaker 1>didn't want to stir the pot and give ammunition to

<v Speaker 1>the wrestling news sites, he said, clickbait and all that.

<v Speaker 1>They would run with what he would have said there.

<v Speaker 1>But yeah, he was clearly not a fan of that spot.

<v Speaker 1>And look, he shouldn't have been doing it if he

<v Speaker 1>never practiced it before. But even if he did, he

<v Speaker 1>looked very nervous. He looked nervous as hell up there

<v Speaker 1>on the top rope. He hasn't been doing this very long.

<v Speaker 1>There are guys that have been wrestling for 10 years

<v Speaker 1>who can't do a coast-to-coast, let alone someone who's only

<v Speaker 1>wrestled 35 matches. But it's done, and it's a lesson learned,

<v Speaker 1>and hopefully he can make it back soon, and he's

<v Speaker 1>not prone to these types of injuries, because if you're

<v Speaker 1>a professional wrestler, one thing you can expect to be

<v Speaker 1>doing a lot of is smacking the back of your

<v Speaker 1>head on the mat. Now, because Game 3 of the

<v Speaker 1>American League Division Series is airing on TBS this Wednesday,

<v Speaker 1>Dynamite is airing live on Tuesday. Live to tape, anyway.

<v Speaker 1>From Paris, France. This is the Grand Slam France episode

<v Speaker 1>of Dynamite, which they are stacking up. It's almost like

<v Speaker 1>a mini pay-per-view. I will be live on YouTube on

<v Speaker 1>Tuesday after the show is over for the post-show, and

<v Speaker 1>then JD and I for this week only will be

<v Speaker 1>doing Tuesday Night Titans on Wednesday. So, just FYI. At

<v Speaker 1>Grand Slam France... Will Ospreay is defending his AEW World

<v Speaker 1>Championship against the international champion, his former mentor, Kazuchika Okada.

<v Speaker 1>This was a challenge that Ospreay himself issued at the

<v Speaker 1>Scrum after All Out. The reason this match is happening

<v Speaker 1>is very simple. Tony wanted to book a big main

<v Speaker 1>event on their first France show. That's it. And it

<v Speaker 1>is a big match. But Ospreay's reign so far has

<v Speaker 1>been a little strange. Backwards, actually. Because normally the champion

<v Speaker 1>would be fielding different challengers. He wouldn't be picking them

<v Speaker 1>out himself. Like, he chose Jon Moxley as his first challenger.

<v Speaker 1>That was in the story. He said, I went to

<v Speaker 1>Tony Khan, this is the match I told him I wanted.

<v Speaker 1>And at least then you could be like, okay, well,

<v Speaker 1>it's understandable because he has history with Moxley and he

<v Speaker 1>already lost to him, so he wanted to avenge that loss. Fine.

<v Speaker 1>Now he chooses Okada. And now we find out last

<v Speaker 1>night on Collision, he came together with Tony Khan to

<v Speaker 1>create a new match concept, one that he'd actually debuted

<v Speaker 1>in the Pro Wrestling Eve promotion just a few days ago,

<v Speaker 1>which is the all-women's promotion that he works as a

<v Speaker 1>producer for in the UK. And I believe he's on

<v Speaker 1>their creative team as well. But at WrestleDream, he will

<v Speaker 1>be defending the AEW World Championship, should he retain over

<v Speaker 1>Okada this Tuesday, against multiple challengers... in what he is

<v Speaker 1>calling a clockwork carnage match. Now, if you need a

<v Speaker 1>graphic with ten lines of text on it to explain

<v Speaker 1>the rules, you may be overcomplicating it, but basically, it

<v Speaker 1>involves eight wrestlers and two different stages. In stage one,

<v Speaker 1>two wrestlers chosen completely at random will begin the match.

<v Speaker 1>Every three minutes thereafter, another randomly selected wrestler will enter

<v Speaker 1>the fray, until all eight men have entered. Anyone who

<v Speaker 1>gets pinned or submitted is eliminated up until that point,

<v Speaker 1>and they don't make it to stage two. But once

<v Speaker 1>that eighth man is out there, stage two would officially begin,

<v Speaker 1>which includes a 15-minute scoring period. Okay, are you still

<v Speaker 1>with me? Have I lost you yet? No? Okay, good.

<v Speaker 1>During those 15 minutes, every pinfall or submission with however

<v Speaker 1>many of the original eight wrestlers are left will count

<v Speaker 1>for one fall. At the end of those 15 minutes,

<v Speaker 1>the wrestler with the most falls wins the match and

<v Speaker 1>is the AEW world champion. So really, you just need

<v Speaker 1>to survive that first stage until all eight men are out. Like,

<v Speaker 1>go hide out outside the ring. That's what I would do.

<v Speaker 1>And once all eight men have been called, the clock

<v Speaker 1>then starts and basically the Iron Survivor portion of the

<v Speaker 1>match begins, minus the penalty box rule that they use

<v Speaker 1>in NXT. Okay. But that's essentially what this is. It's

<v Speaker 1>a 15-minute Iron Survivor challenge. Stage 1 is a casino gauntlet,

<v Speaker 1>and Stage 2 is an Iron Survivor match. They're basically, like,

<v Speaker 1>fusing the two together. And that is your main event

<v Speaker 1>for WrestleDream. Now, I am all for trying new things. Like,

<v Speaker 1>I was skeptical when NXT first tried the Iron Survivor thing,

<v Speaker 1>and it turned out to be a big hit. I

<v Speaker 1>actually hope they bring that concept one day to the

<v Speaker 1>main roster. But for your World Championships, It should be one-on-one.

<v Speaker 1>Unless you've really taken the time to build things up

<v Speaker 1>like they have on SmackDown right now, for example. That's

<v Speaker 1>why I pitched that idea of doing a WarGames match

<v Speaker 1>with Sami Zayn as the centerpiece and having it for

<v Speaker 1>the WWE Championship. Other people have floated the idea, hey,

<v Speaker 1>they should do another one of those six-man... You know,

<v Speaker 1>like from Armageddon 25 years ago, the six-man Hell in

<v Speaker 1>a Cell match for the title. They had one all

<v Speaker 1>those years ago with Triple H and Rock and Austin

<v Speaker 1>and Undertaker and Rikishi and Kurt Angle. They could do

<v Speaker 1>one of those now. Sure. But that's kind of what

<v Speaker 1>I'm talking about. At least on SmackDown, you have Sami

<v Speaker 1>Zayn as the champion, and you have all of these

<v Speaker 1>other people, some of whom have been champion before, who

<v Speaker 1>were gunning for him. and who are looking to take

<v Speaker 1>the title away from him. In a situation like that,

<v Speaker 1>if you wanted to do a clockwork carnage match, it

<v Speaker 1>makes sense, right? You could say, okay, we have enough

<v Speaker 1>going on there in the title picture where that kind

<v Speaker 1>of makes sense. In this case, they haven't done that.

<v Speaker 1>They just announced this out of nowhere two weeks before

<v Speaker 1>the pay-per-view. So this is literally the definition of thrown together. Now,

<v Speaker 1>it doesn't mean it can't work. Maybe it'll win me over.

<v Speaker 1>I could actually see the concept working. I just don't

<v Speaker 1>think this is the time to be doing something like this.

<v Speaker 1>The other matches that are slated for Grand Slam France

<v Speaker 1>this Tuesday, Darby Allin is going to defend his TNT

<v Speaker 1>championship against Kyle Fletcher. He's giving Fletcher a chance to

<v Speaker 1>win the belt back since Kyle never actually lost it.

<v Speaker 1>He was injured. But meanwhile, Kyle's already got a tag

<v Speaker 1>team title match with Kevin Knight against the Young Bucks

<v Speaker 1>that was just made official for WrestleDream. So now he's

<v Speaker 1>getting a TNT title match as well. Kofi. He beat

<v Speaker 1>Lee Moriarty last night in his AEW singles debut. The

<v Speaker 1>same Lee Moriarty who's been Ring of Honor Pure Champion

<v Speaker 1>for 800 days. And so Kofi is feeling froggy now,

<v Speaker 1>and so he has challenged Bandito to a match this

<v Speaker 1>Tuesday for Bandito's Ring of Honor World Championship. I actually

<v Speaker 1>want to see that match. It's one of those matches

<v Speaker 1>I never thought about because it just wasn't possible. But

<v Speaker 1>now it is. So I like that. Queen Aminata, she

<v Speaker 1>issued the challenge last night to Mercedes Monet for a

<v Speaker 1>match in France for the AW Women's World title. She

<v Speaker 1>said that she used to live in France. She attended

<v Speaker 1>law school in France. And now she wants to send

<v Speaker 1>a message to Tecla by beating Mercedes there as well.

<v Speaker 1>Then she could be the one wrestling Tecla at WrestleDream.

<v Speaker 1>Because remember, there's no love lost between those two women.

<v Speaker 1>They actually had a hell of a feud going last

<v Speaker 1>year before Aminata got pulled before blood and guts with

<v Speaker 1>that neck injury. Samoa Joe is going to be wrestling

<v Speaker 1>Jack Perry with the winner qualifying for the Clockwork Carnage

<v Speaker 1>match at WrestleDream. And Chris Jericho is wrestling Nick Wayne again,

<v Speaker 1>although I could see that being saved for Grand Slam

<v Speaker 1>Collision and not actually airing on Tuesday. Also on Collision

<v Speaker 1>last night, some bad news. Not surprising news, unfortunately, but

<v Speaker 1>still bad news. Tony Schiavone announced that Switchblade Jay White,

<v Speaker 1>stop me if you've heard this before, he is out

<v Speaker 1>injured again. He suffered an injury during the tailgate brawl

<v Speaker 1>match on the all-out pre-show, and he will be out

<v Speaker 1>of action for up to two months. I don't even

<v Speaker 1>know what to say to this anymore. Every time he

<v Speaker 1>comes back from one injury, he gets another one. I

<v Speaker 1>think now we know why he's being booked in tailgate brawls.

