Full Transcript for Sound Off 987 - Creative SHAKEUP In WWE, Vince Russo News And TERRIBLE TAMMY Is Back!

00:04:06.509 is one of the more intriguing characters on either Raw 71 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:09.610 or SmackDown. Happy to see him having the success that 72 00:04:09.650 --> 00:04:14.849 he's having right now. Victory guaranteed. Vincent Cooper, you should know. 73 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:17.560 He's a retired Air Force member who is running his 74 00:04:17.740 --> 00:04:22.139 own photography business called The Velvet Lens. So whatever your 75 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:25.779 photo needs may be, whether it's portraits, products, or private events, 76 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:31.800 feel free to reach out. You can visit TheVelvetLens.net. That's TheVelvetLens.net. 77 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:36.439 Or find him on IG at The underscore Velvet Lens. 78 00:04:37.949 --> 00:04:39.310 And I also want to give a shout out to HR. 79 00:04:40.620 --> 00:04:44.100 His son Oscar turns 12 on November 5th, so happy 80 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:48.220 birthday to Oscar. Oscar also had a question. He is 81 00:04:48.259 --> 00:04:51.459 an avid fan of Masked Kane. Wants to know what 82 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:54.959 my favorite Kane moment is and his favorite or my 83 00:04:55.019 --> 00:04:58.120 favorite persona. Well, I mean, I'm a fan of Kane's 84 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:01.220 original look when he first came in. Second greatest gimmick, 85 00:05:01.259 --> 00:05:04.579 by the way, ever created in WWE after The Undertaker 86 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:09.189 is Kane. I go back and forth between OG Kane 87 00:05:09.269 --> 00:05:12.470 and the version of Kane who came back in 2000. 88 00:05:12.470 --> 00:05:14.829 As like the best version of Kane. Because he was 89 00:05:15.139 --> 00:05:18.899 such a badass when he made that babyface return. That's 90 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:22.800 actually my favorite Kane moment. Was his return in February 91 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:26.160 of 2000 on Raw. When he came back with Paul Bear. 92 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:29.170 What a great moment that was. What a great reaction 93 00:05:29.209 --> 00:05:32.649 it got to. So thank you all. And a shout 94 00:05:32.709 --> 00:05:37.040 out to my YouTube family as well. Jason Tarr. Randy Bobandi, 95 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:40.139 Venom Kitetsu, they were all dropping bombs the other night. 96 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:43.610 And everybody else who hung out and supported, including the 97 00:05:43.689 --> 00:05:47.730 Halloween stream on Friday night, your support does not go unnoticed. 98 00:05:48.329 --> 00:05:53.850 So thank you. Not since Paul Levesque took over as 99 00:05:53.930 --> 00:05:57.629 Chief Content Officer after Vince McMahon's departure has there been 100 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:01.649 a creative change like this in WWE behind the scenes. 101 00:06:02.329 --> 00:06:06.370 PW Insider had the exclusive on Tuesday. that Bruce Prichard, 102 00:06:06.870 --> 00:06:10.430 whose time with WWE dates back off and on, all 103 00:06:10.449 --> 00:06:15.000 the way back to 1987, is expected to retire from 104 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:19.339 his position as executive director of creative writing and talent 105 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:24.100 after WrestleMania season. And they are told that Prichard will 106 00:06:24.199 --> 00:06:27.250 remain connected to the company on a consulting basis, but 107 00:06:27.290 --> 00:06:30.290 would no longer live in Stanford or retain his current duties. 108 00:06:31.209 --> 00:06:33.850 One source pegged WrestleMania as the end of the run, 109 00:06:33.910 --> 00:06:36.699 but another cautioned that with pro wrestling being the way 110 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.779 it is, there could always be a little leeway on 111 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:45.560 the timeline. Pritchard was basically Vince McMahon's top lieutenant for many, 112 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.769 many years outside of Pat Patterson. He was let go 113 00:06:48.829 --> 00:06:53.829 by Stephanie McMahon in 2008, the infamous gun story. I 114 00:06:53.870 --> 00:06:55.689 think they were just looking for a reason to get 115 00:06:55.750 --> 00:06:58.279 rid of him at that point. But he brought a 116 00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:00.680 gun to work one day. He got caught with it. 117 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:03.920 And they kind of used that as a reason to 118 00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:07.139 axe him. He's talked about that on his podcast before. 119 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:09.379 So that's the short version. But he ended up having 120 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:12.220 a couple of different stints after that in TNA. And 121 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:16.300 then briefly with MLW before ending up back in WWE 122 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:20.600 in 2019 in a pretty key creative role. First for 123 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.800 Vince McMahon and then for Triple H after Vince was gone. 124 00:07:23.819 --> 00:07:27.319 And the belief is All three writing teams for Raw, SmackDown, 125 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.959 and NXT fall under his purview. So he's not the 126 00:07:31.050 --> 00:07:33.329 one sitting there at his desk writing up a storm. 127 00:07:33.370 --> 00:07:35.389 You know, he's not writing the shows per se, but 128 00:07:35.410 --> 00:07:38.589 he's sort of overseeing everything. He's contributing his own ideas. 129 00:07:39.689 --> 00:07:44.009 Per Fightful Select, sources familiar with the situation claimed that 130 00:07:44.149 --> 00:07:48.040 Bruce Prichard would remain with WWE after retiring from his position, 131 00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:51.040 but he would be working from home much more. Prichard 132 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:53.779 needs a very serious surgery that would lead to him 133 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.920 coming off the road. and likely working from home as 134 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:01.829 he is already feeling rough physically. Conrad Thompson, who has 135 00:08:01.850 --> 00:08:05.529 been doing a podcast with Pritchard for years, although Bruce 136 00:08:05.569 --> 00:08:09.149 has basically abandoned it. I know JBL has been subbing 137

00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:12.040 for him for a while. I don't know if Bruce 138 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.740 is officially 100% done with his podcast. It felt like 139 00:08:15.779 --> 00:08:18.259 he's been done with it for a while, though. But 140 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:21.319 Conrad said a few weeks ago, that Bruce was set 141 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:24.350 to undergo neck surgery soon, stemming from an injury that 142 00:08:24.389 --> 00:08:28.970 he suffered in 1991, but that he only recently discovered. 143 00:08:29.470 --> 00:08:31.589 He said, I don't know that Bruce has revealed it, 144 00:08:31.629 --> 00:08:33.710 but Bruce has been dealing with a neck injury. It 145 00:08:33.750 --> 00:08:35.299 turns out that Bruce is going to have to have 146 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:38.440 some surgery, and he hadn't been having the best quality 147 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:41.320 of life recently. He's on the mend, he's doing rehab 148 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:43.620 and all that jazz, but he is hurting for certain. 149 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.759 Do you remember way back when he was Brother Love, 150 00:08:47.269 --> 00:08:50.240 and the Ultimate Warrior beat him up? He broke his neck, 151 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:54.750 and he just found out recently, all these years later. Now, 152 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:58.080 what's funny about that is I remember that angle. That 153 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.200 was how they wrote him off. It was the last 154 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.860 installment of the Brother Love Show they did during that 155 00:09:02.919 --> 00:09:07.159 first run. The Warrior beat the absolute crap out of 156 00:09:07.210 --> 00:09:09.909 this guy. Go back and watch that segment and look 157 00:09:09.929 --> 00:09:12.750 at some of those clotheslines that he was hitting him with. 158 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:16.440 And Pritchard is hardly the only person that the Warrior 159 00:09:16.539 --> 00:09:18.440 ever hurt in the ring. I mean, Bobby Heenan used 160 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:21.000 to shit on the Warrior all the time for being 161 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:23.129 reckless in the ring, because he had a lot of 162 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:25.509 those weasel suit matches. He had to work against Warrior 163 00:09:25.549 --> 00:09:28.029 in the ring as a wrestler. And like he told 164 00:09:28.049 --> 00:09:30.470 him once, stay away from my neck, because, you know, 165 00:09:30.490 --> 00:09:33.830 Bobby had a bad neck. And Warrior hurt his neck anyway, 166 00:09:34.409 --> 00:09:36.919 because he didn't know what he was doing. You know, 167 00:09:36.940 --> 00:09:39.039 Ric Flair got dropped on his head working with the 168 00:09:39.100 --> 00:09:41.179 Warrior back in 92, and that's how he ended up 169 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:43.759 with that inner ear problem that fucked up his equilibrium 170 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:46.779 for years. I think he collapsed once at a thunder 171 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:49.389 taping in WCW and had to undergo some sort of 172 00:09:49.429 --> 00:09:52.409 procedure to fix it. I mean, Warrior was a menace. 173 00:09:53.450 --> 00:09:56.490 But that's still pretty crazy. I mean, breaking your neck 174 00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:59.950 35 years ago and not even realizing it until now. Like, what? 175 00:10:00.269 --> 00:10:02.259 Regal had a similar thing happen to him where he 176 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:05.480 broke his neck in a match in 1993 and he 177 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:08.220 continued wrestling on it for years. Although he may have 178 00:10:08.259 --> 00:10:09.879 known that his neck was fucked, but he just kept 179 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:12.879 wrestling anyway. He didn't have fusion surgery to repair it 180 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:16.620 until maybe a decade ago. Remember that MRI photo he 181 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:19.159 posted once at his social media? How fucked up his 182 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:23.129 neck was? Imagine walking around like that and working and 183 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:26.750 bumping on that for decades before you finally have it fixed. 184 00:10:28.299 --> 00:10:31.240 I actually thought Regal might make a good replacement for 185 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:34.679 Pritchard since he's so close with Levesque. And Bobby Roode 186 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.799 is already being groomed for the Michael Hay spot. But 187 00:10:37.860 --> 00:10:40.340 I don't know what Regal's level of interest would be 188 00:10:40.379 --> 00:10:42.740 when it comes to that type of position between the 189 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:46.559 travel and the responsibilities. I thought of his role as 190 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:49.700 more of a consigliere for Levesque and someone who helps 191 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:54.139 scout talent. Like he's been to independent events to literally 192 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:57.090 scout talent, you know, and kind of give feedback to 193 00:10:57.610 --> 00:11:00.129 the WWE brain trust about this person. You got to 194 00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:02.649 keep your eye on them or recruit them. So he 195 00:11:02.690 --> 00:11:05.210 does a lot of that. But in many ways, he 196 00:11:05.269 --> 00:11:07.710 is to Triple H what Pat Patterson was to Vince McMahon. 197 00:11:09.149 --> 00:11:11.929 But then on Thursday, we got hit with this news. 198 00:11:12.330 --> 00:11:16.220 Also from Mike Johnson of PW Insider. The WWE is 199 00:11:16.269 --> 00:11:19.200 planning to promote from within, and according to multiple sources, 200 00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:21.779 the plan is for the current head of NXT and 201 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:25.960 Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Creative, Shawn Michaels, 202 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:30.620 to essentially step into Bruce Prichard's role. Now, Michaels has 203 00:11:30.659 --> 00:11:33.070 been running things with NXT since Triple H had his 204 00:11:33.129 --> 00:11:36.090 cardiac issues. In 2021, he stepped in there on what 205 00:11:36.110 --> 00:11:37.909 I'm sure in his mind and

the mind of many 206 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:41.350 was only meant to be a temporary basis until Triple 207 00:11:41.470 --> 00:11:43.309 H was well enough to come back. It ended up 208 00:11:43.370 --> 00:11:46.970 being a more permanent change. But Mike Johnson says that 209 00:11:47.009 --> 00:11:49.460 he was told this succession plan had been in place 210 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:52.100 for some time and that Michaels will begin to prepare 211 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:55.860 for the Pritchard role in the months ahead. False Finish 212 00:11:56.039 --> 00:12:00.120 HQ is reporting that those within the Performance Center, because 213 00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:02.700 the logical next question is, well, if Shawn Michaels is 214 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.370 going to graduate to the Bruce Pritchard role, he can't 215 00:12:05.429 --> 00:12:10.350 possibly juggle his current responsibilities and a role like that. Like, 216 00:12:10.490 --> 00:12:13.909 the NXT job is a full-time job. The Bruce Pritchard 217 00:12:13.970 --> 00:12:17.389 job is a full-time job. So if this is true, 218 00:12:17.830 --> 00:12:20.960 and this succession plan involves Shawn Michaels graduating to the 219 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.379 main roster, then who takes his spot in NXT? Well, 220 00:12:24.779 --> 00:12:28.360 False Finish is saying that those within the PC expect 221 00:12:28.620 --> 00:12:32.610 AJ Styles to be more hands-on within NXT as a 222 00:12:32.649 --> 00:12:37.850 result of the Shawn Michaels promotion. On a potential NXT 223 00:12:37.889 --> 00:12:43.450 shakeout in 2027, Bryan Alvarez says... As of right now, 224 00:12:43.509 --> 00:12:46.769 it looks like Shawn Michaels replacing Bruce Prichard and AJ 225 00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:50.659 Styles getting his NXT role is the most likely scenario. 226 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.840 It is believed there will be other NXT office changes 227 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:57.240 in 2027 as well. Depending on what she wants to 228 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:00.399 do with her career, Bayley could very well end up involved. 229 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.590 CM Punk may also have more input. It is also 230 00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:07.210 believed the ID program will get a fresh coat of 231 00:13:07.309 --> 00:13:11.740 paint early next year as well. Yeah, the ID program 232 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.360 has lost some good names this year. But the Vanity Project, 233 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:18.600 and they're all over NXT, they came through that program too. 234 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:20.799 And they're doing pretty well for themselves in NXT. So 235 00:13:20.820 --> 00:13:23.580 it's been very hit or miss, the ID stuff. And 236 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:27.159 I've talked about the ID program before. But there's a 237 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.379 lot to unpack here, right? There's a lot of names 238 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:31.690 that just got spit out at us. From Pritchard to 239 00:13:31.769 --> 00:13:35.289 Michaels to AJ to Bayley

to Punk. A lot to 240 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:39.470 unpack here. Bruce Pritchard. is one of the last remnants 241 00:13:39.950 --> 00:13:44.389 of the Vince McMahon regime. Ronda Rousey once famously referred 242 00:13:44.409 --> 00:13:47.470 to him as Vince McMahon's avatar, and said that so 243 00:13:47.490 --> 00:13:49.970 long as Pritchard was there, Vince still has a voice 244 00:13:50.029 --> 00:13:54.320 in creative. Vince and Bruce are cut from the same cloth. 245 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:57.639 And Bruce Pritchard, look, I'm sure he worked for him 246 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.059 for so long, and when his wife was sick, Vince 247 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:04.919 was very understanding. There's a loyalty there that will never 248 00:14:04.970 --> 00:14:08.809 be broken. From Bruce Prichard's perspective there. Bruce Prichard will 249 00:14:08.850 --> 00:14:12.269 defend that man until his dying breath. Even in that 250 00:14:12.389 --> 00:14:16.269 Netflix documentary on Vince. Like it was nauseating to watch. 251 00:14:16.309 --> 00:14:19.600 He said, oh, it was a gotcha piece. Because they 252 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:21.759 had started interviewing him and other people for it in 253 00:14:21.779 --> 00:14:25.379 like 2021. And then towards the end of the documentary, 254 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:30.269 Bruce sits down. Now it's like 2024. And as I recall, 255 00:14:30.289 --> 00:14:33.409 the producer or director, whoever it was, asks him, so 256 00:14:33.470 --> 00:14:36.090 have you seen any of the documentary yet? What do 257 00:14:36.110 --> 00:14:38.529 you think? And Bruce was like, I think it sucks. 258 00:14:39.889 --> 00:14:42.950 I think it's a gotcha piece on Vince. You're trying 259 00:14:42.970 --> 00:14:45.730 to make Vince look bad, right? Because in his mind, 260 00:14:45.809 --> 00:14:50.049 Netflix made Vince McMahon look bad, right? It's not Vince 261 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:53.080 McMahon who makes Vince McMahon look bad. It's Netflix. It's 262 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.799 everybody else who makes Vince McMahon look bad. The man 263 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:59.600 is a sycophant. But as for ideas that he may 264 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:01.990 bring to the table... I mean, we've seen some of 265 00:15:02.009 --> 00:15:05.830 that on WWE Unreal, and there's very little that's real 266 00:15:06.029 --> 00:15:08.620 about Unreal. They book heroes and villains on that show 267 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:10.960 every bit as much as they do on Raw and SmackDown. 268 00:15:11.799 --> 00:15:14.399 I remember Prichard pitching the idea on there of Pat 269 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:18.059 McAfee beating Gunther in their Backlash match. How much of 270 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:21.759 that was for the cameras, who knows? I'm sure like anyone, 271 00:15:22.669 --> 00:15:26.049 he has his good ideas and he has his bad ideas. 272 00:15:26.950 --> 00:15:29.210 And I know he was very good with the pre-tapes 273 00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:32.610 and the vignettes and the backstage character development stuff that 274 00:15:32.629 --> 00:15:35.720 he would help produce back in the day. He's been 275 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:41.480 around forever. Shawn Michaels has been around forever too. AJ 276 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:45.090 Styles has been around for a while himself. But guys 277 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:48.950 like that would offer a different perspective. And that's something 278 00:15:48.970 --> 00:15:52.659 that is sorely needed right now in WWE. And it's 279 00:15:52.730 --> 00:15:55.750 not as if Pritchard is divorcing himself completely from the company. 280 00:15:55.789 --> 00:15:57.690 I mean, by all accounts, he's just taking a scaled 281 00:15:57.730 --> 00:16:00.409 back role. He's going to be a consultant, which means 282 00:16:00.429 --> 00:16:02.509 he'll still have a voice in things. He's not just, 283 00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:05.159 you know, up and vanishing the way that Vince did. 284 00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:08.779 But he is part of this bygone era. He's part 285 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:11.500 of this past regime. And I do think that in 286 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:16.639 the current creative state that WWE finds itself in, any 287 00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:21.009 sort of major shakeup is a good thing. Do I 288 00:16:21.090 --> 00:16:24.990 see things radically changing? I don't. And I'm being very 289 00:16:25.029 --> 00:16:29.389 careful here not to sort of overplay this or oversell it. Oh, 290 00:16:29.409 --> 00:16:32.889 this is some sort of monstrous shakeup within WWE. It's 291 00:16:32.980 --> 00:16:37.139 really not. Like, until I see evidence of that, it's 292 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:39.399 really not. Because at the end of the day, you 293 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:42.159 still have, you know, Paul Levesque is leading the creative team. 294 00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:45.080 He's the chief content officer. And he's got all the 295 00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:47.950 usual faces and voices and Michael Hayes and everybody else 296 00:16:48.019 --> 00:16:50.179 sitting in the room with him. And there may be 297 00:16:50.220 --> 00:16:52.299 certain things that they can and can't do just based 298 00:16:52.379 --> 00:16:55.139 on the whims of TKO. None of that is changing. 299 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:59.090 None of that is changing. So I don't suddenly expect 300 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:01.870 there to be some sort of radical shift in the 301 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.990 way that we watch Raw and SmackDown every week. But 302 00:17:05.430 --> 00:17:09.329 any sort of change is welcome. Any sort of change 303 00:17:09.390 --> 00:17:12.309 to me is a positive thing until it's not. Until 304 00:17:12.349 --> 00:17:15.130 I see evidence of the opposite. Any sort of change 305 00:17:15.769 --> 00:17:18.660 is a good thing until it's not. And I think 306 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:21.440 that's a good mantra to live by here. Because one 307 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:23.920 thing that, the word that really pops

in my head 308 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:26.920 when I watch WWE programming, and this is especially true 309 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:32.150 of Friday nights, uninspired. The product is just uninspired right now. 310 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:35.660 I mean, they're trying to get something going with the 311 00:17:35.700 --> 00:17:39.480 bloodline and the 9-4-6 stuff on Raw. And Raw is 312 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:41.589 a much more digestible show, even though it's a little 313 00:17:41.609 --> 00:17:44.470 bit longer than SmackDown. You know, two and a half 314 00:17:44.509 --> 00:17:49.470 hours instead of two. It's a more easily digestible quality 315 00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:52.490 show on most weeks as opposed to SmackDown. But let's 316 00:17:52.529 --> 00:17:55.069 not also pretend that Raw is some great show on 317 00:17:55.130 --> 00:17:57.579 most weeks because it's not. SmackDown just happens to be 318 00:17:57.619 --> 00:18:01.960 that much worse. Any sort of shakeup creatively within WWE 319 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:06.180 is welcome. Chris Van Vliet, he just dropped an interview 320 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:10.539 with the NXT champion, Grayson Waller, where Waller talked about 321 00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:14.730 CM Punk, AJ Styles, and Shawn Michaels all shaping the 322 00:18:14.789 --> 00:18:18.130 future of the industry. Talk about perfect timing. But this 323 00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:20.289 is one quote from Waller in that interview. He said, 324 00:18:20.470 --> 00:18:23.170 AJ is a big one, especially since he's been coming 325 00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:25.970 down to NXT recently and producing and working in the 326 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:28.279 ring with guys. And he's really, really fun to work 327 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.539 with because I'm an AJ Styles fan. But he lets 328 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:33.539 you go and he lets you do things and just 329 00:18:33.579 --> 00:18:37.380 makes everything better. He doesn't force you to do things. Hey, 330 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:39.380 what do you need to do this? He's just like, well, 331 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:41.400 what do you want to do? All right, well, what 332 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.920 if we do that? And you're like, oh, that's the 333 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:46.759 best idea. So I wish I got to get in 334 00:18:46.779 --> 00:18:49.079 the ring more with him. I only got a few chances, 335 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:51.980 but even him now coming down to NXT and helping out. 336 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:55.319 When I finished the match with EK Prosper the other week, 337 00:18:55.380 --> 00:18:57.589 I came back through the curtain and And the three 338 00:18:57.650 --> 00:19:01.329 guys standing at the curtain were Shawn, AJ, and CM Punk. 339 00:19:01.809 --> 00:19:04.349 That's three generations of guys who know how much they 340 00:19:04.390 --> 00:19:06.309 care about the business and how much they want to 341 00:19:06.329 --> 00:19:09.509 give back. This is a young kid in EK Prosper who, 342 00:19:09.869 --> 00:19:12.230 just in 24 hours notice, got put in the biggest 343 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:14.420 match of his life and he got beat. But seeing 344 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.319 the look on their face when he came back through 345 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:18.460 tells me everything I need to know about the future 346 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:21.490 of the industry because those three guys are shaping it. 347 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:26.000 Now let's take these guys one by one. Shawn Michaels. 348 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:29.700 WrestleVotes had a note this week, says Sean has built 349 00:19:29.740 --> 00:19:32.819 a lot of strong, honest relationships with the talent that 350 00:19:32.859 --> 00:19:35.180 he has coached in NXT over the last several years. 351 00:19:35.259 --> 00:19:38.220 His move to executive director taking over for Bruce Prichard 352 00:19:38.269 --> 00:19:41.529 will do wonders for some young careers. His influence will 353 00:19:41.549 --> 00:19:45.109 not go unnoticed. So you're going to hear a lot 354 00:19:45.130 --> 00:19:49.089 about creative and what new ideas may be brought to 355 00:19:49.109 --> 00:19:51.410 the table now with Bruce Prichard stepping out of this 356 00:19:51.509 --> 00:19:53.910 role and maybe Shawn Michaels is going to have more 357 00:19:53.930 --> 00:19:56.609 of a role or a voice. And we don't know that, 358 00:19:56.670 --> 00:20:00.019 but this right here may be the biggest influence that 359 00:20:00.059 --> 00:20:02.759 Shawn Michaels has in this new position, if in fact 360 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:05.880 he ends up in this position, is that so many 361 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:08.559 of the people right now that are on that roster 362 00:20:09.210 --> 00:20:12.029 So many of those men and women came through that 363 00:20:12.190 --> 00:20:15.980 NXT system under Shawn Michaels in the post-Black and Gold era. 364 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:18.720 He helped build them up. He knows their strengths. He 365 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.839 knows their weaknesses, if they have any. He's had working 366 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:25.410 relationships with them. I mean, you look at the call-ups 367 00:20:25.450 --> 00:20:27.769 this year alone. I made a list of all the 368 00:20:27.849 --> 00:20:33.839 NXT call-ups in 2026 so far. Obafemi. Javon Evans, and 369 00:20:33.880 --> 00:20:37.000 Trick Williams. Those are the three big ones, right? We 370 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:40.539 know where Obafemi is going, and Obafemi has been protected, 371 00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:42.720 and he's going to be in the WrestleMania main event 372 00:20:42.759 --> 00:20:45.079 next year. Okay, he's going to be the World Heavyweight Champion. 373 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:50.019 Javon Evans has been booked pretty damn strong on Raw. 374 00:20:50.099 --> 00:20:51.460 I mean, they gave him that big spot in the 375 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:53.700 Money in the Bank match, but even what they have 376 00:20:53.740 --> 00:20:56.220 him

doing now, he just had a WWE Championship match 377 00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:59.200 last Monday with Sami Zayn, You could tell the effort 378 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:01.980 that they are putting in, they see something in him, 379 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.509 young as he is, that they want to push him 380 00:21:05.589 --> 00:21:09.369 now to get him to that top level. Trick Williams. 381 00:21:10.109 --> 00:21:12.670 I mean, he's got a natural charisma about him that 382 00:21:12.690 --> 00:21:15.769 just screams superstar. He's only been on the main roster, 383 00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:19.609 you know, for less than a year. Two-time United States champion. 384 00:21:19.670 --> 00:21:23.420 He was wrestling the WWE champion on Friday night. Big 385 00:21:23.460 --> 00:21:26.109 things in his future, too. He's got superstar written all 386 00:21:26.180 --> 00:21:28.210 over him. So, so far, so good with those three. 387 00:21:28.670 --> 00:21:31.349 Then you look at the rest of the list. Ethan Page. 388 00:21:32.210 --> 00:21:37.289 Ricky Saints. Joe Hendry. Or Job Hendry, as most people 389 00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:41.309 are calling him now. Fucking 30 seconds, he got killed. 390 00:21:41.349 --> 00:21:44.079 He got slaughtered by Bronson Reed on Main Event this 391 00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:46.900 past week, for those who watch Main Event. Sol Ruka. 392 00:21:47.660 --> 00:21:52.549 Blake Monroe. Fatal Influence, all three members, JC Jane, Laney Reed, 393 00:21:52.609 --> 00:21:57.339 Fallon Henley, Tatum Paxley. And then you have Bronco Nima 394 00:21:57.400 --> 00:22:00.859 and Lucian Price, OTM, who are part of the 9-4-6. 395 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:03.019 They're in a very cushy spot right now. We still 396 00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:06.019 haven't even seen them wrestle a tag team match. They've 397 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:09.119 had one six-man tag team match. But we haven't really 398 00:22:09.220 --> 00:22:12.220 seen what they can do or what their long-term future 399 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:13.680 on Raw is going to be. They're in a really 400 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:16.480 good spot right now. The jury is out on them. 401 00:22:17.410 --> 00:22:18.950 But you look at all these other names that I 402 00:22:18.990 --> 00:22:21.349 just read out loud to you outside of Oba, Javon, 403 00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:24.150 and Trick, and it's very hit or miss. Ethan Page 404 00:22:24.210 --> 00:22:27.410 is actually getting an Intercontinental title match tomorrow night against 405 00:22:27.450 --> 00:22:30.869 Chad Gable. He may well win that championship from Chad Gable. 406 00:22:31.589 --> 00:22:33.910 But things kind of went silent there for many months, 407 00:22:33.970 --> 00:22:35.950 and Ethan Page hasn't really been doing a whole hell 408 00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:37.630 of a lot. So for me, it's been a very 409 00:22:37.769 --> 00:22:41.440 mixed bag for him this year. Ricky Saints. I just 410 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:44.039 pointed this out in my SmackDown

post show on Friday night. 411 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:46.480 Ricky Sainz has had a bunch of matches with Rey 412 00:22:46.549 --> 00:22:49.930 Fenix for the AAA Cruiserweight title. And then there was 413 00:22:50.309 --> 00:22:52.250 a six-man tag team match a couple of weeks ago 414 00:22:52.289 --> 00:22:54.710 that both of them were a part of. It's not 415 00:22:54.769 --> 00:22:58.359 looking good for Ricky these last several weeks. He's now 416 00:22:58.410 --> 00:23:02.539 lost three straight to Rey Fenix in singles title matches. 417 00:23:02.819 --> 00:23:04.880 And he took the losing fall in that six-man tag 418 00:23:04.900 --> 00:23:07.900 team match. And prior to that, he's another one who 419 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:11.140 Wasn't really doing a whole hell of a lot on SmackDown. 420 00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:14.799 What is Ricky Saints going to look like? What position, 421 00:23:14.819 --> 00:23:16.880 what spot is he going to be in six months 422 00:23:16.900 --> 00:23:22.250 from now, 12 months from now? Very uncertain. Joe Hendry, 423 00:23:23.049 --> 00:23:25.329 one of the hardest workers in the room, nice guy, 424 00:23:25.829 --> 00:23:29.430 got himself over organically in TNA, which is what got 425 00:23:29.450 --> 00:23:34.890 him a job in WWE. NXT champion. He has his fans. 426 00:23:34.910 --> 00:23:38.670 He's popular. But my God, look at the way that 427 00:23:38.710 --> 00:23:41.299 he has been booked on television this year, when he 428 00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:46.240 is actually able to get on television. Him and Jordan Grace, 429 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:49.480 those are the two signings from TNA. They were taken 430 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:53.500 from TNA, and WWE proceeded to do absolutely fuck all 431 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:56.859 with them. Joe Hendry's stock has dropped faster than my 432 00:23:56.920 --> 00:23:59.240 stomach did when I saw that Nikki Bella was challenging 433 00:23:59.269 --> 00:24:04.009 for the Women's Championship the other night. He's cooked. Sol Ruka. 434 00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:07.579 Pushed her pretty hot when she first came up, and 435 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:09.660 then they kind of pulled back on it. And now she's, 436 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:11.619 I don't know, she's just kind of there. Again, the 437 00:24:11.660 --> 00:24:15.500 jury is out. Blake Monroe, Blake Monroe should absolutely be 438 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.940 a Women's World Champion next year. It took months and 439 00:24:18.980 --> 00:24:20.680 months to even get to the point where she was 440 00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:24.849 even on television doing anything. I'm still very optimistic that 441 00:24:24.890 --> 00:24:26.829 she will end up being a big star in that division. 442 00:24:26.890 --> 00:24:30.849 But again, even Blake Monroe herself. It was on Busted 443 00:24:30.890 --> 00:24:33.150 Open Radio this week, and she admitted that she started 444 00:24:33.210 --> 00:24:36.869 having self-doubt this year based on the booking or the 445 00:24:36.930 --> 00:24:42.630 lack thereof. Even she was starting to doubt herself. Fatal Influence, 446 00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:46.190 they came out of the gate pretty strong. And now, 447 00:24:46.230 --> 00:24:48.589 I mean, not that they're in a bad position. They're 448 00:24:48.609 --> 00:24:53.130 doing okay for themselves. JC Jane, very good. I think 449 00:24:53.230 --> 00:24:55.369 Fallon Henley has a lot of singles potential as well. 450 00:24:56.089 --> 00:24:58.250 So we'll see where things go with the individual members 451 00:24:58.289 --> 00:25:02.089 in 2027. Tatum Paxley, she just got called up fairly recently. 452 00:25:02.730 --> 00:25:04.779 Put her in a position with Charlotte Flair and Alexa 453 00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:06.599 Bliss where they're trying to put some shine and some 454 00:25:06.660 --> 00:25:09.539 attention on her. But it's still too early to say. 455 00:25:11.059 --> 00:25:14.880 So it's a mixed bag overall. And not everybody is 456 00:25:14.940 --> 00:25:17.109 going to be or has to be a world champion. 457 00:25:17.150 --> 00:25:19.309 You don't just dictate success. Well, have they won a 458 00:25:19.329 --> 00:25:21.650 world title yet? No? Well, then they're buried. That's not 459 00:25:21.710 --> 00:25:24.630 how it works. But it's a very mixed thing, and 460 00:25:24.670 --> 00:25:27.990 having someone like Shawn Michaels, who is, you know, intimately aware, 461 00:25:28.069 --> 00:25:29.849 as I said, of the strengths and weaknesses and the 462 00:25:29.890 --> 00:25:32.369 ins and outs of these people, having him in the 463 00:25:32.390 --> 00:25:35.859 position that Bruce is in right now, and if he 464 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.220 is going to have more of a say in what 465 00:25:38.299 --> 00:25:40.700 some of these people are doing, I think it's going 466 00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:43.859 to benefit them immensely. And he may be able to 467 00:25:43.900 --> 00:25:47.109 bring stuff out of them that, you know, Paul Levesque cannot, 468 00:25:47.369 --> 00:25:49.769 because Paul Levesque did not have a hand in their 469 00:25:49.789 --> 00:25:52.849 development in the way that Shawn Michaels did. So the 470 00:25:52.890 --> 00:25:55.220 benefits that he could potentially bring to the table here 471 00:25:55.259 --> 00:25:58.220 go far beyond any sort of creative idea or pitch 472 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:02.539 he comes up with for someone. Then you have CM Punk. 473 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.140 Saw his name mentioned. CM Punk has said before he 474 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:08.119 wants to take over the entire thing. He would love 475 00:26:08.140 --> 00:26:10.440 to be the one running NXT when Shawn Michaels was 476 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.950 kind of done with it and either promoted or retired 477 00:26:14.109 --> 00:26:16.009 or whatever. And here we are now in a situation 478 00:26:16.029 --> 00:26:18.789 where Shawn Michaels, it looks like, is being promoted. CM 479 00:26:18.829

--> 00:26:21.240 Punk's still very much full-time in the ring with WWE. 480 00:26:22.789 --> 00:26:24.130 You know, a couple of years ago, I don't remember 481 00:26:24.170 --> 00:26:25.769 what it was. It was either a signing or a 482 00:26:25.809 --> 00:26:29.630 panel or something. Big E, he joked that Punk was 483 00:26:29.650 --> 00:26:32.309 going to try to steal NXT away from Shawn Michaels. 484 00:26:33.269 --> 00:26:35.089 And Punk said, oh, he would love to work with 485 00:26:35.150 --> 00:26:38.009 Shawn and learn how he does things. But, you know, 486 00:26:38.049 --> 00:26:40.339 he would want to take baby steps. He would want 487 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:44.099 to learn how to crawl basically before he walks or 488 00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:46.480 walk before he runs when it comes to that stuff. 489 00:26:47.539 --> 00:26:50.019 So he definitely has an interest in helping out down there. 490 00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:51.859 And I think he already does that to a degree. 491 00:26:52.509 --> 00:26:55.890 You heard from Grayson Waller. Maybe he could do more 492 00:26:55.910 --> 00:26:59.359 of that, but to be in the HBK spot, like 493 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:02.980 that's a full-time job. You cannot be a main event 494 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:06.839 talent on Raw and SmackDown and be running developmental at 495 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:09.079 the same time, right? That is just not going to work. 496 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:11.980 But I think CM Punk having more of a role 497 00:27:12.049 --> 00:27:14.390 in talent development, and he has said before where I 498 00:27:14.430 --> 00:27:17.569 want to help, you know, not train, but I want 499 00:27:17.589 --> 00:27:20.509 to help give back to the younger talent in a 500 00:27:20.549 --> 00:27:23.170 way that people did not do for me when I 501 00:27:23.210 --> 00:27:25.589 was coming up. And a lot of the people in 502 00:27:25.650 --> 00:27:29.029 NXT probably grew up fans of CM Punk. They probably 503 00:27:29.069 --> 00:27:31.470 are starstruck every time you come to the Performance Center. 504 00:27:32.269 --> 00:27:34.150 But having a veteran like him who's been doing this 505 00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:36.730 for a long time, has had a lot of life experiences, right, 506 00:27:36.829 --> 00:27:40.210 in and out of WWE, good and bad, he could be, 507 00:27:40.710 --> 00:27:45.500 you know, invaluable to NXT. AJ Styles is the name 508 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:47.859 that's being floated around potentially as the person who could 509 00:27:47.900 --> 00:27:51.380 effectively take over the Shawn Michaels role. I'm still not 510 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:54.589 sure what his role exactly has been since his retirement. 511 00:27:54.630 --> 00:27:56.809 He was on his podcast, previously said that he and 512 00:27:56.990 --> 00:28:00.009 WWE were trying to figure that out. I don't even 513 00:28:00.049 --> 00:28:03.009 know if there's a title for his role. I think 514 00:28:03.049 --> 00:28:06.549 he talked about almost being like a counselor backstage for 515 00:28:06.569 --> 00:28:09.170 the talent. Like, are you doing okay? You know, what's 516 00:28:09.210 --> 00:28:11.279 going on? He was talking about doing that sort of thing. 517 00:28:11.299 --> 00:28:14.880 Are there any issues you want to talk through? But 518 00:28:14.910 --> 00:28:17.380 I know he's also hit up some independent shows. He's 519 00:28:17.420 --> 00:28:19.579 been scouting talent. Part of that may be that he's 520 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:21.779 also been going to indie shows to kind of follow 521 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:25.160 along in his son's career. But, you know, he has 522 00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:29.349 a lot of those responsibilities as well. He handpicked certain 523 00:28:29.390 --> 00:28:32.589 people for their SummerSlam tryouts a few months ago in Minneapolis. 524 00:28:32.630 --> 00:28:34.390 At the time on his podcast, he said, I know 525 00:28:34.410 --> 00:28:36.630 that I've brought in certain guys and girls who may 526 00:28:36.670 --> 00:28:39.289 not meet the standards of height and weight that they're 527 00:28:39.309 --> 00:28:41.619 looking for. But it's what I see that I think 528 00:28:41.670 --> 00:28:44.549 makes them special. And I think they deserve an opportunity 529 00:28:44.589 --> 00:28:47.710 to be looked at. And Brooke Havoc was one of 530 00:28:47.730 --> 00:28:50.150 the people that he scouted and recommended for a tryout. 531 00:28:50.190 --> 00:28:52.430 He said she looks so different than everything I've seen 532 00:28:52.490 --> 00:28:54.579 in wrestling right now because a lot of what I see, 533 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:59.299 especially down at the PC, it's been blonde hair, blue 534 00:28:59.480 --> 00:29:01.900 eyed guys. And, you know, whereas she kind of has 535 00:29:01.940 --> 00:29:05.259 that emo look to her. She's dark haired and just different. 536 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:07.980 I like that about her. She was actually the first 537 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:10.339 one I wanted to get on trial. She was my 538 00:29:10.420 --> 00:29:13.309 first pick. I was just on an indie show checking 539 00:29:13.369 --> 00:29:15.009 out other talent and she was on it and I 540 00:29:15.029 --> 00:29:20.329 was like, who is this? So I'm really excited. And that's, again, 541 00:29:20.349 --> 00:29:24.289 a valid perspective where you look at a lot of 542 00:29:24.309 --> 00:29:28.109 the people they may tend to recruit in developmental and 543 00:29:28.130 --> 00:29:30.369 many of them may look the same. They may all 544 00:29:30.430 --> 00:29:33.390 be a certain height. All the women, they may have, 545 00:29:33.950 --> 00:29:36.730 by and large, blonde hair and have the same sort 546 00:29:36.750 --> 00:29:40.079 of figure or physique. And it's good to kind of 547 00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.799 break away from that and not have everybody looking and 548 00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.059 feeling and sounding the same. I'm not saying that Shawn 549

00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:50.559 Michaels doesn't agree with that perspective, but clearly they were 550 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:54.519 recruiting a certain type. And if someone like AJ Styles 551 00:29:54.579 --> 00:29:56.440 comes in and says, you know what, I think we 552 00:29:56.460 --> 00:29:59.089 need to get away from that. I like the fact 553 00:29:59.109 --> 00:30:01.089 that this guy and this girl, they look different. They 554 00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:04.170 sound different. They're not exactly the same. We need more variety. 555 00:30:04.230 --> 00:30:07.829 That's what wrestling needs. You need that variety. Not everybody 556 00:30:07.869 --> 00:30:11.269 can look the same. So that's a good thing. I 557 00:30:11.289 --> 00:30:13.589 think that's a good, that's a positive sign that that's 558 00:30:13.609 --> 00:30:15.730 the way that AJ's thinking. But AJ's been doing this. 559 00:30:15.750 --> 00:30:17.809 I mean, he's been around the business for what, 25 560 00:30:17.809 --> 00:30:21.660 years now, 30 years? So he brings a perspective to 561 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:24.819 it that I think could also be invaluable. One thought 562 00:30:24.839 --> 00:30:27.519 that I did have, and before I even mention this, Bayley. 563 00:30:28.410 --> 00:30:33.279 Bayley has run her lodestone women's wrestling camps. I think 564 00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:36.339 she's done three of them so far that have been 565 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:39.519 highly attended and highly praised. And I think Bayley is 566 00:30:39.539 --> 00:30:42.609 going to end up being somebody who absolutely is going 567 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:46.490 to be a key figure in women's wrestling development. And 568 00:30:46.549 --> 00:30:50.329 Natty will as well. Natty has her dungeon camps that 569 00:30:50.390 --> 00:30:53.769 she does down in Florida. I think Bayley and Natty 570 00:30:53.809 --> 00:30:56.190 both are going to play a very, very crucial role, 571 00:30:56.230 --> 00:30:59.589 likely for WWE. at the PC when it comes to 572 00:31:00.069 --> 00:31:04.490 women's wrestling and women's recruitment and training going forward. You know, 573 00:31:04.529 --> 00:31:08.470 in the way that, like, Sarah Amato is or used 574 00:31:08.509 --> 00:31:10.039 to be praised for that sort of thing, that's going 575 00:31:10.059 --> 00:31:13.160 to be Bayley and Natty in the future. But as 576 00:31:13.180 --> 00:31:16.700 far as these key changes I just got done talking about, 577 00:31:16.740 --> 00:31:19.740 and Bruce, you know, stepping away, and then maybe, you know, 578 00:31:19.819 --> 00:31:21.680 Sean is going to take over the role, I did 579 00:31:21.700 --> 00:31:25.130 have a thought, though. Nobody has mentioned Mark Calloway. Nobody 580 00:31:25.150 --> 00:31:27.049 has mentioned The Undertaker in all of this. And I 581 00:31:27.089 --> 00:31:30.240 know everybody was, for most of the year, praising, oh 582 00:31:30.259 --> 00:31:33.259 my god, what Undertaker is doing in AAA. This is amazing. 583 00:31:33.299 --> 00:31:37.740 And really, it's Undertaker and Jeremy Borash. But I'm surprised 584 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:41.920 that nobody has really brought up the idea that, would 585 00:31:41.940 --> 00:31:44.930 it not make more sense for Undertaker to sort of 586 00:31:44.950 --> 00:31:47.769 get a promotion out of this? Out of AAA and 587 00:31:47.809 --> 00:31:51.329 maybe him in that spot that Shawn had in NXT. 588 00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:55.289 And then maybe AJ Styles could take the role that 589 00:31:55.710 --> 00:31:59.369 Undertaker had with AAA. AAA sort of feels to me 590 00:31:59.410 --> 00:32:02.230 like I don't get to watch the weekly shows all 591 00:32:02.269 --> 00:32:04.490 the time, but I do try to follow what's going on, 592 00:32:04.670 --> 00:32:06.269 or I see clips if there's a match I want 593 00:32:06.289 --> 00:32:08.309 to see highlights of, or I just want to follow 594 00:32:08.329 --> 00:32:11.130 what's going on with El Grande Americano. And I saw 595 00:32:11.150 --> 00:32:14.819 he and Dom had another match recently where Rey Mysterio 596 00:32:14.890 --> 00:32:17.980 fucked over Dom. And it just feels like they may 597 00:32:18.000 --> 00:32:22.160 have plateaued. It doesn't feel like That excitement that was 598 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:25.480 around the AAA product even a few months ago isn't 599 00:32:25.529 --> 00:32:28.289 there right now. So I do question as we head 600 00:32:28.329 --> 00:32:31.710 into this new year very soon, what does the immediate 601 00:32:31.789 --> 00:32:34.369 future look like for AAA? Who are they building up 602 00:32:35.089 --> 00:32:38.750 for El Grande Americano as the next big villain in AAA? 603 00:32:39.109 --> 00:32:42.210 And for how much longer is his popularity going to 604 00:32:42.269 --> 00:32:44.519 be at the level that it's currently at? Because you 605 00:32:44.539 --> 00:32:46.500 run the risk of him plateauing if he doesn't have 606 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.670 good heels and good villains to work with. So I 607 00:32:50.710 --> 00:32:53.319 don't know what that's going to look like for AAA 608 00:32:53.339 --> 00:32:57.039 when we hit early 2027. But do you expect Undertaker 609 00:32:57.059 --> 00:32:59.440 to be down there for what, the next five years? 610 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:01.940 You would expect that he would get a promotion at 611 00:33:01.980 --> 00:33:04.539 some point. He has shown that he has a certain 612 00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:07.539 aptitude for it. I'm sure at some point they will 613 00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:10.809 kind of level him up to a different position, working 614 00:33:10.869 --> 00:33:13.950 with one of their key brands. If Shawn is taking 615 00:33:13.990 --> 00:33:16.170 the Bruce spot on the main roster, you got DX 616 00:33:16.250 --> 00:33:19.250 running the show on the main roster, that really only 617 00:33:19.309 --> 00:33:22.579 leaves NXT. I'm kind of surprised that I haven't seen 618 00:33:22.619

--> 00:33:24.440 his name brought up, unless that's just something he's not 619 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:27.920 interested in. But I know AJ Styles has been hanging 620 00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:30.519 around the PC for a while now, so maybe there's 621 00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:33.069 a familiarity there with him and they want to go 622 00:33:33.109 --> 00:33:35.529 with him in that spot. Politically, I think it'll be 623 00:33:35.569 --> 00:33:38.490 very interesting also to follow this. If there's any sort 624 00:33:38.529 --> 00:33:41.089 of political angling going on here, if there's like a 625 00:33:41.190 --> 00:33:45.049 power struggle, I do wonder if there is some of 626 00:33:45.099 --> 00:33:48.240 that that may be going on there. Because we've heard 627 00:33:48.299 --> 00:33:51.640 Cody Rhodes and CM Punk and even Seth Rollins openly 628 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:55.140 talk in the past about when Triple H is no 629 00:33:55.180 --> 00:33:57.369 longer in the spot that he's in. I would love 630 00:33:57.410 --> 00:33:59.250 to have a chance to be in that spot. But 631 00:33:59.269 --> 00:34:01.950 these other guys are also interested. You don't think there 632 00:34:01.990 --> 00:34:04.589 isn't going to be some sort of political maneuvering going 633 00:34:04.670 --> 00:34:07.170 on when it comes to that? Come on now. They're 634 00:34:07.230 --> 00:34:09.639 all licking their chops just waiting for that chair to 635 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:14.300 open up. But on the subject of WWE creative, one 636 00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:17.159 chair that will not be opening up is one for... 637 00:34:17.780 --> 00:34:24.239 Vince Russo, bro. Bro, I had a meeting with Nick Khan, bro. 638 00:34:24.500 --> 00:34:29.510 We had a conversation about wrestling, bro. I want to 639 00:34:29.570 --> 00:34:35.809 help book wrestling for the WWE, bro. Yes, on Tuesday, 640 00:34:35.909 --> 00:34:39.610 Conrad Thompson, who is now doing a weekly column for Uncrowned, 641 00:34:40.469 --> 00:34:44.599 wrote that Vince Russo held talks with WWE this summer. 642 00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:51.679 about a shocking return to creative after 27 years. Fightful 643 00:34:51.719 --> 00:34:54.900 followed up and said, Conrad Thompson published an article that 644 00:34:54.940 --> 00:34:58.119 stated Vince Russo had talks with WWE this year. Sources 645 00:34:58.199 --> 00:35:02.010 at WWE headquarters told us that they heard Nick Khan 646 00:35:02.050 --> 00:35:05.510 had conversations with Russo but aren't sure how serious they were. 647 00:35:06.110 --> 00:35:09.010 Sources familiar with the situation said that Russo was either 648 00:35:09.690 --> 00:35:13.539 at WWE headquarters at one point or was under consideration 649 00:35:13.599 --> 00:35:16.280 for a visit there. However, the news didn't make it 650 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:20.530 to the rest of the WWE staff. None of the agents, producers, writers, 651 00:35:20.610 --> 00:35:23.349 or staff that go on the road had heard about this, 652 00:35:23.909 --> 00:35:27.530 with some influential names laughing it off. Oh, I'll bet. 653 00:35:28.489 --> 00:35:31.130 Even those who worked closely with Nick Khan said that 654 00:35:31.250 --> 00:35:33.570 it had not been brought up to them at any point, 655 00:35:33.650 --> 00:35:37.039 and they first heard about it upon the Conrad Thompson article. 656 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:41.579 And then Mike Johnson of PW Insider had some further 657 00:35:41.619 --> 00:35:44.429 words about this that said, even though Conrad himself poured 658 00:35:44.510 --> 00:35:47.150 water on the idea that Russo likely would not work 659 00:35:47.210 --> 00:35:51.190 in today's WWE creative machine headed by Paul Levesque, that 660 00:35:51.230 --> 00:35:54.309 hasn't stopped discussion of the situation. So what was the reality? 661 00:35:54.650 --> 00:35:57.360 PW Insider can confirm that the story making the rounds 662 00:35:57.389 --> 00:36:01.239 within WWE is that Russo initiated contact with Nick Khan, 663 00:36:01.500 --> 00:36:05.639 seeking a potential role, but nothing really came of the overture. 664 00:36:06.139 --> 00:36:09.550 WWE sources also confirmed that their was no movement toward 665 00:36:09.570 --> 00:36:14.360 officially hiring Russo at any point in 2026. Russo has 666 00:36:14.420 --> 00:36:19.139 not yet commented on any conversations with Nick Khan. And 667 00:36:19.159 --> 00:36:20.849 that's what I said the other day. I did a 668 00:36:20.949 --> 00:36:24.309 YouTube short. The day after this story broke and I 669 00:36:24.349 --> 00:36:27.010 had read about it, I had to say something about this. 670 00:36:27.809 --> 00:36:31.059 And I said, this was absolutely something that was initiated 671 00:36:31.099 --> 00:36:34.639 by Vince Russo. Because I cannot imagine that Nick Khan 672 00:36:34.659 --> 00:36:36.260 would be in a position to pick up the phone 673 00:36:36.280 --> 00:36:38.840 and call Vince Russo about anything other than to maybe 674 00:36:38.900 --> 00:36:42.400 bring him in for some sort of Legends-type deal. Not 675 00:36:42.440 --> 00:36:44.639 for a creative role. And imagine if he did, by 676 00:36:44.679 --> 00:36:47.469 the way. What would that say about his faith in 677 00:36:47.530 --> 00:36:51.349 Paul Levesque as the chief content officer and the head 678 00:36:51.369 --> 00:36:53.869 of creative for this company that Nick Khan, the president 679 00:36:53.889 --> 00:36:55.690 of the company, would go over his head to make 680 00:36:55.730 --> 00:36:58.510 an outreach and an overture to Vince Russo for a 681 00:36:58.590 --> 00:37:00.610 creative position in the company? That would be a whole 682 00:37:00.650 --> 00:37:04.500 controversy in and of itself. and an indictment on what 683 00:37:04.519 --> 00:37:06.510 they think about Triple H and the job he's doing. 684 00:37:07.769 --> 00:37:10.190 So this absolutely was something that Russo reached out for. 685 00:37:10.889 --> 00:37:13.630 And

Russo, you know, he was with the Juggalos. He 686 00:37:13.849 --> 00:37:17.050 was writing the head booker for Juggalo Championship Wrestling for 687 00:37:17.090 --> 00:37:19.510 almost a year. And it was only in the last 688 00:37:19.550 --> 00:37:22.929 couple of months or so that he departed that promotion, 689 00:37:23.010 --> 00:37:26.400 supposedly on amicable terms, although he has since talked about 690 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:29.780 all the reasons that he couldn't remain there and I 691 00:37:29.800 --> 00:37:32.579 think a lot of it boils down to Violent J, 692 00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:34.500 it's his baby, and he wants to book it the 693 00:37:34.539 --> 00:37:36.840 way that he wants to book it, and so Russo 694 00:37:37.260 --> 00:37:39.880 is like, you know what, peace out. You know, it's 695 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:42.739 either my vision, you believe in my vision, or you 696 00:37:42.780 --> 00:37:44.159 can just take it back and do with it what 697 00:37:44.199 --> 00:37:46.719 you want, but I'm too old for this shit. That 698 00:37:46.739 --> 00:37:48.760 was basically the gist, I think, of what Russo said 699 00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:51.139 in his response to all of that and how that 700 00:37:51.179 --> 00:37:56.719 went down. As I said before, WWE creative needs a shakeup. 701 00:37:57.449 --> 00:38:00.250 The creative right now is not good. It is not 702 00:38:00.550 --> 00:38:03.769 the product. Some weeks it's almost unwatchable. Some of these 703 00:38:03.789 --> 00:38:07.090 television shows are so fucking dull and so fucking boring. 704 00:38:07.150 --> 00:38:08.869 And so I am not sitting here and telling you 705 00:38:08.909 --> 00:38:12.199 that everything is hunky dory and WWE doesn't need any 706 00:38:12.260 --> 00:38:15.860 help or they don't need any, you know, outside forces 707 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:19.179 to help come in and offer a fresh perspective. Whoever 708 00:38:19.219 --> 00:38:21.969 that perspective comes from, I would certainly hope that they 709 00:38:22.010 --> 00:38:25.429 bring some fresh ideas and maybe unique ideas to the table. 710 00:38:26.610 --> 00:38:30.300 Vince Russo, the idea of Vince Russo, bro, coming back 711 00:38:30.340 --> 00:38:36.619 to WWE in any sort of creative capacity is laughable 712 00:38:36.920 --> 00:38:40.289 for so many different reasons. And I made these points 713 00:38:40.329 --> 00:38:41.849 the other day, and I think there were some people 714 00:38:41.889 --> 00:38:44.449 who might be Russo fans who sort of were missing 715 00:38:44.489 --> 00:38:48.489 the point of what I was saying here. Vince Russo 716 00:38:48.550 --> 00:38:53.340 coming into WWE as one voice of many In the room, 717 00:38:53.480 --> 00:38:56.039 when again, it's not really going to be his vision. 718 00:38:56.119 --> 00:38:58.079 I don't give a shit what they would say to him. 719 00:38:58.219 --> 00:39:01.000 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll bring you in and we'll 720 00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:03.079 allow you to go ahead and we'll give you X 721 00:39:03.119 --> 00:39:06.130 amount of months to go ahead and put your ideas 722 00:39:06.210 --> 00:39:10.090 forth and let them play. Bullshit. He would be coming 723 00:39:10.269 --> 00:39:15.170 in to a collaborative environment that he would not survive in. 724 00:39:16.460 --> 00:39:18.079 He would get sick of it. He would see the 725 00:39:18.139 --> 00:39:19.860 writing on the wall and be gone within a week. 726 00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:23.510 Do you remember when WWE almost brought him back in 2002? 727 00:39:23.510 --> 00:39:25.610 There was a period of time in the late spring, 728 00:39:25.670 --> 00:39:29.289 early summer, I think June maybe, of 2002, where Vince 729 00:39:29.309 --> 00:39:31.820 McMahon actually... was going to bring back Vince Russo and 730 00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:34.920 he did bring him in and Russo had a meeting 731 00:39:35.739 --> 00:39:37.539 with the creative team and he laid out all of 732 00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:39.179 his plans and I want to say that he was 733 00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:41.099 going to kind of push the reset button on things 734 00:39:41.239 --> 00:39:43.739 as far as who had belts and everything but he 735 00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:45.449 had all of these ideas for what he was going 736 00:39:45.489 --> 00:39:48.440 to do And then after he left and went home 737 00:39:48.500 --> 00:39:50.409 and Vince McMahon went back and checked in with all 738 00:39:50.449 --> 00:39:52.650 the people that met with Russo and got the feedback 739 00:39:52.690 --> 00:39:55.269 from the people who were in the room, it was 740 00:39:55.329 --> 00:39:59.510 very swift when he effectively pulled the offer and maybe 741 00:39:59.530 --> 00:40:02.030 he offered him some sort of consulting position. And Russo 742 00:40:02.050 --> 00:40:04.710 was like, fuck that, I'm not doing that. And he 743 00:40:04.769 --> 00:40:09.510 ended up in TNA. But again, it was like grand opening, 744 00:40:09.550 --> 00:40:12.239 grand closing. It was a big story at the time 745 00:40:12.300 --> 00:40:16.320 and it was quite comical how quickly that all went down. 746 00:40:17.250 --> 00:40:20.329 This would be very similar. And the thing is, that 747 00:40:20.389 --> 00:40:24.929 was 2002. We weren't that far removed from the era 748 00:40:25.070 --> 00:40:28.750 of Attitude and Crash TV and the Monday Night Wars. 749 00:40:29.650 --> 00:40:32.030 And so you could argue that Russo would have had 750 00:40:32.070 --> 00:40:34.550 more success for maybe a shorter period of time than 751 00:40:34.590 --> 00:40:37.949 he would ever have in a modern day version of WWE. 752 00:40:37.989 --> 00:40:41.380 Because WWE, the company that we see today, the company 753 00:40:41.429 --> 00:40:44.699 as it exists today, is not the same company that 754 00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:47.460 it was back in 2002, and it damn sure isn't 755 00:40:47.480 --> 00:40:49.719 the same company that it was when