<v Speaker 1>Tony can't book him in anything major if he can't

<v Speaker 1>trust that he's going to be able to stay healthy.

<v Speaker 1>So here's to fast healing, but I don't know what

<v Speaker 1>else you even do with him at this point For

<v Speaker 1>the remainder of this year, I would love to see

<v Speaker 1>him in the C2. But even if he makes it

<v Speaker 1>back in time, would he be able to physically hold up?

<v Speaker 1>I don't know. After months of speculation, lawsuits and threats

<v Speaker 1>and negotiations and protests, Paramount Skydance and the Ellison family,

<v Speaker 1>they are on the verge of getting what they wanted

<v Speaker 1>all along. Full and total control over Warner Brothers Discovery

<v Speaker 1>and all of its assets. And debt. Everything that comes

<v Speaker 1>with it. About $ 30 billion worth of debt, which is

<v Speaker 1>a drop in the bucket compared to the $ 110 billion

<v Speaker 1>that they paid to acquire it. Although not all of

<v Speaker 1>that $ 110 billion is coming from them. There's about $ 24

<v Speaker 1>billion coming from foreign interests in the Middle East. But

<v Speaker 1>they did it. They pulled it off after a federal

<v Speaker 1>judge approved the settlement of the antitrust lawsuit that was

<v Speaker 1>brought against them by 12 state attorneys general. That was

<v Speaker 1>the last legal hurdle to overcome. The merger is not

<v Speaker 1>official yet, but it will be as of this Tuesday,

<v Speaker 1>October 6th. Which, by the way, means that Warner Bros.

<v Speaker 1>Discovery is owed almost $ 50 million in so-called ticking fees.

<v Speaker 1>Remember I told you previously, if this deal wasn't done

<v Speaker 1>by October 1st, for every day that goes by from

<v Speaker 1>that day forward, Paramount would owe WBD $ 7 million per day.

<v Speaker 1>Which I assume is still going to be paid. My

<v Speaker 1>understanding is that money is still paid out to the

<v Speaker 1>Warner Bros. shareholders. David Ellison on Friday opened his own

<v Speaker 1>X account, and his first tweet was to announce the

<v Speaker 1>name of the new corporate brand that will take the

<v Speaker 1>name of the film studio that he started 20 years ago,

<v Speaker 1>that being Skydance. So that's the corporate name. Paramount and

<v Speaker 1>Warner Brothers will still exist as sub-brands under Skydance, so

<v Speaker 1>like WWE and UFC under TKO. But think about what

<v Speaker 1>Skydance now owns, or has some stake in. DC Comics.

<v Speaker 1>Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Friday

<v Speaker 1>the 13th, HBO and HBO Max, CBS News, CNN, TNT, TBS, MTV, Nickelodeon,

<v Speaker 1>lots of other networks. I'm pretty sure Pluto TV is

<v Speaker 1>in there too. And yes, all elite wrestling. Although Warner

<v Speaker 1>Brothers Discovery is said to own a minority stake in AEW,

<v Speaker 1>so it's less than 10%, but that would now fall

<v Speaker 1>under Skydance. And AEW's future now depends upon whether Skydance

<v Speaker 1>is going to want to keep them at the end

<v Speaker 1>of their current media rights deal. Which is to say

<v Speaker 1>nothing of what's going to happen with HBO Max in

<v Speaker 1>the future, which streams AEW TV shows and pay-per-views. It

<v Speaker 1>could be merged with Paramount +, I think that's the plan.

<v Speaker 1>Or they could offer the two of them as some

<v Speaker 1>sort of bundle. Maybe they do that at first and

<v Speaker 1>then eventually they merge the two of them together. But

<v Speaker 1>minutes after the judge made her ruling allowing this merger

<v Speaker 1>to move forward, the first move that David Ellison made

<v Speaker 1>may be his most important one. It was who he hired.

<v Speaker 1>The name to remember here, and I want you to

<v Speaker 1>keep this name in your brain for future reference, is

<v Speaker 1>Enon Kreis, who is joining the newly merged company as co-CEO.

<v Speaker 1>He starts tomorrow. Enon was previously CEO of Mattel. The

<v Speaker 1>toy company, he's been described as, quote, ruthless when it

<v Speaker 1>comes to cost cutting, which is going to be one

<v Speaker 1>of his primary functions in that role. One Mattel veteran

<v Speaker 1>told Puck News he was great at cutting costs. He

<v Speaker 1>cut costs to the bone. But there was zero innovation,

<v Speaker 1>this person said, which. I don't know if I would

<v Speaker 1>say that. I mean, the year he joined as CEO

<v Speaker 1>is when they formed Mattel Films, which later released the

<v Speaker 1>Barbie movie that made over a billion dollars. So I

<v Speaker 1>guess it depends on your definition of the word innovation.

<v Speaker 1>But David Ellison has promised at least six billion dollars

<v Speaker 1>with a B in what they're calling cost synergies, which

<v Speaker 1>is really just a fancy way of saying, hey, we

<v Speaker 1>need to find a way to consolidate and cut a

<v Speaker 1>lot of shit to shed a few billion dollars because

<v Speaker 1>we have enough debt as it is. And that's not

<v Speaker 1>just job losses. But this is where this could have

<v Speaker 1>an effect on AEW when it comes time to renew

<v Speaker 1>next year, unless they roll them over for another year,

<v Speaker 1>because they supposedly have an option year. They could roll

<v Speaker 1>them over through 2028. Assuming that doesn't happen, though, their

<v Speaker 1>media rights deal would expire late next year. And they're

<v Speaker 1>going to have to engage in renewal talks a lot

<v Speaker 1>sooner than that. And this is the man responsible for

<v Speaker 1>slashing costs. How important is AEW to their bottom line?

<v Speaker 1>Remember that name. He could end up being to AEW

<v Speaker 1>in a way what Jamie Kellner was to WCW. Hopefully not.

<v Speaker 1>And AEW announced this week that the Saturday, November 7th

<v Speaker 1>episode of Collision that is airing later the same day

<v Speaker 1>as WWE Crown Jewel from Riyadh will be taking place

<v Speaker 1>aboard Chris Jericho's Rockin' Wrestling Rager at Sea. First time

<v Speaker 1>AEW has aired a live event from aboard the Jericho cruise.

<v Speaker 1>In 2020, they taped matches for Dynamite on the cruise.

<v Speaker 1>I should know because I was there. And I had

<v Speaker 1>a fucking blast. We would have done more of those

<v Speaker 1>cruises too if the world didn't shut down less than

<v Speaker 1>two months later. But I remember we got to see

<v Speaker 1>the first title change in AEW history with Kenny Omega

<v Speaker 1>and Hangman Adam Page winning the tag team titles from

<v Speaker 1>Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky. which then led to one

<v Speaker 1>of the best matches in company history against the Young

<v Speaker 1>Bucks at Revolution. What else? I remember MJF, he beat

<v Speaker 1>Joey Janela. And then Cody Rhodes came out, and they

<v Speaker 1>went back and forth on the mic. And then MJF,

<v Speaker 1>I forgot who it was who snuck up behind him,

<v Speaker 1>but somebody snuck up behind him, a couple of people,

<v Speaker 1>and they tossed him into one of the pools. And

<v Speaker 1>how's this for a main event that night? We got

<v Speaker 1>to see Jon Moxley against Pac-12. Of all weeks, don't

<v Speaker 1>think that wasn't on my mind when I thought back

<v Speaker 1>to what matches I would have seen Pac wrestle in live.

<v Speaker 1>That's the most memorable. That and watching Jon Moxley sing

<v Speaker 1>Bohemian Rhapsody and The Bad Touch by the Bloodhound Gang

<v Speaker 1>during karaoke. I recorded a whole recap of my time

<v Speaker 1>on that cruise on the channel if you want to

<v Speaker 1>go back and check it out. I know it's got

<v Speaker 1>my karaoke footage on there of Moxley. Fucking Moxley headbanging

<v Speaker 1>with an eyepatch on. Strobe lights are going. There's no audio, though.

<v Speaker 1>I had to mute the audio for the karaoke. YouTube

<v Speaker 1>would not like that very much. But Jericho told TMZ's

<v Speaker 1>Inside the Ring podcast that they had to figure out

<v Speaker 1>basically the logistics of how this would work. You know,

<v Speaker 1>the satellite connection, Wi-Fi, generators, thousands of feet of cable

<v Speaker 1>to make this live episode happen. Jericho, the new level,

<v Speaker 1>and Harley Cameron are featured on AEW's advertising for the event.

<v Speaker 1>New Level and Harley were already booked for the cruise,

<v Speaker 1>and Jericho says more names are set to be added

<v Speaker 1>as Tony Khan books the lineup. He said whoever Tony

<v Speaker 1>books that night for Collision will be on the boat.

<v Speaker 1>The cruise is going to start off with an actual

<v Speaker 1>all-star Collision lineup. See, I love when they do unique

<v Speaker 1>locations like this for their TV shows. I may have

<v Speaker 1>to actually watch Collision that week. This is being held

<v Speaker 1>only a few days after the Blood and Guts episode

<v Speaker 1>of Dynamite. WWE streamed its world's collide show on Wednesday,

<v Speaker 1>an hour before the pack tribute show started. Uh, this

<v Speaker 1>was the show from Chicago last Saturday that did 14,000

<v Speaker 1>fans at the all state arena, which you would never

<v Speaker 1>know because they obviously didn't bring their usual lighting equipment.