Russo was last 756 00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:55.340 there in 1999. This is a completely different entity. This 757 00:40:55.420 --> 00:40:59.340 is a corporate entity now in every sense of the word. 758 00:41:00.539 --> 00:41:04.059 This is TKO's WWE, and there ain't no way that 759 00:41:04.119 --> 00:41:08.389 Vince Russo, whether it's weeks or months, maybe days, would 760 00:41:08.409 --> 00:41:11.449 be able to coexist in that environment with Triple H 761 00:41:11.489 --> 00:41:14.070 and everybody else, and as soon as there's any pushback 762 00:41:14.110 --> 00:41:16.670 to his ideas or he pitches something, and then it 763 00:41:16.710 --> 00:41:19.849 gets changed or it gets rejected, he's not going to 764 00:41:19.909 --> 00:41:23.010 want his name attached to that. He talks about the 765 00:41:23.210 --> 00:41:25.750 WWE product on his end and his podcast like everybody 766 00:41:25.809 --> 00:41:27.510 else does, like I do, and like probably some of 767 00:41:27.550 --> 00:41:30.280 you do. He doesn't like it any more than anybody else. 768 00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:32.119 He thinks it's boring, he thinks it sucks, and he's 769 00:41:32.159 --> 00:41:33.699 got his reasons for that. And you know what? He's 770 00:41:33.739 --> 00:41:37.380 not completely wrong in everything that he's saying. I'm not 771 00:41:37.440 --> 00:41:41.469 even saying that he doesn't have some ideas. or some thoughts, 772 00:41:41.949 --> 00:41:46.239 critiques of the product that are invalid. There are a 773 00:41:46.260 --> 00:41:48.400 lot of points that he makes about the formatting of 774 00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:50.539 the show, and the placement of commercials, and the way 775 00:41:50.579 --> 00:41:53.079 that they do ins and outs of segments. Like, he 776 00:41:53.119 --> 00:41:56.420 does make a lot of sense. And the television was 777 00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:58.539 very different back then in the way it was formatted, 778 00:41:58.559 --> 00:41:59.900 and it was a lot better the way it was 779 00:41:59.940 --> 00:42:02.099 formatted back then. But they have their formula, and they 780 00:42:02.119 --> 00:42:03.780 have their way of doing things now, and they have 781 00:42:03.800 --> 00:42:05.989 a lot more in the way of commercials, and sponsors, 782 00:42:06.050 --> 00:42:09.119 and masters to serve. Again, it's a very different company 783 00:42:09.159 --> 00:42:12.659 than the one that he walked out of in 99. 784 00:42:12.659 --> 00:42:16.260 These are basic common sense things. So if Russo was 785 00:42:16.280 --> 00:42:19.619 going to have any sort of affiliation with WWE, what 786 00:42:19.659 --> 00:42:23.429 would really make sense would be a consulting role where 787 00:42:23.449 --> 00:42:25.550 he would watch the shows and he could offer some 788 00:42:25.590 --> 00:42:28.010 sort of written critique and send it into, whether it's 789 00:42:28.409 --> 00:42:30.869 Nick Khan directly or Triple H or whoever it were, 790 00:42:30.909 --> 00:42:33.530 I guess for the time being anyway, Pritchard, whoever it 791 00:42:33.570 --> 00:42:38.139 would be. That would, at least on some level, make sense. 792 00:42:39.139 --> 00:42:40.860 And who knows? Maybe that could have been an entry 793 00:42:40.900 --> 00:42:43.019 point for him. But it's also something that was offered 794 00:42:43.039 --> 00:42:46.460 to him by Vince McMahon about six or seven years ago. 795 00:42:46.960 --> 00:42:49.000 The last time that Russo and Vince had any sort 796 00:42:49.039 --> 00:42:51.820 of interaction. They were sending emails back and forth. Russo, 797 00:42:51.860 --> 00:42:53.360 of course, he reached out to him. He was looking 798 00:42:53.380 --> 00:42:55.699 for a job. Even though I think he claims, oh, 799 00:42:55.699 --> 00:42:57.570 I'm not looking for a job. But he was really 800 00:42:57.610 --> 00:43:00.969 looking for a job. And he was hoping that Vince 801 00:43:00.989 --> 00:43:03.570 McMahon would be receptive to maybe bringing him in or 802 00:43:03.630 --> 00:43:07.340 having a meeting or whatever. And I think, as I recall, 803 00:43:07.360 --> 00:43:09.550 I don't have all the details laid out in front 804 00:43:09.570 --> 00:43:11.909 of me, but as I recall, I think McMahon offered 805 00:43:12.010 --> 00:43:15.469 to give him the chance for maybe a few weeks 806 00:43:15.530 --> 00:43:19.179 on a trial basis to watch the television and then 807 00:43:19.260 --> 00:43:24.559 offer his feedback. And for free. He wasn't going to 808 00:43:24.619 --> 00:43:26.579 offer him any sort of paid position out of the 809 00:43:26.619 --> 00:43:29.000 gate or anything like that. If you want to offer 810 00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:33.139 some feedback and critiques on the shows. But he was 811 00:43:33.179 --> 00:43:35.380 looking for a fucking job. I don't care what he says. 812 00:43:35.639 --> 00:43:38.619 And I remember reading the emails that Russo posted. Because 813 00:43:38.639 --> 00:43:42.019 he posted these emails. And I remember reading the email 814 00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:46.239 response that he posted to Vince that basically soured McMahon 815 00:43:46.320 --> 00:43:50.170 on him forever. Even though they had a dialogue going on. 816 00:43:50.650 --> 00:43:53.150 And Russo responded in such a way that he basically 817 00:43:53.250 --> 00:43:55.510 torched any chance that there may have been of Vince 818 00:43:55.530 --> 00:43:58.909 McMahon actually bringing him back to the company. Because he 819 00:43:58.949 --> 00:44:02.239 was so pushy. in his response, and that was pretty 820 00:44:02.289 --> 00:44:04.329 much the end of it. And then Vince just went 821 00:44:04.409 --> 00:44:06.289 off on him, and McMahon did, and said, boy, you 822 00:44:06.329 --> 00:44:08.929 have an awfully high opinion of yourself, Vince. And he's like, 823 00:44:08.949 --> 00:44:11.269 you know, best to the family. And that was it. 824 00:44:11.289 --> 00:44:13.489 That was the last communication the

two of them ever had. 825 00:44:13.800 --> 00:44:15.960 So I'm not even sure he would be interested in 826 00:44:16.019 --> 00:44:18.340 a consulting position. I guess it would depend on whether 827 00:44:18.360 --> 00:44:19.760 or not they would pay him and how much it 828 00:44:19.800 --> 00:44:22.400 would be. I'm just telling you, everything I'm just laying 829 00:44:22.480 --> 00:44:24.719 out for you here, all these past examples like this, 830 00:44:25.179 --> 00:44:29.130 if this went any further than a simple conversation, Between 831 00:44:29.210 --> 00:44:31.250 Russo and Nick Khan, this would have been, you know, 832 00:44:31.309 --> 00:44:33.449 as a content creator, this would have been glorious. I 833 00:44:33.510 --> 00:44:35.530 actually kind of regret that it didn't go further than 834 00:44:35.550 --> 00:44:37.639 that because it would have given me content for weeks 835 00:44:38.420 --> 00:44:41.019 here on the podcast. It would have been fantastic. Tens 836 00:44:41.059 --> 00:44:44.159 of thousands of views racked up. It would have been 837 00:44:44.179 --> 00:44:47.559 a content creator's dream. For WWE creative, though, it would 838 00:44:47.579 --> 00:44:49.940 have been a fucking disaster. For Russo, it would have 839 00:44:49.960 --> 00:44:52.349 been a disaster because it was just never going to work. 840 00:44:53.809 --> 00:44:55.190 And then also, if you just look at some of 841 00:44:55.230 --> 00:44:57.219 his other ideas, he is still stuck in the late 90s. 842 00:44:58.769 --> 00:45:02.650 There are certain elements to those television shows from that 843 00:45:02.710 --> 00:45:05.889 time period that I miss that I do think can 844 00:45:05.929 --> 00:45:10.110 be successfully applied to today's programming, even though it was 845 00:45:10.110 --> 00:45:13.289 30 years ago. Just because it's old, quote-unquote, doesn't mean 846 00:45:13.309 --> 00:45:15.170 it won't work today. But there are a lot of 847 00:45:15.230 --> 00:45:18.710 other ideas that Russo brings to the table that would 848 00:45:18.750 --> 00:45:25.349 not fly in 2027, almost. let alone in WWE. Like, 849 00:45:25.630 --> 00:45:28.110 this is what people don't understand. Even in JCW, it 850 00:45:28.130 --> 00:45:30.570 was an independent thing, and they do a lot of 851 00:45:30.639 --> 00:45:33.159 wild and wacky stuff there anyway. And one thing that 852 00:45:33.219 --> 00:45:36.139 Russo was always good at was trying to give everybody 853 00:45:36.239 --> 00:45:39.559 on the show some sort of character, some sort of role. 854 00:45:40.739 --> 00:45:43.320 The problem is many of those characters were not always 855 00:45:44.119 --> 00:45:46.469 such a good thing or good for the person who 856 00:45:46.510 --> 00:45:48.429 was playing it. Just because you give somebody something to 857 00:45:48.489 --> 00:45:51.289 do doesn't mean that it's going to be actually good 858 00:45:51.409 --> 00:45:54.519 or benefit them in the long run. But I always

859 00:45:54.559 --> 00:45:56.179 did like the idea that he tried to find a 860 00:45:56.219 --> 00:45:59.300 role for everybody. He tried to find something for everyone 861 00:45:59.340 --> 00:46:03.570 to do on the show. But the idea of him 862 00:46:03.619 --> 00:46:07.409 booking angles and storylines and characters and doing risque shit 863 00:46:08.329 --> 00:46:13.769 in this company, who they're so safe in everything that 864 00:46:13.789 --> 00:46:18.139 they do, it is comical to even think that he 865 00:46:18.179 --> 00:46:21.360 would believe that that would be good, that that would work. 866 00:46:22.619 --> 00:46:27.559 There's no way. There's just no way. I hope somebody 867 00:46:27.619 --> 00:46:30.480 can come along and give WWE creative the shot in 868 00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:32.599 the arm that it needs and can give them the 869 00:46:32.679 --> 00:46:35.960 boot in the ass that they need. Vince Russo is 870 00:46:36.019 --> 00:46:39.599 not that person. He's still hung up on casual viewers. 871 00:46:39.639 --> 00:46:41.579 You got to bring in the casuals, right? Because again, 872 00:46:41.599 --> 00:46:44.710 he's thinking of it in terms of like late 1990s. 873 00:46:44.739 --> 00:46:46.780 We got to just bring in everybody and we got 874 00:46:46.820 --> 00:46:48.900 to bring in people who want to see the cool characters. 875 00:46:48.940 --> 00:46:50.719 The problem is they have very few of those cool 876 00:46:50.760 --> 00:46:53.659 characters right now. There is no Stone Cold Steve Austin anymore. 877 00:46:54.170 --> 00:46:56.820 There is no rock. Now, I know he was one 878 00:46:56.840 --> 00:46:58.619 of the people involved in trying to kind of bring 879 00:46:58.639 --> 00:47:01.739 that out of them and helping create those stars. But 880 00:47:01.780 --> 00:47:04.619 the idea that Russo is going to come in and 881 00:47:04.820 --> 00:47:07.579 he is going to kind of deliver them to the 882 00:47:07.599 --> 00:47:10.079 promised land and all of a sudden they're going to 883 00:47:10.099 --> 00:47:13.699 just drop everything that they do and the way in 884 00:47:13.800 --> 00:47:16.480 which they book television to acquiesce to the way that 885 00:47:16.539 --> 00:47:19.780 Vince Russo thinks that television should be booked is never, 886 00:47:20.139 --> 00:47:25.579 ever going to happen. But this has... disaster written all 887 00:47:25.679 --> 00:47:27.820 over the idea that anybody would even think that this 888 00:47:27.900 --> 00:47:31.400 would be successful is fooling themselves i don't know if 889 00:47:31.440 --> 00:47:33.780 they're just stupid i don't know if they're delusional i 890 00:47:33.800 --> 00:47:35.469 don't know what it maybe it's a combination of both 891 00:47:36.309 --> 00:47:39.969 comical is another good word for it vince russo he 892 00:47:39.989 --> 00:47:42.510 doesn't even like wrestling he talks about it all the 893 00:47:42.550 --> 00:47:44.769 time he does the in-ring stuff right and you get 894 00:47:44.789 --> 00:47:47.409 that maybe more in aw like the in-ring bangers and 895 00:47:47.449 --> 00:47:50.340 all that But it's not like WWE doesn't do that, too, 896 00:47:50.400 --> 00:47:52.199 and you get a lot of really good in-ring matches 897 00:47:52.239 --> 00:47:55.179 and they have their focus on that. He doesn't give 898 00:47:55.219 --> 00:47:58.119 a shit about any of that. That's the polar opposite 899 00:47:58.159 --> 00:47:59.980 of the type of wrestling that he's looking to book. 900 00:48:01.070 --> 00:48:02.429 He wants to get away from that. He wants to 901 00:48:02.469 --> 00:48:05.070 get more back to the characters and the craziness and 902 00:48:05.090 --> 00:48:07.489 bringing in the casuals and like, you know, Joe Blow's 903 00:48:07.550 --> 00:48:09.570 flipping the channels at night, doesn't give a fuck about 904 00:48:09.630 --> 00:48:12.480 Chad Gable against Dragon Lee. He would be more in 905 00:48:12.539 --> 00:48:15.219 line with Chad Gable as the fucking illegitimate child of 906 00:48:15.260 --> 00:48:17.230 Kurt Angle. That's right up his alley. That's the sort 907 00:48:17.250 --> 00:48:19.909 of thing that you would be getting with him. He 908 00:48:19.929 --> 00:48:22.150 may have a good idea here and there for this 909 00:48:22.210 --> 00:48:26.210 person or that person, but everything that he represents, it 910 00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:28.260 flies in the face of the way the WWE does 911 00:48:28.300 --> 00:48:31.199 business right now. Oh my God, can you imagine like 912 00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:33.860 some of these nonsensical finishes that we get now, all 913 00:48:33.880 --> 00:48:37.519 the roll-ups and just all the terrible, terrible finishes in WWE. 914 00:48:37.539 --> 00:48:42.349 Can you imagine after a Modern day Russo regime in WWE, 915 00:48:43.090 --> 00:48:45.429 it'd be even worse. He doesn't give a shit about that. 916 00:48:45.449 --> 00:48:47.699 He doesn't care about the actual wrestling aspect of it. 917 00:48:48.570 --> 00:48:51.590 A disqualification here, a disqualification. They've got five of them 918 00:48:51.630 --> 00:48:53.289 on the same show. Who gives a shit, bro? It's 919 00:48:53.349 --> 00:48:57.630 just wrestling, bro. It would actually get worse, not better. 920 00:48:59.550 --> 00:49:01.170 We had a lot of women's matches on the show 921 00:49:01.230 --> 00:49:03.750 Monday night, and it was a good show on the whole, 922 00:49:03.849 --> 00:49:07.920 highlighted by a women's world championship match between Becky Lynch 923 00:49:07.980 --> 00:49:10.679 and Liv Morgan that was not even supposed to happen. 924 00:49:11.199 --> 00:49:13.420 It was supposed to be Becky against Stephanie Vicar, and 925 00:49:13.460 --> 00:49:16.119 a number one contender's match. Vicar, though, got pulled from 926 00:49:16.159 --> 00:49:20.940 the show, reportedly due to illness, not injury. and false 927 00:49:20.980 --> 00:49:24.599 finish says she is out indefinitely,

which really just means 928 00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:27.710 they don't know. You know, once she's feeling better, whatever 929 00:49:27.750 --> 00:49:29.289 it is, she'll be back on TV. It could be 930 00:49:29.329 --> 00:49:31.369 a week, it could be three weeks, we don't know. 931 00:49:32.630 --> 00:49:35.429 And because Becky against Liv was not the original plan... 932 00:49:35.679 --> 00:49:39.530 We got a cheap disqualification finish with, what else, the 933 00:49:39.590 --> 00:49:43.110 Judgment Day running in. They still had a good match, though, 934 00:49:43.150 --> 00:49:44.809 up until that point. I thought it was the best 935 00:49:44.869 --> 00:49:48.090 match that Liv's had in a while. Chelsea Green came 936 00:49:48.190 --> 00:49:51.349 out after to make the save, and then EO Sky 937 00:49:51.469 --> 00:49:54.150 and then Tiffany Stratton for the second time in less 938 00:49:54.170 --> 00:49:56.690 than a week tried to cash in her Money in 939 00:49:56.710 --> 00:49:59.670 the Bank briefcase on Liv Morgan only for her attempt 940 00:49:59.809 --> 00:50:03.110 to be foiled. This is all a red herring to 941 00:50:03.150 --> 00:50:07.090 distract us from the coming cash-in on Chelsea Green. You're 942 00:50:07.130 --> 00:50:11.449 not fooling me. Bayley against Lyra Valkyria. They had a 943 00:50:11.489 --> 00:50:15.130 no disqualification match. I thought it was very good. They 944 00:50:15.250 --> 00:50:18.000 needed to end this strong because this feud has just 945 00:50:18.039 --> 00:50:21.179 sort of been limping along for a while now. And 946 00:50:21.199 --> 00:50:23.099 they did that. They had a very good match. Bayley 947 00:50:23.139 --> 00:50:24.980 went over. And I think it would make sense for 948 00:50:25.079 --> 00:50:27.480 one of them to make the move to SmackDown. In fact, 949 00:50:27.500 --> 00:50:29.699 I think Julia would benefit from a move to Raw. 950 00:50:30.329 --> 00:50:32.550 So maybe an even swap, right? I mean, if the 951 00:50:32.610 --> 00:50:35.409 GMs ever did trades, which they don't really do anymore, 952 00:50:36.170 --> 00:50:39.489 I would say Bailey for Julia or Lyra for Julia 953 00:50:39.530 --> 00:50:43.650 would be good for both sides. Royce Keyes against Solo 954 00:50:43.670 --> 00:50:47.170 Sakoa is on tap for tomorrow night in Brooklyn, as 955 00:50:47.210 --> 00:50:51.670 well as Chad Gable defending his Intercontinental title against Ethan Page. 956 00:50:52.630 --> 00:50:58.000 And tomorrow is also the return of John Cena. to 957 00:50:58.059 --> 00:51:02.820 announce new details about the John Cena classic. Finally, WrestleVotes 958 00:51:02.880 --> 00:51:05.800 Radio on Fightful Select had a report out on Thursday 959 00:51:06.619 --> 00:51:09.489 that there have been multiple meetings and creative discussions about 960 00:51:09.530 --> 00:51:12.570 the John Cena classic, with the company wanting to ensure 961 00:51:12.610 --> 00:51:16.130 it looks and feels fresh. We're told various individuals who 962 00:51:16.170 --> 00:51:19.710 don't typically weigh in on these types of projects were consulted, 963 00:51:20.309 --> 00:51:24.679 including Shawn Michaels and AJ Styles. While the initial idea 964 00:51:24.719 --> 00:51:27.340 was pitched as a showcase in a milestone program for 965 00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:31.480 Club WWE, a source indicated that the event will likely 966 00:51:31.519 --> 00:51:35.949 be streamed elsewhere. You can't make this event exclusive to 967 00:51:35.989 --> 00:51:39.489 Club WWE. I mean, that would just be ridiculous. But 968 00:51:39.510 --> 00:51:41.530 what I can see them doing is if I were them, 969 00:51:42.369 --> 00:51:46.639 I would probably be doing it where I'm making aspects 970 00:51:46.739 --> 00:51:50.579 of it exclusive to Club WWE members, namely the voting aspect. 971 00:51:51.139 --> 00:51:53.639 And they still have to explain exactly how, if at all, 972 00:51:54.199 --> 00:51:57.760 fan voting is supposed to factor into this. But make 973 00:51:57.800 --> 00:52:01.019 that a perk of being a member of Club WWE. 974 00:52:01.039 --> 00:52:04.519 That I can see. Where your voice matters a little 975 00:52:04.559 --> 00:52:07.760 bit more. But how voting would even work in this 976 00:52:07.800 --> 00:52:09.800 thing is something they have to first explain to us. 977 00:52:10.460 --> 00:52:12.179 But we should at least have a date and a 978 00:52:12.239 --> 00:52:16.190 location for this thing after tomorrow. They're also sending Cena 979 00:52:16.250 --> 00:52:19.960 to NXT this week because the word went out from above, 980 00:52:19.980 --> 00:52:24.320 from Nick Khan, for NXT to load up that show. 981 00:52:24.400 --> 00:52:27.719 NXT is airing on Wednesday this week. Head-to-head with AEW 982 00:52:27.760 --> 00:52:30.989 Dynamite because of midterm election coverage on a lot of 983 00:52:31.010 --> 00:52:34.949 the CW affiliates. So at least in some markets, NXT 984 00:52:34.969 --> 00:52:38.510 would have been preempted. So the Wednesday night skirmish is 985 00:52:38.570 --> 00:52:42.429 back for one week. You don't think the word didn't 986 00:52:42.469 --> 00:52:44.570 go out to load up this show? Not only are 987 00:52:44.590 --> 00:52:46.889 they sending John Cena to the show to make, I'm sure, 988 00:52:46.929 --> 00:52:50.019 what'll be a three-minute appearance. So not only is Cena 989 00:52:50.059 --> 00:52:52.159 going to be on the show, they just announced last night, 990 00:52:52.739 --> 00:52:56.639 during their Halloween Havoc show, that CM Punk, who sent 991 00:52:56.699 --> 00:53:00.579 in a video, CM Punk is going to be challenging 992 00:53:00.639 --> 00:53:07.460 Grayson Waller for the NXT Championship. These fucking people. They're 993 00:53:07.480 --> 00:53:10.750 sending Cody Rhodes... to present the winners of the Dusty 994 00:53:10.789 --> 00:53:14.349 Rhodes Tag Team Classic with the Dusty Cup. And they 995 00:53:14.389 --> 00:53:18.230 have

booked the Vanity Project against Chad Gable, Ray Phoenix, 996 00:53:18.429 --> 00:53:21.460 and Dragon Lee. And then I think Kalani Jordan is 997 00:53:21.500 --> 00:53:26.219 also having an open challenge for her Women's Championship. I 998 00:53:26.260 --> 00:53:29.480 thought about the idea of them actually, potentially, putting the 999 00:53:29.619 --> 00:53:33.639 NXT title on Punk. It would certainly bring more eyeballs 1000 00:53:33.980 --> 00:53:37.489 to NXT on a short-term basis. But I feel like 1001 00:53:37.809 --> 00:53:41.130 it would just reinforce this idea that Grayson Waller wasn't 1002 00:53:41.190 --> 00:53:43.550 good enough to hang with the main roster stars, which 1003 00:53:43.610 --> 00:53:46.929 is why he was relegated back to NXT. And I 1004 00:53:46.969 --> 00:53:48.869 don't think that's something you want to be doing. It 1005 00:53:48.889 --> 00:53:51.750 would also be awkward if Punk were to win the NXT, 1006 00:53:51.809 --> 00:53:53.949 and I don't think he is, but if he were 1007 00:53:53.989 --> 00:53:56.739 to win the NXT title on a Wednesday and then 1008 00:53:56.800 --> 00:53:59.340 show up on Friday for a match with Kevin Owens 1009 00:53:59.400 --> 00:54:04.320 that's already been taped with no NXT championship visible, that 1010 00:54:04.360 --> 00:54:06.880 might be a little weird, but Yeah, I'm not expecting 1011 00:54:06.920 --> 00:54:08.969 a title change. I mean, they're just loading it up. 1012 00:54:09.099 --> 00:54:11.760 They want to get eyeballs on the show. I don't 1013 00:54:11.780 --> 00:54:14.360 think they're going to beat Dynamite because anytime, whether it's 1014 00:54:14.420 --> 00:54:19.039 AEW or WWE, and you're on a different night, it hurts. 1015 00:54:20.119 --> 00:54:22.360 I don't care who you are. When SmackDown used to 1016 00:54:22.380 --> 00:54:25.960 be moved from Fox to FS1, they would always take 1017 00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:28.179 a hit. I mean, it doesn't matter who you are. 1018 00:54:28.260 --> 00:54:31.119 Dynamite moves from a Wednesday to a Tuesday like they 1019 00:54:31.139 --> 00:54:33.420 did last month for that big Grand Slam France show. 1020 00:54:34.630 --> 00:54:37.610 You're in an unfamiliar spot. On the other side of 1021 00:54:37.630 --> 00:54:39.989 the dial, the other show, they have a built-in audience 1022 00:54:40.030 --> 00:54:43.309 that's used to their show airing in that time slot 1023 00:54:43.349 --> 00:54:46.230 on that particular night. But they're going to do what 1024 00:54:46.269 --> 00:54:50.030 they can to try to make a dent, and that's 1025 00:54:50.070 --> 00:54:52.260 what we get. We get a bunch of main roster 1026 00:54:52.280 --> 00:54:54.929 stars who pop up on NXT. At least it'll make 1027 00:54:54.949 --> 00:54:57.719 for an interesting night. I will say that. It will 1028 00:54:57.760 --> 00:55:02.099 certainly make for a more interesting night. Dan Housen. I 1029 00:55:02.099 --> 00:55:05.039 just want to mention this briefly.

The Dan Housen Halloween 1030 00:55:05.079 --> 00:55:07.860 special is what they promoted for SmackDown on Friday. A 1031 00:55:07.900 --> 00:55:13.349 very nice, very evil Dan Housen Halloween. Gunther, though, had 1032 00:55:13.389 --> 00:55:16.929 been promising to ruin Halloween for this man. And he 1033 00:55:16.949 --> 00:55:18.730 tried to. He came out. He beat the crap out 1034 00:55:18.750 --> 00:55:22.010 of him. And then we had the lights go out. 1035 00:55:22.869 --> 00:55:25.699 And we had a bunch of mini Housens popped out 1036 00:55:25.719 --> 00:55:27.840 of a cloning machine. So we had Gunther who actually 1037 00:55:27.880 --> 00:55:32.190 had to sell for one of the mini Housens. And 1038 00:55:32.210 --> 00:55:34.329 then he started beating them up and chopping them and 1039 00:55:34.349 --> 00:55:36.969 throwing pumpkins at them. This is what they had Gunther 1040 00:55:36.989 --> 00:55:40.969 doing on Friday. He was throwing pumpkins at the Minihausens. 1041 00:55:42.699 --> 00:55:45.880 I'm sure Russo is probably just watching this thinking, man, 1042 00:55:45.900 --> 00:55:48.659 I wish I could have booked that. But no. So 1043 00:55:49.019 --> 00:55:51.960 after this, we had the lights go out and then 1044 00:55:52.500 --> 00:55:57.829 the demon returned. There was a body under a white sheet. 1045 00:55:59.389 --> 00:56:01.349 which actually, now that I say that in that way 1046 00:56:01.409 --> 00:56:04.510 out loud, that sounds terrible. The person was laying on 1047 00:56:04.550 --> 00:56:09.409 a stretcher under a white sheet is what I... That's terrible. 1048 00:56:09.659 --> 00:56:11.760 That also might be a Rousseau gimmick. So he's laying 1049 00:56:11.820 --> 00:56:15.019 on the stretcher, and the person sits up, and underneath 1050 00:56:15.079 --> 00:56:17.320 the white sheet, we see that it was the demon, 1051 00:56:18.139 --> 00:56:21.480 Finn Balor. And I thought everything up until that point, 1052 00:56:21.599 --> 00:56:24.829 just garbage. From that point on, though, the actual demon 1053 00:56:24.889 --> 00:56:27.190 reveal and then him beating up Gunther and coming off 1054 00:56:27.230 --> 00:56:29.530 the ladder ringside and hitting the coup de grace through 1055 00:56:29.550 --> 00:56:31.769 the table, like all that stuff was very well done. 1056 00:56:32.989 --> 00:56:35.860 And this clearly sets up a match now between the 1057 00:56:35.889 --> 00:56:38.519 two of them for possibly crown jewel, which I'm going 1058 00:56:38.539 --> 00:56:41.139 to mention here just in a moment. But we're going 1059 00:56:41.159 --> 00:56:44.000 to get the demon against the ring general. So that's 1060 00:56:44.019 --> 00:56:47.199 coming up very soon. We had Sami Zayn defending the 1061 00:56:47.619 --> 00:56:50.679 WWE Championship second time in less than a week. Monday, 1062 00:56:50.699 --> 00:56:53.519 it was against Javon Evans. Friday night it was against 1063 00:56:53.559 --> 00:56:58.550 Trick Williams. In a

match that they had a disqualification ending. 1064 00:56:58.929 --> 00:57:03.670 Very lame disqualification ending when Charles Robinson got dragged out 1065 00:57:03.710 --> 00:57:06.510 of the ring before he could count three for Trick. 1066 00:57:06.869 --> 00:57:09.949 He got dragged out by Johnny Gargano. So he called 1067 00:57:09.969 --> 00:57:14.190 for the bell. And I'm like, there's no way. There's 1068 00:57:14.210 --> 00:57:16.429 no way they're ending this main event like this. So 1069 00:57:16.449 --> 00:57:19.880 then Nick Aldis comes out. He then bans Johnny Gargano, 1070 00:57:19.940 --> 00:57:22.840 Candice LeRae, and Lil Yachty, who was at ringside, although 1071 00:57:22.880 --> 00:57:27.340 he did nothing wrong. He bans them from ringside, but 1072 00:57:27.449 --> 00:57:33.849 then resumes the match under no disqualification rules, which technically 1073 00:57:33.889 --> 00:57:37.690 meant that anybody could interfere. So that was kind of weird. 1074 00:57:38.570 --> 00:57:41.230 And then Sami just, he beat him. I mean, based 1075 00:57:41.269 --> 00:57:43.280 on the rules of a no DQ match, I mean, yeah, 1076 00:57:43.320 --> 00:57:44.940 he hit him with a low blow and hit him 1077 00:57:44.960 --> 00:57:46.639 with a belt shot and all that stuff, but like, 1078 00:57:47.599 --> 00:57:49.840 I mean, that's all kind of part of the play. 1079 00:57:51.360 --> 00:57:54.460 He beat him clean, but not. And Sami Zayn is 1080 00:57:54.500 --> 00:57:59.340 still the WWE champion. We had a women's championship match 1081 00:58:00.099 --> 00:58:02.820 on the show on Friday between Chelsea Green and Nikki Bella. 1082 00:58:02.860 --> 00:58:06.079 This match was fucking horrendous. I thought this match was 1083 00:58:06.119 --> 00:58:09.170 just absolutely terrible. I don't know why we were even 1084 00:58:09.210 --> 00:58:11.130 getting this match in the first place when the last 1085 00:58:11.150 --> 00:58:13.670 time we saw Nikki Bella in the ring, she lost 1086 00:58:14.409 --> 00:58:18.389 to Paige. And then she's in there getting a women's 1087 00:58:18.429 --> 00:58:21.429 championship match. And Paige, meanwhile, is in the back chatting 1088 00:58:21.449 --> 00:58:25.260 it up with Blake Monroe. Make it make sense. Ray 1089 00:58:25.300 --> 00:58:27.260 Phoenix against Ricky Saints. They had a match for the 1090 00:58:27.360 --> 00:58:30.880 AAA Cruiserweight title where, again, Ricky lost again. But they 1091 00:58:30.920 --> 00:58:33.820 had a very good match. Actually, the best thing on 1092 00:58:33.840 --> 00:58:37.500 the entire show. CM Punk was not there. Kevin Owens 1093 00:58:37.539 --> 00:58:39.500 was not there. We did get a video package hyping 1094 00:58:39.519 --> 00:58:42.320 their No Holds Barred match. which is coming up on 1095 00:58:42.389 --> 00:58:45.570 SmackDown this week. It's being taped tomorrow in Brooklyn, but 1096 00:58:45.610 --> 00:58:48.150 that will be the big match coming up on Friday. 1097 00:58:49.369 --> 00:58:52.969 By the way, speaking of Punk, Chad Gable pinned CM 1098 00:58:53.010 --> 00:58:57.170 Punk on Thursday night at their live event in Youngstown, Ohio. 1099 00:58:57.230 --> 00:59:01.130 It was a non-title match, and he pinned him, and 1100 00:59:01.190 --> 00:59:03.170 Punk was shocked, and I think everybody in the building 1101 00:59:03.210 --> 00:59:07.110 was shocked based on the fan video. So maybe they'll 1102 00:59:07.170 --> 00:59:10.420 upload the full match to Club WWE live, they did 1103 00:59:10.440 --> 00:59:15.179 with the Stephanie Viqueur-Liv Morgan match from Santiago, Chile. That 1104 00:59:15.219 --> 00:59:17.400 match may well end up, if it's not already, it 1105 00:59:17.440 --> 00:59:20.300 may well end up on there. So just remember, though, 1106 00:59:20.400 --> 00:59:24.449 Raw tomorrow night, early start time, 6 p.m. Eastern, on Netflix, 1107 00:59:24.510 --> 00:59:28.590 because they're taping SmackDown immediately after which means I will 1108 00:59:28.610 --> 00:59:30.719 be live on YouTube a little bit earlier, a couple 1109 00:59:30.760 --> 00:59:33.619 of hours earlier, probably around 9 p.m. So I will 1110 00:59:33.639 --> 00:59:36.820 see you guys there. We got to talk about Crown Jewel. 1111 00:59:38.000 --> 00:59:42.739 WWE Crown Jewel is coming this Saturday, still in Riyadh, 1112 00:59:42.800 --> 00:59:46.159 Saudi Arabia, but the event has now been moved indoors 1113 00:59:46.260 --> 00:59:48.530 to the A & B Arena, which is where the 1114 00:59:48.570 --> 00:59:53.530 Canelo Alvarez fight took place last night without incident. On Halloween, 1115 00:59:53.550 --> 00:59:55.789 he had a boxing fight last night. I believe it's 1116 00:59:55.809 --> 01:00:00.349 in that same venue. It can fit between 6,000 and 8,000 fans, 1117 01:00:00.909 --> 01:00:04.909 depending on the stage and setup. They had started construction 1118 01:00:04.989 --> 01:00:08.289 on Riyadh Season Stadium outdoors, but they decided to move 1119 01:00:08.309 --> 01:00:11.309 it indoors, reportedly because they felt it would be safer. 1120 01:00:12.250 --> 01:00:15.030 As with an indoor arena, they can improve security and 1121 01:00:15.090 --> 01:00:17.530 have greater control on who and what gets... See, and 1122 01:00:17.570 --> 01:00:18.989 here I thought they were going to claim that there 1123 01:00:19.010 --> 01:00:21.949 was a bomb scare. And that's why they had to 1124 01:00:22.010 --> 01:00:26.289 move the event indoors. See, if you know, you know. 1125 01:00:27.050 --> 01:00:30.889 But this is after all of the very real missile 1126 01:00:30.949 --> 01:00:33.329 and drone strikes over the past month or so, especially 1127 01:00:33.389 --> 01:00:38.320 on the main airport in Riyadh. Mark Shapiro of TKO, 1128 01:00:38.360 --> 01:00:40.960 he spoke at a company-wide town hall meeting. He expressed 1129 01:00:41.019 --> 01:00:45.960 concern for TKO's financial performance should they have to pull 1130

01:00:46.039 --> 01:00:48.969 out of any of their Middle East shows. He said, 1131 01:00:49.190 --> 01:00:51.849 we of course stand with a lot of obstacles in 1132 01:00:51.929 --> 01:00:54.849 our way in these last two months with Iran and 1133 01:00:54.869 --> 01:00:57.539 the impact that that has on the entire Middle East. 1134 01:00:58.099 --> 01:01:00.219 And I'll remind you that we still have three events 1135 01:01:00.300 --> 01:01:02.760 left for the remainder of the year. So several goals 1136 01:01:02.800 --> 01:01:05.159 we still need to accomplish and events that we need 1137 01:01:05.179 --> 01:01:08.530 to be successful for us to close out 2026 in 1138 01:01:08.550 --> 01:01:11.130 the way that we hope it will close out. And 1139 01:01:11.190 --> 01:01:13.449 that all gets wiped away to a certain degree if 1140 01:01:13.489 --> 01:01:16.849 those events get canceled. We are a public company, of course. 1141 01:01:17.030 --> 01:01:19.170 We have a lot of investors and analysts out there 1142 01:01:19.210 --> 01:01:21.550 across the Wall Street community that are nervous that we'll 1143 01:01:21.570 --> 01:01:23.429 be able to pull off the year without any of 1144 01:01:23.489 --> 01:01:26.690 our events being canceled. So far, we've been lucky enough 1145 01:01:26.769 --> 01:01:30.409 not to have any interruption. Can't guarantee that. And again, 1146 01:01:30.469 --> 01:01:32.550 if that happens, it will certainly have an impact on 1147 01:01:32.610 --> 01:01:35.440 our year in a very negative way. But there's not 1148 01:01:35.500 --> 01:01:38.079 much that we can do about that. At the same time, 1149 01:01:38.119 --> 01:01:41.920 we have courageous employees, full-time and part-time, that are working 1150 01:01:41.980 --> 01:01:44.820 across our events going into these territories in the Middle East. 1151 01:01:45.449 --> 01:01:47.769 and standing behind our events so that we can stage 1152 01:01:47.849 --> 01:01:50.369 them properly at the high-quality level that we are all 1153 01:01:50.409 --> 01:01:53.670 accustomed to doing so in the face of potential danger 1154 01:01:54.159 --> 01:01:57.780 and or certainly anxiety and nervousness. So a big thank 1155 01:01:57.800 --> 01:01:59.760 you to all of you who are working across these 1156 01:01:59.800 --> 01:02:03.440 events and your being able to bring them in as planned. 1157 01:02:03.699 --> 01:02:07.130 It's really been nothing short of astonishing. It's really miraculous 1158 01:02:07.170 --> 01:02:10.860 and heroic what we've been able to do. I'm just 1159 01:02:10.900 --> 01:02:13.750 wondering how he manages to get his dick all the 1160 01:02:13.789 --> 01:02:16.690 way up to his mouth like that. That's very impressive. 1161 01:02:17.369 --> 01:02:19.929 So thank you for standing in there. Thank you for 1162 01:02:19.989 --> 01:02:22.929 making the commitments and delivering on the commitment as you 1163 01:02:22.969 --> 01:02:25.789 always have. And we're all hoping and praying that everything 1164 01:02:25.849 --> 01:02:30.719 goes off without a hitch. He continues. Of course, business 1165 01:02:30.760 --> 01:02:34.820 is important, but humanity is most important. This is more 1166 01:02:34.860 --> 01:02:38.599 about keeping people safe and comfortable. The business is secondary. 1167 01:02:39.079 --> 01:02:41.159 So I don't want to talk out of both sides 1168 01:02:41.199 --> 01:02:43.760 of my mouth here, which is exactly what he's doing. 1169 01:02:44.940 --> 01:02:46.860 We want to have the year that we all envisioned. 1170 01:02:47.199 --> 01:02:49.960 We all worked hard for that year. 2026 is shaping 1171 01:02:50.019 --> 01:02:52.280 up to be that year. But if there is danger 1172 01:02:52.619 --> 01:02:55.010 or further escalation of any of these conflicts that are 1173 01:02:55.050 --> 01:02:58.170 going on, we will not hesitate to cancel those events. 1174 01:02:58.809 --> 01:03:03.809 Damned be our budget because our people come first. You 1175 01:03:03.829 --> 01:03:06.489 have that commitment from us. At the same time, we 1176 01:03:06.530 --> 01:03:08.869 do know that everybody wants to be successful and keep 1177 01:03:08.929 --> 01:03:11.949 growing our sports, and we need to have events in 1178 01:03:12.070 --> 01:03:14.929 order to do it. So it is certainly a balancing act. 1179 01:03:15.389 --> 01:03:17.989 But the people part of it does come first in that. 1180 01:03:20.219 --> 01:03:23.139 That is a very long-winded way of saying we're going 1181 01:03:23.159 --> 01:03:26.000 to lose a shitload of money and our stock price 1182 01:03:26.059 --> 01:03:28.420 is going to tank if we don't go over there. 1183 01:03:28.500 --> 01:03:32.780 So suck it up and hope for the best. If 1184 01:03:32.820 --> 01:03:35.440 things get even worse, then we'll cancel the show. Right. 1185 01:03:35.719 --> 01:03:41.440 But it's already worse. People are dying. What is their 1186 01:03:41.559 --> 01:03:44.360 red line that has to be crossed in order for 1187 01:03:44.389 --> 01:03:47.369 them to make that decision? Does it have to be 1188 01:03:48.170 --> 01:03:52.210 an attack within five miles of the arena within 48 1189 01:03:52.210 --> 01:03:55.730 hours of the show? What is the criteria for which 1190 01:03:55.789 --> 01:03:58.289 they would even make that decision, is what I would 1191 01:03:58.329 --> 01:04:02.699 like to know. Sean Ross Sapp is reporting that Fightful 1192 01:04:02.739 --> 01:04:04.989 has spoken to a number of talents who say they 1193 01:04:05.070 --> 01:04:07.690 do not want to go to Crown Jewel next weekend. 1194 01:04:08.429 --> 01:04:12.110 And then later on came this. Multiple WWE stars, including 1195 01:04:12.150 --> 01:04:14.590 top talent, made it very clear to the company that 1196 01:04:14.610 --> 01:04:17.110 they did not want to be booked for Crown Jewel 1197 01:04:17.170 --> 01:04:20.840 because of safety concerns in Saudi Arabia. Some talent booked 1198 01:04:20.880

--> 01:04:24.260 for the event also expressed concerns, though WWE officials have 1199 01:04:24.280 --> 01:04:29.980 assured talents that safety precautions are a priority. Two names 1200 01:04:30.019 --> 01:04:33.000 that are very noticeably absent from this show, even though 1201 01:04:33.019 --> 01:04:35.619 they have a big match coming up this week on TV, 1202 01:04:36.219 --> 01:04:38.929 are CM Punk and Kevin Owens. They're going to have 1203 01:04:38.969 --> 01:04:41.969 a no-holds-barred match on SmackDown this week. They are not 1204 01:04:42.050 --> 01:04:45.469 traveling to Riyadh. And I absolutely believe that they are 1205 01:04:45.530 --> 01:04:47.369 two of the names who would have told this company, 1206 01:04:47.889 --> 01:04:51.710 I'm not going. And I think it is beyond ludicrous 1207 01:04:52.369 --> 01:04:54.510 that they have not moved the show somewhere else when 1208 01:04:54.530 --> 01:04:59.079 they are openly acknowledging by moving the show indoors... By 1209 01:04:59.099 --> 01:05:01.980 their actions, they are acknowledging that there is a threat 1210 01:05:02.000 --> 01:05:04.210 of danger involved in even being over there in the 1211 01:05:04.250 --> 01:05:06.570 first place. And it was serious enough that even though 1212 01:05:06.630 --> 01:05:09.050 construction began on this stadium, they decided to move the 1213 01:05:09.090 --> 01:05:11.869 show indoors. And I'm glad they did. But at the 1214 01:05:11.909 --> 01:05:13.750 end of the day, God forbid, if there was some 1215 01:05:13.789 --> 01:05:16.619 sort of attack, you know, at the end of the day, 1216 01:05:16.659 --> 01:05:18.039 that's not really going to do a whole hell of 1217 01:05:18.079 --> 01:05:21.099 a lot. And look, it is one thing to say 1218 01:05:21.619 --> 01:05:23.179 that you don't want to go. Like in terms of 1219 01:05:23.199 --> 01:05:27.110 the talent, right? We don't want to go. It's another 1220 01:05:27.150 --> 01:05:29.929 thing to actually do something about it and tell them, 1221 01:05:30.530 --> 01:05:32.889 we are not going. And as I've said from the 1222 01:05:32.929 --> 01:05:34.550 start of all of this, if enough of them feel 1223 01:05:34.590 --> 01:05:37.389 that way and they band it together, right, to take 1224 01:05:37.429 --> 01:05:40.260 a stand and say, look, we are not going, it 1225 01:05:40.280 --> 01:05:42.880 would have to include major names on the card. Then 1226 01:05:42.909 --> 01:05:45.500 there would be no show. And they would not be 1227 01:05:45.559 --> 01:05:47.820 able to go because with no talent, there is no show. 1228 01:05:47.860 --> 01:05:50.219 They're not going to replace them with NXT people, okay? 1229 01:05:50.239 --> 01:05:53.000 Turkey a la chic is not paying them $ 50 million 1230 01:05:53.559 --> 01:05:57.300 for a developmental show. But you would need strength in 1231 01:05:57.360 --> 01:06:00.039 numbers and they don't have it in them to do that. 1232 01:06:00.500 --> 01:06:03.199 And

I understand the Talons who aren't major established names 1233 01:06:03.239 --> 01:06:05.860 being worried about sticking their neck out. But it's sad 1234 01:06:06.679 --> 01:06:09.449 that they're too scared to even say anything for fear 1235 01:06:09.489 --> 01:06:12.869 that there may only be so many of them willing 1236 01:06:12.909 --> 01:06:14.510 to stand up and do so. Or that they may 1237 01:06:14.530 --> 01:06:17.050 be the only one publicly to stand up and do so. 1238 01:06:17.090 --> 01:06:22.389 That's sad. You know, Mansoor, he spoke with F4W online. 1239 01:06:22.690 --> 01:06:25.800 He's with AEW now. But he was with WWE, their 1240 01:06:25.860 --> 01:06:29.039 first Saudi-born star. He was born in Riyadh. He moved 1241 01:06:29.059 --> 01:06:30.960 to the United States when he was 11 years old. 1242 01:06:31.920 --> 01:06:34.699 He was asked about all this. And he said, It's 1243 01:06:34.719 --> 01:06:37.360 a difficult and tragic situation. I've had to check on 1244 01:06:37.409 --> 01:06:40.070 my family pretty often as a result of the strikes 1245 01:06:40.150 --> 01:06:45.949 in Saudi. He said, And they have to make a 1246 01:06:45.989 --> 01:06:47.809 certain amount of money or people are going to lose 1247 01:06:47.849 --> 01:06:50.789 their jobs. And people lose their jobs anyway, even when 1248 01:06:50.809 --> 01:06:52.630 they make a lot of money. So imagine what would 1249 01:06:52.650 --> 01:06:54.769 happen if they didn't make that amount of money. I 1250 01:06:54.789 --> 01:06:56.909 just think that there's surely something that could be worked 1251 01:06:57.010 --> 01:06:59.090 out where maybe they do an extra show next year 1252 01:06:59.400 --> 01:07:02.579 or something like that when these things settle down. I 1253 01:07:02.619 --> 01:07:06.079 hope to God that they do settle down. Talent, wrestlers, 1254 01:07:06.079 --> 01:07:08.599 99% of the time we are going to be company 1255 01:07:08.639 --> 01:07:11.139 men and women because we love pro wrestling so much 1256 01:07:11.179 --> 01:07:13.380 that we don't want to ever lose this opportunity to 1257 01:07:13.420 --> 01:07:16.030 make a living for our families doing it. And our 1258 01:07:16.119 --> 01:07:19.150 fates are in our bosses' hands. No matter what company 1259 01:07:19.170 --> 01:07:22.429 you're in, we have very little leverage. So, you know, 1260 01:07:22.489 --> 01:07:24.650 saying no to something like that, it's not as easy 1261 01:07:24.670 --> 01:07:26.869 or as simple as some fans may think for the talent. 1262 01:07:27.190 --> 01:07:29.570 I think ultimately they're going to make whatever decision they 1263 01:07:29.590 --> 01:07:33.420 make regardless. I hope for no unfortunate incidents to happen 1264 01:07:33.480 --> 01:07:37.579 whether they go or they don't go. And we're all 1265 01:07:37.619 --> 01:07:40.059 hoping for that. You know, I don't want to see 1266 01:07:40.119 --> 01:07:43.039 anything bad happen just to justify my opinion that they 1267 01:07:43.079 --> 01:07:46.510 shouldn't be going. But whether or not something bad happens 1268 01:07:46.570 --> 01:07:49.929 is not even the point. That they would even put 1269 01:07:50.090 --> 01:07:55.340 their people in a situation like this is, in a word, deplorable. 1270 01:07:56.460 --> 01:07:59.139 And Mansoor may be right. If TKO cancels the show, 1271 01:07:59.179 --> 01:08:02.579 they take a huge financial hit. And that financial hit 1272 01:08:02.900 --> 01:08:04.480 is going to be felt by the Talons who are 1273 01:08:04.500 --> 01:08:06.619 going to lose their jobs or be asked to take 1274 01:08:06.659 --> 01:08:09.550 more pay cuts. But they cut people and they ask 1275 01:08:09.570 --> 01:08:12.510 them to take pay cuts even when they're making record profits. 1276 01:08:14.250 --> 01:08:15.909 At the end of the day, I'd rather lose my 1277 01:08:16.010 --> 01:08:20.250 job than lose my life. And that's what we're talking 1278 01:08:20.310 --> 01:08:24.039 about here, a potentially life-or-death situation. And at what point 1279 01:08:24.300 --> 01:08:26.359 is it just not worth taking that risk? This is 1280 01:08:26.399 --> 01:08:29.460 not a humanitarian mission where they're going for the greater good. 1281 01:08:30.460 --> 01:08:35.090 It is a wrestling show. It's entertainment. And no one 1282 01:08:35.100 --> 01:08:37.729 who entertains on that roster should be living in fear 1283 01:08:37.789 --> 01:08:39.970 and anxiety that they may not come back home to 1284 01:08:40.010 --> 01:08:44.590 their families in one piece. I hope the Saudi folks 1285 01:08:44.630 --> 01:08:46.710 who live there, the fans, you know, they all stay safe. 1286 01:08:47.609 --> 01:08:49.739 And I hope all the people traveling there stay safe. 1287 01:08:50.840 --> 01:08:53.640 But this is one of the most irresponsible things that 1288 01:08:53.680 --> 01:08:56.630 they have ever done. And it's more of a TKO call. 1289 01:08:56.649 --> 01:08:59.409 This is not a call being made by WWE directly. 1290 01:08:59.470 --> 01:09:01.899 I get that. So as the TKO era goes, it 1291 01:09:01.939 --> 01:09:05.729 is definitely the most irresponsible thing that this company has 1292 01:09:05.810 --> 01:09:10.050 ever done. But here's the card and my prediction for 1293 01:09:10.069 --> 01:09:14.270 the match order. Cody Rhodes takes on Randy Orton. In 1294 01:09:14.310 --> 01:09:16.819 a last man standing match. We didn't get much in 1295 01:09:16.859 --> 01:09:19.829 the way from Cody Rhodes on Friday. He came out, 1296 01:09:19.850 --> 01:09:22.770 cut a very quick promo, shortened to the point. No 1297 01:09:22.829 --> 01:09:24.710 Randy Orton on the show. We still have one more 1298 01:09:24.770 --> 01:09:27.170 SmackDown left, but I don't know that there's really much 1299 01:09:27.229 --> 01:09:29.149 left for these two to say to each other. I 1300 01:09:30.069 --> 01:09:32.850 do hope that this is the culmination of this program

1301 01:09:32.930 --> 01:09:35.050 once and for all. We can move beyond this. Orton 1302 01:09:35.069 --> 01:09:37.750 can move on. Cody can move on. I don't know 1303 01:09:37.789 --> 01:09:40.630 what would be next for Orton in the immediate future, 1304 01:09:40.670 --> 01:09:43.130 but it does feel to me like this is setting 1305 01:09:43.189 --> 01:09:45.409 up to be a win for Cody. You know, for 1306 01:09:45.470 --> 01:09:47.510 Cody to go in there and do what he has 1307 01:09:47.550 --> 01:09:49.289 not been able to do, which is put Randy Orton 1308 01:09:49.329 --> 01:09:51.750 down and do so with the punt kick. And then 1309 01:09:51.770 --> 01:09:53.829 maybe Orton takes another vacation and we don't see him 1310 01:09:53.869 --> 01:09:56.020 again until the Rumble. You know, he gets a lot 1311 01:09:56.060 --> 01:09:59.020 of time off. I'm going with Cody Rhodes for the 1312 01:09:59.060 --> 01:10:01.500 win here. No heel turn or anything like that, but 1313 01:10:01.520 --> 01:10:04.479 I think Cody's going to pick up the W. We 1314 01:10:04.500 --> 01:10:08.460 have Chelsea Green, the WWE Women's Champion, going one-on-one with 1315 01:10:08.500 --> 01:10:12.890 the Women's World Champion Liv Morgan. for the Crown Jewel Championship. 1316 01:10:13.289 --> 01:10:16.729 And we have been getting Tiffany Stratton cash-in teases now 1317 01:10:16.930 --> 01:10:19.350 ad nauseum. We had three of them in the span 1318 01:10:19.390 --> 01:10:22.399 of a week. The purpose of them, I would think, 1319 01:10:23.180 --> 01:10:25.020 is to try to throw people off the scent for 1320 01:10:25.060 --> 01:10:27.000 when she finally does cash in, but it's not on 1321 01:10:27.039 --> 01:10:29.199 Liv Morgan. All three attempts have been on Liv Morgan. 1322 01:10:29.960 --> 01:10:32.840 When she cashes in, and she will cash in successfully, 1323 01:10:33.920 --> 01:10:36.960 it will be on Chelsea Green. And I happen to 1324 01:10:37.000 --> 01:10:39.119 think it's going to be happening on this show because 1325 01:10:39.140 --> 01:10:41.329 Chelsea how many more fucking weeks are we going to 1326 01:10:41.350 --> 01:10:43.840 have these cash-in teases, right? It's not like we have 1327 01:10:43.850 --> 01:10:45.619 three of them in a week and then it's going 1328 01:10:45.640 --> 01:10:47.220 to get silent and we're not going to get any 1329 01:10:47.260 --> 01:10:49.479 of them for a month. Like, I don't see that happening. 1330 01:10:49.520 --> 01:10:51.479 I think it's all culminating in an angle here on 1331 01:10:51.500 --> 01:10:53.140 this show. I think Chelsea Green is going to win 1332 01:10:53.159 --> 01:10:54.840 this match. I think Chelsea Green is going to become 1333 01:10:54.880 --> 01:10:57.310 the crown jewel champion. I don't think Liv Morgan is 1334 01:10:57.319 --> 01:11:00.149 going to repeat. But I do think that when Tiffany 1335 01:11:00.170 --> 01:11:02.850 Stratton comes out, and I could envision a scenario here 1336 01:11:02.930 --> 01:11:05.750 where Liv Morgan attacks Chelsea after the match and here 1337 01:11:05.810 --> 01:11:08.350 comes Raquel and here comes Roxanne and they're beating her down. 1338 01:11:09.000 --> 01:11:12.659 And here we go again. And here comes Tiffany Stratton. 1339 01:11:13.300 --> 01:11:15.619 And they want you to think she's going to try 1340 01:11:15.659 --> 01:11:18.159 again to cash in on Liv Morgan. And maybe she 1341 01:11:18.199 --> 01:11:22.750 even fights off Raquel and Roxanne. And she's got Liv, right? 1342 01:11:22.770 --> 01:11:25.789 She's got Liv right there. But she ends up bashing 1343 01:11:25.850 --> 01:11:28.010 Chelsea in the head with the briefcase and cashing in 1344 01:11:28.090 --> 01:11:31.210 on her instead. And this time she is successful. And 1345 01:11:31.270 --> 01:11:35.449 she wins the Women's Championship, the WWE Women's title. Because 1346 01:11:35.470 --> 01:11:38.609 I was thinking of a scenario in which she were 1347 01:11:38.729 --> 01:11:42.109 to try to cash in during the match. Having the 1348 01:11:42.149 --> 01:11:44.710 crown jewel title on the line screws everything up, though. 1349 01:11:44.810 --> 01:11:48.100 Because how would that even work? She tried to cash 1350 01:11:48.140 --> 01:11:49.300 in her money in the bank in the middle of 1351 01:11:49.340 --> 01:11:52.060 a crown jewel title match, where neither of the other 1352 01:11:52.100 --> 01:11:53.579 belts are on the line, but all of a sudden 1353 01:11:53.640 --> 01:11:56.199 one of them is. Does she win the crown jewel belt, too? 1354 01:11:56.220 --> 01:11:58.380 I don't really see a good way out of that. 1355 01:11:58.439 --> 01:12:00.039 So if you're going to shoot an angle like this, 1356 01:12:00.850 --> 01:12:03.170 it almost has to be after the match. You can't 1357 01:12:03.189 --> 01:12:05.729 really do it during the match. So I think Chelsea 1358 01:12:05.750 --> 01:12:08.789 gets a win, which I kind of feel like if 1359 01:12:08.829 --> 01:12:13.430 she doesn't, I mean, man, you talk about just burying 1360 01:12:13.470 --> 01:12:16.909 this woman. Every week you got people coming out, Liv 1361 01:12:16.949 --> 01:12:19.750 Morgan coming out, calling her a fake champion. You're not 1362 01:12:19.770 --> 01:12:23.100 a real champion. I'm a real champion. You're a paper champion. 1363 01:12:23.109 --> 01:12:27.159 You're a fraud. You're this, you're that. All of these things, 1364 01:12:27.220 --> 01:12:30.050 and I mentioned this in my SmackDown review, where She 1365 01:12:30.090 --> 01:12:32.109 beat Nikki Bella on Friday, but she had to beat 1366 01:12:32.149 --> 01:12:34.529 Nikki Bella with a roll-up. It took a fucking roll-up! 1367 01:12:34.890 --> 01:12:36.369 And she had the shocked look on her face like 1368 01:12:36.390 --> 01:12:39.449 she couldn't believe that she won. At every turn, since 1369 01:12:39.489 --> 01:12:42.449 this woman won the championship, became the interim champion, and 1370