<v Speaker 1>It looked awfully dark for a building with 14,000 people.

<v Speaker 1>I don't know why you wouldn't want to light that

<v Speaker 1>shit up. Uh, but they knew they weren't streaming it live.

<v Speaker 1>So I don't think it was a real priority for them.

<v Speaker 1>And the show was enjoyable. I mean, it felt like

<v Speaker 1>a televised house show, only not, televised uh the main

<v Speaker 1>event definitely felt like a house show main event dragon

<v Speaker 1>lee and jack cartwell they had a banger but the

<v Speaker 1>four-way stole the show in my opinion minnie vikingo beat

<v Speaker 1>out javon evans axiom and ek prosper from nxt i

<v Speaker 1>thought that was great la catalina beat roxanne perez to

<v Speaker 1>retain her reina de reina's title they had a good

<v Speaker 1>match we got the lucha brothers penta and ray phoenix

<v Speaker 1>Tagging together for the first time in a regular tag

<v Speaker 1>team match, not a trios match or anything like that.

<v Speaker 1>First time in two years since they beat Private Party

<v Speaker 1>on AEW Rampage, which doesn't exist anymore. Neither does Private Party.

<v Speaker 1>They wrestled Los Perros del Mal, and they were having

<v Speaker 1>a good match until Daga hit a low punt kick repeatedly.

<v Speaker 1>in front of the referee for the disqualification. So that

<v Speaker 1>was very lame. But it's also very likely the start

<v Speaker 1>of more between the two teams. Maybe Penta and Phoenix,

<v Speaker 1>they have to recruit someone to help them because they're

<v Speaker 1>outnumbered right now. And in the main event, CM Punk,

<v Speaker 1>Rey Mysterio, and El Grande Americano. They beat Dominik Mysterio,

<v Speaker 1>JD McDonough, and Omos when Punk pinned McDonough. The best

<v Speaker 1>part was Punk coming out to his old Killswitch Engage

<v Speaker 1>theme from his first WWE run. His first WWE run

<v Speaker 1>really threw the Money in the Bank match that he

<v Speaker 1>had with John Cena in 2011. After that is when

<v Speaker 1>he switched to Cult of Personality. And he was wearing

<v Speaker 1>his old Straight Edge Society lucha mask for the duration

<v Speaker 1>of the match. After the match, the heels laid waste

<v Speaker 1>to the babyfaces until the lights went out, and down

<v Speaker 1>came Oba Femi. And Dom and JD, they bailed, which

<v Speaker 1>left Omos in the ring alone for the face-off with Oba. Omos,

<v Speaker 1>I mean, he just made Oba look like a small child,

<v Speaker 1>which is no easy feat. Oba clotheslined him out of

<v Speaker 1>the ring, Omos had to be restrained, and that is

<v Speaker 1>how the show ended. Now imagine if Omos gets involved

<v Speaker 1>in his Money in the Bank match. We'll talk about

<v Speaker 1>Money in the Bank here in a minute. Let me

<v Speaker 1>go back real quick, though, to Raw last Monday. The Bloodline, finally,

<v Speaker 1>after how many weeks? How many months? How many years,

<v Speaker 1>it felt like. They finally ran the play. against 946,

<v Speaker 1>and it didn't work out too well for them. One

<v Speaker 1>thing we did learn on Monday night is that Jacob

<v Speaker 1>Fatu is in fact not in cahoots with 946, because

<v Speaker 1>by the time this show was over, Jacob Fatu was

<v Speaker 1>roadkill in the parking garage. We also, though, had the debut,

<v Speaker 1>the arrival on the main roster of Jada Parker from NXT,

<v Speaker 1>and she arrived actually at the beginning of the show,

<v Speaker 1>coming out of an SUV, and the Bloodline and Jey

<v Speaker 1>Uso were very surprised to see her. She said, oh,

<v Speaker 1>she's here to talk to Adam Pearce. And so off

<v Speaker 1>she went, and we didn't see her again until the

<v Speaker 1>very end of the show because they closed with this

<v Speaker 1>big brawl. It started out in the arena, and then

<v Speaker 1>they fought to the back, and the Usos were fighting

<v Speaker 1>with OTM in one part of the backstage area. Then

<v Speaker 1>we see Royce Keyes and Jacob Fatu. They're going at

<v Speaker 1>it in the parking area. And this is where the

<v Speaker 1>sedan comes out of nowhere and runs down Jacob Fatu.

<v Speaker 1>And all things considered, I think the stuntman they got

<v Speaker 1>for it, you know, for the most part, he kind

<v Speaker 1>of looked like Jacob without actually seeing his face. He

<v Speaker 1>took a hell of a bump, too. And then we

<v Speaker 1>see that Jada Parker gets out of the driver's seat

<v Speaker 1>and she's playing it like, oh, my God, I didn't

<v Speaker 1>see him. I'm so sorry. It was an accident. I

<v Speaker 1>didn't mean to do that. And Royce Keys comes over

<v Speaker 1>and she's talking to Royce. I didn't see him coming, man.

<v Speaker 1>You know, I don't know what happened. And then her

<v Speaker 1>whole demeanor changes. And she leans down and says to Jacob,

<v Speaker 1>you know, ain't nobody safe. And Jada leaves with Royce Keys,

<v Speaker 1>Lucian Price, and Bronco Nima. And they drive away. It

<v Speaker 1>was as great of an ending to Raw as you'll

<v Speaker 1>see all year. It was exactly the sort of thing

<v Speaker 1>that they should be doing to try to get people

<v Speaker 1>not just talking about the show, but wanting to tune

<v Speaker 1>in next week to see what's going to happen next.

<v Speaker 1>That was the feeling that I had coming out of

<v Speaker 1>that ending. So it was very well done. And now

<v Speaker 1>begs the question, you know, is this going to lead

<v Speaker 1>to the return of Naomi? I talked about this in

<v Speaker 1>my Raw post show on Monday night because you see

<v Speaker 1>Jada as part of this crew would make sense for

<v Speaker 1>the bloodline to get some, you know, female representation themselves.

<v Speaker 1>And who better than Naomi in this instance? So I

<v Speaker 1>think that we are going to see her return very soon.

<v Speaker 1>I actually thought Raw on the whole was a very

<v Speaker 1>good show. There were some really good matches on the show.

<v Speaker 1>But this week's Raw on Netflix was, as it usually

<v Speaker 1>is week to week, it was heavily edited. If you

<v Speaker 1>go back and watch the replay, this comes per PW Insider.

<v Speaker 1>The edited version of the September 28th episode of Monday

<v Speaker 1>Night Raw on Netflix had a lot of edits made

<v Speaker 1>to it. So, for example, the screen goes black when

<v Speaker 1>Jacob Fatu runs his head into the car door while

<v Speaker 1>trying to get at Royce Keyes. and again when he

<v Speaker 1>gets hit by the car driven by Jada Parker. So

<v Speaker 1>you can hear the audio, you can hear all of

<v Speaker 1>the chaos, you just can't see it. The edited version

<v Speaker 1>fades out a few seconds earlier than the live show did,

<v Speaker 1>seemingly to remove the crowd's applause for the segment. These edits,

<v Speaker 1>I mean, they just get more and more ridiculous with

<v Speaker 1>each passing week. The whole thing is just silly. But again,

<v Speaker 1>we got some good action. There was a good tag

<v Speaker 1>team match on the show with Penta and Javon Evans

<v Speaker 1>beating Dom and JD McDonough. Dragon Lee had a really

<v Speaker 1>good one with Big Cass where he pulled off the win.

<v Speaker 1>And that's along with the win he picked up at

<v Speaker 1>Worlds Collide over Jack Cartwheel. So it was a good

<v Speaker 1>week for Dragon Lee. Dragon Lee was actually noticeably over

<v Speaker 1>on Raw as well, which was encouraging to see because

<v Speaker 1>he seems to be getting more and more over each week.

<v Speaker 1>You know, each time he makes an appearance on these shows,

<v Speaker 1>you know, he's getting the push and the fans are

<v Speaker 1>responding to it, which is good to see. Money in

<v Speaker 1>the Bank is live this Saturday in New Orleans with

<v Speaker 1>a 6 p.m. Eastern start time. This is the latest

<v Speaker 1>a Money in the Bank show has ever been held. Originally,

<v Speaker 1>it was scheduled for August 29th. Then it got pushed

<v Speaker 1>back to September 6th. And finally, it got pushed back

<v Speaker 1>to October 10th. This is also the Make Good show.

<v Speaker 1>for the fine folks of New Orleans that they got

<v Speaker 1>for WrestleMania being stolen away from them this year. So

<v Speaker 1>we have what should be a complete card. I'm going

<v Speaker 1>to run through it real quickly here. Five matches. It

<v Speaker 1>is possible they add a sixth match between Cody Rhodes

<v Speaker 1>and Randy Orton, but if they were going to do that,

<v Speaker 1>they would have announced it on Friday, I would think.

<v Speaker 1>So I don't think it's going to happen. If it

<v Speaker 1>does happen on this show, I am predicting a Cody

<v Speaker 1>win in their next match whenever it takes place. Orton

<v Speaker 1>did cost Cody potentially a spot in Money in the

<v Speaker 1>Bank on Friday when he interfered in his qualifying match.

<v Speaker 1>So that put a little more heat on the feud

<v Speaker 1>between them. There is no other PLE after this until

<v Speaker 1>Crown Jewel. They could do the match at Crown Jewel.

<v Speaker 1>I just question if they've got four weeks worth of

<v Speaker 1>interesting television between Cody and Randy of shit for them

<v Speaker 1>to be doing before we get that rematch. But again,

<v Speaker 1>when they do meet, I think Cody's going to get

<v Speaker 1>the win. But we have the women's Money in the

<v Speaker 1>Bank ladder match. We have JC Jane. We have Lash Legend.