01:12:42.479 --> 01:12:46.720 then she became, I guess, the regular full-time champion. Because 1371 01:12:46.779 --> 01:12:48.840 they never planned on putting the belt on her in 1372 01:12:48.880 --> 01:12:52.159 the first place had Rhea not gotten hurt. They never 1373 01:12:52.220 --> 01:12:54.979 warmed up to the idea of Chelsea being the women's champion. 1374 01:12:55.020 --> 01:12:57.930 I'm happy that Chelsea had her moment, but this reign 1375 01:12:57.970 --> 01:13:00.439 has just been pitiful. And the booking has a lot 1376 01:13:00.460 --> 01:13:01.680 to do with it. Now, I will say that the 1377 01:13:01.720 --> 01:13:04.840 matches have not been great. They really have not. And 1378 01:13:04.880 --> 01:13:08.350 that match on Friday was fucking terrible. But the booking 1379 01:13:08.399 --> 01:13:13.109 has also been terrible. Like, they want you to know 1380 01:13:13.510 --> 01:13:17.029 that this woman really should not be a women's world champion. 1381 01:13:17.069 --> 01:13:19.050 They are doing everything in their power, even though they 1382 01:13:19.090 --> 01:13:21.229 put the belt on her, to tell you and to 1383 01:13:21.310 --> 01:13:23.590 convince you that she is only at a certain level. 1384 01:13:24.050 --> 01:13:28.220 And every win that she gets is shocking. Or it's 1385 01:13:28.279 --> 01:13:31.989 one of these, like, slip-on-a-banana-peel type finishes. When you do 1386 01:13:32.029 --> 01:13:34.630 something like that with Nikki Bella, where even that is 1387 01:13:34.689 --> 01:13:39.649 a shock, you've lost the plot. And so Chelsea, at 1388 01:13:39.689 --> 01:13:41.760 least here, if she gets a win, it's like, well, 1389 01:13:41.800 --> 01:13:44.960 you gotta give her something for crying out loud. Especially 1390 01:13:45.020 --> 01:13:46.939 if you're gonna have this woman turn on her, bash 1391 01:13:46.960 --> 01:13:48.619 her in the head, and take her belt away from her. 1392 01:13:48.659 --> 01:13:51.619 At least she'll get the crown jewel title. At least 1393 01:13:51.680 --> 01:13:54.989 it's something. Anyway, that's how I see it playing out. 1394 01:13:55.029 --> 01:13:57.670 Chelsea beats Liv. Tiffany comes out, cashes in on Chelsea. 1395 01:13:57.710 --> 01:13:59.729 We have a new champion. And then things are set 1396 01:13:59.770 --> 01:14:02.270 up perfectly for when Rhea Ripley comes back, whether it's 1397 01:14:02.310 --> 01:14:06.329 at Wrestlepalooza or the Royal Rumble. Whenever Rhea is able 1398 01:14:06.369 --> 01:14:09.899 to come back, you've got a ready-made match, a ready-made 1399 01:14:09.949 --> 01:14:12.920 feud set up, possibly for WrestleMania between Rhea Ripley and 1400 01:14:12.960 --> 01:14:15.079 Tiffany Stratton with Rhea trying to get her belt back. 1401 01:14:15.840 --> 01:14:17.960 And then my hope is that coming out of WrestleMania, 1402 01:14:18.000 --> 01:14:20.420 when we get to the spring and that part of 1403 01:14:20.439 --> 01:14:23.449 the year, We've got Blake Monroe already teed up for 1404 01:14:23.470 --> 01:14:25.710 a big feud with Rhea Ripley. I'm looking ahead here. 1405 01:14:25.770 --> 01:14:27.430 I want to see Rhea and I want to see 1406 01:14:27.489 --> 01:14:30.350 Blake for the championship. That's the big match I'd like 1407 01:14:30.399 --> 01:14:34.800 to see. Now Finn Balor and Gunther. I mentioned the 1408 01:14:34.880 --> 01:14:37.359 angle on SmackDown on Friday. They're obviously having a match. 1409 01:14:37.399 --> 01:14:38.939 They did not say it was going to be on 1410 01:14:38.979 --> 01:14:42.520 this show. But as they were constructing the outdoor stadium 1411 01:14:42.560 --> 01:14:45.960 before they made the switch indoors... There were banners and 1412 01:14:46.020 --> 01:14:48.659 posters up in Riyadh that were showing Finn Balor and 1413 01:14:48.699 --> 01:14:50.369 Gunther as if that was going to be a match 1414 01:14:50.430 --> 01:14:52.529 on the show. Let's assume that this match is going 1415 01:14:52.569 --> 01:14:55.989 to take place and be added to Crown Jewel. I 1416 01:14:56.050 --> 01:15:00.250 feel like neither man can really afford a loss right now. 1417 01:15:01.289 --> 01:15:05.420 Gunther has not won a match on TV since his 1418 01:15:05.500 --> 01:15:11.399 win over Matt Cardona in August. Finn Balor has not 1419 01:15:11.460 --> 01:15:15.449 won a match since July 31st. And for this, he's 1420 01:15:15.539 --> 01:15:19.020 bringing the demon paint back. So you would look at 1421 01:15:19.039 --> 01:15:23.420 this and go, man, Balor, he really should win this match, right? 1422 01:15:23.500 --> 01:15:26.800 But Gunther is going to win. Like they do the match. 1423 01:15:26.819 --> 01:15:29.699 I think Gunther picks up the win. Gunther is just 1424 01:15:29.739 --> 01:15:32.359 a more valuable asset right now. Just the way he's 1425 01:15:32.470 --> 01:15:35.010 largely been protected up until this point in his career, 1426 01:15:35.029 --> 01:15:37.770 really up until this year. I can't say he's been 1427 01:15:37.869 --> 01:15:40.750 too terribly protected this year, but he also hasn't done 1428 01:15:40.770 --> 01:15:43.590 a whole lot in the last six months. They literally 1429 01:15:43.609 --> 01:15:45.189 had no idea on what to do with this guy 1430 01:15:45.250 --> 01:15:47.350 after the John Cena and the AJ Styles stuff. They 1431 01:15:47.390 --> 01:15:49.689 had nothing. They had no idea. They had no plan 1432 01:15:49.729 --> 01:15:53.699 for him. They had nothing. Unless, maybe if Dragunov had re-signed, 1433 01:15:53.739 --> 01:15:55.659 we would be getting something with him and Gunther, but 1434 01:15:55.680 --> 01:15:58.960 that's one of those what-ifs. Yeah, what-if. Maybe if he 1435 01:15:59.000 --> 01:16:01.140 would have re-signed, they would have come up with the idea, well, 1436 01:16:01.180 --> 01:16:02.979 I guess we could put these two together. But, like, 1437 01:16:03.399 --> 01:16:05.270 they clearly had no plan on

where to go and 1438 01:16:05.310 --> 01:16:07.630 what to do with this guy, which is terrible in 1439 01:16:07.670 --> 01:16:11.430 and of itself. But here we are. They do this match. 1440 01:16:11.449 --> 01:16:16.310 I think Gunther wins. The World Tag Team titles being defended, 1441 01:16:16.810 --> 01:16:18.710 which is a shock in and of itself. This is 1442 01:16:18.729 --> 01:16:22.970 our first World Tag Team title match on a PLE 1443 01:16:24.010 --> 01:16:29.560 since WrestleMania 41. That was last year's WrestleMania. And the 1444 01:16:29.739 --> 01:16:32.699 only reason we even got a World Tag Team title 1445 01:16:32.720 --> 01:16:35.399 match on that WrestleMania card in the first place was 1446 01:16:35.439 --> 01:16:39.880 because they had that Clash of Clans sponsorship tied into 1447 01:16:39.899 --> 01:16:42.380 the Viking Raiders and all that. So, All right, it's 1448 01:16:42.420 --> 01:16:44.560 our sponsorship match, so we have to have them out there. 1449 01:16:45.479 --> 01:16:47.520 Literally the only reason we got that match on the show. 1450 01:16:47.840 --> 01:16:50.199 Even the WWE tag team titles, I don't think have 1451 01:16:50.220 --> 01:16:54.800 been defended since maybe SummerSlam last year, something like that. 1452 01:16:54.859 --> 01:16:57.699 It's ridiculous that we're even getting a tag team title 1453 01:16:57.739 --> 01:16:59.460 match on this show. But the fact that we are, 1454 01:17:00.739 --> 01:17:02.579 to me, that alone tells you that there's a very 1455 01:17:02.619 --> 01:17:04.159 good chance we're going to get a title change here. 1456 01:17:04.199 --> 01:17:05.720 By the way, this is also the first time that 1457 01:17:05.739 --> 01:17:08.460 Braun Breaker and Austin Theory are defending their tag team 1458 01:17:08.479 --> 01:17:10.590 titles since they won them from the Street Profits on 1459 01:17:10.689 --> 01:17:15.579 July 6th. Forget PLE or non-PLE, this is the first 1460 01:17:15.619 --> 01:17:18.220 time they're even defending those titles. They're putting them on 1461 01:17:18.239 --> 01:17:21.779 the line against Penta, Mr. Money in the Bank, and 1462 01:17:21.819 --> 01:17:24.270 Javon Evans. This feels like a title change to me. 1463 01:17:24.529 --> 01:17:26.409 I think we're getting new tag team champions, and then 1464 01:17:26.689 --> 01:17:29.189 it's probably going to lead into a six-man tag, because 1465 01:17:29.869 --> 01:17:33.090 in this week's Observer, Meltzer said that the original plan 1466 01:17:33.130 --> 01:17:36.529 for this was to be a six-man tag with Penta, Evans, 1467 01:17:36.750 --> 01:17:39.859 and Obafemi, who has been missing from TV now for weeks, 1468 01:17:40.380 --> 01:17:43.619 taking on Braun Breaker, Austin Theory, and Bronson Reed. And 1469 01:17:43.659 --> 01:17:45.939 the reason the match was changed was the feeling that 1470 01:17:45.979 --> 01:17:47.939 it made no sense to do the six man without 1471 01:17:48.000 --> 01:17:51.579 first doing the tag team title match. So we're probably 1472 01:17:51.600 --> 01:17:54.899 going to get that six man at some point. Maybe 1473 01:17:54.939 --> 01:17:58.220 at Survivor Series. You know what? Even if it is 1474 01:17:58.260 --> 01:18:01.010 three on three, I would love it if they used 1475 01:18:01.489 --> 01:18:05.920 traditional Survivor Series elimination rules. And do that match on 1476 01:18:05.939 --> 01:18:09.020 that show. But then Obafemi has to win, right? Because 1477 01:18:09.300 --> 01:18:11.720 you start getting into eliminations. And, oh, we don't want 1478 01:18:11.739 --> 01:18:14.350 to beat this guy. We don't want to beat that guy. 1479 01:18:15.239 --> 01:18:16.520 But I would love to see that. I would love 1480 01:18:16.560 --> 01:18:19.119 to see a traditional Survivor Series style match. Even if 1481 01:18:19.180 --> 01:18:21.159 it is just three on three. Here, though, I think 1482 01:18:21.189 --> 01:18:22.689 we're going to get a tag team title change. I 1483 01:18:22.710 --> 01:18:24.869 think Penta and Javon win the belts. It gives Penta 1484 01:18:24.909 --> 01:18:26.890 something to do in the meantime. Even though there's not 1485 01:18:26.970 --> 01:18:28.909 really a tag team division for him to work against. 1486 01:18:28.989 --> 01:18:31.750 But it gives him something to do until they're ready 1487 01:18:31.789 --> 01:18:33.430 to have him cash in. Which I don't think is 1488 01:18:33.449 --> 01:18:37.329 happening until next year anyway. And then we have the 1489 01:18:37.529 --> 01:18:40.520 main event of the show. Champion against champion. The world 1490 01:18:40.539 --> 01:18:45.149 heavyweight champion Roman Reigns taking on the WWE champion Sami Zayn. 1491 01:18:46.729 --> 01:18:49.869 The only reason that I am even entertaining the idea 1492 01:18:50.779 --> 01:18:54.859 of a Roman Reigns loss here is with the 9-4-6 1493 01:18:54.960 --> 01:18:57.680 lurking around. Now, I don't even know if they're going 1494 01:18:57.699 --> 01:19:00.819 to fly those guys out to Saudi, but I'm going 1495 01:19:00.840 --> 01:19:03.850 to say that they do something here to cost Roman 1496 01:19:03.890 --> 01:19:07.750 Reigns the match, Sami Zayn, is going to be your 1497 01:19:07.829 --> 01:19:10.489 new crown jewel champion. He is going to finally get 1498 01:19:10.550 --> 01:19:13.289 that win that he couldn't get at an Elimination Chamber 1499 01:19:13.329 --> 01:19:15.109 three years ago, but he's going to get that win 1500 01:19:15.729 --> 01:19:20.289 over Roman Reigns. I will be irritated, though, if they 1501 01:19:20.329 --> 01:19:23.779 do beat Roman here. Like, it wasn't okay to give 1502 01:19:23.960 --> 01:19:26.140 LA Knight a win over him at Money in the Bank, 1503 01:19:26.199 --> 01:19:28.279 but it's okay to give him a, you know, give 1504 01:19:28.300 --> 01:19:30.310 Sami Zayn a win here. Like, come on now. But 1505 01:19:30.350 --> 01:19:32.960 the 9-4-6 stuff is the only reason I'm picking

Sammy here. 1506 01:19:33.000 --> 01:19:35.060 Those guys have yet to really stick it to Roman. 1507 01:19:35.079 --> 01:19:38.079 They haven't really done anything to him directly. This would 1508 01:19:38.119 --> 01:19:41.279 be their warning shot, which would then lead directly into 1509 01:19:41.319 --> 01:19:45.050 war games. And that's the card. The show starts at 1510 01:19:45.149 --> 01:19:48.569 noon Eastern on Saturday. I'll be live on YouTube with 1511 01:19:48.590 --> 01:19:51.449 the full recap immediately after, so figure around 3.30 or so. 1512 01:19:53.869 --> 01:19:56.810 On the AEW side, they have Blood and Guts coming 1513 01:19:56.850 --> 01:19:59.689 up this Wednesday. On the women's side, it is Tekla, 1514 01:19:59.789 --> 01:20:03.750 Julia Hart, Sky Blue, Megan Bain, Lena Cross, and Persephone 1515 01:20:04.409 --> 01:20:08.529 taking on Willow Nightingale, Jamie Hayter, Alex Windsor, Chris Statlander, 1516 01:20:08.569 --> 01:20:14.659 Harley Cameron, and your new TBS champion, Queen Aminata, six 1517 01:20:14.760 --> 01:20:18.140 on six. Queen Aminata was supposed to be in Blood 1518 01:20:18.180 --> 01:20:19.960 and Guts last year, but she had that neck injury 1519 01:20:19.979 --> 01:20:22.229 and she had to be pulled. So she will make 1520 01:20:22.289 --> 01:20:24.470 it this year. It was looking five on five, but 1521 01:20:24.489 --> 01:20:28.310 then last night on Collision, they added Persephone and Aminata 1522 01:20:28.329 --> 01:20:30.289 to make it six on six. But if you look 1523 01:20:30.310 --> 01:20:33.470 at the makeup of this match, it's not identical, but 1524 01:20:33.510 --> 01:20:36.909 it looks very, very similar to last year's match, which 1525 01:20:36.970 --> 01:20:40.340 had all three members of the Triangle of Madness and 1526 01:20:40.380 --> 01:20:45.439 Megan Bain, plus Mercedes Monet and Marina Shafir, taking on 1527 01:20:45.539 --> 01:20:50.380 Willow Nightingale, Harley Cameron, and then Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa. 1528 01:20:51.090 --> 01:20:54.899 So it doesn't look radically different. Only now Marina is 1529 01:20:54.909 --> 01:20:57.460 going to be challenging Mercedes at full gear for the 1530 01:20:57.500 --> 01:21:01.000 Women's World title. I'm going with the heels in this one. 1531 01:21:01.020 --> 01:21:03.779 I'm going with Team Tecla for the win. It would 1532 01:21:03.800 --> 01:21:05.899 be nice to get Tecla back in the win column 1533 01:21:06.270 --> 01:21:10.430 after her loss to Mercedes. Plus the Brawling Birds and Wrathlander, 1534 01:21:11.210 --> 01:21:13.729 they're wrestling at full gear for the Women's Tag Team titles. 1535 01:21:13.789 --> 01:21:16.170 I can see something going down here where they end 1536 01:21:16.210 --> 01:21:18.829 up at odds with each other. And then that would 1537 01:21:18.869 --> 01:21:20.930 lead nicely into their full gear match. So I'm going 1538 01:21:20.949 --> 01:21:25.010 with the heels. On the men's side, it is Will Ospreay, 1539 01:21:25.210 --> 01:21:28.760 Adam Copeland, Darby Allin, Stephen Borden, and the Young Bucks 1540 01:21:28.939 --> 01:21:32.760 taking on Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, Kevin Knight, Mark Davis, 1541 01:21:32.819 --> 01:21:38.539 Jake Doyle, and Wardlow. Also six on six. I'm going 1542 01:21:38.560 --> 01:21:42.380 with the baby faces in this one. Team Ospreay, who 1543 01:21:42.420 --> 01:21:45.520 wasn't even on the show this week. We do know 1544 01:21:45.560 --> 01:21:48.090 he will be defending the AW World title against Kyle 1545 01:21:48.149 --> 01:21:50.689 Fletcher at Full Gear. I think it is way too 1546 01:21:50.750 --> 01:21:52.670 early to be doing that match. I think that should 1547 01:21:52.689 --> 01:21:56.850 have been saved for Dynasty in Liverpool next year or Revolution. 1548 01:21:58.130 --> 01:22:00.600 Ospreay is going to have one hell of a travel week. 1549 01:22:00.720 --> 01:22:04.140 He's teaming with Callum Newman against the Knockout Brothers for 1550 01:22:04.159 --> 01:22:07.899 the IWGP Tag Team titles at the New Japan Power 1551 01:22:07.939 --> 01:22:12.399 Struggle Show on Tuesday. That's going to be in Hiroshima, Japan. 1552 01:22:13.050 --> 01:22:17.729 The next day is Blood and Guts in Jacksonville. So 1553 01:22:17.890 --> 01:22:20.069 he has to immediately board a flight back to the 1554 01:22:20.130 --> 01:22:22.010 States to make sure that he is back in time 1555 01:22:22.029 --> 01:22:25.409 for that show. Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley are also 1556 01:22:25.470 --> 01:22:28.810 wrestling on that show. Not against each other, but they're 1557 01:22:28.829 --> 01:22:33.310 not advertised for Dynamite this week. Only Ospreay is. Jon 1558 01:22:33.369 --> 01:22:36.489 Moxley is going to be leading the Death Riders into 1559 01:22:36.770 --> 01:22:39.659 Anarchy in the Arena at Full Gear against The Cut, 1560 01:22:40.439 --> 01:22:44.229 which is Jay White's team. It may be all seven 1561 01:22:44.270 --> 01:22:45.909 of them, or it may just be five of them. 1562 01:22:45.949 --> 01:22:49.260 The Death Riders only have five men to offer. But 1563 01:22:49.340 --> 01:22:52.619 will they be getting some help in the form of 1564 01:22:52.640 --> 01:22:55.579 a new member? They shot an angle on Wednesday where 1565 01:22:55.619 --> 01:22:59.979 the cut, after being single-handedly dominated by Claudio Castagnoli, they 1566 01:23:00.020 --> 01:23:03.060 finally put him down, Jay White did, with a blade 1567 01:23:03.119 --> 01:23:06.350 runner on the exposed concrete. Claudio then did a stretcher job. 1568 01:23:07.399 --> 01:23:10.369 This would be the perfect time to debut Sheamus in AEW. 1569 01:23:11.970 --> 01:23:14.630 We know Claudio wants him in. He and Adam Copeland 1570 01:23:14.689 --> 01:23:17.989 reportedly have gone to Tony Khan to lobby for him. 1571 01:23:18.869 --> 01:23:21.189 The last report said that they didn't see his signing 1572 01:23:21.260 --> 01:23:24.819 as anything

urgent. And Seamus, he was interviewed. I don't 1573 01:23:24.840 --> 01:23:26.520 know where he was. He was at a bar. What else? 1574 01:23:26.560 --> 01:23:28.939 He was at a bar. They were watching some kind 1575 01:23:29.020 --> 01:23:33.760 of football game, maybe. But he was being interviewed and 1576 01:23:33.779 --> 01:23:37.310 he was asked about his status and It was almost 1577 01:23:37.350 --> 01:23:39.489 like a quick answer in passing, but he said he's 1578 01:23:39.550 --> 01:23:43.569 on vacation. I'm on a very long vacation. Some people 1579 01:23:43.609 --> 01:23:45.109 may take that to mean that we're not going to 1580 01:23:45.170 --> 01:23:47.890 see him anytime soon. I took that to mean he's 1581 01:23:47.930 --> 01:23:50.659 been on a long vacation. We haven't seen him in months. 1582 01:23:51.619 --> 01:23:54.159 Doesn't mean that he's going to continue to be on 1583 01:23:54.199 --> 01:23:56.260 a long vacation. He's been on one. When was the 1584 01:23:56.279 --> 01:23:58.039 last time we saw him in the ring? It's been months. 1585 01:23:58.399 --> 01:24:01.039 Has he wrestled at all this year? I actually don't 1586 01:24:01.079 --> 01:24:03.590 even think he's wrestled this year. Now that I think 1587 01:24:03.609 --> 01:24:06.970 about it, right? Because he had that shoulder injury. That's right. 1588 01:24:07.890 --> 01:24:10.189 That's right. The last match he probably would have been 1589 01:24:10.329 --> 01:24:15.189 in was that six-man tag on Raw at Madison Square 1590 01:24:15.250 --> 01:24:18.010 Garden last November, a year ago. It was him and 1591 01:24:18.069 --> 01:24:20.029 Cena and Rey Mysterio. I don't think he's wrestled at 1592 01:24:20.050 --> 01:24:23.710 all this year. So he's been on a long vacation. 1593 01:24:23.890 --> 01:24:26.979 I think that vacation is coming to an end very soon. 1594 01:24:28.189 --> 01:24:30.840 This whole thing about, well, you know, AEW doesn't see 1595 01:24:31.100 --> 01:24:35.380 his signing as being any sort of, urgent matter. I 1596 01:24:35.399 --> 01:24:37.439 think he's coming in as part of this angle is 1597 01:24:37.479 --> 01:24:39.819 what I think. Like when we see Claudio back, I 1598 01:24:39.840 --> 01:24:41.470 think he's going to be bringing some help with him. 1599 01:24:42.789 --> 01:24:45.329 Like that show on Wednesday did more to promote full 1600 01:24:45.369 --> 01:24:50.270 gear than it did blood and guts. Uh, but it's, 1601 01:24:50.510 --> 01:24:55.840 it's overkill to have four war games matches in the 1602 01:24:55.880 --> 01:24:58.840 same month. I wish AEW would move these to a 1603 01:24:58.880 --> 01:25:01.750 different time instead of doing them in November and They 1604 01:25:01.789 --> 01:25:04.310 didn't always do them in November. I guess now it's 1605 01:25:04.350 --> 01:25:08.430 become a November tradition the last few years. Just as 1606 01:25:08.489 --> 01:25:10.770 someone who watches both products, I wish that they would 1607 01:25:10.810 --> 01:25:12.630 move them and we didn't get four of these fucking 1608 01:25:12.649 --> 01:25:15.829 things in the same month. If you only watch AEW 1609 01:25:15.850 --> 01:25:17.529 when you're a sicko, then you don't give a shit. 1610 01:25:19.050 --> 01:25:21.810 But the full gear card, it's pretty much loaded up already. 1611 01:25:21.880 --> 01:25:23.909 Even with the matches that aren't official yet, you can 1612 01:25:23.939 --> 01:25:26.960 kind of see where it's going. Like I said, Ospreay 1613 01:25:26.979 --> 01:25:30.340 and Fletcher. for the world title. Mercedes against Marina Shafir 1614 01:25:30.380 --> 01:25:33.479 for the women's world title. The Young Bucks are going 1615 01:25:33.500 --> 01:25:36.000 to be defending the tag team titles against Davis and Doyle. 1616 01:25:37.039 --> 01:25:39.939 Very likely that we will get Adam Copeland against Kazuchika 1617 01:25:40.020 --> 01:25:43.699 Okada for the international title. We have Anarchy in the Arena. 1618 01:25:44.439 --> 01:25:47.479 We have a trios title rematch with Swerve Strickland and 1619 01:25:47.500 --> 01:25:50.670 The New Level against Hangman Adam Page, Brody King, and Bandito, 1620 01:25:50.750 --> 01:25:54.470 which will almost definitely end up being a Texas deathmatch. 1621 01:25:55.810 --> 01:25:59.729 Wrathlander challenging the Brawling Birds for the women's tag team belts. 1622 01:26:00.899 --> 01:26:03.579 We had Ilya Dragidov come out on Dynamite to confront 1623 01:26:03.619 --> 01:26:07.500 Tommaso Ciampa, so that's going to be happening soon, maybe 1624 01:26:07.680 --> 01:26:10.779 at full gear. They've already announced that Ciampa is getting 1625 01:26:10.819 --> 01:26:14.590 a rematch against Andrade for the national title on Collision 1626 01:26:14.649 --> 01:26:18.689 next weekend, which takes place on the Jericho cruise. Ciampa 1627 01:26:18.710 --> 01:26:21.550 lost the first one. I would hate to see him 1628 01:26:21.590 --> 01:26:24.979 drop two straight. it kind of feels like there's a 1629 01:26:25.020 --> 01:26:27.350 very good chance there may be a title change here, 1630 01:26:28.270 --> 01:26:32.590 which means the eventual match between Dragunov and Ciampa could 1631 01:26:32.609 --> 01:26:35.989 be a championship match. And, I mean, I suppose that 1632 01:26:36.029 --> 01:26:38.670 could be the direction for Dragunov if they want to 1633 01:26:38.710 --> 01:26:43.399 go with Jay White challenging Moxley or winning the continental 1634 01:26:43.439 --> 01:26:45.180 title in the C2 this year. I was kind of 1635 01:26:45.199 --> 01:26:49.079 hoping that would be reserved for Dragunov. But if they 1636 01:26:49.119 --> 01:26:52.350 want to go Moxley and Jay White, and put the 1637 01:26:52.399 --> 01:26:55.380 national title on Dragunov in the next couple of months. 1638 01:26:55.600 --> 01:26:58.920 I suppose you could do that. And with their win 1639 01:26:58.960 --> 01:27:01.779 over FTR on Wednesday, the Motor City

Machine Guns, they 1640 01:27:01.819 --> 01:27:04.739 are now up two matches to one in their Best 1641 01:27:04.779 --> 01:27:08.260 of Five series. We saw FTR go after Alex Shelley's 1642 01:27:08.359 --> 01:27:11.319 knee after the match was over, so they are all 1643 01:27:11.359 --> 01:27:14.939 but guaranteed to win match number four, which would then 1644 01:27:15.000 --> 01:27:17.239 set up the fifth and final match in the series 1645 01:27:17.460 --> 01:27:20.619 for Full Gear. So that's probably where that's going to happen. 1646 01:27:20.979 --> 01:27:24.619 That's a full card. Now it's Tony Khan, so he'll 1647 01:27:24.640 --> 01:27:26.720 tack on two or three more just for the hell 1648 01:27:26.739 --> 01:27:29.340 of it. But with two weeks to go, the card 1649 01:27:29.380 --> 01:27:31.649 is already full, but that still leaves the national title, 1650 01:27:32.090 --> 01:27:36.670 the TNT title, and the TBS title all unaccounted for. 1651 01:27:37.210 --> 01:27:40.350 Persephone has said that she wants her belt back. So 1652 01:27:40.369 --> 01:27:42.609 the rematch with Aminata could happen there, even if it 1653 01:27:42.649 --> 01:27:45.029 ends up on the pre-show. I was very happy, by 1654 01:27:45.050 --> 01:27:47.569 the way, to see Aminata go over and win that championship. 1655 01:27:47.590 --> 01:27:50.409 I love Persephone, but Aminata, for her, this has been 1656 01:27:50.430 --> 01:27:53.029 a long time coming. And it was nice to see 1657 01:27:53.069 --> 01:27:55.659 her get that moment at the end of Dynamite this week. 1658 01:27:55.699 --> 01:27:59.640 So I did like that. You know, there was a 1659 01:27:59.699 --> 01:28:03.859 time here on the sound off where I thought I 1660 01:28:03.920 --> 01:28:08.329 was done talking about Tammy Sitch. But like any good 1661 01:28:08.390 --> 01:28:12.060 movie monster, you can't get rid of her. She's like 1662 01:28:12.079 --> 01:28:14.739 a rash that just keeps sprouting up when you least 1663 01:28:14.800 --> 01:28:18.840 expect it. She's like a sexually transmitted disease. It was 1664 01:28:18.859 --> 01:28:22.380 three years ago when she was sentenced on the DUI 1665 01:28:22.399 --> 01:28:26.239 and manslaughter charges against her in the death of Julian Lasseter, 1666 01:28:26.970 --> 01:28:30.289 the 75-year-old grandfather of three who was stopped at a 1667 01:28:30.329 --> 01:28:33.829 traffic light when terrible Tammy plowed into the back of 1668 01:28:33.869 --> 01:28:37.090 his car and killed him. Driving a car, mind you, 1669 01:28:37.130 --> 01:28:39.909 that she was not legally supposed to be driving, with 1670 01:28:40.079 --> 01:28:42.420 a blood alcohol level three and a half times the 1671 01:28:42.560 --> 01:28:46.060 legal limit. And she pled no contest as part of 1672 01:28:46.100 --> 01:28:49.479 a plea agreement with prosecutors and could have been sentenced 1673 01:28:49.510 --> 01:28:52.130 for up to 26 years behind bars, which is what 1674 01:28:52.149 --> 01:28:55.310 they were aiming for. And that's what the man's family 1675 01:28:55.449 --> 01:28:58.350 asked the court to give her. Tammy made a statement 1676 01:28:58.390 --> 01:29:02.850 at her sentencing... hearing through crocodile tears, and then she 1677 01:29:02.890 --> 01:29:06.350 was laughing with her lawyer about something five minutes later. 1678 01:29:06.399 --> 01:29:09.560 It was all just an acting job. And they tried 1679 01:29:09.579 --> 01:29:12.600 to offer all sorts of excuses for why she is 1680 01:29:12.680 --> 01:29:16.159 the way she is, including at one point having the 1681 01:29:16.239 --> 01:29:20.939 gall to, in so many words, blame Chris Candido for 1682 01:29:21.520 --> 01:29:24.180 in part for taking her down the road that she 1683 01:29:24.260 --> 01:29:27.100 went down and away from her hopes and dreams, which 1684 01:29:27.159 --> 01:29:31.079 included going to medical school and one day becoming a doctor. 1685 01:29:32.000 --> 01:29:35.439 Cause you see, it was Chris who wanted to be 1686 01:29:35.479 --> 01:29:39.340 a professional wrestler. And so she gave up her dreams 1687 01:29:39.399 --> 01:29:42.659 to support his. And I guess in some way we're 1688 01:29:42.699 --> 01:29:46.060 supposed to feel sorry for her. I, I don't know. 1689 01:29:46.119 --> 01:29:48.640 I'm getting angry just thinking about it all over again. Anyway, 1690 01:29:49.659 --> 01:29:53.159 She didn't get 26 years. She got 17 years behind bars, 1691 01:29:53.279 --> 01:29:57.140 plus another eight years of probation after that. Her driving 1692 01:29:57.199 --> 01:30:01.239 privileges were also revoked for life, but she wasn't supposed 1693 01:30:01.260 --> 01:30:03.439 to be behind the wheel in the first place here. 1694 01:30:03.619 --> 01:30:05.729 And that didn't stop her from getting, you know, in 1695 01:30:05.770 --> 01:30:07.729 the car and killing somebody, which is what people need 1696 01:30:07.770 --> 01:30:09.970 to understand here. We are not talking about someone who 1697 01:30:09.989 --> 01:30:13.170 got behind the wheel drunk once and made a mistake. 1698 01:30:14.050 --> 01:30:15.569 There are a lot of people out there. They'll have 1699 01:30:15.590 --> 01:30:17.350 a little too much to drink. They'll be coming home 1700 01:30:17.369 --> 01:30:21.420 from a party and, and Tragedy strikes. And it really 1701 01:30:21.479 --> 01:30:24.560 is just a terrible situation and it's just tragic all around. 1702 01:30:25.199 --> 01:30:27.619 And the person is genuinely remorseful and they have to 1703 01:30:27.659 --> 01:30:30.130 live with that for the rest of their life. We 1704 01:30:30.170 --> 01:30:33.250 all make mistakes and I might actually have sympathy for her. 1705 01:30:33.449 --> 01:30:36.930 She made a mistake and she showed real remorse for 1706 01:30:36.970 --> 01:30:39.130 what she did. But that's not what we're talking about here. 1707 01:30:40.010 --> 01:30:42.420 This is a woman who did

this multiple times over. 1708 01:30:43.579 --> 01:30:47.100 Revoking her license was not enough. mandating that she have 1709 01:30:47.140 --> 01:30:49.800 an interlock device in her car on the steering wheel, 1710 01:30:50.479 --> 01:30:53.300 which was supposed to be the case with her. That 1711 01:30:53.319 --> 01:30:55.460 didn't stop her either. I don't even know that she 1712 01:30:55.500 --> 01:30:57.850 was driving her car. She may have been driving somebody 1713 01:30:57.890 --> 01:30:59.329 else's car, which is how she was able to get 1714 01:30:59.350 --> 01:31:03.270 around that. But that didn't stop her. It's just, it's 1715 01:31:03.369 --> 01:31:07.829 how predictable this all was. Every time I would talk 1716 01:31:07.869 --> 01:31:09.649 about Tammy Sitch is back in the news and she's 1717 01:31:09.689 --> 01:31:13.170 arrested again for this and that, another DUI, DWI, and... 1718 01:31:13.810 --> 01:31:15.149 I would talk about it and be like, man, what 1719 01:31:15.170 --> 01:31:16.850 is it going to take? One of these days, somebody's 1720 01:31:16.890 --> 01:31:20.130 going to get killed. And then guess what? Somebody did. 1721 01:31:21.909 --> 01:31:25.460 No matter what they tried, she didn't care. She did 1722 01:31:25.479 --> 01:31:30.000 it anyway. And then finally, tragedy struck. That is why 1723 01:31:30.039 --> 01:31:32.739 that woman needs to be locked away. Because she is 1724 01:31:32.800 --> 01:31:37.800 a menace to society. This was no accident. So why 1725 01:31:37.840 --> 01:31:39.470 is she back in the news? Why am I talking 1726 01:31:39.510 --> 01:31:42.130 about her again? PW Insider had the headline this week. 1727 01:31:43.270 --> 01:31:47.229 Tammy Sitch attempts to get out of prison. Like she 1728 01:31:47.270 --> 01:31:50.260 tried to scale the walls over all the barbed wire, 1729 01:31:50.340 --> 01:31:53.000 or she was burrowing through the wall of her cell 1730 01:31:53.039 --> 01:31:55.739 like in Shawshank, and she crawled through a river of 1731 01:31:55.819 --> 01:31:59.279 shit to try to escape. No, she's attempting to get 1732 01:31:59.319 --> 01:32:03.550 her conviction thrown out for DUI manslaughter and driving without 1733 01:32:03.560 --> 01:32:08.130 a license while causing injury or death. Mike Johnson reports 1734 01:32:08.670 --> 01:32:11.329 that Tammy filed a motion last month in an effort 1735 01:32:11.369 --> 01:32:15.819 to have her conviction vacated. In the motion, Sitch alleges 1736 01:32:15.890 --> 01:32:20.170 that she received ineffective counsel from her defense, claiming that 1737 01:32:20.210 --> 01:32:23.569 the defense did not properly investigate other factors that led 1738 01:32:23.609 --> 01:32:27.850 to Julian Lasseter's death, including Lasseter's medical history that the 1739 01:32:27.909 --> 01:32:33.279 motion says includes coronary artery disease, stenosis, and other serious 1740 01:32:33.340 --> 01:32:38.239 cardiovascular and medical conditions. The motion also says toxicology results 1741 01:32:38.279 --> 01:32:42.390 indicate that Lasseter had Adderall and Cialis in his system. 1742 01:32:43.069 --> 01:32:47.000 and that Lasseter suffered fractured ribs consistent with CPR having 1743 01:32:47.039 --> 01:32:50.979 been administered at the sea. Basically, arguing that she was 1744 01:32:51.060 --> 01:32:53.779 moving at a rate of speed, slow enough, that it 1745 01:32:53.840 --> 01:32:57.279 wouldn't adequately explain why the man died. And it may 1746 01:32:57.319 --> 01:33:00.189 have more to do with these pre-existing medical conditions of his, 1747 01:33:00.250 --> 01:33:03.689 and if she had a competent attorney defending her, then 1748 01:33:03.710 --> 01:33:06.170 they would have presented evidence of this and experts to 1749 01:33:06.229 --> 01:33:08.409 attest to this, and she would have been acquitted of 1750 01:33:08.430 --> 01:33:12.510 the homicide charge, or have a more favorable plea. That's 1751 01:33:12.529 --> 01:33:16.489 what she's arguing. In addition, Sitch says that her counsel 1752 01:33:16.529 --> 01:33:19.850 was ineffective because they did not investigate a conflict of 1753 01:33:19.949 --> 01:33:23.270 interest where an assistant state attorney who helped prosecute the 1754 01:33:23.310 --> 01:33:26.560 case was married to the physician who declared Lassiter's death. 1755 01:33:27.220 --> 01:33:31.100 She's claiming proper defense would have investigated that relationship whether 1756 01:33:31.140 --> 01:33:33.600 it should have been disclosed to the defense and the 1757 01:33:33.659 --> 01:33:37.460 court during her trial and whether the relationship created an 1758 01:33:37.619 --> 01:33:44.380 actual conflict, required disclosure, justified recusal, or required another appropriate safeguard. 1759 01:33:45.260 --> 01:33:48.760 In the motion, she argues the evidence concerning the decedent's 1760 01:33:48.880 --> 01:33:55.560 medical history, toxicology, CPR-related trauma, and the prosecutor's marital relationship 1761 01:33:55.600 --> 01:34:01.119 to the physician constitutes newly discovered evidence warranting post-conviction relief. 1762 01:34:02.260 --> 01:34:05.039 She also argued that due to lack of funds, she 1763 01:34:05.079 --> 01:34:07.300 was unable to have counsel who would have discovered all 1764 01:34:07.340 --> 01:34:10.430 of these facts that have now been unearthed. She asked 1765 01:34:10.449 --> 01:34:14.010 that the state of Florida respond, hold an evidentiary hearing, 1766 01:34:14.069 --> 01:34:17.050 appoint her new counsel if they find that hearing is necessary, 1767 01:34:18.010 --> 01:34:25.090 authorize appropriate discovery or compulsory process concerning relevant medical toxicology, EMS, 1768 01:34:25.130 --> 01:34:30.149 hospital pathology, medical examiner, law enforcement, and civil discovery records, 1769 01:34:31.060 --> 01:34:34.819 vacate her current judgment and sentence, grant her a trial, 1770 01:34:34.840 -->

01:34:39.079 and or alternatively grant such other post-conviction relief as the 1771 01:34:39.119 --> 01:34:42.899 court finds lawful, and grant all further relief necessary to 1772 01:34:42.979 --> 01:34:49.449 remedy the constitutional violations alleged. And then on October 21st, 1773 01:34:50.489 --> 01:34:55.829 Circuit Court Judge Christian Miller filed an interim order dismissing 1774 01:34:55.869 --> 01:34:59.949 the motion, citing it as facially insufficient, meaning that on 1775 01:34:59.989 --> 01:35:02.560 the surface it just fails on its face by not 1776 01:35:02.619 --> 01:35:05.619 including all of the required facts or elements needed to 1777 01:35:05.979 --> 01:35:09.619 support the claim. And the judge wrote specifically that Tammy 1778 01:35:09.659 --> 01:35:13.520 failed to comply with the requirements of Florida rule of 1779 01:35:13.699 --> 01:35:16.789 criminal procedure, which states the motion must be under oath, 1780 01:35:17.369 --> 01:35:19.869 stating that the defendant has read the motion or that 1781 01:35:19.890 --> 01:35:22.149 it has been read to him or her, that the 1782 01:35:22.189 --> 01:35:25.470 defendant understands its content, and that all of the facts 1783 01:35:25.529 --> 01:35:28.609 stated in it are true and correct. And that the 1784 01:35:28.649 --> 01:35:32.670 defendant shall either certify that the defendant can understand English 1785 01:35:33.270 --> 01:35:36.489 or if the defendant cannot understand English, that they had 1786 01:35:36.520 --> 01:35:39.880 the motion translated completely into a language that they do understand. 1787 01:35:39.939 --> 01:35:45.239 And since these parameters were not met, the court automatically 1788 01:35:45.300 --> 01:35:47.939 denied it. And so that's an important distinction here because, 1789 01:35:47.979 --> 01:35:50.960 you know, in some cases where this story popped up, 1790 01:35:51.039 --> 01:35:54.119 it just says, well, the judge already rejected it without 1791 01:35:54.159 --> 01:35:56.520 giving any sort of context as to why. It sounds 1792 01:35:56.600 --> 01:36:01.310 more like a technical issue than them outright dismissing it 1793 01:36:01.329 --> 01:36:05.770 just because they think it's just complete bullshit. But it 1794 01:36:05.810 --> 01:36:08.800 was dismissed for other reasons. But here's the thing, though. 1795 01:36:09.140 --> 01:36:12.579 Here's the key element to this. The judge issued a 1796 01:36:12.619 --> 01:36:16.500 warning to Sitch that if she was successful in having 1797 01:36:16.560 --> 01:36:21.220 her original negotiated plea deal cast aside, the state would 1798 01:36:21.260 --> 01:36:24.039 no longer be bound by it. And she could be 1799 01:36:24.100 --> 01:36:27.140 exposed to any legal sentence that could be imposed if 1800 01:36:27.199 --> 01:36:30.149 she's convicted of those charges. So this would be in 1801 01:36:30.229 --> 01:36:32.550 regard to some of the lesser charges that got dropped, 1802 01:36:33.369 --> 01:36:36.229 but could be brought back if she stands trial again. 1803 01:36:37.390 --> 01:36:39.750 And the court noted that with all the charges, she 1804 01:36:39.810 --> 01:36:43.159 could be facing up to 26 years of incarceration, which 1805 01:36:43.199 --> 01:36:46.159 would be longer than the initial 17 years and six 1806 01:36:46.220 --> 01:36:49.500 months that she was sentenced to. So you can proceed 1807 01:36:49.520 --> 01:36:53.640 with this if you want at your own risk. You 1808 01:36:53.659 --> 01:36:57.439 do so at your own peril. I would laugh my 1809 01:36:57.560 --> 01:36:59.779 ass off if she ends up with a longer sentence 1810 01:36:59.859 --> 01:37:03.039 out of this. How fucking funny would that be? It's 1811 01:37:03.060 --> 01:37:06.819 like a Law & Order episode. So Terrible Tammy has 1812 01:37:06.880 --> 01:37:10.250 two choices here. Door number one or door number two. 1813 01:37:11.109 --> 01:37:13.569 She could either file a motion to appeal the dismissal, 1814 01:37:14.130 --> 01:37:16.130 or she could file a motion to dismiss her own 1815 01:37:16.189 --> 01:37:19.050 claims and just serve out the remainder of her term. 1816 01:37:19.770 --> 01:37:22.779 which barring any sort of early release, which I believe 1817 01:37:22.819 --> 01:37:27.699 she is eligible for good behavior release after 14 years. Otherwise, 1818 01:37:27.739 --> 01:37:30.140 she could be due to be released. I think she 1819 01:37:30.159 --> 01:37:34.750 would be due, I think 2039 is when she's due 1820 01:37:34.789 --> 01:37:37.390 to get out. She would be 67 years old when 1821 01:37:37.430 --> 01:37:41.289 she gets out. I should point out that this is 1822 01:37:41.329 --> 01:37:43.789 not the first time that this woman has tried to 1823 01:37:43.829 --> 01:37:47.180 get out of prison early. In January of last year, 1824 01:37:47.989 --> 01:37:50.789 She sent a letter to the judge requesting that instead 1825 01:37:50.810 --> 01:37:54.300 of serving her sentence on each charge independently, she get 1826 01:37:54.340 --> 01:37:57.180 to serve them concurrently, which would allow her to get 1827 01:37:57.239 --> 01:38:00.560 out a lot sooner than 2039. The judge denied her 1828 01:38:00.619 --> 01:38:03.420 request then as well. And then a few months later, 1829 01:38:03.470 --> 01:38:06.510 she was ordered to pay $ 5 million to the victim's 1830 01:38:06.569 --> 01:38:09.350 estate after they had sued her. They only sued her for, 1831 01:38:09.369 --> 01:38:12.170 I think, $ 30, 000. So they ended up getting a hell 1832 01:38:12.210 --> 01:38:13.729 of a lot more than that, or at least that's 1833 01:38:13.770 --> 01:38:16.500 what she was ordered to pay. I mean, I doubt 1834 01:38:16.520 --> 01:38:18.479 the family is ever going to see a dime of 1835 01:38:18.520 --> 01:38:22.229 that money. I mean, this woman has no assets. She 1836 01:38:22.250 --> 01:38:24.409 couldn't buy a fucking candy bar if she wanted to. 1837 01:38:26.069 -->

01:38:28.850 In a best case scenario, she would get the help 1838 01:38:28.890 --> 01:38:31.939 she needs and she would change her ways in prison 1839 01:38:31.979 --> 01:38:34.399 and be a better person for it. But life is 1840 01:38:34.460 --> 01:38:37.319 not a best case scenario, right? You have to recognize 1841 01:38:37.340 --> 01:38:40.239 your issues and you have to have the desire to 1842 01:38:40.340 --> 01:38:42.890 want to change in order to do so. I just 1843 01:38:42.930 --> 01:38:46.329 think that she's a bad person. I think she's a monster. 1844 01:38:47.649 --> 01:38:50.359 who has no concern for others, no regard for others, 1845 01:38:50.920 --> 01:38:54.119 as demonstrated by her actions over the years. She'll say 1846 01:38:54.239 --> 01:38:58.020 one thing and do another. She's a selfish, narcissistic person 1847 01:38:58.880 --> 01:39:01.060 who puts her own wants and needs above all else. 1848 01:39:01.119 --> 01:39:05.140 And despite her breaking the law numerous times and numerous 1849 01:39:05.199 --> 01:39:11.439 wake-up calls across multiple states and jurisdictions, she has continued 1850 01:39:11.479 --> 01:39:13.619 to behave in a way that put not only herself 1851 01:39:13.720 --> 01:39:16.770 but other innocent people at risk. She's been arrested something 1852 01:39:16.789 --> 01:39:19.649 like a dozen different times. At one point, she was 1853 01:39:19.689 --> 01:39:23.039 arrested six times in the span of four weeks. And 1854 01:39:23.079 --> 01:39:24.760 I don't think a single one of those arrests even 1855 01:39:24.800 --> 01:39:28.119 had anything to do with her driving drunk. She is 1856 01:39:28.159 --> 01:39:31.310 a menace. She is a menace and a danger to 1857 01:39:31.430 --> 01:39:33.569 everybody around her. And so long as she is locked 1858 01:39:33.630 --> 01:39:36.909 up and not behind the wheel, the roads, dangerous as 1859 01:39:36.949 --> 01:39:39.829 they may be, are still safer for her not being 1860 01:39:39.930 --> 01:39:43.460 on them. But I saw that Tesla just unveiled its 1861 01:39:43.500 --> 01:39:47.350 first flying car model. If flying cars become a thing 1862 01:39:47.390 --> 01:39:49.229 in the next 20 years, she could be out in 1863 01:39:49.329 --> 01:39:54.989 less than that. Now that's a scary thought. Mailbag time. 1864 01:39:55.250 --> 01:39:58.680 You can email me, thesolidmonster, at gmail.com. If you've got 1865 01:39:58.720 --> 01:40:00.800 a question that you want to try to have answered 1866 01:40:00.840 --> 01:40:03.979 on the podcast, on Uncrowned on Tuesdays, send them on in. 1867 01:40:04.520 --> 01:40:09.550 Include your name and where you are from. Jerry from Glasgow, Scotland. 1868 01:40:10.470 --> 01:40:13.550 My girlfriend, Bonnie, can sometimes shake her head at how 1869 01:40:13.590 --> 01:40:16.170 much wrestling I'm into. I sometimes try to get her 1870 01:40:16.189 --> 01:40:18.189 to watch, but I don't want to force her to 1871 01:40:18.229 --> 01:40:20.189 if she doesn't want to. She does love Cody and 1872 01:40:20.210 --> 01:40:23.590 CM Punk. True story, the most animated I ever saw 1873 01:40:23.630 --> 01:40:25.750 her while watching a match was the Cody and Seth 1874 01:40:25.770 --> 01:40:28.229 Hell in a Cell match. Could you recommend a match 1875 01:40:28.310 --> 01:40:31.409 for the love of my life? By the power invested 1876 01:40:31.470 --> 01:40:35.409 in you, which match should she watch from start to finish? Well, 1877 01:40:35.470 --> 01:40:38.100 I'll give you three of them, and it really depends 1878 01:40:38.180 --> 01:40:40.670 on what you think she would be most interested in. 1879 01:40:40.689 --> 01:40:43.470 I mean, you know her better than I do. One 1880 01:40:43.489 --> 01:40:46.449 thing I would avoid though, anything longer than 20 minutes, 1881 01:40:47.210 --> 01:40:49.779 she'll lose interest. So don't go, there's like tons of 1882 01:40:49.859 --> 01:40:52.319 great long matches I could recommend, but I would not 1883 01:40:52.680 --> 01:40:55.840 go in that direction. Bill Goldberg and Brock Lesnar at 1884 01:40:55.880 --> 01:41:00.729 WrestleMania 33. That's a short, I think six minute smash 1885 01:41:00.779 --> 01:41:04.130 mouth match, all action. I think she might enjoy that. 1886 01:41:04.770 --> 01:41:09.210 Kurt Angle against Rey Mysterio from SummerSlam 2002. Very entertaining, 1887 01:41:09.289 --> 01:41:14.729 very fast-paced, under 10 minutes. And then something on the 1888 01:41:14.840 --> 01:41:18.699 longer side, but still under 20 minutes. Sasha Banks against 1889 01:41:18.739 --> 01:41:23.159 Bayley from NXT TakeOver Brooklyn in 2015. If she would 1890 01:41:23.199 --> 01:41:25.119 be into the women's matches, that's the one that I 1891 01:41:25.140 --> 01:41:29.470 would show her. David from Sacramento, California. I want your 1892 01:41:29.529 --> 01:41:32.920 take on this idea for a fifth member for 946. 1893 01:41:32.920 --> 01:41:35.720 I was at that horrible smackdown a few weeks ago 1894 01:41:35.779 --> 01:41:38.060 in Sacramento, and prior I would have just said it 1895 01:41:38.600 --> 01:41:40.979 should have been a beatdown by Damien Priest to write 1896 01:41:41.359 --> 01:41:45.079 R-Truth off. But what if this new unfortunate situation with 1897 01:41:45.100 --> 01:41:49.050 the dropkick killed off R-Truth and 946 instead gets Ron 1898 01:41:49.119 --> 01:41:52.729 Killings as the veteran of the group? If you saw 1899 01:41:52.750 --> 01:41:55.229 the TNA days of the early 2000s, then you know 1900 01:41:55.270 --> 01:41:57.859 he can pull off a bitter and angry character who 1901 01:41:57.880 --> 01:42:01.659 was overlooked. Hell, when he went heel in 2011, we 1902 01:42:01.699 --> 01:42:03.600 got a taste of it. But I just want your take. 1903 01:42:04.020 --> 01:42:07.039 Let Ron finish his career just being himself and no 1904 01:42:07.079 --> 01:42:10.960 more goofy BS. Well, goofy BS is why they brought 1905

01:42:11.000 --> 01:42:15.939 him back. They're not interested in Ron Killings. They re-signed R-Truth. 1906 01:42:17.439 --> 01:42:19.989 You can tell that by the fact how quickly they 1907 01:42:20.029 --> 01:42:23.239 cut off the Ron Killings storyline. So that's not what 1908 01:42:23.260 --> 01:42:25.859 they signed him for, dude. And frankly, and I agree 1909 01:42:25.899 --> 01:42:28.380 with you, it would be nice to see him playing 1910 01:42:28.420 --> 01:42:30.819 a character like that. I have no interest in seeing 1911 01:42:30.850 --> 01:42:33.529 him with the 946. He is not needed in the 946. 1912 01:42:33.529 --> 01:42:35.850 I think that would be a mistake. I'm not even 1913 01:42:35.890 --> 01:42:38.630 interested in adding any new full-time members right now. I 1914 01:42:38.670 --> 01:42:41.270 don't think you have to. But if you did, I 1915 01:42:41.689 --> 01:42:45.289 would not be adding Ron Kellings to that group. Stuart 1916 01:42:45.310 --> 01:42:50.079 from Paisley, Scotland has been listening since SoundOff 50-ish or so. 1917 01:42:50.100 --> 01:42:53.189 That's a long time. I have two pitches for Adam 1918 01:42:53.229 --> 01:42:57.149 Copeland's retirement and one of your thoughts. Pitch one. Copeland 1919 01:42:57.210 --> 01:43:00.869 is brutally attacked by a returning Christian in the new year. 1920 01:43:00.970 --> 01:43:05.189 Christian in storyline wants to rid him, wants to get 1921 01:43:05.270 --> 01:43:08.189 rid of him. Following the attack, Copeland decides he's going 1922 01:43:08.229 --> 01:43:10.569 to retire immediately rather than wait until the end of 1923 01:43:10.590 --> 01:43:14.020 the year. Whoever is the acting GM, I can't remember 1924 01:43:14.069 --> 01:43:18.479 if that's an established thing in AEW. Clearly not a sicko, Stewart. 1925 01:43:19.699 --> 01:43:22.300 Or Tony Khan spends the following weeks talking to him 1926 01:43:22.960 --> 01:43:25.199 and eventually offers him a contract that allows him to 1927 01:43:25.239 --> 01:43:30.079 have one match anytime, anywhere. Copeland gladly accepts, but rather 1928 01:43:30.100 --> 01:43:32.340 than using it for a match against Christian, he cashes 1929 01:43:32.420 --> 01:43:35.960 in on Will Ospreay one week and wins the AW 1930 01:43:35.979 --> 01:43:38.399 World Championship. It would be a clear callback to his 1931 01:43:38.460 --> 01:43:42.140 cash in in 2005. From there, you have a short 1932 01:43:42.199 --> 01:43:45.149 heel run for Copeland with Ospreay having to overcome him 1933 01:43:45.229 --> 01:43:47.939 to win back the belt. I know the Cena heel 1934 01:43:47.979 --> 01:43:50.180 turn has shown that these things don't always work, but 1935 01:43:50.199 --> 01:43:52.819 I think giving Copeland that short-lived edge could be fun 1936 01:43:52.920 --> 01:43:57.239 and elevate the feud. Yeah, I don't like that idea. 1937 01:43:57.800 --> 01:44:00.649 I'm just going to be honest with you. I would 1938 01:44:00.689 --> 01:44:04.130 not do that. I would not be going in that direction. 1939 01:44:04.189 --> 01:44:07.350 I don't like the way that that is laid out 1940 01:44:07.430 --> 01:44:11.310 for him. But we have pitch number two. This can 1941 01:44:11.329 --> 01:44:16.789 still be salvaged. A dedicated retirement pay-per-view. I'm not sure 1942 01:44:16.829 --> 01:44:19.609 about the legalities of this, but what if AEW created 1943 01:44:19.670 --> 01:44:21.310 a new pay-per-view at the end of the year called 1944 01:44:21.369 --> 01:44:25.649 something like Edge of the Line, specifically built around his retirement? 1945 01:44:26.130 --> 01:44:28.380 It would mean having Adam Copeland's face all over the 1946 01:44:28.409 --> 01:44:31.710 poster with his more famous name Edge plastered alongside of it. 1947 01:44:32.520 --> 01:44:35.079 That could potentially reach more casual fans who might be 1948 01:44:35.140 --> 01:44:38.739 interested in tuning in. I don't think it would make 1949 01:44:38.800 --> 01:44:43.180 a massive difference, but it could be a fun callback too. Yeah, 1950 01:44:43.239 --> 01:44:45.380 I mean, look, there are certain fun callbacks that are 1951 01:44:45.420 --> 01:44:48.100 fun for you and me, but like you said, legally 1952 01:44:48.220 --> 01:44:51.100 or realistically, it's just not doable. And I don't even 1953 01:44:51.119 --> 01:44:52.920 think you need to do that, dude. I think if 1954 01:44:53.479 --> 01:44:57.119 he has fans out there who are aware of the 1955 01:44:57.159 --> 01:45:00.189 fact that he, A, is still wrestling, and B, that 1956 01:45:00.229 --> 01:45:03.310 this is his last year, you can promote the fact 1957 01:45:03.329 --> 01:45:06.970 that Adam Copeland is wrestling his final match, you know, 1958 01:45:06.989 --> 01:45:09.939 whenever that may be. You could take out ads. You 1959 01:45:09.960 --> 01:45:12.539 could take out Facebook ads. You could take out fucking Billboard. 1960 01:45:12.560 --> 01:45:14.770 You could do whatever you want. And I think it 1961 01:45:14.779 --> 01:45:16.890 would do very well. I think you would be able 1962 01:45:16.930 --> 01:45:20.729 to bring in the casual fans or whatever that you 1963 01:45:20.789 --> 01:45:26.439 speak of. But having a dedicated pay-per-view for it, I 1964 01:45:26.479 --> 01:45:30.220 don't think that's necessary. I mean, it's the John Cena thing. 1965 01:45:30.500 --> 01:45:32.939 That's basically what that is. I mean, you're pitching a 1966 01:45:32.979 --> 01:45:35.060 version of what they did with Saturday Night's Main Event. 1967 01:45:36.000 --> 01:45:37.319 I don't think they need to do that for him. 1968 01:45:37.399 --> 01:45:39.850 I think you just need to... I don't know when 1969 01:45:39.890 --> 01:45:41.609 his last match is going to be. It could be 1970 01:45:42.109 --> 01:45:45.550 World's End in December. It could be All In. It 1971 01:45:45.590 --> 01:45:47.670 could be in the fall. It could be WrestleDream. We 1972