<v Speaker 1>We have Roxanne Perez, Sol Ruka, Lola Weiss, and Tiffany Stratton,

<v Speaker 1>who qualified on Friday. She had a very good qualifying

<v Speaker 1>match that also involved Tatum Paxley and Candice LeRae. And

<v Speaker 1>I have absolutely no great desire to see Tiffany Stratton

<v Speaker 1>pick up the briefcase for a second time. Because I

<v Speaker 1>do think that where they may be headed is a

<v Speaker 1>Tiffany Stratton heel turn at some point on Chelsea Green.

<v Speaker 1>And I'm all for that. And so she was to

<v Speaker 1>win the briefcase and they wanted to have that lead

<v Speaker 1>to a heel turn and she cashes in on Chelsea.

<v Speaker 1>If it turns her heel, great. We've already seen this

<v Speaker 1>story play out before with Tiffany Stratton. She won the briefcase.

<v Speaker 1>She was friends with Nia Jax. Nia was the champion

<v Speaker 1>at the time. Eventually she backstabbed Nia. She cashed in

<v Speaker 1>and won the title. And it would be the same thing.

<v Speaker 1>It would be like they're just repeating the same basic

<v Speaker 1>angle if they were to do that again. I have

<v Speaker 1>no interest in seeing that. When I look at the

<v Speaker 1>rest of the people in this lineup, you can make

<v Speaker 1>the argument for a few different ones. Like JC Jane,

<v Speaker 1>she has the United States Championship right now. I realistically

<v Speaker 1>don't see her winning it. Lash, I could see. I

<v Speaker 1>don't really want to see that either, though. Sol Ruka,

<v Speaker 1>it's possible. Lola Weiss just debuted. Doesn't seem very likely

<v Speaker 1>to me. That leaves Roxanne Perez. Roxanne Perez was my

<v Speaker 1>pick the end of last year when I was asked

<v Speaker 1>about my early Money in the Bank predictions. And she

<v Speaker 1>hasn't exactly had a great year. They haven't really done

<v Speaker 1>a whole lot with her. I think that she would

<v Speaker 1>benefit more than maybe any other single person in this match.

<v Speaker 1>She stands to benefit the most because she just does

<v Speaker 1>not have a whole lot else going on right now.

<v Speaker 1>I'm sticking with that pick. I think Roxanne Perez is

<v Speaker 1>going to win the Women's Money in the Bank briefcase.

<v Speaker 1>And this is going to tie into something else that's

<v Speaker 1>going to happen later in the show. We'll get to

<v Speaker 1>that here in a second. Obafemi is locking horns with

<v Speaker 1>Big Bronson Reed. I'm looking forward to this match. And

<v Speaker 1>I wasn't joking when I mentioned Omos before. So I

<v Speaker 1>was talking about Worlds Collide and I mentioned what happened

<v Speaker 1>at the end of the show. And Obafemi comes out

<v Speaker 1>to confront Omos. And they have their face to chest.

<v Speaker 1>I was going to say face to face. Omos doesn't

<v Speaker 1>have a face to face with anybody. Again, he made

<v Speaker 1>Oba look like a small man. But it ended with

<v Speaker 1>Oba clotheslining him out of the ring, and then Omos

<v Speaker 1>was furious, and he had to be held back and

<v Speaker 1>restrained by the Judgment Day guys. And I was only

<v Speaker 1>half-joking before when I brought up the possibility of him

<v Speaker 1>being involved in this and getting revenge for what happened

<v Speaker 1>at the end of that show. I don't think that

<v Speaker 1>Bronson Reed beats Oba Femi clean, but I do think

<v Speaker 1>Bronson Reed is going to win this match. And I'm

<v Speaker 1>going to say that he does so with an assist

<v Speaker 1>from Omos. And the reason I say that is because

<v Speaker 1>I think it leads to a match between Omos and

<v Speaker 1>Obafemi in Saudi at Crown Jewel. That is my prediction.

<v Speaker 1>But the key here is that Bronson Reed gets the win.

<v Speaker 1>I don't think you need to send these guys in

<v Speaker 1>there and just have Bronson get beat. And Bronson, by

<v Speaker 1>the way, did something very similar a year ago or

<v Speaker 1>so where he got a win over Roman Reigns. And

<v Speaker 1>then eventually Roman came back, I think, and got his

<v Speaker 1>win back. No harm in having Bronson Reed go in there,

<v Speaker 1>who just came back, by the way, in the best

<v Speaker 1>shape of his life. Having him go in. there with

<v Speaker 1>some assistance and beat Oba Femi. Oba will not be

<v Speaker 1>beaten clean. And I don't even think I would beat

<v Speaker 1>Oba clean. But there's no harm in having him lose

<v Speaker 1>by nefarious means and keep this thing going for a

<v Speaker 1>little while longer, even if you sort of temporarily... Get

<v Speaker 1>sidetracked and you do this match with Omos. It just

<v Speaker 1>seems like the kind of match that I could see

<v Speaker 1>them doing on that show. It's like a little side

<v Speaker 1>quest for him before he then circles back around to

<v Speaker 1>the Vision crew. Stephanie Viqueur is going to be defending

<v Speaker 1>her Women's World Championship on this show. We don't yet

<v Speaker 1>know against who. It's going to be either Becky Lynch

<v Speaker 1>or Liv Morgan. The two of them are having a

<v Speaker 1>singles match on Raw tomorrow night, a number one contenders match.

<v Speaker 1>That person, in theory, will then go on to wrestle

<v Speaker 1>Stephanie Vickere. However, I don't think we're going to get

<v Speaker 1>a clean winner tomorrow night between Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch.

<v Speaker 1>I think this is all going to result in a

<v Speaker 1>triple threat match being made. So the match on this

<v Speaker 1>show is going to be Stephanie defending against Liv and Becky.

<v Speaker 1>And then I think what we're going to see is

<v Speaker 1>after she wins Money in the Bank at the beginning

<v Speaker 1>of the show, Roxanne Perez comes out during the match

<v Speaker 1>to give Liv the assist, right? They're both part of

<v Speaker 1>the Judgment Day. They want you to think that maybe

<v Speaker 1>she's coming out to cash in, but she's there to

<v Speaker 1>try to help Liv. Liv wins the championship. Liv Morgan

<v Speaker 1>will win the Women's World Championship back in this triple

<v Speaker 1>threat match with an assist from Roxanne Perez. And then

<v Speaker 1>when the match is over, Roxanne smashes Liv with the briefcase.

<v Speaker 1>Now that she's got her one-on-one, she cashes in. And

<v Speaker 1>Roxanne Perez is going to leave New Orleans, I do believe,

<v Speaker 1>as the new Women's World Champion on Monday Night Raw.

<v Speaker 1>That is my prediction. Maybe you consider that pie in

<v Speaker 1>the sky, bold, hot take. I don't know. Use whatever

<v Speaker 1>word you want to use for it. That's how I

<v Speaker 1>see this playing out. That's what I would like to see.

<v Speaker 1>Then we have the men's Money in the Bank ladder match.

<v Speaker 1>We now know that CM Punk is going to be

<v Speaker 1>in there as well as Kevin Owens and Braun Breaker.

<v Speaker 1>and Penta, and Trick Williams, and Javon Evans, who was

<v Speaker 1>going to be the youngest man ever in Money in

<v Speaker 1>the Bank. Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes, and Johnny Gargano had

<v Speaker 1>the final qualifying match on SmackDown on Friday night. It

<v Speaker 1>was a very good match. Randy Orton screwed Cody Rhodes

<v Speaker 1>out of a potential victory. Kevin Owens was able to

<v Speaker 1>take advantage, and he is going to Money in the Bank.

<v Speaker 1>And I mentioned before, you know, when I did my

<v Speaker 1>Money in the Bank predictions on the Predictions show in December,

<v Speaker 1>my picks back then, almost a year ago, were Logan

<v Speaker 1>Paul for the men's match and Roxanne Perez for the

<v Speaker 1>women's match. And maybe I would have been right. Who knows?

<v Speaker 1>But Logan Paul tore his tricep, and so he's injured

<v Speaker 1>and he's been out. And so I was tempted to

<v Speaker 1>go with Braun Breaker here, because when I look at

<v Speaker 1>this field, my... Logic was CM Punk and Kevin Owens,

<v Speaker 1>they have a feud going, they don't like each other,

<v Speaker 1>they're in the WWE title picture already on SmackDown, and

<v Speaker 1>they can sort of cancel each other out. CM Punk

<v Speaker 1>does not need to win Money in the Bank. I

<v Speaker 1>understand why they would want him in Money in the Bank,

<v Speaker 1>especially if Cody Rhodes is not going to be on

<v Speaker 1>the show, Roman's on the show, but you want to

<v Speaker 1>have star power, so you put CM Punk in there.

<v Speaker 1>CM Punk is a big part of why they put 14,000

<v Speaker 1>people in the Allstate Arena for Worlds Collide this past weekend,

<v Speaker 1>so I get it. He should have no business winning

<v Speaker 1>money in the bank for a third time. Braun Breaker,

<v Speaker 1>it would be very easy to go with Braun Breaker,

<v Speaker 1>swap one Vision member out for the other as far

<v Speaker 1>as who I think is going to win. Braun Breaker

<v Speaker 1>could definitely use a win here in this match. But

<v Speaker 1>then you have Penta. Trick Williams has no shot. Javon

<v Speaker 1>Evans has a better shot than Trick, but I don't

<v Speaker 1>put his chances very high. If they really wanted to

<v Speaker 1>shock people, then yeah, you can go with Javon Evans.