01:45:47.689 --> 01:45:51.210 don't know if he's going the entire year. They didn't 1973 01:45:51.250 --> 01:45:53.050 do it for Sting. I don't think they need to 1974 01:45:53.090 --> 01:45:55.670 do it for Copeland. As long as you come up 1975 01:45:55.729 --> 01:45:58.449 with a... And really, his last match is going to 1976 01:45:58.489 --> 01:46:00.279 be the draw regardless. But if you come up with 1977 01:46:00.319 --> 01:46:04.579 a big attraction, a big opponent or opponents for his 1978 01:46:04.640 --> 01:46:09.060 final match... and build up a pay-per-view main event around 1979 01:46:09.100 --> 01:46:12.359 that on one of your existing shows, I think that's 1980 01:46:12.399 --> 01:46:14.439 more than enough. I really don't think you need to 1981 01:46:14.500 --> 01:46:16.539 have a dedicated show for it. I don't think you 1982 01:46:16.579 --> 01:46:19.909 need to have some new contract he signs and he 1983 01:46:20.010 --> 01:46:25.310 cashes in. We don't need to overcomplicate this. I think 1984 01:46:25.329 --> 01:46:27.369 you keep it simple. I think there's certain people that 1985 01:46:27.489 --> 01:46:30.050 people want to see him work with or that he 1986 01:46:30.090 --> 01:46:33.270 would like to work with, and let him work with them. 1987 01:46:33.899 --> 01:46:35.640 In his final year, let's get a bunch of matches 1988 01:46:35.680 --> 01:46:38.399 that we haven't seen him do in AEW yet. Maybe 1989 01:46:38.470 --> 01:46:40.619 even a few faces that he has been in the 1990 01:46:40.659 --> 01:46:43.069 ring with, but it's been a while. And this is 1991 01:46:43.109 --> 01:46:44.789 the last chance to make it happen. That's why I 1992 01:46:44.829 --> 01:46:47.149 said if Sheamus comes into AEW, you could do Edge 1993 01:46:47.170 --> 01:46:49.350 and Sheamus again. The last time that we saw Copeland 1994 01:46:49.369 --> 01:46:51.390 in a WWE ring was against Sheamus. It would be 1995 01:46:51.430 --> 01:46:53.149 kind of fun to see them in an AEW ring. 1996 01:46:53.949 --> 01:46:55.729 But there's any number of matches that you can do 1997 01:46:55.789 --> 01:46:57.550 and just come up with what you want that story 1998 01:46:57.590 --> 01:46:59.510 to be. Is he going to win the world title? 1999 01:46:59.550 --> 01:47:01.029 Is he not going to win the world title? Is 2000 01:47:01.050 --> 01:47:03.520 he going to fall just short? I don't really... I 2001 01:47:03.529 --> 01:47:06.140 don't really need to see him, frankly, win the AEW 2002 01:47:06.180 --> 01:47:08.199 world title, but you could win me over. I mean, 2003 01:47:08.239 --> 01:47:10.920 you could come up with a compelling story where I'm like, oh, man, 2004 01:47:10.960 --> 01:47:13.239 that would be great. I would love to see that. 2005 01:47:14.079 --> 01:47:16.149 And just keep it simple. I really don't think that 2006 01:47:16.189 --> 01:47:20.329 we need to overthink this or overcomplicate it. But of 2007 01:47:20.350 --> 01:47:22.869 the two ideas,

I actually would go with your second 2008 01:47:22.930 --> 01:47:26.800 idea more than the first one. David from County Cork 2009 01:47:27.020 --> 01:47:30.010 in Ireland. Been listening since 2020, and I want to 2010 01:47:30.050 --> 01:47:32.210 say thanks for all you do. I travel a lot 2011 01:47:32.250 --> 01:47:34.750 for work, especially on Mondays, and I always look forward 2012 01:47:34.770 --> 01:47:36.789 to the sound off for my trips on Monday morning. 2013 01:47:37.029 --> 01:47:40.119 My question is regarding Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. What 2014 01:47:40.319 --> 01:47:43.119 really happened in their shoot wrestling match in the back? 2015 01:47:43.760 --> 01:47:46.539 where it is said that Kurt Angle destroyed Brock. I 2016 01:47:46.579 --> 01:47:49.699 could see Kurt beating Brock, but not destroying him. Also, 2017 01:47:49.760 --> 01:47:51.520 have you ever seen their New Japan match for the 2018 01:47:51.600 --> 01:47:55.369 IWGP title? And if so, would you recommend watching it 2019 01:47:55.470 --> 01:47:58.529 as I am a huge fan of both men? Well, 2020 01:47:58.550 --> 01:48:01.250 he didn't destroy Brock. I mean, destroy is not really 2021 01:48:01.289 --> 01:48:03.170 the right word for it. Kurt himself has said that 2022 01:48:03.210 --> 01:48:05.130 it was a close wrestling match. They went at it 2023 01:48:05.149 --> 01:48:08.239 for like 15 minutes, but Brock never came close to 2024 01:48:08.279 --> 01:48:11.289 taking him down. He took Brock down once, but otherwise 2025 01:48:11.289 --> 01:48:14.409 it was competitive. As Kurt said, as good of a 2026 01:48:14.409 --> 01:48:17.449 wrestler as Brock was, he wasn't as good of a 2027 01:48:17.449 --> 01:48:21.520 wrestler as Kurt. You know, Kurt was Olympic trained. Brock wasn't. 2028 01:48:22.699 --> 01:48:25.180 If Brock trained for the Olympics, even Kurt says, he 2029 01:48:25.199 --> 01:48:27.420 wouldn't have stood a chance against Brock. Brock would have 2030 01:48:27.439 --> 01:48:31.220 killed him. But as far as their IWGP title match, 2031 01:48:31.319 --> 01:48:34.560 that was not in New Japan. So what that was, 2032 01:48:35.109 --> 01:48:38.000 Brock Lesnar had won the belt in New Japan. There 2033 01:48:38.020 --> 01:48:42.029 was a dispute over pay that Lesnar felt he was owed. 2034 01:48:42.550 --> 01:48:45.850 I'm a little fuzzy on the exact details, but as 2035 01:48:46.470 --> 01:48:48.590 with Brock, it comes down to money, and if they 2036 01:48:48.649 --> 01:48:50.729 wanted to cut his pay, then he was within his 2037 01:48:50.789 --> 01:48:53.770 rights not to go back. But he never dropped the 2038 01:48:53.810 --> 01:48:57.149 belt or gave the belt back. And so meanwhile, Antonio 2039 01:48:57.229 --> 01:49:00.319 Inoki had sold his share in New Japan, the company 2040 01:49:00.359 --> 01:49:03.100 he founded, and he was getting ready to open a 2041 01:49:03.140 --> 01:49:07.920 new promotion called the Inoki Genome Federation. And he got 2042 01:49:07.960 --> 01:49:12.600 Brock to come in with the IWGP belt, recognizing him 2043 01:49:12.680 --> 01:49:16.090 as the champion, even if New Japan didn't. And Brock 2044 01:49:16.119 --> 01:49:18.729 agreed to drop the belt to Kurt Angle. So that's 2045 01:49:18.770 --> 01:49:22.170 how that match came about. Brock was actually supposed to 2046 01:49:22.189 --> 01:49:24.750 defend that title and probably lose it in New Japan 2047 01:49:24.789 --> 01:49:28.770 to Hiroshi Tanahashi before he bailed. But he dropped it 2048 01:49:28.789 --> 01:49:31.630 to Kurt instead. It's not one of their better matches, 2049 01:49:32.430 --> 01:49:35.210 but even a less than great Brock Lesnar-Kurt Angle match 2050 01:49:35.270 --> 01:49:37.979 is still very good. It's worth a watch if you've 2051 01:49:38.000 --> 01:49:39.939 never seen it before. There just isn't a real sense 2052 01:49:39.960 --> 01:49:42.880 of urgency or excitement to it. The excitement is seeing 2053 01:49:42.920 --> 01:49:46.869 Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle wrestling each other outside of WWE, right? 2054 01:49:46.949 --> 01:49:50.649 These two guys that headlined a WrestleMania together only three 2055 01:49:50.670 --> 01:49:54.689 or four years before this. So that's pretty unique. That 2056 01:49:54.720 --> 01:49:57.100 was Brock's last match until 2012 when he came back 2057 01:49:57.119 --> 01:50:02.189 to WWE. Daniel from New Orleans, appreciate the never-ending coverage 2058 01:50:02.229 --> 01:50:05.880 for 980-plus episodes. Hope you get a chance to bring 2059 01:50:05.909 --> 01:50:11.640 an HOG show down south soon. Well, stay tuned. If 2060 01:50:11.699 --> 01:50:13.979 no other questions pop up in the future, cheers to 2061 01:50:14.000 --> 01:50:16.899 the end of the year. Cannot wait for Sound of 1000. 2062 01:50:16.899 --> 01:50:20.010 Random question that popped up while doing my evening run. 2063 01:50:20.170 --> 01:50:23.189 We often talk about the greatest entrance themes for wrestlers, 2064 01:50:23.210 --> 01:50:25.029 but we never talk about the themes that should get 2065 01:50:25.050 --> 01:50:27.949 their flowers as well. I would like to ask you, 2066 01:50:28.270 --> 01:50:31.640 what are some entrance themes that are overlooked or underrated? 2067 01:50:31.720 --> 01:50:36.279 My personal list would include Rey Mysterio Jr. from his 2068 01:50:36.380 --> 01:50:42.640 early WCW run. Yeah, that song was great. Shinsuke Nakamura, 2069 01:50:42.819 --> 01:50:47.439 New Japan theme. Subconscious. Subconscious is a banger, man. That 2070 01:50:47.479 --> 01:50:49.729 was a great theme. Not that his theme when he 2071 01:50:49.770 --> 01:50:52.590 first came to NXT was bad. But there were a 2072 01:50:52.590 --> 01:50:54.329 lot of people hoping he would keep the music he 2073 01:50:54.369 --> 01:50:59.149 had in New Japan. Kenta Kobashi in All Japan, he says. 2074 01:50:59.180 --> 01:51:04.319 I'm not familiar with his music there. Prince Devitt and 2075

01:51:04.380 --> 01:51:11.189 Dean Malenko. See, with Dean Malenko, I always thought when 2076 01:51:11.199 --> 01:51:13.710 I would hear that music, for some reason, I would 2077 01:51:13.729 --> 01:51:16.710 think the Russians are coming. The Russians are coming. I 2078 01:51:16.750 --> 01:51:18.329 don't know why. Every time I heard that music, the 2079 01:51:18.369 --> 01:51:22.369 Russians are coming. It wasn't a bad one. It wasn't 2080 01:51:22.409 --> 01:51:25.180 a bad one. I'll throw a few more on. Ric 2081 01:51:25.220 --> 01:51:29.279 Flair's WWF theme when he first came in. I know 2082 01:51:29.319 --> 01:51:33.979 he's more closely associated with his other theme song, which 2083 01:51:34.020 --> 01:51:37.560 he used in his later run in WWE and in WCW. 2084 01:51:38.420 --> 01:51:41.119 But that music that he used when he first came 2085 01:51:41.189 --> 01:51:47.270 in in 91 was so good. That's an underrated Flair theme. 2086 01:51:48.590 --> 01:51:53.010 Evil Doink. He had a great underrated theme. Rick Rude's 2087 01:51:53.350 --> 01:51:56.449 WCW theme song. Definitely on that list. It's a really 2088 01:51:56.529 --> 01:51:59.840 great song that fit him perfectly. I love his WWF music. 2089 01:51:59.880 --> 01:52:02.140 It sucks every time I have to watch one of 2090 01:52:02.180 --> 01:52:04.460 his matches and it gets dubbed over. And here's the 2091 01:52:04.479 --> 01:52:07.840 thing I don't understand. When they put matches of his 2092 01:52:07.880 --> 01:52:12.020 on the vault, they play the WCW music. I believe 2093 01:52:12.050 --> 01:52:16.170 they play his WCW music. I don't understand why when 2094 01:52:16.210 --> 01:52:18.729 they have to dub over the WWF theme, they don't 2095 01:52:18.750 --> 01:52:22.369 just dub over it with the WCW theme. I would 2096 01:52:22.409 --> 01:52:23.930 love to know the reason why they don't just dub 2097 01:52:23.949 --> 01:52:26.369 it over with that one. The one they use for 2098 01:52:26.390 --> 01:52:32.039 it is fucking awful. It's horrendous. And I'll throw, well, 2099 01:52:32.060 --> 01:52:34.720 two more. I'll throw two more at you. This is 2100 01:52:34.739 --> 01:52:37.800 getting really in the weeds here. There was a song 2101 01:52:37.840 --> 01:52:41.680 that TJP, TJ Perkins, used in WWE when he was 2102 01:52:41.720 --> 01:52:46.510 doing the Cruiserweight Classic called Devastate. That's really good. You 2103 01:52:46.810 --> 01:52:49.510 can look that one up. And I'm going to give 2104 01:52:49.550 --> 01:52:53.560 him his flowers for his music. The No Way Jose theme. 2105 01:52:54.579 --> 01:52:57.880 That was a low-key banger. I don't care what anybody says. 2106 01:52:59.079 --> 01:53:04.520 There you go. Isaac from Brantford, Ontario. A couple of 2107 01:53:04.560 --> 01:53:07.010 months ago when Cody Rhodes said on his podcast that 2108 01:53:07.069 --> 01:53:11.289 his neck tattoo, the greatest regret of my life, it 2109 01:53:11.329 --> 01:53:13.670 got me thinking, in your opinion, which wrestlers had some 2110 01:53:13.689 --> 01:53:17.590 of the most memorable and questionable tattoos over the years? 2111 01:53:19.750 --> 01:53:23.800 I mean... You want to talk about regrettable. I would 2112 01:53:23.840 --> 01:53:28.300 say Undertaker getting his ex-wife's name tattooed across his Adam's 2113 01:53:28.420 --> 01:53:32.520 apple was pretty regrettable. That was a pretty regrettable choice, 2114 01:53:32.579 --> 01:53:34.039 I would say, especially when he had to have that 2115 01:53:34.079 --> 01:53:39.090 shit lasered off. Perry Saturn, he got a face tattoo, 2116 01:53:39.130 --> 01:53:44.390 kind of like Mike Tyson. That's pretty awful. The other 2117 01:53:44.449 --> 01:53:47.989 one I think of, honestly, are the Harris Twins. Ron 2118 01:53:48.029 --> 01:53:52.510 and Don Harris with their fucking SS lightning bolt Nazi tattoos. 2119 01:53:53.289 --> 01:53:55.819 That I think Paul Heyman made them cover up when 2120 01:53:55.859 --> 01:53:58.619 they worked in ECW. And I'm pretty sure they had 2121 01:53:58.640 --> 01:54:01.800 to cover them up in WWF too. So that would 2122 01:54:01.840 --> 01:54:07.289 be pretty high up on the list. Brent from Sydney, Australia, 2123 01:54:07.310 --> 01:54:11.829 who's been a listener since episode 306. This is his 2124 01:54:11.949 --> 01:54:15.239 first question in about 10 years. Yeah, I've gotten a 2125 01:54:15.279 --> 01:54:18.260 few emails like this recently from people. All you lurkers 2126 01:54:18.359 --> 01:54:22.600 out there, speak up. Let me hear you. Says my 2127 01:54:22.659 --> 01:54:26.689 question relates to SummerSlam 2005. This was a show I 2128 01:54:26.750 --> 01:54:29.890 recently rewatched. It was my first SummerSlam I remember watching. 2129 01:54:30.810 --> 01:54:33.789 Watching it over again made me realize how unbelievably weird 2130 01:54:34.649 --> 01:54:38.970 of a cross-section this show was in wrestling history. And 2131 01:54:39.010 --> 01:54:40.689 then he lists some of the key things that happened 2132 01:54:40.710 --> 01:54:42.630 on the show. First match in the Matt Hardy and 2133 01:54:42.789 --> 01:54:46.239 Edge feud over Lita. with all the real-life drama going on. 2134 01:54:46.520 --> 01:54:49.840 Eddie and Ray having their memorable custody of Dominic ladder match. 2135 01:54:51.420 --> 01:54:56.170 How could we forget? John Cena and Chris Jericho for 2136 01:54:56.210 --> 01:54:59.789 the title before Jericho's first departure and the first early 2137 01:54:59.850 --> 01:55:04.829 sign of fans booing Cena. And Hulk Hogan versus Shawn Michaels, 2138 01:55:04.869 --> 01:55:07.329 which is notable for Shawn selling and Hogan not wanting 2139 01:55:07.369 --> 01:55:10.729 to lose the rematch. Even a match that didn't happen 2140 01:55:10.789 --> 01:55:13.800 but was rumored for this show, Batista against Muhammad Hassan 2141 01:55:13.840 --> 01:55:16.119 for the World Heavyweight Championship is one that is

talked 2142 01:55:16.159 --> 01:55:19.220 about due to the sudden stop of Hassan's push. Other 2143 01:55:19.260 --> 01:55:23.479 matches include Kurt Angle and Eugene for Kurt's Olympic gold medal, 2144 01:55:24.159 --> 01:55:27.789 which was in Eugene's possession. Chris Benoit winning the U.S. 2145 01:55:27.810 --> 01:55:31.869 title in 25 seconds because, sure, why not? As well 2146 01:55:31.909 --> 01:55:35.489 as the Randy Orton Undertaker rematch and Batista against JBL 2147 01:55:35.510 --> 01:55:37.020 for the world title. Do you have any thoughts on 2148 01:55:37.029 --> 01:55:40.310 this show? Yeah, I mean, it's not one of my 2149 01:55:41.449 --> 01:55:45.710 favorite Summer Slams from that decade. But there were, as 2150 01:55:45.729 --> 01:55:47.510 you listed here, I mean, there were a lot of 2151 01:55:47.550 --> 01:55:49.609 memorable things about it. I remember the Matt Hardy and 2152 01:55:49.649 --> 01:55:52.470 Edge stuff because I remember how fucking awful they made 2153 01:55:52.510 --> 01:55:55.270 Matt Hardy look on that show. Didn't he hit his 2154 01:55:55.310 --> 01:55:57.869 head on the top of the ring post? And that was... 2155 01:55:58.770 --> 01:56:00.869 I think they used that for the end of the match. 2156 01:56:00.890 --> 01:56:03.470 It was like, they made him look so weak and 2157 01:56:03.550 --> 01:56:07.609 so pathetic in that match. And then you had Eddie 2158 01:56:07.649 --> 01:56:11.609 and Rey... Again, not their best match, but it was 2159 01:56:11.649 --> 01:56:13.729 a fun match. It was a fun enough match. The 2160 01:56:13.770 --> 01:56:16.270 memorable part of that match was him yelling and screaming 2161 01:56:16.329 --> 01:56:18.329 for Vicky, who was supposed to be doing a run-in, 2162 01:56:18.369 --> 01:56:19.949 and I guess she didn't get down there fast enough. 2163 01:56:20.069 --> 01:56:24.350 Or maybe they gave her her cue late. And they've 2164 01:56:24.479 --> 01:56:29.880 edited it off the replay. But he was not happy. 2165 01:56:29.899 --> 01:56:33.800 He's like, where the fuck is Vicky? So I remember that. 2166 01:56:34.930 --> 01:56:39.529 Cena and Jericho, yes, that is the earliest example. That 2167 01:56:39.550 --> 01:56:43.449 is the first example I can remember of the fans 2168 01:56:43.750 --> 01:56:46.899 rebelling against John Cena. That's where the whole let's go Cena, 2169 01:56:46.939 --> 01:56:51.000 Cena sucks thing started. And then Hogan versus Shawn. I mean, 2170 01:56:51.039 --> 01:56:56.800 come on. Shawn Michaels with the comic book overselling. It 2171 01:56:56.859 --> 01:56:59.479 made it very entertaining to see him bouncing around like 2172 01:56:59.500 --> 01:57:03.960 a jelly bean out there, but I mean... you could 2173 01:57:04.020 --> 01:57:07.079 see where if you were like a Hogan fan or 2174 01:57:07.119 --> 01:57:09.939 maybe Hogan himself you know that you wouldn't have been 2175 01:57:09.970 --> 01:57:12.729 terribly thrilled about the way that Sean

this was Sean 2176 01:57:12.770 --> 01:57:15.649 throwing a temper tantrum this was the old Sean Michaels 2177 01:57:16.250 --> 01:57:18.510 shining through in the way that he did against Vader 2178 01:57:18.829 --> 01:57:22.670 at SummerSlam in 96 but I can't say it wasn't 2179 01:57:22.710 --> 01:57:29.439 entertaining ridiculous as it was Jonathan from Erie, Pennsylvania I 2180 01:57:29.449 --> 01:57:32.960 was thinking about the pay-per-view I was most disappointed in 2181 01:57:33.770 --> 01:57:36.310 When watching as a fan, I immediately thought of Halloween 2182 01:57:36.350 --> 01:57:40.010 Havoc 98. So many matches on that card. Rick Steiner 2183 01:57:40.050 --> 01:57:43.869 against Scott Steiner. Bret Hart against Sting. Hall versus Nash. 2184 01:57:44.729 --> 01:57:48.399 Just did not deliver. Hogan versus Warrior was an all-time 2185 01:57:48.460 --> 01:57:51.600 train wreck. And as good as DDP and Goldberg was, 2186 01:57:51.680 --> 01:57:53.180 I was one of the many people who didn't get 2187 01:57:53.199 --> 01:57:56.279 to see it when the feed was cut. What do 2188 01:57:56.300 --> 01:58:01.710 you first think of as your most disappointing pay-per-view? Yeah, 2189 01:58:01.729 --> 01:58:04.920 that was a pretty bad one. But again, during that period, 2190 01:58:04.939 --> 01:58:07.859 I was more of a WWF guy than a WCW guy. 2191 01:58:09.350 --> 01:58:11.920 I guess. I don't know if there's a first one 2192 01:58:11.939 --> 01:58:14.819 I always think of. First one that came to mind 2193 01:58:14.850 --> 01:58:19.689 just now as I'm thinking about your question is Survivor 2194 01:58:19.710 --> 01:58:23.970 Series in 99. You know, and losing Austin, they had 2195 01:58:24.010 --> 01:58:27.350 promoted hard that triple threat. We never got that, by 2196 01:58:27.399 --> 01:58:30.569 the way. We never had a triple threat. with Austin 2197 01:58:30.609 --> 01:58:33.750 Rock and Triple H, who were really the three big, 2198 01:58:33.810 --> 01:58:36.649 or three of the biggest, faces of that Attitude Era. 2199 01:58:37.409 --> 01:58:38.750 And they were supposed to be in the main event 2200 01:58:38.770 --> 01:58:42.189 of that show, and they knew in advance, at least 2201 01:58:42.250 --> 01:58:44.609 a week, that Austin was not going to be able 2202 01:58:44.649 --> 01:58:48.270 to wrestle. But they had this angle they came up with, 2203 01:58:48.310 --> 01:58:49.949 where he's going to get run down by a car, 2204 01:58:50.010 --> 01:58:52.430 so we're just going to let people think that he's 2205 01:58:52.489 --> 01:58:54.229 wrestling on the show. And this was back in the 2206 01:58:54.270 --> 01:58:57.029 pay-per-view era, so you had to pay whatever, 40 bucks, 2207 01:58:57.029 --> 01:59:00.060 50 bucks for the pay-per-view. And they pulled a bait 2208 01:59:00.100 --> 01:59:02.750 and switch. And Austin got run down and they subbed 2209 01:59:02.789 --> 01:59:06.649 in Big Show, which was hugely disappointing because he had 2210 01:59:06.689 --> 01:59:09.689 already wrestled earlier in the show. So it wasn't even 2211 01:59:09.729 --> 01:59:12.590 like some big surprise that they came up with. It 2212 01:59:12.630 --> 01:59:14.529 was just, all right, we'll send Big Show back out there. 2213 01:59:15.439 --> 01:59:17.239 And the only reason they did the title change was 2214 01:59:17.260 --> 01:59:18.979 to try to make up for the fact that Austin 2215 01:59:19.000 --> 01:59:22.319 got pulled from the show. I remember being like, man, 2216 01:59:23.000 --> 01:59:27.409 that's fucking disappointing. So that would be one. And then, look, 2217 01:59:27.569 --> 01:59:30.350 I went to a bunch of WrestleManias that were very disappointing, 2218 01:59:30.369 --> 01:59:31.770 and I paid a lot of money to be there 2219 01:59:31.810 --> 01:59:35.250 for those shows. Maybe not TKO prices, but we all 2220 01:59:35.289 --> 01:59:36.689 paid a lot of money to go to those shows. 2221 01:59:36.729 --> 01:59:42.689 WrestleMania 32 in Dallas was very disappointing. I mean, Dallas 2222 01:59:42.729 --> 01:59:47.270 itself was awesome. Shout out to Dallas. But yeah, WrestleMania 2223 01:59:47.270 --> 01:59:52.260 32 sucked. WrestleMania 34. There were a lot of disappointing 2224 01:59:52.279 --> 01:59:54.180 matches on that show, too. None more so than that 2225 01:59:54.220 --> 01:59:59.750 main event. WrestleMania 35 for whatever good stuff there was, 2226 01:59:59.789 --> 02:00:04.069 the Kofi Mania stuff and whatever else. Randy Orton and 2227 02:00:04.109 --> 02:00:06.289 AJ Styles had a match that I couldn't even see 2228 02:00:06.369 --> 02:00:08.850 because I had a fucking spotlight in my face. So 2229 02:00:09.210 --> 02:00:12.989 I went walking around the concourse and they didn't even 2230 02:00:13.010 --> 02:00:16.029 have screens where I can go indoors and watch the 2231 02:00:16.050 --> 02:00:19.630 match from there. So I'm like, fuck this. So I 2232 02:00:19.670 --> 02:00:21.449 remember I was looking forward to that match and I 2233 02:00:21.569 --> 02:00:24.630 literally couldn't even see it. And there were other things 2234 02:00:24.689 --> 02:00:27.479 on that card, too, that were disappointing to me, including 2235 02:00:27.500 --> 02:00:32.760 that main event. LC from Rochester, New York. Thank you 2236 02:00:32.779 --> 02:00:35.380 for delivering great content that allows many of us to 2237 02:00:35.420 --> 02:00:39.520 escape at times. Even now, as I'm driving across states 2238 02:00:39.590 --> 02:00:42.670 to grieve the unexpected loss of a family member, the 2239 02:00:42.689 --> 02:00:46.130 podcast is helping me through it. Well, I'm very sorry 2240 02:00:46.170 --> 02:00:48.909 for your loss, brother. I'm glad the show can help 2241 02:00:48.949 --> 02:00:52.319 pass the time. How do you think The Rock... Leaving 2242 02:00:52.340 --> 02:00:54.960 the day after Steve Austin's heel turn impacted how we 2243 02:00:55.000 --> 02:00:58.279 view Austin's turn and

subsequent run as a heel. Not 2244 02:00:58.319 --> 02:01:00.260 only did he leave the next day, he was gone 2245 02:01:00.319 --> 02:01:03.729 for four months, only returning shortly before SummerSlam. Had Rock 2246 02:01:03.850 --> 02:01:07.289 stayed to fill the top babyface role, do you think 2247 02:01:07.329 --> 02:01:10.270 we may have had a different appreciation for Austin's heel run? 2248 02:01:10.550 --> 02:01:12.750 I can imagine an Austin Rock program that saw the 2249 02:01:12.770 --> 02:01:15.630 two flip roles doing big business and being very entertaining. 2250 02:01:16.350 --> 02:01:19.670 I always felt like That fact is not considered enough 2251 02:01:19.729 --> 02:01:23.819 when people discuss why the heel turn didn't work. Well, 2252 02:01:23.880 --> 02:01:25.600 I mean, look, it certainly didn't help. Would it have 2253 02:01:25.659 --> 02:01:28.319 helped to have him around as the top babyface? Absolutely. 2254 02:01:29.020 --> 02:01:30.779 I can't tell you that the heel turn still would 2255 02:01:30.800 --> 02:01:33.380 have been looked at as a success, though. It had 2256 02:01:33.439 --> 02:01:34.979 more to do with the fact that people just did 2257 02:01:35.020 --> 02:01:38.090 not really want to boo Steve Austin. Whether or not 2258 02:01:38.149 --> 02:01:40.430 Rock stuck around, I don't know that it really would 2259 02:01:40.449 --> 02:01:43.310 have changed that for a lot of people. And that 2260 02:01:43.390 --> 02:01:46.409 business would not have started to decline the way it did. 2261 02:01:47.239 --> 02:01:49.670 But if you at least had that one strong baby 2262 02:01:49.729 --> 02:01:52.710 face to kind of fill the role, even if you 2263 02:01:52.750 --> 02:01:54.829 ended up turning Austin back by the end of the year, 2264 02:01:55.550 --> 02:01:57.869 it would have gone better than it did, absolutely. I mean, 2265 02:01:57.909 --> 02:02:02.729 you had your 1A and 1B right there. And Austin 2266 02:02:02.750 --> 02:02:05.890 and Rock, put them in whatever order you want. You 2267 02:02:05.909 --> 02:02:08.229 could afford to turn one heel. I just think at 2268 02:02:08.270 --> 02:02:10.939 that time, that's not something people wanted to see. But 2269 02:02:10.960 --> 02:02:13.880 the fact that you had Rock leave the next day, 2270 02:02:15.880 --> 02:02:19.979 It was unbelievable to me that they actually gave Austin 2271 02:02:20.020 --> 02:02:22.729 what he wanted because it was his idea and it 2272 02:02:22.739 --> 02:02:25.210 allowed him to turn heel knowing that they were losing Rock. 2273 02:02:26.409 --> 02:02:28.050 But I guess in their mind they felt like, well, 2274 02:02:28.069 --> 02:02:30.170 it's only for a few months and we've got Taker 2275 02:02:30.210 --> 02:02:34.409 and Kane and so we'll just go with that. But 2276 02:02:34.430 --> 02:02:37.300 that was a terrible decision. That was a fucking awful idea. 2277 02:02:37.399 --> 02:02:39.159 You know Rock is leaving and you're going to take 2278 02:02:39.180 --> 02:02:42.699 your top babyface and turn him heel. I don't know 2279 02:02:42.720 --> 02:02:48.310 what they were thinking. Molly from Toronto, who celebrated his 2280 02:02:48.430 --> 02:02:53.689 38th birthday on Halloween. So happy birthday, Molly. A Halloween 2281 02:02:53.729 --> 02:02:57.729 birthday is very cool. 38 years old. I don't care. 2282 02:02:57.770 --> 02:02:59.869 I'm going door to door trick or treating and telling 2283 02:02:59.909 --> 02:03:02.250 people it's my birthday and I can get all the candy. 2284 02:03:02.750 --> 02:03:04.989 But on your show this past Sunday, you mentioned how 2285 02:03:05.029 --> 02:03:08.090 Vince or Triple H have their plans and anything that 2286 02:03:08.170 --> 02:03:10.590 comes in the way of them they don't like. Especially 2287 02:03:10.630 --> 02:03:13.149 when you mentioned when someone gets themselves over when they 2288 02:03:13.189 --> 02:03:15.930 don't really have ideas for that person. What were some 2289 02:03:15.970 --> 02:03:19.350 plans that they had to pivot from for their first 2290 02:03:19.449 --> 02:03:23.029 idea because someone got over because of the fans or 2291 02:03:23.090 --> 02:03:25.689 because Vince or Triple H had to be dragged, kicking, 2292 02:03:25.829 --> 02:03:29.449 and screaming? Well, the big one would be the Yes 2293 02:03:29.510 --> 02:03:33.609 Movement with Daniel Bryan. Because even in his own book, 2294 02:03:34.479 --> 02:03:37.880 Bryan said the plan going into WrestleMania 30, originally he 2295 02:03:37.899 --> 02:03:39.920 was going to be fifth or sixth from the top 2296 02:03:39.979 --> 02:03:43.039 in a random, you know, no titles or anything, just 2297 02:03:43.079 --> 02:03:48.510 like a, a singles mid-card match against Sheamus. So it's 2298 02:03:48.569 --> 02:03:51.770 not as if when they did the angle they did 2299 02:03:51.810 --> 02:03:55.829 at SummerSlam, where Triple H turned on Bryan, Orton cashed 2300 02:03:55.869 --> 02:03:58.399 in his money in the bank, that there was an 2301 02:03:58.520 --> 02:04:02.840 idea or a concept, okay, this is the first step 2302 02:04:03.060 --> 02:04:05.199 in this bigger story that we're going to tell that 2303 02:04:05.239 --> 02:04:07.659 ultimately is going to culminate with Bryan getting his revenge 2304 02:04:07.680 --> 02:04:10.539 at WrestleMania. It wasn't. And they had to be dragged 2305 02:04:10.659 --> 02:04:13.319 kicking and screaming. You could absolutely credit the fans for 2306 02:04:14.350 --> 02:04:17.210 for shifting the focus, but you could also thank CM 2307 02:04:17.229 --> 02:04:20.300 Punk for that. Because if CM Punk did not walk 2308 02:04:20.479 --> 02:04:25.159 out after the Rumble in 2014, I don't know how 2309 02:04:25.239 --> 02:04:27.399 it impacts it, but it definitely has an impact on things. 2310 02:04:27.460 --> 02:04:30.149 Maybe Bryan doesn't end up getting the main event. We 2311 02:04:30.199 --> 02:04:33.689 know the plan was

Triple H and Punk at WrestleMania 30, 2312 02:04:33.689 --> 02:04:36.630 and it was going to be very difficult to convince 2313 02:04:36.689 --> 02:04:40.609 Triple H to shift what his match was supposed to 2314 02:04:40.649 --> 02:04:43.840 be to accommodate something else. Which is probably why we 2315 02:04:43.880 --> 02:04:46.699 ended up getting Sting and Triple H at WrestleMania 31 2316 02:04:46.699 --> 02:04:49.399 when they could have pivoted and did Sting and The 2317 02:04:49.439 --> 02:04:51.539 Undertaker and they didn't because Triple H had to have 2318 02:04:51.579 --> 02:04:55.149 his match. So the Yes Movement stuff is a great 2319 02:04:55.189 --> 02:04:57.869 example of what can happen when the fans apply enough 2320 02:04:57.949 --> 02:05:01.489 pressure and they really do kind of unify together to 2321 02:05:01.550 --> 02:05:05.069 let the company know they rebel and they let the 2322 02:05:05.109 --> 02:05:07.800 company know we don't want this, we want this. But 2323 02:05:07.840 --> 02:05:11.079 it was also some other circumstances that had to happen. 2324 02:05:11.100 --> 02:05:13.420 It was like all the stars had to align, you know, 2325 02:05:13.439 --> 02:05:15.579 for things to end up the way they did. The 2326 02:05:15.619 --> 02:05:18.310 other big one would be Becky Lynch, right, who turned 2327 02:05:18.350 --> 02:05:21.770 heel on Charlotte Flair in 2018 and was not supposed 2328 02:05:21.819 --> 02:05:24.789 to be as over as she was for it. You 2329 02:05:24.810 --> 02:05:26.789 think they had that whole run as the man all 2330 02:05:26.850 --> 02:05:31.010 mapped out? Not a chance. They lucked into it. I 2331 02:05:31.050 --> 02:05:33.989 guarantee you their first women's WrestleMania main event was already 2332 02:05:34.250 --> 02:05:37.949 locked in to be Charlotte Flair against Ronda Rousey. The 2333 02:05:38.010 --> 02:05:42.399 fans helped put Becky there. Now Vince still wanted Charlotte 2334 02:05:42.420 --> 02:05:44.500 in the mix, so he shoehorned her into the match, 2335 02:05:44.560 --> 02:05:46.619 but the Becky stuff getting over the way it did 2336 02:05:46.800 --> 02:05:49.960 organically was great. It's an example of what wrestling should be. 2337 02:05:51.479 --> 02:05:53.939 And then the other example I would give would be 2338 02:05:53.979 --> 02:05:57.090 Bret Hart in 1994 when Vince McMahon decided to keep 2339 02:05:57.119 --> 02:06:01.630 the belt on Yokozuna at SummerSlam in 93. This was 2340 02:06:01.710 --> 02:06:04.789 after the whole Lex Express tour. It was supposedly because 2341 02:06:05.229 --> 02:06:07.649 he wanted a hold off on the Luger title win. 2342 02:06:08.189 --> 02:06:10.970 For WrestleMania. Not because he lost faith in him or 2343 02:06:11.010 --> 02:06:13.569 anything like that. And I get it. Like the Luger turn. 2344 02:06:13.600 --> 02:06:18.619 It happened so quickly. Like overnight. It was so dramatic. 2345 02:06:19.560 --> 02:06:21.720 He went from being the narcissist one day. To being 2346 02:06:21.739 --> 02:06:25.729 the American hero. Slamming Yokozuna on the Intrepid overnight. Then 2347 02:06:25.739 --> 02:06:28.729 they put him on a bus for six weeks. And 2348 02:06:28.810 --> 02:06:30.989 so do you just slap the belt on him right away? 2349 02:06:31.029 --> 02:06:33.170 Or do you take your time and kind of build 2350 02:06:33.210 --> 02:06:35.510 to it? So I kind of get that. But. Yes, 2351 02:06:35.770 --> 02:06:38.689 you do that bus tour for six weeks. Yeah, you 2352 02:06:38.710 --> 02:06:41.010 put that fucking belt on him. Because if you have 2353 02:06:41.050 --> 02:06:44.859 him come up short, it's a killer. Yeah, but he 2354 02:06:44.899 --> 02:06:47.300 wanted to wait for WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden. But 2355 02:06:47.359 --> 02:06:50.779 something happened. The fans supported Brent more than they did Lex, 2356 02:06:50.899 --> 02:06:52.760 which is why they did that Rumble finish the way 2357 02:06:52.800 --> 02:06:54.930 they did. They wanted to test the fan reaction, right? 2358 02:06:54.939 --> 02:06:57.069 They both go out at the same time. There's all 2359 02:06:57.109 --> 02:07:00.989 this controversy. What do we do? I remember young Solomonster 2360 02:07:01.029 --> 02:07:03.239 sitting in front of the television saying, just restart the 2361 02:07:03.340 --> 02:07:06.800 fucking match. Although not in those exact words, because my 2362 02:07:06.840 --> 02:07:08.859 mouth would have been washed out with soap. But I'm 2363 02:07:08.899 --> 02:07:12.319 watching this and I'm like, just restart the match. But no, 2364 02:07:12.359 --> 02:07:14.159 they did it this way because they wanted first to 2365 02:07:14.239 --> 02:07:16.649 raise Lex Luger's hand. Right. And he got some applause, 2366 02:07:16.670 --> 02:07:20.449 but he got some booze. And then another referee said, no, no, no, no, no. 2367 02:07:20.529 --> 02:07:23.920 Bret Hart wins. And then everybody went crazy. And that 2368 02:07:23.979 --> 02:07:25.920 told Vince everything he needed to know, even though that 2369 02:07:25.939 --> 02:07:28.130 was only one city. That was only one building in, 2370 02:07:28.260 --> 02:07:31.149 I think, Providence, Rhode Island. It told him everything that 2371 02:07:31.189 --> 02:07:34.970 he needed to know. Bret was very popular. I remember 2372 02:07:35.489 --> 02:07:37.869 reading he got a lot of fan mail at the headquarters. 2373 02:07:37.909 --> 02:07:41.350 He had a lot of international support in other countries. 2374 02:07:42.229 --> 02:07:45.899 He was always super popular. And so they pivoted and 2375 02:07:45.939 --> 02:07:47.939 they said, well, the face of the new generation is 2376 02:07:47.960 --> 02:07:50.220 going to be Bret Hart. It's not going to be 2377 02:07:50.260 --> 02:07:55.649 Lex Luger. And that was the right move. Sufi from Malaysia. 2378 02:07:56.460 --> 02:07:58.079 Wanted to know my thoughts on the direction of the 2379 02:07:58.119 -->

02:08:00.760 Halloween series from where it started. to where it ended 2380 02:08:00.819 --> 02:08:03.819 because it went in so many different directions and should 2381 02:08:03.840 --> 02:08:06.420 they have stuck with Michael Myers or gone the anthology 2382 02:08:06.500 --> 02:08:09.920 route I really wish looking back at it I think 2383 02:08:09.939 --> 02:08:12.810 they should have gone the anthology route at least for 2384 02:08:12.850 --> 02:08:14.789 a while you could always circle back around to the 2385 02:08:14.829 --> 02:08:19.010 Myers character but having gained an appreciation for that Halloween 2386 02:08:19.010 --> 02:08:23.789 3 movie That was their original idea, starting with Part 3. 2387 02:08:23.789 --> 02:08:25.510 They would come out with a new movie every year 2388 02:08:25.609 --> 02:08:28.130 on Halloween. And every year it would be a different 2389 02:08:28.170 --> 02:08:30.550 story that has nothing to do with the story that 2390 02:08:30.569 --> 02:08:35.289 came before it. And having seen Halloween 3 and really 2391 02:08:35.350 --> 02:08:38.210 liking it and appreciating it, it's too bad that we 2392 02:08:38.250 --> 02:08:42.090 didn't get more of those. Because how many great Halloween-related 2393 02:08:42.149 --> 02:08:44.909 stories could they have come up with, right? John Carpenter 2394 02:08:44.930 --> 02:08:47.060 and Debra Hill. I think they could have come up 2395 02:08:47.100 --> 02:08:49.939 with a lot of really cool stuff. Because people pitched 2396 02:08:49.979 --> 02:08:53.149 a fit, they wanted Michael Myers. He came back in 2397 02:08:53.189 --> 02:08:56.550 Part 4, and it's been Michael Myers ever since. I 2398 02:08:56.569 --> 02:08:58.630 think the Michael Myers story at this point has been 2399 02:08:58.670 --> 02:09:01.770 done to death. Not that if they didn't make another movie, 2400 02:09:01.810 --> 02:09:04.939 I wouldn't go see it. I would. But I would 2401 02:09:04.949 --> 02:09:06.680 have loved to have seen it, and maybe they still 2402 02:09:06.720 --> 02:09:11.680 can do an anthology or kind of go in that direction. See, 2403 02:09:11.720 --> 02:09:13.460 the problem is, though, you'll run into the same thing 2404 02:09:13.479 --> 02:09:16.970 they ran into in 82 when they did Part 3. 2405 02:09:16.970 --> 02:09:20.460 You can't call it Halloween. If you want to go 2406 02:09:20.500 --> 02:09:22.739 the anthology route, it just has to be a completely 2407 02:09:23.239 --> 02:09:25.800 different kind of independent thing. It has to be its 2408 02:09:25.859 --> 02:09:29.000 own thing. If you insist on calling it Halloween, then 2409 02:09:29.060 --> 02:09:31.300 people are going to expect that Michael Myers is going 2410 02:09:31.319 --> 02:09:33.880 to be a part of it. And that was their mistake. 2411 02:09:34.239 --> 02:09:39.829 Their mistake was calling it Halloween. Josh from Williamson, New York. 2412 02:09:39.869 --> 02:09:42.010 Fan of yours for a decade now. Your podcasts have 2413 02:09:42.050 --> 02:09:45.439 gotten me through some very tough times with the Pokemon 2414 02:09:45.489 --> 02:09:49.340 franchise celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. I wanted to 2415 02:09:49.380 --> 02:09:52.199 know if you personally were ever a fan of Pokemon 2416 02:09:52.319 --> 02:09:54.840 and if you have any memories of the franchise, especially 2417 02:09:54.899 --> 02:09:58.079 as someone who grew up during the Pokemon craze of 2418 02:09:58.119 --> 02:10:03.770 the late 90s. Well, I mean, I was alive during 2419 02:10:03.829 --> 02:10:09.710 the Pokemon craze. I wasn't really swept up in it. So, yes, 2420 02:10:09.810 --> 02:10:12.670 I lived through it, kind of, but no, I was 2421 02:10:12.729 --> 02:10:16.069 not a Pokemon guy. I've gotten most of my Pokemon 2422 02:10:16.090 --> 02:10:18.409 knowledge from you guys here and there, unlike the streams, 2423 02:10:18.470 --> 02:10:22.039 when it gets brought up. You know, the Pokeballs, and 2424 02:10:22.880 --> 02:10:26.920 I know Pikachu. I think Pikachu's the only Pokemon I know. 2425 02:10:27.359 --> 02:10:29.079 I know there are a lot of other ones. I 2426 02:10:29.119 --> 02:10:31.460 downloaded that game on my phone a few years ago 2427 02:10:31.520 --> 02:10:35.229 when everybody was playing Pokemon Go. You know, you have 2428 02:10:35.270 --> 02:10:37.729 to catch them all, and I'd put it on my phone, 2429 02:10:37.770 --> 02:10:40.069 and I'm like, this is the stupidest fucking thing I've 2430 02:10:40.109 --> 02:10:43.949 ever seen in my life, and I quickly uninstalled it. So, no, 2431 02:10:44.050 --> 02:10:46.310 I mean, it was never for me. You know, that 2432 02:10:46.350 --> 02:10:49.600 and the Power Rangers and all that, I just never 2433 02:10:49.659 --> 02:10:52.100 got into that stuff. The only Pokemon story I could share, 2434 02:10:52.140 --> 02:10:55.899 and I've talked about it before it's come up, you know, 2435 02:10:55.920 --> 02:10:58.399 when I was a camp counselor many years ago, it 2436 02:10:58.420 --> 02:11:03.770 was during that period, they didn't want the kids, all 2437 02:11:03.789 --> 02:11:07.279 the kids were bringing these Pokemon cards in. And instead 2438 02:11:07.300 --> 02:11:10.430 of doing the activities, they were playing with these cards, 2439 02:11:10.479 --> 02:11:12.770 and some of them were getting into fights and taking 2440 02:11:12.810 --> 02:11:15.270 the cards away from other kids. And so we were 2441 02:11:15.329 --> 02:11:19.689 told that the Pokemon cards were not allowed, at least 2442 02:11:19.710 --> 02:11:23.010 during certain periods of the day. They're not allowed. And 2443 02:11:23.069 --> 02:11:25.609 I took my job very seriously. And if I saw 2444 02:11:25.630 --> 02:11:27.670 them playing with these Pokemon cards, I told you I'm 2445 02:11:27.689 --> 02:11:30.380 going to take them away from you. And they didn't 2446 02:11:30.420 --> 02:11:32.479 believe me. And then I started confiscating them

and I 2447 02:11:32.539 --> 02:11:34.279 took them away and they were not happy about that. 2448 02:11:34.300 --> 02:11:36.220 And I'm like, well, tough shit. I'm the counselor. I'm 2449 02:11:36.260 --> 02:11:38.180 the law and order here. And I told you that 2450 02:11:38.220 --> 02:11:39.880 you are not to play with these cards. And so 2451 02:11:39.899 --> 02:11:41.909 I'm going to take them away from you. And that's 2452 02:11:41.930 --> 02:11:44.689 what I did. So I had my own little Pokemon stash. 2453 02:11:44.710 --> 02:11:46.829 I don't remember what happened if I gave them back 2454 02:11:46.949 --> 02:11:51.250 or threw them away. I don't remember, but yeah, not 2455 02:11:51.270 --> 02:11:55.460 a great experience with the, with the Pokemon cards and 2456 02:11:55.500 --> 02:12:00.840 very angry parents, but look, Rules are rules, okay? Rules 2457 02:12:00.899 --> 02:12:04.079 are meant to be followed. And I'm certainly not going 2458 02:12:04.119 --> 02:12:06.840 to get in trouble and get a bad performance grade 2459 02:12:06.880 --> 02:12:10.260 for the summer if people are ignoring the rules and 2460 02:12:10.300 --> 02:12:11.939 doing things they're not supposed to be doing. You come 2461 02:12:11.960 --> 02:12:15.300 to camp to do camp shit. You don't come to 2462 02:12:15.319 --> 02:12:18.000 camp to play cards when you're supposed to be playing dodgeball, 2463 02:12:18.359 --> 02:12:20.819 where you're supposed to be in arts and crafts. You 2464 02:12:20.850 --> 02:12:23.409 got to respect the rules, otherwise the system falls apart. 2465 02:12:23.430 --> 02:12:26.590 I mean, first it's cards, then it's Texas Hold'em. I mean, 2466 02:12:26.890 --> 02:12:30.420 where does it end? Anyway, thank you for the questions. 2467 02:12:30.439 --> 02:12:33.359 I'm going to hold these remaining questions I had for 2468 02:12:33.420 --> 02:12:36.760 next week's mailbag, and hopefully you guys will send in 2469 02:12:36.779 --> 02:12:38.579 a bunch of new ones to me. And again, tune 2470 02:12:38.619 --> 02:12:41.479 into the Uncrowned Wrestling Show on Tuesday, because sometimes some 2471 02:12:41.500 --> 02:12:44.449 of these holdover questions, I will answer them there. Or 2472 02:12:44.489 --> 02:12:48.470 you can send questions specifically for Uncrowned. Just mention Uncrowned, 2473 02:12:48.489 --> 02:12:52.250 hashtag Uncrowned, somewhere in the tweet or the subject line. 2474 02:12:53.810 --> 02:12:57.220 I have started watching Crystal Lake. I know many of 2475 02:12:57.260 --> 02:12:59.819 you have asked me about this. I did start watching it. 2476 02:12:59.939 --> 02:13:03.170 I'm loving it so far. I'm five episodes deep. I've 2477 02:13:03.210 --> 02:13:07.529 got three left. Very much enjoying it. Linda, was it 2478 02:13:07.590 --> 02:13:11.329 Linda Cardellini? I think she's great. So once I'm done 2479 02:13:11.350 --> 02:13:13.590 with the entire thing, maybe I'll chime in with some thoughts. 2480 02:13:13.689 --> 02:13:17.109 But yes, I am finally watching it. So stop yelling 2481 02:13:17.170 --> 02:13:19.850 at me. I am going to be back with you 2482 02:13:19.890 --> 02:13:24.229 next Sunday for episode 988. That'd be solid monster sounds up. 2483 02:13:24.250 --> 02:13:26.390 But before then we have the raw post show on Monday. 2484 02:13:26.430 --> 02:13:29.609 Don't forget going live earlier, 9 PM Eastern on YouTube 2485 02:13:29.630 --> 02:13:32.409 tomorrow night, brand new on crown wrestling show coming up 2486 02:13:32.479 --> 02:13:36.319 on Tuesday, brand new Tuesday night Titans coming up TNT Tuesday. Uh, 2487 02:13:37.220 --> 02:13:40.479 the dynamite post show on Wednesday is blood and guts. 2488 02:13:41.300 --> 02:13:45.300 And then Friday CM punk against Kevin Owens. No holds 2489 02:13:45.359 --> 02:13:50.539 barred on SmackDown crown jewel next Saturday. And back with you, 2490 02:13:51.069 --> 02:13:52.909 for the sound off on Sunday. So that sounds like 2491 02:13:52.949 --> 02:13:54.989 a full week. And I hope you guys are still 2492 02:13:55.060 --> 02:13:57.380 enjoying all of the, uh, the YouTube shorts that are 2493 02:13:57.420 --> 02:14:00.680 going up. So definitely, uh, make sure you're subscribed on 2494 02:14:00.739 --> 02:14:03.600 YouTube and check all of those out and engage and 2495 02:14:03.640 --> 02:14:08.180 leave comments. I love it. Be well, stay safe, have 2496 02:14:08.199 --> 02:14:11.470 yourselves a great rest of your weekend and week. And 2497 02:14:11.510 --> 02:14:13.130 I will see you back here for more sound off. 2498 02:14:13.850 --> 02:14:17.569 No Pokemon, just pro wrestling next Sunday. Until then, take 2499 02:14:17.590 --> 02:14:21.909 care guys. The Sala Monster sounds off. I watched the 2500 02:14:22.010 --> 02:14:25.069 Raw after Money in the Bank. At least it ended well. 2501 02:14:25.090 --> 02:14:28.029 SmackDown didn't even have that. Terrible television show tonight. This 2502 02:14:28.109 --> 02:14:30.760 show tonight was just so boring. In the middle of 2503 02:14:30.819 --> 02:14:33.399 this show, there was a segment with Alexa Bliss and 2504 02:14:33.439 --> 02:14:35.359 Tatum Paxley. They were in the middle of the ring. 2505 02:14:35.380 --> 02:14:38.279 They were in a promo segment right before Fatal Influence 2506 02:14:38.319 --> 02:14:40.250 came out. And there was a fan in the front 2507 02:14:40.310 --> 02:14:42.569 row on the left side who was, I don't know 2508 02:14:42.590 --> 02:14:44.829 if he was falling asleep or he was already asleep. Ah. 2509 02:14:45.770 --> 02:14:48.010 But he was dozing off. And God knows what he 2510 02:14:48.050 --> 02:14:50.390 paid for that ticket, okay? You're in the front row. 2511 02:14:50.449 --> 02:14:52.949 This is not fucking Green Shirt Guy or the guy 2512 02:14:52.970 --> 02:14:54.869 with the long hair who's always sitting with his mom 2513 02:14:54.890 --> 02:14:57.270 or whatever. This guy paid whatever he paid for that 2514 02:14:57.350 --> 02:15:00.210 front row ticket to this show. And he was falling asleep. 2515 02:15:00.710 --> 02:15:03.390 It was only when Fatal Influence came out because they 2516 02:15:03.470 --> 02:15:07.350 blasted their music that this guy finally woke up. And 2517 02:15:07.399 --> 02:15:09.079 I knew at least he was conscious and he had 2518 02:15:09.100 --> 02:15:11.439 a pulse. But that really summed up this show tonight 2519 02:15:11.479 --> 02:15:13.500 in one image. I saw that. I said, this guy 2520 02:15:13.560 --> 02:15:16.239 is my spirit animal. That's who he is. The Sala 2521 02:15:16.260 --> 02:15:20.210 Monster sounds off. Since 2007. Bringing you the good, the bad, 2522 02:15:20.289 --> 02:15:23.270 and the ugly. Check out the weekly live streams, bonus 2523 02:15:23.310 --> 02:15:27.069 content for subscribers, and follow The Sala Monster on Facebook, Instagram, 2524 02:15:27.130 --> 02:15:31.300 and X. The Sala Monster. I love you so much.