<v Speaker 1>To me, this comes down to three people. It comes

<v Speaker 1>down to Bron Breaker, Penta, and Kevin Owens. And I

<v Speaker 1>was leaning in the direction of Bron Breaker. Where my

<v Speaker 1>mind is at now, I am leaning towards Kevin Owens,

<v Speaker 1>and I'm going to go with Kevin Owens. I think

<v Speaker 1>Kevin Owens is going to win the Money in the

<v Speaker 1>Bank briefcase on Saturday. And I think ultimately, if you

<v Speaker 1>are a Kevin Owens fan, this is the outcome you're

<v Speaker 1>hoping for. I mean, of course, you want him to win.

<v Speaker 1>But as long as Sami Zayn is the WWE champion,

<v Speaker 1>I think that this story that will never end between

<v Speaker 1>him and Kevin Owens, for it to culminate with Kevin Owens,

<v Speaker 1>of all people, being the one to cash in his

<v Speaker 1>money in the bank at whatever the opportune time ends

<v Speaker 1>up being, to be the one to cash in and

<v Speaker 1>take that championship away from Sami Zayn would be so poetic.

<v Speaker 1>And it really gives Kevin Owens the best shot at

<v Speaker 1>being WWE champion, I think, is being the one to

<v Speaker 1>beat Sami Zayn. Well, here's his way in. Because he

<v Speaker 1>already wrestled Sammy on SmackDown a few weeks ago. He

<v Speaker 1>didn't win the title. But I think he's going to

<v Speaker 1>win the briefcase here. Now, my thought process on this

<v Speaker 1>also is when I was looking at the heels and

<v Speaker 1>the babyfaces, we have not had a proper babyface Money

<v Speaker 1>in the Bank winner, male or female, if you can

<v Speaker 1>believe it, since Liv Morgan in 2022. Four years ago. Now,

<v Speaker 1>Io Sky won in 2023, and people love Io even then,

<v Speaker 1>but she was part of Damage Control, which is a

<v Speaker 1>heel faction, or was a heel faction, so I don't

<v Speaker 1>even count that. For the men's match, you would have

<v Speaker 1>to go back even further to 2021, when Big E

<v Speaker 1>won the briefcase. Because after that, it was Austin Theory,

<v Speaker 1>Damian Priest, who was a heel, Drew McIntyre, who was

<v Speaker 1>a heel, and Seth Rollins, who was a heel, as

<v Speaker 1>part of the vision. So it feels like we're due

<v Speaker 1>for a babyface winner. Money in the Bank has become

<v Speaker 1>more of a heel gimmick, but I mean, at what

<v Speaker 1>point do you kind of break the cycle and give

<v Speaker 1>people something to cheer for? Especially because I don't think

<v Speaker 1>they're going to have a whole lot to cheer for

<v Speaker 1>at the end of this show, which leads to our

<v Speaker 1>main event, where the match I have to assume is

<v Speaker 1>going to close the show, which is Roman Reigns defending

<v Speaker 1>the World Heavyweight Championship against LA Knight in their first

<v Speaker 1>meeting since Crown Jewel 2023. Put it this way. I

<v Speaker 1>don't see them doing LA night against Sammy Zane as

<v Speaker 1>the main event for crown jewel next month. Okay. I

<v Speaker 1>don't see that as being the crown jewel championship match,

<v Speaker 1>although there is the money in the bank briefcase. So

<v Speaker 1>it's possible that one of these champions gets cashed in

<v Speaker 1>on before we even get there. Today's episode is sponsored

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<v Speaker 1>get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGoV

<v Speaker 1>clinical study information, and restrictions, visit HIMSS.com. L.A. Knight has

<v Speaker 1>been someone, I mean, it's been how many years now?

<v Speaker 1>Four years? Has it been five? I think maybe four.

<v Speaker 1>Since he reverted back to the L.A. Knight name, right?

<v Speaker 1>The Max Dupree stuff, we like to forget about that.

<v Speaker 1>For four years now, There are a lot of people

<v Speaker 1>who have been waiting for L.A. Knight to get his

<v Speaker 1>moment and for L.A. Knight to become WWE champion or

<v Speaker 1>to become a world heavyweight champion in this company. And

<v Speaker 1>it hasn't happened. He's come close a few times. Money

<v Speaker 1>in the bank. How many money in the bank matches

<v Speaker 1>has this guy been in? At least two that I

<v Speaker 1>can remember where he was in the match. He was

<v Speaker 1>at the top of the ladder. He had his hand.

<v Speaker 1>He had his fingertips on the briefcase and it was

<v Speaker 1>taken away from him. I remember the year Damian Priest won.

<v Speaker 1>There was a moment there and everybody was coming unglued

<v Speaker 1>and I thought, oh shit, this is going to happen.

<v Speaker 1>He's going to pull down the briefcase and he had

<v Speaker 1>his hands on the hook holding the briefcase and then

<v Speaker 1>Damien Priest reaches up and goozles him around the throat

<v Speaker 1>and then just tosses him off the ladder and everyone's

<v Speaker 1>hopes and dreams were shattered. He's come close so many

<v Speaker 1>times and had it taken away from him. Even one

<v Speaker 1>year where he ended up getting, you know, browbeaten by

<v Speaker 1>Triple H in the back and then he ended up

<v Speaker 1>being embarrassed because of it on Unreal. That was, I believe,

<v Speaker 1>from a Money in the Bank show. So now here

<v Speaker 1>he is, still popular, still very over with the audience,

<v Speaker 1>but this really feels like a now or never situation

<v Speaker 1>for this guy. Like, if he doesn't win here, where

<v Speaker 1>even in the promo that he cut, that vignette promo

<v Speaker 1>they aired for him on Monday... where he flat out admitted, yeah,

<v Speaker 1>I recognize that this may be it for me. Like,

<v Speaker 1>there may not be another opportunity for me after this.

<v Speaker 1>For him to still go in there and lose anyway

<v Speaker 1>would be devastating if you're an LA Knight fan, right?

<v Speaker 1>And how do you come back from that? Do I

<v Speaker 1>want to see LA Knight win this match? Of course.

<v Speaker 1>My heart says yes. My head says no. Now I'm

<v Speaker 1>going to tell you what I would like to see.

<v Speaker 1>My idea for this. 9-4-6 already took out Jacob Fatu

<v Speaker 1>on Monday. And I think that you have them take

<v Speaker 1>out the Usos tomorrow night. So that way, Roman Reigns

<v Speaker 1>is going into Money in the Bank. I mean, he's

<v Speaker 1>been winning his matches on his own. But still, you know,

<v Speaker 1>you want to have your family around. That sends Roman

<v Speaker 1>into Money in the Bank unprotected. with no family by

<v Speaker 1>his side, because they've been taken out. 946 shows up

<v Speaker 1>on Saturday. They play a part in Roman Reigns losing

<v Speaker 1>the World Heavyweight Championship to LA Knight. Like, Knight is

<v Speaker 1>the beneficiary, even if it looks like he didn't ask

<v Speaker 1>for their help. He wins anyway. Only to find out

<v Speaker 1>that he was in cahoots with them all along. LA

<v Speaker 1>Knight is 946. And your new world champion, which then

<v Speaker 1>sets up your War Games match for Survivor Series... with L.A. Knight,

<v Speaker 1>Royce Keyes, OTM, and Jada Parker against Roman Reigns, Jacob Fatu,

<v Speaker 1>the Usos, and the returning Naomi. The only thing I

<v Speaker 1>don't know is where Solo Sokoa would fit into all that.

<v Speaker 1>I haven't figured that out yet. Because I like the

<v Speaker 1>idea of including the ladies in there on either side. Now,

<v Speaker 1>if they don't want them in there, then you could

<v Speaker 1>have Solo link back up with the bloodline for one

<v Speaker 1>night only, right? Roman, Solo, Jacob, and the Usos against Knight, Keyes, OTM,

<v Speaker 1>and then one other person. That's what I would like

<v Speaker 1>to see. What do I see happening? What is my

<v Speaker 1>prediction for what we are going to get on Saturday?

<v Speaker 1>I do think the Usos get taken out tomorrow night

<v Speaker 1>like Jacob did this past Monday. Solo Sokoa returns at

<v Speaker 1>Money in the Bank. And when it looks like he's

<v Speaker 1>there to help LA Knight, his new best friend, he

<v Speaker 1>turns on him. Which I fucking hate because we're back

<v Speaker 1>to heel Solo again. But he betrays LA Knight. Roman retains.

<v Speaker 1>Roman thinks Solo has come home. Solo is back in

<v Speaker 1>the family, but Solo spikes Roman after the match. And

<v Speaker 1>Solo Sokoa joins 9-4-6, which then sets up war games

<v Speaker 1>with Roman, Jacob, the Usos, and Naomi against Keyes, Solo, OTM,

<v Speaker 1>and Jada Parker. And fuck LA Knight. That's what my

<v Speaker 1>WWE brain is telling me. Roman Reigns is still your

<v Speaker 1>World Heavyweight Champion. I would love to be wrong about this.

<v Speaker 1>I really would. But my mind hasn't changed. I've been

<v Speaker 1>saying it now for weeks. We joke about it on TNT.

<v Speaker 1>We have been burned so many times in situations like

<v Speaker 1>this where we think, okay, this is going to be

<v Speaker 1>LA Knight's moment, and then it ends up not being

<v Speaker 1>his moment. I just don't have any reason to believe

<v Speaker 1>that this is going to be any different. But with

<v Speaker 1>the 9-4-6 stuff that they're doing on the show, you

<v Speaker 1>have a storyline there. Like, you can make it make sense.

<v Speaker 1>You can still get the world championship back on Roman

<v Speaker 1>Reigns in the next few months. It is not some

<v Speaker 1>fatal blow to whatever their WrestleMania plans may be. And

<v Speaker 1>for Roman, it's not a fatal blow because the guy's

<v Speaker 1>a made man. It doesn't matter to him. But if

<v Speaker 1>the idea is to have Roman drop it to an

<v Speaker 1>Obafemi or whoever it is in Saudi at Mania next year,

<v Speaker 1>whether he goes into it unbeaten since this past WrestleMania

<v Speaker 1>or he gets the belt back a few months before,

<v Speaker 1>to me, it don't matter. The end result is still

<v Speaker 1>going to be the same. It doesn't hurt a damn thing.

<v Speaker 1>I hope they see it the same way. I don't

<v Speaker 1>think they do. Brandon Thurston and John Pollock of Post

<v Speaker 1>Wrestling broke the news on Tuesday that NXT star Keanu Carver,

<v Speaker 1>whose legal name is Kevin Robertson, is under an order

<v Speaker 1>of protection to stay away from and not contact another

<v Speaker 1>NXT talent who filed a petition against him. That NXT

<v Speaker 1>talent filed a petition in a Florida court earlier in September,

<v Speaker 1>alleging that Robertson stalked and harassed that person. Now, they

<v Speaker 1>did not name that NXT talent in their story, but

<v Speaker 1>on Thursday, TMZ did publish that person's name. I'm not

<v Speaker 1>mentioning it here. But according to the Post story, the

<v Speaker 1>petition alleges that the petitioner and Robertson dated and that

<v Speaker 1>the relationship recently ended. In the days that followed the breakup,

<v Speaker 1>Robertson allegedly made a series of unwanted visits to the

<v Speaker 1>petitioner's home, and made unwanted calls to them as many

<v Speaker 1>as 44 times in one day. The 49-page filing includes

<v Speaker 1>many screenshots showing calls to the petitioner and stills from

<v Speaker 1>a security camera outside of her home, depicting Robertson's alleged

<v Speaker 1>repeated unwelcome visits. The protection order is a civil matter.

<v Speaker 1>Although stalking is a criminal offense under Florida law, we

<v Speaker 1>could not confirm whether any charges will be filed. An

<v Speaker 1>official with the local police department told us the case

<v Speaker 1>is still pending with the state attorney's office. The petition

<v Speaker 1>seeking an order of protection was filed against Robertson on

<v Speaker 1>September 14th. A judge granted the temporary order of protection

<v Speaker 1>the same day. After a hearing on September 22nd, the

<v Speaker 1>court extended the order through the date of another hearing

<v Speaker 1>set for October 20th. Court records show that Robertson asked

<v Speaker 1>for a continuance so that he could obtain counsel. The

<v Speaker 1>order requires Robertson to stay at least 500 feet away

<v Speaker 1>from the petitioner and prohibits him from having any contact

<v Speaker 1>with this person. The petition alleges that Robertson's conduct led

<v Speaker 1>to the petitioner calling police on September 13th after Robertson

<v Speaker 1>again came to their residence, refused to leave, and made

<v Speaker 1>threats to harm himself. Robertson left before police arrived, according

<v Speaker 1>to the petition. The petitioner asked the court for the

<v Speaker 1>order of protection the next day. Robertson last appeared on

<v Speaker 1>NXT programming on September 8th. His most recent match was

<v Speaker 1>on September 12th at an NXT house show in Lakeland, Florida,

<v Speaker 1>the day before the incident that involved a call to police.

<v Speaker 1>We could not confirm Robertson's current status with WWE. The

<v Speaker 1>company did not respond to an inquiry, which included questions

<v Speaker 1>about whether he is under a suspension and if WWE

<v Speaker 1>is conducting an investigation. The petitioner alleges that while they

<v Speaker 1>were dating, Robertson's behavior was abusive and threatening. Before they

<v Speaker 1>broke up, the petitioner claims Robertson spat on me, physically

<v Speaker 1>restrained me from leaving his house. The petition continues, he

<v Speaker 1>has threatened to kill me as well as my cats.

<v Speaker 1>He has woken me up by plugging my nose in

<v Speaker 1>my sleep. He has grabbed me by my throat multiple

<v Speaker 1>times and squeezed hard while threatening to kill me. The

<v Speaker 1>petition details multiple alleged incidents of unwanted visits and calls

<v Speaker 1>after their breakup. The petitioner says that Robertson came to

<v Speaker 1>their home on September 4th at 7 a.m., intoxicated and

<v Speaker 1>under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The petition does

<v Speaker 1>not specify what drugs Robertson was allegedly using. On September 8th,

<v Speaker 1>the filing claims that Robertson again returned to their residence

<v Speaker 1>when the petitioner was not there. Robertson allegedly waited at

<v Speaker 1>the door. When he found the petitioner in their car,

<v Speaker 1>the petitioner tried to put the vehicle in reverse to

<v Speaker 1>drive away. He allegedly grabbed the vehicle, said he needed help,

<v Speaker 1>and said he had drugs on him, and he saw

<v Speaker 1>cops and his phone was 1%, and he had no

<v Speaker 1>way to get home. The petition claims Robertson returned to

<v Speaker 1>their home later in the night, knocked on the door,

<v Speaker 1>and circled the residence all night long, finally leaving around

<v Speaker 1>8 a.m. or so. The next day, on September 9th,

<v Speaker 1>the petitioner claims Robertson called a total of 25 times

<v Speaker 1>and came to the petitioner's residence when no one was home.

<v Speaker 1>Robertson allegedly returned again early the next morning at 2 a.m.

<v Speaker 1>The petition states that Robertson proceeded to knock on the

<v Speaker 1>door all night long again and called my phone from

<v Speaker 1>a blocked number, called me on X, formerly known as Twitter,

<v Speaker 1>made incoherent sounds, circled my apartment building. The filing goes on,

<v Speaker 1>I took video from inside my apartment of him making

<v Speaker 1>growling noises outside and then knocking. I did not answer

<v Speaker 1>the door and I pretended that I wasn't home. I

<v Speaker 1>then called a mutual friend asking him to come get

<v Speaker 1>Kevin from my front door where he was passed out.

<v Speaker 1>Several neighbors saw him sleeping outside my door and one

<v Speaker 1>tenant sent a photo and email to the rental office

<v Speaker 1>showing him outside my door because she was afraid. Around

<v Speaker 1>this time, the petitioner set up a security camera at

<v Speaker 1>the door of the home. On September 13th, the petitioner

<v Speaker 1>alleges that Robertson showed up again at their home after

<v Speaker 1>being told he wasn't welcome. He allegedly rang the doorbell

<v Speaker 1>multiple times. This led to the petitioner making a 911 call.

<v Speaker 1>Robertson at that time is said to have threatened to

<v Speaker 1>harm himself. He left before police arrived, but proceeded to

<v Speaker 1>call the petitioner another 44 times over the next two hours.

<v Speaker 1>The protection order requires Robertson to stay at least 500

<v Speaker 1>feet away from the petitioner. WWE did not respond to

<v Speaker 1>a question about whether the order prevents him from being

<v Speaker 1>present at the performance center where NXT is taped and

<v Speaker 1>wrestlers trained. If you care to read through it, the

<v Speaker 1>TMZ story has a link to a PDF with all

<v Speaker 1>of the text messages between them. I'm not going to

<v Speaker 1>get into that, but this is scary stuff. If he's

<v Speaker 1>showing up at her doorstep, especially. But this is bad.

<v Speaker 1>This is very bad for Keanu Carver. And it's a

<v Speaker 1>great way to torpedo your career. Especially if she felt

<v Speaker 1>like she had to have a ring camera installed because

<v Speaker 1>of you. And you're on camera doing some of the

<v Speaker 1>things that are alleged here. And there are multiple witnesses

<v Speaker 1>and neighbors involved. who saw some of the stuff that

<v Speaker 1>you're alleged to have done. Now, Carver hasn't wrestled in

<v Speaker 1>nearly a month. This was reportedly filed right after that,

<v Speaker 1>so it sounds like he may be suspended uh, officially

<v Speaker 1>or unofficially until they sort through this. I mean, maybe

<v Speaker 1>they're doing their own internal investigation. Uh, he initially took

<v Speaker 1>to his ex account and he tweeted y'all gone sound

<v Speaker 1>dumb ash in a month. Dumb as shit. I assume

<v Speaker 1>that means I don't think we're the one sounding dumb

<v Speaker 1>after I read that tweet. And then he tweeted again,

<v Speaker 1>fake-ass virtue signaling MFs, everything done in a dark, come

<v Speaker 1>to light. And he then deleted those tweets, and he

<v Speaker 1>replaced it with one that simply said, keep God first.

<v Speaker 1>Which is always the go-to when someone does something stupid.

<v Speaker 1>They go with God. Now, right now, this is a

<v Speaker 1>civil case. This is not a criminal one. No one

<v Speaker 1>is going to jail. But I don't think that this

<v Speaker 1>guy is long for that roster. It reminds me of

<v Speaker 1>the Odyssey Jones situation two years ago where he had

<v Speaker 1>domestic abuse allegations lodged against him and it cost him

<v Speaker 1>his job with WWE. Remember, they put him a new day.

<v Speaker 1>He was going to get a big push on the

<v Speaker 1>main roster and that lasted one week and then he

<v Speaker 1>was gone. But he maintained his innocence and he even

<v Speaker 1>filed the defamation suit against his accuser. But to my knowledge,

<v Speaker 1>his accuser never recanted their allegations and maintains everything they

<v Speaker 1>said about him was true. And there was even a

<v Speaker 1>police report filed after the incident with photos of that

<v Speaker 1>person's bruises and whatnot. Jones said later on that he

<v Speaker 1>filed a police report with that same police department with

<v Speaker 1>a stalking allegation against her. But I remember Brandon Thurston

<v Speaker 1>in one of the stories he did on this last

<v Speaker 1>year saying that when he reached out to that police

<v Speaker 1>department to inquire about the report that Odyssey Jones filed,

<v Speaker 1>he was told there is no record that such a

<v Speaker 1>report actually exists. Only the one filed by the accuser.

<v Speaker 1>So I don't know if old Odyssey ever answered why,

<v Speaker 1>if he filed such a report, the department claims they

<v Speaker 1>have no record of it. But if you're going to

<v Speaker 1>say shit like that, I don't know why you would

<v Speaker 1>think someone wouldn't follow up on that. It's a simple

<v Speaker 1>phone call. There's a reason you haven't heard the name

<v Speaker 1>Odyssey Jones since then. Probably not since I just mentioned

<v Speaker 1>his name now. Although he is still wrestling, mostly for

<v Speaker 1>All Japan. But we could be looking at a similar

<v Speaker 1>situation here. If you have questions for the mailbag, you

<v Speaker 1>can email me, thesolidmonster at gmail.com. Please include your name

<v Speaker 1>and where you are from when you write in. Got

<v Speaker 1>something here from Greg, who's been a listener for many years.

<v Speaker 1>I've got a quick story and then a connecting question.

<v Speaker 1>A month or two ago, I was hanging out with

<v Speaker 1>a few friends and my obnoxious brother. Lots of alcohol

<v Speaker 1>was involved. Somehow me being a wrestling fan came up

<v Speaker 1>and I started getting shamed by the group with my

<v Speaker 1>brother as the spokesperson. Don't you know it's fake? And

<v Speaker 1>Isn't It For Kids was thrown out with lots of

<v Speaker 1>other crap. I defended myself, saying that when wrestling is good,

<v Speaker 1>it can be great. My brother challenged me to show

<v Speaker 1>one match to prove how great wrestling can be. I

<v Speaker 1>immediately fired up Netflix and started racing my options around

<v Speaker 1>in my head while it loaded. I had one opportunity,

<v Speaker 1>and I could not go back once I started the match.

<v Speaker 1>I considered Mankind against The Undertaker, Hell in a Cell,

<v Speaker 1>and Randy Savage against Ricky Steamboat. I ended up with

<v Speaker 1>my all-time personal favorite match, Bret Hart and Steve Austin

<v Speaker 1>from WrestleMania 13. My brother immediately started ripping me on

<v Speaker 1>how tight Shamrock's shorts were and Bret wearing pink. The

<v Speaker 1>match starts and someone is like, they're in the crowd already,

<v Speaker 1>that's stupid. Once they got back in the ring, the

<v Speaker 1>crowd started to get quiet and watch. I was like,

<v Speaker 1>oh my god, this is actually working. I waited for

<v Speaker 1>a slow spot and explained the concept of the double turn.

<v Speaker 1>I pointed out when Bret blades Austin. After a few

<v Speaker 1>minutes of silence, as Austin is choking Brett with the

<v Speaker 1>extension cord, my brother asks, who wins this anyway? I

<v Speaker 1>say you have to finish it to find out. The

<v Speaker 1>match ends and everyone is still watching while Austin stuns

<v Speaker 1>the ref and my brother says, well, of course it

<v Speaker 1>was good. You showed us like the best match in

<v Speaker 1>the last 30 years or whatever. I was never going

<v Speaker 1>to get an admission, but I feel like I might

<v Speaker 1>have turned one or two. So with that story, I

<v Speaker 1>have a question. If you were trying to turn non-wrestling

<v Speaker 1>fans with one match, what would you show and why? Well,

<v Speaker 1>I think he just named the match I would probably show.

<v Speaker 1>I think that's a great choice. I feel like I've

<v Speaker 1>answered some form of this question before. And one match,

<v Speaker 1>maybe I've cited this before. But if I had to

<v Speaker 1>throw another match out there, and it's not nearly as

<v Speaker 1>fun as this main event would show it to be.

<v Speaker 1>It's not fun like this all the time. But I

<v Speaker 1>would show the Steve Austin dude love match from Over

<v Speaker 1>the Edge in 98, which has a lot of, you know,

<v Speaker 1>interference and overbooking there at the finish. But this was

<v Speaker 1>just at kind of the peak of things there or

<v Speaker 1>nearly the peak where everything felt hot and the crowd

<v Speaker 1>was invested in everything. You had these characters, you had

<v Speaker 1>the whole Austin McMahon feud, which is a very easy

<v Speaker 1>one to relate to. Even I think if you're not

<v Speaker 1>a wrestling fan, if you just know who the parties are,

<v Speaker 1>employee and boss, right? A lot of that's why it

<v Speaker 1>works so well. A lot of people can relate to that,

<v Speaker 1>but it was just fun. And it felt like a

<v Speaker 1>hot product. It felt like a hot match. And there

<v Speaker 1>was a lot going on. And that's probably the match

<v Speaker 1>I would show people. Is Austin and Dude Love. Just

<v Speaker 1>to show you the craziness and the absurdity and the

<v Speaker 1>wackiness of it. But also there's a lot of really

<v Speaker 1>good action in that match. You know, it's a brawl

<v Speaker 1>is what it is. So I think I probably would

<v Speaker 1>go with that one. You can pick any number of

<v Speaker 1>great wrestling matches where... The holds are in there, and

<v Speaker 1>it's technically sound. That's great if you're a wrestling fan,

<v Speaker 1>but if you're not a wrestling fan, you're probably not

<v Speaker 1>going to give a shit if you show somebody a

<v Speaker 1>30-minute classic Bret Hart match or a 30-minute classic Kurt

<v Speaker 1>Angle match or something more recent that is Roman Reigns

<v Speaker 1>and CM Punk at WrestleMania. Even that, I don't know

<v Speaker 1>that a non-fan would really be able to fully appreciate that.

<v Speaker 1>So you got to be very careful with what you pick.

<v Speaker 1>I think you want to pick something where you have

<v Speaker 1>to put yourself in the mindset of that non-fan. What

<v Speaker 1>do you think would be of interest to them? What

<v Speaker 1>do you think they would find fun? And then just

<v Speaker 1>go from there. I mean, there's lots of options out there,

<v Speaker 1>but I always come back to that match. That match

<v Speaker 1>has a lot of replay value with me, and it's

<v Speaker 1>just a lot of fun. Denzel from Georgia. I've been

<v Speaker 1>debating with some friends which second run was better overall

<v Speaker 1>and more impactful. Shawn Michaels from 2002 to 2010, or

<v Speaker 1>Brock Lesnar from 2012 to 2026. To make it fair,

<v Speaker 1>I think these are their best matches. And then he cited,

<v Speaker 1>you know, with Shawn, SummerSlam against Triple H, WrestleMania against Kurt,

<v Speaker 1>Raw against Cena, No Mercy against Jericho, and then Mania

<v Speaker 1>against The Undertaker, the first one. And for Brock, he

<v Speaker 1>mentioned SummerSlam 2013 with Punk, Mania 30, which is the

<v Speaker 1>streak ending, SummerSlam against Cena and The Squash, Rumble in 2015,

<v Speaker 1>and Survivor Series against AJ in 2017. Who takes the

<v Speaker 1>crown for you? You know, that second Sean run was

<v Speaker 1>so good. I mean, it really is the tale of

<v Speaker 1>two careers. Pre-back injury, post-back injury, and I wouldn't fault

<v Speaker 1>you if you voted for either one of them as

<v Speaker 1>the better half of Sean's career, but For as great

<v Speaker 1>as the matches were that he had, if we're talking

<v Speaker 1>not just great matches but just overall impact, you gotta

<v Speaker 1>go Brock. I mean, this is not even really that

<v Speaker 1>hard of a question for me. Brock had some great

<v Speaker 1>matches too, and you just named a whole bunch of them.

<v Speaker 1>You know, the one from SummerSlam against Punk may have

<v Speaker 1>been the best of the bunch, but I loved that

<v Speaker 1>match with AJ. I loved the Survivor Series match with

<v Speaker 1>Bryan Danielson. The triple threat match at the Rumble from 2015,

<v Speaker 1>and there's a bunch of others that he was a

<v Speaker 1>part of as well. The Fatal 4-Way at SummerSlam in... 2017,

<v Speaker 1>I want to say it was, and on and on.

<v Speaker 1>And then overall impact. Look at the way Brock was

<v Speaker 1>positioned as compared to how Shawn was positioned. Shawn was

<v Speaker 1>never positioned as strong as Brock was. Brock was, before

<v Speaker 1>The Rock started calling himself that, Brock was the final

<v Speaker 1>boss of that WWE roster for that entire second half

<v Speaker 1>of his career. So the answer is Brock Lesnar. They

<v Speaker 1>both had incredible runs there during that period, but the

<v Speaker 1>answer is Brock, and it's not even that close. Connor

<v Speaker 1>from Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. I was inspired to send this

<v Speaker 1>in after the mailbag question from Luke in Maricopa about

<v Speaker 1>Rumble winners facing NXT. It's funny he mentions Luke in

<v Speaker 1>Maricopa because I have a question from him here after this.

<v Speaker 1>But the question about winners facing NXT champions. I've compiled

<v Speaker 1>the list of every Rumble winner during times when the

<v Speaker 1>world titles were split and flipped their opponent to the

<v Speaker 1>opposite champion that they faced at WrestleMania. There are some

<v Speaker 1>fascinating results that I would love to get your input on.

<v Speaker 1>And he's got his list here. So I'm just going

<v Speaker 1>to read through this here. Brock Lesnar versus Triple H.

<v Speaker 1>I can't say that does a whole lot for me.

<v Speaker 1>I saw Brock Lesnar and Triple H at WrestleMania 29.

<v Speaker 1>I had no great interest in seeing it again. Chris

<v Speaker 1>Benoit versus Eddie Guerrero. Well, I mean, that's a different story.

<v Speaker 1>That would have been WrestleMania 20. Yeah, that would have

<v Speaker 1>been great. Batista versus JBL. JBL. Yeah, I'm going to

<v Speaker 1>pass on that. Rey Mysterio against Triple H. Okay, so

<v Speaker 1>that would have been 2006. Yeah, I mean, I guess

<v Speaker 1>that would have been a good match. That's not WrestleMania

<v Speaker 1>main event worthy to me. Would have been a good match,

<v Speaker 1>just not as a WrestleMania main event. Undertaker versus John Cena.

<v Speaker 1>There you go. That's one of those that got away. Man,

<v Speaker 1>that would have been the time to do it, too,

<v Speaker 1>when the Undertaker... streak was still intact but we never

<v Speaker 1>got it John Cena vs Edge so what would that

<v Speaker 1>have been that would have been 2008 uh yeah that

<v Speaker 1>would have been great Randy Orton against Edge yeah at

<v Speaker 1>Wrestlemania yeah For the title? I don't know. Edge vs. Batista.

<v Speaker 1>Alberto Del Dipshit against The Miz. Yeah, okay. It's a

<v Speaker 1>good thing you put LOL in parenthesis there, so you knew.

<v Speaker 1>You knew my answer before you even proposed this. Sheamus vs.

<v Speaker 1>CM Punk. Which, as I recall, was the main event...

<v Speaker 1>Or at least the big match. I don't know if

<v Speaker 1>it opened the show or closed the show, but it

<v Speaker 1>was the main event basically on the first episode of

<v Speaker 1>Main Event when it debuted in 2012. John Cena vs.

<v Speaker 1>Alberto Del Dipshit. Yeah, that's a no from me. Randy

<v Speaker 1>Orton vs. Goldberg. Could have been a title match at WrestleMania.

<v Speaker 1>Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Brock Lesnar. Seth Rollins vs. Daniel Bryan.

<v Speaker 1>I think that would have worked out okay. Drew McIntyre vs. Goldberg.

<v Speaker 1>There's too much Goldberg on this list. Edge vs. Bobby Lashley.

<v Speaker 1>Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes. Jey Uso vs. Cody Rhodes.

<v Speaker 1>No Yeet. And Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes. Which, of course,

<v Speaker 1>that would have been a fine WrestleMania match. They've had

<v Speaker 1>two quality WrestleMania matches already. I don't know that we're

<v Speaker 1>going to get another one at WrestleMania... They will wrestle

<v Speaker 1>again at some point. I just don't know that that's

<v Speaker 1>going to be a WrestleMania title match. So very interesting.

<v Speaker 1>When you reverse the roles, there's some good ones in there.

<v Speaker 1>There's some good ones in there, but I would say

<v Speaker 1>the vast majority of what you just listed, those to

<v Speaker 1>me don't read as title matches that you see at WrestleMania.

<v Speaker 1>Luke from Maricopa, Arizona. What is your favorite Michael Myers mask,

<v Speaker 1>aside from the original from 1978? Also, what is your

<v Speaker 1>least favorite of the masks that he has worn over

<v Speaker 1>the years? My favorite outside of the original was the

<v Speaker 1>burned-up one that he wore in Halloween Kills. My least

<v Speaker 1>favorites are from Halloween 4 and the H20-slash-Resurrection masks, more

<v Speaker 1>so the H20 one as you see his eyes all

<v Speaker 1>the time in that film. Seeing his eyes kind of

<v Speaker 1>defeats the purpose of Dr. Loomis' line from the original film,

<v Speaker 1>saying that he had the blackest eyes, the devil's eyes. Dude,

<v Speaker 1>they used a CGI mask in one of those scenes

<v Speaker 1>in H2O. I guess they didn't have time to reshoot

<v Speaker 1>the scene, so they laid a CGI mask over the

<v Speaker 1>crappy one that they used. I hated that. The H2O

<v Speaker 1>mask and the Resurrection masks, they are the worst. Because,

<v Speaker 1>like you said, they show the eyes. And the Resurrection

<v Speaker 1>mask is just too expressive. He also had these, like,

<v Speaker 1>painted-on eyebrows, which is, I mean, that's just ridiculous. But

<v Speaker 1>I also don't like the mask he wore in Part 5.

<v Speaker 1>You know, it's... It's good that it's expressionless. At least

<v Speaker 1>they got that down pat. That's how it should be.

<v Speaker 1>But it just looks weird. There's no logical explanation, by

<v Speaker 1>the way, story-wise, for why he even would have switched

<v Speaker 1>masks between Part 4 and Part 5. Like, why? Why

<v Speaker 1>would he switch masks? Is he that vain that he

<v Speaker 1>cares about his appearance? My favorite after the OG mask

<v Speaker 1>is actually the one they used in the 2018 sequel.

<v Speaker 1>That was a direct sequel to the original 40 years later,

<v Speaker 1>and it's the closest to the original that they've ever used,

<v Speaker 1>with some expected wear and tear from over the years.

<v Speaker 1>And it looked a little more withered, as we all

<v Speaker 1>do as we age. But it was virtually the same otherwise.

<v Speaker 1>But that original mask, it's just the best. It's just

<v Speaker 1>so damn creepy. And all by just taking a William

<v Speaker 1>Shatner Captain Kirk mask, ripping the eyebrows off, and painting

<v Speaker 1>it white. That's all they did. I'm sure Shatner, by

<v Speaker 1>the way, is thrilled that his face has been scaring

<v Speaker 1>the shit out of people for decades. I'm sure he

<v Speaker 1>just thinks that's wonderful. And Shay from Sydney, Australia. If

<v Speaker 1>a crazy Willy Wonka type tasked you with creating an

<v Speaker 1>ice cream flavor based on WWE and AEW, what would

<v Speaker 1>the flavor be? For an extra bit of fun, what

<v Speaker 1>flavor would the podcast be? And what flavor would House

<v Speaker 1>of Glory be? This may be one of the weirdest

<v Speaker 1>questions I've ever gotten, so I'll give you points for that.

<v Speaker 1>And the joke's on you, Shay, because I can't eat

<v Speaker 1>ice cream anymore, and I'm not making flavors for other

<v Speaker 1>people to enjoy if I can't have mine. So, I'll

<v Speaker 1>indulge you anyway. WWE would be vanilla cookie flavor, because

<v Speaker 1>those were what the old ice cream bars were back

<v Speaker 1>in the 80s, and they were awesome. AEW would be

<v Speaker 1>a little bit of everything, like the product. But it

<v Speaker 1>would also have way too much of it. like their pay-per-views.

<v Speaker 1>So vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, mint. And when you're done

<v Speaker 1>with it, you'll shit yourself. The podcast would be chocolate

<v Speaker 1>chip because that's still the best flavor. And House of

<v Speaker 1>Glory would be something orange to go with the color scheme.

<v Speaker 1>So maybe a pumpkin flavor of some kind. Perfect here

<v Speaker 1>for the month of October. Speaking of which, House of Glory,

<v Speaker 1>don't forget Salvation coming up from the NYC Arena in

<v Speaker 1>Queens this coming Friday. Should be able to stream the

<v Speaker 1>show live on YouTube if you can't be there, but

<v Speaker 1>tickets are still available. Would love to see you there.

<v Speaker 1>And we have Tommaso Ciampa making his HOG debut. The

<v Speaker 1>Motor City Machine Guns are there. Tommy End is coming in.

<v Speaker 1>It's going to be a good time. Also, remember, no

<v Speaker 1>TNT on Tuesday night. That's going to be the Dynamite

<v Speaker 1>Post Show. TNT will be taking place on Wednesday this week.

<v Speaker 1>And again, I won't be here for Smackdown on Friday,

<v Speaker 1>but I will be going live after Money in the

<v Speaker 1>Bank next Saturday. And then we will talk about the

<v Speaker 1>fallout from Money in the Bank and all the other

<v Speaker 1>news of the week on the podcast next Sunday, which

<v Speaker 1>will be episode 984. And I think that about covers everything. So,

<v Speaker 1>until then, be well, stay safe, have yourselves a great

<v Speaker 1>rest of your week, and I'll see you back here

<v Speaker 1>next Sunday for more SoundOff. One year older and one

<v Speaker 1>year wiser. Until then, take care, guys. The Sala Monster

<v Speaker 1>sounds off. Heart of Debonair with a 10. Hey, Solo,

<v Speaker 1>what are your top five favorite finishes today? The Sharpshooter,

<v Speaker 1>it's not really a finish today. If we're talking all time,

<v Speaker 1>it would be on my list. In terms of today,

<v Speaker 1>it's tough today because finishers aren't finishers today. Finishers don't

<v Speaker 1>actually finish matches anymore. I don't have very many current

<v Speaker 1>favorite finishers because they're just not protected the way they

<v Speaker 1>used to be. I appreciate the fact that Penta is

<v Speaker 1>actually finishing matches with the Destroyer now, even if other

<v Speaker 1>people are abusing the move. The best answer I could

<v Speaker 1>give you is the low blow. The low blow is

<v Speaker 1>the most powerful finishing maneuver in all of wrestling. The

<v Speaker 1>low blow to this day continues to end more matches

<v Speaker 1>probably than any other single move, or at least lead

<v Speaker 1>to the finish. So the nut shot would be my answer.

<v Speaker 1>The Salomonster sounds off. Since 2007. Bringing you the good,

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